Bright Lights ✧ (IC)

[PsychoJigglypuff]

"Vulpix."

The Pokemon emerged from the bush with elegant poise; her red fur stood out from the green of the jungle. Her bright eyes gleamed in the sunlight, as she stared back at the human in front of her. To her, he was just another sucker. Someone else that she can charm into giving her food, or if he doesn't, lead into the depths of the jungle so he becomes lost. It was rare for humans to venture out here, so she might as well have some fun.

Of course, Eli didn't notice the sly and mischievous look in her eyes. He was already smitten with how adorable she was. It was decided. He simply had to catch her. Her reached into his pocket and grabbed an empty Poke Ball.

"Dot, use Water Sport." Upon hearing the command, the Azurill began to lightly spray everything with water until everything became damp. The Vulpix was befuddled. Water Sport was a move used in battle, and humans would never send out Pokemon to battle her. This was the first time. She contemplated running away, but decided to battle anyway. Her opponent didn't look very strong.

The Vulpix spat fire back at Dot. The flames did damage, but because of the Water Sport, the attack was weaker. "Now, use Bubble." Eli ordered the next attack. Dot happily obliged, and blew a couple of bubbles at the Vulpix. They stung as they made contact with the fox, but she acted like they were nothing. She couldn't let herself be bested by a mere Azurill.

Soon, the fight became a continuous barrage of embers and bubbles. Each Pokemon was whittling away at each other's health. Seeing that she would likely end up losing the battle, the Vulpix decided to make a hasty retreat. It was silly to sacrifice her well-being for her pride. However, Eli would have none of it, and ran after the fleeing Pokemon.

For the Vulpix, it was a futile escape. She was low on energy from the battle, and Eli had plenty of strength to come running after her quickly. Being exhausted as well as hurt, she was in a worse situation than before. As Eli approached, the Vulpix put on her best pleading face. It was her last ditch effort to save herself.

Eli felt sorry for the poor creature, and pulled out a bit of Pokemon food from his satchel. "I'm sorry about that. I didn't want to hurt you, but I had to catch you somehow." The Vulpix ate the food out of his hand. Her plan had succeeded. It took more effort than usual, but she managed to sucker the trainer into giving her food.

Just as she was feeling proud of herself, a strange sensation surrounded her body. It was as if she were turning into pure energy. Before the Vulpix could realize what was happening, she was sealed inside of a Poke Ball. It rocked a couple of times before finally settling down. Eli picked up the Poke Ball and smiled to himself. "Good. Now to heal you up." He let Dot climb onto his shoulder, and made his way to the Pokemon Center.

 

[doge]

Fiona Cole

The warm touch of the ground beneath her feet felt sensational. It was cool enough not to burn your feet and it was warm enough to give you this nice little comfy feeling. Now, bare feet wasn't necessarily Fiona's choice of walking, but her moccasins were absolutely killing her. Halfway through she had taken them off and gave them to Doduo, who was holding them in his mouths. She pulled out a towel from her satchel with her free hand and wiped the bits of sweat from her face. Fiona was lucky enough to barely have broken a sweat from the run, which was rare. Usually, her face would be pouring with gross, disgusting moisture which would often lead to a long, cold shower.

She took a look down at the Growlithe's ball. He was still in somewhat pain, but he was no longer rolling around like he was on fire. That would be ironic wouldn't it? Disregarding that crappy joke, Fiona shoved the towel back into her bag, deep down at the very bottom.

Fiona pushed open the center doors, or tried to at least, rushing in rather awkwardly. Her Doduo followed in foot. She quickly returned him to his ball and placed it to her strap, there was really no need for him to be out here right now. The thud of her moccasins hitting the ground reminded her about them, she had nearly forgotten Doduo was carrying them. Picking them up in a hurry, she hurried over to the counter desk, totally ignoring a nasty bit of saliva stuck to one end of the shoe. She hadn't even taken a look yet at her surroundings, and she would regret it.

Hitting something, or someone, hard, she dropped her footwear out of surprise and from the impact. A gasp escapes from a nearby person, as others begin to talk, creating quite a clamor of noise. What was going on? And who was this oaf just standing smack dab in the middle of the pokémon center. She had an injured, possibly half-blind, pokémon that needed help! Half of her just wanted to shove him out the way, but that might've lead to a rather unpleasant outcome.

"Hey, mister! Can you m-"

The man turned around, she couldn't really see his expression behind his black glasses, but she assumed it wasn't a pleasant one. He was bald, which oddly gave him a familiar presence. A brown vest, black trousers, a silver belt and boots. All this clown needed was a damn cowboy hat to complete his outfit. Then she recognized who it was. She gulped, as she recounted the story of the gym leaders going astray. It was Blaine, the Cinnabar gym leader.

 

[moon]

✧ FONSE LONEHEART

What jumps out of the bushes, startled by Goony Goo, is not one pokémon. At least it seems to be several. You soon realize that it's an Exeggcute though! A pokémon that consists of six eggs that somehow are mentally connected through psychic powers. They are a relatively common sight in Cinnabar's jungles. This example seems to be a bit confused now, scattering around Goony Goo but trying to get back together into a group before they are attacked.

EXEGGCUTE

- Barrage
- Uproar
- Hypnosis




✧ ELI KING
the wild Vulpix was caught!

Your profile in the IC's OP will be updated with the new stats.

Optional: when Eli enters the Pokémon Center, he can spot Blaine just as the gym leader is approached by Fiona Cole.




✧ FIONA COLE

Blaine stares at you. At least it seems like it.

"Are you challenging me?" he asks in a low voice.

Before you can reply, a Chansey comes out of a corridor, carrying some pokéballs on a tray. One of the pokéballs suddenly break open, letting out a magnificent Rapidash in the middle of the central hall. It neighs and makes people gasp and back off. Then it walks up to Blaine.

"Are you challenging me?" Blaine repeats with a strangely empty voice, as the horse nudges his shoulder with its muzzle.

"There, there," the nurse behind the counter finally dares to say, albeit nervously, and steps forward. "No battles in here, and I doubt that trainer was challenging you by just walking into you, mr Blaine!" she says apologetically.

Blaine shifts his gaze from you to her but doesn't move yet.
​

 

[doge]

Fiona Cole

Fiona's eyes stared back, but her's showed obvious uncertainty and uneasiness. If Fiona usually perspired when she was nervous, she'd be drenched to the point where even Blaine would probably be standing in a puddle. Aside from bits of whispering, the room was completely silent. It felt like the two had been standing there for ages, neither willing to back down, although Fiona was getting closer with every waking second. In her thoughts, she mused that Blaine was perhaps thinking of a way to forgive the hasty teen. Then, Blaine finally spoke.

"Are you challenging me?" His voice and words especially were far from forgiving, nor were they friendly.

She frowned at him, Of course, when I run into somebody by accident it's always because I want to freaking challenge them to a battle. That was what she wanted to say, but stirring up the pot was the last thing she wanted to do. She decided to choose her words more carefully.

"N-n-" Before Fiona could even manage out a word, a Chansey was making it's way towards the two, well more Blaine than her. The pokémon was holding a tray that contained some pokéballs. Unexpectedly, one of the balls broke open, releasing one of the most stunning, yet intimidating pokémon she had ever seen. The Rapidish's fiery mane looked absolutely, terrifyingly beautiful. It neighed, making it's way towards it's trainer. As it passed by onlookers, it's mere presence caused people to back away. Now she was more enticed by the horse rather than scared by Blaine.

Blaine didn't even bother to look, nor did his expression change when his Rapidash approached him, nuzzling against his shoulder. He spoke again, repeating his previous question, but this time his voice was different. It made Fiona even more uneasy than she already was.

Fortunately, Ms. Joy came to her rescue. She did her best at attempting to defuse the situation, and was at least able to divert Blaine's attention from the teen to her.

Fiona decided to speak up, "Yeah, I'm really sorry," Not, "I didn't mean to bump into you like that, Mr. Blaine. I was just really in a hurry because my Growlithe here kind of got into an incident..."

She held up the pokéball containing the canine, more specifically for Ms. Joy to see than that creep of a gym leader Blaine.

 

[moon]

@ FIONA COLE

"That's..." Blaine began, as if he was trying to remember something.

Then, a couple of loud youngsters entered the pokémon center, babbling aloud about their Poliwag and Staryu and which one was the best. You get distracted and when you look up again, Rapidash is back into its pokéball and Blaine is exiting the Pokémon Center.


The nurse lets out a sigh and gets back behind the counter. She lets Chansey deal with the loud youngsters when the want to heal their pokémon, and instead the nurse uses a computer behind the counter.

"He confronted one of your trainers already," she types. Guess to who? "But he can't know something yet, right? Word doesn't spread THAT fast!"

She got a response after just a few seconds.

"If there is something weird behind this, word might not have to travel at all," was the response, making the nurse swallow hard.

Of course, you didn't read any of that. You'd better find one of your teammates or report to Ambella Coal via your pokédex messaging system, or get to the ferry already.

 

[Mr. Mammoth]

Irwin Macalister
Cinnabar Island
---​

Irwin listened closely to the guy which he had started talking to with a smile on his lips. The flare-haired teen had always enjoyed listening to other people, because everyone was mostly so different, they also mostly had an interesting story to share. And indeed did this guy share something interesting, or at least Irwin found it interesting. He hadn't been an awfully lot outside of Cinnabar Island and thus had pretty much no idea that there were Zigzagoon in Pallet Town. Unfortunately, their conversation was cut short because the guy's Zigzagoon disappeared. He left quickly to go look for his furry friend, leaving Irwin pretty much outside the lab looking like an idiot. Well, that wouldn't be the first time... Damn it Gex, I'm telling the story here! Now where was I? Oh yeah, Irwin was standing outside the lab, that's right!

After getting "left hanging" conversation-wise, Irwin decided that it would be the wisest to just get along with it and go out into the wilderness. Where did Ambella say that they could travel? The jungle and, the volcano… Irwin gazed up towards the big, hollow and lava-filled mountain. A picture of his mother's sad smile flashed before his eyes and the flare-haired teen quickly averted his gaze.

"I… I can't do it…" He whispered to himself. "I thought I could, but no…" Irwin ran his hand through his hair and quieted down for a moment. He looked around restlessly for a bit to see if there was anyone around who had heard him since he was a bit embarrassed by what he had just said. In his act of looking around, Irwin noticed that Gex was no longer by his side.

"Gex?" He called out, "Gex? Where are you?!" Irwin started walking around in an attempt to spot the Treecko who had presumably grown restless and decided to leave. This deduction was not far away from the truth either, in his boredom the small lizard had indeed left his Trainer to search for something more fun to do. Like beat someone up, that was always a fun activity. Kicking Irwin in the shins became more and more boring as the chubster got more and more used to it, and there weren't many Pokémon around his house to wail on either. The only option was the guy's mothers' Shedinja, but that thing was virtually un-hurtable and really creepy to boot. So fighting it had quickly gotten boring as well after the third try. What? Third time's the charm you know, and if that time doesn't work, then you might as well give up.

So as stated before, Gex was now wandering around in search for something to beat up. He had wandered not too far off from the lab and ended up at the foot of the big volcano that Cinnabar Island was so famous for. The little gecko looked up at the big chunk of rock with an expression of wonder in his face. Gex had always wondered why Irwin and his mother became so… withdrawn whenever the question of the rock popped up. Gex had tried asking them before, but it was mostly to no avail since they couldn't understand him most of the time with him being a Pokémon and all. However, those times when he did get the message across, Irwin and his mother just kind of… dodged the question. One time he got some sort of rushed mention of Irwin's father, but that was about it. Whatever, Gex averted his gaze from the volcano and onto a rustling bush. Hmm, a new punching bag? Gex's mouth gnarled into a devilish smile as he said to himself,

"Looks that way."

And with a strong kick, Gex drove one of his feet into the ground. The powerful impact left a foot-shaped hole in the hard earth as the Treecko left the ground. The small, emerald-shimmering body soared through the air gracefully like it was riding on the long and flowing hair of the goddess of love and lust. His yellow eyes shimmered with enthusiasm and violent prosperity, much like the evening sun we all gaze upon at the late hours of the day. His paw raised above his head as if to serve out a royal dish of the violent natured beating that humans wallow in every waken hour. As Gex closed in on the creature hiding in the bush his eyes glimmered more and more until it seemed like NOTHING would be able to avoid their deity-like glow. The Treecko extended his arm with such force that even the mightiest warriors would shiver at the mere gust of wind generated by it. He was ready. His whole body was ready. This was it, his first step on this new journey, and he would take it. With might.

 

[doge]

Fiona Cole

Fiona picked up her moccasins and sat herself down in one of the lounge chairs in the center. After all the hoopla with Blaine and all, she needed to just sit down and take a break. She had been aware that something was amiss with the gym leaders, but Blaine had seemed especially odd. The coldness in the leader's voice and then his detachment from his Rapidash. It all made her somewhat uneasy, she contemplated giving Ms. Coal a beep, to give her a heads up on what the hell had just happened. It was probably important for her to know. Pulling out her pokédex, Fiona began to type out some sort of message with the makeshift keyboard available to her.

Before she could finishing typing it out, Ms. Joy's Chansey had made it's way back out with another cart of pokéballs, two of which were hers. Quickly she slipped into her moccasins, taking the balls from the cart before the rowdy youngsters had a chance to get theirs. Forgetting her original plan to message Ambella, Fiona left the pokémon center in hurry. Something was bothering her, causing her a relative amount of stress. During her confrontation with Blaine she had almost totally forgot about it, but the concern had slowly crept it's way back into her mind.

After putting a considerable distance between herself and the pokemon center, Fiona reached for one of the pokéballs she had just recieved from Chansey. The canine simply stood there, it's back turned to the trainer and fluffy tail waving slowly in the air. She swiftly made her way around to the face of the Growlithe. Getting down on one knee, she softly grabbed the reluctant dog's face. His eye, the one that had been disfigured by her Doduo, was practically useless. It was immobile and not to mention the Growlithe could no longer see out of it. The damage done was also quite noticeable, even from afar. But even so, the canine showed no signs of resentment, instead he seemed more ashamed or embarrassed if anything.

Fiona sighed and tipped his chin, taking a closer look on the gouged eye. "Hey, look." Oh, poor choice of words. She grimaced at her mistake immediately.

"Uhh, okay. You can sulk about it all you want," She rubbed the canine's head fluff and gazed at him with determined eyes. "or you can suck up your pride and realize you're no less of a pokemon. Your choice." Fiona smirked and walked away, confident her Growlithe would follow foot. And... she was right. Barking with new found enthusiasm, the Growlithe had caught up with Fiona and the two were now walking side by side.

"So, how do you feel about the name, Ollie?" She said, looking down at him with a smile. The Growlithe kept silent, walking along with her, as if it hadn't heard. Fiona sighed, turning away from the canine, he was either ignoring her or just deaf as he was blind. Minutes later, catching her by surprise, the Growlithe barked. He had her attention, and answering her previous question, nodded.

The teen stopped in her tracks. It took awhile for Fiona to even realize what Ollie was even nodding to. Once she did, a huge grin plastered itself onto her face as he leaned down to pick him up. "Okay, you are one heavy dog." Ollie licked her face in approval. As he did, she chuckled and held him far away from her face, simba style.

"Now that that's settled." Fiona put down the Growlithe, partly due to tiring arms. Continuing their stroll of bonding, she pulled out her pokédex, an item that, disregarding the text messaging system, she had no idea how to operate. Fiddling around with the controls, she finally managed to register Growlithe and Doduo into her pokédex. Presumably inputting data of said pokémon into the device. She sighed and started resuming their walk, amusing themselves with small "talk" along the way.

It had been quiet for awhile now, the trainer and pokemon were aimlessly walking around town. The silence was broken by Ollie's sudden bark. Fiona looked up from her walk to observe what had caught the canine's attention. How she had not noticed earlier was a mystery because now the smell of the sea was strikingly obvious. They were at the harbor, and the ferry that Ms. Coal had mentioned earlier was docked. "Well, since I'm already here..."

She made her way over to the deck about to board the ship, until a recollection struck her. Pulling out her pokédex, she intended on finishing an earlier message she had begun. Having sent the message, she boarded the ship along with Ollie, rummaging through her bag for her ticket in case anyone needed legitimate conformation.

To Ambella Coal
FC: Just wanted to check in and tell you, I had this weird little confrontation with Blaine. You were right about the gym leaders, but Blaine just seemed especially weird, like creepy weird.

 

[moon]

✧ Irwin Macalister
a wild pokémon appears!

The creature that appeares when Gex closes in with the kick is not something you'd really want to kick. A Slugma, oozing with magma and burning the grass and plants in its path. It looks like it was just about to take a bite from the bush behind which it now stands. Will Gex really try to kick this pokémon?

SLUGMA

- Yawn
- Smog
- Ember​

• You may handle this encounter in any way and with any length post that you want.
• You may decide the gender of the pokémon.

✧ Fiona Cole

FC: Just wanted to check in and tell you, I had this weird little confrontation with Blaine. You were right about the gym leaders, but Blaine just seemed especially weird, like creepy weird.​

It does not take more than a minute to get a response back.

AC: Blaine! I haven't seen him out of his gym for weeks! So he has started acting strange as well? That's... unsettling to hear. I discussed with him in the beginning, when some other leaders started behaving oddly. Then I stopped talking to him, of fear that it would happen to him too. And it seems I was right.
AC: But why did they choose to do this? And why won't they explain when confronted? That's what I need you to find out! Go to Fuchsia City and look for Koga. I hear he acts strangely in a different way than Blaine does... Are you on the ferry yet?​

AURYN REINS

Cinnabar Island

Oh no. Today was not the day when Auryn Reins was going to be eaten alive. Not today! She bit down hard on the vine over her mouth and earned a cry from the vegetable in return. Remoraid grew new hope, furious by now. A plant would try to eat his only friend? A plant? He would not have it that way. Narrowing his eyes as he watched the Carnivine growl at Auryn, Remoraid focused and Locked On to the enemy pokémon. Then he did something he had never been able to do before. Instead of a jet of water coming out from his mouth, a ray of pure psychic force came out and struck the plant pokémon hard right in its forehead.

Auryn yelped as she was dropped onto the ground. She quickly got back up on her feet, albeit stumbling, and ran several meters away from her captor.

Carnivine shook its head and looked at the fish with surprise. What was that? Whatever it had been, it did not approve of it. It lounged itself forward, meaning to bite the fish down in one snack bite, but Auryn grabbed her friend and jumped away in the nick of time.

"Remoraid!" she said, lifting the fish in her arms and looking into its arms. "That was a completely new attack!" Making sure that Carnivine wasn't throwing itself at them for a moment, she put Remoraid down and examined him with her pokédex, which had been in her pocket. "Psybeam? Amazing!"

Time was up. The plant came in with its vines, about to Bind them both this time.

"Lock On!" Auryn shouted, almost throwing Remoraid into the air all of a sudden. Remoraid had used that focusing technique countless times, even before he met his girl, so he could do it in the blink of an eye. But he didn't have time to charge another attack and blow it out before the impact...

"Yay!" Auryn yelled with a smile as the thrown fish smacked the plant right between its eyes. Her throw hadn't been a random one; she had been carrying Remoraid around enough to be able to aim with him if she needed to! Carnivine stopped in its tracks and its vines missed Remoraid completely as the fish instead jumped back to Auryn, also smiling.

"That Carnivine isn't really a fighter. It's a mean monster!" Auryn complained.

Carnivine looked hurt, but Auryn couldn't tell for sure if it was just a show or actual remorse. Maybe she should make sure that the pokémon actually learned to be nice and honest?

"Remoraid, Psybeam!" she said without warning, and Remoraid fired it off quickly. The plant dodged but still got hit in its side. That seemed to be enough to make it cringe.

"Now... I think I'll use one of these," Auryn said, taking forth one of her extra pokéballs. She threw it at the plant pokémon and watched it get caught. When it was all over, the pokéball lay in Auryn's hand again, just cringing slightly every now and then.

"You'll come with us on our journey!" she told it as she picked Remoraid up under her other arm and started walking back towards the lab and the direction of the town. "And then you'll learn how to be a good pokémon instead of a mischievous troll. It'll be fun!"

Remoraid couldn't say that he completely agreed, but then again... he wasn't the type to care about things too much.

​