The New League

[{Swan}]

Koroc - Great take on tutoring the move, I liked it.

Congratulations, Sunny grew to lv. 21!
Congratulations, Willy grew to lv. 19 and learned Payback!
Chewy learned Signal Beam!
Chewy can't learn anymore moves, will you delete one?

 

[Wolfwhispers]

Horn's in the Fog​

"Mo."

"No."

"Mo."

"No."

"Mo!"


"For the last time no!" Shaun finally snapped, swatting the white paws of his annoying Meowth away. As soon as the feline had learned that he had won the costume contest, he had tried to swipe the trophy away. It happened to be the TM Shadow Claw, but Shaun wasn't about to risk the normal type accidentally learning the move. He was saving that attack for someone else that might actually need it.

"Meoo," Meowth meowed pitifully. He fixed his trainer with a harsh glare, though that could hardly be seen through the thick fog that coated the area he and his trainer were walking through.

Route 210 was well known for its harsh weather conditions, but occasionally the fog lifted, and apparently the view was absolutely beautiful. It was really too bad that conditions weren't like that at the moment. It was so hard to see right now that Meowth could barely see a foot ahead, though he could definitely hear water close by…

"Mow!" Meowth hissed, immediately drawing back as he nearly fell into a stream. Make that real close. Thankfully all that was wet was his paw.

"Don't be such a wimp," Shaun drawled, rolling his eyes at the sound of the normal types pitiful sniffs as he began to lick at the dripping paw.

"Owe," Meowth hissed, giving a last lick before freezing, hair beginning to stand on end. "Mew," Meowth said lowly, tail stiff and claws out. Small growls began to escape his throat, making Shaun immediately go tense.

Shaun looked around carefully, trying to see through the fog. He could hear footsteps that left an echo in the deserted route, signifying that whatever it was that had his pokemon on edge was definitely large.

"Keep walking," he said quietly, beginning to take a few steps forward, his semi-loyal feline following after some hesitation. He was glad he did begin to walk forward, because they managed to walk downhill into a small meadow, leaving the fog above them, though some wisps of it seemed to crawl through parts of the meadow.

"Mee," Meowth grunted, ears twitching almost spastically. The footsteps had picked up their pace, and before they knew it, the thunderous roar of footsteps had already made it to them, shooing out of the fog like an assassin. The swiftness and speed made it obvious that the creature had known they were there, and had obviously been following them. "Ome," Meowth gapped, standing on end as the great beast reared over him before slamming diamond hard hooves directly at him.

"Move!" Shaun barked, just barely giving out the command in time.

Meowth rolled to the side, body still as stiff as a tree, and just barely managed to avoid the powerful Tackle coming from this powerful creature. Meowth's eyes darted to the ground, eyes growing wide by the holes that had been made before fearfully gazing up into the horned head of a powerful look Tauros.

"Meowth, Fake Out!" came the quick command of his trainer, and never before had Meowth been so glad to hear his trainer's voice.

Yowling loudly, Meowth jumped forward, praying to whatever entity was out there that his body would stop quivering like a new born kittens. "Meow!" he snarled, clapping his hands quickly over a shocked Tauros's nose, drawing a startled cry from the bull pokemon.

Shaun watched carefully as the effects of the attack took place. Instincts as a trainer had quickly taken over as soon as the first attack took place, and he thanked the gods for it. "Use Scratch!" he ordered. Now would be the best time to cause some damage.

Meowth, upon hearing the command, turned to his trainer with a harsh glare. Attack? This thing!? Forget that! "Meow!" Meowth snarled, already running away towards the closest tree he could find. He ignored his trainer's commands and angry shouts.

The Tauros, upon hearing the yelling, shook his head angrily, affects already wearing off. Snorting angrily, Tauros leveled his head at the fleeing feline. Eyes narrowing in anger, Tauros let off a bellowing roar and charged, hooves already echoing. "Taurroo!"

"Mo!" Meowth was ashamed to say that what escaped from his mouth was no better than that of a startled squeak of a Rattata. Picking up speed, Meowth clawed his way up a tree, only to let out another undignified squeak as, about an inch away from his tail, the Tauros struck.

Wood chunks went everywhere, and the poor tree was broken in half, the top part with Meowth already beginning its descent. Silver horns shone through the broken tree as Tauros tore his head away from it, his gaze following the feline's descent. He pawed at the ground, an almost mad glint coming to his eye as he prepared to make his attack. What he was not expecting, however, was for the feline to use the force of the tree to jump away and land directly on his back. The tree landed with a resounding crashing noise, but that was nowhere near as loud as the livid roar that came out of the bull pokemon.

Meowth dug his claws directly into the hide of angry Tauros, very much aware that if he were to fall, he would be in even more danger. "Meow," he groaned.

Shaun nearly spat to the side, already enraged when Meowth hadn't obeyed his orders. Instead, the cowardly feline had chosen to run, but was now put into a perfect position. "Scratch, now!" he bellowed. "Now is the time to attack!"

Meowth knew his trainer was right, especially since he was on top of the bulls back where he wasn't liable to get him so easily. "Meow!" Meowth snarled, unclamping one claw from the bull's hide and furiously swiping at Tauros's head. Hard nails dug deeply into the skin, drawing pained cries from the large pokemon.

"Taurosss!" Tauros bellowed, shaking his head furiously. Rearing back, he could feel the annoying pest hold on tighter (and even deeper) with his claws, before slamming down on the ground hard enough to make it shake. "Roos!" he roared, body already beginning its instinctual bucking movements.

"Keep holding on!" Shaun yelled, knowing he could do nothing more than encourage his pokemon to hold on for its life at the moment.

The Tauros was running back and forth by now, body jerking this way and that as he rose either to his hind legs or front legs in an effort to get his opponent off his back. When Meowth somehow managed to only dig his claws even deeper into his skin, Tauros began to grow more frantic and wild.

Shaun winced as the Tauros began smashing into large boulders or trees. The strong horns only managed to break apart the trees or rocks, but his bashing only managed to hurt himself while Meowth continued to fight for his life.

"Meooow," Meowth moaned, nearly shrieking in frights as he began to slide down the bulls back from a rather fierce buck.

Obviously able to feel the position change, Tauros sent a cocky look over his shoulder as he saw Meowth slide backwards. Their eyes met for just a brief moment before Meowth's eyes closed in pain as his body was brutally attacked. "Tror," Tauros moved in approval as his three tails easily whipped the poor pokemon. Aw, he could already feel the claws beginning to loosen.

"Faint Attack!" Shaun barked. His eyes narrowed dangerously as his pokemon moaned. Sweat drenched the white fur, making it cling to him in an ugly way. Despite the pokemon's tiredness, the Meowth still followed through with the order.

"Mow," Meowth bit out, form fading away from view just as the three tails came up for another Tail Whip.

"Tor!" Tauros spat, body jerking as he managed to only whip himself. Stomping his foot angrily, Tauros swiveled his head this way and that, but there was no sign of his opponent.

"Meow…"

Tauros tensed. That sounded as if it had come right from underneath him. Head swiveling down, Tauros reared up just as quickly as his neck was slammed into with a powerful dark move. The shadows danced around, making it hard to see for a moment, but Tauros had been in plenty of battles where his senses had been tested, and with an angry shout, he slammed his head right into the Meowth for one last Tackle.

"Me mow!" Meowth screeched as the powerful Tackle slammed right into him. He hadn't even had time to even see that! Body slumping as he finally came to a sliding rest, Meowth closed his eyes.

Shaun cursed as Meowth didn't make a move to get up. He quickly returned the fallen feline before looking over at the bull. His blood ran cold as he saw the cocky smirk on the pokemon as it settled down onto its knees in a resting position, eyes slowly closing as well. "Shit!" Reacting quickly, Shaun through Gastly's pokeball as fast as he could. He didn't even wait for the ghost pokemon to fully appear before barking out his order.

"Hypnosis!"

With a haunting laugh, the ghost pokemon sent a single ring of psychic energy at the bull pokemon, but it was not meant to be as he was already asleep. Again Shaun cursed. Tauros was already healing, thanks to that Rest technique. If only they had been a little quicker. Hypnosis would have made sure he couldn't heal. With a glare Shaun turned to his mocking little pokemon.

"Curse," he spat.

If the laugh before had been haunting, then this one was downright evil. Eyes red with an unnatural hatred, a wicked looking nail appeared in a ghostly image in front of Gastly where it slowly drove itself into the ghost type. With a howl of agony, Gastly floated over to the sleeping Tauros where it glowed it a sickly gray.

"Gassss," Gastly hissed, clearly pleased. Even if it meant giving up some of his own health, as long as he caused others pain it was alright.

"Roooar," Tauros moaned loudly in his sleep, body twitching as the curse too affect.

Of course, that obviously wasn't enough for Shaun. "Ice Punch," he ordered. "And don't stop until it wakes up."

If it wakes up, were the unspoken words. "Gasss!" Gastly laughed. Ghostly hands formed on either side of him, almost making him look like some messed up looking Haunter, but these ghostly claws gleamed blue. "Gast!" Shooting forward, Gastly began to impale the sleeping bull with icy punches.

Slowly but surely, ice began to form all over the sleeping pokemon, but only in small chunks. Over and over the bull pokemon moaned about in his sleep. The poor pokemon was obviously dealing with physical and mental pain at the moment.

"Gastly! Gastly!" laughed, coming in for another Ice Punch, but only this time an angry roar stopped him in his tracks. To his surprise, Tauros awoke and rose to shaking feet.

Even Shaun was surprised. He would have thought that all the attacks would have gotten to it and made it faint in his sleep. "Toro," Tauros grumbled, swaying as it shook from the cold ice and the mental onslaught of Curse. "Roo!" Tauros snarled, charging forward with his head bowed down, a dark energy covering his head.

"Sucker Punch!" Shaun all but snapped. He would need to hit this pokemon fast, especially since it seemed to know some dark moves

"Gly!" Gastly spat, once again forming ghostly hands. They shot out at the rampaging bull, hitting him head on in the chest.

"Tors!" Tauros faltered and nearly fell as the Curse and ice tore at his strength, but with one last burst of speed, he rammed his head straight into the shocked ghost pokemon's head. A sadistic pleasure swept through Tauros as the ghost type wailed in pain, but it was short lived, however, as his legs finally crumbled beneath him. "Raurr…"

"Gasss," Gastly hissed, face scrunched up in pain because of the Pursuit attack.

Shaun gave a glance at his pokemon, but he appeared to be alright. Taking out a pokeball, he tossed it at the fallen pokemon. It shook exactly two times before it burst open. Shaun scowled but was undeniably impressed. Finally, a worthy pokemon.

"Gastly, knock it out with Ice Punch, and make sure it's actually out," he commanded.

Hissing, Gastly was all too pleased to follow through with the orders. Tauros could only shake as he fought to get up before he was hit head on, and with it his consciousness. Goodbye freedom.

"Gasstly," Gastly grumbled, blinking down at the bull before floating over to his trainer with a smug grin.

Once more Shaun threw the pokeball at the fallen pokemon. Tauros dissolved into the device, and then it began to shake…

 

[{Swan}]

Wolfwhispers - Wow, that was one great post. I showed a lot of Shaun personality and that of his Pokemon.

Congratulations, Shaun caught a lv. 20 Male Tauros!

 

[Charzeon]

Sara just smirked as she watched Tony climb away from her, then blinked when Lee suddenly started to glow. The trainer watched in fascination as the Ralts got taller and seemed to be getting something that looked like clothes. Soon the glowing died down and Lee seemed to be a completely different Pokemon. His 'hair' was now longer and he had two red disks coming out of it. He also had a sort of skirt around his waist and his legs were long. Sara blinked and quickly got her Pokedex out and scanned the new Lee with it.

"Kirlia, the Emotion Pokemon. Kirlia is the evolved form of Ralts. It is highly perceptive of it's trainer's feelings. It dances when it feels happiness."

"So, you finally evolved," Sara said as she put the dex away and smiled at the now Kirlia. She then laughed when Lee looked at his new body and gave a cry of fright and confusion, not seeming to understand why he had a skirt. "Don't worry Lee, I'm sure that you'll-"

Suddenly there came another, much brighter glow. Sara turned around and gasped when she found the source of the glowing; Merric. The light was so bright that even Tony stopped his climbing and looked back. Before everyone's eyes, Merric started to grow and morph, becoming more serpentine and much larger. He just seemed to grow more and more, becoming brighter as well. It took some time before he reached his true height and the glowing dimmed.

Sara couldn't help but to blink. For where Merric the Magikarp was before now stood a very large, almost dragon-like creature. It had a huge mouth and a blue body with some skin colored spots and an under belly. The large creature looked around from his new height before looking down at the tiny people and Pokemon below. When it found the red haired girl, it made a content noise and lowered its huge head towards her. Sara was actually scared when she saw the creature do this and jumped back a bit, making the creature pause. Human and creature stared at each other for a while.

"…Merric?" Sara finally asked and slowly walked over to the large beast. It nodded and once again lowered its head towards her. When its head was close enough, Sara reached a hand up and lightly petted the side of its head, making it give a pleased hum.

Using her other hand, Sara quickly grabbed her Pokedex and took it back out. She aimed it at the beast and scanned it.

"Gyarados, the Atrocious Pokemon. Gyarados is the evolved form of Magikarp. Once it begins to rampage, a Gyarados will burn everything down, even in a harsh storm."

"Gyarados…" Sara muttered, unbelieving. Of course, she had heard all about Gyaradoses and even saw a couple pictures of them, but she had no idea where they came from. She had just assumed that they were non-evolving Pokemon, even Legendaries. To now know that these monsters evolved from Magikarps, the weakest Pokemon known…it suddenly made Sara recheck her values.

Still, when it finally started to sink in that this Gyarados, named Merric, was here before her and under her command…Sara let loose a wide smile.

"I've got a Gyarados…" Sara said, nearly shaking with joy. "I got a Gyarados…I've got a Gyarados!!" Letting out a happy 'whoop', the girl jumped and punched the air happily, then all but danced around in the little bit of land.

Merric didn't understand why his trainer was happy or even what she was doing, but he felt her happiness and did a little wiggle with her. Lee smiled himself, truly feeling what the girl was, and started to dance with her. Of course, he was much more graceful then what Sara could ever hope to do. Destiny, being the Jubilee Pokemon itself, was ecstatic from the good feelings she sensed and flew around her trainer and comrades, crying out happily.

Tony growled from the rocks as he watched the happy human and Pokemon. How was he supposed to know that the stupid fish was going to become a Gyarados! With out a backward glance, he climbed the rock with renewed speed.

The small celebration continued for a few minutes longer before Sara finally stopped. Still a smile on her face, she looked at the three Pokemon she had out at the time, and then back at the bridge that went over the rushing creek. Her smile grew as she looked back at the Atrocious Pokemon.

"Hey Merric, do you think you could lift me up there?" Sara asked playfully.

"Gyara," Merric said with a nod, then laid down so that Sara could climb onto the back of his head. After she did so, he lifted his head once more and slithered into the creek. The rushing water didn't seem to affect the Gyarados at all as he swam over to the bridge. Destiny smiled and flew beside her trainer, while Lee just grunted and teleported to the bridge itself.

When they neared the bridge, Merric turned so that Sara could just hop off of him and onto structure. Sara once more smiled at the very large Pokemon and took his Apri ball out.

"Thanks a lot Merric. How about you rest up a bit? I'm sure going from a Magikarp to a Gyarados," Sara said as she returned Merric. She then took out the green Apri ball and a Pokeball. "The same go for you Lee, and you fought quite a bit Destiny, rest up."

Both Pokemon nodded as they returned to their respective balls. The trainer took one last look around before walking across the bridge. Sara hummed as she walked across the very rocky and uneven terrain. Luckily for her, she didn't run into any other Pokemon that wanted to attack her. So over all, the rest of her trek was very uneventful.

It wasn't until Sara was about to leave that section of the Route that something of importance happened. The girl was looking around at the thinning fog before stopping. Now, standing right in front of her, was a red small-ish house right next to a larger section of the creek. A woman who looked to be in her mid forties sat in the front reading a book. Sara continued to walk and as she neared the house, the woman looked up and smiled at Sara.

"Well hello there young lady," the woman said with a kind smile. "You look like a trainer, and one that has traveled quite a bit, if that tired look and weathered look is anything to come by."

"Um…yeah, I am," Sara said. "My name is Sara Goodman. What's your name?"

"My name is Wilma Norse," the woman said. "I've been living here since my husband died some years ago."

"I'm sorry ma'am," Sara said.

"Oh no need to be sorry," Wilma said. "That was some years ago and it wasn't your fault. Anyways, you look tired and hungry. It's quite a ways to the next town and, though it's all down hill from here, it'll take you some time and it is getting dark."

"Um, alright," Sara said with a shrug, then followed the woman into her house. Wilma directed her to the living room and then went over to the kitchen. The girl didn't have to wait for too long before Wilma came back with a few sandwiches. As soon as the woman set the food down, Sara immediately grabbed a couple and wolfed them down.

"Yep, I was right, you're hungry," Wilma said with a grin. "Though, would you please try not to get crumbs all over my couch?"

"Oh…sorry," Sara said, then started to each her food slowly.

Wilma chuckled and took a set across from the girl. There was silence between them for a while, then the woman asked, "So, may I ask what Pokemon you have?"

Sara nodded and finished what was in her mouth before saying; "Well, my starter is Angela, my Shuppet. Then I caught Lee who just evolved into a Kirlia. Then I have Destiny, my Togekiss who choose me to be her trainer. There was also this strange boy who just gave me his Vulpix, who is called Flare, and I recently made a trade with a boy for a Magikarp, named Merric. He just evolved into a Gyarados not even half an hour ago!"

"Wow, that's an interesting bunch of Pokemon you got there," Wilma said. "Not to mention rare. A Gyarados you say? And a Togekiss! I haven't seen one of those around in a long time. Not to mention a Kirlia and a Vulpix."

"What about Shuppets?" Sara asked.

"Meh, they're more uncommon. No offense or anything." Wilma said with a playful grin. "Anyways, I wanted to know what Pokemon you had because I happen to be a Move Tutor."

"A move what?" Sara asked, blinking in confusion.

"A Move Tutor," Wilma said with another grin. "I can teach your Pokemon moves that they might not be able to know by leveling up or through TMs."

"Really!?" Sara asked. "Like what?"

"Well, all of the moves I can teach are here," Wilma said, reaching over to grab a piece of paper and handing it to the girl.

Sara spent the next little bit looking over the moves, figuring which of her Pokemon could learn what, and how much they cost. The trainer didn't like the fact that she would be giving up quite a bit of her MooMoo Milk and one of her attack increasing items, but she realized that it was necessary. Especially for Flare, who barely knew enough moves as it was. She agreed with Wilma on giving her a potion and the Silk Scarf to teach the fox Ominous Wind and Energy Ball, but she had trouble deciding who else to teach, since Wilma had made it clear that she could only teach two of her Pokemon moves.

"If I were you," Wilma said, "I would teach that Gyarados of yours. I'm sure he's quite powerful, but I doubt that he would know that many moves. The more he knows, the better he will be."

"But what about my Togekiss," Sara asked. "You said yourself that she won't be able to learn any more moves with out TMs or other Move Tutors."

"That's true, but Togekisses can learn practically anything!" Wilma said with a smile. "Trust me, you'll be surprise at how much they can do. If you really want her to learn another move, I suggest that you teach her that Shock Wave TM. Togekiss are very good when it comes to Special Attacks, and with Metronome, she can do a lot more then you think. Still, I also suggest that the next Move Tutor you meet to teach this Destiny. She'll probably need newer moves by then."

"Right, thanks for letting me know," Sara said with a nod. "Then would you please teach Merric Twister, Icy Wind and Water Pulse?"

"Sure thing," Wilma said with another smile. "That'll be either two more Potions or two MooMoo Milks."

Sara nodded and handed two MooMoo Milks to the woman. She then gave Wilma the Apri balls that held the fox and the dragon and Wilma told the girl to take the spare bedroom and get some sleep. He Pokemon would know the moves by the morning.

-/-/-

Sara woke up late in the morning and, not seeing anyone in the living, went outside. There, standing right next to the creek, was Wilma with Merric and Flare. The Gyarados was the first one to notice his trainer when she neared and quickly slithered out of the water to meet up with the girl. Sara couldn't help but to smile as the very large Pokemon all but ran into her and lowered his head so that she could pet him. Flare, of course, noticed very soon after and ran over to her trainer, crying out happily as she nuzzled against her leg.

"Well, I think a couple Pokemon missed ya," Wilma said with a laugh as she walked to the trainer. "That's always nice to see. Anyways, I taught them the moves we agreed upon. Want to try them out yourself?"

"Sure," Sara said, then pointed to a few rocks not too far from where they where. "Flare, use Ominous Wind, then Energy Ball on those rocks!"

"Vulpix!" Flare said with a nod, then glared at the rocks. Soon enough, a very evil feeling wind rushed past them and over to the rocks, knocking a few of them over and chipping the rest. The fox then opened her mouth and green energy began to gather. When it was big enough, the ball shoot forward and crashed into the rocks, causing a nice sized explosion.

"Nice," Sara said with a grin, then turned to Merric. "Okay Merric, on the same rocks, use Twister, Icy Wind and then Water Pulse!"

Merric nodded, then also looked to the rocks. He spun around and, right after he did, a small twister appeared, wiping a few of the rocks around. The Atrocious Pokemon then breathed in deeply before exhaling, letting out a very cold breath that froze some of the rocks. Lastly, Merric then gathered some water around his mouth before shooting it at the ground. When the water hit, a kind of pulse came and washed over the rocks, getting rid of the many that were once there.

"Wow, this is great!" Sara said happily, then turned to the woman. "Thanks a lot Wilma, these moves are great!"

"I'm glad you agree," Wilma said with a grin. "Now, how about you get going before it becomes late again, huh?"

"Yeah," Sara said as she returned Merric, but not Flare. "Again, thanks a lot See you around!"

"The same to you girl!" Wilma said with a grin as she watched the trainer and her Vulpix walk away.

Sara once again took up a hum as she walked downward across the now flat field. The fox kept up with her trainer and for a while, things were quiet. Then, out of nowhere, Sara said, "You know Flare, now that you have those new moves, I should really be training you more."

"Vul?" Flare asked, tilting her head.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to have you fight by yourself yet," Sara continued to say. "But you really do need to catch up with the others. Now, where are the Pokemon?"

It wasn't too long after she said that the trainer spotted a couple of Pokemon she had not seen before. One looked like a clown while the other looked like a sapling. As quietly as she could, Sara got closer to the Pokemon and scanned them with her Pokedex. She soon found out that the two Pokemon were Mime Jr. and Bonsly.

"A Psychic and Rock type, huh?" Sara muttered, then grinned slightly and took out an Apri ball. "I think I know who can help you out with this, Flare." She threw the ball up and, in a flash, Angela appeared. She floated over to her trainer and awaited orders.

"Right, Angela, you're going to be fighting those two Pokemon over there with Flare," Sara said. "Though try to let Flare do as much of the fighting as she can. I'll be ordering her, but not you as much. Do what you think you can do to help her, but don't take over the fight."

"Shup," Angela said with a nod, then floated over to where the Mime Jr. and Bonsly was. Flare looked up at her trainer before following the ghost. When the fox reached her, Angela let out a low growl, getting the two Pokemon's attention.

"Right, Flare, lets start this off with an Ominous Wind!" Sara called out. "Angela, use a Screech attack!"

Both Pokemon nodded and Angela was the first to use her attack. She opened her mouth to let out the familiar sound, making both Pokemon flinch. Then Flare concentrated and an evil wind went pass the two wild Pokemon, nearly making the Mime Jr. fall while the Bonsly just stumbled a bit.

Mime Jr. glared at the fox and ghost before sending a psychic blast at Angela, knocking her back a bit. The Bonsly also glared before it's eyes started to water, making Flare relax her guard.

"Flare, use Energy Ball on the Bonsly!" Sara shouted. "Angela, use Spite on the Mime Jr.!"

Again, both Pokemon nodded. This time, Flare was the one who attacked first, gathering the energy around her open mouth before shooting it at the tree-like Pokemon. The Bonsly cried out in pain as the attack hit it and was knocked back. Angela then launched a shadow imp at the Mime Jr., making it gasp as it lost its Confusion attack.

Both Pokemon seemed stunned so Sara quickly shouted, "Flare, use Ominous Wind again!"

"Vul!" Flare said with a nod, then closed her eyes as she concentrated again. Once more, the wind came and raced through the two Pokemon. This knocked the Bonsly right out and knocked the Mime Jr. down. Flare saw that the Mime Jr. was weakened and quickly used an Ember attack on it, finishing it off.

"Nice going you two," Sara said with a smile as she took an Apri ball out and returned the Shuppet. "Now, lets see what other Pokemon there are out here."

"Vulpix!" Flare called out happily and followed her trainer as they walked down the route.

The two didn't have that long to wait before a couple more Pokemon suddenly appeared before them. Sara grinned slightly and took her 'dex out quickly. She soon found that these two were a Nuzleaf and a Ledian. The trainer looked over their information before nodding and taking a green Apri ball out as Flare stood in front of her trainer.

"Come out, Destiny!" Sara called out and, in another flash of light, the Togekiss appeared. The girl then quickly searched through her pack and found the Shock Wave TM. Getting the Togekiss near to her, she placed the disk onto the Jubilee Pokemon's head and watched as the machine did its work. Soon, the TM lost all color and Sara returned it to her pack.

"Okay Destiny, you now know Shock Wave," Sara said. "I need your help in training Flare here. She just learned some new moves, so she will be more useful then she was before, but she'll probably need some help. Do what you can, but don't take over for her."

"Togekiss!" Destiny said with a nod before flying to her comrade's side.

"Right; Flare, use Ember on the Nuzleaf!" Sara called out. "Destiny, Sweet Kiss on the Ledian!"

Both Pokemon nodded at their orders. Flare opened her mouth and sent a bunch of little fire balls at the Wily Pokemon, making it cry out in pain. Destiny quickly flew over to the lady bug and kissed it, making it blush and wobble in the air. Nuzleaf glared at the Vulpix before spinning it's head and sending many leaves at her, knocking the fox back a bit.

"Flare, use another Ember on the Nuzleaf!" Sara called out. "Destiny, just hang back for a bit."

Flare glared back at the Nuzleaf before once again sending the little fire balls at it. This knocked the Grass type down where it remained limp. The Ledian just continued to wobble in the air, unaware of what was around it.

"Okay Flare, now use Ember on that Ledian!" Sara called out.

"Vulpix!" Flare said with a nod and launched the attack at the Five Star Pokemon. This knocked the lady bug right out of the air and made it hit the ground. When it got back up, it turned to glare at the Vulpix. Suddenly, it moved in a blur and slammed one of it's fist into the fox, making her cry out

"Quick, Flare, use another Ember!" Sara called out. "Destiny, use Charm!"

Both Pokemon nodded again once more. Destiny then winked at the Ledian and smiled at it. This made the Ledian blush and lower it's guard once more. Flare took this time to use her Ember attack on the bug once more, making it faint.

"Nice going again!" Sara said with a smile and returned the Togekiss. She then had Flare come over to her and gave the fox one of her remaining MooMoo Milks. "Don't want you fainting on me any time soon."

"Vul!" Flare said happily, then followed her trainer once more as they continued to walk downhill.

Things were quite for a while but, of course, it didn't last for too long. Before they knew what was happening, two more Bonslys appeared in front of the trainer and Pokemon. Sara couldn't help but sigh at the two Pokemon, but took out the blue Apri ball.

"Merric, come out again," Sara said as she threw the ball up and, in a very bright flash of light, the Gyarados suddenly appeared. He seemed happy to be out but before he could get much closer to his trainer, she quickly explained the situation and what he should do. The Atrocious Pokemon grumbled at not being able to do much, but looked at the two small Rock types and was ready for battle.

"Okay Flare, use Energy ball on the Bonsly to the left!" Sara called out. "Merric, use Icy Wind!"

Flare gathered the energy in her mouth before launching it at the Bonsly, making it cry out in pain as it was knocked back. Merric then unleashed his Icy Wind attack on the two Bonsai Pokemon, knocking the one that had been attacked before out while doing a bit of damage to the other. The second Bonsly glared at both of the Pokemon before grabbed a piece of the ground with its branches and threw the chunk of earth at the Vulpix.

"Merric! Protect Flare!" Sara shouted.

The Gyarados placed himself in front of the fox with out a second thought. When the rock hit him, he couldn't help but to roar in pain. Sure, the attack hadn't done all that much to his very large body, it was well thrown and was super effective against him. With out, thinking, Merric launched a Twister attack at the Bonsly, raising it up a bit and knocking it against a tree.

"Merric, calm down!" Sara shouted, then said, "Flare, use Energy Ball on the Bonsly!"

Flare nodded and once again shot the green ball of energy at the Bonsly, making it fait. The trainer nodded at the, then turned to the still angry looking Gyarados.

"Hey, Merric, calm down," Sara said. "It's okay, that Pokemon is knocked out right now. It's not going to hurt you."

Merric looked over at his trainer and, after staring at her for a bit, grunted and relaxed slightly. He was still angry, but he wasn't going to raze any mountains soon. Still, not wanting to take any chances, Sara quickly returned him to his ball. The girl then looked to Flare and sighed.

"Why do I always get the violent ones?" Sara asked the Vulpix.

"Vul," Flare said with a shrug of her shoulders.

Sara just sighed once more before picking the fox up and, for about the forth time that day, continued her journey down the Route.

 

[Wolfwhispers]

Too Wet to Handle
​

Shaun held his breath as the pokeball shook once... twice... ...ping! With an almost innocent wonder, Shaun released the intake of breath. He had only ever done that once before, and that had been when he had captured Gastly. Shaun supposed he would have that reaction each time he tried or did capture a pokemon simply because it was the pure excitement of capturing these pocket monsters.

"Gaaa," Gastly crooned, obviously pleased as he floated by Shaun's head, ghostly wisps creeping along Shaun's shoulder in an almost possessing manner.

Shaun fixed his pokemon with an amused look. They understood one another in the way Seviper and Zangoose understood each other. Both were the fiercest predator and loathed each other, but there was an understanding that held respect in the way they used each other to appease their anger.

Stepping away from the pleased ghost type, Shaun picked up the pokeball carefully. My second capture, Shaun thought possessivley as he looked to the sky, pleased that the fog had finally lifted to show off the bright blue sky. Directly above him, to his surprise, was a large group of pokemon flying towards a waterful. They were strange looking pokemon, and looked rather frail despite the tough look on their face. If he had been in any other mood he might have commanded Gastly to shoot off a quick Nightshade, but at the moment he didn't feel like fighting them all with only one liable pokemon at the moment.

Shaun turned away from the pokemon and easily left the small meadow they had been in, Gastly floating along side.

"Gaas," Gastly hissed, sending out a wisp of gas in a pointing gesture directly ahead of them.

"I'm not blind," Shaun drawled to the ghost type as he made his way over to the small cottage and ignored Gastly stick out his overlarge tongue out at him in an immature gesture.

"Why hello there," came the greeting of the woman sitting in front of her house. She seemed to be in her mid forties but seemed to have that look that made her older, more wiser. She nodded to an Abra sitting beside her. "My darling always tells me when young people like yourself make it out of that dreadful fog. Tell me, are you by any chance a trainer?"

Shaun nodded. "I am. Is this a rest house."

The woman smiled. "You may use it as one, but my cottage serves for a much greater purpose, but first would you and your pokemon like to rest?"

Shaun lifted a brow. "It would be nice to know the name of my... helper," he sneered.

The lady gave a polite laugh. "My apologies, dear! Where are my manners? I am Wilma, and I am an official move tutor."

That put Shaun on pause. He had heard of move tutors, both legal and illegal. The illegal ones sold TMs and/or taught trainer's pokemon moves for very high prices without an ID. Legal move tutors were pretty much the same but were placed and ordered by the League.

"You identification?"

With a small smile, Wilma pulled out a plastic ID and held it out to Shaun. He read it over before giving a nod. "Now would you like to come in an rest?"

Still frowning, Shaun nodded, though he did flash a look at Gastly. The ghost type was sneering at the snoozing Abra. "Sure, and by the way, I'm Shaun."

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

"So you're the one that's been stampeding all over the place," Wilma crooned as she pet Tauros as he tore through his food at a rapid pace.

All Shaun's pokemon had been healed and were now closed to finished eating. Tauros was knawing away at some fruit and vegetables, Meowth was purring up a storm as he licked up the last of his milk and Gastly... well, Gastly was still hissing at Abra in hopes to get a rise out of the pokemon.

"No use waking him up, dearie," Wilma told Gastly as she ran a hand through the ball of ghost.

"Gass," Gastly spat, turning his whole body away from the woman.

Wilma simply smiled and turned to Shaun. "Well, I suppose you're eager to have your pokemon taught some new moves, am I right?" She reached into her pocket and handed him a crumbled sheet. "These are the moves I have been designated to teach young trainers that reach this area.

Shaun took the paper and flattened it out. He eyed it with interest before a scowl formed on his lips. This woman recquired a high price for some of these more powerful moves. Glancing at Meowth, he figured the feline would need something better than those pitiful physical moves he had, and Gastly, his major fire power at the moment, was the best choice for another move, Shaun shifted around for the only items he had.

"I'll take these two," he informed Wilma as he pointed out the moves. He handed her the two items and watched as she nodded approvingly.

"Very well. Shall we get started, dearie?"

Shaun scowled at the 'dearie' part but still gave a stiff nod before he returned Tauros to his pokeball. "Come on you two," he ordered to Meowth and Gastly.

Stretching, Meowth followed with his tail high in the air, obviously feeling important since he knew he would learn a knew move. Gastly followed, though with less of a show. He just floated, looking bored.

As soon as they were situated outside, Wilma brought out two pokeballs with a smile. "Come out, my dears," she called softly. With a burst of white light, two large pokemon appeared with loud cries of delight.

Shaun blinked, taking in the strong pokemon. This weak looking woman had pokemon like these?

"Electabuzz, let's begin," Wilma said with a smile. "A Thunderpunch in exchange for your TM Shadow Claw. At Shaun's nod, she gave a smile at the large electric type.

"Electaa!" Electabuzz cried, raising a crackling fist high into the air. With a nasty grin, he brought right down before Gastly, startling the ghost type.

"Gast!" Gastly spat, gassy body shifting wildly in his anger. "Sltly!" he snarled, sending a dark energy of Nightshade at Electabuzz.

"Buzz!" the electric type yowled as he held his side. With a glare, he fired up another Thunder Punch, prepared to strike down this mennace.

"That's enough," Wilma ordered strictly, stopping the attack. Her pokemon threw her a hurt look, but Wilma ignored it. "I think its obvious that the attack is directed at you," she said to Gastly. "Now, why don't you try focusing on what you learned and felt and give it a try."

Gastly let out an annoyed huff and turned away. "Ga."

"Do it," came the cold order of Shaun. Gastly turned to his trainer with an ugly look. "Just think of all the pokemon you can pummel with this move." The ugly sneer turned into a bright grin.

"Gas!" Closing his eyes in concentration, two ghostly hands formed by his side, but instead of crackling with energy, they were icy blue.

"That's an Ice Punch," Shaun sighed. "Do it over."

Gastly snarled at his trainer, but the loud laughter of Electabuzz brought his angry gaze over to the electric pokemon. "Gass!" Gastly cried, striking the pokemon with his already formed Ice Punch.

"Taa!" Electabuzz cried. Body shaking in anger, he threw out a Thunder Punch.

"Gasa!" Gastly cried, once again forming ghostly hands, but this time, instead of the cold blue, they were the bright yellow. "Ly!" Gastly cried out in shock as the two attacks met head on. The two locked eyes with one another, unwilling to give in. "Saa," Gastly smirked before he opened his wide mouth and let his giant tongue come out and Lick Electabuzz right in the face.

"Buzz!" Electabuzz cried out, going completely rigid.

With a satisfied and dark grin, Gastly's eyes turned red as he shot one last Nightshade at the pokemon. "Ly," Gastly crooned as the pokemon fell to the ground. With a satisfied smirk, Gastly rammed his newly developed Thunder Punch straight into the ground to show off his new skills.

"Meoow," Meowth crooned in appreciation, excited by the prospect that he would learn a powerful move.

Wilma sighed as she recalled her pokemon and avoiding the debris being blown around by Gastly's happy electric attacks. "A bit unorthodox, but I suppose as long as the move has been learned..." she left off with a sigh.

"And now for the next one," Shaun prodded a bit forcefully.

"Yes, yes." Wilma gave him a patient smile that clearly said she was used to impatient teens. "And now your turn Nidorino."

With a grunt, the horned pokemon turned to an excited Meowth to make sure he was paying attention. "Nido..." Taking a deep breath, he turned away before releasing his breath and shooting out a smooth shot of thick water that quickly turned into several giant rings of water throughout the shot and smashed right into a tree.

Meowth's jaw dropped as he literally shivered at the dripping wet grass and tree. With a snarl, he turned to his trainer and glared. "Meow!"

"Shut up and deal with it," Shaun said boredly, fighting the urge to yawn. "This is the best attack for you, especially since it might get you over your irrational fear of water."

Irrational! Meowth hissed at his trainer. His fear of water was perfectly rational, thank you very much. "Owem."

"Nido." Meowth turned to a snorting Nidorino and hissed warningly at the amused pokemon. It ignored the warning and even had the nerve to burst out laughing.

Meowth could feel his rage begin to boil. In fact he could even feel it raging in his throat. He opened his mouth, prepared to release a loud growl, but was completely surprised when a string of water spurted from his mouth and formed rings just before it smashed into a shocked Nidorino. The Water Pulse hadn't been as strong as Nidorino's, sure, but he was still part ground and that hurt alot.

Gastly laughed in approval as Meowth slashed away at the horned pokemon until it fell into a defeated heap. Meowth stood over proudly, water still dribbling down his mouth (much to his horror), but hey, at least he got that move down.

Wilma returned her pokemon and fixed Shaun with a pointed glare. "I think it's best you leave," she told him. "Hopefully when you meet the next move tutor on your journey, your pokemon won't win through anger. We are done here. Revival Herb for Water Pulse and Shadow Claw for Thunder Punch."

Shaun was really having trouble with keeping the large grin off his face. What a wonderful show his pokemon performed. "Let's go," he told his pokemon, their grins just as smug as his as they walked away from the annoyed move tutor.

​

 

[Koroc]

Kenny patted Sunny's head and told her what a great job she was doing. Sunny smiled and wagged her tail. Kenny then turned to Willy was busy watching Chewy get her move down.

"Willy you want to learn some new moves don't you?"

"Drif drif loon." The pokemon cried still just staring out the window. Kenny walked back out the door to check on Chewy with Sunny and Willy close behind him.

"Great they are all better." Ms. Norse said watching them walk out the door. "Your Pikachu has got the move down. Watch."

"Piiiiiii!" Chewy yelled while holding up his right arm and the fingers like a gun. When she released the attack she put her top finger down and fired a beam that looked like a chain of green and red dots twisting together at the target and hit it right in the center.

"Chewy, you can do it? That is great." Kenny said happy while Ms. Norse and his Pikachu walked back towards him.

"Okay how about that Grotle?"

"Actually can you teach Willy a few new moves instead?"

"Sure I can. I will teach him Twister and Ominous Wind."

"Thank you Ms. Norse but I have to be able to pay you back some how."

"I don't ask for much sweety. Three items that you have will do."

"Okay I will give you this TM, this pink bow and ……"

"I will teach your Drifloon twister for free." Ms. Norse said interrupting Kenny. He smiled and went off into the forest and waited for his drifloon to learn his moves.

"Okay guys lets go out into the forest and see what we can find." Kenny said to Chewy and Sunny as they followed close behind him.
Kenny looked around in the forest walking past small little trees that have three little bulbs on it. Kenny stopped and walked towards one since he saw so many of them and wondered what they were.

Kenny stuck his hand put hand out to try and touch it but it jumped out of the ground and smacked his hand.

"Bonsly bon bon sly bon." The pokemon cried staring at Kenny angrily.

"That is how you want to play huh?" Kenny said patting Sunny on the head letting her know see was about to fight. Sunny stepped up shaking her back getting ready for a command.

"Sunny use Razor leaf." Sunny nodded her head and then shot two strong and sharp leaves from the bushes on her back at the small try like pokemon. The pokemon took the hit falling back to the ground hard. The pokemon began to cry loudly and Sunny felt bad for it so she an over to it to check on it. When Sunny made it to the pokemon, it stopped its tears and gave a smirk twisting around knocking Sunny's legs from under her. Sunny head hit the ground and then she quickly got up watching the runt of a pokemon run around her.

"Sunny use absorb." The grotle hopped up on her hind legs and then stomped on the ground knocking the pokemon off balance and then created a green aura around both her and the tree pokemon. The attack began to drain the small pokemon's power and heal Sunny. The tree pokemon began to pant and then started flailing around closer and closer to Sunny. The pokemon made contact hitting sunny hard enough to push her back about 2 yards.

"Okay Sunny use razor leaf." A bright green aura formed around Sunny and it began to make the bushes on her back grow little seeds on her back and she slung them at her opponent. The seeds surrounded the pokemon but nothing happened. The pokemon gave a sigh of relief while Sunny created two leaves and fired them at it again. The leaves hit the pokemon knocking it to the ground again but this time the pokemon stayed on the ground.

Kenny grabbed a pokeball from his bag and threw it at the pokemon that laid on the ground. The ball began to shake as Kenny noticed a strange bird over head holding a bag. The pokemon flew down towards his and landed on a rock right next to Kenny. The pokemon dug its beak into the bag and pulled out a letter.

Kenny grabbed the letter and began to read it.

Kenneth I am returning Barney to you because I have finished all of the work I need with his help. He was a great pokemon and I am returning him with something special but you have to find out yourself. Thank you very much for lending him to me.

Love,
Dad

Kenny smiled and stuck his hand into the pokemon's bag and pulled out a pokeball that contained his Machop. Almost forgetting about his other capture attempt Kenny turned to see that it was still shaking.

 

[rockman0]

"Bryce! Bryce? Bryce! Wake up, Bryce!" The little girl constantly tapped at the sleeping boy. After growing tired of making repetitive actions to no avail, she finally yelled. " BRYCE! WAKE UP!" Bryce woke up in shock.

"I'm awake! Who is it? What? You!" He was dismayed to realize that he had woken up from such a wonderful dream, only to see that it was no dream. "What do you want?" He said, rubbing his eyes.

"Where are we going today?"

"Where are we going? Well, I'm going to Solaceon."

"Great, I'll come!" Bryce was amazed at her ability to make herself welcome.

"No, I'm going to Solaceon, by myself, alone, solo. Do you understand?" He just had to get rid of the girl. She was slowing him down.

"Whatever, Mr. Cranky Pants." She turned around and walked away.

Finally getting rid of her, Bryce went to the nurse's desk. "Hi, where can I wash up?"

"Oh, there's a private bathroom down the hall."

"Okay then, thanks." He recalled his Pokémon and headed down the hall where the nurse had pointed him. He performed the usual morning routine of brushing his teeth, washing his face, you know, the works. Then, he left the bathroom and went back into the lobby.

"So, how was your night?" Nurse Joy asked. "Did you sleep alright?"

"I was fine." Actually, he was lying. He had a bad crook in his neck. His legs were stiff. Besides his dreams, he'd slept in the worse place possible.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that." She handed him something. "Take this; it'll help with the pain."

"But I –"

"I can tell how a person's night was. So, take this and you'll feel much better."

"Um, thanks." Bryce took the medicine from Nurse Joy's hand and left the Pokémon Center. He headed down towards Route 210. Route 210 was broken into two parts. He noticed some bridges off in the distance. They looked kind of old. Not another bridge, Bryce thought. By now, he was starting to develop a fear of bridges, or at least, he thought he would. Well, at least this bridge isn't as narrow as the last, he thought to himself as he collected his wits.

Upon crossing the bridge, Bryce noticed a wonderful sight. It was one of the best waterfalls he had ever seen. The wondrous scene was quickly shrouded by incoming fog, making it harder to navigate around the area. He was walking along when all of a sudden…THUD!!! He bumped into something... "Hey, watch where you're going!" …or someone. The boy looked towards Bryce. "What's your problem, man?" Are you blind or something?"

"Sorry, all of this fog. It's easy not to see where you're going."

"Yeah, I hear you." The boy looked down at the Mankey standing next to Bryce. "Hey! You're a Pokémon trainer! Let's battle!"

"I would, but in this fog, it's impossible to have a good match."

"That can easily be handled." The boy reached for a Pokeball in his bag. A Skarmory was released from the Pokeball. "Skarmory, clear up this fog for me."

"Skar!" the Pokémon said as it cleared up the fog with its glimmering silver wings. The boy recalled the Pokémon. "Now, will you battle me?"

"Sure. Let's do this!" Bryce reached for a Pokeball, but was interrupted by someone else.

"Hey! I wanna battle too!" It was a girl. The girl ran up to the boy that had challenged Bryce earlier. "Come on!" she said panting. "Let's do a doubles match."

"But, I don't have a partner," Bryce cried out in dismay.

"Well that does pose a problem. Maybe we can…" The boy was cut off before he could finish talking.

"I'll fight!" The voice came from nowhere. It was that girl. That annoying little girl!

"Umm, I'm not sure I want to team up with her. She's kind of … inexperienced."

"Inexperienced! What do you mean by that!"

"Well, you have to team up with her. Or you'll have to forfeit."

"Well, I guess I'll team up with her, just this once."

"No! Maybe you'll want someone who's more experienced!"

"Come on, don't be like that." He had to think quickly. "I was just kidding." Not really.

"Oh, well, that was funny. Now, let's do this!" The two challengers introduced themselves.

"I'm Jack, and this is Lisa. It's good to know who you're battling. So, what are your names?"

"I'm Bryce, and this is, um…this is…" He couldn't remember her name.

"Oh, so you forgot my name too!" She looked back over to the other trainer. "I'm Ariel. Nice to meet you!"

"Same here," Lisa said. "Now, let's battle!" She found an Apri Ball in her bag and threw it forward. The ball was painted with all sorts of designs: hearts, stars, rainbows. A Noctowl came out of the Apri Ball. Jack released his Pokeball. It was the Skarmory from before. Bryce decided that he would use his Ponyta. Ariel used Igglybuff as her first choice. The Pokémon came into the field, ready to battle. Ariel issued the first command.

"I'm gonna make this easier for us, Bryce. Igglybuff, use Sing!"

"No! Not that attack!" The Igglybuff started to sing a soothing and relaxing melody. All of the Pokémon except for the Igglybuff fell asleep.

"Hey, Bryce?"

"What!?"

"Why is your Pokémon sleeping on the job?" The question made Bryce even more upset than before.

"Because YOU put it to sleep!" He could hear the other team giggling. After taking a deep breath, he recalled Ponyta. "Alright then, fine. Luxio, it's all you!" Luxio came out. Its fur glistened with electricity.

"Oh! Your Shinx evolved. Yay!" Whatever, Bryce thought.

"Luxio! Use Charge, then use Spark!" The Pokémon collected electricity within her fur and started to charge. Bryce hadn't said which Pokémon to attack, so she attacked the Noctowl. She hit the sleeping Pokémon hard. The attack hit it so hard that the Pokémon woke up and squawked out loud in pain, which woke up the other Pokémon.

"Hey, that's no fair!"

"Whatever," Bryce replied. "Luxio, finish it off with another Spark!" Luxio began to charge at the Pokémon again. The Pokémon tried to recover but was hit before it could get back to its feet. The Noctowl cried out in pain as it was knocked to the ground. It didn't get up. Lisa recalled the fainted Pokémon and pulled out another Apri Ball. A Nuzleaf was released from the Pokeball. Bryce had never seen this Pokémon before so he decided to look it up on his Pokedex.

Nuzleaf, the Wily Pokémon. They live in holes bored in large trees. The sound of Nuzleaf's grass flute fills listeners with dread.

Interesting Pokémon, Bryce thought. He recalled Shinx and sent out Mankey.

"Mankey, use Low Kick on the new Pokémon." Mankey ran up to the Pokémon to kick it off of its feet. It missed when Skarmory swooped in and knocked it off with Peck.

"Ha! You didn't forget about me, did you?" The Skarmory dived in for another attack but was hit by Ariel's Igglybuff. Bryce looked at Ariel, surprised.

"I told you that I'd be of some use." Bryce smiled. Then, he issued another command.

"Mankey! Use Seismic Toss on the Nuzleaf while Skarmory is down." Mankey picked up the Nuzleaf and jumped into the air. Once he had reached the height of his jump, he threw Nuzleaf down to the ground. The attack caused considerable damage.

"Nuzleaf, use Fake Out on the Mankey!" Nuzleaf ran up to Mankey and slapped him.

"Mankey, don't let it hit you like that!" Mankey started to move, but hesitated. The Nuzleaf pounded Mankey on the head, knocking him back towards Mankey. "Mankey! Come on. You're not scared of that little thing, are you?" To Mankey, the Pokémon looked like a big scary monster, but the illusion soon died down and Mankey got up to fight again. "Good, now you Revenge!" Mankey ran towards the Pokémon and began to knock the Pokémon around. He dealt a lot of damage to the Pokémon, finally causing it to lose its consciousness.

"No!" Lisa screamed. "That was my last Pokémon! You won't get away with this. Skarmory will get both of you!"

Meanwhile, Ariel and Jack were battling. Igglybuff was having a hard time getting away from the Skarmory who'd started to snap at the Pokémon with its sharp metallic beak. The Igglybuff cried as it ran from the Pokémon.

"Alright Mankey, let's talk care of this." Mankey stepped back as Bryce sent out Luxio once more. "Luxio, use Charge, and then Spark!" Luxio started to collect energy, then charge at the Pokémon.

"Jack, Skarmory, look out!" Lisa cried. Jack's Skarmory turned around to see a glowing Luxio coming straight towards it. Skarmory jumped out of the way, but was pounded back down to the ground by Igglybuff. Then, Luxio's attack made direct contact. The Pokémon was knocked unconscious. Bryce and Ariel had won.

"Yay! We won! Good job Igglybuff!" Ariel jumped around in joy. Bryce recalled his Pokémon.

"Well, that was a good battle," Jack said.

"Yeah! You were great! I wish I could battle like that!" Lisa added. She turned to walk away with Jack. "We should battle again someday. We'll win for sure next time."

"Sure!" Ariel said. "But you won't be winning." She turned to Bryce. "Aren't you glad that I was on your team?"

"I have to admit, you did come through for me." Bryce grinned. "Not bad for such an inexperienced trainer." He started to walk away.

"Ooph! You annoy me sometimes, you know that!"

"Whatever," Bryce said as they approached Solaceon Town.

 

[{Swan}]

Charzeon - Here's the deal, I was actually only going to let you teach each Pokemon one move, but because it's christmas, I'll let it slide, but could you please let go of one move for Merric, so each has learned two? It was a great post though.

Congratulations, Flare grew to lv. 13 and learned Quick Attack, Ominous Wind and Energy Ball!
Congratulations Merric grew to lv. 22 and learned ?? !
Congratulations, Angela grew to lv. 24 and learned Will-o-Wisp!
Angela can't learn anymore moves, will you delete one?
Congratulations, Destiny grew to lv. 22 and learned Shock Wave!
Sara gave away her Potions, her Silk Scarf and her MooMoo Milk.

WolfWhispers - Great post, I really like Gastly's personality right now.

Congratulations, Gastly learned Thunder Punch!
Gastly can't learn anymore moves, will you delete one?
Congratulations, Meoth learned Water Pulse!
Meowth can't learn anymore moves, will you delete one?
Shaun gave away his Revival Herb and his TM.

Koroc - Good post, Kenny got his machop back, hm?

Congratulations, Willy learned Twister and Ominous Wind!
Willy can't learn anymore moves, will you delete two?
Congratulations, Kenny caught a lv. 16 male Bonsly!
Kenny gave away his Pink Bow and his TM.

Rockman0 - Good post, Bryce is never going to get rid of the girl, is he?

Congratulations, Luxio grew to lv. 19 and learned Bite!
Congratulations, Mankey grew to lv. 21 and learned Screech!
Mankey can't learn anymore moves, will you delete one?

To Everyone: Since I allowed Charzeon to teach each Pokemon two moves, those who have already done the move tutor could also chose one more move for each Pokemon, as long as they pay for it.

 

[Charzeon]

Since starting down the southern part of the Route, Sara had not gotten in a battle with the wild Pokemon. The girl was happy for the break, yet also disappointed. She wanted to train the little fox in her arms so that she would be strong enough to fight on her own. The only way she could do that is if she fought against other Pokemon, be they wild or from other trainers. Yet Sara didn't want her to fight too much in cause she got tired.

Still...the fox would have to get a lot stronger if she could be used in Gym battles. But, over all, the trainer was happy for this rest.

Everything was quiet for trainer and Pokemon for a while. Then the two found a small wooden building just up ahead of them. Sara, curious as to what this building was, sped up to get a better look. As she got closer, she noticed that there were chairs and tables outside of the building. There was a sign of the top, welcoming everyone to 'Cafe Cabin'.

"Must be the name of the place," Sara muttered, then noticed a waitress cleaning the tables. The girl frowned, recognizing the waitress from some where. Then, suddenly, it hit her and Sara sped up even more to reach the now familiar waitress.

"Um, excuses me!" Sara called out as she neared the Cafe, getting the waitress' attention. "But, are you that girl who sold MooMoo Milk at the fair in Celestic town?"

The girl smiled and nodded at Sara. "That I am, ma'am," the girl said. "The name's Annie McKecknie, if you're interested in knowing my real name."

"I am," Sara said with a smile. "My name is Sara Goodman, and this is Flare."

"Vulpix!" Flare greeted.

"Nice meeting ya, Sara and Flare," Annie said. "Now, what brings you here to Cafe Cabin? Can I get you anything."

"No, I don't need anything," Sara said. "I just came to say hi. That's all really."

"You don't say, huh?" Annie said, gazing more seriously at Sara. "Well, if that's the case, then I think I have a suggestion for you. Might help you out over all."

"Really? What?" Sara asked.

"Well, there's this Professor fellow who's studying up on something," Annie said. "I think you should help him out. I'm sure it'll do you some good."

"What is he studying?" Sara asked.

"Well...you'll have to talk to him in order to figure that out." Annie said.

Sara frowned slightly at the vagueness, but thought that it would be interesting to see what this Professor knew and agreed to meet with him. The trainer said good-bye to Annie, then headed in the direction the waitresses pointed out to her. Soon enough, Sara found herself nearing a ranch and once again sped up to reach it quicker.

The trainer walked up the steps to the main house and, after setting Flare down, knocked on the door a couple times. There was silence fore a little while before the door opened, showing a young-ish man with glasses. He stared at Sara and said nothing.

"Um..." Sara said, "Are you the Professor who's studying up on something? A waitresses at Cafe Cabin said that I should help you out."

The man brightened up at that and smiled at the girl. "Well, you don't say huh? Well come in then, I could sure use your help," he said before walking into the house.

Sara and Flare looked at each other before following the man. He led them through a couple rooms before coming to a room which had a lot of scientific equipment in it. Against one wall was a counter with larges eggs nestled in some hay. A heating lamp was above them, keeping them warn.

"You see these eggs?" The man asked, when Sara nodded he continued, "I believe that this is how Pokemon reproduce! I have been studying these eggs and the Pokemon I believe they came from for some time, and I have every belief that these eggs will hatch into Pokemon!"

"Really?" Sara asked, tilting her head at the strange man. "How are these eggs made?"

"That...I don't know," the man said. "And, if it is what I think it is, you're parents would have to be the ones to tell you, not me." Ignoring the girl's confused features, he continued, "Anyways, I need you to take one of these eggs and give it to a more famous and influential Professor in Pastoria City. You'll have to be quiet about the whole thing too, since no one has believed me yet about this discover, and I doubt they'll believe you either."

"Right..." Sara said, frowning. This man sounded like a real piece of work. Pokemon coming from eggs? Who has ever heard of such a thing! But still...Sara had to admit that she was very interested in the eggs and wanted to learn more about them herself. "Okay, I'll deliver the egg."

"Great!" The man said, then turned to the eggs. "Hmm...now which one should I give to you." He looked at them for a while, before suddenly picking on up and handing it to the girl. "There, this one should be good. Hope you like it!"

"Right, thank you," Sara said with a nod, then took the egg and put it in her pack. The Professor then gave her a few instructions before the girl walked away and set out on the Route once more.

The trainer thought that all that was going to happen on the route was done and over with, until she noticed a whole punch of gathering birds just ahead of her. Sighing as curiousity once again took over her, Sara jogged over to where the birds where gathered. It wasn't long at all before they reached what looked like yet another ranch, with the bird Pokemon flying about in seemingly random directions. A man stood at the edge of a fence, yelling orders to the Pokemon. Sara walked up behind the man and watched the birds for a while.

"What are they doing?" Sara finally asked.

"They're delivering Pokemon that trainer's gave to them," the man said, not taking his eyes off of the flock. "It's something new the Sinnoh League has started. We give a whistle to every trainer and, if they have more then six Pokemon, they can use the whistle to call on one of the League's bird. They can then gave that excess or another Pokemon to the bird and they bring the Pokemon here. That way, a trainer can catch more then six at a time. Of course, they have to give the bird a message telling them what Pokemon is in the ball, the name of the Pokemon, the name of the trainer, and the trainer's code. If you want a Pokemon back or switch, then you can give another message to the bird giving your desires."

"Wow, that sounds really cool," Sara said as she looked up at the the birds once more. "Can I get a whistle?"

"Sure," the man said, still not looking away from the birds as he reached into his pocket, took out a whistle and gave it to the trainer. "Use it when ever you want. We'll try to reach you as quickly as we can."

"Great, thanks a lot," Sara said then started to walk away.

"Hey, you heading to Solaceon Town?" The man called out.

"Yeah, why?" Sara asked, turning to look at the man, who still wouldn't look at her.

"I suggest you hurry then," the man said. "I don't know exactly what's going on, but something big is. It would be a same if you missed it."

Sara once again looked at her Fox Pokemon, who just shrugged. The girl shrugged back, then looked at the man once more. "Right, thanks a lot!" She said before truning around once more and running through the Route towards Solaceon town.

 

[Wolfwhispers]

"Please! Please, you simply must take the egg!" the man cried, all but clinging to Shaun's arm.

"Back off!" Shaun snarled, wrenching his arm away from the crazy scientist. He knew it had been a bad idea, following the simple rumor in that god for saken cabin that a scientist had found something that could revolutionalize pokemon. At the thought of gaining knowledge that barely anyone knew, Shaun had immediately sought out the man, but it turned out the man was just crazy.

"Please! It's hard enough getting other professor's to believe me, but if you, a trainer, help out and deliver it, they'll give it a chance!"

"Look, old man," Shaun drawled as he felt the coming of a migrane, "what makes you think all pokemon come from eggs? Yea, sure, I can see a Pidgey or Taillow hatching from an egg, but can you really imagine an Arcanine or Houndoom laying eggs?"

The man's mouth opened and closed like a fish before he turned abruptly to Gastly. The ghost pokemon, as usual, was floating around Shaun's head. "You, Gastly!"

Perking up at the sound of his name, Gastly turned to the scientist. "Ga?"

"Please, honorable ghost pokemon, do pokemon come from eggs?" The voice was pleading, and it was more than enough to make Shaun gag.

Gastly looked thoughtful before that secretive, cocky grin that Shaun knew all too well spread across his face. "Ly sga!" Gastly sang, sticking out his tongue and blowing a raspberry.

Gastly was clearly saying he wouldn't tell.

The scientist's shoulder's slumped before he turned to Shaun. "Please," he implored, voice barely above a whisper. "If you take it with you, there's always the chance that it could hatch."

Aw, so he bargaining now.

"Or it could remain a rotten egg," Shaun pointed out.

"And there's always the possibility that it could hatch into a rare pokemon," the man tempted.

Shaun scowled, not liking that thought at all. The man was right. If pokemon did come from eggs, there was that chance, and the chance to obtain a rare or powerful pokemon always grabbed Shaun's attention.

Darn it.

"Fine," Shaun bit out, scowling at the pleased grin of the scientist as he was handed an egg.

"You should really head to the next town, though," the scientist said,
pleading tone gone and completely serious. "I hear there's something beg happening, and I don't think its a good thing."

Shaun stared at the scientist before glancing at Gastly. The two grinned. Something beg, huh? Well, looks like they would get to test their abilities. It had been a while since Gastly had a good fight.

OOC: Sorry this is so short, but a lot had been deleted and I lost it and then got lazy on the remake. :(

 

[{Swan}]

Charzeon - Great post, lost of interaction, I liked it.

Sara received a Pokemon Egg and a Whistle!

Wolfwhispers - It's fine, let's hope that Shaun's luck stands, hm?

Shaun received a Pokemon Egg!

 

[Underoos]

Selene was enjoying her walk, marveling at the scenery as she went. People were scattered about the route but, unlike the weirdo ninja boy, none of them had seem to keen on challenging her. Though it could have just been because the fog was so thick no one could see her anyway, but Selene found it better to think that she (for some odd reason or another) intimidated people. In fact, that time when she was in grade school she had freaked this one kid out by glaring at him. Selene sighed. Sometimes being thought of as tough to the core was good, but other times it really sucked. The people who knew you when you were like that, well...they just apparently figured you never changed. So that led to her not being able to get closer to her old friends. Oh well, it wasn't like it mattered now anyway.

Selene absently kicked a pebble and sent it rolling off the route. She heard a grunt moments later, and whipped around. A little girl poked her head out of a patch of grass and glared at Selene. Selene scratched the back of her head awkwardly. She had never really meant to hit the girl who was...in...grass? Selene's face pinched. What the hell was this chick doing anyway? Selene decided to voice her question, not really caring if she sounded like a jerk the way she asked it.

"Well, what are you doing on the road?" the girl retorted.

Selene's eyebrow arched. "Going to the next city," she responded obviously. The girl faltered slightly.

"Er...well..." she grumbled. "Shut up." Selene blinked. "You know what? Why don't I just battle you? That'll prove why I was in the grasses!"

"Oh, so you were training?" Selene questioned, grabbing Denahi's Pokeball anyway.

"No! I...well, I mean yeah, I was but...UGH! Shut up and bring it on!"

Selene rolled her eyes but tossed Denahi's Pokeball. In a bright flash of light, he appeared ready to kick some serious ass. The girl had summoned a Seel. The Pokemon clapped happily, looking a bit dumb as it did.

"Okay Seel, show that girl a lesson. Use ice shard on that Cranidos!" the girl cried, pointing to Denahi. Selene found that the girl looked partially insane while she commanded this, but chose not to comment once again. Denahi, being the smart little guy he was, dodged most of the ice shards and only got hit by one. This seemed to make the obnoxious girl mad, because she then began to stamp up and down. Her face slowly started turning red. The Seel glanced at her and looked a bit scared. "Seel!" the girl whined. "Ugh! HIT IT!"

"Denahi, dodge the attacks and rush in with a good headbutt," Selene commanded, keeping her cool. She had found that staying calm and cool did her best in battles, because otherwise she wasn't able to form a proper strategy and win. "Then follow up with stomp and get away from Seel."

"Seel! Don't get hit!" the girl called. Selene resisted the urge to roll her eyes for the millionth time. The girl sounded like a complete priss who had no idea what the hell she was doing. Sure, she had seemed smart at first, but Selene figured that underneath the smarts was the stupidity. Sighing, Selene watched.

Denahi had charged in, using his headbutt momentum to dodge all of the shards. Seel even began to seem frustrated by this, because his face pinched together. Denahi slammed into the Seel, knocking it backwards. The Pokemon cried out, but Denahi didn't hesitate. He charged in again, slamming down on Seel's spine with his foot. The Pokemon cried out again, face pinching in agony. Selene heard the girl groan, and looked up in time to see her pull at her hair furiously. Selene found a light smirk forming at her own lips. This girl was bringing about her own downfall, but Selene didn't mind. It was only helpful to her and her Pokemon's growth.

"Seel! What did I tell you mister?!" she screeched. "Fine. I'll just...hmm...aha! Seel, use rest!" she called triumphantly. The smirk on Selene's face slipped away, but Selene wasn't too deterred.

As Seel slipped off into sleepy land, Selene called for Denahi to attack with take down. Charging, Denahi slammed into the white Pokemon. It tumbled backwards again, but didn't wake up. Selene couldn't help but wonder how Pokemon could stay asleep whilst getting attacked, but she shrugged it off. It was time for action, not time for pondering. She ordered a leer and then a headbutt in hopes that it would finish off the Seel, but in the end of the attack it was still not fainted. The girl looked to be getting even more flustered than she had been. Her face was slowly changing from an angry red to a completely nasty purple. Selene was sort of afraid that her head was going to explode, but she went back to focusing on the battle.

"Alright Denahi, let's finish this. Use focus energy, leer, and then finally take down." She was pretty confident that this was all it would take, but Selene was just hoping that Seel would stay asleep.

Denahi paused, gathering his energy and getting himself all centered and such. Selene eyed Seel carefully, and saw that the Pokemon's eyes were starting to flutter. She ground her teeth together and then peered at Denahi. He was on the leer now. Seel was awake. The Pokemon shook itself, and then blinked blearily at Denahi. Denahi hurried up, and then began to his charge. The girl shrieked for Seel to use ice shard, and it did. Denahi slammed through a shard, but his charge faltered and almost stopped completely. Somehow the Cranidos managed to right himself, and he slammed into Seel with a good amount of force. It was done. Seel toppled over, down for the count. Selene heard the girl squeal in utter frustration as she brought Seel back into his decorated Apri Ball.

"OHHHHH! That stupid Pokemon!" she snapped. "Fine, you'll never beat my next one!" She produced another Apri Ball, and in seconds a fat rat was in front of Denahi. It was a Raticate, and it looked just as mean and ugly as the girl. "You'll never beat Raticate! Attack Cranidos with crunch!"

Raticate charged in, snapping his teeth down around Denahi's arm. Denahi practically growled in annoyance. Selene called for a leer, and Denahi began the attack. Raticate simply clamped down harder. Denahi leered, unwavering. Selene then called for Denahi to use headbutt. Smirking, (or doing the equivalent that Pokemon do) Denahi slammed his shiny skull down into the Raticate's face, causing the rat to let go almost immediately. Denahi then charged in, following with a newfound move. It slammed its small hand (or was it a paw?) into Raticate's chest. Suddenly a hand appeared behind it, doing more damage than it had first appeared. Selene pulled out her Pokedex quickly and looked. It was an assurance attack. Selene grinned. Apparently the attack was also doubled when the Pokemon attacked previously. A quick look at Raticate showed this. The Pokemon was shaking its head.

"Raticate!" the girl squeaked in surprise. "Oh my poor baby! Did that mean skull-head hurt you? Well, use hyper fang!"

Selene wondered how well that attack would work on Denahi, especially because he was pretty tough. Raticate leaped in though, and snapped his sharp teeth down on Denahi's shoulder this time. Denahi cried out and wobbled from the weight of the Raticate. Denahi began to shake in an attempt to throw Raticate off, but it didn't exactly work. Raticate had his fangs just too deep in Denahi's skin. Selene clenched her teeth. Denahi couldn't use a headbutt to get out of this one. She looked around, and then saw a nearby boulder from a cliff. She called for Denahi to use that to shake the Raticate off. Denahi wobbled over there, even though the Raticate was using its own weight to resist. Denahi made it, and then swung about and slammed Raticate into the boulder. That made it let go.

"Good job Denahi!" Selene enthused. "Alright let's finish it off. Use leer and then end it with a take down!"

"Oh no you don't! Raticate isn't as easy to beat as Seel! Use crunch again Raticate!"

It was true, the fact that Raticate wasn't as easy to beat as Seel. When Denahi rammed into the Pokemon in the final take down after Raticate had used crunch, Raticate went down. In Selene's opinion, Raticate was even easier to beat than Seel. She recalled Denahi silently, and watched as the girl began to cry and stamp her foot. Selene made a face, utterly disgusted with her reaction. Without even bothering to find anything out about the girl, Selene brushed past her and went on.

She soon found herself at a house. It was just as the mountains began to end, which was almost relieving for Selene. The house was more of a little cottage in all reality, and Selene found that she liked that. That was when an older looking woman walked out and approached her. Selene was unsure of what to do, but when the woman offered her a hot meal and a warm bed Selene couldn't refuse. She was tired, her feet hurt, and she was hungry. Mountains just obviously weren't Selene's thing.

"So dear, how is that stew?" the woman questioned as she went to the sink to wash her own bowl.

"It's really great," Selene said between spoonfuls. The warm liquid went down her throat easily. Selene was on her second bowl, and she was finally beginning to fill up. She picked up another bread roll and dipped it into the brown liquid. "So why do you live all the way out here?" Selene questioned.

"Well, my husband built this house. He passed away a while ago though," the woman stated. Selene wondered if she said the wrong thing, but Mrs. Norse didn't sound very depressed about it. "Oh! How silly of me, I almost forgot. If you would be so kind to give me an item, I can teach one of your Pokemon a move."

Selene paused in her quick eating and slowed her pace. She began to think. "What would you take for a hard stone?"

"What Pokemon do you have?"

"It's on Denahi, my Cranidos," Selene explained.

"I can teach it thunder punch," the woman began, and then went on to continue.

"No wait," Selene interrupted. "That's perfect." Selene put down her spoon and summoned Denahi, who shook himself and looked around. Selene plucked the hard stone from around his neck and offered it to the woman. She examined it briefly, and then nodded. "Denahi, you're gonna go with this nice lady while I sleep and she's gonna teach you an awesome move, ok?"

"Crani!" Denahi agreed happily.

"You just finish your soup and then get your rest dear. Don't worry about washing the dishes, I can manage that once we're done. Your Cranidos will have learned the move by the time you wake up tomorrow." With that, the woman exited to the back, Denahi in tow. Selene silently thanked her, and then quickly finished her soup.

 

[Broadway]

Ziggy reared her little self up to her hind feet and dropped her forefeet down with a bitty little stomping motion. She did it again and again, The ground underfoot shook a little, and a faint rumbling rose from it. It tickled the bottoms of Mackie's feet, and would make it a little hard to balance on one foot, but that was about it. "And that's your Earthquake, little Ziggy. Good one!" Mackie looked down with a stifled laugh, and she looked up at him with a proud squint. Two new moves, and TM didn't seem to live up to the power advertised on its case, but then again, Ziggy didn't look like much herself, size-wise. "You'll grow into it," he told her. She would, he was sure. He wasn't sure when, but... she had to. She was a ground type too! The Icy Wind, as least, she had down. It seemed like she had more practice with ice moves, since she'd known Powder Snow anyway. He nodded to himself. Practice for Earthquake, and she'd have people shaking in their boots for real!

True to her vivacious personality, Ziggy was raring to go, unlike Bonnie, who'd practiced her new Twister move until she hadn't even had the energy to sit on Mackie's hat. For once, she was in her pokeball instead of taking a ride. Luster was out... somewhere, zipping among the trees that edged the downward-sloping path towards Solaceon and home. Mackie could barely wait, and that anticipation seemed to be catching to the pokemon out with him now. Ziggy could barely move at a walking speed, going from darting and dashing to standing still and trying to show off Earthquake again (she wasn't doing much with it, but she clearly liked the move anyway). Luster did swerving fly-bys to check in on him, or something, and Turvy was jogging. Backwards, forward, diagonally, huffing and puffing in his very own self-imposed fighting-type routine.

No, wait he wasn't jogging now. "Show off!" Mackie clapped for him, as he sauntered down the path... on his hands. It seemed like upside-down motions were a part of his regimen now, ever since that contest in Celestic. And he never tripped when he walked like that, either.

"Ty!!!" Turvy replied smugly.

"Nub!" Ziggy announced, and dashed towards him, like she was about to ram his hands. Turvy bent his arms at the elbows and "jumped", or something, he pushed off from the ground with his hands right as she got close, and when she shot under him, he landed on her, hands gripping her wiry fur and he was balanced on her back. "Swii!" Ziggy squawked in surprise, and her legs splayed to the side as she was flattened to her belly. She snorted in indignation and got her feet under her, with some effort, and then moved on. Only walking speed now, as Turvy was still perched on her back on his hands, eyes gleaming with amusement, legs straight up in the air, his balance unperturbed by Ziggy's motion.

"Nah, that is showing off," Mackie corrected himself.

*

"Nuz. Nuz. Nuz!!" The angry pokemon made its hands into fists. Its companion did likewise and Mackie looked down at Ziggy with a sigh.

"Guess I shoulda put a lid on that Earthquaking, huh?" he said, and she had the grace to look a little sheepish. He should've got her to quite it before, when her impromptu practice of the new move had sent a Ledian buzzing up out of a stand of berry bushes to hide in a tree. This time she'd disturbed a couple of Nuzleaf, but these two were looking to have it out, rather than hide.

"Swii," Ziggy said in a little voice, but then she moved forward deliberately and faced off against the two hostile pokemon. Turvy bounded to her side, which made Mackie grin. He'd have to include that when he wrote to Danny—Ziggy got along with everyone here, but she had a best friend on the team, too.

Luster zoomed back towards him, but he held up a hand and she paused in a hover just beside him. "Naw, just wait a bit. They can use the practice anyhow. You can go in and save their behinds if they need it though," he assured her, and she bobbed in agreement.

"Nuzzzleaf," the second Nuzleaf growled, while Mackie dug out his pokedex, one eye on the soon-to-start battle.

"Show 'em, guys," Mackie said to Ziggy and Turvy, just as the first Nuzleaf leaned forward and spat out a couple of seed. "Dodge 'em! Ziggy, and Icy Wind!!" To Turvy he added, "Fake Out!"

Turvy dashed forward, started to trip, then rolled into a handspring and landed in front of the second Nuzleaf, clapping his hands together with a shard smack right in front of its eyes. It flinched back. Ziggy bounded to the side, but didn't escape the exploding Seed Bomb that the Nuzleaf's Nature Power had let it use. She was thrown a few feet, but scrambled right up and jumped forward, landing with forward thrust of her little snout that didn't even hint at the frigid gust of air that swirled around her and then washed over the two Nuzleaf at once.

"Yes!" Mackie said. She'd only barely even learned it. She definitely was good with ice! Both Nuzleaf shuddered, while Turvy bounded backwards. "Helping hand, buddy. Make her stronger!" he directed the little fighter, and Turvy ran to Ziggy's side, dropping to a crouch, ready to follow her motions and support her.

"Zzzzleaf!!" the first Nuzleaf shouted, and braced itself. The leaf on its head seemed to grow, and double, and it whipped it's head forward as a rapid-shot of them hit Turvy. He bore the blow without moving. The second Nuzleaf didn't shift a bit either. It was unmoving, and its eyes closed. It took a breath. Wait—Mackie knew that one. Growth, like at the grass gym with Roseanna's pokemon. He didn't dare let that go on for two long.

"Both 'a you, get that one! Ziggy, Tackle!" No time to risk aiming for two. And Turvy would make it stronger. They ran together for the second Nuzleaf, and Ziggy bounded ahead, just in time for Turvy to brace himself and give her a massive extra shove. She hit the Nuzleaf like a furry cannonball. It was flattened to its back, and Ziggy landed on the far side. Helping Hand was too unwieldy now, with the Nuzleaf between them, and it was already getting up.

The first one launched another Nature Power Seed Bomb, and Turvy didn't dodge it, but ran into it, bouncing the seed off his head and away from him. "Tackle that one, Turvy! Keep on it! Ziggy, Powder Snow!"

Turvy's Tackle didn't land, and Mackie was taken aback, because it looked like a stupid miss, but then he realized the Nuzleaf had taken the obvious dodge, and now both of them were close together again. "Ziggy! Forget it! Icy Wind," he said quickly. They really did work well together, didn't they?

"Swi swi swiiinub!!" Ziggy chortled happily, and did her jump-forward start of Icy Wind, and Mackie scrambled back, not eager to get caught in even the edge of that chilling blast. The frozen air struck both Nuzleaf again, and the second one gave up, raising both hands and sitting down in exhaustion. Mackie could sympathize there. He love Ziggy to little bits already but he didn't like the cold.

The first Nuzleaf gave its companion a poke in the side, but got no response. It glowered at Turvy, who struck an exaggerated attack pose and ran for it again, another Tackle, keeping with Mackie's standing order. "Tackle, Ziggy!" Mackie told her, and they both struck the Nuzleaf, almost at the same time. It got off a Harden before they hit, but it wasn't enough. Icy Wind really did a number on grass-types, Mackie thought.

It sprawled back and only rose to a tired crouch, clearly not interested in pursuing this further. "Zzzzleaf," it spat, annoyed, and Ziggy turned in a circle, back to looking sheepish.

"Swiiii," she said, and it almost sounded like she was maybe saying a bit of a sorry to the Nuzleaf that she'd bothered with her little Earthquake.

"Nuzleaf," it responded curtly. It waited for the other one to pull itself to its feet, and then together they vanished into the undergrowth again.

"Good job," Mackie told them both, not too rah-rah as he might otherwise have been, since those Nuzleaf had been all bothered about it, and he felt kinda bad, but still, they really had done great.

"Yaaaanma!" Luster seemed to agree, and flew forward to loop around Turvy and Ziggy. It was kinda parental, and Mackie laughed at that. Luster was more seasoned in battle though, that was true. But she certainly wasn't more "grown-up"!

"Don't be getting any airs, miss no-manners," Mackie told her, and she blew a buzzing raspberry at him as they headed on.

*

"Annie?" This time Mackie was the first to call out her name. This Cafe place was new, it even still smelled new, but it was real nice. He wasn't much for cafe stuff, really, but there were some good-looking cakes in there, that was true, and of course there was Annie, all pretty in a skirt and whatnot.

She turned and saw him, the tray in her hands loaded down with empty coffee cups. He moved over to try and help, but she turned and raised one shoulder in refusal. "Get away, you, this is my job, here," she protested, and he stood back. It was empty right about, but a buncha folks must've just left, with all that crockery she'd had on her tray.

He went to the counter while she clinked and clanked, putting stuff wherever it belonged, and stared at the menu panel. "Annie, there ain't no way there's that many kinds of coffee."

"Of course there are," she protested. "you didn't even look at the teas, didja?"

"Teas I get, there's all kinds of herbs, but coffee's a bean!"

"Depends where it grows, and it has different kinds too, dummy," she said. "There's even one kind that's collected after it gets eaten by a rare kinda Linoone, over in Hoenn."

"Huh?" After it was eaten? Then how... Oh. "Annie, I hate you." She guffawed at him, and he gave her a glower.

"Don't you worry your messy little head about it, Mackie. We don't have that stuff here, it's super expensive."

"What?! Why?!" Why would anyone pay any money at all for that?

"Well, it's kinda hard to collect," she said, and giggled at his grossed-out look.

"Well, good," he grunted.

"So, what can I get ya?" She gave him a smile.

After she served him a hot chocolate with marshmallows, and a pecha cheesecake slice, a few more people came in and he nibbled on his cake slowly, wondering if he should maybe get a muffin when he left to share with everyone else. Bonnie was out now, but up on the roof, the rest were safely in their balls in his bag.

He was startled out of his thoughts when Annie sat down across from him with a thump. "Hey there Mackie-boy! Mind if I keep you company?" He looked around and spotted Rick, Annie's cousin, tying on an apron. "He just finished his break," she explained, "my turn now."

"I guess you're not so bad to have around," he shrugged, like he didn't care. "Too bad there ain't any pretty girls or nothin', though."

She reached over and pinched his arm, and he took a sip of his hot chocolate and tried not to laugh at her indignation. He remembered when they were both little and she'd been the tomboyest girl around, swearing she'd never wear dresses, nohow at all, and had worn overalls just like him. She hadn't really changed too much, but she'd changed her stance on the dresses and skirts and things, and prettied right up when she felt like it.

Then sometimes she still wore overalls. That's why he liked her.

She fetched herself a snack as well and she asked after his pokemon and his trip—Annie's dad had three Staraptor that did a lot of hauling, of people and cargo both. They hadn't walked back here.

"And I bet this is somethin' you'd like," Annie said, as Mackie was fishing for his last marshmallow with his spoon. "There's a professor down just before town, he's come by a few times, he's pretty nice... kinda funny, but nice. He's studyin' how pokemon make babies," she rolled her eyes, "or something like that."

Mackie blinked in surprise. Eggs? That was... weird. It was true that pokemon were always caught wild... and no one had ever seen them breed, not in the normal way like people did, anyway, he thought, hoping he wasn't blushing at the idea. A'course, Annie's family sometimes found baby Miltank in their herd, little wee ones... but they appeared sometimes, and it just seemed like they probably did... whatever they did... off in secret.

Eggs, though? All pokemon? Starly and Staravia and Staraptor, and the other flyers, sure. Pidgey and Spearow and everything. But... all of them?

"That is weird," he agreed with her. "Why should I wanna see him?"

"Last time he said he had proof," she shrugged. "I don't train 'em so it's not a big deal for me either way, and our herd always has babies from wherever them babies come from. Don't matter to us if it's eggs or what. But maybe for trainers, it's something."

"Yeah, I guess," Mackie nodded. The Professor Rowan would probably wanna know about it, for sure. "Thanks," he told her.

"Good luck," she said, gathering up their plates. "If you get a magical egg or somethin', lemme know, 'kay?"

"Sure," he laughed, and got ready to head on. "I'll be round home a day or two, see you sometime, huh?"

"'Course," she waved, and he headed on again, waving at Bonnie to come down as he exited the Cafe Cabin.

"C'mon pretty girl," he smiled up at her, and she drew a lazy circle in the air overhead before banking to face back in the direction they had to go. Some ways off from the cabin he let Ziggy out again, and Stel too, who clambered up to ride on his backpack.

*

"Oh, a trainer, I see, definitely, yes, yes, you'll do, you'll do most excellently!" the man looked elated, and Mackie was taken aback by the intensity of it.

"Uh, do for what, sir?" he asked. This man kinda reminded him of Rowan, except way more... nuts. He had the way of someone who liked to study stuff, but maybe just a bit to much, and he'd gone a bit crazy with it.

"No one believes me, you see, they don't. But here is proof, after all," the egg-professor said, raising one finger sagely. "Come around over here, yes, the incubator is around the side.

Mackie followed the man to a setup that looked kinda like a hutch, only made of metal instead of wood. There were glass panels on the top and the inside looked filled up with soft blankets, all wrapped around... something. Mackie couldn't see. The man reached out to lift the lid, and Mackie felt a wash of warmed air.

"Not too warm, just enough, mm-hmm," the man seemed to be talking to himself now, he was leaning inside and checking this and that inside the incubator-thing. "Now young man, as you are a trainer, a League trainer, no less, and carry authentic badges, I have a task for you, but it is a secret, do you understand?"

Huh? "Uh... yes?" Mackie said. Then he corrected himself. "Yes," he said, firmly this time. Whatever was in there was starting to make him real curious. "Yessir, I can keep a good secret. And if it's about pokemon, you got a trainer you can depend on."

"Very good, very good, yes, hmm," the strange fellow said, and Mackie felt Bonnie settle on his hat as he watched the man delve into the wrapped blankets. "This, then, is for you."

He pulled out an egg, and held it out towards Mackie, who took it carefully.

And this wasn't a Starly or Staravia or Staraptor egg, he knew that much. Didn't looking nothing like it. It was warm in his hands, and he took a little breath when something seemed like it moved inside. He looked up at the man in surprise. The man smiled, and nodded, looking satisfied. "I have a feeling it is in good hands. Take care of it, sonny. I need you to carry that egg all the way to Pastoria, you see. I can't leave here, not with these eggs, they need care and attention. You can do it, you'll be safe on the route!"

"Er, well, yes sir," Mackie nodded. He cradled the egg carefully in one arm and took off his backpack. Stel climbed down, and stood up to peek over Mackie's arm when he knelt down to reorganize.

"Gli..." he said, touching the egg delicately with one claw.

"Gentle, gentle," Mackie said absently, repeating the words Aunt Laura had used the first time Mackie had held Philip's little boy. He wasn't concerned though, and, indeed, Stel's touch was light and careful.

Mackie dumped out his city bag and repacked it with one of his towels, arranging it so he could sling the bag sideways while still wearing his backpack. He nestled the egg in the towel, and discovered that he could still fit the occupied pokeballs and apri-balls on either side, making it snug, and stopping it from jostling. He wouldn't be able to go shoving his hand in there like normal, but that was okay, he thought.

"Thank you, sonny," the man said, as Mackie stood up, and Mackie shook his head.

"Nah, sir. Thank you for letting me carry it! It's a real special thing, I just know it."

"Perhaps, perhaps," the man said, but the elation in his face belied the restrained words. "Now," he fished an envelope from his pocket, "here is a card with the address in Pastoria, and a letter for the scientist there."

Mackie took it and tucked it into the egg's bag. It might get kinda rumpled in there, wouldn't stay flat, but safer to keep it right there with the egg. He didn't want it to get folded up in his overalls and go through the laundry!

"Got it, sir. Oh and sir," he added, before he turned to keep going towards town and home. "Welcome to Solaceon," he grinned. The man wasn't in the town proper, but neither was Mackie's family, or Annie's either—so what? "I know I'm on my trainer journey but this here's my hometown. Call up the Keeler farm if you ever need somethin', my cousin Caden's real good for fixin' things that break."

The man looked surprised, but he nodded, and Mackie did too, satisfied. "Don't be a stranger!" he said in parting. After all, someday Mackie'd be home once again, and it was good to know your neighbors.

*

(OOC: I realized after I wrote this that you said Annie was vague about the egg-prof's actual purpose, but then I thought, well, maybe they have something like Irish coffee there and he got a little drunk and talked about it to her, and she still thinks it's loony, but directs trainers there anyway, but explained more about it to Mackie because she knows him. ./overly-justified backstory... lol

Also, Mackie did meet the whistle-guy with the ranch for storing pokemon... he just did it offscreen. If that's okay! I wanted my second post out, but I don't think I'll have the time to get a third!)

 

[{Swan}]

Fen - Great post, rather rude girl if you ask me.

Congratulations, Denahi grew to lv. 28 and learned Ancient Power and Thunder Punch!
Denahi can't learn anymore moves, will you delete two?
Selene gave away her Hard Stone.

Broadway - Oh the Irish, I laughed at that. It's fine, don't worry about it, it was a great post, I really like your Annie. Also, since I let Charzeon teach her two Pokemon two moves with the move tutor, you could if you want pick one more move for Bonnie and Ziggy to learn, with the cost of course.

Congratulations, Ziggy grew to lv. 15 and learned Mud Slap!
Ziggy can't learn anymore moves, will you delete one?
Cognratulations, Turvy grew to lv. 16!
Machie received an Egg and a Whistle!

 

[Koroc]

Kenny walked over and picked up his newly caught pokemon and let it out of the pokeball. The small tree pokemon came out and looked up at Kenny and shook a little bit afraid of his new trainer.

"Don't worry little guy I will not hurt you." Kenny said bending down to touch the cowardly pokemon. The pokemon quickly turned away from Kenny showing his back to him. Kenny pulled out his pokedex and pointed at the pouting pokemon.

Bonsly, the bonsai pokemon, tend to live in an arid environment and always seems to be crying but it is just adjusting the fluid level in its body. Bonsly typically know fake tears, copycat, flail, and low kick but with a few more levels of training it will know rock throw and even mimic.

Kenny closed the pokedex and put it back in his bag. "Okay little guy I will call you Stanley." The pokemon turned to Kenny and gave a little smile. It seemed to like the name and warmed up to his new trainer. Kenny returned Stanley and Sunny to their balls and called out Barney. The Machop flexed its muscles and then ran up to Kenny giving him a hug.

"Barney I missed you very much." Kenny said hugging Barney. Barney then gave a smirk and pulled out a black belt and wrapped it around its body. He then began punch and seemed ready for a fight.

"Easy tiger we have to head back to check up on Willy a new member on the team." Kenny said walking back to Ms. Norse's house. The forest was crawling with small pokemon running back and forward playing with each other. Kenny was almost to Ms Norse's house when they came across this bull pokemon that was blocking the way. The pokemon threw its head down and charged at Kenny. Diving to the side to dodge the pokemon Kenny noticed Barney was gone. Kenny turned his head and saw that Barney was on the pokemon holding on to it by its horns trying to turn its head. Barney realized that it was no use and jumped off the pokemon.

Barney stood there waiting for the pokemon to turn and charge again. The pokemon seemed even angrier that Barney jumped on its back. The bull pokemon gave a great bellow and charged at Barney full force. Barney moved to the side a little to dodge the attack and used a low kick to trip up the pokemon making it crash and slide into the ground. The pokemon seemed hurt and remained on the ground taking deep breaths.
Kenny was amazed at how tough Barney got and was proud to have him back on his team. Barney helped Kenny up to his feet.

"Thank you Barney, you were awesome." Barney turned his head towards Kenny and gave smirk. Kenny continued to Ms. Norse's house and finally made it. Upon arriving Ms. Norse was walking up to Kenny with Willy.

"Ah good to see you. I finished your Drifloon's training not to long ago."

"Thank you Ms. Norse. If there is anything else I can do for you let me know."

"Actually there is. How about you battle me so I can keep my battle skills up?"

Kenny was surprised to be asked that and agreed to battle her. Ms. Norse led Kenny to a great spot to battle just beyond the trees next to the river that runs from the waterfall.

"Okay young man I will match the type that you chose so it will be fair."

"I will start out with my newly caught Stanley." Kenny released his small tree pokemon and it shook its body getting ready to fight.

"Okay I will use my Rampardos." Ms. Norse released a large dark grey dinosaur with a pointy blue head.

"Stanley use rock throw!" Kenny shouted as his bonsly stomped on the ground lifting small rocks and then used the little bulbs on his head to fire them at the enemy pokemon.

"Okay Rampardos use Zen Headbutt." The Rampardos made his head glow a light blue and created a little barrier around it. Then it bent over and charged at Stanley. The rocks fired at the dinosaur pokemon were destroyed at they hit the shield created by its attack.

"Quick dodge then use low kick." Kenny yelled remembering what Barney did to that Tauros. Bonsly jumped to the side to dodge the attack and then kicked his low at the Rampardos's small legs to trip it up.

"Nicely done but don't count my pokemon out. Use Iron tail quickly." Rampardos's tail began to glow white and it swung its tail to hit Stanley into a tree quickly knocking it out.

Kenny's jaw dropped as he saw his pokemon get knocked out with just one hit. Returning Stanley back to his pokeball Kenny released Barney to fight next.

"Okay Barney lets show them what you are made of Barney."

"Okay then I will use my Machamp." Ms. Norse release a four armed monster with bulging muscles and wearing what looked like underwear with a belt. Barney took a deep and then tightened its belt.

"Okay Machamp use bullet punch." Machamp began to quickly move his hands charging at Machop.

"Barney use Karate Chop." Machop swung his right hand in the middle of the Machamp's attack and stopped it and then used the left hand to chop it in the neck. The Machamp hit the ground holing the side of its neck and then punched the ground making the ground shift knocking Barney into the air. Machop gather himself and stuck his foot out as he came down at the Machamp. The Machamp didn't react in time to move out of the way and had its head kicked into the ground.

"Machamp quick use Dynamic punch." Machamp quickly got up after being attack and then its hand began to glow white while he punched at Barney. Barney was able to dodge three of its four fists but was hit by the fourth fist knocking him into a tree near by. Machop couldn't move anymore so Kenny recalled Barney.

"Man that is two pokemon. I have to win one. Okay Sunny lets go."

"Oh my lets see here. How about I use Bayleef?" A large yellow dinosaur like pokemon with green leaves around its neck and a large one on his head.

"Okay Sunny use razor leaf." Sunny created two large leaves and fired it at the yellow pokemon.

"Okay Bayleef use vine whip and then energy ball." The Bayleef shot two vines from under its leaves knocking the razor leaf attack down and began charging a ball of energy in front of its face.

"Quick Sunny use another razor leaf attack." Kenny yelled while Sunny fired two leaves at the Bayleef. Bayleef just finished charging its attack when the razor leaf approached its body. Barely able to fire off its attack the leaves hit it pretty hard knocking it on its side.

"Now tackle that energy ball right back at it." Kenny yelled as the grotle began bracing itself for the attack. Sunny lowered her head and as the attack came closer she lifted it fast bouncing the attack back at its user.

"Whaaa…" Ms. Morse said surprised that the grotle was able to reflect that attack. Bayleef tried to get up but it was too late. Its energy ball made contact with it and exploded knocking in back right next to its trainer. The pokemon couldn't get up after that attack so she returned her pokemon.

Kenny returned Sunny with a grin on his face. Then he called out Willy hoping for another win.

"Nice work with that Grotle young man." Ms. Norse said releasing a purple spiked head with big white eyes and hands that floated around its body. "Meet my Haunter." The pokemon began laughing and got ready to attack.

"Okay Haunter use Mean look then follow up with a curse." The pokemon gave a strange look a Willy making it shudder and then it created a pin out of then air and pushed it through its body as it pointed at Willy. Haunter was beginning to breathe hard as if it lost a lot of health already.

"Okay Willy use Hypnosis and then use ominous wind." Willy began blowing itself up to distract the Haunter and then its eyes became blue and Haunter began to dose off when Willy spun itself around and shot a purple wind at the pokemon.

"Haunter use uproar and then you use hypnosis." Haunter began to create a lot of noise keeping itself up and then dodge that attack with ease. The pokemon danced around Willy finally grabbing its head and putting it to sleep. Willy was still getting hurt while it slept from the curse attack.

"Haunter use Dream eater." Haunter gave a laugh and then hovered around the drifloon draining its energy while it slept. Willy was in a lot of pain but it wasn't enough to wake him up.

"Willy you got to get up and use ominous wind!" Willy began to move its body and wake up braking out of the Haunter's attack and then shot a purple wind from its mouth at the ghost pokemon at close range. Haunter hit the ground as Drifbloon rose from the ground.

"Finish it with Twister." Willy began to spin around creating a tornado and fired it at the Haunter that was still on the ground trying to get up. The wind sucked it in and spun it around in circles. "Now use ominous wind." Willy fired the purple wind inside the twister mixing it with the dragon attack and sent Haunter flying to the ground unable to get up.

"Return Haunter." Ms Norse said with a little smile on her face. "Kenny you made me so happy with this battle. It has been so long since I had a chance to test my skills with other people. Alright I will get back to business. Let's go Electabuzz." A large yellow pokemon with black stripes running throughout its body. It has long arms and short legs. The pokemon began to beat on its chest as it awaited its opponent.

"Chewy you are up let's go." His Pikachu ran in front of him ready to battle.

"Okay I will make the first move this time young man and I am not going easy no more. Electabuzz use a swift and shockwave combo." the elect abuzz created five stars around its body and then charged them with a shockwave attack making them connect. It grabbed the ring and threw it a Chewy.

"Okay Chewy use double team and then use signal beam." Chewy made many copies of itself quickly and then all of them threw there hand up and fired a beam at the electabuzz.

"Now use light screen and then discharge." The electabuzz threw up a yellow colored barrier and the let out a grunt and released electric energy from its body getting rid of the clones of Chewy and hitting the real one knocking her to the ground. The swift shockwave ring made its way to the Pikachu on the ground and trapped it.
"Now Electabuzz use a focus blast." The pokemon began charging a brownish ball of energy while Chewy struggled to break free of the ring. Finished charging the attack the Electabuzz fired the attack at Chewy which made contact breaking it out of the ring and sent her flying to a tree right behind her. Ms. Norse knew she won the battle and returned her Electabuzz.

"Okay young man I will let your pokemon rest up for a bit before you head out." Ms. Norse said with a smile as they headed back to her house.

A few hours later Kenny walked out her door wave goodbye to Ms. Norse. Chewy was resting on Kenny's head as he headed down the path to the next town. Kenny was surprised at how skilled Ms. Norse was and how Electabuzz completely demolished Chewy. Kenny took a deep breath trying to forget the battle.

About thirty minutes into his walk he came across this small business with tables and chairs organized outside. Kenny decided to take a quick break see what they sold.

"Hello there strange." a young woman said from behind the counter. "You must be a pokemon trainer. Well I am Annie Mckeckine. What is your name?"

"I am Kenneth Henderson and yes I am a pokemon trainer."

"Well there is this old man looking for a few trainers to help him in his research. I think any trainer would learn a lot from this research and it would probably make them a better trainer."

"Okay I might have to swing by there on my way to the next town."

"The ranch is just down south of here you can't miss it. You have a safe trip suga."

Kenny left the building and head down south where she told him it was. The ranch was like a mile down the road from the Café and Kenny ran towards it. Kenny walked up onto a small hill and saw the ranch was not too far. Finally making it to the door of the building right next to the ranch, Kenny gave a quick knock.

"Hello young man are you here to help me with my research?"

"Yes I am."

"Well come in come in." The professor said opening the door wider. "I have been working on the replication of pokemon and discovered pokemon come from eggs but no one believes me. SO I would like you to take this egg to one of my colleagues in Pastoria town."

"Okay that sounds easy enough."
"Wait you can't let anyone else know you have this eggs or it could get pretty ugly." The professor said giving a sharp eye at Kenny.

"Okay I will not tell anyone about the egg."

The professor went into detail about how to care for the egg and gave Kenny the egg and a case so the eggs could stay at the right temperature.

"Run along don't dilly dally. You have to make it to Pastoria Town before the egg hatches or all my work would be in vain."

Kenny ran out of the lab as fast as he could and headed south a little bit more. Noticing a building where bird pokemon were coming in and out constantly, Kenny walked over to see what it was all about. Stuffing the egg in his bag he walked inside the building.

"Hey you must be a trainer. Come in and let me show you something." A man said from the back of the building. Kenny walked back there and stood next to the man. "Trainer do you have a full team yet?"

"No sir not yet."

"Well here we are working on a method to allow trainers to switch pokemon out when they have six pokemon at anytime. Take this whistle."

"Okay but how does ….."

"You will blow the whistle and one of our league birds will come to you with paper and a pencil. You will write your name the pokemon you are depositing or that you want and then your trainer code and the pokemon will fly off with your ball or return to you with the pokemon you requested. Now get on little scamp and catch until your heart content.

Kenny headed out the door and wondered why this place was fool of nuts.

 

[{Swan}]

Koroc - Great post, quite a bunch of characters, is it not?

Congratulations, Barney grew to lv. 17!
Congratulations, Stanley grew to lv. 17 and learned Mimic!
Stanley can now evolve, will you let him?
Congratulations, Sunny grew to lv. 23 and learned Bite!
Congratulations, Willy grew to lv. 21 !
Congratulations, Chewy grew to lv. 24!
Kenny received an Egg and a Whistle.

 

[Underoos]

When the next morning rolled around, Selene awoke to find herself feeling refreshed and ready to kick some serious butt. She found that Denahi was curled up by her feet on the soft bed, so Selene figured that the move tutoring had been successful. With a yawn and a stretch, Selene arose from the bed and went about gathering her stuff. There wasn't a sound coming from the house, so Selene had to figure that Mrs. Norse was asleep or out. Denahi opened his bleary eyes to find that Selene was moving about, and then got up. Selene made a shushing motion with her finger, so Denahi nodded. He got what she meant.

They exited the room and went down the hall. Mrs. Norse wasn't in the kitchen, and Selene didn't feel at liberty to snoop around the house just to find the woman. She did, however, find a piece of paper and a pen left conveniently in the kitchen. After quickly scribbling a note thanking her, Selene dropped the pen and looked at Denahi. Denahi cocked his head to the side curiously. Selene grinned at her Pokemon, and then motioned for him to follow her. They left the cabin together, heading back on the road toward Solaceon Town. Selene did, however, hope that soon they would get there.

The road was a bit nicer now. It wasn't as mountainous, so there weren't steep inclines that made Selene's feet ache. Denahi was happily trotting along beside her. He obviously liked the fact that he was outside of his Pokeball once more. Selene also sort of wondered if he was enjoying himself because of the mountains, but it wasn't like she was going to start asking. She didn't really think Denahi would be able to hold a conversation for a while anyway. Why? Well, because Selene doubted she could understand him too long.

"You know, it was nice of that lady to give us a place to stay and heal up everybody," Selene commented idly. Denahi grunted in some form of agreement. Selene figured that she'd just keep talking about random ****, because truthfully the silence was sort of bugging her now that she thought about it. "I wonder where Jake is..." she mused.

Denahi snorted, and did something that was akin to eye rolling. Selene glanced at him with a raised eyebrow, almost as if to ask "what?". Denahi snorted again, pawing at the ground with his foot. Selene suddenly had a funny feeling that Denahi wasn't too keen on Jake. In fact, she sort of wondered if any of her Pokemon were. Tanana might be, perhaps, if only for the fact that Jake could be as airy and tricky as she was occasionally.

"Do you dislike him or something?" Selene questioned. She stuffed her hands into the pockets of her jeans and peered over at Denahi, eyeing his expression.

"Crani," Denahi declared with a shrug. He looked away, seemingly immersed with the scenery. Selene sighed. She questioned why Denahi didn't like Jake. Denahi shrugged again, still staring off into the distance. Selene grumbled to herself, muttering things about how Denahi was being a stubborn ass. Denahi glanced at her and glared. Selene stuck her tongue out. Denahi huffed and looked away again, this time glaring off into the distance.

Selene found herself frowning. "I seem to be good at changing the tone of things, don't I?" she questioned in a rather hopeless tone. Denahi nodded curtly. "I'm sorry, buddy, it's just...I dunno..." Selene struggled. "I have problems." Denahi nodded suddenly, and then gave her one of his smirky looks. "Oh shut up, that's not very nice you know," Selene stated.

Denahi opened his mouth, most presumably to be a smart ass, when suddenly a flapping thing smacked right into Selene's face. Denahi blinked, looking at his trainer with curiosity as she attempted to get the flapping thing off of her. Selene finally managed to pull the thing off of her face, only to realize that it was a crazy Pidgeotto. It continued to flap its wings in Selene's hands. Selene was about to release the Pokemon when there was a shout from her right. A short little boy was storming up to her, face pinched in obvious anger and annoyance. Selene sighed when she realized that this little boy was shouting at her and not his crazy Pidgeotto.

"Watch it! You almost hurt my Pokemon's wings! Let him go!" the boy demanded, stamping his foot. Selene was vaguely reminded of the girl from earlier, save for the fact that this boy looked like he could be five years old. Selene sighed and released the Pidgeotto, staying silent as she continued to get chewed out.

"Stevie!"

Both Selene and the little boy looked up. The Pidgeotto then flew away and landed on the shoulder of some old dude walking up in the distance. Selene blinked. The old guy had a scraggly grey beard, but other than that he didn't look like a very mountainous person. He shot a sharp glance down to whom Selene presumed was his grandson.

"I'm sorry about him. He gets very protective over the Pokemon sometimes," the old man apologized, scratching the back of his head and chuckling. Selene gave a tight lipped smile. Denahi was glaring at the little boy. The man seem to think for a moment, and then his dark eyes lit up. "I know! How about you and my grandson battle?" The old man moved closer to Selene and then whispered, "Please? It'll tire him out so me and the wife can enjoy our evening walk."

Selene sighed. She just couldn't resist old people if they had that cute old look about them. Selene frowned. Actually, it was hard to explain, but she sighed and nodded her head anyway. The man brightened and looked to his grandson. The little boy was immediately excited now, and that made Selene feel a bit better. She hadn't wanted to deal with another screaming kid again anyway.

"Alright! Pidgeotto c'mon!" the little kid, apparently named Stevie, stated. Pidgeotto flapped over to him, and then hovered in front of him. The little boy eyed Denahi.

Selene smirked a bit and backed away. "You can go first," she called.

"Awesome! Pidgeotto get in there and use quick attack!" Stevie shouted.

Pidgeotto dove in, intent on hitting Denahi with a hard attack. Denahi dug his heels and held his ground, even as the sharp beak slammed into his chest. Denahi refused to even flinch from the attack. Selene ordered for an assurance attack. Denahi grabbed onto Pidgeotto with one of his arms and then pressed his other forward. The dark handed extended, slamming into Pidgeotto and sending him flying away from Denahi. Pidgeotto, to Selene's slight annoyance, Pidgeotto rebounded pretty quickly. The little boy cheered happily, turning his head and grinning back at his grandfather. The old man smiled happily at his grandson, eyes crinkling around the corners. The little boy then turned around, and bit his lip. His eyebrows furrowed.

"Alright Pidgeotto, attack with another quick attack! Then maybe try for a gust!"

Selene had an odd feeling. She grabbed her Pokedex and checked it. That was when she remembered; she had the perfect move to destroy a Pidgeotto. As the Pidgeotto swooped in and slammed into Denahi again, Selene smirked. Pidgeotto flapped away, and Denahi glanced at Selene obviously wondering why she hadn't ordered for some form of a counter. Selene shook her head slightly once, and then Denahi turned. He got the message. Pidgeotto beat his wings harshly, kicking up a gust attack. It hit Denahi, but he didn't hardly shift even in the strong winds. Selene waited until the attack ended, and then she made her move.

"Denahi, let's end this right now. Use your new thunder punch attack!" In the back of her mind, Selene really hoped this move would legitimately work.

Denahi paused, and suddenly electricity began to illuminate around his clenched paw-fist thing. The grandfather's arms were now crossed and his lips were pursed. Denahi was ready after a few moments. He charged on ahead. The Pidgeotto flapped curiously, and then glanced at the boy nervously. The little kid bit his lip and then told Pidgeotto just to hurry up and dodge the attack. In the last second, Pidgeotto shot upwards, making Denahi's attack miss. Selene cursed under her breath so the little kid wouldn't hear. She had been hoping to just polish off the battle right then and there.

"YEAH! Way to go Pidgeotto!" the boy called again. He jumped a little and pumped his fist in excitement. Selene smiled a bit. "Alright go and use twister!"

Pidgeotto swooped back in at an alarming rate. Selene told her Cranidos to hold his ground and just get ready. Denahi dug his foot into the ground and held fast. Selene ordered for a thunder punch just as Pidgeotto was unleashing the twister. Selene grit her teeth as the strong winds whipped through the field and sucked Denahi up. Selene waited. She wasn't gritting her teeth because she was afraid for him. She called his name, and then it was done. Electricity lit up the twister, shooting into the sky and all over the place in time with the tornado's rotation. Selene ducked a bolt and smirked as a cry from Pidgeotto was heard.

"NO!" the little boy shouted.

There was a thud. The twister had died down, and was basically gone. Denahi was slowly getting up and shaking himself off. Pidgeotto, however, didn't appear to be moving. The boy's eyes began to water, and then he began to cry. Selene blinked. She felt really, really bad all of a sudden. She hadn't meant to make the kid cry! The grandfather sighed, shook his head, and then mentioned something about ice cream. Stevie perked instantly, eyes lightly up with bright sparkles. Selene's face went from frowning to one of twitching disbelief. How did people manage to change their personalities so quickly?! Did she do that?

"Thanks for the battle, lady!" the little boy called as he scrambled over to Pidgeotto and scooped the bird up. Being careful, Stevie hopped back over to his grandfather. The old man smiled, waved, and then they set off.

Selene smiled as they walked away. She sorta liked that little kid. He hadn't turned out as bad as she had first thought. Selene then set off once more, only this time Denahi was tucked safe in his Pokeball. She figured he deserved to take a snooze instead of walk about with her anyway. The walk, Selene soon found, was rather boring now. With a sigh, she shifted her pack from one shoulder to the other and continued forward. She vaguely hoped that the next town would arrive fast.

Though Solaceon didn't seem to be getting any closer, Selene did see some sort of building in the distance. She soon found out it was known as Cafe Cabin. Selene walked in, and the scent of food hit her. Her stomach instantly woke up, so Selene figured it wouldn't hurt to take a quick break for some soup or something. After Selene ordered, ate, and was about out the door again, a girl spoke up.

"You're a trainer, aren't'cha?"

Selene blinked slowly and nodded. "Who are you?"

"Annie McKecknie, pleased to meet ya," she stated. "I thought you might be interested in the ranch ahead. Just...really, it'll be a good idea to visit."

Selene blinked. The girl was pretty blunt, but Selene had to admit she was curious. So she decided to keep going to this place. Upon getting to the ranch, she saw an older looking man poking about in what appeared to be a garden. Upon her approach, the man looked up. His face brightened a bit and he brushed his slightly dirty pants off. Selene smiled at him in an attempt to look happy, but she most likely looked a bit more pained than anything. She really had to work on that.

"Hello miss. I have a question. Are you a trainer?" He seemed to get straight to the point.

"Uh...yes..." Selene said slowly.

The man brightened and then began to explain this whole process in odd detail. Selene blinked. She was almost positive she was getting a crash course in Pokemon reproduction. The man then said something about eggs, and walked into his house. He came back seconds later, hardly breaking his stride and handing her the egg. He continued going on, and Selene didn't feel like interrupting him so she just let him have his fun explaining. Finally, after probably ten to fifteen minutes, he was finished. The man was smiling brightly, so it appeared that it was Selene's turn to smile.

"So...I can just have this?"

"Yes ma'am! Just remember to keep it quiet, alright?"

"Uh...okay then," Selene said, probably sounded a bit lame.

The man then went back to his business, so Selene took that as her time to go. She continued back on the trail that would take her to Solaceon, still holding the egg in her hands. She paused then, figuring it would most likely be a good idea to put it away. Selene carefully tucked the egg into her bag, padding it with her own clothes around it, and then went on her way again. She felt a bit unsure about having just gotten an egg that was apparently supposed to hatch from a random stranger, but what the heck? There was no sense in not giving it a run. Besides, it wasn't like a big harm could come from it.

She hadn't traveled for more than an hour when she was approached by a man. He looked a bit rumpled, but other than that he was fine. The man then explained his cause. He worked for the Sinnoh Pokemon League, and was talking about some Pokemon switching thing. Selene didn't follow very well, because by then all she wanted to do was rest and relax, but she got the gist of it. When the guy handed her a whistle that she was apparently supposed to blow on, Selene nodded dutifully, like she had been listening the entire time. The man then explained some more about League birds and them coming to her and her writing down her information. Selene nodded more, and he smiled.

"Did you get all of that?"

Selene continued with her nodding, and a bit too late realized that she probably looked a bit airy. "I mean, yeah, yeah I've got it," Selene said hurriedly. The guy rose an eyebrow, but thought better of it and smiled. He bade her good luck, and then walked off in the direction she had come from.

"I'm so tired," Selene grumbled. She then focused on the next city and pressed forward.

 

[{Swan}]

Fen - I can understand that she's a bit tired after that lmao, great post.

Congratulations, Denahi grew to lv. 30!
Denahi wants to evolve, will you let him?
Selene received a Mystery Egg and a Whistle.

Chapter 13
Solaceon Town
Chillax Post
Number of Posts: 1


Solaceon Town is above all a very quiet farming town. There's farms everywhere and people talk with a bit of a funny accent everywhere. There isn't a lot to do, except for the elaborate ranches, some of which offer their services for trainers in need of some room in their team, or even for some training of their Pokemon for a fee. Roam around, have some fun and enjoy the sights!


Pokémon Ranch

The Ranch is where the unwanted Pokémon from trainers all over Sinnoh go. They have a massive property starting in a great field and slowly turning into the nearby forest, all fenced off, where they keep the Pokémon. You can meet them, take a first-hand look around or hand them your Pokémon should you wish.
The Ranch is lead by a woman in her twenties and a whole bunch of people that work for her in maintaining the Pokémon happiness and their overall health. She knows a lot about medicine and Pokémon behavior, she might even be able to teach you a little knowledge for on the road!


Pokémon Daycare

This Ranch is lead by a middle-aged couple that have a property to be reckoned with. They have a whole business that takes care of your Pokémon and slowly trains them for you, but it does cost you some money. Their services work just like the birds, should you want to deposit a Pokémon, then send them the Pokéball with a delivery bird and a fee and they'll work on it. Should you want your Pokémon back, call them and they will name the fee. Then you send the money and a letter with a delivery bird and you get your Pokémon sent back. Should you not have enough money than they will bargain with you or stop training your Pokémon until you have earned enough money to pay them.


Unown Dealer

There is a small house by the closed-off ruins of Solaceon where a rather hermit-like young man lives. He will give you a lv. 25 Unown should you want one. Just don't turn on the bright light, he has rather sensitive eyes and is very prone to migraines!


Professor Rowan

Professor Rowan is in town. He comes to check up on your Pokémon and you, see how his protégé's are doing and give you a little something if you pass his test. He might do some prodding at your creatures to see if you are treating them well. If you're not, then you had better be a good actor, because Rowan is not afraid of chewing you out should he not be satisfied!

As a reward for your good care he will give you any evolution item or stone of your choice! This might be the time to think if you want to add any Pokémon to your team that require some assistance with evolving. Should you not want one, than you will receive a very power TM that I pick out, so choose well!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

 

[Charzeon]

Sara panted as she finally reached the limits of Solaceon Town. When she did, she bent over slightly and gripped her head as the altitude change finally got to her. Flare didn't seem much affected by the change, but looked up at her trainer concernedly and pawed at her.

"Hey, it's okay Flare," Sara said, turning to smile at the fox. "It's just a bit of a headache, no big deal."

"Vul..." Flare said, butting her heat against Sara's leg.

The girl chuckled at that, then looked around the small, farmer town. She then started to walk around it, trying to figure out what the 'big event' was. But when she asked a native of the town, he just gave her a funny look.

"I don't don know where yer get yer info, girl," the man had said, "but there ain't no big thing happening in Solaceon Town. If yer want a big event, then yer better look elsewhere."

Then he had walked away and Sara blinked in surprise. She frowned deeply before just sighing. "Guess that guy at the ranch got it wrong," the trainer said. "Oh well, might as well see what else is here."

"Vulpix," Flare said with a nod.

Sara once again started about the town, but this time looked for things in which the town held. She noticed that they had many, very big ranches. One of theses ranches looked much like the one that the man with the birds owned. Indeed, when she walked closer to get information, she discovered it was a place for Pokemon that were unwanted by their trainers or just didn't work with them. After having a nice chat with the head person, Sara continued on her tour.

She soon reached another ranch that was owned by an elderly couple. They had a few Pokemon in their ranch that seemed mismatched. Sara went up to the elderly woman and asked if this was another storage ranch, but she smiled and shook her head.

"No my dear, this is a Pokemon Daycare," the woman explained. "Trainers leave their Pokemon here and we raise them…for a fee, of course. Are you in need of our service?"

Sara frowned and looked down at Flare. The small fox was quite a bit behind the others, and the girl didn't know if she would ever be as strong as the others. But…at the same time she felt just thinking about dumping Flare here.

"Um…maybe not right now," Sara said. "Maybe some other time."

"Of course, there is no rush," the woman said kindly. "We have a whistle system much like the ranches. If you want to send us a Pokemon, just blow your whistle and give us the data of your Pokemon. Do the same thing when you want your Pokemon back and we will give you a fee which you can give to the bird."

"Right, thanks a lot miss," Sara said with a short bob of her head then continued walking through the town.

There wasn't really much else. There was a Pokemon center where she healed her Pokemon but that was about it. She noticed a small house near the ruins but it seemed creepy and she wanted to avoid it. Realizing that there was nothing else, Sara sighed and decided to leave the town, though it was late. She just reached the limits when a very familiar voice called out behind her.

"Sara, long time no seen," the voice of Prof. Rowan said.

Sara spun on her heels and her eyes widen when she saw the Pokemon Prof. who had given her Angela. He looked just as stern and serious as ever as he gazed down at her.

"Yes…it has been a long time," Sara said, nervous though she doesn't know why.

"Vulpix?" Flare asked, tilting her head at her trainer.

Rowan looked down at the fox and grunted slightly. "A Vulpix? How did you get one so early on in your journey?"

"Oh, well, this boy gave her to me," Sara said. "He said that he couldn't take care of her any more and wanted me to have her because I seemed like a good trainer."

Rowan nodded at the information, but kept his face blank. He bent down and held out his hand to the fox. Flare tilted her head at the Pokemon Prof. and walked forward and sniffed his hand. She then licked his head before rubbing her head against it, to which Rowan started to pet it.

"Hmm…it seems to be in good condition," Rowan said. "She has a nice coat and seems strong…There also seems to be something about this Vulpix. I don't know what it is, but it seems as though she is hiding something that even she doesn't know about…"

"Um…what are you talking about?" Sara asked, very confused.

"It's nothing," Prof. Rowan said, standing up. "Just musing to myself. In any case," he turned to the trainer, "I want to see the rest of your Pokemon."

Sara blinked. "Um…all at one or one at a time?"

"Either one will do, but it would go faster if you took them all out at once." Rowan said.

Sara nodded, then took the rest of her occupied balls out and pressed the button, releasing them all. In many flashes of light, the rest of Sara's team appeared. Destiny cried out happily and flew higher up, doing a couple loops in the air. Lee grunted disgustingly as he once again eyed his skirt and just crossed his arms. Angela floated over to her trainer and landed on her shoulder, happily nuzzling against her. Merric also slithered towards his trainer and curled around her almost protectively, staring down at Rowan.

The Pokemon Prof. showed no out emotion but just looked at all of her Pokemon. "I must say, I am impressed. All of these Pokemon you have are quite rare and seem to be in good conditions. I also find it very interesting that you have a Togekiss and how that Gyarados seem to like you. But, I would like it if I could get a better look at your Pokemon."

Sara nodded and ordered each one of her Pokemon to go to Rowan. All did expect for Merric, who just continued to stare down on the Prof. Rowan looked at each of the Pokemon every now and then poking or prodding them. None of the Pokemon minded, though they did find it uncomfortable. Lee also glared at the Pokemon Prof. when he touched the skirt slightly and grumbled a few things under his breath.

"Hmm…They all seem to be in good shape, by my reckoning," Prof. Rowan said. "And they all seem pretty strong, though there definitely room for improvement. Now," Rowan turned to the very large Pokemon on Sara team and walked to wards him. Merric growled at Rowan but a quick word from his trainer made him stop. Rowan grunted and walked around the Gyarados a couple of times, poking and prodding him in a couple places.

When he seemed done, he walked in front of the trainer with a displeased expression on his face.

"Sara…what have you been doing to this Gyarados?" Rowan asked.

"Um…nothing bad if that's what you're asking for," Sara said, then flinched when Rowan glared at her. "Please understand…I just got Merric like a couple days ago in a trade as a Magikarp and he evolved the morning after. I haven't really had time to get to know him that well and-"

"A trade you say?" Rowan asked, his expression and gaze softening a bit. "Well, that would explain a few things. It didn't seem right that all of your other Pokemon were in such good conditions, but this one wasn't."

"Wh-what do you mean?" Sara asked confused. "Does he seem weak or-"

"No, of course not weak," Rowan said with a bark of a laugh. "I doubt any Gyarados can seem or is weak. In fact, this one seems very strong. But, haven't you noticed the scars around his belly? Or the fact that the fins around his head and on his tail is frayed a bit?"

Sara had not noticed these things and turned to look at Merric. Indeed, when she finally looked at him, she noticed that he had a few scars on the underside of his belly and that his fins were ripped on the outer edges of his fins. Sara's eyes widen and she ran her hand across the scars on Merric's belly.

"How…how did this happen?" Sara asked.

"I think that his old trainer probably got frustrated with him as a Magikarp and decided to take their frustrations physically on him," Rowan said, then looked back at Sara. "I understand that this is probably your first trade and I know you didn't think you had to look for this kind of things, but I suggest that if you do make another trade, that you check to make sure the Pokemon is in good condition. If something is wrong, then you should report to the officials. I will not be so easy going if I see this next time."

"No…I understand," Sara said with a nod, mentally kicking herself for not noticing any of this before hand. Merric looked down at his trainer and growled once more at Rowan, thinking it was his fault that his trainer is upset. But Sara sighed and patted the Gyarados, making him stop growling but he continued to glare at the Pokemon Prof.

"In any case," Rowan continued, "you have pass my test and I wish to reward you."

"Reward?" Sara asked, looking up at the Pokemon Prof.

"Yes, I can give you an evolutionary stone or item," Rowan said. "Or a powerful TM. Though, if I were you, I would pick either a Fire or a Dawn Stone."

Sara frowned slightly. She understood why he said that she would get a Fire Stone, it was how she could evolve Flare into a Ninetails. But she didn't even know what a Dawn stone was.

"Um…why should I get a Dawn stone?" Sara asked.

"Because it will evolve your Kirlia into a Gallade," Rowan explained.

"Gallade?" Sara asked.

Lee, hearing his species' name, teleported over to his trainer and sat on the Gyarados. The other Pokemon took this as permission and also ran/flew/floated over to their trainer. Angela once again sat on her trainer's shoulder, Flare sat by her foot and Destiny stayed in the air beside her.

Rowan just nodded and showed Sara a picture of a Gallade. Lee seem very interested and teleported over to her other shoulder to look at the pictures. His eyes widen at the picture and poked his trainer's head a couple times, begging her to let him evolve into that.

"Unlike with other stone evolving Pokemon," Rowan said, "Gallade will continue to learn new moves just by levelling up."

Lee poked his trainer even more, making her smile. "Alright, I think we'll take the Dawn stone," Sara said. "Flare isn't that strong anyways, and I want her to learn a few more moves."

"Vul," Flare said with a nod. She didn't want to evolve any ways or, at least, not as much as the Kirlia.

"Very well," Rowan said, putting the picture away and taking out a light blue stone that seem to have a kind of star in the middle.

Sara took the stone, then looked at Lee. "So, do you want to evolve know?"

"Kirlia!" Lee said, jumping off of his trainer's shoulder and stood in front of her. Sara smiled, then bent slightly to hold the stone by his head.

Suddenly, the stone and Lee glowed in a bright light. When the stone dimmed, Lee started to grow and become much taller, taller then Sara even. His arms also grew, especially his elbows. His legs became thicker and he seemed to have gotten a kind of helmet. Soon, Lee stopped growing and the glowing dimmed. When it went away, Lee seemed to be a completely different Pokemon. Sara's eyes widen and she quickly got her Pokedex out to scan him.

"Gallade, the Blade Pokemon. Gallade is the evolve form of Kirlia. When trying to protect someone, it extends its elbows as if they were swords and fight savagely."

"Gallade," Lee said, looking over at his new body and smirking at it.

"Well, it's time that I left," Rowan said, nodding to Sara before walking away. "Until we meet again."

"Thanks a lot Prof. Rowan!" Sara called out happily, her other Pokemon copying her happy sound. Merric just continued to glare at the Pokemon Prof for a bit before turning to look back at his trainer.

Sara smiled at all of her Pokemon before saying, "Well, lets get going."

The trainer started to walk away, but her Pokemon seem to have other plans. Merric curled even more around his trainer, making it sure that she couldn't get away. Destiny then gently pushed Sara near the Gyarados' head and made her sit down against him. The Jubilee Pokemon then snuggled against Sara's side and closed her eyes with a content sigh. Flare jumped up to the trainer's lap, got comfortable and also closed her eyes. Angela nuzzled her trainer before also going to sleep. Merric hummed pleasantly before he as well closed his eyes. Sara smiled at her Pokemon and, deciding that this was indeed as good a spot as any, snuggled against the Gyarados and soon fell asleep.

Lee was the only one who was awake. He jumped up into a near by tree's branch and sat against the trunk. He placed one sword like arm across a raised knee and looked down on his comrades and trainer, watching over them as day turned to night.

 

[{Swan}]

Charzeon - Great post, I loved the Rowan bit, poor Merric good thing he's with a better trainer now, hm?

Congratulations, Lee evolved into a Gallade!