[PKMN OPEN] (M)(IC)Pokemon Battle Royale - Earth and Sky: Beyond

Emmanuel watched as the Zebstrika directly ahead of his rolling Lickilicky sped out from the herd, juking to the sides. The Pokémon charging from behind were taken by surprise, and as their mounts began churning their legs with even greater urgency, hoping to evade the impending ball of pink doom, they realized it was too late. Lady made contact, sweeping out the legs of two Zebstrika along the formation's outer edge. They fell like bricks, a chorus of neighs filling the air as chaos erupted in the section Lady had thrown herself into.

Still curled, she dashed out from their ranks, bolts of lightning scorching the ground around her. A few managed to land, and Lady slowed her pace before coming to a complete stop. Standing with a grimace, the stinging sensation still coursing through on her body, she took in her new surroundings. It was clear, to both her and trainer, that she was in quite the precarious situation.

Not taking kindly to the round Pokémon's little stunt of charging into their ranks, a few of the tribal Pokémon had split off from the group and were about to encircle Lady. A boulder soared down into their path as they approached, momentarily scattering them again. Time was precious, Lady knew that, and she would use this opportunity to escape. She sprang up with her legs and curled. Only, she did neither of those things, in fact, she had done nothing. Despite tensing every muscle in her body, urging, practically begging her legs to move, Lady was locked in place. In the corner of her eye, she saw the trickle of electricity holding her in place.

"♥♥♥♥…" Emmanuel, having already stood up, began to run. Juice tossed one final boulder in Lady's aide and then took off after his trainer. What possessed Emmanuel to do this wasn't adrenaline or anything like that. His heart wasn't beating against his chest and his mind was not racing. It started with his arms, a chilling sensation wrapping around them, then his legs, and soon after his entire body felt cold. His mind was blank, just the sight of Lady and the encircling pack of Pokémon flickering in and out of his head. If he were asked to describe this feeling in one word, he might've said resignation.

Emmanuel was desperate, woefully so, why else would a man take off running towards his own death? In such states, it was said the mind often played tricks on people, and Emmanuel thought this was one such trick. He attributed the blueish hues outlining the Zebstrika and their riders as a side effect of stress or whatever he was experiencing. His eyes followed the now airborne Pokémon as they were yanked back towards the main group, each and every one of them flung into a huge ball of mass floating in the sky. Jaw slacked, Emmanuel gawked in disbelief. At least, he did, until he felt some three hundred pounds of mass slam into him from the side. He would've fallen quite harshly, if not for Juice catching him.

The trainer turned his eyes and saw Lady glaring at him. Feeling the blood flowing through his veins again, Emmanuel managed an apologetic smile. "Hey," he said. "You look good."

Lady took another step closer, and Emmanuel knew to brace himself. Grabbing onto the collar of his shirt, Lady lifted her trainer up above her head and began to shake him violently, a menacing look in her eyes.

He wasn't smiling now, but Emmanuel had never been more relieved in his life. In the midst of Lady's throttling, he took in what remained of his surroundings. The small group of trainers remaining surprised him. He wondered how many were lost in that initial business with the bus, but that thought was quickly replaced by the sight of something, something so odd, if it weren't for Lady's constant thrashing, he might've thought it a dream. Three distinct Pokémon were among the remaining group of trainers, and they clearly were not captives, but wild. Looking carefully, Emmanuel realized the one in the middle, a Slowbro, different from those he had seen before, cane in hand, large mass of Pokémon floating above, was not only his but their savior.​

A little giggle escaped Mary at Reanne's admiration. "Thanks!" she gratefully replied. "I think we look even better together, though. Our pokemon even match~!" Mary rather affectionately added, giving Reanne a gentle squeeze not unlike a hug in response to being told to hang on tight. Her eyes caught sight of an electrode. Oh man. What were the odds of that thing happily exploding right on top of her?? Reanne could feel Mary's stiffen with anxiety for a moment before the electrode inexplicably soared over its intended target! The result was Rose's blonde hair sticking up like her head was on blonde fire, eliciting a giggle from both Reanne and Mary, who had to stifle her laughter at the sight.

"Huh..?" a mildly disheveled Rose asked, somewhat bewildered between the electrode floating away from her and the laughing. What had just happened? It only took her a moment to notice she felt a bit breezy on up top where her hair ought to have been keeping her covered and looked up to notice it was currently doing a dance above her. "Pfff..." she huffed, sorely looking away to dig for a hair brush in her purse. While she was doing this, she turned to search for the source of all the chaos going on. Someone had clearly come to their rescue, which was all fine and dandy to her. Her nerves were a little wracked and she could go for some downtime.

---

"Hmm, my hair?" Reanne spun slightly to face her, "It might be just as worse, but if you're willing to lend me a hand, then I'll be happy to!" And it didn't take long for Reanne to let herself indulged by a stranger she just met today. Without hesitation, Reanne placed her hands on the red beret she wore. She hoisted it and true to her words, her bright blond hair gave rise to a war bonnet, swaying along the slow pace and weak blowing of the winds outside. Evidently, her headgear only cosmetically covered her hair, "There, I sure hope it's not too embarrassing to see." She commented while undoing the white band at the end of her bristly braid, shaking her head to let loose of her hair free.

She turned forward leniently, "Now, do as your heart desires so. I'm sure you're good at this." Reanne said invitingly, waiting for Mary to help her in hair department. She seemed carefree enough to not bother who did what, even if it was a situational offer that could break her own imagery if done wrong. But wasn't that the point of forming trust? Helping each other in dire times would be a good start, and if they were all tied with a similar cause, wouldn't now is the best time to get knowing with the other Trainers? There were oddities running about the world she was eagerly going to enter, and if she'll meet face with situations together, it would be difficult to call them if she doesn't know everyone.

After giving it some thought, Reanne decided that it wouldn't hurt to call one after another to tell about themselves, or at least a name will do. Her vision was initially directed at the 'old man' with white hair whom she sat next to inside the now dilapidated bus. Thus, she spoke nonchalantly, "Hey, instead of spouting nonsense, why don't you come here and tell us about yourself more? Like, name, origin, aging secrets, best places to get breads, credit card number, and destination, all needs to be answered but in no particular order. And don't say no because I will nag you till you speak."

Having not finished her breath, Reanne turned to the other Trainers in mite distances and continued with a more pleasant tone, "And this goes for the others as well! I don't know how many people are there, but there's no room for secrets with an ordeal we've been put through, right?" She smiled, "So what I want, is every of you strangers and the like to introduce yourselves. Even if it means someday we're to part, whether it's today or tomorrow, we can still recall this 'weird contest' along with those who partook in it. Besides, wasn't there a reason why we're here?" She stopped for a moment, then followed again, "I guess I'll start. I'm Reanne, from Unova."

"Why didn't you come faster? We had trouble facing those tribes, and most of us died because of your lack of speed in coming here!" He asked the Slowbro.

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Slowbro turn's around and chuckles a little. "Young one, I'm might be old and weary, but I'm not all knowing. I deal with problems as they come and problems that arrive where I or my companions can see. You would be in the same position if you we're sent out to help rescue other trainers. Scouting the mountains, walking as fast as you can while the others in your group do the same under the same stormy sky that has raged on 24/7." It grinned sounding like it was joking on the stormy weather. "What would you expect us to do? Have constant tribes men and woman scout the pass when we have problems of our own?" It turned back around and continued it's march.

"Hey, instead of spouting nonsense, why don't you come here and tell us about yourself more?...." "I guess I'll start. I'm Reanne, from Unova."

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Lucario looked around and noticed an unconscious trainer. Picking up the trainer and tying the trainer to it's back using bandages. "I'm Joseph from Orre. I'm here looking for... Something that doesn't belong I suppose." The slowbro picked up and replied. "You may call me Tex." The group lead the young trainer's out of the canyon and after a few minutes, they reached a pass out of the range into a vast dusty plateau. Off to their right was a bus station, what appeared to looked like a Pokemon ranger station, a small pokemart and a pokemon center built into it. The slowbro turn to face the trainers as the large ball of tribal pokemon kept moving away from them somewhere out west."Allow me to be the first to welcome you to Ignea. If you redeem your bus passes at the bus station and explained what happened; I'm sure they'll radio another form of transport to get you to Lux Bravio. If you need shelter from the elements, Head to Fools Garden and speak with a mutual friend of ours in the south or find our tribe to the north. Good hunting young trainers." The Lucario carries the unconscious trainers to the pokemon center and leaves them on the closet cushioned bench before departing and joining it's brethren in arms as the 3 bow and start making their way northwest. Joseph made his way into the Pokemon Center in the pokemart to drop off Static to be healed before taking a seat as a CRT TV above started crackling as it attempted to tune into the local TV station.

"*Intro Music* Welcome back to Channel 3, Ignea Local News. We're out here in the city of light's while participating in the opening event for the first ever region wide contest the event Coordinators are dubbing 'Earth and Sky,' While the purpose or naming scheme is confusing and the coordinators are refusing interviews, they've promised that the winner of the contest will acquire an unheard sum of funds, a large portion of land up north along the coast line to do with what they wish and a powerful pokemon to add to their roster to act as a member to their team. While they're celebrating and promoting the event tonight, they won't be announcing any details until tomorrow morning. Now let's take a look at the local weather and later, VHS; the way of the future for TM's?"

The Machoke began to lead the way as Toru trailed closely behind. What remained of the trainers began to group up behind the group of pokemon and conversation came to follow. One of the trainers began to question the Slowbro's motives as the pokemon replied quickly with a somewhat harsh rebuttal and made what seemed to be remarks to the storm still rustling above the group. Toru couldn't help but notice that the Lucario had strapped a fainted trainer to it's back using some form of bondage. His eyes shifted towards the ground and kept walking with the group.

Remember to pace yourself in the future. You were nearly in the same boat as that guy...

Continuing onward various bouts dispersed between some of the group members and the talking Slowbro. One of the girls Toru had noticed on the train began to interject. ""Hey, instead of spouting nonsense, why don't you come here and tell us about yourself more?...." "I guess I'll start. I'm Reanne, from Unova." she spouted. A few of the trainers joined in on the newly founded conversation but the only reply that seemed to hold Toru's attention was when the elder decided to chime in. ""You may call me Tex." it stated calmly. Unsure of whether or not to join in, Toru pondered everything that had happened and what would be coming next. "Tor-" he paused as his vision shifted back towards the ground. "I'm Toru... from Johto." he finished quickly. The group had finally reached an opening, and what would seem to be where they were being lead.

A rather large bus station stood to the right. It had a few extra signs that seemed to be indicating that it had other accommodations inside. The leader spoke once again, "Allow me to be the first to welcome you to Ignea. If you redeem your bus passes at the bus station and explained what happened; I'm sure they'll radio another form of transport to get you to Lux Bravio. If you need shelter from the elements, Head to Fools Garden and speak with a mutual friend of ours in the south or find our tribe to the north. Good hunting young trainers." After dropping off the unconscious trainers, the talking pokemon departed and left the trainers to take care of what needed to be done.

It's hard to believe these places are all the way out here. It all still feels so barren... but a Pokecenter is exactly what's needed right now

Toru let out a deep breath and decided to drop his team off at the Pokemon Center before making his way into the Pokemart. The bell chimed as he stepped foot into the store and took a quick glance across the shelves that lined it. It was a bit old fashioned, even compared to the ones back home in Ecruteak. Toru took a few minutes to skim through some older magazines that were lined up in a nearby rack before grabbing his purchases and making his way to the counter. "That'll be 1,200 pokedollars, please!" the clerk stated in an overtly friendly manner. Toru pulled out a small wallet and took a moment to count his money before forking over the cash. "Safe travels!" the clerk bid farewell with a grin on his face. Back at the Pokemon Center, Toru found a seat across from one of the trainers that had made the trek with him. An old television was playing what seemed to be the local news. Toru ignored it for the most part and decided to dig into his bag and write in his journal while he waited for his team to be ready.​

As the group of stragglers made their way out of the canyon, Emmanuel followed near the back, his Pokémon safely in their balls, not quite sure what to make of all that had happened and was happening. While the previous events were still fresh in his head, as well as the immense hopelessness he had felt, it was difficult for Emmanuel to dwell on these things with such glaring anomalies in his face. Not once in his life, albeit short by most standards, had the young man ever heard of a talking Pokémon, let alone seen not only one, but three all at once. But here he was, him and a ragtag bunch of trainers being personally escorted by this group of speech-capable Pokémon. Tex was the Slowbro's name, as it had told the trainers, but the two others were so far a mystery. He thought briefly about how all of this pieced together - Ignea, the incident with the bus and Pokémon, and these talking ones. While his pondering led to little understanding, if any at all, the momentarily venture into his thoughts sparked an expectation of the region. Foolishly so, he fancied himself a sort of pioneer, believing that a journey of adventure and feats awaited him. Any prior trepidations, especially towards the events earlier in the day, were long gone, buried underneath a well of excitement bounding up throughout his body.

Picking up pace, Emmanuel caught up to the core of the group, having heard just moments ago the trainers exchanging names and other sorts of introductions. Not wanting to be the odd man out, he chimed in. "I'm Emmanuel, you can call me Manny if you'd like," he said with a light tap of his chest, "from Orre. Nice to meet you guys. Except you with the Earthquakes," Emmanuel looked over at Nathaniel, recognizing the glimpse of him he caught before. "Jury's still out on you," he said light-heartedly, smiling.
​

Mary's eyes lit up like the sun at the sight of Reanne's war bonnet. Her chest tightened with anticipation and a soft little gasp escaped her as she took a deep breathe at the sight. Oh. My. Freaking. Arceus. ...She was working with so much more hair than she originally anticipated! And it was braided! She was going to get to braid that back up~! "No way... Your hair is wonderful, Reanne~!" Mary chirped rather affectionately before beginning to set to work on it. Thankfully, Reanne's trust paid off. Mary had a gentle and purposeful touch, always very aware of any knots she came across and never tugging all that hard when she encountered them. It seemed like she took special care to treat Reanne's hair with as much love as she treated her own. It was likely that it would take her quite a bit of time to finish, but she worked diligently without complaint.

Nearby, Rose was not sure whether to pity Reanne or continue being jealous of her. One of the benefits of having shorter hair was that she didn't often have to deal with... that. Yet, it seemed like they were both enjoying themselves. --Nope, wait. There it was. Jealousy. Yeah, definitely jealousy. She quietly took a moment to try and snuff that emotional wildfire out. She had to stop thinking that way; it wasn't proper, and it was going to start hurting if she let those feelings run wild.



Mary popped her head out from behind Reanne to address the conversation going on with a smile that didn't at all reflect any of the hardship they'd been through. "My name's Mary, and this is my sister Rose! We're from Unova." she explained, drawing Rose back from her thoughts. Her gaze drifted to Nathaniel in particular. She was trying to read his aura to get a read on him. However, once again she didn't find what she was looking for. This time, that was probably a good thing. "Let's let our Pokemon do all of the fighting between us. We're not going to be able to rely on any sportsmanship from the land itself, so better enjoy it while it's not in short supply." she thoughtfully chimed in in agreement. I mean, if all the death on arrival hadn't made that clear she wasn't sure what would. "Like my sister Mary said, my name's Rose. Rose Maple. Nice to meet you guys too!" Rose introduced, her gaze shifting to Manny. " . . . Your name sounds a lot like 'manly'. Is that on purpose?" Rose light-heartedly accused, giving Manny a playfully shrewd look. It was his turn to fall under her piercing gaze as she attempted to read his aura. "This is our first journey away from home, but we've been getting to know our pokemon for a while now and we both felt like we were ready to challenge ourselves." Rose explained. At this, Mary leaned out from where she was delicately braiding Reanne's hair with the handle of her hairbrush gripped between her lips.

"Mnoeshnot!" she interjected, unable to speak clearly. It sounded like an objection, though. Rose passed her a glance, smiling lightly at her before returning her attention to no one in particular. "I mean--That's why I'm here anyway. Rose just wants to travel and see the world. I don't think she even cares if she wins this thing." Rose sassily remarked. Mary took the brush from her mouth at this remark, no longer needing both hands to keep the braid she'd just finished from falling apart. "That's not true! I want to give it my best shot so I can support my pokemon and my new friends later~!" Mary explained rather cheerily. "By that you mean you want ...one of us to win." Rose flatly accused, receiving a little shrug in response. "--Well, yeah! I know how important it is to you. I think I'd be happy as long as the winner is one of my friends." Mary replied as if it were the most obvious statement in the world. Rose softly rolled her eyes. She knew that that just meant Mary would be trying to befriend as many people as she could along the way. She just had to keep an eye on Mary to make sure no one took advantage of her better nature. She'd probably be really popular with any boys their age they came across, knowing what boys their age were like.

Seeing that the crowd had started to thin a bit, Mary decided it was time to take Reanne up on her earlier request. No secrets. "My sister Rose has strange eyes. She sees stuff nobody else can. Mary explained in a rather goofy attempt to sound spooky and mysterious. This drew a rather visible flinch from Rose, whose eyes widened in alarm at Mary's choice of words. She seemed to become very uneasy, lowering her gaze to hide her eyes behind her bangs and squirming slightly where she stood. " . . . I'm not crazy. Please don't look at me like I'm crazy." she softly replied in a very nervous tone. It seemed like Rose was a little sensitive about being crazy 'seeing things', whatever that meant. One got the impression that she was probably crazy and would react violently if you used that word she had probably suffered some ostracization, partially as a result of her condition. "She's fiiine. I like her strange eyes~!" Mary light-heartedly added. She, of course, would be diligent in continuing her work on Reanne's hair, even if they got off of her musharna and walked into the pokemon center. She was probably about halfway done.

Tex and his group drop off the attacking tribe onto their territory as Tex Raised his arms to act like a scary beast as the hunting party ran off in fear of the psychic pokemon's strength. On their way back towards their tribal lands, They located a Snivvy lying in the ground, out cold. "....Why on earth is a grass type doing out here this far on the plateau?' The Machoke picks it up and carries it back over to Tex. "....☼§▲, Do you have an Oran on you?" The Lucario pulls out an Oran Berry and attempts to force feed the Snivvy by crushing the berry and placing a portion of it in it's mouth. "You awake child?"

---

Out on the track, a group of Electrodes and Votorbs begin sabotaging a train leading to Lux Bravio in Ignea. As they place stones on the track, they wait patiently as the train rolls into sight. As the train hit's the stone's, the engine begins to tilt and totter back and forth until it falls off and the rest of the train cars follow. The chaos erupts as the cars go flying in different directions while others are nearly rushed completely by the force of the other carts.

---

Joseph walks up to reclaim Static and walks outside to see the group. He passes by to walk towards the bus office and present his pass. The office attendant nods and replies that they've radioed for help and are sending another transport from Lux Bravio to take them the rest of the way. Joseph thanked her and walked away to see the others. ".... I suck at public speaking...*ahem*.... Sorry to interrupt, But the next bus to Lux Bravio may not be for an hour or so."

"My sister Rose has strange eyes. She sees stuff nobody else can. Mary explained in a rather goofy attempt to sound spooky and mysterious. This drew a rather visible flinch from Rose, whose eyes widened in alarm at Mary's choice of words. She seemed to become very uneasy, lowering her gaze to hide her eyes behind her bangs and squirming slightly where she stood. " . . . I'm not crazy. Please don't look at me like I'm crazy."

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"I don't think it's crazy.... I mean, we just escaped a bus that got vaporized by lightning and attacked by pokemon who we're nearly as organized as trainers, met a pokemon who could speak capable english instead of just pokemon speech and lead by said pokemon all the way to safety..... If anything, today's been awesome!' Joseph gives a cocky grin and a thumbs up.

"I'm Emmanuel, you can call me Manny if you'd like," he said with a light tap of his chest, "from Orre. Nice to meet you guys. Except you with the Earthquakes."

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"Where in Orre do you rein from Manny?" Joseph asked as he pulled out his Camera and snapped a shot of the current group who survived the bus trip so far. "... Aside From the Maple's, is there any other reason everyone's come to Ignea?"

---

Minutes past for a short float onward led her and her companions to a brighter disposition. As if a terrible storm had dissipated entirely, the sky that greeted them was an exquisite blue gradient. The sun was absent through first sight. Yet, it was evidently there, it was just raised too high for anyone to reach it now. But have anyone ever felt what it feels like to touch that? It might sounded ridiculous, but the thought remained. If they had the chance within their grasp, would they do it?

Cross-armed, Reanne sat straightly still on her Pokémon, feeling her long hair gently tugged constantly by Mary from the back. Mary seemed to have done a great job at grooming Reanne's hair, strand by strand, to what it should've been formerly. At least, her effort made Reanne's hair to be weighed down by gravity, some of it fluttering as the warm breeze came spreading across the open canyon. After engaging a successful proposal, Reanne remained silent as the others, one after another, had exchanged their names--including Tex the Slowbro as an unnecessary bonus. Her sleepy gaze wasn't exactly a nonchalant display of laziness or running out of nice things to say. Instead, the subject just became more interesting when they added even more things related to what they've been just through.

There were earthquakes? I didn't feel anything when I was doing this contest thing. The two sisters didn't mention anything about it either... The thought remained inside her mind, whereas she blinked as if she remembered something obscure, ...Ah, it must be them being too far apart from Shimmer. Should I explain it to them? She paused a bit before continuing, ...Nah, there's no need. Maybe next time.

A moment later, Reanne heard a light whisper from her back. It was Mary, who happily volunteered to tidy her hair as a mutual sign. She turned to face her, "Seeing stuff nobody else can, eh..." It didn't appear as obvious to her, but her mind was elsewhere when she thought of see-through matters. It must've been hard for Rose to see things she didn't ask for. So hard that Reanne would actually like to have the same ability as well. She might not be too gifted in terms of inheritance or the like, thus, the thought envied her that she didn't realize she was making a weird face.

"Eh heh, um, that wasn't so bad, was it?" Reanne's voice sounded reluctant as she tried to quickly divert what she had in mind, "Mm, I'm not the one who could really comment anything about one's possession. You know your sister more than I do, after all. In return, I..." Reanne winked reassuringly at Mary, "...have nothing to hide either. What you see of me is what I am." She continued, "Back to what you're doing, I must say that a thanks won't be enough to express my gratitude. You saved me the trouble of doing such tedious work, so I will do anything for you. How about that?" She dared herself, without thinking much of what could happen if she were to say that to anyone else.

As soon as she did, Reanne noticed one of the Trainers who took the questioning to the others. Deciding to hop in, she answered, "I come here to find out about what kind of contest is this. It does sound like fun." She giggled.

...He didn't think she was insane. That boy over there--Joseph, wasn't it? He didn't think she was crazy! ...Maybe he was crazy. Maybe they were both crazy! No, that would make them normal. Why wasn't anyone asking any questions?? She would be asking questions if someone told her they saw things that weren't real! Rose's cheeks turned a subtle shade of red as she tried to process people being nice to her. And like a dork, she wound up bashfully flashing a thumbs up back at Joseph after a moment, unable to collect herself enough to respond with words. However, Reanne had a very different reaction. Her aura bristled, and that look on her face--She barely even needed special eyes to figure out how Reanne was feeling right then, but it certainly took out the guesswork. That was an emotion she was very familiar with. She'd witnessed it dozens of times from her girl friends back home and at school. She knew exacty the color, shape, the texture, the way it moved. That was envy. But... why? For all her insight, she could not imagine why anyone would be envious of her eyes. If not because Mary had made her sound crazy but because...--Was that another feeling hidden in there? What was that? Ah well. If Rose spent all day trying to figure out what every mysterious emotion was in everyone's auras she'd get nothing else done.

"Ehehe, it's okay. If I see anything interesting, I'll be sure to let you know. That way, my eyes can be your eyes too!" Rose sheepishly replied, trying to work around that envy. If one were particularly perceptive, they might've noticed the sharp change from shame and embarassment earlier. Almost as if she knew the air had changed. "--I kinda need them for other stuff though, so they'll need to stay with me." Rose went on to add with a wink.

Nearby, Mary finished braiding Reanne's hair. Before she could even begin to gush over her work, Reanne expressed her gratitude by making ... a promise? Her eyes widened with wonder at one word in particular. ...'Anything'. Anything?? It stole the breathe right from her lungs, and she had to take a moment to gather it back. Mary beamed rather invitingly at the other once she registered that Reanne was being serious. "Wow~! That's one of the most romantic things anyone's ever said to me! It's a deal~!" Mary chirped rather eagerly in response, drawing an eye roll from Rose. "...Dork." she remarked, poking fun at Mary's choice of words. She knew Mary well enough to know that Mary tended to use the word romantic in a rather archaic way. It had gotten her sister some unwanted attention of her own from bullies, but Reanne didn't seem like the sort to take it the wrong way. Mary seemed unfazed by Rose's remark though, giggling at the teasing a bit.
"Apparently a new bus will be here to take us the rest of the way in about an hour. We should get any small time shopping we need done now before we're stuck here waiting for it to show up." Rose suggested.

"If you wanted, I could travel along with you once we get to Ignea. Then I could do your hair more often~!" Mary offered, seeming to have taken a strong liking to Reanne. One got the impression that she simply enjoyed the time they spent bonding together. Or in Rose's case, she got the impression that Mary had lost her freakin' mind. A spike of jealousy jabbed its way right into her heart. "--I thought you were going to travel with me!" Rose protested, not too thrilled with the implicit volunteering. "I wanna travel with both of you~!" Mary replied rather brightly. Rose averted her eyes down at the ground, feeling rather left out in spite of Mary's words. " . . . Would that be okay if my sister came along too? We can all figure out what to do together~" Mary suggested, taking notice of Rose's sulking.

Emmanuel smiled, taking the playful comment as a compliment. He was about to say something in response, Rose's long gaze caught him off-guard, causing him to swallow his words. The smile slowly gave way into a curious look, Emmanuel unsure of why her eyes were focused on him. Was she expecting a response? "I've never thought about it like that, but I think it fits." He finally said, pulling his shoulders back so that it pushed out his chest. Posture was an important part of looking manly.

He took a moment to size up the others, partly to avoid Rose's gaze. He eyes eventually found their way over to the brunette, Rose's sister, Maple, when he heard muffle something in response to Rose, then over to Reanne, the girl whose hair Maple was braiding. Emmanuel's own gaze lingered for a moment, and then the thought crept into his mind, how old was everyone here?

His gaze shifted downwards as his hand went rubbing against his chin. It was a matter of great importance for Emmanuel, and he had never been good at guessing ages. He thought to ask, but as he opened his mouth, he stopped himself just short. On second thought, he realized, probably not such a good idea.

"Where in Orre do you rein from Manny?" He heard voice ask him. He looked up to see Joseph, the younger man that had just introduced himself earlier. Emmanuel was thankful for the interruption to his thoughts, and it showed on his face. "I'm from Gateon," he said fondly, "but I spent a lot of years in Pyrite. Lots of great memories and battles there." He nodded along to himself reminiscently.

Having arrived at their checkpoint, Emmanuel noticed the Pokémon Center and excused himself to the group. "I'll see you all later," he said cheerily, jogging off to the building.
​

Hours pass as the bus finally pulls into the station. The bus honks it's horn as the group kicking the dirt take notice. Joseph Boards the bus anhd yells at everyone that the bus arrived. As Joseph climbs aboard the steel machine and walks towards the back, Releasing Caboose from his pokeball and feeding him a little food he picked up from the local mart.

---

Rose's playfully faux suspicion melted away when Manny played along, chuckling good-naturedly at his response. It was nice to stop and laugh a little after an uncomfortable brush up against death.

...The bus finally arrived, and the two sisters were spurred along to their final destination. Upon their arrival, they quickly joined Reanne in stretching after their long bus ride. Or well--Mary did. She'd managed to stay awake, while Rose wound up falling asleep against her. Speaking of Rose, she was looking slightly disheveled, but thankfully a...--well not a good rest but an okay one, proved to be enough to take her mind off of her anxieties for the time being.

"I really like that cool cat giving the speech." Mary murmured to Rose, keeping her voice relatively low so that they could still hear the speaker. Rose's brow furrowed. "...Dude, that dude puts more product in his hair than we do." Rose replied in disapproval, matching Mary's quiet volume. "He must love his hair even more than we do." Mary replied. "...That's not love. He looks like he smells like he looks." Rose replied rather flatly. "He looks like he could star in a movie! I bet he owns a BMW and an MBA~" Mary cheerily replied, unfazed. Rose shook her head. "Maybe as the grody villain... What are you--?" Rose began, only to do a double take as the speaker brought up love hotels. Huh? Had she misheard that? "Oowow!! Love hotels~!" Mary gushed, her eyes full of stars. That sounded like ... the most amazing hotel ever conceived! "...No." Rose firmly stated. "--But why? I wanna get my freak on~!" Mary innocently replied, thrusting her hands together in a pleading motion. Rose's face twisted a bit in mild disgust. She reached out and gently pressed her finger to Mary's lips, hushing her. "Shut--...Don't ever say that again. This is what Mom and Dad warned us about. Besides, ...I don't think those places are for girls." Rose softly scolded, passing a shifty glance over her shoulder as she tried to banish those thoughts. "But I see girls heading into one of the hotels right over there!" Mary countered, pointing over the crowd. Rose followed her gesture, catching sight of a group of women in matching uniforms. "I think those are employees." Rose explained. "...But why would they direct us to a hotel that isn't for girls?" Mary asked in confusion. Rose sighed softly. "...Honestly Mary, a lot of girls' parents probably wouldn't let them travel to a faraway region alone. That or they're chasing boys and settling down near their home town instead of adventuring. ...You know Mom got fired just for having us? It's still kind of a boy's world out there. Most of the contestants are probably boys too." Rose explained with mild distaste for the topic. "Oh... I guess that makes us rebels without a cause~!" Mary remarked, raising a fist and flexing an arm in an enthusiasticly competitive gesture and flashing a wink at Rose and Reanne, assuming the other was paying attention. Rose softly chuckled. "Sure. Why not. Just stay out of any love dens or anything weird like that. We're just here for the beds. ...The empty ones, with no one else in them." Rose decisively explained, only for her choice of words to immediately betray her and earn her an entirely bewildered look from Mary as she went on to correct herself. Her sister didn't have a clue what she was on about, and it showed on her face. Oh well...

Turning to Reanne, Rose smiled half-heartedly. "Hey Reanne? What do you think about going after those tribes? I figure we can battle any time we want any region we want, but we'll never get another chance to take on the tribes and whatever challenges they have in store for us. Plus, we can all get into the championship together that way!" Rose suggested. Mary considered this for a long moment. The logic was sound. The path was lined with mystery, intrigue and adventure. Her heart raced at the thought. "Oooh... I like that idea! Do you wanna do that, Reanne?" Mary eagerly chimed in, both of their attentions now settled on their de facto leader.