@Rune_Alchemist@Pirouette

So, since the two presented their whole teams for one another…





So, it’s a battle in front of the Pokémon Center. Battles in towns happens, so nobody’s going to mind assuming they’re not breaking any of the surrounding buildings or hitting any passerbys. The road that they’re fighting on is mostly ground that has been beaten to an even dust by centuries of people walking on it, with plenty of grass around the buildings around and all around the houses are the trees of Stillwood Village, stretching up high around them and creating a rooftop with their stretching crowns high above, the air rich in the scent of forest and spores… or the heavy smell of Gloom depending on how Ralia put her back down. That aside, the villagers and Pokémon might stop to watch the two because they’re curious on the battle in the middle of the street, always interesting to see.

Anyways,

Pokémon Trainer Claire

With the natural speed advantage, considering Eep was more or less etched to the ground, Del definitely got off that Harden albeit it did give Eep some time to prepare his own move, and Del was then intending to charge in with Poison Sting. What did Erika command?

__________________________

@Joshua Tamashii@Eklispe

Amelia and Dawkin noted the individuals around, dressed in fairly casual clothes with the exception for the girl in a dress, but they were unmistakably adults with a mission in mind. When Dawkin asked his quite reasonable question, most of them kept silent, but the girl with the Seviper turned to him and spoke quietly, just loud enough for him to hear.

‘There are reasons to keep one’s eyes on Angelique when she walks through a populated area. Believe me when I say you’d be happier not knowing. Move along,’ she said, before peeking past the wall she was hiding behind in Angelique’s direction, otherwise keeping quiet.

Meanwhile, at the actual confrontation.

The young man, after having listened to what Angelique said, stepped forward to grab the neck of the ghost-trainer’s clothes when she turned to leave. She didn’t move very quickly, so it was easy for him to catch up. He reached for the neck and made the motion to grab, only to find that his hand went right throu-

Amelia felt a sudden flare of spectral activity all around Angelique, curling along her body, and the sensation of a powerful blast resounded from the site of the battle along with a wave of something, the same kind of energy she had picked up on that Angelique had been communicating with her Pokémon with. The blast was accompanied by the actual sound of a physical blast, making all the surrounding peeking trainers flinch and ready their Pokéballs.

For the young man, said blast was a wave of black energy, suddenly shot out from where his hand had approached, rather violently repelling him and potentially causing him to stagger as he couldn’t possibly have been ready for that. Angelique staggered a few steps forward from the force of the same blast as well, her back towards him as she fought to maintain balance. There was a sudden convergence of power from Angelique, small purple spirits surging across the surface of her clothes to gather at her neck, right where the young man’s hand had attempted to grab her.

The spirits started spinning at her nape, spinning and forming a disk of purple spiritual energy with green larger spirits circling, before a ghostly face took shape in the middle. Now, obviously the young man knew this Pokémon. He also knew the move that had targeted his hand, as it was the same one Greninja had used just a bit ago. Dark Pulse. Except, it had been far less controlled, and seemingly shot out on pure reflex in response to an unexpected event.

The Pokémon at Angelique’s neck spun its spirits and announced its name at him.

‘Spiritooooooomb~’





… Except, the Spiritomb had no Odd Keystone, which was usually a staple for the Pokémon’s formation. Instead, it appeared to be linked directly to Angelique.

‘… … …’ Angelique had stopped, standing still at the place she had staggered to, not turning around to look at him.

‘… Don’t do that,’ she simply said with a passive voice, before slowly placing one foot before the other and continuing her slow walk away from the scene. Spiritomb sat on the back of her clothes looking at him still. If she was let to walk, the Spiritomb would eventually disperse, the many spirits comprising the Pokémon scattering to surge about Angelique’s body briefly before seemingly vanishing. Cofagrigus and Trick Room still hovered in the air, the former considerably more alert and with a more serious look in its eyes after having let a stranger lay a hand on its trainer, glaring at the young man.

… Any particular actions?

Amelia looked at Dawkin in surprise for a second before turning back to the confrontation going on down the street.
"I don't really know the woman, I just encountered her a few years ago. She was bullying my friends so I don't really have that good of an impression of her, so when she came to likely do the same to the pokemon here, I figured I would try to stop her. She was likely after pokemon like this little one." She said, looking down at the Shedinja still in her arms at the last sentence before looking back up. "the man's name is Joshua. He taught me about pokemon and how to battle before I went to the Professor. He even helped me get to her. He's a veteran trainer and a Dark-type specialist."

Just as she finished, she felt the change in energy around the battle sight and gasped at the explosion caused by the Dark Pulse, her expression growing worried.

Meanwhile, Joshua was rather shocked when his hand passed through Angelique and he quickly withdrew is and jumped back a bit. Something was wrong here, very wrong indeed. Not a second later, a powerful Dark Pulse flew out of the girl and his eyes narrowed as he saw a Spiritomb from around her.
"Well, aren't you being a troublemaker." He said to the pokemon, his tone no longer amused and rather serious. After a second or nothing, he relaxed his stance and stared at the pokemon until he was sure it wouldn't act hostilely again. At the girl's words, he turned his attention back to her before returning to his more casual, friendly tone. "Ah, so you can speak modern English. That's good to know. Try speaking it more often, it'll be easier to make friends. That goes for your... many other associates as well."

He watched the girl leave as Absol and Bisharp watch Cofigrigus. After she was far enough away, he turned to the floating Ghost.
"Hey, gold leaf. You can relax now, I aint gonna bother her, assume that's the one you're actually loyal to. If I were you though, I'd go back to her side before someone else disturbs that Spiritomb." He said before returning Bisharp to her pokeball and walking away, Absol glancing at the floating coffin one more time before following.

Joshua walked over to where Amelia and Dawkin where standing, giving the other trainers a glance but otherwise paying them no mind.
"You two okay?" He asked.

"Yes... thank you Sensei." Amelia replied, smiling at him.

Dawkin wasn't especially surprised when the mysterious looking women with the Serviper deigned him unworthy as to be privy to the information she held. That didn't prevent it from making him frustrated. Yet another time he deemed unworthy of recognition. A familiar and unwelcome feeling, but he wouldn't let it affect his actions. A strange shockwave caused Dawkin, and everyone else, to look at the two trainers's conflict. The ghost trainer stalked away calmly and Amelia's friend walked over. "Yes, I'm fine." Would it be appropriate to thank him for helping Amelia? It would be right to thank someone for helping a friend of his, if one could call Amelia and Dawkin friends. Should he? "Thank you for helping us, I'm sorry I wasn't able to take care of it on my own."

There, that should suffice. A Dark-Type Specialist going up against, what he could only assume was a Ghost-Type Specialist was sure to be a fight that only ended one way. Though Dawkin had to consider how wise of a decision it was to focus on only one type of Pokemon. His own team was mostly rock and ground, such a thing surely left him weak against direct counters. If you weren't a gym leader, was there any point in doing something like that? Should he take this chance to ask such a person? No, it would be inappropriate at a time such as this. Dawkin debated the merit of asking the mysterious people again what the deal was, but doubted they'd be so kind to change their minds so easily. "I don't think that I can be of any more help." That he was of any help to begin with, and it was more than he doubted he could get any more answers than that he wanted to leave, "So I believe I should get going." After all, he had not intended on running into Amelia, not that he minded the chance to help out course and had intended on going into the dessert.

---

@Joshua Tamashii@Eklispe

Angelique did not reply to Joshua’s statement. Spiritomb just grinned to confirm that it was, indeed, a troublemaker. Cofagrigus gave him a glare before turning and hurrying after Angelique, the Trick Room falling just as it reached her. Then Spiritomb dispersed and Angelique continued leaving, this time not being stopped.

Joshua got a stare from a few of the trainers as well, but then their attention was turned to where Angelique went.

‘She appears to be leaving town. Let’s keep a watch on her until her exit has been confirmed,’ the girl with the Seviper stated, and the adults started making their way through the streets… while keeping an ample distance from Angelique. The girl was about to follow, though turned to Joshua for just a moment. ‘Did she do something? Did you do something?’ she inquired, her eyes focused, body ready to continue follow Angelique. If his answer was didn’t keep her here, she’d likely be leaving.

Then, yeah, Dawkin was seemingly intending on leaving. In case he was let to leave, here’s the town options again.



Connected areas:
Route 6. The Vast Plains open up to the north of Raremine. The shorter paths lead to Route 8 and 16, while west far enough leads to Lakewatch Town.
Route 7. The single rocky desert of Isson, it connects to the Desert Mines, the Old Tombs and to the Mythic Oasis.

Erika would think for a minute as she tried to recall exactly what Lileep can do. Unfortunately no rock moves yet so that meant she had no advantage move wise. Eep was pretty slow, too, so there wasn't really any point outside of attempting to bunker down and do what she could against a Beedrill. "Eep, Ingrain." It seemed logical to literally anchor themselves down for the fight, after all. Of course, Erika wanted Beedrill to come in close, waiting for an oppurtunity to blast the Bug Type with a face full of bug-remover. Following, Beedrill's poison sting, Erika would quickly command Eep to use Acid!

@Rune_Alchemist@Pirouette

Del hardened and Eep ingrained, and woo, this is some good ground. Afterwards, Del soared forth towards the ingrained Eep, striking towards him with Poison Sting. The stinger bit in, poisoning the grassy parts of Eep but was otherwise stopped by the rock, Del’s high attack meeting Eep’s high defense for decent damage, Eep avoiding getting poisoned and started working to heal the damage from using Ingrain. In return, Eep shot Acid at Del, and managed to hit Del as he flew off… but it didn’t bother the bug very much. The poison splash was ineffective on the bug/poison-type, and Del’s surprisingly high Special Defense and slightly higher level meant the attack was more or less shaken off… but regardless, the acid burned at Del’s resistance, lowering his Special Defense!

That exchange did little damage to both of the Pokémon, with Acid being very inefficient against Del and Eep starting to drain the damage he had taken from Poison Sting. However, Eep had taken the greater damage from the exchange, and wouldn’t be immune to Poison in case of repeated stings, but Del had just had his Special Defense damaged.

Having used Ingrain, Erika could no longer switch Pokémon.

What would the two do, now?

Joshua turned towards the women when she addressed him, only to shrug in response.
"Nope, nothing other then exchange a few words." He said dismissively, obviously not concerned by what had happened during the encounter. He then turned to Amelia and Dawkin and smiled as his apprentice and her companion as both of them seemed to be unharmed. He watched the boy, who was either tense or distracted, it was hard to tell. But when the boy turned to leave, Joshua grabbed his shoulder to stop him, but didn't put enough force to stop Dawkin if the boy really wanted to leave. "Just because you can't be useful, doesn't mean you can't stick around. You tried to help out Ame here, so I would like to thank you, if you would give me the opportunity."

Amelia also turned to Dawkin and gave him a kind smile.
"Yeah, thank you for helping out. I guess it's a good thing you came along when you did." She said.

@PlatinumSkink@Pirouette

---

The acid splashed Del, the Beedrill merely shaking its head uncomfortably as the acid ate away at his carapace. It didn't do a whole lot of damage, but that acid burn probably was gonna hurt his special defense a bit. That was a good exchange, though! Del obviously did more damage to Lileep, but didn't poison it and he started to heal using Ingrain. Unfortunately Del didn't have any more attacks that'd be too effective. So for now, she'd keep to the same strategy.

"Wahaha! That's it, Del! Keep up the pressure!" Claire grinned enthusiastically as Del buzzed in acknowledgement, aiming his poisonous stinger at Lileep.

"Eh?" Dawkin turned in surprise when Joshua touched his shoulder. He wouldn't expect someone who was as evidently experienced as Joshua to respect him just for trying. It was something of a welcome ego boost. Dawkin paused for a moment and shrugged, somewhat unsure of what to do with himself. "Well, I'd be amiss to deny you chance to thank me for what little I did." He replied to Amelia as well, "Ah, it's no problem, I just happened to be here and you looked like you might be in trouble." Dawkin wondered what Joshua had in mind, perhaps something like a dinner trip? It was a bit late after all, but Dawkin would be content to allow Joshua to continue. Cacnea and further training could could wait after all, he might even gain something more beneficial out of being around a veteran trainer.

---

Joshua smiled at the little interaction between Amelia and Dawkin, seeing that his apprentice had made at least one human friend. At Dawkin's words though, he frowned.
"Well, even if you didn't do much, you did more then some people around here did, despite seeing the scene in front of them." He said, nonchalantly attacking the girl and her group. "So, even if was only a little, it meant something in the long run. You caused them to pause long enough for my pokemon to reach the scene and take over. Speaking of my pokemon, I should get Greninja to a Pokémon Center ASAP. She aint knocked out but that Energy Ball hit her rather hard. If you two are willing the accompany me, I wouldn't mind buying you both a meal. Hopefully there are places still open at this hour though."

"I wouldn't mind a meal." Amelia said.

"Alright, but if that little guy in your arms isn't yours, I suggest you return it to the gardens."

"O-oh. you're right." Amelia said, sounding a bit embarrassed. She rushed back to the gardens and entered them before turning Shedinja around and letting go of it. She then kneeled down to the pokemon's level. "Well, I guess this is good-bye. I'm sorry for bothering you, please don't hold it against me. But take care and be good. Maybe we'll meet again."

With that, she returned to Joshua and Dawkin, though it was definitely possible for Shedinja to follow her if it wanted to accompany her.

While she was dropping the Shedinja off, Joshua turned back to Dawkin.
"Well, even though she already did so, I guess I'll introduce myself again. Joshua, of Ecruteak City in the Johto region. A pleasure to meet ya. And this here is my partner Absol." He said. Absol looked up at Dawkin before huffing and turning away, the grey gem attached to his horn swinging around with the movement. Joshua laughed at the Disaster pokemon's demeanor. "Don't mind him, he doesn't like strangers. He'll warm up to ya. By the way, don't be afraid to ask questions."

Amelia stepped away to return the Pokémon she was holding, which Dawkin made sure to snap on his Pokedex, and Joshua introduced himself."Ah, I'm Dawkin Trustram, from Pureplain City in the Isson Region." Dawkin said hurriedly, upon realizing Joshua didn't know who he was; mimicking Joshua's introduction so as to be polite. "I wouldn't mind a free meal either, I didn't realize how late it had gotten, I spent a bit of time at the Desert Miner’s Hangout getting information." Joshua's Absol gave him an evaluating look and seemed to have determined Dawkin to have fallen short, turning away disdainfully, his strange ornament dancing with his movement. Joshua stated the Dawkin should feel free to ask any questions he had, and Dawkin had to admit he had a few things he'd mused over since Joshua had appeared. "Well, if it's really no trouble for me to ask you things then... Amelia said you're a Dark-type Specalist. Does that mean you use exclusively Dark-type Pokémon, if so why? Oh, and what's Absol's ornamentation? I haven't seen many decorations like that." People did put ribbons and bows on cuter Pokémon from time to time, but most Pokémon he saw were relatively unadorned, in particular when it came to things like that piercing and the gem that accompanied it.

---

@Joshua Tamashii

The girl frowned at Joshua's words, her Seviper adding an additional glare beside that frown, then both of them headed off after the rest of the group before the rest was said.

Amelia went and dropped off Shedinja where she found it, no sort of movement having been seen from the Shed Pokémon. Amelia turned and headed back out the Bug Garden, having not witnessed the Shedinja move even once... though perhaps, somehow, she was aware of the ghost Pokémon's attention being on her back as she left. It didn't follow her out when she went to rejoin Joshua and Dawkin, though.

There were quite a few choices for places to eat during late times in Raremine Town, plenty of the miners of Raremine were the kind to party, living fully only late. Just not on this street, apparently. That did mean that quite a few such places in this town would appear fairly loud, though. Still, there surely was somewhere with appreciable atmosphere if that was desired.

@PlatinumSkink@Rune_Alchemist

With Eep firmly established in the ground, he took the poison sting rather well all things considered but even from that exchange, Erika noted that she wasn't exactly being effective in this engagement. "Uhh... Quick! Astonish!" In attempt to mix up her strategy, Erika sought to use Astonish to do better damage.

Joshua listened as Dawkin spoke, smiling in amusement at the boy's admission to not minding a free meal, if only because he was hungry due to spending too much time for information gathering. At the boy's questions though, he raised an eyebrow, though again, this was more in amusement then anything else.
"Yes, I exclusively use Dark-Type pokemon. However, as a result, I use a lot of others. For example, I have Greninja as one of my three Water-Types, Bisharp as a Steel-Type, Honchkrow as a Flying-Type, Cacturne as one of my two Grass-Types, and so on and so forth. So while I specialize in one type of pokemon, it has many secondary types that I can use to cover my bases.

As for why... well, like most other trainers who choose what kind of pokemon to use, I just like them. They're kinda like me when I was your age or younger, misunderstood. On top of that, they tend to be fast, aggressive, and adaptable attackers, something that mixes well with my battle style, as I enjoy keeping the offensive with some mix-ups and tricky moves to make things harder on my opponent.

And now for your last question, that right there is a very special stone. Took me two years, combing the Kalos region to find this and the other one I needed. Even with the help of anyone I met along the way. I won't tell you much more then that, not till you're a little stronger at least. If you earn three gym badges, I'll tell ya about it. Sound like a deal?"

Regardless of his response, once Amelia returned, Joshua led the way to the pokemon center in town to get his Geninja taken care of. While it was in their care, he asked some of the locals about the local eateries that were open at this hour before hearing of one that sounded decent and that wouldn't be too rowdy. Once he knew where it was at, he led the younger two over to it's location before going to see about seating.

"So, what do you think of my mentor?" Amelia asked Dawkin as they waited.

Interesting. While using a single primary type did limit your options and gave you a blanket vulnerability, with proper consideration you could account for those. As for his reasoning to his specialization, it was both a synergy in character and style. A reasonable enough decision. Dawkin wondered what a younger misunderstood Joshua could be like. Eh, he had too little to speculate on. Dawkin spent a moment considering what type he would specialize in, if any. Hm. If anything... Dragon? Hmph, such a thought seemed pretentious and besides, Dawkin already had Pokemon he didn't want to give up. The path of a specialist could be an interesting one, but not one he would take. Cacturne was a Pokemon Dawkin was planning on catching the smaller version of, the coincidence was entertaining, but not particular helpful. Dawkin doubted he needed Joshua's help catching or training one, even if he would offer it.

The stone was an interesting matter, perhaps it was only because Joshua withheld information about it, but it was certainly tantalizing to hear more about it. "Sounds like a deal to me." Dawkin was planning on getting more badges than that anyway, so it was really just a reward along the way rather than a challenge to meet. Then he followed Joshua along until they found a dinner spot and took their seats. "Hm, he's obviously very experienced and keeping all your Pokemon to a same type shows creativity in your team-building and ability to deal with the consequences of such. It'd be interesting to see him battle someone on equal footing in a real contest. Thought, it is a bit surprising how willing he seems to help out. Why did he become your mentor in the first place anyway?" Dawkin asked curiously. Joshua wasn't a professor, or a gym leader, and didn't seem to be direct family of Amelia, though he could be wrong on that front. How had they gotten to know each other?

---

Amelia looked up at Dawkin when he began talking and asked about how she had met Joshua and become his student. She was silent for a minute, debating on how to answer his question without revealing too much. She honestly wasn't sure how he would take her revealing her gift with Ghost-Types, given how serious and realistic he was.
"Well, I guess the simple version is, he caught be being somewhere my parents didn't want me to be and turned me in. However, he found out about my circumstances shortly after and decided to teach me about pokemon to make up for it. He also helped me get to the Professor's place by letting me ride on his Honchkrow." She said, finishing just as Joshua returned.

"Whatcha talking about?" He asked.

"How we met and why you began teaching me."

"You mean by turning you in and as a result, causing every ghost in the cemetery to go into town at night to look for you because you stopped showing up?" Joshua said, causing Amelia's face to go a bit red.

"Hm." Dawkin mused, simply to indicate that he was listening. He didn't imagine Amelia as someone who would willfully and wantonly break any rules. He wondered about the exact circumstances but decided that since she hadn't elaborated she wasn't interested in telling. Joshua returned and promptly seemed to reveal what Amelia had been trying to hide about the situation. Dawkin was torn between inquiring and learning more from Joshua about it or leaving the obviously rather embarrassed Amelia in peace. He already felt a little bad and causing her to turn red and decided that he'd leave things there. "Something of an affinity for Ghost Pokemon then? I must admit I've never found myself particularly attached to a certain type of Pokemon, though I can see how others would be. You find us any good seating?" Dawkin said at the end, to turn the conversation away from what Amelia didn't want to talk about. Dawkin could understand not wanting to tell people about your past. Dawkin thought back to Team Amethyst and their attempt to recruit him. Telling somebody that a criminal team had tried recruiting him would be a bit embarrassing wouldn't it?

---

"Saying Amelia has an affinity for Ghost-Types is like saying I like black. It's a pretty massive understatement." Joshua said, indicating his completely black outfit. Odd for someone spending time in the desert, but whatever suited him. "As for seats, I got us some outside. So follow me."

Leading them out to the section of outdoor seating, he took them towards their table, taking his own seat, relaxing back into it.
"So, I guess you're not gonna specialize based on what you say Dawkin. Nothing wrong with that, it can make you rather adaptable. So long as you catch the pokemon you need to get you through the situation." He said, addressing the young man. "Specializing gives you limited options, but you know you're strengths and weaknesses and are forced to adapt with a limited set of tools. Not specializing gives you a lot more tools, but you're strengths can be so varied that they end up not becoming as strong as someone who specializes in a certain type or a certain strategy. You just gotta pick what works for you. Follow what you think is right."

"As for you little lady." He said, turning to address Amelia, who suddenly looked a bit worried. "Care to show me what you've caught so far?"

"Oh... sure." Amelia said, sounding relieved. She grabbed her pokeballs and released her pokemon, letting Dawkin see the rest of her team alongside Phantump.

"Shup?" Shuppet said, looking around.

"Pumpka!" Pumpkaboo said excitedly.

"Litwick!" Litwick said, his flame burning brightly.

"Loooon." Driffloon said, sounding like it was waking up for some odd reason.

"Tump!" Phantump said before snickering when she spotted Dawkin, remembering his reaction to being scared.

Joshua examined them all for a second before letting out a laugh.
"You said you'd catch a shiny Phantump. I should not have doubted you given your..." He paused, glancing Dawkin's way briefly. "Particularly strong affinity for Ghost-types."

Dawkin listened to Joshua's evaluation with interest, he respected the older trainer to be interested in what he had to say. What he was saying boiled down to... Specializing allowed you to have a strong singular focus. Not doing give you a multitude of options that could be hard to manage. In other words, if he was skilled enough, and used his tools appropriately he would be stronger. Dawkin had always liked a challenge. Then he turned his attention to Amelia and what Pokemon she had caught. Perhaps unsurprisingly, they were all Ghost Pokemon. Dawkin laughed for a breath at Phantump's snicker. He didn't feel resentful, but he did find it was funny that it remembered him. What he did find was surprising however, was Joshua's next statement. Amelia had planned on finding a shiny Phantump and then proceeded to do so? He recalled that Amelia had said

"one in several thousand pokemon being that way."

To think that she had planned to fight such odds and succeeded. Perhaps he had under-rated Amelia. She seemed too timid to try something to difficult, but now that he thought about it, she had also challenged that women in the street earlier. She had also caught one more Pokemon than him. "I thought that you having a shiny Pokemon was impressive before, but now that I know you set out with that in mind I'm even more astounded. With such a good teacher and such evident skill, I'm sure you'll have no trouble with whatever it is you're aiming for." Dawkin said with some admiration in his voice. He was perhaps feeling even, just a little bit envious, though he'd never admit it.

---

Amelia's cheeks turned bright red at Dawkin's compliments and she quickly lowered her gaze to the ground while mumbling her thanks. Her pokemon seemed to sense her slight discomfort and moved over to her, Shuppet getting under her chin while Driffloon helped Litwick get on his usual perch on top of her head. Phantump and Pumpkaboo took up positions over either of her shoulder's and nuzzled her, causing the young girl to laugh and smile again.

Joshua watched this with a smile on his face but a look of concern in his eyes.
"While she is indeed a good student and her potential is high, there are, sadly, somethings she possesses that might get in the way and that she might not be able to overcome." He said to the young man solemnly while Amelia was distracted by her partners. Joshua in turn was distracted when their server arrived. He ordered a simple glass of water while Amelia ordered a cup of hot tea. After they were given their menus and their server left, he turned back to Dawkin. "Mind if I see you're pokemon Dawkin? I'm frankly curious as to what you've caught so far."