echo; A KANTO JOURNEY (IC)

[RedWing]

chapter 1; Proving One's Self-Worth: Enter Kyte, Part II

Katherine Aldine // Route 2

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"So, let's see what our new partner can do, huh?" Katt said to Phoenix as she threw her new Petilil's PokeBall into the air. The Trainer and her Pokemon were farther along Route 2, taking in the pastoral surroundings and basking in the triumph of winning against the wild Pokemon they'd encountered.

The thrown ball opened as it reached the apex of its throw, releasing a shower of red light on the ground before Katt and her Combusken. The light materialized a moment later into the Petilil that Katt had captured only a few minutes ago.

"Hi there!" Katt smiled and waved a hand at the tiny Grass-type Pokemon, who responded by hopping up and down in excitement. Katt giggled, "Well, you seem happy to be with me, huh?"

"Peti!" The bulb Pokemon really was excited. It hopped up into Katt's arms and snuggled against her cheek affectionately.

"Whoa! You're really happy," Katt said with a smile. "Petilil, this is Phoenix," she said while holding out the Pokemon so it could see Katrina's other partner. The Petilil let out a cry of happiness and Phoenix returned the gesture. Katt laughed, "I'm glad you two are getting along so well! Alright, Petilil, now we need to come up with a nickname for you, okay?"

"Lil! Petilil!" The Pokemon appeared to be beaming at the idea.

"You're too cute, hahah, okay, how about we call you...Lily?" Katt suggested. The Grass-type hopped out of its Trainer's arms and hopped up and down in response with a happy look on its face.

"Peti! Petilil, petilil!"

"Alright," Katt said cheerily, "Lily it is!" Looking around, Katt noted a small cottage and said, "Okay, Lily, Phoenix, why don't we check out who lives in that cottage over there? We may even be able to have our first Trainer battle!"

The two Pokemon responded excitedly. Wow, Katt thought, I really have some battle-happy Pokemon! The young girl and her Pokemon made way for the cabin, all anxious for the chance to battle, which, for Katt, was a welcome feeling to quell her insecurities.

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"Hello?" Katt knocked on the front door of the small wooden home, "Is anyone here?" The cottage was modest in size and style, being made entirely of wood with a thatched roof of branches, earth and vines. It seemed to have some up-to-date features, like windows and a chimney, but that was all.

Katt huffed, "Guess no one's home...C'mon, guys, we may as well head for Viridian Forest." Combusken and Petilil seemed unfazed, but just as the trio turned to leave, the front door opened!

"Hello? Can I help you, young lady?" The old woman standing in the doorway looked, to Katt, like she could be anyone's loving grandmother. She was small, probably no taller than 4 feet 3 inches, wore a pink dress with floral patterns and had her gray hair tied up in a bun. Her wrinkled face was set in a look of curiosity and slight apprehension.

"Oh, we were just wondering who lived here and if there were any Trainers we may be able to battle," Katt explained. "It's nearly sundown and we were hoping to have a battle before camping for the night in Viridian Forest."

"Ah, I see," the old woman said, "Well, sadly my cottage has no room for guests, but there is a young man here who is also a Trainer. He stopped in about an hour ago to rest his Pokemon. You're welcome to speak with him." The old woman stepped back inside, leaving the door ajar for Katt.

"Did you hear that, guys?" Katt said, "We might have a Trainer battle after all!" Giddy with the prospect of testing herself against another Trainer, Katt entered the small abode.

The interior was no more impressive than the exterior. It was a one-room cottage with a wooden floor and a stone fireplace set into the far wall. To Katt's left was a small kitchen area consisting of a table, a small cupboard, a wash bowl and an old-style ice box. To her right was a small cot for sleeping.

On the cot was a small, orange Pokemon covered in orange down. The Pokemon appeared to be sleeping while sitting erect and beside it was a young man that could have been no more than a year or two older than Katt. He was also asleep, although cross-legged with his chin resting against his chest. Katt rose an eyebrow at the sight, "Is this him?"

"Yes, yes," the old woman clucked. She was preparing a fire in the fireplace, "He's an odd one, that boy. But, he's also a capable battler! Don't let appearances fool you, now!"

Katt made a face and Phoenix and Lily exchanged unconvinced expressions. "Well, if you say so," Katt said. The young girl walked over to the supposedly sleeping Trainer and nudged him lightly, "Excuse me-"

"Yes," the boy said, startling Katt, "I'll battle you."

"Huh?! I thought you were asleep!" Katt exclaimed.

The boy chuckled, opened his eyes and rose to his feet, "C'mon, Torchic." The small Pokemon also opened its eyes and rose, "We were meditating. I'm Kyte, and this is my partner, Torchic. We were passing through to reach Pewter City. Torchic got a little beat up during our training, so we stopped here to rest."

Katt nodded, "I see. I'm Katt, and these are my partners, Phoenix-"

"Comb!" Combusken raised a talon in greeting.

"-and Lily."

"Lil!" Petilil hopped up and down enthusiastically.

Kyte smiled, "Cool, so you got a Pokemon from Professor Oak too?"

"No," Katt answered, "I received Combusken here from Professor Pine in Viridian City."

"Ah," Kyte smirked, "Well, since your Combusken is the evolved form of my Torchic, then you should be stronger than me, correct?"

Katt blinked, "I suppose so..."

"Well then," Kyte grinned, "let's find out!"

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Katt gulped. Here she was, standing across from this boy Kyte and they were about to have a battle! All of her confidence and giddiness about battling melted away when she saw the determination and confidence in Kyte's eyes. He was a decent looking boy, too, which made her nervous. He had olive skin with jet-black hair that was kept short and wore a red and black tank top with beige cargo shorts and black sneakers. By all respects, Kyte looked like someone who could handle himself.

"Are you ready?" Kyte called from across the battlefield outside the old woman's home.

Katt swallowed her anxiety and shouted back, "Yeah!"

The old woman, who Katt came to know as Patty, announced from the sidelines, "Alright then, you two, this is going to be a simple two-on-two battle! The winner is the Trainer who knocks out both of their opponent's Pokemon first! Ready...go!"

Katt called, "Phoenix, go!" The Combusken let out a cry and took to the field.

"Hahah, Torchic, go!" Kyte said, causing his Pokemon to run onto the field and meet Phoenix at the center.

For a moment, the two Pokemon just stared at one another until the first battle command was called:

"Torchic, use Focus Energy!"

Katt was nervous, but tried to keep her cool as she commanded, "Use Night Slash on Torchic before it can finish focusing its energy!"

Phoenix let out a cry and lunged with a shadowy talon at Torchic, whose body was beginning to glow!

"Dodge it and use Scratch!" Kyte called. Torchic responded automatically, jumping over Combusken's swepeing talon and scratching the larger Pokemon in the back!

"Comb!" Phoenix let out a cry of pain, but retaliated by knocking Torchic sideways with its Night Slash attack! The small Fire-type was sent flying!

"Good job, Phoenix!" Katt cheered. "Now, follow up with a Scratch attack!"

Phoenix obeyed and ran in Torchic's direction, but the Chick Pokemon proved to be faster! Before Phoenix could land a hit, Torchic was behind it and landed another Scratch attack!

"Good going, Torchic," Kyte said, "Now finish it off! Keep using Scratch!"

Combusken was losing health quickly, but Katt didn't know what to do. This was entirely different from a wild Pokemon battle! Trainer battles meant dealing with people who were just as smart, if not smarter, than yourself! Katt could only watch, petrified, as Phoenix took a beating.

"C'mon now, girly! Get your head into it!" Katt snapped out of her daze at the sound of Patty's voice. "Can't you see your partner's being beaten up? Are you just gonna stand there and let it happen?"

That brought her back to herself. No matter what, Katt was not going to let anyone defeat Phoneix, or any of her other partners as long as she could still fight!

"Alright, Phoenix, get rid of that pest with Night Slash!" Combusken let out a cry and launched the attack, sending Torchic flying. "Good! Now close-in on it and use Night Slash with both talons! X-Formations!"

Luckily, her Combusken understood. As fast as it could, Combusken homed-in on Torchic before it could recover and unleashed duel Night Slashes! The attack sent Torchic flying backwards!

"Torchic!" Kyte cried. The Fire-type was still standing after the Night Slash assault, but it appeared to be on its last legs! "That's enough, Torchic. Return!" Kyte retrieved Torchic's PokeBall and pressed the release switch, causing it to open and for Torchic to retreat in a red light.

"Do you forfeit the match, Kyte?" Patty asked.

Kyte shook his head, "No, but I don't want Torchic to overwork itself. We'll switch to our second Pokemon, agreed, Katt?"

Katt admired Kyte's concern for his Pokemon's well-being and nodded, "No problem. Phoenix, to me!" The Combusken clucked and returned to Katt's side. Lily, who up until this moment had been watching the battle fervently from atop Katt's head, hopped down and let out a cry.

"Petilil!" It hopped and looked at Katt, letting its Trainer know that Lily was ready to battle!

Katt nodded, "Alright, Lily, let's do it!"

"So, you're using Petilil, huh? Well, I'm sorry, but this match is all but mine, then! Go, Nidoran!" From its PokeBall emerged a small, purple rodent Pokemon that Katt knew was the male form of Nidoran.

"A Poison-type...but all Petilil knows are Grass-attacks...this could be tricky..."

"Since Kyte withdrew Torchic, Katt gets the first move!" Patty announced.

Kyte nodded, "Fair enough! Let's see what you can do when you're at a type disadvantage!"

Katt set her mouth in a hard line, "You'll see I'm just as capable! Lily, use Leech Seed!"

"Peti!" The Grass-type released an onslaught of small seeds which landed perfectly on Nidoran, sprouting vines that ensnared the small rodent!

"Nido!" The Poison-type couldn't move as the Leech Seed began to sap its energy!

"Nidoran, use your horn to sever the vines!" Kyte called.

Nidoran tried to do just that, but Lily wouldn't have it!

"Lily, stop it! Use Absorb!" Lily released the attack, a strange particle of green energy, at Nidoran and hit it dead on! The particle then returned to Petilil, restoring its health partially.

Nidoran, however, would not be so easily cowed. A moment later, its horn successfully cut through the vines and the Pokemon was free of the Leech Seed!

"Good work, Nidoran! Now, hit Petilil with Poison Sting!" Kyte commanded.

Nidoran launched a flurry of Poison Sting towards Lily!

"Dodge it! Follow up with Growth as soon as possible!" Katt cried.

Lily attempted to dodge all of the attack, but was hit dead-on by one stray needle! "Peti!!" It stumbled backwards in pain.

"No! Lily, are you okay?" Katt shouted. To answer, the small Pokemon began to shimmer, a sign of the Growth attack. "Alright, girl, now use Absorb once more!"

This time, the particle was larger, and hit Nidoran with enough force to send it flying a small distance!

"That's a strong Grass-type..." Kyte muttered, "Okay, Nidoran, run in close and use Peck!"

Nidoran rose to its feet and began its charge, but stopped a short distance from Lily and fainted!

"Huh?!" Kyte was baffled! He ran over to his Nidoran and, a moment later, rose to his feet. He looked at KAtt with begrudging admiration, "Your Leech Seed, Petilil aimed it so that one seed was stuck in Nidoran's flank, where I couldn't see it and he couldn't feel it."

Katt blushed, "Um, yeah, while we were battling the entire time, Nidoran was slowly losing health...All I really had to do was stall you until the seed sapped all of Nidoran's strength."

Kyte smirked, "Good game, Katt." The young Trainer returned Nidoran to its PokeBall before turning to Patty and bowing slightly, "thank you for your hospitality, Ms. Patty. I must be going on to Pewter City, though."

Patty chuckled, "No trouble at all, kids. Be sure to visit again soon, though!"

Katt smiled, "Definitely! We should be going too." Turning to Kyte, Katt said, "I hope we can battle again someday soon, Kyte!"

"Me too, Katt," Kyte answered. "Now, I gotta make a run for the Pokemon Center in Viridian before I think about traveling through the forest. Catch ya later, Katt!" And with that, the boy was off.

Katt, Phoenix, and Lily waved good-bye to Patty and her cottage as they made their way down the dirt road leading to the gate of Viridian Forest.

Thinking about her battle, Katt felt a bubbling mixture of apprehension and excitement. She hadn't frozen up as bad as she'd thought she would, but she still needed Patty to snap Katt out of her thoughts. Well, at least I succeeded in proving my self-worth...
​

 

[Xlugon Pyro]

1-2; ROWDY ROOTS
Zoey Wyrmoki / / Route 2

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The sky darkens in preparation for fast approaching night, the atmosphere taking the appearance of nearly every color of the rainbow in the western skies where the yellow sun sits. Zoey's self-imposed timer ticks ever closer, nearing the time when the buzzer goes off, to be indicated by the sun's complete concealment behind the planet's curved surface. The girl's pace quickens ever so slightly, moving at a pace somewhere between a jog and a full run, her pink sack swinging back and forth wildly in reaction to her high momentum. Zoey's side-bangs whip off to her sides in addition to the long cluster of brown hair tied up into a ponytail that's conveniently looped into her hat's whole by its rear, taken by the rushing of air caused by the girl's own attempts to make up for lost time with her dash northward. If she just had gotten up on time, this wouldn't have happened, and she might have gotten a chance at getting a more obedient partner in charmeleon too! To her dismay though, luck just never seems to on her team, or even on her sideline for that matter. At this rate, Zoey's positive that it'll be dark well before she arrives at the resting center.

Nonetheless, her strong pace shows little signs of lessening, a testament to her outstanding fitness level having been running for nearly an hour straight. Interestingly enough, the road has been void of other people ever since she's been on it, perhaps due to how late she arrived on Route 2, but then again, she still should've crossed a few people, but she hadn't. Despite this fact's peculiarity, Zoey didn't think much of it. Her mind is more preoccupied that fatigue is beginning to catch up to her, despite her great fitness level. To make matters worse, her water bottle is on empty and the last thing she wants to do is scarf down food during or shortly after a tough workout. Her body is also coated in a thick layer of salty bodily moisture, excretions that have accumulated over the course of her running along Route 2. Most definitely after her arrival at the resting center, perhaps they'll be able to lend her a shower before heading to bed. Here's to being hopeful.

The peace of the evening run, while it lasted for a damn long time, begins to find its conclusion. While the rustling of grasses due to playful or hunting packs of rattata, sentret and zigzagoon, along with the vibrations of the various bug-types, even spotting a trio of singing tricketots in the bushes along her way north have been rather soothing, the distant sound of gruff laughter and banter begin to draw quiet from nature's musicians, rushing back to their lairs and thickets in trepidation of the oncoming disturbance. Naturally, Zoey catches wind of the commotion too, hearing the voice of men, probably older adolescents due to the frequency with which their voices crack and the overall depth of their voices who, from the sounds of it are embroiled in Pokemon battles themselves. Sure enough, the twist in the road of Route 2 reveals a pack of boys, approximately around the ages of 15 or 16, all well groomed and well dressed in attire that, from the looks of it are popular brands worn by the youth of their day, the stuff that certainly wont be found in the bargain or clearance racks or in discount stores. They even have bicycles probably worth more than every article of clothing on Zoey's body combined, the bikes resting up against a park bench along the side of the path. In comparison, their garb sure beats Zoey's cheap get up, which includes torn denim shorts, well worn boots but still well made, and a black zi-up sleeveless jacket that's seen better days. The only thing relavely new about her attire is the pink trainer's bag she carries with her and her white and pink brimmed hat that serves as both a practical and fashionable look. Well, maybe not so fashionable compared to the clothes of these boys, that is.

One of them catches her eyes the most. A taller, blonde haired, green eyed young man with a little golden stubble for a goatee stands among them, but as a spectator, watching a battle between his two accomplices, one battling with a mudkip, and the other with a chimchar. He appears slightly older, but this could easily be visual deception as he also sports more definition in his muscles as well. Her eyes stay fixed on his biceps for a bit longer than Zoey would ever admit, but even so her interest with them is sort lived, hoping to run by them without grabbing too much attention from them. Unfortunately, she should've thought about a strategy. What adolescent male would let a pretty girl pass by without making a move on her? Sure enough, one of the boys takes notice of Zoey, the girl deliberately cocking her head slightly to the right so as to avoid any potential for eye contact to be made.

"Hey there, girl!" hollers the taller, blonde man. "What's a cutie like you doing all by yourself out here at this hour? You could get hurt. I certainly wouldn't want to see that happen. So how 'bout it? Want a ride?"

Paying no heed to the battle between his buds that he interrupted, teenage hormones thrown into full throttle, his comments follow up with his gesture towards his dark green 'ride', which is, for all its worth, a pretty high valued vehicle, but by no means is it a machine used to pick up girls with. As if she isn't sweating enough, Zoey looks down and away, but keeps up her running pace, distraught, but not too surprised that she got spotted.

"Uh, no thanks!" she bellows at an audible tone, lower than it normally would be as a result of her nervousness.

"Aww, that's too bad... But are you sure?" he presses further, pulling out an object that Zoey fails to get a good look at before flicking his wrist in a throwing motion. "It can get pretty dangerous out here at this hour. A good lookin' lady like yourself is a prime target for any thugs or hungry Pokemon. I'd hate to see something bad happen to you! Why don't you stick around?"

His persistence begins to push into Zoey's boundaries, feeling even more uneasy than before, as well as a little agitated, her quivering lips clenching tighter as her brows sink lower down her face, her pace picking up speed in order to escape the horny lads fawning over her. To her surprise, a small green creature pounces towards her out of nowhere, causing the girl to screech in astonishment, only to be smacked in the face by the mysterious beast's oddly textured green tail, launching her backwards several yards before landing flat on her ass, her hands rushing to her face, covering it as she reels in pain as her hands clench the agonizing portions of her forehead and nose, moaning in pain as her hands muffle the sounds from her mouth.

"Aww, what the hell Arboran! That's not how you treat a lady! You better apologize to her if you want to have a decent dinner!" lectures the blonde guy, taking a different tone towards what supposedly was the thing that assaulted Zoey's face.

"Tee... Treeeecko..." squeaks an odd, nearby creature, causing Zoey to slowly withdraw her hands from her ailing regions to identify the thing that responded to the name Arboran.

"Atta boy! I hope you remember proper etiquette in the future, alright pal?" he states again, reaching into his pocket before tossing a few small pellets into the air in the Pokemon's direction, revealing what appears to be the man's treecko.

Even more surprising is his treecko's stellar agility, leaping into the air with incredible athleticism, catching a few pellets in its mouth while launching a few others that flew out of the range of his mouth, batting them into the air with its tail and its left hand before landing on its left leg briefly, pivoting and springing its small green body high into the air, gobbling up the rest of the pellets in one big, mid-air gulp. Impressive indeed, although the treecko species are well known for their speed and feats of athleticism. His treecko, Arboran, runs back towards his trainer on all fours, coming up to his side before rotating on its heels, facing Zoey once again along with its trainer.

"I gotta say though, man" he addresses his little green lizard, looking down to his left to make eye contact with Arboran. "You got good taste my friend, but pick up lines or in your case pick up tails won't get the job done. You have to make your woman feel comfortable!"

"Treh, treecko!" calls out the reptile, probably in acknowledgement of its trainer's wisdom.

Still with her ass on the ground, Zoey watches the whole exchange unfold, in addition to the battle unfolding between the two other boys, the blonde man's friends who, from the looks of it, all have starter Pokemon, but from where? This puzzling fact pokes away at the girl's nosy noggin, slowly rising up to her feet while the rest of her attention divers to the battle unfolding before her.

"Go, go, Mudmar! Mud Slap!" commands one of the boys, this one a longer haired boy with auburn hair who guides the blue Mud Fish Pokemon into battle.

"Aww hell no, man! Ember his Mud Slap and flank his side with a Scratch!" conducts the other, this boy with short, buzzed black hair who has the chimchar as his partner.

The battle had already raged on for awhile, which was to Zoey's surprise considering the black-haired boy has a type disadvantage and there's no way their Pokemon could've been trained to such an extent where they can make up for those shortfalls. Yet, that's exactly how the battle pans out, but in a way far different than Zoey would normally expect it to. They battle with more than just calling out attacks, but using them defensively, turning them against the other attacker, and exploiting other weaknesses that aren't necessary related to Pokemon or move typing. From what Zoey sees, the boy battling with chimchar is utilizing its agility to dodge the mudkip's stronger Water Guns while using ember to dry up Mud Slaps, weaken other Water Guns, and to dry up the battle field, making the mudkip all the weaker for chimchar's Scratches. However, the other trainer is also battling smart, using cautious but liberal use of Water Gun to moisten the earth not just around chimchar but also in areas where chimchar has yet to burn with ember, creating new moist turf while limiting the terrain chimchar can cover, thereby reducing its ability to dodge. For what appears to be rookie trainers like herself, Zoey is intrigued by what's unfolding before her.

Sliding into damp territory, Mudkip's cheeks bulge before releasing a high pressure stream of water towards the chimchar, locking the Chimp Pokemon between two damp areas that the monkey must use in order to slip away unscathed. The black haired boy clenches his teeth, realizing the dire straights he's in, decides to make a risky call.

"Alright, Burnout! Somersault to your right and use Ember on the ground, then get out of there and back away from the damp ground!"

The chimchar, named Burnout, complies aptly, flipping into the air while its jaw opens forth, glowing a faint orange color as it prepares to unleash its fire attack.

"Not good enough!" retaliates the auburn boy; Mudmar's Water Gun connecting, albeit by just a hair, sniping Burnout's left leg just as the fire-type begins firing balls of fire from its mouth. Caught in a bad state of affairs, the blowback of the Embers bounce back up, smacking chimchar with its own attack in addition to the Water Gun to its Achilles Heel, as ironic as that is. Rolling back after suffering two simultaneous blows to itself, the battle appears all but over for the back-haired boy and his monkey Pokemon.

"Geh... Damn! Burnout, get up quick! He launched you onto dry ground so you have a chance! Use Ember and strafe him with it!" utters the panicked boy, urging his near defeated partner to make a final stand for victory.

"Too late, WATER GUN!!"

Struggling to find its footing, Burnout is shot straight in the head with a direct Water Gun, tossing his head back as the rest of the pressurized water pierces his tiny orange torso. Stumbling back a few yards, the chimchar collapses to the ground with a soft thud, water dripping off of its body and forming puddles around it.

"Aww, dammit!" the losing trainer blurts frustratingly in defeat. "Well Burnout, that was a might good attempt. You really held your own against your weakness. Good job."

The other trainer approaches his Pokemon too, picking up a blank-faced mudkip and turning its small body towards his own face as he holds Mudmar up in the air, smiling proudly towards his companion. "Way to go man! You never know what your foe might have up his sleeve, so its best we be ready for all combat styles! Great job today!"

"M-muuuud!" squeaks the drained mudkip, a little red in its cheeks due to its apparent bashful nature and the praise from his trainer.​

Both trainers snatch their pokeballs and call back their partners, a job well done indeed, and a fierce battle for such upstart trainers. Zoey's mind is yanked around in endless twists and turns, analyzing the battle that unfolded before her eyes, fascinated and excited by the intensity of Pokemon battling. Still, one thought of her as a trainer still haunts her. If she hopes to partake in battles like that one in the future, somehow, her and Vuowth must make ends meet first. What was a smile from exhilaration from the battle found its way to a slightly longer frown, realizing just how far she'll have to go to begin realizing her dreams.

"Hey, miss! I bet you're a trainer, right? I doubt you'd be out here at this hour if that weren't the case. Am I right?"

Snapping back to reality, Zoey redirects towards the blonde haired man, looking directly at her with a smug gesture. Having forgotten completely that she was not only assaulted by this man's Pokemon, but also delayed by his interruption of her travels. At this rate, it'll be dark before... too late. The sun, kissing the horizon of the landscape's western side, is already partially sunk beneath the horizon, with most of the sky now taking to hues of darker blues and purples. She'll have to travel in the dark at this rate. At least Route 2 has streetlights hung high above the path towards Viridian Forest so that she wont have to resort to stumbling around in the dark. Not to mention, it's not like Vuowth will help her deal with any wild Pokemon that she might encounter along the way. If anything, Vuowth would seize the opportunity to beat her up further, as if she isn't already bruised and battered enough from her earlier bouts with the lizard. What a way to look forward to her Pokemon journey.

"Um... yeah..." peeps the girl, anxiety rising to a climax rapidly with the dread of what she feels he's about to press upon her next.

"I thought so. Well, how 'bout it then? Let's have ourselves a little scuffle, eh miss?" he challenges Zoey, the man's treecko stepping forward a few times, this time upright as the Wood Gecko sets its sights intently on the girl sitting atop her thighs.

"Uhm... well... I uh... really have to get going! I'm sort of late..." she mutters, bringing herself upright as her head tilts away, trepidation crawling throughout her blood as she makes an effort to escape this quickly escalating discomfort.

"Hahah, what!?" he cracks up in laughter, grabbing the other two boys' attention as they look at him, back at Zoey, and begin to chuckle in cohorts over the woman's unusual comments. "A trainer that turns down a battle? What kind of trainer are you? C'mon girl, your pride is at stake here! If you want to be a well respected trainer, you can't turn down an opportunity to prove that you're the best!"

Now she's angry, gritting her teeth, but keeping her lips shut as she glares slightly in their direction. Her gaze then shifts towards the ground, resorting to a frown once again, a sign of her sensitivity to hurtful words, lips trembling slightly.

"Hey girl!" the auburn boy yells towards her as the other boys continue laughing at her. "Don't tell me you'll let him wail on you like that! Even a girl should have some backbone!"

The trigger is flipped now. Zoey pivots back towards them, stomping her left foot down in fury, facing the blonde with arced brows and quivering, tightly clenched lips as if she's about to let loose her emotions.

"Fine. I'll kick your hairy chinned ass!" boasts Zoey boldly, this time her voice carrying an air of ferocity.

"Whoa there miss! Watch the mouth, man! Let's keep it real a'ight? How 'bout a 3 on 3 battle since you seem so anxious all of a sudden?" chuckling back in her direction, amused by her immature reaction.

"Don't bleed all over the floor now! We don't carry tampons with us!" howls the black haired boy, the other two boys bursting into uproarious laughter.

Zoey's fists turn to a deep red, clenched as tightly as possible as rage fills the poor girl's mind. Glaring up at the pack of adolescents with extreme hatred, all she can do is continue taking the verbal beat-down, her eyes welling up with excess moisture, ready to pour down her face with enough hurtful remarks. Not only are they insulting her desire to avoid a battle, but they also attack her angry reaction, using whatever thoughts that percolate in their minds to use as a weapon against the suffering thirteen year old girl.

"I don't have 3 Pokemon... O-only one," she stammers, inhibited by bloodlust pulsing throughout her veins.

"Oh, wow, really!? How do you expect to get anywhere as a trainer with only one? You're a bigger lost cause than I thought! Do you even -know- what you're doing?" taunts the blonde man, a smile plastered on his face, a crooked smile, half signifying concern while the other noting his disbelief. "You must be a newbie. Or a complete imbecile. You tell me, girl!"

Knowing all she can do is take in their verbal crucifixions, she stands there, boiling with blind anger as her lips and fists remain clenched.

"Alright. Let's make this a bit more dramatic. One on one. I'll go at it with my champ, Arboran. Hell, if you win, I might buy you dinner. How 'bout it then? Deal?" barters away the young man, grinning confidently.

"Shut up and fight me, jackass!" roars the abused girl, thrusting her right arm out of her pink sack with a pokeball clasped between her hands, her pointer ready to release the creature inside.

"Woah, hot and dirty mouthed! You're my kind of girl!" smirks the blonde teen, tossing up Arboran's pokeball up and down into the air casually as his little green warrior steps forward, eyeing intently the area it expects its adversary to appear. "Let's oil this machine up!"

"Vuowth, kick this guy's ass!" hisses Zoey, releasing her grovyle out onto the battlefield, appearing before everyone with its cold, golden stare, eyeing its new environment in displeasure.

"Oh ****! I don't even know what attacks grovyle can use!" she realizes, dipping her left arm into her pack to pull out her pearly white pokedex, flipping it open and activating its scanner, analyzing her emerald lizard.

Meanwhile, the boys stand in awe with what she put out onto the battlefield, with the exception of the blonde who looks over her evolved grass-type with admiration. However, the boys soon shift their gaze towards their partner, all of them smirking with interest, perhaps with the knowledge of something Zoey is ignorant of. One of the boys, however, the one with auburn hair, catches wind of Zoey's pokedex being out.

"Seriously? You don't even know what moves your Pokemon knows? Pathetic," blasts the boy, ridiculing her.

Scowling back in his direction, she returns to the data upon her screen, looking over the details uncovered regarding her own grovyle.

"Pound, Leer, Absorb, Quick Attack, and... WHAT!?" she finds, eyes widening in surprise at what she sees. "He knows Crunch!?"

Vuowth however, to Zoey's good fortune, becomes fixated on the boisterous youth around it, hissing in their direction hostily, causing them to back away apprehensively. Her green creature's attention is averted elsewhere, shifting its focus between the three males, and then locking hard onto something else; the treecko present only a few yards away, his demeanor not even slightly deterred by the arrival of its evolutionary form on the battlefield. Instead, Arboran stares Vuowth dead straight into the eyes, even grinning slightly, brimming with confidence. Vuowth, instead, returns his gaze with a piercing scowl of its own, but its grimace bears more the appearance of spite rather than cool swagger.

Without even a command given, Vuowth lunges forth, initiating combat with an angry Quick Attack, aiming right for the treecko's smaller body. Arboran, being in perfect sync, anticipates the attack and with its own high speed, shuffles off to its right, easily dodging the grovyle bearing down upon it. Vuowth's momentum carries it into a grove of bushes, catching its missed attack and allowing it to re-calibrate its assault.

"Woah there! Do you not have any control of your Pokemon!? This is just embarrassing," berates laughingly after witnessing the unwarranted blitz by the girl's grovyle, diving instead into foliage with Arboran unscathed.

"Just... shut up," she utters, her tone lower and quieter, but still presenting the same anger.

There's no end to Zoey's humiliation, fuming over their language. Her expression shifts subtly, looking to the brush that Vuowth resides in, frustration present in her eyes as Vuowth crawls out onto the road, scowling in the direction of Arboran who simply smirks in response.

"Don't attack unless I tell you to Vuowth!" reprimands Zoey, who's flustered words are completely ignored by the grovyle as it rushes Arboram with yet another Quick Attack.

"Hah!" laughs the boy in amusement, glancing down at his treecko, readying for battle. "This is just sad. Let's go Arboran. We'll put her grovyle out of its misery."

"Treeeeeeegooooo!!" growls Arboran enthusiastically, rushing onto all fours and preparing to address its foe properly. "Dodge and Pound!"

Arboran eases into battle, leaping over and behind Vuowth, to the grovyle's surprise, halting its furious barrage, shoving its right foot into the dirt to cut off its momentum and divert its attack, hissing derisively in the direction of the boy's treecko.

"Dammit Vuowth! I didn't tell you to attack!" huffs Zoey angrily, pointing directly at Arboran. "Listen to me! Use Pound!"

Grabbing the unruly reptiles attention, Vuowth growls violently at Zoey, speeding towards her instead, turning on its trainer as it readies a Quick Attack on her. SMACK!!! Arboran's Pound catches distracted Vuowth off guard, taking advantage of the grovyle's agitation with its trainer. Vuowth's head smashes into the ground, hitting the surface with such force that its head is shot back up in the air briefly before returning to the ground with a cold, hard thud. Aboran meanwhile glides to a soft landing off to grovyle's side, cocking its head back dismissively, looking over its shoulder to examine its fallen opponent.

"Kkk-Krooooo..." moans Vuowth, its voice gargled as the creature struggles to recover from the brutal blow, shooting Arboran a death stare, not phasing the cocky treecko one bit.

"Vuowth!" blurts Zoey in concern, looking upon her downed Pokemon, her fists clenching even tighter as anger begins to return to her veins.

"Pre-ty saad... I thought we'd see a lot more out of your evolutionary form Arboran, but it looks like her grovyle is about as strong as the adolescent rattata we faced on our way to Viridian City!" jeers the blonde boy once again, looking over to the girl with a grin. "No dinner for you. Too bad. I was looking forward to treating you to something nice."

"Vuowth! Don't let him taunt you like that! Use your Crunch attack!

"Quick Attack."

Arboran makes swift contact with Vuowth's struggling form, tossing it back, rolling to a stop, only for grovyle to craft back to its feet, hissing angrily into the air as it looks around rapidly in an attempt to find treecko. However, Vuowth's head appears to be bobbing back and forth, appearing disoriented as it stumbles around, trying to straighten its vision out.

Skidding to a stop from its last attack, Arboran instinctively readies its next attack, leaping into the air above Vuowth. "Alright, boy. Let's finish this. Pound, and then take it out with your strongest Quick Attack!"

"Come on Vuowth! Get out of the way!" she urges her grass-type to no avail, gurgling coming from its mouth as it appears to barely be able to stand upright. "Use... uhm... Absorb! Something!"

SMACK!! A direct attack to Vuowth's forehead sends the grovyle reeling, but still maintains its upright posture. Pivoting around quickly, Arboran speeds towards Vuowth agaim and again, slamming the helpless lizard with a barrage of Quick Attacks before Vuowth finally slumps over unconscious, colliding with the ground in defeat. Paralyzed in shock, Zoey looks down upon her only Pokemon, unable to do anything in the Pokemon battle, although Vuowth's disobedience certainly didn't contribute anything to the ordeal.

"TREE! TREECKO!" howls Arboran in victory, standing a few yards away, looking back at its weak opponent.

In shock to everyone, the treecko's body begins to illuminate slightly in a bright green aura before becoming engulfed in an obscuring white light, overtaking the green creature's figure. Taking the shape of Arboran's body, the light begins to take a new shape, growing larger and taller over the course of a few seconds before the light begins to fade away, revealing a larger green creature, who's stature dwarfs even Vuowth who before stood over the unevolved Arboran. With a stunning end of events, the blonde man's starter Pokemon evolved with the conclusion of battle into the mighty form of grovyle like its former adversary.

"Whoa... dude! Arboran evolved!" gasps one of the boys in awe in what just unfolded.

The blonde simply smiles in reaction, marveling in the tremendous power boost this evolution means to his Pokemon team. Zoey is surprised as well, looking over the miraculous transformation of Arboran. She's never seen a Pokemon evolve before, much less in person. Still, the evolution of her opponent's Pokemon seems only to mock her, spitting in the face of an already pathetic loss. The girl returns to gaze upon fallen Vuowth, rushing to its side to examine the lizard's injuries.

"...Dammit... Vuowth, are you alright?"

"K-kroo..." squeals the grovyle, its voice raspy and barely audible, having suffered severe amounts of damage from the battle.

"Well, at least your grovyle is good for something," jests the boy sarcastically, redirecting his focus to his newly evolved partner. "Great work Arboran! We'll be in great shape for the next for sure."

"Gu-ROOH!" growls pridefully Arboran, exuberant over its physically enhanced new form, leaping once to its trainer, demonstrating its rapidly improved athletic talent.​

After giving his new grovyle a rub on the head as a reward for its victory in battle, the blonde aims his pokeball at Arboran, recalling him back into his ball. Shifting his focus to the losing trainer, he and his gang stroll towards her, looking down upon the scene with pity as Zoey kneels over her Pokemon. Her body trembles with overwhelming anxiety, too shocked by the circumstances to act on the crisis properly.

"If you want to be a trainer, you have to learn to grow up fast, kid. It isn't a joke. Pokemon have lives, feelings and dreams too. They aren't minions to help you win battles and contribute to your own personal glory. You should be able to respect this fact, but I'm really not sure about -you-. Whoever decided it was a good idea to lend you a Pokemon made a HUGE mistake and probably should be fired by the league and stripped of their Pokemon issuing license. I would quit now if I were you, both for your and your Pokemon's own good. You're clearly not cut out to be a trainer. It's really a shame. You're a cute girl. I'd like to see you around, but not at the expense of your Pokemon's well being," declares the Blonde, turning towards the northern road as they prepare to depart.

Looking back briefly before taking off, he bears witness to Zoey choking up, sniffing and snorting as if on the verge of completely falling apart. Pausing to reflect on the scenario, he reaches into his back pocket before tossing a small cluster of change in her direction, scattering itself across the surface of the road, among them a coupon for the resting house up ahead.

"Name's Andy. See you 'round," reveals the young man before he and his crew take off into the night.

Zoey remains on the ground, looking over the defeated lizard, eyes welling up with emotion. Clarity slowly coming to the surface of her mind, she begins digging through her bag, pulling out a Super Potion, placing it to her side as she feels around for something that's not right.

"W-where's my pokedex!?" inquires the overburdened girl, looking around her immediate vicinity to find her pokedex sitting on the ground nearby, still on the page pertaining to Vuowth's data.

Taking a second look at it before turning it off, she catches sight of a peculiar statistic on screen. The symbol denoting gender, to Zoey's surprise, is a pink circle with a plus shape hanging off of its bottom, signifying the creature's sex. Still, new revelations won't do any good in easing the girl's fragile emotions. Her eyes begin to leak, closing up her pokedex and placing it softly within her bag, exchanging it for a Super Potion. Holding the bottle in her hand, trembling to such extremes that she tries to stabilize her arm with her left hand, aiming it towards Vuowth and coating the reptile in a restorative gloss. Emotions overtaking her, she drops the bottle atop Vuowth absent mindedly, choking up several times before finally letting loose her sorrow in the form of tears. Into the night, she begins to sob profusely. Unbeknownst to Zoey however, Vuowth slowly regains consciousness, her left eye slowly opening to witness a shocking sight. Endless streams of tears begin pouring down her trainer's face, drenching her clothes and splattering on Vuowth's body below, the girl whimpering in anguish over the terrible events of her first day as a trainer. It truly is a rough road indeed as a trainer.

 

[<Challenger>]

Paris and I were having a jolly old time wondering around Route 2. The sun was shining, we weren't hungry, and we were actually bonding a little. "Paris, what do you say? Will you be my buddy?" I stopped our progress beside a large pine tree and extended my hand in fellowship. The Ivysaur chewed his lip in thought, but eventually extended his paw and placed it in my hand. I shook it and laughed. "Excellent!" The Ivysaur began to run around in circles. His heart was finally unlocked! I began to run around as well. This was going to be an excellent relationship! "Wooho-"

"Hey nerd!" A high pitched voice called out. Who the **** was that? "Battle me!"

I spun around to come face to face with a beautiful girl. She stood at about 5'4, she had long blonde hair, she was slim as a twig, and the worst of all: She wore short shorts and a black belly shirt! "Damn..." It was all I could say. She was breath taking. "Well...we could battle if you want...m'lady." That was so stupid!

She laughed. "Cute." She then sent out a Bulbasaur. "Let's go, Tootsie!" The Bulbasaur roared with confidence. "We'll show you what a chump you are!"

I pointed at her. "Well, I'll show you that I'm not that bad a trainer...and...uh...you aren't a bad one either?" Damn it! I'm so stupid! "Screw it. Paris, use Tackle!" The Ivysaur slammed into the smaller grass-dinosaur-thing, knocking it down a hill.

"No fair! No fair!" The girl stomped the ground repeatedly. "Tootsie, use Razor Leaf!" The Bulbasaur stood up shakily and fired a volley of leaves at Paris. The leaves struck, but it was only a glancing blow.

"Keep using Tackle!" I laughed as the Ivysaur tossed and battered the Bulbasaur. It didn't stand a chance against its larger, stronger evolution. When the Bulbasaur struck a tree, I cried out a command. "Paris, use Leech Seed!" He obliged and fired a seed from the flower on his back. It pinned Tootsie against the tree. "Damn right!" I jumped around in triumph. The battle was over. It had been a short one, but it was my first battle, and I had won. I ran around Paris laughing and cheering. "You're amazing!" "I love you buddy!" These cheers were only the humble ones.

The girl looked down sulkily. "Good battle..." She returned Tootsie to her pokeball. "My name is Valorie." She walked over to me and extended her hand in greeting.

I shook it. "The name's Hector. Hector Ayoba."

"Well, Hector, I assume that we're going to be rivals now."

"You've assumed right." I smiled. I had my first rival! Boo ya! "I have to be going now." I lied and waved goodbye. Her hand had been so soft and silky...I was intoxicated by her...

Anyways...We were walking, walking, and guess what? Walking! It was getting old. It really was. "Hey Paris, you wanna get a new buddy?" He nodded enthusiastically. It looked like I needed to catch a new pokemon. I understand him getting a little lonely. "Well then..." I had stumbled into Viridian Forest without noticing it. It was cold, dark, and I loved it. "This is strange." Everything around him was silent.

A Swablu came out of no where and used a strong Peck attack on Paris. The Ivysaur was knocked back a good deal. "No!" It was a surprise attack! "Paris, use Petal Dance!" I didn't know what the move did...but it sounded better than the rest of them that I knew. Paris nodded and launched several razor sharp petals from the flower on his back. They caught the Swablu on the back. It was almost knocked from the air, but it regained its composure and came at its opponent with an Astonish attack. Paris was knocked into a tree.

Swablu was a tough opponent. "Use Leech Seed!" The seed was launched out and it attached itself to the target. Vines ensnared it within seconds. It came crashing to the ground. I decided it was now or never. "Hold it down with Vine Whip!" Paris wrapped his vines around the Swablu, further trapping it. I pulled out a pokeball and tossed it at the bird. It clicked once. Twice. Three times. I was beginning to think it was hopeless....but then it clicked shut. "I-I...I CAUGHT A POKEMON!" I ran up and picked up the pokeball and ran around circles. "YEAH! I'M THE BEST TRAINER EVER!" Paris even got in on the celebration. He was running around as well. "BOO FRIGGIN' YA!" I was beginning to think this would be an excellent journey.

 

[Charizard_Man]

chapter two; VELVET LIGHTS II
Trey Vincent//Viridian Forest

*image removed* *image removed* *image removed*

"Kari? Kari?"

"She can't hear you anymore, son."

"Then unplug her ears! MAKE her hear me!"

"The only thing that's plugging her ears is death, boy. Ain't no way you can unplug that."

"NO!! SHE'S NOT DEAD!!!" The boy threw himself on the ambulance, over the body of his sister.

The warmth she had provided for him was gone. The soft touch of her hand running through his hair had vanished. All that was left was a pale body with empty eyes that stared out at nothing and everything at the same time.

Including their former younger brother.

"She's….somewhere else now, kid. I'm sorry, we did everything we could." The man dressed in the doctor's outfit stood behind him, sixteen hours of surgery weariness etched on his face.

The young six year old with ice blue eyes sobbed, his chest heaving. The doctor proceeded to walk over to where a couple stood, clean lab coat and glasses covering the puffy eyes of a man that just finished sobbing, a brown mess of hair and ball of used tissues covering the face of a grief stricken mother.

"The piece of metal from the car punctured and inflicted a major wound to her heart. She passed out because of blood loss, and she was still blacked out when she died. She went peacefully." The doctor continued. The boy could hear what the doctor was telling his parents, it didn't make a difference. She was still dead. He walked over to his parents and listened to what the doctor had to say.

"The authorities are trying to find the car that hit her, but they haven't identified them yet. Don't worry, justice will be served."

The boy looked up at the doctor, face smeared and blurred with tears as he motioned toward the deceased young woman. His deceased sister.

"Justice is a lie."

There had been a time when he wasn't so good at lying. Before the days where he would come home with a bloody lip and bruised eye, and if Kari was there she would ask; 'What happened?'

'I fell down the stairs.' His small voice would come out, emotionless.

'They locked you in the closet again, didn't they?'

'I told you, I fell down!'

'Silly brother, come here and let me see that….' Bandages and salve would be whipped out and applied.

Before the days where someone else healed his wounds, Trey had been a terrible liar.

As the days turned to weeks, and the weeks turned to months, and slowly, the months to years…..Trey began to get better. He was soon able to lie to a teacher's face and get away with it so well, that the grown up in question didn't suspect a thing. He had become a smooth talker, supported by fictional facts and airs of fake enthusiasm. The truth stopped showing, eventually. If he was upset, he tried not to show it. Emotions gave the opponent an advantage.

All the world was an opponent. People were no longer people. People were demons with horns and teeth that made you crazy eventually.

And Trey Vincent was above people.

Trey Vincent was above insanity.

Thoughts of the past now swirled through his head. It was too hard to face the future now. The mistakes he had made piled up. Despite his cautionary actions…..mistakes had still happened.

The demons had gotten to him.

He wondered if he had done the right thing. He wondered how she had gotten into his life in the first place, looking like another person. Perhaps….it wasn't her at all. Perhaps it was the fates playing some kind of cruel joke on him.

Perhaps it was his mind, giving one final chance to redeem himself. If so, he had blown it.

It had felt right, real. It had been her….

Right?

Somehow, he knew the answer to that question already.

Yes, it had been her. He didn't know how he knew, he just did. It was like finding a familiar face in a crowd of people, like seeing someone's familiar shape from far away.

Yes. It had been her.

The demons are coming.

In a way….Trey had gotten his final wish. He should have felt better. A weight should have been lifted.

But it wasn't.

Cover your ears…

Why was it that whenever he tried, nothing went right? Why wasn't he a normal person, someone that succeeded in life every so often?

Why was he like this?

THE DEMONS ARE COMING

He cursed his own mind. He cursed his human mind. The thoughts flowed in faster than he could register them, thoughts of questions and answers and pleas and cries and poems and sounds and smells and feelings and those stupid what ifs that burned away at his sanity….

He still couldn't erase the image of her face. It haunted him, wavering on the edges of his vision. It maddened him. The guilt and his own reasoning clashed like waves on a defiant shore.

You shouldn't have-

I deserve to be happy

no you don't

It wasn't my fault.

It was. Unforgivable…

She didn't blame me...

There was hate in her eyes. You had no right-

I can think for myself!

Can you?

I can live my own life!

Can you?

Some scars sink into your skin, and melt away there, a faint line under the cellular organ of many colors.

Some scars grow continuously deeper, never expanding, only growing and growing and growing until they hit bone.

Some scars bleed.

Some scars scab and heal.

And some……never fade.

Just like people.

Just like our souls.

It loomed above all, the treetops light and everything below still and dank. No wind blew here. Nothing stirred. It was eerie and silent, boughs of darkness beckoning for all to enter, but none to come out.

He sat there, silent. His knees pulled up to his chest, his arms dangling off them as if he were a lifeless mannequin. His head looked down, at nothing.

A single Emolga hovered on by.

"I TOLD YOU TO LET ME CATCH IT,!"

"LIKE I WAS GOING TO DO THAT, YOU PSYCHO!"

"I LOVE LAMP."

"..."

Two young boys had stumbled upon Trey and stared at him awkwardly. He looked up, emotionless.

"I love yelling." One of them said.

Trey continued to sit there, then placed his head in his hands. His frame shook slightly and he threw back his head quite suddenly, letting his laughter out to the world. It was a laugh of a madman, the laughter of someone confined within a closed room for too long.

One of the boys looked up from the Viridian Forest map, nervously. "Dude?"

"Ahaha…." His laughter died slowly, and he exhaled. Inhaling again, his face regained it's usual bored composure, and he spat angrily at the ground.

"That Emolga….."

"What about her?" the boy with the map inquired lightly. "Did you see her??"

"Heh. Nevermind. It's nothing." Trey grinned slightly, standing up and looking toward the distance, off beyond the cradle of two large stones, where a clearing could be seen. "Who are you guys, anyway?" Trey inquired lightly, picking up one of his clipped pokeballs.

"I'm Chris." The boy with the map smiled.

"And me? I'm Andrew Krilling, expert Pokemon trainer and the reincarnation of TARZAN!!!!!!!" Andrew struck a pose, his smiling teeth glinting with blinding light.

"MY EYES! MY EYES!" Chris yelled.

"TURN IT OFF!" Trey yelled.

Andrew frowned sadly and closed his mouth. "I brushed really hard to get this smile."

"This Emolga has been paralyzing unsuspecting travelers as a prank. So I called my friend Andrew here to help me capture this fiend."

"This is my home, Viridian Forest, so when I heard the commotion I mosied over as fast as I could mosy on a vine. I will capture this prankster to restore peace to my home." Andrew proudly stated.

"Whatever the case may be. Emolga's are extremely fast and agile," Trey turned over to the two trainers. "We're gonna need an even faster Pokemon."

"WE?" Both Chris and Andrew inched closer to Trey.

"Yeah. I'll help." Trey smirked and pressed the button on the ping pong sized Pokeball in his hand to enlarge it to the size of an orange. "Grim!" Out came the large praying mantis, its large scythes tore through the tall grass surrounding it as it stood there silently.

"WOAH!" Both trainers were amazed by the rare bug type Pokemon.

Just then there was a loud barking as a large, purple and brown, Herdier launched himself towards the trainers from behind the trees. He skidded to a stop and growled at Andrew, who looked over immediately, a worried look on his face.

"What?! Bip, are you telling me the truth?"

Bip barked. "ROWR ROWR!"

"What's wrong?" Trey looked at Andrew's pale face.

"He's found the Emolga."

Well that's great!" Chris grinned happily.

"The Forest Guardian has put her to sleep and is torturing her with nightmares." Andrew finished.

"And….that's bad." Trey cracked his knuckles, and looked at Bip.

"Lead the way!" He ordered, and Bip nodded, launching himself into the depths of the forest towards the clearing Trey spotted earlier, the three humans and Grim following close behind.

Speed was of the essence. When they arrived to the end of the forest, the deepest part, a small Emolga was laying on the ground, writhing in pain. A large, blue Altaria, it's eyes glowing a burning white, was singing a beautiful tune, looking down onto the electric type. Nightmares in the form of fanged imps danced above her head, and luckily the Altaria was so absorbed in her Dream Eater attack that she didn't notice the five intruders until Grim performed a Pursuit Attack and slammed her across the clearing.

"Wow, look at him go." Chris observed, watching the battle.

"Yeah. I don't even have to order him around." Trey mused, looking slightly put out from that fact. Grim lunged quite suddenly to perform a Quick Attack, Altaria dodged and lowered her head to charge. Trey saw what she was doing and quickly thought it through. This pokemon was levels above Grim in literal and power terms. He would need to even the playing field.

"Leer!" Grim concentrated, and a cold chill ran up into Altaria's feet and eventually spread through his whole body. The dragon pokemon sagged, her Headbutt attack interrupted. She shook it off after a few seconds of weakness and lowered her head again, this time immediately charging for Grim. He took the brunt of the blow, flying through the air and landing a ways away, beside Emolga's body.

Altaria smirked, satisfied. She then turned to the humans, scowled, and lifted them all in the air telekinetically. Bip struggled to attack, but it was useless. Altaria's Psychic attack was far too powerful.

"Chris!" Andrew yelled, and Chris looked over at him.

"We're going to need some fire!"

Chris looked confused for a few seconds, then nodded.

"Right!"

"Ready…………" Andrew concentrated as he spoke out loud.

"NOW!"

Chris released his Flareon in the blink of an eye, the growling fire type released a fire spin the engulfed the Altaria. Trey watched as a ring of large flames dance around the confused pokemon, "Grim, use Vacuum Wave!" The fire and deafening waves combined to create a frustrating wall, a barrier of heat and noise. The Altaria scowled, and concentrated. While she kept up his telekienisis, she breathed out a veil of energy that protected her from the flames and made the explosion noise duller.

"Dammit!" Trey gritted his teeth.

"That's all she's got…." Chris muttered. His Flareon coughed up the last few embers she could and floated there, exhausted.

"What are we going to do?!" Chris asked Andrew, and he struggled.

"I think I have something…..BIP! USE GLARE, NOW!"

The Herdier opened it's eyes, now a blood red with slit pupils. He focused on the Altaria, and it shivered slightly, trying to look away. The telekinesis faltered.

"That's it!" Trey whooped happily. "Zilla! Scary Face!" The large jawed water type immediately shot a nasty look towards the wild Pokemon, who tried to look away. Zilla proceeded to stick out its tongue playfully and wave his behind around to catch its attention. As soon as it did, Zilla shot another Scary Face. It let down it's telekinesis immediately and began to chase the Croconaw around with numerous Headbutts. "Think Bip can help out now, Andrew?"

Andrew nodded. "Sure thing. Bip! Body Slam attack, now!"

Bip came up behind the distracted Altaria and charged into him with full force. The Altaria was knocked into the air, falling back to earth rapidly. Grim jumped high to meet the Altaria halfway, took her wings in between his scythes, and whirled her around several times, flinging her up and away, spiraling out past the treetops and far, far into the forest. The Emolga awoke almost immediately, and began to cry with thankfulness as Andrew picked her up in his arms and they all began to walk to Andrew's home.

Andrew lived in a small treehouse constructed of bamboo. It rested among the leaves of a huge, hulking Sitrus berry tree, gnarled and old. Inside, the place was small, with a cot, table, and chairs lined up against the wall. Andrew plopped everyone down in chairs, seated himself on the bed, and sighed.

"All's well that ends well, eh?." Andrew clapped his hands. The Emolga happily flying around the tree house.

"You're not going to use a Pokeball?" Trey raised an eyebrow as the Emolga landed gracefully on Andrew's shoulder.

"Don't need to, she's beyond happy we saved her so I think she'll stick around the treehouse for awhile now. Oh, and let me thank you for helping us out!" Andrew smiled as he handed a small item wrapped in a bandanna. Trey's curiosity was peaked and he unwrapped the item to reveal a dark stone with a fossilized leaf inprinted on it. "It's a leaf stone, living my entire life in the forest I've come across many items."

"This is a token of our appreciation." Chris added.

"OUR appreciation? It's MY stone that I'm giving him. I don't see you giving him anything!"

"I let him draw out the map of the forest I have, he said it would help alot so take THAT!" Chris snapped back. The two went at it for a little while longer and Trey looked down at his notebook he layed down on the desk. The leaf stone placed on the part of the map he no longer needed, from the treehouse it was about a ten minute walk to the exit it seemed.

He closed his notebook and placed it in his bag as the two broke out in a wrestling match, Bip and Emolga cheering on Andrew as Trey looked on. This brought a smile to Trey's face, and the boy chuckled.

For once in his life, Trey Vincent was happy.

The leaf stone held Trey's page in his notebook a breeze flew through the tree house. But the pages were shuffled about just enough to reveal a taped letter on the back cover of the notebook.

Dear little brother,

When I heard from Mom and Dad that you were taking an interest to Pokemon, I got so excited I decided to drive out to my old Academy and enroll you. It's a last minute registration but since I'm close with the dean of admissions she's decided to admit you! My shift just ended so I decided to just drive over to the Academy to pick up your registration packet. Sorry you couldn't come with me, work tied me up, again. That and the fact that some tourists keep fiddling around at the League Gate. I've had to chase snitchy old men away for days. I need a vacation.

Love you lots. I'll be home soon to see the smile on your face this packet bring to you. Count on it.

Mwah!

XOXOXOXOXOOX

YOUR BEST SIS EVAR,

Kari.

P.S. i told them you're name was Moe.

P.P.S. That was a joke. They know your name.

P.P.P.S. Nads. I win.

 

[moon]

Phew! So many posts in just one day. I'm thrilled and very happy, I just wonder when I'll get time to write my own haha. I would gladly have ten of your posts to read through rather than time to write two of my own though :D <3


@ Breezy.
Lost in the forest, oh no! I like that you made Pidgeotto female :3

- Wartortle grew to lvl 14!
- Nidoran grew to lvl 10!


@ Letham
Maybe a bit short battles, but you decide how to write and I just evaluate how much experience the pokémon likely got (and how much happened inside your post ;] )

- Lucy (Dewott) grew to lvl 14 and learned Focus Energy!
- Zeus (Blitzle) grew to lvl 10!


@ Red Wing
I liked that rival :D Colorfully written.

- Phoenix (Combusken) grew to lvl 14!
- Lily (Petilil) grew to lvl 10 and learned Sleep Powder!


@ Xlugon Pyro
That's got to be the longest post in the thread so far. Over 5000 words! Also, I'm impressed by the fact that you let Vuowth and Zoey lose to devastatingly.

- Vuowth (Grovyle) grew to lvl 15!


@ heretostay123
A beautiful rival, eh? ;) Ah, I'm thinking of catching a Swablu too. We'll see!

- Paris (Ivysaur) grew to lvl 12!
- Hector's new Swablu is on lvl 8!


@ Charizard_Man
Such a beautiful post ;; I really pictured the page fluttering underneath the stone at the end...

- Zilla (Croconaw) grew to lvl 16!
- Grim (Scyther) grew to lvl 10!
​

 

[Xlugon Pyro]

1-3; ROWDY ROOTS
Zoey Wyrmoki / / Route 2

15 *image removed*00 *image removed*00 *image removed*00 *image removed*00 *image removed*00

Kricketots sing their merry songs into the night, other Pokemon scurrying around in the grass, nocturnal predators making their move. However, little is joyful for Zoey, treading the lit path of Route 2 sluggishly. The bases of her eyes are dyed red from her tearful grief experienced at the hands of a rookie trainer who clobbered her only Pokemon with its pre-evolved form all while Zoey's Vuowth was unable to land a single blow. It was a truly brutal loss, granted her grovyle wasn't compliant in cooperating with her which only made the predicament worse. Although the tears have stopped flowing, depression takes its place, dragging down low the attitude of what's normally a perky, energetic person ready to take on the world. On top of it all, the sun set long ago, making evident just how late in the evening the lethargic young trainer has been out. What time must it be now? Nine o'clock? Ten? Even later? While her pokedex possesses a clock logging current time, such facts mean little to Zoey, whose morale has been savaged and maimed. Fortunately, her visage, embarrassing due to the obvious evidence of her crying earlier, is obscured by the darkness of the night. Not to mention, the night itself makes it unlikely for her to come across anyone who might notice her emotionally torn state.

Nonetheless, she treks onward, making her way towards the resting center at the forest' edge. At least the path at this time of night is tranquil. Nobody is around to disturb her, and the soothing music of nature's nighttime composers seem to ease the pain upon her soul. It certainly makes the journey to the center less of a strain, as she's likely to want all of the emotional support she can get before she arrives at the resting center up ahead. Fortunately, her journey across Route 2 is nearing its end, hiking over a hill the path crosses, giving a pleasant, albeit obscured by night, view of the entrance to Viridian Forest, appearing about as horrifying as possible in the dead of night. In addition, she spots the dulled lights of the resting point, just before the official gates leading into the forest proper. Sighing in relief, her pace quickens to a brisk walk, taking gravity's momentum in tow as she traverses downhill along the path towards the resting point ahead. The only problem now is finding a means to cope with her embarrassing reddened portions of her face below her eyelids. Looking over the glass sliding doors of the pharmacy-esque convenience store, she hesitates on the earlier fact, pausing in thought as the events of the past day occupy her thoughts.

Andy's earlier criticisms continue haunting the girl's guilty conscience, echoing through her mind. His critical words reverberate, causing her to reflect on herself as a trainer. Is she fit to be trainer? Should she even own Pokemon? These are all thoughts that've have torturing her ever since her battle against Andry from earlier. Her gaze shifts over to her pink sack, the container of Vuowth's pokeball, reflecting on the grovyle's abyssmal physical condition after the battle. She was so badly injured that the normally hostile lizard couldn't even express her malicious attitude towards her trainer, knocked out cold from battle. What could have happened in the past that caused Vuowth to become to aggressive towards humans and other Pokemon? The thought haunts her imagination, concieving of all sorts of horrible possibilities. Was she abused? If so, how, and by who, and for what purpose? There are too many questions to ask with no leads that hint at any possibility. Her only possible insight would lie with Professor Pine who gave her Vuowth, and frankly, Zoey would rather not have to interact with that woman ever again.

Right now though, the most important thing is clear. As the blonde Andy told her, not that she didn't know this already, ensuring the optimal health of her Pokemon is her first obligation as a trainer. Whatever her face reveals about earlier becomes inconsequential. Vuowth needs immediate medical attention, prompting her to slide open the door to the center, taking in the lit up insides of the fascinating facility. Off to the right there is a lobby that appears much like a larger living room, with sets of TVs all tuned to the same channel and arrangements of cushioned sofas and chairs, many of them occupied by travelers, probably all trainers like herself. To the left, however, are a few aisles and shelves filled with Pokemon themed merchandise, including all assortments of Pokemon treats, food meal categorized by species and elemental typing, and of course medical supplies, among other things. In the upper left corner just above the checkout counter, a clock is mounted on the wall just below the ceiling, detailing the time: 11:14 P.M.

"Past eleven? Figures..." Sighing after reading the clock, she continues slowly up to the counter, browsing the interesting merchandise in her aisle. "They have quite the selection for being out in the middle of nowhere. Food designed for grass-types? I should get this... Maybe a few antidotes and paralyze heals for the forest."

"Oh! That Andy guy left some change back there and this... coupon for... food, huh? I guess I could buy a sandwich with this," remembers Zoey, digging into her pink sack to pull out the coupon and money Andy left behind for her. "Why did that ass even leave his **** behind? For pity? Still, it wouldn't be wise to just refuse the money. I can use this."

Clutching a few cases of grass-type food in addition to a few packages of long-lasting general Pokemon food for those future partners who may join her team, she continues down the aisle, finding herself in the medical section of the small store. Zoey reaches up to a high shelf, pulling a few antidotes off the shelf before tossing them into her pack for ease of transport. She redirects towards the opposite shelf, taking a few seconds to idfentify a few potions and paralyze heals on the lower shelves, procuring them and adding them to her makeshift shopping bag. With her quick shopping over with, her course next takes her up towards the counter, ready for checkout.

"Hey, someone's out and about at this hour?" a masculine but young voice utters from up ahead, grabbing Zoey's attention as she meets the source of the noise. "Oh hey miss, what's a delicate creature like you doing out at this hour?"

In her current mood, the young man's flirting passes directly threw her, throwing up all of the desired merchandise onto the counter, waiting quietly for the cashier to process her purchases. What did grab her focus though is the fact that this establish is pretty built up for being a family owned small business. That must mean that the owners' son, maybe even grandson depending on how old the owners are is taking care of the night shift.

"Long day huh?" he asks, responding to her muted reaction as he slides Zoey's purchases across the bar-code scanner.

Zoey ignores his attempts at striking up conversation, reaching into her pink sack to withdraw Vuowth's pokeball, placing it on the counter so that the grovyle might receive much needed medical attention. She follows this up by placing Andy's sandwich coupon to its side.

"I see," says the cashier, recognizing her pokeball and reading its owner's intentions instinctively, as well as recognizing the coupon. "I'll take care of your Pokemon then. Just let me see your pokedex so that I may verify your ID. As for your sandwich, take a look over at the heated rack to my left there. There's not a lot of choices available but hopefully you can find something you like."

The girl follows the young man's directions, placing her pokedex on the counter before she briefly vacates the checkout area, looking over the available sandwiches. To her dismay, only 3 sandwiches sit on the hot rack, one being some sort of veggie burger, another full of weird junk including mustard, pickles, and other gross things. The beef patty and the glistening yellow cheese do no redemption for the food article. Her eyes then lock on the third sandwich, also unappealing. While it contains mayo, delicious provolone and cheddar cheese in addition to a great selection of meats, it also contains lettuce and onions, among other disgusting vegetables. If she wants food, she'll have to cope with the garbage on the rack, deciding to make the selection be the third sandwich. After all, she can always just pluck off the gross green stuff, granted the taste of the disgusting vegetables will still linger, but eating -something- takes precedence over having a satisfying meal.

Reaching for the sandwich wrapped in thin paper, she grabs hold of it and withdraws her hand, briefly gracing it against the rack's burning hot surface.

"Oh ****! Hot!" squeals the singed Zoey, quickly pulling out before suffering further anguish.

Blowing on her hand where it stings, her expletive grabs the cashier's attention in addition to other trainers laying low in the lobby, looking in her direction. The cashier raises an eyebrow before smiling at her, finding her scenario slightly amusing. By that time, Zoey's purchase is complete since the sandwich in her hand is free due to the coupon. Returning to the checkout counter, she places down Andy's money for her purchase, scooping the Pokemon food and first-aid supplies into her pink bag, zipping it up while she grabs her sandwich, unwrapping it in preparation for consumption before tilting her head back towards the counter, one final thing on her mind.

"You're all set then, miss. I'll have your Pokemon looked at, so be sure to check back in the morning. Have a good night!" states the young man courteously, waving her off.

"Do you have a room available?" Zoey inquires, seeking a place to rest for the night.

"Woah, miss! That's pretty sudden! I doubt my parents would be happy with me sleeping with a girl I just met buuuuuut If you insi-"

"Pervert!" blurts a disgusted Zoey, agitated by the man's expressed erotic interpretation of her words. "I need a place to sleep for the night. Alone."

"I'm afraid we're all booked. You can try to find a free chair or sofa to rest in in the lobby but it's pretty crowded in there. Lots of business today it seems," answers the man, acting as if the brief exchange earlier never even happened.

"Oh... ok," replies Zoey softer in a disappointed tone, heading out towards the center's exit.

With everything that she needs in her possession, she heads out towards the door, lifting up the top half of her sandwich's bread to investigate which items to remove. After hustling out of the center, she glances up at the night sky, examining the clear night and the endless population of stars illuminating the night sky. Her route takes her towards the tall grass several meters away from the resting center, tossing the gross pieces of vegetable on her sandwich into the wild, scouring each layer of her sandwich for the scantest presence of evil green substances. After her purging of disgusting sandwich extras, she closes up her sandwich and begins to devour her meal, enduring the leftover taste of the vegetables to sate her hunger. She completes the meal promptly before looking about her surroundings, finding a hill just off of the path with a tree at its summit. Zoey travels towards the hill's locating, scaling its moderately large slant before planting herself at the base of the tree, placing her pink bag beneath her head as she slides her noggin down to lie atop it. Her eyes take to the skies, exploring the beauty of the night, tuning into the soothing rhythms of the nocturnal concert around her, and lulls to sleep under the lightly shifting branches of the tree and the nighttime breeze, softly grazing the girl's still body.

Morning comes for the young rookie resting under the boughs of a large tree just south of Viridian Forest. Slowly waking from the sun's beams of illumination, she slowly sits herself, sitting against the tree for nearly a whole minute before pulling out her pink bag, resting it in her lap. The girl's hands gloss over its top, unzipping her bag to get hold of a bag of raisins and a few crackers, a simple but nourishing breakfast. Munching away at her early snack, she dusts the crumbs off of her breasts, finding her feet and flinging her zipped up purse's shoulder strap over her right shoulder. She leaps down the small hill, quickly connecting with the butt end of Route 2 that leads into Viridian Forest. The girl's focus fixes on the doors of the resting center, moving briskly towards and into the building in order to check up on her Vuowth. This time, however, a different man stands at the counter, him appearing much older, fatter, and balding.

"Good morning!" he greets her joyfully, smiling in a welcoming manner towards her. "How can I help this fine morning?"

"I'm here to check up on a Pokemon of mine," she replies, reaching the counter.

"Oh, I see!" he replies, but inquires further. "What's your full name?"

"Zoey Wyrmoki."

"Ah... Let me see here..." he assures the girl, his eyes scanning a monitor screen checking up on the Pokemon they have waiting with them. "Oh yes, your grovyle, is that right?"

"Yeah..." she confirms quietly, concern sinking in for Vuowth's well being.

"Oh... well..." the man hesitates, returning his gaze to her with a slight frown upon his face. "I'm afraid Vuowth has suffered serious injuries. It's nothing serious, but she's suffering from severe fatigue, overexertion, muscular tears and numerous contusions. We had her rest over night but she'll need to be under our care for the rest of the day to make a full recover. I'm sorry for this inconvenience!"

"Oh... alright...." acknowledges Zoey solemnly, frozen at the counter as she tries to determine what she's to do for the rest of the day while awaiting Vuowth's recovery.

"Might I ask what occurred to cause such serious injury to your grovyle? We don't typically see these kinds of incidents around her often," the man probes, curiosity piqued over the case of Vuowth's bad health.

"Uhm... I'd rather not say," Zoey responds slowly, turning away in shame over the events of yesterday.

"Oh! I understand! We'll be sure to get grovyle into tip top shape! Have a nice day!" the cashier assuring the teen optimistically in tone, before returning to his other duties.

The rest of the day moves along, Zoey hanging out in and around the resting center, watching the selected television channels, sketching Pokemon outside in the sun, or reading various manuals, magazines, and encyclopedias, catching up on important Pokemon facts and cutting edge technology and strategies for battling. It turns out to be a long, slow day, dull to such an extend that not even the sun's brilliant smile can make the day a better experience, at least for the patient Zoey, awaiting Vuowth's recovery from yesterday's gruesome battle. Day eventually turns to night, Zoey lying down on and napping upon a sofa in the center's lobby as the sky turns black once again. Stars twinkle in the night sky outside the broad windows overlooking a large slope that the center was built next to. Zoey's eyes slowly find their way towards opening up, slowly sitting up and rubbing her eyelids to correct her vision. In a lethargic slump, she pulls up her pink bag, slinging it over her shoulder and continuing towards the counter, glancing up at the time again over the counter. 9:44 at night.

"Well, look who woke up from a nap!" blurts the new cashier comically, the same perverted teenager from last night.

"So..." states the man in a low, long tone, placing his elbow on the counter while leaning his head on his hand, his eyes flirting with Zoey to her irritation. "What are you here for?"

"I think you know," suggests the young woman sharply, passive-aggressiveness in her words.

"Well alright then! I'll go check up on your lizard," assures the young cashier, holding the 'l' sound for a bit longer than the rest of the word as he begrudgingly heads into the backrooms behind the counter to obtain Vuowth's pokeball, disappointed by his failure to pick up a 'hot chick'.

Before long, the man returns, dropping the pokeball onto the counter casually, landing with a loud clank before it rolls in Zoey's direction. It's momentum nearly carries it off the counter's surface in freefall, until the girl's hands block the ball's path, catching its fall and placing it neatly inside her pack. Her piercing glare sets itself upon the careless cashier for his irresponsible behavior, who returns a similar grimace.

"What?" utters the irritable cashier. "Your grovyle is all fixed up now. Or do you need something else from me?"

Scoffing at his reaction, she cuts through his rude tongue like butter. "Nothing from -you-!"

The girl storms away, aggravated by the cashier's perverted, rude behavior. He's supposed to provide good customer service too, not hunt down attractive young women for one night stands!

"Perverted jackass."

The nocturnal grasses rustle from the late night breeze, another quiet, calm night like before. Zoey gulps in trepidation, glancing down on Vuowth's pokeball in her hand. Contemplating her next series of actions, the thoughts of what might happen next give her no comfort. More than likely, she'll have to try to find a way to make amends with Vuowth. Who knows how Vuowth might react given her past actions. Still, this needs to be done, rolling the ball around in her hands before grasping it between her finger tips, flipping it over and releasing the pokeball, calling forth Vuowth from her secret lair. The green lizard wastes no time recognizing her trainer, glaring at Zoey with apparent contempt, but otherwise stays her ground, eyeing Zoey closely.

"How are you feeling Vuowth? Better" asks the girl, speaking softly and kindly to ease the tension.

Vuowth simply stands there, glaring back at Zoey, scowling. Zoey notes, however, that the grovyle isn't attacking her anymore, but is still mostly unresponsive. Perhaps the battle might've changed Vuowth's attitude towards Zoey, but how? She certainly wasn't able to help Vuowth battle, granted Vuowth never complied to begin with. Nevertheless, the grass-type seems to have discovered a reason for forgoing violence in addressing Zoey, but the reason for this, if true, remains hidden. What might be the source of this change? Still, Vuowth Leers at Zoey dubiously, arms folded, suggesting something more must be at play. Vuowth remains apprehensive towards her trainer, distrusting Zoey's integrity, but less so unlike yesterday.

"Well, uh..." mutters the teen, juggling ideas around in her head, searching for the right words to convey her intentions to suspicious Vuowth.

"I'm really sorry about yesterday. I don't think I treated you with the respect you deserve but... I hope you can forgive me for my irresponsibility." Confessing further, Zoey continues, "I'd like us to be friends, so... uh... How about we do some training? We can go at your pace, ok?"

"Groh!" retorts the stubborn lizard, turning her back to her trainer in distrust.

Sighing, Zoey nonetheless continues pushing, "Please, Vuowth? I don't know what else to do. I just want us to be friends. Do you not trust me?"

Vuowth looks back, tilting her head slightly to eye her pleading trainer. In response, she nods her head at an angle to her left, holding the position briefly before completing her nod. Zoey's head shifts downward, disappointed in Vuowth's reply.

"I see..." she frowns, failing to convince Vuowth that she means well.

With no warning, Zoey aims her pokeball towards Vuowth, recalling the grass-type in failure. No ground is made, Vuowth unwilling to work alongside her trainer. Thoughts race through the clueless girl's mind, standing in place with her head slumped while wrestling with the conflict of finding a resolution to Vuowth's attitude towards Zoey. Several moments passs by in silence, the teen reflecting on what she did pick up on: Vuowth's absence of aggressive actions since the battle against Andy. What might be the reason for that change? Nothing logical comes to mind, but something else does. A lead, so to speak, that might later on reveal the reason for Vuowth's domestication.

Wading through the late night shrubs and grasses, Zoey scans the wild fields, hoping to find wild Pokemon that might be out and about at this time of night. The plan is clear: face off against a wild Pokemon with Vuowth in an attempt to build camaraderie. It's certainly a gamble for sure. Vuowth has yet to comply with any of Zoey's commands, so there's no reason to expect this to work now, but Zoey is a determined individual. Shaking off the criticisms of Andy from yesterday, Zoey won't give up until Vuowth learns to trust her. Thus, the search continues into the open grasslands and lightly wooded region of Route 2. Fortunately, the girl's search bears fruit, but in the least graceful outcome possible.

Clomping down on an unusually hard surface, absurdly loud squealing is heard from the grasses. To her surprise, Zoey is launched into the air, barely finding a safe landing, rolling into the grass after returning to the ground. Glancing around furiously, she spots whatever flung her into the air. There it is. The purple beast stomps on the ground in anger, glaring angrily towards Zoey, despite being mostly concealed by the grass. Roaring in rage, the Pokemon tramples towards the girl, preparing to skewer the pest that disrupted its sleep.

"Yieeep!" yelps Zoey, leaping to her right to dodge the purple monster's unidentified attack.

Taking the opportunity, Zoey draws forth Vuowth's pokeball, casting her out onto the grassland to face off against the Pokemon her trainer absentmindedly stumbled across. The girl then withdraws her pokedex, aiming it at the beast she found to uncover it's identity all the while as Vuowth takes to the grass, napping in the middle of what's supposed to be a wild Pokemon battle. Intelligent enough to figure out what's going on, there's no way Vuowth will deal with someone else's problem, despite knowing Zoey had intended to get Vuowth in the battle ever since she recalled her. Shouldn't have stepped on that wild Pokemon's face. Good luck dealing with your new friend, dumbass.

"WHAT!? Dammit Vuowth!! What the hell makes you think lying down in the middle of battle is a good idea!? Good grief..." fumes Zoey angrily while ducking in the grass.

Returning to the pokedex's screen, the wild Pokemon's identity is revealed. "Nidorino, the Poison Pin Pokemon. A poison-type, so we're at a disadvantage. Vuowth couldn't even defeat its pre-evolved form, so I hope she's ready for an evolved Pokemon with a type advantage."

To both Zoey's and Vuowth's surprise, the Nidorino ignores the girl completely, charging for Vuowth who's lying casually on the soft grasses. The beast's high-powered Peck jabs the unsuspecting reptile, launching her into the air.

"GROOOOO!" Vuowth squeals in pain, landing in a bush a few meters away, sinking into the leaves due to its weight.

Digging its left paw up consistently in anticipation, Nidorino focuses on the bush concealing the cloaked reptile, growling in fury.

"Dammit Vuowth, that's what you get when you don't cooperate!" Zoey affirms to herself, rushing out of the grasses that concealed her to respond to Vuowth's injuries. "Vuowth!"

Vuowth, meanwhile, pushes herself out of the bushes that caught her fall. Her vicious gaze pierces Nidorino, Leering at the disruptive oaf for interrupting her beauty sleep.

"Good Vuowth! Let's team up and defeat Nidorino!" suggests Zoey enthusiastically, feigning impression so as to convince the grovyle to obey her.

Vuowth cocks her head around, staring down Zoey as if to say to back off, returning her focus back on that ass of a Nidorino. The girl sighs, but nonetheless presses anyway.

"Alright. Let's start with a Quick Attack!" cheers on Zoey, but as is typical of Vuowth, she has other plans.

Nidorino blazes towards the grass-type, aiming its horn for Vuowth's core, but the grovyle adjusts, expanding her maw to reveal her sharp chompers, lunging forward at the purple monster. Crunch is the name of the game, preparing to place her mighty jaw on the Nidorino's front-left knee. This attack, however, misses, Vuowth missing her mark completely. Nidorino rebounds athletically however, blitzing toward the lizard and landing a fierce Poison Sting attack on Vuowth's blocking forearms, but her makeshift defense isn't enough, the poison-type's horn breaking through her crossed arms and injecting her directly in her torso. Stumbling back from Nidorino's momentum, Vuowth goes flying into the grasses behind her. The purple terror romps around vigorously, waiting anxiously for the grovyle's reemergence.

"Vuowth!" she sighs frustratingly, but remains cautiously confident. "We need to work as a team, Vuowth! Please listen to me!"

Zoey contains her irritation, hollering pridefully towards her green reptile, "This battle is yours for the taking! Let's try Crunch, but dodge Nidorino's next attack so that you can capture the better position!"

Nidorino roars in impatience, demanding Vuowth to return to the battlefield. The grass before the impatient brat rustles briefly, revealing a struggling grovyle, her face pale as if she's sick from something. Even so, Vuowth shoots Nidorino a harsh look, Leering in his direction, but Nidorino isn't fazed, grinning at the reptile under the realization of what's taking place. Vuowth exhales hoarsely, barely able to maintain her posture. By this point, Zoey realizes what has happened. Vuowth is poisoned, either by Nidorino's Poison Point or from its Poison Sting and it's taking its toll. Nidorino gives no mercy, speeding towards Vuowth, who struggles to shuffle out of the path of the poison-type's rampage. This time though, Vuowth manages to stumble out of the way of Nidorino's Peck, pivoting around while panting heavily from the poison.

"Uh... ok great dodge! Now, evade the next attack and use Crunch!" Zoey exclaims cheerfully to keep Vuowth's spirit high.

Reality sets in, however, Vuowth stubbornly holding firm, leaping directly at Nidorino, readying a Pound. However, the purple beast expertly sidesteps Vuowth's Pound, allowing her to land while turning his back to her, kicking his heels up and striking her twice with his two powerful kicks, using Double Kick to send the feeble lizard several yards away. With a resounding thud, Vuowth skids along the grassy fields of Route 2, unconscious once again and ailing from poisonous infection. Zoey wastes no time knowing that Nidorino will be after her next. Sure enough, the Pokemon shifts its focus and charges towards Zoey in blind fury. Accelerating to a full sprint, Zoey sucks Vuowth back into her pokeball with a flash of dull, red light, and takes off back towards the resting center, Nidorino hot on her trail and fuming with anger.​

Several minutes later, Zoey falls to her knees after escaping the wrath of the rampaging Nidorino, reuniting with the dirt path, across from it being the resting center. Catching her breath, Zoey glances down at Vuowth's pokeball. Releasing Vuowth from the ball, the girl digs through her pink bag for her first aid supplies, pulling out an antidote and bringing the bottle to the ill reptile's lips. Vuowth struggles, but is too weak to resist Zoey's restraints, squatting over Vuowth to prevent her getaway. With the grass-type immobilized, the teen pours the restorative fluid down the grovyle's gullet. She returns Vuowth's head to the ground, then erects herself, kneeling back down to sit alongside Vuowth and reflect on the events of the last battle, sighing to herself from the frustration of coping with her Pokemon's refusal to cooperate with her.

"You wont win battles with the tough girl act. If we work as a team, I think you could be more successful but you won't listen to me. I know you can't exactly tell me what's wrong, but I need you to give me some sign... some reason as to why you won't listen to me. I don't want to boss you around or anything, but at the same time, there are reasons why trained Pokemon in general win out against wild ones."

Vuowth doesn't put up a fuss with Zoey's words, but stubbornly turns herself over, showing her back again to her trainer.

"Vyle..." softly growls Vuowth, as if her spirit has been dampened somehow, exhibiting a new attitude from Zoey's perspective.

"Vouwth..." remarks Zoey in acknowledgment, looking over her weakened companion while giving her a spay of a super potion.

Revealing a deeper side to Vuowth at that moment, Zoey ponders on the behavior. The grovyle appears to be depressed in Zoey's mind, which on top of her stubborn nature would only contribute to further anguish. Whatever emotional suffering that Vuowth might be carrying within her, Zoey decides she must find a way to help her grovyle feel comfortable in her own skin. The girl will have to assure to Vuowth that she's worth trusting and an ally the grovyle can rely on, in addition to having faith in her trainer's leadership skills. For now at least, she hopes that the both of them will be able to rest well for tomorrow, they'll set out towards Viridian Forest and Pewter City beyond that. At least in the short term though, Zoey just HAS to find a way to get Vuowth willing to follow her directives. Viridian Forest will go very badly if her Pokemon is disobedient, especially against its plethora of bug and flying-types, Vuowth's type weaknesses.

 

[RedWing]

chapter 2; Strengthening the Bonds That Tie, Part I

Katherine Aldine // Viridian Forest

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As Katt and her comrades, Lily and Phoenix, approached the gate to the foreboding Viridian Forest, the young Trainer felt a sudden tightening in her chest. Up until now, Katt had the option to turn back and forget about this whole journey. But, now that she had begun to form a bond with Phoenix, even capturing a second Pokemon, Katt knew that once she stepped beyond this gate that she would never be able to return home.

"Problem there, lassy?"

Katt jumped, "Huh?!" Looking around, the girl spotted a grinning old man with a crook in his back and a walking stick standing just beyond the entrance to the forest. Where did he come from?

The old man laughed, "Didn't mean to startle you. You seemed mighty perplexed, everything alright?"

Katt nodded, "Um, yes, sir. I was just...thinking."

"Ah, I see," the man mused, "so are you looking to travel through the forest, then?" Phoenix clucked as an answer and Katt simply smiled, confident that Phoenix's response would be understood. "Wahahaha! Well, alright then, right this way, please," the old man said with a chuckle.

Katt hesitated, "Um..."

"What? Haven't you put two-and-two together?" The old man whacked the ground with his walking stick, "I'm the Gatekeeper of Viridian Forest, of course! Now, if you want to go through, then follow me!" And with that, the old man turned and began to walk into the forest.

Katt gulped and took a tentative step forward. The gate to the forest wasn't really a gate, per-say. The Viridian Forest ended at various points along Route 2, but the main "entrance" had a gate erected before it some fifty years ago. There had been plans to also build a fence, but the idea was turned down for fear of hinding the progress of nature and disturbing the Pokemon of the forest.

"Comb?" "Peti?" Katt's Pokemon both gave her concerned looks, causing Katt to finally shake herself out of her anxiety and step beyond the wrought-iron gate. With that out of the way, Katt hustled to keep up with the old man, barely noticing the setting sun behind her and the thickening trees before her.

--------------------------

"Ah, so you finally made up your mind, eh?" The old man teased Katt as she caught up. Luckily for her, the gatekeeper had stopped before an abnormally large tree that seemed to draw in the attention of anyone in the area.

Katt panted with exhaustion, "You could have...at least...waited!"

The old man chuckled, "Opportunity, girly, waits for no one! Now," he pointed his walking stick at the large tree, "This is known as the 'Viridian Cornerstone'. It is the first and oldest tree in this forest. It is Viridian Forest's only landmark, so if you get lost, just look for the top of the tree and make your way here."

"Okay, and then what?" Katt asked. Phoenix and Lily, she noted, were exploring the abnormally large tree.

"Well, then you leave and find me at my home!" The old man said with a laugh, exposing a mouth of gums and no teeth.

Katt grimaced inwardly, "And, where would that be?"

"Why, just a little way's before the entrance! You may have stopped there unknowingly. My wife is Patty, she's the woman who lets Trainers rest at our home on their journeys." The old man explained.

Katt should have been surprised, but somehow she knew this was Patty's husband. "Well, thank you for your help, sir," she replied courteously.

"'Sir'? Oh, no, lassy, my name's Weedlo!" Weedlo laughed, which Katt noted he did often.

The girl smiled, "Well, nice to meet you, Weedlo. And thank you for guiding me."

"Will you be alright at this time of the day, miss?" Weedlo asked.

Katt nodded, "Of course! I have a flashlight and Phoenix and Lily can protect me, right, girls?"

The two Pokemon gave a cry in unison, "Comb! Lil!"

Weedlo smiled at that, "Ah, well alright then. I must be off!" The old man departed from the forest's only landmark, leaving Katt and her Pokemon alone in a place where all sorts of mysterious events have been rumored to occur.

"Well, guys," Katt said, "I guess it'd be best if we try to travel as much as we can before darkness sets in." Her Combusken and Petilil agreed and the trio began to make their way due north of the Viridian Cornerstone.

--------------------------

After walking for what felt like hours with no sign of Trainers or wild Pokemon, Katt finally collapsed onto the forest floor.

"Ugh!" She let out an exasperated sigh after checked her Poketch, "We've been walking for only an hour and we haven't seen a single Pokemon! I thought the first was suppose to be teeming with them!"

Phoenix and Lily also sunk to the floor and sighed in exhaustion and disappointment. The three crestfallen comrades would have probably fallen asleep right then and there had they not heard an odd racket that seemed to be coming their way!

"Get it!!!"

"C'mon, guys, it's going to get away!!"

"I'm trying to keep up, but I haven't ran in weeks!"

It sounded like a group of young boys, and they were definitely heading in Katt's direction. Rising to their feet quickly, the trio prepared for an encounter, but were thrown off completely by the zipping form of a small, airborne Pokemon!

"Emo!" The Pokemon gave a cry as it flew past, and while Katt was distracted by it, three young Trainers barreled into her, knocking her flat on her hind!

"Hey!"

"Watch where you're going!"

"Crap, my ankle! Oh, wait...crap! It hurts!"

Katt rubbed her sore behind and took note of the three boys that trampled her. All three looked identical; tan skin, slight frame, broad straw hats, and a combination of blue shorts and white shirts.

"Um, mind explaining why you three bum-rushed me to the ground?" Katt asked, rather annoyed.

One of the boys, Kayy presumed he was the leader, spoke up, "We're sorry for bumping into you, miss! We're just trying to capture the Pokemon that flew by here!"

The second boy chimed in, "Yeah! It's an Emolga and they're super rare!"

The third boy added, "I don't think I can walk on my ankle!!"

Katt was confused, as were Phoenix and Lily. "Um, so the three of you were chasing that Pokemon...? Don't you have Pokemon of your own to battle it with?"

The first boy said, "Yes! But they're not fast enough for Emolga..."

The second expanded, "We only have one Pokemon each: My older brother Thomas has a Pidgey, I have a Pikachu, and our younger brother, Taylor, has a Caterpie."

Taylor cried, "Guys! I really don't think I can walk! Thomas, Trey, help!!"

Thomas and Trey both smacked Taylor on the head and said in unison, "Stop being a cry baby!"

Katt couldn't help but laugh; triplets, how hadn't she noticed immediately? "Okay, boys, no need to fight," Katt said, "I think I can help you capture Emolga."

"You can?" Thomas asked excitedly.

"Would ya?" Trey added with enthusiasm.

"That hurt, you guys!" Taylor sniveled.

Katt smiled at the three boys, "Yes, I'll help you. Now, c'mon, Emolga couldn't have gotten too far!"

The triplets all smiled and rose to their feet, "Thanks a lot, miss!"

"Call me Katt, okay?" Katt said.

"Okay, Ms. Katt!" The triplets said together.

Phoenix and Lily were perplexed, but Katt simply laughed and set off in the direction Emolga flew, with three new companions tagging along.

 

[moon]

@Xlugon Pyro
Dear Zoey sure doesn't have an easy time journeying, does she?

- Vuowth (Grovyle) grew to lvl 17 and learned Fury Cutter!
- Vuowth is also able to learn Pursuit. Forget a move to learn Pursuit, or stop trying to learn Pursuit? Answer in the OOC thread.


@ Red Wing
A nice opening to the second chapter! Since pokémon didn't do much, it didn't warrant any levels, but I liked it nonetheless :3
​

 

[Puppeteer Mask]

chapter one; FRIENDS AND RIVALS
Chapo Currian // Route 2

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Chapo was quite used to being out and about under the hot sun, and though she disliked what it would probably do to her complexion, part of her was tempted to curl up on a grassy hill and just sleep. However, she had more important things to do now. Like have lunch. Her hands rooted around in her bag for that Rage Candy Bar she knew she was supposed to have, but she couldn't find it anywhere. The words of her mother echoed in her head. Don't worry, I repacked for you. Chapo frowned in disappointment. ...her mom probably ate it on her. Trying to abandon her thoughts of a snack lost, Chapo instead took out her pokedex, flipping it open and casually sifting through it. It didn't have much in it... yet. That was, after all, the point of the pokedex, it was to be filled. If a trainer went out with one already full, it wouldn't be much point. There was, of course, another encyclopedia she needed to fill. The trainer hummed cheerfully. Yes, she had a lot of work to do, and she was quite certain a lot of that work would practically be play.

It occured to Chapo that she ought to get acquainted with her partner, so she pulled out the new Poke Ball. "Grotle, come on out!" The ball burst open with a flash of red light, and when it faded the giant snapping turtle was standing there, slowly shaking the bushes on its back in an effort to wake itself up. Chapo knelt down so that she was looking Grotle right in the eye before starting up. "Hi Grotle, my name's Chapo. I'm gonna be your trainer!"

Grotle looked at Chapo with some degree of grogginess and indifference. Slowly, though, it seemed to brighten up until it finally gave a seemingly easygoing "Grotle!" of approval. Apparently thinking that this exchange was more than enough formality, the Grotle began sniffing its trainer, appearantly fascinated with the contents of her bag.

"H-hey! That's not for you!" Chapo protested, trying to pull her bag away from the large pokemon. She was a bit too late, though, as a large jar of snacks was firmly lodged in the pokemon's mouth. "I said, those aren't yours!" The trainer tried to pull her goods back, but Grotle's grip was stronger, and the only thing that Chapo accomplished was to accidentally open the jar and spill its entire contents into Grotle's waiting mouth. The turtle gave a few long, drawn out chews, as if to emphasize exactly how little hope Chapo had to retrieve the food before he swallowed it all whole. Grotle promptly smacked its lips and let out what sounded like a cross between a contented "Groooot" and a rather undignified "brrrrrawwwwp".

"Charming..." Chapo said, disheartened. She tried to give the pokemon a disappointed look, but with the way the turtle pokemon just looked at her with such a happy expression... "T-that... that grin isn't gonna work on me..." Chapo tried to scowl even harder as her cheeks flushed angrily. But the Grotle just smiled even more. "...c-cut it out already... I said it won't work..."

"Grotle!" The pokemon said defiantly, now opening its mouth and giving its happiest look yet while shaking its bushes again. Chapo couldn't stop herself, she started to snicker and giggle at her pokemon's enthusiasm and hilariously dopey looking smile, desperate to try and admonish it but failing horribly. Clearly rather pleased with itself and under the impression that there were no hard feelings, Grotle sidled up beside Chapo and flattened itself down onto the ground, shaking its bushes every now and then. Chapo tried to pat the pokemon's shell and then stand up to move on, but Grotle would just duck in front of her and flatten itself each and every time, shaking its bushes invitingly.

"What're you on about now?" Chapo asked, rather perplexed. "Wait, maybe..." The girl dug her pokedex back out, opening it and letting it scan Grotle.

Grotle, the intermediary form between Turtwig and Torterra. Grotle have the unique ability to detect hidden water deposits, and as a gesture of good will carry smaller pokemon to them on their backs.

"Huh... is that it?" Chapo asked, closing the pokedex and putting it back in her bag. "Are you offering me a ride?"

"Grotle!" The turtle pokemon nodded in affirmation, once again shaking its bushes. Chapo looked down at Grotle, feeling a bit puzzled. How exactly would she be perceived if she used her pokemon like it was some sort of mule? Sure, it was practically demanding to carry her, but would other trainers realise that? It certainly seemed like Grotle was quite adamant about it, though... With a bit of uncertainty still lingering in her mind, Chapo eased herself onto Grotle's hard back. It took some shifting and wiggling about to get into a comfortable and practical position, but eventually Chapo was comfortably nestled in between Grotle's bushes. Expecting the pokemon to tear off at high speed as soon as she stopped moving about on his back, Chapo gripped at Grotle's bushes for safety. However, the turtle pokemon instead moved at a clip that was - while faster than the walking speed Chapo was going at - not going to break any speed records any time soon.

"Hmm." Chapo didn't say anything at first, trying to get used to the strange sensation of riding on the back of a giant turtle. It didn't take long, however, for her to decide that she quite liked it. "Thank you very much, Grotle." She said, patting the shell beneath her. "This is actually pretty fun!" The young woman chuckled happily as she looked around at the passing scenery. "Now that I think of it, I should give you a name... let's see..." Chapo tried to wrack her brain for a decent name for Grotle, but whenever she tried to think of names she kept getting sidetracked by thoughts of food. She was still rather hungry, given that Grotle and her mother had cleaned her out of snacks. "Ugh, it's no use, I can't focus on an empty stomach..." Chapo grumbled, her hands tightening on Grotle's bushes out of stress. It was then that Chapo noticed that something had... burst in her hand. Letting go of Grotle's bush and bringing her hand up, Chapo noticed that it was stained with some manner of juice. "What on..." The trainer looked closer at Grotle's bushes and saw that they were growing small berries of some kind. "Wow, you grow food, too?"

"Grotle!" Chapo assumed that was some form of yes. But to make sure, she pulled out her pokedex. She was right. According to it, the bushes on a Grotle's back did indeed occasionally bear fruit that was safe to eat. Needing little more encouragement than that, Chapo started to gather a handful of Grotle's berries. She popped one into her mouth and was quite pleasantly surprised by the taste!
"These are pretty nice, Grotle!" The amateur trainer tossed a few more berries into her mouth as she patted Grotle's shell. "Hmm... your name should have something to do with berries..." Chapo snapped her fingers. "I know! If I remember correct, dad had an old friend that used to make his own jam! His name was Roland... it's a pretty nice name..." Chapo leaned over and patted closer to Grotle's head. "How's Roland sound to you, Grotle? Do you like that name?"

"Grotle!" The decision seemed to be quite unanimous.

"Great! Then from now on, your name will be Roland!" Chapo said proudly, quite pleased with her first official act as Grotle's trainer. The newly christened pokemon gave an approving hoot before picking up in speed. The riding trainer gripped at a bush and reached up to keep her hat in place. The new name didn't seem to be the cause of Grotle's excitement, there must be something else. Had the pokemon perhaps noticed something? "What's on your mind, Roland? What's got you all stirred up?" Roland suddenly took a sharp turn towards a thicket of tall grass, eagerly bounding through it on some sort of inexplicable mission. Whatever it was Roland was trying to find must've been important to him, because he was moving faster than Chapo thought he could. "Hey, just... just slow down already! Whatever it is will be there whether you move fast or not!" Chapo admonished, now uncomfortably bouncing into the air on occasion and coming back down on Roland's shell. "Ow! Roland you're going too- ow! Seriously can't you just- OW!" Roland came to a complete halt in the middle of Chapo's sentance, causing her to come down on his shell even harder than before. The trainer winced and gingerly rubbed her behind before looking at whatever it was her pokemon wanted to see.

An oddly misshapen mound of dirt lay at the foot of a tree, a small twig with little leaves stuck at its top and twitching ever so slightly in the breeze. For whatever reason, Roland was fascinated with the mound, and lowered himself to the ground so that he could stare intently at it. Chapo couldn't grasp what, exactly, was so fascinating with this discovery. That was, however, until she realised that there wasn't any breeze for the twig to twitch in. Roland wasn't fascinated with a mound of dirt, he was fascinated in...

"Twig." The two leaves on the twig quivered as the little stick twitched. Something about the way it moved and the voice's tone gave Chapo the impression that the two of them were meddling in something best left unmeddled in. Roland, however, seemed largely undaunted.

"Grot!" The Grotle replied in a friendly way, nudging at the mound with a foot. The mound didn't move, but the twig on top was wriggling in a way that could only be described as angry. Roland remained undeterred, though, lifting his foot up and bringing it down on the mound. The dirt and soul broke away, revealing a rather miffed looking Turtwig underneath. "Grotle!" Roland tried to introduce himself to the Turtwig, giving its best smile again as the younger pokemon glared daggers at it.

"What's a Turtwig doing all the way out here?" Chapo asked aloud, staring at her pokemon's pre-evolved form with a measure of wonder. "I mean, it's not exactly a pokemon you run into every day... I wonder if I should catch it..." Chapo considered that. After all, even though she had Grotle, Turtwig was an incredibly rare pokemon, and Professor Pine would probably be quite pleased with such a catch. Before she could go any further with that line of thought though, she was interrupted.

"That would be very ill advised, lady."

"What!?" Chapo jumped when the musings she made to herself were answered. She looked around for the source of the warning, but couldn't see a single person in sight. "Where are you? Who are you, for that matter?"

"I'm up here!" Chapo looked up the tree to see a girl her age lounging in the branches. She appeared to have a similar figure to Chapo's but with short black hair and dark eyes. She couldn't make out a whole lot of the girl's features from a distance, but she definitely noticed the fine white jacket she was wearing, particularly with its black fur trim. "And I'm a pokemon trainer from Pallet Town. Turtwig's my pokemon. So you see, I'd really rather you didn't catch him!" The trainer swung around, now sitting properly as she looked down at Chapo. There was a big, friendly lopsided grin on her face not unlike Roland's.

"Oh! I'm sorry!" Chapo couldn't stop herself from apologizing. "I didn't mean to try and steal your pokemon, it's just..." The landlocked trainer reached into her bag and pulled out her pokedex, holding it out in the air towards Turtwig's trainer. "I've been sent by Professor Pine of Veridian City to work on this! I figured catching a Turtwig would probably help that along a great deal!"

The girl in the tree threw her head back and laughed. "Get the heck outta here, seriously?" She shouted down at Chapo. She reached into her jacket and pulled out - to Chapo's surprise - a Pokedex of her own. "Professor Oak gave me one for pretty much the same thing!" The girl's lopsided grin stayed the same. "Small world, huh?"

The trainer on the ground chuckled as well. What were the odds? Professor Oak was a highly respected name in the field of pokemon research. While Chapo's work for Professor Pine was virtually identical to the work trainers did for Oak, the other Professor was an incredibly experienced and well known figure. Trainers under his wing generally wound up becoming quite successful. "Stranger things have happened! But if you don't mind me asking, what exactly are you and Turtwig doing?" Chapo paused for just a moment before remembering an important detail. "Oh, ah, my name's Chapo, by the way."

"I'm Mia!" The Pallet Town trainer replied, waving down at Chapo. "How about you recall your Grotle and climb up here, and I'll show you!" Mia gave an encouraging wave up, gesturing for the girl to hurry. Shrugging, Chapo returned Roland to his ball before clambering up the tree as best she could. Below her, Turtwig had started to re-build his mound of dirt disguise, seemingly less impressed with this interruption than his trainer was. Chapo sighed and shrugged, continuing her uphill climb. After all, some things just can't be helped.

 

[Charizard_Man]

chapter two; VELVET LIGHTS III
Trey Vincent//Viridian Forest

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Mud and loose blades of grass caked itself into his shoes, and the occasional rustling in the bushes made his eyes dart over, worried that the Altaria – or something worse – would pop out. He looked up, the thick branches of the trees covering the sky, though a couple of rays of sunlight fought their way through and graced his face with its warmth. Looking down again, he turned his head to look at Grim, that same, bored look that his trainer had was plastered on his green face.

They walked in silence for a few moments, admiring the peaceful ambiance of chirping birds in the trees and a group of Swablu following after each other toward a berry bush. It made for a nice picture, once Trey pulled out his camera. Grim poked his head over to take a look for himself and seem mesmerized by the technology, his face only appearing more shocked once Trey scrolled over to pictures of him battling Altaria and Zilla.

As Grim was left to Ooh and Aah at the pictures Trey looked up ahead, and luckily his drawn out map showed that they were on a straight shot lead from the entrance to the exit, but that still didn't help them from not getting lost, especially when Grim continued to carefully try and hold the camera without slicing it prompting Trey to take it and proceed to get chased in a different direction by Grim.

"Okay!" Trey finally yelled, Grim only stood there silently and looked at his trainer with a bored expression. "Here, I'll show you how to take a picture so you stop chasing me with your death blades." Trey slapped one of Grim's scythes out of the way as he inched closer to the bug type that stood at least a couple inches taller than him.

"Scythee!" Grim pointed his scythe in the direction of a crawling Caterpie just a few feet away on a tree. Trey nodded and held the camera away from his face to allow Grim a clear view of everything he did.

"So you wanna make sure you focus it so the center piece of your picture will be crystal clear, the camera will do most of the work anyways so just aim the camera." Trey chuckled and glanced over at the smiling Scyther. He looked back as he snapped the picture, and just as he did he…a shadow caught his eye and the boy did a double take.

The shadow was standing in the bushes, in the background of the picture silently. It was there, tall and imposing upon the back drop of peaceful green foliage. Trey shuddered. It was staring at him; even though it was only a photo he could feel its eyes boring into his. Every fiber in his body told him to look up from the camera.

So he did.

And when the boy did, it was gone.

What had that been?

Grim stood there chopping at tree he had cut down, it wasn't for firewood - or any other particular reason really. He just liked to chop things, it kept his blades nice and sharp. Sharp to cut things, and boy did he like to do that. He glanced over at his trainer, who was sitting on a piece of the log he was chopping at writing down things in his notebook. He couldn't read obviously, so it all looked like scribbles to him.

"Grim, what's the forest like at night?" Trey asked him, the trainer didn't look up from his notebook to even look at him when he talked. This human was always so absorbed in his notebooks, or that shiny and awesome camera of his. Grim only mumbled his name to the human, which was all he could understand anyways.

"You know, one day I'd like to write a guidebook about Kanto. Recording all the sights I see, once I make a name for myself that is...maybe...that'll bring him back..." Trey muttered that last part to himself as he looked up from his book and gazed up into the canopy of the forest.

This human, there was something about him. Something different than any other trainer who would waste his time with second long battles and failed capture attempts. Something was wrong with him, even though he had only been his trainer for a short amount of time he already felt close to the human.

"Scythee." He mumbled and decided to sit next to the trainer. He was always alone, it was nice to be able to have some company. Even if it was a human.

"OI! BIG TRAINER!!"

Trey looked over, down the part of the stomped grass road that usually led trainers through the forest, to see two young boys walking towards him. Andrew and Chris? Nope, they were younger.

One was familiar with his backwards blue baseball cap and wrinkly, grass stained shorts. The other one even dirtier, dressed in a white tank top and holding a large net, his head covered in a large brimmed hat.

"We're Joey and James! They call us the Famous Youngster and Bug Catcher Duo of the Viridian Forest. And we see you have a Scyther there, very rare. You must be good, we DEMAND a battle!"

"Battle, huh?" Trey smirked once the two challenging trainers reached him. "Don't supposed you'd let me decline?"

"NOPE!"

Trey stepped up and sighed. "It can't be helped," he muttered, rolling his eyes. He then wiped at his nose cockily.

"Let's start this battle already. I'm itchin' to use my new Pokemon in battle!!" James waved his bug catching net around frantically.

"Double battle of course, I'll use two Pokemon against you're two." Trey unclipped a pokeball from his belt as Grim hovered over.

Both Joey and James looked at each other before nodding. "Fine," they answered in unison. They then both walked a couple of feet away so there would be enough space for a battle.

"Zilla!" In a flurry of light, the big blue Croconaw snapped his jaw at his opponents. Grim stepped over next to Zilla and ran his blades against one another, a small smirk spread across his face.

"Go, Rattata!" Joey let out a tiny rat Pokemon and quickly commanded the first attack without the other trainer's consent. "Attack that Scyther with a Tackle attack!"

Rattata pawed at the growl, snarling cutely, before jumping up toward Grim in an attempt to tackle him but failed when Grim flew up higher to dodge. The Rattata landed on the ground roughly, turning his head to see Scyther buzzing around above him mockingly. The Rattata, in return, growled menacingly, hopping around to face forward.

"Stupid move," Trey mumbled.

Grim landed firmly on the ground and regaining composure, immediately fired off a Quick Attack. He zoomed across the clearing, rapidly beating his wings to speed up even more and rammed into the Rattata's back. The rat bared his teeth and snapped at the Scyther who dodged the Bite attack.

"Enough of this! Go, Masquerain! Use your Bubblebeam attack on the Scyther!" James ordered.

Masquerain inhaled deeply, her tiny frame puffing out, before sending out a jet of bubbles at Grim. He gritted his fangs as the attack hit dead on, the force of the attack blowing him back a few feet, kicking back mud and grass in his wake, but he held his ground. He yelled stubbornly and jumped back onto the field, dripping wet, glaring at the Masquerain.

"Use your Bite attack on the Rattata, Zilla!"

Zilla growled in response and dashed over the wide-eyed Rattata, snapping down hard on his tail. The Rattata squealed and frantically started to run in circles, dragging the Croconaw behind in the dirt. Zilla only bit down harder in return, causing the Rattata to squeal again and trip over his feet, knocking his head hard on the dirt. Dazed, the Rattata got back up as the water type released it from his giant jaws, only to stumble about dizzily and fall back to the ground, exhausted.

The younger boy trainer slapped his forehead. "We're doomed," Joey said sadly as James returned his Rattata in a beam of red light. He then shook his head, focusing on the battle. "Let's try and win this anyway! Use your Supersonic on the Scyther!"

Masquerain flapped her wings together rapidly, and out poured a high pitched screech, deafening to the human ear, let alone the sensitive ears of a pokemon. All three trainers covered their ears, their faces cringing, as the Masquerain turned her head toward Grim, the high pitched screeched blocking out her hearing. Grim flung his scythes about in confusion, circling around the field with his eyes glazed over.

"Crap, try a Pursuit!"

Grim's eyes were still glossed over, yet he zoomed over to what he assumed to be the Masquerain, a very still moving, gigantic Masquerain. As he got closer, his blurred vision became crisper, noticing that the very still moving, gigantic Masquerain wasn't really a Masquerain but a tree instead. He tried to stop, but he ended up eating a mouth full of bark, his head colliding sickeningly with the tree. He fell down onto his belly before pushing himself back up, grumbling even more confused due to the collision.

Trey rubbed the back of his neck then snapped his fingers, this was a double battle! "Zilla, Aqua Jet!"

Zilla nodded, running fast and jumping as high as he could before bursting off in a blast of water, but the Masquerain simply evaded it by flying higher. Zilla landed on the ground and quickly turned around, trying to clamp his jaw down on the bug, but Masquerain flew up even higher, chirping cheekily.

"Since Zilla won't be able to hit that thing, I have to try to stall until Grim snaps out of confusion," Watching the bug stumble around in a daze. "All right," Trey said under his breathe.

Zilla growled, confidently as he dodged another Signal Beam the Masquerain sent at him. He looked up, Grim was still running around aimlessly, growling to himself.

"Let's go Grim, you got this!" The boy yelled out. Grim stopped running around and circles and managed to fix his gaze on Trey. "I'll let you play with the camera?"

Grim expanded his scaly wings, zooming straight toward the Masquerain and hit her directly, the tip of his blade striking at her chest sending the bug flying until it hit the trunk of a tree hard. The bug slid down the tree until her disgruntled trainer returned her.

Trey returned both Zill and Grim, and fanned himself using his cap. "Now if you two wouldn't mind, I'm trying to get out of this forest."

"No way!" Joey remarked haughtily, crossing his arms. "After what you two did to my precious Rattata?"

James rolled his eyes. "Ignore him; he can't take losing easily. Go ahead, and good luck with the rest of your journey!"

Trey started down the path again, glancing down at his map every so often.

A flash of something surprised Trey as he walked. He blinked his eyes rapidly, trying to get the image out of his head. But it wouldn't go away.

Finally, the image disappeared before flashing one final time. Trey rubbed his eyes, he was obviously tired. But that image was still in the back of his mind.

That photograph.

 

[moon]

chapter two; part I
Aberdeen Black // Viridian Forest

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The next morning, the weather was bad again. Aberdeen gloomily ate breakfast and wasn't at all thrilled to be venturing out into the deep forest when the sun was nowhere to be seen. Servine, sitting on a chair beside his trainer at a table, had just the same unenthusiastic expression. Blitzle, however, couldn't sit still. Instead of calmly sitting down and eating the breakfast that Aberdeen had bought for him, he stood by the large window, staring out at the dark clouds with twitching movements, as if he thought a lightning would strike the ground at any moment. That would be joy, for him.

When he was in the herd of wild Blitzle, the others had always thought he was immature for loving to watch dark clouds like a little kid. But now he was free. The realization had struck him as soon as they had come back to the resting house in the night before. He didn't have to follow the rules of the herd anymore. Aberdeen really didn't put many restrictions on him at all, more than that he shouldn't run away again and that he should obey him in battle. Other than that, he could be as immature as he wanted to. Something Servine found very annoying but put up with nevertheless. For now.

"Ugh. Maybe I should get a rain poncho or something," Aberdeen mumbled through the chewing, realizing that he hadn't packed anything rainproof to wear. "I wonder if there's some place selling them here." They were sitting in a very small café now, in a wing of the resting house. It was usually crowded at breakfast time but since Aberdeen had woken up so late, he was pretty much alone here and could let out his pokémon without anyone complaining. Behind the counter stood a fat lady who didn't look too pleased with Blitzle's crackling, but she didn't say anything.

"Just a coffée, because we love coffee and it's better than lots of fat brunch. Right, Tsutarja?"

Aberdeen swallowed and turned around quickly at the sound of the sweet yet so horrible voice. Indeed, it was Karen, holding her Snivy and ordering a coffee from the fat lady. When she met Aberdeen's half-awake gaze, her eyes flew up to his unmade hair which for once lacked the, in her eyes, really silly headwear. She just scoffed.

"To go, please," she added to her order, earning a grunting from the counter-lady but got a paper mug in her hand instead of a china one, like the one holding hot chocolate on Aberdeen's table. Without a word to the boy, she then left the café. Snivy just waved happily to Servine, who only stared blankly back.

"Eh... I really don't get that girl. I almost thought she was becoming nice the other night. But. Uh." Aberdeen sighed and finished his breakfast. Servine didn't eat anything more and Blitzle suddenly appeared to finish the breakfast for him. Not a single crumble was left two minutes later.

The tiny supplies store at the resting house was out of rain ponchos. Aberdeen had to make due with buying a teal colored umbrella. Feeling like the dorkiest guy ever, he forced his pokémon into their pokéballs to try and avoid extra attention and started trekking towards the edge of the dark Viridian Woods. His bag was almost clanking as he walked, from the medicine and food his mother had told him on the phone to buy. She was a bit too worried, he thought as the bag quickly became very heavy. As soon as they were inside the forest, he got an idea though. He let Blitzle out and after getting the pokémon to walk calmly rather than hop around in joy over the bad weather coming, Aberdeen hung his bag around the blitzle's neck, tightening the strap so that it sat tight enough without strangling him. The pokémon was a bit confused at first but didn't seem to really mind the extra weight.

Then it started raining. Holding the umbrella in one hand and sticking the other deep into the pocket of his shorts, the brown haired boy sourly walked along the path deeper into the forest, the blitzle walking behind him and throwing excited glances at the sky as often as he dared to. He happened to love rain. Servine did so as well, but he was currently trapped inside of his pokéball and couldn't enjoy it. Too bad, Blitzle giggled at the thought. He still wasn't best buddies with the reptile, even though he had accepted that they were now playing on the same team.

Suddenly, Aberdeen noticed that he wasn't walking on open road anymore. The ground was cluttered with vines and roots, and it looked like they were almost crawling and stretching out over the path as if they wanted to do everything they could to make it cease to exist. Rather creepy. Looking ahead, it didn't seem to get any better. Aberdeen shuddered and put on his headphones. He had thought that the forest would be an adventurous and fun episode of the journey, but now it only seemed to mean trouble for him. He could at least drown his grumpiness with some good soundtrack music.

*link removed*

Not many seconds of the track had went by before Aberdeen suddenly heard a noise behind him that was not rain nor thunder. It was a buzzing noise. Turning around, he gasped.

Blitzle was standing there, looking agitated but also slightly guilty. Hovering behind him, closing in on the pair from the bushes along the road, were two large, yellow beedrill. Their stingers gleamed in what faint light distant lightnings in the dark clouds gave. And they did not look happy.

"Blitzle... did you zap them?" Aberdeen asked, feeling his pulse rise as he took some precautionary steps backwards. Blitzle replied by turning around again, ready to fight the beedrill. One of them dove straight at the blitzle, but Aberdeen did not feel like casually battling poisonous pokémon in this rain. Just as a thunder lit up the sky, a red beam sucked Blitzle back into the pokéball Aberdeen held out, right in time to evade beedrill's sting. The boy's bag fell to the ground into a puddle, apparently not coming with the pokémon into the sphere.

Aberdeen cursed under his breath as he quickly ran forth and picked up the bag, narrowingly jumping away in time to avoid an attack from the other beedrill. Now, that did it. He changed his mind. "Blitzle!" he called out. "It's your fault, now fix it!"

The pokémon appeared from it's pokéball again and just shrugged in agreement; he had nothing against that. Especially not in this good weather! One of the beedrill dove again.

"Blitzle, dodge with Quick Attack!" Aberdeen shouted, remembering how one of his favorite trainers on TV often used that move for evasion purposes. Blitzle didn't seem quite sure of how to do that, and shot forward instead. He hit the beedrill with rapid force, but got stung by the twineedles as well. The bug tumbled backwards and Blitzle fell to the ground with a stinging wound.

The other beedrill dove with its own twineedles ready like lances. Aberdeen took to the ugly trick again, he recalled Blitzle into his pokéball. "It's not an official battle, so... go!" he then said, once again sending the blitzle out. The rapid retreating and charging made Blitzle a bit confused, but when the first beedrill came around again, he used Charge on his own accord, more to boost his own moral than anything.

"Why doesn't he have any good electric attack?" Aberdeen mumbled. "Hey, beedrill!" he called out spontaneously. Both beedrill actually listened up and began soaring down towards him instead. "Uh..." Maybe that hadn't been such a good plan. Or maybe it had? Yes!

"Quick Attack, Blitzle!" he screamed as the bugs flew closer, making visible trails in the rain falling on their way to attack the boy on the road. Aberdeen stumbled backwards and fell over his own bag, his heart skipping a beat when the thought struck him that he might actually get stung anytime now.

But Blitzle came like a lightning from a clear sky and tackled a beedrill from the side, making it ram the other and making both fly into a bush by the road rather than through Aberdeen's body. One second went by without any noise. Then the buzzing began again and Aberdeen scrambled together his limbs and his bag and got up. "I doubt Tail Whip will work on these," he said to Blitzle, who had begun whipping his tail around like he did when fighting his old boss the night before.

Only one of the beedrill came up from the bush but it looked really angry. Aberdeen knew he couldn't stay on the road if he hoped to escape this. With his limbs unpierced. He motioned to Blitzle to follow and ran into the woods on the other side of the road. He wasn't use to running through this kind of thick terrain, especially not when it was raining and when being chased. He could soon tell that Blitzle wasn't used to it either, from the complaining noises he gave out while they zig zagged between bushes and tree stems. The ground wasn't flat either; rather there were tiny hills and holes everywhere, it seemed. All of a sudden, Aberdeen's feet found no ground and he just had time to look down before he fell helplessly down into a pile of moss. Blitzle took a real leap and landed in front of him on his feet instead, staring questioningly at the wet bundle in the greenness, which was his trainer.

Aberdeen sat up, panting, and realized that he couldn't hear the beedrill anymore. They seemed to have escaped. He sighed. "I really should find myself a fire type. Or some other elemental type."

Blitzle snorted and turned around in disapproval. Aberdeen just shook his head back. "It's you who can't do elemental moves. I'm a human, I'm not even supposed to have them. So don't look like it's my fault."

He made sure that his bag was alright and had everything in it still. Then he got up and walked a few meters to come in under a great oak rather than standing out in the rain by the steep hill where he had fallen. That was when he realized that he must have left his teal colored umbrella by the road.

"We probably need to go back. I think I can find my way back, even though we didn't really run... straight..." Aberdeen trailed off as he looked around and had turned his gaze upwards. Blitzle raised an eyebrow and followed his trainer's example. What they saw was both eerie and curiously beautiful.

The oak canopy was very wide with many old, thick branches and countless smaller spreading out. From at least twenty of these hung strange, green pods in long white strings. They swayed silently in the slight wind that the rain around the oak made. Aberdeen couldn't help shuddering, even though he did think it looked cool. He was clever enough to realize that these pods were some kind of pokémon. Pulling up the pokédex from his - rather wet - bag, he found out just which.

"A steel-hard shell protects its tender body. It quietly endures hardships while awaiting evolution."​

"Yikes. So they just hang here, waiting to evolve? That's so sad!" Aberdeen said and wrinkles formed on his forehead. "Won't the caterpie and butterfree take care of you? Why would they leave you out here in the rain!"

No reply. Of course. He didn't even see any eyes on them. He also couldn't reach them. But he knew someone who could. He put the pokédex away in a pocket and took out Servine's pokéball from the belt he had bought at the resting house. Servine appeared in the wet moss between the boy and the thick stem of the oak tree and looked happy to be out in a real forest, a moist one at that. Pity there was no sunlight, is all.

"Servine, can you pick down a metapod for me?"

The grass type blinked at his trainer. Seriously? Why disturb them?

"Come on, pal! I just want to see what they feel like to touch." Lies. He wanted to capture one. Servine could tell. Not that he cared overly much about pokémon he didn't know. Yet. Maybe someone would miss the metapod if they picked it down. Maybe no one would notice it was gone. Servine didn't care, when it all came down to it. So he nodded at last and reached out with his vines. Grabbing the nearest metapod which hung two meters up into the air, he pulled to get the string to break or release its grip on the pod. But it was too strong.

Aberdeen and Blitzle both had to grab onto Servine and help pulling. With their combined effort, the string finally broke with a little 'snap' and metapod flew into Servine's open arms. Aberdeen and Blitzle had fallen over, but the boy quickly got up with a smile and hurriedly made Servine hand the pokémon over to him. Lifting it up, he discovered that it indeed had eyes. Two of them, and they were now staring at him as if saying: how dare you?

"Hehe. Hi! I'm Aberdeen!" he said, finding it funny that a motionless pod could be angry with him. "Let's be friends, ok?"

Just then, a rustling noise was heard and a shower of raindrops fell down on Aberdeen and his pokémon. Something had rustled the canopy. Two seconds later, they found out what. A swarm of at least a dozen butterfree came down. They fluttered around the hanging metapod, accidentally brushing them lightly, making them swing back and forth in their strings. Their wings glittered and their big eyes were like red rubies. They made strange giggling noises and didn't at all buzz like beedrill had. Aberdeen found himself staring upwards, jaw dropped, lost for words and with the metapod in his arms. The scene was just too serene.

Blitzle tried to zap a playful butterfree with his Charge technique, but as it wasn't really offensive, it didn't do much else than tickle the bug. Servine swayed his tail dangerously as a warning to any of the bugs to get too close to him. They didn't, luckily.

After a few minutes, Aberdeen could finally stop staring. The music in his ears had not made this scene justice; it had been too upbeat. But it had still been beautiful. "So you are taking care of your kin. Of course you are," he said softly, smiling. One butterfree flew down to him, just as it seemed like the others were about to leave and fly up into the canopy again. The bug hovered just in front of his face, staring at him with its ruby eyes.

"Oh... you want me to return Metapod? But..." He looked from the butterfree to the cocoon. "You're kind of beautiful. Just think of how good a butterfree would be to impress girls with! I want to keep Metapod. I want to raise it into an even more beautiful butterfree! Can't I do that? Metapod, can't I?"

The butterfree just giggled, but Aberdeen had a feeling it wasn't meant as a laughter. Metapod just stared up at him. But no one acted. Aberdeen took that as an approval. "I will care for you, just as well as your kin has done!" he told the pod, patting it. The eyes kept staring, but the boy imagined that they were a little less offensive now. The butterfree in the air didn't say anything now. It just flew away, in its serene, fluttering way, leaving Aberdeen, Blitzle and Servine with their new teammember. A very silent and still one. But perhaps one with an attitude.

@ me

- Blitzle grew to lvl 11 and learned Shock Wave!
- Aberdeen's new Metapod is on lvl 8!


@ Puppeteer Mask
Very nice intro post! Can't wait to see what Chapo's and Mia's relationship will be like.

- Roland (Grotle) grew to lvl 11!


@ Charizard_Man
Nice battle! I could really see Grim move around in my mind :)

- Grim (Scyther) grew to lvl 12!
- Zilla (Croconaw) grew to lvl 17!​

 

[Xlugon Pyro]

2-1; VELVET LIGHTS
Zoey Wyrmoki / / Viridian Forest

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Rolling on to her side, Vuowth rests her head against her left hand, napping on the forest floor. Early morning rays find openings through the forest's boughs, shining down upon the leaf coated ground where Zoey and Vuowth are locked in combat... kind of.

"Vuowth! No, I said use Quick Attack! Why wont you battle?" screams Zoey in frustration, piercing the unfazed grovyle with a disappointed expression.

Vuowth, meanwhile, tilts her head back slightly, smirking towards Zoey in ridicule. The teen merely replies to her disobedient lizard with an exaggerated, angry frown. Their opponent, or what's supposed to be their opponent, chatters in what appears to be boisterous laughter. Bubbling with overconfidence, cocky sewaddle fires a stream of gross, silky String Shot straight at Vuowth, preoccupied with her morning 'nap'. Big, BIG mistake. Vuowth's almost blissful forest snooze is shattered with a splattering of sticky white stuff to the face, coating her eyes. Someone's about to be sent to hell.

"G-GROOOOOOOOVYYYLE!!" roars in rage, pulling off the string from her face to reveal her slanting, bloodshot visage.

This outbursts startles both Zoey and the sewaddle, causing the girl to jump back and yelp. Sewaddle, meanwhile, terrified by Vuowth's instant change of attitude, scurries at top speed back into the tree that concealed it earlier. What Sewaddle doesn't know, however, is that it faces the king, or in this case, queen of jungle predators. Vuowth jets toward Sewaddle's tree, leaping up into the leaves with angry haste, displaying an unusual technique from what otherwise appears much like a Quick Attack to Zoey. In response, she peeks over at her pokedex she withdrew earlier, preparing a scan on Vuowth.

"Oh!" identifies the girl, catching sight of a fascinating new detail regarding Vuowth.

A sharp squeak echoes from the rustling leaves of the large tree before Zoey before she hears the sound of a hard thud, lending Sewaddle straight into the leafy forest surface. Vuowth appears in an instant before her prey, kicking the unconscious Sewaddle softly in controlled anger. The battle she just witnessed confirms the pokedex's entry. Vuowth had used Pursuit, striking with blinding speed at a retreating sewaddle for double its normal damage, a technique that normally wouldn't have taken out Sewaddle in a single blow without taking advantage of the move's secondary effect.

"Vuowth! You learned a new move!" Zoey celebrates excitedly towards her victorious lizard.

Vuowth simply glances back at her trainer with slight contempt towards Zoey's words, before turning around and leaping up into the former home of her opponent, lying down on a tree branch to resume her nap.

"I don't think so!" Zoey affirms, reprimanding Vuowth's disobedience before sucking the defiant reptile back inside her pokeball.

The girl glances over Vuowth's pokeball, crooking her smile in frustrating concern before depositing the pokeball into her bag, sighing. "She still won't listen..."

And so, the journey into the deep green Viridian Forest continues. At least Vuowth, in Zoey's mind, has proven she can battle when she puts her mind to it, but it still doesn't help considering how reckless she is. Fixing her rebellious behavior is another matter. She acts like she was traded to the girl, which in a sense, she was given to her as a gift. Still, her behavior is unusual for a starter Pokemon. Maybe it's not the best decision to lend new trainers an evolved Pokemon to start with, but what's done is done. Vuowth is hers, and hopefully, this forest can act as the arena of change in the grovyle's heart. She'll need to be cooperative to be able to take on the first gym up in Pewter City.

 

[Letham]

chapter two; Velvet Lights

Ben Tobin // Viridian Forest // pt. 1

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Viridan Forest was much, much darker on the inside. The thick dense trees stretched high into the canopy of the forest, shrouding the trail ahead in near darkness. Some light was able to poke its way through, but it was fairly dark. Ben was sitting on a stump with Lucy and Zeus across from him munching on treats he'd saved from the rest house. He was eating an apple and sipping water from the last bottle he'd packed. It was near full but he wanted to conserve as much as he could, having given the two Pokemon a bottle each to themselves.

From his seat he could see a congregation of wild Sewaddles playing in the bushes and also a nest of sleeping Kakunas stuck to a tree trunk nearby. He took out the Pokedex from his pack and checked over the wild Pokemon said to be found in the forest, one in particular catching his eye; a picture of a smallish blue Bug-type with round yellow eyes and a strange horn on its head. He was about to read the rest of the entry when he began to hear a strange whooshing sound from behind him. He turned on the stump as a blur of white and brown feathers flew past him suddenly. He followed the sight, barely able to keep an eye on the odd bird Pokemon as it landed several feet away, looking over the nesting Kakuna on the tree. It looked hungry.

Ben aimed the Pokedex at the bird and the entry was read aloud by the handheld computer; Pidgeotto, the bird Pokemon. It renders its prey immobile using well-developed claws, then carries the prey more than 60 miles to its nest.

"Hmmm. A Flying-type huh? That could be a great addition to our team. What do you think guys?" He looked down at Lucy and Zeus who had turned also to watch the odd Pokemon as it sauntered around the tree, pecking lightly at the Kakuna, judging if there were any Beedrill in the area. Lucy turned to Ben with a grin, nodding happily as she munched down a treat. Zeus was unsure, still eyeing the Pidgeotto for a moment before turning back to his trainer.

"I think you're right, Luce." He said, getting to his feet quietly so as not to disturb the bird, wiping himself off and stowing the Pokedex away, shouldering his pack.

"Well, Zeus, I would be inclined to say you're the best bet for a capture as an Electric-type but sadly you don't know any actual electric moves yet. So Lucy, you're up girl." Ben said feeling excited at the prospect of adding a new member to his team. He recalled Zeus and he and Lucy crept up behind the Pidgeotto as it was attempting to pry a Kakuna from the tree.

"Alright Lucy, use Water Gun to hamper its flight, focus on the wings." Ben said quietly, almost a whisper but the little blue otter heard him and crawled on all fours until she was in range and then unleashed the Water Gun, catching the off-guard Pidgeotto full-on on its wings from behind. The bird Pokemon stumbled and sank to the dirt, quickly raising itself up, angered it flew up a bit, sighting Lucy and releasing a fierce Gust attack, kicking up dust and leaves and twigs into the air, but Lucy dug in and held her ground, determined.

"Alright Lucy! You can do this! Use Air Slash to meet it in the sky!" The squat blue otter leaped high into the air, on level with the Pidgeotto who seemed surprised and then Lucy smacked into it with the attack, knocking it back against the tree, stirring the Kakuna. Several of them began to cry out in frustration and began to glow with a bright crystalline white light, changing shape until they were flying above the Pidgeotto who had sunk into the dirt.

"Whoa! Those Kakuna evolved! What are those things?" Ben said, shocked. He flipped open the Pokedex, which registered the Bug-type Pokemon and read the entry aloud; Beedrill, the Poison Bee Pokemon. They are extremely territorial. No one should ever approach its nest – this is for their own safety. If angered, they will attack in a swarm.
"Oh no…" Ben said, pocketing the Pokedex as the realization hit him. Just then the rest of the Kakuna began glowing and changing shape, creating an actual swarm hovering above Lucy and the Pidgeotto, wasting no time they charged. Delivering a flurry of swift strikes with their stingers to the downed Pidgeotto who could merely cower in the dirt and cry out as it was stung over and over again. A few of them split off from the pack, setting their sights on Lucy they dove furiously at the little otter.

"Quick! Lucy! We've got to save that Pidgeotto! Use Water Gun but aim for the group!" Lucy understood the command and dug in with her heels, her jaws widening as she released the attack, blasting the small group that had sectioned off to attack her away and she readied another attack which smashed into the larger group, sending them sprawling through the air into the bushes around the tree. Ben ran over to the fallen bird Pokemon and cradled it in his arms watching in horror as it shuddered and cried out softly, glowing a faint purple that Ben knew well from studies as the early signs of poison.

"You're poisoned! We've got to get you somewhere safe so I can administer an antidote! Come on Lucy! Before those Beedrill get back!"

But it was too late. The swarm was back in full force, seemingly with even more in their numbers. Too many to count. Ben stepped backwards, stumbling a bit as he looked on at the swarm in terror. He glanced down at Lucy who stood with her scalchops in hand, unafraid but looking worried.

"You can't fight them all girl! I know how much you hate it but its for the best right now, return!" He unclipped her Pokeball from his belt and a jet of red light encased the otter and she was safe within. He reclipped the ball as the swarm was surrounding him. Ducking low and holding the Pidgeotto close to his chest he took off through the trees, away from the main path he sprinted as fast as his legs would carry him, the incessant buzzing of the swarm always mere feet behind. They launched Pin Missles at him as he ducked and dodged them, frantically searching for some sort of safe haven.

"Pikachu! Use Thundershock!" A voice cried out and a tiny little yellow mouse-looking Pokemon jumped up over the bushes before Ben, leaping onto his hat and into the air behind him, releasing a storm of electricity which hit the entire swarm, fainting most of the Beedrill on the spot as the others backed off, flying away through the brush.

Ben was cowering on his knees, still clutching the Pidgeotto tightly as the Pikachu came over to him and made a face upon seeing the bird in his arms.

"That was quite the jackpot you got yourself into eh, son?" The same voice who had issued the command said, stepping through the bushes before Ben.

He was an older man, with gray in his hair and wrinkles hard-set into his kind features. He was wearing a robe and carrying a walking stick which he set into the earth in front of himself, placing his hands atop it.

"Name's Keith. Why don't you come with me to my cabin? We'll get your Pidgeotto fixed up and get some food in your stomach." Ben looked around at the darkened forest.

"You l-live here?" He asked.

"Sure do. Been living in these woods going on twenty years now. It can get a little crazy what with the packs of Beedrill around but that's what old Pikachu here is for." He said with a smile as the little mouse Pokemon climbed up his robe and sat on his shoulder, raising a hand to Ben, as if waving.

Keith's cabin was a single room; a basin in one corner for water and an old-looking icebox, a bed in another corner with a stack of books on the table beside it. There was a small table in the center of the room with chairs around it and that was it. Keith laid the Pidgeotto down upon the table, taking the antidote from Ben he carefully sprayed it over the weakened bird Pokemon, watching as it lifted its head, sighing contentedly as the faint purple glow diminished and the shudders subsided.

"There there. You're gonna be just fine, girl." Keith said softly, petting the Pidgeotto across its beautiful pink feathers adorning its head.

"You're lucky we saw you, or heard you that is," The old man said with a chuckle. "No telling what would have happened otherwise. Ain't another soul had the guts to live in these parts long as I've been here."

"Why do you live in the forest if you're a trainer? Why not move on and try to see new Pokemon?" Ben asked as the Pidgeotto raised itself to its feet, still looking a tad weak.

"Well now, that's a good question. I started out on a 'Pokemon Adventure' many years ago and I left the forest at first but I came back eventually. It just always felt like home, y'know?"

"Yeah…yeah I do." Ben said, understanding. The Pidgeotto nuzzled his cheek, making a soft little cry.
"Your Pidgeotto is going to feel a lot better after a good long rest."

"Oh, this isn't my Pidegotto. Not yet at least. I was trying to capture her. But now I think it may be best to let her stay with you, so that she can be safe."

"I see. Well, it ain't always about beating a Pokemon down to catch it. Sometimes they take a likin' to ya." The intelligent bird Pokemon looked at Keith and nodded, as if in recognition.

"I'd be happy to let the ole girl stay with me." Keith said.

"Now, why don't your Pokemon take a good rest with Pidgeotto here and you and I'll have some tea?" Keith asked, clearing a place for Lucy and Zeus who lay down curled next to Pidgeotto and were soon asleep.

-- -- -- -- --

Ben was seated on the porch next to Keith, sipping hot delicious green tea and watching the forest around. It was quiet, peaceful. Keith had told him of past adventures in the forest, fighting off the Beedrill and trying to contain their attacks.

"They're a crazy bunch. Not much can control 'em. Once they get ticked off, you've either got to fight them or run. Not much else for it." The old man said. "After all my years in these woods I ain't never seen a Pokemon so ornery."

"Well this is their home too." Ben said. "They probably feel like they're just protecting their own."

"You're right, son. That's the problem. They think this whole forest is theirs. But other Pokemon live here too. They've got to learn to accept that." The old man took a piece of parchment with a drawing on it from his pocket and unfolded it. It looked worn and tattered, as if it had been made years ago.

"This here is a rare Pokemon I've been searching for. Saw one years ago and haven't been able to find one since. They really are something. Gave little Pikachu here a run for his money huh little fella?" The tiny little mouse Pokemon nodded as he sat on the porche across from them, munching on a treat.

"What kind of Pokemon is that?" Ben asked, intrigued.

"It's a Heracross. A strange mix of a Bug and Fighting-type Pokemon. Very powerful. Big ole horn on his head. Can you imagine? I've followed traces of em all over these woods but haven't seen one in some time." Keith said, sighing and staring at the picture, refolding it and placing it back in his pocket.

"Well why don't you let me help you find it?" Ben said. "In return for your help it's the least I could do."

"You'd do that? My eyes and legs ain't what they used to be. I'm too old and tired to go crawling around these woods on my own. I could really use the help, son."

"Of course! I'd be happy to help."

"Well I've heard from passing trainers that signs of their presence has been spotted in the western part of the forest. Few people have ever seen one in person."

"That's where we'll begin then!" Ben said, rising to his feet.

"I'll get started right away!" He said with a smile, draining the last of the tea as he went back inside. Lucy and Zeus were just waking up on the bed and they sat up, seeing him Lucy hopped off the bed, running over and jumping into his arms, hugging him tight.

"We've got a mission girl! We're gonna help Keith find a Heracross! How's that sound?" The little otter nodded gleefully as Zeus climbed off the bed, nuzzling Ben's leg in agreement. Pidgeotto sat up on the bed as well, looking thoughtfully at Ben.

"Aw, I'm sorry girl. But Keith's a great trainer. He's going to take real good care of you. And I'll come back and visit you someday, I promise." The little bird Pokemon flew onto his shoulder and chirped her understanding rubbing her beak against his chin before hopping back down onto the bed.

"It's settled then! Let's get to it guys!"

-- -- -- -- --

The two walked all day through the forest. They found signs of all known types of Pokemon within the forest but none of the elusive Heracross. They were sitting on a hill overlooking a clearing where the sunlight was allowed to enter the forest, having lunch. Lucy and Zeus were eating from packed cases of Pokemon food with Pikachu while Keith and Ben talked, eating fresh fruit and watching the gentle breeze of the midday

"I started in Viridian City too. A fine town. Never cared much for schooling. My parents worked in the mart in town all their lives. What about yours?"

"I never knew my parents." Ben said softly, biting into his apple. "I've lived with my grandparents all my life."

"Sorry to hear that son. I'm sure they're good people though."

"Yeah, they've been the best."

"Butterfree, Sleep Powder!" A voice rang out, far below in the trees at the end of the clearing.

The two gathered their things and ran down the hill, following the voice with their Pokemon in tow.

They could see a boy and his Butterfree battling a strange sleek green Pokemon with blades for arms. Ben took in both registries with his Pokedex; Butterfree, the evolved form of Metapod, the butterfly Pokemon. In battle, it flaps its wings at great speeds to release highly toxic dust into the air.
Scyther, the mantis Pokemon. When it moves, it leaves only a blur. If it hides in the grass, its protective coloration makes it invisible.

"Wow! What a cool Pokemon!" Ben said, thinking he might like to catch that thing himself.

"Butterfree, Stun Spore!" The Scyther easily dodged the cloud of spores and struck back with a quick attack, knocking the butterfly Pokemon into some bushes.

"Butterfree!" The boy ran to his Pokemon and held it in his arms as Ben and Keith stepped through the trees to meet the Scyther who readied his blades in a combat stance but looked tired.

"Trainers probably been at you all day huh fella?" Keith said, eyeing the Pokemon, impressed.
"Bet you're exhausted."

The boy looked up at them.

"I-I think my Butterfree's hurt." He said, tears in his eyes.

"Naw, son. You Butterfree will be just fine. Give him a good rest in his ball." The boy did just that and rose to greet them, wiping his eyes.

"Y-you're right my name's Tim. I was trying to catch this Scyther but he fainted all of my Pokemon." He said, hanging his head low.

"Mind if I give it a shot?" Ben asked, and Lucy clapped her paws excitedly.

"Go for it. See if you can do better." Tim sat on the grass, pulling up tufts in his hands.

"Alright Lucy, let's catch this powerful Pokemon. Use Water Gun!" The squat Dewott shot a jet of water at the Bug-type who easily dodged it and the several bursts that followed.

"Wow, he's fast." Ben said under his breath.

"You mean she's fast." Keith said. "See she's got a slightly larger abdomen. That means it's a girl."

"Whoa. You're right. No matter, Lucy! You've got to fake her out!" Lucy understood she readied a Water Gun and shot out a few times but as the Scyther tried his sidestepping move Lucy burst through the final jet of water with a Tackle attack, sending them both sprawling through the grass.

"Great job! Now Tail Whip before she recovers!" Lucy got to her feet fast, whipping the Scyther across the face four times with her tail as its head lolled a bit and it shuddered as its defenses were lowered but it picked itself up, striking back with a Vacuum Wave which knocked Lucy off her feet so that she rolled over into a sitting position, shaking her head as the Scyther struck again with a Quick Attack and knocked her right back down, standing over her.

"Scyther, scythe!" It cried out, rubbing its twin blades together.

"Quick! Water Gun now, full power!" Taking the chance Lucy blasted the Scyther in the chest with the attack, sending her reeling through the grass.

"Now Tackle!" Lucy charged after the Scyther, catching her with a near headbutt pushing her back once more but the Bug-type was far from done. It released a Quick Attack so suddenly that none witnessed the move they only saw Lucy flying back through the field landing with a soft thud.

"Lucy!" Ben called out, running over to her and scooping her into his arms.

"You did your best girl. This one's strong. You take a good rest." He recalled her into her Pokeball, unclipping Zeus' from his belt he released the pumped up zebra who came flying out of the ball ready for battle already in mid-charge he tackled the Scyther, sending it sprawling and chasing after it.

"Use Tail Whip to weaken its defenses Zeus!" The electric steed chased the Bug-type down and whipped it across the face several times with its tail, causing the Pokemon to shudder and shake.

"Now Tackle again!" Zeus head-butted the confused Scyther, knocking it back a bit farther as it struggled to gain footing.

"Tail Whip once more!" But the Bug-type was ready. It latched onto Zeus' tail and swung it hard against a nearby tree with a resounding thud, making the zebra Pokemon cry out in pain and sink to the grass with the Scyther readying another attack.

"No! Zeus!" Ben shouted, sweating furiously as his mind raced. He had not seen such raw power in a Pokemon before.

"That little zebra won't overpower that Scyther boy." Keith said. "You're gonna have to use its speed to win this fight."

He was right! Ben realized he'd been playing the thing wrong all along.

"Zeus! You can do it bud! Dodge his attack and then start circling him! Don't stop!" The electric zebra did just that, sidestepping the next Pursuit he began racing circles around the Bug-type, using his electrified energy to go so fast that neither the trainers in the bushes nor the Scyther could keep track. The Bug-type reached out to touch the blur of white and black around him and got a nasty shock. The blur crackled and brimmed with electricity, confusing the Scyther who unleashed a Vacuum Wave however Zeus moved so fast the attack missed and the Bug-type kept on and on with her attacks, missing repeatedly until she grew even more tired and even angrier, sinking to her knees with sweat dripping down her face.

"Now, Zeus!" Ben called out and the zebra crashed head-first into the Bug-type, sending her hurtling far off down the clearing, coming to a stop face-down in the tall grass.

"Now, to catch him!" Ben readied an empty Pokeball, sprinting across the clearing he tossed the ball but just as it was about to catch the Bug-type a blue blur flew across the meadow, coming to a stop in front of the downed Scyther and standing proudly in defense of it, knocking the ball back into Ben's hand.

"My god." Keith said, coming to a halt beside Ben. He stared down the Pokemon, pulling a Pokeball from a pocket on his robe.

"It's you ain't it?" He said, stepping a bit closer but the blue Bug-type entered a combat stance, the huge horn on its head at the ready.

"You're the one I seen all those years ago. You still got the scar from our battle." He was right. Just above the Pokemon's right eye were four deep claw marks which appeared to have healed as much as they ever would.
Ben popped open the Pokedex to register him and it beamed to life, taking in the entry; Heracross, the single horn Pokemon. Now matter how heavy an opponent, it flings them far away with its prized horn.

"Wow. What a Pokemon." Ben said. The Heracross stood before the downed Scyther who only now regained consciousness and picked itself up, badly injured from Zeus' speed-charged Tackle. The Heracross placed a claw on the Scyther's shoulder, as if to say 'I've got this.' Before Ben could give Zeus a command, Keith released his own Pokemon from the ball. An enormous regal orange and black dog Pokemon appeared, larger than the Scyther and Heracross combined. Ben aimed the Pokedex at it, registering the data; Arcanine, the evolved form of Growlithe and the ancient Pokemon. This fleet-footed Pokemon is said to run over 6,200 miles in a single day and night. The fire that blazes wildly within its body is its source of power.

"Arooo!" The Arcanine called out, stomping its foot tersely.

"I've been waiting for this moment for 20 years." Keith said low, as if to himself. He seemed as if in a trance.

"You remember Arthur?" He said, gesturing to the Arcanine. "Why, you battled him when he was just a Growlithe. He couldn't keep up with ya. Well times have changed. He's a big feller now. And it's time for the dog to have his day. Arthur, Flamethrower!"

The Arcanine opened his jaws, unleashing a huge stream of bright incandescent flame, the Heracross attempting to lift Scyther and get her out of the way he was only barely able to push the green Bug-type away before taking the full brunt of the Flamethrower which seared him heavily and brought him to his knees. When the smoke cleared, the Heracross was grunting and holding itself up with one arm, squinting in anguish at the Arcanine.

"Had enough? Or do you wanna test Arthur some more?

"I'll test your overgrown mutt." A voice called from the trees.

"Yeah I bet that thing ain't so tough." Another said as two figures appeared across from the Scyther at the other end of the meadow. Two young boys, around Ben's age, stepped forward crossing the clearing to stand a few feet away from the injured Heracross who was looking for an escape route. They were both clad in suit blazers and ties with an odd-looking crest on the breast pocket.

"We're from the Pokemon Trainers School." The first boy said, drawing a Pokeball from his coat pocket.

"My name's Dave. This is Jack. And we're gonna catch those Pokemon!" He gestured to the burned Heracross and the Scyther who picked itself up and sprinted off into the trees.

"Not if we have anything to say about it!" Ben called out.

"So you wanna battle huh?" Jack said, drawing his own Pokeball.

"Alright. It'll be a two on two. How's that sound, kid?" Dave said.

"I'll show you kid!" Ben yelled, releasing Zeus who stomped a hoof preparedly and lowered his head, staring down the two boys, then the massive Arcanine beside him he bowed in respect to the great beast.

"A Blitzle huh? Alright then I know just what to use," Dave said, releasing a strange looking Pokemon with a wide red flower on its head. Ben aimed the Pokedex at it; Vileplume, the evolved form of Gloom and the flower Pokemon. Its petals are the largest in the world. It fiendishly scatters allergy-causing pollen from its petals.

"And I've got a match for your mutt there, old man!" Jack called out, releasing his Pokemon, an odd bipedal brown Pokemon carrying a bone club with a huge bone mask on its face. Ben registered it as well; Marowak, the evolved form of Cubone and the bone keeper Pokemon. The bone it holds is its key weapon. It throws the bone skillfully like a boomerang to KO targets.

The four Pokemon stood across from each other, ready for battle. What none of the trainers noticed in their excitement was that the Scyther had vanished and the Heracross had attempted to, but sunk into unconsciousness against a nearby tree.

"Go Vileplume! Sleep Powder!" The Grass-type shot vicious spores from the top of its head, sending them straight at Zeus who on instinct out ran them, crackling with energy he readied a charge.

"Good boy, Zeus! Now Tackle!" The electric zebra charged in a flash, connecting with the Vileplume before its trainer could react. The Grass-type landed on its back, sitting up with the huge flower on its head sagging.

"Marowak! Use Bonemerang!" Jack shouted and the little bone-wielding Pokemon tossed its weapon at Arthur who leaped back and forth to avoid it, missing the last strike which connected with the Arcanine in the face, bringing him to his knees he grunted in pain.

"Vileplume use Stun Spore to slow that thing down! Don't use it all at once!"

"Zeus he's trying to trick you, keep running! Don't let that touch you!" The Blitzle agreed, running just outside the spore's range until it dissipated and then charging back into battle leaping over the Marowak and crashing into the Vileplume who reeled back flopping several times through the grass.

"Now, Arthur! Flamethrower!" The Arcanine released an immense burst of flame which coated the downed Vileplume, singing it terribly as it struggled to withstand the heat. When the smoke had cleared the Grass-type stood as if still prepared for battle, then sunk face down in the grass.

"Pick yourself up! You're better than that Vileplume!" Dave shouted and Ben and Keith watched in astonishment as the burned Grass-type did indeed pick itself up, albeit looking to have sustained serious burns.

"Now don't fail me! Use Sleep Powder and this time use it in bursts!" Zeus attempted his dodge trick once more but the Vileplume was ready, the final blast caught the zebra full-on and it rolled into the bushes, sound asleep.
"No! Zeus!" Ben recalled the Blitzle and looked at him sleeping within the Pokeball.

"You just get a good rest, bud. You gave it your all." He unclipped Lucy's Pokeball, knowing that she was at a disadvantage here as well and hoping she had rested enough he released her. She was considerably well rested and leaped from her Pokeball with a battle cry, scalchops at the ready.

"Dew! Dew-ott!" She shouted, ready for battle.

"You can do this girl! Get in close and Tail Whip!"

"Marowak! Stop her! Bonemerang again!" The Ground-type aimed for the little otter charging across the battlefield.

"Arthur, Extremespeed!" Keith commanded and the Arcanine seemingly disappeared, stunning both the Marowak and the Vileplume and their trainers.

"So…fast." Dave muttered in shock as Arthur reappeared, smashing head first into the Marowak's soft underbelly, knocking it into a tree trunk.

"Now, don't let it recover! Use Outrage!" The majestic Arcanine lowered its head, gathering power as the Marowak slowly got to its feet. Arthur began glowing a faint purple in his eyes, mouth, around his body.

"Outrage?! B-but that's a Dragon-type attack!" Jack shouted in disbelief. Arthur raised its head and charged, crashing into the Ground-type who was sent flying through the grass, coming up on its feet but Arthur was deep within the Outrage attack it charged again and again and again until the Marowak was down, seemingly out for the count.
"No! Marowak!" But the Ground-type was not finished. It got to its feet, holding its club in a ready position.

"Atta boy! Use Earthquake!" The Marowak raised the club high and brought it into the ground, breaking apart the earth itself as it connected with Arthur knocking the great dog Pokemon into the grass.

"Lucy! Into the tree, quick!" Ben called out and the otter Pokemon clambered out of the way of the quake, clinging to a branch as the attack cleared she landed, smirking.

"Water Gun now!" Lucy's jaws expanded and she shot out the jet of water, the Marowak rolling out of the way and she gave it a few more bursts as it leaped over them, dropping down the final two bursts straight on its head, going to one knee looking deeply hurt.

"Marowak don't give up!"

"Arthur! Extremespeed again!" The Arcanine moved in a complete blur faster than any eye could see, tackling the Ground-type as it struggled to regain footing.

"Vileplume quick! Stun Spore!" Arthur was not prepared as the attack of the spore hit him dead on. He stood in place as an odd electricity crackled around him.

"He's paralyzed! He can't move!" Ben yelled, surprised at the harshness of the seemingly non-violent attack.
"You can do it Arthur. We've trained for this!" Keith called out and the Arcanine attempted to shake off the spore but it was no use.

"Now Marowak! Bonemerang!" the Ground-type launched its club, this time striking Arthur over and over and over again until the massive dog sank onto its haunches, the final blow smacking it its jaw, sending it reeling to Keith's feet.

"Arthur!" Keith shouted, sinking to his knees he clutched the regal beast in his arms.

"You okay?" Arthur nodded and picked himself up, shaking off the pain.

"You sure you still wanna fight?" Arthur looked back and nodded, charging without command and disappearing once more, reappearing behind the Marowak and head-butting it in the small of its back, carrying it on his head as he sprinted down the meadow releasing the Ground-type who collided with a tree and sunk to the grass, fainted.

"Marowak!" Jack yelled chasing after his Pokemon he recalled it, staring at the Pokeball.

"You did your best buddy, that's what matters." Jack said.

"Rrrgggh! This battles not over! Vileplume, Giga Drain that stupid otter!" Vileplume prepared a green orb of energy atop its great crimson flower and released it, Lucy barely rolling out of the way as it caught her in the side, absorbing some of her very energy, she skidded to a halt in the grass, raising herself to her feet.

"Dewwwott!" She shouted. She would not be beaten so easily and continued her charge.

"Again Vileplume!" The Grass-type shot out several more orbs but Lucy ducked, dove, rolled and dodged most of them, the final blast hitting her in the chest it held her in mid-air, floating as it drained her energy she cried out in agony.

"Dew…wott!" She screamed.

"No!! Lucy!" Ben shouted, panicked. The green orb dissipated and Lucy sank to the grass, trembling.
Ben ran to her side, forgetting the battle at hand. He picked her up in his arms.

"You can rest. You don't have to keep fighting. Its okay girl." Lucy nodded wearily, attempting to get back to her feet but Ben would have none of it.

"It's not about the battle, girl. We don't have to win every fight. I won't let you be hurt anymore. You need to rest." The little otter smiled lovingly, nuzzling her trainer as she fell asleep. He recalled her into her ball.

"So you forfeit brat?" Dave said mockingly, an evil smirk on his face.

"He may forfeit, but Arthur here is far from done with you kid." Keith said fiercely.

"Arthur, Flare Blitz!" The great orange and black beast became aglow with flames, encircling his whole body as he dug a foot repeatedly into the grass then charged.

"Vileplume! Dodge it!" And the Grass-type tried just that but the Fire-type was too fast, hitting her dead-on with the attack as she crumpled in a heap at her trainer's feet.

"No! Vileplume! Get up! You can still fight!" Dave attempted to pick the Grass-type up to her feet as Jack watched in anger.

"David!" He shouted. "You have to learn your Pokemon's limits. If you keep making Vileplume fight like that she is going to die!" He was furious, rightly so.

"Shut up! You're flunking every class idiot! You don't know a damn thing!" Dave shouted back.
"Your friend is right, son." Keith said softly.

"Your Vileplume fought bravely, moreso than any Grass-type I've ever seen. She's a tough Pokemon and you treat her like dirt. Now what sense does that make, huh?" He said, squatting down and petting the injured Vileplume.
"Vi…Vile-pluume…" She said quietly, cuddling Dave's chest.

"See that? She loves you kid she knows you're a good trainer but you have got to stop pushing her like that. I don't know a whole lot about that 'Pokemon Trainers School' but I do know that your friend is a heck of a lot wiser than you. You could learn a thing or two from him."

Dave looked down, tears welling in his eyes.

"Y-you're right. You were amazing Vileplume." He hugged the Grass-type. "Now have a rest." He returned her to her ball and stood up wiping his eyes.

"Sorry for the trouble we caused. We just wanted to catch a rare Pokemon." Dave said, looking down. Jack put a hand on his shoulder.

"We will bud. We will. But not today. Right now we need to go back to those rest houses and heal our Pokemon, okay?"

"You're right. Let's go. T-thanks mister." He said, looking at Keith respectfully.

"Anytime son. Good luck to you two in your journey." Keith said, smiling as the two walked off through the trees.

"Well that was something eh? Been a long time since I had a battle like that." Keith said, taking a seat beside his Arcanine and taking out two bottles of water from his pack. Ben sat across from him with Lucy and they drank slowly, Lucy and Arthur gobbling down some Pokemon food which Ben had packed.

"Those Bugs gave us the slip though. Darn shame." He said.

"Except for that one." Ben said, pointing at the Heracross which still lay against a tree in the meadow, breathing hard but awake. Keith got to his feet, telling Arthur to stay he walked over to the downed Bug-type, kneeling. The Bug-type flinched, trying to get to its feet.

"I'm not gonna hurt ya boy. I want to help you, train you." Keith said gently. Heracross looked at Arcanine in wonder and the great dog nodded its approval as Keith produced a Max Potion from his pack he sprayed the Bug-type over, the burns disappearing as it stood to its feet, a smile seemingly appearing on its face. It looked off into the distance, seeming to want to run away. Then it looked to Keith and hugged him, sinking into his arms.

"See? No one's gonna hurt you now. You're safe." Keith said as Ben watched in amazement. Keith got to his feet, the Heracross standing beside him.

"I want to thank you son. I've spent twenty years looking for this fella. Gave up on my dreams to find him. And now I have, thanks to you." He produced a package from his sack, coming forth through the lengthy grass.

"I want you to have this. It's the least I could do." Ben took the package, unwrapping it. Within there was held a strange green stone with a leaf on the front.

"That there is a Leaf Stone. It'll evolve lots of different Pokemon. Choose wisely." Keith said, patting Heracross on the head gently.

"That Potions just a temporary fix. Let's get you back to the cabin so you can rest up proper eh, bud?" Heracross nodded and Keith pulled himself up onto Arthur's back, helping Heracross up in front of him.

"You want to come back to the cabin? Have some lunch? Then we'll see about tracking down that Scyther you wanted to catch.

"Thank you sir. That would be great Lucy and Zeus need to rest up."

"You can come to, Tim." Keith said. "Your Pokemon need a rest as well."

"Thanks but no thanks, sir. I'm going to head back to the rest houses and call home." Tim said.

"Your choice. Good luck with your future captures, son." Keith said.

And so Ben got on the back of Arthur who promptly sped off through the trees back towards Keith's cabin.

 

[Sir Bastian]

Chapter 2; Velvet Lights
Adam Jenkins//Viridian Forest
*bulbagarden.net image removed*Lvl 13*bulbagarden.net image removed*Lvl 9*image removed* *image removed* *image removed* *image removed*

Adam took in a deep breath of the luke-warm breeze blowing past him as he continued his trek towards the resting house on the border of Viridian Forest. The sun was slowly starting to sink towards the horizon, the sky already painted a soft, orangey-reddish blue as the forest as well as the wooden house came into view. Adam glanced down at Blair walking by his side and smiled widely, the fire-type picking up the pace, clearly wanting to get some rest as well.

"It's been a long walk, but we're almost there. I've got a bit of food left, so hopefully we can make it through the forest by tomorrow and get to Pewter City to get some more food. Plus, I don't want to sleep in the forest. I've… uh…" he paused, raising a hand to rub his neck a little. Adam was a little embarrassed to admit this to anyone, but he figured that if he could tell someone, it'd be his Pokémon companion, who was by now looking up at him inquisitively.

"… Well, I've heard the forest is… haunted. And I'd rather not anger any spirits or anything, you know?" He looked away from Blair, his cheeks darkening a little at the admitted fright of the… super-natural. Blair however, simply seemed confused and looked from his trainer, towards the woods, seemingly curious about what Adam was talking about.

With this on his mind, Adam continued swiftly along to the resting house, and after a small chat with the person in charge of said house, he had had his Pokémon healed up and energized, Blair being let out of the Pokéball again once he and Stomps had been healed. Adam looked around the wooden little house, a couple trainers having put out their bedrolls here and there as they were planning on travelling through the forest next morning.

"Hmh… looks like a lot of trainers from Pallet are here as well. I wonder if there are others from Viridian here…" he thought to himself as he glanced around the room. Frowning a little to himself, he took a moment to think before looking down at Blair, giving a wry little grin. "Hey, how would you like to sleep under the blanket of the stars? I hear it's supposedly really nice." "Lava?" Blair responded, looking up at Adam once again, giving it a moment of thought before nodding. "Quil!"

Adam smiled and nodded, heading out of the resting house again, with a wave to the man behind the counter. It didn't take him long to find a small tree a little ways away from the woods, where he rolled out his bedroll and placed down his pack. Planting his hands at his sides he looked over the makeshift camp and nodded, never really having been out on a camping trip himself, aside from… well, that one time. Shaking his head slightly, he shook off the memories and plonked himself down onto the bedroll, crossing his legs with Blair sitting nearby, watching him.

"Alright. The sun hasn't gone down yet, so we can't allow ourselves to rest! I'm thinking we should spend the time training, yeah? I want you and Stomps to learn how to… show off. Winning a battle is fine and all, but if you don't do it with style, you might as well not do it." Blair looked a little confused but nodded again, clearly excited to get to training, no matter which kind. "Great! Let's get our new team member out here then." Adam said and promptly released Stomps into the wild.

After the flash of light had died away, the Nidoran blinked his eyes softly and looked around, first at the small camp, then at Blair, and finally, at Adam, who smiled and waved a hand. "Hey Stomps. We've set up camp outside of the woods for the night. I figured we'd train a bit before getting some rest. Are you okay with that?" The Nidoran didn't seem too thrilled by the prospect of fighting, but nodded its head gently. Blair growled out a few low noises to it, and Stomps responded. Adam blinked a little and watched the glutteral exchange of… words, he guessed before the two turned the attention to him.

"… Huh. I didn't know different species could talk to each other. Well, in that case, I guess you told him about my rule about style, right Blair?" The Quilava nodded and seemed satisfied with himself, Stomps still looking a little unsure and just a tad meek. "Perfect! I'd like it if you could let every other newcomer to the team know. You guys don't want to hear me saying that over and over again, I bet." Adam added with a little grin before clapping his hands and getting up, the sun slowly starting to tickle the forest to the east, the blue having gone away, replaced by red and the air having grown slightly more chilly. "Let's get to it, then!"

"No no, I want you to do it like this." Adam said as he looked down at the Nidoran in front of him. "I want you to run at your enemy…" He simulated this by taking a few steps forwards, as if in slow motion. "… Jump up…" He bent his knees and pretended to jump. "… Kick!" He stretched a leg out as if hitting an enemy. "… Turn around midair, land on your feet…" He turned around and bent his knees again, as if landing. "… And kick again, backwards! Yeah?" He did this by kicking a leg backwards, looking expectantly down at the Nidoran, Blair sitting nearby and watching the two.

Adam had been thrilled to learn that both of his team mates had learned new abilities, and was very satisfied with himself for having checked them over with the Pokédex. He'd have to do that a little more often from now on. The Nidoran turned to a nearby rock they had been using for training purposes and bent itself down a little. After a moment of preparing, he ran forwards, lept into the air… and fell onto his back with a squeak, just short of the rock, where he squirmed about before getting up on all fours again.

"Alright, alright… it might be a little tough, I don't expect you to be able to pull it off right away. We'll just practice it some more, and until you can do it, just do it your way, okay?" Stomps looked a little embarrassed, but growled out lowly, nodding. "Nid…"
"So, how about some –real- training, hmh? The two of you versus each other? I've got a couple potions handy, so don't worry about hurting one another." He looked from Blair to Stomps, secretly hoping that they'd say yes, but he'd by no means force them to fight one another if they disagreed. Blair was there in an instant, standing by Adam as the patches on his head and along his back crackled softly and small flames lit. Stomps was a lot more hesitant, but for some reason seemed a little more… sure of himself by now, and nodded lightly, letting out a challenging growl.

Adam had stood by and called out various moves for the two Pokémon to try out as they sparred, the sun slithering down below the horizon. About half an hour after initiating training, the two Pokémon seemed rather tired, panting and huffing for air. Blair had definitely been keeping Stomps on his toes, but he was holding his ground fairly well. Blair might've been holding back, but Adam wasn't quite sure. Smiling, he knelt down and pulled out two potions from the pack, spraying them on each of the Pokémon, who seemed to become slightly more energized.

"Nicely done, you two! I think that's it for tonight. It's getting pretty late…" He added as he looked up, the few last tinges of red on the sky slowly dying away, leaving only the lights of the cabin slightly off in the distance, as well as the faint flames billowing on Blair's back. Smiling down to the two who seemed content with themselves, he raised a Pokéball and recalled Stomps. "Get some rest. I'll heal you both before we head into the woods tomorrow. For now though… let's get some rest, alright Blair? Let me just find your Pokéball…"

Adam reached into his pocket, but paused as Blair stood up on all four and stepped over, sitting himself down next to Blair and giving his head a little nudge, Adam giving him a rather confused look. "… What? You don't wanna go into your Pokéball for the night? But… it'll probably be warmer. Are you sure?" Blair nodded and let out a low little grow, nudging him again. Adam smiled. He didn't want to admit it, but he was a lot happier with Blair being out here with him in the night. Otherwise, the cold, dark sky and nearby forest might've seemed just a tad too… intimidating on the boy.

Laying himself down in his sleeping back he had packed, Blair moved up to his stomach as Adam was laying on his side, curling softly up against his chest. Adam was surprised to find how very warm the fire-type (Duh) was, nestled up against him. He smiled to himself and rested his head on his right arm, the other draped over Blair to give him a bit of shelter from the wind. The fire on his back slowly went out as Adam turned his head to look up at the clear, starry night sky through the leaves of the tree above him before shutting his eyes and sighing. "… What a day…"

"Keep running! I think it's right behind us! Crap crap crap!"

Adam darted through the trees and the low-hanging branches, a couple of leaves whipping him in the face as he made a scramble off to the right with Blair right behind him, ducking down behind a couple of bushes, panting for air as Blair joined him. He shifted around and peered out through the branches of the bush, trying desperately to calm down his heavy breathing.

It had only been an hour ago he had healed up his team of two Pokémon and went into the forest, but it felt like a lot longer to Adam right now. He had gone in, happily following the trail with Blair out, strolling alongside him, following the path. It hadn't been long before he had spotted a couple Sewaddles wriggling about on the ground slightly off the path, and Adam decided to pursue them, figuring they'd make for a decent fight versus Stomps.

Releasing the rodent, he was just about to make contact with one of the Sewaddles, as a Pidgeotto dived down and snagged one of them, flying off again. Adam had been so dumbstruck by what had happened, that the other startled Sewaddles managed to get away before he snapped back to reality. "Ah… damnit! Screw you, you… Pidgeotto! Get down here, and I'll show you!" As if answering to his challenge, the Pidgeotto flew down again and gave Stomps a peck on the head before flying off again, the Nidoran squeaking out in pained surprise. Blair growled and the flames on his back billowed, but Adam held a hand out.

"Wait. I've got an idea. Hey! I dare you to try that again, birdbrain!" Looking to Stomps, Adam murmured out, only hearable to the three of them. "Get ready for a double kick, Stomps." The Nidoran huffed and dug its feet into the soft soil, the silence of the forest being the only thing surrounding them. After a few moments, the leaves above them broke apart and the Pidgeotto attacked again, just as Adam called out "Now!".

Stomps lept into the air, just as the Pidgeotto was about to peck it again, Stomps managing to slam both of its feet square against the bird's chest, sending it tumbling into a tree and onto the ground. Adam let out a laugh and seemed about ready to try and catch the bird, when a much… much larger bird broke through the leaves as well, landing square in front of them with a firm thump.

The Pidgeot stared down at the three, Blair, who seemed ready to take the fight up, Adam who looked rather pale due to the massive size of the bird, and poor Stomps, who was staring up at the six times (at least) as big Pokémon sitting in front of it. The staredown continued for a few moments before the Pidgeot let out a screech and tried to peck at Stomps, Adam having a stroke of quick thinking as he recalled the Nidoran and yelled out "Run!" to Blair.

This led the two to where they were now, huddled up behind a bush, listening for the movements of the massive bird, most likely circling overhead. He looked to Blair, pressing a finger to his lips. "… Shh. Stay quiet and move slowly, it probably won't see us, then…" He got up, ever so slowly, Blair following right behind him, and clearly wondering why they weren't just fighting the Pokémon, however trusting his trainer to know what was best.

As Adam began to tiptoe away from their hiding place, he heard another rustle of leaves and froze in place. Turning slowly around, he looked up towards the branches above, a soft wind blowing through the thick forest, bringing with it a scent of bark and moss. Everything was quiet for a while, the only sound being the leaves gently rattling in the wind and Adam's heavy breath. Just as he began turning around to keep going, the massive bird swooped down, out of one of the nearby trees and slammed firmly into Adam's chest, catching him by surprise and sending him falling flat on his arse, sliding along the ground as he let out a violent cough.

Blair let out a snarl and took a breath of air, blasting a couple embers towards the bird, which made it shriek and fly into the air again. Running over to his training, Blair nudged Adam's arm as he slowly got up, wheezing for air, spitting out onto the ground besides him. "Hack! Pftpb! I'm… oof, I'm alright. Come on, let's get out of here before that crazy thing gets back!"

Scrambling to his feet, the two of them continued darting through the trees, moving farther and farther away from the path through the forest they had already abandoned quite a while ago. After about twenty minutes of half-running and walking, Adam came to a slow stop, blinking a little as he looked to his right. Then his left. Then behind him and at his front, raising a hand to scratch the back of his head.

"… Blair… I think we're lost."

"… Quil." Blair replied, stepping up to his trainer and glancing around the two. The forest, despite it being a bright, sunny day and the rays of warm sunshine shined through the various leaves and branches, suddenly seemed a lot darker and unfriendly, as the two decided on a direction and trudged on.

 

[RedWing]

chapter 2; Strengthening the Bonds That Tie: Triplet Troubles Part II

Katherine Aldine // Viridian Forest, Deep Forest Interior

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"So, why are the three of you after this Emolga?" Katt asked as she, Phoenix, Lily, and the triplets made their way through the forest.

"Well," Thomas said, "it's 'cuz we want to train it, of course!"

"Yeah!" Trey added, "Emolga's so cute, too!"

"And it's a strong Pokemon, too," Taylor stated.

Katt nodded in understanding, "I see. Well, we'll do our best to-"

"Emo!" Before Katt could finish her sentence, the small party heard the cry of an Emolga from overhead! Looking up, the three boys and Katrina spotted the small Pokemon resting on a high branch, a Cheri Berry in its paws.

"There it is!" Katt exclaimed. "Now, how do we capture it..."

"We've been trying to figure that out for the last week!" Thomas said, exasperated.

"No matter what we do, Emolga always escapes," Trey explained.

"It's really disheartening," Taylor added sadly.

From the branch, the Emolga was enjoying its berry, totally oblivious to the conversation taking place.

Katt thought deeply for a moment before snapping her fingers, "I've got it! Alright, Phoenix, Lily, I'm going to need both of you to help me!"

Phoenix and Lily both gave a cry, eager to help! "Comb!" "Peti!"

The young Trainer grinned, "Glad you two are up for it. Okay, here's what we're gonna do: Phoenix, I need you to throw Lily here as hard as you can upward, okay?"

"Hey, what're you planning?" Thomas inquired.

"Well, if you'd listen, you'd know!" Trey scolded.

"Guys, shut up!" Taylor shouted.

Katt shot them a silencing look. "Anyway, Phoenix, you're going to launch Lily upward into the tree. Lily, when you're at the peak of the launch, I want you to release as much Sleep Powder as possible! We're hoping that the powder is inhaled by Emolga before it can escape. If it is, then it'll drop like a stone and we'll catch it before it hits the ground!"

Phoenix clucked, "Busken!" And picked up Lily, who looked a tiny bit frightened.

"Don't worry," Katt said, patting the Pokemon's head, "Phoenix will catch you on your way down, okay?"

"Lil!" Lily rubbed against Katt's hand affectionately.

"Alright, now we've only got one shot at this, okay? So let's make it count!" Katt said as Phoenix and Lily got into position.

From above, Emolga continued to enjoy its fruit, still unaware of what was taking place below. Or, at least it didn't until a strange, green Pokemon suddenly flew up from no where!

"Petilil!" With a spinning motion, Lily released a cloud of Sleep Powder! The Emolga made to dart away, but it had already inhaled the sleep-inducing vapors!

"Emo..." A moment later, both Emolga and Lily were plummeting to the forest floor! Lily was successfully caught by Phoenix and Emolga by Katt.

"Hah! It worked!" Katt announced excitedly. Phoenix and Lily cheered also and the triplets just looked awestruck!

"She really did it!"

"Just like that!"

"Incredible!"

Katt laughed, "Too easy! And now..." She reached into her bag and pulled out a PokeBall, "We capture it!" With a simple tap between Emolga's head and the release switch of the PokeBall, the small squirrel Pokemon was consumed by the familiar red glow before receding into the PokeBall.

"Alright," Katt said triumphant;y, "Here's your Emolga, boys!" She handed the still wriggling PokeBall to the triplets, "Glad I could help!"

"Gee, thanks, miss!" Thomas said, holding the PokeBall like a precious gem.

"Yeah, you were amazing!" Trey commented.

"I wanna hold it now!" Taylor whined.

Katt patted Phoenix and Lily, "Couldn't have done it without-"

-PWAH-

"Huh?!" Katt was astonished. The PokeBall containing Emolga opened in Thomas's hands! In a shower of red light, Emolga emerged! The small Electric-type looked angry and raring for battle as it landed between Katt and the triplets!

"But, I caught it! It was asleep, for Arceus sake!" Katt gasped.

"Emo!" Without warning, the squirrel Pokemon released a nasty Thundershock, hitting Lily dead-on!

"Hey!" Katt jumped back to avoid being hit and said, "Lily! Use Leech Seed! Phoenix! Follow up with Scratch!"

Lily recovered from the electric attack and released the Leech Seed! However, Emolga was too quick and evaded the move, but not before being struck by Phoenix's Scratch!

"Emo!" The small Pokemon cried as it was sent flying into the base of a tree. Trey, Taylor and Thomas all cheered Katt on, but were despaired when Emolga got up with relative ease and lunged at Phoenix with a Quick Attack!

The attack hit before Katt could even comprehend it. "Damn, that thing's fast! Have to immobilize it..." Katt looked around the immediate area and an idea blossomed! "Okay!" Katt pointed at Phoenix, "Launch Lily into the air again! And, make sure Emolga's focused on you, got it, Phoenix?"

Phoenix nodded, shrugged off the Quick Attack and dove to toss Lily skyward! Emolga was caught off guard and could only stare in wonder as the Bulb Pokemon flew high into the treetops!

"Okay, Lily! Use Leech Seed!" Katt shouted.

Emolga had no idea where Lily had landed and was thrown to the ground when the Leech Seed hit it from behind! The vines ensnared the small Pokemon, rendering it immobile!

"Good work, girl!" Katt praised, "Now, come on down!"

"Lil!" Petilil hopped down from its hiding spot in the branches and landed safely in Katt's arms.

"Okay, now let's try this again now that Emolga's weakened," Katt said, "Lily, use Sleep Powder!"

Lily hopped from Katt's arms and released the sleeping powder over Emolga. The Electric-Flying Pokemon quickly stopped squirming in its confinements and fell asleep.

Katt plopped down onto the grass beside the passed-out Emolga and let out a sigh, "Phew! That was a close one. This little guy's a real scrapper, huh?"

Thomas, Trey and Taylor all nodded, but said nothing.

Katt picked up that something was wrong, "You boys okay?"

Thomas looked down and mumbled, "Well..."

"You see...We..." Trey kicked at the ground in front of him.

"Well, miss...It's just that..." Taylor said, staring intently at his feet.

"C'mon, out with it," Katt demanded, slightly worried.

"Well, seeing you battle and how you handled your Pokemon, and the way Emolga battles too..."

"We got to thinking that maybe, we're not cut out to raise Emolga ourselves..."

"We're only kids, after all..."

At that, Katt sighed and threw the PokeBall she'd used to capture Emolga in at the Pokemon again. This time, the ball wiggled and stayed, confirming the capture. Katt rose to her feet, picked up the PokeBall and walked over to the three boys. "You see this?" She asked, "This, is a Pokemon. It has been captured and now it needs a Trainer, or has to be released in the wild. Do you mean to tell me that the three of you don't think you can raise Emolga?"

The triplets nodded solemnly and said, in unison, "We're sorry, miss..."

Katt shrugged, "No need to apologize! After all, Phoenix and Lily both got a really good work-out, right, guys?"

Phoenix and Lily both cried happily, "Combusken!" "Petilil!"

Their Trainer giggled, "See? They're not mad, and I'm not either. IF you boys think that you can't adequately train Emolga, then I'll do it for you."

At that, the triplets all smiled broadly!

"Really, miss?!"

"You'd raise Emolga for us?!"

"Aw, you're the greatest!"

Katt couldn't help but laugh aloud, "It would be my pleasure, boys! And, when you're all strong and experienced, I'll return Emolga to you so that you all can raise him, okay?"

Thomas nodded, "Alright, miss!"

Trey jumped up in excitement, "This is gonna be great!!"

Taylor just smiled, "Thank you, miss!"

The young Trainer smiled with a mixture of happiness and victory, "It's Katt, boys. Not 'miss', okay?"

"Alright, Miss Katt! But, can we at least give you something for all of this trouble?" Trey asked.

Thomas seemed to know where Trey was going with this and nodded vigorously, "Yeah, yeah! We have something you may be able to use!"

Taylor picked up on his brothers' idea as well and reached into his shorts' pocket, "Oh! You mean this thing, guys?"

From his pocket, Taylor pulled out a small, orange colored stone. Katt's breath caught in her throat at the sight! The stone was shaped like a sun and seemed to radiate heat and light! "Is that a Sun Stone?" She asked.

Thomas nodded with a smile, "Yupp! See, we don't have any Pokemon that can use it, but you have Petilil there, so we thought you could use it to make her stronger!"

Katt reached out and hugged the three boys, "Aw! You three are just the sweetest! Thank you!"

The boys pulled away, blushing, and Taylor handed the Sun Stone to Katt. In her palm, the stone glowed warmly and Katt smiled, "Really, thank you all."

The triplets simply smiled and said, "No problem, Miss Katt!"

"We gotta be going though," Thomas said.

"Mom's probably got dinner cooking back in Viridian, right?" Trey asked.

"Yeah, we should go! See ya later, Katt," Taylor said.

The three brothers exhcnaged good-byes with Katt, Phoenix and Lily and made their way out of the forest, leaving Katt alone with her Pokemon again.

"That was definitely an experience, wouldn't you say, guys?" Katt mused as she watched the boys depart.

Phoenix clucked in agreement, "Comb!" and Lily hopped up and down, "Peti!"

Katt giggled, "You two just love battling..." She then looked at the PokeBall in her hand that contained Emolga, "And, apparently so does Sparky here...Hey, there's a good name for him, Sparky!" The young Trainer smiled, "And, we have a Sun Stone now!"

Petilil hopped closer to Katt and seemed to reach for the Sun Stone, "Peti?"

"Oh?" Katt blinked, "You want to use it now, Lily?"

"Peti," Lily nodded.

"Well...if you say so," Katt reached out the Sun Stone and a brilliant white light enveloped Lily...
​

​

 

[moon]

@ Xlugon Pyro
I like how you made him learn a new move. I should implement new moves like that too ^^

- Vuowth (Grovyle) grew to lvl 18!


@ Letham
I loved reading this post. The battles and interactions were amazing.

- Lucy (Dewott) grew to lvl 17 and is able to learn Razor Shell!
Forget an old move for Razor Shell or stop learning Razor Shell? Answer OOC.
- Zeus (Blitzle) grew to lvl 12 and learned Shock Wave!


(I'll read Bastian's and Wing's posts after breakfast!)​

 

[Xlugon Pyro]

2-2; VELVET LIGHTS
Zoey Wyrmoki / / Viridian Forest

18 *image removed*00 *image removed*00 *image removed*00 *image removed*00 *image removed*00

The forest's sprawling undergrowth reaches out endlessly, Zoey taking to what small trails exist in order to navigate the maze that is Viridian Forest. She lifts her pokedex up before her, activating its GPS feature in order to orient herself properly to avoid getting lost. By this time, the sun has been up for awhile now, but still eats further east than west, indicating midmorning. Pushing away stray plants and twigs, the forest floor provides an untamed, bumpy environment standing between the girl and the forest's exit. All sorts of Pokemon cries echo throughout the forest, but Zoey attempts to hone in on each one, using her interior encyclopedia to decipher which call belongs to what. She even occasionally stops, closing her eyes to increase her focus. Perhaps she'll pick up on the call of a Pokemon she's interested in and try to make a catch. Well, if Vuowth is willing to comply, anyway. This lights up Zoey however, recalling Vuowth's past battles. Maybe if she does -that-, she can coerce Vuowth into action. The grass-type -IS- easy to provoke after all.

"Eeeeh! Eeemo!" screeches something not too far into the forest, followed by the muffled shouting of what seems to be another person, female from the sound of it.

In a flash of light, a small rodent, emitting off yellow sparks, glides through the canopy, squeaking in distress as it leaps from branch to branch, flying away from the source of another voice.

"No, wait! Emolga!" pleads the loud voice of a young woman, dressed in a mix of green and black garb with hiking boots and baggy cargo pants concealing the woman's legs.

Zoey, getting caught by surprise, backs away from the scene to avoid a conflict. Nonetheless, the girl's fortunes abandon her once again.

"Hey you! Miss! Catch that Emolga, quick!" the pursuing girl commands Zoey to action, to which Zoey remains immobile, lost in the chaos.

By then, however, the Emolga escapes into the forest without a trace. The black-haired girl sighs, cursing under her breath while another object comes into view, a greenish-yellow creature rushing up to the girl's side. Zoey aims her pokedex at this new entry, scanning it for its identity as the girl glances in Zoey's direction, glaring at Zoey for -something-.

"What's wrong with you? Don't you know that you're supposed to help people in need?" angrily declares the short black-haired woman.

"Er, what? I don't even know what was happening!" pleads Zoey innocently as nervousness sets in regarding this nutty woman.

The girl sighs again, this time longer as if to relieve her of previous stress. Her Pokemon inches up to her side, ducking its leaf mounted head lower, whimpering towards its trainer in concern.

Zoey's pokedex, meanwhile pulls in data about what appears to be this girl's Pokemon partner. "Bayleef, the Leaf Pokemon..." it reads, continuing on to detail its moveset, anatomy, and other species traits.

"Oh, Leyvee! You're so sweet!" she rubs the Bayleef's head, purring in response to her kindness.

Refocusing on Zoey, she clarifies, "I'm sorry. Of course you didn't know what was happening. You don't look like a naturalist anyway. My mistake."

"What's that supposed to mean?" probes an irritated Zoey.

"That Emolga, you see, is sick! She ate something and she's been getting ill! It's contagious too, and her infection could spread to the rest of the forest's wildlife! It's awful!"

"So you wanted me to catch that thing and risk falling ill as well?" Zoey questions this odd girl's perspective. "I think your expectations are a bit out of place."

"Are you saying you'd allow the environment to suffer irreparable damage just because you were unwilling to suffer a minor inconvenience to yourself in the short term!?" exclaims the girl, pushing up her thick rimmed glasses in shock over the words of Zoey.

"I never said anything like that!" rebuts Zoey, tightening her gaze on the other woman in annoyance. "All I said is that to expect strangers to commit to your causes on a whim at the other person's expense has nothing to do with my desire to preserve habitats. Not to mention, the environment isn't THAT fragile. Nature balances itself out."

"Oh, well, uh..." the geek stammers, reflecting on Zoey's words in a sudden change of heart. "Eheheh... I see your point there. Er.. uhm... Sorry about that! Eheheheh..."

"What a weirdo..." concludes Zoey about the bizarre, geeky girl before her.

"BAY!! Baaaay, bayleef!" utters Leyvee the Bayleef, nudging her trainer's arms as a reminder.

"OH! You are so right, Leyvee! I'm soooooo sorry! Aww, gosh! I'm so absent minded! Ack!!" the girl whines in embarrassment.

Her face then lights up, smiling almost creepily towards Zoey, then pausing as if she lost her thoughts for a moment before remembering and then continuing, "Oh, oh miss! Would you be willing to assist me? I just have to find Emolga and two sets of eyes beat a single pair! I've been tracking her for days but I haven't gotten lucky so far. Oh, would you please lend me a hand, uh, miss? I can't bear to witness Emolga's suffering or the thought of her disease spreading to other Pokemon! You just have to help! Please!?"

Taken aback by the girl's sudden confession, Zoey ponders her request for a moment. "Uhm, well, do you have a plan or are we just going to run around blind through the forest? And how do you plan to cure Emolga when you find her?"

"Oh, I have been using Leyvee's Sweet Scent to draw her in range, and then I'll snag her in a battle of epicness with Layvee's aid, and then we'll take her to a Pokemon Center!"

"Sooo... she -doesn't- have a plan...." comments Zoey to herself in embarrassment.

"Don't you think Emolga would have recognized your bayleef's scent by now? If anything, it's probably acting as a deterrent," admits Zoey, keeping her tone friendly despite the ridiculousness of this girl's strategy.

"Oh, you're so right! I'm so sorry!" admits the clueless young woman, almost as if she's beginning to worship Zoey.

"Stop apologizing already!" Zoey yells to herself in response to the geeky woman's actions. "I suppose I'll lend a hand, but I hope you have a better plan to finding Emolga this time."

The black-haired woman straightens herself up, overjoyed by Zoey's acceptance of her request. "Oh, absolutely splendid! Hooray!! Oh, wait, wait wait!! You're a trainer right?"

"I hope I'm not making a mistake helping her out," Zoey hopes, watching her new partner literally leap into the air in joy before rushing over to her bayleef Leyvee to give her a huge hug. "I am. In fact, I became a trainer just a few days ago."

"Oh, great! Splendid!" glasses girl cheers, jubilant over the newly procured piece of information. "I may need your Pokemon's help down the line, just in case!"

"Ugh. I hope I can avoid -that- outcome. The last thing I need right now is to embarrass myself in front of another person by showing them how great of a trainer I -really- am," Zoey dreads, approaching the strange girl in preparation for their departure into the woods.

"Oh, miss!" stops the glasses-wearing girl, looking back towards Zoey before heading up the hill into the thick forest foliage. "I didn't pick up your name! My name is Gabrielle but my friends typically dub me Gabby."

"Zoey," replies the sportier girl, taking off into the woods with her new accomplice Gabby as they begin their search for the diseased Emolga.

"It's so great to meet you!" Gabby beams, giddy over the prospect of making a new friend, which Zoey suspects isn't something that happens often for this girl.

"So...," Zoey asks the girl, "What's your plan for finding this Emolga?"

"Oh! Well, you see," Gabby readies her explanation. "I do know that emolga live in families but it appears our Emolga was separated from its home. Although I find it unusual that this one has lost its family. Emolga are very social creatures and would never abandon one of their own. This is why we need to capture Emolga before she returns to her family! We can't allow her to spread her disease!"

"I see," acknowledges Zoey. "So you think Emolga is on its way back to its family?"

"That's most likely the case. We'll have to continue looking for her so that we can save her. Let's hurry!" urges Gabby, with Zoey following close behind as their route takes them westward, in hot pursuit of the lost Emolga.

The new team scours the heart of the deep forest, bowling through plants blocking the path and breaking twigs to Gabby's environmentally conscious dismay. Zoey somehow manages to maintain her sanity despite her nerdier friend's constant badgering about the girl stepping on a flour, picking up stray branches in boredom to swing them around, or sometimes just by touching the plant, where Gabby then proceeds to explain the plant's apparent rarity, ridiculously specific details about it, and even its scientific name according to botanists. Her incessant criticisms over mundane interaction with the plants somehow hasn't resulted in Zoey flying off her rocker, but perhaps Zoey has the ability to be incredibly tolerant when she needs to.

"Oh, look!" Gabby points up to a massive tree before them, exuberant in their discovery.

"What?" asks Zoey curiously, following the girl's finger towards the object of her focus.

"Incredible! It's so huge! I wonder if that swablu flock nests at the top of this tree," squeals Gabby in excitement, running up to the base of the tree to examine the specimen before them, joy overtaking her face in awe.

"That -IS- big..." realizes Zoey as she steps forward, scanning the height of the tree as high as the forest's canopy will allow.

A loud gasp is heard from the other side of the tree, snapping Zoey's attention back to Gabby. "Oh... oh no! This is terrible!" Gabby declares in apparent shock.

"What? What is it?" Zoey inquires about Gabby's disconcerting discovery while racing up to the girl's position.

Circling the base of the massive tree, Gabby reveals an abominable sight. Pointing upwards, the brief clearing towards the sky on this side of the gigantic tree reveals the plant's summit, blackened and charred by an unknown source. Strewn across the ground beside the tree are piles of severed, partially singed branches and darkened earth as if there was some sort of fire that somehow never really got the chance to spread.

"This is awful!" mourns Gabby, frowning as her eyes examine the damage done to the once majestic tree. "This is certainly one of the oldest trees in this forest. For this tree's fate to come to this is utterly tragic!"

"What do you think could've caused this damage? I noticed that some of the trees in this immediate area are scorched, including some of the felled branches over there and the tree itself, but it hasn't spread beyond this point," notifies Zoey to her peculiar findings.

"Hrmm..." Gabby rests her thumb against her chin, calculating all of the possibilities that could've occurred here. "Well, there was a powerful storm that passed through this area a few days ago. It was mostly a heavy downpour though which would explain why any fire didn't spread, but it still could've been possible that lightning struck this tree. But... that doesn't account for the extensive damage done to the tree. Fire wouldn't have caused this kind of damage."

Gabby's pointer finger aims high, pointing out the strange severed limbs of the tree. While much of it appears to have been charred off, she also identifies several grooves and smooth ends to some parts of the tree, suggesting that something cut apart the tree in addition to suffering from burns. Whatever it could be, it was definitely more than lightning, if that even occurred, that caused such extensive damage to this giant tree.

"What about Pokemon?" suggests Zoey. "Do you think Pokemon could've done this damage?"

Light bulbs turn on, enlightening Gabby with a new possibility. "Oh, I hadn't thought of that! But... while there are electric Pokemon that reside in this forest, for a wild Pokemon to conjure up such a fierce lightning attack is extremely unlikely. That doesn't even consider the fact that electric-types wouldn't find themselves such high up in Viridian's canopy. Not even emolga would reside- Oh wait! I forgot about Emolga!"

Pondering on Gabby's realization, Zoey presses her on it, "We hadn't seen Emolga for awhile though. Do you think we should keep going west? We might have missed her."

"NO!" bursts out Gabby, adamant regarding their direction. "I recall there being a series of Emolga colonies further west. I'm fairly certain our Emolga will be out in that direction."

"Still..." the girl continues, worry on her face, "My greatest concern is how Emolga got separated in the first place."

"We should keep moving, then," advises Zoey. "If something unusual happened, I bet we can find some sort of answer in if we find one of these emolga colonies."

"You're so right!" Gabby agrees, looking westward towards the wooded foothills of Viridian Forest.

The two of them prepare to set out, continuing their search for the plaguing Emolga. The fate of the massive tree remains a visible concern to Gabby, as Zoey catches her looking back towards the massive plant in sadness. Their departure, however, is cut short with Zoey spotting an unusual object tucked between a pile of fallen branches and clumps of leaves.

"What is that?" Zoey points towards the blueish item, rushing towards its location with Gabby following closely behind her.

"Oh, it looks like an... oval? An oval stone? No... an oval... egg!!" Gabby exclaims while Zoey digs out the strange object out from under the sticks and leaves of the forest.

"A blue egg? It has white, fluffy looking patterns all over it," notices Zoey, turning the egg around in her hands to investigate it as Gabby takes her peek at it, jaw gaping in awe.

Her focus returns to the site of the egg, throwing the sticks and leaves around frantically. Zoey backs away, evading stray twigs and flipping out leaves flying in her direction.

"What are you doing!?" interrogates Zoey as she witnesses Gabby digging through the felled foliage like a child.

"Here, come take a look!"

"What is it?" asks Zoey, cradling the egg carefully in her arms as she examines the scene exposed by her odd companion. "I don't see anything significant other than tons of oddly shaped twigs."

"That's just it! Look at how they're shaped and how many of them there are!" explains the ecstatic nerd, standing up to examine more of their environment. "Just as I thought! This egg used to belong to a nest, but it appears the nest was destroyed and scattered across the area.

Gabby pivots her gaze, glancing up at the top of the ailing super tree, pointing, "This nest must've fallen from the tree. My guess is that whatever happened to the tree caused this to happen, and the Pokemon that used to nest here abandoned the nest. How sad!"

"Right," agrees Zoey, looking down upon her egg to scope it out further. "What species do you think it was? Finding a sky blue egg perfectly intact after a landing from that high just seems too unreal. Not to mention it got abandoned. That's rough."

"Indeed, hence its sadness!" responds Gabby playing the role of Captain Obvious. "Knowing the species that live in this area and the egg's color patterning, I suspect it is a swablu egg. This is likely since swablu and altaria tend to nest in high altitude locations, so a tree like this one would attract a mother seeking to raise her chicks."

"I see..." ponders Zoey aloud, spinning the egg in her hands both in wonder and in recognition of a new problem. "Do you think this egg could still hatch? It's not cracked, but a fall like that would make me think some damage could've been done internally."

"Let me see it," requests Gabby, reaching her arms out for the egg which Zoey complies to.

Gabby feels the egg, turning it in her hands before bringing it to her ear. Closing her eyes, she holds the egg up to her ear patiently, apparently listening for something inside the egg. After several moments, Gabby smiles wide, pushing the egg away from her head in glee.

"It's alive, and it'll hatch soon!" Gabby claims, holding up the egg to Zoey.

Taking it back into her arms, Zoey inquires further, "You think so? Well, that's good, but what about its flock or its mother? If it hatches, it probably wont survive without its mother.

Gasping loudly with exaggerated emotion, she reacts, "Oh, I didn't even think of that! Oh no! We have to return it to its mother! This is terrible!"

"Woah!" Zoey states in order to calm Gabby down. "I want to help the chick too, but we don't even know where this egg's mother will be."

"Oh, but we do!" argues Gabby in confidence. "This species, as I said prefer higher elevation. The forest gets more mountainous in the west, and the trees are taller out in that direction, partially due to less frequent human traffic in the area compared to out east. I also know for a fact that the swablu population is more dense out west. We can find our Emolga AND return the egg to its mother!"

"It's a win-win! Let's do it," Zoey agrees, tucking the egg into her pink sack to keep it warm and safe. "I'll keep an eye on the egg then."

Nodding in agreement, Gabby steps away from the shattered nest, dusting herself off. A slight detour in their path is made, but the two girls continue westward. The woods become thicker and darker, but with the pairing of two determined young women, the forest is no obstacle. The terrain becomes steeper, the team climbing muddy, rugged terrain as the forest provides more adverse paths for the girls to tackle. Occassionally, the two would have to try to pull up Leyvee, who's impractical foot shape gives her trouble following the route of the two girls.

"Gabby, do you smell that"? inquires Zoey as she audibly sniffs the air, making a disturbed expression.

"Oh, I do! It's dreadful!" Gabby seconds her partner as she shares the foul air through her nostrils. "It's getting unusually foggy too!"

"What the hell is going on?" questions Zoey as she hastily scales the small hill in front of her. "It smells like something's burning..."

"Oh, you're right! This can't be good!" agrees Gabby who meets Zoey at the top of the hill with Leyvee following close behind her.

"Look, up there!" Zoey points out, drawing everyone's eyes to the black and gray clouds of gas lifting itself up into the atmosphere, an indication of the infernal source of the scent in the air. "Smoke."

Gabby's eyes widen in despair, taking off in a full sprint without saying a word. Leyvee follows her trainer, moving at a slower pace but nonetheless hustles towards her trainer, displaying a similar level of concern. Zoey hesitates however, checking her bag and gripping the egg from outside of her bag to keep it in place and in one piece. The girl then takes off after the other two, more curious than concerned in what lies ahead in the direction of rising smoke clouds. As expected, the smell of obscuring smoke gets thicker as well as the temperature. Before long, Zoey catches up to Gabby, who's on her knees panting heavily in exhaustion, indicating poor fitness levels but undoubtedly also suffering hindered breathing from the thick smoke. Even Zoey feels exhausted from the smoke entering her lungs, reaching for her long ponytail to remove her hat, covering her mouth with it as a makeshift air filter, pressing it against her face.

Raw destruction presents itself before the girls. Raging fires roar across vast swaths of woodland in front of them. Orange and yellow dances across their eyes, displaying a perverse beauty as it exhales dark gases into the atmosphere. Gabby looks upon the flames in horror, completely paralyzed by the incineration of the forest. Zoey, meanwhile, gazes directly into the fierce flames, mesmerized by the twisting and coiling of the super heated, disintegrating lights. Leyvee backs away with rolls of sweat trickling down her face, her eyes wide in fear as to be expected from grass-type Pokemon. Considering that, if a situation emerges that requires Zoey to rely on Vuowth, the massive wildfire will surely complicate things more so than it would be without fires. There's certainly little reason to suspect Vuowth will want to brave the extreme, dry heat for any reason, even if she were to make the decision for herself.

"W-why?" Gabby whimpers, her hands clasping the dirt below her, squeezing it between her fingers to the extent that it bowls over her hands. "Why is this happening!?"

Zoey bears witness to Gabby's horror, tears streaming from her eyes in sadness. The loud rustling of the flames make both the girl's words, Leyvee's whimpering and the other sounds of the forest. However, Zoey's mind trails off towards the flames themselves. What caused the fire to start? How long has it been burning? When will the fires cease? The girl's eyes scan the full extent of the fires, expanding rapidly as the flames jump from tree to tree, expanding the devastation at an alarming pace. The skies show no sign of rain in the near future, therefore the only reasonable possibility of halting the inferno's expansion would require human intervention. With the encroaching flames on the mind, Zoey's gaze widens, backing away from the boughs of nearby trees, not that there's much of a safe place to stand in a dense forest. Sure enough, the trees above them are already aflame. Zoey shifts her focus towards Gabby and her Leyvee, catching sight of a large burning branch on the verge of hurling towards the earth.

"Gabby, get out of the way!" Zoey warns loudly, her voice becoming less audible over the roaring inferno beside them.

Gabby looks up slowly, only to see a flaming tree branch speeding towards her. Too late. The flickering branch strikes the ground, wasting no time in spreading its flames across the forest floor. Zoey examines the immediate vicinity around her, witnessing another horror. The fires are expanding far quicker than anticipated, with the inferno's reach now behind them, cutting them off from escape with the collapse of incinerating boughs and logs.

"Leyvee!" a blood-curdling scream pierces Zoey's eardrum, shifting back around to bear witness to Gabby huddled on the ground in shock.

The felled log had been tossed aside in the knick of time, saving Gabby not only from being crushed by a heavy branch, but suffering the wrath of the flame as well. Leyvee, however, isn't so lucky. The bayleef acted in bravery, tackling the burning branch with all of her might, causing her to roll and stumble straight into a towering inferno, igniting the heroic bayleef in a sea of merciless fire. Leyvee squeals in agony as the fires sear her flesh and break down the leaves on her body. Within seconds, the bayleef collapses, falling unconscious from the fire. Gabby's eyes flood her face with tears, scrambling for her pokeball to recall the fainted bayleef. She succeeds, but not before Leyvee suffers severe burns. The chaos doesn't end there, however. A barely audible screech makes its way to Zoey's ear, tilting her head in the direction of the massive inferno. Squinting hard into the living hell, she spots a shocking sight. A Pokemon is stranded within the inferno, unable to escape, but barely able to withstand the impossible heat, hollering for help as hopeless as it might be.

"Gabby! There's a Pokemon trapped in there!" she warns, running up to the traumatized girl and helps her to her feet.

"What, really!?" verifies Gabby, following Zoey's finger into the flames to identify the tiny white and yellow creature trapped in hell itself. "Oh... oh no!!!"

"I don't know how we can get in there though. I don't have any Pokemon that can help us rescue it," admits Zoey, hoping for Gabby to have an option available to her.

"I do!" proclaims Gabby as she digs into her pants' pockets, pulling out a pokeball, her presumable answer. "We need your assistance Maya! Go!"

Her pokeball casts out a blue, sphere shaped Pokemon with big ears and a zigzagging tail with a blue bulb on its end. Zoey whips out her pokedex to fully assess the capabilities of this Pokemon, revealing its species to be Marill, the Aquamouse Pokemon. Perfect, a water-type Pokemon!

"Maya!" urges Gabby, squatting down to the marill's level and grabbing the small creature's attention. "We have a Pokemon to save! Use your Water Gun and clear a path so we can grab the Pokemon and make a getaway!"

"Marill, ma!!" chirps Maya proudly, hopping away while swelling up its cheeks.

Pressurized water fires forth from the water-type's mouth, piercing the flames and coating the base of the fire with its quenching liquid. Maya makes progress, pushing back the inferno, but its not enough. The fires are only deterred temporarily, quickly recovering ground when the Water Gun is directed elsewhere.

"This isn't working," bluntly states Zoey after witnessing the water mouse's inadequate efforts, reaching into her pink sack to pull out a pokeball. "I have an idea, I think."

"Please help us..." she prays, pressing her pokeball's activation mechanism to bring forth her reptilian companion.

"Vuowth! I need you to take Maya here with you and use its Water Gun to create a path through the fire and rescue the Pokemon stranded in there," Zoey pointing deep into the inferno to give her just summoned lizard the picture.

Gabby's face contorts in confusion, seeing Zoey call forth a grass-type in order to save a Pokemon from fire. It makes little sense, especially considering how quickly the fires took out Leyvee, who's pretty strong in her own right herself. Surely this can't be her idea, using a grass-type to actually -brave- the inferno in what could very well be a suicidal mission for both of their Pokemon. Her eyes then meet the grovyle's legs, a realization circulating within her mind. Speed! That's her plan!

Vuowth replies with her trademark scowl, Leering suspiciously towards Zoey before becoming distracted by the fire around it. The grass-types eyes widen in shock, taking in the hellish sprawl with no end in sight. Fires tower and squirm before her eyes before her golden glance catches sight of the Pokemon unconscious in the flames. The grovyle's eyes lock onto the victim of hell's fire, glaring at the fires that have devastated a huge swath of the forest. Vuowth's scowl scans the fire as well, a look of ferocity on her face far deeper than any look Zoey has seen from her previously. It's almost as if Vuowth is hypnotized by the fires, opening a gateway into the anguish of her soul.

"Vuowth, please! I know you don't like listening to me, and probably for a good reason, but we need to save that Pokemon, and you're the only one who can travel fast enough to avoid the flames. Do this for that Pokemon at least. I know you can do it!" pleads Zoey, doing her best to relate to Vuowth in this crisis.

The reptile returns her gaze to her pleading trainer, glaring at her for several moments all while Zoey holds a smile towards her Pokemon, displaying her sincerity despite Vuowth's hesitation. Several seconds pass without movement from anyone, until Vuowth shifts her head, eyeing a stranger with glasses sitting on her knees and another Pokemon, a big eared blue creature that she's also unfamiliar with. Vuowth's gaze locks onto the marill, staring blankly at the rodent for another set of seconds. For a brief moment, Vuowth takes one last look at Zoey, her cold stare striking her trainer for a split second before she snags Maya, tucking the water-type around her right arm like a football, startling the marill who squeaks before picking up on the situation.

"Gro," mutters Vuowth, squeezing her right arm slightly to signal Maya's use of Water Gun, taking off into the blazing hell in the doused path created by the blue rodent.

The trainers watch in anticipation, Vuowth's green form straddling the path of several infernos as she expertly directs Maya's hose as if she were a professional firefighter. Dodging the licks of hostile fire with several close calls, Vuowth doesn't lose her focus, rushing the burning obstacle course with unstoppable grit. Something else must have inspired Vuowth to follow orders in Zoey's mind, as she's never seen her companion act with such fervor and determination. Evading the smiting fire takes its toll, however. Maya's Water Guns begin to weaken as the pair close in on the trapped Pokemon's location, gallons of sweat rushing down their bodies in a futile attempt to combat the rising heat. The scorching temperatures don't slow down Vuowth however, leaping athletically over a tall pillar of flame, Maya blasting a makeshift gap between the flames directly in front of them before the Pokemon team hurls through the opening, landing in a shrinking clearing containing the knocked out Pokemon.

Vuowth wastes no time, picking up the slowly dying rodent in its left arm, resting it against her body like a rag. However, the heavy breathing of Maya catches Vuowth's eye, the reptile nudging the mouse who looks up to Vuowth, smiling weakly to affirm readiness but showing evident signs of exhaustion, nearly at its limit.

"Vy-vyle!" hisses Vuowth, advising the marill to make way as she lowers her stance in preparation.

"M-mah..." Maya squeaks softly, feebleness evident in its voice as it swells its cheeks.

Water Gun breaks a brief path through the wall of fire, beginning their race back to the clearing containing both of their trainers. However, the trip back proves to be a greater struggle, Maya's Water Guns exhibiting far less strength in addition to Vuowth, losing the battle against the unbearable heat. The team press on regardless, knowing that all three of their lives depend on making it out of the feral blaze.

Zoey and Gabby, meanwhile, face their own troubles. Their way out is blocked by the expanding inferno, causing Gabby to tremble in panic.

"Zoey, how are we going to get out of here!?" Gabby cries, tears running down her face in fear. "I don't want to die!"

"I don't know," admits Zoey, herself showing worry as her gaze shifts between their former exit and their Pokemon, themselves wrestling with a life or death scenario in order to rescue a stranded Pokemon.

A tree, coated in angry flames barrels down on the trainers, both of them caught off guard by the blazing trunk's collapse. Both of them leap away, avoiding an otherwise fatal blow, but suffer a new, terrible fate. A new wall of fire separates the two trainers, hell's judgment bearing down on them from all sides as the roaring blaze inches towards the helpless trainers and their Pokemon. Zoey clenches her teeth, zipping her head around, only to see no way out for herself. The girl contemplates their hopeless scenario, juggling the crazy idea of just diving into the wall of fire towards the still standing forest behind them in a desperate attempt to save her life should she make it to the untouched forest beyond. Would it be right though to make an attempt to save herself and leave the others behind? Certainly Gabby could try the same thing, but the whole reason for them getting caught in this inferno was to make a daring rescue of a wild Pokemon itself caught up in this hell.

"HELP US!!!" Gabby screams in absolute terror as fire engulfs the both of them, the last bits of open space consumed by searing fire.

Vuowth leaps over a blaze, landing in a tiny clearing not far from their trainers, landing on her knees due to her body giving in to the heat and exhaustion. Maya stumbles out of her grip, rolling towards the fire but managing to stop itself. The grovyle verifies her grip on the recovered Pokemon, scrambling to procure her other accomplice before resuming their escape. Unfortunately, Vuowth rolls Maya over to see the rodent completely passed out. Her eyes widen in reaction with her firefighter out of commission and their path out completely surrounded with suffocating fire. The lizard glances around, tightening her gaze as a bold, perhaps foolish thought comes to mind. She scoops up the marill hurriedly, verifying her grip of the two Pokemon, diving through the wall of fire. Her leap falls short, however, with her right heel caught aflame. The grovyle reels in pain, hurdling towards the ground where she lands in another shrinking clearing, dropping her companions before clutching her heel in pain. Vuowth douses her foot in dirt, stamping out the fire, but suffering another injury; a sprained ankle due to her harsh landing. Roaring fires surround the Pokemon as well, only Vuowth left conscious to see the inferno descend upon them. What is to come of the brave trainers and their Pokemon as death stares them directly in the face? Hell itself prepares to suck out the souls of those who chose to tread too closely to the domain of the devil.

 

[moon]

Chapter 2; Velvet Lights
Adam Jenkins//Viridian Forest
*bulbagarden.net image removed*Lvl 14*bulbagarden.net image removed*Lvl 11*image removed* *image removed* *image removed* *image removed*

chapter two; part II
Aberdeen Black // Viridian Forest

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Aberdeen caught Metapod in a pokéball. It didn't even wiggle much in his hand until it came to a stop. Poor, helpless pokémon. It must have beeen having so much more fun when it was a caterpie, free to climb around anywhere. And when it would become a butterfree, that day would be bliss.

The rain stopped. It even looked like the sky was going to become brighter soon, with streams of sun peeking through the white and gray clouds. Servine couldn't wait. Blitzle pouted slightly. Aberdeen sighed happily.

"My umbrella is still at the road somewhere," he told his pokémon. "We've got to go fetch it. Not that it was very useful... but we're better off walking on the road than in the middle of nowhere-forest, right?" Blitzle nodded in agreement and started trekking up the hill where they had tumbled down. Aberdeen followed but Servine had his doubts.

The doubts were justified. Minutes later, they realized that they were completely lost. Aberdeen and Blitzle had been running blindly from the beedrill and couldn't remember which way they had really come from. The sun had split the clouds open now and instead of the chill that had enveloped the morning in Viridian Forest, a moist warmth was now creeping up on them. Again, paradise for Servine but not so much for the blitzle and the boy.

Giving out a deep sigh, Adam pulled off his hat and squeezed it firmly, letting the accumulated water drip from it before shaking it and placing it back on his head. The rain definitely hadn't been a welcome addition to his and Blair's little trek through the forest, and the fire Pokémon, despite not being hurt by the rain, still didn't seem thrilled as he shook himself dry.

"First we get lost, and then we get rain. I guess it wouldn't be an adventure without a couple of bumps in the road, huh?" He gave the Quilava a light little grin to which Blair responded with a snort. Adam sighed and continued trudging through the now moistly warm woods, pushing aside from low-hanging branches up until he stepped into a small clearing, the sun shining brightly down in this small meadow, different colours of flowers all over.

Servine suddenly whipped Aberdeen's shoulder lightly with his vine whip. "Hey!" Aberdeen said with a frown. "What was that for?" Servine nodded, looking to the boy's left. There was a clearing there, behind the next few trees. It could be the road! Aberdeen and Blitzle hurried out into the clearing, while Servine walked calmly after them.

It was not the road. It was just a minor meadow with flowers. And a boy and a pokémon. Aberdeen was surprised and jumped slightly. "Oh. Hi!" he said, as it was the first natural thing that came to his mind to say. The boy didn't look like a bully or weirdo anyways so he might as well say hi.

"Hehe. I thought this was the main road. But apparently not," he sighed. Blitzle began grazing absentmindedly while Servine came to stand at his trainer's side, glaring at the Quilava. "I guess we're lost."

Blinking a little in surprise at the sudden voice of... well, anyone really, Adam turned to the boy coming into the clearing, followed by a Blitzle and a Servine. He knew about the second Pokémon due to having checked up on the ones Pine was offering him and the others. Maybe this guy was from Viridian as well. Either case, he raised a hand to give a wave and offered him a smile.

"Oh, hey there! Yeah, I was hoping as well. Welcome in the club." He gave a little grin, rubbing the back of his head while looking around the meadow, the Quilava at his side taking in the scent of the three newcomers, seeming more wary than hostile to them.

"So... how'd you get lost? I got chased around by a Pidgeot, I think. Almost pecked my eyes out, but I managed to lose it."

Aberdeen's eyes widened. "A Pidgeot? WHOA! That's cool! How big was it? Man, I wish I had been there with my pokédex. I'd snapped a shot of it and would be able to look the size and all up. Never saw one with my own eyes."

He looked over at his own pokémon. "As for us, we got chased off the road by some beedrill and then some butterfree came and I don't even know."

"Beedrill? Sounds pretty crazy too. And the Pidgeot was like... huge, like, twice or three times as big as me. I would've checked up on it with my Pokédex, but I had to keep it from obliterating my Nidoran and after that, me and Blair here."

Adam nodded to the Quilava next to him, which let out a low, but not hostile, growl. "Quil, lava." Offering a hand to the boy, he smiled. "I'm Adam, by the way. Wanna try and look for a way out together? Might be a good idea to watch each others' backs when crazy stuff like Beedrills and Pidgeots are around here. Not to mention the ghost-rumors..."

Aberdeen took the hand and thought about the strangeness of them both having pokédexes. He was about to inquire about that, when Adam's last lime came. Aberdeen's grip on the other boy's hand stiffened and his face took on a nervous grin.

"Eheh. Ghosts? Here? Hahaha, what? I've never heard such rumors and I've been living in Viridian City my whole life!"

His eyes began looking around, shifty, though. Blitzle felt the stiffness of his trainer and stepped closer with a worried look himself. "Haha! No ghosts here no! There are no ghosts anyways. What a silly rumor! Aaaanyways! My name is Aberdeen. Nice to meet you Adam! Very much not-ghost-Adam!"

Now, Servine shook his head with a sigh again and gave an apologetic look to Quilava for his trainer's behavior. Then he quickly turned his head to the right. He had spotted something in the forest. Or had he? He took a step forward. Aberdeen was too busy pretending to not be afraid from Adam's words to notice this.

Adam looked a little surprised at Aberdeen's sudden outburst, and as strange as the appearance seemed, Adam couldn't help but start to get a little nervous himself. Sure, it was the middle of the day and it was at least somewhat bright in the forest, a small chill ran through his spine, which made him look over his shoulder for a moment before looking back, giving a nervous little grin of his own.

"N-no, of course not! I didn't mean it seriously either! They -are- just rumors, so if there'd been ghosts, SOMEONE would've found out, for sure! It-it's just people making rumors for the heck of it!"

Nodding to himself, it sounded more like he was trying to convince himself rather than Aberdeen. Blair rolled its eyes a little at both of the trainers acting like they were and gave a little shrug to the Servince. However, as it turned its head off to the right, Blair seemed to stiffen slightly himself, the red patches down along his back suddenly igniting, the flames crackling softly as he sniffed the air around them.

Adam blinked a little and looked down at Blair, and then over to the Servine. "... That's odd. What're you two doing? Did you see something?"

Aberdeen snapped out of it. "Is it a wild pokémon, Servine?" He squinted and looked into the forest where the pokémon's gaze was fixed. "If it's a beedrill again, we'd better make a run for it quick!"

Something cracked behind the boys and made Aberdeen's head spin towards that instead. A dark shape flashed by his eyes, in behind a tree. He gasped and took some steps back. "Adam! Ad-ad-adam!" he blurted out, pointing towards the spot where he had seen something. "It's..."

Blitzle decided to act without being given an order. The boy and his pokémon were his new herd and the herd should be protected. He Charged up with a neighing growl and then did something he had never before done. He fired off an elemental, offensive attack. It hit the tree and now they could all see a shadow move away from it, dashing off into the forest before they could see if it was a human or pokémon or... or a ghost! The only thing they could see was that it was bigger than them.

Aberdeen panicked and suddenly found himself clutching the arm of Adam's shirt, all courage gone from the so often positive and confident boy. "Was that... was that a-a-a-"

Adam jumped as Aberdeen yelled out and pointed towards the nearby trees, quickly spinning to face the woods. As he saw the faint flicker of shadows, he squinted, taking a step back himself, looking just a tad paler. "W-what is it? Was it a-"

He was cut off as the Blitzle ran up in front of them and shot a bolt of lightning towards the shadow, the electricity hitting one of the trees and leaving a scorch mark. Adam gasped as he saw the shadow disappearing further into the woods, his eyes narrowing as he felt Aberdeen grasping onto the back of his shirt.

"... That wasn't a ghost. A ghost wouldn't be afraid of being hit by lightning. I bet it was a Pokémon of some kind, but it looked... big. We gotta check it out!" Looking back at Aberdeen, Adam gave a smile and gave his shoulder a friendly pat with his hand, trying to seem braver than he was. He was clinging to the reasoning in his words, but the thought of it having been a ghost was still nagging him.

"Come on, Aberdeen! We have to find out what kind of Pokémon it was!" With that, he turned towards the woods where the figure had disappeared and ran forwards, into the undergrowth of the woods, Blair giving out a growl and following right behind him.

Aberdeen did not at all like that idea, but the thought of staying behind while something shadowy like that was on the loose made him even more uncomfortable. "Adam, wait up!" he called out and sent Servine back into its pokéball to make it come with him without grimacing. Blitzle had already set off to follow the Quilava and its trainer though, and Aberdeen now did the same.

They rushed through the vegetation, pushing branches aside and jumping over rocks and sticks. At one point, Aberdeen almost fell over. In that moment, one of the pokéballs fastened at his belt popped open. Metapod came out and Aberdeen surprised caught it in his arms "What!" But looking up, he saw Adam's shape keep running through the forest and he didn't want to be left behind so he didn't bother sending the pod back in; he just kept running alongside Blitzle, who kept using Charge to power himself up, as if he couldn't wait to use his new move Shock Wave again. Aberdeen was holding Metapod in his arms like a clutched teddy bear for comfort. It's strangely warm skin was oddly comforting, actually.

@ Sir Bastian
Training! Good thinking :D

- Blair (Quilava) grew to lvl 14!
- Stomps (Nidoran) grew to lvl 11!


@ Red Wing
That's some creativity in battle! I hope you know what you're doing, evolving Petilil this early though. Lilligant doesn't learn more than two or three moves naturally by leveling up...

- Phoenix (Combusken) grew to lvl 16 and learned Double Kick!
- Lily (Petilil) grew to lvl 12!
- Lily, upon touching the Sun Stone, evolved into Lilligant! The Sun Stone's faint glow fades away as it is used up.
- Katt's new Emolga is on lvl 8!


@ Xlugon Pyro
This RP is turning into a collection of intense chronicles of Kanto trainers!

- Vuowth (Grovyle) grew to lvl 19!


@ me & Sir Bastian
The scared duo is on the move! Stay tuned for the next episode of THE MERGED HEADER.​

 

[RedWing]

chapter 2; Strengthening the Bonds That Tie: Velvet Lights Part III

Katherine Aldine // Viridian Forest, Deep Forest Interior

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"Okay," Katt mumbled as she stared at Sparky's PokeBall, "C'mon out, Sparky!" Katt threw the PokeBall skyward, releasing her new Emolga from its confines!

The small squirrel Pokemon did a double loop before landing on a branch in a tree close to Katt.

"Hey, Sparky?" Katt called.

The Emolga simply looked down at Katt and scowled.

Katt sighed, "I thought you'd be this way...C'mon down, Sparky, please?" Sparky, however, would be having none of it. Since Katt left the triplets, things had gone from great to terrible in a matter of minutes.

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Katt witnessed with wonder as Petilil was shrouded by a white light and began to change form! The Sun Stone crumbled away to dust, but Katt didn't notice because, a moment later, there stood a Lilligant where Lily was!

"Oh my Arceus, Lily you've evolved!" Katt said with delight. The young Trainer hugged her new Lilligant, who returned the gesture happily.

"Lilli~" It sang sweetly. Katt was completely captivated by her Pokemon's beauty: From Lily's garland to her vibrant coloring, the Lilligant was completely breath-taking! Phoenix was happy and awestruck too, clucking in excitement and then giving Lily a high-five!

Katt giggled, "This is so great, now we-OW!" Katt reached at the waist of her skirt and retrieved the PokeBall containing her newly caught Emolga, Sparky. "Did you just shock me?" Katt asked, annoyed. From within the small sphere, Katt could tell the Emolga was steaming mad. She could barely hold the orb for more than a few seconds before the electricity from Sparky caused her to replace the ball in her bag.

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Katt frowned, "Sparky, please, come down!"

"Emo!" Sparky responded by sending a weak jolt of electricity that nearly hit Katt. Thankfully, she had anticipated that and side-stepped in-time. The Electric-type seemed to be annoyed by that and flew to a different tree, farther from Katt.

Phoenix and Lily began to sense Katt's frustration and called out to Emolga, "Comb!" "Lilli!" But, the stubborn Flying Pokemon wouldn't listen.

Katt sighed and sat down against a large tree, "Great, my second successfully captured Pokemon, and it hates me..."

"Emo!" Emolga gave a cry and flew back to Katt, burying its head in its Trainer's shirt. "Emo!"

"Huh?" Katt was confused, just a moment ago Emolga was as stubborn as a Tauros and now it wanted to be affectionate?

That's when she realized that Sparky wasn't being affectionate, he was afraid! "Phoenix! Lily! Be prepared for an attack! I think our new partner here angered a wild Pokemon..." Katt said calmly. For a moment, she congratulated herself. Never in her wildest dreams did Katt think she'd handle a situation like this so easily.

Phoenix and Lily stood guard on either side of Katt, but nothing came out of the surrounding shrubbery or trees. "Huh?" Katt was confused all over again. "Sparky, what's got you all scared?"

The Emolga looked up at Katt and jumped off of her, gliding through the air, urging Katt to follow. Her curiosity peaked and Sparky's Trainer rose to her feet to see what had gotten her Pokemon so riled up. Phoenix and Lily, sensing no immediate danger, followed behind Katt.

A few minutes later, Sparky stopped gliding and rested on Katt's shoulder. "Emo," it said with a shudder and pointed a paw at a break in some trees.

"Is something beyond these trees?" Katt wondered aloud. Her Emolga nodded, so the Trainer decided to have a look. From beyond the trees, Katt saw a small clearing. But, it was what occupied this clearing that took her breath away.

There, in the center of the glade, was the strangest Pokemon Katt had ever seen. It was about as tall as her father, with grey skin and a large, purple tail-like appendage that began at what she assumed was its stomach. Each hand and foot had three spherical phalanges, and its upper torso was so human-like, it was eerie. It's neck had some strange growth that connected its head to the base of its upper body and its ears were small and blockish.

"What is that?" Katt couldn't help but ask. She fished for her PokeDex in her bag, but when she got it out and open, it didn't register any data on the enigma before her! "Is it even a Pokemon?"

As if to answer her question, the oddity that had been standing in the clearing turned and seemed to stare directly at Katt! Its eyes were a deep purple and seemed to hold an overwhelming sadness.

"Mewtwo..." The name seemed to echo inside Katt's head. As Katt stared at the creature she now knew must be called Mewtwo, it began to shimmer before disappearing entirely.

Katt gasped, "It teleported!" Making her way through the shrubbery and onto the clearing, Katt was unable to find neither head nor tail of the mirage Pokemon known as Mewt...Wait, what was it called, again? For some reason, Katt couldn't remember...

"Emo!" Sparky no longer seemed frightened, which Katt took as a good sign.

"So, are we gonna try to be friends?" Katt asked hopefully.

"Emo!" The Emolga jumped from Katt's shoulder and flew off to a nearby tree in answer.

"Sigh, guess not..." Katt mumbled. Phoenix and Lily both sighed also, this was going to be a long journey.

---------------------------

​

chapter 2; Strengthening the Bonds That Tie: Ruffling Feathers Part IV

Katherine Aldine // Viridian Forest, Northern Forest Interior

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Katt looked skyward and frowned, "Looks like it's about to be dusk, guys." Phoenix, Lily, and Sparky were all traveling outside their PokeBalls. Sparky, despite being stubborn about being Katt's Pokemon, had settled a bit and decided to accompany the others without much trouble.

As the sun set outside the forest, the atmosphere within also began to change. Katt noted the hushed chirps of Bug-type Pokemon moving about and the rustling of Flying-types as they returned to their nests for rest. It was serene, completely tranquil.

Sparky was hopping from branch to branch when it accidentally disturbed the home of a wild Pidgeotto! So much for peace...

"Crap," Katt mumbled. The wild bird Pokemon was attempting to make a meal of Emolga so Katt had to act quickly. "Sparky! Fly away and fire a Thundershock at the Pidgeotto!"

But, Sparky wouldn't obey! "Emo!" It flew away alright, but it circled back and hit Pidgeotto with a Quick Attack instead! The angry Pokemon was only stunned for a moment before flapping its powerful wings to send Sparky off-balance and into an adjacent tree!

"Sparky!" Katt cried, "You need to listen to me! Use Thundershock!"

"Emo!" Sparky was being the pinnacle of stubborn. It hopped out of the tree as Pidgeotto dove in for the kill and hit the predatory bird with another Quick Attack! Having caught the Pidgeotto off guard, the Flying-type fell from the tree in a heap of feathers.

"Pidge!" The Pokemon wasn't defeated yet, though. Rising to its feet, the predator rose to the air again as Katt and her Pokemon watched it aim for Sparky!

"Sparky!" Katt called again, "You have to listen! If you don't you're going to get really hurt!"

"Emo!" Sparky stuck its tongue out and made to fly to another tree before Pidgeotto could catch it, but the Electric-type hadn't anticipated that Pidgeotto would use Quick Attack to close the gap! In less than a second, the large bird was on Emolga and the two went spiraling to the ground!

Emolga, trapped in Pidgeotto's talons, couldn't so much as move! The two Pokemon hit the ground, Pidgeotto atop Sparky and a cloud of dirt rose to hide them from view!

Katt covered her eyes and her Pokemon looked worried, "Sparky! Please! Use Thundershock!" She didn't want Sparky getting hurt, but she knew that if she sent in Phoenix or Lily that Sparky would simply write it off as pity and that wouldn't help at all. No, Sparky needed to learn that Katt had his best interests in mind as his Trainer.

"Emo!" Sparky, grudgingly, let loose an electric shock! Or, at least it would, if the cloud of earth that surrounded Pidgeotto and itself didn't negate the effects of the electric move!

With a triumphant cry, Pidgeotto unleashed a merciless Peck attack on Emolga! Thankfully, the small squirrel could still move its head and barely avoided being skewered by a nasty beak! Pidgeotto wouldn't let up though, and continued to peck at Emolga!

"Crap," Katt cursed, "Sparky's gonna get seriously hurt if that dirt doesn't settle!" She turned to Phoenix and Lily, "Alright, you two, we need to interfere just a tiny bit, okay? I need you both to fan that dirt away from Sparky and Pidgeotto so Sparky can use its Thundershock properly!"

Phoenix and Lily nodded solemnly and ran towards the still swirling dirt mass to try and assist their comrade! From within the cloud, Emolga was still putting up an effort to avoid Pidgeotto's beak and, thankfully, the large predator was beginning to tire. Sparky took the opportunity to try a Quick Attack, and miraculously, was able to release itself from Pidgeotto's grip!

From outside the cloud, Katt saw Emolga shoot up and above the now receding dirt mass! "Good work, Sparky!" Katt cried. Sparky seemed happy to be praised and flew to a nearby branch, quickly followed by the angry Pidgeotto!

"Okay, now, Sparky! Use Thundershock!" Katt commanded.

Sparky, this time, used the move without fail, frying Pidgeotto before it could reach its target! The electrified bird crumpled to the forest floor. Phoenix and Lily, having quit fanning the dust and dirt when Emolga escaped, cheered on their partner!

"You did it! Good job, Sparky!" Katt praised. She ran towards the tree where Emolga was resting and, to her surprise, the squirrel Pokemon jumped down to land in her arms!

"Emo," it said solemnly, before passing out in her arms from exhaustion.

"Oh, you're tired. Of course," Katt said with a smile. "Okay, guys, let's go just a little farther and set up camp for the night, okay?" Phoenix and Lily nodded and the group left the knocked out Pidgeotto behind. Before long, they found a nice, open area to make camp and a few minutes later, Katt and her Pokemon were sleeping beneath the stars.

It had certainly been an exciting day. Katt smiled sleepily as she looked towards the stars. In a dream-like haze, she almost thought she'd seen the form of Mew fly by overhead.

"Mew..."
​

 

[Puppeteer Mask]

chapter one (again); FRIENDS AND RIVALS
Chapo Currian // Route 2

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"Alright, I'm up." Chapo wobbled about and tried to maintain her balance as she crawled along a branch beside Mia's. Finally confident that she wouldn't fall over, she sat up, her attention divided between the other girl and the ground below. Chapo wasn't afraid of heights. She wasn't afraid of heights. She was. Not. Afraid. Of heights. The trainer gave a long, ragged breath and closed her eyes. There. That did the trick. She now fully focused on the other trainer.

"Welp, I was walking along here when I noticed a lot of commotion in the grass here. We've just started our little journey, and I wasn't all that interested in Rattatas or Pidgeys, so I'm still a bit short on pokemon, you know?"

"By which you mean you have none except Turtwig." Chapo said, connecting the dots easily enough.

"Right!" Mia said, grinning again and nodding. "But I know more interesting species are here, I just know it. But I'm kinda... well..." The girl looked away, her cheeks flushing. Chapo knew that expression and move anywhere. Whatever Mia was "kinda... well...", it was something she found embarassing.

"Well... okay. Here's the thing. I haven't necessarily been unable to catch any pokemon because I didn't want to... I may... ah..." Mia looked up into the upper branches of the tree and reached up to scratch the back of her head. The side of her jacket facing Chapo slipped away, and the trainer could now see that the rest Mia's wardrobe consisted of little more than a dark purple tank top and a black pair of knee length skorts. "I'm noisy."

Chapo's nose wrinkled in confusion as she mulled that over. Noisy could mean any number of things. It could mean she was bad at sneaking, or she talked too loud (she did seem to have a bit of a stunted indoor voice) or that she was just one of those people that can't do anything without making as big a ruckus as possible. Like her brothers. "You scare the pokemon away?"

"Yeah..." Mia admitted sheepishly, her lopsided smile still on her face. "I kinda get excited easily, I just wanna do my own thing, right? So I figure if I'm up here I can vent my thoughts while Turtwig hides! Then, when a pokemon comes around, we ambush 'em!"

"That actually sounds pretty reasonable." Chapo said, nodding. "Do you mind if I stick around and see? I've never actually caught anything either."

"Sure! Make yourself comfortable." Mia said, shrugging. "If you really want you can even help, and then I can help you when you need it, right?"

"Agreed." Chapo and Mia shaked hands and nodded before going back to their watch. Perhaps it was the time of day, or perhaps it was the sun beating down from the sky, but time seemed to slow down to a crawl. Despite Mia's alleged loudness, the two girls remained in a state of awkward silence at first, staring into the distance and trying to spot any pokemon at all. Every now and then a Petilil or Cottonee would float by, but they were always too far away from the tree for Mia's ambush to work. Trying to find a way to alleviate the boredom and the silence, Chapo tried to break the ice between herself and Mia.

"So..." She began, trying to fish for any topic at all. "Do you... have any siblings?" It felt like it could be a good connecting point, although she doubted Mia came from the small legion she did.

"I..." Mia immediately went even quieter than she had been, her eyes shifting about as her expression darkened. Chapo immediately relised she had stepped on some sort of social landmine. "I did." She said definitively. "An... older brother. Sorry, it's kinda personal..."

Chapo immediately felt a pang of guilt over asking. She wasn't exactly good at helping people cope with this kind of grief. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't..."

"You didn't know. Of course you didn't know." Mia stated with a flat tone. "It's fine. You had no way of knowing." The girl closed her eyes and leaned back a little bit, startling Chapo. She was about to reach out and grab Mia, but relaxed when the girl didn't move any further back and kept her balance perfectly. "Sorry. It's a touchy subject."

"Right..." The psychic trainer was now kicking herself in her mind. That was just great. She had to go and blow up the conversation before it even started. How exactly could she cheer Mia up? She didn't exactly know that much about her. Her jacket was rather nice, but trying to deflect the conversation with "oh, I love your jacket by the way" just felt heartless and vapid. "Uhm... I..." Chapo started talking without a clear plan on what to say, but something caught her eye before she could put her foot in her mouth again. "I see something."

"Huh?" Mia snapped out of her quiet daze and looked in Chapo's direction. The Veridian girl pointed into the grass below at a blooming yellow flower. Mia squinted at the flower, the realization slowly coming to her. "That... wasn't there before, was it?"

Chapo shook her head in confirmation. "Nope. And I saw it move. Think we're onto something?" The girl gripped at her bag anxiously. She had never been in a fight before, even as what was technically a guest combatant. The only time she had seen battles in person was when her parents worked. But if they were right, then this was to be her first battle as a trainer.

"Only one way to find out!" Mia said, immediately whipping her pokedex out from her jacket again. The red gadget was opened up and pointed at the nearby flower.

Deerling. The Seasonal Faun Pokemon. The coloration and scent of its fur changes with the seasons, providing it with camoflauge in the mountain grass that it makes its home.

"Huh... it looked pretty cute." Chapo said, pointing at the picture of Deerling in the pokedex. "Maybe I should try catching o-"

"ALRIGHT, WE'RE LIVE, BABY!" Mia was suddenly standing on her branch, hands on her hips and a triumphant grin on her face. Chapo practically fell out of the tree at the sudden, loud outburst. "ZELGIUUUUUUUS! RISE FROM YOUR HIDING AND SALLY FORTH! IT IS TIME TO D-D-D-D-D-D-DUUUEL!" The now confirmed to be noisy girl gave a wide, melodramatic arm gesture towards the Deerling in the grass, her fingers curling into a spirited point only at the last second. As if on practiced cue, Mia's Turtwig burst out of its disguise, barreling forth in the direction of his trainer's finger and crashing into the clearly shocked faun pokemon.

"WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU-" Chapo tried to shout, but as soon as the words were out of her mouth, Mia had jumped out of the tree! "WHAT!? JUST... JUST... WHAT!? HOW ARE YOU STILL STANDING!?"

Mia had, somehow, managed to roll upon landing and spring to her feet completely fine. Her hand shot into her coat again and whipped out what appeared to be a portable music player connected to a small speaker. "C'MON! GET DOWN HERE, CHAPO! WE CANNOT LET THIS OPPORTUNITY PASS US BY! ZELGIUS! RESUME TACKLE ATTACK! DON'T LET DEERLING GET AWAY! HEAVEN OR HELL, LET'S ROCK!" The jacketed girl made yet another insane arm gesture just to turn on the music player, which began blaring an incredibly spirited instrumental rock song throughout the field. Distant Cottonee and Petilil were now floating away as quickly as they could, startled by the ridiculous amount of noise. The Deerling scrambled to its feet and tried to flee as well, but Turtwig tackled the back of its hind legs and caused it to buckle down to the ground again.

Chapo was halfway down the tree when the fighting started to move in her direction. Seeing that fleeing wasn't an option, Deerling was now kicking up dirt and sand everywhere, practically turning the grassy field into a dusty, hectic scene straight out of a rodeo. Turtwig angrily tried to tackle thin air, and wound up ramming the tree instead. "Uh oh..." Chapo's grip loosened irreparably as the tree shook beneath her. "I'm gonna fall I'm gonna fall I'm gonna fall!" She ranted pathetically before losing her grip on the tree entirely. Chapo braced herself for the inevietable pain of hitting the hard ground, but it didn't come.

"I gotcha, Chapo!" The fallen trainer felt herself being hugged tightly from behind and eased back onto the ground. Mia was looking down at her, a cheeky grin on her face. "You shoulda just jumped! C'mon, get Grotle out and let's wrap this up!" The standing trainer whirled around towards the Deerling. "ZELGIUS! IT'S COMING! WITHDRAW!"

True to Mia's words, the Deerling was now attempting to bull rush Turtwig with its own Tackle. Chapo's eyes bulged in shock as she whirled out of the way on the ground, getting up and reaching for Roland's pokeball as Deerling's hooves cracked against Turtwig's glowing shell. The Turtwig didn't seem to be very hurt on the outside, but its strained expression proved that it couldn't last forever.

"Alright! I can do this. Roland, go!" Chapo threw Roland's ball into the air, letting out a whoop as the pokemon emerged behind Deerling, practically dwarfing it.

Seeing the large shadow creeping up behind it, Deerling stopped its assault on Turtwig and slowly, ever so slowly, turned around to face its new opponent. Upon seeing the Grotle in front of it, Deerling let out a startled cry and backed up uneasily. Roland, on the other hand, started to shake his bushes and give his big, silly grin. "Grotle! Grooooot!" Once again, Chapo was unsure what Roland was saying, but it sounded like the same cheerful, friendly greeting he had always given before.

"...I'm not sure..." Mia said, frowning at the large pokemon in confusion. "But I think Roland's less focused on fighting and more focused on making friends." The girl hurriedly held up a hand defensively. "Not that there's anything wrong with that, it's just... not exactly... useful right now."
As if to confirm that, Deerling took advantage of its seemingly slow witted opponent and bolted, jumping on the larger turtle pokemon's back and using it as a springboard to get away from the hostile group. Chapo, Mia and Turtwig all immediately jumped and cried out in shock and anger, while Roland merely looked up in surprise before ever so slowly turning myself around to look at the retreating pokemon with a hurt expression.

This was great. This was just fantastic. Chapo was practically tearing herself apart inside. She made a friend and then blew up a conversation with her. She tried to help her catch a pokemon, and now she was going to ruin everything instead of help because her pokemon was a great big dumb teddy bear. "Roland! ROLAND! It's getting away! We were supposed to fight it! Oh, Mia, I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Roland! Please, DO SOMETHING!"

Chapo didn't quite know what she expected Roland to actually do. A giant turtle wasn't about to run down a spritely faun, and from what she had seen, Roland didn't have an aggressive bone in his body. So he most definitely going to do something like-

"GROTLE!" Roland interrupted Chapo's frantic pleas and thoughts, angrily stomping the ground so hard that the trainer could've swore she felt it shudder. The expression on the turtle's face was unlike anything Chapo had seen on him yet. It was dark, it was glowering... it was furious. "Groooooooooooooooooooooo..." The turtle gave a low growl that only grew in both volume and intensity as its two bushes glowed a sickly green. Roland snapped his mouth shut, and then, still glaring daggers at the running Deerling, screamed a primal scream. "GROTAAAAAAAAAAHHHHL!" Something dark and round shot out of Grotle's mouth, barreling forward and screaming through the air like a cannonball. The dark projectile struck ground right by Deerling's feet and burst in a glorious explosion of wood splinters and dandilion fluff, knocking the stray pokemon into the air and onto its side, hapless.

"SWEET CHRISTMAS WHAT WAS THAT!?" Mia shouted at nobody in particular. Grotle was, disturbingly, back to his usual friendly self, and was now trotting towards the aftermath of his attack. He was practically humming as his bushes wiggled about cheerfully.

"I... I dunno..." Chapo said. "I guess... maybe Roland knew some sort of move I didn't know about?" The girl pondered this, but then shook her head. THere were more important things to deal with. "Go catch Deerling. You guys did all the work, I just sorta... got in the way." It was true. Even when help came from her, it was Roland that did everything. She'd have to learn more about her pokemon before she had even the slightest chance at surviving in the league.

"Maybe, but... I was glad you were here anyways." Mia said, wrapping her arm around Chapo. "C'mon, let's go make the catch. Then maybe we can figure out how to teach Zelgius to do that kickass bomb attack."

Chapo nodded and smiled. "Sure, I guess we could give it a shot." The two girls walked forward together, and Chapo couldn't help but feel a bit more confident than before. That move was probably Seed Bomb, and from what she knew of pokemon moves, it was pretty strong. She'd have to thank Professor Pine later. Chapo watched as Roland tried to give the collapsed Deerling a cheerful "Grot!" and laughed. Sure, maybe Roland was a big dumb teddy bear... but at the end of the day, isn't a teddy bear still a bear?