Arcanum IC

moon · Jan 9, 2012

of mythology and technology

A Journey Roleplay, Rated T
This is the IC thread.
OOC thread found >here<

" ar·ca·num - n. pl. ar·ca·na (-n) or ar·ca·nums
1. A deep secret; a mystery.
2. often arcana; Specialized knowledge or detail that is mysterious to the average person.
3. A secret essence or remedy; an elixir. "

[ prologue ]

The moon shone brightly, but it wasn't easy to look up and admire it. Wind blew heavily around the two lonely human scouts climbing up the mountainside. It was cold at this altitude, it had probably been snowing recently. The Arca Peak was above them, hidden in mists. People had tried to fly there, in machines and on pokémon, but there was always some kind of electrical power or raging storm that prevented them from reaching the top. Exploration teams had been sent up before, but none had reached the top before the storm got the better of them. But this time, it was different. These scouts were well prepared and had the most advanced instruments in the whole of Arcanum with them. They had reached further than no other explorers before them, by stealth. They could almost see the top...

Electricity crackled in the air between the scouts. From where? From above? A dark cloud was starting to form above them, spinning in the storm. The scouts had to hold on for dear life to not be blown away. They had been discovered! Then came the green Thunder. It was strong and hit the rope that bound together the scouts. The lowest scout tumbled down from the mountain with a scream, landing finally on a ledge way down with probably more than one broken bone in her body. The remaining scout looked up, and took forth a black little camera at the same time. If there was something in that cloud, he would capture it!

Then came the pink Fire Blast. From the top of the mountain, when the scout was not prepared, it hit him with a scorching sound and sent him tumbling down the mountainside as well. He landed just below the other scout, and could hear her groaning. The wind was a lot calmer here. He looked up. They had fallen so far... he couldn't move his legs. But in front of him, within arm's reach, was the little black camera. Forgetting all about his broken body, he reached out for it and looked at the last taken picture. Yes... finally. It was worth it. Shiny Reshiram was real and shiny Zekrom too. He pressed a button on his wrist just before he felt himself fade away into darkness. It was all worth it...

[ accepted players ]

Zekrom as guardian:

Lynn Colthearts (Miss Doronjo)

Spoiler:

Lucas 'Luke' Wright (-DeepImpact-)

Spoiler:

Ayame Akiko (PinkSapphire)

Spoiler:

Reshiram as guardian:

Kitaru Chida (The warden)

Spoiler:

Soul W. "Wildboy" Grant (Mr. Mammoth)

Spoiler:

Ethan "Kumiho" Marx (Fuyu)

Spoiler:

Alabaster Bell (Red's Hawt Chibi Pelippers)

Spoiler:

Chapters so far...
Chapter One: Januvale Town
Chapter Two: Route 11
Chapter Three: Feborough Town
Chapter Four: Route 10
Chapter Five: Marchall City

If you want to sign up, go find the OOC thread
in the Roleplay Lounge :]

Currently NO spot is open, though.

Retired players...

Spoiler:

moon · Jan 16, 2012

Chapter One: Januvale Town

< theme song >

Setting: Januvale is the smallest town in Arcanum, just bigger than the tiny villages strewn over the countryside of the region. All buildings here are built in a traditional japanese looking way, but most people have some tecnhology stuff, like TVs, fridges and stuff. There isn't a pokémon center - people usually don't battle much and they tend to their hurt pokémon as they would tend to injured humans. There is a school, but not many real shops.

The town lies close to the southern shore and there are fishing boats going out from the small docks. Just the other day, a bigger, modern ship docked there though, carrying rich people from the east. Some smaller huts are build near the docks, to store things and to be home to some poor fishermen.

Story: Joresh Ja leads you back to his home, a rather secluded but nice looking house near the shore. You can see the horizon between the trees if you look out the window. Joresh lets you sit down in his living room and walks back and forth for a moment, pondering something deeply.

"That mark..." he begins. "How did you get it?"

You tell him about your dream. He doesn't seem surprised, more like worried.

"Your guardian is calling you... I know how that is." He quietly shows you his own wrist; he has got an identical mark there! "I too had a dream some nights ago, telling me to prepare... This must have been what my guardian meant. Prepare you." Joresh fixes his dark gaze on you. "I don't really know who you are, but you don't look ready."

You react to this, but Joresh simply shakes his head. "You have to honor your Arcanian ancestry and follow the call. But you won't go anywhere until you've proven to me that you're ready. I know what I'm talking about. You... you need pokémon. A journey through Arcanum is too perilous nowadays without trusted pokémon by your side."

The older man looks out the window. "Down at the docks by the shore, there is a big ship from the east that has been stuck here for a while with mechanical problems. It carried explorers that had been meddling with things in the Arca Islands in the sea to the east. Some believe the ship has problems because it has been cursed, but I know better... They have picked up some freepassagers. Pokémon from the islands. The Arca Islands are sacred to us, but the outlander explorers do not care..."

Joresh walks up to a shelf, where a lot of different pokéballs are lined up. He carefully chooses a normal looking one. "Head down to the docks and find one of these pokémon. They are probably either roaming the shores, hiding in the storage huts or making mischief on board the ship. If you tell the sailors I sent you, you'll be allowed on board. Bring one of those pokémon back to me here, somehow."

Joresh hands you the pokéball from the shelf as well as another, empty, one and takes a deep, serious breath. "I will loan you one of my young but trustworthy pokémon. If you can get it to trust you, and manage to bring back one of the pokémon at the docks before the end of the day... then I believe you are ready."

Mission: Find one of the freepassager pokémon and capture it. This pokémon is the eevolution you picked as a starter in your SU! The mission ends when you enter Joresh's house again. Note that you will get the option to keep the pokémon Joresh loans you, later.

You may write your own version of Joresh' "speech" in his house if you want to, stating your characters real reactions to his words and changing his words just a little bit to fit. But you can also just start at the shore, or go into town or whatever first, as long as you finish the mission in the end.

Pokémon Joresh can loan you: (you get to choose which, and it doesn't matter if some other player picked the same)

Pansage
Level 10
- Scratch
- Leer
- Lick
- Vine Whip

Pansear
Level 10
- Scratch
- Leer
- Lick
- Ember

Panpour
Level 10
- Scratch
- Leer
- Lick
- Water Gun

You must complete the mission.

You can't leave Januvale.
You can't meet Joresh, but you may create NPCs of your own.
You can't meet the other players for now.

The warden · Jan 16, 2012

Kitaru walked along the winding coastal road between Joresh's house and the docks. As he was heading there he thought about the conversation he had just had with Joresh.

***

Firstly Joresh had already made tea for the two of them when Kitaru arrived. On a straw mat he sat in seiza and on a small table in front of him sat two cups of tea. Joresh had asked him about the mark and Kitaru had, with a little hesitation, explained about the dream. It was weird that he wasn't surprised at all by this in fact Joresh had said that Kitaru had been chosen by Reshiram and showed him the same mark on his own wrist. At this point Kitaru had lost track of what the man was saying.

"I too had a dream some nights ago, telling me to prepare... This must have been what my guardian meant. Prepare you." Joresh fixes his dark gaze on you. "I don't really know who you are, but you don't look ready."

"You invite me to your house and make me explain some mark on my wrist." Kitaru began to say standing up and pulling his sleeve up so that the mark was visible. "Then after telling me that I have been chosen for some destiny, you tell me that I'm not ready. I'm leaving." He shouted the rest with the exception of the last two words. He headed towards the door and picked his trainers up, not bothering to put them on he would do that when he was somewhere else but not here. He could sense Joresh looking at him walk away but knew that he hadn't got up since he hadn't heard him move.

"So this is how it is, you would let the region be lain to waste just for your own lack of patience." His voice was calm, and piercing but not malicious, it was said as a statement not a question. He took a sip of his tea, during which time Kitaru turned to face him, any longing to leave had left him. Still angry at the man Kitaru scowled at him. "Chida come, sit drink some of your tea." He said oblivious of Kitaru's seething anger, Kitaru was pacing up and down frowning at the floor. "You have to honour your Arcanian ancestry and follow the call."

Kitaru finally manage to calm himself down enough to rejoin Joresh at the table, he however chose to sit in the lotus position instead of back in seiza, a small rebellion of sorts. Joresh continued "But you won't go anywhere until you've proven to me that you're ready. I know what I'm talking about. You... you need Pokémon. A journey through Arcanum is too perilous nowadays without trusted Pokémon by your side." That interested Kitaru, going on a Pokémon journey was a good way to gain honour may be this would actually be helpful. From there on Joresh explained the mission to Kitaru who listened with interest. He handed Kitaru a Pokéball containing one of his Pokémon, Kitaru had questioned why he couldn't pick which Pokémon he would be able to borrow.

To this Joresh had said "Do you know which Pokémon you shall fight on at the docks, or how you shall catch it? If you do please tell for I could better arm you for your fight." Kitaru looked at the floor but said nothing. "No then," Joresh continued, "well then it would not help you to decide which Pokémon you take, just have trust in my judgement."

***

The dock was coming into sight and Kitaru could see the ship that was his target. Before he arrived he thought it best to attempt to win over the trust of the Pokémon he had borrowed. In a flash of light he released the Pokémon a small Pansage appeared before him.

"Pan pan sage." The Pokémon chattered in a confused voice meaning something like your not my master.
"No but he entrusted me with you, now follow me we have a job to do." Kitaru said, smiling at the Pokémon.

"Pan pan." The Pokémon replied and the two of them set off towards the docks.

Nakuzami · Jan 16, 2012

Melody Eumelia Wakana
Januvale Town, Arcanum
Januvale's Melody; a moonlit Eevee
< theme, Melody's flute >
♪

I followed Joresh Ja back to his house, which was a rather secluded building, although it did look nice enough. Once we entered, Joresh Ja motioned for me to take a seat in his living room, and so I did. He paced the room for a moment, looking deep in thought, not speaking for another few moments.

"That mark..." he pointed at the tao tattoo on my arm, "how did you get it?"

I sighed and pulled up the memory of my dream about Zekrom. Normally I don't remember dreams so well, but this one was so oddly vivid, it was almost like it wanted me to remember it, but stranger things have happened. I told Joresh Ja about the dream, every last detail I could recall, and thankfully the man showed some self-restraint by not interjecting, even once.

After I finished, Joresh Ja spoke once more. "Your guardian is calling you . . . I know how that is." He held up his arm and made his wrist face me; he had a tattoo identical to mine. "I too had a dream some nights ago, telling me to prepare . . . This must have been what my guardian meant. Prepare you." He fixed his dark eyes on me as he continued to speak. "I don't really know who you are, but you don't look ready."

I blinked a few times. He was told to prepare me? For what? "Listen, I don't know what you're going on about, but from what I can tell . . . I'm not the girl for the job."

Joresh Ja simply shook his head. "You have to honor your Arcanian ancestry and follow the call. But you won't go anywhere until you've proven to me that you're ready. I know what I'm talking about. You . . . you need pokémon. A journey through Arcanum is too perilous nowadays without trusted pokémon by your side."

Joresh Ja gazed out the window as he continued talking. "Down at the docks by the shore, there is a big ship from the east that came in just the other day. It carried explorers that had been meddling with things in the Arca Islands in the sea to the east. They had to make a stop here because they said something was wrong with their ship. Some believe they are cursed, but I know better . . . They have picked up some freepassagers. Pokémon from the islands. The Arca Islands are sacred to us, but the eastern explorers do not care . . ."

Joresh Ja walked up to a shelf filled with pokéballs, and after a quick moment to examine them he chose one. "Head down to the docks and find one of these pokémon. They are probably either roaming the shores, hiding in the storage huts or making mischief on board the ship. If you tell the sailors I sent you, you'll be allowed on board. Bring one of those pokémon back to me here, somehow."

Joresh Ja handed me the pokéball from the shelf, as well as another empty one. He took a deep breath, "I will loan you one of my young but trustworthy pokémon. If you can get it to trust you, and manage to bring back one of the pokémon at the docks before the end of the day . . . then I believe you are ready."

*****

"Chidel, if something happens, tell mom that I was kidnapped by a lunatic." I said as I walked down to the shore, pokéball in hand and an annoying parrot on my shoulder.

"Lunatic kidnapped Melody! Lunatic kidnapped Melody!" Chidel mimicked.

"Good, but wait until something happens." As I approached the ship, I noticed a pokémon, one I recognized to be a Vaporeon, in the water by the ship. There also seemed to be something going on aboard the ship . . . some of the pokémon must have been wreaking havoc. Joresh Ja did say that there was more than one.

I stared at the ship for a few moments, not really wanting to have to get on board, and that's when I was saved by a noise in one of the nearby storage huts. I turned and ran to it, opening the door and peering inside. At first I couldn't really see anything, but once my eyes adjusted I saw some toppled storage crates, as well as a hint of silver fur. I entered the hut, and I realized the silver-furred pokémon, an Eevee, was trembling.

"It's okay," I said as I kneeled down, reaching my hand out towards the pokémon. She must have been pretty frightened, because she tried to bite my hand. Luckily, I managed to pull it back in time. "Well, okay then."

There was a flash of light as a Pansage emerged from the pokéball that Joresh Ja had given me. I stood up and glanced at the two pokémon. "A battle, is it?" I questioned as I took a few steps back. "Fine, then. Pansage, use- . . . ! Uh . . . use . . . hmph," I scowled as I realized I had no idea what moves a Pansage could use. "Just attack," I mumbled.

The Pansage gave me a look that said something like are you kidding me? But he lashed out with a Vine Whip anyways. The Eevee countered with a Tackle attack, and then Pansage slashed at her with a Scratch attack. "Okay! Scratch and Vine Whip, I got it!" I cheered as I committed those moves to memory. "Another Vine Whip!"

Pansage wrapped the Eevee in a vine and tossed her into the air, right out of the storage hut. She landed a few yards away in the sand, but she easily got back to her feet. Pansage ran by me and towards the Eevee, and that's when the Eevee kicked a bunch of sand into Pansage's face. I had to sidestep in order to avoid getting sand all over my blouse.

"Um, if you can . . . try and hit her with a Scratch attack." Pansage shook his head for a few more moments, allowing the Eevee to Tackle him full-force. Pansage flew back a little, but he managed to do a flip and reach his paw into the sand, slowing himself down and allowing himself to stand. He ran at the Eevee full-speed and clawed at her, causing her to cry out and stumble backwards a few feet.

A moment later, the Eevee was sitting and mumbling something. It took me a while, but I soon realized that she was using Wish. "Oh! Stop her with Vine Whip!" Pansage did as told, but we were too late. The Eevee leaped into the air, glowed ever-so-slightly for a moment, and then came back down on Pansage with a rejuvinated Tackle.

"This isn't going to work," I muttered.

"Isn't going to work," Chidel echoed.

I pulled out my flute and began to blow into it. I played a tune that I knew very well; a tune played throughout Januvale, especially well by my father. Or, at least, that's what I was told. After a moment, the pokémon seemed to relax, ending their feud. Pansage took a seat on the sand, took a leaf from his head and began to blow into it. Eevee layed down and listened, a content look on her face. As I continued playing, I slowly reached for the empty pokéball . . .

. . . and chucked it at the Eevee. She didn't even have time to act surprised, because she was immediately enveloped in scarlet light before she disappeared. I walked over to the pokéball, picked it up, and headed back to the house of Joresh Ja.

{Swan} · Jan 16, 2012

"Care to tell me what that was all about?"Lanhua asked, struggling to keep up with Joresh Ja as he power-walked toward his house. He didn't say a word until they reached it, simply shooting a sharp look at Lanhua that shut her up quickly enough. When they reach his house he simply holds the door open for her and closes it when she's passed through. "Man of many words, is he?"Lanhua muttered under her breath.

She looked around, the house was nice enough, if not a bit too clean. It was big, seemed too big for a man to live alone. Her father would have fully approved of the living room. There was simply a mat to kneel on, a table in the middle of it, and a few bare necessities. It didn't exactly scream cosy. Joresh motioned for her to sit down and she knelt in front of the table, continuing to look around the room. There was also a shelf lined with Pokéballs, of which Lanhua wondered if they were empty or if they contained Pokémon. "The mark,"Joresh interrupted her from her scrutiny of his house. "How did you get it?"

"I-I don't know,"Lanhua began. But she did know. Sort of knew. "I had a dream. I don't remember too much of it,"Well, she did, she remembered every detail, she just chose not to remember. It was too... crazy. "Something about a beautiful white Pokémon,"she admitted. "I woke up with this on my wrist."

"Your guardian, it is calling you."Joresh showed his own wrist with an identical mark as Lanhua's burned into it. "I understand how that is. I, too, had a dream some nights ago, telling me to prepare. This must have been what it meant, to prepare you."He looked at her with a frown, silent a moment. At the same time Lanhua's patience was depleting. What was he talking about, he had to be mad! "I don't really know who you are, but you don't look ready."he said at last, looking her straight in the eyes.

Lanhua blinked, but said nothing. Just let the man rant, nod nicely and head off back to Maddy, Lanhua told herself. We can have a big laugh about it later, about what a whacko this town's pride and joy is. Joresh continued after it was clear that Lanhua wasn't going to say anything. "You have to honor your Arcanian ancestry and follow the call. But you won't go anywhere until you've proven to me that you're ready-"

Lanhua stood up immediately. "No, this is absurd!"She brushed her hair behind her ear, a sign of frustration, and folder her arms protectively. "I won't go along with this lunacy, I'm fine with listening, nodding politely, and being on my way. But I won't let you send me on some fool's mission, send me off to save the world or whatever, you're mad!"

"You have no say in this,"Joresh Ja said with a voice of authority. "This is beyond you, Yi Lanhua, and beyond your own selfish desires. There are powers at work here neither you or I understand. You would never be my choice either, but yet you have been chosen and you have a duty to your Arcanian decent."

"I'm not even proud of my Arcanian decent"Lanhua protested, giving the last words a nasty ring. She didn't want this, she just wanted to go home, go back to day to day life, worry only about school and look forward to her shoots. To not being send on fool's errands or getting marked by some nameless deity she didn't even know about. "Someone else can bring honor to their ancestry, I'm leaving,"she turned around to walk away but Joresh grabbed her arm.

He stared at her intently for a moment, then turned around her arm to expose her mark and laying a hand over it. "This is your duty Lanhua, you have been chosen and it is not something in your power to undo. This might be the only thing the world will ever require of you."

Lanhua looked away. "Fine," She sighed deeply and dramatically. "But if anything goes amiss, I will turn right back."Lanhua didn't quite know what she decided to do it, selflessness never having been her strongest suit. But it felt like, like she had to. It really felt like there was little choice. Joresh Ja showed the smallest smile of triumph, before growing serious once more.

Joresh looked out the window, nodding towards the far shore. "Down at the docks by the shore, there is a big ship from the east that came in just the other day. It carried explorers that had been meddling with things in the Arca Islands in the sea to the east. They had to make a stop here because they said something was wrong with their ship. Some believe they are cursed, but I know better... They have picked up some freepassagers. Pokémon from the islands. The Arca Islands are sacred to us, but the eastern explorers do not care..." He stood up and walked to the shelf of Pokéballs Lanhua had been wondering about earlier and picked one up, an ordinary-looking one you saw around, red and white. "Head down to the docks and find one of these pokémon. They are probably either roaming the shores, hiding in the storage huts or making mischief on board the ship. If you tell the sailors I sent you, you'll be allowed on board. Bring one of those pokémon back to me here, somehow."

He handed her both this one, as well as another. From the shift in weight between the two, even if it's ever so slightly, Lanhua could guess that the other one was empty. "I will loan you one of my young but trustworthy pokémon. If you can get it to trust you, and manage to bring back one of the pokémon at the docks before the end of the day... then I believe you are ready." Joresh said with finality, nodding towards the door, and Lanhua gladly walked away from him. Just this one thing, she thought. I will do just this one thing, and then I will stop this nonsense. But even to herself it sounded untrue.

* * *

Lanhua stared up at the ship. It looked gorgeous, or at least to her it did. Most of all, it looked foreign, and wonderfully so. It was starch-white with crew bustling about on the deck. As she approached the small bridge that connected it to the shore she was stopped by a foreign sailor, this one having a kind of red hair that Lanhua had only ever seen in magazines. However, contrary to the magazines, he wasn't goodlooking at all. It was curly and all messy, and his face was fully of angry spots. "Miss, you can't go any further."

"Joresh Ja sent me," Lanhua responded, as she'd been told.

"Oh, well that certainly changes things, just be quick about it won't you? We're having some difficulties with the ship, but they're being mended as quickly as we can, and we don't want any stowaway now do we?"He nodded her past and Lanhua quickly walked onto the boat, wanting to get away from the strange man and his spotted face.

The boat seemed quite busy, and Lanhua didn't have any idea where to start. Good thing that she didn't have to decide it, the one she was looking for came to her. Just around the corner of the main part of the ship a pair of curious eyes was looking at her, although she wasn't looking at the eyes. Instead Lanhua was looking at the beautiful teal leaves on its head- or ears as she just noticed. They seemed to gleam even brighter in the sun and the creature blinked slowly. And then it was gone.

"Oh," Lanhua muttered as in a trance. It had been so beautiful! At that moment only one thing went through her mind: I want it. She pressed the button on the Pokéball Joresh had given her and out came a strange half-blue monkey with closed eyes and a goofy smile. "Oh aren't you... interesting," Lanhua muttered, but the monkey just continued smiling.

"Excuse me miss?"A skinny sailor boy came around the opposite corner as the shiny creature she'd just seen. He had dark hair and eyes, like an Arcanian, but his face was still obviously foreign. "Have you seen a Leafeon around? It's been giving us lots of trouble."

"A what?" Lanhua asked, blinking. Pokémon class had never been her best.

"Oh, it's a sort of fox, but with shiny blue-greenish leaves and big brown eyes, about yeh high,"he held his hand to the approximate height of the creature she'd just seen.

"Yes!"She said excitedly, "Just around the corner just there! I'm going to catch it."She looked absently at the empty Pokéball in her other hand, she hadn't thought about this Leafeon being the Pokémon Joresh had sent her for, but now it felt like it couldn't be any different. And even if it were, she'd just catch this one anyway. It was so gorgeous! "Will you help me find it?"She asked the boy, she could always use some help.

"Absolutely, you'd be doing us a great help by getting rid of it! Well, us crew at least, not the fancy boffins, but that can't be helped,"The boy said distracted, before shaking his head as if remembering this wouldn't make sense to Lanhua. "Leafeons like the sun, so it would be logical for it to be hiding somewhere on the front deck, if you saw it run to that direction just now."

"Then front deck it is,"Lanhua started toward to front of the ship, finding that 'front deck' was actually a rather large space with lots of ropes and equipment lying about, it really could be hiding anywhere. She squinted against the sun, trying to see some of the pretty coloured leaves she'd seen.

"Why don't you let your Panpour help?"the boy suggested, poking at the monkey, who was giggling in return.

"Who? Oh right, that," Lanhua said distractedly. "Pan... pour it was? Could you find the Leafeon for me?"Panpour nodded with a smile before climbing one of the tall poles on the ship and peering down. "How can it see with its eyes like that?"Lanhua nodded.

"Beats me," the boy responded. Sure enough though the Panpour let out an excited cry, pointing towards a bunch of curled-up ropes. Both Lanhua and the boy ran foreward and found the Leafeon nestled between the ropes, sunbathing and looking up at them cheekily.

"Right, Panpour, attack," Lanhua ordered, and the Panpour just stared at her like she was nuts. "Just, you know, do what you do," she continued, making a little 'shoo' gesture with her hands.

"It's a water type, those usually know Water Beam," the boy provided, trying to be helpful. Panpour heard the command and responded accordingly, sending a spray of water towards the sunbathing Leafeon. The latter sputtered as it was thrown out of its little nest, and looked quite annoyed by the ordeal. It bristled its leaves, braced itself, and jumped forward with a blur. There was white energy all around it as it smashed into the Panpour, sending it into one of the masts.

"Oh, Panpour, do the Water thing again," Lanhua said carelessly and Panpour sent another spray of water towards Leafeon. The latter jumped out of the way though, and sped towards Panpour again, this time in a similar, but bit slower way. "Oh, jump aside!" Lanhua offered and the Panpour dodged the attack.

"It probably knows scratch too," another sailor yelled from aside, and Lanhua looked up startled, she hadn't noticed him. In fact, there were a bunch of crewmembers gathered to watch the battle. Lanhua felt a sense of pride, liking the attention. Meanwhile Panpour heard the name of its attack and scratched at the Leafeon it had just narrowly avoided.

Leafeon, after receiving some painful scratches, quickly used the attack it had first used to speed towards the other side of the front deck, licking at its hurt side. "Panpour, go up to it and use scratch again!" Lanhua ordered, feeling a rush of excitement from the battle, and from being watched. The Leafeon didn't quite like this idea though, and with more white light it ran up to Panpour and closed the distance within a fraction of a second, sending the monkey flying.

"Oh, that was an Aerial Ace if ever there was one," a woman wearing a cook's apparel commented. "Doesn't your monkey know Leer too? I think I've seen one of them battle before."Again Panpour's ears flicked at the command it knew and it stood up, hurt but still able, staring Leafeon right in the eyes. The latter shivered, than shook its head. Gearing up for another Aerial Ace move.

"Damned if I am, I know your Panpour has another move, I just can't think of it," the boy murmered, racking his brain for the answer. Meanwhile Leafeon tackled the monkey again with deadly speed, throwing it towards the crowd of watchers. One of the sailors reached out and caught it, however, reducing the damage it would have received from crashing to the ground.

"Here you go," he said, putting the Panpour down. "Off you go, you can do it mate."The Panpour puffed up its chest, feeding off the compliments. Other crewmembers also joined in, offering encouragements to the little water monkey as he moved to face off against the Leafeon again.

The pretty Leafeon jumped into another Quick Attack towards Panpour, but Lanhua was quick enough to ask him to dodge. Even while its been visibly hurt the Panpour jumped aside in time, and just at that moment the sailor boy remembered.

"Lick! That was it, Lick!" obediently Panpour licked Leafeon with it's tongue, who had a look of disgust and surprise in its eyes. It shivered, front legs collapsing, and continued shivering.

"Now girl!"the cook yelled at Lanhua. "Throw your Pokéball while it's still Paralyzed!"

"Right," Lanhua muttered, throwing the Pokéball at the temporarily downed Leafeon. The ball swallowed up the creature and began rolling on the floor, and the entire audience on the front deck held its breath.

Miss Doronjo · Jan 16, 2012

Lynn Colthearts - Mission One
*image removed*

Januvale's port side was about as peaceful and calming as the town. Perhaps for now, at least. Lynn, the overactive 16 year old girl who was born in raised in this town, faced the port's waterside with relaxed eyes. Of course, she had been at this port many times during her walks in and about this town; she knows that this port was peaceful, and very good for her "chi" as she called it. In other words, her: how-lucky-I-am-going-to-be-energy-today. In any case however, she knew that there would be no time for sightseeing and taking in the view -- there was something that needed to be done before the day was through. Just a few feet behind her was a small, monkey like pokemon, whom on top of its head, had a herbal leaf, and all green in color, including its tail, except its face, which was beige.

"Sage, Pansage..." (Yuck, I despise salt water...) the pokemon known as Pansage remarked, with a disgusted look on his face.

I wonder where that cursed boat is... Lynn thought. And, I wonder if that curse was because a drunken sailor smashed a piece of glass against it's drunken friend in dispute of a trading card... In any case, ITS UP TO ME TO DISPEL IT! Lynn then got out a small red-jeweled object from her dress. According to her, it was a talisman that she inherited from her mother. "With this, the curse shall be lifted from that boat!" She inquired, as Lynn then felt a tug on her dress.

"Pan, Pansage!" (Before talking to spirits, you might want to look over here,) Pansage suggested, tugging on Lynn's dress to get her attention. Then, when Lynn stopped to glance downward at it, the Pansage pointed towards a fairly large ship. This was their objective.

"Ah, excellent work, Pansage!" Lynn complimented, turning her attention towards the ship. "The cursed ship...perhaps it's no curse according to Jerosh, BUT, curses are not to be taken lightly. I mean, what if it's just a warning -- a WARNING FOR THINGS TO COME!"

"Sage..." (Oh dear...)

"I MEAN, THINK ABOUT IT!" Lynn bawled, tightening her grip on her talisman. "Someday, the passengers and pokemon on board WILL TURN INTO POLITOADS! With BAD BREATH! With... A MUSTACHE! Let me tell you Pansage -- I think mustaches look ugly."

"Sage... Pan... Pansage..." (But... I love mustaches... I dream of having one someday... Pokemon will think I am handsome...)

However, Lynn was obviously unaware to what Pansage was truly saying, so, her resolve was still set. "...That's why this curse must be broken, and the pokemon that is responsible inside, must be captured!" Lynn explained. "Well, our first priority is to get in side the ship of course... I'm sure the sailors inside will gladly let us in."

"Pan, Pansage!" (Yeah! I mean, those sailors are downright jolly, you know? They'll let us pass!)

* * * *

"YOU SHALL NOT PASS!" a sailor declared, who only Lynn and Pansage could only meet with towards the only way inside the ship's hull. His shirt has blue and white stripes and his pants was a very clean white. His strong muscles could only be outmatched by his short, stubby hair. Yup, it's a sailor alright... Lynn thought.

"Sage... Pan..." (There goes my jolly idea in the crapper...) Pansage sighed.

"But, why can't we just go in?" Lynn asked.

"We're handlin' a situation in which we are trying to control a wild pokemon!" the sailor replied. "We can't let young punks go in there and mess up our whole plan!"

"...What is this... plan?" Lynn asked, with a obvious certain doubt in her mind.

"WE... ACTUALLY HAVEN' THOUGHT OF ONE YET!" The sailor explained, grinding his teeth in frustration. "BUT WHEN WE DO, IT IS GONNA' TO BE THE BEST! WITH BLACKJACK! AND A HUGE EXPLOSION IN THE END! In fact.. forget the blackjack!"

"Sage, Pan..." (I never knew people normally enjoy playing card games on boats... But with fireworks?) Pansage remarked.

"Well actually," Lynn said to the sailor. "My name is Lynn. I've come on behalf on Jerosh Ja. Perhaps you know of him?"

"D-Do I know of em'?!" the sailor repeated in anguish. "H-He's the greatest top ranked trainer of Arcanum! But... what business does he ask of you in this humble ship?"

However, Lynn didn't answer. She stood there, motionless and quiet, on the spot she stood coming here, staring off towards the sky.

"Um...Lynn?" the sailor asked, trying to grab her attention, to get her to answer his question.

"Sage! Pansage!" (Hey! Can't you see she's having a flashback?)

* * * *

Lynn followed Jerosh all the way towards his humble home. His house was quiet, yet very comfortable to live in. Lynn was almost jealous stepping side, as Jerosh closed the door behind him. I suppose he's not used to spiritual company... Lynn thought, as Jerosh invited her to sit down the living room's chair. He paced in and out of the room, pondering something to himself. Then, he stopped and focused his attention to Lynn.

"That mark..." he started. "How did you get it?"

Lynn then glanced at the mark she received last night. That dream was still burned to her mind. "Well..." Lynn began to explain. "Uh, I had a dream you see, it was weird, and very dark, oh, and there was this Zekrom...he showed me images of the town burning down and I was like...OH NO! THE TOWN! But then he told me that this shouldn't of happened, and I was like, why not? OH, AND BY THE WAY THIS POKEMON WAS REALLY SCARY. The spirits didn't like him much...I guess. But then! Before I knew it, I woke up! However, then realized; this black and white mark appeared on my wrist! IT WAS A CURSE FROM HADES! I thought, FOR STEPPING ON THAT CRACK YESTERDAY!"

Jerosh nodded, as he got the gist of Lynn's tale. However, instead of being surprised, he was more worried. "Your guardian is calling you... I know how that is." He explained, as he then suddenly shows his own wrist. Lynn could only jump to what she saw then -- Jerosh had a mark of his own. "I too had a dream some nights ago, telling me to prepare... This must have been what my guardian meant. Prepare you." Joresh then fixes his dark gaze on Lynn. Lynn now thought that this problem was not to be taken by a mere talisman. "I don't really know who you are, but you don't look ready."

"Even not... spiritually?" Lynn asked. Jerosh promptly shook his head signalling an answer: No.

"You have to honor your Arcanian ancestry and follow the call. But you won't go anywhere until you've proven to me that you're ready. I know what I'm talking about. You... you need pokémon. A journey through Arcanum is too perilous nowadays without trusted pokémon by your side."

"While I do not qsh to discuss my ancestry... A trusted partnered pokemon?" Lynn asked. "Indeed... I never had one before. I've only read tales of people with their pokemon towards unexplored lands."

"Well, today is the day that you will acquire one," Jerosh said, as he looked out the window. "Down at the docks by the shore, there is a big ship from the east that came in just the other day. It carried explorers that had been meddling with things in the Arca Islands in the sea to the east. They had to make a stop here because they said something was wrong with their ship. Some believe they are cursed, but I know better... They have picked up some freepassagers. Pokémon from the islands. The Arca Islands are sacred to us, but the eastern explorers do not care--"

"I STOPPED AT CURSE," Lynn bawled. "There's actually a CURSE involved?"

"Absolutely not," Jerosh replied. "That's not the actual concern here."

Lynn stood in thought. I must see this first hand! I want to dispel all curses, and be one with spirits! she thought. Then, with a more determined voice, she asked, "Master Jerosh, what do I have to do then?"

Joresh then walks up to a nearby shelf, where a lot of different pokéballs are lined up. He carefully chooses a normal looking one. "Head down to the docks and find one of these pokémon. They are probably either roaming the shores, hiding in the storage huts or making mischief on board the ship. If you tell the sailors I sent you, you'll be allowed on board. Bring one of those pokémon back to me here, somehow."

So a POKEMON is cursed... very well then. Lynn thought, as Jerosh hands her the pokeball, as well as another pokeball, except this one was empty. Jerosh took a serious, deep breath.

"I will loan you one of my young but trustworthy pokémon. If you can get it to trust you, and manage to bring back one of the pokémon at the docks before the end of the day... then I believe you are ready."

Lynn nodded that she knew what she had to do at last. From reading all of the pokemon picture books, she caught on on how to open and close pokeballs, as well as catch pokemon. She then took a quick glance at the pokeball which, according to Jerosh, contained one of his trusted, young partners. Lynn decided to find out what the pokemon was, by throwing the pokeball in the air, opening it up. The released energy then sent out what it seemed to be a herbal small monkey pokemon. It had its eyes closed, but then, as it yawned, it opened them, only for his first sight to be young Lynn, staring towards it.

"Pan.. Sage..." (And I was having such a nice dream about banana's too...) Pansage yawned.

* * * *

Now, as Lynn's flashback drawn to a close, she and Pansage were both escorted into the ship's hull. It was a marvelous ship; it was clean, spacious,and very sea worthy. Pretty soon, the group met up with a young boy, however, he was slightly older than Lynn.

"O-oh!" the boy greeted. "Master Bruno! Who... is this with you?"

"Takato, this is Lynn, and she's gonna help us here," the sailor now known as Bruno explained. "Lynn, this is Takato. Me' proud apprentice!"

Apprentice...? Should that be like, a first-mate? Lynn questioned. "Nice to meet you Takato."

"Yeah... likewise! Hehe..." Takato suddenly swooned, with his cheeks glowing a rosy red. "You... are a very pretty lady, miss Lynn."

"Thanks..." Lynn thanked, not taking an interest in Takato's complement, but, was still being nice about that he even did. It was quite a stretch in which she was called 'miss' when she was 16 years old.

"Sage... Pan," (Poor boy doesn't have a chance now,) Sage remarked with a chuckle.

"Takato, have you prepared our plan?" Bruno asked him with a confident smile.

"Um... well," Takato replied, with his voice starting to shake. "Th-the fireworks were all burnt out. S-sorry... But... we have plenty of ice cream!"

"OHHH... THAT'S JUST PERFECT! TOP CLASS!" Bruno yelled in sarcasm. "WHAT ELSE ARE WE GONNA USE? MILK N' COOKIES?!"

"Wondrous idea, master!" Takato complemented. "We have plenty of cooking dough and storage milk!" However, even Pansage detected the sarcasm in Bruno's loud voice, so, he could only respond by rolling his eyes.

"If I may," Lynn intervened, as all eyes were now glued on her. She then had an open smile. "I have an idea."

* * * *

"So... what's the meanin' of dis' again?" Bruno could only asked, as all four of them were seated inside a separate room part of the ship's interior. They were all seated in a neat circle, holding hands with each other, and with Lynn's talisman sitting right on the center of the circle. Lynn had her eyes closed.

"This is the technique of the Colthearts clan," Lynn explained, still having her eyes firmly closed. "We are going to communicate with the ship's cursed spirits and ask them why they have decided to join us today."

"WAIT, MASTER, THE SHIP IS CURSED?!" Takato asked out of agony, as he tried to release his grip from Bruno and Lynn beside him. "I changed my mind about this -- I WANT OFF-- "

"SIT YER' BUTT DOWN." Bruno ordered, pulling Takato back in the circle. "If I'm gonna stomach through dis', you sure as hell will! Think of it as a no guts, no glory tranin'."

"Okay..." Takato replied softly, taking deep breaths to calm himself down.

"Okay... let the spirit communication commence!" Lynn announced, as everyone in the room closed their eyes.

"Sage... Pan, Pansage," (Is it too late to say, I feel like an idiot? Because... I feel like an idiot.)

"Showa matta quo mo hro twoa motta ku konhora... Showa matta quo mo hro twoa motta ku konhora!" Lynn chanted, as everyone then by now, couldn't believe that they were getting through with this. "Spirits of this vessel... show yourself! Show us your pain! Your plight! Your hate! Why do you embrace your hate? Give us a sign... Any sign!"

Then, there arose the sound of rustling and clatter inside the quiet, dark room. "AH!! MASTER IT'S WORKING!! HIDE ME!! HOLD ME!!" Takato jumped, clinging on to Bruno.

"Get offa me!" Bruno demanded, shoving Takato aside, with his eyes open. "I hear it too... That came from the ship's warehouse department... It's close from here."

"Okay!" Lynn grasped, as she stood up, having her eyes open, with Pansage following after her. "The spirits are near! Let's go get them!"

* * * *

The ship's warehouse was well lit, and pretty spacious, despite it holding some of the ship's cargo. The sounds of rustling and crunching could only grow louder and louder as Lynn slowly opened the door. When the door was wide opened, the first thing Lynn and the group saw was a frizzy-looking, golden-brown tail. Then, Pansage, Bruno, and Takato slowly went in after Lynn, trying to figure out who that tail belongs to. Before they knew it... they soon found themselves almost singed by a flame of fire.

"P-Pansage--?!" (WHAT IN THE NAME OF ARCEUS--") Pansage gagged, surprised at the ordeal. Of course, that was only because grass pokemon hated fire. However, that could of surprised anyone.

"A fire spirit?!" Lynn could only guess. "Show yourself!" As soon as they knew it, the fairly small perpetrator showed itself from the bunched up boxes. It had a body which was covered in golden-brown fur. It also had a large, bushy tail, fluffy collar and a tuft of fur on its head; all of which are a lighter toned golden brown. It was then that Lynn and the group knew it wasn't a spirit; it was a pokemon. Flareon.

"Flareon! Flare!" (Burn, burn, BUUUURN!) Flareon cried, as it spouted fire from its mouth, and shot it at random directions, almost singeing at the group.

"It's a... Flareon," Bruno explained. "It must of gone on board while we were at the Arca Islands..so that's what was wrong with da' ship... dis' Flareon was messin' around in it!"

"Sage... Pan..." (Is it too late to mention I REALLY hate fire?) Pansage gagged.

"But... but... BUT!!!" Lynn cried, drooping her arms in anguish. "IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A SPIRIT!! THIS IS SO UNFAIR!!"

"Pansage!" (Then again, it IS the pokemon Master Jerosh said we had to get...)

"We'll handle dis', Lynn!" Bruno said, as he got out a pokeball from his pocket, and held it in his left hand. "Come, Takato!"

"Yes Master!" Takato replied, as he too,got out a pokeball from his pocket, and held it with his right hand. Then, Bruno and Takato both sent out their pokemon.

"GO FEEBAS!!" Bruno called out,sending out his flopping Feebas.

"GO MAGIKARP!!" Takato called out after, sending out....his flopping Magikarp.

"Sage, Pansage," (Something tells me... I will not like the look of this,) Pansage worried.

"Ready Takato?! After me!" Bruno announced. "Feebas, Splash attack!"

"Right, Master!" Takato called back. "Magikarp, Splash attack!"

The two fish pokemon then started to flop even more at a rapid rate. And more. And more. And more. And more. And more. And... more. It came to a point to where Lynn realized nothing was going to happen.

"Flareon! Flare!" (Annoying fishes! YOU MUST BUUUUURN!) Flaroen cried, as it once again shot out its flamethrower, scorching the two fished on where they...flopped. They now just... flipped, as they both fainted.

"No... our... communication..." Bruno said, could not believing his Feebas and Takato's Magikarp fainted before their eyes. Bruno was now on his knees. "Our duo attack failed... WE'RE DOOOOOOOOOMED!"

"DOOOOOOOOMED!" Takato continued, as he also, fell on his knees in a crushing defeat.

"Pan...Sage," (They're...not very good,) Pansage remarked.

Lynn knew that she had to do something. She glanced at Pansage. "Pansage, let's get in there!" said Lynn, with Pansage now looking a bit glum. "Now let's see...what did Jerosh say you're attacks were again... oh yeah! Pansage, use your Match attack! I MEAN -- Scratch attack!"

After a few seconds, Pansage knew that this was inevitable, so, Pansage finally got over its fear of being torched, at it nodded to try and proceed with the attack. It opened up its fierce claws, and charged right towards the Flareon. Flareon was quick however, as it was able to hop out of the way.

"Sage... Pansage?" (I... don't suppose you want to talk this out? Without burning, of course...? Haha?) Panage asked from begging, as it was slowly backing away from the Flareon.

"Flareon! Flare, Flare!" (Foolish monkey! You must BUUUUURN!) Flareon cried, as it was now chasing Pansage, trying to hit it with a hot, singeing Flamethrower. Pansage managed to dodge everyone handily, and swiftly, but, only barely.

"Shoot! Come on, come on..." Lynn mumbled to herself, trying to think of an idea. Then, she found one. "Vine Whip! Ah, of course -- Pansage, use Vine Whip!"

Pansage heard the command, as it jumped on top of one of the ship's cargo boxes, with Flareon trailing behind on lower ground. Pansage then quickly sprouted two vines from the leaves it had.

"Pansage!" (This time, I'll slap some anti-pyro sense into you!) cried Pansage, sending out its vines to whip Flareon's cheek, repeatedly.

"AW YEAH, THAT'S RIGHT!" Lynn cheered. "GIVE IT TO HIM, PANSAGE! LET HIM PAY FOR BAD KARMA!"

Pansage stopped for a brief moment while Flareon was staggering, to look awkwardly at Lynn and her questionable cheering. Then, it continued to slap Flareon with its Vine Whip, until it had enough playing the sadist role, and retracted its vines. Flareon shook its head, trying to regain some composure.

"Flare...Eon!" (ARGH... Darn it!) I t cried, seemingly in pain from the Vine Whip. However, it wasn't out yet -- it then performed a quick attack, as the unexpected victim, Pansage, got hit hard, and was sent flying towards the wall.

"Are you okay, Pansage?" Lynn asked, concerned.

"PW-an...Wage..." (I tink my node id browken...) Pansage replied, as he got up, rubbing his nose.

Let's see... Lynn thought. Jerosh also "something about a direct Lick attack that can cause paralysis...Aha! Lynn then turned toward Takato. "I need you to distract Flareon, while Pansage tries to counter-attack! The spirits will guide you!" Lynn explained to him.

Takato rose up from the floor, finally getting over his crushing defeat. "Okay, I'll try..." he replied with a nod. "HIIIIIAAAARGHHH!" However, much to his dismay, he can only get as far as 2 feet before he slipped.

Flareon and Pansage turned towards where Takato made a huge 'THUD', with Lynn being worried, so she rushed over to where Takato fell over. "Ow... Lynn..." Takato cried. "What... happened?"

"You tried to run after Flareon," Lynn explained, pointing to a yellow, blunt object. "But two seconds later, you slipped on that banana peel."

"Sage...Pan, Pan, Pansage," (Shoot, that's my fault lad. I was hungry after that channeling you see, and I had an extra one, so...) Pansage explained.

"Flareon! Flare, Flare, Eon," (GRR... THAT BANANA PEEL MUST BUUUUUURN!) Flareon roared, as it prepared its Flamethrower once again. Lynn knew that this was her chance.

"Aha! Quick Pansage!" Lynn called out. "Use your Lick attack on it's side!" Pansage obeyed, as it quickly leaped from against the wall, and stuck its rough tongue out, until it came on contact with Flareon's head. Then, it quickly licked the golden-brown fur from Flareon. Flareon was surprised, so it couldn't perform the Flamethrower he had planned. Then, Pansage quickly hopped back as he saw that Flareon didn't counter attack -- it was paralyzed.

"Pan, Pansage," (Yuk... he tasted like Skitty litter...) Pansage gagged, as it was spitting out the horrible taste from licking the Flareon.

"Now Pansage, Scratch!" Lynn ordered, as Pansage opened its claws again, and, without worry, it scratch the helm of Flareon's face, sending it crashing against the wall. Lynn now knew, it was time to catch it with a pokeball.

"Spirits, guide this pokeball!" Lynn commanded, getting out the empty pokeball from her dress pocket. "Pokeball, go!" She then threw the pokeball, towards the half-fainted Flareon. The pokeball opened, releasing energy which sucked Flareon inside.

The pokeball then shook once.

Then twice.

Followed up with a third time.

"I hope this works..." Lynn commented.

To be continued...

...immediately.

The pokeball shook once more, but then, it stopped. Everyone in the room hd a collective silence until...'PING!' Flareon has been caught. Lynn had a wide smile on her face as she grabbed the pokeball from the floor.

"Pansage, I did it!" Lynn announced. "I caught Flareon!"

"Sage..." (Yeah... SHE did it,) Pansage mumbled, rolling his eyes. it then hopped towards Lynn, as Bruno and Takato finally stood back up.

"By my beard..." Bruno gasped. "Well done! Haha! Takato could learn a thing or two from that!"

"I...guess I could," Takato chuckled, blushing. "Hey, can we do that again--"

"NO!"

* * * *

An hour later, Lynn, along side her new Flareon in his pokeball, Lynn's pokeball shined along with Pansage waddling alongside her, arrived in front of Jerosh Ja's house. Her pokeball shined against the sun's reflecting rays, signalling that this is a job well done. Lynn then knocked at Jerosh's house, but, found that the door was already opened. Lynn thought it was strange... it was as if Jerosh knew that she would past this test or something. But, oh well -- it wasn't the time to get sentimental. She opened the door, with Pansage following just behind her.

"Hey Jerooooosh!" Lynn called out. "I'm back! I got the pokemon that you wanted me too! His name is Flareon; a real...HOT HEAD!"

Pansage face-palmed.

Mission One - Complete!
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moon · Jan 17, 2012

@ The Warden

It'll be interesting to see Kitaru go through this mission!

--
@ Nakuzami

Seducing pokémon with music, are we? Guess that's Melody's way :3 Maybe won't work every time you're capturing pokémon, but this time it fits. I felt sorry for the poor Eevee when you started attacking it xD

Melody caught an Eevee! (male, lvl 10)

Pansage grew to lvl 11!

--
@ {Swan}

Unusual battle! I'm looking forward to seeing how the anti-traditional Lanhua will fare in the future. Also, you didn't pick Pansage, yay!

Lanhua caught a Leafeon! (male, lvl 10)

Panpour grew to lvl 11!

--
@ Miss Doronjo

What a long and funny post, Lynn is a real interesting character xD But you've got Joresh' name wrong :x It's not Jerosh, it's Joresh xD

Lynn caught a Flareon! (male, lvl 10)

Pansage grew to lvl 11!

--

What to do when you come back to Joresh's house...

Story: You entered Joresh house again and he welcomed you back in his usual, serious way. You showed him the pokémon you caught in the docks.

"Indeed... you are ready. I must admit I didn't think you would complete my task this fast, if at all. But it only proves that the guardian gods didn't make a mistake."

"The pokémon you captured at the docks is yours to keep. You are the human who captured it and thus the human that shall take care of it. All according to the old legends about Reshiram and Zekrom..."

"Did you know that they are believed to once have brought all other pokémon to Arcanum, because only humans lived here back then? It's said that the pokémon were gifts to the humans, to allow Reshiram and Zekrom live here since they had no other place in the world where they were welcome. But it's also said that if the humans were to name pokémon as their property, they were obliged to always take care of it and do what was best for the pokémon to help it grow stronger. All pokémon want to grow stronger at some point and level. It's in their deepest nature. That is why Arcanum's pokémon trainers exist."

Joresh fixed you with his intense, dark stare. "You are now a pokémon trainer. This obligation falls upon you."

He took the pokéball with the monkey you borrowed from him back, and sent the monkey out. For some reason, he then said that his pokémon would be better off adventuring with you than living a boring life here with him. He offered you to keep the monkey, calling it your own just as much as the pokémon you just caught was. You either accept or decline the offer.

Mission: After you've spoken with Joresh Ja, you can do anything around Januvale. You may not leave the town until the next chapter is up, but you may play out any events of your own creation. A good idea would be to go back home and prepare yourself for a journey as a pokémon trainer. And perhaps let your family know...

You may, just like in the last mission, change or add to Joresh' words a little to better fit your take on it.

You must have the above conversation with Joresh Ja.

You can't meet any other players yet.
You can't leave Januvale before the next area is up.
You can't capture any more pokémon.

Mr. Mammoth · Jan 17, 2012

*Thud*

Soul was dropped onto the floor in Joresh Ja's house, the trainer sat down and made a small gesture for Soul to do the same. The young boy sat down, hesitating a bit, his eyes fixed at Joresh, what did this man want with him?

" I see that you are confused, let me put it this way: That mark... How did you get it?" Joresh asked seemingly calm.

"Heh, why should I tell YOU human?" Soul said arrogantly. Joresh looked at him and pulled down his sleeve in front of Soul's face, there was a mark identical to the one Soul had on his wrist.

"Is THIS proof enough for you Wildboy?" Joresh said. Soul just sat there, a bit astonished, what could Reshiram see in this human? Fine then, Soul told Joresh about his dream, leaving no details behind. Afterwards, Joresh stood up, "Your guardian is calling you... I know how that is. I too had a dream some nights ago, telling me to prepare... This must have been what my guardian meant. Prepare you." he said, fixing his dark gaze upon Soul. "Even though you are Wildboy, the human who acts like a Pokémon. You are not ready."

"What?! Not ready?!" Soul gave off an hysterical laugh, "You spout nonsense human!" he looked at Joresh, "I'm going to help Reshiram WITHOUT your aid."

"Oh really?" Joresh gave off a… Smug smile you might call it, though it was pretty expressionless, so Soul was unsure if the trainer was mocking him or not. "Then tell me, Wildboy, where does the legendary Reshiram tread?" he said. Soul snarled in anger, as much as he didn't want to admit it, the human was right. Soul had NO idea where Reshiram was, let alone a guess of where it could be.

"You have to honor your Arcanian ancestry and follow the call. But you won't go anywhere until you've proven to me that you're ready. I know what I'm talking about. You... you need pokémon. A journey through Arcanum is too perilous nowadays without trusted pokémon by your side." Joresh stood up and walked towards the window, his gaze landing on something outside.

"Peh, this was never about honor." Soul said, "For all I care you humans can go and die. Also, a Pokémon is unnecessary, I'm fine on my own. " he continued.

"Oh? But I believed that Pokémon were your only friends?" Joresh said.

"Of course they are." Soul said in a monotone voice, "That is why I don't want anything bad to happen to them while I try to find Reshiram."

Joresh just smiled, "Down at the docks by the shore, there is a big ship from the east that came in just the other day. It carried explorers that had been meddling with things in the Arca Islands in the sea to the east. They had to make a stop here because they said something was wrong with their ship. Some believe they are cursed, but I know better... They have picked up some freepassagers. Pokémon from the islands. The Arca Islands are sacred to us, but the eastern explorers do not care..." he said and started to walk towards a shelf where many Pokéballs were lined up.

"Head down to the docks and find one of these pokémon. They are probably either roaming the shores, hiding in the storage huts or making mischief on board the ship. If you tell the sailors I sent you, you'll be allowed on board. Bring one of those pokémon back to me here, somehow." he said. Joresh then picked a Pokéball seemingly containing a Pokémon along with an empty one. He handed both of the devices to Soul while taking a deep breath. "I will loan you one of my young but trustworthy pokémon. If you can get it to trust you, and manage to bring back one of the pokémon at the docks before the end of the day... then I believe you are ready." he said.

"I'm perfectly fine on my own human, but if you wish I shall accept your Pokémon in case something goes wrong." Soul grabbed the Pokéballs and headed out of Joresh's house

***

Soul walked towards the docks, the day was still beautiful and sunny. As he reached the docks, Soul opened the Pokéball and with a white flash of light, a small creature appeared in front of him. It was small, blue and reminded Soul somewhat of Squee,

"Pan, pour?"(Where, am I?) the small Pokémon said. It looked around and as soon as it caught a glimpse of Soul, it ran a few feet and buried itself in the sand, almost, it just dug a hole and put it's head into it. Soul walked towards the Pokémon, known as Panpour, it seemed a bit cowardly… Or rather, VERY cowardly. He picked up the Pokémon who responded by shooting him in the face with a Water Gun. Soul just wiped his mask with his hand and put the undamaged part of his forehead against the Panpour's. Suddenly, as if a spell had been cast on the Pokémon, the water-monkey calmed down, it looked at Soul with it's seemingly closed eyes.

"Pan, poour…"(Sorry for attacking you mister…) it said, "Pan?"(Can you forgive me?) the Panpour reached out it's hand as if it wanted to perform a handshake. Soul chuckled, put the Pokémon down and shook it's hand.

"As you've noticed, I'm not your trainer. But he sent me on a mission to retrieve a Pokémon on a ship nearby and he let you help me. So I hope that we can become friends? I'm Soul by the way." Soul made what you could call a smile for someone wearing a mask.

"Pan! Panpour!"(Okay! Pleased to meet you mister Soul!) the Panpour cheerfully said.

"Pleased to meet you too my friend." Soul responded happily.

***

As Soul and Panpour reached the boat they didn't ask for permission to board it. Soul just leapt over to the boat standing perfectly still, Panpour clinged on for dear life when Soul soared through the air. He landed with a thud and with Panpour panicky breathing where it sat on his shoulder, after Soul comforted the water-monkey a bit, they went inside the boat through a window that Soul smashed open with a rock. He had, of course, no respect for human belongings anymore. As they entered, a strange crackling sound could be heard. Panpour was at first extremely startled, but eventually calmed down. As they ventured deeper and deeper into the boat, the crackling sound became louder and louder until it was almost deafening.

They eventually reached a door where the crackling sound seemed to be as well as sparks flying out through the open door. Panpour and Soul looked inside to see what was going on, their eyes caught the sight of a lime-green Pokémon seemingly agitated judging by the look on it's face.

"A Jolteon…" Soul said, a little bit amazed.

"Panpour, pan!"(No time to be daydreaming Mr. Soul! We must catch it!) Panpour said and looked up at Soul.

"Right!" he said, getting snapped out of his daydream. "Panpour, use Water Gun!" he yelled. Panpour nodded and inhaled deeply, the moment after that the water-monkey shot out a forceful jet of water at the Jolteon. It hit the creature's head and the Electric-type growled in anger and pain,

"Oh? You want a piece o' me?" the dog-like Pokémon said with a grin as he threw himself at Panpour. The poor little monkey-Pokémon got scared, turned around and shielded it's eyes, the Quick Attack hit spot on and sent Panpour flying across the room and into a wall.

"Panpour, retaliate with Lick!" Soul said. Panpour opened his mouth, the tongue resting inside grew longer and longer until it could easily wrap around the Jolteon. The Electric-type gave off another growl mixed with annoyance and pain as the Lick hit him.

"Jol… Teon!"(Grr, I am NOT into this!) he growled. Making Panpour wrap it's tongue around the Jolteon now proved to be a kind of stupid idea in Soul's mind, the Jolteon could now easily shock Panpour due to being wrapped in it's tongue. Soul was correct, with a Thunderbolt from the Jolteon Panpour was easily down and defeated.

"Pwaan…"(Sowwy, mistew Souw…) Panpour said. Soul just shook his head,

"You did a good job Panpour, now treat yourself to some well-earned rest!" he said and returned the little monkey to it's Pokéball. Soul's gaze landed on the Jolteon, he smiled gleefully behind his mask. The Electric-type charged right at him, Soul couldn't react fast enough and soon the Jolteon had it's spiky fur burrowed into the young boy. Soul just laughed as he took ahold of Jolteon,
"Vital…" he said, readying his arm, "THROW!"

Soul then slugged the Jolteon out of a nearby window, this one was conveniently open. He followed it afterwards by climbing out of the window and then jumping down. Soul landed in the water with a big splash, dammit, now the breads had gotten wet. Sigh, Squee was going to be disappointed… Soul got out of the water, mildly annoyed, and started to look around for the Jolteon, he eventually caught sight of it lying at the beach giving off slightly exhausted chirps of air. Soul slowly went up to it and dropped the Pokéball on the lime-green Pokémon. The ball rocked from side to side three times in a row and then made a small 'ding'-sound, stopping completely. Soul picked up the pokéball and headed back to Joresh's house.

§acred†Beo! · Jan 17, 2012

"A journey" Dane thought to himself as he walked to the shoreline. He had just heard what Joresh Ja had to tell him, however the only thing he really knew was that this was his chance, a chance to get out of this small town and see the world.
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"Your guardian is calling you... I know how that is." Joresh said hastily to Dane showing him his own wrist.

"That mark you have to! So you had the dream as well?!? What does it mean!" Dane uttered loudly and excitedly hoping to get some answers.

"Quiet down, in my dream I was told to prepare... my guardian must have meant to prepare you!" Joresh says going over to a shelf grabbing two pokeballs down from it. "You have to honor your Arcanian ancestry and follow the call. But you won't go anywhere until you've proven to me that you're ready. I know what I'm talking about. You... you need pokémon. A journey through Arcanum is too perilous nowadays without trusted pokémon by your side." Dane almost erupted with excitement at the sounds of traveling Arcanum.

"So you're going to give me a pokemon, and let me just wonder Arcanum freely right!?" he said softly trying to bottle up his excitement.

"No, don't be silly, you are not ready for that" he answers back, before looking out his window down to the dock.

"What do you mean I am not ready, OF COURSE I AM! I've been waiting for something like this my whole life" Dane scolds back.

"Dane I barely you know you, but you don't look ready, "Down at the docks by the shore, there is a big ship from the east that came in just the other day. It carried explorers that had been meddling with things in the Arca Islands in the sea to the east. They had to make a stop here because they said something was wrong with their ship. Some believe they are cursed, but I know better... They have picked up some freepassagers. Pokémon from the islands. The Arca Islands are sacred to us, but the eastern explorers do not care..." Joresh says looking down at the pokeballs in his hands. "I will loan you one of my young but trustworthy pokemon, if you can get it to trust you, and manage to bring back one of the pokemon from the docks before the end of the day... then I will believe that you are ready" he says looking over to Dane, who quickly grabs both pokeballs and darts out the door.
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The boat was docked just a few feet away from where Dane had stopped, he couldn't help but admire the beauty and size of the ship. "I could just stow away on this boat, and go see the rest of the world" Dane said before shaking his head, knowing that he had a mission to fulfill. As he walked up to the entrance of the boat he was stopped by a sailor who may have been a little to pudgy for his own good.

"What can I do for you boy?" The sailor asked questioning Dane.

"Ahem, um yes... I was sent by Joresh Ja, he said I would be allowed on board" Dane answered back a little shyly.

"Hmm, that so? Well alright but make it quick, were having some difficulties at the moment" the sailor said, and with that Dane made his way on deck quickly.

"This is intense" he said softly looking over the ship, as his adventurer craving kicked in. It had been almost twenty minutes since he boarded the ship, and although he had seen a lot of the ship, he had yet to encounter a pokemon.

"Maybe there all gone?" he thought to himself as he passed by a dark corridor he was quickly tackled by a strange shadowy figure.

"Por-por!" the shadowy figure shouted as Dane looked up from the ground to see a purple creature that looked almost like a cat but had a fish tail, gils, and fins.

"Ah! You're a vaporeon!" he shouted excitedly, recalling up some information he had read in his spare time. Dane reached for the spare pokeball that Joresh had given him.

"According to the text book I read on catching a pokemon, you have to throw a spare pokeball at the wild pokemon you want to capture... well here goes nothing!" he said tossing the pokeball at the vaporeon who didn't flinch and instead hit the ball back at Dane with it's tail.

"Por!" the Vaporeon roared like it was laughing at the boy, before taking off down the corridor.

"That's right! You have to weaken the pokemon first... stupid!" Dane said clutching onto the pokemon that Joresh had given him and racing down the corridor after the Vaporeon. He made his way back onto the deck and found it standing there, right in the open waiting for him.

"Vap!" it growled at Dane before kicking sand into his face.

"That's it, go pokemon!" Dane shouted tossing the pokeball out to reveal a strange blue monkey with what appeared to be a wave on it's head.

"Pan... pour?" the pokemon yawned looking back at Dane wondering who this boy was.

"Oh a Panpour? Interesting. Hey buddy, my names Dane. Joresh gave me you to help me catch this pokemon right here. So what do you say? Want to give me a hand with that?" Dane asked with a smile.

"pour-pour" the Panpour yawned again before curling up into a ball on the deck and going to sleep.

"Seriously? Fine i'll do this myself" Dane shouted calmly at the Panpour before taking off chasing the wild Vaporeon. "Come here, let me just catch you, geez!"

"Vap, vap, vap" the Vaporeon laughed as Dane was having a hard time keeping up with it. The pokemon stopped dead in it's tracks tired from being chased, it cocked it's legs back and began to glow a fierce white color. As Dane enclosed on it the Vaporeon darted right at him, and hit him straight in the gut causing him to lose his breath and fall to the ground.

"ah... that.. really... hurt..." Dane said as he looked over to the Panpour who had now taken notice, Dane got back to his feet slowly and wearily, almost ready to give up. The Vaporeon was charging up to attack him again.

"Bring it on" he yelled, as it darted right for Dane another time, he closed his eyes waiting for the impact but when he opened them he saw the Vaporeon knocked unconscious on the side of the deck covered in water, and the Panpour mocking it.

"Pour!" the pokemon roared obviously excited about the victory.

"Panpour, thanks." Dane said grabbing the spare pokeball from his belt and tossing it at the unconscious Vaporeon. The ball began rolling back and forth as Dane awaited what may turn out to be his first pokemon capture.

"Ding!" The ball rang loudly indicating that the Vaporeon had been caught.

"I did it! I caught my first pokemon!" Dane shouted rushing over to grab the pokeball and clipping it to his belt loop on his jeans. "Alright Panpour it's getting late let's head back to your masters house" he said returning the water monkey back into it's ball, and exiting the ship. As he headed back to Joresh's house one question popped into his mind.

"Was that Vaporeon really taunting me?"

The warden · Jan 17, 2012

By the time that they had reached the docks it was getting close to sunset. Kitaru had already missed dinner but if he didn't hurry up he would be home quite late. As he and the Pansage approached the ship they saw a man, a sailor, standing by he gang plank presumably guarding access to the ship.

"Get lost kid." The sailor said as Kitaru approached.

"Joresh sent me to help with one of your problems." Kitaru spat back at the man, he was a little offended by the man's attitude but not enough for him to lose his temper.

"Sage pan pan." The Pansage chattered, letting the sailor know that he had been sent by Joresh too. The sailor muttered something under his breath, it may have contained the words "another", "Mankey" and "kids", but it likely contained a lot of swearing well in Kitaru's head at least.

"Right follow me." The sailor said leading Kitaru aboard the ship. At the top of the gang plank he stopped and gave some directions to the upper decks, where he could get a better look at the ship. Giving Kitaru a stern look he said. "I've got to stay here, now don't you go getting into any trouble young chap." Kitaru shook his head as the sailor turned away and strolled back down the gang plank, how old did he think Kitaru was. Ignoring the sailors instructions, Kitaru headed down below decks, simply because he thought he knew better.

***

His plan was to explore the lower decks until he found something and then do something about it. OK if you asked him for a plan he wouldn't be able to give one he knew what he was doing or at least he thought he did. It didn't take long for him to find the mess hall aboard the ship, where eight tables were arranged in two straight lines, around each table were ten or so chairs.. There was a counter over the far side of the room and through a window beyond the kitchen was visible. The room was only a single story tall but very long and wide, giving it the impression that it had been squashed by something very heavy. The lights were off but a few circles of light were projected onto the floor, from the portholes on one side of the ship.

A noise came from somewhere in the kitchen, shocking Kitaru and Pansage.

"Pan sa..." Pansage started to ask if Kitaru had heard the noise too but Kitaru put a finger to the his lips attempting to make it quiet, it quickly settled down. Slowly Kitaru snook across the mess hall going round the tables with caution, Pansage followed him. The light were still out and in the darkness of the room, Kitaru stood in something and almost slipped. He got his balance back and then slowly put his hand down to see what it was. A wet cold sensation met his finger tips and a tingle ran down his spin. Looking down at the floor, straining his eyes to see in the half light, he saw a paw print that was made of ice, but had half melted its edges being eroded away into water. As he looked towards the kitchen he saw more of them, and since the rattling had not stopped it seemed there was something in the kitchen. He looked back at Pansage who just nodded and then continued on.

Gently pushing the door to the kitchen open, Kitaru slowly peaked his head round the door, he was crawling to avoid trying to alarm the Pokémon he was searching for. Looking round there were a lot of work surfaces obscuring his view and the foot prints that he had followed, vanished near one of the counters presumably the Pokémon had jumped onto one of them. As far as he could tell the rattling was coming from some where near the far wall mid way down the room. He fully entered the room, and so did Pansage who was also crouching down. The door slammed shut behind them and Kitaru cursed under his breath. But nothing moved so they had not yet alerted the Pokémon.

It seemed that the Pokémon was inside a room in the back wall of the kitchen, which judging from the hum and the cold in the near by area was some kind of walk in freezer. As Kitaru peered into the room his suspicions were confirmed. An amazing sight sat in the middle of the room, the Pokémon had short fur that looked like it was iced in a thin layer of frost, or that the Pokémon was made of snow instead of being a living breathing thing. It's tail and ears sat upright but it's head was down as it hungrily gnawed away at a fish. Blue diamonds, the colour of water slowing under a thick layer of ice, adorned the tips of its ears and tail and on its back. The same colour ringed each of its paws making it look like it was wearing mittens. The Pokémon's back was turned but on it's head Kitaru could see a crown of ice, with two braid like strands of hair falling either side of it. The Pokémon Kitaru knew was a Glaceon, he sat there a moment and watched as it slowly breathed in and to while eating the fish.

Kitaru turned to the Pansage next to him and noticed the small Pokémon was shivering.

"You hide out here," Kitaru started whispering to the Pansage who looked relived that he would not have to enter the freezer. "And get ready to attack it while I go in and scare it out."

Kitaru entered the freezer, there was ice all over the floor but with the door being left open it had started to melt. He snook towards the Glaceon as carefully as he could but the ice under his foot cracked. The Glaceon's ear twitched and she turned to face him. Another tremor ran down Kitaru's spine as he looked into the Glaceon's eyes, they were two pools of water just on the verge of freezing over and in each one sat a point of white like the very first ice forming on the pool. An playful grin came over the Pokémon's face and it darted under a shelve out of Kitaru's reach, he ran around the other side trying his best to avoid slipping on the floor and it darted back into the centre of the room, but now it was between him and the door. It turned to run out the door and kicked ice and water at Kitaru who lost sight of the Pokémon as he shielded his eyes.

There was a clatter of pots and pans from the kitchen as the Pansage used a vine whip on the unsuspecting Glaceon. Kitaru came running out of the freezer, to see the Glaceon getting back up.

"Use..." Kitaru shouted as though he was going to order the Pansage to attack but then stopped as he realised that he didn't know any of Passage's attacks. Pansage looked at him in confusion and the Glaceon took the opportunity to get in a quick attack.

"Just do whatever you did before." Kitaru said concerned for the Pansage but the Pokémon bravely soldiered on. Pansage unleashed a vine whip but a second before it hit the Glaceon dodged out of the way. Kitaru would have sworn that he saw a glint in it's eyes the moment before.

"Great so you know vine whip. Oh and..." Pansage was leering at the Glaceon and so Kitaru realised that it knew leer too. "Leer." The Glaceon, kicked at something causing a cloud of dust, no snow to fly through the air, obscuring Pansage's view. No it wasn't snow Kitaru thought to himself its not cold. It was a bag of flour. When Pansage and Kitaru had stopped coughing and were able to see again, they saw the Glaceon had left the kitchen and headed into the mess hall.

"This way." Kitaru yelled to Pansage as he jumped over the low counter built into the window dividing the two rooms.

"Sage!" Pansage yelled heroically as it followed. As Kitaru landed he saw a light switch near the kitchen door and, not sneaking any more decided that a little light would help. He switched the lights on an imagined that he was entering an arena to fight one of the great trainers Arcanum.

Pansage attacked first with a scratch, Kitaru made a mental note of the attack but the Glaceon dodged again.

"Glaceon!" The Pokémon yelled as she touched the ground and dived in again with another quick attack. Pansage was beginning to tire and Kitaru would have to think of a way to end this match quickly. As the two Pokémon fought back and fourth they knocked over tables and chairs left, right and centre. One of Pansage's vine whips missed sending cutlery everywhere. Then Kitaru remembered the other Pokéball he had been given

"Pansage use leer." Kitaru shouted. Pansage, began to leer at the Glaceon and as Kitaru had hoped the Pokémon backed away, closer to Kitaru and into the range of his throw. Better still the Glaceon was distracted by Pansage and so it was not focusing on Kitaru. He threw the ball in an arc without saying a word. It hit the Pokémon and in a flash of red light the Glaceon was gone. It wobbled for a few moments then stopped. Kitaru looked at the mess in the rather ironically named mess hall. Well he had better leave and soon before anyone found him.

"Great job! Now have a rest." Kitaru said to Pansage, sweeping flour from his hair he returned the Pokémon to its ball. Now just to head back to Joresh's house, hopefully without meeting that sailor again. He could hardly explain his appearance. Being covered in flour and splattered with ice water made him look like he had been in an explosion in a cake factory.

***

"Interesting trip Chida?" Joresh quipped upon Kitaru's return, then he went to being more serious. "Indeed... you are ready. I must admit I didn't think you would complete my task this fast, if at all. But it only proves that the guardian gods didn't make a mistake." Kitaru was too tired to respond so he just nodded.

"The Pokémon you captured at the docks is yours to keep. You are the human who captured it and thus the human that shall take care of it. All according to the old legends about Reshiram and Zekrom..." Well that was a bit of welcome news Kitaru had been rather fond of the Glaceon.

"Did you know that they are believed to once have brought all other Pokémon to Arcanum, because only humans lived here back then? It's said that the Pokémon were gifts to the humans, to allow Reshiram and Zekrom live here since they had no other place in the world where they were welcome. But it's also said that if the humans were to name Pokémon as their property, they were obliged to always take care of it and do what was best for the Pokémon to help it grow stronger. All Pokémon want to grow stronger at some point and level. It's in their deepest nature. That is why Arcanum's Pokémon trainers exist." Joresh fixed you with his intense, dark stare. "You are now a Pokémon trainer. This obligation falls upon you."

Then he took back the Pansage that Kitaru had borrowed. Kitaru felt a small twinge of remorse as he handed the ball to the man but he had always known that he would have to give the Pokémon back. Joresh then surprised Kitaru by releasing the Pokémon and offering him the Pansage as well. Kitaru liked the little guy but he couldn't just take him could he?

***

Well after night fall Kitaru arrived at the door of his house, unsure of how he was even going to begin explaining the days events. Quietly he snook inside and removed his shoes. The TV was on in the living room and he could smell his dinner in the kitchen. He was rather hungry, as he had only picked at the noodles from earlier. He tiptoed down the hall to the kitchen, the door to the living room was ajar but not enough to see him through.

"Kitaru Chida." His mother's voice said, or maybe the door was open enough.

For the fourth time he explained the days events to his parents and sister who sat looking at him dumbfounded. He had skipped all the bits about the Reshiram and the mark and instead simply told them the Joresh had picked him to go on a journey and about the events of the ship.
"I honestly can't believe that Joresh would pick you though son." His father was saying.

"Well he did." Kitaru said with a shrug.

"Let me see you Pokémon, Kitaru. Please." His sister squealed. Kitaru released Glaceon into the room and his sister squealed again. "It's so pretty, can I pet it?" She asked looking at him.

"I guess so..." Kitaru said shrugging, and before he had time to warn his sister that Glaceon was cold his sister was screaming.

"Its sooooo coooold." She shivered, then walking up to Kitaru and putting her hands on her hips she asked him. "How can a Pokémon that looks so warm and cuddly be so cold?" She asked like it was his fault. His father laughed.

"OK settle down you two." He said. "Kitaru you aught to go to bed soon we will have a long day tomorrow. Making preparations for your journey. But you can have your dinner first if you are hungry. And isn't it past your bed time miss."

"Aww but dad." Kitaru's sister moaned.

"Just one more thing Dad, I have something else to show you." Kitaru said and released Pansage.

"Wow you have too Pokémon, Kitaru. I want one." His sister yelled.

***

Kitaru was about to head up to bed when his father put a hand on his arm.

"Son, I just want you to know that me and your mother have never been so proud of you and that we love you so much."

moon · Jan 18, 2012

@ Mr Mammoth

Haha, Soul sure has his ways! Did like Alder and Gigalith at the end ;)

Soul caught a Jolteon! (male lvl 10)

Panpour grew to lvl 11!

--
@ Sacred Beo

It's quite nice to have some character on the RP who's eager to adventure :)
Battles for capturing pokémon should probably be a little longer in the future, but this time it's fine ;)

Dane caught a Vaporeon! (female? lvl 10)

Panpour grew to lvl 11!

--
@ The warden

I really like how you're writing! Suspense onboard the ship :) and yay, you chose to keep the Pansage ;)

Kitaru caught a Glaceon! (female lvl 10)

Kitaru was given a Pansage! (male lvl 11)

NOTE: if you want to give your pokémon a nickname, please make your character state it in a post and I'll add it to the OP (opening post) info. If I forget or miss it, remind me ;)

The warden · Jan 18, 2012

Slowly Kitaru opened his eyes still in that half asleep state that most people are in before they have chance to really wake up. He looked towards the foot of his bed and what he saw shocked him so much that he fell out of bed. A wild Pokémon was sat eating fruit at the end of his bed. No wait a minute, the events of the previous day began to come back to him.

"Sage." The Pokémon wished him a good morning with a cheerful grin, before taking another bit of its Nanab berry. Then the Pokémon frowned at him. "Sa pan pa sage?" It asked with a puzzled look.

"Well I didn't mean to fall out of bed." Kitaru replied as he struggled to unravel himself from his duvet. Finally standing up Kitaru looked around his room. His bed was stood along one wall facing away from the window. The door was in the wall opposite his bed and next to it was his desk where he did his school work, which was scattered all over the surface of it. Also on his desk was his laptop and music player, both of which were sat on top of the pile of work. The night before he had set up beds of a sort for both of his Pokémon, out of blankets, as he had decide that he may as well let them stay out of their Pokéballs. Pansage's bed had been at the foot of his bed but had now been moved to on top of his wardrobe. This of course meant that the skate board that Kitaru hadn't used for the last couple of years had been displaced, displaced meaning that it had been chucked off of the top of the wardrobe. Kitaru was just thankful that it wasn't anything breakable. The Glaceon was still in her bed dreaming away. In the air just in front of the Pokémon he could see what looked like the steam you see when you breath out on a cold day, Kitaru imagined that it must be something similar only the other way round.

"Right lets get breakfast." Kitaru said to Pansage.

"Sage pa pan." Pansage said as he finished off the last of his Nanab berry and started to eat a Pinap berry. He was basically just saying that he had already had his.

***

Having eaten his breakfast Kitaru returned to his room where he sat on his bed thinking of what he needed to do today. Before he started to think too in depth about what he was going to do he looked at his Pokémon he should really name them. Glaceon was sat near his bed grooming her self and Pansage was once again on top of his wardrobe.

"Well you have been quite a handful, since you got here." He said to Pansage who pulled an innocent face. "I think I will call you Mischief."

"Pan-sage" Mischief said giving it's approval.

"And what about you." Kitaru said to the Glaceon. "How about Sapphire."

"Eon." The Glaceon huffed.

"No, how about Azure then."

"Galce." The Glaceon said still not terribly pleased with its name.

"Pan sa sa." Mischief said cheekily.

"No. I can't call her that. Umm. Maybe Azura." Kitaru tried.

"Glaceon!" Azura said in a cheerful tone.

"OK well that settles it." Kitaru said and turned to Mischief. "You are Mischief. And your Azura." He said looking at Azura. "Oh and I'm Kitaru, it's very nice to be your trainer."

"Pa-sa-ge." Mischief said quizzically pointing at Kitaru.

"Well that's close enough." Kitaru said.

"Kitaru." His mothers voice came from down stairs. "Your father is getting ready to go out. Be ready in the next half an hour so he can take you to get the stuff for your journey.

"Right, I've got to get a move on. So I'm sorry you two but..." Kitaru returned his Pokémon to their Pokéballs and started to get ready to go out.

Mr. Mammoth · Jan 19, 2012

Soul opened the door to Joresh's house, a "Welcome back, Wildboy." greeted him, Soul just snorted and put the Pokéballs down before Joresh.

"Here." he said quietly, "Now, tell me how to find Reshiram!" Soul demanded, he wanted to get this over with quick. He didn't like houses, they were too cramped for his taste, he liked his tree a LOT better than this dump.

"Now, now, Wildboy don't be impatient." Joresh tutted with a smile on his lips. Soul had no idea what was going on inside the man's head, and he wasn't sure if he even wanted to know... "Indeed... you are ready. I must admit I didn't think you would complete my task this fast, if at all. But it only proves that the guardian gods didn't make a mistake." he continued.

"Of course they didn't make a mistake!" Soul scoffed, "I'm Wildboy, the one who understands Pokémon the best in this little village... And probably in the whole of Arcanum." his tone was VERY arrogant.

Joresh ignored the boy's boasting,
"The pokémon you captured at the docks is yours to keep. You are the human who captured it and thus the human that shall take care of it. All according to the old legends about Reshiram and Zekrom..." he said with a small break, then he continued:
"Did you know that they are believed to once have brought all other pokémon to Arcanum, because only humans lived here back then? It's said that the pokémon were gifts to the humans, to allow Reshiram and Zekrom live here since they had no other place in the world where they were welcome. But it's also said that if the humans were to name pokémon as their property, they were obliged to always take care of it and do what was best for the pokémon to help it grow stronger. All pokémon want to grow stronger at some point and level. It's in their deepest nature. That is why Arcanum's pokémon trainers exist."

"Pokémon aren't properties of humans, they are magnificent creatures who have an own free will. NOT tools of some foolish apes." Soul snarled at Joresh. Then, a sudden smile appeared on the trainer's face,

"Oh? You feel this way and yet you used my Panpour to capture the Jolteon, correct?" he said.

"DON'T YOU DARE MOCK ME HUMAN!!!" Soul threw himself at Joresh's throat in a rage, the older trainer just pushed him away with one hand, as if he was a ball of dust. Soul landed a few feet from where he originally had been before attacking Joresh, his gaze turned from hard and filled with rage, to soft and calming.

"Don't be so violent Wildboy." Joresh tutted, he then fixed his dark gaze at the young man sitting across the room. "You are now a pokémon trainer. This obligation falls upon you."

Joesh took out the Pokéball containig his Panpour,
"Now, I feel that this Pokémon is better off adveturing with you than just sitting here, rotting away," he said, "So... Will you accept it?"

"Yes." Soul's answer was short and direct. He thought of how well him and the Panpour got along, he didn't want to admit it, but he had already grown accustomed to the little water-monkey.

"That is a relief, thank you Wildboy." Joresh handed Soul Panpour's Pokéball. The young boy flinched for a second, he had never recieved thanks from a human being before,
"Is something the matter?" Joresh asked.

"No, not at all." Soul answered.

***

Well outside, Soul sent out the blue monkey,

"Panpour!"(Yaaay, Mr. Soul!) it screamed gleefully and jumped up on Soul's head, the young boy chuckled and started to gently pet the Water-type.

"Now," he began, "Do you have a name other than Panpour? Or would you like me to come up with one for you?" Soul asked.

"Pan, panpour!"(Hmm... I've always been called Panpour... But I guess a new name would be nice!) the water-monkey giggled.

"Okay then..." Soul began, "How about Steve?"

The Panpour tutted and gently waved it's finger from side to side,
"Pan, pan."(Nu-uh, I'm a girl you know.) she giggled.

"Oh, okay." Soul chuckled, he was never good at the gender differences of Pokémon, even though he had lived with them for so many years. It was actually kind of embarrasing... "Well, if so... Then how about Cecilia?" Soul patted the Panpour's head once again, she gave off a delighted sound.

"Pan, Panpour!"(Yes, I like that name!) the newly named Cecilia said and giggled yet again.

Soul noticed something as he was about to speak to Cecilia, he felt that he was recieving some sort of electrical stimulation into his leg. Soul searched his pocket and found that the Pokéball containing Jolteon was violently rocking, the Electric-type must be rather angry. Soul pressed the button on the Pokéball and let out the lime-green creature, it's fur crackled and seemed to point in all directions while the Pokémon growled at his trainer. It sent out a jolt of electricity along the ground in an attempt to electrocute Soul, but the young boy jumped over the attack with ease, this agitated the Jolteon even further. Soul landed behind the hostile Pokémon and swept his foot towards the legs of the Jolteon

"Low Kick!" Soul yelled. The Jolteon tried to escape but it's legs was caught by the incoming foot, it landed on the ground with a hard thud. The Pokémon quickly got up, who the hell was this boy? He was more like a Pokémon than a human...

"Jol, jol!"(Who are you?!) it growled at Soul.

"I am Wildboy. The one of the Pokémon." Soul answered calmly, "Or should I say," he made a short pause, "Jol, Jolteon?"
The Jolteon's eyes widened, this guy could speak Pokémon language aw well? How was this possible? This was certainly a new experience for Jolteon, but it quickly stopped being confounded and started to get hostile again, it flung itself towards the masked boy and bared it's fangs to frighten the opponent. Cecilia gave off a small yelp,

"Pan, pan, pan!"(Mr. Soul, get away from it!) Cecilia screamed, she was very frightened that the Jolteon would hurt her newfound friend. Soul ignored the water-monkey sitting on his head, trying to verbally help him. He carefully took of his mask, revealing his burnt face to the Jolteon. It hesitated a bit upon seeing how badly wounded the boy was, but then decided to continue the attack. Soul opened his blind eye, hit had turned into a lifless mixture of turqouise and white from not being able to function for such a long time. He pulled back his head and as the Jolteon came close enough...

"Bonding, HEADBUTT!"

Soul yelled and threw his forehead towards the Jolteon, with a loud 'DONG'-sound of two skulls hitting eachoter very hard, the lime-green Pokémon was flinged backwards and landed on the ground with a soft thud. It looked up and caught the sight of Soul coming towards him,

"J-Jolt..."(S-Sorry...) he said, Jolteon didn't know what had gotten into him! He started to respect this guy more and more for some reason...

"No need to ask for forgivness." Soul smiled and picked up his mask, gently putting it back on again, "Now, we need a name for you, assuming that you would like to be called something else than 'Jolteon'?" Soul's tone was questioning, but it also had a hint of excitement in it. Soul loved giving names to his Pokémon-friends, he had done so in the outskirts of Januvale where he met the majority of the Pokémon that he would spend the rest of his years with. Up until now at least.

"Jol, jol..."(Yeah, sure. A name would be nice...) The Pokémon said as if he didn't care, but in reality he had longed for a name to call his own even since he was born.

Soul thougt for a while, "Well you ARE fast, so how about Bolt?" he then said.

Jolteon nodded. Yeah Bolt! It was fast, stylish and cocky, just like himself! "Jol!"(Okay, I like it!) he nodded and smiled at Soul.

"Good!" the young boy put his hands together, "Then I have to do something first. Come with me! We're going to visit a friend of mine."

Fuyu · Jan 20, 2012

In the night, creatures fight for their lives. They have lost their sight and their sense. I conclude that the day is their time to pretend at what they are and that night is to show how they should be.-Aaron Marx, to five-year-old Ethan

Ethan could hear whispers as he walked behind Joresh Ja. The man was a secluded sort; it was only to be expected that he would get attention. Observation: Joresh Ja will not be left alone while we remain outside. Evidence: Those with strength are separated from those who are weak in all walks of life. If the difference is obvious so is the wall between them. If it is not, there is nothing. Conclusion: There is nothing to be done. It's his problem which he deals with by seclusion, which in turn brings forth the cycle again.

In his head, he replayed the reaction he had received from the man. Emotional, which did not suit the lines of his face. Was familiarity in that gaze? It was possible, but Ethan was certain he had never met the man. His family stayed out of his way as well. Reaching the house made Tono growl again. Kumiho ignored him, causing the fox to growl. He flipped and made himself look like an ordinary Pokemon, going to hide and wait. If the stupid heir got killed he would be in so much trouble.

Meanwhile, Kumiho sat down silently on one of Joresh's chairs, watching the man pace around. Nervous habit used by many here in Januvale, Ethan noted silently. He mentally forced himself not to twitch his fingers.

"Boy... that mark," Joresh said slowly. "Where did you get it?"

Ethan pondered how to word this. Whether Joresh was a rational man or not was an uncertain factor in his observations so his reaction was left in the dark. Most of Joresh Ja was left in the dark, him one of the largest enigmas of this tiny place. Ethan's smile deepened for a second. Interesting...

"I was called to... by Reshiram. The Dragon of Truth asked me for help in a dream." He judged his voice innocent enough, curious and confused. A part of him was curious but innocent? He had never heard that term applied to him before, not even at the age of six when his favorite thing to do besides puzzles was play with his sister. The thought of his sister made his stomach clench with an unknown pain and he denied it, keeping his black eyes straight ahead.

Joresh was looking at him without surprise but with a dimmer more solemn feeling Kumiho gradually identified as concern. It was a disorienting thing from the man or from any adult figure. Ethan almost felt revulsion that the man felt so, instead letting confusion make its way across his face. When strangers were thinking of your well-being, even if impersonally, get wary. It was the sign of some deep deals. He had learned that from listening to the adults. They really did think he was stupid, didn't they? "Your guardian is calling you..." he began slowly. "I know how that is." He showed Kumiho a mark on his wrist, the same that was on his person. "I too had a dream some nights ago, telling me to prepare... This must have been what my guardian meant. Prepare you." Looking at Ethan, he shook his head. "I don't really know who you are, but you don't look ready."

"Saying: Do not judge a book by its cover," the boy stated tonelessly. "However," Kumiho added calmly. "It is likely you are correct and I have no qualifications to perform the task given to me by my guardian. I am just a child after all." Ethan waited for the words he suspected would come.

It did with a shake of the head. "You have to honor your Arcanian ancestry and follow the call. But you won't go anywhere until you've proven to me that you're ready. I know what I'm talking about. You... you need pokémon. A journey through Arcanum is too perilous nowadays without trusted pokémon by your side."

Trusted? Well Tono was no use. The Pokemon followed him out of a sense of obligation, nothing more. So how would he get a Pokemon? Asking his family wasn't an option after all now was it? Hmm... ah.Joresh walks up to a shelf and chose an ordinary Pokeball. "Head down to the docks and find one of these pokémon. They are probably either roaming the shores, hiding in the storage huts or making mischief on board the ship. If you tell the sailors I sent you, you'll be allowed on board. Bring one of those pokémon back to me here, somehow."

He handed Ethan that and an empty ball. "I will loan you one of my young but trustworthy pokémon. If you can get it to trust you, and manage to bring back one of the pokémon at the docks before the end of the day... then I believe you are ready."

Kumiho nodded his head quietly, seeing no reason to disobey the man and besides, his own curiosity was piqued. If this was a serious enough issue for a powerful man like Joresh to get involved then it was worth investigating. "If you believe that is the case sir." He stood silently and exited, smiling to himself. A puzzle that attracted the attention of the strong... His grin widened in a brief lapse of control, revealing the slightly excited and dark feelings warring inside of him. His expression smoothed silently and he pulled out the Pokeball to look at it. He had seen these at his home but had never used them. Regardless he was relatively certain of how it worked. He pressed the center button and enlarged it, tossing the ball in the air.

Out arrived a red and sandy brown monkey, its head fur with a large red swirl. It peered up at him with suspicious black eyes. "Sear..." Wha... THen it panicked. "SEAR! PAN!" What the heck are you? The eyes narrowed into a glare. "Sear... pansear... PAN!" You're one of those freaks of nature aren't you? I must BURN you at the stake, like the witches of the mountains and their Whimsicott! On his head a fire began to burn. "SEAARRR!""BURN!" Ethan moved aside carefully as a fire went straight and spread.

"Careful. Observation: That flame could burn your master's house down."

"Se! Sear! Pansear!" Quiet! Freaks of nature have no time for others! RAAH! HE grinned."Pan...Pan sear... Pan..." That stupid guy let me go huh... good... now to roast the world! I will burn everything!

Ethan raised an eyebrow as the creature began to use that same move from before. However, it was unfocused and spreading. Incinerate, a fire move Pansear learns as it levels up. Watching the fire burn, he closed his eyes. "I observe this: you are a pyromaniac."

The monkey glowered. "Sear! Pan pan!"So? You'll be dead so what's it to you?

"Observation: You would not get very far if you tried to burn Januvale. There are more trainers and Pokemon than you could handle at your current skill level. However..." Ethan nodded a little bit. "Fact: Trained Pokemon inevitably grow stronger quicker than wild Pokemon." He knelt by the monkey. "I can make you stronger."

"Sear. Pan." I can still kill you.

Ethan smirked, guessing the words again. "Yes you are powerful. However..." His smile darkened and Pansear felt a shiver run up his spine. "I think you can tell I am too... in my own way."

Pansear watched this human for a moment. He had no special powers Pansear knew, except for being weird. However... there was something wrong with him. That look... it was not like any other human. He had a presence like an alpha, like someone who simply couldn't be questioned. ANd he knew that and exploited it.

This human was dangerous. It was best not to cross him.

... But he still wanted to kill him.

"Sear... Pan Pan sear..." FIne... but I'm going to kill you someday! You are going to burn by my fire!

Kumiho merely smiled again. "I knew we'd understand each other. Fact: Teamwork leads to prosperity." He walked off toward the docks. "Let's go." Pansear stared before reluctantly obeying.

(I'll do the rest in another post. This is just to prove I ain't dead.)

Miss Doronjo · Jan 21, 2012

Lynn Colthearts - Mission Two
*image removed* *image removed*

Joresh entered the living room, upon hearing Lynn's successful voice. However, he still had that same cold, serious look he always had on Lynn. Then, Lynn decided to surprise Jerosh, by showing Jerosh her new pokemon. She held Flareon's pokeball in her right then, then threw it gently in the air.The pokeball opened, and the energy let Flareon escaped from it. Soon, Flareon was clearly visible. Flareon had a quickly glance at his new master, then at Joresh.

"Flare? Flareon, Flare!" (Who are you?! YOU MUST BUUUURN.) Flareon cried, glaring right at Jerosh just ahead of him. Flareon then attempted to release its Flamethrower right towards Joresh, but, Jerosh without so much as blinking, moved to the side, dodging Flareon's sudden attack. The flamethrower hit on one of Joresh's sofas.

"Flareon!" (IGNORANT COMFORTABLE CHAIR! BUUUUUUURN!) Flareon yelled, continuing his flamethrower attack. Lynn panicked as she quickly got out Flareon's pokeball. Then, using the red beam, Flareon was safely returned inside of it. Lynn then glanced at Joresh's burnt couch, and turned her full attention back to him.

"I'm... very sorry about that," Lynn apologized. "That was... uh... Flareon, the pokemon I caught at the docks, by the way."

"Pansage," (He takes pyromania to the next level,) Pansage added.

Joresh nodded. "No matter," he said. "Indeed... you are ready. I must admit I didn't think you would complete my task this fast, if at all. But it only proves that the guardian gods didn't make a mistake."

"Aw... shucks," Lynn blushed. "Thank you; actually, it was only possible with the help of Pansage. And a few other misfits, but they're not important." Pansage nodded in agreement.

"The pokémon you captured at the docks is yours to keep," said Jerosh. "You are the human who captured it and thus the human that shall take care of it. All according to the old legends about Reshiram and Zekrom..."

"Zekrom and... Reshiram?" Lynn asked, upon hearing one of two of the named that she had not heard of before. She glanced at Pansage, but Pansage gave her a 'shrug' response. Lynn turned back at Joresh. "Who were are they anyway?"

"According to legends..." Joresh started. "...they are believed to once have brought all other pokémon to Arcanum, because only humans lived here back then. It's said that the pokémon were gifts to the humans, to allow Reshiram and Zekrom live here since they had no other place in the world where they were welcome. But it's also said that if the humans were to name pokémon as their property, they were obliged to always take care of it and do what was best for the pokémon to help it grow stronger. All pokémon want to grow stronger at some point and level. It's in their deepest nature. That is why Arcanum's pokémon trainers exist."

"I see..." Lynn tried to grasp. It was a little different from all of the stories about spirits that she has been told when she was just a child. It was quite mind-boggling to think that pokémon such as 'Pansage', and 'Flareon', were first brought to this world, only because of Reshiram and Zekrom.

Joresh then fixes her with a dark, intense stare. "You are now a pokémon trainer. This obligation falls upon you."

A pokémon trainer... Lynn repeatedly thought to herself. Growing up, she had always read books and novels about pokemon trainers with their partnered pokemon, but, to think that she has now become one herself... this was all to real. I shall be Arcanums first ever spiritual pokemon trainer! Spirits, Ghouls of the dead, I hope you shall smile on this day!

"Pan, Pansage..." (I do hope she'll refrain from burning corpses to purify them,) Pansge worried.

"By the way," Joresh said, cutting in. "Pansage can join you if you want... it's probably better for it to go off adventuring than living a dull life with me."

"Um... Well..." Lynn murmured, trying to figure out an answer. "As long as Pansage is fine with going on a mystic adventure filled with ghosts, the land of the dead, evil spirits, and spooky occult stuff, I'm fine with it!"

"Pansage..." (Actually...)

"Then it's settled!" Lynn decided. "Pansage, from now on, you and I shall travel together, and be partners!"

* * * *

Lynn's house stood as sturdy, yet in the promise of spiritualism as it always did. The Taillow who had a nest on a branch from the blossom tree that sat in the front yard of Lynn's home was just about to roost back on its warm, cozy nest, until it was caught by surprise by a sudden stream of fire. It jumped, and flied away in panic.

"Flare, Eon!" (Stupid Bird! YOU MUST BUUUUUURN!) Flareon shouted, released its trademark Flamethrower towards the wild Taillow in the sky. Lynn and Pansage were trailing just behind Flareon, with concerned looks on their faces.

"Hey Flareon," called Lynn. "If we're all going to be a team, you'll need to stop trying to burn and torch random things. Bad karma stacks up, you know. You'll turn into an electric eel before you know it! AND THEN WHAT WILL YOU DO...? You'll have no water, so you'll be breathless."

"Flare-Flareon," (But... but! Burning stuff is they key to solving life's problems!)

"Sage-Pansage," (Except your insanity...)

"Flareon!" (SHUT UP, YOU... YOU GRASS... MONKEY THING!)

"Pansage!" (No, you be quiet, you pyromaniac dog pheasant!)

"Behave you two," warned Lynn upon arriving at her front door. "We're about to go in."

"Eon, Flareon!" (Curse you, Lynn! Why can't you let me BUUUURN him?!) demanded Flareon.

"Pan-Pansage!" (How about you BUUUURN off your tongue so you can stay quiet,) suggested Pansage, in a more arrogant, superior tone of voice. Flareon simply responded with a low, frustrated growl as the pokemon, and Lynn herself went inside her home, by sliding her front screen door.

Upon entering, Lynn took off her dress shoes, and left them by some other shoes that stood on a brown mat, as it was traditional for her family to take off their shoes before entering the house. In any case, she silently, yet swiftly entered the house. She was taught that she had to be very quiet whenever she entered her house, so that she will not attract noise, in case someone was meditating.

"Flare-Flareon," (I say we burn this dump down,) Flareon suggested.

"Flareon, hush," Lynn ordered sternly. However, she realized that their voices and cries attracted attention; she soon heard the sounds of footsteps, followed up with a familiar voice.

"Lynn...? Is that you?"

"Yes... mother," Lynn replied, as she saw her mother entering from the nearby kitchen. Her mother looked like a mature, middle-aged woman, with hair that has been pinned by golden pins, with her outfit consisting of a magenta kimono, with red and yellow blossom flowers.

"Lynn, where have you been?" she asked, putting down a spatula on a nearby counter. "Lunch was ready and... hold on, Lynn, who... or what are those two behind you?" Lynn's mother focused her attention to Pansage and Flareon. Pansage and Flareon exchanged glances, and looked back Lynn, waiting for her answer. Lynn rook a deep breath, and exhaled.

"Mother, this is Pansage and Flareon," Lynn explained with her hands held together behind her back. She glanced back her pokemon. "They are my... partner pokemon."

"Partner pokemon?" Lynn's mother asked. "Lynn, I don't understand. How... and why do you have pokemon?

"Actually, that's what I wanted to talk with you and everyone else about," Lynn explained, with her eyes set right back at her mother. "Can we all talk about this at the dining table?"

"If you must."

"Flareon, Eon," (I changed my mind. Let's burn her first,) Flareon suggested, as Pansage sighed.

* * * *

The Colthearts' dining table, as expected, had its own traditional Japanese-like atmosphere. The room was made entirely made out of wood, and decorated with bamboo plants, ancient paintings, and even calming music. The table was also made out of wood; it was octagon shaped, decorated a red cloth, and a white vase. However, this table was too short to sit and eat on a chair; one had to kneel down on a mat in front of the table to eat from there. Tea cups filled with traditional green tea were placed throughout the table, near where people were going to kneel down towards the table. Lynn and her mother were both near the table, sipping a bit of their green tea. Lynn's pokemon, Flareon and Pansage, sat right beside Lynn, observing the family's traditions, and taking a deep listening to the new-age Japanese music. Soon, they were all joined by Lynn's grandmother and grandfather, who slid open the door, and bowed for a greeting as they took their places around the table.

"Ah, dear Lynn," Lynn's grandmother greeted. "You've returned! I have been quite worried."

"So have I," Lynn's grandfather added. "Well... by eating dumping all day, ehehehe!"

"SO THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED TO ALL OF MY DUMPLINGS!" Lynn's grandmother bawled, slapping her husband on the backside of his head. "YOU KNOW I HAVE BEEN SAVING THOSE FOR A RAINY DAY!"

"Sorry...dear..." Lynn's grandfather apologized, soothing the pain from the slap, by rubbing his head.

"Everyone is here except Ringo," Lynn's mother explained, as they all soon heard the door quickly sliding open. Then, came a frustrated-looking girl who had a red kimono, along with pink hair and white socks.

"MOTHER, ALL OF THE BANANAS ARE GONE!" she yelled, gasping for her breath. Lynn's grandmother then glared at her husband, as he whispered, 'it wasn't me!' avoiding to get slapped again. "THAT'S NOT FAIR -- I WANTED TO MAKE BANANA BREAD WITH YOU-- Oh... hi Lynn."

"Hi Ringo," Lynn greeted softly.

"Ringo, take your seat," Lynn's mother told Ringo, as she bowed and quickly yet quietly took her seat beside Lynn's mother. Flareon turned to Pansage.

"Flareon," (You didn't have anything to do with the bananas disappearing, did you?)

"Sage..." (Well...)

"Okay Lynn," Lynn's mother called. "What do you have to say for yourself? Why do you have these pokemon?"

"Wait, Lynn has POKEMON?!" Ringo jealously asked. "Aw, I want a pokemon--"

"That's enough Ringo," Lynn's mother interrupted. "Go ahead, Lynn." Lynn took a deep breath.

"Well," Lynn began hastily. "I had a dream, it was weird, SO VERY WEIRD, oh, and very dark, and there was this pokemon called Zekrom, it was very scary, he showed me images of the town burning down, and I was like, 'OH NO! THE TOWN!' But then he told me that this shouldn't of happened, and I was like, 'why not?' OH, AND BY THE WAY THIS POKEMON WAS REALLY SCARY. Then I woke up, saw this mark on my wrist and I was like, 'why do I have a mark on my wrist?' I thought it was a curse, then I bumped into this scary guy named Jerosh, he saw my wrist, then guided me to his house, where he tells me that Zekrom is my guardian and I was like, 'no way!' so then he tells me that I needed to be ready, so he lends me this pokemon called Pansage, and Pansage is a monkey, we saw this Flareon on a boat, and caught it, showed it to Jerosh, oh and by the way, I like cake, and then he tells me I am now a pokemon trainer, and yeaaah."

Lynn's mother blinked at Lynn. "I... think you need to explain that again," she suggested. "Slower, and clearer... much more clearer."

* * * *

"Okay, so you had a dream, riding on a pokemon called Zekrom, where he shows you that the town is on fire, but, he tells you that this can all be prevented. The you woke up, and saw a white and black mark on your wrist, which couldn't rub out. Soon, you meet a man named Jerosh where he tells you that Zekrom is your guardian. Then he tells you about your ancestry about fulfilling this task by becoming a pokemon trainer. He gives you his Pansage, and with that Pansage, you catch a Flareon by the docks. When you return to Jerish's house, he tells you about pokemon called Reshiram and Zekrom, as well as that you have become a pokemon trainer, and you must fulfill your ancestry call. Is that what you're telling me, Lynn?" Lynn's mother summarized, after a good five minutes. Lynn replied with a slow nod.

"That is a little hard to believe..." her mother said.

"But Jerosh is no liar; I have known him from the lips of the town's citizens," Lynn's grandmother added. "If this is true as he says, then I dear say that this region is in danger."

"So, I hope you all can understand," Lynn continued. "I must leave."

"Lynn, have you forgotten that you have responsibility here?" Lynn's mother sternly asked. "You are the master of the Colthearts clan. With that title, comes great focus."

"Sage? Pan?" (Master of the Colthearts? What can that be?) Pansage pondered.

"Flare!" (I say, BURN THEM! And THEN wonder!) Flareon suggested.

"Have YOU forgotten mother?" Lynn asked as she glanced at Ringo. "I have rejected the title and passed it on to Ringo."

Her mother glared at Lynn. "Lynn, you know you can't shy away from this responsibility," she said. "You also know that Ringo can't hold the title. It'll be unfair to bear this responsibility to her in any case."

"It is also unfair that our lives are in danger every second of the day!" Lynn snapped. "Did you forget that our branch family has done whatever necessary to have one of them become master?! Why must I fight bloodshed with my cousins, my aunts, my uncles, just to communicate with the spirits which I do everyday? Why did you think that dad left?!"

"That's enough!" Lynn's mother ordered. "Listen to me Lynn! You are not--"

"Ahem. Um, if I may," Lynn's grandmother interrupted. "Perhaps Lynn is grown up enough to make her own decisions, yeah?"

"Let's hope she doesn't get one of those... how they call it, 'tattoos'," Lynn's grandfather hoped, but only to get a slap from his wife.

"Mother, what are you saying?" Lynn's mother asked, turning to her grandmother. "Lynn has responsibility with her sister at home. You know that!"

"Yes, but, I too have grown tired of this 'family feud'," Lynn's grandmother explained. "Perhaps this will be better for Lynn's generation; away from the violence. The spirits around the world are different, you know. All I'm saying is that if Lynn can handle at least two pokemon, she can travel, and still fulfill her responsibility."

Lynn's mother sighed as she turned back to Lynn. "I'm just very concerned about you," she explained with a more softer tone, as Ringo turned away.

"There is a way to asset her readiness!" her grandmother explained, turning to Lynn. "Lynn, how about a pokemon battle? Your two pokemon against my pokemon, and your grandpa's."

"Grandma..." Lynn gasped.

To be continued...

moon · Jan 22, 2012

@ The warden

You are allowed to make short posts, don't worry :) sometimes it's necessary to make the story hold together in a fluid and neat way~ Nice names! I'll add them into the OP.

--
@ Mr. Mammoth

Haha Soul is fun to read about xD And I'll allow him to understand pokémon language to an extent... because it can be a nice twist and makes Soul different and interesting.

But if another player has a problem with it, please tell me. Because I don't want every player to go around understanding pokémon language. They can still understand their pokémon kind of like Ash and Pikachu do.

Soul was given a Panpour! (female lvl 11)

--
@ Fuyu

What a twist! A pyromaniac Pansear ^^ Glad you picked the fire monkey, don't think anybody else has done that yet ;)

--
@ Miss Doronjo

Good post! Haha, all fire pokémon are pyromaniacs here xD Love it, actually.

Lynn was given a Pansage! (male lvl 11)

Sometimes, probably starting from the next chapter, I might give your pokémon levels after posts even if they weren't battling in them, if the post was very long or really good. This is because I don't want you to feel obligated to battle in every post. I love reading about other things as well :)

But at the same time, pokémon grow stronger mostly from battling, so battles will earn you more levels than other things.

Karma Police · Jan 22, 2012

Lucas 'Luke' Wright
A day in the Life of a Pokemon Trainer!
in a nutshell

"The nerve of the old man! THE NERVE!" Lucas cried, on his way to the house. The conversation at his house had been pretty lengthy. Lucas had to repeat it in his mind a few times to get a grip of it. It was all so... confusing. It was so crazy. Lucas would've dismissed the dream had he not had that weird Yin Yang symbol on his arm, and as if that wasn't enough to trouble him, he had that whole conversation with Joresh. He repeated the whole scene once more in his head to get a better grasp of the situation.

****

As soon as he had reached the Trainer's house, he was attacked by numerous questions put forth by the trainer.

"That mark..." he asked. "How did you get it?"

"Gee, that one's easy. I went to sleep one night and the next morning, ta-da!" Lucas said sarcastically, waving his hand as if the symbol was a beautiful accessory. Lucas was pretty annoyed, being dragged like that all the way till his house, but looking at the serious expression on Joresh's face, he told him about it dream. It sounded pretty crazy though, but Lucas... had a strange feeling that he could trust this madman.

Lucas took a closer look at him. He seemed like a no-nonsense kind of guy, who didn't really appreciate jokes and such. Lucas would have to watch himself and his sarcastic remarks around this guy.

"Your guardian is calling you... I know how that is." He showed Lucas his own wrist, and Lucas felt one of the biggest shocks of his life. His wrist had the exact same symbol he had. "I too had a dream some nights ago, telling me to prepare... This must have been what my guardian meant. Prepare you."

"Prepare... me? For what, exactly? 'Rescuing' a Pokemon that only appeared in legends?" Lucas said, making air quotes with his fingers. This guy really was a bit mad. Was he just a fraud, wanting to kidnap him? Maybe he had heard about the symbol from his mother, and had made the same symbol on his hand, trying to get Lucas to do his work, whatever it was? Or maybe it was just Lucas's own creativity blended with paranoia, making up such crazy stories. The feeling of trust and respect returned to him, and he shut up for a while, listening to the trainer.

Joresh sighed, probably annoyed by Lucas's constant remarks. He looked up and down, examining him closely, then said, "I don't really know who you are, but you don't look ready."

"Whoa, whoa whoa. Okay, first off, how the hell can you say I'm not ready? I mean, you don't even know me. And c'mon, look at me! How can you say this amazing kid ain't ready?" Lucas said with a smile. Looking at the thin, weak kid in front of him made even Joresh crack a small smile. Lucas just got angry at this, but he decided to bring up a more important point. "And second, HOW CAN YOU NOT KNOW ME!? I'm the richest kid in town!" Lucas genuinely sounded angry at that as if it was a very important thing to know. Joresh just shook his head and continued.

"You have to honor your Arcanian ancestry and follow the call. But you won't go anywhere until you've proven to me that you're ready. I know what I'm talking about. You... you need pokémon. A journey through Arcanum is too perilous nowadays without trusted pokémon by your side." Lucas just rolled his eyes.

"Well, I never cared about my Arcanian ancestry and I don't think I want to prove myself to you so no than..." Lucas trailed off. His mind had suddenly started to think about the 'trusted Pokemon' and 'journey' part. So, wait, Joresh was going to send him off on his own journey? Lucas's excitement level started to skyrocket. His own journey... and maybe with the Highest ranked trainer in town backing him, probably his mother would finally let him go.

"You know what? Forget what I said. I'm in. So, what do I have to do?" Lucas said, excitement in his voice. he hoped that his quest would be something that wouldn't be boring and too difficult, he wanted to complete it easily. Joresh stared out of his window for a moment, then continued his long speech.

"Down at the docks by the shore, there is a big ship from the east that came in just the other day. It carried explorers that had been meddling with things in the Arca Islands in the sea to the east. They had to make a stop here because they said something was wrong with their ship. Some believe they are cursed, but I know better... They have picked up some freepassagers. Pokémon from the islands. The Arca Islands are sacred to us, but the eastern explorers do not care..."

"Neither do I... but ah well. who cares." Lucas thought. He kept his thoughts to himself. So, a cursed ship? He had to deal with a cursed ship? Being a more modern person, he didn't really believe in all this nonsense about curses and all, but somehow... his traditional lifestyle had perhaps instilled a fear of the supernatural in his brain, because the word sent a chill down his spine.

Joresh got up from his spot and walked up to the shelf. Behind his back, Lucas was trembling slightly. "No, I am Lucas Wright, I shall not get scared by a bunch of ghouls!" He thought to himself, but the word 'ghoul' made him whimper. He could see Joresh's head tilt a bit in his direction, trying to figure out what the sound was. Lucas, fearing that Joresh might not find him ready or fit if he found out that he was scared, quickly changed the topic.

"So, uh, w-what do I h-have to d-do?" He said. He couldn't stop the stammering for some reason, though. Maybe all of this was a bad idea. Maybe. He saw Joresh shrug, and answer his question.

"Head down to the docks and find one of these pokémon. They are probably either roaming the shores, hiding in the storage huts or making mischief on board the ship. If you tell the sailors I sent you, you'll be allowed on board. Bring one of those pokémon back to me here, somehow." He answered him calmly and slowly.

Inside himself, Lucas breathed a sigh of relief. The Pokemon could be outside too. He would quickly catch one outside the ship and retreat as swiftly as possible. Hearing the last part though, made him chuckle, and he just couldn't resist himself.

"Haha, the old man has respect." He said, giggling. It was just too late that he realized he had said that out loud. He clapped a hand over his mouth as Joresh glared at him, but didn't say anything. He just sighed, as if contemplating whether this was a bad idea or not. This must be really serious, because Joresh wasn't yelling at him. Usually at this point, he would have been slapped once or twice too.

Joresh then picked up a normal looking Pokeball from the shelf. Lucas felt a bit annoyed at that, there were so many other cool looking pokeballs, why give him the least interesting one? "Hey, Jo, being one of the most important people of the town, I demand to be given-"

"I will loan you one of my young but trustworthy pokémon. If you can get it to trust you, and manage to bring back one of the pokémon at the docks before the end of the day... then I believe you are ready." Joresh cut him off. He made it pretty clear that he didn't want to engage with a conversation with a person like Luke. Ever again. He handed him the pokeball from the shelf, as well as an empty one. he then proceeded to quickly push Lucas out of his house, probably not being able to take any more of his talk.

As soon as Lucas was out of the house, Joresh shook his head, speaking to himself in a rather mocking, sarcastic tone, "Boy, isn't THIS going to be a hell of a journey..."

"I HEARD THAT!" came Lucas's loud voice from the entrance. Joresh simply groaned, the boy just refused to leave him alone. Soon he heard the click of the door, and looked out of the window. He saw the boy walk away from the house, and only after he was well out of sight, did Joresh breath a sigh of relief.

****

Lucas grumbled to himself. He had been so rudely been thrown out of the house. That was NOT how you treat a rich boy! He marched down to his house, fuming. To get to the ship, he would need some... resources.

"JEEEEEEEENKIIIIIIIINS!" Lucas shouted as soon as he entered his house. Jenkins scrambled out of his room, his hair all ruffled. It seems like Lucas's maniacal shout had just woken him up from a nap. "Sleeping on the job, Jenkins? Tut, tut." Lucas winked at him, and that annoyed Jenkins.

"Hey Jenkins, could ya accompany me to the docks?" Lucas asked him, as innocently as possible.

"What do you want to go to the docks for, Master Luke?" Jenkins asked him back, also as innocently as Lucas. Lucas gave him an irritated expression.

"Less questions. More wor-" Lucas said, before he trailed off. He saw his mother enter the grand hall, and he immediately stopped talking. He put up his most kind and innocent face as he could manage at the time.

"Lucas, I heard you yell." She looked at him with concern. "Are you in some kind of trouble again?"

Lucas looked shocked. "What? Why do you always think I'm in some kind of trouble?"

"Well, because you almost always are?"

Lucas didn't respond or protest. He just raised his hands. She was kind of right, anyways. He was always in some kind of trouble. His mother looked at the bump in his pocket, where the 2 Pokeballs were, and asked curiously, "I heard you call Butler. Going somewhere?"

"Ah, yes." Jenkins began. "We were just leaving for the do-"

"Doctor! Yeah, the doctor, I just seem to have a, ahem, bad uh, throat." Lucas cut in quickly, panic clearly in his voice. He cleared his throat several times, to show that he really was ill. He shot a glance in his Jenkins's direction, saying Don't say anything please...

For a moment, Jenkins was happy. He had power in the situation, he could tell his mother about their trip to the docks, but then he thought about the consequences. If he told her, he would never forgive him and Jenkins would have to face Lucas's wrath. So he just said, "Ah, yes, we were just on the way to the doctor." Lucas immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

Lucas's mother still looked at him suspiciously. For a moment, Lucas felt she hadn't bought it, but then she sighed, and said, "Okay, then, go. Just... don't get into any trouble, okay Lucas?"

"I won't, mom." Lucas promised.

"Just remember... we care about you. I don't want anything to happen to you. Just... don't do anything crazy, all right?"

"I know, mom... I won't." Lucas felt a lump form in his throat. He didn't like lying like this to his mother. Somehow... it didn't feel right. Yes, he had lied dozens of times to her, but this time was definitely different. This was something that would probably affect his life drastically... but for now, he would have to control himself.

His mom smiled at Lucas, although it was almost a sad smile. Did she know he was lying to her? He looked into her beautiful blue eyes and he could see sadness in them. He felt like crying immediately, as his mom turned around and walked away. Lucas stood there for a moment, watching the spot where his mother stood a few moments ago.

"Um, Master Luke? Shouldn't we get going?" Jenkins asked him. That broke Lucas out of his trance, as he snapped back to reality. He nodded, and they left the house, towards the docks, where the cursed ship was docked.

*****

"So, Master Luke, why are we going to the docks?" Jenkins asked him. Lucas kept silent for a moment, then told him about his encounter with Joresh. Jenkins looked really amused for a moment, as he mumbled to himself, "Wow... Master Luke on a journey... you've grown a lot from that old brat..."

"I HEARD THAT!" Lucas yelled, and Jenkins laughed. Lucas just growled, then started to laugh a bit himself. He just couldn't help it.

*****

Soon the two of them were at the docks. Lucas stood for a moment looking at the ship. It looked pretty normal to him, nothing like a cursed ship. Maybe the old man had just heard incorrect rumors.

"Phew, now that we're here, Jenkins, fetch me a Pokemon." Lucas ordered. It really sounded as if getting to the ship had been a huge mission that he had just accomplished. Jenkins looked at Lucas with an expression that meant, You mad? and Lucas cried, "What? Go on, get me a Pokemon!"

Jenkins sighed and mumbled. "Boy, this is gonna be hard..." He then turned to Lucas with sad eyes and said, "I'm sorry Master Luke, but I can't do that."

"Why not, Jenkins?" Lucas asked him, and Jenkins sighed once more.

"Isn't this your task, Master Luke? I mean, you have to prove yourself, not me. And you're the one with the Pokemon anyways, I couldn't capture it even if I listened to your rather... absurd demand." Jenkins explained to Lucas rather plainly. Lucas just looked at him confused. "Living a protected life really does have an effect on your general knowledge..." Jenkins thought. "Since this is your first time, I'll help you out, Master Luke."

Lucas smiled, but this wasn't gonna be easy. He had never done something as big as this ever in his entire life all alone, independently, and he could feel the pressure getting to him.

"Sooo, what do we do?" Lucas asked Jenkins, and Jenkins pointed to the ship. Lucas realized that they had to go to the ship to get the Pokemon. He shivered a bit, the cursed part still hadn't left his mind.

"Let's go, shall we?" Jenkins said with a grin. Lucas swallowed, and followed him towards the ship. Near the entrance, they were stopped by a tall, strong man dressed in white. A sailor, Joresh had mentioned they would be there.

"Getouttahere" He said, really quickly. It took Lucas quite some time to understand what he was trying to say.

"How rude, man! Lemme pass, Jo sent me here." Lucas said, with a touch of arrogance in his voice. "And how dare you stop me anyways, huh? I'm Lucas Wright!"

"WhothehellisJoandLucas?" The man said in his lightning fast speed. Again, a pause, as Lucas understood what he asked.

"Jo, you know? Jo, Jo, Joresh? Ring a bell? Or is there no brain in that head of yours to hold memories?" Lucas said, talking slowly as if he was explaining it to an absolute idiot. The sailor grunted, and looked ready to punch him, but Jenkins stood between the two. The sailor calmed down, and spoke to the pair rather gruffly.

"LettingyaguysgocauseofJoresh. Andthatoldmanaswell. He stuck a thumb towards and Jenkins, and Jenkins looked really offended. "My god, how dare you, you ruffian? I'm only a young male of 54 years old!"

Lucas grabbed Jenkins by his collar, saying, "Come on now, let's move on." as Jenkins kept yelling at the sailor, who flashed a toothless grin at the butler. When they were gone, he whistled, and thought, "What an irritating boy..."

*****

The unusual pair of Butler and Boy made their way through the maze like ship. The were walking quite briskly, with Lucas staying as close as possible to Jenkins. He jerked his head at every sound, scared that a ghost might pop out any minute now. Tired of the deafening silence, Jenkins asked him a question.

"So, Master Luke, what Pokemon did Joresh give you?"

Lucas blinked. His face had a blank expression, and he blushed slightly, feeling very embarrassed by his stupidity. "Uh, I haven't checked yet..."

Jenkins sighed once more. Lucas was starting to get irritated by these repetitive sighs of his, as they made him feel more and more hopeless, and made this seem like a really bad idea.

"You sigh once more, and expect your salary to drop." Lucas huffed angrily. It really wasn't fair for Jenkins, as he opened his mouth in protest, but closed it immediately. There was just no arguing with this boy. He was about to sigh again, but stopped himself at the last second. Handling Lucas was already enough, he didn't need a salary cut along with it too.

"Well then, why don't you see what Pokemon you've got? to torture..."

"I HEARD THAT! But I'll forgive you because you gave me that idea." Lucas smirked at Jenkins. Jenkins just hung his head low. This job was making him sick.

Lucas took out his pokeball with the Pokemon in it. He tossed it into the air, and in a flash of red and white, and Pokemon appeared from within, and landed on the ground, stretching it's limbs. To Lucas, it seemed like a red colored little monkey, who had a mischievous grin on his face. Apparently, Jenkins recognized the Pokemon immediately.

"It's a Pansear. Those are really rare around these parts..." Jenkins said, looking at the Pokemon with awe. Lucas looked at him with surprise. How did he know that?

"Hey, Jenkins? How did you know that?" Lucas asked him, and upon hearing the question, his cheeks turned light red.

"Haha... I used to be a Pokemon Trainer when I was young." Jenkins said, proudly. "I don't know how I got stuck here though..." was the thought in his head.

"Oh really? I bet you had lots of adventures. Too bad I just can't imagine you as a 'young' person." Lucas stuck his tongue out at the Butler, and he turned bright red, maybe with anger this time. Lucas decided to quickly change the topic.

"Uh, what does this monkey do anyways?" He said, pointing at the red monkey. The monkey immediately put on an angry face, and bit down hard on Lucas's finger. Lucas screamed, and pushed the Pokemon off his finger.

"GAH! YOU LITTLE-" Lucas yelled, but was cut off by Jenkins, who raised a hand, motioning him to get silent. He bent down to get to the monkey's level, and said, "Hey there little guy, what's u-"

The monkey immediately blew out a small fireball, burning the Butler's thin, white mustache. Jenkins immediately stood up, batting his mustache trying to extinguish the small flame. He yelled and ran straight towards the other side of the ship, trying to find some sort of thing to put out the fire on his small mustache.

"JENKINS! WAIT UP!" Lucas cried, but Jenkins was already gone. Now it was Lucas's time to sigh, now that he was trapped here with that stupid mischievous monkey. The monkey had a small grin on his face, as if proud of his pranks.

Lucas turned to the monkey, and said, "Ain't you a lil' freak?" The monkey glared at him, and was about to pounce on him when a sailor grabbed him from behind.

"You ain't going anywhere, kid!" He said, as the Pansear kicked and punched the sailor, but against such a huge man it did almost nothing. The sailor looked at Lucas, and said, "Well, what're you waiting for? Put this monkey back into his pokeball!" Lucas snapped back into attention, and fumbled around in his pocket to search for the Pokeball. Finally, he found it in his right pocket. He pointed it at the monkey, and red beam swallowed him up, trapping him back into the pokeball.

Lucas carefully put the pokeball back into his pocket, then looked up to see his savior. He was a bulky man, that sailor, which is probably why he was able to hold the monkey tight. "Uh, thanks for your help." Lucas said, not sure what more to say. The sailor tipped his hat, and nodded.

"No problem, kid. I saw the old man running away, and thought you might need some help. You explorin' the ship?" Lucas slowly nodded. "Have fun, then. I assume you must be on Joresh's business. You're free to explore the ship... just stay away from the second kitchen." The sailor walked way, tipping his hat low on his head.

As soon as he had said that, Lucas set off for the second kitchen. He was extremely curious, but just in case he removed the little Pansear from his pokeball, for his protection. Although, he himself didn't know how much protection the monkey would have been able to give him.

The two were able to find their way through to the second kitchen pretty easily. The hallway leading to the kitchen was dark, and gave off a rather... eerie feeling. It sent a chill but Lucas's spine, but he swallowed his fear and walked towards the kitchen. He cautiously opened the door to see an old abandoned kitchen, completely coated with dust. Old pots and pans still hung from the wall, everything seemed to be untouched.

The two slowly entered, treading lightly, not making a sound. Even the little monkey seemed to be a little afraid of what to expect from the old, dark room. Lucas ran a finger along a counter, and examined his finger. It was coated with dust, layers of it. Seemed like it had been abandoned pretty long ago. Lucas was just about to move forward when a pot suddenly fell from the wall, making a loud noise. Lucas jumped up high into the air, surprised and scared by the sudden sound. His little monkey Pokemon jumped onto his shoulder, himself trembling like a leaf.

Lucas thought it had just been his Pokemon messing around, when he suddenly felt a soft breathing on his back. The hair on the back of his neck stood up straight, as Lucas turned around to meet the owner of the foul stench. He found himself face to face with a blackish purple ball of gas floating above the ground, smiling at him with a wide grin.

Both the Pansear and Lucas screamed out as loud as they could, and scrambled out of the room in top speed. Lucas could hear more pots and pans falling behind him as he rushed out of the room. He couldn't feel anything, it was as if his body had gone numb from fear. He quickly closed the door behind him as he exited the room, then stood a few feet away from the door, panting hard. He was insanely tired now, he had never run this fast ever in his entire life. Fear really makes you do extraordinary things.

"Note to self: If somebody advises you to stay away from a place, listen to him." Lucas grumbled to himself as he walked away from the kitchen. He had regained a bit of his energy now, but the Pansear was still on his shoulder quivering.

Lucas looked at him with a scowl, and said, "Well, you good for nothing monkey, why didn't you attack him?" The monkey glared at him, and pulled his ear hard. Lucas yelled, and the monkey let him go, satisfied.

"You know what? From now on, I'll call you Leo, because of your 'epic bravery which is like a lion'. Lucas said, sarcastically. Surprisingly though, the Pansear liked it, as it smiled at the name. Lucas shrugged. Looks like his Pokemon was going to be stuck with an ironic nickname.

What Lucas was really disappointed about though, was that he had not even managed to catch a single Pokemon. He couldn't believe it, the great Luke Wright, couldn't even capture a single Pokemon?! This was outrageous. He wasn't going to give up though, he was going to keep looking, but the first thing he wanted to know was, where Jenkins had run off to.

"JEEEEEEENKIIIII- Lucas started, in his high pitched voice, and before he could complete his Butler call he was slapped by Leo. He seemed rather irritated by the noise he had created, and Lucas decided to shut up; this monkey was not one with whom you could manage a sensible conversation.

Fortunately though, his call had been heard the Butler. Jenkins ran up to Lucas and Leo, panting. He seemed really concerned about Lucas, as he started to ask him all sorts of questions. "Oh, I'm sorry Master Luke! I was scared! Are you all right? Is the Pokemon all right? Did you get hurt? Did you-"

"Oh, knock it off Jenkins, I'm fine." Lucas cut in. He then saw the damage which Leo's fireball had done to Jenkin's mustache. Half of his mustache had been burned off, and only a few black , burnt hair hung here and there. Lucas chuckled, looking at the Butler, and Leo gave a satisfactory grin. Even Jenkins smiled rather sheepishly, embarrassed by all of this. It was at that moment that Lucas looked out towards the docks, and saw the most beautiful Pokemon he had ever seen in his life.

Out there, on the docks, facing the ocean was a small green colored Pokemon. She had a red gem in the middle of her forehead, and her split towards the end. She was a rather cat-like Pokemon, watching the ocean waves. The sun shined off her eyes, and Lucas could immediately feel himself bond with the Pokemon.

"Jenkins..." Lucas started. He pointed towards the Pokemon. "What's that Pokemon?"

Jenkins peered out, squinting to see the Pokemon. "Ah, that, is an Espeon. Found mainly on the Arca Islands. Must be one of the freepassager Pokemon you were looking for!" He exclaimed, excited. Lucas could feel the excitement in his chest grow and grow, until he could hold it in no more. He rushed out of the ship, with Leo on his shoulder and Jenkins right behind him. He quickly made his way to the shore, where he found the Pokemon, calmly looking at the ocean.

For a moment, he stood there, mesmerized by the beauty of the ocean and the Pokemon. He finally broke out of the trance when Jenkins shook him a little. "Well, sir, go on. Capture it." He urged, eager to get it over and done it.

"Ah, yes, go Jenkins, get her for me." Lucas ordered. Jenkins looked at him as if he was an idiot.

"Um, sir... the monkey's only going to listen to your commands. He said blankly.

"Oh. But... I don't know how to battle! Or even capture her for that matter!" Lucas moaned.

Jenkins shook his head. "And you thought an adventure was a piece of cake..." He thought. This was hard, really hard. "All you have to do is give the monkey his commands, weaken the Pokemon and throw the empty Pokeball at it. Simple as that."

"Yeah... simple as that." Lucas mumbled. He pointed towards the green Pokemon, who still hadn't seemed to have noticed the 2 people talking about her capture. She still sat there, staring towards the ocean.

"Well, Leo... so and slap her as hard as you can!" Lucas said, excited. Leo just looked at him, his head tilted, confused, definitely confused. He looked as if Lucas had asked him to do something crazy.

"WELL? Why ain't you doing something?" Lucas yelled at the monkey. The monkey just shook his head. "Um, sir, you'll have to be more precise than that. In a Pokemon battle you have to give specific commands... 'go and slap her isn't going to work." Jenkins said.

"But, he's such an expert in slapping People! What's the difference between slapping a Pokemon or a person! Ugh, this is too tough, Jenkins, just do it for me please." Lucas moaned again.

Jenkins sighed inside his head. "Sir, if I do it, then how will you learn and go on your own journey?"

"True, true..." Lucas said, nodding. "But what do I do? I don't know any attacks of a Pansear!" He said, losing hope.

Jenkins hmmed, falling deep in thought. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he spoke up. "I might be able to help you there. I think I can tell you a few moves that I remember of a Pansear."

"Great, awesome! Thanks a lot, Jenkins. Expect a salary bonus this month." Lucas said, excitedly. Jenkins opened his mouth to breath a sigh of relief, but Lucas quickly said, "But still no sighing." Jenkins quickly closed his mouth.

Lucas quickly ran towards the Espeon, and Leo jumped off his shoulder, ready for battle. Lucas saw the Espeon's ears twitch, and she quickly turned around to face the threat. She was in a combat pose, ready to pounce into battle.

"Wow... an actual, honest Pokemon battle! I cannot believe this!" Lucas thought. He could already imagine the Espeon being in the pokeball in his hands. He was grinning to himself, when he heard a voice behind him. "Concentrate, Master Luke, you need to win!" Jenkins cried.

"Okay Jenkins, what do I do-" But before he could complete his sentence, the Espeon pounced on Leo, attacking him with lightning fast speed. Leo flew back, and landed near Lucas's feet with a yelp.

"OH GOD! OHMYGOD JENKINS LEO IS HURT!" Lucas cried, already panicking.

"Don't panic, Lucas! Just keep going! That was a Quick Attack, it's going to be fast, you'll have to find a way around that!" Jenkins said. He thought for a moment, then said, "Lucas, the moves that Pansear has at this moment are Leer, Scratch, Lick, and.... Ember, yeah, Ember! You'll have to figure out a way to defeat the Espeon using these moves!"

"Great, first Pokemon battle, and I fail terribly." Lucas groaned as he kicked the sand under his shoes. This whole business was frustrating. The Espeon leaped forward, and started to attack Leo over and again, and Leo screamed out for help.

Lucas clenched his fists. He wasn't going to give up like this, he was a smart guy, he could figure out how to win this. He just had to think hard. He looked closely at the Espeon, who was now on top of Leo, scratching his face repeatedly.

Lucas thought for a moment, then cried out, "Leo, grab her and Lick her face!" Leo looked up at Lucas and flashed a quick, as if he was happy to see him in action. The monkey grabbed the fox-like Pokemon and quickly wrapped his tongue around her face. The Espeon was caught completely off guard, as she tumbled to the ground immediately.

"Phew, it worked." Lucas breathed, happy to have done it right.

"Haha, Master Luke, you did it the 'Wright' way!" Jenkins laughed from behind, at his own joke. Lucas didn't find it funny.

"Rather than making lame puns about my name, why don't you help me out here a bit?" Lucas said rather plainly, shutting Jenkins up quite effectively. Lucas smiled to himself, and concentrated on the the battle once again. Leo had let the Espeon go, and had backed up a bit, as the Espeon got back to her feet swiftly. She was a tough little Pokemon, not one who could be defeated by one move.

The Espeon quickly threw sand into Leo's eyes before Lucas would react. Leo back back a bit more, rubbing his eyes vigorously to get the burning sand out of them. He managed to open his now red eyes slightly, only to see Espeon Quick Attack him again.

He stumbled, but this time he didn't fall. He had been expecting that to happen. Leo was able to see again now, but Lucas was sure that his attacks weren't going to be hundred percent accurate now.

"Scratch, Leo!" Lucas commanded, and Leo dashed forward, scratching the Espeon in her face. The Espeon landed onto her knees, but got back up again. The two Pokemon were equally matched in strength. Lucas muttered under his breath, as he was slowly starting to get frustrated.

"Master Luke! You're going to need something better than that to defeat Espeon!" Jenkins cried from behind.

"Ugh, something better...? I need... to wait for the right moment." Lucas muttered. For the right moment, he would have to wait. The Espeon steadied herself a bit, and once again threw sand in Leo's face. It all seemed like deja-vu, the attack once again connected and Leo stumbled back. Espeon raced ahead, readying a Quick Attack, and Lucas realized that this was his moment.

"Leo, Leer!" Lucas cried, and Leo shot the Espeon a look that immediately made Espeon hesitate. The hesitation was just enough for Lucas, as he immediately ordered Leo to attack Espeon with an Ember. The attack almost missed, as Leo wildly fired it everywhere, but his wild hit eventually hit Espeon. She staggered back and collapsed onto the sand. Lucas almost felt guilty of attacking the innocent Pokemon like that, but this was vital for his mission. He had to do it, for the sake of Zekrom... that is, if that was the truth.

Lucas took out the empty Pokeball from his pocket, and was about to throw it at Espeon, when she suddenly stood up quickly. She kind of seemed like Lucas, not one who was going to give up, determined to fight for her freedom, and Lucas kinda respected her for that. But that didn't stop him from getting surprised, and Lucas even heard Jenkins gasp in surprise. But he didn't focus on that for too long, the fight was still on.

The Espeon charged at Leo once again, this time kicking up sand while running. Leo's view of the battlefield was completely blocked, as both trainer and Pokemon squinted to spot the Espeon. Right then, in a flash, the fox Pokemon appeared in a flash from the dust, and quickly struck down Leo from from the side with a Quick Attack. The Pansear fell to the ground whimpering, and rubbed his head where he'd been hit. When the dust finally settled down, Lucas and Leo saw the Espeon just sitting a few feet away, smiling a bit. This seemed to make Leo get mad, as he got back on his feet, stamping the ground with his foot. He charged at Espeon, but was knocked down once again by a well timed Quick Attack to the face.

Leo feel down again, but got back up quickly. He was really angry now, and Lucas could only watch him charge at the Espeon constantly and get knocked down each time. Jenkins yelled at Lucas to try and stop Leo, but Leo just wouldn't listen. When finally, Espeon smacked him so hard, Leo flew back and landed a few feet away from her.

Leo looked up feebly, he was really weak now, it was difficult for him to stand. But, after a lot of effort, he managed to get back on his feet, still stumbling a bit. He was shaking with weakness, but he still refused to give up. "What a brave little Pokemon..." Lucas thought.

Espeon looked at Leo, and sighed. He refused to give up, so she had no choice. Lucas stared at her, as a blob of purple energy started to form in her mouth. After the blob was of an intimidating size, she launched it at Leo, who stood there in shock.

"NOOO! Its a Psyshock! MASTER LUKE GET LEO OUT OF THERE!" Jenkins yelled, but even before Lucas could open his mouth to shout a command, the purple blob entirely engulfed Leo. Leo raised his hands to defend himself, but it was of no use. A second later, the blob burst, just like a balloon being popped. It made a loud explosive sound, and Leo flew back and landed right at Lucas's feet. His eyes were closed, and his breathing slow. For a second, Lucas thought that he had lost, as he bent down to check on Leo. He was in shock, he couldn't believe how easily he had lost. That's when Leo's eyes cracked open a bit, but he was in no shape to stand up.

"OH MY GOD JENKINS WHAT DO I DO WHAT DO I DO WHAT DO I DO-" Lucas yelled, obviously panicked. He couldn't even complete such a simple task of capturing a Pokemon, how could he even think about going on a journey?

"First of all, calm down, Master Luke." Jenkins said, strangely calm. He had what looked like a blue colored berry in his hand. He calmly handed it to Lucas, who looked at it for a moment, then realized what he was supposed to do. "Ohhh, okay." Lucas said, and started to put the berry into his mouth.

"NO! NO!" Jenkins cried, taken completely by surprise by Lucas's reaction. "That's not for you! That's for Leo! It's an Oran Berry, it'll heal Leo. I found it in one of the crates nearby." Jenkins said.

"Oh, Oh okay." Lucas said, disappointed. He had thought the berry was for him to cheer him up. He looked at the berry sadly, then at Leo. Meanwhile, the Espeon watched the humans and the Pokemon from a distance, amused. Lucas put the berry in Leo's mouth, and slowly Leo started to chew.

What happened next caught even Jenkin's off-guard. As soon as the monkey ate the berry, his eyes opened up wide. He suddenly jumped up, landing on Lucas's head, and using his head as a launch pad, jumped up high into the air, doing a triple somersault and landing perfectly on his feet. He bowed down thrice, as if proud of his accomplishment. Jenkins and Lucas just stared at him, shocked. One moment, he was about to faint, next, he was jumping up like an acrobat. "Does this happen when you give a Pokemon an Oran Berry?" Lucas asked Jenkins. Jenkins still, staring at Leo, answered him quietly. "Uh.... no."

Lucas nodded his head, taking in this information. So now that Leo was back in the fight, he could now start the battle again. "Okay Leo! Go and atta-" But before he could even complete his sentence, Leo was charging towards the Espeon, making sounds that one would expect from a crazed gorilla.

The Espeon stared at the charging monkey with surprise. She started to retreat away, but before she could run away, he grabbed her with his tongue. He attacked her with Lick, and no matter how much Espeon tried to run away, he held on, attacking like a psychopath.

"What the hell is wrong with him?" Lucas asked, looking at Leo with disgust. Jenkins shrugged.

"I... I really don't know. I think he has some kind of a problem with Oran Berries. Maybe he reacts to it like one would get a sugar high?" Jenkins said, with doubt.

"Are you telling me... that my Pokemon has hyperactivity issues?" Lucas asked, amazed. Jenkins shrugged. The duo looked at Leo still attacking Espeon violently, until finally he backed away, still screaming and jumping around. The Espeon tried to get up, and got to her feet, but then she stopped moving. She tried to move, but her body refused to respond.

"Lucas... she's paralyzed! The Lick worked! This is your chance!" Jenkins cried, excitement in his voice. Lucas looked at him confused, but realized that it all seemed urgent, so he decided to shut up now, focus on the battle and ask questions later. He looked at the shocked Espeon, who was still struggling to move. At least this restricted her Quick Attack.

Lucas wondered about how the complete power and flow of the battle shifted from one to another. How unpredictable a Pokemon battle could be. He grew excited as he thought about the battles still to come. He snapped out of his daydream, when he saw the Espeon form a purple blob in her mouth.

"Crap! Forgot about the Psyshock!" Lucas thought, panicking. Espeon launched the blob and Leo, and Lucas immediately blurted out, "Leo, Ember!" Leo immediately collected a huge ball of fire in his mouth, and launched it at the ball of energy. The two orbs exploded in mid air, and Lucas could feel the heat from the explosion. For a moment, the two orbs burned in the air, until suddenly the ball of fire started to push the psychic ball away from Leo, straight towards the Espeon.

Now it was Espeon's turn to panic. She tried her best to run away away, but her body simply refused to obey. The psychic ball, now with the fire merged in it, flew at the Espeon with blinding speed. For just a split-second, Lucas locked eyes with the Espeon, who gave him a sad look before the ball of energy smashed into her.

Espeon flew backwards and landed far away. The energy of the attack had been intense, and there was no doubt that this time the Espeon was down. She tried to stand up, but fell down with a thud, back on the ground. Lucas could hear whimpering coming from her, as if she was crying. Well... Lucas had stolen her freedom from her, and that made him feel guilty.

"Well, Master Luke, what are you waiting for? Throw the pokeball!" Jenkins said with a smile, and pride in his voice. He was proud of his employer, who had worked so hard to get the Pokemon. Lucas paused for a moment, as if deciding whether this was a good move or not, but finally nodded. He took out the empty pokeball from his pocket.

"Y'know, Jenkins... I've always dreamed of doing this." Lucas said, as he leaned back a bit. He then chucked the ball at the downed Pokemon with all his might, and the small red and white ball smacked her head with a lot of force.

"Uh, Maser Luke, you weren't supposed to throw it that hard." Jenkins said.

"Oh. I'll apologize after she's been caught." Lucas said, focusing on the pokeball. The pokeball snapped open when it came in contact with Espeon, and immediately swallowed up the Pokemon in a bright white flash.

The Pokeball slowly started to shake, as Lucas looked at the pokeball expectantly, focusing all his concentration on the shaking ball, as if that might help him capture her. Leo, on the other hand, was still going crazy on the other side, jumping around, kicking things, digging out sand, but Lucas decided to ignore him.

The ball shook once. Leo looked at it from a distance, noticing the movement.

The ball shook twice. Leo moved towards the ball cautiously, curious.

The ball shook thrice. Leo moved his finger towards it, but Lucas's shout made him flinch and falter back.

There was a pause, then a small click. Lucas stared at it for a moment, then jumped into the air, ecstatic. He did a little fistpump, proud of his accomplishment.

"Did you see that Jenkins?! I CAUGHT HER!" Lucas yelled, and Jenkins simply smiled. He was reminded of his first capture, and it made him feel proud of how much Lucas had learnt in such a short span of time. Lucas ran ahead to pick up the pokeball, but before his fingers even touched the surface, Leo ran right towards it, and kicked it hard, as if kicking a soccer ball.

Smack! came the voice as the pokeball flew right towards the water, and fell into it with a loud splash. Lucas just watched it all happen, too shocked to even react. He was dumbstruck, not knowing what to do at all. He paused for a moment, taking in all that had just happened, then jumped right at Leo. He wrapped his hands around Leo's neck and started to strangle him, yelling, "WHY. DID. YOU. DO. THAT!?" Leo made loud gagging sounds as his eyes widened.

"Master Luke, no!" Jenkins said, and he pulled Lucas back, away from the monkey. Lucas let go of Leo, but still kept yelling at the fire Pokemon, threatening him. Leo ran back and hid behind a crate of strange looking berries, peeping out from behind. Jenkins, after a lot of effort and persuasion managed to calm the teenager down, who still glared at Leo.

"My first Pokemon that I caught myself... and now it's in the sea!" Lucas yelled. Even a two year old could easily see that Lucas was angry, angry enough to kill a 2 month old Spheal. Jenkins got a bit scared himself, but tried to calm Lucas down.

"Don't worry sir, we'll catch a boat near the docks and retrieve the pokeball." Jenkins said soothingly. Lucas calmed down a bit, but anyone could see the murderous looks he was casting in Leo's direction. Leo simply quivered, and followed the pair from a distance as they headed towards the docks. The Pokemon had true sadness on face, he felt really guilty about kicking the Pokeball. But, who could blame him? The pokeball just lying there... was very tempting for Leo, and he just did what had come to his mind. He followed quietly, simply looking down.

The two soon reached the docks, and Lucas saw the sailor from the ship, who had helped him with Leo, standing near a small boat. He was untying it from a small pole on the pier, and Lucas decided that this was probably the best moment. He approached the man, and said, "Hey."

The man looked up, and closely examined Lucas from head to toe. "Oh." He said. "You again? The monkey givin' you trouble?" He said in a very amused way, as if a monkey attacking you was a very funny story.

"Well, yes, he has in fact. And I'm going to need your help again." Lucas said. The man listened, motioning him to move on. "Well, my Pokemon seems to have thrown my pokeball into the ocean, and I'd like you to retrieve it."

The sailor nodded, and then said, "Well, I'll take you to that spot, but you're gonna have to get the pokeball yourself." Lucas sighed. More work, to do by himself? Great, this was definitely the best day of his life. But anyways, Lucas nodded. He was ready to do anything to get his Espeon back, even swim his way there... if he knew how to swim, that is.

The butler, trainer and fire monkey climbed into the little boat with the sailor, who untied the complicated knots tying the boat to the pier. Soon, the boat was bobbing over slowly to the spot where the pokeball had fallen.

"The name's Jacob, by the way." The sailor said quietly, still looking at the strange trio of an arrogant little kid, a butler, and a now rather depressed Pokemon.

"Yeah, okay, thanks..." Lucas mumbled, not looking back. He leaned over the side of the boat, peering into the water, trying to locate the pokeball. It had probably sunk to the ocean floor, fortunately the waters here were rather shallow, so it couldn't have gone down really deep.

"Okay, so now what? How do I get the pokeball from the bottom of the sea?" Lucas asked, looking at Jacob. Jacob took out a pokeball from his pocket, and casually tossed it to Lucas, who barely managed to hold onto it with his two hands.

"There's a Pokemon in it. He'll help ya guys out. Just do it quick, it's gettin' late." He said. Lucas looked at the pokeball, and tossed it into the air, making a small crab-like Pokemon to pop out of the pokeball.

"'Tis a Krabby." Said Jacob, seeing the confusion on Lucas's face. Lucas's nodded, as if he knew what a Krabby was. Now that he had the Pokemon, what was he supposed to do? Apparently, Leo knew the answer to that. The monkey, who had up til now been hiding in the corner of the boat, jumped up and started to chat with the Krabby. The Krabby nodded, and immediately jumped into the water.

"Uh, Jenkins? What were they talking about?" Lucas asked Jenkins, watching the crab descend into the deep into the water. Jenkins shrugged.

"I'm not an expert on Pokespeak, but I think Leo convinced the Lrabby to dive into the water and get the pokeball." Jenkins said, with little doubt in his answer. Lucas whistled. At least Leo felt guilty about this and was helping them out.

Two minutes passed. Those two minutes seemed like an eternity when finally the Krabby emerged from the deep blue of the sea. In his claws, he was holding 2 pokeballs, both looking exactly the same.

"Uh, something's wrong. I mean, I lost just one Pokemon, why are there two pokeballs with Krabby?" Lucas asked Jacob.

"One of 'em must be yours. The other one might be someone else's, lost long ago. Just, get your pokeball and let's get outta here." Jacob said roughly, and impatiently. Lucas examined the two carefully. This was tricky, both of the Pokeballs were the same, unfortunately. Lucas thought there was no way to find the difference between the two, but then he noticed a small dent on one pokeball. He felt it under his fingers, and realized that that was the spot where Leo had kicked the ball. He quickly took that pokeball and tossed it into the air, and the Espeon quickly jumped out from it.

Lucas quickly hugged the Pokemon, and the Espeon looked surprised and confused. They hadn't even spent a minute together, and Lucas already bonded with her, already cared about her. This was certainly... weird. Lucas backed off and looked at the Pokemon closely. He needed to give her a suitable name, but all was his attention was focused on the gem on the Espeon's forehead.

"...Amethyst..." Lucas said dreamily, as if under a trance. That was a good name for the Espeon. She seemed to like it too, as she settled herself near her new trainer's leg. Lucas then looked at the other pokeball in his hand, the pokeball that was probably owned by some other trainer.

"Wonder what's in this one?" Lucas said loudly, as he tossed it into the air. And immediately wished he hadn't done so.

From the pokeball emerged a humongous blue colored monsterish Pokemon, which looked vaguely like a dragon. As soon as it was in the water, it gave out a huge roar, and it was so huge that his presence in the water itself made the boat rock violently.

"IT'S A GYARADOS! TOWARDS THE SHORE, QUICK!" Jacob yelled. All of the passengers in the boat started to panic, and started to try and push the boat towards the shore as quickly as possible. The Gyarados splashed around in the water violently, probably happy to have got out of his pokeball after such a long time.

Unfortunately for the people in the boat, everytime the Pokemon splashed it sent huge waves through the sea, rocking the boat and making it impossible to move ahead. Inside the boat, Lucas, Leo and Amethyst were scared out of their minds, as they cowered on the floor of the boat. Jenkins and Jacob rowed as hard as they could, with Krabby floating in the water, pushing the boat along.

The Gyarados then managed to catch a glimpse of the boat in the water, and immediately cried out in rage. He unleashed a Surf at the boat, producing a 10 foot wave rushing towards the group with incredible speed. There was nothing that the boat could do as all the passengers were swept away by the wave, making all of them fall into the water, and get swept away by the surf.

*****

About 10 minutes later, Lucas woke up at the shore of Januvale town, with his two Pokemon, Leo and Amethyst by his side. Jacob was staring straight at his face, trying to make him wake up, and when he finally did so, he stood up in triumph.

"Good, you're awake." he said, as Lucas removed sand from his shirt. He was completely drenched, with sand in his shoes and his hair dripping wet, he felt really cold with the slight breeze.

"Where's Jenkins?" Lucas asked, rubbing his head vigorously. Jacob pointed in the water's direction, and Lucas followed his finger - and immediately gasped.

Jenkin's was standing at the edge of the water, stroking the head of the Gyarados, and the monster Pokemon seemed to be...smiling. Lucas looked at him, amazed, as he slowly got up and walked towards him, his Pokemon following closely.

"Uh... Jenkins? What's going on in here?" Lucas asked him. Jenkins then seemed to acknowledge his presence, and smiled at him, happy to see him awake.

"Ah, you're awake, Master Luke. This... is Gyarados. My Gyarados." He grinned.

"Your Gyarados?" Lucas said, raising his eyebrows.

"Ah yes... when I was a young trainer, I used to come here to go on boat rides. This Gyarados here, he was one of my prized Pokemon. I had owned him when he had been just a small, weak Magikarp, I had trained hard to help him evolve into this fine Pokemon. Until, well, one day, his Pokeball just went missing. For several years I wondered where it had gone off to, now I realize it had been in these waters after all..." Jenkins gave a hearty laugh. He seemed genuinely happy to see his Pokemon. Lucas's own two Pokemon hid behind his legs, scared of the huge figure in front of him.

"So... now that's everything okay now, shall we leave?" Lucas asked Jenkins, and he nodded. He stroked Gyarados for one or two more minutes, and finally put him back into his pokeball. The two of them thanked Jacob for his help, and left the docks, as they made their way to Joresh's house.

On the way there, Lucas asked Jenkins, "So, this is the average day in the life of a Pokemon trainer, huh?" Jenkins smiled at him.

"Yeah." He said, smiling, looking at the pokeball in his hand. "In a nutshell."

*****

In about 20 minutes, Lucas was back in Joresh's house, presenting to him the two pokeballs with his prized Pokemon. Joresh looked at him closely, then said, "Indeed... you are ready. I must admit I didn't think you would complete my task this fast, if at all. But it only proves that the guardian gods didn't make a mistake."

"Ha! How could anyone make any mistake choosing me? And doubting MY abilities is the biggest mistake you can ever make in your life." Lucas said, winking at Joresh. This seemed to irritate Joresh, as he looked away from him, but continued his speech.

"The pokémon you captured at the docks is yours to keep. You are the human who captured it and thus the human that shall take care of it. All according to the old legends about Reshiram and Zekrom..." he said, still looking away.

"Of course I'm going to keep it, there was no way I was going to give it to you!" Lucas exclaimed, and Joresh sighed. He just knew this was a mistake. He glanced at Lucas's hand again to make sure the symbol was a real thing, but then... he had had the dream too. He had definitely been chosen, and there was no way Joresh could deny that.

"Did you know that they are believed to once have brought all other pokémon to Arcanum, because only humans lived here back then? It's said that the pokémon were gifts to the humans, to allow Reshiram and Zekrom live here since they had no other place in the world where they were welcome. But it's also said that if the humans were to name pokémon as their property, they were obliged to always take care of it and do what was best for the pokémon to help it grow stronger. All pokémon want to grow stronger at some point and level. It's in their deepest nature. That is why Arcanum's pokémon trainers exist." Joresh said, as if he was telling Lucas some really useful information.

"Mhh-hmm." Lucas said, not paying attention at all. Joresh gave him a stare.

"You are now a pokémon trainer. This obligation falls upon you." He said. Lucas suddenly started to pay attention.

"I'm a Pokemon Trainer now?" He asked him. Joresh stared at him as if he was stupid.

"Um, yes? You have a Pokemon of your own." He said. Lucas was almost jumping with joy, but controlled himself. Losing his cool in front of Joresh would not get him anywhere.

Joresh then held out his hand. "My Pokemon, please." Lucas wondered about it for a second, then remembered, all this time Leo had just been with him on a loan. He took Leo's pokeball in his hand, and looked at it for a second. For the short time he had been with Lucas, they had already started to bond. He could almost feel tears rolling down his cheeks as he handed over the pokeball to Joresh.

Joresh looked at Lucas for a moment, then at the pokeball. He then handed the pokeball back to Lucas, and Lucas looked at him confused. Joresh just shrugged, and said, "The monkey is better off being with you. You both already seemed to have become emotionally attached to each other. and at least now that monkey's got somebody else to give him company..."

"I HEARD THAT! But it doesn't matter, because I want to thank you for giving me Leo back!" Lucas said, and surprisingly he hugged Joresh hard. Joresh then lead him out of his house, as Lucas happily ran away towards his waiting butler.

*****

"You see me? I'm a Pokemon trainer." Lucas said to a random passerby, showing him the pokeballs. The man looked at him as if he was mad, picking up his pace ignoring him.

"Um, sir, you shouldn't show off like that. Chances are, about 95% of this town's populations were or are trainers." Jenkins whispered to Lucas. Lucas 'oh'ed and then shut up for the rest of his trip to his mansion.

As soon as he entered his house he was attacked by his mother, who hugged him tightly, worried about him. "WHERE have you been?! And what happened to you?! Did anything happen to you?!" She asked him a few more questions but Lucas ignored them... until he couldn't do it anymore.

"GOD MOM! I'M FINE! I'M NOT A DAMN KID ANYMORE!" He yelled at her, and she looked shocked. Lucas noticed fat tears roll down her cheeks,and then realized what he had just done - he had made his mother cry. Jenkins quietly walked out of the room, giving Lucas and his mother some privacy.

"I... I'm sorry mom... I didn't mean to yell..." Lucas said, true sorrow in his voice.

"I'm sorry Lucas... it's just that... I get a little overprotective sometimes, but I really care about you a lot." He said, sobbing in between. Lucas walked up to her and gave her a little hug.

"I'm not the same kid anymore mom... I've grown up now. I'm not your little Luke anymore. I'm a... a Pokemon Trainer." He said, with pride in his voice. His mother looked at him with confusion, and Lucas told her about everything that had happened, his conversation with Joresh, his adventures in the dock. As the story moved on, the amazement on his mother's face kept increasing. When he was finished, she paused for a moment, taking it all in.

"Wow... you really have grown, Lucas." She said, running her fingers through his hair. There was now a very sad kind of happiness in her eyes... but Lucas could feel she was proud of her little Luke.

"So... I can leave on my adventure?" He asked her innocently. She pondered about it for a moment, then slowly smiled, nodding her head. Lucas grinned, and immediately jumped up, doing a fistpump.

"HELL YEAH! I'M A POKEMON TRAINER!"

[OOC: Now that was huge xD; It's around 10000 words, if my word counter is counting it right lol]

The warden · Jan 22, 2012

Kitaru and his dad had walked down from their house to the centre of town. Where the few shops that Januvale had there was also the market but really that was all the small village needed for most day to day life. Firstly they called at the general store and picked up food and essential items for the journey. The next port of call was the Pokémart where the owner almost chucked Kitaru out, that is until he realised that he was with his father. They grabbed half a dozen potions paid for them and left.

"Why do people treat me like that?" Kitaru grumbled to his father.

"Well you don't do yourself any favours by getting into fights and causing trouble all the time." His father replied.

"Well may be I do get into a few fights now and then." Kitaru said, his father shot him a stare out the corner of his eye and tried not to laugh. "OK then maybe more than a few but it's not like I go out looking for fights or anything. And I don't deliberately go out to cause people problems. Do we have any more shops to go in?"

"No just the market now. Why do you ask?" Kitaru's father asked.

"Just wanted to know." Kitaru said taking a Pokéball off of his belt and releasing Azura. She landed gracefully on the floor as though she had just jumped of a low wall and let out a slight yawn while beginning to stretch."If were not going in any more shops then there's no harm in letting my Pokémon out. Besides I've yet to really bond with Azura."

"Ah so you called you Glaceon Azura. What about the other one the Pan... Pan... Oh whatever it was."

"Pansage, I called him Mischief."

"Mischief really? Why did you call him that?" Kitaru's father asked stopping in the street.

"Oh just because he can be quite a hand full and you know he's quite talkative and cheeky."

"It wouldn't have anything to do with the fruit bowl being empty this morning would it?" Kitaru's asked him, trying to keep a straight face.

"That could have contributed." Kitaru said breaking out into a laugh.

"I knew it! I told your mother that you and your sister wouldn't have eaten that much fruit!" Kitaru's dad said breaking out into a laugh as well. The two of them continued to laugh until they were in stitches.

"Eon." Azura sighed wondering if this was what she would have to put up with from now on. Soon Kitaru and his father stopped laughing.

"Well did you feed Azura today?" Kitaru's father asked. Kitaru shook his head.

"Mischief helped himself to the fruit bowl." Kitaru said almost breaking up in laugher again. "But I didn't know what Azura would eat."

"Follow me I think I know just the thing." His father said. "Oh and we'll pick up some more Nanab berries while were at it." There was a sudden flash of red light at the mention of Nanab berries, making both Kitaru and his father jump.

"Pansage!" Mischief broke out of his ball excited at the idea of more Nanab berries. Kitaru and his father just stood there and looking a the Pokémon trying not to laugh again. They looked at each other and it didn't help they just broke out laughing again.

"Gla glaceon." I think you broke them, Azura said to Pansage.

"Sage pan. Pan pan sage sa pan." No they just like me. Can't you tell from the noises their making, just like me, Mischief said back. Azura just hung her head.

"Is that normal?" Kitaru asked his dad just as soon as he had managed to regain control of his laughter, oblivious to the Pokémon's conversation. In the few second it took his father to respond he broke out laughing again.

"I don't think so but then I don't really no. I've heard of Pokémon being able to do that before but I've always thought it was a myth." His father replied.

***

Later when they had chance to recover Kitaru and his father went to the market. The first stall they went to sold fish where they bought a squid for Azura. Kitaru knelt down close to her and held it out in his hand for her to take.

"Glaceon!" Azura squealed with delight before taking it from his hand and starting to dig in.

"Just as I thought." Kitaru's dad said. Kitaru looked up at him prompting him to explain more. "Glaceon likes sea food, their ice Pokémon so it's really to be expected. Azura is no different from any other Glaceon in that respect."

"Pansage!" Mischief yelled loudly attracting the attention of several shoppers, he was just letting Kitaru know that he liked fruit.

"Yes we know your here too." Kitaru's father said to the small Pokémon. The to Kitaru he said. "We should give him something to eat and then get him back in his Pokéball before he causes any problems. That would be the last thing you need."

"Agreed, I'll go sit down while you bring the fruit." Kitaru said to his father. "Azura! Mischief!" He called his Pokémon as he turned to walk towards a bench. Azura picked up the squid and followed, while Mischief just stood there.

"Sa pan pan." He said letting his disappointment be known that he wasn't going to the fruit stall, he would have had such a good time.

"You'll get fruit soon." Kitaru said to the small Pokémon.

"Pansage!" The Pokémon shouted in excitement as it chased after Kitaru.

***

While his dad was getting the berries, Kitaru sat on the bench staring at the sky. Azura was eating her squid under the bench and Mischief was climbing a nearby tree, scaring Pidgeys.

"What you doing? Chida." A boy about Kitaru's age said to him as he approached.

"Mind your own business Hakugi." Kitaru replied, the boy was Tokito Hakugi, someone who Kitaru particularly despised.

"That's no way to talk to a friend." The Tokito said shrugging.

"Your no friend of mine." Kitaru said with a certain aggravation in his voice, Tokito was starting to annoy him. But that was the way he was, he would act civil in public but alone, he was a very different person.

"Oh well." Tokito said and turned to walk away. "Wait a minute. You've got Pokémon. I wonder who would be daft enough to do that." He said with a faked surprise in his voice.

"Joresh Ja gave me them actually." Kitaru said hoping that it would win him a little bit of respect with the other boy.

"Oh, apparently he's just giving them away to anybody now." Tokito said, then lowering his voice and leaning closer so only Kitaru could hear. "Personally I think he's starting to go a little you know. Senile."

"Take that back!" Kitaru yelled, shoving Tokito away and standing up. He was too angry to spot the potential meaning of what Tokito had said. If anything yesterday's events had made Kitaru feel a deep sense of respect for the man, a respect the Tokito had just offended. Around them several people stared and starter whispering between them but Kitaru didn't mind he was going to make Tokito pay. He went to take a step forwards towards Tokito but a flash of green stopped him.

"Pan sa pan." Who's ugly, Mischief said as it looked at Tokito, the Pokémon had stood it's self between him and Kitaru to stop them fighting.

"And is this your charming Pokémon?" Tokito asked Kitaru, there was a hint of sarcasm in his voice as he said the word charming.

"Pansage, pan pan pan." Mischief chattered a string of insults. Kitaru took a step round the Pokémon and towards Tokito but Azura also moved in front of him.

"Eon! Eon!" It snarled at Tokito. Then Kitaru realised that they were protecting him from himself, his Pokémon were stopping him from attacking Tokito so that he wouldn't get in trouble.

"Right then, I challenge you to a battle." Kitaru said, Tokito's jaw dropped as he said it almost making Kitaru laugh, he decided to save this memory for later.

"All right then, I accept." Tokito said, Kitaru realised that the best thing about this was that Tokito would be too proud to back down.

Kitaru's father was just heading back from the other side of the market when he saw the two boys facing off at each other.

"Kitaru!" He yelled dropping the bag of fruit he was carrying, which squidged on the ground and running towards the boys before a fight broke out.

"It's all right dad, I've challenged him to a battle." Kitaru yelled back stopping him dead in his tracks.

"What!" Kitaru's father said flatly, if this was any other week he would not have believed it but then again this week was turning out to be a surreal one indeed.

***

The two young trainers stood apart from each other in the long grass of the open plain that was to be their battle field. It was quite handy that they lived in such a sparsely populated area otherwise it could have taken them quite a while to find an area clear enough to fight in. Quiet a crowd had gathered around, including Kitaru's dad. The rules they had decided on were simple two Pokémon each the last with any Pokémon standing would be the winner. Since Tokito already knew what Kitaru's Pokémon were it had been decided that he would send his out first.

"Go Sandile!" He yelled and a small crocodile like Pokémon appeared. It was brown with black stripes and a pink underside. Most importantly it was a ground type so Kitaru knew which Pokémon to use.

"Go Mischief!" Kitaru yelled, this drew laughs from the audience and Kitaru began to go bright red. Why had he decided on that name.

"A fitting name." Tokito said getting more laughs from their audience. He waited for silence and said. "Begin!"

"Mischief! Leer!"

"Sandile! Leer!" The two trainers shouted at the same time and the Pokémon started staring at each other seeing who's nerve would break first.

"Forget that! Sandile! Use Sand Attack!" Tokito made the next move. His Sandile flung sand in Mischief's eye's blinding the Pokémon. "Follow up with a Bite while it still cant see!"

"Damn!" Kitaru swore under his breath as Mischief was bit by the Sandile. While he was blind Mischief was a sitting Farfetch'd and those things were nearly extinct for a reason.

"Use Vine Whip!" Kitaru ordered Mischief. The attack hit injuring the Sandile and knocking it back.

"Don't let it hit you with that again. Torment it!" Tokito yelled panicking. The Sandile moved closer to Mischief and started to annoy it.

"Right use Vine Whip again." Kitaru ordered Mischief. But instead the Pokémon used scratch.

"Kitaru he used Torment it means you can't use the same attack twice in a row." Kitaru's father shouted from the sideline.

"Right!" Kitaru yelled acknowledging his dad's help. "Use Lick!" Mischief ran up and Licked Sandile, but it had no effect at all.

"Lick won't work. Its a dark Pokémon." Kitaru's dad shouted.

"What?!" Kitaru yelled in confusion. "His Pokémon is too evil for Lick to work! That can't be right!"

"Kitaru focus on the fight!" His dad advised as the Sandile attacked. The Pokémon was quite angry now and was using Rage badly injuring Mischief.

"Vine Whip." Mischief attacked the Sandile hurting it but making it angrier. It attacked again but it was nearly beaten.

"Finish it with scratch." Kitaru yelled.

"Pansage!" Mischief dashed forwards and attacked knocking the Sandile out.

"Return!" Tokito yelled fuming. "Go Dustox!" The fight immediately resumed as Tokito ordered his Dustox to use Poison Sting, it caught Mischief off guard and he was stung. He retaliated with a Vine Whip but it missed from the sand still in his eyes and he keeled over as his body was weakened by the poison.

"Careful son that's an evolved Pokémon, normally their stronger that basic ones. That said so is Azura." Kitaru's father advised, Kitaru nodded in response.

"Return Mischief! You did well!" Kitaru said. "Go Azura!" Wait a second he didn't know what moves Azura knew. Too late the battle was all ready beginning. Tokito had ordered his Dustox to us a Poison Sting.

"Quick Attack!" Kitaru yelled telling Azura the one move that he did know she had. She dashed in and attacked before the Dustox had chance to sting her. The dodged the Poison Sting attack.

"That was a Detect!" Kitaru's father exclaimed. "It dodges the attack but if you use it too often the opponent can predict your movements and hit you. It's best to keep them guessing."

"Sand Attack!" Kitaru instructed, as he remembered another of Azura's moves. Azura took advantage of the disorientated Dustox that was still trying to work out where she had gone and kicked sand at the Pokémon.

"Bind it so it can't escape you with String Shot!" Tokito ordered but the attack missed anyway.

"Quick Attack." Kitaru yelled and Azura tackle the Dustox knocking it back.

"Right! Use Confusion!" Tokito yelled. Azura fell to the ground afflicted by some unseen force, but she soon shook it off and attacked with another quick attack knocking the Dustox out.

"No! How could you beat me." Tokito started shouting. Kitaru ignored him, he had proven his point, he headed over to his father.

"You mind if I head home, I've had enough excitement for one day." Kitaru said.

"Yeah, I'll finish at the market and be home soon. Go home and take a rest oh and tell you mother not to put dinner on. Were going out for dinner tonight. Well done son."

moon · Jan 23, 2012

@ -DeepImpact-

Whoa, that was a long post indeed. I really enjoy reading about Jenkins and Master Luke! What a heart warming Gyarados story as well :3

Lucas captured an Espeon! (female lvl 10)

Lucas was given a Pansear! (male lvl 12)

--
@ The warden

Nice, Kitaru really puts his honor before all, no? :) If you want, you could try to put a little more descriptive details into the battles, but it's fine this way.

Mischief (Pansage) grew to lvl 12!

Azura (Glaceon) grew to lvl 11!

(I'll edit in the details in the OP later, I'm unfortunately in a hurry now~ )
(EDIT: Done!)

§acred†Beo! · Jan 23, 2012

[FONT=edca086fca6a8f6e090ce7e0#a80100]"Take a look at this!" Dane said excitedly knowing that when Joresh saw this pokemon from the boat, he would be begining an adventure.[/FONT]

[FONT=edca086fca6a8f6e090ce7e0#a80100]"Ahh, that is a very strong looking Vaporeon, indeed... you are ready. I must admit I didn't think you would complete my task this fast, if at all. But it only proves that the guardian gods didn't make a mistake." He says handing the pokeball back to Dane.[/FONT]
[FONT=edca086fca6a8f6e090ce7e0#a80100][/FONT]
[FONT=edca086fca6a8f6e090ce7e0#a80100]"Thanks, I know i'm ready... I've been preparing for an adventure since I was a little kid" Dane says clipping Vaporeons pokeball on to his belt loop.

"The pokémon you captured at the docks is yours to keep. You are the human who captured it and thus the human that shall take care of it. All according to the old legends about Reshiram and Zekrom..." Joresh said looking like he was about to go into a deep history lesson, but Dane was alright with that. In fact he loved learning and reading about the history of Arcanum, it was one of his favorite subjects.

"Did you know that they are believed to once have brought all other pokémon to Arcanum, because only humans lived here back then? It's said that the pokémon were gifts to the humans, to allow Reshiram and Zekrom live here since they had no other place in the world where they were welcome. But it's also said that if the humans were to name pokémon as their property, they were obliged to always take care of it and do what was best for the pokémon to help it grow stronger. All pokémon want to grow stronger at some point and level. It's in their deepest nature. That is why Arcanum's pokémon trainers exist."

"I was actually never aware of that, I knew that the island at one point did consist of only humans, but I just thought it was a natural course that pokemon showed up" Dane replied before realizing he still had Joresh Ja's panpour. "Oh yeah by the way, here is your panpour back, he was very useful for the most part" Dane says handing Panpours pokeball back to its rightful owner.

"You are now a pokémon trainer. This obligation falls upon you." Joresh Ja whispers releasing the Panpour from it's pokeball. "He is yours now, if you'll have him"

"Pan?" the Panpour sighed looking back and forth between Dane and Joresh Ja. Dane fixed his glance at the pokemon, at first they had there differences, but it seemed that he had earned it's trust after all it did help knock out Vaporeon when he need it most, and something about it just gave him a safe feeling... The same feeling he got when he looked at that Vaporeon.

"Yes i'll take him" Dane said tossing a pokeball at Panpour who was trying to ignore Dane now.

"Very good then, I think it's best if you go home and prepare for your journey, maybe let your mother know" Joresh Ja pointed out, and with that Dane headed home. Then it finally hit him, his mother would never allow him to go on this journey...

(OOC: I will finish this post later, gotta go to another class)[/FONT]

Arcanum IC

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