[PKMN OPEN] The Pokémon Trainer Academy (T) [Best Veteran 4Q '11]

"You know why I'm here. You totally ditched me back at that Power Plant. What was the deal? We weren't in trouble. You have any idea what I had to deal with back there? If the Police weren't enough, somebody from the International Police showed up and started asking me a whole bunch of questions! He called himself Looker or something like that...He... gave me a fishing rod afterwards but that's beside the point!" Mark said. He kind got over it, but he still had to know what was up. She put a lot of weight on his shoulders! Having the Police come up to you and interrogate you was pretty intense stuff to handle by yourself! He almost thought he'd be mistaken for a criminal! That's not the kind of stuff a fourteen year old should be going through! At least, as far as Mark knew anyways...

"I know we've only known each other for a little while but still, that wasn't cool! They just wanted to know what we saw." Mark added with a sigh. Mark stood in front of the door, not moving from his spot. He didn't want her to just go off and ditch him. One , he needed to know what was up and two, he had a present to give as an apology...
 
Samantha Felicity Cooper - Evasion

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So he wanted to talk about it. Well that was tough for him, because she had no intention of telling him the truth. If she did that he might run off and tell the cops exactly where to find her - if they didn't know already - and she wasn't about to let that happen. Maybe she could avoid giving him any sort of answer, otherwise she'd have to come up with a lie, something she wasn't very good at. She hated having to be dishonest, especially with a potential friend, but there was nothing else she could do to protect herself and Cubone.

"I freaked out," she shrugged, "after everything with the volcano, and Team Rocket, then the police were swarming all over us? I didn't know if my Pokemon were okay, or if we'd get in trouble for being in that old power plant. So I bailed and went to get my Pokemon seen to. I'm sorry you had to deal with some... weird fishing guy, or whatever, but I don't need a guilt trip about it. So was there anything else or did you just drop by to make me feel lousy on Christmas?"

Ugh. This sucked. It blew. It was every form of air movement. Making Mark feel bad wouldn't help their friendship, but it might make him back off so she could stay out of prison, or whatever they would do with her when they caught her.​
 
Mark was pretty convinced with her situation. Freaking out... it made perfect sense but also made Mark feel pretty bad for having dragged her into that whole mess. She had a pretty rotten day because of following Mark. The Volcano incident, Team Rocket, the whole business in the Power Plant. If she wasn't near Mark, none of that would have happened. She'd probably just be having a normal day within the academy like everybody else. Mark rubbed his head and sighed again.

"...I see... well... actually there was another thing I came here for." Mark said as he took his backpack off and pulled out a rather light present with Sammy's name on it. "I know your probably not feeling festive or whatever, but take this anyways. Its an apology for putting you through all that crap. Those grunts aimed for me and I got you all mixed in... so here." Mark said as he handed the present to Sammy. The least Mark could do is calm her down. She needed to sit down and relax! Especially on today of all days. He kinda wondered why she wasn't going off spending time with family... it was just the time to do that!
 
Samantha Felicity Cooper

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Sammy frowned and clipped Ponyta's Pokeball back to her belt before accepting the gift. He'd gotten her a present after she'd ditched him like that? It made the story she'd spun for him even worse, she felt awful. She hadn't been expecting any presents from anyone this year except her dad and even then...

"I'm sorry Mark," she said softly, "I didn't get you anything. It wouldn't be right for me to open this since you don't have something to open. I didn't know you'd do this..."

This was already the worst Christmas ever, made worse by the fact that this nice guy was trying to make it better after she'd treated him like Muk. And there wasn't a thing she could do to make it right. She'd done nothing but make one screw up after another since deciding to come to the Academy. She looked from the gift to Mark, eyes downcast.

"I'm sorry. I don't deserve this."

The most honest thing she'd said to him.​
 
Mark shook his head. "Hey, I was thrown for a bit of a loop back there but I've gotten over it. And hey, its cool if you didn't get anything. I mean, we've only known each other for a little while. The gift is mostly just to make things even... hopefully." Mark said with a grin. He held the gift out to her even after all of that.

"Hey... whatever's on your mind is none of my buisness... but hey, don't let it bug you on today of all days. It's a day of cheer and all you know? I made my own fair share of screw ups too... so I had to make it up to you. It'd bug me forever if I didn't do something. Hehe. Just open it up! I insist!" Mark said. He really wanted her to open this present! She had to! The gift wrapped inside was perfect to make it up to her! After all... he went through hell to retrieve it. Literally. He prayed it would be worth it in the end.
 
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Samantha Felicity Cooper

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Mark might be being honest about having made his own screw ups, but it didn't seem possible that they could come close to her own. She'd stolen - kidnapped? - a Pokemon, even if it had been for good reason, perhaps the best reason you could have for such a thing. How could his mistakes possibly rival that? But maybe there was still something to what he said, that he'd had to do something to make up for those mistakes. Perhaps she'd already started on that by helping Cubone, but now she had to make things up to Mark as well - even if he didn't know why. She took the gift back with a nod and slowly unwrapped it, her hands shaking as she ripped the paper.

Oh.

It was her hoodie, the one with the Arbok motif that she'd lost in the volcano. There was no mistaking its distinctive Kalos design, and there was no confusing it with a new one either. Mark seemed to have tried to clean it up, but some of the dirt and damage it had received was still there. He must have gone back into that volcano - alone? - and retrieved it for her. The risk he'd taken just for her... she didn't deserve his friendship or this gesture of it, but wallowing in that like she had been wouldn't change anything. It had never been who she was to dwell on things she couldn't change - this lousy Christmas included - but instead to take action on the things she could. It was time to be that person again.

"Thank you Mark. Really, thank you, this was very sweet of you."

She hugged the hoodie tightly to her chest and smiled at him. Maybe this Chrismtas wouldn't be so bad after all.

"I was all ready to beat you next time we battled, but I'll have to let you win now, since I don't have anything for you."​
 
Mark was extremely happy that she liked his gift. Sure it was basically returning something she had lost but just going through the effort to make up for a big screw up of his made him feel much better. Snype sat there idley as they watched the two get on good terms after the gift. This just screamed opportunity for a prank with the little piece of mistletoe he was conveniently carrying around... but he didn't want to kill the mood for his trainer... not yet anyways.

"I'm glad you like it... heh. Boy going back up that Volcano was a heck of an adventure. But you know what? I'd say it was totally worth it in the end. I tried to clean the jacket up as best as I could but I couldn't get alot of the damage out... but you should still be able to wear it! It's pretty cold outside anyways." Mark said, patting Sammy on her shoulder.

"Hey don't sweat it. I'm perfectly fine with just seeing you happy with your gift. I'll try not to get you wrapped into any other messes in the future." Mark added. He took a look around the empty stadium.

"Uh... so training huh? I haven't really gotten around to daily rounds myself today... Christmas and all..." Mark said, trying to spark a bit of casual conversation with his friend.
 
Alice Crenshaw
Mountains​

Grace's plans were coming to fruition. She managed to lure Alice to the mountain area of the island, where tough Pokémon were said to live. Now, the next part would be having her catch a Pokémon. But, for the time being, there appeared to be no Pokémon around; only rocks, small caverns and trees. She came to a stop and looked around for any Pokémon she could engage in battle with, however, she felt some arms wrap around her and lift her up in the air.

She was then greeted by an upset Alice's face. "Why'd you run off like that, Grace?" she asked, "What's the matter?" Jello soon caught up, and glared at his teammate with his eyes overflowing with anger. "Y-You! T-trying to run away?!" he shouted, "I should teach you a lesson!"

"Calm down, Jello." she said, hearing her Solosis mumbling but unable to understand his language. "I'm very sure she has a reason for this." Alice looked back at Grace, "Isn't that right?" she added with a smile, and Grace nodded. Both of them looked happy and Alice seemed to have forgiven her Pokémon, to Jello's dismay.

"Okay, well, now that we're here, we could take a walk around. It's pretty around here!" Alice said happily and set Grace back down. The small 'pack' then wandered around the area, for one moment setting all differences aside and enjoying the beautiful scenery. The tree tops were covered with snow, and some of it even reached the rocks. What was more, the mountain air appeared to be doing wonders to Alice's mood.
 
Holly Amarosa

Holly groaned softly and rolled out out of her bed, wincing when she fell onto Amy. "I can't believe you're still here," she muttered. She stood up and glanced at Kayla, who had been kicking her all night. Molly yawned and floated up to Holly. "Some sleepover, huh?" she asked. Holly groaned as she started looking for clothes. She was freezing with just her thin pajamas and bare feet. Holly heard Kayla yawn and heard the springs in the bed move. Maybe they could leave before Amy woke up...

Holly looked around the room and smiled when she saw the gift that she had made for Haru. It was a bracelet that had taken her a while to make. She didn't know how big his wrist was, but it's the thought that counts, right?

Holly rushed to get dressed, throwing on a white shirt, a purple sweater, and a thicker pink coat. She heard Kayla's laughter behind her as she rushed to pull a white skirt on and some socks.

"You must be excited, huh?" Kayla asked as Holly pulled on her snow boots. Holly nodded and put the neatly wrapped package into her pocket. She noticed that Kayla was already dressed, and instead of having her hair down as she usually did, had it in two braids. Holly ran her fingers through her own hair and sighed. Amy had cut some of it off last night, saying that she was saving Holly time in the morning. Holly pulled her hair into a high ponytail and smiled. Kayla whistled softly and bent down to pick up Yuri. The puppy panted excitedly and licked Kayla's face while they walked out of the room.

"Where are you going?" Both Holly and Kayla jumped slightly as Amy popped up behind them, a big grin on her face. Her Absol walked behind her with a scowl on her face. Holly sighed as she walked out of the room, Kayla and Amy at her heels. Molly floated by her silently.
 
Samantha Felicity Cooper

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"Don't worry about the damage Mark, I'm just thrilled to see it again. This was really thoughtful of you, so, y'know, don't sweat it."

She took a deep breath and reminded herself to follow her own advice. Don't sweat it. She couldn't control what would happen when the Muk inevitably hit the fan so there was no point spending all the time in between stressing about it. As for Christmas... well, she'd just have to make the best of that situation.

"And yeah, I've been training pretty hard today. Shuppet and Ponyta are both showing some real improvement, Ponyta especially. It's important to keep training I think, even on a day like Christmas. While everyone else is slackin' off I'm catching up and overtaking them. Including you," she grinned. Mark knew that she was determined to challenge and beat him again and she was getting closer to that moment each and every day. It wouldn't be long until she was ready to throw down the gauntlet.​
 
Mark smiled. Still as determined as ever to beat Mark in a match... she'd train on Christmas even! Talk about dedicated! Still... it looked like she could use a lesson on the point of Christmas, as cliche as it seemed. True Mark was slacking off today but he had his reasons! It just seemed proper to stop and settle down... he wished he could take his own advice on that. He had Lucia and Team Rocket to worry about after all.

"Well... they're "slacking" Because its Christmas. Some students are meeting up with their parents, spending time with friends, or exchanging gifts and such. They're just having fun with the holiday. Heh. Including me. I haven't trainer my Pokemon today but I figure its a good time to just relax and take advantage of a big holiday. It only comes once a year you know! There's another 364 days to spend for training." Mark explained.
 
Samantha Felicity Cooper

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Sammy shrugged when Mark was talking about taking the day off and taking it to relax. She'd had to be deceptive about everything else with him so far, she could at least be honest with him on this point. Even if talking about it made it feel worse.

"My Pops isn't here," she said simply, "first Christmas we've been apart. So it doesn't really feel like it without him, y'know? We're gonna chat later, but he's halfway round the world so I gotta wait until this evening because of the time difference. So I figured I may as well treat it like any other day until then, otherwise I'll just go crazy waiting to talk to him. And it lets me catch up to people like you while you're all stuffing your faces with mince pies. I was gonna go out and catch a new Pokemon, kind of a Christmas present to myself y'know? But with the weather how it is I don't think going too far from the Academy or town is a great idea."

"But hey, I don't wanna bring you down. You shouldn't let me being a grinch spoil your day." She smiled to show she was sincere. Mark probably had a lot of big plans for the day and she didn't want to be the cause of him missing out.​
 
Ah... so she was waiting till later. Mark was afraid she was avoiding her folks just to get better then Mark. He didn't give the girl enough credit... who knows? One of these days she might just catch up to him and become a powerful rival! Mark really wouldn't mind that really. Mark had to focus though. He still had Team Rocket to handle. He gave off a sigh. He didn't feel like he should let Sammy know about his plans though. He put the girl through enough already. He may as well spare some details though.

"Heh. Wish I could say I'm relaxed... but I'm kinda lieing myself. I'm actually heading over to Professor Oak's office. I need to talk to him about Team Rocket. With everything that's gone down I need to figure out what he's doing about this. They have members of the elite four here... you'd think they'd all march down and scare off Team Rocket from this island. I gotta go find out what the deal is." Mark said. If she was going to be honest, he could at least be honest.

"But hey, after all of that is done, maybe I can relax a little... heck, I might get around to some training. My dad was able to get control over Commodore so I gotta adjust my strategy to use him correctly..." He added.
 
Haru Hatake and Friends: Starring Haru Hatake and friends!
Food Time! Ah Yeh!​

Haru stood in the cafeteria line with a groan. He hated lines. He hated waiting. Most of all, he hated waiting in lines. "This is so boring!" He groaned to no one in particular. "Why do I have to stand in line?" He recieved several rude looks and snarky answers. "Sheesh! Can't you blame a guy for hating waiting?" With that remark, he recieved several looks that suggested agreement. "Thank you!" His deep voice resonated throughout the hall. The line seemed like it was NEVER going to get to the front. There were so many students who got up around the time Haru did! In the buffet line, there were three things that Haru was interested in: Pancakes, Orange Juice...and Bacon. He would have to be careful to save some for Holly, Kayla, and Shawn!

Several moments later, Haru sat down at a table near the door, so Holly could see him. He began to scarf down the massive pile of bacon and pancakes, occasionally pausing to take a swig of orange juice. It seemed like he would die at the age of fifty, but hey? what do doctors know about bacon! He was practically a human vacuum!
 
Holly Amarosa

Holly sighed as she walked into the cafeteria, but brightened up when she saw Haru. She walked over to him and pecked his cheek. "Hey there," she said softly. She sat down next to Haru and hugged him. Molly glared at them enviously. Kayla giggled and sat across the table from Haru. Amy started to pace around nervously, crossing her arms across her chest. Holly didn't notice her sister's anxiety. She was too busy cuddling up with Haru. "Merry Christmas!" she said excitedly. Kayla smiled and petted Yuri. She looked around and frowned. "Where's Shawn?" she asked. Holly shrugged and hugged Haru tighter. "So who's exchanging presents first? Wait, we should probably wait..." She sighed.
 
Shawn Williams - Raikou Dorm - Cafeteria

Shawn had finally finished eating and was throwing away his trash when he saw Haru sitting by himself. He contemplated talking to him and asking him for advice on what to do for Kayla. As he was deciding this, Holly and Kayla walked in and headed straight for Haru's table! "Oh no!" he thought, "Kayla's here...and I have nothing to give her! What do I do?" He had thought of running off, but what if it worried Kayla if he was gone? He didn't want to scare her, but he didn't want to show up empty-handed, either...

The coast was clear and so was the other entrance door. Shawn rushed out as fast as he could, blazing down the hallways until he got outside and flew up to his dorm room, shutting and locking the door behind him. He started rummaging through all his belongings, looking for something to give for Christmas to Kayla when he had a scary thought: what if they were ALL giving each other gifts? Would he need three presents? He went through everything (even his bag) until his eyes came across a small trinket. It was a silver necklace with a flower hanging from it. In the center of the flower was a ruby red jewel, while the petals were a milky-white. It was a reminder of his mom..he looked at the trinket and smiled. He hoped his mom would forgive him for this!

He placed it in a small box and closed the lid, sliding the box into his pocket. He slowly walked out of his dorm room wondering if it was right to give Kayla something that his mom gave him...His thoughts ended as he walked back into the cafeteria, walking up from behind the group. He cleared his throat a little and spoke, "Hi everyone. Merry Christmas."
 
Haru Hatake and Friends: Starring Haru Hatake and friends!
Christmas Cheer For All!​

Haru was in the middle of swallowing a handful of bacon when he felt a peck on his cheek. "Hey there!" He blushed terribly and swallowed the food completely. He felt Holly's tightening grip around him. "Merry Christmas!" He heard Kayla in the background mentioning Shawn. Holly's grip just grew tighter.

Haru smiled brightly and wiped his fingers off as nonchalantly as he could imagine and, once his hands were squeaky clean, wrapped his arms around his precious Holly. "Holly! I missed you so much, princess!" He smiled and kissed her lightly on the lips. She's going to love the song I wrote for her! It's special! It should be perfect! He glanced to the corner of the cafeteria to make sure that his guitar case was still there, and of course it was. "Merry Christmas, darling." He began to hold her closely and smiled at Kayla. "And a merry Christmas to you too, Kayla." He then looked over to Amy. "And a very SPECIAL merry Christmas to you." He laughed lightheartedly and looked to Holly with a wink. Haru was positive that his girlfriend's sister didn't completely trust him, but he was sure that would change after he played Holly her song.

"Hi everyone. Merry Christmas!" Haru heard Shawn's voice from behind.

"Shawn, my man! Merry Christmas to you as well!" He laughed a bit. "The gang's all here!" He looked to the rest of the people and smiled. "I'm good with doing presents whenever you guys are." He winked to Holly. "I made something very special for you." This song will impress her! It has to! I can't be that lazy boyfriend who her sister hates! With that last comment, he pecked her on the nose.
 
Holly Amarosa

Holly smiled up at Haru and reached into her pocket. She pulled out the tiny package that had the bracelet that she made and placed it on the table. She giggled as she stared into Haru's eyes. "I stayed up most of the night making it," she said with a tiny yawn. "But I think it was was worth it in the end. It might not be perfect, but I hope you like it..." She smiled sleepily and hugged Haru's arm. Amy sighed and sat down next to Kayla. "Holly, I... I have something to tell you," she said softly. Ayame padded up to her nervously and frowned. Holly yawned again and sighed. "I already know that you don't like Haru, alright? It's none of your business. Who do you think you are, my mom?" Amy stood up and shook her head, tears in her eyes. "I might not be your mom, but I'm going to be someone else's... Holly, I'm pregnant." Amy sniffled and ran out of the cafeteria. Holly stared after her with bleary eyes and blinked slowly, while Kayla ran after Amy quickly, Yuri at her feet.
 
Shawn Williams - Raikou Dorm - Outside

As Shawn came up, Haru greeted him and wished him a Merry Christmas, as well. He felt totally ignored by the others, but didn't say anything. As Holly was giving her gift to Haru, Amy tried to talk, but Holly wouldn't let her. In fact, she jumped to the conclusion that she was being talked down to again. Amy, though, started crying and announced she was pregnant before running out the door. Kayla jumped up and ran after her.

Shawn shook his head, "Too much running today...", he muttered to himself before turning to the other two. "Gonna go see whats up...be right back," he told them and headed out the door, running as fast as he could after Amy and Kayla, hoping he could calm them down. But how?
 
Haru Hatake and Friends: Starring Haru Hatake and friends!
Quick! What do we do?!​

Haru smiled as Holly handed him the package that contained his gift. He opened it to reveal a bracelet, obviously put together with a lot of care. "Holly, my dear, it is perfect." Anything that Holly gave him was perfect! Haru gave her a sincere smile and slipped it on his wrist. It fit perfectly! "I will never take this off. Never!" He gave her a peck on the cheek, a passionate hug, and began to hum the tune of his song, but something interrupted him.

"Holly, I...I have something to tell you," A brief argument broke out between Holly and Amy which, aside from the fact that it confirmed Haru's suspicion of Amy not liking him, also confirmed that Amy was pregnant. "I might not be your mom, but I'm going to be someone else's...Holly I'm pregnant." The older sister ran out of the room crying, with Kayla and Shawn on her heels.

Haru sat, jaw down in disbelief. What just happened! He looked to Holly with a look of surprise. "Holly...Do you wanna go see your sister?" He brushed the hair from his princess' face and looked into her eyes. "She looks like she needs your needs your support now." He was concerned for Amy of course, but he still wanted her to like him. It was necessary for a girlfriend's family to like the man, or else it would be very awkward. "Of course Shawn and Kayla can handle this, but I can always play you my gift later."
 
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