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The announcement of the train's arrival in Goldenrod City didn't cause Jaeshan to stir at all, and he shifted in his sleep, still holding onto a sleeping Torchic. The little Fire Pokemon adjusted her position to get more comfortable, and she sighed happily.

Jaeshan's determination to meet with Professor Birch ended abruptly when he discovered that the professor had gone off to do some sort of fieldwork, but it didn't stop the youth for long. After getting directions from his assistant, Jaeshan tracked down the adventurous Professor north of his small, hometown of Littleroot and finally managed to find the impulsive man making notes on a clipboard while sitting perched atop a large boulder, muttering excitedly to himself. Unsure of how to approach him, Jaeshan decided to just stand there, waiting to be noticed.

It took a bit longer than expected, but when Birch dropped his pen and had to scramble off his boulder-top perch to find it, he caught sight of the tall blonde boy and stopped, looking at him with wonderment. "Oh, hello," he said rather nonchalantly, "I didn't see you standing there."

Evidently, Jaeshan thought a bit sarcastically, but smiled. "That's quite all right, Professor. I'm not in any rush."

The professor studied him for a moment, then nodded. "You must be Jaeshan then," he said. "My assistant called and said you were coming. It's nice to meet you." He reached out to shake Jaeshan's hand, still grinning the whole time. It seemed that he was a very pleasant man.

"Nice to meet you too," Jaeshan returned, looking around.

"So then, you must have some questions for me about becoming a trainer, am I right?" Birch's eyes seemed to sparkle with mirth as he waited for the boy's response.

"Uh, well, yeah," Jaeshan chuckled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "I'm just not sure how to go about doing it, really."

"It's actually very simple," the Professor replied, pulling a red and white object from the front of his white lab coat. "You capture Pokemon in these, and you train them, and then voila, you're a trainer!"

"Well, err, yes," Jaeshan blinked, having not been expecting such a response. "I know all the basics and all that, but I need a Pokemon of my own first, and I heard that you're the one to see about getting my first Pokemon."

"I see," Birch said, somewhat crestfallen. For the first time, he looked a bit saddened. "Usually, I do give trainers their very first Pokemon, but unfortunately, Jaeshan, you're a tad too late. I gave away my last Pokemon just this morning."

Jaeshan felt his heart sink low into his stomach. "Oh," was all he could manage to say at first, and he scuffed the ground with his shoes. "I should have left earlier this morning," he said, forcing out a small laugh. "Oh well. I'm sorry for taking up your time, Professor," he said, giving a slight bow and turning to leave.

Jaeshan arrived home sometime after lunch, and then spent the remainder of the day gathering things he knew he'd need to take with him on his journey. He would leave tonight, venture to Rustboro City and then take the train to Kanto to begin his quest to collect the eight gym badges there. Excitement raced through him with each second that ticked by on the clock, and he felt himself getting more and more anxious as the time of his departure grew nearer. He chose to eat dinner with his parents, and like usual, the dinner table was deathly silent. He didn't make eye contact with either of them for fear of giving away his plans for leaving, but he did feel a twinge of guilt over leaving without telling them. I'll give them reason to be proud of me, he thought as he scooped up another serving of mashed potatoes. When I come home, I'll make them see that Pokemon Training can be just as prestigious as becoming a surgeon.

After dinner, he sat on the bed in his room, his backpack filled and ready by his side. He already wore a good pair of running shoes, as well as comfortable clothes for traveling and a warmer jacket over top. The Pokeballs Professor Birch had given him were stowed carefully in his pocket and within easy reach, even though he had no idea what Pokemon would be his starting companion. He checked his watch and the clock on the desk almost compulsively, and sighed. He still had another hour before the servants in the household would be finished with their evening tasks and retire for the night, and he didn't want to chance anyone catching him as he attempted to sneak out of the house for good. Carefully and meticulously he went over the itinerary in his mind, having decided to keep it in his memory rather than on paper in case he lost it. Once he left here, he'd venture north, past where he'd met Professor Birch to Oldale Town. Somewhere between there and Petalburg he planned to hunt for a Pokemon, and from there continue north through the woods, and then a bit out of the way from there would be Rustboro and the train that would carry him to his new destination.

Just as he'd decided to go over the details one last time, a sound from outside caught his attention. At first he was a little surprised, but then decided it was probably someone taking out the trash. He was even content to believe that explanation until he heard it again - someone or something had knocked over one of the trashcans. His heart raced a little as he jumped up from his bed and gathered his things, taking one last look around before he shut off the lights and closed the door behind him. The house was silent, and he stealthily made his way down the stairs, managing to somehow avoid detection and arrive at the door that lead out of the kitchens and into the yard. He carefully slipped through the door, being careful to lock it again as he shut it quietly behind him and stepped out into the cool, welcoming night air.

The Noctowl/Wooper twin shouted out as he was soaked, but in the tension of the moment, hardly anyone would notice. Even the bratty boy, who would've usually made a big deal out of it, remained silent. . . It felt as if his lungs simply could not squeeze any air inor out with such a heavy atmosphere, much less could he speak. Involuntarily, he stepped back a smidgen, even though Ky wasn't exactly speaking to him -- this guy was really, really intimidating like this. And these two twins certainly weren't used to being the ones that were attacked, especially not by outsiders. A long time ago, their father had been wicked to them, but he'd left a long time ago and they had sworn never to be pushed around like that ever again.

Then again, his bro really shouldn't have bothered sending out that wretched Totodile. The Wooper twin fumbled a bit with words, for this was the first time he'd really felt guilt over only watching as that Totodile felt such anguish -- before, he'd simply shrugged it off as a weak Pokemon. "Ray-Ray, send out your other Pokemon," the boy said at last, his voice noticeably smaller than it had been before.

Mary-Anne, in the meantime, was paying little attention to the interaction between the three boys. In her mind, there was only the soft crying of the Totodile and its earlier scream reverberating through her mind; the agony of the Pokemon was more than she had ever felt or may ever feel. She couldn't say that she knew its pain, but hell, if its pain pained her, what must it feel like to that poor Pokemon, the poor little one. . . ? Rushing forward past Daemyn (who was still vigorously and half-vainly trying to rub the mud from his eyes with a paw), she dropped to her knees before the Totodile, maneuvering her hands to pick it up. At the last moment, however, she faltered (for what if she only hurt it more?) and instead whipped her bag around and rummaged for the Potions she knew she had packed when she left home.

"I don't know if this is the best thing for that cut, but. . at least it'll help, maybe," she whispered softly, now risking cradling the Pokemon in her lap. The Totodile had futilely resisted at first, but was too anguished by the pain to really push her away. Biting her lip, she sprayed the Potion upon the wound (whether it was a reopening of the scar of another cut on top of it, she couldn't tell) -- it must've stung horribly, for the Pokemon began to thrash again, and it was with great difficulty that Mary-Anne kept it still until the whole wound was addressed. "Shhh, now, it's okay, it's done, we won't do that again, shhh, it's okay," she whispered soothingly over and over again, trying to calm the Totodile until it thrashed no longer. The Pokemon still continued to whimper ever so softly, however, and the sound tore at the girl's soft heart. . . Whatever had happened to the poor thing?

Mary-Anne stood up a moment later, eyes steeling against the boys. Whatever they had done to the poor thing in her arms, she'd have retribution for it. Quietly, she moved back to where they had been standing in the beginning and gingerly placed the small Totodile in a cushiony grass patch, hoping to give it some rest. On a second's thought, she released Ulani -- the bird had a knack for cleaning, so perhaps it could clean the cut too? That the Swablu did once she saw the aggrieved Pokemon, and as Mary-Anne got herself set for battle once more, the little blue bird sang a soft, sweet little lullaby to soothe the Totodile to a less-painful sleep.

Keiichi, living on cinnabar, always likes to walk around the island, watching Pokemon battles, and occasionally sketch them down to learn more about them afterwards.
Today is not different.
He and his best friend Ian were walking near a Pokemon center when they heard Pokemon voices not far off. They followed those voices and reached four trainers who were in the heat of battling. Two of the trainers already sent out their Pokemon, and the other two were waiting. It seemed like a 2v2 match.
Keiichi sat down at a nearby hill, which stood somewhat higher than the battleground, and brought out his sketch book and trusted pencil, and took note of the situation...
"Ground type and a flying type， hmm this could be interesting" Thought Keiichi. After a few seconds the possible combo of these two Pokemon came to his mind. "Ah, I see." As he watched closed, he also made a note of that.
Anxious to see their oppenents Pokemon out, both Keiichi and Ian were ...

Jaeshan opened his eyes as the train's horn sounded loudly, jolting him out of his dreams and pulling him back into the present. Blinking, he sat up straight and rubbed the sleep from his eyes, suddenly realizing that Torchic wasn't in his lap any longer. He looked around fearfully before realizing she was perched up atop the headrest of the seat, contentedly looking out the window. She glanced down at him and chirped happily, hopping up and down excitedly. "Don't scare me like that," he grinned, reaching up and pulling the chick into his arms. She continued to make happy peeping sounds, although they were muffled as she nuzzled her head into his chest. "Where are we?" He slid over towards the window a bit more, and had a look outside. The train was still moving, but its pace was drastically slowed. They were pulling into a station, and Jaeshan kept his eyes open for a sign that would tell them what town or city they'd arrived in.

After a moment or two, Jaeshan realized with some excitement that they had indeed reached Rustboro. He could see the tall buildings of the stoically grey-coloured city rising up in the distance, and even though Rustboro was quite a ways off of his hometown of Littleroot, he couldn't help but feel a sense of security being back in his home region. He gathered his things and left the train as soon as he was allowed to, Torchic still resting comfortably in his arms. Her beady little black eyes were wide with excitement, and she tried to take in all the new sights as Jaeshan walked along the platform and ventured away from the station. His thoughts still lingered in the dreams he'd had during the train ride, and he smiled as he walked, not regretting his decision to leave home at all. He'd met many interesting people on this journey, and he'd definitely grown as a person in the year it had been since he left. After gaining his bearings, he started to head south, knowing it would lead him into the Petalburg Woods.

M.A.'s expressive, dark emerald eyes widened at Ky's display of anger. She'd. . . never seen him like this. The slightest hint of horror could be traced upon her face, but that she had wiped away almost immediately after the battle had commenced once more. "Ky. . ." she said softly in return, unable to hide the lingering surprise in her tone.

She thought that it had been amazing that "Ray" had been able to gather his composure so quickly, however. If she had been in that position, especially with how the battle was going, she would have been noticeably shaken. Well, if he was good to go, she wasn't about to hesitate. Not this time. Seeing the opening Little Guy had brought upon their side, Mary-Anne quickly commanded another attack while their opponents were feeling the effects of the Natu's Leer.

Daemyn, having rubbed out a majority of the mud by now, complied easily, sending the umpteenth fireball towards the Gloom with renewed precision. His eyes were still stinging from the mud and he was rather tired, but he wasn't about to go yet!

His twin's confidence made the other boy feel more confident as well, and as if it had never left, his cockiness came back full scale. "Well, well, let's dampen that mutt once and for all! Wooper, Water Gun!" The Wooper, now excited and antsy from not doing much for the last while, reared backwards before gushing out a strong spray of, not mud, but water. Its aim was impeccable, and with Daemyn's sluggishness from the Sweet Scent, he couldn't very well dodge it -- the attack landed head-on, resulting in a very soaked, shivering, and drained Daemyn lying on the floor.

The pup struggled to stand up, willing his aching legs to lift himself up once more. The last attack had proved a bit too much for his strength, however, and before he could grind his teeth to studs from the sheer effort, Mary-Anne recalled him. "That's enough, boy -- you don't need put in overkill. You did good; let 'Lani do the rest," she commented, smiling fondly upon his Pokeball. The Swablu was up immediately, twittering about and just as jittery as the Wooper was -- she hadn't been doing much lately either, so she had plenty of excess energy to burn off. With a trill, the bird greeted Little Guy before actually focusing on the battle at hand.

What had happened after Poochyena's (well, now Mightyena's) initial capture was relatively short, but Jaeshan found himself reflecting upon it as he headed down the road that would take him into the Petalburg Woods. Torchic was now tottering along behind her trainer, pecking at the ground every now and then for a stray seed or perhaps a tiny insect to munch on. Her happy chirping let Jaeshan know she was still with him, and he tucked his hands into the pockets of his khaki cargo pants as he walked, occasionally diverting his gaze from the ground to the path ahead of him to be sure no obstacles were going to get in his way.

He'd stood there in that very spot for several moments before quietly clipping Poochyena's Pokeball to his belt (also a bargain-bin purchase) and turning to leave, but he stopped and looked at the trash strewn about the ground and frowned. It was against his better nature to leave it like that, and he sighed, bending down and returning the contents to their rightful place. However, now his hands were in need of a good scrubbing and with another heavy sigh, he made his way back inside where he washed his hands in the kitchen sinks, doing his very best to make as little noise as possible. He dried his hands on a towel and hung it back in its place before looking around one last time. As he turned to go back outside, he stopped and grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl on the counter and shoved it into his pocket as he headed towards the back door.

He'd just placed his hand on the door handle when a firm yet gentle hand came to rest on his shoulder, and Jaeshan stood rooted to the spot, frozen with fear and worry. The jig is up, he thought, feeling utterly defeated. He let his shoulders droop a little, and winced as he turned to face his capturer.