*Foreigners (IC)

[Otherworld9)]

"Shironians?" Anthony asked, "I didn't see them at all… But then again, I was being kidnapped by stalker Beedrills. You left his pokemon in the forest? Sure I'll go, but you are helping me fend off the stalker Beedrills."

"Forest? Well....we have to get through a small forest before going to the mountains so...ok. It's on the mountains though, so once we pass the forest, we can find his pokemon just resting somewhere in the mountains. It's only Gigalith and Pichu...Pawniard can lift Pichu while you can help me lift the Gigalith...thing....heavy behemoth...," she started to trail off. She snapped out of it and continued on. "Just follow me, I know where they're at."

 

[for him.]

First Snow and Otherworld9) Joint/Collaboration Post​

"We don't have to carry them. We can get our psychic type to carry his Gigalith. I am pretty sure yours knows at least Confusion right?" I corrected. Stephany blushed in embarrassment.

"Oh, yeah...she does. Forgot we could that," she turned red, her expression finally changing. She looked up towards the direction they were going to head off in a few minutes, "I guess I'll lead the way," Stephany responded.

We began to walk out of the pokemon center and I found myself curious about these Shironians, or whatever their names were.

"Who are the Shironians?' I asked.

Stephany thought about it for a moment, trying to remember what they said, "From what I heard, they want the Master Questers to stop doing what we're doing. I don't see the problem but....from what I can tell, they're a lot like Team Plasma from Unova," she explained. There was an awkward silence as she realized he was not from Unova, but Hoenn, "Oh...you don't know them...well Team Plasma is a group of people who want to free pokemon, since they think we use them as slaves. They use pokemonn too, so I don't get why since what they do and say and two different things." Her Pawniard nodded, glancing around as they started to get out of the city area. "You're not confused...are you?"

"What's wrong with the Master Quest? It's not like we are killing pokemon or anything," I sighed, "Team Plasma sounds really stupid. Do they know that they contradict themselves? I bet there's another man behind the operation with an ulterior motive."

"I always thought so. Most organizations have leaders that made the group for a different reason than what they advertise, according to my father anyway. I wonder about the Shironians too though...," she trailed off, They started to enter the hike's route, not far from their destination. "Well then...so you saw me and Kathy carry Shun, right?" she asked, curious.

"Yeah," I stated simply, probably not the best time to tell her that I ship her and Shun together.

"Look.....I thought he was cold and rude but....he's even more cold and rude than I realized. I tried to be friends with him, but it didn't work at all. He probably thinks I'm annoying since I talked to him every chance I got. So I stopped. Then he fell unconscious. So now I'm here with you going to get his pokemon," she explained, anger on her face, "He thinks that he's the only person whose parent died....he didn't even give me a chance to tell him my story. He's too short-tempered," she complained, looking away. They finally reached their destination, able to see a Pichu and Gigalith sprawled on the ground where Shun used to be.

"Well everyone has their own story and everyone has their way of dealing with grief," I explained, "He's just in the stage where he is angry at everybody or in the stage where something in him just snapped. I don't really know enough to judge, but I know that I just call it the Sauske Uchiha phase."

I grunted in disgust at Sauske's name.

I looked at the big rock thing, the Tyrogue, and the Pichu and looked back at Stephany, "Something the matter?"

"Sasuke? Oh...that anime...I love watching it, so I guess you can say that. Gothorita can pick up Gigalith?" Stephany asked her pokemon, who nodded and lifted up the behemoth using Confusion.

"Korra, do you mind helping out Stephany's Gothorita?" I asked. Korra shook her head and focused as much psychic energy as she could and focused it on carrying the huge rock behemoth.

"No… nothing is wrong," she lied, biting her lip.

One thing I discovered about Stephany today was that she was a horrible liar. I decided to point her out on this, "You're lying, what's really got you worried?"

Watching as Gothorita lifted Gigalith and Pawniard had Pichu on his head, she turned to face him, "Well...I'm a horrible liar, that's one fact." She looked around, trying to think of what to tell him, "Well....to be honest...I'm not sure about this Quest anymore. I've seen so many things. The only friends I have are Will and you. Soo-Yun I only met for a while, and Kathy is quite an annoying one...but nice. Shun is a Sasuke guy, so I guess that's why I hate him. I dig Shikamaru and Neji instead of Sasuke, and love Gaara," she suddenly started to get off topic, her train of thoughts changing route. Pawniard noticed this and laughed a bit, Gothorita glaring at him until he shut his mouth.

I laughed, "Your Gothorita is a lot like Korra. She scolds, nags, and at times glares at Junior like she is his older sister. All the advice that I can give you about the Master Quest is just keep at it. So what if it is bad so far? On all of our journeys we all had disasters. So what if you only have two friends? You'll make more plus you have your pokemon to depend on for social and emotional support as well. "

I looked at her and notice that she was letting some of her baggage go, but then I took note that she didn't reveal everything, "You are still worried about something aren't you?"

She bit her lip once more, shocked he knew her so well despite barely being friends, "Wow...you're very observant. I never had a friend know me that well," she was surprised, "Okay then, you deserve the whole story. My mother and sister don't know me well, and I don't...well, we're not good friends. My dad died when I was young, and he was the only I trusted. Now, the only one I trust is you and my pokemon," she explained.

"I don't really know you that well either," I said, "I am just good with psychology and how the human mind works. Its how I create characters and how they come alive on the page when I outline them."

"Do you know where I can catch a Nidoran?" I asked, "I just saw one today and I just fell in love with them. They are really cute, cuter than they are in pictures. I just want to coo at them all day and pretend they are my children. Sonny seems to agree with me."

"Oh really?" she spoke, "Cool...so....about the Nidoran...I have no idea where you could catch them," she said as they both started walking back, Gothorita and Kirlia behind them with their respective pokemon. Pawniard was beside her, listening in on the conversation. Before long, all of a sudden, Hoothoot appeared, his face slammed against Stephany's.

"H-Hoothoot!" she was shocked, "Did you find Elgyem?"

"...hoo...," he frowned, giving the response that he was unable to find him. "Oh, I see. Well then, don't worry. Maybe he went back to where Shun is," she cheered up the bird, who rested on her head.

I took a look at the Hoothoot and concluded that this pokemon was what made her worried as well.

We eventually reached the city, and then to the Pokemon Center. We entered, Kirlia and Gothorita immediately setting down Gigalith by the counter and Pawniard placed Pichu next to the behemoth, now glancing off to Korra. The Nurse attended to them right away, soon gone with the three pokemon.

"Well....thanks for helping me," she smiled, about to hug him, but she halted,
"Umm...you're a great friend," she paused, blushing and backing away in shyness, "I think I need to check on Gothorita...," She tried to change the subject. Gothorita, however, had a different idea and hopped into her bag and hid inside it. She gave up, "Nevermind. Well, I'm going to sit here," she said as she sat on the nearest couch. Looking away, she suddenly spaced out when she looked out the window. She started to think, but then she started to close her eyes and drifted off into the world of sleep.

Stephany snores when she sleeps, another thing I learned about Stephany today. She was nice and I could talk to her easily, so that was a plus. She was going to make a good friend.

I looked at the doors to the emergency room. Stephany and Shun had a lot in common. It just that Shun won't let Stephany get close, by the looks of it anyway. I thought about it more and came to the conclusion that Shun probably lost all trust in people. Saddening as it was, he was just another Sauske case. I could tell I wasn't going to like him one bit, but I do admit, Shun and Stephany do look good together. If only Shun would let her in.

I smiled at the nostalgia; this relationship reminded me a lot about Brandon.
Brandon, I do wonder where you are now.

My cell phone vibrated in my pocket and I fished it out.

Brandon, it read.

I smiled, "I was just thinking about you."

 

[Otherworld9)]

(OOC: WT??? Stephany snores? XD Didn't see that one coming one bit...)

She took a quick nap, Pawniard waking her up after noticing she was snoring pretty loud. Opening her eyes, she looked around to see that Kathy and Anthony were here. Not much happening here. Standing up and dusting herself off, Gothorita poked her head out and looked around. Stephany walked out to get fresh air, Pawniard right behind her.

"Pawniard."

"Paawn?" he responded.

"...I was thinking...well, in my dream...maybe Anthony isn't so bad," she turned to look at the knight. "What do you think." Pawniard gave her a confused look, then a twisted one with worry and horror. Gothorita, on the other hand, agreed completely. "It's too early to tell but....who knows," she finished, walking back inside the Pokemon Center. Hoothoot was quite tired, soon falling asleep. Anthony was busy with his phone, so she didn't bother him. Sitting on the same couch she was sitting on, she took out her Pokedex and started to play with it. It wasn't that bad at all.

 

[moon]

"I have not heard of Team Shiro, Keeno-seonsaengnim*," stated Soo-yun. "If pokemon didn't want to be with us, I believe that they would leave us. Some," Soo-yun wasn't going to mention the old man, "believe that pokemon are not smart enough to leave us. I think otherwise. I feel that if they believe that we are not worthy of being friends with them, we would never see them again."

"That sounds smart," Keeno agreed.

"Herr Keeno! Fraulein!" a voice suddenly called out in front of Keeno and Soo-yun. Keeno looked up and was amazed to see Katharina running towards them.

"Kathy!" Keeno shouted. "Are you alright? Wasn't there any problems with..." Then he saw that she was running quite slowly, as if... yes, she was carrying something. Behind her was another Master Quest trainer, Stephany, and... Shun! Unconscious!

"By the mane of Arceus!" Keeno yelled. "What has happened?"

Kathy and Stephanie were soon towards him and Soo-yun. "Fraulein...Herr Keeno, z'ere is an important matter I wish to discuss with both of you!"

"Me too! I need to kno-"

"But, I must apologize; Herr Shun must be treated first, so we are on our way towards the Pokemon center."

And with that, the three of them were gone, Shun hanging lifelessly between the girls. Keeno blinked and then looked at Soo-yun. Then sense came back into him.

"Uh, they are obviously out of harms way! But something must have happened, since the whole hike team didn't come back. Tyreene didn't come back, hmm..." He thought for a second. "Soo-yun, if you go to the pokémon center and see if the others are really ok, I'll go back to the gym and talk to Hakon. Deal?"

 

[Otherworld9)]

Everything was not so boring after all, yet not as useful as the Unova Pokedex. Placing the machine on her bag, she stood up and couldn't help but walk over to Anthony. She was quite bored, and curious as to who he was texting to. Despite her curiosity, she decided not to peek and simply glanced at him. Pawniard walked over to him as well, stading beside Stephany.

"Hey...um...so are you tired?" she asked. 'What kind of introduction was that?!' she scolded herself, closing her eyes and straightening herself out. "I mean...sorry for suddenly leaving you and sitting on the sofa. I was just too tired and went to take a nap," she apologized. She noticed he wa smore focused on the text, probably somebody important. Hoothoot was silently sleeping on her head, somehow able to manage not to fall off.

 

[Neptune Vasilias]

"Hello there, who might you be? Entering my gym just like that," he asked with a playful wink from his eye at her.

Startled by the man talking as Janice still had her eyes on the people outside, she swiftly turned to face him, "Oh…uhh…I came to challenge the gym leader. I'm from the Master Quest. Did I come at the wrong time? I think I'm the last Trainer to arrive in Pewter because I set off from Pallet Town rather late." Janice's eyes slid down to the floor in slight embarrassment.

Chuckling warmly, Hakon replied, "Well the gym leader may or may not be around because he was supposed to go on a hike but in the end, he couldn't. But, I know the leader very well as a close friend so you can still count it as the gym battle."

Her eyes popped out of their sockets, as she stuttered in her reply, "Y-you're going t-to battle me? In the p-place of the gym l-l-leader?!?"
The man looked thoughtful for a moment before answering with a cheeky grin, "Well, there aren't any rules for that matter besides Hakon's my best friend and I'm just doing him a favour. Err, Miss…, do you have a problem with that?"
"Janice Glayvansien from Snowpoint City. And, um, no I have no problems. I was just…curiously surprised."
"Very well then, shall we start?"

Hakon beckoned for the referee to cordially start the gym battle.

"Each side uses two Pokemon each. Once a Pokemon is switched out, it cannot be switched back in again. This battle is between Janice from Snowpoint and Hakon from Pewter. Let the battle begin!"

Hakon tossed a Pokeball and a rock snake materialized in front of him. Janice carried Ariadne out of her bag and whispered, "Let's win this, Ariadne." She set the spider down onto the arena and the battle immediately started.

"Hakon, Onix use our gym tactic. Screech, Harden then Bind!"
"Ariadne, String Shot to slow him down and then keep using Night Shade!"

Being smaller and agile on her feet, Ariadne aimed her spinneret towards the Onix and launched several sticky threads that wrapped around the snake. The Onix countered with a sudden blast of screeching sound that startled Ariadne. Her focus was lost for a few moments and the Onix took the chance to toughen up its defenses. The Spinarak managed to snap out of her astonishment and started to fire consecutive attacks. Beam after beam, streaks of black energy burst and sizzled as they came into contact with the rock snake's hard skin. The Onix grunted at all the quick incoming attacks and rumbled forward.

Janice yelled at the spider to dodge the advancing serpent, and Ariadne sidestepped the Onix's tail which tried to curl around her. The critter squeezed out from under the Onix's body and returned to firing dark beams of energy at the snake's face. It bellowed from the burning pain of the Night Shade attacks and slammed its tail on the spider in annoyance. The hit stunned Ariadne, putting her into a daze and the Onix began to constrict her tightly. The feeling of being suffocated set her back to reality as the Spinarak squirmed to be released. Then a mischievous smile flickered across her face as she chirped to catch the Onix's attention. The moment the Onix turned to stare down at her, Ariadne made a horrible-looking face with her body markings and that produced a high-pitched shriek from the giant snake.

"Spinarak, spin spinar!" <Easily scared, you are!> The Bug-type twittered to the Onix. The hold around her soften a tad and she instantly hopped out of reach. Irritated, the Onix uncurled itself and pursued after her as Ariadne scurried along the arena. Hakon smirked at how the battle was playing out to be. He noted that the Spinarak was rather comical indeed.

"Onix, go on the offense. The best defense is a good offense." He winked at Janice at the last part.
"Ariadne, get onto the Onix's body and then leech the life out of him."

The spider received the calm command from her mistress and set about her plan. Launching thread up towards the ceiling, Ariadne waved as she traveled up her line of string into mid-air. Suspending herself above the Onix, she detached the thread and landed roughly against the back of the rock snake. The Onix growled in annoyance and tried to shake her off. However the Spinarak did not plan to be removed so easily and sink her thorn-like teeth into the Onix's flesh. She sucked the energy out of the Onix, feeling quite rejuvenated.

In a bid to get the critter off, the Onix thumped its tail against the ground and sent chunks of rocks flying into the air. The rock snake deliberately put himself to receive the brunt of those rocks. Failing to notice the rocks pelting down, Ariadne was stunned by a rock landing square on her back. Her grip on the Onix was released as she rolled off the snake. The Onix let out a grunt before its head crashed onto the floor, eyes blanked out. Janice called for her Pokemon but Ariadne made neither sound nor movement. The referee scrutinized both Pokemon and declared them out of the battle.

Both sides returned their Pokemon in flashes of red light. Hakon smiled as he placed Onix's ball back to its spot around his waist. Motioning to the Geodude floating a few feet away from him, the Geodude moved into the arena on cue. Janice gave a few consoling words to the fainted spider in her PokeBall before choosing Dylan for the next phase.

Hakon, on seeing the exotic Water-type Pokemon, nodded and remarked, "Wise choice but my Geodude is quite different than others. You'll very soon find that out."
"Dylan, Aqua Jet!" Janice ordered.
"No pressure, Geodude, just Magnitude," said Hakon calmly, not looking the least bothered that he was at a type disadvantage.

The sea weasel shot forward in a rushing swirl of water and barreled into the levitating rock. The Goedude recovered from the hit astoundingly fast and slammed its two fists onto the ground. It created a ground-shaking quake that caused the Floatzel to wobble and fall flat on his back. Then, very swiftly, the Geodude punched the ground and sent the rocks flying towards Dylan. Barking in pain, the weasel was pelted by stones and pebbles. He retaliated by dashing towards the Geodude and clamping fangs of frost on its coarse body. The ice created cracks over the Geodude and its face scrunched up, wincing.

"Aqua Jet again!" Janice directed, as Dylan dealt another soaking tackle to the Rock Pokemon.

Planning to wrap this battle up, Janice ordered Dylan to use Water Gun. The Floatzel inhaled deeply before pumping a stream of water towards the Geodude. Much to Janice's surprise and amazement, it dodged the move right at the last minute. Then, it moved around the arena in a blur, evading all of Dylan's steady jets of water.

"Chase after it! Aqua Jet and don't let it dodge!" Janice yelled, getting a little frustrated at the sudden turn of events. Dylan started to break out in a sprint, before his body was cloaked in water. Utilizing his tails with added propulsion, the Floatzel was hot on the Geodude's heels, or in this case, rocky rear.

Lunging forward each time to gain speed and reduce the distance between the Geodude and him, Dylan decided to launch liquid streams at the Rock Pokemon. Glancing behind, the Geodude deftly sidestepped the incoming stream of water. Some of the Water Gun managed to drip on him, causing him to fumble for a split second. Dylan immediately caught up, not before Hakon instructed a Rock Polish. The race intensified as Janice called her own Agility.

Matching each other pace to pace, both Pokemon traded moves with each other. Parrying a Rock Throw with a Water Gun, Dylan tried to get his teeth near the Geodude. Aiming to throw his pursuant off-course, the Geodude slammed the ground to create another quake. The Floatzel avoided the ground-based move by leaping up into the air and rushing towards the Geodude.

In order to execute the move, Hakon's Geodude had to slow down several notches and that proved to be a grave mistake in this battle. Dylan immediately had his icy fangs breaking deep into the Geodude's body. The Geodude flailed his fists at the Floatzel, trying to beat him into letting him go. Doing exactly as what he did to Ariadne the first time, he hurled the rock Pokemon into the air. As the Geodude headed towards the ground, Dylan blasted a spiraling jet of water at the Geodude.

"Geodude is unable to battle. Janice from Snowpoint wins!"

Janice breathed a sigh of relief as she patted her Floatzel on the back. Dylan whimpered and went back inside his ball. Then, she contemplated for a moment before confronting the referee. She asked, "Is it really considered an official gym battle? I find it weird that Hakon could allow his friend to fight in place of him. It is rather unorthodox."

The referee took the girl's words very surprised at first, before something concluded in his mind that he broke out chuckling. Motioning to Hakon, the referee spoke in her ear, "That man you just battled, no matter what he claims, he is Hakon himself. Although you were very lucky today because he was supposed to be on a hike you see, bringing along Master Quest trainers. Instead he felt ill at the last minute so the hike went on without him. I see that he must've played a prank on you."

Janice left the referee's side and walked over to Hakon.
"Why did you lie?" She curiously eyed him.
"Eh, what did you say, girl?" Hakon was rather taken aback by this sudden confrontation. "Oh, who told you, eh? Well I just thought I had some fun since you were a Master Quest trainer and watch how you reacted to the whole thing. Heheh, no hard feelings eh? You still beat me fair and square."

Hakon patted her shoulder and grinned. Janice politely smiled back. Why, no wonder…He still has an insanely fast Geodude.

Then the gym leader spoke, his hands fumbling in his pockets, "Here, before I forget, you deserve this badge. This is to show that you've defeated me. Now run along and good luck in your Master Quest."

 

[moon]

Keeno Kabess entered the gym and found Hakon and a trainer in the arena. He saw that a battle had just taken place here and he heard the referee say: "... you were very lucky today because he was supposed to be on a hike you see, bringing along Master Quest trainers. Instead he felt ill at the last minute so the hike went on without him. I see that he must've played a prank on you."

Keeno blinked. Another Master Quest trainer? Professor Oak must have sent some new trainers late, without telling him. He couldn't help feeling a bit out of the loop.

"Here, before I forget, you deserve this badge. This is to show that you've defeated me. Now run along and good luck in your Master Quest," Hakon said to the trainer, looking as proud and cheerful as ever, even though he had just lost a battle.

Keeno shook his head and walked up to them. "Miss Master Quest trainer," he said and bowed quickly. "I'm Keeno Kabess, professor Oak's assistant. Nice to meet you."

Then he turned serious to Hakon. "My suspicions were correct, sir! Three Master Quest trainers just came down the mountain, two of them carrying the third! They were ambushed..." His face turned real dark, "by Team Shiro."

Hakon leaned his head to the side. "Really? What about Tyreene?"

"I don't know. But the trainers went to the pokémon center, I want to go there and see if they are alright. Can you please call the police in the meantime? The trainers are apparently in danger! I will call professor Oak about this as well..."

Hakon nodded. "I will talk to the police right away, but still... I find it strange. Poor Tyreene."

Neither he nor Keeno had any idea of what had really happened in the mountains. As Hakon left the arena, the referee and the other trainers in the gym hurrying after him to hear about what was going on, Keeno glanced at Janice and realized that he could have just scared her now.

"I'm sorry for all this mess," he told her. "If you want to meet the other trainers on Master Quest, you should better come along to the pokémon center. See you there!"

And with that, Keeno left the gym.

- - -

When he entered the pokémon center, he saw several trainers there. Shun looked hurt still, laying on a couch. Stephany and Anthony were talking, looking tired, and Kathy was there as well. He looked around trying to spot Soo-yun; she should have reached the pokémon center before him.

He walked up to the counter, where a nurse already glanced worriedly at the injured boy on the couch. "Hello," Keeno said. "Is there anything you can do for the boy over there? Treat him and make sure that he is alright?"

"Of course!" the nurse said, as if she had been waiting for somebody to ask. She called for a couple of Chanseys, and together they picked Shun up and carried him away to a room with a real bed. Keeno sighed, relieved.


((OOC: Naku, if you don't want that, I can take away the last part. I just thought you said before that you wanted to wake up in a hospital room ^^ ))

 

[Nakuzami]

Shun Yuuto Sorukei
Pewter City Pokemon Center
Broken arm, lost alien
[h2][/h2]

★

​

One second I find myself running in front of a two hundred pound tortoise projectile, and the next I was . . . where was I? Well, of course, the first thing I thought was Am I dead?

"Completely," I heard a voice say.

"Well sadly, no," a second voice chimed.

If I'm not dead, I must be going crazy, I groaned. Or, at least I thought I groaned. Could you groan when speaking in your mind? I think you can, so let's just say that I did.

"Total nutcase," the first voice spoke once more.

"Insanity is not out of the question," came the second voice.

Well then, I think I'm going to wake up now.

"Good riddance."

"Good luck, I expect to see you again."

I opened my eyes and saw Gaia staring down at me. The first thing I felt was that I was laying on something soft, and I figured that it must have been a good thing that it hadn't been pain to be the first thing that I registered.

"I see that you're finally awake," I turned my head to see a blue-haired woman standing acrossed the room. "I'm Nurse April," she introduced herself.

I shifted my arm, and immediately a surge of pain coursed through me. "And I'm in pain," I stated dumbly.

The nurse gave a small giggle. "Well yes, I would assume so. Getting blasted thirty feet into the air and breaking an arm normally doesn't feel like rainbows and roses."

I sat there for a moment, not understanding what she had said until a minute later. "Thirty feet? Broken arm?" Apparently that Carracosta had one powerful Waterfall attack. I guess it was a good thing that I hadn't landed on my head.

"Yes," the nurse mused. "You're lucky that a broken arm was the extent of your injuries. It could have been much worse."

"Thanks for the reassurance," I pushed myself into a sitting position and looked around the room. I remembered that we were attacked . . . by Team Shiro? Wasn't quite sure that I could match that name with anything, but something - perhaps my broken arm - gave me a feeling that they weren't good news.

As I glanced at my Pokemon, something dawned on me. "Where's my Elgyem?" I asked blankly, although panic was beginning to boil inside of me.

"Elgyem?" the nurse questioned. "These are the only Pokemon that were with you. I guess some of your friends had to go and retrieve them from the mountains after they brought you here. They only brought these two, though," she motioned towards Akiko and Gaia. "But you had a third Pokeball still on your belt," she grabbed a Pokeball off of a stand and handed it to me. I instantly knew that it was Egil, as there was no one else that it could be; Roswell did not have a Pokeball.

I sighed. "May I leave?"

"No. Not yet anyways," the nurse sifted through some papers. "But . . . once the doctor comes in and has a look at you, you should be able to leave."

*****​

A few hours later I was leaving the Pokemon Center, my arm in a cast and Roswell still missing. "This . . . is not good."

"Lith," Gaia grunted next to me. Akiko and Egil were in their respective Pokeballs on my belt, and the only thing on my mind was my missing Elgyem. No doubt the other Master Quest Trainers were off doing who knows what, enjoying themselves while I actually had something to worry about. Well screw them.

"Where do you think he is?" I asked Gaia. He simply frowned and snorted a bit. He wasn't taking this any better than me.

"Tret?" I stopped and looked down. Standing in front of me was a Sentret, which was staring at me with wide eyes. "Sen," it ran up my good arm and sniffed me for a moment, before it went over to my bag and continued to investigate.

"Wait a second . . . aren't you," I blinked a few times as I examined the little brown Pokemon. "Aren't you the Sentret I saw way back on Route 1?" The Sentret continued sniffing my bag, and in response I pulled out an Oran Berry. The Sentret cheered as it snatched the berry away from me, devouring it in two bites.

"Sentret!" The Pokemon leaped off of me and circled me a few times, before it started to run off. After a few seconds, it stopped and looked back at me.

"Does it want us to follow it?" I asked Gaia as I stared at the Sentret.

"Galith," Gaia nodded as he began to walk towards the Sentret. A second later he lifted his leg and pushed me onto his back, and we began to follow the Sentret.

It lead us out of town and it started up the path that we had taken for the hike, but after a while it changed course and headed into a small patch of forest. I hopped off of Gaia and ran ahead of the Sentret, scanning the area as I did so. It only took me a moment to notice a small shelter constructed of branches and grass. I ran over to it and was immediately confronted by a wild Happiny. It glared at me menacingly, until the Sentret came over and began to speak to it. After a moment it appeared to calm down, before it grabbed my hand and led me to the shelter.

The shelter was way too small for me to get inside, but once I moved the little doorway to the side I found Roswell. He was still unconscious, but thanks to the Happinny he was okay. I scooped him up, thanked the Happiny and walked back over to Gaia. I threw the Sentret another Oran Berry and we headed back down to Pewter City.

*****​

Once we were back in Pewter, I headed back to the Pokemon Center and got Roswell fixed up. As soon as he opened his eyes he leaped into the air and gave me a tiny hug.

"Good to see you too," I laughed as I pushed the Elgyem off of me. "Now, feel up to a gym battle?"

"Yem!!"
​

 

[moon]

What to do now?​

If you went on the hike: Hakon has talked to the police so they will come to the pokémon center to look for Master Quest trainers. Keeno will help them identify Stephany, Kathy and Shun, and these three will be questioned briefly about the identity and behavior of the suspected shironians as well about what really happened up there. You can write about it rather briefly, and don't bunny Keeno more than necessarily... if at all.

After this, you are free to challenge the gym, visit the museum, go back up into the mountain range or make up your own adventures. Or move on towards route 3 (which will be up shortly).

If you weren't on the hike: You don't need to care about the police, even if you might see them talk to other trainers. Keeno will tell them that you weren't there. You are free to challenge the gym, visit the museum, travel out to the mountain range or make up your own adventures. Or move on towards route 3. (which will be up shortly)

All players: You will receive a call on your pokédex from professor Oak. Keep if brief unless you feel you can handle his personality well. He might chitchat, but basically he will tell you to not worry too much about Team Shiro as he believes them to be more words than action. Even if you argue against it, he will (annoyingly enough) be standfast at that and encourage you to continue your Master Quest.

Hakon is back at the gym now. He can only take on one challenger at a time so if you see another player's gym battle post when you are about to post yours, make yours fit in after the last one. Hakon needs some time to heal his pokémon between battles!

 

[moon]

((OOC: Not sure how I can get you to post... but I'll tempt you with the next, fairly simple, route for when you're finished in Pewter.

If you don't care about this RP anymore, please say so. ))

What to do when you reach route 3?​

Route 3 is a mountainside route which runs along the north of Kanto, connecting Pewter City to Mt. Moon. The landscape is like in the place you were "hiking". At the end of the route is a Pokémon Centre by the entrance to Mt. Moon. It's been built to facilitate the difficult journey through the mountain.

There is a lot of tall grass on this route, where snakes and Nidoran evolutions dwell. There are also rumors about small, singing pokémon on the mountainside, who tries to lure trainers away and make them fall off cliffs... stay sharp!

There are also a lot of trainers, on their way from Pewter or Cerulean or simply wanting to explore Mount Moon.

Pokémon found on route 3:

Their evolutions may NOT be seen or battled (unless an NPC you create has them).


You may go to Route 3 immediately after you've talked to the police and professor Oak, OR after you've battled Hakon. Of course, you may skip battling Hakon... but if you want to collect all the gym badges, you'll have to come back later to beat him.

 

[Nakuzami]

Shun Yuuto Sorukei
Pewter City > Route 3
Greed doesn't play fair

★

​

Just as I was about to exit the Pokémon Center, the police came. At first I thought nothing of it, until they started talking to Keeno and he singled Kathy, Stephany and I out. That was . . . an annoying inconvenience, to say the least. I endured most of their questions, and they eventually gave up when I said that I had been unconscious for half of it. That must have sounded heroic: the only boy in the group, and the only one with a stage two Pokémon, gets knocked unconscious, forcing the crazy scientist girl and the . . . other girl (I would have to come up with a name for Stephany later, other than freak) to carry me back to the Pokémon Center.

Shortly after, I got a call from Professor Oak on my Pokédex. The na ve old loon actually told me that the Shironians were more talk than action. I had simply said "More talk than action . . . right," not wanting to argue with him, and I had a feeling that even if I had, it would have been to no avail. After I hung up the Pokédex, I muttered "Tell that to my broken arm."

I glanced at the Pokémon Gym in the distance, before turning to Roswell. "Actually, I'm not up for a gym battle just yet. Sorry, I think we can skip the Pewter gym for now." Roswell looked slightly disappointed, but he didn't object.

I turned and headed towards Route 3, Roswell floating beside me.

*****​

Fortuna must not have been happy today, or perhaps Nemesis had a bone to pick with me, because as soon as I stepped onto Route 3, things went downhill. I was a total misfortune magnet today.

The moment that my foot crossed the threshold that separated Pewter City from Route 3, there was a flash of blue and purple and my music was suddenly quiet. Standing a few feet in front of me was a Nidorina and Nidorino, and the Nidorino held my headphones in its teeth. It was a good thing that the headphones didn't have any chords or anything, or else they probably would have been shredded in the events that followed.

"Hey, I was listening to Katy Perry!" As soon as that came out of my mouth, I realized how lame that sounded. I swear, I was not a major fan of Katy Perry, but I had just happened to be listening to Firework at that moment. I glanced at Roswell. "Don't you dare laugh. I will kill you. Seriously."

"Eeeell~!" Roswell teased.

"Oh, shut up. Just help me get my headphones back, now." I grabbed Akiko's Pokéball and tossed it into the air, causing the little mouse Pokémon to appear in a flash of white light. "Roswell, use Psybeam. Akiko, Thundershock."

Roswell's eyes and hands began to glow as Akiko ran in towards the Nidorina. Just as Akiko jumped onto the Nidorina's back, Roswell loosed a blast of psychic energy towards the Nidorino. The Nidorino flew backwards, still clutching my headphones, but managed to flip in the air and slide to a halt on its feet. At the same moment, Akiko loosed a blast of electricity that enveloped the Nidorina, causing it to cry out as it tried to through Akiko off its back.

"Reeno!!" The Nidorino yelled as it launched itself towards Akiko and the Nidorina. Surprisingly, it managed to hit Akiko with a Double Kick, knocking her off of the Nidorina, without even grazing the Nidorina. Akiko was forced back a few yards, but she mimicked the Nidorino by doing the flip-thing and landing on her feet.

Both the Nidorina and Nidorino charged with Poison Sting, and as I issued a few more commands, I tossed another Pokéball into the air. Gaia materialized in front of the poison pin Pokémon, easily enduring their attacks. The Pokémon backed off and the Nidorino glared at me. "Hey, I never said that I would play fair." I countered.

Roswell launched another Psybeam while Akiko paralyzed the Nidorino with a Thunder Wave. Gaia slammed the Nidorina into a boulder with Headbutt, shattering the boulder and causing shards of rock to bury the Nidorina.

"Now, combine Thundershock, Psybeam, and Power Shard to finish the Nidorina." In a moment, there was a flash of white, yellow, and purple as the three attacks combined, sailing straight towards the entombed Nidorina. The mini mushroom cloud that was created seemed to come a bit early for what I had been expecting, and once it cleared I noticed that the Nidorino was standing in front of the buried Nidorina. Well, perhaps standing isn't the right word, because after about five seconds of trying to remain on its feet, it collapsed.

I decided to quote Greed for a moment. "So you're one of those people, huh? The kind that doesn't care if you get the crap beat out of you, but once somebody threatens a family member, you freak out." And, staying true to character, I decided to toss an empty Pokéball at the Nidorino. As the Nidorino disappeared in a flash of scarlet light and the Pokéball began to shake, I walked over and picked up my headphones.
​

 

[moon]

Dyce Kross
Pewter City

Dyce was late. It wasn't his fault... well, maybe it was. He hadn't had enough money to catch a boat from Sinnoh to Kanto on time, so he'd had to battle and win several fights to earn enough money. Then he arrived in Pallet Town and hurried to the laboratory. The professor was glad that he had come, but admitted that the other trainers would be way before him now. Dyce had gritted his teeth but not said anything nasty. He knew to be polite towards people that he needed to like him. Like famous pokémon professors, for instance.

After finally setting off, he had been traveling to Viridian City, challenging anyone he saw on the way. He won his first battle in Kanto, but then he lost two battles in a row. Against youngsters! Dyce was really angry for a whole day, but Milo and Rica trained hard against wild pokémon to get used to how they battled in Kanto, and they tried to calm their passionate trainer down a few notches. It worked, and Dyce won another battle before he reached Viridian. There, he heard that the other Master Quest trainers were long gone, and swore to go through Viridian forest quickly. He wondered if he should capture some Kanto pokémon, but he wanted to catch up with the others at the same time. When he could actually spot Pewter City in the distance, he saw some wild Pikachu, and decided that he'd better build a team in Kanto as well, if he was to win this competition. So after a battle between a sparkling mouse and a swift Rica, a male Pikachu was caught. Dyce named him Pasco.

When he reached Pewter City, he had walked straight to the pokémon center to heal his pokémon, and learned that he was only a day behind his competitors and that they had been involved with something extraordinary on a hike in the mountains yesterday. Dyce didn't have to ask around to get to know more about it. He picked up a free newspaper when his pokémon was getting healed up, and read that the trainers had been attacked by an organisation called Team Shiro. Apparently their goal was to separate trainers from their pokémon and liberate all pokémon. Huh. Stupid people. Humans were weak and clumsy on their own, they needed pokémon. Didn't they see that?

It was in the middle of the day, so Dyce thought about challenging the gym he had seen in this town. There had been one in Viridian City, but the gym leader was still missing after a week, so he couldn't really win a badge there. There was a museum in the city but it didn't really have anything to do with Dyce's interests - winning battles - so he wouldn't visit it.

His pokémon were now fully healed, so he took back his three pokéballs from the lady behind the counter and sat down in a sofa in the pokémon center, taking forth the pokédex he had gotten from professor Oak. It was a dark blue color. He thought he'd better read up on Pasco's moves and abilities, to figure out how to best train and use him in battles.



((OOC: There's the introduction post for my character, Dyce Kross :3 I was thinking of playing him all the way from Pallet Town, but that would really be a bit unnecessary. ))

 

[Miss Doronjo]

During the day prior to the Team Shiro incident was a busy day for Kathy. Kathy was speaking with police officers, about the day on where Team Shrio ambushed her and her fellow Master Quest trainers. She also had a word with professor Oak. She can remember the time on where Professor Oak told her to watch out for Team Shiro; they were after her and the other Master Quest trainers. That was when Kathy knew that she had to become a better trainer.

Gym leader Hakon hadn't slept well this night. He was worried, something he almost never was. When he walked down the stairs inside the gym, some trainers were already up and sparring on the arena. When they saw him, they fell still and glanced at each other. They had heard about Tyreene's betrayal. It probably took Hakon hard; he would never have believed her capable to something like that. Even if all the other gym regulars thought she had always been a bit creepy.

"Good morning," Hakon said to them when he reached them, sounding pretty cheerful even though his sad smile didn't look it. "Had a nice big breakfast?"

"Always!" the trainers said and continued their sparring.

Hakon looked at the scheme for the day, which was located in the entrance hall just one door away from the rocky arena. No trainer had called to book a match, but since he knew that the Master Quest trainers were still i town, he would probably be challenged pretty soon. "Ready for a rough day, Geo?" he asked his loyal partner, soaring behind him.

"Geo," it simply said, also looking unusually cheerful. Maybe it was happy about being right about Tyreene.

Meanwhile at the pokemon center, after talking with the police about the Team Shiro incident, Katharina was finally prepared for a gym battle. She was busy completing quantifying facilities, and the basic fundamental physics of rock pokemon. Strong as they were, they could wear out easily by water. So, she decided that for her first gym battle, she would use Anorith's Water Gun. The next pokemon, it couldn't of been Pidgeotto, on account of it was still worn out by Amber's Magmar's Confuse Ray, and besides, flying pokemon won't perform that well against rock pokemon anyways. So, she decided to also use Lileep. The order of these pokemon would have to come by as she was battling. Kathy had her lean white lab coat on, as she always did, along with her pink goggles sitting on top of her forehead. She was ready to go.

Upon setting foot outside, she stretched out her arms, and steadily and carefully looked almost toward the sun. It was a beautiful day for a gym battle...scientifically speaking, that is. It was soon as she was strolling outside that she saw a familiar building -- it was the Pewter City gym. Kathy put on her goggles as she approached the building, and went inside the front door.

The architecture of the gym wasn't like the gyms back at Hoenn; perhaps because this was Kanto and things run by much differently. This bared no ill to Kathy however, as she looked around inside.

Soon, she saw a familiar face; it was Hakon, with his Geodude. Kathy smiled as she approached him. "Ah, Herr Hakon! Good Morning to you!" Kathy greeted, as she then turned towards his geodude. "And a extra good morning to you too, Herr Geodude! Being formed from three quarters of the rock's surface must be such a delight for you! OHHH I AM SO JEALOUS! I have often wondered what it was like to be made out of rock...I wonder, if I was, should I be eating other rocks? Or...would that be considered cannibalism...Perhaps I'll be jealous of those snooty diamond types? CURSE THEM. Hm...I suppose I will never know!"

Kathy then chuckled soflty, as she lowered her tone. "Well Herr Hakon, allow me to finally get to my point," Kathy started. "As a fellow scientist, I am sure you must understand my proposal: I have come to challenge you to a gym battle! Scienifically peaking, that is!"

Hakon smiled; it had come even sooner than he expected. "Hello... miss Kathy is it? I accept your challenge without further ado! I'm already ready," he said. "Please follow me out onto the arena, when you feel ready as well."

He walked back into the largest room in the gym and made sure that the trainers went out of the way, getting off the rocky ground that made up the arena. He wondered what pokémon a peculiar person like Katharina would use to battle him. She should know that he had rock types, and Geodude. But not much more, right? He knew nothing at all about her. That was one of the exciting things about being a gym leader, always getting different challenges. Hakon had not lost a match for quite a while now, to the dismay of many young trainers, even if he was one of those gym leaders who sometimes pitied really good challengers who were very close to winning... and had been known to give them a badge anyways. He simply hadn't had any good challengers for a while. But Master Quest trainers... were they different?

He took his place on the far side of the arena and the female trainer who was appointed judge took her place at the middle one of the long sides.

Katharina did the same, as she took her place at the opposite side of gym leader Hakon. Now, this isn't Katharina's first gym battle, however, a feeling of nervousness and excitement sill came over her, since this would be her first gym battle in Kanto. She peered over towards the female judge, as she was signalling for the match to begin, and for Katharina to send out her first pokemon. Katharina then got out one of her pokemon.

"Do not think I shall yield so easily!" Kathy warned, as she threw her pokeball. The pokeball opened, as the released energy materialized into her proud, dopey Lileep.

"...Leep?" Lileep blinked as it was brought out to the open.

"Be prepared, Herr Lileep!" Kathy signaled. "I doubt we shall be winning this match easily."

Hakon widened his eyes. "Lileep, huh? If I'm not mistaken, that's a rock pokémon! I've read about it, see. So I know they are really slow... it should even be slower than my slow pokémon." Smiling, he held out a pokéball and called out his first choice. "Sudowoodo!"

Out from the pokéball came a creature that looked like an upright wooden log, with berries or something as hands. But knowing Hakon, it must be a rock type. "Suudooo!" the pokémon said, looking fresh and pumped up, smiling challenging.

"Go ahead and call the first move, challenger," Hakon said happily.

"I would not underestimate my Lileep!" Kathy warned as she was prepared for an order. "Now, Herr Lileep, let us begin with an Acid attack, post haste!"

"...Leep?" Lileep blinked, not doing anything. Kathy was concerned.

"Um...what is the matter, Herr Lileep?" Kathy questioned. "Do not tell me you have forgotten how to perform an acid attack?"

"...Leep." Lileep cried gently. Kathy sighed.

"It is simple..." Kathy began. "You would normally shoot a liquid compound from your base, onto our meddlesome foe here. In this case, a rock tree like pokemon. Understood?"

"Leep!" Lileep cried happily, understanding at last.

"Okay!" Kathy said. "Now, let us see your Acid attack!"

"Leeeeep!" Lileep cried, as it began to shoot out its green Acid attack, towards the enemy Sudowoodo.

Hakon clenched his fists as he saw the Acid hit Sudowoodo. The rock pokémon shivered, feeling the prickling on its skin, but shook the acid off and rolled in the dirt on the floor to further rub it off. Then it stood up, as eager as before.

"Clever start, to melt down your foe's defenses with an acid attack. But rock types are rather durable against that!" Hakon smiled, knocking on his head in some sort of motion to show... thickness? "However, Lileep isn't just a rock, it's also grass type... am I right? So the attack should be more effective on that! Sudowoodo, your special move: Copycat!"

Sudowoodo conjured some sort of energy in front of it, with its hands, and all of a sudden, the energy rammed into Sudowoodo itself, and out from its mouth came a copy of Lileep's Acid attack! The ray wasn't quite as thick as Lileep's though, but it traveled through the air at the same speed.

"Hm, I talk too much," Hakon laughed, scratching his head. "Copycat needs to be used instantly after the opponent's attack, or else it will lose some power."

The copied Acid attack easily came on contact to Kathy's Lileep, as it shrieked in pain. It then desperately tried to shake out the menacing sting from the Acid as Kathy looked on.

"A-an energy that is able to copy a move?!" Kathy pondered in shock. "HOW SCIENTIFIC!! Ah, but, there is no time to be impressed, I'm afraid...Herr Lileep, can you go on?"

"...Leep..." Lileep softly cried, as it tried to recover.

"Very well then, Herr Lileep, use your Constrict to bind it, then, draw it in close for a Confuse Ray attack, understood?"

"Leep!" Lileep responded, as it carefully stretched out its wriggling pink tentacles, as it was prepared to entangle the foe's Sudowoodo, who was too slow to avoid the tentacles.

"Sudowoodo!" Hakon cried out when his pokémon got Constricted. It couldn't move much now. "A splendid tactic against a physically attacking pokémon..." Hakon commented. "Sudowoodo, Flail! Try to shake them off and not stand still!"

The rock type started wriggling in the tentacles, doing its best to move and not remain still.

Lileep was squirming left, and right, trying to keep itself sturdy from Sudowoodo's Flail attack, but, it was proved to be difficult as it was starting to tip more and more.

"A tactic that is not a problem for science, I am afraid to say!" Kathy said. "Herr Lileep! Use Ingrain! Use your roots to properly sturdy yourself in the ground!"

So Lileep used the roots it was supported, and managed to bury them through the gym floor, as they spread out underground, holding Lileep more in place.The downside was that they could not move. So, Kathy had to act before Hakon and Sudowoodo could counter attack.

"Use Acid!' Kathy ordered, as the sturdy Lileep released the familiar spray of green Acid to try and come in contact with Sudowoodo.

Being Constricted, Sudowoodo was an easy prey for the Acid this time, and got hit. Once again it didn't damage it severely due to its resistance, but it was apparent that the rock pokémon was hurt from it. The tentacles that restrained Sudowoodo also got their share of Acid though, and Sudowoodo was able to wriggle itself loose at last.

"Playing swiftly, are we?" Hakon said, not losing his temper nor his focus. "Sudowoodo, Faint Attack!"

The rock type took a deep breath and it was as if it's image became blurry for a moment. One blink of an eye later, it reappeared just behind Lileep, throwing the sucker punch that presumably would hit without fail.

Lileep was knocked at the side of its temple, as it was dazed for a brief second. It tried to recover by shaking its temple.

"A blow such as that is not very just...Let us use Confuse Ray while they are at this range, Herr Lileep! Post haste!"

"L...Leep!" Lileep cried, finally recovered. It quickly turned to the Sudowoodo, as its eyes lit up, attempting to release a powerful beam that causes confusion.

Sudowoodo, grinning contentedly with its success, had no chance of evading the Confuse Ray. The beam hit from close range and made Sudowoodo's mind swirl. It wriggled like a tree in the wind and then seemed to be performing a blind Flail attack, not looking where it aimed.

"Stop that, Sudowoodo!" Hakon commanded. "Pull yourself together and use Faint Attack again!"

Sudowoodo closed its eyes, seemingly focusing. Then its image became blurred again, and it reappeared right behind Lileep, readying the punch... that hit its own face! Surprised by its own punch, the rock pokémon stumbled to the right, to the left... before it finally fell over, fainted.

"Sudowoodo can't battle any longer. The gym leader must send out a new pokémon," the referee said.

Hakon smiled weakly. "Well, you were really good," he told his pokémon, sending it back into the pokéball. "You haven't had that many battles behind you at all, so don't feel bad about losing."

"Now," he began again, turning to Katharina. "That was the warm up. I'll show you something completely different now. Geo?"

His trusted Geodude floated forth to the battlefield, looking grim.

"Hm...I see...this Geodude is not like others I have seen before..." Kathy observed. "Lileep, prepare for another battle!"

"Leep?" Lileep staggeringly cried.

"Let us start out with our best strategy! A Constrict, post haste!"

"Leep!" Lileep obeyed, as it stretched out its tentacles to try and grab hold of the geodude.

Geo simply watched as the tentacles grabbed both of its arms, trying to keep them still and apart.

"Geo, Magnitude," Hakon said, not smiling, but not looking very bothered either. His pokémon fixed its gloomy eyes on Lileep and then shot down towards the floor beneath it. The Constrict couldn't keep it afloat with force. Geodude hit the ground with massive power and sent a Magnitude shockwave moving towards Lileep, throwing up pieces of dirt and rocks from the ground as it moved.

The ground shook as Lileep received the full force of the attack. Kathy could only watch as Lileep was ingrained to the ground, unable to evade. Then, when the quake subsided, Lileep fell to the ground, and stopped moving. It had fainted.

"Lileep is unable to battle!" the judge stated. "Geodude wins!"

Kathy grunted as she returned Lilleep to his pokeball. "That was most great of you," Kathy whispered, as she put away Lileep's pokeball in her bag. She then too kout another pokeball; and released it in the air. "Anorith! Science waits for no pokemon -- let us battle together!"

"Anorith!" Her anorith cried, as she was sent out from her pokeball. It clamped its pincers together, preparing for a battle with Hakon's Geodude. It wasn't going to be easy. "Anorith..."

"Come Anorith!" Kathy beamed. "Let us begin with a Water Gun attack!"

Anorith obeyed, as it shot out a stream of water from the opening from its pincers. Geodude didn't wait for an order, it just shot away, evading the Water Gun without much trouble. Then it started polishing itself again. Sunlight from the windows high up near the ceiling was reflected in the Geodude's rock hard skin, that more and more started to gleam and shine.

Hakon blinked at Katharina. "Geodude is unusually fast to begin with, but using Rock Polish further quickens it. Now, I believe bugs are weak against rock attacks? Geo, use Rock Blast!"

The Geodude picked up rocks from the ground and rapidly launched several in a row towards Anorith with its strong arms.

"Curses!" Kathy squirmed. "Anorith! Counter with Metal Claw!"

"Anorith did as it was told, as its claws glowed a metallic silver, and quickly knocked away the incoming rock blasts from the geodude. However, it was soon pretty tired, and Kathy had to think of another plan.

"Counter with Ancient Power!" she ordered, as her Anorith used some of its power to lift particles rocks up in the air, and, powered with a mysterious glow, they were sent back towards the geodude.

Hakon nodded when Anorith's claws struck the boulders. Clever and swift, he thought. The rocks from Ancientpower came soaring and Geodude didn't manage to evade them in spite of his speed. However, the attack was of the rock type so it didn't damage him much. "Geodude, use Rollout!" Hakon ordered, confident that this attack in combination with Geo's speed would knock Anorith out.

Katharina watched as this could be her chance to try and counter attack...before things got ugly. Geodude was fast, and who knows that if this might work. But, she knew that she had to try it. It had to be perfect. "Use your H2O Gun, Herr Anorith! Make it the perfect one! The perfect, scientific H2O Gun!"

"Anor...ith?" Anorith cried, unaware that H2O was the chemical formula for Water Gun. Kathy sighed.

"H2O means water, Anorith," Kathy explained, as Anorith clamped its pincers, finally understanding Kathy's order. It opened its pincers again, and quickly shot out a jet of pure, powerful water.

Hakon had taken into consideration the confusion that seemed to exist between Katharina and her pokémon sometimes, and hoped that it would occur now as well and give Geodude time to reach Anorith. It did, but the Water gun erupted from Anorith's pincers just at the moment when the rock type made impact with its own attack. The result was that both pokémon tumbled backwards from the Rollout attack, soaked wet.

As the mud and dust cleared, both pokémon were seen lying face down on the ground. Hakon gasped as Anorith slowly got back up to its feet, panting. But Geodude did not. It had fainted, which the referee quickly declared. Hakon smiled and sent Geodude back into its pokéball.

"I would have expected no less from a Master Quest trainer," he said. "It was a truly good match, thank you Katharina!"

Hakon walked up to the girl on the other side of the arena. "You should have this," he said and handed her a badge. The Stone Badge! "And... this as well," he added, handing her a tiny package. "It's a Technical Machine containing the move Stone Edge. Slide the disc into your pokédex to have the 'dex teach a compatible pokémon the move."

Then he looked a bit worried. "There was another Master Quest trainer here earlier who forgot to stay for long enough to get a TM. Would you mind finding Janice Glayvansien for me and hand her this package?" he asked Katharina, handing her another identical package. "She's a Master Quest trainer from Sinnoh."


Kathy nodded as she accepted the badge, the TM, and the second TM for her fellow Master Quest trainer. "I thank you Herr Hakon," she said, curtsying. "And very well, if I must. I will be sure to deliver this post haste. Anyway, I suppose this is where we must say goodbye. Come Fraulein Anorith, let us be off."

"Rith!" her Anorith cried, as she quickly scuttled across the gym, towards where Katharina was walking out of the gym. Then, she suddenly stopped. Anorith was puzzled, as Kathy turned back to Hakon.

"I am very sorry about what happened to mistress Tyreene," Kathy said with a serious tone. "What she is doing is wrong and a disgrace to you...but, be aware that when I see her again, she shall pay for this betrayal."

Hakon's smile faltered for a moment, and he nodded, looking down. "Thank you," he said, as Kathy and her Anorith exited the door.

 

[moon]

Dyce Kross
Pewter City's countryside

Dyce had walked out from the Pokémon center, determined to train hard before entering the gym and challenging the leader. Hakon, was it? What a stupid name. When he found a good enough spot near a field just outside Pewter, he let his pokémon out. Rica stretched her arms and looked vivid. Milo looked as mischievous and ready for trouble as ever. And Pasco... he didn't really seem to know where he was. The little Pikachu looked up at Dyce and blinked. Dyce blinked back.

"I'm your trainer now," he said, straightforwardly. "We'll train and grow strong together. Just look at Milo and Rica." His other pokémon waved at him, nodding. Pasco looked at them and then back to Dyce. Then it shrugged and smiled. "A carefree type, huh?" Dyce said, scratching his head. "I just hope you'll not be as carefree in battles... more like careful. We can probably do something with it."

There was a tree and some bushes close, to where they walked now. The wind was light and the sun shone between some fluffy white clouds up there. "Let's try out your moves," Dyce said, stern faced. Milo and Rica stepped forth and Pasco seemed to wonder what was going on. "To strengthen us, we'll have to spar against each other," Dyce said. "I'd fight too... if you weren't too strong for me. I wouldn't survive your attacks for long."

Pasco seemed to ponder his trainer's words. They were true. Well, as long as the human knew that he was weak, Pasco felt good. Rica stepped up to serve as the pouncing pad.

"Use Growl!" Dyce commanded and Pasco growled angrily at the Riolu. She wasn't much impressed. "Those moves work better on wild pokémon than trained ones, I guess," Dyce said, patting his chin with a finger. "Use Tail Whip as well!"

Pasco knew that move too, and waved his tail in a deceiving manner to catch Rica's attention. Her eyes didn't sway from their gaze on the Pikachu... until after a few seconds.

"Now, use Thundershock!" Dyce said, having been watching Rica's eyes. Pasco wasn't really quick, so Rica regained her focus before the blast came. It struck her right on and hurt a bit, but not too much. She got back up.

"Good," Dyce said. "That will be useful." Pasco smiled in a sort of dumb way. Hm, it wasn't the most intelligent pokémon he'd caught, perhaps. "We'll have to work on your speed."

They kept training for several hours, using Quick Attack to make Pasco realize that he was quick and improving the aim of Thunder Wave that Pasco mostly has used as a distraction in the wild and not so much as an attack that could actually be aimed and induce paralysis. Eventually, both Pasco and Rica were panting, and Dyce relieved Rica from her duty. She thankfully went back into her pokéball, and Milo stepped up instead.

"It's more difficult to hit Milo," Dyce said without expression. "He's an evasive psychic type."

Pasco blinked at Milo, who smiled cleverly back at him. Then Pasco smiled as well and started charging up his energy. "Looks like a Thundershock," Dyce said. "You can take it," he told Milo, who nodded without fear.

But what erupted from the Pikachu's charged up hands was something else. A ball of crackling electrical energy that Pasco aimed and threw at the Mime Jr. Surprised, Dyce didn't order Milo to do anything, and the psychic pokémon was hit by the thick blast from the landing ball. When smoke faded, Milo was seen injured and Pasco blinking as he usually did, maybe not knowing himself what he'd just done.

"That was... was not in your arsenal when I let my pokédex analyze you some hours ago," Dyce said and held up his pokédex again. Pasco now knew Electro ball. The trainer smiled. So training did pay off. He'd turn this oblivious Pikachu into a fighting machine as well. You just wait.


((OOC: Pasco learned Electro Ball. ))

 

[moon]

SPECIAL EVENT FOR NAKUZAMI:

The sky was growing darker as clouds moved in over Route 3. It soon started raining, lightly, but still it could probably be pretty unpleasant to be out on the road right now.

It was then that Shun heard a scream. Apparently, some girl had fallen for the seducing song of a Jigglypuff and fallen down a cliff. She was now standing on a very small ledge up the mountainside to the north, screaming for help. Her bag was laying on the ground many meters beneath her, a couple of giggling Jigglypuffs rummaging through it in search of interesting loot. The rain poured down.


React how you will, but Shun will hear the scream for help. "Many meters" is up to you to interpret, and the girl will be yours to create.

 

[curiousnathan]

[FONT=&quot]

Niko Hunter - Pewter City

It had only been a day or so since Niko had arrived in Kanto, he already caught up with Professor Oak in Pallet Town, and made his way swiftly North towards Pewter City. Having caught no Pokemon to his interest, and with the Virridian Gym closed, the next best route was through Viridian Forrest. As he strolled through the lush, dense greenery he could not help but notice there were no trainers, in fact, there were no people at all. 'How strange' he muttered under his breath, especially when a couple of minutes beforehand, an old man hyped on coffee warned him about the numerous amount of bug catchers and their pesky bug Pokemon who spent hours training in the forest. Nevertheless, he wasn't afraid, he knew Namazun could easily wipe the forest floor with them. Looking around curiously he didn't find anything that seemed to resemble a trainer; there wasn't a net, sun hat or pair of shorts in sight.

He eventually decided that'd he continue on, there was no use wandering around, after all he could get lost, that, something he definitely didn't want to happen. With the chirps of a flock of Pidgey fighting over what seemed to be an Oran berry, and a glimpse of a Pichu poking around a mossy green rock to cheekily glance at him, Niko stopped. Niko was out of breath panting rapidly, gasping for air. It was tough walking along the rocky road, it was no smooth path that was for sure, jagged rocks strewn themselves all over the walking track, well... what seemed to be the track anyway. Thick roots also made their way into the path of Niko, tripping him on several occasions. He could have sworn he lost a potion or two, concluded he could live without them. It was starting to warm up now, the sun glistening through the leaves and branches of the trees, highlighting several sleeping Caterpie, stuck firmly on the trunk of a tree.

Feeling guilty that he didn't let Muddy or Namazun travel with him, he rummaged through his backpack searching for their Pokeballs. He flicked his fingers through a training guide in hope the Pokeballs were hidden inside the pages, but no, just a poke'block. He pushed aside a bunch of potions and antidotes (The ones he didn't obnoxiously lose) hoping behind the cluster of medicinal items the red and white balls where there, but no, nothing.

"OH!" Niko exclaimed, in an embarrassed tone. He stretched his arms back and detached Muddy and Namazun's pokeballs. They had been on his belt the whole time! Opening Muddy's ball first with a sturdy little click, Niko was greeted with a jet of cool water.

"Muddy!" Niko screamed in laughter. "Stop, hahaha..stop!"

Eventually Muddy realised that Niko was nearly choking from his watergun, and decided it was time to stop. Still cheerful however, Muddy hoped onto Niko's shoulder, Muddy's wet paws imprinted his shirt and Niko could feel the soft, cool skin of Muddy's shoulder against his cheek.

Niko decided to keep Namazun in his Pokeball, after all the lazy Whishcash never moved much, so he was sure it wasn't going to enjoy a long, treacherous walk through the thick overgrowth of the forest, and attached the fish's Pokeball back onto his belt.

As the day grew older and the sun began to set, Niko and Muddy had finally reached an opening which appeared to be the exit. With sweat oozing down his forehead like a group of stinky grimer Niko began to sprint, Muddy who had fallen in a light dose was suddenly woken up, shocked, he fell from Niko's shoulders onto the ground. No matter, Muddy soon caught up, hoping quickly alongside his trainer. Niko then slowed down, there was a sign at the end of the grassy/rocky track, although hard to read Niko was able to depict what it was saying.

"North to Pewter City"
Stay safe – Kanto Police.

It was hard to stay safe however, as when Niko reached the city made much out of stone and dirt, there were a group of people, who seemed distressed and extremely agitated. An officer Jenny was also visible, her Growlithe patrolling the entrance to route 3. Niko could hear the screams and arguments of anger many of the irritated Pewter civilians spat.


"Who are these people!"


"For god's sake, are you doing your job or what?"


"They could be out there devising a plan to steal our Pokemon right now! And who knows what lengths they'll go to get them!"


Niko stood there starting for a few minutes, puzzled about what exactly had happened, before he quickly walked towards the Pokemon Centre. A cool, misty breeze blew through his hair, making it rustle under the glare of the moon. It had gotten dark, and the sun had went to sleep, the Pidgey had seem to be nesting and now Hoothoot became ever so abundant, scouring the darkness of the night. Pushing through the crowd who were standing around the glowing Pokémon Center, Niko copped a few dirt looks. One lady even cussing at him. Ignoring them, Niko made his way into the warmth and cosiness of the center; he somewhat skipped to the counter, but was interrupted by a late night call on his Pokedex.
Niko flipped it open, after grabbing it from his back pocket; It was warm and smooth. Soon the professor appeared, smiling at Niko and waving.


"Oh Hi professor!" Niko said, trying to sound enthusiastic.
It was hard, he was tried and just wanted to heal his Pokemon and rest for the night. Having a call and a chat with the Professor wasn't exactly he wanted at this time of the night. Nevertheless, he greeted him with a warm smile.


"What's up Professor is something troubling you?"


"Oh no, quite the opposite!" Oak claimed. "I just wanted to let you know that there have been just some little troublemakers who call themselves the Shironians.


"The Shironians?" Niko repeated.


"Indeed, my boy." Oak replied. "They've been spotted trying to 'eliminate' a few trainers who went on a Pewter City Hike which was in fact a hoax, a part of their plan. HOWEVER! Rest assured they are totally a minuscule threat! Apparently some trainers said they tried to 'steal' or more so 'release' their Pokémon, they claimed that the strange bunch somewhat felt guilty about capturing their Pokémon."


"Hrmm."


"Anyway, once again, there's nothing to fear, so get back to your journey my boy and I hope to see you sometime soon! Oh and I've let all the other trainer know too, some of them were inovled! Okay, goodbye."
"Oh okay, goodbye Professor."

Click! And Niko's Pokedex flicked off.


So that's what those people were all angry about, a group of mysterious people known as the Shironians. Niko figured it was natural for them to be upset, they must've felt endangered and invaded, but still he didn't forgive that horrid lady he met before entering the Pokemon Center.


Muddy glanced up curiously, titling its head to the side slightly.


'Don't worry Muddy, it was just Professor Oak, to say hello!"


"Mud, Mud!" Muddy replied.


"Alright time to rest!" Niko told the little amphibian, and returned him to his Pokeball.


Walking up to Nurse Joy he asked if he could use a room, luckily for him there were two left. Room 4 and Room 5.



"Also," Niko asked.


"Yes?"


"Could I please get my Pokémon healed? They've had a rough day especially Muddy." Niko placed both his Pokémon on the bench.


"Sure thing." Nurse joy replied softly.

Nurse joy then took the balls and handed them to Chansey who placed them gently into a bulky looking machine. Before Niko knew it, both Namazun and Muddy had been fully restored, and Niko made his way to his room chewing on a spare packet of lollies that he had in his bag. After brushing his teeth and changing he fed both Muddy and Namazun some Poke food, which his mother made. Both of the Pokémon scoffed it down. They loved Niko's mum's food, she was a good cook, often using the berries she grew in the garden in her recipes. When their bowls were now completely empty, Namazun was already asleep, and had flopped itself onto the carpet. Muddy decided to sleep with Niko, and curled itself into a ball at the end of his bed.


"We'll train tomorrow, and then we'll challenge the gym leader?" Niko told Muddy.
Waiting for a response he climbed into bed, shifting around trying to get comfortable. When he was comfortable, finding the sweet soft of the soft cushiony PokeCenter beds he looked up, and realised Muddy was asleep. Niko smiled and stared at them both; before he rested his head on his pillow and fell asleep.[/FONT]

 

[moon]

Gym leader Hakon
Pewter City Gym

After the battle with Katharina, Hakon rested for a few hours. He reckoned there could be more trainers on this same day, so he wanted to be ready then. He loved to battle and his pokémon did too, even when they were defeated in the end. They were strong and could recover rather easily. Hakon didn't take them to the pokémon center; the gym had its own healing machine. After Sudowoodo and Geodude had healed up there, he treated them and his other pokémon to a big nice lunch.

"So, we are ready for another battle, aren't we? Let's watch the gym regulars train down in the arena until someone comes around," Hakon suggested, to which his pokémon nodded in agreement.

As they left the room, Hakon turned to look at the balcony. The door was open. He sighed and walked up to it, looking out over Pewter City. Tyreene... one day she'd have to explain herself to him. Explain why.

He closed the balcony door and went down to the arena, waving away his grim thoughts.