Sophia Danvers

Outside the Pokecentre

@Iatos @AbysmalDemon @OtomostheCrazy @Heckno12

Striding out of the Pokecentre as if leading the group, Sophia turned her head and smirked at Kero. "Heh. How enthusiastic. Believe me, you won't be so bored when you watch me later." She glanced back to see if anyone else was following, keeping her back straight and folding her arms in a gesture of confidence. Despite her outward composure, the buzz than ran through her wasn't just excitement.

It would be fine, it would be fine, it would be fine... There was no reason to get nervous. She took a slow, deep breath in, an even slower breath out, and repeated. The breathing exercise often helped her to calm her mind. This time, though, she cringed. Was that a faint whiff of rotten seaweed still there around her? Maybe the gym leader wouldn't notice. It would be fine, it would be fine, it would be fine...

"Of course, we'd better stock up first. Too bad if you're in a rush all of a sudden," she said, her haughty tone masking her nerves. She looked down at a Pokeball on her belt, cupping her hand round it, her entire demeanour instantly mellowing. "And I guess I'd better let you out for a while." She couldn't just send her new Pokemon into battle without first bonding with it. Preparing the parasol in case Staryu decided to Water Gun her again, she unleashed her newest catch.

The Staryu simply turned this way and that, its core lighting up with a soft glow instead of the angry flare from earlier. Another Pokeball opened, and Gothita appeared next to Staryu. "Go-thi!" She stood fixated on the brilliant gem. Staryu spun backwards, unsure of the Pokemon that had defeated it earlier, but Gothita gave another friendly, cheerful squeal. As Staryu approached, Gothita giggled and ran towards it, causing it to spin out of the way and stand still, waiting for the other Pokemon to try to catch up with it. Once Gothita did, Staryu darted away in an impressive display of speed.

With a gentle laugh, Sophia watched the two Pokemon play. Her icy facade had thawed. "You two ok now?" she asked. Gothita squeaked, jumping up, and Staryu's core glowed brighter, before they both continued to rush around.

@OtomostheCrazy@LuckyBlackCat@AbysmalDemon@Iatos

---

Rheese brushed off Alexis's comment holding back the urge to berate her about her loss against Oscar earlier. While it was true he didn't exactly have a team put together yet, he was almost certain he could get it to work more cohesively than her. He grinned a bit when Sophia fired back instead.

"Lead the way." He told Sophia while glaring slightly at the other girl. Sophia seemed to have some vain tendencies, but he certainly didn't find them as grating as Alexis's. The group they had gathered so far was interesting to say the least, but he questioned how it would work out.

Rheese could tell that in the long run Sophia and Alexis would definitely argue and fight, if anyone expected him to mediate they'd (probably) be wrong as watching would probably be the most entertaining thing on their journey.

"Stocking up first would probably be a good idea." Rheese agreed. While he wasn't exactly affluent, he still had more than enough money to get started. "From what I've heard, the gym leader here isn't exactly the fair type. I'm not really sure how that'll pan out as far as battles go."

@LuckyBlackCat@Iatos@Heckno12@AbysmalDemon

Alexis could feel the negative view some of the others had on her. She didn't mind. After all, it was understandable. They were all destined to lose to her, and most people wouldn't like that kind of thought. If only they embraced their destinies, they'd stop with the negativity and ignorance, and move on with their lives until they face her.

In any case, it seemed as if Alexis had accidentally joined a group of trainers...or perhaps she had accidentally allowed them to join her on her journey. The details were always such a hassle to work out. The point was that she had several more companions than she intended to travel with. Seeing the poser girl take the lead without permission, Alexis huffed and sped up her pace, walking ahead of her and taking the lead, all while giving a slight 'accidental' nudge to her. If they were to be in her group, then they'd have to learn who the leader was. The poser girl did make a good point, and one of the others also seemed to know a bit of the gym leader they were to face. No matter how much confidence she had in herself, Alexis would still need a few things to help keep her team from falling behind.

Alexis continued to think to herself as they walked on. The road was going to be a difficult one, regardless of destiny, but the star would not falter now. She'd have to fulfill her destiny. She WILL become an idol adored by all.

Sophia Danvers

Out and About

@Heckno12 @OtomostheCrazy @Iatos @AbysmalDemon

Sophia chuckled. "At least somebody has the sense to agree with me," she said, glancing back at Rheese, trying not to think about how little money she had. "And how bad can he be? I mean, I get why you're being so cautious, with the Grass type you have there, but I'll be fine. You see, I know a few things about Flying-type gym leaders."

She'd never actually seen Skyla battle, but she'd heard about her fighting style, and the techniques Flying types tended to use. Then again, from the way people reacted to his name, Vincent sounded nothing like Skyla. Maybe it would have been an idea to get a Rock or Electric type. Oh well, it was too late now, she couldn't back out in front of everyone. She could take on this challenge. It would be fine, it would be fine, it would be fine...

"Hey! Watch it, will you!" she shouted as the wannabe idol pushed past her. Marching forward, she caught up with her. She'd teach this girl to laugh at the way she'd looked earlier... She took a quick glance at Gothita, who was still distracted chasing after Staryu. Perfect. Gothita wouldn't notice, wouldn't intervene in any way. She looked back at the girl, who didn't seem to be paying attention either. One by one, the ribbons that adorned the girl's dress and the tops of her boots came undone, trailing sloppily in the wind. Sophia resisted the urge to laugh. The wannabe star would face the gym leader looking rather less than elegant.

She strode on ahead, pretending to ignore the girl. Where was that Pokemart? She took a look over her shoulder. She'd just gone and walked right past it. "Uh... This way!" she called to the others as if she'd known all along, turning round and heading in the right direction.

Art Nomad
WINSHIRE PORT

-Take care out there, ya? We will meet in the pokemart later!
my voice fulfills the air of the crowded port as a pink haired faster-than-light figure fades in the streets of Windshire.

'gosh... she never stops' I say to myself as I barely listen String's voice answering me something.

-Carmine- I say leaning my face to the little crature that is drawing something on the Book of Wandering.

-Chaar..?-answers my charmander.

-I said you to take care of our notebook, not to draw on it...-I really can't retain a serious voice and I draw a smile over my face-...do a little pause and follow the drawing in the lab, ya?

Carmine nods cherfully while stands up from the floor. We both start our walking through the port and the streets.

I move my eyes over the map in my 'gear and the street signals, hoping to encounter the best route to the Lab of this city. Next to me the sound of little fet and pencil scratches follows my path as carmine walks without stoping her artwork.

While walking, I can't stop mumble silenty a melody I was listening the past two days aboard the SS Trident...

Elix 'String' Joy

By a main street near the Pokemart of Windshire

https://youtu.be/DjpudvU-ZRA

...listen it! My fingers go crazy over the strings. My little dancing Joy jumps near me as all the passerby people stop and looks at us. Funk you all people.

I said to Art some moments ago that I was going to play and promote a little our album. I don't wanna callback to our oldies to ask for money and... Well, I love to play after two weeks of sea trip.

Infront of me, as the riffs and tones emerge from the integrated amplifier of the bass, I glance to the sign and post that anounces our album and band.

Everfunk,
By WANDERSTRINGS.

I smile, because I saw the cd cover. An edited drawing that Torchic and Charmander made together and doesn't resembles to anything of this dimension but... is colorfull.

-Thanks to everyone! Now I'm gonna do some impro, only for you, here in Windshire!

The air and the streets start to fulfill with the sounds of live music.

He continued to keep to himself, not caring where he walked in the group as it didn't really matter to him. He let the kiddos compete for first place and kept his interest on more important things like trying to spot rare pokemon which was unlikely in a town... But you never knew what other trainers owned after all.

He stopped by the Pokémon mart seeing as it was there they was heading realizing thatched thee others walked past it in their hurry. He rolled his eyes as Sophia turned around and called that it was the other way. It was pretty clear that these trainers perception level ended at their own nose... He didn't say anything and just headed inside, deciding to stock photos on supplies himself while he had the chance.

@LuckyBlackCat@Iatos@Heckno12@AbysmalDemon@Kalek Nord

When the poser girl passed by her as if nothing had happened, Alexis knew something was wrong. As much as she hated to admit that they had something in common, she knew that the poser had as much confidence as her. Actively provoking her with that nudge should've done more than that. Suspicious at the poser's behavior, Alexis checked herself to see if she did anything.

What she found was a nightmare to her. Her outfit was ruined! Not in any way that wasn't fixable, but nonetheless, that poser had gone and undone all the work she had put into making every tied knot on her bows, ribbons, and even her shoelaces, presentable. Unfortunately for her, there wasn't much on the poser's clothes that she could use to get back at her with. She'd have to be a little less subtle in order to get her revenge.

So she whispered to her Snorunt,

"I want you to cover her in snow."

Snorunt looked up at Alexis' face with a raised brow, but decided that it'd be much safer than whatever overly-complicated scheme the girl would hatch later if she didn't do it. So Snorunt faced Sophia, and blew out enough snow. The upside was that, she had managed to hit her mark. The downside was that, she had also accidentally hit a guitarist that was playing some wicked improv. Snorunt liked the sound of that music.

Sophia Danvers

On the way to Pokemart

@OtomostheCrazy @Heckno12 @AbysmalDemon @Iatos @Kalek Nord

Sophia let out a yell as a blast of snow covered her. "What? What was that for?" Ok, so she wasn't the only one covered in snow, it had also hit a nearby busker, but... even so. How dare this girl have absolutely no respect for her? She brushed the snow off her clothes and turned around, her hand on her hip. At the sight of the wannabe star's ruined outfit, she feigned surprise.

"Ohh, I get it," she said, strutting away from the musician, towards the girl. "You're jealous because I'm the one who can pull off the cute look better, huh? If you can't tie bows properly, they'll never hold in this wind." She gave an innocent smile.

To the side of her, she heard tiny footsteps. The next thing Sophia knew, the bow at the top of her shirt had come undone. "Gothita!" Tying up the bow, she glared down at the Pokemon, who giggled. The ribbon instantly became untied again. "That's enough now," she groaned, knotting it, only to watch the ribbon come free from the knot before she could properly secure it. "This isn't funny! She had it coming! ...Gah!" Open mouth, insert dainty, bow-tipped shoe-clad foot.

She glanced around, unable to fake innocence any more. She'd have to think of something quickly to put the wannabe idol in her place... "Staryu! Use Water Gun on her," she whispered. Staryu spun towards the girl, sprayed a jet of water in her face... then, with no warning, did the same to Sophia.

Spluttering, Sophia looked down in shock. That was her second drenched outfit today. Even if she wasn't covered in slimy seaweed this time, she still looked utterly ridiculous. There was no way she was challenging the gym until she'd dried off.

Staryu stood in between Sophia and Alexis, turning from one to the other with that harsh red glow, as if telling them both to quit it. Gothita laughed harder than ever at the two girls.

"Both of you, come on back now," Sophia grumbled, returning Gothita and Staryu, then re-tying the bow at her shirt collar - not that it made her outfit look much better. She glanced over at the musician by the Pokemart. She hoped the woman wouldn't laugh.

@OtomostheCrazy@LuckyBlackCat@AbysmalDemon@Iatos

---

Rheese observed the miniature prank war between Sophia and Alexis. Backing away just far enough to evade being caught up by any stray shots, he simply watched.

Within a few moments their little competition was over and honestly Rheese was disappointed. A bit of snow and some water, at the worst one might be able to call minor mischief. If that was all their competition was going to show, it wouldn't be nearly as fun to travel with them. Granted, being entertained wasn't all there was to it. Of course, it was just practical to travel in a group.

"So, are you two going to stick to little pranks or...?" He asked, slightly trying to egg them into a battle. Those two both had three Pokemon, and were clearly going to compete in one way or another. It would be good to let out a bit of that frustration between them before it got out of hand.

Amber Pine

Route to Mesalon

@Noxx @Laach

Amber had only been in Kosei for a day, and she'd already seen some truly amazing sights. "Well I haven't seen that wing pattern before..." she said to nobody in particular as she pointed her camera at the swarm of Vivillon. "Three different types already!" Click. Click. Click. She looked over the pictures, which showed how the late morning sun set off the bright blue of their wings. Digging out her notebook, she scribbled and sketched, studying their flight pattern and colour differences.

"Kabu." The fossil Pokemon crawled over to the log she sat on and nudged her leg. "Kabu!" he repeated, more firmly this time, turning and scuttling towards what should have been the focus of Amber's attention.

"Hm? What is it?" Amber turned her head and gasped. "Hey!" There, standing on her basket of painted pebbles, was a Murkrow, holding one of the stones in its beak. That Beedrill painting with the golden stripes had taken her hours! Kabuto tried to swipe at the thief, stubby claws only scratching thin air as the Murkrow took flight.

Amber jumped to her feet. "Go, Yanma!" The Bug-type darted into the sky, wings moving in a blur as she caught up with the Murkrow. "Use Tackle!" Yanma slammed into the Murkrow, startling it enough that it screeched and dropped the pebble into a patch of grass. Yes, Amber had just sent out a Bug type against a Flying type, but Yanma had her considerable speed as an advantage, and Kabuto was scurrying over, ready to intervene if necessary.

It turned out there was no need to. As the wild Pokemon flew into the distance, Amber picked up the painted stone and placed it back with the others. "That..." Her expression instantly brightened, eyes gleaming. "That was fascinating! I've never seen one do that close up!" Kabuto and Yanma looked at each other with flat, drawn-out noises that sounded like sighs.

She continued along her way with the basket hanging from her arm as she jotted down notes. Her foot struck something. "Waugh!" Next thing she knew, she was sprawled across the ground, the pebbles scattered everywhere. Twisting around, she looked behind her to see she'd just tripped over a sleeping girl. "Ugh... I'm sorry. I didn't see you there," she said as she stood up, dizzy but unhurt. "You ok?"

Sophia Danvers

@LuckyBlackCat@Iatos@AbysmalDemon@Heckno12

Alexis had had enough of the poser. First she ruins her ribbons, then she drenches her in water! This girl thinks that she's so much better than her!? Alexis would see that it doesn't work out all that well! she grabbed her Eevee's poke ball, and let her out.

"Tail whip her stupid hat off!"

Eevee snickered as it ran up to Sophia. It slapped its fluffy tail across her face, knocking the girl's top hat off. Alexis grinned.

Sophia stumbled back as the girl's Eevee smacked her across the face with its tail, knocking her hat off. At the same time, one of her Pokeballs popped open.

"Purrrr?" The Dark type looked around, taking in the chaos, and made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a snicker. "Purr-purr-purr-purr-purr."

Retrieving her hat and placing it back on her soaked hair, Sophia glared. "Enough of that! Rub around her boots. Make sure you leave plenty of fur all over them." She smirked at the thought. Purple hairs would show up nicely against the damp white boots.

Purrloin didn't seem to be listening. Instead, she launched herself at Eevee, claws out.

Eevee wasn't paying attention when the claws scratched her. She was too busy snickering at her own little joke. However, when she felt the shard sting of claws, Eevee got mad. She growled so fiercely, Alexis' Snorunt jumped down in an attempt to calm her down, and Hoppip popped out of its pokeball, wondering what was going on.

As Hoppip splashed around the melted snow and water puddles, Eevee had decided to get revenge by whipping Purrloin with her tail.

"No! Come back, Purrloin!" Sophia called. Again, Purrloin ignored her and kept scratching at the Eevee, who retaliated. Almost knocked over by the tail whip, the Dark type jumped up, fur standing on end. There was no getting Purrloin to back out.

Sophia faced Alexis, folding her arms and sneering, putting on her confident act. "Heh. How brave of you to challenge me," she said as if the two of them had planned this. She turned her attention back to Purrloin. "Ok, give it your all! Another Scratch!"

The other two Pokeballs burst open. Gothita gazed at the steadily-intensifying battle, while Staryu stood there, limbs drooping in exasperation.

"What? I didn't-"

That was all she could say before Eevee started kicking sand at the purrloin. It didn't help that Hoppip bounced off of Alexis' head at the same time.

"Wait, hold on! Don't do that, Hoppip! Eevee! Don't-!"

While Alexis and Snorunt attempted to stop Hoppip from splashing all over the place, Eevee snarled as she charged in an attempt to tackle the purrloin.

Purrloin took the hit, staggering but leaping back up. With a growl, she rushed and swiped at the Eevee again. Gothita's eyes widened, and Sophia tensed as she watched the impromptu fight. Things weren't looking good for Purrloin.

"Hold on, Purrloin! You can do this!" She clenched her fists by her sides as she encouraged the Pokemon. Surely the Eevee couldn't take many more attacks. "Another Scratch!"

"Would you all stop for a-"

"EEVEE!!!!"

Eevee charged once more with an agonizingly strong tackle.

"Purrrr..." The Dark-type gave a weak growl, trying to stand up. Her legs gave out and she slumped to the ground.

Sophia ran towards the fainted Pokemon and crouched down. "Purrloin, I'm going to have a thing or two to say to you later. But I'll admit, you did well," she said, her voice suddenly soft. "Come on, for now." She returned the Pokemon and straightened up. As she looked at her opponent, her smug expression spread back over her face.

"Don't get cocky just yet! Go, Gothita!" The Psychic-type ran forward at Sophia's command. "Confusion!" Gothita sent an energy blast towards Eevee, throwing her back.

"Cocky!? I didn't even-"

Eevee, snickering at her victory, was the one that got cocky. She charged up to the Gothita, and began whipping her fluffy tail at her new opponent.

Snorunt, tired of Eevee's antics, attempted to run up to her and stop the fight.

Sophia hoped her opponent didn't see the nervous glance around she took. That wannabe's Eevee had actually managed to defeat one of her Pokemon, putting her at a disadvantage. If she lost to somebody who hadn't even been trying to win, she'd never hear the end of it. Especially with all these people watching.

"Again, Confusion!" Sophia shouted. These two Pokemon clearly wanted a fight, even if the wannabe didn't. Staryu was considerably less enthusiastic than Gothita, spinning forward to try to stop her. Gothita simply ran past and flung the Eevee back with another psychic move.

Snorunt had attempted to talk them into stopping the fight, but it was to no avail. Instead, Snorunt had been dragged into it. Of course, it wasn't entirely by accident. When Eevee was hit by confusion, she had been thrown right into Snorunt. Eevee was no longer able to battle, but Snorunt was mad.

She jumped in and started blasting snow at Gothita, while Alexis was still trying to catch her Hoppip.

"This. Is not. A Pokemon battle! Why are you knocking my team out?!"

Alexis was actually getting angry. She may not have been directing anything as her team's trainer, but that didn't mean that other people saw it differently. This could have been an actual, consensual battle between trainers. This was beginning to make her mad.

"Tell that to our Pokemon," Sophia said, attempting to hide her worry with a sneer. "And need I remind you that you just knocked one of mine out?" Now it really was too late to quit. Neither Pokemon was willing to stop.

As if proving Sophia's point, Gothita brushed the snow off and blasted Confusion at Snorunt, with no command, putting even more force behind the attack. Eevee's attempt to lower her guard seemed to have only strengthened her will to fight. "Y-You see?" Sophia forced a smile. This was even more of a mess than she'd thought, but she had to pretend to be in some level of control.

""Your pokemon started i-Snorunt!""

As Snorunt collapsed into unconsciousness, unable to battle, Alexis ran over to her. Snorunt was well, and truly out cold. Alexis hadn't even given a command, and yet her Pokemon had fought. Two of them were even KOed.

Oblivious to the situation, Hoppip continued to splash around in the puddles.

Sophia turned even paler than usual, her facade cracking. "Careful there!" she shouted to Gothita. The attack had indeed been much stronger than the previous ones - instead of getting back up, Snorunt collapsed. Oh, Arceus, no, she thought as she dropped the facade completely and rushed over to Snorunt, remembering what had happened with that other trainer's Beldum the other day. She'd wanted the tables to turn, but not like this, not like this...

She spun around at the sound of a cry and a thud, to see the defenseless Hoppip lying on the ground several feet away from its former spot. "Gothita, no! That Hoppip isn't fighting back!" she yelled. Gothita seemed to be completely swept up in the heat of the battle. Ignoring her trainer, she sent the Hoppip flying again. "Stop! Listen to me!" Sophia pleaded. "I call this stupid battle off!"

She took a Pokeball from her belt. Gothita whirled round, and the Pokeball flew out of Sophia's hand, landing and rolling across the ground. "Gothita! What in the name of Arceus are you doing?!" Putting on an act was now the furthest thing from Sophia's mind. She made the Pokeball float back towards her, but by the time she'd grasped it, Gothita had sent another Confusion at Hoppip.

This wasn't even a battle any more. This couldn't be described as anything other than complete chaos.

Just like that, Hoppip was out cold. All three of Alexis' Pokemon were unable to battle. If an official referee was there, they'd announce Sophia's team the winner. Not that either trainer cared at the moment. Alexis looked around at the area. The remnants of the little prank battle they had before everything got out of hand was still there. Powdered snow and water puddles surrounded them. It sent a feeling that clashed with how Alexis had been feeling at the moment.

Her attention then went to her Pokemon. Each and every one was out cold. All she wanted was to calm everyone down at the moment, and yet...

Everything was rushing through Alexis' mind. It was all too much to take at once. She tried to let out a scream, but instead, she fainted.

Alexis blacked out.

"No..." Sophia could barely speak. Her mouth had gone dry. She ran to where the unconscious girl and Pokemon lay, and dropped to her knees. She didn't care that she was kneeling in a puddle, soaking her outfit further. She'd won, and yet, and yet... This felt nothing like a victory.

She closed her eyes, taking several deep, shaking breaths. Trying to gain enough focus, she reached out with her senses, but it was like trying to see through thick fog, and the energy she could pick up on was blurred together. Crawling over, she placed her hand on the girl's forehead and tried again. This time, it came more easily to her. The girl was going to be ok. She did the same to each Pokemon, breathing a sigh of relief. Injured as they were, they'd live.

"Go...thi?" Sophia's reaction had snapped Gothita out of the battle-crazed state. She stared in shock at what she'd done.

@LuckyBlackCat@OtomostheCrazy@Heckno12

Well at least one of the observers didn't seem too oblivious to what was actually going on between the two other trainers. What had begun with cute little pranks that was beyond silly had quickly gotten out of hand with chaos ensuing. Kero had seen it all from where he was waiting, not a second had been missed by his watchful eyes as one thing led to another and eventually derailed. He had suspected it to get out of hand, but he cursed himself for not intervening sooner. When one trainer passed out and the other was in terror over the sitiation he saw his opportunity... he moved in, and was not light on his steps as he approached Sophia from behind. A Deep sated anger as burning within him, he had hatred in his eyes and he about as close as the thinness of a single hair straw from slitting Sophia's throat or wringing her neck right then and there... it had been so easy too, but his more common sense prevented him to do such thing in public.

Instead He grabbed her shoulder in a very ungentle manner, pulled her back so she could see his face and he could see hers as he starred at her with a killers eyes " WHAT THE FLYING £$#@! DO YOU TWO THINK YOUR DOING?.... ACTUALLY DON'T ANSWER THAT... YOU TWO ARE CLEARLY NOT 'THINKING... AT ALL!'.... YOU %¤#!! NEWBIES... Haven't you been taught TO NEVER.... NEVER!...EVER, Involve Pokémon into your Personal Disputes?... I SHOULD REPORT YOU TWO TO THE }<€%$ POLICE!..... have you stripped of your Trainer Permit... NOW GIVE EM HERE!" he more or less shouted Sophia's ears off and grabbed Alexi's pokéballs before returning her pokémon and stuffing them into his bag... he then grabbed Sophia's pokéballs and tried to do the same thing.

==Is allowed to take pokéballs===
"YOU... CALL THE <#¤%! AMBULANCE... I WILL TAKE THESE TO NURSE JOY... YOU STAY THE <£$€! WHERE YOU ARE AND DON'T SAY OR DO ANYTHING MORE!...JUST WATCH OVER HER..." he said pointing to Rheese before storming off to the pokémon center to think over what just had happend and seriously consider ever returning the pokémon to such immature trainers... or to put them to better use himself.

==Is not allowed to take pokéballs==
~Possible collab about further events~

Sophia Danvers

On the way to Pokemart

@Iatos @OtomostheCrazy @Heckno12 @AbysmalDemon @Kalek Nord

Sheer, blind panic took over Sophia as, without warning, Kero grabbed her shoulders hard enough to bruise and yelled in her face. This was a completely different side to him, nothing like the calm and collected, if annoying man she'd met earlier. For just a second, as she looked into his eyes... It may have just been one of the terrified, irrational thoughts racing through her head, but for that moment, she feared for her life.

Her legs nearly gave way under her as he let go, taking her Pokemon as well as the other girl's, and left for the Pokecentre. Her breath came in gasps. It was as if something was squeezing her ribs. Her surroundings blurred, dots of light dancing in front of her eyes as all sounds became distant except for her thudding heartbeat. She tried to force more air into her lungs, but she couldn't shake the grip that the cold, sick feeling had over her entire body. All she could do was tremble violently. Kero was right. Maybe she didn't deserve to be a trainer. What had she just done? What had she let happen?

A boarded-up shop window cracked. No, no, she inwardly screamed at herself. The crack grew, the board inside splintering. "S-Stay away from me!" she shouted at the group, half-running, half-staggering a safe distance from them before slumping to her hands and knees, still hyperventilating. A street lamp shattered, showering glass onto the path.

No, she couldn't let this happen, she'd done enough damage... She struggled to slow her breathing. Finally, the gasps evened out. Her tense muscles slackened. Weakly raising her head, she looked around her.

Thankfully, nobody else was hurt. She tried to stand up, but flopped back down like a broken doll. The panic attack seemed to have consumed all her strength, and had given way to a numb sense of disbelief. Her psychic powers very, very rarely went out of control... This had been one screw-up after another. A stuck record of some of the more hurtful things her mother had said to her repeated itself through her mind.

Even though the others were probably too far away to hear, and the girl was still unconscious, she muttered something. It was something she barely ever said, except to family members. "I'm sorry..." She felt tears sting her eyes. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..."

Meanwhile, Staryu, the only one of Sophia's Pokemon who hadn't been taken, spun over to the passed-out girl and attempted to wake her with a gentle splash of cold water.

@OtomostheCrazy@LuckyBlackCat@AbysmalDemon@Iatos

---

Rheese stared in disbelief at what had happened in front of him. He had hoped the two would have battled or competed in some way, just...not like this. This was absolutely terrible, how could this even happen?

"I...I can't." He stammered out. It brought back some memories of what had happened the day before with Wooper and Alex's Beldum. It was beginning to seem like something about this region made Pokemon go Berserk...but that couldn't be possible could it?

After hearing Kero shout at him, he used his Pokegear to phone the emergency number. Within moments an ambulance would be there. In all likelihood there would probably be a police officer on their way to get a report as well.

This whole situation was just chaotic. If only he had stepped in, maybe he could have stopped it before things had gotten out of control...and that Kero guy, his reaction totally blew away any shred of his calm and collected facade. It probably wasn't a good idea to just let him run off with the others' pokeballs, but right now making sure Sophia and Alexis were alright took priority. He would just have to hope Kero wasn't dumb enough to try and steal Pokemon in the middle of a town like Windshire.

"Sophia, calm down." Rheese said, breathing in order to put himself at ease. While he couldn't understand what she was saying, she definitely seemed to be freaking out over what had happened. "She'll be okay, the ambulance is gonna be here in just a bit." If the situation was less serious, he might have jabbed at her a bit...unfortunately right now, that kind of talk would probably make her even less stable.

@LuckyBlackCat@Laach

Things were quiet since Kyle left the group, OZ wasn’t the talkative type so that left things quite peaceful, awkward, but peaceful and that would be something she was going to like going forward. It was a shame, however, Kyle was interesting, to say the least, but OZ seemed to be on the tofu side of things so that would be something not too good for her laziness but she would cross the bridge when she got into it and not before. So she sat there slumped over snoring catching up on some much-needed sleep and OZ the not so great and powerful was eating away all seemed alright for the world for the first time this morning until the back of her head was kicked in and her face was propelled at terminal velocity right into the dirt. Nyxx rolled a little to the side holding the back of her head, she was nice and awake now, whatever dream she was having ended abruptly and to top it all off Lupin and Nelz were released from their Pokeball's ending their little time out from the pokemart.

“Who decided to give their foot and my head a shotgun wedding!?” Nyxx yelled, shooting up to her feet, she puffs ball of hair rising up only to have her Swablu nest itself inside it. “I’m not exactly a short girl, even when I’m sitting down” Nyxx went on and on Buneary fed off her trainer’s energy and got angry along with her for reasons unknown to her in the first place, Swablu went off as well being ready for whatever whenever. "If you wanted to battle all you had to do was ask, lets get it started guys!" Nyxx commanded her pokemon pointing at the stranger

Amber Pine

Route to Mesalon

@Noxx @Laach

Amber backed away slightly. The girl's setting had gone from off to turbo in a split second. "Ehh... Sorry about that," she said, rubbing the back of her neck. "You're not hurt, are you?"

Even though the girl's Buneary hadn't reacted much better, Amber's eyes widened at the sight of the unusually-coloured Pokemon. "Oh! That's an interesting specimen there," she commented. This was the first time she'd seen a Shiny Pokemon in the flesh rather than in pictures. After gathering up the pebbles, she picked up her notepad and pen, and started frantically scribbling again.

At the mention of a battle, she looked up. "Well, that wasn't my plan," she said. "But if you're up for it, I'd be glad to try one out for the first time. Ok, technically second, if you count catching Yanma here." The bug Pokemon zipped around. "A trainer battle is quite a different experience to a wild one, though. I'd imagine so, anyway. There's only one way to find out." She looked from one Pokemon to another. "Both of you ok with this?"

Kabuto crawled forward, and Yanma started darting around the other trainer's Pokemon. "Ok," Amber said, facing the girl. "Let's begin... uh, what's your name?"

Sophia Danvers

Windshire

@Heckno12 @OtomostheCrazy @Iatos @AbysmalDemon @Kalek Nord

Sophia cringed at the sight of Rheese's horrified face.

"She'll... She'll be ok," she reassured him, although her voice still shook from the recent panic attack. "Trust me. I-I checked. So will the Pokemon." They'd be ok, but it had been close, it had still been a stupid thing to do, if only she'd just returned Purrloin before things could escalate... The thought of Purrloin and Gothita, along with the other girl's Pokemon, in Kero's care did nothing to put her at ease.

Her empty gaze settled on the aftermath of the chaos. Shards of glass from the broken window littered the ground, some of them dangerously close to where the girl lay... Sophia couldn't risk letting her get hurt. Taking a few more deep, steady breaths, she made the pieces of glass drift into a nearby bin, her body sagging as she did so. Doing this gave her a way to focus her powers and be sure to stay in control, but there it was again, that strain... Nonetheless, she did the same with the glass from the street lamp.

She struggled to her feet, groaning. As she made her way towards the girl, though, the feeling of nausea intensified. She staggered to the bin, gripped the sides and was violently sick into it.

Staryu jumped up and spun over to her. Once she'd finished heaving, she lifted her head. "I-I'm ok. Stay with her," she panted. The Pokemon returned to the unconscious trainer's side.

Rheese had phoned for help... Oh no, how much trouble would they get into? She thought over what Kero had yelled at her. Irritating as this girl was, she didn't deserve to be punished in any way. None of this had been her fault.

@LuckyBlackCat@Noxx@Laach

After a nice break under the trees, Oscar stood up and called Skoll and Roadrunner. They came back though a bush and they stop by Oscar exhausted. Oscar laughs. "Looks like you two were having lots of fun." The bush rustle a little and Skoll went up to and bark at it. Skoll's barks were non-aggressive by the sounds of it. Oscar was confused by this but then again this is Skoll, which is his first wild pokemon. What topped it all off was that an eevee came out of the bush shyly. Oscar goes up to the eevee and says "Hey, there.Were you playing with Skoll and Roadrunner?" The eevee nods slowly and nervously. "Do you go with us?" The eevee nods again. "Do not be scared and do not struggle." Oscar took out a pokeball and tossed it at the eevee. The pokeball was able to catch the eevee. Oscar releases the eevee and the eevee blinks. "I am going to call you Nomia"

Oscar heard shouting not to far from him. Oscar returns Skoll and Nomia and heads off towards the commotion. Once he arrived to the source of the noise, there was three trainers and two of them were about to square off. Osacr calls out to them"Hey, I hope I have not missing anything"

@Noxx @fer1323

Nyxx was hopped up on whatever adrenaline kicks into her trick room of a brain so much so she didn't even think twice about the pokemon the other girl had and sent out Swablu first

The first thing Amber did was get out her Pokedex.

"Swablu, the Cotton Bird Pokemon," the mechanical voice told her. "For some reason, it likes to land on people's heads softly and act like it's a hat." Amber couldn't help but give a small smile at the cute mental image.

"Kabu!" the fossil Pokemon snapped at her, twitching, eager to battle.

"Ah... yes," she said. "Go, Kabuto!" The Rock-type scuttled towards the other trainer's Swablu.

Rock vs Flying. Kabuto would have the advantage, but even so, best to boost the Pokemon's natural strength as a first move - his defense. "Ok, use Harden!" Kabuto's shell began to shine.

Nyxx smiled as Amber sent in her first Pokemon to battle after checking her Pokedex as for her she couldn't remember where that thing was, as a consequence, she had legit no idea what that a Kabuto was but didn't care.

"Alright, Lupin do what you do best and annoy with feather dance!" She yelled Nyxx didn't plan anything out but she had a talent for battling, Nelz continued to bounce frantically around wanting to be the first to fight.

Kabuto tried to shake off the downy feathers that fell all over him.

"Now, move in there and use Scratch!" Amber called. Kabuto swiped at the Swablu, but all the feathers seemed to have dampened the strength of the attack.

Feathers encircled all around Kabuto somehow this lowered attack, the logic that came with that went to the exact same incinerator Nyxx through her strategies. Harden increased defense at least she hoped it did due to context clues so she figured all that defense amounted to nothing if its attack was too low to do real damage.

"Ok, Lupin lets start scratching that pretty shell, peck it!" She yelled, Nyxx didn't understand that attack wouldn't be effective until she attacked a few times and nothing notable happened but she just figured it was the high defenses of whatever Pokemon that was.

The Swablu's attacks were barely doing anything... but then again, neither were Kabuto's. Amber had a feeling this battle could go on for a while.

"Keep at it! Again, Scratch!" Crawling through the feathers, Kabuto scratched at the opposing Pokemon.

Nyxx didn't seem to notice anything of the sort about the battle still egging on her Swablu's constant pecking, thankfully he had picked up a berry when she caught him so upon eating that the bird regained a lot of its lost health and kept going strong.

"You're doing great Lupin keep it up hard!" She yelled jumping up and down raising her fists in the air energetic and completely ignorant of the battle at hand.

More feathers rained down on Kabuto, who scuttled back.

"Hmmm... That's something to look into, how exactly feathers can do that," Amber muttered, digging out her notepad and jotting down her theories. It didn't make sense that feathers could lower attacking power, but they clearly did.

"Kabu-to!" The Rock type tapped his claws on the ground, awaiting a command. The Swablu flew around in front of him, also eager for the battle to continue by the looks of it.

"Oh... Right," Amber glanced up. "That Swablu will only hold out so long! Another Scratch!" The attack only seemed to weaken the opponent a tiny fraction.

Nyxx stopped for one second in her rapid jumping and frantic yelling because Buneary popped her on her leg snapping her back to reality also reminding the trainer that she had two Pokemon.

"Oh right, guess you are stronger huh" Nyxx said looking back to the battle Swablu even with its berry was getting tired "Riiiiight, OK Nellz get in there Lupin take a powder!" she commanded calling back her bird Pokemon.

Buneary jumped in beating on her chest like she owned the place "Defense curl Nelz, then let's get in hard when he does no damage for real!" Nyxx yelled prompting the bunny Pokemon to fold up her ears and cover her chest storing energy.

Amber frowned. Even with Kabuto's resistance to Normal-type attacks, the Buneary would probably be able to do more damage out of the two by now. Nonetheless, she couldn't resist finding out more about this Pokemon...

As she reached for her Pokedex, Yanma flitted around more frantically than ever by her side. "Ah... You want your turn, do you? Kabuto, come back." Returning Kabuto, Amber pointed at the spot where he'd been. "Go, Yanma!" Demonstrating her speed, Yanma darted towards the Buneary.

Another Pokemon Nyxx has never seen before but she assumed it was bug type because it was extremely buggy. Buneary always sorta fought by herself without taking instruction as demonstrated when the Yanma sped right at her the bunny flipped over it only to pound on its back still taking the attack from the bug Pokemon. Yanma sped past and Nelz began shadow boxing when she landed encouraging another speedy pass by from the Pokemon.

"Good going Nelz keep at it pound and defense curl your way through like we always do!" Nyxx egged her Pokemon on

The Pound attack sent Yanma sailing backwards, but she steadied herself in the air.

"Ok Yanma, go for it! Tackle!" Amber called. Yanma zipped forward with even more impressive speed than before, slamming into the Buneary. If Yanma kept up like this, the other trainer's Pokemon wouldn't get a chance to significantly improve its defense, or get many attacks in.

After a few more turns, though, Amber looked on, forehead creasing with worry. No matter how fast Yanma moved, the Buneary's counterattacks were stronger... All she could do was watch as Yanma slowed down, struggling to fly, before spiralling towards the ground.

"Yanma, rest up now." Amber returned the fainted Pokemon and sent out Kabuto. "Your turn again! Scratch!"

Kabuto, who seemed to have shaken off the effect of the feathers, swiped with his claws.

Buneary was happy with her minor victory but here came the rock Pokemon Kabuto with no stat weaknesses now but that didn't stop Buneary from trying using defense curl to compensate for its now higher attack but eventually the bunny fell over exhausted.

"Ok first person that knocked out Nelz, more fight than Kyle that's for sure, I LIKE YOU!" she shouted recalling the pink bunny and sending out Lupin again.

Swablu started with the feathers again but only held out for so long before even he took a dive to the rock type having absolutely nothing that could stand up to that for of typing.

"I...I lost I can't believe it we haven't lost a battle yet we never lose and that was...was...AWESOME!" She screamed even louder recalling her Pokemon to rest and rushing next to amber looking at her Pokedex "What is that Pokemon, where did you find it, I like your style, Hey you should travel with us you'll be more fun than Kyle and OZ never speaks because wizard rule or something" Nyxx started talking and talking getting faster also to the point of being completely incomprehensible.

"So... So that's what winning a battle feels like." Amber's usually stern expression faded, replaced by an excited grin. "That was quite something!" Her mind raced over the notes she'd take, but right now she had other priorities.

She released Yanma, who had come to, but could still barely move. "Yan...ma..." the Pokemon moaned, trying to flap her wings. "Here. Eat this," Amber said, taking an Oran berry from her bag. As soon as Yanma had eaten the berry, she perked up a little, fluttering into the air but still wobbling. "Hey, maybe you should rest a little more," Amber told the Bug-type before returning her. She gave another Oran berry to Kabuto. As the Pokemon happily munched on it, Amber took the opportunity to scribble down notes about the battle.

"I have more berries here for your team, if you want," she said to the other girl, though she couldn't help raising an eyebrow at her. This girl was like a human version of her Yanma. "And... yes. I'd be glad to travel with you. Teamwork's important, after all." The other trainer would probably prove to be tiring, but Amber could cope with that, and besides, travelling with others would be yet another experience.

"As for Kabuto, I didn't find him, he was revived from a fossil," she explained matter-of-factly, gesturing towards the Rock type.

To the side of her, she noticed another figure. She turned around. She'd been so caught up in the battle, she hadn't seen that somebody had been watching. "Oh! Hi. Well, I've just had my first chance to properly study Pokemon battle styles," she said. "I'm Amber, and what's your name?" She turned back to the girl for a moment. "I don't believe I got your name either." She'd asked, earlier, but during the battle, it seemed both of them had forgotten that she had.

@LuckyBlackCat@OtomostheCrazy@Heckno12

He had quickly removed himself from the situation after taking their pokéballs and then ran to the pokémon center. Kero was still very angry and when the Nurse asked what was going on he nearly snapped back at her in return, however he put the pokéballs down on her desk and told her that they were mistreated pokémon that he had 'liberated' from their trainers after they had pitted them against each other in battle to resolve personal conflict that had just ended up with their pokémon getting hurt and a human collapsing as a result. Of course he knew that the police would come here soon too, it was obvious that they would want to look into this event as well. Kero himself didn't think much more of taking these pokémon elsewhere as they was quite frankly too weak to bother with and not rare enough to fetch a reward.

Instead he hit up the café again and took a soft drink to cool off before he sighed to himself. He borrowed the training area of the Pokémon center and let Dusty attack some of the dummies around there while he himself punched a punching bag for all its worth while growling to himself as he vented his anger. After a good long while when his knuckles was bloody and he was exhausted to the point of having to lay on the ground panting he finally started to feel calmer. At this point Dusty laid on top of him and he patted his pokémon slightly as both of them was really tired. Only then he would think over what he done a bit, yet he decided he had done the right thing even if someone might tell him something else, of course it was not like many could tell him what to do or not in the first place as he lived by his own rules.

Sophia Danvers

Windshire

@Heckno12 @OtomostheCrazy @Iatos @AbysmalDemon @Kalek Nord

Sophia straightened up, looking in the direction of the Pokecentre for any sign of Kero. Her anxiety grew with each passing moment. He shouldn't have been gone that long. Had the Pokemon's conditions worsened? Her stomach clenched painfully again, but she had nothing left to throw up.

"Rheese... Watch her," she said before leaving the group, heading down the path to the Pokecentre. Kero was the last person she wanted to face right now, but she had to make sure the Pokemon were alright. It was her fault they'd ended up this badly hurt, after all. Despite her exhaustion, her pace sped up.

She burst in, nearly collapsing, leaning against the wall. Kero wasn't in the lobby... was that a good or bad thing? The nurse, as well as the person she'd been talking to, started at the sight of her. Staggering towards the desk, Sophia told the story in a breathless, barely coherent rush.

The nurse regarded her with wariness. "That's not what I was told..."

"She's telling the truth," the other person at the desk insisted. "It's not like he said. Those Pokemon weren't being mistreated. They just flipped out. I saw what happened. Neither trainer meant for it to get that out of hand."

"I don't care!" somebody else shouted. "Idiots, both of them. Some people shouldn't be allowed to have anything to do with Pokemon. Why would anyone make up something like that?" She turned and glared at Sophia, who flinched away. "You hear me?"

Sophia struggled to look the furious woman in the eye. What had Kero said? "The... The other trainer... It wasn't her fault..." she panted.

"It really wasn't," the other witness backed Sophia up, and continued to explain the situation to Nurse Joy. Finally, the nurse's expression softened, and after hesitating for a moment, she placed five Pokeballs on the desk.

"They're alright?" Sophia gripped onto the edge of the counter, before relaxing slightly as the nurse reassured her they'd be fine.

"The other girl... How is she?" the nurse asked. "I'll call for help."

"She... She's going to be ok. Somebody already did," Sophia explained. She took the Pokeballs, and said something else people almost never heard from her. "Thank you... Thank you so, so much."

Leaving before Kero could reappear, she rushed back to the group. Once she reached the unconscious girl's side, all five Pokemon popped out. The three who belonged to the girl crowded around her. Gothita blinked and stared around, still trembling with shock. Purrloin crouched down low in a gesture of guilt.

The police would probably get involved... Had Kero and the angry woman in the Pokecentre been right? Should she even be on this journey? Pokemon had been her friends growing up, and yet she'd gone along with the way they'd been acting just now, with no thought to the consequences... She knelt down in front of the girl and the group of Pokemon, shoulders hunched. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry, I'm sorry, all of you, I'm sorry, I really am sorry..."

She could only pray to Arceus that this girl wouldn't get into trouble, and that if her own Pokemon got taken, they'd go to a better trainer.