@Joshua Tamashii

There was suddenly some knocking on the door, making Kalmia’s eyes light up.

‘Ooo, that might be…!’ She said, standing up and smiling at Amelia. ‘Come along. This might be a new trainer, just like you were a day ago.’ And so she headed off into the main lab to answer the door.

@Valkan

Now, you don’t actually regularly sleep in Pokémon Centers, there are actual inns in the world, but a soft couch in the Pokémon Center was actually free assuming the stares and judgment of several nurses does not constitute payment. Regardless, he was free to stay there without having to use more of his now suddenly limited funds.

Wandering through Pureplain City…



… Should be fairly pleasant to walk around. There were families and Pokémon randomly walking the streets, walking Growlithes or Machops moving wares, and mostly it was a calm atmosphere in this plainest of cities.

So, Erza had reached Kalmia’s lab. It was a single-floor building with a sign that said “Pokémon Lab” on it that didn’t really look like a lab, and then an off-shoot on the right side which looked like a regular home that somehow leaned into the lab. Knowing he had probably found the right place, he knocked. It took a number of seconds, the seconds it took for Kalmia to come over to open the door, but soon enough, the door (which hadn’t been locked) opened.



‘There we have him! Erza Thompson!’ Kalmia said happily, obviously knowing him at a glance despite likely never having seen him before. She looked like everything was in order with her, excited to have someone more visiting, though her hair had signs of being recently wet.

‘I’m Professor Kalmia! Welcome to Isso- oh, my.’ She halted her welcome as her gaze drifted down to varying damages to his clothes, her expression shifting to one of worry. ‘You look more like you’ve come back from an adventure than starting one.’ She remarked, looking him over.

‘Come in, let’s see if we can do some damage analysis.’ She waved him in while she went back in. Now, she didn’t actually have any clothes for young men, but he could borrow a lab-coat.

The rectangular room had book-shelves placed in a circle around an area in the middle, not properly taking advantage of the space in the corners. The shelves contained varying books and papers of research, as well as the occasional Pokéballs. In the back and right, a large amount of what appeared to be computer servers filled about 40% of the available space, and they were coupled to Kalmia’s laptop which stood on a desk to the left of it. Other than the laptop, there was also a large amount of papers and binders on it, making it impossible to place anything else on there.

To the left was another table on which a Slowpoke was standing. It was… looking supremely happy for no clear reason, staring at nothing.



To the right of the table was a healing station from a Pokémon Center, with places to place six Pokéballs, along with a large cylinder thing with a glass middle and a hatch that one likely were to place something moderately large within. There was nothing that said what it actually was. While it was tight in here, it was still decently maneuverable and Kalmia knew where everything she wanted was.

There was a side-door to the right, with all probability leading to the off-shoot house on the side of the lab.

And Amelia may have followed along. If so, she was there, too. And if so, she’d see Erza.

__________________________

@Pirouette

Upon attacking the Poliwag, it definitely flinched and tried to spout water in reply. So it did… but the water it shot at them kind of didn’t harm. Sure, it showered them everywhere, making the air more humid. However, it didn’t even break any of the Double Teams. Sno could fairly easily Powder Snow the creature, although the ice wasn’t very effective she could keep at it without opposition. Though, at some point the Poliwag charged at her due to lack of other options. This however wasn’t a move Poliwag knew, so it counted as Struggle. However, it was unable to hit the real Sno and just crashed a couple of Double Teams. Erika was then able to throw her Pokéball and hope for the best. Upon impact, the Poliwag bounced away, but then went back into the ball with a flash. The ball fell down onto the ground.

It rolled once…



Afterwards, she’d have that call.

Then, to make things easier, she managed to get all the way to the Wet Caverns. She made her way across the wet route and over the bridges, who thankfully had their guardians already engaged in battle with other travellers. Eventually, the path became more steep, going upwards towards a small mountain that stood in the way of those who sought to travel to Lakewatch Town from here. And eventually… here it was. The special little 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. But, outside the entrance were two boys. One was an excited boy in headphones pointing at the hole in the mountain, and the other, blonde boy was on his knees going through the contents of his backpack. Erika had seen them before, right at the beginning of her adventure.

‘And here we are! The Wet Caverns! The cave blocking the way of any newcomer wishing to progress to Lakewatch Town! Who knows what dangers lurks inside!? Regardless, it’s nothing that Joshua and Ewan can’t overcome!’ … Aaaand just in case Erika had forgotten their names, Joshua just told them.





Joshua put his hands on his hips, satisfied with his exclamation. After that, he got bored, and looked down to see what Ewan was doing. With that, he lost his smile and looked just a bit amazed instead.

‘And… huh, you stocked up a lot.’ Joshua stated.

‘I did.’ Ewan answered, placing an Escape Rope at its proper place. ‘Defeating those trainers on the way have earned both experience and money, allowing us to stock up items so we’re properly prepared for handling the Wet Caverns.’

‘Oh, so that’s what you were doing. Good thinking, my frie-’ Joshua lifted up a thumbs-up motion and commended his friend, before suddenly Ewan took out a wide piece of paper out of the bag which made Joshua jerk to, spinning 270 degrees before facing Ewan and pointing down with an alarmed look and pointy-finger. ‘WHAT IS THAT!?’ He shouted.

‘Uh. That’s a map of the Wet Caverns.’ Ewan answered, looking to his friend with a somewhat surprised expression.

‘I KNOW, I CAN TELL BY LOOKING AT IT! HOW DARE YOU RUIN THE AUTHENTICITY OF OUR JOURNEY BY-’ Joshua shouted waving his finger around.

‘There’s exactly ONE way through Wet Caverns, the rest are dead ends or paths to much more dangerous places. It’s reasonable to enter while prepared to-’ That’s as far as Ewan got before Joshua basically jumped him, grasping for the map probably intending to tear it apart with Ewan desperately trying to hold it out of his reach.

‘CHEATER! CHEATER! DROP THE MAP, DROP THE MAP NOW!’ Joshua shouted, reaching for the map.

‘I’ve already memorized-’ Ewan tried.

‘IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII DECIDE WHERE WE’LL BE GOING! You won’t be dragging your cheating through MY journey! HMPF!’ Joshua then stormed up on his feet and started marching at the cave with angry steps.

Ewan scratched the top of his head a bit, his expression passive but hair now in a mess after that, but otherwise gathered up the backpack including the map and started following after.

Erika could have eavesdropped on that, drawn attention to herself or just walked on by. The latter two, if done before the conclusion of that scene, could have changed the outcome if she found some reason for doing that. Otherwise, that’s about it, she’s free to enter behind them if she so with, or anything else. Her choice.

__________________________

@Rune_Alchemist

Mienfoo chased after Ritz, jumping from side to side a bit to avoid any potential distance-attacks though there were none and looked more to do it out of sheer habit to confuse an enemy. Meanwhile Meditite stood and aimed both hands in direction of Del, the Weedle looking like he would have considerable trouble getting away in time if the Meditite could get off the attack.

‘Mediiiiiiiiiiii…!’ The Meditite charged up, and didn’t seem to be particularly bothered by confusion any longer, and would most certainly hit…

‘TITE!?’ Then a slight purple flash happened, the Meditite’s eyes widened as it took the exact same mind-blow it was trying to deliver, from an angle of behind, and after that it was done. Meditite stumbled forward and crashed its head down into the ground. Meditite fainted.

So, Ralia had managed to get off her attack on Meditite…

‘FROAKIE!’ And then Froakie smacked her over her face with a straight Pound, sending Ralia at the very least stumbling away and taking a noteworthy amount of damage that was getting really dangerous. Froakie had relaxed, and managed to shake of the Confusion which had previously been inflicted on him. And now, he most certainly did not intend on letting down on his attack, and was going to pursue Ralia until he was done with her.

Ritz went for Mienfoo, just as the Mienfoo went for him. Mienfoo didn’t even try to dodge, it jumped straight through the Supersonic intent to overcome Confusion to land a solid Pound on Ritz. The sound-waves hit the weasel-like martial artist, it quivered a little as its head started spinning, but regardless jumped… and managed to overcome its Confusion to land a direct Pound on Ritz. This was while Meditite was being taken out by Ralia and Del was still dodging. This caused considerable damage, though Ritz wasn’t out yet, but that was a serious blow that took around half his remaining health. Mienfoo landed, still under the effects of Confusion, but turned to Ritz again intent to try to take him out.

So, it was now a 3v2, but all Claire’s Pokémon were decently damaged (bar Lure), while Mienfoo and Froakie were both relatively unharmed (bar a confusion on Froakie and Mienfoo’s current confusion). The two remaining Pokémon were ignoring Del and going for Ralia and Ritz respectively. And…

‘HEY! THAT’S MINE!’ The red-headed trainer suddenly went wide-eyed and pointed at Lure’s nugget. This excluding all the matter of baiting trainers here using it. She suddenly dashed forward, straight across Del’s line to the other two Pokémon directly towards Lure, intent on jumping and attempting to either snatch the nugget from her or entirely catching her in the air with her arms. She was rather physically fit, but there was a distance to Lure (who was also right next to Claire) so both trainer and Pokémon was given a considerable moment to react.

__________________________

@Pyromaniacwolf@Pikmin Eye@Eklispe

‘Not ours!? It wasn’t hers to begin with!’ Karl shouted with a frown. ‘She’s Team Amethyst! She stole it! I’m not returning it!’

‘DUCKLETT…!’ The blue duck he was wrestling with complained loudly. To any present Pokémon, what Ducklett just shouted was “SHE DID NOT STEAL ME…!”, which of course was lost on all trainers.

‘Karl, this might be dangerous…’ Anabelle stepped a little backwards seeing all Pokémon that were gathering, opposing them. Every once in a while she glanced at Dawkin with unsurety.

‘Shieldon, Tackle the Venipede, block it! Poliwag, shoot down the Houndour, Water Gun!’ Karl shouted out, completely reverting the defensive tactics.

‘Ngh. Klink, beware of embers, but Vice Grip Houndour. Snover… hide behind me for now.’ Anabelle said reluctantly, moving in front of Snover, looking at the situation. Snover didn’t look particularly bothered with that arrangement.

So, Lucian would find that his Pokémon were currently the only two actually running into the situation. Martin’s Nincada pulled back enough that Klink didn’t Vice Grip him and got to use Harden to counter Snover’s Leer, but that was the only Leer it got off. Meanwhile, Goldeen’s Tail Whip successfully decreased Klink’s defense.

Houndour would find that his target had been hidden behind its trainer, Anabelle using herself as a shield for her Snover. Instead, Poliwag and Klink moved to counter him, Poliwag preparing to Water Gun him and Klink was going to try to hit him between the cogs for a Vice Grip. He could get an Ember off, but with Poliwag there it was an highly exposed situation. For Venipede, Shieldon moved and blocked his way, glaring and charging. Now, Venipede was faster than Shieldon and could likely outmaneuver the shield-bearing quadruped to reach Poliwag, but that’d put him in the middle of a group of enemies as Poliwag was in the back. Would they proceed?

‘They used Ducklett as bait to escape us, so we assumed…’ Anabelle started explaining, but she hardly had much time to explain when a battle was already breaking out in front of her. She may continue this explanation next post if nothing prevents her from it.

Rory O'Dowd

It was another sunny day just outside of Highhill Town, and Rory O'Dowd was sleeping soundly in his bed, later than his parents would have liked, yet again. Yet again, however, one of the ranch's Shelloses came into Rory's bedroom, nudging him gently, "Shell," it said, trying to wake him up, "Shellos!"

Rory opened his eyes slowly, before yawning and stretching his arms. "Morning, Shellos," he said, before rubbing Shellos's head.

"Shell!" it responded.

"What time is it?" Rory asked to nobody before checking his clock. "Hmm, I should probably get going," he said to himself, "I wonder if I have time for a quick swim,"

As if trying to tell Rory that he didn't have time, a Wingull flew in with a map its beak, before dropping it on Rory's bedisde table. "Gull! Wingull!"

Rory chuckled to himself, "Yeah, I probably don't have time. I'm sure I'll have a chance to swim soon, though," he said before starting to get dressed

"Rory! Are you awake?" Rory's father boomed out from downstairs.

"Yeah, just getting dressed!" Rory called back, pulling his shirt on. Just as he finished getting dressed, he heard a knock on his door. "You can come in," he said. His father walked in, with a Tyrogue sitting on his shoulders. "Ready to become a pokemon trainer?" he asked Rory.

"Yeah!" Rory smiled, "I've been waiting ages for this chance,"

"So now you can go and beat all of the gym leaders in Isson," his father replied,

"Or..." his mother said, walking into the room, "You can go and win all of the Pokémon Contests in Isson"

"That's true," his father agreed, "but I'm sure you'd prefer fighting with your pokémon, wouldn't you?"

"I'm not really sure," Rory admitted, "I'll have to see how I feel a bit further down the line,"

"That's perfectly fine," his mother told him, before lifting up his rucksack, "I've already packed this for you, there's food, drink, and some changes of clothes. And some swimming trunks and a towel, I know how you love to swim."

"Thanks, Mum," Rory grinned before hugging his mum, before hugging his dad, "Thanks Dad."

"Now, don't go getting yourself into any trouble," Rory's dad told him.

"I'll try not to, thanks," Rory said, before walking downstairs and opening the front door.

"And don't forget to call us when you get your first pokémon! We want to know what it is!" Rory's mum called out.

"Okay, I won't" Rory called back before shutting the door, and started the walk to Pureplain City.

The journey along Route 1 to Pureplain City wasn't particularly eventful. He had gone this way a few times before, although he had been in a car with one or both of his parents those times. Walking the route, however, allowed him to appreciate the beauty of the nature, and it also meant that he would be able to see the pokémon better. He had even managed to stroke one or two of them.

After the fairly uneventful walk to Pureplain City, Rory had arrived in Pureplain City. After going to a shop to stock up on some food and drink, he found directions to Professor Kalmia's laboratory. He made his way over there, before ringing the doorbell, and waiting for the professor.

@PlatinumSkink

Amelia released her other pokemon as Kalmia examined her Phantump. The little shiny watched the Professor as she examined her, a curious expression upon her face. When the Professor finally moved away to talk to Amelia, who had Litwick on her head like usual but also a Shuppet in her lap and a Pumpkaboo floating over her left shoulder while she drank the apple juice Kalmia had given her. When Kalmia moved away, Phantump moved over the Amelia's right shoulder, still watching the Professor.

Amelia listened to the warning speech she was given and nodded as she finished the juice she had been given and set the glass on the table. She was silent for a few seconds, thinking over what Kalmia said before nodding.
"It might be too late, since I was wondering and training with Phantump outside of her pokeball. Some other kids saw me and asked me about her. I'm sure word will spread." She said. Before more could be said on the subject though, there was a knock on the door and Kamlia smiled and got up, inviting Amelia to join her. Amelia nodded, standing up and following the Professor out to the lab again. She hung back and watched the new trainer, a boy several years her senior, from a distance, her pokemon sticking near her, save for one.

Phantump was sneakily floating around the room, quickly dashing behind the various objects for cover until it was behind Erza. Silently floating up until it was level with his head, it took a second before shouting.
"TUUUUUUMMMMP!"

Honestly, Erza felt embarrassed before even seeing the professor. He adjusted his scarf, nervously fidgeting with his clothes as he tried to think of a proper excuse for both his lateness and his current state. If he was a pokémon professor, the last thing he'd give a boy who showed at his door covered in soil and in a completely messy state, would be a pokémon. If Kalmia's mindset was the same as his own, he was in a possible nightmare. If all went wrong, he could try stealing some pokéballs and catching-

The door opened and his mind closed, shoving all his thoughts aside as the professor greeted him, even calling him by his name. How did she- well, no matter, the fact that she knew who he was could be taken as a positive fact. Possibly, the way she greeted him also meant that she had been waiting for his appearance. The boy immediately apologized:

"You must be professor Kalmia, I'm so sorry about my delay! I had a little, uh.." The boy fell silent, the inner workings of his mind quickly functioning, searching for a plausible explanation. Before he could say anything, the woman seemed to take note of his state, addressing that he looked as if he returned from an adventure instead of being right at the initial stage of one. True.

Erza's eyes analyzed his surroundings. From the outside, he could never guess that it looked like this inside. It was filled with computer's servers, the strange placement of the book-shelves bothered Erza slightly but he said nothing about it, naturally remaining quiet while following the professor. The glimpse of the slowpoke made Erza's eyebrow raise as the boy's eyes focused on the strange pokémon. He even followed it's gaze only to see... nothing. Funny. Hopefully that wasn't his first pokémon...

Finally, there was a younger girl - way younger in fact. Erza thought it could be the professor's daughter, perhaps - or a sister. Well, maybe he could ask later.

"Aah, I'm also sorry for showing up like this, professor Kalmia. I've had an eventful path in the way here. B-By the way, I'm still going to get a pokémon, right?!" Damage analysis no way, he was far more focused on the pokémon he could possibly get. And the choices he'd get. Colorful images of immensely powerful pokémon began to fill his mind, only to disappear at the startling sound of:
"TUUUUUUMMMMP!"

The boy immediately leaped directly to the professor's side with an audible yelp, if anything, he was certain that the professor could handle any danger within her own lab.

Phantump laughed happily as it returned to Amelia's side, who was giggling a bit at the sight of such a big boy cowering at her pokemon's antics. Then again, anyone would be scared of something suddenly shouted almost next to their ear. When they finished the girl stepped forward.
"Sorry for Phantump. She likes to scare other people when meeting them, so consider that her way of saying hello." She said, feeling at ease due to being surrounded by her pokemon. That made it easier to talk to those she didn't know. They were her strength after all. "My name is Amelia Averyonna, from Witchpeak City. These are my partners, Litwick, Shuppet, and Pumpkaboo. You met Phantump already."

"Lit!" Litwick said from Amelia's head, waving at Erza.

"Shu." The puppet pokemon said Amelia's arms, looking at the ground.

"KA!" Pumpkaboo said, bobbing up and down over Amelia's left shoulder.

"Tump!" Phantump said happily, obviously pleased with itself.

As the pokémon laughed, Erza narrowed his eyes slightly. Then he noticed the girl apologizing for her pokémon, which made his lips twist upward in a soft and friendly smile. The girl spoke her name and then said the name of all her four pokémon, all of them were ghost types - what a spooky girl, Erza thought, but at the same time was more than well acquainted with the ghost types. He did come from a town where some trainers prominently used them, even the leader of the gym.

"Well, hello Amelia, Litwick, Shuppet and Pumpkaboo." There was a slight pause as Erza's gaze fell onto Phantump. He smirked. "And hello to you too, Phantump."

The boy nodded briefly, then raised his left hand and pointed his own thumb towards himself, tapping his chest twice before speaking. "I am Erza Thompson, from Johto. You seem to really enjoy ghost type pokémon, Amelia. My town's gym leader is known for that too." The boy stated, shifting his gaze back onto the young trainer. "Do you know who I am talking about, professor Kalmia?" The boy inquired, mostly out of curiosity.

With a more analytic thought, this very young girl already had four pokémon with her, where Erza had none. She is likely one of those prodigy trainers that appear once every few years... The thought comforted him because if not, it meant all other trainers were too far ahead for Erza to catch up.

Martin was so sure this was Team Virtue up until the man mentioned that the lady was Team Virtue. So there were two different groups in here? This was getting confusing what was so special for them both to be here. He didn't have much time as this was the middle of a battle, and they were fighting back. Venipede and Houndour were getting targetted. This didn't sit well with Martin, who had the means to set the bar straight again.

"Goldeen, intercept the Water Gun attack, and save Houndour. Follow it up with Supersonic on Shieldon. Nincada, stop the Tackle from Shieldon and heal it with Leech Life on Poliwag. Who uses a Pokemon as bait for an escape?" Martin had a lot of questions he could have asked, but was distracted thinking about the best possible strategy in this puzzle of a fight. Water can clash with water, while Nincada can take a few hits. If they both took hits from one Pokemon, they could then change directions and switch attack to the other. This was a bit improvised, but it should line up the types a lot better. His worry was that they might be too slow to pull this off like he expected.

Nincada gave another nod, moving as fast as his legs could carry him to get between Shieldon and Veniped to take the hit. He then ran towards Poliwag, his mouth opening up for a meal. Goldeen dove back into the water, followed by leaping into the air, towards the Water Gun attack. She was braced for the attack, already preparing to generate sound waves at Shieldon. Martin gave a smile looking towards Lucian, "I'll cover the defense, you focus on attack. Being ganged up on is a pretty bad situation. A couple of hits is fine with me, but my patience won't last much longer if I don't get a better story from those two."

@Pyromaniacwolf @Eklispe @PlatinumSkink

@Joshua Tamashii

Kalmia would be off to answer the door, but Kalmia had considerable incentive to answer what Amelia just said.

‘Ah, no, that’s no problem! They’re just a few kids!’ Kalmia smiled at Amelia’s little thing about the children and waved it off. ‘You don’t have to hide her. That’s not what I wanted to say. Train her, make her strong, be proud of her. Just be aware of my warning. … And perhaps stay out of Bigfjord City until you’re strong enough, but that’s minor details.’ Kalmia waved her hand off a little, dismissing the most recent thing she said. Then, off to open the door.

@Valkan

Kalmia helped him inside and quite naturally got some cleaning supplies to help get the dust off the clothes and so. She’d smirk a little at his worries as she did, before he was scared by the Phantump.

‘Oh, my.’ She blinked a little as the Phantump scared Erza and then watched the scene between him and Amelia. She gained a little happy smile before Erza asked her if she knew what trainer he was talking about.

‘Ah.’ The gears in her head spun furiously for about three surprised seconds. ‘Oh, yes. Morty, Gym Leader of Ecruteak City, Ghost-type specialist? Yeah, I know of him.’ Kalmia smiled and nodded to him. … Having read up on the town because she knew she’d get an applicant from said town had paid off.

‘Of course you’re still getting your Pokémon. In fact, appearing like this proves you have the will to overcome adversities to get where you want, which I approve of. Teh-heh.’ Kalmia turned to walk somewhere into the building towards her computer, when the doorbell rang. Kalmia stopped in her tracks, before turning and walking to the door.

__________________________

@TheIrishJJ

So, Rory embarked on his quest, starting by travelling via Route 1 to Pureplain City to be given his first Pokémon. As this was apparently the first time he travelled through the route by foot…



The Pokémon on the route are famously mostly Pidgeys and Rattata, but if Rory for some reason didn’t want to stroke a tiny bird or a rat then he might have had the odd luck in running into an uncommon wild Growlithe of the plains. Now, while wild Growlithes are less friendly than the tame ones that are everywhere in Pureplain City, it’s still reasonable that it’d be friendly enough to potentially stroke. It’s a nice friendly Pokémon, after all.



However, soon enough, Rory arrived in the suburbs of Pureplain City, and…



… Except for all the views there was to see, Rory headed for Professor Kalmia’s lab. It was a single-floor building with a sign that said “Pokémon Lab” on it that didn’t really look like a lab, and then an off-shoot on the right side which looked like a regular home that somehow leaned into the lab. Knowing he had probably found the right place, he rang the bell. It took a number of seconds, but soon enough, the door (which wasn’t locked) opened.



‘And here’s another one. Hello, Rory!’ Kalmia smiled happily at him and invited him inside. ‘You’re not the only one here to get your Pokémon!’ She said as she walked inside, walking for her computer.

The rectangular room had book-shelves placed in a circle around an area in the middle, not properly taking advantage of the space in the corners. The shelves contained varying books and papers of research, as well as the occasional Pokéballs. In the back and right, a large amount of what appeared to be computer servers filled about 40% of the available space, and they were coupled to Kalmia’s laptop which stood on a desk to the left of it. Other than the laptop, there was also a large amount of papers and binders on it, making it impossible to place anything else on there.

To the left was another table on which a Slowpoke was standing. It was… slightly confused, turning its head and staring up at nothing.



To the right of the table was a healing station from a Pokémon Center, with places to place six Pokéballs, along with a large cylinder thing with a glass middle and a hatch that one likely were to place something moderately large within. There was nothing that said what it actually was. While it was tight in here, it was still decently maneuverable and Kalmia knew where everything she wanted was.

There was a side-door to the right, with all probability leading to the off-shoot house on the side of the lab.

And then there was Erza and Amelia. Erza looking somewhat like he’s been dragged through a disaster movie and young Amelia having her ghost-Pokémon around.

@PlatinumSkink

---

Yes, meditite down!

Good, it was now 3v2. 4v2 if she could get Lure of her bug butt and actually try and help. Mienfoo and Froakie also seemed focused on Ralia and Ritz. Which meant that Del was pretty much given free reign to help hold them down. Great! Ralia could focus on Mienfoo, and Ritz could reasonably focus on holding down Froakie with a little help from Del to slow the frog down. Probably. Chances were good that he could slow 'em down from a distance, at least.

except she now had a fairly angry redhead after Lure apparently.

"C-combee?"

The bug gave a slightly shocked look as she was attacked by another human, briefly glancing over to Claire.

"Well don't look at me. You wouldn't help me in the battle."

"B-Beee!?"

"Ralia, focus on Froakie! Keep up the dancing, girl and try and get off a few confusions on it!" Claire didn't give any indication that she was going to try and help Lure in this situation. So instead the bug type looked from Claire to the other redhead with a slightly worried expression. Not that it was concerned with hurting a random human trying to take its shiny, but..

"Ritz, just keep distracting the Meinfoo for now - get off a few tackles if you can but just keep it from messing with Ralia or Del, and hit it from the side! Del, try and tie down that Froakie so Ralia can get in a hit!" At her words, Del immediately unloaded a stream of sticky webbing from its mouth, aiming right for the Froakie in an attempt to slow all of its movements. Ritz, merely fluttered a few paces away from Mienfoo, waiting to either dodge its blows or knock it off course should it go for one of the others.

"C-combee!" Without waiting for an order from her trainer as usual, the combee whipped up her wings, launching as powerful of a gust she could manage, right towards the other trainer - not caring if it hit the other pokemon in the process, either.

"Hello, Professor," Rory greeted the professor as he followed her into her laboratory. Walking in, he thought that it was all quite impressive, with all of the computer servers, albeit a bit messy. "A pokemon professor probably doesn't have much time to be neat and tidy," he thought to himself. He smiled when he saw the Slowpoke on the table. Whilst not native to his home in Hoenn, Rory had encountered a few since he had moved to Isson, and found that they were quite nice.

Continuing to look around, Rory noticed that there were two other people in the room. One, a girl who was considerably shorter than him, had a few ghost pokemon floating around her, whilst the other, a boy much closer to Rory's height, didn't have any pokemon. Rory decided that he should introduce himself.

"Hi, I'm Rory," he told them, "I'm from Highhill Town, but I'm originally from the Hoenn region."

Amelia watched as the events played out before her, with another trainer coming in, probably to start his journey. Not wanting to get in the way, she decided it might be best to excuse herself so the Professor could focus on them. Though she didn't want to be rude to Rory either.
"Hello Rory, it's nice to meet you. I'm Amelia, from Witchpeak City." She said before turning to Kalmia. "I think I'll head out Professor. If I'm lucky, I might run into a Drifloon.

Take care Rory, Erza. Good luck on your journeys."

With that, Amelia left the lab unless stopped and headed back out into Pureplains City. She put her pokemon back into their pokeballs before wondering the streets, seeing if she could sense any other ghost types at a different hour of the day. Maybe the Ghastly or Drifloon. Either option would be fine by her. Cities and Ghost-types went hand in hand in some ways. Rotom was another option she would run into, given it's fondness for electronics.

The cleaning supplies offered by professor Kalmia were certainly received with delight. Erza picked them up, cleaning his clothing as best as he could - boy, what a sprint that was! One thing Erza would make sure of, is to go back and beat those two punks to a bloody pulp when he became stronger. On that matter... should he inform the professor of two pokémon stealing punks? Erza ran the matter briefly in his mind and answered nay to it. He'd solve it himself, one day. It will not be today, nor tomorrow... but one day, I will find you and I will beat you.

Shoving such thoughts aside, the professor indeed knew Morty, the gym leader of Erza's hometown. Well, he expected as much! She's a professor - she knows everything and everyone... At least, so Erza thought. Then, hope and victory took over the boy.

‘Of course you’re still getting your Pokémon. In fact, appearing like this proves you have the will to overcome adversities to get where you want, which I approve of. Teh-heh.’

The professor's words made a smile appear in Erza's face, wide as an Entei's fireblast, his purple eyes filled with delight as he quietly victory-punched up while restraining himself to not scream 'YEEEEEEEEEEAH BOI!'. Nope. He didn't. Yup, he remained there, perfectly still, smiling and staring in front of him - similar to the state of the slowpoke when they first entered the room.

The door bell rang and the professor hastily attended it. Another beginner trainer?! Lovely, Erza wouldn't be alone on his own! He could beat this guy! Há! No really, he could actually befriend this guy - named Rory - and possibly have a chance to catch up with other trainers. It was certain that some trainers teamed up. While Amelia greeted him and then bid her goodbye, Erza stepped a little closer to the boy, nodding at him.

"Hey, Rory! Nice to meet you, I am Erza Thompson, from Johto.." The boy spoke, keeping a warm smile in his face. Did Rory felt all that boiling excitement to get his first pokémon, too? Because Erza could barely keep himself physically immune to the anxiety. "And uhh, hey Amelia! Take care and good luck! Maybe next time we see each other, I'll challenge your Phantump and make it pay dearly for giving me that scare! Ha!" Erza chuckled heartily, grinning.

Then, the boy anxiously turned to look at the professor. Keeping his grin wide as ever. "Soo, when we begin? What we have to do to get our pokémon?"

❄Erika Olson❄

---

The rest of Erika's journey along Route 2 was uneventful as she caught the casual glance of other trainers battling along the way. It didn't take Erika long (at least she thought the journey was quick) to reach the entrance to the Wet Caverns. Although Erika had some reservations about charging forth into the cavern, she dispelled most of them shortly after arriving, as if the unimpressive entrance had left the impression the caverns were no big deal. In fact, Erika was ready to trek inside and honestly expected to navigate them quickly to get to Lakewatch Town. No preparation required.

As Erika approached two boys in order to step aside them and enter the cavern, she caught herself eavesdropping on their conversation, especially after the mention of dangers. That word in itself was enough for Erika's hears to perk and she stopped, listening in on more of the conversation. Apparently, Erika was about to make a mistake if she went through there alone. She couldn't navigate a maze... And she didn't feel that prepared after overhearing those boys talk... "Ooh.." Erika sighed sadly, feeling her previously eager heart drop a little in her chest. Discouraged, she considered turning back and maybe making preparations of her own but... she knew those boys.. right? At least they looked familiar...

"Hey! Wait!" Erika called to Ewan just as he was entered the mouth of the cave. There were so many questions on Erika's mind but she just wanted to get to the other side to Lakewatch now. Assuming Ewan and/or Joshua didn't just run away at the sight of her, "Don't I know you two from somewhere? .. Aren't you two.. Erika paused and cupped her chin as she muttered a question to herself, what's his name..., only to snap her finger and point at Ewan. "Jacques students right?!" Unfortunately she didn't remember their names in particular but it was enough to hopefully state that they knew each other.

Erika would introduce herself and ask the boys for their names properly after that, of course, but she had some very pressing questions and possibly a request. Erika would ask a few questions about the Wet Caverns, asking the two (assuming the eager Joshua came back) mainly about what they expected from the caverns and their preparations made before finally submitting her request. "Um.. Would it be okay if I tagged along, just until we get to Lakewatch Town? I just want to get to the Pokemon Center and check out the town. Plus I'm trying to meet up with a friend on the other side." Erika tried not to sound too pleading. She didn't exactly want to double back to Pureplain City, but maybe that was part of being a Pokemon Trainer. Preparing for the road ahead so you can handle it yourself. After all, she was technically asking her indirect rivals for help.

@Rune_Alchemist

Mienfoo unsuccessfully pursued Ritz. While Ritz couldn’t find any openings where to tackle himself due to the considerable risk of Mienfoo’s attack, Mienfoo couldn’t get a hit in due to Ritz’s dodging, the Mienfoo’s speed was just a bit higher but not high enough when Ritz was doing these complex maneuvers. It did look like Ritz would be hit eventually, but not right now.

So, Froakie’s have excellent awareness. This means the Froakie was able to tell that Del was shooting strings at it, and dodged backwards to avoid it. This, however, meant Ralia wasn’t being attacked and could easily get her Confusion off on Froakie.

‘FROAK…!’ Froakie recoiled from the mental blow, stumbling backwards…

And then he was hit by half a Gust throwing him over, because his trainer just crossed her arms and braved Combee’s gust. It stopped her in her tracks for the moment, though parts of the wind went on her left and right, which also just so happened to be where Froakie and Ralia were, though Froakie was closer. Ralia felt some of that gust, but not enough to actually be damaged. Froakie managed to resist becoming confused, though, standing up with what amounted to a frown before jumping at Ralia, trying to avoid Del’s string-shot.

He’d fail, though. Trying to get close to Ralia he’d find himself hit by a string of web, which caused him to then fall onto the ground and roll unhelpfully, and Ralia could help herself to just Confusion him.

On the other hand…

‘YAH!’ The trainer braved Lure’s Gust and advanced forward, frowning angrily and jumped at her to grab her, and despite Lure’s best efforts she wouldn’t be able to avoid now that she was this close. She was gripped on the top of her head, the girl glaring at her.

‘What’s that Zigzagoon doing!? Anyway, give that back!’ She said, trying to reach and grip back the nugget with the other hand.

But her attention had completely left the battlefield, and she was one Pokémon down, another one was bound in web and about to be finished off while the third was aimlessly pursuing a ladybug. She had clearly missed out on situational awareness.

__________________________

@Joshua Tamashii

Kalmia nodded to her and waved her off.

‘Good luck, Amelia! Pureplain City isn’t known for its ghosts, but if anyone can find them, it’s you!’ She called, before turning her attention back to these two, but Amelia was already out the door.



In any case, Amelia already knew what she wanted to do. So, now during the day, she wandered the busy streets and saw, well, some wild Pokémon lurking in the grass here and there, probably not what she was actually looking for, though. There were Pidgeys just about everywhere. There were random Meowths lazing around on walls and corners that may or may not actually be wild. Then there were Lillipups playing around here and there, with no real reason given why. Those hadn’t been there during the night. But, there weren’t many ghosts out, as far as she could tell.







Then, she sensed a ghost. Assuming that she tracked it to its source, she’d find herself arriving at a place which had quite a few people standing in a queue in front of it.

A big, fairly boring building. A four-story building, square in form with numerous banners hanging out, and an imposing sign hanging out at the front of the building. “POKÉMON GYM”… And at the front of the building sat a single sign with a little bit of information about the Gym.

Pureplain Pokémon Gym - Major League
Gym Leader: Dorian
“The Master of Normal”

Seeking after the source of the ghost had led her to the Pokémon Gym, and she saw a little flux of trainers heading both in and out of the Gym. Those on the way out all looked quite dispirited and defeated, while those on the way in looked either confident, stoic or quickly losing faith as they saw those on the way out.

… And there the ghost vanished, replaced by the smaller feeling which Amelia could remind herself was the same feeling as when Laurinda had her ghosts inside her Pokéballs. It was from within the Gym. Someone had tried to use Ghost-types against the Normal-type Gym Leader. … And judging by the feeling she was getting from the ghost, been defeated.

Other than that, nope, she hadn’t been able to find any more ghost-Pokémon in Pureplain City. Now what?



Connected areas:
Route 1. Easier path, just follow the bigger road.
Route 2. Walk through quite an amount of suburbs 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.



__________________________

@TheIrishJJ@Valkan

Kalmia grinned as Erza asked what he had to do to get a Pokémon, walking over to the desk, opening a drawer and fishing out two red items as she turned to them and held them out.

‘You have to sit through my long-winded explanation of what these are~!’



‘These are your Pokédexes. Now, let me explain a few things.’



‘And with that out of the way…’ Kalmia would then say, reaching over to her PC and clicking a number of buttons, before two Pokéballs were downloaded into a small container that we will say that all PCs have on the side. She then took the two Pokéballs and turned towards the boys with a smile on her face, walking forward before reaching one to each of them.

‘Good work coming all the way here, each of you. Here’s your Pokémon! And check in the Pokédex has to say, too!’ She said, and handed over the Pokéballs.

@Valkan

- You've obtained Eevee! -

Pokédex Entry #133 – Eevee, the Evolution Pokémon. It’s a very rare Pokémon known to have a very unstable genetic makeup. Depending on where it lives, it is known to use evolution into different forms as means to survive harsher climates. It has eight currently known evolutions.

- Would you like to give Eevee a nickname? -

@TheIrishJJ

- You've obtained Spheal! -

Pokédex Entry #280 – Spheal, the Clap Pokémon. Known to be bad at both walking and swimming, a Spheal’s preferred method of travel is rolling. Its thick fur shields it from all cold, and they’re known to drift to new locations on icebergs. When they’re happy or eating, they tend to clap their tiny limbs to show appreciation.

- Would you like to give Spheal a nickname? -

They were free to release their Pokémon from the Pokéballs, now.

__________________________

@Pirouette

Joshua, who was storming off towards the cave, suddenly jumped as Erika raised her voice, his expression making a complete 180° as he smiled towards Erika.

‘Yes! That would be us! Joshua and Ewan from Justroad City, at your service!’ Joshua called, making a little bow to Erika as she arrived.

‘We’re not Jacques’ students, really.’ Ewan corrected. ‘We were picked by him to be given Pokédexes after proving our worth to him. … But close enough.’ He nodded, looking to her.

Joshua’s eyes then widened as Erika asked to travel along. He turned to look at Ewan.

‘We’ve been having awesome luck, lately. We have this adorable girl now, we met the cute mysterious foreigner in the contest hall, and even before that the- wait.’ Joshua blinked and looked at Ewan.

‘All that started when I teamed up with you. Did things like this tend to happen before-?’ Joshua glared at his friend. Ewan looked back at Joshua and scratched a bit of his chin while looking unconvinced.

‘… Occasionally?’ Ewan replied, looking slightly confused to what to answer. This resulted in Joshua flying up in his face, gripping his clothes and saying loudly while grinning.

‘YOU’RE MY LUCKY CHARM, I LOVE YOU AND I’M NEVER LETTING GO OF YOU!’ And then Joshua let go of Ewan and jumped away him while spinning two laps plus how far it was to turn to Erika, and offered his hand and a polite bow.

‘It would be our utmost honour to guide a fair maiden such as yourself through the perils of this unknown cavern.’ He then spun and pointed at Ewan. ‘Ewan! Prepare the map! I will not accept that this lady’s trip through the cavern be any less than perfect!’ Though, then he looked back to Erika. ‘That is, unless you’re actually seeking an adventurous trip into the unknown?’

Ewan, raising his eyebrows at his friend’s complete change of attitude regarding the use of the map, put down his backpack again and sought out the map just in case. There were also potions and things he had stocked up on. He looked up to Erika.

‘Erika, right?’ He showed he had excellent memory. ‘Does any of your Pokémon need healing?’ He asked, picking out a few potions to potentially use.

‘You have to sit through my long-winded explanation of what these are~!’ As the professor explained, Erza extended a hand to take his own pokédex. Red and black in color, it was a very elegant item to hold - as well as an absolute need for every pokémon trainer. While the professor went ahead and began explaining, Erza fidgeted with the object, picking his trainer card, inserting it again, pressing one or two buttons just to see what they did. Amazing, this was an exceptional device and Erza instantly knew that he'd need to take a great deal of care with it. No losing it together with your bag allowed, which meant: Triple the care if you fly on a Tropius.

They were paid for being trainers? Great, so every pokémon caught meant money. Money meant pokéballs, which means more pokémon caught. That means experience and skill, which meant winning battles - which meant more money, more pokéballs. Erza's eyes almost turned into a pair of pokédollar's symbols as his mind began calculating how amazing this was. Now then, the moment had came. Professor Kalmia began clicking a few buttons on her computer, two pokéballs appearing on the container next to it. Erza was already biting his under lip and rubbing his hands nervously together as the woman approached him with his first pokémon:

- You've obtained Eevee! -

Pokédex Entry #133 – Eevee, the Evolution Pokémon. It’s a very rare Pokémon known to have a very unstable genetic makeup. Depending on where it lives, it is known to use evolution into different forms as means to survive harsher climates. It has eight currently known evolutions.

- Would you like to give Eevee a nickname? -

"Uooooooooh!" Erza excitedly shouted as he took the pokéball, seeing the message appearing in his pokédex already. An Eevee?! No way! The boy immediately took the pokéball from her hand and in the same instant, a red light flashed from the small round container, releasing the brown, rare adaptive pokémon from it. Erza looked at the small creature with teary eyes as he kneeled down to gently pat it's head.

"Vee! The evolution pokémon cried, it's long ears twitching as it was patted. Erza looked down at the pokédex, thinking about the possibility of giving the pokémon a nickname. He began typing onto the pokédex, but eventually erased it all and decided to not give the Eevee a nickname. "I'm sure I can think of something better later, you know? That and, uh, you have many possibilities of evolution, so I don't want something unfitting.. Now, then!" Using the pokédex device, Erza briefly checked his pokémon known moves, elaborating strategies on his head already.

The boy raised up with a wild grin latched onto his face, extending his left arm and pointing his index finger towards Rory, who had just received a Spheal. Eevee kept jumping into the air, trying to bite Erza's finger - the boy didn't even realize.

"So! Me and you both got our first pokémon and I'm sure you're excited as ever to check our pokémon out. Let's have a pokémon battle!" Eevee's teeth got dangerously close to Erza's wiggling finger. "I'm sure this will strengthen the bond between me and Eev- AUUUCH!" The pokémon finally succeeded, causing Erza to shake his hand and get Eevee off his finger. The pokémon eventually landed on Erza's shoulder and glared at Rory with a burning fire in it's eyes. Well, despite it's attitude, it seemed to share the same passion as Erza, who was staring at Rory with the best of his challenging expression, expectedly awaiting his answer.

@PlatinumSkink

---

And the battle has been practically decided. With a smug smirk, Claire watched as her foe completely lost her situational awareness. She gave Combee a thumbs up and a grin, doing her best efforts to send her a telepathic message 'Thank you for your sacrifice'. The Bee frowned, giving Claire a stare of death before it turned its attention back to the human that was currently holding it, six beady little eyes glaring at this insolent human.

How dare she touch her! She should be groveling before her! Lure struggled against the humans hands, buzzing in a displeased fashion as she couldn't get free, flapping her wings wildly.

"I don't need to tell ya what to do, Girl." Claire shouted towards Ralia. "Finish off that Froakie and then hit that Mienfoo!" She completely ignored the other girl for now. As soon as she wrapped up this battle, she could talk to her about ambushing people out here in the middle of nowhere. At the command, Ralia did another little twirl, focusing all of the energy she could into an attack on the Froakie.

"Rrrrrraaaal!~" She gave a happy cry as she loosed another Confusion. If Froakie fainted, she'd move right onto using another on Mienfoo.

"Del, slow down the Mienfoo if ya can. Ritz, blindside 'em if ya can and keep 'em off Ralia if he goes for her!" Del switched targets almost instantly, turning his web slinging right towards Mienfoo. Ritz continued to avoid and circle around the pokemon, intent on distracted him and hitting him with a tackle if he decided to attack one of the others.

Amelia walked through town, trying to see if she could sense another Ghost-type wondering through town. The type wasn't strictly nocturnal but it was rare to find most of them outside during the day. When she did finally sense one, she rushed over in it's direction, stopping when she found herself in front of a Gym. She soon sensed the presence of the Ghost Pokémon become weaker, causing her to realize it had been a trainer's pokemon, probably battling the gym leader. Looking around, she spotted a nearby sign and walked over to it, reading it. It was a Normal-Type Gym. The thought of challenging it crossed her mind but she was hesitant to. She had joined this journey for the freedom of it, not the battling. But a part of her knew she would need to be strong to keep her freedom from those who might try to take it.

So she sat outside the Gym, going over her pokemon's stats and moves. She didn't know much about the Gyms of Isson, since they had never really interested her. But if she was going to challenge one or several of them, she was going to give it her all. As she waited in line, she went over the moves and types of her pokemon. It was Ghost Vs Normal and neither type effected the other. Her best Type coverage came from Litwick and Pumpkaboo didn't know any move that would damage a normal type. However, it could make them Ghost-types, which she knew would make Shuppet's Knock-Off more effective.

While going through her options and possible scenarios, her turn finally came and she entered the Gym, feeling a pit in her stomach due to her nerves, which was written all over her face.

Lucian Vazquez

Lucian did not speak for a moment, debating whether or not to listen to Dawkin, before sighing and ordering to his pokemon "Stop. Let's see where this goes, although I would like to note a duo outside the cave has requested this ducklett back and claimed these two attacked them. "

After Lucian gave his order, Venipede slowed to a crawl and stared at Lucian with a look of irritation, houndour simply sat where he was and seemed fascinated with the light reflecting off the water in the cave and occasionally released a puff of embers to see it first hand as he waited for new orders.