Welcome to Gaia! ::

"It's good to see you working hard. It seemed like there was a brush fire out on Route 1 so I went to check out the damage. It looked like someone put it out with some water attack, so I'm guessing it might have been Dante since it doesn't look like anyone else has a Water Pokemon that can use water to put out that much fire." he said.

He felt someone watching him, so he turned his head to the side to see who it was with his visible eye. It was the boy from before, standing up a little straighter to look important. He was trying way too hard. To Des, he was nothing more than the dirt under his boots. But like all newbie Trainers, he had to have at least some potential.

The potential of being his little slave, perhaps?

"Ah, it's you again. I haven't had a chance to contact the Academy yet. Tell you what, I'll take you under my wing for a bit to teach you a little about survival, but you need to earn your first badge and take this nice lady's survey before I do that." he said cheerfully.

He glanced at the other Trainers around. The boy Nolan was talking to had a shiny Blitze, and the boy that was talking to Regina before had a shiny Ledyba. Jeez, were the shiny Pokemon showing themselves a little too freely? These brats were finding them too easily.

Regina nodded, curious. A bush fire this early? Well. Guess the trainers with Fire types should be kept under strong supervision for the first period. Her brow furrowed when he mentioned Dante, though. The Genesia Gym Leader? On Route 1? Tsk. The Leaders were evidently scoping out the new trainers on their own. She noticed Des watching the other boy, which she found curious. Did they know each other? His next words, though, perplexed her a little. Take him under his wing? Oooh, a recruit. Good work, Des. She'd mentored her fair share of Team Celestia recruits, but it tested her temper beyond belief, so she hated doing it.

Her attention returned to the boy, Nolan, when he gave her his name and hometown. Brilliant. She smiled at him, writing down the information. "Fantastic, thank you." Hopefully, this one would have more potential than the last. "Now, Nolan, how old are you? And how long have you been in Etrua? I ask because quite a few trainers nowadays travel from other regions to here."

Post 11

Alex nodded when Nolan was talking. A lot of what he said made sense. The thing about the gym, the thing about the shinnies, the thing about the contests, and the thing about holding on a second... Wait... Holding on a second? Alex watched as Nolan went over to the lady that Alex had just finished talking too and someone that looked like they were a ranger. With a shrug Alex sat on the bench that Nolan had just gotten up from and started pointing the pokedex at every pokemon that wasn't his to learn more about them.

Oshawott (Lin) / Female / Caught: Valerian's Lab / Level: 9 / Holding: Nothing / Ability: Torrent / Tackle / Tail Whip / Water Gun 5/10
Spearow / Male / Caught: Route 1 / Level: 6 / Holding: Nothing / Ability: Keen Eye / Peck / Growl / Leer
Poochyena (Duskie) / Female / Caught: Route 1 / Level: 7 / Holding: Nothing / Ability: Run Away / Tackle / Howl
Lillipup (Jenkins) / Male / Caught: Route 1 / Level: 4 / Holding: Nothing / Ability: Pickup1/5 / Leer / Tackle
Zigzagoon ( Stripes ) / Male / Caught: Route 1 / Level 3 / Holding: Nothing / Ability: Pickup1/5 / Tackle / Growl
★Blitzle ( Blue ) / Male / Caught: Route 2 / Level 5 / Holding: Nothing / Ability: Lightningrod / Quick Attack / Tail Whip

(( I have no idea how to pluralize "shiny" ))

That amused reaction got a sheepish smile out of Nolan, and he scratched the back of his head, shrugging a little. He hadn't thought sixteen was that old at first, yet after meeting some of his fellow rookie trainers, Nolan could agree with Hayley there - that he was a bit older than normal. Alex was the best reminder of that, and Nolan felt his gaze drawn back over to the young trainer and his shiny Blitzle.
"Plenty to do at home, so I didn't think of a journey as a serious option. Well, not until my dad wanted me to learn how to train pokemon, so I could take on some more responsibilities."

While Nolan carefully considered his answers to the two follow up questions, Snivy was looking down on Smeargle. Certainly she enjoyed having the height advantage from her perch, but being studied in such a way by a strange pokemon was starting to fluster the Grass Snake. Snivy didn't dare to just turn her back on Smeargle, but she refused to show the fact that she was bothered. So she stared back at the Painter pokemon. Smeargle coming up so close ruffled the trainer as well, and Nolan reflexively took half a step backward, glancing down. But so long as Smeargle was just looking, Nolan saw no harm in it, although, he did keep his hands to himself in case Caroline bites.

"Well ..."
A tad distracted, Nolan was a little slower starting his answer,
"I would say that I try to think things through, and come up with a plan. I don't really like ... most fighting, but I love getting to know how pokemon really think and feel. I can't think of much else about me. As for training pokemon, I really could use some more help there, heh. But we're still getting to know each other, so I don't know where I'll go from here. I'm not even really sure what I'm doing, except healing them when they're hurt. But I think I'm just lucky to have found such great self-motivated pokemon."
Snivy nodded curtly at that, punctuating Nolan's words.

Regina nodded, interested. Both he and Alex had had their fathers as the initial triggers for their journeys, which was worth noting. She also noticed that he stepped back from Caroline. Heh. What did they think that she was going to do? Paint them? The Smeargle seemed rather smug at this, reaching up with her long tail and touching the tip of the Snivy's nose with her inky tail. "Caroline! Get back here!" Dejected, she started to slink back to her mistress, tail still waving. "My apologies, Nolan." She hoisted the Smeargle back up on the ledge. She then quickly wrote down his answers, resisting the urge to wince when he said he didn't really like fighting. He sounded rather sentimental. "Nolan, what level is your Snivy, please? And how long do you think it will be until you challenge the Blyse Gym?" She assumed that his starter was his most powerful Pokemon, and she was often right.

Post 13

Regina tilted her head at the Snivy. It did not seem to mind the little ink spot on its nose - most Pokemon freaked out or sneezed repeatedly. "Alright, thank you for your patience. None the less . . . Return, Caroline." She pointed the Pokeball at the Smeragle, who vanished in a beam of red light. After a few moments of thinking, she pulled out another Pokeball, this time pointing it at the fountain and releasing Felicia. The Dragonair appeared in the water, staying under for a moment before rearing her head and regarding her surroundings with an air of grace. She observed her trainer with papers, and took from that she was not meant to attack right now.

Regina scribbled down the new information that Nolan had given her, impressed. She looked back up at him. "With those levels, I would advise challenging the Gym now, before you advance too much - otherwise, your Pokemon may start to ignore your commands. Might I ask who this 'Dosu' is, Nolan?"

Post 14

Regina stared at him. A Magikarp . . . unlike most, she didn't underestimate the little buggers - while they were essentially useless before their twentieth level, it was well worth keeping them around after that. Unfortunately for Nolan, their tempers were legendary, and with his apparently relaxed approach to Pokemon, he'd get ripped apart in seconds. She glanced back at Felicia, who was, naturally, basking in the attention she was getting. She reached her slender neck down, inspecting the Snivy, head tilted to one side. "Felicia, don't freak the poor thing out. Also, don't worry about the Smeargle ink - it won't stain anything, it's only designed for painting. Each Smeargle has different coloured ink, which is predetermined for every one." Caroline's own colour was a pale, pastel red.

Regina then smiled at the younger trainer. "Your Snivy seems to be fine with listening to you. I would be very careful with that Magikarp, though - it's going to become absurdly hard to handle from the moment it evolves. If you want to survive, you need to get that badge soon. The Gym here is a Flying type Gym - your Snivy will be no good there, because it's weak to Flying type moves. What other Pokemon do you have?"

Post 15

Felicia seemed amused at getting the Snivy to scurry away from her, and so settled back down in the water, relishing in the coolness. After a moment, her head popped out again, leaning on the ledge as she surveyed the surrounding trainers with interest. Regina petted her head delicately, before focusing on Nolan words. “The two Shinx will be valuable, but the Hippopotas won’t be much help – Ground type moves have no effect on Flying types. The Taillow should have some aerial abilities, meaning that it should dodge and attack easier than a land-bound Pokemon.” She smiled at him again, saying, “Hopefully, in the heat of the moment, Dosu will remember who you are and what you’ve done for it. If it gets too much, remember that you can always recall it, but if it resists, you’re in serious trouble. Don’t be afraid to let your Shinx use a couple of moves on it to weaken it, as its Electric type moves do four times the normal on a Gyarados, so that it can’t struggle and break out of the Pokeball.”

Post 16