[PKMN FULL] TRAINERS (IC)

Ninetales · Jul 22, 2021

Coralie Summers

Vermillion City

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Pokémon

♡

Theme song

Coralie's team:

Florian the Bulbasaur
Stella-Luna the Noibat [*]Trixie the Drifloon [*]Clover the Silcoon [*]Teddy the Dedenne

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A Surprise Battle

The tangerine sun shone high in the sky. It was an unmistakably beautiful day. The smell of the saltwater hung in the air, the continuous sound of the ocean waves crashing against the shore generated a most serene atmosphere. Vermillion city has instantaneously captured Coralie's heart. Perhaps it was without the intricate architecture that other cities possessed, however, it was mesmerizing in its own ways.

Coralie found herself perched upon the beach, gazing adoringly at the sea, which seemed to stretch out endlessly. Such a body of water was gargantuan, the mere thought of such incomprehensible. Coralie wordlessly desired to explore the depths of it, to swim with the countless Pokémon who lived an aquatic existence. Though, that was an adventure for another day.

She'd already embarked upon a plethora of adventures since departing from Cerulean. She'd already made memories in which she'd cherish for the rest of her days, stories in which she'd pass on to her children and grandchildren in the future.

Her victory in Lavender town had truly changed her perspective, it may have seemed like a minuscule occurrence, and she may have barely managed to best her opponent, however, the pure feeling of euphoria in which she got from such a battle was indescribable. It was a sensation in which she longed for. Though, she was reluctant to self-identify as a proper pokemon-trainer, as her main objective was simply to explore, to make friends and meet vibrant individuals, to have fun. She was a personification of wind, constantly changing directions, altering intensity, travelling on a whim, living spontaneously. She thrived on inconsistency, did as she pleased, and enjoyed each and every passing moment to the very fullest.

Feeling the breeze ruffle through her sundress and her bubblegum tresses simultaneously, she smiled, relishing the sensation of such. Beside her, of course, sat Florian. The two were inseparable as always, the Kantonian pokemon mirroring her contented expression. Coralie was tempted to call upon the remainder of her pokemon, though she didn't intend to overcrowd the small section of the beach in which she occupied. Her team had expanded considerably since she initially embarked on her journey, and was cognizant that it would only grow further.

"You love the breeze too, dontcha, Florian?" She asked, a soft chuckle floating from her maw.

"Bulba! Bulbasaur!"

Vermillion reminded Coralie of her hometown, Cerulean. Thus, there was a comfort present, a contentment. She felt as if she was closer to her family somehow, as if her house was situated past the golden sands, even if the opposite was true.

Her mind drifted to Elliott suddenly, she wondered where he was presently located, and if he had discovered some legendary treasure as he claimed he would. It was unlikely, but one could never be sure. She then considered Amika. Was she lonely without Coralie, or had she busied herself studying astronomy alongside her father, ogling the dazzling constellations via telescope? Regardless, Coralie missed her, and silently longed for her accompaniment.

Shaking her out of her thoughts, a silvery voice caught her attention.

"Hey! You there!" The woman called out, standing atop a hillside cliff before leaping to the warm sand pooling below, a Croconaw in toe. The woman's cropped tresses were flung about by the breeze, though she wore a friendly smile upon her face.

"Hi! Oh my gosh, I didn't see you there!" Coralie expressed, practically hopping off from the sand in which she was previously seated on, assuming an upright position, Florian at her feet.

"Lovely day, isn't it!"

"Oh yes! The weather is spectacular!!! We were just enjoying the salty breeze!!"

Hana seemed to consider her words momentarily, whilst Coralie studied the woman's features, suddenly realizing she looked vaguely familiar. However, she was unable to identify Hana, wondering if perhaps the two had just seen each other in passing, or perhaps were connected somewhere in a previous existence.

Who was to say?

"You're not from these parts, are you?"

The question initially stunned Coralie. Was it really that obvious that she wasn't a local?

"Oh! No, I'm from Cerulean city!! I'm on a journey, I want to explore the Kanto region and maybe even beyond that some day!!"

Hana nodded at this, seemingly satisfied with the answer provided to her. She didn't offer a verbal response right away,

"Allow me to show you something."

"Huh??!"

Hana turned away and began walking away from the shore, in the direction in which she came from. Florian nipped at Coralie's sundress to pull her forwards, and she did, clutching her sunhat as a large gust of wind threatened to steal it.

"Come with me."

~~

Coralie couldn't have accurately predicted where Hana was taking her to, though curiosity overwhelmed her, and like a moth drawn forth to a dancing flame, she followed closely behind.

The pair arrived at what appeared to be a training facility of some sort, as multiple outdoor pools were sprawled out before them, azure water glistening in the warm sunshine.

"Wow!" All Coralie was able to utter, momentarily transfixed by the chlorine-filled bodies of water.

"Welcome to the Vermillion City Gym." Hana proudly declared, spread her arms out for emphasis, before turning to gage the bubblegum-haired female's reaction.

"This is the Vermillion gym?? Wait!! Does that mean…?"

Hana simply nodded, a soft chuckle slipping past her lips, nearly lost to the salty breeze.

"Yes, Indeed. I, Hana Palm, serve as the gym leader of this ole' gym."

Coralie blinked, being completely gobsmacked, her thoughts now discombobulated.

"Oh my gosh!! Palm?? Are you by any chance related to Professor Palm??"

Hana nodded again, evidently amused by Coralie's irrefutable wonderment. "Professor Palm is my father. Now, you wouldn't happen to have attended Cape College?"

Coralie nodded profusely, once again steadying her sunhat to ensure it didn't fall from atop her carnation tresses. "Eeeek!! Yes! I did!! That's why I'm on my journey!!! Well, part of the reason."

Hana looked delighted at the news, but not surprised. She nodded, before gesturing to the nearest pool to them, a confident gleam in her eye.

"Well, in that case, why don't we have a battle? I mean, you came all this way to Vermillion for a reason, right? Besides, I want to see what you're made of and whether or not you learned anything valuable during your time at Cape College. Enlighten me."

Coralie was still shocked from the earlier revelation regarding the other's identity and profession, moreover, the challenge was something most unanticipated. However, excitement bubbled up within her like a geyser ready to burst.

"Oh my gosh!! I'd love to!!" She squeaked gazing at Florian, who offered her a reassuring nod.

"Bulbs!"

"Florian's ready, too! Arent you, Flors?

"Bulba!!! Bulbasaur!!" The bulb pokemon launched two vines outwards, slapping at an invisible opponent, a clear indication of his readiness.

Haha chuckled, pleased with the enthusiasm from her challengers. "Well, that settles it then. We shall battle."

~~

As an officiator detailed the rules of the impeding gym battle, Coralie stood, her leg shaking as she tried to quell the apprehension that swirled about within. As ecstatic as she was, the Cerulean native couldn't help but feel slightly nervous. She was going into this completely unprepared, her only assurance being the unbreakable bomd in which she shared with each of her Pokémon companions.

Lost within the confinement of her own mind, Coralie was brought back to reality as a Pokémon materialized right before her eyes, emerging in a flash of silver light.

It was a Kingler, a Pokémon in which she immediately recognized. She had observed them waddle along the shore, blowing bubbles into the sunset, a memory from several years beforehand.

Nearly fumbling, she reached for her own Pokeball, thrusting it forwards. "Teddy, it's your time to shine!!" Coralie burst, feeling slightly more confident at the thought of the electric Pokémon's accompaniment..

The Dedenne popped out from its place of rest, scurrying around in a circle, chasing its lengthy tail before becoming cognizant of the situation at hand.

"Get ready, Teddy! That Kingler looks super powerful, but I believe in you!!"

"Dede! Dede!"

Electricity pulsating from Teddy's cheeks, the Pokémon's mood shifted. He was focused, ready.

"Alright. Battle begin! Challenger gets the first move!!"

Coralie grinned widely, glad to start things off. "Alright, Teddy!! Use your thundershock!!! Aim straight for the Kingler!!"

The mouse Pokémon generated electricity momentarily, before shooting it directly at the water type.

"In the water, Kingler!"

Without hesitation, Hana's pokemon leapt in the water, avoiding the oncoming attack seamlessly.

"Eeek! Wow!! That's one fast Kingler!!" Coralie commented, surprise apparent in her tone. She couldn't recall any of the Kingler she had previously observed to move with such immense velocity. It was obvious that this particular Pokémon was very well trained.

"Now, Kingler, use bubblebeam!!" The water type opened its pincer, launching a stream of bubbles directly at the electric and fairy Pokémon.

"Use your tail whip to disperse the bubbles!" Coralie instructed. Teddy followed suit, his efforts initially successful before he became swiftly overwhelmed.

"Follow it up with mud shot!"

Swimming closer to the edge of the pool in which it was situated in, the Kingler flung mud at its opponent.

"Get out of the way, Teddy!! Jump up!!"

Too slow, Teddy was blasted by the mud and sent flying backwards, landing right at Coralie's feet.

"Your Dedenne is fast, but not fast enough." Hana remarked, more to herself than anyone else.

"Oh no!! Teddy!!!! Are you alright? You aren't hurt, are you?"

The Dedenne collected itself from the ground, nodding at Coralie, not ready to concede quite yet.

"Kingler, let's finish this. Metal claw!"

The water-type leapt out of the water at immense height, barreling towards Teddy, it's raised claw gleaming in the sunshine.

"Dodge to the left, Teddy, and counter with Nuzzle!!"

The Dedenne dodged as Kingker aimed a silver claw in his direction, rubbing his cheeks against the other, electricity pulsing throughout the Kingler's body.

"Now hit it with Tackle!!"

Leaping back from the incapacitated Kingler, Teddy rammed into it, knocking the Pokémon into the water with a splash.

"Kingler seems to be paralyzed." Hana admitted, watching as her pokemon struggled to steady itself in the water, an electric current still encompassing its figure.

"Paralyzed!?! Oh my gosh!! Look at that, Teddy!! Now, let's win this!!! Thundershock on the water!!"

Instead of directly aiming the bolt, Teddy shot out a bolt of electricity over the body of water, maximizing the shock delivered to the submerged Kingler, knocking it unconscious instantaneously.

"Kingler is unable to battle, Dedenne is the winner."

"YESSS! Oh TEDDY! That was wonderful! I'm so proud of you!" Coralie beamed, scooping up her pokemon and planting multiple kisses atop its head.

"Don't celebrate too soon." Hana warned, her voice cutting like a knife.

"Things are just getting started."

QueenNothing · Jul 23, 2021

Gwen Alanis ft. Arianne Chandler

Monday, May 27
Afternoon
Vermilion City

For better or worse, Gwen's excitement skyrockets to an all-time high at the thought that she might finally live out her crime-fighting fantasy- although it seems at the moment Hana has less grandiose plans for her. When she said she wanted to be a distraction she thought that meant busting straight into the building and hitting everyone in-sight with powerful attacks while everyone else would come in undetected. Instead, she and Ari will have to hide behind some crates. It's not as explosive as she dreamed, but soon enough she'll get to kick some bad guys' asses. Probably.

"Just saying, but I did expose those masked guys earlier when I charged in to take them on." Gwen boasts.

"Of course haha!" Arianne echoes her. "And me taking the Explosion is only more proof. That said though… these are different people. Not sure what to expect from these guards…" She takes a peek around the crates.

"Come on, these guys are just foot soldiers! You've seen how they are in movies, they just have Rattatas and Zubats! I bet I could just send Scar out and knock them all over like bowling pins!"

"Well…" Arianne shivers. "I think the plan was to use Sleep Powder, right? We do this quickly, we avoid getting too much attention on our side and we hope they don't get back up and hit back later…"

Gwen groans. For a brief moment she forgot there actually was a plan.. As much as she would like to say "Fuck it!" and use brute force, she knows a few people will be disappointed. Not only would Vermillion's gym leader be mad at her, there's also Casey, and she really doesn't want to get on his bad side again, not to mention, it'd only give more fuel for Vera. Plus, if she screwed up, she wouldn't look as cool in-front of Arianne. "Okay, fiiiine. So Lulu is just gonna use Sleep Powder? Does it even have that much range?"

"And… oh wow, I should really pay more attention to those details shouldn't I…" Arianne replies hastily. "I think the range is pretty good but… not this much. We have to gather those people in one area, I think, not have them standing in a line all spread out…"

"Which is why we need a distraction!" Gwen snaps her fingers. "Which is why I should- no wait, I can't do that. Fuck!" Feeling stumped, Gwen crosses her legs and puts her thumb and index finger to her chin. As she tries to think up a plan, her mind starts to dissociate. Being a detective doesn't just mean beating up bad guys. A big part of it is coming up with big brain plans, and I've done that in battle. I need to be more flexible with my detective skills. Think Gwen, think! Hana chose you for a reason y'know!... wait a second. When I battled Hana earlier…

"That's it!" Gwen snaps again and reaches for a Lure Ball to send King out. "King knows Bubble, and he can use that to grab their attention!"

"And so you bring them here… and Lulu hides behind the crate… and we get them! Simple enough right?" Arianne smiles, although it comes off slightly forced. She then lets her Grass type out, and explains the plan to her as well - with Lulu looking a bit confused throughout.

"Alright then, let's get it started! King, use Bubble towards the guardas!" As her Magikarp pathetically flops about, he spits a few bubbles from his mouth that drift through the crates and in the guard's direction while Gwen beams with confidence. As the bubbles flow closer to the guards, she anticipates the moment they'll take the bait. I must look so cool in front of Arianne right now! The second they notice, Gwen's smirk grows wider by the second as she eavesdrops on their conversation.

"Hey Phil… have I been sleep deprived or are there bubbles coming from over there?"

"You're definitely sleep deprived after the non-stop work we've had to do lately. But those bubbles are in-fact real."

The first guard sighs. "Guess we gotta do something about it." He grabs a Pokeball from a holster to release a crimson wolf-like Pokemon that stands upright and walks over to where the girls are hiding with piercing red eyes while the guards stay in their positions.

God fucking damnit.

"Uh… change of plans? Change of plans…" Arianne looks over the crate as well, struggling to remain collected. "I-I think you'll have to distract that Lycanroc and lure it away, as for the guards themselves…" She then kneels down towards Lulu and whispers something to her instead.

"It will take some time to do this, Gwen, but…" the Cinnabar girl sighs, "but maybe Lulu can extend her Ingrain all the way there to the guards. That's something we can use, right?"

"I don't think we have any other option." Gwen gulps. Midnight Lycanroc have a chance to possess the ability Vital Spirit, making their Sleep Powder plan useless, but what is Gwen supposed to do that'd make Lycanroc not sniff them out and bark at them? She has been able to come up with clever solutions under pressure, but she's not sure if now is one of those times, and when a Pokemon with sharp fangs and claws controlled by someone she associates Morgrem Guy with draws closer, it really seems as though she's screwed. Soon enough, Lycanroc gets close enough that it starts growling, just seconds away from barking, and Gwen's mind goes blank as she nearly cracks from the pressure. Panicked, she looks over to Bead to make sure her Pokemon will be alright, but he isn't where he stood just a second ago, although the sound of Confuse Ray being used gives her ideas. She shifts her gaze, and sure enough, Lycanroc is walking around in circles thanks to Bead's intuition.

"Bead…" She struggles to say anything as her heartbeat is still intensely pounding, and she gives a light sigh of relief. "...thank god."

"That was… not optimal…" Arianne echoes her, a Pokéball in her hand and ready to be used. "Thank you Bead from me as well…"

In a daze, the enemy Lycanroc swiftly stumbles back to the guards. "Oh… nothing was over there? Really? That's weird… I know for a fact I saw bubbles just a second ago!"

"I did too… could just be some wild Pokemon. Or maybe we both just need a good night's sleep… Haven't had that in awhile." The guard laughs.

"I'll say." The other agrees before turning his attention back to Lycanroc who again walks in circles . "...hey wait a second, why are you acting so strange, boy? What's gotten into you?"

"Shit, hold on, you're right! Look at his eyes- he's Confused! I think we've just been outsmarted by some punk-ass trainers!"

"Most definitely…" Arianne finally smiles, peeking over the crates as Lulu tries to do the same, lifting herself up with more mycelium under her tiny body. Eric is out, targeting her with a continuous Heal Pulse in hopes of helping her grow the Ingrain even faster. "See, Lulu? You're there! Go for it!" The trainer cheers, and in a matter of seconds, the white threads wrap around most of the guards' ankles.

"Argh, damnit! Show yourselves, you cowards!" One of the guards shouts.

"Oh, don't worry, we will!" Gwen cackles as she sends Pix out. She and Bead head out from behind the crates, and the pair work together to use Confuse Ray on each and every guard one-by-one.

In no time, Lulu also starts using Giga Drain with her roots, not only making the guards more tired but also making them trip more easily. They all fall down, stuck to the ground by the mycelium that is slowly growing onto them and too confused to react, thanks to Gwen and Bead's work. "You're doing great! And now all we need is some Sleep Powder!" Arianne throws a fist to the sky, before backing off from her Pokémon and trying to find something to cover her face with. At least this way, she won't fall asleep herself. The cloud of spores may be a bit slow, but it spreads menacingly across the whole area: a perfect way to seal the deal.

"Wow, that was- that was INCREDIBLE! It was just sooo super cool!!" Gwen cheers while her eyes gleam. While on one hand it is a shame to her how Arianne came out looking more competent than herself, just watching her come up with such a creative strategy on-the-spot definitely gives Gwen more respect for her. I don't know how else to say it, but this girl looks super awesome whenever she battles! It's not in the same way Jenny does, but it's different, she's like "COOL" but Arianne is like "cool"... that probably wouldn't make sense if I said it out loud, but I understand it, so whatever!

Speaking of Arianne, her voice tries to make her way to Gwen. "C...er your f...ce!" She yelps as the Sleep Powder gets closer. "Your face!"

Gwen nearly asks what she means before she notices the spores herself. "Uh, oh, right." She quickly cups her hands over her mouth and hides how red she is from embarrassment. That was a little awkward, but at least they completed their task without breaking any bones.

"Amazing! We should all be- oh." Arianne, still near the crates, seems slightly worried about a certain Pokémon in particular… the Lycanroc from before is not falling asleep at all, and seems to have snapped out of his confusion. "Uhm, help?"

"Oh, piece of cake!" Gwen chuckles and proceeds to navigate through the minefield of unconscious guards until she gets to the one she recognizes as Lycanroc's owner, and simply reaches for the empty Pokeball in his holster to return the Wolf Pokemon. When all is said and done, she gives Ari an awkward thumbs up before using that same hand to return her own Pokemon.

"Wow, nice job! So now… we scatter right?" Arianne laughs, before recalling Eric and… oh right, Ingrain. "I may need some cover up, I can't just recall Lulu now and run, apparently. Or…"

The laugh gives way to a somewhat sad expression. "Honedge? Just a quick Aerial Ace here…"

The Sword Pokémon doesn't even hesitate and cuts Lulu off from her Ingrain in a single cut, causing her to faint in the process. Only then, Arianne can recall all of her Pokémon and run back to Gwen. "Well I wish I didn't have to do this and I acted impulsively but… yeah now we'd better run! Let's go back to the front side."

Well uh, I dunno know if I can respect making your own Pokemon faint but… aside from that she's still super cool! Y'know I've been saying that a lot and it's starting to not even sound like a real word at this point, what else can I say? She's… daring! Yeah, I like that- wait where is my brain going with this? "Uh… yeah! Sounds good!"

CCS and art by Aquacorde

Groc · Jul 25, 2021

Richard Wolstenholme, Vera Hill
Chapter 8 - Side by Side
Vermilion City; Monday, May 27th

"Three… Three… How should we solve this problem." Richard mutters under his breath while he peeks ahead from his cover.

In order to find the best solution in handling a tough situation, someone has to maintain calmness in how they act, no matter what. It was what he learned the tough way during his time enrolling in the general education course back at Saffron. Yet considering the matter at hand, it is actually much more unfathomable to be able to stay calm under a situation like this.

They are playing with fire, a very volatile one to boot, one mistake and they all will burn. He slightly sympathizes with how Hana wants to deal with this, but… It sounds really stupid, not gonna lie.

They are young fledgeling trainers, ones that haven't even graduated from their respective academies. They didn't sign up for dealing with dangerous people that seem to be stopping at nothing to achieve their goal. If they are able to obtain weather altering capabilities, it is indeed frightening to think about how far their capabilities are.

Do they have a raygun that can melt people instantly? Or perhaps a weapon powerful enough to harness the power of surrounding weather that can eradicate an entire city in a single shot? Is this a test site for such a weapon? If so, it's a frightening thing to do.

But-

"Hey! Snap out of it!" Vera smacks Richard in the arm to get his attention. She's shivering and miserable, hunkering down to avoid as much wind chill as she can, her Inkay and Mimikyu close by her side. "If we're doing this, now's our best chance!"

Richard lifted himself from his crouching position while looking back at the girl standing in front of him. "Shhh!!! Not so loud! You're gonna alert the guards if you keep talking that loudly…"

"You're being just as loud!" She hisses back, a little petulantly, but she does duck a little lower.

The two patrolling guards had moved around back, leaving just three stationary guards on their side. Considering that they have three Pokémon capable of inducing sleep, this is the time to act.

"Let's just get this over with. You take the guy on the right, I'll handle the other two."

Without waiting for Richard, Vera directs her Pokémon toward the guards, she herself refusing to leave the safety of cover. Squitch emerges from the last remnants of fog, her lights already glowing, like some kind of otherworldly entity. The guards immediately take notice, but the closer one falls unconscious as Squitch shines her lights on him.

Trixie emerges from the other guard's shadow, her Copycat allowing her to shine her own sleep inducing light on the second guard. He manages to shout out before falling asleep, alerting the third guard.

"Hey! What are you—"

Before the last guard manages to raise his voice, a purple beam passes through the man causing him to wobble left and right as he tries his best to pull out one of the Pokeball hanging on his belt. Sadly, Richard has already thought one step forward ahead of him, putting him out cold with a powerful jab that landed square on the poor man's jaw.

And with that the confrontation ends without much happening at all.

With the guards subdued without issue, Vera returns her Pokémon and tucks the Poké Balls back into her pockets, leaving her hands there for warmth. "Not bad, Richard. This was a solid plan." She smirks at him as she starts heading for the front of the building. "I'm glad I thought of it."

"Well, I didn't expect it to go this swimmingly though." Richard chuckles. "Hey since we have a bit more time to spare, would you lend me a hand here?"

"A hand? What are you-" She turns back to see Richard tying the guards up with rope as his Pokémon moves them closer together. "Why do you have rope? Where did you even… just why?" She comes over to him, standing by awkwardly with no idea what to do.

"Would you rather have them wake up and catch us in the act? If we tie them up, there's no way they'll be able to escape. This is a great idea of mine, I must say… We sneak in without any fuss, and if others succeed on knocking ou—"

Just before Richard manages to end his sentence, the ground slightly trembles without any semblance of a warning. It is all he needs to understand the gist about the plan's current progress.

Richard takes a deep sigh. "Great, just great… Guess someone really understands how to be silent, huh?" Says Richard sarcastically, while throwing the now useless rope away.

"200 Poké says it was Casey and Jordan…" Vera mutters as she follows Richard, the unconscious guards already forgotten in her mind.

"Let's go then, hopefully they're doing just fine."

A joint post between WizardOfOdd and Groc.

Juno · Jul 26, 2021

Tangles Art Cred

Chapter 8: Overt Operation

👥 Ft. Casey Holt 🏭 Vermilion City Harbor 🕙 May 27th, Evening

He's feeling a lot less brave, now that they are back here and actually putting the plan in motion. But we have to. We gotta pull this off.

The same biting cold greets them as Jordan leads Casey and his Pokemon towards the iced-over front entrance of B-17. As it comes into view, the group settles among a few stacks of crates for cover. He's not sure if he is shivering from the anxiety or the temperature, but he's almost certain the chattering of his teeth is so loud it might give them away. He glances over at Casey to see if he notices, not wanting to betray his nerves after so confidently roping him into this. Casey's mouth is pressed into a thin line, eyes darting to every shadow. He catches Jordan's eye and hesitantly reaches out a hand.

A crack of thunder above makes them jump, and pulls Jordan out of his thoughts as Casey's hand pulls back. Hop and Tangles had been briefed on their way here, and the latter lumbers up to him dutifully as he beckons her over, with Hop perched on her head. At least they don't seem too nervous. "You guys got this, right?" He whispers. Tangles' face isn't particularly expressive, but she sort of nods, as much as her spherical body allows for, which he takes as a good sign. Hop shuffles from talon to talon, trying to keep his balance as she bobs her head.

The plan is solid, they just have to execute it at exactly the right moment.

Jordan glances at the clock on his PokeGear. "Alright. Five minutes to go." He murmurs to himself as his eyes bore into the screen. Easy. In five minutes, everyone will move out and strike at the same time. Can't go wrong.

Sure hope everyone's clocks are synched up. The paranoia starts creeping in. Sure hope everybody has a clock. Oh, god, it CAN go wrong, what if-

Hop's head bobs into view as the bird peers over to look at the time. "Oh, yeah, sorry. Almost." Jordan holds up the PokeGear to show his Pokemon and Casey. He glances over the crates at the pacing patrols. "Sure are a lot of them."

"How many?" Casey asks, peeking over the crates as well without waiting for an answer. He groans quietly. "Why are there more, where did they come from? This is terrible. Jordan, this is awful, just because your Pokémon can sleep 'em doesn't mean we should. We don't even know what's in there, either, what if there are more inside? We shouldn't be doing any of this, this-"

"W-we'll figure it out when we get inside! This is the tricky part - everyone else is gonna have our backs once we get past this." Trying to convince Casey helps Jordan convince and calm himself down. Yeah, everyone's gonna be there. It'll be fine. He turns his attention back to the screen. "Now, shut it - if we miss the set time, it would be terrible."

Casey bites his lip. Quiet is hard for him at the best of times, being quiet and still is nothing near his forte. But he shuts up, and watches the clock on Jordan's PokéGear count down.

"Okay, go," Jordan gently pushes the Tangela forward, and Hop lightly jumps off of her to get into position as well, lingering a few steps behind her. "Stay low, don't fly until you have to. Hop to it, if you will." He lightly jests to an unamused audience. "Just trying to lighten the mood…"

The boys watch as Tangles creeps forward. She is shorter than even some of the unstacked crates, so, while ungraceful, she stays undetected.

The man on the other side of the box she is hiding behind is the first to fall. With how close in proximity he was standing, he probably took the brunt of the hit. He collapses immediately, before the Sleeping Powder even has a chance to spread out.

"Hey, George, what the hell-"

Casey throws out several nonsensical curses in a row, getting more hysterical as a few other guards peel away from their positions to check on the fallen George. Jordan shushes for Casey to be quiet. "Shh, it's working- this is what we want! Kind of," he whispers, as they watch the effect of Tangles' spores crumple a few more patrols in her vicinity. But it stops spreading, and curious eyes turn towards the scene in front of them. "I don't- I don't think this is going to be enough."

"Well- Mirror Move, Mirror Move," Casey hisses breathlessly. "C'mon, Hop-"

"Oh! Right," Jordan anxiously cranes his neck in search of the Pidgeotto. His pale red head-feathers peek out among some crates to their far right. The instructions he was given weren't the most direct and relied a lot on his own judgment, but sure enough, Hop does not let them down. A well-timed Mirror Move scatters the Sleeping Powder out across his side of the field, and Jordan turns to give Casey a thumbs-up as they watch a few more of the guards who had their backs turned to Hop's crates go down. The remaining patrols have definitely taken notice of the bizarre sleeping spells of their companions and are looking around warily, murmurs abound as they back away.

"Uh oh." Jordan breathes out, almost inaudibly. This is not going as smoothly as he thought it was going to. The guards don't see them - at least he doesn't think so - but their attention is definitely on them now, and any sudden movements from the general vicinity of their hiding spots will surely give them away.

And then the wind shifts. Jordan shivers as a chilling breeze ripples through his hair, and he hears a dull thud coming from where Hop was standing as he knocks into some crates. The guards hear it too.

"It came from over there. You see anything?"

"Yeah, I heard it too, but I ain't checking."

"Tch, whatever. Stay here, then."

They hear people shuffling closer and Casey makes a decision, vaulting up and over their shelter and charging, straight into the two guards that have come to investigate the pile-up, knocking one to the side and sweeping the other's legs out from under him.

Having fully given away their location, Jordan jumps up as well. "What are you doing?" He asks Casey shrilly, before climbing over to where Hop fell. The winds must have picked up the remaining particles of Sleeping Powder and cast it back his way; the Pidgeotto is out cold. Jordan quickly returns him to the safety of his PokeBall before dashing back over to Casey, who has dropped the second guard to the ground by now as well.

"Takin' out the guards! Obviously!" Casey's still hysterical, leaning his weight into the foot on his first victim's chest as the man struggles to get up.

"No, I mean, why are you doing it, I-" Jordan frantically waves Tangles over, who clumsily flops over the crate. "Are you a trainer or not?" He asks Casey, before throwing in a quick "Constrict!" to his Tangela as she joins them. Vines shoot out and deftly bind together the two guards running up to them.

"I didn't- they can't- Ginger can't take a guy down!" Casey's wide-eyed and frantic reasoning doesn't make a lick of sense, of course it doesn't, but he's managed to get the job done anyway. Tangles' vines creep across the two Casey's laid out and bind them in place as she gears up for a final Sleep Powder.

Jordan sighs, looking around. "Well, I can't say that wasn't effective though, at least. I think we got them all-"

Just then, something rolls out from the bound guards, and the flash of light that follows startles all three of them. The Pokémon that emerges startles them even more, as an enormous beast almost eight feet tall towers over and lets out a menacing roar. The bound guards cheer for their success and jeer at the boys, but Tangles makes quick work of them with a point-blank Sleep Powder for each.

Unfortunately, that still leaves one problem.

"Rhyperior, Drill Pokemon." Jordan's Pokedex states. "It can launch a rock held in its hand like a missile by tightening then expanding muscles instantly. It puts rocks in holes in its palms and uses its muscles to shoot them. Geodude are shot at rare times."

"Uh, well," Jordan begins, looking up from the device with a humourless chuckle. "I hope Ginger can take this guy down for us."

Casey, somehow, seems to be settling down, even in the face of the powerful, intimidating Pokémon in front of them, to the point where he once lets a grin settle easy on his face as he pulls a PokéBall out of his pocket. "Oh, I know how t' handle that. Get ready to play backup for her!"

The Buneary appears in a flash of light and immediately hisses when her feet touch the freezing ground, berating Casey for daring to call her out into this. "Hey, no, look, we're fighting- you like fighting, don't complain at me."

Ginger glares down their opponent. The sight of a tiny bunny trying to intimidate a rock beast that towers even above her trainer is absurd. The Rhyperior seems to think so too as it very casually stares back, polishing its rocky armor and doing not much else.

"Wait, wait - I was kidding," Jordan chuckles. "What about, you know, Parsley or something?" He reaches for his own PokeBalls as Tangles lumbers back over from the unconscious guards, side eyeing the Rhyperior on her way over as it continues to stare down at the Buneary in front of it.

"Parsley doesn't want to be cold," Casey sniffs, and Ginger throws her paws in the air without turning to look at him. "You've got fluff, you're fine."

The Rhyperior's attention shifts as Sage and Tiny emerge from their PokeBalls, and all three of Jordan's Pokemon gather around Ginger as Casey takes a few hesitant steps backward. The Buneary swats at the Skiddo when Sage eagerly pokes her with her nose, and Tiny floats above the small group, sizing up the Rhyperior.

Casey shakes his head vigorously, but his eyes continue to dart back to Tiny. "Ready, then?" he asks, putting all the pep he can muster into his voice. "Ginger, climb!"

Ginger springs forward, easily bouncing up the Rhyperior's craggy body to give a swift Double Kick to its face, scrambling around as it tries to swipe her away.

"Nice," Jordan comments, peering up before turning his attention to his own Pokemon. "Okay, you two, Vine Whip," Jordan gestures towards Tangles and Sage, who get in position. "And you - get 'em with a Razor Leaf?" The last and only time he really battled with Tiny was against Beaumont, during which she seemed... less than eager to follow his lead. But, to his relief, the Pumpkaboo glides above the Rhyperior, grabbing its attention and pelting down on it with some leaves at the same time, as her teammates strike from either side of the beast.

The instruction-less Rhyperior roars as it is hit, and, still fixated on Tiny, fires off a few Rock Blasts in her direction, only one of which lands. She shakes the attack off and returns its menacing glare with her own.

"Alright, thank you…" Jordan waves his arms, trying to get her attention. "Maybe another Razor Leaf instead." But his order falls on deaf ears this time, as the Pumpkaboo continues maintaining her Scary Face.

"Well, at least it's distracted." Jordan sighs, using this opportunity to have Sage bolster her attacks with Growth.

"Triple Axel, Ginger- shoulder, shoulder-" Casey calls out, and Ginger's spinning kicks turn frigid easily in this cold air, catching the beast's shoulder joint twice before she slips off the precarious point, rolling when she hits the ground and skating between its legs, narrowly avoiding the horrible cracking slam of a foot into the icy pavement. Ginger leans into a spinning jump and lands precisely where she means to- on Sage's back, ice crystals shaking from her paws.

"Watch your ice, she's Grass, you know that," Casey admonishes, as Sage starts to violently shiver upon contact, unsuccessfully trying to buck the Buneary off. Ginger scowls.

"Okay, it's okay - you'll be fine," Jordan reaches out to pull Ginger off Sage's back to calm the Skiddo down, Ginger hissing as soon as his hand comes near her but removing herself at a frown and a few finger-clicks from Casey. The Rhyperior, noticing the commotion, Stomps in their direction, making Sage flinch with a whimper. "Tangles, Vine Whip again!" Jordan calls out to the Tangela on the other side as the Rhyperior lifts up a foot to Stomp again. Vines snake out, low to the ground, as they wrap around the ankle of the Drill Pokemon's other leg, pulling it off its balance before the next blow could land.

"O-out of the way!" Jordan yells, hoisting up the stunned Skiddo with some effort as the Rhyperior staggers for a moment, before crashing down towards where they had stood. The earth rumbles with the impact, though Ginger is already in the air and coming down with two kicks to the side of its head. Frost comes from a third aimed at the Rhyperior's eyes but the blow is glancing, as the creature snaps its head around and catches her with its longer horn and sends her flying back towards Casey, who manages to field her.

"Don't let it up, right?" Casey says, setting Ginger down.

"Right!" Jordan agrees as he finally lets go of Sage as well, who charges forward just enough to hurl her Leech Seeds at their opponent. The seeds stick to its rocky body and tendrils sprout quickly from them, latching on to the Rhyperior with a slight glow. Sage prances around near the head of the fallen beast, regaining a bit of the energy she'd lost to its Stomp.

Tangles joins in to help keep it down, binding the Rhyperior's legs with Constrict, and Tiny zips by to let out another Razor Leaf. Ginger skates along its frame, icing over the small gaps between the Rhyperior and the ground.

"I think we're doing it," Jordan says with a bit of relief in his voice, as they watch their Pokemon chip away at the felled giant's energy. He glances over at the sleeping guards. "Definitely helps that they're not involved."

"Yeah, who knows what this thing would be doin' if- move, move move-!"

Casey catches Jordan's hand and they're running from the wave of water that the Rhyperior roars into existence, scrambling up onto a pile of crates as the flood washes across everything in sight- their Pokémon, the sleeping guards, the Rhyperior itself. Ginger is nearly swept past them but Casey yanks her out of the water, screeching when he finds Tiny clinging to her and throwing them both into Jordan's face.

"Oh-!" Jordan exclaims as he briefly juggles the two small Pokemon, electing to pull in the one that can't levitate as Tiny gently lands on his head after being tossed up. He hands the sopping, angry Buneary back to Casey before bending over the edge of his crate. "Come- come here, I got you guys!" He reaches out for the Skiddo paddling towards them, like she had done at the Gym earlier, but much more frantically. He pulls the shivering Sage out of the water with Casey's help, before turning back towards the edge, stretching a hand out in an attempt to meet Tangles' waving appendages - unlike Sage, she'd not had the luxury of spending any time in the pool or practice swimming, so she is just wildly spinning in the waters, being pushed in whatever direction the waves are moving. After a few moments, Jordan is finally able to catch an outstretched vine and hauls her in as well.

"Well," Casey says, trying to both warm Ginger and not get himself wet, "Surf."

"Yeah," Jordan exhales, looking at his soaked team, now especially glad the Rhyperior's trainers are knocked out. "Didn't see that one coming. What now?"

Before Casey can answer, the giant Pokemon draws itself up to its full height, letting out a guttural cry as it stomps on the still-wet ground in front of it. It's a distinctly different kind of stomp from before, and they feel the effects of it instantly as the tremors from its Earthquake create fissures that snake across the field, shattering the pile of crates they had taken refuge on as the impact reaches them. The boys and their Pokemon scramble out of the wreckage and out of the way of the Rhyperior's rampage as the reverberations of its attack continue to rattle everything in their vicinity.

It feels like it takes forever for the earth to stop shaking, but eventually it does, and with a final roar, the glowing seeds still stuck to the Rhyperior's back saps the last of its energy, and the Pokemon crashes to the ground once again, this time unmoving.

"Crazy," Casey mutters, slightly wobbly and inching toward the fallen giant, Ginger tucked under his arm. "Bet that did more damage than just takin' out the crates."

"Yeah…" Jordan looks at the debris around them. A faint smile slowly spreads across his face as his eyes land on the warehouse, and he nudges Casey. "Hey, look, I think you're right."

The entrance is still heavily frozen over, but long, thin cracks had visibly made their way up and down the thick ice previously barring entry, with several chunks of the heavy frost in shattered pieces by the base of the door. Casey grins, momentarily thrilled to have made progress, but it slips off his face quickly.

"Better not be any other strong Pokémon in there. Most of our Pokémon are wet an' cold an' tired out now."

"No kidding," Jordan sighs, crouching down to check on Sage and Tangles, who are huddled close to each other. Tiny is sitting on Sage's back and seems to have come out the most unscathed, but she had still been caught up in the Surf earlier, and looks a little worse for wear. He checks his PokeGear. "The others should be ready to meet up here soon, too, at least - hopefully they didn't run into much trouble. Besides, Hana'll know what to do when we get inside."

Party

Tangles
Tangela | F | Lvl. 19

Ingrain
Constrict
Absorb
Vine Whip
Sleep Powder
Poison Powder

Hop
Pidgeotto | M | Lvl. 22

Headbutt
Pluck
Twister
Mirror Move
Roost
Wing Attack

Spirit
Alolan Cubone | M | Lvl. 17

Focus Energy
Feint Attack
Bone Club
Headbutt
Swords Dance

Sage
Skiddo | F | Lvl. 17

Tackle
Growth
Vine Whip
Play Nice
Razor Leaf
Leech Seed

Tiny
Pumpkaboo | F | Lvl. 19

Razor Leaf
Shadow Sneak
Confuse Ray
Scary Face
Worry Seed
Trick-or-Treat

???
??? | ? | Lvl. -

It appears to move occasionally. It may be close to hatching.

Inventory

- Pokédex
- Pokégear
- 2-person tent
- Tangles' plant

Moon Stone

Eleanor · Jul 26, 2021

Chilling Trail

Arianne, Casey, Jordan, Gwen, Richard, Vera, gym leader Hana
written by Astromancer, Aquacorde, Eleanor, Groc, Juno, QueenNothing, WizardOfOdd

Vermilion City Harbor, about 4:45 p.m., Monday, May 27^th

The front of the warehouse is a mess.

Broken crates scatter splinters and miscellany across the wet asphalt. Chunks of ice slowly separate from the warehouse walls and splash into the puddles below as a few inches of water collects along the iced-over drainage channels. Two groups of guards each lay unconscious atop each other, mirroring the prone shape of a hulking Rhyperior.

Vera and Richard are the first on the scene, awed and confused by the unconscious Pokémon before them. "Wha… I c-can't leave you two alone for f-five minutes!" Vera tries to sound annoyed, but her faint smile and chattering teeth ruin the illusion.

"You still cold?" Casey seems surprised. "Move your body, c'mon." He starts hopping, side to side, Ginger still tucked under his arm. "Warm up!"

Vera starts rubbing her arms, reluctantly hopping from one foot to the other. "The point was to be stealthy, Casey."

"Didn't have much'f a choice, did we? Look at it! Did an Earthquake, too, didn't ya feel it?"

"Of course I felt it! Everyone felt it! Honestly, you guys are lucky things didn't go worse than they did."

"Yeah, I thought we were supposed to be silent. You know, not causing a noise or in this case a giant earthquake to ruin our covert ops. This is the worst scenario to happen, you know?" Richard sighs while holding his head.

"I think we made the best of our situation, actually." Jordan sniffs indignantly, but he huddles closer to his friends and ushers his Pokemon in as well. "Catching my own Fire Pokemon after this..." He mutters under his breath.

"Yeah, we handled it just fine, thank you!" Casey tucks his wet Buneary into his jacket along with his cold hands. Tiny notices this and drifts off of Sage's back, immediately heading towards the neckline of her own Trainer's hoodie. "Not our fault the wind changed."

"Hit a bit of a snag in the plan, but yeah, all good now." Jordan chimes in. "Hey, what are you-" He exclaims as the Pumpkaboo tries to stuff herself down his neckline. She is unsuccessful, but he zips his own jacket further down to make room for her.

"...You know what? Guess I'm too harsh on you two considering the situation going down… I'm just… Afraid that my plan would've backfired and endanger you all… That's the last thing… Sorry." Richard wryly laughs after stuttering to find the right word while Victor visibly tries to console his trainer.

"Don't be actin' like that. You're not the one responsible for any o' this." Casey glares in direction he knows Hana is, even though he can't see anyone approaching from that side yet.

While he's doing so, Gwen and Ari rush into the scene while Gwen is slightly ahead, brimming with excitement. "You should have seen how cool we looked back there!" She brags before catching her breath. "As much as I would like to say it was all the heroic efforts of me and my Pokemon, I think Arianne stole the show back there! Isn't that right, Arianne?"

"I… no, it was more like you showing off as Lulu put them to sleep!" The Cinnabar girl catches up, letting herself go to a playful chuckle.

Gwen blushes and scratches the back of her head. "Well uh, still though, we took out the bad guys and it was awesome!"

"We sure did, haha!" Arianne gives Gwen a complicit look.

Casey tsks at the new arrivals. "We were s'posed to be stealthy, I don't know what y'all were puttin' on a show for." Gwen nearly opens her mouth but bites her lip and pouts.

"I'd say I put up a show for Gwen, and she returned the favor to me! Basically, we had our fun putting everyone to sleep." Arianne nods with a smile. "And we had our risks but… nothing like that." She adds, pointing towards the Rhyperior.

Jordan sidles up to Ari, leaving a cold space that forces Vera and Casey to huddle closer to each other. "Oh, you know - things got a little tough, but we took care of it. Glad it was us who happened to run into these guys, and not you ladies."

Gwen's brow furrows but her face flashes red- she's clearly conflicted. "I-I totally would have been able to kick their asses, just so you know!" She tightens her fist while trembling.

"Just like Electrode last time? Please do tell why Uri is hospitalized for 'severe injuries' at this very moment?" Richard interjects sharply on their conversation. Arianne flinches as she's about to speak, and just takes some steps away from the boy.

"Nah, Gwen definitely woulda taken 'em." Casey's cheerful vote of confidence has Gwen nervously smirking even as her face grows a deeper shade of red.

"Wh- oh, yeah, I wasn't saying you couldn't, I-" Jordan fidgets as he fumbles for his words, glancing at Casey for help. His best friend just grins gleefully at his struggle, delighting in being no use at all and even drawing Vera into a half-hug with an arm around her waist just to tease Jordan more. She glares at him for a moment, but doesn't object to the warmth.

"Not only am I Jennifer Alanis' younger sister, but I also have pretty stellar sleuthing skills- in no small part from analyzing Detective Greedent Reloaded so much!" Gwen says, slowly regaining confidence with each word.

"What's everyone goin' on about that show for today?" Casey murmurs. Vera leans against him, but something solid in his jacket squirms against her.

"More importantly, where's Pepper? I think he'd like to be out here with us, don't you?"

Casey hums, deep vibration settling the Buneary in his jacket just before she pops an ear out to punch him in the jaw. She still does hit him, but it's more of a push than a punch. "Yeah, now that Rhyperior's gone, I 'spose. Here." Pepper joins them in a flash of light, wedging himself between Casey and Vera's legs. "Oh, that works," Casey sighs as warmth from his Fire-type immediately seeps into them. Arianne seems relieved to see Pepper as well, even if she's further away. She inches towards them, trying to feel more warmth.

Vera shifts slightly to get closer to Pepper and farther from Ginger, gently removing Casey's arm from her waist in the process. Casey pouts but lets her go, tucking one hand back into his jacket to pet Ginger and letting the other rest on Pepper's warm head.

At that point, Hana and Bridget join the crowd from their side. "We're here, we're here! Felt the quake but we were still not done but… phew, you're all ok," the teal haired trainer pants, but still tries to keep up a smile. "Our side is clear as well!"

Hana nods when she sees that Bridget is right - all trainers are accounted for and seem unharmed - and glances up at the door Jordan and Casey have unintentionally begun to break into. "Next step, break-in. Let's find out what's behind these doors at last."

"God, FINALLY!" With zero hesitation, Gwen plucks a Pokeball off her belt and forcefully chucks it onto the ground to release her bulky Bouffolant. "Alright Scar, I want you to smash that door to oblivion!" Scar complies, exhaling from his nostrils before lowering his head and charging forward to loosen the hinges of the warehouse doors. Not fully satisfied, he grunts and takes a few steps back before rushing forward again to ram his skull into the doors a second time, then a third time, but on the fourth time he's able to successfully force the doors to fly open and fill his trainer with a wave of ecstasy.

"That was fucking awesome! Good boy!" Gwen cheers, throwing her arms around Scar and nuzzling him, a gesture he seems slightly annoyed by.

Hana laughs in approval, although there is certainly a smidge of nervousness mixed in. This is it, after all. "Nice way to use your head. Now, follow me!"

Eleanor · Jul 26, 2021

Chilling Trail

Arianne, Casey, Jordan, Gwen, Richard, Vera, gym leader Hana
written by Astromancer, Aquacorde, Eleanor, Groc, Juno, QueenNothing, WizardOfOdd

Vermilion City Harbor, about 5 p.m., Monday, May 27^th

With mixed feelings, Hana's group of trainers walk directly into a space that is just as large as it looked from the outside. There are rows upon rows of multi-level shelves, their ends facing the direction of the entrance, but the shelves all seem to be empty. From the other end of the big hall though, noises are heard.

"Be quiet, and follow us," Hana says with a nod to her gym worker before anyone can make a different suggestion. Casey sighs, both about having to cut the conversation and about being dragged further into something he shouldn't be a part of, and takes Pepper's claws in his hand.

With urgency, Hana leads some of the trainers as silently as possible down the path down the length of a row, Bridget directing the other half of the group with one row between them. When they draw closer to the source of the noise at the end of the shelves, their eyes can't help but widen.

For lack of a better description, they see a box, several meters wide and tall. But its walls are not of metal, wood or concrete: instead they buzz with static and constant jolts of lightning, making them semi-transparent at best.

"What…" Bridget murmurs and walks out from the shelves without thinking.

Behind the forcefields, there is rhythmic movement and some sort of whining sound, but it is difficult to make out exactly what it is. Then, a voice to the right of them all makes the trainers jump.

"Still holding up despite the attacks, that's… Oh."

At a makeshift desk in the middle of the floor, a greying man looks up from the computer screen he had basically been hidden behind, and turns towards the unwelcome guests. "We got busted, it seems."

A tall, dark woman now almost casually walks up from behind the forcefield cage, along the thick wires on the floor, towards the desk. She doesn't look worried, but seems to understand her companion's meaning immediately, as she reaches for a Pokéball. Hana gestures for the young trainers behind her to get back, as she reaches for one of her own.

But the new woman simply sighs, before letting out a Beheeyem. Without even looking at it, she grabs her Pokémon's hand and gestures for the man to do the same.

"Just teleport us out and bail. If these guys broke past the guards, then we're no match."

"Wait!" Bridget calls out, but to no avail.

In the blink of an eye, the Cerebral Pokémon and the two humans just disappear, and are not heard of again.

"Jeez, as if the Detective Greedent similarities weren't enough they even have a Beheeyem!" Gwen sneers.

Casey exhales sharply, now that he's relieved of the duty to shut up. "Do you really think they're copying the plot of your show?"

"It's actually a really smart show, don't knock it 'till you try it," Jordan answers defensively. "Maybe there are some fans-"

"Fans!? Of that dumpster truck of a show? Oh Please…" Richard rolls his eyes without even trying to hide his contempt at all.

"Right," Hana says firmly, before a fandom war can break out in the middle of a dangerous mission. She walks promptly up to the computer left behind. "Whatever this contraption is, it's bound to be what's causing the storm right now, and the cold before. Hence, it's definitely in our interest to destroy it. Oh."

"How do you break-" Bridget questions as she walks up to the gym leader to look at the screen, but stops when Hana points at a simple button. "Release?"

Hana pushes it, and the walls of the large, buzzing box crackle instantly and fade away.

A huge whirl of colors and roars catches everybody's attention and rushes past them, up towards the roof, swirling there for a brief second. With keen eyes, it is possible to make out something like wings… or fangs and claws? Blue, red, orange, and shining powers, a ray or two shooting off thankfully missing the humans but toppling over a few of the faraway shelves at the impacts. Then, as fast as it got up there, the energetic mass changes direction and shoots off towards the entrance from where the trainers came, out and out of sight.

"...Anyone catch what that was?" Casey asks momentarily.

"Uhm… it looked like a bunch of different Pokémon all amassed together or something." Arianne replies, still seemingly lost in thought as she stared at the ceiling.

Hana lets out a breath she had been holding, trying to gather her thoughts as she looks back towards where the forcefield had been. There are thin metal bars outlining where the edges of the cage has been, and the floor in the middle is not yet empty.

A Kommo-o, a Haxorus, a Sliggoo and a Trapinch are huddling together and now either eye the trainers with frightened glares or start crying (in Trapinch's case). From behind the bigger dragons, a Dratini suddenly slithers out and embraces the Trapinch assuringly, and then the Sliggoo also puts a caring paw on the ground type's head. At their feet lie several black Pokéballs, unlike anything sold in stores, but strangely familiar to some of the worried teens.

"Black Pokeballs?" Gwen cocks an eyebrow. "What the hell?"

"Like Cerulean," Casey breathes. He fumbles for Jordan's hand, who nods fervently. "Like Cerulean, remember, when they tried to kill us, that's how they got Leader Hoshi's Dragons- the masked people that y'all saw- is this their warehouse? Are they here? If they're here we have to go, we have to leave-"

"Yeah, yeah-! Wait, no, we should bring them back, right-" Jordan looks between the Pokemon with concern.

"We found the masked people before and yet, this place was guarded by totally different people…" Arianne questions, turning towards Casey. "But even then, you're right, we have to leave before those guys wake up anyways… right?"

"Yeah, we gotta bail quick." Richard looks back towards the entrance with shifty eyes.

"I'm not just leaving them here," Hana says, walking carefully up to the dragons. "Hey… Are you from Cerulean? Are you Hoshi's dragons?"

The Haxorus raises its blades threateningly, but Trapinch stops crying and Dratini and Sliggoo seem to light up and look at Hana.

Vera had stepped closer to get a better look, but quickly steps back when Haxorus displays its blades, bumping into Casey and Jordan. "I recognize that tattoo, those are Hoshi's, alright! Can we go now? I don't want to be here anymore."

"As I said before, way too much of a coincidence with those masked people of yours being here, and now this," Hana says, shaking her head. "Maybe that was some of them flying out when the forcefields went down, earlier. If so, I hope they know where to go outside..."

She turns to Casey and Arianne. "You should go, yes. We all should, before our efforts outside wear off. Me and Bridget will try to bring these dragons back to the gym with us, and contact authorities." A crooked smile forms on her lips as she says that, and gestures to the computer. "I'm still not sure how they changed the weather so much, but the police have got to listen with all the evidence of the dragon-napping here. Tomorrow Foundation will be busted for this!"

"On it!" Bridget echoes her words, quickly snapping some pictures of the computer and the information it displays, before moving onto the rest of the structure and picking up some of those black Pokéballs as well.

"Great, and you…" she looks at the dragons again, but is cut off when the Haxorus suddenly lunges towards her. "Hey wait, we're not the bad guys! I'll take you back to Hoshi, but we have to get out of here now. All of us. Pack yourselves up, and let's go!" She urges the Pokémon onwards, and they thankfully seem to trust her enough to oblige at last (although Haxorus throws more than one skeptical glance).

Gwen shifts her glance between the Haxorus and her classmates before releasing a deep exhale, and follows Hana's instructions. "I'll get another chance someday…"

And with that, it's a matter of a hushed and coordinated scramble, routing the found Dragons along the backs of warehouses and sneaking out easily through the unguarded front gate, with Hana and Bridget making a beeline for the gym and allowing the teenagers to disperse into the city.

Eleanor · Jul 29, 2021

Chapter 9: Route 6
Starting date: May 27th, Monday

Spoiler:

How would Professor Palm make you eager to explore Route 6? It's just a short, mostly straight road going from Vermilion to Saffron, with a few houses and a river on one side, and many industrial buildings on the other. A lot of traffic (mostly freight trucks) and the Train Shuttle complete the landscape.

Luckily for him, though, he's found a solution. Just outside Vermilion, a narrow bridge over the river will lead you into the Saffron Wetlands, an area with marshy, relatively unstable terrain that stretches between Vermilion, Saffron and Celadon. Here, houses and farms are way more spread out across a quaint countryside with trees, hedges, paddy rice fields, and a lot of small canals and gutters that many Pokémon have claimed as their home.

Technically, following the winding dirt paths west could lead you directly to Celadon in a few days, but Palm knows that skipping Saffron and camping somewhere along Route 6 is just too much to ask when you could easily get there in half a day, even while taking into account some pauses. And so, follow the signs and the looming high-rise buildings in the distance... and you'll get right into the Capital of Kanto!

WHAT TO FIND HERE

- Many people working in the fields or enjoying some time outside: the close proximity to both Vermilion and Saffron makes this a fairly popular area for bike trips and strolls, for people of every age.

- A coastline that's actually quite difficult to determine, with cane thickets, reeds, bushes, trees, and many Pokémon taking shelter there.

- A few farms, stables and homes dotted around the landscape, making for a striking contrast with the Saffron high-rise buildings already visible in the distance.

EVENTS / PROMPTS

BENEATH THE RICE: May 28th / OPTIONAL
- If you wander deep into the south-western part of the route, you'll be able to find a group of local history enthusiasts looking for some ancient items submerged in the nearby rice fields. After all, it's said that centuries ago, Saffron itself was a large harbor city! Maybe your Pokémon can help them out?

- Reward? Well, first of all, these people will be happy to teach your Pokémon some moves if you help them out! They can teach Dig, Dive, Flash, Tail Slap or Covet.
The limit is of one move per each player! If your Pokémon is forgetting an older move in order to learn one of these, please state so in the OOC thread.

If you go on with your search and actually find something interesting, you will be able to keep one between these items...

Chipped Pot
Cracked Pot
King's Rock
DeepSeaTooth
DeepSeaScale
Dragon Scale

These items will be useful for certain evolutions or for other quests later on.

POKÉMON FOR CAPTURE
Click on the Pokémon to see movesets. You may choose to encounter the previous stage of an evolved wild pokémon if you wish, and then have it evolve at your leisure.
All Pokémon are approximately level 20-22. Pokémon with a red border are rare and tougher to catch!

: Drowzee
Insomnia, Forewarn, Inner Focus
Hypnosis, Pound, Confusion, Headbutt, Poison Gas, Meditate
: Jigglypuff
Cute Charm, Competitive, Friend Guard
Rest, Round, Stockpile, Spit Up, Swallow, Rollout
: Yamper
Ball Fetch, Rattled
Tackle, Tail Whip, Nuzzle, Bite, Roar, Spark
: Pidgeotto
Keen Eye, Tangled Feet, Big Pecks
Tackle, Gust, Sand Attack, Quick Attack, Twister, Whirlwind
: Taillow
Guts, Scrappy
Peck, Focus Energy, Quick Attack, Wing Attack, Double Team, Aerial Ace
: Skiploom
Chlorophyll, Leaf Guard, Infiltrator
Tackle, Fairy Wind, Poison Powder, Stun Spore, Sleep Powder, Bullet Seed
: Eldegoss
Cotton Down, Regenerator, Effect Spore
Sing, Cotton Spore, Razor Leaf, Sweet Scent, Round, Rapid Spin
: Bellsprout
Chlorophyll, Gluttony
Vine Whip, Growth, Wrap, Stun Spore, Poison Powder, Sleep Powder
: Burmy
Shed Skin, Overcoat
Protect, Tackle, Bug Bite, Hidden Power
: Shelmet
Hydration, Shell Armor, Overcoat
Protect, Acid, Curse, Mega Drain, Struggle Bug, Yawn
: Venipede
Poison Point, Swarm, Speed Boost
Defense Curl, Rollout, Protect, Poison Tail, Screech, Bug Bite
: Shellos - East form
Sticky Hold, Storm Drain, Sand Force
Hidden Power, Mud Bomb, Harden, Recover, Ancient Power, Water Pulse
: Barboach
Oblivious, Anticipation, Hydration
Mud Slap, Water Gun, Rest, Snore, Water Pulse, Amnesia
: Tympole
Swift Swim, Water Absorb, Hydration
Growl, Acid, Supersonic, Mud Shot, Round, Bubble Beam
: Marill
Thick Fat, Huge Power, Sap Sipper
Helping Hand, Rollout, Charm, Slam, Bounce, Aqua Tail
: Buizel
Swift Swim, Water Veil
Growl, Water Sport, Quick Attack, Water Gun, Pursuit, Swift
: Carnivine
Levitate

Bind, Growth, Bite, Vine Whip, Sweet Scent, Ingrain

Rare Pokémon! You will need at least 2 Pokémon at level 24 or higher to attempt a catch.
: Yanma
Speed Boost, Coumpound Eyes, Frisk
Tackle, Foresight, Quick Attack, Double Team, Sonic Boom, Detect

Rare Pokémon! You will need at least 2 Pokémon at level 24 or higher to attempt a catch.
: Lickitung
Own Tempo, Oblivious, Cloud Nine
Lick, Defense Curl, Rollout, Supersonic, Wrap, Knock Off

Rare Pokémon! You will need at least 2 Pokémon at level 24 or higher to attempt a catch.

Aquacorde · Aug 6, 2021

Casey Holt, Jordan Springs, Vera Hill

Monday, May 27, 2019 // Evening, Day 8
Vermillion City

8-13. we'll conquer anything

Spoiler: love - american authors

The unusual cold was most certainly a product of whatever had been happening in that warehouse, as the temperature rises dramatically even while the shadows ahead of them stretch further away. It's a welcome relief- at least, until clouds open up with a rumble and the trio hurry into the nearest open restaurant.

"Guess we're havin' sushi," Casey laughs, scrubbing hands vigorously through his wet hair despite his companions' complaints about the spray.

Someone clears their throat, and Casey makes eye contact with the restaurant's unamused host. "Apologies, but we do not have the facilities to host Pokémon in this establishment."

"Oh. Uh, yeah, okay, that's fine. Right, guys?" Pepper flops dramatically to the floor in a highly accurate portrayal of a toddler going limp so his caretaker can't move him. But Casey has a PokéBall, and Pepper grumbles about being foiled as he turns to light. Jordan nods and returns Tangles to her PokéBall with no complaint. Sage and Tiny require a bit more work to contain, the latter of his Pokemon bumping into a ceiling light during her attempted escape, earning the trio some dirty looks before all their Pokemon were eventually put away.

Finally allowed to be seated, the three spend a moment in quiet contemplation of the menu and order without much fuss.

"I'm starving!" Casey sighs, as the waiter bustles away. "Shoulda brought a snack to the warehouse or somethin'."

"I think I woulda been too nervous to eat," Jordan twiddles a chopstick between his fingers. "That was… something, though, huh?"

"That was weird." Vera states flatly, staring into her water. "Nothing about that felt right, and it's not what I signed up for."

"We signed up to battle her, not to work for her. She's got a whole gym full of properly licensed trainers! We're kids! Well, we are." Casey gestures to himself and Jordan. "But still, not even licensed! And we coulda been havin' a near-death experience again, like the other three. We can't do that again! Jordan almost got eaten last time!"

Vera touches the back of her head, feeling it for a second before playing it off as merely fixing her hair. "I thought we were going to make things better now that we found each other again. What do you say, this afternoon doesn't count? We start fresh starting now? With sushi?"

"Yes, please." Jordan agrees. "I mean, it feels good to have done a good thing, right? And yeah, we probably weren't the most qualified to handle all that, but... we did it. And I'm sure Professor Palm will hear about it, too. But yes, forget about all that now - sushi."

He gestures to the server as they return with their food, and the three exhausted and hungry teens eagerly dig in.

"The Pokemon deserve a treat after today, too, when we get back," Jordan mumbles between chewing. "Oh- right, Vera, are you headed back to the Pokemon Center too, or…?"

"I should." The thought seems to depress her. "They were all full when I went yesterday, unless I wanted to share a room. No offense, guys, but I don't think we'd all fit in one room."

"Yeah, they were full this morning when I got here, too. Just threw my stuff in Jordan's room." Another thought enters Casey's mind at the same time as a sushi roll enters his mouth, forcing Vera to interpret his muffled noises as "Wait, you had more stuff, too. Where'd you leave it? The gym?"

Vera stares at Casey in disgust as she tries to decipher his words. "No… Back on Route 11 I got a voucher or something from some Fan Club weirdos. Turns out it was for a free room for a day at their hotel. My stuff is still in that room. I still need to go back for it…"

"Oh, is that what this's for?" Casey's wallet is filled with all kinds of cards, a few of which fall out onto the table as he procures a voucher very much like the one Vera had been given. "Lady didn't say when she gave it to me. Not very useful if I don't know what to do with it, huh?"

"Let me see that… Yeah, this is the kind they gave me. Has that gold star on it. Weird, the guy that gave me mine didn't explain it either. I didn't find out what it was for until I got to Vermillion." She offers the card back to Casey. "They said one of these will get you your own room for 24 hours."

"Only one day? 'S inconvenient. You better take it with you, then." Casey primly takes a shaving of pickled ginger before switching to his other roll.

"Are you sure?" Vera pulls the card away, keeping it close to her chest. "That's nice of you, Casey. Maybe they'll let me have the same room!"

"Either way, least you don't have to go all the way back there, clear stuff out, then beg for a room at the Pokémon Center. They still haven't called me at all and I been on the waitlist since… what, 8?"

"Yeah, that's really nice of you, Casey." Jordan glances sideways at him with a dawning suspicion in his eyes. "Especially since it does seem like there's a good chance they won't be calling you today. So… what are you gonna do if you can't get a room there?"

"Sleep on your floor, obviously." Jordan sighs, but does not look surprised. "Hey, I have a good sleeping pad. I'd go up and camp on Route 6, but I prefer a shower. An' I still gotta get back to the gym tomorrow anyhow."

"Yeah, okay, fine." Jordan waves a hand dismissively. "And yeah, me too. Do you think Hana will treat us any different after what we did today?"

"Better give us some glowing reviews no matter what the battle's like!" Casey laughs, but there's a humorless edge to it.

Jordan nods, nibbling on the nori on his roll. "Hope so, too." He turns to Vera. "How was it? How's she in battle, I mean."

"She's tough." Vera tucks the voucher into her jacket pocket. "You have to register which three Pokémon you're using before you go in, and she picks her team based on your choices. Plus, she hides them under the water, so she automatically has home field advantage. Hmph… no wonder she beat me…"

"You lost, huh?" Casey nods to himself, hovering his chopsticks uncertainly above his choices of rolls. "In the water- that's different. An' none of ours can really swim. Wait, yours either- how'd you even battle?"

"It was a close match!" Vera protests, ashamed to have admitted defeat. "You should have seen it. I had Ebo… uh, I mean…" She remembers who she's talking to, taking a moment to consider her words. Casey tilts his head curiously.

"Some of my team can fly. So I had them fly over the water and found a way to negate Hana's ranged options. So her Pokémon had to leave the water to attack, evening the playing field a little." She frowns as she remembers the last round. "Be careful of her Kingler, though. That giant claw isn't just for show. That thing's a monster in melee."

"An' I'm basically down a Pokémon, too," Casey muses, splashing his chopsticks in his dish of soy sauce. "Don't 'spose she'll go two-on-two…"

"Well, she also gives the option to put little floaty pads on the water, but I don't trust that." Vera puts a roll of her own into the soy sauce, stirring a chopstick around it to demonstrate her point. "Seems like an opportunity to get outflanked easily. Just stick to the shore, where they can only come from one direction. Or find a way to make the water problematic for her. Hey, didn't I see Ginger freezing the water earlier? Maybe do that, or use electricity."

"She's not good enough with Triple Axel to do somethin' like that yet- hey!" Casey yelps, glancing around wildly. The staff aren't nearby, so he thumps his chest gently. "Don't freeze me, you're not even s'posed to be out!" he hisses. "And it's true. That ice won't be able to hinder them, 'specially in that warm pool. She was havin' trouble even skating down Route 11. Electricity might be somethin', but I'm almost wishin' I had Jordan's plant collection for this!"

Jordan looks like he's deep in thought, but snaps out of it at the mention of his name. "Oh. Oh, yeah. I was thinking I'd have an easier time here with my Grass-types, but that's a good point, they don't really know how to swim..." He taps his chin with his chopsticks. "Tiny and Hop should be able to navigate it fine, at least."

"Yeah, I guess you fall apart at a third, too. Tangles'll prob'ly sink if she falls in, Spirit's no good for it… I guess you're down to Sage? Oh, shit, and what if she has ice? Did she use ice against you, Vera? Jordan, you're gonna have to be clever if she does!"

"Um… oh! She had a Croconaw! It knew Ice Fang." Vera mimes a crocodile's jaw with her chopsticks. "Chomp, chomp."

Casey laughs, miming the same at Jordan. "Don't let it chomp you!"

Jordan playfully bats his chopsticks away with the ends of his own, but he's grinning. "Ice Fang, huh… that's good to know." He turns his chopsticks at Vera's, opening and closing them at hers. "You'll come cheer us on, right?"

"Of course I will. I wanna see you take Hana down." She feels a little silly playing with her utensils, but there's a smile to go with her slight blush. "Yay, go Jordan, go Casey! You're so cool!" She opens her chopsticks like a mouth as she quietly cheers, accidentally dropping them in the process. "Uh.. something like that…"

"I'll get you some poms, do the whole cheerleader thing!" Casey's not entirely joking. Cheerleading is fun! If he sees some poms he might have to buy them. Though Vera dropping her chopsticks doesn't speak to much coordination. "Throw the gym leader off, if nothin' else. I don't remember any full routines to teach you. Gonna have to make it up as you go!"

"Me, a cheerleader?" Vera shakes her head at the image. "Probably not."

"Why not? Put your hair up with some cute scrunchies an' do a high kick, shake some poms… it'd be cute!"

"Cute? I, I don't know..." She subconsciously runs a hand through her hair, putting an entire sushi roll in her mouth rather than keep talking, but there's no hiding that her whole face is red now.

"Back me up on this, Jordan." Casey leans back in his chair and pops one roll into his mouth and slides another unsauced one into his jacket for Ginger.

Jordan coughs, choking on his tea a little bit as Casey puts him on the spot. "Yeah, Vera. You're cute- it'd be cute." He quickly corrects himself. His face is reddening also, but he pretends it's from the coughing fit and hides it behind his cup. Casey's grin is undeniably mischievous.

"Two votes for cute! I'll buy you some poms and scrunchies if I see 'em."

Vera fans her still-red face, tears at the corners of her eyes. That last roll was spicier than she'd thought it would be. "You guys are terrible." She says with a chuckle. "Fine, I'll be your cheerleader. Just don't expect too much."

"I expect the complete and utter adoration I deserve," Casey says grandly, though he falters, laughing, at the end of the clearly absurd statement. "And high kicks! They're important."

"And some of these moves," Jordan gestures wildly with his arms, and a waiter approaches him. "Oh, no, I wasn't- sorry." He shrinks down with embarrassment as the man leaves with a small bow, the plastered smile on face twitching slightly.

"Yeah! Some of those!" Casey watches the waiter out of the corner of his eye and sneaks another sushi roll into his jacket. "Cheerleading's mostly enthusiasm, you'll do great!"

Vera looks between the two, certain she'll never remember all of those silly moves. But Casey was right about one thing. "Of course I'll do great. I am great. And with me cheering you on, you'll both do great, too!"

QueenNothing · Aug 12, 2021

Gwen Alanis ft. Arianne Chandler

Monday, May 27
Evening
Vermilion City

The Pokémon Center is, predictably, Arianne and Gwen's next stop, after what went down at the warehouse. The two girls walked there together, without really paying attention to any other trainer that they happened to be with, and are now in the lobby, once again dealing with the large crowd of trainers waiting in line to heal their Pokémon, book a room, or simply get something to eat or drink.

Only when they finally hand in the Pokémon that were hurt to the nurse, they can finally take a long breath and try to collect themselves. "That's settled too, finally… oh, and you know, the pain from the explosion is already fading and even the cold is gone! Thanks for sticking with me through all that, Gwen!"

"No problem!" Gwen smirks, giving a thumbs up. "But also… god damn, I haven't had anything to drink in awhile! I'm gonna get me a soda!" She exclaims, reaching into her pockets for her wallet. Unfortunately but not uncharacteristically of her, it takes her a solid minute for her to find what she's looking for, and what she eventually does end up finding definitely isn't her wallet- instead it's a strip of paper she vaguely recognizes.

"What the hell is this?" Gwen cocks up a brow. "Pokemon Fanclub Gold Star Voucher… oh right, I remember! I think some grandma gave it to me on Route 11 or something… but what does it vouch for?"

"Oh, I have one as well! Also from route 11." Arianne looks over Gwen's shoulder, somewhat surprised.

"Do you know what it's supposed to be for?"

"Uh… good question. I don't, or maybe I just forgot!" The Cinnabar girl smiles nervously.

"Jeez, do people just hand these things out like candy without explaining what they even do!?" Gwen groans.

"To be fair, in my case, I got it during a pretty hectic situation! I had some trouble with Espurr and all…" Arianne chuckles, a hand running through her hair.

"Well… what's stopping us from just going there ourselves and asking them what these things do?"

"True! But unless you wait, you'll have to give up your soda…" Arianne points at the queue still growing behind the vending machines. "I bet they have some over there anyways!"

After a quick trip over to the Fanclub, the two find out the Gold Star Vouchers allow them access to a room at the Fanclub for a night. It's really bizarre to Gwen why the people who hand these vouchers out don't say what their use is, but she can't exactly complain if she doesn't have to deal with the crowd at the Pokemon Center, although it would have saved her a lot of trouble last night… oh well. But almost as if to make up for that, they're also provided a fancy dinner! Admittedly it's all too fancy for Gwen to even recognize what's on her plate, but she's too hungry to question it and gleefully hounds it all down.

After her meal, she's directed to her awfully luxurious room that has a bathroom that's just as luxurious. It looks nice and all, the only real issue is that the bathroom just has, well, a bath- no option to shower in sight. This poses an issue to Gwen, because whenever she washes off she wants to get in and out as quickly as she can, and taking a bath just isn't as fast. But given it's her only choice, she takes what she can get and does her best to wash off as swiftly as possible- although given how surprisingly relaxing it turns out to be, it doesn't go exactly as planned.

When she's done with that, it starts to hit her how tired she is. It's pretty late too, so the best course of action would be to go to sleep. As part of her nightly routine, she releases all of her Pokemon besides King and watches them crawl onto her bed while Bead floats on standy and Scar just lays on the ground. It's nice she gets to have Scar out now that Arianne has her own room.

...although speaking of that, it's kind of weird to think she actually has her own room for the night. In reality it's not abnormal since that's been every night for Gwen since… well, since forever, really. But it was nice to have some company last night, and it's something she feels she could always use. Oh well. It shouldn't be a major problem, right?

Eyes wide open, Gwen lays in her bed, surrounded by her sleeping Pokemon while she stares at the ceiling of the dark room. It's weird- she never has a hard time falling asleep, and after such an eventful day, there's no reason she should be awake right now. But no matter how many times she tells herself that, her mind is still too active to sleep.

Damn, being alone fucking sucks. How did I do this for so long?

Thoughts such as these litter her brain, practically forcing her awake. It's kind of unbelievable how much she's socialized these past few days, and getting used to it has made her old habits unbearable. She never had any siblings close to her age to share a room with, and she didn't even have a roommate at Cape (as far as she remembers anyways). Why is it that she's only now bothered by it? Or maybe… maybe it's always bothered her and she just never noticed it until now. Whatever it is, she can't keep ignoring it. She has an idea of what to do, although it is risky…

Well, she never was the type to play it safe.

Having had enough of it, she shakily walks down the hall with all her Pokemon (except Scar) following before standing in-front of Arianne's door. Alright Gwen, here goes nothing!! Her unsteady breathing is slightly alleviated when she swallows, before she closes her eyes and knocks on the door.

It takes a bit for Arianne to walk up to her room's door and open it up, only to look at the culprit with a flabbergasted expression. "G-Gwen? You good, can I help?" She speaks up, wearing a wrinkled t-shirt with the wrong side up front. She chuckles awkwardly as she looks down and appears to notice that detail herself.

"Uh, s-sorry if I'm bothering you, I just thought that, uh, well, it's just that I was having a hard time falling asleep, so like, I was wondering if I c-could… m-maybe sleep in your room? I-I brought my sleeping bag though, so don't worry about that!" Gwen fidgets about, rapidly shooting her pupils everywhere besides towards Arianne while tapping her index fingers together.

The Cinnabar girl still looks somewhat surprised, but smiles slightly. "Oh… are you sure? Are you really willing to give up your bed? I mean… hmm… we could set up a PokéGear call as we sleep, so we still have each other's company? If you want."

From behind Arianne, Lulu bounces towards the door as well, leaving a trail of luminous spores behind. While not terribly bright, it's still enough to bother Tusk who was dragged into this by his trainer. Thank god he's tired because if he wasn't he'd for sure try to start a fight. "I mean, I don't really need to sleep in a bed. I can sleep anywhere, I could sleep on a Sandslash's back if I had to! Well uh, if I'm asking you this I guess that's not one-hundred percent true, but still! I just… need some company from other people, that's all..."

"Well… ok, first of all, come on in!" Arianne nods. "And we can figure it out without bothering the others!" She takes a look at all of Gwen's teammates who follow their trainer one-by-one. Rather than her entire team though, only Tusk, Pix, and Talon are present in this line- Bead just floats by Gwen's shoulder, as he usually is.

"Thanks... " Gwen tries hiding how red her face is by creating a distraction with her sleeping bag she tosses onto the floor. The Pokemon of hers that can sleep all pass out the second they have an opportunity to, but their trainer isn't at this point. While she's here she tries thinking up a topic they can converse about, and through enough fumbling: "So uh, I gotta say I think it's really cool how you've trained Lulu to grow her roots out like that!"

"Oh, thanks… it's been useful many times and she's definitely great at it!" Arianne chuckles as she sits back down on her bed. In the meantime, Morelull takes on the job of lighting up the room herself, and gives out her usual pink ambient light.

"That must take a lot of skill! I've seen those kinds of techniques in tournaments Jenny battles in, and... oh yeah, Jenny…" She pauses when her sister's name comes up. It's only now hitting her that she's the next city over- and Gwen still hasn't heard back from Jenny.

"Hm… as you might've seen, I haven't mastered that technique though. It's like the more I try to think about what my Pokémon can do, the more difficult it gets…" Arianne sighs, looking at the ceiling. "Oh by the way… you still sure you wanna sleep here? I'm just… trying to help…"

"Oh, I uh, n-no I like being here! Uh, no I mean, I don't mean it like that just…" Gwen interrupts herself with an exhale before burying her face in her knees. "I dunno. I've just been getting a lot of weird feelings lately, and one of those weird feelings makes me…" Not wanting to sound completely incoherent she slows down to carefully select her words. "...makes me feel all lonely and stuff. And that's weird and I don't get it!"

Arianne scratches her chin for a bit. "I think I get it too… to me it's more like how some people eventually stand out from all the rest, and you really feel better and more at ease when you have them around…" The girl muses as she eyes her PokéGear, which is now sitting on the bedside table.

"Yeah… that's definitely it." Gwen's heartbeat kicks up tenfold, her face going red. "It's... just super weird because I never got this way before until I started talking to people. Up until now I didn't think I needed friends- I thought Jenny and my Pokemon were all I ever needed. But then I came across some people- you, Casey, Richard, Courtney, Sarah, and there even seemed like there were some other trainers who went to Cape who seemed cool! I even think I heard someone say they liked Detective Greedent Reloaded and now I'm thinking about how I want to get to know him! This didn't happen before!"

Arianne lets out a laugh. "Aw, that's nice though! They say that who finds a friend, finds a treasure, and… I can confirm! It just makes everything better." She looks up towards the ceiling again, keeping a smile on her face, before briefly getting up to take off her daytime shirt. Gwen starts trembling at the sight but seeing she's wearing another shirt puts her at ease.

"I guess you're right. And y'know actually... funny thing, during winter break I promised Jenny that I would make friends before we started our graduation journey. To be honest, I didn't think I'd actually do it, but here I am." She chuckles awkwardly. "Speaking of which though, she lives in Saffron, which is pretty close, so do you, uh… c-can I introduce you to Jenny when we get there?"

"Well… alright!" Arianne smiles as she eventually lays down on her bed. "You have been talking about her a couple times, so I'm sure it will be interesting!" As she speaks, Lulu jumps on top of the bed as well and perches herself on one of the corners, her light still up but gradually becoming dimmer as she tries to fall asleep.

"I mean, how can I not? She's the best! She's won sooo many tournaments in Saffron- there was this one Gyrados that looked really scary, but Jenny's Krookodile took it out in one hit with a Rock Slide! She has a Blastoise too, and he does all these spinning maneuvers and he can get around the battlefield really fast that way! And then there's her Volcarona- the fact she even has one to begin with should say enough about her skill as a trainer!"

"I heard… Blastoise?" Arianne giggles. "This makes everything more interesting… and even then, sounds like your sister really deserves all the praise! You're lucky to have her…"

"I'll say! She's helped me out with a lot with other stuff too! It's because of her that I actually went to Cape in the first place! I used to live in Unova, but my parents were giving me a lot of shit because-" Gwen bites her tongue. Fuck, I almost let that slip. Gotta be more careful… "Uh, she was able to take custody of me so I could live with her in Kanto, and I couldn't be happier! And yeah, she has a Blastoise. His name is Shellshocker!"

"Aw, that's a sweet story, I'm sorry for your… parents though?" Arianne stops, seemingly looking for confirmation. "I'm glad it worked out though! And… as for Blastoise, I'm sure Eric will be happy to meet him too!"

"The thing with my parents is… a long story. Anyways, I'm sure Eric will appreciate Shellshocker's awesomeness! And… y'know, while we're at it we can invite other people over as well! She wanted me to make friends and introduce them to her, so might as well."

"Yeah, sounds like a good idea! We got you!" The Cinnabar girl speaks up again, before letting out a short yawn. "You know, though… you're making me think about my own friends and how they may be doing right now. It's true that I can call them anytime and they'll usually be there, but it's not the same thing as being there, together, in Cinnabar… and I guess it's the same for Jenny and you, right?"

Considering the fact that her sister hasn't actually gotten back to her in months, Gwen isn't entirely sure how to respond to Arianne without acknowledging that. She'll try changing the subject. "Yeah, I guess you can say that. But anyways, we can invite Casey, Richard, maybe Courtney and Sarah, and maybe even some other people! We can watch a movie and order a pizza and play video games and see Jenny's super powerful Pokemon in person, it makes me so excited I can't even sleep!" She cries with excitement before letting out a loud yawn.

Arianne remains quiet for a bit and yawns again herself. "I guess we can, sure…" She adds, but doesn't sound as enthusiastic as the other girl. "Yeah, it will be alright. It will be worth it for sure…"

Gwen doesn't respond- it seems that she fell into a deep sleep while Arianne was talking, ironically enough. Very characteristically of her, she lays on-top of her sleeping bag rather than inside it, her extended limbs and long hair taking up a lot of space on the floor while she snores loudly. Indeed, all it took for her to rest easily was some company.

CCS and art by Aquacorde

Aquacorde · Aug 23, 2021

Casey Holt, Jordan Springs, Vera Hill

Tuesday, May 28, 2019 // Morning, Day 9
Vermillion City

8-14. let's see how far we've come

Spoiler: how far we've come - matchbox twenty

Casey wakes early as usual, on the floor of Jordan's Pokémon Center room with Parsley curled against one of his sides and Pepper against the other. No wonder he's sweating buckets in this tiny room! Ginger has the right idea, he finds, splayed out on the cool bathroom tile and only swatting at him once as he brushes his teeth and pulls on workout clothes.

Parsley comes along for a short jog. Casey's been more used to using his muscles in very specific, repetitive ways over the last two years- a lack of regular sports and an abundance of self-directed gym use will do that to a person. But now that he's been dancing, swimming, climbing, and carrying his whole life on his back for over a week- it's a different type of work, and he feels different because of it.

It's great fun, having these new experiences.

When Casey and Parsley get back to the room, Jordan is sitting by the window poring over something on his PokeGear, no doubt doing some last-minute preparations for the upcoming gym battle. He barely glances up as Casey returns. "Morning. How was the floor?"

"Prob'ly cooler than the bed, honestly! It's gettin' hot again, but I think they turned the heat on yesterday and forgot to turn it off. I woke up so sweaty." Casey peers into the bathroom to find Pepper sharing a granola bar with Ginger. "What're you doing? Did y'all get breakfast yet?" he asks the room at large, despite there being only one being that can verbally answer him.

"Not yet, figured you were coming back so we could go together," Jordan responds, hopping off the bed as he puts his device away. "Think Vera's up yet?"

"She sleeps later than us, right? Shoot her a text, she'll see it when she wakes up. I need a shower- oh, no, I gotta do laundry, everything I own is gross…" Casey fishes out the relatively clean items of clothing, which ends up being… only his swim trunks. "How necessary is it to wear a shirt around here?"

Jordan shoots him a disapproving look, but it quickly morphs into a devilish grin. "I know what you can wear." He dives into his pack and rummages around, before pulling out a familiar-looking brown shirt and throwing it at Casey.

Casey knows exactly what this is as soon as he touches the weirdly sticky screen printed slogan. "Amateur Archaeologist," he reads again, for the first time since he found it in Rock Village, and dissolves into giggles even before he turns it around. "Let's Get Dirty! Aw, Jordan, did you never wear it?"

"Please. Well, almost, when Ralph walked in on me changing." He dismisses Casey's immediate "what?" with: "But that's a story for another time. All yours if you need something clean to wear, though."

Casey grumbles both at the texture of the shirt and the lack of explanation before relenting and taking it with him to the showers. Once clean, dry, and dressed in what is possibly the worst outfit they could have put together, he collects his things, his Pokémon, and his friend and drags them downstairs to run a load of laundry while they eat.

Jordan's toast is loaded with a bizarre mix of whipped cream, chocolate spread and a large heap of fruits only at Casey's nagging, but he does observe that a good number of the berries go to Hop and Tiny once they sit down at their table. "What? They're sour." Jordan shrugs as he slips another to the Pumpkaboo.

"You can't just take good food, you gotta put it in your body for it to count! What's wrong with eggs and vegetables for breakfast anyway?" Casey gestures at his own plate, covered in exactly that. "'S good for you, gets your energy up, all o' that."

Jordan wrinkles his nose at Casey's plate. "Not really feeling a savoury breakfast today." He shrugs, taking a bite of his toast.

"It ain't about taste, it's about nutrition, I told you that like a billion times. I mean, you can even have… whatever that is, but half of it, and half somethin' like this. That's good for you. C'mon, Jordan, I don't want you to die before we're forty. You can't leave me all alone in this world, with no tether to reality, no voice of reason, no nothin'!" Casey's plea takes a turn for the dramatic quickly, as it tends to. Maybe this is why Jordan never actually listens. "Live for me, Jordan, don't leave me this way!"

Jordan's chewing slows as his friend's theatrics intensify, but he remains otherwise nonchalant. "Okay." He says plainly, after he swallows. "I can do half, at least, because life without chocolate is not a life worth living."

Casey blinks at him, then breaks out into a grin. He hadn't expected Jordan to actually, finally listen this time. "Half is good!"

Even after their breakfast is finished and their laundry is clean, Casey opts not to change into something better. He needs the swim trunks at the gym, after all, and there's no real point in switching shirts. Vera meets them on the way to the gym, and rolls her eyes to the heavens when Casey shows off his atrocious outfit. "How the tables have turned," she quips, clearly remembering when Casey snuck it into Jordan's backpack. Casey immediately decides to feign offense, defending his "clearly avant garde aesthetic", and Vera's properly riled up even before he manages to get the receptionist on his side as well.

It's a lot more fun than what lies ahead.

It's seeming like a trend, that the gym leaders aren't what he wants them to be. At least his irritation with Beaumont was solely for the way he chose to battle, as opposed to Hana's endangerment of himself and his friends. Casey doesn't know what Hana will be like in battle, not really. Vera says she's clever, and powerful, and uses her gym to her advantage. Maybe if he'd done this yesterday, he would have been able to enjoy himself. He likes battling, he likes the whirlwind of action and strategy and relentless pace, he likes this new challenge of terrain.

Maybe if he pretends it's not Hana Palm he's battling, he can have fun.

But also, he very much would like to one-up her in some way, and he knows that thought will help him focus and press forward when he otherwise wouldn't.

Casey takes his place on the wide edge of a long pool, rather irked that Hana keeps the vantage point of her lifeguard's chair on the opposite side. He peers suspiciously into the pool- it's deeper than he is tall, by a significant amount, and tugs nervously at the straps of his borrowed life jacket. Janice pats his shoulder reassuringly before she takes a place upon her own chair, binoculars and a snack in hand.

"Do you want platforms?" she asks. Casey contemplates the pool further, gauging its width. He doesn't see any reason to litter the pool with wobbly platforms that would obscure his vision just to maybe have a slight advantage of reach, so he chooses not to use them. Janice relays this to Hana with a dismissive wave.

"Janice told me you had a good lesson yesterday." Hana smiles down at him, and Casey tries his best to keep his expression neutral, though the tilt of his chin as he stares up at her is defiant, in a way. Hana falters, almost imperceptibly, but pushes on. "That Lapras is a gentle one. Mine isn't."

Said Lapras materializes in the long pool, stretching its long neck happily. They'd worried briefly yesterday about ice, and it turns out Hana has more than just a melee user of the type. Jordan will indeed have to watch out.

But what's rough for Jordan's team isn't the worst thing for Casey's.

Casey pulls a PokéBall from the pocket of his swim trunks and his Charmeleon joins him on the pool deck. Hana cocks her head. "Leading with a fire-type?"

He doesn't really want to talk to her, but that thought is immediately overruled by his default state of chattiness.

"Not knowin' what else you got means that 's far as I know, his best chance is here."

"You shouldn't have brought him at all," Hana decides. Clearly she has opinions on how well Fire-types do in her gym. Casey tilts his chin more haughtily.

"I didn't have a choice. Unlike you."

He could be referring to her Pokémon, and as far as Janice knows, that's exactly what he's saying. But Hana flinches slightly, and Jordan blanches. Vera smirks as she cheers from the sidelines. "Go Pepper! Send that dinosaur back to the Ice Age!"

Pepper happily waves to Vera, but he's as uncertain about the pool as Casey is, and mimes swinging his tanbō quizzically.

"Nah, not a good choice for this. You gotta use your fire." Pepper looks highly skeptical, with an undercurrent of anxiety. "Gotta use the range you have, 'cause I'm not lettin' you in that pool. Okay? And don't worry," Casey says, softer, "nothin' can start on fire in here."

Pepper blows out a nervous breath, flames flickering through his teeth, and pats his cheeks the way Casey knows himself to do.

"Everybody ready?" Janice calls, and Casey and Pepper give her a simultaneous thumbs-up. "Right- begin!"

Lapras ducks under the water immediately, twirling as it shoots down the length of the pool, doubling back at the end, and Casey knows this. He knows it immediately, and frustration jumps into his throat- this is his strategy, to dart back and forth, to strike and drop back, to outmaneuver anyone. What fun it would have been to do this yesterday, go against a reflection of his own style, without knowing what Hana would do to him later! To not have yesterday's fear and anger still hanging over him like a stormcloud...

Casey hasn't even commanded Pepper yet, only watched the Lapras propel itself back and forth. What can he do? Pepper's feet are already sliding as he shuffles on the wet pool deck, and even if it were dry he couldn't match that speed. Casey tugs at the straps of his life jacket anxiously- he needs a plan, any plan- his usual strategy just isn't possible in any form and he doesn't like that at all. Somehow, he'd been blind to the idea that the Lapras would go underwater, even though Vera had said. And how can he possibly hit something underwater with fire?

"Playing the waiting game?" Hana misidentifies his hesitation, but he's sure she would have commanded the same regardless. "Mist."

The Lapras pops up and blows out an icy haze that settles atop the pool. They can still see into it, more or less, and the Lapras dives in the face of Pepper's punching Dragon Breath. Casey watches the water absorb the beam's impact and blows out a disheartened breath.

"We gotta keep it out of the water, but- I don't-"

Pepper blows out a breath, too, wisps of fire and smoke mixed in, and Casey grins suddenly.

"Oh, that's- yeah! Make as much smoke as you can!"

Casey steps away as Pepper tips his head back and thick black smoke funnels upward, pushed further by the heat of Pepper's flames. It falls into the Mist and mingles with the icy droplets, and Casey's grin widens to see his plan work- the particulate in the smoke binds and drags the droplets down, splashing a gentle inky rain into the pool until the Mist is entirely clear. Like the stormcloud bursting overhead as they ran to the sushi restaurant…

Who says he has to let yesterday continue to darken his mood?

"Clever," Hana nods. "But I don't want more junk in my pool. Confuse Ray!"

Lapras surfaces, an eerie ray of light pulsing toward Pepper but Casey's back in it now and the speed they don't have to maneuver is still there in their techniques. Pepper puffs out another Smokescreen and the slow ray gets lost in the cloud. Even better, though, Hana has given him a clue.

"Fill the pool with smoke!"

He sees Hana frown, briefly, and knows he's got it right. Pepper takes as much time as he can to flood the pool with dark particles and barely jumps out of the way of another Confuse Ray. "One more, buddy!" Casey cheers, and Pepper puffs a big breath of smoke into the now-murky waters. The Lapras looks affronted when Hana tells it to dive, and Casey knows he's gotten somewhere. Unfortunately it still follows instructions, and surfaces right in front of Pepper to blast him point-blank with a powerful stream of water, sending him skidding backwards even past Janice's chair. Pepper whines, puffing out hot flames to warm himself, and scampers back to the poolside, where Lapras is yet again underwater.

"More smoke?" Casey asks, and Pepper shrugs. It's the only thing they can do.

A few rays and jets of water find their way to the surface, but each one falls further from their target. Hana is unwilling to give up the pool, her advantage, but Casey is going to make her and she can't do a thing about it if she's not going to bring Lapras back up.

Eventually, Lapras resurfaces at one end of the pool without command, shaking its head and blinking rapidly.

"It can't see, let's go!" Casey shouts, and Pepper runs as fast as he can on all fours across the wet tile, skidding to a halt and blazing hotter than Casey's ever seen to engulf the thrashing Lapras in wild flames.

"Brine, 5 o'clock!" Hana calls, and the jet of water punches through Pepper's fire and forces him back again. The Charmeleon darts forward, looking rough, but his tail flares brightly and the Lapras burns again. This time it falters, desperately ducking into the black water to escape, but slams into the side of the pool halfway down and resurfaces there.

"Dragon Breath!" Casey calls, and Pepper braces as it punches toward the Lapras, barely after the curing splash Hana called Life Dew. Another Brine misses its mark, because Pepper is darting his way back and roars powerful, blazing flames into the Lapras once more. The Lapras steams, Pepper inhales again, but this time the jet of water is right on target, barrelling toward Pepper and punching right through the shifting light.

"Excuse me?!" Hana cries, but Casey dismisses her and tilts his head back to look up at Janice.

"He's done, I won't use him again," he says easily, pocketing Pepper's PokéBall, and Janice shrugs.

"The challenger has retired his Charmeleon! Please choose your second Pokémon."

Hana frowns, but seems appeased enough.

"Now, we can move!" Casey laughs, and pitches a PokéBall high into the air.

Aquacorde · Aug 28, 2021

Casey Holt

Tuesday, May 28, 2019 // Morning, Day 9
Vermillion City

8-15. never been tested

Spoiler: the impression that i get - the mighty mighty bosstones

Ginger materializes in an instant, high above Hana's still-blind Lapras, and drops foot-first into the back of its skull, bouncing off to finish the Double Kick by slamming down into its shell. The Lapras cries out and dives sideways into the pool, but electricity crackles as it does and bubbles pop above the surface as it lets out its breath. A second zap and the Lapras surfaces, Ginger's blunt little claws dug into its shell, and it can't do anything before it is kicked in the neck by those tiny, powerful feet. The Lapras slumps, head splashing into the water, and Ginger hops to the sidelines under Hana's chair.

"Lapras is unable to battle!"

Hana peers down, trying to get a better look at Casey's Pokémon. "Brutal, don't you think?"

Casey shrugs. It's Ginger's attitude that makes it seem so, but- "She's just fast. Counter her better."

Oops.

That was sassy.

Hana narrows her eyes, but Casey stands his ground. "Get her out from under there, it's unfair if I can't see her."

Unfair? What kind of gym leader talks about unfairness? Casey bites his tongue on that, at least, and waves Ginger back to his side of the pool. She obliges with a forward roll and ear-spring that launches her into his chest. "Oof. Thanks for bein' on target, I s'pose."

Hana's second Pokémon materializes in the murky pool, and it's Casey's turn to frown. "It's unfair if I can't see it," he parrots.

Hana might have rolled her eyes. He didn't quite catch it if she did. "It's a Whiscash, if you must know."

"Thanks." Ginger makes a move to drop from his arms, but he holds her back. "Wait, wait. This is better for Parsley." Ginger starts in on an unintelligible rant, which Casey fully ignores as he releases his Skiddo onto the pool deck.

"Switching?" Janice calls down.

"For now! Ginger, chill out- she's got three, you can start the next one- don't make me put you away-"

Hana snaps her fingers while Casey is busy wrangling his Buneary, and her Whiscash launches from the water at the perfect point to drive a Psychic-powered headbutt into Parsley's flank.

"Leech Seed!" Casey yells, and roots twist their way around the base of its tail as the Whiscash dives back into the dark waters. His earlier strategy might get him in trouble now. He's pretty sure Whiscash are swamp Pokémon, which means they can see just fine in nasty water.

Unfortunately, Parsley can't do the same.

It's good for them that the pool complex has big glass skylights overhead, because that lets Growth do its job properly as Parsley canters down the length of the pool. Hana tracks the Skiddo's pace and Whiscash throws a wall of brownish water at him a few times- they hit their mark, but Parsley shakes himself out cheerfully and runs on, energy draining into him from the Whiscash at the bottom of the pool. If Hana doesn't do something soon, it'll probably faint just from that. That would be boring.

So Casey mixes it up.

"Razor Leaf, into the pool!"

It's not going to do anything, of course- the leaves barely submerge before they lose momentum and float to the top. But it's only meant to show Hana that he's got a plan- even though he doesn't- and to coax that Whiscash out of the pool. And it works! Hana calls for Dive, a fast swim underwater culminating in a water-veiled slam against Parsley's shoulder. But that's not her end goal, apparently- when the water washes away, Parsley is thrashing on the pool deck, Whiscash tickling him with its fins. The only thing that stops the assault is the fish's wince as Leech Seed drains it further, and Hana's command for a retreat into the pool.

Parsley shakes himself and rolls to his feet, snorting and stomping. "You good, baby boy?"

The Skiddo trots by and nuzzles into Casey's outstretched hand, which he takes as an affirmative.

"Rest," commands Hana, from her chair, and Casey sighs. They can't even hit it if it's underwater while doing that!

He stares into the pool, still murky from Pepper's smoke and the Whiscash's muddy water, but… he can see a shadow, now?

Pools have filters, his brain helpfully supplies, but it doesn't really matter that they do- just that he can see again.

"Parsley, go 'round that side! Halfway down- grab it!"

Parsley does so, managing to find purchase on the wet ground enough to heave the Whiscash onto the pool deck, and Hana's command of "Snore" has Parsley flinching away at the noise, shaking his head vigorously.

"Vine Whip!"

The Skiddo sets about lashing the fish with his vines as the seed roots wrapped around its tail continue to bolster his energy. Another Snore is powered through, and the Whiscash wakes to Zen Headbutt the Skiddo in front of it and dive away safely.

"Pull it up again!"

This time it's not so easy- Parsley's hooves slide more with the momentum of the Whiscash, but with one vine attached to Hana's chair and one wrapped around the fish he reels it in, forcing it to surface and take a barrage of leaves to the face. Even Dive can't save it, though it almost pulls Parsley in twice- so Hana goes for another Zen Headbutt. Parsley staggers, vines around the lifeguard's chair slipping, and falls into the water with a splash. Casey and Ginger almost join him, the former tripping right up to the edge to see where his baby has gone, but Parsley surfaces momentarily, glowing with stolen energy and paddling back to Casey's side of the pool.

The Whiscash doesn't surface, but also doesn't execute Hana's command.

"Whiscash is unable to battle!"

"Yeah! Good job, baby boy!"

Casey opens his hands for Parsley's vines to wrap around, hauling him back out of the clearing pool. Ginger chitters insistently in his ear.

"I know, I know- Parsley, take a break, 's Ginger's turn again."

"You don't even know what my last Pokémon is," Hana calls across.

"Doesn't matter! She wants to fight an' I promised she could."

He'd do it even if he didn't have the advantage here, he realizes. He'd do it because that's what his Pokémon want to do, because it's good for them, because battles are supposed to be a fun test of skill. It doesn't matter if he wins. He doesn't have to prove anything to Hana- he already knows he doesn't care about her opinion. He's going to do things his way, whether she likes it or not, and if she complains about it to her brother- well. Casey has something to complain about right back.

Right now, though, he's going to let his Pokémon play.

Ginger doesn't flinch from her firm stance on the edge of the pool as a Lanturn materializes, curiously splashing at the clearing-but-still-murky pool water. The first thing it does is raise water to form circling rings around itself, and Casey grimaces. It looks as Life Dew had, clear and sparkling, and it must be a healing thing, too. He doesn't remember the name, or what it does, and he doesn't like not knowing. Usually he'd take cues from his opponent, but Hana hadn't even said the name- the Lanturn just did it, which means it's something it's used to doing.

So it goes, with defensive tactics, and he does have Hana on the defensive.

"You're gonna have to be pretty tight with your aim if you wanna hit it and get back without falling in," Casey tells Ginger. "It's gonna dive more'n Lapras. An' dont use Thunder Punch, it might have the ability that heals from Electric attacks."

Ginger scoffs and darts forward. "Hey-?!"

She's running on the water!

Each time her foot hits the pool, the water freezes at the point of contact, giving her just enough momentum to push off and do it again and again until she reaches the Lanturn and smashes a glowing-white ear into its face just before it blasts her back with a wave of electricity, sending her tumbling back to Casey's side of the pool and slamming into the wall. Her little paws scrabble at the side and drag her out of the water, soaked and angry. The pool crackles again, Ginger's feet barely clearing the surface as it does.

That's dangerous.

"Better jump when I say or you'll be gettin' that through your feet," Casey says, and Ginger's off again, speeding across the surface after the Lanturn below. Electricity lights up the pool and Casey realizes he's not quicker than a current run through water- but it's okay, this time, because Ginger ploughs on through this weaker charge. Static crackles through her fur and falls away as the Lanturn surfaces to see if its ploy has worked and it gets a kick to the forehead and the back of the skull for its trouble.

Limber! What an ability- it's crazy how many times it's come in handy, unlike Parsley's Sap Sipper. But- that's right- Parsley doesn't have Limber, Parsley is susceptible to electrical paralysis, and Parsley is next up. Casey grimaces, though none but him know why- Ginger's doing well, after all, following through with a Dizzy Punch plunged into the water and freezing her own feet to float back up again. Hana's Lanturn tries a Confuse Ray, but Ginger simply twists away, closing her eyes as she surfaces and scrambles back onto the pool deck.

She's going to have to finish this for them- he doesn't know what he'll do if Parsley's body locks up under him in a pool of all places. Casey shudders.

Lanturn wheels about underwater, glowing happily with crystalline restoration. Ginger, on the other hand, looks like a stuffed toy fresh from the washing machine, all sodden and matted fur. Her little chest heaves with effort- she's probably carrying twice her weight in water by now, not to mention the exertion of performing her usual acrobatics in an aquatic setting. Casey's heart sinks.

She won't be able to finish this.

But maybe she can get close enough that Parsley can without issue.

Bounce is thwarted by a Quick Attack, but mid-air Discharge sends Ginger flying back poolside before she can get another kick in. "Another thing to watch out for," Casey grits out. Parsley snorts in agreement. Maybe. It doesn't matter, he's the trainer, he has to be the one watching out- "Watch out!"

There's no watching out for Discharge, though, and Ginger's wet fur is as good a conductor as the pool itself. She slumps, barely perceptible, and Casey sighs. Because when Ginger's almost out-

She takes risks.

A straight dive down and a wallop to Lanturn's eye with Dizzy Punch is good, but she's hardly maneuverable in the water and coating her feet in ice to rise doesn't help when the water begins to swirl around Lanturn, drawing her back into the vortex, head bobbing too infrequently above the water for comfort. She wants to fight, Casey reminds himself, calling out for her to punch it again on her way by. Her ear barely grazes the fish on the first pass, and doesn't make contact the second time around. Lanturn times a Confuse Ray perfectly and Casey winces. She wants to fight, she wants to fight, she wants to fight-

"TIMEOUT!"

Casey doesn't even wait for Janice to interpret that request into Pokémon battle rules; he has Parsley snatch Ginger right out of the Whirlpool and deposit her into his arms. "Hey," he says urgently, starting to squeeze the water out of her fur. "You're done, you're done, you're good-"

Ginger gives him a weak smack and a glare, which is slightly hampered by the fact that her eyes aren't focusing in the same place. Casey doesn't like that at all, doesn't like seeing his strong little bunny unable to even lift her head. He remembers, vaguely, how you're supposed to hold a baby- upright, her little chin near the shoulder seam of his life jacket, one of his hands supporting her head and neck.

He jumps at the gentle beep-beep of Janice's whistle. "Casey! You're still battling."

Oh, right.

Ginger obviously retired like he'd done for Pepper, Parsley at his elbow, and the Lanturn glowing crystal in the bottom of the pool. Restoring health, even as he worries about Ginger. Equipped with moves to cripple and drown his baby Skiddo.

Casey takes a breath. "I-"

The smack to his jaw from Ginger is fully anticipated, even addled as she is, but the vine covering his mouth is very different. Parsley pushes into his side and snuffles.

"No, I don't-" want you to, his brain finishes, and the words die in his throat. Because that's not a good reason. Pokémon are built for this, they're built to spar and play and desire these activities. What he, Casey, wants has nothing to do with his Pokémon right now- what he wants is fully based on his own perceptions. He doesn't want to get in that pool. He doesn't ever want to experience paralysis again. He doesn't want to spend his morning dizzy and confused. But he is not Parsley, he is not Ginger, he is not Pepper. They are built to dish out and take far more than his human body is designed for and they shake it off far more quickly- Ginger's already more grumpy than dizzy, and paralysis hardly bothered Parsley back against Emolga. It had bothered Casey.

He'd do it because that's what his Pokémon want to do he'd though, just moments ago.

This isn't different.

"Okay." Casey takes a deep breath. "Okay."

Parsley steps forward to Janice's announcement. "Both participants are down to their last Pokémon!"

Parsley glows green as he trots along the poolside and his pelt fluffs out, and Casey is once again thankful for the sun. A crackling Discharge from the bottom of the pool doesn't quite spill over the side, but it's a threat nonetheless. The ring around Lanturn glows again and Casey has to do something about that, but-

"Hey, throw a Leech Seed in there," Casey says, and watches it plonk into the water. It hangs for a moment, then bursts into twisting roots, catching nothing and floating back to the surface. Interesting.

"Stop throwing crap in my pool," Hana complains, which is the first thing she's said directly to him in a while. Casey gives a breezy laugh.

"Nah." She can't be so worried about this damn pool- she invites people to battle in it. She just doesn't want him to figure out what he can and can't do with the water. "Parsely, throw a Leaf Shield on it."

Okay, that's just him being petty. The amount of leaves that float on the surface do nothing but irritate Hana, who calls for her Lanturn to surface next to Parsley for an in-your-face Confuse Ray. But Parsley is ready, and a seed punches through the glow- but it doesn't prevent the brain-addling light from settling behind his eyes and the Skiddo staggers. Luckily, not into the pool that the Lanturn has retreated into again, but still- not ideal.

"Don't move 'round too much, baby boy," Casey calls. Parsley snorts and stamps instead of listening, and Casey clenches his fists. "Just- Growth, okay?"

He listens to that, at least, and glows with that green energy again. And a bit more, but from the pool- the Leech Seed wrapped around Lanturn's antenna is doing its job, stealing away the healing water it has been relying on. But as it springs into the air, Casey knows Parsley can't avoid the resulting slam, not when he staggers just trying to move forward. The Skiddo hits the deck with a solid thud, the Lanturn making an easy escape back into the water because all Parsley can focus enough to do is cry.

Casey hates that.

"C'mon, baby, Synthesis, Synthesis, you can do it-" Parsley's side shudders with heavy breaths and glows gold in the rays of the sun. It takes a moment to stumble to his feet and by then the Lanturn is above him again. "Pursuit boost!"

The speed of the technique lets Parsley dart out from under the Lanturn's shadow but isn't enough to avoid the wash of electricity it sends out on impact with the pool deck. Casey yelps as sparks skitter up his legs. "What the hell-"

"Get back in the challenger's box, it's there for a reason," Janice scolds. Casey grouses about it, finally noticing that said box is not just differently-colored floor but has grounding points all along its edge.

The Lanturn bounces up again, but they have a strategy now, and each time it does it's easy to let Growth glow through Parsley's form and at the last moment use a boost to jump away. Casey knows why Hana is doing this- her other moves barely affect a Grass-type, and she can't win a battle of attrition against Leech Seed and Synthesis. But before he can change it up, she does it for him.

"Draw it in!"

What?

A Whirlpool forms above the water, draining the pool down as it does, but the Lanturn somehow flings the growing vortex in Parsley's direction and the Skiddo has nowhere to run- he gets swept into the water as it boomerangs back into the pool, pulling him down toward the center like trash caught in a drain. Electricity pulses through the water and Parsley's frantically paddling hooves falter- paralysis!- and stronger electricity lights up the whirling funnel, over and over. Parsley flails against it with his vines, but it Bounces up as he is pulled into the very center and this is his chance-

"Razor Leaf!"

Two flurries of leaves rush to meet the oncoming Lanturn but the fish keeps falling, slamming down into Parsley and submerging them both. The Whirlpool calms and the whipped bubbles clear to reveal only one Pokémon bobbing up and breaking the surface with a splash.

"Baby boy!" Casey cheers, holding out his hands for the vines to settle around so he can haul his Skiddo out once more and cuddle him. "Oh, good job baby boy! So brave bein' in the water and doin' all that work, yes!"

Parsley snuffles against his ear, which makes it hard to hear Hana across the way.

"Congratulations, Casey," she says. Casey looks up at her, and she actually does look happy for him. He doesn't know if he wants her to be. "Not many people pull off a win against me."

Casey nods his thanks, not quite trusting anything he might say.

Eleanor · Sep 13, 2021

art by Aquacorde

Arianne Chandler
Vermilion City
Tuesday, May 28^th, morning
Written with QueenNothing as Gwen and Aquacorde as Casey

Without you

"Aw, Gwen, please…" Arianne mumbles, almost pressing her head against the pillow. "It's too perfect… just a few more… days…"

Soon she gives in and opens her eyes, only to see a fully dressed up Gwen, ready for adventure. "You're… ready to leave already? I… fine." She eventually gets out of bed, keeping an eye on her Pokémon who are still sleeping in their usual spots. "Just what made you so eager to… oh right, Saffron. And Jennifer." A smile finally appears on the Cinnabar girl's face.

"Damn straight!" Gwen says with her iconic smirk. "I'll get the chance to show her how much Pokemon I've caught, how many battles I had, and a bunch of cool stuff like that!"

"Alright alright, I'm getting ready!" Arianne replies, giggling at the other girl's enthusiasm as she starts getting ready herself and, eventually, decides to wear her blue skirt for the day. "At least it's no longer that cold, I feel just fine with this!" She cheers.

"It really wasn't that cold… but who cares, I'm gonna see Jenny today!"

"You do you but… yeah, Saffron should be kind of a straight shot from here anyways. And with that… I'm ready to go!" The Cinnabar girl grins. "So, let's go for breakfast, shall we?"

"Sorry- I already had breakfast." Gwen says. "I was so excited I had to do everything right away!"

"I… oh!" Arianne laughs nervously. At least this time, she can't help but ask why Gwen didn't want to have breakfast with her, or just… "Well, if you wanted to go straight away, don't let me weigh you down and… I can catch up later if you want!"

'Well... I wouldn't want to go without you! Besides, I'd have to wait awhile if I had to wait for anyone else." Gwen chuckles.

"Oh, that's how it is… I'll go right away then, and hopefully resist the temptation of trying all the food!" Arianne chuckles as well, before hastily leaving the room.

There's no real reason for her to refuse Gwen's idea of traveling together. They're meant to spend time together in Saffron as well, and with the capital of Kanto being this close, why would they need to separate? Besides, Gwen is probably one of the best friends to have around at this moment. For a lot of reasons. And no, liking Courtney is not enough of a drawback to justify staying away from her.

A quick breakfast later, and Arianne is back in her room. Or rather, almost there. She's got a few foodstuffs from the breakfast room to pack with her on the trip towards Saffron, surely a better solution than having a huge breakfast in a few minutes and then feeling groggy for the rest of the day. But as she approaches the door and tries to open it up, she stands still in the opening. Instead of announcing that she's back, Arianne gulps down her words and tries to make the least amount of sound - Gwen is on the phone, and she'd rather not disturb her now.

"Uh, hi Casey! Since Saffron is so close now and that's where Jenny lives I was wondering if you maybe, uhh..."

"Maybe what?"

Of course the call is on speaker… Arianne simply moves her arms around, trying to get Gwen's attention without being heard whatsoever, but is actually not sure whether she should leave the room entirely or wait there.

"W-well, I was wondering if you wanted to come over and just, y'know... hang out...?"

"Over- where? At your sister's house?"

"Yeah, that's where! I mean, I know it'll be awhile before we get there and all, but like I thought I'd just ask now because I'm so excited and I've been waiting for this opportunity for sooooo long and all my... f-friends... can meet Jenny and see how cool she is!"

"Uh, sure. Text me the time and place later, I guess? Don't know how long we'll be on the road or anythin', guess we'll find out soon enough."

And that sounds like… yeah, definitely Casey. So, if Gwen's plan works, Arianne will meet that boy again…

"Great!! I mean, uh , yeah, I'll let you know where we can meet up when we get there! Or maybe, uh... m-maybe if you want we could, uh, uh... t-travel through route 6 together? I mean it wouldn't just be us, of course not, I'm already going with Arianne, but the more the merrier, y'know?"

"Oh, uh- I'm already hangin' out with Jordan and Vera, actually."

"Oh... w-well don't worry about it, I'll be fine! We'll already hang out in Saffron anyways, just thought we might be able to see each other sooner and y'know I'd like to see you again soon- n-no wait, I don't mean like that just that- uh, anyways, I'll call you when I get to Saffron, maybe Tusk and Ginger can have a rematch then! See ya!"

Before Casey gets a chance to respond, Gwen hangs up and releases a long, exhausted breath. "God damnit."

That's the cue for Arianne to speak. "I'm sorry about coming in during the call but…" She breathes heavily. "I'm here, I got some food for later, and I just need to pack everything up before we leave! Sounds good?"

"What the-!" Gwen just stares at Arianne with wide eyes. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Uh… well, not that long… it's ok!" Arianne chuckles very nervously, not sure what to say. Should she lie and hope Gwen didn't see her, or tell the truth and be scolded for it if Gwen thinks it's necessary? That's a good question…

Gwen's pupils shift from left to right before she nervously chuckles. "W-well, I'll just assume you didn't hear any of that so I can sleep better… Anyways, I'm ready to go whenever you are!"

How could she even assume that after keeping her PokéGear on speaker mode, that was a whole other question. But if that's the way to make things less awkward, then… alright.

Arianne remembers this only after raising her hand and muttering "Well…" before realizing what she's getting into, and stopping promptly. "Ok, just a few minutes to get everything in my backpack, and then we leave!" She announces, quickly moving over to her bed and trying to look very focused on folding her clothes. All the while, Gwen springs to her feet and acts as though she's jogging in place from her excess energy.

So far so good, uh? Arianne tries to focus down on Gwen out of the corner of her eye as she continues gathering her stuff and getting ready. The Saffron girl looks so impatient, so eager, but she's still waiting for her friend and that… in a way, is kind of cute. Even if Arianne may be upset she doesn't get to bathe in the luxury of this Fanclub place, her heart could never let her disappoint Gwen like that.

And so, after a few minutes, Arianne stops in front of Gwen, all ready to go. "Sorry I made you wait, Gwen. Let's get to Saffron now, shall we?"

'Fucking finally! I've been waiting for this day for like… uh, however long I've been waiting! Let's go!"

TEAM:

Eric, lv. 35 •

Espurr, lv. 19

Blitzle, lv. 21 •

Mizar, lv. 19

Lulu, lv. 29 •

Honedge, lv. 19

Juno · Sep 25, 2021

Tangles Art Cred

Chapter 8: A Hard Lesson

🏊 Vermilion City Gym 🕙 May 28th, Morning

He wouldn't go so far as to say he was feeling confident, but he was also not not confident. Maybe it was because this was his second Gym, or maybe it was because he was going into one where he knew his team would have a pretty good advantage, but Jordan was definitely feeling better about being here than he did in the Lavender Town gym. He shuddered a little recalling the blinding lights, nausea and chill he'd felt in Beaumont's stadium.

There was a chill this time around, too, but not from his own nerves - even with the fast-paced action unfolding before him, there was a certain... hostility in the curt interactions between Casey and the Gym Leader that was palpable even from where Jordan and Vera were sitting.

"It's unfair if I can't see it," Almost as if on cue, he heard Casey mimic the Gym Leader in the lull before their next match. Jordan grimaced. Brr.

His friend was doing well, though. He must have been training hard. Even Pepper held his own here, which was very impressive given the matchup. Even more hopeful still, there was no sign of the Croconaw that Vera had mentioned. Chomp, chomp. Jordan grinned to himself, recalling their dinner out the previous night. Fun aside, Vera also said it had Ice Fang, which was probably the most concerning thing to his team. In any case though, it had not been sent out by Hana, even when Parsley graced the stage. Perhaps it was taking a break today.

Watching Casey's team pull through definitely bolstered his confidence, too. He celebrated with Vera from the sidelines and regrouped with Casey, but their reunion was short-lived since it also meant it was now Jordan's turn.

How bad could it be? Okay, we got this.

He picked his three Grass-types, which seemed like a no-brainer. Jordan briefly considered Hop, given the maneuverability advantage he would have, but none of Casey's Pokémon could fly or swim and they did fine, so he just stuck with the type advantage.

Janice offered him platforms as well - Casey had made the decision not to use them, but his Pokémon were fairly speedy. Jordan thought about the first Pokémon he wanted to send out, and he could not imagine Tangles darting around from the poolside anyway, so maybe it was best for her to stay put but closer to the action.

The platforms looked sturdier than he'd expected. Tangles was gently bobbing up and down on the large, central one, but it was a solid surface supported by strong buoyant devices, and not the flimsy, inflatable kiddie floats Jordan had imagined.

Hana gave him a tight-lipped smile as they faced each other from across the pool. He had the impression he was on pretty good terms with her last they spoke, but perhaps losing to Casey had soured her mood. Still, she put on her best Gym Leader face.

"A smart choice type-wise, but I hope the arena here doesn't give her too much trouble!" Jordan nodded, saying nothing back. "Now, let's see..."

She didn't take long to choose her own Pokémon, and a Kingler materialized on the other end of the platform. Jordan had a feeling it wouldn't stay there long, though. "We should strike quick, while we're still on equal footing," He squatted down at the edge of the pool closest to Tangles. "Start with a Vine Whip." He added, before standing back up.

The Tangela lashed out on command, and the Kingler didn't move away to avoid the attack. Yes! Jordan thought they were off to a good start, only to realise a glowing, translucent shield had enveloped the Kingler and absorbed the hit.

Hana smirked, the glee more genuine this time. "Stomp." She retaliated, and the Kingler scuttled over where Tangles stood with surprising speed before delivering a blow that almost knocked her off the platform. Oof. They needed to do something quick to give them an edge here.

"Sleep Powder!" Jordan called out.

"Protect!" The shield glowed once more, and Jordan watched as the shimmering dust slid off it like rain on an umbrella, before disappearing into the pool.

Man, that was annoying. But he knew it had to fail eventually. As he pondered what to do next, though, Hana struck again.

"Metal Claw!"

Jordan winced, watching Tangles take another hit. This was really not a great start to the battle. Any confidence he had prior to the start of the match was plummeting faster than the attacks came in. Their type advantage meant very little when her moves haven't been able to land yet, and Hana's Kingler was striking quickly with physical attacks. If they couldn't stop it from moving with Sleep Powder, maybe they had to get physical, too.

"Hold it down with Constrict!"

Vines snaked out from Tangles' body quickly, and before the Kingler could disappear into the pool, she had it wrapped up like the bound guards from yesterday. It tried to snap its large claws at her, but it could not free them from the vines. "Okay, good! Now hit it with a Poison Powder!" They needed to start doing some damage.

As the powder settled over the immobile Kingler, its legs twitched. Its shell gleamed again, but in a different way than before. Not another Protect, surely...

"We can wait it out and keep Hardening." The Gym Leader was unbothered, and they bided their time while bound, upping the Kingler's defense in the meantime. Although it couldn't really move, its eyes were on its Trainer, who gently tipped her head to the side. By the time Jordan realized she was not just shaking hair out of her face, the Kingler had already followed her gaze and leaned with its full weight into the pool, dragging Tangles down with it.

The completely inexperienced swimmer immediately let go of its opponent, thrashing wildly in the pool. "T- don't worry! Just- am I allowed to help her out?" Jordan squatted by the edge of the pool again, reaching an arm out.

Hana shrugged. "You can, but Trainer interference won't look good on your report."

Tangles swatted his arm away with one vine; she'd found some semblance of balance, if you can call it that, hugging a floating platform. She wasn't swimming, but she wasn't sinking, at least. Maybe she can pull herself up...

But they didn't have time to keep trying. Hana and Kingler sure weren't going to wait.

"Try- hit it with an Absorb." She needed the energy, and wouldn't need to let go of the platform this way. The draining attack swirled out in a green light towards the still-underwater Kingler, merging with the blue of the pool to form a pleasant cyan colour before sapping energy from the water Pokémon and returning to its user.

But the effects of Absorb was not enough to counteract the damage of Kingler's next attack.

"Stomp!"

With surprising grace, the Kingler gripped the side of the platform with one claw and swiftly flung itself with a backflip back on the platform, kicking the Tangela with enough force to disengage her from the platform entirely.

"Tangles!" Jordan hurried over and pulled her out of the pool with no hesitation this time. He grunted. The 60-pound ball of vines was not easy to carry, especially wet. "I- Okay, no. Yes, she's done. You did good, given the whole water situation. Okay? Don't worry." He reassured her as he returned her to her Poke Ball.

"Alright!" Hana put her hands together as Janice declared the results of the match. Kingler was still fit to battle, and Jordan grabbed his next Poke Ball. This was not how he imagined his first match at a water gym going down.

Sage was up next, because... it was at this moment Jordan realised he didn't really have a game plan. He went in just knowing they just had the advantage. But not really, because these water Pokémon were in their element, and...

"Metal Claw!"

Equally checked out, the Skiddo was so absorbed in investigating the curious, new floaty pad she'd spawned in on, Hana's Kingler got a free attack in. Oops.

"Oh- I'm sorry, Sage! W- hit it with a Razor Leaf!" The Skiddo put a little distance between them by hopping onto a different platform, before buffeting the Kingler with her attack. Jordan could see a faint glow of a shield begin to form, but it either did not manifest fully in time, or simply failed this time around, since it was visibly affected by the leaves.

"Alright!" Jordan shouted with enthusiasm.

The Kingler twitched again. The effects of Tangles' Poison Powder must be lingering still. It dove back underwater, which meant they were at a bit of a standstill - while it couldn't reach Sage with its physical attacks, Jordan and Sage also couldn't see it very well.

Hana broke the idleness first - not particularly effectively, but she must have figured something needed to move along. "Bubble Beam!"

Sage snorted as a spray of bubbles hit her in the nose. She shook it off quickly, dancing along the edges of the platform, trying to reach her underwater foe.

Jordan exhaled. He thought back to the Kingler using Harden earlier, when it wasn't able to do anything else. Maybe we can use this time to set up something, too. "Growth, Sage."

The sunlight trickling through the skylight intensified as Sage drew in the energy, bolstering her attack. Concern marred the Gym Leader's features, and she attempted to disrupt the move.

"Stomp, quick!" Hana called out.

"Vine Whip!"

The Kingler was not quick enough this time - as it jumped up out of the water, Sage grabbed it with her vines and threw it against one of the smaller platforms with enough force to knock out the water Pokémon.

"Kingler is unable to battle!" Janice announced.

"Yes! Great job, Sage!" Jordan knelt over the edge of the pool and reached out to pet the wet goat with both hands, as the Skiddo bounded over to the platform closest to Jordan, tail wagging. Part of him hoped she'd sent out her toughest Pokémon first and the hardest part was over, but he very much doubted that was the case.

"Alright. Let's go, Croconaw."

Jordan's heart sank immediately. So it was around today, after all. Jordan looked up, but barely caught a glimpse of the Pokémon as it slipped into the pool, forgoing the platforms entirely.

Positioned back on the main platform, Sage stretched her neck so far forward to try and look under it, Jordan was sure she would fall in. Her tail was still wagging wildly, seeing its new opponent as more of a playmate than foe.

"Sage, focus!" He pleaded, but... maybe they could use a different strategy, actually.

"Oh- hey, you want to play? Play Nice!" He encouraged enthusiastically. Her tail wagged faster and she hopped around from platform to platform. The Croconaw still had not surfaced, but the rippling water indicated it was following Sage closely from within the pool. Suddenly, it jumped up, playfully splashing water in the Skiddo's face. Jordan grinned. It seemed distracted. Perfect.

Hana was less amused. "Okay, we can play. Scary Face."

Perking up at the sound of the Gym Leader's voice, the Croconaw somersaulted onto the platform, baring a menacing expression as it landed right in front of Sage. The startled Skiddo staggered backwards, and the Scary Face morphed into a toothy grin, clearly pleased with the effect it had on Sage.

"Now, Ice Fang!"

Oh, no. Chomp, chomp, Jordan recalled again, but with more trepidation this time.

The Croconaw was still in a playful mood, faking out the still-disoriented Sage a few times. It bounded close to snap its jaws at her, and the third time it sprang forward, they closed around her for real and the Skiddo bleated loudly in protest. Once she was freed from its icy maw, she whipped around to Tackle it, but her opponent had disappeared back underwater after releasing her.

Jordan scanned the pool for an opening they could take. The water ripples indicated it was moving faster and deeper under the surface than Sage would be able to strike it with her Vine Whip or Razor Leaf.

"Leech Seed!" It took a few lobs - much to the Gym Leader's dismay, as the seeds floated past her in the pool - but finally, one of them landed on and latched onto the Croconaw. Even under the surface, Jordan could see it take effect, as its movements slowed from the energy being sapped by the seed.

"Come up. One more Ice Fang should do it." Hana's voice cut through his small victory. It most certainly would.

"Sage, enough! Come back!" Jordan quickly interjected. To his relief, she bounded back to him. His voice went a little shrill at the end there; she must have thought he was playing.

"She's still fit to battle." The Gym Leader observed.

"Yeah."

"Is she coming back?"

"Uh, maybe. I don't know." It wasn't really a strategic withdrawal. Or maybe it was, even if that wasn't his intention, since Hana's next Pokémon might be more suited for her to battle against, and less icy.

That is, if they make it to the next Pokémon. This Croconaw was still kind of a problem.

The last Pokémon he had registered for the battle was Tiny. Maybe if it can't catch her, it can't bite her. Jordan thought as he sent her out. Not like he had another option anyway, really.

The Croconaw was still eagerly looking for something to sink its fangs into from Hana's last command, and as Jordan had hoped, the Pumpkaboo drifted just out of reach of the snapping jaws. Trying to catch Tiny, the Croconaw jumped up on a platform to reach her better. An opening!

"Razor Leaf!" Jordan called out eagerly, and her attack landed without a hitch, but the Croconaw was also close enough to be able to sink its Icy Fangs into Tiny.

"Good! Again!" Undeterred by the Razor Leaf, Hana encouraged her Pokémon to go in for another chomp.

Damn, those teeth are deadly! Jordan knew if its jaws closed around her again, the match was over. "What to do..." He pondered as the Pumpkaboo floated listlessly above the pool. The still-seeded Croconaw needed the boost from jumping off the platform, so she drifted about, away from any easy launching points it might have. Plus, the longer they stalled, the more energy they could sap from it.

Hana must have realized this too and called Croconaw back, sending out... the Whiscash. Water/Ground type. Jordan's face reddened. Is she taunting me? Maybe... she just thinks it has a way of getting Tiny down. But one or two successful Razor Leaves will cut it right down.

At least they had a preview of what the Whiscash could do from Casey's battle. They have a pretty good counter to its Rest.

He didn't want to waste any time, in case she had other tricks up her sleeve. "Razor Leaf!" Jordan called out as soon as the Whiscash materialized in the water. The sooner they could land a hit, the better.

"Dive." Narrowly avoiding the sharp blades, the Whiscash disappeared underwater. The ripples on the surface of the pool settled for a moment, and Jordan told Tiny to brace for the inevitable strike. The water attack was strong, but not devastating. More importantly, the Whiscash had resurfaced.

"Try Razor Leaf now," The attack hit its target this time around - and that was devastating to the Water/Ground Pokémon. "Yes!"

"Rest."

"Oh! Do- do the thing!" Jordan called out. "Worry Seed!"

Tiny lobbed the seed at the Whiscash, but it was already sinking into the pool. He watched the seed's velocity slow to a mild drift as it hit the water, but the sleepy Pokémon was already settled in.

As the seed connected with its target, he realized all that really achieved was... waking up the Whiscash after it had regained some energy.

"Thanks." Hana said simply. "Now, Zen Headbutt!"

Reinvigorated, the Whiscash burst through the still-muddy water, and a surprised Tiny could not get out of the way quickly enough to dodge the attack. It slammed into her, spiking the Pumpkaboo like a volleyball into the hard, poolside tiling. She landed closest to Janice, who hurried over to evaluate the Pokémon.

"Pumpkaboo is unable to battle!"

"This is a close one!" Hana called from her side of the pool. "What's your next move here?"

After safely tucking away Tiny, Jordan looked down at his last viable Pokémon. He might not be the best Trainer, but he knew his Pokémon's limits. He had a slightly battered Sage left fit for battle, but he also knew Hana was holding her Croconaw, and the Whiscash was not any worse for wear after battling Tiny. He knew what his next move was.

"I- I forfeit."

Hana didn't look too surprised. She nodded.

"That was close," She repeated as she got down from her chair. "I think the theoretical knowledge is there, you just haven't quite translated it practically yet. And your Pokémon are lacking a bit of discipline and training. But other than that, you fought well."

He couldn't believe he came in with three Grass-types and didn't walk away with a victory. But he learned a valuable lesson.

"Um, thank you. We'll do just that."

Training. We have to go training.

Party

Tangles
Tangela | F | Lvl. 21

Ingrain
Constrict
Absorb
Vine Whip
Sleep Powder
Poison Powder

Hop
Pidgeotto | M | Lvl. 23

Headbutt
Pluck
Twister
Mirror Move
Roost
Wing Attack

Spirit
Alolan Cubone | M | Lvl. 17

Focus Energy
Feint Attack
Bone Club
Headbutt
Swords Dance

Sage
Skiddo | F | Lvl. 19

Tackle
Growth
Vine Whip
Play Nice
Razor Leaf
Leech Seed

Tiny
Pumpkaboo | F | Lvl. 20

Razor Leaf
Shadow Sneak
Confuse Ray
Scary Face
Worry Seed
Trick-or-Treat

???
??? | ? | Lvl. -

It appears to move occasionally. It may be close to hatching.

Inventory

- Pokédex
- Pokégear
- 2-person tent
- Tangles' plant

Moon Stone

QueenNothing · Oct 6, 2021

Gwen Alanis

Monday, May 27
Noon
Route 6

Route 6 is a nice change of pace after how insanely packed Vermillion was. Very few people seem to reside here which gives Gwen some space to breathe. She was in a hurry just a bit ago, but something about the atmosphere takes her aback. Taillows chirping, Eldegoss slowly drifting through the air, the running streams, the distant traffic noises... It's all so relaxing. Slowly her mind starts to wander off, and the thought of visiting her sister becomes secondary. It gets to the point where Bead has to swoop in to bite Gwen's hair and yank it back to snap her out of it.

"OUCH!!!" She turns to face Bead and gives him a disgruntled look. "Oh come on! It's not my fault it's so nice here!"

Arianne turns around with a slightly concerned expression. "What'd he do…?" She smiles. "Yeah, it's nice and relaxing here, and I'd never expected this between Saffron and Vermilion! We'd better enjoy this while it lasts. Just me and you, on this path…" Eric, who's walking beside his trainer, seems to let out a chuckle.

"Haha, yeah, I guess it is just the two of us when you put it that way…" Fuck, why am I so nervous!? Gwen shakes her head to refocus herself and clears her throat. "Anyways, Bead has a point! Jenny's place is straight-ahead, so we can't get distracte-'' She's cut off by the loud buzzing of a bug Pokemon swooping past her, which catches her attention. "Holy shit, is that a Yanma!? I've never seen one in person!"

"Oh, looks like it!" Arianne quickly grabs her PokèDex and gets it to confirm Gwen's words. "By the way, speaking of Jenny, we still have plenty of time…"

Arianne has a point. Afterall, Casey likely won't arrive in Saffron for a while, so there really isn't much reason to be in such a hurry. "I guess." She half-heartedly shrugs.

Someone else happens to be in a hurry though… as a boy nearly their age runs past Arianne and Gwen on the narrow path. And then, briefly turns back. "You saw a Y-Yanma going this way? I have to get it!" He hastily asks, still running in place.

"Yeah, it's over there." Gwen states, pointing to the bug Pokemon's direction.

"Got it!" He chases after the Pokémon, only to stop after basically two steps. "Wait, you're trainers too, maybe you can help me out? Please?" He looks at Gwen and Arianne with puppy eyes, enough for a cocky smirk to appear across Gwen's face.

"Of course I can!" She boasts. "Afterall, I am the younger sister of the one and only Jennifer Alanis!" Heh, bet this kid thinks I'm really cool! Wonder if Arianne thinks the same… "Come on out Custard!" The second her Pikachu is out on the field, Gwen yanks her off the ground and chases down the Yanma, something Custard very vocally dislikes as exhibited from her panicked squeaks. It's no use though as Gwen's hero fantasy is enough to drown it out.

Arianne is running ahead of her though, trying to track down the fast Bug-type even as it tries to take shelter in some of the nearby trees. Eventually, she calls out her Honedge, who lunges at the Yanma with a Pursuit in the air and, at the very least, forces it to fly off from its perch. "Uh… right, you'll need Autotomize to get up to speed!" Arianne calls out, one eye on the Pokédex and another on what's shaping up to become a proper battle.

Noticing the Yanma is getting faster by the second and that a simple Thundershock might not even reach it, out of desperation Gwen stops in her tracks and flings Custard forward at full-force, shouting for her to use Spark. While she's midair, Custard surrounds her body in electricity to prepare for impact, but to her shock Yanma uses its tail to smack her back the way she came right before she can make contact. When Gwen sees Custard coming back her way, her first instinct is to jump up and catch her, despite how her body is still surrounded in electricity, causing some of it to zap her as she falls into her arms. So much for looking cool I guess...

The electricity doesn't hurt Gwen that much though. Most of it is being absorbed by another Pokémon anyways, and that is Arianne's Blitzle. "Good job there!" The trainer yelps, while the Electric-type just nods nonchalantly. Thanks to Lightningrod, she really didn't need to do anything… I HATE being one-upped… So why don't I feel the same way now? Damnit, focus Gwen, think, think, think…

Honedge hasn't been attacking for a while, concerned with its speed getting progressively more useless against Yanma's Speed Boost, but now it's back with a Shadow Sneak. The Yanma is hit successfully, but it recovers quite quickly, and uses the opportunity to set up Foresight. From there, Honedge is unexpectedly hit by a Sonic Boom, and falls down as it's taken by surprise.

Right after it uses Sonic Boom though, Custard catches Yanma off-guard by ramming into it from the side with Quick Attack, knocking it back just slightly. "Arianne, now!"

"Yes! Shock Wave time!" The Cinnabar girl echoes Gwen. A Detect attack lets Yanma avoid the first hit though. Blitzle tries again, getting very close to hitting the target - that, however, seems to be the cue for Yanma to give up and attempt an escape. The Bug-type flies higher and further away, looking warily at the two Electric-types on the ground… and the look is returned by the boy who's right behind Arianne and Gwen. "Uh, are you sure you can keep Yanma here? It always escapes me!"

"Sure I can, just uh, give me a second!" Gwen furrows her brows as she tries to concoct a plan, but as she does this she just barely notices Bead zip past her, pushing his limits to catch up to Yanma's increasing speed. When getting just close enough for any of his moves to reach Yanma, his eyes flash a bright red and it's covered in a purple aura, which forces it to face Bead against its own will.

"That's Mean Look!" Gwen says to herself, shifting her eyes towards Arianne. "W-which I totally planned for by the way! But I just thought Mean Look only worked if they were making eye-contact…"

"Well, y'know," the boy butts in, "Yanma have eyes that allow them to see in every direction at once that it normally uses for seeking prey, and-"

"Woah, that's rad! But I have a hunch that Mean Look might wear off if Bead goes too far off, so… Bead! Hit 'em with a Psywave!" Bead circles behind Yanma to shoot a colorful blast of psychic towards it, knocking it just far back enough that it's within a decent range of a ranged electric attack.

"That was great! C'mon Blitzle, use Shock… hey!" Arianne looks in the air only to see Honedge flying past, its cloth trailing in the wind as it strikes down Yanma with a powerful Aerial Ace. "That was… rather close to becoming friendly fire," the girl complains. "But I guess this works too!"

Yanma has lost even more height from that hit, and is struggling to fly gracefully - possibly an effect of Honedge's Swords Dance powering up its attacks!

"Alright Custard, y'know what to do! Hit 'em with a Thundershock!" Electricity pulses through Custard's cheeks and is soon released in a super effective hit that zaps Yanma so hard it starts spiraling to the ground. "Hey kid!" Gwen shouts at the boy who got them into this in the first place. "You wanted to catch it, right? Now's your chance!"

"Y-yeah, here we go!" The boy grabs a Pokéball, and… walks up to the stunned Pokémon, before pressing the button against Yanma's body. That earns him a proud look and a giggle from Arianne, who calls back Honedge in the meantime - not Blitzle though, since she seems interested in Custard and is currently trying to approach her.

"What? I'm bad at throwing Pokéballs, so might as well be safe!" The boy nervously smiles, as he picks up his new catch. "Thank you so much for your help."

"No problem, kid! Like I said, I am Jennifer Alanis' younger sister after all!"

"Who?"

"Ugh. Whatever." Gwen crosses her arms, to the sound of Arianne giggling again. "Guess I can't expect everyone to recognize greatness."

"Phew! Now, with the help of Yanma, I can go and find all the hidden treasures of this area!" The boy cheers, in front of Arianne and Gwen. "With Compound Eyes, it will be a breeze!"

"Uh…" Arianne looks towards Gwen, then back to the boy, then to her Pokédex. "That Yanma had Speed Boost, not Compound Eyes…" She whispers into Gwen's ear, while nervously laughing towards the other, supposedly rookie trainer.

Gwen laughs as well, although unlike Arianne, she does so very loudly. "I guess this kid is gonna find out the hard way!" She blurts out, not at all picking up that Arianne was trying to not be heard. "I thought it would be obvious that Yanma has Speed Boost, but I guess my eyes are just trained to recognize a Pokemon's ability when I see them."

"Wait, you're saying it can only have one or the other…?" The boy raises his hand, and right at the same time Arianne's hand hits her own disappointed face. "It… it's ok, Yanma still has good vision regardless, and Speed Boost lets it explore places faster, so…" The Cinnabar girl tries to sound reassuring to the perplexed rookie.

"You did mention treasures, didn't you?" She changes the topic slightly. "If you want, we can help you out ourselves! Right Gwen?"

"Yeah, why not?" She responds presumptuously. Her previous encounter has her feeling on top of the world, and more training is always a good thing.

"Well… alright! There's some more people who are working on this and maybe, they could fill you in…" The boy nods, and while he still looks confused, he at least seems to be getting some enthusiasm back.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Show us the way, kid!"

"Yay! Oh, right… sorry I couldn't introduce myself before. My name is Mike Roe, but you can just call me Mike."

"We're just some amateurs coming from the city, they say, but we have already found some treasures in this general vicinity, and we're here to find more!" One woman in her thirties explains, proudly introducing herself as Brooke and her friend as Brett. A Marshtomp stands between her and the other 'historian', as he calls himself.

"See… a long time ago, the coast used to be way closer to Saffron, and this area looked more like the open sea. Ships sailed in the same place where we are walking today!" He continues. "And so, you can still find all sorts of things that happened to be on those ships if you dig deep enough. Sounds interesting, right?"

Gwen doesn't really listen to anything either treasure hunter says. How can she when she sees a Marshtomp in-person for the first time? Arianne, on the other hand, is already more intrigued. This feels almost like her Rock Tunnel adventure, except it's actually much safer now, and she does have a brand new swimsuit with her… and oh, right, the water is extremely shallow anyways. Too shallow to swim into.

"Hm… ok, how can we help then?" She asks, trying to get right to the point.

"Oh, right. We have a few places worth checking on our map, and with some more exploration, we're likely to find even more! And once that happens…" Brooke runs a hand through her black hair. "Our Pokémon and your Pokémon can get there and try to dig the treasure up! We can teach your Pokémon some moves that can help them with this, if you'd like. Deal?"

"Huh?" Gwen stutters. "Oh, right. Sure, whatever." She notices Bead gives her a nasty glare, and she responds by rolling her eyes. Bead really just needs to get off her case sometimes.

Arianne, luckily, answers nearly at the same time with a rather loud "Yes!" and lets Eric come forward. "We'd be happy to contribute!"

"Sure thing! I'll just use-" Gwen pauses when picking a Pokeball off her belt and sees it's a Lure Ball as opposed to the standard Pokeball she was expecting to see. Goddamnit. "Err, I was gonna use Marshall but apparently I forgot to switch him out, meaning the only water-type I have is King… again…"

"There's got to be other ways to help, haha!" the Cinnabar girl chuckles towards her friend.

At this point, a Nosepass appears from behind Brett, who nods towards it. "Good to hear! Let's get right to it."

"The plan is to scan the area first, obviously. Nosepass can do this by sensing the presence of metallic objects and pointing us towards them, while Marshtomp is perfect to see even in the murkiest waters. Once they can spot something, your Pokémon can come in and help them dig up the treasure. Or, you could help in the final stage: cleaning things up!" The man explains. "I… honestly don't expect anything crazy like you see in those pirate movies, but to me, even an old clay vase is invaluable!"

"...and it also proves how old and important Saffron is." Brooke smiles confidently.

Talon, Bead and Mike's newly acquired Yanma tries to fly around in search of something emerging from the ground, but - perhaps needless to say - it's Nosepass and Marshtomp who find something. The Rock-type has sensed some metallic object buried beneath some willows, while the Water-type simply waves his arms while standing in the middle of a rice paddle to let everyone know there's something down there. A couple different items, in fact.

"Gwen! We got something!" Arianne laughs, looking proudly at the various Pokémon at work. "And Eric is already there inside the rice fields!" She then points towards her own Pokémon, who is still doing what he can to help out even if the murky water appears to be taking a toll on his, well… non-Ground-type eyes.

"Ooo, lemme see!" Gwen's exclamation acts as a trigger to get Talon to quit his search and perch on Gwen's head where he seems to be most comfortable.

When she takes a few steps closer to her Pokémon, though, Arianne almost bumps into Brooke, who's also moving closer. "Oh, sorry!" She yelps, seemingly startling the woman who hadn't even noticed her.

"Your Wartortle is like… flailing around a bit down there," She comments as she recovers, a hand on her chin. "I said we could teach your Pokémon a move and I think I have an idea… what do you think about Dig?"

Now it's Arianne who has her hand touching her own chin. "But Eric is working underwater anyways, isn't he?" She asks, before calling his name out so that he can get back to the surface.

"Dig can still help him out when he's dealing with ground and mud… like now!" Brooke smiles, pointing at the cloud of dirt and mud that's tainting the water right where Marshtomp and Eric were working. "My Pokémon can teach Wartortle how it's done- so he should have less trouble getting these items up!"

"Hey uh," Gwen speaks up. "My Pokemon can be taught a new move too, right?"

"Oh, sure thing! They're mostly moves we need on our job, but any trainer could find them useful. I guess." Brett chuckles. "Dig, Dive, Covet…" He starts to list off a few moves, getting slower as the list grows.

"Maybe one of my Pokemon can learn Dig…" Gwen pulls her Pokedex up to check, and looking at the results it really seems as though any Pokemon can learn Dig! Half of her current lineup is able to learn it: Pix, Custard, and Tusk. However she doesn't think it'd suit Custard's speed, and she's already satisfied with the moves Tusk knows. That just leaves…

"Can you teach Dig to my Vulpix?"

"Yeah! Of course…" Brett smiles, before going into the nitty-gritty of how the move works.

CCS and art by Aquacorde

Eleanor · Oct 9, 2021

Chilling Conclusion

A post with Gym Leader Hana, Bridget, Courtney and Sarah
written by Adventure and Eleanor

Vermilion City Gym, about 1 p.m., Tuesday, May 28^th

One of the best parts of her job, Hana will say, is finding young trainers waiting for you, eager to challenge you to a battle. It's so rewarding to see new talents blossom, and know that you helped them in any way to get where they are. It's so thrilling to find out what their strategies are and adapt your own battle style in response, or what Pokémon they will use and who in your team will fare the best against them. Being a Gym Leader is surely a position that's worth all the effort it takes to conquer it, and more.

That's what happened on Tuesday noon as well, when Hana got back to her gym after her lunch break and was greeted by two girls, ready to fight. "We took our time improving our team for this moment, but we're set now! Bring it on!" one of them declared, a tiny but confident redhead.

"Yeah, that's the spirit! We are-" the other girl chimed in as well, but was interrupted. And not by Hana.

"Excuse me, girls." A policeman, who was previously talking with the Gym receptionist, walked up to the Gym Leader, who seemed nearly unfazed at first. "Hana Palm, we have some important news. Please, come right this way."

She was somewhat used to police interacting with her after things like… protests regarding the quality of seawater, but that didn't seem to be the case on that occasion, just from the officer's stern, serious tone. And so, Hana's mind connected the dots. That made her turn more serious as well, shivering as she followed the man into her own office, and found Bridget already sitting there with a different officer, a woman slightly older than Hana herself.

"So, the Gym leader and her most trusted collaborator, uh? We got various reports about you lately." The policewoman started off. "First, you kept spreading fear about water pollution with exaggerated claims, even after the last time we intervened. But that's nothing new!" She sighs. "Second, you have been clearly facilitating Cape College trainers during their graduation journeys, over trainers coming from other schools or facilities. And third, you've also been endangering some of these trainers with illegal battle practices and…"

"What's got to you now, what are you talking about…?" Hana's appalment came out all at once after being bottled up. Of all the things they could have accused her of, the ones they mentioned made zero sense to her. To her they sounded nothing more like excuses, obvious and blatant excuses.

"You know what you did, Hana. And you too Bridget." The policeman shrugged, basically sealing the deal. "I'll be suspending both of your Trainer Licenses for three months starting now, and soon the Pokémon League Association will have a temporary leader appointed to this gym."

"At least accuse us for the right reason but don't come here saying I'm aiding and abetting, I just can't…" Hana cried out, feeling broken inside. The emotional wound was as bad as the actual punishment, and the policewoman definitely didn't help when she replied, almost smugly, "Tell us more then, maybe we can raise your sanction."

Bridget and Hana left the office in tears, and were soon left alone with the Gym receptionist and the two girls who came there for a challenge. Coincidentally, they were Safari Academy trainers - their names? Sarah and Courtney. Turning down their battle request was one of the lowest moments in a very long time for Hana. She had to watch them leave the gym with an obviously fake smile, whispering to each other about what could've happened in that office they weren't let in.

But after that happened, another feeling made its way into Hana and Bridget's minds. That sanction, that suspension… it couldn't have been a coincidence. Whatever happened on Monday afternoon had something to do with it, whether the Police knew about it or… or not. In either case, someone else was making moves, and it was a big actor on that stage.

Time to find out more.

Eleanor · Oct 9, 2021

Chapter 10: Saffron City
Starting date: May 28th, Tuesday

Spoiler:

The center of gravity, the wise governor, the Capital of Kanto. Even when Saffron was just a humble village, its safe and advantageous position made it seem destined to become what it is today: the largest and most representative city of the region, still home to many public institutions and private companies alike. There's everything you could dream of in Saffron, from advanced facilities for trainers to fancy shopping, from crowded paved walkways to relaxing parks.

Well, there is one thing missing - an official Gym. It was moved to Pallet not too long ago, much to the dismay of Saffron's citizens. Fear not, though, for there's still so much to do in this bustling city!

Saffron is limited in its growth by a couple of obstacles: to the east, the Industrial area bordering with Lavender; to the south, Vermilion City and the Saffron Wetlands you have already had the chance to explore; and to the north, a ridge of modest hills that separate the Capital from the much quieter Cerulean countryside. As such, most of the newer buildings, including the brand new Tomorrow Stadium, will be located in the western part of the city - also the area you should be arriving to at first, coming from the wetlands. In between all of these areas, of course, lies the Central district of Saffron, the oldest part of the city. A river winds through the buildings, creating one of the most sought-after spots for all Saffron citizens to spend some time outside… or for companies to set up a shop in the vicinity.

WHAT TO FIND HERE

- Two Pokémon Centers! One is located right in the middle of the western district, near the Stadium, while the other is hosted in an older building right beside the Saffron river, in the centermost area of the city. Most rooms happen to be reserved for all the people involved in the Tomorrow Cup tournament being held this week, but due to a city policy, a fair amount of rooms are reserved for trainers who may arrive after the tournament starts. The Pokémon Centers will be crowded, yes, but the numerous staff and large buildings should give you an easier time than Vermilion!

- Many small but cozy green areas basically everywhere around the city! Saffron citizens will flock to them when the weather is favourable, especially if they're near the center, and often gather here or have lunch. Many take-away food stalls and restaurants take advantage of this, and offer all sorts of dishes nearby. You may argue that these parks belong to people but, you may still find some wild Pokémon to catch in here!

Western District:
- The aforementioned Tomorrow Stadium is a modern outdoor arena that was built just a few years ago as a versatile structure for all sorts of sports - including Pokémon Training of course! While usually you could find athletics, Unovan football, PokéAthlon, and more, the stadium is currently hosting an important Pokémon Training tournament, and will mostly be used for this purpose. A smaller indoor arena is also located nearby, as well as a large, modern park, and various other commodities. The rest of the area is mostly residential.

- Wanna move into the city centre? No problem! Even if there's no shuttle stop in the western district just yet, you still have options such as renting bikes, hopping on a bus, or… if you're keen on following Professor Palm's rules, ride some Pokémon! Gogoats, brought here from Lumiose City, are by far the preferred ride (for you). The two Pokémon Centers are the most frequent stops, and the place where all Pokémon are instructed to go back to in case someone new needs their services.

Center District:
- A lot of people. Central Saffron is always bustling with activity, being full not just of workplaces but also shops, museums, and services in general. The buildings alternate between modern skyscrapers and old-style elaborate buildings, but they all manage to look imposing and prestigious.

- The same river you crossed when you entered the Wetlands! Here it is again, running through the city center and all the high-rise buildings. Sadly there's no boats or fishing spots, but it's a nice place to hang out and, likely, your best point of reference as you explore the city.

- Various trainer-oriented facilities: in downtown you can find a club for new and upcoming talents of Pokémon fighting, as well as places where Trainers can ask for other Trainers' help.

- Route 5, which begins on the northern edge of the city, where a range of hills starts to rise. This would be a relatively easy walk going into Saffron from the other end, Cerulean, but not the other way around, due to Cerulean sitting at a higher altitude... even then, if you choose to explore this area you'll find one of the quietest neighborhoods of Saffron, with a pretty lookout over the city and a relaxing atmosphere. Quite good if you're getting nostalgic of the open roads.

EVENTS / PROMPTS

SUSPENSION: Wednesday, May 29^th
Voices might have started spreading even on the day before, but it's on Wednesday morning that you should get this announcement delivered to your PokéGear:

Dear graduating trainers:
The Pokémon League Association has suspended Hana Palm from her duties as Vermilion City's Gym Leader, after substantial reports of her aiding and abetting Cape College students in her reports. The new Gym Leader will be appointed shortly after this investigation is closed.
All of Hana's reviews of graduating trainers that have already battled her in an official setting will be struck from the record, however, to not cause further inconvenience to students, there will be no obligation to visit the Gym again and battle the local leader: trainers may continue their journey as normal, and their evaluation will be based off the other seven Gym Leaders' reports.
We wish you good luck for the rest of your journey.

Reward? Well, now you know about this too. You don't have to react to this in a post you write if you don't feel the need to!

TOMORROW CUP?: Friday, May 31^st
Tomorrow Cup is scheduled for this week in Saffron! But oops, it's only open for trainers with an actual license, and that means, not you (yet). All you can really do is watch some matches and cheer for your favorite trainers...

Not interested in being a spectator? Totally fair. But fear not, there's still a few events you can join! For example, a local Trainers Club is hosting a separate Tournament for journeying students that you can sign up to. 16 slots, single elimination since the start, but one single winner, one full day of battles - that being Friday, May 31^st - and one reward.

In order to participate in the tournament, you have to write out at least one full battle against another player or a NPC. If your character is going to win the tournament, which is something you should discuss with other participants before deciding, you'll then have to write 2 full battles. Brackets can be arranged in the Discord server for this RP!

Reward? Some fame and some fans for participants! Plus, the winner may receive their choice of one evolutionary item or stone!

BROADWAY RISING STAR: Saturday, June 1^st
Another event open to all trainers- including student trainers!- is the Pokémon Musical that the Pokémon Fan Club has organized and financed... possibly because they didn't want to get completely outshined by Tomorrow Cup, but that's just rumors.
This event works a bit like a Contest, but doesn't involve battles, and is therefore just a single exhibition round in front of three Judges with either one Pokémon (Morning iteration, starting at 9 a.m.) or two (Afternoon iteration, starting at 3 p.m.) - Pokémon and trainer often have lots of choice to dress up for their exhibition, which is only given a max. time of 8 minutes. It's not very important though, as most contestants usually finish earlier than that.

In order to participate and claim a reward, you'll just need to write a post detailing your own exhibition!

Reward? Participating Pokémon gain +2 levels each for their performance, and participating trainers will each receive a TM for a status move that corresponds to the vibe of their performance- aka Tough, Cute, Beautiful, Cool, or Clever. Click here and sort moves by contest category for an easy time finding these things!

THE OPPOSITE OF YOU:
The past week of hype and frenzied preparations all centered around the Tomorrow Cup has brought suspicious figures out of the woodwork- between dusk and dawn, figures in dark, beaked masks have been sighted roaming the streets. Their agenda? Mysterious to most, but trainers who run across them tell tales of assault with intent- and sometimes success- of stealing Pokémon away.

You can mix and match these sub-prompts to your heart's desire.

💥 Any day you're in Saffron-
Tournament challengers are in a panic! Some Pokémon have not only gone missing, but have been fully de-registered from their trainers in the system- meaning that their PokéBalls have somehow, for some reason, been destroyed and the Pokémon are legally wild once more. Unfortunately, these trainers have to manage the search between tournament matches and other duties- they would be so grateful for any help tracking down their Pokémon! Partner up with one of these pro trainers to find and re-capture their (probably just as frenzied) Pokémon somewhere in the city.

Reward? The pro trainer will reward you with one of the TMs they have on hand. It can be any move you want!

💥 From Wednesday, May 29^th to Friday, May 31^st-
Those whose contact information was registered with the Cerulean Police via the events of Dark Morning are being methodically contacted with a warning. The current wave of suspicious and criminal activity in Saffron is being perpetuated by people wearing the same masks as those who were found and confronted in Cerulean. However, something is strange- the masks are a known trademark of the Pokémon Liberation Group, who are dedicated to freeing Pokémon from the confines of human rule. Their key defining features is that they themselves do not use or keep Pokémon in any capacity. Their motive is to release all trainer-owned Pokémon into the wild, and are explicitly non-violent against said Pokémon (though they have no qualms about human on human violence).

This, as those involved with the events of Dark Morning are likely aware, is all directly contradictory to their behavior in Cerulean. The Cerulean and Saffron police are combining investigative forces at this time, but regardless- those who have had direct contact with these masked people in the past are advised to be on their guard.

You may choose to write this out or you may not- regardless, this is information your character will have if they interacted with the Cerulean Police.

Reward? anxiety lol

💥 Thursday, May 30^th-
Somewhere in the eastern industrial zone, PokéBall production has come to a screeching halt. Sometime in the night, the factory was cut completely from the power grid in a complicated act of vandalism. The spraypainted cartoon logo of the Pokémon Liberation Group glares from the wall where stacked crates should be. Shocking amounts of product were either stolen or destroyed- and there are so many orders that need to be filled! The factory can't lose an entire day of business, but they can't resume manufacturing without power. If only some Pokémon could act as temporary generators for the day...
Any electric user will do, including those that can reliably create Electricity through use of moves like Mimic, Mirror Move or Copycat. They'll take what they can get.

Reward? Each Pokémon that assists gains 4 levels for the hard work! The trainers get nothing. Yeah, they took advantage of you. Sorry.

💥 Friday, May 31^th-
A group of charismatic and friendly teens and young adults have gathered at the students' tournament, but they are not here to battle nor to watch- in fact, they are here to spread their message. Kindly, they will draw young trainers into a conversation, and work their way into confronting the core ethical dilemma of commanding Pokémon to fight in service to humans for sport. Many a student trainer has turned away from participating in the tournament today, swayed or at least troubled by the viewpoints this group has presented them with. Good luck to those that engage with them- they are very persuasive. Defend your ideals if you can. Or...

Reward? Concede their point. If you do, you will be slipped a little pin featuring a weird cartoon character. Its face is familiar to those who have dealt with the PLG- it is, in fact, their mascot:

You do not have to actually withdraw from the tournament even if you end up conceding your point to them.

AVAILABLE POKÉMON
Click on the Pokémon to see movesets. You may choose to encounter the previous stage of an evolved wild pokémon if you wish, and then have it evolve at your leisure.

: Pidgeotto, lv. 21-23
Keen Eye, Tangled Feet, Big Pecks
Tackle, Gust, Sand Attack, Quick Attack, Twister, Whirlwind
: Weepinbell, lv. 21-23
Chlorophyll, Gluttony
Vine Whip, Growth, Wrap, Stun Spore, Poison Powder, Sleep Powder
: Burmy, lv. 21-23
Shed Skin, Overcoat
Protect, Tackle, Bug Bite, Hidden Power
: Ledian, lv. 21-23
Swarm, Early Bird, Iron Fist
Swift, Light Screen, Reflect, Safeguard, Mach Punch, Silver Wind
: Snubbull, lv. 21-23
Intimidate, Run Away, Rattled
Scary Face, Tail Whip, Charm, Bite, Lick, Headbutt
: Emolga, lv. 21-23
Static, Motor Drive
Tail Whip, Nuzzle, Spark, Charge, Pursuit, Double Team
: Skitty, lv. 21-23
Cute Charm, Normalize, Wonder Skin
Sing, Attract, Copycat, Disarming Voice, Double Slap, Faint Attack
: Purrloin, lv. 21-23
Limber, Unburden, Prankster
Growl, Sand Attack, Fake Out, Fury Swipes, Torment, Pursuit
: Meowth, Kantonian, lv. 21-23
Pickup, Technician, Unnerve
Fake Out, Scratch, Feint, Pay Day, Bite, Taunt
: Aipom, lv. 21-23
Run Away, Pickup, Skill Link
Swift, Fury Swipes, Tickle, Baton Pass, Astonish, Sand Attack

Juno · Nov 1, 2021

Tangles Art Cred

Chapter 9: Restoration

🏊 Route 6 🕙 May 28th, Late Morning 👥 ft. Casey Holt & Vera Hill

The smell of seawater gradually dissipates as they leave Vermilion City behind them. Jordan's brows are lightly furrowed as he follows his companions through the marshy Wetlands, his thoughts punctuated only by the gentle chirps and trills of the local fauna. Casey and Vera are chattering away just several paces ahead - or, rather, it looks like Casey is chattering away at Vera with the smallest amount of reciprocity from her, but they are just out of range for Jordan to be able to hear what he's going on about. Which is fine; good, in fact, since he's still thinking about and unpacking everything that happened in Vermilion.

Eventually, inevitably, Casey invades Jordan's physical and mental space.

"Jordaaaaan, you're too quiet! It's a nice day and we're walking in a new place all together!" Casey says brightly, hip-checking Jordan as he falls into step beside him. "What's up with you?"

"Just thinking about the gym battle. Like, it's not that I expect to win at every gym or something, but I figured if I had any of them in the bag, it would have been that one, you know? The terrain wasn't ideal, but your team managed..."

"I didn't put 'em in, did I? Kept 'em on the side as much as I could, 'cause you gotta at least take away terrain advantages, if you can't make one for yourself. I wish I had more moves to do that, honestly. But that was my focus there an' it worked out." Casey pats Pepper's head. "Plus, trainin'. We do a lot o' that."

Jordan nods. " Yeah, I thought the platforms would help, but nothing beats solid ground under your feet if you can't swim, I guess. Hana was right, though, I didn't really prepare at all - just walked in with what I thought I knew about fighting at a Water gym. I think my Pokemon just need more training. And 'discipline', however we get that." He mimes the cracking of a whip in Sage's direction. who sharply kicks in his direction and takes off with Spirit on her back.

"Wait, I was kidding- I didn't think you heard... nevermind."

Casey hums. "I dunno much about discipline. I just let mine go how they want most of the time. But I get 'em to train just fine!"

Vera laughs lightly, confidently brushing her hair behind her ear. "Ha! You two just have some wild Pokémon to take care of. My team is perfectly well behaved." She stumbles as Goblin jumps to the other side of her backpack to look at something, throwing off her balance. "...mostly."

Jordan glances skeptically at the Impidimp, but says nothing. While he has some objections to Vera's claims about her own team, he can't deny that some of his Pokemon probably do still share a lot in common with their wild counterparts. That was probably fine for the first couple days, but with the third gym on the horizon, he knows some changes need to be made.

"Okay!" He says so suddenly and loudly that Sage skids to a halt, almost throwing the Cubone off her back. "Let's do it. Non-stop training all the way through this route. You lot are gonna be so well-trained by the time we get to Saffron, you'll be like different Pokemon."

"Let's do it!" Casey cheers, Pepper copying in his Charmeleon-y way and waving his tanbō in the air.

"Sure, sounds like it'll be fun." Vera also cheers, just much less enthusiastically than Casey, if no less genuine.

"Right!" Jordan rolls up his sleeves and... looks to his friends for guidance. "So, where do we start?"

Casey hums. "If it's easier to get 'em to do stuff they already want to do, let's find out what yours like!"

"Okay, yeah! That's a good idea. Let's start with…" Jordan looks at his team, eyes landing on his oldest friend. If there was ever a Pokemon of his who didn't need discipline, it would be her. But still… they lost. Maybe we can start with the training side here. He smiles, beckoning her over. "Tangles, come here. What do you like to do?"

She blinks. Her eyes are expressive, but they're not really giving him much to work with.

"Um - hm. That's okay. we'll figure it out." He looks at Casey and Vera. "What kinda areas did you guys work on with your teams?"

"Uh… just kind of… rounding them out, you know?" Vera hesitates in her answer, looking slightly troubled as she thinks about it. "They know what they're good at, I just focused on their weak points."

"I guess I do the opposite- Parsley likes to run, so I let him run and just direct his attention. Pepper likes to run circles 'round things so I use that to get him in good positions. Ginger likes to jump and bounce-" Casey cuts himself off to laugh at himself. "I guess all o' mine like to be mobile, huh! But the point is they already lean toward mobility, so I lean into that."

"Divided opinions, thank you…" Jordan taps his chin. They both seemed like good ideas, so he isn't sure which approach to take first.

"Well, why don't you try training Casey's way?" Vera steps back, gesturing to Jordan like a game show host. "He's all yours. I'm curious to see how you do things."

"I think... speed was one of our downfalls against Hana. Her Pokemon were just way faster..." He kneels down next to Tangles. "Think that's something we can work on?"

The Tangela lurches forward to nod. Casey surveys her critically.

"There's a few ways she can do that, but easiest and usual-est is just runnin'. How's she at that?"

"Well, she's okay, I suppose - she's got… feet." Jordan peers down at Tangles' boot-like appendages. She's not the lightest on her feet, but like Vera said, focusing on weaker points could help, too. "Yeah! Let's do that."

They find an even stretch of dirt path that's not too marshy or wet, and Jordan stands a good 50 yards away from her before waving his arms in the air to get her attention.

"Alright, let's see what you've got. Come to me!" He shouts as she begins moving towards him. "A-as fast as you can!" He added. Maybe she didn't get the memo. He motions for her to pick up the pace again, but the reality of the situation dawns on him.

Oh, dear. That's not very fast. He smiles encouragingly as she approaches, but it's clear this is not her forte. Well, that's why we're here, I suppose.

"Okay, good start!" Jordan pats the top of her viney head, her body heaving up and down as she catches her breath from the sprint. "We'll… give it a few minutes and try it again…?" He looks to Casey and Vera with uncertainty.

"Sprint and rest, sure, but the rest can't be too long. Keep the heart rate up, right?" Casey bounces from side to side. "Let's all do it! C'mon, Tangles, back the other way!"

Casey takes off at a reasonable jog before Jordan or Vera can object, Pepper and Parsley and Sage- and by proxy, Spirit and Ginger- joining in. Still, when they get to the other end of the stretch, Tangles is well behind the crowd- even after Pepper had been chastised for running on all fours. Casey cheers anyway, when she stops near his feet and slumps down.

"You did it!" Casey pats her head. He's gotten over his skittishness about her vines, apparently. "Thirty seconds, then again."

They repeat the exercise a few more times - while the participation of their other Pokemon seems to have given her some motivation in the form of competition and she was able to pick up her pace a bit, coming in dead last every time is a little discouraging and she didn't seem like she was having much fun after a while.

"Alright, good! You're improving already, I'm so proud of you." Jordan coos, before being interrupted by Sage bursting forward for her share of praise. "Yes, you too - good running. Should we switch up the exercise a bit?"

"Shorter bursts, maybe? She could be better at dodging, right?" Casey demonstrates by shuffling side to side as Parsley tries to shove his nose in his pockets. "You're not getting snacks for a jog, you do that anyway!"

"You can try that leaf thing you do, those wouldn't hurt too much if she can't dodge them. But would probably give enough incentive to try anyway." Vera chimes in, casually suggesting attacking Tangles.

"Oh- yeah, put it to a practical test," Jordan agrees. He turns to the Tangela. "You up for that? Nothing crazy, just a few rounds from Sage."

Tangles nods as Sage hops around, already eager to get started after hearing her name. "Okay, wait - let her get in position first," He holds an arm out in front of the Skiddo. "Alright, that's good - ready? Yes?" He gives a thumbs up to Tangles and waits for her confirmation, which comes in the form of another nod, her vines shaking as she tips forward.

"Okay! Razor Leaf!"

Sage's attack… immediately finds its target. To Tangles' credit, she sidestepped a number of the leaves, but she still appears to have taken the brunt of the hit. Jordan winces. Well, at least Vera's right - that shouldn't hurt her much.

"Alright, not bad! You can probably avoid more of them once you get the hang of this." He calls out to her. "Wanna try it again?"

They give it a few more rounds - her success rate varies from dodging a few blades to almost a good 40% of them, but she did not seem to progress past this. In fact, she'd slowed down quite a bit since they started this exercise.

"Jordan," Casey murmurs, shoving Parsley away and sidling over so only Jordan can hear him. "She's gettin' hit a lot."

"Yeah, she really is," Jordan sighs. He pauses for a moment, then steps forward. "Okay, time out. Stop - Sage-" A few leaves lazily whizz past Jordan's head as he jogs over to Tangles, but it was clear the Skiddo was not actually aiming to hit her new target.

"Hey, are you alright?" He asks, spinning her around on the spot to examine the damage. Some of her vines have cuts through them, but she does not seem bothered by that at all.

"Oh, right - the vines don't really feel anything, huh." He comments, recalling the Pokedex entries and the 'haircut' he had given her. "Nature's armour."

Tangles bounces proudly, but Jordan lights up as something else dawns on him. "Maybe… that's it!"

"What's it?" Vera hadn't been watching, but Jordan's exclamation catches her attention.

Jordan ruffles Tangles' vines around. They flop around at her sides. "She's not designed to be nimble, is she? But all this stuff is like armour - it doesn't hurt, it covers her whole body - She's a tank! Maybe it makes more sense to look at her training from this angle instead."

"So she's gotta practise taking hits?" Casey slides his walking stick out of the holster on his back and shifts into a low, ready stance with it, Pepper doing the same with his single tanbō. "Then I guess we gotta hit her, huh? Practise pushing us away, maybe."

Without waiting for an answer, Casey swings his walking stick at Tangles. Jordan knows the swing is neither as hard nor as fast as his friend could swing it, but still winces as it makes contact with a thud.

Tangles shakes off the hit, then holds out a few vines in his direction defensively to brace for the next swing. Casey goes for it, but a brief hesitation on his part lets Tangles get a grip on the walking stick and tug it out of his hands. "Uh. Pepper, you go."

Pepper hits faster and lighter than Casey, a one-two pattern with both ends of his tanbō, pulling back from the vines before they can snatch it away. Tangles braces herself, vines coalescing at the points Pepper hits.

"Yeah, that's it! Ingrain yourself, too - I think it's key to train up your resistance to melee attacks, rather than try to dodge them." Jordan encourages. Standing firmly, vines snake out from under Tangles as she roots herself in place. They glow dimly in the ground as she draws energy from the earth.

"Oh, good, restorative," Casey says vaguely. "She can't move anymore, though, can she?" Pepper continues his attack, beginning to circle as he hits.

"Nope," Jordan responds, observing their Pokemon. If Pepper were to attack with fire, this probably would go quite differently, but she is holding up well against physical attacks. Tangles doesn't actually have many powerful, offensive moves, but in matchups where this strategy would be viable, she could probably play a pretty good game of attrition.

"She can do this, though. Absorb!" On Jordan's command, the particles of light she emits float towards Pepper. Annoyed, he tries to swat them away, but they quickly converge on him and draw energy back to Tangles.

"Absorb… Pepper, back up." Pepper shuffles back, ready to dodge the itchy particles if they come for him again. "I guess it's good for what you wanna do here, but it's none too powerful. And- gotta think about range, right? How far can she reach, if she's stuck? Back up more."

"Yeah, that's a good point. I was thinking about it, too - this could chip away at some opponents well, but we'll need more. Maybe we could stall with, like, Poison or Sleep Powder, she's got those. Or... or..." Jordan's thoughts trail off as he watches Tangles continue to try and hit Pepper with her draining attack.

"Hey, it's alright, don't wear yourself out too much. We're still brainstorming and trying new things-" He begins, but the fuzzy bits of light she's emitting are combining and glowing stronger. Jordan watches with fascination, and the intensity in her eyes as she concentrates tells him this isn't her regular Absorb.

"Oh, Casey, look," He grabs his friend's arm briefly and gives it a shake, before fumbling for his Pokedex. "What is that?"

"Dunno! Pepper, take the hit." Pepper grumbles, but walks forward to accept the itchy attack in full. He writhes and complains and flames lick at his teeth as they gnash at the light. "Hey, chill, I know you're fine. Good job." Casey turns back to Jordan. "Definitely worse, huh? Why's it worse?"

"A tough attack that drains damage inflicted to restore energy... 'Mega Drain'?" Jordan reads off his device. "Mega Drain! Oh, that's a new move! You learned a new move. I'm so proud of you." Jordan bends down and gives her a squeeze, momentarily lifting her off the ground in a hug before grunting and putting the heavy ball of vines back on the ground. "It must be a stronger version of Absorb. That's gonna really help with our defensive strategies."

They continue to train Tangles' defense for a while, rotating between Pepper's melee whacks and Sage's ranged blows. It's not a perfect strategy on its own, and Jordan knows they will have to bolster Tangles' movepool to include more offensive attacks as well since defense and regeneration alone will not win battles, but her physical endurance has improved quite a bit in the short time they had been training already. Having a game plan and area of focus they were both confident in for Tangles definitely brought up their morale as well, making their recent loss seem like a distant memory already.

"You feel good about this too, hm?" He pats his partner's viney head before sitting down next to her on her break. Her eyes shine as she jumps up and down. "Yeah, we'll get the next one."

"Sure will!" Casey and Pepper give Tangles a pat as well, who tries to pull them all in for a hug that Casey gingerly accepts, but wriggles out of speedily. "Just gotta keep up the trainin'. I can help y'all do it- well, maybe not with uh, Tiny. Or the Misdreavus." Casey glances around nervously, then looks confused. "Where's Vera?"

The grin fades from Jordan's face as he, too, notices their friend is nowhere in sight. It dawns on him it's been a while since he heard her - they must have been so absorbed in their training they didn't notice her slip away. While Vera is the quieter companion, she wouldn't have just… left without saying anything, and for no reason. Would she? He scans the horizon in all four directions before his eyes lock on her conspicuous head of silver hair, glinting in the sunlight in the distance.

"Oh, there she is," He points out. His relief is quickly followed by confusion. "What's she doing all the way out there? Come on, let's go get her."

Party

Tangles
Tangela | F | Lvl. 23

Ingrain
Constrict
Mega Drain
Vine Whip
Sleep Powder
Poison Powder

Hop
Pidgeotto | M | Lvl. 23

Headbutt
Pluck
Twister
Mirror Move
Roost
Wing Attack

Spirit
Alolan Cubone | M | Lvl. 17

Focus Energy
Feint Attack
Bone Club
Headbutt
Swords Dance

Sage
Skiddo | F | Lvl. 22

Take Down
Growth
Vine Whip
Play Nice
Razor Leaf
Synthesis

Tiny
Pumpkaboo | F | Lvl. 22

Bullet Seed
Shadow Sneak
Confuse Ray
Scary Face
Worry Seed
Trick-or-Treat

???
??? | ? | Lvl. -

It appears to move occasionally. It may be close to hatching.

Inventory

- Pokédex
- Pokégear
- 2-person tent
- Tangles' plant

Moon Stone

Eleanor · Nov 2, 2021

art by Aquacorde

Arianne Chandler
Saffron City
Tuesday, May 28^th, afternoon
Written with QueenNothing as Gwen Alanis

Cliff hanger

"...man, that was sooooo amazing to witness! I didn't even know Petal Dance could go on for that long until I saw Jenny pull that off!"

"Oh, that's interesting too!" Arianne smiles again as she looks towards Gwen. "And look, in no time we reached Saffron…" She announces proudly, taking her first step on solid concrete.

After their archeology adventure, during which Eric and Pix learned Dig and dug up some treasure (Arianne kept a translucent Dragon Scale, while Gwen snagged a King's Rock), the two girls enjoyed a quick picnic along the dirt path. But once that was finished, nothing could hold back Gwen, and she made a beeline for Saffron with unparalleled enthusiasm. Her chosen topic of conversation? Jennifer, of course!

"FINALLY!!" Gwen pumps her fists into the air, her body clearly unable to contain her excitement. "Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting for this day!? It's been forever since I've seen her! I know Saffron like the back of my hand, I say we head over now!"

"Yes, let's go!" Arianne happily leans into the other girl's enthusiasm. It's inspiring and almost refreshing to see that kind of raw emotion, especially during a journey where the Cinnabar girl has never really felt like that so strongly. Maybe that is just what happens when people get to see their hometown after months spent elsewhere? She wouldn't know, she's never left Cinnabar for that long before joining Cape College. "You lead the way, girl!" Arianne laughs, before running after Gwen and - only after a while - trying to take in the city landscape she's now a part of.

At some point the two come across an apartment complex that seems like any other building in the city, but with how eager Gwen is while pointing it out it's no doubt where her older sister lives. From there her instincts completely take over, as she grabs Arianne by the wrist and pulls her forward seemingly without giving it much thought. Upon entering the building, Gwen makes one final sprint to the front desk, where an aging man reading a magazine sits.

"Hey old guy!" Gwen shouts at the man in a familiar tone. Most people wouldn't respond positively to being bluntly called "old guy", but the man doesn't seem bothered in the slightest, instead turning his attention towards the girl with a soft grin.

'Goodness, Gwen! How long has it been since I last saw you?"

"A long time ago, that's for sure!" She says and then flashes her pearly whites.

The older man guffaws. "Ain't that the truth." He then closes his magazine and perks his head up, directly making eye-contact with Arianne when noticing her. "Oh, you've brought a friend along! Why hello there young lady! What's your name?"

"Hello, I'm Arianne!" The Cinnabar girl smiles, standing beside Gwen. "Yes, we're traveling together for our graduation journey!"

"Already!? My, how time flies. It seems like it was just yesterday you moved in with your sister, Gwen." The older man comments.

"I don't know what you're talking about, that felt like it was a gorillion years ago. But speaking of my sister, that's who we're here to visit! Arianne here is about to meet a Pokemon Master!"

The old man's face suddenly goes somber. "Ah, well about that… truth be told I haven't actually so much as seen her leave her apartment in months."

"You haven't seen her leave this place? Did she get things delivered to her flat then?" Arianne questions. That's definitely strange- almost stranger than her not being here at all. Would she just train on the roof? Would she let her Pokémon out and about inside her flat, almost like Gwen did? If the younger sister could still get away with it, the older would have to deal with a Volcarona and a Krookodile, and that doesn't sound ideal.

"I'm sure she's around… if she knew Gwen was coming, she'd never miss it for anything!" The Cinnabar girl smiles reassuringly. Gwen rapidly nods in agreement.

"It sounds ridiculous, I know, but it's true. Haven't seen her since around February. But I do see her Pokemon come around a few times, interestingly enough."

"February…" Gwen thinks aloud to herself while her grip on the desk tightens. "That was the last time I-I-I…" Her body begins trembling as she faces the ground, doing her best to hide her eyes under her bangs.

This time it's Arianne who holds Gwen's wrist... the situation likely calls for it anyways. "Gwen, uhm… your sister could still be here! Let's just check out her flat since we're here, right?" She suggests, trying to make eye contact again.

"Yeah…" Gwen's arm is swiftly run across her face before attempting to look at the other girl. Within seconds her spirits are raised again, although she seems a lot more antsy now. "Well what are we waiting for? Come on!"

With that, she storms off up the stairs without even waiting for her friend. Arianne tries to go after her, but the old man at the counter calls her name, and she decides to stop by his counter.

"Pardon me for interrupting you, but thank you for sticking around with Gwen. It's nice to see her with friends." He grins before waving goodbye. "I'd suggest not to keep her waiting though. You probably know how she gets."

"Oh… it's nothing! I mean, she's a nice friend…" Arianne speaks up, but her voice becomes unsteady as her heart beats just a bit faster. That comment makes her happy- plain and simple. "Sure, I'll go now!"

After being told again where Jennifer's flat is, a galvanized Arianne runs up the stairs of the complex, managing to catch up with her friend just in time. "Phew… here you are!" Gwen, standing right in-front of the apartment that can only be her sister's, doesn't even respond upon seeing Arianne, instead opting to reach straight for the doorbell where her index finger repeatedly jams into the button. A ring is heard from the other side of the door but nothing else is. Gwen stands silent for a few minutes, anticipating an answer, but nothing comes of it.

"Uh, she usually takes a bit to answer the door." Gwen nervously chuckles, mashing her finger back into the doorbell. She impatiently waits in-front of the door again, but just as before, nothing happens. "Ah- maybe the doorbell just isn't working!" She doesn't even sound convinced by her own words, and she clearly is struggling to keep a smile plastered on her face. As much as Gwen might be denying it, it's obvious nobody is going to answer the door.

That turn of events was definitely not what Arianne expected or wanted, and seeing her friend in that condition was already heart-breaking. "Uh… maybe she's having a shower and is taking her time trying to look presentable…" She tries to think of a possible excuse Jenny may have for not showing up. It's not quite enough though, so Espurr is called out after a bit.

"Ok, you know Disarming Voice, right?" Arianne asks her Pokémon, who trembles slightly at the question but executes the attack, letting out a loud Meow towards the door. "And that's also the doorbell problem ruled out…"

Unsurprisingly nobody answers the door, but Gwen isn't ready to be defeated yet. "Well if she's just getting ready I say we wait here until she's done! That's when we can try again!"

"Alright, we will wait!" Arianne replies, trying to absorb Gwen's enthusiasm so that she can display it back at her. She then picks up Espurr and gently pats her a few times, but it's mostly a way to deal with stress. Gwen folds her legs in and sits in the hallway, brows furrowed, determined to wait a century if she has to. It might as well have been that long though since nothing happens during the wait period, yet Gwen still doesn't budge an inch. That goes on for about a half-hour or so, and Bead even starts to get a little concerned with how little his trainer has moved. It's not until he gives a worried bleat that she speaks up.

"Sorry Bead. I'm not getting out of this spot until Jenny answers."

While at first Arianne was gladly listening to the other girl, she soon found her face buried in her PokéGear, looking at all the things her non-trainer friends were up to. While she couldn't really say she admired or supported any one of them as much as Gwen did with her sister, she enjoyed their company, she enjoyed being there with them, and she missed those feelings for all of her permanence at Cape College. Surely, Gwen was also feeling... that with her sister- it wasn't just a matter of looking up to her.

This lets Arianne lose her own sense of time a bit, and it makes the wait more bearable, if anything. She doesn't actually check the time until Bead's cry, and only then does she realize how much time she's passed in front of that door. Jennifer couldn't have taken that long to get out of a shower, dressed up, and answered, could she?

Or better, how could she explain that to Gwen?

The Cinnabar girl kept waiting, with her head in her contacts again, but this time, things were different. Her mind was now screaming at her to go and get a room in a Pokémon Center, heal her Pokémon up, have something to eat and explore Saffron City at least a bit, so that she wouldn't feel like a fish out of water the next morning… and Gwen was turning more into an obstacle that was keeping her locked in place. Oh, but of course, she couldn't say that to her face. Never. Genuinely never.

"I'm… starting to get a bad feeling, Gwen…" Is all she can say, before letting out a long sigh. She looks down to the sitting girl, hoping for an answer.

"Getting a bad feeling about what?" Gwen abrasively cocks up a brow.

"Uh, it's about the r-rooms at the Pokémon Center, I don't want this to b-be like V-Vermilion but we haven't even c-checked that out!" Ari stutters. There's truth in there, but there's also nothing too direct, which is just what the girl needed, it's just the delivery that worked out terribly. Making a misstep is very scary in this situation.

"We won't need to worry about that when Jenny answers. We can just stay in the room I have here, right?"

"I guess so, but will there be enough space for everyone? What about our Pokémon?" Arianne runs a hand through her hair. "I mean, last time we sort of got away with it because we were staying at the Fanclub…"

"I-" Gwen puts her index finger and thumb to her chin. "I guess you're right actually. I do have some cool stuff in there that'd just be fucked up if we all had our Pokemon out…"

"W-well, I don't know how big your room is and all that but, maybe we should still check the Pokémon Center to have a plan B?" Arianne asks again.

"That's probably a good idea, yeah… B-but I can't just- I've been waiting soooo long to see Jenny again, I can't just…" Gwen's words start to become shaky and once again she tilts her head to the floor to hide her eyes. "I just wanna see her again, damnit!" She loudly sniffles a few times, likely doing her best to hold any tears back.

"I… I get that, Gwen…" Arianne mutters, now feeling Gwen's anguish spread onto her. "Hm, can you stand up for a bit?"

Gwen complies, back turned towards Arianne, and suddenly squeaks as she's embraced in a tight hug. Seeing as how the closest thing to resistance she puts up is shivering like a Snorunt, that's probably a sign that appreciates it.

"I think I'll still check out the PokéCenter and try to find room for tonight but… rest assured I'll be back here as soon as I can! I'm sure… I'm sure Jenny wants to see you again too." Arianne whispers in Gwen's ear before letting go of her and walking away. It still hurts a little though - that hug had something truly magical about it, something that makes the girl wish it could have lasted far longer than it did.

Gwen stands completely frozen for a bit before turning around with her face completely red. "I… I should probably go with you. I guess we can try again some other time."

TEAM:

Eric, lv. 35 •

Espurr, lv. 19

Blitzle, lv. 23 •

Mizar, lv. 19

Lulu, lv. 30 •

Honedge, lv. 20

Groc · Nov 12, 2021

Vera Hill, Casey Holt, Jordan Springs
Chapter 9 - Ace Trainer Investigations
Route 6; Tuesday, May 28th

Vera watches with mild interest as Pepper hits Tangles with his sticks. She's not entirely sure how this is helping, but Jordan seems enthusiastic. Sure, she was surprised when Casey offered to do it himself, but Tangles doesn't seem bothered.

"Absorb… Pepper, back up." Pepper does as instructed, watching Tangles carefully. Vera is distracted by Goblin tapping on her shoulder again, so she misses what Tangles does next as she glares at the little imp. He just looks up at her, then looks off toward some long grass. Vera doesn't see anything there, so she turns back to the training. Jordan is nodding at something Casey said.

"...this could chip away at some opponents well, but we'll need more. Maybe…" Vera misses whatever suggestion Jordan is about to make, as Goblin sharply pulls on her hair, making her flinch in pain. Her wince turns into a full teeth-bared glare at the literal devil on her shoulder, who just points to the grass again.

She looks at her boys, who are watching Pepper and Tangles' mock fight. She doesn't want to interrupt their conversation, but if she doesn't appease Goblin she might lose some of her hair, so she just walks away from the training session, towards the grass.

"Fine, we're here. What was so important that you wanted to see over here?" Goblin tugs at her hair again, softer this time, as if trying to pull her closer to the grass without actually leaving her shoulder. "You are so lazy! You know you can walk too, right?"

Goblin pouts at her, grabbing a handful of white locks.

"Don't you dare!" She grabs his arm, slowly stepping into the grass. "Fine, I'll go in! Just leave the hair alone! At least Ebony is gentle when he's in there…"

As she moves through the grass, she starts to notice the ground getting softer. She's glad she opted for hiking boots before setting out, because the soft earth soon leads to flooded fields. Goblin urges her forward, and she notices a few other people out here working in the wet fields.

"These are rice fields, we don't belong out here. Is this what you wanted to show me? These people are just doing their jobs. How'd you even notice them?"

Goblin tugs at one of his ears, pointing out how big it is. When he tries to grab her ear, she slaps his hand away. "You're on thin ice, boy. I'll send you to Palm's if you're not careful. See how he likes your antics."

Goblin moves to her other shoulder, one hand at his ear. He points forward, looking excited, stomping on her shoulder to get her attention. For the life of her, Vera can't remember why she caught the little monster. "Okay! I'm going. Calm down, geez…" She finds a somewhat dry path winding through the fields, following Goblin's directions to whatever noise has him so worked up.

After a bit of walking, and changing directions more than once to try and zero in on the sounds, Vera stumbles across another rice field, but this one is devoid of any plants. There are still people milling about, some of them knee-deep in the muck, while others work inside tents that have been set up on dry land.

"Whoa, what's all this? You heard this all the way back at the road?" Vera looks at her Impidimp companion, who just smirks. "Guess we could see what's up with the tents. Since we're out here."

She doesn't want to enter the flooded field, so she makes her way around to the tents. One of the workers notices her and makes his way through the water to intercept her.

"Excuse me, miss! Can I help you?" He steps up onto the path before Vera can see inside the tents.

"Just looking around. My friend here wanted to see what's going on." Goblin waves at the oblique mention. "Doesn't look like farming. So what's your story, mister?"

"Professor, actually. Professor Rick Diggins, at your service." He offers a muddy hand to Vera, which she refuses to shake. He awkwardly leaves it extended for a moment before dropping it. "Right. Well… surely you've heard that this whole area used to be underwater, correct? That Saffron used to be a port city?"

Vera merely raises an eyebrow skeptically.

"No? Well, evidence suggests it's true. So I've gathered some volunteers from the local Historical Preservation Society to search these once flooded fields in search of artifacts and signs of civilization!"

Vera looks over at the field, and the handful of volunteers wading through mud. "They still look pretty flooded. And the farmers are okay with this?"

Professor Diggins waves off her concerns, even leading her to one of the tents. "They rotate fields every season, and the ones we've marked for excavation haven't been doing well anyway. And we've already found several noteworthy items!" Inside the tent are a variety of old stones, clay pots, and damaged dinnerware. In particular, several tea pots and tea cups sorted into two distinct piles.

Vera frowns at the Professor, starting to think this was a waste of time. "So you found where the local tea shops get rid of their trash. Good for you."

The Professor sputters in indignation. "You doubt the historical significance of these finds? We've carbon dated several of these pots, and they are centuries old! Yet perfectly preserved under the mud. Why don't you stick around, see what we do here? We could use the help, and you might learn something."

Goblin rubs his hands together eagerly, chittering in Vera's ear. She gives him an odd look as she pulls him off her shoulder. "Since when do you care about archeology? You've never done any work in your life, let alone field work."

"Your Pokémon seems eager. We don't have many Pokémon of our own, but the ones we do have are specifically trained for this sort of thing. What do you say, care to teach your Pokémon some new tricks? It could be good training for you!"

Vera sighs as she follows the Professor back toward the field. She wishes Iggy was still here, he would've loved to dig some holes. Instead, she has Goblin, who she's pretty sure wouldn't dig holes even if he could. "I don't think any of my team would be much help here. I think I'll just-"

Goblin wriggles free of her grip, dropping from her hands and catching himself on the waistline of her pants. His weight throws off her balance, and she clutches at her belt rather than catch Goblin, who smacks one of her Poké Balls, sending out Bonnie, who looks around curiously.

"Goblin, I swear on everything you hold dear, if you don't start behaving yourself…" Vera's face flushes in embarrassment that her Pokémon would be so unruly in front of new people. He's making her look bad!

Professor Diggins is looking at Bonnie excitedly, though. "What a beautiful Cubone! Look at those muscles, she's in excellent shape!" He crouches down next to her, and she holds her club warily as she enters a defensive stance. "Cubone are excellent diggers, you know. Not as adept at moving through dirt as a Sandshrew or an Onix, but they can use their clubs to break through rock and burrow through difficult terrain with ease!"

"You got a lot of rocks out there in these rice fields?" Vera grabs Bonnie, pulling her away from the Professor. "She's a warrior, not a worker."

The Professor clears his throat as he stands, pulling a TM from his pocket. "Actually, we do. We haven't been able to dig in the southeast corner because of some rocks, but we can't see through the murk to dig around them. I have a device here that can teach your Cubone how to Dig, if you'll lend us her strength for this task."

Vera is about to refuse, not wanting to owe anyone a favor, but thinks of Casey and Jordan, training with Tangles by the road. They're out there getting stronger, and she's just been coasting along since she left Lavender. Maybe it was time to take a different approach… "What do you think, Bonnie?"

Bonnie looks up at her, her expression hidden behind her helmet, but the look of determination in her eyes is unmistakable. "Fine. If you need strength, you've come to the right Pokémon. I'm not getting in there, though. I'm staying dry, thank you."

"Excellent! If you would just lend me her Poké Ball, I'll teach her the technique. Now then…" Professor Diggins uses the TM, and Vera watches from the path as he further instructs Bonnie on how to Dig. At first, she merely tries striking the earth with her club, like a shovel, but after some practice and refinement she's learned to spin quickly like a drill, rapidly burrowing underground.

Diggins leads her to the southeast area, guiding her where to start digging. The hard stone and difficult terrain prove little hindrance, and Vera is actually enjoying watching her work, feeling proud of her little warrior. It's not much, but they're doing a good thing for these people, and it feels… nice. She leans in to get a better view, but her foot slips in the soft earth. She quickly leans back, putting all her weight on her back leg to stop herself from falling in.

Then Goblin hits her with a Fake Out, dropping from her shoulder and putting pressure on the back of her knee, causing it to bend and Vera to fall into the flooded field. Goblin laughs at her, darting out of view so she can't retaliate.

Luckily the water is only knee high, but in her attempts to catch herself and not fall on her face she instead fell back and is now sitting in muddy water up to her chest. Luckily it isn't cold, but she's drenched, dirty, and humiliated. Bonnie pops up by her side, looking at Vera with concern despite having to kick to keep her own head above water.

"Vera, are you okay? What happened?" Professor Diggins sloshes over to help her up, but she refuses, pushing herself to her feet.

"I'm fine. I slipped. Are we done here?" She can't look at him, her face burning with anger and embarrassment.

"Well… nearly. There's just one more cluster we'd like to get through, then-"

"Good. Bonnie, help the Professor. I'm going to have a chat with Goblin."

Bonnie hesitates, and even the Professor looks like he's about to say something, but they both stay quiet as Vera trudges out of the muddy water. They return to their work, while Vera starts looking for her treacherous Impidimp. She doesn't have to look long, as she hears him before she sees him. Or more accurately, she hears a clay pot shatter.

Vera rushes for the tent, throwing open the flap to look inside. Goblin has already toppled the piles of tea pots, and cackles gleefully as he smashes another clay pot, which for some reason had a small green gem inside it?

"What are you doing?!" Vera yells, distracting Goblin from the stack of papers on the table he'd been eyeing. "Get out of here, right now!"

Goblin sticks his tongue out at her, jumping onto the rolling chair by the table. Vera simply grabs his Poké Ball, returning him before he can cause any more mischief. For one dark moment, she considers burying the ball in the mud, wondering how many centuries it would take before someone found it. But she reigns in her temper, shoving the ball into her backpack instead.

"How did he have these sorted?" She looks at the tea pots, formerly in two distinct, if different sized, piles. They're now scattered across the floor, all jumbled and mixed together. She grabs one, but the pattern doesn't match the cups beside it. She spots a matching cup nearby, so she grabs that one, and looks for any other matches.

"Vera, are you in here? We found something, and I think you should have it, since your Cubone was the one-" Professor Diggins enters the tent, Bonnie at his side and an odd stone in his hand, but stops when he sees the mess.

"Professor! I can explain! My Impidimp… well, he's a jerk. He probably thought this would be funny, but I'll fix it! Somehow."

Professor Diggins takes a deep breath, letting it out in a sigh. "No, it's fine. I have my notes, I'll figure it out. It will take me all afternoon, but it's less than it'll take you."

Vera picks up Bonnie, not even caring how muddy she is after all that digging. "Are you sure, I can probably try-"

"You've done enough. Thank you for helping clear those rocks, but I think we'll take it from here. You should go. I don't want to take up any more of your time."

He's remarkably calm, but Vera doesn't push the issue. Honestly, she's glad he's not making her stay, she would've hated organizing all those tea sets. She hugs Bonnie close as she leaves, hearing the gentle tink of tea cups being moved.

"Probably for the best." She remarks to Bonnie as they follow the path back to the road. "I'll bet some of those tea pots were haunted or something. Can you imagine Casey's reaction if we brought back another Ghost?" She laughs, with just a hint of a stressed edge to it.

Bonnie squeaks at her in confusion. Vera isn't sure what she said, but continues on as if she did. "Of course there are haunted tea pots. I heard about them in school. They're called Polteageist."

Bonnie just huffs out a breath, which Vera takes as her being grumpy.

"Sorry, I'm just thinking out loud. Did you at least have fun? Because I'm soaked again and could use a shower. But… it's worth it if you're happy."

Bonnie snuggles up close to Vera's chest, and any frustration toward Goblin or concern for that archeologist just melts away.

"Come on, let's get back to the… boys?" Vera looks up to see Casey and Jordan making their way through the long grass toward her. "Uh-oh, we're in trouble now, Bonnie." She lightly jostles the little Cubone, making her giggle at the joke.

"Hey!" Jordan waves as they approach, his smile turning into a quizzical expression as he gets close enough to see the state she is in. "If you wanted to go for a swim, we could have stayed longer in Vermilion."

"Swim?" Vera glances down at her slowly drying clothes, and the thin layer of beige mud starting to form on them. "Oh. This wasn't exactly planned, Jordan. Bonnie was just trying out her new move, and I… uh, the ground collapsed under me, dropping me in the water. I'm just cursed to have wet socks, I guess."

"Gonna get trench foot if you don't change shoes," Casey says, guiding Parsley to lay down behind Vera and pushing on her shoulders. "Switch 'em."

"Hey!" Vera protests as Casey pushes her, but she's no match for his strength and soon finds herself sitting on Parsley. She scowls at Casey, but starts taking her shoes off anyway. "You don't have to push, I was going to do it anyway. And stop watching me undress, both of you."

"What? It's just your feet, unless you're 'bout to strip in the middle of this field. I ain't got a foot fetish or anythin', if it makes you feel better. Jordan, you into feet?"

"What? No! No," Jordan blushes suspiciously, but it's likely the question just caught him off guard. He quickly brushes past it. "Anyway, new move, you were saying?"

Vera ducks her head, more embarrassed than she thought she'd be. "Bonnie, show them what you can do." She hopes Bonnie will distract the boys long enough for her to get over Casey's comment.

Bonnie dutifully jumps off of Parsley's back, where she'd been sitting so Vera could use her hands, pointing her club at the ground. She starts spinning like a drill, leaving a hole in the soft earth as she easily slips into it. After a moment, she pops back up in front of Casey, lightly touching his knee with her club. The hole she'd dug mysteriously fills itself in, a softer patch of earth the only indication that any disturbance had occurred.

"You should have seen her earlier, she was digging through hard stone." Vera smirks as she starts tying her shoes. They weren't made for rough terrain, but they'd be better than nothing on the dirt road.

"Look at that! That'll be handy for stuff, I'm sure. Good job, Bonnie!" Casey pats the Cubone on her bony skull as Jordan claps. Bonnie grins at the praise, letting out a happy squeak.

"Yes, she did wonderfully!" Vera scoops Bonnie up, hugging her close again. Though still wet, it's a manageable amount, and it's much warmer here than in Rock Tunnel, so she isn't inclined to change her pants despite Casey's suggestion. "Sorry if you worried about me, but I didn't want to interrupt you guys hitting Tangles with sticks. If that's done, we should probably get moving again, hm?"

"It was training, thank you. But yeah, we're done with that for now. Back to jogging!" Casey punches the air and takes off toward Saffron once more, two Skiddo and a Charmeleon happy to run with him.

"Do we have to?" Vera sighs, looking to Jordan.

Jordan exhales. "Well, I didn't know we had been jogging..." He mutters. "But come on, let's go." The two follow after Casey, not wanting to get left behind.

A joint post between Groc, Aquacorde, and Juno.

QueenNothing · Nov 21, 2021

Gwen Alanis ft. Arianne Chandler and Casey Holt

Tuesday, May 28th
Afternoon
Saffron City

Arianne sits at her table with a relieved sigh. "Phew! We're set now…" She smiles. "We have a room, our Pokémon are all healed up, and we're about to get dinner too!"

"And…" she interrupts herself. "When we're done, we should be free to explore the city… or figuring out the situation with your sister, o-of course. Right Gwen?"

"Well of course we are!" Gwen impatiently shouts, unaware of the fact that not only is she indoors, but also that her mouth is filled with chewed-up pieces of a burger she ordered. "You think I'm gonna give up on her that easily?"

"Oh no, of course not!" The Cinnabar girl looks slightly more nervous. "I'll come and help, you can count on me!"

"And," Gwen stuffs her mouth with a large handful of french fries, giving Bead a disappointed glare. "I also called Casey to see if he wanted to see Jenny as well, I just need to shoot him a text." Actually, given how greasy her hands are at the moment, that can probably wait until she's done stuffing her face.

A moment of hesitation stops Ari as she keeps munching on her food. "Oh yeah, t-that… sounds good!" In the midst of her feasting, Gwen takes note of her hesitancy and grows a little conscious. Is it because of how messy she's being? Did she say something weird?

Perhaps it doesn't hurt to ask, especially with how comfortable she's gotten around Arianne. "Uh, hey Ari? You okay?"

"Oh, of course!" She laughs it off. "I was just with my head in the clouds. Having Casey come with… it's no issue."

There's a faint sigh of relief from Gwen. "Well that's good. Lemme just finish my food and then I can text him." Since Arianne made no remark about how sloppy she's being, Gwen feels comfortable enough scarfing down the rest of her meal in no time.

"God I'm stuffed." Gwen reaches for some napkins to wipe her hands down. She whips out her phone, looks through the few contacts she has saved and starts typing out a message- or at least she would if she had the right words. Her thumbs float above the touchscreen, uncertain which exact keys to press. She could just say "I'm in Saffron now" but she wonders if that's too abrupt. Maybe she could be more formal, throwing a "Hello" in the beginning while adding more details. But does that come off as too formal and thus trying too hard? Thinking about it too much makes her anxious.

"Hm… unsure what to write, Gwen?" Arianne looks towards her from across the table. Gwen simply nods in response, too embarrassed to admit she's right.

"Well… time and place are enough, right?"

"Fuck it, why not?" Quickly she just types out the address that she has memorized with the only addition being "Be there ASAP". Hopefully this is serviceable.

"Or I can help you write…" Arianne states in the meantime, even if it looks like Gwen has made up her mind. Gwen grows a little flustered, blushing and averting her pupils to her right.

"Yeah, I guess I'd be fine with that…" She's too kind to offer to help with something as simple as texting.

Once Arianne gets her hands on Gwen's PokéGear it's just a matter of adding onto what the other girl already wrote. Some seconds later, the Saffron girl gets her device back with the message already sent and a proud Arianne smiling back at her.

"Hey Casey! Now that I made it to Saffron, here's the address for the meetup. I'm about to be there myself and I'd love to see you too! It's gonna be great ♡"

"Wow, that's uh…" This certainly hasn't made Gwen blush any less, that's for sure. This isn't something she'd type out, and Casey must be scratching his head reading this. She doesn't really mind though, and if anything is grateful to have somebody to help her out. Arghh, why does this make me feel funny!? "...thanks!"

"You're welcome!" The Cinnabar girl smiles. "It's nothing crazy but it still gets the job done… and now, we should actually head to Jenny's place ourselves, right?"

"Right!" Gwen pumps a fist into the air before taking one elongated sip from an oversized cup of soda. It's more than she can finish in one go no matter how hard she might try to, but eventually she just decides to take it to go. "This time we'll actually get to see Jenny! Let's go!"

For the second time today, Gwen finds herself running to the apartment building she used to live in, although her rather unhealthy meal choice is taking a toll on her. She has to push herself to go as fast as she did earlier, and every now and again she swears she's going to trip and fall. It's a harsh endeavor that she does get through at least, and once the building is just a few feet away her speed drastically decreases and long gasps for air are heard.

This lets Arianne catch up to her without much effort. She gives the other girl a pat on her shoulder as she cheers her up, but then shifts her attention to Casey, who's conveniently waiting for them under the light of a lamp post. "C'mon, look who's there…" She smiles.

"Oh, uh…" Despite her visible exhaustion, Gwen tries to compose herself by standing up straight while wiping the sweat from her brow. A simple greeting is a chore when trying to get it through in-between breaths. "Hey there Casey!"

Casey waves casually as they approach. "You ran here and I still beat ya?"

"Well, uh… I ate a lot before I headed out, that's why! I'm never making that mistake again…"

"At least you enjoyed the food, Gwen! And also, hi Casey!" Arianne slightly bows her head towards him.

"Hi, Arianne. How're you doin'?"

"Oh, I'm… I'm good! Route 6 was very nice. You?" The Cinnabar girl replies.

"It was, yeah! It's been a good day. Beat Hana, got outta Vermilion, had a nice walk, did some training- y'know. A good time. And the hotel had enough rooms, thank god."

"Well, c-congrats! That sounds like…"

"Alright, we can go over the details later!" Gwen interjects, impatiently pointing to the building. "We're here for a reason after all!"

"Sure. Meetin' your sister, right? What's she like?" Casey falls into step easily behind Gwen as the three make their way into the building.

"What is there to say that hasn't already been said? She's the best! She graduated top of her class, wins just about every Pokemon battle she's in not even counting the endless amount of tournaments she won in Saffron, and she's helped me out with sooooo much! If she didn't take me in I honestly don't know where I'd be."

Casey hums. "Okay, but what's she like? That's all stuff she did, y'know?" That's a good point actually. Whenever somebody asks about her sister she just goes on about Jenny's accomplishments rather than her actual personality.

"Well, to do all that, she's gotta have quite the attitude! Right?" Arianne quickly adds. "Headstrong, confident, all that…"

"Yeah, that!" Gwen waves at the man at the desk before turning back to her friends. "And she's just good at pretty much everything she does! She's also super kind and uh… stuff like that."

"'S good to have a kind sibling," Casey says vaguely. "She's way older'n us though, right? So how long did you actually live together?"

"Well," Gwen heads toward the stairs, beckoning the other two to follow. "I guess we haven't lived together that long. When I was three she was thirteen, which is when she left Unova so she could go to Cape. She'd stay over during vacations and a little bit after she graduated, but at some point she moved to Kanto, so for a while I didn't get to see her as much as I wanted to. But when I was thirteen she took custody of me after… Well, long story short, I didn't get along with my parents very well. But yeah, I lived with her before when I was in Kanto before I started school and during breaks and stuff!"

"Not long overall, huh? Makes things kinda different than like, Jordan's family." Casey hesitates, briefly, but his next question is- "Is she more like a parent than a sister?"

"Wait whose Jordan agai- ah, that's besides the point. But... yeah, when you put it like that I guess she is kind of like a parent. I never really thought about that until now, although it's a little different than her being a parent because sometimes I had to look out for her. She's usually tired after kicking so much ass so I sometimes had to make dinner and do her hair, stuff like that."

"Is that how you learned to do these?" Casey reaches over and playfully tugs at one of Gwen's buns. Gwen squeaks and flashes bright red, reacting quickly by slapping his hand to release herself. She's unsure how she feels about that, but she's going to pretend it didn't happen.

"Kind of, yeah…" Gwen caresses her bu0n as if to soothe it. "I taught myself how to do hair stuff since I didn't have anyone to teach me."

"Well, you're pulling it off and it looks cute on you!" Arianne chimes in after being quiet for a moment. She's remained one or two steps behind, but now that they're almost at the end of the staircase, she's catching up.

"Y-you really think so!?" Gwen's blushing intensifies and an awkward half-smile forms across her face. She's not used to receiving compliments for her appearance and doesn't know how to handle it but she definitely appreciates it. "Uhh… th-thanks!!"

"Yeah, they suit you," Casey looks around where they've paused. "Is this her floor?"

"Huh?" Gwen swings her head left and right, and indeed this is the floor Jenny's apartment is on. "Oh yeah, this is! Follow me!" With her remaining energy, she sprints forward without considering how closely Casey and Arianne are following. They can catch up.

And catch up they do, at Jenny's door, because once again she doesn't answer Gwen's frantic knocking.

"Again? She doesn't have the showering excuse this time!" Arianne comments after a bit, but then gives Gwen a friendly pat on the shoulder.

"Maybe she just didn't hear that time!" Gwen knocks a second time, and her knuckles start hurting from how loud it is. She waits for up to a minute, but nobody's there. "Goddamnit, not again…"

"Didn't you tell her we were coming over?" Casey asks, leaning with his back to the wall next to the door.

"I tried anyway! She just… didn't pick up…"

"So is she even here?"

"The old guy at the desk said she hasn't left her apartment in months. Where else could she be?"

"What?" This finally breaks Casey's chill demeanor. "What d'you mean, she hasn't left? That's not possible. How does she get food?"

"I don't know either, which is why we can ask her when she answers already!"

"Uh… maybe she gets stuff delivered or something? Or do her Pokémon do that for her?" Arianne adds. From her tone it's clear that she's just saying the first thing that might calm down the other two trainers, no matter how much sense it really makes.

"But yeah, whatever the case, this… isn't really normal, uh? There, I had to say it."

"Yeah, not leavin' for months? That's crazy. I'd go crazy. She hasn't gone crazy, has she?"

"I wouldn't know." Gwen sighs. "I haven't heard from her in… awhile, that's for sure."

Casey opens his mouth, then closes it with a sharp click and makes a low "nuh-uh" sound to himself.

Arianne raises an eyebrow at that, looking towards the boy with… apprehension. "Nothing?" She then asks Gwen, trying to look at both simultaneously. "And what about the last time you talked? How did that go?"

"Yep. Nothing." Gwen somberly nods. 'Not since… February, I think. I've tried calling her but she never picks up and I don't know why… but the last time we talked there wasn't really any issue! It doesn't make any sense!" At this point she has to put all her energy into stopping herself from crying, but the loud sniffles coming from her convey the same emotion.

"Uh, well." Casey speaks up after a moment. "What if she can't pick up?"

"You don't mean…" Ari grimaces, stopping right there, with a hand covering her mouth. Gwen cocks up a brow, not picking up on the implication.

"What are you guys talking about?"

"Well, I mean. If someone hasn't answered for months, and they haven't been seen for months, and they haven't left a space for months, then there must be a reason, right? And what if that reason is that she can't do any of that? Gwen," Casey strides over and places both hands on her shoulders to look her straight in the eye and says, very seriously: "What if she's dead?"

"WHAT!?!" Gwen cries, forcefully escaping from Casey's grip. "That's stupid! Of course she's not dead!"

"So she's been intentionally ignoring you, her sister-slash-child, and not going to work or tournaments or whatever she does, for months on end?" Casey crosses his arms. "If she's not dead, that sure don't line up with the kind badass you were tellin' us about."

"Shut up! She's not dead! I just know it!" Her body starts trembling with rage. The fact that Casey would even suggest such a thing is offensive to Gwen. Her fist clenches, and if she was any angrier she'd sock him then and there.

"Aerial Ace!" Arianne's voice is heard in the meantime, right before her Honedge strikes the door. It leaves nothing more than a mark on it, though, definitely not what the girl wanted if one could judge by her repeated attempts to bust the door open. "Can't turn back now!" Looks like Gwen might have an outlet for her anger after all.

"What the fuck, Arianne, put that away-" Casey's halfway down the hall, now, but Gwen doesn't care, not one bit. She reaches for one of her Pokeballs while ignoring the one that's shaking rapidly, sending Tusk out with a mighty "KEW KEW!"

"Alright Tusk, let's knock this goddamn door down! Use Dragon Claw!" Tusk smirks as his claws are surrounded with a draconic energy that's slashed across the wooden door. The cuts left behind are definitely deeper than Honedge's Aerial Ace, but still not enough to knock it down. "That's fine! We can keep doing this all day if we have to! Hit it as many times as you can!"

Honedge doesn't even need the encouragement, apparently - it just keeps having at it without breaking a sweat. Arianne recalls it after a bit though, only motivating that with a hasty "oh oops…"

After a few dozen swipes, the door starts looking worn down enough that a powerful enough hit should take it down. Noticing this, Gwen calls out for an Iron Tail, and Tusk swings his now metal-coated tail into the door, knocking it down, off of its hinges with a loud THUD!

Casey slinks back to peer inside. "Don't think you shoulda done that," he murmurs, but all three are now focused on the apartment's pitch black interior.

"After you thought she could be dead I… just couldn't stand there…" Arianne sighs back at him, before some deep breaths.

"There's literally a guy at the desk, we coulda asked for a key!" Casey hisses and earns a resigned sigh from the Cinnabar girl.

"Right…"

The only source of light in the entire room is the TV that's left on at a random channel, so Gwen has to flick the lights on to see anything. What she does see is mostly familiar, just a lot less… organized. Jenny was never one to be perfectly tidy, but seeing the floor littered with an endless sea of empty cans of coffee and soda is beyond what she'd expect. From what's visible of the kitchen from here isn't much better, the sink is piled with dirty dishes and tables and counters are covered in the remains of take-out food and instant meals. Pizza boxes, plastic bags, and microwaveable trays are all stacked on-top of each other. Gross. Not a single surface is left empty, the closest thing to that is the spaces occupied by grease-stained paper plates, some of which still have food remains. That certainly explains the rancid smell.

"What the fuck happened here…" Gwen winces at the state of this place.

"I hate this," Casey says bluntly, and that's probably the most negative thing she's ever heard him say. "You live like this?"

"This doesn't add up but…" Arianne looks surprisingly relieved. "She's not dead if she's eating this much…?"

"Exactly!" Gwen reluctantly steps into the room, trying to navigate the floor without stepping on anything. Definitely easier said than done. Casey makes his way to the kitchen entrance and surveys the room critically, hands tugging at the bottom corners of his jacket.

"Well if she's alive, this ain't how anyone should be livin'."

All Gwen can do is look around, lost in disbelief. She's so immersed in the feeling that she almost doesn't notice the slow footsteps from down the hall, although the second she does she fixates on the hall entrance like a Pyroar would on its prey. She wants to speak up, but the words are stuck in her throat.

"Jeeeeez. Did ya forget how to open the door again, Krox?" From the corner of the hall is… well, it's who Gwen can only assume is her sister. After supposedly not going outside for months it only makes sense she'd look different but that doesn't make it any less jarring. She's not wearing her usual semi-formal get-up, instead donning a dark blue hoodie and gray sweatpants. Dark circles have formed around her eyes, and her hair, which Gwen is used to seeing very short, just barely reaches past her neck. Clearly it hasn't been groomed in some time. She looks directly towards her younger sister, although with her glasses hanging from the neck of her sweater she doesn't register who she's looking at. She does slowly start to wear them, and after a readjustment she widens her eyes. "What the- Gwen!?"

"JEEEEEENNY!!!" Gwen acts on an impulse, charging forward towards her sister before throwing her arms around her. She buries her face into her chest and lets it all out, bawling endlessly about how much she missed her. Jenny doesn't look like she has any idea what's going on, but she strokes Gwen's hair anyways.

"I… have a lot of questions." Jenny looks directly at Casey and Arianne before turning her attention back to her sister. "I mean, I wasn't expecting to see you stop by so soon. Is it spring break or something already?"

"It's May?" Casey's correction rises into a question. "We're on our journey. And, uh, I'm Casey, this is Arianne. Thanks for...having us."

"May!? What the hell, how has it been so long!?" Jenny holds her head in disbelief. The realization of all the time she missed hits her like a train, and she holds her sister tighter. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry Gwen!"

Gwen can hardly hear any of this over her sobbing. "Why didn't you pick up…"

"I don't have an excuse." Jenny sighs. "Remember how I lost early on in my last tournament? Yeah, I didn't take that very well. Like, at all. I was really banking on that going well, so when it went south instead I kinda spiraled into a really bad depressive episode- if that wasn't obvious." She gestures to the mess that is her living room. "I'm so sorry, I really am. I was supposed to do better than mom and dad but I couldn't even do that. I really am the worst."

Gwen hardly hears the muttered, "Arianne, c'mere," from Casey, and the shifting as they vacate the space. Tusk, who has just been awkwardly standing in the same spot since he busted the door down, follows suit. Thank god none of them will witness Gwen with tears rolling down her face.

"That's not true!" Gwen cries, poking her head out. "Don't talk about yourself like that! You're way better than mom and dad ever were, you shouldn't even compare yourselves to them!"

"Gwen, I made you cry. That's something I can't ever forgive myself for doing, you deserve better. I've failed as a sister, and that's just one of the things I've screwed up at."

"That's impossible!" Gwen doesn't even bother fighting against the flow of tears. "How can you be a screw up!? You helped me with so much, and your skills as a trainer-"

Jenny's sudden groaning cuts her off, and she holds a hand to her forehead. "Gwen, please, that's not relevant to this. Just… don't bring that up right now. Please."

"What?" It's not often Jenny gets this upset. Confused, Gwen stands still for a moment with wide eyes. "Why not? It's true, isn't it? I mean, I look up to you for a reason, and it's because you're the best-"

"Gwen! Please!" Jenny hisses and Gwen nearly jumps. "I just said to not talk about it! I know you've built up this image of me in your head, that I'm some kind of Pokemon Master because I've won local tournaments or whatever! Hell, even I bought into that for a while, but the second I went from Regional to National I was obliterated within minutes! I thought the same thing, that I could defeat the Hoenn League's very own Wally if I ever met him! Boy, was I stupid. My scope of Pokemon battling was extremely limited, and once I got a look at a bigger portion of the entire picture I was put in my place. It's a brutal world, and I don't think I have the capacity for it…"

"No!" Gwen screams, tears welling up again. "No, it's not true! You're so much better than you give yourself credit for, you have no idea! R-remember that time a few years ago against the Gyrados, where Krox-"

"Where Krox took out Endo Ueno's Gyrados with a single Rock Slide. Yes, I remember that." Jenny solemnly pushes up her glasses. "I remember it was a big victory for me at the time, it won me that tournament. Ueno had a pretty fierce reputation at the time, he was also a consecutive tournament winner. But in reality, he was just another mediocre trainer with an overblown ego. Rock Slide against a flying-type isn't impressive to anyone above that level."

"But, but, but…" Gwen tries her best to think of a response, but it just quickly turns into more bawling. Even though it's muffled by her sister's baggy hoodie, it's loud enough that Casey and Arianne can hear her clearly, no doubt. "But…. you don't understand! Without you, then… what am I?"

"What do you mean?" She asks, sympathy slowly returning to her voice. "Without me, you're still Gwen."

"I know!" Gwen growls. It's so exhausting hearing everyone repeat this, especially her own beloved older sister. "I know who I am, that's not what I mean! What I'm asking is that if you're not the greatest trainer ever… what am I gonna do now?"

There's some silence from Jenny as she stares at her younger sister before a faint chuckle is heard. "Right, that's what you mean."

"Hey, what's so funny!?"

"No, it's nothing like that! I just-" She clears her throat before kneeling to make eye-contact with Gwen. "It's hard hearing me talk myself down like this, isn't it? Your older sister who lived out the life you always wanted, the life that was so far out of reach for the longest time, only to find out she's not that good- it really sucks, huh?"

"I still think you're the best, but… yeah, it does suck." Gwen nods, rubbing her sleeve against her face.

"So when you've looked up to me so much you've no doubt used my journey as a reference for how yours might end up, yeah? You wanna mimic all my achievements so you can be on the same level as me, yeah?"

Gwen gives an eager nod. "Well to tell you the truth," Jenny continues, "A lot of the highlights of my career aren't really that impressive. Like I said with the battle against Ueno, a lot of them were down to me having a basic understanding of type advantages."

"No way!" Gwen cries in denial. "If you're not that impressive then… what about how you won every gym battle on your graduation journey?"

"Oh…" Jenny scratches her chin while averting her pupils. "Did I not explain that already? If not, well the truth is that I lied about that."

"WHAT!?"

Jenny nods. "That was a tale I told everyone when I was still a teenager to look cool… and maybe it originated so I could impress this one girl I liked, but still. That was a complete lie, and honestly I thought I told you that already."

"But… what about the Wailord story!?"

"Those things may be hefty, but any Liligant with Own Tempo and Petal Dance can slice it into minced meat."

"What about that epic showdown against the girl with the Charizard??"

"Sure, it was tough, but a Charizard with Solar Beam is still extremely weak to water-types. You get the idea though. I'm just any other average Pokemon trainer who had a big mouth during my heyday."

Gwen's jaw drops in shock, as if reality just crumbled beneath her feet. "But… but, what does that make me?"

"Ahh, we were just about to get there." Jenny holds up her index finger. "I know how you place a lot of importance on being my little sister, hell by now I know you introduce yourself as that! And even though most of that is built on a lie, I can tell you one thing I know for damn sure what isn't," She then takes her finger and points it towards her sister. "And that's you."

Gwen flinches. "What are you-"

"Gwen, you're the most passionate and authentic person I know, especially when it comes to anything relating to Pokemon. I know you admire me deeply, and I really appreciate that, but your love for Pokemon isn't built on me, nor is who you are as a person. Afterall…" Jenny pauses to shift her head both directions, making sure nobody can hear her. When the coast is clear, she leans in and whispers: "The name Gwen wasn't my idea, was it?"

Upon hearing this, the gears start turning in Gwen's head and her eyes even light up a bit. Is that what everyone meant when they said she isn't her sister? Maybe, but either way, Jenny's little pep talk made enough sense that it's finally starting to click. She still doesn't completely agree with everything she said, and some things will take some processing to fully grasp, but neither of those were enough to negate Jenny's words- especially that last bit.

"Heh, yeah I guess you're right after all." Gwen smirks, swiping her finger under her nose as if she wasn't just bawling her eyeballs out a minute ago. "I'm not Gwen Alanis, younger sister of Jennifer Alanis. I'm Gwen Alanis, Pokemon Trainer, Future World Champion, Expert Detective, and much more!"

"That's the spirit, champ!" Jenny flashes a wide grin, playfully ruffling Gwen's hair. Gwen chuckles as she does this before she's swallowed up in Jenny's arms when she goes in for a hug. It's been far too long since they had this kind of interaction.

"I'll say one thing though," Gwen speaks up. "And it's that even though you didn't do as good as I thought, you'll always be the best Pokemon trainer to me!"

"Gosh, you're too kind…" Jenny says while her grip tightens.

The two enjoy their moment together until a very loud and intrusive "KEW KEW!" from the kitchen comes forward. Tusk looks eager to show Gwen the trash that's skewered on his, well, tusks. That's definitely an interesting use of them.

Arianne joins the scene shortly after, first going after Tusk but then stopping, and looking at Gwen and Jenny. She smiles, eyes sparkling, and even if she doesn't say anything yet, her expression already speaks for her.

The person that actually speaks is Casey, though, peeking out into the hall with a dish towel in hand to search for his assistants. "Arianne, where- oh. Y'all done? Do you have any dishwasher tablets?"

"Oh. Oh my god, thank you so much for cleaning up!" Jenny says, letting go of Gwen. "I didn't think I'd be having anyone over anytime soon so I didn't bother cleaning the place… Sorry about that. I'll show you where I keep my dishwasher pods." She then turns to her sister. "And look at that! You made friends after all!"

"I didn't think I'd get this far, but I couldn't break our promise!" Gwen blushes.

"Speaking of them…" Jenny lowers her volume, "Did you tell either of them about… y'know…" Gwen furiously shakes her head.

"I see, just thought I'd ask." Jenny turns towards Casey and flashes her pearly whites. "I'll lend a hand while I'm at it. It is my place afterall."

CCS and art by Aquacorde

[PKMN FULL] TRAINERS (IC)

More options

Ninetales

QueenNothing

Groc

Juno

Chapter 8: Overt Operation

Eleanor

Perish Song?

Eleanor

Perish Song?

Eleanor

Perish Song?

Aquacorde

♫ following where my arrow goes ♫

QueenNothing

Aquacorde

♫ following where my arrow goes ♫

Aquacorde

♫ following where my arrow goes ♫

Eleanor

Perish Song?

Juno

Chapter 8: A Hard Lesson

QueenNothing

Eleanor

Perish Song?

Eleanor

Perish Song?

Juno

Chapter 9: Restoration

Eleanor

Perish Song?

Groc

QueenNothing