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

[GanguEevee]

Vex was looking left and right around in Camphrier Town for Dahlia, who mysteriously vanished after the contest results. He looked around a bit in Route 6 and the only thing he found around there was a tree with blood and fist marks in the middle of it.
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~Mini Flashback~
After the contest, in the party
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"He left?" Caroline just nodded. "Yeah, and he told me to stay with you two!" Fondre just sighed while taking a drink of some cola soda. "Shoulda guessed. As soon as I didn't hear his name and instead heard the name of Mr. Pansy the 2nd, I knew he'd probably went insane and leave out in a huff. He's probably punching a tree or something right now." Vex and Chilly, who was on Vex's shoulder, just sighed. "I guess I'll go and try to talk some sense into that man. He should not be this devastated just because of one simple loss." Fondre raised a brow. "Dude...he was a rank lower than Laurent Hessel. That's enough to basically destroy him."

"But I thought Dahlia was fine with Laurent winning the last contest!" As soon as Caroline said this, Shiny, who was on top of her head at the moment, just facepalmed, while Fondre laughed. "Aw, did Dahlia really tell you that? I promised him not to tell you, but here's a little hint to you, Caroline: Dahlia was lying to you." "...Really? So was that why he drank all that adult pink lemonade before he left?" Vex's eyes widened. "Wait...he drank some wine before leaving?!" "A whole bunch of it!" Fondre sneered at Vex. "I told you. He's gone insane."

Vex immediately drank down all the wine in his glass and slammed the glass down on the table. "I'm leaving to find him." Fondre yet again raised a brow. "Hey, what if you get drunk just by drinking that one glass?" "I don't get drunk that easily, Fondue." Fondre's eyes widened after hearing that line and just scoffed at Vex. "You know, you're still technically not my friend...But I'll allow you to say that for now."

And with that, he was off.

~Struggling Stardust~
~What a horrible night to have a drink.~
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In the Camphrier Pokémon Center...
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As soon as he'd entered the center, he saw Dahlia lying down on one of the couches, now wearing a black coat, crying very loudly. He was holding a bottle of sparkling rosé wine in one of his bloodied and bruised hands, which was half-full. +Sweet mother of...He did at least told them that he was going to take the wine, did he?!+ "Dahlia, why are you, of all people, acting like a total drunken fool?!" "Uwaaah~! L-L-Leaf me alone, you b-b-baka~! Y-y-you don't undrstand how I feel right now~! Jst...gone away and let me sink into the darkness~" "Oh good Arceus, she actually wasn't kidding when she told me that you've possibly gone insane. Dahlia, Laurent lost as well! He didn't get a ribbon too, so you should just--"

Dahlia got up from his position and pulled the top half of Vex's tuxedo with force, which made them get a bit uncomfortably close to each other. The drunken Dahlia glared at Vex with deadly intents. Vex was able to take a closer look at Dahlia's eyes and looked at his hair a bit more at this. The irises in Dahlia's eyes were now dull and empty, possibly due to him currently being drunk right now. His pupils were now shaped like archimedean spirals that were continuously spinning, almost as if he was controlled by something (He obviously wasn't, of course). His hair is now unkempt and spiky. The very hidden scrunchy holding up his ponytail has now been taken off, leading to his extremely long hair now touching the floor.

Dahlia snarled at Vex while haphazardly breathing. "I-I-I wus a rank lower than him~! I c-c-can't be a rank lower than that c-c-c-****~!" He shook the wine bottle in his hand up and down, like how a baby would shake its own toys during a temper tantrum. Dahlia pushed Vex away from him, pressed his face against the couch's soft cushions and was now crying on it. "Uwahhhhhh~!" He drank a little bit of his rosé wine and was crying yet again. Vex snatched the bottle away from his hand and slapped Dahlia hard on the cheek. "Shut up, Dahlia. Stop acting like a childish drunken buffoon and face the facts. You won't improve on your skills unless you actually learn from your mistakes." Dahlia was whimpering now. +I'm not sure if he heard what I just said right now. He must have drank from more than one whole bottle to be in his current condition. I expect him to recover maybe tomorrow or even two or three days, with a hangover that will last for maybe two days, if he's lucky enough.+

"Vul!" Chilly came down from Vex's shoulder and tried to comfort Dahlia, while also wiping away his tears with her tail. "Uwaaah~ Y are u being sou nice two me~?" His sentences were starting to become more slurred and almost unintelligible, with certain words being replaced with different, similar sounding words instead. Vex sighed. "To be quite honest, even I don't really know. Maybe it might be due to how much information you and your friend has given me about the Aquacorde graduates. Or maybe it's something else. Whatever it is, the only thing you need to know is that it is absolutely not love."

Dahlia pushed Chilly aside, which led to her falling on the floor (Don't worry, her soft tail cushioned the fall!) and pounced on Vex, hugging him with an...odd look on his face. "Oh ho ho~ Come on...add mitten it~ U-u-u obviously r doin ths bee cus u saw me and inmeediatly luved my beautiful appearance~" Vex tried to push him away, but Dahlia was clinging on to him very hard. "Or, you know...You're just very drunk and are unable to think straight right now." +You better not fucking do what I think you might do, Dahlia. I'll make sure I kick your *NOPE PART* to the point where you couldn't stand up right anymore.+

Dahlia was now reaching for the rosé wine bottle that Vex was holding in one of his hands, with Vex holding it up so he could not reach it. Vex deeply sighed. "Ugh. It's becoming quite clear to me that you're at that stage of alcohol poisoning: The stage where your mind really can't think straight, your sentences become even more garbled messes of gibberish and you have an increased desire for lust. And yet, you still want to drink more?" "He he~ Eye half nu idea wut yur taking a boot…" "...Go to sleep, Dahlia."

Vex slapped the drunken Dahlia very hard on the face, which was actually enough to knock him out unconscious. Vex put the bottle of rosé wine on the table and slowly walked towards the Nurse Joy, who was actually ignoring everything that was happening. "You don't happen to have an open hotel room in this center, do you?" "Not sure...considering a majority of people usually go to the Camphrier Hotel instead of our own hotel rooms, it's possible." Vex just nodded, picked up Dahlia and bridal carried him to a room upstairs. Chilly followed suit, holding the rosé wine bottle in her mouth.

Vex carefully lay Dahlia down on the bed and just quietly looked at him. He scowled and snatched the wine bottle out of Chilly's mouth. He just looked at it in deep thought. He sighed, put the bottle on a table and sat on a chair. "I guess I'll be staying here for a while…" He put the bottle on a small table and just looked at Dahlia carefully.
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At the party outside Parfum Palace...
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Caroline sneakily walked up to a certain blond girl with a ponytail. She saw her talking to a man who had very short white (or was it platinum blond…?) hair and a goatee of the same color. His blue eyes gleamed with sophistication...but they also shined with an air of mischievousness. He looked much older than her, and was currently shuffling a deck of cards like some sort of magician, smiling at the ponytailed girl. He was wearing a white tuxedo and white pants, but his boots were black. Next to the man was a small Pokémon that looked like a gray pig. It had a spring-like tail that seemed to be it's only way to even move. It was bouncing constantly on the ground, looking up with glee. The Pokémon was also wearing a necklace with a single big koban coin tied around it. Both the girl and the man were sitting at a small table that was separate from the other longer and bigger tables.

"I'm still waiting for an answer, my dear." "Er...are you sure this is legal--" Suddenly, Lillie's eyes were covered by someone's hands. She was shocked by this, and immediately thought it was a trap (considering the things that happened to her before this, it's understandable)...until she heard a certain someone giggled. "Guess who~?" Lillie sighed with relief. It's been quite awhile since she and Caroline interacted with each other. Before she could even answer her question, the man answered for her. "Oh, do you know this girl, Ché? It seems I was actually lucky enough to lead you right into my location."

Caroline stop covering Lillie's eyes and looked at the man in confusion. "...Huh? How do you know my middle name?" The man sighed, while the pig Pokémon shook its head in disappointment. "How many times are you going to keep forgetting my existence, dear Ché? At this point, I've told you who I am so many times, that Demetrio must have memorized my entire speech at this point." Lillie actually looked behind Caroline and noticed Fondre was walking up to them, with a Minccino on top of her head...But she noticed that Dahlia wasn't there. "...Are you talking about Dahlia?" The man just nodded. "Caroline, where's Dahlia? Shouldn't he be here with you?"

Lillie was patted on the back by someone. She looked behind her to see Fondre holding a glass of red wine and noticed that her eyes were a little bit duller than usual, which probably meant exactly what it meant. "Heh heh...D-Dahlia basically gone insane after the contest results...H-he apparently drank a bunch of wine and went to possibly go punch a tree. V-Vex decided to go and find him...or something...I have to babysit Caroline here for now~" Fondre finished up her wine and looked at the man...which led to her spitting her wine at a tree. She glared at the man, and then glared at his Pokémon. She scowled. "...Oh god, it's you." The man just sighed and put up a mischievous smile. He was still playing with his cards. "Good to see you too as well, Orange." "I-It's Orage, Dulor~!" "I assume you must be half-drunk, then." "S-Shut up…"

Lillie and Caroline looked at the two in confusion, while Shiny slapped Fondre on the face and immediately wiped the mess of wine she made on the ground. Fondre looked at the two and facepalmed. "C-Caroline...d-don't tell me you forgot who the hell Dulor is again…?!"

Sorry for breaking the fourth wall a bit here, Fondue and everyone else who's reading this (Very sorry to the GMs please don't kill me), but considering that Dulor hasn't been introduced yet until now… +Y-Yeah, yeah, I k-know…! I'll play your d-dumb game of being ex-exposition lady for the k-kiddies here…+ Thank you. Right, uh, back to the story...

"U-Ugh...L-Lillie, this is Dulor Parieur...And that's his d-dumb money pig, Jugador. H-He's a damn good gambler...and I h-hate him…" "Don't forget that I'm in good terms with the Adoración family." "Y-Yeah...That too…A-Also, he always calls people by their middle or last names...when he knows them, a-at least." Caroline was going deep into her thoughts to remember who Dulor was...it only took a few minutes. "Oh! I remember you now!...I think." Dulor sighed at her response and just smiled. "Your mother and father weren't able to find the time to come over to Kalos and see your performances, so they told me through the phone that I should at least see how you two are doing. But, you can probably guess that I gotten a bit...side-tracked, so to speak."

Fondre completely forgotten about that fact: Dahlia and Caroline were actually living by themselves for the majority of the time, with only Dulor taking care of them sometimes. Oh yeah, their mom and dad were with them when they moved over to Kalos...but due to supposedly secret reasons that they couldn't tell their children about, they had to move back to Almia. Caroline was apparently crying a lot at that time, while Dahlia was only sad for a moment before just moving on from that event. Sure, the two are able to take care of themselves and their parents occasionally called them from time to time, with the occasional gifts from them here and there...but it was still a bit odd for them to just leave the two alone like that.

"How's Mommy and Daddy, Dulor?! Do they miss us? Did they bring us a gift or something?!" Dulor snapped his fingers and Jugador just put a small brown bag on the table. Dulor was still playing with his cards. "1000 Poké for the two of you to split together. Oh, and your parents are quite fine, by the way." Lillie tapped Caroline. "Your parents don't live with you, Caroline?" Caroline had a pouty face, while Fondre just sneered. "D-Dulor was basically their permanent b-babysitter 50% of the time...The other 50% goes to the t-times when they a-actually lived by themselves and Dulor was just gambling his life away…" "Oh. That's a bit sad...but I can probably understand how you feel." Dulor looked at Lillie with a curious look on his face. "Oh, so you live by yourself as well?" "...Y-Yeah, I guess you could that…"

After Shiny was done cleaning up the entire ground that was full of spilled wine and other things, she immediately got up to the table and tried to pick up the bag...only for Juga to bounce up and snatch the bag away from Shiny, shaking his head at the Minccino. She growled and try to get it back, but Jugador kept bouncing up higher to make sure she never reached it. Dulor looked at the two and just sighed. "Tsk, tsk...Letting a game end just like that is not the way to go, you know." Fondre sighed. "Oh boy...S-Shoulda been expecting this…"

"I was actually trying to convince Lillie here to play a simple game of poker, but it seems she wasn't really fine with the rules I set for the game." Lillie made a pouty face. "I don't think I'm even old enough to gamble!" Fondre facepalmed. "A-And that's why s-she's not bothering with your bullcrap…W-what do you even want from her, a-anyway~?" Dulor stopped playing with his deck of cards and placed them down on the table. "I heard the girl has been giving away many bags of Stardust to certain individuals. Considering how much money I can easily make with a few of those…" "If ya wanna gamble, then you're l-looking at your one and only true o-opponent." "Oh, you're starting to stutter less and less when you speak. It seems the alcohol is starting to wear off." Fondre just beckoned Lillie off the chair, which she would immediately sit at. She glared at Dulor. "A-Always made sure to pour soda into my alcohol before drinking. B-Besides, the stuff they have here is not really what I would consider to be the good stuff."

Dulor smiled. "Well then, shall we get started? Win, and the money goes to you. Lose, and 6000 Poké worth of Stardust will go to me!" "T-there's obviously a c-catch to this, right…?" "Of course not. I usually only do that when I want to make things interesting. We'll only have a simple two-out-of-three game of poker for today, since you obviously don't want to waste your time with this. And uh...you're sorta drunk." Fondre just blown a raspberry. "J-Just give me my dang chips and let's get started already~"

In order to not waste your time on trying to describe a freaking card game in a written format, Fondre wins the first round, but Dulor was able to win the last two matches with ease. "...R-Rematch." Dulor just shook his head. "No rematch. This game has been set and match. I'll be nice and give Ché her present. But a bet is a bet! The Stardust belongs to me." Dulor snapped his fingers and Juga bounced towards the two younger girls, obviously for the Stardust. Caroline was now in a defensive position, obviously trying to protect Lillie. "No way! You can't just take the Stardust like that! You need to prove it!" Fondre just standed up and glared at Dulor. "S-She's right...I don't think you deserve that Stardust, either."

Dulor just blinked at Fondre in surprise. "Oh, really? Well...I don't want to make Ché mad at me for this, so I'll be nice and not take one bit of Lillie's Stardust. Besides, it seems you two are getting a little tired." Shiny woke up from the sound of that, and immediately took the bag of Poké away from Juga. She blew a raspberry at Jugador before going inside Caroline's bag. "Yay! Thank you, Dulor!" Lillie just smiled. "Yes, thank you indeed." Fondre walked up to the two of them, looked at Lillie for a bit, until she sighed. Lillie noticed that Fondre looked a bit more tired than usual. "You two...go ahead and leave without me. I'm just gonna stay here for a bit." Caroline and Lillie looked at each other and just nodded. They walked away from Fondre and started to chat about things.

Dulor withdrew Jugador back into his Luxray Ball, picked up his deck of cards and walked towards Fondre. "...Did something happened after you and the others left? It seems you were a bit...nicer than before. Is it that girl? What are you seeing in her that I couldn't see?" "...Isn't it obvious...? I was able to see it the moment I saw her again at the contest. She's still suffering." "...Suffering? Please, do explain." "We met her back in Lumiose City. She was able to become fast friends with Caro, until we had to cut ties with her because of some dumb dog thief stealing a toy. Saw her again and she was as pale as a rock. It seems something happened after we left, but I didn't bothered to ask more about it."

Oh god, the banging in her head is starting to come back.​

"Hmm...from what I've heard, many incidents happened around Lumiose a few days ago. Maybe she was a part of one of them?" "...It's possible. And it seems she couldn't catch a break a few days after the fact, either." "...You're worried about her." Fondre shrugged. "Yeah...I guess I am."

The banging is starting to get worst…​

Fondre just shook her head angrily. "Man, I'm supposed to be better than this. I'm Fondre Tonnerre! The Savage Nymph! The graduate from Aquacorde who can electrify fear into others in an instant! The one who knows so many secrets that it's not even funny! The other half of a dynamic duo! I'm not some...some person who's fine with playing nanny! How the hell would I stoop this low?! Why the hell am I bothering with people that aren't Dahlia or Caroline, anyway?!"

<...Is it just so I can stay alive?>
This banging needs to stop.​

Dulor sighed. "Orage, are you sure that you know everything about all of this?" "...What are you talking about?" "What if Lillie knows things that you've haven't bothered to investigate about? In fact, why haven't you look into all the events that have been happening recently?" "...It's...It's because…" "Games can have many different ways to play them. But there are many ways to exploit said games to your advantage. You could have just tried to exploit Lillie into telling her what you really needed to know...But instead, you decided to play in a different way than usual and not ask her. Why is that?"

<...Because I didn't want to make her cry. She was already suffering at that point. And someone else could have handled her problem better than I could.>
Make the banging stop...please.​

"...I don't know." "You do know. It's just that you're not telling me." "..." "In fact, let me ask you another question...The Santalune Forest burning, the incidents in Lumiose...Just about everything that has happened thus far. How much do you truly think you, Demetrio and Ché know about those events? How much of an impact have you two truly made upon them?"

<...None. None at all. We only bothered to actually help out with the Eevee stuff and Dahlia only came across one grunt from Team Cinder, apparently. Aside from that...No, we really haven't made that much of an impact, huh…?>​

"...Ugh…" Fondre put her hand into her head. Dulor sighed. "...I guess I'll stop asking. I guess I'll say that I'm sorry for possibly breaking you through my 'monotonous' questions. But for now…Isn't it time for you to go to sleep?"

Fondre fainted, with Dulor catching her in his hands. The empty glass that was still in her hand falls down to the soft ground. Dulor walked out of the Palace and towards the Pokémon Center, saying absolutely nothing during the long walk.​

​

TWIN INVENTORY/POKÉMON:

Spoiler:

*Ring Target modified by Vex*
*Dahlia & Caroline only knows Muffin's and Chalk's genders right now. Their identities are unknown.*
*We're not counting the bag of money until Dahlia gets his share of it.*

 

[Jay]

Stage 10 - Route 7, Rivière Walk​

Time at Stage Start: 1 PM​

With an exciting party drawing to a close, another plot of Cinder's stopped for now and a world full of possibilities still awaiting them, our heroes set out from the historic site of Camphrier town, the scenic walkway of Route 6 anlavish luxury of Parfum Palace, leaving new bonds, successes, joys and most importantly, lessons, in their wake.

However life is never dull for a pokémon trainer, and now our intrepid young junior trainers head onto Route 7, the famous and beautiful Rivière walk. With what is known to be the longest walking trail in the entire Kalos region, sidelined by two contrasting types of wild pokémon habitats (grasslands and the shimmering water of the River for which the route is named), many veteran trainers retire here in order to make use of the many facilities that dot the long stretch of land. What facilities? Well I'm glad you asked, the ever growing Berry Fields Farm produces most of the berries and plants used in the creation of pokémon food all over the region and beyond, by providing pouches of food and supplies to trainers whom assist them in their work, they form a symbiotic relationship with the trainers whom retire to the area with both working with and relying upon each other.

For those whom haven't quite lost the spark of battle, the Battle Chateau stands ever looming in its luxury over the water halfway down the path, ever visible to all those travelling along the route. Four mysterious and powerful young women serve as the self proclaimed "Battle Chatelaines", these trainers are rumored to be masters of the technical side of a pokémon battle and every year they hold a prestigious event known as the Chateau Tournament, wherein multiple trainers go all out against one another for the chance to face off against these ladies at their best. During official league time such as now, they serve as instructors and opponents, using levelled teams to match their opponents and test their mettle, while striving to show them the intricacies of high level battling.

And last, but certainly not least, as life goes on for all living things... so too must it do so for pokémon. The pokémon daycare provides many services, raising pokémon for trainers periodically, watching over pokémon in a trainers absence... but their most famous function is their knowledge of pokémon biology and their ability to provide the perfect conditions for two pokémon to procreate and create an egg. High caliber trainers are known to breed their pokémon so that their offspring will be powerful allies, however it is imparitive to this old couple that breeding is done out of love... and thus they won't allow just anyone to receive an egg, only those whom show genuine kindness and lvoe for their pokémon.

Regardless of what you choose to do on this, the newest of our adventures frontiers, the potential for growth in one way or another may be higher now than ever before.

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Pokémon Available (Level 28-32):

Rivière Walk:​

Pokémon available to those using a Great Ball (Level 33):

Pokémon available to those using any Fishing Rod (Level 28-32):

Pokémon available to those using a Good Rod (Level 28-32):

Pokémon available to those using on Mission 7 (Level 28-32):

Pokémon available to those using on Mission 8 (Level 28-32):

Pokémon available to those using on Mission 12 (Level 28-32):

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Missions:​

A new stage and a new mechanic right? This particular stage will be introducing a variation on the regular event battles, tag event battles. It's exactly what it sounds like, two players have to team up to battle a pair of the lovely Battle Chatelains in a four on four multi-battle with each trainer using two pokémon each.

Apart from that, I mentioned this briefly in the discord and now it's time to explain the mechanics of breeding. Breeding involves leaving two pokémon in the day care for a full day IC. Once a day has passed those two pokémon, assuming they have opposing gender, will produce an egg. :lennycat:. While in the games, it's a set factor that the baby will share the mothers species andihrit moves from the father, things re a little bit different in Z to allow players more freedom:

• Pokémon bred by the players can have either parents species, chosen by the player OOC; do note however that from your characters perspective this is entirely random.
• Bred pokémon inherit a move from their father and their mother, one each. You do NOT have to pay attention to canonical egg moves either, if you can make a good case as to why your pokémon can use the move they wish for them to inherit, then it can have it. The parents MUST know this move currently.
• You MUST clear up 1: What spcies the baby will be. 2: What moves it will know. 3: If those moves are allowed on the chosen pokémon. Before placing the parent pokémon in day care.

Finally, to encourage mor eplayer interaction and characterization of pokémon in the RP, the famed "Masuda Method" makes a sort of cameo appearance here. While not acknowledged as a factor IC, if the parent pokémon belong to two different players and not to one player alone, then a ten sided dice will be rolled by the GMs. If the dice result equals to ten, the baby will be a shiny pokémon. However, you won't know if it's shiny or not until it hatches!

That's all on Pokémon Breeding as a mechanic, feel free to direct any more questions about this at Jay via Discord.

Now then, without further ado, on to the missions:


​

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[EVENT BATTLE] OPEN ★ Mission 1:​

Spoiler:

Details:
The Battle Chatelaines, unassuming masters of technical battle, are greeting the new league challengers as they prepare for the trials of the gym battles ahead. Using teams built to match their current levels, the 4 ladies of the Battle Chateau are offering a multi battle to any passing trainers against two Chatelaines of said trainers choosing. They wish to teach the rookies a lesson in teamwork and clever battle tactics, to show them that strategy, team composition and held items are all very important parts of a pokémon battle.

Find a partner and team up against these experienced teachers to learn more about your pokémon, your technique, yourself and your partner... and if you make a strong enough effort then perhaps you'll even receive a reward.

(Players receive two rewards, based on which Chatelaines are fought.)

​

Conditions:
A 2 teams of 2 multi battle.
Must be undertaken by at least two players.

Pokémon:

EVELYN

PACHIRISU

Moveset:

• Volt Switch
• Nuzzle
• Light Screen
• Super Fang
• U-Turn
• Brutal Swing

Ability:
Run Away
Held Item:
Sitrus Berry

PRIMEAPE

Moveset:

• Cross Chop
• Stone Edge
• Retaliate
• Low Kick
• Seismic Toss
• Final gambit

Ability:
Anger Point
Held Item:
Scope Lens

Rewards:
TM Seismic Toss

DANA

GIRAFIRIG

Moveset:

• Psybeam
• Thunderbolt
• Energy Ball
• Dazzling Gleam
• Shadow Ball
• Nasty Plot

Ability:
Inner Focus
Held Item:
Colbur berry

MAGCARGO

Moveset:

• Body Slam
• Earth Power
• Gyro Ball
• Overheat
• Yawn
• Recover

Ability:
Flame Body
Held Item:
White Herb

Rewards:
TM Nasty Plot

MORGAN

KLEFKI

Moveset:

• Thunder Wave
• Draining Kiss
• Flash Canon
• Sunny Day
• Recycle
• Crafty Shield

Ability:
Prankster
Held Item:
Apicot Berry

SAWSBUCK

Moveset:

• Double Edge
• Leech Seed
• Horn Leech
• Megahorn
• Jump Kick
• Solar Beam

Ability:
Chlorophyll
Held Item:
Shell Bell

Rewards:
TM Sunny Day

NITA

SPOINK

Moveset:

• Bounce
• Psybeam
• Power Gem
• Zen headbutt
• Payback
• Taunt

Ability:
Thick Fat
Held Item:
Wise Glasses

WIGGLYTUFF

Moveset:

• Disarming Voice
• Focus Blast
• Thunderbolt
• Sing
• Double Slap
• Disable

Ability:
Cute Charm
Held Item:
Shell Bell

Rewards:
TM Payback

---

[OPEN] Mission 1:​

Various veteran trainers with a wise disposition and plenty of world knowledge are relaxing in the Battle Chateau and watching te rookies battle the Chatelaines. They've got plenty of pointers to share and advice to give, as well as a bit of fight left in tem for some more practical demonstrations. Take this opportunity to battle against evolved pokémon, get some free advice and attempt to hone your skills as a battler.

Reward:
2 Great Ball, 1 Luxury Ball, 400 Poké

Mission 2:​

Youngster, or should we say, Move Tutor Joey has matured a lot since your last encounter. His Rattata has evolved into a powerful Raticate and he's been studying under various move tutors in the cities and locations he's visited thus far. Still, Joey being Joey, has gotten over-zealous in his training and has decided to test out his talents with some in the field experience tutoring the move headbutt. While demonstrating the move with his Raticate to a lass in the area, he inadvertedly angered a swarm of Volbeat and Illumise calling the old oak home. As you walk down route 7 you see the young man running past with his Raticate, shouting and screaming in fear as the swarm sqiftly rushed behind him. Some things never change, looks like he could use some help.

Reward:
Tutor Headbutt to any Pokémon, 500 Poké, 2 Oran Berries

Mission 3:​

A group of fishermen are taking to the river on their boats and offering any trainer willing to take up a rod and join them. They're competing to see who can fish up the biggest Magikarp, a monthly tradition here on the Route 7. Any trainer willing to join in and learn is being offered one of the higher quality rods in the fishermans stock. While on the water, listen to a few of the fisherman's tales perhaps, they too are wise in their own way and you may find that the monthly tradition is less about catching fish and more about keeping their craft alive.

Reward:
1 Good Rod

Mission 4:​

Dotting the riverside all along Rivière Walk one can find artists galore, painting the scenic beauty of the route by the riverside. They along with their Smeargle are constantly looking for inspiration and competing to see who can capture the true essence of the waters shimmering splendor. To this end, many a time a competition will spring up between multiple artists... although it is rarely ever met with a victor, since every artist present sees their own work as the purest and most accurate representation of Rivière Walk. Just your luck that as you pass by, they would call you over to judge in their stead, to solve this problem. They have promised you a rather enticing reward in return for your efforts however, a pokémon egg said to contain a rare and elegant pokémon that would inspire works of art for generations.

Reward:
A pure white egg with blue floral patterns.

Mission 5:​

Famous Pokémon artist Acel Thauvin, known for his unique style and now recently caught Shiny Smeargle and Regular Smeargle pair, is at a loss. While travelling by carriage alonge Route 7 his vehicle was held up by a sudden shout. Upon stepping outside to see what was wrong... he was knocked unconscious! Now awake and unaware of his assailant... he finds his carriage removed of all Poké, supplies and... perhaps most importantly, his prized painting which he was transporting across the region. Whatever attacked him, it was strong enough to knock out the Mudsdale pulling his carriage along and silent enough to catch him completely unawares. He'll give you a reward, he swears, but he simply must have his paintings returned with the criminal whom took them brought to justice.

Reward:
1500 Poké, 1 Signed Art Set (Paint bow, easel, brushes.)

Mission 6:​

Near the West Side of the river... something is stirring, something incredibly dangerous that if not stopped could take lives and damage the local ecosystem irreperably. They say a man in a black suit released it into the water and left without a word. The Atrocious Pokémon... Gyarados. Yet its scales are pure red, similar to the shiny once said to have been encountered at a certain lake in Johto. It is unlike anything ever seen before in terms of its power... and while now it is content to attack wild pokémon it comes across, people have noticed its behavior getting more and more violent. If it isn't stopped soon it may be too late to do so.

Reward:
Rare Candy (Automatically allows pokémon to learn the next move in its learnset), Cloned Gyarados Embers.

Mission 7:​

The Berry Fields farm is famous for providing trainers with supplies and assistance in return for a little bit of hard labor and assistance. There's no harm in helping them out for a little while and the reward sounds worthwhile. Right now they seem to have one problem in particular, a certain type of pokémon is popping out of the ground and stealing crops before darting back beneath the surface, seems as if the little troublemakers are coming from the enarby caves looking for food. The owner, Old Granny Sitrus, is looking for a trainer with a good head on their shoulders to drive the burrowing menace out.

Reward:
Spinklotad, 1 Berry Fields Supply Packet(5 Sitrus Berries, 2 Lum Berries, 1 "Super-Effective Weakening" berry of your choice.)

[OPEN]Mission 8:​

Over at Berry Fields farm bug types are a constant presence and problem. While working the fields and tilling the land in return for the promised Berry Fields Supply Packet, you're sure to come across a great number of insects trying to steal the precious fruit from right under the farmers noses. If you spot any rustling berry trees as you go about your work, be sure to scare off the thieving miscreants.

Reward:
Sprinklotad, 1 Berry Fields Supply Packet(5 Sitrus Berries, 2 Lum Berries, 1 "Super-Effective Weakening" berry of your choice.)

Mission 9​

A psyduck has an incredibly bad headache near the riverside after being exposed to the effects of a vial of water type boosting mystic water, leading to its psychic powers going out of control. A certain blonde haired trainer has dropped off some secret medicine in order to alleviate the poor thing but nobody can get close to it... as soon as they draw near the psychic power launchedthem away as Psyduck totally loses control. If you can find a way to get close enough to administer the medicine, curretly in the posesin of an old fisherman nearby, then you might be able to help the pokémon out. An easy way to fix the problem would be to knock the psyduck out and administer it then... but people may not take kindly to such a violent option...

Reward:
1 Crystal Vial of Mystic Water, 1 TM Psybeam

Mission 10:​

A certain Grovyle at the pokémon day care has fallen head over heels in love with a Helioptile staying there at the same time. No matter what efforts he makes however, he just can't seem to get her to recognize her. He's tried looking tough, cool, cute... eyrthing he can think of but he just can't seem to get her attention and it's shattering his self confidence and image. Maybe if you help him out he can reward you? He seems more than willing to have the assistance right now.

Reward:
Luck Incense

[OPEN] Mission 11:​

The Pokémon Day Care couple are known for their kindness and discipline when it comes to raising pokémon. They know all the tricks in the book when it comes to raising the pokémon native to the Kalos Region... but they only offer their services to those kind of heart. Sometimes this is apparent to them and they will need no proof of your disposition, but if they have reason to doubt you, they will challenge you to a battle to assure that you're the type of trainer deserving of their assistance. Get past this test of character through nature of battle and they'll offer their breeding facilities and raising techniques for your pokémon to use as you please. (In battle the day care man will challenge you to a 1 on 1 battle. The pokémon he uses will be the fully evolved form of any wild pokémon that has been available up to this point.)

Reward:
1 Day Care Membership (Allows pokémon to be bred and trained at the pokémon day care. Pokémon may spend a stage training at the day care to automatically learn the next move in their learnset.)

[OPEN]Mission 12:​

Every month or so the local Oricorio fly down to the flower fields below and partake of the local nectars in order to change their feathers and take on a different form. Bird watchers delight in watching the magnificent pokémon change en masse in a truly splendid spectacle. Often times they leave items and dance for onlookers, as if to thank those watching for viewing their transformation... after all what is a dancer without an audience? The items left behind can often be useful for trainers on the scene, not to mention this event offers a rare and worthwhile opportunity to battle and capture a pokémon that is usually only found in Alola.

Reward:
Charcoal OR Magnet OR Spell Tag OR Twisted Spoon OR Sharp Beak

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[Dragon]

~***The Battle of Chateau**~
Pt.1


Emma's Pokemon:

Jackson's Pokemon:

Route 7, Rivière Walk

"The battle chateau... I imagined something bigger." Jackson mumbled as he looked over the purple building standing before him. Teddy was sitting on his shoulders with his paws leaning on Jackson's head for support, Gaspar as ever sat in the young man's shadow, watching events idly as Wave scoured the skies from above and Jackson gently scratched behind Fang's horns as the Houndoom circled his trainers legs. He had heard of this building from the professor in the past, apparently it was a refined bar and restaurant for trainers of extremely high caliber, once a year they held a tournament based on the strictest rules and most intense training known by official leage standards. It was more of a niche bracket, but from what he had heard, trainers with abilities and prowess matching those of champions battled here.

This included those idolesque figures known as the Battle Chatelaines, teachers, battlers and overall powerhouses in the world of high caliber competitive battling. It was a surprise none of them were at the level of champion or elite 4 themselves, from the stories he had been told. Still, stories were just stories, he wasn't intimidated by this rivertop haughty dump, nor was he intimidated by these supposed matrons of tactical battle. He was here for one reason, the end of the stories he had been told, that during the off hours when the league was starting and the Chateau took a backseat... the Chatelaine's gave training and practice battles to young trainers to test their prowess and skill and to help them improve said qualities.

And so it was that the rumors proved through, a poster at the door advertised the service, inviting trainers in to find a partner, enjoy the atmosphere and partake in a battle against the best to find ways to improve. That certainly sounded... wait, hold on find a partner? Did he have to team up with someone else for this crap? Ugh, just his look, time to tie some unreliable dead weight to his belt as he went and threw himself against some of the supposed toughest trainers in Kalos. He growled at the notion, but eventually let out a sigh. "I guess we'll see if we can find some sap inside who has some sorta competence... sorry guys, you might have to pull some extra weight t'day..." His pokémon as expected he supposed, only seemed more eager at the notion of a greater challenge. So with a smirk as he returned Fang and Wave, he walked inside.

The interior of the building was an odd mix. The lights were dim over a white marble floor and center stage in the room there was a raised platform with a purple carpet, bearing the symbol of the pokémon league. Sittign at various tables being served by waiters and waitresses were what looked like other pokémon trainers, most of which were a little older than he and his classmates, these more mature trainers were dressed in mostly black clothes and had a professional aura about them, veterans? He recognized the purple outfits of the younger trainers in the room as well, Ace Trainers, ugh total snobs.

"Good afternoon sir, are you here to challenge the ladies of the establishment?" A waitress approached him suddenly, a clipboard in hand and pen in her hair. "Or are you here to watch the battles and enjoy some food today?" Jackson bristled slightly at her cheery disposition. "I'm... here to make a challenge, I don't have a partner however. Is that-"

"Don't worry sir! We have a waiting area for those just as you are, this way..." She gently took him by the arm and lead a now incredibly awkward jackson to an area in the corner of the room where various trainers seemed to mingling and chatting to one another. Did he... have to find someone in this mess? Arceus. In the space of a few seconds he was dumped out of the frying pan and into the fire. Would anyone notice if he just left? His train of thought was interupted by a sudden blast of energy and he turned around towards the stage just in time to see an Azumarril crash into the small barricade built to keep the arena walled off and in place. An announcers voice blared over the intercome as Jackson looked to see the trainer and pokémon whom had dealt a decisive blow.

"With that astounding energy ball, Dana's Girafirig's energy ball has finished off the competition! Another victory for our beautiful Chatelain's!" The Girafirig's trainer, Dana, was posing gallantly and chuckling to herself as she posed to the crowd. "My, my, my... What a pity. Is that the end of things for you? I thought you had potential, but you can't get blood from a stone, after all. Away with you! I'm not interested in wasting my time with weak Trainers!"

Jackson's gaze sharpened and he glowered at the girl standing on the stage. "Dana..." He muttered, taking the name into account as his brow furrowed in frustration. "It's time to find a partner."

"Intolerable!" Emma cried from afar. She supposedly found her way here, in direct conversation with one of the supposed Ace trainers. She was sitting down on one of the tables, seeming to be having... some sort of discussion with them. "Care to repeat that...?"

"What's more to understand?" The Ace trainer replied, fluffing her hair with her right hand. "...Samurai Green is the strongest, wisest, and the most likable unit of the squad - certainly more than Samurai Red."

"H-How dare you!" Emma shouted. "Samurai Green is an entirely superfluous character! He was introduced later into the comics continuity purely as a means to sell more toys and the storyline introducing him was subpar at very best! Meanwhile, Samurai Red is a just and noble warrior, certainly more substantial than a walking advertisment like Samurai Green!"

"Please!" The Ace trainer argued back. "Samurai Red is not qualified to be the head of the unit! When he was introduced, he was the newest recruit, and he immediately took command without question!"

"He's certainly more qualified than Samurai Green!" Emma retorted. "Do I need to remind you of the battle between the squadron and Lord Octo Jelly? Ugh! You know what, why should I waste my time? You are unfit to be a true Samurai fan!"

"Look who's talking!" the Ace Trainer remarked, but followed up with an annoyed grunt between the two die hard fans, she left, leaving Emma to chug down the remainer of her tea with great ferosity, slamming down her tea cup on the coaster afterwards.

"Hmph, Ace trainers, huh?" Emma scoffed with a pout. "...Who labels them like that anyway? Geez."

"Says the Detective arguin' about Samurai Warriors... you don't think that's even a little bit ironic?" Jackson scoffed as he stood behind the seated Emma, having passively listened in on her conversation with the Ace Trainer. "I'd say yer as bad as each other t'be honest."

Emma grunted, followed up with a sigh. She set aside her tea cup and coaster to the edges of the table so that the waiters could see it and pick it up. She closed her eyes, not looking back at her cohort. "Oh, whatever," she grumbled. She then glanced over her shoulder. "...Well? What is it? Is it the weekly make fun of Emma day on the calendar already?"

Jackson sunk into a chair to the right of Emma and rose his feet up onto the table as he watched the next pair of challengers go against the Chatelains, only to get beaten and bruised back to the viewing area. "Naw, that's next week." He sneered, before seeing the smug look on Dana's face once again, at which point his expression instantly soured. "What are y'doin' here Kuzunoha? Gonna throw yerself on the sacrificial pyre like every other 'Ace' loser linin' up for the slaughter?"

"Not really an interesting reason... I'm only here to test my skills," Emma replied, resting her head upon her right arm and knuckle. "The Battle Chatelaines are world class battlers - celebrities here in Kalos, soooo... I just wonder how I would do against them. However, uh..." she looked around the room, watching all the Ace Trainers talk with one another. She then sighed defeatingly. "In Kalos, the Ace Trainers are, for lack of a better word, jerks! I don't want to be like them, that's for sure. And you?"

Jackson pointed at Dana, whom stood proud on the ssttag after another victory. "I wanna kick her ass." He spat. "I've never seen such a haughty ass ***** in my life I swear, if y'win a battle then do it with pride and dignity, not a smug expression and a laugh at the others efforts." He got his feet off the table and leaned on his elbow, gritting his teeth. "I swear... people like this piss me the **** off."

Jackson heard a small scoff from behind him and his eyes shot open wide as he turned to see the Ace Trainer whom had been talking to Emma earlier. "You...? Kick the lady Dana's 'ass' was it? How pitiful." She guffawed and shook her head in exasperation with a condescending smirk. "Makes perfect sense you'd hang out with some Samurai Red fangirl."

The vein on Jackson's forehead almost burst out to ricochet off of this Ace Trainer's smug face. Teddy looked at the girl as if she was insane, did she have any idea what the hell she was doing? "U-urs-" He began but Jackson was already jumping up from his seat and marching over to the girl, whom suddenly didn't look so sure of her words with a figure like Jackson looming over her. "You tryin' t'say somethin' about me? Huh?"

Emma quickly rose up to grab Jackson's arm. "Hey! No! Just calm down!" Emma advised. "...She's not worth it. Not some Samurai Green fangirl."

Turning to Emma with a glint in his eyes, Jackson then looked up to the stage, catching the eye of Dana whom had looked down at the crowd for a brief moment. She smiled at him... and he was damn near ready to explode. Turning back to the Ace Trainer he snarled out his words, Emma holding him back from going too far. "You wanna judge me? Give me fifteen minutes." He turned, now taking Emma's arm as she had his and beginning to drag her in the direction of the stage. "C'mon Gumshoe, let's show these ****s how it's done."

"Wh-what?! W-wait!" Emma pleaded as she was dragged. But, alas and alack, it's all in vain. ...Fifteen minutes? Is he serious?!

As the two finally arrived on Stage, Teddy almost had a heart attack as the full gravity of the situation finally dawned on his tiny bear self. Jackson had gone and dragged them into another impossible situation to battle against someone who was far above their level. He was going to die up here... or was he? He thought back to every similar situation he had found himself in while working with his trainer, every single time when things had seemed impossible, Jackson managed to come through somehow right? Maybe he should put more faith in his trainer.

"A'ight Ted, you're up first so get ready."

Teddy was doomed.

The announcers voice blared to life as Jackson and Emma stood on the forefront of the stage, all four battle Chatelain's stood before them... Morgan, Evelyn, Nita... and Dana. "A new pair of challengers everyone, seeking knowledge and victory in a contest of master and student! Brave trainers... whom among the mistresses of the manor will you choose to face?!" Without a second of hesitation, Jackson pointed directly at Dana with a slightly frightening, rage filled sneer on his face. "You! Dana, I'm battlin' you." Dana seemed a little taken aback, but smiled coyly at Jackson as she stepped forward with a pokéball expanding in her hand. "Oh another one? Very well, let's hope you last longer than the others."

The announcer blared to life again as the crowds "ooo's" slowly simmered down in response to the sudden animosity between the two trainers on the stage. "And his partner! The seocnd of our challengers, whom will fight alongside Dana in your battle?!"

"I... guess that's me," Emma introduced, with her hands clasped against her front. She then took a quick bow. "I'm Emma. Emma Kuzunoha. It's... a real honor to be here."

"Very well!" the announcer blared once more. "Emma, other than Dana already on stage, who will you choose to be Dana's partner? Nita, Evelyn, or Morgan?"

Good question... each one of those girls are strong..." Emma could only ponder. She looked upon each of the mistresses, with no clear idea on who to decide. She might as well just choose one at random, but... there was a strong, and seemingly powerful aura from one of them. She could feel it. That one was especially very strong, compared to the others. She gave a determined look as she nodded. "Please join us, Miss Morgan! I'd be an honor!" Emma asked, with a humble nod of response from Morgan. She approached the battle field with a degree of elegance. Morgan then started to sing.

The light of the heavens, will see this day. ♪
Will this battle end in your victory, or your dismay... ♪
Battle till you burst, oh, won't you try. ♪
I assure you my sweet dear, the honor is mine... ♪

"What do you think of my song? A nice prelude to our battle, don't you think, Miss Kuzunoha?" Morgan asked lightheartedly. She seemed to be the most level-headed, yet sincere of the sisters, fitting for the eldest sibling. Emma gazed at Morgan carefully. It won't be an easy fight. Emma quickly grabbed one of her pokeballs, throwing it in the air. Out came Linde the Eevee, battle ready. Emma hasn't had much experience battling with Eevee, but it was sure to be fruitful for her.

As the first pokémon flew free others soon followed, Dana and Morgan both called for their own pokémon to take to the field... and in an instant Jackson and Emma were face to face with Girafirig and Klefki. Jackson squinted, in honesty he wasn't intimidated by the two pokémon based on their appearance, but he had grown beyond the point of judging his opponents based on that alone.

With a nod to the pokémon sitting on his shoulder, Jackson heard a light gulp as Teddy jumped down to the battlefield below. His little paws were raised in a battle stance, ready to fight... as the claxon sounded and the battle begun.

In an instant a dark aura began to surround the Girafirig as it activated its Nasty Plot, its power levels already rising... and the Klefki in response jumped to its side, protecting them both with a Crafty shield on its trainers command. Already they were moving so quickly, like clockwork with well refined strategems and tactics. It didn't matter which combination was chosen, they'd all find ways to work side by side. Jackson gave a quick nod to Emma, before turning to Teddy in turn.

"Alright Ted, quickly! Dig down!" Without delay the Teddiursa quickly clawed into the ground, tearing into the stage floor below and swiftly burrowing out of sight, ready to alunch his attack when an opening was revealed.

Emma's Eevee walked her way towards the hole Ted, the Teddiursa made, and looked down in it, with confusion. "Linde?" Emma called for it, which Linde gave Emma all of her attention. "That Teddiursa is your partner, okay? You need to work alongside him." Linde gave Emma a questioned look, causing Emma to sigh. Perhaps it'd be simplier to have her Eevee follow direct orders instead. Maybe all that time going feral, attacking anything that moves, didn't allow Linde to understand what it meant to have a 'partner'.

"It will be alright! Now, use your Swift attack on Klefki!" Emma ordered. Linde nodded, doing a quick high-jump. She then spun around in the air, releasing a barrage of stars towards the enemy key ring Pokemon. Morgan looked on, prepared for the onslaught.

"Counter with Flash Cannon, post haste!" she commanded. Her Klefki floated upwards, charging, then releasing power a silver beam, that eventually collided with Linde's Swift attack. It resulted in a small explosion, that caused Linde's Eevee to be blown back a few feet, but safely landed on her feet. "Thunder Wave!" Morgan followed up, as Klefki released powerful waves of electricity towards Linde. Linde managed to dodge the move in time, but found herself positioned disadvantagely as Klefki was right on top of her.

"Draining Kiss!" Morgan called, blowing a kiss towards the general direction of Emma. Klefki floated forward, boping itself against Linde, giving it what it seemed to be... a kiss. The hairs of Eevee's fur stood up as it seemed to turned pink.

From utter emberassment.

But it then it seemed like Eevee was starting to lose some of her vitality, seemingly in pain. She soon shook her fur, composing herself. "That's... w-what a rediculous move!" Emma gagged, with Morgan replying with a solumn wink, causing Emma to a blush briefly. ...But then, why is it suprisingly effective?

"Only effective in leaving you open!" Jackson called out, causing Morgan to turn her gaze to him with sudden grim realization, breaking her composure for a moment. "Klefki! Rise upwards!" Jackson sneered. "Not fast enough! Ted now!" Bursting through the stage and upwards after the flying Klefki, Teddy's claws grew and began to glow with a murky brown energy, poised to strike, the Klefki was fast but not faste enough to get away unscathed. As the attack collided with the key chain, it stumbled downwards hititng the floor with an audible thump and sliding away as Teddy landed on the floor confidently.

Only to hit by a glowing green ball of energy streaking towards him from the other side of the field. "Please..." Dana smirked as jackson turned to stare daggers at her and the now charged up Girafirig. "You're going to have to do much better than that if you want to impress us. Now finish that second rate plush off with a Psybeam Girafirig!" Margan's faux panic faded back into a comfortable smile as she in turn ordered a Sunny Day, charging with energy, Jackson couldn't afford to risk Teddy to stop the weather altering move... and was thus forced to command the bear to swiftly roll out of the way.

Emma looked on as the sun's rays began shining brightly throughout the battle stage. Sunny Day...? she thought to herself in confusion. Why would they use Sunny Day now? I have a bad feeling about this... she then turned to her Eevee, seemingly recovered.

"We won't win by attacking seperately against these two head on," Emma stated. "We need some sort of plan to turn this around... and quickly."

"Agreed..." Jackson grunted as Teddy fell back to stand in front of his trainer. "That Klefki has got way too many tricks up its sleeve... we need to get that damn Girafirig distracted so that Teddy can take it out with Dig... but I don't know how we can get Girafirig's attention... not to mention I don't know if Teddy can end this in one more hit and we can't afford to give that ****in' keychain another turn." Jackson grit his teeth as the difficulty of the battle was already ramping up to incredibly high levels, they were clearly planning something big and Jackson knew they had to take out their supports to topple the eventual offense... but damn, how were they to do that right now? It wasn't like their opponents were gonna wait for them to figure that out.

Emma cossed her arms, deep in thought. A strategy to have Jackson's Teddiursa defeat Klefki with Dig... But indeed the problem was that Girafarig. If only there was a way to get a suprising and decisive blow upon them both...

Soon, Emma's eyes then lit up. She had an idea. "Go on," Emma reassured to Jackson. Sensing her thoughts, her Eevee then put her right paw upon Ted, the Teddiursa. She then closed her eyes as a small, blue light began to engulf the two. It was Eevee's Helping Hand. "Trust me. I have your back."

Jackson rose an eyebrow to Emma at her words. "You're always so sappy..." He sighed, before sneering at his opponents. "But hey... if that's what works? I ain't complainin'. Ted! You FEEL that?!" Teddy turned back to Jackson as the blue light of helping hand surrounded him, his claws were shining with reflections and his eyes were filled with an uncharacteristic determination as he nodded in response with tiny fangs bared... imitating the trainer he looked up to's sneer.

"Then go GET EM!" Teddy sprinted forward, holding his claws out at either side of him as they extended and began to glow with that brown murky light, now also enveloped by the blue energy of Linde's helping hand. "It won't be that easy... Girafirig! Blast him away with Psybeam!"

"Fiiiiirrr!" The brown and yellow pokémon roared as it turned around and the mouth upon its tail opened, charging a powerful beam of psychic energy, poised to blast right through the approaching Teddiursa.

"Now, Linde! Use Swift on Teddiursa!" Emma ordered. The audience made a collective gasp. Why would she attack her own teammate, they all must of thought. However, she and Linde had other ideas. Linde spun around, releasing her Swift attack, right towards ted, the Teddiursa. As the stars approached, they started altering their course. Instead of approaching Ted from behind, the stars all flew around the Teddiursa, creating what it seemed like some sort of veil made out of stars. The Psybeam blast approached the Teddiursa, but the starry veil blocked it, making it fizzle out.

"Just as planned," Emma boasted, snapping her fingers. "Looks like that practice before the Contest paid off."

"Practice won't be enough here." Morgan stated calmly. "You are not the only ones capable of combinations. Dana, let's do it, just as we practiced." The hotheaded redhead nodded in response to her sisters comment, almost losing her act in the midst of an intense battle. "O-of course sister. Girafirig, Thunderbolt!" "Klefki, thunderwave... now." In unison both pokémon began to charge with eleectrical energy under the false Sunny Day sun, with unnatural speed Klefki managed to launce the wave of thunder forward, sending a crackling sheet of energy through the air towards the wall of stars, following this the Girafirig launched a thunderbolt, the sudden burst of electrical energy drawing in the latent thunderwave hanging in the air to grow to near twice its regular size.

The hyper charged thunderbolt slammed into the wall of stars and scattered them outwards with ease, it cut through to the center and erupted with a sudden burst of smoke. "Hmph..." Morgan scoffed, turnign with the same calm smile towards Jackson and Emma. "A valiant effort but it would seem as if the first victory goes to us.

And in response Jackson smirked.

Seeing the smile, Dana and Morgan both turned to where the lightning had struck, however beneath the stars and clearing smoke they saw no signs of a dig attack, nor more importantly, a Teddiursa. "Eh?!" Dana cried as her sisters brow furrowed and she swiftly turned her gaze upwards.

"UUUURSSSAAAAAAA!!" Teddy cried as he rode atop a single larger star, swiftly plummeting downwards from up above. While the shield of stars had distracted their opponents, Teddy had called off his initial dig and slipped out, hopping upon a Swift star chanelled with greater energy than the rest. After that it was only a matetr of time, after all, Swift never missed. "Klefki use-"

"It's too late for that!" Jackson cried out. "Teddy, now! Stardust Drill!" Extending his claws outwards and channeling them with the ground type energy and the helping hand both... they began to absorb particles of stardust from his mount and grow even longer than before, closer and closer to the Klefki until he the star began to shrink, shrink so small he could stand upon it no longer as every ounce of its energy was absorbed into his claws. Leaping downwards and interlocking his paws Teddy began to spin, the combination of light and energy forming a circular piercing force as Teddy himself started to feel sick with the sheer velocity.

"-Crafty Shield!" The shield swiftly sprung to life, the purple energy holding Teddy at bay as sparks of light began to burst off of it. For a moment it seemed as if the attack had been blocked and Morgan smiled confidently... until the purple energy began to crack. "No!" She cried as it shattered and the drill plunged into the Klefki's main body, holding it in place for a few moments more, spinning it wildly before finally tossing it aside, causing its chain to go loose and its keys to scatter around its unconscious form. A very dizzy Teddy was thrown backwards by the sheer force of impact, dizzily holding his head as he re-adjusted to his surroundings and the announcers voice blared.

"Klefki is defeated! Incredible, a Chatelain pokémon lies unconscious for the first time today!"

"Don't get too comfortable!" Dana warned, still full of fighting spirit. "Before Teddiursa has time torecover, use Energy Ball!" Her Girafarig galloped forward, releasing a fairly large green orb right towards Ted. Linde the Eevee however, ran and leaped right in front of Ted, ready to intercept the attack.

"Another Swift attack!" shouted Emma. Her Eevee released another set of stars right towards the Energy Ball, colliding the two, setting off a stalemated mini-explosion. "Now, Quick Attack!" Emma followed up, with her Eevee charging forward, preparing to ram Girafarig with a fast tackle.

"Dazzling Gleam!" Dana responded. Her Girafarig started to glow a strage, yet sudden pink light. The light sparkled everywhere, causing Linde to stop in her tracks, shielding her eyes from the bursts of flashes. "Psybeam!" Her Girafarig burst out its powerful pink psychic beam of light, hurling straight towards Eevee.

Emma gazed around a bit. However, she found just what she was looking for. "Use your Sand-Attack to block!" she commanded, her Eevee using her hind feet to spray a large amount sand backwards, as it collided with the blast, causing an explosion.

"To bad..." Dana cheekily boasted, playing with a lock on her hair. The smoke was starting to set. "Eevee's finished. There's no way it could have survived the blow. Now to do away with that teddiursa, and... huh?" The smoke cleared more and more, until itwas cleared completely. Dana was in shock as Emma's Eevee, was no longer in sight. "Where... where did it...?" Emma flashed her with a confident smile, as before Dana knew it, Linde popped out, right behind her Girafarig. "What the-?!"

"Now Linde! Use your Tackle attack!" Linde landed on the ground briefly, only to jump itself forward right towards Girafarig, tackling it with all her might. Girafarig was blown away right to the end of the stage, collapsing hard on the stage floor as Linde landed right on her feet. Girafarig was left unconcious.

"W-What's this?! Girafarig is defeated! The challengers have back to back victories!!" the announcers voice blurted.

" But... how?" Dana wondered from the situation. "How on earth did Eevee pop up from behind when it was seemed tobe struck by that Psybeam blow?"

"You left out one detail in your stradegy: your surroundings," Emma explained. "See that hole, a little behind you?" Dana looked around, until she found the hole Emma was talking about. She widened her eyes, and gritted her teeth. "That was the hole Teddiursa first came in to try and pop Klefki for a loop. My Eevee was a small distance away from the hole he dug into - the two are connected. I had Eevee use Sand-attack to cover itself and soften the impact from Psybeam, as it went inside the hole while the smoke started up. So, when the smoke cleared..."

"...Eevee managed to get the jump on Girafarig," Dana finished. She huffed, and flashed Emma with a smile. "Hmm... well done. It's no wonder they call you an Ace Detective, huh?"

"Er, I never knew people did..." Emma coughed.

"Me neither." Jackson frowned, glaring at both of them, however Dana only scoffed in return. "You're one to talk, I recognize you from the news Challenger!" She pointed her accusation forward. "You're Cynthia's Student, from Prism Tower!" Jackson, as one might expect, immediately lost it. "I am not that witches student! Who told you that?! Was it her?! It was her wasn't it?!" However, he was quickly drawn away from his rant, as in a sudden cracking motion Teddy was hefted across the arena, falling unconscious at Jackson's feet. "Ted?!" He cried out as he turned to look at a sneering Morgan whom stood behind an imposing, muscular Sawsbuck. Its horns were glowing a gentle green, its body seemed to shimmer in the glowing light of the false sun. Was is somehow gaining power from the light? Wasn't it a grass type?

"You really shouldn't lose focus during a battle like that sir challenger." Morgan said, that same calm... yet now somewhat smug smile spreading across her lips. "I'm afraid that's a point in our favor." Dana sneered as she sent out her second pokémon, a Magcargo... another pokémon benefitting from the sun! What were they going to do now? In that moment of panic he senses a presence and a pokéball on his belt began to shake. He took it in his hand and watched it carefully, it was Wave... the Golbat had bonded with him so quickly, out of all of his pokémon, maybe even moreso than Gaspar, between them there was a certain understanding. A knowledge of what it felt like to be forgotten and tossed aside as common, a permanent position as the underdog. As if she sensed the situation he was in, Wave was offering herself now and jackson couldn't refuse. "Wave... it's over to you!" He called out as he tossed the pokéball, releasing the Golbat onto the stage to a small smattering of arrogant chuckles. They underestimated her, both Wave and her trainer knew that was a mistake.

"So this was your plan..." Emma recgonized, as she glared at Morgan. "You had your Klefki use Sunny Day before hand, just incase we were to knock out your first two Pokemon. Now your real strategy begins: fire-type moves become even more powerful under the sun's rays, and Sawsbuck with its ability Chlorophyll doubles its speed, also while the sun is shining. Clever..."

"As expected from the Detective," Morgan replied with a smile. She held her hands against her chest, singing once again.

Using the power of the sun, we'll see it through, ♪
Fast as a Ninjask, stinging like a Tentacruel... ♪
Our sisterly bond will make us rise,
As poor Jackson and Emma meet their demise... ♪

"We'll see!" Emma proclaimmed, recalling back her Eevee. She then took out another Pokeball, and threw it. This time, out came her Lucario, who let out a battle cry, and crossed her arms, in antipation to begin. "I also share a strong bond with my Lucario. Let's see who's is stronger!"

 

[Stinging Bea]

Chapter 10-1 | Prelude To A Triple Decker

Avril Morris, Laurent Hessel, and Sebastian Allender
Riviére Walk

Avril's Team

Laurent's Team

Sebastian's Team

Badges

Inventory

Spoiler:

- x1 Pokédex

- x1 Holocaster

- x3 Pokéball

- x2 Great Ball

- x3 Potion

- 1800 Poké Dollars

- x3 Pecha Berries

- x1 Odd Flower

- Ice Beam TM

Yet another beautiful day graced the Riviére walk, promising adventure and wonder for all who were willing to find it. Some trainers, however, didn't have the luxury of taking it all in and enjoying it as much of the others. One of these particular trainers was walking the path beside the river with an uncharacteristic sense of urgency, heading straight for the Battle Chateau. It wasn't until he could clearly tell he was finally close to the establishment that Laurent Hessel stopped to take in the view. "Truly a marvelous sight... but not nearly as marvelous as what awaits inside."

"Saur!" Laurent half-jumped at the sound, he'd been so singlemindedly focused on getting to the Chateau he had practically forgotten Bernard had been out and walking with him.

"Ah, glad to see you've been keeping up! Come on, partner, let's go take another step!"

Sebastian had been walking in a daze since the previous morning... Nothing that happened after the man in black pulled the trigger felt real: Not the contest, the party, nor the talk with the former Plasma scientist, and...whatever it was he found himself wrapped up in this morning. Everything was so...wrong.

"Xen?" Selkie delicately tugs on her trainer's pant leg. She can tell Sebastian is suffering, and she wants to help, but she knows she isn't strong enough to make all these bad things go away. Not by herself…but...maybe she can distract him, make him stop thinking about the bad things, at least for a little while.

"Hm?" Sebastian pauses his stride at the gentle tug.

"Brai!" Selkie points towards a familiar scent, the scent of a fellow Pokemon from Sycamore's lab.

Sebastian's eyes follow the pointing fox, and his stomach churns just slightly. That's Laurent...one of the people Team Cinder wanted so badly to get rid of.

"Braixen!" Selkie shouts towards Bernard, waving her branch in hopes of getting his attention.

"Ivy?" Bernard queried, turning around. he straightened up immediately at the sight of Selkie, she looked and sounded different, but he was sure it was her. "Saur!" He shouted, waving a vine in welcome.

Laurent followed the sound of the disturbance and brightened up after seeing their fellow travelers. He and Bernard approached the new pair, Laurent finding it very difficult who to approach first: the adorable Braixen, or the equally cute trainer? "Hello Sebastian." He finally decided. "My, I haven't seen you since school! I'd like to say how much you've changed, but you've always been this cute. I know we never really spent any time together in Aquacorde, or even spoke much but it's still nice to see you again~" He finished, extending his hand towards the red-haired trainer.

Selkie beams proudly, both at the sight of her old friend, and the feeling that she was helping Sebastian make a new one. While she doesn't know much about Laurent, he seems so very kind. Sebastian needs a kind friend, and she needs to see Bernard...right now. The Braixen's tail swishes happily as she trots over to greet the Ivysaur.

"Laurent." Sebastian nods in greeting, trying to hide his confusion. Laurent knew his name? Remembered him? The confusion melts into full on embarrassment and Sebastian finds himself struggling not to blush. This merely added to his theory that the last twenty-four hours were some kind of illusion. Had he collapsed on his way to the contest? If only… He crams all those emotions into the pit of his stomach and puts on a small smile. "It's good to see you again."

Meanwhile, Avril was off in her own little world as the two trainers shared their reuinion. The girl was walking slowly down the dirt path of Riviére Walk, the memories of the past few hours still hanging heavy in her heart and mind. Team Cinder, Gabriel Artece, Emma, and now the departure of Anise from her team. It was all starting to run together into a mush of emotions that she honestly found herself not knowing just how to deal with. Avril had always figured that the journey to become the next champion of the Kalos region and finally get that recognition from her family would truly be a daunting task, but the girl never figured in her entire life that it would be this emotionally and mentally taxing. The longer this journey began to drag on, the more the blonde girl honestly felt like just crawling into a hole somewhere and just... disappearing from it all.

By her side, Shino and Marble both walked. The Frogadier and the Mareep were both trying their best to pull Avril out of this slump that she seemed to have managed to pull herself into. However despite their best attempts, neither one could seem to snap the girl out of it. To say that it was starting to concern them both deeply at this point would have been an understatement. The pokémon duo watched as Avril continued to quietly trudge up the road, brushing by two trainers who seemed to be in the middle of a conversation. Shino's eyes widened as Avril more or less pushed right by a boy with red hair, practically shoving him out of the way with her arm and not so much as even a second glance. Quickly, the duo of the Frogadier and Mareep picked up their pace. Shino paused for a moment, offering both of the human trainers a quick croak of an apology, before he turned to start trying to catch up with the girl.

He didn't get very far, however. No sooner had he taken only a step or two, did the Frogadier come to notice the sight of a particular Ivysaur and Braixen. His eyes widened as a wave of familiarity rushed over, and he quickly offered both of the pokémon a friendly greeting in the form of a wave and an eager ribbit.

Bernard grew even happier with a third pokémon from Sycamore's lab joining the reunion, and called out to Shino in turn.

Laurent was shocked and indignant that anyone would so rudely bump into Sebastian during their conversation and then even have the gall to keep on walking afterwards. "Excuse me!" He said, turning to address the interloper before holding in a gasp and softening his expression upon discovery of just who it had been. "Avril? Avril! Hold on! Is something wrong?"

If fumbling over his words and trying to hide how truly uncomfortable he was didn't bring him back to his school mentality, being practically shoved into the river without so much as an excuse me certainly did it. He opened his mouth to say something, maybe apologize for standing in the middle of the road or...for existing, though Laurent beat him to it.

Avril…? She was another that Team Cinder was after. She looks about as mentally drained as he does, and likely for the same reason. It wasn't long ago they all set out for a journey to become the next Kalos champion, a journey that so many have taken before them, and so many have made through without an evil organization putting a hit out on them. This...everything...is so unreal.

Avril finally turned upon hearing her name called out, her eyes widening at the familiar sight of Laurent. She had been so lost in thought that she had somehow managed to not even notice he was right beside her. The girl took a moment, quickly rubbing her eyes before offering the boy a rather weak smile. The Mareep by her side offered out a small mewl in greeting at the sight of the boy as well. Marble didn't know Laurent too well, but she did remember that he was the human who had come into care for her twin sister.

"O-Oh, Laurent... Hey, what's up...?" the blonde girl greeted back. "I didn't expect to see you out here."

Selkie offered Sebastian a worried glance, though after realizing he didn't seem at all bothered by the shove she allowed herself to show how positively excited she was to see Shino again, and this fluffy new friend. Her tail wags excitedly as she waves to the frog, and then to the little sheep, who makes her eyes widen in adoration. So cute!

"I was on my way to the Battle Chateau when I ran into Sebastian here." He replied, gesturing to his recent conversation partner. "I don't know if you two are acquainted, but he's another one of Professor Sycamore's students, we were just catching up." He looked apologetically at Sebastian, he didn't want to just jump away from their talk, but Avril's attitude had him very concerned. "Is everything okay, Avril? I know we met by bumping into each other, but so callously brushing someone doesn't seem like you at all."

"Oh... Um... Sorry about that," Avril replied, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly. "I guess... I just wasn't paying attention, you know? Been pretty busy with stuff lately and just had a lot on my mind..." The girl made her way closer to the two boys, heading towards the red-haired boy of the group. She offered him an apologetic smile, before extending her hand. "Um... Sebastian, was it...? Sorry about bumping into you like that. You're not hurt or anything, are you?"

Sebastian suddenly finds himself feeling very at ease around Avril. The fact that they're obviously feeling incredibly drained for the same reason, along with taking note of her weak smile and how she rubs the back of her head when she's feeling sheepish (incredibly similar to his habit of rubbing the back of his neck when feeling the same)...perhaps he won't bow his head and attempt to flee this scene so quickly.

He returns the smile and the outstretched hand, offering a gentle handshake and a genuine, if not incredibly nervous, smile of his own. "I'm sure I'll be fine." If he bruises it's his own glass bones and paper skin's fault, not Avril's. Besides that she...looks like she could use a break.

"If...you'd like to clear your head for awhile…" Sebastian what are you doing? "Why don't we...all go to the Battle Chateau?"

"Batte... Chateau...?" Avril questioned, giving both of the boys are rather curious glance. The name of the location is familiar, but for some reason the blonde trainer really couldn't put her finger on as to why that was. "That sounds like some really fancy place... I don't need to dress up or anything for it, do I? I don't have a whole lot suitable for formal affairs..."

"Nonsense, you're the picture of beauty and grace already." Laurent assured her. "But..." His own face sank a bit. "I'm not sure if anybody else should join me, I'd hate to hold you back."

"Nonsense." Sebastian mimics Laurent's tone. "I've watched you display your skills twice now." ...That sounded so much less strange in his head. Quick, undo it, undo it. "In the contests, you are incredibly talented." He turns his attention back to Avril. "I don't recall there being a dress code." He would desperately prefer not to get back into that tuxedo from last night.

Sebastian's words did little to ease Laurent's worries, but he forced himself to brighten up nonetheless. "I could never deny the company of such a lovely lady and a cute fellow, anyways. The more the merrier, as they say, and the more I can learn as well. That reminds me, I wonder if Marble would like to see her sister? I know Maria would be more than glad of the experience." Without further ado, Laurent released his recently-evolved Flaaffy while Bernard crawled onto his trainer's back fresh from his reunion with the others. Maria flicked one of her ears and looked around, quickly recognizing her sister and rushing over to bleat and mewl happily at her.

Marble stared up at Maria in surprise. She was so much bigger than she remembered the last time she saw her. The Mareep began to circle around the Flaaffy, mewling excitedly as she looked over her sister from every angle. She could tell just from looking that Maria was so much stronger now! She wondered if maybe she'd have a chance to get stronger one day too. Avril smiled softly, watching her Mareep fawn over her sister's recent increase in power. It really warmed her heart to see the little Mareep still finding a way to have a good time, despite the fact that this journey had been throwing the whole team a lot of curve balls since Lumiose City. Turning her attention back to Sebastian and Laurent, the girl gave the boys a quick nod.

"Well... I mean, I guess if you're both going I can tag along too," she decided. "It does sound like an interesting spot to check out at the very least... Besides, I figure we've got some time to kill anyways."

Time to kill...with everything that's happened over the course of the last several days, that once simple expression makes him want to cringe. He still has that man's gun in his bag, he's still not willing to give it up… he forces the thought to the pit in his stomach, along with all his other fears and insecurities. For the next hour or so they're all going to forget about Team Cinder.

"Braaaaai." Selkie swoons over the adorable electric sheep, she clasps her hands together and smiles at their display of cuteness, then turns her attention back towards Sebastian. This is cute, why isn't he smiling?

"Shall we, then?" Sebastian forces his smile to return as he encourages the other two trainers.

"Yes, let's. Oof!" Laurent only took a few steps before Maria followed Bernard's example and jumped onto Laurent's back beside the Ivysaur, forcing the young man to spend a few seconds regaining his balance. "Ah, alright, fine. Enjoy the ride, more exercise can't hurt me. Don't get too comfortable though, young lady. I'll be working this relaxation off of you soon enough."

"Sure thing, lead on," Avril replied, motioning for Shino and Marble to follow along with the group as the boys began to lead the way towards the Battle Chateau.

As Sebastian steps forward, a ghostly white presence rises from his shadow. The newly evolved Froslass seems to truly be enjoying her new ghost powers. She bows her head towards the group of new humans and Pokemon before delicately taking hold of Sebastian's sleeve.

"Someone's having fun." The redhead smiled as Ukyou turned her calm gaze towards Avril. There's a fellow ghost nearby, its energy is radiating from the lovely girl's wrist.

Laurent could tell from the Frosslass' focus that there was nothing more for him to say at that moment, so he began walking again, setting the pace towards the Battle Chateau. Bernard and Maria continued to chatter at each other, which left a growing itch to do something besides just walk in their trainer. He reached a hand back into a special pocket of his backpack and removed the pokéflute, daintily putting to it to his lips and beginning to play a relaxing, but encouraging marching tune.

"That's an interesting instrument...? Where did you get that thing from...?"Avril questioned as she glanced over in the direction of Laurent, the girl raising an eyebrow as he began to play the flute. She never pictured Laurent as being much of the musical type, but he seemed to be somewhat decent at playing the strange looking flute. The tune he played was full of pep and vigor, and she honestly did find her spirits lifting a bit from the music. "It kinda reminds me of that old story... You know the one, the guy that goes to that town and plays the flute to drive all the Rattata out?"

"I remember that one." Sebastian agrees. As the tune goes on, Selkie begins to hop more so than walk, and Ukyou begins swaying to the beat. Do all Pokemon react so positively to music? Perhaps he should send away for his violin… "How lucky we are, having our own minstrel to entertain us on our quest."

"I prefer Bard, personally." Laurent added with a smile thrown back behind him. "In my experience most creatures like music, even some plants seem to. But...this is the Pokéflute, which resonates especially well with pokémon, having the ability to wake up even a mighty Snorlax from its slumber. It may be that there's more it can do...though I've no idea what. At the very least though, our friends seem to like it!"

Avril glanced over her shoulder, smiling at the sight of Marble's little tail swaying back and forth as she walked. Occasionally, the little sheep would let out a little mewl, as if trying her best to try and sing along with the melody being produced by Laurent's flute. "So... was that something you just recently picked up on or did you have to learn how to play music like that as a kid?"

"It's always nice to have a bard." Sebastian thinks aloud as Selkie's hops become more dance like, and soon enough she's twirling on her toes. "When things aren't so...frantic, perhaps we can play together." If...they survive the next several days.

Laurent shook his head. "I'm afraid I've neither much experience nor skill right now. I began practicing with both the flute and leaf whistles after i began this journey. Bernard inherited Grass Whistle from one of his parents and I found his music so charming. I became enamored with the pokeflute because I thought a Pokemon that could hypnotize others wth music and a trainer that could awaken and enchant them sounded nice."

The three trainers continued to make small talk as they continued down the route. Before much longer, the trio came to a rather large and impressive looking building sitting just off the riverbank. The windows were decorated with stained glass, with grand stone stairs leading up towards a rather massive looking door. A rather ornate, red rug was laid down on the steps, as if guiding anyone who would dare approach the building towards the door. While it didn't look as intimidating or impressive as Parfum Palace or Shabboneau Castle, it was still a rather breathtaking sight to behold, if only because of the scenic location it occupied.

"Wow..." Avril mused, a small whistle escaping her lips as she did so. "I wonder what the rent on a place like this runs..."

"I would say...a lot." Sebastian mused after pretending to think the question over. Flashing a playful smile towards his blonde companion he approached the door, giving it a soft knock. It was only now that he realized that he wasn't certain what the protocol was for this place. Do you walk in? Do you knock? Do you use call ahead seating? Questions that certainly should have been answered before he took to standing right outside the door, halfheartedly knocking.

Ukyou giggles cheerfully at the sudden look of uncertainty. Taking matters into her own ghostly hands she calmly phases through the door to see what awaits the trio.

Shino stared in disbelief at the antics of the Froslass. Did she really just barge her way in through the door without so much as a second thought? The utter lack of manners displayed in such an act was extremely unorthodox and potentially quite reckless! What if someone inside assumed that Ukyou was some wild pokémon who just happened to float her way inside out of curiosity? What if they tried to catch her or something of the sort? Wasn't Sebastian worried? The Frogadier quickly turned to the boy in question, giving him a nervous look as he began to croak and fidget with concern in his voice. Avril seemed to pick up on Shino's concern and looked over at Sebastian, nudging the boy in the process.

"Um... Should we be worried about your Froslass just... sliding on through the doors like she owns the place?" Avril questioned.

Selkie offered Shino a kind smile and raised a hand towards him, lowering it slowly in a 'calm down' gesture. What a worry wart, he's kind of like Sebastian, she'll have to teach him to lighten up too.

Sebastian tucks his knuckles under his chin as his elbow rests on his other folded arm, a subconscious attempt to make himself smaller. "I'm sorry…" He murmurs. "She...just evolved last night, she's not used to her new powers…" Nor the boundaries that needed to be set up because of them. However, as soon as Sebastian squeaks out his meek little apology, Ukyou phases back to the trio's side of the door. She tilts her head in confusion and gestures to the door, then presses herself against it, attempting to communicate that she had merely slid to the other side. Was that...bad?

Selkie offers Shino a back pat, and Sebastian a pat on the leg. It's fine, Ukyou just did the ghost equivalent of peering through a peephole, right?

"I've never heard anything about the Battle Chateau ever being closed to the public, so onward it is!" Laurent exclaimed and began to push on the doors. Despite how heavy they looked, they were not only unlocked but also opened fairly easily. After parting the doors an acceptable amount, Laurent stood next to the door and bowed to his companions. "Shall we?"

Avril nodded and headed inside with Shino and Marble in close company. She could hear the footsteps of Sebastian and Laurent follow behind her as they stepped inside the chateau, followed by the echoing sound of the doors slamming shut behind them. Awaiting the trio inside was a sight a bit unexpected for the girl. Various trainers sat being waited on by waiters and waitresses, with whispers and idle chatting bouncing off the walls over some previous battle that they must have just finished up watching not all that long ago. There was a raised platform in the middle of the room, decorated with a somewhat ornate, purple rug baring the symbol for the pokémon league. Avril could only assume it was where the battles and the like were held at. Still despite knowing what the stage was most likely for, the whole place gave the blonde girl the feeling of more of a tea house as opposed to a grand battling hall.

"Hello there, welcome to the Battle Chateau," a friendly voice greeted the three. Avril turned to see a smiling waitress, one who looked no older than she was. Her orangish-red hair was pulled up into a tight ponytail, with small freckles decorating her cheeks. A pair of chocolate-brown eyes shone brightly, offsetting the intense color of the girl's hair. "We're getting a lot of visitors today. Are you three here to maybe participate in a battle against the ladies of the establishment? Or would you like to maybe enjoy some lunch and spectate battles instead? The chefs have prepared an amazing Tauros stew, served with a fresh salad and ice cold lemonade!"

"We're here to battle." Sebastian speaks up, offering the girl a pleasant smile from a safe distance. When he pictured the Battle Chateau this was hardly what he expected: A restaurant? Were they these people's entertainment while they ate? This was looking more like a spectacle, rather than a place to practice one's skill on the battlefield, then again...he can't really judge what this establishment has to offer until they take to the...stage?

"That is one of the main reasons this establishment is so popular." Laurent explained. "They can make up for the costs of operating the Chateau by allowing patrons to pay for 'dinner and a show' as it were." He nodded to the waitress and offered his best smile. "As my friend said, we are here to battle. We would be delighted to have such a lovely young lady guide us to the battle facilities~"

The waitress smiled and nodded, motioning for the three trainers to follow behind her. She led the trio to a corner of the room, where a few trainers were chatting amongst themselves. All were eager with anticipation at the prospect of battling against the ladies of the chateau, so much so that Avril could practically feel it just by watching them. She turned her attention towards Sebastian and Laurent, starting to feel a bit nervous about the whole process. She hadn't battled in front of a crowd since she challenged Volkner back in Lumiose City, and that whole affair didn't exactly work out as well as she would have hoped. Just standing there in the waiting area was enough to start giving the girl flashbacks to how that whole mess ended up turning out.

"Um... So... Who are these girls we're supposed to be battling, anyways?" Avril questioned, earning several stares from those gathered in the waiting area. She looked around at a few of the trainers, wondering if she had somehow managed to offend them through her questioning. She glanced down at the ground for a moment, her voice softening so only Sebastian and Laurent would hear her properly. "I've never been here before, so..."

Sebastian pressed his back against the wall, feeling some amount of comfort from the sensation; it meant no one could walk up behind him, and with so many eyes suddenly staring at them...he was unnerved enough. Still, the somewhat hateful and astounded looks on the faces of their fellow challengers annoyed him on Avril's behalf. "I'm not sure either." He spoke in a somewhat louder voice than his usual tone, causing the stares to shift to his direction. In response he eased his head towards the direction of an unoccupied wall. "I guess we'll find out soon enough." He spoke, his voice now returning to his calm, quiet tone.

Laurent cleared his throat loudly, drawing all the hostile glares towards himself. "Yes, yes, as you can all see we're new to this facility. I saw a poster on the way in saying there was a special event going on today, yes? Why are you all standing around, failing to draw the attention of the lovely Battle Chatelaines, perhaps?" There was much angry muttering and several vocal complaints about Laurent's statement, one patron was even so bold as to take a few steps towards him with a clenched fist. Laurent simply smiled at them all and took a step forward.

The disturbance continued to grow louder until the sound of a door opening was heard echoing through the area. All eyes turned to see Morgan, one of the Battle Chatelains, the eldest sister, master of rotation battles and lover of the color green. "Now now, what is all this uproar about? All you sweet things should be filled with excitement, not rancor."

Laurent immediately turned at the sound of Morgan's voice and bowed low with a flourish. "Ah, Lady Morgan, always such a pleasure to take in your enrapturing visage. Your mature beauty and elegant, welcoming demeanor never fail to impress."

Morgan's rich, warm voice let out an amused chuckle at his words. "Well well, it appears we have a gentleman here. I don't believe we've met young man - not that one could tell with the familiarity of your words!"

The young man did his best not to stare. His words about her beauty were not a joke, he found her by far the most appealing of the Battle Chatelaines, and green was his favorite color anyways. Even her strange hair style was captivating to him. "Forgive me if my manners were not up to par, Lady Morgan. My friends and I are here to challenge you and your sisters to battle, in the hopes that we may grow from the experience. Apparently some of the trainers here find something distasteful about a lack of knowledge about your lovely facilities, so I was preparing to teach them all a thing or two about the Chateau you sisters work so hard to maintain and promote."

This time Morgan laughed harder, covering her mouth with her dainty hand so as not to appear unbecoming. "Oh my, you're an interesting one! You're right to think there's nothing wrong with ignorance of our Chateau. I say that just means I get to spend more time delighting myself in showing you all the fun we have to offer! Though I'm afraid you may have misread our posters, this event is for double battles..." She looked into Laurent's eyes, then Avril's, then Sebastian's. "But...I believe I've taken a liking to you three. Standing strong in the face of adversity, offering a unique twist to us, the very hosts of this event? Why don't you come with me and we'll see what my sisters think about having a triple battle?"

Avril watched as Morgan began to walk away, motioning for the three trainers to follow behind her. The way Laurent had spoke to Morgan, it almost reminded her of how the boy had spoken to her when they first met back on the road to Lumiose City. Then again, Laurent seemed to speak with Sebastian in the same tone of familiarity. She sighed, shaking her head at the thought. Chances were she was just putting too much thought into the whole thing.

What...just happened? Sebastian blinked slowly as he fell in line beside Avril. Laurent had almost started a riot back there, but it somehow managed to work in their favor? It might not hurt to take some notes in the art of flattery...though Sebastian already knows if he attempted to speak and act like Laurent, he would either bite his own tongue with the onslaught of honeyed words, or simply melt into a sheer puddle of embarrassment. Hell, he felt embarrassed standing next to Laurent when he started that speech. In the end he locks eyes with Avril and tilts his head slightly to the side. Maybe she could explain how they journeyed from a near mob war to getting special treatment.

Avril was just as clueless to the outcome as Sebastian. All she could do in response was point her gaze to the back of Morgan. The green-clad woman was the one most moved by Laurent's words after all. It was most likely her title within the chateau that kept the other trainers from wanting to toss the trio out on the curb for being ill informed. Regardless of how he did it, all Avril could figure was that she was glad that Laurent was able to.

Morgan led the young trainers into a hallway adjacent to the path they'd be taking were they heading to the arena. The decorations became much homier along the way until it was clear they were in what must serve as the Battle Chatelaines' living quarters within the Chateau. After passing multiple bedrooms and guest rooms they finally followed Morgan into a small dining room where she and her sisters liked to eat and chat in private when they weren't busy entertaining. All three of her sisters were there, seated and apparently awaiting her return.

"Morgan!" a rather lithe, yellow-clad girl called out. She quickly hopped up from her seat and beamed as she made her way over towards the older girl. "Where'd ya go off to like that? Ya know how Dana gets when ya miss tea! It took her an entire day to stop giving me those dirty looks the last time I did!"

"Oh...y-you brought...three?" Evelyn shrinks into her chair nervously. Why would her dear sister bring a third trainer into their double battle arena? Was one of them just going to watch? Another set of eyes just...staring... eep.

The oldest sister stepped forward with a proud flourish. "It seems these three caused quite the commotion in the lobby. Apparently our flock of challengers for the day were a rather snobby bunch, giving these young trainers evil eyes simply because two of them knew very little about our dear Chateau. I couldn't help but notice the way this fellow in the dress shirt stood up for his friends. Why, he practically had that crowd ready to form a mob and attack him! In short, these three have caught my eye. What's the harm? There are four of us and we've plenty of experience with all sorts of multi-battles, what's the harm in a triple battle?" She turned away for a moment to learn towards Laurent and look him in the eye. "That sounds fun, doesn't it, love?"

The young man could bring himself to do little more than nod and smile, wishing not to blurt out any of the thoughts occurring to him just at that moment.

Dana finished a draw from her teacup on the opposite side of the table from the trainers with a huff. "Then I'll continue my break while the rest of you handle it. I'm always the one to handle triple battles. This whole event was supposed to give me some time away from the monotony."

"Wait, this whole event...?" Avril repeated. She looked over in Dana's direction, slightly puzzled by the woman's response. "You almost make it sound like you sent her down to drag some trainers up here in general..."

"Mm? Did you not read the flyers we had posted outside the Chateau?" Morgan queried. "Normally we hold tournaments between trainers such as yourselves and we only battle the best among them as a reward. Today, however, we have decided to spend the day having two-on-two double battles with as many challengers as we can pencil in. As you saw previously there is quite the line to have our attention, but you three are a special case, so you've cut ahead of the rest, so to speak. We'll even battle all three of you at once instead of just two, if that sounds as fun to you three as it does to me~"

Avril had mixed feelings about the whole situation. On one hand, she felt flattered that Morgan apparently saw that much potential in the three of them. On the other hand, the fact that the woman put them in such a high priority that they got to skip past everyone else waiting down in the line sort of made her a bit uncomfortable. Mainly, it was on account that the three of them would have to go back down eventually. Chances were that those who got skipped were not going to be too happy with them. Along with that, Avril wasn't really all that sure if she actually felt like battling. The past twenty four hours had been pretty rough, and her team was not exactly as strong as it used to be...

"I mean... I guess? What do you think...?" Avril questioned, glancing over her shoulder at Sebastian. She could tell from the smile on Laurent's face that he was ready, regardless of whether she participated or not.

"I...suppose it will be good experience." Sebastian spoke uncertainly, rubbing the back of his neck as he did so. He wasn't expecting a triple battle, and he certainly wasn't expecting to hack off an entire room full of people...people they were going to have to go back down and deal with after this was all over. That being said, those people are going to be mad whether they battle, or leave right now. So...they might as well learn something while they're here. "I…" He once more looked to the comfort of an unoccupied wall, drawing a deep breath, then turning back to Avril. "I'm game if you are."

"Alright then... Looks like we'll accept your offer for the triple battle then," Avril finally answered to Morgan.

"It will be a wonderful time, I'm sure~" Laurent agreed before looking Sebastian and Avril each in the eye. "Don't spare a thought for those arrogant people in the Foyer, I'm sure they'll be watching this battle, so we'll just dazzle them so thoroughly with our performance that they'll think of naught but cheering upon our return!"

"Well said." Morgan added. "Now allow us to show you to the arena!"
​

​

 

[Jay]

Current Team - Jackson:

Current Team - Emma:

The Battle of Chateau - Part 2

---

Current Location : The Battle Chateau​

Jackson made no comment about bonds or loyalties in response. He knew that he and Wave were stronger than anything the opponents could throw at them. How many times had they saved each others lives already? In such a short amount of time they had both grown stronger than anyone could possible imagine, more than anybody could have expected. Appearances were deceiving, now there was less anger in Jackson's eyes, replaced by determination and a desire to prove to all watching that he would be the one to topple these Chatelaines. As if in response to his thoughts Wave looked back, her eyes were focussed and determined as his were... they were in sync.

His gaze drifted to Emma momentarily. He'd never had much experience with girls... and he wasn't some flirty shit like Hessel, so he knew he didn't have any romantic attachment to her. He wasn't sappy like she was, he had no reason to tell her any bullshit like he 'trusted her' or 'they were in this together' but, well he'd have been lying if he said anything to the contrary. For him, alliances were forged in fire, difficult situations where there was no turning back and the people with the same enemies were the people you fell in with. By that logic, he supposed that while he wouldn't consider her a friend, he didn't have any of those... at the very least he was willing to fight alongside her now.

"You're already finished, Chatelaines." Jackson stated, his voice a cold calm compared to his earlier fire and aggression. The real Jackson beneath the surface coming to show for a moment, the Jackson hardened and forged by the journey thus far. "Emma." He continued quieter, turning his head to his battle partner. "The Sawsbuck is fast, faster than Lucario I'd wager, but I believe Wave can keep up. I know that fighting Magcargo with Lucario will be difficult for both parties, since you have type effectiveness against one another, but do you think you can keep Dana at bay for just long enough so that I can get that long horned bastard out of the way?"

"Jackson..." Emma responded, caught off guard. It was the first time she heard Jackson address her by her first name. She gave him a nod. "I'll leave this to you, then. I'll do my best as well."

"Well...? We're not going to wait here all day!" Dana spouted obnoxiously, crossing her arms as Morgan ever maintained that smile that seemed to piss Jackson off more and more every moment. "Seems we'll have to remind you once again, that you're in battle Mr. Crane. Sawsbuck, make this fast. Begin charging your solarbeam now." Jackson considered for a split second what she had said, it was true that Solarbeam was a move that required charging but-

"Wave! Up now!" His voice reached the bat just in time as she spun upwards, the Solarbeam flying past with barely a few moments of charge time. Margan continued to smile. "Ahh, so you're aware of the intricacies of this move. I'm pleased to see that you were not so easily fooled, however this will not protect you from what is to come." She waved her hand outwards and Swasbuck dragged its hoof across the floor in a threatening manner. "Chase that Golbat down, don't give it a moment to rest as you take advantage of the glowing sunlight!" Sawsbuck charged forward at an incredilous speed, the Chlorophyll ability taking full effect as Wave barely threw herself out of the way in time.

"Magcargo versus Lucario..." Emma pointed out, witnessing the current situation. Her Lucario stared face to face against Dana's faifthful Marcargo. "Fire-type attacks are super-effective against Lucario's steel typing, and Fighting-type moves are super-effective against Marcargo's rock typing. Not an easy match-up for the both of us."

"Then I suppose it's a matter of which one is stronger, then!" Dana responded with a light chuckle. "Marcargo! Earth Power!" she then commanded, with her Marcargo roaring as it released a dense energy to the ground, making the area of the ground shake while glowing a golden yellow, right towards Kagura the Lucario.

"Roll out of the way!" Emma shouted, with her Lucario managing to evade the attack successfully with swift manuvers.

"Ohoho! I see it's quite nimble!" Dana complemented, but showing it was still no big threat to her. "Let's kick things up a notch then. Go on! Gyro Ball!" Her Marcargo suddenly jumped up, curling up in a ball. It then rotated over and over, hurlling straight towards Lucario.

"We'll counter with Force Palm!" responded a determined Emma, with her Lucario readying itself, defending against Marcargo's attack with a swift Force Palm. The two attacks collided, with the resulting force pushing the two backwards through the stage. Kagura the Lucario then put one knee to the ground. It seemed to have taken the worst of the blow, with Dana's Marcargo standing strong.

"Done already? We haven'teven warmed up yet!" Dana remarked cheekily. "Come Marcargo! Overheat!" Her Marcargo started to release a large burst of flame, as Kagura managed to dodge. Emma could only grit her teeth, unsure with how long she could keep this up.

"Wave keep moving! We can't afford to stay still for even a moment!" Responding to her trainers intentions exactly as dexcribed before he even finished speaking, Wave began using her superior mobility in the air to stay out of reach of Sawsbuck's horns, all the while dodging the myriad solarbeams that struck towards the ceiling above like pillars of blinding light. A few grazed her wings as she flew, the incredible power and speed at which such an awesome attack was unleashed stung like hell, but her typing prevented any extreme damage. Still, she was being quickly worn down already... and both she and Jackson knew it. "Damn it, we need to switch to the offensive..." He muttered to himself, watching and looking for the best available opening to unleash a counter offensive. "Air Cutter now!" Valiantly Wave spun between two Solar Beams, swiping with her wings across the sky and sending concentrated blades of wind in the direction of her opponent.

Alas... nothing. It was unbelievable how quickly this Sawsbuck was moving, Wave just couldn't keep up. This was the first time since the Noivern that she had ever faced off against an opponent whom had such a clear advantage in speed and it shook her to the care. This carried on for a few moments as Emma's Lucario fought against the raging flames of Magcargo, the two were seperate for the time being and Jackson's vision was focussed on Wave alone... that was his undoing.

Kagura the Lucario managed to dodge another Overheat attack, however leaving it almost out of breath. Dana's Marcargo was also getting tired, due to the consequences of using Overheat back to back. "No one has really lasted this long against Marcargo..." said Dana, twirling a lock of her hair. "I tip my hat to you, Detective."

"Thank you..." Emma responded coldly. "Your Marcargo is pretty strong, indeed... Little wonder you and your sisters are world class trainers."

"I thank you for the compliment in turn," replied Dana with a snarkish smile. "But don't forget, singles action is not the only trait we excel at."

"Sawsbuck now... Jump Kick upon Lucario!" With a flourish, Morgan waved her arm and Sawsbuck diverted course, leaping towards the occupied Lucario with hooves poised to strike him down unawares. Jackson turned to look at the event soon to transpire, Lucario was no doubt worn out from battling the Magcargo and when that kick struck home it could be the end, Linde the Eevee was already tired from battle and wouldn't last long against these opponents... and if Wave was left alone? It hurt Jackson to think it but he knew she wouldn't be able to cope. Yet Sawsbuck was swiftly falling and Jackson was left with nothing to do, gritting his teeth in a wince, he saw only a path to defeat.

But when the attack landed it was a screech that filled his ears, not a howl.

Looking out with shock and surprise he saw Wave forcing herself between Lucario and Sawsbuck, holding the pokémon aloft as it dug its hooves into her blue form. "Pfrt.... hahaha!" Jackson turned with rage filled eyes to Dana as he heard her insidious laughter. "It makes perfect sense really sister, that this would be the outcome!" Jackson sliced his hand through the air in pure anger as he bellowed his response. "What dahell is that supposed to mean?!" To which Dana laughed and even Morgan chuckled softly despite herself. "It means that such a common pokémon deserves to be a meat shield! How else is she to find any use?!" The crowd surrounding the arena, filled with haughty trainers and 'esteemed' veterans slowly began to laugh and guffaw at Jackson who went red with rage and embarrassment.

Wave, still doing everything she could to hold the Sawsbuck back, felt her eyes begin to wet. She knew they were all right about her, she was still, deep down, just some zubat pulled out of any random cave in the region. 'I'm just not good enough... no matter what I'm never good enough to protect him.' She did her damndest to hold the attacker back for a little bit longer, but the Magcargo wasn't going to sit and wait... and in the end she wasn't strong enough, she wasn't fast enough and spped was supposed to be what she was good at. Noivern, Garchomp and now Sawsbuck... three times she had failed to protect Jackson, the trainer whom put up with how weak she was, the trainer who put faith in her when she didn't deserve any. Her posture began to slip and tears streamed openly down her face as the laughter continued. She really was just... another common, worthless pokémon. Nothing special.

​

"YOU'RE WRONG!" Jackson roared, his voice screaming over the announcers and the laughter as his own eyes welled up, the pure upset and anger in his voice causing even Morgan and Dana to be somewhat taken aback. "Maybe to you she's just another pokémon... but I trust her! I trust her with my life and more!" Wave's eyes, though she was held in place, widened and turned to face Jackson as best as she could... only to see that he was looking right back at her. "Even in a cave filled with what they call common pokémon, even with a wounded wing and what they think was nothing that stood out... I risked everything to save you even though I knew nothing about you!" The tears dripped onto the floor below Wave as she heard the passion and care in her trainer's voice, something she had never seen him express for anyone, let alone her. "I saved your life... and already twice now you've saved mine! You and I are friends Wave, best friends! Everyone else, Fang, Teddy and Gaspar... you mean something to them, Wave! I don't care what any of these shitheads say! There's only one Wave out there! I don't want any other pokémon to be here fighting with me, common or not! I believe in you! So fight back!"

'Jackson...'

Wave turned her tear filled eyes to stare into the Sawsbuck, her trainers rage and understanding flowing through every fiber of her body. 'I'm not just COMMON!' She roared in her mind, her wings flapping faster and faster, faster than even the sped up Sawsbuck could resist. 'I'm Jackson Crane's Pokémon! I'm his friend!" Her form began to shimmer for a brief moment. 'He's here with me, together.... we... won't... LOSE!'

Emma's Lucario meanwhile turned to Emma, with a reasured look. "You can sense it, can't you, Kagura..." Emma asked her, as her Lucario gave her a nod in agreement. "Their aura... is getting stronger."

A sudden blast of flying type energy rocketed across the stage, nearly throwing the trainers off their feet and sprawling all of the other pokémon around the arena as Wave lit up with a bright light. Jackson rose his arms to cover his face from the sudden eruption of power and through the light he watched Wave's tone darken into a deep purple, her legs shrunk and refined into sharpened points as her two wings split into four. Her piercing gaze sharpened as her mouth shrunk down to a more streamlined form, her ears perking up and growing into elongated sensors. With a sudden flap of her wings that pushed Sawsbuck even further back the light finally cleared away and Wave hovered in place with newfound power.

"CROBAT!" She cried in triumph and majesty, every jaw in the establishment dropping and not a single bit of laughter remained.

Wave evolved into Crobat!​

"That's.. a Crobat," Emma said, looking on the newly evolved four-winged bat pokemon. Kagura glanced towards it, as it soared around the stage. "Not a very easy pokemon for Golbat to evolve to, but... you can sense the love and compassion it has been given. I don't even need Kagura's power to read auras to know that much." Emma then turned towards her Lucario. Her Lucario stood firmly on her feet, determined for more action.

"Tch... if y'think yer gonna beat us with a bit of a flashy light show then yer mistaken!" Dana cried out, the entire establishment awestruck at her sudden change of tone. "D-Dana!" Morgan cried out. "Try to maintain yourself, you're still on stage!" But Dana only laughed in response and waved her sister off. "Oh toss off, I've not had a good showdown with any of these prissy little ace trainer twats since we got back t'Kalos! So I think I've earned a bit of a laugh, don't you lovey?" Morgan bristled and frowned vehemently... before sighing and relaxing her posture ever so slightly. "Very well... then we finish this while we have the sun's Advantage! Sawsbuck resume your solarbeam blitz!" Sawsbuck obeyed, firing beam after beam in Wave's direction, seemingly pumped up to put the suddenly evolved pokémon back in its place.

As the beam shot forward, Wave awaited until the final second, until at the moment of impact she began to move as lightning, her speed incredible as she darted from location to location, taunting every single beam as it flew towards her. The tide of battle had turned and even Jackson was surprised by how unbelievably fast his pokémon was moving, not a single attack hit its mark. "Sawsbuck you've got to outmaneuver, serpentine to a better vantage point." Jackson's rage settled into a wide sneering grin as he saw through Morgan for the first time since the battle had started. He laughed wildly throwing a finger to point in her direction. She was thrown off by her own sisters true colours, caught off guard by her one advantage, incredible speed in the sunlight, suddenly being turned against her. That ever present calm smile was starting to falter, the porcelain mask breaking to show irritation and annoyance.

"You... You're the one with a stick up her ass! I understand it now, you're the one I should beat!" He roared and Wave took off on instinct, fully in sync with her trainers commands. As if to mock the Sawsbuck she flew alongside it as it ran without much effort, her wings glowing with light as he left various disturbances in the wind around the stage as she flew. She launched a few air cutters, missed them as the Sawsbuck ran, rebuilding Morgans confidence just enough. What she didn't know was that this was all a part of the plan.

"Mrgrgr..!" Dana grumbled watching the Crobat and Sawsbuck go at it. She then fiercely turned to Emma and her Lucario. "I'll just take you out first, Miss... miss prissy... gumshoe!"

"Er... okay?" said Emma, trying to adjust her way on interacting with Dana's odd change of... tone. She then watch the Crobat, seemingly to lure the Sawsbuck on... she had an idea. She chuckled to herself, seemingly enjoying what she planned. "No one has lasted this long against Magcargo... huh? Starting to crack, running out of fire power?"

"Yeah right," Dana boasted. "Don't you worry one bit, missy. Couldn't you use yer detective instincts t'see what we have in store for you?"

Emma gazed at her, with a gouldy expression. "I see many things," she said sternly with a sudden sweet smile. "Like how you're a big, fat, ugly liar--"

"WHAT?!" Dana bursted, perhaps the entirety of the chateau heard her. Maybe even outside. She angrily made a fist, and started to shake. She was about to blow. "U-U...UUUUUUUUUUGLYYYYYYYYYYYY?!?! BURN HER! BURN HER NOW!" Her Marcargo released a burst of flame that scattered everywhere, starting to spread. Emma looked on. Just as planned...

"Wave, now!" Jackson cried, causing Morgan whom had felt as if she was regaining the upper hand, to watch the arena with horror. Wave the now Crobat gave one more flap of her wings as the fires from Magcargo's attack spread out everywhere, leaving a sizable blast heading towards Lucario dead on, empowered even further by the suns light which finally, at that very moment, was beginning to flicker away. As Cholorphyll suddenly wore off, Sawsbuck wasn't prepared for what happened next. Every single disturbance Wave had created in the air burst to life with sudden cutting blades of wind that struck battered against the grass type for super effective damage, tossing it into a vortex of razor sharp gusts over which Wave had perfect control. "Cro!" She screeched with a sudden burst upwards and a release of her power, the razor wind dissipated, launching the Sawsbuck out of the now fizzling vortex.

Right into the path of Magcargo's fire.

With an explosion of fire type energy the crowd watched with shock as Sawsbuck let out a pained cry, smoke erupting from the point of impact and obscuring the stage entirely.

Kagura the Lucario meanwhile leaped right in the fray, under the cover of the smoke. Using her power of sensing aura, she crept by until she found her target: the enemy Marcargo, completely blinded from the thick smoke. It surveyed the area right and left, trying to find a clearing for it to see and to escape from. However, it was already too late. It felt its shell, tapped on. Kagura had placed its paw upon it. Before it could react, it was already checkmate. It released a burst of energy from its palm, resulting in a powerful blast that sent Marcargo upwards, hitting on the base of the stage, hard.

Soon, the smoke started to clear and as the last remnants of cover faded away... only Wave and Kagura were left standing.

The crowd burst into an uproar of cheers and applause as the announcers voice blared over the intercom with a newfound enthusiasm. "Incredible, outstanding, amazing! We have our first victors of the day everybody, the Chatelain topplers! The dame defeaters! Let's give it up for Emma and Jackson!" The cheering only increased as the names were called and Wave with a massive, cheery smile flew over and nearly tackled Jackson off the stage entirely. "W-what dahell?! Calm down!" He cried, pushing her away, only for her to perch on his shoulders, no longer small enough to only fit on one. "So this is your real power huh...?" He muttered. "I gotta say I'm impressed."

"As am I!" Jackson looked up to see Dana standing before him, only for him to bristle and glare at her approach. "A'ight look, sorry I fucked with ye lad." She started, before punching him in the arm and causing him to stare at her dead eye as if she had the three heads of a dodrio. "You're... certainly different than y'were a few minutes ago." Dana shrugged in reaction to his words, before reaching down the front of her dress. "W-what dahell do you think you're-?!" Jackson began, only for her to silence him with her response. "Don't get yer knickers in a twist, Arceus. Here!" Her hand rose back up, holding a small disk between two fingers. "Barely got enough chance t'use it with you two... but this is one of my favorite moves. You'd best make it count, I doubt I'll be givin' many more out today with the lashin' ma sister is gon' give me for breakin' character. Now then, off you trot." Jackson stared, red faced and flabbergasted as he was gently shoved towards the stage exit by Dana, whom seemed quite pleased to leave him like that.

It was odd though, she thought, you found talent in the weirdest of places.

Morgan went up to Emma, offering her a handshake. She gave her a sincere smile. "Congratulations, Ms. Kuzunoha," she announced. Emma smiled back, accepting her hand, shaking it slowly, yet firmly. "Thank you both for a very challenging battle. And please, forgive my sister's behavior. But no matter how she acts, or how she performs... she's still my dear sister. Even with her interesting... accent."

Emma nodded. "Don't worry, water under the bridge Miss Morgan," Emma reassured. She glanced at the leaving Jackson and the shoving Dana for a second, and leaned in closer to whisper to Morgan's ear. "Did you notice? Those two could virtually be twins..." the two giggled cheerfully. Morgan then held out Emma's hand, and gave her a small disc inside a case.

"That is my favourite move, Sunny Day," she explained. "Use it however you like, okay? But I do hope to see you use it, the next time you're on T.V."

"Thanks, I will," Emma promised. With Morgan and Emma both giving a bow to each other, Emma started to leave the stage exit, giving her a wave.

---

​

Jackson hadn't bothered even talking to the snobby Ace Trainer who had triggered that line of events after the battle was said and done, he had made his point and he didn't need to say anything else to her to put her more in her place than she already was. Dominance asserted, stuck up little... His thoughts trailed off into profanities as he stepped out the Chateau door and into the sunlight of Route 7, he stood at the side of the entrance bridge, 15 feet of cobblestone carved intricately over the gently flowing water of the river belows. He was more stressed than he had realized. Allowing Wave to take to the open sky and dart around at mach speed, liberally testing her new wings, Jackson produced a single cigarette and held it questioningly to his shadow. Unsurprisingly, Gaspar reached a flaming hand up to light it, even when he said nothing at all he was always watching. Eerie and comforting both, Jackson wondered how he hit such a crazy middleground, however as he took a long drag of the now lit smoke, he decided it didn't really matter.

"Hey," Emma called to Jackson softly, just from coming out of the chateau. She greeted him with a warm look. "You all did great out there. You, and your pokemon."

Jackson blew smoke over Emma's head and up into the open air above, before taking another inhalation and sighing out the white cloud that followed. "I s'ppose it was a'ight..." He muttered, watching Wave flying about with passive interest. "That Lucario's new, far as I've seen."

"Yeah... long story," Emma briefed. She then walked, and stood right beside of Jackson, getting from her bag, what it seemed like... a small box. She then took it out, along with a seemingly.. pink lighter. Opening a box, it was a pack of cigarettes, with a small floral motif. Taking one out and placing itin her mouth, she opened her lighter and lit it, gently blowing a puff of smoke of her own, before taking it out of her mouth again. "It was one of my more... difficult cases." She continued, however it was apparent that as soon as Emma took out the cigarettes, Jackson had just been staring at her with the most incredilous expression he could muster, completely ignoring everything she had said after that point. "You... smoke?" He stared at the... almost irritatingly feminine motif of it all, Jackson wasn't entirely certain if it suited Emma at all.

"Not while I'm on the job," Emma explained, after taking another puff. She then gave Jackson a grumpy, sarcastic look. "Yeah. Goody-two shoes Emma Kuzunoha smokes once in a while to relax. Minds are blown everywhere."

"If you're thinkin' I'm gonna go about denyin' that statement... you're dead wrong. Mine is firmly blown apart on the side of the bridge right about now." He glances at her before putting the cigarette out on the side of the bridge and grabbing another one from his pocket, having Gaspar light it again. "So I'm guessin' this means you're not on the job?"

"No. I'm not with the police anymore," Emma replied, solumly, followed up with another puff. "I'm just a private Detective now. The police still took a liking to me, so, I'm guessing they'll make some sort of deal with me soon? I don't know... I'm uncaring about that right now."

She looked at the ground, with a depressed look. She made a quick sigh. "...That time in Lumiose? It really opened my eyes. Back then, I was no better than the criminals I put away. I hated crime with a passion, and I strongly believed in my heart the justice I believed in was the correct path for me. But now, I have to start facing cold reality: I was just following my own way to satisfy my own ego... I didn't really look back to whether or not my sense of justice was right, or wrong."

Emma then looked at the clear sky, giving it a blank, serious stare. "Jackson... I'm a horrible person, aren't I? Maybe Gabriel... and Avril were right."

"Arceus above, grow the fuck up Kuzunoha." Jackson growled, flicking his cigarette aside and turning to the girl beside him with anger in his eyes. "Is this what you want? To whine at me until I lick your wounds? Aren't you better than that?" He sighed deeply and shook his head with disapproval. "I don't know what happened between you and Avril but if you're gonna wallow in self pity to the point where you agree with a psychopathic nihilist then I ain't gonna give you the time o' day."

He glared daggers at her, his eyes taking on the piercing quality they so often did. "The reason I worked with you in there? The reason I was willin' t'make claims? The reason I used your first fuckin' name was because I've been tryin' t'respect the person you are. Then you come at me with this weak shit...?" He paused, rubbing his temple for a moment, before continuing in a calmer tone.

"This world wears a pretty mask and hides with a calming smile... But it's ugly underneath, it's been made that way because of the people in it." He looked at her again, with the same intensity, as if testing her resolve. "You really think you're the problem? You meet people like Artece and think you're a horrible person? Because what? Because you and Avril got in a bad situation and then went on to throw a fucking tantrum?! You know what I did after Lumiose? After having my life threatened, identity revealed and body thrown off of prism tower? I went and spent time with my sister and moved on like nothing ever happened!"

He calmed himself, grabbing Emma's lighter and swiftly lighting another cigarette before he boiled over. "I don't expect you to be as strong as me, Emma." He said plainly, once his emotions we're back under his control. "But if y'fight crime and went through all the shit we've been through? Then seeing all that and havin' the gall to tell me you're a bad person is pretty fuckin' childish."

Emma gazed at Jackson. She gave Jackson a fierce, yet annoyed look as she snatched her lighter back from him. Controlling herself, she briefly turned away, taking a deep breath. "...I don't need you to tell me that," Emma pointed out. "I know. I forgot... such an obvious lesson. I can't change the past. I have to... keep fighting. Keep fighting for the future."

She then turned to Jackson, giving him her signature, stern and serious look. "Jackson. I already decided," she said softly. "I have to get stronger. Stronger so that crime will no longer hurt the ones that I care about."

"Then start by not lettin' it hurt you." He retorted, without any hesitation. "Stop hesitating and holding onto every last regret, then coming to someone like me and trying to ask questions like that." He sighed. "There are two people on this bridge Kuzunoha... only one of them should be filled with regret and it isn't you." He shrugged then and waved off the statement. "How many times do I got to tell you I don't care about this sappy crap anyway, seems every time we hang out I get caught up in it."

"Just try to remember that turning yourself into a martyr ain't gonna help anyone either... so when you say get stronger you'd better mean for yourself as well as those you care about." He pushed up from the wall with a grunt and took off his jacket, slinging it over his shoulder as the sun beat down and he turned away. "There's just... too many people who are sufferin' for others because they think they're heroes. We don't need another one."

"You say sappy crap, I call philosophy," Emma replied, flicking away her cigarette. "But yes... too many people are suffering, including Avril... and it's all because of Team Cinder."

Emma then crossed her arms. "Listen. A fair warning to you," she began. "Watch your back from now on. Laurent told me, he battled Gabriel in town recently, and almost died. He's far stronger than we might of thought... and, a police report came in: a couple of trainers said they were threatened by people who wear Team Cinder uniforms. They're looking for us, and they want blood."

Stretching his arm outwards, Jackson whistled and Wave flew down, sitting upon his outstretched appendage with a small squeak of approval. "If he's strong then I'll become stronger. If they want blood then they'll find it but it won't be mine they leave with, if they leave at all." From the side of the bridge he picked up the incubator which still contained his egg and strapped it to his back. "What a mess... they're just cropping up everywhere, another end of the world scenario." He muttered, keeping the words to himself. "I don't know how to save the world... all I know is that once this world is safe for her, then this hell will end."

"Ha!" He shouted suddenly, causing Wave to jump a bit as he turned to Emma with a sneer. "Another bit of irony, you telling me to be careful Kuzunoha. I swear you're doing this on purpose." He waved flippantly before moving down the bridge of his own accord and preparing to leave. "I should be saying that to you, all things considered. Now hurry on and find Avril, make up and get over whatever schoolyard argument you've started yeah? I got better things to do to than listen to either one of you whine at me again."

Emma stared at Jackson as he started going his way. "Jackson...!" she called to him. She then stood silent for a while, but then gave a warn smile. "When this Team Cinder ordeal is all over and we get stronger... let's battle in the Pokemon League. What do you say?"

He didn't stop walking, but he did give another, small wave. "Fine, but make sure you're worth my time. I don't want to get bored."

Spoiler:

BADGE CASE:​

Spoiler:

INVENTORY:​

1 x Pokédex
3 x Poké Ball
1 x Old Rod
1 x Metal Coat
1 x Black Holocaster
1 x Cinder Uniform
1 x Retractable Skates

250 x Poké

TM CASE:​

• TM Bug Bite
• TM Dig
• TM Ice Beam
• TM Nasty Plot

Spoiler:

CURRENT OUTFIT:​

​

​

 

[Shak]

-Drew Tucker

Old Ones Left Behind​

​

The serene image of route seven's vast river was something Drew had been appreciating from the moment he arrived on Riviere Walk. The beautiful landscape was everything he loved about Aquacorde Canal magnified on an immeasurable scale. This truly felt like home. With the tassles of his new shirt hoodie blowing in the breeze, he watched on lazily from the tree he was lying against, as he saw a fisherman floating across on a boat. "Maybe it's still not too late to drop this journey thing." He yawned, glancing at Brycen just soon enough to see the Chespin roll his eyes. "Yeah, I guess you're right. We still need to try and stop this Team Cinder thing. No idea how, but as long as Paige and her dad aren't involved anymore…" He continued before drifting off into another daydream. Before he could close his eyes though, he noticed a yellow figure blocking what was left of the amazing view. His eyes shot open, revealing a defiant looking Scraggy, staring intensely at the young trainer.

"Scra…" The pokemon glared, pointing at Brycen.

Drew looked between the two pokemon, and easily put two and two together. "So you're one of the Scraggy from Versant Road, huh?" He pondered the thought for a second, with no real response from the pokemon. "So I guess you guys moved on from terrorising roaming trainers?" He chuckled, before allowing his eyelids to fall closed again.

"Scraggy!" The wild pokemon yelled again, stepping toward and standing over the now irritated Brycen. The grass type jumped to his feet, squaring up to the persistent Scraggy. The two glared at each other, an intense flame burning in the eyes of the fighting type. Brycen however, seemed far less interested. He turned away, dismissing the presence of the pokemon and lying back down a few feet away. Such blatant disregard from both the trainer and pokemon was enough to piss of the scraggy even more.

"So you're that Scraggy, huh? I'm guessing you want a stand up rematch." Drew scratched his chin. "Bry, we're gonna give him the battle he wants. It's only fair. I get it now. What these guys wanted was a clue on how to become stronger. They weren't looking for a strong opponent, they were looking for an opponent they could learn to grow stronger from." He looked back at the Scraggy with an understanding smile, noticing the pokemon nodded with approval. He could completely understand what the Scraggy was going through. It mirrored his own position in a way. From an early age, he had a knack for strategy, but somehow struggled to put it together in a real battle with real pokemon. It wasn't until Emma and Seb explained the growth of a Feebas into Milotic that he realised, there was far more to raising a pokemon than applying a good strategy in battle. He could tell that this Scraggy had the same issue. "I want you to watch this battle, alright?" He continued, tossing Nebula's pokeball.

The Eevee stared up at him, a confused expression on her face. She hadn't seen Drew since the encounter with the Scraggy…and here this one was again. She glared at the fighting type, subconsciously edging toward Drew as she did so.

Drew knelt down to comfort his pokemon. "Don't worry, I got your back. It's been a whi-AGH WHY?!" Drew yelled in pain as Nebula once again leapt up and clamped her jaw into his arm. "We really need to kick this habit." He groaned. She didn't seem to be snarling as much as usual, so whatever Seb did clearly did some good.

Drew returned his attention to Brycen, who was now giving the Scraggy at least some of his attention. "Bry, start it off with a vine whip." Drew ordered.

The pokemon quickly followed the order, causing the fighting type to jump aside, grabbing the closer vine as he did so. Scraggy swung the vine, forcing Brycen to retract himself toward his opponent in order to avoid being slammed into a tree. Using the momentum, he managed to counter with a takedown attack, knocking Scraggy several feet away.

"Nice!" Drew cheered in the background. He glanced down in the hope that Nebula would take in what she was watching, but the Evolution pokemon seemed more entranced by a pair of Butterfree dancing over the river than anything going on in the battle. The trainer sighed, but returned his own attention to the matter at hand. "Bry, use rollout!"

Brycen bulldozed in, concealed in a spiny shell. Scraggy however, was patient. A well timed chip away attack, was enough to negate the majority of the spiky offence. The rest was simple. As Brycen turned for a far less lethal rollout attack, Scraggy once again waited. Once the Chespin was in range, Scraggy unleashed his full force brick break, smashing his hand into and punishing all the momentum Brycen carried over from the attack.

With his rollout attack countered so fiercely, Brycen found himself in a heap on the ground. He barely managed to get to his feet, giving the Scraggy an intense glare as he met his balance. In that moment, he began to glow white…but once again the transition began to stutter.

"Brycen, don't you dare!" Drew called out, recognising what was happening at the fourth time of seeing it. "You have to allow yourself to evolve! Now's as good a time as any!" He glanced over at the part of the river where he'd seen the fishing boat. "A reluctance to move on is exactly why Scraggy lost to you the first time, and it's his decision to move on that had him one up you this time. If we're gonna do this Bry, we need to keep moving forward…together."

Soon the bright light came to a stop, and there was no longer a Chespin standing where Brycen once was. Drew watched on in shock at what had finally happened. He scrambled for his pokedex, quickly scanning the new form.

Quilladin, the Spiny Armour Pokemon, and the evolved form of Chespin.
It relies on its sturdy shell to deflect predators' attacks. It counterattacks with its sharp quills.

"Brycen…you, evolved into Quilladin." Drew gushed. "Ahahahaha….you look so goofy!" He added bursting into a fit of hysteria. "Now I see why you didn't want to evolve!" By that point he was on the floor, holding his stomach in laughter.

Brycen growled at the insult, opting to take it out on the Scraggy. The newly evolved Quilladin shot forward with a spiny rollout, leaving the fighting type flattened.

"Woah…" Drew gawked, wiping a tear from his cheek. "I guess I forgot how much stronger this is gonna make you." He smiled, watching on as the pokemon scanned his body to get a glimpse of the new form. With a satisfied sigh, Drew walked back over to the tree he'd been leaning against and took his seat.

"Scraggy…" The voice of the Scraggy was muffled by the ground, but the pokemon made sure there was no chance Drew could ignore him. The young trainer stood back up and approached the wild Scraggy once again. The pokemon managed to stagger to his feet, before looking between Drew and Brycen.

"You weren't satisfied with the way it happened on Versant, huh?" Drew sighed, seeing the envy in the Scraggy's eyes. The pokemon looked back at him with a shocked expression. "Neither was he. Why not join us? You seem like you're exactly what this team needs." He twirled a pokeball on his finger, before holding it out for the Scraggy. After a moment of what seemed like deep contemplation, the pokemon glanced back at Brycen one more time. "I'm thinking of the name Caesar. Whaddaya think?" The trainer smiled. Scraggy nodded, his determined glare turning to a satisfied smirk. He pressed the button on the ball and within three seconds, he was caught. "Brycen, Nebula and Caesar. Team Drew. How could I give this up?" Drew sat back against the tree once more, a cheesy grin plastered across his face.

Spoiler:

: 400

Poke Ball X 1

Apricorn X 1

Chesto Berry X1

Cheri Berry X1

Pecha Berry X1​

Riviere Walk - River Banks​

 

[gimmepie]

Kade Andrews

Dueling Dark Types

Of all the places Kade had mixed feelings about, the Battle Chateau was probably not far from the top of the list. On the one hand, it was a great place to meet other trainers, battle and watch other battles. On the other, it was yet another formal and fancy setting and Kade had enough trouble not messing up normal social interaction. So he found himself wandering around the lobby aimlessly not entirely sure how he should approach anyone.

"You look lost, kiddo." a voice said from nearby, causing Kade to turn his head. A man in an aubergine coloured suit with cropped white hair and a thick snowy beard was standing by him. Kade pointed at himself, surprised to find someone talking to him so suddenly and prompted a laugh from the man. "The atmosphere here can be a bit suffocating for first-timers, believe me I know."

"It's not so bad." Kade said with a wry smile "I'm just not really sure what I'm meant to be doing here."

"Well, that's easy enough to figure out, sonny. It's called the Battle Chateau." The man, apparently quite the jovial sort, started laughing again, an infectious laugh that soon had KAde joining along with him.

"That's a good point. Did you want to battle then?" he asked the older gentleman "I'm Kade, by the way."

"Pleasure to meet you, Kade. My name's Brent and I accept your challenge. Fair warning though, I'm quite the travelled man and I've done a lot of battling in my time."

---

​

Kade followed Brent outside to a stone battlefield overlooking the river that the route was named for. The two trainers took their places on opposing sides, excitement in the air as their often was before a battle commenced. Out the corner of his eye, Kade noticed a few onlookers. He wondered if it was just common practice to spectate or if they knew Brent.

"I'll go first then." Brent said, a mischievous grin younger than his years on his face "Mightyena, let's go!" Brent tossed a pokeball forward, a flash of light exploding from the capsule and giving form to a large canid-like Pokemon with thick, shaggy fur - black on top and grey below. It growled at Kade, baring its fangs and issuing its challenge. Kade reached for his own ball, an azure-coloured sphere.

"Nimbus, time for a battle!" Kade tossed the ball and a cloud-like light erupted from within releasing his new Honchkrow onto the battlefield. Nimbus looked at the growling Mightyena and rolled his eyes before turning back to look at Kade, then back to the Mightyena. He sighed prompting Brent to raise an eyebrow.

"Not really the reaction we're used to, I have to admit." the older trainer asked "Let's see if we can get your Honchkrow to be a little more enthusiastic. Howl and then Thunder Fang!" The Mightyena raised its head to sky and howled loudly, it's fur bristling as its attack power rose. Then, without hesitation, it took off at a sprint towards Nimbus with electricity crackling around its knife-like teeth. As it got closer to the Honchkrow it lunged forward, mouth open wide.

"Up and over it, Nimbus!" Kade called, expecting the Honchkrow to fly over its opponent with an easy flap of its powerful wings. Nimbus however had other ideas, with another roll of its eyes, it thrust a lightly purple-glowing wing to the side in a backhand motion. The Sucker Punch collided with the side of the Mightyena's head and sent it flying across the battlefield. "Uh… that works too." Kade said, blinking with surprise. He'd never had one of his Pokemon disobey him before and he wasn't really sure how to react.

"Oh dear." Brent said, wearing a kind but pitying expression, "Newly caught?"

"Yeah." Kade admitted "He came with me pretty willingly though, so I have no idea why he wouldn't listen to me."

"I guess we'll just have to teach it some manners then!" Brent said, his demeanour that of a competitor again, "Double Team and then Poison Fang!" The battlefield suddenly filled with an army of illusory Mightyena, surrounding Nimbus. They ran for the bird with teeth glowing a bright, toxic purple.

"Up!" Kade instructed, this time Nimbus did as he was told. With a few mighty flaps, the large avian was in the sky and out of reach of snapping jaws. Brent nodded with approval across the field, pleased that this time Nimbus had obeyed. Of course, this approval was short lived as without waiting for an instruction, Nimbus dived down with glowing wings and flew through the illusory Mightyena in a spiraling motion, quickly clearing the battlefield of fakes as it looked for the real one.

"Thunder Fang!" Brent instructed from opposite Kade. The fake Mightyena suddenly disappeared leaving on the original, right next to Nimbus but behind its wings. It lunged forward and closed crackling fangs on the glowing wing electricity releasing and shocking Nimbus. The Honchkrow cried out in pain and without waiting for instruction again rolled in the air, swinging the Mightyena over the top of it in a wide arc and slamming it hard into the ground. The Mightyena gave a welp as it hit the rocky battlefield.

"Sky Drop!" Kade called, not entirely sure if that was actually what he would see happen. Sure enough however, Nimbus grabbed the Mightyena in its talons and with powerful flaps of his wings ascended higher and higher into the sky. As he reached the apex of his climb, he started flying a loop, surprising Kade as he used the added momentum given by gravity to not just just the Mightyena but hurl it towards the ground with even greater force. The Mightyena flew into the Earth like a missile, hitting the ground with a crunch and spraying dust and chunks of stone everywhere. It didn't get back up, well and truly being knocked out by the attack. Nimbus landed, sighing at Kade and looking at him expectantly.

"Uh… return?" Kade said, withdrawing Nimbus back into the Flight Ball as Brent called back his defeated Mightyena. Kade walked across to Brent, not entirely sure what to make of his victory. "Sorry if that last move was a bit excessive. I didn't know he'd do it like that."

"It's not a worry, kiddo." Brent said, the kind and pitying smile upon his features again. "Mightyena is really tough and will be back on his feet in no time. That's one powerful Honchkrow you have there… bit of an attitude problem though." Kade grinned, chuckling at the statement.

"He's not so bad. I was surprised when he didn't listen to me though. That's never happened to me before and he really did come with me by choice. He lost in front of his flock and they were going to abandon him or even turn on him. I offered him a place on my team to get away from that."

"Interesting." Brent said "Considering that kindness, I really don't know why he didn't obey some of your commands. Maybe he just thought that there were better moves you could make."

"Maybe." Kade conceded "Well, I'll work it out. He's a good bird so we'll figure everything out eventually." Brent slapped Kade on the back at that with a wide grin.

"Well, good luck, sonny!"

---

Spoiler: Kade's Inventory

- 1 Pokédex
- 500Poké
- 3 Potions
- 2 Poké Balls
- Bug Bite (TM)
- Aerial Ace (TM)
- Sky Drop (TM)
- Reaper Cloth
- Pearls

 

[gimmepie]

Kade Andrews

Dancing On Her Own

The sun was starting to fall lower in the sky as Kade arrived at the edge of a vast colourful patch of flowers. Amongst the beautiful flora, an array of different coloured birds could be seen harvesting nectar from the plants. Every once in awhile, one would take nectar from a flower that didn't match its own colour and its form would suddenly change to one of the flower's colours. Kade watched with awe at the transformations. He'd stumbled onto a flock of Oricorio, a rare sight in the Kalos region.

He sat on the edge of the field for a while, simply enjoying the sight in front of him. After a while however, one of the Oricorio in particular caught his eye. It was a Sensu Oricorio, one of the purple variety with fan-like wings and a Ghost typing. Unlike the others of its kind however, it didn't make a sound and wore a Spell Tag around its neck.

"That's interesting." Kade said, watching it a while longer, noting that it was very careful to only take nectar from purple flowers where most of the other Oricorio were changing form frequently. "I think I might try and catch it. Plus, since it's a Ghost type, this is the perfect chance to work with Nimbus more."

​

Kade released his Honchkrow from its Flight Ball, the large bird looking around the field. At first, it seemed to be pleased to be out around such attractive scenery, but then it caught sight of the loner Oricorio and the look on Kade's face. It gave a resigned sigh and took to the air.

"Use Night Sh-what?" Nimbus dove straight down towards the Oricorio, it's talons becoming as black at the night sky and becoming outlined by a purple glow. It caught the smaller Flying type by surprise, slashing it with its claws and sending it rolling along the ground. The Oricorio cried out, but strangely the others didn't move to respond. "Well, same effect, I guess."

The Oricorio sprang back to its feet and proceeded to brush the dirt from its feathers before it began looking around in search of Nimbus. The Honchkrow however was already attacking again, striking the Ghost type from behind with another Night Slash and sending it sprawling again. Again, Kade noticed that none of the other Oricorio seemed to care much about this one being mercilessly attacked by the Honchkrow.

Over and over, Nimbus attacked the Oricorio with its Night Slash, leaving the tiny bird stumbling. Finally, it gave up trying to clean itself off and swatted at Nimbus with a Pound Attack only to take a Sucker Punch to the head and be knocked out. A shadowy aura formed in front of Nimbus as he prepared to attack again, causing a sudden panic to shoot through Kade. The Honchkrow was going to go too far and seriously injure the weaker bird. Kade returned the Honchkrow before it could launch the Night Shade and hurried over to the Oricorio.

"Sorry about him. He's a bit of a grouch." Kade said, not fully aware of the massive understatement. He reached into his bag for one of his Potions and sprayed it on the Oricorio, easing its pain and starting to heal it. "He's not a bad bird really."

The Oricorio looked up at Kade with a look of confusion. First he'd attacked her, then he'd healed her and now he was making conversation? She wasn't sure what to make of this at all. Before she could ponder any further, she suddenly became aware of Kade expertly cleaning her feathers. She definitely found him strange. Not a bad kind of strange though.

"I was hoping you'd join my team actually. I really like birds and you're very cool. Plus, I have the perfect pokeball for you I think. This guy named Brent gave it to me. Wanna come with me?" The Oricorio looked him over. She could travel with him and have company and be cared for with such skill, or she could stick around and be the outcast in the flock. She nodded. If he was friendly with the crazy Honchkrow, she was pretty sure he could tolerate her for a good while.

Kade pulled out his new, empty luxury ball.

---

Spoiler: Kade's Inventory

- 1 Pokédex
- 900Poké
- 3 Potions
- 2 Poké Balls
- 2 Great Balls
- 1 Luxury Ball
- Bug Bite (TM)
- Aerial Ace (TM)
- Sky Drop (TM)
- Reaper Cloth
- Pearls

 

[LinearAxel]

Instability

- Featuring Sebastian Allender and Chris Rodriguez -

Current Team - Sebastian:

Current Team - Chris:

---

Current Location : Rivière Walk​

Near the West Side of the river... something is stirring, something incredibly dangerous that if not stopped could take lives and damage the local ecosystem irreperably. They say a man in a black suit released it into the water and left without a word. The Atrocious Pokémon... Gyarados. Yet its scales are pure red, similar to the shiny once said to have been encountered at a certain lake in Johto. It is unlike anything ever seen before in terms of its power... and while now it is content to attack wild pokémon it comes across, people have noticed its behavior getting more and more violent. If it isn't stopped soon it may be too late to do so.

Reward:
Rare Candy (Automatically allows pokémon to learn the next move in its learnset), Cloned Gyarados Embers.

RED CLONE GYARADOS:
Rough Level: 35
- Ice Fang
- Aqua Tail
- Crunch
- Earth Power
- Brutal Swing
- Waterfall

ABILITY: Drizzle
===

Sitting on the bank of the river helped Chris focus his thoughts. Rivierre walk was calm and serene for the most part, but dipping his toes into the water while listening to the sounds of wild Pokémon rush around him and the laughter of the painters sketching up the hill from him was very relaxing. Something he desperatly needed after the events of the prior night.

"Colress." He muttered as he turned the pin he'd aquired from the man around in his hands. "What are you up too."

"Laaaaa." A welcoming voice calls in Chris' ear. The invisible force then takes shape into Ukyou, the newly evolved Froslass, who hovers over to Chris and presses her head against his shoulder, offering him an affectionate nuzzle.

"I can't understand her completely, but I think she's grateful." Sebastian smiles as he looks over his shoulder at the scene. Ukyou had grown quite attached to Chris once she learned that he gave her the necessary means to evolve, she also seemed to adore associating with other ghosts, so when Sebastian and crew ran into Chris and his team at the water's edge, they decided quality time was in order. Sebastian turns his attention back to the bowls of Pokemon food, counting them out. "Do...Doublade eat?...Or Yamask?" Does Yamask even have a mouth?

The mask wielding ghost Pokémon turned to face the young man, and opened its mouth, revealing the seemingly infinite abyss that was the interior of its body.

"That's disturbing. Yamask stop that." Chris muttered as he felt a cold breeze blow past.

"I'll take that as a yes for you." Sebastian nods as Froslass floats over to the Yamask, staring at the endless void inside his mouth with a great deal of interest.

Cling. Clang.

His attention turned to the two sword Pokémon. They seemed to be bickering between each other in that strange language of metallic chimes. In the heat of battle, they were completely in sync, however most of the time... it seemed as though they couldn't stand each other. Chris felt a bit guilty about already being tempted to evolve them again. The strength boost would be incredible, but the mental stability of his Pokémon would surely suffer because of it. The dusk stone would stay in his bag until those two decided to get along.

A shadow began to fall over the riverbank as several clouds began to rapidly form overhead.

"Que?" Chris called as he felt a droplet of water hit his face from seemingly nowhere.

"That's...strange." Sebastian looks up to the clouds that quickly overtake the sun. There wasn't a cloud in the sky mere minutes ago...and the Holocaster weather update called for it to stay that way. As raindrops gently fall onto his shirt, Sebastian turns to the riverbed. "Is something using Rain Dance?"

"He's back!" A painter screamed, an easel clattering to the ground.

"Get back!" A nearby trainer shouted.

"What's going on?" Chris cried out, standing to his feet, the water begining to crash against his pant legs as the steady waters began to grow choppy and fierce.

"Seb, get ready! Something's coming this way!" Chris shouted as both his sword Pokémon flew over to his side.

Froslass flutters to Sebastian's side as the sky grows darker. Through the water glides a shadowy figure-- an incredibly long shadowy figure. "Get out of the water!" Sebastian cries as the storm bringer grows closer. Sebastian rushes towards the water's edge in order to pull Chris out, and catches a glimpse of glistening, red scales, and a piercing, crazed eye.

"Gyarados…" Sebastian breathes. "Chris, it's a Gyarados!"

"GRRRRRYYYYYYYYUUUUUUUUUUU"

Chris felt the ribbons of his Doublade wrap around him and lift him up out of the water, carrying him to shore as from the water an enormous red scaled sea serpent erupted, showering the river across the bank. Glaring down at the only two trainers whom hadn't attempted to flee before it appeared, it opened its mouth to reveal several large pointed teeth before letting out another ear bursting roar.

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA."

"I hope you're ready Seb."

Ready? To battle this beast? It doesn't look like they have much of a choice; this thing is looking for a fight, whether they want one or not. "Are you ready, Ukyou?"

The newly formed ghost gives a determined nod as Sebastian reaches for his Pokeballs. Much like their battle with Steelix, they're going to have to outnumber the giant. "Fiore, Svana, we need your help!"

Two bursts of light take the form of a small duckling and an even smaller fairy. Svana takes to the air as Fiore floats delicately beside Ukyou. "Svana, Feather Dance! Fiore, Helping Hand! Ukyou, Will-O-Wisp!"

"Rubbish! Yamask!" Chris shouted, his Pokémon appearing at his side. "We need to start wearing that beast down... "

Thinking for a moment, Chris started barking orders. "Rubbish, Poison gas! Yamask, Protect!, Doublade, start using swords dance!"

The poison would counter the burn, However it would enable Venoshock to a significant amount more damage. Yamask could disable one of the beasts moves, however since it hadn't currently done anything that would be useless... and of course Whisper could start charging up his attack power with swords dances.

Sebastian's plan was to minimize the amount of damage their opponent could do by cutting chunks out of his attack power, and whittle down his strength; the burn would do both, though the ghostly flames were headed towards the Gyarados at the same time as a looming poisonous gas, and it seemed like Chris had his own plan. He would have to trust his partner if the gas reached the Gyarados first.

Svana flies above the huge beast, her body shimmering as glittering feathers rained down on the Gyarados, lowering his attack power, while their own Pokemon receive a boost in their strength due to Fiore's helping hand. Now it's time to slow the raging Pokemon. "Svana, Ukyou, Icy Wind!"

The Ducklett flies behind the enraged dragon and begins blowing the chilled wind against his backside, while Froslass gracefully floats across the water to use the very same move on his front. His attack was lowered, his speed would be lowered, now to chip away at his health a bit more.

"Fiore, once the gas settles, use leech seed."

The Gyarados reared its head back and roared, the sound seeming to tear the heavens asunder and cause lightning to erupt acrost the sky. It began to swing its tail back and forth before thrashing it forward with an immense speed, smashing against all the Pokémon spare Yamask whom had used Protect.

"Dios Mio!" Chris exclaimed as he watched the forms of three or four of their combined Pokémon crash into the ground behind him. "This thing means buisness! Yamask! Disable that attack!"

The Gyarados eyes seemed to burn with intense fury as it opened its jaws to let out another bellow, this time it's teeth began to freeze over with a sheet of ice that left vapours in the air. It reared its head forward and caught the shadowy ghost type Pokémon into its jaws, picking it up as Yamask began to visibly turn into a popsicle. However as it did so, a disgusted look grew over the beasts face as the clouds in the sky began to start dispersing.

"Mummy…?" Sebastian whispered as the sky above them began to clear. So it wasn't Rain Dance, it was the ability Drizzle. That's good, it means their enemy can't re-summon the rain.

"Can you two keep going?" Sebastian asked, Ukyou nodded as she rose from the ground with ease. Mere seconds later Svana similarly took to the skies, determination in her eyes. This monster is no joke...they'll have to play it safe if they want to make it out of here unscathed. "Fiore, Leech Seed!"

As the larger Pokemon was distracted, the little fairy hurled a small seed towards his neck. The seed sprouted and wrapped quickly around the serpent's neck, slowly sapping away at his strength.

"Now, Svana, use--" Sebastian paused when he saw the blue duckling making a bee-line for Gyarados' mouth. She was going to rescue Yamask from the beast's clutches whether Sebastian liked it or not. She flew straight upward, hovering several feet above the enraged creature, and fired an Air Slash straight for his tongue.

The gargantuan Pokémon spat out the ice cube that was Yamask, and as it did so swung its tail forward, bursting from the water and causing a geyser to smash into the duck like Pokémon before bringing it back down with in a waterfall.

("Que diablos es esta cosa?") Chris thought to himself as this occured. "Rubbish. Blast that thing with a Venoshock!"

"Svana!" Sebastian shouts, darting towards the water that his Ducklett had just been submerged in, only to be held back by the ghostly hands of Ukyou, and Fiore's Vine Whip frantically wrapping around his leg.

Svana opens her eyes to see darkness drawing closer, her body making its way towards the bottom of the river after the forceful impact of the Waterfall attack. She knew she should have waited for Sebastian's instructions, he would have directed her around that monster of a creature. She was just...so disappointed in herself for flubbing that contest. Sebastian didn't want to take part in a contest, he only went through with it because she wanted him to, and she couldn't even make it worth his while. The least she could do was make it up to him by proving how strong she had become traveling with him, but...she couldn't do that right either.

The remaining air in her lungs depletes quickly as her little body presses against the bottom of the river. She can't find the strength within herself to push back up and swim to the surface...the surface...where Sebastian and Selkie and all her friends are waiting for her. She can hear her trainer's muffled screams calling out to her.

Their journey together will not end here.

From the depths of the water comes a vibrant glow, a glow which grows brighter and larger by the second as something comes straight for the surface. A powerful force bursts forth from the water and takes to the sky.

"Svana!" Sebastian shouts, his little duckling having taken the form of a beautiful white swan. With an elegant turn of her neck she flies towards the two trainers, staring intently into Sebastian's eyes and giving a small nod. It's time to get rid of this brute.

"Right." Sebastian nods. "Fiore, Petal Blizzard, Ukyou, Ominous Wind, Svana, Air Cutter!"

The three attacks came together to form a spiraling tornado of winds, all colliding with the Gyarados' chest.

""GYAAAA" The gargantuan serpent Pokémon roared as it was barraged with attacks from the trainer's Pokémon. Its eyes scanned the riverside, locking them onto Seb. It certainly wasn't above playing dirty. Opening its mouth, the ground around them began to tremble and shake.

"Que? What's this!" Chris exclaimed as he saw the earth beging to crack in several jagged lines that all seemed to be heading towards Seb as hot steam begin to pour out of them. "Seb you've got to move!"

CLING CLANG!

The twin blade Pokémon smashed itself into the serpent Pokémon in an attempt to divert its attention from the trainers, having boosted its power with swords dance as much as it could. It's aerial ace attack left a large gash along the tyranical Pokémon's face as the two blades hovered mere inches from its face. The eyes in their hilt unwavering and filled with determination.

Crraaaa-ck! came from within the watery abyss that was below the monster of a Pokémon.

At this point, the sky had returned to its former cloudless state. The sun glittered off the red scales of the Gyarados and it's face showed just how wounded (and pissed off) it was at the moment.

"Fey!" Comfey cries, throwing another Vine Whip around Sebastian's waist as the earth beneath him begins to give way. With a frantic pull, he's able to tug his trainer away from the crumbling earth before it gives way, and sends him into the boiling abyss, though the landing was rather rough, and Sebastian quickly found himself skidding roughly across the harsh ground.

"I'm alright." Sebastian grunts as he pushes himself back to his feet, the little fairy hovering above him. "That thing...it isn't right…" Its behavior, its strength, everything about this thing is off...and its defenses...those scales seem impenetrable. They need to…

"Ukyou, aim an Ice Shard into Gyarados' mouth! Fiore, Svana, give her a hand!"

The ghost launched several large spikes of ice towards the giant beasts' mouth, Comfey following suit with another Petal Blizzard, while Swanna unleashed a powerful stream of bubbles. When...did she she learn Bubble Beam?

A bright light began to shine from the river below, rising from the depths came Yamask whom had broken free of it's icy prison. His eyes were glowing with an ominous supernatural light that seemed to fill anybody whom looked into them with anxiety and panic. Raising its shadow form hand, the very wind seemed to heed the dark little Pokémon's command is it began to barrage the Gyarados with the choking dark presence that was emenating from the little Pokemon.

"That's new." Chris muttered, however there wasn't time to question it as the red scaled Pokemon began to vibrate with a strange noise. Screaming in fury and anger, it turned its gaze towards Chris this time, and the cracking of the ground began to spread towards him. "****!" He grunted as he flung himself onto the ground near Seb and his Comfey. "This thing's getting desperate. Let's hit him with everything we've got!"

Crawling to his feet, Chris looked towards Rubbish, Whisper, and Yamask.

"Aerial Ace, Night Shade, Venoshock!"

"Ominous Wind, Petal Blizzard, Air Slash!" Sebastian followed suit. The three Pokemon came together once more, firing the three wind based attacks into one destructive blizzard.

Six Pokémon attacks smashed into the gargantuan red Gyarados at the same time, from almost every direction. As the beast began to thrash around, glowing cracks began to grow along its form.

"GRRRRYAAAA" The Pokémon howled in intense pain, the strength of the vibration of its voice litterally causing the cracks to deepen and the Pokémon to begin shattering into glowing chunks.

"La mierda?!" Chris gasped, rushing forwards as the head of the beast smashed into the river bank and quickly crumpled into a fine glowing redish sand.

"Chris!" Sebastian shouted, but before he could reach out to grab his fellow trainer from rushing into danger, the danger...crumbled… Sebastian covered his mouth in horror (and a strong feeling of sickness) as quite literal chunks of the serpent broke off and crumbled into nothing. This...this isn't… was that thing...even real?

Fiore rushes to Sebastian and quickly hides his face in his trainer's neck, the horror of watching the creature break apart shaking the tiny fairy to his very core. Sebastian covers the Comfey's little body with his palm as he walks closer, coming to stand beside Chris. "That wasn't a real Gyarados." He speaks calmly, certainly, his sickness and horror being forced down and hidden behind a calm mask.

Something nagged at the back of Chris' mind. Something... Drew of all people had said.

"This must be one of Team Cinder's clone Pokémon. Or a pathetic failed attempt to make one at least." Chris said, reaching into his bag digging around for something.

"Whatever it is, thank you for taking care of it Christopher." A voice rang out from behind them. "The abomination has been causing much distress to the local Pokémon and inhabitants... that and you're battle was magnificent content for my Novel. I'll call this chapter, River of Rage... No... Attack of the Titan. Hmm... Title in Progress." The purple haired novelist said as she stood off to the sidelines.

"...Por el bien de la mierda. Can you ever not appear at the most random times?" Chris sighed as he pulled out an empty thermos and began scooping some of the dust into it before sealing the lid up tightly. He'd have to analyze it later. Shame that Colress guy wasn't around. He'd probably have an entire portable laboratory in that coat.

"Oh hello again Violet. Good to see you Violet." The purple hair girl muttered, rolling her eyes before faking a smile again. "...and you must be Sebastian. I've heard a lot about you. That mid battle evolution was most spectacular. Congratulations on the Swanna."

"...?" Chris looked up curiously. He hadn't said anything about Seb to Violet. Yet again, there was a large portion of his time spent with the mysterious woman that he couldn't remember. Had she... no, perhaps he was thinking to much into it. Maybe she'd just used her... abilities.

"O-oh. Thank you…" Sebastian blinked. This woman looked familiar...was she at the Parfum Palace? That must have been how she knew his name.

"Naaa~" Svana cooed as she fluttered down to land beside the woman. She's very pretty, and she has a very unique energy about her… and she said spectacular, so she is A-okay in the Swanna's book.

Sebastian looked down at Chris and momentarily considered taking some of the dust for himself. He's certain if he sent this to his mother, she could figure out what it was...though he would have to tell her everything about Team Cinder, and then...she would come to Kalos. She would get herself involved in this, and he couldn't risk her getting hurt. She has to stay out of this...though it wouldn't hurt to keep a few embers. He quickly shook the thought from his mind as he returned his attention to Violet. "I'm afraid I didn't catch your name, my apologies."

"My name is Violet. I'm a novelist mainly. I was jotting down some ideas for my book while catching some rays and enjoying the scenery when some trainers began talking about a 'monster' in the river. Naturally, I did some investigating and uncovered that it's been terrorizing the people around here for a few days." The woman explained, brushing the hair away from her eyes as she casually looked around.

"You two can probably make do with these better than I can." She said, pulling out two small wrapped candies. "These candies are packed with... well we'll call it sugar. Perfectly healthy for your Pokémon though. They'll instantly strengthen your companions to their next 'level' of sorts. Useful if you're going to be fighting more creatures like that Gyarados. Which I can only assume you will be. There is a strange air on the horizon... I feel that the next few days are going to be very strange."

"...you know something about what's going on don't you." Chris asked looking up at the girl. Something was fishy about her.

"Just what i've heard. Your friends haven't been as quiet as you Christopher." She responded dismissivly.

She's quite a cryptic woman, though that's hardly a surprise anymore...with so many terrible things going on, Sebastian can't help but believe everyone has something to hide...and maybe they should. There are people out there...actively seeking information that they can use to hunt down and kill people. "Thank you for the candy." He murmurs, placing the little sugar ball inside his pocket. He will decide who will best benefit from such a thing later...when he's had time to think. "There is something coming." He speaks after several seconds of hesitation, clutching the back of his neck nervously as he looks out towards the now peaceful stream. "I don't know if I would call it strange...so much as...terribly dangerous."

"Indeed." Violet agreed.

Chris remained silent. He wanted to get this dust to a lab. The words of Colress rang in his head seemingly on repeat. Why hadn't he gotten that strange man to answer more of his questions? "I think its best we move on. Ambrette town is just around the bend I believe." He sighed finally, standing to his feet with the thermos full of Gyarados embers stuffed back into his bag. "Thanks for the help today Seb. I've a feeling we'll be bumping into each other again." He said with a nod.

"That reminds me, I also have some buisness to attend to." Violet responded. "It was lovely meeting you Sebastian." She said as she began to walk off.

"...she's so weird." Chris sighed.

"She seems...nice?" Sebastian questions more than he states. He's not entirely sure how to feel about her sudden appearance, gift of candy and vanishing act, then again...he's not really sure how to deal with anything that's been happening lately.

Ducklett Evolved into Swanna!

​

[/color]​

 

[Stinging Bea]

Chapter 10-2 | It Takes Six To Tango

Avril Morris, Laurent Hessel, and Sebastian Allender
Battle Chateau

Avril's Team

Laurent's Team

Sebastian's Team

Badges

Inventory

Spoiler:

- x1 Pokédex

- x1 Holocaster

- x3 Pokéball

- x2 Great Ball

- x3 Potion

- 1800 Poké Dollars

- x3 Pecha Berries

- x1 Odd Flower

- Ice Beam TM

"Here we have it, my loves!" Morgan declared, stepping into their destination and sweeping her arm around her at the well-maintained arena that reminded all three young trainers of what they had seen of various official Pokémon League facilities on television. The massive room was a bit spartan and sterile, with solid light gray walls and had the boundary lines of the arena meet at the center to form the shape of a pokéball, the League's official symbol. The one thing that stood out strongly about the room was the array of large windows in the walls that were placed above the floor of the arena, but not too high, a pleasant viewing height. Through the windows could be seen many ornate dining tables lining what must have been glass walls within the restaurant of the Chateau.

"This is where you three will be having the battle of your lives, as well as paying for your visit by entertaining our other guests! What do our esteemed challengers think?"

Laurent was nodding appreciatively as he examined the room. "Yes, I see. A rather ingenious setup, I must say. I can see now why this place is not only popular with trainers or battle enthusiasts, but rich and influential people the world over."

"It's definitely pretty fancy..." Avril replied, feeling more and more nervous about being the entertainment.

"Ya know, they didn't have this special stage here when we first took over running the chateau," Nita explained. The girl beamed as she excitedly ran ahead of the challenger trio and her sisters. "It was Dana's idea! She wanted to attract a whole new sort of attention to this place! We started serving meals to spectators and letting trainers battle each other too. Of course, we take on challengers too! Every once in a while, we even battle each other, right Eve?"

"R-right." Evelyn nods. "B-but I'm not very good, I-I mean, not like my sisters. Dana is…" And that's when it dawns on her: Dana didn't follow them down. Did she go back to deal with their angry patrons? Did that mean…

Oh no…

She has to take part in this triple battle…

Oh no, oh nonono, they never do triple battles, what if she messes up? What if everyone sees her mess up? What if people stop coming because they see how bad she is? Everything they've worked for is going to go spiraling to the ground…

Why are they all looking at her? Oh, right...she was in the middle of a sentence. "D-Dana is much better than me...b-but, since she's not here...I-I'll take her place." This is going to end in disaster.

"Nonsense, I've watched some of your battles, miss Evelyn." Laurent countered. "All four of you have wonderful skills and unique style. You are by no means the lesser of your sisters... But I suppose your humility and shy demeanor only add to your cuteness~"

"He's right, dear. On both counts." Morgan agreed with a mischievous smile. "I certainly think you got me pretty good last time. And before you even say it, no, I wasn't going easy on you, I never do. Now, that's enugh delay!" She declared and made her way to the middle spot on one end of the arena, drawing a pokéball. "Come, my dears, let's show these lovely trainers what the Battle Chateau is all about!"

"Right! So here's the rules for this battle," Nita began. "Everyone gets to use one pokémon each. Since it's one team against the other, the winner will be which ever side has the most standing. Remember, it's not just gonna be about overpowering another pokémon. It's also gonna be about thinking up strategies on the fly and teamwork!"

"Teamwork and strategies, huh...?" Avril thought, glancing back at Laurent and Sebastian. "Already we're battling at a disadvantage. These sisters know exactly what pokémon they'll use and which ones they have to choose from in general. Outside of Bernard, a Growlithe, and that Flaaffy, I don't even know what other pokémon Laurent could potentially bring. I just really met Sebastian, and all I know is he has a Braixen and a Froslass..."

Figuring she might as well get started, Avril turned her attention back to the sisters. "Alright then, I guess I'm gonna go with Sh-" The girl was quickly cut off by the sound of an excited mewl echoing out into the room. She glanced downward, her eyes widening as Marble had already asserted herself onto the stage. The Mareep gave the three sisters a quite determined look, as she wriggled her little tail back and forth. The orb on its tip was glowing with an abundance of electrical energy already. "...Marble. Guess I'm using Marble."

"A Mareep! How adorable!" Morgan exclaimed. "I do so love Mareep and their soft, fuzzy wool~ My retort to your sweet young thing is proud and stoic in contrast. Now, say hello: " She tossed her pokéball in a steep arc over the arena, it burst open to plant onto the battlefield..."Sawsbuck!" The leafy quadruped stamped the arena floor and let out an intimidating "Saws!"

"I see." Laurent muttered, already feeling the threat of their opponents, he could tell at a glance that Morgan's Sawsbuck was powerful and if it was hers it must be well-trained. "You haven't had much time to shine since you evolved, have you, my friend...Stoic, I can do! Go, Metéo!" He shouted, releasing his Metang to float on the opposing side of the arena from the Sawsbuck. The two stared each other down, Metéo matching the Sawsbuck's glare with it's inexpressive, immutable steel visage.

"Oooh, these are some pretty interesting picks," Nita hummed, the petite girl rocking back and forth on her heels with anticipation. Without waiting a further second, the yellow-clad girl grabbed hold of a pokéball and tossed it out onto the battlefield. What emerged looked like a round, fluffy, pink, rabbit-like creature with huge, emerald green eyes. The pink pokémon began to dance around with glee, clearly excited to be about to enter battle. Nita giggled at its antics and joined in the fun by mimicing the dance. "Wigglytuff, we're gonna give 'em a show they won't forget!"

Sawsbuck: A Grass and Normal type, and Wigglytuff: A Fairy and Normal Type. Laurent's Metang would be a good match for the Wigglytuff, being a Steel type, though Avril's Mareep would struggle against that Sawsbuck. The uncertainty melted away from Sebastian's face, replaced with an almost confident smirk as he looked down to his own shadow. "Shall we?" He asks in a pleasant tone as the ghostly white Maiden once more emerges from his shadow and floats towards the arena. "My choice is Ukyou."

A ghost and a Psychic? Primeape won't do well here, but that Mareep...Evelyn smiles, albeit nervously, as she reaches for her own Pokeball. She has an idea, at least...she thinks she does. "C-come on, Pachirisu. Let's d-do this!" A small white mouse bursts from the blue clad girl's Pokeball. It hits the scene with an excited cry, and an eager tail swish. Sparks flew from its little cheeks as it rushes to join its comrades in battle.

"Ch-challengers attack first, r-right?" Evelyn looks to her sisters for clarification.

"Metéoré, it's rude to keep a lady waiting!" Laurent called. "Start it off with Metal Claw!" Metéo buzzed excitedly and flew at Nita's Wigglytuff with menacing, glowing claws. Nita grinned as the Metang flew towards her Wigglytuff. "Wigglytuff, blast it with a Thunderbolt!" The Wigglytuff bounced with glee! She nimbly jumped back, a spark of electricity forming around her ears before she suddenly launched a surge of electrical power right in the direction of the Metang.

This was supposed to be a team effort, and it would be beneficial to every member of their team to slow their opponents down. "Froslass, Icy Wind!"

The ghost type floated upward, gaining a decent view of all three of her opponents before releasing a blast of frozen wind. As tiny ice crystals stuck to their opponents, it was bound to slow them down. Avril smiled at the attack being launched by the Froslass. This would definitely help her and Marble out with her slightly slower speed.

"Marble, attack that Wigglytuff with Metéoré! Use Electro Ball!" Avril ordered.

Metéoré was able to use its high defense to power through the Thunderbolt and swipe at Wigglytuff but it was faster than it looked, and as they did their battle dance only a few of his attacks struck. Laurent did notice, however that with every few swipes Metéo's claws grew a bit longer and more menacing.

The Mareep let out a determined mewl as she obeyed Avril's command. The little orb on the tip of Marble's tail began to glow brightly, with small sparks of electricity buzzing about it. With a small grunt, the Mareep threw her tail forward and sent out a ball of surging energy straight in the direction of Nita's Wigglytuff.

"How adorable." Morgan offered. "Mega Horn." Sawsbuck charged and leaped high up into the air with its antlers glowing bright green, soaring straight for Ukyou.

"Pachirisu, don't let that Electro Ball hit Wigglytuff!"

The squirrel raced forward (letting out an aggravated grunt as he realized how much slower that cold wind had made him), and leaped between the pink fairy and the electrical blast, the electricity quickly absorbing into his little body.

"G-good job! Now use Super Fang on Mareep!"

Again the tiny rodent leaped forward, his mouth wide as he prepared to crunch down on Mareep's neck. Avril widened her eyes as the Pachirisu charged right for Marble. She opened her mouth to order the Mareep to do something, anything to dodge it, however flashes of her battle against Volkner quickly buzzed through her head again, such as her Leafeon taking the brutal Ice Fang from his Luxray. The blonde girl found herself quickly locking up, instead closing her eyes tightly as the sound of Marble's pained mewl filled the air...Or at least it would have if not for Laurent's timely interruption. "Metéo, Bullet Punch interception!

With robotic precision, Metéo darted away from Wigglytuff mid swipe in a blur and crashed into Evelyn's Pachirisu, sending it hurtling away from the Mareep. Laurent kept his eyes on the battle but laid a hand gently on Avril's shoulder. "What are you doing? Marble needs you, I know it will take more than that to stop you!"

Avril glanced up at Laurent, a feeling of shame rushing through the blonde girl as she tried to regain her composure. "I... I just locked up... I'm sorry, I dunno why..."

"Ukyou, Ice Shard!" Sebastian shouted quickly. With a wave of her arm the ghostly maiden summoned several fast moving Icicles, which flew towards the charging Sawsbuck at an alarming speed. Sawsbuck spun rapidly as it flew at Ukyou, its antler's shattering all the shards that came its way, making it grunt in pain but doing little otherwise to stop it.

Taking sight of the charging Sawsbuck, Avril quickly tried to assist the Froslass as best she could. "Marble! Use Iron Tail to try and knock it out of the way!"

Marble quickly began to charge herself towards the Sawsbuck. The little Mareep built up as much speed as she possibly could, before leaping up a bit into the air and taking aim at the buck pokémon. A steel-like shine quickly took form over the Mareep's tail as she slammed it down towards the Sawsbuck, somehow managing to lock its antlers with her tail. While Marble wasn't able to do a great amount of damage to the Sawsbuck, she at least managed to divert it from Ukyou. The Sawsbuck began to shake its head wildly, before suddenly tossing Marble aside like she was a doll. The Mareep mewled as she sailed across the air, amazingly managing to land right beside Laurent's Metang with just a bit of a bruised ego and slightly shaken nerves.

Morgan let out an impressed "Oh~" At the interception, but wasted no time in following uo. Leech Seed!" After missing Ukyou thanks to Marble's interference, Sawsbuck reared its head back towards Ukyou as it fell back towards the ground and spat out an over-sized seed in her direction.

"S-sorry, Pachi!" Evelyn cringed as the little rodent flew back to their side of the arena. Fortunately, though, Pachirisu managed to correct itself and land (a bit harshly) on its back legs. It quickly shook off the damage of the not-so-effective hit and grinned at Evelyn.

"Right! Now give that Metang a Nuzzle!" The squirrel seemed thrilled as it scampered over, hopping atop the Metang's large body and pressing its cheek against its broad backside, delivering a tiny, but paralyzing, shock.

Sebastian took the briefest of seconds to give a grateful nod in Avril's direction; Marble really saved the day right there-- though it seems they're not out of the woods yet. "Blow it back with Icy Wind!"

As the seed came hurling towards her, Ukyou called forth another frosty breeze, tiny particles of ice blowing against the seed and freezing it over, as the chilled wind forced it back at its summoner. That Sawsbuck has a lot of power behind it-- a power Ukyou can hinder. "Now, Use Will-O-Wisp!"

The Froslass hums as she summons a ghostly black flame, which flickers and spins as it dances towards the rampaging deer.

"Wigglytuff! Join in that attack against Metang with another Thunderbolt! We'll give it the shock of a lifetime!" Nita shouted. The Wigglytuff squealed in delight as it unleashed another blast of electricity towards the intimidating steel pokémon. It would normally be a risky maneuver, but Nita knew that Evelyn's Pachirisu would be just fine.

"Metéo, Zen Headbutt!" Laurent ordered with a tinge of fear. The Metang spun around and was covered in a purplish pink glow, taking advantage of Pachirisu's closeness to smack its head into it. Metéo's strongest attack connected but as soon as it tried to move again sparks of electricity ran all over its body and kept it in place as another Thunderbolt hit it full bore, leaving it reeling and Laurent grimacing in sympathy for his pokémon.

"Sawsbuck, Sunny Day!" Morgan's Sawsbuck reared up on its hind legs, a small light gathering between its antlers and rapidly glowing brighter to become a miniature sun and float up above the arena. Sawsbuck's body absorbed the light coming down from the artificial star and Morgan smirked. "Now, dodge it and use Solar Beam!" By then the wisp was mere inches away from Sawsbuck, but it darted away from the attack so fast its movements could barely be tracked. After reaching safety another light gathered between its antlers, spurred on to greater intensity by the false sun in the air. Thanks to Sunny Day the Solar Beam took mere seconds to charge before blasting straight towards Sebastian's Frosslass.

How was it so fa-- Chlorophyll. That's going to be a problem. Their trio will really have to think on their toes to get ahead of the speed-demon-deer. "Ukyou, use Double Team!"

In a flash, the single ice maiden became multiple, more and more appearing in a circle to surround the Sawsbuck. His mighty Solar Beam collided with one of the many Froslass', but alas, it was a fake. "Use Ice Shard again!"

Together, the multiple ghosts raised their arms, each summoning large spikes of ice and hurling them towards the Sawsbuck. Would he be able to evade the real one?

Avril quickly took note of the confusion that Morgan's Sawsbuck was dealing with thanks to Ukyou's Double Team. The buck pokémon was having quite a time trying to pick out which one was the real Froslass and Avril planned to use that distraction to her advantage. "Marble, use Signal Beam!" Marble let out an energetic mewl as the orb on her tail began to glow again. She quickly hunched over, shooting out a strange, multi-colored, laser-like beam straight in the direction of the distracted Sawsbuck.

Evelyn grinds her foot into the ground in frustration. That Metang needs to go-- and she has just the thing! It's risky, but she trusts her sisters to know what to do. "Pachi, use Brutal Swing!"

The little rodent curls itself into a ball and begins swinging its tail, its body becoming covered in a swirling darkness that grows larger and larger as the Pachirisu begins spinning out of control towards Metang.

Nita grinned, continuing to assist her older sister against the mighty Metang. "Wigglytuff, blast it with a Focus Blast!"

The Wigglytuff jumped back, a small ball of energy quickly forming between her tiny hands. Within seconds, the ball of energy began to expand and grow quite large, almost to the point where it was as big around as the Wigglytuff herself was. Not wasting a further moment, Wigglytuff quickly ran foward and shot the blast of energy straight in the direction of the Metang.

Sawsbuck continued channeling the Solar Beam after Ukyou's Double Team and turned its head away from its many targets, before swiveling back to the other side, sweeping the Solar Beam across the arena, erasing all the fakes and Ice Shards at once and finally striking the real Frosslass. The attack was far from free, however, as it left Sawsbuck unable to avoid the Signal Beam, which sent it sprawling.

Laurent's mind raced through what few options he could think of and he quickly realized there was little he could do besides shield his allies. "Metéo, use Confusion on Wigglytuff! Then Metal Claw on Pachirisu!" Metéo buzzed an affirmative as its eyes took on a bright blue glow. Just before it finished channeling Focus Blast Wigglytuff suddenly felt an intense migraine assault its head, causing it to misfire the Focus Blast slightly, putting its path just barely in line with Pachirisu's. Metéo's body became covered in yet more sparks during its attack, interrupting the Confusion right after Focus Blast fired, but it wasn't done yet. Next its claws extended and glowed once again, charging straight at the oncoming dynamo squirrel. When the two clashed Metéo buzzed with pain and cracks began to form in one of its claws, but it barely persevered until the Focus Blast struck both of them together.

The three colliding attacks produced a blast of wind strong enough to flatten the trainers' hair and a cloud of smoke thick enough to obscure their vision shortly before finally revealing the Metang and the Pachirisu on the ground together, unconscious.

"Woah..." Avril thought, the girl scrambling to regain her composure after what she just watched. Laurent's Metang managed to take such a beating to try and help keep Marble safe... And after taking so much pain, it even managed to take one of the sisters' pokémon down with it. Avril glanced over in Laurent's direction. "If he could stand to keep going after all the pain Metang went through, then what am I doing...? Still freaking out over something simple like a basic attack...?"

"Well played." Sebastian smiled to Laurent. These girls are skilled, they're used to teaming up like this; using their team up tactics against them by trapping one Pokemon, knowing an attack from another is coming, was quite brilliant. With Sawsbuck sent flying, thanks to the Signal Beam, and Ukyou only a little bruised from the powerful grass type attack, they still have a chance. He quickly cuts his gaze to Avril and flashes her an encouraging, confident smile. "Let's finish this, together."

He grips his fist tightly in determination as he locks eyes with his Pokemon. Sawsbuck's speed is a problem, but there might be a way to use it to their advantage. "Ukyou, shower the arena with spikes!"

Froslass takes to the sky once more. Hovering high above the arena she begins to spin, metallic spikes flying from her body, raining down on the field below. Now Sawsbuck will have to watch its step, and Wigglytuff won't be able to bounce around so freely.

Avril gave Sebastian a nod in return. She turned her attention back towards her Mareep, who was anxiously awaiting another order from her trainer. Marble looked quite upset that Laurent's Metang had been taken down, and she wanted to avenge the metal pokémon that fought so hard to help keep her safe. The trainer shared that sentiment with the sheep pokémon, quickly turning her attention back towards the recovering Sawsbuck.

"Marble, send out another SIgnal Beam!" Avril ordered.

Much like before, the little orb on the Mareep's tail began to glow brightly once more. Another multi-colored laser quickly fired out from the pokémon's tail, heading straight in the direction of the buck pokémon. Meanwhile, Nita's Wigglytuff slowly staggered back up to her feet. The rabbit-like pokémon was surprised that she was somehow still standing after that blast, and she was quite furious over the damage she had suffered. Her gaze lowered into annoyed glare as she set her sights onto Sebastian's Froslass. These upstart, rookie trainers were going to pay for what they did to her friend, a sentiment that was shared by Nita for the defeat of Evelyn.

"Don't think you're gonna win just because you're keeping us at a distance!" Nita shouted. "Wigglytuff! Blast that ghost with Thunderbolt!"

Wigglytuff was eager to obey. Without any hesitation, she fired forth a roaring blast of electricity straight in the direction of Ukyou. The static from the attack was sparking wildly, the Wigglytuff clearly intent on making sure that the ghost wouldn't be able to dodge this one with ease.

Sawsbuck dodged the first blast of Signal Beam with ease only to land on one of the spikes and grunt loudly in pain. It dodged another one and landed on another spike. "I see...a rather elegant solution." Morgan admitted. "But don't expect everything to work out ideally! Sawsbuck, one more Solar Beam!" Sawsbuck grit its teeth and stamped a hoof down on a spot with no spikes. It fired another blast of light from its antlers straight at Marble just before another Signal Beam struck it and knocked it to the floor again. This time it stayed there. "Show them not to take us too lightly, my sweet Nita!"

Avril watched helplessly as the blast from Morgan's Sawsbuck slammed right into Marble. The Mareep let out a pained mewl as it took the Solar Beam full force, the blast of light causing Avril to wince and be forced to shield her eyes. Slowly, the light faded from the battlefield and the sight of a a tired and battered Marble was the sight that greeted the girl upon getting her vision back. The Mareep tried to pick itself off the ground, grunting in pain as it did so, but the little sheep just didn't have the energy left. She fell back down onto the floor with a weakened mewl, deciding to take a much needed rest after that taxing battle.

Now they're in a bit of trouble. Sebastian grits his teeth before calling out to his ghostly companion. "Double Team!"

Two more Froslass' sprang forward, and while the brunt of the Thunderbolt took out a fake, the added static located the real Ukyou, causing her to shudder and twitch, the clones quickly vanishing.

"Ukyou--!" Sebastian cried out, the ice maiden quickly glancing to him and shaking her head. No need to worry, she's alright. "Okay...then Icy Wind!"

Annoyed by the demise of her friends, and fueled with a desire to prove herself to Sebastian, the Froslass puts her all into the frozen blast that blows through the battlefield. As the stream of Icy Wind blows through the battle field, the crystals begin to come together, becoming a significantly more precise, and powerful ray that shoots straight through the powerful Wigglytuff.

"What just…" Sebastian takes his Pokedex from his pocket.

Frost Breath, a damage dealing Ice Type attack which always results in a critical, unless the opponents is under the effect of Lucky Chant, or has the Shell Armor ability.

The Wigglytuff widened her eyes as the icy blast blew her way, slamming right into pink pokémon. She tried her best to stagger forward and endure the attack, but it was simply too much for her to stand. With one final squeal of pain, the Wigglypuff staggered backwards and was blown back from the powerful Frost Breath attack. She slammed right into the ground beside Morgan's Sawsbuck, fainting right on the spot. Through some means... Sebastian, Laurent, and Avril managed to win the battle...!

He hadn't realized until now, but his body was quivering with anticipation. They...won?...They won!

"C-congratulations." Came the meek voice of Evelyn, snuggling her exhausted Pachirisu in her arms. "Y-you three b-battled won-wonderfully…"

An exhausted, but incredibly pleased Froslass floated down to her trainer, wrapping her arms around his neck and giving him an affectionate, chilly hug. "Fra-laaaa~"

"I'm so proud of you." Sebastian whispered, releasing a deep breath he had been holding since giving the last command. Still a bit shaken, he turns to his battling companion and flashes a victorious smile. "We did it."

"La!" Ukyou grins, sliding away from Sebastian to offer Avril a hug as well, and then Laurent.

Laurent couldn't even begin to lift Metéo into his arms like he wished to, so he knelt next to the pokémon - who still didn't move - and rubbed its head. "I'm so sorry, dear friend...You fought well today, rest now. Next time you'll win on your own, I won't hold you back again..." He tapped the pokéball to Metéo, then gasped in surprise when he felt a pair of frosty arms wrap around him. "Oh, hello there Ukyou. You did a great job! Thank you." He returned the Frosslass' hug and stood up.

Avril accepted the hug from Froslass, but her celebration with the ghost pokémon was short lived. Rather, her focus at the moment was on her Mareep. The girl quickly made her way towards Marble, who was still laying on the ground in an exhausted, floofy pile of wool. Avril sighed in relief as she saw that except for fatigue and a few bruises here or there, that her Mareep looked liked she was going to pull through just fine.

"You had me so worried," Avril sighed, scooping Marble up into her arms. "But you really have gotten so much stronger... I'm so proud of you, Marble!"

A small blush seemed to work its way up to Marble's cheeks. The Mareep began to nuzzle against her trainer, when she suddenly felt a strange, tingly sensation inside. Avril noticed quickly that Marble seemed to be feeling strange, giving the sheep pokémon a curious look.

"M-Marble...?

Suddenly, a flash of bright light entered the area and completely encircled the sheep in Avril's arms. Before she could react, Marble quickly jumped out of the trainer's arms and let out a loud and long mewl. Avril shielded her eyes as best she could, though she was still enticed to keep them focused on the glowing Mareep. A gasp escaped her lips as she noticed that Marble was suddenly growing larger. Her once blue skin began to change to a vibrant pink. Her tail grew slightly longer and the orb began to change color to that of a deep, sapphire-blue. Her wool began to gather, locating mainly around her neck and head as if to form some sort of hood. By the time it was all done, Avril could hardly recognize Marble anymore.

Marble evolved into Flaaffy!​

"M-Marble... You evolved!" Avril exclaimed, quickly running to the new Flaaffy's side and hugging her excitedly. Marble let out a proud mewl in response, quickly returning the hug of her trainer with glee.

The Froslass hummed happily to herself as her hugs were embraced. She lowers her body down to be eye to button level with Meteo's Pokeball and offers it a respectful bow. Hopefully the Metang can see her, or at least hear her cries of appreciation and gratitude. The metallic beast fought so bravely and performed so powerfully, he deserved a lot of credit for their victory. She then turned and began to float towards Marble for a similar thanks, but halted her advance when a loud, even clapping filled the arena, drawing the trainers' attention to Morgan, who was now approaching them and looking very pleased. "Excellent work, all of you! That was quite the battle." She returned Sawsbuck and gestured to her sisters. "I think they've all earned their rewards, don't you two?"

"Yeah! Ya guys really gave us a great battle," Nita agreed. She recalled her Wigglytuff and quickly hopped her way towards Avril and the newly evolved Flaaffy. "Congrats on evolving too! You both definitely deserve this!" Avril watched as the girl held out a TM for her to take. "It's for the move called Payback! It's a move that gets stronger if you use it after your pokémon takes an attack!"

While Nita moved on to give the other two their copies of the TM Morgan held out a similar disc to Laurent, tapping his shoulder when he didn't notice her right away. He'd been staring down at his pokéball solemnly, and nearly jumped at Morgan's touch. "This is the Technical Machine for Sunny Day, love. I'm sure it will come in handy." Morgan let out a huff when all Laurent did was nod. "Cheer up, there's nothing shameful about being willing to sacrifice for your allies."

After another brief pause Laurent forced himself to smile and take the TM. "Thank you very much, it was an honor battling you three." He managed to say. Morgan nodded to him and moved on to give the others their reward.

Evelyn slowly peers out from behind Morgan. She swallows nervously as a trembling hand holds a disk out for Sebastian. "Th-this is the ™ for Seismic Toss. Uky-you can't learn it, b-but...it-it's a good m-move and i-it might c-come in handy for s-someone else."

"Thank you." Sebastian smiles as he gently takes the technical machine from the trembling hands. "It was an honor to battle with you, Miss Evelyn."

The blue clad girl manages a small (though still terrified) smile as she goes to hand another disk to Laurent.

Laurent seemed mostly back to normal by the time he grabbed the disk, holding it without properly taking it to keep Evelyn close a moment longer. "See? You shouldn't doubt your skills so readily, that battle kept me on edge from beginning to end. I must say I was quite surprised, I may have wanted us to 'go out together' but I didn't imagine it happening that way. Thank you for the battle, and the TM."

Evelyn turns a shade of red so deep she could be mistaken for an incredibly tall Magby. "M-maybe if you c-come se-e us ag-gain." Oh gosh, that sentence was even harder to get out than usual. He is very charming, and seems very nice, she can think of far worse people to go to tea with.

From the corner of Laurent's eye, Sebastian gives a wink of encouragement.

"The mere thought of it is more than I deserve." Laurent said, surprising Evelyn by grabbing her hand, then gently shaking it instead of holding it. "Then I'll have to promise to return some day. When I do, we'll have a nice cup of tea, and I'll battle your sisters again~"

As the trainers and the chateau sisters exchanged parting words, a lone man sat at one of the tables in the dining area. He stared at the monitor silently, a small smirk slowly gracing his lips as he took in the sights on the screen. He was rather tall in height, with chocolate-brown hair and deep, blue eyes. He was dressed in a green dress shirt with a red neck tie, off set by a black, leather jacket and tanned slacks. A small beard covered his chin and the man sported a somewhat tanned skin complexion.

"Well, well... I wasn't expectin' you to get all the way out here, much less pay a visit to this place," the man thought, taking a long drag off the cigar hanging between his lips. "Looks like it's about time to finally have ourselves a reunion, so don't you go wanderin' off too far now Avril..."
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[LinearAxel]

Save the Eevee Foundation

- Featuring Drew Tucker, Sebastian Allender, and Avril Morris -

Current Team - Drew:

Current Team - Sebastian:

Current Team - Avril:

Chance Encounters

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Current Location : Riviere Walk - Daycare Center​

"She seems to be getting better around other pokémon, so that's good, right?" Drew mused to the Quiladin leaning against the bench he was sitting on. The duo had already spent the majority of the day staring out over Riviere River in complete contentment. After Brycen's evolution during the intense battle with the newly acquired Caesar, and Nebula finally on board, Drew's team was looking as strong as ever. With that said, the strange behaviour of his Eevee was catching him off guard. Both he and Brycen watched in awe as the vicious, feral and savage little Eevee found herself desperately trying for the attention of a rather ignorant Purrloin. They tumbled through the grass together, and despite Neb's more ruffian approach, Purrloin hadn't been scared away just yet. As the young trainer looked away though...

"Edgar!" A worried scream came from the left, prompting Drew to glance over at the scene where Nebula was being dragged off of the Purrloin she had pinned down.

Drew instantly jumped up to resolve the situation. He threw himself in the way as Neb's hair began to stand on end at the sight of the woman. "Crap, I'm so sorry I didnt think she would turn like that." Drew sighed with a blush. "She's had a...rough upbringing."

"I thought she was a wild pokemon, that behaviour certainly isnt common amongst well trained pokemon." The girl said through worried pants, as she inspected any potential wounds on her precious cat.

Drew reeled back a little in response to the backhanded insult, but was able to shrug it off as unintentional easily enough. "Honestly I was pretty surprised she was able to play nice as long as she did. She's usually pretty aggressive in these sorts of situations. She seemed to take a liking to your Purrloin."

After watching the moment for a few seconds, Nebula ceased the opportunity, jumping up and biting the bare arm of the unsuspecting Drew. With no cast, and his wounds fully healed, the trainer felt the full forced bite, tensing up because of the pain. By now he had almost grown used to it. Almost. He raised the Eevee up with her teeth still dug deep into his arm, as if using her as an example for the woman. "See." He smiled weakly.

"I wouldnt really call what I saw 'taking a liking to'." The woman chuckled nervously. "Although...if what you're saying is true, and what they've been saying on the news is true..." She peered in to get a closer look at the pokemon. "You could help us to reconstitute the Eevee population!" She announced, as her expression lit up.

Drew staggered back at the rather large request. Undoubtedly though, she was right. He could help, even if he didnt know how. "I guess...but how do I-"

"Follow me!" The woman grabbed Drew's 'unmanned' hand and began dragging him down the route. "I'm Faye by the way."

"Drew..." He halfheartedly responded as he fumbled with Brycen's ball, trying to return the quilladin before they went too far without him.

Sebastian sighed as he looked to the Mothim clutched to his arm. While he was used to being a human taxi service for the bug type, everything about him was...off. Since evolving, Koroku typically perched atop Sebastian's head, and yet no matter how many times he raised his arm for the moth Pokemon to hop on, he would not move. His wings, which he usually relaxed at his sides, were pressed down, to the point that if Koroku slid down Sebastian's arm, he could easily trip over the lifeless wings. Right now his eyes were half-lidded, though all it would take was the soft cry of a wild Pokemon, and those eyes would become wide and frantic. This had been going on all morning…

Koroku had always been timid, so when he refused to come out of his Pokeball to take part in the the Parfum Palace party, Sebastian thought nothing of it. It wasn't until they left the palace, and the moth refused to eat his dinner, that Sebastian began to feel concerned. Fast forward to that morning, Mothim once again refused to eat. When Sebastian sent him from his ball to take part in a battle, he lifelessly fell to the ground, as if he had forgotten how to fly. Something was wrong, no matter what the staff at the Pokemon Center had to say.

"We'll get you better." Sebastian reassured. It was then that he felt a gentle tug on his pant leg, and glanced down to see Selkie, her tail swishing excitedly as she pointed into the distance.

"Is that...Drew?" Sebastian asked, and Selkie nodded happily. Where there's Drew, there's Brycen.

"Brai! Braixen brai!" She cried out, hoping she could get their attention, though...whoever that woman was, she seemed pretty determined to get wherever they're going.

"Hmm...? I wonder what he's up to..." Avril mused. The girl had initially planned to continue on her journey towards the next town, but for some reason the girl felt compelled to follow along with Sebastian towards this daycare place. She really wasn't sure what they would be able to tell him about his Mothim that the pokémon centers couldn't figure out. After all, those people were trained professionals when it came to the health and well-being of pokémon. Still, Avril decided to keep her protests to herself. She was sure the last thing that Sebastian needed at the moment was her offering in her two cents in that sort of regard. Raising her hands around her mouth, the girl decided to call out to the younger boy not that far ahead of them. "Hey, Drew! Wait up a minute!"

After hearing his name called out several times, Drew managed to prise himself away from the woman's grasp in order to search for the source of his name echoing through the trail. As he noticed Seb and Avril in the distance the young trainer glanced down at his pokeball.

"I'm guessing these are friends of yours?" The woman looked back curiously, noticing a small smile on the boys face.

As he waved toward them and gestured for them to join him, he looked back up to Faye. "If it wasn't for Avril I wouldn't even have given Nebula a chance. I haven't seen her since Lumiose. Same goes for Seb with my Scraggy." He sighed, a satisfied smirk replacing the smile. "So yeah. I would say that."

Sebastian could feel his arm shudder as Avril called out to Drew. That completely friendly, happy call was all it took to make Koroku a shuddering, wide eyed mess. Frowning, Sebastian reaches for the bug type's Pokeball, returning him to the safety of his protective sphere. Hooking the ball to his belt loop he began to jog towards Drew and the friendly-- if not a bit pushy looking, woman. "Good afternoon." He greets, glancing between Drew and the nameless woman.

"Hey, Drew! What's up?" Avril greeted as well, offering a friendly wave to the boy.

"I didnt expect you guys to be together, what've you guys been up to?" Drew remarked rather plainly, ignoring how it could be misconstrued. "Honestly Seb, I didnt expect to see you with anyone besides Alice." He added with a mischievous chuckle.

"Alice...? Who's that...?" Avril questioned, looking over at Sebastian curiously. "A friend of yours...?"

"Alice...is my best friend." Sebastian answers easily enough (even if he hasn't developed the nerve to contact her since their journey began). "She went to school with us, blonde, about Drew's height...angry." He misses her terribly.

Drew sighed internally at the disappointing response. "I'm guessing you guys met after the party?"

Avril nodded in response. She really wasn't thrilled with being reminded of that party, but it's not as though Drew would need to know that. "Something like that. I kinda bumped into him this morning... We ended up going to the Battle Chateau with Laurent and took part in a triple battle there."

"Turns out we make a great team." Sebastian offers Avril a soft smile. They never really spoke to one another during their time at the academy, though in the short time since their first...formal, for lack of a better word, meeting, Sebastian found himself far more at ease around Avril than he was with most.

"Battle Chateau, huh?" Drew mused, completely clueless as to what the strangely named location was. "Sounds like you guys are getting strong. Maybe it's due time I battled one of you, I need to prove I'm not falling behind after all." He smiled one last time, before turning and noticing a rather impatient Faye waiting anxiously in the background. "Right, repopulating Eevees and all that." He sighed. "I suppose I'd best get going then, see you guys around. I gotta head to the daycare center."

"Repopulating... Eevees...?" Avril asked, taken a bit back by the sudden change in topic.. and to what that topic was. She glanced between Drew and the woman, tilting her head slightly in confusion. "What... What do you mean...?"

Faye folded her arms as her impatience for the situation quickly grew. "We plan on using Drew's Eevee to replace what's been lost of the Eevee population in Kalos." The woman blurted out in a hurry. "So we need to get going."

Avril seemed to understand where this was going. That said, it seemed to be quite the task that was being put ahead of the little creature. Avril herself didn't really understand the finer points of pokémon breeding. That is to say, she understood what was involved, but there was an issue gnawing away at the back of her mind that didn't really seem to add up with the whole plan that was being presented. A part of the girl really didn't want to bring it up at the risk of making Faye angry... well, angrier. She seemed to be quite the temperamental woman. Then again, she wouldn't learn about the finer points of this if she didn't ask.

"Um... Don't you need two Eevees to make... another Eevee?" Avril questioned.

Faye's eye twitched, but she quickly composed herself in order to answer the blonde girl's question. "Well it certainly helps, but Arceus knows where we're going to find another one. Thankfully we're lucky that Drew's is female, so the likelihood of getting an Eevee from the egg is higher, but not certain." Faye shrugged, her fist clenching until they were practically red with passion.

"Well-" Drew begun, before glancing at Avril.

Avril looked down at Drew, knowing exactly where the boy was going. She took one of the pokéballs off of her bracelet and tossed it forward, sending out the familiar sight of Leafeon in a flash of light. The Leafeon happily stretched his body out, glancing around at the collection of trainers that were now eyeing him like he was suddenly the most important pokémon in the world.

Sebastian grew a deeper shade of red the longer the conversation went on. They want to repopulate an entire region worth of Eevee with a single Eevee? Don't Pokemon generally produce a single egg at a time? That's a lot of work for little Nebula… although it is sort of nice to hear that the little fox was getting comfortable enough with other Pokemon that Drew was willing to consider this, instead of telling the impatient woman that his Eevee might as soon slaughter a mating partner as...breed...with...it. Oh, Arceus is he uncomfortable.

"I mean... He's evolved, but... it would still work, right?" Avril asked, turning her attention back to Faye.

The Pokemon breeder's eyes were gleaming. Absolute delight filled her body as she saw the bounding little Leafeon in front of her. She found herself absolutely speechless at the sight of it.

"Dont those two hate each other though? I mean, with your Purrloin there's at least a chance...but Nebula attacked Salad the last time the two were together." Drew interjected.

The boy's words cut through Faye's heart like a knife. They were the water that extinguished the burning passion and excitement the Leafeon had filled her with. "Maybe she's changed, like you said, right?" She insisted, near enough shaking Drew half to death in her desperation.

Sebastian opened his mouth, then shut it immediately when he saw the woman begin shaking Drew. He was going to suggest his Furfrou, since he and Nebula shared a small bond, though there was a chance that would make the baby a Furfrou, and he's fairly certain if that happened, everyone involved would be choked by the terrifying woman. He'll just...let Drew and Avril handle this one.


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[LinearAxel]

Save that Psyduck!

The incident with Lillie and Team Cinder's hitman felt like a lifetime ago. The idea that it had taken place only the previous day was enough to make Sebastian sick...as did the idea that it truly had made his Mothim sick. While the Daycare Lady was unable to do anything for Koroku, she was able to pinpoint that his problem was not physical, but rather mental. The couple was kind enough to allow Sebastian to use their PC, so he could send the bug type to his mother's lab back home. Sahara spent an incredible amount of time studying the brainwaves of Pokemon, maybe...maybe she could treat him, and if not...being away from him will at least do his teammate some good.

A tiny hand pressed against Sebastian's neck, Fiore, who was attempting to comfort his trainer by staying wrapped around his neck in a constant hug, offers a sad smile.

"I'll be alright." Sebastian returns the sad smile as he continues his trek down the river walk.

" 'Ey, kid." Calls a gruff voice. It takes Sebastian a few seconds to locate the voice, before realizing it's coming from a fisherman wading in the river. "I saw you this mornin', didn't I? Chargin' after that Gyarados like ya don't have the sense Arceus gave a Slowpoke."

Sebastian's eyes slant in the most unimpressed of fashions. "Yes."

"Great! You might just be ballsy enough to do it then."

"Ex...cuse me?" Sebastian blinks. Was his man asking him for a favor after that insult?

"See, 'bout half a mile down the way ye'r gonna see a Psyduck. Looks like a regular ol' Psyduck 'til you get closed to it, then it goes bat****." The man explains as he wades his way out of the shallower waters. "Cute lil' blonde trainer came hoppin' by, sayin' it was sick. She gave me some medicine for it, and I tell ya, I tried, but that sucker sent me flyin'."

Blonde trainer? Could he be talking about Lillie? She slipped away after the contest, no doubt trying to avoid everyone in hopes of keeping them out of Cinder trouble...must be why she didn't give this fisherman her name, or stay around long enough to help the Psyduck. He needs to find her, before they do.

"Kid? You in there?" The fisherman waves his hand in front of Sebastian's face.

"...You want me to give the medicine to the Psyduck?"

"If ya can. Gotta be tougher than ya look since ya took down that Gyarados."

Sebastian withholds a sigh. Not exactly how one wants to be asked for help, but...it's not the Psyduck's fault. "May I have the medicine?"

The Fisherman beamed with pride as he handed a small over a small vial. "Force be with ya, kid."

====

Sebastian had a decent amount of time to think as he trudged through the endless trail. The easiest thing to do would be to have a dark type walk right through the Confusion attack and administer the medicine...unfortunately he has no dark types, and wherever Sasha was, he doubted she and her Mightyena had the time to come out here and assist in such a small scale project. If Koroku was still with him, perhaps he could cancel out the confusion with one of his own…

"I don't want to hurt the poor thing...it's not its fault." If he could distract the water type long enough to get to it...distract...Ukyou's Double Team had distracted that Sawsbuck to the point that it didn't see Marble's Signal Beam. In fact...yes, this might just work.

===

"Does everyone know their part?" Sebastian asked. In reply he was given several cries, some...more enthusiastic than others. "Alright. Selkie, Light Screen."

The Braixen twirled her branch like a wand, a sparkling, semi-iridescent force field encircled her companions. If anything went wrong, the damage done by Psyduck's Confusion would be terribly hindered by the protective screen.

"Ready, Ukyou?"

"Laas~" The ghost hums as she floats out from behind their secret base (also known as behind a really big tree). As she floats, she summons a clone of herself, which floats below the original. The elegant ice maidens drift through the sky until they're hovering above a yellow duck, who is sitting on the riverside, clutching its head far more tightly than usual. As one Froslass drifts into his vision, the Psyduck's eyes immediately begin to glow a threatening blue. He lets out a pained scream as the confusion goes off, he tries to send the shadow clone flying, and yet it remains where it flutters. As a mere illusion, there's no physical matter for Psyduck's psychic energy to latch onto, the poor thing is more or less trying to confuse the air.

When the Psyduck opens its mouth in frustration, a sharp cry echoes from the bushes behind it. Psyduck turns just in time to see a determined Mienfoo rush for it. The Psyduck attempts to re-focus its confusion, yet when it goes to focus on the weasel, all it manages to see is a glimmer in the fighting types' eyes before it vanishes once more, the sly creature using Detect to dodge the incoming confusion.

In what was most certainly an over dramatic movement, Hakkai tosses the cap of the medicine container to the side, then takes a small yellow pill from the container and, now mere inches from Psyduck, delicately pops the treatment into its opened mouth. The Psyduck's eyes cease to glow as it coughs, not exactly expecting something to be thrown into its mouth so suddenly. When the coughing subsides, the water type drops its hands from its head and stares blankly at the pokemon in front of it.

"...Psy?"

"Phew…" Sebastian breathes a sigh of relief from behind the large tree. This was far from his crowning moment. In fact, this was incredibly ridiculous looking. "That was brilliant, you two."

"Duck?" The yellow Pokemon tilts its head towards Sebastian as he steps forward. Slowly it looks to Hakkai, then to Ukyou, then back to Sebastian, before a smile replaces its confused expression, and it waddles over to hug Sebastian's leg. "Psy!" It cries.

"You're...very welcome." Sebastian laughs nervously.

"Foo." Hakkai growls as he points to a small vial that's clutched in Psyduck's hand.

"Oh...what do you have there?" Sebastian kneels down to have a better look. The Psyduck hands it over without hesitation, offering a small shrug in response.

"This is…" Sebastian holds the vial up to the light of the sun. "Mystic Water…is this what was giving you that power boost?"

The Psyduck merely stares blankly into Sebastian's eyes, as if its headache was already forgotten.

"I...see….Do you mind if I take this off your hands?"

Psyduck slowly tilts its head to the vial, then Sebastian, then the vial, and its head falls to the side. "Duh?"

"I'll...take that as a yes." He manages a small laugh. This little...mission, for lack of a better word, maybe he needed it. The events of the last half hour were so incredibly ridiculous that he couldn't help but laugh-- something he wasn't sure he would ever get to do again.


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[Stinging Bea]

Chapter 10-3 | Memories By The Pond

Shino, Brycen, and Selkie
Daycare Center

Brycen found himself sitting alone beside the small pond in the daycare garden. A pair of Azurill gleefully hopped over to him, prodding the larger grass type in an attempt to play tag. With a firm smack, the evolved pokemon made his intentions clear. He was going to sit here and stare at his new form until it went away. It was so plumpy, so goofy. A far cry from the robust juggernaut he imagined would lead up to the might Chesnaught he aspired to be for so long. He let himself fall back, staring up at the sky in defeat.

While Sebastian was talking to the kind old woman about Koroku, Selkie was left to her own devices. The Daycare Man offered to let her venture into the garden to play with the other Pokemon, which she eagerly accepted. She was in the middle of playing chase with a Swablu when she saw two Azurill hopping by, both looking rather upset. Upon hearing that a big grass Pokemon had smacked them when they tried to play with him, Selkie grew curious. A pushy grass type...could it be?

Meanwhile, Shino made himself busy by trying to get a little personal training in. While he was finally getting back into fighting strength since receiving his injury thanks to one Gabriel Artece, the Frogadier knew he was still not up to snuff. Not only did Shino know that he needed to get back to fighting form, he knew that he needed to get stronger. Anise and even Benjamin were both gone now, and while Marble and Lulu were growing stronger, he felt that as Avril's first pokémon it was up to him to try and keep the others and Avril herself safe.

He paused in his training, seeing a familiar yellow fox walk by with a curious look in her eyes. Shino wasn't sure what the Braixen was up to, but he felt the need to at least keep an eye on her... So he did, from a distance anyways.

There, by the pond! He's a little bigger and rounder now, but selkie would recognize the scent of her old friend anywhere. He looks pretty intense...this needs to be changed. She tiptoes behind him, kneeling so that when he looks at his reflection, it looks like he has her puffy ears. This makes the young fox giggle in delight, her tail swishing happily.

Brycen sprung up in fright as his new form sprouted a pair of hideous yellow and red, fuzzy ears. As if things werent already bad enough! He patted himself down in a panic, trying to brush away the monstrous parasites. As he turned, he saw where the strange appendages came from. He looked the pokemon before him up and down. This was...Fenni? No doubt. She looked very different from how he remembered her, but it was undoubtedly her. The gleeful and slightly sickening sweetness to her every action was unmistakable. Then again, he probably looked different from how she remembered him. He practically deflated at the thought. He quickly turned away from her in a huff, plopping himself back in front of the puddle.

The Braixen let out a sharp whine when her old friend turned his back on her. Was he not happy to see her? No, that's not it, he's very upset about something. With her delighted smile, she flops down beside the frumpy grass type, kicking her feet against the water as she offers him a delicate back pat. Wow...he's really sturdy now, like a tree trunk. Her head tilts questioningly, her eyes full of concern.

"Quill!" The grass type blurted out in an explosion of frustration. After jumping to his feet, he flexed his bicep to the best of his ability, but groaned in annoyance at the disappointing result. Though the evolution situation was frustrating to him, it wasnt worth taking it out on Fenni, especially since it had been so long since they'd actually seen each other. He waddled back over to her, wincing at every awkward step he took.

Oooh, she gets it; Chess' disappointed in his evolution. To be fair, it isn't what she expected, and she knows it's not the big muscle machine he wanted to be...it's still a neat transformation, though...at least in her eyes. To be honest, her evolution threw her for a loop too...she never expected to have hands, or to lose access to her front feet so soon. She feets a lot slower now, though she loves twirling her branch and the little dance moves Svana was showing her, so there were pluses.

That's what she needs to do! She has to help Chess find the pluses. She begins by closing her little fist and knocking on his outer shell, her tail wagging as she tries to draw attention to how sturdy he's become.

Brycen blushed profusely as Selkie knocked against his hollow shell. As if things weren't already bad enough. The last thing he needed was pity. He stepped away from her, taking a moment to think. Thinking back to their days in the lab, it was always the three of them. Even when the likes of Goo, Saur, Gast and the others showed up, the trio had always remained the same. "Quill?" Doing his best to imitate a frog face, the Quilladin stared at the Braixen questioningly. He didnt expect her to actually know where old Kie was, but it would at the very least change the subject.

Kie-Kie! He was with that pretty blonde girl, so he has to be around somewhere. The Braixen hops back to her feet and twirls around, her nose twitching as she sniffs. "Brai!" She squeaks, her tail wriggling. She can smell the third member of the trio, but he's...hiding? "Braixen, xen!" She calls out for him.

As if on cue, Shino suddenly appeared before the duo. The Frogadier had been using his Camouflage ability to try and hide himself so he could get a better view on what his fellow Kalosian pokémon were discussing. A rather sheepish expression graced his face. Apparently Shino was feeling rather guilty over the fact that he was eavesdropping on Selkie and Brycen. He quickly made his way over to the duo, taking a seat beside them quietly. He croaked a bit nervously, offering a quick wave to the Quilladin. He hadn't seen him since they all parted ways that day in Aquacorde City, so he was a tad bit on the bashful side when greeting the grass pokémon.

The sudden appearence of his old friend brought about mixed emotions for the Quilladin. While on one hand, he hadnt actually wanted the old frog to show up when he mentioned him, he could help the satisfaction he felt when his friend did actually show up. That said, neither of his pals looked the same as when he'd last seen them. He stifled a chuckle, proudly looking at the duo now in their elevated forms. "Din, quilla." He smirked, tapping his feet into the water. He pointed between the duo, raising a brow with intrigue.

"Braaai?" Selkie's eyes widened. Yes, they had arrived together, but not… together! Shino's trainer followed Sebastian up the trail to be supportive, and Shino couldn't exactly leave her. "Brai, brai." She shakes her head, dipping her toe into the water and flicking a tiny droplet in Chess' direction. He's so silly, this one.

Shino sighed in relief as the Braixen was the first to deny the accusations of the two of them being... in that sort of relationship. While Shino would have been telling the truth, he had seen enough interaction from pokémon and human alike on how such a delicate operation such as romance to know just how dangerous the prospect of denial could be. Still, that didn't stop the Frogadier from shooting Brycen a slightly annoyed glance. Ever since they were back at Professor Sycamore's lab in Lumiose, the former Chespin had always tried to hold it over his head that he held the upper hand because he was strong against him. It seemed like that while he had managed to evolve, not all aspects of his personality changed with his body.

The Quilladin grunted, swatting away any remaining water that may have come after the bit that hit his nose. He rolled his eyes, another smirk creeping across his face. He'd forgotten how much fun it was to wind those two up. They were just how he remembered. Although, he had certainly changed since being taken as a starter, he would be blind to miss that they had too. "Quill? Din, din?" He asked, mimicking a Goomy, a Bulbasaur, then a Budew, and finally a Happiny with a snide snicker as he continued.

Shino nodded in response, croaking as he attempted to make the bubbles around his neck foam up enough to resemble a bulb of sorts. He began to make other imitations as best he could, at one point making it look as though he had fangs which resembled those of a Gastly and then flapping his arms up and down, as if trying to mimic a bird pokémon of sorts. In retrospect, Shino realized that he had managed to meet up with a good number of the pokémon that had all been at the lab and at Aquacorde that fateful day. Come to think of it, the Frogadier almost felt nostalgic for that day. It had been quite the journey getting to this point... almost as if those days spent as a Froakie were nothing more than a distant dream. A look of concern quickly took over the frog pokémon's features. He looked down for a moment, before making a curious set of inquisitive ribbits and croaks.

Selkie also nodded. With a thoughtful look on her face, she reached for the branch that was tucked into her tail. Raising it to her lips she gave a quick puff to light the tip ablaze. The crackling flames took on a spherical shape, like a Gastly, then an egg shape, to symbolize Happiny, then a flower bulb, to represent Bulbasaur, and finally she began to swing her branch about, as if she was fighting with a sword, to represent Honedge. Sadly...none of them seemed to remember her...maybe the now Ivysaur did a little, but the others...oh well, at least her best friends remembered her.

After hearing of the misadventures of the others, Brycen was feeling quite nostalgic himself. He thought back to all the faces, even fondly remembering the professor himself. He lay back in the grass. They really had come a long way since that day.~

"Welcome, bienvenue, this is your new home!" Professor Sycamore proudly announced. The three small pokemon: Chespin, Fennekin and Froakie, all stretched as they emerged from their pokeballs and took in their new surroundings. None of them had ever been in such an environment. Before Sycamore's assistant had assaulted them with pokeballs, they were all happily coasting along in their respective habitat. Now though, here they were. "I'm Augustine Sycamore, it's so nice to finally meet you all." The man continued.

The Froakie was the first to respond to the professor's flamboyant introduction, tilting his head in confusion. He had never been or seen anything quite like this place before. A wave of anxiety was quick to rush over the little frog pokémon. Without warning he quickly hopped behind the Chespin, attempting to use the grass pokémon as a shield of sorts to hide behind.

"Ah, you're wondering what you're doing here? But of course!" The professor smiled, crouching down and picking up the Fennekin. "You, my new friends, have a very important responsibility. You have the pleasure of aiding our young beginners through their journey. Magnifique, isnt it?" He announced, a gleam in his eye as he twirled the fox in the air, before placing her on the ground again. "How does that sound?"

The Fennekin's eyes shone with curiosity and wonder as she surveyed the area. Her tail swished with excitement as she was picked up, and she let out a happy yip when she was spun. When Sycamore put her down she gave him a quick pout-- a sadness that was quickly forgotten when she saw the cowering water type hiding behind the grass type. The tip of her tail wriggled with interest as she trotted over to sit beside him, somewhat obscuring him from sight, all the while her bright, wide eyes stay focused on Sycamore, her ears perking each time he speaks. This is so exciting! "Fen Fen!" She answers.

The Froakie stared at the Fennekin in shock. How in the world was she so excited about all of this? This strange human just up and took them all from their homes and dropped them into this... strange place without so much as any warning. Now he was just up and telling them that they were about to be passed onto some other humans, ones they had never met before at that, to go on some journey? For all she knew, this man could be sending them off to death! Surely he wasn't the only one that was not okay with this! The Froakie turned his attention nervously towards the Chespin, gauging the grass pokémon for his reaction to this terrifying turn of events.

"Ches, Chespin!" The spiny nut pokemon burst forward, yelling defiantly as he carelessly shoved the other two out of the way. He didnt care who this man was, or which idiots he was supposed to help. Just yesterday he had invaded a neighbouring Chespin nest and life was as good as could be. Today he was being made into...a pet? This was an outrage. "Pin!" He continued to yell, sliding his thumb across his neck and playing dead through his protests.

"They wont be killing you, and I certainly wont be killing you." The professor laughed. The hint of nervousness in his tone certainly didnt encourage his two detractors. "I suppose in truth, you'll want to know what these beginner trainers will be doing with you, hmmm? Well in truth...I dont know." He paused to ponder the many options the future graduates could take. After a moment of silence, the pokemon tentatively awaiting his next word, he stood up and walked over to a picture on his desk. "Well I imagine there are two routes your potential trainers are going to take. Either a battler and strategist..." He pointed to the boy in the blue jacket. "Or a contest extraordinaire." He added, pointing to the girl in the green hat and red skirt. By this point, he had the attention of all three pokemon.

Fennekin's eyes follow Sycamore's every move. As he walks towards a picture, she tilts her body to keep her eyes on him, though her legs stay put, the little blue frog still looks nervous, and she doesn't want to leave him...especially not with that mean grass type going around and shoving everyone.

"See, battlers want to be the strongest. It's their goal to work alongside their pokemon to defeat other pokemon in a fight to see who's best." As he glanced back down at the trio, he noticed the Chespin clenching his fist in anticipation. "Contest participants are slightly different. They want to show of the appeal of their pokemon. Whether that be their beauty, how cute they are or even how tough they are." Froakie curiously peeked from behind Fennekin's shoulder. His eyes narrowing at the sight of the boy in blue. In particular, he took notice of the tall, proud, and imposing looking Greninja that stood beside him... He looked so strong... could that possibly be him...? "There are many other options for your trainers to take, but thats to be decided by the pokemon and the trainer."

Being the strongest? Being the prettiest, the cutest? Oh, oh, what if she gets a trainer that wants to do everything?! Oh, imagine all the places she'll get to go! The Pokemon she'll get to meet! Unable to contain herself, the young Fennekin gives a small hop of excitement. "Fen! Fen, Fennekin?" She asks eagerly. She wants to know when her trainer will be here, a message she helps to convey by looking from side to side. The Froakie looked over at the Fennekin nervously. He had to admit, the things that the human spoke of did seem a bit interesting... He had never known anything outside of his pond, well until today that is. But even then, he wasn't sure if such an adventure sounded like a good thing. What if some tall and terrifying Usaring tried to eat him for breakfast one day? What if some pokémon tried to assault him by throwing horrible, poisonous sludge piles?! Didn't circumstances like that even scare this Fennekin a little bit? The Froakie let out a quiet, caution-filled ribbit, trying his best to calm the fox pokémon and get her to listen to reason. The Chespin looked between the three chosen pokemon. They stood there together as...the chosen ones? He glanced up at the professor, his expression filled with skepticism. "Chespin?" He asked, pointing between the trio.

"Fen." Fennekin gently taps her forehead against Froakie's arm, hoping the little gesture of friendship will help him calm down. She looks at the picture of the boy in the blue jacket, and then to the one with the girl in the green hat, they both look so happy, so friendly...and their Pokemon do too! Especially that big orange fox with the...super fluffy ears? Fennekin's ears twitch as she focuses harder on the photo. Is that...her? No, that's silly, that Pokemon only has two legs!

"Pourquoi toi?" The professor smiled with pride at his skills of deduction. "Well to put it simply, there will be more. Usually there aren't much more than three graduates, most of whom already have a starter. So you aren't the only ones chosen. The reason you're first is simple. It's because you three are the Kalos region's representative starter pokemon. You have to be amongst the options." He grinned again. "I haven't really worked the rest out." He finished with a laugh, probably more grandiose than what he had said deserved.

The grass type looked back at the other two with a quizzical expression. So this was their new lives? Froakie didn't know quite how to respond to this sudden development. He was still terrified about the whole thing, yet a wave of pride was beginning to mix him. There were other Froakie in that pond... but this man chose him for such an important sounding task... How could he possibly turn down something like that? Fennekin puffs her chest out a little, feeling a sense of pride swell over her at being called an official starter...whatever a starter is. He keeps saying that word, so it's obviously very important, which means they are very important, which is good!

The Quilladin's mind brushed over many more memories as the year flashed by in his head. Finally, he arrived back in the present, where he saw that same Frogadier and Braixen beside him. Those memories seemed so far away now. He hoped they got to do it again sometime. Maybe he'd be looking over at a Delphox and a Greninja on their next meeting.
​

​

 

[GanguEevee]

-DISCLAIMER: This post is not really done in Route 7.-

~Make an Impact~
~The morning sun has vanquished the horrible night...but not the hangover.~
_______________________________
In the Camphrier Pokémon Center...
_______________________________​

Dahlia felt something licking his cheek for a bit. "Wha...What the…?" The licking immediately stopped and then something just jumped out of his current location. He tried to open his eyes, but he closed them right away. <Was the sun always this bright…?> He squinted his eyes for a bit to have at least a little look at his current surroundings. He seems to be in a hotel room of sorts. Someone wearing a white tux was sitting down on a chair...but they seem to be asleep. Some small white Pokémon was sleeping on their lap. Next to the sleeping person was a small table with what appears to be a wine bottle on top of it. He couldn't help but blink at the sight of the bottle. He noticed that something pink was walking to the bottle. It looked like some sort of stuffed toy. <Is that...a Pokémon…?>

He reached out to the Pokémon and immediately noticed that he was wearing his black coat instead of his white tuxedo. He wasn't wearing the black gloves, though: The palm of his hand looked seriously bruised, with dry blood marks around certain areas of it. Almost immediately, he felt a surge of silent pain as he put his hand up to his face and growled. He felt strands of his pink hair falling down as they slowly covered his hand and eye. <Everything feels like a goddamn blur...What did I do last night…?> He tried to think back to the events that happened last night.

_______________________________
~Mini Flashback~
After the contest, during the party
_______________________________​

<Yet again, I was a rank lower than Laurent Hessel...In fact, I was a rank lower than Jackson Crane...What did I do wrong?! Was my performance that bad…?!> He kept looking down upon the ground he was standing upon in disbelief. He angrily drank down his glass of rosé wine and slammed it on the table. "Bastards. They don't understand true grace and beauty." He whispered in his breath.

He looked at the table and glared at two rosé wine bottles. He immediately took both of the bottles. Someone raised a brow at this. Dahlia just glared at them. "I'm in a bit of a bad mood. Just one glass is not going to satisfy me tonight." The person just shrugged and leaved him be. He immediately opened up one of the bottles with ease and started to chug it down, with a few tears starting to shed down from his eyes. <I've lose two times...This is just not fair…> "Uh...Dahlia? Is something wrong?" Dahlia immediately stopped drinking down the now 99% empty bottle and looked at the source of the voice. It was Caroline.

"O-o-oh...U-u-uh…" The alcohol was already starting to kick in. "You looked like you were crying. And why are you drinking a bunch of that adult pink lemonade?" "I-I-I'm old enough to drink~! D-Don't w-w-wurry about it~! C-Crieing~?! Abosuletly not~!" He finished up the bottle, started to rummage through his bag and gave Caroline a Poké Ball. "H-Here~ This is for you~ Her naminé iz Chalk~ I don't kno what Pokémon it is, b-but I got it from this...one woman~" "...Are you loopy, Dahlia? Cause I remember drinking all of that adult juice down gets you a little loopy…" Dahlia just patted Caroline on the back as he picked up the second bottle with one of his hands. "Hee hee~! Eveerything iz just fine~ I'm jus...a bit ovurhoyed by the festivities~! I'm go-go-going back to the Pokémon Center~ Why d-d-don't u stay with Fondue or sumthing~?" He immediately left after that, swaying his hand with the bottle left and right. After knowing the coast was clear, he took out the black coat from his bag and put it on.

Dahlia couldn't really remember the rest of the events that transpired after that. He sorta remembers punching something made out of wood in anger...or was it a tree? He sorta remembers crying a lot...Or maybe it was raining? He remembers a girl with blond hair trying to knock some sense into him, alongside some big white marshmallow following her...Or maybe it was a boy with a white Pokémon? Was it Vex? The only thing he could clearly remember...was someone slapping him hard enough to knock him out. Anything else before and after that was a big giant blur.
_______________________________
~Back to the present~
_______________________________​

Dahlia snapped himself back to reality when he noticed that the pink Pokémon was able to get on top of the table and was now trying to take a drink from the bottle. Even if his eyesight was still not really the best it could be at this current moment, he was still able to see something like this very clearly. "...H-Hey! No, don't you fucking dare touch that bottle…!" The pink Pokémon looked at Dahlia at that very moment. It tilted its head. "Stuff?" Dahlia pointed at the Pokémon and glared. Oh yeah, it still hurts to even move one of his arms, but this is serious. "I said don't." The pink Pokémon just nudged the bottle a little. He was still pointing. Another nudge. Still pointing.

The person in white yawned and was starting to wake up. "Hmm…? What's going on…?" Dahlia immediately recognized the voice. <Well, I guess that answers one of my many questions…> "Vex, that Pokémon…!" "Ugh...what Pokémon?" He kept pointing at the pink Pokémon, which Vex decided to look at. His eyes widened, and he immediately took the bottle away from the table. "Good king of hearts, no. Absolutely not! How did you even get here, anyway?" Dahlia blinked a few times to clear up his eyesight. He got up from his position and sat on the bed. "Hmm...I swear I remember reading a picture book to Caroline that featured a Pokémon like this." "It's name is Stufful. A Pokémon that's usually native to Alola, it is known to be quite cute, but it can be quite dangerous if it's angered. Training a Pokémon like Stufful must be done with caution in mind." He remembered what the veteran from before told him…

"Ya probably can't tell, but I'm from Alola. I'm-a sharing a hotel room with this fine fella from Sinnoh."

"Perhaps...this is supposed to be my Pokémon." Vex raised a brow. "Define your definition of 'supposed' to me." "A veteran from Alola was in the Camphrier Hotel. She was apparently with a man from Sinnoh." "Apparently?" "Her accent made it a bit hard to understand a few key details...But I believe it was a man. Anyways, she gave me two Poké Balls containing two females from their respective regions...but she didn't tell me what Pokémon they are--" Dahlia's eyes widened. "A-Ah…Vex, the bottle…" Vex looked at the hand holding the wine bottle and realized that the bottle was...not in his hand. "...Damn thing better be able to hold her liquor if she's--" Something was put into the trash can. The two trainers looked at the can and noticed that the Stufful was already done with the poor bottle of rosé wine. The Stufful came up to Dahlia's side and just jumped up to lick his face. "Err...nice to meet you too, Muffin."

Dahlia started to feel light-headed. He put his hand up to his head, while Vex was taking his tux off (Don't worry, he made sure to put Chilly on the chair before getting up). "Ugh...Give me an estimate: How long do you think I'll have this hangover?" After putting back on his regular clothes, Vex sighed and thrown Dahlia's scrunchie at him. "How did it…?" "Was on the floor when I found you. Oh, my original estimate was two days. Considering how you're currently handling it...it's possible that you might recover tomorrow. But just in case…" Vex thrown a small bottle filled with pills at Dahlia while he was taking off the coat. He was able to catch with ease. "Pain relievers? I remember hearing that they aren't really the best in terms of easing a hangover…" "You're thinking about certain pain relievers. These pills are classified as OTC NSAIDs, which are the recommended type to take when it comes to easing hangover symptoms. You should probably drink some water as well." Dahlia sneered at Vex after putting on his regular clothes and tying his hair back up. He then just mischievously smiled at him. "I don't think I remember asking for a personal doctor…" Vex scowled. "Hmph. I'm only helping you since you're an information hog."

Dahlia sighed. "How's my sister?" "Haven't bothered to check yet." Vex patted Chilly to wake her up, which she was able to do with ease. "Check and see if Caroline's in the Center." She got off of the chair and immediately went downstairs to check on Caroline. When she returned, she came back with a very sleepy Caroline alongside her. She was holding a small bag filled with something in one hand and a note in another. Caroline collapsed on Dahlia, with Muffin licking her to wake her up. "Mmm...I saw Lillie...we talked a bit and…" Dahlia looked at Caroline's face and noticed a few dry tear marks on her. Vex snatched the note from one of her hands. "Did something happened while I was gone? It looks like you've must have been crying yourself to sleep."

"Lillie...I really wanted to stay with her...but she told me that I might die if I did." Dahlia's eyes widened. "...Why would she tell you that?" Caroline pressed her head on Dahlia's lap harder. "She's been with Jackson and the others...Awful things always seems to happen to her now when she's with them...Fondre's note made me a bit afraid of what might happen to her…" Vex looked at Caroline with curiosity. "So, she made this note?" Caroline just nodded. Dahlia got the bag from Caroline's hand and looked at Vex. "The note. What does it say?" Vex looked at it again and just scowled. "It's quite ambiguous. She was probably experiencing a hangover while writing this. And it seems she knew it too." "I still want to know what it says." Vex cleared his throat before reading the letter.

'Help Lillie. Is currently suffering. Thank Dulor. Made me realized what we've been doing wrong. Make an impact, Dahlia. Get involved with Cinder stuff. Get involved with Jackson Crane and the others. Going to eavesdrop on the others more. Going to do more research on this. Stay alive. '

'Let's make an impact together, Dahlia. ~F'​

"Dulor? She saw Dulor?" Caroline nodded. "He gave us some money from mommy and daddy…I don't know what he said to her, though..." "...Make an impact, hm? I suppose she's not lying. We really haven't done anything of true significance throughout this journey…" Vex just kept looking at the note. "It's still quite ambiguous...Yes, it's quite clear what you need to do...but when you think about it, it's also not." Dahlia patted Caroline on the head as he tied her hair back to it's regular state. "I've been holding back this entire time...I just don't want Caroline to get hurt." Caroline snapped and slapped Dahlia quite hard. "Why don't you trust me with things like this, Dahlia?! Why does Drew get to do cool and dangerous things while I can't?!"

Dahlia just looked at Caroline. "...He's more mature than you will ever be, Caroline. I'm sorry, but if you really want the bitter truth, I won't hesitate to give it to you." Caroline stomped the floor. "Then...then...I want to make an impact! I want to be as cool as you and the others! I want to be strong enough to help Lillie! Please, let me help!" Dahlia frowned and looked to the side. Caroline put on her cute face. "Pretty please?" He was still looking to the side. "Pretty please with a Cherubi on top?" Dahlia deeply sighed and patted her on the head with a smile. "...Sometimes, it's hard to say no to you."

"Yay~!" She hugged Dahlia very hard. "I'm gonna go to the changing room and change back to my normal clothes, okay~?" Caroline happily walked out of the room. Muffin tilted her head. "Stuff?" Vex slowly walked up to Dahlia with a frown upon his face.

"You've just made a very hard choice, my friend. One that might possibly cause some problems later on." Dahlia closed his eyes and just smirked. "I know. But you know what? I don't care. This is a beginning of what's about to come next."

"I guess you could say…"
"That it's the start of making an impact upon the world? Yes, I guess you could say something like that…"​

TWIN INVENTORY/POKÉMON: LATER.​

 

[Shak]

Stage 11 - Ambrette Town​

Time at Stage Start: 7 PM​

With our heroes having bested the concrete jungles of Lumiose, and the suburan mythical wonders of Camphrier town, it comes time for a new challenge. The vast landscape of Kalos finally reers it's head. Following the quaint and relatively peaceful ventures of Riviere way, one can expect more defiance from Muraille coasts stubborn plane. First though, Ambrette town awaits.

With many thanks to Mr.Houto and his team, Ambrette town is now as easy to get to as it's ever been. Rather than taking the long and difficult trek through the upper half of Muraille coast, travellers can simply walk down the simple and convenient path, straight to the popular town. Since Connecting Cave had it's path blockaded, Houto's path has been the only accessible route to the progress past Riviere. Ambrette Town draws both fossil finatics and fish fans alike, as the coastal town holds both a fossil lab and an aquarium. Fishermen and archeologists can both make a living in this fascinating synergy of contrast. Groudon and Kyogre would be proud.

Not that it's all study and obsessive hobbies. More laid back visitors to the city will be happy to know just enjoying the Kalos sun on the beach is also an option. Relaxing on the beach offers more than just swimming and volleyball. Parasol ladies run these areas, and when they want to see a battle, they are rarely refused.

With the current Manning's Fossil Company saga still ongoing, many of the townfolk have gathered around the building in the hopes that they may get their hands on a rare fossil pokemon. It isnt ideal, but this seems to be the inevitable fate of Manning's. Perhaps some travelling trainers could benefit from a bad situation.

---

Pokémon Available (Level 28-32):

Ambrette Beach:​

Pokémon available to those using a Great Ball (Level 33):

Pokémon available to those using any Fishing Rod (Level 28-32):

Pokémon available to those using a Good Rod (Level 28-32):

Pokémon available to those using on Mission 2 (Level 28-32):

Pokémon available to those using on Mission 6 (Level 28-32):

Pokémon available to those using on Mission 9 (Level 28-32):

---

Fossils:​

I guess this kinda counts as a new mechanic, so I'll introduce it here. With Ambrette town comes all the fossily fossil fun. Fossils work in a similar vein to breeding, so this wont be a long explanation. In order to redeem a fossil, you simply have the fossil and wait and bring it to the fossil lab. They'll do the rest. Fossils cant be recovered until the beginning of the stage after they are dropped off. In other words, three hours IC.

Missions:

[EVENT BATTLE] OPEN ★ Mission 1:​

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Details:
Byron and Roark are both huge fans of fossils, so it's no surprise they've come to show support in wake of Manning's demise. The duo will no doubt be at the auction, and it can be expected that they'll have challengers galore from travelling trainers. It's not often that they get to battle alongside each other, so they'll enjoy the experience. It truly seems as though most of Sinnoh's best have found themselves enjoying ongoings in the Kalos region.

Pokémon:

BYRON

BRONZONG

Moveset:

• Iron Defense
• Gyro Ball
• Future Sight
• Heavy Slam
• Flash Cannon
• Psywave

Ability:
Heatproof
Held Item:
Iron Ball

ROARK

RAMPARDOS

Moveset:

• Smackdown
• Crunch
• Stealth Rock
• Iron Head
• Head Smash
• Zen Headbutt

Ability:
Sheer Force
Held Item:
Rocky Helmet

Reward
TM Stealth Rock + TM Flash Cannon

OPEN ★ Mission 2:​

The fall of Manning's Fossil company has been a long time coming. Much as Ambrette's unified defence has brought the town closer, it hasnt quite been enough to stop the transaction. At this point, it's a case of prolonging the inevitable. A defeated Mr Manning has finally accepted a bid, and will be selling the fossil company. Many have seen this as an oppourtunity, as the remaining spare fossils he has are being auctioned of. A word with Mr Manning would certainly go a long way to restoring some faith in his research.

Possible Rewards at the Auction:

• Helix Fossil
• Root Fossil
• Plume Fossil

Reward for extended Mission:
Aerodactylite

---

[OPEN] Mission 1:​

Ambrette beach is always an exciting place to be. Trainers are always offered a challenge by the parasol ladies who frequent the resort. The dont just challenge you to a battle themselves, they assign opponents based on their observations. These battles are always very interesting and tend to draw a crowd amongst beach goers. Those that refuse the challenge are left buried in the sand by everyone who witnessed the refusal. You really cant say no to these ladies.

Reward:
TM Draining Kiss

Mission 2:​

A bunch of young entrepreneurs have come running from the water, claiming that their speedboat was sunk by some sort of sea creature. While these aristocrats do have a reputation for exaggerating bad situations in order to get their own way, the black marks on one escapees leg is probably proof enough. If what they're saying is true, someone may need to hunt for the creature using strong pokemon or lure them out themselves.

Reward:
x3 Dive Ball + 1000 Poke

[OPEN]Mission 3:​

The Poke x Human Volleyball competition is right around the corner. While you may be a little early for the competition itself, the beach is full of people training for the highly anticipated event. Little Nikcy wants to compete in the tournament, but has been constantly ridiculed for how small her and her pokemon are. This girl and her Inkay wont give up, as she's determined to compete. All she needs to truly test her skills is somebody to play against.

Reward:
Flame Orb

Mission 4:​

A blind former fisherman is really struggling to find his mojo. Ever since he lest his best friend Probo, travelling just isnt the same. The rock type was his compass, his true navigator. Life just isnt the same without hime. He couldnt have gotten that far though, since...Probo is blind too. The whole situation is a mess. With both Probo, and the old man missing and blind, they couldve truly gotten anywhere. Please help to find them.

Reward:
Scope Lens + 400 Poke

Mission 5:​

A few kids have found themselves wondering onto Maurille coasts upper segments, and are now stuck. While they could usually just be rescued by a ranger or someone of authority, some powerful looking Ursaring have decided to hold the kids hostage. What could they possibly want with these kids?

Reward:
5x Honey + 500 Poke

OPEN Mission 6:​

The thing about the safari zone, is that it's exclusive to land pokemon. Well Ambrette aquarium aims to fix that. Complete with rental scuba gear, the aquarium allows trainers to dive into the deep blue, catching as many pokemon from their giant reserve as they can with the thirty pokeballs given, and of course, within the time limit. At three-hundred poke the fee is quite steep, but with a multitude of fish to choose from, this offers a fun test for any aspiring trainer.

Reward:
The ability to catch all rod exclusive pokemon.

Mission 7:​

The pokemon fan club are hard at work trying to find a hot new meme for everyone to enjoy.The whole Cinder ordeal and losing the Manning's company has the townfolk down, and it would nice to liven everyone up with some laughs. They'd be so greatful to the meme king or meme queen that could help them out. They're offering some nice rewards for it too.

Reward:
TM Shockwave

[OPEN]Mission 8:​

An excavation site just to the south of the town has discovered some interesting relics. While it's supposed to be reserved for authorised personel only, it still might be worth checking things out.

Reward:
Comet Shard

Mission 9​

One of the town's residents has succeeded in building his house in the side of a mountain. While many hikers and fossil maniacs are impressed with the amazing architecture, the resident does seem to be having problems. His electronics arent working. While he has asked an electrician or two to help him out, they seem to be struggling with a few hostile Geodude that have taken shelter and blocked the circuit. While normal geodude wouldnt usually be a problem, the electricians have reported seeing electrical geodude down there. If someone was to help out, the rock lover does have some old trinkets he's willing to give away.

Reward:
500 Poke + Hard Stone

Mission 10:​

A miraculous emergence seems to have happened in one of the tanks. at the aquarium. An egg has appeared seemingly spontaniously. While specialists have suggested the egg must be removed immediately, the aquarium see it as one of their prize attractions and dont want to let it go. The egg scientists have yet been unable to identify the egg, but feel it would be best in the hands of a travelling trainer in order to hatch, since it's parents are nowhere to be found.

Reward:
Blue egg with four pink ovals and a red gem in the center
(Pre-warning, you will not get to keep the egg once it hatches)

[OPEN] Mission 11:​

Fisherman have been searching high and low for the legendary golden Magikarp. Many say it's just a myth, while others truly believe it could be a real thing. It would take a seriously talented fisher to find such a creature, and a damn good rod at that. (There's no such thing as a golden Magikarp)

Reward:
Good Rod

Mission 12:​

The whole manning's ordeal has taken it's toll on everyone, not least of all the big man's very own daughter, Paige Manning. Who has taken it upon herself to stop whatever it is Team Cinder are up to in Glittering cave. She cant do it alone. Someone needs to help her, but talking to her dad first seems like a safe bet. Better yet, why is she going after Cinder all of a sudden?

Reward:
Aerodactyl


​

 

[Jay]

- Roll over from Stage 10 -

Current Team - Jackson:

Growing Pains

---

Current Location : Riviere Walk
​

"Wait so you can make like... honey?" Jackson said in awe as he sat on a park bench near an open patch of flowers. As Wave had evolved, he had decided to check her on the dex to be certain that she hadn't developed a new ability or attribute of some other sort, however in doing so he had come to the sudden realization that he had never actually looked at Teddy's, or should he say, Teddiursa's entry with any level of detail. He was a fledgling trainer when he had met and captured Teddy after all, so he probably had neglected to at the time and forgotten to ever since.

Apparently Teddy had the ability "Honey gatherer" which allowed him to locate and safely extract honey from certain berries and trees in the wild. Teddy nodded to Jackson and did his best set of awkward mime tricks and poses to try and express the fact that he had used the ability quite often in the wild so that he could eat, however since Jackson had taken the liberty to feed him since he was captured, Teddy hadn't really had any need to try and gather that sweet, yummy nectar.

Jackson scratches his chin for a moment as he considered the prospects suddenly laid out before him. "Do you... think you could get some right now?" Teddy froze and stared hard at Jackson, did he mean go off alone on some sort of covert mission? This wasn't some game where he would just be sent off on off screen capers when nobody was looking for some basic exp and crafting materials, what was his trainer thinking?! "I can see the idea ain't gonna please you much... but honestly it might be cool to keep some in jars for like, desert? I don't fuckin' know but if its honey the other 'mon will probably enjoy it right?" Teddy scratched his chin in a thoughtful pose, his other paw resting on his hip as he looked just a little bit sassy. Well, Jackson wasn't wrong... and y'know he was really cool at the battle chateau with Wave and all that and even Teddy got some action. Jackson was surely impressed... and was trusting in Teddy's ability to go off and do an important task by himself?!?! Wowzers!

Teddy gave a wide grin and a big thumbs up (as big as he could with a paw and a lack of major digits that is). He did his best to imitate Jackson's cool pose as the trainer gave an awkward smile in response. Oh no, awkward though, was Teddy perhaps... being TOO cool?! He didn't want to outshine his trainer so in an effort to lower his cool levels he made an overly dramatic slipping motion and fell on his behind. Success! Jackson was now grinning a bit wider!

"I'm going to have Wave survey the sky around the route while I run back to Camphrier and get some jars." Jackson explained, standing up and brushing down his trousers. He handed Teddy a rather large plastic box, presumably tupperware from his picnic with Malorie a day or so earlier. "You go and fill that with as many berries as you can gather from nearby, just don't go into the thicker trees! Wave can't really see you from there and it's difficult for her to follow." Teddy turned to look at the Crobat whom was perched on the back of the bench and gave her an enthusiastic thumbs up, to which she responded with a sweet smile. Teddy's eyes widened a bit, gosh, Wave had gotten so pretty with her evolution!

"Alright Teddy, I'm countin' on ya!" Jackson said with a smile as he popped out his wheely blade shoes and took off back to Camphrier, with his speed and knowledge of the land he wouldn't take so long at all. For now, however, it was time to go and get some honey!

---

​

As Teddy began to pick various berries and examine a few of the trees that were scattered amidst the flower fields, he occasionally glanced skyward to see Wave flying across the open blue sky with breakneck speed. She had grown so much since she and Teddy had met, it was really amazing. As he plopped a nearby Leppa Berry into the plastic box, Teddy caught sight of his own paw, which he stared at for a moment, his brow eventually creasing into a frown. Was this his... limit? His maximum potential? He had never met another bear of his kind, nor anything he was supposed to evolve into. He had always imagined a big daddy bear, strong and kind... who had to leave him behind or he'd be hurt.

...he wasn't that naive, not really. It was nice to imagine though.

At least now those thoughts of a Daddy Bear led to Jackson, even if Teddy wasn't anywhere near as strong as Gaspar, Fang or Wave, he had gotten way tougher since he had started to travel with his trainer. He knew moves he'd never thought were possible, even one used by a Champion's Garchomp?! He smiled briefly, that sounded so cool in his head.

Even still, looking up at Wave... he couldn't help but wonder if he'd ever get any better apart from some moves and small improvements.

"...pe..i..." Teddy's tiny ears perked up as he heard the sound of a pokémon coming from further in the thicket of trees. He felt a wave of sudden dread at the sound, had a wild pokémon found him? He was near the thicket, but not in it so Wave would protect him right. With a sudden shiver down his back he dropped the box of berries by mistake as the cry was heard again, this time clearer, closer to the thicket's edge. Was it heading towards him?!

"..eti! Pe..i!" Teddy's expression softened out of fear before sharpening into... worry? This didn't sound, aggressive, it sounded like someone was in trouble, it sounded like a cry for help.

"Mi-Minun!!"

Teddy froze as he thought back to that day, he thought back to the moment the big bully bunny threw his friend into the raging river, he remembered how he had been next... but then the crack came, the first time Jackson saved him as he cowered helplessly, as Minun cried helplessly in turn. These cries sounded like those had.

"Petiii! Peti!" Teddy moved without thinking, with sudden desperation he ran into the thicket, in almost an instant Wave was at the entrance, screeching after him, telling him to stop. But she couldn't get through the trees with her size. Teddy had to go alone this time, sorry Wave. He was strong too, he had to be the one to help this time. He had to, there was no time to waste thinking about himself, not again, not now.

---

​

The tiny petilil waddled as fast as she could, ducking under whatever foliage and plant life got in her way, anything to avoid the onslaught of attacks from her pursuer. The Yanmega sliced through branches with its powerful attacks as it continued to chase her. They weren't supposed to come out this far from Camphrier, Mama had always said so... but Mama was... oh Arceus Mama was...

Tears streamed down her face as she remembered her Mother's wish for her to keep going, her final words, after the surprise attack had caught them unawares... but this little Petilil simply wasn't fast enough. A sonic boom struck the ground behind her, launching her forward through the grassy thicket and sending her sprawling weakly against a tree trunk. As she looked up in a panic for a means of escape, she saw the Yanmega already upon her, flitting above her sadistically, a predator playing with its prey as it grew slowly closer.

She froze up... she had no escape, if she moved it'd be over before she could even get close to escaping. She was sorry, sorry she couldn't get away like her Mama wanted, sorry she couldn't grow up to be just like her, sorry she couldn't see the world or perform on a stage. She had so many regrets, she had too many regrets.

But now all she could do was close her eyes and wait for the end.

​

"URSAAAAA!" Lunging out from a shrouded area of shrubbery Teddy threw his entire form onto that of the Yanmega, doing his best to drag it down to the ground as it attempted to move closer to Petilil, in shock and surprise it fell and rolled along the ground as the little bear balled his little paws into fist and in pure adrenaline and panic began to punch into the bug types red eyes. Blinded and irritated beyond belief it flapped its wings with a single drumbeat, generating enough force to throw Teddy against a nearby tree.

"Meggggaaaa...." The bug sputtered as it rubbed its eyes gently with its small feeler like limbs. Petilil looked on in awe and shock and used the opportunity to attempt to sprint off to one side, yet like a bullet Yanmega was back in front of her, charging its wings with blinding white energy and causing Petilil to stumble and roll backwards in shock.

Just before the attack could go off, Petilil watched as the small bear pokémon from before leaped upwards, throwing itself onto Yanmega's back and holding on for dear life. The aggressive pokémon bucked and yielded as the now beaten and worn Teddy refused to let go, holding on just long enough for the glowing white wings to settle back to a normal shade. "Yan... MEGA!" With one more buck Teddy was sent flying forward, landing on his back beside the little Petilil whom had done her ebst to back up and away from the confrontation. She looked down at Teddy whom was now pretty banged up, his fur ragged and the left side of his jaw swollen. As Jackson would say, Teddy thought, this hurt like Hell! But...

He turned his little eyes to gaze at the petilil, whom was staring at him with concern and fear. Teddy finally understood... why his trainer would grin and bear the pain whenever they fell down, whenever defeat was certain and Jackson was hurt, the trainer kept going. As Teddy looked at the small grass type, a pokémon he had just met, he came to know his better than any of their time together thus far could have ever taught him.

Teddy smiled confidently through the pain... and gave that same cheesy thumbs up.

He had to be brave... so that she could be too.

Teddy turned to the Yanmega and charged his claws with white burning energy, the panic was gone and his moves were coming back to him. Even if Jackson wasn't there beside him, this was a battle just like any other. Teddy wasn't down yet and that was a sign that this 'evolved' pokémon wasn't as strong as he made himself out to be. Teddy knew that if he kept wearing him down, he could win this!

In a flash the Yanmega started moving forwards, the way the wind turned white and streaked around him, this move was a contact one, Teddy was certain, moving that fast towards him, he had to try and throw him off. Teddy moved left, starting a fury swipes attack, watching as, just as predicted the Yanmega began to circle around to the write and charge at his flank. This was his chance!

Teddy bawled his other paw into a closed fist and spun the opposite direction after the first attack, as the feint was successful, dark type energy began to swirl around the bears paw as he drove it into the Yanmega's side, hitting it hard on the side of the head and sending it sprawling across the open clearing. Teddy watched carefully, he knew that attacking blindly would get him hurt.

Teddy watched as with crumpled wings, the Yanmega touched down on the floor, the wings began to glow a gentle white and straighten out by themselves... this was some sort of recovery! If Teddy allowed this to happen it was already over... but if he ran straight towards the healing Yanmega he'd move. He watched carefully, his eyes narrowing on his opponent. If his wings were folded and glowing then he had to land... and if he was caught off guard while on the floor... that was it!

Yanmega watched as Teddy darted into the thicket, leaving Petilil alone. The bug type smiled with sadistic glee as his recovery began to take effect. The little bear whom had given him so much trouble finally coming to its senses and running away. He stretched his now fixed wings as Petilil let out a worried mumble, slowly backing away. He would feast on- What?!

Just as more dastardly thoughts began to fill the Yanmega's head, the ground beneath it burst open in a shower of dirt and much, Teddy launched out from the ground, his claws glowing bright with ground type energy. In an instant, Yanmega flapped its wings to try and get away, but found with their load of healing energy they were too heavy to carry him just yet. Impossible, had he been defeated by his own roost? By a tiny bear?!

Teddy's claws raked upwards across the Yanmega in a slashing uppercut, tossing him backwards and harshly smashing him against a tree as he had tone to Teddy and Petilil both. The bug simply hung there, suspended against the bark by the impact... before slowly sinking downward... and falling unconscious to the floor. It was over.

---

​

When Jackson finally did make it back, he found Teddy injured and bruised leaning on the little bud of a pokémon that was a wild Petilil. Wave was handing him Oran Berries and screeching over and over in a scolding manner as Teddy, nearly in tears just stood there and took the onslaught.

He didn't have to try hard to figure out what had happened, he could see it in the little bears eyes that he was stronger than before, even if he had been taken down a few pegs.

"Ted... you alright?" He said, causing Wave to jump as she was suddenly distracted from her harsh scolding. The little bear pat Petilil on the head to show her that Jackson was a friend, before reaching out with his paw towards the trainer. Jackson gave a small, soft smile as he picked the little bear up in response. "I see you made a new friend? She's just a little Petal huh?" He pondered, looking over the now incredibly shy grass type as it shuffled a little in place.

"You saved her right? Y'don't need to explain." Jackson commented quickly, before Teddy could protest. "You're battered enough I take it, so don't worry too much." He gently touched Teddy's now swollen jaw, ran a hand through his ruffled fur and examined a few small scratches on his head. "Y'see these? They're growin' pains... I got 'em when I was a little guy too. They mean you're gettin' stronger." Teddy's eyes lit up more than they had all day as he was compared to his trainer by the man himself. With a quick nod (one which caused him to wince in pain) Teddy rested against his trainer in pure exhaustion. "Guess we should get you to a center huh...? Right then, up you go Wave, we'll have to double speed our way to Ambrette." Jackson said with a small sigh, as Wave obediently shot upwards, startling the Petilil and drawing Jackson's attention.

"Oh yeah... you." He said awkwardly. "You're... pretty cute, I guess huh?" He mumbled, trying to think of something to say to the wild pokémon in front of him, however he found himself at an even greater loss as it blushed and looked away shyly. "I mean... if Teddy likes you that's good enough for me... if you don't got anywhere else to be?" He reached into his pocket, producing a pokéball and crouching down to hold it out to the tiny grass pokémon.

"Whatcha think little Petal?"

To Jackson's great surprise the tiny grass pokémon began to shed small tears, waddling forward and looking questioningly at Jackson each step of the way, as if asking was it okay. However, with a small nod from Jackson... and a now familiar smile and thumbs up from Teddy... her doubts were gone. Slowly tapping her head to the ball, she was drawn inside and with three shakes and a click, the deed was done and through rather unorthodox means, Jackson had gotten himself another pokémon.

NEW POKÉMON CAUGHT

Species: Petilil
Gender: Female
Nickname: Petal

Moves:

• Aromatherapy
• Giga Drain
• Leech Seed
• Sleep Powder
• Growth
• Magical Leaf

Ability:
Own Tempo

Spoiler:

BADGE CASE:​

Spoiler:

INVENTORY:​

1 x Pokédex
3 x Poké Ball
1 x Old Rod
1 x Metal Coat
1 x Black Holocaster
1 x Cinder Uniform
1 x Retractable Skates

250 x Poké

TM CASE:​

• TM Bug Bite
• TM Dig
• TM Ice Beam
• TM Nasty Plot

Spoiler:

CURRENT OUTFIT:​

​

​

 

[BugTypeAficionado]

Ranching and Romancing
Location: Rivière Pokemon Day Care

Current Team

Inventory

- Pokédex

- 745 Gold

- 5 Potions
Coronet Ball
Bug Net

The cries and mewls of... quite frankly, a larger variety of Pokemon in one area than Claudio had seen in a long time, filled the air as Claudio was lead into the large enclosure where Pokemon were kept at the Day-Care. By his side was Virginia, and by her side was her Bellosom. Her papa trusted the young man enough to let his daughter take him into the enclosure, but he was still wary enough to have her keep a close eye on him. All while he kept a close on eye on them both from the opposite end of the enclosure. He almost got in huge trouble with the his bosses the last time he let somebody in the enclosure whom wasn't on official business...

"I thought you said you and your father have a specialty of raising Oddish and Bellsprout." Claudio was quick to note the relatively small population of said Pokemon within the enclosure.

"Papa and I didn't want to burden the mister and misses, so we keep them at our place in Camphrier. Our house is almost like a secondary branch of the Day Care, just for Oddish and Bellsprout." The breeder giggled, taking pride in that fact. "Now come on, bring out your Trubbish. We made a deal!"

"Fine, fine." The young man rolled his eyes unceremoniously, taking Hefty's ball out and releasing him in front of them both. After meeting each other again not long after entering Rivière Walk, Virginia had offered to let him see the Pokemon staying at the Day Care up close... on the condition that he at least tried to get one of his Pokemon to find a partner. And since Bellum pretty much came from here, Hefty was the only Pokemon he had eligible. The Trubbish looked around and took in his surroundings, let out an amused grunt at seeing all the Pokemon around him.

"Alright, boy. Do ya feel the love in the air? Virginia bent down, trying to egg Hefty on. She was met with a confused turn of his head, not quite understanding her question. "I want you to find a partner for yourself, okay? There's a lot of Pokemon out here, I'm sure somebody wouldn't mind hooking up with a fine-looking gentleman such as yourself!"

Oh! Did the rough lady want him to find a mate? He wasn't sure if he could on such short notice, but... he'd certainly try! Hefty nodded affirmatively, which made Virginia smile. He started to waddle out into the pasture, unsurely approaching Pokemon to Pokemon. Both Claudio and Virginia stayed back and watched from a distance, as to not interfere. Virginia was enthused by the idea of "true love" among Pokemon, while Claudio was simply interested in seeing some Pokemon courtship take place. Hefty started interacting with a Sableye... it didn't seem to be going smoothly, but the Sableye hadn't pushed Hefty away yet either.

Claudio's eyes started to wander, until he saw a middle-aged man whom, going by his apparel, must've worked at the day care as well. He was tending to a Grovyle, who looked a bit down on his luck.

"... What's with that Grovyle?" He nodded towards it, and once Virginia saw the Pokemon, couldn't help but stifle a guilty smile.

"Heh, poor guy. His trainer left him here to find a partner, and he's had his eyes on a Helioptile for the past few days." She started to explain, a gloved hand going up to scratch the back of her head. "Papa and I have watched him try every trick in the book. She just doesn't seem to notice. It's a shame, but it's also kinda funny to watch."

Claudio shrugged apathetically. He didn't see any amusement in it, but he did feel a little bad for the thing. He'd never put too much thought into it, but getting somebody to notice you like that must be hard.

"Have either of you consulted the Helioptile in question?" He asked, his eyes now started to search the fields for the Pokemon in question. It wasn't too far away, passively socializing with some other Pokemon. Luckily, there were no other Helioptile at the daycare at this time, so it had to be that one.

"Naw. We've been working with Grovyle, mostly." She admitted. Virginia hadn't thought about talking to Helioptile directly about Grovyle's unrequited love... that might just work. She gave Claudio a playful shove. "Why don't you go talk to her? Maybe she just needs a nudge." Claudio shot back a glare at Virginia, dusting himself off where he'd been touched. He silently agreed to do so, simply groaning and walking across the pasture. As he approached the Helioptile, she looked up at him curiously. He didn't look like one of daycare workers... and he certainly didn't look like a Pokemon! The Helioptile's friends idly scattered and went to other parts of the pasture as Claudio slowly bent down to the Pokemon's level.

"Hey girl. I'm not going to hurt you. Just wanted to talk, that's all." Claudio spoke softly, holding out his hand. After some hesitance, the reptilian Pokemon nuzzled her head against his palm, some static sparks flying off of her ears. Claudio was not one to admire a Pokemon solely off of how adorable they were, he could see how this little lizard could've stolen the heart of a Grovyle. He pointed to the Pokemon in question, and Helioptile's eyes followed. Grovyle was being groomed by the middle-aged man from before. He was looking at his claws apathetically, but his eyes shot wide open as he saw his crush staring at him. It didn't take long for the middle-aged man to notice, and chuckle heartily. To be young and in love...

"You know that Pokemon?" The trainer asked, to which Helioptile nodded. Her dopey ears flopped around as she did. "Do you like that Pokemon?" She nods again. "Like... really like that Pokemon?" Some hesitance, but she then nods again. That Grovyle acted a bit weird around her, but he was really nice. "Do you want to talk to him? I've been told that he wants to talk to you."

The Helioptile smiles and gives a small cry of glee, while the Grovyle looks absolutely astonished. While he'd been trying to get Heliotile's attention for days, that trainer just... talked to her, and got her attention like that. Who would've thought? Both parties met half way across the pasture... and it seemed they had quite the chemistry. Both Pokemon talked, and while the Grovyle was more than a bit shy, Helioptile helped push him along. They talked and laughed for a while... a long while. Before Claudio knew it, the sun was just starting to set... had he really been watching these two for hours?! At least he wasn't alone...

"I don't know how we didn't think of that before." Claudio flinched as he realized someone was next to him. The middle-aged man from before. He was rough and tough around the edges, reminded him of Virginia. "Virginia told you the whole spiel about Romeo over there, I assume. You've got a knack for tending to Pokemon, boy." He chuckled, and gave him an oh-so familiar pat on the back. Claudio was quick to conclude that this man was Virginia's aforementioned "Papa". "Why, even your own Pokemon seems to be quite the charmer among Pokemon."

What.

The man pointed across the pasture, and, sure enough, there was Hefty. But not just Hefty. Hefty, the Sableye he was talking to, and 3 eggs. Claudio felt like punching himself for missing how their relationship had kicked off so easily. He ran to his Pokemon's side, despite the man's confused calls asking him where he was running off to. Hefty greeted his confused trainer with a smile.

"You... uh, really hit it off, didn't you?" Claudio had an unsure smile across his face. Hefty let out a happy cheer, along with his mate. "I'm glad for you, but I can't take all these eggs with me. And I don't want to dump these eggs onto whoever this Sableye's trainer is." Hefty's smile started to waver, and to he protectively inched closer to the eggs. Claudio was quick to realize what this meant.

"... Hefty, I'm not going to force you to leave your eggs behind. You obviously have something good going on here if you were able to mate so quickly with this Sableye. Do you... want to stay with them for a while?" The Trubbish was now conflicted. His trainer was nice, and they'd only met a couple days ago... but this Pokemon was even nicer, but they'd only known each other for hours. Claudio felt a shadow fall over him as Virginia stepped by his side.

"I think I can help you out. Papa and I can take care off your Trubbish and his eggs along with Sableye while you go off on your adventures. We'll keep him happy and healthy for as long as you want. It's the least I could do after you offered to give Bellum somebody to travel with."

Claudio took in a deeeep breath... boy, this was a lot harder than he'd thought it would be. Silently, he dug through his bag and handed Virginia Hefty's ball. And after some more digging, he brought out a parting gift. The Trubbish smiled from cheek to cheek at seeing his shiny again, even if the disk inside was missing!

"We didn't know each other for long, but... I hope you're happy." He gave Hefty another soft pat... both Pokemon and trainer hadn't expected to get so emotional over someone they'd known for only a couple days... but what an eventful couple days they had been! The Trubbish hobbled forward and gave Claudio a hug...

He'd miss the little troublemaker.

~~~

"You're heading off so soon?" Virginia tagged along behind Claudio as he gathered his bearings in front of the Day Care.

"Of course. There's still a whole region for me to explore." He nodded. "And I've been dillydallying for far too long. I need to find the next gym in Kalos so I can get back on track."

"Back on track for what? Being the best of the best?" She teased with a slightly mocking voice, but backed down as she saw Claudio's sterness settle in. "I'm sure Bellum will be glad to stay by your side, if that's the case."

"And I'm sure Hefty will be glad to stay in your care as he... sorts things out." Claudio was already starting to walk away, with Virginia still tagging by him. He quickly did a full 180 to face her. "Why are you following me, exactly?" The farm girl's resolve was strong, as she pumped her fist with energy.

"I'm just getting a good look at you before you go. After all, I'm not going to be staying in Camphrier forever. As soon as Papa lets me, I'm going to be a trainer, too."

Both of them exchanged glances. Claudio's was of confusion, and a lack of confidence. Virginia's was of the opposite, with determined and unwavering confidence.

"And I also forgot to give you something. Grovyle wanted to thank you for playing cupid."

Claudio was starting to wonder if this stop had been the best use of his time.

Got the Luck Incense!​

An item to be held by a Pokemon. It gives off a scent that's hard to describe as anything but "posh".​

Hefty left the party...​

 

[Shak]

Egging on Eevee

- Featuring Drew Tucker, Sebastian Allender, and Avril Morris -

Current Team - Drew:

Current Team - Sebastian:

Current Team - Avril:

Chance Encounters

---

Current Location : Riviere Walk - Daycare Center​

"Is he ready?" Faye asked for about the twentieth time. She peered in over the barrier, where a confused, but still very excited Leafeon pounced at a toy car. She glanced up at the blonde trainer beside her in eager anticipation.

Avril glanced over at the woman, a look of confusion on her face as she then looked back down at Salad with a frown. "I'm uh... not sure...? I've never done this sort of thing before, so... I'm not even sure how it all works... I mean, you know... in this regard." She had honestly hoped that Faye would have been the one leading this little... romping between Salad and Nebula. Honestly, it was her desire for the two to try and repopulate the Eevee numbers in the wild. So it just sort of made since to her that if anyone knew what to do or in this case what was going wrong, that it would have been Faye.

"I meant is he being himself? Once we get them into a controlled environment together, I can guide them through the proc...not that process, but the getting to know you stages of it, if you know what I mean." The woman chuckled awkwardly before standing and looking over to Drew. She could hear scratching on the boarding that kept them separated. That was either a fantastic sign or a horrible one, though she was yet to work out which. "Drew, how's Nebula doing?"

The younger trainer stared down at his Eevee, who was now staring straight back up at him. For the past few minutes or so, since waking up, she'd been relentlessly scratching and slamming against the wall. Characteristic as this sort of behaviour was, it was the first time he'd ever seen her like this.

"Drew?" Faye called out again. "We really need co-op-"

"I'm not sure I wanna do this anymore." Drew interrupted. His gaze still locked into Nebula's.

"Drew...we need this. They...need this. If this doesnt happen, the Eevee population begins to drop. Of course we can import from other regions, but who knows how they'll adapt to the environment her. These are Kalos native Eevee." The breeder grabbed Drew's shoulder, practically yanking his out of his moment with his Eevee.

"I wonder if Salad even knows what's going on...?" Avril thought, as she watched the Leafeon play around with the toy car some more. She knew that he wasn't exactly the brightest crayon in the box. A part of her wondered at times if he was even mentally aware of some of the things going on around him at times. After all, Salad's battle experience hadn't exactly been the most reliable sort of thing. More often than not, he just seemed to assume that the aggressor on the other side of the battle was just trying to play with him. In fact, it was for that reason alone that Avril had taken to not using him quite as often in battles. "Maybe I'm just thinking too much into this. Maybe it's just something that kind of happens... naturally. Like, it's ingrained into his brain to know how to do... this."

"Perhaps we should just, let them see each other, and see what happens." Faye protested to Drew.

"Avril, how are you feeling about all this?" Drew asked, furrowing his brows.

Avril glanced up at the boy, hesitating for a moment on how to respond. On one hand, she knows that they've both more or less committed to this at this point. Faye struck Avril as the woman who most likely wouldn't just let the duo up and walk away at this point, at least not without getting a headache in the process. There was also the factor of how Nebula seemed to react to Salad the first time they met each other again in Lumiose. Drew's Eevee didn't seem all that thrilled with Leafeon during that rooftop battle, and there was always that possibility that she could choose to attack Salad again. On the other hand, this was for a good cause... and should Nebula attack Salad, it's not like Avril and Drew wouldn't be able to stop the assault. They could always just call the pokémon back into their balls.

"Well... I guess we've got nothing left to lose at this point," Avril responded. "I mean, it's not like anything could really go wrong... right...?"

She gazed over at Faye as she asked that question. The blonde trainer wanted to get a good read on the woman's face, just to make sure they weren't being scammed or deceived about any possible negative consequences. It wasn't that Avril felt Faye was a bad woman. She just felt that the woman had the tendency to get something she wanted once she set her eyes on it.

"Great! Let's get started then." The older woman said, bursting back into a gleeful bliss.

"Talk about bipolar." Drew mumbled to himself, just quiet enough for the woman to miss it. He reluctantly grabbed the gate, looking back at Avril one last time, as a reassurance to himself. With an audible huff, Drew slowly pulled the gate open, the ears of the small fox perking up and the scratching and scraping coming to a halt. Like a bolt, Nebula shot toward the gate, but rather than fleeing out of her confinement like one would expect, she launched herself at Drew's arm, clamping down on whatever bit of skin wasn't pressed against the gate. "ARRRGHH, DAMMIT, ****, GEEZ!! Great start." Drew shuddered in pain, taking the pokemon to the ground with him.

Meanwhile, Salad took a vastly different approach. Without even the slightest bit of hesitation, the Leafeon came charging out of his gate with excitement. Salad looked around with glee, and quickly spotted Nebula on the ground with Drew. The two looked like they were having so much fun, that Salad could hardly contain himself. He quickly dashed over in Drew's direction and pounced straight up in the air to land right on top of the struggling boy. The Leafeon let out a yip of excitement as he began to join in by trying to in the fun, clearly thinking that the Eevee and her trainer were wrestling around on the floor.

Seeing the Leafeon show up out of seemingly nowhere, Nebula, with all her might, attempted to shove the larger pokemon away from her trainer. Upon her failure to budge the annoying grass fox, she hopped up standing on the barrier and glaring down at the menace with a threatening hiss.

"This...isnt a good start." Faye grumbled, pouting her lips.

"No kidding..." Avril replied, watching the scene with a frown. She had been expecting Nebula to possibly reject Salad, but the fact that she also seemed to be doing the same with Drew was really surprising. Glancing down at the boy, Avril offered him a weak smile. "Is this... um, normal for you two...?"

"You get used to it." Drew sighed, lifting his arm to reveal the multitude of scars in the shape of Nebula's Incisors. "She still seems to hate me, but I couldnt tell you why." The boy shrugged dismissively.

"If she continues to behave like that, I dont know if we can get these two to do anything together." She rubbed her chin, as she reached down to help Drew up. Before she could grab the boy though, Nebula jumped down in an attempt to bite her, but tumbled over her trainer, and collided into the legs of the Leafeon.

Salad looked down at Nebula with a huge grin on his face. Without wasting a moment, the Leafeon reached down and gave the Eevee a big, sloppy lick across her face. He wasn't sure what was going on, but it was clear that he was having a lot of fun.

So that was it; Koroku was never going to get better if he stayed with Sebastian. He must associate Sebastian with that gunshot, with leading him into a dangerous-- deadly situation. It's...kind of a wonder Mothim's the only Pokemon he's ruined. Hopefully his mother can undo the damage…

Sebastian was somewhat in a daze, only realizing he was walking towards the breeding pin when he was about six inches from the door. Maybe...hopefully Avril and Drew are having some luck with their...experiment? For lack of a better word. Sebastian quietly, slowly opens the door, and hesitantly peers in.

Nebula crashed in a moment of utter shock. She stared at the larger pokemon for a moment, her expression quickly shifting from mildly startled to utterly appalled. Without another moment of hesitation she pounced on the Leafeon. Or at least attempted to. Due to his superior size, the comparably smaller fox bounced pathetically off of the much sturdier pokemon.

"That's...good right?" Drew smirked, nervously watching as Nebula repeatedly and futilely tried to assault the Leafeon.

"It's cute. Whether it's good or not depends on whether Salad is attracted to persistence." Faye watched with a quizzical expression on her face.

The Leafeon glanced down curiously at the Eevee. Salad leaned down and playfully pawed back at Nebula, almost knocking her over in the process. He yipped happily, wagging his tail in excitement to see what game she wanted to play next.

Frustrated by the Leafeon's incessantly jovial nature, Nebula sat up, staring intently into his eyes. She placed a paw out in front of her, with a menacing smirk on her face. Salad was eager to keep playing and he quickly placed his paw out towards her. Extracting her claws, the Eevee raked her own paw across the outstretched paw of her contemporary.

Desperately trying not to draw attention to himself, Sebastian opened the door just enough to slide his sideways facing body into the room, then eased it silently shut. Peering into the pin, it didn't seem like Salad nor Drew had any new bite marks on them, so...that's a good sign, right? "This looks like progress." He whispers.

Salad retracted his paw quickly, looking at the Eevee in surprise. He didn't seem angry, however. Rather he playfully batted the Eevee back, before pouncing towards her with glee.

The Eevee was quickly losing her will to fight. She had tried almost everything, and this Leafeon just wasnt getting it. What was his deal? She hadnt known him all that well in the time they were confined with the evil humans, but she certainly didnt remember him being this happy. She didnt even remember him being this powerful. Was this a result of...? She glanced at Avril, before returning her gaze to the Leafeon. Were humans really so impactful? She shook off the thought, turning her back to Salad, flicking her tail dismissively.

"May-" Drew began walking forward, but was stopped by the outstretched arm of Faye. The woman's expression told the whole story. This was progress. Somehow.

Avril watched as Salad tilted his head at the female Eevee. Quickly, Salad scrambled around towards the other side and nuzzles against her quite suddenly. The Leafeon yipped loudly again, trying his best to regain Nebula's attention again.

Again the Eevee's hair stood up on her back as the persistent Leafeon approached her. This time though, she didnt shove him away or slash his paw. Instead, she just watched him through the corner of her eye, anticipating any sudden movement.

Drew allowed himself to crack into a relieved chuckle as Nebula finally, somewhat accepted Salad. He glanced at Faye, but she was still staring intently, waiting for the moment she could breathe. He had no idea how this breeding situation worked, but even he could tell this was a good sign.

"This is perfect." Faye beamed, clasping her hands together in absolute delight. "We'd best not disturb them, they need some...them time. Shoo, shoo." She said excitedly, ushering the two trainers out of the room.

"Vee!" A high pitched voice came from behind Faye, prompting all three to peer in at the source. Nebula was now stood right behind Faye, staring up at her trainer.

Drew was taken aback. A big smile grew across his face as he looked down proudly at the Eevee. "Not lookin to leave so soon, huh Neb?" He crouched down to her level, unable to wipe the smile from his face. As he met her eye contact, the pokemon lunged forward, clamping her teeth into his arm once again. "DAMMIT! WHAT THE HELL?!" Drew growled out in a fit of rage and pain. "Just...gahh forget it." He shook Nebula off of his arm, and stormed out the door.

"You're not sticking around?" Faye questioned tilting her head.

"What's the point? Damn thing still hates me anyway. Cant even say goodbye without my arm becoming a snack for her." The boy huffed.

Avril watched as Drew stormed off. In a sense, the boy's relationship with his Eevee reminded her of the one she shared with Benjamin. Avril began to wonder if Drew and Nebula being together really was a good idea. Maybe the best thing for the duo would have been to part ways after he found a trainer that she didn't seem to mind. That was how it worked out for herself and her Mudbray. Shaking the thought from her head, Avril turned her attention back to Salad. The Leafeon still looked quite happy. In fact, he was downright eager to spend more time with Drew's Eevee. Already, Salad was sniffing his way over to her, yipping at her energetically all the while.

"Since... Drew's leaving his Eevee here, do you think it would be okay for me to leave Salad here?" Avril asked Faye. "It's not that I mind waiting around or anything like that, it's just... I think Salad could use a bit of a break from the journey, you know? And I don't wanna shove him into storage or something like that..."

"We'd be happy to keep him around. If we can just get Nebula back on board, we can really start to get some Eevee back out there." Faye offered a soft smile, the fire in her eyes still burning at the mention of bringing Eevee back to Kalos. "You can visit any time if you want to check on Salad, or if you even want to come and pick him up. The same goes for Drew aswell, although with the way he left..." She trailed off, looking, giving Avril another reassuring smile. "Thank you Avril, thank you so much."

"Yeah, no problem," Avril replied. She took one last look at Salad, giving the Leafeon a sad smile as she noticed him managing to coax Nebula back into heading back into the room. "This is for the best, I know it... I'll come back for you when this journey's over, Salad. I promise."

​

[/color]​

 

[Strange]

Dylan Graham

Dylan wiped the sand from his face as he reached the top of the rock he had been climbing. It had been a long few days, and he decided that he needed a break from his journey and training to relax on the beach and have fun. He sat on top of a large smooth boulder and gazed out over the beach, watching children run around throwing sand at each other and lovers stroll over the warm sand hand-in-hand. He took a deep breath of the salty air and ran his hand through his hair.

"Fletch! Fletchling!" Bec called, flying around above Dylan's head. His other pokemon were having fun playing in the water, but Bec, being a fire type, was watching from a distance. Dylan smiled up at him half-heartedly and went back to thinking about his journey. Ust a short time after leaving home he almost burned to death in a forest, his first gym battle was only a win because he had twice the number of pokemon as the leader, and now at his second contest him and his pokemon were almost murdered by the same psychopath that set the forest ablaze and then proceeded to lose the contest minutes later.

Dylan banged a fist on the rock in frustration. "Grrr" he growled, stomping angrily at the side of the bolder. Bec looked at him quizzically and flew down to perch on his shoulder, wiping Dylan's watery eyes with a wing. He cooed, rubbing against Dylan's neck. Then, he took back off into the air and continued watching the others protectively.

Dylan watched as a small child piled sand onto a red pail which was already quite full, being very picky about what sand she scooped into the bucket. She picked only the spots of the purest sand, free from debris. Dylan looked around, but didn't seem to spot any adult nearby. He slid off the rock and walked over to the girl, who was too engrossed in her search for sand that she seemed not to notice Dylan walk up to her.

"Hey there! Are you making a sand castle?" Dylan asked.

"No." she responded blankly, not looking up from the sand.

"Oh? What's the sand for?" Dylan raised an eyebrow, not really sure what else kids gathered sand for.

"It's for pichu. He loves sand." the girl replied, maintaining her emotionless tone.

"Well, that's very nice of you." Dylan remarked. "Is there a reason why you didn't bring him with you?"

"I did." she said, scooping a shovel of sand into the bucket.

"Where is he?" Dylan said, thoroughly confused, glancing around as if he should be seeing the pokemon.

"Right here!" the girl smiled, taking on a cheerful tone for the first time, holding the red bucket up at Dylan. Her eyes were surrounded by a black aura, the pupils dilated unnaturally large so that only a ring of white separated the pupils from the surrounding shadows.

Dylan fell silent. He stared for nearly a minute, the girl's expression unchanging. "Is pichu…" he started, "I'm so sorry."

The girl looked at him quizzically. "Pichu is right here!" She insisted angrily. "He's right here with me always and forever!"

Dylan took a step back with this sudden change of mood, and the girl stood with a blazing fire in her eyes. He wiped tears from his face as his eyes began to leak uncontrollably. "I-I'm so sorry. But… Pichu isn't…"

"YES HE IS!" the girl screamed, attracting the attention of other beach-goers. But they soon fled the scene as the mass of sand inside the bucket began to rise, a face mimicking that of the girl's forming, a large gaping hole where her mouth should be.

Dylan screamed. He ran. He turned away from her and ran as fast as his legs could go, and he hid behind the boulder. He slammed down onto the sand and began to pant heavily, clutching his chest. After everything he's been through, even a day at the beach wasn't safe from his magnet for destruction and death. Why did he always run into life-threatening situations? Why was he always getting hurt?

He heard a scream, and jumped up just in time to watch the last bit of the girl's body being swallowed by the sand, the monster glowing as it drained her life. And at that moment something in Dylan snapped. After everything he had went though, he had never witnessed death. He had come close to dying himself, multiple times, witnessed his pokemon suffer, but never seen anyone or anything actually die.

His tears stopped. He wiped his face and glared at the sandy creature, who seemed t be taking a moment to break down the girl's skeletal structure, bones moving around throughout the sand and settling to the bottom. Dylan ran straight at the creature, Bec joining him and firing embers into the pile, forming globules of molten glass.

"I'm done letting evil control me. It's time I learned to control it instead!" Dylan yelled, thrusting a greatball at the mound of sand and bone. The ball whirred and absorbed the mass into it, and then shook violently on the beach for what seemed like an eternity, until a click ended Dylan's suspense, and the air was calm again. He did it.

But what was he going to do with it?

​

 

[Dragon]

​

Emma's Pokemon:

Avril's Pokemon:

Location

​

-------- " The Case of the Sea Monster " - pt 1 of Emma/Avril JP

Abrette Town. Before, it was known only for its aquarium, until the discovery of rare Fossils really put it on the map. After parting ways with Jackson, Emma arrived in town, surrounded by the aromas of the nearby beach's salty water ocean, and the sounds of many aquatic pokémon playing and swimming around the area. She gazed around the town. Nearby was the fossil lab, specializing in reviving fossilized Pokémon remains back into living Pokémon. Various fossils, anthropological and astronomical items and materials line the shelves near the back walls and entrance. The local Aquarium was always the popular tourist spot, where people come and go to travel between the coastline, and the route nearby. Finally, there was a hotel where many travelers spent time there to rest.

Emma stretched her arms, gazing upon the sea's horizon. Cyllage City should be not too far away now... she thought to herself while stretching. The next Gym is there too. If I remember correctly, it's supposed to be far tougher than the previous Gym; I'll have to prepare a strategy soon. But first, maybe some relaxation should be nice...

Avril took in the warm, salty scents of the ocean. The past few days of traveling to Abrette Town had been very taxing. While they were filled with battles and victories, they were also filled with more than their fair share of hardships and farewells. With Salad remaining at the daycare back at Rivière Walk, her team was now down to just Shino, Marble, and Lulu. While this gave the three pokémon in question much more time to be focused on properly for things such as training, it also meant that the trio had to do a lot more of the work than a more occupied team of pokémon would have to do. Likewise, it kept Avril's job as their trainer much more focused as well. The girl had to make sure that her team didn't overexert themselves in battles and had time to rest and recover along the way. While this made her journey to the seaside town a bit slower than she would have preferred, the important thing to take into consideration was the fact that they were finally here... and Avril planned to use some of this time to her advantage.

She stepped out of the pokémon center with a rather upbeat smile on her face. Avril was ready for some fun and relaxation in the sun and it couldn't have been made more obvious by her appearance. The girl's usual leggings, boots, dress, and even her scarf and hat had all been removed, instead being replaced by a rather fashionable, purple two-piece and sandals. A black wrap was carefully tied around her waste, with a pair of small sunglasses resting in her hair. Said hair was changed in its style as well. Avril chose to pull it up into a slightly messy looking ponytail, as opposed to it just hanging long and loose as it normally did. As usual, the girl kept her pokéballs on a bracelet carefully wrapped around her wrist. They weren't resting there for long, however. No sooner had the girl stepped out from the pokémon center did she release all three of team members out into the open.

"Alright, guys! Here's the agenda for today," Avril began addressing her team. Shino and Marble both gave the girl their full attention, while Lulu made busy circling around in the air, blowing raspberries with her tongue hanging out of her mouth. "The agenda is... there is none. We're not bothering with that crap today. Instead, we're gonna just kick back and take it easy for a bit! What do you all have to say about that?"

The team had mostly positive reactions to the news from their trainer. Marble and Lulu both seemed absolutely thrilled with the thought of being able to just laze about and play all day. Shino was a bit surprised considering how hard Avril had been pushing the team to work and train even since the triple battle back at Battle Chateau. That said, the Frogadier wasn't exactly against the idea of having a day of rest himself.

Avril beamed at her team's response, starting to lead the way down towards the beach. They would have to cut through the aquarium to reach it, but surely that wouldn't take too long. "Alright then, let's hit the beach!"

"You can do it!" Emma shouted, throwing a blue frizbee. Her Eevee and Arcanine chased after it, in a sort of contest on who can grab it first. Meanwhile, Titania, her Feebas, jumped and swam through the ocean waters; it was simple minded, but when it came to swimming, it was second to none. Vida, her Roselia, danced around the leaves it sprouted and through around the air. Kagura, her Lucario had a more laidback and introverted approach of fun: she leaned back against a palm tree, her arms crossed and her eyes closed as she chewed on some nearby timothy. The frizbee started to decend. Kaen the Arcanine seemed to be the first to grab it due to his size advantage, but Linde the Eevee was nible and quick - she grabbed the frizbee using a front aerial somersault. It gleed triumphantly as Kaen whimpered in defeat. They both hurried back to Emma.

"Hehehe, good job, Linde," Emma complimented, as Linde gave a cheerful cry. She recieved the frisbee back from her. Kaen barked - it wasn't about to lose this time. "Alright! Heeeeere's a far one!" Emma stated, throwing her frisbee even harder, thus allowing the frisbee gaining more distance. Linde and Kaen both hurried after it. They were both so focused on getting it... they didn't even notice how far they've gotten.

The two pokémon were so distracted by chasing the frizbee that they weren't fully paying attention to where they were going. No sooner had Avril stepped out onto the beach did the girl find herself almost getting trampled by a rather overexcited Arcanine and Eevee. In fact, had it not been for Shino's quick grab and pull of the blonde's wrist, she might have very well been eating sand at this very moment. Avril sent a somewhat annoyed glare at the retreating form of the two pokémon.

"Geeze... some trainers need to keep a better eye on their pokémon," Avril complained with a huff. She glanced over her shoulder and gave her Frogadier a small smile. "I would've been flattened if you hadn't been paying so much attention, Shino!"

Eventually Linde the Eevee once again manages to grab the frizbee first - by nimbilly jumping ontop and from Kaen's back. Kaen softly growled at it, as Linde cheekily giggled at him. The two pokemon turned back, their focus upon the young girl, and the Frogadier. Approaching them carefully, they both were able to recognize their scents; they don't appear to be bad...

"Heeeeeyyy!" Emma called out from a little aways. She jogged with Vida perched on her shoulder, and her Lucario simply walking, uninterested. Her Feebas kept swimming happily, easily keeping up with her. Kaen and Linde both turned and barked in her direction, as the two ran back to her. Eventually, they all met up. "Sorry! That was too far," Emma apologized to the two, accepting the frisbee once again from Eevee. "How about we not go too far from each other next time, okay? Now, let's go and... Oh..." she looked up, seeing a familiar face. One she knew all to well. "Avril..."

Turning her attention to the girl approaching, Avril slowly looked down and away. "Emma... Figures that you'd be here..."

Marble glanced between the two trainers, the Flaaffy confused as to why they were acting so strange towards each other. While the full events of that afternoon back in the big city with the tower was a little fuzzy to her, Marble could have sworn that Emma and Avril were really close. At least, that's what it looked like to her. She gave a strange look over towards Shino, as if asking the older pokémon if he knew what was going on. However, the Frogadier seemed to be just as clueless as she was.

"Yes..." Emma replied, looking away as well. Her Arcanine and Eevee both exchanged glances. Last time they both saw those two... they couldn't go a full minute without hugging. But now, things seemed... tense. Emma's Roselia gave a depressed sigh, as she hopped off Emma's shoulder. She looked blue, until Kagura went over, stooped down, and calmly patted Vida on her spiked head. "My Pokemon have been battling quite hard recently, so... I wanted them to relax a bit."

"...Same," Avril replied simply, glancing back at her team. There were far fewer members of it than Emma's. She hoped that the detective wouldn't make any note of that, however. The last thing she wanted was for Emma to try comfort her or something because her team was shrinking in size. "The uh... route here was long, so I figured they could use the break."

"Uh...!" Emma started, but stopped herself. She indeed notice the amount of pokemon she had; it was fewer than she remembered. She wanted to ask about it, but... it was fairly obvious what happened. So, Emma decided for both their sake, to let it go for now. She gritted her teeth, and finally remembered: what Jackson had said to her. To grow up... she mustered up herself. If anyone had to start, she figured, it to be her. She rose up her head, looking straight at Avril. "Listen Avril, about before, I---"

"S-Somebody heeeeeelp!!" a shout suddenly cried, grabbing Emma's attention. A few feet away, there seemed to be a couple of people around Avril and Emma's ages, seemingly fleeing from the water. One of them was hopping on one foot, as the other helped him by carrying him by his shoulder. "I... it's a MONSTER!"

"Monster...?" Emma repeated. She ignored Avril for now, and hurried to the scene, with her pokemon following.

"What in the world is all that commotion about...?" Avril thought, watching as Emma made her way towards the direction that the other beach goers were fleeing from.

The trainer knew that it really wasn't any of her business and yet, she could feel the curiosity getting the better of her. It looked like she wasn't alone as Lulu was already floating happily behind Emma and her pokémon. Deciding to throw caution to the wind, Avril began to follow along as well, with Marble and Shino both closely behind.

The young people stopped, sitting down on the soft sand gathering their breath, as Emma came along with her pokemon. They looked upon her with scared eyes, as Emma looked at them with concern. "...Are you all alright?" she asked, with them nodding together. But then, they looked back at their friend, who was hopping on one foot being carried on the shoulder by another. They sat him down as he clenched his foot by the ankles. Emma squatted down nearby him. Soon she saw his injury - there was a black mark, steeped on his left leg."...What happened?" she asked more quietly.

The young man glanced at Emma, then back to his leg. He sighed beep breaths. "There was... a sea monster," he explained hastily. "A sea monster... attacked us in our speedboat. It had these menacing red eyes, and a roar that shook our ears... and then... it had this really sinister laugh. I never heard anything like that before..."

"A... sea monster?" Emma repeated, standing up to cross her arms. "You've all saw something resembling a sea monster? Are you sure about this?"

"No, not resembling one! It WAS one!" another shouted to Emma. "It was so powerful too... we've sent out our aquatic pokemon,but... we didn't stand a chance! And that laugh... it was PURE EVIL!"

"Don't you think you might be overreacting just a bit...?" Avril questioned. "I mean... It's probably just a rampaging Gyarados or something... I mean, not that this makes it any less severe of an issue, but you know how tempermental those things can be..."

"Perhaps..." Emma started. "Sea monster or no, it's clearly too dangerous to be roaming around these parts of the waters... That guy was lucky to get away with a bruised up leg. Next time, it might be far worse for another individual." She turned and looked at the group. "...Who are all of you, anyway?"

"We're entrepreneurs from Lumiose," one explained. She seemed to be the most level headed of the group at the very moment. "My name is Corona. These are my partners: Ignis, Magna, and the one who's injured is Hunter. We recently hit our biggest business deal with the Silph Company in Kanto, so we decided to celebrate here. As said, we were on our speedboat, when suddenly, something attacked us, for no reason at all. I don't know if it was a sea monster or not, but... it came at us with huge blasts of water, wrecking our boat and injuring my friend Hunter in the process. We managed to get away somehow, but it was gone afterwards."

"And it's strong, huh..." Emma pondered. She closed her eyes briefly, examining the situation. "...Maybe its worth getting to the bottom of this."

Corona blinked, as she stared in disbelief towards Emma. "But it's way too strong! And dangerous!" she warned, panically. "...Who are you, anyway? A trainer?"

"I'm Emma Kuzunoha," Emma introduced with a bow. "I'm a trainer yes, but also a local detective from Aquacorde Town."

"Wait..." the injured young man, Hunter addressed upon hearing the name. He tried getting up as best as he could, despite the injured leg. "Emma Kuzunoha? The same one who defeated that notorious gang from Santalune City? The one who helped rescue all those Eevee? And the one who shed light on the crimes of Lady Elraine, bringing her justice? You're the Emma Kuzunoha?! I-It's an honor...!" the group gazed upon Emma leading Emma to blush embarrassingly.

She then coughed, composing herself. "Let's... not get into that right now," she pleaded. "Right now, let's focus on this 'sea monster'. I have a feeling there's more to that than what meets the eye... and I'm going to find out."

Avril sighed, rubbing the back of her head. Once again, everyone was fawning all over Emma for being so great. Still, as annoyed as the thought made the girl, Avril knew that she couldn't just storm off and leave the detective to her own devices. If... whatever it was that was out there was really causing that much of a commotion, then chances were that Emma wouldn't fair too well on her own. Besides that, despite how angry Avril had been... she wouldn't be able to stand herself if something happened to her former best friend because of her own decision to abandon her.

"I... I guess I better give you a hand on this one," Avril chimed in, a faint blush gracing her cheeks as refused to meet Emma's eyes. "Sea monster or not, whatever's out there must be pretty strong..."

"Why?" Emma asked bluntly, not turning back to Avril. "I could handle the danger myself, you know. You don't have to bother or force yourself if you don't really want to."

Avril huffed, rolling her eyes at Emma's tone. "Who said it had anything to do with you being able to face it or not? Once it gets out that this sort of problem is going on, the police will probably want to close the beach and I came here to enjoy that. The sooner this whole situation gets wrapped up, the sooner my team and I can go back to enjoying ourselves, got it...?"

All the pokémon of the two trainers seemed to look rather anxiously at each other. They all seemed to be able to feel the tension that was bubbling between the two girls, and it was so thick that someone could possibly cut it with a knife. With how these two were acting, Shino wouldn't have put it past the girls to start a battle with one another in a matter of seconds.

"I should of known your reasons was something like that..." Emma replied, followed up with a disappointing sigh. "Very well, do you wish." she then turned to the group, giving them a nod. Corona looked concerning upon Emma and Avril.

"Okay, if you're both sure..." said a reluctant Corona. "But how will you find it again? Once it attacked us, it was... just gone."

Emma crossed her arms, having a glimmer in her eyes. "Not to worry, I have an idea," she reassured. "We'll simply recreate those circumstances. We'll get a boat of our own, with some of our pokemon to lure it out. Once its lured out... we'll be ready." she then turned back towards Avril. "Unless you have a better idea? Or other objections?"

"Fine by me," Avril replied simply. "Let's just get on with it."

***

The sounds of the motor from the boat Emma and Avril were both in roared throughout the sea as it carried the two towards the outskirts of the sea, approximately where the young entrepreneurs have said they've encountered the so called sea monster. As soon as Emma deemed they were far enough, she slowed down the boat, grinding it to an eventual halt. Emma gazed around the sea. So far... all seemed quiet. She hand both her hands together on her lap.

"A sea monster who attacks using strong blasts of water, and has a very evil-sounding laugh..." Emma recalled from their description. "...This might be a disadvantage. I don't have much water Pokemon, other than Feebas that is."

"I guess it's a good thing I came along then," Avril replied, the girl sounding quite proud of herself. "Shino can handle the water just fine... And in the event that this thing is actually pokémon, Marble can give it those quick jolts... Which seems to be something else your team lacks."

Emma sighed. "Gee, you don't mince words, do you..." Emma said, disheartened. "Yes, this is... completely out of my element, and you have the tools necessary... But you, don't get too confident either!"

"Don't worry... I'm sure this won't effect how great everyone thinks you are," Avril retorted, keeping her gaze out at the sea. "Let's just stay focused on solving this little case, yeah?"

Emma peered upon Avril grumbily, until the boat they were both in starting to shake and rumble. The sea's waves became fiercer as the boat bopped up and down upon reaction. Soon, there was a whirlpool forming in the waters nearby. The Wingull that flew overhead circulated the scene, but then fled as the water splashed more vigorously. There was then a nasty roar. Some parts of the sea became darker, as it seemed like there was something that was swimming underneath. Something big. There became an even bigger splash of the sea, which also splashed inside the boat. Then, something started to rise, as water gushed right from it.

"That's..." Emma carefully examined. The large serpent figure rose up its head, as water flowed from its skin. Soon the serpent started to become visable, letting loose an even louder roar. But Emma could tell: it was definitely no sea monster. "That's... a Gyarados!" Emma pointed out, as the Gyarados let loose another scream. It let loose a powerful Hydro Pump that missed the boat, but left an aquatic mess, soaking Emma almost completely. Emma recovered, grabbing out one of her pokeballs, throwing it to the air. The energy lopped out towards the sea, letting her Feebas loose.

"Feebas...? That's you plan to fight that thing?! What are you gonna do, Splash it to death?" Avril questioned. Without waiting for a response, she quickly grabbed one of the pokéballs off of her bracelet and tossed into the air as well. The familiar sight of her Frogadier shot out from the ball, landing in the ocean close to Emma's Feebas. The Frogadier looked around, his eyes widening as he came face to face with the sight of the large, angry looking Gyarados."Alright, Shino! We gotta try to take that thing down! Try and get behind it with a Quick Attack!"

Shino looked a little unsure of himself, which was understandable based on the situation he currently found himself in. Still, the frog pokémon obeyed his trainer's orders. He quickly dove into the water and began to swim towards the towering Gyarados, attempting to try and get behind the sea serpent pokémon.

"Drew gave me that pokemon, and I'm choosing to believe in it," Emma explained. "Titania the Feebas... is a Queen of the Waters! Now go! Tackle attack!" Titania the Feebas jumped upwards for a moment, diving back into the sea. It swam quickly to the enemy Gyarados, then with all its might, charged right out from the sea, heading straight towards her foe.

The Gyarados flopped up it's tail. Its tail glowed a bright blue, surrounded by aquatic rings. Using that, it used its tail to slam cleanly to the Feebas, knocking it a few feet from it, as it send it hurdling stright into the waters.Titania became staggered from the powerful hit, as it slowly rised back up to the surface, shaken up. "Aqua Tail..." Emma grunted, witnessing her foe's attack. "Damn it!"

At that moment, Shino shot straight out of the water and right towards the Gyarados. The Frogadier narrowed his gaze upon his target, bracing himself to prepare to strike his foe, but the Gyarados seemed to not to be too worried about Shino's attack. Without so much as a second thought, the Gyarados quickly slapped Shino back down into the water with his massive tail. Shino fell back, landing into the ocean with a rather sizable splash.

"It's reacting so fast..." Emma observed. "There's no way it could of blown back Titania and still react in time against Shino's sneak attack at once like that... what's going on here? Unless..." Emma then stood on top of the boat, gazing around the sea. She had a hunch. That laughter that the group talked about... could Gyarados even laugh so menacingly? And then there's the obvious fact that one is even here in the first place. Gyarados aren't normally supposed to be around here, but... here it is. Unless...

"Unless someone brought it here in the first place...!" Emma realized, widening her eyes. She took a long, deep breath. "Get out here! I know you're there!" she screamed towards the Gyarados. At first... dead silence. Then, something rose from the water. It looked like... an eye? Or some sort of... telescope? It was then that it risen even more. It was much larger as it seemed - but whatever it was, it was not a pokemon. It wasn't even alive. It seemed to be metallic black, covered in screws, and small windows. It was a small submarine, seemingly fitting for a smaller amount of people than normal.

"...I knew it..." Emma could only observe. The submarine,fully submerged from underwater, gleamed with the sunlight. Emma could hear the squeaking of the submarine's top cover door slowly opening. Once it was fully opened, someone came out. He had tattoos almost everyone on his muscular chest, as he wore a large, black tench coat, and ragged black pants with black boots. He also had ear piercings, with what it seemed to be... a hat with a plushie Chatot, perched and attacked to his coat's shoulder? He came out from inside the submarine, standing on top of it as his Gyarados swam closer to him. "He's that Gyarados's trainer..."

"Yarharharharharrrrr!" this mysterious individual laughed. It looked like that was the laugh those young folks have heard. He grinned, showing a golden tooth among his rotten teeth. "Feisty little whelps! So, you've figured me out, did ye? Harharharrrr!"

Avril stared at the sight before her. "A pirate...? This isn't happening. This isn't..." The sight of the whole thing made her rub her eyes in disbelief. It was like something out of an actual comic book. What bothered her the most was Emma however. Somehow, the detective knew that this was the case of it all. "How? How did you know that there was a submarine and why is there a pirate?!"

"I noticed how Shino was prepared to strike Gyarados from behind; that's why I set up Titania to do a frontal assault," explained Emma. "Even if the direct attack failed, Shino would of definitely swam up to strike the Gyarados while it was slowed down from its counter-attack from Feebas. But... it knew exactly where Shino would be, even though there was countless ways it could of popped out from. It was almost as if... someone was calling orders from it, while it was watching the battle underwater."

Emma then crossed her arms. "Then there was that laughter those people talked about. They heard it, a little while as their speedboat crashed. I highly doubt Gyarados are able to laugh with their normal temperament. And even if they could, Gyarados normally roar as they attack. They wouldn't have thought to laugh as they were attacking! Which means... there was another party." she gazed upon the strange man who dressed like a pirate. "And of course, there's another fact: Gyarados normally don't choose to habitat these waters; there's not enough food in this area for them to survive. Isn't that right, sir?"

"Yarharharharrr!" the man laughed with vigor. "Ye must be that famous detective everyone was on about! No doubt! Yup, yer' right on the doubloon, if me say so m'self!"

"...But why?" Emma asked the obvious follow up question. "Why would you attack that group of people, while staying hidden underwater?"

"Yar, I formidable question, lass!" he shouted, giving a little bop to his gut. "I sailed the seven seas, lookin' for the proudest treasure ever, y'know! Yar, my intel explains that them' rich business like folks like to hang out here in their downtime! So me Gyarados and I devour and plunder to our hearts' desire! Even the goregous women and children are generous enough to... give some generosity when they be visiting mismagius jane's locker, yarharharrr! A perfect downtme for a pirate, wouldn't ya' say, lass?"

"You mean you just rob and kill innocent people for the fun of it?!" Emma shouted in disbelief. "Who... who are you?!"

"Ah, another fair question, lass!" he remarked, with a hearty chuckle. He then seemingly... took out a harmonica, blowing a note once. "Yo ho! ♪ Yo ho! ♪ Damian Rodyle you should know! ♪ Yo ho! ♪ Yo ho! ♪ The greatest plunder from here to Sinnohhhhhh! ♪" he put away his harmonica, eyeing the two young women. "Ah, and ye must be the detective, Emma Kuzunoha! Ye' defeated Elraine! Lemme tell ya, I'm glad ye did! She's a harsh mistress, always telling me to bathe and such... bah! Ah, and... who's the other dame with ya'? Oh... another fine lass indeed. What say ya' girlie, ditch these rich thobs n' we'll have a good ol' time together ya?"

Avril visibly cringed at the pirate's words. "Are you kidding me?! What in the hell makes you think I'd go anywhere with a crusty, delusional old man who's pretending to be some pirate?! Go jump in ocean!"

"R-Rejected?!" the pirate now know as Damian gabbered, as if a knife penetrated his heart. He stooped down to his knees... seemingly like he fell in a soft defeat.

"Wait a minute..." Emma started to Damian, ignoring the situation. "Did you know Elraine personally?"

"Yar, course I did," Damian replied. "But just cuz we're dragons, don't mean I gotta like her. He's as soft as a pinching Krabby, hahaha!"

"Then you're..." Emma started in a soft despair. A small drip of sweat started to recede from her. "...You're with the Emerald Dragons..."

"Ye done it again, lassie!" Damian replied, fully back to his demeanor, standing on his feet. "Sailor of the seven seas, strong arm of the Emerald Dragons! This here is my first mate, Peach the Gyarados!" The Gyarados roared once more. Damian then turned to Avril, giving her a menacing look. "So, ye think you're too good for me! Eh?!" he roared. "Disrespectful little wench! I'll just kill ye! HYDRO PUMP!" Peach the... apparent Gyarados, let loose a powerful stream of water, hurling stright towards Avril.

What?! Emma panicked. [/i]I have to stop him![/i] She rose up, and quickly went by Avril's side, shoving her aside. "Watch out!" she called, but soon after, she took the full brunt of the attack. The Hydro Pump blast rocked the boat viciously, as a small blast of water pumped up from the aftershock. The blast pushed Emma away, soon leaving her unconscious as she was knocked over and away from the boat, straight in the sea. She remained unconscious as she slowly started to sink.

Avril landed roughly on the floor of the boat, just barely missing the Hydro Pump all together. It took her a second or two, but the younger of the two blondes managed to regain her composure and prepared to give Emma a small earful for shoving her to the ground like that. However, all that changed when Avril noticed that the detective was no where to be found. Quickly, Avril managed to pull herself off the floor of the boat and quickly began to look around in all directions.

"Emma...? Emma?!" she shouted out, hoping to Arceus that the detective would respond at any moment. "Where's Emma?!"

"Harrr, little lassie must of' shielded ya' from Peach's blast and now on her way to Mismagius Jane's locker via drownin'," Damian explained glancing upon the spot of the sea where Emma took a tumble in. He picked his ear with one of his pinkie fingers. "Shame, really. Was hoping to test my might against that Detective, but she had to up and go like that... Bah, suppose that servers her right." His Gyarados went closer to him, as he slowly petted it. "Truth be told lass, I hate types like her. Always prancin' around, encouragin' law and order like that... ain't it better ta' follow own rules? Hell, as a Emerald Dragon, I can do whatever I want, and get what I want! Money, women... well, once I'm done with the women, I just feed em' to Gyarados here, but ya' get my point? Meh, Detectives like her who tell others how to behave and crap, thinkin' they're some sorta peacemakin' hero and whatnot... they only deserve to die n' drown. Ain't that the truth, lassie?"

"Shut the hell up! You don't know anything about her, so don't go spouting off Taruos-**** like you do!" Avril shouted, glaring at the pirate with absolute hate in her eyes. The girl quickly grabbed hold of the other two pokéballs on her bracelet and tossed them into the air, sending out Marble and Lulu into the battle. "Help Shino anyway you can! Take down that Gyarados quickly!"

Marble and Lulu both glanced over at the giant, serpent-like pokémon. They both turned to give a nod to their trainer, but the only sight that welcomed them was that of Avril diving off the boat and into the water. The girl was in full panic mode as she began to swim deep into the water, the sinking form of Emma quickly coming into her vision. Avril began to swim downwards towards the detective's unconscious form. She wasn't sure that she could make it in time, but Avril was not about to let Emma go without a fight.

Emma could eventually feel her body being dragged up. Her Feebas swam nearby, helping to pull her up as well. Soon, she slowly opened her eyes, seeing a figure approaching her, until it became clearer. Av...ie...? she thought, until her eyes became heavy again.

"Little whelps!" Damian scoffed meanwhile, upon seeing his enemies. His Gyarados rared its head towards them, raging for a fight. "I'll teach ye some respect! Go Peach! Devour them!" His Gyarados once again roared, heading its way to the fray once more.

Marble quickly scrambled her way to the tip of the boat, staring up at the Gyarados with determination gleaming in her eyes. She glanced over at Lulu, mewling at the Shuppet and pointing in the massive water pokémon's direction. The Shuppet quickly shot forward and spewed out several rather dark-looking fire puffs in the direction of the Gyarados. Meanwhile Marble's tail orb began to glow with static energy, before she launced a ball of electricity straight towards the Gyarados as well.

Gyarados unwittingly charged right towards the blast of electricity and the dark puffs of fire, giving a pained roar as it got in direct contact with the blasts. The static and burns coarsed through its body, leaving it staggered in the water. But soon, it was able to shake it off, resuming its neutral position. "DRAGON RAGE!" shouted Damian. Gyarados's body started to glow a deep purple, as it soon released purple, powerful flames right towards the party.

Lulu widened her eyes at the sight of the approaching blast, the little Shuppet quickly dodging out of the way by making her way into the shadow of the Gyarados. Marble wasn't as lucky as Lulu was, however. The Flaaffy took the full force of the Dragon Rage, flying back into the back of the ship with a pain-filled wail. Shino's eyes narrowed as he heard his teammate's pain. Without hesitation, the Frogadier launched himself out of the water and quickly managed to grab hold of the Gyarados' tail. Gripping it as tightly as froggy hands would allow, the Frogadier took a deep breath and suddenly began to spew out a frigid, icy blast from his mouth.

The Gyarados let loose another roar from pain, as the blast coursed through its body. "Yarrr, ye think a frigid blast such as this is enough to deal Peach in, do ye?" Damian laughed cheekly, unnoticing the situation as he confidently had his eyes closed. "Enough playtme! No one survived me' aquatic super charged twister, and... eh?" He saw the Gyarados's body started to freeze in place. It's entire body became encased with ice, until it was entirely frozen over. The frozen Gyarados toppled over on top of the submarine, right next to Damian. It stopped moving.

"This... this can't be...!" Damian said in shock, upon seeing his seemingly defeated Gyarados. He turned to each of the pokemon. He was cornered now. "Yarrr... I''ll get ye someday and...!" but before he knew it, he was blindsided with Titania the Feebas's Tackle attack, right on his head. He clumsly saw stars, ranting on and on about some drunken pirate tirades... "Yarrrrrrruuuuuughhhh..." until he eventually keeled over, seemingly knocked out.

From out of the water came the forms of Avril and Emma. The younger of the two blondes gasping for air as she finally managed to drag Emma back to the surface. Shino was quick to swim back towards the two, lending his assistance to getting the duo back to the boat. Concern was still evident on Avril's face as she helped get Emma back on the deck before she climbed on herself.

"Emma...? Emma, can you hear me?" she asked, staring intently at detective.

Emma's face was flushed. From her... there was silence. And more silence. Until she coughed up water. Her eyes stunningly wavered, until she slowly managed to finally open them. Her vision was briefly blurred, until she saw Avril in clear sight. "...Avril...?" Emma softly spoke. She saw she was back in the boat. The trainer's water pokemon floated nearby. "Avril..." Emma gave Avril a soft smile.

"You... You're so stupid!" Avril snapped, quickly grabbing her fellow blonde into a tight hug. "Don't ever do that again! What the hell were you thinking?! Do you know how much you scared me just then?!"

Emma looked away, gazing upon the defeated Damian and Gyarados. "I don't know... there wasn't any time to think. My body just... reacted," she replied, followed up with a giggle. "...I suppose I do have a nose for getting to trouble, don't I?"

"It follows you like a lost Snubble..." Avril sighed, finally releasing her grip on the girl. The duo sat there in silence, before Avril slowly looked over at the defeated pirate and pokémon as well. "So... What do we do about them...?"

"Let's take him back to land," said Emma. "Those people will be quite interested to know who the sea monster really is..."

​