[PKMN FULL] Z: A Kalos Journey [IC][T]

[Shak]

~ OOC ~​

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~ GM'd by Deceptio and Shak ~​

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~ The Region of Kalos ~​

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Hello and Welcome to the World of pokémon!

My name is Sycamore and I'm a pokémon professor! I could continue with this talk, of course, but the look in your eyes tells me that you've heard this before. This isn't your first pokémon journey and it certainly won't be your last. So perhaps I should cut right to the chase.

You've been studying up on how to become a pokémon trainer for a few years now, situated in the quaint little town of Aquacorde. Though many of you populate the small village of Vaniville which is just a stones throw South. Never understood why it was considered a village. There's only three or four houses there, it's more an estate than anything. Alas, I digress. Studying at the local trainers school for two years now, as is the minimum requirement, you're just itching to race out on your own pokémon journey. Excited to leap the precipice and take your new partner pokémon, courtesy of myself, on an epic journey of epic proportions!

Ahh, but hold on their hot shot. Do you have any idea where we are? What's happened? This is the Kalos region alright, but not the one you're used to playing through on that little handheld. It's been 2 years since the events of Pokémon X and Y and the young duo, Calem and Serena, rid the World of Team Flare by rescuing the legendary pokémon Xerneas and Yveltal. Team Flare aimed to destroy most life on the planet. Believing that by doing so and leaving a select few... they could cleanse the World of filth and create a better world. In other words, they were wackos. Serious wackos.

Their leader Lysander, vanished into his exploding facility and hasn't been seen since. Team Flare disbanded and fell apart. Recently, however, the remnants of the shattered organisation seem to be more organised... uniting under a new banner. Rumors of new leaders stepping forward are abound and the name on the streets is different too. Rising from the failures of flare, Team Cinders is looking to finish what Lysander started with some much more violent methods...

And before you ask. No, we haven't fixed Geosenge yet, a lot of wild steel, electric, rock and poison types have taken to the new massive crater and destroyed lab.

Regardless of evil teams and failed reclamation, Kalos is as active as it was before and a new chapter in this fantastic journey is about to come to light! With your starter in hand and a World to explore, badges to earn and contests to win! A fresh graduation under your belt and a World of possibilities!

Can you catch 'em all? Can you discover and defeat the mysterious Team Cinder? Can you stand against a legend capable of bringing balance to creation and destruction itself?

A new chapter in the history of the Kalos Region is about to begin!
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1. Show some respect to the other players. Do not use their characters or anything of the sort, without their consent.

2. This RP has a T rating. Meaning that mild romance, violence and minimal swearing are allowed. These principles are encouraged but do not overuse them, or push too far in your writing so as to breach the rating.

3. Pokémon evolution is one of the few things that must be checked for approval with the GMs. PM Deceptio or Shak first before making your pokémon evolve.

4. Remember. There are no reservations, so do not make one and expect a spot to be held. Many people may try for your spot and the best SU will take the position.

5: Obey all the regular rules of the RP section, as well as all general rules of The Pokécommunity forum as a whole.

6: Pokémon moves can be learned, but not too frequently... and they must adhere to the pokémons natural moveset. TMs will be available occasionally through the course of the RP, usually through events. Other methods of move learning may also pop up, occasionally.

7: As always, have fun and enjoy yourself!​

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Audrey Sargent - Nagi

Samuel Black - Oddball

Ryker Ward - Deceptio

Drew Tucker - Shak

Sebastian Allender - LinearAxel

Avril Carter - Frozen Heart

Jorunn Himmel - Adventure

Kayla Calloway - Ozymandias

Unowned - Vacant

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[Jay]

Stage 1
Kalos: Route 2​

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A sunny and bright little set of roads, connecting Aquacorde to the upcoming forest. It's bright grassy roads are dotted with patches of longer grass where wild pokémon tend to play and hide. A few areas of the route are covered in light tree cover, small patches of forestry among an otherwise single stretch of that signature Kalos sunshine. A river runs along the left side of the route at all times and is often dotted with fishermen and swimming water types. People from Aquacorde often take strolls along this area... and the location os often populated with lots of people, trainer or no. The perfect place to start a journey!

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Pokémon Available:​

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Missions:​

There are nine missions present here! However we do not expect all of them to be undertaken. Work together with friends on whatever mission you like. If you get stuck in a JP that isn't progressing then you will always have another option... and don't consider yourself limited to missions either! You can very easily take a post to catch a pokémon, battle a trainer or explore the route for yourself! If you have your own idea for a mission then you can all feel free to say it in the OOC or to message Shak and I directly or through the Z group on Skype.

All missions should be claimed officially through a post in the OOC. As Shak and I won't be on Skype 24/7. So even if you get the go ahead there, be sure to post it here as well!

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Mission 1:​

The local Aquacorde grocery store has been pilfered! It's entire berry stock has gone mission and nobody seems to know why. However, a line of Zigzagoon tracks out the back door and into route one might just have the answer. Go reclaim that stock and a nice reward of Poké is in it for you!

Reward: 300 P + 1 Great Ball

Mission 2:​

Tiffany has been crying near the entrance to Route 2 for ages now. Seems her prized pet Skitty has gotten stuck in a tree. Doesn't seem like too big a problem, but some rather aggressive Volbeat have claimed that tree as home. This task might be more dangerous than it seems.

Reward: 2 Potions + 1 Super Potion

Mission 3:​

Subtle cries are being heard from the river bank... and it seems like a young buizel pup has been injured while learning how to swim. The poor thing can barely move... not to mention the fact that it's lost and can't find its family. A helping hand from a friendly trainer is needed.

Reward: 1 Chesto, Cherri and Pecha berry.

Mission 4:​

The annual budew growing contest is in full swing near the entrance to Route 2... but one of the judges is terribly ill and poison powder seems to be the cause... but which budew and trainer are responsible? Which budew even know the move? Some sleuthing may be required and a reward is surely in store.

Reward: 1 Budew Egg.

Mission 5:​

Joey likes shorts. They're comfortable and easy to wear. Timmy thinks Joey is an idiot for wearing shorts, even in Winter. This has lead to a big argument that's causing a bit of a scene. Someone should step in and help talk it out... or to battle them both into submission, surely someone will be grateful either way.

Reward: 1 Luxury Ball.

Mission 6:​

Some fisherman on the river have been catching poliwag and storing them on their boat. They're not catching them in pokéballs, nor releasing them either... and the poliwags have started attacking in rage. Someone needs to get out there and lend a helping hand.

Reward: 2 Old Rods.

Mission 7:​

A plusle and minun have become seperated! Plusle is on our side of the river and is desperate to get back to Minun, who's stuck on the other side after their makeshift bridge fell apart. What cruel heart could deny a happy romance?

Reward: The satsifaction of a job well done.

Mission 8:​

A ruin maniac is going crazy over some glowing stone that's lodged in the ground, he's digging up plants and ruining the homes of local wildlife just to get to it! By peaceful or forceful means, he needs to be stopped.

Reward: 1 Dawn Stone.

Mission 9:​

A wild Fletchinder is flying through the air and striking Cottonnee out of the sky for sport! The poor pokémon, floating in the wind, are helpless. They need someone to help them or their entire group will be in trouble.

Reward: 1 Miracle Seed
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[Jay]

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Ryker got the weirdest sense of remembrance as he took his first hasty steps of the beige, cobbled streets of Aquacorde and down onto the wet grassy plains of Route 2. This had been his first time stepping out of the little town in a long time, without the intention of returning for quite a while. To save his sister he was more than willing, despite his fear and the annoyance that was the sun now blaring down on his tired expression. Then why... why did it feel like he had done all of this before? He shook off the feeling somewhat, not all that bothered by it in the long run. It wasn't altogether an unpleasant thing after all. In a strange way it was almost comforting... like he was somehow getting a second chance at opportunities he had been missing out on for the majority of his life.

But that was all just sentimental tripe, most likely, he had a mission and reason for being out here. He had to make to Lumiose city at least. If he didn't, then he might never know the truth.

The grass left small droplets of due clinging to his boots, though only the occasional drip or two... it was mid-day after all. Most of that had been evaporated by now. A flock of pidgey flew over hie head and he watched them go by... an old couple enjoying their silver age passed on by, arms interlocked. A little down the pathway he could see two young boys, one in shorts and the other in jeans, talking fervently... it looked like it was about to turn messy but, Ryker honestly didn't care. The pokédex weighing down his pocket was heavier than one would expect for such a small red device. He supposed it took some serious machinery to run something that could instantly gather so much information. He wondered if he would get in trouble for taking it apart and peeking around inside... he wasn't a massive tech wizard, but he knew enough to get by... and that sort of thing really interested him.

He unclipped the pokéball with his partner from his belt and glanced at the small red and white orb. Speaking of amazing technologies...

Sycamore had told him to be careful when he had picked Froakie on a whim. He had said that this pokémon was particularly violent and enjoyed battles a little too much for his own good. Ryker had taken him anyway though... it almost felt like the right thing to do? He felt like nobody else would've been willing to and suddenly putting the Froakie back down after picking him up would've been horribly rude.

He clipped the ball back to its belt and it rattled a little before stopping. Ryker wondered just how much influence a pokémon had in their ball... had Ryujin been able to see or sense Ryker somehow through the capsule? It was an interesting thought. He kept walking passively, eager to progress to the first gym, rather than wasting time with silly little routes and challenges from other-

"YOU THERE!" A very loud voice bellowed behind him... it was irritating and shrill and Ryker turned around to lock eyes with a little kid.

"Ha! You looked me in the eyes! I saw you holding that ball in your hand... you're a trainer just like me! We have to battle now... it's a rule!" Ryker raised an eyebrow at the kids words. It sounded like he'd been playing too many video games... Ryker should have known, he had been doing exactly the same thing up until now. But was this tyke serious? He didn't have any time for this. In reality there were many more important things he had to do... rather than spend an afternoon battling a ten year old.

"Ehm no thanks... I think I'll just leave actually." He said plainly with a shrug before turning to walk away. The child, baffled, ran around in front of him and balled his fists. "Hey c'mon mister! We all do it around here... it's part of the fun! Battle me!" Ryker side stepped the boy and kept walking. "Nope."

The boy was getting irritated now as he furrowed his brow and grabbed Ryker jacket to hold him back. "Oh c'mon! What kind of a trainer are- Eh?"

Just as the boy was speaking a small brown creature leapt from the bushes. It's buck teeth were slightly chipped and there were tears in its eyes. It's brown fur was horribly ruffled as well... a Bidoof? But a severely beat up one. Following after him from the shrubbery were a trio of other, smaller Bidoofs... they looked awfully frightened and Ryker rose an eyebrow to the sight.

"What? Has someone been hurting the wild pokémon...?" The boy asked nervously before looking towards the woods.

"I-It could be something dangerous... if families of native pokémon are running away like that... what should we do?" The boy looked to Ryker expectantly... but the older fellow just gave an apathetic shrug and turned away.

"Dunno about you... but it isn't my problem. I've got places to be kid."

The youngsters jaw dropped at those words and he let out a cry to Ryker as he walked away.

"B-but what about the pokémon?! They could be in trouble!"

Ryker sighed gently. "It's just some Bidoof? Who cares?"

The youngster scrunched his face up in anger and shouted in Ryker's direction. "I care! You stupid jerk!"

Ryker turned back just in time to see the younster run headfirst through the shrubbery and bushes into a small glen of trees... a look of intent and purpose in his eyes. Ryker frowned a little... he hadn't expected the kid to be brave or stupid enough to charge in like that. It was true that the cause of the trouble could've been anything... or nothing... but the chances were that whatever it was was strong and dangerous. The kid could get in some serious trouble. Ryker was on a tight schedule but... he wasn't heartless. Even he wouldn't leave a little kid to get hurt. Walking back a few paces he steps through the bushes, following the path that the youngster had trampled through, deeper into the grove of trees.

Five minutes in and he was already wasting time and trying to be a hero. His objective was already starting to look hopeless... yet still, he pushed onwards, maybe good karma would shoot him a smile for his efforts.

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Spoiler:

: 1000

Poké Ball X 5​

 

[moon]

Route 2
pokémon:

inventory:

x1000 |

x5

The graduation cermony had been lovely. Families were gathered, speeches were held, students were praised and handed their trainer starter packs. Jorunn's graduation was maybe not as lovely as it could have been, if her friends had been healthy and there with her, and if her father had been free from work and also there with her. But mum was there and cheered her on as well as she could.

Jorunn knew that she would be very sad once her daughter went away. Lonely. So when she exited Aquacorde, back packed and Squirtle in pokéball, and her mother waved her off with one last teary smile, Jorunn made a promise to herself to not let her mum be alone for too long. She would send her pokémon that she found. Just you wait, mum!

She didn't mention that promise to Alma or Dora. Most likely, they would ask for pokémon as well. And Jorunn did not feel like doing their work for them. Surely they would get healthy soon again and be able to start their, albeit slightly postponed, own journeys. Maybe they would even catch up to Jorunn - it wasn't as if she had been the best trainer in their year.

Route 2 was easy to traverse. It wasn't as if she had never been there before, after all. In her hand, the ginger girl held her first occupied pokéball tightly. They had only met yesterday at the ceremony, when she had picked the Squirtle from a selection of "starter species" and they had smiled at each other... But not much more. She had thought of a nickname. Atlas. But it didn't really mean anything. Shouldn't pokémon nicknames hold weight to them? How could she name somebody she didn't really know? What if this Squirtle was actually not a good battler at all, rather pretty weak and...

She had to stop herself on the road, at that. Looking at the pokéball in her hand, she felt uneasy. Everything depended on her being stronger than her rival now. Jenna. She didn't even see which pokémon Jenna picked. But even if it was a fire type, Jorunn would be alright, because she had Atlas.

Or whatever he should really be named. She sighed. She'd better just release him to walk beside her instead of making things awkward like this. She wouldn't want their first battle together to start completely without prior interaction after all-

A streak of brown in the corner of her eye, and suddenly, there was a creature sitting on the road in front of the girl. When it saw her, it didn't blink, just stare. Jorunn stared back. It was a Sentret, not really uncommon and nothing spectacular. But this was the very first time Jorunn encountered one while she also owned a pokémon of her own. She could battle this wild monster and capture it. Its round shapes and gentle colors greatly appealed to her. She felt the urge arising and couldn't stop it.

"Squirtle, go!" she said and threw her pokéball up into the air as she had been taught to do with the school's pokémon. The ball spun as it traveled upwards, and when it reached its maximum height, it sprung open and made a small blue turtle materialize between the human and the Sentret. It stretched its arms out as if it had just woken up, and turned its head to look at its trainer just as she caught the falling pokéball again.

Sentret looked unsure of whether it should run or stay to defend its territory. Jorunn suddenly realized that this was exactly what she had wanted to not happen. Just then, Squirtle actually smiled at her. He wasn't nervous. How could he not be nervous? From what Sycamore said, he had only basic battle training, and was in no way used to battling wild live pokémon. Maybe that was just how he was, reckless? Or maybe... Maybe he saw that Jorunn wasn't sure of what to do, and was actually trying to be kind?

Regardless, Sentret just stood up on its hind legs and hissed. Strange, really. From what little Jorunn remembered, Sentrets were shy, docile pokémon. Perhaps the flood of new trainers on this route today had made it angry. Squirtle looked back at its opponent, clearly battle ready.

"Alright then..." Jorunn said, and then cleared her throat. "Seems like our first experience together will have to be a battle after all. Good luck."

The last part was partly to her pokémon, partly to herself.

"Use Bubble!" she commanded, knowing what few moves Squirtle had been trained to know already.

The turtle blew out a stream of large bubbles in Sentret's direction. Some hit, and seemed to sting the rodent. Only making it angrier. It jumped out of the way from the last bubbles and ran up to Squirtle to Tackle it. Jorunn's pokémon was pushed back, but didn't even fall off its feet. Seemed like the Sentret wasn't a full grown pokémon and as such not super strong. At least that gave them a chance to get out of this without an awful start to their companionship!

"Try Bite!"

With what might have been a mischievous smile, Squirtle quickly chomped down on Sentret's tail. The rodent squeaked and tried to get away. Only after a few seconds did the turtle let go, only to be struck in the face by a panicky Sand Attack.

"Ouch," Jorunn groaned, having faced the annoying Sand Attacks before in training battles. How to win this despite Squirtle's senses being lowered now? Sentret, content with its work, turned around for another Tackle. "Withdraw!" Jorunn called out, and Squirtle swiftly slid in to hide in its shell.

The Tackle attack pushed the shell back to bounce on the ground and come to a stop near Jorunn's feet. But when Squirtle poked his head out, he had once again a smile on his face and didn't seem to have been hurt at all.

"That worked well," Jorunn commented, also smiling at this point. They both faced the Sentret, who was really getting agitated now. "You have one more move," Jorunn told her pokémon, who nodded. "Rapid Spin!"

Sentred dashed forward for what looked like the beginning of a vicious Scratch attack. But Squirtle jumped up and retracted his limbs into the shell again as he had practiced, while simultaneously putting a sharp spin to himself. The impact had both pokémon thrown backwards, but while Squirtle landed as before and popped out mostly unharmed yet again, the wild pokémon landed on its back in the grass and looked quite out of it.

Jorunn breathed quickly. "Did we... Win?"

Squirtle reached a hand up and cheered in response. Apparently they did.

"Great work!" Jorunn praised and couldn't help putting a hand on Squirtle's head appreciatively. He looked up at her with big, beaming eyes and the wide smile from before. No insecurity there. Only a will to battle and face challenges - was that what she saw in his gaze? Regardless, he was a pretty darn cute pokémon. "Thank you."

A rustling noise made her look up. The Sentret wasn't there anymore. It had escaped while they weren't looking! Aw. Jorunn's first chance to capture a wild pokémon, and she wasted it on rubbing the head of one she already owned. Maybe next time, she would be more attentive.

So that when she one day found that Skrelp, it would not be able to escape.

 

[Oddball_]

Adventure... Start!

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Sam took a deep breath as he took the first steps off of the cobblestone bridge from Aquacorde town and onto the dirt path of Avance Trail. "Two years in that cramped little town." He exhaled as he stretched his bones as if trying to make a point.

"Saur!" Sprout called enthusiastically from the ground to the young mans left.

"Good to see you agree. Now if this map is correct, up ahead is Santalune forrest, it'll be filled with bug types. So we should probably catch a flying type Pokemon to cover one of you're weaknesses." Sam said as he held an old paper map out in front of him.

"Saur!" Sprout continued, almost as if he had no idea what the boy was rambling on about, but felt that his input was needed anyway.
"Good to hear it!" Sam cheered and began folding the map up. As he did, a small cry caught his ear. Down on the river bank, was a small red and cream colored Pokemon with strange plus markings.

"Oh look Sprout, I think thats a Plusle!" Sam called to his Pokemon as he began walking towards the distressed pokémon.

Upon arriving on the river bank, Sam noticed that the little pokémon was quite distressed. It was hopping up and down and frantically pointing acrost the river, as if trying to get someones attention on the other side.

"You okay little buddy?" Sam asked, extending a hand to the small Pokemon.

The Plusle turned and grabbed Sam's hand and pointed at the other side of the river towards a small blue shape on the other end.

"Is that... Minun?" Sam asked as he squinted towards the other end. Why couldn't the pokémon have been bigger?

The Plusle nodded furiously, its face covered in wet tears.

"Plusle and Minun. The Plus and Minus Pokemon. The two Pokémon contain strong electrical power, and by coming together they form a circuit that lets that energy flow between them, boosting they're electrical powers significantly."

Sam listened to the Pokédex and realized what had happened. Plusle and Minun had tried to cross the river, but whatever they had attempted to cross with was clearly gone. Leaving Plusle on this side while Minun was worried about its other half on the opposing river bank.

"Alright Plusle!" Sam remarked after a moment. "I'll help you get Minun back!"

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Bag:

Spoiler:

1000x

5x

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[Stinging Bea]

Avril Carter
Chapter 1: Reluctant Hero
Aquacorde Town

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Avril Carter sighed as she leaned against a wall of one of Aquacorde Town's few buildings. She took one more long, refreshing drag of the cigarette she had been enjoying for a few minutes as she began to reflect back on today's earlier event. It had been a few hours since the graduation ceremony was held, where she and eight other students, had recently been promoted to the lofty rank of official Pokémon Trainers. For most, it was dream they had been longing after for some time. Many of their family journeyed to Kalos from such far off places such as Kanto. Of course, neither one of Avril's parents were in attendance... not that she was really surprised. The girl knew that asking them to take a step away from their busy work lives to come see their only daughter's first steps into the world of training was quite the hefty demand.

"Just one more perk to being fully independent as of today," Avril muttered.

She took a moment, snuffing out the end remains of the cigarette before discarding it to the ground. Many of Avril's fellow graduates had already departed for the beginning of their grand adventures. They had said their tearful goodbyes to their parents, met the new friend in their Pokémon, and practically charged off with excitement towards Route 2. The whole concept of them being so friendly to these Pokémon was silly to her. They were not friends. They were weapons. They were tools, tools meant to help push her own way towards her own goals. In reality, that's what Pokémon were for everyone. But Avril also knew that there some, like her fellow graduates, who were sheltered from reality that they had no idea what they were really getting into. In a sense, she almost felt bad for them. Almost, but not quite enough. Avril knew that it was only a matter of time before they start having their hopes and dreams crushed. How they handled it and when they came running back home to mommy and daddy were not of her concern.

"Speaking of tools..." Avril mused.

She reached down to her belt, pulling of the lone Pokéball that was attached to it. Being one of the lowest graded of those graduates, she did not really get much of a pick between which Pokémon were left. It was more like she was stuck with a leftover. As it was, Avril really didn't even know what kind she even had. She recalled that the instructor who had oversaw the picking called it a Piplup. Figuring that this was just as good a time as any, the blonde teenager tossed the ball into the air and released the creature that was resting inside of it.

Avril watched with dull eyes as a beam of light shot out of the ball, taking the shape of a small, blue penguin-looking creature. She watched as the Piplup stretched his little flippers, a small yawn escaping his beak as if he had just climbed out of bed after a long, deep sleep. He squinted his eyes, taking a look around at his various surroundings, before gazing up at the girl who was to be his trainer. The small Piplup locked eyes with Avril, the two simply staring at each other. It only took a few moments for the Piplup to start trembling, small beads of sweat seemingly forming across his brow.

"Damn, you look scared," Avril stated bluntly. "Well, I guess I would be too if I was about to go running around Kalos with someone I didn't know from Jack."

The Piplup merely stared back at Avril, nervously bringing a flipper to his beak and starting to gnaw on it in anticipation. Avril sighed, rolling her eyes at the sight. She figured that most trainers would probably use this chance to get to know their first Pokémon better. They would probably give them some sort of reassurance and probably some sort of name. Avril prided herself on not being like most. Then again, she figured that at least giving a name would be easier than simply calling the penguin "Hey you".

"Alright... here we go," Avril sighed. She knelt down to the Piplup's level, something that did seem to ease his nerves... slightly. "For starters, I'll call you... Tuna." The newly-dubbed Piplup, Tuna, narrowed his eyes as another bead of sweat ran down his cheek. Avril rubbed the back of her head, the girl quickly realizing the issue. "Okay, that's a really stupid name... But whatever, it fits your stupid face."

As Avril opened her mouth to speak to her Pokémon some more, the sounds of some older voices quickly reached her ears. Glancing across the street, the new trainer happened to catch sight of two men. One of them, a somewhat rotund, balding man with a beard and mustache combo, while the other was a lanky, scrawny, nervous looking man with glasses and scruffy, brown hair. Both of them happened to be wearing aprons with a logo in the shape of an apple on it.

"Again, Carl... Again!" the portly member of the duo shouted. "How in the world did you let this happen again? Did you fall asleep on the job?!"

"N-No, sir! Mr. Hicklebee, I swear! I just turned my back for a second and next thing I knew, the display of berries was empty! All that was there were some tracks on the floor," Carl nervously explained. He quickly reached up and began to fiddle with his glasses, as if planning to use them in self-defense should the man Avril assumed to be his boss launched an attack of his own. "I don't understand how they're getting in here, sir... We've locked up every door... And there's no way that they could be slipping in when a customer does."

Mr. Hicklebee sighed in disgust. "I don't care how they're getting in here, Carl! All I know is that they're stealing enough berries to put us in the red! And if we don't stop them, it's gonna be my job... and if I'm going down, I ain't gonna be the only to leave, got it?!"

Carl nervously nodded in response. "Y-Yes, sir! B-But... What... how do we stop them?"

Mr. Hicklebee sighed, taking a moment to rub his beard as he thought. Avril watched as the man slowly gazed in her direction. His eyes widening as he took notice of her before looking down and staring at Tuna. The man's expression suddenly went blank, as if he had been struck by one of the greatest ideas ever. Without a single moment of hesitation, the man quickly ran (though for Avril, it looked more as if he waddled) across the street.

"You there, young lady!" Mr. Hicklebee called out. "Young lady, please wait!"

Avril sighed, "What is it?"

Mr. Hicklebee seemed to overlook the disgusted tone in Avril's voice, instead cutting right to the chase. "You were one of the graduates I saw at the ceremony this morning, yes? If so, I think you're just the person I could use for help!"

"Not interested," Avril replied quickly. She glanced down at her Piplup, motioning for him to follow her as she started to walk away.

"W-Wait! Please, I could lose my job if you don't help me! A-And him too!" Mr. Hicklebee shouted, quickly pointing to Carl, as if that would soften the girl.

"Sounds tough... Better work on your resume," Avril replied.

"W-Wait! Y-You're a new trainer! You graduated with those other eight! That means that you're supposed to be willing to hear me out and help those in need!" Mr. Hicklebee reasoned.

Avril scoffed, the girl shaking her head as a smirk graced her lips. "I'm not sure where in the hell you managed to pick up that idea, tubby... But the harsh reality is I don't know you, and I'm sure as hell not gonna sweat over some screw up that you and noodle over there probably caused on your own. Go cry to someone else who cares. Come on, Tuna. Let's get moving."

Mr. Hicklebee stood in shock as Avril and her Piplup began to walk away again. He never would have imagined that a graduate of Professor Sycamore would come off as so cold and down right mean-spirited. The man seemed to falter in his judgement, the wheels in his head turning as he raced to try and think of a way to get Avril to come back.

"W-Wait a minute!" Mr. Hicklebee shouted again. "I... I can um... W-We can pay you a reward!"

Avril stopped in her steps, gazing over her shoulder at the man. "Pay...?" She began to smile as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Why didn't you say so in the first place...?"
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[Shak]

Drew Tucker

Picture Perfect​

Aquacorde Canal
The docks of Aquacorde canal were as homely as Drew could imagine a place. The clouds always seemed to sit perfectly above them, painting pictures across the peaceful blue canvas. The scene was so welcoming, it didn't even clash with the raging sun that demanded the attention for itself. It seemed to catch it from some of the residents of Aquacorde though. From across the bank, Drew could see the cheery locals that either chose to take shelter from, or embrace the ball of gas that lit up the sky. Beneath all that, the canal itself. Crystal clear waters that most wouldn't be scared to drink from, a refreshing variety of pokemon that chose to inhabit the waters, and charming boat rides with parasol ladies and their rich boyfriends enjoying day. How could things get any more per-

"Buiiiiiii!" Drew was jolted into an upright position by the jarring screeching that echoed through the docks. If anything could ruin that perfect moment, apparently it was some strange screaming from an unidentified source. He glanced over at Brycen, much to his relief, the Chespin was sound asleep. So with the worst case scenario eliminated, he had to find out what that sound was that ruined the moment. "Buiii…" The noise seemed to be coming from the closer to the water. What had at first been frightened, maybe even angered cries turned to pained whimpers, and the unsettling noise was becoming far too worrying for Drew to simply ignore.

"C'mon Bry, we gotta figure out what that noise is." The young trainer sighed, nudging the small grass type pokemon that lay beside him into consciousness. With a disgruntled groan, Brycen looked up at his trainer, before rolling over and attempting to return to his peaceful slumber. "Guess I'll do it on own my." He rolled his eyes, before returning Brycen to his pokeball, and hopping off to find the loud and troublesome pokemon. It wasn't all bad. Maybe if he found the thing he could catch it. Would've been a great start to his journey: first day, first catch.

As he finally found the source of the noise, it didn't exactly turn out how he expected. Some other trainer had already beat him to the punch. It looked like a cool pokemon too. He groaned internally at the thought that he'd already come up short. He guessed he should've expected that. There weren't too many situations where he didn't 'come up short'. Then again, if he was to start being a great trainer, he'd have to start facing tribulation sooner or later, but…He shook of the thought. Even if he couldn't catch the pokemon, he could still help out in any way he was capable.

"Hey, do you know what happened here?" He called out to the long haired trainer that was tending to the injured pokemon.


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Inventory

Spoiler:

: 1000

Poke Ball X 5​

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[Ozymandias]

Kayla Calloway | Route 2

Richie ♂ Iron Fist, Scratch | Ember | Leer | Thunder Punch

Hands on her hips, chest puffed out, Kayla breathed in the fresh air. This was it! Her journey was finally on its way, and it all started here on Route 2.

Mom and Dad had been there at her graduation ceremony to congratulate her and give her wishes of good luck. Honestly, it was surprising to her that they were being so supportive on this. After all, her father had been so persistent on Kayla taking over the family business once she came of age. Nonetheless she was too thrilled by the prospect of this adventure to start questioning such things.

Most of her fellow trainers that had just graduated from the trainer academy with her had already scattered around the route, but the young woman wanted to make sure not to rush anything. After all, there's only one first day of an adventure.

She stayed behind on the cobblestone bridge connecting Aquacorde Town to the route, from here she could take in all the sights and sounds. Children running around battling one another, wild pokemon frolicking around in the patches of grass, the sounds of Poliwags crying out in anger and pain, and the singing chirps of Pidgeys and Fletchlings. Wait... one of these was not like the other.

Kayla whipped her head around in the direction of the Poliwags' cry. From her vantage point on the bridge she could see two fishermen sailing along the river in a rather raggedy old boat. Inside the little ship she spotted the source of the noise she had heard. A number of Poliwag had been reeled in by the two brutes and they weren't being caught or released back into the wild, they were just thrown into a tangled mess of a net on the deck of the boat.

The sight made Kayla's blood boil. Just as she was about to make a move, one of the little creatures escaped the holds of the net and shot a forceful blast of water at one of the men.

"AGH! What the hell!?" The fisherman recoiled back in surprise. As he stepped backwards to get away from the jet of water, he slipped over the side of the ship, landing into the river with a loud splash.

Watching the scenario unfold made Kayla burst out into a fit of giggles and she was almost ready to move on until she saw the remaining fisher rear back with his fishing rod and slam it into the rebellious Poliwag.

"Oh, hell no."

Now there was no holding her back. The young woman leaped from the bridge onto the boat, aiming her legs directly at the defenseless man.

Kayla used High Jump Kick. It was super effective!

The fisherman was sent reeling to the other side of the boat and would've been sent flying off the side if he hadn't grabbed onto the ledge.

"What the hell was that for?!" The man cried out as he pulled himself back aboard.

"It was for that Poliwag 'ya piece of Ponyta dung!" Kayla exclaimed, her face almost reaching the same color as her hair. She threw out her lone poke-ball releasing Richie, the Chimchar she had received only a couple hours before. "Alright Richie, use scratch on that net and get those Poliwags free for me." The starter pokemon looked at his trainer, gave a quick nod, scratching at the net until all the captive Poliwag were free.

The trainer gave a smile to the freed pokemon. "You guys are free to go now." However, in contrast to Kayla's look of joy the expressions on the Poliwag's faces could only be surmised as... pissed off. The pokemons' outcries of anger became even louder than they had before and now they were directed towards Kayla, Richie, and the fisherman.

She had seen this look a couple times before on the familiy's breeding grounds. This was the look of a pokemon who at the moment was beyond reconciliation, it was pissed off and ready to strike.

"Oh geez..." Kayla's expression changed to one of exasperation. "I was the one trying to help you guys..." Her voice trailed off as the angry mob of Poliwag inched ever closer to the trainer and her fire type pokemon.

As the two were backed into the corner of the boat, the trainer gave a discontented sigh. "Well I guess there's no getting out of this one. We're gonna have to defend ourselves."

 

[LinearAxel]

Sebastian & Drew
A Joint Post

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Sebastian & Drew​

Before Sebastian could think up exactly how he was going to help the Buizel, a near voice called out—possibly to him. He turns to see the other male looking down to him. Thank goodness, maybe Drew has a super potion (though it's not likely, unless he somehow managed to get one between the ceremony and now). Sebastian cradles the little Buizel in his arms as he jogs towards his former classmate. "No…only that something left this Buizel very weak."
The Buizel gazes up to Drew meekly, it seems that even the smallest of movements are painful. "He's smaller than any Buizel I've ever seen." Sebastian adds. "I don't think he's old enough to be on his own."

"Hmmm...maybe..." Drew looked down at the small pokemon that the Sebastian had in his hands. How the hell could that thing have been making all that noise? It was tiny. He scanned the injured creature, before rummaging through his bag to find the pokedex he'd been given by proffesor Sycamore.

Buizel. The Sea Weasel Pokemon. It swims by rotating its two tails like a screw. When it dives, its flotation sac collapses.

"Not sure why I thought that would be helpful." The younger of the two trainers sighed, stashing away the device. With that he shrugged, and watched the trainer standing before him expectantly. He was all out of ideas, and Seb always seemed smart in school, so maybe had something. His next idea would probably be to take it to proffesor Sycamore.

As nice as it was to have a Pokedex, they weren't exactly helpful, were they? Everything the small machine just told them they easily could have figured out by looking at Buizel. "It was a nice thought."

It looks like that was all Drew had on him, which meant they were back to square one. It's a pretty long trek back to Sycamore, and there's no promising that he's still at his lab. Their professor tends to wander, and now that the class has graduated, nothing is keeping him here.

Sebastian breathes in a deep, thoughtful sigh as his eyes scan the area. "Isn't there a berry grove close by?" He seems to remember his little brother mentioning it, though Sebastian had never gone far enough from the town line to see it.

"Th-that sounds like a bit of a detour, heh." He chuckled anxiously, while holding his hands up defiantly. His reluctance urged him to take a step back, which caused a cracking sound of some sort. An...egg? The specks of egg shell of egg shell that crumbled from his foot appeared to have a similar colour scheme to that of the pokemon before him. "I-I didnt mean to...umm..." He began to panick, realising what he couldve just done. It was bad enough that the Buizel was injured, now he'd just destroyed it's shelter aswell. Things were just going from bad to worse.

"Oh…" Sebastian tries to smile, despite the growing anxiousness that the shattered egg just caused. Fortunately, Buizel doesn't seem too bothered…actually he doesn't seem to notice. His eyes are scanning the water front, his tiny heart beginning to beat so quickly that Sebastian can feel the pulse. He seems to be very anxious by something in the water—or…not by the water. His family, where are they?
"Can you keep an eye out for more Buizel as you cross the water? I can't imagine his mother got very far."

"His mother?" Drew mused. Guess that explains the egg. With a nod, Drew agreed to take on the job of watching out for a bigger Buizel in the water. It was a much easier job than foraging for berries, so it was a no brainer that Drew would want to do that. Without another word, he hopped of the sloped land they were standing on, and onto flatter ground. A moment of hesitation hit him though. How would he know one Buizel from another? Could he just bring any random Buizel and hope it chose to take care of the baby? Would the Buizels know? He sighed. Even if all those things played in his favour, it would be a pretty cruel thing to do. He had to find the right Buizel, especially since he'd broken the shell. The shell...would the mother Buizel recognise the shell? Only one way to find out. He eagerly shuffled his way back onto the bank where the baby was, and grabbed a larger fragment of the shell, shoved it in his pocket, and glanced up to Sebastian with a grin. "Might need this." He smiled, before darting off towards the water, without giving Seb a chance to respond.

Sebastian chuckles quietly under his breath as Drew hops off the sloped land. That look of confusion he caught in Drew's expression certainlydidn't stop him from a determined takeoff. Sebastian watches as his former classmate makes a very abrupt u-turn and heads back up the hill to grab a piece of shell. That grin is pretty contagious. "Good luck."

Did Drew catch that? Probably not, he's already pretty fardown the slope. Alright, seems it's backtracking time. "Selkie, can you smell the berries?" He looks down at the Fennekin, who (much to his surprise) had sat by his feet while he talked to Drew.

"Fen!" The little fox cries happily as she leaps into action. She sticks her nose into the air, giving a few good sniffs before trotting onward.





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[Oddball_]

Across the River

- - - - -​

"S-sssaur!" Sprout grunted as it stretched its vines out as far as he could, as if to say: You great big stunfisk! I can't go any farther! They were visibly tearing at points and could barely reach halfway acrost the river.

"Darn!" Sam sighed as he snapped his fingers. A very relieved Sprout recalled its vines rapidly, accidentally knocking Sam over, almost crushing the small Plusle. "Ouch..." The boy grunted as he crawled to his knees. "Stretching vines all the way across the river is a no go. The current is too fast to just swim..." He mumbled as he tried to solve the problem at hand.

"Having issues whipersnapper?" An elderly man asked, walking forward at a surprising rate for a man with a cane. "Oh... See this Plusle got trapped on this side of the river, while its Minun freind is over there." Sam explained pointing to the other side of the River, where a blue blur on the other side jumped frantically.

The old man stroked his beard thoughtfully. "Well if you can't reach all the way aross the river, perhaps you only need to meet halfway?" The old man explained, pointing at a rock in the middle of the river.

"Oh! You're right mister! Sprout and I can go over to the middle of the river, grab Minun, and then come back!" Sam exclaimed, surprised at the simplicity of the situation.

"Saur!?" Sprout whined, gently massaging his vines.

"Don't worry buddy, I'll get you a big bag of pokepuffs once we make it to Lumiose." Sam replied reassuringly. "We just have too..." Suddenly a vine was wrapped around the boys mouth, making it hard for him to speak. A second vine wrapped around his chest and lifted him into the air.

"You're Pokemon is really quite... energetic!" The old man shouted as Sam was carried acrost the river towards the small island of a rock in the center. "Mmmm!" Sam's agreement was muffled by the large vine holding his mouth shut. "Saur." Sprout agreed approvingly.

Sam touched down on the rock, and the vines surrounding him began to retract, pulling the small Pokemon towards the boy. "Saur!" Sprout cheered as he touched down and released the boys torso and mouth.

"Alright!" Sam cheered spitting out bits of leaf. "Hey Minun! We're gonna get you back to Plusle buddy!" He shouted to the blue coloured Pokemon. "Saur!" Sprout grunted as he whipped his vines across the river and around the Minun, who was surprised by the sudden sensation of flying through the air over a raging river.

"Nun!" The minus Pokemon cried as Saur dropped him into Sam's outstretched arms. The pokemon clawed at him and crawled onto his shoulder. "Hey there." Sam said as the little Pokemon nuzzled his face. "Alright Sprout take us home." He said. "Saur!" The Bulbasaur agreed, wrapping his vines around the boy and the Minun, and gently carryied them over the river...

Within fifteen minutes, Plusle and Minun were playing happily on the grassy hill on the side of the river. "You did a good thing kid." The old man nodded in approval. "Yeah I did didn't I." Sam laughed. Saur looked up and whipped the back of the boys head. "We! I meant we did!" The boy groaned as he rubbed his head.

- - - - -
Bag:

Spoiler:

1000x

5x

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[Jay]

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Ryker stumbled through the bushes and shrubbery of the woodland glen. All his times on route 2 during his time living in Aquacorde and he had never wandered out into this small wooded area. There were a few rustling noises that hinted at wild pokémon... but none sprung on him and forced him into battle. That ironically enough, wasn't a good sign. That boy was good at crushing shrubbery, thankfully as he left a very obvious path weaving between trees and through the long grass. It didn't take a genius tracker to find the boys position... Ryujin was shaking in his pokéball again, as if he already understood the consequences their actions would lead to, he was itching to fight.

It was quit the scene Ryker came upon, once he caught up. The little boy from before was clutching a beaten Bidoof in his arms as an aggressive looking cubone moved to attack them both. This pokémon wasn't wild however, a larger man in a portly suit was rumaging around the ground... paying no attention to the battle whatsoever. Didn't he care that his pokémon was going to hurt someone?! An innocent kid no less?!

"Cubone are you finished with that idle miscreant yet? Hohoho, he should've taken your level into consideration before the fight, you easily double that weak little Bidoofs power, just like every other example of the species on this route... worthless morsels... now hurry up and send them packing! I almost have it! It's within my grasp!

The cubone nodded solemnly at its trainers demands and rose it's bone up high above the boys head. The trainer still oblivious as to the fact that the Bidoof was already defeated.

"H-Hey!" Ryker moved to step in, however just as he did so, a small flicker of red darted out from the trees, grabbed the cubones bone and tossed it behind the creature, deterring and distracting it for a few moments longer.

​

Upon focusing his gaze, Ryker managed to spot the pokémon whom had done the deed. A small fletchling had intervened in this fight and quickly struck the cubone from behind with a quick attack. The boy didn't seem to be giving commands... and the bird certainly wasn't Ryker's, was it really a wild pokémon? Ryker took out his pokédex and flipped the screen up. He aimed the device carefully as he had been taught how and just managed to get the Fletching in view of the small red consoles targeting radius.

Fletchling: The Tiny Robin Pokémon

"These friendly Pokémon send signals to one another with beautiful chirps and tail-feather movements. Despite the beauty of its lilting voice, it's merciless to intruders that enter its territory."

So that was it! This Fletchling must have recognized the humans and Bidoof's as a common element of its territory, but as soon as it saw the cubone, a foreign pokémon, attacking said elements... it took that action as an attack and invasion of its turf so to speak. Still... if this cubone was of a higher level as the tubby fellow in the beige explorer suit insinuated, then having an extra helping hand would be great news. These were the thoughts racing through Ryker's head as he reached for the now violently rattling pokéball on his belt.

What? Yes. Of course he was going to step in and help. Maybe he's busy but he isn't heartless... some old ass starts picking on a little kid and some local pokémon because what? He found something interesting? He didn't particularly like it there, but Aquacorde and route 2 were HIS home. In a sense he wasn't about to take an invasion of his territory either.

"W-what is this?! YOU! Is that your pokémon?! Call it off my precious cubone this instant!"

The explorer finally got up from his work, even upon seeing the terrified little kid clutching hid Bidoof dearly, he showed no remorse. Still somehow absorbed in his own self interest and work. The fletchling had been continuing to bombard the cubone with quick attacks as it grabbed its bone again to defend itself, it was holding the enemy at bay, but doing surprisingly little damage.

"Sorry guy... that isn't mine. But this one is!" Ryker couldn't help but smile brightly as he tossed the pokéball from his belt. That was so cooool! Just like one of the characters from Super Route Fighter 4 before a big battle!

The pokéball cracked open and a beam of light shot out, spreading across the ground until it formed into the shape of a small frog with an eerily demonic grin spread across its face. It looked just about ready to crush anything it could into the dirt and upon seeing the ensuing battle. Turning its head to Ryker it almost begged with its eyes to be allowed to strike out and destroy the opponent before it.

Ryker's pokédex began to beep as Ryujin took to the field... that wasn't meant to happen right? He opened the dex gently and glanced at the screen briefly to ready what it said upon the display.

Protean Detected: Activating Secondary Tracker Functionality

Scanning...

Current Type: Water

"Protean...?" Ryker thought. "What the heck is that?"

"Are you even paying attention?! Cubone! Use Bone Club!"

With the sudden announcement of the attack, Ryker watched as the opponent issued a command and the small cubone rushed forward, ready to take a massive swipe at Ryujin with his club. Ryker gritted his teeth somewhat and tried to stay calm. This was his first REAL pokémon battle. But he wouldn't be outdone by some lowlife.

"Ryujin! Use your pound attack to knock the bone aside!"

In response to Tyker's orders, the small Froakie smiled sadistically and brought in a clenched fist from one side, with expert timing the small frog through the opponent completely off balance and sent the bone weapon spinning out of control to one side. It was a powerful move... almost too powerful for a pokémon with basic battle training and a mismatched type and move.

Ryker would have been even more confused except for one small factor. The dark blue stripe upon Ryujin's head had changed to pale white, just before he did the attack. The pokédex beeped again and upon checking it, Ryker's suspicions were confirmed.

Protean Detected:
Scanning...

Type Change: Normal

So this was protean. No wonder Ryujin was so violent, it was clearly bred and born to battle under any conditions. It had the inate ability to change its genetic code and base typing... all depending on what moves it decided to use. Incredible. If that was the case then...

"Now! Ryujin! Hit it with a bubble attack!"

As Ryujin hunkered down, the pokédex beeped and the stripe reverted to a dark blue. Just as expected... Ryujin was a water type again. The same type attack bonus from the water typing on both the move and the pokémon made the attack as strong as it should have been... and the super-effective power of the move sent the cubone hurtling back into a tree, just in time for the Fletchling to swoop back in and deliver a critical peck attack.

With that it was over, the cubone slumped onto its back and fainted. The Fletchling turned its attention to the portly man then, whom before he could say anything, was beset upon by the wild pokémon. It began to violently peck at the mans head as he stumbled and screamed with a higher pitch than a grown man should be capable of mustering. "Oh my! Oh bother! Oh goodness! Arceus damn this place! I don't care about- OW! I don't care about the excavation here when- OOF! TO HELL WITH IT!" The man returned his cubone to its ball and the bone weapon was automatically recalled as well. Once done he ran screaming into the forest, loud enough for the entire route to hear, the fletchling following suit, continuously pecking his head as he went.

And with that it was over.

The little boy looked up at Ryker, his face was still wet with tears as he finally returned his Bidoof to the ball. Despite his previously crying face. He looked up at Ryker with an expression of awe.

"That... was SO COOL! No wonder you didn't battle me! I would've been no match! Why didn't I think of smacking that stupid bone away!" Ryker scratched the back of his head gently and laughed awkwardly.

"I mean I guess it was oka-" The boy cut him off as he ran across the ground to pat Ryujin's head. "What an awesome pokémon! It dealt with that guy like he was nothing! Wow!" The small froakie posed dramatically with a devilish grin, clearly glad for the attention and respect for its power.

"Froa... FROAKIE!" He let out a battle cry and posed again, much to the youngsters bemusement. Ryker frowned and held the pokéball up suddenly... eliciting a final grimace from his pokémon as he was struck with a red beam and returned.

The boy frowned a little too, until he spied a shining sliver of something upon the ground where the portly man had been studying. "Whoa... what's that?" He ran over and bent down, before rising again with a glowing green rock the size of Rykers fist in his hand. "I guess this is what that stupid tryhard excavator was working so hard for... heh. It's funny, he had just gotten it out when you sent him packing. Guess he didn't grab it in his panic."

The boy gazed at it for a few moments before handing it to Ryker with a grin. "My Dad collects stuff like this... but he's got one of these already so, I think you deserve it more!" The boy pondered for a moment as Ryker slowly took the rock into his hands. It was warm! But not hot... like the gentle glow of sunlight rising over the horizon on a foggy morning. A gentle and slow moving warmth. It made the holder almost feel like they were under someone's calming protection.

"Dad said they were... Dawn stones! That was it!" Fitting.

"Well... I gotta go Mr. Ace Trainer! Thanks for everything, you probably saved my life! Dad doesn't want me and Bidoof out on the route after 5 though... you know, some pokémon only come out at night!"

Ryker gave a slight wave as the boy ran off into the distance and he was left alone. He waited for a few moments before putting the stone in his bag and returning to the main route.

***

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Ryker continued walking along the route until Santalune forest loomed but a short distance away. The sky was very slowly fading from blue to orange as the evening approached. It had been such a long day already... but there wasn't time to waste yet.

He gazed across the running water of the river. Kalos. It was his mothers home region, but his father had been from Unova. So they moved... only for Natalie to be taken away. His mother, she had been away an awful lot since Natalie left. She followed her dreams with his fathers support, to fill the void she turned to becoming a better person. She did it too, she became a big shot trainer and was sitting pretty with her new job. She rarely came home anymore, she called Ryker often but...

Even after he did as she did, took up the mantle of trainer like she had, she still hadn't come to the ceremony. He understand her presence might have caused a fuss and trouble for work but... he still resented her a little. She made him feel abandoned. Despite himself, it contributed to his lack of desire to be a trainer at all.

He released Ryujin from his ball as he watched the water. The little pokémon was ready to fight once more, he gave a confused look to his trainer for a few moments before settling down at the waterside. He fidgeted a little... but it did seem as if the small frog had the capability to be calm.

This didn't last however, as Ryujin stood up and started growling as another presence approached. Ryker got ready to fight in turn and spun on his heels to see what was approaching from behind... but his expression softened and even Ryujin seemed to back off, when a tiny little Fletchling landed in front of him and started picking at the ground.

"You're the one... from earlier?" The fletchling pecked the ground once, as if to signal an agreement.

"Why are you here?" Ryker asked plainly, his eyebrow arched at such strange behavior from the wild pokémon. The Fletchling gave no direct response, it simply gazed at the pokéball upon Rykers belt. "You want... ? Oh!" Ryker, misunderstanding, unclipped the ball and shot the red beam from its front towards Ryujin.

"Froa... FROAK-?!" Ryujin, caught off guard was returned and the Fletchling furrowed its brow before quickly pecking the ground twice for now. Ryker frowned a little himself as he still didn't understand. However, in a moment of epiphany immediately after, he felt like he understood.

Pulling one of the empty pokéballs out of his pocket he held it out in his hand and before he could say another word the Tiny Robin Pokémon made a beeline forward and pecked the frontal button. A red light absorbed the Fletchling inside... and the ball shook in Ryker's hands thrice before it emitted a dull beeping noise.

"...I guess you enjoyed working with us before huh?" Ryker said, somewhat taken aback by such a forward gesture. Checking the ball with his pokédex he ascertained the pokémons gender as female and grinned a little.

"Fyrrah, then, that's what I'll call you. Since you've got such a fiery spirit."

He would be glad to have a flying type in the bug infested forest ahead, for certain.

Something weighed heavily on his mind however, would he be wasting time like this on every route? If he did that, where would his sister be when he finally arrived in Lumiose... if she was even there at all? Ryker didn't know, but he didn't exactly regret doing the right thing either. He had to resolve himself for the next few days, it would be tough... harsh even. But he believed in his resolve. Whatever happened was going to happen. He had to understand that. He had to do his best despite that.

If nothing else. He had to make it to Lumiose city. With that in mind he gave a gentle sigh and spoke to nobody in particular.

"It's only onwards from here."

---

Spoiler:

: 1000

Poké Ball x 4

Dawn Stone x 1​

 

[Ozymandias]

Kayla Calloway & Drew Tucker | Route 2

Richie ♂ Iron Fist, Scratch | Ember | Leer | Thunder Punch

Brycen ♂ Bulletproof, Tackle | Vine Whip | Rollout | Bite | Leech Seed | Pin Missle

Much as Drew loved watching lakes, rivers, oceans and other natural bodies of water, he had a job to do, and his search so far had been an uneventful one. He couldn't have looked the least bit sane holding a cracked egg shell in the water hoping for pokemon to stop by and take a sniff. Maybe the water had already washed away the scent and he was chasing a lost cause. If not for the urgency of the task at hand, Drew probably would've been patient enough to wait it out. In this situation though, time was not on his side. It was against his nature in every way, but he'd have to take matters into his own hands. If the shell was too far away, he'd have to bring it closer.

After tossing his hoodie aside, and tying his T-shirt around his waist to keep his pokeballs secure, he dove into the water, holding the egg shard out in front of him. Despite his best efforts at shoving the shell in the face of any Buizel that happened to swim by, the pokemon took no interest in the egg itself. It was honestly starting to seem like a fruitless endeavor. Maybe he would've been better off foraging for berries.

While lost in his thought, Drew seemed to be dragged back by his waist. Somehow, his T-shirt had managed to get clamped into some strange contraption; but what were traps doing in the bottom of Aquacorde canal? In spite of his best efforts, Drew couldn't break free before being unwittingly caught up in some strange entanglement. A net? His eyes flushed wide at the thought. He hadn't resurfaced in a while, and he was far from an expert at holding his breath underwater. His immediate apprehension quickly turned to terror, as the net continued to drag across the canal floor.

"****!" The Fisherman cried as he followed behind his partner and tumbled out of his boat behind the force of the girl's kick. Both men were able to regain their bearings quickly enough, and the grinding halt the boat seemed to come to made it easy for them to grab back on.

The sudden shift in the boat left Kayla and the rest of the pokemon reeling. She and Richie grabbed onto the ledge while the angry mob of Poliwag were sent flying around the rest of the boat. "What the hell was that?!" she exclaimed as she regained her footing.

Her eyes quickly scanned over the surface of the small ship, and found some sort of contraption connected to a net submerged under the water. Wasting no time, the young woman hastily ran over to the mechanism and pulled what she presumed to be a trapped pokemon onto the deck of the boat. Only to find... a teenage boy?

Drew collapsed over the side of the boat, trying to cough up all of the water that had filled his lungs. It took him a while to pull himself together, and finally gain the strength to push himself at least to his hands and knees. What he saw upon opening his eyes...a very angry set of pokemon. He couldn't even reach for his pokedex, since he'd left it down stream along with his hoodie. Thankfully, the pokemon didn't seem particularly angry at anything in particular, or at least, they might not have noticed him yet. slightly more to his left, two guys climbing into the boat? He had no idea what the hell had happened here, but it didnt seem like the kind of situation he wanted to be a part of. "What kind of *cough* asshole would do something like this?" His mused in between coughs.

"Apparently those two assholes over there." Kayla gave a beaming smile. The teenage boy that she had fished up out of the water was none other than her pseudo-younger brother favorite play thing Drew Tucker. She ruffled up the younger trainer's hair and gave him a small pat on the back. "I'd love to give you a hug, my dear, but unfortunately you seem to have gotten yourself quite wet." She pulled out a handkerchief out her bag and handed it to the boy. "You poor thing, use this to dry up as much as you can."

Drew's faced turned to a rather defeated scowl in response to the familiar condescending tone of Kayla Calloway. That was as good an explanation he needed as to how this scenario came to be, and somehow he'd landed in the mess of it. He had little time to dwell on the short lived reunion, as the weight of the boat shifted again, with the first of the fishermen clambering in. The shaking caught the attention of several of the onlooking Poliwag who had already lost their tempers, but now they had somewhere to direct it. He glanced up at Kayla, hoping that she would take the lead in this situation.

"You little *****, you're gonna pay for that." The fisherman grunted, flicking his head to rid of the water dripping from his hat.

"Who, me?" Kayla's expression changed to one of mock indignation. "Come make me pay, you worthless sack of ****."

"Y-you're gonna fight him?" Drew intervened, paranoid at the confrontation between the duo.

"I will, as long as he's man enough to do it." The young woman said, sticking her tongue out at the two fishermen across from them.

"Why you little..." The man that Kayla had nearly kicked off the boat looked as if he were angry enough to charge over and attack. Both men pulled out a single poke-ball. "You asked for this, little lady." They simultaneously threw their poke-balls releasing a goldeen and chinchou respectively.

Kayla gave a confident grin, even if on the inside she groaned. Why did she have the worst luck in the world? She was confident that Richie's thunder punch, combined with his iron fist ability would be able to take out some water types without a hitch, but of course she would be matched up against a water type that has the volt absorb ability.

She grabbed Drew by the shoulders and placed him standing next to her. "You boys weren't trying to make this a two on one situation were you?" She gave them a slight wink.

"Wha...I can-" Drew began before being cut short. He hadn't been in a proper battle before, and while they had all only just graduated that very morning, Drew had no idea what kind of experience Kayla may have had with other pokemon. What if he couldn't hold his own and let his teammate down? Was it her fault for throwing him in this situation?

"Drew, my dear boy, please do me a favor and help me take out these pieces of trash. Don't you worry I have all sorts of... experience." The older trainer whispered suggestively into the boy's ear.

"R-right. I'll do my best." He responded firmly, doing his best to sound reassured. Kayla's choice of wording, coupled with the way she said it was enough to throw the unhinged Drew off even more. He clutched onto the pokeball, that had been tightly wrapped up in his makeshift T shirt belt, and pressed the button. This was going to be his first battle. It was an unusual one, but a win would do him the world of good. "Brycen, you're up!" He yelled, tossing the ball onto the area where the other pokemon where already primed for battle.

"Goldeen, peck!" The first fisherman commanded, wasting no time in sending his pokemon after the less confident of the two trainers.

"Uhh...umm...Brycen, Tackle." Drew responded hesitantly. The Chespin glanced back at his trainer, unsure if the decision was really the best course of action, but followed through anyway. The peck dealing super effective damage to the grass type pokemon. Drew glanced remorsefully at Kayla, before quickly returning his eyes to the battle to seem as though he was focused.

As Kayla watched the rather unfortunate scene unfold, she realized that perhaps taking on two veteran trainers with herself and a fellow rookie wasn't such a brilliant idea. She gave a reassuring nudge to Drew and whispered. "You're doing just fine." before giving instructions to her own pokemon.

"Alright Richie, use Thunder Punch on that Goldeen!" The Chimchar nodded enthusiastically, jumping towards the flopping fish pokemon and landing a direct strike. It certainly looked like an effective shot, but the pokemon was still standing. flopping

Before anyone else could respond, the remaining trainer called out orders to his pokemon. "Chinchou, use Bubble!" A stream of bubbles floated out towards the fire typed Richie popping all around him.

Kayla grimaced, knowing the strong type disadvantage that she was in. "Does your pokemon know any grass type moves?" She asked, nudging her teammate.

"Uhhh...Ummm.." Drew mused, patting himself down in search for his pokedex. His failure to find the device, left him with no more than a nervous smile and a shrug to offer Kayla.

She gave him a reassuring smile in response, but inwardly groaned. How does he not even know the moves of his first pokemon?! She returned her focus to the battle field and was about to call out to Richie when an angry Poliwag slammed itself into the opponent's Goldeen.

Kayla started to giggle until another Poliwag ran towards Richie and shot a stream of water at the Chimchar. And another attacked the opposing Chinchou, and another attacked Drew's Chespin.

"Little pests! You damn kids caused this." The fisherman groaned, as his pokemon took time to recover. "We need to clear out these damn poliwags. Goldeen Supersonic!" He boomed, prompting his pokemon to do the same. Drew noticed the the fisherman taking action against the hostile poliwags, and decided to join him.

"Brycen...Tackle?" The grass type glanced back at his trainer with a bored expression. Was he really expecting him to use tackle again? With a sigh, Brycen caught an incoming Poliwag and tossed it at a horde of others with a vine whip. "Th-that was a tackle?" Drew blinked in shock.

"You gotta get more in touch with your friend there." Kayla winked at both Brycen and his trainer. Brycen gave an assured nod in response, before glancing over at the aforementioned Drew, who seemed bewildered by the whole occasion. "Good to know you can use that move though." She once again turned her attention towards the incoming assault of Poliwag.

"Alright, Richie hit 'em with a thunder punch!" The Chimchar gave a quick nod and slammed an electrified fist into one of the Poliwag's snouts.

The projectile Poliwag that bounced off of Richie's fist, collided with an anonymous orange object that sat amongst the crowd. The object slowly grew, rising from the sea of angry Poliwag's. The Pokemon had a yellow ring, which hung down the length of its back, and two orange dots on it's back. It almost resembled a Buizel, in a way.

"Flo" The pokemon grunted, towering of the minuscule figures of the Poliwag. With water now encasing its being, it charged head first at the fishermen Goldeen, knocking it straight into the water. Having already taken a heavy hit from Richie, the water type was immediately knocked out cold.

"Y-you know what this thing is?" Drew stuttered, again looking to Kayla for reassurance. His outburst caught the pokemon's attention, as it began making its way toward him.

Joint Post between Shak and Ozymandias​

 

[Stinging Bea]

Avril Carter
Chapter 1-2: Reluctant Hero
Aquacorde Town - Avance Trail

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Avril frowned as she looked at the display stand where the berries were supposed to be sold in the grocery store. Sure enough, it looked as if someone... or rather, something, had been digging around in them. The juicy, crushed remains of some of the berries were smeared on the floor around it. There were some deep, claw-looking marks in the wooden legs that held the stand up, looking as if whatever stole the berries used them as if they were little trees.

"It was definitely some kinda rat or something," Avril stated, running her hand along one of the clawed-up stand legs. She glanced over at the two men and frowned. "So, lemme get this straight. You don't know how they got in here. You don't even know what they are. All you know is that they're stealing the berries."

Carl nodded in response. Once more, he nervously began to fumble about with his glasses. "W-Well, the thing is we've never caught them in the act exactly... W-We always only see the scene of the crime, never the culprit."

Avril sighed, placing a hand on her hip as she rolled her eyes. "And just how am I supposed to find anything knowing that? You realize you both got me going on nothing here, right? It's pretty much a waste of my time as it stands now."

The two grocery workers looked between each other. The blonde teenager could literally see the sweat of dread starting to roll down Mr. Hicklebee's cheeks as he once more began to fumble around for an idea. Deciding to let both men stew in their own patheticness for the time being, she turned her attention down to Tuna. The little Piplup had been making himself busy for the time being. He ran one of his little flippers along some of the crushed berry juice, before sticking it in his little beak and sucking on it happily. It was at this point that Avril realized something about this whole situation was out of place.

"Wait a freaking second, why are you selling berries in a grocery store anyways?" the blonde questioned Mr. Hicklebee. "Pokémon are the ones that normally eat them anyways, right? In a place like this, you're basically asking for trouble!"

An annoyed glare quickly took hold of Avril's face as she turned to properly face the two men. The teenager opened her mouth to begin giving both of them an extreme verbal cutdown, when the sound of shattering glass quickly caught Avril, Tuna, Carl, and Mr. Hicklebee's attention. The whole group quickly turned to see a fuzzy, rather nervous looking Zigzagoon staring right back at them. The entire store was dead silent as if everything was suddenly coming together.

"That's it!" Mr. Hicklebee finally shouted. The Zigzagoon quickly jumped at the sudden outburst from the portly grocery store manager.

The man wasted no time in waddling after the zipping rodent, with Carl hot on his heels. Tuna and Avril merely stared at each other for a moment before the trainer sighed and grabbed her Piplup to carry him as she followed behind the duo. The longer this whole thing progressed, the more Avril was starting to think that this whole incident was not going to be worth her trouble, regardless of what the reward was. She followed Carl and Mr. Hicklebee into the back of the grocery store, where more of the puzzle started to piece itself together. In the back door of the grocery store, there appeared to be a rather sizable whole that had been burrowed into. Narrowing her eyes, Avril brushed past the two men and knelt down to get a better look at the situation.

"This is how the stupid rodent got in," Avril replied. She quickly glanced over to Carl. "Four-eyes, do you know what route is closest to this hole?"

The man seemed to fumble about with his glasses, once more. "I believe... Y-Yes, A-Avance... Avance Trail is back there."

"Good... A small route..." Avril replied. She quickly pushed the door open, a smirk forming on her lips as she noticed the trail of tracks leading into the route. "Won't even need a Houndour to track this reject of a rat down. Tuna! Let's get going!"

"W-Wait, what are you gonna do?" Carl asked.

Avril gave the nervous man a rather smug-looking grin. "What else? I'm gonna kick that thing's ass so hard he'll think twice about even coming into this town again!"

Without even waiting for either of the two market employees to respond, Avril grabbed her Piplup and bolted out of the door. The blonde had a trail of footprints to follow, and while that would make the search for the berry theif somewhat easier, she did not want to let the Zigzagoon get too far ahead of her. The girl ran down the path leading into Avance Trail. Tuna let out small squeaks and peeps of worry and discomfort as the teenager ran, the Piplup clearly not a fan of being carried under her arms as if he was some kind of football. Avril decided to not really pay him any mind, however. She figured that his short, stubby, webbed feet would be able to keep up with her longer strides.

Much to Tuna's delight, Avril's pace did eventually begin to slow down. However, it was not because the girl was tired and needed to a small break. Rather, it was because the trail of Zigzagoon tracks was starting to get rather hard to follow. The longer Avril and Tuna followed its tracks, the more they began to fade away. They began blending in with the rest of the dirt on the path, until quite literally there was nothing left for either the trainer or the Piplup to go on. Avril frowned in disgust, cursing under her breath as she began to look around.

"What the hell am I supposed to do now? That fuzzball has to be around here somewhere, right?" she questioned. She glanced down at Tuna, who was still tucked securely under her arm, as if asking for an answer. Tuna merely blinked his eyes in response, giving the girl a confused sounding chirp. Avril sighed, rubbing her forehead slowly. "Okay... I figured you'd be useless in having an idea... Looks like it's up to me, then... So unless that thing grew wings..."

The sound of rustling bushes quickly caught the blonde's attention. Slowly, she sat Tuna down on the ground and began to creep her way towards the brush. The Piplup let out a nervous peep as he began to follow behind his trainer. Avril stopped just short of the bush, the rustling stopped as well. All around the duo was nothing, but the sound of quiet. The teenager looked down at her Piplup, giving Tuna a look that made him know that she needed him to have her back.

Without any further delay, Avril quickly dove her hands in the bush and shoved the leaves aside just in time for the Zigzagoon from the market to come diving out from the shrubbery. Avril quickly fell to her backside, narrowly dodging the Zigzagoon pouncing on top of her. Tuna quickly turned and stared wide-eyed at the wild Pokémon, his little body starting to shake with worry as the fur of Zigzagoon began to stand on end. A deep, feral sounding growl began to escape from the Zigzagoon's mouth. Avril quickly climbed back up to her feet, the girl quickly taking note of the berry juice smeared across the wild Pokémon's muzzle. The blonde's eyes narrowed as she quickly reached into her backpack, pulling out the Pokédex that she had received along with Tuna.

"The hair on Zigzagoon's back is bristly. It rubs the hard back hair against trees to leave its territorial markings. This Pokémon may play dead to fool foes in battle."​

"By the time we finish this, it won't be playin'..." Avril taunted. She glanced back up at the Zigzagoon and grinned. "Alright, Tuna! Time to kick this thing's ass!"

The blonde glanced over in the direction of the Piplup, only to find that Tuna was no longer there. It was then that Avril felt a sudden weight grab hold of her left leg. Glancing down, her eyes widened in annoyance as she spotted Tuna cowering behind her leg and trying to hide from the Zigzagoon. Avril clenched her fists and sighed.

"What the hell are you doing back there?! You're the one who's supposed to be protecting me in this kind of a situation!" Avril snapped. She grabbed hold of the Piplup and shoved him out in front of her and in the direction of the wild Zigzagoon. "Get it together, damn it!"

The Piplup let out a nervous chirp as he slowly waddled forward some more. He stared directly at the wild Zigzagoon, his little legs shaking all the while as he tried to put on the toughest face he possibly could... which even then didn't look all that tough. The wild Zigzagoon on the other hand, had no issue with the situation it was being presented with. Without so much as a single warning it quickly lunged at Tuna, baring its sharp, pointy fangs all the while Tuna let out an absolutely terrified sounding squeal as he quickly dove into the dirt, causing the Zigzagoon to just barely miss its intended target. The Zigzagoon wasted no time in following up with another Tackle, however. It quickly lunged back at Tuna, this time slamming the penguin Pokémon right in his little belly. Tuna went skidding back in the dirt, barely managing to keep his balance in the process.

"Come on, Tuna! You can't just sit there and panic like some kinda wuss! Get in there and fight already!" Avril shouted at the Piplup. "Blast the damn thing with a Bubble attack!"

The Piplup nodded in response and opened his beak to shower forth a spray of bubbles in the direction of the Zigzagoon. The wild Zigzagoon growled in agitation as the bubbles splashed up against it. Zigzagoon countered the attack by charging at Tuna for another Tackle. Avril quickly followed up by ordering her Piplup to attack with a Peck attack. The penguin followed through with the command, which caused the two Pokémon to more or less collide into each other. Both fell back and away from each other, yet Avril did not give her Piplup a chance to catch his breath, much less the Zigzagoon.

"Icy Wind! Let's go, Tuna!" Avril commanded.

A chilling breeze took to the air around the penguin Pokémon as he breathed in deeply. Suddenly, almost as if it just sneezed, it blew that breath back out, sending forth rather chilling-looking shards towards the Zigzagoon. The wild Pokémon could only widen its eyes in shock as the chilling shards cut into it, causing a thin layer of what looked like a mix between frost and snow to form over his rough looking fur. The Zigzagoon's movement became rather jerky and stiff, as if Tuna's Icy Wind attack caused it to freeze where it stood. Ready to finish the Zigzagoon off for sure, Avril ordered the Piplup to deal out one more Peck attack. Tuna let out a loud chirp as it charged forward, slamming its small beak right into the wild Zigzagoon's forehead. The force of the impact was somehow enough to send the wild Zigzagoon flying back, hitting slamming up against a nearby rock and fainting upon impact with the ground.

"See? Now was that so hard?" Avril asked her Piplup, a smile actually gracing her lips as she walked over to Tuna. She quickly scooped the Piplup into her arms, giving the little guy an affectionate pat on the head for a reward. Tuna was so taken back by the sudden reward, he was not sure just how to react. "A little hard work is all I ask for. You know, you did pretty good considering how much of a pansy you were acting like earlier. And as for you..."

She gazed back down at the fainted Zigzagoon, giving it a rather dirty look before the fainted, wild Pokémon received a rather sudden kick. "Let that be a lesson to how being a dirty punk-thief pays out, yeah?!"

Satisfied with the battle, Avril began to make her way back towards Aquacorde Town. She had to admit, having her first, actual battle against an actual wild Pokémon was pretty exhilarating. However, there was one more thing she needed to do before beginning her journey for real. It was time to collect that reward.
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[LinearAxel]

Sebastian Allender
Aquacorde Town

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The walk to the grove wasn't as far as Sebastian expected, and he managed to make it there without having to stop and breathe, which had to be a good sign. When they arrived; however, things quickly ceased looking up: He couldn't see a single berry in any tree. "This can't be right." Sebastian frowns, it's far too soon for the trees to stop producing.

"Fen! Fen!" Selkie calls to get her trainer's attention. Once he looks to her, she begins briskly wagging her tail, and jumps to the other side, trying to look as if she's flying.
"What is it, Selkie?" Sebastian asks.

"Fenn-e-kin!" She protests. How can she make it any clearer than that? She tries again, this time tapping her nose against the ground quickly, as if she's pecking.
"Why are you pecki—Oh! Bird Pokémon have been here?"

"Fen!" Selkie jumps triumphantly.

Must have been some hungry birds. Sebastian looks down to the weak little Buizel cradled in his arms and offers a hopeful smile. "Let's see if they left any on the ground."

"Fennekin!" Selkie cheers before running towards the closest tree. It took some scouting, but managed to find an Oran berry lying by the roots of a tree. It was slightly bruised from the impact (probably why the birds left it alone) but still very much edible. Sebastian crouches down to pick up the berry, and holds it just above Buizel's mouth.

"Try this. You'll feel better."

The first few bites are very slow; Buizel has to summon a great deal of strength just to bite down and chew, but with each bite, its vigor intensifies. The berry gone, the small weasel gives Sebastian a tiny squeak of thanks. He's hardly completely healed, though he looks significantly better. Sebastian's tight shoulders relax as he stands, and proceeds to hunt for more fallen berries.
Selkie did her best to sniff out the fallen berries, and even managed to find several, which she brought back to Sebastian. Unfortunately…not one of the berries Selkie found were Oran. A Chesto, a pecha, a cherri (all of which Sebastian thanked her for, and tucked in his bag for later), not a single one that was helpful for their current situation.

Finally the trio found a second Oran berry; it had rolled just under a raised root, and would have been overlooked, if not for Selkie's nose. Buizel happily nibbled on its snack as Selkie celebrated her personal victory by running in circles around her trainer.

"How do you feel, Buizel?" Sebastian asks once the little creature is finished. Despite looking so much better, Buizel's response was not as enthusiastic as Sebastian expected. "I guess you won't be feeling too happy until we get you back to your mother." That's fair, he's still far too young to be fending for himself, instinct itself is likely telling him that he needs to get back to her before danger finds him.

"Then let's go back to Drew. He must have found her by now."

"Bui~" The tiny beast nestles into Sebastian's chest in thanks as he's escorted back to the river.
A (somewhat) brisk walk back across the path was going rather smoothly, until Selkie began to slow, her tiny nose wiggling in the direction of the wind.

"Hmm?" Sebastian pauses his stride. "Did you catch wind of Buizel's mother?"

Selkie doesn't answer, she simply trots off further down the trail, causing Sebastian to follow. What she took Sebastian to was not a motherly Buizel, but what looked more like a crumpled, fuzzy bath towel. "Fen…" Selkie whines as she paws at the…thing with her paw.

"Selkie?" Sebastian frowns. It's not until he's right on top of the creature that he realizes that what she's pawing is actually a Pokémon. A Zigzagoon…left in the same terrible shape Buizel was. Who's doing this? It's terrible…loathsome.

Selkie gently bites down on her trainer's pant leg, tugging him frantically, hoping he will take the hint and help it.

'We can't just leave it here…' Sebastian thinks, but what can he do? Carry it all the way to the next city's Pokémon center? He can't protect it for that long…Unless…it's in a Pokeball. Sebastian comes back to the world of the living thanks to Selkie's demanding yip.

"It's okay, Selkie." Sebastian offers calmly as he removes a Pokeball from his bag. He crouches, delicately tapping a Pokeball against the Zigzagoon's tail. To say the creature didn't put up a fight was an understatement: The ball barely shook. Once again, Selkie squeaks out an excited cheer. "You'll be safe in here." He smiles.

This was…an interesting detour, to say the least. Sebastian delicately rubs Selkie's head before rising. "Now let's take this one home."

The walk back to the water was a bit slower, Sebastian's head felt weighed down with the mystery at hand: Who would be so cruel as to walk around, beating the life out of Pokémon, and then leaving them there? It had to be someone from town, right? No one would cross the forest just to attack Pokémon on the other side. Meanwhile, this town is so small…he must know the face of the person responsible…not a one of them ever screamed 'sociopath' to him…

"Drew?" He called out when they returned to the water. There's something human shaped moving in the distance, that must be him. "Drew!" He calls out again.

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[Shak]

Kayla Calloway & Drew Tucker | Route 2

Richie ♂ Iron Fist, Scratch | Ember | Leer | Thunder Punch

Eli ♂ Water Absorb, Water Gun | Bubble Beam | Hypnosis | Double Slap

Brycen ♂ Bulletproof, Tackle | Vine Whip | Rollout | Bite | Leech Seed | Pin Missle

Kayla's mind raced trying to remember what type of Pokemon this was. She hadn't seen many of them, but she knew for certain that there had been at least a couple on the family's breeding ranch.

"Floatzel!" She exclaimed as she finally remembered the identity of the orange pokemon. The rookie trainer pulled out her poke-dex which confirmed her thoughts. "Floatzel, the Sea Weasel Pokemon. It floats using its well developed flotation sac. It assists in the rescue of drowning people."

"Floatzel, huh? Name kinda sounds like...and looks like...a Buizel?" He grabbed the egg, and held it out for the Floatzel to sniff. While hesitant, the Sea Weasel approached Drew slowly, before dodging a supersonic from the fisherman's Chinchou.

The pokemon responded with a fierce hiss. Despite remaining intimidating, the Poliwag seemed to have lost their fear of the Floatzel. Seemingly overtaken by a mob mentality, the Poliwag turned on the Floatzel aswell.

"Hey! The Floatzel's just an innocent bystander here!" Kayla shouted towards the Chinchou's trainer. As the Poliwag were distracted with the newly arrived pokemon, she redirected her attention towards the fisherman's pokemon. "Drew, you take care of that Floatzel and help out with all those Poliwag. Me and Richie will take care of this scumbag."

It was definitely an unfavorable match up for her, a fire type facing off against a water-electric. It was especially disconcerting that her trump card was completely nullified by her opponent's ability. I guess I'll just have to make do.

"Alright, Richie hit that thing with a leer!" The look on the monkey pokemon's face changed from its normal cute expression to one that could make a child burst into tears. The Chinchou was obviously shaken up, which meant that the moves effects were successful.

"Okay, now use scratch!" Wasting no time on the follow up attack, Richie leapt at his opponent, raking his claws upon the body of his foe. The Chinchou recoiled backwards, obviously in considerable amounts of pain. The defensive drop caused by the leer had definitely done quite a bit, but the battle wasn't over just yet.

While the battle played out, Drew and Brycen wasted no time in helping the Floatzel clear out the boat. The wild pokemon glanced at the trainer and his grass type companion with uncertainty, but Drew simply responded with an assuring nod. The team of Floatzel and Chespin were enough to either intimidate of clear out most of the remaining Poliwag, sending them packing. One sole Poliwag stood however, not resillient, not courageous nor valiant, but hiding behind some leftover nets. The Floatzel's glare focused on it, but Drew was quick to call it off. He walked over, and held his hand out for the small blue pokemon.

"You dont seem as ticked off as the rest." He chuckled, kneeling to face the Poliwag and possibly ease its nerves. It didnt work. As soon as Drew got close, the pokemon darted through the legs of the young trainer, past Floatzel and Chespin, through the ongoing battle, to take shelter behind Kayla's legs. "Hey, I did-" Drew called out as he watched the small pokemon shuffle away. He sighed in defeat, before realising just how tired he was, and slumping against the wall of the boat.

Kayla was just about to call Richie on the Poliwag that had ran over to her, but realized this one wasn't quite like the others. The Fisherman on the other hand, wasn't so caring. He called his Chinchou to fire an electro ball, but Brycen was quick to jump in the way and take the attack. He glanced back to ensure it hadn't been hurt. It didnt seem to care for his protection though, it seemed that instead of attacking her, the little creature was cowering behind Kayla.

"Come here, you poor thing." she said as she scooped up the pokemon in her arms. "Everything'll be fine after I teach this man some proper fishing etiquette." She placed the Poliwag on top of her head with a giggle. "You'll be safe up here until the fights over."

Once again shifting her focus back towards her opponent, Kayla surveyed the situation. The leer had been keeping her in this battle, but the constant onslaught of water typed moves had left Richie unable to consistently reach his target without taking out a chunk of his health. He could probably only take two more shots before fainting. But fortunately enough, the opponent's Chinchou also looked close to being finished off as well.

It's all or nothing now. The rookie trainer, reinvigorated by the little pokemon sitting atop her head, called out instructions to Richie. "Hit that thing with one more scratch!"

The Chimchar gave a determined nod, understanding what his trainer was asking of him. It was strange, they had only met a couple hours ago, but they already seemed to share a close connection with one another. He pounced forward, knowing full and well what was coming next.

"Chinchou use bubble beam!" Almost in sync with the words, a stream of bubbles streamed out the pokemon's mouth towards the oncoming fire type.

There wasn't any way for Richie to dodge, so he continued to charge forward, enduring the splashing bubbles around him. He was almost there, just one last push. He leapt forward one last time, rearing back his claws to strike, and....

The bubbles stopped, and Richie's momentum took him for only a few more steps, before he went crashing to the...shoulder? His vision was blurred, but he could see a green figure retracting what looked like vines, the same figure that seemed to be holding him up. The chimp hung on, thankful for the grass pokemon's support.

"Pin?" Brycen enquired with clear concern in his tone and expression. A red beam of light caught the airborne Chinchou. A beam of light that seemed to be getting further and further away. Drew couldnt help but laugh, as he watched the fishermen fleeing the scene. While he was distracted, Floatzel had managed to sniff out the egg shell he was carrying, and seemed to be obsessed with the fragment.

"Yours, huh?" Drew beamed, glad to have found something he didn't think he'd find. Floatzel's curiosity quickly turned to adamant determination. "Dont worry, I know where he is. I'll lead you to him." Drew said, reassuring the Water type.

Kayla gave Brycen a thankful nod before she took her Chimchar into her arms. "I'm so sorry for making you do such a stupid thing. I shouldn't have let you take a hit like that." Her eyes started to well up as the heat of the battle cooled down into thoughts of remorse.

Richie gave a weak shake of his head and gave her a reassuring look, letting her know that he knew full and well what he was getting himself into.

The young woman smiled back at her pokemon and took out her pokeball. "It's time you have yourself a well deserved rest." She tapped the ball onto his forehead, bringing him back inside the capsule.

As she was wiping her tears away, she noticed the unnatural weight that was being put upon her neck and shoulders. She reached up and picked up the little Poliwag perched atop her head. "I almost forgot about you." Kayla said as she placed the pokemon on the deck of the ship. "The battle is over, you're safe to go now. Those stupid fishers probably won't be back for a while."

The Poliwag just sat there staring at her meekly. "Go on now, I'm sure your friends are all waiting for you." Kayla reassured, slowly shooing away the pokemon, but for every step that the Poliwag took towards the river, it took double towards the trainer.

She gave the pokemon a bewildered look. "Why aren't you rushing back like all your friends did? Don't you want to go home?" In response the Poliwag vigorously shook its head back and forth.

Kayla, a bit taken aback, went through the possibilities of what the pokemon wanted and came across a solution that might benefit both parties. "Do you want to come with me?"

This time the Poliwag vigorously nodded its head up and down.

"Well why didn't you say so?!" Kayla exclaimed with a beaming smile. She scooped up the pokemon and wrapped it in her arms. "You're just the most adorable thing I've ever seen."

"Hmm... What should your name be?" She held up the Poliwag and looked at it for a couple seconds. "You look like an Eli." She grinned and pulled the pokemon back in for another hug. "Eli it is."

She took out one of the pokeballs given to her at the graduation and tapped it on the Eli's forehead. "Welcome to the team, buddy."

With both her starter and newly caught pokemon secured in their pokeballs, Kayla stopped to look around the ship. It was an ol' dinged up piece of junk and there didn't seem to be much of value on it, however, she spotted something that the two fishermen had left behind.

"Hey Drew check this out!" She called over her shoulder.

Drew's head bounced up at the mention of his name. He did his best to recover from the weary state he'd fallen into.

"Hmmm?" He yawned, staggering up to see whatever it was Kayla was looking at. He stopped when he laid eyes on the discovery. In his eyes, this was probably better than treasure. Four fishing rods! Abandoned. His tired expression was completely overtaken by a childish grin. The grin, slowly built into excited laughter, until the point he was practically celebrating at the sight of the rods. "This is awesome! I can fish whenever I want! Kayla...I..." He paused to consider just how to word what he wanted to say. "Thanks." He smiled, doing his best not to sound completely soppy, despite still swooning over his new found fishing rods.

The younger trainer's sudden adorable burst of excitement brought a warm smile to Kayla's face. This time, disregarding the fact that she'd get wet, she pulled Drew in for a tight hug. "No problemo little guy."

Drew flinched in response to Kayla's response. Along with the reflexive response, he made a short squeaking noise as he was dragged against his will. While he was used to being annoyed with Kayla treating him like a kid, there was something different about this time. It was as if he almost...missed it? He sighed. Normally he probably would've just accepted the hug since he had no other choice, but this time he decided to hug back. The last time it happened couldn't have been that long ago.

"I guess I get two and you get two." She said as she picked up a pair of the old rods, without waiting for confirmation. "Well then I'll be on my way, I want to train up Eli and Richie a little bit. Thanks for all your help, kiddo!" Kayla ruffled up Drew's hair one more time before leaping off the ship and heading off to explore the rest of the route.

The sentiment of the moment feeling 'different' was quickly sent packing as she ruffled his hair. As Kayla disappeared onto route two, Drew turned, and let out a tired yawn, before seeing Brycen and Floatzel appear into his line of sight.

"Damn." He sighed, realising his day was still far from over.

Joint Post between Shak and Ozymandias​

 

[Nagi]

1000

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Audrey Sargent ​

Pokéball in hand, Audrey was ready to take the first step of her journey out of Aquacorde Town. An odd feeling of recognition filled her chest, as if she'd done this once before already - and she felt the need to check behind her as well. There was nothing to be seen, of course. Still, better safe than sorry, she supposed. A sigh escaped her lips. Why was she so on edge? Aquacorde and Avance Trail should be nothing new to her, she'd traversed both many a time for school assignments after all.

Perhaps it had to do with the graduation ceremony that took place in the morning. She didn't expect it to be so formal considering it only lasted a couple hours, but seeing her entire family there to come watch her and receiving a diploma and everything... She clutched the Pokéball in her hand, couldn't help but feel the pressure on her shoulders increasing a bit. Now was the time to achieve her dreams, so there was no time to be hesitant anymore.

She took a deep breath. Then again, there was no sense in steaming out without any direction either. Audrey decided to walk around Aquacorde's main plaza one more time, to take in the sights, since she wouldn't be seeing this familiar area again for a long time to come. As she sat down at the plaza fountain, a rowdy pair of boys caught her eye. The two seemed to be arguing about... shorts? Regardless of the topic, their argument was getting out of hand, and they were drawing attention of other patrons as well. Deciding it was about time to move on, Audrey got up and made her way to the boys. They were apparently so engrossed that they didn't notice her even when she spoke up, so Audrey gave both of the boys a knock on the head to snap them out of it.

''Cut it out, will you?! You're causing a scene.''​

She gestured to her surroundings where people were either staring or hurriedly looking away. The boys were caught off guard, but Audrey continued before they could talk back to her.

''Do you really care so much what your friend wraps his pelvis in anyway? It's spring, shorts are fine. Look around---''​

Her sentence was cut off by a scream from across the plaza. An older gentleman shouted ''Stop! Thief!'' and tried to chase to whoever had stolen from him, but he was far too slow to hope to catch up. Behind him followed a lady, his wife presumably, who wasn't as good a runner as he was anymore. Seeing he had no hope to catch up, the man stopped and supported his wife, relinquishing the chase. Audrey wasted no time and left the two boys with a final stern look as she headed towards the elderly couple to inquire.

''Excuse me, are you alright? What just happened?''​

The woman coughed, prompting her husband to check on her before replying.

''Gah... A young man just tried to pickpocket us. I thought I discovered him early enough, but it seems he still managed to make off with my pocket watch.''​

Audrey gazed in the direction the mugger made off in, but he was nowhere to be seen. As she turned back to the couple, she was met by the intense expression of the older gentleman.

''Now listen, young lady. Normally I wouldn't ask a girl such as yourself to get involved in such an incident, but that watch is incredibly important to me. I cannot afford to lose it. Do you understand?''​

The girl was somewhat taken aback, but nodded in understanding, and quickly made off running after the thief. She wasn't sure where exactly he went, but it was likely he would try to escape the village, so she decided to head for the northern bridge as a primary vantage point.

 

[Stinging Bea]

Avril Carter
Chapter 1-3: Reluctant Hero
Avance Trail

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"Well, that was a big enough waste of time," Avril sighed as she and Tuna walked casually back down Avance Trail. "I dunno if that whole incident was really worth it, either. That fat moron barely coughed up any actual cash."

Tuna made some quick, curious chirps as he pointed to the blue and red Pokéball in Avril's hand. She glanced down to the ball and could tell that the Piplup was interested in it. A small smirk formed on her lips as she knelt down to the penguin's level.

"This thing? It's a Great Ball," Avril explained. "I really dunno the specific about it. Supposedly it's supposed to be better than a normal ball, but... I guess we'll see about it."

That said, Avril really was not sure when she was going to catch another Pokémon. She knew that she would need more than just Tuna in order to obtain her goal. However at the same time, Avril wanted to make sure that she caught only the best of the best to be members of her team. With a desire that included crushing the Champion of Kalos and taking her place as the new champion, Avril had no time to deal with weakness or Pokémon who needed constant nurturing. She resumed her walk, glancing down at Tuna as she did so. In a sense, Avril figured that this sort of logic also applied to the little Piplup. Sure, he managed to pull through when the time was finally needed, but... It took a lot more coaxing out than she was comfortable with. If Avril would not be able to shake it out of the Piplup as her journey progressed... then the spot for him would probably be stuffed in a PC Box.

"But I guess that's something we can worry about later," Avril thought, the sight of Santalune Forest coming into view as she did so. "But for now, one step at a time."

CHAPTER END​

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[Oddball_]

Adventure... Start!

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After helping to return the Plusle and Minun together, Sam continued on his journey to challenge the Pokémon league, and to search the world for his childhood friend. However not everyone was ready for him to move on quite so soon.

"Buizel-Bui!" A Pokémon cried from the tall grass. Suddenly a large stream of water appeared from the bushes, Soaking both Sam and Sprout.

"Hey whats the big idea!" Sam shouted at the grassy patch from which the stream of liquid had been dispatched. "Bulba-saur!" Sprout butted in, clearly upset at the fact that the seed on his back was recieving well over the reccomended amount of water for the day.

"Bui-bui-bui" The sea weasel Pokémon cackled as it rose from the grass with as much dramatic effect as it could muster in its little body. "Why you... I'm the only wise guy allowed around here!" Sam shouted, pointing at the Buizel accusingly. "Sprout, lets show this jokester you're vine whip attack!"

The Sea weasel's grin grew even wider, as it easily leapt backwards, away from the encroaching vines. "Bui-olololol" The Pokémon shouted as it released a second blast of water while landing safely out of harms way, not at the attacking Pokémon, but at the trainer.

"Hey come on now!" Sam complained as he ducked beneath the stream of highly pressured water that was coming straight for his face. "Theres a certain Etiquette to battles, even wild Pokémon know you're not supposed to attack the trainer!"

However despite his cries for help, it didn't seem that the Buizel carred about defeating Sprout in a battle at all, as he simply continued to blast Sam with jets of water from his mouth. After a few minutes of this however, Sprout got bored of watching his trainer flail about in a mad dash to avoid the many torrents of water, and finally decided to intervene by smacking the unsuspecting Buizel with a Vine whip.

"Bui?!" The Pokémon shouted in surprise as he was thrown across the grassy field from the force. "About time!" Sam complained as he noticed the Pokémon had stopped attacking. "Saur." Sprout muttered, indifferent to the whole situation. The Buizel in the meantime, was crawling back to its feet.

"Sprout, get him with another Vine whip!" Sam exclaimed, once again pointing his finger at his target, as if that would help Sprouts aim in some way. The vines wrapped around the Sea Weasel Pokémons feet, and Sprout lifted the Pokémon upside down and began to toss him into the ground again and again, as if Sprout was some hulking monster fighting an asgardian demigod.

The buizel, clearly annoyed by the Bulbasaurs interference with his game, decided to fight back by blasting forward with a jet of water, dragging Sprout through the dirt. "Saur-Saur-Saur!" Sprout grunted as he bumped the ground. He quickly released his vines from the buizel, but the sea otter Pokémon took a sharp turn and tossed Sprout into the base of a large tree, the impact disturbing several Pidgey who had been resting in the branches above.

"Sprout?! Are you alright?" Sam shouted to his partner, who was dusting himself off. "Bulba!" Sprout shouted, an angry fire burning in its eyes as it trotted towards the cackling buizel. "Bulba..." Sprout grunted, closing his eyes and focusing on the buizel. "Bulba..." as he continued, purple spores drifted out from the seed on the grass type Pokémons back, and encircled the Sea otter Pokémon. "SAUR!" Sprout shouted, all of the spores converged on the Buizel, engulfing him in a cloud of Toxic spores.

The Buizel dashed out almost the instant the spores consumed him, but it was clear that even his aqua jet hadn't been enough to outspeed his inhalement of the toxic spores, leaving him lying on the ground coughing. "Alright! Now we just have to wait him out! Good going Sprout!" Sam cheered from the background. "Bui-" The wild Pokémon grunted as it locked eyes with Sprout. A sudden blast of water from the Buizel threw Sprout through the air.

"Slingshot yourself back at him with a vine whip attack!" Sam cried out, and as he did so long vines erupted from Sprout's back and wrapped around the tree, which he then used to shift his momentum, aiming himself straight at the wild Buizel.

SMASH!

The two Pokémon stumbled around for a second, both wobbling and barely managing to stay on their feet. "Alright!" Sam cheered. "Bulba..." Sprout grunted as he bumped into the buizel. "Bui..." The buizel giggled as he fell over. "Sprout?! Do you know what time it is?!" Sam danced as he pulled a red and white sphere from his belt. "It's Pokéball time!" Sam shouted, hurling the ball at the Buizel. The Sea Otter was engulfed in a red light, before being absorbed into the ball.

The ball fell to the ground and shook violently, once... twice... three times...

Click!

- - - - -
Bag:

Spoiler:

1000x

5x

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[LinearAxel]

Sebastian & Drew
A Joint Post

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Sebastian & Drew​

He was tired, annoyed, and pretty humiliated aswell after his failure to put in a competent display against the fishermen. He was honestly beginning to question why he'd even become a trainer, or better yet, why anyone was stupid enough to let him make such a stupid decision. Stupid! He was sharply snapped out of his draining, and rather negative train of thought, by rush of bubbles from the burst of acceleration that the Floatzel swimming beside him exhibited. The water pokemon, within seconds, was right in front of Sebastian and staring very intently at her child which the trainer was still holding.

"Bui-Bui!" The tiny Buizel suddenly snaps awake at the scent of its mother. Its tails begin to weave together as it holds its arms out for the Floatzel. Sebastian smiles calmly at the large orange weasel, slowly and gently holding her child out to her.

"We've been looking for you." He speaks just above a whisper, the little Buizel holding its arms straight outward for its mother.

Despite her eagerness to take her child back, Floatzel could see that her child was still weak. The smaller pokemon barely had the energy to lean over to his mother.

"Flo?" Floatzel licked the pup, hoping the issue could be solved just like that. Needless to say, it wasnt. The baby was still hurt, and it was clear to see. By that point, Drew had finally arrived to assess the situation. Not that the 14 year old would be much more help in resolving the situation.

"Man, did you get the berries." He groaned with furrowed brows as he looked down at the wounded Buizel. "They dont look like they helped much. If things stay like this, we might have to...y'know?" He drew his thumb across his neck and stuck his tongue out, making a face akin to a wounded creature.

"FENEKIN!" Selkie snaps as Drew makes his cut throat motion.She growls as she stands on Sebastian's foot, as if to make herself slightly taller.

"N-no! We don't... have to go that far." Sebastian swallows nervously. That thinking is going terribly far when all they've done so far is feed the sickly Buizel. "I gave him two Oran berries. That should be more than enough to heal a Pokémon this young." As Sebastian looked down at the Buizel, he noticed that the small creature kept its legs tucked against its sides. Even now, with its other just a step away, it isn't trying to get on its feet and go to her…it's merely reaching out to be held.

"It's leg is broken." He realizes.

Drew backed off and chuckled nervously. The Floatzel, who was lucky enough to have not witnessed the gesture, glanced up at the trainer which prompted him to quickly return to the situation of urgency.

"Maybe we could get this thing to a Pokemon center? I mean, there isnt one in Aquacorde or camphrier town, but I'm pretty sure Proffesor Sycamore mentioned there being one in the next town over." He smiled, trying to sound helpful. He hadnt listened to much of Sycamore's rant at the ceremony, nor did he remember much of what he did hear, but if he was right that couldve been some sort of redemption for suggesting what he did. He glanced down at the angered Fenekin and gave it another nervous smile. How the hell did it even know what that gesture meant anyway? That was one smart Pokemon.

Good thing Floatzel didn't pick up on the younger male's hand motion, and seems too focused on her child to pay much attention to what got Selkie so upset. Drew's suggestion causes Sebastian to nod. "I'm sure this won't be the first broken bone they've seen." However, this begs the question...how do they get Buizel all the way to the next town? He's too young to take from his mother; catching him would just be cruel, yet much like Zigzagoon, he can't protect himself going across the forest.

Sebastian's head bows thoughtfully as he looks down to Selkie, who has calmed significantly thanks to Drew's backtracking from his words. "Is it safe to take him so far from home?"

Drew gave let out a small sigh of relief. Thankfully Sebastian was considering his suggestion, which meant he had sort of redeemed himself.

"It doesnt really look like we've got much of a choice." Drew shrugged, walking back over to get another look at the small water type. "In the state he's in right now, there's no real way it can survive. It'll just be a burden to its mum." He spoke flatly, glancing down at the Fenekin to make sure he hadnt upset it again. "How about I take it? That way you can carry on with your journey." He smiled. He knew that he'd never amount to much, but Seb on the other hand always seemed to do well in school. The redhead would always get good grades, and along with a few others, was probably one of the best prospects to do well. Why should his journey his journey be dragged down by such an unfortunate event? If you were to take on the task, it wouldnt really change much at all. He'd just fall further behind the other trainers than he was already going to. There's no need for an anchor on a broken boat after all.

"What do you think, Floatzel?" Sebastian offers the baby Buizel to its mother to hold. When he found Drew, Floatzel was with him, which means they must have established some kind of trust. On a similar note, Sebastian is certain that Drew will have an easier time protecting the little creature while crossing the woods. Physically he is probably stronger than Sebastian, and will likely be able to cross the forest and get to the Pokemon center before Sebastian could.

Selkie narrows her eyes at Drew, who she stares at for several long seconds. He does seem genuinely sorry for making such a terrible suggestion, and he is still a very small human. Maybe he didn't know what he was indicating. Her fluffy tail begins to wag as she looks to the mother Floatzel. "Fen." She nods in agreement.

"So, whaddaya say Floatzel. you want me to take Buizel to the Pokemon center?" Drew's question was met be a titled head by the mothering pokemon. Taking no time to try to help the wild pokemon understand, Drew gently took the injured baby from Sebastian's hands, and walked over to his hoodie, which he had left in the sand before going to find Floatzel. The young trainer took the hoodie, which was probably the only dry garment he had with him at that point, and wrapped the baby in it. "Guess this'll keep you warm for the journey." He mused, before glancing at Seb. "I should probably be off then. I'm no expert on broken bones, but I should probably try to get it fixed ASAP so that it can grow back. Guess I'll be seein' ya Seb." With a simple hand gesture that seemed a mixture of a wave and a salute, Drew began on his way to Santalune forrests main entrance. It had already been a long day, he definitely wanted to get to Santalune city before nightfall.

The mother Floatzel looks confused, but she isn't viciously attacking the young trainer for taking her child, so there must be some level of understanding between them. Selkie's little yips and approving nod were likely explaining to the mother where the young human was taking her child, and why.

Sebastian offers a small wave as Drew heads for the forest. There's a brief pause once the younger is out of earshot, Sebastian glancing to Selkie with a puzzled expression. "Should I have told him bones don't grow back?" Or that this wasn't a case of a missingbone? No, no need to make the younger trainer feel even more awkward. Selkie lets out a lighthearted cry that resembles laughter, then hops onto her trainer's shoulder.

"Take care of yourself, Floatzel." Sebastian flashes a final smile at the mother Pokémon before following Drew to the forest's entrance. Unsurprisingly, Drew was already out of sight. He'll be at that Pokémon center within the hour, most likely.Sebastian takes one final glance at the water, only to discover Floatzel was gone as well; however…he somehow doubts this will be the last time they see this particular Pokémon.







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[moon]

JORUNN - Route 2 - part II

pokémon:

inventory:

x1000 |

x5​

i think there's something you'd like to see.

Jorunn's message to her friend was short but sure to catch the blonde's attention. Indeed, within only seconds, Alma replied.

Oooooo is it a wild pokémon? It is a wild pokémon isn't it??

Instead of a text reply, Jorunn now quickly snapped a picture with her camera of the view in front of her and messaged it digitally. Squirtle huddled excitedly on a rock beside her, slightly annoyed with having to stay put.

Ooooo it's a COTTONEE! Those are so incredibly cute!
When attacked, it escapes by shooting cotton from its body!
there are several dozens of them here.
The cotton serves as a decoy to distract the attacker and
O M G really? SHOW ME!

More pictures were taken and sent, and Jorunn found herself laughing at her friend's excitement. She and Squirtle were sitting in the grass, careful not to scare the pokémon away. The grass types were floating lazily around in the air over the meadow ahead. It was a really beautiful sight, and Jorunn was happy that she had gotten quite a few great shots. Not just for Alma's sake, but also her own collection of photographs. Perhaps she could even... Capture one of them? Not just with her camera, but also with a pokéball? Although, they were grass types, and one of the first things you learned in pokémon trainer school is that grass beats fire. Squirtle looked joyful, as if he simply wanted to play with them though. Perhaps that would be better than a battle, for now.

Just as she got up, a breeze caught her hair and she couldn't quite see the Cottonee for a moment because of all the orange mess. Putting her camera away and tucking her hair into a loose ponytail, she suddenly heard Squirtle exclaiming. He had jumped up and was pointing upwards with his chubby hand.

The Cottonee couldn't control their flight easily in a breeze as it were. But now they were facing unnatural resistance. A bird was flying around them, clearly scaring them. That's mean, Jorunn thought. Perhaps it was natural though. She could ask Alma about the birds here and their behavior-

A stream of fire shot through the air above them, barely missing one of the Cottonee. It had come from the bird. Jorunn froze. She didn't need to call Alma now. She knew what that was, even before it halted in the air, flapping its wings a bit more slowly so she could get a good look at the bird. It was Fletchinder. A fire pokémon.

She didn't even take a step back. Seeing the flames paralyzed her. This wasn't just a tiny matchstick on fire, or fire on TV or something like that which she had learned to handle by now. This was live danger, right in front of her. The bird seemed to be making fun of the poor grass types in the air, pushing them around with gusts of air and shooting them with fire from afar. The Cottonee panicked and tried to float down to the ground, but the bird kept pushing them back up again with its wind. One Cottonee actually tried to resist and blow a glittery wind back into Fletchinder's face. The bird squawked angrily and replied with a burst of fire that sent the scorched Cottonee crashing down into the grass.

Squirtle growled beside Jorunn. He clearly didn't want to let this terrorism carry on. The trainer's eyes flickered between her pokémon and the scene ahead. The bird still hadn't noticed them. She could run. But Squirtle wouldn't have it.

Suddenly, without an order, he dashed forward.

"No, wait!" Jorunn called out, but to no avail.

Squirtle, face purple in anger, ran up to Fletchinder as it dove down without noticing the turtle jumping up towards it. One Rapid Spin later, the Fletchinder was tumbling around in the air, very confused and slightly damaged. Squirtle landed on all four, growling again in a very turtle-like way.

Okay. Squirtle was going to fight this bird. Jorunn couldn't just run anymore. But it was breathing fire... Fire. Fire! Squirtle was a water pokémon. Fire pokémon were weak to water types! Type weakness could actually work to her advantage here. Okay.

"Squirtle, use Bubble!" she said, still not stepping forward, but he heard her.

Fletchinder sprayed an Ember attack over the turtle, who countered with a shower of bubbles. The attacks cancelled each other and Fletchinder, now agitated, flew back up into the air. It dove again and managed to Tackle Squirtle with surprising speed. Jorunn's confidence again dropped.

Fletchinder landed on the ground and actually had the nerve to laugh at Squirtle's plight. But just when Jorunn was starting to consider turning her back on them all and running for her life after all, a glittery gust hit the bird in the back of the head once more. The small Cottonee who had been burned before was sitting behind its enemy now, with a fierce stare of vengeance.

Squirtle now laughed back and stood up bravely, not actually hurt much by the Tackle. Two against one. Despite the fire, that gave them courage.

Jorunn too.

She finally took one step forward. Didn't actually bring her much closer to the battle, but it helped her mentally.

"Fletchinder, you are a bully. And you're not even cool. You have no right to do this. We'll make sure you stop."

Squirtle gave her an encouraging smile. Yes they would.

"Bubble!" Jorunn called out, and Squirtle fired its spray at the same time as the wild Cottonee sent another wave of Fairy Wind towards the bird. Unfortunately, Fletchinder took off into the air so the attacks merely crashed into each other against nothing.

The fire bird had at least let the other grass pokémon be for long enough; they were currently huddling up together under a tree, watching the battle. Jorunn still had to steel herself from backing away when Fletchinder dove back down to Tackle Squirtle once again. But a voice in her head reminded her of her training in school. And this was a perfect example of when to use a defensive attack - the attacker was obvious in its intentions and plans, and she had a few seconds yet to call out a counter move. It would seriously bother her if she let fear keep her from taking this opportunity.

"WITHDRAW!" she called out loudly, as if her voice would travel faster the louder it was.

Squirtle only just had time enough to retracts its limbs into the shell before the bird struck. He tumbled away and bounced hard on the ground, but came back out with a smile, mostly undamaged. Withdraw sure was a life saver when they remembered to make use of Squirtle's great defense capabilities!

Fletchinder scraped the ground with its foot angrily, before squealing in surprise. The persistent Cottonee was still ignoring its own wounds and had made a Leech Seed stick to its enemy.

Jorunn shot a smile in the grass pokémon's way, and felt even more hopeful again. That little creature was pretty cool. And this should slow Fletchinder down enough...

"Squirtle, Bite!"

He managed to jump forward and bite hard down on one of Fletchinder's wings. The bird flailed but felt the Leech Seed clinging to it, seeping its life energy into its previous victim. It shook the water pokémon off, and tried to take off again, despite the now damaged wing.

"Finish with Bubble!"

Squirtle wasted no time. Just as Fletchinder took a jump upwards, the bubbles struck its belly and took it down. It crashed on its back just next to the Cottonee - for a moment Jorunn thought the cotton pokémon would be crushed by the bird's body, but it managed to jump away. The Leech Seed seemed to have re-energized it well enough.

The trainer didn't realize that many seconds had passed until Squirtle grunted to get her attention. Swallowing and finally breathing normally for the first time in minutes, Jorunn very carefully walked forwards. Fletchinder was out cold, but she couldn't know for how long. Squirtle, being a well trained academy pokémon, pointed at it eagerly, meaning for Jorunn to throw a pokéball and capture it. When she understood that, however, she backed off again with a pale face.

"No I... I'm sorry..."

She couldn't bring herself to capture a fire pokémon. Squirtle looked disappointed, and Jorunn couldn't meet his eyes. She turned away and slowly started walking back towards the road they had come from. So she was this weak out in the wild? She could beat fire pokémon, but not really deal with them. How would she become a proper trainer? How would she ever beat Jenna...

Something settled on the top of her head and made her freeze in fright. The Fletchinder?? Slowly, she made her senses actually feel what it could be though. There were no bird claws nestling in her hair. Rather... Something very soft? She took a deep breath and moved her hands up to poke whatever was there. Super soft - and was it giggling?

It jumped forward and somehow landed in her now outstretched hands. The Cottonee! It still looked a bit tired, but not as badly as after the initial fire attack. Now it smiled towards her with its ruby eyes, and wiggled its leafy arms. Jorunn blinked down at the creature, quite amazed at how light it felt. As if it could be caught and pulled away by the wind any second. She better hold on.

Because she didn't want the Cottonee to fly away, did she? And it had come to her, she didn't have to chase it or fight it. They had fought alongside it.

The trainer turned back to her starter, who was walking up to her with a curious look.

"Maybe you wanted a strong fire bird as your teammate..." she mumbled to him. "But don't you think this guy will do well too? For now?"

Squirtle raised an eyebrow and glanced at the Cottonee, who kept wiggling its little leaves. Then he grunted, but smiled. Seems like he approved. Relief.

In the background, Fletchinder woke up and scrambled itself together in the grass. It watched the trainer and her pokémon depart, and gave them the darkest stare it could bring forth. They better not come back to this area again. Or they would regret it.