@Joshua Tamashii

Pichu stopped momentarily in confusion of where to look as Litwick jumped into his own Smog, using it as a smokescreen. However, it should be noted that Smog is made to poison and damage, not to smokescreen, hence Litwick took a little damage entering it. Not much, as Ghost-type resists Poison, but a little, and barely managed to avoid being poisoned. Joshua smiled at his little Pokémon being in a spot of trouble, and gave his command.

‘Don’t try to find him! You can handle an Astonish! Let it hit, don’t flinch, then burst out a Thundershock at him!’ He smiled happily and commanded. Pichu obeyed, electricity charging as he stared into the Smog… and then Litwick hit, from an angle Pichu hadn’t entirely been looking in.

'CHUUU!' The astonished Pichu let out a yelp from the hit and released his thundershock, which he still managed to get through, but due to Litwick’s minimized size the sparks failed to hit and the damage had been done only to Pichu. Litwick would also have felt the static electricity of Pichu, endangering paralyzis, but avoided being affected by it. But, Pichu wasn’t out of the fight yet…

‘Chase him down! Thundershock!’ Joshua tried again.

Pichu did his best, turning to the Litwick that had taken things to close combat, and lept with high speed towards Litwick intent on making him feel the consequences of bringing things into close combat. 'Pichu!'

__________________________

@Rune_Alchemist

Ledyba blinked, almost startled as the Tackle actually hit. It didn’t do all that much damage, as Ralia’s earlier Growl left its mark, but enough to be memorable and possibly important in the long run. Ledyba turned with the intention of tackling again, using the same strategy of trying to hit multiple at once by turning as he tackled. He attempted to keep track of which Ralia was the real one, when he was hit by a Confusion.

‘L-ledyba...!’ He made a noise, spinning a little in the air before getting control back, losing track of which Ralia was which. The Confusion left a considerable mark on him, the Ledyba was considerably damaged. Still strong, but it was unclear if he could handle another one or not. He flew in for another Tackle. … Thooough… he was going to miss, aiming at the wrong side.

__________________________

@Pink Madness

‘Hueh?’ Joe and Lotad was left standing there as Donna left, utter confusion in his eyes. ‘B-but, I just wanted a Pokémon Battle…’ He said, his voice sounding so crushed. Oh, no, Donna. You’ve crushed Joe’s spirit. This will undoubtedly result in his start of darkness, where he will eventually take out his anger against the world and become a fierce supervillain whom all fear. He might even step up his crimes… to littering. Oh, the horror.

Moving on a little bit, Donna eventually found a girl laughing by the side of the road, surrounded by birds.



‘Hahahaha! This is so much fun! They all love me! Maybe I should become a Bird Keeper?’ So, the only reason she was surrounded by so many birds was evidently the fact she had positively covered the area around her and her clothes with bird seeds, and the Pidgeys didn’t really care about coming close to her if it meant getting food. Numerous of them were looting the bag of seeds which she had simply placed behind her. A single Pidgey, standing aside looking up at her, appeared to be the only non-wild Pidgey of the group.



‘You!’ She pointed with gusto at Donna, walking by. ‘I’d like to try out my birds! Would you be up for a battle?’ She requested, her face bright with happiness.

Lass Audrey would like to battle!

That one single Pidgey that isn’t actually wild jumped around, looking at Donna and any eventual Pokémon she might be bringing with her, preparing himself for potential confrontation. The same goes for this trainer as it did for the last one. Of course, even if Audrey might want to battle with all her birds, only one at a time unless the trainers themselves have decided to use more. So that one Pidgey.

__________________________

@Pikmin Eye@Eklispe

The woman listened to the two boys for a bit, nodding to them and standing gracefully.

‘It was my pleasure to help. I am Laurinda, Pokémon Trainer from Highhill Town.’ She reached forward with a polite hand and shook Martin’s, as he offered his. Going by her age and the power of the Delphox, it was quite a given that she has been at this for a while.

‘Tips, huh?’ Laurinda mentioned as she retrieved her hand and looked away into the woods for a bit. Delphox, meanwhile, stood with arms crossed and looking at them, sparing a single glance at the Nincada looking at her before deciding that wasn’t worth her time, pulling out her wand again and starting to idly gaze into the fire on the end of it, looking at who knows what.

‘Then, allow me to say.’ Laurinda looked at the two boys once again. ‘Going through the Wet Caverns isn’t necessarily worth it. It’s a long, dark and hazardous tunnel with plenty of hard-to-traverse water and hostile Pokémon. As well, even if you reach Lakewatch Town, Route 6 and the Frozen Cave are both as treacherous, you’d be going against hardships after hardships unless you go north, which is the same direction you’d end up in if you took Route 1. In addition, the Lakewatch Gym is a Major League one, not the kind you could challenge at this time. That Gym Leader is… deceiving. You might be fooled into thinking she’s easygoing and kind, but her battle-style is ruthless…’ Laurinda shivered a bit, remembering some past event.

‘It is possible to traverse at your level, but I’d settle for perhaps catching some Pokémon around the entrance and then heading back for Route 1. If you want to go to Lakewatch Town, then getting a ferry from Highhill or taking the long route around the lake would be preferable over trying the Wet Caverns unless it’s for bragging rights. What I’d recommend, is to go for Highhill Town after getting some Pokémon from here and the entrance of Wet Caverns. There’s a nice little Minor League Gym there for new trainers to test their mettle against.’ Laurinda’s face broke into a little smile as she finished saying the last part before continuing.

‘That is, if you can find the Gym Leader. She’s usually lost in the Silent Forest around the Silent Shrine. If you don’t want to search, then she’ll be back. Eventually. She’s known to be gone for days at a time. But, yes. Unlike other Gym Leaders that tend to go all-out regardless of the opponent…’ There was a momentary sound of distaste in her voice during the last sentence, but it vanished again. ‘… she tends to adapt to her opponent, making her a good place to start.’ This was said with a note of fondness in Laurinda’s voice as she spoke of Highhill Town’s Gym Leader.

‘Other than that, do stock up on items. A failing of many stronger Pokémon Trainers is that they can handle most dangerous things by themselves and forget to stock up because they usually don’t need to be prepared…’ She briefly indicated herself with a little guilty smile. ‘… But you don’t have to fail at that just yet. Pureplain City should have a pretty good selection of Poké Marts for such. As you just learned, Repels can be pretty good to have around, if you have the money for it.’

‘And, for more immediate advice…’ Laurinda looked into the woods again, looking a bit worried about something. ‘… Infested Woods is placed way too close to Pureplain City where new trainers come from. I know the general consensus is “don’t tell them unless they ask, they’re to explore for themselves”, but in this case, I don’t agree. The depths of Infested Woods are way too dangerous for new trainers who just wander in. There is the Outer, Middle and Deeper Infested Woods. Outer Woods would be perfectly safe, if it wasn’t for “Queen”. New trainers CAN survive in the Middle Woods, assuming they’re prepared. It’s dangerous, but not excessively so. I’m not going to discourage going there. But the Deep Woods…’

‘Delph.’ The fox-Pokémon pulled on Laurinda’s sleeve with her free hand, the Delphox’s expression having turned a tad more focused and serious looking into the flame at the end of her stick. Laurinda sighed, looking defeated.

‘… Looks like another child is going to get deeper into Infested Woods than they can handle.’ Laurinda informed in a somber tone. ‘Then, guess it’s once again time for me to pick him up before-’ Delphox poked her trainer with two fingers. ‘-pick her up before she-’ Laurinda corrected, but the fox poked her trainer with two fingers again. Laurinda looked at Delphox with concerned eyes. ‘It’s more than one.’ She stated, and Delphox nodded. Laurinda sighed. ‘… I need to get them before they completely regret becoming Pokémon Trainers.’ Laurinda said, startíng to stride towards the deeper woods, determination in her steps. She stopped momentarily to look back towards the two boys.

‘Good luck, now. Take risks, but don’t be foolish about it. Think of how comfortable or challenging you want your trip before you make your choice. Don’t be afraid to ask around for information, but also don’t be afraid to make your own decisions. I’ve recommended the comfortable path, perhaps you think differently. Think about how you want to make your own journey. It’s yours, after all. ’ With that, she looked entirely intent on walking off, Delphox walking slightly in front of her and to the side lightly directing the way to go.

Of course, if any of the boys have further questions, they can just stop her and ask away. Otherwise, they’re free to continue on with their next actions.

Amelia finally smiled as her opponent decided to make this a close range fight. She had been hoping for as much, since it actually made her life easier as well.
"Litwick, use Ember!" She commanded her partner, who replied by following instantly, unleashing a cloud of embers on the Pichu. She hoped her partner would be able to hang in for a rougher fight now, since she had brought Litwick into the range her opponent had wanted. But since she had, she figured it was best to go for an offensive approach and try to finish them off.

@PlatinumSkink

---

Alright! Looked like they had this in the bag then! Claire smirked triumphantly, already believing the battle to be hers. Of course, there was one last order of business to take care of. Ralia still had to deal a final blow, and she still had to capture this adorable little bug, no? She had five pokeballs already, but with the little bug zooming around like that she wasn't going to take any chances. She might stumble across another pokemon she wanted, as unlikely as that would be so she'd need the Ledyba to sit still.

"Hit 'em with one more, Ralia!"

With a cheerful cry, the clones did as they had done before and aimed one more confusion at the Ledyba.

Dawkin shrugged in response to Martin's thanks, "It wasn't a big deal, I picked up the can from another trainer. You using it up is no problem, that's what it was meant for after all." His attention refocused Laurinda, who was thankfully free with her advice. Quite extensively in fact, Dawkin mentally repeated everything she said to make sure it was commmited to memory. It seemed going into the Wet Caverns, and everything after it, would simply be filled with nothing but difficulty. This was hard information to swallow, Dawkin was reluctant to back down from a challenge, however this was advice from a trainer far more experienced trainer who had likely seen young hopefuls like him try the same thing only to fail. However at the very least he would make it to the Wet Caverns and catch a Pokemon there before heading back. Perhaps the most definite thing to ward him off from investigating the woods further was her saying "another child is getting deeper into the infested wood then they can handle." Martin had needed help in the outerwoods alone and if the same thing had happened to Dawkin he would've also needed help.

He had no desire to be in need of rescue or labelled a child. He would pick his battles and this one could wait. "Thank you very much for your advice Ms. Laurinda." Dawkin said respectfully and offered her a bow before turning to face the direction of the Wet Caverns. Just a look around, a caught Pokemon, and he would be satisfied. He took a step forward and noticed Aron seemingly attempting to gnaw on something at the base of a tree. Dawkin quickly stepped over and rapped Atlas on the head lightly, causing the small Pokemon to immediately let go with a somewhat sullen expression. Dawkin picked it up and saw it was the Pokeball he'd thrown earlier. "You can't eat these, good job finding it for me though." Atlas looked conflicted momentarily between the knowledge that he couldn't eat it and being complimented, though the latter seemed to win out barely. "Now let's take a trip to these Wet Caverns hm?" Dawkin asked rhetorically and returned Atlas to his own Pokeball, now striding forth towards the Caverns. He'd helped out someone, won a battle, received key advice, and modified his course of action for the better. What a eventful place these woods had turned out to be.

As she past the young trainer, unhearing him muttering something, but she just didn't give much attention to him. Instead her attention turn toward a young girl which was centered by a Pidgeys. Not breaking her gaze to this girl and the bird pokemons, wondering if the pokemons was all her. Thought as closer she got them, the more nervous the Pidgeys get, excpect for one.

Suddently the girl turned and pointed at her, saying that she wanted to try her birds. She stopped walking a nodded " Alright" she said without resistance. There was not any uncertain which pokemon could be her opponent this time, only think was...how many?

She wonder for a while before got a one of her pokeball out and throwed it " Rosa I choise you" she called as the pink cherry pokemon maked her appearance. Rose was still kind of weak by the past battle, but she really wanted to try her and if she faint out, she still have her Vulpix.

"Rosa, this is your first battle" she called at her pokemon, wondering "Rosa, use Morning sun" she ordered the cherry pokemon.

Rosa used Morning Sun. Fully healed she jumped between Pidgey and her trainer, Ready for the battle...

Ren waited a little before she could make her command, Shyn a little tired from making two moves in quick succession. As the pair witnessed the smokescreen spray at the ground, Ren listened to Oaken's order to basically bubble everything. After all it had been through, Ren knew it was likely rather tired. It wouldn't have to keep going for long. "Wait out the smokescreen behind that fence and give Horsea your hardest tackle when you can see him, Shyn. If he smokescreens again, run in there and follow the sound of Horsea's bubble-blowing." Ren's tone was even and calm, apparently regarding the situation as good as won. Of course if Oaken wanted to continue then that was on him, but Ren didn't want his Horsea nor Shyn getting anymore hurt than was required. She was a cheater, not cruel.

"If you want we can end the battle here." Ren noted to Oaken. "We all know how this would have gone had I not fought unfair. All I wanted you to know was that not everyone out there can be trusted to fight on the same ground as you. Do not expect a wild Pokemon to play by the rules set for humans." Her words remained even and calm, yet a little softer than usual. It was apparent she wouldn't think less of him or be a snob about calling it a draw; truth be told, she was actually impressed by how well Oaken had handled himself. She wouldn't argue to him saying no, however she didn't expect Horsea to hold out much longer, and would rather not have the Pokemon suffer.

'D-dang... I just realised how hungry I am...'

Lucian Vazquez

"Fine job houndour" Lucian said as he returned the fainted pokemon to it's pokeball, before adding on quietly "You were worth every penny extra we payed, truly you were".
After some time watching horsea's smokescreen, with the occasional sound of fur striking fish, Lucian grew bored of the battle at hand and approached professor Kalmia "Well professor, I think we can all agree that this has been an eventful battle" a smirk touched Lucian's face before quickly disappeared "but as much as I'd love to stick around, I would like to begin my journey more so. Therefore, would you mind healing my new companion and I shall be on my way. Thank you for everything you have done so far" Lucian gave a slight bow to show his appreciation to Kalmia after finishing his sentence.

Martin had a lot of information being thrown out by Laurinda. She seemed nice enough, but the fact that this was only the lightest of the problems if they went further. He suffered the eye of a tornado of Volbeats at point blank. Martin was already spooked about wanting that happening again on any scale further in. He already had a Bug Type Pokemon, so it wasn't as high on his list to find another one of them. He wanted to try and see if he could handle this, and from what he got so far, he was not ready. Maybe after a bit of training and a couple more of those Repel cans. This was a small list, but that was a good thing to make a habit of. Always strive to have a goal to work towards along the way. "Thanks for the advice Laurinda, I'll probably head back after I do a bit more training here. After I get a few supplies, I'll brave this place when I'm better prepared."

Dawkin was already heading towards the Wet Caverns, that was brave, or it was foolish to disregard some good advice. Martin really wanted to see what Pokemon were deeper within, but he knew firsthand what could happen. He didn't need a story of getting wiped this early on his adventure. Martin turned to look at his Pokemon, who was annoyed at being ignored so quickly. "Hey Nincada, let's do a bit more training around here, then go back to Route 1 for a new pal. Sound good?" Nincada continued to make Martin wonder if it could understand him by absentmindedly nodding his head again. So a few more battles, a rest at the spot they passed, and then back to Route 1. It wasn't a great plan, but it was a plan anyways. Seemed pretty weak to be one of the first people who might head back, but it was necessary. He knew the common Pokemon here, and they didn't interest him. So, Martin stuck to the path. He didn't hope for a trainer, as he was going to need a heal first before one of them challenged him. So many choices, so little time. The only comforting thought was how nice it was to be out in the woods, and not the city. He grew fond of the places from his days of hiking getting here.

@Joshua Tamashii

Joshua heard the command, while Pichu was still charging up for his Thundershock, when his trainer shouted out. ‘DODGE!’

'Chu?' Pichu made a surprised noise while his cheeks were sparkling with electricity when Litwick unleashed the burst of flame. It hit point-blank, but Pichu also unleashed the lightning. For a brief moment, a burst of fire connected the two Pokémon while lightning arced around the burst onto Litwick, the two Pokémon’s moves hitting one another. The effect then quickly passed, the fire and lightning losing the energy the attacks were done with, and Pichu and Litwick were both left behind…

'Pi…' The damaged Pichu made a noise… '… chu.' … before collapsing with a wide smile on his tiny open mouth, tiny burns all over. Litwick had also received quite the scratches from the Thundershock that had hit with point-blank range, but he still stood. Still minimized.





‘Ouuf!’ Joshua recoiled with a bit of a grin back where he stood. ‘Right in the face! Ouch! Haha. Fast little Ember. Alright.’ He was recovering from the feeling he had gotten from suddenly having been defeated. ‘Haha. Nicely done. Everyone’s going to underestimate cute little you, and then you have that kind of bite on your side. Awesome.’ Joshua was laughing by himself a bit, before walking up to his fainted Pichu and knelt by him.

‘Well done, little buddy. Rest for now. We have a whole journey ahead of us.’ The Pichu smiled while fainted as Joshua cradled the Pokémon, lifting him up on his left arm. ‘Thank you for the battle. It was fun!’ He told Amelia with a smile, holding forward a free hand to shake.

__________________________

@Rune_Alchemist

Ledyba tried to turn to strike again, but was faced with three Ralias aiming another Confusion at him. From the hit to his mind, Ledyba lost control of the flight and crashed down onto the forest floor beneath him. The impact looked fairly painful as the bug had vaulted over and then landed with his face into the ground. It looked like that may have been too much for the bug.

‘L-led...!’ … But nope, it was still conscious! Hanging on to a string, Ledyba let himself roll over back onto his six feet, opening his wings with a determined expression, intent to try again. But, the signs of damage was all over him, and it was taking quite a number of seconds of heavy breathing for Ledyba to get back into his next Tackle. But… it did give Claire enough time to throw the ball.

[I’m just going to save you a post, because I assume you’re intending on throwing a Pokéball. If I’m wrong, correct me, haha.]

‘Led?’ The Pokéball hit Ledyba, who made a little noise of surprise and eyes opening wholly in a small bit of confusion, before it entered the ball with a stroke of light and ended up on the inside. From there, the ball landed on the forest floor, bouncing a little on a particular branch and rolled to a stop. It wiggled a couple of times, weakly, trying to escape, but Ledyba was way too weak at this point to break the confines of the ball.









And, as the surge of battle calms down after so, a new choice of action will have to be taken.



__________________________

@Eklispe

‘You asked, and so you will receive. I hope it will serve you.’ Laurinda acknowledged Dawkin’s bow and so before heading on. Dawkin then headed on as well, equipped with the knowledge he had gained from Laurinda in order to further his goals. He took the path alongside Infested Woods towards the Wet Caverns. By now, one could figure what to expect. Young Bug Catchers catching their first Caterpies or Wurmples, battling their new low-level Pokémon against one another. The air was alight with Volbeats flying around pursuing the sweet scents of Illumise, and so it was. Assuming Dawkin didn’t stop for anything, he would find that he could avoid further complications.

What’s this? There’s something lying just by the side of the path.



He headed on, and soon enough, the woods parted and he could emerge out on Route 2 again. However, by travelling via Infested Woods, he could avoid the trainers that were waiting in ambush on the different bridges and as such could already start his climb up towards the mountain. Whatever this tower of rock was called, there was no way to get past it by climbing. Swimming, perhaps, it was connected to the lake by the side of it, but if one actually wanted to pass by on foot, there was only one path available. A literal hole in the mountain.



It’s just a hole, anyone can go in and attempt getting to the other side. It remains wild, just like the Pokémon that await within. By Laurinda’s advice, Dawkin knows what awaited within. However, before he could actually gain entrance, there were two people standing in unconventionally fancy clothes right next to the entrance, talking to one another. One was a young girl with long cyan hair bound with a red ribbon into a pony-tail wearing a green high-class something, her back was straight with the posture of a high-class secretary. The man who looked in his young twenties had red mildly spiky hair, a full suit with black tie, and he was smoking a cigarette with a bothered expression. All in all, not the attires one would usually go travelling with, certainly not into the Wet Caverns.



‘… know how the water in Wet Caverns come from the Dragon Lake, right?’ The girl spoke fairly loudly, giving Dawkin a chance to overhear. She maintained her posture, but her face held an excited smile.

‘It was never relevant, so no.’ The man replied, gazing down at her with disinterest. Didn’t look like it was the first time he listened to her ramble about something.

‘That means, some small Dragons might have slipped in with the water to the bottom of the Wet Caverns.’ The girl smiled wider, victory in her expression. ‘And neither the Virts nor the Lakewatchers patrol the bottom of Wet Caverns.’

The man raised an eyebrow as he breathed in a bit on his cigarette. ‘I’m listening.’ Looked like that awoke his interest.

‘So, since the Virts or the Lakewatchers would stop us from hunting dragons at the actual Dragon Lake, we’ll do it in the Wet Caverns instead! And, with the price of young dragons being so high, we’ll get tons of recognition! Only we know this secret! And then, all on our own, we can support the revival of Team Am-’ The girl’s eyes shined as she went on with her plan, positively shining with ambition, when all of a sudden the guy thrust his cigarette into her mouth.

The girl’s mouth instinctively closed on the cigarette to keep it out, after which her eyes went wide in shock as her whole body recoiled and she leant away, caught in a coughing fit, trying to recover. Meanwhile, the guy… lifted his gaze and looked in roughly Dawkin’s direction.

‘Who goes there?’ He asked, eyes peering as he crumpled the used cigarette in his hand, while his companion was coughing badly at the side.



__________________________

@Pink Madness

Audrey smiled happily as Donna confirmed her intentions to battle, letting Rosa out and healing up before the battle. She looked like she wanted to point forward at Rosa, except all the Pidgeys all around her made it completely impossible for the Lass to move without disturbing all the birds. She stood like a silly statue as she sounded out the command.

‘Alright! We’re on! Pidgey, use Tackle!’ She commanded, and upon command the bird-Pokémon paying attention to Rosa jumped up into the air and flapped his wings, speeding forward into a flying tackle, aimed for Rosa. The bird-Pokémon had a somewhat intense and grim expression. Jealous of all the wild Pokémon on his trainer, and now quite intent on taking that anger out on Rosa.

_{This match can be quick-battled. If you’d like so, tell the GM your tactics, and he’ll finish it for you.}

__________________________

@Delta44

Oaken’s eyebrows twitched into a frown as he heard Ren’s orders, trying to figure out a way out of that situation. The big problem now was how much Horsea was blinded, due to the actions of both Pokémon currently fighting. We worked on it, his expression a bit pained, and he was realizing his only choice was to draw it out, and then…

Ren offered to end the battle. Oaken blinked, eyesight mostly regained, his gaze analytical. Then, he made his choice fairly quickly.

‘Horsea. Return.’ Oaken lifted his arm and returned Horsea to his Pokéball, the seahorse having been desperately shooting bubbles in the rough direction of Shyn who could dodge them fairly efficiently. The smoke eventually dissipated, the bubbles popping and leaving nothing. The battle had been broken off, and due to the use of force against trainers no payment would have been received even upon victory, but…



Houndour also got experience, but not quite enough for the level on account of fainting earlier.

Oaken gave Ren a blank stare through his glasses with a mild frown that didn’t necessarily look hostile, which was a first. Leaving her to make of that what she willed, he turned to walk down the road. Unless spoken to, he would leave her without an additional word.

‘… Well.’ Rodger had cooled off, looking from Ren to Lucian, who was heading off. ‘That was something. We’ll meet again, no doubt. And next time…’ Rodger grinned a challenging smile. ‘Next time I won’t fall for so cheap a tactic. Then you’ll see a REAL battle…!’ He boosted, slight playfulness in his voice, quite proud yet still. ‘And now, I get the feeling that simply tagging along with Oaken for a bit is going to teach me a lot, so for now…’ And then he moved, following after Oaken.

@Pyromaniacwolf

Oaken briefly glanced at Lucian as well, frowning a little deeper. ‘… I’ll prove Kalmia’s mistake… in the bigger world, instead.’ He just said, his voice sounding a bit tired, before wandering on.

‘Oh! Well, of course!’ Kalmia answered the request to heal energetically, smiling at Lucian and bringing up numerous tools with which to heal a Pokémon. One revive and a few potions later, Houndour was up and healthy again, and Kalmia was all the happier for it. ‘Quite eventful, yes! Though… heh, looks like it just ended.’ She said, looking over to see where Ren had finished up by suggesting a draw, and Oaken had accepted.

@Joshua Tamashii@Delta44@Pyromaniacwolf

‘So, you three are done! Congratulations on your victory, Amelia!’ Kalmia happily told the younger girl whenever she had finished up there. Kalmia would go ahead and also heal up Litwick and Shyn, while she was at it. Then she’d turn to look at Ren and Lucian for a bit.

‘And nicely fought, you two! Thoooough…’ She gave a little unsure smile, Jacques grinning somewhat at them in the background, before Kalmia continued. ‘… I understand the lesson, but please don’t do that in any official matches, Ren. You’d get disqualified. You also can’t get money from any matches you do where you attack the other trainers. And, uh, it’s generally seen as a crime to direct Pokémon attacks at people. Keep that in mind.’ Kalmia smiled at Ren, slightly unsure, but nevertheless hopeful. ‘Anyways! Have these!’





‘And that will be that! You’re now free to go! If you have any questions, you can ask them now! Or otherwise, I’m always just a button-press away!’ So Kalmia announced, referring to the Pokédex which they could call her or each other on if they wanted, and that was about that. They were free to do whatever now.

__________________________

@Pikmin Eye

‘Sounds good. Good luck.’ Laurinda answered Martin’s words and then Martin was off again. He stayed at the hutt, paying the very energetic couple running the place 100p to do so, and was allowed to stay to rest. After a while of resting, Martin and Nincada was fully healed, and they went out to train. However, at Level 8, Nincada would find that the enemies around, Caterpies and Volbeats or so, weren’t challenging him as much anymore, and the brief training wasn’t quite enough to bring him to the next level before they headed on.

And… what’s this? There’s something on the ground.



Martin would find that nothing stopped him from leaving the woods when he felt done, and Nincada had barely suffered any damage from the training. Although the bugs had the capability to swarm, the common Outer Infested Woods bugs were quite weak. Now, then. He headed back to Route 2, found that nothing stopped him from heading past the wet area on the way back to Pureplain City. There, he could head through an amount of civilized sub-urbs until he finally arrived at…





Connected areas:
Pureplain City. Right behind you.
Highhill Town. Requires crossing the route.

@PlatinumSkink

---

Success!

Ralia and her clones twirled over to Claire, who had already knelt down and proceeded to give the small pokemon a high-five...only to have her hand go right through the pokemon. The other clones proceeded to giggle brightly before bouncing away quickly out of Claire's line of sight. Oho, so that's how she was gonna be, eh? Before Claire could even think about finding the small pokemon, something had smacked on the back of the head, and she was given the smiling sight of Ralia hanging over her head. The redhead spent a few seconds pouting at the pokemon before laughing brightly.

"Okay you cheeky little thing," She said, reaching up and taking the psychic type in her arms. "You got me, but next time I'ma get you." With a quiet giggle, Ralia gave Claire's nose a firm poke, before Claire gave her a small swat on the head. "Okay okay, I forgive you you adorable thing. Lets go check on our new partner, yeah?" With a cry of confirmation, Claire walked over to the pokeball and her newly acquired Ledyba.

She picked up the ball, quickly releasing their new companion from it in a flash of red light.

"L-led?" The small ledyba was still obviously confused. Claire knelt down, once again giving the small pokemon a friendly smile.

"Hey there little guy, me again!" She chuckled, Ralia giving the small bug type a smile of her own. "You put up a pretty good fight, didn't ya?"

"Led?" The bug type questioned, seemingly still confused, or perhaps he didn't think he had put up all that great of a fight.

"Whaaa? Of course you did!" Claire frowned, giving the pokemon a gentle thump between his eyes. "And you're coming with me!" Without warning, Claire picked up the pokemon before it could react. He flapped his wings in mild protest, but there wasn't really much he could do in this situation. OOh right, he needed a nickname. Lord Wreckington? Hmm, nah, too much. Would probably fit a Machamp better. Maybe...wait. He definitely had spunk. A little pizzazz. With a little more effort he could definitely be the star of his own little show! So he'd need an equally elegant name. "And I'm gonna call you Ritz."

Ledyba blinked. That was not the name he had been expecting.

"L-led?" The bug type didn't seem to sure, but he kept quiet. Besides, maybe this could be good? Well, whatever the case was he allowed himself to be carried by Claire for now...being cradled in her arms was certainly nice.

"Hmm...what to do next...?" Ralia walked along the forest floor beside Claire as she walked back to the main area. She was done here for the most part, but there was still one thing she wanted to do. Wasn't there some suspicious looking person standing in the middle of the forest earlier? Now that she had caught her a good pokemon she was curious as to who this person even was. They looked like a strong trainer, and completely out of Claire's league, but that just made her a bit more curious. Now, where had she gone?

It took a bit for Claire to find her, but she eventually did...was she heading deeper into the forest? And was that was a strong looking pokemon next to her?!

ho boy, opportunity was a knockin', and she'd be stupid not to take it.

"Welp, Sorry to put you in the pokeball but I'ma do something pretttty stupid." She returned Ritz to his pokeball, placing his pokeball in her pocket. She picked up Ralia, cradling her in her arms. As much as she didn't like her pokemon being cooped up in them, it was much easier to watch after one instead of two for now. Besides, Ritz was still hurting a bit from their little battle and she wasn't taking any chances. For the most part, Ralia leaned against Claire's chest quite content, seeming a bit sleepy.

"Hey, foxy lady!" She shouted, running up to the woman and her fox. Way to go Claire, totally subtle, yep. "I mean, lady with the fox." Ralia gave the both of them a friendly wave. "Sorry to bother ya, but uh, you going in there?" She asked, indicating the place deeper into the woods with a tilt of her head since her hands were otherwise occupied. "Yeah, the creepy spooky woods that are totally meant for fabulous higher level players like yourself and not for nooblets like me...sooooo can I come with?"

Not like she was really gonna give the other woman much of a choice. She was gonna tag along regardless. This was too much of a good opportunity to pass up.

Amelia blinked a few times before registering what had happened. She had won the battle. She had actually won. She hadn't been expecting to. Put up a fight, most definitely, but to win was an entirely different story. It wasn't until her partner had returned to her side and let out a triumphant cry that she smiled, kneeling down and picking Litwick up.
"You did well." She said, petting her partner. At this point, Joshua walked up to her, congratulating her and calling her cute once again, causing her face to become very, very red with embarrassment. She didn't reply verbally, but she did shake his hand when he offered it to her.

When Joshua finally left, she moved over to Professor Kalmia, who congratulated her as well, causing Amelia to look at the ground. After Kalmia healed up Litwick, she placed the pokemon on her head, letting the little guy stay there. After Kalmia finished talking with everyone and handing them a few more pokeballs, she stayed behind, having a question or two for the professor.
"Uuuummmm... Professor... are there any Ghost-type pokemon around here, in the city?" She asked, her tone nervous and a bit hesitant.

Dawkin grinned upon the discovery of the great ball. What good luck! As good an indication as any that he'd chosen a good path. He carried on heading towards the Wet Caverns for some time, though paused for a moment at the sound of voices, not the young voices of amature trainers, but rather that of two someones rather more serious. Dawkin took soft steps a little bit closer to hear better and listened. His eyes narrowed as the conversation continued. The Vrits must be Team Virtious and the Lakewatchers were likely some anti-poaching group. Team Am-! His analysis of the conversation was interrupted at the same time as the girl's speech, though not as rudely. Options raced through Dawkin's mind. Fighting them would be stupid, ignoring them would be practically a crime, hiding was likely not to work and if caught things could go poorly. In a moment he'd made up his mind and walked forward casually into view, [color=grey]"Yo."[/color] He said casually raising one hand in greeting; raising an eyebrow at the coughing girl and the still smoking cigarette. Though he heard what was going on he hadn't actually seen it so his surprise was real. "First time smoking? I hear its best to start with small breathes." Dawkin said with a friendly smile as he headed into the cave. He would step to the side as soon as possible, using the trick of lighter and lighter footsteps to provide the illusion of leaving, and wait to see if they felt like talking anymore. If they did the girl's voice would likely echo through the cave, though Dawkin suspected they would be having their discussion someplace more private, it couldn't hurt to try.

Lucian Vazquez

@PlatinumSkink

Lucian smiled gratefully as he received the pokeballs "Thank you professor, I assure you these will be put to good use. Good day" He said to Kalmia before turning to Ren "Wonderful battle, although I do wish you would have completely secured our victory. No matter. I'm sure we will meet again soon enough, very soon if you decide to go down route 2" after speaking, he briefly glanced over Amelia with a faint interest before deciding he had to get moving. Although he did flash Oaken a grin before moving along, up the road to route 2.

As he traveled, Lucian released houndour from his pokeball "So, you better get ready for a bit of training my friend. While you did do well in that battle, I think you're lacking in terms of offensive capabilities." Lucian spoke to houndour, not really expecting a reply, although houndour did give a nod, acknowledging his need to become more powerful. He was thinking of the shiny rewards for it of course.

Ren sighed thankfully. 'Thank God... He understands reason, at least...' She didn't react too much to Oaken's little glare, herself responding with a mere nod of her head, a silent conversation having passed through actions. As he turned and left, Rodger went and said his piece before admitting he, too, had a lot to learn. The two would apparently be tag-teaming the beginning of their journey; if Ren was entirely honest with herself, she wanted that deep down, too...

'And he understands he has more to learn. Good. They'll become decent trainers, I suppose.'

Of course, Ren wasn't very good at being honest with herself.

When professor Kalmia spoke, Ren turned and nodded again in understanding. "Of course. I don't plan on breaking the rules for matches that are worth the time, or which are bound by rules. I'm not that stupid, fortunately." Surprisingly she smirked and recalled Shyn, noting how tired he seemed to be getting. She wanted him healed, but she also wanted to see the town some. "Thank you for the Pokeballs, Professor. As it so happens, there is one last thing I'd like to ask: is there anything particularly interesting in Pureplain? As in Pokemon centers, gyms, libraries, monuments, things to do and places to see, etc.? I'd like to know what's around before I set out. It wouldn't make much sense to leave town without trying to experience everythi-"

Ren was interrupted by the rude sound of her stomach growling...

"... And where the nearest, cheapest place to eat would be, thank you..."

It was a first to see Ren's face go such a deep shade of pink for those present still. Thankfully for her, Lucian seemed like he didn't mind. "I-I planned on heading that way myself. To Lakewatch, where I may hopefully reach Dragon Lake. I think we'll see one-another soon..." With that the young man turned and left, and Ren returned her gaze to Kalmia, awaiting her response.

Martin felt quite rested from staying at the inn. While it might have been a bit early, the Repel had it's own scent that needed to disappear before he could do anything in the wild again. The good news that he was making progress was how easy it was getting taking ont he local Pokemon that were giving him a bit of trouble when he got there. The best part of his day was stumbling over an Antidote. While he didn't know when poison would be hitting, it never hurt to keep it just in case something came up. With the forest behind him, the only path forward was back to Pureplain City and all of it's splendor. Still a bit much on the city side, but a familiar feeling anyways. He didn't stay in the city for long before going through it and heading out onto Route 1.

The high grass went as far as they eye could see and it ws dotted with equally new trainers excited to catch new Pokemon while training theirs. The last thing Martin needed to do was randomly walk through the grass and get jumped by every able bodied Pokemon again. He gave a shudder remembering the events that happened not even that long ago. The storm drain was a more interesting place to go. The water level was low, which only raised the question of why. The why wasn't that important for now as that just meant it was a cool place to be right now. Heading down, he found a bunch of kids having a tournament. This was an interesting spot to be, and he was ready to see how he fared in this. "Hey, is this tournament private, or can anyone join?" Martin looked to Nincada, this should be a good way to pass the time

Action: Become King of the drain

@Rune_Alchemist

So, after having successfully obtained herself a Ledyba, named him Ritz and then cradled him, she now chased after the woman with the fox. Delphox was walking ahead, gazing into the fire at the end of the stick as she was walking into the forest, but the woman stopped as she was called out to. She raised her eyebrows, as she turned to look at Claire. The woman wore… … …





‘… Hah.’ The woman smirked a bit, giving a little silly smile at Claire’s request. Delphox stopped, turning her gaze to look at the one who had stopped her trainer, the fox looking a bit annoyed. The trainer looked more amused, though. ‘I’m heading in there to save two children who will get into more trouble than they can handle. I’d rather not be late, so I’ll be walking at a rather brisk pace. I won’t have time to babysit you if you decide to stop somewhere. If you’re fine with that, feel free. You could probably handle the Middle Woods on your own, it’s more dangerous but not unfathomably so, but get lost in the Deep Woods…’ She gave a glance at Delphox. ‘Are we headed into the Deep Woods?’

‘Delph.’ Delphox nodded, absently gazing into the flame on the stick.

‘… If you follow us that far, then stick close to me.’ She said, turning to walk again. ‘I’m Laurinda, if you’re wondering what name to cry out when you find yourself in trouble.’ The woman said, getting Delphox moving again, as they started moving into the darker regions of the woods.

__________________________

@Eklispe

The man inspected Dawkin as the young trainer showed himself, staring at him.

‘N-not doing that! S-smoking is such a terrible habit, I would neve-!’ The girl started in response, trying to recover, her expression pained, before an air of realization came over her eyes as she saw Dawkin, and… ‘O-okay, fine, you caught me. Th-thanks for the advice…’ The two of them then watched as Dawkin passed by and into the cave. The insides was a rocky tunnel, lit yet only by the sunlight from outside, going deeper on an angle downwards. Dawkin hid himself, and almost had he not even entered before he realized a few Zubats clutching the cavern ceiling, unmoving. They weren’t moving, but they were there. He stayed and listened…

‘He definitely heard, didn’t he?’ The girl asked.

‘Yepp. Fortunately for us, he willingly walked right into his own death-trap.’ The man responded, with an amused tone.

‘After him.’ The girl commanded, her voice alert.

‘Growlithe.’ The sound of a Pokéball being thrown onto the ground and a bark was heard from the outside.

‘Ducklett!’ Another Pokéball hit the ground, and a quack which sounded like a Pokémon name sounded out.









(… Not that Dawkin necessarily would have taken their Pokédexes at this moment, kind of a bad situation, but if he did.)

‘You’re going into the Wet Caverns with a Fire Pokémon?’ The girl inquired with a mocking tone.

‘You’re going into a mountain with a bird?’ The man retorted, no response other than a glare coming before he spoke again. ‘Growlithe will track the scent while Ducklett takes over when the water starts.’ The man explained, calm.

‘Deal.’ The girl responded, and the two moved for the entrance with their Pokémon in front.

Well. Now there really really wasn’t many directions Dawkin could go, unless he changed his mind about facing them. Only one route left.





Connected areas:
Route 2. Blocked!
Lakewatch Town. You don’t know the way, yet!



__________________________

@Pyromaniacwolf

And so, Lucian moved on. First, he needed to get through the extremely long sub-urbs of Pureplain City. But, sooner or later, the buildings started thinning out, the road became less well-maintained, until he could finally confirm that he had taken the first steps of his new journey.





Connected areas:
Pureplain City. Close, can easily get there without complication.
Infested Woods. Relatively close, can get there without complication.
Wet Caverns. Requires crossing the remainder of Route 2.



__________________________

@Pink Madness

So, Rosa and Pidgey starts Tackling one another, on behalf that Tackle literally is the only offensive move the two have at this level. For every impact, the faster Pidgey attempted to move around and hit from a more vulnerable angle, and used its higher attack to get a better hit. However, seeing how Rosa has slightly better defense, Rosa took less damage when the two’s movement actually impacted, in addition to a pretty lucky Critical Hit in the beginning of the fight, meant that the winds were taken out of Pidgey’s sails pretty fast. The two were somewhat equally matched, same level, but Rosa’s good hit made the match turn in Donna’s favor. Eventually, Pidgey fainted.

‘Noooo, Pidgey!’ Audrey sounded out, looking at Pidgey’s fainted form. Most of the wild Pidgeys were now departing, her bird seed having almost run out as it was being eaten throughout the fight. ‘I have more!’ Audrey proceeded to lift out three more Pokéballs, seemingly all containing Pidgeys. ‘You want to fight more!?’ Audrey grinned a bit excitedly as she suggested fighting more of her Pidgeys, if Donna wants to. Rosa’s currently at about half health.

__________________________

@Joshua Tamashii

‘Hm? Oh, Ghost-Pokémon…’ Kalmia looked up from Amelia and looked around a bit, as if she was going to see one here. ‘Well, that’s a little hard. Pureplain is pretty known for being, well, plain…’ She admitted the complication. She then eventually looked back at Amelia with a little hesitant smile. ‘I wouldn’t say there AREN’T any, Ghost-Pokémon in general can appear a little bit of anywhere, cities especially. Shuppets are drawn to feelings of vengeance and there’s got to be at least one such person in a city, Duskulls likes to bother children and many kids live in Pureplain, Gastleys naturally take residence in abandoned homes, Misdreavus likes to startle people in the night and there are lots of people to startle in cities…’

‘… But Pureplain City probably isn’t known for ghosts, no. Most places are a little too populated for the taste of Ghost-Pokémon. You can look around at night, if you want, but do note they will be rare. Yeah.’ Kalmia reports, giving a little smile. She then turned to Ren’s questions.

@Delta44

‘Good.’ She’d start with concerning the use of such tactics. ‘You had me slightly worried.’ Kalmia nodded to Ren before the next question. Oh, things to do in Pureplain?

‘Weeeeeeeeell. Unfortunately, this being Pureplain City, there isn’t all that much to do for young trainers. There’s my lab, of course. There’s a Pokémon Center and a PokéMart, at your disposal. What’s usually remarked about Pureplain is the Trainer’s School, set up here mainly because there are so many children’s families here. You can go there if you wish to practice in the park or just prove that you can beat all the youngsters. Tihi.’ Not all that different from right outside the city, really.

‘Other than that… Oooh, well. There’s the Super Contest building. It’s a prime attraction meant to draw people from the harbor to watch the performances of trainers and Pokémon who have proved themselves in the Normal Contest. If you’re interested in that, head for Redcoast City~ … And give me a call, because I’d want to watch!’ Kalmia smirked a bit wider as she mentioned. ‘And, of course, there’s the harbor. Pureplain City is the “Gateway to Isson”, so all the boats from other regions come by to stop here. Meaning, down there is the largest marketplace of foreign goods you’ll ever find and also a good place if you want to be ferried to another region. Buuuuuut… you’re not done with Isson just yet, right?’ Kalmia giggled a little.

‘And, yeah. There’s a Gym. Buuuuuut… Believe me when I say, you’re not even NEAR ready. Perhaps if you’re lucky you might be there when someone challenges the Leader, but for now, you’re not going to get much from there. Unless, I suppose, if you just want to talk. That works, assuming the Leader doesn’t wave you off.’ So Kalmia said, smiling as she presented the different possible options.

‘And of course, there are cafés and restaurants!’ Kalmia called on the last. ‘If you’d like my recommendation and Vivia’s constant lament, there’s a place just a bit down the road here, which…’ (We’ll assume there are cafés and such a little bit of everywhere, they’re not otherwise noted in “Notable Buildings”)

With that information out of the way, both Amelia and Ren could chose to do something in Pureplain City, or move on…





Connected areas:
Route 1. Easier path, just follow the bigger road.
Route 2. Walk through quite an amount of sub-urbs until you eventually reach the path.
Sea. There’s water, alright. Can take you anywhere you want to go, assuming you have means to traverse it.



__________________________

@Pikmin Eye

Upon his feet meeting the bottom of the drain, a few unattended young trainers turned and looked at Martin. The one closest to him, was a VERY young little boy, who gazed up at the older boy with very wide eyes.



He turned and ran, running up to a somewhat older young boy, eyes considerably wide still. Beside the somewhat older boy was an even younger little girl, as well.

‘My lord! My lord! A foreign trainer wishes to partake in the tourney!’ The younger one said in a high-pitched voice to the older one. The older one, a youngster still himself, looked at Martin with a focused stare, but there was something of a confidence in his look.



‘What nerve the young traveller has. To intrude upon our sacred tourney in my kingdom. Bet he wants the princess’s hand in marriage as well.’ The youngster said.

‘Iiiiiiiih!’ The tiny girl gave a shrill little cry, her eyes wide looking at Martin, though she looked kind of excited for some reason.



‘Do not fret, young princess. Your knight and your king will protect you, to the last!’ The youngster said, eager, putting a comforting hand on the little girl’s head. He then turned to the other young boy. ‘Then, Sir Donald! Strive forth, participate in the tourney, and protect your kingdom’s honor!’

‘Yes, my lord!’ The young boy said, before turning to Martin with an eager expression and ran forth, Pokéball in hand. Paying further attention, Martin can notice that the participants of the tournament are all playing some similar game, calling themselves titles and… Um, he now has a tiny knight heading his way.

Preschooler Knight Donald wants to fight!

‘Go! Rattata!’ Donald throws the Pokéball, and a small purple rat emerges from the flash of light.

‘RATTA!’





And yupp, Martin’s now facing an exceedingly low-level Rattata, glaring at him intently. He hopefully didn’t expect too much trouble from Route 1.

Dawkin let out an internal sigh, well this was going to be quite troublesome. At least he had a trump card. He made a note to thank that Bug Trainer, all he had to do was run far enough into the caves and then use his escape rope to leave. Of course he had to make sure those two trainers weren't at the exit, but presumably they'd follow their Pokemon at least to some extent. It'd be better however, if he was able to get far enough into the caverns that he lost one of the two Pokemon. He wondered how well the Growlithe could swim. Enough musing, Dawkin moved form his hiding spot and started running further into the cave, as stealth no longer an option. It didn't him long to come to a three-way split, after only a moment of thinking Dawkin decided to go through the most water logged tunnel, taking his hoodie off to carry over his head, along with making sure his possessions were above water level. As he did this re-arranging he glanced at his Pokedex. He could talk to any of the other trainers, even the Proffessor. He hesitated for a moment, staring at the blinking power light. Dawkin shook his head angrily, he was no little kid in over his head, he pushed further through the wet tunnel. Hopefully this would dissuade the Growlithe and if they came to land again Aron could take out the Ducklett. On the other hand if he just made it to the other side of the caverns that'd be great too, but Dawkin wasn't expecting such a stroke of good luck.

After getting a largely negative response on the chances of finding ghost-type Pokemon from the Professor, Amelia gave her thanks before setting off back into Plainfield. She would pass the time by sightseeing whatever sights there were, looking at the local delicacies, especially the sweets, and talking with a few friendly strangers in an attempt to improve her social skills.

When it was around midnight, she set out to start Ghost hunting in earnest. Ghost-types would be most active around this time. Not only that, but she would know when was was near. She couldn't recall when her gift had surfaced but she was intent on practising with it and trying to make it stronger. As of now, she could only sense when Ghost-types were nearby but little else. She was sure that, with practice, she would be able to tell more. But for now, she was just looking for another possible friend, Litwick perched nicely on her head.

Lucian Vazquez

@PlatinumSkink

1. Find pokemon (focus on poison types)

Lucian looked around route 2.He supposed here would be a good place to start searching for his second pokemon, and train houndour afterwards.

Approaching the tall, sinister trees of the infested woods,but not quite entering the forest yet, he turned to houndour "Would you mind trying to sniff any pokemon around here out? If you catch the stench of toxic or poison, we may have found our new teammate." After issuing his command to his pokemon, Lucian himself did not remain idle. He began checking behind rocks and peering into ditches and ponds, although he expected houndour would beat him in finding anything of interest.

Houndour put his nose to work, walking around with his face to the floor like a sniffer dog, he tried to differentiate the strong smell of flowers from that of pokemon hiding in the grass.

Martin stumbled himself into a tournament of small children. Not quite what he expected, but he had to come up with a title for himself. Seemed like fun, as Martin quickly decided on a title fitting for being an invader of the tournament. "Your kingdom is no match against me. Prepare to lose to The Dark Knight. After I win, I shall be taking your princess as well. Show them who's in charge Nincada!" Martin felt silly playing along, but the spirit was quite infectious. He had a plan of taking a fall towards the end if needed. For now, all he had to do was fight till the king was his opponent.

Nincada stepped forward to his opponent, claws at the ready. "All right, Nincada, finish this with the first attack. Use Scratch." Martin held out his arm, making the motion extra dramatic.