Pokémon Legends: Liberation (Open)

[Avalite]

You were supposed to thank opponents? Henrietta looked up slightly when she heard Wayne and she saw the hand in her face. Taking it, she was pulled up to her feet.

"Thank you for the match," she repeated in a much quieter voice. "I've never had a Pokemon match before. It would be the second time using my Pokemon, too." she said. So, more than relatively new, it was more like it was her first day calling herself an official trainer.

She rose her head up a little more, looking at Wayne, though she refused to meet his eyes. A sort of awkward smile formed, as if she reassure him that she wasn't a depressed twit and she immediately looked away.

"I'm, hum, not good around people.."  

[Marsuru]

"Well that's okay," Wayne said, hands behind his head as he looked at the sky, "it's just who you are. Nothing to worry about."

He frowned when he realised something. Looking back at Henrietta though hardly moving his head, he said:

"Wait, how do you have three pokémon already if you've never battled before?"  

[Klarp Glornharm]

Robby waved at Crown as he walked away, not really getting why the other would need to go to Nuvema. The fact, however, that the direction he'd been heading towards was Nuvema meant that the obese youth was going the wrong way...

With a sigh, he turned around and started waddling the other direction, back towards the town. To the mart, he'd decided. He needed a map. All the time he walked, one hand could be seen feeding him chips.  

[Avalite]

"My, hum, parents got them for me. They wanted to make sure I'd be safe, so..."

She looked down again, realized where that put her eyes and shot her gaze upward and off to the side, her face red again. "Hum, I don't mean to take you away from your training."  

[Artemis Wolfe]

As Salieri spoke, a tan and brown pokemon slowly stumbled to the scene. It sat down lazily at the korean girl's feet and yawned loudly.

"A b-battle?" Eunmi stammered. She looked down at Da Vinci and then to Salieri's Pokémon. The comparison was shameful.

"I can't even avoid a wild Pokémon-" she started, but her Oshawott squirmed out of her arms and hopped on the ground. He puffed up his chest and held his arms up to flex.

"Osha osha!" it said, smacking a nub to its chest, right against the shell. It made an hollow clank sound.

"Smeeeeaaaar..." the Smeargle yawned, waggling it's tail lazily like a flag, as if trying to show its support with as little effort as possible. Eunmi frowned, but gave her Pokémon a nod.

"I guess you could use some training," she replied. "Or I'll never make it to Castelia City..."

"Okay, sure," she said. "Eunmi Sung, by the way.

"Actually, just call me 'Emi'," she said as she took a step backwards. "It's easier for people to say."

Eunmi didn't really know the proper ettiquette to battling, so she was hoping Salieri would start things off.  

[Marsuru]

"...You're an odd girl, Henrietta," Wayne said, bringing his hand from behind his head and down onto hers so he could ruffle her hair, "but I guess you're right. Gym Leaders don't beat themselves."

He grinned and took his hand back, putting both into his pockets, "We should battle again after you get stronger. Maybe then you'll be able to look me in the eye."

--

"Your Solosis is all well again," chimed the nurse as she handed the pokéball back to Wayne. She paused when she met his eyes, which were narrowed and staring at her intently, "Is there something wrong?"
"Don't think I'm not onto you," said the trainer as he turned away, leaving the nurse confused as he left the pokémon center and stepped out into the fresh air.

Wayne stretched in the sun and looked about. It didn't take him long to choose a destination and he soon found himself on the hill where Ghetsis had made his speech. From here he could see just about the whole town. Shouts and the sound of pokémon fighting could be heard from just beyond the Pokémon Center, from the battle area. Wayne was struck by a stiff breeze and he lowered his gaze to inspect the grass.

"This is gonna be my starting point," he said to himself, plucking a few blades of grass and grinding them togther with the tips of his fingers. He stood up and let the grass scatter on the wind, "Alright. I'm ready. Let's do this."

--

"Down and out," Wayne said as Hitmonlee completed his Rolling Kick and landed back down on the ground. The losing trainer started to whine about his defeated pokémon but Wayne let it wash over him. What's with the trainers around here? Henrietta was tougher than this.

"Thanks for the battle," said Wayne, cutting the kid trainer off mid-excuse. He checked his trainer card and frowned as the bank balance was updated with his prize money. "Only went up by 65. That's no good."

"I'm gonna get stronger! You'll see!" the youngster yelled before flouncing off, leaving Wayne to look at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Shorts are stupid!" he shouted as the kid went through the town gates and then shook his head, "Nice work, Hitmonlee," the trainer grinned and Hitmonlee struck a power stance. Wayne sighed, "Gonna have to work on your victory pose though."

Hitmonlee started blinking, confused, as Wayne scrolled through his pokédex, walking further down Route 2. He stopped when he reached some tall grass, noting that there was nobody else about.

"How far can you kick?"
"Lee?"
"Like, your legs are springs. How far can you stretch them? The Pokédex says double but I bet they can go longer."
"Hitmon... lee?"
"Okay, see that big rock over there? Try holding onto it while I pull on your legs."

Hitmonlee looked worried but when he met Wayne's eyes, the trainer just grinned and the pokémon's resolve was iron clad. He rubbed his palms together, approached the rock that was blocking off one of the branches in the path and hung onto either side. Wayne grabbed Hitmonlee at the ankles and wedged his feet under his arms.

"Hold on as tight as you can," he told the pokémon as he began making tracks backward, "hold on... tight..."

Wayne was gritting his teeth and Hitmonlee was grunting. Wayne reached Hitmonlee's supposed maximum leg length and carried on pulling. It was difficult, but second after second the pokémon's legs gradually got pulled out. Wayne's shoes were digging into the dirt path and started sliding back towards the giant rock. He forced the legs against his torso and took a hard step back.

Hitmonlee's fingers were aching, threatening to tear away from the rock. He scrunched up his eyes. His hands were shaking by now and his grip was wearing thin. Wayne carried on pulling. Pulling. Eventually it became too much and Hitmonlee had to let go. At the same time, Wayne's feet slipped and he was pulled forward; both trainer and pokémon collided and then landed in a heap on the ground.

While vaguely aware of some girls walking past and giggling at them, Wayne was more concerned about what he'd just learned. The Pokédex could be wrong. He grinned at the thought of it. Also Hitmonlee's legs were probably stretched out like a spring right now. That wasn't so good. He bolted upright and Hitmonlee did the same, resulting in a double headsmash that caused them both enough pain to flinch away, nursing their foreheads.

"H-how you feeling, Hitmonlee?" Wayne asked with a tear in his eye. Hitmonlee gave a thumbs up then tried hopping to his feet. He eventually managed to get upright. His shadow stretching over Wayne, who just stared up with his mouth hanging open.
"Monlee?"
"I think we stretched them too far!" Wayne cried, eyes wide.
"Lee?!"
"Relax! Relax!" Wayne shouted, standing up, "This is so for a good reason, alright!"
"Hitmonlee!"
"I know what your name is, stop saying it!" Wayne shouted. This was no good. Hitmonlee's legs were longer than Wayne was tall. The trainer slapped himself on the forehead and drew his palm across his face. Okay. All they had to do was put the legs back to how they used to be, right? He looked up. If nothing else, he was determined to try.  

[Dilorex]

Danny stood at the edge of town, looking out into the forest. He didn't really feel like walking all the way through to the next town, but he also wanted to train up his two Pokemon. It was an interesting development.

As he took a few steps, he realized that this route, along with every single other route that seemed to exist in every region, there were those ledges that could be jumped.

Smiling to himself, he took a poke ball off of his belt and threw it up into the air, the latch releasing. In a flash of white light, his Ponyta appeared next to him. Neighing, the fire pokemon nuzzled his face with her muzzle and snorted, wanting some attention.

"Ready for a run?" he asked her, rubbing her firey mane, which felt no hotter than normal hair due to the fact that she trusted him. Ponyta nodded, and so Danny jumped up onto her back and settled into the groove between her shoulder blades.

As soon as he was set she took off, diamond hard hooves pounding the weak grasses and flowers. With no fear at all, the young Pokemon easily leapt the ledges that they kept coming across, making their travel down the route a breeze.

On top of the exercise she was getting, Ponyta and Danny shared a bond as trainer/Pokemon, and rider/steed.

Within minutes they cleared route 1 and entered the bustling city. Danny slowed her up as they approached the Pokemon Center, wanting to get down so the Ponyta could take a break.  

[Zamaku]

Takamaru Walked down the Street of Accumula Town in the direction of route Two. A Cany bar half unwrapped hung from his mouth. Removing the bar of candy he cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled "Drill!! WHERE ARE YOU!!" and with that a Mid sized mole looking pokemon jumped out from behind a nearby building and waddled twords Takamaru.

"where Have ya' been? me and Templar almost left with out cha'" he said to the pokemon as smaller Insectoid looking pokemon Jumped from out from behind him with a large grin upon its face. "alright you two lets get going. i wanna reach striaton city before night fall." and with that Takamaru recalled them to there respective pokeballs.

Further down the road he spotted two people in the middle of the road, one a female and the other.... Rather large. he approched the duo carefuly, not speaking until he grasped the situation in full.  

[Avalite]

Look him in the eyes? Henrietta kept her head down until Wayne was gone and she shook her head. "We can't even get through stupid route one," Henrietta grumbled. She looked down at her two active Pokemon.

Darumaka was running around in circles and Melty was smiling, his flame burning brighter than usual. Henrietta smile and started to walk when the dizziness set in. With a groan she stumbled up against the wall of the Pokemon Center and she turned herself so her back was against it and she lowered herself to the ground.

"After a little rest, we'll try again," she said.

[Hey! heyheyheyheyhey!] Darumi shouted as he began making his laps around Melty.

[Hey what, eyebrows?] Melty responded.

[Tone it down, she's about to collapse, bro, hey, bro, bro, brobrobro, quititout.] Darumi said.

[What? The silly human lets me walk about, if he kicks the bucket I'll just get one of these newbie trainers to make the same mistake.] Melty said.

And then suddenly he was taken from his wax and knocked to the ground by Darumi's rollout.

[Ugh, you stupi-

Again he was hit, harder this time.

[Alright, alright, I'll stop!] Melty shouted and Darumi came around again, this time, though, when they collided Darumi went tumbling with Melty and they ended up in a pile before Henrietta.

[Sorry, didn'tknowhowtostop. NowIdo.] Darumi said as he stood up.

[How is that stopping!?] Melty shouted but Darumi just grinned and made his way over to Henrietta, tapped the button on Melty's ball and recalled the Litwick.

And then he looked up at his trainer. Her head was lowered, her face was covered in sweat, she was unconscious. Probably felt feverish. He hoped she'd feel better later.

So, having nothing better to do, Darumi went to investigate the town.  

[Jump Einatz]

Salieri grinned at the acceptance of the duel, showing off a playful yet mischievous smirk. "Hehe, excellent," she said happily as she pounded her fist into her open palm. "Chen Zhen, time to step up."

The Pansage happily flipped, tumbled and carthwheeled over towards a large patch of short grass. Salieri followed, standing a fair distance behind her grass monkey. Liuye Dao silently stalked after his trainer, standing besides her with his eyes focused on the field.

"We'll make it a one on one. First move's yours, Emi," Salieri told Eunmi with a relaxed bow, putting her hands into a monk salute as she did so.  

[Marsuru]

Wayne fell to his hands and knees in a sweat, his latest attempt to fix Hitmonlee's legs a failure. Putting the spring-like legs back in place after pulling them out to over six times their length was proving difficult.

"Nothing's working," he said through gasps, stomping his foot down and pushing back onto his feet, "This is bad."

Hitmonlee wobbled around, taking jaunty strides like a drunk man on stilts. Wayne watched with a furrowed brow before getting an idea. This time it was a good idea.

"Hey! I know what you need to do," he said with a grin, "See that big rock?" He pointed to a large boulder that was hanging over the side of an equally large pit, "use Rolling Kick on it."

"Mon?" Hitmonlee looked down at the rock then back to his trainer. He nodded. Even though the angle would be a pain, he'd still try. And with wobbly step after wobbly step, Hitmonlee strode forth and did his best to jump but failed to spin and deliver the kick. His legs got caught up with each other and he tripped, landing on the ground in a heap.

"Are you okay?" Wayne yelled as he ran over, breathing a sigh of relief when Hitmonlee gave him a shaky thumbs up, "Try it again. Don't think about the way you're moving, just focus on the target." Hitmonlee stayed quiet, mulling over the orders. Wayne said, "Do you think you can do that?"

Hitmonlee got back up, this time with a fair bit more ease than before and took a slightly less wobbly step backward. His was his run up; he started a quick dash, eyes focused on the rock. He had to get in lower, but jumping was part of the technique. He'd have to jump downwards then, wouldn't he? Towards the ground? His legs came away from the floor and he span around a full revolution.

By the time he'd reached the target boulder, he was in position and his foot slammed into it correctly. The rock slid back a couple of inches and Hitmonlee landed on the floor. He turned around to his trainer who, to his surprise, was taller than him.

"Sweet, it worked," Wayne grinned as Hitmonlee saw that his legs were the right size again, "Just as I thought; you couldn't control the length of your legs consciously, so it had to be subconsciously." The trainer knelt down, "Try to remember how this feels, cause I have a feeling-"

Hitmonlee's legs shook again and a second later they extended and he shot off into the air, flailing about. Wayne said "...this might happen," as he looked up at the sky. He stood up, determined expression on his face, and positioned himself below Hitmonlee in order to catch him when he fell.

The Pokémon was heavier than he'd expected and he lurched forward when he made the catch. Staggering, Wayne caught his balance and checked Hitmonlee's legs.

"They're long again," he said quickly, "remember what I said about memorising how their normal length felt? Try to return to that feeling, concentrate on it."

As he said this, Hitmonlee closed his eyes and started to focus. Little by little, second by second, his legs retracted and became normal again. Wayne set him down and Hitmonlee took a few cautious practice steps. When he no longer felt that he was going to spring up again, he turned around and struck his power stance.

"Finally, that's over with," Wayne sighed. He ran his fingers through his hair and put his hands behind his head, "still, now we've got a new maximum limit. Go back to the boulder and try kicking so that your leg stretches again."

"Mon," Hitmonlee nodded before hurrying over. He stood a fair distance away and kicked out. His leg extended at lightning speed, slamming his foot into the boulder and carving an indent in the side. Hitmonlee concentrated again and retracted his leg. He tried it a few more times, each time shortening how long it took to return to a normal state.

"Sweet," Wayne commented as he watched Hitmonlee practice, "your legs are so tightly wound that they can exert an incredible force when they're released. Once you get used to this, try adding it to your Rolling Kick."

The weakness to the Rolling Kick technique was that it meant showing your back to the opponent. Like this, that weakness could largely be negated since they could attack outside the enemy's range. Wayne checked through the pokédex to find any other useful information to help with their training, all the while Hitmonlee kicked, kicked and kicked some more, determined to prove his worth.  

[Jump Einatz]

As Darumi waddled Accumula Town, a teenager with long green hair sat on the edge of the fountain in the town'scenter, fumbling with something that looked like a Rubic's Cube hanging off the side of his belt. He was a nice looking guy, but with his head down and his concentration clearly on the cube, there was no way he would be social enough to interact with the other trainer.

But as Darumi passed him, his ears perked up, and his eyes shifted away from the cube and towards the Darumaka. A mellow smile crossed his face and he stood up, dropping the cube and allowing it to hang off of his belt as he took a few steps towards the Fire type.

"Hello little friend," he called out to Darumi, holding out his hand in an inviting manner. His speech was quick yet comprehensible, as if constant thought pushed his ideas out of his mouth faster. "Are you lost? I've never seen a Darumaka in this area before."  

[Avalite]

Darumi's eyebrows perked up when he heard the guy talk. He looked over at him and grinned real wide. Now stopping? Totally not happening. The man held out a hand and Darumi jumped to it, turning it into a high five.

"Daru!" he said which roughly translated into, [adventuring].  

[Jump Einatz]

The teen laughed at Darumi's jovial attitude, accepting the high five as it came down. "Adventuring? I like seeing a pokemon with an attitude like yours."

The teen bowed down to Darumi, extending one arm out to his side while keeping the other over his heart. It was a bow fit for royalty, which combined with his casual outfit of a black trucker hat and plain trainer clothes made him look a little out of place among the other townsfolk. "My name is N, and it's very nice to meet you."

Turning around, N gestured to Accumula Town. The main streets weren't congested like in a busy city such as Castelia Town, but they still bustled with activity. "Tell me new friend, what do you think of the town before you? Isn't it an eyesore?"  

[Avalite]

"Maka?"[What?] Darumi tilted his form to the side. He could be understood? By a human? This was new?

The Darumaka didn't keep still, though. Instead, as he answered N, he ran circles around the guy.

[It's great! My trainer is silly, but I like her! There's this dumb candle thing, though, that totally messed her up. StupidcandlethingLitwickorwhatever, Trainer chick calls him Melty, hopehisbrainmelts,dumbcandle.]

[Ohrighthetown. It's great! Haven't seen much, though. Saw these weights, totallyliftedhtmeliketheywerenothing.] he said with an added flex.