Jory

Chimchain, what's the limit on training my party? I want each member to have at least one battle during this day.

Jacob wiped the sweat from his forehead, already perspiring after being in the sandbox for only a few minutes. The Trainer looked around and, upon seeing all the Trapinch around, grinned and released Arete, Teo and Spitfyre from their Poke Balls. "Alright, guys," he began, crouching in front of his teammates so they could hear him better. "Today we're gonna be doing some intense training. It's a little too hot here for Chalchi's Ice-type attacks to work properly, so I'm going to keep her in her ball for now. But you two thrive in the heat, so let's make this a good workout. Okay?" he asked. The three Pokemon nodded, each giving an abbreviated cry before waiting for their instructions. "You two are gonna battle some of these wild Pokemon so that you can get experience against Dragons and Ground-types. So let's see about finding a couple of Gibles and Trapinches to help us out, huh?" he asked enthusiastically. The group began moving toward the younger Dragon-types. Jacob pulled out his Pokedex and began scanning the wild Pokemon, searching for a few that were slightly more powerful than his own Pokemon. "Let's see... We can battle that group of Gible over there, those two Trapinch, or that Druddigon," he said excitedly. "Let's start by having Spitfyre battle against one of those Trapinch. A type disadvantage is going to make you work way harder," he said happily. Spitfyre gave a firm nod, looking determinedly at the pair of Trapinch who seemed to be playing king of the hill with a small rock. This was going to be an interesting battle.

Jacob grinned. "He said my matchup is going to be a challenge! That means I need to have a Charmeleon at my disposal by then. Tomorrow, the whole team's going to be put through rigorous training. There's no way I'm going to lose! It's hard work and dedication that'll win the day for us in the end, so until the day before it's practice, practice, practice!"

Jacob smiled at his friends. "Thanks for the support, guys. I really appreciate it." He then looked thoughtfully at Danielle for a moment before speaking. "Look, just because Mawile is a Fairy-type doesn't mean it's like the others. As a matter of fact, Mawile can be one of the most vicious Pokemon in this area. But," he said quickly, not wanting to discourage Danielle. "You have the advantage over it thanks to Corona. Mawile are known for their attacking prowess, not their defensive capability. You'll do great against one, I know it. And worst comes to worst, I'm sure Professor Cadmus or one of the other adults can give you a few tips."

Jacob nodded at Slade, smiling at his friend. "Thanks for the support, man. I appreciate it." He then looked to Danielle. "Did you happen to catch anything new today, Danielle?"

Jacob blushed an even deeper shade of red. "Yeah. It was... uh... That's never really happened to me before. It was a little surprising, to be honest." He stopped and considered whether or not he liked her. "Well, I know that she can be nice. She's nice to me, at least. And she's pretty cute, which is a plus. I think I want to get to know her a little better before I can really make that decision, though," he said honestly.

Jacob scratched the back of his head. "Uh... She likes me, I guess? I dunno, she said she wants to get dinner sometime and then kissed me on the cheek."

Holy buttholes you guys have been doing work with me gone!

Jacob brightened visibly at the mention of the new Pokemon. He looked over at the Pokemon. The Togepi had woken up and begun to eat. Spitfyre was almost out of food but didn't seem to be slowing down, so Jacob addressed Teo. "Hey, Teo, can you go get yourself, Chalchi, and Spitfyre some more to eat?" The Trapinch nodded and wolfed down the rest of his food in one giant gulp with his huge jaws and excitedly began to move toward the food. Jacob then turned toward his friends. "Well, that Charmander over there is Spitfyre. I caught him on top of a rock plateau earlier today. And that Togepi isn't mine, but I didn't even realize Henry had caught one." Hmm... I never really thought about catching this Togepi. It seems to like me, and it might be good for me to have a Fairy-type on the team. And the triple weakness to Electric attacks shouldn't be a problem for my team once Teo becomes a Vibrava. Jacob smiled and reached down to his belt, pulling out a Poke Ball. "I think I'm gonna catch Togepi. And I have the perfect name for her," he said with a grin. Togepi looked up at the mention of her name and wandered over to the Trainer. "Arete." The Togepi looked up at Jacob questioningly. In reply, he held the Ball out to the egg Pokemon. "Do you want to come with me?" The Togepi nodded enthusiastically. Jacob smiled and tapped the Pokemon on the head with the Ball. It shook in his hand once, twice, three times before dinging. Jacob then clicked the button in the center and let Togepi out of her ball. "Alright! Now get back to eating, Arete! We have a lot of training to do tomorrow." The Togepi nodded and went back to her food dish, excitedly digging in. The Trainer then looked up at his friends. "Thanks for the good idea, guys. And I'm glad I had an easy capture today, especially after Spitfyre decided to run me through the ringer. We have an agreement now, though." Jacob looked toward the pair's Pokemon. "Oh, wow! Slade, you caught a Gible! That's a really powerful Dragon-type!" Jacob excitedly pulled out his Pokedex and scanned the Gible. He quickly read through the data. "Yours is going to be really strong some day, Slade. With you training it, it's going to be a force to be reckoned with. And it's the quality of both Trainer and Pokemon that matters most. Some people say Cynthia's Garchomp was one of the strongest Pokemon in the history of the world!" he finished excitedly.

Jacob's face turned beet red as Kristen pecked him on the cheek. Even for Jacob, this was a new shade of red. Chalchi laughed softly at her Trainer, reminding the teenager that he had left his Lapras out all that time to witness his attempt at asking Kristen to get dinner. Jacob laughed uncomfortably, pressing the return button on his Lapras's ball before returning his attention to Corona. "I know you came over here on your own, Corona. I don't think Danielle would have so much gall as to actually try to get in my way." Or at least she'd better not, he thought quickly. Otherwise I'm going to have to start agreeing with Kristen. He shuddered at the thought of agreeing with anything the fiery redhead said about his friend and nodded to the Larvesta when she suggested he go to the table. "Alright, Corona. You win," he said, sighing heavily and looking down at the slumbering Togepi in his arm. "But that doesn't mean I'm going to feel comfortable." The Trainer beckoned at the Larvesta to follow him to the table and sat down a couple of seats away from the newly minted couple, shifting awkwardly for a moment. He finally put the Togepi down in the seat next to him, being careful not to disturb the little egg's slumber. He then got up without a word and went to get himself a tray of food along with several dishes of Pokemon food. After getting back to the table he sighed and looked up at Danielle and Slade. "I hope you two don't mind, but the whole team is gonna be out eating." He then hit the release button on all three balls causing Teo, Chalchi, and Spitfyre to appear in a flash of light. "Alright guys, dig in!" The Pokemon all began to eat ravenously. Spitfyre even joined them after eyeing the food suspiciously for a few moments. However, the first smile Jacob had ever seen on the Charmander's face appeared as he took his first bite. Hmm... So food and victory will win his heart. That shouldn't be too hard after my little experiment with him today, he thought to himself as he chewed his food.

The Trainer fought down an angry retort at Kristen as she badmouthed Danielle, but part of Jacob couldn't help but agree. She's kind of right, but I doubt Danielle would have sent Corona over here instead of walking over herself. "Fine. We'll do dinner another time, then," he said with a smile. Jacob looked down at the sad little Bug Pokemon and sighed, leaning down to pet Corona. "I'm sorry, buddy, but I don't know if I can do that just yet. I'm still hurting right here," he said, pointing to his heart. "Whatever's going on between those two is going to take a whole lot of getting used to. I just... can't right now. I'm sorry," he said quietly, stroking the fur on the Larvesta's head and being careful not to drop the Togepi in his other arm. "They're still my friends, but this is too much for me right now."

Jacob looked toward Slade and Danielle. As he watched the two together, he couldn't help but have mixed feelings. I'm happy for them. I really am. But at the same time it hurts to see that this is happening so quickly. He sighed and looked back at Kristen. "I'm sure. But that doesn't mean we have to sit with them. I'm not sure if I'm ready for that."

Jacob turned redder than Kristen's hair as the girl complimented him. Then, he had to take a deep breath as Kristen began to talk about how Danielle messed around with people's feelings. He sighed and shook his head. "I don't think she does, Kristen. As a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure she'd feel horrible if she knew she was hurting someone by doing that," he said quietly, looking at the ground briefly. However, the Togepi booped Jacob on the nose and the Trainer laughed, smiling down at the egg Pokemon. "You're just a little bundle of joy, aren't you?" he asked the Pokemon. However, it simply looked him in the eye, yawned, and then went to sleep in his arms. "Hmm..." Jacob said to himself. "The little guy's probably hungry." His stomach then growled and he chuckled and smiled, looking up at Kristen. "Hey, I think I should get some food for my Pokemon and this Togepi. Do you... uh... Do you want to come eat dinner with us?" he offered tentatively.

Jacob began to open his mouth to apologize when he felt a small amount of pressure on his leg. He looked down and much to his surprise there was a Togepi clinging onto his leg. He looked up at Kristen, very confused, then back down at the Togepi. "Uhh..." he managed to get out, having been caught completely off guard. He sighed and knelt down, prying the Togepi off his leg and gingerly lifting it up in the air. The egg Pokemon waved its arms and cried out in happiness from the ride. Jacob couldn't help but laugh at the cute little Pokemon's antics. He looked the Togepi in the face. "Hey, buddy, do you have a Trainer?" he asked it. The Togepi shook his head and Jacob smiled at it. "Can you give me a minute to talk to Kristen here and I'll deal with you in a second?" he asked again. The Togepi nodded his head and Jacob grinned, holding the Togepi like a baby. "Well, now that that's dealt with... Kristen, I want to apologize for what I said to you earlier. I know you were just upset with Ryan because of the way he acted toward Sofia. It was wrong of him to lead her on and it was wrong of me to get so upset with you for defending your friend," he said, a sad undertone in his voice. "I just want you to understand that I snapped at you for the same reason that you snapped at Ryan. I hope you can forgive me," he added, looking the redheaded girl in the eyes. "I don't want you to think that I'm a bad guy or anything, you know? That's why I came to apologize."

Jacob looked from Slade to Danielle, then gave Slade a knowing wink once Danielle was turned away. "Actually, I think I'm gonna go find Kristen and apologize for snapping at her like that. Who knows? Maybe she's not as bad as we thought," he said calmly, trying not to give anything away. He then walked toward the girls' cottage and knocked politely on the door, then took a few steps back and called Chalchi out of her ball, taking a seat on her back as he waited for someone to answer the door.

Jacob laughed as Danielle explained the Kristen situation. It was all just too funny to him after seeing Kristen act to high and mighty, particularly the part about how Kristen essentially wanted to be Danielle. "Yeah, she's certainly having fun sitting all the way up there on her high horse. She is kinda cute though..." he trailed off, looking off into the distance for a moment. "Anyway, she had whatever Kage and I said to her coming today. But she can't be that bad, Danielle. I mean, she clearly cares about Sofia at the very least. Maybe she's one of those people that just takes a bit of getting used to, you know?" he said hopefully, trying to be optimistic. He then cocked his head to the side, remembering the last thing Danielle had said. "She'll insult you if... what exactly?" he asked, genuinely curious as to what Danielle seemed to be hiding from him.

Jacob stood where he had been the entire time, still shaking in anger and trying to calm himself down. The nerve of that ginger bitch... he thought to himself. When she had gone off on Kage, however, the Trainer had had to keep himself from laughing. I can't believe she just made that gesture at a blind guy. He then looked toward Ryan and Kage, who were now... Ugh. Get a room. The angry young Trainer stormed off toward Danielle, wanting nothing more than to talk to his friend. And just that. I don't want to like her anymore. She's one of the best friends I could ever ask for, and I shouldn't take that for granted. Upon reaching her, Jacob gave Danielle an awkward little wave. After standing there for several seconds, Jacob finally opened his mouth. "Can you believe the nerve of that girl? Going off on Ryan and Kage like that was totally uncalled for. And she called me 'Cutie.' Could she be any more patronizing?" he asked his friend, exasperated from the encounter with Sofia and her bitch of a roommate.

And now Jacob is angry at Kristen because she upset Ryan. the plot thickens

Jacob tried to protest as Kristen dragged him and Claude away from the group, but to no avail. However, as they were being led away, Jacob noticed Ryan quickly leaving the group. I need to go see what's up with Ryan. Wherever it is this girl is taking us, it's too far from my friend, Jacob thought, still confused about the whole situation. He only knew one thing for sure, though. He shook his arm out of Kristen's grip and stood still with his arms crossed, glaring at the redheaded girl. "You know, I get that Sofia is your friend and you only want to protect her, but Ryan is my friend. And no one gets to say shit like that to my friends," he said angrily, his face beginning to turn red and his voice beginning to rise in volume. "You totally overreacted. Just because your friend likes another person doesn't make that person obligated to go out with her. And how was Ryan supposed to know she liked him, huh? He's attracted to everything on two legs! He flirts with everyone, even me! You owe him an apology, Cutie." He finally stopped ranting and took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down.

Yeah, I'm here.

Jacob nodded to Ryan, following his friend over to the small group. He shot Kristen a quick smile before turning to look at Sophia, awaiting her reaction.

Jacob put his hand on Ryan's shoulder again and chuckled. "Talk about deja vu, huh? It was only the first day of class when you were talking to me about Danielle, and now it seems we're in opposite positions with the opposite problem. Need any help, bud?" he asked his friend, smiling inwardly as he noticed the redhead checking him out. She's not bad looking. And maybe that's what I need to get over Danielle, he thought to himself. However, he quickly dismissed the notion. Eh. I need to focus on training Spitfyre right now. He's powerful enough to evolve already, I can feel it. He just needs to unlock his true power. Suddenly, an idea occurred to him. "Ryan, you wanted to get that other girl alone to talk to her, right?"

Jacob sighed in relief as they arrived back at the camp. After a long day of trekking around the mountains, he was beat. As he arrived he noticed all the others beginning to congregate in smaller groups. Seeing Ryan and Claude together, he smiled broadly to himself and walked over to the two. It had been a bit since Jacob had spent time with Ryan, so he figured Why the hell not? He walked over to the pair and put a hand on each of their shoulders, grabbing their attention. "Hey, fellas. How'd your day go?" Seeing that he had obviously interrupted, he turned a light shade of red and stammered a quick apology for his rudeness.

Jacob nodded at Devin's wisdom, smiling broadly at the Elite Four member. "Sorry I interrupted, but I wanted to make sure I had time to do something." Upon hearing his match was to be challenging, he smiled even more. His eyes lit up and he had to fight to contain a squeal of excitement. "Thanks, Professor Cadmus! For everything!" he said excitedly as he turned and walked back toward the group of Bagon. Once he reached them, he carefully looked them over. He made sure to take into account size, strength, and even gender. If that little lizard thinks he's playing hardball because he doesn't like losing, wait until he sees what I have in store for him, he thought to himself. The Trainer sighed in relief. It had taken him the better part of ten minutes, but he had finally found the perfect Bagon. He chuckled as the inquisitive Dragon-type ate Poke Blocks out of his hand, then winced and lifted his shirt. The skin over his abs was beginning to turn purple in a circle the size of the Bagon's head. "Hey, girl," he said softly. The Bagon looked up and cocked its head, still chewing on a Poke Block. "Want to battle my Charmander?" The small Dragon flapped her arms excitedly, letting out a happy cry. Jacob nodded and pressed the release button on Spitfyre and Teo's balls. "These are my Pokemon. This here is Teo, my first Pokemon," he said as he pointed to his Trapinch. Jacob turned to Spitfyre and noticed him glaring hatefully at Teo. "And this little guy here is Spitfyre," he said pointedly. "You're going to battle her, Spitfyre." The Charmander looked up at Jacob with a look of prideful disdain and crossed his arms, refusing to look at the Bagon that was almost half his size. "What, you don't think you can beat her?" he asked. The Charmander snorted derisively and turned toward the Bagon. He finally nodded. The wild Bagon ran over to a group of Bagon led by a Shelgon and waved her arms, talking to them. They all nodded excitedly and spread out, forming a large ovular battlefield. Jacob beckoned to his Pokemon to follow and walked over to the oval. The Dragons parted to let him and his Pokemon through. Spitfyre stepped in front of his Trainer and snorted again, smoke trailing from his nostrils. The Bagon pawed at the dirt with one leg, grinning mischievously. "Alright, Spitfyre, use Metal Claw!" Jacob shouted. However, Spitfyre stood still. He simply glared across the field at the Bagon. Finally, he cocked his head back, blue flames dripping from his lips as he threw his head forward and fired a powerful Dragon Rage at the Bagon. The small Dragon ran at the ball of flame and, just as she was about to collide with it, jumped over it. She spread her arms like wings, briefly enjoying the feeling of soaring through the air before looking down. Her head began to glow blue and she dove toward the Charmander. "Dodge, Spitfyre!" Jacob yelled. However, the Charmander's claws began to glow white as he took a defensive stance. When the Bagon finally reached him, he attempted to swing and hit the small Dragon. However, her attack was simply too powerful. She burst through his defense and slammed him directly in the abdomen, sending him sliding backward toward his Trainer. The Fire-type tried to get up but quickly lay back down, beaten and exhausted. The wild Bagon cried out happily and danced around as the other Bagons and Shelgons came in to congratulate her. Jacob crouched down and scooped Spitfyre up in his arms, chuckling softly. "You really took a beating there, Spitfyre. What the hell happened?" he asked sarcastically. The Charmander looked to the side and snorted, refusing to look his Trainer in the eye. The Trainer forcibly turned Spitfyre's head, looking sternly down at him. "You need to start listening to me. If you want to lose all the time and never get stronger, then just keep doing what you're doing. But if you let me help you, you can be better. We'll become stronger. Together," he said firmly. The Charmander turned away briefly, then turned back to Jacob. He looked his Trainer in the eyes and nodded. When Jacob looked back into Spitfyre's eyes, he finally saw the fire he had recognized when they first met.

Jory continued laying down suppressing fire in bursts before reaching down to his belt and hitting the release button on Oliver's ball. "Oliver! Help me lay down cover fire! Spray'em down with seeds!" he shouted over the cacophony of gunfire and GAO attacks. The lizardlike GAO nodded and peered around cover, firing bursts of seeds at high velocity toward the enemy lines. "Next runner, move up! Go, go, go!"