echo; A KANTO JOURNEY (IC)

[Xlugon Pyro]

3-2; GET STONED
Zoey Wyrmoki / / Route 2

21

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The skies above transform into the darker blue hues signifying the coming of night. Nonetheless, Zoey continues her training, trying to teach her Zovy to fly. The girls have been at it for nearly an hour, but the progress that has been made is barely noticeable. Zovy plummets to the ground continuously, struggling to synchronize her wing rotation and take-off time all while keeping her beady little eyes open. Sweat pours from her brows, breathing heavily from exhaustion as she pushes her bruised up body to continue her training. Zoey tosses Zovy into the air over a thick grassy field, but instead of making another attempt to fly, her wings collapse to her side as she plops onto the ground like a rock, immobile from exhaustion.

"Zovy!" Zoey rushes to Zovy's beaten body, concerning over her swablu's health.

Scooping up Zovy, she tweets softly, nestling her worn out physique against her trainer's warm hands. Zoey smiles at Zovy, whipping out a potion from her pack and gives Zovy a little spray.

"You did a lot of work today!" she praises Zovy, chirping hoarsely but contentedly to her trainer's words.

Zoey carries her chick back towards the road towards Pewter City, finding the base of a tree by the road side to sit herself down. Zovy rolls into her trainer's lap, cuddling herself up between her nest-like thighs while lulling herself to sleep. Zoey digs through her pack, finding a canister of Zovy's medicine milk and her bird's nursing bottle. She pours the nutritious milk into the bottle, twisting both shut and returning the near empty canister into her bag. Her hand guides the filled bottle up to Zovy's beak, poking at it until the swablu opens up to receive her treatment. A minute passes before Zovy empties her bottle, falling asleep between her trainer's legs. Zoey places her bottle back into her bag, giving Zovy a few moments of rest before she stands herself up, cradling her bird in her arms while alternating arms to sling her bag over her shoulder.

"Why don't we enjoy the evening walk together?" Zoey requests, resting a drowsy Zovy between her arms as opposed to slipping her Pokemon back inside her pokeball. "It's beautiful out here in the evening."

The young trainer marvels at the spectacular color display of the sky. The western sky still retains shades of bright oranges and yellows, but overhead and to the east the sky quickly takes on a dark blue and purple pigment. The mix of deciduous and coniferous trees crisscrossing the green, hilly landscape overlooking Pewter Valley gives the whole region a peaceful, natural appearance, long shadows casting themselves eastward as the sun sets. Trainer and Pokemon continue downhill on the twisting dirt path, finding themselves ever closer to Pewter City. Several minutes pass by before Zoey catches sight of a few rural houses, small ranches and fields, and even some large farms making the best out of the uneven landscape. They must be in the outskirts of Pewter City by now. More time passes, the western skies losing its yellow streak to encroaching expanses of bright blue. Shadows dim from a waning source of light, but this is remedied as streetlights begin to line Zoey's path towards the city. Her path begins straightening out from proximity to the city, the sounds of emerging nocturnal forest clamor coming forth to illustrate the transition towards the night.

Further down the road, the fluttering of a bird lands in the path's center, inspecting the location of its landing while hopping around to examine it from all angles. Zoey approaches the peculiar Pokemon, watching it pick apart the road for some reason. She reaches into her pokedex to scan the creature, finding out its identity to be Pidove, the Tiny Pigeon Pokemon. Squinting towards Pidove's immediate area, she finds a small pile of food crumbs, carelessly discarded by some person who apparently couldn't care less about keeping the roads clean. Well, at least the bird is willing to clean up after that person, whoever they are, and is getting its dinner as well. Perhaps nature finds a way to balance itself out. Zovy churns in Zoey's arms, blinking slowly to take in her surroundings before her sight locks on to Pidove, similar to her trainer. Zoey watches her swablu wake, glancing back at the Pidove for a few additional seconds, thoughts rolling through her weary mind.

"I know!" Zoey exclaims, taking a few additional steps before she places an unsuspecting Zovy onto the ground. "Why don't we see how to fly from an expert?"

Zovy yawns, blinking up at her trainer with a puzzled look. Zoey simply smiles, pointing at Pidove which directs Zovy's attention to the other bird Pokemon.

"I think a Pidove will do just fine," Zoey declares with confidence over her decision. "Let's get some first hand experience against an opponent accustomed to navigating the skies. I think Pidove should be a great opponent for you to get some useful experience from."

Her bird tweets at her, tilting her head hesitantly, but nonetheless fixes on the Pidove before her, gorging itself off of someone else's trash. She lifts her small right talon, chirping softly with a frown towards her trainer.

"Oh, don't worry!" reassures Zoey, squatting down to her nervous swablu to pat her head. "I know you're worn out from today's training, but this is a great opportunity for us! I'm sure Pidove will be an appropriate opponent for your level."

Zovy remains reluctant but stomachs the positive words of her trainer. Facing the Pidove once again, she hops a few times across the ground, eyeing the gray bird closely to watch its moves. The Pidove finally notices the two, halting its evening meal to scan its two onlookers warily. Flapping its wings a few times, the pigeon considers the intentions of its observers.

"Watch its wing motion and burn it into your memory, Zovy!" Zoey encourages her blue bird.

"Let's start this off with the edge!" she proclaims, readying for battle. "Do you think you can use Fury Attack?"

Zovy glances at Zovy, angling her posture as if she is shrugging. Her trainer reacts, flattening her left hand while keeping her fingers against each other, thrusting her hand out and in.

"Like this! It's like Peck, but your attack is continuous and relentless!" she demonstrates, using her hand motion to simulate the appearance of the attack directed.

The blue bird, acknowledging her trainer's instruction, hops hastily towards the gray bird, aiming her beak for Pidove's core. However, Pidove takes the initiative, launching itself into the air above the battlefield. Whipping up a Gust of wind with its furious wings, a ball of swirling air rushes towards Zovy's position.

"Quick, Zovy!" Zoey warns her swablu of impending danger." Dodge to your right and take Pidove out of the air! Use Sing!"

The Gust moves too fast, blasting Zovy with the harsh sphere of air molecules. Zovy is sent rolling backwards before coming to a stop by Zoey's feet, but nonetheless finds her feet, only to find her eyes lock directly onto Pidove's fierce, Leering gaze.

"Zovy, look out!"

Her hesitation from the Leer gets the best of her, leaving her ripe for an assault from Pidove. The gray bird smashes into Zovy at high speed, causing her to fall onto her backside from the wild bird's Quick Attack. Her recovery takes longer as her opponent ascends higher into the air, circling above her watchfully, but she nevertheless finds her feet, keeping her eyes on Pidove's soaring location.

"You okay, Zovy?" Zoey asks Zovy who responds by hopping a few times ahead of her trainer, moving slower from weakness but manages to survive the damage done to her earlier.

"Good! This time wait for Pidove to descend and take him by surprise with Peck!"

Zovy takes her trainer's suggestion into consideration, scoping out the skies for Pidove's position to react to his moves. However, Pidove already has dropped altitude towards the ground, stopping short of colliding with Zovy to flex his wings back for another Gust. Zovy uses the proximity to her advantage though, leaping to her right before Pidove's blast of air can crash into her. She lunges at the gray bird's side, smacking him just under his wing which sends him stumbling across the ground from the impact.

"This is it!" Zoey alerts her Pokemon to the opportunity. "Chase after Pidove and use Fury Attack before he can recover!"

Zovy follows her orders, skipping across the dirt path towards the reeling gray bird. However, a breeze of wind takes her by surprise, whisking her body slightly into the air while inadvertently lifting her wings. To Zoey's amazement, Zovy rotates her wings furiously in a struggle to escape the wind but stabilizes after the wind finds her backside, gliding at a faster speed towards Pidove. Pidove meanwhile finds his feet, but before he can react to Zovy, she startles him with a piercing from her beak. The two stumble over each other from the momentum of Zovy's attack, finding themselves in some short grass off to the side of the road.

"Keep up your Fury Attack!" Zoey proclaims loudly, ensuring that Zovy doesn't lose a chance to take an advantage.

Finding herself on top of a squirming Pidove, her beak promptly slams into the gray pigeon's body after receiving her trainer's directive. Repetitively piercing at Pidove's grounded body, Fury Attack makes its mark against the defenseless avian. Pidove manages to escape Zovy's wrath, however, facing his blue opponent with a contorted gesture. Angrily, he chirps aggressively at the swablu, Growling to intimidate his sensitive opponent. She struts backwards, disarmed by his reaction, taking the opportunity to strike her with another Quick Attack. Stumbling backwards several yards, her body slows to a stop, but this time she squirms in order to right herself but finds it difficult to recoup.

"Zovy!" Zoey shouts with concern. "Get up!"

Pidove chooses not to let her strike again however, leaping into the air where he summons up another Gust directed at Zovy. Helplessly scrambling on the ground, Zovy finds herself unable to avoid the impending attack.

"Sing, Zovy!" her trainer suggests, covering up her own ears with her hands to remain awake.

Zovy proceeds to utter a peculiar melody, drifting through the air in all directions. Despite the building, swirling air around Pidove's wings, his ears receive the Song chirping forth from his opponent's beak. Her mesmerizing tune penetrates the gray bird's building assault, dissipating the currents of air in front of him before his body begins to descend at escalating speeds before his body smacks the ground hard, asleep. Soon after, Zovy rolls over to her side, reaching her talons out towards the dirt ground to erect herself. Shaking off the dirt on her body, she takes the opportunity to recover, breathing heavily from fatigue.

"Great, Zovy!" Zoey commends her swablu's feat. "This is our chance to win! Peck Pidove before he can wake up!"

Weakened from battle, Zovy finds herself barely able to act from malaise and injury. She nearly stumbles onto the dirt road beneath her, but manages to keep herself stable. Zovy tries to catch her breath, using up precious time she doesn't have. Her efforts bear fruit however, as she begins skipping across the ground towards Pidove, using her momentum to carry her most of the way before her beak collides with Pidove, using Peck. The attack forces Pidove to consciousness, Leering angrily at his opponent. Zovy squawks fearfully, startled by the gray bird's sudden hostile stare. In no time, Pidove kicks up another Gust with his wings, whipping her from her feet up into the air. Defenseless in such an environment, she tries to flail her untrained wings, but still can't seem to find a way to escape the spiraling winds. Pidove soars towards feeble Zovy, blasting her out of the sky with his Quick Attack. She hurdles towards the ground, slamming her head onto the hard dirt road before her talons return to the ground, out cold from the harsh battle.

"D-dammit!" Zoey hisses angrily, rushing over to Zovy's side.

"Are you alright?" she probes her Pokemon's health, looking her over to spot her injuries.

Zoey scoops up Zovy, frowning in disappointment over Zovy's narrow loss. Nonetheless, she allows her blue bird a chance to rest for a good while, calling back Zovy into her pokeball. Unfortunately for Zoey, Pidove is far from content with the outcome. His path descends swiftly, chasing after her for the disrupting battle. Zoey yelps in surprise, hastily erecting herself before scurrying away to safety.

"Dammit, leave me alone!" Zoey yells in frustration, reaching into her bag to exchange pokeballs. "Vuowth! Take this bastard out!"

Vuowth appears behind Zoey in a blink of an eye, startling the oncoming Pidove as he speeds towards the both of them. Zoey pivots around to watch the next phase of the battle but instead finds a shocking scene. Grasped between Vuowth's clawed hands is Pidove, both outspread wings caught in her claws, rendering the bird motionless. Vuowth stares down the disruptive bird with her vicious Leer, causing the gray bird to sweat from fear. The lizard cocks her head back to glance at her trainer, glaring at Zoey angrily for some reason. Perhaps her trainer disrupted the grass-type's pleasant beauty sleep simply to take on scrawny trash for an opponent. How inconsiderate.

"Sorry Vuowth!" Zoey acknowledges her grovyle's frustration with her. "Would you mind helping me out?"

"Groo!" she hisses sassily at her trainer, glaring at Zoey with a scowl.

"Uh, okay, thanks!" Zoey tries to ease the tension between the two, but something tells her than anything she'd say to reconcile their differences would be in vain.

"Let's... start with Absorb!"

Vuowth, as usual, has another idea, tossing Pidove out into the open air violently. For whatever reason, she gives up her tactical advantage, shocking Zoey due to her Pokemon's frankly stupid actions.

"What the hell is she trying to do!?" Zoey stomps her foot in frustration. "She keeps making poor judgments!"

Still, Pidove is far too enfeebled by his earlier battle with Zovy. Fluctuating inconsistently in the air, his wings struggle to keep him airborne, not too mention the force with which Vuowth tossed him he likely sustained additional injuries. Vuowth grins at Pidove's state, stretching out her arms anxiously to loosen them up. She takes the battle into her own claws, taking off towards Pidove where her claws slam into the bird's weak physique. The gray bird smacks the ground with a solid thud from Vuowth's Pursuit. With a single blow, the *****y grovyle ends the battle as brutally as possible. Nobody disrupts her naps. Nobody.​

"Vuowth!" Zoey shouts disapprovingly towards her defiant green lizard. "I know you're upset with me and I'm glad you lent me a hand but I can't have you going off doing whatever you want! We can't win battles that way! Not against strong opponents!"

The grass-type shifts her gaze towards Zoey, hissing angrily at her trainer while playing with Pidove's unconscious body between her feet. Her frown doesn't dissuade Zoey's attempts at diplomacy. Approaching Vuowth sternly, she tries to rectify their relationship, smiling accepting towards skeptical Vuowth.

"Why do you not like listening to me?" she interrogates, "Do you not like me? Is it that you don't like battling? Or do you just not like my orders?"

Vuowth's eyes widen slightly at the third suggesting, tilting her head down slightly, answering Zoey with a single, slow nod. The reptile's demeanor remains cold however, scouring her trainer with her apprehensive eyes.

"Oh... well..." Zoey mulls over potential solutions tumbling around in her head. "Do you think there's something wrong with my orders? Or is it maybe you'd rather just do your own thing?"

"Groovyle!" Vuowth responds, lifting up two of her claws slightly while her right arm crosses her torso.

"The second?" Zoey asks to which Vuowth replies with her same, slow nod.

"Okay... but how will we be able to work together?" Zoey inquires, but Vuowth shrugs dismissively, not showing any interest in cooperating.

Zoey sighs, frustrated by her grass-type's rebellious behavior. "Fine. We'll work on this tomorrow, but the gym battle up ahead isn't going to be won by us getting to do 'whatever we want'. Life doesn't work that way. We're partners, and until you learn to respect that, you won't enjoy battling."

Without another word, Zoey withdraws Vuowth back inside her pokeball, sighing as she places the ball in her pink bag before zipping it up. The sky has drifted into a monochromatic canvas, dyed a dark blue with the twinkling of a few stars making their presence known due to the growing vacuum of light. Beyond the girl, streetlights line the side of the road, illuminating the path into Pewter City straight ahead. Her disobedient and weak Pokemon would have to be addressed tomorrow, especially in preparation for the gym battle. Zovy needs treatment at the Pokemon Center too and Zoey will need a place to rest for the night, so reaching the city will be important before it gets too late. With that on her mind, Zoey continues down the road, finally on the verge of reaching her first major destination as an upstart trainer: Pewter City.

 

[moon]

chapter 3; part I
Aberdeen Black // Pewter City

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Finally, they were out of the forest. He felt like he had been there for days, while he had only spent one night there. A lot of stuff had happened though. And now he Aberdeen was determined to go and challenge the pokémon gym as quickly as he could. Memeeber wanted them to stop at a diner and get something REAL for lunch, as she put it. Aberdeen claimed to not be hungry yet. He merely stopped to buy a sandwhich in the PokéCenter's cafeteria while his pokémon were healed after their last escapades, and then he dragged the groaning girl with him to the large, imposing building at the western edge of town.

The area behind the gym was rocky. The mountain really began there. Aberdeen didn't want to listen to Memeeber when she said that he might need some more training before he could win at a gym. The Viridian boy just stormed in through the gates to the gym.

"I'm here to challenge Brock!" he shouted out. He had come into a hall where some trainers were standing and chatting and a long haired dude with a ponytail sat behind what seemed to be a reception desk. They all stared at Ab' for a moment when he stormed in, but then went back to their business as if that happened a lot here.

Aberdeen turned red, and so did Memeeber. Embarrassing...

"You," a voice said from straight ahead. It was a young man clad in a green training dress, a scarf pulled up almost over his mouth and a beanie hat pulled down over his hair, who were standing in the doorway to some hall behind him. No... an arena! Ab could see the open space and lines to the staging area behind the trainer. "Did you say you wanted to challenge Brock?"

"I did!" Aberdeen said, not wavering on the voice. "Where is he?"

The trainer grinned. "You are light years from facing Brock! You'll have to go through me first!"

"Eh?" Aberdeen scratched his head. "Why?"

"It's tradition! Just come in to the arena here and I'll show you that you're not at all good enough to challenge our gym leader!"

"What do you know!" Aberdeen snapped but followed the trainer through the doors.

The arena was covered in rocks, with artificially constructed cliffs along the sides. Or maybe the gym was simply built directly onto the ground with natural mountain in it. The cliffs had many scars and dents and cracks; clearly many battles had been fought here throughout the years. There were some place for spectators to watch the battle from the sidelines. Memeeber took place there, along with a few other interested gym goers who decided to take a break and watch the challenger.

"Two pokémon each," the green trainer said.

"Four!" Aberdeen shouted.

"Ab!" Memeeber exclaimed. "Careful!"

"I want all my pokémon to get a feel for what it's like to battle inside a real gym!" he called back to her, stepping up to his side of the arena. "Even if it's not against the leader."

"Haha. If you're sure. I'll only need two pokémon though! By the way. Name's... Clad."

"I'm Aberdeen!" With that, he thought hard about what pokémon to use. Hopefully, he wouldn't need Pinocchio. He had watched enough battles on TV to know that electricity was no good against ground.

"Fair enough. Sandshrew, go!" Clad made his first battler take shape on the arena. A yellow mouse of a thicker and stronger sort than Pikachu. Ab' almost wanted to let Pinocchio out just to measure the difference, but managed not to.

"Bernadette!" he said instead, and sent out his darling Butterfree. When she materialized, her look was anything other than 'darling'. Her usual determined stare was as present as ever and now fixed directly at Sandshrew, who sweatdropped little, as if intimidated. Aberdeen was about to comment on their matchup, when Clad went ahead and began attacking immediately.

"Sandshrew, use Scratch!" The mouse ran forward quickly and jumped into the air with surprising agility. Luckily, Bernadette's movement in air was superior and she managed to dodge it.

"Ah, alright then!" Ab' said. "Show him that you can attack too! Tackle!" Bernadette dove and relatively easily Tackled the mouse on the ground. He got up quick though, not looking very harmed.

"Its defenses are strong..." Memeeber mumbled, sitting on a bench on the side. Some trainers nearby chuckled.

"Use Sleep Powder!" Ab then shouted. Bernadette sprayed a blue powder into the air with some flaps of her wings. The powder filled up the air over the arena and made the spectators want to back off a little. But the attack was aimed at Sandshrew and did travel his way...

"Rapid Spin!" Clad said with a smile. Sandshrew didn't look intimidated or worried; he just jumped up and began spinning increasingly rapidly. The powder touched his skin but was blown off by the sheer spinning. Aberdeen gasped and then pouted.

"Surprised, are you? Don't you know anything about tactics? When fighting a trained pokémon as opposed to a wild, you have to be prepared for ANYTHING!" Clad said, laughing. "Attack, Sandshrew!" His pokémon bounced on the ground, still not affected by the Sleep Powder that was beginning to dissipate and blend into the floor dust. The mouse shot directly at Bernadette while still spinning rapidly, resulting in a powerful rolling tackle. Bernadette squealed and fell through the air, but regained control of her wings before she fell against the floor.

Aberdeen felt nervousness prickle at his skin. But he wouldn't give in yet! "Bernadette, use Confusion!" The butterfree obeyed as Sandshrew fell back towards the floor, giving him a jolt of mental pain that confused him momentarily and made him trip while he was about to land skillfully on the floor. Instead, he tripped backwards and landed on his back with a loud 'thud'.

"Good job!" Ab commended his pokémon, who regained some of her determined composure.

"Sandshrew, Poison Sting!"

The attack had come swiftly and the sandshrew's claw glowed in purple as he lounged forward repeatedly to try and scratch the butterfree with his dangerously covered stinging claw. Of course she was up in the air, but Sandshrew jumped incredibly high.

"Confusion!" Ab shouted and Bernadette made her eyes glow in preparation for launching another psychic kick.

"Sand Attack!" Sandshrew obeyed his master's order too quickly and shoved dust up into Bernadette's face. Her attack was canceled! "Now, Scratch!" The mouse Scratched her across her body and made her once again struggle to stay airborne.

"Stun Spore!" Ab shouted out, just to do something.

"It won't have time to reach him," Clad snickered. "Swift!" Star shaped rays was suddenly conjured and shot out from Sandshrew's open arms. They hit the butterfree without fail and made the pain go over her limits. She fell down into the dust and fainted.

Memeeber stood up in horror. Clad laughed a little, together with the other gym trainers who were watching. Aberdeen moved up to Bernadette in silence, the cap down low over his face, and picked her up into his arms. He gave her a gentle pat before returning her to the pokéball.

"See now? You're still light years from facing Brock!"

"Everybody loses once in a while. What matters is how things end. I'll end you!" Aberdeen said, lifting his face up at the last words. A determination that reminded Memeeber of Bernadette's could be seen there. He was not down yet.

"We said four pokémon, right?"

"Hah... That's right. Choose your next one, challenger."

"With pleasure!"

To be continued...

@ Red Wing
Duchess of Pewter hmm? I might just use that in my own posts, if I may ;)

- Sparky (Emolga) grew to lvl 14 and learned Spark!


@ me

- Bernadette (Butterfree) grew to lvl 16 and learned Gust!


@ Pyro
Personal development between pokémon and trainer, d'aaw :3

- Zovy (Swablu) grew to lvl 13 and learned Safeguard!
- Vuowth (Grovyle) grew to lvl 22!
​

 

[RedWing]

chapter 3; Climbing the Mountain of Adversity: A Duchess in the Rough! Part II

Katherine Aldine // Pewter City, Pewter Manor

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Katt looks up at the luxurious mansion and sighs, "Well, she definitely lives like a Duchess..." The young Trainer knocks on the front door to the home of Lady Melanie, the challenger she faced in the mountainous western-end of the city.

-KNOCK--KNOCK-

"Emo?" Sparky, who is sitting atop of Katt's head, twitches his tail. The small squirrel Pokemon is anxious to have a rematch against the Altaria that trounced him earlier.

Katt waits patiently for a moment before the door is finally answered by a rather tall gentleman in traditional butler's garb. The man looks Katt over and says in a dull tone, "And what may I assist with you this afternoon, madam?"

Katt clears her throat before saying, "Um, yes, my name is Katt. I had a battle with the young Duchess-to-be earlier today and I was hoping she was acquiesce my request for a rematch."

The butler raises a thin eyebrow, "Pardon me, madam, but you must be mistaken. The Lady Melanie has been in her study the entire afternoon. She has not left the premise."

At that, Katt knows something's off. Quickly, she says, "Um, I meant yesterday afternoon. My apologizes, I'm a tad flighty from time to time." She waves a hand dismissively and hopes the butler falls for her lie.

As an answer, the gentleman steps aside from the entrance and says, "Right this way. I'm sure the young Lady would be more than happy to indulge in a battle." Katt smiles and walks past the butler, finding herself in a very spacious foyer decorated in an old Victorian styling.

The sight takes Katt and Sparky's breath away! They stare, mouths gaping until a familiar voice from the top of the main staircase snaps them out of it.

"Are you going to just stand there with your mouth open all afternoon? You'll catch flies."

Katt snaps out of her reverie and sees Lady Melanie descending the stairs, an icy look in her eyes and a blank expression on her face.

"Milady," the butler begins, "This girl says she had a challenge against you earlier and would like a rematch." Melanie's pupils dilated by a fraction of a degree, but it was enough for Katt to know that the young Duchess should not have been in the mountains earlier.

"I see," Lady Melanie says before turning, "Come, we shall have our rematch in the gardens." She begins to walk off, her butler in tow. Katt and Sparky silently tag along, taking in the treasures of the Pewter Manor as they walk. Katt notices that, for all its grandeur, the manor has a serious lack of occupants.

"Does anyone else live here?" Katt asks, almost absently as they continue their walk along a hallway at the back of the manor with large windows that allow a view of the gardens.

"Milady's parents, the Duke and Duchess of Pewter, are away on business in the Unova Region," the butler explains dryly. As they reach the entrance to the gardens, the butler hastens forward to open the door for Melanie and Katt.

"Thank you, Albert," Melanie replies. Katt simply smiles and nods as she follows Melanie. A few moments later, after traveling past some very fragrant flower beds and hedges, Katt finds herself on a large, Indigo League-regulation Pokemon Battlefield!

"Wow! This is amazing!" Katt exclaims.

"Emo!" Sparky, eager to get started, hops down from Katt's head and lands before her. "Emo! Emo!" The Emolga lets off some warm-up sparks, indicating he means business.

Melanie casually walks to the other side of the field and says, "We will do battle with two Pokemon. I assume your Emolga is your choice so mine," she retrieves a PokeBall from seemingly nowhere, "is Altaria!" Throwing the ball skyward, Altaria emerges and lands before its Trainer.

"Altaria!" The majestic cloud bird spreads its wings to attempt to intimidate Sparky.

Albert strolls to the middle of the battlefield sideline and says aloud, "The match will be a simple, no substitutions two-on-two battle! The first Trainer to defeat both of their opponent's Pokemon is the winner!" Raising his arms, Arnold shouts, "Begin!"

Katt calls the first command, "Sparky! Take to the air and cirle around while using Charge!"

"Emo!" Sparky jumps and glides in a wide arc on the wind, careful to avoid Altaria as Emolga charges its energy!

"Pathetic," Melanie says. "Use Dragonbreath, Altaria!" Altaria aims at Sparky and fires a spray of the blueish-gold flames, but misses due to Sparky's trajectory!

"Now use Spark!" Katt orders. Sparky dives in and tackles Altaria to the ground! The contact releases a powerful jolt of electricity into the bird's system, dealing harsh damage! "Quick, back away before it can recover and use Charge again!"

"Emo!" Sparky kicks off of Altaria to return to the sky! Altaria remains stunned!

"Altaria, use Refresh," Melanie says coolly. The azure bird trills as a soft, green glow envelops its body, leaving it free of its paralysis! "Now, take down that pestering rodent with Flamethrower."

"Alt!" Taking to the sky, Altaria unleashes a red-hot gout of Flamethrower! The fire attack singes Emolga's wing, causing the small Pokemon to become grounded!

"Now, attack from above with Dragonbreath," Melanie commands. Altaria circles towards the flightless Sparky and spews forth another Dragonbreath! The strange flames hit Emolga dead on, sending the Pokemon backwards!

"Sparky! Not again! C'mon! You can do it!" Katt keeps urging Sparky and much to her surprise, Sparky actually gets up!

"Emo!" Sparky looks at Katt and flashes a toothy grin. He won't go down that easily.

"Great! Now, use Thundershock! Bring that bird down!" Katt commands. The Emolga releases the amped-up electrical charge, but before it makes contact, Melanie calls an evasive maneuver!

"I don't think so. Use Cotton Guard, Altaria!" Melanie orders! The Altaria flaps its large wings, sending forth a wall of cotton-like plumage! The plumage nulls Sparky's electrical attack, giving Altaria the time to dive-bomb in and use Dragonbreath!

"Dodge it!" Katt cries! Sparky barely avoids the attack and, on instinct, releases a second Thundershock! This time, the move hits dead-on! "Yeah! Now use Quick Attack and follow-up with Spark!" Katt orders confidently. Sparky does as told, first closing the gap between itself and Altaria and then releasing a powerful Spark!

"No!" Melanie cries, "Altaria, beat it away with your wings!" But, Altaria cannot move, having already fainted from the intensity of Emolga's electrical attacks.

Albert holds up his right arm, indicating Katt, "Katt has won Round 1! Now, on to Round 2!"

Katt cheers, "You did it, Sparky! You did it!" She hugs her Emolga and places him on her head, "Time for you to rest though." She pulls out Lily's PokeBall and throws it skyward, releasing the Lilligant! "Alright, Lily, your time to shine!"

Melanie just looks on icily, "Don't get cocky. Altaria, return." The large bird disappears in the familiar red shimmer and Melanie lets out her second poke, "Go, Cincinno!"

"Cincinno!" The regal mouse Pokemon emerges from its PokeBall elegantly. It looks at its opponent, Lily, and scoffs, "Cin!"

"Fufufu, even Cincinno finds you too weak. This should be easy," Melanie gloats. "Use Tail Slap!" Cincinno bursts into action, swinging its twin tails at Lily!

"Stop it with Sleep Powder!" Katt counters! Lily releases the sleeping cloud just in time, catching Cincinno off-guard and putting the Pokemon to sleep! Katt laughs, "What was that about being easy? Lily, you know what to do!"

Lily nods and pirouettes through the air, releasing Leech Seed that sprout in a circle around Cincinno, ensnaring it to the ground and sapping its energy!

"Cincinno!" Melanie gasps. Katt smiles, happy to see such an out-of-character reaction from the frosty Duchess-to-be.

Katt crosses her arms, "It looks like I made incredibly quick work of your Cincinno. Lily, return." Lily bows before disappearing into its PokeBall. Walking over to the still sleeping, and now fainted, Cincinno, Katt frowns, "You evolved it immediately upon receiving it, didn't you?"

Melanie scoffs, "And? So what if I did?" She pouts and avoids making eye contact.

"Well, it explains why Altaria is your best Pokemon," Katt explains, "Compared to that, Cincinno was easier than a wild Rattatta." Katt looks at Melanie and says, "If you want to really be as strong as the cityfolk make you out to be, then you need to train Cincinno as hard as you do Altaria."

Lady Melanie just turns away, "You've won your battle, so leave now. Albert, show her the door."

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

"I apologize for milady's behavior," Albert says as he shows Katt out. "She very much dislikes to be trumped in battle."

"No biggy," Katt says with a shrug, "Just let her know that sore losers are the poorest of people, would ya?" She doesn't wait for a response before bolting out the front door and towards the mountainous area in the west.

"Emo?" From his spot atop Katt's head, Sparky seems perplexed.

"We're going back to the area where wild Pokemon spawn, Sparky!" Katt says as she runs, "I have a good feeling!"
​

 

[Sir Bastian]

Chapter 3; Time to Rock
Adam Jenkins//Pewter City Outskirts
*bulbagarden.net image removed*Lvl 17*bulbagarden.net image removed*Lvl 12

Lvl 8*image removed* *image removed* *image removed*

"And here we go, freshly rested and energized."

Adam jumped slightly in his seat, looking around the sterile environment of the Pokémon center lobby, his gaze turning to the nurse behind the counter who was beckoning him over, a Pikachu sitting on the counter aside a tray of three Pokéballs. He swiftly got up and hurried over to her, picking up the Pokéballs and tucking one of them away in his pocket.

"And they're all healed up now? Even the Pikachus?"

The nurse giggled a little and nodded, glancing to the Pikachu sitting on the counter, who was watching the two with a confused look on its face. "Yes, even this one. I don't know why you didn't take it into your Pokéball, but we healed them all up. Have a nice day now."

Adam smiled and nodded deeply in thanks to the nurse before moving over to an unoccupied bench. The Pokécenter was a little noisy, with trainers, Pokémon and nurses running back and forth, going about their business. The wild Pikachu skipped over and sat down in front of Adam, looking expectantly up at him. Smiling, he pulled up the Pokéball containing the off-colour Pikachu.

"It's okay, I remember our deal. Ready to meet your friend again? Here we go."

Pressing the button of the Pokéball twice, it first grew to 'regular' size, and then opened to let out the red light, which quickly formed into the orange-y Pikachu. It sat there, blinking for a few moments before looking around, rather jumpy. The other Pikachu ran over and tackled it to the ground with a loud squeak emitting from it as the two tumbled around on the floor for a few moments. Adam chuckled a little at the happy reunion between the two, crossing his arms over his chest and smiling.

The yellow Pikachu finally got off of the orange and stood in front of it as it squirmed around and got to its feet as well. They had a small conversation between the two, their ears bobbing and tails flicking before the orange Pikachu nuzzled its cheek against the yellow one's, creating sparks between the red marks. Adam furrowed his brows lightly at the odd sign of affection. He could've sworn he'd read in a book somewhere that Pikachus only did that when…

Flicking out his Pokédex from his pocket, he opened it and aimed it at the yellow Pikachu at first, and then the orange one, his eyes widening a little in realization. "Wait… you're a –girl-?" He looked up at the two Pikachus, who were now staring at him rather oddly, the orange a little more wary of him than the yellow, who seemed more relaxed, as Adam looked between the two with his jaw hanging slightly open.

"So… you two are… oh! Well, I'm even more happy that I did what I could now! I'm happy you got your mate back, Pikachu!" He gave a warm smile and knelt down in front of the two, drawing a few weird glances from the passing Pokémon trainers, young as well as old. "How about we get the two of you back home, mmh?" The orange Pikachu's ears perked up and she let out a "Chhu!", the yellow Pikachu nuzzling against the orange one's side.

Adam smiled and nodded as he stood up, stretching out with a smile. "Then let's get going! It's gonna get dark soon, so we better hurry and get to the border of Viridian Forest before then." And with that, he strode out of the Pokémon center with the two Pikachus following him, the yellow one clearly trying to make the orange one ease a little more up, and quite clearly very happy that he'd gotten his mate back.

As they reached the border of the looming forest, Adam came to a stop, placing his hands at his sides and smiling, turning his head to the side to watch the two Pikachus having idly strolled up to his side. They nuzzled one another again, which made Adam smile just a little brighter before turning to face them fully, taking in a breath of the warm air surrounding the forest and fields of southern Pewter.

"Well, I guess this is it. Ready to be released and go back to your life with mister Pikachu?"

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the orange Pikachu's Pokéball, kneeling down in front of the two. The orange Pikachu nodded and skipped a little forwards, but the yellow Pikachu seemed hesitant for a moment, though Adam didn't notice as he was fiddling with the Pokéball, preparing to release it.

"Pika pi, pi-pikachu!"

Adam blinked in surprise and looked to the yellow one, along with the orange one, looking just as startled. The male Pikachu skipped up to the orange one and began squeaking out to it, muttering lowly, as the orange one began responding, seeming worried. He watched them back-and-forth for a while, squeaking, muttering, their tails flicking, ears raising and lowering and their little arms waving about as they 'spoke' to each other.

Eventually, the orange one let out a little mewl, shifting closer to stroke her head against the yellow's chin, both Pokémon's cheeks giving off a little spark. The yellow one then skipped up to Adam and began gesturing towards the Pokéball and then to himself.

"… You want me to catch –you-? And bring you with me?" Adam sounded confused. He had expected to just let the orange one go and let the two head off and enjoy… well, life, on their own. But from what this Pikachu was getting at, it seemed pretty clear what he wanted, and why.

"It's because you want to… repay me for helping?" "Pika, chu." He nodded.

"… Are you sure? It might be a long time before you can see your mate again." The Pikachu's ears lowered a little as he looked back at the orange one, which skipped up to him and squeaked out, placing her little paw on his shoulder. The two shared a little nuzzle before the yellow one nodded his head. "Chu!"

Adam went silent for a little while, contemplating what was being offered to him. He wasn't happy about taking away a Pokémon from its family, but the Pikachu seemed pretty intent on repaying its debt. Eventually Adam gave a smile, putting away the Pokéball. "Alright, how about a deal?" The Pikachu tilted his head slightly. "… Pika?"

"You help me out for a little while, and as a thank you, I won't release your mate until you come back here. That way, no other trainer can catch her, and you won't have to worry about her being caught. How's that for a deal?"

The Pikachu's ears raised and he let out a "Pi-Pika pi!" before nodding firmly. Adam smiled and nodded, pushing himself to a stand. "I'll let you two say bye, then. And I promise, we'll be back as –soon- as we can, miss Pikachu. You have my word." The Orange Pikachu gave out a squeak, seemingly impressed with how nice of a person Adam was, before the two Pikachu turned to one another, starting off by murmuring among each other, and ending up tumbling around in the grass playfully.

A short while later, the yellow Pikachu skipped over to where Adam was standing, waiting for them to finish up. Adam looked from him, and over to the orange Pikachu, sitting in the grass nearby, staring after the two. He looked down to him and smiled lightly. "All ready to head off, comrade?" "Pik." He replied, nodding firmly. "Alright then. Let's make it official."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out an unused Pokéball, lowering himself down to offer it to the Pikachu. It tapped the front of it with its paw and was transformed into the red light and sucked into the ball, immediately capturing it. Adam then opened the ball and let him out again, tucking the ball away in his pocket. "Welcome to the team, Pikachu! We'll think of a name for you on the way back to Pewter, mmh? I think you'll like it here, with Stomps, Blair and me."

With a light grin, he stood up and looked to the slightly sad-looking, orange Pikachu sitting off in the distance, raising a hand to give it a wave. "I'll take good care of him, promise!" The male Pikachu turned and sent a current of electricity into the air, crying out "Chhhhuuu!". The female Pikachu sent one of her own before turning and skipping off into the forest.

Adam smiled to himself, feeling good about what had happened as he turned, and, followed by his new, if only temporary friend, headed back towards Pewter, already running through different kind of names for his new buddy. "So, what do you think of… Dean?" "… Pika." "Hmh. Brick?" "Chu!" "Alright, alright… what about… Buzz?" "… Pika." Adam chuckled and nodded with a smile as the Pikachu lept up along his trouser's leg and placed himself on his backpack, where he rested his upper body on top of Adam's hat for a rest.

"Buzz it is."

 

[Puppeteer Mask]

chapter one (finale); FRIENDS AND RIVALS
Chapo Currian // Route 2

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"I officially can't wait for Zelgius to evolve." Mia said, relaxing on Roland's back and grinning down at the pokeball of her new Deerling. Chapo walked beside her Grotle and friend, smiling. She didn't exactly want to ride Roland when Mia had to walk, so she offered to let the other trainer ride for a while. "This is surprisingly comfy! It makes me forget that I didn't really want a Turtwig as my starter."

"Oh?" Chapo's curiousity was piqued. "What do you mean, aren't you happy with Zel... Turtwig? What on earth is that name supposed to mean, anyways?"

"Zelgius? It's the name of a character in this video game I like to play. He's a knight in really heavy armour, and since Turtwig and its evolutions are heavily armoured with their shells, I figured it was appropriate. See?" Mia explained cheerfully. She opened up her personal computer and fiddled around with it, holding it up for Chapo and showing her a picture of a handsome knight in incredibly heavy looking crimson armour with a sword almost as big as him. "And I'm happy with Zelgius, really. I'm not saying I regret my choice... I just sorta wanted Treecko, to be honest. You see, I was born and raised in Forttree until I was twelve, Treecko reminds me of home. Somebody else claimed him first, though."

"Forttree?" Wasn't that all the way in Hoenn? "That's pretty far off... so why pick Turtwig instead? Why not Torchic or Mudkip, aren't they Hoenn natives too?"

"Well, Torchic was taken too, and I..." Mia frowned a little bit. "Well, I don't really like Mudkips much. But I wanted Treecko most of all because back in Fortree, you could look outside and every now and then you could see Grovyle and Sceptile flitting about from tree to tree. It was really cool to see, some of them were incredibly graceful, and their speed was awe inspiring. I almost wanted to be like them, soaring from branch to branch like fiends without any trouble at all. That's why I learned to move about in trees like I did when we were hunting for Deerling."

"I was wondering how you managed to jump out of that tree without hurting yourself. And you were pretty balanced when you were up there too." Chapo said. "It was really cool... so why Turtwig specifically?"

Mia grinned, her hands patting Roland's shell as the pokemon grinned cheerfully. "I guess I just have a fondness for grass types. You live in a tree for most of your life, I guess it's only natural. Snivy, Bulbasaur and Treecko were taken. I guess at the end of the day I liked Zelgius' spirit. He was pretty enthusiastic, and I'm sure you saw that I appreciate that kinda thing." Mia chuckled at the obvious statement. "Enough about me. What about you? What's your story?"

"Oh, I don't have a story..." Chapo said gently. "I'm the oldest kid out of a big family, and I'm the first to get my own pokemon. My mom and dad are both trainers for pokemon gyms, though. My mom works in Fuschia and my dad works in Saffron. I loved playing with their pokemon as a kid, heck, I guess I still do now. And I'm fascinated with pokemon that aren't around anymore, read enough picture books about them to kids and their enthusiasm rubs off on you."

Mia remained fixated on Chapo, resting her head in her hands. "The only pokemon my parents had is this sleepy old Swellow. Appearantly it used to be quite the scrapper, but all I've ever seen it do is laze about under the sun." The girl lifted up suddenly as her eyes widened. "Wait, you said your dad's a trainer at the Saffron City gym? Aren't they all psychics there?"

Chapo could tell where this conversation was going, but decided to humour the girl anyways. "Well, I don't know if they all are, but I know where you're going with this. Yeah, my dad's a psychic..." Chapo sighed, digging into her pocket and pulling out a coin. "And I'm sorta... well, look." The trainer closed her eyes tightly, focusing on the coin in her open palm. There was a moment of strained focus before the coin fluttered about in her hand. Chapo could hear Mia gasp lightly as the coin stopped fluttering and jumping weakly and left her palm entirely. The moment of difficult focus over, Chapo opened her eyes and watched as the coin floated about in the air above her hand. "Telekinesis is about all I'm good at, and even then, well." Chapo swished her finger about in the air, mesmerizing Mia as the coin followed its lead in a swirling pattern. "This is about all I can muster." The fledgling psychic made the coin trace her name through the air in mild amusement as Mia clapped.

"That's amazing!" Mia said, watching with wide eyes like a child watching a magician. "If I could do something like that, I'd flaunt it all the time!" Mia's declaration was followed up by a low, loud, rather undignified rumbling. The girl frowned and squirmed in emberassment, flushing darkly.
"Uhhh... I think I'm getting hungry..."

"Now that you mention it, I'm getting kinda peckish too..." Chapo muttered, rubbing her stomach and plucking a berry from Grotle's bushes. "We're almost at the rest station before Veridian Forest, though. We could rest at the cafe there and eat. Oh! We could have the Missing Number Special!" Chapo said excitedly. "It'd be a great way to start off my food log!"

"Missing Number... what?" Mia looked rather taken aback by Chapo's words. "What're you talking about? What food log?"

"Oh, this." Chapo pulled her red leather journal out and held it up for Mia. "The oldest of my little sisters gave this to me when I set out this morning. One of the things I really want to do on this journey is learn all about the different dining and tourism experiences all around Kanto, and then maybe try to make it into some sort of travel guide! And then maybe I could do the same to other regions as well!" The girl opened up her journal and started jotting a few basic notes down with a pencil. "The Missing Number Special..." She started to explain while writing. "Is a hidden menu item for the Veridian Rest Station Cafe not available to the public!"

"Wait, wait, wait..." Mia held up her hands and shook her head. "If it's so hidden and missing and all that, how do YOU know about it? And how are people even supposed to order it if it's not there!? Do you even know what it is!?"

Chapo just tapped the side of her head with her pencil, grinning. "Psychic dad, remember? He found out about it when I was a baby, and he's given me some of it a few times. What you have to do, is give the right code to the right cashier at the right time of day and then properly respond to her codes with more proper codes! It's all a very precise system! But I hear it's a six course meal with almost two hundred and sixty five ingredients!"

"THAT IS THE MOST ABSURD THING I'VE EVER HEARD." Mia blurted out in her "it's time to duel" voice. She closed her eyes and tried to calm herself down with a long sigh before repeating, in a much calmer voice, "That is the most absurd thing I've ever heard." The humble rest station was now right in front of the pair.

"Absurd or not, I'm going for it." Chapo said, helping Mia up off of Roland before returning him to his ball. "C'mon. Follow me, and let me do the talking." The two girls went inside, first handing their pokemon over to be taken care of. Tugging on the strap of her bag, Chapo immediately made a beeline towards the cafe. Mia followed behind, seemingly ready to bolt when Chapo inevietably made a fool of herself. The two girls stayed away from the counter, making themselves look rather foolish in the eyes of most of the patrons. Chapo, however, didn't mind. Her eyes were on the prize. "Her." She said, pointing to a red haired girl that had just gotten on cash.

"Excuse me miss." Chapo immediately walked up to the cash register, smiling. "I'm a pokemon trainer, and I've just started. Would your grandfather be able to teach me how to catch a pokemon?"

"What, but you just saw me catch a Dee-" Mia started to interrupt, only to get shushed by Chapo as the cashier, rather taken aback by this request, straightened up and adjusted her glasses.

"I'm sorry, my grandfather is very cranky when he doesn't have his coffee, could you possibly try again later?"

Chapo was entirely undeterred. "That's quite alright. I have to deliver a pokeball to a friend in Pallet Town, will that be long enough?"

"Chapo you said you've never been to-"

"Shh!"

The cashier nodded quietly and smiled just a little bit. "Perhaps. And which pokemon, specifically, would you like my grandfather to catch for you?"

"I was thinking a Weedle."

"A very nice pokemon, of course. And what exactly would you do with that knowledge?"

"I'd fly to Cinnibar Island, I think."

"YOU CAN'T FLY TO CINNIBAR ON A WEEDLE!"

"SHH!"

"I hear Cinnibar Island is quite lovely this time of year. Would you be there for the hot springs, or for the research exhibit?"

"Neither, I think what I'd love to do more than anything at Cinnibar is to surf along the coastline on my favourite pokemon."

"When researchers first discovered Cubone, what did they think it was?"

"A child Kangaskhan."

"And what did some researchers mistakenly believe Metapod evolves into?"

"Venomoth. And they believed Venonat evolved into Butterfree."

The cashier was now beaming from ear to ear. "You're Chapo, Kit and Kat's oldest girl, aren't you?" She asked, a hint of amusement in her voice.

"Dude, your parents names are seriously Kit and Kat?" Mia asked, trying to hide her lopsided grin.

"Yes." Chapo cheerfully said the word to the cashier, before looking over at Mia and repeating it with a bit of a sour tone. "Yes. Technically Mom's is Katherine, but she gets all moody when people say the whole thing. Makes her feel old or something I guess."

"If you'd like, Chapo." The cashier spoke up, waving for attention from the two. "You and your friend can go outside to the patio and we'll bring you both out a Missing Number Special, okay?"

"Wait, so it's actually real?" Mia asked incredulously. "You actually have a secret menu item that requires that absurd exchange to order?"

"Yup." The cashier said cheerfully, grinning from ear to ear as though she didn't see what the problem was. "Outside now, please. If everyone saw you two eating it, they'd all want it."
Chapo started to drag a despondant Mia outside, ignoring her deranged mutterings of "most absurd thing I've ever..." and "how do they even make money on it?" all the while. By the time Mia snapped out of her funk, they were sitting under a canopy outside with drinks at the table.

"For such an energetic person that was as flamboyant as a Roserade a couple hours ago, you're sure having a problem wrapping your head around this." Chapo leaned in and smiled reassuringly. "Y'know, something I've learned as a member of a psychic family is that sometimes, the less you worry about the hows and whats and whys of the world, the better off you are. When you run out of mysteries in life, well, you run out of fun." Chapo pulled out a battered old PokeNav. "Here, we're gonna split up from here after dinner, right? Let's exchange numbers and then we can keep in touch anyways."

Mia shifted about, pulling up her sleeve to reveal a black and white Xtransceiver on her wrist. "Sure... do you, uhm..." The girl seemed rather uncomfortable. "The PokeNav... is yours?"

"Well of course it is." Chapo said quietly, staring down at the beaten up piece of plastic with its chipped casing and cracked screen. "...after my mom was done with it..." The psychic gave a dejected frown as she turned the old thing on. "I have a big family." She said excusingly, frowning down at the PokeNav expectantly. The old device turned on, but instead of asking for instructions and displaying user information,the PokeNav just displayed a cryptic "Account Moved". Chapo frowned at the PokeNav in frustration. For all its age and abuse, the device had never given such an error screen... except when her mother had taken her own account off of it. "What's going on here... it's saying it's not mine anymore. did one of my brothers get at it?"

"Maybe your parents replaced it for you but forgot to give you the new one?" Mia asked. "One time, my mother only realised she was going to surprise me with a cake an hour after she ate it."
Chapo looked at Mia with a mix of horror and pity. "My, uh... my parents don't exactly do stuff like that. "I'm sure if my mom and dad had a gift for me, they'd give it to me before my siblings..." Chapo trailed off, remembering a detail from her departure from home. "Wait a sec, my Dad DID give me something!" The girl heaved her bag onto the table, rooting through it until she found the small wrapped box that her father had given her. Like a little girl at Christmas Chapo tore at the wrapping, leaving it in tatters on the table as she lifted the lid of the box.

"Oh my gosh, I was just kidding!" Mia said, staring at the shiny new blue and red Xtransciever inside. "I'm beginning to think maybe your parents spoil you, if your family is as big as you say it is."

"Maybe a little..." Chapo admitted sheepishly, her cheeks as red as her shirt as she put the wrist mounted phone on. "I'm not complaining, though..."

"Well, let's exchange numbers." Mia held out her hand. "As soon as we eat whatever this mystery dish is, I'm gonna head off and train Deerling and Zelgius. I'll need to think of a good nickname for Deerling too. But you promise that we meet up again when we've both got a few badges under our belts, got it? As my newly appointed rival, I need you on the top of your game!"

Chapo grinned. A rival, huh? Of course an anime and gaming nut like Mia would want one of those. "Alright, it's a deal. I promise to be one, no, two steps ahead of you all the time!" The girl then giggled impishly and rubbed the back of her head. "Uh... except for naptime... I need my beauty sleep, after all..." The two rivals laughed as they took their first steps down a road of long standing friendship.

chapter two (open); VELVET LIGHTS
Chapo Currian // Veridian Forest

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The ash, sand and smoke choked the air as man and pokemon alike remained locked in constant battle. The ringing of steel on steel, the crackling of lightning and fire, the boom of thunder, the hiss of steam and the crunch of rock and iron crashing and banging together drowned out all sense of peace and quiet. But the brave Princess Chapo strode through the chaos with the same proud, regal bearing that would befit a royal hall. Her spellbook as clutched tightly in her arms as the ever gallant Ser Roland strode by her side, a determined look upon both their faces.

"Privy send out thy lord and master, craven baseborn Unovan dogs!" The Princess declared in a commanding voice to the chaos around her. "Show me the villain that wouldst attempt to claim my life and the lives of my people! Show me the cur that wouldst try to wrest control of fair Kanto away from her divine sovereign! SHOW ME THE DASTARD THAT WOULDST DARE SLAY MY KINFOLK!"

The face program of the one that you are seeking is right in front of you.

The voice came from everywhere and yet nowhere, booming over the sounds of battle all around despite feeling like a whisper at the back of the Princess' ears. The voice sounded like a dissonant medley of chimes, hisses and blips mixed in with a deep, distorted baritone that didn't so much mimic a human's speaking patterns as it did openly mock it. Princess Chapo recoiled in terror. "No... no... it cannot be... by the mercy of the Kami, please, do not let it be..."

The Extranet does not adhere to the demands of your mortal gods, daughter of flesh.

Large, green cubes of light sprang into existance in the air before the shocked princess, piling upon eachother to form a single, massive cube nearly nine times their size. The the cubes gave an unearthly wail as they seemed to flatten in on themselves, revoling in the air and calling forth a truly unnatural being into the realm of man. "No! It's impossible! BUT I WATCHED PORYGON DIE!"

The rigid, angular monster shifted its head about in a slow, rhythmic movement like a clockwork doll. A program of The Extranet does not die. That is a function of organic, lower base lifeforms. To defy The Extranet is folly. We are superior. We do not accept the permenance of death, we do not experience the weakness of fear, we do not posess the fraility of the soul. These are all functions of your hardware, and while we deem them unnecessary weakness, we understand how it affects you. Resist-RESIST-ReSiSt-rEsIsT-RESISTANCE IS AS POINTLESS AS YOUR EXISTANCE, DAUGHTER OF FLESH. ALL WILL BECOME ONE WITH THE EXTRANET. IT IS INEVIETABLE.

The alien creature's voice shifted ever higher as its head bobbed in erratic repitition before suddenly shifting deeper than it had ever gone before. Neither Ser Roland nor Princess Chapo faltered, though. Instead they took a determined step towards the abomination, sparkles of magic power dancing along the Princess' fingers as the Grotle beside her readied an attack of his own. "You're wrong. There is always a point to resist. Us so called lower base lifeforms..." Chapo held her hand out towards Porygon dramatically. "WILL DO WHATEVER WE MUST TO SEND YOU BACK TO HELL! FIRE BLAST ARCANUS!" The fireball, brilliant and bright, surged forth from the Princess' hand as Ser Grotle unleashed his most powerful Seed Bomb. The two attacks exploded upon the immobile beast in a brilliant shower of colour and light, leaving their effect shrouded in black smoke.

/initiate conversion.exe
alternate defensive typing? y/n
select defensive type dragon type
assuming dragon type
dragon type assumed
resist attack
attack resisted

The smoke cleared to reveal Porygon glowing a peculiar orange colour, but seemingly unharmed. The monster continued its clockwork movements, unphased and unfeeling. The face program referred to as Porygon has been updated since its last deployment. Your previous victory was an anomaly, it shall be your last. The Extranet does not lose to the same attack twice. trololololololololololololololololololololololol scru-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-ub.

"The Devil!?" Chapo cursed in shock as she glared daggers at the fiend. "My Fire Blast Spell and Ser Roland's Seed Bomb won't affect it!? But that's impossible! How... how can I..."

You cannot. The Extranet does not lose. The only winning move in the game is not to play.

/initiate lockon.exe
target lock initiated
/initiate zapcannon.exe

A swelling orb of electricity formed at Porygon's nose, reaching an unprecedented size as it was directed at the immobile Princess. You will die now, daughter of flesh. Take comfort in the knowledge that this world will be used to feed The Extranet, and The Extranet is eternal. GOOD NIGHT.

Chapo awoke with a start, looking about frantically. Her body felt like it had just been shoved off a cliff, and her mind was racing. "Just a nightmare... just a nightmare..." She murmured. "I'm not a Princess... Porygon aren't crazy extradimensional monsters..." She told herself reassuringly. It was odd, most of her bad dreams lately had involved... other things. Mostly the Unovan gym leader Elesa for some reason. Chapo was so caught up in her dream that she didn't notice her host until it spoke.

"Leavanny?"

The girl looked up, cringing when she saw the fully evolved bug pokemon towering over her. However, the pokemon didn't seem angered or threatening. Instead, it smiled warmly, reaching down and lifting up a blanket of silk that had until now been covering the trainer. Leavanny gave a fussy chirp and shoved the blanket towards Chapo.

"Uh..." The trainer looked from the blanket and the pokemon in confusion. "I don't understand..." Roland was suddenly at Chapo's side, happily nudging at her and shaking his bushes in triumph. "Wait, Roland..." Chapo looked over at the Grotle. "Did... did you get Leavanny to make this for me while I was sleeping?"

"Grotle!" The turtle bounced from foot to foot and shook his bushes again. The Leavanny gave an odd little gesture reminiscent of a salute before walking off into the darkness. Chapo looked about and found herself in a shady glen, the trees blocking what little light the night provided. There were, however, a couple lanterns strung up here and there, seemingly to aid whatever trainer would be brave enough to try and traverse Veridian Forest on their own at night.

"Thank you, Leavanny!" Chapo said, waving after the bug pokemon. The girl tugged on her bag as she got up. Nightmare aside, she felt rather refreshed. She stretched her arms and rolled her head about, groaning as she worked the kinks out of her body. "Well, Roland... we need to get moving now. Mia's probably already out of the forest, and we promised we'd keep up in our own way." The girl turned about, looking at the lanterns with a determined expression.

Which... way was she going again?

 

[RedWing]

chapter 3; Climbing the Mountain of Adversity: Enter Adam! Part III

Katherine Aldine & Adam Jenkins // Pewter City, West-End

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Katt runs breathlessly towards the mountainous area from before, extremely happy that she was able to trounce Lady Melanie and proud of Sparky for being so tough! "Alright, Sparky, we're gonna add another member to our party before the day's out, I can feel it!"

The girl skids to a halt and looks around, anxious to find a wild Pokemon. "Hmm...well, according to the PokeDex, the only Pokemon that turn up here are Pidove, Meowth, Mawile and Sableye..." Katt mutters as she peers behind bushes and amongst rocks.

"Emo?" Sparky's ear twitches, hearing a very faint, but distinct sound. A Pokemon? Sparky takes flight and glides over to a small cavern-like area amongst some of the boulders. "Emo! Emo!" It signals for Katt to come quickly!

"Huh?" Katt walks over to the spot and leans towards the mouth of the opening, "Find something?" Peering in, Katt sees what appear to be two large gemstones! "Holy Miltank, Sparky! You found the jackpot!" Reaching in, Katt grasps one of the gems-and is bitten! "OUCH!" Retracting her hand quickly, Katt looks at the opening in surprise; what bit her?!

Her question is answered a moment later when, out of the hole, darts a small, purple creature!

"Sable!" The imp-like Pokemon rushes out of the opening and past Katt, stopping in the middle of the open field! Katt studies the creature with a mixture of shock and intrigue: It's body shape is reminiscent of a gremlin from her old storybooks, except it has gems encrusted into its body and its eyes appear to be the two large gemstones that Katt saw in the darkness of the opening!

"That's a Sableye!" Katt exclaims, "Alright, Sparky, use Thundershock!" Sparky is quick to act and zaps the Sableye, stunning it briefly! "Great! Now follow up with Spark!"

"Emo!" Sparky zooms in, tackling the Sableye with an electrical charge! The small gremlin is sent flying, hitting a tree and slumping to the floor!

About ten minutes earlier, Adam pulled off his baret and ruffled his hair slightly in confusion, the Pikachu sitting on his backpack peering around the area with the sky slowly turning a soft, orange colour. "... I don't know how, but I think we got lost somewhere along the way. This looks like the mountains to the west of the city."

He looked up to the towering, rocky formations not far off, where the landscape seemed to start sloping towards. He was about to turn around and head back towards the road he came from, as a sharp pain was sent up his leg from his ankle, causing him to let out a yowl and stumble backwards, jumping a little.

"Ow! What the heck was that?!"

Looking down, a small, blackish purple creature with gemstones for eyes looked up at him where he had just stood, its mouth spread in a devilish grin before it darted off, towards a couple of nearby bushes. "... Oh no you don't, you little ruffian! Buzz, Thundershock!" "Pika!" The rodent lept off of Adam's backpack and landed on the ground, quickly building up enough electricity through his cheek sacs before sending a bolt of lightning slamming into the creature Adam didn't recognize.

It let out a pained yelp, but kept running, darting into a couple of bushes, Adam and Buzz following behind. However, there weren't a real -path- here, so the two rather quickly was left bewildered as to where the creature had gone. "... Damnit, I think we lost it..."

Just then however, he heard someone shouting and saw a glimpse of a flash somewhere nearby. Looking down to Buzz, he then sped off towards the sound and the voice, soon breaking through the undergrowth and watching a girl and a... flying squirrel? Fighting the creature, and seemingly winning.

Looking dumbstruck for a moment, Adam raised a hand to point at the creature before calling out. "... Hey! That was mine! I fought it, but it ran away!" Buzz came up to his side, blinking his eyes at the scene, looking more curious than angry, his cheeks sparking a little at the sight of the Emolga.

Katt looks up, bewildered, "Huh?" She notices a young male Trainer and his... Pikachu? She hears him say something about the wild Sableye being his and responds, "Sorry, but if you let it get away, that isn't my problem!" Returning her attention to the battle, Katt says, "Alright, Sparky, use another Thundershock!"

"Emo!" Sparky releases a second electric charge, hitting the Sableye once more!

"Sable!" The small Pokemon hops to its feet and bares its fangs menacingly! Sparky shrinks back in fear and the Ghost Pokemon takes the opportunity to lunge with a Scratch attack!

"Careful, Sparky!" Katt warns. Sparky dodges at just the right moment, but the Sableye anticipates this and uppercuts the Emolga with a Shadow Claw!

"Emo!" Sparky is sent flying, landing at the stranger's feet!

Katt looks worried, "Sparky?! Are you okay?!"

Adam clenched his fists slightly at the girl's words. Not her problem? It is if she tries to steal his Pokémon! But just before he managed to voice any objections he might've had, the squirrel Pokémon lands at his feet, hurt. The Sableye lets out an almost chuckle-like hiss before seemingly preparing to get away.

Adam clenched his jaw and looked to the Pokémon at his feet still struggling to get up as he raised an arm, pointing at the Sableye. "Oh no you don't! Buzz, hit it with a Thundershock! Make sure it's not going anywhere!"

"Pika pi!" Buzz calls out after having taking a little sniff of the hurt Pokémon. He leaps forwards and lands on the ground near the Sableye, catching its attention with a firm thundershock to its backside, the blackish purple Pokémon falling to the ground with an outcry.

Adam reached into his pocket, preparing to grab one of his Pokéballs and throw it before pausing, looking over to the girl. It took him several moments of debating with himself before he let go of the Pokéball in his pocket and gave her a confident little smile, gesturing to the downed Sableye and performing a little bow.

"Go ahead."

Katt just blinks: Did this guy just give her permission to catch a Pokemon that she had rightfully earned the leisure to capture?...Never mind that, Sparky was hurt and this ruffian Sableye needed to be stopped one way or another.

"Thanks," Katt says, though with some difficulty. She withdraws an empty PokeBall and swiftly tosses it at the wild Sableye, securing capture a few moments later. The young Trainer walks over to the PokeBall and replaces it in her bag, making a note to check up on her new Sableye later. Turning her attention to Sparky, Katt kneels and picks up the injured Emolga.

Nurturingly, she coos, "Are you okay, Sparky?"

Sparky struggles to speak, "...Emo...Emo." The small Pokemon blinks once before finally passing out in Katt's arms.

She sighs, "You're such a reckless little spark plug." Looking up at the boy, Katt says, "Thank you. This is the third time today that he's passed out from exhaustion in battle." Katt bites her bottom lip for a moment before saying, "Look, I'm sorry if you were already in pursuit of the Sableye...If I hadn't interfered, Sparky here wouldn't have passed out again. I'm Katt, by the way, Katherine Aldine."

As the battle ended, Buzz skipped over to sit at Adam's side once again, watching the girl moving over to the squirrel and pulling it into her arms. Adam gave a little smile and pulled off his hat, placing it against his chest as he gave a little bow.

"I'm Adam Jenkins. And don't worry about it, you were completely right. It ran away, so it was my fault. Besides, it didn't look like the type of Pokémon that would fit my team, really."

Placing his hat back on his head, he looked over to the fainted Pokémon in her arms. "I've never seen that kind of Pokémon before. Do you need a potion or anything? I've got a couple, but I need to stock up on them soon."

Katt just shakes her head and returns the smile, "Thank you, but no. Sparky's exhausted, and no amount of Oran Berries or Potions will fix that. He needs a good night's rest." Looking skyward, the girl giggles, "Guess that'll be sooner than I thought."

Katt looks at Adam's Pikachu and smiles, "Your Pikachu's a cutie. Oh, and this is an Emolga. They're native to Unova, mostly, but some have migrated over to Kanto and varying parts of Sinnoh and Johto in recent years." She cocks her head to the side and asks, almost absently, "Are you staying at the Pokemon Center, by chance?"

"... Pika!" Buzz replies to the girl's comment, grabbing onto Adam's pants and hopping up along his side to sit down on top of his backpack again. Adam blinks a little at this, peering back at the Pikachu before looking to Katt' again, giving a little smile in return.

"Oh, uh, yeah, I am. I don't really have anywhere else to stay, and... well, I heard that they serve breakfast there. I was actually heading there, when I got a little... lost, and ended up out here."

Adam looked up at the slowly darkening sky for a few moments before looking to the girl again, smiling. "I don't suppose you'd fancy heading there together? From the sounds of things, you're staying there as well, and I'm curious as to what other Pokémon you've got with you. Maybe we can let them meet each other when we get back?"

Katt giggles, "Sure, just follow me." The young girl and her new companion leave the mountainous west-end of Pewter and begin to make their way down the paved walkway of Pewter towards the Pokemon Center. As they walk, Katt looks around a marvels, "You know, I lived in Viridian City my entire life, but the sunsets there are nothing like here. Everything's so rustic and charming at this time."

Looking at Adam, Katt asks, "So where are you from, Adam?"

Adam looked up at the sky, watching the sun slowly creeping down behind the horizon to the east, behind the large mountain in the distance known as Mt. Moon. He then looked to Katt before responding.

"Oh, Viridian? I'm from there as well. Started my own Pokémon journey only a couple days back, Pokédex and all." He paused for a moment, before adding. "Though I didn't get a Pokémon from Pallet, like most others. I got one from Professor Pine, who visited the center in Viridian. But you're right, the view and the feel is alot more... calm, out here, than in a bigger city like Viridian."

At the mention of Professor Pine, Katt jumps, "Wait, you mean Professor Pine gave you a Pokemon too?" Almost without thinking, Katt reaches for Phoenix's PokeBall and presses the release switch.

In a shower of red light, the Combusken emerges and stretches with a yawn, "Comb!" The Pokemon looks between Katt and Adam with amber eyes.

Katt pats Phoenix's head and says, "This is Phoenix, I got her from the professor as well." Turning to Phoenix, Katt says, "I'm sorry for keeping you in your PokeBall all day, sweetie. Sparky and Lily just needed some special training." Katt shifts the weight of her sleeping Emolga, "Little guy's a scrappy one."

Phoenix pats Sparky's head gently, "Busken!"

Adam looked rather surprised at the announcement of Katt also being one of Professor Pine's chosen, and as she released the Combusken, Adam smiled, reaching into his pocket for his chosen Pokémon as well.

"Really? Well -there's- a surprise, hah. Nice choice too. Most Pokémon were gone when I chose, but I was lucky nobody picked the one I -really- wanted." He smiled and opened the Pokéball now in his hand, the red beam turning into a Quilava, blinking a little as it looked around. "Quil?"

"This is Blair. Blair, this is Katt and Phoenix, they're from Viridian as well!"

The Quilava looked up at Katt and then at the Combusken, stepping up to the bird to take a whiff of its scent, but seeming generally relaxed. "Actually Blair, could you turn on your fire up until we get to Pewter? It's starting to get a little dark." As asked, the patches on the Quilava's back flared up as flames billowed forth over his back, bathing the people and Pokémon in a soft, orange-y red light, Adam looking up and giving a little grin to Katt.

"Pretty handy, no? Phoenix looks like a real fighter, I think you chose well."

Katt smiles at the compliment, "Thank you! And, I think you chose well, also. Blair seems like a really good Pokemon." She admires the Quilava's glow for a moment before turning her gaze to the horizon and points, "See that building over there?" The building in question is a large, rectangular structure seemingly made of logs and mortar with a red-tiled roof. "It's the Pokemon Center, let's go!"

As the large group walks towards the center, Katt asks, "So, if you're on a quest for Professor Pine also, that must mean you plan on battling Brock, right?"

Phoenix, in the mean time, appears to be chatting amiably with Blair in the language only Pokemon understand. "Comb! Combusken! Comb!"

"Quil, qui- larv, quil." Blair respond, trotting along merrily next to Phoenix. Adam tries to keep focus as he looks over the nearby trees, seeing the faint lights of Pewter, a relieved smile spread on his lips as he turned his head to look to Katt.

"Battling Brock? Oh yeah, definitely! I'm planning on going at it tomorrow. I've also got a Nidoran, and I don't think Buzz here would do much against a rock-type user."

"Pika!" Buzz squeaks out, sounding a little annoyed as he grasped a lock of Adam's hair and gave it a tuck, making him cringe. "Ow! I'm just saying, they're really tough and electricity won't phase them!"

Katt laughs, "He's about as rowdy as Sparky is! I plan on taking Brock on as well, but I want to do some more training first. I may just stay in town for a day or two more before I face him." As they approach the front doors of the Center, Katt says, "I have a Lilligant, so Brock won't be too hard, hopefully. I want to make sure Phoenix and Sparky can handle their own against him, if worse comes to worst."

Inside the Center, a few Trainers are chatting in the lobby while Nurse Joy is filing paperwork behind the front desk. Her Blissey isn't around, so Katt assumes it must be treating some of the Pokemon. Approaching the desk, Katt greets the nurse cheerily, "Hi, Nurse Joy!"

Nurse Joy looks up and smiles, "Oh, hello again, Katt." Noticing Sparky in Katt's arms, Joy frowns, "Did your Emolga faint again?"

Katt nods, "Yeah, but it's from exhaustion, not injury. He just needs a good night's rest. Oh," Katt retrieves the PokeBall of her newly caught Sableye, "And this little guy needs to be healed up."

Joy takes the PokeBall and places it on a near-by tray, "Alright, and I assume you'll need a place to sleep this evening?"

Katt nods, "Me, and my friend here, actually." Katt gestures to Adam.

Nurse Joy nods and greets Adam, "Hello, nice to meet you. Do your Pokemon require any treatment?"

Adam raised a hand to pull off his hat, giving a little bow to the nurse while smiling. "Nice to meet you as well, miss. And no thank you, they're fine. Just need a place to sleep, thanks."

As the nurse trotted off with Katt's Pokémon, Adam turned to the girl, glancing briefly down at the Quilava and Combusken seemingly going through a rather deep conversation.

"A Liligant, huh? I've only got Blair, Buzz and a Nidoran named Stomps. But they're pretty darned tough, so I'm sure they'll beat through Brock, no sweat." He gave a confident little grin, shrugging lightly, peering after the nurse thoughtfully.

"... Do you think we'll get actual rooms? And do you think there's enough for us to get seperate rooms?"

Katt blushed at the idea, "Um...I'm sure they have enough rooms..." She looks around absently until Nurse Joy returns.

"Alright, well, I'm sorry to inform you both, but we're pretty full-up on Trainers this evening. Is it fine if you two share a room?" She asks apologetically.

Katt's face turns even redder, "Um...Well...I mean...Adam?"

Adam blinked a little at his weird prediction of what was going to happen, looking from the nurse and over to Katt. For some reason, just because she looked rather flustered, it made his cheeks darken a little. He did, however, quickly wave it off and offered a smile, nodding his head up at the nurse.

"Yeah, that's not an issue. If there's two beds, that's perfect, but if there's only one bed, I'll sleep on the floor, no problem."

The nurse smiled softly and nodded. "Here, Chansey'll show you the way to your room." She gestured to a Chansey moving around the counter and smiling at the group, waving one of her stubby little arms before waddling onwards, down a small hallway.

Adam looked to Katt and gave a little grin as they followed the Chansey. "I hope you're okay with it. I could just go sleep outside, but... you know, when you're offered to sleep a place that has heating, you'd be silly to say no thanks. Plus, I think it'd be a shame to let Blair and Phoenix get separated now that they're getting along so well. Plus, I think Sparky and Buzz are going to love each other."

Katt looks at the floor as they walk and mumbles, "It's just that I've never slept with anyone else in the same room...I'm worried I might snore, or talk in my sleep." It was something she'd always been afraid she did, but never knew the answer to since her parent's bedroom was on the opposite end of the house!

Upon reaching the room, the Chansey nods at Katt and Adam and leaves with a chirp, "Chansey!" Katt decides to enter and save herself further embarrassment. The room is modest in furnishing; two twin-sized beds set up on opposite sides of a center night stand, a simple, round rug, and a large window.

Katt walks over to the bed on the left, places Sparky gently on the mattress, and drops her bag at the foot of the bed. "Um, I'm gonna go shower and changes clothes, be back in a few minutes." Quickly riffling through her bag, the young teen leaves Adam, Phoenix, Sparky, Buzz and Blair and goes to the washroom down the hall.

After giving her a little wave, Adam turns to the Pokémon in the room. Buzz jumps from his backpack and skips over to leap onto the bed on the right, starting off by gnawing slightly on the blanket tryingly. Blair and Phoenix seemed to be in the middle of showing off combat moves to each other, Blair making sure to show off as much as possible now that someone was actually watching.

"Well, it's not that bad. Kind of cozy, actually." Adam commented on the room as he dropped his backpack onto the floor near the bed. He wasn't sure what to do while waiting for Katt to return at first, but decided to unpack the violin from the case which was a permanent part of his backpack.

Sitting down on the bed and minding Buzz, he rested the wooden instrument against his shoulder, his chin moving on top of it. He took a few deep breaths to steady himself before placing the bow gently on the strings. He pulled it back and forth tryingly a few times to get back in the rhythm of playing on it, but soon, the instrument gave off a soft, smooth melody, reverberating in the room, easily hearable in the hallway outside.

Katt, after showering and toweling off, makes her way back down the hall to her shared bedroom for the evening. Along the way she hears a haunting, sweet melody that seems to be coming from a viola or similar string instrument. Peaking her head into the room, Katt sees Adam fully absorbed in playing his violin, with Phoenix, Blair and Buzz all sitting peaceably around him.

Smiling, Katt enters the room quietly and sits down on her own bed to enjoy the music. It's a serene reverberation, slightly ghostly but at the same time very soothing. Once Adam finishes, Katt gives a small applause, "Heheh, that was wonderful. I had no idea you could play an instrument!"

Phoenix clucks in agreement, "Comb!" She seems thoroughly at peace and happy to be near Blair.

Katt smiles and yawns, "Well, I suppose now would be a good time to rest." Reaching for Lily's PokeBall, Katt presses the release, allowing her Lilligant to stretch and sleep soundly with the others rather than in the confines of the PokeBall.

"Lil~" Lily stretches her leafy appendages, greets Buzz, Blair and Adam and makes herself comfortable beside Katt's bed to sleep. Phoenix gets up, pats Blair's head and does the same.

"Looks like they're all ready for a good night's rest also~" Katt muses. Looking at Adam she says, "G'night, Adam, maybe in the morning we can have a battle?" Shifting beneath the blanket, Katt makes herself comfortable beside Sparky and quickly falls to sleep.

Adam smiles, having put away his violin and laid down after releasing Stomps, now curled up at his feet, Buzz and Blair also curled up on various parts of the bed. He glances over at Katt to reply, but realizes she's already fallen asleep. With a light grin, he turns onto his side and shuts his eyes with a yawn and soon falls asleep as well.​

 

[moon]

I'M BACK FROM THE DEAD uni stuff and life and whatnot. Sorry for having been gone for a week or so, but at least I did warn you :3 Here are some well deserved levels. Now, Aberdeen isn't fighting Brock yet so who will be the first to challenge him for real? And what will you make of the museum-thief quest? Hmm?


@ Red Wing
Nice rematch!

- Sparky grew to lvl 17 and learned Pursuit!
- Lily grew to lvl 15 and learned Teeter Dance!
- Katt's new Sableye is on lvl 10!


@ Sir Bastian
Awww they are just too cute! Pity he has a mate though, now Pinocchio can't be allowed to flirt with Buzz, lol

- Adam's new Pikachu is on lvl 10!
- Buzz then grew to lvl 11!


@ Wing & Bastian
I merged the levels for your own posts with those from your joint post, above. The joint post was a joy to read! Such believable interaction and haha, sharing room, that's cute. Looking forward to the battle!


@ Puppeteer Mask
Wonderful interaction between the rivals! Also... dat dream. Dat.


Come to think about it, I'd like to officially encourage you to write about your characters dreaming. Especially dreaming strange things, strange memories perhaps. :] Not in every post, but now and then, if you want to.​

 

[Puppeteer Mask]

chapter two (again); VELVET LIGHTS
Chapo Currian // Veridian Forest

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"I think... it was this way?" Chapo guided Roland along, one eye on her map and another on the forest around them. "Maybe I shouldn't have taken that nap... or maybe I should've waited before we tried going through here." Every tree seemed the same, and the lanterns strung up around what passed for a clear pathway were sporadic and seemed to blur together in the dead of the night. Chapo had originally been tempted to try and train Roland and possibly catch a pokemon or two, but the forest was deathly quiet save for the rustling of leaves and the whistling of the wind. Almost all of the pokemon must've been asleep, and whatever species that lived in the forest that would be awake at this hour were nowhere to be found. Nonetheless, Chapo kept an eye out in the shadows off the path, eager to see if she could find any sign of pokemon or trainers. "You'd think the forest would be more crowded than this. Maybe we're just not looking hard..." A strange sensation swept over the girl, as though something had tied a string around the back of her mind and was now gently tugging at it for attention. Almost in a daze, Chapo looked about for whatever might be causing the feeling. The trees all seemed to melt into eachother in the shadows until they were all one large, incomprehensible blur. However, Chapo found what she must've been looking for.

The figure was taller than Chapo, even when perched atop Roland's back. It was lean with slender arms and an almost spindly neck. Its features were rigid and vaguely feline, and its narrow eyes burned with a quiet anger that Chapo had never seen before. She could practically feel the anger radiating off of the creature. She could feel something else, too. She felt it off of her father every now and then, and his pokemon more often than that. But this was something different, it was more intense and raw like an uncontrollable forest fire in comparison to the light of a candle. Roland quivered like a leaf beneath Chapo, and the girl couldn't stop herself from suppressing a horrified shiver of her own. Whatever the thing was, it was most definitely not human, and it was unlike any pokemon she had ever seen or read about. The girl opened her mouth, foolishly thinking to call out to the monster, but before she could the bizarre figure disappeared in what Chapo recognized as a teleportation move.

"What was that..." Chapo kept shivering, wrapping Leavanny's silk blanket around herself. The psychic committed the mental image of the creature and the unique sense of awe and dread it radiated to memory. She may never see or feel again what she just had that night, but if she did she was going to make sure that she recognised it right away. She'd do her best to unravel this little mystery if she could, even though her own advice to Mia echoed in her head and warned that she'd probably be better off if she didn't.

Sing-a-ling-a-ling...

The girl's brow furrowed as an eerie voice echoed in the night. Was it the voice of her mystery Pokemon? She highly doubted it, but nothing's impossible. She silently strained to hear more over the rustlings of the night.

Do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-doooooooo a deer. A female deer.

No, it was most definitely not the pokemon she had encountered. Nonetheless, it picqued her interest. "Roland, let's find that noise." She said, urging the Grotle off the path. The pokemon resisted at first, but eventually yielded and walked off into the night. More snippets of the voice came to the pair on the wind, eventually being mixed in with what sounded like some sort of string instrument. The sound was coming from a distant, orange glow that Chapo quickly realised must've been a camp. "I guess someone's practicing their music. C'mon, Roland. Let's go check it out."

There was a small clearing in the woods, with a small campfire lit in the middle. The warm glow of the flames illuminated a young man with short, sandy brown hair with a guitar sitting on a stump. The boy strummed at the instrument absently, appearantly trying to clear his thoughts as he played. "Yeah... yeah I think she'd like this." His strumming sped up a bit, trying to mimic some sort of ballad. "Something faster and louder... she likes loud music. I need something... something thrash-y or punk-y..."
The boy gave a few loud strums before breaking out what had to be the absolute worst noise Chapo had ever heard. It was like the boy was trying to make screamo with an acoustic guitar. This assumption was definitely helped when he started to howl at the top of his lungs. "AAAAAAAAIYAAAAH GONNAAAA CATCH YOU BAAAAYBAAAAAAAAH GONNAAAA CATCH YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUU!"

Chapo closed her eyes tightly and slammed her hands over her ears, gritting her teeth angrily at the butchery of music. She was about to speak up about the spectacle when something else seemed to beat her to the punch.

"PIDGEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" The cry screamed through the air over the boy's playing and howling. A dark shadow shot out of the trees of the glade, soaring down at the boy and snatching the guitar out of his hands, practically destroying it.

"Ah!" The boy fell off of his stump, scrambling back on his rear end. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to wake you!" The bird pokemon didn't seem interested in hearing apologies, tossing the guitar away and snuffing out the campfire with a powerful flap of its wings.

Chapo immediately sprang into action, running into the glade with Roland. "Hey, hey! Get outta here, I'll take care of this!" Chapo said, helping the boy up and shooing him away to safety. The Pidgeotto seemed entirely unconcerned with this, now just looking for something to vent its anger on. It glared at Roland with an intense fury as the boy scrambled away and out of sight. Roland didn't budge as the bird glared at him. The two exchanged looks before the Pidgeotto screamed and took back to the air.

"It's coming again!" Chapo raised her arm over her eyes as the angry bird kicked up a storm with its flapping. Grass and dirt and dust flew about on the wind, stinging Chapo's skin as the sudden gale howled in her ears. The wind was so harsh that even Roland found it difficult to stay firmly on his feet, which was clearly just what Pidgeotto wanted. Letting out a piercing war cry, the bird of prey spread its wings wide and came crashing down towards the turtle, ramming harshly against it and raking at its shell and bushes with its talons before taking off and circling around for another attack. Roland howled in pain as his legs buckled under the assault. There was a heavy thud as the Grotle collapsed to the ground, hissing and groaning angrily from the attack. Roland snarled as his bushes glowed, the telltale sign of a Seed Bomb being prepared.

"That's the spirit, Roland!" Chapo said encouragingly. "Counterattack with a Seed Bomb now!" Complying, Grotle let out an angry cry as he fired the attack into the dark trees. There was a shadowy blur in the airspace where Pidgeotto should have been, and the screaming projectile sailed harmlessly through the air, striking ad tree branch and shattering it with an impressive but nonetheless ineffective explosion of shrapnel. Chapo recoiled in shock. Seed Bomb was supposed to be her trump card, her coup de grace. But how was it supposed to be so effective if they couldn't hit with it? Chapo tried to search for Pidgeotto in the darkened treetops, her eyes frantically darting back and forth for its distinctive figure. However, she couldn't see anything in the night. Screaming again, Pidgeotto suddenly swept in for another hit and run from the completely opposite direction that Chapo and Grotle were looking. "H-hey! Cheap shot!" Chapo shouted angrily, once again searching frantically for the elusive bird. Pidgeotto suddenly came down again, and again, and again. Each time Chapo and Roland desperately tried to find the bird, and each time they had failed to do so.

"Argh, how are we supposed to hit this thing if we can't see it!?" Pidgeotto was a demon of the night. It'd appear, attack, and then disappear, each time only briefly appearing as an angry, feathered blur before vanishing into air above, using the darkness, the blurring canopy of the trees and its own speed to keep itself from being found. Roland was no longer being knocked down by Pidgeotto's dive bombs, it was actually being knocked about. Chapo grit her teeth as she desperately racked her brain for a plan. If she didn't think of something fast, her trainer career may as well be done. The girl's eyes suddenly caught something in the air, a figure that shifted against the way the branches moved in the trees... It was Pidgeotto! "Roland! It's coming from behind! WITHDRAW!"

Grotle seemed to be confused, perhaps because Chapo was asking her to defend intsead of attack. However, the pokemon had no time to question orders, because Pidgeotto immediately went on another attack run. The attack struck true, but this time it hit a hardened shell and a braced opponent. Roland hissed again, but he didn't so much as budge under the bird of prey's attack. "Good! Stay withdrawn!" Chapo shouted in encouragement, her eyes flicking up into the sky as she grinned confidently. There it was. Silently gliding towards Roland's right. It attacked again, and then went full circle before striking again. Chapo couldn't believe she had figured it out. Pidgeotto's attacks were predictable because they came in a pattern. North, East, West, South, North, East, West, South, North, East, West, South... the attacks were certainly quick, and they definitely felt like they came from nowhere, but they always came from the same places. It just felt different because of how they'd turn about trying to find the blasted thing. Chapo wasn't sure, but with the way Roland seemed to start instinctively bracing himself for each attack, it seemed like he had figured out the ruse too. Pidgeotto was gliding around to attack Roland head on, it was time to land this bird.

"Roland! DON'T use Seed Bomb!" Chapo shouted. It felt strange to give such an order, but it was necessary. Seed Bomb was too innaccurate, it was too obvious. For all its power it left Roland way too open... this called for a simple, practical approach.

"TACKLE NOW!" Chapo shouted in time with Pidgeotto's rallying cry. The diving bird suddenly struck head on with the hard shell of a leaping tortoise, all of the bird's momentum shifted its focus from damaging Grotle to coming to a screeching, horrifically painful halt. Dazed and confused, the bird crashed to the ground. "Pin it and use Absorb!" Pidgeotto was still trying to figure out what it was doing on the ground when Roland's full weight came on top of it, a bizarre, tingling sensation sweeping over its body as its energy was drained and transferred to its attacker. Grotle's bushes glowed once again...

"Roland, no! Keep using Absorb! Keep it pinned!" Chapo said in admonishment. Roland looked a bit put out, but complied, slowly but surely draining the tired, struggling Pidgeotto of its strength. Chapo's hand gripped one of her Heal Balls tightly as she closed her eyes and sighed once for focus. "Okay, get off of it NOW!"

Pidgeotto immediately tried to take to the air as Roland hopped off of it, but instead of soaring free of the battle, it clumsily flapped about and practically jumped right into Chapo's thrown Heal Ball. There was a flash of light that illuminated the darkened glade before the ball fell to the ground, wiggling slowly and pathetically before going still. The girl let out a triumphant whoop as the ball gave the most wonderful "ping".

"We got it! We caught our first pokemon, Roland!" Chapo exchanged a celebratory whoop and hop with Roland before picking up the ball and looking around the empty glade. The threat was taken care of, so they should probably make sure that boy was okay. Now where was he?

 

[moon]

@ Puppeteer Mask
Nice to see Roland battling! Chapo sure has some tactics :D

- Roland grew to lvl 14 and learned Razor Leaf!
- Chapo's new Pidgeotto is on lvl 9!​

 

[Sir Bastian]

Chapter 3; Time to Rock - Preparing for Brock!
Adam Jenkins and Katherine Aldine//Pewter City
*bulbagarden.net image removed*Lvl 17*bulbagarden.net image removed*Lvl 12

Lvl 11*image removed* *image removed*

As morning came and a beam of sunlight shot through the window in the wall between the two beds, Adam let out a yawn and rolled a little around in his bed before gingerly sneaking out of it, avoiding angering his Pokémon who were still snoozing away, save for Buzz who seemed to be chattering with the Liligant while sitting on a small stool.

Adam let out a little snicker and glanced over at the still sleeping Katt, smiling as he got up and picked up his clothes before sneaking quietly out the door and down to the bathroom to get himself a shower and get dressed.

A few minutes later, Katt stirs from her slumber, a dreamy smile on her face. Getting up, the girl stretches and yawns, noting that Adam has already woken up and that the other Pokemon, aside from Lily and Buzz, are sleeping. Turning to Phoenix, who slept to the right of Katt's bed, the young Trainer gives her Pokemon a nudge. "Wakey, wakey, Phoenix," Katt coos.

Phoenix gets up quickly enough, rising to her feet and stretching to shake off the drowsiness. "Comb!" The Combusken clucks happily at Buzz and Lily in greeting before walking over to a still-sleeping Blair to wake the Quilava.

Katt giggles and nudges Sparky, who slept beside her, softly. "Wake up, sleepy head," Katt says softly. The Emolga shifts positions in an effort to remain sleeping, but Katt tickles him and Sparky can't help but writhe under the sensation.

"Emo! Emo! Emo!" Sparky cries from laughter, finally getting up. After Katt ceases the tickling, Sparky shots her a look and sticks his tongue out.

Katt laughs and pats his head, "C'mon now, you slept through the entire night and the latter half of yesterday." Rising from her bed, Katt quickly takes advantage of Adam's absence to change into more appropriate clothes and slips her sneakers on. Turning to her Pokemon, Katt says, "Alright, guys, let's see about some breakfast. Then we can have a battle with Adam!"

Departing the room with her Pokemon in tow, Katt sees Adam leaving the washroom down the hall and greets him, "Morning! We were just about to grab some breakfast and then find you for that battle. If you're ready to go though, I don't see why we can't all eat together?"

Adam looked up, away in thoughts as Katt called out and gave a smile, raising a hand to wave a little. He hadn't gotten his hat on, and his hair looked a little messy after having just been dried with the towel hanging around his neck now.

"Oh, morning Katt. Yeah, I agree. Just a second."

He opened the door to the room and gave a wave at Buzz and Blair who had stayed behind to wait for Adam. "Hey guys, breakfast time! Buzz, could you wake up Stomps?" "Pik!" The rodent lept up onto the bed and tackled the Nidoran, causing him to squeal out in surprise, flailing his tiny legs about. After a few moments, the three came trotting out of the room and followed Adam as he ran up to Katt's side and gave a little grin.

"Excited for the battle today? I'm sure it'll be a ton of fun. I saw an area designated for Pokémon battles just up the road. I think we better go there and fight after breakfast. Speaking of, I've never eaten in a Pokémon center... is the food here good?"

Katt laughs, "It's pretty good, or, at least the one in Viridian has good food!" With Adam, Katt departs towards the Pokemon Center's modest mess hall; a rather long room with about 10 or so average-sized tables to seat four people each. Along the west wall is a long display of various food stuffs and beverages for guests to pick and choose from, and opposite the entrance is a wall composed entirely of windows, providing a scenic outlook of Pewter City.

"Oh!" Katt quickly runs back towards the service desk, "Morning, Nurse Joy!"

Nurse Joy, who had been signing off on some documents, looks up and greets Katt warmly, "Oh, good morning, Katt. I assume you want to pick up your Sableye?" The pink-haired nurse reaches for a PokeBall on a small tray and holds it out to Katt, "There you are, all healed up!"

Katt takes the PokeBall and smiles, "Thank you, Nurse Joy!" Running back to Adam and their entourage of Pokemon, Katt says, "Okay, let's eat!"

Breakfast lasted about half an hour, what with having to both get the food for Adam and Katt, as well as all of their Pokémon. During the meal, the Pokémon seemed to get along extremely well, and Adam and Katt managed to get chatting for a while, where they shared their various stories after having left Viridian.

Adam stretched out before patting his belly, having been back to his room and grabbed his backpack, since the room had to be made ready for any other travellers coming around during the day. He glanced up at the bright-blue sky above them as they exited the Pokémon Center and headed towards the fighting areas.

"So, Katt, what do you think? Should we take it easy and say two Pokémon each? Or go with three? I'll let you decide." He looked to her and gave her a smile as he adjusted his baret ever so slightly, Buzz having planted himself on top of his backpack again and refused to let up a chance at soaking up some sun. Blair and Stomps had been put in their balls after their breakfast, however, Adam not wanting to tire them out with walking before fighting Brock today.

Katt skips along happily, Sparky gliding to and fro without a care in the world. "Hmm, I think a two-on-two would be great!" She says cheerily. As they approach the well-worn battle field, Katt takes her place to the left side and produces Sableye's PokeBall. "If it's alright with you, I'd like to begin using our least powerful Pokemon." Pitching the ball skyward, Katt says, "Shade, go!"

From the PokeBall, Shade the Sableye emerges and does a front flip before landing on his feet before Katt. "Sable!" The small, purple imp bares his formidably fangs and smiles at Adam menacingly.

"Compared to Sparky, Lily and Phoenix, Shade here's my weakest Pokemon," Katt says. "Hopefully he doesn't bite you," she says with a wink.

Adam chuckled and gave her a wry smile as he took his spot on the other side of the field, tipping his hat a little.

"In that case, I'm going to use Buzz. Not to say that he's weak, but I just caught hi- ow!"

Buzz lept from the top of his backpack and onto the ground after having whapped him over the head with his tail. Adam huffed a little and rubbed the back of his head as Buzz got into position, looking rather indignified and a little annoyed.

"... Right, well, that aside, I think we're ready to go." Flashing Katt a cheeky smile,he moved an arm in front of him and bent down in a rather formal bow before straightening up again.

"Ladies first."

Katt smirks, "Okay, Shade, dart in quick and put your claws to work! Use Scratch!" Quicker even then Sparky, Shade releases a burst of speed and is on Buzz in an instant, claws at the ready and shredding!

"... He's fast!" After some quick thinking, Adam called out to Buzz, who was unable to dodge the oncoming attack. "But that's not going to help him! Thunder Wave!"

Buzz's cheeks sparked with electricity, a few arcs crossing over his body just before the claws from Shade crossed down over his chest, sending the Pikachu stumbling back. However, the electricity shifting through Buzz seemed to have rubbed off on Shade, a few sparks of electricity appearing here and there as the purple-y Pokémon backed away.

"Let's take him down a few notches. Growl!" Buzz lowered himself onto all four and narrowed his eyes at his foe, ears laying back as he let out a rumbly little growl, clearly trying to intimidate him.

Katt shouts, "Don't let it intimidate you! Use Night Shade!" Shade barks a response, his eyes flashing! A strange miasma of ghostly energy seems to emanate from the imp and surrounds Buzz! "Good work, now back away!"

"Sab-?!" As Shade attempts to leap backwards, he feels one of his legs constrict! Instead of a leap, the Sableye stumbles backwards before falling!

"Get up! You can't let Pikachu have an opening!" Katt shouts! However, try as he might, Shade cannot work his limbs properly due to the paralysis!

"Ch...!" Buzz calls out, cringing as the energies sorround him, as if in pain. "Whoa.. Night Shade? So that's a... ghost Pokémon?" Adam muttered to himself, biting his lower lip in thought, but as he saw the Sableye fall over, he realized that he had to take this opportunity.

"Buzz, hit him with a Thundershock while he's down!"

"Pi-pika! Chhhhhu!" Buzz called out in response as the ghostly energies dispersed as quickly as they had come. He got onto all fours, lightning crackling between his cheeks and his now raised tail before sending a Thundershock straight towards the prone Sableye.

Unable to move properly, Shade is hit with the brunt of the electrocution and sent flying backwards! "Shade! Are you okay?" Katt cries.

In response, the imp Pokemon rises to his feet and flashes his teeth, "Sable!" Shade would not be going down without a fight.

Smiling, Katt orders, "Launch another Night Shade!" Shade barks and releases the vaporous energy again! "Now follow up with Scratch!" Launching himself forward, Shade releases a furious Scratch, intent on hitting Buzz while he's weakened by the Night Shade!

"Don't let him intimidate you Buzz, and don't let him get in close!"

Adam clenched his fists as he watched the intense battle, the shadows sorrounding the Pikachu again, who let out a yelp of pain from the ghostly attack. Seeing the Sableye moving in for another attack, Adam called out to Buzz again.

"... Sorry Buzz, but you have to take it! When he hits you, give him another Thundershock!"

As the Sableye's claws connected with the defenseless Pikachu, he called out in pain again, but just as quickly retaliated with a bolt of electricity shot through the mouse's body and into the Sableye, the shades of the ghostly attack evaporating as the lights from the electrocution continued to flash.

Too little too late does Katt realize what Buzz is doing. "Shade, defend!" As Shade unleashes the Scratch attack, however, his joints lock from the paralysis! Unable to move or defend, the Sableye endures the brunt of a powerful Thundershock!

As the attack subsides, Shade falls over, defeated. "Shade!" Katt runs over to her Pokemon to make sure he's okay. Luckily, the electrocution didn't do more than damage Shade since his body is composed mostly of shadow matter and minerals. Cradling the imp's head in her hand, Katt smiles, "You fought excellently, buddy!"

Adam found himself breathing rather heavily on top of the pretty dramatic fight, shaking his head a little to snap out of the stare he had aimed at Katt. Glancing down to Buzz, he found the Pikachu still posed on all four, panting heavily. He gave a little smile and pulled out a Pokéball, aiming it at the rodent.

"Good job, Buzz, but I don't think you can take another hit like that. Come back."

The Pikachu was turned into the red light as Pokémon usually do, before being pulled into the ball, quickly finding its way into Adam's pocket as he stepped a little closer to Katt and the Sableye.

"Hey, is he okay? He fought -really- hard. I'm surprised Buzz won, actually."

Katt nods, "He's fine, just tired." Retrieving Shade's PokeBall, Katt presses the release and her Sableye returns to its home. Rising to her feet, Katt smiles at Adam, "Alright, on to our second Pokemon! Good job, by the way. Your Pikachu's quite the scrapper."

Walking back to her side of the field, Katt pulls out Phoenix's PokeBall and clicks the release, materializing her Combusken before her! "Ready when you are!"

Adam gave a little grin and a shrug. "Yeah, I guess so. First time I properly fight with him, so there you go."

He watched as the Combusken was released, his brows furrowing. This was one of her weakest Pokémon? Something told him that it'd be a rough fight to win for Stomps, but... here goes.

He grasped the Pokéball containing the Nidoran from his pocket, releasing Stomps onto the battlefield, whom, as usually, didn't seem too eager to fight, but none the less, stood in front of Phoenix.

"... Not going to take any chances here. Stomps, Focus Energy!" "Nid, Nido!" He replied, digging his paws into the ground, his muscles tensing up.

Katt giggles, "You must be a bit confused. You see, of my four Pokemon, Phoenix is my third weakest. It's not something I'm proud of, but she's had less battle experience up to this point than Lily and Sparky."

"Comb!" Phoenix clucks in agreement, seemingly unfazed by the knowledge that she was indeed on the lower-end of Katt's roster in terms of power.

"Now, Phoenix, let's see if we still got it, huh? Spinning Ember!" Katt commands! Phoenix, in response, leaps forward and twists her body, spewing forth an Ember that encircles and closes in on Stomps! Effortlessly, the Combusken lands on her feet behind the Nidoran.

Katt grins, "Phoenix may not be the strongest of my Pokemon, but she's definitely the most agile and creative with her techniques!"

"... Whoa!" Adam's eyes widened as the Combusken did the spin in the air, the Nidoran's eyes just as wide as his, Adam nearly not reacting at first, but quickly snapped out of it.

"Stomps, get out of the way, quick!"

The Nidoran tried to hop off to the side, but the flames still grazed him, making him squeak out in pain. Adam clenched his jaw, his brows furrowing. "I've never seen a move like that before. Alright, retaliate! Give him a peck!"

Stomps promptly spun around, and despite his size, he was actually rather quick, dashing towards the Combusken until he was a few feet away from him, where he jumped into the air, leaping towards Phoenix with his horn aimed straight for his chest.

"Impressive reactions, but not good enough! Night Slash, go!" Katt shouts! Phoenix responds automatically, swinging at Stomps before the Nidoran can make contact! "Now, Ember!"

"Comb!" Phoenix fires off the Ember, directly aimed at Stomps!

The Nidoran, flying through the air, was unable to dodge the slash that hit him and knocked him back onto the ground with a squeak. He quickly recovered however, and managed to leap to the side to avoid the flames, already seeming somewhat battered.

Taking a deep breath, Adam's brows furrowed as he tried to think of a way to get through it. "... Stomps, use Leer from a safe distance!" The Nidoran backed away from the Combusken and glared at him with narrowed eyes, hoping it'd make him drop his guard, if only ever so slightly.

Phoenix flinches, "Don't let it get your guard down!" Katt shouts. Shaking her head, Phoenix gets back to her senses, "Good! Now get in close and use Night Slash!"

Running forward with talons extended, Phoenix closes in on Stomps and releases the deadly Ghost attack!

"Now, use Leer again, put her off guard!"

Stomps pulled off his glaring again, causing Phoenix's determined attack to lose a bit of its oomph, and as this happened, Adam called out again. "Now, Double Kick!"

The Nidoran dashed forwards, the Night Slash coming straight for him now, but due to Phoenix being unsettled by the glaring of the rodent, the slash barely missed, taking off a few hairs on its way past. Stomps ran straight up to Phoenix and lept up, slamming both of its stubby little legs against her before landing on the ground again, seemingly completely exhausted.

Katt gasps, "He's fast! Phoenix, recover quickly and use a spinning Night Slash!" Phoenix obeys silently, launching herself into an aerial screw with her talons extended to attack Stomps!

"Nngh... you're not going to be able to take that! Stomps, get out of the way! Duck!"

Stomps squeaked out and was just about to duck under the attack as the damage from the previous attacks left him staggering for just long enough to be hit by the almost flying Combusken, sending him to the ground.

He tried valiantly to get onto his feet again, but flopped over, squeaking out quietly. "N... Nido..."

"Stomps!" Adam called out, eyes wide as he ran over and knelt down to him, resting a hand on his side. He gave a soft smile and scratched him gently. "... You did great, buddy. Come back."

He pulled out the Pokéball and let the exhausted Nidoran have a rest, standing up as he gave Katt and Phoenix a smile, folding his arms across his chest.

"I guess it's a draw then. Phoenix is one hell of a fighter! I don't feel bad that I lost the second part. Good job."

Katt giggles, "Well, thank you!" She runs over to Phoenix and pats her Pokemon on the head, "You were wonderful out there!"

Phoenix clucks happily, "Comb! Comb!"

Turning her attention to Adam, Katt says, "You put up a great fight, you're Pokemon are really tough!" Smiling she extends her hand, "I'm glad we got to battle and I just know you're going to win your Boulder Badge with ease!"

Phoenix nods and clucks in agreement, "Combusken!"

Adam smiled warmly and shook her hand, afterwards raising it up to plant a kiss on the back of it, acting like this was natural and not weird at all, before letting go of it.

"It was my pleasure! Your Pokémon were amazing as well, especially Phoenix here. It looks like I've got to train extra hard if I want to keep up with you."

He gave a little grin and lowered a hand to pat the Combusken's head.

"I'm sure you'll have no problem winning against Brock either. And on that note, I should head off and get to preparing for the fight. I hope and expect to see you around some other time, alright Katt?"

Katt laughs, "Of course! I may even be there to cheer you on when you battle Brock!" Replacing Phoenix in her PokeBall, Katt does a small bow as a form of good-bye, "It was really great meeting you, and while I'd like to stick around, I'm afraid I have some personal training to do before I consider facing Brock. So, good luck, Adam! We'll meet up again soon, I know it!" And with that, and a smile, Katt turns to depart for the Pokemon Center to heal up Shade and Phoenix, and then to pay a visit to the Lady Melanie once more.

Adam returned the bow and smiled warmly, raising a hand to wave to her as she heads off. "See you around, Katt! Good luck yourself!" He stood and stared after her as she headed off, and after a few minutes, he shook his head, letting out a sigh. "Well, that was good. But now we have to focus, guys. Let's go get you healed up and get ready for a fight."

 

[moon]

@ Red Wing
Very nice joint post! I like the interactions between the trainers. Just make sure not to godmod in battles. You did describe Phoenix as Katt's quickest and most creative pokémon, but it's still really young and shouldn't have become an ultimate fighter yet, right? So some of those combo moves and quick reactions sounded a bit advanced ;) Just something to think about. Very enjoyable to read though!

- Phoenix grew to lvl 18 and is able to learn Peck! Forget an old move for Peck or give up on learning Peck? Reply in the OOC thread.
- Shade grew to lvl 12 and learned Astonish!


@ Sir Bastian
Like I said to Red Wing, very nice joint post! I like that you don't make your pokémon invincible ;) Stomps will be a real fighter for sure once he levels up!

- Stomps grew to lvl 14 and learned Poison Sting!
- Buzz grew to lvl 13 and learned Quick Attack!​

 

[Xlugon Pyro]

3-3; GET STONED
Zoey Wyrmoki / / Pewter City

22

13 *image removed*00 *image removed*00 *image removed*00 *image removed*00

The fresh, Pewter City sunlight angles itself across the recently mowed grasses of the park. It's the perfect place for young trainers to battle and perfect their Pokemon's techniques before braving the local gym. This is especially so for youthful Zoey, having risen early in order to prepare for her gym challenge. Perhaps she ought to prepare extensively for her gym battle such as training for a few days and -THEN- tackle the gym, but this is Zoey we're talking about. Not to mention, word on the street has it that the leader of the Pewter gym utilizes the rock type. Zoey already has Vuowth and she's a pretty fierce fighter and has a grass-type move of her own. Surely her grovyle alone ought to be enough to overwhelm those rock-types. Just dodge the rocks!

"Vuowth, come on out!" Zoey says, clicking her pokeball open to allow her Pokemon out. "You too, Zovy!"

Both Pokemon appear before her, just under the tree before the red light from releasing her creatures recedes. Vuowth folds her arms over her chest, tossing Zoey a sassy, irritable look. Meanwhile, Zovy tucks her fluffy down around her body, shaking her head slowly as her vision slowly comes to and sets her sights on her trainer a few yards in front of them.

"Okay!" Zoey states enthusiastically. "Today, we're going for our first gym challenge! We're going to do some warm-up exercises and refine our skills for the battle!"

"But first..." Zoey's eyes lock onto Vuowth, giving her grass-type a stern, serious look. "You and I have to figure out how we can work together. Even with a type advantage, if we can't work together, the gym leader's Pokemon will take advantage of our lack of coordination."

"Groo!" Vuowth blurts back, showing her defiance through her cold expression.

Zoey sighs, changing her demeanor with a light smile to ease the situation. "I know you don't like working with me, but this battle is important! I know you like to battle, so it's important that we find cohesion with each other so we can win battles! Maybe you can show me how you want to fight and I'll try to accommodate you as best I can, okay?"

Vuowth lowers her head, but otherwise remains distant and unresponsive.

"Oh, I know!" Zoey beams with a new idea. "I can have Zovy spar against you! I'll see how you like to fight and I'll take it into account when we challenge the gym!"

Her new idea gets through to Vuowth whose golden eyes widen in recognition of her trainer's idea. She grins approvingly, shifting her focus to Zovy. The poor bird chirps fearfully, taking a few steps back as sweat races down her brow.

"Oh, don't worry Zovy!" Zoey comforts Zovy, rushing over to her swablu before picking her up. "I'll battle with you! It's us against Vuowth! You could use this opportunity to train too, especially against an opponent like Vuowth! I'll need you in the gym battle ahead!"

Zovy squawks softly while embracing her trainer's arms, cuddling in her arms while glancing up at Zoey happily.

"Alright!" she affirms, waving Vuowth over to her as her gaze fixes ahead of her. "Let's find a battlefield. They should have a few somewhere in this park."

Vuowth follows her trainer's lead, eager for battle. If there's one language that Vuowth understands, it's battling. Perhaps this endeavor might prove fruitful for the gang after all. It will take everything from all of them to come away with a victory at the gym later today.

Arriving at one of the park's dirt-covered practice battlefields, Vuowth stands at the ready, gazing intently on her foe, the blue bird cradled in Zoey's arms. Zoey glances over at her grass-type, smiling confidently in her direction.

"You ready to go, Vuowth?" she yells across the field.

Vuowth responds by crossing her arms swiftly in front of her, baring her blade-like forearm leaves and widens her stance in anticipation. Lowering her arms to the ground, Zoey brings Zovy to the ground, planting her talons onto the dusty battlefield. The swablu chirps, flailing her cotton wings around as she tries to hop back up into Zoey's arm. Her eyes are wide in fear, trying to find safety in her trainer's arms once again.

"No! Zovy!" Zoey tries to soother her frightened Pokemon, "I know you're scared but you need this battle! This is a great opportunity for you to become stronger too!"

She reaches down, rubbing Zovy's head to comfort her. The flying-type hums happily, looking up towards her trainer who returns the glance with a confidence smile. Zovy chirps back in renewed confidence, pivoting around and hopping forward onto the field to face Vuowth. However, the scenario sours immediately as trepidation returns to haunt little Zovy. The green reptile peers back at her sparring partner, slowly widening her grin while thrusting her arms through the air as if they were swords. Sweat rolls down Zovy's bright blue down, tweeting nervously with a broken voice. Vuowth knows how to psychologically torment the poor bird, and her aggressive nature and passion for battling only serves to exacerbate Zovy's terror. Having a type advantage over the grass-types serves little encouragement. The reptile has exponentially more combat experience and in her prime while Zovy is only a few days old and can't even fly. Zovy's just not the battling type.

Vuowth won't wait. Speeding along, Vuowth rushes by Zovy with a Quick Attack, tossing her back a few yards in recoil.

"No, not yet Vuowth!" Zoey sighs in frustration, "Zovy needs to use this opportunity to train too!"

As always, Vuowth is all too eager to initiate battle, prematurely attacking Zovy before she is ready. Zovy meanwhile rolls to her side where her tiny talons reconnect with the earth below her. Shaking the dirt off her head and the dust off her fluffy wings, she begins hopping around hastily, eyes wide as she searches anxiously for her assailant.

"Zovy, look out!" Zoey yells urgently towards her Pokemon.

Six bladed leaves slam into the ground right in front of Zovy, stopping her cold in shock. Vuowth was able to sneak up to the panicked bird and attack with impeccable speed, but it seems this time that the move made was one of intimidation, exploiting the nervous wreck of a Pokemon.

"Now, Zovy!" Zoey exclaims in earnest, "Vuowth is vulnerable! Use Fury Attack!"

Vuowth won't let her opponent take advantage of her. Pulling her leaf limbs from the ground, she crosses her arms while lifting them high into the air, her scythe-like leaves facing outward as if she's the Grim Reaper himself. Her arms then make a swift descent, the leaves' edges aiming straight for Zovy's egg-shaped body.

"GROOOO!!" hisses Vuowth in an ear-splitting tone as her arms fall limp to her sides, failing to execute her Fury Cutter technique.

In a series of quick jabs, Zovy's beak bombards the lizard's chest with Fury Attack, sending Vuowth back several steps while Zovy keeps up the pressure. Now, her expression has grown fierce, perhaps due to being fed up with the harassment she's received from Vuowth up until now.

"Zovy, great work!" Zoey praises her bird's aggressive retaliation. "Now, use Peck!"

Redirecting her voice towards Vuowth, Zoey critiques her grass-type with a less approving tone, "Vuowth! Don't get cocky! You can't get so close to your opponent like that and leave your guard down!"

Rearing her white beak, Zovy leaps towards, ready to smash her blunt beak into Vuowth's core yet again. However, Vuowth too has grown angry, rolling off to the side in the dirt to evade Zovy's Peck. Her Leering eyes pierce Zovy with anger, humiliated by letting the bird's Fury Attack get through and by Zoey's unwanted criticism. Now it's vendetta time. Vuowth rushes an intimidated Zovy, whose defenses are temporarily lowered by the grass-type's gaze. Pursuit hits its mark, Vuowth's sharp claws raking Zovy's flesh over while sending her into the rough dirt below. Vuowth holds nothing back, breaking for Zovy's downed form while the bird is still recovering from the attack. Her maw gapes wide, scooping up one of the bird's wings with her jaw. However, Vuowth's Crunch is broken up by a sudden interruption. A loud squawk sends a startling shockwave of sound through the air, breaking up Vuowth's Crunch. Zovy uses Astonish, tumbling out of the reptile's mouth out onto the ground. The attack is successful, causing the grass-type to flinch.

"Great, Zovy! That's how you take on a tough opponent!" Zoey's eyes squinting slightly and her ears cupping over her ears to block the painful shriek. "Let's try Peck again!"

Digging her talons into the dirt, Zovy hurls her body beak first towards Vuowth to attack. However, Zovy's beak is blocked; crossing emerald arms hold the line of attack, forcing back the assailant into the dirt. Hissing defiantly, Vuowth draws her claws again and leaps over Zovy, claws baring.

"Out of the way!" Zoey yells worriedly. "J-just... Turn over and Peck!"

Green talons crash into the small bird's body, forcing Zovy into the dirt. Suddenly, Vuowth throws her left leg high into the air, leaping backwards while digging only her left talons into the dirt. Pursuit hit its mark, but not without Zovy reacting defensively, again taking advantage of Vuowth's reckless tactics. Vuowth's eyes begin to contort deeply, veins pushing their way to the surface. Zovy meanwhile rolls over and dusts herself off, only to catch sight of her foe's murderous expression.

"Vuowth!" Zoey says disapprovingly.

Vuowth shoots her the same ugly, angry scowl she gave Zovy, but Zoey nonetheless persists to scold Vuowth, "You keep making the same foolhardy mistakes! I know you like to fight up close and quick-paced but it wont do you good if you leave yourself open to an attack from a clever opponent!"

The reptile shifts her focus back to Zovy prematurely, watching the swablu tremble with terror. Anger builds up in her over the recent events, scowling so fiercely in rage that her teeth begin to show. Vuowth digs her heels in deep, and with her lightning reflexes, she bolts with incredible speed. Taking both Pokemon and trainer by surprise, Vuowth collides violently into her sparring partner with Quick Attack, tossing Zovy like a cannonball towards a thick tree trunk. Squawking loudly in pain, the bird slowly tumbles to the ground before her body lands, causing a wave of dust to briefly become airborne. However, Vuowth keeps chasing her downed prey. Claws baring, she aims her bladed leaves for the fallen bird and throws her arms back to prepare Fury Cutter.

"Vuowth, stop! It's over!"

A flash of red light envelops Vuowth's reptilian form, enveloping her in a ruby red shroud that sucks her back into her private, spherical lair. Zoey retracts the pokeball, pushing it into her bag before her eyes shift to a badly beaten Zovy. The bird's body is covered in cuts and bruises, her eyes locked shut from overwhelming fatigue. Rushing over to her injured companion, Zovy lands on her knees before Zovy, inspecting her wounds and dusting off her battle-weary frame.​

"That was good, Zovy..." Zoey says softly, gently rubbing the swablu's feathery head.

The light of a pokeball consumes Zovy, sucking her back into another realm to rest. Practice is over.

"I'll have to stop by the Pokemon Center now. I might not even be able to challenge the gym today..." Zoey ponders to herself, analyzing the results of her so-called practice session.

"Vuowth is another matter entirely," she stares at her pink sack for several seconds, lost in though over what she's to do about her defiant companion, especially with a gym battle coming up. "Somehow I have to get her to realize how harmful her habits will be."

Dusting herself off, Zoey looks up towards the sky, watching a myriad of birds flying about. Pidove, Pidgey, Taillow, and the occasional Pidgeotto too. The sun is up further in the sky, signifying mid-morning. Park activity has increased as she can hear the voices of several more people than before mingling about. Zoey looks around, spotting a nearby cement path through the park with people traversing it. Cradling her pink bag, she travels over to the pavement, glancing about occasionally as she recalls her previous path. Fortunately, the Pokemon Center is just outside of the park. If she's at all lucky, Zoey might be able to challenge the gym after all, but for now, she'll have to wait. Both of her Pokemon need medical attention.

 

[moon]

@ Xlugon Pyro
Good practice battle! Wonder if Vuowth will ever change...

- Vuowth grew to lvl 23 and is able to learn Screech! Forget a move for Screech? Answer in the OOC thread.
- Zovy grew to lvl 15!


@ Everyone
Note that above lvl 20, pokémon are likely to know enough decent moves to not have to grow in levels as quickly as before. We don't want everyone to be at lvl 40 in Cerulean ;) So I won't be giving 2 levels for one post as easily as for pokémon below lvl 20. If anyone has comments or problems with this, let me know in the OOC.​

chapter 3; part II
Aberdeen Black // Pewter City

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Bernadette, Aberdeen's strongest pokémon, was down for the count. Clad's sandshrew still stood strong; the butterfree hadn't been nearly enough of a challenge for it. Aberdeen spend half a minute just thinking hard while staring at the light brown mouse on the floor in front of him.

"Ab! Come on, send out your next one!" Memeeber called out from the sidelines, hearing Clad's gym friends snicker behind her.

"I choose you, Salvadora!" Aberdeen said, throwing forth his newest capture. A sewaddle materalized on the arena floor. She took a quick examining look at the sandshrew, who crouched back a little from the self-confident look. Then Salvadora let out a little 'huff' as if she had hoped for a better opponent.

The people behind Memeeber surprisingly stopped their snickering now. The girl looked back and discovered that their faces looked anticipating and calculating. Maybe they have seen more pathetic pokémon than sewaddle surprise trainers in this gym... Memeeber thought. They must be experienced. What if Clad is one of the MOST experienced!

"Careful!" she called out to Aberdeen.

But the boy had gotten his smile back. Clad raised an eyebrow. "Strange choice. But stranger things have happened. Sandshrew, use Scratch!"

"Salvadora, String Shot!" Aberdeen immediately called out.

Sandshrew raised its claw and began running on three legs towards the bug, who quickly shot out its sticky web. Salvadora had spent enough time as a sewaddle to become a great sniper; she hit sandshrew's claw without trouble, dressing it in sticky strings and making it too dull to Scratch with.

"Don't stop! Turn your momentum into a Rollout!" Clad called out, rather calmly. Memeeber had been right. He was used to twists and turns in battles. But was he prepared for... this?

"String shot again!" Aberdeen shouted. Salvadora did as she was told, spraying the sticky strings at the ball rolling towards her. "Keep a line connected!" Aberdeen said, running up to her to be able to give the order without Clad hearing. But then, sandshrew was about to make impact. Ab had to jump back and land on his butt on the ground to avoid it, and the sewaddle was hit right on.

Salvadora was thrown back as the sandshrew rolled over her and then kept rolling in a turn to come around for another attack. But one line of String Shot still connected the rolling ball which was now covered in the substance. "Great!" Aberdeen said, getting up and closer to the bug again. "Now, follow me closely!"

Clad raised both of his eyebrows now, and the people watching from the sides began mumbling, as Aberdeen ran out between the rocks and cliffs on the arena field. Salvadora followed him, and tugged the string to make the rolling sandshrew follow too. Aberdeen came to a stop all of a sudden, and the bug stopped right next to him. A smile played across the boy's face.

"No. I see what you're trying! Sandshrew, stop!" Clad shouted out. Behind Ab's back was a large rock. If they jumped aside in the nick of time, Sandshrew wouldn't have time to steer away and would crash right into the rock. "Too bad I saw it in time!" Clad added to the boy with a wink.

"Did you now?" Aberdeen laughed and jumped away from the rock. As did Salvadora, at the same time as she severed the String Shot connecting her to the rolling ball of poké.

Sandshrew didn't stop. He had lost control of his rolling body due to being covered in too thick a layer of String Shot substance! Clad's content face turned bleak as his pokémon crashed hard into the big rock with the powered up Rollout attack. The rock was shattered and the pokémon came to a stop. But it couldn't unwrap itself properly, only stick out its tail, one leg and its face.

"Hahahah!" Aberdeen laughed, more at the funny look of the pokémon than at the success of his plan.

Now it was Clad's turn to think for several seconds in silence. Memeeber nodded slowly, kind of impressed. The people behind her didn't speak at all.

"We'll act before you! Salvadora, Bug Bite!" Ab said. His pokémon gladly ran forward to the wriggling sandshrew in the remains of the big rock and bit down hard on its tail. The stinging pain made sandshrew wriggle harder though, making some of the String Shot burst. "Get back!" Aberdeen then shouted, but got closer himself again.

"Why is that boy out on the arena in the heat of the battle?" a guy behind Memeeber on the benches said. "Doesn't he realize it's dangerous?"

"He wants to be out there and fight WITH his pokémon of course!" she snapped at them without turning around. They didn't respond further to that.

"Sandshrew, use Fury Cutter on yourself!" Clad shouted, surprising Aberdeen.

"Isn't that a bit rough?" he asked. But sandshrew didn't waste any time contemplating its trainer's orders. It used the free claws and made them glow yellow, and within seconds they had cut off most of the String Shot bandages. Enough for the pokémon to be able to move freely again.

"Now, use Rapid Spin!" Clad shouted out.

"Tackle!" Aberdeen immediately countered.

Sandshrew jumped up towards them into the air while Salvadora ran forward on its small legs to counter the attack fearlessly head on. At the impact, both pokémon were thrown back onto the rocky ground. Sandshrew was panting hard now while Salvadora looked like the Rollout and Rapid Spins had been rough on her.

"Use Fury Swipes on the bug!" was Clad's next order. Sandshrew raised both its claws this time, ready to oblige.

"String-"

Aberdeen's order wasn't fast enough this time. Sandshrew had learned to act quickly against him. Salvadora was struck by rapid recurring slashes and the pain was too much for her. She fainted.

"But..." Aberdeen knelt before her and gently stroke her head with his hand.

"That was a really creative fight!" Clad said. "Are you sure that you want to keep going? Isn't two pokémon enough?"

Aberdeen's face was dark as he responded. "It's enough for now. But I'll be back!"

As he and Memeeber walked out from the gym, he carried Salvadora in his arms, refusing to let her inside a pokéball alone in this state. The trainers behind him didn't laugh as they watched him leave through the entrance of the gym.

"He's kind of feisty," one of them said to Clad.

"Yes. I'm looking forward to facing him in a real battle soon." Clad took off his beanie hat and scarf. His unobstructed face had a dark skin, pointy dark brown hair and very narrow eyes.

"Then you'll use your ROCK types, right? Not this Viridianish ground-type-rouse, right Brock?" another, younger gym trainer asked him excitedly.

"Of course," Aberdeen's opponent replied with a gentle smile. "Next time, it'll be for real."

@ me
- Salvadora (Sewaddle) grew to lvl 11!​

 

[RedWing]

chapter 3; Climbing the Mountain of Adversity: Chance Encounter! Part IV

Katherine Aldine // Pewter City, West End

*image removed* *image removed*

[FONT=&quot]After departing from the training fields and healing her Pokemon, Katt makes her way back to the west-end of Pewter for more training. Beside her, Katt's newest Pokemon, Sableye, walks along. Smiling down at the little, twitchy imp, Katt says, "You know, you were really quite the fighter against Adam's Pikachu!"

Shade smiles a toothy smile and hisses, "Sable!"

Katt giggles, "You're a little strange, Shade, but I like it." She looks around for a moment, "Let's see if we can find a wild Pokemon to battle…Maybe over-"

"Sable!" Without warning, Shade darts into a bush! Katt, completely baffled, stands there a moment before hearing a rustling in the bushes and followed by a cry of pain!

"PIDOVE!"

"Huh?!" Katt runs towards the bush and finds Shade attacking a wild Pidove! "Shade, stop it!" The young girl reaches for her Sableye and pulls the ravenous creature off of the defenseless Pidove. "Shade, we don't attack unless the Pokemon is willing to battle!"

"Pi..." The injured Pidove attempts to hobble off, but keels over! Alarmed, Katt puts down Shade and retrieves a Potion from her bag.

"Here, this should help, little guy," Katt coos. She sprays the Potion generously over the Pidove's injuries and a few moments later, the small bird is able to rise on its own and flap its wings.

"Pidove!" It chirps happily at Katt before flying off.

Sighing, Katt turns to Shade to scold him, but finds that he isn't there! "Where the-" before Katt can finish her sentence however, she hears another cry. However, this time, the cry is distinctly human!

"Get away from me, you infernal imp!" Beyond the bushes, in the middle of the clearing near the mountains, Katt sees her Sableye darting about, making shreds out of a young woman's gown!

"Shade!" Running towards the scene, Katt stops short. The girl being attacked is Lady Melanie! "Melanie!" Katt calls the girl's name as she dives towards Shade, tackling the Pokemon and sending it, and herself, tumbling into a nearby tree.

Lady Melanie looks down at her shredded garb and fumes, "You insolent peasant! Your Pokemon has ruined my gown!"

Katt sits up and rubs a knot that is forming on her head, "Oh...I'm sorry, I don't know what's gotten into Shade..." Glaring at her Pokemon, Katt says, "You had better apologize to Lady Melanie. Now."

Shade, twitching as he rises to his feet, shuffles over to the angered Lady and flashes a toothy grin, "Sable!"

Melanie shrinks back, "Keep that thing away from me!"

At that, Katt rises to her feet and huffs, "Hey! Shade may be a little destructive, but he's most certainly not a thing." As an afterthought, she adds, "Does your handler know you're out here?"

At the mention of her servant, Melanie turns her icy gaze on Katt, "That is none of your business."

"I'll take that as a no." Katt gathers Shade in her arms and says, "Well, if you want me to keep your secret, why not have a one-on-one battle with me?"

Melanie makes a rather unladylike snort, "Another battle? My, child, do you never get enough?"

Katt shakes her head, "As long as my Pokemon and I can improve, no. So, will you battle with me?"

Melanie stares at Katt for a moment before rolling her eyes, "I suppose. I assume you'll be using that creature?" She points a dainty finger at Shade, who hisses and feigns attempting to bite her. Melanie scoffs, "Ugh. Allow me to change then."

Katt nods and politely turns her back as Melanie retreats into a small copse of trees and re-emerges in a new, regal gown. Katt smirks, "Ya know, for a Duchess and all, you seem to have no problem with changing in the outdoors."

"I clearly have no idea what you're talking about. This is the exact gown I wore when I decided to take my morning walk," Melanie says in a matter-of-fact tone. She walks towards the far-end of the clearing and produces a PokeBall. "I'll have you know," she begins, "That Cinccino and I had a vigorous training session after you left. You won't be able to defeat us so easily this time!" Throwing the PokeBall skyward, Melanie's Cinccino emerges!

"Cinccino!" The regal Pokemon looks smugly at Katt and her Sableye, clearly confident in its abilities this time around.

Setting down Shade, Katt says, "Alright, Cinccino won't be a push-over, Shade. You need to be careful."

Shade snaps his jaws before dashing onto the field to prepare for battle!

Melanie calls from across the field, "I'll take the first move, if you don't mind!" Without waiting for a response, Melanie orders her Cinccino, "Use Hidden Power, Cinccino!"

"Cin!" Rushing forward, Cinccino becomes eveloped in a white light that it releases in bursts at Sableye!

"Dodge it, Shade, then close in and use Scratch!" Katt shouts! The Hidden Power, however, closes in too fast and hits Shade hard! "Shade!"

Shade is seen standing, though, and in the moment of shock, he closes in and unleashes a furious Scratch attack on Cinccino before propelling itself backwards!

"What?! But the move hit you!" Melanie screams!

It takes her a moment, but Katt figures out the cause and laughs, "Hahahah! It would seem that your Cinccino's Hidden Power is of the Psychic-typing! And," she smirks, "Sableye's Dark-typing grants it immunity to the attack! Good work, Shade, now go in again with Scratch!"[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Shade hisses and propels himself forward![/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]"Don't let it touch you! Use Sand-Attack!" Melanie shrieks! Cinccino lets out a cry and whips its tails against the dirt, sending up a cloud to obscure Sableye's sight![/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]"Sable?!" The imp Pokemon's momentum is cut short by the sudden obstruction, sending it tumbling to the ground and a good ten feet away from its target![/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]"Good! Now use Bullet Seed!" Melanie orders with obvious satisfaction. Cinccino spews forth the attack, a rapid-fire succession of seeds, directly at Shade![/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]"Shade! Dodge it!" Katt shouts! However, the Sand-Attack having obstructed his vision, Shade isn't capable of doing more than oddly moving about in an effort to avoid the Bullet Seed! The attack hits Shade not once, not twice, not thrice, but four times in succession![/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Staggering, Shade shakes his head and bares his fangs! Without prompting, he launches his own Scratch attack, feigning to the right to catch Cinccino off-guard and then ducking to the left to deliver a deadly blow to the mouse Pokemon's exposed flank![/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]"Cin!" Knocked to the ground, Cinccino struggles to rise. It finally loses its strength and falls to the floor in defeat.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Melanie stomps her foot in frustration, "How?!" She returns Cinccino to its PokeBall and marches up to Katt, "How were you able to beat me again?! I trained the entire afternoon after you left! How is it possible that your pest was able to defeat me?!"[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]"That, my lady, is because you go into every battle assuming you have already won."[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]From behind a tree, Lady Melanie's handler, Albert, emerges. To Katt's surprise, Melanie becomes flustered and starts to babble![/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]"Oh, Albert, um-I can explain-You see-I was…" After a moment of feeling Albert's cool gaze however, the girl ceases speaking and bows her head, "I snuck off. I apologize."[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Katt blinks in astonishment; did this girl, who up until this moment had an ego equivalent in size to three Wailord set end-to-end, just apologize to her servant? Unable to process this, Katt interjects, "Wait! Isn't Albert your servant? What are you apologizing to him for?"[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]At that, Albert sighs, "Young lady, though my official standing in House Pewter may be as a lowly handler, I have been with the family since the childhood days of Lady Melanie's mother. I am, in a sense, the closest thing to a grandfather Melanie has and as such, I have garnered certain respects." Turning his back on Melanie, Albert goes on, "The young Lady is aware that she is not to leave the Pewter Estate unless accompanied be myself. I watched your battle and, I must say, Ms. Melanie would do well to learn from you, Ms. Katt."[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]At that, Katt blushes and suddenly becomes very interested in her shoes. She mumbles, "Um, thank you, Sir."[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]"Yes, well I do believe that it is time for the Lady Kateline to be returning home." Without another word, Albert extends his arm, which Kateline reluctantly takes and the two depart from the mountainous area, leaving Katt and her Sableye alone beneath the mid-afternoon sunshine.[/FONT]
​

 

[moon]

@ Red Wing
Sorry for the late reply! I really like the interaction between Katt and Melanie ^^ Quite a rival she has found there?

- Shade (Sableye) grew to lvl 14!
​

chapter 3; Time To Rock; PART 1
Arabelle Silverklein // Pewter City

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It was early in the afternoon when Arabelle and her pokémon finally escaped the depths of Viridian Forest and emerged on the short road leading to Pewter City in the north. Arabelle let out a huge breath when she saw the buildings in the distance.

"I can't believe we survived..." she said out loud.

Rogue, her Scyther, gave her a sharp look from where he was walking beside her.

"I mean, of course I did with your help! But without you to guide us out, Rogue... I just feel so tired. So tired, is all."

The mantis seemed content with that reply and took a little leap up into the air, soaring forward with his wings instead of walking on. The Charmeleon stayed his trainer on the ground though. He had no wings, not yet. His whole being itched to evolve into a large, imposing Charizard. But he wasn't even close yet. He needed to train, and that was why he had agreed to not rebel against his child trainer. Not yet, at least. She gave him a faint smile as they walked, which he returned. No need to make enemies of your allies as long as you need them.

Actually, Knight wasn't really as bad as this makes him sound. He just knew what his goals were and even if he might go a bit mad or overly eager at times, he was not unreasonable as long as things eventually went in his favor. Towards his goal.

The Scyther, on the other hand, had no goal. He had been living his life as a quiet member of a Scyther tribe in Viridian Forest, not ever planning on challenging the leader like some of his more ambitious brothers did. One day, a lost, crying girl had stumbled upon him and just assumed that he wanted to fight. He had seen her insecure eyes as she had sent out the fire lizard to battle with him. So he had done his best to avoid striking any of them directly and mostly evaded the attacks until the lizard got tired.

It had all ended with his tribe stumbling upon the scene and attacking the girl and the Charmeleon. Annoyed with the leader's blunt ways, Rogue had finally stood up against him and helped the human to safety. Together with the lizard, he fought the leader off, displaying strength and agility he had kept hidden from his tribe. But even though he defeated the leader, he chose to go with the girl instead of taking up the role. Because it felt like a more fun thing to do. Rogue was no complicated person, at least he didn't think so himself. Then again... He didn't ponder things more than necessary.

And together, the lizard and the mantis made a pretty good team. One blazing and throwing lethal tantrums, the other silent and swift with blades through the air. Ok, that didn't sound like the best combo ever. But it was.

Arabelle managed to heal her pokémon at the pokémon center before she slumped down into a couch in the lobby there. Never before in her life had she traveled on foot that far, through a whole forest, and without human company. That she was still alive and relatively well strengthened her though; she was proving her point. A smile played on her lips, absentmindedly.

A voice which she recognized reached her ears. A rather light voice with a Hoenn accent. Her eyes widened and her body froze.

Here? Now? Of course... It had only been a matter of time. Through the forest adventure with her new pokémon friends, she had almost forgotten that she was actually on the run from her family. If she stayed for long in crowded places like cities, they would find her for sure. She needed to stay away for a bit longer. Long enough to have some solid evidence of her progress, so that they couldn't argue that she needed to come home for her own safety.

Turning her head around slowly while she sunk deeper down behind the back of the couch, she found exactly who she had been expecting, leaning against the counter a few meters away. The Silverklein Warden. Or, her uncle, but everyone just called him Warden.

He was a tall, lanky guy with dirty blonde hair which was just a little bit too long, and he was unshaved as usual, leaving a little beard and bushy mustache. He wore a bleak, red polo shirt and black jeans. And of course, he carried a large backpack and a utility belt with who-knows-what in its many pockets and holders.

And his head turned around as well, and suddenly looked straight at her with his blue eyes. He looked surprised at first. What he looked like then, Arabelle didn't see, because she had grabbed her pokéballs and bag and darted out from the PokémonCenter as quickly as her tired legs possibly could carry her.

She could not get caught now!

 

[gimmepie]

chapter 3; PART One
Corvin White // Pewter City

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"Hey, you!" At the call Corvin turned to find that indeed the gruff voice had been calling out to him, not too surprising since there were not that many people around.
"Yes?" Corvin responded to the man, a tall and ridiculously hairy man wearing a yellow shirt and dirt-covered denim overalls, with a quizzical expression on his face. The reason for this expression was rather simple to say the least; the man was sitting in a rundown wooden shopping stall surrounded by simple grey rocks of various sizes.
"Wanna buy a rock? After all, you can't come to a stone city and not leave without a stone". Corvin stood looking at the man his mouth ajar, bewildered by the ridiculous request. He had heard rumours of people attempting to sell rocks to tourists under the guise that they were something special, or were something perfectly normal to find in a gift shop, but he hadn't for a moment actually thought that a single one of the stories was true. He couldn't help but feel as though his intelligence was being insulted, but more than that how could this man be so lazy as to not just search for a real job instead of selling pebbles.
"You have got to be kidding me right? That is the most ridiculous thing I have heard in my life! Those aren't even evolution stones you're charging people for; I could find an equally interesting rock lying around in the dirt! Stop being such a lazy pr*ck and get a real job!" It may not have been appropriate to yell at the shopkeeper, if you could even call him that, but the man was disgusting. Regardless of appropriateness it certainly wasn't wise, the man was at least a foot taller than Corvin and was certainly better built, probably from finding rocks and hoisting them onto shelves. Said man was now standing, red in the face and with clenched fists, which is really never a good sign.
Oh Cr*p the young trainer thought to himself before sprinting down the street, the man abandoning his ridiculous rock shop to give chase.

This was not the first unfortunate experience in which Corvin had found himself during his stay in Pewter City. He had arrived two days ago only to find that the gym leader, a young man by the name of Brock, was fully booked and so he had spent a lot of his time wandering around aimlessly and training with Royal and Hammer, his heracross. It was during those travels that he had managed to find himself somehow continuously walking into the shadier part of Pewter City, because for some reason he could end up in the most criminal infested parts of even the nicest places. So far that day he had been mugged by a street gang, attacked by a group of feral Mawile, thrashed in battle by a machoke that he was certain was on steroids and now chased by an enraged shopkeeper. All in all; Corvin was not exactly on a role as far as Pewter City was concerned. All this was on Corvin's mind as he hurtled down the streets of Pewter City the angry behemoth of a man hot on his tail.
"I'll show you lazy you little s***!"
"Wonderful" Corvin panted to himself "He even has bad language to go with that cheerful appearance" a statement which was followed by a barrage of obscenities from behind him as the brute continued to pursue Corvin down the street.

Running down a side street Corvin released Hammer from his pokeball
"Heracross" called the large blue beetle in response to its release
"I'd ask you to knock him out, but I don't want to go to jail, Horn Attack on that stall over there!" Confused, but at this point not surprised by Corvin's predicament Hammer obeyed his trainer his horn pulsating in a silvery-white light as he rammed a shopping stall, that was far better crafted than the rock stall of the man chasing Corvin. The stall shattered under the strength of the attack spewing merchandise one the ground and causing the shopkeeper and his pokemon, a group of Jigglypuff, began to work on clearing all the while yelling angrily at Corvin and Hammer. Thankfully the group of enraged pokemon and their owner were blocking the road as the cleared their merchandise stopping the hairy oaf chasing Corvin for a while. Corvin took the opportunity and sprinted further down the side road, Hammer in tow before turning into a maze of alleyways.

Turning down yet another alleyway Corvin stopped, breathing hard, and pressed his back against the wall listening intently as Hammer descended from the sky on his thin transparent wings to land next to his trainer.
You know you're in a sucky part of town when nobody try's to stop a man who must be in his mid to late thirties from chasing a fifteen-year-old down the street whilst hurling obscenities Corvin thought to himself as he tried to slow his breathing. That was when he heard the noise
"Mawile!" Looking to his right he saw some unfortunately familiar faces. He had somehow managed to stumble upon the same thuggish group of Mawile that had attacked him earlier.
"Hera?" Hammer asked, it wanted to know what it was supposed to do. Corvin had a fairly good idea of what was going to be happening next, he didn't share the confusion on a course of action that his bug-type had.
"Mawile!" Corvin turned and sure enough the other side of the alley was blocked by more of the strange steel-types.
I can't catch a break today can I?
"Royal, I'm going to need some help" Corvin said to his Marshtomp as he released it, the blue aquatic creature emerging to see itself in what couldn't not be considered a favourable position in any way, shape or form.

The humanoid pokemon began to charge at Corvin and his companions from both sides, attempting to Bite at the trio with the strange jaws sprouting from the top of their heads.
"Hammer, use Fury Attack!" Corvin wished that his pokemon had learned some fighting typed moves as it began knocking back the attackers with quick jabs from his horn, deflecting most of them but not doing much damage.
"Mud-Slap!" Royal began hurling mud from the super effective attack slapping the closer mawille with mud-covered hands, refusing to give an inch and relying on his stocky build to prevent himself from getting overpowered. A mawile lunged at Corvin only to be struck by a powerful horn, Hammer seeing what Royal had not had slammed into the opposing pokemon to protect Corvin, hurling it into a wall but taking several Bites from more of the steel-types in the process.
"Hera!" the cry of pain was chilling. The moves may not have been that effective due to Hammer's typing, but several at once was a lot to handle. It was then, as Corvin and his pokemon were forced into a corner that the loud squawking noise could be heard. A large bird pokemon, that Corvin recognised as a Pidgeot thanks to his time helping his parents with their breeding work was circling around the alley, signalling someone.

That someone was the man from the rock shop who had arrived with a Sandshrew at his side. For a split second Corvin thought the aggressive man was actually going to help him out, until he heard the still angry shopkeeper scream at the Mawile
"He's mine!"
"Great" sighed Corvin as Royal looked at him wondering what was going on. All hell broke loose as the man and his pokemon charged down the alley after Corvin, causing the mawile to temporarily change focus. The angry pokemon and the aggressive man, were now fighting over who would get to tear Corvin and probably Hammer and Royal also limb from limb.
"Return guys" Corvin returned his pokemon back to their respective pokeballs before running down the alley and out onto a street, straight through a group of elderly people and then a group from a nearby trainer school. He didn't stop running until he reached the pokemon centre but upon entering he walked straight into a pair of police officers... who had a picture of him.
"Uh..."
"Corvin White?" asked one of the cops, a tall and thin woman with spiky blue hair. Although Corvin was fairly sure she already knew it was him because it was followed by
"You have been causing quite the ruckus throughout the city these last few days, I'm afraid you're going to have to come with us for a chat". A statement that would have been far less intimidating if she hadn't pulled out handcuffs.
Well what do you know; I am getting arrested after all. I really hate this city.

 

[moon]

@ gimmepie
That's some rough start for Corvin! Can't wait to see how he'll handle the police.

- Royal (Marshtomp) grew to lvl 19!
- Hammer (Heracross) grew to lvl 15!

 

[deathbymanga]

chapter x; PART X
Topaz // area name here

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Topaz sat down on the tree branch, his two friends sitting nicely next to him. Swablu trying desperately to get away from the stench of the human Society, while Servine was keeping tis distance because she knew Topaz wasn't ready yet for the human world. The two had been discussing things as they had went through the Veridian Forrest and Topaz had explained what his childhood had been like. It turned out, Servine knew more about the human world than Topaz did, which made Servine the kind of guide and guardian to the kid. Though to be honest, the kid was sometimes more of the snake's guardian, as they often got side-tracted and Topaz seemed to be the only one of the two who could find his way in the thicket.

Servine was just too civilized to ever be rehabilitated back to the Wild like some might be when they were released. But even without Servine's consoling, Topaz didn't want to come to the human world just yet. The Humans were so strange and were all probably much stronger than he was, so he knew that he was going to need to train more in the wild before he could come to them.

Jumping away from the branch he and his friends were sitting on to get a nice view of Pewter City, Topaz made his way back. Landing in the nice thicket of Tall grass, the wild Pokemon bounced with his arrival, getting alerted to his brazen attempts to get their attention. As he danced and backflipped and cartwheeled, many of the Pokemon wondered why he did not just walk and wait for one of them to attack, like so many other Humans did before all of this.

 

[<Challenger>]

Chapter 3; PART 1

Hector Ayoba // Just outside of Viridian Forest​

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Hector was walking along, having a grand old time with Sword and Scythe. The Scyther, his newest addition to the team, was calm natured, unlike most Scythers. He was singing a little marching tune with Sword. It was almost hilarious to see a human with poofy hair and goofy shorts and other such things marching with their knees high, especially with a Scyther and a Dewott. "I don't know what I've been told." The pokemon chanted back in their own tongue. "Oran Berry sammiches are as good as gold." They chanted back again. They all loved Hector's mom's Oran Berry sammiches. They were excellent in every way and form: Truly culinary gold. Hector burst out laughing, as did Scythe and Sword. This trio was going to have fun on their adventure. Sword was just like Hector in almost every single way, except he was smooth with the ladies. (AHHHHH YEAH!) Scythe was a bit less social, but he liked to hang out with Hector and Sword. "Good job guys!" Hector and his pokemon were laughing so hard that he might've had a laugh-attack. They had just come from Viridian City, a very successful run. He and Sword had defeated Scythe, and Hector had caught him right as they entered. Hector had won about four or five battles, so they were feeling pretty bossly.​

Hector strolled out into the clearing. The sun was shining down, and the Swablus were screaming. All was well. "WOOHOO!" He couldn't help but to let out a loud shout. He began to run around in circles making airplane noises. One might think that they were high, but they weren't. Hector sprawled to the ground, and his two partners ran up to his fallen body, laughing as well. As Hector stood up, he saw three figures to the south. "HEY, OVER THERE! YOU!" He began to sprint towards them. It was a trainer and his pokemon! "HEY, DO YOU WANNA BATTLE?"​

 

[PresentPastFuture]

chapter 3; PART 1
Jack Freeman // Pewter City(image no longer exists)
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The walk through Viridian Forest seemed endless. Every corner Jack turned there was a bug-catcher or a wild Pokémon that was extremely irritated. The Pidgeotto that he had caught was trying to attack him and his Quilava, Vulcan, before Vulcan exploded in anger and dealt a powerful Flare Blitz to the poor Pidgeotto. Jack decided to name the angry bird, Rovio. Along the way, Jack began to understand Vulcan's nature. The Quilava was a brave Pokémon, and displayed that through his strength during battle. It also seemed to have a hot-temper, very similar to Jack

A spark of relief uplifted Jack when he saw Pewter City's sign. His legs ached from the long walk, and he immediately seeked the Pokémon Center. The town was a pleasant place from the looks of it. It was rather small but there were many people standing or walking outside and conversing. It was a change of pace from the slums of Celadon that Jack unfortunately called home.

Jack was starting for the Pokémon Center when he crashed into a young boy who seemed very upset. Jack's sense of relief was replaced with fury.

"Hey watch where you're going, kid…" Jack snapped.

"I-uhm-I…" The kid stuttered, "I was going to the Pokémon center because my Growlithe and I just got attacked by this really, really, really, super tall boy!"

Jack realized that the boy's glasses were snapped in half from the collision, and the lenses were cracked and caked with dirt. He felt regretful for snapping at the poor kid, and wanted to make up for it.

"Okay kid, it's gonna be alright…show me where this ***hole is…" Jack tried to sound as apologetic as possible, "I'll battle this kid if he's so tough."

The kid stood up and brushed himself off; he grew a long, cheerful smile and reached his hand out for Jack. Jack turned away and the kid became dissapointed.

"Look kid, I don't wanna go making any buddies here. I just want to be a Pokémon master, just show me where this kid is so I can show him who's boss—"

Suddenly, a slender, boney hand grabbed the boy's shoulder and pushed him to the ground. Jack looked up and saw a creepy-looking face peering down at him. The kid's long, moppy, and black hair was covered in dirt and dust and swept over his eyes. His face was plagued with acne and dirt smudges. His teeth were crooked, buck and yellow. He looked like a demonic rabbit.

"Ha! Who's this scrub, Max?" The tall kid asked to the boy with the glasses.

"He is a Pokémon master! And he's about to show you who's boss, Remus!" Max replied. Jack grinned and nodded; he went along with it.

"Oh really? Hahaha…this kid is a scrub, I can tell…" Remus smirked as he scanned Jack's posture and body, "How's about a Pokémon battle. Then we can really see who's boss…"

Winning was Jack's only option. Not only did the kid defy his authority, but he challenged him to a battle as well.

The battle was on.
​