"Apologies, I'm just a bit worn, I'll be okay." Tora tried to reassure her companions. When they returned Butch to Penny, Tora let out a relieved smile. At Cillian's suggestion, the eldest member of the group nodded a little. "Alright, we'll see one another soon then." she said. Tora went to the Pokemon Center to restore her party back to health. As well as taking some medication to help ease the pain. When she got there however, she had to put on her hoodie and attempt to hide as she recognized a man and woman in black suits and sunglasses, examining her cell phone she had thrown away. Her heart pounded against her chest in panic, but she managed to get in and out quick enough so they didn't recognize her.
For a snack, she grabbed a bagel and gave Archie the Rare Candy she received from Penny's mother. Though she did stop at the Pokemart, grabbing two Pokeballs, and four rare candies. Giving one to her newest addition, Cairn the Onix who was quite a bit calmer now that she wasn't under the Comfey's spell.
Meeting up with the others, Tora looked a bit better, though her skin was quite a bit pale. Still she smiled to the others. "Sure, lets start heading off. Hopefully get there before sundown." she said, moving to the stand to purchase three tickets for them to ride on the train. Both eager to leave before her father goons show up, and to actually ride something like this. There has been a lot of firsts these last couple of days.
"Yeah, we should probably book rooms first," Cici suggested. "With all these Pokemon types, it'll be all too easy to lose track of the time otherwise." Truth be told, as much as she wanted to discover the area, she wasn't up for much walking around just yet. She hoped Tommy wouldn't mind if she had to sit and rest every so often.
Still, she thought as she made her way into the village with her travelling companion at her side, it would be worth it to get new Pokemon.
The guilt of leaving those other trainers behind still weighed down on Ella. After watching the Tentacruel nearly get killed like that, she felt sick to her stomach. "Th-there are other trainers, they got caught up in this..." she stammered. "Their Pokemon, they're badly hurt... If only we could have done something!"
Anxiously waiting for her Pokemon to be healed, she looked at the old man in surprise as he explained the situation. "B-But... Why would she attack that Inkay?" she asked. Maybe it had something to do with the disappearances the man had just mentioned... Had the group of Inkays tried to fight her for that reason? "And why did she attack us?" Her fingers clenched around the skirt of her patchwork dress. "If she isn't the one causing the nightmares, then who is?"
Juana, on the other hand, had decided to get those peck wounds from the Hoothoots treated. Some local medicine helped clean out the wounds and relax her body (thanks to a helpful woman and her Lilligant). Her back and torso were now bound with bandages, and she would have to buy a new shirt. (Or, rather, several.) Good thing they were going to a mall!
When the time came, the three Trainers met at the station platform.
"Yeah, let's go," Juana agreed, holding up a railpass she bought and registered in her Pokédex. "Looks like the train's coming."
The train was a diesel engine with a silver body and two parallel green stripes running along its side. It let out a low honking that startled a few bird Pokémon, as it stopped at the station with the squealing of brakes.
"In Unova, you could get anywhere by train. The Tubeline Bridge connects the train lines across the rivers so they can get from Gear Station to Opelucid City and back," Juana said, hopping on the train. She found a couple of seats for Cillian and Tora as well.
"I never thought that I'd see so much right after leaving," Juana marveled. "In fact I should probably tell Mama and Papa about it while we're moving." She thought for a second. "...Save for the part where I was pecked badly by wild Hoothoots. Mama would fret for a week."
As Juana made the call, she thought back to how nervous Tora was acting. She’d been overlooking the glances back, but if somebody was following and/or stalking her, then Juana knew it was her business to support her friend.
Eventually, the three of them reached the Zephyr Strip. The train lurched as the passing view through the window slowed down; the passengers could see the remains of the decrepit station and the stark contrast between it and the refurbished train that was the mall itself.
“It’s amazing what a little construction can do for an old worn-down train like that,” Juana remarked, stepping off the station platform and marveling at the once-decrepit train-turned-mall. “I’m going to go shop for some clothes first, ‘kay? Peck holes are so not in style.” Juana winked and walked towards the mall.
Thankfully, each train car was labeled with each different type of store; she easily found a boutique in what was once a sleeper and walked in.
The atmosphere was totally different from that of Feyhollow. Juana never realized how much space was in a coach until you took all the junk out and replaced it with displays, counters, shelves, and the like. The fluorescent lights shone neutrally above the patrons as easy-listening played through a speaker. Juana found a nice tan flannel shirt that didn’t cost too much, so she decided to purchase a couple of different colors (in case). She also decided to buy a backpack; her tool belt wasn’t cutting it as nicely as she hoped it would. (She would still keep the belt, of course.)
There was, however, a little bit of trouble at the register, as the power spontaneously flickered and the clerk had to re-scan Juana’s items.
“What gives?” Juana asked.
“Recently, the Zephyr’s power grid has been acting up. I don’t know if it’s because of a Pokémon, or because of some failure in the generators, but the locals have been kind of used to flickering here and there. It’s been happening more often, though; I live down the street from the station and my family’s been talking a lot about how there have been more outages,” the clerk replied.
Juana shrugged. “Well, I read that Magnemites like to hang around breaker boxes and mess with stuff.”
“I do hope it’s just that,” the clerk sighed. She handed Juana the purchases. “Would you like a bag?”
“No thanks.”
Juana walked over to a changing closet and took off her torn white tee; she buttoned up the tan flannel and rolled up the sleeves. “Lookin’ good,” she remarked, twirling around, before opening the door and heading to the boutique’s exit.
She started walking back to her friends, when she noticed something shining in between the boutique car and a Mediterranean diner. She walked curiously over to the shining object… it was a sword, with a long blue tassel hanging from the end of the pommel. Set in one side of the hilt was a blue gem, and it was stored in what appeared to be a wooden sheath.
Juana knelt down to pick it up; surely there was an antique shop around this place that would appreciate their stock being—OH MY GOD IT MOVED
The sword reeled back and let out a dull thrumming, slightly annoyed.
“Ay, sorry!” Juana yelped.
The sword waved around, irritated, before floating towards Juana.
“Wait a second… That’s a Pokémon!” Juana yelped, before throwing Bounsweet’s ball. The sword slashed, but Bounsweet countered with a Rapid Spin to parry the blow. Bounsweet dodged the sword’s strikes while Juana looked up what this thing was.
”Honedge. Sword Pokémon. Steel/Ghost type.”
Juana looked up and saw that Honedge was, with deadly accuracy, making all its hits upon Bounsweet.
“Bounsweet, retaliate with Razor Leaf!” Juana called.
Bounsweet jumped back and fired a storm of razor leaves upon the Honedge. The sword didn’t make a sound, but it did feel the impact, albeit not very painfully. However, Honedge slipped into the shadow of the train to escape, before popping up behind Bounsweet and ramming into it with the flat of its blade. Bounsweet went tumbling forward.
“Turn around!” Juana called, as Honedge threw itself into the air for a Tackle. Bounsweet fired a leaf into Honedge’s gem, flattening the leaf against the eye of the sword. The sword hovered around frantically, while Juana pulled out one of her Poké Balls.
Juana hurled the ball at the sword; Honedge disappeared in a flash of light. The ball dropped into the gravel, shook once, shook twice…
*Click.*
“Honedge. Sword Pokémon. Steel/Ghost type. Ability: No Guard. Nature: Quiet. Takes a lot of siestas.
“If anyone dares to grab its hilt, it wraps a blue cloth around that person's arm and drains that person's life energy completely.”
Juana looked at her hand and was suddenly very glad she didn’t touch Honedge.
“We should get you both healed back up.” Juana said. “I think the Pokémon Center’s near where the station platform is.”
Juana picked Bounsweet up and the fruit Pokémon took its usual place upon her shoulder. Juana held Honedge’s ball in her hand and walked back towards the station.
“Disappeared?” Leisy echoed, eyes growing round. When Ella spoke again, Leisy realized that she was right. The Malamar probably wasn’t the perpetrator of all the nightmares, which also meant that their encounter with it had been a waste of time that served only to rile up a strong Pokemon that they ought not to have angered in the first place. A little shaken by the man’s words, Leisy tried to calm down and process. “You said the Malamar has friends, right?” she asked, speaking as the words came in her mind. “Could one of them be the perpetrator? We found a cave by the beach and approached it when the Malamar emerged, attacking the Inkay that were around the place before heading for us.”
Leisy paused, frowning as a possibility occurred to her. “Ella, that Inkay… what if the Malamar attacked us because you caught it?” Leisy asked. “The Malamar was originally out for the Inkays, but then it saw us — saw you catch one…”
Cillian quickly polished off his sandwich before boarding the train, snagging a seat by the window. Situating himself, Cillian went through his bag and found his camera buried beneath everything else he’d collected through his travels. Turning the device over in his hands, Cillian was struck by how familiar it felt despite a few days of disuse.
“Smile for the camera!” he said, pointing it at Juana and Tora and giving them a brief window to react before snapping the picture. “Forgot to mention that I’m an amatuer photographer,” Cillian said with a grin as he checked the photo before showing it to the two girls. “It turned out pretty well, yeah?”
For the rest of the train ride, Cillian took a few photos of passing landscapes — thank Arceus he’d spent a fortune on his camera — and read up on Zephyr Strip on his Pokedex. Interesting place. Haunted trains, eh? he thought, a grin on his face. I look forward to it.
The train-mall — or mall-train, depending on how you’d have it — was an eye-opener, and Cillian took a moment to snap another picture before packing his camera up again. Saved for the record, he thought with satisfaction as he zipped his bag up.
The group split up upon entering the mall, agreeing to meet back at the station entrance after they were done. Figuring that he might as well use this time to look around the train, Cillian wandered out of the converted train shell and walked along the side of the train. A few minutes in — and a page or two through the information about the train on Cillian had pulled up on his Pokedex — a clanging noise caused Cillian to look up. A small distance in front of him, a yellow-orange lizard Pokemon was jumping up and down, kicking at a piece of metal on the side of the dilapidated train that was starting to peel off. Cillian watched as the Pokemon worked on the metal, kicking it again and again, each time with more force than the last until the piece peeled away entirely. Although panting, the Pokemon looked proud, picking the discarded piece of metal up and setting it against the train before making to leave — and noticing Cillian.
“Hey there, how’s it going?” Cillian tried with a grin, but the Pokemon immediately narrowed its eyes, ready to bolt. He’s a fighter, Cillian thought, grinning. Exactly what I need in a Pokemon. Figuring that if the Pokemon wanted a fight, he’d get one, Cillian pulled out his Scyther’s Pokeball. “Alright, let’s do this Decus!” Cillian said, calling out the Bug-type. Once it materialized, the Scyther looked at its opponent with a frown, readying its blades but not moving. “Decus, I’ll give you another Rare Candy if you beat that Pokemon. You know, those blue-foiled treats. You had one earlier.”
At this, the Scyther seemed interested. Cillian grinned, realizing that he’d finally found a way to tame the proud Pokemon. “Alright, let’s start with a Wing Attack!”
Sensing the incoming attack, the wild Pokemon readied a Sand Attack — only to be knocked down with a single blow. Cillian was in the middle of figuring out his next move when he realized that the wild Pokemon was already down, and he hurriedly pulled out a Pokeball and threw it at the Pokemon, both surprised and pleased when the Pokeball settled down.
“Good job, Decus. As promised,” he said, tossing a Rare Candy at the green Pokemon that was eagerly awaiting the treat. With a whirl of blades, the candy disappeared into the Scyther’s mouth. Smiling, Cillian returned the Pokemon and picked up his new Pokeball before heading back to the station to meet up with Tora and Juana.
"And tried to hypnotise me right afterwards..." Ella said, still shuddering. "And now... those trainers, she's gone for them..." She may have succeeded in saving the Inkay, but in doing so, the beginner trainer had gotten even more Pokemon hurt.
The moment the old man gave her the Pokeballs back, she thanked him and let out Brighteye. "Oh, Brighteye, thank Arceus you're alright!" The words came out in a rush.
Brighteye turned and slowly drifted away from her. "Skull..." she grumbled. It seemed the only remaining damage was to her pride.
"Hey, you did well back there with Confuse Ray!" Ella reassured her. "And you gave those other Inkays a chance to escape! It's just that the Malamar was so strong, not even fully evolved Pokemon could defeat her." On this last part, her voice shook. "Anyway, you should rest. It's been a much tougher day than any of us expected."
With that, she returned the sulking ghost. She hadn't mentioned the other reason for doing so - given what had happened earlier in the Pokecentre room, she wasn't sure how Brighteye and the newest addition to her team would react to each other.
As she let out the Inkay, he turned this way and that in midair, glancing around for threats before relaxing. "You'll be ok now, Jumbles," Ella said, forcing a slight smile. "It's-It's alright."
It wasn't alright. It was anything but alright, and Jumbles, being a Psychic type, probably knew that.
Seeing Ella start talking to her Pokemon, Leisy did the same, figuring that she may as well use this time to get acquainted with the Sewaddle she’d caught earlier. “C’mon out, Sewaddle!” she said, popping the Pokeball open and releasing the Grass-Bug dual. “Hey there,” Leisy said, leaning down to let the leaf-swathed caterpillar crawl onto her arm before straightening back up. “Good job earlier. I really shouldn’t have used you since you’re so new, but you handled it really well.” Leisy paused, looking the green-and-yellow Pokemon over. “What do you think about the nickname ‘Animo?’ ‘Nemo’ for short, like that movie about the lost Finneon that finds its way back to its family with the help of a goofy Luvdisc.”
The Sewaddle didn’t seem to understand the second part of the sentence, but it wiggled its back legs anyway, which Leisy took to mean that it liked the nickname. “Alright then, Nemo it is,” Leisy said with a grin, maneuvering her hand so that the Bug-type could crawl onto her shoulder before looking back at Ella. “Ella, I’ve been thinking,” Leisy said, frowning, “we both need to get stronger, so what do you think about a practice match? Nothing formal or official — just a practice bout on friendly terms aimed purely at training our Pokemon and trying new moves with them,” Leisy said, pointing to her Sewaddle with a grin. “This little guy, for one, could use some more training. He’s brave and adaptable, but I don’t feel comfortable putting him onto the field again like I did before.”
Leisy trailed off, eyes now focused on the leaf-clad Pokemon preening itself on her shoulder, mandibles clicking. The Sewaddle was busy at work, and Leisy realized that the Pokemon seemed intricate, small, fragile.
For most of the train ride, Tora had pretty much drifted off into sleep, completely exhausted after a long day with very little sleep. Archie curled up in her trainers lap like a happy lapdog, until they arrived to their destination. In which case the fire dog got up, barked loudly and licked her trainer's face. Yawning softly, the tall woman rubbed her sleepy eyes before getting up and following the others. As they seemed to wish to go off and do their own thing, Tora nodded, waving farewell to them. "Alright, take care." she bid the others a farewell before wandering off to explore the area.
Zephyr Strip was pretty impressive, a preserved historic feel. It was then there was a loud crash and Tora whipped around to see a large bolt of electricity fly out from down one of the train tunnels. Pokemon fearful screech's could be heard and soon enough two Pokemon came running out of the tunnel. A Riolu and a Shinx came bolting out. Well more like the Riolu was carrying the electric feline. A Rotom that seemed to have control of a lawnmower was speeding down after them, seeming to attempt to mow down the two Pokemon. Electric sparks flying out of it, static bouncing off the walls. The Riolu ran as best as it could, but it tripped and both of the Pokemon ended up falling down. About to get run over by the attacking lawnmower.
Before Tora could say anything, Archie was already charging head first toward the Pokemon controlled lawnmower. The brave dog lept over the two fleeing Pokemon, jaws opening and flames spewing out in a raging flamethrower. The torrent of fire spilling over the electric ghost (currently electric grass) Pokemon. Screetching at the unexpected flames and the super effective pain it caused, the Rotom exited the lawnmower and glared at the growling Growlithe. Barking threateningly, Archie took a step foreword, eyes narrowing. Sparks flew from the Rotom.
Tora looked to the two Pokemon, picking two empty Pokeballs and tossing them at them. They smacked into the two and sucked both of them into the small container. Her pokedex rang at the successful capture's rattling off the dex entries but Tora was a bit more focused on Archie and the Rotom. They both were having quite the staring contest, until more static sparks zapped from Rotom, sending bolts of electricity everywhere that Tora had to duck behind cover, and it just faded away and disappeared. Archie huffed, shaking her fur out before returning to her trainer, wagging her tail.
"What was all that about?" Tora murmured. "Lets go find the others... make sure nothing... odd has happened to them either. We should take these two and you to the Pokemon center first however." she inquired before heading to the Pokemon Center. Once her team was fully healed, she headed back to the station to meet up with the others. Spotting them, she waved to them.
"Hey everyone... I hope your little adventure went a little better then mine. A Rotom seemed to be terrorizing Pokemon, caused quite a bit of damage to one of the tunnels." she said.
+1 post +1HHG = 24 +1CP = 45
Pokemon Team:
Archie the ♀Growlithe: Level 12/Healthy
Sirius the Staryu: Level 4/Healthy
Pezi the ♂Skiddo: Level 4/Healthy
Cairn the ♀Onix: Level 2/Healthy
♀Riolu: Level 1/Healthy
♂Shinx: Level 1/Healthy
Rachni the ♂Venipede: Level 2/Healthy
Inventory: 3x Pokeball 1x Potion 3x Rare Candies
-Continued interaction with @ToadRopes's character Juana. -Continued interaction with @Dusksong's character Cillian. -Tora is eligible to rank up to a Skilled Trainer! @Balthazar007@Dusksong -Tora caught a Riolu and Shinx!
When Juana received her Pokémon back from the nurse, the nurse asked her to hold on for a second.
"You're going to want to let your Bounsweet out of its ball as soon as possible," she said.
"I always let Bounsweet out of the ball," Juana replied, pressing the button on Bounsweet's Poké Ball. Bounsweet hopped out of the ball and danced around Juana. "Wow, you've got some mad energy, amiga!"
Juana's eyes widened as a harsh glow began to emanate from within Bounsweet. The fruit Pokémon's body lit up in a flash of white light, transforming the tiny mangosteen into an amorphous ball.
As the ball of light grew, Juana could make out features growing from her Pokémon--thin arms, stick-like legs... the puff of fruity flesh spilling from Bounsweet like a collar ballooned out into something like a skirt. The sepals on its calyx extended like the pigtails of a little girl, and it became clear that the Pokémon had taken a more humanoid form. Juana fumbled for her Pokédex as the transformation completed.
"Steenee, Fruit Pokémon. Grass-type. Ability: Oblivious.
"The sepals on its head developed to protect its body. These are quite hard, so even if pecked by bird Pokémon, this Pokémon is totally fine."
"OHMIGAWSH SHE'S SO CUTE!!!" Juana gushed, picking up Steenee and twirling her around. Steenee let out a happy squeal, as if the rush of energy from evolution was still coursing through its body.
Juana put Steenee down. "So you're a Steenee now, huh? Might have to get used to calling you that since you've been a Bounsweet for all this time." Juana gave Steenee a warm smile, and Steenee twirled around in joy.
"We should tell the others," Juana remarked.
She looked at her pathetically small inventory and sighed. "Right after I buy some crud," she added.
Steenee bounded next to Juana. Thankfully, the Zephyr mart was like that in Unova; that is, it was connected to the Pokémon Center. To her delight, Juana found that she could buy Great Balls, as well as Heal Balls which would heal a Pokémon after capture. She purchased two Great Balls and five Poké Balls (noting how expensive the Great Balls were in comparison, so she would have to make sure whatever she put in them was worth the trouble).
At the same time, though, Juana wasn't sure if she was willing to part with any of the six Pokémon she had on her right now. She supposed she could have a rotating team; that way she could spend quality time with a bunch of Pokémon pals.
"Wouldn't it be great if the PC boxes led to, like, an island where a sad lonely bean-farming man who also happens to be, I dunno, let's say a renowned scientist, builds stuff for Pokémon in a box so they don't have to just hang around?" Juana rambled to no one in particular.
Juana sent out Honedge and Togepi; Togepi immediately hid behind Juana's leg at first glance of the sword Pokémon. Honedge didn't do much outside of float there and make wary eye contact with Juana.
"Togepi, no! Honedge isn't going to hurt you," Juana yelped, picking up the spike ball Pokémon and cradling it like a baby.
"Togi togi!!" Togepi wailed. Honedge rolled its eye; it preferred quiet, and it preferred to be quiet.
Juana admitted that she looked kind of funny when she was walking out with Togepi cradled between her arms and a somewhat irritated possessed claymore floating by her side. "Shoosh, shoosh, tut-tut," she said to Togepi. Arceus mio, is this what raising a baby is like? Is this what raising me was like for Mama? Juana chuckled at the thought.
Togepi calmed down at the sight of a smiling face.
Juana gave Honedge a kind look. It returned with that blank gaze, before letting out a short hum.
"Sorry about, um, violating you back there," Juana said, scratching her head. "I won't do it again, but I hope we can be friends."
Honedge regarded her. She wasn't sure if Honedge was just quiet or still miffed at her for reaching for its hilt.
She spotted Tora and Cillian and gave an energetic wave. "Heya, amigos! Look who just evolved!!" she called.
Steenee did a happy twirl. "Stee-whee!!!" it squealed.
"And I just caught a cool ghost sword! Seems a little quiet, too... hey, did you know that ghost swords have a concept of gender?" Juana added, jabbing a thumb at the taciturn Honedge. "Apparently this sword's a girl!"
Juana did a spin of her own. "Dig the new threads? There's a pretty chic boutique a few cars over," she said. "Can't run around in a torn up tee now, can I?" She chuckled.
After calming down a bit and leaning against the railing, she listened Tora's story, nodding as it was told.
"Run-in with the plasma Pokémon, huh?" Juana remarked. "I've seen a few before; in Unova they kind of cause some nasty outages, especially around Route 9 and Opelucid City. Apparently it's an introduced species from Sinnoh... though they're way more common in Kalos, I believe." She folded her arms. "You know, I'd really like to catch one of those Rotoms for myself. Just to see if I can make 'em tame."
It was quite impressive how Tora was able to drive off a hostile Mow-Rotom like that; Rotoms were known to be mischievous creatures, especially in the wild. "And I see you've both got a few new buddies of your own?" Juana remarked, noting the other trainers' newly-filled Poké Balls.
Ella thought over Leisy's suggestion before nodding. "If it means we can help people," she said, a glimmer of determination in her eyes, "then yeah. We'll have to. Jumbles, are you ok with that?"
The Inkay made a happier sound, bobbing in the air before turning towards the Sewaddle. For a moment, he hung back. It made sense he'd be wary around bugs, Ella realised, considering his dual Psychic-Dark typing. A few seconds later, though, he drifted closer and squeaked something, starting a conversation. Ella had no idea what they were talking about, but they seemed to be getting along. She hoped Jumbles would be that friendly towards her three other Pokemon.
"Here's something that'll help," she said, rummaging around in her bag. "And what with everything that happened, you could do with a treat anyway." Pulling out a Rare Candy, she fed it to Jumbles. This time, she didn't bother to tie the wrapper into her hair, or make anything with it, but kept it in her pocket to feed to Treasure later.
Checking her Pokedex, she stared at the screen in surprise. Jumbles had gone up not just one level, but two - and some of her other Pokemon had also levelled up. She glanced out of the window at the sunset. The day's events had caused her and Leisy to completely lose track of the time.
She shivered. In a few hours, people would be settling into bed, and the nightmares would start.
Seeing her Sewaddle open up to the Inkay made Leisy happy, and she made a mental note to make an effort to get all her Pokemon acquainted again. The last time she’d tried, her Ekans had a fearful grudge of her Larvitar whilst her other two Pokemon — Gastly and Sewaddle — weren’t even around yet. I really have a lot of things to work on, Leisy thought, sighing and looking up at the sky. Sunset had fallen, coloring the sky a hazy orange-grey as the sun made its progression downwards, eventually fading into a pretty but mysterious purple-blue at the far end of the horizon.
“So, do you wanna grab a quick dinner before we have our match?” Leisy asked, log back at the girl beside her. “Or, we could eat after the match as to avoid cramps.” Leisy frowned, looking around. “Since it’s quickly becoming dark, we should bring some flashlights or even postpone the match until tomorrow morning,” Leisy said. “What do you think?”
“Rotom that terrorizes Pokemon? Then does my ‘adventure’ even make the cut?” Cillian joked. “Found a new Poke. Scraggy,” Cillian said, holding up his newly-filled Pokeball with a grin. “He’s a fighter, if I’ve ever seen one.”
Noticing a familiar yet strange pink-and-green schemed Pokemon by Juana’s side, Cillian gaped and pointed. “Is that… Your Bounsweet?” Quickling taking out his Pokedex and scanning the Pokemon, Cillian waited in eager anticipation for the entries to load.
Steenee, the Fruit Pokemon. This Pokémon is always bouncing around energetically. Other Pokémon are attracted by its lively appearance and pleasant aroma. The sepals on its head developed to protect its body. These are quite hard, so even if pecked by bird Pokémon, this Pokémon is totally fine.
“Whoa, almost resistant to Flying-types?” Cillian asked, scrolling through the information. “Damn, I gotta rank up soon, huh. Or you two are going to leave me in the dust.”
The sky was turning a murky shade of yellow-orange, growing dimmer, shadows stretching over the village. Soon, night would fall, but Cici felt she could manage a few hours of exploring. She just wouldn't be able to do her usual thing of staying up late.
"So you're sure no weird stuff happens at night here?" Cici said. She was joking, but even so, she kept a look out for anything strange. At a sudden fluttering, squeaking noise, she jumped, but it turned out to just be a Woobat flying past.
"I did NOT just get scared by a cute little Woobat," she said, laughing, although she mentally scolded herself. She had to pull herself together before she could go looking for Pokemon.
Tommy chuckled with Cici at the Woobat and nodded, watching the sunset. "Nothing that's had people want a Pokemon gone. But there was a warning about staying away from the graveyard at night cause of the Ghost types. No one's been too hurt, but we probably shouldn't take any chances." Reaching the Pokemon Center, Tommy leads the way in and gets a room before turning to Cici. "You want to stick together tonight or split up? I was thinking of heading out into the fields to find a Ralts."
"Congratulations on the Honedge and Bounsweet's evolution." Tora said with a smile, turning to look at the Steenee and smiled a little more warmly. "And congratulations to you Steenee. You grew up to be quite lovely." she complimented, Archie barking in agreement, circling around the grass Pokemon and sniffing curiously.
"A Scraggy mhm? A nice Pokemon catch Mr. Weiss. I caught the Riolu and Shinx so they didn't get hurt by the Rotom." she said before letting out her two newest additions. The Riolu blinked a bit, looking around before gazing up at the trainer curiously. The Shinx however tilted his head, giving Tora a bored expression before perking up at spotting Archie. Golden eyes seeming to just pop out like hearts before bounding over and giving a loud purr.
"Shin Shin Shinx Inx!" He chirped cheerfully, sounding a bit boastful and flirty. For a Pokemon at least.
The Growlithe however just turned her head to look at him, giving the electric cat a unimpressed expression before giving a snort. A speck of flame flicking out from her nostrils as she snorted and lighting a bit of fur on top of the Shinx's head. Giving a screetch, the blue black cat flailed his paws against the flame to put it out. The Riolu just rolled her eyes, pressing her paws against her forehead as if double facepalming.
"Awe Archie, he must be thankful for you saving him and Riolu so bravely." Tora chuckled, Archie just rolling her eyes in response. Taking out her Pokedex, she listened to it rattle over the two Pokemon.
"Shinx, the Flash Pokémon. When it senses danger, the hairs on its body light up and it runs away, leaving its opponent dazed. Riolu, the Emanation Pokémon. Riolu has the power to see and understand emotions like happiness and anger in aura waves." The Pokedex chirped.
"Mhm names... I think I'll call Shinx, Orion. And Riolu, Ria." she hummed happily before looking to the others. "So is there anything you two would like to do? Explore? Rest for the night?" she asked curiously. Watching as Orion continually followed Archie around who irritably padded away from the clingy feline, while Ria tried pulling on the electric cat's tail as if in a attempt to stop this embarrassment.
+1 post +1HHG = 26 + 3 Sunset= 29 +1CP = 46
Pokemon Team:
Archie the ♀Growlithe: Level 12(LVL UP+1 Sunset=13)/Healthy
Sirius the Staryu: Level 4/Healthy
Pezi the ♂Skiddo: Level 4/Healthy
Cairn the ♀Onix: Level 2/Healthy
Ria the ♀Riolu: Level 1(LVL UP+1 Sunset=2)/Healthy
Orion the ♂Shinx: Level 1(LVL UP+1 Sunset=2)/Healthy
Rachni the ♂Venipede: Level 2/Healthy
Inventory: 3x Pokeball 1x Potion 3x Rare Candies
-Continued interaction with @ToadRopes's character Juana. -Continued interaction with @Dusksong's character Cillian.
"Yeah, must be nice to not have that risk of getting pecked to death anymore," Juana replied, looking down to Steenee and smiling. Steenee tossed its pigtail-like calyx in a confident swish.
Cradling Togepi in her arms, Juana gave Tora and Cillian an excited grin. "Well, while we're here, we'd better check out what kind of shops there are, right?" she said chipperly. "Actually, I found Honedge nearby the boutique I was talking about earlier. Hey, Cillian, I bet you can catch some cool ghosts around there; the trains are laden with shadowy spots for spooky specters, after all!"
Juana tossed out her other Pokémon just to give them some air. Corphish came out, pincers ready to--oh, no fight? Corphish sagged. Quit giving me false alarms! the crawdad's look seemed to say. Skorupi pinched Corphish for being so on-edge all the time. This led to the two pincered Pokémon tussling a bit. Dewpider inched in between the two and comically shoved them each away from each other.
"Why don't you all say hi to Honedge and Togepi? I don't think you've formally met," Juana said to her Pokémon.
Honedge regarded the other Pokémon, before continuing to gaze suspiciously at Juana's hand.
"Oh, come on, I said I was sorry," Juana teased Honedge, mocking a look of hurt. Honedge squinted and made a "V" with its tassel's fingers, before pointing those fingers at Juana. I've got my gem on you, it seemed to say.
Juana shrugged to her friends. "Swords," she remarked. "Anyways, there was the clothes store, an electronics store, an antique shop... there was even a pretzel joint and a grocer. Also! Also! Apparently the Mart in this place is in the same car as the Pokémon Center!"
Juana actually wanted to find a stationery shop; she ought to send a postcard to her mother and father.
Seeing all the Pokemon around him, Cillian took his time with his Pokedex, collecting information about the different Pokemon. Never heard of a Honedge before, he thought as he read the Ghost-type Pokemon’s Pokedex entry. Or a Riolu, for that matter. I guess the world really is pretty big.
“I don’t have anything in particular I need to buy at this moment,” Cillian said in response to Juana’s brief run-down of the different shops at Zephyr. “Stopped by the Pokemart back at Feyhollow right before we set out, so I’m set for another day or so. I’ll just tag along with you two — either of you looking for anything?”
Figuring that he might as well use this shopping trip to get acquainted with the newest addition to his team, Cillian called out his Scraggy. “Hey there. How’re you holding up?” he asked, making time as his friends figured out which store to hit up first.
As Tommy left to get settled into his room, Cici went to book her own, only for something to catch her eye. Pinned to a notice board was an ad for a guild. She took a closer look.
The Helping Hand Guild... Cici hadn't put much thought into joining an organisation, but after recent events, was this worth considering? She recalled how she and Tommy had worked together to defeat that Shiinotic, and how that near-stranger had risked her life to save her. Besides, wouldn't it do her good to join a society whose members vowed to always look out for each other?
But what if she ended up regretting it?
Standing there, Pokedex in hand, she took a deep breath. A simple click of a button shouldn't be this difficult. She hesitated, then pressed down. There. She'd done it. She'd done something she'd been afraid to do.
"Ah, hi," she said as Tommy re-entered the lobby. "I've just got to sort some things out, but it won't take long. Then..." She paused, thinking over his question before making her decision. "How about we go looking for Pokemon together? I mean, that's something we haven't done yet."
If she was going to live up to the Helping Hand Guild's values, it was time to learn to trust people, no matter how uneasy the idea made her feel. By keeping people at a distance to avoid getting hurt, wouldn't she just end up hurting others, and herself?
"It's probably best if we do this before dinner," Ella replied. Truth be told, she wasn't the slightest bit hungry right now. "But let's stay in town." She didn't want to think what they could run into at night if they weren't careful. "Yeah, flashlights are a good idea, and I have two Pokemon who glow, anyway."
It would just be a practice match, but even so, Ella couldn't shake the feeling of nervousness. If she lost, wouldn't that be another piece of proof that she was taking on more than she could handle? And what would it do to her Pokemon's self-confidence? She'd already let down Brighteye. Was she going to let the rest of her team down too?
"It'll be worth it," she said, putting on a smile. "No matter who wins, we'll both get stronger, right?"
“True,” Leisy said, laughing a bit when Ella mentioned her glowing Pokemon. “And of course! Honestly it’s not about who wins — it’s about getting stronger.”
Leisy paused, taking a moment to look at her Sewaddle before continuing. “I might have more Pokemon as of right now and have a higher chance of ‘winning,’ but it’s all just practice. If you want, we can each use four Pokemon. Four-on-four is a bit fairer, isn’t it? Although I’d prefer to be able to train all my Pokemon if possible, but I understand.”
After exiting the shop, the girls found a spot in the fringes of the town and got ready for their match. “Alright, I’m going to start with you then, Tyrus. That okay?” Leisy asked her Gastly with a grin. The purple gaseous Pokemon grinned back, doing a turn in midair.
Tommy nodded, pulling Amica's Pokeball free and releasing the Froakie after spinning it into the air. "Sounds like a plan to me. I gotta hit the Pokemart before we start though, so if you want to go set up a gig before we head out, I'll meet you on the outskirts of the village in five or ten minutes." After getting Cici's answer, he heads over to the Pokemart and purchases one more Pokeball. After thanking the clerk, he looks at the pokeball and then runs his other hand along the empty three already on his belt. He wouldn't be leaving Tefan without a full team of six, that was his decision. And if that meant spending a few days here, then so be it. Stepping out of the store after putting his newly purchased ball in it's place on his belt, he waits outside of it for Cici assuming she didn't come with him, listening to the sounds around him.
He could hear all kinds of Pokemon out in the distance, but what caught his attention was the sound of a trashcan being knocked over nearby. By the time he had turned towards the sound, Amica had already jumped over and tackled (not to be confused with the move) the perpetrator to the ground. The sounds of Amica and an Eevee reached him and he came over with a smile that was both kind and triumphant. After a moment, the Eevee managed to break free from Amica and turned on her, using a Tackle to knock her back towards Tommy. "Froakie Fro." Tommy chuckled and pulled an empty Pokeball free of it's spot.
"You're right, don't think he'll be coming without a fight. That's alright though, we could use the practice. Amica, use Cut!" The Froakie leaped into action, dashing forwards and drawing a white blade of energy before it connected with the Eevee's face, who was caught off guard, and knocked it back. It recovered and came at Amica with a Bite attack, it's fangs long and sharp. "Dodge Amica and use Water Gun!" Amica dodges the attack by jumping up into the air and blasts the Eevee with a high pressure stream of water. "That aught to do it!" The attack had knocked the Eevee against the wall behind it and gave the aspiring Trainer time to throw the Pokeball, which popped open after impact and sucked up the Evolution pokemon in a burst of white light. The pokeball wiggled for several seconds before it finally pinged to indicate they had succeeded in their endeavor. Whooping a victory shout and high fiving Amica, he retrieves the Eevee's pokeball and spins it in his hand. "Add another to the team. Come on out, Beta!" He released the Eevee and it immediately looked around before facing him, an annoyed look on his face.
"Eevee Eev Ee!" Amica reacted before Tommy could and berated the new member of the team.
"Fro Froakie kie! Froak Froakie." Beta appraised Tommy one more time, a look of cautious curiousity in it's eyes, before it nodded in consent and took up a spot next to the trumpet player.
"Welcome to the team Beta." Tommy smiled at the Eevee and kneeled down, scratching behind his ears, which he seemed to like a lot.
After Raven had caught the Aron, he and Shanae had headed back to town to grab some food. Ironforge, being a city, was large and well-populated with much night life. Now that the sun had set, the streetlights flickered to life, giving the city a sort of ethereal glow when set against metallic surfaces. The light seemed to reflect off the surface of the buildings, illuminating the buildings and smothering the stars that paled in their radiance.
After they’d ordered and finished their meal — some hole-in-the-wall shop that turned out to have the most amazing paninis Shanae had tasted in a while — the two were once again wandering the streets. “Lemme make a stop to the Pokemart,” Shanae said, following the map on her Pokedex — as well as the road signs — until she found the correct stop. “Hello!” she said cheerily to the Poke Corp employee manning the counter. “Can I get a Great Ball please?”
The employee nodded, picking the items off the shelf and ringing Shanae up after she forked over her Pokedex. Looking around the shop, Shanae saw that, although it wasn’t necessarily worse than the one in Central City, it was definitely noticeably smaller.
“Kinda small here, huh,” Shanae said, turning to the ememplyeeplyee. “Is this the only shop in the city?”
“No Ma’am. We have three other locations — this is the eastern one.”
Shanae gaped — her station, Central City, only had two — but closed her mouth quickly. It was only natural that the branch at a large city did better than a branch in a small one, and she shouldn’t be surprised. A spark of competitiveness was ignited in her, and she made a mental note to step up her game, lest her — quite literally — cousin beat her.
“Well, you going to buy anything?” Shanae asked, turning to Raven. “If not, let’s be on our way. I don’t know what else there is to do in a city this big, but I’m sure we can figure something out.”
Rank: Skilled Organization: Helping Hand Guild [Founder]
Adam Shoji walked out of his parents' shop with a sigh. He looked back as he walked away from the decently sized building, bathing in the yellow light the lamps outside gave off. The older brick and mortar garage had been a large part of his life, but that was over- he had finally saved enough money to be able to live on his own, to go out and explore the world. The young man played with the red and white sphere in his hand. It was time to go. He turned to the road, and stepped off the property.
Loose pieces of the sidewalk crunched under his boots as the trainer-to-be walked down the sidewalk, wondering where exactly to start his new life. Around the city, there were a handful of really cool Pokemon he had seen- there was a Raichu helping power a rail cart earlier this week, even just today, he had heard of a Wailord surfacing right out of the docks. However, there was no way the newbie trainer was going to be able to catch anything like those. "Agh, I have no idea where to start! Its not like I'm completely clueless about Pokemon, but damn, this is hard!" Adam said aloud, hoping that some kind of miracle force would tell him what to do. He dragged his hand across the side of a building as he wandered past. He felt his hand fall off the corner as something crashed into his foot. Adam stumbled forward on one leg, waving his arms as to not fall, eyes widening. This is it. I'm dead.
The wanderer looked down, eyeing what had crossed his path. A small light blue Pokemon had slammed into him headfirst. Dazed, the creature looked back up with large yellow eyes, electricity sparking from a star-like shape atop it's tail. "Shi!" it called, looking back at the alley it hand ran from. A pair of eyes peered back from the darkness, and a growl could be heard emanating as well. The Pokemon that had slammed into Adam back away from it, eyes looking worried as more electricity sparked. Adam noticed the teeth marks on the back of the Pokemon, as well as its legs shaking- it had to have been hurt already. He sighed as he stepped in front of the small Pokemon. "Okay, little guy, I've got you covered," he said, locking eyes with the creature in the shadows. A green, doglike Pokemon crawled out of the alley's darkness, teeth growling and static popping from it's back. Knowing electric types, Adam took his jacket off.
The aggressive Pokemon jumped at the trainer, teeth snarling. "Triiiii-" it howled, cut off by Adam catching it in the jacket, wrapping it around the much smaller Pokemon. He grabbed the corners of the jacket and held them together like a sack. Muffled barks came from inside, as the beast tried to escape. Adam spun the makeshift sack and threw it, the Pokemon hitting the brick wall of the alley and crashing down to the ground. The jacket unfolded, and the Pokemon scurried out as Adam took out his newly-acquired Pokedex out, scanning.
"Electrike, huh. Electric type. You're a piece of work, y'know that?" he said, making sure the last part was heard by the green Pokemon, now trembling some, probably disorientated. Adam took an aggressive step forward, startling the Electrike, which turn tail and ran. Adam walked over to the jacket, which was audibly crackling from electric energy. "So that leaves the two of us," he called out, looking at the blue one. It turned its head in response, looking confused. Adam held the Pokedex's camera at it. "Shinx. Also an electric type. Hey, you look hurt little guy. Do you want to come with me?" he asked, fishing his Pokeball out of the jacket pocket. The Shinx walked up to the young man, letting out a happy sounding mew. Adam hit the button in the center of the sphere, and Shinx was engulfed in a red light, which was dragged back into ball. It shook once, twice, thrice, and clicked. "I guess that means we're buds now, huh?" He hit the button again, and Shinx reappeared, smiling at the trainer, hopping down once or twice before wincing in pain. "Okay, uh. Name. Enix. Sure. Let's get you to the Pokemon Center my man, you're beat up."
