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

jombii · Jul 24, 2017

Coul Remson

"So you're the next one in the long list of challengers, is that what you're saying?" Cynthia the Pokemon Master asked. Coul simply nodded. There was not one single trainer who managed to defeat the Champion during that day but Coul had to try. His loss against Joey just fanned a flame inside of him and he needed to battle more. His Pokemon needed the training too, especially Catherine who haven't been a part of any battle yet, since the Beedrill. "I accept your challenge then. What's your name?"

"I'm Coul Remson,"Coul simply said. His heart was pounding against his chest. "I'm originally from Solaceon Town."

"Ah, you're also a Sinnoh native. Let me see then what you're made off. This will be a standard one-versus-one battle. I will be using my Garchomp for this battle." Cynthia said, which was followed by a small cheer from the crowd watching. Sweat started to accumulate on his forehead but he knew he needed to call out a Pokemon. He threw his Pokeball.

Catherine came out, looking disheveled as ever. Cynthia grinned and called out her Garchomp. The Mach Pokemon appeared with a thud as it fell on the ground. Dust swirled underneath its feet. Catherine is tiny compared to the Pokemon. Coul knew that the Garchomp could one hit any of his Pokemon so he decided to use Catherine, the fastest one among them. She can also use Hypnosis which can, if Coul is lucky, could send the Garchomp into sleep and she can proceed with attacking it. For added measure, Coul got the Eviolite from Sandy to give to Catherine. The former was not happy as it tried to bite Coul countless times.

Cynthia didn't waste any time as she was probably restless from the battles she was having since morning. She ordered her Pokemon to do a Dragon Rush and Coul was surprised by the speed of the Pokemon. It was not Viola's Ninjask, but it sure is a whole lot speedier than Catherine. The feline Pokemon managed to evade the attack but was grazed by the Rough Skin of the Garchomp. Catherine yelped and hissed at the Dragon-type. "I didn't expect your Pokemon to evade that opening attack. Very few trainers have done that today. Well done." Coul wasn't listening to Cynthia as he ordered a Hypnosis towards the Garchomp.

It managed to hit the Dragon-type which resulted to a cheer from Coul. Cynthia smiled again and commended him. "Bite, Meowth!" Catherine ran towards the slumbering Garchomp and sank its fans on one of its arms. The skin was far too rough for the Meowth to penetrate though, so the attack did more damage to the Meowth than to the Garchomp. Coul gritted his teeth and ordered a Scratch attack.

Once again, the impenetrable hide of the Dragon-type was far too strong for the Meowth to handle. It wasn't doing much damage to the Pokemon at all and, slowly, the opponent's rough skin was taking it's toll on the Meowth.

It didn't help when Garchomp opened an eye and roared. Catherine scampered away and tried to sent another Hypnosis attack but Garchomp simply dug into the ground. "You were good, Coul. You actually managed to dish out a few attacks against my Garchomp. But the line is getting longer, and I have to still battle all those guys. Dig!" Catherine was scampering around, trying to see where Garchomp was going to emerge.

The size difference mattered. There was nowhere Catherine could run where the Garchomp could not reach her. It attacked from below, promptly knocking out the Meowth. Coul ran towards her and recalled her back to her Pokeball, after applying a quick Potion. The Meowth was silently purring as it disappeared in a red light.

"You were actually a good one, Coul." Cynthia said as he approached the trainer. "Your use of Hypnosis was surprising. I didn't expect that from a Meowth." Cynthia handed her a TM. "A reward for your trouble. That's Dig. I'll be keeping an eye out for you." Cynthia smiled as she walked back to her challengers. Coul silently stalked away back to the Center, mourning for his second loss of the day.

New Attack

Fury Swipes | Screech

Inventory

Spoiler:

Jay · Jul 24, 2017

Current Team:

Old Wounds

Current Location : Lumiose City - Back Alley

"...either way, it is good to see you catching up with the times and technology, oui?" Professor Sycamore laughed as Jackson talked to him over his new Holocaster. "I am sure Malorie will be most pleased to see you have one of these now, I will pass along her own number to you in time."

Jackson rose an eyebrow with suspicion as he walked along a quieter alley of Lumiose City's streets... doing his best to stay out of the limelight as he carried around the mysterious egg upon his back. "Since when does Mal have a Holocaster? I don't-" He was swiftly interrupted by the Professor. "Jackson please... she is a big girl yes? She is fine to have a Holocaster of her own, can you not allow her this?" Jackson gave a small sigh... but genuinely smiles back at the holographic professor in the palm of his hand. "Yeah... you're right, she's growin' up right?"

"Oui, yes, merci Jackson it is good that you can understand. So tell me, is the Lumiose gym open yet? I have not had time to check up from my lab and-" The professor kept talking but Jackson's attention was suddenly diverted by a reeking stench of danger and the sudden interjection of another voice, not the professor's nor his own.

"It seems we've finally caught you, thief."

In a sudden impact a massive blue pokémon leaped down from the roof above, crashing hard into the ground and shaking it to the point that Jackson stumbled and rolled backwards. "Jackson?! What is happening?! Ja-" The Professor cried out, but as the Holocaster was knocked from his hands the call automatically disconnected. Desperately pulling himself upwards, Jackson shoved the device in his pocket and watched as a woman dropped from the rooftop, caught in one claw by the large pokémon and tossed forward, where she landed before it with perfect poise and elegance.

Jackson's eyes widened with realization as he stared at the woman's figure, her style, her composure, even the sound of her voice. He knew exactly who she was... and the very sight of her made his blood boil with rage.

"Cynthia..."

The woman, Champion Cynthia of the Sinnoh Region, responded as her Garchomp glared just as venomously at Jackson as the young man did at her. "Then you at least now the identity of the woman whom you have stolen from. I'm sure whatever master you serve was well aware as well, when he told you to make off with the child of my partner pokémon."

Jackson rose an eyebrow in confusion, before realizing what was going on. The egg on his back was Cynthia's?! The child of her partner pokémon?! He looked Garchomp up and down... the tones of blue... the red stripe. The egg on his back... belonged to this pokémon?! This was bad... Jackson had to try and explain the situation but-

But... the longer he looked at Cynthia the angrier he got.

"You worthless... what the hell makes you think you have any right to accuse me?!" He spat. "I know you... of course I do. I know that you're a fuckin' moron too! So it makes sense you'd jump to conclusions. Puttin' on some false superiority while ignorin' the real problems... not like I'm surprised..." Jackson only saw red as he glared at Cynthia with hateful eyes... and the Champion returned his gaze with an uncertain confusion.

"What on Earth are you...?" She sighed. "No matter, I do not wish to harm you, so do not resist. Garchomp, retrieve the egg, do not harm this man." Garchomp stomped forward, its every step seeming to shake the ground beneath it.

"Now, Wave! Astonish!" As Jackson called out the Zubat's name, it darted down into the alley from the sky above, where it had been watching Jackson with a birds eye view in order to rush down when trouble was afoot. With a shriek of aggression the tiny bat charged in towards Garchomp's head, filling it's wing with a sudden streak of ghostly energy as she struck him harshly upon the snout in a fly by attack. Garchomp flinched in confusion and took a step backwards as he rubbed his snout. Cynthia's eyebrows rose in genuine surprise, seeing Garchomp affected whatsoever.

Wave returned to her trainers side in the meantime, fluttering protectively in front of Jackson, absolutely determined to keep Garchomp away from him at all costs.

Cynthia took another step forward and gestured to Garchomp. "Garchomp, remove this Zubat and apprehend this man. Brutal Swing." Jackson began to panic, there was no way any of his pokémon could beat this thing in a fair fight.

...but what if it wasn't fair?

"Wave! Confuse Ray!" With fervor and panic, the Zubat began to oscillate its tone to create an off sounding collection of vibrations that traveled in a contained beam of sound right in the direction of the approaching Garchomp. The large dragon pokémons eyes widened and its expression became one of frustration and confusion as it wildly ripped through the alley wall with its brutal swing, the sharp wing under its arm slicing through the rock with ease as it was surrounded in dark type energy.

"Garchomp! Enough! Stop your attack!" Cynthia cried out, desperate to avoid any unnecessary danger. She was oddly impressed by Jackson's gusto, most common criminals would flinch at the sight of her power, yet she say the determination in his eyes... and the hatred he held for her. What was it that caused him to despise her so...? Was he truly an evil trainer? If so he was a unique one amidst their breed... as shown by his Zubat's actions and composure. There was a mutual understanding between man and pokémon with those two... and the Zubat, Wave, seemed desperate to protect her trainer's life.

Garchomp took a few steps back, clutching its own head and trying to clear its thoughts, but its great power bellied a simple mind... and though its opponent was far weaker, it struggled to clear the clouds in its mind. Jackson saw an opportunity to take advantage of the enemies current position.

"Wave! Be quick, don't stop moving! Wing Attack after Wing Attack, don't stop!" Wave dashed through the air without fear. She saw this dragon, a pokémon similar to one that had almost killed her not a few hours prior... but she wanted to fight for Jackson, the words of that Odette girl rung in her ears, how she spoke down on Jackson's choice of pokémon.

Wave knew she wasn't anything special, she knew she was just another Zubat... but Jackson believed in her. Jackson had chosen and saved her despite everything. Nobody had ever chosen her before. So she'd fight with everything she had.

Her infiltrator ability kicking in, Wave slipped easily passed the Garchomp's lowered defenses with wing attack after wing attack, at first doing minimal to no damage... but eventually leaving small scratch marks on her enemies chest. As her speed increased and her wings began to glow brighter and brighter she noticed residual energy leaking off of them with every strike. She saw the flying type inside of her pierce through and her mind was suddenly pulled back to the Noivern in the cave. It couldn't be... had she unlocked a similar power?

Much to Jackson's surprise, Wave broke off and flew back in front of her trainer. Her wings began to glow a blindingly bright shade of sky blue... and she streaked them quickly forward with every ounce of her might. Jackson watched in awe as the air itself formed into slicing blades that ripped forward, cutting into the Garchomp's chest as Wave used the momentum to flip backwards and flutter in front of her trainer again.

WAVE LEARNED AIR CUTTER!

Garchomp stumbled backwards and Jackson grinned widely at Wave. Amazed by her sudden burst of power. Cynthia too, smiled gently as Garchomp collected himself. "Excellent, I must say that was quite the clever combination..." Jackson growled at the sound of her voice and Wave prepared to continue the fight. "Unfortunately..." She continued. "It would seem as if that knock was just strong enough, to re-awaken my partner to his senses.

"What?!" Jackson cried as Garchomp stopped its false stumble and instead dashed forward with a tremendous power flowing behind him. "Dragon Rush." Cynthia stated calmly, and Jackson reached forward on instinct. "Wave! You've got to-" But it was too late, with one mighty bash of its rock hard skull, infused with dragon type energy, Wave was sent flying into Jackson's side, launching both Trainer and pokémon into the wall behind them.

Jackson sunk to the floor with a pained growl and the unconscious Wave in his arms and the incubator thankfully undamaged upon his back. Instinctively he reached for another pokéball on his belt, but before he could even complete the motion... he felt the sharp blade of Garchomp's fin like appendage pressing to his neck and holding him in place as Cynthia slowly approached him. "It's over..." She said plainly... and Jackson growled up at her, staring with erupting anger and pain into her eyes. "...it would seem we have aught to discuss after all."

---

Cynthia sipped gently upon her cup of tea as the evening sun slowly began to set upon the Lumiose City. Jackson sat across from her devouring a bagel, the least she could do for their misunderstanding... not to mention it had seemed to calm him down. They had talked things over, getting answers out of the boy was like drawing blood from a stone but somehow she had managed to get the whole story.

"So my Garchomp's egg was stolen by three thugs whom you defeated... and you were going to use it to get in the good books with this... Team Cinder? The same Team Cinder behind the forest?" Jackson growled in response to the woman's words. "As if I'd ever use an egg as a bargaining chip... was just going to use it to get a meeting with them, a location even. No way I'd let those psychopaths touch an unborn child..."

Cynthia took another sip and pondered the situation further before asking. "You say you encountered a Cinder Admin in the forest...? One Gabriel Artece?" Jackson nodded in response. "A nutjob with a gun, didn't have any-" Cynthia swiftly interrupted. "Regard for life, human or pokémon?" Jackson rose an eyebrow and frowned. "I was gonna say balls, but yeah that fits... how the hell do you know?" Cynthia smiled softly and gave Jackson an intelligent stare. "Gabriel Artece is the name of a man recently released from prison for unknown reasons." She sighed. "It was under the table dealings and the officers involved were swiftly filling his old cell once caught... but the man you speak about is a known murderer charged with multiple accounts of manslaughter and crimes against humanity and pokémon."

Jackson grit his teeth and had to stop himself from spitting on the ground with disgust. "Yeah... can't say any of that surprises me." Cynthia's gaze softened and she placed her cup down upon the table. "It is a tall tale Mr. Crane... but I am inclined to believe you and thus apologize for my actions." Jackson's lip curled and he almost snarled... but he was about finished with confrontation for today. "I don't need your apology... if the egg is yours then it belongs with you... so you're justified." Jackson began to reach for the straps of the harness on his back but Cynthia caught his hand gently by the wrist.

"What dahell do you think you're-" "Keep it."

Jackson's face froze in an expression of disbelief. "...what did you just say?"

Cynthis grinned coyly. "I said you are to keep that egg, Mr. Crane." She stood gently from her chair. "You remind me of a young woman I met once... her resolve as strong as platinum. She came from a different life than you, that's for certain... but she too was stubborn to a fault."

Jackson stood up too, continuing to unstrap the egg. "I don't need your-"

"Handouts? Haha." Cynthia laughed and Jackson froze. "Oh yes... far too similar for your own good." She paused and finished her tea, before setting it down on the café table. "I see the hate you have for me in your eyes Mr. Crane... and in truth I do not know why it is there, but it may be that through some failing of my own I have inspired it in you. I can hear the Sinnoh in your accent, I know you hail from my home as well." Jackson glared at Cynthia aggressively, before his eyes softened a little.

"You were always on the T.V..." He muttered and Cynthia rose an eyebrow. "You were always on the T.V. sayin' how you were goin' t'make Sinnoh a better place for everyone!" He shouted accusingly, causing more than one cafégoer to jump in shock... and much to Jackson's surprise, fixating Cynthia's expression with a look of sadness and melancholy... but Jackson didn't stop. "When me 'n my little sister sat in some run down apartment in the Veilstone city slums she'd watch you on the television I worked my ass off to get for her! Her lyin' sick in bed she was convinced you were goin' to come and save us! You were her idol! But you never came! I waited... I gave Sinnoh a chance... but you never came." Jackson stared hard at the ground, his eyes welling slightly.

"I am sorry."

He looked up to see Cynthia's expression had darkened and matched his own, she stared at the floor holding onto her dignified facade as she too held back all but a single tear that fell down her face. "When I took over... Sinnoh was a mess. Corporations held the cities tightly in their grasp and Veilstone was all but owned by greedy and despicable people." She looked up at Jackson, her eyes wet. "You are exactly what I wanted to stop... your lives in pain... the oppression you suffered due to my delay in taking my place as Champion, my delay in ridding that city of those people." She closed her eyes and took a moment to regain her composure.

"Veilstone was cleaned up last year... but my greatest regret was that for some I was too little too late."

Jackson felt a weight slam into his chest to hear that his hometown had finally been fixed in his absence... though it stung to know that had he stayed there for just another few years hge may have been living a very different life right now. He was snapped out of his melancholy as Cynthia placed a hand on his shoulder. "There is no longer any doubt for me that you should keep the egg." She paused, before releasing him and fixing herself into her regular posture. "After all, for the betterment of this region... you will require it tonight correct?"

Jackson found himself speechless, but re-affixed the straps on his harness... before stepping towards the door of the café silently. Cynthia made no effort to stop him, she only watched him sadly as he moved to leave.

But he stopped... as he so often did, right before the door... and looked over his shoulder back at the Champion of Sinnoh... the leader of the home he both hated and loved.

"One day." He stated. "One day... I will defeat you, Cynthia."

Cynthia, though at first a little surprised, smiled softly and nodded to Jackson in return. "Then it is a challenge I shall look forward to... one last thing, however... here!" She tossed a light brown tinted disk in his direction and Jackson caught it in one hand. She smiled knowingly as he examined it.

"Something you might find useful."

As Jackson nodded in response, there was nothing more to be said... and thus he stepped out of the café and headed towards the pokémon center to prepare for the trials ahead of him.

Spoiler:

BugTypeAficionado · Jul 24, 2017

The Mean And Unclean Streets
Location: Café Gallant, Lumiose City

Current Team

Inventory

- Pokédex

- 850 Gold

- 5 Potions

- 2 Pokéballs

While many cities and towns are home to varying species of wild Pokemon, I have yet to see competition among these species in a greater capacity than in Lumiose City. Some only pass through the metropolis, while those who live in Lumiose are very territorial. It is not uncommon to see wild Pokemon compete for scraps in broad daylight.

Claudio looked up from his notepad as he heard another blow, and one of the bird Pokemon in the fight cooed in distress. Having arrived at Lumiose City earlier that day, this was far from the first battle Claudio had witnessed as he saw the sights. He wasn't much of a sightseer, but it was hard to not get drawn in to it all when visiting such a grand city. It reminded him of when he first visited Castelia City, although even then, he'd spent more time watching Pokemon come in and out of the sewers than get drawn in to all the commercialized activities there.

That morning, a flock of Pidove fought a stray Herdier over a mostly full box of pastries that had been carelessly thrown away. A hour or so later, that same Herdier was fighting a ragtag team of wild Espurr for the berries and scraps they'd picked up. And now, Claudio and Yottabyte were watching the Herdier tangle with the Pidove again, except now they'd brought over their Tranquill leader to assist them. While the fight was taking place across the street, the Porygon and their trainer simply watched in comfort outside the cafe on the other side of the street.

During my visit, I have witnessed three fights take place among wild Pokemon, and all three of them involved a suspicious looking Pokemon. A Herdier, it's fur unkempt, dirty, and torn in places, seems to be the instigator of the fights I've witnessed. Whether this is a specific case or a population wide problem among Herdiers in Lumiose, I am unsure. Claudio barely scribbled those last few words onto the current page he was writing on before running out of space and flipping to the next.

"Pooory?" Yotta curiously hovered by Claudio's shoulder, looking at his writings. Yotta would always do this whenever their trainer started jotting down notes. Whether they could actually read his writing or they were simply entertained by the shapes his handwriting made, the young man could never quite say for sure. Claudio glanced over to their side, seeing a lone paper plate on the other side of the table they were sitting at. "Already finished, Yotta? Remember to throw away your trash when you're done, Yotta." Claudio's gaze soon returned to the fight and his notepad without a second thought.

Knowing how much of a well-mannered person their trainer was, Yotta was quick to pick up on his traits, and had always thrown away their trash after a meal. Strangely enough, they didn't remembering finishing all of their Poke Puffs. There were at least three left on their plate before they started watching the fight with their trainer. Oh well, no harm, no foul. It had probably been taken by a Pidgey or Pidove, like every crumb of food in the city usually was. Through some telekinetic force, Yottabyte picked up the paper plate and looked for a nearby trash receptacle. No trash can in sight near the cafe...but at least there was a dumpster down a nearby alleyway. That would have to do.

~~~

Meanwhile, a plucky little Pokemon was having the best day of his life. The trash bag Pokemon was usually more than content gorging itself on garbage, and it usually had the lion's share of waste to feed on in this corner of the city. But today, he'd managed to get three color balls from the place where humans ate! Usually humans would just shoo him away if he went over there, but he was lucky enough that the human and weird-looking Pokemon didn't even notice him! Humans with their Pokemon would feed them color balls all the time, and he'd never gotten a chance to try them...until now! The Trubbish sat right down against the dumpster he called home, and placed the sweet balls on the ground before him. He cheered, then picked up the pink one with his mushy hand. Down the ha-...!

Uh oh.

The weird-looking Pokemon found him.

~~~

Yotta silently hovered down the alleyway, looking nonplussed as they approached the dumpster. They saw the dumpster first, but it didn't take long for them to stop dead in their tracks as they spotted both the stolen puffs, and the perpetrator himself. "Pory!" It growled at the Trubbish, who immediately grabbed all of the Poke Puffs in one fell swoop and growled back at Yotta with greater intensity. Seeing the puffs covered in sludge and dirt gave the Porygon second thoughts as it immediately backed down, grumbling in discontent. They shook their head in a disapproving matter and then flung the paper plate like a frisbee, both Pokemon watching it sail directly into the dumpster. Before either Pokemon could do anything else, both were frozen in fear at the sound of a fierce bark.

A rough, battle-worn, and tough Herdier that Yotta was all too familiar with was standing at the entrance to the alleyway, blocking in both Pokemon. Head lowered, the dog Pokemon growled and walked closer, causing the Trubbish to shudder and stand behind Yotta for defense. The closer they got, it became clearer that the Herdier had it's eyes on Trubbish, or more specifically, the puffs they'd stolen. Before the Porygon knew what was happening, they spotted their trainer following the Herdier down the alleyway, and significantly picking up the pace once he saw his Pokemon in danger.

"Yotta!" He called to the Porygon before Herdier turned around and barked at him. It did not look happy having it's hunt be interrupted, and kept barking until Claudio gave the Herdier some space. He hadn't seen it before, underneath it's jungle of fur, but Claudio could've sworn he saw a collar around the Pokemon's neck. "Calm down, it's okay. Nobody needs to get hurt." He put out his hands in an attempt to quell the Pokemon, but the bite towards his ankle that Claudio barely dodged told him loud and clear that this approach was not going to work. Yotta narrowed it's eyes angrily, and seemed more interested in solving this problem a different way. It swiftly flung it's body against the Herdier with a Tackle, slamming it into a wall. Taking full advantage of this position, the Herdier dug it's fangs into Yotta's neck with a Crunch, causing the digital Pokemon to let out an ear-piercing screech.

"Yotta! Get him off with a Psybeam!" Claudio quickly commanded, worried for his Pokemon's safety. Firing a pink pulse from it's eyes, the Herdier's bite loosened enough for Yotta to pull itself out from beneath the Herdier, who was reeling from the psychic attack. A nasty bite mark was left on Yotta's neck from the attack, and while the Porygon looked fine enough, Claudio didn't want to risk taking another hit like that.

"Use an Agility, then use Conversion 2!" Claudio firmly ordered, staying level-headed as he gave his command, despite how unnervingly close the Herdier was. Yotta started darting back and forth around the Herdier, and it started growling at every position where the Pokemon used to be as it gained speed. The young man adjusted his glasses as he watched his plan in action. Setting up with Agility would gave Yotta ample time avoid incoming attacks, and if did get hit again, Conversion 2 would help it prepare for the nasty Crunch he'd just witnessed. However, his eyes soon fixated on the Herdier's nose as it started glowing among the commotion of it all. As soon as he recognized the move, Claudio's hand tightened into a fist. "Yotta, dodge, now!" He yelled, but it was too late. Before they could perform Conversion 2, the digital Pokemon was tackled to the ground and against a wall with a Take Down, both the assailant and assailee taking damage from the impact. Snarling once more, Herdier had Yotta fiercly pinned beneath it's paws, the latter groaning in pain. Claudio had his heart in his throat as he watched the scene before him unfold, unable to gather the courage to step forward and stop this. Instead, a glob of sludge would end up doing that job for him.

The sludge would hit the ravenous dog in the face, obscuring it's vision and poisoning it as it stumbled backwards and growled in angry confusion. "Trub-ish!" The poison Pokemon emerged from the sidelines of the fight, no longer cowardly in the face of the munching mutt. He wrapped his arms around himself and tucked into a ball, using his trashy bulk to his advantage with a Rollout. The high-velocity impact hit the Herdier head-on, knocking it into a wall one last time before it grumbled and dropped to the ground. Out cold, Trubbish cheered and blew raspberries at the knocked-out Pokemon, before happily eating the color balls he'd so valiantly defended.

Before he could even question the appearance of the Trubbish, whom he wasn't even aware of being there during the encounter, Claudio had to, first and foremost, attend to his Pokemon. Picking up Yotta, it looked banged up from the battle, but would be just fine. Claudio still shuddered and tenderly pet his Porygon, fearing what might've become of them had the wild Trubbish not come to their rescue.

"I'm sorry, Yotta, I couldn't help you. I should've known better, of course a Pokemon with such a nose would have Odor Sleuth." He started grumbling to himself, standing up to carry the injured Yotta in his arms before something tugged at his coat. The Trubbish apparently wanted to see Yotta, looking at the Pokemon and frowning. It went through all this trouble, just to help him? He couldn't remember another Pokemon or person that did that for him...he had to at least do something for them, especially after how he started all this.

Trubbish waddled over to it's dumpster and climbed inside, digging around for a while before pulling out a rectangular object. This shiny thing was his prized possession, it made the prettiest light when he let the sun shine on it. Hopefully they'd like it as much as he did. He hopped right back out of the dumpster and held up his shiny thing, smiling and hoping the human would accept his gift. Judging from the way his eyes widened upon seeing his shiny thing, it was safe to say he loved it.

The shiny thing in question was a Silph Co. Branded Up-Grade, and while the transparent glass case was cracked and worse for wear, the disk inside looked relatively untouched, which was a miracle in of itself. "How did you...? Where did you...?" Claudio asked, at a loss for words as he looked the thing over to confirm it was the real deal. "Thank you, little guy. For this, and for helping us out of that bind, there." Claudio looked back at the fainted Herdier, catching it's collar once more. He approached it and kneeled down, taking a Pokeball out of his bag and tapping it against it's body, trying to capture it. Once it refused and gave him an error, Claudio's theory seemed true. This Pokemon was an abandoned stray. He looked at the collar and couldn't find a trainer ID of any kind, only it's nickname, "Mana Ibu". He returned Yotta to their ball and picked up the Herdier. As heavy as it may be, he intended to bring it with him to the Pokemon Center, hoping that perhaps he could find their trainer.

"Trub!" The Trubbish hopped a bit as it tried to get Claudio's attention before he left, walking to his side and pointing at his bag.

"...What are you...?" He cocked an eyebrow, kneeling back down to ground level as the Trubbish started digging through his back before pulling out the Pokeball, and tapping it on his forehead. Immediately, Claudio realized what the Pokemon was suggesting. "You want to join me?" He asked, looking at the Trubbish curiously. Trubbish started making puppy dog eyes, hoping the human wasn't having second thoughts. Claudio quickly put those worries to rest, as a gentle smile spread across his face. "You really got me and Yotta out of a bind here today. The least I could do is let you tag along." The Trubbish smiled again and cheered, eagerly waiting for Claudio to do the deed. With a tap on his head from the ball and a beam of light, it shook once...twice...once more...then clicked.

~~~

"Nothing at all? Nobody in the whole city could've owned this Pokemon?" Claudio frowned at the news again, the Joy having a similar frown as the now cleaned and groomed Herdier sat next to Claudio curiously at the counter of the Pokemon Center. Mana Ibu, who was confirmed to be a female Herdier, was still a little ill-tempered from the ordeal. But the fact that the human she had attacked brought her here after all of that confused her, leaving her hesitant to attack any further and simply see how this turns out. Yotta, who had been given their Up-Grade and evolved while Mana Ibu was being cleaned up and attended to by the Pokemon Center's staff, and Hefty, the newly caught Trubbish named for his bulk and weight, avoided their former attacker and opted to sit at a nearby bench, far away enough from the Herdier.

"We're sorry, there's been no accounts of a Pokemon named Mana Ibu being healed or registered at our center." The Joy explained. "We can, however, rehabilitate this Herdier to the Lumiose Adoption Shelter. Hopefully either their old trainer or a capable trainer can give Mana a permanent home." The Joy went into the back of the center and came back with a leash, bending down to attach it to Mana Ibu's collar. She growled, but did not retaliate in any manner. Claudio kneeled to the Herdier's level and started to pet her behind the ears to comfort her. At first, Mana intended to snap at the human's hand, before it's eyes narrowed at the petting, unable to remember the last time somebody did that. She settled and closed her eyes, letting Claudio pet her for the longest time before he retracted. She still glared daggers at the human, but there was no doubting he'd taken some wildness out of the street dog. After a silent goodbye, Mana was taken to the back room, where she'd eventually be taken to the shelter, and with luck, would find a new home.

With a Pokemon as feisty as Mana, Claudio could only hope.

Hefty the Trubbish was caught!

Impish Nature
Ability: Stench
Pound, Recycle, Toxic Spikes, Double Slap, Sludge, Rollout (Egg Move)

Yottabyte evolved into Porygon2!

Serious Nature
Ability: Analytic
Tackle, Conversion, Conversion 2, Sharpen, Psybeam, Agility

Ozymandias · Jul 24, 2017

Kayla Calloway - Bright Lights, Big City pt. 3

"So... what's the catch?" Kayla stood before the grand wooden oak desk, with her arms crossed, eyebrows raised.

"There is no catch my dear!" Professor Sycamore said with a jovial tone, his thick Kalosian accent imbued in each word. "All that I ask is that you take Mudkip along with you on your journey and raise him just as well as you do with all your other pokemon." A hint of an expression that Kayla couldn't quite place crossed the man's face as he became lost in thought, but it was quickly replaced by his regular smile. "So what do you say Kayla?"

The trainer gave one more suspicious look towards the professor before sighing and giving in. "Well if there aren't any strings attached, I'd love to have Mudkip on the team."

"Magnifique!" Sycamore rose from his seat behind the desk and motioned Kayla towards the hall. "Why don't we go meet your new partner on the second floor?"

She nodded in response and began walking out of the lab's main office. The velvet flooring and the various portraits decorating the walls made the room look more like a business office than a floor in a pokemon lab. If not for the stacks of files scattered about, Kayla would've thought it was completely separate from the rest of the building. It was a little strange, but she couldn't deny that the Kalosian style of the floor was a nice touch.

As the pair entered the elevator, the redhaired trainer glanced over at the professor. "So why me? Why do I get a special pokemon?"

Sycamore stared at the ceiling, carefully thinking over his answer. "Well, as for you, I believe you'd do a fine job in caring for this pokemon considering your background in breeding. Have you ever handled this species before?"

Unsatisfied with the answer, Kayla frowned, but decided not to prod any further. "Not Mudkips in particular, but we've had a few Swamperts come through the ranch. They're a pretty remarkable species though. Water-Ground is quite a formidable typing and that strength is something to be reckoned with."

"Indeed it is." The professor smiled before patting his former pupil on the head. "Perhaps one day you'll have a future in the field of research with that brain of yours."

The elevator doors opened, with Kayla promptly walking through them as she brushed the man's hand away. "You wish. You'd never catch me dead in one of those lab coats." She winked at him before strolling towards a pedestal containing three pokeballs. "So is this where the little guy is being held?"

This floor took on the appearance of a stereotypical laboratory with its stainless white floors and walls. Lab equipment was placed throughout the room and people dressed in the aforementioned lab coats scurried about, busy in their work.

"Précisément!" Sycamore carefully grabbed the pokeball on the left and handed it to the young woman. "Here he is."

Barely able to contain her excitement, she pressed the center of the ball, releasing a red flash. From said flash, a little blue pokemon appeared, facing towards Kayla he cocked his head. "Kip?"

The trainer squatted down to be face to face, or as close to it, as she could get with the newest member of her party. "Hey little guy, my name's Kayla." She grinned as the Mudkip cocked its head to the other side and responded with another "Kip!"

She reached out and rubbed his head. "If it's okay with you, we're gonna be partners from now on. We'll travel across the region together, explore all the routes there are to explore, challenge all the gyms there are to challenge, and meet all the pokemon there are to meet. So what do you say buddy? Are you with me?"

With a happy "Kip!" the Mudkip's response was to leap into his new trainer's arms and nestle up into her. With a giggle, Kayla's grin spread from ear to ear. "I'll take that as a yes."

Watching the pair, the professor couldn't help but sport a smile of his own. "Looks like he's already taken to you."

Cuddling the little water type in her arms, Kayla responded with a happy nod. "Thanks for giving me the opportunity."

"Of course, my dear. Now lets go get your Monferno and you can be on your way."

NEW POKEMON

Skip the Mudkip ♂
Torrent
Tackle | Growl | Mud Slap | Water Gun | Avalanche

Strange · Jul 25, 2017

Dylan Graham

Spoiler:

Dylan entered into a room with bright black and white checkered floors and a red carpet which led to a grand front desk. All around him stood tables at waist height, some of which had furfrou modeling while groomers went to work styling their fur in outrageous and unique ways. "Frou! Furfrou!" a furfrou greeted them, it's stylish fur cut to resemble a hat with a large bow.

"Frou Frou!" the furfrou sneered, sniffing and growling at Dylan's muddy mess of a furfrou.

"Yeah yeah yeah, I know he's dirty, scat! Shoo!" Dylan waved the dog away, who strutted off with her nose in the air. He walked up to the counter, ignoring the dirty looks he was getting for leaving a muddy trail of pawprints behind. "Hello?" Dylan called, ringing the bell on the counter. He waited patiently, but began to grow nervous. What if they asked to see his pokeball? If they scanned it they'd definitely know it was stolen. Even though he wasn't entirely sure if Doux, that was what he was calling the furfrou now, was stolen from a trainer or caught with a stolen pokeball, it wouldn't make much of a difference to the police.

"Greetings! Hello! Welcome!" a cheerful voice sang from behind the desk, swiftly spinning through a curtain into view. "Welcome to Friseur Furfrou! The number one furfrou grooming-EEEEEK!" she screeched, holding her hands in front of her mouth. "What hideous foul creature tracked mud into my-" she stopped when her eyes followed the mud up to Doux. "Hmph" she grunted, "Well, I suppose you're a new customer? Repeat customers would know that mud is not tolerated in…" she paused and stared at Dylan's face.

"Oh! One of the Santalune Contest winners! I just knew one of them would be bound to have such great taste as to acquire a furfrou and seek out my most glorious shop!" She clasped her hands together and held them over her heart. "I was, however, under the impression you had good taste Mr. Graham, considering your most elegant performance."

"He's a rescue." Dylan informed her. "And I'll have you know he's extremely friendly and wonderful to be around."

"Mmm I see." she reached down and lifted one of his ears, her face looking as if she had stuck her hand into a muk's mouth. "Hmmm I very rarely have male furfrou come in for styling. The men usually prefer to leave their furfrou as primal savage beasts with their "natural" look." She wrinkled her nose even more, speaking the word "natural" like it was a crime.

"Oh, I just came in for a wash-" Dylan started

"And a cut and a style, the works! Such passion!" she beamed. "I just knew you'd want an original style, so I set about coming up with a Francine Original!" She waved her hand, flinging the mud on her right hand across the room.

"Francine?" Dylan questioned.

"Why you kid! Of course you know that it is me! Francine DeFrou!" She curtsied, eyes blazing proudly when she said her name.

"Oh, well of course I did! I just… wasn't aware you gave out original designs to just anyone." he carefully replied.

"Oh of course not! But I saw the potential of the budding contest champions at the Santalune contest and I just couldn't help but come up with a few new designs. Unfortunately, I only have one worked out fully at the moment, but I can have many more made if you return!" She assured him heartily. "Debbyyyyy!" she called out, a groomer walking over from across the room. "Take Mr…"

"Doux" Dylan inserted the furfrou's name for her.

"Yes, take Mr. Doux here to the baths, and then give him my new dazzling style!" she grinned ear to ear, spinning in place.

~~~~~~~

After what seemed like an eternity of waiting, the mud was cleaned from the floor and Doux was transformed into a dazzling new style. Dylan couldn't believe his eyes when Francine led Doux out from behind a curtain. He looked extraordinary. His ear and foot fur was dyed a dazzling yellow, and the fur on his legs, back, and belly were shaved. It really complimented his energetic personality.

"Stunning!" Francine chimed. "I just knew it!" She spun in place again, dress swirling around her. "Now! Let's talk payment!" she winked, leading Dylan up to the desk. "Let's see, for wash, color, cut, style...." she began to punch buttons on a keyboard. "500 poké!" When Dylan looked confused she added "A discount of course!" and winked. "Oh, I almost forgot, we're required to scan your pokeball for our records!"

Dylan froze. Just at the same moment his communicator buzzed. He glanced down at it and saw a message from the professor. "Actually, I've really got to go!" Dylan blurted out. "I'm late for a meeting with the professor!" He slung his bag on and ran to the door. "Sorry!"

~~~~~~~

"Huh?" Dylan gaped as he tried to process the situation.

"I have a few pokemon I'd like to see go to a good home, and I thought you might like to take one." Sycamore repeated. "I've prioritized breeders," he continued, "Kayla has already graciously accepted Mudkip. I thought you might like Treecko or Torchic."

"Yeah, but, why?" Dylan asked, scratching his head slightly. "I understand these pokemon are unique, but shouldn't you be studying their potential rather than giving them away?"

"Ah, yes, well, these pokemon have a potential that I alone could not hope to unlock. I'm giving them to you wonderful trainers in hopes that you can help me." He smiled, that cheerfully contagious grin of his, and held out his arms. "So?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Alright!" Dylan agreed eagerly. He was all for raising a powerful and unique pokemon, especially since he'd be helping the professor along the way. "I haven't really read much about these pokemon, which in itself must mean they're hard to find here in Kalos, but can you tell me anything more about them?"

Sycamore smiled warmly, "Well, Treecko is a grass type, and as far as we know stays a grass type through its evolutions. It's known to become quite quick, and have good offensive capabilities. Very different from your happiny there. Whereas Torchic is a fire type, which later develops the fighting type as well, known to become decently fast, but it's true strength lies in its ability to attack with both physical and non-physical attacks exceptionally well." Sycamore finished leading Dylan to the elevator, taking him up to his lab on the second floor.

"They're just over here." Sycamore continued, Dylan following close behind. They came across two pokeballs lying next to each other on his desk. "So, which sounds like the next member of your team?" He questioned, leaning casually on his desk. Dylan couldn't help but notice how calm he looked now that they were out of the bustling lobby.

"I think… well…" Dylan thought hard. "I think Treecko. Yeah." Dylan concluded, the professor holding out one of the pokeballs for him.

"Take good care of her." Sycamore smiled, "and don't forget to come back and visit sometime!"

"I will!" Dylan answered, forgetting all about his dilemma with Doux. He had originally planned on asking Professor Sycamore for advice on his way over, but that plan seemed to have vanished from his mind as soon as the new pokeball touched his hand.

LinearAxel · Jul 26, 2017

Sebastian Allender

The City of Love part 1

"Is it always this hot in Lumiose?" Sebastian asks the barista of Cafe Introversion (the name was too appealing to pass up).

"Pretty much. All the people bustlin' around don't help it any." The barista sighs as he wipes sweat from his brow. It's then that a commotion from outside causes both to glance towards the door.

"Ah, Lillie's got another challenger." The older man nods as he cleans a glass. He takes note of the confusion on Sebastian's face and begins to explain. "Lillie's a passin' trainer. She's gettin' a lot of attention 'cause none of the kids around here've ever seen a Pokemon like her's. Can't say I have either. Maybe you know it? Go take a look." He motions towards the window.

Sebastian rises from his seat and curiously peers out the window, and the sight causes him to draw in a sharp breath-- Alice?

No...no, not Alice, but a girl that could easily be her twin. They have the same hair in the same style, the same vibrant green eyes, their skin tone and height is exceptionally similar as well. Even that Pokemon at her side-- Brionne, the evolved form of Popplio, which was the Pokemon Alice chose to start her journey with.

Chester, the barista, can't help but notice the awe struck look on the teen's face, and with a kind smile he opens his freezer. "Hey, think you can do me a favor?"

Snapping back to reality, Sebastian turns his attention back to the friendly barista. "I'll do my best."

Chester hands over a Castiliacone. "Lillie's been battlin' her heart out all day in that heat. Why don't you bring that out to her? Tell her it's on the house."

"Oh-- sure." Sebastian accepts the cone with slight hesitation. Couldn't Chester bring it out to her himself? He supposed it wouldn't be very appropriate to leave his store unattended but...she's just across the street. Still, saying no to such a simple request would cause him to have to say why he wouldn't do it, and that just seemed far too uncomfortable.

Sebastian picks up his bag and exits Cafe Introversion. He waits while a taxi passes, and then a Gogoat, and another Gogoat; there's a split second of homesickness that swells inside his chest as the large grass types trot by: Gogoat was a favorite Pokemon of his father's, and his younger brother.

The pedestrian crossing light begins to glow, and Sebastian quickly jogs to the other side of the street. By the time he reaches Lillie, her opponent has gone on their way. This Lillie must be a very impressive battler. "M-miss Lillie?" He stammers.

The female trainer turns her head, those oh-so familiar eyes glancing up to meet Sebastian's, and the male trainer has to resist the temptation to take a step back. "Have we met…?" She asks uncertainly.

"N-no, I'm just...a messenger of sorts." Sebastian holds out the frozen treat. "Chester asked me to bring this out to you-- and said it's on the house."

"O-oh...he didn't have to do that…" She had slid into the cafe a few times in the last several days, when she needed a break from the influx of trainers, or just to get out of the sun. "Th-thank you." She reaches for the ice cream, hands about to touch...when a white leaps between the two, and the ice cream is no more.

A streak of white fluff lands several inches away from them, the cone clutched tightly in its jaws, and it darts for the closest alley, leaving some kind of sticky, red liquid trailing behind it.

"It's bleeding…!" Lillie points to the paw-shaped blood stains the white Pokemon left behind. With a new determination in her eyes, she looks back to Sebastian. "We have to help it!"

"Right." The teen agrees, and the two begin to give chase-- or they would, if not for a Pokemaniac rushing over and blocking the alleyway.

"Lillie of Alola!" The strange man shrieks, pointing dramatically at Lillie. "I challenge thee!"

"I--" Lillie huffs. She knows this look, this guy isn't going away.

"Take care of him. I'll find our friend." Sebastian encourages. Finding that Pokemon is going to be a lot harder with a man in a Charizard costume following them, screaming…

"Okay." It's clearly not what she wants, but every second they spend arguing is a second that poor Pokemon is still in pain.

Sebastian ducks around the Pokemaniac as he shouts something about Lillie meeting her match, and follows the trail of red pawprints, and what look like red raindrops. Following the trail leads down another street, and another alleyway. The rustling of two garbage cans give the Pokemon's position away, and Sebastian approaches slowly.

The sight behind the garbage cans makes his stomach hurt. Sitting on a filthy old blanket, licking its wounded paw, is a Furfrou, though it looks nothing like the Furfrou you tend to see walking with their trainers through the city. This one has significantly more fur, and that fur is matted and tied in an uncomfortable cluster of knots. Its front left leg was stained the brownish red color of dried blood, and there was a tear in its left ear that continued to drip thick, red liquid onto the stained blanket. Dingy white fur had grown down in front of its eyes, and Sebastian was fairly certain the Pokemon couldn't see much through it.
"Fur-" Sebastian didn't so much as finish the Pokemon's name before it wildly whips its head upward, causing the fur on its head to fall back and revealing furious, feral eyes. It snarls at Sebastian as it hunkers into an attacking stance.

"I don't want to hu-"

"FROU!" It snaps viciously and leaps forward, tackling into the teen's chest and causing him to fly a good foot back, landing harshly against the hot concrete of the street. As Sebastian falls, the white blur takes off running once more.

As the air returns to Sebastian's lungs he sits up, cringing at the pain in his spine. That's going to be a very colorful bruise tomorrow…As he stands, the sound of screeching tires cause him to whirl around-- just in time to see Furfrou collide with a vibrant yellow taxi.

"FURFROU!" Sebastian screams, his voice trembling as he runs to the scene. Is Furfrou okay? It's not moving. Sebastian, you have to do something!

A memory flashes into his mind; the Pokedex entry for Minior: If its core stays exposed, it will soon die off. It's possible that it may survive if it's put into a Poké Ball quickly enough.

A man jumps from the taxi, muttering something about how he tried to stop, and how Furfrou came out of nowhere. He holds his hands up defensively as Sebastian runs forward, certain the trainer is going to deck him for running over his Pokemon, but instead the kid just drops down and taps the unconscious beast with a Pokeball.

"Get in." The driver speaks without hesitation. "I'll drive you to the center."

It was a quick drive. The driver ran at least two red lights, which caused some angry horn blaring and most likely more than a few middle fingers getting shoved their way, but it was worth it to get to the Pokemon Center so fast.

Once they got there; however, it seemed like the clock itself was ticking in slow motion. One of the nurse Joy's whisked Furfrou into the back, and then everything became...still. Still and quiet, with only the sound of the air conditioner running to convince Sebastian that time itself hadn't frozen...until finally…

"You're the one that brought Furfrou in, right?" A nurse assistant asks.

"Y-yes. Is…?"

"He'll be alright. It seems the taxi was going pretty slow when...it happened." Yes, that's a nice way to put it. "But...if you're intending to keep him, there's something you should know."
Sebastian looks to the young nurse with questioning eyes.

"That Furfrou used to belong to a different trainer, a very...tough trainer. When he learned how few attacks a Furfrou learns naturally, he abandoned it…and well...you can see the effects it's had on Furfrou."

Oh...so that's why it was so vicious. Sebastian nods.

"I think...it would be good for Furfrou to be around nice people, but...it's going to be a very difficult Pokemon to train. It might be best to take it out of the city and release it."

Release it? Isn't that just another word for abandon it? That would make him the second trainer to abandon the poor poodle. Sebastian shakes his head slowly. "I...would like to keep Furfrou."

"I was hoping you'd say that." The NA smiles. Now that he knows what he's getting himself into, if he's still willing...this will be good for Furfrou. "I'll go get him right now." She trots into the back, returning a moment later with a Pokeball, and...clippers?

"Nurse Joy said you can have these, they're made specifically for trimming Furfrou fur. He's...going to need it."

"Thank you." Sebastian smiles as he takes the Pokeball and the sheers. After tucking the sheers into his bag he glances down to the Pokeball.

"Welcome to the team, Furfrou."

Pokemon Caught!

Nickname: Chance
Ability: Fur Coat
Tackle
Sand Attack
Headbutt
Bite
Charm
Zen Headbutt

BugTypeAficionado · Jul 26, 2017

A Battle of Truth and Ideals
Location: Centrico Plaza, Lumiose City

Current Team

Inventory

- Pokédex

- 850 Gold

- 5 Potions

- 1 Pokéball

Claudio wouldn't lie to himself for one second; being out in this big, bustling city with the sun only moments away from disappearing over the horizon was...unsettling, at the very least. Especially with a rather shady group having made the news during the past few days; Team Cinder. Bastards apparently started a fire in Santalune Forest, during the same time he and Yotta were passing through the area. He didn't want to think what would've happened if he crossed paths with such shady characters. People whose actions had caused the loss of both human and Pokemon life probably wouldn't hesitate to add another body to the count.

Trying to shake such thoughts from his mind, Claudio looked at Yotta's Pokeball as he clutched it in his hand. Yotta had proven more than once on their journey together so far how capable they were, enough so that they were even able to net Claudio his first badge without any other Pokemon on his team. With Yotta now evolved, and the addition of Hefty, he was confident his Pokemon would have no problem against any Cinder thugs.

Lost in thought, Claudio nearly took a wrong turn, and harshly came to a stop as he needed to reorientate himself. He checked his Xtransceiver on his right wrist, which was a sleek, white model for directions. He was certainly glad his mother had gone out of her way to buy one for him before he left for Kalos, as newer models such as this had many more functions than just for calling. Technology marches on indeed.

After that, Claudio was headed in the right direction again. Lumiose City's main plaza is where he was headed, as he'd heard from word of mouth across the cities' many cafés that a strange trainer with a lab coat and...odd taste in hair styles, was challenging trainers in the Centrico Plaza. A Gym Leader? Not likely, but Claudio would certainly appreciate a chance to train his Pokemon against different foes. Before long, Prism Tower's base came into view as he entered the plaza, and it wasn't long before he saw the trainer in question. It was hard not to see someone so...eccentric.

He was sitting idly at a bench in the plaza, idly tapping at a device on his arm. He looked decked out in gadgets and thingamajigs, some of which Claudio was surprised he recognized. That sort of lab equipment probably shouldn't be outside of a lab, but whatever. That didn't matter. Approaching the man in question, Claudio didn't even have time to say anything before the trainer looked up and spotted him.

"Another challenger? At this hour?" The man smirked, standing to greet Claudio properly. "And one with a strikingly similar outfit as well. I had no idea you were a member of the Colress Fan Club." Claudio started to get a bit frizzled from the comment. The man interjected. "I'm joking, of course. I'm not aiming to impress. Not with looks, at least. Still, the coat, the hair...even your eyes are a similar hue to my own. Interesting."

Claudio had to agree, it was a bit bizarre how similar yet different the two were in appearance. It almost felt like he was looking through a bizarre mirror in a fun house.

"That aside, could you perhaps tell me your name?" The man asked, to which Claudio straightened his jacket before telling him.

"Claudio, hm? It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. My name is Colress. My passion is to study and maximize the power of Pokemon. My current hypothesis, as it stands, is that it involves the bond between a trainer and their Pokemon. I've been searching for powerful trainers to test this theory further...but unfortunately, I have not seen such power in any trainer that has challenged me thus far. After today, I will be taking my research elsewhere...but if I were to guess, you approached me because you wished to battle with me, correct?"

The young man nodded. "I've heard plenty talk about you recently, Mr. Colress. I was hoping to see how true the rumors were, as well as train up my Pokemon."

"Please, just Colress. No need for such formalities." Colress stepped back, putting ample distance between the two of them so their Pokemon would have room to fight. "One more thing, Claudio. Before we fight, tell me, what is your passion? What drives you to be the trainer that stands before me? There is no wrong answer." That question left Claudio pondering for a moment, not sure how to explain something so profound properly. The words eventually came to him as he pulled out Yotta's Pokeball.

"I want to learn about the world around us, and use that power to be the best trainer I can be. I want to leave a meaningful impact on the world...and be somebody people could look up to and aspire to be like."

"Fascinating. Fascinating indeed." Colress nodded, his hand profoundly resting upon his chin. "Well, that's all there is to it, then. We shall battle, and see which trainer's passion burns the strongest. I look forward to seeing the power of the Pokemon that walk by your side, Claudio. Now, let's get this experiment underway!"

~~~

In an instant, both Pokemon were released onto the field at the same time in a flash of light, and both trainers were surprised to see that this battle would start as a mirror match. At the sight of another of it's own kind, Yotta let out a curious growl, before narrowing it's eyes at it's target.

"Well, this will be even more interesting than I had previously anticipated." Colress chuckled softly, before wasting no time in starting the battle itself. "Porygon2, open with a Tri-Attack!"

The opposing Porygon2 fired three colored orbs, one red, one blue, and one yellow. They darted around Yotta curiously, and as Claudio ordered them to dodge, Yotta was quick to act. The red and blue ones dissipated into small puffs of energy, but the yellow one had managed to home on it's target and strike, causing Yottabyte to flinch. Electrical sparks coated the digital Pokemon's body, and it suddenly found difficulty moving. "Paralyzed, this early into the match?" Claudio groaned, his fists clutched tightly. He could work with this.

"Yotta, go in hard with a Tackle!" He ordered, as Yotta started zipping across the battlefield before colliding with the other Porygon2, who let out a yelp as it was sent flying a fair distance from the impact. The impact was more powerful than Colress predicted it could've been, causing him to cast a curious glance across the battlefield.

"That was quite a powerful attack, I must commend you for that. But how did your Porygon2 manage such power with a move such as Tackle?" He asked, his own Porygon2 recovering from the impact. Claudio was wondering the same thing, before it hit him.

"The power of abilities, that's how!" Claudio smirked, now ever more confident in his Pokemon's power. "Yotta has the ability Analytic, which boosts the power of moves if the user goes before their target. In fact, by paralyzing my Pokemon and lowering it's speed, you inadvertently let Yotta hit with it's full power." Yotta cheered, but was cut short as the aforementioned paralysis kept them stuck in place for a couple moments.

"How clever. I suppose that coat of yours wasn't for show after all. But, I suppose while your Pokemon is paralyzed..." Colress, held out his arm proudly, giving another command to his partner. "Porygon2, use Recover while our friend here is occupied!" Claudio extended his arm in the same fashion. "Yotta, don't let them do that! Stop them with another Tackle!"

Try as they might, Yottabyte wasn't going any where at the moment as they were paralyzed. Colress' own Porygon2 glowed a strange green as they recovered from the damage they had sustained from the battle thus far, causing Claudio to glare daggers across the plaza. This battle was certainly getting heated...which is why it took a while for Claudio to notice that their battle had attracted somewhat of an audience. Passerby standing on the sidelines, some sitting in benches, they watched the battle with mild interest and curiosity. Battling with a crowd, even one as small as this one, was a lot different than battling on his lonesome. Even some of the construction workers working on the finishing touches for the opening ceremony for the gym leader exchange this year were watching, for kicks if nothing else.

Eventually, Yotta did break through the paralysis with a burst of small electricity discharging from it's body, and it immediately went for another Tackle once given the opportunity. The damage it had done before had now not gone to waste.

"No time to waver, Porygon2. We must stay on the offensive. Use Signal Beam!" Colress ordered, and an erratic beam came from the Pokemon's glowing eyes. The beam hit Yotta dead in, and despire causing it to reel, it luckily did not inflict some nasty confusion.

"Yotta, use Sharpen!" Without hesitation, Yotta followed their trainer's command, and it's body started shimmering like a newly sharpened blade would under the twilight. However, it was soon again interrupted by paralysis keeping Yotta in place. With a dangerous shimmer in his eyes, Colress knew what to do next.

"Porygon2, finish this off with a Hyper Beam!" At the mere mention of the move, parts of the crowd dispersed; nobody wanted to be in the possible firing range of a Hyper Beam. Rather quickly, the Pokemon charged the ever-feared move, aimed dead on at Yotta.

"D-dodge it, Yotta! Quick!" Claudio quickly yelled in a panic, clearly disheveled as his battle strategy was falling apart. But in what felt like a miracle, Yotta fought through the paralysis and dodged out of the way of the Hyper Beam without a moment of spare. Both trainers were impressed that the attack missed, and each trainer had an opposite reaction to the turnout. "Great job, Yotta! Now, use another Sharpen, and then Tackle them hard!" With a newfound determination in their eyes, Yotta followed their commands, and as the opposing Pokemon was left wide open, the resulting impact was enough to cause a K.O. The crowd, now mostly composing of kids and some adults, starting cheering and clapping at the display before them. Colress clapped as well, although his clap was much slower and to a much different tone.

"Bravo, Claudio. But don't forget, you've only won half the battle. I still have one Pokemon left. Although, allow me to commend you for the power your Pokemon have displayed so far. I can only hope you will continue to display such power as our battle continues." Colress returned his Porygon2, and brought out a Pokemon unfamiliar to Claudio's team thus far. "Don't disappoint our friend here, Magneton!"

Magneton's entrance to the fight got some cheers out of the crowd, as the number of passerby watching the fight continued to slowly grow. Guess when you fight square in the middle of town, you're bound to attract a crowd. "Ma-a-a-g!" All three heads beeped, almost like a robotic battle cry as it was given such a warm welcome from the crowd.

"Yotta, start with a Tackle!" Claudio commanded, causing the digital Pokemon to ram into Magneton shortly after it's appeal to the crowd. The attack certainly caused it to flinch, but the attack didn't seem to do much damage. Claudio cursed under his breath, hoping the Sharpens Yottabyte had performed would've given it's Tackle more oompth against the Steel type, but unfortunately not.

"Magneton, home in to them with a Magnet Bomb!" Colress was quick to respond to the opportunity given to him, his Magneton firing small, dense balls of metal that homed in to Yotta like they were magnetic. As soon as they made impact, they exploded and caused Yotta to shriek in pain. They tried to get more space between them and the Magneton, before the accursed paralysis came back. They'd never fully recovered from the paralysis given to them through Tri-Attack, and were left susceptible to the trio of Steel-types. Without even a command given to them, they fired more Magnet Bombs at their immobile target, over and over until Yotta whited out with a final shriek. It was...honestly painful to watch for Claudio. No way was he letting that hunk of metal get away with doing that.

"You did good, Yotta. Get some rest." He muttered as he returned his partner to his ball. Looks like they were down 1-to-1. Confidently, Claudio grabbed Hefty's Pokeball and released him into battle. "Hang in there, Hefty!" He chanted, the Trubbish appearing with similar enthusiasm. Some cheered at his appearance, while others groaned and covered their nose. Hefty seemed happy anyways. Claudio started considering his moves, before noticing the glaring disadvantage he had. All of Hefty's moves were resisted by Steel-types, leaving him with, unfortunately, not a lot of options. Time to make do with what he had, though. "Hefty, use Rollout!"

As the command was given, Hefty gave a determined "Trub!" before curling into a ball and spinning around the plaza, spinning circles around the Magneton. However, Colress seemed calm...too calm, almost.

"Magnet Rise." He said simply, with no hesitation. With the power of electricity, Magneton levitated itself off the ground, with Hefty rolling right beneath his target. He swerved around again, trying again and again to hit his target, to no avail. In his fury, Hefty tried again to land a hit, before rolling right past it and into a lamp post with a rather loud THUD. Dazed, Hefty stumbled around dumbfounded after the impact, giving Magneton ample time to capitalize.

"Magneton, let's wrap this up. Discharge!" Colress commanded, with a smile on his face saying he'd already won. The Magneton grabbed the smaller Pokemon with it's magnet appendages, before discharging a large amount of energy. The zap was more than enough to cause the Pokemon to flop to the ground with a groan, defeated. Cheers rang out around both participants as the battle had come to a conclusion, and as quickly as they came, the crowd soon dispersed. What a battle.

Regretfully, Claudio returned Hefty to his ball with a sigh, picking up his stuff and already getting ready to go before a hand on his shoulder stopped him. Turning around, Claudio didn't glare at the opposing trainer as he had before, but simply looked ashamed.

"Why the long face, Claudio?" Colress was quick to ask. "You may have lost, but that battle was nothing to scoff at. It's been a long time since I've seen Pokemon so dedicated and determined for their trainer. Even if it resulted in a loss, there's no doubt you're quite the esteemed trainer." That turned Claudio's frown into a confused one. "Besides, I don't think I'll have much luck finding any other trainers of such caliber in Lumiose. Not if my search today was anything to go by. And call me impatient, but I don't have time to be challenging Gym Leaders...although I have heard Volkner from the Sinnoh regions is visiting. It might be worthwhile to visit him."

"By the way, Claudio, since you are a trainer, are you attempting the Kalosian Pokemon League challenge?" Colress asked, to which Claudio was quick to pull out his badge case. The sight certainly surprised Colress. "My, my! You only have a single badge under your belt? You must be jesting." He laughed, looking over Claudio once more with curiosity before finally coming to some sort of conclusion. "I think a budding young trainer like you could use something like this. Open your hands." He insisted.

Claudio opened both of his hands, and was surprised to see the items he'd been given. A TM, and some kind of...rock? Before he could ask, Colress answered for him.

"This stone is from Mt. Coronet, all the way in the Sinnoh Region. It's magnetic properties can trigger the evolution of a handful of Pokemon. And that is the technical machine for the move Thunder Wave. I would like to see you utilize both items to the best of your ability, so that I may see just how stronger you've become when we meet up again. If we do, of course. If not, considering it a parting gift, from me to you." Before he knew it, Colress was already walking away, Claudio still standing there, dumbfounded. "Farewell, Claudio! May your Pokemon's power lead you down the path you desire!"

"...Goodbye." Claudio finally managed to say back, hoping Colress had heard him. That man, Colress...he was strange, but...reminded him so much of himself, as well. So often he was left speechless as Colress rambled on and on. Claudio was lost in thought beneath the spotlight of a streetlight for a minute or two, before he pocketed his rewards and starting silently walking back to the center.

Hopefully they'd meet again one day. If anything, this battle taught him there was still much he had yet to learn.

Got a Magnetic Coronet Geode!

A strange stone from Mt. Coronet in the SInnoh Region that allows certain kinds of Pokemon to evolve. It's magnetic properties make your hair stand on end.

Got TM73 Thunder Wave!

The user launches a weak jolt of electricity that paralyzes the target.

Jay · Jul 26, 2017

Current Team:

Something Special

Current Location : Lumiose City - Empty Plaza

"Alright, Teddy! Go for it, unleash Dig!" With scampering paws, Teddy stood in the open grassy battle field set aside in the Lumiose city plaza, all but abandoned as the orange light of the evening sun slowly started to dim... his claws extended and began to harden, while glowing with a murky brown energy. Driving them into the ground he quickly tore through the Earth, moving it aside with great ease as he burrowed underneath the surface and swiftly moved beneath his target.

With a roar that mustered all of his minimal might, Teddy burst out of the Earth and struck dead on with his claws, waving his attack harmlessly through Gaspar, whom was immune to the ground type attack thanks to levitate... though he still put a hand dramatically to his forehead and drifted with faux pain through the air to settle softly on the ground. Teddy was overjoyed, he clapped his little paws together with great glee and let out an uproar of proud cheers. Jackson grinned, it was hard to believe at first but the TM had really worked. Was this a direct copy of Garchomp's technique from earlier? Or had he too learned from one of the discs in Jackson's hand?

Technology was amazing! To think you could teach your pokémon moves through tiny discs and a pokédex.

"Haaaaaunt!" Gaspar raced across the battlefield with a terrifying grin, his hand glowing with a bright purple energy which he forced into Teddy, sending him sprawling backwards over the battlefield and landing firmly on his behind, before brushing himself off and standing up with a pout.

Jackson grinned widely at the current results of his teams training regimen. Gaspar had only been a Haunter for a short while and yet he had already learned Payback, just as the current training session had gotten into full swing. The move encyclopedia on the pokédex informed Jackson that payback was a move that did more damage after the opponent had made a move... regardless of whether or not it did damage.

"Teddy! Keep on your toes, no celebratin' until it's over! Understand?" Teddy nodded resolutely and charged forward again. He reared his hand back and let it surround itself in a dark type energy, he narrowed his gaze as he focussed everything into his feint attack... the only attack he had that could even hit Gaspar!

Teddy had always found Gaspar a little scary, but he knew that the ghost type wanted to help Jackson in helping Teddy himself to become stronger. Jackson had even let him borrow the power of a Garchomp! A frickidy frackin Garchomp y'know?! He had to prove himself worthy!

Before he could even get close however, the toned and muscular body of Fang leaped forward attempting to strike Teddy with his own new attack! In a panic, the small bear leaped back and struck Fang in the side of the head for minimal damage, the dark move resisted by this opponent. Fang's... well... fangs, were burning with a powerful flame, a technique he himself had learned shortly after he and Jackson had finished exploring some creepy old laboratory.

With a determined resolve the three pokémon squared off on the battlefield. Gaspar had experience and plenty of tricks and traps... Fang had physical prowess and conditioning... and Teddy had a type advantage over both if he could just hit the right attacks. It was a battle royale and only one of them would take the crown for that training session until tomorrow.

With smirks and determined cries, they charged.

---

Wave sat perched on a nearby bench, watching the others battle as Jackson sat and ate a pre-made sandwich he had gotten for dinner. She had no eyes but she could hear the crunch of the lettuce and tomato... smell the scent of Lumiose cheese and freshly cut smoked ham. On the battlefield she could identify each attack made through sound alone.

Then... why?

If her senses were so honed why had she decided to watch from the sidelines? More importantly... why had she failed her trainer twice already? Two times she attempted to protect Jackson, whom had saved her life despite her panic. Twice she had been brutally defeated while barely leaving a scratch. Even as she learned the technique of the dragon bat whom had ruled her cave before its death, the monster that fought by the Champion, this Garchomp... she could do nothing against its might.

Yes it had all worked out in the end... but what if it hadn't? Would she even be here? Would Jackson be here. Though she had no eyes, she turned her head to watch Jackson as he ate... that egg sat beside him. Child of the beast, the one whom had bested her. When it hatched, would she be necessary? Something so rare and powerful...

She cringed and glared at the floor, focusing her hearing on the soundless ground to escape her reality.

What was a common Zubat, rare as the dirt her trainer walked upon, going to offer him?

"Wave...?"

She was shook to her senses as the voice of Jackson spoke her name and shook her free from her thoughts. Her other senses rapidly kicked in... held before her was a scrap of ham, from the sandwich. As he greedily nibbled it from her trainers hand, the sound of her teammates in battle refilled her ears.

"What's wrong little bat?" He asked, his voice softer than it usually was. "You ain't got eyes... but you're awfully expressive you know? I can feel that pain like radiation, y'know?" She winced to his words, her face scrunching slightly. A small mutter of "Zubatu..." escaped her pursed lips. Jackson chuckled and looked out at the field.

"Wave... you want t'be strong right?"

She snapped to attention, shocked, embarrassed and surprised that Jackson had so easily seen through her. She sidled closer to him along the bench... and with a small sort of sigh, she gestured to the other pokémon and then shook her head. Jackson rose an eyebrow. "You don't think... you'll be like them?" He asked... and she nodded.

"Enough o'this, damn!" He hopped up from the bench and almost startled the poor Zubat into falling off, until she flapped her wings and proceeded to verbally complain. "Don't gimme that shit of 'I can't do it' and 'I ain't good enough'." He growled and she fluttered closer to his face with an offended snarl.

"Wave, hit me!"

The little Zubat was appalled by the suggestion and fluttered angrily at Jackson, thinking she was mocking him... however she was quickly smacked out of it as Jackson forcefully flicked her in the head as she fluttered in front of him. As she shook herself to attention she heard Jackson move, taking his classic fighting stance... his fists raised. She didn't understand, why did he want to hurt her?!

"Wave." She froze bar her flapping wings as his voice was as soft as it had been before. "I'm learnin' alot as I go here... and I'm comin' to see that I'm weak too, weaker than you and everyone else here." He but his lip, but held his ground. "I'm askin' you to come at me and give me everythin' you got. I want to see you get stronger, stronger than any other Zubat in all of damn well Kalos! You understand?!" She looked him up and down, listening for his heartbeat, doing her best to see if he was lying... to see if he was just messing with her.

But he wasn't... he was being totally serious.

"I chose you, Wave." His voice continued and she winced as her emotions welled. "In a split second I risked myself for you... not outta pity. It was 'cause I saw something special." He ran forward suddenly, his fist raised.

"Wave! Prove me right! Don't insult your trainer by holding back!"

The Zubat quickly dodged, tears would be falling had she the eyes to cry. Charging her wing with flying type energy, she whacked Jackson in the eyes as he swung, missed and quickly blocked. He was launched back a few feet by the wing attack, but had managed to hold his ground.

---

What followed was the most intense training session Jackson and his team had ever gone through. Jackson trained his physical body along with his pokémon, removing his shirt he ran laps, did push ups and took basic self defense exercises with his pokémon. Punch after punch, charge after charge, kick after kick. The pokémon with appendages to do so copied the actions perfectly and Wave did her best to follow with her wings.

Gaspar and Teddy sat with wave and taught her to channel the energy within herself and bring it outwards, to remove the flying element from her air cutter and to infuse it with normal energy similar to that of Teddy's fury swipes. Gaspar showed her the stunning accuracy of his well timed moves and experience to boot... and by combining this accuracy and normal type energy, Wave learned how to use Swift. Testing Jackson and Teddy who dashed around the field well into the dark hours, as the technique was mastered and became impossible to dodge.

Wave and Fang took turns biting their opponents in faux battles against the other pokémon. Fang showed her how he had further developed the strength of Bite, infusing it with his elemental power, the strength of his type buried deep inside allowed his jaw to ignite with flame. Focusing all of her power and digging deep inside for the power of her inner typing, Wave managed to infuse her sharp fangs with a powerful toxic fluid that dripped from her maw as it bubbled with purple energy... and poison fang was revealed to her.

Finally, sparring with her trainer, both man and pokémon developed an even deeper understanding of each other. Every time Jacksons fist struck Wave out of the air... every instance of Wave's wings and fangs pushing Jackson back... With every ounce of strength expended, another layer of understanding and bond formed. Even as the other pokémon sat down to rest they kept going, eight PM, nine PM, ten. The hours ticked by and they kept going, fighting, giving their all in every way they could.

Until with one final strike, a bright light burst forth from Wave's form, flickering and blinding Jackson as the glow of inner strength nigh burst out of Wave...

..however just before it could finish it settled back into the Zubat, who's body remained unchanged.

While evolution had been so close, she was disappointed as she just fell short. Jackson however, after drying off with a towel, put back on his shirt and beamed proudly at his pokémon. "That was freakin' awesome Wave!" He cried out with a grin. The Zubat tilted her head towards him before flushing shyly and scratching the back of her head with her wing. Only for her to screech in surprise as Jackson picked her up and dropped her on his shoulder.

The other pokémon gathered around, Gaspar settling into Jackson's shadow as Teddy and Fang howled and squeaked their approval. Wave looked at each of them in turn and then back to Jackson. With these few, she had grown stronger so quickly.

She disagreed with Jackson. Alone in that cave, she was nothing, another Zubat as she had thought but... now she understood, fighting alongside her trainer and her teammates... maybe she really could be something special after all.

Spoiler:

LinearAxel · Jul 26, 2017

Sebastian Allender

The City of Love part 2

"Let's see now...we're here." Sebastian speaks to himself as he studies a map of Lumiose city. "And Friseur Furfrou is down here." He goes on. With a new partner in Furfrou, it wouldn't hurt to learn how to conduct a proper trim. Hopefully the groomers will let him sit in on a cut or two, once he explains the situation.

"My?" Burmy wriggles onto Sebastian's shoulder and peers at the map curiously. Unfortunately these lines mean nothing to him.

"Maybe they'll let you take some old fur for your cloak." Sebastian chuckles at Koroku's interest. After the battle with the Pikipek, Koroku made himself a cloak of feathers, and since then the bug type has been on the lookout for new objects to turn into cloaks.

"Burmy!" The bug type cries excitedly.

"Agreed. Let's get going."

They continue walking down the street, receiving the occasional bump from townspeople who were simply too focused on getting to their destination to pay attention to someone in their path… Or...anything, for that matter, including a mournful cry that was growing louder and louder the closer they got to Friseur Furfrou. No one seemed to notice the sound, despite its growing in volume.

It takes another minute for Sebastian to brush past enough people to find the source of the cries: A...Meowstic, a male one, holding a picture in its little paw.

"What do you have there, little one?"

The Meowstic turns to Sebastian and its eyes widen with excitement. Someone's listening! Maybe he'll help!

"Meow, meow-meow!" Little paws carrie the cat towards Sebastian, and he holds the photo out towards the human. The picture contains Meowstic, along with a female, standing in front of an elderly woman wearing an apron. The three of them are in a forest...Santalune Forest…were they there...during the fire?

"Meowst! Meowst!" A tiny paw frantically points to the female Meowstic time and time again. He then looks from side to side a few times, gesturing wildly as his eyes swell with tears.

"You can't find her…"

"MEOW!" Meowstic cries a distressed, yet grateful cry. Finally, someone is listening, someone is understanding!

Pokemon can sense things that humans can't, if the female Meowstic had died in that fire, certainly this one would be able to sense it. She must be out there...somewhere… "Take me to the last place you saw her."

"STI!" Meowstic wraps its tiny paws around Sebastian's leg and hugs him as tightly as his little arms allow. "Me-me!" He calls as he lets go, motioning for Sebastian to follow. The little cat's eyes begin to glow, and it floats into the air with ease.

Soon enough they arrive at a hospital, where Meowstic floats to the front door and sits, gesturing to the space beside him. "Stic."

So this is where Lady Meowstic was before they were separated. They...must have been waiting for the woman in the picture to be released. "Follow me. Maybe someone inside knows where she is."

Meowstic floats along behind Sebastian as he steps into the hospital. A receptionist glances up from her computer and smiles at the black cat. "Sable! Where have you been?"
"Meow!" Meowstic, apparently named Sable, once more gestures to the picture in his hand.

"You know him?" Sebastian asks.

"Oh yes, he's been here for days." The receptionist smiles. "He belongs to one of the patients upstairs. Pokemon aren't allowed in the burn ward, so he and Angel have been waiting outside since the Santalune fire. They've been so patient and sweet."

"Do you know where...Angel is?"

"Mhm! Their owner's granddaughter stopped by last night. She said she was going to take them for a spa day to get their mind off the worry, but someone was nowhere to be seen."

A little paw tugs on a strand of Sebastian's hair. When he turns to look at Sable, the Pokemon frantically shakes his head. The woman that took care of them didn't have any grandchildren.

The receptionist didn't seem to notice Sable's actions, she was too busy digging through a drawer of sticky notes. "I think she left her number...I'll tell her you're back."

There's a desperation in Sable's eyes, desperation mixed with fear and confusion. It seems he doesn't believe this granddaughter-spa-day story. If it wasn't a granddaughter...did someone just run off with Angel?

"Ask her where she is, and I'll take Sable to her." This might just work. If all goes according to plan the thief will lead them right to Angel.

"Aren't you a sweetie? Here it is!" The girl holds the sticky note up triumphantly, then reaches for her phone. There's a few seconds of uncomfortable stillness as the phone rings.

"Hi, Tiana? This is Carrie, from the hospital. A nice young man brought Sable back. He says he's willing to bring him to you. Where are you right now? Hotel Richissime? Okay, I'll tell him."

"Thank you." Sebastian whispers. Not wanting to waste a second, he heads for the door before the woman can hang up. Looking back, he probably should have asked what the 'granddaughter' looks like, but hopefully she'll be the only one at the hotel with a stolen Meowstic. That should give her away.

"Ready to see Angel?" Sebastian asks as he jogs outside. Sable floats above his shoulder, letting out a content cry of glee.

Time is of the essence, so Sebastian hails a cab. They exchange some pleasantries about the weather, and the uniquely cloaked Burmy hanging on Sebastian's arm, until they arrive on the street of the towering hotel.

Sebastian thanks the driver and offers a polite wave as he drives off. He then draws in a deep breath and turns to walk towards the building. Time to catch a thief...a literal cat burglar.

As if on queue, the sliding glass doors slide open, and a teen girl with incredibly long, blonde hair saunters her way outside; in her arms she's clutching something-- Angel!

"You must be the boy Carrie told me about." Her voice is dripping with sweetness, it's kind of sickening.

"Cut it out. I know you're not who you say you are."

The expression on the woman's face begins to change; her sweet smile turns into an amused smirk, and her wide, innocent eyes narrow into playful slits. "Aww, so you're not gonna give me the kitty?" The sickening sweetness in her voice has changed too; replaced with a taunting playfullness. "That's fine, I don't really need both." She turns her back to Sebastian, the white cat clutched to her chest visibly struggling in her arms.

"Meow!" Meowstic cries as it frantically flies towards the two.

"Star, use Foul Play." The girl doesn't even turn around, merely tosses a Pokeball over her shoulder. From the Pokeball bursts forward a Glameow, which smashes into the furious Meowstic with a dark burst of energy, causing Sable to plummet to the ground.

The girl squeezes the Meowstic in her arms and looks down to her with a wicked smirk. "If you're still and let us get out of here, I won't have to do that again."

"Sable, stay down!" Sebastian shouts, but the Meowstic isn't listening. He begins to rise to his feet, and the catnapper heaves the most overdramatic of sighs.

"Fine. Star, finish him off."

"No-!" Sebastian takes a step forward as the Glameow lunges. Suddenly a tiny weight leaps from Sebastian's arm as Koroku lands in front of Meowstic, casting a vibrant blue energy around them.

Star's Foul Play crashes into the shield and she leaps back, obviously displeased by the little insect's interference.

"Burmy!" Koroku shouts angrily, his body beginning to glow once more-- but...differently. "BURMYYY!" The bug type cries out powerfully, and the glow takes over his entire body. Sebastian's eyes widen as the glowing Burmy begins to take a new shape, and hovers into the sky. Once Koroku is air born, the energy surrounding him vanishes.

Koroku evolved into Mothim.

"Great." The thief rolls her eyes. "A bug. Star, get rid of it."

"Im!" Koroku shouts, his eyes begin to glow a vibrant blue, and the charging Glameow is suddenly hoisted into the air... along with her trainer.

"Confusion?" Sebastian whispers to himself, a smile easing its way onto his face.

"Let Meowstic go, and he'll put you down."

"Ugh!" The thief rolls her eyes. This just got to be way more trouble than it's worth. "Fine. Take it." She opens her arms, and Angel gracefully floats down to Sable. The two embrace tightly, happy cries of Meowstic emanating from both of them.

"Okay...Koroku, set them down."

The Mothim lowers the thief, and her highly annoyed cat, back to the ground.

"Come on." The blonde speaks to her Glameow. "They're not worth our time." Star could take that stupid bug, she could really teach this pretty boy a lesson or two, but really, what good would it do? Certainly there's more fun things to do in this huge city. She takes one last look to Sebastian, that smirk from before returning. "If I ever see you again...you're in trouble~" As she turns, she taps her middle finger against her lips, then tosses her arm towards Sebastian, as if blowing a kiss.
"Let's hope not…" Sebastian grumbles, only to feel a delicate weight land on his head. Two large eyes look down on him, as feather-like antennae tickle his nose.

"You were spectacular."The teen smiles proudly.

"Mothiiim!" Koroku flutters his wings in delight.

"Meow?" Sable walks over to the two, hand in hand with Angel.

"I'm very glad you're not hurt, Angel."

"Mreow~" The female Meowstic blushes.

"Ready to go back?"

This time they chose to walk-- well, Sebastian did. Koroku chose to stay on his trainer's head, and the Meowstics chose to float together, hands still locked together. Once again they made their way to the hospital entrance.

"Will you two be okay?" Sebastian asks.

"Meow-meow." Sable nods, and then his ears uncurl, as do Angel's. "Stic!" He cries happily.

What? What's happening? Do they hear something he doesn't? Sebastian's head falls to one side as the two Meowstic float towards the second story of the hospital, where a window pops opened.

It's the woman from the photo. She's wearing a lot of bandages, and her hair isn't tied up, but it has to be her. The Meowstic couple settle into her arms, their own paws still interlocked, and begin to nuzzle against the elderly woman's cheeks.

Sebastian smiles at the sight and waves a fond farewell to the happy trio. Today, in the city of love...love prevailed.

Your Pokemon Evolved!

Ability: Tinted Lens
Protect
Hidden Power (ice)
Bug Bite
Confusion
Gust
Giga Drain

Stinging Bea · Jul 26, 2017

Avril Morris &
Drew Tucker

Lumiose City

Chapter 5-4 | Short Circuit

Current Party:

Inventory:

- x1 Pokédex

- x1 Pokéball

- 500 Poké Dollars

- x3 Pecha Berries

- Bug Bite TM

- Water Pulse TM

It had been quite the interesting day in Lumiose City. At first, Avril thought it was going to be a typical sightseeing day. She figured that she might check out a fancy restaurant, take a look at the "City of Light's" famous museum, and do a bit of window-shopping. Perhaps she might even treat herself to a little dessert at one of Lumiose City's many coffee shops. So far, the girl had had little luck in doing any of the sort. The biggest part of her first day in the city had been spent watching an illegal cage match of sorts involving a pack of Eevee and one of her fellow graduates. This escalated into a rather dangerous situation where she and even more of her fellow graduates had to more or less fight for their lives in order to survive after the match had been raided by the likes of her best friend. This led to her expanding her team by yet another member, this time in the form of one of those very Eevee who just so happened to have been involved in that illegal arena, which in turn led to the unexpected evolution of said Eevee when he managed to somehow get into her trainer's bag and snatch her Leaf Stone. Needless to say, the day was quickly starting to take its toll on the blonde trainer. In fact, it was for these various reasons that Avril had decided to change up her plans just a little bit.

Once she had cleaned up the mess that was made by the antics of her new Leafeon and her Frogadier, Avril got dressed and decided it was time to finally hit the streets and get to the main reason she came to Lumiose City. That reason of course, being to challenge the city's gym leader and acquire her next badge. While initially visiting the Lumiose City gym had not been particularly high on Avril's list of objectives... at least not so much during the first day, she figured that she might as well get it over with and then spend the rest of the evening relaxing. Besides, there would always be tomorrow to do some sightseeing proper and Lumiose's famous tower was on her list of places to visit within the city. It just seemed to naturally make sense for the blonde girl to go ahead and knock out two objectives with one stone. Thankfully, Avril was a little bit more prepared for this session of wandering about the bustling metropolis. Before she left the Pokémon Center, the teenager had made sure to secure both a tourist's pamphlet and a map of the city to assist in her journey through the busy streets. The last thing she wanted was to find herself in some other illegal, underground battling ring.

The streets of the city were even more crowded than they had been earlier that day. Chances were that most of it had to do with the fading hours of the afternoon sun, as Lumiose was a city that kept quite the active nightlife. In particular, Avril seemed to notice that the closer she got towards the city's famous tower, the more crowded it got. In fact, it seemed like most of the people around were actually gathering at the famous landmark. Avril would have been lying if she said that her curiosity wasn't getting the better of her. Without putting much thought into the matter, the trainer quickly made her way closer towards the tower in question.

The air was cluttered with the sound of many people chatting. She noticed many of the people that seemed to be gathering around the tower were in fact trainers like herself. A sudden worry suddenly flashed through her mind. She knew that the day was getting late, but there was no way that this many people were already in line and waiting to challenge the gym... right? Without further delay, the girl quickly made her way towards the closest person she could find. He was a rather impatient looking teenager, probably not much older than herself, wearing a basketball jersey and sporting a backwards, orange ball cap. By his side, floated a rather energetic looking Magneton.

"Um... excuse me?" Avril called out, gently tapping the boy on his shoulder. "Is this the line to challenge Clemont?"

"Huh...? Clemont?" the boy questioned, glancing over his shoulder at the girl. "What are you talking about? Clemont's not even here."

Avril's eyes widened at the sudden response. Clemont wasn't there? Was nothing going to go right today? "What... What do you mean he's not here? Did he step out to run an errand?"

"Something like that," the boy huffed. "I guess he should be back in about a year or so, though."

"A year?!" Avril exclaimed. There was no way she could wait around in this city for a whole year. Heck, she wasn't even sure how long the journey around the rest of Kalos was going to take. "What... Why didn't anyone say anything about this? If Clemont is gone for a whole year, why is the league even accepting challengers now?!"

The boy seemed to be visibly annoyed by Avril, though it seemed to be not so much at her presence and the questions. "Look, would you relax? There's a gym leader here... The guy's name is Volkner. Apparently he's from Sinnoh and filling in for Clemont. I really dunno how it all works, but I guess the two are in some kind of exchange program or something."

Avril sighed in relief, the girl clearly glad that she would still be able to challenge the gym. "So, all we have to do is wait our turn then. Shouldn't take too long, right?"

"Pfft, you wish. I've been waiting here for about an hour now," the boy answered with a huff. "Apparently there has to be some kind of ceremony before things can't even get started. I thought the whole thing was supposed to be over now, but from what I hear it ain't even started yet!"

This was news to Avril. She had never heard of that sort of exchange program before. It reminded her of something that one would have during school or something. The blonde figured that perhaps it had something to do with trying to keep relations steady between the various regions. However if this Volkner guy was approaching things so slowly, she really couldn't tell just how well things were going to go if this was the norm. At the very least she figured that it was an interesting concept to come up with. The blonde began to wonder if any other of Kalos' gym leaders were involved in this exchange program...

Like a Rattata sticking to the walls as it scurried, Drew found himself plodding along the outskirts of the bustling central plaza. He noticed the crowd of people, but like the energetic blonde, he was present for the traumatic affair in the Lumiose alleyway. He had no interest in mingling, and a gathering that big couldn't be a good sign. He did notice Avril among the mob of people, which made him feel a little better about it, but it still wasn't worth investigating. That said, he wouldn't put it past her to make the same mistake twice.

He returned his attention to the pokéball in his hand. The device now held his new pokémon. An Eevee. One of the same Eevee that were responsible for the predicament Brycen was in. How could he use that pokémon on his team? He resented the thing, and the very thought that he was supposed to settle for using it on his team made him resent it even more. All that piled on top of the fact that while Brycen was recuperating in the pokémon center, this was his only pokémon. He had half a mind to toss the thing in the canal. He didn't even know which one it was, nor did her care.

He stepped in the center, stashing the pokéball away in his bag. The majority of the trainers in the station flooded out of the door, past the trainer, but Drew didn't take much notice. It wasn't until the center was befallen by darkness, that the daydreaming boy finally looked up. A burly man in denim clad dungarees and an 'In the Magnezone' hardhat came from an open door to the right, dragging a huge generator into the center.

"You must be Drew Tucker."The nurse at the front counter smiled, noticing the heavily bandaged arm. "I'm glad you're here. We've been trying to call you but weren't able to get you on account of you still being in the hospital." The teenager could sense an unsettled nerve about the woman. She was still wearing her uniform, so it was safe to assume the place wasnt supposed to be closing.

"What's...going on here?" Drew questioned. He was starting to realize for himself, but things just didn't make sense. Why would they be taking the power out from the pokémon center? It was such a crucial factor to the city...to any city. He mind began to wonder again, instantly thinking the worst. If the power was down, what was happening to Brycen? Last he saw of the pokémon, he was still bleeding his way to an early grave, so there was no way he was surviving without the help of any machines. "Where's Bry?" He groaned, adopting a tone of intensity. Jackson's words rung through his head. Drew... you ****ed up back there. You ****ed up in the worst way you could, because you didn't think about what was most important. He was right, and the young trainer knew full well that he had to make it up to Brycen. He couldn't do that if the pokémon died.

"Sorry kid, you're gonna need to head to another center. You cant heal your pokes here." The gruff voice of the electrician hit Drew like a ton of bricks. 'You cant heal your pokes here'? What kind of bullshit was that? He glared at the large heavy set man, as he continued to explain the situation. "Generator in Prism tower is missin', so we're gonna need to take power from the buildin's in the area to keep it fueled."

"My Chespin is already here!" Drew bellowed in response, startling the bigger man. Those that were left in the center fell silent, watching the situation in awkward anticipation. "Put it back." He ordered, in a far more somber tone. While he certainly seemed to consider it, the electrician shook his head and continued to drag the generator. "If you keep pulling that thing, you're no better than Team Cinder." He growled, prompting the the man to again consider what he was saying. Drew still wasn't fully clued in on who exactly these Team Cinder people were, but if what Sycamore and the rangers told him was true then what he was saying would definitely hit the man hard. It did.

"I'm not exactly in charge of that stuff." The electrician huffed, a hint of sympathy in his eyes. "Volkner's ceremony needs to go down before he can start taking on challengers. Not to mention the tower needs to be powered if those challenges can even be regarded as official."

"I'll find your stupid generator." Drew scoffed. "You guys just focus on keeping Brycen alive, capiche?" He continued, channeling his inner Jackson. The man sighed, but agreed to the deal. Drew couldn't help but feel pretty damn proud of himself. He pretty much had until morning to find the thing, and had no idea where to start looking, but was finally prepared to get this done, for Brycen's sake. His only lead being...a guy in a black and orange suit stole it. That outfit sounded oddly familiar, but he had to assume it wasn't the same guy. Maybe these suits were just really popular.

Back outside of the pokémon center, the crowd was beginning to grow more and more restless with every passing moment. Avril herself was beginning to grow rather bored of the waiting herself. She had lost track of just how much time had passed and there was only so many times one could read through the same pamphlet before they started to lose their minds. Avril was about to give up on the whole thing when suddenly, a loud shout finally seemed to get the attention of the mass of trainers.

"Excuse me! May I have everyone's attention, please?!" the man called out. "Please, a moment?! Everyone?!" Slowly, the dull roars of the crowd came began to quell down until they were only a few whispers and murmurs still hanging in the air. Avril narrowed her eyes, trying to catch a glimpse of the person who was speaking. She stood up on the tips of her toes, managing to catch sight of what appeared to be an older gentleman in a rather well-kept looking suit. "I have announcement to make! I've just received word that there has been a slight... delay in acquiring a generator to help power the tower back up! I'm afraid that the one we had planned to use cannot be moved at this current time! Because of this, we will have to delay the ceremony to welcome gym leader Volkner of the Sinnoh region to our fair city until tomorrow!"

No sooner had the man got those words out of his mouth did a loud, audible wave of groans, moans, and curses begin to roll throughout the air. Avril couldn't blame them, as she too was looking forward to winning her second gym badge. Chances were that this delay would only cause MORE traffic in trainers trying to challenge the gym. The blonde girl huffed, crossing her arms over her chest in annoyance.

"This is so dumb... Why the hell do they have to have a ceremony in the first place?!" Avril complained, kicking at a nearby, discarded can. "We all know he's from Sinnoh and stuff... well, at least now. Can't we just have the battles and worry about all that celebration later?"

"I know the feeling... It really is a drag, kid..." a rather bored sounding voice replied. Avril almost jumped out of her skin from the sudden response. Quickly, the trainer spun around to see a tall man standing close beside her. He was dressed rather casually, a pair of gray slacks on his legs and a black shirt covering his chest. Over the shirt, the man was wearing a blue jacket and he had a small chain dangling from the belt he wore around his waist. The man had intense, deep blue eyes and his blonde hair was an absolute mess. "If I had known this whole exchange thing was gonna be so complicated, I would have just stayed home in Sinnoh. There's no big ceremony to attend to there just to battle... Besides, I'm sure Roark would've been just fine doing the exchange instead."

Avril simply stared at the man, slowly taking in everything he had just said. "Wait a minute... Volkner?!"

The tall, blonde man gave a smirk and a nod. "Yep, that's my name. Nice to meet ya."

"Don't give me none of that nice to meet ya stuff!" Avril snapped. "You're the gym leader, right? Can't you just tell them to forget this whole ceremony thing and let you battle?"

"Look, I'd love to just say forget it with the whole thing and get to the fun stuff... But this whole ceremony is part of a Kalos tradition, you know?" Volkner sighed. "It'd kind of send a bad message that as a visitor I just up and decided to ignore how things work around here... Besides, my boss might not be too keen on that idea either. She can be a real stickler for this type of thing..."

"Well... can't you help to fix the problem then?" Avril questioned, still insistent on trying to find someway to solve this problem. "Call an electrician or something?"

"I wish it was that easy, kid... But it's not just something so cut and dry," Volkner explained. "Ever since some thug ran off with the power unit we need to run the lights in and around the tower... I've had my hands full listening to people complain about how everything's held up."

With revitalized sense of responsibility and ambition, Drew stomped out of the pokémon center. If he was going to find this generator, he'd have to be quick. He probably couldn't do it alone, but waiting for recruits wasn't an option. All he really had to do was buy enough time to keep Brycen alive. In his moment of doubt, he glanced back over the crowd one more time. This time he searched for the blonde hair he'd seen earlier. Maybe grabbing Avril to help wasn't the worst idea. With a sigh, he headed in through the herd of people.

He managed to get through fast enough to hear the tail end of Avril's conversation. "I take it your the new gym leader then?" The boy inquired, squeezing through group of annoyed trainers waddling away after hearing what Volkner had said. He eyed the man up and down. "Volkner, right? Honestly I'm pretty annoyed that I can't just blame you for this, but I suppose that's what I get for volunteering to help." The boy sighed, before turning to face Avril. "More importantly though, Avril, you willing to help me search for this thing?" He asked quite straight-forwardly by his own standards, and an uncharacteristically determined expression on his face.

Avril was honestly surprised by Drew's sudden appearance. She was more surprised by the boy's sudden desire to find the power unit that was missing. "Drew, are you in a hurry to challenge Volkner too?"

Drew faltered at the notion that he was there to battle the gym. He'd barely squeezed past Viola, and his team had gotten considerably weaker since then. He actually intended to skip past Lumiose's gym and come back to it once he'd built a stronger team, but he wasn't about to admit that here. Then again, Avril was there for his pathetic display against the Eevee, so unless she was sizing him up, she had no reason to ask such a thing. "Yeah, I'd planned to beat Clemont here before the situation in the alley, but I was ambushed by those guys before I got to the gym." He grinned, doing his best to seem as assured as possible.

"Well, that's good to hear! I guess that means your Chespin was able to recover pretty quickly then!" Avril exclaimed, giving the boy a genuine smile. "For a while there, I was worried that he'd take a long time to recover! I'm glad his injuries weren't too severe after all!"

A dark cloud of regret formed over the boy's head as Avril mentioned Brycen. He had pushed the thought to the back of his mind before the older trainer innocently brought the issue back up. "Actually I've been able to accommodate." He groaned in shame, raising the Eevee's ball. "Brycen's still in the pokémon center over there, but I'm hoping to have him back before I challenge Volkner." He added, pointing the the pokémon center he had just come from.

"Look... if you kids really wanna help..." Volkner said, glancing over his shoulder for a moment to make sure no one else was listening to the conversation. "I'm really not gonna go out of my way to stop you. Truth be told, I'm supposed to keep this on the down low, but I'm so bored of the waiting I'm getting a bit desperate. The cops have been trying to locate the power unit since the other night. I really don't know a lot of the details, but supposedly, the thing was taken by some weird guy in a suit. Orange and black, I think it was... Anyways, the guy who ran off with the thing took it to... one of the not so hot parts of town, if you catch my drift. Normally, I wouldn't be telling this to just a couple of kids... but you two look like you can handle yourselves pretty well."

"Hot parts, huh? You sure you don't wanna tag along?" Drew chuckled nervously, remembering the events of the day so far.

"I'm sure Volkner's got his hands kinda full here right now," Avril replied. She gave Drew a reassuring smile, before holding up her wrist with the make-shift bracelet on it, five pokéballs shining in the glow of the setting sun. "Besides even if you are a little short-handed at the moment, I've got more than enough to help us out of any tough spots we might get into!"

A quick glance at the bracelet was enough to confuse Drew, upon doubling back, he noticed there were five used pokéballs around her wrist. FIVE? HOW THE HELL DID SHE HAVE FIVE POKEMON?!?!? Drew knew about the four he'd seen during the bout in the alleyway, but apparently she was holding something back. Was Avril really that strong? As if her having evolved her Froakie wasn't proof enough that she was a step ahead of him, seeing she had a Hoothoot and a Mareep alongside it really put things into perspective. Even having added to his team with this Eevee, Drew knew that Avril had done the same thing and was the only reason he even had his. Worst of all though, she now had this mystery pokémon she was claiming was enough fire power to get them out of any situation. The young trainer was quickly losing his head. "Y-you have five pokémon already?"

Avril tilted her head, confused by Drew's shock. "Yeah...? I mean, is that surprising? That guy that was with Emmie when she showed up in the alley had four, right? I mean... If you wanna be technical about it... The only one I officially caught was Anise, my Hoothoot. The Mareep was a gift from some old gardener Laurent and I helped back on Route 3... I adopted the other two."

"Adopted? How...what....huh?" It was clear now. Drew was much further behind than he thought. "How the heck are you so good?" He asked desperately, breaking his facade completely.

"Huh... Determination...?" Avril replied, clearly trying to figure out what was bothering Drew so much about this whole thing. "I just... try hard in my battles. They haven't all been easy. Heck, I would have lost to Viola if Shino wouldn't had evolved at that last minute!" The girl sheepishly giggled at the fact, trying to fight down her embarrassment over the thought. "I guess fighting that Muk back in Santalune City helped push him over that last inch he needed."

The younger trainer gritted his teeth. "I had to ch-" He began before composing himself. It probably wasn't a great idea to admit to cheating in a gym battle, especially not in front of a gym leader. "We probably shouldn't waste much more time. We need to find the generator before it gets too far away." He muttered begrudgingly.

Stinging Bea · Jul 26, 2017

Avril Morris &
Drew Tucker

Lumiose City

Chapter 5-5 | Unexpected Encounters

Current Party:

Inventory:

- x1 Pokédex

- x1 Pokéball

- 500 Poké Dollars

- x3 Pecha Berries

- Bug Bite TM

- Water Pulse TM

"So, the hiker turns and says, 'I'm sorry, that was most Onix-spected!'" Avril said, the girl quickly busting into a fit of giggles at the pun.

After parting ways with Volkner, Drew and Avril were well on their way with their new mission. To entertain the duo while they walked towards the bad part of town that the Sinnoh gym leader mentioned, Avril decided to spend some time telling some pretty unremarkable and terrible jokes. For all intents and purposes, the girl was actually trying hard to try and get a laugh or two out of the younger trainer. But so far the only one she had seemed to do a good job at humoring was herself.

Drew forced a smile, turning away with a pained expression. He was slightly regretting bringing Avril along, but as he glanced down at her wrist, he was instantly reminded just how strong she'd become. With that in mind, he thought it best to regain some form of tolerable conversation. "Hey Avril, I just remembered something. Earlier, when you mentioned the guy who showed up with 'Emmie', you were talking about Jackson, right?" He snickered when reciting the nickname the older girl had given to her friend.

Avril paused, her eyes widening at the sudden realization. "That was Jackson?! Why was his hair blonde...?" The girl had never really known Jackson all that well, but the last thing she ever expected was for him to dye his hair blonde. He just didn't seem the type. "I guess so, yeah. Why do you ask?"

Drew couldnt help but chuckle at that. He'd complete overlooked the fact Jackson was now blonde. The boy burst out laughing. "Because I never thought I'd see Jackson looking so dumb. Well apart from hearing him try to read stuff." He continued to snicker, stopping rather nervously when he realzed he'd said all that out loud. "You're not gonna tell him I said that...right?"

Avril shot Drew a playful smile. "Come on... We're all friends, what's the worst that could happen?"

Drew's took a more serious tone, with an edge of fear brushing over his face. "You don't know...why do you think I didnt make a joke about the fact he and Emma showed up together. Who knows what those two were doing in an alleyway together before they showed up."

Avril felt a small blush creep up her cheeks as she took in what Drew said. While she didn't know Jackson all that well, the girl did know that he was not exactly the normal sort that Emma had a trend to hang around with. At the very least, she wouldn't do so without a good reason. It was something that Avril herself had failed to question her friend on during their chat earlier that day. Of course she didn't realize that the blonde boy was in fact Jackson at the time, but that minor detail did nothing to diminish Avril's curiosity in the matter now. The girl made a note in the back of her mind to inquire Emma about that at a later point in time.

The girl really didn't have much more time to process on the potentially scandalous relationship much further. All the while the two had been making small talk, the scenery around them began to slowly change. The street turned a bit dirty and the crowds of people walking the streets began to grow fewer and fewer until they more or less essentially disappeared. Buildings were no longer in the clean and pristine shape that they once were earlier. In a sense, it almost looked as if the two were in a completely different city all together. A rather uncomfortable feeling started to settle into the pit of Avril's stomach. The environment reminded her of the alleyways that led to that arena where Drew's Chespin and the Eevee were fighting.

"I think we're here... wherever here is," Avril mused. She glanced down in the boy's direction. "Any idea on where we should start looking? All Volkner really did was point us in this direction..."

Drew furrowed his brows. Much like his companion, he was unsettled by their new surroundings. He glanced around the area, not looking for anything in particular. "Yeah, I'm starting to think we shoulda got something a little more exact like a road name or something." The boy huffed, scanning the area.

"Psst...hey kid, boy am I glad to see you." A voice called from above them. Drew instantly recognised the suited figure. He never thought he'd see that guy again, but here he was. "You think you can lend me a hand again? I know I sped off pretty quick without compensatin' ya for the first time, but I promise this one'll be worth your while." He laughed, a hint of nervousness in his tone. He too hadn't expected to see Drew again, so he was quick to sneak off once the boy had distracted the police. Now the tables had turned. If he was asking someone he already owed a favour, the guy mustve been pretty desperate. Given how the rest of his day had gone though, Drew wasn't prepared to try to milk it. The guy was still a member of Team Cinder. Handing him over to the authorities would give him the kickstart he'd been needing.

"Sure, no hard feelings about the forest. I get that you were in a rush with your big hotshot job and all." Drew smiled.

Avril glanced between the two, slowly turning her attention to Drew as she leaned in close. "Drew, do you know this guy? His suit seems kinda similar to the one Volkner mentioned. And... judging from this part of town, it's not something one would normally wear..."

"Avril don't be so rude!" Drew leaned away waving off her suspicion. If he was gonna trick this guy, whispering wasn't gonna help him in being trustworthy. Neither was pretending that Avril wasn't speaking ill of the man. "Just because he's in the shadier part of the city, it doesn't mean he's some kind of thief. The suit is his. He's an admin for some big company in Kalos. Poor guy probably doesn't even know where he is and you're gonna say something like that? Crazy." He concluded, shaking his head. If his tirade wasn't convincing, they'd be in trouble.

Drew's outburst made the man raise a brow. He glanced at the girl, looking her up and down suspiciously. "So uh, Drew...who's this? Your girlfriend or something?"

Avril's face immediately went red. She quickly shook her head, making sure to get a response in before Drew could. "W-What? No, of course not!" The girl quickly stepped aside, trying to put more space between herself and the younger boy. "We're just friends, going to the same school and all that!"

"Yeah, yeah technical terms and all that." The older adult smirked seeing that he'd unsettled both teens with the comment. He looked back over to Drew, who was rubbing his neck defeatedly more in response to the older girl's eagerness to dismiss the notion than the actual suggestion itself. Regardless, he had Drew right where he needed him. "Thanks for your help then kid. Honestly, I'm not sure you're the best person to help with this, but beggars can't be choosers. I got this generator thing, and I managed to get it up this ladder, but getting it down is a little tougher. Whaddaya say kid? Think you can help?"

Drew grimaced at the suggestion that he wouldn't be much help. After Avril's rather crushingly taking offense at the suggestion they may be together, his ego was wounded. "Of course I can help. Let's move this damn thing. Avril you can sit back, we'll handle this." He sighed rolling his shoulders and approaching the ladder to the terrace the man was standing on.

Avril stared at Drew, watching as the boy began to make his way towards the ladder. Her eyes narrowed as the boy agreed to help the man, mostly on account of how he seemed to more or less consider her to be useless in this situation. Avril wasn't sure if it had to do with her being a girl or not, but she was not about to just be brushed off to the side in such a manner. Quickly, the girl began to follow Drew and followed him to the ladder.

"H-Hey, don't just count me out like that! I can help too," the girl protested.

The duo climbed the ladder, and followed the Cinder grunt through the door, finding themselves standing in front of the generator. It was about the size of a dining table, which prompted Drew to wonder how in the world the man managed to sneak away with the thing, much less get it up the ladder. Even worse, he wondered how he himself was gonna pull off the feat, even with help. The youngster quickly changed his tone. On any normal day he would have quickly passed the job on, but his wounded ego pushed him toward the generator, promptly lifting the power supply. Despite his best efforts, the boy barely managed to get hoist the heavy block up to waist height before petering out and dropping it.

"Jesus kid, keep it down, will ya? I got neighbors." The man groaned.

Avril frowned at the scene, making her way to Drew's side. She took to the other side of the generator, attempting to assist the boy in lifting the device. Even with both teens trying to budge the generator, they barely managed to get it to the door before tiring. Avril gasped in surprise at the weight of the thing.

"Holy Miltank... this thing weighs a ton," she groaned. Glancing at the man, Avril raised an eyebrow curiously. "How did you get this thing up here...? Where did it even come from?!"

"You're askin' a lot of questions right now kid, how about we get the job done before we start gawking at how strong I am?" The man grunted back, walking over and helping them with the generator. With his help, the trio were able to angle it out of the door,

Avril slowly glanced over towards Drew. She really didn't know what the boy's plan was in all of this, but it was pretty clear to the blonde that something didn't smell quite right with this guy. She was beginning to wonder just what sort of company Drew had been keeping since they all left the academy to start on their journeys. Turning her attention back to the man in the suit, Avril decided to press the man a bit more. Her curiosity was clearly starting to get the better of her at this point.

"...What job? No offense meant, but hauling a generator around isn't the thing that a guy in rather fancy looking suit like yours would do... Much less one that's supposed to be an administrator for some company like Drew said," the female trainer inquired.

The grunt's eye twitched. The girl was starting to piss him off, but he couldn't slip just yet. "I'm on a classified job alright. I work at the power pla..." He paused for a moment, realizing that just mentioning the power plant would be a huge blunder, but it was already too late. "...power plant's HQ. I sent some grunts to get the job done, but those idiots wouldn't know a job well done if it bit them on the nose. You shouldn't even know that much, so can we just drop it?" He growled, heaving the generator closer to the ladder to take his mind off of the the girl's interrogation.

"But... isn't the power plant all the way out on Route 13...?" Avril questioned. "Why would you be messing around with a generator all the way this far into town. If you guys were gonna fix it, wouldn't you just bring tools to it?"

The grunt huffed, leaning over the generator and exasperatedly rubbing his forehead. "Yeah, it is pretty damn far away, which is why I'd appreciate if you'd stop bugging me with questions and help me move the generator. The man groaned, lifting the box and edging toward the ladder.

Noticing he may be needed, Drew stumbled over to help the goon in his approach of the ladder.

"You know what's funny...?" Avril thought aloud. Her eyes suddenly lit up brightly. "They're having some electrical problems back towards the tower... Maybe we should carry this thing over there and see if it can help light up the tower!"

"Kid, I swear to god, shut the hell up!" He growled, swinging his arms in a rage. As he did so, he released him grip on the generator leading the heavy machine to crash on top of his foot, dragging the young trainer with it. "AAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHH!!! YOU DUMB BITCH!" The wounded man roared in pain as he struggled. "Just piss off already! Me and Drew can do it on our own, for fucks sake!" He groaned in agony.

"So much for the neighbors." Drew remarked from his seated position after nearly having his own hands crushed underneath the generator.

"Ooooh, I'm sorry... I didn't mean to get you hurt like that..." Avril apologized, rubbing the back of her head with a weak grin on her face. "But you know... That I look at your suit better... It sounds just like the one that Volkner described earlier. It's black and orange... a weird color combination you don't see too often, unless it's Halloween... And you know, it's funny. You're struggling around with a generator, while the middle of the city is having electrical issues. Isn't that funny, Drew?"

"Y'know, I wasn't gonna say anything, but now that you mention it, it is kinda funny." Drew responded, getting up and leaning on the generator.

"ARGGHHH!!! What the fuck Drew, is this some kinda mafia hit for the money I owe you or somethin'?"

"Lets cut the crap. We know you're a Team Cinder Admin and we also know, this is the exact generator we're looking for. So we're going to turn you in and return the generator to Prism Tower where it belongs." The boy responded, a smug grin growing across his face.

"To hell you are." The man hissed reaching for three pokéballs at his side and tossing them all out. A Growlithe, a Fletchinder and a Pansear emerged from the balls. "And here I was thinkin' I could trust you Drew." He groaned.

Avril was quick on the draw, grabbing two pokéballs of her own off her wrist, "Anise, Salad! Come on out!"

She quickly tossed the balls forward, sending out some pokémon of her own out to battle against the Team Cinder grunt. One of the pokémon sent out happened to be her trusty Hoothoot. The second pokémon sent out happened to be her recently evolved Leafeon. She smiled as Anise began to hop around energetically, eager to battle against her opponents. Salad also seemed to be quite excited. The Leafeon quickly chasing his tail for a moment before beginning to pant in excitement at the prospect of a battle.

Drew glance over at Avril's two pokémon. The first question that rose to his mind was why she didn't send out her water type starter against a guy with all fire type pokémon. The second...was much, much worse. He stared more closely at the grass type she'd sent out. Leafon. The evolved form of Eevee. The evolution lecturer's words echoed through his mind. He slept through most of those lecturers, they spent a whole session just on Eevee alone. How had Avril managed to get one of her Eevee's evolved forms already? He hadn't even released his Eevee from its pokeball yet, and somehow Avril had hers reach such a major milestone in the growth of any pokémon. He felt himself shiver with rage and self loathing. Whatever she was doing was working. She hadn't moped over losing her first battle, in fact, at the rate she seemed to be going, he wasn't sure she'd even suffered her first loss yet. He slammed his fist against the generator, a fresh downpour of blood seaped through the bandage. Without hesitation, he grabbed his new pokémon's pokéball and tossed it into the battle.

The Eevee appeared from the ball, scanning the area.

"The heck was your name again? Cra-Slash whatever, attack that Growlithe with Tackle!" Drew ordered.

After taking its time to review the situation, the Eevee darted toward the Leafeon, attempting to tackle it to the ground. Salad turned, eyes widened as the Eevee slammed its little body right into him. Luckily, the size difference between the two now was enough to keep the grass type pokémon from taking too much damage. He did stagger back a bit, but more of that was probably from the surprise of being attacked by the Eevee than it was from the force of its attack.

Avril blinked slowly at the sight, before turning to glance at Drew questionably. "Um... What...?"

"Dammit, I said attack the Growlithe, not the Leafeon." Drew groaned, before looking over to Avril apologetically.

The Eevee didnt stop her attempts to attack however. She charged relentlessly at the Leafeon again with a feral hiss. She didnt care about her new trainer's embarrassment or the trapped man's snickering. She leapt at the Leafeon one more time, this time aiming her fangs for his neck. Before she could land her attack she was enveloped by a red beam of light.

A rather sheepish looking Drew stood with an outstretched arm and a now closed pokeball encased in his hand. "Damn thing is pretty much exactly how I expected. Avril, you mind taking this guy on alone? I wanna see if I can get this Eevee situation under control." He said, with deep remose in his tone.
L
"Oh... Uh... S-Sure, no problem," Avril replied, giving a strange look in Drew's direction before turning her attention back to the Cinder Grunt. Somehow, the man had managed not to take of advantage of this situation once. In fact, he seemed to have been watching the whole thing with an amused smirk on his face. Taking a third ball off of her bracelet, Avril quickly tossed it out to summon a third pokémon. "Shino! Join in the fight!"

The Frogadier slowly took a look around, his eyes coming to rest on the three fire type pokémon standing across from him. Avril could have sworn that she saw the frog pokémon actually smile at his opponents. Not wanting to waste another moment, Avril quickly began to give out orders.

"Shino, attack the Pansear with a Quick Attack! Anise, go after that Fletchinder with a Zen Headbutt! Salad, use Bite on the Growlithe!"

Shino quickly dashed towards the Pansear, disappearing from its sight and then reappearing right in behind the monkey. Without warning, the Frogadier launched his hand forward, essentially slugging the fire monkey right in the back of his head. While Shino attacked the Pansear, Salad was busy looking at the Cinder Grunt's Growlithe with a rather playful look on his face. As if it was a game, the Leafeon quickly bounded forward and pounced right on top of the dog-like pokémon. The Leafeon let out a happy-sounding howl before it leaned forward and... started to lick the Growlithe.

As for Anise, she was already charging straight at the Fletchinder as fast as her little wings could carry her. As she flew towards her target, a faint glow began to circle her head as she lowered it to slam right into her feathered opponent. The Fletchinder managed to dodge out of the way of Anise's incoming attack though, and then countered with an Ember attack. Anise hooted in pain as the small spurt of flame landed against her side, but that attack alone was not going to be enough to take the Hoothoot down.

***

An angry Eevee burst from its pokeball, landing on...a sofa? She glanced around, seeing a barely decorated living room with little more than a painting on the wall. The only point of interest was the human boy that was now apparently her captive. Not for long. She instantly leapt at the boy, targeting and latching onto his bandaged arm. She tasted blood in the aggravated wound, but refused to let go as the 'trainer' shrieked in pain.

Drew did all he could to shake off the small fox pokémon, but to no avail. It clamped down on his arm, digging its fangs deep past the skin. Braving the pain, he raised the pokémon to meet him at eye level, the teeth still keeping her firmly attatched to his arm. "Look, I'm not about to take any crap from you, alright. I had to put up with that shit from Brycen, but not anymore." He stated, staring intensely into the Eevee's eyes. "I can only imagine what you went through in those fighting pits, but things'll be different with me. I was honestly pretty pissed with what you guys did to Brycen, but seeing you on your own, you're pretty pathetic." He ended with a sigh.

The Eevee bit down harder, her fangs now touching bone.

Drew still managed to keep his composure. It was clear to him now. Eevee wanted to be stronger, to be respcted. She attacked the Leafeon out of envy. He continued to stare into the pokémon's eyes. "I guess we have that much in common." He ended with a somber tone. "I guess if you're joining my team I should at least give you a new name." He continued, slowly becoming attuned to the intense pain in his arm, so much so that he decided to sit down on the couch. The lack of pain could probably be accounted to the growing numbness he felt in that particular arm. "Slash Nebula, right? That's actually pretty cool I think I'll keep that." He mused, prompting the pokémon to growl at the mention of the name. "Alright, alright. What about just Nebula?" The lack of a growl was taken as a yes by the young trainer.

***

Back outside, the battle between Avril and the Team Cinder grunt was still underway. That said, a good portion of the battle had already came and went. Shino and Salad, both being evolved pokémon with varying degrees of training, were able to easily handle their opponents. In Shino's case, he took down the Pansear through paralysis caused by a Lick attack and then a point-blank Water Pulse fired right in the monkey pokémon's face. Salad's battle had been a bit tougher, mainly on account of the type disadvantage he had against the grunt's Growlithe. However once the Leafeon began to take the battle seriously, it wasn't long before the fire type was easily overpowered on account of Salad being physically stronger and having a speed advantage with moves such as Quick Attack.

At this very moment, the only battle still proceeding was the one between Anise and the grunt's Fletchinder. The fire bird was putting up more of a fight than either of its two comrades did and while Avril could have called Anise back and let Shino finish the battle for her, the trainer simply could not bring herself to do so. She knew that this fight was Anise's, and she wanted the Hoothoot to see it through to the end.

"Anise, go with a Peck attack!" Avril shouted, watching her owl pokémon intensely.

With an angry screech, the Hoothoot dove straight at the Fletchinder. The Team Cinder Grunt didn't seem too concerned, however. He quickly ordered his Fletchinder to counter with a Quick Attack. The fire bird managed to easily dodge Anise's attack at the last minute, before slamming its body directly into her. Anise let out a pain-filled hoot as she almost lost her altitude, but just managed to recover and keep herself airborne. Both Avril and the grunt glared at each other. In unison, they both called out an attack for their pokémon to strike with. The Cinder grunt called out for his fire bird to attack with one more Quick Attack. Avril on the other hand, ordered her Hoothoot to attack with a Zen Headbutt.

At that moment Drew stepped out from the house, straight into the middle of the ongoing battle on the terrace. The two birds clashing in front of him. He glanced at the grunt, who was now on his last pokémon, before glancing at Avril in the other direction who still had all three of hers. He was impressed, but no longer intimidated. If anything, that was now the level he knew he would get to, rather than seeing it as unreachable. "Hey Avril, need a hand?" He smirked, grabbing Nebula's pokéball with his still bleeding hand.

"Drew...? What happened to..." she paused, pushing the thought out of her head. She was concerned about the boy's hand, but knew that there wouldn't be proper time to worry about it until after this whole situation was taken care of. What Avril did notice was that the boy seemed to be much more confident than he was just a little while ago. Offering him a nod, a small smile crept up on her lips. "Yeah, sure... Why not?"

Drew grinned lazily. It wasn't the answer he wanted, but he'd take it. Then again, it's not he expected her to be in desperate need of her help, but it would've been nice to have had this moment at a more triumphant time. With a satisfied sigh, he tossed the pokéball.

Instinctively, Eevee scanned the area, but saw no sign of the pompous Leafeon that had been standing there before. He thought he was a hotshot with his evolved form, but she sure showed him. Now for the trainer...as the thought crossed her mind, she was clattered into by a set of feathers. She managed to recover from the Wing Attack, but the same would not be said about whatever landed the attack. The Fletchinder flew triumphantly around in the air, getting some satisfaction out of attacking her. Big mistake. She readied herself for a Quick Attack, but the sound of her 'trainer' giving the order instantly put her off the attack. With a dismissive flick of her tail, Eevee charged at the Fletchinder, pouncing and attempting to bite his neck.

"At least she's attacking the right pokémon now." Drew laughed awkwardly, realizing the pokémon still wasn't listening to him.

"Your Eevee is fucking insane." The Cinder grunt groaned as he watched his pokémon struggled to protect his vitals. "Fletchinder, peck that little bitch off!" He ordered. As he pecked, the bird managed to break free and fly as far away from the Eevee as possible.

"Nebula can't get him up there, Avril?" Drew suggested confidently.

"Anise! Go after it with Confusion!" Avril commanded.

The Hoothoot quickly took back up to the skies, her eyes narrowing at the Fletchinder that flapped its wings up above her. The owl pokémon's eyes began to glow a bright pink color, before a bright wave of light quickly shot out of them and straight at the grunt's Fletchinder. The winged fire type screeched in pain from the attack, suddenly losing altitude and heading for the ground below. It just barely managed to catch itself before it landed, quickly swooping back up and soaring right at the Hoothoot once more. Anise glared at the Fletchinder, and without even a command from Avril she quickly dove down and targeted the fire type herself. Both birds literally slammed into each other, their heads locked tight against each other as each one attempted to push the other back as hard as they could. Avril watched with bated breath as the two birds clashed, the trainer clutching her Hoothoot's pokéball tightly. Time seemed to grind to a complete stop as both of the birds clashed for dominance.

"Come on, Anise..." Avril said quietly. "Do it... push back now!"

Anise let out a loud hoot as she closed her eyes and began to flap her wings faster than her trainer had ever seen. Without warning, a bright, almost blinding light began to glow throughout the area, causing all three trainers to wince in surprise. The bright light began to engulf the two birds, until it was essentially impossible to see either one. Avril wasn't sure how long the light lasted. She raised an arm up, staring at it almost hypnotically, until a loud, deep-sounding hoot quickly broke her from the trance. Without warning, the grunt's Fletchinder suddenly came crashing down to the ground below. It landed just short of Drew's feet, where it attempted to try and pick itself back up... and fall flat on its belly. Slowly, the other bird pokémon began her own decent to the ground below. Only... she seemed much different than before. Her feathers were now much darker in color. It looked as though she had actual horns on her head. And she also appeared to be much... much larger than before.

"A-Anise... You evolved!" Avril shouted in shock. She quickly forgot all about the battle that had been progressing up until this point and ran straight towards the owl pokémon. Anise let out a deep, proud hoot, her wings opening up to catch the trainer in a feathery hug. "Congratulations! I'm so proud of you!"

Drew watched on in a bitter mixture of awe and envy as he watched yet another of Avril's pokémon evolve. It dawned on him that she now had more evolved pokémon than he had pokémon on his team. He sighed, a small smirk growing across his face. He'd step up, and when he did, he wanted to battle whatever team Avril had. This was just the motivation he needed. At least it was over. He glanced over the at the Cinder grunt, who had managed to wriggled out from under the generator, but his foot was far too damaged for him to get anywhere. "We should probably get someone else to carry this thing." He walked over and patted the generator, practically ignoring the man slowly and painfully trying to crawl away.

"Is it safe to just up and leave this thing, though...?" Avril questioned, finally managing to pry herself from the awe that was her Noctowl. She gestured to the essentially crippled Cinder grunt trying to escape. "I mean, how do we know this guy doesn't have any friends waiting somewhere close by?"

"I guess we can wait. I did wanna head back and make sure Brycen was okay, but I guess if the cops don't take too long to get here." He sighed, leaning over the frail metal balcony. "Y'know, just this morning I went to jail for trying to help this asshole." He glared down at the injured man, without a shred of sympathy. "Maybe things could be interesting if he escaped. I wouldn't mind actually getting to take him down myself." He added, staring down at the mans foot with a sadistic edge.

"I... I think that might be a bit too far..." Avril replied, taken a bit by surprise by Drew's sudden change of tone. "Besides, I'm sure the police will be glad to know that you helped in getting the generator back and helping to stop him... right?"

The boy huffed, preferring to remain silent after gauging Avril's initial reaction to his suggestion.

Reciprocating her trainer's feelings toward the Cinder grunt, Nebula approached the grounded man, hissing as she faced him.

"Hey, get this damn thing away from me!" The grunt cried out desperately.

Drew noticed the incident, but instead turned to Avril for a moment. "So, how exactly did you get your Eevee to evolve? I could really do with that sort of boost to my team right now."

Avril slowly turned away, her cheeks heating up once more as she laughed nervously. "Um... Well, I kinda had a Leaf Stone in my bag up until earlier... And well... Salad kinda got out of his pokéball while I was taking and shower and... sort of... found it. I guess you could say he decided to just evolve himself...?"

Leaf Stone? The boy thought to himself. Then that was how he'd get stronger. He wasn't sure where to find one, but he was certain he could do that much without Avril's help.

Anise evolved into Noctowl!

Stinging Bea · Jul 26, 2017

Avril Morris &
Drew Tucker

Lumiose City

Chapter 5-6 | A League Of His Own

Current Party:

Inventory:

- x1 Pokédex

- x1 Pokéball

- 500 Poké Dollars

- x3 Pecha Berries

- Bug Bite TM

- Water Pulse TM

Time passed and eventually the Lumiose City police did arrive to apprhend the Team Cinder grunt. A few of the officers who arrived seemed to be a bit annoyed that Drew was present. Whether or not that was because he had stopped the criminal before they could find him or if it was for another reason, Avril wasn't too sure. At the very least, the problem with the energy source of the Lumiose tower was finally going to be taken care of. While two of the officers who arrived took care of hauling off the injured Cinder grunt, the others who were there assisted in carrying the generator back to where it properly belonged. The crowd of people seemed to be absolutely delighted with the fact that the generator was back where it belonged. It meant that things were finally going to be able to proceed and the ceremony welcoming Volkner to the region would finally be able to get underway. This also pleased Volkner, as he was more than happy to finally get to start battling against the various trainers in the area.

"Whew... I'm glad this whole mess is finally taken care of," the man sighed in relief. He ran a hand through his messy blonde hair, giving both Drew and Avril a genuine smile. "I would have hated to see how long this mess would have taken to sort out, especially since the police force here seemed to be so powerless to do anything about it. Regardless, both of you kids did pretty good... So I guess I should give you some sort of reward for your hard efforts." He handed the two teenagers to items. The first of which was a TM while the second object was a small, strange, yellow-colored box. "That's the TM for Electro Ball. It's a pretty strong electric type move that does more damage based on the speed of the pokémon that uses it. That box is an Electricizer. It's used to make certain pokémon evolve if they hold it when traded."

Drew's eyes widened at the sight of the electricizer. Back in Kanto, his older cousin had always traveled around with his trusty Electervire, so he knew exactly what this thing did. Without a moment of hesitation, he near snatched the yellow box, staring at it in awe.

Avril looked down at the items she had been given. While the blonde girl was grateful for being rewarded to help things finally move forward, it wasn't exactly what she was hoping for. She tried to put on her best smile as she looked back up at the gym leader. "Um... Thanks Volkner, I'm sure these will come handy, but..."

Volkner raised an eyebrow. "But...?"

"Well... to be honest, I was hoping that we could just skip all this ceremony stuff and you would just let me battle you. I mean, we did go through a lot of trouble just to get that thing back for you. I think it kinda seems like a fair trade, yeah...?" Avril questioned.

"Look... my hands are kinda tied by this whole thing, they really are..." Volkner replied, the man did seem to be actually apologetic with his response. "But... I can't really... take a gym challenge until this whole thing is over with, kid." The gym leader placed his chin on his fist, staring pensively at the sky. "Maybe...I have been itching for a battle lately, so what if we just have an unofficial battle. I cant award you a gym badge if you win, but it can still help you gauge how far you've come." He smiled, looking down at Avril for approval.

Avril's eyes were shining like stars at this point. She had no idea that gym leaders could challenge trainers like this! Imagine the chapter of her budding novel she could write from this turn of events! An epic battle held under the stars at the base of the city's most famous landmark! It would be the read of the century!

Volkner slowly put his hand on the girl's shoulder. A look of concern graced his features as he stared at her. "Huh... you okay, kid?"

Avril quickly snapped back to reality. "Oh... uh, yeah! Of course!" She exclaimed, an embarrassed smile gracing her lips. "I accept!"

Drew glanced up from his new treasured item. Much of the crowd was clearing space for the battle between the gym leader and Avril. There were a few envious jeers in the crowd, but for the most part, the onlookers accepted the contribution the blonde had made to pushing their own gym challenges forward. He too, stepped back watching intently on what was about to take place. This was exactly what he needed to see. Just how strong were these two?

"Well, if you're ready, then I'll just use one pokémon. It may be a little cruel of me since my Luxray is easily at an elite level, but I haven't gotten to battle alongside my friend in a long time. You can use as many as you have."

Avril frowned, giving Volkner a strange look. "Are you sure? My team is pretty strong you know..."

The older man chuckled, before giving Avril a comforting smile. "Don't worry, if the odds are swayed too much in your favour, we can change the rules accordingly. How's that sound?" He laughed. Once he'd finished speaking, he dropped his pokéball, letting it roll until it reached a stop. There was a moment of anticipation as nothing happened, but after a few seconds, a surge of powerful lightning emerged from the ball. The majority of the crowd sheilded their faces from the intense light, but Drew and Avril stared intently, unphased by the flash. Volkner's grin was all that most could make out through the brightness. "I don't tend to go so flashy, but I like to make an exception every now and then." He added, as the light faded, leaving behind his Luxray.

"I can respect that," Avril replied, smiling back at Volkner and his Luxray. She took one of the balls off her bracelet and quickly tossed it out onto ground. The ball snapped open and in a flash of light came Avril's Leafeon. Salad stretched his body out, before catching sight of the Luxray and excitedly wagging his leafy tail in anticipation. "Of course, sometimes staying simple is the he better way the her go."

"A grass type? I see. Trying to neutralize my electric type moves, huh? Not a problem, Luxray use Ice Fang." Volkner ordered, getting straight to the point. The pokémon was just as direct as his trainer, charging at Salad with a glacier in his mouth.

"Salad, go with a Quick Attack to the side!" Avril ordered.

The Leafeon quickly dashed towards the Luxray. However instead of dodging off to the side, the Leafeon charged straightforward. He leapt up into the air, a playful look in his eyes as he prepared to pounce on the electric type.

"Unconventional, but not particularly smart." Volkner sighed. His Luxray continued to charge forward, taking the quick attack head on barely flinching at all. As Salad recoiled in wake of a successful attack, Luxray grabbed on to the unsuspecting pokémon, clamping down with his icy fangs, before tossing the Leafeon aside.

Salad let out a pain-filled howl as he landed roughly on the ground. The Leafeon barely managed to climb back up to his feet. His legs were shaking all the while. Still, he seemed intent on staying in the battle. "Salad, attack from afar with Razor Leaf!"

The Leafeon growled, glaring at the Luxray surprisingly fiercely. He hunched down, sending forth a flurry of sharp leaved swirling right in the direction of the electric type.

Volkner sighed again. "If you're going to fight a stronger opponent, you can't just rely on type resistance. Luxray, show her why. Volt Tackle." He ordered rather nonchalantly given the caliber of move he was calling for. The Luxray hesitated and glanced back at his trainer, but complied. The pokemon stood still, while his body was being enveloped in surging lightning.

Avril watched as the leaves began to cut into the Luxray, but the electricity surging around him acted as some sort of shield, causing most of the leaves to burn up and crumble on touch. The blonde didn't waste a moment. She quickly ordered her Leafeon to attack with a Bite attack, the girl determined to stop the incoming attack anyway she could. Salad quickly ran towards his target, eyes narrowed as he pounced at the electric type with fangs bared.

Volkner furrowed his brows, more in annoyance at the stupidity of the decision than any concern for Avril's Leafeon. "Go." He said flatly. His Luxray shot forward like a bullet of sparking lightning, shooting through Leafeon and leaving an arrow of lightning and a collapsed grass type in his wake. "I hope you're going to come with a better strategy for you next pokémon." He stated sternly. "I was looking forward to this battle." He added with a frown.

Drew watched on from the front of the crowd. Avril was taken out so easily...just how strong was Volkner? She did have three more pokémon, but that clash alone made it clear how those would turn out. Unless...he glanced at her wrist. That fifth pokémon, was it her trump card?

Avril remained silent, calling her Leafeon back into its pokéball before reattaching it to her bracelet. She wasn't all too thrilled with how this battle was starting out, but then again Salad was not exactly the most experienced member of her team. She had to admit, she wasn't that big a fan of Volkner's sudden shift in attitude. The girl shot him a somewhat dirty look, before taking the second ball off her wrist and tossing it out into the "battlefield" before them. A loud, deep hoot echoed throughout the city street as her newly evolved Noctowl, Anise, took the scene. The large owl pokémon stretched her mighty wings, before slowly starting to flap them and take up into the air. Avril knew she had the type disadvantage going into this next part of the battle, but she trusted in Anise's ability to turn this situation around.

"Anise, take it down with a Zen Headbutt!" Avril commanded, receiving a fierce hoot in reply from the winged pokémon. Without warning, she dove straight down towards the Luxray, her horns starting to glow brightly as the psychic energy began to rush towards her head.

Volker noticed the glare Avril gave him. In the heat of battle, it was pleasing to see such passion, even if her diversity in strategy had been a disappointment up until this point. "Luxray, Discharge." He ordered, the earlier grin returning to his face. If the girl was using a pokémon with a type disadvantage, she must have had something to accommodate for that.

The stream of electricity shot out from her Luxray, striking at the owl pokémon and taking it out of the sky. The gleam eyes pokémon looked back at his trainer, unsure of exactly what he was being made to do.

Avril's Noctowl writhed in pain on the ground from taking the Thunderbolt attack at such a close range. Yet somehow, the bird managed to pick herself up off the ground, some of her feathers now looking a bit singed and dirty. Avril could feel a tightness in her chest from watching the owl in so much pain. She gripped the bird's pokéball, mentally debating about calling her back. Yet all it took was a quick glance from the Noctowl, with eyes filled with determination, to keep the trainer from doing so. A sudden idea rushed to Avril's head. It was a long shot, but at this point she had little else she could rely on.

"Anise, use Hypnosis now!" Avril quickly ordered. The Noctowl returned her focus towards Volkner's Luxray. A strained, yet rhythmic set of hoots began to slip out of the Noctowl's beak as she stared down at the Luxray, her eyes beginning to glow a faint red all the while.

"I don't think so! Luxray, Swagger!" Volkner called out, prompting his pokemon to grin and begin confidently taunting his opponent. "Then follow up with another Ice Fang!"

Avril widened her eyes as the Luxray easily managed to avoid falling for Anise's Hypnosis attack. She quickly ordered for the bird to fall back and try to blast the Luxray with her Confusion attack instead. Anise seemed to have trouble following through with the command, however. The mighty owl pokémon staggered backwards, a look on her face as if she was suddenly lost as to what in the world was going on around her. Avril tried calling out to her, desperate to get the Noctowl to come to her senses, but it was too late. Before Avril could call out again, the bird was screeching in the sudden pain from a pair of frigid fangs crunching into her torso. Much like with Salad before, the Noctowl was sent reeling back in pain, before fainting right on the spot.

"Maybe using Luxray was too cruel." Volkner pondered the difficult situation his opponent now found herself in. He grabbed his Luxray's pokéball. "I did say that if the battle fell too far in one person's favor..." He began, returning Luxray to his pokeball. He tossed another ball. This one had no flashy sparks or patient moment of anticipation, but a but a quiet and humble emergence from the ball. "I caught this little guy yesterday in prep for my induction into Kalos' league." Volkner smiled proudly over the eagerly waiting Heliolisk that emerged from the ball.

Avril stared at the new pokémon Volkner had called out. She gripped Anise's ball even tighter, as she began to hear whispers coming from behind her. Several of the spectators began to talk among themselves about how Volkner must have suddenly decided to take it easy against her. She could also hear a few people questioning why in the world he was making a special exception to battle someone so clearly out of his league. Without so much as word, Avril recalled her fallen Noctowl and returned the ball back to her bracelet. She remained absolutely silent as she grabbed yet another ball of her wrist. She seemed... somewhat hesitant to throw this one out, but the sudden humiliation she was feeling at being completely destroyed up to this point was more than enough to push that hesitation out of the way for the time being. Turning her focus back to the battle, the blonde girl launched the ball out to the ground before her and revealed a Mudbray as her third pokémon.

The Mudbray slowly blinked, a low bray escaping his mouth as he looked over his shoulder and sent an annoyed glare in the direction of the blonde girl behind him. Without so much as a second thought, the Mudbray yawned rather loudly before plopping right down on his butt and merely staring out ahead of him.

Volkner's eyes widened. He wasnt sure to respond to such a thing. "Ummm...is this part of the plan?" Volkner asked with a concerned expression.

Drew looked on in shock as well. Avril had been completely blown away, with the two pokémon he'd seen wipe the floor with the Cinder grunt's pokémon, prove no match for this guy's one. Now her third pokémon, and easily the most surprising of all had straight up disrespected her. No wonder she hadn't used him up until now. He looked down at Nebula's pokéball, and honestly felt a little better about that situation. Then again...he glanced at his freshly stitched and bandaged arm. Maybe shouldn't compare the two. He glanced back up at the battle: First at Volkner, who seemed more concerned than he did confident, then at Avril who...

"C-Come on, Benjamin! You can do this!" Avril shouted, trying to maybe summon up some morale into her Mudbray. "Start things off with a Mud-Slap!" The Mudbray merely huffed in response to Avril's order, clearly not caring all to much about what she had to say. In fact, he even went as far as to stretch his body out, before curling up... like he was going to take a nap. Avril's voice lowered a bit, her cheeks looking a bit red from the embarrassment bubbling up inside of her. "Come on, Benjamin... get up!"

"Hey, shut up!" Drew yelled at a few of the trainers in the crowd laughing at Avril's misfortune. While he normally would've written off a trainer with a disobedient pokémon as a neglectful trainer, he now knew first hand just how difficult it was.

The gym leader shared the young trainer's sympathy for the situation Avril found herself in. He had a reputation for being a ruthless gym leader, and he'd already showed enough mercy by recalling Luxray. Maybe it was time to live up to that reputation. "Heliolisk, attack the Mudbray with Surf!" He ordered. The pokémon leapt into the air, materializing a wave of water beneath him. With the Heliolisk on top of it, the wave came crashing down and washed aside the Mudbray.

Avril groaned under her breath, bringing the pokéball back up and returning the quickly dispatched Mudbray back to his ball. At this point, all the girl could think about was desperately wanting to disappear from sight and forget this evening ever started. Within a matter of minutes, Volkner had completely decimated most of her team. She didn't understand how in the world the second gym leader to represent Kalos, whether he was from another region or not, could be so strong. Regardless... She was seriously against the ropes at this point. Avril placed Benjamin's ball back on her bracelet and took off her fourth one. She hated to put this kind of pressure on him, but... she was really running out of options now.

"Shino, you're up!" the female trainer called out, tossing yet another pokéball forward. The ball opened while in the air and out jumped Avril's Frogadier. The frog pokémon had a look of absolute determination on his face as he landed on the ground, as if he was able to tell just what sort of dire situation his trainer had put into. The Frogadier glanced over his shoulder, giving Avril a reassuring nod, before turning to face Volkner's Heliolisk with a sharp glare.

"I guess this is it then. Your last pokémon, huh?" Volkner stated plainly. "I almost want to bring Luxray back out for this, but since that's out of the question, lets go for Rain Dance Heliolisk." Upon Volkner's request, the generator pokémon performed a small dance, conjuring artificial clouds above the battle. "Your move." Volkner smiled, genuinely excited by the intriguing strategy the Heliolisk had the potential for.

Avril and Shino remained silent. The girl staring at both the gym leader and his pokémon. She knew full well just what he was planning, at least she liked to think so. The rain it had stirred up would most likely make its electric moves even stronger. It was likely to Avril that Volkner planned to just overpower her Frogadier as quickly as possible and put an end to the match right there. However, there were several things that he didn't know about Shino.

"Shino... Camouflage, now!" She quickly ordered out. The Frogadier croaked in response and quickly began to run straight towards the Heliolisk. As Shino dashed forward, the frog pokémon began to rapidly disappear, quickly blending in with the environment that surrounded them and vanishing from sight. The area around the duo and their pokémon quickly fell completely silent. Only the sounds of the falling rain and the occasional whispers and murmurs of the crowd filling the air. Avril turned back to Volkner, giving the gym leader a smile of her own. "Back to you..."

Drew squinted. Through the rain, it was impossible to see the Frogadier. If she can keep this up, she might actually win. He thought to himself, a smile growing on his face.

Volkner frowned. He was admittedly proud that Avril had decided to think out of the box, but now he had to deal with this strategy of hers. "Heliolisk, Thunder!" He ordered, confident that the attack was more accurate in the rain. Just like he ordered, the a bolt burst out of the storm cloud, crashing onto the concrete. Nothing happened. Even with increased accuracy, it was impossible for Heliolisk to hit something he couldn't see.

Avril covered her eyes as the sound of thunder rang out and a surge of electrical energy surged outward along with it. The girl felt her stomach knot up, worry quickly working its way up into the pit of her stomach. She could hear the crowd behind her grow silent, the anticipation growing so thick that you could praticially cut it with a knife. Then suddenly, it happened. Shino appeared right behind the Heliolisk, slamming his froggy-hands right into the back of its head. Avril's smile grew as she watched Volkner's pokémon stumble forward, before he suddenly seemed to disappear back into the shadows again.

Heliolisk swiped behind him with his tail, but found himself swinging at air. The pokémon was powerful, but wasn't very experience in a battle scenario. It resorted back to its primal instinct, attempting to flee from the invisible assailant.

His trainer snapped him out of it though. "Lead with electric terrain, then combo with bulldoze!" Volkner ordered. The Heliolisk bounded forward, spreading his dewlap and digging his tail into the ground. He began sending surges of electricity into the ground. With the ground now electrified, he stomped his foot into the ground, sending chunks of electrified concrete into the air.

The sound of a surprised croak quickly filled the air. Suddenly, Shino burst into view once more. He staggered forward, getting pelted with chunks of electrified concrete all the while. The Frogadier quickly fell to his knee, wincing in pain from the rather surprising attack that the Heliolisk unleashed. Shino slowly climbed back up to his feet, the frog pokémon clearly wounded from the attack... but not ready to be down and out for the count yet. Avril could not pull her eyes away from the scene.

"Shino... Camouflage and Quick Attack again!" she quickly shouted out.

The Frogadier gave a quick nod in response to his trainer. Once more, he began to charge forward towards Volkner's Heliolisk, disappearing from sight just like he had previously. The Heliolisk staggered back, not expecting the Frogadier to be in front of him, this time he swiped behind him. Again, he swiped at air. "Lisk." He groaned in frustration, as he was again clattered by the Frog pokémon. He jumped aside, trying to repeat his earlier attack, but was again ambushed, by his invisible opponent. Shino essentially began what appeared to be an endless assault against the poor electric type. The Frogadier began an onslaught of Quick Attacks, constantly appearing at various angles around the Heliolisk and giving him a fierce punch or kick whenever he appeared. And then just like that, he would disappear back into the shadows. Finally, Shino reappeared in front of Volkner's pokémon one final time. He jumped up, landing a surprising uppercut right into the Heliolisk's chin, which sent the electric type pokémon falling flat onto his backside. Shino came to a stop just in front of him. The Frogadier was breathing heavily, trying to catch his breath from using so many Quick Attacks in a row.

Volkner could do no more than smile. This was what he wanted to see. Too bad it was too little, too late. "I did say one pokémon, but I've already used two now, and the first wasn't defeated." He smirked, grabbing Luxray's ball. He tossed the ball, and the gleam eyes pokémon emerged from the ball once more, with a much less cinematic entrance than before.

Luxray stood over Shino's fatigued and battered body. Without a shred of mercy, he changed lightning through his body, before another Discharge attack sent the frog flying back to his trainer. Volkner smiled again. Avril's eyes widened, the girl bending down to her Frogadier's side. Shino let out a weakened, downright exhausted croak. There was no way she could force the poor thing to keep going at this point. Slowly, Avril took the pokéball in her hand and began to call Shino back, when one of the balls on her bracelet suddenly fell off and hit the ground with a thud. Before anyone could react, the ball snapped open and a bright light shot out of the ball, taking the form of a particular Mareep. The sheep pokémon looked over at Shino, worry evident on her face, before she turned to face the fully evolved and much larger Luxray. A look of absolute determination graced Marble's features.

Luxray stared down at the Mareep intensely. He watched the baby pokemon curiously, waiting for her to make the first move. The Mareep leaned forward, the little orb on her tail starting to glow before a thin, tiny, laser-like light shot out from it. The laser shot a few inches forward, stopping quite a bit short of its intended destination of the Luxray. Walking slowly and calmly toward the Mareep, Luxray approached Marble without hesitation. When he stood in front of her, he leant down and prodded the small creature with his powerful paw. The Mareep quickly stumbled over on to its backside, letting out a frustrated mewl as it tried to pick itself back up. With Shino called away into his ball, Avril quickly made her way forward and scooped the baby pokémon up into her arms.

"...That's it. You win," she said quietly, looking up at Volkner. "I give up."

There was a moment of silence in the crowd, before a round of applause slowly started to grow among the crowd. Some even cheering for the blonde trainer. Volkner walked toward Avril with a big smile on his face. "I have to say, I'm impressed with the chemistry you and you Frogadier had." He placed his hand comfortingly on the young trainer's shoulder. "Anyway, I have to get ready for the ceremony later. If you're there, I look forward to seeing you." He waved, walking off through the crowd.

Avril slowly climbed to her feet watching Volkner walk away and towards the tower. Slowly, the crowd began to disperse, many either heading towards the tower for the ceremony or on to whatever business they had originally planned. The girl remained absolutely silent as she watched Volkner and his Luxray leave, bringing her baby Mareep closer to her chest. As if it had been rehearsed, the rain slowly began to let up as well. She sighed to herself, trying to put on the best smile she could.

"Guess I still have a lot of work to do, huh...?" she asked, somehow still knowing Drew was behind her.

The blonde felt a hand on her back. The younger trainer smiled, wearing a face of wisdom beyond his years. "It's just a loss, trust me they come. When you pick a fight with giants you're bound to get squashed. At least you didn't lose to some twerp you used to beat all the time in the academy." He blushed slightly, thinking back to his first battle with Newt. That was one loss he had to avenge. "By the time you challenge him again, you'll be leagues ahead of where you are now, and that's scary." He added stepping forward and glancing at her bracelet, before looking back up at her with a smile.

Avril returned the boy's smile with a genuine one of her own. She knew he was right. She couldn't let this one loss get her down or discourage her. After all, it was part of every trainer's path to take such a heavy defeat and learn to grow from it. Regathering herself properly, she began to make her way forward, but not before glancing over her shoulder at Drew.

"Guess I'll head to the center and let these guys get fixed up... Don't you need to check up on your Chespin...?" she asked.

The boy bit his lip. He's managed to take his mind away from obsessing about his starter, but it was about time he checked on the guy. "If you're heading to the center I'll come with. I guess you're heading to the ceremony as well right? I hadn't planned to myself, but I'm curious to see exactly what those grey suits deemed more important than my Chespin's life."

GanguEevee · Jul 26, 2017

_______________________________
After the events of the JP that felt like it took much longer than it should…
_______________________________

Dahlia was having a bit of a nitpicky thought in his head that was starting to blow up a bit after leaving the others. After he knew that he and the Eevee he was holding were basically alone, he had to get the thought out of his head by saying it out-loud.

"Adoración. I know it's an obsolete pronunciation nowadays, but it seems everyone can't even say it right." He just sighed, and looked down at the Eevee he got out of that awful cage (Which he'd thrown away soon after) and is now being carried around in his arms. He had a lovely tuft of hair covering his left eye and really didn't seem to like the idea of being inside a Poké Ball or being around someone who would possibly treat him badly, to the point where he'd tried to run away from Dahlia in his damaged state. Dahlia had to use a Potion on him and hope that he'd would calm down from that. He had to tell him that it would sting a bit and he had to keep petting him during the process. He calmed down a little bit, but not that much (He sometimes squirmed a bit in his hands).

"And I still don't know what to call you yet…" The collar on the Eevee had a name engraved on its tag, which was supposedly his original name: 'Shinpai'. It became quite clear to Dahlia that the announcer didn't bother to say his actual name because it was probably too hard to say, or the audience wouldn't really like a name that didn't sound as 'cool' as Slash Nebula...or something like that. He thrown away both the tag and the collar, even if the collar looked very pretty.

"Don't worry, I'm going to take you to the Pokémon Center so you can relax there. My sister should be there too, along with my...dear friend? No...dear is not really the word to describe her." As soon as he'd entered the Center, however, he noticed that both Caroline and Fondue were gone. His eyes widened and he immediately went to go ask Nurse Joy. "H-Have you seen a yellow haired girl with a big red ribbon alongside a younger girl with pink hair, who may or may not have been holding a Litwick in her hands?!"

"Oh, those two? I believe they left with a girl...She was wearing a white dress, and had blond hair. She had a pink backpack and inside it was a...strange looking Pokémon. Well, she tried to keep it inside the bag…" Dahlia suddenly remember the conversation he had with Jackson.

"Oh thank goodness...to be honest, I thought you would have had the unfortunate pleasure to meet her...rude little rodent as soon as you spoke with her. But I guess everything seemed to work out well with you two. I...guess I must have not been that worried anyway. She knows how to follow my orders quite well, and she always never seem to give up hope for me."

He face-palmed after remembering the part where he'd told Jackson that Caroline follows his orders quite well...except said order involved being with Fondre for a while.

<...Fucking hell. I should have been expecting this to happen, too...> "If I remember right, they said that they were going to Vert Plaza. Do you want me to tell you the directions?" Dahlia shook his head. "I have a Holo Caster. But thank you for the information. I shall be leaving, then…"

~Pin & Min: Fondre's Double Trouble-makers~

_______________________________
While Dahlia was gone, it didn't take that long for Caroline and Fondue to disobey his little request....
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Fondre wanted to doze off, but she had to keep an eye on the little brat. If she didn't keep an eye on Caroline, Dahlia would not only stop being her friend anymore, he'd would also possibly kill her and throw her body in an incinerator...before he would commit suicide after that. But of course, she's not an idiot, so she would never do that...even if she hates his sister's guts oh so much.

She suddenly heard the sliding doors of the Center and without looking, immediately grabbed the hand of the person who was about to exit through the doors. "And where do you think you're going?!" "How did you even know it was me without looking?!" "You suck at stealth and you didn't even bother to see if I was asleep or something." Caroline and Candle (who was on top of her head) made a pouty face. Fondre annoyingly sighed and forced Caroline to sit back down on her seat. "But I'm bored!" "Litwick!" "Well, sorry! At the very least, you can show me--" Before Fondue can even finish her sentence, Caroline was already showing what she wanted to see. "The gym badge? Dahlia got one, too." "...Well, I guess you're actually pretty competent, then. You're just not as competent as me nor Dahlia of course." Another pouty face. "You can pout as much as you want. You're still a kid, anyways."

"Pew!" "...Huh?" In front of Caroline's face was an odd-looking Pokémon who looked like some...nebula colored cloud with a face, whose sudden appearance was almost as if it teleported to the Center. Caroline gasped and her face suddenly had a big, giant smile full of glee. "YOU'RE SOOOOOO CUTE~~!!" "Litwick!" Caroline immediately grabbed the small space ball and hugged it. The space ball accepted her embrace with joy. "Pew!" Fondue looked at the space ball carefully. "...Let's see if my Pokédex can even recognize this thing."

She pointed her Pokédex at the small space cloud that came out of nowhere. "Cosmog, the Nebula Pokémon. In ages past, it was called the child of the stars. Its body is gaseous and frail. It slowly grows as it collects dust from the atmosphere." Fondue blinked at what the dex told her and looked at the space dust bunny that's apparently called Cosmog. "...This damn device is describing this thing like it's some Legendary Pokémon or something! Seriously, that can not be right." She poked the Cosmog with one of her fingers, which caught Caroline by surprise. "This thing? A Legendary? Kya ha ha! Don't even try to make me laugh a lot more than I should!" Now Cosmog was making a pouty face. "Pew!" Caroline slapped Fondue's hand away from Cosmog. "Stop being mean to it, Fondue! It might probably evolve into some cool looking Pokémon at some point!" Fondue snickered. "Oh yeah? Like what?" "Uh...a big lion! Or a giant bat!" Fondue started to laugh a lot more. "Seriously? How can a ball of literal space gas evolve into a lion or a bat-like Pokémon?!"

"Oh...There you are, Nebby!" They both looked at the source of the voice and saw a young girl with blond hair tied up into a ponytail. She had a pink backpack that was half-opened. Caroline's eyes widened and looked back down at the Cosmog that was apparently called Nebby. "Oh! So this is your trainer, Cosmog...I mean Nebby!" "Pew!" The girl giggled and picked Nebby up. "Nebby, you're supposed to stay in the bag! You can't just teleport out of it without me getting worried and having no choice but to find you." Just hearing that made Fondue raise an eyebrow.

"What, he doesn't like being in a Poké Ball?" The girl nodded. "Don't worry! Nebby always seems to get into situations like these." Caroline was still looking at Nebby with happiness. "Nebby is so cute!" "Pew!" The girl just smiled. "I can say the same to your Litwick, as well." "Litwick!" Caroline gasped all of a sudden. "Oh yeah! We haven't met before, so I need to introduce myself. I'm Caroline and this is my best friend Candle!" "Litwick!"

Fondre just sighed annoyingly. "Name's Fondre. Only reason I'm here right now is mainly because her brother's doing...something right now. Her bro's also my friend...of a sort." It became a bit clear to the girl that it's possible that Caroline and Fondre didn't really like each other, since they were now glaring at each other after their introductions. "Uh...Nice to meet you both, I guess. My name is Lillie, and you already know who Nebby is." "Pew!" Fondre looked at Lillie a bit more closely, which made Lillie blush a bit. "Oh...is there something on my clothes?" Fondre shook her head. "Nah. Your clothes just remind me way too much of Dahlia's own clothes." "Dahlia?" "Aforementioned brother and friend with benefits. Dude's a pansy who loves roses and looks way too much like a lady." Just that sentence made Lillie blink twice. "Don't worry, you'll be a lot more surprised when you actually see him in person."

"Pew?" "Litwick." Candle tried to describe Dahlia a bit more to Nebby. He also talked about the other Pokémon in their parties. At the very least, he became a bit more afraid of whoever Shiny was. But everyone else sounded nice at the very least. Caroline gasped and standed up with pride. "Hey, how about we have a battle? I'm really bored, so we should battle right about now!" Fondre scowled. <Crap. Shoulda been expecting this, too.> But as she thought about it a bit more, she decided to just go with the flow. She has been getting just as bored as Caroline and really, she needs to see some action today right now.

Lillie just smiled at Caroline's request. "Oh! I was about to ask you or Fondre that exact same question! I have two Pokémon, so you don't mind having a two on two double battle?" "Sure! That's fine with me. Uh...I'm actually not really the best at battling, so I'm sorry if I disappoint you or anything." "That's fine! I'm also not really the best at battling as well...Well, I mean, I have beaten all 8 gyms in Kanto, but I wasn't able to beat the league, so I'm starting over…" One of Fondue's eyes twitched. <She was able to get all 8 gym badges in Kanto…?!> Suddenly, she smiled sadistically, as she had a great idea. "7 gym badges, eh? What, is that your way of making yourself look less like a pansy?" Caroline immediately glared at Fondue, while Lillie looked a bit surprised. "Er...N-No, not really…? I'm not lying, I really did get all 8 gym badges in Kanto! I...just didn't become champion." Fondue snickered. "Sure you didn't…Besides, someone like you would never have a chance at becoming a champion."

Caroline's glare was more intense. "Stop being mean to Lillie, Fondue! You're only saying this because you're just jealous!" Fondre eyes widened and she immediately glared back at Caroline, emitting an imaginary spark between their eyes. Lillie only just blinked at this, Candle got down from Caroline's head, expecting the immediate argument, while Nebby looked at them both in confusion. "Pew?"

Fondue growled. "You wanna talk some smack? Then you better back it up with something just as fierce." Caroline growled back. "Oh, I know what you're doing! You're trying to make Lillie mad so she could fight you! If you want to tussle with someone, then it has to be me!" "Litwick!" Fondue closed her eyes and started to laugh evilly. Lillie shook her head and looked at Fondre with a bit of a more determined look. "Hey, laughing like that is not going to scare me! And if it's a battle you want, then I'll give you a battle you will never forget!...Possibly!" "Pew!" After her laughing fit, Fondre looked at them both with an evil smirk. "Oh, I was just laughing about how easy it is to have a battle against kids like you two."

Caroline and Lillie had a pouty face. "Pout all you want. If you two wanna prove me wrong, then we can fight over in Vert Plaza." Both looked at each other and nodded. "Come on, Nebby! We're going to Vert Plaza." "Pew!" "...And by that, I mean you need to get in the bag."

_______________________________
In Vert Plaza...
_______________________________

"A double battle against both of us?" Fondre nodded. "You both have to use one Pokémon each, though. Any questions, ladies?" Both Caroline and Lillie looked at each other, looked back at Fondre and shook their heads.

Fondre already had two of her Poké Balls in each of her hands. "Didn't think so." She smiled sadistically and thrown the balls to the sky. "Yo, Pin and Min! It's fighting time!"

Two Pokémon came out from the balls, both looking very similar to each other. Both were small cream-colored Pokémon who had long, flat ears. One had red-colored cheeks, paws and ears, who had a tail tipped with a plus sign. It's cheeks were also marked with a plus. The other Pokémon was blue instead of red and had a tail tipped with a minus sign, while it's blue cheeks were also marked with the same sign as it's tail. The red one had a sadistic smile on her face with her arms crossed, while the blue one was in a prideful stance with a proud smile on his face.

"There's a blue Pin now?! Aw, I hope I don't get my hair electrocuted after this!" Lillie looked at Caroline in confusion. "Oh? Have you never seen a Minun before, Caroline?" Fondre annoyingly sighed and got her Pokédex up and pointed it at Min. "Minun, the Cheering Pokémon. It cheers on friends. If its friends are losing, its body lets off more and more sparks." Caroline winced at the explanation.

"I don't believe that! Pin has given me a lot of pain before and Min might be just as much as a jerk as her! Come on Candle, it's time to play~!" "Litwick!"

Candle jumped down from Caroline's hands, ready to battle. "Pew!" Nebby was next to Candle, also ready to fight as well. Caroline pointed at Nebby with surprise. "Nebby got out of the bag again!" Lillie sighed. "Of course he did…" Fondre scoffed at both of them. "Hey, if you're gonna have some friendly banter between each other, then it better be during your move. But, it seems you're fine with me going first…" She pointed at the two opposing Pokémon with sadistic glee. "Come on, you two! Boost their spirits up with Swift!" Pin and Min didn't hesitate and pointed at their opponents with a gun-like gesture, shooting yellow stars at Candle and Nebby. "Uh-oh! Candle, dodge it quickly!" "Kya ha ha! Don't cha know? Swift's a pretty unavoidable move, so unless you're fast enough, you're never dodging this attack!"

Candle and Nebby tried to dodge, but of course, they weren't able to in time, getting hit by the attack in the process. It was quite clear that the dual attack was very powerful. "Pin and Min have Plus and Minus as their respective abilities. When two Pokémon in the field both have said abilities, their attack power gets increased! Double battles for these two are usually a non-issue!" Caroline winced, but Lillie was unaffected. "Aw man, so Min really is a blue Pin!" "Don't be afraid, Caroline. This battle's just getting started! We still have a chance!" Caroline just nodded in response. "Candle, use Ember on Pin!" "Nebby, try and use Shadow Ball on Min!"

"Pin, try and dodge it! Min, dodge it with Quick Attack!" "No mercy, Candle! Don't let that hair ruiner dodge a single Ember!" Candle began to shoot many small fire balls at Pin, who started to run around and dodge the many balls of fire aimed towards her. Meanwhile, Nebby shoots a black and purple ball from his mouth at Min, who was able to dodge it at an alarmingly fast speed. "Follow what Candle is doing and keep the pressure on!" Nebby started to shoot many Shadow Balls at Min, who was starting to get faster and faster as he dodged the many attacks. As he kept running, a white trail was being created behind him and his body was surrounded in a white outline. Min dodged and dodged, getting more closer to Nebby by the second. Pin also kept dodging as well, until Candle was able to get a lucky shot at her, launching and slamming her into the ground. Caroline smiled at this. "Bullseye!" As soon as that happened, though, Min was able to dodge enough times to get very close to Nebby. After dodging another Shadow Ball, Min tackles Nebby at the same alarming speed, which launches poor Nebby to the ground. The impact was strong enough to knock out Nebby cold.

"Oh, no! Nebby!" Fondre just smiled. "Looks like you're done here, Min! You better step up your game, Pin!" Pin was already getting up as soon as she heard her trainer's voice, while Min just ran towards Fondre and jumped on her left shoulder. Lillie picked up Nebby from the ground, while Caroline looked at them in worry. "Nebby's fine, right?" "Don't worry, I always keep a bunch of potions in hand...But that doesn't change the fact that I'm out of the fight." "Don't worry, Lillie. I'll try to win!...I hope." Fondre snickered. "Yeah, right…"

Caroline growled at Fondre, but had a determined look on her face. <I need to be strong...I need to try and be good at fighting, just like Dahlia and the others…> She shook her head. "Okay, Candle! Let's go and use Minimize!" "Lit!" Candle was shrinked to a very small size, becoming mostly unseeable. Fondre, Pin and Min were trying to look around for the now small Litwick. "Crap! Pin, look for the damn Litwick right now!" Pin was running around in the plaza, looking for Candle. It stopped after a bit to take a breather…

"Now's your chance! Use Astonish!" Pin immediately winced and turned around, seeing Candle making a beyond frightening face while sticking out his tongue. "Plusle!!" Pin was frightened by the attack, which led to Candle using Ember on Pin while she was flinching from the previous attack. Pin was launched back and tumbled on the ground. Candle reverted back to his regular size and smiled proudly. "Litwick!" "You did it Candle! I knew you could do it!" Lillie smiled at Caroline. "Pew!" Suddenly, Pin started to tear up and cried. Candle and Caroline looked at Pin, feeling sorry for her. "Uh-oh...I think you scared the wits out of Pin, Candle." "Litwick…" Candle suddenly came over to Pin's side and tried to comfort her.

Suddenly, a voice was heard. It didn't sound familiar to Lillie, but it was quite clear who the owner of said voice was to Caroline and Fondre.

"...Caroline, attack right now. This maneuver is a trick. Pin is not actually crying!" Caroline's eyes widened. "...Eh?!" Pin was smiling sadistically at this. Fondre couldn't help but smile as well. "Gotcha!"

Pin's cheeks were suddenly charged with electricity, and started to nuzzle her cheeks against Candle's face, leading to Candle getting electrocuted. He was knocked out after that. Dahlia just sighed at this. "How unfortunate…I was honestly expecting you to cry right now, and yet you're not…I wonder if Jackson really did do something with you." Caroline just got Candle's Poké Ball and withdrew him immediately. She sighed with a sad look on her face. Lillie patted Caroline on the shoulder and looked at her with a smile. "...Oh well. At least we tried, right?" Caroline blinked and smiled. "...Yeah, you're right." Fondre walked up towards the two, with Pin now on her right shoulder. She just smiled at them. "...Well, at least you guys sorta proved to me that you can actually fight." Dahlia walked up towards them as well and smiled. "Of course she can fight. Wasn't her gym badge enough proof for you?" Lillie and Nebby looked at Dahlia and froze. "Wait...is this your brother, Caroline?" "Pew…?" Caroline smiled with glee. "Yes, that's my brother! Oh, Dahlia! This is Lillie and that's Nebby!" Fondre slyly smiled at Lillie. "Told ya that he looked way too much like a girl."

Caroline looked more closely at Dahlia, and noticed that he was holding a small brown creature, whose head was turned away from the others, only looking at the blackness of Dahlia's black coat. "Hey, Dahlia...Are you holding a Pokémon?" He nodded. "I found him while I was doing my investigation. Oh, and Emma and Jackson were over there too, in case you're wondering. I think I have a name for him now, too…"

He looked down at the Eevee in his hands and smiled. "Yes, this once wilting flower shall now be known as Haku."

NEW POKÉMON/NEW MOVES (Dolores has forgotten how to use Harden and...!):

Spoiler:

TWIN INVENTORY/POKÉMON:

Spoiler:

Oddball_ · Jul 27, 2017

-- Profile --

Name: Chris Rodriguez

Pokémon :

—Guest Star! --

Name: Sebastian Allender

Pokémon :

Location: Lumiose City

Chris found himself overwhelmed by the sights and sounds of Lumiose city. From the constant chatter to the towering Prism Tower consuming the skyline from almost any point in the city, it truly was no wonder that the city was such a popular place, but of course that didn't even begin to cover the many diverse people that were shuffling about! It was hard to walk five steps without being nearly run over!

The skyscrapers provided a sense of nostalgia for Sebastian; the towering buildings reminding him of the days he and his family used to travel to Saffron City for the day. The bustling sounds and footsteps of scurrying people were exciting...if not...a little overwhelming. He tries to stay as close to the wall as possible, to limit the amount of bumps he'll receive from frantic people; some going with the flow easily enough, another...who seemed to be struggling against the current, as he was. He offers the fellow trainer a wave. "It's a little easier this way."

"Hola señorita" Chris called as he tried to slowly crawl through the swarm of people and towards the inviting stranger.

Señori...ta? Sebastian attempts to suppress a laugh, maybe he should get a haircut while he's here… "I take it you're a traveler too? Which way are you headed?"

"Hm? Well I've been meaning to travel to the Lumiose Museum, but if you could help me to the local Pokémon centre I would be most grateful." Chris said with a smile. "Then I hear there is a perfromance being held at Lumiose stage hall I'm interested in looking into. Yourself?"

"I can get you to the Pokemon center. We were just there." Sebastian smiles, the Fennekin on his shoulder raising her paw to greet their new friend. "We were trying to make our way to the Gym, but it's closed for some kind of celebration." Sebastian points to a right turn down the sidewalk. "The center's this way."

Chris followed his newfound companion towards the Pokemon centre, where he spoke with the friendly nurse Joy behind the counter and got both of his Pokemon restored to full fighting strength.

"Well Sebastian." Chris mused as the two exited the building. "Where are you headed?"

"Maybe I'll stop by the Lumiose Stage hall. You made it sound rather interesting." Svana would love to see a performance, and he's not entirely certain what to do in the city while the Gym is closed.

"Well if you're headng my way." Chris responded with a smile as he held the door open for his new friend. Outside he saw one of the Lumiose Taxi's parked on the curb, and as they approached Chris gave the man a smile. "Can you take us to the Lumiose Stage Hall sir?"

"Oui... a date for you and the pretty lady?" The taximan asked as the boys climbed in the backseat, causing Chris to stiffle a smile.

That's two: He must be looking very nice today...and he's not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing, it's just...sort of a thing. Maybe he really should cut his hair while he's here. Although...short haired women exist, and cutting his hair isn't going to make him any less frail looking. Placing Fennekin in his lap he glances an amused smile to Chris. "À la scène Lumiose, s'il vous plaît."

A short while later…

Chris eyed the large poster on the side of the side of the Stage Hall. "Wild Torrent; Battle Bond?" Chris muttered as he read. "It's... interesting looking."

A distressed looking Johtonian man came storming out of a side room, arguing with a dark haired man in a blue hat.

"We can't just abandon our mission to track your friend, i'm sorry!" The black haired man complained.

"Please Simon, I'll sign all the posters you want. I saw you in Sinnoh, I know you're a fan!" The Johtonian cried.

"Mister Kai sir, as much as it breaks my heart to see you so distressed, i'm afraid I am honour bound as an Aura Guardian to find the negative energy and put it to rest!" The man, Simon, responded as a small blue dog Pokémon cocked his head in confusion.

"Riiii?" The Pokémon cheered upon noticing the two young trainers.

"Hm?" Simon and Kai both responded as they saw the small dog Pokémon pointing towards them.

"Oh! Young fans! Have you seen Maru around!" The Johtonian man, Kai, asked.

"Ma-ru?" Chris asked, the strange name sounding off to his mouth. "Sebastian, do you know a Maru?"

"Never heard of them." Sebastian blinks in confusion. Sounds like a very important person...persons? "Sorry…" His eyes drift to the wall, avoiding any chance of a glance toward the new company.

"Fen!" Selkie leaps from Sebastian's shoulder and rushes over to the Riolu to introduce herself.

"Well hello there..." Simon the Aura Guardian mused as he bent down to pet the small Pokémon before him. "You have a good aura."

"Please, trainers... Maru has gone missing! I need to find her!" Kai exclaimed, tugging on his hair as he began to shift from foot to foot.

"I... Lumiose is a really big city..." Chris quietly pointed out.

"Which is why I wanted Simon to use his mystical Aura Powers to help find her! But he claims he's too busy!" Kai sobbed.

"I'm afraid we wouldn't be much help." Sebastian admits, cringing uncomfortably as the adult male openly weeps in front of them. "We're not very good at navigating the city-- and I don't think getting lost will help…" Oh, Giratina, please open a hole to the distorted world and swallow him. It would be less uncomfortable than this.

"Feeen?" Selkie, oblivious to the sobbing man, wags her tail at Simon as she nuzzles against his hand.

Sebastian's eyes lighten as he looks to Selkie, quickly formulating an escape route from this awkwardness. "Mr. Simon." He bows his head respectfully. "If my friend and I can help you on your mission, then will you help Mr…" Gross-sobbing-man.

With a sniffle of hope, Kai wiped his nose on his sleeve and looked with pleading doughboy eyes at the Aura Guardian before them.

"I suppose that would be acceptable. But first we MUST rid this city of the negative influence!" Simon responded.

"Oh thank you! Thank you trainers!" Kai cheered, leaping forward and gripping Sebastian tightly in a hug, leaving a long smear along the back of his jacket that Chris wasn't sure whether or not to tell him about.

Negative influences? What did he just sign them up for? Well, it should be interes- Sebastian's thoughts screech to a halt as he's hugged...tightly...by a stranger...his body goes rigid and his eyes grow rather large. If this is it, if this is how he goes, he is going to come back as a Banette and haunt everyone involved.

Just then a burst of light breaks forth from Sebastian's belt, taking the shape of a Mienfoo with folded arms. "Mien!" It points an accusing paw at the man attempting to strangle his trainer. "Foo mien." He grunts, making a 'shoo' motion with his paws.

"Okay!" Chris said, not so gently proding the sobbing Kai away from Sebastian. "So where is this Negative Influence senior?"

Hakkai nods respectfully to the human that pries the strange man off his trainer. Once the strange man has dislodged himself from Sebastian, the Mienfoo walks over to Riolu, finding his fellow fighting type far more interesting than whatever the humans are discussing.

"Let's get going. You can tell us everything along the way." Sebastian offers, not so subtly hoping to get far away from the doughy-eyed man.

~

Oddball_ · Jul 27, 2017

-- Profile --

Name: Chris Rodriguez

Pokémon :

—Guest Star! --

Name: Sebastian Allender

Pokémon :

Location: Lumiose City

The trio of Simon, Chris and Sebastian made a mad dash through the streets of Lumiose. Following the young aura Pokémon through nook and cranny in order to find the source of whatever "negative" energy Simon was hunting. After several mishaps with dead ends, the trio finally arrived at a large abandoned office building.

Traveling must really be helping; all that running and he only had to stop to use his inhaler once. Sebastian looks up to the abandoned building, and can't help but shudder as a chill runs down his spine. Is this the negative energy Simon was talking about? Or was it just a matter of ambiance? "I take it we go inside?" He asks Simon.

"Mhm! The source must be inside!" Simon said, nodding to his newly aquired friend.

"What do you imagine this source to be? Is it a Pokémon?" Chris asked, pulling out his Pokédex.

"I'm not quite sure... but I don't think it's a Pokémon. No living thing could give off this kind of Aura." Simon whispered as the trio stepped inside.

The interior of the building was about what one would expect. The lights were off, and most of the furniture was covered by thick white sheets. In the corner sat the receptionists desk, from which a bell seemed to ring as a singular light flickered on... by the elevator.

"Dios Mio..." Chris muttered as he stepped forward towards the slowly opening elevator doors.

Living thing? Would this be a bad time to point out that ghost Pokemon are, in fact, very much a thing? And...technically dead? Albeit, ghost Pokemon can theoretically die again, maybe they're more alive than dead, despite the name.

As they step inside, Sebastian can feel Selkie's fur brush against his neck as it eases its way up. The jingling bell causes her to growl quietly at the elevator.

"Watch your step." Sebastian warns as Chris walks towards the elevator. Who knows what's waiting on the other side of that thing...

Ding. Ding. Ding. Ding. Ding.

They rose. Floor by floor.

"Its... getting close!" Simon muttered as he concentrated, actual beads of sweat dropping from his brow.

Sebastian rubs at his upper arm as the elevator ascends. Chris is right...it's dropping a good five degrees with each floor.

"Its getting colder." Chris mumbled as he crossed his arms and zipped up his ranger jacket.

"Fen…" Selkie whines, sliding down from Sebastian's shoulder and into his arms.

Da Da Ding!

The elevator stops and the doors open, Sebastian braces for impact, only to see...nothing. It's just a hallway. A dark, empty hallway.

"What in the..." Simon muttered in confusion.

"Ri?" Riolu questioned as it looked forward.

"How… "The Shining."" Sebastian murmurs as he takes an uncertain step out of the elevator. Nothing, nothing at all… He takes another step, or he begins to-- his body is frozen, he attempts to question his sudden paralysis, but his mouth won't move.

A ghostly figure appears beside him, her body flicks in and out of existence like a glitchy television screen. Her body is moving, but she's not moving her arms, nor her legs...nor her eyes.

No...you are not...the one…

("EL DIABLO! EL DIABLO!") Chris mentally screamed as he watched the terrifying visage move slowly closer to the trio. As she passed in front of Sebastian, Chris could see the slight flash as he felt his chest began to rise and fall in rapid succesion.

The pale skinned woman turned to face him. Her dark hair fell over her face, as she tilted her head to look at him, she stared at him with her dark pupiless eyes.

No... you are not... the one...

A gasp of breath escaped from his lungs as he felt his body fall under his own control once more.

"Que demonios?" Chris muttered as he felt every hair on him stand on end. The form slid past him and moved onto Simon. Fear filled the Aura Guardians eyes as the girl flickered out of existence only to reappear right before him.

No... you are not... the one...

Without another word. She turned and began to shift towards the exit.

Ding!

"Wait!" An accented female voice called out.

The figure stopped. Dead in its tracks. Unmoving.

A brown haired girl in a large white hat stepped into the room from the elevator.

"It's... me..." The Johtonian girl called out sadly.

The ghostly figure disappeared in an instant, reappearing before the newcomer.

...

Had silence ever sounded so loud? Chris pondered to himself as the moment seemed to drag on for an eternity.

Maru... it... is you...

Suddenly the ominous darkness in the room was dispelled as every light in the building seemed to switch on at once.

"Yes... its me sweetheart..." The Johtonian girl responded sadly.

I... waited... for you...

"I know..." Maru responded, her fists clenched as she stared at the tormented face of the figure before her.

Ghostly hands raise up and cup the woman's face, or...they attempted to. Each time the ghostly woman blinked out of existence, she returned looking slightly less tormented, less crazed, her eyes no longer wide and void of emotion, her hair becoming sleek and straight, her lips gaining color and forming into a smile.

I will wait for you...always…

She leans in, her lips ghosting across Maru's as she fades once more...though this time...she does not return.

"Goodbye... my love." Maru sighed sadly as the tears flowed.

"Uh..." Simon muttered. "Mission accomplished?" He mused questioningly.

"Ri!" The Riolu cheered, only to realize that there was a sobbing woman at the entrance to the room. Waddling over, it placed a hand on the woman's knees as she sat on the floor crying silently.

Without thought or hesitation, she picked up the young Pokémon and began to hug it tightly.

"Riolu can sense peoples emotions, so it went to go help." Simon explained quietly as the small Pokémon made small whimpering noises as the woman scratched his head and looked up.

"I'm sorry you all got dragged into this... that was... an old friend of mine. She died many years ago after a school trip to Kalos... I always promised I would come back... but after I heard about her accident... I was hesitant to come back. The band finally convinced me to come, but after I got here I heard about how this place was haunted... this used to be her fathers office you see. Its where we first met..." Maru explained.

"So she waited..." Simon realized with a solemn look on his face.

"Yeah... but its okay. She's moved on now. Hopefully she found peace." Maru sighed.

"Are you going to be alright miss Maru? Don't you have to perform tonight?" Chris asked, worried for the poor woman.

"Oh please, nothing a little makeup and caffeine can't fix. Performers life y'know?" Maru chuckled as she wiped the tears from her face. "Oh geeze, Kai must be worried sick about me."

Upon mention of the man's name, Chris could almost feel Sebastian vomit.

"If you're sure...we'll walk back with you." Professional or not, this woman did just say goodbye to the ghost of her long-lost...friend (sure, we'll go with that), that had to be difficult for her...not to mention completely terrifying. "And as for Mr. Kai." Sebastian resists the shudder that runs down his back. "...Prepare to be hugged when you see him." Something about Sebastian's tone when he utters these words seems to indicate that he will never feel okay about the sobbing man clutching onto him.

It was a quiet and somber walk back to the Lumiose Stage Hall. Chris and Sebastian both trailed into the building seconds behind, in an attempt to avoid the hugging. As they stepped through the door, both were pleased to see a relieved looking Kai clinging to both Maru and Simon instead of them.

"Oh thank heavens you're safe!" Kai exclaimed, kissing Maru on the forehead.

"Kai... I was gone for less than an hour, the show doesn't start until tonight." Maru complained as she tried to pull away.

"And Simon you magnificent bastard!" Kai cheered giddily as he planted one on the Aura Guadian. "I'll never be able to repay you."

A disgusted looking Simon grumbled. "You could start by letting me go."

Suddenly Kai had released Maru and Simon and was sprinting across the tiled floor towards them.

"Oh no." Chris groaned.

CLING!

Whisper flew out of its Pokéball and pointed the tip of the blade directly at the man, who barely managed to keep himself from getting impaled at the last second.

"Thank you…" Sebastian whispered to the ghostly blade.

"My two brave little fans! Here! A deal is a deal!" The man exclaimed cheerily as he tossed two glowing stones towards them.

"Beedrillite!" Chris cheered as he caught his and stuck it in his pocket. "That makes two." He chuckled to himself.

Sebastian clutched onto the vibrant stone as it flew towards him, his eyes widening in shock. A...mega stone? That's an incredibly thoughtful gift, especially considering...they didn't really do anything. Maru would have returned on her own after settling her ordeal with her...friend. He didn't deserve such a gift...but maybe if he held onto it, he could find someone who was. "Thank you." He nods respectfully towards Kai.

"Ah yes, and that reminds me!" Simon called as he strolled over, avoiding Kai like the plague. "I too have a gift for you two." He said, holding out two shining blue crystals. "These mysterious crystals hold some sort of power. Perhaps you two will be able to uncover their secrets better than I." He
responded.

More gifts, this time a beautiful blue crystal, and with them a mystery to solve. "If you need any more help, I don't think I'd mind ghost hunting again." Sebastian smiles.

~

Jay · Jul 27, 2017

Stage 6 - Lumiose City (Night)

Time at Stage Start: 10:30 PM

As an exciting day of event battles, crime fighting, intrigue and pokémon catching finally draws to a close... the heroes of our story find no rest, as even the night time brings with it new experiences and trouble in the City of Lights, a city that never sleeps, not even when the darker hours come. Will your character attend a concert? Perhaps they have their own secret mission to attend to tonight? Perhaps they bump into a powerful foe as the event battles from the day do not stop here? Or maybe they just choose to relax in the oddly satisfying quiet of a city that, at least in some parts, has finally gone to sleep for the day.

Whatever your choice, as the stars above gently twinkle down, there will be plenty to do in Lumiose this evening, ranging from calm and pristine to absolutely anything but.

Pokémon Available (Level 20-21):

Lumiose City:

Pokémon available during the night:

Pokémon available to those using a Great Ball (Level 22):

Pokémon available to those on Stage 5 Mission 2:

Missions:
As this stage is a continuation of the previous location, certain things will carry over and still be available for completion or write up even at this late hour IC, as such, the following missions will carry over from the previous Stage, Stage 5:

★ Mission 1
★ Mission 2
★ Mission 3
Mission 2
Mission 4

It may also be worth noting that at this time of day, certain activities aren't going to be open and some services are more than likely not going to be available to your character. Don't expect to do things like go shopping, talk to random bystanders or generally encounter larger groups of wild pokémon at a time like this.

Now without further ado, onto the missions:

[Event Battle] OPEN ★ Mission 1:

Spoiler:

[Event Battle] OPEN ★ Mission 2:

Spoiler:

[Event Battle] OPEN ★ Mission 3:

Spoiler:

Mission 1:
Sycamore is a busy man. Even his assistants are busy people. The professor needs a parcel sent off immediately to some important contacts in a hotel at the other side of the city. He hasnt said much about what's in the parcel, but the the packaging has some fancy lining on it and it has the Silph Co. logo on it, so it must be important. That said, he has warned, that this parcel is very sought after by the wrong type of people.

Reward: Silph Scope Mk.2

Mission 2:
If you're looking for a night out, there's no better place in Kalos than Lumiose city. Many party goers are already on their way to hit the clubs, but with the increase in crime, many cab guys are scared to go on their usual routes. They are however, hiring bodyguards. If you can help protect the drivers from any unwanted company, they could give you some pretty handy stuff.

Reward: 400 Poke + Old Coin Case

Open Mission 3:
The PR video studio needs snazzy and fashionable trainers for their adverts. Ever wanted to be on a big city billboard? All you have to is show up for the audition and complete a hip and trendy little video package. There's always a promo video for the pokemon world tournament and contest grand hall. Imagine having your face appear in one of those.

Reward: Pokemon World tournament or Contest Grand Hall video package feature + 500 Poke

Mission 4:
There's an exhibition in the Lumiose Art Gallery. The featurered artist, Acel Thauvin, has been desperate for some inspiration in order to finalize an image of his latest work. He and his Smeargle, Strega, have been losing their touch recently and they want to paint a dramatic action piece to liven up their section of the gallery. Maybe some intense battling or contest showcasing could be just what he needs?

Reward: 1000 Poke + Autographed Poffin Case

Mission 5:
Loveless Larry is a known face around Lumiose, and the nickname is exactly why. How can a man in the city of love be so undatable? He's had a few dates, but no one can stand the insufferable man for more than a week. Larry is now resorting to dating advisors and with all the gifts he's bought for girls and had returned back to him in the past, Larry has a lot to give in return for the advise and coaching. Larry is a detestable human being though, he wont pay up until he's garunteed what he wants.

Reward: Feebas

OPEN Mission 6:
It's fashion season. It's always fashion season. Get down to the Boutique Couture and show off your own style or bring a pooch and show your dogs fashion in the Fruseur Furfruo. Both are having late night fashion shows and both are giving away fantastic prizes for those with the most fashionable cat or dog walks.

Reward:
Fashion Show - 300 Poke + Big Pearl
Dog Show - 300 Poke + Quick Claw

OPEN Mission 7:
The band "Wild Torrent" managed to locate their lead singer with the help of two trainers and an aura guardian, however as a result the show has been slightly delayed. Regardless, it's happening and the contest district in the South East of the city seems to be the only location in all of Lumiose that's really alive right now. With booths selling merchandise and street vendors taking advantage of the excitement to sell food to hungry and sleepy stomachs, the place is absolutely abuzz. There's some interesting merchandise and some fun games to be played in order to win some extravagant prizes. Why not head down and check it out?

Reward: 1 x Giant Pokédoll (Your Choice, no Legendary Pokémon) OR 1 x Good Rod OR 1 x Bug Net OR TM Substitute

Mission 8:
In finding their missing lead singer, the band had to sacrifice some time and resources in return. Now they're running low on security among other things and need some emergency staff for the gig. Can you play the part of bouncer with your tough looking pokémon? Do your electric types have the needed zap to provide some lighting or emergency power? Do you have the tecnological know how to work some stage equipment? They're paying. Well.

Reward: 2000 poké + Black "STAFF" shirt.

Mission 9
Some individuals thought to be involved with the recent Eevee fighting rings have been spotted headed out to a secluded section of the city near the West gate. The police have been trying to track them, but they believe some other individuals dressed in black suits have been assisting them in their escape. Oddly enough however, these people don't seem to be involved with Team Cinder. Either way a criminal is a criminal... and the police are asking for vigilante trainers to lend a hand.

Reward: 1000 Poké + Police Manufactured Pokéball (Great Ball Equivalent) + 1 x Secret Reward (GM Jay will inform you of it and extra mission details privately upon claiming the mission.)

OPEN Mission 10:
Burt, an aspiring pokéball creator has developed an incredibly fascinating machine that can change any item into a specialized pokéball! Using the digitized technology that allows held items to be stored along with their pokémon... he integrates the code of any item you give him into that of an ordinary pokéball... and gives you the results for free! He's demonstrating the machine at the stalls surrounding the "Wild Torrent" performance and encourges any and all trainers to try once for nothing.

Pre-Requisites: 1 Poké Ball + 1 of any item for integration.

Reward: 1 x Specialized, Custom Poké-Ball (Message GM with chosen item and they will describe the new Pokéballs effect.)

Mission 11:
A wild Swoobat has been dashing over Lumiose and swooping down to steal from the various stalls set up in the South East section of the city... in an instant it's grabbed something you were holding in your hand, something valuable. Best hope you have a pokémon that can support your weight, because you have no hope of catching up to this opponent if you've no mount or flight pokémon.

Pre-Requisites: 1 Pokémon that can realistically be mounted/flown upon.

Reward: Swoobat's Stash (568 Poké, 1 Shiny Stone, 1 Thunderstone, 1 Great Ball, 1 Empty Gold Amulet)

Mission 12:
A strange dog like pokémon spies on you from the shadows of a Lumiuose alley by night. It's unlike anything you've ever seen or heard of before. You can barely make out its shape... but no matter what you do you can't seem to make it out, apart from its pupilless, hexagonal eyes. The pokédex, when aimed at this pokémon, doesn't seem to recognize it either... displaying "MISSING ID" when used upon it. Should you chase it, it's unbelievably fast and you can't seem to keep up... but keep it up and it may leave something behind.

Reward: Strange, unidentifiable, glowing green shape. (Zygarde Cell)

Dungeon Maker · Jul 27, 2017

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

Open Mission 7, Wild Torrent Festival

"Rainer, look!" Sam said, pointing at a rod sitting on a shelf. "That's a much better looking rod than either of the ones we got. And we can get that new one but all we gotta do is win it right?"

"Poli!" Rainer said in return, acknowledging Sam's enthusiasm for obtaining a better piece of equipment.

"Hey we wanna win that rod!" Sam said the guy standing behind the counter.

"Oh that good rod? Huh Not many people go for that when there's massive snorlax dolls at the other stalls. Ya sure?"

"Hell yeah I'm sure. What do I have to do to get it!?" Sam asked.

"Well you have to get a perfect score in our fishing game and that means using this little rod right here to nab you five rubber duckletts. Now if you get even one pink ducklett then you instantly win that rod up there. But if you miss even one of those five then you get the consolation prize instead."

"Sounds perfect to me.... uh.. this is the rod?" Sam asked, seeing it very small hook on a very small rod.

"You got the poke to play?"

"Yeah, here you go. I'll get those duckletts in no time!" Sam grabbed the small toy rod and readied himself. Well by readied he just stared intensely into the stall small pool of rubber duckletts floating around. He didn't see the pink one anywhere.

"Huh? There's no pink one." Sam said.

"There's one in there keep looking. Oh don't forget the time limit, you got only five minutes."

"Poli!" The little poliwag said, encouraging his trainer to fish up the pink ne which it also could not see.

Sam leaned the fishing rod into the pool then he realized something... there at the bottom of the pool was something else. It wasn't floating like the rest it seemed to have sunken down. He used what short line he had to get the hook low into the water. It took some concentration to get the hook where he wanted to be so he didn't see the man's delighted expression.

"You're a natural fisher." He said.

In a little less than two minutes Sam managed to get something hooked from the bottom of the pool. He yanked the rod up and revealed the pink ducklett. It was wearing a small scooba mask and was heavy from weights inside.

"We've got a winner!"

"Yes!" Sam said, handing the toy rod back and getting the good rod in return.

"I'm a fisherman myself. I really enjoy seeing people at your age enjoy fishing. Most people don't really got how patient you need to be in order to get a good catch. Here, you've earned this!"

Sam thanked the man and took the good rod. He waved it at Rainer who was happy with his trainer's trophy for being patient for once in his life. The trainer and pokemon were pretty content with the games around but that was because Sam spent all his remaining poke on that game however.

Open Mission 10 Part A, The Dust is a Must!

"Hey, you seem like a worthy trainer of my greatest invention yet?" Someone called from another stall.

Sam looked around but wasn't really sure where it was coming from. Then he saw a guy waving. Naturally the friendly blond approached the stall and looked around.

"What kind of game is this?" Sam asked, wondering what exactly he'd be doing if he decided to play then he remembered how much poke he'd spent on that first game. There was no way he'd be able to afford this one as well.

"Oh this is no game. It's a pokeball machine that combines any item with an ordinary pokeball to create a unique and interesting pokeball. If you've got a pokeball and an item you don't mind fusing with it then you can have one for yourself. My only request is that when you show people the result of my invention that you point them to Lumoise and tell them that the greatest pokeball crafter lives there." The stars in the guy's eyes were enough to inspire Sam as well.

"I do have a pokeball and I think I know exactly what will make the perfect combo!" Sam said.

"Poli?" Rainer asked, wondering if this was a scam meant to rip off trainers.

"Awesome!!! What's your name?" The guy asked, getting out a notepad.

"Sam. And this is my companion Rainer." Sam pulled out a pokeball then also and old rod.

"Nice to meet you both I'm.... an old rod?! Surely you know that net balls and lure balls. A rod ball wouldn't really be anything creative. Perhaps you have something a little more commemorative of my greatest invention?"

"Oh... uh I guess I do have this." Sam pulled out a small pouch of Stardust. This was what Lillie gave him to commemorate their meeting after having glanced at each other maybe a few time while they were in either Kanto or Alola.

"Now that's an item you won't regret using! I'll begin right away... uh.. Sam was it. This might actually take a little bit of time to make. There's some extra steps I need to follow for Stardust. Can you come back later?" The guy asked.

"Poli!!!" Rainer said, seeing this entire scheme as a way of getting Sam separated from his valuables.

"It'll be fine Rainer besides. There was something special I had in store for us to do. Since the gym's not open we're going to do the next best thing!"

"Poliwag..." The poliwag knew no limit to his naive trainer's obliviousness.

"I'll see you two later then. I'll be here!" the guy said, running to the back of the machine.

Open Mission 3 Part A, Action Packed Audition!

Sam and Rainer walked quite a while before arriving at their destination. Sam seemed eager to enter and in that time had changed clothing. Not he was wearing his cleanest swim shorts and a tank that had great color coordination to go along with it.

Rainer was confused about his trainer's sudden change in fashion sense. Normally he didn't really care about looking good. Something had to be going on. Was Sam dating? Was he modelling? Was he.. he was.. oh.

"It's an audition for an action packed sequence that will be shown at the Pokemon World Tournament! I mean if we're going to win big then we're going to make ourselves the star of the show!" Sam said, lifted his poliwag off the ground then holding him on his head as the two practically ran for the entrance of a big studio building.

"Next we have Sam Smith and his pokemon Rainer auditioning for the main role in the Pokemon World Tournament sequence." Someone said, introducing the trainer and pokemon when they walked in.

"Good evening Mr Smith."

"Just call me Sam." The trainer said, using his charm already. Poliwag on the other hand was in shock of it all. Never before had it considered this very human thing to be important in conquering the league.

"Sam... well have you read the action script we prepared with you at the sign up or have you something of your own to show us for this role?" The Director asked. It was obvious who it was based on the chair that he was sitting on.

"Both! More film the better." Sam got into position and returned Rainer to the pokeball container.

"That's great as long as there's time. Now just as a refresher, you're going to run from that end to that end of the stage. In that time you will pull out your pokeball hold it in front of the camera and deliver your lines. After a couple runs we'll see what creative sequence you've prepared." The director said.

"No problem!" Sam said, full of energy.

"Three... two... Action!"

Thanks to all the swimming that the trainer enjoyed, his cardio was perfect for this sequence. Going from one end of the stage to the other while cameras recorded him from all angles, Sam did his best. Just at the end he pulled out the pokeball as instructed while looking into the camera.

"Can you claim victory in the Pokemon World Tournament?!" His breath was fine and his lines were delivered without a hitch but it seemed like no one else in the studio were as excited as the trainer. His confidence was keeping him stable but he was still a bit nervous.

"Cut!" The director said.

Sam took a break from his stance, waiting for the approval. The director looked over a screen while a couple others were paying attention to what he was mumbling.

"That was a remarkable run Sam. But let's do it again. Camera 2 accommodate for the height by viewing from a lower angle but zooming in on the upper body."

"Right!" Sam got back into position.

Completing the run again and again delivering the lines, the trainer found himself still energetic but with a bit of wonder about how this was all going to work out. He hopped that there would be time to perform his own sequence and that the studio wouldn't mind getting a bit of water involved with the shoot.

"Again an excellent run. We've got the right angle for the shot. Now... about that line it's not as good as it could be. Let's change the emphasis from the word can to the word you. It'll do better to grab the audience attention."

Sam nodded, going back to the starting position. He didn't know how many times this sequence was going to take. It just sounded like it would only go once or twice at most.

"Action!"

Sam put more energy into his run as well as a fierce look of determination in his eyes.

"Can you claim victory in the Pokemon World Tournament." Sam said, not only looking into the camera but also pushing himself to deliver the line better than before. He wanted to seem cooky and domineering as if he himself was going to be the biggest challenge there.

"Cut!" The director said. He didn't look at the screen this time but instead nodded. "That's a wrap. Let's take a break and go over what you've got for us, Sam." The director said.

The trainer sighed, letting go of his fierce expression and then returning to his cheerful demeanor.

"Right. So... uh how do you guys feel about water?"

"Huh? You're talking about adding water to the shot?" The director asked in return.

"Yep. I've got two capable pokemon who can supply it."

"Well we don't really have the budget for additional payments nor the facility to handle water. Besides you signed up a poliwag. With that fierce determination from before... your pokemon won't match the bit you just showed us. I mean... do you have another pokemon who's perhaps a bit tougher or cooler?"

"Ah... I do not. But what about a Poliwhirl?"

"That would be a better match for the tone. We can digitally edit from there more easily to make it look like a Poliwrath. If you can get a Poliwhirl by the end of tonight then we'll go for the shot. In the mean time think about going without water."

Sam did and that was a nightmare itself but that wasn't the problem. The real issue of the matter was going to be getting Rainer to evolve.

Open Mission 10 Part B, The Dust is a Must!

Sam hurried with his poliwag beside them. They were going to return to the pokeball maker quick before heading back to the studio.

"Rainer... I uh I agreed to something that I shouldn't have."

"Poli." Rainer said, finally satisfied to see his trainer aware of the scam that happened earlier.

"I told them I'd get you to evolve by the end of the night so that we could get an action sequence of our own completed." Sam said, getting right to the chase.

"POLI?!" It said, startled that it's trainer actually wanted him to become more than just an adorable little blue pokemon. "Poli..." It wasn't sure how it was going to achieve that however. It wanted to evolve sure but there were some things that needed to happen. Namely the poliwag had to be a bit better at battle in general before it could trigger an evolution.

"But we've got to try. I mean we've trained so much together and we're so determined to actually win the league now. If evolution takes motivation then I believe we've already proven it. But first that pokeball..." Sam said.

"Poli.." Some things about that knucklehead never change.

"Hey... mr Pokeball maker." Sam asked getting back to the stall.

"Sam! You're a second early. I'm almost done with the pokeball."

"Oh ok I guess I've got a question for you."

"Go right ahead. I bet it's about how this amazing machine works right!"

"Actually it's about evolution. What's the best way to get a pokemon to evolve. Rainer's ready. I'm ready. But... we need it to happen by the end of the night."

"Oh. Well... uh. You just have to battle enough for it to happen. I mean you win a lot of matches right?" The guy seemed disappointed by the question but Sam didn't really understanding why.

"We do battle yeah... but our last match was a loss."

"That must be it then! A fainted pokemon can't evolve. Try looking for a wild pokemon nearby and challenging it to a battle. Oh almost done. By the time you get back your pokeball will be ready."

"Awesome! You're amazing pokeball guy!"

"Huh my name is..." He tried to say but was cut off by Sam's running towards an area where people weren't gathering. "Geesh, what's it take to get some recognition around here?"

"Rainer! I've found an opponent!" Sam said, pointing to an emolga.

The Poliwag looked at Sam then double slapped him in the face. It was gentle of course but... Sam quickly realized how poorly that would turn out to be for his water type to face off against an electric type. Really it was a better battle for River.

"Ok.. we'll go around the corner and see what pokemon we can find."

After a few minutes of running the pair found a trubbish in a dark alley.

"There! Hey, trubbish we wanna battle!" Sam said, the poliwag leaping in front of him.

"Trub?!" It jumped up into a trash can in fear.

"We scared it... uh I guess it would be too mean to really battle a cowardly pokemon. How about... huh?" Sam quickly found himself in pain on his forhead with a new pokemon standing next to his leg. It was an Alola-meowth!

Sam put his finger up to his forehead where a small scratch had made him draw blood.

"Oh my gosh! I didn't even see that coming!" Sam didn't have much on him to stop the bleeding. Instead he used an older shirt to wrap around his head. "But it looks like we've got a battle. Rainer, Go..."

The two were already in combat, the dark meowth using scratch while the poliwag was employing his double slap again. In minutes the two pokemon were tired out while Sam seemed to have the bleeding stopped.

"This battle is almost over... the next blow will finish it." Someone said from the ally.

Sam looked up to see another person, someone just younger than him.

"Is... is this your pokemon?" Sam asked.

"Meowth! Use scratch again!" Sure enough the trainer commanded his pokemon to carry out the final blow.

"Rainer... bubble!" The poliwag didn't hesitate and carried out the command. It was going to use bubble but for the first time his trainer was reacting in time to give the command.

The meowth collided with the bubble, knocking it down and fainting it. Meanwhile the poliwag was just fine, controlling its breathing again but now concentrating on triggering its own evolution.

"Thanks for the battle." Sam said.

"Huh... a tough opponent. Guess this meowth was too weak to deserve a place on my team." The mysterious stranger said. "Useless." The trainer threw a strange pokeball on the ground. It seemed to have resisted damage. "Huh.. that idiot pokeball maker said it would be a strong pokeball for strong pokemon. I guess this is what he meant." The trainer left, taking the pokeball back and returning the meowth.

"Rainer... that was a serious battle. Are you... oh!" Sam was amazed by the sight of his pokemon who was a bit bigger.

"Poliwhirl!" It said, flexing its new arms.

"Lets go to that pokeball maker." Sam said as he gave a high-five to Rainer.

Going back to the contest area, Sam found the stall nearly closed down where the guy was still there but taking down the machine.

"Hey Sam you made it back. I saved your pokeball for you. There were a lot of other people here as well. So many interested pokeballs were created but I think yours is one of the better ones!" He said, handing over the unique pokeball.

"Wow! That's an impressive pokeball." Sam said.

"You're injured. Did you get hurt out there?" He asked. "Oh looks like you did manage to evolve." He said, remarking on the poliwhirl standing next to the trainer.

"I'm fine and yeah he's evolved! You were right about needing to win a battle to trigger the evolution. Sorry, can't stick around though. We have to get back to the studio for that audition." Sam said, already running away with the ball in hand.

"Wait don't want to know how that pokeball works?!" Too late. Sam would just have to figure it out later.

Open Mission 3 Part B, Action Packed Audition

"Made it..." Sam said, getting to the studio. He was welcomed back by the director who was impressed to see the poliwhirl.

"You actually managed it. Hmm what's that though? A cut? Well I guess we can apply something to make that look better. Hold on just a sec." The director motioned for someone to come over. "Apply a skin colored band-aid but have the make-up team apply some light colors on it to make it look like a scar is going down his face."

Sam wondered what that would do then he remembered that the whole deal with poliwhirl was to help the bit appear more fierce.

"Right. So, since there's no water I uh."

"We got you covered actually. They told me the stage is going to be scrapped later because of damage. Someone brought a diglett and it used earthquake without permission. The stage is still safe to use but it can't be taken down without tearing it apart. So tell me how you're planning on using water?"

"Simple! I'll use my pokemon's water gun to shoot the air when I throw out my poliwag's... uh poliwhirl's pokeball. It will release my poliwhirl while the water explodes behind it. Then it lands in front of me and I'll deliver my line with me and him in the shot together while my pokemon uses rain dance to intensify the effect."

"That's not a bad pitch. Have you considered a career or coordinating?" The director asked.

"Maybe later. Rainer and I intended to win the pokemon league."

"Ah a method actor. Let's get everything together."

Sam instructed River and Rainer on what was going down. Preparing for the shot had to be done quickly as well because the night was coming to a close. The director and staff appeared pretty tired.

River used water gun behind Sam while Rainer's pokeball was launched upward. It resulted in the pokeball releasing Rainer while the water gun exploded in the air when it hit the pokeball.

Beside Sam, Rainer used rain dance to intensify the effect while Sam looked into the camera close to the floor.

"Can you claim victory in the Pokemon World Tournament?" Sam said, delivering the line with the same cocky attitude and intimidating demeanor as before. This fierce appeal would have been spectacular for the contest in the previous city. It was just too bad Rainer caused them to miss it.

"Cut." The director said.

"Do we need to do it again?" Sam asked.

"No, that was flawless. Anyway, you do get paid for your audition. But you're only contracted for one audition. Your payment is over there with your name on it. We'll contact you in the future if there is anything we need. Thank you for your audition Sam."

Sam shook the director's hand. That payment would make up for the poke spent on that fishing game.

Spoiler:

BugTypeAficionado · Jul 28, 2017

A Night in The City of Lights (1/2)
Location: Vernal Avenue, Lumiose City

Current Team

Inventory

- Pokédex

- 800 Gold

- 5 Potions

- 1 Pokéball

- Magnetic Coronet Geode

It all started with a Woobat.

After the encounter with Colress, Claudio had gone to the Pokemon Center and healed his partners, before heading to a motel not too far from where he was earlier. After such a long day, he let his Pokemon out of their balls and let them roam the motel room as they liked, while he cleaned himself up for the night. Brushing his teeth, the young man stared at his reflection in the mirror. He was looking a little rough around the edges from all he'd gone through today. For a brief second, he considered stopping by one of Lumiose's salons to give himself a newer look, before quickly shooting down such a ludicrous idea.

"As if. I'm perfectly fine, just need some rest..." He thought to himself, rubbing his eyes tiredly. But as fate would have it, the city that never slept wouldn't let him go that easily. A rather loud THUMP against the window caused him to jump, nearly dropping his toothbrush. After spitting, he quickly straightened his coat and picked up his glasses from the bathroom counter to see what caused such a noise.

Yotta was where Claudio expected his partner to be at this time; sitting on the nightstand next to the motel room's bed. On nights when Claudio took his Pokemon out of it's ball, Yottabyte was usually more than content with hitting the hay for the night. It's tail was pointed at the outlet behind the dresser, absorbing electricity from the wall to recharge itself for the next day. It's eyes were even half open as it heard the disturbance.

On the other hand was Hefty. The Trubbish was looking at a Pokemon that was sitting on the windowsill outside, dazed as it had taken a sharp turn and accidentally swerved into the window of the motel. It was injured from the blow, but not fatally so. Claudio was at the window in an instant, and opened it up to see the Woobat perched there. As he picked up the fluffy Pokemon, the fact it did not flutter or flee reflected the state it was in.

Using one of the Potions he had in his bag, Claudio sprayed the medicine on the wild Pokemon's forehead and nose, and Yotta cut their recharging sessions short to see what all the noise was about. The Woobat was quick to screech and flutter into the air once it was healed, flying erratically around the room (prompting Hefty to hit the deck) before it flew out the window, back into the night.

"That makes two wild Pokemon we helped out during our visit to Lumiose." The young man muttered to himself, walking to the window to watch the Woobat disappear over the cityscape. Hefty hopped up the leg of a chair, onto a desk, and then onto his trainer's shoulder to see the Pokemon fly off as well. Looking out into the night, Claudio noticed two things. One, it was surprising how...not disgusting Hefty smelled. He had heard that Trubbish had the ability to suppress their stench among people and Pokemon they trusted, so that probably explained. Two, more importantly, it seemed the City of Lights attracted more Pokemon at night than he'd originally thought.

~~~

As if Lumiose CIty wasn't already bustling with people and Pokemon during the day, it seems even more species make their home in the city than I originally thought. Their presence is almost undetectable until night falls, at which point they roam empty streets and alleyways. Species I've spotted so far include: Woobat, Shuppet, and two different variations of Grimer.

Leaning against the side of a cafe that was closed for the night, Claudio was documenting the wild Pokemon of the area once more. The only light that assisted him in seeing the words he was writing was that from a window across the street. Yotta hovered next to his left shoulder while Hefty rested on his right shoulder, eating some scraps he'd nabbed from a couple trash cans they'd passed by. Despite how tired Claudio had been before, his curiosity had given him newfound energy.

An Alolan Meowth peaked out from behind an alleyway corner before walking down the street with a smirk on it's face and some pomp in it's step. It kicked over a trash can and started digging through the mess for scraps, before a green Grimer came out from around the same corner and started sparring with the Meowth over the mess. Before Claudio could even finish writing down the discovery of the Alolan Meowth in the area, something spooked the Grimer and Meowth, causing the former to retreat down a sewage drain and the latter to hightail it down the street on all four of it's legs. The trainer and his Pokemon alike were dead silent and stared at two, white, pupil-less eyes staring at the group before it darted out of the darkness and down the street. Besides a vague idea of the creature's shape, nobody got a chance to identify what it was before it was out of sight. Without hesitation, Claudio ran after the creature with his Pokemon, one of them more reluctant to follow the creature than the others.

Into the darkness of the night he ran, not willing for even a second to let something unknown run right past him. The creature was fast enough that it stopped at certain intervals, sniffing around in the darkness for something before it's hexagonal eyes spotted it's pursuers once more and continued to flee. Eventually, after what felt like forever, Claudio had managed to close the creature in to a dead end alleyway. All four of them, person and Pokemon alike, were lucky no shady characters were roaming these parts at night, with little to no light to see. Hefty clinging tightly to his trainer and Yotta preemptively readying itself for a fight, Claudio stood in complete silence as the creature was only 10 feet away from where he stood. It was sniffing...something. Was this some kind of strange Lillpup, or Espurr? A lab experiment gone wrong? Claudio silently pulled out his Pokedex, trying to get a read on whatever this thing was...

But upon identifying the Pokemon, it gave out a loud beep, and said "THIS IS A NEWLY DISCOVERED POKEMON. IT IS CURRENTLY UNDER INVESTIGATION. NO DETAILED INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME." in a deep, robotic voice. Try as he might, Claudio couldn't find the mute button on this thing in the dark before his presence was known. The hexagonal eyes turned back to him and narrowed menacingly, before the unknown Pokemon leaped up and hopped from wall to wall, vanishing over the top of a building.

"...Stupid Pokedex." Claudio groaned, about the put the device away before the light from it's screen briefly illuminated the alleyway, and something caught the trainer's eye. Using it as a makeshift flashlight, Claudio saw something green, squirming around near some discarded boxes. As if what he'd just encountered wasn't weird enough...

While Yotta was hesitant with going any closer, Hefty acted almost immediately, slapping his hand down on the creature and causing it to let out a very high pitched screech. As both Yotta and Claudio looked at Hefty with horror at the idea of what he'd done, they were quickly relieved to see the Trubbish hold forward the creature in between his hands, who was squirming and stuck in between his mushy grasp. Claudio continued to scan the area for a makeshift container before finding a mostly clean jar and a screwdriver. It would have to do.

After poking some small airholes into the lid of the jar, Claudio had Hefty drop the creature into the jar, and after trying yet failing to catch it with a Pokeball, closed the lid tight. The small...thing, darted and slithered around the confines of the jar hectically, but eventually settled down. Just watching the thing move the way it did was slightly unsettling, but more so strange and alien than anything else. He put the jar safely in his bag, wrapping some spare napkins and tissues he had on hand around the jar as well. Whatever this thing was, chances were nobody knew what the heck it was yet. Was it just an undiscovered Pokemon? Was it an alien Pokemon? Was it even a...Pokemon?

As they walked back to the motel without another word, Claudio was pulled out of his daydreaming (or nightdreaming, in this case) as Hefty tapped his trainer's face. This caused him to flinch and wipe it into his coat before actually looking to the shoulder where the Trubbish sat.

"Trubbish! Trub!" He pointed down a street with more lights than usual coming from the end of it. It seemed wherever that was, Hefty really wanted to go.

"We don't have time for games, Hefty. We're going to sleep." Claudio stated on no uncertain terms and kept walking, causing Hefty to pout some more. "I said no, Hefty." With that, Hefty hopped right off of Claudio's shoulder and started running to where the fun was. His trainer couldn't even get his ball out in time before he was too far away to return him. Yotta rolled their eyes and started following after the impish and impatient Trubbish, with Claudio not too far behind.

Whether he'd wanted to or not, this stick in the mud was stuck smack dab in the middle of a festival.

Got a...green...thing?

A flat, green, creature with a single eye. Is this even a Pokemon?

Jay · Jul 28, 2017

- Featuring Jackson Crane, Emma Kuzunoha and Avril Morris -

Current Team - Jackson:

Current Team - Emma:

Current Team - Avril:

Old Flames - Part 1

Current Location : Lumiose City - Back Alleys

Jackson stood outside a back alley at the back end of town, it was just 10:30 PM and he had sent Emma another very simple message detailing his location as well as a bit of a disclaimer...

E-Mail said:
Don't panic.

Found Uniform.

For yes, over his regular clothes Jackson was wearing a black suit jacket and pants with orange trimmings. Thankfully he already had a pair of sunglasses to go with the ensemble. He looked every part the Team Cinder grunt and was feeling suitably uncomfortable in the outfit as a result. He felt dirty, those Team Cinder scum made him sick. However, he had learned early that in the business of criminality it was important at times to keep your cards close to your chest. Running in guns blazing to beat down the enemy wasn't going to get them anywhere this time.

Fang sat angrily watching the streets by Jackson's foot. Houndour had already proven to be a pokémon utilized by Team Cinder, so Jackson having Fang out with him would only further add to the illusion. Up in the night sky above, Wave was also circling the area and watching Jackson from her birds eye view, ready to swoop down at a moments notice. Gaspar and Teddy were on standby in their pokéballs. Teddy really didn't look the part and Gaspar was too high profile to assist him in a stealth mission. Shadow melding or not, the Haunter could rarely bring himself to keep still.

"Don't panic, found uniform? Could have worded that one better, but..." said a voice from nearby. It was none other than Emma, arriving in the scene with what looks like a red, dog-like Pokemon.

It looked like Emma's Growlithe, but it was far larger, and had more of a majestic feel to it. It was an Arcanine, a Pokemon who evolved from Growlithe. As an extra precaution, Emma evolved her Growlithe using her Fire Stone into this Arcanine, just in case they ran into trouble, and extra power was needed. Emma and her Arcanine approached their companions, as Emma carefully examined Jackson's outfit. She then approved with a quick nod.

"I say, this is very impressive insight," she said after, followed up with a modest giggle. "And you don't look half-bad. Almost suits you."

Jackson snarled in response and Fang rather aggressively growled at the Arcanine, seeing the larger pokémon as a challenge to his superiority. "Tch, I'd rather not look good in some psychopath terrorist's get up, thanks you very much..." He sighed and glared at Emma venomously. "I assume you're ready to move? It's still about an hours walk from here and we've only got ninety minutes before the meeting... we can't miss this sorta opportunity." As he finished he started to walk, Fang marching proudly by his side, snout raised and strike overflowing with self assurance and just a dusting of arrogance.

"So I'm thinkin'... they probably won't recognize us unless Artece is there, even so if he is it'll be too late for negotiatin' regardless..." He paused. "Far as they're concerned, how's about the guys they got for the job tried t'steal the egg themselves? We dealt with em and you're a... 'helpful bystander' who wanted a reward so I brought you along?"

"I have no objections," Emma replied, crossing her arms. "I think they'll focus on retrieving the egg rather than minute details if they're going this far... if we play our cards right, we'll have our advantage "

Jackson nodded slowly in response, gazing up at the skyline to see his flying pokémon flit across the image of the moon. "All we need to figure out is where it's going next, if we have that then we'll know what we gotta do..."

---

Avril sighed as she took a sip out of the coffee cup in front of her. Despite the accepting face she put on in front of Drew earlier, the blonde was still not feeling too great about herself after her amazingly one-sided battle against Volkner. While Avril did know that not every battle she took part in would result in a victory for her team, she had to admit that it was more than just a little disappointing that it took almost her entire team before she was able to bring down a single one of the Sinnoh gym leader's pokémon. It made her even more upset when Volkner admitted that he only changed pokémon just to take it easier on her.

"Am I that weak still...?" Avril questioned, glancing down at the Mareep who was currently nestled in her lap. "I thought I was becoming a good trainer, but maybe everything up to this point has just been beginner's luck."

Marble glanced up at her trainer, offering the girl a soft mewl before snuggling up closer to her. Avril smiled softly, taking one final sip of her coffee before standing up and deciding to call it an evening. With Marble nestled in her arms, the trainer thanked the cafe workers and stepped out into night.

The city of Lumiose was glowing in the pale moonlight, mixed with the illumination of street lights and the Lumiose Tower in the distance. It was rather picturesque, the sort of scene that Avril would have normally been overly excited to be a part of. Yet at the moment, the girl really could not bring herself to care. After the actual hour it took to get her team fixed back up, the trainer decided to clear her mind by enjoying the nightlife of Lumiose City. While Drew had invited her to go to Volkner's ceremony with him, Avril declined. She explained to him that she had made other plans, stating that she had promised to meet up with Emma later that night. Of course, the real reason was that she was simply not in the mood to see Volkner again at the moment, but there was no reason Drew needed to know that.

"I guess we should just call it a night, Marble..." Avril mused, slowly turning to begin making her way towards the pokémon center. The girl had only began to take a few steps when something suddenly caught her attention across the street. "Emma...?"

Sure enough, Avril's detective friend was walking across the street, a rather large, red pokémon by her side. That wasn't necessarily what caught Avril's attention the most, however. That detail went to the person Emma was walking beside. A blonde man who was wearing sunglasses at night (which Avril was more than able to deduce as being weird), was walking beside her. More alarming was the fact he was wearing a black suit with orange lining on it. It looked just like the one the man that stole the tower's generator was wearing that she and Drew chased down earlier.

Avril's eyes narrowed. "Why in the world is Emmie hanging around someone like that[i/]? Doesn't she know he's bad news?"

The Mareep in her arms looked up curiously at her trainer. Avril had a bad feeling about this. While she had a feeling she shouldn't, her own curiosity began to get the better of her. Slowly and quietly, she soon found herself following the duo from a distance.

---

As Jackson continued to walk the empty Kalosian streets, the moonlight beaming down upon them... the monotony of the quiet strolling started to irk him to the point where even he would initiate a conversation. "So..." He started, scratching his nose once as he marched onwards. "Those kids from the Eevee thing... they were from our school right? Did you know any of em?"

"Yes... they were," Emma replied. "One of them happened to be my best friend, Avril Morris. She was my first friend during our days in the academy..." she then sighed. "I do worry about her. She is a brilliant trainer, but she needs more confidence."

"Avril huh...?" Jackson mumbled, he had a vague memory of the girl. Blonde, bubbly... she did fairly well in school? Though that may be a coloured opinion considering how she had fought at the pit fights. "Poor girl, didn't think anyone'd have to suffer Ms. Moral Compass as a best friend." He sneered as they ketp walking and he rolled Fang's inferno ball around his palm with vague interest. "At the same time, I s'ppose... must be kinda nice..."

Emma put both of her hands behind herself. "What about you? Didn't you make friends with a few people?" She asked brazenly. "Like that boy... Drew, was it?"

"Drew isn't my friend." Jackson put plainly, no doubt in his voice, no hesitation in his words. "I've helped him out, once or twice, tried to pull him out of a few jams..." He waved his hand flippantly as he spoke, not looking back at the girl behind him. "He's a good kid, a fuckin' idiot mind you, but good nonetheless. He just needs t'get over himself... the more I travel the more I end up seeing people who haven't learned the lessons I have yet. That might be because life has been easier on 'em, but I won't hold it against him or anyone else unless they're dicks about it." He paused and went quiet for just a moment. "Naw... to be more, eh, curt? About your answer. He ain't my friend, I don't have any o' those."

Emma blinked. She then let loose a small chuckle. "And you call me[/] a Moral Compass, " she chuckled. "You're kind of a Moral Machine, pal. Still... I guess we're both in a similar situation with those kids."

He rubbed his neck awkwardly and let out a sigh. "Doin' the right thing doesn't make me a moral compass... damn... lecturin' about it might but..." He looked over his shoulder at her with narrowed eyes for a moment. "Don't get me wrong... I'm not gonna hang 'em out t'dry but we ain't in the same situation. I'm doin' what I gotta do for me and mine, that's all."

"We'll leave it at that then," Emma replied, brushing her hair aside. "But... it's good that I understand you a bit better." Jackson only grunted in response. "Understand is a strong word."

---

As the pair finally started to step into the dark alley that was to be their location, Fang tensed slightly. He had been captured by Team Cinder, drugged, forced into a rage and thrown into that forest where he had done... awful things to the local pokémon. The idea of facing them again scared him, although he refused to show it. Seeing Jackson in that uniform however... it unnerved him. As he glanced up at his trainer he saw a tiny bit of his white color peek out from beneath the black jacket in shirt... and it made him feel oddly relaxed.

Fang had given humans one more chance in the form of Jackson and he hadn't been disappointed. He as a pokémon had always strived to be better, stronger than the rest of his kind... the captured growlithe and houndour. He glared back at the Arcanine once again. It... he could smell it... that pokémon was from the same place he was. How had he gotten so much stronger? It made him angry but, he thought... no he knew, that with Jackson he would rise to far greater heights. He would become the strongest their ever was, the most powerful of all pokémon. Nobody would ever be able to hurt him again. Jackson was the key, so he would protect Jackson with his life if need be, whatever it took to become strong.

The open clearing was oddly dark as Jackson stepped out into the center of it, removing the egg incubator from his bag and holding it in his arms. He waited in the clearing and checked his Holocaster briefly. 11:55... they had walked in silence for longer than he had anticipated. Still, it was about the right time so where was Cinder? He was about to call out but before his voice escaped his lips a bright light shone down from above, illuminating the area.

Within moments, three people stepped out from the shadows. One man wore the traditional black suit of Cinder, the woman amidst them wore a similarly styled dressed... and finally the individual that stood in the center of the threee looked different. His suit was much like Jackson's and the other mans... only the orange trimmings were lined with white and gold... and his sunglasses were marked with a small golden fleck at either side.

"This is a surprise Grunt..." The man in the center spoke, his voice didn't seem as snide as Jackson had anticipated, in fact, it was weirdly calm throughout his statement. "We were expecting hired goons, loaned from a... recent benefactor's trainee ranks." Jackson rose an eyebrow to that but said nothing, trainee's in a different organisation? "Yeah well..." Jackson started. "Those guys weren't very reliable, I happened to find them attempting to escape through the Western gate with the package." To Emma, Jackson's accent was notable supressed, his tone matching the other mans as he spoke and maintained a slightly more Kalosian innotation. It was clear then that this wasn't his first facade.

"I see... a shame, Miss Crimson had warned the Master that such riff raff were bad for business. I was inclined to agree with her but I held my tongue. I suppose in future I'm to be more vocal." Jackson froze at the mans words, Crimson? The woman whom had helped disband the pit fights? She was Team Cinder... higher ranking than even this man? It made sense, the latter part at least, with her level of power she was surely an admin if not more. By the mans tone however, there was a leader abover her at least, this 'Master'.

"And this other girl with you... who is she Grunt? Civillians are not to be involved in our affairs you know this. It's the first lesson given during induction." This somewhat alpha grunt furrowed his brow, the short, clean cut black hair on his head bristling as he did so. "Yes well... actually as you mention induction..." Jackson began, before gesturing to the girl at his side.

"This is... Serah Gascoigne, yes. A young woman of quiet potent talent, she assisted in the defeat of those worthless crooks and has shown great skill and interest in Cinder, sir." The Alpha Grunt gave a small nod and stroked his chin as he approached the two by a few steps, seemingly attempting to clear some formality but only serving to bolster the tension.

"That's... a little unorthodox Grunt, but your initiative is worth something at least. Tell me, Miss Gascoigne, is what my man here is saying the truth?"

"Aiiiiiyah sir, are you talking to me? Teehee! I'm super embarrassed..." Emma replied in a cute... southern accent? "Aye, it's true good sir! You see, I was down in the dumps. My job sucks, my house sucks, my family suck, heck, you know what I mean!"

She then quickly grabbed Jackson's arm. "That was until I saw this stunning huuuuuunk of a MAN!" Her... eyes were lifting up? "I saw em' battle those really ruff' fellas, so I lend a hand! Killed em' 6 times fore' they hit the ground. When it was all over, I asked to join the stunnnnnnning paradise of a group he's in. Call me a number one fan, y'all!"

Jackson was absolutely appalled by Emma's sudden shift of behavior, doing everything he could to keep a straight face and not toss the girl off of him.

She then let go of Jackson's arm, doing a sort of... begging stance. "Please sir, will you have lil' ol' me? I'll do any thin'!"

The Alpha Admin chuckled lowly under his breath and nodded, seemingly pleased. "Well, we'll have to see what it is your capable of... but I do believe a trial may be arranged. For now, however..." He clapped his hands gently. "Come now Grunt, pass over the egg and then report to base for debriefing."

"W-Wait!" Jackson interjected, still somewhat flustered and desperately regaining his composure. "Ahem... sir, that is... this egg, if I may, I find myself having a great interest in it." He paused, waiting for a reaction, however he received only a scowl from the leader in front of him. "I did not ask you a question grunt, I gave you an order." His tone was wavering slightly from the purely peaceful and composed voice from moments prior. Jackson pursed his lips, gritting his teeth just beneath.

"Sir, if I may... following my rescue of this egg I would beg you for the opportunity to present it to Mr. Artece myself." The Alpha admin and the rest of the group froze in place as Jackson uttered that name. "Y-you... want to deliver the package to Admin Artece?" The Alpha Grunt suddenly had fear in his voice. "L-Look kid... I know you're after a promotion but... Artece is, everyone knows he's..." He shook himself gently and recomposed himself as a leader. "It's not worth it Grunt, now listen to me when I give you an order... besides, the theater is too high profile a location with the event going on, you know regular grunts are prohibited from going while the operation is in effect."

Jackson had to do everything in his power to resist his smirk. "Oh...? You mean where Wild Torrent is playing?"

The Alpha grunt rose an eyebrow, instantly more suspicious than before. "Yes... the backstage drop off we were all informed about... alright Grunt that's enough, give me your Cinder ID number right now, that's a direct order." The other grunts tensed and picked their pokéballs slowly form their belts... Jackson, having had enough, gave a massive sneer in response. "Oh I don't think that's gonna be necessary... what d'you think Seraaah?" He put emphasis on the fake name and his eyes widened with anticipation.

Emma giggled. "But sir, I'm just a mindless fan girl!" she said in her pretend accent. "But y'know somethin'?" she then crossed her arms, seemingly regaining her demeanour.

She then pointed right towards the malcontent. "We don't need Pokemon to take out the trash."

Dragon · Jul 28, 2017

- Featuring Jackson Crane, Emma Kuzunoha and Avril Morris

Current Team - Jackson:

Current Team - Emma:

Current Team - Avril:

Old Flames - Part 2

Current Location : Lumiose City - Back Alleys

Avril wondered if this is what Emma felt like when she worked a case. The trainer had been tailing her best friend and the Team Cinder grunt for quite some time. The girl wasn't fully sure on how in the world she had managed to stay unnoticed by the duo and their pokémon for so long. Perhaps she was just a natural at staying hidden like this.

She had followed the duo into the alleyways of Lumiose City. Returning to these winding paths was not exactly something that she was too keen on. Understandably so, it brought back unpleasant memories of the day's earlier events. Still, Avril had to know what in the name of Arceus that Emma was doing hanging around a Team Cinder grunt. The answer she got was surprising to say the least. Emma had led the girl right into the heart of a Team Cinder meeting! Sure, she had only encountered them a few times, namely the one who stole the generator, but she could tell this was definitely a place that neither she nor Emma should be.

From behind a stack of crates, she narrowed her eyes at one man in particular. His suit looked very similar to the other grunts, save for the white and gold lining. "He must be an important member of their group..." Avril whispered to herself. "What in the world is Emma doing?"

The blonde moved slightly to the left, trying to get a better view. Unfortunately, Avril was not quite paying attention. Her boot happened to land right on a glass bottle, causing her to suddenly loose her footing. Her eyes widened as she quickly lost her balance, the Mareep letting out a frightened mewl as the duo stumbled backwards, landing roughly on the girl's backside.

But the girl's misfortune did not stop there. As soon as she landed, one of the balls on her bracelet happened to pop off and snap open on the ground. A bright flash of light exposed one hyperactive Leafeon. Salad barked loudly, quickly bounding his way towards Avril and showering the girl with affection via his tongue.

Jackson froze in place as he heard the yipping of more than one pokémon behind a stack of nearby crates. Slowly turning his head in the direction of same, he noticed a Leafeon peeking over the wooden boxes... on top of what he presumed to be a struggling human. A Leafeon, didn't they evolve from...? Oh Arceus surely she didn't- "You brought someone else?!" Jackson bellowed at Emma as Fang took position to fight and Wave began to dash down from above.

"A-Avril?!" Emma recgonized the girl, in complete shock. "What the devil are you doing here?!" she then turned to Jackson. "And no! I didn't bring her here!"

The Alpha Grunt immediately took a step back in panic. "We're compromised! Grunts, take position... we're taking that egg to the boss or you'll answer to him!" Before the trainers could react, each Cinder opperative threw a pokéball from their belts in unison, each one bursting open to reveal a different type of pokémon. The two grunts had a Magby and Torkoal each, two pokémon Jackson recognized from class... while their leader threw out a much larger, presumably fire type pokémon that Jackson didn't recognize.

Quickly bouncing back and pulling the pokédex from his pocket, Jackson scanned the monstrous thing, with a body that seemed to burn and radiate heat like a massive, bulky inferno.

Pokédex said:
MAGMORTAR - THE BLAST POKÉMON

"They dwell in volcanic craters. From its arm, it launches fireballs hotter than 3,500 degrees Fahrenheit. Its arm starts to melt when it fires a whole barrage. When shooting said fireballs from its arms, its body takes on a whitish hue from the intense heat. Even its breath is hot enough to sear and sizzle."

"A tough opponent..." Emma stated. "And another fire-type pokemon..."

Jackson winced at the blunt nature of the pokédexes description. That sort of fire power could tear entire blocks of the city away in an instant if left unchecked. The Cinder Alpha Grunt laughed and pointed with a fiendish glee. "Artece knew someone would interfere, but I thought he was too crazy to be right! Luckily he decided to loan us some extra fire power, right Magmortar?!" The large fire type looked over its shoulder and glared at its temporary master with a sort of disgusted necessity, before nodding lazily and taking aim with its arm. "Now hit 'em with your lava plume!"

In an instant the pokémons body began to glow brilliant white as the pokédex predicted and Jackson began to sweat as the heat picked up, without hesitation he dashed to the left, pulling at Emma's arm as he did so and barely dodging as a boiling hot glab of magma crushed into the ground, melting away the floor. "S-serpentine detective! Y'here me?!" He glared over at the boxes for a quick moment as well, moving in their direction as quickly as he could in order to put a solid distance between his enemy and himself.

"Yes, I'm fine..." Emma replied, composing herself after she crashed to nearby cardboard boxes. She then looked around the area. "Avie? Are you okay?"

Avril, who had been staring at the massive Magmortar and its attack could only nod slowly in response. She gripped her Mareep tighter all the while her Leafeon decided to give Emma some attention now. "E-Emma, what in the world are you doing with these people?! Don't you know how dangerous they are?!"

"What are you talking about?!" Emma yelled back. "Were you... following me?" At this point Jackson slid in to sit in cover beside the two girls, Fang sliding in beside him with his fangs burning slightly in anticipation. "Following us more like... ****in' hell!" He cried out as he practically ripped off his now slightly smoldering Cinder jacket, revealing his regular shirt beneath.

Avril looked quite flustered, shooting the duo an angry look of her own. "You were hanging around a Team Cinder grunt! Did you think I was just gonna ignore that and let you fall in with some gang?!"

Jackson stared daggers into Avril and had to hold himself back from screaming in frustration. "We were TRYING to get information kid! Y'know... like espionage or whatever the- Gah!" Jackson was knocked forward slightly as the cardboard box to his right exploded into flame and Fang had to slide backwards a little in order to dodge out of the way. "Look! Either way... we need to get outtta this mess now yeah? So how's about we explain this AFTER the walkin' volcano stops tryna kill us?!"

"Leave the Magmortar to me," Emma, more calm, suggested while searching for one of her pokéballs from her bag. "My Arcanine can tear it to shreds...!" Jackson however quickly gripped her arm. "Did you hear the pokédex? This isn't some common everyday Fire pokémon you can beat with a type resistance Kuzunoha! This thing could burn down three city blocks for fun!"

"I'm not an idiot, you blathering buffoon!" Emma roared, trying to break her arm away. "I know that! But... Arcanine is the only one that can stand up against it! If not it, then who can?!"

Avril looked panicked, watching the two bicker about how to handle the Magmortar. Sheepishly, the girl spoke up. "W-What about my Frogadier...?" To which Jackson nodded quickly. "Water types will be good... rather than specific strengths we've got to attack it with num-"

"M-Magmortar! What are you doing?!"

The panicked shriek of the Alpha Grunt tempted Jackson to quickly poke his head over their almost obliterated cover, at the other side of the clearing, Magmortar was aiming one of his canons towards each of the lesser grunts. "I'm you're trainer now, so stop! Attack them! KILL THEM, NOT MY MEN!" Magmortar's eyes were cold and emotionless, no feeling at all. It was as if the cried of the Cinder Leader were far far away.

But at the word kill, a trigger seemed to activate. With a single explosion of flame a rocket of fire burst forth and collided with one of the grunts. He screamed in agony as he fell twisting to the ground and his torkoal turned towards him in panic. As his charred form began to dust and melt away, a red light briefly enveloped the weaker fire type pokémon, signifying that his pokéball had been destroyed. It didn't take much else for him to start sprinting down the pathway that the three trainers had come from, desperate to escape.

"NO!" The Alpha Grunt shouted, reaching desperately for Magmortar's pokéball as the other lesser grunt stood petrified in fear. "Magmortar! Ret- ugha!" With a sudden crunching of its large foot into the stone below, a small tremor was let loose by an Earthquake that shook the man off of his feet, as he fell he almost dropped the pokéball, but was unable to aim it as he froze in place, the barrel of Magmortar's canons now pointed at him. With a desperate screech he screamed for the other grunt to attack, to help him.

But the lower ranking member simply looked on in terror... before returning his Magby and running swiftly away.

Back at the boxes, Jackson looked on with shock and disgust at what he was seeing. That pokémon was a gift from Gabriel Artece, no doubt the psychopath had planned for this to happen. "We have to do something... if Magmortar destroys his own ball, he'll be wild and free to rampage around Lumiose as 'e sees fit!"

"My god..." Emma watched in horror of the events that transpired. Seeing such horror... made her sick to her stomach. Almost to the point of losing control. "...Yes..." she finally agreed, slowly standing back on her feet. "We... we have to work together to stop its rampage. Avril! Jackson!"

Avril stared in shock and disgust at what she had just watched. She wanted to look away, but she couldn't pry her eyes away. Her body shook in absolute fear as stared at the charred remains, what little there were, of the now deceased Cinder grunt. Immediately, the girl hunched over and found herself heaving all over the ground before her. Somehow, she had managed to completely miss the Mareep in her arms.

"He just... he just literally melted away..." Avril managed to gasp out. "What... how the hell can we fight that...?!"

"We've got to try..." Jackson started, swallowing audibly before clenching his fists and nodding to Emma. "**** me, Gumshoe, you were right... I am a moral machine... Wave, t'me!" With that, Jackson jumped up from behind the crates and charged into the makeshift arena, the Magmortar's body was already beginning to glow white hot, he couldn't afford to waste any time. Grabbing a cracked bit of pavement as he ran he chucked it full force towards the Magmortar, bouncing it off the pokémon's head and causing it to look over its shoulder aggressively as colour returned to its features. "That's right asshole! I'm right here! Wave, Swift!" From the night sky above, a pair of bat wings opened as a silhouette before the moon... and a torrent of golden stars showered down, streaking through the air like homing missiles striking against the massive fire type, forcing it to block with one of its canon like arms while aiming the other at Jackson.

In its new position, Jackson could see past the Magmortar to the Alpha Grunt, whom now lay unconscious upon the stone floor. "Damn it... someone get that ****in' ball!" Jackson cried, as he quickly dashed around the area to throw off his opponents aim.

Avril watched in dead silence as Jackson began to try and distract the Magmortar as best as he and his pokémon could. The girl listened to his cries for help, but she couldn't even bring herself to climb up to her feet. Rather, Avril continued to remain hunched over, her body trembling in absolute fear at what she and the other two trainers now found themselves up against. She wanted to be somewhere, anywhere else but here right now. She gazed at Jackson, who kept just narrowly dodging the flame bursts being thrown out by the massive pokémon one more time, before suddenly snapping her eyes shut, as if doing so would somehow take her away from this horrible situation.

Emma kneeled down near her friend, putting her hands on Avril's shoulders. "I know it's scary..." she said in a direct, quiet tone. "But... we need your help. Please, Avril..."

Jackson dashed forward, rolling in a tumble and sliding across the ground as he barely dodged another blast of flame. Wave too ducked and swerved as globs of light were fired up at her from the other canon like flares. Fang dashed quickly by Jackson's side waiting for the opportunity to strike as his trainer continued to carry out orders. "Wave! Air Cutter! Don't let up!" As soon as the opening was there, Wave's wings lit up with light blue light and formed the air around them into sharp sickles, with a quick flap, plunging her into a backwards dive to dodge another fiery blast with the momentum, she fired her attacks and the sharp blasts of wind cut into the side of the Magmortar's face.

In a rage the massive pokémon roared and jackson could nigh feel the temperature rise as its steamy breath swept across the area.

That was when a single beam of red light, shot passed the pokémon, hitting a nearby building. With eyes shot open and nigh boiling in their sockets with rage. Magmortar turned towards the Alpha Grunt, barely awake on the ground, his shaky hand aiming the pokéball at Magmortar, but missing by a hairs breadth. With another collosal roar, Magmortar aimed both canons at the Alpha Grunt and slowly began to glow white hot. A huge flaming attack prepared to annihlate the man before him. "A-Arceus... no..." In panic and pure, uncontrolled fear, the Alpha sunk to the ground, fainting with fright once again.

"No!" Jackson cried out as he desperately dashed forward, Fang running beside him and staring up at his trainer with fear and confusion. What was Jackson doing?! That was their enemy! Why was he trying to help him?! Fang slowed ever so slightly, no longer sure, doubting his desire to follow this man into battle. He watched as Jackson began to outpace him, one step faster, two... He thought back to the forest, he thought back to all of the pokémon he had hurt.

He thought back to the trainer girl whom had tried to stop him... he thought about her pokémon, alone in that adoption center because of what he had done.

He thought about Brielle Baker, the girl whom had defeated him... the one who had seen him as nothing but ugly.

He thought of his first meeting with Jackson...

Jackson said:
"You don't belong 'ere. You ain't strong enough by yourself... I wasn't either. I know what it's like to be dumped into a scary place filled with assholes wantin' to hurt ya. I know how it feels t'hurt people who probably didn' deserve a thing, but you had to do it anyway to keep yourself goin'.

I also know... that alone, you can't help but end up a mess. If someone goes with you on the other hand, keeps y'on the straight n' narrow...

Then y'can find a way to make up for what you did."

Fang picked up the pace, he started to run faster towards that enemy than he ever had before in his life, in mere moments he was rushing past his trainer. Jackson stumbled and tried to grab Fang by the tail to stop him, but instead he ended up falling flat on his face. "Fang! Wait" He called out, reaching his hand towards the pokémon as he continued to run. Wave dived as fast as she could, but she knew even as she started that she just wouldn't be fast enough to reach the Houndour.

Fang wanted to be strong. He thought about Jackson... Jackson whom took him in... Jackson whom was the same as he was, but different. Jackson was stronger, he was resolute, he was repentant. How was it that he had managed to overcome the guilt? Fang understood now, no, he had always understood but he hadn't been willing to accept it. Sacrifice, defense, understanding... his trainer denied every single one of them but then why were they here?! Why did Jackson step into every problem he met and helped in any way he could? Why did Jackson go to that lab? Why did he fight Team Cinder? Why had he saved Fang's own life?! It was never fully clear to Fang... not until now.

With an angry shove, Fang threw himself at the Alpha Grunt, knocking him and the pokéball aside moments before the Magmortar's massive attack went off. In that moment, staring down the white hot barrels of the Magmortar's arms... Fang finally understood. The way to become truly strong... was by protecting those that weren't.

Fang... would be the strongest of all pokémon. That was his wish.

"FANG!" Jackson cried out as a huge explosion rocked the very Earth at Fang's position. Even Jackson, whom had only crossed half the distance between the Magmortar and himself, was sent sprawling backwards by the fiery blast... and the massive outward spiral of white light. A white light that continued to glow even now. As the trainer forced his eyes open, forced himself to look onwards at the carnage. He found himself overcome by shock and awe.

The light wasn't the result of the blast, it was coming from Fang.

The unbelievable power of the Magmortar's double fire blast swirled like tendrils of light, absorbing into Fang's form as if they were nothing. His small, quadrupedal body lifted from the ground and the Magmortar stumbled backwards, nigh blinded.

Fang's eyes shot open as his limbs began to grow, stretching down to the ground, the bone plate upon his skull began to seperate and redefine its structure, shaping into a pair of imposing and powerful horns, his snout lengthening to match as his skull reshaped to accomodate. The plate on his back split and reached around his torso, forming a set of outward ribs that his black, fur covered body bulked up and filled until he could feel a light pressure. His tail lost width but gained length... and at the very tip he felt a prominent spike. As the light began to fade he opened his maw, fangs burning with a flame far beyond anything he had ever been capable of before... and with a final settling of his new form he roared, he roared louder than he ever had, he roared with pride, anger and a desire to win, the desire to be stronger realized in full.

"HounDOOOOOOOM!!!" His cry bellowed and echoed over the night sky and the light was gone, Fang stood taller, buffer and with red eyes that burned holes through even the powerful Magmortar with their gaze.

He charged forward and allowed the new power to fill his body, the dark type energy surging through him and centering in his horns. He felt the bite of Wave, the claws of Teddy and the pure, mystical force of Gaspar combine with his own strength as Beat Up took effect... and he rammed full on into the Magmortar's chest, sending him grinding across the stone floor, barely able to keep his balance.

Fang winced as he felt a hand upon his back, he turned to strike but as he looked up he saw Jackson standing beside him, a confidence in his eyes and a growling sneer upon his lips... Fang found himself matching the expression before he even realized. "Emma! Avril! It's time we thought this bastard a lesson is humility!"

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

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