[PKMN FULL] TRAINERS (IC)

Buneary's a blur for the most part, jumping between targets too fast to be caught up in the vines they send after her. She stomps her foot into a Skiddo's face, shoving it down the hill as she propels herself to the next target. This one gets a Pound to each ear and joins its retreating friend. Casey springs to his feet just in time for Buneary blow past him on the last Skiddo, hanging on grimly as it leaps and bounds across the plateau.

He runs after, but quickly loses her again. Jordan's somewhere on the other side of the pushing and shoving herd; Casey can hear him yelling commands. He doesn't know where Charmander is, but he yells "Ember!" at the top of his lungs and is answered by quick bursts of flame. Panicked Skiddo dash past, some of them definitely on fire. Casey plucks Buneary from the back of one such Pokémon, has a short conversation with her, and launches her back into the crowd. He himself heads in as well, redirecting Skiddo toward the edge of the plateau with rough shoves. Their vines catch and pull and he smacks at them frantically. Just keep moving, you're stronger than them, it's fine-!

The herd thins just for a moment and he zeroes in on the trail left by the contents of his backpack before sand swirls across the dusty ground. He pushes forward, still slapping at vines, and is making good headway when something slams into his back. The wind is knocked out of him as scrabbling claws announce the intrusion to be Charmander, clearly kicked into Casey by the irate Skiddo behind him. Charmander uses the vantage point of Casey's shoulder to continue his onslaught of Embers.

"You can't keep that up, you should- ugh!" Casey cuts off his own sentence with a coughing fit as Charmander's attempted exhale of flame manifests as a cloud of black smoke. Eyes and throat stinging, he sinks to his knees ins search of clear air. Hooves thunder past him, owners zig-zagging every which way. Forcing his eyes open, he find himself once again confronted with the trail of his belongings.

"Charmander, Growl!"

It's loud in his ear, much louder than it had been earlier against Spirit. The things adrenaline can do… The closest Skiddo back away and Charmander bounds ahead, clearing the way; Casey shuffles forward on his knees, scooping up whatever he can find before it's stolen away by another curious goat.

Following and collecting his scattered things brings him back toward a larger cliff face, close to the path he and Jordan had clambered their way through to get up here in the first place. He's no longer surrounded by Skiddo. He glances back and sees the herd starting to disappear from the plateau in bigger waves. Charmander and Buneary are nowhere to be seen. He hasn't heard Jordan in a while either. He's about to start worrying when he turns a corner and is confronted with the original thief, nose-deep in Casey's own backpack.

"Hey!" Casey yells, and throws a random item from the pile he's holding. It hits the Skiddo in the shoulder.

It's a PokéBall.

Human and Pokémon stare at each other in mutual surprise as the Skiddo turns to light and is sucked away. The PokéBall rattles around a few times before going still.

Casey blinks.

"Huh."

A little gift in a Premier Ball
🍀🍀🍀
Arianne Chandler - Route 9 - Day 3 - May 22^nd
​

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdUDyFWhXjg

---

Ralph
Route 9, Wednesday May 22nd, afternoon

You are Ralph.

It's getting way too late already. But after experiencing an unevenly matched battle with a big dragon, a snarky girl's comments, philosophy about life, evolution and everything, and eventually a healthy practice battle with someone you guess you have to call a friend at this point even though he ditched you afterwards, you don't really feel like it's your fault time dragged on like this. Okay, maybe the bit in the middle about thinking a lot about evolution and such. Sometimes, thinking is necessary though. But, everything in moderation.

The amount of rocks on Route 9 were not placed in moderation. Whomever created this place, be it a pokémon, a god or just pure chance, had an unhealthy fascination for rocks and dry earth. You walk the road staunchly, as much as it can be called a road and not just the path of least resistance among the cliffs and hills. Most vegetation is getting scarce, and you haven't even gotten far from the town yet.

There is at least someone who enjoys this kind of environment to his fullest. Sandsy is hopping along next to you, thriving on the exciting landscape. You allow him this joy, as there is no point in not letting him, and also he does help you find your way sometimes when it looks too tricky to keep going straight ahead.

You still make a mental note to complain loudly and annoyingly to Palm later, for his choice of route.

You've been considering keeping Edgy outside of his pokéball too, mostly because you hope that he really is close to evolution already. But constantly watching him in anticipation might give away that you don't actually think he's 'good enough as he is' which might undermine his self-esteem again like before. Besides, he is much, much lighter to carry in energy form inside of a pokéball than in his solid form. And this path is annoying enough as it is already. Grr, Palm.

Lost in thoughts and not at all anchored in reality, you're bound to make a mistake eventually. It happens sooner rather than later. Not seeing or hearing Sandsy's squeaks urging you to stop and step around the obstacle, your foot suddenly finds no ground beneath itself. Dropping down, you don't have time to swear in your mind nor in uttered words.

Thankfully, your physical reflexes are actually working, perhaps because you're worked up and alert from the ascending promenade already. As your astray foot finally connects with ground in the small hole you've trampled into and your body falls forward, unbalanced, you curl up, put your arms above your head for protection, and impact the ground in a rolling fashion.

When it is all over, you're sitting on the ground safely with not much more than dust in your dreadlocks and a bruise on your ankle which will likely make for a majestic blue mark soon enough, but probably won't hinder you from walking onwards.

Thanks, dojo lessons.

A clapping noise can be heard from above. You twist your head around as you simultaneously scramble to your feet. It is a person, a trainer most likely, since there is a pokémon next to him. His hair is long and golden, and his smile extremely wide, while his eyes are narrow in their smile. Is he wearing a cape?

"Fancy meeting two Sandshrew out here!" the guy says, and his voice sounds like it would sing if anybody even as much as hinted at requesting it.

You look around you. Two Sandshrew? But Coldy is in her pokéball now. Only Sandsy is sitting on a rock nearby.

"Jokes are lost on you, I see," the other trainer sighs, before he jumps down from the ledge where he is standing.

The fall is way too high to be safe for a jump like that. You don't react to the strangeness of it until he lands, and looks completely fine. Grin and all. Then you notice.

The pokémon next to him was a Jigglypuff. He had been holding on to one of its legs as he jumped, and the pokémon with its special ability to blow itself up like a balloon, had done just that. Effectively slowing the fall.

Clever, you think. Who is this guy, then? He's piqued your interest.

"Bye, then," he says, and walks straight past you.

"Hold up," you say, and reach out for his arm.

Bad idea, apparently. Jigglypuff bounces up into your face, inhaling again to maximize its size as it goes, and gives you a Pound on the cheek.

Man, that blob could pack a punch. You're no stranger to scruffs in the schoolyard though, and your physical reflexes are, as established earlier, quite alright. Instead of flinching, you pull your arms up and grab hold of the pink pokémon before it can sink back down. It is lighter than you had thought. You quickly raise it above your head, ready to toss it in some godforsaken direction, powered by anger that grows as the pain in your cheek intensifies-

"No, no," the other trainer says and puts his arms around yours and the Jigglypuff, before you can follow through with the impulse action.

You blink. He is standing very close. Jigglypuff is deflating above your head, and his face becomes visible below it. His expression is hard to read - a mix of surprise, bemusement, and irritation?

"You, sit," he tells his pokémon as he pulls it away from you (and finally takes a step away from you instead of standing inches apart) and sets it down onto the ground. "And you," he continues, pointing a long, straight finger at your nose. But he takes a second or three before he speaks again.

"I like your spunk," he says.

"I don't like your Jigglypuff," you quip back.

He just laughs. "That's ok, he doesn't seem to like you either."

There is something really strange about this person, this whole exchange, you feel. The two of you are saying things, but no information really gets shared. And you don't seem to be able to anticipate him at all. Aren't you usually pretty good at reading people?

"I hope you won't hold it against me though," he now says, and you expect him to wink like Aberdeen usually does. But he just flashes you another very wide grin that looks nothing like Aberdeen's genuine smile, and turns again to walk away, calling the pink pokémon back to him as he does. It takes one last seething look at you before it scurries off after the man.

Nothing else gets said.

Apparently, you keep staring after the long, blonde hair for too long, because Sandsy is there to tug at your pants. You shake your head, and try to get some dust off your clothes and hair, before you continue the way you were going before. This time, with careful attention to Sandsy and the ground in front of you.

It is when you climb a ledge near some vegetation - because Sandsy considered it a worthy shortcut - that you sense a presence as you stand up straight.

"Ari?"

After some time, they finally find an actual trail.

That trail leads to a slightly wider trail which in turn drops them onto what is considered the main road, though it's still a hike. Somehow they're on the eastern half of the route already, which brings up the question- do they push on to the Pokémon Center, or do they make camp for the night?

"I need a shower," Casey says, picking dried mud out of the lining of his jacket. Parsley sticks his tongue into the collar. "Thanks..."

"I think we all need a shower," Jordan responds, looking at his muddy Pokemon trotting in front of him. "Too bad those girls didn't want to share 'their' spot".

"Tryna show off?"

Jordan sighs wistfully. Casey shakes his head. "I don't get it."

Jordan pats him on the back. "One day, my sweet boy."

"If you say so." Casey shrugs and looks somewhat contemplative. "Don't get why they climbed all the way up there just to kiss, either."

Jordan fumbles for his words. "It's… you know… romantic..." he looks at Casey's mystified expression. "Nevermind. One day, I said."

"You'll be the first to know, I guess." Casey gives up on his muddy jacket with a sigh. Hand wash only… what a pain that's going to be. "How far is it to the Pokémon Center, do you think?"

"Ahm… if we walk all evening, we might make it there by nine or ten," Jordan taps the map in his hands. He glances over at Casey. "You good with being in those clothes for another couple hours?"

"It's kind of itchy."

"You smell, too."

"Do I?" Casey sticks his nose into his jacket. "Ugh. Can we find a stream or something?"

"Mm, it's starting to get dark now, if we're gonna stop by a stream and clean our clothes and stuff, we might as well camp out for the night. You got your gear, right?"

"Yep! Tent, sleeping bag, water bottle… other stuff… Uh. Is water marked on that map? That'd be convenient."

"Yeah, it's all the... blue stuff between the green stuff. You know how to read a map, right?" Casey knocks a shoulder into him. "There's one right over there, let's go!"

Parsley is the first to respond, dashing in the direction Jordan points. Sage runs after him, with Spirit almost flying off her back. "No- wait, you gotta wait for your trainers!" Casey yells as he runs after the Pokémon. Jordan opens his mouth to call them back, but they are all long gone before anything comes out. He hears a distant splash and lets out a sigh, jogging over to see what happened.

Casey sits in the middle of the foot-deep stream, wriggling out of his backpack.

"I see you got a head start on that shower." On the other side of the stream, Jordan sees their Pokemon chasing each other and notes they are still completely dry, unlike Casey.

"They tricked me," is all the explanation Casey gives. He finally gets the backpack off, tosses it onto the bank, and lays down completely in the stream. The water rushing over him is nice. Kinda chilly. He's going to be cold soon. The sun's going down already. All his stuff is going to have to dry by morning. He jumps up, splashing water everywhere, and points at Jordan. "Charmander- uh- Pepper can help!"

"Hope we have more than a pile of ashes to wear tomorrow," Jordan disappears behind some trees and returns shortly in a set of clean clothes from his bag. He dunks his muddy clothes in the stream and crouches near Casey, wringing them out. Casey gets out and shamelessly shucks all his clothing into the stream before finding his towel and dry clothes.

"Hey, cool, my tent bein' on the bottom kept everything else dry! Also-" he rifles through a side pocket and presents his find to Jordan. "Paracord!"

"Awesome! We can make friendship bracelets!" Jordan teases, inspecting the length of rope. "I'm kidding, that will definitely come in handy."

"It's a clothesline today," Casey drops it again in favor of actually putting clothes on. "Pepper can sit under it and- wait, do you think his flame makes things have that smoky campfire smell?"

"I guess we'll find out soon enough." Jordan shrugs. "Probably not a bad time to let 'em all out." He reaches over to where he left his belt and pulls off his Poke Balls, releasing Hop and Tangela. Sage trots over to sniff them, and before long, she and Spirit are re-enacting the Onix-Rockruff battle for the two of them.

Casey has to fish his clothes out of the stream and retrieve the PokéBalls from his pockets before following suit. Parsley prances over to Pepper as soon as he appears and they start a game of chase up and down the bank of the stream. Buneary promptly gives Casey an earful about the sorry state of his jacket.

"It'll dry out! And I'm gonna put the tent up, it'll be nice and comfortable in there!" Buneary begins a slow, even tap of her foot. "...Jordan, we gotta put the tents up now."

The ground near the stream is surprisingly flat. A patch of scraggly bushes offers the idea of shelter from the wind and two trees offer anchor points for the paracord. He dumps out the contents of his backpack and strings the cord through all his wet things first, and Jordan follows suit after he finishes wringing out his clothes. Casey sniffs Pepper's flame. He doesn't smell smoky, just… weird. Like Pokémon. He elects not to make their stuff smell like that. Their clothes- plus his backpack and boots- should be dry by morning anyway. He'll have to deal with the leather before he goes to bed, though. He does have that nice conditioner that Sorley sold him; may as well crack that open.

The tents go up without much difficulty. Casey props the door to his open and throws his sleeping bag inside to appease Buneary. She seems satisfied even when Parsley flops down next to her. Inside his own tent, Jordan sprawls out face-down with his entourage around him. It's a two-person tent, so even with his long limbs and body occupying the center, there is space for his Pokemon to enter around him. "Oof." he grunts as he feels a hoof on his back and Casey's elbow in his side. He half-listens to whatever Casey's saying.

"Paprika. Saffron. Cardamom. Nutmeg. Clove. Cinnamon… Cinnamon Roll! Toast. French Toast? Peanut Butter. Muffin. Clementine. Uh…"

Jordan lifts his head up, quizzical expression on his face. "Are you hungry?"

"Nah, I'm thinking of names for Buneary! But uh, now that you mention it…"

Jordan feels a rumble in his stomach. "I think you made me hungry with your names list, too."

"Well, let's make something! What do we have?"

Jordan flips back over and sits up, grabbing his bag. He starts pulling out the cans he bought in Cerulean City. "Let's see! We have beans, fish, tomatoes…" he glances over at Spirit, wondering if the corn is now considered part of dinner.

"I brought rice!" Casey adds, pulling a sack of said ingredient out of his pile of things. He drags a pot and a roasting stick out for good measure. "That goes with anything, right?"

"Yeah! We have a good, healthy meal here between us, I think," Jordan looks proudly at the stack of cans next to his bag. "Who says we can't feed ourselves…" his voice trails off as he roots around the front pocket. "I ah- hm. We might have a slight problem here."

"What? Why?"

"I don't remember getting my matches back after the Skiddo debacle. Did you maybe put it away…?"

"Nah, I woulda put 'em in that pocket. The one you always put 'em in." Casey looks mildly concerned for half a second before he brightens. "But we don't need matches!"

Jordan picks up a can and reads the label. "I guess we can eat these cold, but the rice…"

"Pepper is a fire! We can just cook things over him!" Pepper scampers over, followed closely by Parsley. "Oh, good timing."

Jordan opens his mouth to protest, but closes it to stop and consider. "You know what? Not your worst idea. Pick a can, let's try it. But uh, outside." he quickly added.

Casey wiggles out of the tent with a can of tomatoes in hand. "Pepper, c'mere and stay still for a sec." Pepper sits obediently and Casey holds the can over his tail for about three seconds before pulling back. "Nope, too hot," he mutters, half to himself.

"Hm," Jordan thinks for a moment. "Oh! I know." he returns to his tent and pushes out a curious Tangela. "Your vines don't feel pain, right? Think you can dangle the can over Pepper's fire to heat it up?"

She glances at the fire, not looking particularly excited to try this.

"We just… gotta be careful. It'll be fine. Probably," Jordan shrugs, nudging her forward. "Is there maybe… how do you turn down the fire?" he pokes Pepper's tail at its base. The tail twitches and smacks his hand.

"I dunno. Pepper, can you lower it?" Pepper concentrates, and the flame shrinks by about a third.

"Okay, now we're cookin'!" Jordan exclaims. "Well, not yet, but you know what I mean." He pauses, then disappears into the tent again, pulling out Casey's pot. He jogs down to the stream and returns with it brimming with water. "There, a precaution." he says to Tangela, who still seems dubious, but satisfied enough to try. She picks up one of the bean cans, and gingerly holds it over Pepper's flame, standing about four feet away with her vines outstretched.

The boys watch for a while. It goes well until the flames start to get brighter and before they can question what's happening, Tangela's vines are on fire. Her eyes grow wide, and she runs towards Jordan, flaming vines still outstretched.

"W-whoa!" Jordan calms her down enough to stop waving the fiery tendrils in the air, and dumps the contents of the pot over her. She shakes her vines out angrily and shoots him a dirty look as he apologizes profusely. At least she wasn't on fire anymore.

"Okay, that almost worked! We just gotta hold it with something else… ah!" Casey drags his roasting fork over and stabs another can near the top. Some bean juice seeps out. "And now we just…" He holds it just above the flames.

"Higher! Did you not see what just happened?" Jordan holds out a burnt vine.

"Fine, fine." Casey stands and holds it high above the flames for a few minutes. His patience quickly runs out and he draws the can back to check. "It's barely warm," he complains. "I'm gonna put it lower again; I'm not a Grass-type."

He does so. When he draws it back this time, the can is definitely hot to the touch. Casey waves it at Jordan, something like "here, open it," barely audible around the fingers in his mouth.

Jordan motions for him to set it down, and prods it with his finger. "Ouch!" he exclaims, drawing his hand back. "Okay, maybe we can…" he roots around his bag and pulls out a folded knife. He flips the blade open, and stabs the top of the can, making the hole from Casey's fork earlier big enough for the contents to slowly pour into one of their camp bowls. If only they could pick it up.

"...I don't suppose you brought mittens, did you?"

"Nope."

Jordan looks at the steaming can. "Well. I see this as a success. Let's just… leave it there for now and work on something else. We can come back when it cools down a bit, right?"

If I struggle a lifetime...
🍀🍀🍀
Arianne Chandler & Ralph Gonder - Route 9 - Day 3 - May 22^nd
Joint post with Astronaut
​

Arianne's team: ••
Ralph's team: •••

Ralph
Arianne
Route 9, Wednesday May 22nd, afternoon

Once the dust settled down, Arianne examined the newcomer from a distance, expecting to have a very powerful Pokémon in front of her. But there was probably nothing to be scared about - if anything, that Pokémon was hurt and needed help.

There was just a slight problem. The Water Gun from Squirtle hit… that blue Pokémon. It didn't seem to do much damage, only leaving behind some small puddles near the wild creature, but it probably startled it even more.

"It's a Bagon," Ralph said from behind Ari and the pokemon. "A young dragon. I saw one in the Cerulean gym. Forgot they lived here. Pretty rare. And pretty angry?"

"Bagon you said? That's rare indeed!" Arianne took some steps closer to the Dragon type, but without getting too close yet. "Do you think it just tried to fly? That's what Bagon usually does…"

"Oh right!" Ralph laughed, "it's the pokemon who keeps trying to fly without realizing you gotta have wings for it. Or jetbeams. Well if it tried now, it probably jumped off from up there," she added and pointed to an even higher cliff, "and saved us in the process. What a good guy. Do you think it got hurt though?"

"Well they say, Bagon doesn't care about it anyway. He's just so stubborn!" Arianne paused, her expression becoming more worried. "But hurt or not hurt… I have the slight feeling it doesn't like me that much."

"Probably not," Ralph grinned. "You and twinkle eyes just attacked it unprovoked. As if you were a pokemon trainer on the hunt for new wild pokemon to capture!" She hoped Ari would take the hint, as she stepped away from the others slightly and gestured for Sandsy to follow her lead.

Ralph made Arianne get back her smile, as the black haired girl pulled out a Pokéball out of her backpack. "I don't really want to fight it in these conditions… let's see if this works" she said, about to throw her Pokéball. She, however, hesitated for a moment. "Sure you don't want it? You also wanted to catch new Pokémon didn't you?"

Ralph was about to say a simple 'no, of course it's yours', but something stopped her before she could get those words out. She looked at the dragon in front of them. It would evolve into a mighty Salamence one day. Some of the strongest pokemon there was. And Bagon were rare, probably only found here in all of Kanto. She might never get the chance to capture one again.

She could claim it. Somehow say that she deserved it better. Or ask to battle Ari for it. It wouldn't be the first time she'd settle a dispute with brute force or by outsmarting others.

The Bagon grunted at them with challenge in its eyes. Squirtle looked up to his trainer for advice, and Ralph turned to look at her too. There was anticipation in Arianne's eyes. That girl had asked Ralph for permission to capture the wild pokemon she'd already interacted with, essentially. It was a bit ridiculous. Ralph should just say 'no, of course it's yours'. But a Bagon. A Salamence.

She really wanted it too.

"No," she somehow said though, surprising herself. She was hoping the rapid swirl of changing emotions in her over the past couple of seconds wasn't noticeable on her features. "Go ahead."

Without any more words, Arianne threw her PokéBall at the dragon, who was still laying on the ground, trying to get back up. It got sucked into the device, who remained closed shut for a couple of seconds… yes, no longer than a couple of seconds. Bagon had been able to free itself, breaking out of the PokéBall, and was now standing up, trembling, still glaring at the two girls.

Ralph cleared her throat, trying hard not to let a quip out. "Stubborn," she said. "Might need a battle." She would easily be able to take it down herself, if it was her who would do the capture. But she let Ari be.

"No going back then! Use Tackle!"

Squirtle launched himself towards the Bagon, who seemed to be just too hurt to dodge. The Dragon was knocked away, but endured the hit as best as it could and still, glanced at the girls with fiery eyes. It's like it wanted to continue fighting no matter what.

At this point, Arianne could only tell Squirtle to attack again: so, another Tackle hit the Dragon Type, having it back up closer to the slope it slid down from. And just like before, Bagon didn't have enough of it. No, actually this time it hit back!

Bagon lunged back at Squirtle, his whole body being surrounded in a red aura. The Turtle Pokémon definitely didn't expect such a strong retaliation coming from an already hurt opponent, but was able to stand his ground - and not fall down from the ledge - by using Withdraw just in time.

That attack was definitely Rage! A move that becomes more powerful as the user takes hits… but makes it also more careless and unrelenting in battle. And maybe even harder to catch.

Ralph couldn't stand just watching. "I'll help you," she said. "Edgy, go! Use Harden!"

She tossed the bug's pokéball up, and out came the Kakuna. As usual, he was a bit slow to take action. But when he landed in between Squirtle and Bagon and saw the glowing dragonling approaching, he automatically used Harden to brace himself for the impact. His solid body bounced away some, but didn't take much damage. Grumpily, he jumped back up and glared at the dragon.

Ralph felt a rush of adrenaline. This Bagon was no match for them, for sure. "Now, Acrobatics!"

She wasn't really sure of what to expect from this move, and had been a bit surprised to see that Edgy had learned it recently. Clearly, the Bagon was surprised too, and was easily struck by the cocoon of doom from above.

Bagon was knocked even further away by the attack - not even its armored head could protect it fully. But the Dragon type didn't have enough of it yet, and actually this time had the perfect move to hit its new opponent with. Lifting its head just enough, Bagon fired off an Ember towards Edgy!

Harden didn't protect Edgy much against this. The bug was enveloped by the embers and made a loud noise of pain.

"No!" Ralph exclaimed. She hadn't considered that the dragon might know a fire move. This wasn't looking good.

"Bagon is that strong…" commented Arianne, her memory of Cerulean resurfacing. That Dragon type maybe wouldn't have made a big difference in that situation, but it was still too good to pass up, even for her.

The embers subsided and left a burned Edgy on the ground, Bagon with a triumphant, pumped up grin on its face. But then it happened.

Edgy's body started glowing, rising, and changing shape. Within seconds, a much more imposing form buzzed above their heads, and its red eyes were aimed with renewed rage at the small dragon.

"Finally," Ralph said with the widest grin. "Beedrill!"


Arianne stared in awe at the newly evolved Pokémon. "C-congratulations Ralph!" she yelled, her voice somewhat cracking. This turn of events, though, was probably not exactly optimal. Beedrill would have probably either hurt Bagon way beyond its breaking point, or merely made its Rage attack stronger. Trying not to be heard by Ralph, Arianne whispered a command to Squirtle, who was now close to his trainer - and his eyes began to glow again.

The target of Heal Pulse this time was Bagon itself! It made the fight more even in a sense, but also calmed it down… or, more realistically, made the Dragon type feel a bit more numb and unable to focus on its Rage.

The other girl didn't notice. She was completely focused on her new bee. "Edgy…" What moves would Beedrill have? "Do your thing!" She hoped that would work.

It seemed to work. Edgy dove through the air, needles at the ready. The dragon was starting to spout Embers at him, but he flew straight through them to strike Bagon hard in the chest. The attack seemed to hurt… But it didn't make the Bagon faint.

"How is it that resilient?" Ralph panted in disbelief.

"It's fine, it's fine!" Arianne reassured her friend. "We can still catch it."

She then grabbed another PokéBall and held it in her hand, trying to take aim. She couldn't quite throw it yet, as Edgy and Squirtle were still in the way, and Bagon was a bit too far for her liking.

And so, Arianne and Squirtle took some steps towards the Dragon type, still remaining alert not to be attacked by it… but also looking back at Ralph every once in a while.

Ralph snapped then. She just couldn't let Ari catch it. "Edgy, Twineedle!"

Beedrill reacted faster than he usually did - perhaps evolution sharpened his senses? - and almost instantly started diving down again towards the Bagon. But the dragon had already started backing away, and seeing the new attack coming now, he actually turned around completely and started running… Towards the ledge leading down towards the main road.

Arianne couldn't just let it run away though! After everything Ralph and her did, one of them deserved to catch the Bagon… not to mention, it was definitely not normal for it to run away from a fight… (probably the effect of Heal Pulse?)

Squirtle and Arianne's steps eventually turned into running: they followed the cliffside, trying to approach Bagon before it would, well, try to fly again… and get hurt yet again. And trying to get a clear shot with the PokéBall.

Edgy thankfully halted his approach when Ari obstructed the line to his target. Ralph was not happy with that turn of events though. "Ari! What are you doing!"

"No! Fly! ZONE!" shouted Arianne, panting and huffing as she finally grabbed herself the Bagon, who was in fact trying to "fly" away from the commotion (like the girl predicted). With one hand, she gripped onto the dragon's body just as it tried to jump, but in doing so, fell to the ground and left Squirtle watching, puzzled, from further behind.

Ralph watched on, as if frozen. Some part of her intently wanted to reach for a pokéball.

Arianne's other hand, somehow, still held her own Pokéball tightly. She just hadn't even thought about throwing it, but now there was no need to. As soon as she could, the girl mashed the Pokéball onto Bagon's armor multiple times, eventually getting it to work.

The device shook wildly in Arianne's hand, who was still holding onto it as firmly as she could, before finally stopping. The dragon was still nowhere to be seen, but that was a good sign, because...

Bagon was caught!

Ralph unfroze, as Beedrill came down to stand next to her. She tried to calm down, and keep her thoughts on how proud she was of Edgy for finally evolving into such a strong looking pokémon. But her focus was only on the other girl and the pokéball she held in her hand now. Ari had caught the strong Bagon, instead of Ralph. She supposed that she had told her it was okay, earlier. But that was before Bagon had broken out of the pokéball once. And before Ralph had entered the battle herself, via Kakuna and Beedrill.

She would have been allowed to catch it too now, for sure. But Ari won. Ralph didn't say anything, because she couldn't find the right words. Instead, she just turned to pet Edgy on his buggy head in silence.

Without even trying to get back up, Arianne looked towards Ralph, her face only one or two inches away from the rocky terrain. Her smile of satisfaction quickly turned to a frown, however, when she realized the way the other girl was behaving.

After being kind to Ralph and asking her for permission to catch Bagon, mashing her PokéBall in its face like that wasn't really a good example of coherence. But at the same time, Bagon could have hurt itself even more by jumping off the cliff. The same cliff Arianne was standing on the edge of.

The same cliff that was starting to shake under her weight!

Despite the seething emotions inside of her, Ralph reacted quickly when she felt and heard crackling noises from beneath the other girl. She dashed over and grabbed hold of both Ari's arms at once, without thinking of keeping herself grounded. Luckily for them both, their pokémon weren't stupid. Edgy, Sandsy and Squirtle were all there quickly enough, grabbing Ralph's legs or waist to keep her from falling too. Together, with some effort, they pulled Ari safely up before they all sat down to catch their breath.

"You never think before you do things, do you," Ralph said in between breaths. She didn't sound angry though, rather almost amused.

"Yeah…" Arianne replied, sighing. "Thanks, to all of you!"

"Yeah, thanks," Ralph added towards the pokémon with a small laugh. "Good reflexes, good thinking." Then she faced Ari's eyes, and remembered what had transpired before. Her smile tensed up, and faded slightly.

"I-I just wanted to stop Bagon from getting hurt even more." That was the best excuse Arianne could find, after seeing Ralph's face turn more serious… again. "I'm sorry I put you in danger again, like back in Cerulean."

The black haired girl didn't speak of anything else on her mind though. Not about how she was so upset after the encounter with the masked trainer, not about how she needed to win more fights… not about how she behaved with Ralph just then!

That made Ralph think back on their river adventure and realize something. It was Ari who put Ralph in that situation. Her plan. Sure, she could have refused to take the risk and try to battle the brutes at the bridge instead, but… it was still Ari's plan that had almost made Ralph drown. And yet, Ralph had been thinking of it as Ari saving her life.

"Good luck with that," she said, not able to prevent a sharp tone from slipping through. "You two are perfect for each other."

She got up and swiftly returned Sandsy and Edgy to their pokéballs. "I'm gonna go look for more pokémon," she then said, without looking at Ari.

"Is something wrong?" the other girl asked. Not very kindly anymore, to tell the truth: Arianne, if anything, sounded serious and rather upset to see her friend try to leave like that. She made some questionable choices, including the Heal Pulse on Bagon, but at least tried to apologize. And, of all people, she didn't expect that kind of behavior from Ralph.

But Ralph didn't answer immediately, instead turning around to leave.

"Ralph!" Arianne called out.

The other girl stopped in her tracks and fought conflicting thoughts within herself. Ari really sounded true to herself here. She hadn't wished anything bad onto Ralph. And… It's perfectly possible that her only thought when throwing herself over the cliff after Bagon had been to protect the stupid little dragon from hurting itself even more. That was so typical Ari.

But still.

She sighed and turned around slightly. "I lied. Before. I wanted the Bagon too. I'm just gonna go look for another one." As if she had any realistic chance of finding two in the same day. Mostly she just wanted to put some space between herself and everybody else right now.

"Alright, I understand. But… this is my Bagon now." Arianne replied. Ralph had been honest with her, and she had to do the same. "I can't give up on it like this. All I can do is wish you good luck."

With tearful eyes - Arianne probably hurt Ralph more than needed by not choosing less harsh words - she continued: "I'll have to heal it and get going. I already know, Rock Tunnel will be difficult."

Ralph clenched her jaw for a moment before she spoke again. "Come on, then. Let's keep going before it gets too dark."

Eventually Arianne and Ralph reached yet again the main path. The black haired girl tried to take some dust off her clothes and, still slightly puzzled by Ralph's different reactions, started to talk once more.

"I'm from Cinnabar, remember? Take tourists away and we're just a little town in the middle of the sea. And when people disagree, or start fighting, there's no running away because you're all stuck in the same island."

Ralph clenched her fist where she was walking. Hearing some righteous goody two-shoes advice was not what she was in the mood for right now.

"And so that is why" Arianne explained "I try to be myself every time, and be honest about the way I feel."
Arianne continued after some heavy breathing. "So please, if something's bothering you, let me know! We can figure out a solution without losing trust of each other!"

Maybe it wasn't the best speech she'd ever given, but Arianne felt like it was genuine enough. All of this, as the two girls kept walking down the path.

Sadly, the strongest thought inside Ralph after that was: So annoying. All she felt like doing right now was to get away, not have a heart-to-heart. It almost overwhelmed her wish to see Ari safely to the next pokémon center. Even though she definitely didn't owe the reckless girl that. Wasn't Ralph just the kindest soul to do it anyways?

"I'll let you know," she quipped, even though she didn't mean what she said. She thought saying it like that would make her feel better, but it really didn't. And it was only at that point that Arianne realized, Ralph wasn't going to cooperate that much. And that forcing other people to talk about how they feel isn't a good idea.

Instead, an awkward silence settled between the girls as they walked on.



Arianne
Squirtle grew to Lv 13!
Squirtle learned Rapid Spin!
Squirtle is able to learn Bite! Replace an old move? Answer in the OOC thread pls.
Arianne caught a Bagon! Male, Lv 9

Ralph
Edgy evolved into Beedrill!
Edgy grew to Lv 13!
Edgy learned Twineedle!
Edgy forgets Harden in favor of Fury Attack!

Some time later that day...

Ralph
Route 9, Wednesday May 22nd, late afternoon

The sun was lowering in the sky, and Ralph plowed on. She had left any semblance of the main road behind, but knew where the sun was and in what direction she should be going in relation to it. Once it set though... She would be lost. Really not the most cleverest idea. But then again, she wasn't thinking straight right now.

Her blood was still pumping as she pressed onwards. All her pokémon were inside of their pokéballs, as she really didn't feel like having anybody at all around right now. She was angry - with Ari? With herself? And she wanted to wallow in it, which she was finally free to do after she had left Ari's company... She let the dark feelings embrace her and carry her forwards through the rocky terrain.

She passed by some trees and was suddenly startled by a movement up ahead. But it was a tiny creature. No blue, rare dragon. Just a Rattata. It had a vibrant, purple fur, not unlike her own hair, and its big eyes glimmered in a greenish tone in what little of the late sunlight that reached them. It sat down and just sniffed at Ralph when it spotted her.

Ralph sighed, and fell to her knees. Finally, she allowed herself to stop and rest for a moment. Not that it really helped with her mood.

"Isn't that just splendid," she muttered. "Ari finds a dragon, and I find a rat."

The rat leaned its head to the side, and carefully scuttled up to her. She paid it no attention. Until something touched her leg, and she glanced that way. A small, ripe Oran berry was lying next to her. A meter away, the Rattata was sittting, now looking at the human expectantly.

"I don't need pity," Ralph said quickly with a frown, but realized that this little Rattata probably thought she was physically hurt and just wanted to help her. What a good guy. "I mean. Thanks."

She reached for the berry, but another noise made her stop her movement. A loud growl. It didn't come from the Rattata, and it really didn't sound friendly. She looked around, to try and find the source of it.

Too late. The source was already leaping for her. She saw it only as a moving shadow from something coming from behind, before a loud thud was heard. When she finally spun around, and scooted backwards to try to get away, she realized what was going on.

A red and grey pokémon had tried to jump at her from a cliff, but the small Rattata had saved her by Tackling it. The Rattata now ran back to stand guard in front of Ralph, while the malicious pokémon got up as well, looking quite angry. Still on the ground, Ralph reached for her pokédex and scanned the opponent.

"Lycanroc," she gasped. "Midnight forme. Rock type. Those aren't really nice pokémon."

The green eyed Rattata met the wolf's growl with one of its own, although it was more squeaky than anything. Rattata seemed like a nice pokémon. But it probably couldn't take on a rock type on its own. Ralph couldn't really understand why it would want to take care of her like this. Maybe it was a mother or father, and used to caring for weaker Rattatas? Did it think Ralph was a Rattata just because her hair was purple? The girl almost chuckled at that, but her small joy was cut short by the Lycanroc lunging for them again. This time, Ralph grabbed Rattata before it could try to defend, and rolled away with it in her arms. Again, thanks martial arts studies.

Lycanroc somehow anticipated their evasion though, and changed direction midways. Its assault didn't become as powerful then as initially, but it would still have inflicted quite some damage to Ralph if Rattata hadn't pressed itse3lf out from Ralph's grasp and suddely Tail Whipped the wolf on its nose in what must have been a quite elegantly timed move for an onlooker.

"Alright!" Ralph gasped as she scrambled to her feet. "Seems you want a fight. I'll give you a more fair one. Coldy, go!"

The Alolan Sandshrew emerged from her pokéball and faced Lycanroc with a stare as calm and focused as ice itself. Lycanroc merely smiled when faced with this new opponent, which should have worried Ralph. But her anger from before was begging for release, and she was nowhere near as calm as Coldy now. The wolf Howled loudly, and the sound made the blood curl in Ralph's veins. She wasn't going to let it power itself up too much.

"Coldy, Powder Snow!"

The Sandshrew swiftly obeyed and launched a flurry of powder snow at the wild pokémon. It whined at the contact - rock types didn't appreciate the cold - but didn't flinch noticeably. Recovering faster than Ralph expected, Lycanroc next launched a couple of medium sized rocks in the air towards Coldy, who was struck hard and rolled backwards, nearly to the edge of another ledge. This landscape really was tricky to battle in.

"Where did those rocks come from?" Ralph thought out loud. "Can it just conjure them?"

Lycanroc wasted no time. It was already hurling even more boulders in Coldy's direction, and they landed around her as if forming a tight cage, making it impossible for her to escape if the Lycanroc was to hurl even more boulders now. Unless...

"Bide!" Ralph called out, and Coldy obeyed and started storing her energy in a defensive stance.

Lycanroc ran up to the rock cage and reached down to Bite the Sandshrew. Unfortunately, its icy shell was so hard that it probably hurt the wolf as much as it hurt the armadillo.

"Now!" Ralph ordered, and the well trained Sandshrew punched back at Lycanroc before it could properly retreat, inflicting some damage to its head. The wolf backed off and shook its head with muttering noises.

"You gotta get out of there!" Ralph said and ran up to grab Coldy's paw.

Together, they managed to have her climb out of the tight rock tomb. But they hadn't been paying enough attention to their opponent. Lycanroc was advancing on them again, looking more angry than ever, raising its claw...

Only to stop, and blink while looking downwards. The small Rattata was sitting there, and actually smiled up at the other wild pokémon.

"Careful!" Ralph called out, and Coldy readied another Powder Snow.

But Lycanroc didn't attack this time, instead, it leaned down, and picked up something that was lying in front of Rattata, as if the rat had offered it. Ralph raised her eyebrows when she saw what it was. The Oran Berry. Lycanroc spent a few seconds glancing between the others with suspicion, before it munched down the berry fast, and scurried off in between the trees without another growl or anything.

Coldy stood down when she felt Ralph ease up and let out a big breath.

"It was just... hungry?"

Rattata squeaked happily in response as it smiled up at her with its twinkling, green eyes. In perfect timing, Ralph's stomach let out a loud noise that went on for several seconds.

"I suppose I am too," she noted, before kneeling down before the rat. "You're pretty clever. I'm sorry for thinking you were a worse find than a Bagon. Would you... Maybe like to come with me? Be part of my team?"

She really hadn't planned on catching a common Rattata. But life didn't always go as planned. And it had both brain cells and guts, which was quite valuable.

Rattata didn't immediately jump at the idea, and its smile faded a bit. But then it stood up and barked at Ralph with a determined look. Well, bark was the closest word she could put on the sound at least.

"Is that a yes or?"

Rattata growled now, and bumped Ralph's foot with its head half hard.

"Oh... You want a battle. So if I defeat you, you'll join me?"

A nod was the response. Alright then. Ralph's stomach growled again, and she noticed that the sunlight was noticeably weaker now, but she decided to accept this anyways.

"Coldy, are you ready?"

The Alolan Sandshrew regained her icy stare, now focused on her tiny new opponent. That was a definitive yes, at least.

"Okay, ready yourself, little friend," Ralph said with a grin. "Here we come. Ice Ball!"

Coldy wrapped herself up as a ball, glowing with cold energy, and rolled quickly towards the rat. But Rattata swiftly evaded the move with what could have been Quick Attack, and retaliated from the side, knocking Coldy off track and causing her to unfold.

"Huh, clever. But not enough! Next, use Powder Snow!"

Coldy was quickly back up on her feet, and fired off snow jets in Rattata's direction. The rat was quick and tried to avoid this attack too, but didn't quite manage to. The cold snow layer that formed on the ground made it move slower. As Coldy let up, Rattata stopped, and its body seemed to vibrate for a second - a cold shudder? - before it suddenly seemed to glow with a red energy for a second. Oh, that wasn't a shudder. It could have been a move. Ralph grasped her pokédex, who told her it was indeed Focus Energy. Rattata's next attacks might before more critical now.

"Watch out Cold- Oh!"

When Ralph had looked down at her pokédex, Rattata had taken the opportunity to act. Coldy, as quick as she was to follow orders, seldom acted on her own, and just took the attack this time. It was a Tackle, and it hit her head on and caused her to slide backwards in the snow layer.

"Ouch, sneaky," Ralph commented, even though she knew she had only her own lack of attention to blame. She noticed Coldy was getting tired after her battle with Lycanroc and now Rattata, even though the pokémon tried not to let it show. She doubted she'd be happy if she switched her out, however.

But Rattata came with another Quick Attack that struck Coldy head on, and now she was almost rolling over the edge of the plateau they were fighting on. No good.

"Sorry," Ralph muttered as she returned Coldy to her pokéball. "You're great, but it's unfair to let you tire yourself out in two battles in a row out in the wilderness like this. As for you," she added, turning back to the Rattata. "My whole strength is my whole team, and since Coldy had to face two opponents, so will you. Edgy, go!"

Her Beedrill came out of its pokéball, buzzing in the air and refreshed after having rested in his pokéball. He looked around for a strong opponent to smash, but when all he saw was the puny Rattata, he gave Ralph a disappointed stare.

"Don't be like that," Ralph urged. "This little dude beat a Lycanroc and a Sandshrew already. Aren't you better than them?"

Questioning his power always worked on Edgy, of course. He turned back towards Rattata and commenced attacking before Ralph even uttered an order. She threw her hands up in the air with a shrug as the Twineedle connected easily with the small Rattata - probably more from it being surprised than anything.

"Okay, keep going then with Fury Attack! Don't let the rat escape you!" she called out though, although she suspected the Beedrill might have kept going like that anyways if she had stayed silent.

Edgy jabbed his lancers quickly at Rattata, half walking, half flying and rather easily keeping the rat from being able to run away. But the rat suddenly used the move from before again, managing to get a Tail Whip hit in on Beedrill, right in the face. It confounded the bee and made it stagger backwards. In the process, Rattata took the opportunity to use Quick Attack and run around to strike Beedrill from behind.

Or, it would have, if Ralph hadn't foreseen that.

"String Shot backwards!" she called out the instant she saw the Tail Whip.

Edgy wasn't sure of what he saw or what was happening, but as he trusted Ralph rather blindly by now, he just turned around and sprayed his icky string. It hit the target perfectly, and Rattata became jammed to the ground by the incapacitating thread.

"Aha!" Ralph said and came to stand and lean over the Rattata, Beedrill next to her with his stinger aimed at Rattata's head. "Do you give up?"

Rattata looked fiercely from one to the other, but instead of nodding, it started trying to gnaw itself out of the String Shot mess. It would have worked, if Edgy hadn't decided to go ahead and Poison Sting the rat in its ribs after all. That hit was the last drop, and Rattata fainted.

Ralph shook her head. "That wasn't necessary. Poison moves... Not really fair fighting." But she gave Edgy an appreciative pet on his head anyways before taking out an empty pokéball and touching it to the fainted Rattata's head. It didn't take much effort for the ball to close around it and successfully capture it.

"Quite some fight in this one. Maybe rare pokémon aren't always better," Ralph murmured to herself as she held the ball up in the faint evening light.

That made her think of Ari and the Bagon, and the camp they had reached again. Her stomach was aching now. Maybe she shouldn't have left them... But she had made her choice. And she hadn't really been a good friend. At all. Ari deserved better.

Upset with herself again, Ralph kept walking east, Edgy buzzing lazily above her.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nU8Cg35-g08

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