Pokemon: Black Infection [IC]

[TornZero]

"I may not be the safest traveling buddy you'll ever meet," Scott tried to warn Jess. Geoff's a member of Cipher and walking around as a girl with the kid who just sent his buddies packing. They'd get a kick out of this, then flay him. Or at least try to.

"It's okay," she answered. "If anything happens to me, Absol will take care of it." She smiled lightly at him. Celes was finally waking up and got set down, then jumped on by the hyperactive Gible only to throw it off. Clingy little dragon stuck itself to Scott's leg.

"Anyways, the closest gym from here would be... Violet City. So, that's where we'll go," Scott stated. They weren't too far from the gym, now, and Jessica decided to let Scott take the lead for the gym battle, following behind to watch. Though she wasn't exactly untrained for this situation, she didn't know much about Johto at all, and Scott seemed to show a little more experience with the region.

 

[Fuyu]

?

Pikachu, or Dion, glanced up at his master quietly. He had just beaten a poor group of Spearow. He couldn't believe they were still doing the Nugget Bridge. It was a Rocket Scam and Rocket was dead. Hah! Dion suppressed a snort. Humans had so much trouble changing foolish habits sometimes. He pawed an ear clean to hide the derision.

"Something entertaining you Dion?" Master Ceric asked dryly.

"Only the stubbornness of your kind," he replied quietly. Master snorted, the sound elegantly mocking from the platnium-blonde. His master, Tyler Ceric, was a rich child. He was a rich artifical child, created to be perfect. Naturally, because of humanity, it failed. He wasn't even close. And did the boy care? Why would he? He was still being used and that must have been enough. He was a kindly boy, for a Cipher weapon. However, the brainwashed behavior of reflexively defeating everything in sight was still strong in him. It made for a clashing personality. Dion found it interesting that his past was of no concern to his master.

"A topic we both find amusing," the boy acknowledged. "Now, finish this. My Caterpie wants to evolve at some point."

"Fair enough," he replied and charged into the fight, blasting everything in sight.

Tyler almost smiled, letting his Caterpie climb up his arm and rest there, staring curiously at the fight. Dion was quite the interesting comrade.

Naren

Elisha was starting to panic. Naren had opened the doors of the shrine. You don't just open the shrine and not have consequences. The girl was just standing there, staring blankly ahead. ELisha was afraid now. She began to cy and scream, bolting every direction she could. Unfortunately, that meant her back was on fire while she ran. Embers were being shot out everywhere as she ran through Ilex.

"Help!" she wailed. "Help Naren! Help!" HEr trainer had hatched her, raised her, purified her. And now she was tired and stuck here with a currently mentally broken trainer. "Help!" There was a blond girl wandering the forest. She could see her through the trees. Elisha brightened. Maybe... She ran over and began to tug at her pant leg. "Help..." she whimpered.

Teams:

Naren: Cyndaquil Level 13, Budew Level 10
Tyler: Pikachu Level 12, Caterpie Level 6

(A lot of Tyler won't be shown but a fair amount will.)

 

[Nideous]

Scott walked ahead of Jess, with Celes trotting proudly in front of him, her silvery tail flicking at the slow pace he was setting. Scott didn't really care. He was more focused on what he would do in the gym battle. Falkner had to have some impressive pokemon. Let's see... Elm said he prefered flying types. So Electric and rock would be best. But Scott didn't have either of those types! Celes paused and hissed at something.

"What are you hissing at now?" Scott asked wearily. But his relaxed tone hid the fact that he was now on guard. Celes didn't just hiss at something for no reason. All of a sudden, she was rammed into by a small blue and black creature. The two rolled on the ground a bit before Celes was pinned underneath it. Scott got mad.

"Hey! Leave Celes alone!" he shouted. The pokemon ignored him and swiped her paw at Celes's face. Celes yowled and kicked the little beast off of her. The two got up, and Scott thought he knew this pokemon. A Shinx. The critter was about the same size as Celes, and her fur was standing on end. Scott decided to see how strong she was. He activated the Scouter.

"Level 9 huh? Well, Celes, show her that not even a wild pokemon can mess with us! Tackle now!" Scott said. Celes hissed at the Shinx, who snarled back at her. Cadas was watching all this from the safety of behind Scott's leg. Celes and the Shinx Tackled into each other. Celes went down again, with the Shinx on top of her. Scott wondered why she was so much stronger than Celes. Celes was a very powerful attacker. Then it hit him. This Shinx must have the ability Rivalry! That made her get stronger when she fought another girl, like Celes. Celes hissed and kicked the Shinx off of her again, and the latter recklessly rushed in again. Celes was ready this time, and dodged the Shinx gracefully, her eyes glowing white from Detect. Celes fired a Shadow Ball at the Shinx, who leapt to the side and blasted a Shock Wave at Celes. There was no dodging this, and Celes yowled in pain as the bolt of electricity hit her. Now she was mad. She hissed and spit at the Shinx, and rushed in with Tackle. Shinx did the same, and slammed her into the ground. Celes rolled away and groggily got to her feet. Shinx stood triumphantly, glaring at Celes, who hissed and limped back in.

"Celes! Chill out! Focus on dodging her attacks, then hit back with Shadow Ball! You can do this!" Scott said encouragingly. Celes meowed happily at the confidence and Shinx hissed at her. She charged straight at her with Tackle, only for Celes to move aside and blast Shinx in the rump with Shadow Ball, sending her sprawling to the ground. She got back up spitting angrily at Celes and charged her again. Celes nimbly moved to the side and pounced on her with Tackle. Not what Scott had wanted, but it would have to work. Celes stood, pinning Shinx to the ground with her paws on the other felines chest as Shinx hissed and kicked, trying to get free. Scott noticed how tired she was becoming, as her movements became more jerky and random from panic. He sighed and dropped a pokedall on her head, and watched as she got sucked into the little red and white orb. The ball twithed and shook madly, but eventually it pinged. Scott picked the ball up. And his tired eevee.

"Great job Celes! I knew you could do it! Hm... What to name you... I think I'll call you Caelara," Scott said to his new Shinx, wondering if she could hear him inside the pokeball. Now the questions came. Why had she attacked so viciously? Shinx were woodland creatures, and while they were in the woods, they were rather too close to Violet City. She shoould have been deeper in the forest than this! Well, either way, Shinx were a pretty rare find all the way out here. So, he counted himself lucky. He examined the multitude of cuts and bruises Celes now had from that fight. They weren't that serious, thank goodness!

"Well, that settles that. I need to stop off at the pokemon center before I head to the gym," Scott told Jess as he continued to the city. Celes rolled in his arms and glared at the boy following them. She didn't know what his deal was, but she didn't trust him that much. His words were nice and friendly, but anyone that would pretend to be something they weren't may cause her trainer trouble. And Celes was very overprotective of Scott. She soon grew bored with it and settled down.
"Vee!" she meowed happily as Scott pet her as he walked, Cadas still clinging to his pants leg.

 

[Dawn]

Now, of course, Elizabeth never ever ever wore pants. Back where she came from, women wearing pants hadn't yet caught on and was still a fashion faux pas. She did however wear stockings, which could be tugged on. Elizabeth blinked, looking around. What smelled like fire? She then caught sight of a running Cyndaquil. Was that thing attacking her?! She just sort of made a sort of nervous squeak and raised the leg that Naren had tugged the stocking of.

Meanwhile, Cubone poked Naren in the side with her bone club. She was not as prone to freaking out as her trainer. Cubone still had those bruise marks from when she had used belly drum.

Cubone: "Hey! Stop terrorizing her. What do you want??"

 

[Who's Kiyo?]

Chronicle One: Between Rugged Mountains

Section III

*image removed*

≈≈≈≈≈≈≈​

​

The town was as small and adorable as ever; just like Nique remembered it when she landed here. Oh, but we skipped over that part, didn't we?​

Flashback time!​

Nique took slow but eager steps as she exited the boat via the tiny pseudo-staircase they placed down after opening the doors on the side of the boat. Smells of fresh cut grass and nostalgia floated through the air, bringing a sense of excitement to any new trainer.​

Mailko placed his foot on the staircase and quickly withdrew it when the contraption made a metallic noise. Nique crossed her arms and looked frankly at the monster.​

"....It makes a scary noise, mommy." Mailko said, sulking and looking at Nique with pleading eyes.​

"Tough luck, bucko. Get down here," Nique replied.​

"Mommy.... I don't want to. It sounds like it will hurt my feet."​

"Then jump down here, then."​

"...."​

"What?"​

"I'm scared."​

"What else is new?! Really!"​

"Come and pick me up, please?"​

Nique thought for a moment. She could go over and pick him up, making things easier. But, the fact of the matter is- she didn't want to. Kid had to grow a spine, anyways.​

"Nope," she simply said with a smile.​

"But mommy...."​

Nique looked off in another direction. A suspicious bush was shaking violently. OoOo.... time to investigate.​

"Good luck, Mailko," Nique said as she walked off towards the bush.​

"Wait! Mommy! I- I need help! Mommy!" But alas, his mother was too far away to him to be heard. Mailko looked queasily at the stairs beneath him. If he didn't jump and catch up, he'd get left behind. Mailko hastily decided to bounce into the air, and it went well- at first. He dove head first onto the bottom stair, and then tumbled onto the ground. Sobs and pleading cries could be heard coming from him subtly through the town. He was hurt pretty badly and made no effort to get back up.​

----​

Nique shifted her eyes at the sound of crying- weird.... where was that coming from? Anyways, she examined the bush in front of her. It was still rustling, obviously something alive within. Deciding for the full frontal approach, Nique threw her arms into the bush and shook it about to scare the creature.​

A tiny lizard-thing popped out, yelping with fright. Upon standing back up and examining the creature, it was undoubtedly a Charmander!​

"Well hello there, mister lizard." Nique playfully said to it. The Charmander gripped the middle section of its tail, bringing the tall structure towards its front; as if in protection.​

"Char, char...." it said quietly. It had this expression of doubt, very unsure of Nique and the situation as a whole.​

"Oh, it's okay, mister lizard. You haven't given me a reason to hurt you. And it's not like I'm feeling up for it right now." She looked upwards for a second in thought. "Meh," she stated, returning her gaze. "But you're too cute to hurt anyways."​

"Char!" it shouted at her. Why wasn't she going away?! Leave me alone!​

"Hey! Calm your pecks, dude! I haven't done anything," Nique said, hands raised as if she was about to be arrested. "I was only snooping about."​

The lizard started to tear, desperate and deathly afraid. Nique sighed.​

"What is a rare Pocket Monster like you doing out in a remote little town like this?" Nique asked as she came up with an idea. Why not use her power to answer that question? Looking back at the lizard, she began to read it with intense eyes.​

But before she could get any scrap of information, the Charmander finally snapped and slashed her ankle.​

"Youch!" Nique shouted. "What's your deal?!"​

"Char-ar-man-dar! Charmandar!" it cried hysterically, swiping nonstop in her direction. Once her ankle was slashed again, Nique snapped herself.​

"You little douchebag!" she yelled as she swung her foot, kicking the poor creature square in the jaw, sending it into the air slightly and landing on its belly. As it whined in pain and tried to pick itself up without success, Nique lifted and looked at her ankle. Since her pants didn't cover her them, there were series of tiny red scars there now.​

Walking over to it, Nique saw it had managed to get itself in a pseudo-push-up position. She stomped on it and didn't let up on pushing down, sending the creature to squeal many times as it was rendered helpless.​

"What a horrid first impression you make!" Nique commented through the gradually straining screams. "Let's fix that!"​

She took off her foot and picked up the Charmander by its neck. It wriggled weakly, obviously very hurt. The ground moved beneath it as it breathed heavily.​

"We could've been battle buddies! I love the cute but strong presence you guys give off. Strength in its most adorable form, ya know?"​

"Char... char...."​

"But I'm not really keen on capturing critters that hurt me without being provoked. It sets up the relationship ever so badly. I mean, I like feisty and sassy creatures, but physically assaulting me not two minutes from when we initially meet? Tch."​

A smell caught the Charmander's nose. Something that made the air.... salty and stingy to your eyes?​

"Sigh. I don't really want to do this, but it's only fair since you hurt me."​

The Charmander tilted his up to see where they were going. Its eyes grew wide as it saw a small section of sea was where they were heading.​

"And fair is fair, little guy!"​

The lizard screamed loudly as they got closer and closer to their destination.​

"Here we are! Professor Oak's lab!" Komoko announced joyfully, snapping Nique out of her story. The kimono-wearer quickly opened the door in her excitement revealing the pristine lab within.​

"Profesor Oaaaaakkkkk!" she called. "I'm finally here! Sorry for the wait!"​

"Yes, Komoko! Come in!" a voice said faintly, coming from the back of the lab. The duo walked in happily, having a spring in their step.​

----​

"And who is this with you?" Oak asked, finally acknowledging Nique standing next to Komoko. ​

"Oh, this is my new friend, Nick." Komoko said, elegantly gesturing her arms in presentation.​

"Nice to meet you, young man." Oak beamed, grabbing Nique's hand for a handshake.​

"The pleasure is all mine, professor." Nique said, firmly shaking his hand back.​

"Alright then. Let's get down to business," Oak noted, pulling his hand away and using it to showcase a table. Two Pokéballs lay there, just begging to be opened.​

"Okay Komoko," Oak said, taking both balls and pressing their buttons. He backed away as they shot out on the table, revealing a Bulbasaur and Squirtle. "Now choose!"​

As Komoko looked back and forth excitedly, Nique couldn't help but notice something was off. Weren't there three options for a starter at his lab?​

"Hey Doc, where's the third little dude?"​

"Huh? Oh, right. Unfortunately, our Charmander got scared and ran off yesterday. We haven't been able to find him since." Nique looked down towards the ground in thought.​

The tiny lizard flailed frantically as its head was submerged in the water, every limb on it whipping around in panic. Nique had to use both hands; this guy was a fighter!​

"Hey, hey! Stop flippin' out! You're only being suffocated!"​

"I'm sure he's in a better place, professor." Nique noted.​

"Yeah, well, I guess he would do better in the wild, too."​

"I'll choose...." Komoko said suddenly. Oh, she finally was making a decision? "Ugh!" she stomped her foot on the ground in frustration. "I can't decide!"​

Hm. Guess not.​

"I do have a special starter I've wanted to give out to someone.... I bet you'll be able to train it." Oak went over and opened a drawer, pulling a Pokéball with a crescent moon on it. Her wrapped Komoko's hands over it.​

"He's a bit defiant, but I'm sure he will warm up to you soon enough."​

Komoko smiled and danced a little. "Thank you, professor!" Komoko sped out with her ball to go meet her new teammate.​

As Nique was leaving, she spotted a container of some sort that held.... an egg?​

"Hey Doc," she started, "What's in the container over there?"​

"Hm? Ah, that's a Charmander egg to replace the one we lost."​

"Oh," Nique replied. She kind of wanted it, since the last Charmander....​

Nique looked a bit frustrated as she pulled out the still-breathing Charmander out of the water. It spat out liquid in all directions, apparently having swallowed the water it was supposed to drown in to still be able to breath.​

"You're just not gonna quit, are you?"​

"Ch-ch-char-arr...." It whimpered. Tch.​

She shoved it back into the water; it had to drown eventually. Sheesh.​

....Yeah. Well. In any case, she still wanted a Charmander. One that wouldn't give her nasty scars on her ankles.​

Nique noticed an open doorway. Inside was dark, but by the way the ceiling fell down it was obvious that it was a staircase to the lab's basement.​

"Holy crap, Doc!" Nique said suddenly, surprised. "Did you see that?!"​

"See what?" Oak curiously looking at Nique.​

"Look! There!" Nique said, pointing at the staircase's doorway. "I saw a bright light thing!"​

"That may be Charmander!" Oak said valiantly as he then quickly strode over to top of the stairs. He looked all the way down into the darkness, seeing no light. "Charmander?!" he cried out. "You down ther-?"​

Oak was cut off by the stairs smacking his face as he fell. Nique cleared her throat and closed the door as the last few thumps signaled Oak's inevitable fate. The professor was unconscious if not dead, leaving her to snatch her prize. The girl whistled as she nonchalantly strolled over and picked up the egg's container.​

The Bulbasaur and Squirtle cringed at her in fear, scared for their lives.​

​

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​

 

[TornZero]

Long post is long.

They made their way to the outskirts of Violet City, and something made Celes stop and hiss. Absol stopped for a moment, too. Jess, there's something coming. The Eevee knows it, too. Jess wouldn't have to ask Absol just what it was, because the answer came too quickly as Celes got rammed and pinned.

"Hey! Leave Celes alone!" Scott turned on some weird device after finding out what it was. "Level 9, huh? Well, Celes, show her that not even a wild Pokémon can mess with us! Tackle now!" All the while, Cadas was cowering behind his trainer's leg. The Shinx knocked the Eevee down a second time, and Eevee should have been the stronger. An ability is probably keeping its attack power up. Celes must have activated Detect, too. Its eyes were flickering white and it avoided the Shinx's next attack smoothly. But between a Shadow Ball and a Shock Wave, Celes went down again. Another Tackle and it happened again. It got an opening and finally blasted the thing with Shadow Ball, then pinned it down herself. Payback?

Shinx was brought down pretty well, because it started panicking trying to get free. Scott just dropped a Pokéball on it, and after a few rolls, caught it. Pokémon definitely hate being held against their will. "I think I'll call you... Caelara." Maybe Scott had a fondness for names starting with 'C' when you consider his other two Pokémon. "I need to stop off at the Pokémon Center before I head to the gym," Scott told her. The Eevee must still hate Jess quite a bit, considering the fact that she glared at her for a short while before getting bored. Little cat-dog thing probably despises the fact that Geoff's playing dress-up right now. Perhaps Geoff should have been born a girl anyways. He definitely fits the part like a glove no matter what he wears.

Absol.

Yes?

Since Scott needs to go to the Pokémon Center, let's head to the gym and take on Falkner. We should get a head start if we're going to get any respect from his Pokémon at least, since it's unsettling with Celes staring like that. It wasn't exactly anything to keep from the young trainer, though.

Right.

Walking down into the city, Jess took a few steps in front of Scott and went straight-forward about it. "Hey, Scott, Celes doesn't seem to like me much. I'll head to the gym while you getting her fixed up, okay? I don't want to stay and be a bother, and thank you for your kindness. It was nice to meet someone who shows so much concern for their Pokémon." She didn't give Scott a chance to answer. She simply took her bow, turned to the gym and jogged off, Absol tagging along right next to her. If he's good with that, then maybe we can keep going without much worry. If he decides to catch up after the battle, then by all means. Maybe he'll try talking his Pokémon into giving me a chance.

It didn't take Jess long to reach the gym at the speed she was moving, and getting inside felt like a breath of fresh air. Most of it was fresh air. All she saw in front of her though was an elevator. Big enough to hold both her and Absol. They stepped on it, pressed the only button there, and rose up at least two full stories before stopping. A brief walk from the elevator later, she made it to a solid wood battlefield-like platform where Falkner was standing. The man there was dressed pretty snazzy, like he was ready for a formal party, but he seemed to be enjoying himself with how high they were. "Hello there," he said. "I'm Falkner, the leader of the Violet City Gym. I've been here for many years now, and I plan to be here for many years to come. Please, challenger, tell me your name as well."

After the miniature speech and a short moment to collect herself, Jess introduced herself and her partner. "I'm Jessica, from the Hoenn region, and this is my partner, Absol." Absol barked at his name politely. "I came here for the Indigo League, and you're the first gym leader on my list."

"Is that the Pokémon you plan to battle with?"

"Yes." Absol stepped out onto the field just in front of Jess, who made her way to the Trainer's Box.

"Alright then," Falkner replied, pulling a Pokéball out from his pocket and tossing it up. The Pokéball propped itself open and released a flash of white light, fading into a Pidgeotto that flapped itself into the air. "Pidgeotto I caught in the Kanto region. You can find quite a few in Viridian Forest, and they're fun to train, too." A little robot with a red and green flag stood at the sidelines of the field and booted up, showing a Pokéball-shaped LED at its white core, and Jess took notice of it. The flags were raised. Maybe it was like a race: when the flags drop, the battle starts.

Absol, as soon as I say, "Go," jump up and use Scratch on that thing. Fortree provided a gym exam to see if anyone could succeed Winona as gym leader or protect the city. The Flying-type was somewhat familiar territory thanks to living next to the Flying-type gym of Hoenn.

A voice reverberated in a metallic tone from the robot. "The battle between Falkner and Jessica will begin in three... two... one... *BZZZ*!" The flags fell with the robot's noodle-like arms.

"Go!" Jess yelled out in cheerful anxiety as soon as the buzz was heard. Absol ran in, getting an early Scratch onto Pidgeotto's chest. It moved out of the way for the most part, trying to get out of range after a few feathers were clawed away.

"Gust, Pidgeotto! Then Protect!" Falkner shouted, and his face said he was surprised that his opponent, who was presumably a new trainer, was able to get in an easy attack. He couldn't let up or he might go down too quickly. And he must have taught Pidgeotto Protect, because Jess didn't exactly recall it being able to learn the move naturally.

A small wind attack. Nothing to worry about, Absol thought. It kicked up and splintered some of the wood, though, so it'll get messy.

Alright, I want you to charge in and ride it up, then use Feint and Scratch again. Pidgeotto kept flapping her wings until they got a nice cyclone going, rising as she did to get a safe range so she could surround herself in a force field. Absol charged into the Gust, as if he was about to give in and take a dive. Splinters got stuck in Absol's fur, but he endured it enough not to yelp; his horn easily shattered Pidgeotto's Protect, and the wind propelled him overhead to let him throw the bird down to the wooden field. We'll need to pick those out later.

Absol landed between Pidgeotto and his cross-dressing trainer, kneeling down on his right hind leg. A splinter must have gotten into his paw, but he stood back up for another go. During that, Pidgeotto managed to get herself back into the air. "Alright, Pidgeotto, get as high as you can!" Falkner raised his hand up high, the roof of the gym unraveling itself to reveal a beautiful blue sky with minimal clouds. Pidgeotto flew up as fast as she could, but she definitely had a little panic in her eyes. Was she afraid of hitting the wooden field on her way down, or was she afraid of Absol? Falkner was pissed off, though. His opponent's supposed to be a newbie and she's just standing there smirking and giggling, watching her Absol throw out attacks of its own accord.

Absol, we'll need to watch carefully here. If she dives down, don't let it hit or we may lose this. Get out of the way the moment you see her eyes. The command was pretty reasonable, especially since Absol isn't the best when it comes to defense. And the racket the rooftop made as it unfolded made regularly talking impossible for them, so their mind-talking helped get the message across.

"Now, use Fly and dive! Dive! DIVE!" Falkner was repeating himself in increasing volumes to a screech when he threw his hand down. Yeah. Totally pissed. His opponent was using his attacks against him. Up in the sky and well over the clouds, Falkner's Pokémon folded her wings in and simply fell straight down towards the field, directly at Absol. She moved really damn fast, breaking a hole in a cloud and dragging a visible wind current behind her tail-feathers; breaking the sound barrier at such a low level is amazing to see. He must have trained it pretty well. And at that speed, it probably can't control itself. It took only a few seconds for that entire dive for Absol to see Pidgeotto's pupils and he jumped enough out of the way to keep Pidgeotto from turning easily. It was deadlocked on the stage now, and the gym leader was only able to stand there. For him, those last few seconds must have felt like an eternity.

A crash, explosion and a lot of smoke later, Pidgeotto lay against the broken wood with her poor beak stuck between splinters. She was pitifully knocked out, her trainer sealing her own end. Falkner ran up to his Pokémon and helped it from its prison, rubbing its head, spraying a Revive on it and apologizing for his anger. Jess jumped gleefully and shrieked about how well Absol did, before running over to her own Pokémon and kneeling down next to it, picking the splinters/wood-shrapnel out of his fur as much as possible. He'll need to rest in his Pokéball so he couldn't injure his back leg anymore, despite panting from all the shrapnel caused by Pidgeotto and protesting that he'd be fine. He was still trying to hold his soon-to-be-lame leg straight. "Don't say that, you're going to fall over any moment now if you don't rest."

Falkner stood up and recalled his Pidgeotto. It needed the rest, too. And according to the leader's now-messy hair, he needed it just as badly. So, no questions asked, he nodded to Jess and tossed her the Zephyr Badge. Begrudgingly recalling Absol to his own Pokéball, something both he and his trainer hated, the girl caught the badge and walked up to her adversary for a handshake. "That was fun. I hope we can battle on better circumstances sometime."

Taking her hand firmly, Falkner replied with joy. "As much as it was short and I'd lost my temper -- too out-of-the-norm for me really since I didn't realize how much you trusted your Pokémon and its attacks, yes, it was fun, and I hope to battle you again as well. Take this, as a reward from me." He released his victor's hand and reached into his pocket, pulling out a disc. "This is the technical machine for Sky Drop. It'll lift your opponents into the air and throw them back to the ground as quickly as they were brought away from it."

"Thank you, Mr. Falkner." Jess grasped the TM and Absol's Pokéball and turned to the elevator, taking it back down to ground level and exiting the wrecked stadium, looking happily at Absol's Pokéball and her shiny new badge (side note: shiny things = awesome, no exception). It felt good to be back on the ground. High places don't suit her well. Especially places that'll leave pricks in your skin if you take a wrong step.

 

[Fuyu]

Naren/Elisha (Naren's currently staring at the shrine. Elisha's screeching and attacking Elizabeth's leg.)

Elisha blinked as she was lifted into the air. "Put me down!" she screeched, surprisingly angry. It was amazing what she could sound like sometimes. "Help Naren and put me down human! She opened the shrine, you don't do that! Help her before she gets hurt, so right now!" She let go of the girl's leg, glaring at the girl and her Cubone. Honestly, the arrogant little bugger. Hitting her with that stupid club...

"Come on, she howled, beginning to run off.

Naren was still watching the inside of that stupid shrine! It was glowing and swirling, full of dimming lights. She turned, entranced by something only she seemed to see. Honestly, was this what humans were like when they took those things called "drugs"? I mean really. The doctors should have forced the medicine down her throat if this kept happening. Elisha was going to smack her human with her snout, yes that was exactly what would happen after she cried. She knew it wasn't Naren's fault: she had been born with odd eyes. But there were things in the world that weren't meant to be seen and unfortunately she was seeing them. Oh well.

"Naren!" she squealed, glancing back to see if that girl was following. "Hurry up!"

 

[Nideous]

Jess ran up and announced she was leaving. She sped off before Scott could form an answer. He glanced at Celes, who had a smug look on her face.
"I hope you're proud of yourself. Paranoid little thing!" Scott said gently as he walked toward the pokemon center. Celes did look proud of herself indeed. She had driven that weird boy off. She didn't know what was going on in his head, but he was not right. But that Absol had seemed nice. Scott shook his head at her expression.

"Well Celes, I guess we can't force her to stay. And she has her own plans too. Anyways, I'm a little glad. Next time Cipher catches up to us, she won't get in the way and get hurt. That's good. Hey, look, the pokemon center," Scott said. He walked in and set Celes on the counter. He bent down and picked up Cadas, who squeeled happily and set him next to her. He grabbed Caelara's pokeball and put her next to them.

"Excuse me, but I need my pokemon healed before my Gym Battle. Please," Scott said with a kind smile. The nurse returned his smile and picked up Celes and Caelara's pokeball and healed them without a problem. When she grabbed Cadas, however, he freaked out.
"Gible! Gible!" he shouted and began struggling, trying to get to Scott. Scott groaned. Weird little guy.
"Cadas! Enough! She's not going to hurt you!" Scott told the little dragon. He didn't stop and Scott returned him before he could do any damage to anything. The nurse healed him now too.

"Vee!" Celes said as she leapt to the ground. Scott put the two pokeballs he had on his belt.
"Thank you!" Scott said as he walked out of the pokemon center. Now, he had to see exactly how Caelara would work with him. Which meant he had to train now. What good what it do if he went into the gym battle only to find that his pokemon that had a type advantage would not listen? Best to take some time to prepare. He walked to a good spot and called Caelara out. She looked at him and then hissed angrily at Celes. Celes hissed back, and Caelara charged at her. Scott bent down and picked his two pokemon up by the scruffs of their necks. Caelara hissed angrilly and glared at Celes.
"Enough! Both of you! You two are on the same team! I Wan- Yeowch!" Scott said. He yelped in pain when Caelara blasted him with Shock Wave. He dropped both pokemon, and the two of them charged at each other, with Caelara knocking Celes to the ground. She pounced on Celes and clawed her face. Celes kicked Caelara hard in the ribs and stood up, her head bleeding from the cut on it. Great, Scott would have to return to the pokemon center now. Scott was still unable to move or speak from the volts that had been racing through his body. All he could do was watch as Celes was pounced on again. The two cats rolled around in the dirt, yowling angrily at each other, and Celes ended up pinning Caelara. Caelara blasted her with Shock Wave and got to her feet. Celes shook off the attack far better than Scott was and fired a Shadow Ball at Caelara, knocking her off her feet. Feeling was slowly returning to Scott's limbs. He slowly tried to stand as Caelara rammed Celes with Tackle, sending her sprawling to the dirt. she slowly got to her feet and Caelara blasted her with Shock Wave.

"VEE!!!" she shouted as the attack hit her. Scott returned her and Caelara stood there with a triumphant expression on her face.
"Are you nuts?" Scott asked the Shinx. She turned to face Scott.
"Shinx!" she said happily. Scott rubbed his head. This was too confusing.
"What's the deal with you? Do you hate Celes?" Scott asked. Caelara caught his tone and her ears flattened.
"Shinx!" she said angrily. She looked up at him with a sullen expression.
"I'm your trainer Caelara. There's more to that relationship than simply fighting for my. You also have to stop when I say stop," Scott said gently. Caelara simply looked at him. She had cuts and bruises all over her from that fight with Celes, but she should be fine. Scott called out Cadas.
"Gible!" he shouted happily. Caelara looked at him curiously, but didn't attack. Scott rolled his eyes. So, she didn't like Celes, she did like Cadas? What the heck!?

"Alright, I guess we'll just have you two train together for now. Cadas! Iron Head! Caelara, Shock Wave!" Scott said. Best to keep Caelara and Celes seperated until he could figure out how to keep them from fighting. Caelara blasted her electricity at Cadas, who was charging at her. He was hit with the attack and fell flat on his face. Scott groaned. This was going to be a long training session. Cadas got back up.
"Gible!" he roared. Caelara ignored him.
"Tackle! Both of you!" Scott said. Caelara and Cadas rammed into each other several times. Soon, Cadas went rolling back to Scott in a daze.
"Shinx! Shinx!" Caelara shouted happily. Cadas got to his feet. He looked at Caelara angrily.
"Gible!" he shouted. He opened his mouth and some blue flames were fired right at Caelara. Scott recognized the move. Dragon Rage! Caelara jumped out of the way and fired another Shock Wave at Cadas. Cadas went down. Caelara bounced happily, until Celes decided to make another appearence.

"Vee! Eevee!" she shouted angrily as she burst from her pokeball.
"Shinx!" Caelara said equally angry. She charged right for Celes, who reared up and clawed her in the face. Caelara was kncoked to the ground and got back on her feet. Scott returned both pokemon. This was giving him a headche.
"Both of you! Stop fighting like this!" Scott said to them through the pokeballs.
"Gible!" Cadas shouted. Scott looked down at him.
"Cadas, what are we gonna do with them?" Scott asked.
"Gible! Gible!" Cadas said, not really understanding the words, but happy he was being paid attention to. Scott picked him up and began walking back to the pokemon center to get his three very odd pokemon healed. It seemed as long as Celes was not out Caelara would listen just fine. And the same held true for Celes. So long as Caelara wasn't trying to kill her, she was her usual sweet self. What a headache.

 

[Who's Kiyo?]

Chronicle One: Between Rugged Mountains
Section III
*image removed*

≈≈≈≈≈≈≈
Komoko stared at her new Pokémon while she lay on the ground, crossing and uncrossing her legs. She definitely liked it, but there was this strong sense of resentment coming from it as it scorned Komoko for looking at it without permission. As a certified B-Rank Connoisseuse, Komoko knew exactly what the problem was with her newfound relationship with her....​

Hm. Exactly, what was it? Knowing what the species of your Pokémon is would definitely help you to understand them better. Let's see.... it had dark fur or skin, Komoko couldn't tell lest she risk her hand getting ripped off to find out. It had these gem-like things on its forehead and sternum, and what looked like a red feather spouting from its head. White fingers and toes too, which were actually blades once you examined them. Its tail was made of red feathers, too.... um.... oh! oh!​

"You're a Meowth, aren't you?"​

The Pokémon looked at her with a blisteringly furious mug. How dare she confuse her with some over-pampered feline. It started growling at her a bit, telling her piss off.​

Komoko frowned at the gesture. She had gotten it wrong, hadn't she? Sigh. Although she was good at analyzing the relationships that Pokémon had with others, she wasn't very good at identifying the critters.​

"I'm sorry, little guy. Can't you just talk and give me a hint at least? I'm actually trying here despite what you think," Komoko pleaded.​

The creature grunted and looked down for a second before looking back at the human. Well, it wasn't like it wanted to be called "it" or "that thing" this entire trip, so might as well throw her a bone.​

"Snea," it said.​

Alright, Snea. Snea....What started with a "Snea?" Um, "Sneaking?" No, it wasn't a fish. "Sneawinub?" No, it wasn't a tiny mammoth.... thing.​

"Okay, I give up. Tell me." Komoko said, planting her face in her arms in defeat. The creature rolled its eyes.​

"Sneasel," it finished.​

"Sneasel!" Komoko shouted, quickly raising her face and startling the Pokémon in front of her. "Hi, my new Sneasel!"​

"....Snea." the Pokémon said unsatisfied after gathering itself.​

"Alright, now are you male of female? Oh, wait, Oak said you were male. Right." Komoko looked to find the Sneasel looking at her angrily. "Heh, um, sorry for the confusion."​

"Sneasel!"​

"Now, now, let's not argue. It was an honest mistake!"​

"Snea! Sneasel!" he said, swiping a bit at her.​

"Hey! What was that for?!" Komoko asked, sitting up and farther away from her Sneasel.​

The creature gave her the cold shoulder and looked away from her. Kind of a prick, but, he was hers. Komoko was sure they could make it work somehow. One day, this Sneasel would be her premium brand!​

"Let's give you a name," she suggested.​

The Sneasel looked over and eyed her. "Snea," it replied.​

"Okay, how about.... Taupe?"​

"....Snea?"​

"Taupe it is!"​

"Snea?!" he panicked. He didn't want to be named "Taupe!" What the blimey was a "Taupe?!"​

"Like your name, Taupe?" Komoko cheerfully hummed.​

"Snea! Sneasel Sneasel! Snea!" he protested.​

"....What's the matter? Don't like it?"​

"Snea," he asserted.​

"Hm," the girl sulked. She liked the name a lot. It was one of her favorite colors!​

Seeing how upset the human was, the Sneasel huffed. Well "Taupe" was better then just being called "Sneasel," like he was defined by his species. He had to suck it up for now.​

"Snea...." he mumbled.​

"Huh? You do like it?" Komoko looked back up with a glimmer of hope in her eyes.​

"Sneasel," he said, shrugging.​

Komoko blushed a bit and bit her bottom lip before pouncing on the Sneasel and smothering it with a huge bear hug, laughing.​

"Snea! Sneaaaaa!" It screamed.​

"I see you two are warming up already," a familiar voice chimed.​

"Nick! I'd like you to meet Taupe, my new Sneasel," she said opening up her arms so Nique could see. The Sneasel pushed himself out of her grasp and smacked Komoko on her mouth for doing that to him. He jumped down turned his back on her. Freaking human.​

Komoko felt hurt emotionally and a tad bit physically as she placed her hand to her face. Nique went over and nudged the Sneasel's back with her foot. It fell over, not expecting that.​

"Hey, check yourself before you wreck yourself, mate." Nique warned. How dare this little creature do that to Komoko! Hurting other people and creatures was her thing!​

Komoko got up and looked in surprise when she noticed the egg container Nique was holding. "Where'd you get that?" she asked.​

"Oak, sort of, gave it to me in a way." Nique replied, smiling.​

"He just handed you a Pokémon egg?!​

"He definitely doesn't need it anymore, so, it's like a stole it from him!" she laughed.​

"Ha! What a great and generous man he is. Awesome! What species is it?"​

"Charmander, I believe."​

"Oh, the one kind that Oak gives away as a fire-type starter? Neat-o."​

"I know, right? I'm excited. Are you excited? Because I'm excited."​

"Hehe. You're silly. Let's get going back to Route One."​

"Sounds like a plan!"​

The two headed off for the grassy plain once again.​

"You coming, Taupe?" Komoko called out.​

"Sneaaaa...." The creature said, angry and embarrassed as it lay on the ground.​

 

[Wolf in the Rain]

"Welcome to the Pallet Town Pokémon Center, how can… we..." The cheery nurse's voice faded as Felix entered through the automatic door, the bell ringing as he entered. He approached the counter with both Rayne's and the Pikachu's ball in hand.

"How far did you make it?"

"What?"

The nurse sighed, a Chansey eagerly running up to her side, as if it was waiting for an answer. "I asked how far you made it down route one?"

"Oh… about 30 steps."

Before Felix knew it, the nurse and the Chansey were furiously exchanging money, the nurse with a disgruntled look on her face as the Chansey held out it's hand, a wide grin on it's face. To think the nurse believed he would make it halfway.
-------------

Felix was sitting in the lobby tossing the Pikachu's Pokeball up and down when the nurse approached him, placing Rayne's Pokeball on the table in front of him.

"I was thinking… Lily or something."

"How about Joy, after me?"

Felix glared at the nurse, holding the Pikachu's Pokeball in his hand.

"Fine. Sorry."

With a sigh, Felix leaned back in the chair he was sitting in, hitting the button on the Pokeball. In a flash, the Pikachu stood on the table. Confused, it looked around for a second, before it's eyes fell on Felix. The two stared in silence for a few seconds, before finally, Felix spoke, a grin falling on his face.

"'Celestia.' That's what I'll call you." Felix said with a smile, scratching the small-rodent Pokemon behind the ears. As the Pikachu pressed into his hand, a maniacal grin fell over her face before she let loose a Thundershock.

Felix recoiled back, both his chair and him slamming against the ground. The nurse just sighed, ordering the Chansey to go and grab the bandages.
-----------
Soon, Felix and his Pokemon were all healed up, and, Selene next to him, Felix began to head out the door, Rayne's Pokeball safely on his belt.

"Here, take these." The nurse shoved a handful of potions into Felix's hands. "This should keep you away from us for a while."

Felix let out a nervous laugh, unsure if the nurse was joking or not. His Pikachu, Celestia, walked ahead of him, as if she was the one leading the way.

"Well, thanks for everything. Alright, time to take on the Viridian gym!" Felix grinned as he took off towards the grassy plain, leaving the Nurse and Chansey standing at the Pokecenter door.

"Double or Nothing he makes it."

The Chansey next to the nurse smiled, slightly hopping up and down.

"Chansey!"

(OOC: Sorry for such a fail post. This is the 4th "essay" I've written today --''')

 

[Dawn]

Elizabeth just sort of shook like the coward she admittedly was. There was a foaming pokemon on her leg. How scary. Then said pokemon dropped off and she put her foot back down, a bit perturbed. Cone just sort of stared Relish down. She 'poked stuff with her bone club and didn't afraid of anything.' She just sort of sighed as the cyndaquil ran off. Didn't this pokemon know humans couldn't understand her? Regardless, Cubone followed along. After a moment Elizabeth noticed Cubone was walking away.

Elizabeth: "Hey..! Where are you going..?"

She then jogged after Cubone. She didn't want to jog, but pokemon were fast! After a bit she caught up with Cubone who had caught up with the cyndaquil. There was a strange girl acting strange near a wooden shrine. Elizabeth just sort of silently wanted to be alone, where she wouldn't be surrounded by strange people. The pokemon weren't a whole lot different from her time though. She was no expert on pokemon though.

Cubone just sort of walked on past Elisha, going to examine the shrine. She couldn't tell if the thing was about to /explode/ or something, but it was worth a shot. Meanwhile, Elizabeth just sort of stared all like 'What do I do?'

 

[Fuyu]

Elisha wanted to scream. God why were humans so inept? She looked toward the swirling lights. Okay, she could see that. Not good. Something then shot out from the open doors. Naren moved away. She wasn't startled, just confused. Her head hurt. The light then kept moving, flying wildly at everyone. Elisha reacted and attacked, only for Ember to pass through. Naren blinked. "Uh..." shaking herself, she glimpsed the blonde girl a distance away. She seemed scared. Naren would be too if she saw herself acting high. "Hey, y' all right?" the light shot toward the other girl and she blanched. "Hey, look out!"

It spun past them with a soft cry of confusion. Elisha growled at it as Naren walked over to stand slightly away from the girl. "Um, 'm sorry 'bout this, I'm a magnet fer odd stuff. You can hide if ya wanna. That light's not gonna do anythin'."

 

[Dawn]

Cubone just sort of ducked as something shot out the shrine. Geez! Okay, who the heck had done this to the shrine, how, and /why/? She wasn't amused. She promptly attempted to smack the swirling lights with her bone club, only to find that it couldn't be touched. How did one shut this thing off?! Oh. Right. That pokemon had said something about the shrine being opened. Cubone promptly reached up and tried to push one door shut with her bone club before trying the same with the other door.

Meanwhile Elizabeth quaked in her shoes as the lightworks went on. In her mind something that flashy had to be incredibly dangerous. Right? The strange girl from earlier then got her attention by speaking. Elizabeth looked at yer, her expression one of fear and confusion. She had even more difficulty understanding this one, primarily because of her dialect. It took her a moment to figure it out.

...She was asking if she was alright and trying to comfort her? This confused Elizabeth, not that it takes much. She just sort of stared at Naren, unsure of what to say. Thus, she was silent. Yet, she did not hide. Her feet weren't moving. She proceeded to avert her eyes, though her attention was clearly still on Naren.

Elizabeth: "..."

 

[Fuyu]

Elisha saw the Cubone shutting the doors and nodded. She tackled the other door and shut it. "Phew." the light shot back inside. Elisha examined it. "I wonder if that has to with the stones. This is Celebi's shrine," she muttered. Honestly Elisha didn't want to think about it. She nodded a thank you at the Cubone before taking Budew's ball back to Naren. The girl smiled placidly in thanks.

She looked at the staring blonde and realized what was wrong. It was her dialect. She flushed in guilt. "I'm sorry miss," she stated. "'M a bad speaker." Naren smiled shyly, now feeling nervous. "My name is Naren," she said slowly, trying to speak properly. "I am sorry for scaring you. Who are you and are you lost?"

 

[Dawn]

Cubone simply acknowledged Elisha by looking at her. She wasn't the most social pokemon in the world, but she meant well. Well, at least she better mean well anyway! It was a little known fact that Cubone's evolution, Marowak, was known to have more physical power behind it's hits than any other pokemon known to man, though it was only a select few that had that sort of power. They tended to have bigger, thicker clubs. It was believed said clubs somehow drew out their inner strength.

Meanwhile Elizabeth looked up at Naren. She still had difficulty understanding her. Language had a tendency to evolve over time, so even perfect English didn't always make complete sense to Elizabeth. Think trying to read shakespeare. Of course, for the most part Eliza was capable of understanding what was said to her.

She observed Naren for a moment. Why was she sorry? The concept that others simply cared was not something she could grasp on her own. She had no basis on which to make even simple assumptions like that. She didn't know for sure how people worked, how people thought around here. She was so young she didn't even understand her own time all that greatly! Naren asked her some simple questions. Those were clear enough.

Elizabeth: "I am called Elizabeth..."

Her tone was very soft and withdrawn. She averted her eyes, hesitating to continue. She seemed nervous even still, as if she were spooked.

Elizabeth: "I... am lost."

 

[Fuyu]

Elisha nodded and went to go curl by Naren's leg. Adrenaline was off, and so was she. Back to hiding. Naren almost smiled and picked her up. She did not look directly at Elizabeth now and did smile in her direction. "Would you like to come with me? I think I know the way out." She offered this politely, wondering if she was doing this right? She was new to this "friend" thing and this girl seemed so out of place it was awkward. But she herself was awkward personified so she kept her mouth shut on that. Besides, helping people was the right thing to do... right?

Naren really had to learn to stop second-guessing herself. Elisha thought that before squealing and trying to get comfortable in the girl's arms. Humans were uncomfortable with all that fabric.

 

[Dawn]

Elizabeth looked up at Naren. She immediately noticed she wasn't being looked at. This time she didn't avert her eyes. Naren was somewhat bigger than her, given she was a bit short at only 3'11''. She couldn't be that much older, could she? This helped her to relax a bit. She moved over near Naren and averted her eyes as she did so, expecting to be looked at. Cubone just sort of looked at her. What was wrong with that girl? She didn't know anything about what Elizabeth had gone through. None of Elizabeth's pokemon did... except Meowth. Meowth had a remarkable ability to understand humans, though he himself couldn't speak a word. That being said, nobody but Meowth knew that Meowth knew. Heh.

It seemed to be implied that Elizabeth was following, as she would not actually say anything. She didn't know how to think of someone as a friend. She was still so walled off, mentally isolated from everyone from the current time. She didn't want to be a jerk, and yet she didn't feel like she could be a friend.

 

[Fuyu]

Naren gave a smile as she quietly led the way. It would be probably best to go to Goldenrod. She still didn't look at Elizabeth, seeing the twitchy pale green glow out of the corner of her eyes. Mixed with an alarmed pale blue, it told her shy and uncomfortable. That made two of them. Quietly, Elisha peered at Elizabeth curiously. What a shy human. Even hers was not so bad. She felt her friend tremble slightly. Oh yeah, her mother worked in Goldenrod. That woman was scary.

"Up ahead," Naren warned softly. "The city's loud. S' better than a while back Cuz of the new leader.. But 's still noisy." she hated the noise herself but this place would only be a quick stop... She hoped. Her body shook again and she suppressed it. No need to cause a scene when the woman wasn't there.

 

[Dawn]

Elizabeth looked up at the buildings. She was somewhat intimidated by their size. It practically radiated the feeling of modern technology. Her discomfort got even more severe. She just sort of lowered her gaze down to the ground and remained silent, though.

Cubone wasn't overly fond of the city either, but to a much less severe degree than Elizabeth. She didn't understand what was wrong with her trainer. Was it because she was little, or was she just majorly screwed up? Cubone silently attempted to read Elizabeth, but failed to get anything from her endeavors.

This was the sort of place Meowth would've loved. A bunch of pockets ready for the plucking. That is, if Meowth hadn't been knocked out by a 'face pawnch' attack earlier. Meowth was prone to stealing, especially shiny things. Elizabeth didn't really approve though. She knew what stealing was. She knew it was wrong. She didn't want to turn her back on her morals just because she had been metaphorically flipped on her head in a traumatic one-way time travel incident.

 

[TornZero]

Long posts are long. o_o

Jessica, now with her badge, walked happily to the Pokémon Center with a bounce in her step. She was a little sad that she had to pull Absol back into his Pokéball, but that'll be remedied in a few minutes. Absol, I'm really sorry, but if you walk you're just going to make your paw worse. A couple moments later, they opened the door and entered the air-conditioned building. Scott was nowhere to be found. Did he go off to train? Jess shouldn't worry about it, so she just placed Absol's Pokéball on the counter, asked for him to be fixed up, and sat down in the lobby.

"Ah, Miss..." Nurse Joy called, walking into the lobby towards Jess and leaving her Chansey to take care of Absol.

"Jessica," she answered.

"Right. It seems that while we were treating your Pokémon, it had a multitude of wooden splinters stuck in its fur and paws."

"Uh-huh. I was hoping you could get those out."

"If you don't mind my asking, how did this happen?"

"Oh, it was nothing. Falkner's really fierce, he almost destroyed his own gym." The girl smiled, almost giggling about how Falkner lost his cool because she didn't have to speak for the fight.

"I see."

"So if you could take care of Absol, please do," Jess asked. Joy just nodded and walked back to the room with Absol in it, telling Chansey something about having to check up on Falkner and his Pokémon later.

A short time later, Absol walked out with the nurse and her Pokémon, looking good as new. Jess was handed Absol's Pokéball, being told that he refused to go back in, and they left the safety of the red roof. "Nurse Joy, could you tell me where the nearest city to this is? Preferably with a Pokémon Gym?"

"Oh, you'll want to go to Ecruteak City." The nurse was kind enough to give full directions, too, so the duo headed toward the west gate.

You know, Absol, maybe we should give you a name for whenever I'm Jess so people don't see too many similarities between her and Geoff. There would only be two or three people running around with an Absol out of his Pokéball, right?

So what should my name be, then? The gate's doors shuttered open ahead, and closed behind as they talked to each other. Jess was occupying herself by tossing her gym badge up and catching it like a coin.

Hm... How about Clades? Meaning "disaster", it would fit pretty damn well.

I actually like it.

Then it's settled. Your new name shall be Clades as long as Jessica's out. Back to business, Jess and Absol were out of the west gates and on Route 36. Reaching the next between Violet and Ecruteak, Jess swore she could see a shadow bolting around on the ground, but it escaped between a few trees too quickly for her to be sure. They continued making their way to Ecruteak's gate, and the shadow flew back out and slid underneath Absol, causing him to stand still. His trainer turned around to look, and it didn't seem like there was anything wrong. Absol, you alright?

The Pokémon just stood there blankly. There's something here. I know it.

Well, I don't. Jess let down her guard, letting the shadow underneath Absol emerge and throw him a few feet into the air with a red horn and onto his back. Whoa. What they saw was a small Pokémon. It had a blue helmet or something covering its face, and a pair of red horns sticking out of the helmet. It looked like a ghost the way its legs appeared. "I remember these! They're Ralts! But this one's different than the others. I've never seen one with a blue helmet before, and I've never seen it attack like tha--AH!" Jess' sentence was abruptly interrupted by a white glow surrounding her and lifting her into the air. This thing was aggressive. "Let me down! Absol, Shadow Claw!"

Absol was just recovering when he heard the command and leaped at the Ralts, slashing at it with a purple aura-covered paw. The Ralts was thrown away, and Jess was dropped on her rear end. She wasn't exactly used to landing on her butt, so she let out a little squeal and covered her mouth, embarrassed. It was super-effective, so the Ralts went down for a little while, and it gave Jess more than enough time to stand back up and pull out a Pokéball. She wanted a Psychic Pokémon, and this little thing was perfect. Ralts stood back up and sunk into its own shadow. It's the same move as last time, but how in the world did a Ralts know it? From her knowledge, they didn't learn any attacks that aren't Confusion before evolving.

Absol, get ready. The psychic-type darted around in its shadowy form, rising up under Absol again. This time, it was able to get out of the way. Alright, now, Megahorn. Absol obeyed, charging in at Ralts with a glowing horn. It slammed into the shiny Pokémon just as it was getting ready to sink back down, and Jess threw her Pokéball at it. It was sucked in mid-flight, dropping and rolling along the grass. After one... two... three attempts at getting out, the Ralts was all theirs. "Yes! Nice work, Absol!" Jess walked over to the Pokéball that contained his new Pokémon, picking it up and staring at it for a few moments before deciding. "Alright! I'll call you Tutor."

Appropriate, knowing his evolutionary line, Absol commented on the name his trainer gave their new ally, knowing that Jess was thinking of the Latin version of the word. The little guy was ferocious. Might be a good one to keep on hand. Jess grinned at the Ralts' attack speed, and his ability to move through a shadow. After a little digging through memory, apparently this Ralts has the move Shadow Sneak; and it's shiny, too. This will be fun.

I think Tutor'll make a great addition to our team. Ecruteak has a gym, so it should have a Pokémon Center and hopefully an inn, too.