Pokemon: A Fresh Start

[romdinner]

Chapter 5 - Part I
" Storming through the gym!! "
- New Mahogany Town -
​

The sun's rays made its way into Lily's room and onto her face. The girl opened her eyes and saw that the weather outside was very nice and seeing that it was almost noon she got up. She went and took a shower and brushed her teeth and after getting herself ready she got out only to see that her pokemon were also up and active as usual. Clover and Winter were looking out the window while Ace was sitting quietly on the bed waiting for Lily. " Morning guys!!! It's time we left and had some breakfast." Lily called Ace and Winter into their pokeballs, leaving Clover out to help her pack. After 15 minutes of getting her stuff into her backpack and checking if they didn't forget anything they left and on the lowest floor of the pokemon center and exited the building leaving the nurse with a farewell.

" Leaving without saying goodbye sleepy head!!! " A voice came from her left as the doors closed behind Lily. The girl turned and saw Xander sitting next to the wall with Knight next to him.

"Maybe…." Lily said innocently. " You do have the habit of leaving without notice so it wouldn't have surprised me if you were miles away by now." She said knowing that Xander was very unpredictable.

" Touché!!! Care to join me for breakfast?"

"I'd love to, I'm starving." She said smiling. " Know any good place here? "

" I have something in mind." He said taking a step from the wall and starting to walk followed by Knight.

The two made their way almost to the exit of Old Mahogany and entered a nice little café. The sat down at a table outside as it would have been a pity not to enjoy the pleasant weather. The waiter quickly came and took their orders and after he left both Lily and Xander let their pokemon out and gave them some pokemon food so they could also eat. "So Xander how come you want to become a champion? " the girl said taking a sip out of her tea.

" Just wanted something new and out of the ordinary for once. " Xander replied measuring his every word.

"I see so it doesn't matter if you win or lose then?" Lily continued.

" Well yes and no." were his words. Xander had to come up with an explanation but he could say the truth his ideal so he would have to be careful. " I mean at first I wasn't doing it for myself…..but something lit a fire in me that made me want to become a better person and trainer…but how about yourself? " Xander quickly changed the subject as he didn't want to get deeper into the subject.

" In my case, this is my second journey. I'm originally from Sinnoh and entered the league there but lost in the semi-finals due to some unfortunate circumstances. But that's all in the past now. " Lily said….it was true that her misfortune was gone and far away but even so some scars remained from the event.

"Pardon my intrusion but could you explain what happened?" Xander requested as he saw a glimpse of sadness in her eyes.

"Ummm….I don't really want to talk about it but for short just before my match I was tricked to leave the stadium to search for someone's kidnapped daughter…..but that was a lie. I got kidnapped myself only to be rescued a day later."

"Ouch….that really is something……..sorry to hear that."

"Don't worry …things happen for a reason…. Or at least that's what my grandmother said…..so here I am in Johto, aiming for the league….to prove myself that I'm a good trainer to my pokemon and that I don't quit on my dreams." She said smiling. Lily was a tough girl when needed…..as she said this journey meant a lot to her and wants to make the best out of it.

"Here are your orders!!!" the chef said putting their plates in front of them.

After the meal both of them got up and seeing as both of them were heading to new Mahogany they went together. The walk to the new part of the city took them about 20 minutes but due to the fact that they went together they didn't even notice how time flew by. As they got there Lily was amazed to see the difference between new and old Mahogany. They went from rural to city in just a walk. The buildings were all in different shades, shapes and colours, it was truly a sight worth seeing.

" I was like that the first time I came here yesterday." Xander laughed seeing Lily's amazed face. " But this is nothing compared to the busy season. People usually come from all over the region and it's crowded to the point that you can get lost very easily from someone."

"Well good thing we're here now. Right Clover?" she said towards her pokemon that was in her arms. "Swadloon!!!" he cried happily.

"Miss Lily so what brings you here?" Knight asked curious.

" Only one thing.....the gym." Lily said confident with a desire burning in her eyes.

"I thought so...." Xander replied. " Then you should make your way towards that big building over there." Xander said pointing towards the centre of the town, at a big building.

"Thanks for the info....how about you guys?" Lily asked knowing as Xander had already won the badge from this gym.

"We just have some things to finish here and we'll make our way towards the next town after that." Xander replied.

"I see. Guess this is goodbye then. Until next time then." Lily said waving at them and starting to walk towards her destination.

" Until next time it is then." He said waving back at the girl as she took a corner and disappeared into the jungle of the city.

"Master Xander you don't have anything to do in this town. " Ralts replied crossing his arms again.

"Yes we have." He said patting Knight's head and starting to walk also.

"What could master be plotting up again?!?" the pokemon thought. " Well nothing a little mindreading can't solve." He grinned.

After a while Lily finally reached the gym. She had a bit of a problem getting there but due to the locals warm advice she managed to find it. The building was very modern and made mostly out of metal.....it really did stand out as a gym in this city. " This is as huge as a stadium! " Lily said towards Clover as she scanned the building.

" Well actually it's only half!!" a voice behind Lily said. " It's the pride and joy of this town. " he continued.

Lily turned only to see a dark haired boy about her age....or maybe a year or two older....but no more who was smiling confident at her. " I see. Nice to know I guess. " Lily replied felling a bit awkward. " I'll be leaving now. " the girl said taking a few steps back heading towards one of the entrances.

" In a hurry are we? And here I thought you wanted to challenge me for a badge." The boy said grinning.

" Wait....you're the gym leader?!?!?" she said surprised.

"The one and only Joshua Gates! Gym leader of Mahogany town! The one that trainers fear!!!" he continued getting more proud of himself with every word.

" And the modest one!!!" Lily whispered to Clover who started giggling. " I see. Well in that case I challenge you to a battle! " Lily said with a serious tone.

" Oh so you indeed wanted to try winning the gym badge. Well in that case I accept, but be warned I'm stronger that your everyday trainer." Joshua accepted and making his way into the building.

"Well I'm not your everyday trainer!!!" Lily replied a bit annoyed, following him.

The two made their way towards the battlefield where Lily's match was just minutes away from starting. A referee was waiting for them, at the middle of the battle field, as they entered the field. Surrounding them were some bleacher which weren't very full but what peaked Lily's interest was the fact that there was no ceiling, she could see the blue sky. The only people who were going to watch the match were the Gym leader's apprentices. Lily was asked to get onto the higher platform at the edge of the battlefield opposite of the one Joshua was going to be.

"Ready challenger?" Joshua asked from the other side getting one pokeball from his belt.

" Ready as I'll ever be!!!" she replied taking a firm stance.

"Today's match will be between Joshua Gates, the gym leader of Mahogany town and the challenger Lillian Blackstar from Celestic town in the Sinnoh region. The match will be a two on two type one, but the challenger is allowed to use as many pokemon as she desires to defeat her opponent. The challenger has the first move. BEGIN!!!! "

VS

​

"Sinnoh you say. I'm from there too. This will be interesting. Sneasel let's show here our gym's potential and power. " he said throwing a pokeball in the air.

"Winter you're up first!" Lily said throwing the ball in the air. Winter came out on the battlefield and was looking at Sneasel. " We'll win this. Winter use Powder Snow at full force!!!"

Winter took a deep breath and then blew out a sparkling white powdered wind at Sneasel. " Faint Attack to evade then hit it!!!" Joshua quickly reacted. Sneasel run fast towards the icy attack and just before it could get hit it disappeared and appeared right behind Winter ready to knock it over.

"Winter Double Team on the double!!!!!" Lily shouted seeing Sneasel ready to strike. Winter turned her head and saw Sneasel behind her. In a matter of seconds she made several copies of herself around the field and Sneasel knocked over a clone which vanished into thin air. "That was too close!!!" Lily thought to herself. This really wasn't like a regular battle....she had to be focused and ready to react at all times.

"Interesting strategy.....but it won't last for long! Sneasel Quick Attack on them, and make it fast!" Sneasel nodded and dashed on the field. She was engulfed by a white light and was running as fast as it could slashing through clone after clone until finally hit Winter which was at the middle of the field. Everything happened in a matter of seconds. Sneasel's speed was something to be feared. Winter was sent flying into the left side of the wall but jumped up as soon as she hit the wall.

"Winter let's show them your speed!!! Rollout!!!!" Lily said grinning deviously. Winter jumped up rolling into a ball and starting to spin at a fast pace towards Sneasel.

"That won't even hurt Sneasel. Speed isn't its only trait!!" Joshua said full of himself. " Sneasel stop it with your claws!!!" he ordered his pokemon. As Winter came rolling into her opponent Sneasel tried to stop it with its claws. The force pushed Sneasel a few meters away leaving a trail in the field but Sneasel managed to stop Winter in her path and was now holding her in her claws. Joshua was about to say something but Lily managed to cut him off.

"Winter Icy Wind now!!!!" Lily yelled. A powerful blast of shivering wind was launched at Sneasel from up close. Winter broke free from Sneasel's clutches and continued her attach sending Sneasel into Joshua's platform. Lily had planned this from the start.....if she wanted to beat Sneasel's speed she would have to outsmart Joshua.

"Nicely done!! Guess I should have predicted that but that's too late now." He said as Sneasel got up and brushed itself. "Sneasel Ice Shard followed by Screech!!!!" he said pointing towards Winter. Sneasel formed shard of ice around her and then launched them at Snorunt then followed up with a screeching sound wave. The sound wave caught up to the shards and blasted them forward at a higher speed and power.

" Winter use Headbutt to smash the shards!!!" Winter quickly dashed with its head forwards towards the icy shards. The attack made contact with Winter but she managed to smash through it with only a few damage. Despite his attack not fully working Joshua was still smiling....but why Lily just couldn't put her finger on it. "Good job Winter. Use Headbutt again on Sneasel!!" she said seeing as the distance between winter and Sneasel was only a few meters. Winter dashed once again wanting to ram its head into Sneasel.

"Fain Attack!!!" Joshua replied quick and short. Sneasel disappeared as Winter was approaching and appeared on her left side ramming her, sending her into the ground. " You shouldn't forget the difference in speed Lily!" he said as Winter fell.

Just as Winter was getting up the place started to get darkened and the wind started blowing hard. Both Joshua and Lily looked up only to see dark rain clouds which filled the sky. It was truly amazing how from the clear blue the sky turned gray. A lighting burst from the clouds followed by thunder and then rains started coming down onto the battlefield. "Should we postpone the battle? Or are you strong enough to face me and the weather?" Joshua shouted followed by another crack of thunder.

Lily looked at Winter and saw the same confidence in her pokemon's eyes as she had. "A little rain won't frighten us. Bring it on!!!!" she replied determined to win this more than ever.

"As you wish. Sneasel Screech again!!!!" he ordered his pokemon. Sneasel emitted another sound wave towards Winter, the force making the raindrops head towards Winter as well. The attack went sent Winter a few meters back but she was high on her feet. " Now follow with Payback!!!" Sneasel a ring of back energy appear around her and then send it towards Winter. Lily told winter to jump out of the way but Sneasel launched another one at her and this time she couldn't dodge it in midair. The attack smashed Winter into the wall, then slid down onto the floor.

"How come it's so powerful!?!?!" Lily exclaimed at the sight. It wasn't normal for that attack to be so destructive.

"Well add the effect of two Screeches who lowered your defence by two stages every time and you'll see why. I was two steps ahead of you all the time!!" he replied.

​

"Winter you can do It!!!! We've trained hard!!!" Lily shouted seeing as her pokemon still had some life force in it. "Two can play it that game. Right Winter?" " Sno... Snorunt!!!!" she cried jumping on the battlefield. "Winter Rollout!!!!! Full force!!!" she shouted. Winter sprung up into a ball and landed down and was rolling at high speed towards Sneasel.
​

"Sneasel use the mud to reduce its speed!!!!" Joshua said seeing as the field started to have puddles of mud due to the rain. Sneasel used its claws to throw mud at the rolling pokemon which was approaching and looked like the strategy was working.

"Now shift into Headbutt!!!!" Lily said. Winter went into a Headbutt attack and rammed into Sneasel smashing it into the mud. Lily used the speed f the Rollout to spring Winter into a more powerful Headbutt that had been too fast to dodge.

"You really are something you know!!!" he said, complementing Lily for the first time. "But we're still not out yet. Sneasel Faint Attack then Ice Shard!!!" Sneasel got up and ran towards Winter then disappeared and appeared behind her and launched some ice shards at her back.

"Not this time!!!! Rollout!!!" she shouted as soon as she saw Sneasel form her shards. Winter started rolling to evade the shards. She took a left just in time and the attacks went into Joshua's platform, but Winter wasn't done yet...she kept rolling and turned around smashing into Sneasel. "That's it Winter!!!!" Lily burst at the sight.

"Sneasel let's finish this!! Spin into a Quick Attack and use Ice Shard!!!!!" Sneasel started spinning and at the same time launching shards of ice all over the place. Winter was trying it's hardest to dodge the attacks but she kept being hurt by some of them. Sneasel was sending shards all over the place like it was haywired.

"There's no blind spot so the only thing to do is......" Lily thought to herself. "Winter use Double Team to surround Sneasel then use Rollout!!!!!" Winter nodded and created multiple figures of herself all around Sneasel then all of them started rolling towards Sneasel. As they were going some of the clones vanished being hit by some shards but still many of them remained. Winter closed in on Sneasel and all the clones smashed into Sneasel at the same time making a huge dust cloud rise from the impact.

Both Lily and Joshua were waiting anxiously for the rain to settle the dust and so was the referee. After a few seconds the dust cloud finally disappeared. " Both pokemon are out!!! Please send your next pokemon!!!" the referee shouted seeing that both Sneasel and Winter were knocked out.

VS

​

" You did well Sneasel. " Joshua said calling back his pokemon into its pokeball. " You managed to defeat my first pokemon but that was just a warm out, here comes the real deal. Scraggy come out!!!"

Lily called Winter back into her pokeball too. " Thanks for your effort. You were great out there!!!" she whispered to the pokeball then put it at her belt. " Clover are you up for it?" Lily said turning towards Clover who was sitting next to her.

"Swadloon!!!" the pokemon shouted jumping from the platform onto the battlefield. The bug pokemon was facing what look like a range lizard type pokemon. Lily got her PokePad out and checked the information on the pokemon :"Scraggy, the Shedding Pokémon. The lower half of Scraggy's body is covered by a tough rubbery skin and when someone makes eye contact it responds with Headbutt. " the PokePad finished. "So you're a Scraggy." She said in a low voice.

" The second match between Joshua's Scraggy and Lily's Swadloon shall now commence!!!" the referee shouted raising his flags.

"Ok let's crush that bug!!!! Scraggy use Low-Kick where you are!!" he said making the first move. Scraggy stretched its leg down and then span on the ground once making a pile of mud fly towards Clover.

"Clover Protect!!!!" Lily said seeing what Joshua was up too. The mud slid down the turquoise shield leaving Clover intact. " Aren't you a little old to be playing with mud!!" Lily replied not resisting to urge to tease him. Joshua kept his calm even though he was boiling inside. "Clover, follow up with String Shot!!!! Let's give him a spin!!!" Clover spit out its silky web and despite the attempt to dodge Scraggy got caught in Clover's string. Clover started spinning Scraggy all over the place wearing it down.

"Scraggy use your teeth to cut the web!!!!" Joshua shouted after Scraggy had already been span all over the room. Scraggy focused and ripped the string into shreds setting him free. The force of the spin sent it flying towards the wall. " Use the momentum to propel yourself into a Headbutt!!!!" Joshua shouted again. Scraggy did as it was instructed. It pushed itself against the wall and sprung back at Clover into a Headbutt smashing the bug pokemon into the ground.

Clover quickly got up and jumped a few meters away from Scraggy. " Use Razor Leaf!!!" were Lily's words as Clover landed. He sent out razor sharp leaves towards the lizard pokemon but as the attack was about to hit Scraggy, it was ordered to use Faint Attack. Scraggy quickly disappeared making the leaves cut through thin air. It then appeared at Clover's back ready to strike.

"Turn and use Energy Ball!!!" Lily yelled as just as Joshua, she was also on guard and ready to react. Clover immediately turned and hit Scraggy with its Energy ball sending it flying in the wall, sliding down on the ground as another lightning soar the clouds and then thunder echoed all around. The storm was getting serious and so were the two trainers.

"Scraggy use Swagger on Swadloon!!! Let's see how you get out of this!!!" he said grinning. Scraggy started to glow red and was looking with a pair of cold red eyes at Clover. The bug pokemon started to wobble around as it got confused.

"This move is like a two sided blade. It does confuse Clover but he gains an attack boost also." Lily said as she remembered what the attack does.

" So are you willing to risk the pokemon safety?" Joshua replied wanting to make Lily doubt herself.

"I'll just have to have faith in Clover." She thought to herself with her eyes closed. " Clover use Energy Ball!" The bug pokemon stood its ground and started to form the green ball but half way it exploded in its face sending it into the ground a few meters away.

"Ha ha….guess it's our turn now. Scraggy use Headbutt !!!" he told Scraggy seeing as Clover got up and was still wandering confused. Scraggy ran towards Clover and jumped with its head forward but just as it was about to hit Clover the confused pokemon slipped in its confusion on a puddle of water and Scraggy went directly into the wall hurting itself.

Lily couldn't help giggle a bit but she then got serious again as Clover was still confused and it was dangerous for him to remain in this state. " Clover focus! SNAP OUT OF IT!!!!!" she yelled as Scraggy got up and was ordered by Joshua to use Faint Attack. Just as the dark type pokemon was about to hit Clover, the bug pokemon gained its conscious and immediately used Protect to conjure a turquoise force field around him. " Good to have you back!!!" Lily jumped in joy seeing that Clover was back to his old self again.

Scraggy was outside the barrier and kept charging into it trying to find a weak spot to land his attack. " Ok wait for it…wait for it..." Lily mumbled to herself. " Now Clover Tackle!!!!" she said as Scraggy just bumped into the shield. Clover broke the shield and smashed into Scraggy sending it into Joshua's platform. " Thanks for the boost again!!!" Lily said grinning towards Joshua as even though the confusion wore of the stat boost would last until the end of the battle.

"Don't mention it!!!" he replied sarcastically. "Now have some of this! Low-Kick!!!" he shouted with his fist up. Scraggy dashed toward Clover and set its foot down to hit Clover but Lily responded to the attack with a String Shot. She told Clover to use the string to get attached to the wall and so it did. It got up on its string just in time to evade the attack. " You're not out of the woods yet!!!" the gym leader said as a strong wind blew through the battlefield as the rain drops were coming down even faster. "Jump and use Headbutt!!!!" Scraggy jumped following Clover and sent it flying higher nearly at the top of the building. Then Clover came down and hit the ground hard, pieces of it flying around. A dust cloud formed in front of Lily's platform where Lily was. She was biting her lip nervously. As the dust settled down Clover was up, barely standing, but not ready to give up.

"You're pokemon won't last for long!" Joshua said crossing his arms.

"It doesn't need to last any longer." She said towards the gym leader then turned to Clover. " Let's finish this here and now!!!" she said with a confident smile at Clover which responded with the same look. " Energy Ball!!!" she shouted. Clover conjured up a bright green orb and sent it flying towards Scraggy at high speed.

"That attack won't finish us! Scraggy use Headbutt to deflect it!!" he instructed Scraggy. The pokemon waited for the right moment and in the last second he smashed into the orb sending it flying high.

"Yes it will!!!! Clover String Shot on the orb and crash it down!!!!" she quickly reacted. Clover sent out its silky string of wed an attached it to the orb. Then it pulled it down with all its force, dragging it down towards Scraggy. The orb smashed into the dark type pokemon pummeling it into the ground, the explosion creating a mini crater. Scraggy got knocked out and was sitting motionless in the crater.

"Scraggy is unable to battle!!! The winner of today's match is Lillian Blackstar!!!!!" the referee announced raising the flag towards Lily.
The girl jumped down from the platform and went to Clover. The pokemon jumped into Lily's arms and she hugged him as tight as she could. " You did it!!!! We won our first badge!!!" she said in joy spinning around. Joshua came down and called Scraggy back to his pokeball. Lily called out Winter as well which now gained conscious and despite being tired could stand on her feet. " You two did wonderful today!!!! I couldn't be more proud of you!!!" she said hugging both of them.
Joshua walked up to Lily which let her pokemon down next to her.

" You won the match fair and square. You managed to outsmart my tactics and use them against me at some times. You learned from your mistakes and from my strategies. You deserve the badge from this dark type gym. Please show me your License Chip. " he said with a smile on his face.

Lily raised her arm. " Thanks. You gave me a run for my money!!!" she replied. Joshua got out a device and put it next to her wrist.

"You victory has been registered on your chip. Now please hand me your PokePad to register it there as well and to transfers the TM Chip you won." Lily got out her PokePad and handed it to the gym leader. He registered her victory, meaning her badge as things were more advanced now and the time for plain badges was long gone, and then inserted a chip and transferred the TM Chip. " The Tm Chip is Payback and is a nice move if you know how to use it. I have no doubt that if you chose to teach it to your pokemon you will make the most of it." He said handing her PokePad back.

"Thank you very much!" she said smiling. " I'll be heading towards the pokemon center to heal these two. "

" Don't mention it you deserve it. It was a nice battle good luck on your journey!!!!" he said as the girl made her way back outside. She exited the building just as the storm calmed down and the sun made its way onto the sky again. The sun was shining brightly on our girl as she made her way towards the pokemon center. Her happiness was as stunning as the sun…..the girl and her pokemon couldn't be more happy of their first win in the Johto league.

All this time somebody had watched the battle from the beginning from one side of the bleachers where no one could see him. "I'm glad your business turned out to be this! Miss Lily was outstanding!" Knight said towards his trainer.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it. Yes indeed she is one amazing girl that's for sure!" he replied getting up and starting to walk towards the exit as well.

"But why did we have to hide? I don't think miss Lily would have been bothered by our presence." Knight asked confused.

"No, she wouldn't have been. But I just wanted to see how she faces it on her own. And to see how strong she got since our last battle."

" I see. Well she is one fierce rival…if I may say so." Knight said hoping onto Xander's shoulder.

"Indeed she is. We'll have to work hard also to match her." He replied as he pushed the door to exit.


​

 

[{Swan}]

@Romdinner - Oh, do I detect some secrets to Xander? The battle was terrific, you wrote Joshua rather well and I liked the inclusion of the weather.

Snorunt (Winter) grew to lv. 24 and learned Protect!
Winter can't learn any more moves, would you like to delete one for Protect?
Swadloon (Clover) grew to lv. 26!

 

[Strikit]

Chapter One: Blackthorn City

It had taken six days for KC to make her way from Violet City to Blackthorn on foot. The trip would have gone much more quickly, were it not for the mountains that surrounded her on every side. The sky was pitch black and littered with stars by the time she entered Blackthorn's limits, and so exhausted was she that the only thing on her mind was a warm bed and shelter from the elements. She stayed at the Pokemon Center, willing to pay the fee for non-trainers, and slept peacefully and comfortably.

When she awoke in the morning there was a discontented roar in her belly that she'd been too tired to acknowledge the night before. KC groggily arose from bed and began to change out of the fluffy pants and tight, short spaghetti strap shirt that had served as pajamas. The pants, she replaced with dark brown cargo pants, and the shirt, a green tee with a tight black long sleeved shirt under it. She wasn't sure where the day would lead but she was fairly certain it would involve some hiking, so she secured her feet in brown boots laced over her ankles. They ought to provide the sturdiness and protection she needed to go trudging through the mountains. She hardly paid any attention at all to her hair, save from a quick ruffle to encourage it to seem more attractively scruffy. Without so much as a glance in the mirror she hoisted her backpack over her shoulders and went down to the lobby of the Pokemon Center. There she witnessed young, frazzled people standing in line at the desk, injured Pokemon of low levels in their arms. That was a sure sign of the beginner trainer: not knowing when enough was enough. She smirked to herself and bypassed the long line to go out the door and into the brisk mountain air. With a contented smile she breathed in deeply, then looked around in an attempt to get her bearings. If it were located in a more modern city she might have a little more difficulty finding the laboratory, but as it were the lab and Center were the only two buildings constructed of the sturdy metal material that had become commonplace in the last several decades. KC started toward it with a spring in her step and her hands shoved warmly in her pockets. A thrill pulsed in her stomach as she realized soon enough, there would be a belt with Pokeballs attached, warm from the body heat of the Pokemon inside.

KC paused at the door of the laboratory to take several long, deep breaths and collect herself. Then with a measured stride and confident air she opened the door and stepped into the immaculately clean and organized laboratory. The first thing KC noticed was that the lab seemed entirely impersonal. It could use a few plants, maybe a nice flower on the desk, she thought; but she recognized that since it was a lab there were probably things going on here that a plant would contaminate.

Her eyes darted right and left as she approached Professor Sequoia, just long enough for her to take in the main details of the Dragon Pokemon posters. But then she was standing directly in front of the Professor, and she certainly couldn't be rude.

"Good morning," she said a little nervously.

"Good morning," Professor Sequoia replied kindly. "I assume you are here for your new partner?"

KC nodded. "Yes ma'am. My name is Kadience Cannan, and I came from Violet City."

"Ah, alright," the Professor acknowledged. "I have preselected the partners each new trainer will be receiving. This one is for you." She lifted one of the Pokeballs from the table next to her and handed it to her. "You may let it out once we're done with all the niceties we have to get out of the way. Jonah, bring me the supplies please?"

In her nervousness KC hadn't noticed the young, quiet man standing behind Professor Sequoia. He nodded quickly and hurried to grab a mechanism that looked much like a stapler, five minimized Pokeballs, and a small gadget no bigger than KC's palm.

"I'll be installing your License Chip now," the Professor explained as she gently took KC's right hand and positioned the mechanism over it. "It won't hurt but it may pinch a little."

Quickly she compressed the device and KC felt a mildly uncomfortable pinching sensation as the Chip was secured under her skin. KC clenched and extended her fingers for a few seconds until the sensation went away. She then accepted the five Pokeballs to tuck them safely into her pocket, and the gadget.

"That's a PokePad," Professor Sequoia explained. "It will serve as your map, Pokedex, internet connection, and phone. I already have my number programmed in so if you run into any problems or you have questions feel free to call me."

"Thank you, you've been very helpful," KC said gratefully. "I couldn't do this without you."

"Sure you could," the Professor said with a wry smile. "But it probably would take much longer. You're done here now if you don't have any questions, so you should go on to the Dragon's Den and test out your new partner. Get a feel for its needs and its personality, just as it will do the same for you."

KC thanked her once more, offered Jonah a grateful smile, and hurried out of the lab with her new partner's ball clutched in her left hand. As soon as she was safely outside she pressed the center button on the ball. A jet of red light originated from the ball and it opened, releasing a short, squat amphibian-like Pokemon onto the grass.

"Bulbasaur?" KC commented interestedly as she knelt down to examine it more closely. It blinked up at her with bright, scarlet eyes and an expression of uncertainty. Though it was obviously tame, it obviously didn't take to her immediately. "Bubbazoar," it answered, as if to affirm her inquiry. KC smiled and reached out to touch its head, between its ears. It stared at her the whole time, but allowed her to feel its oddly textured hide. It wasn't exactly scaly, nor was it leathery.

"You're not friendly, but this is a start, isn't it?" Bulbasaur still just stared. She stood and started walking, hoping it would follow her. It did. It trailed lazily next to her as she walked, not because it wanted to be with her but because it knew that it was supposed to obey its master. That was alright; KC was determined to get it to like her in time.

KC tossed the empty ball belonging to her Bulbasaur into the air, then caught it in her hand repeatedly as she walked toward the Dragon's Den. "I need to name you," she said conversationally. "But what? I don't know your gender and I don't think you'd appreciate me trying to look."

The Bulbasaur grunted noncomittally and shuffled along. KC fell silent and mulled it over. What did she want to call her new partner? A few different names crossed her mind -- Froggie, Hopper, Bulba -- but none of them seemed quite right. She pushed the matter to the back of her mind when she reached the mouth of the Den. "Stay close," she said as she stepped into the darkness. The Bulbasaur extended one vine and wrapped it loosely around KC's leg so that it wouldn't get lost. KC kept her steps small, slow, and even, so that she wouldn't stumble or startle the Bulbasaur. Faintly she cursed herself for not bringing a flashlight, but that regret didn't last long. The dark tunnel widened into a large cavern with lamps on the ceiling. The light they gave off was enough to illuminate most of the cavern, save for the tunnels that branched off. Most of the floor was taken up by a crystal clear lake. Fascinated by the size and beauty of the cavern, KC took in all of the details one by one, her eyes wide in awe. So distracted was she that she didn't notice the pair of eyes watching her from just under the surface of the water. Bulbasaur, on the other hand, did notice.

"Bub! Zoar!" it said urgently, tugging on her leg.

"What?" KC asked absently as she looked down. It pointed at the lake with its vine, drawing her attention to the dark eyes that were trained on her. KC frowned and approached the water slowly. The eyes didn't so much as blink. Finally, when she was about three feet away from the lake, a blue and white shape erupted out of the water and stood straight up in a defensive stance. The fins on the sides of its head stuck out sharply and it brandished its short white horn, as if it could do any damage.

"Bulbasaur!" KC said reflexively, an order for it to defend. Bulbasaur leapt between her and the Pokemon and growled. KC took that time to scan it with her PokePad.

'Dratini, the Dragon Pokemon. This Pokémon is full of life energy. It continually sheds its skin and grows steadily larger. Even the young have been known to exceed 6'6". Dratini are generally shy, timid Pokemon.'

If they were supposed to be shy KC couldn't see why this one was being so aggressive, but she knew better than to underestimate it. The five empty Pokeballs in her pocket encouraged her in her decision to attempt to capture it. She knew Dratini must be rare, and this one's unusual behavior made it something she couldn't pass up.

"Alright Bulbasaur! Use... um..."

KC realized she didn't know what moves her Bulbasaur knew. "Vine Whip?" she suggested. It just looked back at her, confused. "Okay... Tackle then."

Bulbasaur got a running start and slammed its mass into the Dratini. The Dragon Pokemon was thrown back a few inches, but it didn't do much more than make it angry. It screeched a long, high note and wrapped its body around Bulbasaur's, effectively immobilizing it.

"Shake it off!" KC encouraged, but as much as it tried it couldn't get the Dratini off. She worried that she'd gotten her partner in over its head, and she couldn't just let it fight this out on its own, so she pulled one of the empty balls out of her pocket and threw it. It hit the Dratini on its long body and for a brief moment it disappeared within. Bulbasaur shook itself and backed up quickly, breathing hard. The ball shook once, twice, then burst open. All she'd managed to do was it make it angrier. Its eyes glowed yellow, then little spurts of electricity covered Bulbasaur's body. It shuddered and fell onto its side, paralyzed. It struggled to make its muscles comply for several seconds, but it managed to get back on its feet.

"Can you keep going?" she asked it. It growled an affirmative. "Alright then. Do whatever you do best."

It thought about it, then braced itself and generated a black and purple beam of energy from its bulb. The beam hit Dratini in the face and it rolled over for a few feet, then braced itself with the many coils of its body. It wouldn't give up so easily. It lunged at Bulbasaur and intended to wrap around it again. This time Bulbasaur knew its intentions. Every movement was a struggle, but it managed to dodge the Wrap attack and counter with another Tackle. While it was on its back Bulbasaur jumped on it, stood on it with all four feet, and looked back at KC with an expectant look. She took the opportunity without hesitation. She threw a second ball and it hit Dratini in the face this time. Once more it was sucked into the ball and it shook again, once, twice, three times...

 

[{Swan}]

@Strikit - I really like KC's amateurism in battling and then effort it took to catch Dratini. This was a great post, glad to have you back Strikit.

KC received a Bulbasaur!
Bulbasaur grew to lv. 7 and learned Leech Seed!
Kc caught a lv. 3 female Dratini!

 

[TiTaN.JuStIn]

Chapter 2: A Wild Dash on the Ice Path​

"Guess it's time we get back on the road." Richard said quietly, taking a sip from his hot water bottle and wiping bread crump from his jacket. He gently prodded the now sleeping Bagon and Turtwig, both curled up in the corner to stay warm. It was strange that when Richard offered them a wool blanket to them for cover, Twinleaf seemed to dislike the warm shelter by expressing his opinion with his face, while Dragontooth went the aggressive way, approaching the blanket and tearing it up into pieces of wool.

Dragontooth was the first to wake up. Richard had to back up when the dragon yawned so wide, that it could have swallowed Twinleaf whole. He learned the previous day that Bagons are very sensitive when they just woke up. If he did something wrong, he could end with a bitten hand or a leg. Richard then turned his attention unto Twinleaf, who was stretching and shaking his head wildly, as if he was urging himself to wake up.

"All right. Let's go, sleepyheads." Richard urged his pokemon to move. Both of them listened to Richard, as Twinleaf dashed forward with renewed strength, what he usually does when he's excited.

"Here we go again." Richard sighed, Dragontooth saying the same thing, but on her own language. Both dashed towards the dark tunnel to catch up with the Turtwig. Wind rushed past, blowing Richard's coat very hard. The tunnel continued and continued, a faint outline of a four-legged creature barely seen at the front. Happy squeals came from the creature as the Turtwig was finally able to stretch its bored legs. Richard panted hard at the intense running and wanted to stop and take a break again, but he didn't want to end up with trouble again, losing his hyper AND energetic turtle. Richard ran with determination, breathing hard. Eventually the run will end and he can stop to catch a breath again. And so it happened. But with an encounter.

Twinleaf finally stopped. He bounced like a ball on the place and squealed again. Richard and Dragontooth caught up with him, both of them collapsing at the long chase. Richard was on the worst condition, his breathing labored and sweat drops falling from his head like rain. Silence lasted for 2 long minutes, the only sound is the breathing of a boy and a cry of a happy pokemon. Richard finally calmed down. He slowly stood up, determined to give a lesson to his pokemon. But he couldn't even mutter a word when he saw a boy with trainer clothes: black and red jacket with a pokeball sign on the middle and long black tight pants. He looked young, about 10 years old, and he was tanned white with brown eyes and black hair. The boy approached Richard, smiling mischievously.

"Our eyes have met!" He exclaimed happily. "That means we're destined to do whatever I was waiting for a long time." Richard watched as the boy backed up. Then he made a peace sign and span wildly. He then stopped. After that came a pose: legs apart, one hand on his hip and the other pointing up with a single pokeball on it. "Let's battle!" The boy cried out triumphantly.

Richard and his pokemon looked at each other. They stared at each other, then a second later, both Richard and his pokemon were lying on the floor, grasping their stomach and laughing hard. The boy looked confused at the strangers' reaction, but he didn't show any sign of embarrassment. He just blinked once. Then he shouted at the laughing Richard: "Hey, let's battle already!"

Richard slowly stood up, calming down a bit. He was about to teach the boy that this wasn't the way to ask a battle from a person. But somebody else said his thoughts earlier than himself.

"Ethan, you're not supposed to start a battle like that! You played Leaf Green too much again, did you?" A female voice interrupted Richard. Both Richard and the boy, who was presumed by now to be Ethan, turned to the side to notice a girl with a pink coat. She was also tanned white, but she had identical brown eyes, just like the boy. She was wearing a white cap, which was covering her short brown hair, with a pokeball sign on it. She had 2 traveler's backpacks on her hand, a blue one on the right and a pink one on the left. To Richard she looked 15 years old. She was as tall as himself, 5 and half feet.

"I'm sorry if my brother is interrupting you. He just plays games a lot and took most of the behavior from the game." The girl gently said, approaching Ethan.

"Nah, it's fine, err…"

"Leila." The girl said, smiling. Richard also smiled and nodded.

"Right, Leila." He awkwardly said. Suddenly, he blushed a bit and looked else where, his sight away from the girl.

"Oh~~," Ethan teased. "Looks like somebody's blushing!" Leila just smacked Ethan on the face. Then she approached Richard.

"What's your name?" She asked. Richard blushed even more, his face redder at the awkward feeling and intense cold.

"Richard." He said as quietly as possible. Despite his efforts, Leila heard Richard's name and nodded.

"So, Richard. Are you traveling right now? You look like a trainer to me."

"Yeah, I am. You too?"

"Quite right."

"Oh, okay."

"Hmm."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"Uhhh, Richard. Are you going to battle me or what?" The tension was broken as Leila's younger brother said enthusiastically. Richard snapped out of it and looked at Ethan. He was about to answer, when, again, Leila interrupted:

"Ethan, you're not ready! How many times do I have to tell you? Also, it's time you return me my pokeball." Leila said calmly. Ethan just sighed. He took out 2 pokeballs from his pants and gave them to his sister. Leila smiled. She took the pokeballs and took off the coat, revealing a white jacket, a red t-shirt with a sign "You got a wrong girl, Mister!" and long light blue jeans. A trainer's belt was attached to the jeans, 4 pokeballs dangling on it. She took her other 2 pokeballs and attached to the belt, making a full set of 6 pokeballs. She smiled again. Then she turned towards Richard.

"How many pokemon do you have right now?" Leila asked Richard. Richard knew what would happen after he answers the question. He braced himself and answered: "2. You're looking at them." Leila immediately looked down to notice a hyper Turtwig and a not so hyper Bagon.

"Oh. Okay. Now," Leila said, as she tensed a bit. "Would you like to battle me?"

"Sure." Richard said, returning to his calm attitude. He gestured his pokemon to follow him and stood at the one corner of the icy passage. Right now, they were in a passage wide enough to fit a truck. But still, it was a passage, so there was a limited amount of space for the pokemon, which would be hard for pokemon to avoid attacks. This could be an advantage and a weakness at the same time.

"Richard, this is 2 on 2 battle, okay?" Leila confirmed on the other side of the passage. Richard nodded. Both trainers were now facing each other at the distance of about 30 feet. Both of them were examining each other, every movement they were doing. Nobody did anything, and the silence lasted for some time. It felt like forever to Richard, staring at Leila. He thought that he should act first. He turned towards Dragontooth and motioned with his head to enter the battlefield. Dragontooth firmly nodded and trotted towards the open space. Leila smirked.

"I guess you let your pokemon out of the pokeball every time. Know that it can be very uncomfortable sometimes." She said. Richard didn't know what was she meaning. Leila just went on. She took a pokeball from her belt.

"Let's do it, Christy." She calmly said as she threw the round red and white object. The ball spun mid-air and burst open, revealing a white light. It headed towards the ground and slowly materialized into a four-legged pokemon. It had brown fur, which covered its whole body. Its ears were large and pointy, its tail was huge and fluffy, its eyes were black and wide. Richard smiled. It was an Eevee.

"All right. Ladies first." Richard said, grinning. Leila also smiled at this.

"You'll regret your choice, you know. Christy, use ShadowBall, will you?" The Eevee nodded. It closed its eyes and concentrated on making a dark ball on its mouth.

"Dragontooth! Brace yourself! And let's try Rolero Activito!" Richard ordered. He smiled at the same time. During his sickness, Richard developed a strategy on confusing his opponents by ordering his pokemon with key plans. One of the tactics for Dragontooth were Rolero Activito. Richard watched as Christy shot a dark ball at Dragontooth. The Bagon roared and pointed her head at the ball. Richard watched as the ball hit the Bagon straight at the shell. The collision emitted a smoky explosion, which covered the battlefield and worsened the vision. Dragontooth was nowhere to be seen. But then, the smoke suddenly flew away with the wind, revealing a spinning Bagon. Dragontooth then slowed down and stood up. It had her trademark red fierce eyes, a sign of a Bagon being enraged. Richard grinned. That was the purpose of Rolero Activito, which was useful against explosive attacks.

"Impressive." Leila said, clapping a bit. This reminded Richard of something strange. She looks very calm and amused. It's like… she's playing with me. Richard snapped out of his thoughts. Then he made a new decision.

"Dragontooth. Try H and R, okay?" This was an another tactic, developed by Richard. You're wondering what do H and R stand for? Easy. Hit and Run.

Richard watched as his Bagon dashed towards the brown pokemon. He saw the Bagon's teeth growing whiter and longer each second. Richard heard Leila order a Sand attack to reduce the Bagon's accuracy. This was going hard. If Christy managed to throw sand at Dragontooth before she finished H and R, this would be a disaster. Richard crossed his fingers. He watched the Bagon dashing. Then, suddenly, everything turned into a blur to Richard. He saw a blue figure, which was probably his Bagon, leap at the Eevee. There was a cry of pain, which sounded like a dragon's cry. Richard blinked. Sand-Attack was successful. But there was something else to it. Richard was amazed when the blue figure slammed at the brown figure with might, both flying because of the impact. Both collided with the wall, slamming and getting bruises because of this. They fell towards the ground. Richard noticed as the Eevee landed and jumped back, away from the Bagon. Dragontooth also stood up, but she looked like she was in pain. The vision cleared and Richard saw the battlefield clearer.

"All right. Your hurt eyes would be an advantage, you know." Richard joked, at which Dragontooth growled and focused at the Eevee as hard as possible again. Actually, Richard meant it. Because the next move was going to be successful.

"Leer, Dragontooth." Richard ordered. The Bagon approved with a nod and glared at the Eevee. Bagon Eyes + Enraged + Red Eyes = Bonus Effect. Richard grinned at this. The Eevee looked so frightened at the move, that every person would notice that it was going to faint from shock soon, not from danger. Its whole body trembled. Leila encouraged Christy with her words, but it seemed like it wasn't working. Richard watched as she mumbled something to herself. Then she shut her mouth when noticed Richard staring at her. Richard shook his head.

"All right. Rapid Attack this time." Richard was lucky he managed to teach each of his pokemon at least 15 tactics, each move acting simultaneously to different situations. There would probably be more tactics, but that's for later stories, ladies and gentlemen.

The purpose of the Rapid Attack was to go offensive against the enemy pokemon. Currently, according to Richard's almost empty PokePad, the only offensive move Dragontooth knew was Bite. So this was going to be a 'bite after bite' battle. Richard watched the battlefield. Dragontooth, with glowing teeth, ran straight at the trembling Eevee. He just jumped and bit the Eevee. Christ cried out in pain, struggling to get the Bagon off of her. But Dragontooth kept biting and biting. Blood was tickling from the Eevee's wound. Richard didn't like the sight. But the shocking face was Leila was doing nothing. She just stared at the scene with worried eyes and she kept murmuring something. Eventually, the Eevee fainted at the intense bleeding and Leila had to recall her pokemon. Again, she mumbled something. Then she clipped the pokeball onto her belt and turned towards me.

"Nice strategy you got there. But this time I've got-"

A large cry of a pokemon came from the distance. Both Richard and Leila turned towards the source of the cry. After that came a cry of a woman and a whining of a what seemed to be a canine pokemon. Something was going wrong. Richard and Leila looked at each other. They both nodded slightly.

"Let's check it out." They said in unison and dashed towards the source. Ethan and Richard's pokemon followed them. All of them ran as fast as possible. The sound was getting closer. And at the front Richard saw a bright light coming out of outside. Finally. Out. Of. The. Ice Path. The light enveloped the running figures of 3 kids and 2 pokemon.

 

[{Swan}]

@TJ - Ooooh cliffhanger, colour me intrigued! I really like the tactics, they're creative and fun to read about, I'll look forward to finding out about more of them.

Bagon (Dragontooth) grew to lv. 12!

 

[Strikit]

Chapter Two: The Ice Path

As the ball stopped shaking KC let out her breath in relief and ran to pick it up. Whereas before the ball had been light and cool to the touch, it was warm and only slightly heavier, but she could definitely tell it was occupied. "Good work Bulbasaur," she said reverently as she put it in the pocket opposite of the empties; she hadn't had the chance to get a belt yet.

Bulbasaur shuffled up to her and mumbled, shivering. She remembered then his paralysis, and picked him up quickly. "We're going to the Center, okay?" she murmured soothingly. Just as she turned around to leave the cave a young man with a Growlithe bounding after him stopped her.

"You're a trainer, right?" he yelled far too loudly for the cave's echo-y space.

"Yes," she grumbled. "But my Pokemon is injured so I'm on my way to the Center." She made to step around him, but he jumped in front of her. "Well... don't you have anymore Pokemon?"

"Yes," she said again, this time more forcefully. "But I just caught it and I need to train it more. Now, if you'll excuse me..."

"Come on!" he insisted, frowning. "What are you, scared?"

"What are you, stupid?" she retorted calmly. "I have told you no twice. I will not be battling you today. Perhaps after my Pokemon are at full health, if we meet again, I will accept your challenge. For now I need to keep my Pokemon's health at the forefront of my priorities. I suggest you do the same. Obviously you have no regard for anyone else's Pokemon's health, or else you would have let me go when I told you mine is injured. Now if you would be so kind as to step off, you can go learn some trainer's etiquette before you can call yourself an actual trainer."

He stared at her open mouthed, surprised by her lecture, as she passed him and headed out of the cave. KC was aware that she had been a bit crass, but the young man's stupidity was just too overwhelming. She wore a slight frown on her face but she tried to push the negative feelings away. Life is far too short to be irritated all the time, and she needed to focus on what her Bulbasaur needed.

Cradling it close, KC emerged into the sunlight and jogged toward the Center. Her legs were so long and her stride so smooth she hardly jostled it at all, which was a good thing. It looked uncomfortable as the paralysis worsened. It musn't have taken more than ten minutes for her to get to the Center from the cave. She opened the door with one hand and got in the line at the counter.

It took longer than she'd like for the line to move. While she waited she recalled her Bulbasaur, just to make things a little easier. It felt like an eternity, but eventually she was standing in front of the nurse.

"Just a routine heal?" the cheery red haired woman asked. KC nodded and set both balls on the table.

"Yes ma'am. Bulbasaur is paralyzed, I don't know if it will make any difference."

"Not at all!" she chirped. "I'll just place them in this machine here and turn it on like so..." She set the balls in the little niches in the machine then pressed a small button on the machine's front. It whirred to life and engulfed the balls in white light. They turned once, twice, thrice, then the machine pinged a high note and remained silent.

"All done. Here they are, and you have a nice day!"

KC accepted the balls gratefully. "Thank you so much."

She hurried out then, wanting to get out of the other trainers' way. When she got outside she released Bulbasaur again.

"Sorry about that," she said sheepishly. "We'll be more careful next time, right?"

It looked up at her distrustfully. Obviously she was going to have to prove herself as a trainer for it to put its faith in her.

"You need a name," she commented again as she started walking with it trailing after her. "What sounds good to you?"

It grumbled, as if to tell her how stupid that was. It couldn't exactly speak, could it?"

"Sorry. Um... you'll have a flower when you evolve. How about Fleur?"

It didn't just groan; it barked.

"That's a no. Um... Fauna?"

It barked once more, its eyes narrowed.

"What's so wrong with these names? They're good."

The look on its face told her that it thought she was immensely stupid.

"Oh... You're a boy, aren't you?"

If it could purse its lips it would.

"Okay, sorry." She strolled on quietly, her hands in her pockets. "Well... what do you want to be named?"

"Zoar," he said quietly as he shuffled along.

"Zoar, then," she said agreeably. When he didn't protest she took it as a sign of content. "I like it. Simple but unique."

The two entrances to the Ice Path loomed in front of her. KC paused and wondered which to go through, when she saw a large truck, probably a supply truck, exit the one that was paved. Logic dictated that the asphalt one was probably for vehicles, so the unpaved one should be for pedestrians. She headed for that one and once more Zoar wrapped his vine around her leg for security. He seemed less confident going into the cave this time, and KC made up her mind not to use him as her first choice should she come upon a Pokemon she wanted to fight or capture, not unless she was sure he could win. But she wouldn't tell him that she was making it easy on him. If she was going to try to raise his confidence it wouldn't be a good idea to tell him she was doing it.

The opportunity came quickly. A blue, folded up shape hung from the ceiling of the tunnel fifteen feet away from him. There was no way around it without probably waking it up, and even if there was KC didn't want to. She recognized it as a Zubat. If there was one foe Zoar could take, it was this one.

"What do you know?" she whispered aloud. "I know you can do Tackle... And that was a Shadow Ball you did... so it's Nature Power maybe? And you should be strong enough to know Leech Seed by now... And I know you can Growl."

She paused to formulate her thoughts, then she said just as quietly but more authoritatively, "Okay. Leech Seed."

Zoar crept forward, then shot a barrage of seeds at the sleeping Zubat. The impact of the seeds didn't wake it up, but the tiny roots working their way into its skin did. It unfolded its wings and turned upright with an angry screech. Just before it attacked it shuddered deeply as the parasitic seeds began to suck the energy out of its body. Blindly it began sending tiny, piercing squeaks in her direction. The lack of eyes forced it to act through echolocation. It felt the vibrations of KC before it did Zoar so it flew at her, fangs bared in preparation of a Leech Life attack. KC gasped and jumped back, giving Zoar time to prepare and execute a Nature Power attack. Being in a cave again, it turned into Shadow Ball and zoomed toward Zubat in a ball of black and purple negative energy. The attack missed through sheer bad luck, but it did alert Zubat to Zoar's location. Zubat screamed angrily and changed direction, its fangs still bared, this time aiming at Zoar's head. Zoar met it head on with a Tackle attack. Zoar must have been a higher level, because the Zubat slammed back against the wall and let out a pathetic squeak.

"Good job, Zoar," KC praised. She anticipated the Zubat to keep trying for at least a little longer, but instead it peeled itself off the wall and flew off in the direction of the cave opening. "You did it!" she said excitedly. "Excellent, Zoar. You didn't even have to try that hard!"

For the first time that day Zoar looked up at her with a warm expression much like a smile. She'd been right. He responded quickly to flattery. "You ready to go on?"

Zoar nodded and wrapped his vine around her leg more tightly this time. KC began the trek through the tunnel again, more confident herself now that she and Zoar had defeated a foe. Sure, it had been just a Zubat, but that was better than nothing. There was a spring in her step as she came to a fork in the tunnel. The path on her left was covered in the slip resistant black material that the floor she'd covered had been, and it was lit, so the choice seemed obvious, but then she saw a flash of movement from the right. You'd think she'd ignore it and go on but she was still a little cocky from her victory. "What was that?" she said sharply. Zoar looked up at her, confused; he hadn't seen it. "Come on, let's go check it out."

She led the way onto the right fork and proceeded with caution. It was harder to see now and the ground was far more slippery, so she didn't want to lose her footing. Around the corner peered a pair of large eyes masked in black. Two white feathery tufts stuck up on the creature's head, but she couldn't see anything else. Her first instinct was to send Zoar, but she reconsidered. "Come on out, Dratini," she called as she threw the ball. Dratini coiled up like a little snake and chirruped at the other Pokemon. It came out shyly, dragging a feathery bag behind it.

"You must be a Delibird!" she said as sudden recognition hit her. It peeped an affirmative and dug around in its bag for a few minutes. KC watched it uncertainly, afraid it was about to attack, when it pulled out a yellow box covered in red shiny ribbon. It shuffled forward and handed it to KC, its eyes bright and innocent.

"Oh, thank you," she said with a sweet smile. She began to unwrap it, but before she opened the box Zoar roared and jumped up, knocking it out of her hands. It fell on the ground several feet away, where it lay innocently for several seconds, before it exploded unimpressively. KC let out a cry of shock and jumped back.

"Dratini, use Thunder Wave!" she said angrily. She wasn't going to fall for Delibird's tricks again. Dratini obeyed surprisingly enough and engulfed the avian Pokemon's body in tiny yellow jolts of electricity. The Delibird trilled its disapproval and struggled against its muscles protests. It wanted to run away, but it couldn't get its legs to comply. "Good job. Now use Wrap."

Dratini slithered toward the Delibird and wrapped around its body. It struggled against the blue serpentine Pokemon that restrained it, but with every movement Dratini just held tighter. When Delibird had begun to struggle less valiantly KC threw a ball quickly. She wanted to catch it, but she didn't want to kill it. The ball struck Delibird on top of its head, fell to the icy ground, and began to shake.

 

[{Swan}]

@Strikit - Oh, I like KC's relationship with her Pokémon, or more accurately her non-relationship. It should be interesting to see it grow.

Bulbasaur (Zoar) grew to lv. 8!
Dratini grew to lv. 4!
KC caught a lv. 3 male Delibird with the egg move Ice Punch!

 

[Strikit]

Chapter Three: Route 44

As the ball ceased to shake KC made to step forward and grab it. Her lack of adjustment for the slippery tunnel floor in that single step was enough to pitch her forward and make her slam her face into the icy ground. She cursed colorfully and rolled over to sit up, clutching her nose. Zoar came over to nose her leg worriedly. "I'm okay," she assured him even as she blinked stars out of her eyes. Her Dratini remained several feet away. Obviously it didn't care so much.

"Come on over," she summoned. It slithered over uncertainly. "You did really awesome. You should have a name too, come to think of it."

Dratini watched her with large, gorgeous saphire blue eyes. KC was taken aback by their depth and beauty, and it led her to examine the rest of Dratini's body. "You're a truly stunning little one, aren't you?" she complimented. Dratini blinked in surprise and lowered its head shyly. Obviously it responded well to flattery, in a very feminine way.

"You're a little girl, aren't you?" she said gently. Dratini came a little closer and tentatively rubbed her head against KC's hand. KC stroked her smooth, pleasantly cool body respectfully. "I think I want to name you Misty. Do you like that?"

She accepted her name with a happy sound much like a purr. "Alright. You're Misty then. Do you want to stay out, or do you want to go back?"

Misty looked around her surroundings, then nosed her ball decisively. Being around all this ice was making her uneasy. "Alright then. You've done well."

She recalled Misty then got to her feet, recovered from her faceplant. "Let's go, Zoar. Back the way we came."

She and Zoar retraced their steps carefully until they came back to the nonslip floor covering that marked the trail. Once she'd found it she followed it through the other tunnel. She passed Pokemon here and there at the wider parts of the tunnel, but they blinked at her and scuffled back into hiding. They needn't worry; though KC watched them with interest she just wanted to be out of the cold. It was seeping through her long sleeves and she started to shiver, wrapping her arms around herself. She knew then Zoar must be very cold himself, but he wasn't showing any signs. He was a very resilient little critter. To her relief she could see the mouth of the tunnel in the distance. She lengthened her strides and as soon as she was out in the sunlight she breathed out a sigh of relief.

"That was an ordeal, wasn't it?" she commented. Zoar grunted an affirmative and shook himself, getting the ice crystals off of his body. "At least it's warmer out here."

And the path was much wider, and straighter. KC shuffled her feet a little bit to enjoy the good traction of the dirt and strolled along with her hands in her pockets. Feeling the two occupied balls in her right pocket, she made a mental note to buy a belt at the next town she came to. It would be so much more convenient to just be able to pluck the ball off of her belt and throw it in seconds. When she got far enough to encounter higher level Pokemon she would have to be so prepared.

The sun had begun to sink on the horizon since she'd left Blackthorn, but there were still a few hours of daylight left. KC made a mental note to hurry up. She didn't want to be caught out in the wilderness in the darkness, not surrounded by all these wild Pokemon. There was no doubt in her mind that there were many watching her right now, they were just too shy to show themselves. She might not be so lucky if she were to push it. KC sped up a little bit, then stopped dead as she heard her name called.

"Miss Cannan!" an echo-y masculine voice called. KC turned to see Jonah, the shy assistant from the lab, running out of the tunnel.

"Jonah," she greeted. "Have I forgotten something?"

He stopped in front of her and doubled over, his hands braced on his knees while he gasped in air. "Professor Sequoia wanted me to bring you this." After a few seconds he straightened up and handed her a small, plain white box.

"Oh, thank you," she said a little uncertainly. She opened the lid and pulled back the delicate wrapping to find a black ball with large green spots and a reddish-orange stripe around its circumferance.

"A dusk ball?" she said happily. "Thank you!"

"Professor Sequoia found these balls in her unpacked boxes and she thought her new trainers might appreciate them," he explained shyly.

"I very much appreciate it. Please send her my thanks, and thanks to you too for running after me."

Jonah smiled and blushed. "It was no trouble. Good luck!" He waved and took off running in the direction he'd come. KC shrunk the ball down and put it in a separate pocket of her cargo pants than she had the other ones. She wanted to be able to find it easily. She also broke down the box, folded it to tiny pieces, and placed it in another pocket. She didn't see a trash can anywhere but she certainly wouldn't be littering.

With those destractions out of her way KC began again, only to run into a rather frustrated and frazzled looking Ranger.

"Oh, thank god you came along," he panted. "Are you a trainer?"

KC nodded uneasily.

"Good! Can you help me? There's an Armaldo that's been beat up pretty bad and I need to take a look at it, but it's too scared to let me."

KC was nervous due to her inexperience, but she was willing to try. "Okay. I just got my first Pokemon today so I don't know if I'll be very good, but I caught two more and we'll see what we can do."

"Thank you! Come with me, it's over here in this clearing."

The Ranger led her off of the path and through the trees, into a forest clearing. There sat an Armaldo on its hindquarters, breathing heavily with its eyes half closed. At first KC couldn't see what was wrong with it, but then she noticed dark red oozing from the space in its armor that surrounded its left arm.

"What happened to it?" she whispered.

"It was attacked," the Ranger explained. "It wandered onto another Armaldo's territory and the other one was much more street smart. It stabbed it through the armor and penetrated its body. I'm really concerned, it's lost a lot of blood. We have to hurry."

KC released Misty and her newly caught Delibird. "Okay, are you guys willing to help?"

Misty cooed and affirmative and Delibird nodded enthusiastically. Zoar came to stand next to them stoically, its own chill way of saying yes.

"Good. Misty, try to immobilize it with a Thunder Wave. Zoar, wrap it up in a Vine Whip. Delibird..."

She looked down at the little red and white bird uncertainly.

"...do whatever you do best."

Misty crept forward first, just as the Ranger raised an eyebrow at her. "...you do realize Armaldo is a Rock type, right? Thunder Wave isn't going to work."

KC's eyes widened as she realized her mistake, but it was too late to call Misty back. She inched forward, then sent a barrage of yellow sparks toward the larger Pokemon. Armaldo shook it off and stood. It looked much larger and much more dangerous then, and KC suddenly became even more uneasy.

"Go Parasect!" the Ranger said quickly. A well cared for Parasect was ejected from its ball. Without waiting for orders it scuttled toward Armaldo, its pincers raised. Apparently it knew the drill well.

It was just as well that the Ranger sent out his own Pokemon, because it distracted Armaldo just as he'd moved to spear a claw through Misty. It roared in fury and charged at Parasect. Without flinching it stood its ground and covered Armaldo in a fine yellow powder. Armaldo slowed down considerably from the Stun Spore but it still wasn't giving up without a fight. It continued to charge. Zoar bounded forward and encircled one of Armaldo's legs with his vine. Armaldo tripped and fell onto its belly with a resounding groan. Delibird ran up then and set down another yellow box with a red ribbon, right next to Armaldo's head. Armaldo glanced at it, then bit into it to reveal a large, juicy, shiny red apple. It swallowed it in one bite then got to its feet, looking much better.

Zoar reacted quickly. He wrapped his vines around Armaldo's arms, then grunted something to Misty. The little Dratini hurried forward gracefully and wrapped herself around its legs. That left it immobilized long enough for Parasect to dust it in fine blue powder, Sleeping Powder. The Armaldo's eyelids drooped and it fell backward, completely unconscious.

"Good work!" the Ranger praised as he ran up and knelt next to Armaldo. Zoar retracted his vines, then wrapped them around it again, this time staying away from its left arm. Misty didn't relax for a second while the Ranger began to examine the Armaldo. He flashed an LED light into its armor and noticed the long, deep gash extending from above its arm to the inside of its shell.

"It'll be just a second..." he murmured as he held the light in his mouth. He produced a Hyper Potion from his belt and sprayed it into the gash from end to end. It foamed angrily, then dissolved into its flesh, healing it from the inside. He then sprayed it with liquid bandage and nodded to Zoar. "Let it go, we're done."

Zoar loosened his vines and Misty unwound herself, and they both went back to stand next to KC.

"Your Pokemon were extraordinary," the Ranger said happily. "Thank you for your help."

"It was no trouble," KC said with a smile. "Is it going to be okay?"

"It'll be fine. It was a routine heal, and it should be completely fine in a few days."

KC breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. I'm glad it'll heal."

"You're free to go," the Ranger told her. "Good luck on your travels, and remember to appreciate those awesome Pokemon you have there."

"I won't," she promised. As the Ranger walked off she knelt to pet Zoar's head, stroke Misty's long back, and ruffle Delibird's feathers.

"I know what to name you now," she told Delibird. "You're impossible to predict. I don't know if you do it on purpose, but whether you do or not, your name is going to be Joker. Deal?"

He chirruped agreeably at her. Now that everyone had received their due praise KC recalled Misty and Joker and stood.

"Off to Mahogany," she said cheerfully. "I think that's our first gym battle, too. What do you think, Zoar?"

He grunted confidently, looking up at her with a cocky expression.

"That easy, hm?" KC giggled. "Well, I have no doubt that you can do this."

As the sun had begun to set the wildlife grew more active. She could heal howls that sounded alarmingly close, yet so far. The trees rustled and the bushes shook. KC lengthened her strides, not wanting to be caught out like this. She nearly screamed when she felt her leg be pulled back. She looked back quickly to see a small, scruffy Poochyena growling and tugging at her pant leg.

"Let go!" she growled, shaking her leg. It growled again and shook its head, tearing into her pants a little.

"Zoar, get it off."

Zoar raised a vine and whacked it in the head. The first time didn't do it, so he kept doing it until finally the Poochyena got frustrated and let go. KC and Zoar ran off while it was distracted. She was sure they could beat it, but she wanted to hurry up and get into town.

Apparently it wouldn't be that easy. It chased after them, barking and causing an unnecessary amount of ruckus. Surely it would attract other Pokemon like that, if not its pack. KC stopped and turned around with a frown.

"Fine, we'll do this. Go, Joker."

She threw Joker's ball and it landed with a happy bounce. "Use Present."

Joker fluttered over to the Poochyena and pulled a box out of its bag. Poochyena sniffed it uncertanly, then tore into the wrapping. Inside was another juicy red apple. Its ears perked up happily and it began to eat. Although that wasn't what KC had intended, it would work just fine.

"Come on guys," she urged as she turned and began to walk off quickly. The Poochyena was adequately distracted and didn't follow. "Good job, Joker," she praised as she returned him. She wondered how she'd ever use him in real battles when he was so unpredictable, but she supposed he'd learn other attacks. Present could become something of a last resort.

The downward slope of the mountainous path carried her almost right into Mahogany without her ever noticing. "We're almost there," she said reverently. "There'll be a warm bed and food."

Zoar purred appreciatively and began to trot faster. There was a rumble in both their bellies that needed to be quieted.

 

[{Swan}]

Strikit - Another great post, I like the creativity you showed subduing the Armaldo, as well as your attention to the little things, like KC's lack of a belt and her lack of knowing Joker's egg move.

Bulbasaur (Zoar) grew to lv. 12 and learned Vine Whip!
Dratini (Misty) grew to lv. 8!
Delibird (Joker) grew to lv. 7!

 

[romdinner]

Chapter 5 - Part II
" Fighting 'till the end"
- New Mahogany Town -
​

Lily was rushing towards the Pokemon Center as she had just won her first gym battle and needless to say some of her pokemon were tired and hurt, two of them to be more precise. The pokemon center was in the opposite side of the town which was quite frustrating as it didn't have any logic, the gym in one side and the center in the other. Maybe it was done so the travelers could see the whole town…..but that still wasn't a good damn reason for Lily. She was stepping puddle into puddle as she made her way through the empty streets as the sun was claiming its rightful place on the sky after the storm. But things don't always shine as bright as the sun do they? As Lily took a corner she bumped into a well build man, with broad shoulders and red hair that was leaning on a light pole.

"Sorry, I'm in a hurry!" Lily apologized and went past him. But as she went by him she felt something grabbing her arm.

"Not so fast missy! It's not polite to rush so soon." The man said with a smirk on his face.

Lily was starting to get frustrated….she didn't have the time nor the interest to speak right now. " I said sorry what more do you want? " she said trying to get loose from his grip.

" Hmmmm why not a newly fresh badge data that you have won." He said pointing to her bag. The man had earlier seen Lily walk out of the Gym with a smile on her face, which made him believe that she had won the badge and now he was sure of it.

" What good will it do to you….it's already registered under my name…so even if you acquire the data it would be useless." She replied getting even more angry at the mad.

"Oh that won't be a problem….our technology is very useful nowadays…a little hacking here and there and the problem is solved." He said smiling up to his ears.

"Well then let me get my Pad."

"What a good girl." The man said releasing her arm.

Lily went for her bag… " Now where did I put that thing? Oh here it is!!!" she mumbled with a smile…." HERE TAKE IT!!!!!" Lily said hitting the man in his "Pokeballs". The man fell down trying not to cry from the pain. "Congratulation you just got your badge!!!" Lily said as she turned and started to run.

"Why you little!!!!" the man said as he was trying to get up. He made an effort and got up and started chasing after the girl. Lily had managed to make a great distance between her and the stalker….or whatever you could call him….but he had one advantage….he knew the city better than her. Lily looked behind her and saw that the man had disappeared and for a moment thought that that she was finally safe but she thought wrong as at the next corner the guy was waiting for her with the same pathetic smirk. " Going somewhere?" he said dashing to grab the girl.

"Yeah away from you!!!" she said smacking him with her bag making him get on his knees which gave her enough time to get on the other side of the road and go through some alley. She run as fast as she could, scaring some Starly that had been sitting on a fence. The man was behind her and was gaining up on her. Lily took a left when the alley ended and quickly, put of reflex, threw some trash bins down to block the path behind her…..she was littering but in this cases I think it was ok. As the man followed he tripped over the bin landing into a pile of trash and looked like he wouldn't get up very soon, or smell better. Lily took the chance and dashed through the streets and alleys of the city and managed to walk half the way towards the Pokemon Center into a park. She was tired and went down and sat on a bench: gym battle + storm + running trying to escape from a stalker = one big tired Lily.

"You're gonna pay little missy!!!!" a voice shouted behind her. The guy had caught up to her somehow and was heading her way. He threw a pokeball in the air and out came a blue mouse pokemon which had the same smirk as his trainer.

"Come on!!! Of all the days….." were the words going through Lily's head. She got up and backed away step by step making sure that the mouse wouldn't do anything rash. As she was slowly retreating she bumped into a tree. That when the guy told his pokemon to use Water Gun. Lily closed her eyes and could almost feel the water stream smashing into her and at th3e same time she heard some pops. She slowly opened her eyes only to see Clover and Winter in front of her, both pokemon using Protect and Ace behind them holding them in place so they would not be blown away. Lily was really grateful towards her pokemon but the thanks would have to wait for later. Clover and Winter fell down gasping for air as soon as the water attack ended. The battle earlier that day had really put its mark on them. Lily called them back into their pokeballs not wanting to risk their health any longer. Ace was still out and looked like it was ready to fight….the type match wasn't really in Lily's favour. "Burr…Drilbur!!!!" the pokemon cried crossing its arms and looking at Lily.

"Ok but we'll have to very careful or else you'll be knocked out in no time." Lily said getting a grip on herself and walking a few steps away from the tree.

"Oh so the little miss what's to have a fight……..HA HA HA… what a joke?!?!" the mad laughed as hard a she could. " You may have beaten the gym leader but my water pokemon will beat you ground one.

Lily bit her lip " Pokemon aren't always about type…" she said but even she wasn't really sure of her words…..she had fought many battles where she was at a type disadvantage but she only had Ace since recently and used it only in a contest….frankly speaking this was his first battle with Lily. She pulled out her PokePad and searched for some information about the blue coloured mouse.

​

" Marill, the Aqua Mouse Pokémon. The tip of its tail floats in water, so it can swim in any current no matter how rough. "


​

" Now that you've done your homework….let me show you what it means to mess with me. Marill Water Gun on the double!!!!" he said grinning.

"Rapid Spin to evade!!!!" Lily quickly responded knowing as if she couldn't counter the attacks he could at least evade it. Ace started spinning and flew up high out of the stream's range. He went over both Marill and the guy and came back hitting the guy in the head and doing the same with Marill. Ace was furious at for what they had done to Lily...his sense of justice was as bright as ever now that he was Lily's last hope. Lily couldn't help but give a smile at Ace's doing……she and him had similar traits when it comes to dealing with these type of persons.

"YOU ARE GONNA PAY !!!!!" he said breathing hard between every word like he was going to rampage like a bull any minute. " Marill BubbleBeam and this time follow him!!!" Marill sent out dozens of bubbles towards Ace at high speed and power. The mole pokemon was trying it's hardest to evade them but eventually got hit as Marill was shooting bubbles like it was going berserk. Ace was sent crashing into a nearby house, the bubble popping in contact with him. " Now Tackle him while he's still down!!!" the man said enjoying every bit of the battle.

"Ace Rapid Speed again!!!" Lily said clenching her fist…..the guy was getting on her nerves…..she was determined to make him eat his words. As Marill ran towards Ace he got out of its way letting Marill smash into the wall of the house….then the mole pokemon quickly coming back to smash the water pokemon even harder. Despite the guy's angry state and all the shouting and bad talk about Lily, the girl didn't even bother anymore to reply as she realized that the guy wasn't even worth it.

" Marill get up already and ram him with a Rollout!!" he said urging Marill to get up. The mouse pokemon got up and started rolling heading towards Ace. But despite Marill approaching Lily didn't give any order.

"Now Ace… Mud Sport!!!" Lily shouted as Marill was getting closer. Ace hit the ground with his claws and a slippery path formed in front of him. Marill came right on in and lost its balance and slipped falling into the ground. " Perfect!!!" Lily burst as her plan had worked. " Now follow up with Mud-Slap and keep it coming!!!!"

" Pesky girl!!!! You're more of a headache than I thought!!!" he said seeing as Marill was getting hit by one mud ball after another. "Marill counter with BubbleBeam!!!" Marill started using the attacks to counter the mud balls that were flying towards it. Each mud ball fell down once it got hit by a bubble almost all the battlefield covered in mud. " Nicely done…now let's crush that confidence. Marill switch to Water Gun!!!" he ordered the mouse pokemon and as it was told it switched from the bubbly attacks to the stream of water. The stream pushed back the mud balls and in a matter of seconds hit Ace sending him into the trunk of a tree. " That should teach you a lesson to listen when you are told to do something, but just in case Marill use BubbleBeam to keep that mole of a thing stuck to that tree. Lily looked in horror as in a blink of an eye Marill launched its attack pinning Ace to the tree. The mole pokemon was getting hit by the bubbles and was trying its hardest to endure it but it was reaching its limits.

"This is the last time you'll ever hurt any of my pokemon!!!" Lily said with a confident and threatening look in her eyes . "Ace Rapid Spin out of there!!!!!" and as soon as Lily spoke out Ace found the strength to get out of there. " Now let's finish this!!!!! Come down and use Rapid Spin close to the mud!!!" Lily said pointing at a specific place on the battle field. Ace went right at the designated spot and span as hard as it could. The movement made the mud surrounding him be pushed away and sent flying in the form of mud balls. It went into every direction hitting both Marill and the guy, knocking them both onto the ground. Marill had been left unconscious while, to Lily's misfortune, the guy was getting back up….but at least he was covered in mud. Just as Ace stopped spinning he dropped on the ground as he used all its energy and strength on that last attack. Lily rushed and picked him up in her arms. "You were my knight in shining armor." Lily said looking at the sleeping mole.

"How touching!!!" the man replied. " I'm not done with you….Marill isn't the only pokemon I have." He said grinning and reaching for a pokeball from his belt. Lily turned around and wanted to run but slipped due to the muddles of mud. A horrid feeling went down her spine….the same feeling of helplessness that she felt a long time ago when she got captured…..she called Drilbur back into his pokeball and turned around ready to face

"Alright mister!!! You're arrested under the accusation of trying to attempt theft and harming innocent pokemon and people!!!" an officer said putting handcuffs on the man. Lily couldn't believe her eyes there were several cops surrounding the man and the Joshua was also along them.

The gym leader walked up to Lily and helped her get up. " Are you ok Lily? " he said getting some mud off from her shoulder.

"Yeah…." The girl replied taking a deep breath as she was still shocked.

"Good to hear that." He said relieved. " I'm truly sorry you had to go through that! I should have escorted you from the gym."

"No no you don't have to be sorry….it wasn't your fault….it could have happened to anyone."

"Yup anyone with a gym badge. The guy is a thief that has been roaming around the region stealing badges from trainers as it was an easier way than to face the gym leaders, but now he's been caught." Joshua said looking as how the guy was being pushed into the police car. "Now let's get you to the Pokemon Center."

-------

"Good thing nothing happened to miss Lily. To think that such brutes still roam around free." Knight said from across the park.

"Nothing would have happened to Lily….we would have interfered if the police hadn't shown up in time. The guy got lucky." Xander said clenching his fist.

"Lucky?" Knight asked confused. Then the pokemon read Xander's mind and found out what he personally would have done to that guy if he got his hands on him. " Master should we follow them?"

"No, she'll be ok now that her pokemon will be healed. We have to get back to our journey as well." And with that Xander and Knight headed out towards the outskirts of the town.

-------

Joshua and Lily reached the Pokemon Center and Lily immediately gave her pokemon into the nurse's skillful hands. She then and sat down at a table where she would wait until her pokemon would be better. Joshua came with two drinks and handed one to Lily. " You need a nice hot bath and then a ice rest." Joshua said seeing that Lily was exhausted.

"Yeah but it'll have to wait until I receive my pokemon." Said Lily taking a sip out of her drink. " Say Joshua how come you all knew that I was in trouble?" Lily asked as the question came into her mind while waiting for him.

"Well the police received a call from a person who saw you being chased by the thief several blocks ahead of him then hung up. After that the police used a flying pokemon to track you and called me to help them out…. then we found you and you know the rest."

"I see…and do the police know this stranger?" asked Lily curious.

"I don't think so as he just informed them and then hung up. But if it wasn't for him you could have been harmed." He said crossing his arms.

"Yeah I know…..that's why I wanted to thank him." Lily said looking outside the window at some people that were passing by.

"Well don't worry about it too much. Some people do good deeds and don't expect nothing in return." He replied then checked his clock. " Oh sorry Lily but I have a battle in 20 minutes so I have to leave. Take care of yourself and be careful. " he said getting up then headed towards the exit. " And get some rest!" he said as he went out. Lily thanked him and wished him luck in his upcoming battle.

After about an hour or so Clover, Winter and Ace were all healed and treated and were given back to Lily. She was glad to see her pokemon back on their feet again and full of energy. She was indeed relieved and happy that everything was alright now. She rented a room at the center as she decided to spend the night and later went, along with her pokemon, to a local hot spring. She put on a swim suit and entered the hot and steamy water along with Clover and Winter. Ace was sitting along the edge on a chair with some pokemon tea next to him. The water was refreshing and was all that Lily could have asked after a rough day like the one that had just occurred. As they were enjoying themselves Lily turned to her pokemon. " Guys I wanted to tell you thanks for being there for me today. All of you were great and Ace you fought as hard as ever. " Lily said in a humble voice. Her pokemon all smiled at Lily's words, even Ace who usually didn't show any emotion except confident and coolness. "Drilburr!!! Snorunt!!! Swadloon!!!" they replied letting Lily know that they were glad she was ok.


​

 

[{Swan}]

@Romdinner - A wonderful post again, I really like the idea of a hacker thief, and your creative battling never ceases to entertain me (:

Drilbur (Ace) grew to lv. 14 and learned Fury Swipes!

 

[Ponee]

CHAPTER ONE: PART ONE
Blackthorn City
Daphne Dean

Not even a rainy day could drizzle out Daphne's energy. This was it, she had be preparing for this day for countless hours. This was the day she would start her Pokemon journey. She stood at the door of the large silver building with the words "Pokemon Lab" embedded into the metal above the door and took a deep breath before entering. The young girl was shaking, not from being nervous, but from being way to excited!

"Greetings!" Said a woman standing behind a table with little red and white pokeballs resting on top. The women wore a long white labcoat with a pair of khaki pants on, this seemed to be the regular uniform for all professors. Next to her was a younger looking man who seemed to be more interested in a Pokemon book then Daphne's arrival.

"Howdy!" Daphne replied walking up to the Professor as she waved her hand. "My name is Daphne Dean and I am ready for my Pokemon!"

The professor chuckled. "Nice to meet you Daphne, I am Professor Sequoia. I'm glad you are ready to recieve your Pokemon. I believe I have the perfect one for you." She grabbed one of the pokeballs that was on the table. She pressed a small button in the center of the ball that made it grow larger. Once it was at the size of a tennis ball she tossed it into the air. A small glow shot out of the ball and onto the floor. It began to for the shape of a small Pokemon. The glow faded away and a cute little creature appeared.

The ball of fluff rubbed it's eyes and let out a tiny yawn. "This is Emolga." Professor Sequoia said as the Pokemon climbed up her body and perched herself on to the Professor's shoulder.

Daphne squeeked in excitement when she saw her Pokemon. "Hey there partner!" She smiled, reaching her hand out so Emolga could sniff it. Emolga let out a squeel and climbed farther up Professor Sequoia's body.

The professor frowned and said, "I was afraid this was going to happen. Emolga is very shy. It may be better if I just put her back into her pokeball and then give her to you." While Emolga was still resting on her thin black hair, she reached for her pokeball and sent the Pokemon back into it.

Daphne sighed as she grabbed the ball. "I didn't mean to scare it."

"No honey, its not your fault. She just needs to get use to you." Professor Sequioa said, trying to cheer her up.

Professor handed Daphne the pokeball as well as five others. "If you want to be able to catch Pokemon you will use these. You are allowed to have up to six pokemon with you at the time, if you happen to catch a Pokemon while you already have six, the Pokeball will be sent to my lab and will stay in a safe place intill you come to switch Pokemon." Daphne grabbed the pokeballs and placed them into the compartments on her satchel.

Without warning, a sharp pain went through Daphne's wrist.

"YAWOCH!" She hollared, squeezing her wrist. "What was that for?"

"That is your License chip. You are now officially a Pokemon Trainer. The License chip will allow you to rest at Pokecenters for free, as well as any other place if needed. You will know when something needs your license chip if it has a small machine next or built into the object. You will understand once you see it."

The next thing Professor Sequoia handed Daphne was a small portable computer-like item.

"Wow! What is this dohicky?!" Daphne's eyes widened.

The professor let out a light chuckle. "This is your Pokepad. It's pretty neat if you ask me! There are all different apps that include a Pokedex, which is what you use to get information about Pokemon, a map and internet connection. It also serves as a phone and includes a free wireless headset!"

Daphne reached for the pokepad and flipped it open. There were many different icons, and to be honest she had no idea what they were for. But its okay, she has her entire journey to learn how to use it!

"Is that everything?" Daphne asked while putting her new contraption into her bag.

Professor Sequoia nodded. "Good luck on your journey. Have fun, be safe and no matter what don't give up."

Daphne grinned. "Don't worry ma'am! I'll be the most rootin' tootin' darn shootin' pokemon trainer you will ever see!" the professor gave her an awkward smile, not really knowing what she had just said.

And with that Daphne exited the lab.

(To be continued. Don't worry Jonah and the dragon den will be in the next part. I just wanted to get the basics out of the way!)​

 

[{Swan}]

@Iwasapony - Oh god she's adorable! I'll definitely look forward to reading more about that hyperactive girl there xD

Daphne received an Emolga!

-
-

Chapter 5: New Mahogany​

[ Optional Event: ]


Just as you are about to leave New Mahogany to resume your journey the leader Joshua approaches you. He again congratulates you on your victory and offers you a ride from New Mahogony's (apparently) famous hot air balloons to quickly transport you back to Mahogony Town and on your way to route 42.

Route 42​

Route 42 is a straight-forward road going straight to Ecruteak city. It is where the last scraps of mountain fade out into a thick broadleaf forest towards the end of the route. The road is broken up by a small lake in the middle. There used to be two lakes, but over the years the second one has all but dried up, with a very, very thin and shallow stream still running through it, the rest being mud now. Be careful not to fall into it, the walls are all mud and slippery and it would be quite difficult to get back out of it! There are two bridges spanning both the still-full lake and the dried-up lake. They're metal bridges, several meters wide and incredibly sturdy. There are a pair of fishing rods on both bridges, the one above the dried-up lake being very old and not license-chip operated, you'd have to throw in coins to use it (it's been there for a very long time, no one's just bothered to take it away after the water ran dry). The rod on above the good lake is a new one that will be free for trainers.


There used to be access to a cave on this route as well, but corrosion paired with a recent cave-in have left the cave completely un-enterable. As you get closer to Ecruteak City you might notice that there are some orange or yellow tinted trees in the forest. These oddly-coloured trees get more common the closer you get to the city until the entire forest has a golden colour.




[ Pokémon available in the Forest: ]


Spearow

Level: 9-12
Type: Normal/Flying
Moves: Peck, Growl, Leer, Fury Attack
Rarity:Common



Mankey

Level: 9-12
Type: Fighting
Moves: Covet, Scratch, Low Kick, Leer, Focus Energy, Fury Swipes
Rarity: Common



Spinarak

Level: 9-12
Type: Bug/Poison
Moves: Poison Sting, String Shot, Scary Face, Constrict, Leech Life
Rarity:Unommon



Aipom

Level: 9-12
Type: Normal
Moves: Scratch, Tail Whip, Sand Attack, Astonish, Baton Pass
Rarity: Rare



Deerling

Level: 9-12
Type: Normal, Grass
Moves: Tackle, Camouflage, Growl, Sand Attack, Double Kick
Rarity: Rare


Joltik

Level: 6-9
Type: Bug/Electric
Moves: String Shot, Leech Life, Spider Web, Thunder Wave, Screech, Fury Cutter
Rarity: Very Rare



[ Pokémon available by the Lake: ]


Basculin

Level: 9-12
Type: Water
Moves: Tackle, Uproar, Water Gun, Headbutt, Bite
Rarity: Uncommon



[ Pokémon available by the Lake: ]


Shellos

*image removed*

Level: 9-12
Type: Water
Moves: Mud Slap, Mud Sport, Harden, Water Pulse, Mud Bomb
Rarity: Common




[ What you may, may not and must do: ]




- You must travel through Route 42 and battle a Pokémon or an NPC trainer.
- You may take part in the Optional Event or you may write about walking back through Route 43.
- You may see the evolved form of the Pokémon mentioned above, but you may not battle it or attempt to catch it.
- You must end an attempt to catch a Pokémon with the throwing the Pokéball, I will decide wether you catch it or not.
- You may interact with other roleplayers here if you wish, but you must do so through a joined post.




[ Notes on cathing a Pokémon : ]




- You must end an attempt to catch a Pokémon with the throwing the Pokéball, I will decide wether you catch it or not. I cannot stress this enough.
- The better your post is, the higher the level of your Pokémon
- If the Pokémon you are after is Very Rare, your post will have to be above-average in order to catch it.
- If your post is exceptionally well-written and/or entertaining, there is a change your Pokémon will get an Egg Move.

 

[Ponee]

Chapter One: Part 2
Dragon's Den
Daphne Dean

The drizzling had finally stopped by the time Daphne left the lab. Instead of going straight out of the city, Daphne decided she would try and talk to her new Pokemon, Emolga.

Near the lab was a large oak tree that would be a nice spot to introduce herself to Emolga. She made her way to the tree and once she got there she positioned herself in the 'criss-cross applesauce' position on the soft grass underneath the tree. She reached into her satchel and grabbed her Pokepad in one hand and the Pokeball in the other.

"Okay buddy. Come on out." The pokeball enlarged and realeased the flying squirell pokemon. The Emolga appeared, rubbing her large eyes as if she had been fast asleep in her ball. Daphne flipped open the Pokepad.

"Okay how does this thing work?" She asked herself as she began pressing buttons on the device.

"BEEEEEP BEEEEEP BEEEEEP" the alarm had went off. Daphne began to fumble with it trying to turn it off.

"Gosh golly!" She began pressing the buttons more rapidly now as if that would help.

Suddenly it stopped. Daphne sighed in relief.

"Man, that was crazy wasn't it Em- Hey where'd you go?" Daphne looked around trying to find her Pokemon. Wow, it hadn't even been an hour and she had already lost it. She spotted Emolga.... hauling her little black and white butt back to the lab.

"Hey get back here! I just want to be your friend!" Daphne hopped up and started running towards her Pokemon while flailing her arms around like a Magikarp that had accidentally jumped onto land.

Emolga had reached the lab and was trying her hardest to open the door. She let out a small shriek as she noticed Daphne chasing after her.

Finally, someone opened the lab door and Emolga shot up into his arms. Daphne had reached the lab by that point. She realized the man was the assistant that was standing next to Professor Sequoia when she had received her Pokemon.

"I am so sorry. My Pokepad went all wacky and Emolga decided that it was time to come back home and I just couldn't catch her!" Daphne mumbled.

The man sighed. "Please be more careful. This Pokemon is your life now, and now she is afraid of you. Congratulations." He handed Emolga over to Daphne, who's face was now a light shade of red from his sarcastic remark. She didn't mean to scare her Pokemon. It was an accident.

"Well, how do I become her friend?" She asked as she held the squirming Emolga in her arms.

The assistant pointed to a large poster on one of the walls in the lab. "These Pokemon are located in a cave behind the lab called the Dragon's Den. I suggest you go explore the top floor of the cave."

Daphne nodded and walked to the poster. There were a few different Pokemon on the poster, a long with their names and information. One of them caught her eye:

Gible
The Land Shark Pokemon
It attacks using its huge mouth. While its attacks are powerful, it hurts itself out of clumsiness, too.

Daphne smiled, she knew she wanted to catch a Gible.

***

With Emolga safely back in her pokeball and finally figuring out how to work her Pokepad, thanks to the assistant who's name turned out to be Jonah, Daphne was finally on her Pokemon journey... for real this time.

She came to the entrance of the cave, it was large, dark and smelled like mold. But that wasn't going to stop Daphne from going in to catch her Gible!

Without hesitation Daphne charged into the den.

"Here Gible, Gible, Gible!" She cupped her hands around her mouth and hollered as she went farther into the cave.

There seemed to be a large hole in the tunnel, with a ladder going down in it. Maybe there would be a Gible down there! Daphne pranced over to the hole and peeked down.

"Gible, you down there?" her voice was cut off by a scruffy old man. "Excuse me miss, but you are not allowed down here. It is Professor Sequoia's orders." The man told her.

"Oops, sorry." Daphne turned around and headed the other way, still looking for the Gible. Suddenly, something attached itself to her foot! She let out a shriek and managed to football punt the thing to the side of the cave. Quickly, she pulled out Emolga's pokeball. The flying squirrel Pokemon looked around, noticing that she was not near the lab anymore. She also noticed the Pokemon that was charging towards her! Panicking, she leaped into Daphne's arms.

Daphne couldn't help but smile, knowing that Emolga seemed to already trust her a little bit more, but this wasn't the best time for a love fest! There was a crazy pokemon running towards them full speed. Daphne realized that the Pokemon was actually none other than... GIBLE!

"Quick Emolga, use an attack on him!" She tossed Emolga towards Gible, which may not have been the best idea considering that the Gible was close enough to bite into the poor Emolga. Thankfully, Emolga dodged the Gible and landed on a rock protruding out the cave walls. The Gible regathered itself and began jumping up towards the rock trying to reach Emolga, who was perched on it.

Daphne pulled out her Pokepad and somehow managed to pull up an app that had Emolga's attacks on it. "Iron Tail, Quick Attack, and Thunder shock." She read allowed. "Emolga use Thunder shock!" She called out.

Emolga obeyed and shot a string of electricity towards the Gible, who didn't even bother moving. The static shock hit the Gible, but it didn't seem to do anything. The Gible just awkwardly stood there and blinked for a second before procedding to try and grab Emolga again.

"Uh-oh." Daphne began to panic, was Emolga broken or something? Why didn't thunder shock work? Suddenly, she heard a raspy masculin voice.

"Gible is part rock. It is not effected by electric moves." Daphne turned around and noticed a tall, slender boy who seemed to be around her age, maybe a year or two older. He had shaggy brown hair that almost reached his eyelashes of his brown eyes. He was wearing a red vest, with a black t-shirt under it, a pair of faded denim jeans and red sneakers with white laces. Daphne noticed that he had a belt with three pokeballs attached to them, he must be a pokemon trainer too!

"Oh. I didn't think that pokemon could be two types." Daphne let out an awkward giggle of embarassment.

"I'm guessing that that is your Emolga?" Daphne nodded. "It is actually part flying." the boy informed her.

"Really? That's awesome!" Daphne said. "Emolga use fly!" She shouted, but Emolga just gave her a confused look.

The boy facepalmed. "No, fly isn't a move."

"Well, what is it!?"

"Just tell her to leap off of the rock." Emolga heard the boy before Daphne said anything and leaped off of the edge, she had enough impulsion to soar around the cave. The Gible began chasing after her, but wasn't nearly as fast as the soaring pokemon.

"Okay, tell her to use an attack. But not thunder shock!" The boy told her.

Daphne thought for a moment then called out the attack. "Use iron tail!" Emolga's tail began to glow a bright silver, she spun around in the air and managed to hit Gible on it's forehead. The Gible seemed a little stunned, but shook off the attack.

"Okay, that was good!" The boy praised her. "But this seems to be a pretty strong Gible. So keep using attacks!"

Daphne nodded and called out the attack again. "Use iron tail again!" Emolga went to attack, but it seemed that Gible got the memo and used it's stubby arms to push sand up out of the dirt and into Emolga's eyes. Emolga, who was blinded by the sand, began falling backwards towards the wall. Gible then charged right into her, sending her in to the wall.

"Ooh, shake it off!" Daphne called out.

Emolga hopped back on to her feet, but was a little bruised. "Okay use quick attack!" Emolga ran towards Gible at lightening speed, shoving her body into it, and sending him backwards. "Now iron tail!" Before Gible could get up, Emolga once again hit it powerfully in the head with her tail. Gible, who was also bruised, was infuriated now.

"Oh god." Daphne and the boy said simoutansiously. Emolga began to panic and started crawling against the walls to get away from the enraged creature. The Gible, who seemed to some how kick it into top gear, was right underneath Emolga, viciously trying to attack it.

"Don't panic!" Daphne cried out, but it was too late. Emolga was leaping to rocks on both sides of the walls trying to escape. The last rock she jumped on collasped sending both Emolga and the rock to the ground and causing a small cloud of dirt.

Once the dirt settled, it was revealed that the rock some how managed to land right on top of the Gible, knocking it out. Emolga was standing next to the rock, a little shaken, but she was alright.

Daphne gasped.

"Well hurry up and catch it!" The boy nudged her. Daphne quickly pulled out a pokeball and tossed it onto the passed out Gible. It began slowly wiggling side to side.​

 

[moon]

Ashton Elden
chapter five - part II

- Reading The Signs -​

Ashton had stormed out from the Pokémon Center, meaning to immediately follow Joshua to the gym and challenge him. Unfortunately, he couldn't find the gym. Rebecca finally caught up with him when he was standing in the corner of a street, majorly angry.

"Hey," she said. "Why don't you try reading the signs?" She pointed at a rather large sign hanging over the pavement beside them, saying 'New Mahogany Pokémon Gym' and pointing north.

"Uh... I was going to!" Ashton said, not even blushing due to being so pumped up. The two of them followed the signs and eventually came to a big metal building that Ashton actually wondered how he could possibly have missed. It was huge and different from the other buildings in New Mahogany.

Ashton didn't have any streak left of his old laziness right now. He was so eager to go in there and show that self-loving bastard who's the boss! Yeah... he would make his pokémon pumped up for the battle as well! Right here on the street, Ashton now released all his pokémon from their pokéballs. Astrid the Aipom happily came out and jumped up onto Ashton's shoulder. Babar the Deino bite the air a few times to condition his strong jaws, but Caesar the Zubat just fluttered up around them without much excitement at all. Djingis the Cryogonal smiled happily at Ashton and Elektra the Larvesta acknowledged him with a silent but content nod. Francis the Remoraid hopped up and down on the ground, flapping his fins. Normally he was rather fine with being on land - strangely enough for a fish - but today he seemed very agitated. Ashton bent down to his level.

"What's up, Francis?" he said. "You ready for the battle?"

The pokémon jumped even higher and flapped more than ever. It wasn't a desperate kind of flapping, it was more as if the fish wanted to confirm what Ashton had just said. Indeed, he was ready! Astrid cheered and Ashton patted all his pokémon and talked broadly about how they would own the competition.

Rebecca smiled when she watched the odd team. That boy... he was learning things quickly. In his own way. But was it enough to beat a gym leader? They would soon find out. Ashton sent back all of his pokémon but Astrid and they entered through the challenger gate. There was a reception gate inside, the walls there also clad with metal. They really seemed to want to give the gym a tough feeling. Ashton applied at the reception and the woman told him to wait for the game to be arranged. They needed to call in spectators and let the gym leader know so that he could prepare...

"We don't need a public! I can beat him just between him and me if that's what it takes to get to battle him right now!" the agitated Ashton roared, leaning over the counter.¨

The woman leaned back with a disturbed face. "I will let Mr Gates know of your... instant request," she said. But she didn't have to do anything because Joshua himself appeared behind him one second later, smiling widely.

"So, you came so soon? Let's get on with it, then. There are only a few trainers from the gym here at the moment, but they will serve as our public. A good battle is a battle worth watching! Everybody loves to see my victories," he said.

"Well, good for you that there aren't many here to see you lose today then!" Ashton said.

"Calm down!" Rebecca tried, but to no avail.

Joshua smiled and led the trainers through a corridor. What they came out to was not what they had expected. Ashton's eyes widened. It was a huge modern-looking metal enclosure about the size of half a football field. A completely open space, enclosed by the walls they saw from the outside... but without a roof. Above them, nothing of the blue sky was visible. Instead, dark gray clouds were forming quickly. It looked like it was soon going to start to rain. The wind was starting to power up as well, even though it wasn't heavy yet.

"Ashton..." Rebecca said behind him. "This is going to be a tough battle. Don't rush into things!"

Ashton sighed. Women... "Girl, I got this," he said without looking at her. Rebecca frowned, but sat down on a bench behind him, as Ashton took his place on one of the slightly raised platforms on the grassy field. Ashton wondered why the field was grassy.

"Maybe you're wondering why the field is of grass and not of earth or some other material that would give pokémon a good grip?" Joshua called from the other side of the field, where he had stepped up on a similar platform. Ashton was annoyed. "It's to further enhance the feeling of being in the wild, for the pokémon. Like having no roof to battle under. Makes things much more interesting." Joshua's proud smile was clearly seen all the way over to Ashton, who clenched his fists.

"Bla, bla, are we going to start soon?" the Ecruteak boy taunted.

Joshua cleared his throat. "Well, of course. Judge?" he said, and a specially dark dressed woman stepped up to stand on the long side of the field. With a clear and crisp voice, she stated the rules.

"The challenger is allowed to use as many Pokémon as they need to take down all of the leader's. The leader will choose his pokémon first. The winner is the combatant who defeats all of the opponent's pokémon first."

Joshua nodded. Ashton merely growled. "Get on with it!" he said.

"Calm down!" Rebecca called out to him.

Joshua just laughed and took up a pokéball. He sent the pokémon out and it revealed itself to be a small, yellow creature with a large head and curious eyes. As the habit it had now become, Ashton immediately pulled up his poképad and read the data listed on... Scraggy. "What a strange name for a strange pokémon," he thought out loud.

"Don't let appearances fool you," Joshua twinkled. "Choose your pokémon."

"Yeah, yeah," Ashton said, not really pondering for long what pokémon he would use. Rebecca frowned worriedly when she saw him move his hands towards the pokéballs on his belt. Ashton never really thought strategical when he picked pokémon for battles. He mostly just picked the pokémon he felt like using, for no reason at all. If he was to become a good trainer, he'd perhaps have to learn the hard way that thinking before acting is a good thing.

Ashton sent out Astrid. Rebecca facepalmed. Ripip, Theo and Flay were sitting on the bench beside her because she'd wanted them to watch the battle. They all sighed because even though Rebecca wasn't the strongest or most aspiring of trainers, she had taught her pokémon about type advantages, weather, surroundings and other such things. Ashton, clearly, had not even taught himself that yet. But then again, he was a newer trainer than Rebecca.

Joshua smiled, but didn't say anything on the topic. "Alright then."

The judge said for the combatants to begin, and while Astrid spent her first seconds of the battle giggling and jumping around, Scraggy and Joshua definitely did not. Joshua had given Scraggy a command so fast that Ashton didn't even hear it. Scraggy ran quickly towards Astrid and Headbutted her straight on without warning. Then it backed off slightly, giving the hurt and dizzy Aipom a chance to react.

"What!" Ashton called out.

"You have to be swift and ready for anything!" Rebecca called from her bench. Her pokémon booed at Scraggy.

"Yeah, yeah. Astrid, Astonish!" Ashton called out.

Astrid pulled herself together without acting like it, and before Joshua had given Scraggy another command, she moved rapidly up towards the fighting pokémon and slapped him slightly while startling him with a loud shriek. Scraggy was startled indeed, but only backed off a little before hearing Joshua's command.

"Low Kick!" While Astrid was still close, Scraggy pulled her feet away from underneath her with a sneaky kick, making her fall over.

"Astrid! Fury Swipes!" Ashton said, holding the poképad up to keep track of Astrids many moves and trying to quickly decide what move to use in what situation.

Astrid managed, from her laying position even, to scratch Scraggy several times in a slapping manner with her tail, making it stumble backwards again. But not falling down. Astrid got up, just in time to hear Joshua say: "Payback!"

The tiny Scraggy's eyes suddenly turned dark and glowing and it stopped stumbling and leaned forward instead, giving Astrid an immensely strong tackle that knocked her over once again. She rolled over in the grass a couple of times... and didn't get up.

"Astrid!" Ashton said and dashed out onto the field, retrieving her into his arms. Scraggy snorted at them.

"Aipom is a Normal type, generally weak against my Fighting types. That Low Kick too a bigger toll on her than you apparently noticed. Didn't you learn these things in pre-school?" Joshua said cockily. Scraggy giggled a little and Rebecca bit her lip.

Ashton didn't look at Joshua. He stood up and walked back, passing the platform and up to Rebecca's bench. She blinked when he held out the injured monkey towards her. "Would you please hold her so that she can watch when me and the others win the battle for her?" Ashton said, looking down and not at Rebecca. The girl was touched by this gesture...

"You really care about her, don't you?" she said quietly as she accepted the monkey and held her carefully in her arms as it slowly came to, blinking slowly.

Rain started to drip down, just a few drops, as Ashton replied: "Yeah." Then he walked back to the platform, a determined look on his face.

"Ashton. If you want to win, you've got to start to use your head," Joshua teased and Scraggy laughed.

"He's right," Rebecca said. "Think about what you're doing. Think about the speed of Joshua's poké-"

"I don't need more help!" Ashton snapped, making Rebecca shut up and hugging Astrid tighter. Ok then. No more help. Not another fight, like out on the route... They didn't want that.

The rain hadn't started yet. Ashton had only felt a few drips on his nose. If he was going to use his Larvesta, he'd better do it before the weather got worse. "Elektra, come out!" he called and threw the pokéball up into the air. It opened up and Elektra took place on the battlefield. Afterwards, the ball in the air closed and moved back to Ashton's hand with its strange electronic power. Elektra didn't like the cold weather, but she had told Ashton that she was ready for battle, and so she was.

This time, Joshua nodded at Ashton's choice of pokémon. "An evasive bug against a fighting type. That's more clever. Let's start this battle for real now. Scraggy, use Headbutt!"

Scraggy moved quickly forward again, but Ashton had shouted his command at the same time. "String Shot, like in the race before!" A mischievous smile made its way to Elektra's hidden lips.

Scraggy didn't reach the bug with his Headbutt, because suddenly his legs were glued together by the String Shot and he fell over, stumbling right on his thick forehead. "Low kick right back at ya," Ashton muttered.


Gym battle is to be continued...

(but you can still give me levels for this post if you wanna 8D Aipom isn't going to battle more here.)
​

 

[Groc]

Moe once again stands before the Gym, his Pokemon fully helaed after his impromptu training session. "Right! No distractions this time. Time to get in there and battle my first Gym Leader!" He heads into the massive Stadium, impressed by it's size. "An interesting location. Looks like real grass on the ground, and plenty of space to move around in, kind of like being in a park, or out in the wild. Good way to battle, I guess, mimicing a fight in a Pokemon's natural habitat. Well, unless they happen to be a cave dweller or an aquatic Pokemon. Or from a desert or a tundra of some sort. Really, it caters to a very specific type of Pokemon, field-dwellers. Plenty of space for spectators, bleachers and all that. I guess watching the fights must be a popular thing, or maybe they use it for other events when the Leader isn't fighting. Contests, maybe, or just sporting in general."

"By Arceus's Plates, are you gonna stand there talking to yourself all day? I've never heard one person say so many words at once before! And most of it was rambling and nonsensical!"

Moe wheels around, seeing an aggravated-looking young man sitting on a nearby bench. "Well, it's an interesting place, is all. I like seeing new places like this."

The man stands up, rolling his eyes at Moe. "Thanks. I put a lot of thought into this Gym. That's right! I am Joshua Gates, Mahogany Gym Leader! And unless you're just here to gawk, I presume you want to challenge me!"

Moe nods, looking around again. "That's right. I'm here to challenge you for the Badge. So, shall we get to it, then?"

Joshua seems a little put of by Moe's nonchalant attitude, but shrugs it off. "Sure. Get ready to face an opponent stonger than any you've faced before! Get ready to lose your first Gym Battle, or win and prove you're a step beyond the average Trainer on the street! Let's get this fight started! Sneasel, get your game on!" He sends out his first Pokemon, waiting for Moe to send out his.

"Ah, a Sneasel! I've trained for this! You're up first, Cyndy! Allons-y!" Moe sends lout Cyndaquil, the two Trainers taking their positions as their Pokemon face off.

Vs. Sneasel

Spoiler:

"Sneasel, start things off with Screech!" Sneasel screeches loudly, causing Cyndaquil to grip his ears in pain. "Cyndy, throw up a Smokescreen!" Cyndaquil's back flares up as thick smoke surrounds Sneasel, obscuring his vision. Sneasel grins, her sharp eyes easily piercing the thick smoke. "You're gonna have to do better than that! Sneasel's keen eyes can see through anything! But can Cyndaquil's follow this? Faint Attack!"

"Cyndy, use Quick Attack!" Cyndaquils charges forward, to fast to be seen by human eyes. He tackles Sneasel before she can even move, but as she staggers back, she fades into the shadows, vanishing from sight. "Huh? Where'd she go?" Sneasel steps out of Cyndaquil's shadow, slashing with her claws. The hit knocks Cyndaquil down, and Sneasel acrobatically leaps over him as she returns to her mark.

"Sorry, pal. But Dark-Type Pokemon are full of all kinds of nasty tricks! Gotta keep on your toes!" "Cyndy, use Leer!" Cyndaquil glares at Sneasel, but Joshua yells out a command just after Moe does. "Sneasel, Taunt!" Sneasel makes a rude gesture, staring Cyndaquil in the eyes as she does. Cyndaquil is enraged, his Leer negated by Sneasel's hypnotic Dark powers. "That'll stop you from using any tricks of your own."

"Cyndy, another Quick Attack!" Cyndaquils charges again, knocking Sneasel back a step. "Payback time, Sneasel." A purple spark forms in Sneasel's hand as she backhands Cyndaquil, the spark bursting and knocking Cyndaquil back to his starting point. "Cyndy! You okay?" Cyndaquil staggers to his feet, his back bursting into flame, the fire higher than any he's created before. Joshua is surprised, a smug smirk on his face. "Oh no, his Blaze activated."

"Cyndy, use Ember!" Joshua reacts in concern now. "Oh no! His Blaze activated! Sneasel, Quick Attack!" Sneasel charges, backhanding Cyndaquil as the fireball forms in his mouth. Cyndaquil staggers back, his flame faltering, but it stabilizes as he catches his footing. He spits the fireball straight at Sneasel, catching her in the chest and flipping her onto her back. Sneasel grimaces, her fur singed from the impact. "You burned her! Prepare to lose, obviously! Sneasel, Payback!" Sneasel charges again, but Moe takes a play from Joshua's book. "Cyndy, Quick Attack!" Cyndaquil intercepts Sneasel, tackling her in the stomach, but Sneasel takes the hit, then smacks Cyndaquil aside. Cyndaquil lands hard, his flame extinguishing immediately.

"Cyndaquil! Can you get up?" Cyndaquil weakly raises his head, letting out a pained squeak before collapsing again. Sneasel grimaces as the movement agitates her burn. "Aww, too bad. Looks like your Cyndaquil wasn't up to the task. Better luck with your next one!" Moe recalls Cyndaquil, grabbing another Pokeball. "Ditzy, come on out!"

Moe sends out his Zubat, who flaps around erractically as she surveys the situation. "Ooo, bad move, pally! Sneasel, Ice Shard!" Sneasel slashes the air, shooting an icicle at Ditzy before she can react. The ice hits her full-on, knocking her out of the air. "Ditzy, use Leech Life!" Ditzy recovers in midair, looping around to latch onto Sneasel's arm. She drains blood, recovering some of her health. Sneasel shakes her off, wincing as the burn agitates her again.

"Tough it out, Sneasel! Faint Attack!" "Ditzy, Leech more Life!" Ditzy swoops in as Sneasel starts to fade away, latching onto her neck and draining blood. Sneasel pales, her eyes rolling into her head as she collapses. Ditzy lets go, hovering over her downed enemy.

Joshua laughs once, genuinely surprised. "Ha! Nice move, bat-girl! You've got some speed! But this fight's just beginning! Ready for my next Pokemon? Here comes Scraggy!"

"Ditzy, return!" Moe recalls Ditzy, tossing out his Dive Ball instead. "Come out, Tank!" Moe's Tirtouga appears, facing down Joshua's Scraggy.

Vs. Scraggy

Spoiler:

"Boy, you just have the worst ideas on who to send out. Scraggy, Low Kick!" "Tank, Protect!" Tank retracts into his shell, a bluish force field surrounding his body. Scraggy kick impacts the shield, leaving Tank unharmed. "Pretty impressive. But pointless! I'm just gonna kick you again!" Scraggy rushes forward again. "Tank, Protect!" Tank throws up another shield, which again repels Scraggy. "Well, this is getting annoying. Third time's the charm, I guess. Scraggy, Low Kick!" Scraggy rushes forward again, hesitating for a second when he reaches where the Protect shield is. "Tank, Water Pulse!" Tank pops his head out, spitting a foamy force bubble at Scraggy. The bubble smacks Scraggy in the face, making his kick fall short.

"Clever boy. Scraggy, Low Kick! You can't avoid this one!" Scraggy jumps forward, sweeping a leg at Tank, knocking him to the side. "Rollout, Tank!" Tank tucks into his shell, using the momentum from Scraggy's kick to roll forward, running over the smaller reptile. Scraggy pops back up, looking annoyed. "Alright, that was respectable. Scraggy, Leer!" Scraggy glares at Tank, who simply turns around and runs him over again.

"Alright, we deserve that. Scraggy, show him you got Swagger!" Scraggy crosses his arms, glowing red as he gives Tank a look. Tanks's eyes, barely visible inside his spinning shell, glow red. Tank dashes forward, bowling over Scraggy. "I'm beginning to see a flaw in your plan, Joshua."

"Just you wait! Scraggy, Low Kick!" Scraggy leaps forward, another sweeping kick sending Tank across the floor. Tank dashes up the wall, into the air, and back down n top of Scraggy, grinding in place for a moment before spin-dashing off. "How is this even possible? Tirtouga's part Rock! Those kicks should be breaking him apart!" Now it's Moe's turn to laugh. "Ha! That's where you're wrong! Tank's not just part Rock-type, he's Solid Rock! His body is tugher than average, tempered to resist these so-called "super effective" techniques! A normal Tirtouga might have fallen by now, but there's no stopping Tank! And here he comes, ready to Rollout and finish this match!" Tank dashes forward, right toward Scraggy. "Scraggy, Sand Attack!" Scraggy kicks sand at Tank, causing Tank to miss by an inch. Tank stops in front of Moe, a bit dizzy and tired, but otherwise ready to continue.

"Scraggy, Headbutt!" "Tank Bite him!" Scraggy leaps forward, head lowered in a charge. Tank snaps out with his jaws as Scraggy enters his reach, but Scraggy jumps, landing headfirst on Tank's outstretched head. The blow drives Tank's face into the field, knocking the tired turtle out. "And just like that the fight's over. Looks like you lost. Sorry to disappoint." Joshua grabs Scraggy's ball, already claiming victory.

"Not so fast! I still have one Pokemon!" Moe recalls Tank, sending Ditzy back onto the field. "That little thing? Hasn't she had enough?" "We're still in this, Joshua. Ditzy took a hard hit, but managed to recover a little in the end. I'd say we're evenly matched still." Ditzy chirps in anger, flying a tight circle around Moe.

Joshua breaks into laughter at this. "Boy, we were never evenly matched. You were out of your league the moment you walked in here. But you got drive. And I kinda like watching that runt of a bat fight. You're on! Sudden death! Let's do this!"

"Ditzy, give him a blast of the 'Sonic!" Ditzy echolocates, her Supersonic soundwaves scrambling Scraggy's circuits. "Wasted move! Headbutt, Scraggy!" Scraggy charges forward, tripping over his own loose skin. "Well. That was embarassing." "Ditzy, finish it off with a Bite attack!" Ditzy swoops in, her fangs actually lengthening as she bites down on Scraggy's neck. Scraggy lets out a muffled protests before falling limp in her grip. Ditzy chirps in joy as she spirals into the air, crashing into Moe as she swoops in for a hug.

Joshua returns Scraggy, a look of surprise on his face. "I was outmaneuvered, plain and simple. I gotta hand it to you, you're pretty good. As such, I reward you with New Mahogany's Badge! Come here, show me your Liscense Chip, kid!"

Moe grins as he returns Ditzy to her ball. He holds out his hand, where the chip is. "I'm a year older than you." Joshua gives Moe an annoyed look as he registers Moe's victory. "Yeah, whatever. You've earned this, Moe. And you also get this nifty TM Chip!" He hands Moe a small chip. "It's Payback. You saw how well it worked earlier. Install this onto your PokePad and you can teach it to any Pokemon, any time, any where! Use it or abuse it as you see fit, it'll never get stale!"

Moe gives a salute as he takes his prize, smiling. "Thank you, Joshua Gates. This has been the most tense battle I've had yet, but I enjoyed it! Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get my companions to the Center for healing. Goodbye!" He heads out, back to the Pokemon Center, leaving Joshua alone in the Stadium. "Man, that guy was weird." Joshua shakes his head as he goes back to his duties.

 

[{Swan}]

@Iwasapony - Oh, I like how you;re teaching Daphne to battle, that was quite a post!

Daphne caught a lv. 4 Male Gible!
Emolga grew to lv. 7!

@RHCP - Of course I'll give Astrid levels C8 Oh I just know I'm going to love this battle!

Aipom (Astrid) grew to lv. 21!

@Godzil - A great battle, you all make Joshua such a douche xD You did a great jon om writing for him though.

Cyndaquil (Cyndy) grew to lv. 16 and may now evolve into a Quilava*
Zubat (Ditzy) grew to lv. 17 and learned Wing Attack!
Tirtouga (Tank) grew to lv. 16 and learned Aqua Jet!

*Once you've reached the right level for your Pokemon to evolve you may play that out in a post, whichever way you like.

 

[moon]

Ashton Elden
chapter five - part III

- Advantages -​

Joshua wasn't going to stand idle around and watch his pokémon getting outsmarted. "Scraggy, Leer!" Scraggy tried to get up, and at the same time fired off the chilly stare at Elektra.

Ashton's pokémon was too tough for that, however. She simply stared back! "Haha, Elektra, Pepper it with Ember!" Ashton said triumphantly and the fire bug blew out swift embers that indeed peppered and burned the little fighting pokémon. Adding this to the damage that Astrid had been able to inflict upon it earlier, it was too much for Scraggy. It fainted on the spot.

"Hm," Joshua said and sent it back to its pokéball. The weather was worsening. The wind blew harder and rain started to pour down. Larvesta wasn't liking it one bit.

"Don't worry, you fought well here," Ashton said to her and let her go back into the pokéball.

"Both battlers have to pick new pokémon this time..." Rebecca said to herself back on the bench behind Ashton.

Joshua smiled and sent his next pokémon out without a word. It was a dark blue one with a purple feather in the place of its ear. And claws, big claws. Ashton pulled up the Poképad and identified it as a Sneasel. Dark and Ice type. Whatever did that mean for him? Ashton shrugged. He'd just go with the pokémon he felt like using, as usual!

"Djingis!" he said and threw the pokéball up. The Cryogonal appeared happily and froze the rain around it to snowflakes.

"Alright, let's get back at it!" Joshua said. "Quick Attack!"

"Djingis, spin and wave your ice chains!" Ashton called out. It was a completely spontaneous strategy. Djingis obliged blindly and started spinning, holding out his hard ice chains as he did.

The Quick Attack hit right after it had started spinning, and even though Djingis took some of the impact, Sneasel got struck by the ice chains and missed the spot she had been aiming for. Both pokémon rolled around but came back up to their feet.

"Splendid strategy there," Joshua said, still having his creepy smile. "However, Faint Attack!"

Suddenly, Sneasel was gone. A shadow crept over the field and the weasel pokémon reappeared behind Djingis. Before Ashton or the ice pokémon could react, the dark pokémon had struck it hard right in the back, making it fall down onto the ground.

"Aaagh, Djingis, turn around and use Ice Shard!" Ashton called out, hoping his pokémon was still able to fight. It was, and as usual it obliged blindly. The ice shards flew towards the Sneasel who was too close to evade it.

She wasn't too badly hit though, and as soon as it was over, she began a counter attack on her own accord... it was Ice Shards as well! Djingis took the hit but it didn't hurt its tough body much.

"Bind!" Ashton called out and the Cryogonal swung its icy vines to try and grab the weasel. But it was too fast and ran away.

"Sneasel, use Screech!" Joshua called out. His pokémon screeched loudly, forcing both Ashton and Rebecca and her pokémon to put their hands over their ears. Djingis, of course, had no hands nor ears, but heard the sound and was greatly intimidated.

"Don't let yourself be fooled by scaring tactics!" Ashton called out to it. "Use Ice Shard again!" But Djingis didn't seem to want to move.

"Now, Sneasel, Quick Attack!" The attack hit easily, and Djingis was knocked out.

Ashton didn't smile one bit when he returned his poor, loyal pokémon to its pokéball. "Sorry pal," he said to it. He should have thought up even better strategies.

"Got any more pokés you want to throw at me?" Joshua joked.

"I do," Ashton said determinedly. "And this time it's by pure force. Babar!" He sent out his dragon and actually earned a raised eyebrow from the gym leader.

"A dark dragon... not bad. I've been wanting one for myself for a while. Where did you capture it?"

"I'll tell you if you win!" Ashton said, still not smiling. "Babar, ready?" The dragon growled in reply. It had been longing to stretch its limbs in a battle again! "Then, right on, Thunder Fang!"

"Faint Attack!" Sneasel disappeared again, and the shadow was back onto the field somehow.

"Babar, turn around! Thunder Fang now!" Babar was somewhat confused by the orders, not really following his trainer blindly like Djingis did. But he got that he should turn around. When he did, he suddenly saw Sneasel standing there, claws raised and about to strike. Oh, something to bite down on! His teeth were already charged up with the electrical energy, so all he had to to was to bite down into the claw that was swung towards him... like that!

Sneasel screamed, both from the bite itself and from the jolt that went through her now. Joshua grimaced. "Get away from there!" Sneasel scratched the dragon with her other claw and jumped back, panting.

"Well done, Babar!" Ashton laughed. "Now, Dragon Rage before it can regain its composure!"

Babar blinked. "Oh," Ashton sighed. "Just... Dragon Rage!" Clearly, too advanced commands didn't work on this one. Yet.

Sneasel jumped back and evaded the Dragon Rage. "Can you continue?" Joshua asked her and she nodded and stood up. Ready. "Use Ice Shard!" Sneasel quickly shot the ice shards towards the dragon, who took the hit right on.

Ashton thought that it would blow over and that he could give a new commando soon... but Babar fell down, fainted. "What? How's that possible!" he shouted.

Rebecca sighed behind him. "Type advantages. Dragons fear ice and cold."

Joshua laughed now. "Didn't you even know that? Maybe you're not worthy of this badge..."

That was over the edge for Ashton. He called back his dragon and gave first Rebecca and then Joshua a dark stare. "I'm tired of everyone treating me like I know nothing. I know a lot! At least... At least I want a lot and I can do a lot!"

Joshua's smile faltered when he realized that he had touched a weak spot. Rebecca seemed to regret her sighing. "Ashton..."

"You asked for it. Here's my real weapon. Suit yourself," Ashton said without facing them and took forth the last pokémon he intended to use in this battle. The rain had stopped pouring down, but the wind was rather rough and there were puddles of water here and there in the grass. He sent the pokémon out straight up into the sky... but it wasn't a flying type. The pokémon that came falling down was Francis, the Remoraid. Ashton caught it in his arms and they nodded at each other.

"Hah... You're... Erm," Joshua had to clear his throat and rub his eyes. "You're going to fight me with a Remoraid?"

Sneasel giggled. Ashton stepped down from the plateau where he'd been standing. Rebecca knew what was coming and shook her head. "No, Ashton, not in a gym battle! It's too dangerous for yourself!"

Ashton didn't care about her words. He held his Remoraid like a heavy gun under his arm and nodded towards Joshua. "You ready or what?"

"Bring it on," Joshua said, still confused and very interested.

"Lock on!" Ashton said. Francis started glowing and blinked once.

"Hm, Sneasel, go with Taunt! Make sure he doesn't try anything strange." Sneasel started trying to taunt Francis into attacking her without thinking first. And sure, the fish got worked up, but Ashton held it firmly, preventing it from acting rashly.

"I see..." Joshua said, for some reason. "Ice Shards, then."

"We'll blast those shards to hell," Ashton grunted. "Aurora Beam!"

Sneasel fired her shards and Francis blew out a beam in the color of the northern lights towards them. The intensity of the beam shattered the shards midway and the attack kept going until it hit Sneasel right on. The dark type fell over and lost its breath for a moment.

"Amazing..." Ashton heard Joshua mumble.

"Ashton, Sneasel is also Ice type! Use some other attack for more efficiency!" Rebecca dared herself to shout. Ashton did seem to listen now, for he nodded even if he wasn't looking back at her.

"Right, Water Gun!" he said and Francis fired. Sneasel was tired but got up now and evaded the Water Gun. Some hit her, but didn't hurt her much.

"Water isn't effective against Ice!" Rebecca said, knowing she might get a nasty retort. But she didn't.

"Right!" Ashton said.

"Sneasel, Faint Attack!" Joshua said. Rebecca gasped. This would mean... that there was a risk that Sneasel hit Ashton!

"Don't you learn? I do!" Ashton said and just turned around, aiming Francis behind him. But there was nothing there.

"We learn too," Joshua said and Ashton felt something standing behind him. Before he could act again, the Remoraid was knocked out of his arms down into a puddle.

"No!"

Francis jumped around from puddle to puddle to put distance between him and the now advantageous weasel. "Sneasel, Quick Attack!" Joshua called out. The attack easily hit the Remoraid, who was pushed up into the air... and caught by Ashton. Rebecca had been holding her breath but let it out now.

"Good, I was starting to think you were too old to learn new things!" Ashton said. He was standing right in front of Sneasel now, who had to brake to avoid ramming into the boy without having an attack ready. But she stumbled in the slippery grass and fell over. Joshua gasped. One mistake can ruin anything.

Time seemed to stand still as Ashton only had to do one final choice to win this battle and his first badge. Rebecca knew the right answer. Psybeam or Acid Spray? Those were the only attacks he hadn't yet used in Francis' arsenal, and he didn't know enough about types to know what move would be utterly pointless against Sneasel and what would be successful...

"Acid Spray!" came the command, and Francis spewed out a horrible acid over the poor weasel, who screamed loudly before fainting from the pain.

Joshua quickly returned her to her pokéball to rest and get rid of the acid. Then he sighed and smiled weakly. "That's that, then. I've lost."​

 

[{Swan}]

@RHCP - Oooh, I really liked this, I really felt that the personalities of Ashton's Pokemon really shone through here. I also liked how you let all the Pokemon (besides Zubat) get a little bit of the fun.

Larvestra (Elektra) grew to lv. 16!
Cryogonal (Djingis) grew to lv.13 and learned Rapid Spin!
Deino (Babar) grew to lv. 15!
Remoraid (Francis) grew to lv. 17!