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 Posted: Tue Jun 18, 2013 10:13 pm
Ben was feeling triumphant as the owl took the hit, but the good feeling didn't last long when he saw his Pidgey promptly floating to the ground and laying motionless. "Pidgey!" he called out, wondering what had just happened, until he saw the red glow of Hoothoot's eyes. Falkner had used Hypnosis again, and this time, to full effect. Scoffing slightly in frustration, Ben clenched his fists. He had no way of waking his Pidgey up. He had no choice but to call him back. Taking his pokeball, his bird was returned, Ben's eyes level on the older blue haired boy. "You're smart. But Let's see if you're smart enough to outrun my Pikachu!"
Snagging his second ball from his belt, he sent it flying, the yellow electric mouse making his appearance with electricity sparking threateningly from his cheeks. He loved acting tough to try and get a reaction, the little jokester. But Ben couldn't hold it against him now, for a Gym battle. Grinning at his Pokemon's smart move, Ben ordered his first attack. "Pikachu, use Quick Attack!" The yellow mouse let out a fierce battle cry and darted forward, almost disappearing with the agility he displayed as he aimed straight toward the weakened owl.
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Posted: Tue Jun 18, 2013 10:26 pm
“How well do yah think he’s doing?” Scarlet asked, glancing down at Cindy, who simply snorted. After all, Jett beat them. What chance in hell did a bug trainer have? “Heh, yeah. I doubt he had any trouble at all. I just hope we didn’t miss his- Oh! Heh, speak of the devil!”
There was Jett, and judging by the excited aura he carried about him, he had approximately as much trouble with Bugsy as Scarlet and Jasper’d expected. The redhead’s lips curled up in a completely unrestrained grin as a hand darted to pat Jett on the shoulder. “Heh heh! We toldya you’d be fine! How’d it go!? Wasn’t too terrible, right?”
“Dude, my morning was…” He sighed and shook his head as the horrific memory of what had befallen him and Sledge crept into his head, of that caterpie’s horrible victory cry, of the roggenrola’s muffled screams. “… I will tell you later. In probably excruciating detail, but that is a story that needs to be shared. And I’m pretty sure we’ll do fine. How ‘bout you, Cindy? Nervous?”
The quilava closed her eyes and smirked, flames on her head and back flaring up. She calmly strolled up to the door and sat down, looking back at Scarlet and barking.
“Ah ah,” the redhead grinned. “You’re my ace in the hole, buddy. Can’t have the enemy know you exist just yet, can we?”
The arrogant smile on Cindy’s face almost instantly inverted. She let out an annoyed snarl, the patch flickering. The heat haze that surrounded the quilava almost gave Scarlet pause. Almost.
“Don’t worry. You’ll get your chance. Just can’t have you status crippled before the party starts, right?”
She sighed, her grimace shifting to a pout. A pout, huh? I can work with that.
“Heh heh. Don’t worry. I promise you’ll get to play. Scout’s honor.”
Cindy ignored the fact that Scarlet was never a boy scout, deciding to worry a bit more about the ‘honor’ bit. And she wasn’t a terrible fan of that poison or paralysis deal those horrible insects dished out instead of fighting like a real pokemon. So, she sighed again and wandered back to her trainer, and before long, she was resting in her pokeball, waiting to taste insect blood (metaphorically of course. She intended to set them all on fire.)
“I guess we’ll head in now. And we’ll meet up in Goldenrod?” After all, Scarlet probably had to clear the entire gym with Halibel and Terumi. It could take a while, and there wasn’t much of a point in holding Jett back.
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Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2013 3:16 pm
After a few moments of consideration as to whether or not he should call out to his sleeping Pokemon, Jasper decided against it, figuring it'd be a waste of his time. He could see from here that Koffing was apparently enjoying her little nap, wearing a big, dopey grin as she snuggled deeper into Tangela's warm(?), welcoming(??) vines. Luckily for her, however, the Vine Pokemon was too busy shuddering from being poisoned to really take advantage of that just yet. 'I will never have a normal, regular battle so long as I live,' Jasper thought, now looking to Paras as he had crept forward, sensing a shift in the tides of battle, or something to that effect. Seeing as he was Jasper's only battle-capable Pokemon at the moment, it was probably a good thing. "Paras, try to get Koffing away from... err... out of Tangela's hair... vines! Fury Cutter!"
Ironically enough, with Yanma paralyzed, Koffing asleep and Tangela rooted to the ground, the Mushroom Pokemon had been graciously promoted to fastest-Pokemon-on-the-field, at least temporarily, and with a little more gusto than Jasper was used to seeing from the little guy, scuttled along hurriedly before swiping at the mass of vines with a pointed claw. Unsurprisingly, the grass type's cry of pain was a little muffled (did it even have a mouth, or did it simply just consume its prey whole - smothering it with its mass of vines and asphyxiating it being just routine steps of digestion), but rather than relinquish the squeeze it had on Koffing, it just held on a little tighter as it drew some healing nutrients from the ground, only to have them sapped away by the poison a second later. Koffing continued to slumber peacefully through it all, none the wiser to anything going on around her.
Apparently this type of weird battle outcome was new to Allan, as suddenly he seemed a little unsure of what to do next. Tangela was pretty well occupied with Koffing, despite now being menaced by Jasper's Paras. "Yanma, Sonic Boom," the bespectacled boy said decisively, figuring it'd probably be safer to attack from a distance, at least for now. The dragonfly-like Pokemon gave a quick nod, visibly fighting to make its body do what it wanted. Wings beating too fast for the naked eye to track, it sent a sound burst heading straight for Paras.
The Mushroom Pokemon, currently somewhat proud of himself for his previous attack, looked up in time to get blasted in the face and he shrieked, flailing his claws around wildly. 'So much for his confidence,' Jasper thought, shaking his head. "Leech Life, on Tangela!" he called. For a fleeting second he grinned inwardly - he was really starting to get the hang of this double-battle stuff! But then he remembered that one of his Pokemon was sleeping like a baby, and the feeling of accomplishment was snuffed out. Like a candle. In a hurricane.
* * * * * * * * * *
'This isn't working out as well as I thought it would,' Hayley thought worriedly as she watched her Pikachu almost furiously pawing at her eyes to clear away the sand. Sure, she'd known she'd be at a disadvantage as soon as she made the choice to put Kaylee out there, but Sour Jerry was certainly showing why he was a member of this gym - even if Sandshrew wasn't a rock type. The electric mouse gave a cry and the brunette saw that the Pikachu had managed to regain most of her sight, as she was currently glaring at Sandshrew, teeth grit in anger. 'Okay we can't use Thundershock or Thunder Wave, and we've knocked down its attack and defense already...'
"Sandshrew, hit that Pikachu with Swift! Let's show them why you don't bring electric Pokemon into Brock's gym!" Jerry called, his voice sounding a little more enthusiastic now that he appeared to have the upper hand. The little yellow ground type grinned before vaulting into the air, once again tucking into a spinning ball that proceeded to fire off a stream of of star-shaped wisps of light that immediately altered course to hone in on Kaylee.
Hayley narrowed her eyes, apparently not overly fond of being told what she could and couldn't do. "Kaylee! Use Thundershock to block!" she called, though she did cross the fingers behind her back, praying her little gambit would work. It wasn't as satisfying as laying into that rotten rodent with her lightning, but being able to cut loose for a moment definitely felt good and Kaylee quite literally let it rip. The bolt of lightning snaked through the air, intercepting the Swift and causing them all to detonate in a shower of pretty, pretty sparkles.
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Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2013 6:21 pm
"Mom," Kilik said as he spoke into his watch. It made him feel like some sort of secret agent. "I need you to swap the ball that Sudowoodo is in with something...normal." For those unaware, Kilik had captured his Sudowoodo in a Rocket Ball during his tenure with the villainous organization. And certainly, it would be unsuitable to trade in its current condition. His mother clicked her tongue and went away from the phone for a moment. Suddenly, the Sudowoodo in his PC disappeared, withdrawn by his mother at his home. As she was taking care of the business there, he noticed something peculiar about his storage. All of his Pokemon were there except for one: the mysterious Rocket experimental Pokemon; Poppite. Surely it hadn't escaped? Perhaps Mom was using it to help clean the house. With floating limbs, it'd be easy to clean multiple places at once. Sudowoodo reappeared on the computer screen, labeled in a regular PokeBall. "Thanks," Kilik smiled. Before hanging up, he took one last look at the screen.
"Say, Mom?" she had almost hung up before he had spoken up, "Where's...y'know. That one Pokemon?" He leaned against the wall and turned the speaker down a bit, holding it closer to his ear. She explained that Poppite had, unfortunately, withered away. One morning she had come to do some house cleaning with him and noticed that he was slowly just disappearing. Before long, Poppite had become a pile of ash and gunk. The only reason either of them could surmise was that its cellular structure had not been completely stable and it had finally given way. Shame. Poppite was an interesting creature, to say the least of him. At that moment, the two of them hung up and he withdrew the attention-starved Sudowoodo from the computer. Keeping true to his word, Kilik met Davis in the trading room.
"Man, Kilik!" Davis laughed excitedly, placing his Exeggcute's ball on the tray. "You don't know how happy I am! I've really wanted a Bonsly but you're just...really helping me out a lot!" The boy looked up at his new friend and had the brightest look in his eyes.
"Relax," Kilik chuckled, also placing his ball on the tray. He tapped a few keys on the console and their trade began. "It's no trouble. Like I said, I rarely used her. And I feel like you can give her a better home." The two silhouettes crossed over on the screen. And then the spheres plopped out of the machine on their respective sides. Kilik was now the proud owner of an Exeggcute.
"Yesss!!" Davis cheered, holding the ball up, "Wait until my friends see this! I'll totally show them! Sudowoodo is the best!" He tossed the ball and out came the fake tree. She wiggled her hips and tossed her hands up into the air. Free at last! Oh how the world must have missed her! Twirling on her foot with surprising grace for such a heavy Pokemon, the imposter plant wrapped her branches around her new trainer. The places she would take him! It would be so magical! She pulled back and glanced up at Kilik. The only things she could remember of him weren't exactly pleasant. How forcefully he pushed her to fight against the Kimono Sisters. Even his battle against Morty. It was strange, though, knowing that she was no longer his.
"Wait Kilik," Davis crouched down and started digging through his bag, taking out a small leather pouch. "Take this, too. It's a Leaf Stone I found digging."
"Wow, you for real?" Kilik took the pouch in his hand. It certainly had some weight to it. He undid the drawstring and dropped the stone into his hand. A glittering Leaf Stone. Ready and raring to evolve his new Pokemon. "Thanks Davis. When the time is right, I'll evolve Exeggcute." Kilik placed the stone back into the pouch and put it into his pack.
"Kilik Ranmo to the front desk. Your Monferno is ready to be picked up."
"Be seein' ya!" Kilik waved off to the boy, who was still being clung to by Sudowoodo. It felt good to make a kid happy. He approached the desk and took back his Pokemon, clipping the ball back to his belt and stretching. His stomach gargled and he sheepishly placed a hand over it with a laugh. Definitely time for some lunch.
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Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2013 7:28 pm
"It was really good," Jett grinned, "Aerosmith and Athena sweeped, of course, but Naja got to battle, too. And she was really good!" Indeed, the Snake Pokemon's battle prowess at such a considerably lower level had been unexpected at best, but now Jett had a better idea of her full potential. He was excited to battle with her more in the future. The raven-haired boy's brows raised in curiosity when Scarlet refused to tell him how exactly his morning had gone. Apparently, it was a lengthy, involved story -- one the redhead did not have time for right now.
He couldn't help but smile at Scarlet and Cindy's antics; it was obvious that the two had known each other for a long, long time, and their behavior couldn't help but remind the boy of River. He and the Kirlia had seen better days, for sure (really, he was so sure he had called River a she or a girl so many times, and yet the Psychic-type said nothing on the matter), but he didn't doubt that they could return to their early days of friendship. Gender confusion or not, they knew each other too well.
He was broken from his thoughts by Scarlet's final question of meeting up in Goldenrod. "Yup," Jett replied easily, smiling. "I'll probably be hanging around the Pokecenter, so look for me there or in the Department Store." Now he looked between the trainer and his Quilava, nodding a little. "Good luck to you guys, not that you'll need it. Show Bugsy who the next Pokemon Champion is gonna be, yeah?" Waving goodbye, Jett began his trek back to the Pokecenter, smiling all the while. He figured he could take his time going through Ilex Forest, and he and Scarlet could take Goldenrod by storm together. After all, what better time was there for training than now? He'd stop by the PokeMart afterward, pick up some things, and then set out for the woods.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
As Jake's conversation took another turn for the truthful, Jade was not afforded the good (or bad, depending on how you look at it) fortune of not hearing what his blue-haired friend had to say. You're looking pretty lively for a corpse, by the way. All pretenses of being occupied with something else lost, Jade's head snapped right toward the two, eyes widening. What the hell was she talking about? It was clear from the blonde's expression that he had no idea, either. But that girl, whose expression and demeanor had severely soured over the course of their conversation, simply thrust a piece of paper into Jake's hands and walked off. It seemed that the paper would clarify everything, and although she did not want to get up just yet, Jade was dying to know exactly what it said.
Its contents were not the answers her friend was searching for, or perhaps not the ones he had expected. She could not hear what he said, but she saw his lips moving, reading whatever was printed there aloud. And then, just like that, it stopped. The whole world seemed to still for a moment; Jade waited with bated breath for some kind of reaction from Jake, and she was so focused on the boy himself that at first she did not notice the paper slipping from his hands. When he lowered himself to the ground, she was up in an instant, rushing over to him without a second thought.
"Jake?" she said softly, her voice more fragile than she thought possible. It was stronger, more demanding when she spoke again: "Jake, what's wrong? What did that girl have to say? What was she talking about?" Her hand came to rest on his shoulder and she crouched beside him, trying to catch his gaze but finding herself mostly unable. A passing breeze made the scrap of newspaper flutter on the ground, drawing her attention. It only took a glance at it to glean most of its contents, considering the picture and the headline. "Oh my God," the dark-haired girl breathed, another bout of dizziness beginning to overtake her. She shook it off, instead redoubling her efforts to get through to the boy. "Hey, hey -- come on. It's all right." Jade grabbed both of his shoulders and began to pull him back up, looking the blonde in the eye. "Where do you need to go right now? Do you want to sit down and talk, or...?" This was the kind of situation she felt unprepared for -- not that she was prepared for many situations, really. But she wasn't sure what to do, or where to go, and feared sending Jake (Jae, now, wasn't it?) off the edge. "I'm here for you, okay? I'm here for you, whatever you need."
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Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2013 8:11 pm
Oblivious to his trainer's inner turmoil (and probably much, much better off for it), Paras skittered forward and somehow managed to find a substantial piece of Tangela to bite down on, inflicting some damage while siphoning away some of its health. Tangela's response was to lash out at Paras with one of its many vines, despite the fact that Allan had not called for it. It wasn't the worst hit Paras had ever taken by far but the Mushroom Pokemon still shrieked as though it had just been run through with a Hyper Beam. "Just fight back already," Jasper sighed, burying his face in his palm. Fighting back didn't appear to be an option anymore, however, as Paras had decided that he'd had enough and was now making a hasty retreat. Hasty, of course, being the operative word as in actuality, the Mushroom Pokemon inched back to Jasper, clawing at the boy's legs like a small child begging to be picked up. "You're impossible," Jasper grumbled, finally relenting and returning the squealing Pokemon to its Pokeball.
"What... just happened?" Allan called over, a bit uncertainly. During the 'intermission', Yanma came to land on the ground nearby, panting slightly. "Did your Paras just like... quit the battle?"
Jasper looked from the sphere in his hand to the dark-haired boy, wanting to feel angry or even a little embarrassed, but all he could manage was a mild annoyance. "More like ran away in absolute and utter terror, wailing like a banshee all the way," he sighed, clipping the ball back onto his belt. Despite all that, Koffing was still sound asleep and showing no signs of awakening soon. "This was a disaster," he said, shaking his head.
"It wasn't all bad," Allan offered kindly, but the fact that even he looked embarrassed for the bandanna-clad boy gave him up right away. "Perhaps you could... that is... Would you like to send out a different Pokemon? I really wouldn't mind if you did."
Jasper's gaze snapped up to the younger boy, the right corner of his mouth twitching upward in a half-smirk as Allan's rather generous offer sank in. "Why yes, yes I would. I would love to send out a different Pokemon."
* * * * * * * * * *
While Jerry and his Sandshrew stared in awe, Hayley, who would have normally been squealing with delight at how pretty all the sparklies were, a rare determination had since taken over and she didn't hesitate to give Kaylee a followup command. "Quick Attack!" she called, and the Pikachu was racing forward, ears flat against her head as she threw her all into tackling the other mouse. The impact alone echoed throughout the gym, and the squeak of pain given by Sandshrew was enough to let both Jerry and Hayley know that Kaylee's attack had been more than effective.
In an even rarer stroke of good luck, just before the Pikachu broke contact with the ground type, there was a flare of static electricity and suddenly Sandshrew was paralyzed. "Static? No way," Jerry growled, making a fist. "We've still got this! Sandshrew, Scratch it!" Hayley's lucky break continued though, as the ground type mouse found himself unable to move any more than some minor flailing.
Panting slightly, Kaylee circled around, eyes narrowed into fierce slits. Her tail twitched slightly and it was fairly obvious that she wanted to end this on her terms. For a split second her gaze flickered up to meet Hayley's, and a sight nod from the brunette was all she needed for her to rush into another Quick Attack. Once again, Sandshrew was bowled over by the speeding train named Kaylee, though this time, when Jerry practically screamed for him to use Poison Sting, he jabbed his right arm out as a last resort, claws glowing with a faint violet hue.
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Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2013 8:40 pm
Leon passed by the Pokémon Center but hardly considered for a moment actually stopping inside. Sableye had only taken a couple of hits in that last battle and he seemed fine. He had a couple of Potions that his mother had forced upon him before he'd left Lilycove, but he was certain that those wouldn't be allowed in-battle. There were also likely to be other trainers that he would have to battle first, which is the real reason why he hadn't bothered healing his team--he would get through the trainers that blocked him from the leader, first, and then heal his team to prepare for the match that really counted.
Within moments, Leon was pushing open the doors to the gym, and was greeted immediately by darkness. As the doors shut behind him, only a small circle of light illuminated the space around him. A lot of trainers were probably frightened by this, but it did not perturb Leon in the slights. Muuma stuck close by her trainer, knowing that she could see much more easily in this nearly pitch-black lighting than he could. It was no long before the two reached a dead end, and Leon sighed a little. Roxanne's gym had been pretty straight-forward, but this one apparently had challenges besides trainers in it. Leon was not entirely a fan of these types of set-ups. He quickly turned and began walking back the way he'd come. Muuma disappeared into the darkness for a moment before returning to alert him; there'd be an intersection that they'd passed right through. The trainer had figured that this was the case, but still, it was so much easier that Muuma could spot these things, rather than him having to wander close to the walls to make sure he didn't miss one. They were still very near to the entrance of the gym, and yet this intersection was 4 ways. However, he knew that turning left would most likely bring him to another dead end, as the doors would be too his left now, and the building did not jut out strangely or anything in the front. So he decided to turn to his right, and see where that took him.
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Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2013 8:56 pm
From within the darkness of the Dewford Gym, Tessa sneered. She could hear the footsteps drawing closer to her, although their new challenger did not make any other noise. She had dealt with trainers who came in and, instead of taking the challenge, simply shouted for Brawly to come and battle them. The footsteps drew closer, and a trainer's light rounded the corner.
"Hah!" she barked, stepping forward into the dim light to see who her next opponent was. Much to her very apparent disappointment, it was not an energetic challenger, but a rather... reserved one. He was barely looking at her! "Does the darkness frighten you? We're trained to fight in it here, and so are our Pokemon! Don't think you can get to Brawly so easily..." Already, she tossed a Pokeball into the air, releasing a Machop into the light. Together, the two struck a fighting stance, Tessa's eyes narrowing. "On my honor as a trainer, I swear that I will defeat you, right here, right now! If you think I'm going to let some unworthy weakling get past me, you have another thing coming!"
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Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2013 10:00 pm
“That isn’t surprising at all,” Scarlet grinned at the news that Aerosmith, Athena, and even Naja did so well against the bug user. And it seemed like the meeting point in Goldenrod was set too. “Pokemon Center, or Department store! Gotcha!” Scarlet watched quietly as Jett departed, returning the black haired boy’s wave with one of his own. And soon there was nothing but the redhead and the looming doors.
“Heh, no more excuses,” he muttered to himself, tapping a button on the one of the pokeballs attached to his belt. In a crimson light, the newest addition to his team made his appearance, rocking uneasily from side to side on his tiny feet. “Hey, Sledge.”
The rock type responded with a despondent grumble, the ‘ear hole’ that made up what Scarlet thought of as the little guy’s face aimed at the ground. “Hey, don’t be so sad,” Scarlet said quietly, kneeling down next to the Roggenrola and patting him on the back. “That horrible catastrophe was totally my fault, and I’ll make it up to you later.”
After a moment’s pause, Sledge righted himself, letting out a series of ticks and shuffling as close to Scarlet as the laws of physics would allow. The redhead grinned, awkwardly petting his little buddy on the head. “Cool. Okay, right now we’re outside a gym. If you were a liiiittle older, you’d be battling too, but for now, you get to ah… Listen, I guess. The point of this whole thing is to go in there, beat up a whole lot of pokemon, and get a badge for it.”
There was that trademark series of clicks.
“Alright! So, I want you to stay close to me, and Halibel and Terumi are gonna take on a trainer or two. After we finish that up, it’s the main event against Bugsy.”
With that, the pair approached the glass double doors, where inside waited the redhead’s fate: His first Gym Battle with Bugsy, the Walking Bug Pokemon Encyclopedia.
---
“I guess that sort of makes sense,” Alex lied. It seemed to her that making someone you have to work with on a regular basis hate your guts like Clyde’s fake girlfriend undoubtedly hated his was a terrible idea. What if you needed to get in the office and you left your keys at home!?
“You are an awful liar,” he muttered, resting his chin on his hands. “Anyway, I’m not here for like a third degree examination into my character flaws.” He let out a tired sigh, facing the eevee curled up comfortably in the grass. “Got more ‘n enough of that at my old job.”
“… I’m sorry.” She felt a little bad all of a sudden, even though she knew she didn’t do anything wrong. He just seemed so… sad. For once, Alex decided, maybe she could help cheer someone up. He was pretty nice to her, even if he was a total jerk to his partner. So she fidgeted for a moment before deciding that a change of subject was in order. “S-So are you going to Pewter? To fight Brock or something?”
“Huh?” The boy’s lips went up in a coy sort of grin. “Hah hah, with a fire type and a normal type? I’d do better fighting a brick wall. At least a brick wall isn’t a thirty foot long rock snake with a penchant for crushing things.”
The girl’s eyes widened considerably. She’d halfway toyed with the idea of taking Roll and Blues there as a test to see how much they’d grown. After all, they had a long way to go before they could feasibly take on something like a god. But… “… Thirty feet…?”
“Onix is unreal. You couldn’t pay me enough to send Evan up against that, and Princess might kick me in the face if I had the guts to release her infront o’ that.” Clyde seemed to shudder at the mere thought of subjecting his pokemon to him. “Ugh, nah. Not for me. What about you?”
Not anymore… she thought. It seemed like a criminal offense punishable by loss of your team. Hah hah, if they’re not crushed to death by a boulder serpent taller than my house. Alex shut her eyes as tightly as she could, and after a moment’s breath, simply muttered a “No.”
“Um… Alrighty then. What’re you headed there for then?”
And for a moment, the girl’s eyes seemed to sparkle. “Oh! I’ve been stuck here so long, I almost forgot… I’m going to the Pewter City Museum of Science!” The stammering stopped and the aura of focused awkwardness surrounding the girl dissipated for a moment as she revealed to Clyde her status as a world class geek. “My dad told me there’re space rocks, and fossils there, and there’s even a space shuttle!” She almost seemed to swoon at the prospect of the ship. “It’s so cool I can actually see something that’s been to space, even carried people there! And the skeletons of pokemon that actually walked the earth millions of years ago…! Ahhh, I can’t wait to get there!”
“Hrm,” Clyde said after a moment of letting the fact that she’d spoken what could pass as an actual paragraph (with exclamations even, holy crap) pass. “I usually find that stuff sorta dull, but when you put it that way…”
The excited grin she war inverted to a disappointed frown. “How could you think it’s boring? Think about it! Over millions of years, Ar- I-I mean, something’s been specifically making sure Pokemon are adapted to whatever environment they have to live in, and you can see that at the museum, I bet!”
Clyde laughed. “Sorry, sorry. I didn’t mean to cramp on your style. I’m sure the museum’ll be really wicked.”
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Posted: Thu Jun 20, 2013 7:04 am
Raichu looked incredibly pleased with himself as he watched the annoying little blue Pokemon go sailing through the air, smashing through one of his previous clones before it hit the ground. The Wooper was up fairly quickly though, and Raichu stared right back at it, apparently unaware that it was wearing the proverbial target right on his belly. Surge, being a little more aware than his Pokemon, quickly picked up on the same thing Marshall and Amy had, but he didn't say anything just yet. It wasn't like he could do much about it now.
The Water Fish Pokemon once again disappeared underground and Surge nodded to Raichu, who concentrated for a moment before making the remainder of his copies vanish. He could use Double Team again, but he figured that even if he did, it wasn't likely that Amy or Marshall would be fooled this time around. "Okay Raichu, git ready," the Gym Leader said, figuring their only chance was to try their luck either by taking/avoiding the hit from Dig and possibly try to strike back before the blasted little Wooper vanished back underground. Raichu nodded, his muscles taut as he stood on his toes. He didn't care if he was at a type disadvantage; he was taking that wooping little punk down!
=-=-=-=-=
For the next few moments, it almost felt as though he wasn't really there. His very existence felt surreal, like he'd been physically removed from the material plane and was looking around at everything from a new perspective. Everything seemed brighter, yet duller at the same time: sharper, but unfocused. The universe around him was awash with swirling colours and lights, but curiously enough, there was an unnatural lack of sound. The almost-disturbing silence didn't bother him, though. In fact, nothing seemed to matter to him right now - his name, his friends, his Pokemon or even his past; nothing at all. An encroaching blackness was creeping up on him from all sides, and Jaeshan slowly looked back and forth at the walls of darkness, unable to find a way to keep them at bay, and it was then that he realized he didn't mind if this blackness swallowed him whole. He'd survived it once before, hadn't he? Who was to say he couldn't survive it a second time?
Then, like breaking through the surface of cloudy pool of water, suddenly there was an overabundance of both light and sound; the morning sunlight beaming down on him, cars speeding by on the nearby street, a familiar yet very demanding voice calling out to him: "Jake? Jake, what's wrong?" Blinking slowly, Jaeshan tried to focus, though his still-swimming head made that difficult. Jake, he thought almost dreamily. Oh, right. That had been the name he'd chosen for himself back at Rowan's lab, after the professor had found him on the beach. Accident at sea. Waking up on the beach. Somehow I went all the way from Kanto to Sinnoh... what is up with that? His inner thoughts continued along somewhat sluggishly, until he heard the other voice speaking again. That one was real, wasn't it? Yes, it certainly was. The surreal feeling began to fade and he felt himself beginning to feel normal again. "I'm here for you, okay? I'm here for you, whatever you need." He blinked a few times, his vision beginning to return to normal. A blurry face was in front of his own, becoming clearer with each blink, and finally he even smiled a bit when he fully recognized the beautiful, dark-haired girl in front of him.
"Jade." He said finally, sounding more like a general statement of her existence rather than an exclamation of sorts. He felt her hands on his shoulders and he reached up and held onto her wrists, feeling as though if he were to let go, he'd float away again and be consumed by the darkness. Truth be told, however, he didn't know what he needed right now. He'd just been hit by a metaphorical truck of information, most of it having not yet begun to sink in, and all he knew was that he didn't want Jade to leave his side. "I need to uh... process, I guess," he managed finally, still not wanting to let go of the raven-haired girl. He couldn't explain it, but she made him feel safe. Grounded, even. He spotted the newspaper clipping in her hand and an icy feeling passed through him. "I-I guess you know now, too then. I-I'm so, so sorry, Jade. I didn't mean to lie to you, I just... I didn't want... I care about you... a lot, but... I'll understand completely if you're angry and hate me and want nothing to do with a liar and a fake like me," he managed to choke out, his voice breaking. "I-I'm so, so sorry..."
=-=-=-=-=
Wow. Rude, much, Karrigan thought as she handed Damien his Prism Scale. Not even so much as a thank-you. She looked down at the Metal Coat in her hands, and smiled. It was heavy and felt quite cool to the touch. "Thank you, sir," she said, walking with the older gentleman over to where the rude and impatient Damien was waiting. "I'm, uh, sorry about him. His "people skills" need improvement," she said, making air quotes with her fingers.
The gentleman just chuckled and shook his head. "No need to apologize for him, my dear," he said, ringing up the purchases separately. "The world needs all sorts of people in it, be them cheerful, dour, friendly or loners. Everyone has their own purpose for being. One Metal Coat. That'll be $2,500." Karrigan handed over the money, nodding slowly and unable to think of a response to the man's philosophical response to her apology. A simple 'thank you' would have sufficed, she supposed. She frowned slightly when she saw that her funds had certainly dwindled. She could only afford a few potions or Pokeballs now. "The Prism Scale is the same price, m'boy," the man said, motioning to Damien. "$2,500."
With everything paid for, the pair left the shop, with Karrigan thanking the gentlemanly shopkeeper once again. "You could stand to be a little nicer to people, you know," she told Damien as they headed back down the street to the Pokemon Center. "That man was really nice."
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Posted: Thu Jun 20, 2013 7:16 am
Falkner watched calmly as Ben recalled his sleeping Pidgey, probably a wise move. He wasn't sure if that was the end of the line for the Tiny Bird or not, as it had taken a few good hits and sending a sleeping Pokemon back into battle was more or less a death sentence anyway. The blue-haired gym leader said nothing as the Pikachu was sent out in Pidgey's place, neither he nor his Hoothoot flinching as the mouse tried to intimidate them with its sparks. Such cocky, rude trainers, Falkner mused, his thoughts not betraying his unimpressed and even stoic expression at Ben's so-called taunting. He'd received worse, obviously. Don't their parents even bother to teach them manners anymore? It's pathetic, really...
The Gym Leader was a little surprised, however, to see the rodent lead off with a Quick Attack and it darted forward. "Hoothoot, fly up and use Uproar," Falkner said coolly. Hooting shrilly in reply, the Owl Pokemon flittered up, barely escaping Pikachu's strike as he felt the mouse's tail rush by his clawed feet. Hoothoot didn't descend much further before quickly throwing back his head and letting out an ear-piercing, cacophonous noise that seemed to spread out from him in all directions - a literal explosion of sound. Falkner was unfazed by the sound, standing calmly in his place with his arms folded across his upper abdomen. Uproar was easily Hoothoot's most powerful attack, and he was curious to see how Ben and his Pikachu would deal with something like this.
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Posted: Thu Jun 20, 2013 10:58 am
Selena immediately took to her new surroundings, letting out happy cries as she ran from flower to flower. Riza watched the Snivy with an expressionless face, though she was slightly glad that at least one of them could find happiness right now. "Come on, we've got a gym leader to beat," she said, motioning to the grass-type. If she happened to come across any other trainers, she'd just send out another Pokemon. All she could think about was getting to the leader and winning another badge.
Together Riza and Selena began to make their way through the indoor forest. The inside seemed a lot bigger than it had looked from the outside. She saw more grass-types too, which only made her more certain that the gym leader specialized in them. Then again a forest could be home to bugs or birds or other kinds of Pokemon, but Riza was fairly sure it was grass-types. Soon, her theory would be proven correct as a girl stepped out in front of her, wearing a white blouse and a light blue skirt. "Looking for the gym leader?" she asked, her tone playful yet cheerful.
"Obviously," Riza responded dryly. "I know, I know. I have to beat you before I can move on. Whatever, let's get this over with."
The girl, who's name happened to be Kay, blinked a few times before nodding. "Okay, then! One Pokemon each. I choose you, Weepinbell!" The evolved form of Bellsprout appeared in front of her, looking at her with wide eyes and a large, gaping mouth.
Normally, Riza would have checked it out on her pokedex but she figured it was probably very similar to Bellsprout, just tougher. But, she was right about the grass-types which meant that this would be a fantastic place to train Eris, though she opted to save the spirited Quilava for the gym leader. "All right Faustus, let's make this quick," she said, stepping back as she tossed out the Dragonair's poke ball. Faustus appeared in a flash of light, and Kay took a few steps back as well, eyes as wide as her Weepinbell's. "Fly," was all Riza said, and the Dragonair shot up into the air like a long, blue missile.
* * * * *
It was well after midnight, probably even later by the time Katie finally trudged into Veilstone City. The rain had come down so hard at times that she'd been forced to take shelter under large trees or rock formations when she could find them. The battery in her phone had died She was soaked through and chilled to the bone and she didn't even have the energy to seek out the pokecenter, instead walking toward the first hotel she saw. The concierge hadn't been very impressed by the waterlogged girl when she walked in, at least until she showed her ID and credit card her mother had given her for just such emergencies. Well, it wasn't a dire emergency but she hadn't yet used it while out on the road and she figured her mother wouldn't mind. No one else questioned her as she was shown to a relatively simple room. She didn't need anything super fancy, and she was too tired to appreciate anything more than a warm bed and soft covers right now.
The orange haired girl hardly had the energy to peel off her soaked clothing and she left it in crumpled piles on the floor, which wasn't like her at all. She made sure she plugged in her phone and pokedex before staggering into the shower. She would be too cold to fall asleep and she had to at least do something with her hair. She washed quickly and toweled off, partially blow-drying her long hair before having Genki put it up in two long braids. The Monferno curled up on the end of her bed as the now pajama-clad Katie crawled under the covers. Through bleary eyes she saw that the clock read after 2AM and she groaned. She'd likely be sleeping in tomorrow, for sure.
Her dreams weren't anything too memorable, though she did dream that Noa had evolved into a magnificent and frightening Staraptor and walking had become a thing of the past. She woke up a little later than usual the next morning but she knew she needed it, though as she sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes, the ache in her whole body let her know that yesterday's long trek had most certainly happened. 'Right, I have to meet up with Mai today,' she thought, looking at the little data storage device. She'd send her new boss a message later though, as right now she was starving and she figured her Pokemon were probably feeling the same way. 'Busy day today,' she thought, looking out the window of her hotel room at the city. 'Time to get started!'
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thunderbolts_and_sunshine
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Posted: Thu Jun 20, 2013 11:51 am
Ben quickly covered his ears as the bird let loose that horrible sound, watching Pikachu fight to bury his head against it. "Pikachu, Thundershock!" Ben cried out, the mouse pokemon letting loose a violent stream of electricity at the bird, only made more powerful by his desperation to make the noise stop.
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Posted: Thu Jun 20, 2013 12:39 pm
The sound of obnoxious, raucous laughter from behind him caused Keegan's smile to falter and he grit his teeth. He'd been doing a pretty good job of ignoring Dante's inane/unhelpful/jerkass commentary and laughter thus far, but he was becoming increasingly difficult to tune out. Without uttering a word he simply raised his right hand and flipped Dante the bird, glancing quickly over his shoulder. It was the redhead's turn to chuckle now as the baby Turtwig had taken to defending his honor and was busy trying to bite off the auburn-haired boy's finger. "Good baby! That's Daddy's girl," he called loftily, smirking as he looked back to the battlefield.
A bit put-off by the two boys's strange antics, it took Alexia a moment to refocus on the battle. Seemingly having had enough of Metronome for now, she called for a Doubleslap instead and now the Clefable was rushing toward Artemis with what was quite obviously ill intent.
"Artemis, Fly," Keegan sighed, seriously sick of all these annoying battles. Just how many more of these stupid rooms did he have to go through before he reached Norman? Not needing to be told twice, the Swellow rocketed up into the sky, or at the very least, as high as the ceiling would allow. Both Alexia and her Clefable were clearly growing tired of Artemis' cheeky dodging, and the gym trainer opted for one last Metronome. What was the worst that could happen?
=====
After getting a good feel for the selection, Miharu eventually picked out what she thought was a rather nice outfit - a pair of green Capri slacks, a nice, white shirt and sturdy hiking shoes. She also picked up a pink windbreaker jacket with a matching pink beret, though there was something about it that felt off to her. She also picked up a new pair of pajamas and a spare outfit for when this one needed washing. It was only after she found a good-sized messenger bag to carry all her things in did she take everything to the counter, and no one was more surprised than the green-haired girl when she learned that Professor Juniper would be footing the bill for her.
She went back to the change room to put on her new outfit and finally toss out her old, ratty jeans and tank top, and as she looked at herself in the mirror, she realized that it was the white bow on the beret that she didn't like. She pulled it off and tucked it into her bag, but now it looked too pain. After a few moments of thought, she took her mother's hibiscus flower clip and pinned that on instead. Perfect.
After thanking Juniper at least a dozen times over, the two started to head back to the Pokemon Center, as that was where the professor had left her vehicle. By the long arm of comic book coincidence they happened upon Karrigan and Damien, which made it easy to explain that Juniper and Miharu would be heading to Nuvema Town shortly.
=====
Damien didn't think much of it as he shelled out the exact dollar amount for the Prism Scale. He did utter a thanks as he and the increasingly-annoying redhead left the shop, though he didn't think Karrigan heard him. "He was only being nice because he wanted to make sales," the dark-haired youth retorted icily. "He's looking to make a profit, and nothing more. I wouldn't read too much into it, if I were you," he added, leveling his gaze at Karrigan, "otherwise you'll just end up disappointed and miserable."
The conversation would end there as they then met up with Miharu and the woman they'd seen leave the Pokemon Center before, though she would quickly introduce herself as Professor Juniper. Apparently she was leaving for a place called Nuvema Town, and pretty much now, by the sounds of it and she was taking Miharu with her. The offer had been given for he and Karrigan to go too, as they were both considering challenging gyms, and the first gym was apparently in a place called Striaton City. The decision was eventually made for them to go along, as it would save them several days' walk at the very least.
((I made the executive decision to fast-forward Karrigan, Miharu and Damien through a lot of this stuff, as I feel it's become stagnant. Yes, stagnant..))
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Posted: Thu Jun 20, 2013 1:11 pm
As the morning was now melting into the afternoon, the Pokecenter had picked up considerably. There were quite a few trainers, either passing through or preparing for their own challenges with Bugsy, that were in line at the counter and, with a small sigh, Jett fell behind them. Luckily for him, the line was moving pretty quickly, and after a few minutes, he was handing in all of his team to Nurse Joy with a small smile. Only Naja, Aerosmith, and Athena had battled, but he wanted River and Viy in top shape for Ilex Forest. As he waited, he checked his Pokedex, finding the levels of his team. It seemed that River, Aerosmith, and Athena were all around the same level, whereas Naja and Viy were far behind them. As much as he wanted to get his whole team up to the 30s, he wanted to make it more even first. Especially with Viy, as the baby Pokemon had not even battled anything yet.
"Oh, thank you," the dark-haired boy said when the nurse returned with his Pokemon. He attached the Pokeballs back to his belt and was on his way. He began to check his bag, trying to see what he had left in order to get a better idea of what he had to purchase. "Two Pokeballs... two Potions... one Antidote." The boy looked back at the PokeMart, grimacing. He really didn't want to spend too much money on things he might not even use (even with training, he did not expect to be in that forest long enough to have his entire team be knocked out, or afflicted by an array of status conditions), especially when he could spend it all on much cooler things. Like that Dawn Stone and a bunch of TMs in the Goldenrod Department Store. After a full minute of staring blankly at that blue roofed building, mouth agape, he threw all caution to the wind and turned on his heel. To Ilex Forest he went!
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
As the rest of the clones dissipated, so did Amy's confidence. Seeing the electric mouse brace himself like that made her nervous; after all, Marshall was likely weaker and had taken one more hit than Raichu had. And it seemed like Surge and his Pokemon had something up their sleeve. She wasn't sure how long Marshall's defenses or stamina could keep him going, but she felt the end of the battle coming either way, like the sun setting. And it did not seem to promise good things to her.
"Okay," the brunette breathed, steeling herself for whatever was to come. There was nothing holding her back. And she wasn't going to become a top coordinator if she was this hesitant in battle. "Marshall!" she called, and the ground right in front of Raichu erupted. Again, the Wooper launched himself like a missile, right for the mouse's abdomen, cheering as he did so. "Be on your guard!" Perhaps if he hit Raichu hard enough, Marshall could knock him away and gain some distance. After all, that was what the Electric-type lost without all of his Thunderbolts and Thundershocks. They could do this! They could win!
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Jade had never seen anyone so vulnerable, so needy as Jake (Jaeshan, she reminded herself) was in that moment. It almost startled her, to see the look in his eyes, but she did not show it. Instead, the dark-haired girl led them over to the bench, not pulling away from the blonde but sitting him down nonetheless. Jade remained silent through all of her friend's distress, even as he apologized and fretted over whether or not she was angry at him. Truth be told, she had a mixed reaction toward the entire thing and her heart was beginning to race, but she certainly did not feel angry. Mostly confused.
"I..." she said softly, looking down. It would have meant everything to him, wouldn't it? To tell him that she understood, that she was a liar and a fake, too. It would not take much to say. When she looked back at the blonde, meeting his sorrowful eyes, she saw an entire life then, blooming like a flower. Say it. She moved her hands, so that she held his, instead of him just grabbing her wrists. Absent-mindedly, she stroked a thumb over his knuckles. Tell him. Jade opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. She could not. She was too much of a coward. "I don't hate you," came the response, slow and measured. "I really don't. It isn't your fault, I know that." She didn't notice that her hands were trembling or that there was the slightest uneasiness to her breathing that made her words quiver. "I-I think we need to go back to the Pokecenter and talk, okay...? There's a lot to sort through. There's..." She swallowed thickly, taking a deep breath. "There's somethng I haven't been telling you. Something..." Her words had came out quickly and jumbled, and now she was no use, the two of them were sitting there, freaking out. This was not about her, but it was also her opportunity to come clean, to be completely honest. She couldn't process half of the things she was feeling, but it felt like a lot. A small, desperate part of her wanted to run away. For now, she ignored it.
"The Pokecenter, okay?" Jade repeated, gripping Jaeshan's hands, gently pulling him up to a stand with her. Out of the corner of her eye, she could still see that blue-haired girl and, without even thinking to, she felt a hot flash of anger. That b***h ruined everything, she found herself thinking and immediately, she chastised herself. She was only living a lie, that's all everything was. A dream. It just happened to turn out that was what her companion was living, too.
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