@Rune_Alchemist

Ralia went and tilted her head at Infernape. Infernape, still with arms crossed, looked right back down at the little psychic fairy with a passive look. Ralia felt that there was a certain amount of relief on the Infernape’s mind, like a great tension had suddenly been released. Oh, and Ralia could sense a couple of young, innocent-feeling looks from further ahead. Peeking past a corner…





… Was a couple of heads, that had a particular relation to this Infernape. Suffice to say, had Maple and Ellyn’s journey reached much further, it may also have abruptly ended at the hands of a protective parent.

Meanwhile, Claire was announcing her challenge. Anise grinned, while Ellyn raised her eyebrows a little in surprise.

‘Wait, you’re gonna wrestle a-!?’ Maple sounded out in amazement looking at Claire from somewhat behind, still surrounded by her fire Pokémon.

Pangoro, of course, heard her. He munched a bit on the leaf in his mouth, glaring at her while all the “henchmen” tried to copy him, one which accidentally bit apart his leaf and is now panicking. Then… Pangoro grinned.

‘Goro!’ He shouted out, jumping forward to meet Claire, large arms held wide in order to wrestle her.

Now, seeing how Pokédex entries tell that Pangoros are strong enough to “send a dump truck flying”, there is likely no discussion about which of the two is the stronger. That said, Pangoro here understood the meaning of fun.

Now, do you want to do this the long version, or the short version?





__________________________

@Pikmin Eye

Martin pulled the keycard on the door, and a green light lit. The door opened.



__________________________

@Pirouette

With great interest, Joshua listened to the story which Erika found it in herself to tell him. At the end of it, he was smiling widely and looked pretty happy.

‘I see~ Well, I am honored you’d share such a story with me,’ Joshua said and tipped his headphones. ‘Hm. Sno’s your first Pokémon, received by Kalmia, right? … Did she know?’ Joshua asked with a smirk as he looked at her.

‘I actually have a similar story, just a little in reverse. Want to hear it?’



Then Joshua could go off with a wave, and Erika could look after her current team before heading to rest. Then, in the morning, Erika woke up and could head for the Miner’s Shop to see what’s new.

‘Good morning, Erika! Sleep well?’ Isaac asked her. ‘Today’s not as amazing as yesterday yet, but still pretty good. One of our miners found a rare Old Amber tonight, that one will be worth a bunch.’



Then, Erika showed the gem she found to be appraised.

‘Oh! This is… a Bug Gem! Do you know of these gems, Erika?’ Here’s an explanation anyway. ‘If a Pokémon holding a type gem uses a move that’s the same type as the gem, they can use the energy of the gem to make their move magnificently more powerful! This expands the gem, though, making it useless, a grey husk. It’s a bit frowned upon to use them in official battles for a power-boost, but while exploring as a Pokémon Trainer they can help you out in a pinch! Oh, and some collectors would pay a handsome sum for them, if you can find them. Plenty of collectors in Freecape Town…’ So Isaac told. Anyways. She could finish up her task there and then get going. She could now do as she liked. She’s still in the Frozen Cave Mines.



__________________________

@Eklispe@Joshua Tamashii

Dawkin and Amelia stepped back, though Route 6 is as known the route with no real hiding spots. Vast Plains indeed, the best cover is the fact that the route is not entirely flat so you you can theoretically hide behind a hill. Not really given much reason to bother with them, except for a Tyrunt that momentarily stopped and stared at them curiously, the ancient Pokémon kept on running. There were numerous slams of combat from within the sandstorm, and then a Whirlwind from Pidgeot sent the sand scattering around. The dissipating sand revealed that Hippowdon had dug down into the ground again and escaped as it came under fire, but the chaos it had caused was definite.

Amelia had attempted to look at the trainer. It was a woman, blonde hair, wearing white… but she couldn’t see that much from over here. The driver, a man in a brown coat wearing glasses, spun to look at anyone present, which was more than just Dawkin and Amelia due to being on the road to Raremine Town now.

‘Trainers! Stop those Pokémon!’ He called. His Bronzong had captured quite a few with Psychic abilities, and having dealt with the Hippowdon the Yanmega, Rapidash and Pidgeot once again took off in different direction, using speed, fire and wind to discourage escape by the fleeing ancient Pokémon.

From having been hidden underground, multiple Pokémon suddenly sprung forth from under the ground. Sandshrews showed up and grabbed onto Anorith and Archen, more than one on each, with the occasional Sandslash mixed in to take Tyrunts. Drilburs showed up trying to dig holes for the ancient Pokémon to fall into, while two Diggersby grabbed onto the heads of Craniados with each hand, trying to pull them under.















These Ground-Pokémon had all struck more or less at once, they couldn’t time it perfectly, and they all fought to grab the ancient Pokémon and pull them into the holes they had created. Now, it didn’t always go perfectly, the ancient Pokémon saw no desire to be pulled into holes and resisted, but a ground-type’s advantage over rock-type was mostly apparent, and this was an exercised plan.

‘NO! STOP THEM!’ The driver shouted upon seeing what happened. His and the trainer’s Pokémon were effective where they were, striking away the Ground-types with what moves they had, but there were only four of them. Quite a few were going to get away. A couple of Sanshrews and Drilburs nearby were trapping those four ancient Pokémon that had come running by them earlier.

Would Amelia and Dawkin do anything?

@PlatinumSkink

---

Ralia curiously looked up at the infernape for a few more seconds before glancing down the road. Oh. They were so cute! Not as cute as she was, but still! The Ralts felt some relief herself after seeing the small child like pokemon. It would have been terrible if they had gotten hurt at the hands of Ellyn and Maple. Well, maybe she could cheer this Infernape up some? Ralia grinned up at the fighting type, holding her arms behind her back before pulling a pink flower out from behind her back and handing it to the rather intimidating Infernape.

Regardless if he took it or not, Ralia would quickly hurry down the path and dive head first towards the Chimchars, intending on playing with them a bit.

Meanwhile Clare was facing off with a rather impossible opponent. Of course Pangoro had accepted. Any fighting type worth their salt would have accepted. She smirked, the excitement she always felt when she was itching for a good fight starting to show. She gently plucked Ritz from her back, handing him to Anise. The chances were winning for low, but that didn't stop her.

"Anise, hold my Ledyba." She said passing the bug type off to her friend. Ritz gave Claire a worried look before accepting her fate as a punching bag for a much stronger pokemon.

Claire pulled off her jacket, tossing it towards Anise as she took a stance in front of the Pangoro, obviously an experienced fighter in her own right. She wasn't sure that she could win this, but she try her best. Wouldn't be her first rodeo with a fighting type.

Initially, it seemed like Claire could at least hold her own for the first few seconds. She ducked under his punches, swerving away from his fists. She managed to land a few good holds on the giant panda herself, at one point even managing to get him in a rather difficult to get out of grapple. In the end though, the panda's superior strength and experience saw her pinned on the ground, under the large pokemon thoroughly tired and a little roughed up.

"..." For a few seconds Claire just laid there, catching her breath a bit before bursting out into excited laughter. "Oh wow, I couldn't even touch ya. GG, pangoro, GG indeed."

@Rune_Alchemist

Infernape looked down at Ralia with a bit of surprise when the flower was pulled out, the fire monkey slowly reaching down to pick up the flower with two fingers. While the received had been confused rather than anything else, the gift had been accepted and Infernape was now staring down at it while Ralia ran off. It’s thought process went something in the direction of “well, suppose it’s alright”.

The Chimchars were very curious about the fairy Pokémon that came running to them, having spent most of their lives in this mountain and castle. They were totally up for playing, jumping about showing off how well they could scale buildings or just poke their new guest. Of course, with Teleport, Ralia could keep up with them even if they jumped up on the roofs of the castle buildings.

Anise held out her arm and accepted Ritz with a smirk, looking to her. ‘Good luck,’ she’d remark before being thrown the jacket, which she looked a little perturbed by but folded it to hold under her other arm. _{‘What am I, a caddy? Eh, for this time…’}

Numerous things factored into the battle that followed. One being that Claire’s 5’7’’ matched against Pangoro’s 6’11’’, his 300 pounds versus hers probably less than half, the fact Pangoros are strong enough to send trucks flying, and that doesn’t even mention how this Pangoro became the king of a Fighting-type fortress while being weak to Fighting (somehow). Claire quickly got a sense of how powerful those punches were when they swirled by, and that was with him holding back as to not destroy her on the spot if he hit.

That said, she could still grab the beast! While Pangoro was huge, there were holds she could take, pins she could attempt, but the king here was an experienced wrestler that had seen a lot of battles in his own right and knew what moves to make to get out of the pins, and with that Claire had to get out of the way as to not end up countered by a being twice her size. Still, Pangoro enjoyed the tussle, a wide smile on the panda’s face as he maneuvered past Claire’s holds and swung to grab her in turn.

Around them, the Fighting-Pokémon and humans were watching intently and excitedly, many of the Pokémon and definitely Pangoro’s henchmen were shouting support to their king. So, Claire definitely had the majority of the audience against her…

‘GO, CLAIRE! SHOW THEM WHAT WE HUMANS CAN DO! YOU CAN DO IT! I BELIEVE IN YOU!’ … Maple was shouting her support from over there, positively bouncing on the spot and for some reason taking extreme passion in supporting the person her team was just fighting, her Pokémon catching on and the fire-types started howling and tooting for her support. Anise was more of the kind to stand there with focused eyes and silent support for right now, while Ellyn was looking on with a doubtful expression, taking the moment to apply a potion or two to her own Pokémon.

Eventually, however, Claire’s decidedly human stamina wouldn’t be able to keep up with Pangoro’s waves and counters, and after a particularly good pin on the panda that had the audience on edge, he managed to grab her and pin her down in a counter-attack she couldn’t see coming, and that was it. There was no getting out of Pangoro’s pin.

There was shouts of hurrays from Pokémon all around, a single ‘awww’ from Maple, and otherwise just respect for what had happened from the rest.

Pangoro grinned. The panda clearly had fun, and chuckled after Claire’s little admission of defeat.

‘Goro!’ he replied, before releasing her and standing up. He looked to one of the Panchams nearby, and nodded to him. ‘Pangoro!’

The Pancham blinked a bit in surprise, but then saluted and darted forward to Claire. He held forth a small little rock, carved into a medallion with a decent-but-not-good engraving of this castle on it. On the back was the middle of a Pangoro paw-print, as much as could fit. It had been punched in.



There was some applause from and impressed-sounding shouts (though not as fierce as when Pangoro had won) from the Pokémon around, Lucario and Conkeldurr included. Maple totally joined in.

‘YOU WERE GREAT, CLAIRE! YOU SHOWED THEM! YOU ALMOST HAD IT!’ … For some reason, Maple was crying over Claire’s loss over there, and her Pokémon joined in with sad-sounding howling and tooting.

The noise eventually quieted a bit, as Pangor looked out over the audience of Fighting-Pokémon and announced.

‘PAN! Pangoro, pan!’ … Whatever that meant, the Pokémon in the crowd quickly went to action, starting to pick up their fainted companions and carrying them further along the castle street on the way upwards. They were now completely ignoring the humans around. Pangoro gave Claire one more smirk before himself starting to tread off, if Claire didn’t say something to stop him or otherwise, his henchmen Panchams dashing after.

Anise took the moment to approach Claire and help her to her feet if she hadn’t gotten up on her own.

‘That was pretty good, considering what you were up against,’ Anise said, handing back Claire’s jacket when she got up again. ‘Hector would be ecstatic. That medal is a symbol of respect in Mt. Strength. Pangoro seems to have liked you.’

‘That was amazing! You’re wonderful, Claire! You make me wish I had spent more time improving my body…!’ Maple was still crying happy tears.

‘Maple, do look around before you relax,’ Ellyn said to her companion, eyes fixed on two particular Pokémon around them.

‘Huh? Why?’

Yeah, while Pangoro had left and so did Conkeldurr and Breloom if Claire didn’t stop them, Lucario and Infernape was very much here and glaring at Maple and Ellyn. Ellyn looked just a little on the edge by this, but remained quiet. Maple smiled at them, though looked a little unsure. ‘Um, is this an indication of something? Hahaha…’

While Maple tries to consider her way out of that one, Anise is just going finish what she intended on saying.

‘I brought you here because there are many different kinds of Fighting-Pokémon here that could potentially be convinced to join a trainer. They know one of the best ways to get really strong and become renown around the world is by being a champion for a trainer. I didn’t predict we’d be pulled into something like this, though,’ Anise shared, looking around at the battle damage and all the Pokémon running about now that it was over. Conkeldurr and some Timburrs that appeared from upper floors were already bringing materials to repair, seems like that was their job.

Anyways. What would Claire do now?

Argh... What should he do? The driver wanted them to help recapture the ancient Pokemon scattered, save for the Tyrunt that stared at them, and were picked off by Ground Pokemon that emerged from the ground with frightening synchronization. What was the right decision? Should they just run? Surely no one could fault them for leaving a dangerous situation they had no understanding of? But what if the driver was rescuing those Ancient Pokemon from someone who was trying to claim them back? Or vice versa? How could... How could he possibly know what to do in this sort of situation? Dawkin's hands hovered over his Pokeballs as his eyes darted back and forth across the hectic scene in front of them. Someone needed their help. But who was in the right? Dawkin set his gaze on the Tyrunt that was staring at them.

"Hey buddy, why don't you come with us? I'm not sure what's going on but you're better off with us." Dawkin said, somewhat hopefully, as he crouched down gestured with his hand for the Tyrunt to come with them. He wasn't trying to catch the Tyrunt, he just wanted to make sure it got away safely. After all, if he wanted to catch he would throw a Pokeball after making sure it couldn't resist. He didn't know what was going on here, but what he said was true: the Tyrunt was surely well off with them and he couldn't say for sure that this was the case for anyone else here. Regardless of if the Tyrunt ran away or followed, Dawkin would attempt to leave the area. Chasing down a lone Pokemon in the middle of this mess would be foolish. "We need to get going Amelia, I have no idea what's going on, but its nothing we want to mess with." After all, their goal was to get through this route safely. That was it.

---

Martin had a good feeling about the key card he inserted into the lock. With a short moment of hoping, the light turned green and the door opened. He was back on track to seeing what was really happening back here. His team was doing a lot better and nothing would make him turn back this time. Entering the building, Martin noticed there were fresh jackets hung by the door and voices. Not so abandoned of a building, was it?

Making sure to be a bit more quiet than usual, Martin tried his luck with the door to his right. No luck, as his key card was denied. Odd that there was permission to get in here, but still doors with higher clearance. The sounds of machines whirring, and sunlight coming in from above. Where did he go that things got difficult so fast? Not one to turn down a good travel, Martin walked towards the hallway. While there was a healing station, he didn't want to run into someone, if they were using it. There were another pair of doors on his left and right that denied him again. He can't already be at a dead end this quickly. The voices were coming from up ahead, somewhere on his left.

Continuing down the hallway, Martin made a point of going right, to try the doors as he went. While he would have loved to see what he could hear from them, it also meant they were too busy to be out here. Another locked door that Martin passed by, and that left one more door. It was labeled for starage, and underground testing. Another layer of this place, and not much other choice to go. Martin kept going down the stairs, off to explore more of whatever Team Virtue is up to.

Action: Go down the stairs.

Amelia wasn't able to make out much about the two who had been with the truck, but given the ruckus that was going on all around them, she was happy to be able to make out any detail at all. Once she was done, she looked around to see how the chaos had evolved and it wasn't a pretty sight. The sight of the ancient pokemon getting taken underground by pokemon that must've belonged to the attackers of the truck. The sight did more then upset her a little but she held it in for now, since getting emotional wouldn't do them much good at the moment.

When Dawkin talked to a Tyrunt that stopped by them, she looked at the pokemon. She hoped the little guy would come with them, so they could at least keep it safe. Even saving one of these fossil pokemon would be enough to help cope with the feeling of powerlessness she felt about the whole situation. Regardless of whether the Tyrunt went with them or not, she would agree with Dawkin and move away from the scene when given the chance. When they did so, she would give a silent pray for the ancient pokemon caught in the chaos, hoping they would all be okay.

@PlatinumSkink

---

Claire had a stupid grin plastered on her face as she sat up once the Pangoro let her go. She was wobbly standing on her feet, hunched over and breathing heavily. It hadn't lasted long, but damn. That was more of a workout than she had in a long time. She was vaguely aware of Maples cheering, as well as the cheers of the pokemon from the display of physical ability. As Pangoro ordered one of the Panchams to give her something, she looked at the tiny bear pokemon and what he was holding...a medal of some sort?

Ha!

Victory fanfare plays

She stood up, holding the medal in her hand still wearing that stupid grin. She tossed the medal in the air, making a victory pose and intending on catching the medal in her open hand - only to have it clonk her right on the head and fall to the floor.

"Gah-haha, well, note to self: You're terrible at victory poses." She laughed to herself, reaching over and picking up the medal off the ground. Stone, with an imprint of Pangoro's paw on it. She was done for now, but there was just one more thing she had to say to the big fuzzy guy before she left. She turned on her heel, facing the Pangoro as he and his comrades left. "HEY!" She shouted after them. "I'ma come back here one of these days and I'm gonna win, ya hear me!?" Whether he heard her or not, she was exhausted and wanted a nice rest after that. Before she could go and take a seat though, Ritz bolted from Anise and tackled Claire right in the chest.

"B-bwuh? Oh hey Ritz." She laughed. The Ledyba was staring up at her, obviously worried that she had been hurt in some fashion. "Heh, it'll take more than an angry Pangoro to stop me! He only stopped because I was about ready to whoop his fuzzy butt!" She chuckled, earning a nuzzle from the Ledyba. As Anise approached, Claire the redhead leaned on her lightly, obviously tired from the exertion.

"Jeez, that was tiring." She chuckled, doing a small post work out stretch as Ellyn and Maple started trying to convince the fighting types not to kick their butts. She frowned just as Ralia came literally waltzing back down the street, returning to Claire after jumping about and playing with the Chimchars. "Have fun girl?" She asked, earning a playful salute in confirmation from the fairy type before teleporting herself onto her usual seat on Claire's head. With that, she gave a friendly wave to Lucario and Infernape.

"Go easy on 'em, alright? I think they've learned their lesson." Claire chuckled, turning back to Anise. "Well, lets get to looking then! I came here for a fighting type and I checked off the wrestling part so I'm about all outta steam."

❄Erika Olson❄

---

---

Erika considered Isaac's stock carefully before deciding that none of it was worth buying at the moment, forgetting that the thunderstone might be useful down the line with Chu. "Hmm.. Freecape Town, alright thank you Isaac and see you later! I'm headed off to try for my first gym badge... I hope." Erika said, looking forward to Stillwood Village, remembering that there should be a gym located in that small, sleep town.

With her ambitions set for the day, it was time to try out her battling ability and offered multiple invitations to other trainers along the path. The trainer from Redcoast had provided Erika with a bit of information that she had already known but reaffirmed her long-term goal. The Stone Store in Raremine was going to be Erika's eventual destination, given time of course. The two would battle and Erika's lead was arguably her strongest, Gibs. At this level Dragon Rage was still strong and that's immediately what Erika called for in this first battle. For the Hoppip, Erika used the typing advantage she had with Sno and used Powder Snow to make short work of the grass/flying type. For Eevee, Erika decided to bring out Chu to give him a chance to battle. Play-nice was used a few times to weaken Eevee's attack strength while also ignoring the potential accuracy loss with sand-attack. Then it was a matter of trying to get Thundershock to hit...

Chu was Erika's first choice when she met and challenged a school kid. Koffin was likely a tougher battle considering Erika's team had no typing advantage and the threat of poison but Erika planned on making short work of Koffin with purely Thundershock. Although Chu may have been able to handle Spearow in the next bout, Erika opted instead to give Sno the typing advantage she had, using Powder Snow again to wreck another flying type. Roggenrola was tricky since Poli wasn't in her team at the moment but Erika stuck with what she knew rock wasn't strong against and that invovled Gibs again. Sand-attack was used before following up with Dragon Rage to power through the rock type's defense. Hopefully that School Kid was taught a lesson about humility!

Slightly annoyed with her next challenger, Erika faced off against a wannabe psychic. Kay would be the perfect choice in this encounter but upon summoning her in against Bronzor, she stuck her tongue out and floated away for a moment with Erika yelling at her to come back. She didn't go far, thankfully. Thus Chic was Erika's backup and even though Erika felt like the steel typing was at a disadvantage, she hadn't accounted for Heatproof turning the fight into a real slugfest. Ember was the only move Erika was pushing Chic to do and try and make short work of her opponent. After some pleading and some intimidation from Gibs, Kay fought against Gothita using Foul Play and psychic immunity to hopefully destroy Gothita. Erika wanted Kay to keep going but Kay simply ignored her and took a comfortable viewing seat on a nearby tree branch. Sno was Erika's second choice to counter the flying type, using Leer before Icy Shard to hopefully break down Woobat.

No doubt her team was really feeling tired at this point but with Stillwood in sight, Erika challenged one more opponent who was also heading South towards Raremine. Kay was drifting around behind, awestruck about the open sky but Erika was content on letting her wander about a bit. She at least helped in one battle. Some rock collector or something but regardless of the man, Erika used her last two potions to recover Sno and Chic. Sno used double team and icy shard to hopefully defeat Sandile, while Chic was tasked with Ember attacks against Magnetmite. Finally the untrialed Eep was Erika's choice for Nuzleaf. Using mainly acid but also constrict and astonish in minor ways to hopefully and eventually defeat Nuzleaf.

With that, Erika's first move was to use the Pokemon Center (if there was one) in Stillwood before finally considering her other options in town!

`

@Pikmin Eye

Martin headed through the level, avoiding the healing station _{and probably the chests of recovery items and the strangely placed save-spot too had they existed} before eventually heading down the stairs, which spiraled down a tight rectangular space until he reached a lower level. There, he reached another wider room, with several routes. The room itself was empty except for some benches on the sides for potential seating. Based on some scratches on the floor, things on wheels commonly made their way through this room.

To his right following the wall was a large door labeled “Underground”. If Martin tried it, he’d find he had access and that it led to an elevator going downwards. Evidently, he could reach the underground from here. Ahead of him was “Lvl. 1 Storage”, which was open to him. To his left along the wall was also “Lvl. 2 Storage”, which was inaccessible to him. To the far left was a large door, with the main sign, “Testing Area”.



With Martin’s current key-card he could only go to the underground or the Lvl 1 storage from here. If he goes underground, well, then the story will continue from there. If he goes to the storage…



Now. In either the case that he went into the storage and is now coming back out again OR he simply lingered inside this room for a bit of extra time for any reason, there was a sudden echoing successful sound of a door’s lock being opened. It was the Testing Area’s door, which lights just flashed green. This likely means it’s about to open. Martin has a few seconds to potentially hide or whatever else he has a sudden desire of doing. If he’s still there… what will he do?

__________________________

@Eklispe@Joshua Tamashii

Tyrunt stopped and stared at the two as they offered their alternative path, then gave a little cry of amusement and dashed towards them, completely throwing off the numerous Sandshrews that emerged from the ground numerous feet ahead of where Tyrunt WOULD have been going had the Pokémon continued in the direction he was previously going. Now instead they looked considerably confused before digging down underground again. So for now, they had a curious wild Tyrunt hanging out with them.

Now, they wanted to leave the area… except Route 6 is vast, on their feet they wouldn’t get far enough before they could hear hooves approaching from a distance. They did get far enough to get behind a hill before the situation settled, the driver and his protector having been able to retain a portion of the ancient Pokémon while the other portion slipped away with the Ground-type Pokémon. Now, potentially because she saw Dawkin and Amelia earlier, the trainer on the Rapidash was now riding in their direction, on the other side of the hill…

And on Route 6, there is nowhere to hide. … That is, unless they hide behind those Miltanks just absently walking about and grazing the endless fields. That is theoretically possible.

Dawkin will reluctantly and with great embarrassment, attempt to hide behind the miltanks.

Amelia will likely follow Dawkins lead and try to get the Tyrunt to do the sane

So, with varying emotions they maneuvered into the her of Miltanks, some of which looked at them curiously before continuing with their peaceful behavior. Amelia keeping an eye on Tyrunt might be for the best, because he was inches away from curiously biting at the nearest Miltank, and angering their cover might not be the best idea possible.

So, on the other side of the Miltanks, the trainer on the Rapidash rode over the hill. At this point she stopped and frowned, looking around, knowing there’s no way they’d have gotten that far assuming they went by foot. She eyed towards the Miltanks, but they didn’t seem particularly suspicious so she hit her feet so the Rapidash too off in a gallop… before suddenly the ground started shaking. The trainer had to hurry to reign in her Rapidash from the sudden shaking and the Miltanks around Dawkin and Amelia were also startled, though not to the degree of actually starting to run. Then… something large burst from the ground before the trainer on the horse.

It was another woman, emerging from the ground sitting on top of a sizable Pokémon. _{Amelia could sense the presence of at least one ghost in the woman’s Pokéballs.}








From this distance, it was much easier to make out the two, albeit Dawkin and Amelia perhaps should avoid peeking too often because at the very least Claydol has eyes on all sides. Still. The woman on the Rapidash had short, blonde hair, a plain face and a large white coat as well as a red scarf. Nothing too unnatural, minus riding in high heels. The one that emerged from the ground, though, was a different story. She had long, wild red hair, was wearing a yellow suit that was seemingly made to protect her body while deep underground, on which she had numerous pockets and gadgets attached that probably helped with mining, and a brown jacket on top of that. In addition, the suit was… kind of open on top, showing a bit of skin. That aside. The two women’s eyes met, the blonde one frowning meeting the smiling red-headed one. They both knew which one of them had won the previous encounter.

Under the assumption that Dawkin and Amelia stayed put, the two women started talking, starting with the blonde one on the Rapidash.

‘Kristy… Stealing is unbecoming of a Gym Leader.’ There was poison on her otherwise polite tone.

‘Hahahaha. If I considered myself stealing, would I be showing my face?’ The replying woman who had arrived from underground sounded more jovial, but nonetheless tense.

‘Nonetheless, this was an unsanctioned attack. You’re not getting away with this.’

‘Maybe not. Though, I do like to hope the message of what we think of your actions came through.’

‘We’re not doing anything illegal.’

‘Oh, grow up, Leila. You were shipping those Pokémon to be sold to the highest bidder. Ancient Pokémon fetch a handy price, eh?’

‘We were not. We were taking them to the research labs of Worldedge City to be further researched for what information about the past we can discover. Team Amethyst has gotten into your head.’

‘Oho-ho-ho. Funny you should mention… We have reason to believe you’re cooperating with them.’

‘Baseless accusations. In fact, we have reason to believe you’re working with them.’

‘… Oh?’ Kristy sounded genuinely taken aback at that.

‘There are only two major holders of ancient Pokémon in the world. You Raremine Miners, spanning from the Frozen Cavern Mines to the Desert Mines, and us, the Worldedge Scientific Division. Yet, our collectors are reporting that there has been a certain increase of ancient Pokémon on the less reputable market. Why is that? Someone’s leaking, and might I claim, miners might be more inclined to desire a better, richer life than scientists…’

‘Heh. Or maybe the crooks have just uncovered a new good spot for mining that they’ve kept hidden for profit. Or maybe it has to do with the incomplete transactions happening among scientists. Test subjects that, when done with, just happen to vanish…’

‘They’re entrusted to friends, family, or to nearby Pokémon Trainers that visit the lab, library or museum.’

‘Really? I’d like to see those records, because that sounds like convenient excuses. Oh, by the way. Play Park called. They wondered why they didn’t get as many ancient Pokémon as was promised, or as I can confirm were delivered from Raremine Town by your men.’

‘… Huh. I haven’t heard about that. I’ll look into it.’ Leila replied to that, her turn to be taken aback a bit.

‘You definitely should. Until I’m further been assured of the situation, however, I don’t feel safe leaving those Pokémon in your hands, and I will continue attacking your shipments. I trust you won’t mind.’

‘That is highly violent of you. We really need those Pokémon. Speaking of violent solutions, if I just defeat you and capture you, I figure I could make your men hand over the Pokémon in exchange for that I don’t hand you over to the authorities?’ … And suddenly, the pressure of Leila’s words grew dramatically, but Kristy just laughed.

‘Ahahahaha! Capture me, huh. What age did you grow up in? Anyway. In Raremine Town, I AM the authority, and I remind I didn’t become a Gym Leader by being bad at battling. So, what’s it gonna be, sweetie? Can you match the Desert Princess?’

‘… That title doesn’t suit you anymore. I realize you got it along with your Gym Leader position when you were a teenager, but now you’re…’

‘Heh. Yeah, suppose I might have outgrown it. “Princess” isn’t what you think looking at me anymore. I could change it, but I’m kinda attached to it. “Desert Queen” sounds way too haughty, though.’

‘… Heh.’

‘Oooh, got you to smirk!’

‘…’

‘…’

The two turned silent, each holding a Pokéball glaring at the other, the casualness of the previous conversation about Kristy’s title washing away as both prepared for eventual battle.

… Would Dawkin and Amelia do anything? Their action could take place during the conversation, even if they’ll interrupt it, the above is simply “if they do not interrupt”.

__________________________

@Rune_Alchemist

The scarred Pangoro turned his head a little and gave a grin, acknowledging Claire’s claim, before he kept going and walked back up the castle road. Him pausing to do that basically led to the entire castle also pausing to see what he was going to do, then just a combined little smirk as their great leader grinned, and then everyone returned to what they were doing.

Infernape turned his head a little to Claire’s talking to him and Lucario, and slowly nodded though with a displeased expression. Then, he turned to Maple and Ellyn, pointed at the exit with one hand while making the universal “shoo, shoo” motion with the other. Ellyn was quick to turn and walk without an additional look towards Claire and Anise… but Maple however turned wide-eyed and looked to Claire.

‘W-wait!’ She called out. ‘Claire! Can I have your phone number!? I’d love to talk to you occasionally!’ Desperate to expand her net of friends, Maple called out to Claire. Up to her how she responds, but regardless Lucario and Infernape are going to be pretty quick at leading Maple out after her companion.

Regardless of Claire’s reaction, moving on.

So, this is basically a fully functioning city, except inhabited by Pokémon.



There were numerous rings throughout the castle where Fighting-Pokémon faced one another and tried to win. However, the majority was simply buildings and different Fighting-types working to maintain it all. There were Machops aplenty, quite a few Timburrs and Meditites, the occasional Mienfoo. There was a bunch of Panchams, but they were mostly all competing for whom could be the closest and most perfectly mimic the current action of their king, no matter what that action was at that exact moment. Rarer among their number were the every-so-often Riolu and Tyrogue, both kinds seeking to grow stronger in this crowded castle. And, of course, there was at least one family of Chimchars.

It did seem like the rule of “strong seeks upwards” was present here, as though there were evolved Pokémon they were few and far between, mostly acting as overwatchers of the smaller fighters around. Yet, holding the title as leader of the castle needed one of the strongest of their kind, which was that Pangoro. This meant that to seek new challenges, the young Fighting-types eventually left the castle to grow stronger, and one day perhaps fight the king of the castle. As such Pangoro made himself an idol to all the Fighting-types of the castle, and you best believe he was ready to jump down to save his kind, only stopping because he noted Claire’s approach and was interested in how it would turn out.

The largest arena was, of course, the top of the castle, where the king and his top four enforcers (Conkeldurr, Lucario, Infernape, Breloom) squared off in high-power duels that left the audience in awe, dreaming to grow as strong as them one day.

So. In any case. What would Claire do now?

__________________________

@Pirouette

‘Oh? Well, then. Good luck, Erika! I’ll be rooting for you!’ Isaac told her as she headed off, waving to her and wishing her luck.

With that, Erika went to battle!

Gibs completely floored the first Buneary, the creature unable to overcome the blazing Dragon Rage. Sno then made short work of the poor Hoppip which didn’t stand a chance. Eevee, however, was a different matter. Play Nice was used, decreasing Eevee’s attack while Eevee hit with Sand-Attack. Realizing what Erika was doing, Jamie commanded an all-out attack by Eevee to do damage while she still could. It became a Tackle VS Thundershock battle, but even with the previous, Thundershock wasn’t doing enough damage. Eevee was winning this battle, if only just. Will Erika change up her plan?

Next battle! In the fight against Koffing, Chu turned out to be a terrific choice. Chu’s speed meant Koffing’s gasses couldn’t keep up and trap him, and while he got Smokescreened a few times he could keep his distance and Thundershock the floating ball without fearing gas nor admirable defense, meaning Koffing fainted soon enough.



Sno Powder Snowed down Spearow with just a few shots, but not without being pecked for a nasty piece of damage in return. Still, she got some experience.



Roggenrola wasn’t affected by Sand Attack (IT HAS NO EYES) and headed in for a Headbutt… but Dragon Rage pierced all its supposed defenses and Roggenrola fainted.





‘Woa!’ Adrian looked in surprise at Gible and his downed Roggenrola. The school kid glanced over his notes, a surprised look in his eyes, looked up at Gible again, then let the noted drop as he looked out over the nearby lake for numerous quiet seconds. Eventually, he spoke, sounding slightly in awe. ‘I… I want a dragon.’ Well, looks like he learned something, at the very least.

Chic VS Bronzor. Bronzor was indeed heatproof and had superior defense and special defense, but poor offensive stats balanced the fight. Initially it looked bad as Chic fell asleep from an Hypnosis while Bronzor got off Confusions, but Chic woke up quickly and kept on Embering while Bronzor failed a couple Hypnosis after. Chic was heavily damaged, but Bronzor fainted first.



Gothita sent a Tickle at Kay, tickling any sensitive points with Psychic powers, before being promptly taken out by Foul Play.



In Woobat VS Sno, Woobat’s speed allowed it to get in a few Confusions, but eventually Sno’s type-advantage froze the bat in the air and victory was Erika’s.



‘GAH!’ Mason recoiled as if taking a physical blow, then the Psychic promptly pointed at Erika while returning his Pokémon. ‘Th-this isn’t over! You haven’t seen the last of me…!’ Shouting a line that perhaps would have served better said in fiction by a D-class villain, Mason spun and dashed away. Didn’t seem like he learned anything.

Healing Sno and Chic was a good choice, because Sno suffered some nasty bites in the following battle against Sandile and Chic suffered numerous Thundershocks, good thing the chicken wasn’t a Flying type. Sno triumphed over Sand Attack’s decreased accuracy and hit his Powder Snow to take down Sandile.



In her fight with Magnemite Chic was paralyzed and couldn’t move once, but the type advantage meant the Embers she did get off did enough damage to out-damage the Thundershocks and Chic won.



Then… it was Nuzleaf. Eep did fairly well, using Acid to do Super Effective damage, but the level difference was too great. Nuzleaf was going to faint him while only taking roughly half his health as damage, after perhaps unnecessarily paralyzing Eep. Would Erika switch strategies?

@PlatinumSkink

---

"Eh?" Claire turned to Maple as the other girl approached her. Her number? Well, sure! "Sure! Here ya go." Claire quickly gave her number to Maple. "I think ya should probably hurry up and leave though. You guys kiiiinda made a mess of things here, heh." She chuckled. "But hey, feel free to call any time! If I'm not busy being awesome I'll probably answer." Ralia quickly patted her on her head though, getting her attention so she wouldn't get too distracted from her goal for coming here in the first place. "Anyways, catch ya later! Gonna go nab me a feisty one! And tell Ellyn not to scowl so much. She'd be cuter if she didn't!~" With a final goodbye to Maple and Ellyn Claire dashed off into the castle.

OOh, there were so many to choose from! Machop were abundant, along with Timburrs and Meditites. Hmm, she had thought about getting a Meditite for herself, but she could always just go to her dads place and find play with her dads Medicham. She also spotted a Mienfoo or two, along with Panchams, Tyrogue, Chimchar and Riolu. There were just so many to choose from, Claire didn't know where to start! None were immediately catching her eye, either. She couldn't spend all day going through all of them either. If only there was a way to make them come to her instead...

Hmm...

"Ah!" Claire grinned, walking quickly into an area with a lot of pokemon. Letting go of Ritz, she fumbled around in her bag for the castle medal for a second before finding it and giving it one last good look. "ALRIGHT!" She shouted loudly, holding it confidently out for all the pokemon to see. "Whoever wants to be partner to the future league and contest champion, I am now taking applications!"

"Rrral!~" Ralia gave a little cheer, waving her hand in a mildly exaggerated and comical fashion.

❄Erika Olson❄

---

---

With the few hiccups encountered, Erika modified her strategy. With Chu having issues with Eevee, Erika hesitantly drew Kay and after a brief argument between the two, Erika managed to convince Kay to do a finish Eevee off. The powerful Foul Play attack would hopefully be enough to tip that battle in her favor. The second hiccup was that of Nuzleaf. He seemed tough and despite the freshness of Eep, the battle was going poorly. With one so tough, Erika decided to return Eep and try Gibs, using Dragon Rage to hopefully give them the edge. Gibs had only seen one battle and he was likely the freshest Pokemon Erika had but in the event that Gibs couldn't edge out the competition, Erika would try to get any ice attack with Sno, hoping that Gibs would be capable enough to at least knock Nuzleaf down.

(Assuming that works, plan remains to go to the Pokemon Center, asap!)

@Rune_Alchemist

‘Ooooh!’ Maple’s world brightened up as Claire provided her number. ‘Thank you! Thank you! I’m so happy! I’ll call you in a bit!’ She then spun around to Ellyn and smiled so very happily. ‘Alright! Now, onto Stillwood Village and the Pokémon Gym!’ Maple called also as happily, one could think she wasn’t escaping a number of rather pissed Pokémon after losing an attack on a castle. Ellyn, as unenthusiastic as ever, threw a last glance at Claire before following.

Now, then. Claire headed into one of the larger buildings, to someplace within the castle. Here, there was a dome and a potential arena where multiple Pokémon were fighting, and there were plenty of young wannabe champions spread about. And here, Claire made her call, heads turning to look at her as they processed her words…

She may as well have made an assembly-call for the whole castle. That thing in her hand, recognition from the king? For the fighting-Pokémon here that was a guarantee that Claire was destined for greatness and would make them part of one of the most powerful teams imaginable. While there were those that stayed behind for various complex reason, a good 70% of the room scrambled over one another to get to her, Machops crawling over one another and Timburrs trying to jump forward. Meditites and Mienfoos also desired the opportunity, lining up on the sides, and a Tyrogue shouted loudly from somewhere in the crowd. Occasional Riolu, too, taking this offer seriously, trying to push their way forward. There was at least one Chimchar, too, who was now excitedly sitting on a Timburr’s stick to look at Claire from a bit higher.

Notable absence of Panchams, for the simple reason that the king wasn’t here and they’d rather be around the king than any other.

Sooooooooo… Claire’s now got a whole crowd of Pokémon that barely seems to have decreased in size, but now they’re all focused on her.

What now? … Numerous are about to start fighting to prove their worth to her on their own.

__________________________

@Pirouette

Kay’s Foul Play was way more than Eevee now could handle and Eevee was knocked out, leaving Jamie out of Pokémon.






‘… Then again, maybe I don’t want a stone? I could just seek out the Ice Rock or the Moss Rock at… somewhere, or just hug her really tight during night or day, maybe…’ Clearly, Jamie wasn’t entirely sure which eeveelution she wanted. She thanked for the battle and then moved on.

Then, against Nuzleaf. Before Gibs got off his Dragon Rage he was hit with one set of Razor Leaf and then another, leaving him with very little health, but Dragon Rage was still way too powerful and took out Nuzleaf’s remaining health in a single hit, burning down the Grass/Dark-type.






‘Oh! Looks like I might yet have some training to do!’ Wilhelm said, lifting his hat a bit before heading off to Lakewatch City to get his Pokémon healed. Now Erika’s team was very damaged, yeah, onto the next area. She treaded into the forest to the north of Route 5, the forest known as Stillwood Forest, and for a bit it was dark as trees blocked out the sun. But, following the route she eventually encountered Aroma Ladies. Avoiding battle because of damaged Pokémon, Erika could go past them and eventually arrive to…

Martin was down another floor in this building, having more doors to have to try. What caught his notice was there was more down, and Storage. How convenient, because none of the other doors worked. Team Virtue couldn't hiding anything in the storage, could they? Not like Martin was going to skip checking it out. He went in the room, the key card continuing to allow him this infiltration. Inside was items, a lot of them. Normally, Martin wasn't one to steal things, or stock up from someone else's belongings. Not Team Virtue, they took what they wanted from his city, so it was time to return the favor.

"Thanks for the donation, Team Virtue." Martin gave a chuckle as he helped himself to some of the items on the shelves. Anything he took, was less they could use. Not like he had any plans of joining this place, or care what they thought of him. There was a note, which looks like what a standard member would have on them when they were out and about. Looks like Ben would be in trouble.

Martin has stolen obtained:
5 Potions, 4 Pokeballs, 2 Great Balls, 3 Revives, 1 Escape Rope, 5 Repels, and 2 Burn Heals for 0P.

With a pack full of freshly restocked items, partially of which was because of Team Virtue. Martin didn't feel bad for what he did. He must have took too long, because the sound of the testing room doors sounded as it was going to open. Only one direction to go from here, and that was further in. Martin was burning this bridge, and only had one shot at seeing what was happening down here. No way was he leaving until he pushed his limits to the max.

Action: "Obtain" new items, and head through the Underground door to avoid the people from the Testing room.

❄Erika Olson❄

---

---

Despite the few closecalls Erika had managed to make it through her several trainer challenges and win! Of course now, her team were all worn out, save for Kay who blissfully fluttered around as Erika lead her onto Stillwood Village. As the flora got denser as Erika got closer to her destination, she couldn't help but noticing her increased sneezing. "Wha- am I allergic? Aah-choo!" Erika muttered in between a sneeze. Later Erika would guess that she isn't so much as allergic so much as to not use to the amount of pollen and sweet scents that tickled her nose. Which is was to Erika's relief as Stillwood was quite scenic and something that she had never really seen in Cooldome.

Erika noticed Kay had found the smells rather relaxing as she spun and flipped, ignoring Erika's momentary struggles to adapt to this new environment. Well at least she was having no problems, Erika thought to herself. Carrying on, Erika found the Pokecenter of Stillwood and took the opportunity to heal up her team, again having some struggles to wrangle in Kay who dodged Erika's recapture beams from her Pokeball. Eventually Kay got to confident and stuck her tongue out where Erika was finally able to snipe her team member to get her back into her Pokeball. Finally able to turn over all six Pokemon to the Nurse, they were all healed and then returned to her.

Now with that taken care of, Erika decided to go scout out the town and more importantly, the Stillwood Gym! She would talk to some people outside of the Gym before hand for a few minutes before hunger would finally get to her before trying to find some cafe to have breakfast. While at wherever, she'd finally catch up on things she has been meaning to do. Claire called at some point yesterday and since Stillwood was the proposed meeting place, Erika wondered if she made it here yet? In fact, Erika was wondering just how far Claire had come, what Pokemon she had? Could Erika be behind her other fellow trainers? That would be nerve-wrecking, for sure.

Erika would send Claire a text message through her Pokedex:
Claire, I finally made it to Stillwood! I hope I didn't miss you! Let me know?

Simply and easy. Now there would be another thing pressing on Erika's mind and that was having an official update with Professor Kalmia. Using her Pokedex again, Erika would dial up the Professor, hoping to be able to talk to her this morning. If so,

It seemed he wasn't the only one who didn't know what was going on. However the other two parties seemed to be rather sure that they did, while Dawkin was confident that they didn't from what he'd heard so far. At around

That is highly violent of you. We really need those Pokémon. Speaking of violent solutions, if I just defeat you and capture you, I figure I could make your men hand over the Pokémon in exchange for that I don’t hand you over to the authorities?

He'd made a decision. Dawkin stepped out from behind the Miltank with his hands held palm upwards in a basic gesture of peace. "Hey! I think that's about far enough. It's pretty clear to me that both of you are blaming the other for things that aren't their fault. Leila didn't know about what happened at Play Park and Kristy didn't know about the surge in illegal activity regarding ancient pokemon."

Although perhaps he wasn't exactly on a first name basis with these people, he couldn't exactly call them lady A and lady B now could? "I think if you both put your brains together rather than butting heads you'd be able to figure out what's going on. I've already run into both Team Amethyst and Team Virtue and I've barely made it through two routes. Don't you think that it may be more likely it has something to do with them then two reputable public leaders?" Dawkin hoped they would at consider what he said, even though he could be entirely wrong, and really didn't have much of a place in this conversation.

Still, he felt like he couldn't let this clash go on without saying something. Hopefully they understood his good intentions and didn't simply take him out, because Dawkin was entirely confident that the two Pokemon on the field right now could easily defeat his small team without suffering a scratch.

---

@PlatinumSkink

---

Welp, this couldn't have gone better.

She was swarmed by a mob of young fighting type pokemon, nearly all the ones in the castle seeming to gather around her after her declaration. She actually hadn't expected this many to show up - and now she had to somehow pick out which one she wanted. She couldn't very well take all of them! Oh, Mienfoo and Chimchar were adorable though, and Machop and Conkeldurr was so tough looking, it was hard to decide! Before she could though, a beep from her pokedex interrupted her thoughts. Huh? A text? Oh, it was from Erika - ah, she was in still wood already? Well, might as well send a well timed reply!

"Hey hey, you ever wrestle a Pangoro? Oh man those things are tough! Fun though. Currently at Mt. Strength, be there soon!"

As soon as she finished sending the text, Ralia tugged lightly on her clothing to get her attention, pointing to the Chimchar sitting on top of a Timburr's stick.

"Eh? You want me to catch that one?" She asked, earning a nod and a smile from the small fairy type. Had it been one of the ones Ralia was playing with? Well, either way if he was good enough for Ralia, he was good enough for her! With a grin, she waded through the sea of small fighting types until she made her way to the Chimchar. "Well, Ralia seems to like ya," She grinned, Ralia waving eagerly at the small monkey like pokemon. "So how about it, wanna come with?"

@Pikmin Eye

Martin gathered some supplies from the Team Virtue storage, and then headed out. Noting the sounds of the door opening, he made his way to the elevator to the Underground and pressed the only option, down. The elevator door closed just about exactly as the door to the testing labs opened. The elevator headed down at a steady pace, a sizable area made for perhaps some cargo as well as personnel to travel down at once. And it… went far down. How far down were they going? Perhaps just as one would regularly start wondering just how deep this hole was, the elevator started slowing down.

There were voices right on the other side of the doors. They opened automatically.



… He’s back in the underground, no clear idea of where in it. Except, here was an outpost of Team Virtue’s. The caverns carried on in three directions, right, left and straight forward, all directions had barricades and Virtue guards standing with varying Pokémon scanning into the dark depths. There were tents with supplies and people running around in considerable speed. There were a large amount of wagons on wheels standing about, grey boxes layered on top of one another revealing nothing of what they contained, very much like the one he had seen the woman earlier escorting. With the people placing them in lines, around twenty people or so on seven carts, it seemed they were preparing to move. Since the last he had seen had apparently needed five to be pushed, twenty people on seven would be stretching it.

Of note, none of the grunts were actually wearing Team Virtue uniforms, they were in completely casual wear.

‘MOVE, MOVE! We haven’t a moment to waste!’ In the midst of them, stood a light-brown haired twenty-ish man in a white suit waving what appeared to be a large polearm around to inspire the men around him with his commanding tone of voice. He certainly had the grunts running scared. He had what appeared to be a blue crustacean Pokémon on his left shoulder. And… because the elevator had arrived with a large “pling-plong” sound of having reached the right floor and the doors of the elevator opened on their own, he now turned and saw Martin in the elevator opening.

‘YOU!’ he shouted, spinning to point his polearm at Martin while his crayfish pointed one oversized claw at him as well in a very threatening manner. ‘… are late! You’re also new, so let me tell you right now! I’m Team Virtue Elite Anton, and I’m no big softie like Jonas above ground! Down here is MY command, so you’ll follow MY orders, got it!?’



On his shoulder was a blue crustacean Pokémon, pointing its claw as threateningly as Anton did his polearm…





Anton spun his head to look around briefly before looking at Martin again.

‘We’re getting ready to move! These things are to be transported to the West Base! Lady Ivory already went ahead with the more urgent package, and she’ll have our heads if we dawdle! Find an undermanned carriage and get ready to move! And- and PLEASE tell me you remembered to bring your uniform in your bag? Because I’m ABSOLUTELY NOT going back to get it if you forget!’ Anton frowned angrily at Martin at the last.

Well. What would be Martin’s reaction?

__________________________

@Pirouette

Erika travelled and found her way to the gym. It was a large building wrapped around one of the trees of the forest higher than the ground, a staircase leading up to the oversized treehouse. It was large like a mansion, a serene air surrounding it, yet there was clearly room for multiple arenas within it. Down by the end of the staircase was a sign.

Stillwood Pokémon Gym - Minor League
Leader: Archie
“The Woodland Wanderer!”

Indeed a Minor League Gym. So, asking a couple individuals about the Gym Leader, was it? There was a pair of very chatty Aroma Ladies nearby, that could give quite the amount of information.

‘Oh, you want to know about our Archie, do you? He’s the pride of our village! He’s a natural wanderer and people say he can somehow navigate any forest, no matter how difficult, including Endless Forest! How is that possible? Though, he never tells what he finds. But, we’re confident he isn’t lying! He brings back so powerful Pokémon, after all!’
‘Archie only became a Gym Leader very recently. Stillwood Village always had the problem that it developed very few powerful Pokémon Trainers. We never really go on trips, after all. But then, Archie wandered by himself into Endless Forest, and came back with a slew of powerful Pokémon… The whole village immediately voted him Gym Leader! He was only allowed to become a Minor Leader, but Stillwood Village has a Gym Leader once again! We are all very proud…!’

‘Eh-hem.’ A man approached Erika, who had also stood near the entrance of the Gym. He had a kind smile, glasses and an utmost confidence that he got this correctly.



‘You’re a new trainer, aren’t you? Are you perhaps even our newest champ-to-be? If so, let me be your guide! Ask me any questions that relates to Gyms and the Pokémon League!’

Now, Erika was a bit more knowledgeable on these things than the average newbie due to a variety of factors, but if she wanted to hear it, this guy was happy to do his job! … Otherwise, she could leave him behind and do whatever she wanted.





Then she called Kalmia and asked a couple questions. Kalmia happily answered.



That’ll do. Now what?



Connected areas:
Route 4. Forest route at the base of Mt. Strength leading west to Rainrock City.
Route 5. A grassy incline connecting mountains, forests, plains, Stillwood and Lakewatch.
Route 14. The waters of Dragon Lake are also known as Route 14. It connects Lakewatch Town, Highhill Town and Stillwood Village.
Mountain Valley. A passage between Mt. Strength and Mt. Chill, a shortcut to Worldedge City.



__________________________

@Eklispe@Joshua Tamashii

Both women turned their heads to look towards Dawkin when he suddenly decided to step forth and announce his presence and opinion. Kristy tilted her head slightly and her look had somewhat of a curious and surprised look, she being the one that actually didn’t know he was there. Leila gave a sigh and turned her head to look at him with slight pain in her expression, seemingly not at surprised. Claydol and Rapidash were just idly spectating the scene, Rapidash tense and ready to move while Claydol simply hovered without movement.

When Dawkin was done, Kristy let out an amused laughter.

‘Ahahahahahaha! Hey, a kid’s lecturing us about fighting. Can you continue that attack of yours with that? Indeed, the fault doesn’t lie with either of us, some criminal is operating under our noses, right? So let’s not fight.’

Leila frowned, glaring back at Kristy.

‘You say that after you’ve conducted an attack and promise to attack again? It’s only right that I get to-’

‘_{SHE HIT ME FIRST!}’ Kristy interrupted Leila by putting words in her mouth, smiling widely and making a high-pitched child-like tone to accompany.

‘…’ Leila paused with her mouth hanging open, feeling herself ridiculed. ‘I see age didn’t bring you any maturity, “Princess”,’ she finally settled on.

‘Oooh, that’s a jab. Hahaha!’ Kristy didn’t look insulted. Leila snorted before looking at Dawkin.

‘Fine. No fighting. So, I’ll settle for just taking back the ancient Pokémon that you brought with you from the-’

‘Nope!’ Kristy interrupted.

‘… That Pokémon belongs to us and is-’

‘Nope!’ Kristy smiled widely. A very annoyed Leila glared at Kristy, before turning her Rapidash around, looking back but briefly to word a couple venomous words.

‘I’ll be in touch.’ With that, unless Dawkin or Amelia stopped her, Leila kicked off and Rapidash dashed off with her, and they vanished out of sight beyond the hill moments later. … And that’s when Kristy slid down from Claydol and turned happily towards Dawkin.

‘Phew! Don’t actually know if I’d have won that. Of course I probably would have just fled through a hole in the ground, but hah. Minor Gym Leader of Raremine Town, “Desert Princess” Kristy, is thankful that you helped avoid an unnecessary battle. Ahahahaha!’ Kristy laughed, as if forgetting that the whole thing was because she attacked the truck in the first place. Claydol still hovered ominously behind her…

While all that was happening, Amelia was holding on to Tyrunt, who was very curious as to what was going on over there and a bit sour because Miltanks apparently couldn’t be nibbled.

So, that’s that. Now what?

__________________________

@Rune_Alchemist

Claire got a lot of eager looks from the Pokémon around her when she looked around her. Then she got a message and decided to answer it, getting fairly confused and anxious looks from the less patient members of the crowd during that was happening. Then… Ralia indicated her pick, and Chimchar blinked a bit and pointed at himself, still seated on top of Timburr’s log. Then, a smile spread on his monkey face as Claire waded over and offered him a place on the team.

‘Chimchar!’ He called out happily, reaching over.




Gender: ♂
Type: Fire
Personality: (Up to player.)
Quirks/Talents/Aspirations/Other: (Up to player.)
Level: 4
Moves: Scratch, Leer
Ability: Iron Fist. Increases the power of punching-based moves.
Held Item: None.



Quite a distance away, leaning on the wall over there, Infernape stood with arms crossed watching his son being accepted into a trainer’s team. He was totally fine with that, simply standing there watching over this important moment in the young one’s life. But, for Chimchar anyway, he’d probably note that his father was over there, watching as this happened. And, well, numerous siblings perhaps peeking about here and there, but he had been the one that was brave/adventurous enough to apply to join Claire. Note, Chimchar here is pretty young, so, yeah.

There is still a crowd of fighting Pokémon around Claire, possibly hoping for if she wants one more or so, but others seems to be disappointed not to have been the first pick and moved on.

She might note that somewhere else in the same room, Anise attempted to talk a Riolu into joining her. This resulted in Lucario appearing from somewhere and challenging her, probably partly because he saw Pangoro brawling earlier and got excited. Anise accepted the challenge, and is now being completely overwhelmed by Lucario who isn’t holding back in the slightest with pinning her, the prospective Riolu watching on curiously as Anise is desperately trashing to get back at the superior combatant.

What’s Claire’s next cause of action?

@PlatinumSkink

---

"Welcome aboard little guy!" Claire happily grinned, picking up Chimchar in her free hand, letting the small pokemon crawl up to her shoulder. She was a little upset she couldn't take more with her, but she had to get a move on. She needed to get to Stillwood and meet up with Eirka post-haste! Only problem was that Chimchar needed some decent training...not to mention Ritz was still a bit roughed up from fighting Ellyn and Maple. She glanced over to Anise who was apparently fighting a Lucario. They'd been going at it for awhile and she had a few potions to spare. Should introduce Chimchar to the team, too.

...Eh, a small break couldn't hurt.

"Hey, kick that Lucario's furry butt!" Claire shouted a small word of encouragement to her friend before giving Chimchar a scratch on the head as Ralia climbed off of her, hopping down to the floor. She was soon followed by Chimchar as they started to run around the immediate area, playing as they had before as Claire let the rest of her pokemon out as Ritz still hung firmly to her back. Once Del was let out of his pokeball, he simply hovered nearby, watching the fighting pokemon and wondering what mess Claire had gotten them into this time and glad he hadn't been a part of it. Ritz seemed to have found a nice rock to rest on, still recovering a bit from the heart pounding display that Claire had put on while wrestling that Pangoro.

...Lure was...well, being Lure. Fluttering slowly some distance away, keen on not speaking to or interacting with such lowly humans and other pokemon.

"Alright guys! Lets take a small break before we head on over to Stillwood and meet up with Erika." She reached into her bag, pulling out one of the super potions she had bought earlier. "Y'know, look around have some fun, but don't go to far. Hey Ritz!" Claire walked over to the Ledyba, giving him a comforting pat on the head and crouching down to where he was resting. "Here ya go boy."

"Led!" Seeing the super potion, Ritz gave a few happy buzzes, glad to have a bit of rest after that fight.

"Go play with Ralia or Del, if ya want too for a bit." Claire said, standing back up and stretching. Ow, she was a bit sore come to think of it. Oh well, something else for now. When she had been rummaging through her bag she found something Hector had given her when she beat the gym - a TM! She had almost completely forgotten about it. Power up Punch would be a neat move to teach Chimchar if he could learn it. She also needed a good name for him.

Hmm...

For a few seconds she watched Ralia and Chimchar play around a bit, before quickly deciding on a name for him.

"Hey, Chimchar!" Claire called out to him, causing the small chimp pokemon to stop dead in his tracks, causing Ralia to crash comically into him. "Com'ere, I got something for ya." Interested, the pokemon quickly shuffled over, Ralia following behind.

"Chim chim?"

"First, You're getting a complete fabulous name from moi~" She grinned. "I'm gonna call you Zeal."

"...Chim?" The Chimchar seemed a little underwhelmed by the name.

"Ah what'd ya mean it's a silly name? It's perfect for ya!" Claire seemed a bit shocked, causing Ralia to giggle as she waltzed over to Ritz and Del. "Anyways! I've got a present for you." Claire reached into her bag, fumbling around with its seemingly disorganized contents before finding the TM she was hunting for. "Here we go! Power-up Punch. I think it's a perfect move for you. Eerr...." She looked at the disk and then to Zeal. How'd this work again?

"Chim." Chimchar was quickly realizing his trainer was perhaps a little silly. In the background Ralia was riding on top of Del, chasing a few of the younger fighting types around in a playful manner, making a few commanding motions with her arm. She seemed to also be trying to...recruit some for something? Ritz was content to simply watch alongside Lure.

"Aha, hold on..." Claire fiddled with the TM and the pokedex for a few seconds. Didn't she read somewhere they functioned as a TM case? Some sort of slot or something you put the disk into and then had them learn it? "Ah! There we go." A few seconds later she found the slot, pushing the disk into the Pokedex as the screen lit up. "Alright, so...I guess we watch it now?" Claire hummed, Zeal monkeying up her body to rest on her shoulder to watch what happens.

---

Teach Zeal Power-up punch
Use Super potion on Ledyba

@Rune_Alchemist

Ritz was successfully healed with the Super Potion. He’s back at full health.

Anise eventually came back. She had a couple new red spots on her arm and cheeks and her clothes were somewhat dirtied, and overall looked pretty roughed up. She had not been victorious.

_{‘… *mumble* Steel-type…’} she muttered. Despite this, walking a few inches behind her was a quiet little Riolu looking up at her curiously. After having sat down to rest, Anise turned to Riolu and started talking to him silently and calmly in a little personal discussion, mostly comprised of Anise talking and Riolu watching her and nodding occasionally.

Meanwhile, on Claire’s side.

Ralia’s “recruitment” on top of Del was a smashing success, on account of these Fighting-Pokémon being really curious and a Ralts on top of a Beedrill calling for their attention was extremely new. If only because it was different and to see what happened, and perhaps because it was fun, they followed the commands. Lure and Ritz also got some curious looks. One of Zeal’s brothers might try to jump up to say hello. Just because.

Zeal and Claire got into watching whatever was on the disk. The video is of a Lucario systematically punching a huge boulder. With each punch, the next punch got stronger, the indents into the rock growing larger and larger before the boulder finally broke apart, shattering into a thousand fragments with an impressive blow. To Claire, this was merely a video.

To Zeal, however, he felt how something imprinted to his mind, like the device somehow connected to him. Somehow, he felt muscle-memory form for a move he had never performed before, knowledge of how to perform this specific technique, and all the intricacies that followed. He could be confident that he could perform the move flawlessly should he now attempt.



The Pokédex gave a “ptff” sound and smoke came out of the slot. The TM has been consumed.

What does Claire do now? Anise seems to basically just be resting after also being roughed up by a Pokémon.