|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 6:47 pm
The old man continued to chat Keegan's poor ear off, even after he'd politely excused himself and tried to walk away several times. Keegan wasn't even sure what he was babbling about, all he knew was that he wasn't getting any training done. Not only that, but he'd also 'humbly requested' a second smoke that Keegan was quite reluctant to give up at first, though he soon realized that at the very least it would keep the old geezer quiet for a while. The redhead was already deep in thought over how much of a wasted afternoon this was turning out to be, though he did notice that the more he moved and used his limbs, the less he was hurting and he silently wondered if he was already starting to heal from the injuries he'd sustained yesterday. Either that, or the old man's dreary chatter was doing a fine job of numbing the pain.
A short time later the unlikely duo found themselves to be in the vicinity of the Safari Zone, and for a joyous, fleeting moment Keegan thought he could finally part ways by entering the area, but he soon came to the realization that he lacked the funds to do so. Right, spending spree earlier this morning, he thought a bit dejectedly, but in reality couldn't wait to see Helios and Shiva put their new moves to use. The old man, seeing Keegan's hesitation at the entrance to the Safari Zone, tapped a bit of ash to the ground and nodded at the youth. "Heading in there?" he asked.
At first Keegan was reluctant to respond, but not wanting to be rude (wait, what?) he shook his head. "Nah, was thinking about it but I think I should work with the Pokemon I have before catching some new ones."
"Aha, so you're a trainer then, are ya?" the man questioned, still enjoying the last of his 'borrowed' cancer stick.
Keegan rolled his eyes and groaned. "No, I just like looking at them," he snapped before he could stop himself and he quickly averted his gaze, though to his surprise the man just chuckled. "But yeah. I really do need to train the ones I've got," he went on, though it was mostly a statement directed at himself.
"You aspiring to become the Champion?" the golden-ager asked suddenly, the question completely catching Keegan off guard.
"What? Eh, no, not really," the redhead answered somewhat nonchalantly. Truthfully, he'd never even really considered anything like that before. Sure, he wanted all eight of Hoenn's gym badges, long before he even had a Pokemon of his own. But becoming the champ? He couldn't even begin to visualize himself in such a position. "I guess..." he started, but trailed off. It felt weird having this discussion with someone he'd just met. "I really just want to make my Pokemon and I stronger and be the best we can be." Well now, if that wasn't the corniest, cornball line that ever corned.
The white-haired man just smiled at Keegan, and adjusted the uncomfortable-looking sleeves of his tweed suit. "Good answer."
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 7:29 pm
"I suggest you put your pokemon back in her ball, and take her to a pokemon center." Sam looked down. "She doesn't have a ball." "Well then carry her." Sam picked up the Mudkip. "What's your name anyways?" she asked the man. "I'm Orion, and I'm currently studying under the gym leader in Vermillion City. So maybe I will battle you someday." He smiled, and Sam snorted. "Uh-huh, okay then. Buh-bye now." And she walked back to Vermillion City.
Sam sat in the pokemon center. She had given the Mudkip to the nurse and her Chansey, and she hadn't seen them since. It had been an hour already, and she was a little worried. Suddenly the door swung outward, and her Mudkip literally came dancing out. She tried to stand on her hind legs and twirl, but she fell over. Sam giggled. It saw her, and ran towards her. "Hey, feeling better huh?" as she went to pick her up. It growled at her. Sam stopped. The nurse came out. "Oh, don't worry about that, she's just trying out some of her moves. Now as for you..." she turned to face Sam. "You might want to get some new clothes." Sam was confused. "You're clothes look like they're about to fall off of you. They're so ripped and burned!" Sam's eyes widened. "Burned?" She felt around her back. Sure enough, her t-shirt was ripped and frayed. She swore. She could practically feel her shirt crumbling away. The nurse raised an eyebrow. "You didn't know?" She sounded amused. "Most people would notice by now." Sam's face burned with embarassment. "Well I was kind of pre-occupied, ya know," she muttered, a little too defensively. The nurse waved that away. "Regardless, you still need new clothes." Sam hung her head. "I have no money." The nurse nodded. "I figured as much. No matter. Luckily for you, I happen to have some extra items that could be useful." She pulled out a pack. "I keep this in case of emergency. Or for new trainers who don't quite know what they're doing yet." She winked. "Now then, this is a Potion. Basic Healing item, just spray and it works wonders. These are Pecha Berries, they cure poisoning. Extremely useful. And here, this Bike. It's collapsible, and light-weight." Sam took the pack. She had decided against telling the nurse she already knew all this from the Staryu disaster. Why not just start all over? "I've also included a change of clothes, a little money, and some pokeballs, just in case. Now then, you can fianlly set off! Orion can Fly you to Pallet Town. He may specialize in Electric Types, but he has a Staravia. He's outside, waiting for you." Sam thanked her. The thought of Orion made her happy. 'How odd. He must be 10 years older then me anyways. ' She waved it away. At least something was finally going right.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 8:07 pm
"Come on out Machop, lets give this one our all!" Brawly said as he threw one of his pokeballs into the sandy battle field between him and his opponent. The ball made a light muffled thud before releasing the first form of the super power pokemon before returning to Brawly's hand. "I've got a good feeling about this one Machop, I'm getting stoked just thinking about it." His Machop nodded in agreement and looked on with determination, he was ready to give whatever came his way a solid pounding.
"Machop... guess its safe to assume your a fighting type trainer then. If that's the case, I'll use Ariados. The rest of you get over here and watch." With that, Crenu released Snorunt from her pokeball, but she was to tired to make it to her perch atop his head. Instead she just sat down by his feet while the other two pokemon stood on either side of their trainer. This was the first time that any of them had seen the latest addition to the team, with the exception of Poliwhirl who was already familiar with Snorunt as he helped in her capture.
A deviously low chuckle escaped his mouth as he thought about how fun it had been to smack the weakling around earlier and how he wanted to continue to tormenting of this poor soul. But it would have to wait until business here was done. Still, Poliwhirl couldn't help but bounce a little in place as thoughts of decimating the poor thing popped in and out of his head, thoughts which soon transferred to the pokemon on the field, he wanted to go in so badly.
Pupitar however was much more reserved. Instead he only shot her a side glance before turning his attention to the field, sensing nothing extraordinary about this pokemon he began to wonder why his master would add her to the team. But no, this was the wrong way to think about things, Crenu must have seen something in her that he did not, or at least had plans of soem sort for this pathetic orange cone that sat comfortably by their trainer. Either way, he dismissed her as not worth his time and awaited for his turn to enter the sandy arena, if needed at all that was. Ariados had been less than impressive up till now, but he believed she could win this one.
Ariados scurried over to battle position, giving a wicked glance at the little orange pokemon that was sitting to close to her dear Crenu. Just what exactly did she think she was doing? A little runt like that had no right to be so close to her trainer...unless...had she been replaced? Was this little runt her replacement? Crenu's new favorite!? No, it couldn't be. He was surely testing her concentration, after all he'd gifted her with a new move and everything. Still, just in case, she was going to have to really shine in this match and take this enemy out fast.
Snorunt shivered as she glanced around at the other three pokemon, all of which appeared to be taking notice of her. She was scared of that brutish Poliwhirl and could feel that he had taken delight in crushing her earlier. And the way that spider pokemon looked at her made her feel like she was being accused of a terrible deed. She was sure to bump heads with her sooner or later, but causing trouble for her and playing with the spiders mind seemed like it could be just as fun as it was scary. But what really chilled her icy body to the bone was that other pokemon. The still sitting cocoon that took one look at her and dismissed her, she felt a certain cold pressure flowing from him that was similar to Crenu's. At first she felt like her being there annoyed the rock pokemon, but even that was better than not being acknowledged at all which he seemed intent on doing now. She started feeling down again and decided to watch the match, determined to pickup any tricks she could that might keep her from being booted from another team.
"Ariados, start this off with Constrict." Crenu said coolly as he watched and waited. He didn't know Brawly's battle style yet and wasn't going to risk Ariados getting in close before he had an idea of what to expect. With the duel typing of bug/poison any fighting type moves would do next to nothing, and bearing TMs or egg moves all of Machops offensive attacks were just that. Ariados jumped right into the battle the moment the command was issued, happy to go on the offensive though a little disappointed that she hadn't been ordered to tear the opponent apart with her legs. She cocked her head back and spat out a binding coil of silk that wrapped itself around the Super Power Pokemon. The silk began to shrink as it constricted Machop who didn't appear to even try avoiding it.
"Ariados huh, not a bad choice little dude. But you'll need to do better than that if you want the Knuckle Badge! Machop, get things rolling with a Karate Chop!" Machop grinned as his muscles expanded, and with what seemed like relative ease he broke free from his silky bonds, rushing towards Ariados with with his hand raised high above his head. Leaping up into the air he brought it down, slamming a brain scattering chop onto Ariados's head.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 3:54 pm
Nightfall on Veilstone City. Five figures silhouetted by the fading light headed around the back of the Team Galactic warehouse, having already skirted the guards without trouble.
One blond stole a furtive glance over his shoulder, bringing up the rear guard of the gang. Steely blue eyes narrowed as they caught a flash of movement behind. He stopped, studying the shadow from afar.
“Hey, Kenneth.” A hiss from down the gravel slope. “Hurry it up.”
“Shutit Cid, I’m coming,” the teenager hissed back to the boy two years his senior. Grey tennis shoes descended the slope with sure-footed grace; so sure of his balance was the boy that he didn’t bother to extricate his hands from the pockets of his battered black jeans. A light breeze blowing up from the water caught his stonewash-grey jean jacket and the faded light-blue t-shirt beneath it, giving them both a flutter. The evening wind’s cold fingers toyed with his sandy blond hair, pulled into a long ponytail at the base of his neck, and with the messy strands that stuck out here and there to frame his face.
“Those Oreburgh tards think they can come up in our turf and just do whatever,” a youthful voice growled near the head of the pack. “We’ll show ‘em, won’t we Cid?”
The leader of the five-man Boulder gang smirked slightly as he stepped up to Sean, the youngest and smallest of them. The taller young man planted a hand on the 12-year-old’s shoulder. “We’ll kick the crap out of ‘em if they start anything,” he said, keeping his voice low; more of Team Galactic could always show up to put a wrench in their rumble, so the utmost caution remained necessary.
“Let’s get it over with,” Kenneth muttered as he passed Cid, closing the last few feet between the gang and the water’s edge. “This’ll suck if it’s not over before nightfall.”
“Yeah, tryin’ to see in the dark durin’ a rumble’s a b***h,” Sean chimed in, freckled face stretched in an eager grin.
“Keep it down, kid,” Cid growled, squeezing the boy’s shoulder in a none-too-friendly manner. “We’re not in the clear yet.”
The gang crunched across the sand and gravel lining the shore without further conversation. On their right, the rough-hewn stone hill hosting Team Galactic’s base towered above them. To their left lay the sea, soft waves rolling in making less noise than their footsteps.
Sound carried well in the quiet between rock and water. The boys heard the footsteps of their rivals ahead of them before the other gang came into view.
Cid drew to a halt. He stood straight and square, fists clenched at his sides, immobile save for the ocean breezes tossing his brown hair about. His underlings formed a loose wad behind him, standing at the ready, though none could mimic the impressive silhouette of their leader, their elder and role model.
“Well, well well,” an oily voice cooed, his own footsteps crunching to a halt not twenty feet from the Boulders. “What have we here? Little boys of Veilstone, trying to save what’s left of their pitiful pride.”
The black-haired leader of the Blades of Oreburgh not only had at least ten years over Cid, but had the added advantage of larger forces. The men standing behind him numbered at least a dozen, all of them leering, some already cracking necks and knuckles.
“We doing this or not, Cooper?” Cid grated. “Or are you afraid this bunch of ‘boys’ here are gonna wipe the floor with your ugly mugs?” He folded his arms and shot the oily man a wide, provoking grin.
“Ha! You got guts kid, I’ll give you that. All of you do. But here’s the deal: Veilstone belongs to us now. After we get rid of those Team Galactic idiots, the cashflow in this tourist hotspot is ours for the taking. And no bunch of whelps is going to stand in our way.” His smirk was none too pleasant. “So here’s your last chance, kiddies: Run away to your mommies and save yourself a pounding, or stay here and eat gravel. What’ll it be?”
“This!” Cooper had age over Cid, but Cid had speed. He dashed up to the older man and swept his leg up in a ferocious kick, launching sand into the greasy gang-leader’s face.
“YOU LITTLE—” Cooper stumbled back, clutching his face.
“GET ‘EM!” The Boulders dashed forward, yelling wordlessly, fists swinging.
One punch to the stomach from the man to Cooper’s left sent little Sean collapsing in the sand, gasping. Three and a half seconds later, Jay and Bee, the gang’s other two members, limped down the coast as fast as they could while breathing against bruised ribs.
The man to Cooper’s right threw a second punch at Kenneth’s face. He dodged once again, this time actually bothering to withdraw his hands from his pockets. He darted back half a step as the man lunged at him, then threw up his arms to deflect the third blow. Still keeping one arm high in defense, Kenneth swept a low jab towards the man’s stomach. His eyes widened as his opponent’s meaty hand caught his fist and held it fast.
“Lights out, Junior.” He tried to twist away, but to no avail; the man’s grip was iron. All Kenneth could do was watch the fist come at his face.
Pain exploded through his cheekbone. The world pitched, tilted, and blurred. The teenager’s lanky body hit the sand with a dull thud.
The last thing captured in his fading sight was Cid, brown eyes wide, feral, and enraged, arms held fast by two thugs as Cooper cracked his knuckles.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 6:54 pm
Darkness, and the smell of the ocean. Something cold and wet licked his fingertips. Something very cold, and very wet.
Kenneth awoke to three rather unpleasant realizations. One, he hurt like hell; his face felt swollen beyond God’s intentions and his head pounded with the jackhammer beats of his heart. Two, night had fallen, leaving his only light to see by the electric lights of Veilstone City filtering out past the Team Galactic building and falling onto the water. Three, the tide was coming in. Half his right-hand sleeve was already soaked by it.
“Damnit,” the teenager groaned as he heaved himself into a sitting position. “Damn it all…”
He cast a look around, half-expecting another Blade to be lurking about, just asking for a Round 2. But there was no one in sight.
He remembered Sean going down, Jay and Bee high-tailing it out of there the first chance they got, and Cid…Cid probably had the everloving crap beat out of him, if Kenneth’s last conscious glimpse of the gang leader served as any indicator. So what happened? They got creamed…and Cid took Sean and left Kenneth unconscious on the beach…?
He’d been left alone.
“b*****d…!”
So now what? Now he had to scrape his sorry butt off the beach, get past the Galactic guards without getting caught, drag his sorry butt home, and explain to his mom how he’d gotten a goose egg on his face the size of Kanto…?
No. Screw this. Screw all of it. He was done with this. He’d brought home injuries too many times. No amount of money was worth the look on his mother’s face every time he sported a new bruise or broken bone. Even bad boys love their moms, and Kenneth lived for his mother. The poor woman still moped about the house, still sighed and pined and waited, expecting her husband to walk back through that door as suddenly as he’d walked out eight years ago…
As if that would ever happen. Kenneth was it. He was the only one to take care of her, and he wouldn’t have it any other way. If that useless father of his ever did come home by some miracle, he’d make sure to punch him out first thing.
But all this left the lanky rumbler with two questions. One, without the steady inflow of cash that came from mugging tourists, how would he pay his mother’s bills? And two, how many creative methods of violence could he enact upon Cid’s face should he ever encounter the backstabbing b*stard again?
One thing at a time, Kenneth reminded himself, wincing as he pulled himself laboriously to his feet. Get home first.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 9:07 am
The walk back along the shore seemed an eternity longer than the walk to the rumble site had been. Perhaps it had something to do with the way every step Kenneth took jarring his throbbing head just a little bit more.
Keep going, he told himself. Ignore the pain. Just put one foot in front of the other. Get home.
Putting one foot in front of the other proved to be more difficult than anticipated, as suddenly, a hard, round object assaulted his foot. His ankle caught on it, he missed a step, and pitched forward.
“Sonova--!”
For the second time that night, Kenneth Edwards landed in the sand with a dull thud.
“Who the HELL put a rock there?!” the brawler growled after raising himself to his elbows and spitting out his mouthful of sand. Obviously the ocean had left it there, but he couldn’t exactly point a finger and blame the ocean, now could he?
Crr…Crack.
He twisted his head around, steel-blue eyes blinking perplexedly at the object. Had he actually broken the thing by tripping over it? He couldn’t quite make it out in the dark, but for a moment he swore something moved…
A growling, mewling sound issued from between Kenneth’s feet.
His eyes bulged. He flipped onto his back, tucked his legs up, and scrambled back crab-style.
A pair of huge, reptilian eyes blinked at him from a fist-sized hole in the rock-that-was-not-a-rock; obviously it wasn’t a rock because things didn’t hatch out of rocks, they hatched out of eggs, but that didn’t matter because the thing hatching was hatching some more and mewling at him again.
“What the hell?”
A few seconds later, the last of the eggshell fell away. A blue creature waddled to Kenneth’s side, poking his ribs with its blue snout and snuffling.
“Gak! Get the hell away from me!” He scrambled backwards again, lost his footing on the sand, and went sprawling, the back of his head hitting the ground.
As he’d already suffered quite the head injury today, his awareness decided to take a brief vacation. A few minutes later, Kenneth blinked blearily through the white spots dancing in his eyes, only to realize a pair of red eyes blinked back at him.
He froze, boggling.
The thing poked his cheek with its snout, snuffling again. Kenneth noted that its jaw looked very wide and very powerful; baby as it was, it could probably take off a hand.
“A Pokemon?” It was all his stunned brain could think to blurt.
The critter growl/mewled again, nuzzling his cheek. Not snuffling—nuzzling.
Kenneth’s eyes widened further. He pulled himself upright, scrambled to his feet, and stepped back from it.
“Oooh no. No, no no. You’ve got the wrong idea. I’m not your momma. I know you just hatched and everything and I know what you’re thinking, but you’re wrong, alright?”
The creature didn’t seem keen on listening. It pulled itself to its hind legs and waddled forward. It passed through a patch of light streaming from the city and shining on the sand, giving Kenneth his first good look at it, at the blue scaly skin, the red fin-like scales protruding from its back, the high eyebrows and thick tail of a crocodile, and the soft yellow underbelly.
“What the hell kind of Pokemon are you supposed to be?” he sneered at it, still backing away. “Some kind of demented gator?”
It kept moving towards him, still making that endearing growl deep in its throat.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2009 6:23 pm
“Are you stupid? Did you hear me? I said I’m not your momma! Now buzz off!” He threw an arm outward, pointing out to sea. “Get!”
The Totodile waddled up to Kenneth and rubbed its head against his leg, purring contentedly.
“Y-you have got to be KIDDING ME!” The Totodile didn’t so much as flinch at the teenager’s rage. “I freakin’ HATE you stupid Pokemon! That’s got to be the most useless thing in the world, chasing Pokemon around. ‘I wanna be the best there ever was,’” he mocked the words of a Trainer he’d heard spouting once. “What a load of CRAP! Every idiot kid wants to be a Pokemon Trainer! It’s just a useless escape from reality! So don’t you DARE drag me into that crap, you stupid gator! Buzz. OFF!”
The Totodile merely blinked up at him. “Tooooooh.”
“I SAID GO AWAY!”
“Toooh?”
“No, Go. Away.”
“Toh.”
“GET THE HELL OFF OF ME!”
Kenneth whirled and dashed off. The snuffling breaths and shuffling footsteps of the Totodile sounded behind him. The thing was giving chase. Kenneth ran faster.
“SCREW YOU, GATOR!”
“Toh!”
He scrambled up the slope the way he had come, tripped on the loose gravel, scraped his hands, pushed himself to his feet and took off running again. He blew past the startled Team Galactic guards, who simply boggled at the blond ponytailed kid being yelling his lungs out. They decided not to bother him when they saw the Totodile chasing him, its jaws wide open, rows of razor teeth bared.
“Tooooooh!”
“GET AWAY!”
“Toh, toh, dile!”
“NO, I’M NOT GONNA BE A TRAINER, NO, NO, NO!”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri May 01, 2009 9:53 am
As the small group of friends ate at their table, each one of them carefully avoiding the Ambipoms grabbing hands. It took a while and Robin had to actually get up and grab the hungry Ambipom more food once. When they did finish though each of them sat back satisfied, on the floor Robin's Slowpoke was still eating his food.
Robin was leaning back in her chair her belly full and Raz resting on top of her head. She really didn't know what she was going to do now. As she was sitting there contemplating what to do next she felt a vibration in her pocket. "Hmm?" She muttered boredly as she reached a hand into her jeans pocket and pulled out her cell phone. 'A text message?' She thought with a little curiosity, despite her awesome phone she didn't really have to many friends on it, and even fewer who would actually text her. Sliding her phone open she opened the message and quickly read it over.
Hello Robin, someone finally showed me how to use this message system on my phone. I am-
The message cut out here but Robin quickly got a follow up message. Opening up the following message Robin just grinned.
Damn thing! Anyway I was wondering if you were all right? You disappeared on u-
Apparently Rowan had a very old phone that didn't just go to the next message. Robin couldn't help but giggle at that as the next message appeared and she opened that one as well.
Us last night. It isn't polite to do those kinds of things. Rowan. People actually use this kind of messaging?
At the last part Robin burst out in laughter. At her sudden outburst her pokemon gave her a confused look but she just waved her hand dismissively. Pressing a few buttons she opened a reply to Rowan and quickly typed a response to him.
It is nice to hear from you Professor. I am fine, how about I come to see you? I am in Kanto right now but I don't mind making the trip over to Slateport. Yes people use text messaging. Most phones now a days just split your message so you can write however much you want. Robin.
Robin stared at her phone for a moment longer before sliding it shut and slipping it into her pocket. "Well it looks like we are heading back to Slateport you guys. We did leave on a sort of off note." She grinned slightly at the others, even if it was a bit forced. Just because she was depressed didn't mean she had to take it out on the others. Still not far off in her mind she wondered if she was even good enough to be taking them some where else.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Melphaligal the Challama Crew
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri May 01, 2009 10:51 am
Kasiya wasted a bit more time absently staring off into space, either hand resting gently on the backs of Flash and Twilight. Both the Jolteon and Umbreon had dozed off, looking quite comfortable. Finally, Kasiya suddenly grinned and jumped to her feet, startling the two Pokemon in the process. "Since I don't know what else to do, I think it's time for some training!" Twilight simply yawned and went back to sleep, but Flash's ears twitched in anticipation and he too jumped to his feet, quickly stretching out each of his legs. He didn't know if Kasiya would let him battle but he could hope, right? Without another word the girl dashed back into the laboratory, where she sorted through the items in her bag. "I should just store these for safekeeping," she murmured, going through the handful of TMs she'd acquired recently, though seeing them was enough to jar her memory that she'd bought two of those specifically for Nova. After putting all except the two she planned to use in storage she headed back outside to look for her young Charmander.
It wasn't a very difficult task, all she had to do was look for a small, pink puffball being chased by a small, orange lizard with a flaming tail. The latter seemed to be getting pretty tired, and now she wasn't so much chasing as she was just teetering along behind her quarry. Allegra was still teeming with energy though and she slowed down enough to let Nova catch up to her. Nova slowed to a halt, and was now watching in awe as the Skitty ran circles around her. "...okay," was all Kasiya was able to say as she watched the two, wondering if maybe she should train with Allegra for a bit to use up some of that seemingly-boundless energy she had. It was a little trickier than she imagined it to be, but eventually Kasiya was able to gather the majority of her Pokemon in one area (well, the ones who were in need of training, anyways). She knelt down next to the still-winded Nova and quickly used both of the TMs before the small one even knew what was going on. I guess she'll be too tired to train right now, but that's okay, Kasiya thought, instead turning to Rosemary and Allegra. "Okay, you two are up first! Let's go!"
=-=-=-=-=
Jaeshan's wondering would soon come to an end as he watched Nidoking rear back and spit a large glob of sludge at his opponent, and the well-aimed Sludge Bomb was more than enough to take the Machoke down. When his foe finally fell, Nidoking beat his chest savagely and loosed a mighty roar before he stepped back a bit, looking over towards his partner to see if she would be in need of any help. Butterfree definitely wouldn't need any help this time around, evident by the graceful way the butterfly dodged an oncoming attack from the Primeape opposing her. "Now take it out with a Psychic!" came the command from her trainer. The butterfly's multifaceted eyes began to shine with a bright blue and soon that blue aura spread throughout her entire body. With a powerful flap of her wings she sent the psychic burst speeding towards the ape, and there was nothing it could do to prevent it. The attack scored a direct, super-effective hit and just like that, the Primeape was down and out. Butterfree chittered happily when she realized she'd won and she fluttered happily over to Jaeshan and landed on his head, beaming proudly. "All right, you guys did it, way to go!" the blonde trainer said happily.
"Wow, this kid means business," Hitomi murmured as she recalled her Pokemon.
"Yep, he'll be a match for our leader, that's for sure," said Daisuke, also recalling his Pokemon.
"But, as you are soon to find out, our leader isn't here," Hitomi added, smirking devilishly at Jaeshan. "All your efforts have been in vain." Laughing, she and her accomplice vanished down one of the many corridors, just as the lights in the area grew much brighter than before.
"Not here...?" Jaeshan repeated quietly after the two had gone. "That's a bummer..." With a heavy sigh he recalled his two victorious Pokemon and looked around. At first he thought about leaving right away but he soon dismissed that thought and continued onward, hoping that the two had only been trying to mislead him. But alas, the end of his trek revealed that the leader, Brawly, was indeed MIA. Another heavy sigh escaped Jaeshan before he turned on a heel and headed out of the gym, making a strange, startled squeaking noise as he stepped out into the insanely bright sunshine.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri May 01, 2009 3:34 pm
That feeling ended a few seconds later. The Staravia was tiny! It couldn't be more then 2 feet tall! It couldn't possibly hold her. "Don't worry," said Orion, seeing her worried face, "He's so strong he could take you all the way to the Elite Four." He patted its head. "Where do I sit?" Orion motioned to a sling attatched to the bird's legs. "You're kidding right?" Orion shook his head. "Nope! Your little Mudkip could sit on his back though, if she wants to" The Mudkip in her arms wiggled unhappily. It did not want to come near the Staravia. Sam looked down at the little pokemon. She smiled when she realized her Mudkip was the same shade of blue as her new dress. "I guess I should name you..." Sam whispered to the Mudkip. The Mud Fish pokemon looked up to her curiously. She thought for a moment. "I'll name you Star." Orion came around to her. "Now that's not very original! I mean, Star? For the stars on her cheeks?" Sam shrugged. "All I could think of." She clambered into the sling. "Lets go then." Orion hugged the Staravia. "Take her to Pallet Town, alright?" It chirped. "Staravia!" It took off. At first it was terrifying, but Sam soon got used to it. She smiled. She hadn't bothered to correct Orion. She hadn't named Star after her star-shaped gills. She had named her after her obvious desire to become a champion. And she had also named her after the first person to really make her lose that sense of hopelessness: Orion.
It was a short flight, and soon Sam was landing in a small town, in front of a large glass building. A lot of pokemon were playing outside. She named the ones she knew. 'Linoone, Umbreon, Pikachu, Charizard, Jolteon, Diglett...' she thought to herself. She saw an older man studying a Marrill, and a younger lady playing with a Charmander. Or maybe she was training it. Sam didn't actually know how to train. Sam slipped out of the sling, and lightly touched down. "Good. I was expecting you. My name is Proffesor Oak, or the Pokemon Proffessor. Orion called ahead saying you would be coming. You must be Sam." He held out his hand, and Sam shook it. "Here come with me." He led her inside the glass building. "Normally, when I get sent young people, I give them their first pokemon and their pokedex. But seeing as you already have a pokemon," he nodded to Star, who was currently rolling around on the floor, "how about a pokedex and your first wild pokemon battle?" He handed Sam a little electronic device. It was black, and when Sam opened it by flipping the top screen upward, the inside was green. She pointed it at Star. "Mudkip, the Mud Fish pokemon. To alert it-" Oak cut it off, and switched it to stats. "This Mudkip knows: Tackle, Growl, and Bite. It is a Water-type and is at level 5." Oak shut the dex and gave it back to Sam. "Excellent! Now let's go out for your first real battle!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat May 02, 2009 2:22 pm
Whatever was dear Jun doing? As Officer Jenny was inclined to believe, whenever he was left alone for some amount of time, he was certainly up to no good.
And truth be told, said belief had some base to it after all. Jun had found some pub at the very edges of family-friendly Hearthome, downing Yeager bombs in a furious competition with the other inhabitants of the bar. For fathers and other scrupulous young men had to unwind away from their families with their own buddies sometimes too, you know? The man had the kidneys of a five-hundred pound man and won nearly every contest, getting everyone wildly intoxicated in the process. The poor pub owner had never seen the likes of it, although he didn't complain; the charismatic Asian fellow brought quite a bit of business in with his rowdiness, at the cost of a table or two. Did he check his ID? The elder man didn't remember. But my, was it a party! These four walls had never seen more life than this. Usually it was house to the complaints of husbands on their verbally abusive and menopausal wives.
But rowdy had a friend named rowdier. The owner could even deal with Jun macking other attractive males who were probably heterosexual when sober (and likely couldn't tell that Jun was actually a man at the moment), but when one offended man (who was married and somewhat homophobic) threw a fist instead of a kiss, all things went to hell. When inebriated, Jun had a tendency to do whatever came to mind. Behind his brain files of beautification and men, if one recalls, was the hidden file of his being a black belt, even if he lacked the brawn to support it now. He hadn't forgotten the moves that his father had taught him when he was supposed to be the successor.
"DIZZZZY FIIIISTS," Jun laughed, taking down the man easily to find himself assaulted by the man's friend. "Whatchu got, waatchu got!" he shouted now, half dancing and half staggering as he dodged the blow, which ended up connecting with some other fellow in classic bad luck. And the other manly men joined the fight, some for revenge and some for the hell of it. The owner quickly changed his mind about the Asian man being profitable as the area turned into a scene reminiscent of Fight Club times twenty men.
Lovely Demi had been reading a hair magazine in the corner quietly, sipping a root beer float when it the party broke down to a roaring free for all. Well, happened sooner this time, and it was troublesome to be Jun's "designated guardian," but he always made it up to her somehow. The Jynx gracefully dodged an empty bottle of beer before deciding it was time to leave. Sweeping through the melee gingerly, she eventually came to Jun, who was sitting on some erect man's shoulders and whoopeeing like a cowboy from the Wild West. The man, presumably an ally, was suddenly bowled over by another fellow, and the collision sent Jun flying. Demi lifted a glowing hand -- Psychic -- and caught her trainer midair. "Oh, time to go, Demiiiii?" he said, sighing as he was brought back down to the ground. "But this one was -- hic -- niceeee," he whined. Demi shook her head, resolute, and Jun obeyed like an obedient child. On the way out, the owner came to confront them indignantly, but with a bit of Demi's amnesic work, he was totally uncertain as to how this whole hurricane started in his bar to begin with.
Which left Jun outside in the streets, sobering up slightly with the fresh air. Aidan popped into his head, but he frowned and shooed the idea away. Who needed a cook? Psh, not him! Needed to watch his figure anyways... hic. Whats-his-face could just go and get with that other man and that other slut Alice (who Jun forgot wasn't a slut) and whoever else he wanted to bang. Did not matter to Jun!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat May 02, 2009 5:15 pm
His front door came into view almost before he realized it. He blew towards it, pulled it open, slammed it shut, and slumped against it, panting hard.
Mrs. Edwards looked up at her son, sky-blue eyes blinking wide. She sniffed and wiped at her face, dispelling the tears lingering there and trying to shove her sorrow behind a mask. She pushed a few tear-dampened strands of chocolate hair behind her ears and got up from the kitchen table with a sigh.
“Mom?” For a moment, Kenneth forgot everything—his panic at being chased by an overly-amorous Totodile, his winded lungs after running flat-out across half the city, and the throbbing in his head that had only increased with his lack of oxygen. He pushed himself off the door and stepped towards his mother, the angry lines of his face fading into concern. “What’re you doing up so late?”
“What am I doing up so late?” Mrs. Edwards half laughed, stepping towards her son with a pained, drawn smile. “What are you doing out so late? Oh dear,” she sighed, her slender hands brushing sand off his jean jacket, “you’re a mess! Wet and dirty, like you’re still a little boy,” she sighed endearingly.
Her hand brushed against the goose egg blooming on Kenneth’s cheek. He flinched and looked away.
“Ken,” his mother said softly, cradling his face in both hands, “did someone hit you?”
He couldn’t stand her drawn look, the way her loving concern made the worry lines on her face deepen. Every time she worried for him, she aged. He hated it.
Kenneth opened his mouth to lie, caught his mother’s eyes, and stopped. What was the point anymore? It’s not like he would ever go back to the Boulders again. He’d already decided to find another means to his goals. “Yeah. But it’s not as bad as it looks,” he added hastily at his mother’s pained grimace. “Really, Mom, it’s okay.”
“Oh honey,” she pined, brushing her thumb over the bruise, blue eyes already glistening with unshed tears. “Here, sit down. Let met get you some ice.” She led the teenager over to the kitchen chair and shuffled on slippered feet towards the refrigerator.
“Mom, it’s okay,” Kenneth tried to reassure her, sitting according to her wishes despite his protest. “It won’t happen again.” This time, I mean it.
She shuffled back to him, ice pack in hand, and pressed it gently to the bruise. Kenneth flinched again, but she reached up and cupped his head, steadying him and applying the ice again. He winced despite himself; good Lord it was cold.
Kenneth looked up at his mother’s eyes again. His own eyes widened slightly at the hardened look within them.
“Your mother might not get out much,” Mrs. Edwards sighed, “but don’t think her a fool. I know what you’ve been up to, Ken. This ‘job’ of yours…it’s not a real job, is it?” She bit her lip, trying to keep her scolding tone steady, trying to fight back the next wave of tears. “You’re part of one of those awful street gangs, aren’t you? You bring home all these injuries—Kenneth!” A sob choked the woman, stilling her words.
You jerk, look what you’ve gone and done. Shame boiled Kenneth’s insides.
“I’m sorry, Mom.” He eased the ice pack out of her grasp and set it on the table. He took his mother’s hand and led her to the chair opposite his, prompting her to sit. The moment she did, she burst into tears, cupping her face in her hands. Kenneth bit down on his lower lip. “I’m sorry.”
“P-put that ice pack b-back on your face, young man,” she garbled miserably. Kenneth complied, sitting back in his own chair and pressing the ice to his face.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat May 02, 2009 7:22 pm
Holding true to his promise, Ky let his Totodile rest in his lap, casually stroking the Pokemon's rough skin. Though the train ride was long and calm, Ky could not get any more than a wink of sleep as he sat in his passenger seat. In fact, even after his hand stopped throbbing from the little croc's bite, it still continued to shake as Ky's dream remained to send fresh chills down his spine. The same questions repeated themselves in his mind: What was he going to do once he got there? Was it really going to happen? Would he get there in time? Though the dream only gave him a little longer than a glimpse of "Mike," the image remained burned in his mind. Poe had said Mike was "mind-sick," but that was no excuse to allow him to do what he did to Winona. Ky's anger flowed through him like a fully-charged battery, but it wasn't enough to keep back the ever-mixing fear he held, knowing he himself was still just a kid.
"I'm just a kid..." Ky mumbled in a drowsy tone. The train felt like it was going on forever; every five minutes felt like fifty. He made sure not to call for the stewardess again though. Every time he did, she looked more and more concerned as Ky's building anxiety became more apparent on his face. "Gah! What am I going to do?!" Ky groaned a little louder, leaning over with his eyes closed shut, two tufts of hair being held tightly within his fists. He felt like he wanted to cry, but all he could feel was a sickening in his stomach that wouldn't go away. How long was he going to have to endure this mental torture?
"What's troubling you, young man?" came a raspy, familiar voice. Startled a bit, Ky let go of his hair quickly to get a glimpse of the elderly lady who had just taken a seat next to him without him noticing. A bit surprised to see it was the same lady he had frightened on his entry into the train, Ky rudely looked away out the window, even though there was nothing outside to focus on.
Ky sighed. "Oh... nothing," he lied. Though he felt plenty comfortable leaving his answer at that, the awkward silence that followed drove him to want to explain further. Turning his head back to look at the lady, he saw that her crinkled face was smiling, a patient smile that told him she was not just waiting for a better answer, but that she was expecting it. "It's just..." Ky started, bringing his fists back up to his hair. "I'm gunna have to fight against someone who looks older than me, and I just don't know what to do," he explained vaguely. To his surprise, he heard the old lady chuckle to herself.
"Ho ho ho ho... you young ones sure are full of troubles nowadays. Getting all stressed over a Pokemon battle and the like. Back in my days, trainers were few and far between. Specialists mind you, but no where near as competitive as the young ones of today, ho ho ho." The lady leaned her head back a bit as she laughed, even bringing a finger up to wipe a fake tear from her laughter. Ky, simply frowning, wasn't expecting to get much of an answer back. There wasn't anyone he could trust to believe what was really going on. How could he when he could barely believe it himself? The elderly woman then made an effort to clear her throat, so Ky continued to listen. "Even so, I've been alive way too long to not have picked up a piece of advice or two for trainers like you, and if one thing, it's enough to say that age doesn't matter in the slightest when it comes to Pokemon battles, ho ho ho. As long as you're smart enough and your Pokemon are strong enough, trainers and their Pokemon can solve anything." The lady then took her finger and tapped it on Ky's forehead, making sure her eyes met his. "Anything."
As if absorbing her words through her fingertip, Ky watched in a slight trance as the old lady smiled, stood up and made her way back to her seat. The words that sunk into Ky's head were more helpful than he could have ever hoped for. Sure, the lady thought he was simply worried about a Pokemon battle, but there was no reason for him not to try and apply the wisdom he was just given. Now, rather than hoping the train ride would be over soon, he now saw that he was lucky to be given so much time to sort things out. "Anything, huh?" Ky thought to himself. Making sure to place his panic and anger to the side, this time Ky began to re-visualize his dream with a cool, calm demeanor. He had gone over the problem more than enough times in his head. Now was the time for a solution.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat May 02, 2009 9:02 pm
Oak searched the tall grass. So far they had found only grass-type pokemon, which, Oak informed Sam, Star was weak too. "Aha! Here we are! A Pidgey, level 2. Should be fairly easy pickings." Sam looked at the little bird. It looked really peaceful, pecking at the ground. She didn't want to disturb it. As Sam hesitated, Star bounded forward and pawed at the Pidgey. It let out a cry, and Pecked Star hard on the forehead. Star jumped back, and rubbed at her forehead. That had really hurt..."Okay...um...Star! Tackle the Pidgey!" Sam yelled. Star rolled her eyes, but was glad to oblige. She ran full force at the evil little pokemon that had bruised her face. It just watched her, and ,at the last second, took flight. Star kept running without looking where she was going. "Star! Look out! You'll run into the tree!" Star looked back, and tried to skid to a stop as she saw the fallen log looming. She hit it anyways, but softly. The Pidgey landed calmly on the log above Star. It Pecked her forehead again. Oak laughed. "Seems this one has learned some tricks! Star's going have to use brains over brawn to beat it!" Star glared. How dare he insult her! She was absolutely brilliant! She had to prove herself. She crouched, then launched herself at the Pidgey. As it tried to take flight again, Star sank her teeth into the Pidgey's wing. It fell to the ground. It staggered to its feet, but, when Star tried to Tackle it again, it flinched just before, allowing Star to make good, solid contact. The Pidgey fainted. "Great job Star! You were amazing!" Sam exclaimed. Star, smug as can be, pranced over. Her forehead was bleeding a bit. "Of course, most battles are not going to be this easy you know," Oak said walking over. "You'll often be at a disadvantage, either by level or type. But if you get to know your pokemon, I'm sure they can overcome any obstacle. Star did very well. She was very clever to go for the Pidgey's wings so it could not Fly away." Star held her head high. She hadn't meant to go for the wings, that was an accident. But it didn't matter, if it got her praise and attention. "Now let's go back to the lab, and heal Star. She deserves a rest." Sam looked at the fainted Pidgey. "What about that?" she said, pointing at the Tiny Bird. Oak smiled. "Don't worry about it. It'll wake up soon, and be on it's merry way." Sam wasn't so sure, but then he was the Pokemon Professor. 'Wait why do I care? I hate pokemon...' she thought to herself. She shook her head. 'Maybe I did, but I didn't really know them then. Now that I have Star, I already can't imagine not having her around. She's like...the best friend I've never had. Like my pet.' She shook her head again. 'No, not a pet. Star could never be a 'pet'...Wow how cliched am I?' She laughed aloud. Oak looked at her. He probably thought she was crazy, having conversations with herself. Sam smiled, and picked Star up. She wiped away the little blood on her forehead, and hugged her. This one type of attention Star couldn't stand. She struggled against Sam's bear hug. All at once, Sam began to cry. Oak was bewildered. "I'm so happy I threw you off a boat!" was all Sam managed to say. "I'll...be back at the lab." Oak said, and he walked off. Sam quickly got a hold of herself, and set her emotions behind a wall again, a trick she'd learned as a little girl. 'Show absolutely no emotions, except happiness and excitement.' The trick had pushed her to her limit, but it had kept everyone around her happy, and that was all Sam had ever wanted.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun May 03, 2009 9:30 am
Other than the incredibly bright sunshine, the first thing Jaeshan noticed was that people seemed to be hurrying off in one direction. "I wonder what's going on?" the tall blonde murmured, still rather upset that he couldn't have his match with Brawly right away. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and slowly made his way along the beach, nonchalantly following the increasing amounts of people who seemed to be interested in something. He fell into line behind two guys, both of whom where shorter than he, a little glad to be inconspicuously eavesdropping on the both of them.
"So where are we going, anyway?" the first kid asked. Jaeshan couldn't help but notice that he wasn't really watching where he was going, aside from the occasional glance to make sure he wasn't going the wrong way. This was because he appeared to be sending text messages from his phone.
"I dunno, I heard Brawly got a challenge right here on the beach and I wanna check it out. Brawly's awesome."
The other kid nodded, without looking up from his phone. So that's where he is, Jaeshan thought, feeling a little less annoyed now. And at the very least, if these kids were right, then he could watch the battle and maybe get an idea of how Brawly and his Pokemon fought together and maybe formulate a couple of strategies for when his turn actually came around. Before long Jaeshan arrived on the scene, and even though it wasn't really necessary, as he could see over the heads of everyone, most people seemed to hurry get out of his way. All right, I didn't realize I was that intimidating, he thought with a chuckle, now looking towards the battlefield. He could see a Machop, which he knew were native to the Hoenn region, but he didn't really recognize it's opponent, so he took out his PokeDex to examine the spider. "Ariados," he murmured, reading over the entry quickly before looking up at the battle again. From everything he understood, Brawly was a Fighting-type expert, so the Ariados must have belonged to the challenger. Jaeshan casually glanced towards the youth giving the orders and was a little surprised to see the blonde kid from earlier, the one that hadn't seemed to like Keegan all that much (though it wasn't an overly shocking revelation). "I had no idea he was after Brawly's Knuckle Badge too," he said to himself.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
