Johto Adventures! (IC)

[anethia]

ACT ONE

You begin in New Bark Town! Proceed to Professor Elm's lab to

obtain your starter Pokemon (level 10), your Pokedex and your

Poke Balls. Proceed to Route 29 where the following pokemon are obtainable;

All are level 10, with all of the moves up to that level. (If more than 4, you can choose,)

Other moves do not have to be learned in order, but please, don't give your pokemon

the best moves it can possibly get - moderate yourself with evolution and move learning.

If I think it's unfair, I will step in. The same rules apply to your starter.

You may also go to Mr. Pokemon's house to treat yourself to an egg. Do anything

you wish with it, but do note, it will hatch into a Togepi. Stay within these areas, and once everyone has posted

their characters to a decent length, I will post Act Two ( you can still go to Act One, as it will go

into a spoiler. ) You can travel together, meet up or have battles as long as both agree.

All questions go in the OOC thread!

Begin~!

(for those wondering, I decided to start off quite small and lax, due to the fact that the RP section was only recently created.)

Edited September 17, 2013 by Amaterasu

[The Radiant Aeon]

In the end I went for Riolu so..

It was sunny at the Lab at New Bark Town. I was to travel from Saffron City to New Bark and get my first Pokemon from Prof. Elm and set out on my adventure as my Father instructed. It was a cozy trip, and I had plenty of things to do while traveling. Granted, the NOTAR was unnecessary, but as always, Dad kept trying his best to make up the incident months ago. Even with both Father's occupation as a scientist at Silph and Mother's job as an engineer in Olivine, plus my part-time work at Silph, spending all of that money was a waste due to the Magnet Train's presence. When the helicopter landed, I could feel my right arm trembling, and not because of my injuries, but rather, excitement. The thought of the future was immense, and I ran out of the helicopter and yelled out as far as this small town could hear "I'm about to get my first Pokemon!"

The moment I opened my mouth, the (few) people who lived at New Bark stared at me rather than the helicopter that randomly appeared from their skies. "Oh, um.. hi." I called myself an idiot under my breath. Anyone would stare at a crippled teenager that jumped out of an expensive copter declaring that he was to get his first Pokemon. Rather than the expected points and laughs though, instead a scrawny man with glasses walked up to me.

"Hello there." he said, "Welcome to Johto. My name is Elm. So you must be Nocturne, eh?"

The man claiming to be Elm stretched his arm to me, a practice that I both know well and loathe to do. "Yes.. I am Nocturne. Though that's only a nickname. Alvin Jones is my real name." The man took a look at a photo. "Yes, you look like Thomas when he was in his teenage years. Though, minus Kim's blue eyes." I replied with a sigh. "Well, shall we do the thing I came here to do now, Prof. Elm?" Elm's eyes shined, despite the normally rude remark I made. "Yes quite! And you act a bit like Thomas too when he was a teenager."

We walked into New Bark Labs and, in all honesty, it looked WAY better than I imagined. The shelves were neater than the ones back at Saffron, the equipment were nicely organized, and the place smelt great to boot. But the main draw was the size; it was not very enormous. It was practically the size of a large house. But, for some reason, I liked it. Not too much unnecessary space, it was easy to traverse, and the rural feel to the place was cozy. "This is a lot better than the one in Silph.." I told myself.

When we reached the end of the main hall, I saw a small workplace with a CPU with monitors, a healing MCHN, a round meeting table, and a large capsule with stuff within it. "That is were your equipment is" Elm said. "But first, let me give you your I.D and Poke Balls." Elm handed me an I.D. with my profile on it and five red balls. "From this day foward, you will need to use that I.D. to record your achievements and those Poke Balls help capture other Pokemon." I looked at them for a while and stuffed the I.D. in my wallet and put the balls in my bag. "Oh, and your Father told me to give this for you." Elm handed me $4500 and a certain garnet necklace. "He knows you have $3000 on you but..he still wants to apologize."

I looked at the money from Father. In my head, I thought "I will never use this money nor wear this." so I solemnly put the money in my wallet and put the necklace in my bag.

"All right then, let me show you your starter!" Elm had opened the capsule and in it was a Poke ball. Trembling, I tried grabbing the Pokemon with my cast. "This is it it.." I thought. "My first partner..Go, POKEMON!!"

The room was filled with light, and I was blinded by its radiance. The the light faded, and what was standing next to me was a blue, canine like, Pokemon.

"Alvin, meet Riolu!" Elm exclaimed. "A Riolu?" I thought. Considering my Dad, he probably would've given me a Kyogre if I asked. But I'll take this guy, and besides..

"It's so cute looking.." I said. Suddenly, it kicked me in the shin and started snickering while I was hopping around.

"Um..I should mention that this Riolu is not an it, but rather a he. And he also has the "naughty" nature." Elm tried to keep composure, and did an excellent job at it. I swore he was about to roll on the ground. "Ahem, anyways, I shall give you a Pokedex next. It is a-"

"High-tech Pokemon encyclopedia, developed to create further understands of Pokemon." I said that all out of memory from a manga I read called "Adventures."

"Yes, that is correct." Elm said. "Now then off you go, but before you go, I need to add something about that Riolu." I was curious. What else is that thing gonna have? "Well you see, I got this at a place called "Entralink Forest. It's a place at the core of Unova. Apparently, the Pokemon found there are special in someway."

"How so?" I asked. "I'm not sure, but guessing from your lineage, I'm sure you'll figure it out." With that happy remark, I left Elm, hopefully for good. Then I turned around and saw Riolu, smugly walking with me. I then told it, "If I find out that you can transform into a Super-Saiyan, I'm auctioning you off on the internet."

We both can tell this is gonna be one heck of a journey.

"Hmm.. I should check my Poke Gear to see the map.." I activated my Poke Gear and selected the Map function "The next town is a place called "Cherry Grove town" and I need to walk through route 29." Then I checked the time. "Wow, 7 PM already?!"

I ran towards the exit, sure that I'll get to the next town in minutes. "Wait, maybe I should train Riolu up.. but that Pokemon scares me." It's not often that a Pokemon wouldn't be kind to a trainer on first sight, but this a whole other level.

"Hey..I can just catch another Pokemon can I? I don't HAVE to use this thing." But then Elm's words echoed.

"The Pokemon found there are special in someway."

"What could that mean?" I thought. But before I could think more, I fell over a black object. It was flailing and screaming, and then I realized that it was a Pokemon. "Woah! That's a Murkrow!" Once it regained it's balanced though, it struck me with a Peck.

It did serious damage to my bandages on my face. They stayed on still, but it felt slightly loose. "That's not good..I can't let it tear the bandages or.." the thought shook my core. Then, out of nowhere, Riolu popped out of it's ball. "Hey! What are you doing?!" I may be new to this, but I know that Fighting Types are weak to Flying. "Get out while you still can or.." But I was interrupted when Riolu took a fighting stance, its fist glowing like steel. The Murkrow charged again with Peck, this time with it's beak pointing towards Riolu. Then before Murkrow hit Riolu, he had disappeared and reappeared far away. Murkrow was hit by an attack that had priority over it.

"No way that's..." Bullet Punch. A move that makes the user a speeding bullet. "But that's impossible..unless..a Dream World Pokemon?!" This revelation hit me like a bullet. I have been given a Dream World Pokemon by Professor Elm. "No..from Father of course." Elm had no idea of its power, and the man who asked Elm to give me a Pokemon was Father. "Urgh..You know Dad? Sometimes you go overboard on things. But this tops it all.."

I now know that this journey is going to be special. From the Garnet necklace to the Bullet Punch Riolu..All things considered..

Things Have Just Got Real..

Soon afterwords, I look towards the area where the murkrow layed. I didn't want it to suffer in the wild. I reached into my bag, and took out a Poke Ball. "I just hope it works.." I chucked the red ball at the Murkrow, and watched as the Poke Ball shook until I knew I had caught Murkrow.

"Hmm..I read that a trainer can nickname a Pokemon after capture. Prehaps.. Dusk?" Yes, Dusk, so creative of me. Then, it hit me..literally. The Riolu had kicked me in the shin again.

"Ahhh!! What the heck is that for, jerk?!" Riolu pointed at the ball and I asked Riolu if it wanted a nickname too. Riolu responded with an eager smile. "You certainly have spirit, and I'm impressed with the Bullet Punch you launched. Thought that was illegal without breeding. Hmm..Spirit.."

My mind went for several thoughts at once, until I thought of one nickname. "What about Seishin? It means "spirit." To my surprise, Riolu nodded. "Alright Seishin, you too Dusk, you guys are gonna be in a crazy party. We might get hurt, we might lose are minds. Are ready?" Seishin nodded eagerly, and I felt Dusk's Poke Ball shake.

"Alright, let's get this party started!" And I, along with Seishin the Riolu. ran off into the night.

I just hope I'm allowed to use Dream World Riolu

Pokemon Currently:

Seishin the Riolu

(M)

Trait: Prankster

EVs:

Naughty Nature (+Atk, -SDef)

- Bullet Punch

- Quick Attack

- Foresight

- Counter

Dusk the Murkrow

(F)

Trait: Super Luck

EVs:

Serious Nature

- Astonish

- Peck

- Pursuit

Edited September 18, 2013 by Lunar081

[Jory]

--EARLIER THAT DAY- 11 AM--

A second story window is illuminated by the sunshine rising over the shadow of Tohjo Falls. Unfortunately for one particular 17-year-old, that window happened to be mine. Also unfortunately for me, I'd forgotten to close the blinds before I'd fallen asleep at my computer. This most... well, the opposite of serendipitous. Unserendipitous? Nonserendipitous? Whatever that word is, it describes the series of events previously stated. The light came directly through the blinds, focusing as if by the leg-thingy of Arceus himself directly on the my closed eyelids.

"Mommy no I don't want any waffles," I mumbled blearily, my eyes fluttering open to reveal two deep blue eyes that seem to shift between bluish green and bluish gray. I looked over at my alarm clock, fully expecting the worst possible outcome after staying up late the previous evening playing League of Legends. A shocked expression crossed my face followed shortly by the slow breaking of a relieved smile across my features. Only 11 AM; I hadn't slept in after all! I began humming "Walking on Sunshine" as I exited my desk chair so forcefully that it was thrust backward across the room and fell over. I stripped off my pajamas and ran to the bathroom, turning on the hot water faucet. As I brushed my teeth I looked in the mirror and saw dark blond hair, blue eyes, the slightly prominent nose that is the source of all his insecurity, and a slim yet athletic build. I entered the shower and washed myself off, making sure to shampoo my hair well. After all, it was the last time I'd be able to for a while.

I emerged from the shower, wrapped a towel around myself, and walked back to my room. My clothes were laid out from the night before. I'd been so excited that I'd chosen what I would wear for the first day of my journey. With a smile plastered on my face, I got dressed in an orange v-neck tee, my favorite jeans (so comfy!), and a shin-high pair of socks. I looked in the mirror and brushed my hair, then put the brush in the top of my backpack. Then, I grabbed my Poke Gear (a plain black one; I've never been one to wear a fancy watch) tightened my belt, then slowly walked down the stairs. Upon reaching the all-too-familiar creaky bottom step, I braced myself.

"JORY, GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE RIGHT NOW!"

I sighed and shook my head, a grin still on my face. "Alright. Jeez, Mom, you don't have to yell. You know as well as I do that I'm right here." I entered the kitchen to find my mother and father waiting for me. Behind them, a box roughly the size of the one my watch came in s on the counter behind a plate of eggs, bacon, and toast. I retrieved a fork from the silverware drawer and began to eat quickly, eager to set out for the Professor's lab.

"Son, we couldn't be more proud of you. But are you sure you want to go on this half-baked journey instead of going to college?"' my dad asked.I I shook my head and then walked over to my dad, giving him a warm hug.

"Dad, I can't see myself sitting behind a desk for the next thirty years of my life. I need to get out and see the world, you know?" I said through the last mouthful of my breakfast.

"Honey, don't give Jory a hard time. We've had this discussion a million times before. He knows what's best for him," my mother chimed in. She turned to me and gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Before you go, we wanted you to have this." She handed me the present. I opened it rapidly, throwing wrapping paper everywhere. Inside the paper was a box with a curious button in the middle. I pressed it, causing a latch to release and the lid of the box to rise. "It's a Premier Ball. We thought you'd want it for your first Pokemon."

I hugged both of my parents tightly. "Thanks, guys! I love you both. And I'll be back soon enough, plus I'll have my Poke Gear so you can call me if you get nervous." I released my parents and began putting on my new Converse sneakers. "Bye, guys!" I said over my shoulder as I stepped through the door and out into the beautiful New Bark Town morning. "Now to go pick up my first Pokemon!" I thought to myself excitedly. I turned toward Professor Elm's lab and began to walk briskly, hoping to Arceus that the Pokemon I'd reserved had arrived safely at the lab. Looking down at my Poke Gear, I realized it was already one in the afternoon! How had I gotten so sidetracked? I took a sandwich out of my backpack, remembering how painstakingly I'd prepared lunch for the first day of my journey.

I finished my sandwich just as I walked up to the door of the Elm Pokemon Laboratory. I brushed the crumbs and mustard off my lips and stepped inside. I was greeted by a rush of cold air and the hustle and bustle of lab hands throughout the building. I continued inside toward the rear of the building where Professor Elm conducted his personal research on Pokemon evolution. When I finally found him, I recalled fondly the first time I'd met him. He'd never really looked like a professor. He looked more like a young father than anything else, but I was happy to see him on this particular day. "Hey, Professor! I'm here to pick up my Pokemon," I said loudly as I approached him.

Professor Elm turned to me and greeted me with a smile. "Ah, Jory, what a pleasure to see you! I knew you wouldn't forget about today!" he exclaimed, beckoning for me to follow him as he turned and walked quickly through the lab. He stopped at a long table, then turned to a series of boxes behind him and began muttering to himself. "R... R... R... Robertson! There you are!" He turned back to me and set the small cardboard box on the table. "Are you sure you're ready for this responsiblity?" he asked me sincerely.

"Yes, Professor. It's what I've always wanted," I replied with equal sincerity. He nodded and took a Poke Ball out of the box. He pressed the button on the center and a red light began to materialize into a Pokemon on the table. As it came into focus, I smiled broadly. It was a Minccino, exactly as I'd wanted. "Is it a male?" I asked hopefully. The Professor nodded and I approached the Pokemon.

"Hey, buddy, I'm Jory. I'm gonna be your trainer. Would you like that?" I asked him. The Minccino looked at me up and down, then stuck his tongue out and scampered along the table. I laughed and removed the Premier Ball from the side pocket of my backpack and touched it to the Minccino's head. It dematerialized into the ball. I smiled, then looked up at Professor Elm. "I think he's okay with it."

"Just remember to take good care of him, Jory. This Minccino wasn't easy for me to get! I had to send away to Unova's Day Care to find you one."

As he said that, the ball shook in my hand and the Minccino sprung out, then stood on the table and stuck his tongue out again. "I don't think he likes the Ball much," Professor Elm commented. "It's not as uncommon as you might think, especially among Pokemon that were raised in an environment where being put in a ball was a form of discipline." I nodded, stroking the Minccino's head. He closed his eyes and let out a soft sigh. "This little fella's a little mischievous, but he shouldn't give you much trouble. Are you going to give him a name?"

I nodded and smiled gently, looking down at my new friend. "I'll name you Rascal. Do you like that?" He looked up at me and nodded, then climbed up my arm to my shoulder and sat on it.

Professor Elm looked at the two of us and nodded approvingly. "Well, it seems as though you two were meant for each other. Do you want to know what moves he knows?" Elm took a small card out of the box the Poke Ball had been in. "He knows Pound, Tickle, Helping Hand, and... wait, this can't be right... It says 'Aqua Tail' here. Would you mind asking Rascal to use that for me?"

I nodded and looked at Rascal on my shoulder. "Rascal, buddy, use Aqua Tail on the table!" Rascal's eyes narrowed and he looked to be concentrating hard. His tail began to glow blue and he jumped off my shoulder and turned 270 degrees, his tail viciously slamming into the hard wood and shearing through it. A small puddle was left in the ugly gash in the wood. Professor Elm looked from Rascal to me and then back to Rascal.

"Note to self: Get a target so I can stop spending so much money fixing this table." Professor Elm chuckled at his own joke, then reached into his pocket and held out a small red device. "It's a Pokedex. I'm sure you read about it after you ordered your Pokemon, but it's a high tech encyclopedia that's used to expand humanity's knowledge of Pokemon. I want you to help us finish filling it out. There are a bunch of you kids leaving from my lab today, so if you run into each other be sure to compare notes!" Professor Elm handed me 5 Poke Balls. "These are to start you off, but you'll need to buy more Balls if you want to catch more Pokemon. Any questions?"

I shook my head and smiled at Professor Elm. "Thanks for everything, Professor!" I shook his hand, then left the lab with Rascal riding along on my shoulder. I saw a girl about my age heading toward the lab, but I figured that as it was getting late I should start off on my journey so I could make camp farther along Route 29. I began walking away from the town and into the grassy areas on the outskirts.

I had never felt more alive than I did that day. Walking with my new friend snoozing lightly on my shoulder, I knew that I made the right choice. Suddenly, Rascal tugged on my shirt and jumped off my shoulder, motioning for me to stop. "Come on Rascal, let's get moving. The sun's gonna go down soon and we need to get a little farther along." He shook his head.

"Minccino. Min-Minccino Minc," he said happily. I looked at the card, discovering that Rascal had what was known as a Naive nature. I laughed, thinking of how similar the two of us really were. As I was off in dreamland, Rascal's ears perked up and he looked into the grass. Suddenly, what appeared to be a silvery object flew out of the grass. I grabbed Rascal and dove out of the way as a veritable mushroom cloud of dirt flew into the air behind us. I set Rascal down and coughed from the dirt in my lungs. A small, quadruped Pokemon with a metallic luster and black spots was stuck with its head in the ground, its legs flailing comically as it attempted in vain to pull itself out. It also had a strange grayish-brown, smooth-cut stone embedded in its hide. I felt bad, but the thing had basically created a crater where it landed!

Needless to say, I was a little shocked when I went to pull it out of the ground and realized that this Pokemon that was under 2 feet in height weighed over 30 pounds. I tugged and eventually its head popped out of the ground. Its eyes narrowed and it turned even heavier in my hands, forcing me to drop it. It narrowed its eyes and looked as though it was about to pounce again. Luckily, Rascal had gathered himself and flew over my shoulder. His tail glowing blue, Rascal slammed the Pokemon in the side, driving it back. I took out my Pokedex and targeted the strange Pokemon with its camera.

"Aron, the Iron Body Pokemon. In order to build up its steel body, it eats iron ore. This pesky Pokemon has been known to eat even railroad tracks. This specimen has the ability: Rock Head and knows the moves: Head Smash, Harden, unknown, and unknown. It is holding a Hard Stone." I put the Pokedex away and retrieved a Poke Ball from my bag.

"You've got spunk, Aron. I'm gonna catch you. Rascal, use Tickle!" I shouted. Rascal responded immediately, closing the gap and... pinning the Aron to the floor as he tickled it mercilessly with his tail. I threw a Poke Ball, hitting Aron on its shieldlike head and triggering the molecular transfer mechanism. The ball shook three times, then clicked shut. I'd just caught my first Pokemon. I pressed the button in the middle, letting Aron out. It glared at me.

"Aron Aron..." it muttered, rolling its eyes and looking at Rascal with curiosity.

"I'll name you Ironside. Is that okay with you?" I asked Aron after getting his attention with an Oran Berry from my bag. Ironside nodded and accepted the berry begrudgingly before taking it a few feet away and happily munching on it. "You're pretty stubborn, huh? Looks like you have an Adamant nature. I'm okay with that." I chuckled and Rascal climbed back up onto my shoulder. "Ironside, return," I said as I pressed the button on his Poke Ball again. I had just started off toward my planned campsite when I heard a Murkrow's cry and the sounds of battle in the distance. "It must be another trainer from New Bark Town! Let's go check it out!" I said to Rascal. He nodded and jumped off my shoulder, his keen ears leading me to a fainted Murkrow and a girl with a Riolu.

I looked at her and gaped. That Riolu had used Bullet Punch. "Um... what?" I said a bit too loudly, giving away my position to the girl. Rascal glared at me and shook his head before climbing back onto my shoulder. Then, without a word, the other trainer ran off into the night. "I guess we'll sleep here, Rascal." I began to set up camp, drawing my bedroll out of my backpack and laying it out. Rascal disappeared for a few minutes before coming back with some sticks for a small fire. "Thanks, buddy!" I said. I grabbed some Pokemon food from my bag as well and put it in a small bowl, then allowed Ironside out of his Poke Ball for dinner. He and Rascal appeared to get along.

"Min! Minccino!"

"Aron!" Ironside's metallic voice replied. I chuckled, then ate a couple of granola bars. I wasn't too hungry anyway and finished my meal with an Oran Berry.

"Ironside, return!" I said calmly as I sent him back to his Poke Ball. I climbed into my bedroll and, to my surprise, Rascal climbed in with me and curled up against my chest. That's how we fell asleep on the first night of our journey. Together by a small, crackling fire in a clearing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Current party:

Rascal

(M) @ (no item)

Trait: Skill Link

Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)

-Pound

-Tickle

-Helping Hand

-Aqua Tail

Ironside

(M) @ (Hard Stone)

Trait: Rock Head

Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)

-Head Smash

-Harden

-Mud Slap

-(no move)

Edited September 19, 2013 by Jory

[Code: PIRULUK]

(character: Orpha)

I woke up curled in a fetal position and gnawing on a pillow.

"Ughhhh. Wow. Last night was incredible."

Slowly, I sat up in the bed, delighting in the early morning sun, streaming in through the clear windows. Feeling around on my dresser, I found my phone and checked the time. 7a.m. Early morning sun indeed. The phone chimed in my hand - a text.

"Hey Orpha! I'm guessing you either just woke up, or you're still asleep. Well, you'll see this the moment you wake up anyway :>

I kind of had to return to Hoenn to settle some Champion-related issues; I probably won't be back for a couple of months at least. The house is all yours till then, of course. But my guess is, you won't be visiting it much. You're getting your first Pokemon today, right? And about 8 years too late LOL. Sorry I can't be there to help you start your journey :< keep me updated about your progress, 'Kay? Maybe you'll be champion by the time I get back ;3

Oh, and last night was AMAZING. I really needed that, thanks. Let's do that again when I come back <3

Love and kisses,
Eve"

Oh Eve. I love you and I love your insistent refusal to use text shorthand.

Slowly, reluctantly, I pushed myself off the extremely comfortable bed and made my way to the bathroom.

*A long bath and general personal grooming later*

I checked the time again. 9:30a.m. Time to get this adventure thing started.

Closing the door behind me, I took in the rural landscape of New Bark Town. Securing the lock, I took a few steps forth and turned back to gaze at the house. Then I turned on my heel and headed to Elm's lab. Never again did I look back.

Elm's Lab - if one can call a heavily redecorated house a lab - stood before me, its shuttered windows and imposingly closed door delaying my entry. Elm was a nice person, to be sure, but he was also a researcher; a scientist. I had seen him out in the field - had even helped him out, once - but I had never entered his lab. Who knew what kinds of terrible experiments lay beyond this wooden portal. Perhaps I would find horribly mutated Pokemon. Perhaps I might chance upon a pile of corpses. I had heard of a lab in Kanto trying to create a man-made Pokemon; what if Elm was attempting the same?

That would actually be rather interesting. Excitedly, I pushed open the door.

To my immense disappointment, I did not see test-tubes of growing Pokemon. Nor did I see deformed imitations of Pokemon. Instead, the scene I stepped into could only be described as...cacophonic. Several Pidgey rocketed across the room, pecking at random morsels of food, one roosting in the hair of a man in a lab coat - Elm's assistant. Across the floor, various species of Pokemon from different regions scuttled about; I spotted a Cinccino, an Aron, as well as various different species of rodents from all the regions.

In the center of the veritable assembly of Pokemon was a single man with glasses and a lab coat. Professor Elm. Apparently renowned as a leading expert in Pokemon evolution. At that moment in time he was chasing a Pichu around the floor, suffering the occasional shock for his troubles. The Pichu noticed me and changed course, making a straight dash for me. It leapt into my waiting arms and sparked happily as I petted its bright yellow fur.

"I see Kiki's giving you problems again."

Elm gave me a look halfway between exasperation and relief. It was a rather amusing roll of the eyes, accompanied by a very slight smile and a shake of the head, topped off with folded arms. It was a strange expression. Elm is a strange man.

"Honestly, Orpha, I don't get why you can handle her so well."

"Oh, it's probably because I smell like Eve." Especially after the previous night.

"Why on earth would you smell like Eve?" Elm tilted his head in confusion.

"Oh. Um. I'd rather not say."

A wave of heat flushed my cheeks. Elm narrowed his eyes, but did not press the question.

"Well then, it's time to start your Pokemon journey. I must say, it certainly took you long enough. You're about 6 years later than everybody else."

"Please don't remind me."

"Well, I may not know why you delayed your journey, or why you finally decided to get it over with, but I will lend my assistance nonetheless. If you'd please."

Elm gestured me over to a table with three Pokeballs on it. The far left one was marked with a fire motif, the far right with a motif of a water droplet, and the middle with a literal leaf. The Pokeball was sitting on a leaf.

"I'm guessing the middle one is Grass-type."

"Your deductive skills are as unparalleled as ever." Elm gave me a sideways glance.

"Anyway, on the left you will find Cyndaquil, in the middle is Chikorita, and on the far right is Totodile. You've seen new trainers long enough to know what they are and what they do; so what's your choice?"

I immediately reached for the leafy Pokeball, as had been my intention from the start. Chikorita was one of the most adorab-

Wait. I caught a glimpse of something fluffy. Extremely fluffy.

As I bent down to take a closer look, what the fuffy thing was became immediately evident; A small Cottonee was sleeping by the foot of the table, its head-fluff rising and falling.

A Cottonee.

A Cottonee.

I gently picked it up, feeling its head fluff rise up and fall down with its breathing as it shifted slightly to adjust to the cradle of my arms.

"Elm, I want this one."

Elm gazed at me skeptically.

"A Cottonee? Why a Cottonee?"

"Because it's cute. And fluffy. And adorable. And it evolves into Whimsicott."

"But it's not very useful in battle, at least not like these other three."

"It evolves into Whimsicott."

"Whimsicott's not very good in battle eit-"

"Whimsicott."

Elm sighed, shaking his head.

"It's your choice, I guess. It's a female Cottonee. Do you want to name it?"

Name it? Name the amazingly cute ball of fluff in my hands? Oh yes.

"I'm calling it Lily!"

Elm held up a Pokeball and returned the Cottonee. He minimised the Pokeball and took out a complicated red device I recognised as a Pokedex. He placed the Pokeball into the Pokedex, wherein a screen appeared, allowing for the input of a nickname. I watched as Elm typed in 'Lily'. The device beeped once, then Elm removed the Pokeball and handed it to me wordlessly. I immediately let Lily out.

A shivering ball of fluff looked up at me from the ground, looking up at me with wide eyes.

"Hey there Lily. I'm Orpha, your new trainer. Let's get along, okay?"

Lily shivered some more, staring into my eyes,

Then I got tackled in the face by an excited, hyperactive fluffball.

"Cott! Cott! Nee!"

I turned to Elm, who was watching the scene unfold with an amused expression.

"I think she likes me."

Elm simply chuckled and held out the Pokedex to me.

"I don't suppose I have to explain what this is for, and what I'm hoping for you to help me with?"

"Nope. I've seen Eve use it a lot."

"That's good. Well then, as a parting gift:" Elm reached into his pocket and held out 5 empty Pokeballs. "Here. A team of Pokemon has six members, after all."

I pocketed the items with a simple "thanks!" and turned to leave, eager to get to know my new Cottonee.

"Wait!" I turned back, gazing at Elm quizzically.

"Well, I do feel kind of bad that you don't have a battling Pokemon, so..." He gestured for me to follow him as he walked into a room at the back of the lab. Before I entered, however, her returned, holding a yellow box in his hands. Moving back to the workbench, he placed the box on the tabletop, undid the clasp, and opened it. Within it was a cache of strangely-shaped orange stones. Sun Stones.

"You can have one of these. Consider it a favour to Eve, for filling out the Sinnoh 'dex for me. You'll need one to evolve Cottonee."

I reach into the box and take one, looking at it in interest. Then I stuff it into a compartment of my bag. I'll only evolve Lily when she wants me to.

"Thanks, Elm. For all of this."

"No problem. I wish you the absolute best of luck for your upcoming journey."

Waving this time, I again turned and left the lab, embarking on the first steps of my new journey. My journey to be a Champion.

I'll show you, dad. I'll make you proud up there, mom.

Wait for me, Eve.

Current team:

Lily/Cottonee/Level 10

Gender: F

Nature: Timid

Trait: Prankster

-Leech Seed

-Stun Spore

-Encore

-Absorb

Edited September 17, 2013 by Acquiescence

[Nico Nico Nii~]

"Hmm, I was told to come here by that old man and find the lab here, but all there is here are just normal houses, no labs," Kyoko thought to herself as she walked up to New Bark Town. When she arrived she was hesitating whether to ask someone for some help, until she heard from the skies "I'm about to get my first Pokemon!" She quickly jumped behind a tree from fear of the helicopter that was landing in New Bark. Somehow she manged to overhear some of the people's conversation "Why would someone need a helicopter to get here; Mommy Mommy lookie a mecha pidgey; Welcome to Johto. My name is Elm. So you must be-" "Wait a minute," she thought to herself, "that old man mentioned something about an Elm, maybe he knows where the lab is."

Again, hesitated to go up and simply knock on the door, she was just waiting for Elm not to be too busy with the other person he was with. After a while she finally decided to knock the door, only for Elm's visitor to leave right away. Elm soon turned to Kyoko who got slammed by the door and quickly asked, "Are you alright young lady?"

"I-I-I'm...o... k..."

"Pardon me, but are you by chance Kyoko?"

"Umm.. ye-yes."

"Oh, wonderful. Professor Oak told me you would visit me, so please come on inside."

"...k..."

So after getting up and entering his lab, Elm began to explain why she was sent here. "Professor Oak explained to me you're on a journey on your own, and have not one single pokemon in your possession?"

"Y-yea, I don't... really like... trapping them... and I also.. ran out of money."

"That's okay then, because I have here some pokemon that will love to join you on your journey. Plus, Oak told me to give you some money, about what was it $5000.

"I-is that okay... that feels like too much."

"Sure, besides he said he'll pay me back, so no problem here. Anyways I used to have only a choose between just three pokemon, but now I have many more, so pick which ever one you like."

And with that, Kyoko looked over her options. Some seemed nice and others seemed like they would dislike traveling with her, but then she found one that seemed to like her more out of all the rest.Kyoko then asked, "How about this one?"

"Oh, Lileep, sure. I'll have you know that's an extinct pokemon, but thanks to science they are now back on the face of the earth. I was also told to give you this, an official ID and a Pokedex, which is a high-tech Pokemon encyclopedia, developed to create further understands of Pokemon. Oak also said in return for all of this, you must help him catch many pokemon to fill out as many entries as you can, and what do you need to catch pokemon, just these pokeballs."

"Is that all I need?"

"Yes I assume s- oh wait, I forgot you could also give your pokemon a nickname, if you want to that is."

"How about Lotus."

"Sure, if that's what you want. Wait, almost forgot, Professor Oak wishes to see you at Mr. Pokemon's house, which is North of Cherrygrove, which is the next town over."

"I'll be sure to meet him then."

Now, after setting off into Route 29 she encountered her first wild pokemon, an Aron. "Oh," thought Kyoko, "maybe I should catch it since that's what Oak wants me to do. Go Lotus." Having never experience a really wild battle, she automatically threw a pokeball, thinking it would catch, but Aron broke out on the 2nd shake. Aron now used a Harden. Now Kyoko told Lotus to use an Acid to try and make it weaker, which did nothing to the wild Aron as it went for a Mud-Slap. Now Lotus used an Astonish, seeming to do not a lot of damage to Aron, but now it flinched. "Maybe this means it's ready to be caught," so Kyoko threw another ball but that failed too on the third shake. Aron now used Tackle, which Lotus seemed to take well. "Maybe a few more hits," so Kyoko told Lileep to keep Astonishing, and after what seemed to be forever with all the missing and flinches, Aron seemed as if it was ready to quit, so now Kyoko used another ball, that finally caught the Aron.

"So this is what it feels like to catch a pokemon. I feel bad for Aron, but I'll try to give it the rest and care it needs." But just then behind was the sound of a boy's voice saying, "Well that took you a while. It your first time catching a pokemon isn't it."Without looking to see who it was she ran in the opposite way the voice was coming from and then heard another voice from not so far away saying "Hey cutie!" Again, she ran away from the second voice and ended up running into Cherrygrove city, where she quickly took refuge in a near by pokemon center, hiding from those voices until a Nurse went up to her and asked if she and her pokemon were alright. She then remembered that Lotus and Aron are in need of healing, so she gave them to the Nurse, healing them in some sort of machine. After getting back her pokemon she then spent the rest of the day and slept at the pokemon center. Now early in the morning she departed towards Mr. Pokemon's house.

Team:

Modest Lileep/Lotus

(f)

Lv. 10 w/Suction Cups

Astonish

Constirct

Acid

Serious Aron

(m)

Lv. 10 w/Sturdy

Tackle

Harden

Mud Slap

Edited September 18, 2013 by personwithbanana9870

[rustytengo]

I yawned as I woke up from my comfortable sleep,well as comfortable as one could be from sleeping on the ground. I stretched out my body and rolled up my sleeping bag. Once that was done I looked at my pokegear to check the time it was nearly noon."Crap, well it looks like i will have to eat breakfast well lunch on the run." I said to my self as I stomped out the fire I had made the night before. I pulled on my green hoodie and grabbed my backpack as I ran towards the town know as New Bark Town. After what seemed to be around twenty to thirty minutes i finally made it to the town Where the Winds of New Beginnings Blow, out of breath and still hungry so as usual I pull out my bag of candy that I always have with me and eat some well I look for the Lab.

The lab was easy for me to find being the biggest building in town though it was small compared to others that I have seen being more like a large house then a place for research. I walked in and ran right into man in his mid thirty's wearing a lab coat and with glasses. As we both fixed our glasses the man said " I am so sorry that I ran into you, I was running late to meet a trainer who is starting over here in Johto I hope I did not hurt you." the man offered his hand to help me up which I gladly took."I take it that your Professor Elm then?" I said as I stood up cause him to get I confused look on his face" How did you know that" Elm said in surprise. "Simple, I happen to be the you are looking for. The name's Josh Elder and I thought I was the one running late." I say with a smirk.Elm taking a quick look at his watch realizing what the time was, looked a little embarrassed, but that quickly changed to laughter that I joined in on as well.After a few minutes of laughing Elm had me fill out a few pieces of paper and handed me my new Pokedex and 5 spare pokeballs."Well now that all the formalities are done which Pokemon would you like. With the influx of new Pokemon from other regions I now have more Pokemon then the usual three that I would give out so just ask and I will see if I have it." Elm said with a smile. After a little bit of thinking I ask "Do you have a Rhyhorn? Because i would like that one please." Elm went though his data base of the pokemon he had stored "Ah here is one" one he said as he clicked a botton and a pokeball appeared in the machine next to his computer. He handed me the ball asking if I would like to give my new Rhyhorn a name I think a little bit and say "Boulder. That shall be its name." "Ah that is a good name. Now that every thing is done you can be on your way." Elm says well he lead me to the door.

After saying good bye to Professor Elm I check my Pokegear's time which is now saying 2:00 PM I decide to head back towards the place I camped the night before on Route 29. I find my way back there with ease and decided to let Boulder out of his ball. In a flash of red there stood a gray rhinoceros that looked like it was made out of rocks. I introduce myself to Boulder which lets out a "Rhy Rhy" showing its understanding of what I said. I decide to go look and see if I can find anymore Pokemon around my temporary camp I mange to find a couple of Rattata but when I send out Boulder to try a weaken them they manage to out run him and get away from us do to there superior ability to maneuver compared to Boulder. Boulder looking sad because he can't manage to catch one of them and comes back to me I tell him "Don't worry we just need to find another way to get them." Once we got back to where I had left my bag we notice a orange lump of fur digging tough it. As we got closer the shape of the lump took the form of a little bear. I take out my Pokedex and scanned the orange bear it reads off "Teddiursa, the Little Bear Pokemon. It lets honey soak into its paws so it can lick them all the time. Every set of paws tastes unique." "See Boulder just needed a way to catch them off guard. Boulder hit it with Horn Attack." I tell Boulder. Out rushed Boulder from the bushes that we where hiding in charging start at the bear hitting it and slamming it into a tree nearly knocking it out in just one hit the bear could barely get up before I had Boulder hit it with another Horn Attack this one much weaker without the surprise that we had earlier the bear nearly out of energy tried to retaliate by scratching at Boulder but it claws basically just bounced of Boulder's rock like hide the bear realizing that it could do nothing against Boulder tried to run but before it could get to far I tossed a pokeball at it. In a flash of red it vanished into the ball, the ball shacking one, two, three the ball let out a beep letting me know that the little bear was caught. I run over to the ball picking it up and say " That's one new member for the team Boulder good job." After collecting the things that the Teddiursa tossed out of my bag wondering to my self what it was looking for in it. I pull out my bag of candy and start eating some as a flash of red from my newly occupied ball. Teddiursa pops out onto my lap and starts grabbing for my candy bag," Ah so this is what you where looking for. you know what that shall be your name Candy you like it." i say to my new Pokemon." Teddiursa it says with joy still trying to grab my candy " Okay, okay you can have some. But then you need to get some rest, you too Boulder." i say as Ireturn both Pokemon to the balls.

Sometime later I was wondering around route 29 some more I hear the sound of a battle going on. i head towards where it was coming form i see a young girl using a weird looking plant Pokemon battling a little Pokemon that looked like it was made of steel. The battle took a long time due to both sides not being able to cause that much damage to each other. Eventuality the girl managed to weaken the little Pokemon enough and captures the Pokemon.She mutters something to her self that I could not hear but I call out to her saying "Well that took you a while. It is your first time catching a pokemon isn't it."

team

Boulder Ryhorn/relaxed

LV 10

Ability Lightning rod

moves

Horn attack

Leer

Stomp

none

Candy Teddiursa/Brave

LV 10

Ability Pickup

moves

Covet

scratch

Lick

Fake tears

(ooc well that was long winded the reason i post like half once was for that i would have something saved because my computer likes to randomly kick me off. Fix the stuff that i spelt wrong and fix some grammar)

Edited September 17, 2013 by rustytengo

[subkoopa]

Wakes up in unknown location "who's house is this" he proclaims as someone walks in

"Oh your awake" the strange man says excitedly

"um, ya i am where am I though"

"Well first i'm professor Elm and your in New Bark Town" the man says excitedly

"New Bark Town? Hmm how did i get here I was trying to leave Blackthorn City though Ice Path and I don't remember anything after that?"the boy said

"Oh so is that where the Sneasel came from" the professor asked him self "So I guess you should have this then" and the professor took a pokeball out of his pocket and handed it to the boy

The boy reached for the ball when he realized the pain in his left arm and sees he has a cast on his arm "Oh ya you must have fell and broke it some point before i found you also boy do you have a name?"

"Um... subko.. that's the only name that comes to my mind" the boy says confused and slightly embarrassed

"its fine I'll just call you sub is that fine?"

"ya it is" says sub happily

"well it's late so i'll be right back with some meatloaf you stay there"

few minutes later

"well sub here's the meatloaf and i brought your clothes and bag, well I'm going to bed good night also try not to move that arm needs healing"

"OK" sub says happily "well I don't think we're staying at this losers house grab out s*** and let's go! but we don't want to hurt our arm any more and we said we'll stay put. Oh come on wimp just sneak out you always have more fun with me. fine but we're being careful. Yaya."

sub grabbed his stuff and sneaked out of the room where he almost runs into the professor coming out of the bathroom around the corner but escapes without notice and runs towards Route 29. sub leans against a tree and says "alright let's see whats in this pokeball" sub sends out the Pokemon Sneasel "hey little guy"

that's when a Murkrow attacked us with a peck Sneazel retaliates with a scratch and Murkrow uses Mirror Move and hits Sneazel sub scavenge though my bag and find a pokeball he throws it and hits the Murkrow dead on and captures it "Alright I caught it!" sub yelled excited. "So what should i do now" sub said to him self as he checked his Poke Gear's map "Cherrygrove seems like a good destination to go to wait who's that girl?" "Hey cutie!"

(O.O.C I hope its cool if my Murkrow has Mirror Move it's an egg move so i thought it was cool to use and that's )

Jolly Sneasel lv. 10

-Scratch

-Leer

-Taunt

-Quick Attack

Jolly Murkrow lv.10

-Mirror Move

-Peck

-Pursuit

-Astonish

Edited September 17, 2013 by subkoopa

[Rycast]

"Rin-chan! Wake up Rin-chan, you baka! You're turning 18 today and you can finally leave this ratchet dump they call an orphanage, but you're just going to oversleep like you always do? Wake up!" A tired looking Rino Kasari opened his purple eyes to the short, 14 year old brunette with green eyes, a ponytail, and an annoyed expression on her face. "I'm awake Sophie, get off me." The girl jumped off the bed as Rino stood up to stretch. "Is that any way to treat someone on their birthday? Especially someone who knows your sweet spots?" Rino remarked. "Pfft. You don't know my swee- Aaah! No, Sto- hahaa! I said cut it out, I'm sorry!" Sophie was hyperventilating after having her sides tickled. "You know, you're right. I should've woken up earlier and ditched this place. I have to pick up my first Pokemon at Elm's lab today, too." Sophie made a sad look. "You would have left without saying good bye?" Rino sighed. "You know I'm terrible at goodbyes. Even worse with hellos. You're the only person here I've ever felt comfortable being with, and now look, I'm leaving. I'll be sure to keep in touch. You are practically my little sister, and I can't have you worrying now can I?" After a moment of silence Sophie asked, "Can I at least walk with you to the lab?" Rino replied, "You know the rules Soph, only an official caretaker can take you out of this place at any time. Besides, that Doc Sigmund is visiting tomorrow for the annual orphanage check up, you better prepare your body~" Sophia shivered at the thought of having a shocking fun time again that Rino never seemed to mind. "Well, cya runt! I'm off to take on the world, and nothing can stop me!" Rino put on a dark blue jacket over his yellow shirt and ran his hand through his messy blond hair. He strapped on the purple PokeGear he chose at the age of 13, when all orphans were given one. As Rino was about to exit the building, Sophie exclaimed, "Wait! Aren't you forgetting something?" Sophie pulled from behind her back a pair of Beats by Drayden and handed them to Rino. He took them with a smile and said, "I would never forget these, I was just on my way to take them back from the office after that bastard Orderly John confiscated them. Thanks for saving me the trouble Soph, love ya!" With that, he took off for Professor Elm's Lab on the other side of town. "Don't forget my song, Rin-chan..." Sophie whispered solemnly as she watched her big brother figure disappear into the horizon.

"Yo~ anybody in here?" Rino walked into the laboratory which had its doors left open. It was a cluttered place with desks full of stacks of paper, strange contraptions all around, numerous PCs, and a circular vending machine-looking device in the center of the room. Rino heard footsteps and looked behind him. "Welcome to my lab! Sorry about the mess, it's been a busy day, what with all the new trainers today." The scrawny looking man with a lab coat and glasses introduced himself to be Professor Elm. "You must be another new trainer. Seeing all these youngsters starting their Pokemon journeys makes me feel older than I really am haha! Sorry for rambling on, but may I inquire your name?" Rino took another look around. "It's Rino. Rino Kasari. I came from the Reborn Orphanage on the other side of town, and I'm not exactly a youngster, as I turn 18 today."
"Very well then Rino! Are you ready to start your Pokemon adventure? Of course you are, so pick a Pokemon, any Pokemon!" Elm pressed a button on the vending machine thing and a couple of pokeballs came out. One by one he let out the Pokemon, but the one that caught Rino's eye was a short, white Pokemon with what looked to be a green cap and a red thing protruding from the top of it. It had a blank look on its face, but Rino could sense a feeling of superiority from it. "Ah, that's Ralts, the Feeling Pokemon. Is that the one you want?" Rino thought about it, then he heard a voice in his head. "If you want to pick me as your partner, you better be good." Rino was shocked but did not show it. "Yeah professor, I think I'll take him." Elm returned the Pokemon and gave Rino the pokeballs containing Ralts. "Nice choice! That Ralts is one of a kind, according to the person that gave him to me. Take these with you too." Elm gave Rino 5 pokeballs and a Pokedex. "Take good care of Ralts, you two are starting a new journey together so good luck!" Rino started walking out. "Thanks for everything Professor Elm," he yelled back as he left the lab.

According to the map on the PokeGear, Route 29 was the way to the next city. So long New Bark Town, I won't miss you, Rino thought. He kept looking at the pokeball containing his Ralts. He was certain that the Pokemon had spoken in his mind earlier. Walking for a few minutes, Rino had reached the beginning of Route 29 and decided to look for a Pokemon for Ralts to battle. After some hunting, a wild Budew appeared! "Alright Ralts, let's see what you can do." Rino sent out Ralts. "Since this is my first battle with you trainer, I'll show you what I'm capable of without your commands." Rino was not mistaken, he had heard Ralts in the lab earlier. "According to this Pokedex, you have Telepathy as an ability which explains how you can communicate with me correct? Also, your moves are Growl, Confusion, Double Team, and... Shadow Sneak? What's that?" Ralts took a battle stance. "Just watch and learn." The wild Budew used Growth and began running towards Ralts in an attempt to use Absorb close range. However, Ralts used Double Team and the Budew hit a decoy! Ralts was behind Budew and used Confusion, knocking the Budew down. It was super effective, but Budew was able to stand. At this point Ralts was a distance away from Budew but suddenly disappeared and reappeared next to Budew to attack him! "So that must be Shadow Sneak, impressive," Rino said. The wild Budew was knocked out without even touching Ralts. "I thank your kind words, but I already know that." What an arrogant Pokemon, Rino thought. "I like you Ralts, I hope we can get along. How do you feel about the nickname Tenshi?" Ralts was amused. "It suits me well. I feel that you have potential as a trainer. Let us find some more opponents."

After fighting a couple more Budews with ease, a wild Murkrow appeared! "Tenshi, I think we should run, this doesn't look good." Battle weary and fatigued, Tenshi still refused to back down. "Nonsense. I will fight on." Rino was about to run, but seeing how prideful Tenshi was, he let him fight. The outcome was obvious. Murkrow was immune to Confusion as a dark type, so all Tenshi could do was deceive it with Double Team and attack multiple times with Shadow Sneak. Murkrow was not fooled though, as it was a deceitful Pokemon itself. Murkrow knew which was the real Ralts and used Astonish which knocked Tenshi down but not out. "Tenshi!" Rino picked up a rock and threw it at Murkrow in an attempt to drive it away. One hit, and the Murkrow fled with an angered look. It's probably gonna come back later, Rino thought. "Are you alright buddy?" Tenshi got up. "That Murkrow was smart to flee before I recovered." Rino chuckled, "Whatever you say, but let's get you fully healed up somewhere."

As they were exiting the route, Rino caught a glimpse of purple in the corner of his eye. He turned his attention to a Budew. It was a different color from the other Budew that Tenshi defeated. It was also injured. Rino ran to it and asked what was wrong. "Tenshi, can you communicate with other Pokemon with your Telepathy?" After a moment, Rino heard a voice in his head, "This Budew was attacked by a Murkrow, most likely the same one we faced earlier." Rino took a deep breath. "Why don't you come with me Budew and I'll get you all healed up too. You can also help us get revenge on that Murkrow, what do you say?" Budew attempted to respond, but was too injured. "Alright just relax, and rest in this pokeball." Rino took out an empty pokeball and tapped it on Budew. With three swerves and a click, Rino caught a shiny Budew! "Welcome to the party, friend," Rino whispered. "Looks like we have some more training to do if we want to beat that Murkrow, Tenshi. Let's go!" Tenshi nodded in approval. "How am I gonna get to a Pokemon Center if I'm attacked by more Pokemon though..."

Edited September 18, 2013 by Rycast

[Color]

"Crest, c'mere boy!~"a high pitched squeal filled the air as a fiery ball of fur landed into her arms. The flaming collar around the ferret-like creature's neck quickly died down back into his body. His head popped up, and his slightly slanted brown eyes stared up at his trainer.

"Qui-LAVA" he shouted powerfully, making the nineteen-year old performer chuckle in amusement.

"My beautiful, Quilava how excited you are to see the professor again after eight years. I wonder how he is going to react, knowing that you escaped his lab so long ago, and somehow ended up in my arms." the ebony-haired acrobatic thoughtfully mused, making her flaming pet spit out a short stream of flames. "You are right Crest." she agreed, holding the Quilava by his blue back as she walked through glass-covered doors.

"Professor! Professor it's me! Color!" she shouted loudly, stepping into the building, automatically welcomed by the rhythmic whirr of various machines and computers that seemed to calculate data all on their own.

"Well is that Color I hear?" a joy-filled voice rang in the air as the brown-haired, wire-glasses, and slightly timid man stepped from behind his desk. He fingered the nose of his glasses, pushing them back upon his nose, before gracing the performer with bright smile.

"Color! My darling, what has bring you to Johto?" Elm questioned, grabbing a stack of papers that was quickly tipping over besides his mountainous stacks of books. "Don't tell me Maxmillion is here for another "vacation." You know that boy has done enough here already." Color shook her head in response, her long and messy bangs falling over her eyes.

"No, not this time Elm, Maximillion is tending to his wife at the moment. You know the honey moon stage?"

"Ah, yes yes. He is a grown man, and successful nontheless, so of course I should not have doubt that the boy would eventually have earned himself a lovely wife by his side." Elm continued on, setting the papers off to the side of the desk and brushing his hair back. "So, what has brought you to my lab?"

Color shifted her weight to her left book, sighing a bit as she hoisted Crest against her shoulder for support.

"Well Professor, this may sound incredibly odd to you, but..." the ebony-haired performer hesitated for a moment, looking over at Crest before glancing back at the professor's patient expression. "I want to go on a journey in Johto."

Elm's face quickly shifted, his lips stitched together in a tight angle, the indentations of his forehead becoming more prominent.

"Color, you know I can't do that.." Elm began, crossing his arms over his chest. "You already started your journey in Kanto and completed it up to the Elite Four. Why would I give you starter, when you have several Pokemon already in your care?"

Crest quickly tilted his head towards Elm, pressing his paws against his trainer's chest. "Quil" he barked, quickly gaining the man's attention.

"Wait a minute isn't that...?"

"Yes!" Color responded in excitement, allowing Crest to hop out of her arms and onto the tiled floor. "This is the Cyndaquil that escaped your laboratory eight years ago, the same time me and Maximillion happened to go on vacation here, in Johto! We found him in Azalae Town, soaking up the rays." her cheeks became red as she continued. "We didn't want him to leave him all along so I took Crest back with me to Kanto and he became my starter instead."

"Lava!" the collar around the Crest's neck began to glow hot with red embers, sizzling with astounding heat but not erupting in flames like a typical collar would. The small silver locket on the end of it clinked softly against the metal of the collar, revealing a picture of ten-year old Color and a much younger Cyndaquil with a disgruntled expression on his face. He looked up at the Elm with a determined expression, as he walked over to the Professor and sat directly at his feet.

"I know I shouldn't have taken Crest without permission, and it was wrong of me to do so, therefore..." Color slowly stepped forward, wrapping her fingers around the small Pokeball. She pressed the button in the middle once, the black "C" etched directly into the case. She unclipped the ball off of her belt and held her hand out to Elm.

"I want you to keep Crest with you at the lab, while I go on my official registered journey of Johto. I am trading him for a new starter until I come back to claim him after the Elite Four has been beaten." Color stated firmly, determination burning behind her curtain of hair.

The professor sighed, looking down at the obedient Quilava, obviously well-trained and agreeing with his trainer's decision without a second thought. He glanced back at the Poke Ball and back to Color, obviously hesitant about the girl's words.

"..Alright. Your Quilava shall stay with me until you come back from your journEY!" Elm was immediately enveloped into a bear hug. the young performer squealing with glee as she looked up at the Poke expert.

"Thanks Professor, trust me, you won't regret this decision at all! And don't worry about Crest! He's is suppperr doopper well-trained and wants to help you out with the other starters here, so they'll be ready for their trainers too!" Color exclaimed, skipping past the towering machinery and distracted assistants to reach the back of the lab where all the starters were kept.

The Professor shook his head, looking down at Crest in question. The Volcano Pokemon merely nodded his head, striding over to the long desk and leaving Elm to merely chuckle softly to himself.

"I guess it will be nice to have a Pokemon that will keep all these younglings in shape. Things can get pretty intense around here without trainer picking up their partners" Elm explained as he walked over to the sizeable desk, pressing a button along the side of the slick, silver walls. The desk hissed in response, the wooden cover opening up to reveal miniature pods holding Poke Balls inside.

"After careful research, and receiving reports from the other professors, of the recently newly discovered regions I have received a much larger selection of Pokemon to choose from." Elm adjusted his glasses once more, swaying his arms over the individual pods.

"Each pod is colored by its type, therefore red is fire, blue is water, and green is grass." Color nodded slowly, glancing beyond the mini glass domes. "You may choose anyone you like. Be mindful though, each one has a very unique personality, so you, especially as an experienced trainer must adapt to their needs."

Crest hopped upon the table, slowly walking by each and every pod with a careful eye. Color swallowed nervously, tying her fingers together.

"Gosh, there is just so many, I do not know which one to pick-"

"Quil" Crest's bark suddenly directed Color's eyes to a single pod decorated in extravagant leafy pattern. The Quilava pressed his paw against the glass, looking directly at his trainer.

"Crest...? You want me to have a grass type? Really?" Crest nodded slowly, wrapping his long body around pod and placing one paw over the other. Color shyly clicked over to where Crest sat, standing directly in front of the pod. She took inhaled deeply, shakily pressing the large red button below the bottom of the pod. The glass casing glittered for a few moments before disappearing altogether, leaving nothing but the Poke Ball in its place. It shook slowly, the bottom of the holding pod glowing a dull green as the ball began to shake faster. Suddenly an explosion of blue and white light fluttered before Color's, Crest's and Elm's vision, blinding them for a few moments.

A figure began to form, taking on a quadrupedal creature with a shell-like backing and twin-leaves teetering off the top of its head. The top portion of its jaw ended off to a sharp point, while the bottom supported the rest of its surprisingly large head. The light-engulfed Pokemon shook its head a couple of times before tilting its head up, slamming down its front legs, and releasing a small, but proud-filled cry.

"TURTWIGGGGG!"

Crest responded with a powerful howl, making Color tilt her head when the light finally washed off of the grass type's body. Elm smiled proudly, placing his hands behind his back as he walked behind Turtwig.

"This is just like from home when..."

"When your several of your brothers started on their journey and you were too young to go with them, so to make you feel better your Papa bought you a stuffed Turtwig promising that you will get this starter as soon as reached of age." Elm continued for the girl.

"But I ran into Crest instead and ran off to Kanto to finish my journey after the vacation with Maximillion. Professor...you didn't have to.." Color whispered trying to hold back her tears, while the Turtwig stomped its foot and sniffed the ground curiously.

"It was a personal request from Caesar and Maximillion, Caesar even stopped over here and bred his two Torterra and ordered that I specifically give this to you." Elm informed, smiling quite coyly to himself as he said this.

"But Crest.."

"Did you forget? Crest has an unusually acute sense of smell when he was a Cyndaquil and it seemed to carry on quite nicely through his evolution. Recognizing your sibling's scent is almost natural to him. You should be thanking him." Color immediately scooped up the Quilava in her arms and have him a big kiss directly on his underbelly. The Volcano pokemon blush slightly, scrambling out of his trainer's arms and releasing a small stream of smoke from his nostrils in embarrassment.

Color laughed, pushing a strand of hair out of her face. "Thanks pal!" The performer directed her attention back at the moving Turtwig, watching it sniff and huff in annoyance at the lack of action that was going on. Color chuckled, placing her hands on her hips.

"Turtwig!" Color called out sharply, gaining the Tiny Leaf pokemon's attention. His eyes slanted slightly in annoyance.

"Tur!" the Pokemon called sharply, rerouting his attention to the trainer and pawing violently at the ground. Color clicked her tongue, realizing the Pokemon's battle-ready personality.

"Easy there tiger, I'm here as your new trainer."

"Twig?" Turtwig plopped its bottom down on the floor, its eyes glistening with wonder at the sound of the word "trainer".

"Yeaaa, that's right. You like battling right? You're tired of not being able to reach your full potential by yourself right?" the Turtwig nodded his head hard, making Color giggle in amusement. "Well, then Grass Mini, you are officially mine. Let's swipe the floor with all of these noobs and show them who's the real top dog around here!" Color pumped her fist in the air, making Grass Mini rise on his hind legs and point his jaw up to the sky.

"TURTWIG TUR!" he shouted loudly, making Crest smirk at the baby Pokemon at his admiration. It seems he wasn't the only one that was immediately attracted to Color's fighting spirit. Color smirked as well, stuffing Turtwig's Poke Ball in her sack and clicking away at her PokeDex as a pleasant beeping to indicate that Turtwig's data has been recorded.

"Thanks Elm, I'm off! Crest, wait for me okay bud! Take care of the other Pokemon here kay?" Color shouted as she whistled to Grass Mini, the Turtwig dashing out the doors, after his newly gained trainer.

Grass Mini aka Turtwig (M)

Level: 10

Nature: Brave

Moveset:

- Body Slam

- Seed Bomb

- Withdraw

- Tackle

Edited September 18, 2013 by Color

[anethia]

Odin strolled around New Bark town, whistling as she walked over to Professor Elm's lab. Her eyes looked around, taking in her surroundings, as she prepared to leave her hometown. She reached the lab, and she walked straight in. She walked right past another girl, who was walking off with her Turtwig. Professor Elm stood looking at her, and once he recognized her, gave her a cheery hello.

"Hi, Elm." Odin said. She looked around the neat, small, lab and noted a healing device. She might use that if her pokemon got hurt before she reached Cherrygrove.

"Hey, Odin. So, your starter Pokemon's over there," Elm gestured to a device which kept a single Poke Ball. "Your Pokedex and Poke Balls." Odin took them, before approaching the Poke Ball. The device opened up, and Odin took the Poke Ball. She threw it out in the air, where it burst open and released a blue light. It shot to the ground, where it started to take shape. A quadruped black and dark blue dragon took shape at Odin's feet, where it started to nibble Odin's shoe.

"Hi, Deino." Odin whispered. She crouched down, and started to pet it.

"Dei!" It yelped. It sniffed at her, before starting to gently nibble at Odin's finger, making her giggle. "I'll call you.. Cerberus! You get three heads as a Hydreigon, after all." Deino raised itself onto it's hind legs, accepting the nickname. Saying goodbye to Elm, she and Cerberus jogged out. They moved on to route 27, where the grasses bristled with activity. Before they knew what was happening, a Teddiursa burst out. It's claws grew in length, and it moved in to swipe them. Odin rolled out of the way, while Cerberus merely sidestepped the blows. Odin whipped out her Pokedex, and checked Cerberus' moves.

"Cerberus! Dragon Rage!" Odin called. Cerberus' mouth frothed with blue flames, and it ferociously breathed them onto the Teddiursa. It flew back, but neatly landed on it's feet. It moved in, before crossing it's arms and dashing towards Cerberus.

"Dei?!" Cerberus was smashed by the Cross Chop, and smashed into a tree. It slowly got up, growling. Odin noticed it was very vicious and stubborn. Great for battles.

"Cerberus, Dark Pulse!" Odin yelled. Deino opened it's mouth, and shot linked purple circles at the Teddiursa, who was caught off guard, and shot back. "Go! Headbutt!" Deino's forehead glowed white for a split second, before it rocketed forward, smacking into the Teddiursa. It was covered in cuts and bruises, but was still trying to get up. Odin's face flooded with sympathy, and she threw a Poke Ball at it. Teddiursa vanished, and the ball shook, locking itself almost instantly. Odin picked it up, before running back to Elm's lab. She put her Pokemon on the machine, and as they healed, leaned on the wall as she thought the day's events over.

[NeoDarklight]

Looking down at his pokegear, Jake sighed in exasperation once more. Rereading the email he received that morning, he was still not quite sure it was real, even after checking in at work to confirm it.

"Dear Mr. Jake Lucas,
You have been selected by us, the Board of Directors, to represent our company's new line of products for trainers seeking to improve their Pokemon's abilities. As such, you will be sent into the field as a new trainer with a Pokemon our company has acquired for your needs, in addition to some of our products for demonstration purposes. Please report in to the office for your product kit. Please keep in mind that you will only be permitted to take one kit at any given time. If you wish to acquire new kits, please contact one of our representatives at one of our branch offices. Afterwards, please report to Professor Elm in New Bark Town for your Pokemon.

Board of Directors
Silph Co."

"Really now. They realize I'm a Computer Engineer, right?"

Looking into his product kits revealed that he had been given a series of unknown substances labelled HP Up+, Atk Up+, etc. to choose from. Deciding they all looked rather sketchy, Jake chose one at random while not really looking at it. There was no way in hell he was going to give such a sketchy product to any pokemon he would pair up with.

A few hours later, Jake arrived at New Bark Town and sought out the lab. After some searching and asking around, he found what appeared to be a rather large house.

"Huh. Didn't see that one coming. May as well knock and see if he's there."

Before Jake could knock, however, the door slammed open as a slightly gangly man with somewhat messy, brown hair, glasses, and a white lab coat came running out, chasing after what looked like a Pichu holding a pen in its mouth.

"Hey! Get back here! That's my favorite pen!"

Obviously, the Pichu didn't listen, and seemed to enjoy the game of Keep Away it was playing with what Jake could only assume was the professor. After a few more minutes of running around, the bespectacled man finally caught up with the Pichu and managed to recover the pen from its mouth. While the man was slightly worn out by the ordeal, the Pichu clearly had the time of his? life. After the man had time to catch his breath, Jake stepped up to him and asked "Excuse me, Professor Elm?"

"A-ah, yes?"

"Um, yes, my name is Jake Lucas, and I was told to come here for a Pokemon?"

"Ah, yes, I was told you'd be coming today. Honestly, I've never had a request quite like this before, but they provided the Pokemon, and this IS your first time being a trainer, so I guess it's fine. Anyways, please follow me, and we'll get things straightened out right away."

Jake noted that the smile Professor Elm gave seemed pretty genuine. He seems likeable enough. And so, he followed the young(?) professor into the lab.

Once inside, Jake noticed that there were a few pokemon running around, some of them playing games, like tag, or in one case, rock, paper, scissors. Deciding that, while humorous, it wasn't all that important, Jake turned his attention towards Professor Elm. Noticing that Jake's attention was firmly on him, Elm spoke up.

"Sorry about the mess- things tend to get a little crazy after young pokemon wake up from their naps."

He then drew Jake's attention to a pokeball on a fold-up table. Jake quirked an eyebrow at this and Professor Elm responded with "Ah, about the table. I wasn't expecting a trainer's Minccino to know Aqua Tail earlier today, and, well... Anyways! This pokeball contains the pokemon you are supposed to receive. Please, take it."

After listening to Professor Elm's little non-story, Jake did as asked and picked up the pokeball. Tossing it into the air, it opened up and let out a stream of light that resolved itself into a metallic, blue ball with a red eye attached to what looked like an equally metallic blue arm with three silver claws. The creature then let out a mostly monotone voice from within the ball part.

"Bel. Beldum."

"A Beldum?"

Noting Jake's surprise, Professor Elm went on to explain some things.

"This isn't an ordinary Beldum. He was caught in a special place, and as such, has attributes that can only be found in pokemon from that place. Here, let me show you."

Professor Elm pulled a red, pocketbook-looking computer thing from inside a desk and handed it to Jake.

"This is your pokedex, and will help you out on your journey by displaying information about your pokemon, and those of pokemon you meet in the wild."

"Okay... That's nice and all, but why isn't there just an app for that for pokegear?"

"Not every trainer is fortunate enough to own one. But mostly I think it's because it's never occurred to anyone to make the app."

"...Okay then."

"Anyways, use it to check on your Beldum and you'll see what I mean when I say that he isn't an ordinary Beldum."

"Okay then." Jake opened up the pokedex and aimed it at Beldum.

Beldum. National Pokedex #374. Steel/Psychic Type. Its cells are all magnetic, and it communicates with others by using magnetic pulses.

This Beldum is registered to Trainer #413612 Jake Lucas.

Nature: Adamant

Ability: Light Metal

Moves: Take Down

Zen Headbutt

Iron Defense

Iron Head

"Wait... It knows more than just Take Down?"

"I'm glad you know about this pokemon species. Beldum normally does, indeed, only know Take Down. However, pokemon from the area this little guy was found tend to have abilities and moves they wouldn't normally have otherwise. This makes them highly sought after by trainers who know about them."

"I see. This may end up better than I thought. Thanks, professor. Beldum. Shall we get going?"

Jake extended his hand out to the little, blue, robotic pokemon.

"Beldum."

The aforementioned pokemon then started following Jake.

"I take it that means yes. Goodbye professor. Thank you for your time."

"You're welcome, Jake. I'm just glad that there's someone around my age starting their adventure as a trainer."

"Oh yeah, that reminds me, how old are you, anyways?"

"Hm? Oh, I'll be turning 39 this spring. Why?"

"I AM NOT THAT OLD!"

"Huh? But you're starting to-"

"I'M ONLY 23!"

"Wait, you are?! But your hair... Oh. Oh I'm so sorry. I didn't know."

"Am I going to have to buy a hat?! Is it really that bad?!"

"Well, from a distance, you look fine, but after seeing you up close for a bit..."

"In other words, yes, I'm going to need a hat. Thanks."

"Um, you're welcome?"

On that awkward note, Jake left the lab with a slightly confused Beldum following him.

"Bel? Beldum?"

"Hm? Oh yeah. I haven't given you a name, yet, have I?"

"Beldum."

"Hmm..." Seirath. "How's Seirath sound?"

The little Beldum nodded as if it thought it appropriate.

"Okay, then. From today onwards, you'll be known as Seirath." "Beldum."

While he couldn't really tell from the robotic, blue pokemon's voice, Jake got the impression that he really liked his name. "Okay, now that that's settled, we've got one last thing before we set off on our adventure- I need to get a hat." And with that, Jake started looking around town for a store that looked like it might have some hats for sale.

((NOTE: Editing because I hate double posts))

After some searching, Jake eventually found a small store that had some hats on a rack near the front. After browsing through them, he selected a grey ball cap with a blue alpha symbol on it and brought it to the register. After making the purchase (TWENTY FREAKING DOLLARS?!), and receiving five pokeballs for free after mentioning that it was his first time out as a trainer, Jake decided to start his journey towards Route 29.

On his way, deciding he wanted to listen to some music, he opened his pokegear, switched it to the jukebox, and set it to a station that played songs that were popular in his home town. After a few minutes, he decided to try striking up a conversation with Seirath.

"So, buddy, anything I should know about you?"

The little robot pokemon tilted its head slightly with a "Bel?" and gave what Jake interpreted to be an inquisitive look.

"Yeah, I don't think I can really understand your words, but that doesn't mean we can't get to know each other. So, yeah. First thing you should know about me is that I can be a bit stubborn."

"Bel. Beldum bel. Bel beldum bel. Beldum."

"Yeah, I have no idea what you said. I get the feeling you understand me, though, and I think you can empathize?"

At this comment, Seirath tilted its head again, and after a few moments tilted it back and nodded with a "Beldum."

"Yes! Got it in one. Is there anything else I can think of..."

Before Jake could finish his thought, a rustling could be heard from the bushes nearby. Quickly reacting, Seirath and Jake got into battling positions.

Not a moment later, a wild Electrike came out of the brush, and locked its eyes on Jake's pokegear. Looking at where the little canine pokemon was focused, Jake made an observation.

"Oh, you like this music, little guy?"

The Electrike's only response was to keep focusing on the pokegear, and move in rhythm to the music. As it approached closer, Seirath got in its way.

"Yeah. If you want to listen to it some more, you're gonna need to come with us."

Hearing this, the Electrike readied itself into an attack stance.

"Oh, looks like we've got a battle on our hands. You ready for this, Seirath?"

"Beldum."

"Good. Use Zen Headbutt the moment it attacks. That pokemon species is well known for its speed and its special attacks, but at its current level, he's unlikely to know any moves capable of hurting you. So instead, focus on heavy blows that are likely to hit." In response, Seirath only nodded while keeping its focus on the little electric puppy. "Beldum." And with that, the Electrike began building a ball of energy in its mouth.

The battle was short but intense. Neither Jake nor Seirath were expecting the Electrike to know Electro Ball, and since the Electrike was more than twice as fast as Seirath, it hit pretty heavy, too. However, Seirath hit pretty heavy himself as well. After about 4 rounds of battling, the Electrike messed up and went for a tackle instead, giving Seirath the edge he needed to deliver a finishing blow. After the Electrike fell unconscious, Jake threw a pokeball at it and, after three wobbles, it clicked shut, marking the pokemon as his own.

"Well, Seirath, looks like we've got the first new addition to our little family of sorts. Shall we wake him up now?" Seirath just gave a lax movement so as to say 'Why not', and Jake let the puppy out of his pokeball. Upon materializing, the Electrike was still unconscious. However, after a few minutes, it woke up in a daze. After looking around for a bit, its eyes finally focused on Jake.

"So, little puppy. I was not expecting you to know Electro Ball. And you used it to its fullest effect, too, though you stumbled a bit at the end. Honestly, I am impressed. I would like for you to journey together with me. But I can't just leave you nameless. So what shall your name be..." Sempra. "How's Sempra sound to you?"

After listening for a bit, the Electrike stared with curiosity and wariness at the trainer who defeated and captured her. After a while, though, wariness gave way to giddiness, and the electric canine jumped for joy. "Trike... Electrike!" It seemed the Electrike liked the name.

"So you like it! Wonderful! From now on, you will be known as Sempra. ...Which, now that I think about it, seems like a girl's name. You're a girl aren't you?" At this comment, Sempra seemed a little confused for a second, but then just bounced up with a "Trike!" and nodded heavily. "Whelp. Glad that's cleared up! Ready to get going?" At those words, Sempra jumped up and started to lead the way with an "Electrike!"

"Whoa, now, you're pretty hasty, aren't you? And neither you nor Seirath have gotten any rest after that battle, have you?"

Though Jake said those words, Sempra seemingly paid them no mind and started running down the road, looking back occasionally to make sure Jake was still following her.

And so, with two pokemon now following him outside their pokeballs, Jake kept walking down the road, until he stumbled upon a campsite when it was getting dark. Deciding not to wake the neighbors, Jake returned his two pokemon to their pokeballs and set up camp nearby himself. After the tent was set up, and his bedroll laid down inside, Jake decided it was time for lights out.

"*yawn* Night, Seirath, Sempra. I'll let you out in the morning."

And with that, Jake went to sleep for the night, in the vicinity of another trainer's campsite.

Name: Seirath

Level: 10

Species: Beldum

Type: Steel/Psychic

Nature: Adamant (+Atk -Sp. Atk)

Ability: Light Metal

Held Item: None

Moves: Take Down, Iron Defense, Iron Head, Zen Headbutt

Name: Sempra

Gender: F

Level: 10

Species: Electrike

Type: Electric

Nature: Hasty (+Spd -Def)

Ability: Lightningrod

Held Item: None

Moves: Tackle, Electro Ball, Thunder Wave, Leer

EDIT 2: Retconned a few things. The Shinx is now an Electrike, the Power Band is now some random sketchy item that supposedly raises some stat, and I added in a short description of the battle as well. I also took some advice and altered the dialogues' pacing a bit. Hopefully it's less cluttered now.

Edited September 20, 2013 by NeoDarklight

[Code: PIRULUK]

I walked along Route 29, casually taking in the trees and grass that surrounded the place which, for the last year, I've known as my home. And now, once again, I was leaving home. The irony of the situation struck me as rather amusing. A year ago, I came to this place to escape the world. Now, I was leaving to re-enter it.

Lily floated alongside me, lazily making rounds about my head, white fluff being left behind everywhere.

"Wow, it's kind of scary with all these wild Pokemon looking at me."

This was my first time walking through the route without Eve's Mimi to scare off wild Pokemon. Without the Garchomp there, I was getting a lot more passing glances from wild Pokemon in the tall grass than I would have liked. It felt like they were all there...waiting...daring me to approach...daring me to intrude into their territory...waiting for an excuse to tear me to pieces.

And this was just the start of my journey. What if it got worse? What if I turn out to be a terrible trainer? What if I end up dying, or getting Lily hurt? I should just give up now, there's no way I can do it. Eve told me so many things about her trainer life; it all sounded so scary. What if I can't do it? Yeah. I should return home. Just return home and apologise to Eve...

"No! Orpha Janelle, you are NOT going to have a breakdown now! You made a promise to Eve, and you're going to keep it! You just barely started your journey, you are NOT giving up so soon! You promised her and you promised yourself that you would give it a shot. Don't you dare go back on that now."

Lily started and started flying around faster as I completed my embarrassingly vocal self-reprimand. I felt heat rise to my cheeks. I grabbed a panicking Lily and buried my face into her strangely cool fluff until the blush went away.

"Cott! Nee! Cott!"

I pulled Lily away from my face and turned her to face me, holding her at arm's length. The Cottonee glared at me.

"Oh, I'm so sorry Lily. I'm just...not used to having expectations on me. Forgive me?"

Lily glared at me a few moments more, then her look softened. I released her from my grip.

"Nee! Cottonee!"

I felt a mound of fluff alighting in my head several times as Lily bounced up and down on it.

...Was that...supposed to be a pat on the head?

My starter is beyond adorable.

As we walked on and the Sun made its way across the open sky, I began to notice more people. Ugh. People. I quickened my pace, eager to escape the danger of social interaction. In a severe bout of misfortune, my plans of this nature were quickly thwarted by a high male voice shouting out behind me.

"Hey!"

I walked on, hoping he didn't mean me.

"Hey you! The lady with the green hair!"

That might still not be me, plenty of girls have (dyed) green hair. Okay, not really, but still - it's a distinct possibility. I quickened my pace.

"The one with the Cottonee!"

Crap. Well, best be polite and answer.

I turned to find a young boy, dressed in a yellow tee with a blue cap, running up to me. I held back a sigh of relief. He was younger than me; a kid, really. I am okay with kids.

"Hey miss! Battle me!"

Or not.

"P-Pardon?"

"Battle me! You have a Pokemon, that means you're a trainer! Our eyes met, so we have to battle!"

Okay, that has to be the stupidest rule ever. Isn't eye contact a supposedly subjective indication? I opened my mouth to refuse him curtly, but what came out instead was:

"O-Okay. Please go easy on me..."

Sometimes I hate my social ineptitude. The kid gave me a confused expression, then grinned and pulled out a Pokeball.

"Go, Rattata!"

A tiny little purple rat with huge teeth emerged from the Pokeball. It looked up at me, then Lily, then sneered at Lily. That made me angry. Very angry. It's okay to make me embarrassed and make me feel awkward. It's okay to make me conform to a stupid rule. But nobody - NOBODY - gets to

Insult.

My.

Cottonee.

I gesture forward to Lily, fully intending to order her to decimate the kid's Rattata.

"Um, do your best, Lily?"

Stupid subconscious barriers.

The Cottonee fluffed happily and floated towards the Rattata.

"Rattata! Use tackle!"

The Rattata leapt up towards Lily, who quickly floated out of the path of collision. Having nothing to hit, the Rattata fell back down to the floor, confused. Lily shot a glance at me, wordlessly waiting for my commands. It was then that I realised something.

I had absolutely no idea what attacks Lily knew.

"Umm... Do whatever you want, I guess."

Lily continued to stare at me for a while, making me feel highly embarrassed under the skeptical gaze of an adorable fluffball. Then she chirped happily and turned back to the Rattata, bobbing excitedly about.

"Cott! Cottonee! Nee!"

The Rattata looked confused at first, then sat back, looking...proud?

"Rattata, use Tail Whip!"

The Rattata cast a sidelong glance at its trainer, then promptly ignored the command, trying to Tackle Lily again. Then it dawned on me. Encore. Lily had demanded an Encore.

My Pokemon was cute, playful AND a charmer. I had absolutely no regrets.

As the Rattata neared Lily in the midst of his Tackle attack, Lily floated upward, a large amount of yellow powder dispersing from her fluff. As expected, the Rattata failed to connect, again falling to the floor. Lily flew a loop in midair, bobbing around.

"Rattata, use Tackle!" It seemed that the kid had decided to go with the flow.

The Rattata again crouched down and leapt up, but its movements this time seemed to be... slower, more sluggish. As the Rattata flew towards Lily, Lily stopped dancing around and zoomed down towards Rattata, turning up at the last moment, causing the Rattata to be directly under her for one brief moment. In that instant, Lily fluffed, and I saw a few drops of green fall from her body onto the Rattata. When the Rattata hit the ground, little green vines had started to encase its body, glowing faintly. Lily glowed in unison with the vines, looking even more hyperactive than before. A Leech Seed. My Lily was a genius.

"Rattata, Tackle again, while it's distracted!" The kid wasted no time.

The Rattata crouched down, but then it spasms, collapsing to the ground. Paralysis. Then the yellow powder from before was...Stun Spore? Lily took advantage of Rattata's immobility and floated down, glowing green. A few strings of light escaped from the Rattata, leaving it visibly weaker, as Lily began to glow even more. That looked like an Absorb.

Absorb, Leech Seed, Stun Spore, Encore. My Lily was a downright troll.

Perfect.

The rest of the battle went more of less the same way, the Rattata occasionally finding the strength to attack and hitting Lily with Tackle, but the drain from Leech Seed and Lily's constant Absorbs healed off any damage he might have done. Eventually, the Rattata collapsed and fainted. The kid, tears in his eyes, bent down to pick up the Rattata and ran off in the direction of New Bark, crying the whole way. As he fled, a wad of notes fell out of his pocket.

"U-u-um!" was all I managed to get out before he was out of sight. Oh well. I picked up the notes. Free money's always good, I guess. Besides; Eve told me that official trainer rules stated that one had to give up half their money upon losing, so I wasn't technically doing anything illegal.

What kind of mercenary world was this?

Regardless, I turned to a happy Lily and petted her, causing her to fluff in happiness.

"You are one amazing Pokemon, Lily." And so we continued on our journey.

As the day turned from afternoon to evening, I saw something in the corner of my eye. A wild Pokemon. Ordinarily, I wouldn't pay wild Pokemon much attention. In this case, however, there was one key difference. Said wild Pokemon was cute. Adorably so.

A little brown teddy bear-like creature with a crescent moon marking on its forehead was lying asleep among the tall grass, its little chest rising and falling lightly. With tiny, thin claws and large round ears, the Teddiursa just kept sleeping, oblivious to my approach.

I pulled out an empty Pokeball from my pouch and crept up towards it. As I did, Lily noticed what I was doing and followed silently behind. As I saw the Teddiursa begin to stir, I quickly lobbed the Pokeball in its direction. A wave of red light engulfed it, then it disappeared.

The ball shook once, then twice, then stopped. I picked it up and dropped it into the Pokedex. A female Teddiursa.

"Hmmm... what should we call you... how about... Mika."

Mika. That sounded right. I pulled up the nickname screen on the Pokedex and quickly typed in the name. As it registered with a beep, I let the Teddiursa out of the ball.

Mika looked up at me with sleepy eyes.

"Teddi?"

"Hi Mika. I'm going to be your new trainer from today. You okay with that?"

Mika rubbed her eyes, apparently too sleepy for any serious consideration. I held my silence, and met her gaze, then finally smiled when she nodded. Lily was evidently excited to meet her new friend.

"Cott! Cott! Cottonee!"

"Ursa~"

Mika just stood there, conversing with Lily, licking her paw and looking adorable. No longer able to contain the urge, I bent down and picked up Mika in my arms and held her against my shoulder.

"Teddi?! Tedd! Tedd! Tedd~~~~"

Her squeals of surprise quickly became a sigh of (I hope) contentment as she rested her head into my shoulder. Mika leaned back to look at me, then held out her paw expectantly.

"Um... yes?"

I had no idea what I was supposed to do. Mika looked at me uncomprehendingly, then brought her paw back to her mouth. She licked it, then - to my immense mortification - held it up to me again. She wanted me to lick her paw. Bonding with Pokemon is one thing. Licking their limbs, which are likely to be covered in dirt, bugs and germs, is another thing altogether.

The things I do for my Pokemon.

I cautiously licked it, surprised to find it rather sweet. I resisted the urge to have another helping. Mika nodded happily, then returned to nestling against my shoulder. Meanwhile, Lily, jealous of the attention I was paying Mika, had decided to land on my head and let me do the walking. I must have been quite a sight, cradling a Teddiursa, with a Cottonee bobbing around on my head.

For the first time, I felt like a trainer. If I could make these two adorable Pokemon like me, I must have some capabilities, right? For the first time, I did not feel scared.

"Besides, if I get into danger, you two will protect me, won't you?"

"Ursa!" Mika answered my query with a confident assertion.

Just then, a loud noise resounded from an area on my right: the distinct sound of something colliding with something else, followed by the crackling of electricity. The noise caused Mika to start, making her jump out of my arms and barreling into a surprised Lily.

"Cott?! Cott! Cott!"

"Teddi!"

I watched as my two Pokemon flailed around in mid-air, Lily trying to get Mika off, Mika clinging to Lily with all her might.

Very reassuring.

By the time I managed to calm Lily and Mika down, it was late evening. The sky was darkening, and I did not quite cherish the idea of trying to find my way in the dark. I had to find somewhere to set up camp and sleep for the night. Then, I realised something terrible.

I hadn't the faintest idea of how to start a fire.

It was already Autumn, the chilly air was starting to set in. It would be uncomfortable in the extreme to not have a fire for the night, possibly even dangerous. As I began to despair and broke down into another cycle of defeatism, I noticed a faint flicker in the distance. Fire. I started moving towards it, then stopped myself. A fire meant a campsite. A campsite meant people. People meant social interaction. Did I really want to have to face social interaction just to have a fire?

Unfortunately, that choice was not mine to make: I was to either face the prospect, or freeze to death. While I would have found the second far more preferable, it would not have been quite fair to Mika and Lily. Lily, being cold-blooded, was already asleep, so I returned her to her Pokeball. Mika, however, was taking longer to drift to sleep, yawning into my shoulder, but still shifting around. I held her tighter and headed towards the fire.

As I approached, I spotted the person who presumably started the fire. Wrapped in a bedroll, he had a head of relatively short, dark blonde hair, and, as far as I could tell, was wearing an orange v-necked t-shirt. He had a rather prominent nose, though it wasn't particularly large. He looked about my age. He looked to be sound asleep. I took a step closer, my foot snapping a twig. Alerted by the sound, the man opened his eyes slightly and looked at me.

"Um, um..."

Come on, Orpha. Just say it. He looks nice enough. It's time to overcome this problem.

"Um... umm..."

The man sat up slowly, taking care not to move too quickly, uncovering the bedroll to reveal an adorable Minccino curled up against him.

Come on, Just say the words. Just say "I'd like to share your fire for the night, if you please." Just say it.

"Umm... Ummmmmmmmm..."

As the man continues watching me with an amused expression, waiting for me to speak, my resolve breaks down. I can't do it.

I hide my blush by holding up a surprised, sleepy Mika in front of my face, blocking his gaze. What have I gotten myself in to?

THE TEAM:

Lily/Cottonee/Level 10

Gender: F

Nature: Timid

Trait: Prankster

-Leech Seed

-Stun Spore

-Encore

-Absorb

Mika/Teddiursa/Level 10

Gender: F

Nature: Jolly

Trait: Quick Feet

-Lick

-Focus Punch

-Chip Away

-Yawn

Edited September 19, 2013 by Acquiescence

[Color]

What first started out as a full force sprint towards Route 29 ended up as a montage of gasping for air, and collapsing on the ground, in one big mess. Color and Grass Mini fell onto the grass, gasping for precious oxygen. After what seemed to be several minutes of exaggerated hyperventilating, Color pushed herself onto her knees and looked around the open area. A wide smile crawled across her wild features.

"This is a PERFECT place to show me your stuff little dude!" Color exclaimed as she quickly rummaged through her brown sack to pull out the Turtwig's Poke Ball and the PokeDex she always kept by her side. With nimble fingers she typed on a few keys and slid her finger across the screen once. She held out her arm and pointed the small circular camera on the top of the complex device, making it beep several times before registering Turtwig's data.

"Turtwig the Twin Leaf Pokemon...."

The robotic male voice chimed. Color tilted her head to the side, glancing over at the grass type that had taken the liberty to start headbutting a tree.

"Huh, I guess he does have twin leaves on the top of his head..." Color mused thoughtfully before looking back down at the screen. Even though the performer has traveled between regions and encountered a variety of Pokemon during her travels, she was still always fascinated by the information that the PokeDex provided for her. The schooling and education that she lacked, she quickly gained through studying Pokemon and their natural behaviors, which made everything all the more interesting for the acrobatic.

"Continue, PokeDex." she uttered sharply, a quick bing followed suit of the command.

"The shell on Turtwig's back is actually made of soil. On a very healthy Turtwig, the should feel moist."

Color simply nodded her head, making a small note in the back of her mind to stroke the grass type's shell before going to bed. Another soft bing followed suit, indicating its continuation of the explanation.

"The moves that your Grass Mini knows are..... Body Slam, Seed Bomb, Tackle, and Withdraw. It is a Brave Nature and was received at Professor Elm's lab at New Bark Town. It is currently Level 10.

"Thank you PokeDex, you may shut down now."

"As you wish, goodbye Trainer Color"

The screen went black, leaving the trainer to click her PokeDex shut. She sighed, running her fingers through her messy shoulder-length hair. No doubt, Color's elder sibling wanted her Pokemon to be battle read just like her. With adept moves like that, Grass Mini might progress more quickly than any regular ol' trainer's Pokemon. However, she has yet to see her partner in battle....

"Twig!"

"SAGE!!!"

Color's eyes hurried over to Grass Mini. Instead of the twin leaf headbutting the trees to improve his endurance, he was being threatened by a monkey-like Pokemon with a medium sized bush on its head, wicked fangs, slick tan and green fur covering the rest of his small stature and loud screech to boot. However, Grass Mini was no backing down either, responding with a low growl and slanted yellow eyelids at he pawed at the grass. Color rose to her knees, click the red button her Pokedex and aiming it towards the grass monkey.

"PokeDex scan!" Color shouted, which was quickly responded with the same bell-ringing sound.

Pansage, the Grass Monkey Pokemon. This Pokemon tends to dwell deep in forests. It sometimes snaps a leaf off of its own head and devours it, improving it condition as if by magic. It is also good at finding berries all over which it shares with its friends because of its kind nature.

"Kind huh. Not this one it seems." Color muttered to herself, snapping her PokeDex shut and dropping it in the sea of grass next to her legs. "Must've been chilin' in the tree and Grass Mini was just an unlucky sonofagun." Color cupped her hands over her mouth.

"GRASS MINI!" her shrill voice projected clearly across the meadow, the wind roaring in the Pokemon's face as he picked up on his trainer's voice. He jumped once, only a few centimeters off the ground, and fell into his battle stance, indicating he heard her call and ready to follow her lead. "GRASS MINI! Use Body Slam on that tree and knock that little bugger out of there. Make it a fair fight!"

The grass monkey howled in irritation, his hands beginning to glow white and sharpen to point at the edges, which Color could only guess as the move Scratch. However, Grass Mini quickly ran directly into the tree once more, ramming his whole entire figure against the thick truck against the tree, making it tremble at the raw power. The monkey teetered, screaming as it lost its footing, but suddenly two thick vines burst from it's wrists and entangled themselves around the Turtwig. Pansage fell, but quickly recovered from the brutal landing with its vines still wrapped around Grass Mini. The twin leaf struggled, bucking and kicking his back legs to free himself, but to no avail.

Color stood up now, adrenaline rushing through her system as a cocky smirk etched within her features.

"Grass Mini don't take that from the squirt, go ahead and give em a Seed Bomb!" the Turtwig tilted his head over his shoulder towards the snarling Pansage and simply glared at it. His mouth glittered green for a few moments before he spat out a row of shivering seed, which suddenly exploded in the monkey's face. It flew back into the tree, the vines that was wrapped tightly around Grass Mini's body quickly receding back to the owner and into its wrists. The monkey chattered softly, almost groaning at the impact of the tree, but Color wouldn't buy it.

"Grass Mini, let's finish this! Full-Force Tackle, DESTROY!!" the trainer roared, balling her fists into tight balls. Her breath ragged almost as if she was the one fighting the Pansage. Grass Mini took off from its position, hopping up off the ground, tilting its head towards the monkey's abdominal area and making complete contact. Smoke rose from the collision, an ear-splitting screech rung in the air as Color could feel all the breath being ripped out of the Pokemon's lungs. The trainer quickly took off in the Pokemon's direction, taking a single Poke Ball and her PokeDex with her, leaving the rest of her things behind.

Grass Mini hopped back and tilted his head to the sunset-lit sky.

"TWWIGGGGG!" he roared in victory, making Color smile in gratitude. She walked up next to her Pokemon, watching as the grass monkey's unconscious body slide down the trunk of the tree and into the grass in a broken heap. Te performer tossed the empty Poke Ball at the Pansage, watching as its body became consumed in a stream of red light. The red and white capsule shook three times in succession before standing still, indicating the victorious capture. Grass Mini scooped the ball up in his large jaw and handed it to his trainer. The girl took out her PokeDex once more, aiming the camera at the Poke Ball, allowing it to process the data.

Pansage, the Grass Monkey. Male. Level 10. Serious nature. Moveset: Scratch, Vine Whip, Lick, and Leer. Ability: Overgrow

Color clicked her tongue in content, staring at the ball-shape capsule with pride.

"You are someone that battles to the absolute brink. A lot of trainers do not like mercilessness in their Pokemon, but you....Yea, I'm gonna have fun training you." Color mumbled, a sly grin following suit while a happy Turtwig nuzzled her leg. Color reached down for her partner, taking one of his front legs and easily tossing him on her head in one fluid motion. She walked back towards her things, sitting down and kicking off her thick black boots in the process.

She settled down, spreading her legs, and pull up her dress ever so slightly to make room between her legs. She click the middle button of the Poke Ball and watched as a bipedal monkey materialized in a stream of white light. The last bits of energy sparked away from the injure grass type, allowing the performer to get a good look at the Pansage.

"Here." Color responded, sliding her hand in her sack once more and pulling out a single, round and juicy Oran Berry. "I was saving it for my pal here, but since you are on the team now you can have it instead, since you took more damage." Pansage did not respond, wordlessly taking the fruit from the trainer and sinking his two front oddly sharp teeth into the skin of the berry. He chewed cautiously, shooting a glare at Color every once in awhile before looking back down at the fruit in his hands. When it was all gone he dragged his long tongue across his paws, licking every last bit of the blue juice that spilled on his fur. Finally, he sat down, crossed his legs and just glared at Color, giving her a not so pleasant welcome.

"Look, I know you lost, but hey we all lose. I do all the time to my older brother. The point is your are going to have to get over this. You are strong, and intelligent no doubt, but you have no focus. You focus on your instincts instead of channeling your raw energy into your opponent."

"Pan!" the monkey grunted, lashing his tail back and forth, uncomfortable to admit its unbridled rage when battling.

Color pushed a couple of wild strands back behind her ear, circling her arms around the monkey to show him actual comfort. "Come with me. I'll promise to help pull the cover away and show you the raw passion of battling." the trainer stuck out her pinkey finger, making the monkey look at her in slight confusion. However, after a few moments he silently wrapping his vine-like tail around her finger, grasping it tightly almost saying "You better stick to your word."

Color nodded, making a small noise of approval before falling back into the sea of grass, watching the last splashes of orange and yellow disappear behind the trees, and leaving nothing but quiet hues of blue and violet in its place.

"...Let's stay here. I'm sure the trainers are probably all asleep by now, and we're at the edge of the meadow. No one would find us here Fang...."

Pansage's ears twitched slightly at the nickname, settling back down in a relaxed state, showing his approval of the name. From this day forth he shall now be known as Fang. However, Color mentioning trainers not coming around these parts, she knew in the pit of her stomach that she was somehow very wrong about that.

Caught:

Pansage aka Fang (M)

Level: 10

Ability: Overgrow

Nature: Serious

Moveset:

- Scratch

- Vine Whip

-Lick

- Leer

Edited September 20, 2013 by Color

[Kaito]

Most of the earlier-arriving trainers had already vacated the premise when a slightly larger than average Pidgeot started to descend from the sky, slowing it's descent until it gracefully touched upon the ground in front of the lab, kicking up a small amount of dust upon landing. The majestic bird of prey was preening it's feathers as a young man in a blue fleece jumped off of the bird, before looking up at it with a smile.

"I really don't see why they wanted me to go to Johto to do this. I would of been perfectly fine taking on the Kanto league back home, but no. They said come here to gain experience first, that it was easy." The young man sighed slightly before addressing the bird pokemon next to him with a grin.

"Thanks for the lift Skye, but I guess Dad will need you back at home now. I'll see you around big guy." The aforementioned "big guy" gave out a happy sounding screech to the young man as he took off once more, towards his hometown of Fuchsia City. Watching the bird retreat, the scrawny boy turned towards the lab and muttered.

"First they don't let me journey until I'm a properly aged adult, then they choose my region... I love those two, but sometimes they can be so overbearing. Oh well. This should be fun, at least." He said as he opened the door to the lab and immediately spoke out.

"Professor Elm? I think you got a call earlier, but my name is James, and I'm here for a starter po...ke...mon?" James said, drawing out the last word when he cast his eyes upon the scene of chaos in the lab: Papers strewn amok, little pokemon running around with a cacophony of sound emitting from their mouths, and a very frenzied professor and Quilava trying to herd them all together.

"..." James said nothing as he swiped a pokedex from the nearby table, hoping to just grab his stuff and go before he got involved in all this. Obviously the professor was very busy. Unfortunately, it seemed that wasn't going to come to pass as the Quilava caught the scent of him and turned in his direction, which also meant that Elm noticed him as well.

" Oh! I'm so very sorry for all of this! Crest, do you mind getting these young ones calmed down while I attend to this new trainer?" The Professor asked the fire pokemon. The Quilava nodded and went off to herd the pokemon together as Elm walked towards James, smiling.

" Yes, your father called earlier. I must say, it's rather late to finally start a journey at age eighteen, but I've had older come in... earlier today, in fact." He said, remembering Jake and his Beldum. "Anyway, have a look around the lab, see if there's a pokemon you might like."

James smiled and nodded at the professor, and was about to take a look when suddenly a cold chill prickled at the back of his neck. As James turned around, he came face to face with a Duskull, just... staring at him as the red eye of the ghost bounced from socket to socket. The two just stared at each other for a little while before James cracked a smile and took the Duskull in his arms... it was kind of heavy for a ghost. Of course, that could just be from James's severe lack of muscle.

"I'll take this little guy professor. I think he likes me." James said as the ghost emitted a happy sounding "Duuuuss." Or at least as happy sounding as a Duskull could be. It was probably something in the tone. Professor Elm nodded as James put the Duskull in a spare pokeball and clipped it to the inside of his coat.

" I already took a pokedex earlier when you were busy with the other pokemon, Anyway, I really don't want to take up too much of your time, so I'll be seeing you around." James said as he waved his goodbye to the professor and hurried out the door before Elm could respond. James didn't know why, but he always felt anxious around new people, even authority. Smiling, he took the pokeball out of his coat and released his new pokemon, as Duskull materialized, staring at James intently.

" Alright then, I guess first things first. We need to name you. How about... Kite? " James suggested as the Duskull bobbed up and down, apparently nodding. " You like it? Then Kite it is then! " James said as he scanned his new pokemon with the pokedex, both simultaneously registering it and scanning it for moves.

"Let's see what you know... Foresight, Night Shade, Disable and... Pain Split." James said as his eyes widened at the last move. "You know Pain Split? That's... lucky of me. I don't suppose you're immune to dark attacks too? " James said, cracking a smile at his attempt at a joke. Duskull just stared, in what seemed to be pity.

Sighing, James let out a nervous chuckle. " Worth a shot. But that means we can't really do much to normal types without setup, so... should we go out and catch a new teammate? " He asked as Duskull once again started to bob and spin around his head. I guess Kite just really liked James. It was rare to see a Duskull so in tune with a trainer, especially a new one.

" I'll take that as a yes then. " James said chuckling as he headed out towards Route 29... he was just lucky there was only one path out of New Bark Town, otherwise he'd of been lost for days. Not more than a few feet in however, James had to jump back as a Pansage leapt out towards him, tongue out and narrowly missing his face.

"Eh? What the... Kite, hit it with Night Shade!" James said, wasting no time as Kite shot out a black wave towards the monkey pokemon which collided as the Pansage reeled and fell on it's bottom.

"Pokeball, go!" James yelled as he threw one of his pokeballs at the monkey in haste, as it chimed once, then twice, and the Pansage was captured.

James picked up the ball and looked at it. "Well... that wasn't exactly intentional. But hey, I did say I wanted a new pokemon. So... welcome to the team, Basil."James said, glad that he had caught a new pokemon so soon, as Kite just looked onwards towards the forest, sensing people nearby. This was going to be an interesting journey...

---

Kite the Duskull

Level: 10

Gender: Male

Nature: Calm

Moveset:

- Foresight

- Night Shade

-Disable

-Pain Split

Basil the Pansage

Level: 10

Gender: Male

Nature: Naughty

Moveset:

-Scratch

-Leer

-Lick

-Vine Whip

Timer till day 2: 15 posts.

[Jory]

((Acquiescence said I could do a bit of dialogue for her, so don't yell at me for bunnying qq))

I rubbed my eyes, still a bit groggy from being woken up in the middle of the night. I poked my head out of my bedroll and, to my immense surprise, saw another trainer standing right in front of me. I yawned and stretched my arms, still looking at the trainer. She was around my age and had green hair. And you know what, hell if it wasn't, she was quite pretty as well. I decided I should probably get up and greet her. As I pushed back the bedroll to uncover myself, I realized I'd totally forgotten about my new traveling companion. Rascal looked up at me irritably and rubbed his eyes. I laughed at his adorable little mannerisms and turned to face the young woman again, putting a smile on my face to show her I wasn't mad about being woken up. I stood up so I could finally be face to face with the new arrival... who seemed quite unable to say anything except "Um." She quickly lifted up what at first appeared to be a stuffed animal. Only after Rascal climbed onto my shoulder did I realize she was actually using a Teddiursa to cover her face.

"Well, there are better ways to make an entrance, I'll tell you that much. No harm done, though. I'm Jory," I said reassuringly, offering my hand for a shake. "What's your name."

"My name's Orpha..." she said in a near whisper. I chuckled and shook my head.

"You know I can't hear you, right?"

She let out a soft "Eep!" and poked her head out from behind the bear. "Um... Um... Um..."

I did my best to smile reassuringly again, leaving the hand out. "Come on, don't be shy! It's not like I'm gonna hurt you," I said softly. Rascal nodded and climbed down onto my hand to get closer to the Teddiursa.

"Min~ Minccino Min! Ccino Minccino Mincc~"

"Ursa~" the tiny Pokemon replied, waving its arms happily.

"Is that a Minccino?" the girl asked cautiously. She shifted the Teddiursa to one arm and a Cottonee floated out from behind her. She gently reached out and stroked Rascal's head.

"Yep! He's my first Pokemon! Isn't that right, buddy?"

"Minccino!~" Rascal replied, running back up to my shoulder.

"He's so adorable~! Um... I mean... Um..." The girl looked away, blushing profusely.

I chuckled. "It's fine. So what did you say your name is?"

"Um... It's Orpha..." she said as she gently shook my hand. Rascal's ears twitched and he turned toward a different area in the clearing. I heard what he'd heard once I was paying attention. It was the sound of something flapping in the wind. I followed Rascal's gaze and, sure enough, there was a tent there. Since when had my campsites become party central? I considered walking up to the tent, but decided that waking him up might be rude. I checked my Poke Gear for the first time since I'd woken up. I began tending the fire again, adding more sticks and a couple of small logs to what was now essentially a pile of glowing embers.

"Well, it's pretty late. If you want to sleep by the fire, feel free."

Edited September 19, 2013 by Jory

[The Radiant Aeon]

8:34 P.M.

It had been nearly half an hour since I took off, and now I am nearing Cherry Grove. Whenever the opportunity arose, I trained up Seishin. I wish I could say the same to Dusk, but I couldn't risk having her fight, ever since capture. However, I took notes on my battles with Seishin and figured out some basic techniques with him. First, Prankster is it's ability, and if my memory serves me correctly, it's an ability that increases the speed of non-offensive attacks. Along side Bullet Punch and Quick Attack, Seishin currently has the ability to attack first all the time. Another, though not exactly concrete, thing I observed was Seishin's trust in me. Starting since the capture of Dusk, Seishin now follows my command with a bit more..enthusiasm. We've been able to pull ourselves into a working a machine in a system, me as commander and him as soldier, and with it, a growth in Seishin's strength. I had once heard from the fighting dojo master in Saffron City that the more you strengthen your Pokemon's power, so will your bond with them. Perhaps maybe I can do that with more Pokemon, and I won't have to feel solitude as much as before.

After a few more steps, I have now reached Cherry Grove. The rural air was just as strong here as it was in New Bark. The stars were a sight to behold. I had only seen stars in pictures or through telescopes at Silph, but never like this. Beauty..such beauty..

But then something smacked me in the shin, though weaker than usual. "Thanks Seishin for taking me back to reality." Seishin let out a sigh. Obviously, Seishin was tired of all the fighting. I heard a loud noise coming from him. Then I heard a loud noise coming from my area as well. "I guess all of that running made us hungry. Let's go to Pokemon Center and rest up a bit."

After a few talks with an elderly man, I had reached the Pokemon Center. "Hello!?" There were many people in the Center, most of them trainers probably a bit more experienced then I. Many of the trainers looked at my direction. In my head, I chided myself. "Of course they would stare at you for being so sudden." I just wanted to get out and go somewhere else until a voice came up from behind.

"Hey, where are going?" I turned around. It was a girl around my age, maybe a year younger. She had long blonde hair and green eyes wearing a white hoodie and a red skirt with black stockings. The girl did not look to be from around here.

"Um..I was about to leave." I replied. "Why? You just got here, and you and that Riolu look tired." True, Seishin and I are tired, and Dusk required some healing too.

"Oh, yes. Of course. I just lost my nerve. I'm a new trainer and all." I had wanted to take that last part off, but it's too late. "Oh man, here comes the taunting."

Instead, the girl just nodded. "Ah, you do look fresh. But how'd you get that Riolu so strong already?" "What do you mean?" She looked stunned. "Wow! You really are new." I felt offended. "What does that mean? And you still haven't told me your name?"

"Yes, of course. My name is Sara. I'm from Goldenrod City, though I grew up in Kanto." I felt my hand raising into a shake, maybe out of some strange formality. "My name is Dr. Jo- I mean..Alvin. But I was called Nocturne before." She looked at me oddly. "Alvin huh..Sounds to plain, so I'll call you Nocturne." What, I mean, never mind. Nocturne it is."

After eating dinner and healing the team, I decided to look for Sara again. She was about to head out. I ran up to her, telling her to stop for a moment. "I just wanted to say bye, you know?" She smiled at me. "Hey, glad to meet a new trainer."

"Can I ask you somethings real quick?" I asked her. "First, what did you mean Seishin was well trained?"

"Well, compared to most other trainers I've fought, your Riolu gave a more stronger impression." "All right." I replied. "Then tell me where is the next gym?"

"Go through the next routes, and eventually you'll find Violet City. There, Falkner will be accepting challengers, as he's the flying type gym leader."

"Thank you Sara." I turned to my team. "Tomorrow, we'll head to Violet City and take our first gym battle." "That's the spirit." Sara said. "Though I had an easy time, thanks to my type advantage. Maybe you'll get more of a struggle with your Pokemon." "Don't worry." I said "I'll make sure I won't lose."

With that, I turned in for the night.

update:

Seishin had grown to level 12

Did not learn Feint.

[anethia]

Odin jumped from the trees, accompanied by Arzuros and Cerberus - Arzuros was her new Teddiursa. She landed on the ground, and leaves snapped at her weight. She walked through the route, looking around. She pushed through a bit of shrubbery, coming face to face with a pack of Rattata. They all started at her, before charging at her and swarming her.

"Looks like we're having a battle. Cerberus, Dragon Rage. Arzuros, Cross Chop." Odin calmly ordered. Cerberus twisted round, before blue flames tinted white erupted from his frothing mouth, enveloping quite a few. They fell back, and Arzuros used Cerberus' back to hone in and land a Cross Chop. The smoke swiftly cleared, and Cerberus leapt up, and shot another Dragon Rage. The Rattata still swarmed, insisting on defeating Cerberus and Arzuros. They bit and scratched, surrounding Odin and her Pokemon. "We are NOT becoming rat food! Dark Rage!" Cerberus immediately understood, to Odin's relief. Cerberus' mouth frothed with a dark, purple glow. It expanded slowly, before a small sphere enveloped him, Odin and Arzuros. He opened his mouth wider, before the sphere moved out and pushed out. It shoved the Rattata back, before exploding in a colossal purple explosion. The smoke cleared, and Cerberus lay there, staying still, obviously exhausted. I returned him to his Pokeball, before running away.

Arzuros Cross Chopped anything that came near us, knocking everything down as we raced to the Pokemon Center. As I ran through though, I saw a faint orange light. Campfire. I decided to head towards it, and when I did, I saw two people - a boy with a Mincinno and a girl with a Cottonee and Teddiursa - chatting. A tent was set up relatively near them. Gathering my courage, I walked forward.

(Jory, it's not 3AM yet . We have 12 more posts to go till it's Day 2. Don't think I'm telling you off for that random thing by the way, I'm just saying ^^)

OOC: PLEASD REMEMBER TO PUT THE REMAINING POSTS IN A SPOILER.

12 posts left till Day 2.

Edited September 19, 2013 by Amaterasu

[Rycast]

After wandering for a while, trying to decide whether to go back to New Bark Town or go on to Cherrygrove City, Rino decided to rest under a nearby tree.

"I can't believe I walked the same stretch of road back and forth for that long, just to end up where I started..." Rino sighed in exasperation at himself as he let Ralts and Budew out of their Pokeballs.

"Sorry for not being able to get you guys to a Pokemon Center, there was a sudden change in plans... And a couple more sudden changes after that. How are you two doing?"

"Bud Budew..." Budew was able to talk at last, but it still had a pained look on its face. Tenshi did not utter a sound and instead looked up to the tree they were under and pointed at the blue, round items on its leaves.

"Are those... Oran Berries?" Rino climbed the tree to retrieve the fruit and to his luck, there were three Oran Berries. "They are! That's great, now I don't have to go back to that boring town or rush ahead. Here you go Budew, Tenshi. I think I'll save this last one for later." Rino handed a berry to Tenshi and held one up to Budew's mouth. As Budew ate the Oran Berry, it lost it's weak look and happily cried, "Budew!"

"Good for you Budew, are you ready to go now?" Budew stood up quickly and used Growth to appear larger. "Budew!"

"Another show off, huh? I think you and Tenshi will get along just fine. What do you think Tenshi?"

Ralts was just finishing the berry he was given. "He seems different from the others. I like him, but he won't be hearing this." Ralts sent his thoughts to Rino, who chuckled in accordance.

"Hearing your voice in my head again, must mean you're ready to go, too, so come on!" Rino stood up and put the remaining Oran Berry in his bag as he resumed walking down the road. On the way, he noticed a couple of trainers. Ahead of him was a person wearing a lab coat with a Riolu. Rino thought about catching up and scanning it with the Pokedex, but that meant social interaction, so instead he slowed his pace. Some other time, a girl was coming up from behind and Rino hid in the trees as he watched the silver haired trainer passed by. She seemed like she was running away from something or someone. At one point, a battle could be heard in the vicinity, so Rino checked it out, to see a girl in a red dress and her Turtwig rejoicing over defeating a Pansage. Looks like I missed it, Rino thought, as he turned back and went on his way.

Dusk soon approached, and Rino saw a small light in the surrounding area. There was a small campfire in a clearing and a man with dark blonde hair sleeping next to it. A few yards away, a tent was set up. "It's getting late Tenshi, I think we should stay near that fire and hope the Murkrow from earlier stays away. If you want, I could return you to your Pokeball like Budew."

"Staying close to others is a good idea. I prefer to stay outside."

"Alright buddy, whatever you want." Rino was careful not to wake up the other people and crept over to the largest tree nearby. He climbed it with difficulty, trying not to make any loud noise by breaking a branch and laid on one facing opposite the campfire. Ralts followed suit on the branch above. After a few minutes, both trainer and pokemon were sound asleep. In the middle of the night, the snap of a twig was heard. Rino, still cautious of the Murkrow, opened his eyes instantly. He looked around and the only new thing was a girl approaching the campsite holding a teddy bear in front of her face. The other trainer woke up slowly and revealed to have a Minccino with him. The two conversed for a bit before the owner of the campfire showed hospitality to the girl. Awkward social interaction. Must be nice, Rino thought, as he went back to sleep, seeing no trouble has occurred.

11 posts left till Day 2.

Edited September 19, 2013 by Rycast

[Manes]

It was far from a normal day in the wilds too. Wild Pokémon were very much like humans----they gossip amongst their cliques, talking of things seen unusually.

"Hey, have you heard? A certain Sentret got caught!"
"Wait----that was my friend's mate's friend! I feel sorry for her."
"Yeah... I bet Sentret will run away the first chance it gets. She loves that guy dearly---even if she's not the alpha."

"I bet!"

Such conversations would happen when they weren't struggling to survive---or when they weren't mock-fighting amongst themselves. It stands to reason, then, that the influx of younger humans did not go unnoticed.

And neither did the new arrivals to the wild. ("Hey, what's that? Is... is that a Murkrow?")

The wild Pokémon of Route 29 were wary of these changes---and rightfully so. Growing stronger is not a concern when one's life is threatened every day by starvation. Any new arrivals means more competition for food.

Sometimes, though... you get some really unusual immigrants.

This is the story of an amber Zigzagoon who spoke like a human.

"Yawn... nothing new under the sun", the raccoon muttered. "Well... cept for the Murkrow. And Pansage. Seriously, what's with that? They're not part of the normal habitat. Did stuff get shuffled around while I wasn't looking?"

The hungry Zigzagoon stumbled around, looking for food. "Yeah, I could go for steak... or berries... really, ANYTHING. I miss barley tea..."

She started paying attention to the goings-on of the woods, listening in to conversations when she was sure no one was leering at her. (Sometimes, that Leer would be literal. Sometimes, it would be the kind that inexplicably lowered her defense.)

After some deliberation, she came to a conclusion.

"I'm a damn raccoon. Forget living in the wild---I can just go to a human town. Probably gonna get noticed by a human and get caught, but whatever. That'd be an improvement."

The Zigzagoon set her eyes upon a human town. She knew the name: Cherrygrove.

Telmaris (Zigzagoon ♀) - Lv. 8

Nature: Adamant

Moveset:

Tackle

Growl

Tail Whip

10 posts left till Day 2.

Edited September 20, 2013 by RisingManes

[rustytengo]

I stood there blinking for a few moments after the girl ran away after i tried to talk to her. Then I just laughed to my self thinking "Just a few years ago I would of not even tried to talk to anyone" . Making a mental note to my self of how the girl looked and to try and talk to her again if i ran into her once more partly because i found her quite adorable in a younger sister sort of way.

Looking at my Pokegear to check the time. I realize that i had enough time to either continue on towards Cherrygrove or to wonder around Route 29 for the rest of the day. I decide to continue searching for some Pokemon around the route for the remainder of the day. As i was looking around i wandered into a much deeper part of the forest where even the last remains of the sun where having trouble lighting the grounds. I decide to follow the only path that i could make out though the under brush. The path lead me to a place where the trees where old and gnarled looking. As i looked around i notice a figure land on one of the trees, I looked over to where i saw the figure on the tree was a blackish-blue looking bird with a wired hat on its head it let out the cry "murkrow". I take out my Pokedex and use it scan the new Pokemon it read out in its robotic voice "Murkrow, the Darkness Pokémon. It appears near travelers to lure them into deep forests. It is said to carry misfortune."

"A Murkrow it might be of some use,If catch it but that would only be if i can manage to get it out of the tree." I say to my self as i thinking of ways to get it down.Only one came to my mind to have Boulder just ram the tree and hope that that will be enough. So thus i released Boulder from its ball and have him ram the tree with his Horn Attack. I worked like thought it would but there was a unforeseen consequence that i did not think of. As the Murkrow i was distracting me i did not notice the other dozen or so that have landed on the other trees. So when the Murkrow that i was after fell out of the tree it caused a chain reaction in the others of it flock (wait not flock murder i corrected myself in my head) to start cawing. I quickly returned Boulder back o the safety of his ball and started to slowly try and sneak out of the area knowing that one Pokemon was not worth getting injured over. But alas that did not work and i found my having to run as fast as i could out of there with a murder of Murkrows not that far behind me. By this time the sun has just finished sinking over the horizon and the moon was making its ascent into the night sky. I was running through a meadow at this point not really looking where my feet where falling. When suddenly i tripped over some thing and found my face a few inches from a girl wearing red face. All i could say at that point was"Sup" to the girl but the look in her eyes told me by either her or the Murkrows i was going to be in pain really soon.

(ooc if need be you can bunny my character just as long as i can if i need to i can to. i actually got the spoiler brackets to work go me)

9 post left until day 2

Edited September 20, 2013 by rustytengo

[Code: PIRULUK]

"Well, it's pretty late. If you want to sleep by the fire, feel free."

"T-Thank you."

I opened up my bag and pulled out a neatly folded bedroll. Unfolding it, I lay it across the ground next to the fire, taking the time to smooth it out. Activity was good. Activity meant no social interaction. Activity meant that the man on my left - Jory - wouldn't talk to me. Eventually, the bedroll was straighter and smoother than it was before I'd put it in my bag last night. Which meant there was nothing else to do. I made a show of tucking Mika in, but was interrupted with a cough.

"So... Orpha, was it?"

Oh crap. Here it comes. That dreaded social interaction.

"U-um, yes."

Expectant silence followed.

"So... how old are you?"

"Eighteen, sir."

Wait, what. Oh no. Orpha! Stop reverting back to your old speech patterns. Speak like a normal person! I spent enough time trying to get rid of this thing; it took me 5 months to stop calling Eve "Miss"

Jory raises an eyebrow.

"Did you just call me 'sir'?"

Come on, don't embarrass yourself more. Just lie.

"Um, no. Sir."

Damn it.

Jory chuckled awkwardly.

"I'm eighteen as well, so I really don't think you should give me an honorific."

He thinks I'm weird. He definitely thinks I'm weird.

"I'm sorry sir, I can't help it, sir."

Dear subconscious, sometimes I want to punch you in the face. Which would be the equivalent of punching myself in the face. But still.

"Well, suit yourself."

Oh. He's not going to laugh at me. Not openly, at least. That's nice of him. I make a deliberate effort to not call him sir, and after much struggling and self-restraint, I succeed.

"Thank you for understanding, S- Jory."

YES.

Jory laughed lightly.

"Sure. Anyway, we're both late starters on our journey. Why'd you take so long?"

That was one question I would rather not answer. Nice person or not, I wasn't quite ready to share the details of my life.

"I'm really sorry, I would prefer not to talk about it, s- Jory."

YES! I DID IT AGAIN!

"Suffice to say, I'm doing this for some people who are very important to me."

Confident that I had fulfilled my quota of socialising for the day, I lay down and pulled the bedroll over me. Mika scampered in alongside me and curled up by my head, cute eyes fluttering closed. Lily floated down and landed lightly on the bedroll, near my legs. On his side of the fire, Jory didn't say another word. I pulled out my mobile phone and typed out a text to Eve.

"Hey Eve!

I got my starter and first Pokemon, a Cottonee and a Teddiursa. They're both SUPER adorable ^^. Lily, the Cottonee, is a tactical genius ^Q^ And Mika - the Teddiursa - is just the sweetest thing <3 I'm headed to Cherrygrove City now!

You'll be glad to know, I'm getting a bit better at socialising. I think. I'm sharing a fire with this other guy, Jory, and I managed to not call him "sir" twice! ...Out of 6 times ;_; But it's progress! And he's pretty nice.

Don't worry though, you're the only one for me <3 I miss your touch already :< Hope to see you again soon. Until then, know that you're in my dreams. ALL of them. And I mean ALL.

With loads and loads of hugs and kisses,

Orpha <3"

I put the phone back into my bag and closed my eyes. I could faintly hear footsteps headed in our direction, but I ignored them. Probably another trainer coming over to socialise. I had done more than my share of socialising for the day. And so, I drifted off to sleep in sweet, solitary solace.

(OOC: Please don't murder me for bunnying ;_; I needed to close out the interaction. Also, @Jory, I hope I did justice to your character.)

Countdown to day 2: 8 posts]

Edited September 20, 2013 by Acquiescence

[Pokelord]

"Daniel, you need to get ready for today." That was my mother yelling at me, but what for?

"What mom?" I responded half asleep

"You need to get ready for your journey to Johto."

"WHAT?"

"Yes."

"From Petalburg City?"

"Yes."

"O.K. mother."

I got my regular clothing on along with my black and white backpack. Then, I flew on a Skarmory that came to pick up.

SOME TIME LATER...

"Ugh... FINALLY, only problem It is night; I need to get some sleep" I said.

I found a tree to sleep under and so I soon fell asleep.

But soonish I was woke up by a man in a lab coat.

"Who are you?" I asked

"I'm Professor Elm." stated the professor.

"Oh, I'm Daniel, Daniel N. Lemmel"

"I've been expecting you but I'm busy can you come in a few hours?"

"Sure."

Edited September 20, 2013 by Pokelord

[Color]

As the twinkling sprinkles of stars glittered across the boundless sky, the three travelers slept soundlessly. While the trainer slept with her arms splayed out across the grass, her bare feet barely tickled by the individual blades of grass, her hair nothing more than an ebony halo around her head, and her dress now splayed messily across her body. Usually, Color would invest in a blanket, and probably throw on her pajamas in the messy fashion, but with running endlessly for several hours and catching her first Pokemon, her body just gave out completely.

While Color slept silently, and Grass Mini snoring loudly against her hair, Fang remained awake and alert, curled up tightly on the his trainer's chest. Even though he was caught fair and square, his pride was still wounded. His authority was crushed beneath her boot, and was never going to gained back. The grass monkey slanted his eyes, running his unusually long tongue along his equally unusually sharp teeth. If only he had something to fight in order to blow off steam, a Pokemon, human, anything!

Suddenly, a faint sound of flapping wings caught Fang's attention. His large, oval-shaped ears twitched twice, unsure of the source. However, the symphony of feathers pushing together in one perfect unison. Fang hopped up this time, growling in his throat to alert his trainer. Sadly, she grumbled in her sleep, turning over and allowing Grass Mini to slide off of her head and end up on the ground with a loud thump. Fang shook his head, chattering softly along the lines off "My trainer is an idiot".

Yet, as soon Fang shook his head a silhouette burst through the cage of bushes, with the sound of heavy footsteps. The monkey cartwheeled out of the way, watching the figure trip over his trainer and stand only a few inches from his trainer's sleeping face. The Turtwig that rolled off of Color's head slowly woke up with a start, blinking his eyes a couple of times to clear his blurry vision.

"Twig, Twig, Turrrrr." Grass Mini yawned loudly, steadying his yellow irises towards the figure and immediately hopped on four legs and glared at the intruder.

"TWIG!" he shouted in his trainer's ear, finally waking her up with a slow start. Color yawned softly, blinking her eyes behind her long bangs. When her own blurry vision cleared she looked up, a person, a male that looked around her age glanced nervously down at her. His breath ragged from running and foolishly tripping over her, made her nose wrinkle in slight disgust as she glared up at him.

"Sup?" he greeted hurriedly, not making a single attempt to get off of her.

"Fang, get this nerd off of me. Vine Whip." Fang smirked, happy to comply as the thick vines pierced through the monkey's wrists and wrapped tightly the trainer's wrists. With a single tug he was violently pulled back and tightly held down. Fang looked down at the trainer, revealing his sharp front teeth. His snarl erupted from his chest, making the trainer's eyes widen in surprise and slight fear. Color merely laughed, waving her hand away.

"Enough Fang, stop scaring him, he ain't gonna do anything now." Color drawled, taking her bare foot and pressing it down on the intruder's chest. Grass Mini approached the trainer cautiously, looking him up and down to make sure he wasn't armed. The Pokemon quickly eyed the Poke Balls and tapped Color on her ankle.

"Twig!"

"Hm?" Color eyed the Poke Balls carefully, before glancing back at the trainer, her lips tied into a small frown. "Ohh, I see your a trainer as well. Tsk." the performer clicked her tongue, pressing her hands on her hips. "Haven't you learn to watch where you are going?" Color questioned, digging the ball of her foot into his chest to emphasize her point.

"B-But the Murkrow?"

"Murkrow?"

"SAGE!!!" Fang screeched loudly, turning his head to stare beyond the trees to spot a hint of a black wing. That turned into two wings, then four, and a complete flock suddenly exploded from the brushes of trees.

"OH SHI-" Color couldn't even finish her sentence as Grass Mini pushed his head against her leg. The performer released her foot from the trainer, scooped up Fang who released the trainer's wrists, and tugged on her boots without even tying the strings. She threw the Poke Balls and Dex in the sack, threw it over her shoulder, tossed Grass Mini on her head, and Fang on her shoulder and turned towards the dirt road. She looked over her shoulder, watching as the guy sprung up from the ground, fearfully staring at the group of Murkrow that was rocketing towards them.

"Unless you want to be pecked to death, GET MOVING" she order roughly, running behind him and pushing him forward. He quickly got the message, taking off towards the dirt road as well, while Color followed behind with Fang screeching angrily in her arms and Grass Mini covering his eyes from the fearful sight.

"WATCH OUTTTT!!! MURKROWWW ON THE LOOOOOSEEEE" Color screamed at the top of her lungs.

7 days till day 2

Edited September 20, 2013 by Color

[Pokelord]

"WATCH OUTTTT!!! MURKROWWW ON THE LOOOOOSEEEE" a girl screamed at the top of her lungs.

"What, A Murkrow attack !?" I exclaimed in a Shocked manner.

I went into the near by lab and told Elm that a horde of Murkrow are on the loose

"Hurrily that one of these and this Pokedex" said Elm as fast he could. I choose the one with the eye on it.

"GO, POKEMON!" A white-bodied pokemon with a green helmet and red horns

"Ral,Ralts" said the creature

"hmmm... How does Rosa sound" I asked. The feeling pokemon nodded its head in consent after a moments pause.

"thanks, Professor."

I hurred with Rosa to the scene but I collapsed in the middle of the Route.

[Manes]

"Oh vey. What's going on over there?" The Zigzagoon turned her gaze upon the route she heard screams from.

----

Earlier that day...

"Oh my god, I think I'd rather die than eat this rancid slop!" The raccoon was struggling to keep herself from retching on the sidewalk---though the smell of her vomit would likely add a delicate bouquet of stomach acid to the already flagrant scent of turned-over trash bin. It rightfully smelled of rotten fruit, too.

"I really need a Trainer... I can just outright tell them if I get tired of the same rations. Hell, I can make my own damn decisions. What are they gonna do---put me in a Poké Ball I can already open from inside with no effort?"

She was pleasantly surprised that nobody with a Pokédex had noticed the amber-colored, talking Zigzagoon. She knew that her coloration was rare, and her ability to speak rarer still. "I could just act cute, go to a shelter and get adopted by a nice guy... then I'd run away. And I'd be a horrible person for it. No. I can't stay in one town. I need a Trainer."

Her musings were soon interrupted by some screams.

----

"WATCH OUTTTT!!! MURKROWWW ON THE LOOOOOSEEEE" a girl screamed at the top of her lungs.

"...Oh. Okay. I can take one on, no problem. Grk... I feel kinda sick..." She rushed towards Route 29, intending to attempt to take on the Murkrow with her own four feet.

"Okay, you. You are going to calm your chesticles down, or I give you a massage of Tackle!" She waited for the crow to stop rampaging. She owed... wait, which gender is this Murkrow?... that much.

5 posts 'till Day 2.

Edited September 20, 2013 by RisingManes