[PKMN FULL] Legends Of The Past: An Unova Journey [T]

Stinging Bea · Nov 20, 2015

Legends Of The Past: An Unova Journey

Tamber Mose - played by Himika

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Audrey Sargent - played by Nagi

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Kohana Mitsuki - played by Dragon

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Arthur Easton - played by Lucifer-San

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Ryker Ward - played by Decepito

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Drew Tucker - played by Shak

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Anders Orinn - played by Legend

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Adela Lani Azarola - played by Nakuzami

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Lilith Sira - played by Under_Score

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This is the IC thread. [S-HIGHLIGHT]Click here to see the SU/OOC Thread![/S-HIGHLIGHT]​

Stinging Bea · Nov 20, 2015

Chapter 1 - Route 19 - Summer - Sunny

Spoiler:

It is the morning you have long been waiting for. Today is the day that you receive your first Pokémon and Pokédex from Professor Juniper. You have been studying at the Trainer's School in Aspertia City for a long time now... and it's finally time to put all you have learned to the test! It promises to be a long and engaging journey... but a good adventure is never without its trials. This is not to say that you are going to be wandering around with no destination, however.

Professor Juniper has given you the task of heading to Nacrene City. It is there that the museum curator and Gym Leader, Lenora, has claimed to have uncovered something that could change the history of all we know about Pokémon! She has been very vague about the details, but it was more than enough to perk Juniper's curiosity. Besides, it is not like you cannot pursue your own dreams and goals while running this errand...

But perhaps we are getting ahead of ourselves. Before you can reach Nacrene City, you will have to travel along Route 19. It is not that long of a route, but it is lush with hills, groves, and trees. There are several kinds of wild Pokémon to catch... and several rookie trainers looking for a catch and a battle! Most of these trainers are kids and bug catchers. Lying at the end of Route 19 to the east is Floccesy Town. There is a Pokémon Center in the town, which houses traveling trainers for the night. The average trip across Route 19 generally takes a full day, so you should be able to arrive by sundown.

Wild Pokémon:

You can choose between the events listed below. Take note that each event will only happen once. In other words, if you and someone else picks the same event it highly suggested that you both work together and collaborate in the event. Please try and pick the events so things end up a bit evenly. It's not always fun for one person to be the odd man out and be left alone.

Events:

1) A young girl by the name of Sally is wandering around Route 19 trying to locate her lost Purrloin. She is vastly attached to this Pokémon and is desperate to find her best friend once more. She has been saving her money and is more than willing to share a Great Ball with each trainer who lends a hand in finding her Purrloin.

2) Alfred the Bug Catcher has caught sight of a wild Beedrill and will do anything he can to capture it. The problem? A Caterpie is not exactly the best Pokémon to succeed in this hunt with. Alfred has saved up a lot of money, and may be willing to pay the trainers who aid him in capturing this fully evolved Pokémon. If multiple trainers take this event, share the cash reward. There is plenty to give everyone their fair share.

3) In this chapter, you can also choose to not do any special event and just capture Pokémon or meet your rival or a random trainer or another player. No Great Ball or money should you choose this option, however.

Nakuzami · Nov 21, 2015

Adela Lani Azarola

2000

The Journey Begins

Chapter One: Route 19

Adela glanced down at the poké ball that she held in her hand. On her wrist was her new Xtranceiver, and a brand new pokédex sat in her pocket. She took a deep breath. This was an auspicious day indeed. She'd trained with pokémon before, but having her own pokémon and getting ready to set out on her own journey? This experience was brand new, and far more exhilarating than she had anticipated. Her whole being shivered with excitement.

She let out the breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. With a flick of her wrist, the red and white sphere flew from her hand and burst open with a flash of white light. The energy that it released took shape and molded itself into the form of a small bird.

Kneeling down in front of the little chicken as it shook itself out, sending little bits of orange and yellow down flying, she let out a small giggle and greeted it.

"Hello Koaiki, my little warrior."

The Torchic glanced up to her, its head tilting to the side as its wide eyes scanned her face. It stared at her for a moment, assessing her, before hopping forward a few times toward her, never shifting its gaze. She gave another laugh as she poked the little bird in the chest.

"Aren't you a curious little guy," she observed. The Torchic let out a little surprised squeak in protest to the sudden attack by the strange human's finger, but it didn't back off or cower.

Curiosity was stronger than fear.

She cupped her hands around the small creature and scooped him up in her arms. It was time to be off. Professor Juniper had tasked her with going to Nacrene City to speak to Lenora, the gym leader. Granted, she had also asked eight other people to do the same thing, but it was still more than worth it. Besides, she was excited to see more of Unova and to be able to catch and train her own pokémon on the way. The prospect of actually beginning her own adventure was still in the midst of dawning on her, and with every second her elation only grew.

She faced the path that led out of Aspertia City, and in four jubilant strides she found herself at the start of Route 19. Everything was about to change.

.

Della looked on from a distance as the little flock of Starly minded its own business. They looked so peaceful, just sitting there, socializing.

She was about to ruin all of that. Was this the meaning of being a pokémon trainer? To disturb the peaceful lives of wild pokémon as you trapped them in tiny spheres and forced them to battle each other for the rest of their lives? Monstrous. So, of course, she was going to do it anyways.

"Koaiki, wanna see what we can do?"

The little bird chirped his approval and leaped to the ground, away from his comfortable perch on his partner's shoulder.

Instantly half the flock of Starly flew away, startled. Two either didn't notice or didn't care about Della and Koa's arrival, and a third was sound asleep. Target acquired.

"Koa, let's start things off with a cute little Growl."

Koaiki gave a little chirp, which quickly evolved into a high-pitched drone. The two Starly that had stayed behind flew off, but the third one began to rouse itself from its slumber. It opened its eyes, shook off the sleep and then cocked its head as it gazed at Koaiki.

Koa continued to growl, and the Starly's head continued to tilt to the side, back and forth, as it analyzed the orange bird opposite of it. It let out a loud chirp that startled Koaiki into silence, before beating its wings to make itself appear larger. It took to the air, but instead of flying off, it circled above, glancing down at Della and Koa.

Della watched as the Starly began to pick up speed. She, unlike her partner, understood what was about to happen.

"Koa, it's going to swoop down with a Quick Attack! Wait for it to get close, then duck to the side!"

The Torchic turned his tiny face towards her, looking more confused than anything. In that instant, the starling pokémon dove towards the ground and slammed into the orange chick, knocking him off balance. He let out a little cry as he jumped back to his feet, glaring at the Starly angrily.

Adela laughed. The Torchic's angered expression was just too adorable.

"Aim high with an Ember!" she called out.

He didn't seem to hear her at first, however, doing his best to try and jump into the air and fly after his foe. Sadly, that wasn't working out too well for him.

"Koa, honey, you can't fly!" she reminded the bird. He simply chirped angrily in response before shooting a flurry of Embers at the Starly.

It saw most of the flames coming and avoided them rather easily, but as Koaiki became more annoyed, his aim became less accurate, which surprisingly proved beneficial. As the Starly dodged the steady stream that Koaiki had been spewing, it flew right into the path of a stray flame, which made contact and scorched the little bird's wing. Its flight devolved into an erratic descent as it lost its lift. It only took a few seconds for the Starly to greet the ground with its face.

"Now finish with a Crush Claw!" Della called. She'd seen that the Torchic had possessed the move when she scanned him earlier. It was a pleasant surprise, to say the least.

The chick sprinted in, his little flame crest trailing ever so slightly behind his head in the wind. He leaped into the air and spread his talons wide, coming down hard on the Starly and causing it to screech out in pain. Della cringed a bit herself at that.

"Okay, now clear out of there!" she called out as she reached for one of the empty poké balls on her belt. She pressed the button at its center, commanding the sphere to enlarge, before hurling it at the Starly. The petite bird disappeared in a flash of red light and the ball then fell to the ground below.

It shook once, twice, three times, and then it stopped. Della let out a gleeful giggle as she ran over and scooped up both Koaiki and the poké ball that now contained the Starly.

"Welcome to the team," she said, examining the poké ball. "Guess we'll have to come up with a name for you now, huh?"

This had already been an exciting day, and she was still hopeful for more.

Shak · Nov 22, 2015

Drew Tucker

To the Rest

Hunching against a tree, staring out at a bed of water; there were few things Drew could get more of a kick out of. While sleep and battling were certainly two things that were up there, whether they were above appreciating the scenery was debatable. He let out a deep sigh, acknowledging that he'd have to get up if were to avoid being left behind by the other trainers who professor Juniper had asked to aid her in her investigation.

He took the poké ball out of the small, but flashy case it had been sealed in, and threw it up in the air a couple times before it expanded. After the balls resizing, the young trainer tossed it casually to the ground. From the red beam of light that followed, a small green gecko materialised, and stood confidently before Drew.

"So, you're Treecko, huh?" Drew inquired lethargically. He reached into his hoodie's shallow pockets, immediately pulled out his pokédex. Treecko. The Wood Gecko Pokémon. The soles of its feet are covered by countless tiny spikes, enabling it to walk on walls and ceilings. The Treecko gave a welcoming gesture to his new trainer.

"Sounds convenient." The young trainer smiled. "I guess I'll think of a nickname for you later down the line or something. No point in dwelling on it now." The response his Pokémon gave him was a reassuring one.

The duo began onward through route nineteen, exchanging cheerful and enthusiastic dialogue, despite the fact neither could understand what the other was saying. Drew couldn't help but feel relieved that he wasn't forced to finish his last year of trainer school. Instead he was gifted with a rare Pokémon by professor Juniper. It wasn't like he was any kind of high achiever, he struggled to work out why he of all people was chosen. Given the other names that were mentioned, it seemed weird that he'd be in with that bunch.

Sure, that Anders guy was held back a year or two, but he was eighteen, so he was a whole year more experienced than everyone else. Then there was Arthur, he never seemed like one for class, but every time they had field work he'd always dive in head first. Surely he wasn't in the same bracket as the likes of Audrey or Tamber though, those two always seemed like high achievers. Even if they weren't, they likely were still above what Drew considered himself. Plus there was the Goth girl. He hadn't spoken to her much, but she seemed to have a decent grip on training as well. There was Ryker. He could at least say that he was on the same wavelength, but in terms of Pokémon training, it would be a ludicrous to assume he was as bad as Drew. Adela and Kohana seemed pretty skilled too, although he knew little about them. The thought made him sigh.

"Hey, Drew!" An unpleasantly familiar voiced burrowed like a knife in his ears. He muted his groan, before turning to face the voices source. "I see you got that Pokémon from Professor Juniper. My Pokémon!" He called out in annoyance. The last addition forced Drew to raise a brow.

"Your Pokémon? Ruben, what are talking about?" He responded dismissively. The larger boy clenched his left hand into a fist, and used the right to point at Drew's Treecko. The confused Pokémon looked up at his trainer for reassurance - Drew could offer none.

"I was supposed to the ninth trainer the professor called up, before your parents paid off her research team." Ruben snarled. He clutched onto the pokéball on his belt, and forcibly tore it off. "I guess since you got all cocky with your Juniper Pokémon, I'll have to prove to you that I'm the better trainer." He growled as he threw the ball.

"Got cocky?" Drew muttered under his breath. He hung his head, and could give Ruben no better response than an audible sigh. Without command from his trainer, Treecko stepped up to face the Lillipup that emerged from Ruben's pokéball.

"Rex, hit it with Tackle!" Ruben demanded, prompting his Lillipup to charge at Treecko. The grass type glanced back at his trainer, only to be disappointed by the fact he was still sulking about Ruben's announcement. As he turned his attention back to the battle, he was launched back by the impact of the Lillipup's head colliding with his. Treecko quickly recovered, and began to scold his trainer for not paying attention. In doing so, he left himself open to another attack from the aggressive Lillipup. This time however, he was able to barely dodge, and take the initiative to absorb energy from his opponent. Rex barely seemed harmed. At that moment, Treecko would really appreciated the contribution of his trainer. He felt as though he was the one doing the training. Again he shouted towards Drew, this time however, he showed a clear reluctance to take his attention off of the battle. Treecko continued to run in wide circles, keeping his distance from the Lillipup. "Odor Sleuth!" Ruben called out, distracting Treecko, if only for a second. Rex began charging at Treecko again, continuing the circles they'd been tracking before. Lillipup suddenly changed its path, catching Treecko off guard, and hitting him directly with another tackle.

Treecko was again launched back by the attack. This time, his recovery was much slower. He labouring found his feet. He glared back at Drew, who now was grinning. The grin only served to anger the struggling Pokémon. He stood up, he was greeted by another charging attack by the Lillipup.

"Absorb!" Drew called out. Treecko had no time to defy, and adhered to his trainer's ridiculous sounding order. Although he took considerable damage, Treecko was able to survive the Tackle attack. He stood, wavering. "Pound!" Drew ordered. Treecko again followed the command. He launched himself towards the Lillipup, who again fell back in pain. Drew's grin grew into a smile, which came with another attack for Treecko. "Let's finish this! Hit him with pound!" Treecko grinned, and now more enthusiastically went for the attack Drew commanded.

"Bite it." Ruben responded calmly. Lillipup's nose wriggled, before it quickly evaded the attack and countered by clamping its jaws on Treecko's leg. The grass type collapsed to the ground with a thud. "Rex, let him go." Ruben sighed, as he returned his Pokémon to its ball. "We were never gonna actually lose to this chump. He never deserved to get called up by Juniper." His voiced began to fade as he walked away. Drew could focus on nothing other than his fainted Treecko.

"Dammit." He grumbled. He ran over to Treecko, and picked him, before walking sorrowfully back towards Aspertia city.

Stinging Bea · Nov 23, 2015

Tamber Mose
Chapter 1: Prologue To Adventure
Aspertia City

"Her heart was racing with excitement as the brilliant and beautiful Professor Juniper gave her instructions. It was going to be the courageous rookie trainer's mission to travel to Nacrene City to obtain a great secret that was thought to have been lost to the Pokémon world! It was a secret so mysterious, it had the potential to change absolutely everything. The young girl was not sure why the Professor put such faith in her to obtain something that could be so potentially powerful, but Amber knew that she could not let Juniper down. She could not let herself down. This was the chance to put everything she had learned to the test, and Amber would be damned if she would falter in her goals."

Tamber Mose smiled as she read over everything she had just scribbled down in her trusty notebook. It looked rather good, if she were to be so bold about her own writing. Sure, there were probably a few rough spots in the chapter that she had been working on... But the girl was sure there would be a proper time to fix those slight mistakes later on down the road. For the time being, she had much more important matters to focus on.

Smiling, Tamber shut her notebook and stowed it back away in her bag. It was hard to believe that this was really happening. After what seemed like forever, the girl had finally received a Pokémon of her very own. It really was just the thing Tamber needed to jump start her inspiration as well. No sooner had she received the Pokémon and her request from Professor Juniper did the words literally just come pouring from her pen. The teenager was not sure just how much time had actually passed since she started writing. She always seemed to lose track of it when she managed to get on a roll when she felt she was crafting a wonderful work of the pen.

"Let's see... I guess the first thing I need to do is get to know you, huh?" Tamber mused aloud.

As she spoke, she gazed at the lone Poké Ball that was clipped to her belt. Inside of the ball was the Snivy she had received from Professor Juniper, the first of many Pokémon she would hopefully meet and come to call her own. Tamber recalled having a really troubling time in claiming one of the starters offered by the woman. There were just so many choices that could make a potentially good protagonist for her story. In the end, Tamber chose the Snivy. After all, what better choice for a Pokémon hero than that of the Grass-type, one who constantly faces trials and claims of being a "useless" or "bad choice"? It was the perfect choice to help craft a true underdog story! Taking hold of the ball, Tamber tossed it into the air and released the Snivy that awaited inside.

She watched with anticipation as the creature began to take shape from the beam of light that fired out of the ball. The Snivy stretched itself, as if it was just waking up after good night's sleep. Slowly, the little Grass-type blinked its eyes, looking all around before gazing up at its new trainer. It took Tamber all she had not to jump and hug the little thing to bits right there, especially when she noticed the way that the Snivy seemed to cower behind its own tail at the very sight of something much taller than her. Taking a breath, Tamber managed to take a much more calmer path. She knelt down to Snivy's level and gave the Grass-type a small smile.

"Hey there," she began, in as calm a tone as she could muster, given her excitement. "My name's Tamber. And it looks like we're gonna be partners from today on. I hope we can be good friends, yeah?"

She gently held out her hand towards the Snivy. The Grass-type in turn slowly shuffled forward. Tamber watched with flushed cheeks as the little Pokémon sniffed her hand gently, before slowly taking hold and crawling up to her shoulder. She noticed that the Snivy was very cautious in how it approached things, maybe even a bit of a coward in some regards.

"Which makes it an even better choice for the hero!" Tamber thought with a broad smile. She slowly rose to her feet, gazing over her shoulder at her new Pokémon. "Now, the first thing we need is a name for you... Professor Juniper told me earlier that you're a girl... you know, like me." As she spoke, Tamber pointed from the Snivy to herself and then back again. She really was not too sure whether or not the Snivy understood, but at least the sight of the creature staring intently at her meant that she was paying attention. "So... I was thinking of something plant-related. How about... Sage?"

The newly-dubbed Sage blinked her eyes once more. A small smile seemed to take to her face as she nodded, clearly liking the name that Tamber had picked for her. Without wasting a single moment, Tamber quickly grabbed her notebook and began to scribble away again as she and Sage made for Route 19. This was going to be one Adventure that was a true page-turner. Tamber swore on it.

Legend · Nov 27, 2015

Anders Orinn

"Mhmmm, nah," Anders said, relaxing on a rock. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes, fiddling with the box. A small Tepig sat by him, curious as to what Anders was doing, smelling the box with a tinge of distaste.

"What do you mean 'mhmmm nah'? You can't deny someone a battle! That's against the code!" The other trainer snapped back. Anders recognized the boy, who was relatively small compared to Anders. Then again, everyone was. His name was Ruben, and he was to be ninth trainer selected but some kid named Drew snatched his place. Anders wasn't stupid and knew Ruben had a grudge against pretty much all of them. That was probably why he went out of his way to track the tall blonde.

As Ruben spoke, Anders gestured to Tepig to light his cigarette for him. The Tepig obliged with a small ember, hardly more than a spark. As soon as it was ready, Anders took a long drag and breathed some smoke into Ruben's features. The body waved his hand with fervor, trying to pass through the cloud but hardly succeeding. "Do I really look like I give a crap about some code? I hardly paid attention in the Academy to be honest with you," he continued, not bothering to make eye contact.

"H-how the hell did you even get a Pokemon then?!" Ruben protested. "You know this just proves I should've had your spot!"

Taking another pull, Anders sighed this one, almost coughing due to a poor exhale. Looking at Ruben with rolled eyes, he felt a wave of mixed emotions, feeling frustration and disbelief sweep into his countenance. "Do you say this to everyone you try to ask out? I can't imagine it working well at all."

Ruben's entire body tightened in anger, as Anders completely dismissed his every gesture. The man was a total shift from Drew, whom he beat earlier. Anders seemed…detached from the sheer idea of being trainer, spitting on age-old traditions with glee, rather than regret. It was nauseating. "Are you going to battle me or not? Because right now, it seems you are avoiding it. You were always the unmotivated underachiever, constantly squeeking by. You don't deserve your Pokemon, your Pokedex or anything you got. I think I'll just take them from you. Arceus knows I can do a whole lot better with them than you."

"You know," Anders began. "Continuing to say no seems far too intriguing to not do, considering you can't really force me to do anything. But, your voice irritates me. And your attitude, it almost reminds me of my brother. I hate my brother. So if me crushing your little dream of proving your worth to the rest of Juniper trainers gets you off my back….well, that's a temptation I just can't refuse." Anders' entire visage was swimming with confidence, looming over Ruben with smoke leaving his mouth. This time he was careful to exhale at the side, allowing Ruben the opportunity to leer back into Anders' dark shades.

"Dont say I didn't warn you," Ruben countered as he dropped his Pokeball, summoning a Lillipup from the bright lights. Anders hardly reacted, whistling lowly as his Tepig ran to his side. "I wanted Treeko a bit more, but Tepig would have been a good choice."

"Oh really? Shame that betting you will beat me is pointless," Anders snickered. "After all, Anton here is far superior to anything your little mutt can muster."

"Fat cha-"

"Anton, use body slam!" Anders sought as he jumped back, kicking up a bit of dirt as he did. Anton, the Tepig, flung himself forward wrapping his hooves around the Lilipup. With a short pivot, Anton spun around, lifting the Lilipup up and suplex-ing the dog-like Pokemon through the cloud of dust. Ruben seemed almost surprised, not necessarily at the Tepig's feat of strength and battle prowess, but rather Anders' close to sneak attack as he has seen in his brief career as a trainer.

"Rex, counter with Bite!" Ruben tried to muster Lilipup back, clearly trying an aggressive attack to claw himself back into the battle. However, momentum was on Anton's side. Rex couldn't move, either dazed or paralyzed from the impact of Anton's swift attack. Anton didn't even an order, immediately following his body slam with a tackle, knocking Rex further on to his back.

Anton was fired up from that moment, and was letting the fervor of battle fuel his every move. Anton unleashed an ember attack, flooding the field of battle with fire. Rex leapt up and amanged to dodge the onslaught of flame.

"Good job, now fight back with a bite!" Ruben orderd with a spark of insirpation. Rex, swerving through the spouts of fire littered about the ground, showed determination. It was surprising, considering how handily Anton snatched control over the battle. Rex was quick, however, not letting the opportunity slip him by. He pushed forward and eventually latched onto the small shoulder of the Tepig. Anton began to swing violently, hoping to knock the fading Lilipup down. Rex, sensing another chance to carry his momentum, let go Anton and hopped back, gearing up for another attack. "Follow up with a tackle!"

"Defense Curl!" Anders finally spoke up, handing out his second official order. Rex bolted towards Anton, but as he made contact, Anton hardly moved. He was amply braced for the attack, the damage hardly more than a chink in the hide of the fire starter. "Now, finish him. I'm bored." Anton, flung himself down, crushing Rex with amplified force of his body weight, landing what could only have been a critical body slam.

"N-no way," Ruben said, in a flood of disappointment and disbelief. "You can't beat me. You didn't even give a cr-"

"Yeah, yeah. Can it. I've heard it before," Anders replied, patting his Tepig on the head. "Now, if you are done fawning over how much better I am than you, I got better things to do. There were a couple chicks in my class I need to find and flirt with. Most of them are prettier than you too." Anders packed up his things and waved goodbye, as Ruben wallowed in his own defeat.

Lucifer-san · Nov 28, 2015

Arthur Easton
Stand back for the extreme lifestyle hero guys!

It was a nice day, the type of day that made you want to go outside and play extreme catch. The sun was shining, the flowers were blooming, days like these were perfect for the start of an adventure! Arthur pumped out a set of push-ups on one hand in the shade of a tree, he had to stay in tip-top shape or else his Pokemon adventure would stop before it even began. If you weren't strong enough physically then what was the point of being strong mentally. However, he was honestly working out all of the excess energy that he had built up. He was just super freaking excited that he'd finally gotten his first Pokemon!

"Heck yeah! Bout to have a grand adventure!" Pushing himself up from his position on the ground a wide happy grin stretched across his face. He had his Pokemon and he had a mission he needed to accomplish, but he was just so freaking pumped up! I mean how couldn't he be pumped, there was just every freaking reason to be. "Ahh! I can't keep it contained, this day can't possibly be ruined!"

"Oh, I see that you graduated Arthur. I guess if even an addlepated idiot like you can pass, I was right for not joining the stupid trainer school." The voice that spoke was one filled with arrogance and an obvious obnoxiousness, it was the one person that could possibly bring down his good mood if he tried hard enough. The slick blue hair, tan jacket and khakis were a signature of one Lias Ruse. Turning his head to face him, he could see Lias standing there with a smug grin plastered across his face.

"Oh, it's you. Howdy Lias, how's it hangin?" Trying to keep himself chipper Arthur made sure to offer his former friend, or um current rival, a friendly greeting. His mother had always told him to greet other kindly, it was after all the polite thing to do.

"Oh, you know, being better than you as usual. Though, with how stupid you are, that's not particularly hard. Anyway, where's your Pokemon at? I heard the graduates of the school got a Pokemon from Professor Juniper." Despite the rudeness, Lias actually seemed quite interested in which Pokemon Arthur had chosen as his starter. Arthur didn't see any reason in declining his interest, so unclipping the Pokeball from his waist he tossed in the air.

"Come on out, Squirtle!" With a beam of red light and a jet of bubbles Squirtle came out and landed on the soft grass.

"Hahahaha! You picked the weak little water turtle, I mean I know you're an idiot but I didn't know how much of an idiot you were until now. You had so many choices and you decide to pick a turtle, oh well I guess at least it's as durable as you are." The smugness that radiated off of him was nearly palpable as he pulled two Pokeballs off of his belt and tossed them. What came out of them both were a Sneasel and a Pikachu.

"Oh, you have Pokemon of your own? That's super awesome! That means that your now officially my rival, lets battle to test our strength." Arthur, wouldn't let his enthusiasm be drowned out that easily just because Lias wanted to be a grouch. The snort of dismissal that came from Lias managed, however to get to him slightly.

"Like I'd battle a newbie who doesn't have a second Pokemon yet. As of now, you don't even register as a blip on my radar for someone to test myself against." The smug grin on his face stretched even further as he spoke. "Who knows, maybe one day I'll actually fight your little turtle and show you just how garbage you are compared to me. Hahahaha!" With that Lias walked away, leaving behind Arthur and a disgruntled Squirtle, following behind Lias were his Sneasel and Pikachu.

"Well, that went...somewhere." Even Arthur was feeling a tad bit disheartened after that. However, slapping both his hands to his face he kept himself from getting upset. "Gotta stay positive, can't let him get me down. I'm still going to have extremely awesome adventure!"

With a noise of affirmation, Squirtle jumped up onto Arthur's shoulder with a determined look. This was going to be an awesome adventure regardless of what tried to dampen his moods. Besides, maybe he can figure out how to try and make Lias stop being a downer.

Sweet Dreams · Nov 30, 2015

-- Lilith Sira --

Location: Route 19
Objectives: Befriend Mudkip, speak with Lenora
Status: Somewhat overwhelmed
Other: N/A

Meet and Greet

A breeze gently swept through the route, caressing the grass as it blew by and offsetting the warmth from the merry sun. It was truly an auspicious day for all the graduates that were making their way out into the world. They were battling, training, catching Pokemon, or, in the case of one particular graduate by the name of Lilith Sira, kneeling in the shade of a tree and fiddling with measuring tape. A little blue Pokemon was standing there, appearing quite curious about the tape that was being held against it, but pleased with the attention nonetheless.

Lilith drew her arm back from where it had been measuring the height and width of the fin on the Pokemon's head to make a few notes in a book on the ground beside her. Her movements were slow and methodical as she picked up the tape once more and returned to her task.

It was only a little while later that the Pokemon began to grow somewhat restless. It let out a sharp cry, startling Lilith into freezing where she was holding the tape against its leg. She blinked and noticed the impatient expression on the Pokemon's face as well as the way it kept shifting around.

"Oh! I'm sorry," murmured Lilith as she reached out to pet the Pokemon on the head. "You did great."

The Pokemon lit up at the praise and proudly puffed its chest out. Lilith giggled and closed her notebook. She'd gotten enough measurements to work with, and she could always do this again for anything she may have missed.

"It's okay now. Go stretch your legs," Lilith said. The Mudkip jumped a little in excitement, the fin on its head twitching a little, before it immediately rolled in the grass with a happy grin.

It occurred to Lilith that she honestly didn't know anything about this Pokemon. She'd chosen it because she'd been struck by how cute it was, especially the way it had posed to try and get attention. She wished she had some way of finding out more about the Pokemon.

...Oh. Wait. She did.

Lilith slipped the Pokedex out from the front pocket of her bag. She'd almost forgotten about it entirely, even though it had literally been given to her earlier that day. It was probably expected that she'd have used it the moment that she'd received her Pokemon from Professor Juniper but she'd ended up completely forgetting.

Aiming it at the Pokemon where it was pawing at the ground, Lilith pressed the button in the center of her Pokedex.

"Mudkip, the Mud Fish Pokemon," it immediately intoned. A picture of the Pokemon in question appeared on the screen, while some stats appeared below it. "The fin on Mudkip's head acts as highly sensitive radar. Using this fin to sense movements of water and air, this Pokémon can determine what is taking place around it without using its eyes. "

The Mudkip perked up on hearing the Pokedex and started running excited circles around Lilith. She smiled at it for a moment before turning her attention back to the Pokedex.

"Oh, so you're female!" Lilith said as she read through some of the stats. The Mudkip did a fancy little spin on one of its forelegs by way of answer. Lilith was very quickly learning that her Pokemon was a show off.

After a cursory glance at the Mudkip's move list, Lilith put her Pokedex away once more. "Hmm," Lilith hummed thoughtfully. "How about I give you a name?"

The Mudkip's eyes positively sparkled. She hopped into Lilith's lap, carelessly leaving a few damp spots. Lilith merely giggled again.

So... a Mud Fish Pokemon. What could be a good name...?

Lilith pet the Mudkip idly as she thought. "How about... Ennil?"

The Mudkip tilted her head curiously.

"It describes a river running through the desert," Lilith clarified. The mudkip paused for a moment before nodding enthusiastically, jumping out of Lilith's lap to strike another pose. "I guess that's a yes!"

The newly named Ennil beamed. "Mudkip!"

Thew two barely had any time to revel in their bonding moment, however, as a girl's voice drifted over to them. "Purrloin!" she called, voice thick with tears. "Puurrloin! Where are you?"

The young girl rounded the tree and stopped upon catching sight of Lilith and Ennil. "Please," she hiccuped, "have you s-seen a Purrloin around here?"

Lilith shook her head, eyes wide. The girl seemed to deflate. "If-if you see my Purrloin, could you bring him back to me?" Desperation leaked through her voice. "Please, I can give you a Great Ball if you do! My name's Sarah. Please, please tell me if you see him."

Lilith nodded gently, and silently hoped that the Purrloin hadn't actually crawled somewhere to die. "We'll look for him," she said instead.

"Thank you," Sarah whispered before trudging away once more, calling out to her lost companion.

Lilith and Ennil looked at each other. Well, at least they knew what they were going to be doing with their afternoon.

Shak · Nov 30, 2015

Drew Tucker

Two Birds With One Ball

The bell of the Pokémon centre rung to announce the arrival of a significantly unimpressive figure. Nurse Joy poked her head round the corner, she sighed as she laid her eyes on a young trainer carrying his Treecko.

"What happened here?" She asked with concern. She ran over to Drew and took Treecko into her embrace. Audino jogged out, pushing a stretcher almost twice her size, prompting the nurse to place the injured Pokémon gently down onto it. Drew sighed, but gave no verbal response to Nurse Joy's enquiry. She looked over him, before accepting that she probably wouldn't be receiving a response. After dismissing Drew, nurse joy retreated to her back room, where she continued to go through with whatever treatment procedure was necessary.

The Pokémon centre was dull. Drew had little interest in books and magazines while he waited to hear the fate of his injured Pokémon. Few things would have cheered him up at that point; thankfully, one of those few things revealed itself in the form of a familiar female voice. The condescending and mocking tone that the voice carried with it meant it could only be one person.

"Wow, in this place already, huh?" The female voice chuckled. Drew managed to crack a small smile in response.

"I could say the same to you, Paige." He grinned. Paige was the only person he still knew from his time in Kanto. She often acted as a face of comfort for him since his difficult move from Vermillion. She stood over him, her black fringe casting almost a menacing shadow across her face. She wore a black and pink checked shirt. Her red sweater was wrapped around her waist, and looked almost like a belt around her black jeans. Drew's gaze drifted off, but was quickly returned to her face as she replied to his comment.

"Not quite." She laughed. "I'm actually just here to run an errand. My Pokémon are perfectly fine." As she spoke, she unhooked a Poké ball from her belt, showing Drew the ball. She couldn't resist the smug expression that was creeping onto her face. "I'd challenged you to a battle, but…" Paige continued.

"You can at least let me see your Pokémon, right?" Drew interrupted in a pleading fashion. Paige simply wagged her finger and grinned again.

"Nope. You'll have to battle me to see that. Until then." She chirped, as she slipped out the door. Drew sighed, returning his attention back to the front desk. It wasn't long before the nurse returned with his Poké ball. Few words were exchanged during the encounter beyond simple advice, an expression of both concern and gratitude, and finally reassurance.

Immediately after exiting the centre, Drew tossed his Poké ball to the ground. Treecko emerged from the ball, but he seemed far from pleased to see his trainer. The wood Gecko crossed his arms and turned his head away in frustration. It didn't take Drew long to work out why his Pokémon was annoyed.

"I guess I owe an apology, huh?" The young trainer sighed. "It won't happen again. What Ruben said just got to me y'know? Count yourself lucky you haven't met my parents." He took a deep breath, relieving the heavy weight on his chest. Despite the scowl that remained on his face, Treecko shrugged in dismissal of the situation.

"Thanks…ummm…" Drew began, before realising he was still yet to nickname his Pokémon. Man, I really shoulda thought of this earlier. He thought to himself, with an expression of deep contemplation. The two began, with Treecko leading, towards Route nineteen.

The sound of violent and frantic squawking polluted the otherwise tranquil sounds of route nineteen. Drew and the still nicknameless Treecko followed the sound and found themselves at the body of water Drew had been gawking at earlier. A small rustling in the bushes seemed to be the source of the sound.

"A Pidgey!" Drew called out in excitement as he laid eyes on the noisy flying type. He knelt down to untangle the bird's leg, which had somehow managed to get caught in some tightly wrapped branches. "How'd you manage this in the time it took me to get here and back?" He chuckled, refusing to acknowledge his battle with Ruben and the trip to the Pokémon centre that followed. Treecko refused to join his trainer in the heroic endeavour and instead stood a good distance.

The branches remained stubborn, and it wasn't long before Drew's frustration grew. With a sigh, he shrugged and began to walk away from the frustrated Pokémon.

"Sorry buddy, I can't help you." Treecko glared at his trainer in disappointment. He grabbed a Poké ball from around Drew's waist, and tossed it at the struggling Pidgey. After a single stagger, the ball jolted open with the now infuriated Pidgey emerging from inside it. Without heed, the Pidgey charged at Treecko, who took the initiative to dodge the attack. "Treecko, Pound!" Drew ordered. Treecko, although he had no complaints, took second to glance back at his trainer in shock. He followed the order, launching himself at Pidgey. The flying type made no hesitation in taking to the air, flying just out of Treecko's reach. Time to react was thin. Treecko was hit by a gust attack from the retreating Pidgey.

Drew had to think fast, he knew he couldn't afford to let Treecko be hit by too many flying type attacks: "Hit it with Absorb!" He called out, determined to give the Pidgey as little time as possible to recover. Green balls of energy were drawn from the bird, replenishing the grass type who used the attack. "Barely even flinched." Drew groaned as the bird began to flap his wings for yet another gust attack. "You're gonna have to dodge this one Tree-" He began. Treecko turned expecting his trainer to continue, but was unsuspectingly taken by the small tornado the Pidgey had whipped up. "Ace!" Drew called out to the barely conscious Pokémon. He found his feet again, wincing in pain. "We gotta end this quickly, buddy." He sighed with an air of guilt.

The Pidgey became irritant, and instead of attacking Treecko again, dived at full speed towards Drew. The trainer looked down at the Poké ball Treecko had thrown to free the Pidgey. He quickly rolled to evade the attack from the bird. He picked Treecko, and grabbed the ball. It seemed heavier than it was before, and for some reason, it hadn't shrunk back down to its original size. The second he found his feet, he took aim, and flung the ball at the incoming Pidgey.

The ball bounced off of the birds head with a dull clunking sound. The Pokémon crashed to the floor in pain.

"That didn't work." Drew mused in a mixture of worry and confusion. He looked down at Treecko, who managed to find his way out of Drew's arms and onto the floor. "Guess it was just the Poke ball, huh, Ace?" He chuckled awkwardly. The newly dubbed, Ace ignored his trainer and limped towards the fallen, but not yet unconscious Pidgey. Drew followed behind, with a fresh Poké ball in his hand.

The duo stood over the small bird, before Drew placed the ball against it, and it was sucked inside in a flash of red light. The ball rocked three times, followed by an approving beep. Drew sighed and smiled at the same time. Ace collapsed to the ground.

"Guess I'm going back there again." He sighed, reflecting on his earlier encounter with Paige. "I'm sure she'd never let me live this down." He returned Treecko to the ball and headed back to Aspertia city once again.

Dragon · Dec 1, 2015

Kohana x Tamber
A purrrr-fect meeting!

"I've been taken somewhere without light... the only thing that gives me hope... is someday, my prince will come. Ohh I wonder what they will look like.. will they be wearing a hat? Will they shine like a newborn Solrock? Mr. Flower? Oh, Mr. Flower, do you know what my prince will look like? You wouldn't know, wouldn't you... hehe."

The wind whistled through the young woman's hair, her eyes twinkled, as if they were reflections of mirrors. All she could think about was her wonderful paradise. Of course, the only audience to her was her Bulbasaur, sitting in front of her, giving her a blank stare.

"Hmm, I'm not really much of a poet after all, am I?" the young woman said, crumpling up the written piece of paper she had. "Like this paper, it looks like my career is just as crumpled, wouldn't you say?" Her Bulbasaur didn't respond, as she stood up from the nearby tree she leaned against upon. The town she was in quiet, yet like a pallet, it was pure, and rich of life. The flowers bloomed, and the pidoves flew along with their flock.

The young girl, Kohana Mitsuki, was a 18-year old beginning trainer who recieved her very first pokemon not too long ago. Her Bulbasaur was attractive to her, as it resembled the symbol of life, the pure color green. Eyes as red as a crimson blase, she once described her bulbasaur. The symbol of the embargo of fire. My Bulbasaur beared this mark. The sitgma of strength.

"All I ask for is your strength," Kohana said to the young creature, remembering her description of it. "So we can reach our dreams, unlike a soar bulb, hehe!" Her Bulbasaur ignored the small joke and cried in agreement. It was a small and shy little creature, but deep-down, it resonated with Kohana easily. Like two peas in a Metapod, Kohana would say.

"Hm, what was the Route called? 19?" Kohana pondered to herself. "I just hope that 19 is our lucky number. Wouldn't say, Bulbasaur?" The young pokemon cried in agreement. "Then let's reach our dreams, blazing like a Charmander's tail! Or in your case... er, the bulbiest... saur?"

The young pokemon grunted as it leaped ahead of Kohana, leaving Kohana to chase after it, towards the new Route.

Elsewhere on the route, Tamber rubbed the back of her head in defeat with a sigh. "This really isn't working out too well for us, Sage." The Snivy glanced over at her trainer, a look of rejection quickly taking over her face. Tamber's eyes widened at the sight of this, quickly kneeling down to her side and petting her small head gently. "No, no... It's not your fault! I think that maybe... we're just trying a bit too hard."

It had been their third failed attempt at catching a wild Pokémon. So far, the duo had tried to catch two Starly, both of which managed to escape. Then they tried to take on and catch a wild Poliwag, but Sage ended up fainting the tadpole... which caused it to fall into the nearby river... which caused it to avoid a capture as well. They were just starting out and Tamber did not expect perfection by any means, but she did notice that Sage seemed to be taking it a bit harder than she was.

"L-Look... Clearly the problem is you're just too strong, Sage!" Tamber exclaimed, trying her best to reassure the Snivy and lift her spirits. "We should just try again on another route. I'm sure we'll have better luck on an area not so close to Aspertia, yeah?"

The Snivy did not look too sold on the idea yet, but she nodded in response anyways. Smiling, Tamber held out her arm to let Sage crawl back up to her shoulder. She was glad that the little snake-like Grass-type was starting to feel a bit better so quickly.

Meanwhile, Kohana, having caught up to her partner Bulbasaur, continued on through the beginning of the Route. It wasn't that long from when Kohana chose this journey from the Johto region, but so fair it's been nothing but rewarding to her. She saw pokemon she never seen before, and the people were quite pleasant. Too pleasant... Was being pleasant a weakness? That was a questionthat's been burning on her mind, ever since that fateful day.

You've shamed me for the last time! Now leave!

Kohana shook her head vigirously, trying to get that memory out of her head. It was like a dream, but it was real. It really happened. She always had to live with that afterthought in her dreams each day, and each night. She thought that this journey would be her salvation, but with no success so far. Perhaps someday.. she'll find the strength she's looking for.

Her Bulbasaur cried out to her, just a bit worried about Kohana's sad expression. Kohana looked down towards it and smiled. "I'm sorry, did I worry you?" she asked. "I'm fine.. don't worry." Her Bulbasaur continued on with her.

Soon the duo came to a clearing. They saw the many species of vegetation grow, as the pokemon around them were just living in their habitats. It is true... the Unova region hold many pokemon I only see in books, Kohana thought. There are sure to be many more strong ones along the way... oh? What's this?

She then saw what it looked like to be a small snake-like pokemon, on a shoulder of what it looked like to be another trainer in the area. She looked about Kohana's age. A strange pokemon... she pondered. She then jogged over towards her, with her Bulbasaur following behind. "Pardon me!" she called out, with Bulbasaur just lagging behind. "That's quite the fascinating pokemon...! Just what is it?"

Tamber turned at the sound of the voice, quickly recognizing her as one of those who received a Pokémon from Professor Juniper. She really did not recall talking to the girl before her much back at the academy, but she did not see that as a reason to be rude by any means. Sage on the other hand, seemed to take a much more cautious approach to the situation. The Snivy was quick to duck behind Tamber's shoulder, just barely peeking over to keep her eyes on the new stranger.

"Oh... Yeah, this is a Snivy I received from Professor Juniper!" Tamber explained, gesturing to the cowering Sage. "Ah... Sorry for that, she's not too good around new people. Um... You're one of the nine that got one too, right?" Tamber pointed down towards the Bulbasaur as she asked.

"Hm... the Professor... Oh yes, I remember now! Sssssnivy, the tiny sssssnake pokemon, sssslithering its way to victory, teehee-- ow!" she said a joke only to be slapped by Bulbasaur's Vine Whip. "I'm sorry, I couldn't help it!" she pleaded to her partner.

"Aha, well, do you knoooow... Bulbasaur?" Kohana asked, picking up the young grass pokemon. "Don't worry, it's bulb is not that 'saur' at all, hehehe!" Her pokemon cried softly in embarissment.

Tamber blinked slowly, not really sure of what to think of this greeting. The puns... they were a bit much to deal with, but at least the Bulbasaur seemed to be there help keep things under control in some fashion. Sage peered closer at the Bulbasaur, a small smile coming to her mouth as she waved at her familiar friend.

Tamber extended her hand towards the girl, putting a warm smile on her face in the process. "I don't really recall seeing you too often back at the school, so just in case... I'm Tamber, and this here is my partner, Sage."

"I am Kohana," she greeted back. "And well, I never really stood out, I suppose... Honestly, I was always nervous around pokemon. Like a curse. Fortunately, once I met Bulbasaur, it lifted and strength grew in my eyes. Bulbasaur and I are now on a journey together. Being with pokemon... perhaps that is the ultimate strength."

Her Bulbasaur cried in agreement. "Oh but enough about me, what about you? Are you having fun?"

Tamber nodded. "It's been pretty cool, so far. We haven't had much luck in catching anything, but... I guess there's more to being a trainer besides that, right?" As she spoke to Kohana, Sage slid down Tamber's arm and landed on the ground gently. She still kept close to her trainer, but the Snivy began to sniff around before edging just a tad closer to Kohana and Bulbasaur. "This trip is already giving me a bit of inspiration though, you know? Just the thing I needed to kickstart my brain for a good story."

"Ah, yes! A legendary story that will be shared to our children, and our children's children!" Kohana agreed, with twinkle on her eyes. "The young princess, vigilant on aquiring new pokemon, goes against a feirce dragon, who was causing trouble! And as the feel beast struck, she awakens her legendary power...!"

Her Bulbasaur kept quiet with it's head down. "Indeed, to be a trainer, we must stand up against Hydro Pumps! Stand our great against a fiere Fire Blast! Protect the kids against a strong Earthquake! Sometimes that I inspire to from reading books, in fact!"

Tamber bit her bottom lip for a moment. Kohana's excitement was so great, she did not have the heart to tell her that the story was not going to be that deep into the fantasy world. "Y-Yeah, something like that! Eventually, anyways... It's still a work in progress."

Before Tamber could carry the conversation further, the sound of running footsteps caught her ear. The author-in-making turned to see a rather flushed, distressed-looking young girl running towards her and Kohana. She stopped just short of the two teenagers, trying to catch her breath for a moment before looking up at the two of them anxiously.

"E-Excuse me!" she panted, taking just a second to wipe her brow with her forearm before continuing. "H-Have either of you two seen a Purrloin around anywhere?"

"A Purrloin?" Kohana asked the young girl. "Hm, could it be that you've got a cat-tastrophe at your hands-- ow!" She told a joke, only to be vine whipped by her Bulbasaur again. "I-I'm sorry. I haven't. I just got here, after all."

"Good thing you've got that Bulbasaur to whip you into..." Tamber began, her eyes widening at the words she started saying. "Now you've got me doing it."

The younger girl simply stood there, looking between the two teenagers. It was clear she really did not know what to think of the duo already. "Um... Th-That's okay, it wasn't that bad of a joke..."

"That's a nice way to put it, I guess..." Tamber thought, before returning her own focus to the situation at hand. "Is the Purrloin you're looking for yours? Or was it one you were trying to catch?"

"Oh, he was mine!" the younger girl answered anxiously. "M-My name is Sarah, and I've been looking all over for him. I found another trainer earlier, a girl dressed in a black, really frilly looking dress. She's trying to help me find him, but I haven't heard back from her since she started looking..."

"So you figured getting some more people involved in the search would help?" Tamber asked.

Sarah nodded in response. "I know you're probably both busy, but... I'm really worried about him! Can you help me?"

"Of course dear," Kohana quickly responded. "If my dear Bulbasaur was lost, I don't know what I would do, after all... I will help you on your folly. What say you, dear friend?" she then asked, turning to Tamber.

"I'm sure that together, we'd make the perfect team in this search! Or should I say.. the puuuurrrrfect team, teehee!"

Tamber seemed to miss Kohana's latest quip. Rather, her eyes were shining with excitement at the oppurtunity that just presented itself. A search for a missing Purrloin! A young girl coming to her for help! It was a story that was just begging to be told, an epic chapter for her future novel! She would have to be crazy to turn this chance down!"

"Yes, of course!" Tamber agreed. "Leave it to us! We'll find your Purrloin, no sweat!"

To be continued

Nagi · Dec 11, 2015

Ryker & Audrey

The girl shielded her eyes from the sunlight with her arm as she looked at the sky above Route 19. A few clouds lazily drifted across the vast blue, but the shadows cast by those small blemishes couldn't possibly diminish the excitement for the journey she was about to undertake. Audrey bit her lip and tightly gripped her sole companion's Pokéball - she couldn't help but feel nervous. Even though Route 19 was more than familiar to her, what with all the fieldwork they had to do here for school, today it felt different. Today, it was the first step on the journey of a lifetime.

Unfortunately however, this moment of solitude and preparation... the moment of true beginnings that every trainer treasures was about to be ruined by another beginner who wasn't having such a dramatic and inspiring time of things. "W-Why..." A rasping gasp could be heard a few feet behind as a young man whom looked absolutely exhausted dashed out from around the corner, a small blue pokémon snickers with a wild look in its eyes as it dodges red beam after red beam while dashing forward. Ryker had been at this for at least ten minutes, the professor had informed him that his new partner would be troublesome but had he known that it was ready to sprint away upon its second ever time being released? Well, Ryker was starting to seriously regret his choice in starter.

Ryker gritted his teeth in annoyance and frustration. He had more important things to be worrying about... this little... little... water rat was just getting in the way! "Just... come 'ere damn it!" Running forward with a final burst of energy he presses down the pokéball to shoot out the red return beam, but overshoots drastically as Ryujin, his Oshawott, stops running suddenly. "E-eh?" With a quick swipe of his shell, Ryujin knocks the balance out of the still running Ryker's feet. He falls forward in a moment of anger and shame, the world seems to slow momentarily as he catches a glimpe of the small water type laughing before... Crash! He hits something surprisingly soft before hitting the expectedly hard ground with a cold, embarrassing thud. He simply lays there for a few moments, wondering where he had gone wrong in life to deserve any of this, he hadn't even realize that the initial softness to break his fall was a little less than pleased.

In her moment of contemplation, Audrey had failed to take notice of the source of the noise behind her - that is, until it promptly crashed into her. She was knocked over, instinctively putting her hands forward to break her fall. Doing so caused her to drop the Pokéball she'd been holding on the ground however, and her starter 'mon, Theo the Charmander, was released abruptly. Letting out a battle cry, the fire critter surprisedly turned around to find his trainer on hands and knees, with another human beside her. Audrey sat up on her knees, patted off her hands and angrily faced the other trainer before standing up.

''What do you think you're doing?! Watch where you're going, will you?!''

Ryker grimaced slightly at the shrill voice now shouting at him, his expression contorting against the pavement it pressed against. He heard a sadistic laughter off to the side and turned his head just enough to see his new "partner" laughing away to himself. Moving his hand with some video game combo level reflexes, from the ground he shoots a final return beam and sucks the snivelling little rodent back into its capsule. His attention returns to the voice, so demanding and irritated, yet still somewhat familiar. He responds with a slight groan before speaking in a solemn and defeated tone.

"I guess you could say it's not usually a priority for me, no..."

Rolling onto his back and glancing upwards he's surprised to see a face he actually recognises. This was one Audrey Sargent, a girl whom frequented that accursed hellhole his parents forced him to attend, trainer school. Still, he supposed that the lessons he received there would serve some purpose in the journey he would now undertake. Speaking of which, Audrey was probably off on her own journey today since they had both graduated and received a pokémon, hers, he assumed, being the still rather confused looking Charmander. Now that he thought about it, he supposed her accent did sound vaguely Kalosian... Regardless Ryker, brushed himself off gently and slowly pulled himself up from the ground with a grimace, before turning to look with confusion at this girl without a word, as if wondering why she seemed as upset as she was and why she almost seemed to be expecting more of an answer than he had provided.

Audrey patted off her knees and checked her clothing for any signs of damage the impact on the pavement may have caused, but let out a small sigh of relief as it seemed everything was in order. She glanced over at the young man as he returned his Pokémon to its capsule. He looked rather disheveled, and lazily stood up from the ground, seemingly lacking any and all motivation. Judging from his starter Pokémon - and the crappy handling of it - Audrey concluded he must also have started his journey today, but it struck her as odd that she didn't immediately recognize him as one of her fellow graduates. Unless... As she gave him another once-over, she vaguely remembered a certain fellow that seemed to fit his description. Ryker Ward, as was his name, had never particularly stood out in class, if he even attended. While some of her female classmates might have called him mysterious for this reason, Audrey never paid much attention to someone who barely even seemed interested in learning. Even now, from his response, he apparently wasn't even excited to start his journey.

''Watching your step is 'not usually a priority'? What kind of trainer are you?'' she replied, crossing her arms. Her Charmander returned to her side and faced he other trainer as well. ''And your Oshawott is already walking all over you, too. How did you even graduate?''

Ryker raised an eyebrow to this girl, whom seemed to be looking down her nose at him. He thought to himself, it makes sense. After all, most people seeing a trainer get so harrassed by their alleged "partner" would also think lesser of the person in question. Then again, this girl didn't really have to deal with a partner pokémon that seemed rather willing to inflict great pain upon their trainer... and presumably everything else if the look in its eyes was anything to go off of.

"To be honest... I'm not really sure. I barely passed most of the theory..." He frowned gently. "Practicals went well? Though, I don't think you were asking that seriously, more as an attempt to mock and belittle me, yeah?" His tone wasn't confrontational, more bored. A sort of I've dealt with this before anyway type of attitude. Without much else to care for Ryker sidestepped slowly and started to march forward passed this girl. She was just your typical pretty face teenager that made up most of the schoolyard, probably, he really didn't care for arguing when he had so much else to do. "Welp. This was nice, I was gonna apologize but I'd say you got me back well enough to make it even, yeah? See you around."

Sweet Dreams · Dec 17, 2015

-- Lilith Sira --

Location: Route 19
Objectives: Find Purrloin, Befriend Ennil, speak with Lenora
Status: Stressed out
Other: N/A

Purrsuasion

"Purrloin, the Devious Pokémon. Purrloin fools people into letting their guard down so it can steal their possessions. When angered, it uses its claws to fight back."

Lilith had remembered to use her Pokedex straight away, so at least she figured that she was making progress. Not that it helped much; she still had no idea where she should be looking for the lost Pokemon. Heck, for all she knew, the girl might have found the Pokemon already and Lilith could just be looking around in vain.

"Mudkiiip..." Ennil let out a disgruntled cry from where she was trotting along beside Lilith. The Pokemon looked like it wasn't doing so well trudging around in the sun, and Lilith immediately started feeling guilty. She kept messing up and thoughtlessly pushing Ennil without noticing, and she really needed to stop. The professor would probably put her in a very shallow grave if she couldn't even make it through one route with her Mudkip intact.

Lilith paused and turned to Ennil, who looked back up at her expectantly. "I think it's about time we had a rest," she suggested, at which Ennil instantly brightened. Lilith looked around for a good place to rest and spied a lake just a little further away. Perfect! "See? There's a good spot!"

Almost before the words left her mouth, Ennil was racing with renewed vigour in the direction Lilith had been pointing towards. A smile tugged at her mouth as she followed at a much more relaxed pace.

The lake was relatively calm, the sun glancing beautifully off the small ripples and waves that broke the surface of the water. By the time Lilith arrived, Ennil was happily splashing at the edge of the lake. The Mudkip tipped her head back and let out a fountain of water, its spray seeming to glitter in the air. Lilith laughed and clapped at the display. Water Gun, she thought, vaguely recalling the move list that she had checked out earlier.

Ennil continued to play, rolling itself in the mud with a look of bliss on her face, and Lilith took the time to kneel down and take a thermal of soup and a bag of Pokemon food out of her bag. Stopping has made her realise just how hungry she actually was.

"Ennil," she called, her hands still hovering over her bag, "are you hungry? Would you like some food?"

With an affirmative cry, Ennil started to run back to where Lilith was sitting, to which Lilith immediately held up a hand. Ennil was still covered fin to toe in mud and Lilith really didn't want to spend the rest of the day caked in dirt. "Go take a swim to clean yourself off," she said firmly, smiling to make sure Ennil didn't think she was mad at her. Ennil skidded to a halt and seemed to hesitate before turning around to obey.

Humming a little under her breath, Lilith opened the bag of Pokemon food and poured a generous helping into a bowl. She sat down, her skirt pooling on the grass around her, and took a few sips of her soup. She sighed happily, her shoulders relaxing.

...Until she noticed that Ennil had disappeared.

Lilith sat up with a start. "Ennil?" she called out. After a moment of silence and rising panic, Lilith scrambled to stand and rush over to the lake. It was just her luck that she'd kill her Pokemon from sheer neglect on the first day. Or perhaps Ennil had caught the eyes of some Pokemon thieves. Heck, Pokemon thieves would probably treat the Mudkip better than she ever could.

A stone dropped in her stomach. Maybe Ennil had run away. Maybe years down the line Lilith will hear about a Mudkip at the head of a criminal organisation who had run away from their crappy trainer, and she would be taken out quickly and quietly, criminal organisation-style.

"Ennil?!" Hiking her skirt up in her hands, she squelched through the mud until she was ankle-deep in water. Scanning the area and trying to suppress the anxiety bubbling in her chest, she called out, "You'd better be dead or dying or I am going to be extremely embarrassed!"

There! Lilith spotted some movement in the water a little ways away, and she sloshed her way towards it. When she got closer she could see a darker blue shape in the water. "...Ennil, is that you?"

On closer inspection it was Ennil, miserably trying to move against the flow of water. Her feet barely brushed against the bottom of the lake, only managing to stir up the silt and do nothing else. Ennil turned wide eyes towards Lilith, letting out a few sad bubbles from its mouth. Lilith stood their for a second, uncomprehending, as the submerged Mudkip kept walking and getting nowhere.

Realisation hit.

"Ennil, you... Do you not know how to swim?" Lilith fought to suppress a smile, a touch of incredulity in her voice. It was a ridiculous notion, but by the way Ennil looked away petulantly, her guess had been spot on. Honestly, it was pretty adorable in a lot of ways.

Lilith had to look away to giggle into the palm of her hand, but it was cut short when she caught sight of an uninvited guest around where she had placed her bag.

It was a Purrloin. And it was trying to steal her things.

Their eyes met for a long moment, both of them frozen in surprise. At almost exactly the same time they both jumped into action; the Purrloin clamping its teeth around one of the straps of her bag and quickly dragging it away, while Lilith quickly scooped Ennil up into her arms, heedless of the water soaking into her blouse. She awkwardly splashed her way out of the water to chase after the Purrloin, the end of her skirt getting soaked now that she couldn't hold them up.

"Wait! Purrloin, your trainer is looking for you and I don't think she'd be happy you resorted to stealing other people's belongings!"

The Purrloin barely glanced back, diving into some tall grass to try and hide from her. Lilith ran into the grass but soon lost track of the Purrloin, cursing herself. "Oh, great. I so do enjoy starving to death in the wilderness," she muttered, turning this way and that in the hopes of getting some sign of the sneaky Purrloin. She didn't notice Ennil's fins twitching and the focused look on her face until the Pokemon leapt from her arms and determinedly headed off.

"Ennil, what-?" stuttered Lilith, having to break into a light jog to keep up. "Where are you going?"

"Mud. Mudkip!" Ennil shot Lilith an impatient look and kept going, the fin on its head still twitching constantly. Lilith stumbled a little over her dress and hiked it back up again, already bemoaning the stains that she'd inevitably get and hoping that none of the stitching came loose.

It was only when they arrived at a clearing and they found a Purrloin sitting defensively in front of her bag that Lilith finally realised that Ennil had been leading her to her bag in the first place. Right, she thought, mentally slapping herself on her head, Mudkips can sense movement with their fins.

The Purrloin had obviously realised it couldn't outrun them with the bag weighing it down, and couldn't hide from Ennil, so had decided to stand its ground. The way that it batted its eyes and licked at its paw was so cute that Lilith found some of her anger draining away, even. It was probably lost and alone, bereft without its loving trainer.

"Mudkip!" cried Ennil, getting into an offensive stance. Lilith's eyes widened, but she realised that defeating it in a Pokemon battle was probably the best way to get it home to its trainer, considering the non-response the Purrloin had earlier.

"Okay, we can do this," Lilith said, less than confidently, before adding, "Or I can lose all my possessions and hopes and dreams. Either or."

Lilith frantically tried to recall what other moves Ennil knew. If her Pokedex weren't still in her bag it would be a lot easier but for now she had to wing it. At least she knew that they could use...

"Alright, let's go! Water Gun!" she commanded, a waver in her voice. Ennil drew a breath and shot out a powerful geyser of water at the Purrloin, who leapt out of the way, although its leg was caught in the attack.

The Purrloin quickly regained its footing and threw a burst of sand into Ennil's face, causing her cry out and try to rub the sand from her eyes.

"Um...!" Lilith held her hand up to her mouth, searching through her hazy memory. She really regretted not paying closer attention, now.

The Purrloin did not wait before it charged towards Ennil again, extending its claws and swiping at her again and again. Ennil cried out in pain, trying to shield herself from the attacks.

Lilith felt awful, hearing Ennil's pained cries and doing so little to help. There was a move just on the tip of her tongue but she couldn't seem to remember it for the life of her. "Mud... uh." She bit her lip. It was... It was... "Mud Slap!" she yelled.

Ennil swiftly turned around and kicked mud back towards the Purrloin, but not before the Purrloin let out a cute mewl that seemed to make Ennil hesitate in her attack. A bit of the mud splashed into the Purrloin's eyes and it reeled back slightly.

"Water Gun!" Lilith cried again, trying to take advantage of the opening. Ennil spewed fourth another stream of water, but the Purrloin rolled to the side and dodged it completely this time, pouncing forward with its claws outstretched again for another flurry of attacks.

Lilith tried to think fast. What moves...? Ennil's cries of pain brought tears to her eyes, but she had to focus. She could do this.

"I... Bide!" Lilith yelled out, her heart in her throat. Ennil's body began to glow red as the Purrloin's assault continued, until her eyes suddenly snapped open. Warily, the Purrloin jumped backwards just as the move finished charging.

"Muuud..." Ennil called out, the red aura around her growing more intense. "...KIP!"

A beam of white light shot out towards the Purrloin, hitting its target dead on and knocking it back into the backpack, where it must have dislodged a Pokeball, for it was with a yowl of surprise that the Purrloin suddenly turned into a beam of red light and disappeared.

Both Lilith and Ennil stared blankly as the Pokeball wiggled. Once. Twice.

Ding!

Silence reigned for several long beats, before Lilith slowly walked over to the Pokeball and picked it up.

"So... I suppose you didn't belong to that other trainer, then," Lilith mused out loud.

Ennil blinked dazedly a few times, still breathing heavily from pain and exertion. "Mud...kip."

Lilith shook off the shock, kneeling down to the grass and giving Ennil a big hug. "You did so well!" she enthused. "I'm sorry I didn't do better."

Ennil let out a cheerful cry, as if to let her know that everything was perfectly okay. Lilith giggled in relief, feeling her heart finally start to slow after such a hectic series of events. She pulled her bag towards herself and searched inside for a Potion, carefully spraying it over all of Ennil's wounds. The effect was almost instantaneous.

Ennil perked up, now merely dirty and somewhat tired, but not pained. Her stomach rumbled loudly, and Lilith laughed, feeling a certain sense of elation. They'd made it through their first real trial as a trainer and her Pokemon. Even if they'd only stumbled through it by pure blind luck.

She reached into her bag for some well deserved food, when she suddenly realised something.

In her haste to catch up to the Purrloin, she'd left her thermas and bowl at the lake. She still had the rest of the Pokemon food, at least, but she'd really liked that thermas and had been really looking forward to the soup.

Ennil's stomach rumbled again, and Lilith sighed in an exasperated way. Whatever. She could go without soup. It's not like it would kill her... probably.

Lilith pressed the button of her newly used Pokeball, releasing the Purrloin in a burst of white light. The Pokemon looked a bit worse for wear but seemed otherwise fine. Seeing as it immediately flicked its ear and meowed in the cutest way it knew how, Lilith wasn't too concerned about it. With a small smile and a pat on Ennil's head, Lilith poured some Pokemon food into her hand and offered it to the both of them in lieu of a cup. Ennil immediately dug in, but the Purrloin sniffed at it suspiciously first before it deemed it safe enough to eat.

Reaching out to pet the Purrloin, Lilith said, "Welcome to the family, I guess. So now I have to name you and get you measured up too!" She cheered up at the thought. The more the merrier, anyway. She had to get used to as many different Pokemon as she could if she ever wanted to call herself a Pokemon clothes designer.

And maybe she had to start paying a bit more attention to things like battling in order to reach that goal. It was a thought that had never really occurred to her before that moment, but it was definitely something she needed to rethink after the events of that day.

Shak · Dec 20, 2015

Drew Tucker

Ace in the hole

Treecko awoke, and looked around lazily at what seemed to be becoming a frustratingly familiar setting. White curtains, padded bedding and a table filled with a bunch of complex contraptions he didn't really understand. One thing that stood out, was the small envelope that sat on the bedside table. He never really found such things to be his business, but he had a certain feeling about this one. There were no humans around to lay claim to it, and it had been left in his room. The Pokémon snatched the letter, and fiddled with it, hoping to tear through the pesky paper casing, as he had seen Juniper do in the past. After unsealing the casing, he managed to get a hold of its contents; comprehending what was there proved a difficult task. While he was no expert at deciphering human communication, the seemingly cryptic message on the page before him was one that he'd struggle to even begin to wrap his head around. He'd have to get Drew to explain it to him.

He darted out of the treatment room in search for his trainer. A kid wearing a bandana and a white vest, an elder looking man with a red waistcoat and a young girl with her mother cradling a wounded Aipom: the main lobby gave nothing but disappointment. Drew was nowhere to be found. Treecko approached the only familiar face within the building. Nurse Joy immediately recognised the small grass type and dropped what she was doing to tend to him. Treecko tilted his head in response to her resting her hand on his shoulder, once she coupled the action with a sorrowful expression, the Pokémon stepped back anxiously.

"Ace." She began with a sigh. The name 'Ace' provoked an image in Treecko's mind. He instantly thought back to his battle against the Pidgey, and how Drew had called him that before he passed out. "I'm sorry, I don't know how to tell you this-" She continued before being interrupted by Ace. The Treecko revealed the battered envelope he'd been trying to open earlier, and handed it to the nurse to read. Though she was taken aback, Joy tried to translate the words on the page to the eagerly listening Pokémon.

"Umm…" She began hesitantly. The handwriting was hardly the best, but she did her best to make out the words on the page. "I'm not the best at writing letters, so I'll just get this out of the way early. Treecko," She paused her reading for a moment to examine the crossed out three letter word that came before Treecko. It made her frown that she had to be a part of this. "I think it's best we part ways. You'd be better off with a better trainer than me." The nurse's eyes seemed to follow more words, but she read no more of the letter.

While he couldn't follow it all, Treecko got the major gist of what was being said. The wood gecko jumped up, and grabbed the letter from Joy's hand, much to the nurse's surprise. Heading to the door, he turned and offered a nod of respect before slipping through to the outside. He knew what he planned to do.

"Alright, Souf hit it with gust!" Drew called out to the small bird who was landing his final attack on the now fainted Simisage. "Alright! Third win in a row!" The young trainer and his newly caught bird Pokémon found themselves caught up in celebration, despite their opponent wallowing in grief. Their celebrations were cut short by the emergence of a familiar face.

"A-Ace?" Drew stared in disbelief as the small wood gecko he'd been given by professor Juniper. The Pokémon approached the trainer. Neither could really conjure any emotion, either that or they were so overwhelmed by the amount they had, it was unclear to them which they wanted to show. Upon standing within a few feet of Drew, Treecko unveiled the letter that had been left for him on his dresser. Recognising the letter, Drew felt a surge of emotion flush through his body. Even more so when he saw it torn in half and thrown to the ground.

"A-No, Treecko? I'm sorry." His apology trailed off, and seemed as though the recipient took no notice anyway. Instead, the Pokémon swung its hand out dismissively. "Wait, you're…forgiving me?" He mumbled in disbelief. An indifferent shrug was all it took to convince him. Without hesitation, Drew stumbled gleefully towards the small gecko, before being halted by a small green hand, pointing towards the Pokéballs around his waist. "What? You want me to catch you? I don't think they work like that…" He stared inquisitively at the ball as the notion was introduced. Treecko sighed, instead pointing towards Souf instead. "Oh, you wanna battle? That, I can do." His teeth gritted together as he grinned.

The two Pokémon stood opposing each other; one with Drew standing behind her, the other with the rest of route nineteen.

"Alright, Ace, if it's a battle you want…Me and Souf are on a good run, so you be wary." Drew jibed. Aced grinned, despite having no real reason to be confident. This was a battle he'd lost before, and he'd been in the Pokémon centre in the time the Pidgey had been training. Without word or warning, Ace charged towards the unsuspecting Pidgey with a quick attack, with the bird taking to the air to dodge at the last second. "Playin' dirty, huh? Souf, hit him with gust!" The small bird spread her wings, before swinging them in forcefully to create a small tornado. Ace was struck by the cyclone, but quickly managed to find his feet and hit back with an Absorb. The attack made Souf grimace, but she was able to easily recover from the grass type attack. "Tackle!" Again, Souf followed her trainer's order, but again the Treecko was able to dodge and hit her with a counter attack. "How the hell? Is this the same Treecko?" Drew groaned to himself. Treecko had clearly learned from his first battle with Souf, and what he was trying seemed to be working. Like before, Ace waited patiently for Souf to make the first move, even resorting to taunting in order to provoke her. "Souf, fly up! Hope this works." He groaned to himself. "Alright, Gust!" Again the attack missed, but this time Souf was far too high up, for Ace to launch any kind of counter attack. "Quick attack!" Drew called, noticing Ace had lowered his guard, he took the opportunity to launch a counter of his own. This time, the Pidgey collided full force into the Treecko. Ace seemed to recover quickly, not for the first time, and responded with a quick attack of his own.

Neither recovered quickly from the collision, and neither seemed to be better off than the other. With the order of another quick attack, Souf ruffled her feather and charged at Ace, who seemingly had the same idea. After colliding for the final time, both Pokémon collapsed to the floor in defeat. Drew was now the only one left standing.

"Pokemon center, huh? I'm okay with that." He chuckled, recalling both Pokémon and again making the long journey back to Aspertia City, hopefully for the last time.

Nagi · Jan 6, 2016

Ryker & Audrey

The girl balled her fist as Ryker practically ignored her and simply began walking away. ''What?! You and your out-of-control Pokémon still knocked me into the ground, you know! The least you could do is apologize.'' Presumably in response to the anger in her voice, her Charmander blocked the path for the other trainer, assuming a battle stance and letting out a sharp cry. Even Audrey was surprised at his fierce reaction, but her irritation didn't exactly compel her to call him back either.

Ryker let out a short, high pitched noise as the Charmander drew close, blocking his speedy and awkward exit. How unwaveringly loyal for such a new companion, now why was it that he had to get the crazy water type that liked to cut things with a shell? "W-whoa there little guy... n-no need for the hostility yeah?" Ryker took a few steps backwards when, from the trees to the Western side of the route, an even shriller cry then Ryker's own was heard. A few pidgey flew off from the tree-tops in response and Ryker blinked for a few moments, surprised by such a random event.

"Gosh darn, dagnabbit, rassle frasslin stinging!... GAH!" The boy had a thick accent, sounded like something from Driftveil city, but it was faint, like the boyish voice had been away from the city for some time. Maybe a migrant to Aspertia? Who knew? It was one of the newer cities in Unova after all, it wasn't uncommon for people from all over the region to be attracted there. Still... this guy sounded like he was having a hard time... and that sounded like the perfect excuse to get away from this, ahem, fiery situation.

"Oh hey... ehm... hahaha... that sure sounds curious huh? I'll just... I mean I should..." Ryker looked down at the Charmander in front of him and then darted his gaze to the young girl behind him with a sort of fervent desire to be anywhere else other than there. "Ehm... bye!" With a quick and awkward farewell, Ryker took an immediate left turn and darted out towards the trees wherein the voice had originated. Throwing caution to the wind as he moved more than a little bit faster than he was used to.

The voice from the trees startled Audrey and her Pokémon momentarily as well, leaving the pair distracted enough for Ryker to make his clumsy getaway. They looked at each other in surprise, but their expressions quickly changed as they reached the same conclusion. ''Hey, wait! You're not getting away that easily!'' Audrey and Theo sped after the boy, brushing away branches and jumping over bushes as they did, before reaching a small clearing, in which a young Bug Catcher stood over a small, green Pokémon on the ground, and picked it up carefully. Ryker stood awkwardly beside the boy, looking lost as to what to do and say, it seemed like this boy had lost in a pokémon battle... and badly too. Audrey immediately stopped, trying to grasp the situation, and her expression softening as she walked up to the child. She glared at Ryker for a moment, before passing him by to approach the boy, lowering herself to his height before speaking in a soft voice. ''Are you alright? What happened?''

The boy held the Caterpie to his chest and looked up. ''I... I saw a Beedrill!'' He sounded distressed, his voice about to break, and as a result started speaking so quickly the girl could barely follow. ''I saw a Beedrill! Those are super rare around here, and it looked really cool, so then I wanted to catch it, so I went after it with Caterpie... but it got angry, and started attacking us! It tried to hurt me, but Caterpie protected me with a string shot, but then it went after her instead, and... and then she got hurt... I still really want that Beedrill, but Caterpie can't beat it...''
Audrey nodded in understanding. ''Well, at the very least it's good you're alright. We should get your Pokémon back to town to heal it, though, um... what's your name?''
''Alfred...'' the boy mumbled, before turning to her fully. ''But if we go back to town now, the Beedrill will get away! Can't you catch it for me? You're strong trainers, aren't you?'' He gave both of the trainers a hopeful look. The girl was somewhat taken aback, and glanced towards Ryker for help.

Ryker took a second to think on the situation, he couldn't really be affording to waste any time... his sister was still out there and he already had too much ground to cover for his liking. If he didn't save her soon then- then... again. Ryker could hardly save anybody if he wasn't strong enough to, what if his sister was in danger? With a single bratty Oshawott that wouldn't obey him, then could he really hope to save anyone? Beedrill were supposed to be strong and quick, what if Ryker caught the Beedrill and took it for himself instead?! What a valuable addition to his team, he'd just tell the kid he couldn't catch it or that it flew away somewhere. It was sneaky and underhanded, but sometimes sacrifices had to be made, besides in the catching world it was first come first served right? Wasn't that what they taught him at trainer school?

"Hmm..." Ryker put a hand to his chin, he made it seem like he was mulling things over rather convincingly. "Well, I'm not sure I'm all that strong just yet... But sure! I'll try to help you out kiddo. Heh." Ryker smirked a little and patted the boy on his straw bug catcher approved hat. "So where did that Beedrill head off to anyway?" Alfred the bug catcher looked up with glee at Ryker and pointed to a shady looking glen in the middle of a dense patch of trees, the branches were so tightly interlocked that it almost looked like a cave. He had read about those... a hidden grotto where rare pokémon supposedly hung out? It had an ominous presence regardless and Ryker shuddered as the dark path seemed to reach out and probe him gently. "A-ahaha... are you sure the Beedrill went in THAT group of trees?" Alfred only looked up at his new "hero" and nodded resolutely, his eyes glimmering in the light of the sun, gently falling through the branches above.

Well. There was no way he was risking his life alone. No siree. He grabbed Audrey's arm and began to swiftly pull her towards the trees. She'd make a good distraction, she looked pretty, did Bee's like pretty? Wait wasn't that sweet? But they did target bright flowers and her clothes were certainly brighter than his so...

Maybe he was overthinking this.

"Welp! Let's go get this kids Beedrill, no time to waste, good samaritans, charity through pity and all that."

''Ahh! What do you think you're doing?!'' She was dragged along for a number of steps, but quickly pulled back her hand. ''How are we going to catch a Beedrill? We only have two small starter Pokémon... and yours doesn't even listen to you!'' She glanced back at the boy, who returned the Caterpie to its Pokéball, and now saw the pair off with an expectant grin. He apparently looked up to the trainers so much already, and his innocent face made it rather hard for her to go back and refuse. She bit her lip slightly, and turned back towards the grotto, too prideful to turn away from a challenge and disappoint Alfred now. Letting out a gentle sigh, she spoke quietly to make sure he wouldn't hear, before pacing forward, her Charmander following closely behind her. ''Alright, fine... Let's do this.''

* * *

Inside the grotto, two trainers were waltzing right into the lair of a rather mean spirited pokémon. A small Spinarak cowered before a large, aggressive Beedrill, the poor little bug type had been bringing this larger, more powerful pokémon scavenged berries for weeks just to avoid getting beaten up again. The Beedrils antennae twitched as it sensed two larger bodies stepping over the branches upon the thicker forests floor. Had that boy come back to fight him again after such a weak display? He'd gladly claim another victory over the young "bug catcher". Flying out into the clearing he buzzed menacingly and held his poisonous stingers outwards aggressively. However, it was not the boy from before... no, it was two larger humans, no matter, they were clearly green as grass... all trainers around those parts were. It's why Beedrill had never left the area, even after evolving from Kakuna to his current form.

The small Spinarak was climbing a web connecting the branches above the grotto, the poor thing was cowering at the thought of another confrontation... She had never liked fighting.

Ryker nearly jumped out of his skin as the Beedrill charged forward so confidently, not even attempting to hide its presence. "W-waah! Maybe this wasn't such a good idea..." He took a single step backwards, but stopped, thinking of his sister somewhere out there... How could he ever hope to save her, if he was already going to run away? Grabbing the pokéball from his satchel, he pressed the button and in a blast of white light. An aggressive little Oshawott came flying out. Ryker thought back to all of his lessons and calmed himself, he started slow... making sure to ease into the fight.

"Ryujin use ta- eh?!" Before he could even finish the command, Ryujin, eager to do some damage, leapt forward and struck the Beedrill in the chest with a full body bash. The Beedrill, surprised to see the Oshawott act so quickly as its trainer spoke, took the hit hard, but was far from out. It braced itself for more battle, looking ready to make a counter attack at any moment.

Audrey and Theo watched in suspense as the water type jumped and struck the Beedrill in mid-air. Wasting no time in helping the other Pokémon, Audrey commanded her Charmander to assist. ''Quickly, use Ember!'' Theo in turn ran in front of his trainer, and unleashed a flurry of fiery shards directly toward the large Bug-type. The super-effective move did a number on it, burning its skin effectively. It floated idly for a moment, disoriented after being attacked from multiple directions, but regained its composure quickly. Spinning its stingers in preparation for a Twineedle attack, it flew towards the Charmander at high speed. Audrey responded immediately. ''Careful Theo... Wait for it to get close, then use Tackle!''

The fire-type braced itself and jumped to counter the Beedrill's move, but didn't manage to avoid the insect stingers entirely. The Pokémon flew apart a short distance after the impact, both having taken damage, but at least there was an opening for another move now.

Ryker gritted his teeth gently, a little bit nervous... but feeling more confident after seeing the enemy get hit twice in a row. Would it be enough? Reaching into his bag and grabbing a poké-ball, Ryker dashed a few steps forward and flung it out of his hand towards the injured Beedrill, but almost anticipating this, the Beedrill aimed a glowing purple stinger skyward. Glowing purple... Was that Fell Stinger? But why towards the Sky? Ryker would soon get his answer as he heard a pained squeeling noise from up above, a small green bug type pokémon dropped from its position above, perched safely on the web... as it fell it protected the Beedrill with its falling form, the poké-ball colliding with it instead! Three quick shakes on the ground and the small green pokémon was caught tight, a successful capture, but it brought them no closer to their goal! Having knocked out the opposing pokémon with Fell Stinger, the Beedrill glared menacingly, its attack power boosted dramatically. Ryker started to sweat a little bit, what could they do? One hit from this Beedrill and they were done for. But wait, giving up was not an option now... they had to do this, he had to prove that he could do something like this. He thought of all the video games he'd played in the past... If attacking the boss head on doesn't work then... Surely you needed to expose its weak spot? Or use an environmental hazard? Looking up to a branch in the canopy above, left dangling gently after being damaged by the Fell Stinger attack, Ryker had an idea. Quickly looking to his side, he called out to Audrey.

"Is there anything you can do to keep this guy distracted for like... two seconds maximum?"

Audrey watched as Theo was blown back onto the ground, and was still waiting for it to get back onto its feet, as she heard Ryker's call. Luckily Charmander had managed to shrug off most of the attack, and seemed ready to launch another. Its trainer glanced at Ryker and gave him a reassuring nod. ''Two seconds? No problem... Theo, use Smokescreen!''
The fire type let out a battle cry before opening its mouth widely and releasing a thick, black smoke that quickly filled the area. This would at least make it difficult for the Beedrill to attack, but it clouded their vision as well, not to mention their breath. Audrey covered her mouth with her hand, trying to keep the stuff out, while replying hastily. ''Well, two seconds are about up. If you have a plan, I suggest you carry it out now!''

"Gah... Gack! This stuff can't be good for the lungs..." Ryker complained, caughing out the thick smog hastily before shaking his head gently and focussing. "Ryujin! Aim a Night slash skyward! Just like the Beedrill did!" A small, yet defiant roar could be heard from the smoke as a slashing wave of dark energy rose upwards through the smog, as anticipated, it cut a huge branch clean off one of the trees. As it fell into the smog a sudden and very disgruntled buzzing noise could be heard piercing the smoke... and as it all finally began to clear, a badly infured and barely conscious Beedrill could be seen struggling beneath the branch. Ryker didn't have the time nor desire to use ANOTHER poké-ball, so he quickly turned to Audrey and called out to her. "Now! This is the best and maybe only chance we're going to get!"

Pleasantly surprised by the clever strategy employed to pin the Beedrill down, Audrey quickly dove into her bag following Ryker's words. The nerves made her take a few seconds to grab one, but she quickly threw it at the insect with full force. Upon making contact, the ball chucked open, and the Beedrill was absorbed inside, before closing and rolling on the ground. Once, twice... three times... Before finally the relieving sound of a succesful capture resounded through the grotto. Audrey released the breath she didn't realise she'd been holding, and ran up to the Pokéball to pick it up. Soon joined by her Charmander, whom she rewarded with a thankful pat on the head, before returning it to its Pokéball. ''We actually did it!'' she exclaimed, before standing up and returning to Ryker. ''I can barely believe it. I have to say... that final move was pretty impressive.''

"Eheh... ah... well... yeah, I mean... it was nothing, really. It was just a matter of... doing that thing I did. A-anyway... you should give that to me, I'll deliver it to-" Ryker suddenly heard a gentle rustling to the right just then, looking over to the grass where the fight had just taken place, he noticed a single pokéball gently roll out of the grass. The Spinarak... if it was around here then it must have been in the Beedrill's company a lot, yet it had been so readily tossed aside as a two-bit shield. Ryker felt a tweak of pity pull on his heart strings and sighing gently, he thought about Alfred the "terrible at his job" bug catcher too.

"Like I was saying... you should go and give that to Alfred. I'll catch up yeah?"

Recovering from the initial euphoria of catching such a powerful 'mon, Audrey suddenly realised that'd come out a little too friendly. She still wasn't happy with this guy for crashing into her without even apologizing. For now though, she was in too good a mood to argue. ''S-sure. I'll go up ahead then... You might want to check up on that other Pokéball of yours.'' She began moving towards the grotto, but hesitated briefly. He did most of the work in that battle in the end, despite her Pokémon having the type advantage of the two. She glanced back, about to speak up... but decided against it at the last second. If she wasn't getting an apology, then he sure as hell wasn't getting her thanks.

Once Audrey was out of the grotto, he walked over slowly to the single sitting poké-ball. Pulling out his pokédex he scanned the little bug inside, a Spinarak... female... almost kind of cute, in a creepy way. It was badly injured, knocked out by the force of that fell stinger. He'd have to head back to the city and heal her up at the pokémon center as soon as he could, but first...

"Muffet. That'll do for you right? Like that nursery rhyme they tell kids to make 'em scared of Ariados." Attaching the pokéball to his belt. He looked gently at the grotto's main exit. Audrey was out there, she was probably remembering how he bumped into her at first... oh crap... he hadn't apologized yet had he? This girl was scary, what in the name of Arceus would she do to him once he got outta there? Grinning somewhat out of fear, he turned on his heels, returned Ryujin before the Oshawott could complain and began to slink away through the trees, new pokéball in hand... he'd, well... he'd deal with Audrey later.

* * *

Audrey exited the grotto and quickly returned to Alfred. The boy was waiting in suspense, but his face lit up visibly when he saw the girl come up to him. Practically jumping with excitement, he ran up to her and started questioning her about everything. ''How did it go?! Did you get the Beedrill? ... And where is the other guy?''

''He'll catch up in a minute. But look... this is for you.'' She replied as she proudly held out the Pokéball. Alfred's eyes sparkled at the sight, and he was about to take it from her hands, before she quickly pulled back. ''Alfred... This Beedrill is a very powerful Pokémon, okay? You're not exactly an experienced trainer yet, so you have to be really careful in handling it. Or it'll still make short work of you. I've seen it happen...'' Thinking back to Ryker being effectively beat up by a tiny Oshawott, it was even scarier a thought to imagine what this Beedrill could do to him. Alfred nodded quickly, and eagerly took the Pokéball as she held it out again.
''I'll be real careful! No problem, miss... Miss!''
''It's Audrey.'' She couldn't help but smile a little to his excitement. ''Well then... Take care.'' She turned to leave, but was quickly interrupted.
''Wait wait! I wanted to thank you properly first. You can have this!'' He dug into his shoulder bag and took out a rather large amount of money, and handed it over. Audrey almost instinctively raised her hand in refusal.
''It's not like we helped you just to be rewarded. Just---''
''No, I mean it! Take it! I was going to use it to buy Great Balls, but now that I have Beedrill, I won't use it anymore anyway!''

Audrey attempted to refuse again, but Alfred's determination eventually convinced her, and she reluctantly agreed. ''Alright already... Thanks.'' She quietly spoke as she put the money in her own bag.

''I wanna give it to the mister too, so, where is he?''
''Ryker... He should be right behind me, he's probably still in the grotto.''
''Oh! Mister Ryker... I'll go give him some too then! Thanks again, Miss Audrey!''
''Yeah... Take care!'' A small wave of her hand contrasted his big, excited waving in return, as the two parted ways, and Audrey returned to the path, to resume her way to Flocessy Town.

* * *

Ryker finished handing Ryujin and Muffet's pokéballs to the Nurse working behind the counter at the Aspertia pokémon center. He'd already had to come back here after barely starting on his supposed grand quest. Was he really cut out for this?

"Hey! You're Mr. Ryker right?"

Ryker turned around at the familiar shrill voice of the young boy Alfred from earlier. Alfred approached happily, holding two pokéballs in his hands. His Caterpie and a Beedrill too it seemed. He had guessed that Audrey mentioned his name at some point... speaking of which. "Y-you...!" Ryker said with a hint of fear, quickly crouching behind the small boy's frame. "Where is she? Did you bring her with you?" Turning around slowly with a confused expression, Alfred plopped a small satchel of money into Ryker's palm. Ryker stared at it for a moment before questioning. "E-Eh?" Alfred beamed widely and responded in turn. "It's a whole 1000 Poké Mr. Ryker! I'd been saving up a bunch to buy some great balls, but now that you and Miss Audrey got me this here Beedrill, I won't be needing them none!" Alfred scratched his now a little, blushing gently. "I feel like you too deserve it all the more y'know? You and Miss Audrey really helped me out of a bind, I gotta give you something." Ryker's eyes widened a little as he put the money, stunned, into his bag. He spoke up, a little quieter than before. "H-hey kid... You don't have to-"

"I really look up to trainers like you Mr. Ryker! Going on adventures, helping people in need... if I was like you! I could do all that stuff too! So I'm gonna work hard to be strong, Beedrill, Caterpie and I are going to be able to do anything together if we work hard! Just like, Mr. Ryker and Miss. Audrey!" A call came from outside the center and Alfred turned his head suddenly, before smiling with a light wave. "That's my Ma Mr. Ryker! So I gotta go now yeah? I hope we can meet again some day! Thanks again, a whole whole bunch!" Just like that, the little boy was gone.

And all Ryker could do was stand there and wonder if he had even ever felt that feeling, the feeling of having someone look up to him. The nurses call woke him from his stupor.

"Mr. Ward, your pokémon are all healed and ready to go! Looks like they're all healthy and excited to hit the road!"

With a smile, he took the two pokéballs in hand and clipped them to his belt gently. He had made it this far... maybe, just maybe, he could make it a little farther still.

Jay · Jan 7, 2016

As Ryker walked back down onto the path of route 19, there was almost a spring in his step for once. He had caught his first pokémon in the wild, took down a rare and powerful foe... and was just really making headway in general for a little bit of a confidence boost. Castelia city was, in reality, as far away as it had ever been, yet despite that Ryker seemed more than happy enough to take the necessary steps to get there. Even more so than before.

He stopped for a moment to snap his fingers, he was forgetting he'd caught a new team member. The poor little Spinarak, Muffet, who'd gotten tangled up in the mess with the Beedrill a little while prior. Deciding that they should greet the new member together. Ryker first released Ryujin from its pokéball, before immediately regretting the decision. "Oh- Wait, right! Come ba- eh?"

Ryker was surprised to see that as he released his new partner, the little Oshawott made no effort to run away. Instead he glanced up at Ryker with a certain amount of confusion and crossed his arms in disappointment. He seemed to be calmed than before, had the fight earlier mellowed him out somehow? Huh... this little furball certainly seemed to enjoy the heat of combat, it certainly seemed to be the case that its misbehavior earlier had been inspired by a burning passion to fight, was it to prove itself? Or maybe... just to hurt another pokémon? The somewhat evil look in the pokémons now smug expression seemed to suggest the latter.

But oh well, at least Ryker didn't have to run into someone this time around.

Reaching to the other side of his belt, Ryker unclipped the plain old pokéball and pressed the button, in a flash of light a small, green bug type pokémon appeared on the ground before them. It's expression was innocent, sweet and shy, it smiled and almost looked to be blushing and yet...

Ryujin did a quick double take, trying to assess what he was seeing. Muffet the Spinarak had naturally sharp and pointed eyes that looked menacing as Giratina itself, its two sharp and pointed fangs looked shiny and fresh, as if they had just been pulled from the dying flesh of a reluctant piece of prey. There was something very unnerving seeing such a... violent looking face, deliver such an innocent and sweet gesture. As Ryker and Ryujin looked upon the small pokémon in awe and fear respectively, Muffet started to blush even further... it didn't seem to like being stared at. In order to break the awkward atmosphere it smiled a little brighter and took a step forward towards Ryujin who, in a moment of pure terror, almost jumped out of its fur and ran to cower behind Ryker's leg as a support... or shield... you know it really wasn't certain.

A few moments of awkward silence pass as Muffet stands frozen in place, her little feeler still extended in friendship and the now painfully innocent smile still spreading across her terrifying face.

And then she began to cry.

Loud skitters and juttering sounds expected of an insect began to echo into the otherwise awkward silence that was this abandoned part of route 19. Ryker could only stare with a blank expression, feeling the otherwise confident and intimidating Ryujin shuddering against his leg. How did Ryker manage to find himself in such awkward situations when he had only just started off on this little adventure.

***

Sitting on a tree stump and nibbling on the edge of a sandwich. Ryker watched the now calmer Muffet and the still incredibly uncomfortable looking Ryujin sit together on opposite sides of a stump, each biting into an oran berry at their own pace. Ryujin furiously devouring and Muffet politely chomping. So these were his first two team members? What troublemakers... a sadistic little water welp and a pleasant yet terrifying morsel of a thing.

At least they were being civil now and hey? Maybe Ryujin's phobia could be used to keep him in line if the going ever got too rough?

Either way, for better or for worse, this was his life for the notable future. Travel the roads, face off against all odds... eat light to save money and preserve strength and hope to Arceus and back that he can make it to Castelia.

He expected to be overcome by panic at such thoughts but instead he just smiled a little. Just like a video game huh? Maybe if he tried hard enough these party members of his would be the driving force to return his sister safely home.

[PKMN FULL] Legends Of The Past: An Unova Journey [T]

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