With the combined efforts of Houndour and Budew, the wet environment was no more. The repeated Embers from Rook converted the hallway into a sauna, turning water to steam. The Budew, with its increased size, began to draw in all remaining forms of water. Steam, groundwater, and droplets alike streamed into the Pokémon’s body. Ribbons of blue were drawn to its feet and elongated petals, feeding the viridian sheen of his physique. When all was cleared, the Poliwag had been revealed and Magikarp could do little else than flounder in place.
“Karp?”
“Poliwag?”
The two trainers appeared worried for the first time, making exaggerated, stretched facial expressions and flaunting their crooked, flexing arms.
“My speed! Oh no bro!”
“They can do that?!”
Chuck, the blonde-haired sailor, appeared to overcome his frustrations quickly. He took a wide-legged stance and returned his keen eyes from the environment to the battlefield.
“Broseidon! Jump on that Budew!”
The Poliwag did what he was told, bounding to and fro in a zigzag formation toward the Budew. Havoc would notice it was much less coordinated than it was on water, reeling on its heels and often using the top of its head to bounce from place to place. It was a goofy, yet unorthodox and possibly difficult to predict movement. The Magikarp remained in place, flailing about but still appearing as viscous as ever. Its scales shined as daggers that slice. Its eyes stared as windows that did not feel.
And from the corner of your eye, you would note an approaching, blue humanoid at slow but foreboding pace. Its bare feet collided with the hardwood floor of the hallway. Thunderous echoes sounded off its pace. As a steam train, it began to grow momentum as he was approaching Budew.
Buck, the brown-haired sailor, took a concerned glance in the direction of his other two brothers from other mothers. They were having difficulty in their battles. He took to his beard as he often did. Stroking the fine, curly hairs, the sailor mumbled to himself. He slid his palms against the side of his face and smacked his temples, continuing to mutter. Returning his gaze to Machop, his shoulders square, it appeared he’d made up his mind.
The tackle made solid connection with the square of Machop’s back. It sent him stumbling forward, not knocked over but working to catch his balance. The trainer found his opportunity in these moments.
“Brohammed Ali, keep running! Do it for the squad!”
The Machop obliged, using the acquired momentum to take heavy steps in the direction of Budew. It began stumbling at first and you believed it to be tripping over its own feet, but the Superpower Pokémon was sure to stay on its path. Head low and arms angled, it began its attack toward your allies. Was there a way to stop the biological steam train?
With the battle over, Patricia dashed to her Mareep and began to coddle the fainted Pokémon. She dove beside her and began to caress her cheek against the abundant wool of the Pokémon. The lass embraced the Pokémon so tightly, you thought cotton might explode in all directions. It was covered in all sorts of earthy minerals, not to mention the String Shot of Caterpie. The Mareep’s tiny, blunt limbs were flayed out in all directions. The wool Pokémon’s head bobbed in its dazed state, rolling pupils indicating unconsciousness. Her tongue stuck out, but by being placed on her back it rested on the tip of her nose. She mewed in a low tone, trying to communicate with Patricia even when fainted.
“Reeeeeeeeep…”
“Fluffyyyy! I’m sorry!”
Taillow had begun to swoop in from the edges of the meadow. They would land where the grass remained untouched, extending their necks to the sky and producing waivering calls.
“TaAaAiillow!”
They would hop along the ground for some time. When they had found a clump that sufficed their needs, they would gather the string shot in their beaks and carry it off into the distance. The quick bird Pokémon were as dots in the sky before you knew it. From what you knew about Taillow, you figured they could use the webbing as adhesive and supportive materials for their nests. Only a few remained by the time you’d reached the bottom of the hill, as most of the web had been gathered in a short amount of time.
A few locals had gathered around to witness the Taillows and their nest gathering. They would sit on their stone porches and rock back and forth in rocking chairs. Others carried folded red and white checkered cloths on their shoulders, woven straw baskets in the other hand. They set out a small picnic to enjoy the gathering of wild Pokémon with something to munch on. A few youngsters ran after the Taillow, but their shoes gathered too much String Shot and their arms were a hair too short.
You reached the bottom of the hill where the Pokémon lay, a mighty oak standing above them all. The lass had recalled her Mareep by this point. She stood in front of the other two young trainers, arms crossed and cheeks puffed. Jane dug the point of her shoe into the ground, eyes in the same spot. She momentarily glanced at the three of you before giggling and looking down once again. Wade preoccupied watching the Taillow, mouth wide and chuckling.
“Okay… you don’t have to play tag with us… but we’re gonna win next time!” Patricia said.
A familiar face approached the collection of trainers, adjusting his golden goggles onto his forehead. He adjusted his ruffled mauve hair before reaching into a brown satchel latched around his shoulder. Pulling a number of Potions from the bag, he waved them into the air with a big grin on in his face.
”Haha! I see you’ve been busy!” Professor Dogwood said.
He would heal anyone’s Pokémon who required it, only requiring them to hold still so he could spray them with the quickly evaporating salve. When he was finished, he would place the remaining, unused Potions in his pack. Turning to Lulu, he would rub two fingers along the spine of the dragonfly-like Pokémon while frowning. He stretched out his arm to keep a maximized amount of distance between him and the Yanma.
“Your Pokémon’s paralyzed, but I have something for that.”
From another pocket of the bag, he produced a metal band that clasped at a certain point in the circumference. Placing that about the Yanma, the gadget began to whir as electrodes visibly exited the device and entered the Yanma’s body and wings.
“It’s sort of like a muscle relaxer.”
When the piece of technology died down, Lulu would appear rejuvenated and ready to move freely once again. Dogwood placed the ring into his pack before zipping all of his materials up securely. He’d pat the satchel and look over all of the kids, smiling and nodding his head.
“I saw some impressive battling out there. I’m sure you can all learn a lot of techniques from each other! If there’s anything you ever need, I’m just a call away.”
With that, and a hesitant glance in the direction of Espurr, the charismatic but kooky professor began to trot away back towards his lab, between picnic baskets and wild Taillow. It would be easy to catch up to him or yell a question if you needed something addressed.
~Assuming you continued to Route A…~
You headed east for an extended amount of time, even wondering at some point if the Professor had misled you. Though eventually you reached it, a wide dirt road level with the low grass that surrounded it. The land before you was flat, much like Dewmeadow, but much drier. There were no droplets of water resting heavily on bent blades of grass. There were no drizzles when resting beneath any of the shady trees. You could see for miles in any direction, patches of tall grass and rogue oak trees being the only interruptions in the prairie-like landscape.
For the first day of the annual Pokémon gathering, it was surprisingly… quiet. There were few if any trainers about, and they were all people you’d known from the village. Where were all of the trainers that were supposed to come from all around? And where was the merchant, who normally travelled in horse and carriage? He was the rural town’s source of trade, and it was odd that he hadn’t made it in today. Come to think of it, you remembered the Professor mentioning that his assistant Cass hadn’t come in yet either. Something, whatever it was, seemed amiss as your shoes kicked up the dust below you.
ROUTE A
ENCOUNTER(S): 1
EACH TRAINER MAY CHOOSE THEIR OWN ENCOUNTER(S):
[1) CATCH POKéMON (KNOWN POKéMON: TAILLOW) [2) TRAIN POKéMON [3) RANDOM EVENT [4) OTHER (PLEASE SPECIFY. IF ATTEMPTING TO CATCH A RARE POKéMON, STATE EXACTLY WHAT YOU ARE DOING.)
Team: Lulu the Yanma Level 7 Moves: Tackle, Foresight, Quick Attack Status: Normal
...In hindsight, having a Yanma tackling a juggernaut of a boulder was probably not a very good idea. In the end, Lulu was caught in mass of webs, fluff, and claws until it had exploded into a wild messy that covered the landscape. "Lulu!" Yasha rushed over to his Yanma's side and saw that her eyes were just swirls from rolling around so much.
"Yaaaaaaaaaaan." Lulu groaned in her dazed state. The poor bug-type pokemon had a really big day; she was selected to become this country boy's starter and she had her fast battle, which ended extremely disastrously. Seriously, there was no calculable way that anyone could've known that Fluffy would tumble through the webs laid out on the field, lose footing, and tumble into what would become a ball of fluff, claws, and webs.
Yasha picked up the massive bug with ease despite it weighing 83 pounds. This was nothing for him. He had done a lot of work back home to maintaining the farm, such as moving bales of hay, wrangling the Tauros and Milktanks, and so on. There was one time that he had to wrestle down another farm's pregnant Rapidash and calm it down so it could give birth without any further complications. Man, now that was something he really didn't want to repeat again. The thrashing and the burns he got from that hurt like all hell.
He sighed and smiled softly at the bug pokemon. "Ya did good Lulu. Ya did good." Yasha was going to put her back in his pokeball, but the professor had walked out with a handful of potions to heal their pokemon. Not only that, he had used some strange contraption to cure Lulu of her paralysis! "Thank ya kindly Professor Dogwood! I'll do my best to repay your kindness!"
Soon the trio of trainers were left up to their own devices. They could go out on route one and head on to the next town! Still...something didn't seem quite right with this town. The professor's assistant was still missing and while he was making his way to the lab, he had heard people utter something about a merchant not arriving today. "Hey y'all, maybe we should go find the professor's assistant to repay him?" He said to his new group of friends. Perhaps if they found the assistant then perhaps they'll also find the merchant?
Mara chuckled slightly as the professor came over, staring at her espurr. She was rather tempted to tell Kira to attempt to scare the poor old professor, but shaking her head free of malice, Mara instead focused on the chances they had. It was now time for them to hit the road...er, the route.
"Hey y'all, maybe we should go find the professor's assistant to repay him?" Yasha proposed.
Mara paused for a moment. While she wasn't a bad person, she didn't particularly care about finding someone in trouble. But as she stared around at the open region with the hills, she did find it rather strange... It was incredibly hard to get lost in Dewmeadow, even with its massive size. All of the roads seemed to end in the same places, and with most people being natives to the small town, they knew there way around.
"That might be a good idea, actually," Mara offered. "Perhaps some criminal has abducted her...It could be interesting."
At any rate, it offered to be more exciting than going down the route. Hardly anyone seemed to be out and about, with only the same people they'd known forever being there to challenge to battles. It wasn't going to be anything new -- and if Mara craved anything, it was the excitement of new experiences. Tracking down the missing assistant would certainly fulfill that.
"I can't imagine she could have gotten very far..." Mara added, before glancing at Rowan.
They'd need Rowan to agree to search for the assistant as well. If they were going to continue to work as a team, everyone would have to agree. Mara just desperately hoped that Rowan would go along with it, rather than choosing to do something dull, such as challenge the same people again and again.
Kira hoped up onto Mara's shoulder, a small little weight. The espurr narrowed his eyes a bit into the distance, brooding as if he were a film star. Mara smiled slightly at him, enjoying his little quirks and mannerisms--while she was certain the stare would have terrified the professor, it just looked adorable to her.Location: Dewmeadow, Outside Dogwood’s Lab // Near Route A Current Team:
Derrik had looked around the lab, only to be briefly blinded by all the bright lights.' A rather fancy lab ya got here.'He would of continued to admire the high tech machinery, but hearing Prof. Evergreen speak in a forced autrio accent.' now ang' on...do me ears deceive?' The accent was a bit off and yet the use of that insult of hers just now made him think he was speaking to a fellow aussie for a moment.' Ooh ya little ripper! A real ace insult ya did there and how ya got that dill to fall on his arse was a right laugh. It certainly took him by surprise that this professor not only guess where he was from, but had knowledge on it too.' Aye, a bloody shame to be lackin....though if ya give me oldies a ring on the phone and change that good and proper.'Excited to meet someone that showed interest in his home land and took out a piece of parchment and pen to jot down his parent's number and offered it to her.' Here, just let em know ya got it from Derrik.'Holding the folded paper out for her to take if she wanted it.
There was more he wanted to discuss with her concerning Autrio; that is before noticing the well groomed male seemed very anxious to speak to her and gave one last nod to the professor then wandered off.
A chance to admire and study the lab and its devices with their mysterious uses and saw several others trainers walking about doing the same. His curious nature made him wonder what these machines did, when a blue light suddenly flashed on shortly after Evergreen mentioned her assistant. Stunned silent as he saw dot after flash on and connect and before he knew it had formed a humanoid shape, more that it spoke a greeting.' Fair suck of the sav!'Derrik exclaimed in disbelief and nearly jumped out of his boots as his arms shot up defensively with the thought that it intended to attack.
There he just stood, being the only thing he could do but stare at the..hologram? Awestruck, he tried to pin down what to call it and after snapping out of the stupor, which allowed him to see there more of these blue Erics talking to the other trainers and leading them this terminal room.
Unsure of what to think or expect, but like hell he'd let some see through bloke scare this aussie off; tugging the rag from his nose.' Well uh...lead the way.'A shrug of his shoulder and he set off towards the terminal room as instructed.
Entering the room to find it empty; both the walls and floor covered in white tiles, which seemed to hurt his eye a bit. Unsure of what this room as for, but with Eric motioning him to the corner and followed after to check out what the room was about. Moments later, a strange ring of blue formed around him which caused him to tense in surprise and couldn't help but shiver as it ran down along his body before watching it explode into pixels. After that, words started forming on the tile in front of him; asking him to register with a thumbprint.' Well..ya only live once. Raising his right hand to press his thumb against the tile.
What followed was a series of questions, likely asked of each new trainer at that.
DERRIK SCULLER
AGE: 17 SEX: M HEIGHT: 6’ 2” WEIGHT: …RECALIBRATING…
[IS THIS CORRECT?]
-yes
YOUR POKÉMON IS... GASTLY
[WILL YOU GIVE GASTLY A NAME?]
' A ghastly? that's a uh...ghost poke?'Struggling to recall this pokemon what with ghost pokemon being pretty sparse in most area's of the Autrio region. He faintly recalled reading about a ghastly and started pondering on whether to give it a nickname or not. After much debate, Derrik thought of a name after being inspired by a certain individual and typed in the name...
It was quite the sight, seeing all the Taillows gathering to pick up the string shot web. Of course, so was the sight of people approaching to just watch and picnic around it. Rowan was used to this kind of behaviour. In fact, hadn't he been on the beginning of his Pokémon journey, he'd totally have run home and brought his parents. Oh, this is too early to feel homesick! Let's get this going!
”Professor!” Rowan blinked in a bit of realization when Dogwood appeared. When the potions came out, Rowan held forward his fainted Purrloin, and the magic of the potions did their wonder. Purrloin blinked upwards a bit as she regained consciousness, finding herself to be held in Rowan's arms.
”... Rloin!” She made a noise and pulled herself out of Rowan's grip, getting down to the ground and taking a few steps, calming down from her ordeal before regaining her grace, looking upwards at Rowan and Dogwood before starting to lick her paw.
”Th-thank you, Professor!” Rowan said, listening to his lesson about learning at well. ”W-we'll do our best!” He'd answer his speaking about learning from one another, feeling rather proud of him praising their battling. Yupp. It was time for their journey to begin. Rowan couldn't wait! He'd catch all the Pokémon! But first, he needed to buy a lot of Pokéballs, and-
Oh, yeah. The merchant isn't in town. Rowan was holding up an excited fist when he suddenly realized this. … Guess he'd have to limit himself to only catching one Pokémon until reaching the next town? … Huh. Very well, then.
"Hey y'all, maybe we should go find the professor's assistant to repay him?"
Um. Rowan blinked a little. That wouldn't be THAT necessary, right? She probably just overslept, or got caught up in a different matter so she couldn't come today. Er.
"That might be a good idea, actually. Perhaps some criminal has abducted her...It could be interesting. I can't imagine she could have gotten very far..."
Eh? Rowan blinked more. Abducted... by criminals? And they'd go after them? So soon? Rowan felt a little cold all of a sudden, apprehension and a bit of fear in him. He'd been hoping to be going on this trip as a happy Pokémon trainer, a positive trip bathed in light. Sure, he could defend the injured from wild Pokémon, but... actually going up against a real criminal? Who probably has years of experience on him? Rowan very much considered himself still a fledgeling sprout on this matter, and the implications of someone actually having been kidnapped, and the consequences of challenging the kidnapper... It frightened him. But, Yasha and Mara both seemed intending on looking, and now Mara looked at him...
Whelp. He didn't want to look uncool. He didn't want to seem pathetic. The colours drained a little from his face. Eh, um... Purrloin looked up at him curiously, sensing something was up with her trainer. A-ah, that wasn't helping, actually.
”Sh-she probably just overslept! Haha! B-but, sure! If the Professor wants us to, we could check up on her!” He laughed a bit, before running a bit after Professor Dogwood, his current symbol of absolute safety, respect and confidence.
”H-hey, Professor! Y-your assistant didn't show up when she should have, right? Do you have any idea why? Do you, um, we could check up on her! Where does she live? How does she look like?” The fact Rowan didn't know where she lived likely meant she lived outside of town, but maybe she was one of those secluded in town, because there were those, too.
Purrloin looked after Rowan where he had run off before actually asking the others if they should ask him first, the cat-Pokémon somehow sensing what it was that her trainer had just felt. … Eh. Purrloin's face grew somewhat disinterested, and she continued to groom herself for the moment. He'd be back.
[Potential action because saving time] Assuming Rowan would get the information about where Cass lives, Rowan would return and be like
”Turns out, Cass lives outside Dewmeadow for research purposes, and was supposed to report to Dogwood, but she hasn't shown up in time. It's about at <In case Rowan heard the exact location>. She looks like <if Rowan got that information>. Suppose we'll check between here and there, then?” Rowan would suggest, before they'd head out.
Assuming he arrives at Route A...
Owah. Just out of Dewmeadow, and the world already felt so much larger than Rowan had imagined. On the way, Purrloin had been walking about the feet of all the present individuals, inspecting them and making an expression of an attentive and happy cat that was as excited as they were, every once in a while sounding out a ”Purr~!” to make people feel she was adorable. In any case.
”Alright! Route A!” Rowan raised his excited fist, his other fishing out his Dogwood ball, looking at it intently. ”Alright, Purrloin. We need to find the rarest and coolest Pokémon in Route A, and we'll only have one shot at catching it. All the while, we'll be looking for any sign of Cass and possibly ask any people we see if we've seen someone who looks like Cass. Let's do this!”
”Purr!” Purrloin answered, somewhat excited herself, as they made their way to find Pokémon to catch.
[1) Catch Pokémon. … Though, not just any Pokémon. Rowan will specifically be seeking after something that his eyes consider amazing or at least eye-catching, so just basic Taillows or other common Pokémon might not qualify. But, if he doesn't find anything else, maybe he'll settle for one. He'll also have Purrloin use her cat-senses to possibly locate the more uncommon Pokémon that might exist out here, for the sake of possibilities, if that'd help. Yupp, that's about that.
Abigail smiled as her Pokedex lit up. Sure, it wasn't that much money, but she wanted to see all the Pokemon anyway! What could be better than getting paid to find all the cool ones out in the wild. She squinted at the description, though. It's not like she was saying Professor Ficus was wrong - not out loud anyway, what if the professor heard her somehow and did the whole scary eyes thing again - just that you know, the Pidgey hadn't seemed that 'Docile' to start with.
Or maybe Abigail was just bad at reading emotions. Nah, what could she say. Clearly the Pokedex was the one at fault here, she was great at talking. She was so good at talking that sometimes people got angry just listening to her! The mark of a true master.
She was a bit shocked when Pidgey landed on her shoulder. This was not how she'd expected her first battle to go, and she looked incredibly confused until it started to peck at her cheek. Waffles, seeming worried that this was an attack on his trainer, seemed ready to charge down the other Pokemon until Abigail gestured for him to hold back. Eyes narrowing, the Deerling reluctantly obeyed his trainer, but still looked ready to attack if the Pidgey tried anything more aggressive.
Speaking softly compared to her usual energy, Abigail reached into her pocket and pulled out one of the sweets, unwrapping it and placing it in her palm. "Hey there, Pidgey... Do you want one? They're safe for Pokemon, if you're hungry." she smiled gently. "All the best friendships start by sharing. C'mon, try it!"
With a genuinely friendly look on her face, she raised her palm, holding it up for the Pidgey to easily see the sweet. Hopefully the Pokemon would like it! She really did hope that Pidgey could get along with her and Waffles. Waffles looked incredibly confused by his trainer's actions, trotting awkwardly in place on the path. If you looked closely, you might see an expression of slight jealousy on the Deerling's face.
"Oh!" Tesh hooted with uncharacteristic excitement. But before he could say anything, Kaz padded between him on the feisty little Zigzagoon with a fire in his eyes. But unlike in his first encounter, Tesh's Meowth stood his ground, albeit while scraping his claws across the dirt impatiently. Tesh chuckled happily to himself and reached for his pokedex. With overbearing excitement, he rose it to scan the zigzagoon and log it away into his pokedex. Kaz waited as long as he could, but before Tesh was able to command him, he darted off haphazardly and attempted to slash at the Zigzagoon's face with his right front claw. "Wait, Kaz!" Tesh called out a moment too late, fumbling with his pokedex.
Inventory 500 pokedollars Ficus Pokedex 1 x Potion
Great. More walking. Not that she was bothered by it, walking wasn't something she wasn't used too. By this point though, she was pretty sure she wasn't going to be finding any Xatu. Not with her current method of walking aimlessly if Quill hadn't already spotted one. Then...what exactly could she do, here? She wasn't leaving without something coming of this, even if it wasn't a Xatu. She wasn't gonna waster her time just wandering around in a circle. She sighed, turning her head and looking around. There was abso-fucking-lutely nothing out here. No Xatu, not even some other wild pokemon.
Well, she'd just have to find one then, and luckily enough...she spotted the pancham about right as she had that thought. She had no idea what the Pancham even was, what sort of pokemon it'd be, or what it was doing chewing on a stem but none of those things mattered. She was gonna catch it, and she was gonna make it hers. She didn't see anyone else out there on route one with it, so that must mean it was rare, right? Or at least not something that was usually out here.
No way in hell was she settling for a lame pidgey or zigzagoon, either.
"Alright Quill, breaks over." She quietly said, reaching into her pocket and pulling out that pokedex. The Sneasel already saw the other pokemon herself, and was watching it intently from atop Lynn's shoulders. As soon as Lynn reached for the pokedex, she quietly hopped off, landing in front of Lynn with a quiet crunch of leaves.
Now...how did someone use this thing to scan something? She fumbled with the pokedex for a bit as she tried to figure it out, simply pointing it at the pokemon, hoping those nerds made it simple enough to work for someone who didn't understand all that technobabble.
"Hit 'em hard and fast before it even knows we're here." That Pancham still hadn't noticed them she thought, so now was a good idea to get a good surprise attack in. Lynn may not be much of a master of strategy, but she knew when a surprise attack would work best. Wouldn't be her first time getting the jump on someone.
Quill obeyed, wearing an excited smirk. With speed almost faster than the human eye could follow, she moved to behind the small panda like pokemon. She leaped into the air, aiming her claws right at the back of the Pancham's head in an impromptu aerial attack.
Her opponent just started running towards the chaos that was by them. The Budew standing there, absorbing water. A Magikarp sliding around with a Houndour creating a lot of steam around it. Plus the Poliwag jumped onto the top of the Budew. This battle was getting weirder by the second. Chaos was everywhere in this battle, and everyone was being drawn together like flies to a light. There wasn't a lot that she could do. The Machop was charging straight at them, she had several options, but didn't know fully what she wanted to do. With everyone coming together, one miss could end badly for her.
Well, I could have Poochyena charge after it with Tackle, and hope it catches up to it. Or I could have it stand by, and wait to see what will happen. Well, this could be a problem. If I have him charge, he might not catch him and end up flying into the mob of Pokémon. If I stand by and wait, Poochyena wouldn't be able to help out as quickly, its legs are only so long. Well, lets hope he doesn't let me down, maybe I'll get lucky and he'll hit.
"Alright Poochyena, charge at Machop with Tackle. Try to stop that Pokémon!" she called out to her Poochyena.
She didn't know if it was a good idea, but in her situation, there was only so much she could do. Poochyena was quick, a lot faster with its ability, but even still. Arren was wondering if she had made the right choice.
"Intercept!" commanded Havoc. Rook glanced at Poliwag, then to the back of Budew, giving Budew a headbutt to push Budew out of the way and take his place in the path of the Poliwag. <Sorry champ, but this will be a pyrrhic victory for us...> thought Havoc as he glanced away from Rook momentarily as he made the sacrificial move to assist Budew. Even though he knew this was the obvious and most strategic move, he wasn't putting himself on the line but ordering Rook to do so. He wasn't used to being a trainer and a part of him felt like his last command might even be a form of abuse of power. It didn't sit too well with him to have his houndour make such great commitment on his behalf in such a short span of time.
Location: S.S.Expedition
Current Team: Rook the Houndour¦Status: N/A¦Level: 5
Vuduin let out a cry of excitement as the water vanised due to the combined efforts of Budew and the Hounder, leaving the Magikarp flopping menacingly, but helplessly, on the ground. However his excitement was shortlived as a new problem quickly arose, Budew was being attacked on both sides, by the Machop and the Poliwag! A moment of thought and Vuduin quickly arrived at a solution. He opened his mouth to speak but his teammates had already jumped into action. Arren had done what he would've wanted her to but the tattoo guy had the entirely wrong idea. Budew could take the Poliwag easily, of that Vuduin was confident, the Machop was the danger! Plus heroes didn't need saving! "Budew! Take out that Poliwag with Absorb before it gets to Houndour!" Budew had been startled and a little angry at getting pushed out of the way and turned to his new task with zeal, eager to prove that it hadn't needed the Houndour's help in the first place. Now that Budew had been moved out of the Machop's way and Poochyena was intercepting it, Budew was free to unleash a insanely powered absorb on that Poliwag. If it came down to it and Budew couldn't get a read on the Poliwag fast enough, Budew would take in out in the same instant that it struck the Houndour. His only concern now was that Poochyena wasn't strong enough to fight the Machop, but there was nothing he could do about that now.
Location Gleampie
~Current Team~
POKEMON: BUDEW
Type:GREEN/POISON
NATURE: SASSY
FAVORITE FLAVOR: BITTER
DISLIKED FLAVOR: SWEET
ABILITY: POISON POINT (CONTACT MOVES FROM OPPONENTS HAVE A CHANCE TO POISON)
MOVES Absorb Growth
STATUS: IN BATTLE
Bag Palm Pokédex Potion x1 Palm Ball x1 500 P (Pokédollars)
Sapphine the Vulpix lv 5 -- Inventory: 500 P 1 Potion
“I’ll be sure to pass the word along to Mama,” Garret replied loudly while Professor Evergreen told him of ice crystals and secret phenomenon in a hushed tone. It was interesting on the surface, but Garret realized that her own affection for the topic far out-paced his own. He was here for a pokémon!
Thankfully, professor Evergreen picked up on his lack of enthusiasm and set the matter aside for later. She ushered Garret and the rest of the aspiring trainers down the hall. There was something eerie about this place. The combination lab-house brimmed with juxtaposed eccentricities, each piece of home furniture and lab equipment more intricate than the last. Monstrous ceiling vents swept the lab clean in two beats of a heart before retreating ominously back into their hidden nests.
How could anyone be comfortable here, human or pokémon? Garret resolved to get his pokémon and get out, before he could be eaten by an evil piece of science disguised as a couch.
Strangely, the furniture must have sensed Garret’s unease, for it avoided him almost entirely. As he walked about, everything seemed to slip away from him of its own accord. He was just considering how dangerous it would be to attempt to catch a piece of retreating equipment when Evergreen introduced the automated assistant ERIC.
“RIGHT THIS WAY, GENTLEMEN.” ERIC commanded in digital tone. Supply laden drones flew by as the party passed deeper into the lab. Garret had been here before, but that didn’t make the place any less unsettling. He had attempted to stump ERIC with a few riddles before; to Garret’s dismay the AI had quickly solved them all and even asked a couple of riddles back in return. Garret didn’t dare ask ERIC a question about pokémon--what if the AI knew more about pokémon than him?
Garret’s thoughts were cut off as the group entered the barren pokémon registration room. The moment had come! Garret stepped up to his white tile on the wall and watched a blue laser ring scan him up and down. His unease slipped away, vanquished by excitement, and he accepted the registration.
GARRET BELEAU
AGE: 16 SEX: M HEIGHT: 6’ 0” WEIGHT: …RECALIBRATING…
[IS THIS CORRECT?]
Garret felt his feet lift and fall subtlely as his weight was recalibrated. He selected yes.
CALCULATING…
Garret watched the pokéball form before his eyes. As it completed, he snatched the pokéball and held it close.
YOUR POKÉMON IS... VULPIX
“I won’t let you down...”
[WILL YOU GIVE VULPIX ♀ A NAME?]
...Sapphine!”
Even as he spoke the name, the machine logged the information.
CALCULATING…
Hardly able to contain himself, Garret exclaimed to the new foreign trainer next to him, “What are you waiting for? Our pokémon need some fresh air!”
Garret held out the pokéball and opened it. A grid of red lines wavered in holograph for a moment and Sapphine the Vulpix formed before them. The pokémon leaned it’s two front paws forward, stretching her back and waving her tails as if waking up for the first time in the morning. “Vulpix!” Sapphine squeaked in a high pitch.
“You’re beautiful!!” Garret leaned down and hugged the startled Vulpix, who promptly began to squeeze and struggle backwards out of his enthusiastic grasp.
Professor Dogwood shook his head as Rowan asked him where his assistant was. His eyebrows arched upward and his brow began to wrinkle as he scratched his chin.
“I really don’t know where that girl could’ve went. She usually checks in every three days.”
A faint smile crept on his face as the trio offered to help Dogwood with his missing assistant problem. It was the first time you’d seen worry on his face, and it quickly vanished with your generosity.
“I’m sure she’s fine… but maybe you three can check up on her.”
He paused to reach into the black satchel that he was carrying over his shoulder. Deep within the main pocket, his arm buried itself to elbow length before grasping something. He pulled out a Pokédex much smaller than your own, but with a clear coating and visible cogs whirring on the inside. The screen came alive to show you a miniature map of the local region.
“Cass lives here, in Quagmire.”
The path was a straight shot to the east, most of it through flatland that you’d already seen outside of town. Closer to Quagmire, the terrain became more akin to marsh, and there were many bridges one had to cross to get from place to place and across rivers.
“She wouldn’t have gone into the swamp, I’ve already told her about that. But maybe the path is blocked somehow…”
Dogwood put up his Pokédex, a slight ding coming from the inside of his satchel as he tossed it in.
“She’s tall, thin, with red-hair braids and round-framed glasses. She’ll probably be reading something wherever you see her.”
With that, he placed his hands on his hips and looked at the three of you, eeys wondering to figure if there was any more information he could give you.
“Stay on the path, and be safe. If you see Cass in any kind of danger or you get caught up in something, contact me immediately. I don’t want any of y’all getting hurt.”
Budew was quickly shoved from the path of the Poliwag, knocked off-kilter by the momentum of Houndour’s shove. Despite being knocked off its footing, though, the bud Pokémon was capable of unleashing its Absorb in the correct direction of a descending Poliwag. Green orbs intercepted the path of the tadpole Pokémon, drawing its last bit of energy from it and removing its momentum. Broseidon fell to the ground, as did Budew, but one was in much better condition than the other. Poliwag flopped against the cold, hardwood floor a couple of times before coming to a halt. Though, it might be difficult for the Budew to get back on its feet without arms.
“Broseidon! You’re all wiped out!”
“Waaag…”
A red beam of energy quickly came from the palm of Chuck’s hand to collect his beaten Pokémon. A coy smile crept onto his face, and he raised a fist in the direction of his other two brothers.
“Keep partying hard bros! For the Broletariat!”
~POLIWAG IS UNABLE TO BATTLE!~
The other two brothers crossed their arms, nodding with an odd intensity.
“You’re right bro, this isn’t over yet.”
The brother in the center, the one of curly ginger beard, had been watching his Magikarp for some time now. Now that Machop was approaching, his eyes diverted to Buck with a knowing nod.
“Bro, you know Lord of the Rings?”
The brown-haired brother nodded as well, mouth slightly agape. An eyebrow raised as he replied to his brother with hands that spoke as much as his voice did.
“Yeah bro! That's my jam.”
“Well, you know that one scene where Gimli gets tossed?”
“Twin Towers?”
“Hell yeah, bro.”
Puck ended his remark briefly, casting his eyes downward at the other bro and smiling devilishly. Buck appeared confused for a moment, opening his mouth just a bit more and squinting his eyes. Finally, they widened and he pointed a powerful finger towards Puck.
“OOOOOOOH!”
Buck returned to the battle, Machop now nearly on the scene with Budew and Houndour.
“Brohammed Ali! Grab Brometheus and let’s go! Power toss!”
Machop immediately veered right, feet slamming onto the hardwood. The biological steam train had moved from the path of Budew and now was upon the flailing Magikarp. With a diving leap, the Superpower Pokémon grabbed the tail end of Magikarp and gave him a mighty hurl in the direction of Rook, who had taken the place of Budew. The spinning scythe of Magikarp was only a blur to the watching trainers, colliding with Rook in a fraction of a second. The force of the blow sent Rook away from the battle and sliding onto the floor. Magikarp soared high into the sky, still gaining elevation as Poochyena collided with Machop just after.
Rook had taken too many water guns to continue battling, and was knocked unconscious by the unorthodox blow.
~HOUNDOUR IS UNABLE TO BATTLE~
Now it was two Pokémon vs. two. Poochyena and Machop were entangled in a wrestling match, and Magikarp flew high above, waiting for gravity to shift him back downward.
The Poké Ball containing your Pokémon finished downloading before your very eyes. It sat expectantly on a pocket below the screen, awaiting you. The top, red portion had a silver “E” inscribed into it. More blue letters began flaring across the screen.
ABILITY: FLASH FIRE (IMMUNE TO FIRE-TYPE MOVES, AND POWER INCREASE WHEN HIT BY FIRE-TYPE MOVES)
AS EACH TAIL GROWS, ITS FURE BECOMES MORE LUSTROUS. WHEN HELD, IT FEELS SLIGHTLY WARM.
PLEASE TAKE YOUR POKé BALL. GOOD LUCK!
The computer said.
~You caught Sapphine, the Vulpix!~
There appeared to be a warning for special care of this particular Vulpix, but you appeared to ignore the request if you wished for another Pokémon. You noticed the front right paw of the Vulpix was actually a stub, rather than having another dark-brown paw at its end. You figured this might be one of the main reasons for its slower speed nature.
“CONGRATULATIONS.” ERIC said. The hologram spoke monotonously and lacked facial expression, but you felt he was trying his best. The transparent, blue humanoid waved its digital fingers in a direction toward you. A drone came humming over from the opposite corner of the room, carrying two miniature, silver tablets in its clutches. The flying robot lowered itself and extended mechanical projections towards you, waiting for you to grab the Pokédex at any time.
“THESE DEVICES ARE KNOWN AS POKéDEX. POINTING THEM IN THE VICITNITY OF A POKéMON WILL GIVE THE TRAINER A SUMMARY OF INFORMATION FOR THAT POKéMON. THAT POKéMON’S INFORMATION WILL THEN BE DOWNLOADED TO THE DATABASE. THE POKéDEX IS LINKED TO PROFESSOR EVERGREEN’S POKéDEX, AND SHE MAY BE CONTACTED AT ANY POINT IN TIME.”
[Acquire: Evergreen Pokédex]
A normal person explaining all of this would need to catch their breath between sentences, or at least explanations. ERIC wasn’t limited by this, however, and continued to list off everything you needed to know. There were silent pauses between each recital, though, so you were able to catch on to all of the information being explained.
“EMPLOYMENT UNDER EVERGREEN LTD. REQURIES TRAINERS TO UPLOAD AS MUCH POKéMON DATA AS POSSIBLE. MONETARY SUMS WILL BE PROVIDED FOR SCANNING WILD POKéMON. ADDITIONAL MONETARY SUMS WILL BE PROVIDED FOR SCANNING BOTH WILD AND RARE POKéMON.”
Once again, a momentary pause.
“EMPLOYMENT UNDER EVERGREEN LTD. DOES NOT ALLOW FOR THE USE OF TECHNOLOGY PROVIDED BY OTHER COMPANIES. TECHNOLOGY WILL BE PROVIDED BY EVERGREEN LTD. AS THE TRAINER BECOMES A MORE VIABLE ASSET THROUGH THE QUANTITY AND QUALITY OF DATA UPLOADS. TO BEGIN EMPLOYMENT, EACH TRAINER WILL RECEIVE A COMPLEMENTARY EVERGREEN BALL.”
The same drone that had delivered the Pokédex had flown back to another corner of the room, activating a switch on a white wall tile with a twisting, mechanical projection. The wall tile folded open to reveal a line of Poké Balls ready for the taking. The drone grabbed two and delivered them much the same as the Pokédex. They were like other Poké Balls, but with a silver “E” within the top portion of red.
(Consider yourself present for all events that are occurring. Commenting on events other than your own is completely optional, but feel free to collaborate and interact.)
You lifted your Pokédex, pointing the red tablet at the wild Pancham and pressing the [SCAN] option within the main menu. Just afterward, light blue text began dancing against a black background. The tell-tale voice of Professor Ficus, digitalized, began sounding off with every musical letter.
~IT DOES ITS LEVEL BEST TO GLARE AND PULL A SCARY FACE, BUT IT CAN’T HELP GRINNING IF ANYONE PATS ITS HEAD.~
~ACQUIRED 100 P FOR ENTRY: PANCHAM!~
That was an oddly specific thing to mention in a summary entry of a Pokémon. You wondered why Ficus thought it so important to mention that fact to new trainers. Nevertheless, Quill approached as shadow might near the pale of moonlight. Leaves rustled upon her approach, but she was so fast that she was no longer there when they sounded off. And yet despite the occasional noise, the Pancham continued to chew on the stem of its acorn top. It held each side with one paw. Its teeth were transfixed on the stem, as if the flavor and texture were infinitely interesting.
Sneasel maneuvered behind the maple where the Pancham rested its back. And unable to get closer, it took to the sky below canopy to unleash its ferocious claws on the playful Pokémon. To your surprise, the Pancham had begun falling to the forest floor before Sneasel made its leaping attack. Its large head, apparently heavy, weighed it down to a pile of leaves below. Sneasel’s attack was made less effective by the accidental dodge, striking the Pancham’s leg rather than the back of its head. Despite the blow, the panda-like Pokémon continued to roll on its side (mostly its head) away from Sneasel. Twisting to its feet, the Pancham grinded the stem of the acorn top between its exposed molars. Due to its explosive pupils and cartoonishly large head, the snarl was more comical than anything.
~PANCHAM WANTS TO BATTLE!~
Now stable on its feet, the Pancham dropped its heavy head and began running forward toward Sneasel. The blind charge was haphazard, as the Pancham could only see the blurry ground below as it rushed into battle. It wasn’t exactly a headbutt, but moreso an improvised, learned attack through instinct. Despite its reckless nature, Pancham continued onward, ready to plow through Sneasel and the Maple tree placed behind her if it had to.
You lifted your Pokédex, pointing the red tablet at the wild Zigzagoon and pressing the [SCAN] option within the main menu. Just afterward, light blue text began dancing against a black background. The tell-tale voice of Professor Ficus, digitalized, began sounding off with every musical letter.
~IT WALKS IN ZIGZAG FASHION. IT IS GOOD AT FINDING ITEMS IN THE GRASS AND EVEN IN THE GROUND~
~ACQUIRED 100 P FOR ENTRY: ZIGZAGOON!~
True to its description, the wild Zigzagoon began to hop from place to place, never walking in a straight line for longer than three feet. Although a trainer did not command the Pokémon, the serpentine maneuver was able to outwit the brutish approach of Kaz. Moving behind the Meowth, the Zigzagoon tackled into the square of Kaz’s back. Going against momentum, it turned on its heels to return to another patch of tall grass on the other side of the road. The bush continued to rustle, as you could still hear it moving. This was a guerilla style of fighting, if you’d ever seen it. The attack left less of an impact than you would’ve suspected, but this Zigzagoon was unusually quick.
The Pidgey flapped its wings and repeatedly stretched its neck to the sky. Keeping its neck stretched, the tiny bird Pokémon made its way across your shoulder toward the sweet you offered. It was a miniature balancing act, the trapeze artist bird on a tight rope shoulder. The Pidgey seemed unphased by the Deerling’s glares and glances, merely shrugging off its leer. It peered over from time to time with a coy look on its face, gloating in its sweet, sweet position. And there was no way Deerling could stop it. Wings still expanded, tiny feet trotting, the Pidgey finally finished its victory dance towards your palm.
The Pidgey didn’t bother to check your face for a reaction, merely striking the food with its voracious beak. One peck after another, the Pokémon was drilling holes into the candy and making it disappear at an alarming rate. You had seen the Pidgey just consume a beetle for dinner, and now its gluttonous behavior led it to devour the sweet in your hand. The thing was so tiny, too; you were surprised it held such an appetite. Its eyes really were as big as its stomach.
Finished with its meal, the Pidgey flapped its feathery wings toward a passing cloud. It cooed in satisfaction, creating a high-pitched line to a melody that only the wild knew. Perhaps for each piece of candy, there would be a new part of the song. Finished with its singing, the Pidgey landed onto your palm with a short, double-talon hop. Turning with a half-spin leap, the Pidgey now faced you. Its eyes were dark, nearly black but with amber tint. It looked to be like other Pidgey, save for its minute size. As if on queue, the Pidgey puffed out its chest, white feathers splaying in all directions. You could almost swear that it was some sort of salute. Though the Pidgey was literally in the palm of your hand, it was still technically wild. It cocked its head, beak closed, gauging your silence.
Mara opened her own pokedex, pressing the correct combination of buttons to bring up her own map. Holding the pokedex up towards the east and putting it down again, she squinted, before nodding to herself.
“This shouldn’t be too difficult to find her—as long as we can avoid the swamp,” Mara murmured, closing her pokedex and placing it back inside her bag. Her espurr glared up at her almost, as if he was angry with her choice in action.
Mara chuckled at him, contemplating suggesting that he could glare at the professor and see better results. They had everything they needed, however, in order to find Cass. Perhaps there would be pokemon battles and daring rescues!
Of course, glancing at Rowan, she got the notion that he wasn’t… Well, he wasn’t exactly thrilled with their choice. Pausing for a moment, Mara nearly suggested they just go through Route A as planned originally, battling the ordinary trainers….
But her own needs won her over. She wasn’t close to her team mates—her friends—yet. There would be time to make heroic sacrifices for them later.
”Come on, let’s head out then.” Mara said softly, heading towards the path, assuming the others were ready to go on and went as well.
While her main goal was to hunt down the professor’s assistant, she also saw this as a time to look around in general. Who knew what would happen! The random and the odd tickled her fancy, and certainly, she’d hopefully run into some. It didn't matter to her what happened--as long as it was interesting.
3: Random Event (if this can be done in addition to looking for Cass?) Location: Dewmeadow, Outside Dogwood’s Lab —> The Path to Quagmire Current Team:
Watching the screen to see it show information on the pokemon he had just acquired; both its nature and likes along with its description.'So a ghost poke afterall, well ain't that a right kicker.'Scratching at his chin as he read over the screen before lowering his gaze to the pokeball ready to be taken, which as he saw had an engraved capital silver E.
Excitement suddenly welled up within him and bubbled through his veins and a big grin plastered on the scarred aussie's face. He quickly made to grab it, but then Eric suddenly appeared just as he did causing him to jump in shock, his arms thrown up that he nearly threw the pokeball. Fumbling to catch the small ball.'CRIKEY! Ya nearly made me heart cark it with the poppin out.'Patting at his chest, waiting for his pounding heart to settle.
A long, drawn out sigh to catch his breath then turned his attention to the holographic assistant to see a drone hovering over to offer a small tablet device. Derrik glanced it over before Eric started a long and complicated explanation that all new trainers needed to know.'Gah! hold ya horses there mate.'Hurriedly scrambling for a notebook to scribble down everything, which was a bit of a challenge; what with the lack of its pauses. At least Eric had the decency to stop at certain intervals, allowing him to get it all down.
The explanation finished and pokedex handed over and even better that the drone gave each of them an extra pokeball.' No questions here mate. And now to greet this gas ball.'Holding out the pokeball as he was very anxious to meet his very first pokemon and new friend.
A red beam fired out from the center followed with a low hum and a red outline of an orb formed. Seconds later a floating black ball surrounded by purplish smog hovered in the air as two thin lines blinked opened to reveal Gat's eyes and what looked like a...top hat?'Wha...? Oi, where d'ya get that hat? Pointing at the hat while waiting for a response but the ghastly just peered at him with a dark stare and awkward silenced ensued.....
.....ah..right then. Well, good to meet ya gats. Name's Derrik and here's hopin we become good buds, what do ya say, eh?'His right arm extended as if to shake hands, though the ghastly's lack of arms made that impossible. Not that the pokemon would shake anyway for ghastly took one look at the offered hand only to turn its back to him with a purposeful loud harumph!' C'mon now, ain't no need to be actin a pommy bastard and give a greeting all proper like.' Hoping that got the ghastly to acknowledge him, but instead was left with watching the ghastly drift off with a loud yawn, clearly ignoring him.
Gritting his teeth as he looked over to the groomed bloke that came with him to see the vulpix being all friendly and buddy like.' This gat being a real ratbag he is. What ya think got stuck this gassy arse?' Perplexed as to why the vulpix was gettin on well with his trainer and walked briskly to the ghastly and swiped his hand in an attempt to poke it; instead his hand went right through its intangible form and the sensation caused Gat to turn with an enraged look in its eyes.
The ghastly stuck its tongue out at him and gave a long pbbbht that sent out a flail of spit then floated right through Derrik's head; leaving him drenched in spit and chokeful gas that made his eye sting.
Rook found himself in a similar position to last time, but now his body wasn't responding at all. After being hit by the hi-speed flying karp, he was lopped on his side, whining and wincing. Havoc immediately darted to his pokemon's side, carefully scooping up Rook and escorting him back out of the frey.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. If I was smarter, stronger, you wouldn't be hurt like this. Twice," whispered Havoc into his cradled arms. He was now far enough away that he turned back around and sat cross-legged with Rook in his lap. "You were brave and noble, Rook and you're ready to make the selfless sacrifice more than once. No matter how you feel, you're not a loser and you haven't lost. Look up." explained Havoc. Rook, unsure of what his trainer meant, glanced up at the fight. "The Poliwag that we couldn't beat is already retreated. The water advantage for the magikarp is gone," Havoc fished at his waist for Rook's pokeball. "If you want to go back into your pokeball, I'll get you healed right away, but this is still your fight, you've earned the right to see it to the end, even from the sidelines," Havoc brought his hand close to Rook's face, close enough for Rook to push the pokeball button to re-enter it. Instead, Rook headbutted Havoc's hand, deciding to wait till the end of the fight. Havoc smiled and gently stroked Rook's mane while they waited. "You've done great champ. This will be the last time you have to watch from the bench. I promise."
While waiting, Havoc pulled up his pokedex, and scanned it on the four pokemon still in battle. It was obvious he still had much to learn. A Ninja adapts and learns even when they are actively doing nothing. This was his time to study the battle.
"BUDEW - SENSITIVE TO CHANGING TEMPERATURE, THE BUD IS SAID TO BLOOM WHEN IT FEELS THE SUN'S WARM TOUCH.IT LIVES ALONGSIDE CLEAR PONDS. IT SCATTERS POLLEN THAT INDUCES HARSH SNEEZING AND RUNNY NOSES.
POOCHYENA - AN OMNIVORE—IT WILL EAT ANYTHING. A DISTINGUISHING FEATURE IS HOW LARGE ITS FANGS ARE COMPARED TO ITS BODY. THIS POKÉMON TRIES TO INTIMIDATE ITS FOES BY MAKING THE HAIR ON ITS TAIL BRISTLE OUT. AT FIRST SIGHT, POOCHYENA TAKES A BITE AT ANYTHING THAT MOVES. THIS POKÉMON CHASES AFTER PREY UNTIL THE VICTIM BECOMES EXHAUSTED. HOWEVER, IT MAY TURN TAIL IF THE PREY STRIKES BACK.
MACHOP - IT HEFTS GIANT BOULDER POKEMON IN MOUNTAINOUS REGIONS REPEATEDLY TO STRENGTHEN ITS ENTIRE BODY. IT USES EVERY TYPE OF MARTIAL ARTS. ITS WHOLE BODY IS COMPOSED OF MUSCLES. MACHOP'S MUSCLES ARE SPECIAL—THEY NEVER GET SORE NO MATTER HOW MUCH THEY ARE USED IN EXERCISE. THIS POKÉMON HAS SUFFICIENT POWER TO HURL A HUNDRED ADULT HUMANS.
MAGIKARP - VIRTUALLY USELESS IN BATTLE AS IT CAN ONLY SPLASH AROUND. AS A RESULT, IT IS CONSIDERED TO BE WEAK. HOWEVER, IT IS ACTUALLY A VERY HARDY POKÉMON THAT CAN SURVIVE IN ANY BODY OF WATER NO MATTER HOW POLLUTED IT IS. IT IS UNABLE TO SWIM AGAINST EVEN SLOW-MOVING CURRENTS. IT IS THE MOST WEAK AND PATHETIC POKÉMON IN THE WORLD."
Havoc blinked at the last entry.
"That's what beat us? ...I suck."
Location: S.S.Expedition
Current Team: Rook the Houndour¦Status: FNT¦Level: 5
