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 Posted: Sat Apr 06, 2013 1:35 pm
It didn't take long for Keegan to make his way back into the Department Store and grab the TM he wanted, and after shelling out the funds he taught Roost to Artemis right there in the store. The clerk hadn't batted an eyelash, and Keegan wasn't even sure the youth realized that the redhead had been there only a short time before. With that done and the Swellow back in her PokeBall (with only minor protesting, at that) it was on to the clothing section, which Keegan discovered a few floors down after a bit of hurried wandering. From there, it didn't take him long to find the jackets and he was able to pick out one that looked an awful lot like the one he had now, but slightly cheaper. As he draped it over his arm and started to head to the checkout he stopped and backpedaled, grabbing a second one as an afterthought. He figured he might as well save himself a trip as he was likely to ruin the first one anyway, especially if he wasn't more careful around hungry little dragons. This clerk gave him a curious stare as he paid for the two jackets, neither of them speaking save for the clerk announcing the total, and the professional "Thank you, have a nice day" that most people in retail were forced to spit out after every transaction. Keegan had only offered a grumble as a response.
His wallet felt significantly lighter as he retreated back up to the roof where The Dame waited, having refused to be returned to her PokeBall so soon, and who was Keegan to argue with the elder Charizard? Aside from that, he was more than certain that she could take care of herself. Before long they were in the air again, heading west, then south, and then for a change of pace, southwest. The flight seemed to pass by far too quickly, as despite his excitement over having been allowed to borrow the mama Charizard, he'd only been granted permission for flying, and he knew that the moment they touched down in Petalburg, he'd have to make a Combeeline for the Pokemon Center and send her back home again.
In what felt like no time at all they'd landed, and Keegan thanked the dragon for the safe (and silent) flights. The Dame grunted happily in return, as it seemed she was happy to be able to get out and get some exercise. Keegan silently hoped that he'd be allowed to borrow her again some time, and as he headed into the Pokemon Center he pulled out his PokeNav, realizing that he hadn't received any inquiring phone calls or messages from his mother since leaving home. "Oh, that would be why," he muttered, stopping in the middle of the lobby as he came to the realization that the reason he'd gotten no calls was because the battery in his Nav was dead. Probably for quite some time, at that. Come to think of it, when was the last time he'd even used the thing? He honestly had no idea. "Oops."
=====
Falkner was a bit surprised to see the Croconaw emerge from Jasper's first PokeBall, as he was well aware of the fact that Professor Elm of New Bark Town often gave out Totodile to starting trainers, so therefore he assumed that was the case with his quirky challenger. It was uncommon, however, for those trainers to send out their starters first, as being a trainer's first Pokemon, they were often their most trusted. Regardless, he was sure Jasper had some sort of strategy in mind as he watched the Croconaw initiate a Dragon Dance. That was troubling, considering how strong their jaws were without a boost. The additional speed wouldn't be pleasant, either.
"Spearow, use Leer," called the blue-haired Gym Leader, properly cautious of the Croconaw and her accompanying set of powerful jaws. The little bird ruffled its feathers and sent a loathsome glare toward the Water-type. Falkner had no plans to send his Spearow in close to the gator; he was more than quite happy to let the Croconaw come to them.
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Posted: Sat Apr 06, 2013 2:12 pm
Jasper watched and waited with a sort of anxious anticipation for Falkner to make his first move, wondering what sort of tactics a gym leader might employ during an official match. He had to admit that he was a little surprised by the command for a Leer, and both he and Croconaw looked on as the tiny bird put on a truly wicked look. Croconaw wasn't the sort to be easily rattled, but the Leer was enough to give her pause and make her take a partial step back. 'Effective,' Jasper thought, now mentally debating going on the offensive or stacking on another Dragon Dance.
"Get in there and Scratch it," he called, hoping that this Spearow wasn't much tougher than that Bird Keeper girl's had been. Croconaw growled with delight and darted forward, her arms held out at her sides as she closed in on her target. She gave a fierce cry as she swiped her claws at the bird, hoping to draw the first blood of the match.
* * * * * * * * * *
At the mention of her pajamas, Hayley's expression turned puzzled, and she looked down at herself in order to confirm the dark-haired girl's observations. "Oh, I guess I forgot," was all she could think of to say on the subject, however. After all, when running for your life, one generally doesn't have the spare time to change. "Thanks for the reminder, though," she added brightly. On the girl's shoulder, Kaylee face-palmed and Tisyphone tried to bury herself in her trainer's hair; the Nidoran due to her apprehension of newcomers and the Pikachu because she was just plain embarrassed.
"New in town, huh?" Hayley went on, oblivious to to her Pokemon and their troubles. "Me too, well, sort of. It's been a long time since I've been to Pewter, but I do know where everything is, mostly. I'm heading to the Pokemon Center right now. If you want, I can show you the way. I really don't mind!" The brunette continued to beam her blinding smile at the taller girl, blissfully ignorant to the fact that her cheerfulness might be annoying to some.
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thunderbolts_and_sunshine
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Posted: Sat Apr 06, 2013 8:35 pm
There was definitely something familiar about the girl's cheerfulness but Riza couldn't quite put her finger on it. Either way she didn't really seem to be too bothered by her current apparel, which Riza found amusing, for she'd be far too embarrassed to try such a stunt. Of course she didn't know about the ordeal that drove the brunette out of the forest in that state to begin with. The dark haired girl smiled at the two Pokemon as they looked sort of embarrassed, but she figured she'd probably be too.
The girl seemed nice enough anyway, and Riza nodded as she spoke. "Actually, that would be really....nice of you," she said, managing a smile of her own. "It would probably save me a lot of aimless wandering. Your Pokemon are quite cute," she added as an after thought, taking out her pokedex and pointing it at the Pikachu first, mostly out of politeness. She quietly read over its entries before turning it on the little blue shy one. 'Nidoran, female?' she thought, sifting a few pages until she reached the Nidoran, male. 'Quite a difference,' she thought, also noticing the rounded edges of the Pikachu's tail. 'Then again, a lot of Pokemon have different appearances based on their gender.' Feeling a bit more informed about the Pokemon, Riza put her pokedex away and nodded to Hayley. "Lead the way, then," she said, motioning ahead. "Oh, and my name is Riza, by the way. Nice to meet you."
* * * * *
The trip back to Solaceon was quick and uneventful with Katie and Kord arriving without incident. Katie quickly sought out the pokecenter, which didn't take long now that she was quite familiar with the little town. She called Kord back to his poke ball reluctantly, knowing he still needed healing after taking that Slash and she handed the Electabuzz's poke ball over to the nurse, as well as Miles' and Darla's. Genki, Noa and Seraphim were doing just fine.
She hadn't forgotten her initial plan of coming back here and making some changes, and as she sent her Roselia's poke ball home and quietly awaited her Buneary's to take its place, she couldn't help but think of the daycare center again. She frowned and shook her head, forcing herself to think of something else as the rabbit Pokemon's poke ball arrived. "Welcome back, Nell," the orange haired girl said, releasing the Buneary. "I hope you had fun with my mom, but now it's time to get you caught up to everyone else."
The Buneary studied her trainer's serious expression and then nodded, her ears both curled back and she jabbed the air a few times with her cute little paws. Katie giggled at the Buneary's cuteness. "I also think we should go shopping to see if we can't find you a new move or two." Katie also recalled that Buneary could only evolve into Lopunny if they formed really close bonds with their trainers, and after seeing Kord's evolution just now, and Miles' evolution yesterday, she was excited to see if she could push Nell into evolving as well.
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Posted: Sat Apr 06, 2013 9:43 pm
The often-oblivious Kasiya could only nod in response as Keegan turned down the lunch invitation, unaware of the fact that he wasn't being entirely truthful and instead fully believing that he wanted to get to Petalburg as quickly as possible. She'd wanted to say something else, but she'd apparently run out of courage when it came to interacting with the redhead, at least for now, and a part of her wondered if he was just really eager to get away from her. She knew she very well couldn't blame him if he did. Her minor stint of depression was short, however, as the sight of the large Charizard appearing in front of them caused her blue eyes to go wide with amazement. "Ooh," was about all she could manage, having forgotten just how big and impressive and imposing Nitro and Nova's mama really was. She felt a chill run over her as the Dame sized her up, but before long, Keegan had bid them farewell and he and the dragon were off to Petalburg.
Back at the Pokemon Center, Kasiya was a little disappointed to find that none of the vending machines carried any sort of ice cream, but she did settle for one of those individually-wrapped sandwiches, but only after making Mike promise to buy her ice cream later on. All of the hard-working Pokemon were healed as well, and after a little bit whole lot of shuffling, all her TMs were used on the appropriate Pokemon and she'd deposited Adamantine (along with the prayers of 'oh, please behave for Professor Oak), Rosemary and Twilight, the trio being replaced by Alphonse, Zaira and Pepper. She felt oddly excited to be working with the three newer members of her party, and though she knew she needed to start working with Ariados, she figured the spider still needed some time to adjust, and she didn't want to push her just yet. She was mildly aware of Mike as he fretted over his own party, but she gave him his space, occasionally offering him a reassuring smile when he happened to glance her way. She wondered if he was going to start training Pumpkin now, as she was curious as to what the little Litwick was capable of.
The excitement of doing some training with her Piplup, Shinx and Minccino had yet to fade as she and Mike departed for Mount Pyre. Again, she was still oblivious to the actual reason as to why they were going there, but even before the mountain was even completely visible, she felt him tense up against her, and she frowned slightly. When they'd touched down, she gave Nitro an affectionate hug, as she'd always been very fond of him, and she turned to Mike. "Well, we're here," she said quietly, finding the rolling fog to be somewhat unnerving. Just why where they here, again?
=-=-=-=-=
"Medium, huh?" Karrigan repeated, adjusting her ponytail with her good hand. The term sounded familiar, but she wasn't sure she'd heard it used in a long time. Oddly enough, she was reminded of the priests and priestesses back at the Snowpoint Temple, even if they had little to no Ghost-types roaming around. She'd never been allowed inside herself, but she had heard that many Ice-types called the lower levels home, and that the deepest of the chambers contained a secret that not even Candice knew about.
The redhead was snapped out of her little daydream as Damien mentioned going to get something to eat, and Karrigan realized that she was feeling both thirsty and a little hungry. "Yeah, I saw it, too," she nodded, unable to think of a reason not to go. She took a step forward and paused, looking back at the dark-haired boy. She had a feeling that he wasn't really the type to be a gentleman and offer to pay, but that didn't really bother her as she was plenty capable of paying for her own drinks and food. The canteen was exactly where they both remembered it to be, in between the infirmary and battle area, but closer to the latter. A small line of people stood ahead of them, but that was just fine with Karrigan as it would give her time to decide on what she wanted.
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Posted: Sat Apr 06, 2013 11:33 pm
The hot water knob was never touch, Crenu enjoyed taking cold showers to begin with, but the very cold water helped with his wounds, restricting the blood flow and the amount he would bleed as well as reducing swelling and numbing his body which made it easier to wash over the more tender areas around the cuts. It also helped sooth his burns, or at least he thought to anyway, he enjoyed it over all and that's all that mattered. As the last of the suds washed from his body and vanished down the drain, he finally shut the water off with clumsy fingers, while his mind might have blocked out the unpleasant feeling associated with an icy bath his body couldn't be stopped from reacting as it should, and until he warmed up, his motor skills weren't going to be precise. He dried himself off with his towel, wrapped it around his waist, and was back off to his room picking up his clothes along the way. After stashing away his clothes and putting on a fresh pair of essentials, he went to work re bandaging his wounds.
“So she doesn’t know about the tally marks huh? You know she’s gonna see them eventually son.” The ghost of his father suddenly chimed in.
“He’s right, you can’t hide it forever~” Ayane sang along.
“Watch me.” He simple replied, ignoring the images that were now floating around the room, watching him. Crenu was intent to not acknowledge them by looking, though by talking to them he was doing that anyway. They hadn’t appeared since he’d reunited with Riza before the contest, and he was intent to keep that streak going.
“Hahaha, really? She’s a girl that likes you son. You really think she’s gonna let you keep treating your arm on your own? What about when you heal up? If you ever do that is. I’d swear those wounds were from a moment ago, they still look so fresh! You really should see a doctor. Just cause they killed me doesn’t mean you’ll die in there too. Maybe. Ha. Don’t be so afraid boy.”
“I’m not afraid. I just don’t feel like going to a hospital. Bunch of overpaid quacks telling me what I already know. When the bandages have to come off, I'll deal with hiding it some other way. Besides, you’re not dead and you weren’t killed in a hospital, because you’re not real. Neither of you are real. I’m hallucinating because I’ve lost focus and let myself get caught up in stupid illogical emotions spawned from a series of misfortune, lack of sleep, and stress.” He said plainly as he rolled the white cloth up his left arm in a tight wrap.
“And her of course, we can’t forget about that. Boy she sure stirred up a hornet’s nest of feelings in your mind and in your little heart. Awww, my little Shiro is such a softie isn’t he? Just a lost puppy who needs a hug.” Ayane said with a laugh as she poked his chest, her finger going through his torso.
Crenu just ignored her, wrapping up his other arm now, if he stopped answering them they would go away. He just had to focus on the task at hand and stop feeding his imagination. There was a faint beeping sound in the room, but he was too focused on bandaging himself and drowning out the ghosts to notice anythign as trivial as that.
“She’s a real cutie though huh? That snow white skin, hair like a raven, legs that go aaaaall the way up! Damn son you sure know how to pick em. Just like your old man eh? Ah ha ha ha! Shoot if I were twenty years younger and alive, I’d definitely take a swing at that fine pie-“
“Shut it.” Even though angered Crenu’s tone didn’t change, though his jaw was clenched tight and he definitely had a bit of a growl at the back of his throat. “My father loved my mother and he wasn’t some stupid stereotypical perve. If you insist on forming an avatar for whatever suppressed bullshit I apparently have at least make it accurate.” Crenu was in fact scolding himself at the moment, again not wanting to acknowledge the hallucinations that were haunting him again.
“Oh Uncle James, he thinks so highly of you! Ah that’s right, you died when he still thought you were Super Man. Well grow up Shiro, you know everyone is human. Don’t get so touchy, he was just complimenting her. And she really is a cutie you know. Waaay too hot for you. Oh but don’t worry, she’ll leave you soon enough. I mean did you see that red haired hunk she left you for the first time? My gosh! Red haired hottie, or the mummy man who can’t be bothered to send her a good morning text. I know who I’d pick~.”
Crenu gritted his teeth as he fastened the last set of bandages over his hands, a little tighter than normal as he tried to force the thoughts out of his head. He finally managed to push them away, and the ghosts vanished for now. Crenu angrily threw on the rest of his clothes, slamming the door behind him as he exited the room. He didn’t say a word to anyone, and was clear away from the center when he finally stopped, slowing himself down, realizing now that he’d pretty much been stomping around like a fool. “….s**t.” He sighed as he took several deep breaths to calm himself down, taking his phone from his bag to check the time, seeing niw that he’d gotten a call while he was fighting with himself. Seeing Riza’s name on the screen, he unknowingly smiled a bit. Listening to her message, it grew a little, but only for a moment before it vanished at the end of her message. She sounded a tad…hesitant. But she had in fact called him back, and asked that he do the same. He felt like they were playing phone tag, and it was annoying. Crenu wasn’t big on texting but he was starting to see why it was rather convenient. Still, he wasn’t going to resort to that just yet. He looked up into the Celedon skyline, he could see the large department store from where he was now, it wasn’t very far. “…again with the clothes thing. Tch, does it really matter that much?” She kept poking at him about his wardrobe, and though ti was annoying, thinking about her teasing him about it made him feel…nice. He had time to spare before he’d meet with Erika for tea anyway. He could at least look, just to humor her. As Crenu walked towards the department store, he hit the call button, hoping to get through to her this time. He hated the idea of having to resort to text messages to hold a conversation. Though this was really the first time he ever needed to or even wanted to hold one with someone this badly.
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Posted: Sun Apr 07, 2013 10:04 am
"Yes we are." Mike hopped off of Nitro, recalling him and taking in his surroundings. He would steel himself, but he knew there was little he could do to protect himself from this place. Fog obscured his vision, but not his memory. Ahead of him lie an all too familiar path to an all too familiar altar, while flanking them on either side were a series of rock formations and tall grass that hid some of Hoenn's more...interesting Pokemon. Mike scoffed at his own recollection. He could navigate this place with his eyes closed if he wanted to. Doing just that, he thought back to just over four years ago, when a much younger, stupider him dressed in all black crept up the mountain and stole something he had absolutely no grasp of: the Red Orb. Now, all too late, he knew of the terrible power it possessed, but back then he was more than eager to swipe it simply because Maxie asked him to. 'It is for the good of all of Hoenn', he said. "So stupid. So stupid." Mike said to himself.
What? a phantom whispered inquisitively.
"I SAID I WAS STUPID!" Mike screamed at the voice, flames violently ejecting from his mouth. "I was stupid, and foolish, and because of that, people died!" As he spoke, the world around him darkened, and the aforementioned spirits rose from the ground beside him like smoke from a dying flame. Hundreds of them. "All of you. Dead, because of me." The very thought of his own ignorance tickled him. He was furious, but at the same time, he couldn't help but find the whole thing...funny. His body shook, first with anger, then with high-pitched laughter. But to be fair, at this point fury and hilarity to him were interchangeable, like many of his emotions. Still in hysterics, Mike turned around and pulled out the Red Orb, holding it out for Kasiya. "Look. Look! he insisted, shaking the jewel in his hand. "All of this chaos, all of this death, for this." He gestured to the phantoms around him, forgetting that he was the only one who was able to see them. "Because of one monster's ambition and the stupid kid he got to help him. All for this-this stupid ******** MARBLE!" He grit his teeth and pulled his hand back, but stopped. "You wanna know what this thing does? Do you want to know what I unleashed on the world?!" he yelled accusingly, causing another fiery reaction. "It wakes up an awful, terrible monster. A Pokemon-a huge Pokemon." He held out his arms as if to illustrate his point, but he wasn't even close.
"This Pokemon-this-this-it," he reached into his bag, almost dropping the orb, and pulled out his Pokedex, frantically searching for the entry. "THIS." he flipped the device around, his hand shaking as he did. The picture that was displayed was unlike the usual that the Pokedex offered with the static pose and clean white background. This was a grainy, distant photo of a massive looking beast, its form outlined by the red glowing runes on its body against the all too familiar backdrop: Lilycove City. "Those are buildings next to it. Buildings! It tore through them like blocks-little kid's toys! I-I saw it!" The Pokedex fell to the ground, as did Mike as he lost the ability to stand, much less talk, as he was far too busy shifting between cackling and screaming as the memories came rushing back to him like a tidal wave. He curled into a ball, clutching the orb in his hands and pouring so much of his heat into it that it began to glow.
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Posted: Sun Apr 07, 2013 10:46 am
Jake wasn't quite sure how long he sat there, face buried in his arms as they rested on his knees, but the entire time, the Rotom hovered right nearby, apparently quite interested in him. Jake lifted his head and eyed the Ghost/Electric-type, trying to give it a stern look, but the Pokemon's goofy expression easily disarmed him. "What do you want?" he asked, trying futilely to keep up his cold demeanor, but the little Pokemon intrigued him.
The Rotom buzzed quietly and moved about the room, stopping at the bookcase where Jake had initially taken the children's book. "She's been alone for a long time, hasn't she?" Jake asked suddenly, causing the Rotom to jump a little, and Jake grinned at the irony of him having startled a Ghost-type. The Rotom drifted over to him, giving a slow nod. Jake sighed. "Poor kid. I wish I knew what happened to her." He buried his face in his arms again. "I wish I knew what was going to happen to me..." He squeezed his eyes shut, fighting back tears which seemed ridiculous. He couldn't really do anything about it after all.
It was then that he was literally jolted out of his thoughts by a burst of electricity, and he jumped to his feet, glaring harshly at the Rotom. "What'd you do that for?" he practically screeched. The Rotom replied with a large grin, and then it drifted forward, zapping the boy with another Thundershock. "SPARKY WHAT THE HELL?" Jake shouted, staggering from the shock. "STOP THAT!" Naturally, the Rotom seemed to think this was quite funny and it unleashed a third shock, causing Jake to stumble back yet again. Somehow he managed to topple backwards down the same hole he'd caused only a short while ago, but this time when he opened his eyes, his body felt like it had been run over by a herd of stampeding Tauros. His limbs were twitching from the residual electricity and as the room came into focus, he found himself staring into the single eye of Magnemite.
=-=-=-=-=
Erika would definitely be lying if she said that Sasha wasn't one of her more interesting friends, and she definitely wasn't too surprised to hear of all the things that the pink-haired girl had been through. Sure, she wasn't entirely savvy of Sasha's more outgoing side, but at time, she was certain there was a lot more going on than she cared to admit, even if just for the gym leader's sake. "I can't say I blame you," Erika said, sampling another cookie. "I can't imagine what it'd be like, going through all of... that." She'd paused to search for the right word, but couldn't quite find one.
The dark-haired gym leader smiled, setting her cookie back down on her plate. "That was Crenu," she said, nodding slowly. "And that was his second visit to my gym. He was unsuccessful at his first attempt to win a badge. He's... different, that's for sure." She wasn't entirely sure how to describe the rather surly young man, as he could go from polite and well-spoken to harsh and cold in a matter of seconds. The faintest traces of a blush did find their way into her cheeks at Sasha's last question, even though she wasn't surprised that her friend would ask - she always did, without fail. "I've only had six challengers since our match," she answered, trying to regain her composure. "One of them was a lovely young lady with a very well-trained Bellossom, and a nice young man with a Granbull. They were both victorious." Erika enjoyed another lengthy sip of her tea, trying to recall other memorable things about the trainers she'd faced recently, though admittedly, she often remembered them better if they had a Grass-type Pokemon. The smallest smile graced her lips, and she closed her eyes. "Well, there was this one boy. Tall, blue eyes, blonde hair. He was kind of a goof but, his Pokemon were all so strong and well-trained. I do get the feeling he was holding back during the match."
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Posted: Sun Apr 07, 2013 1:37 pm
The change in Mike's demeanor was near instant the moment their feet had touched the ground, and Kasiya felt a little more uneasy with every step they took. Mike had taken the lead and she followed after him, somehow suspecting that this little side-trip was for more than just sightseeing. Her gaze lingered on the rows of rocks that lined the path they currently followed, and Kasiya was more than a little bit reminded of the Pokemon Tower back in Lavender Town, Kanto. A constant chill was running up and down her spine and she wrapped her arms around herself, rubbing her exposed forearms with her palms in a vain attempt to recover some warmth.
The silence surrounding them was almost unbearable, and despite everything she'd been through recently, Kasiya could feel the beginnings of fear starting to creep up on her, and without realizing it, she'd taken hold of Shocker's Pokeball, if anything just for a subconscious sense of comfort. Mike's sudden outburst caused her to cry out and she stepped back, her heel getting caught up against one of the rock formations and causing her to fall to the ground. She was back on her feet almost instantly, eyes wide with fright. And then he'd wheeled around to face her, the shaking of his hands making it almost impossible to see the fiery red jewel he held in his hand. She couldn't stop herself from flinching every time he shouted, and the bursts of flame didn't help matters much, either.
However, she could only nod slowly at the mention of the huge monster - the huge Pokemon - that had a part in unleashing the destruction upon Lilycove. She also didn't get a very good look at the grainy picture in Mike's PokeDex, but she didn't need to as she already knew what the monstrous creature was. "Yes," she stated meekly, bowing her head. 'I know. It's... Groudon." She closed her eyes, her own mind flashing her back to four years ago. It had been all over the news, the clash of the two titan Pokemon over in Lilycove City. She remembered that it didn't take long for her mother to quickly pack a bag and head over, as she was a nurse and had volunteered to head to Lilycove to help tend to the injured. Her father had taken off to Lilycove as well, as his strong ties to the military and fellow gym leader in Hoenn - Wattson - had obligated him to help with both rescue and rebuilding, as well. Kasiya, only twelve at the time, had been practically rushed over to Celadon City where she was to stay with the newly-appointed gym leader, Erika, as she was too young to be on her own for so long. Surge had even left her his Raichu to watch over her, and though she'd gained a new friend out of the ordeal, the whole thing had a definite black undertone to it. She could honestly never thought she'd find herself within arms-reach of the single person responsible for the Lilycove tragedy, but considering how young she'd been, and how much hadn't been covered by the news, it wasn't that surprising.
Kasiya opened her eyes, forcing back tears as she looked at Mike, curled up in a little ball on the ground. She wasn't sure if he was laughing or screaming, as it had honestly become difficult to differentiate in the past week or so, and despite the intense heat pouring off him, she moved in closer, and knelt down nearby. She really didn't think she could say anything to help him, but she could at the very least hope that her very presence would help to remind him that he wasn't alone, and that she wouldn't ever run away.
=-=-=-=-=
"M-Magnemite?" Jake croaked, trying to focus his gaze on the hovering Steel/Electric-type. It shouldn't have been that hard, considering that it was literally right in front of his face. "Did you shock me? Why would you-NNYAGHNNANHHNANAHGFHAA!" His second question wouldn't receive an answer as the Magnet Pokemon had opted to shock the boy for a fourth time, stopping only when Sigilyph interjected with an angry growl. Magnemite either didn't know he was doing anything wrong or just didn't care, but regardless, his Thundershocks had did their job as their trainer had returned to the land of the living. "Magnemite... why would you do that?" Jake groaned, forcing himself into a sitting position. "That hurts..." He held his head between his hands, taking deep breaths as he tried to silence the ringing in his ears, but it was at that moment that something else occurred to him.
"Wait... you guys... I'm... I'm alive!" he shouted, turning and immediately slamming his left hand against a chunk of stone on the floor, resulting in a terrible pain shooting up through his palm and down his arm. "I'm alive!" The two Pokemon clearly didn't understand why he was so excited, but Sigilyph, at the least, was relieved to see his trainer up and about. Slowly, Jake got to his feet, brushing the dust from his clothes as he surveyed the damage. His arms and face had taken on a few scrapes and bruises and he looked just like one would expect for someone that had just put themselves through the floor, but other than those very minor injuries, he was more or less fine. "That was so strange," he murmured, looking around the room again. "I could have sworn that the fall killed me. It must have all been a dream."
Sigilyph's call alerted him to something and he walked over to where the Avianoid Pokemon was hovering. "What is it?" he asked, looking down to see an old, battered-looking box. "Hmm." The blonde boy knelt down to sift through its contents, finding mostly slightly charred papers and what looked like the kind of documents his father kept in his rows of filing cabinets, only they were also a bit burnt and beyond readable due to water damage. His hand brushed up against something soft and he grabbed hold of whatever it was, letting out a pained gasp when he saw what he was holding - a worn out Teddiursa plush.
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Posted: Sun Apr 07, 2013 3:59 pm
"Hey, move it, buddy!" An irritated voice from behind Keegan snapped him back to attention, and he suddenly realized he'd stopped right in the center of the lobby and was blocking the flow of traffic.
"Oh, sorry," the redhead grumbled, quickly moving off to the side as he looked back down at his PokeNav. Now that he knew the battery was dead, naturally the best thing to do was assault the on/off/reset buttons in hope of stirring some life into the device, but no such luck. He'd even gone so far as to shake it a few times before he slumped down in one of the nearby chairs. He wasn't even sure he had repacked the charger during one of his more recent trips home, and before long he'd essentially emptied the contents of his backpack onto the floor in front of him, much to the confusion of the pink-haired nurse and the other few patrons of the Petalburg City Pokemon Center. After a few moments of sifting and sorting he did manage to find it, though he could see no free outlets anywhere nearby. "That's just perfect," he grumbled, beginning the somewhat arduous task of cramming all of his belongings into his backpack, remembering then that he'd bought two jackets while he still wore the old tattered one.
"What's just perfect?" A familiar voice suddenly and sharply rang out from over his shoulder, startling Keegan to the point where he lost his grip on his badge case, starting a bit of a juggling act before it clattered loudly to the floor. "Oops, sorry, didn't mean to scare ya," the voice giggled.
Keegan snatched up the badge case and slowly shifted his position on the floor so that he could look at the speaker. He'd been prepared to answer with a surly quip to show his displeasure at being interrupted, but he immediately choked on his words as he found himself looking at a pair of legs. Long, lovely legs that seemed to go up, and up. And then there was a cherry-red, dangerously short miniskirt. Keegan blinked and forced himself to a standing position. No way, it can't be, he thought, gulping. Bubblegum-pink hair done up in long, spiraling pigtails, bright blue eyes and a smile so bright it could light up the entirety of Goldenrod City for at least a week. "Sh-Sheena?" he asked, his voice finally coming back to him.
"Yep, that's me," Sheena replied cheerfully, far too happy over the fact that Keegan had recognized her to realize that he'd spent at least a solid minute or two completely checking her out. "So, um, what are you doing there on the floor? Did you lose something?" she asked with a giggle.
=====
Just as I thought, Falkner mused with a slight smile; watching calmly as the gator had started to close in for the attack. "Hold your position, Spearow," he said, narrowing his eyes, "and prepare to counter with Aerial Ace."
Spearow gave a rude-sounding squawk, but did just that, its beady little eyes gleaming as Croconaw drew nearer and nearer. The Flying-type's timing was perfect as it shot straight up into the air, narrowly missing having a chunk taken out of it by Croconaw's sharp claws (though she did get a few feathers out of it). It quickly did a loop in the air, coming in towards the gator to strike from behind with its sharp claws.
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Posted: Sun Apr 07, 2013 8:58 pm
"No, I didn't lose something," Keegan snapped back, finally wrenching his gaze away from the bubbly girl. Her voice, her hair colour, her attitude - it was all Sheena alright, but obviously there was something different about her. Didn't she used to be a lot shrimpier? The last time he'd seen her, she looked more like a kid, but whether she'd given her wardrobe an overhaul or had simply grown a few inches, the overall effect was actually quite... pleasing. Catching where his train of thought was heading, Keegan forced himself back to the floor where he began to hastily stuff every last item into his bag, refusing to allow himself to so much as glance in Sheena's direction. "What do you want?" he growled, trying to jam in a shirt where it wasn't obviously going to fit.
The pink-haired girl looked hurt, but of course, Keegan wasn't looking at her. "I don't want anything," she said, kneeling down beside him. "Look, you're doing it all wrong. It works much better if you fold your clothes first." Without waiting for an answer, or even permission, at that, she snatched the shirt out of Keegan's hands and quickly and skillfully folded it into a neat square. "Next," she said, handing Keegan the folded shirt while waiting for the next garment.
Keegan cast the girl a scathing look. "Forget it, I'm not letting you touch all of my clothes!" he snapped.
"Aww, what's the matter, Keegan? Scared I'll see your cute little tighty-whities?"
"Yes. No!" The shade of Keegan's face was easily rivaling that of his hair, and he quickly moved the bag out of his reach. "And they're boxers, for your information." With the threat of Sheena making more underwear jokes at his expense, he found the ability to cram every last item in the backpack, and even zip it up before he stood up again, glaring at the bubbly girl. It was a little funny just how quickly he'd gone from ogling her to wanting her as far away from him as possible. "Is there something you wanted, other than to annoy the living crap out of me?"
The pink-haired girl shook her head, ignoring the latter half of the redhead's inquiry. "No, not really. I saw you come into the Pokemon Center, and I thought I'd say hi. I haven't seen you in a while and I wanted to know how you were doing. Didn't know that was a crime, Mr Grumpy Bear."
=====
In all honesty, Damien wasn't exactly dying for something to drink; he was merely being polite, for Karrigan's sake, and though he wasn't sure Karrigan had realized it, he certainly did, and it made him frown as he thought of Gastly's earlier taunting. Cute, indeed, he thought grumpily, looking down at his dark pant leg where he could practically feel the snot from the Cubchoo clinging to him, and he scoffed.
"Fabulous," he muttered upon seeing the lineup before them, but Karrigan didn't seem to mind so he went quiet, instead focusing on the cafe mocha that he'd soon be sipping. The idea of paying for both of them hadn't even come remotely close to crossing Damien's mind, though he was kind enough to let her go before him. When his turn finally came around he placed his order, waiting silently with his fingers drumming up against his elbow for them to fill it. They'll probably get the coffee-to-chocolate ratio all wrong, he thought glumly, already planning the verbal complaint he'd be placing when he took that first sip and found it to not be to his liking. He muttered a quiet thanks and removed the lid. It smelled all right, and he took a tentative sip - all right, it was fine. The dark-haired boy allowed himself to smile a little and he motioned to an empty table nearby.
They hadn't been sitting for very long before Gastly appeared, having had to do a little bit of wandering in order to find them. "Well, would you look at you two lovebirds," Gastly cooed, floating circles around the two trainers.
"Don't start," Damien said sharply, giving the Ghost-type a stern look. "Just tell us what you've found out, if anything." Gastly rolled his eyes but did just that, recounting the entire story the girl had told the the captain, almost word-for-word. It only took a few minutes, even with Damien relaying everything to Karrigan via human talk, but by the end of it, even non-mediums could tell that the Ghost-type was quite upset by the whole thing. Even the cold and stoic Damien couldn't think of much to say, and he stared down into his drink, gently shaking the cup to distort his reflection. "That's... awful," he managed finally, giving a light sigh. He could be a jerk sometimes, sure, but even he couldn't imagine tormenting another person like that. He glanced across the table, curious as to what the redheaded girl's thoughts were on the subject.
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Posted: Mon Apr 08, 2013 2:35 pm
Still not fully recovered from the past few days, Mike's episode completely exhausted him. No longer overheating, he lay there for a few moments, smoldering and twitching. He heard nothing from Kasiya, and when he decided to open his eyes, a small part of him expected to see nothing but fog.
Gone, gone, gone. One of the many phantoms mulled, but when Mike's blurry vision produced a large yellow and green blob, the other ghosts all turned, hands on their hips.
Idiot. They all said in unison to the now shrunken shade. Mike groaned, also feeling quite dumb for doubting her, and sat up with some effort. "Sorry." he said weakly, coughing up a bit of smoke. "I guess I'm not as together as I thought, even with Milo gone." His tone was much more subdued, almost monotone now. Even so, he smiled up at her. He may not have looked it, but he was elated to see that she was right beside him, even when he did his best impression of a volcano. "It's just, not a fun night to remember."
People being crushed.
Pokemon and humans abandoning each other in the chaos.
And those who stayed were crushed or drowned in futility.
"Thank you. I said 'not fun'. That means shut up." He looked up at Kasiya and chuckled nervously. "They were-yeah." he apologized again. "They like to state the obvious sometimes." He let out a long, smoke-free breath, once again holding up the orb. "Four years ago Maxie told me to steal this." he said calmly. "I didn't know what it did, but he assured me that Team Aqua was planning on using its power to do something terrible that would cover all of Hoenn in water, even Lavaridge. He made sure to tell me that last bit." Mike sighed, looking at the orb and shrugging. "So I took it. I snuck up here, past the old couple that looked over the place, and brought it back to base. Then a few days later, well, Lilycove happened. Happy birthday~" he waggled his free hand in a sarcastic gesture. "Turns out, not my best idea." he chuckled again, more at himself than anything else.
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Posted: Mon Apr 08, 2013 7:24 pm
The redhead's eye twitched slightly - that was the second time in two days that he'd been called a Grumpy Bear and he didn't exactly like it. Then again, it was easily one of the more milder things he'd been called lately, even if he wasn't going out of his way to earn it. "It's not a crime," he mumbled, attempting to put a lid on his anger. After all, Sheena had never been anything but nice to him despite being on the receiving end of a lot of his anger and frustration, and he had wondered a few times how she was doing since she'd finally been allowed to go on her own adventure. He cleared his throat, relieved to find that both his pulse and skin colour had reverted to normal levels and he sat down on one of the chairs, motioning for Sheena to do the same. "So, uh, what have you been up to, then?" he asked. "Enjoying your freedom?"
Sheena could only giggle at Keegan's shift in attitude, as it seemed some things never changed. "I am, actually," the pink-haired girl said, sitting down beside him. "I've started collecting badges, just like you! Take a look!" She hauled a badge case out of her bag, which unsurprisingly was bright pink and covered with glittering gems (fake, of course, but they still looked pretty!). She snapped it open to reveal two badges that were quite familiar to Keegan - Roxanne's Stone Badge from Rustboro City and Brawly's Knuckle Badge from Dewford Island. "I'm actually just coming from Dewford," she went on, admiring her pair of badges with wide, sparkling eyes. "The next gym is in... uh, Verdanturf, I think?"
"Mauville," Keegan corrected, though his tone was somewhat gentle. "Wattson's your next challenge. And then Flannery, in Lavaridge, but I'm sure you knew that one already."
"Mauville! Right!" Sheena giggled, shaking her head. "For some reason I always get Verdanturf mixed up with Mauville. Dunno why, because they're not anything alike. Aaaaanyway, yeah. I'm going to get my third badge from this Wattson guy and then it's on to Lavaridge. What about you, Keegan? Has anything exciting happened to you since I saw you last?"
A nervous laugh escaped him then, and he averted his gaze from Sheena, instead pretending to be interested in an article about Pokemon Fashion that someone had left on the nearby table. "Interesting? Naaah," he said, shaking his head, perhaps a bit too vigorously. "You know, nothing more than just your regular training and, uh, adventuring, and stuff. And training. Been training a lot." A lot was a bit of an understatement, but he didn't really feel like having to explaining everything again. After giving his father and Mike's mother every grueling detail, his zest for storytelling was more or less spent. "I'm actually going to challenge Norman today," he added, hoping to draw the subject away from what he'd been up recently.
A person with more life experience probably would have picked up on the fact that Keegan wasn't being very honest, but the naive and mildly-gullible Sheena continued to smile at the redhead attentively. "You still haven't beaten Norman yet?" she asked, the diversion a complete success. After all, she'd been present when her sister returned his Vulpix to him, as he'd only just beaten Flannery. "Wow, you're kinda slow, ain'tcha?"
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Posted: Mon Apr 08, 2013 8:52 pm
For a fleeting moment, Jasper had the ridiculous image of Croconaw's attack striking down the Spearow in one go, but of course, that would not be the case. The Spearow rocketed up, causing Croconaw's attack to miss and before she could even get a chance to be angry about it, the little bird was smashing into her from behind. 'Holy crap,' Jasper thought, the display of aerial agility nearly causing his eyes to pop right out of his head. But now, he reasoned, was no time to be impressed with his opponent, and he needed to find a way to counter that incredible speed.
"Croconaw, Water Gun," he called, grateful for the gator's long-range move, even if it wasn't quite as strong as say, her Bite attack. Still fuming from the effective counter-blitz, the water type didn't hesitate for a second to fire off a blast of water at the bird the moment she got it within her sight again.
* * * * * * * * * *
"They are cute, aren't they?" Hayley beamed, eagerly trying to show off her two somewhat-embarrassed Pokemon, though being acknowledged by their trainer's new friend seemed to help curb it somewhat. "This is Tisyphone, and this is Kaylee," the brunette said, proudly introducing each of them, and only when she heard her name did Tiss stop her futile attempts to hide herself.
"It's nice to meet you too, Riza," Hayley replied, sticking out her hand for her new friend to shake - well, potential new friend, anyway. "I'm Hayley, and the Pokemon Center is this-a-way!" Humming happily to herself, the brunette began to lead the way but stopped after about three steps. "No, wait, this-a-way," she corrected herself with a light-hearted shrug. "All the buildings look the same sometimes."
In truth, the two girls weren't all that far away from the red-roofed safe haven for trainers to begin with, and they only had to walk for a couple of minutes before they were heading up to the sliding doors. "So Riza," Hayley said as they walked inside, "you must be a trainer, then, right? Does that mean you're going to challenge the Pewter Gym?" Being the sweet kid she was, Hayley motioned for Riza to go ahead of her as they lined up to get their Pokemon treated, or at least she assumed so. After all, the first stop in a new town for any trainer was almost always the good-old Pokemon Center.
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Posted: Tue Apr 09, 2013 12:57 pm
The unlikely duo were not really paying attention to the beautiful beach front cliff side scenery both of them wrapped up in their own separate thoughts. Kenny's body seemed to fit his mood as most of it was floating in the ground with only half of his single eye out. It was almost as if he was doing his own impression of a Feraligatr, only in the dirt instead of in the water. The normally pretty cheerful for a ghost wasn't having very cheerful thoughts, which while odd for a ghost was pretty odd for this one. Maybe this was what it was like when his trainer was in charge? Or maybe it was the fact that he was just missing and that worried him, that was probably it, This wasn't the first time his trainer just disappeared like this, ok,well last time he had left his entire team in the hands of other trainers. Kenny himself wasn't quite sure where everyone had ended up. All he knew was that Moeder and Shiva was with Keegan. The ghost smile slightly at the memory of his old teammates. Then the thoughts turned a little sour, if Dante thought he was going to try something like that again the ghost was going to teach him that was going to be a little more difficult then before.
Before they knew it the two of them were at the grand entrance to the lake front. Kenny watched looked around at the tasteful sign announcing that they were about to enter Valor Lakefront, the place actually looked pretty nice, Kenny could see a few families with picnics and even a few trainer battles going on. He could also see a group of wanna-be cool trainers leaning against the sign. The Beckon pokemon could see the moment they spotted the kid he was traveling with and with a laugh they pushed off the sign post they were leaning on and headed over.
"Hey Doug the bug, I thought I told you to not come back here until you had a pokemon." The leader grinned at his friends, a few of them snickered in the back.
"Your not the boss of me! You can't just block the gate from everyone!" The newly named Doug yelled at the boys. It seemed that this kid really didn't have any fear, he had not only thrown the pokeballs at a ghost pokemon that could clearly have squashed him but now was standing up to these kids who clearly could beat him up. Kenny had to admit he admired this kids guts. Still it seemed he had forgotten that Kenny was nestled in the ground just a little behind him. "Besides I did bring a pokemon this time!" Or he hadn't. "He is a lot stronger then all of your lame pokemon to!" Doug bragged looking pretty smug for a kid who had managed to bribe a Dusclops into helping him.
"Oh I am so scared. Anything you caught would be weaker then a Magikarp. You really should train it some so it doesn't get beat by a gust of wind." The boys laughed and gave each other a few highfives in the back.
It was clear to Kenny they weren't going to let the kid through even if he was the champion of the elite four. With a sigh, and a bit of a grin, the ghost set out to do the one thing he enjoyed just like the rest of his type, scaring the living daylights out of cocky kids. Dropping into the ground fully Kenny glided through the earth just as easily as an Onix. Once the ghost sensed he was under the middle of the group he did his best to gather all the intimidating bones in his body and rose up from the ground.
Looking back Kenny had to admit the best part of the whole thing was rising through a few of the group members. The satisfying shrieks of terror as the five foot something ghost that looked like it was ready to escort some souls into the underworld would never grow old to Kenny. It seemed like he wouldn't even need to give a battle to the others as they ran away leaving the pathway clear for them to proceed. The ghost turned his single eye to Doug and couldn't help but laugh to as the boy was on the ground holding his stomach as tears of laughter emanated from him.
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Melphaligal the Challama Crew
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Posted: Tue Apr 09, 2013 3:00 pm
The redhead's eye twitched but he managed to hold back his glare. "I'm not slow," he grumbled, leaning back in his seat and folding his arms over his chest. "I've just been training extra hard for it, is all." Sure, that's one way he could put it.
"Training?" Sheena repeated, rolling her eyes. "It's been like what, a week? You must be crazy prepared by now." Keegan didn't answer her, as he continued to stare straight ahead at nothing. Sheena grinned a little. "Hey, I know! How about we take this little party outside and have ourselves a battle? I'll put you to the test and then we'll see if you're ready for Norton."
"Norman."
"Yes, that's what I just said! Norman!"
"No, you said Norton."
The pink-haired girl rolled her eyes. "Fiiine, whatever! C'mon, Keegan! Battle with me! It'll give me a chance to show you just how tough I've gotten!" She'd jumped to her feet and moved in front of him, cutting off his thousand-yard stare. "Pleeeeeaaaaase, Keegan? Please? Don't make me bag," she warned.
"You're already begging." Keegan allowed himself to smirk a bit, but he motioned for her to move and he stood up as well. "Fine, fine, I'll battle you, if it'll stop you from making that horrible noise." Sheena gave a little cheer and danced on the spot. "But first, I need to find somewhere to charge my PokeNav. I'll meet you outside." He didn't have to say anything else as the excitable girl had already taken off like a Jolteon, and he sighed, already beginning to feel a headache coming on. He did a quick sweep of the center before winding up at the front desk, and the nurse greeted him with nothing more than a smile as it seemed she was currently catching up on paperwork. "Excuse me, but would you happen to know where I could charge my PokeNav? The battery's really dead."
The nurse looked up at him a second time, and then back at the device he held. "I'll charge it for you," she said sweetly, holding out her hand, and Keegan handed it over. "Just don't forget about it," she added, already in the process of plugging it in.
Keegan gave a relieved sigh. "Thanks, and don't worry, I won't. My friend and I will be just outside." The nurse, intent on getting back to her work, shooed him away with a wave of her hand, and the redhead sighed again, massaging his temples with his thumbs as he headed outside to find the little pink-haired pest.
=====
Moves with range were definitely one thing a lot of Flying-types lacked, especially at lower experience levels, and even though Falkner gave the command for Spearow to dodge, the bird just couldn't get out of the way fast enough, and it gave an indignant squawk as it was pelted hard by Croconaw's Water Gun. Feathers now soaked with water, Spearow looked like something the Meowth dragged in, but that did not change the harsh glare it shot Croconaw's way.
"Nice shot," Falkner commented, brushing the long, blue bangs from his eyes. It didn't appear that they'd be able to hang back and bait the gator for attacks after all. "Fury Attack," he called, his voice still calm. Okay, so even if he did give a pretty silly first impression, this Jasper kid was proving to be quite formidable already. Spearow gave another angry squawk before it dive-bombed the Big Jaw Pokemon, its sharp beak ready to deliver as many sharp strikes as it could. Croconaw would pay for getting his feathers all wet!
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