---

---

"Heh, sorry Vivia." Skylar chuckled. "When we get out, I'll let you hug Mac for a little bit. Dude's a little space heater, should have you dry in no time."

After a little walking, the group encroached onto the next room... where two trainers were already there! One of them must've been the trainer that left their Pokemon at the surface, but the other... well, Skylar didn't know. At least Vivia knew about them.

"... uh... hi." Skylar waved over to Eryn and Oaken, the new trainers that he had never met before, before he introduced himself to the two. "I'm Skylar, trying to find a certain Pokemon in here that wants me to not use any Pokemon to help find my way." The boy smiled before he felt a small body crawling down his back. Without even missing a beat, Skylar spoke while still looking straight for Oaken and Eryn. "JoJo, it's fine. Don't worry about them, they're okay."

At first, the body on his back was hesitant to say hello, before the Ralts peered over Skylar's shoulder and looked at the two. "Rraall..." Clearly, the Pokemon was still nervous, but it at least said hello.

"That's JoJo. He's here in case me and Vivia get stuck and can't move forward or back. He hasn't interfered at all." Was that the right word? It felt a little weird and rude. JoJo didn't seem to be distraught about it, so it was probably fine.

After introductions were out of the way, Skylar prodded around with his cane for a moment, just in case he hit any rocks that would cause him to trip and faceplant. That brought him up to the boogie of Beheeyem in front of the group blocking what seemed to be the only way forward that wasn't completely flooded by water, or at least, wouldn't be flooded anytime soon.

"That's the only way, right there." Skylar bluntly said, vaguely pointing in that direction. "Not sure why the Beheeyem are really blocking it, unless they're blocking it to those who have continued on this trial that me and Vivia were set to, but what if we try walking through? Maybe they'll let us just... pass?" Skylar calmly suggested to the group before stepping closer to the Beheeyem himself. "I mean, if they try pulling any dangerous stuff on me, it'd honestly be more of a waste. I've only got 4 senses at full capacity, after all."

So this was a major league leader; the definition of strength and experience. One day he was going to have to face him, when Basil was strong enough to stand at the summit. He looked upon Dorian with respect for the veteran trainer, and yet, at the mention of perfection he almost winced at the idea.

"I'd be happy to just to train my Pokemon the best versions of themselves they can be. Expecting perfection is just plain cruel to Pokemon and people... Not that I am saying you're being cruel or anything! I, uh..." Great, just bloody great! His mouth went off before it caught up with his brain and now he may have potentially offended a major league gym leader.

"Oh, um, do you have any advice on eggs?" Basil slid his pack of his shoulders and placed it on the ground to pull out a glass case with the egg he received from Zachery."A pirate gave me what I'm hoping to be a Toxel egg, but I have no idea how to take care of it or how long it will take until it hatches."

---

^{Lakewatch Town || Day 5: Afternoon || @PlatinumSkink@Gardevoiran}
Eryn met the two new trainers with wide eyes. “Hey! Long time no see!” she said, struggling to place names with faces. She remembered the two from Kalmia’s lab—the boy with the Xatu and Wingull, and the girl who’d arrived with Oaken and Jacques. Their names, though, eluded her until Oaken said Vivia’s name and Skylar introduced himself.

“Right,” she said, “I knew that.”

Skylar’s introduction, though, continued, and Eryn cocked a brow. “We’ve met before, you know? First day as a trainer at Kalmia’s lab, you had a Xatu? Which was crazy cool, by the way. He still around?”

Realizing that there wasn’t any reason for Skylar to call his Xatu out, she backpedalled, grinning. “But nice to meet you too, Jojo! You look adorable,” she said, then frowned. “But I… I’m not that forgettable, am I?” She looked to Oaken for his reaction, then to Vivia, who’d done better with names than her. “Right?”

When Skylar mentioned Jojo, she looked at the Ralts again. Right, Teleport was a thing.“So he’s your back-up plan?” she asked, grinning. “That’s pretty smart! None of my Pokemon teleport, but even then I probably would’ve left them on the shore…” She trailed off, the voices in her head reminding her about how that wasn’t very trainer-like, how she might’ve made the wrong choice, might need to check up on them soon, but she shook her head, dismissing the thoughts. “You saw them while heading in, right? With Dei, my Charmander?”

At Skylar’s question about the Beheeyem, Eryn’s brows shot up, her eyes shooting to Oaken. “Um, apparently they can Psybeam your brain to mush, so I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” she said. “But no, we haven’t tried walking past them.”

Looking around the room again, she realized that unless the other flooded path was the right one, the Beheeyem path was the only one available. It was unconventional and they’d gotten this far without trying to get past the Beheeyem, but in Eryn’s book there was never any harm in trying.

“You know what, you’re right,” she said, walking towards the Beheeyem. “Hey guys, mind letting us squeeze past real quick?”

---

@Gardevoiran @Typical


Oaken looked over Vivia and Skylar with a bit of perplexion and a bit like he was bothered. Because, like, _{‘Tsk, this was supposed to be my trial to conquer, what are all of you doing here?’} he muttered, frowning looking over at the Beheeyem blocking the path instead. Meanwhile, Vivia looked mostly surprised, but also relieved.

‘…’ Oaken was quiet for a second as he gazed at Eryn after she asked if she was forgettable. ‘You aren't particularly remarkable, appearance-wise. If we hadn’t battled, I don’t know if I’d have put you on my mind,’ Oaken eventually replied, because that was the truth to him.

‘Er, well, it was a decently brief encounter…’ Vivia said, looking a decent amount guilty about it. ‘But, I’m really happy you’re here! I… it’s been such a trial, haaah…’ she sighed out about it.

‘Hm. Male Ralts. Are you going for Gardevoir or Gallade?’ Oaken asked Skylar with slight interest… before shaking his head. ‘Nevermind, let’s get through this first,’ he said, resuming looking around for an exit, his eyes landing on the flooded path south. ‘The path with Beheeyem is blocked, but we have two Mr. Mimes handy, that cannot be coincidence. We’ll need to make them create a box around us so that we’ll be able to travel underwater. I presume that using the help of native Pokémon is intended…’

And around there was when Skylar suggested walking past the Beheeyem. Oaken frowned and gazed at him. Vivia was also paying attention, and… a bit of air got caught in her throat like a cough which was actually the first tone of a laugh from a closed mouth which she immediately felt guilty for, Skylar’s 4 senses joke sort of getting her. Anyway, Eryn agreed, and…

‘Stop that,’ Oaken stated with a frown. ‘Beheeyem are able to break down the mind of someone within their range. We can’t take that risk, we must find another way!’ he called, stepping forward to try to stop them from crossing…

The approached Beheeyems awoke, the lights on their arms blinking something fierce as Skylar and Eryn approached… yet, just as Skylar had predicted, they did nothing as they squeezed past them. They did nothing whatsoever, and they were free to pass. Vivia was quick to hurry after, still giving the Beheeyem a worried look as she passed. The Mr. Mimes also followed, for some reason.

‘…’ Oaken glared at them. ‘Irritating. There’s a difference between a test of willpower and a test of recklessness,’ he declared, before walking to join them… when the Beheeyem actually properly blocked his way, placing themselves in his way and holding their arms blinking in his direction. This, however, just made Oaken glare at them harder.

‘Oh, so did I fail the test because I insisted we don’t take the shot? I’m going to call your bluff. There’s a risk you’ll use your mind power to break me down now that I know what’s going on? Fine. Do it if you so please. But I’m not stopping here. Get out of the way,’ he demanded, physically reaching forward to push the Beheeyem aside… and they let him, allowing themselves to be moved as Oaken pushed them aside with his hands, breathing out in relief as he stepped out after the other three.

‘Let’s keep going, already,’ he requested, and walked on.

Now, during all this time, the water level at their feet was steadily increasing, actually pouring out of the room they were heading for. The path turned left, and they could follow the path forward to a vast chamber. However, with each step, the hostile presence that they’d feel earlier became stronger and stronger, a pressure on their minds as they got closer to the opening ahead of them. Yet, the will that had guided them here in the first place also made itself known, saying they were almost there. Just advance, straight ahead. Through the bright opening that was before them, like the light at the end of the tunnel.

The room was immense, with a glowing spot in the roof above them, pillars of ruin spread across the inside here. There were the ruins of what appeared to be control panels, but they felt like they belonged in a completely different world. There was what appeared to be windows in the very front, but they were shut, walls shut over them. There was water all over the floor, and the water came from…

The first thing they noticed when they entered the room was not the surroundings. It was the giant standing straight, water pouring from the cracks in its makeup, the giant stood on two legs and had two smaller, clawed arms. It had two great shields for shoulders, glowing jewels embedded in them, from which more water was currently pouring. It had an elongated neck, ending in a draconic face, unwelcoming in its expression. Its skin a steely grey, with purple lines strewn artistically across its body and tail. Its whole existence extruded a pressure on them that was apparent even now, like forcing them to acknowledge the form’s massive power.

‘Woah… I can’t believe it… it’s…’ Vivia said, her eyes wide behind her glasses as she looked upon the being before her.

Of course the wannabe Pokémon Professor would know what this was. For any who’d taken part in education in the Pokémon World, there was little doubt what this giant was.



Does Eryn or Skylar have any particular reactions?

---

---

The blind kid was taken aback for a moment before he realized. "No wait, I do remember! Sorry, it's been a bit of a day. First badge this morning, met a legendary Pokemon immediately after, then we hopped a ferry and from there it's just been constant movement." Skylar explained, remembering back up to the surface from a little while ago. "Y'know, that did seem like a familiar Pokemon on the surface. Oh, and Xatu just went back to Dad, since I figured Seabreeze was going to keep me fine. Can't wait to get back home to see him, though!"

After that was cleared up, Oaken spoke up and mentioned that JoJo was a Male Ralts, following up with something about Gallade and Gardevoir. Skylar simply tilted his head at Oaken. "Uh, I think you need a Dawn Stone or something for a Gallade, right? I hadn't put much thought into it, but whatever JoJo wants to be then I'll gladly let him decide." Skylar smiled at his buddy, patting the green guy on his shoulder, and receiving an almost-purr from the Ralts. "That, plus no matter what he chooses, he'll still fill a good role on my team. He's done good work so far, and I imagine that'll keep going on."

After the conversation, it seemed that the group passed by the Beheeyem unharmed, save for Oaken's ego probably being throttled juuuuust a little bit. It was understandable, though, seeing as a blind kid walked through and just had his dumb luck work out.

As the group walked, Skylar felt the Ralts on his back begin to shake a little bit at the sheer power of the hostile presence, and JoJo was lifted from the trainer's shoulder and held in his arms for the rest of the walk. There was still... something, though, that kept the two moving forward, maybe the entire group.

Then they stepped into the massive room, and Mother of Lugia that's Palkia. Like, the actual Palkia! Skylar's Pokedex buzzed with not only one new entry, but two meaning that it just had to ACTUALLY BE PALKIA! How?! How had Skylar met not only Entei, but also Mesprit, Azelf, and Palkia within two days?! That's insane and, frankly, really convenient to Kalmia's research and such seeing as their entries were neat to have. Heck, even as a small blue Pokemon fluttered around the massive beast's neck, Skylar couldn't help but reach into his bag and grab his Pokedex, taking a quick photo of Palkia in all it's spacial glory.

As for the blue Pokemon, Skylar immediately recognized it without much worry. It was one of the reasons Skylar had even come down this far into Lakewatch's bowels. As it neared the group, Skylar immediately ignored Oaken's chafe and curt response to the scene and instead raised his hand to wave, the pink Crystals of Emotion glittering within the filtered light that seeped within and JoJo displacing from the room for a moment before reappearing on Skylar's head, normally where Seabreeze would go, and wearing Skylar's sunglasses. Oddly enough, his gray and foggy eyes did fit in amongst the room itself.
^{(I imagined the crystals would be a bracelet forming around Skylar's wrist.)}
"Hello, Azelf... a-and Palkia... uh, I'm sure you can guess why me and Vivia are here, at least. T-though it is certainly an honor to be in both of your presences right now..."

"I didn't expect you to finish it in one night. But since I'm in town, I might as well visit my other partners who agreed to travel with me but are unable to do so because of the limitations on the amount I can carry." Amelia said, as her partners inside of Kalmia's lab came out and joined her. Since she really didn't have any other plans, she turned to face the battle with the two adults, curious about the floating wad of cream that was in ownership of Ellyn. As Yamask, Golett, Driffloon, Phantump, and Pumpkaboo began floating around and even playing with the twins, Amelia, Litwick, Honedge, Spiritomb, and Shuppet all took a seat in the grass to see how the battle would develop and who might become the victor.

---

^{Flooded Lakewatch: The Drain || Day 5: Afternoon || @PlatinumSkink@Gardevoiran}
Eryn quashed the doubtful voices in her head with brute willpower as she closed the distance between the Beheeyem and herself, giving herself a single beat to exhale before she slid between the floating psychic-types’ ranks. Whatever resistance she expected didn't come, and she was left surprised, waiting for a response that didn’t come even as she looked back at the line of Beheeyem.

“Hah! Take that, Oaken!” she called, throwing a gleeful grin at the bespectacled boy on the other side of the Beheeyem. “I should’ve gone with my gut two rooms ago!”

Of course, hindsight was twenty-twenty and there was no way to guarantee that she’d have been safe attempting the same stunt from the beginning, but that didn’t matter to Eryn. What mattered was that she’d been proven right, and though some small voice was telling her that she ought not to be so confident, she was absolutely taking this as a sign that gut instinct was the way to go.

Her grin stayed as she watched Oaken struggle with the Beheeyem, bursting into laughter when he made his angry declaration. “Oh, I thought I’d never see the day you lost composure like that,” she said, fully intending on teasing him further. The tone of his request to keep going, however, made her reconsider, but only so much as to slow to Vivia’s side.

“Hey, has he always been this much of a grouch?” she asked, looking at the girl. From what she remembered, Vivia had arrived with Oaken and two other trainers as trainers chosen by Jacques. She’d assumed that meant they knew each other, at least somewhat, though she was open to being told she’d assumed wrong. As always, there was no harm in asking.

Her eyes flicked down to the water beneath her feet at multiple points during the walk, noting the rising water level that did more to fuel the nonsensically cautious voice in her head than incite actual panic. Splashing through the water with bare feet didn’t feel so bad, especially given that it was freshwater. At least she wouldn’t have to deal with dry skin for days afterward.

The other, more prominent thing on her mind during the walk was the presence coming from ahead, which grew stronger and angrier as they got closer. Where the depths of the Infested Forest inspired dread, this presence was all pressure and expansive power, and Eryn had to admit that she likely would’ve had to take a breather to think at some point down the hallway if it weren’t for the others with her. Even with the voices in her head and the hostility her senses made her aware of, Eryn would never think to give up before someone else did, least of all Oaken. She was still set on battling again him at some point, after all, and what grounds did have to challenge him if she couldn’t even walk down a hallway properly?

It wasn’t until she entered the room that she understood why the air felt as it did: At the center of the room, towering over her was the most realistic rendition of Palkia she’d ever seen. Her eyes trailed the purple lines accentuating legendary once, then snapped back to its eyes, transfixed. Though they were dim, she felt as if she needed to check, to make sure that her eyes weren’t playing tricks on her because her senses were telling her that this monster of a Pokemon was anything but sleeping.

On its head was Azelf, one of the trio of guardians tied to Palkia and Dialga, and Eryn watched in stunned silence as the much smaller and gentler-looking Pokemon flew into life. In her head, something was attempting to click, but she wasn’t quite there. She and every other person interested in Pokemon had read up on legendaries, but to Eryn they’d stayed just that: Legends. She no more expected Palkia and Dialga to be more than abstract concepts of creation than she believed Entei roars to fuel volcano eruptions, yet there was Azelf, adding surreal but undeniable confirmation with every meter it flew.

Oaken spoke first, then Skylar, both speaking as if they fully expected to find something along the lines of legendaries in this room. Part of Eryn felt slighted that Oaken had traveled this far without informing her of this, but the other part was too busy trying to come to terms with how her world had just turned upside down. Azelf was real, and so was Palkia? Then Dialga, Mewspirit, Uxie… and Mew, Arceus, every single legend she’d heard in nursery rhymes and elementary school poems…

Her breaths were coming at a faster pace as she tried to calm down, but as her eyes flicked between Azelf what seemed to be a dormant Palkia, she found herself at a loss for words. So, instead, she was left staring, her mind registering that it was probably a good idea to say hi and her mouth too dry to do so.

---

@Gardevoiran @Typical

Oaken gave Skylar’s reply of that it was up to JoJo a quick, slightly frowning stare, and then chose not to particularly comment on it. ‘Very well,’ he simply said, and then moved on. He then later kept a decidedly unamused expression as he ignored Eryn’s taunts after he forced his way past the Beheeyems, his expression looking even frownier than usual. Eryn then turned to a slightly surprised Vivia, and…

‘Er, well, as long as I’ve known him, at the very least? I first got to know him when Jacques first gave us our Pokémon, which was a number of days before you started, but I haven’t really had that much interaction with him. He’s not exactly seeking contact with other people, and he’s frankly a bit intimidating, so… haven’t really talked that much to him…’ Vivia admitted, looking a bit ashamed of this.

Anyways! Later!

With Palkia towering over them in the background, and the floating Azelf before them, the willpower Pokémon looked to Skylar when he spoke, but didn’t yet give any acknowledgement, though its eyes clearly went to the crystals around his wrist. It took a bit more time, then…

‘Azelf,’ the Legendary made a curt statement, and then, from somewhere nearby, a Beheeyem flew in and placed itself underneath it. Azelf gently wrapped its tails around Beheeyem’s protruding head, the crystals on the tails starting to glow. In turn, Beheyeem’s eyes turned blue, after which the Beheeyem raised its arms, and the tips of the arms started blinking with varying colours. It was using its Psychic powers that could be used to tamper with minds… but not with a hostile intention.

First Azelf’s eyes turned to Vivia on their right, Beheeyem’s arm following, the girl shuddering a little with an unsure expression. But with a bit of time, the girl’s shudder went down, and instead she looked… a bit defeated. She nodded solemnly, and then took a step back.

Azelf then turned to look at Skylar, Beheeyem’s arm moving to direct themselves at him. From there…



Here, Skylar was allowed to a response. Regardless, after that, Azelf turned its eyes towards an exceedingly frowning Oaken. It took a couple of seconds, but…

‘I protest that sentiment,’ Oaken said, perhaps abruptly to the others around. ‘I always take the direction I figure has the highest chance of success. Should all other options have been tried, I would have attempted even the unconventional and riskier paths, without fail. But until the more reliable paths have been tried-’

He equally abruptly stopped talking, Azelf still looking at him. Oaken frowned harder and harder as he did. Eventually…

‘Hmpf,’ Oaken crossed his arms and turned to look directly at Eryn. Of course, she was next.

Azelf finally turned and looked at Eryn… and remained as such for quite a number of seconds. Finally, the Beheeyem started working, and…

What in the actual hell happened? He turned his eye away from Cecil and the next thing he knew, she was coming back from a direction with a large amount of commotion with a Sneasel in tow. Wasn't she with that pink baby Pokemon? All that he could gather from her frantic pointing and excited jumping was that she went on some sort of adventure with Aster and that pink Pokemon and this Sneasel helped them out in one way or another. It's not like he could really understand what she was saying; she isn't some dog barking at people to tell them that little Timmy fell down the well and needs help.

It still did not explain why the Sneasel was there in front of him, but it looked like she managed to convince it to join Basil's team. And this is how he gained a Sneasel on his team. "Well, that happened." Seriously, he got his starter, an egg, and another Pokemon in less than a day... The problem was that he did not catch his first Pokemon yet.

Well, I'm gonna head off. It's time that I actually make my first move as a real trainer. Basil turned to Cyril with a kind, yet sheepish smile. "I think I'll have to decline your offer for now. I want to see if I can strike out on my own or not. I hope to see you all again one day." With goodbyes said, he left the park and made his way through the city. There were many sights and sounds, but he would have to return another day; he could not put off making his real start on his journey.

He took a deep breath at the edge of the city limits. "Well, here goes nothing." He made his first step towards Route 1.

---

^{Flooded Lakewatch: The Drain || Day 5: Afternoon || @PlatinumSkink@Gardevoiran}
Eryn watched in silent amazement as Azelf called a Beheeyem to it, realizing that it had to be tapping into the Beheeyem’s psychic powers. Confirming this was Vivia’s reaction, then Skylar’s and Oaken’s, whose outburst was surprising albeit expected. When Oaken crossed his arms and looked to her, Eryn realized it was her turn, and she redirected her attention to Azelf, eyes wide.

The words came first, loud enough to block the rest of the world out but strangely unintrusive. If Eryn had to term it, she’d say it was calming; Azelf’s voice possessed a serene strength that helped communicate its power and knowledge, and it flowed into Eryn’s mind smoothly, its tone tranquil and reasonable. As it spoke, memories of the previous few days flashed through Eryn’s mind: when she’d met Dei in Kalmia’s lab, when she saw Kylie come out from behind a bush at the Trainer School, when Eri revealed his shapeshifting ability to her, when she reeled up Tula on her first attempt with a fishing rod, and when she saw Peri hatch in her arms. The images brought a warm feeling to her heart—a feeling of pride, accomplishment, and gratitude towards her team.

Then an unfamiliar image filled her mind. A girl lay, eyes closed and suspended in a test tube, her blue hair spanning out behind her, giving her an ethereal aura. The room she was in, however, prevented any doubt from crossing Eryn’s mind that this situation was wrong. She was being held there, guarded and imprisoned against her will, all because she was… important. Powerful. A legendary. But how?

The Azelf ended with a single question, which sounded more like a plea, an appeal to her better self. Help us save her?

And then the image faded, and she was back in the room, back with the other trainers and Azelf and Palkia, back with a sense of confusion and wonder, but this time with an added sense of responsibility. She’d started her trainer journey because she loved Pokemon, had continued it and recruited her team because she wanted to explore the world and see how far she could go, but that had all been about her. Now, she was asked to do something important—something that would affect more than just herself, and something that would allow her to return some of the good the world had shown her.

“Yes!” she burst out. “Yes, I’ll help. Please. I-I don’t know how much I can do, but… ”

She trailed off, glancing at the three trainers beside her, each of whom seemed as qualified as her, if not more. Doubts swirled in the back of her mind, a remnant of the thoughts placed there to test her before, perhaps, but she stood above them now. It could be argued that she was still young and inexperienced, that she still had a ways to go before she could confidently help legendaries in need, but Azelf had chosen her. It believed that she could help, and Eryn was willing to believe that too.

She turned back to the Azelf, this time with resolution in her eyes. “I’ll do my best to help save that girl, and if that’s not good enough, I’ll get stronger and try again. You can count on me.”

Here she was, day five of her Pokemon journey, promising a legendary that she could help do something even it could not do. In another world, she might have thought that foolhardy, but this was now, and Eryn wanted to help—as much as she could and more.

---

@hatakekuro _@Savo

Whatever Basil may have expected to come out of him running his mouth like that… Dorian responded with a light chuckle.

‘Hoho. I believe you misunderstand. What is your perfect self, if not simply the best version of yourself?’ Dorian asked the young trainer, a slight smile on his lips. ‘I seek the Pokémon with the potential and drive to seek to become their perfect selves, and help them attain it. I believe you will find that none of my Pokémon are treated unwell or driven past the harmful limits of what they’re capable of. No need to worry,’ he said, intent on easing whatever thoughts might have occurred to Basil. Now, then. About the matter of eggs.

‘I believe you’ll find Pokémon eggs perfectly capable of taking care of themselves. They’re unlikely to crack, will keep themselves warm and all you need to do is be there when it hatches. It helps the process if you can keep it warm in the meantime, some Pokémon have an ability that will keep it warm from within their Pokéballs, but otherwise, I believe you should have no issue simply carrying it around. Good luck, young trainer. I hope to see you back in Pureplain City to challenge me eventually,’ Dorian told Basil before he left, and that’ll be that.

After that, Basil was free to be on his way. He travelled through the streets of Pureplain suburbs to where the buildings ended, and a green plain started ahead of him. This was the only parts that remained of the original pure plain that the city was originally named after, when the city was first founded. Route 1.



Now, what would Basil do here?



Connected areas:
Pureplain City. A bit south.
Highhill Town. A bit north-north-east.

There he was in the wide open world with many directions that he could take before he could arrive at Highhill Town; there was a forest that he could see in the distance and sprawling plains that went as far as they eye could see. There were a variety of Pokemon roaming, mainly a common variety though there were also Ekans and Growlithe, the latter he heard about while he was at Kalmia's lab. Actually, there was the very familiar face that was Chloe that was chasing a Growlithe with absolutely no success. While he could go and greet her, it looked like she had her hands full enough already. He silently wished her good luck in her endeavors and glanced around to see what else was going on.

He was not all too tempted with the Ekans in the field considering that he already knows what will hatch from the egg, but it was a bit unpredictable when it will happen. It could be the next few steps or it could be until he gets to Highhill depending how off the beaten path he goes. Well, whatever! They will still be there should he decide to catch one. He still needed to get a third team member before he would feel comfortable enough to enter that forest if he so decides to. Decisions, decisions!

Okay, no point in rushing things. He just needed to take his time and look around for something to catch his eye. In this case, it would be a very empty drain save for a few kids holding a little tournament to battle in the narrow space. It was tempting, but he also had a lingering thought on what other Pokemon could be scurrying around that he would not find up there. Oh man, it would be great to find something there, but he possibly could not pass up the opportunity to strengthen his Pokemon up a bit. He could just explore, but what were the chances of those kids still being around if he does search for Pokemon? Ugh, why couldn't he make up his mind?!

The decisions was not his to make; the Pokeballs containing Cecil and Lupin shook before they somehow released themselves from their own confinement. "W-wait!" He called out, but the Darumaka and Sneasel ran towards the kids with way too much eagerness to battle.

Basil hopped down into the drain and ran after them, catching up once they were in front of the children."Sorry! These two are a little too eager to battle. Do you mind if we challenge you?"

---

---

"Oh, is that so," Cyril voice cracked near the end of his rather lively musing as the man, Johannes if he overheard correctly, gave his explanation as to why these four Shuppets hung around his house. Smirking, Cyril peered around the tall man to get a better look at the Shuppets, only for them to shift over to the side, away from his curious gaze. He merely chuckled at their seemingly timid nature as he looked back to the gentleman.

"Good thing they came back, otherwise you would of missed out on these lil' guys," Cyril stretched his arms up and placed them behind his head as he studied the man, blinking for a mere moment before continuing. "Maybe they came back because they were lonely or hungry," he mused, tilting his head to the side.

Cyril wasn't exactly blind to this all. These were wild Pokémon if he was inferring Johannes statement correctly, which lead to a couple of other thoughts based on quick observations. The man had bags under his eyes, these adorable yet wild Shuppet were following him during the day, and it felt like this guy wasn't even here; honestly speaking, it was comparable to talking to a ghost.

And considering who was thinking this, that was saying a lot.

"Regardless of what ever reason they came back, companions are companions, through happiness and hardship," Cyril chuckled as he began reviewing information about Shuppets and wondered if he was guilty. While Shuppets were notably attracted to and feed off negative emotions, they usually congregated around homes at night before retreating to their nest when the sun rises; however, these four were outliers.

"Though when I put it like that, it makes them sound like therapy Shuppet, which is actually a thing in Hoenn and a couple of other regions," he stated, let his arms drop as he awaited and listened to Johannes own comments on the subject matter, nodding along. Cyril wasn't planning on prying into this mans personal history, as that seemed a bit rude for a guy you just met.

As the talk winded on with the older man, he caught something out of the corner of his eye, namely six little Pokémon. From what he could discern, two of them were his and Basil's Pokémon while the other four were a mix of different wild Pokémon. Two Buneary's, a Sneasel, and apparently that rare pink baby-Pokémon that he heard so much commotion about. While Cecil was chattering with the Sneasel, he saw the other four under the shadow of the tree, with the two Buneary's talked for a moment before expressing a bittersweet departure by hugging one another.

Once that was over with, she swaggered on over to the other two, trying to look as serious as possible, but he saw how Aster shifted nervously right over onto her and gave her a light pat on the back with the Happiny following suit with her own trills. After a short conversation between the four of them, the trio were off, waving to the one Buneary they left behind; Cyril could swore he saw a couple of other Pokémon that joined the lonely Buneary standing under the shade to give the three a send off as well.

Cyril couldn't even hide his extremely wide grin as he crossed his arms and nodded to himself. "Say, y'mind giving me a sec'," he addressed Johannes before turning to face Aster and his merry band of misfits, placing a hand on his hip as the three approached.

"Fwee!" The Budew announced their arrival to his partner as Cyril crouched down and gave the guy and his friends a welcoming smile. "Heya' Aster, looks like you did make a couple of cute friends around the park~," he crooned tilting his head as he observed the reactions of the two Pokémon.

The Happiny, for all intents and purposes, stuck to cowering behind Aster, peering over his bud at Cyril. The Buneary on the other hand appeared much more relaxed and nonchalant, seemingly sizing up Cyril and appearing not impressed, though he could tell that she was a bit awkward and nervous. "In any case, hi you two, I'm Asters partner, Cyril! Though, I'm sure he's already told you two aaaalll about me~," he impishly teased as he reached out a hand and caressed the Asters side, which he returned with a happy fwee as rubbed Cyrils hand.

"... H-Haap-piny!"

Cyril glanced over his partner, looking at the Happiny's shaky response as she shrunk back and looked to the side, tapping her little hands. "Hm? He didn't tell you anything about me? Well, that's fine, I'm just happy to see he had a fun time with you two and the rest of the gang," he thumbed over to Basil who was busy interacting with his own partners at the moment. Before doing anything else, he quickly retrieved his Pokédex and scanned over both of them, much to the twos bewilderment.

"Hah, sorry, a bit of a habit I'm picking up again," he laughed as he moved one hand to rub his own cheek and slowly moved his other hand that was massaging his partner to the Happiny behind him. "Hah, pipi," she explained, caught off-guard by the sudden touching as the man massaged her side; as much as she wanted to shift away, she didn't. "There, there, if y'need some space, I can help find some for you later."

The way he consoled the little one was calming to her and soothed the little Happiny a bit enough to not jerk away from him, but instead stand there. This gentle expression allowed her to relax a bit, to the point where Aster shuffled out of the way and bounced onto Cyril's head. Moving the hand that was cupping his cheek towards the Buneary, he held his hand out, only for her to cross her arms away in a huff, only for her to follow up with a quick, light pound at his leg. Thankfully, it wasn't enough to hurt him, especially since he had worse.

"Oooof, hee hee, you're a feisty lil' lass, aren't ya," he mused as the Buneary looked up to him with a deadpan expression. Bun. Eh, she wanted to go up on his shoulder? "Sure, I don't mind!

Cyril watched as her eyes lit up as she bounced onto his hand, did a little balancing act before hopping with a twirl and landing square on his shoulder and taking a seat, Bun, bun, bun! Cyril could only smirk and chuckle at her little maneuver and newfound openness as he moved his hand back to scritch at her cheek. "Say Aster, what did y'all get up to while I was gone anyways?"

"Fwee, bud budee!"

...

...

...

Huh, so they apparently liberated a bunch of Pokémon from under the tyrannical rule of a Persian in the park and stole some treasure from him? As much as he should of been concerned, Cyril noted they looked to be relatively unscathed, though worry did still danced across his lips as he sighed. As much as he wanted to chalk it up to a fantasy, Aster and Cecil looked considerably stronger.

Cyril still mentally scolded himself for not being there to keep these three safe, however from what he could observe the three did seem comfortable around each other. This was something he would note for later; he could only ponder on the friendship factor for evolving these Pokémon before snapping back to reality.

"Ah, I almost forgot! Buneary, Happiny, you want to come along with Aster and myself, he looked over to both ladies as the Buneary crossed her legs as she patted his shoulder. "Bun, bun bun!" Well then, she made her decision relatively quickly, what about y-

"H-Happi!" Huh? Cyril didn't expect her to tear her focus away long enough from the pats; he could only guess they chatted about this earlier under the tree then. He tilted his head a little before shaking it, man, what a nice day.

"Alright then, how about your names then? Velvet for you and Mimi for you~! Sounds good," he addressed the Buneary first and Happiny second, both of which stared blankly at Cyril before dignifying it with their own responses. Mimi did a small, happy hop while Velvet tapped his cheek lightly while giving him a wry smile.

Looks like he had his answer. Withdrawing two Pokéballs, he lightly tapped the two of them, enveloping them both in a bright red light. Both balls rolled around once before clicking, allowing themselves to be caught without most of a hassle.

"Glad to have you both on board, Mimi, Velvet," he lightly tossed both of the Pokéballs, sending Mimi and Velvet out. The Buneary quickly reclaimed her place on one of Cyril's shoulders while he scooped up the Happiny into his arms, which was followed with Aster hopping down to join her in his arms.

And then they all sneezed.

"Ehe, guess that's my introduction to this posse of Pokémon," he grinned widely as he did a quick swipe of his nose with the side of his index finger. Of course, it wasn't long before Basil began muttering to himself about all these events as he got to know his new partner before taking off as well. Cyril merely bobbed his head and gave a thumbs up with his hand.

"A'ight, guess I'll see ya 'round then Basil, ciao for now!" And with those parting words he left for Basil, he turned his attention back to the blonde man. Hmm, maybe he should get going as well, it felt like he was stuck here for months already! Looking down at the duo, they seemed blissfully unaware of the world as they chirped to each other, with Velvet sometimes intervening to chat as well.

"Bun?" Velvet suddenly spoke up, poking at Cyril's cheek to garner his attention before pointing to where Basil had just went. For what she was like, she seemed raring to go and see more beyond this closed school. "You really sure about this?" Velvet paused, staring wide eyed at him as he nudged his shoulder to the side at the one tree the group was in. He saw her hesitate for a moment, before reaffirming her answer from earlier, "Bun bun bun!"

"Gotcha, anyways, sorry to just cut this whole talk short in general," Cyril turned his attention back to Johannes, giving him a weak smile as his shoulders sunk, "but I need to get goin' as well, especially with my own research, can't have too many more delays right now." He snapped his fingers before placing his and on his hip.

"Hopefully we can chat down the line again! After all, talking with others can do plenty of things, like potentially help someone," Cyril offhandedly commented as he moved over to swirling his hand around Mimi's little ponytail, causing her to shyly look away while giggling in tandem as well. "Aaaanyways, ciao for now!"

And with that said, with a pivot and a twirl he was off, giving one small wave to the much older man as he went to exit out the gate.

"Happiny?! Hap, hapi!"

Or so he thought. He was caught off-guard by the sudden interjection of Mimi as she tugged on his vest and called out to him, "Eh, what's the matter Mimi, got unfinished business?" Of course, that's when Aster began to jiggle his bud and chirp as well, unveiling a rock he was holding onto as he began to wriggle out of Cyril's grasp. Noticing this, Mimi followed suit, squirming to get out of Cyril's grip.

Aster popped out first as he beckoned Cyril to follow him, leaving the stone at his foot. As he bent over to pick it up, Mimi popped out as well, save she bolted straight for a bush, with Aster in hot pursuit. Interesting.

Scooping up the stone, he squinted as he examined it with Velvet doing it as well, "Buuuuneary?" Well, Cyril understood both their pleas, chuckling as he looked over to the bush they launched themselves into. "Didn't think she would be an avid stone collector," he murmured with a grin as he placed the rock into his satchel before following after them.

Nearing the bush was a sight to behold because they were hauling out these rocks like there was no tomorrow. One, two, three, seven, thirteen, it was ridiculous amount of speed they were going at, with the total adding up to about nineteen in the span of six to eight seconds, "Fweeeeee!" Aster and Mimi did a little dance as the last one was dropped at their partner's feet as he knelt down to inspect them once more.

They were just more regular rocks, all of them. Cyril couldn't help but laugh at the adorable eccentricities of the duo, but Velvet could only roll her eyes. "Aw come on, it's cute you know," he smirked and raised an eyebrow to Velvet as she turned away to look elsewhere and pretended not to care. Cyril merely stifled another giggle as he procured the rest of these rocks, making the total twenty.

Now they were ready to g-

"Buneary." Cyril pouted and puffed his cheeks out, a little flabbergasted and a little ready to laugh. It was one after the other with these three, but he didn't mind in the slighted as he looked to his shoulders, "You got somethin' you wanna do too?"

Velvet merely pointed in the opposite direction - the park. It seemed the trouble Aster got himself wrapped up into had subsided for the most part as most of the Paras went back to chittering, followed by a mixture of Shinx and Poochyena pouncing on one another. Cyril merely glanced back at her, noticing she was scanning the entire area before pointing to a lonely Shinx pawing at a flower and wiggling their tail, "Buneary."

She wanted to battle them from what he could discern. Rubbing his cheeks, he shrugged as he looked down to the duo, who had since finished their little jig, "Aster, Mimi, seems there's one more thing Velvet wants to do; y'up for watching?" The two looked over at each other before silently signifying to Cyril, with Aster bobbing his bulb and Mimi smiling while stretching her little arms out. The scene was enough to make him diabetic.

"Alright lets get going then!" And with that said, the group headed towards their target with both Aster and Mimi hiding behind Cyril whilst Velvet merely looked at the Pokémon and feigned a yawn before bouncing off his shoulder once they were close enough.

---

---

Azelf going to Vivia first was a little intimidating for Skylar, sure, but he really could only wait for things to result from the interaction between Vivia and Azelf. He would've ideally liked to maybe help defend Vivia's character in her interactions with the Legend, if such called for it, but he'd need to wait. After all, speaking out against someone like that would be bound to cause issues in the long run.

Then the blue lake spirit came to Skylar. It congratulated him, but then followed with saying that he was aided by JoJo's mere presence... which Skylar really couldn't deny. He at least hoped that Azelf would know that the Teleport was going to be an only absolute last-resort thing. When all was said and done for Skylar, he sighed for a moment before giving a small smile. "Ah, well, can't win them all I suppose." Skylar shrugged and picked up JoJo from his perch on Skylar, holding the pal in his arms. "Think I could, um, get a picture as a consolation prize at least?"

Regardless of Azelf's answer, it would move on to Oaken... who put up an argument, unsurprisingly. Okay, so maybe Skylar's plans were always a little headstrong, but for someone who was too afraid to try walking through the Beheeyems from earlier to get into this cavern, Oaken seemed a bit offended about not being the chosen person.

Then, it moved to Eryn, and her response to whatever Azelf said in her mind was enough to immediately tip Skylar off to what she had been asked. It was about the same girl that Mesprit showed Skylar in Highhill. Skylar smiled as he watched the blurry scene from the side, glancing down for a moment to look at the Crystals of Emotion hanging from his arm.

“I’ll do my best to help save that girl, and if that’s not good enough, I’ll get stronger and try again. You can count on me.”

"You can count on me, too." Skylar added onto Eryn's statement. "Since Mesprit trusted me with the same task, and I don't intend on losing that trust any time soon." Hopefully that wasn't too far out of line, heh.

Dawkin was pleased with the results of his training. Everyone had made a good deal of progress. Well except for Feebas that is. That should be his next objective. The professor had said that he should doll Feebas up at Justroad city's Salon, which was a fair bit away. According to his Pokedex... Route 16... Route 19... Route 21... That should be good. Perhaps on the Ferry Pichu could blow some fish out of the water to catch up with everyone else. His plan in mind, Dawkin returned to Raremine town with the intent of going to the Pokemon Center to top off, and then to head out to Route 8. Although, as he passed by the Gym he paused.

With this place being a bit out of the way, he might not come back here for a way. In which case he might not get to challenge Kristy's gym for a while, and she had wanted him to try. It would give him a good idea of what a minor league gym was like as well. As much as he detested the possibility of losing, he felt this would be a valuable enough experience to justify it. So Dawkin headed to the Raremine Gym but saw it was closed. Ah, that's right, something had happened at one of the warehouses and she was looking for the stolen/missing Pokemon. Instead Dawkin would try to find someone in town to point out which direction she had gone so he could go after her.

Actions: Visit the Pokemon Center and then ask folks where Karen went, following after her if successful.

---

@Typical @Gardevoiran

‘A-and me as well!’ Vivia declared, frowning and clasping her hands a bit as she said, even though she stumbled over her words. ‘I can’t stand by when I know this is happening. I’ll surely grow stronger and make a difference. Allow me to see this through!’

Azelf took a moment to gaze at Eryn as she made her declaration, and then over at Skylar as he made his, then finally at Vivia. The legendary Pokémon took a moment to consider, until the light of Beheeyem’s hands shone and the memory of spoken words manifested in their minds as if they’d just been said, even though they had not.


Azelf dove, pulling Beheeyem along on the trip, and arrived in front of Eryn. Then, a new memory formed.

A path was given to her. Two paths to the same destination, where the girl was being held. one was through Worldedge City. At the bottom of the Industrial District, there was a factory that wasn’t quite as abandoned as it appeared to be. The facility was manned, but nobody would expect an intruder from that direction. Security was lax, partly because having security there could alert people to the factory in the first place. However, heading through that direction meant having to traverse the entity of the base in order to reach the girl. It could turn into a more difficult route.

An alternative route was through Mt. Strength. In the bottom of the giant mountain was a hidden tunnel, directions to which Eryn now remembers, which leads into an underground maze. Heading east within said maze leads to an elevator, but said elevator is under heavy protection due to the powerful wild Pokémon that can be found in the maze, among other reasons. Breaking through that protection could turn out to be a difficult battle… but if she got through and used the elevator then she’d be just a single room away from the girl’s location. She could be snapped up and they’d be out of there before they could rally a response.

She should be wary of telling the Pokémon League or adults about this. The memory cautioned her that there was no telling who might be on their side. In fact, Azelf’s kin had assured them that at least one person in the Pokémon League is definitely in on it. _{This is to ensure you take on the job yourself and don’t just leak the info, so, like, please don’t come up with loopholes for telling the authorities anyway. Can still tell other players about this, though, heh.}

This all said, she could take her time. The individuals holding the girl was working from a mistaken assumption. They would not make progress in a long while. Eryn had time to grow more powerful, until she was finally ready. _{The plot will wait for the players.}

When Eryn refocused on reality again, she’d find that she had something in her hand.



A couple red jewels, or crystals apparently, gathered in Eryn’s hand, bound together.

Azelf drifted back, and faced all four of them, now.



And that should do. Azelf now let go of Beheeyem, and spun up into the air and back to floating by the dormant Palkia.

This was when an Abra teleported in, sitting nicely in front of them. Clearly, the intended way out.

Vivia looked a bit tense, looking over to see if the others had anything to say.

Oaken was presently analyzing Eryn, his arms crossed, gauging her current reactions and such.

Eryn and Skylar’s reactions?

__________________________

@hatakekuro



With that aside, Basil headed out onto Route 1! He had all these adventures that would take him far and high that he could look forward to… but let’s start with his Pokémon taking him one level underground for a Pokémon tournament!

There was a bunch of kids having battles centered around a single individual, a youngster that looked way too smug about himself. The first person to lock eyes with Basil and his Pokémon was an even younger youngster, staring wide-eyed at him.

‘My lord! My lord! An invader wishes to partake in the tourney!’ the young boy said, looking with wide eyes at the smug boy.



‘Hmpf, another kid wishing to prove himself worthy of the princess’ hand in marriage,’ the boy said, with a completely straight face, despite being significantly younger than Basil.

‘Iiiiiiiih!’ A tiny girl at his side made a fake-terrified noise and hid behind the “lord”.

‘Very well! Knight Donald, your king commands you to go and test the might of our new challenger!’ the youngster king said, pointing forth at Basil.

‘At once, my lord!’ Donald said, turning around to face Basil and his Pokémon with a nervous smile. ‘O-OK! I, Donald, will knock you all down!’



For these battles, keep in mind that you're fighting inside of a decently tight drain!



Should he be able to beat the knight, he’d then be faced by a notably older young lady in a green outfit.

‘These kids are so cute, aren’t they? Anyway! I’m a mercenary hired by the king to repel invaders! So you’re not going any further~’ she told, smiling happily.





After that, the “princess” herself approached Basil, looking at him with wide eyes and a tiny little blush.

‘I-I’m happy, but I’m gonna repel you now!’ she insists.





… Basil and co’s strategies?

__________________________

@Savo

‘… Yeah. So it is. Thank you for the sentiment,’ Johannes would nod at Cyril’s words, but otherwise didn’t have much to add, really. Johannes didn’t seem like the most active of talkers. Still, he’ll be around here if so desired. Then a couple of Pokémon showed up and Cyril had that conversation with them. When they were “caught”, the Pokédex lit up.



And that would do!

Now, then. They approached the random Shinx just hanging around… which looked up at Velvet with a confused little look.

Sincerely, this Shinx isn’t going to stand a chance, do as you like with him, heh.

If you decide to capture him…



That done with! What will Cyril do now?

Ohhhhh so these kids were just playing make believe! The empty channel was their kingdom and they were the residents, well, 'royalty' in some cases. "Then I, Basil the Bard, shall be your opponent!" He said as he whipped his mandolin from his bag only for his face to light up red when he realized what he said. That was embarrassing. Please, please kill me. Basil thought to himself.

But that would have to wait as first battle began! Basil had sent in Lupin the Sneasel out to fight against the "knight's" Rattata with the complex strategy of just using Tackle. The strategy to counter this one was really simple; take advantage of Lupin's superior reach and greater speed to land Scratch attacks before the Rattata could even land a hit until it could no longer fight. It probably would not take very long considering they aren't known for being able to taking many hits.

For the second Rattata, the second verse was the same as the first except if they were given the chance, Basil would have Lupin grab its tail if the Rattata was clumsy in its use of tail whip and beat the living hell out of it with Scratch.

Once the battle ended, a young girl in green came up to bat. It looked like she was playing along with them as well. "Well met, mercenary! Let's battle!" Jesus Pokemon Christ could he stop?

Against the Skitty, Basil had sent in Cecil and while there was nothing they could do about the Fake Out, they could at least keep it at a distance. Cecil had been ordered to use Incinerate to keep the Skitty back and to take advantage of the tight, narrow space where it should have been pretty difficult to avoid projectiles. Should the Skitty somehow find a way through, Cecil would use Tackle to throw in some heavy damage.

When that battle ended, the little girl that they were protecting decided to join the fray. "Well, uh, good luck princess." Should he really be beating preschool children like this?

Against the "princess," Cecil was kept out against the Pidgey and used the same strategy of using Incinerate though this was mainly because the bloody thing could fly and avoid close quarter attacks. The Pidgey would have to come down to attack her anyway so it would have to maneuver the flaming projectiles coming its away.

For the Buneary, he sent Lupin in against it. To keep the Buneary from abusing Defense Curl, Lupin was ordered to use Taunt to aggravate it into attack only to follow up with its own flurry of Scratch attacks.

---

---

"Rad." What else did Skylar need to say? He just met two more legendary Pokemon on his plight to become the strongest flying-type trainer in the region, got permission to photograph another one of them so he could help fill the dex for visual completion, and he found out it wouldn't just be him on this quest! That's three whammies, all at once!

Oh, speaking of that photo (if the nod from Azelf was any indication he could take it), Skylar pulled out his Pokedex and flipped it to the camera function he's been using through this adventure. He raised up the camera, got a good sightline of Azelf, and he pressed down on the capture button...

... only to then see that Eryn was sticking out into the picture. She wasn't obscuring Azelf or anything, so it was fine, but it was kinda funny. If Skylar wanted to go take another picture of Azelf later because somehow this one wasn't satisfactory, he probably could. He knew the path vaguely now, anyway.

"Cool, got a picture." Skylar noted, looking over to Vivia and Eryn's general direction (but only looking in between the two of them spatially). "I'm good to go back up top. Though Vivia and I were going to head to Stillwood to go and see Uxie now, plus challenge the gym since this one is way too tough for our team to tackle right now. I don't think I'd be overstepping any boundaries if I said you're more than welcome to come with."

Skylar paused for a moment, thinking ahead. "... how were we gonna get there anyway, Vivia? Land or sea?"

@PlatinumSkink

---

"Nincada...?" Claire frowned. A...disappearing man? That was unusual. Was he a ghost? No, no, that was silly. He did however, just seem to vanish. At times like this, she needed some fancy detective gear like the kind detective pikachu wore in those old novels. Hm. "...maybe flew away? What do you think Ralia?" Ralia however, was completely focused on the Nincada. The Ralts held a hand to her tiny mouth, tilting her head in thought. It went down?

hmm.

"Raaal!~" Without replying directly, Ralia summoned her psychic energy and opened the panel. "Ralts!"

"Weh?! Secret dungeon?!" Claire blinked in surprise. Now that was interesting! What was this doing here? She hadn't a clue, but it was certainly not something you'd normally see here. "Hm...this seems like a bad idea, but," Claire pulled her jacket tighter around her, quickly also adjusting her bag and making sure her pokeballs were in place. "They always keep the best loot in the hidden dungeons, heh."

She stepped onto the ladder, grabbing the sides of it with a firm grip as Ralia teleported herself back up onto her head.

"Raal!~"

Translation for the helpful Nincada.

"Thanks, this one isn't bright enough to notice hehe~" Ralia giggled, waving over to Nincada, using her psychic powers to gently close the hatch behind the two of them, descending into the room below. Now then, she just had to be quiet -

"Gweh!?"

And she missed the last step on the ladder and fell flat on her butt.

---

---

TL;DR, Cyril makes a new friend, some bonding time, they buy items and some food, and then head to Route 1 to train.

For all the little Pokémon was doing, he seemed like a pretty happy individual as he pawed and played with the flower. However, the moment Velvet strut into the scene, the Shinx instantly perked up with a huge smile, thinking that this was another Pokémon he could have fun with, but she had other plans.

What followed was a fairly one-sided encounter against the poor, little Shinx who was none the wiser to it all. For all he thought, this was some playful roughhousing, with a very large emphasis on rough as he continued to smile, despite taking a hard hit from Velvet. Despite his mewls of pain, he powered through it, only to lunge and catch Velvet off-guard, pinning her.

The little Pokémon's tail began to sway a little as inched towards the Buneary's face with a large, wide open smile, "Shiiiii!" What wasn't expected was the Pokéball as it whisked through the air and bumped off the relatively injured Shinx before engulfing the young cat in a flash of red light. One, two, three, click.

---

The four, now five didn't linger about the school much longer, though Velvet didn't know how to broach the subject of Cyril catching the Pokémon as she reclaimed her throne (shoulder) as they made their way towards the Pokémon center. She wouldn't deny that it was a bit weird that he let the three of them stay out of those contraptions, yet Shinx was forced to stay?

Regardless, the trip down to the Pokémon center was relatively uneventful for the most parts, passing by similar parts of town and encountering different types of people. As much as she wanted to protest the Shinx being stuck, she was placated by taking in all the sights at witnessing new areas before her very eyes.

Cyril, on the other hand was twirling a pencil around with a clipboard and a decent amount of papers, documenting how his Pokémon were reacting, noting a couple of things about them. For starters, Mimi was busy hiding behind Cyril whilst Aster comforted her by patting her back with his buds. Seems Velvet wasn't the only one taking in the sights as well, but unlike her, wasn't as curious despite being equally entranced.

Every time they passed by a large group of individuals, Velvet would glance over with an uncaring gaze, despite the way she went about it betraying her true intentions. Mimi on the other-hand always began to breathe a bit faster, though was always kept calm by Aster, with the former always looking back with a reassured gaze. Best to avoid large crowds for now until Mimi grew used to them.

Regardless, besides noting down their reactions to different places, he also noted the interactions with one another. Despite Velvet being the least talkative of the bunch, she was always seen peering down and smiling at the duo, while Aster and Mimi interacted with one another constantly, pointing out the sights despite the latter shying away from the obvious.

Well, that was enough of recording for now; he couldn't just leave them to interact by themselves, after all, he was a part of the experiment too! Also, he didn't want to miss out on these events, so he gently pocketed the clipboard in his satchel before twirling his pencil around and giving Velvet a light jab with the eraser, causing her to jump a little from her seat.

"BUNEE! Bun? Bun, buneary!" She did the cutest little pout at him, it was so adorable, he couldn't help but tease her more by winking and sticking his tongue out with an impish grin, "Ooooops, did I startle you there?"

That got a few light punches from her own paws as he pocketed the pencil as well before pivoting and scooping up Aster and Mimi.

"BUDEE?!"

"H-HAPI?!"

T'was a pleasant surprise to say the least as they giggle like little children, trilling and continuing to talk as he nestled the duo in his arms. Mimi breathing slowly began to abate and the patting from Aster became a lot less frequent, though that could be because he was rubbing against Cyril's chest, causing him and Velvet to sneeze in the process.

---

The walk the the Pokémon Center was fairly uneventful as cheerful four continued talking about different things, more so questions on Cyril's end towards them as they talked about places they saw along the way, as well as hyping about maybe stopping by there some time. Cyril could only give some of them a weak smile, stating that some places like a fashion outlet or training dojo wouldn't be visited right now (though he would stop to grab them all some grub later on, something that got the trio to perk up).

Also, that dojo was a gym Aster and him saw earlier, so, uh, yeah.

Upon entering into the Pokémon center, Cyril was met with those three delinquent looking guys standing at the receptionist desk, receiving their Pokémon back after a quick heal. Looks like Mr. Pompadour and his buddies got beat, which caused the researcher to smirk a bit. Of course, Cyril had to resist nearly breaking down laughing at their silly, yet earnest actions as the man with the Hitmonlee had him pop out and began hyping the somewhat distraught Pokémon back up out of his slump.

Despite all his incessant giggling, it was charming that these greenhorns constantly would keep getting up, even after being knocked down and hyped themselves up once more to get that badge after some major gains. They did a little chant, thrusting their arms into the air before stampeding out of the Pokémon Center, nearly trampling over Cyril who had to pivot out of the way.

It was eye rolling fun to say the least and his smile never faded, even after reaching the receptionist. As he explained to each of his partners about what needed to be done for them to heal up, he always kept eyeing Nurse Joy at the counter. It was always weird seeing her at every Pokémon Center and even unsettling at times.

Cyril could only ponder on if there was some secret government conspiracy where they cloned multiple Nurse Joys for every single Pokémon Center across the entire globe as he returned the trio to their balls and placed all four of them into the containers. It didn't take long for them to get slotted into the healing compartment, with a soft glow that followed.

Hopefully now Velvet would understand his reasoning behind not letting the Shinx out as he freed all four of them at once, letting them all get reoriented with the area before meeting their new pal. Velvet seemed less than thrilled as she rolled her eyes and crossed her little arms while Aster studied the Shinx, as well as Mimi who was just hiding behind the Budew.

The Shinx on the other hand was fairly curious about this new area and these new friendly faces, especially the Buneary he saw earlier. His first instinct was to trot up to Velvet, paw gently at her and mewl loudly, "Shiiiiiiiinx!" Daawww, that goofy little smile of his would never get old, even though Velvet ignored him a bit.

Regardless, that didn't bother him as Aster lightly trilling caught his attention, his ears wiggling as he hopped around to face the two. Aster and Mimi were both frozen on the spot due to how much energy this Pokémon was radiating, and that wasn't just because he was an electric type.

Dashing on over, the little Shinx gave a friendly, yet loud purr at the duo, pawing at Aster before looking behind him to see the nervous Happiny. An impish smile crossed his face as he crouched down, slowly treading around the little Bud Pokémon. Happiny, who was still moderately disconcerted despite the disarming personality totted around Aster.

Of course, this little game of cat and mouse continued to transpire with the duo slowly speeding up, eliciting a little giggle from Cyril, who was watching this all play out, at least for now. Eventually, the time to strike was nigh as the Shinx bounced up into the air, ready to pounce on Mimi. This, of course caused her to shiver and put her hands over her eyes.

Of course, as anxiety inducing as that was, nothing ever came of it. Moving a hand to the side, Mimi could only witness what was going on.

The Shinx was wiggling his paws in front of her face while Cyril was holding onto him, apparently lunging to catch him in midair, "Phew..."

That was close; didn't want to make Mimi too panicky right now, especially due to this Shinx somehow having a more outgoing personality than him, which was half n' half for him on the good to bad scale. "Easy now lil' buddy, Mimi isn't one for much roughhousing y'know," he chuckled, carrying the Shinx to his chest and rolling him over like a little baby.

"Shiii?" The Shinx was understandably confused and nodded; funnily enough, he was easily distracted when Cyril used another free hand to play around with him, going between rubbing his belly to having his hand act like a claw that was "attacking" him. The Shinx would respond in earnest, rubbing against Cyril if he did the former while attempting to catch the hand during the latter parts.

Good, he seemed relatively placid for now.

With that said and done, he rolled the mewling electric cat onto is tummy, causing his fixation to swap over to the trio, who had all gathered together to look at their new friend, some in nervous curiosity, with one being relatively unfazed.

"Well now that we've all calmed down a bit, I would like to introduce you all to our newest partner, Cation," he exclaimed cheerfully, looking down at the Shinx who stared up with a befuddled "Shinx," as he tilted his head and pointed a paw to himself. Cyril simpered at the Shinx, "If you don't like it, I'm more than willing to think of another~!"

"Shiiii!" Cation exclaimed in excitement, bobbing his head and beaming brightly at the man. Seriously, way too precious. Leaning over and placing him down beside the others, Cyril placed a hand on his hip as he beckoned the four to follow after him, "I'll help you get acquainted with the others, as well as you three with Cation, but right now, we've got a couple of things to do before we hit the road~."

---

It felt like a minute had passed for the squad, but it seemed like Cation was settling in relatively easily with the others, though not quite as close. Honestly speaking though, it was quite the adventure when they entered the Pokémart, especially after he gave them a list of what he was purchasing.

While he was curious to see how they would act, they acted mostly civil and kept the rowdiness to a minimum, well, somewhat. Cation was very curious to a fault, staring at things and pawing at them from time to time, nearly knocking them down at times, which either he or Aster stopped. Velvet, on the other hand was trying her hardest to help, but was relatively klutzy despite how serious she was acting earlier; thankfully Mimi was able to catch some of the items that slipped out of her hands when he couldn't.

That was honestly fun to witness, though following that, he did a stop by a restaurant that looked Sinnohian in nature. While he did love Sinnoh for its lore and mysteries, the food was great as well! Thankfully that was something shared across Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh, though Kalosian meals were good too.

After ordering two Extra Large Bento Boxes there, what followed was the strangest balancing act of all time, which did earn a ton of sidelong glances from the people he passed on by. He walked whilst eating and feeding himself and his Pokémon (he didn't buy the food just for himself after all). Of course, considering the chopsticks in one hand and box in another, he had to get creative.

"Alright, say aaahhh Mimi!"

So he used both of his shoulders for his four partners, seating two at a time, with Velvet on one shoulder and Mimi on the other. Aster and Cation were relatively full and were interacting with each other in-between the small bursts of excitement as the latter dashed around the group, "Piiiiiiiii..."

And there went a small portion of eggs into the baby Pokémon's mouth, which caused her to rock on his right shoulder with absolute glee "Pi! Pi, Hapi!"

"Buuuuun," Cyril glanced over at the seemingly unhappy Velvet, who caught his attention with a deadpan statement, though he could see the underlying playfulness in her eyes. "Heh, alright, alright, give me a sec, I'll get some for you next." The Buneary's ears rolled up as she opened her mouth and closed her eyes, waiting on the delivery.

It wouldn't be long before they made it to the outskirts of Pureplain, and the entrance into Route 1, he bore witness to the rolling, luscious green plains beyond the bounds of this diverse, tightly knit city. Following their entrance, Cyril began to study the area as the duo finished their share of the box.

---

Placing the empty box back into his bag, he helped the little Happiny down from her perch as she gleefully patted the stone in her pouch, as well as her full belly while Velvet continued resting on Cyril's shoulder. Clicking the roof of his mouth, he rubbed his chin as he studied the huge swathe of flat greenery before him, with some stretches of tall grass.

There were a decent amount of Trainers scattered about, either seeking a challenge or sparring with each other with an equal amount of others scouring the tall grass and chasing after whatever Pokémon they set their sights on, with one said Pokémon being a Growlithe.

"Wonder if she was successful." Cyril had recalled Chloe exclaiming about heading out and looking to catch a Growlithe, so he pondered on if the lass was successful as he scoured the plains, and found her doing something within the grass. Honestly, he didn't feel like disrupting her search and let sleeping Growlithe's lie, at least for right now.

Heck, she could of succeeded in her mission and was either searching for another partner to gain for all he knew. Despite the scenery, he already had a plan that was on his mind as stared at the gorgeous scenery as a crisp breeze rolled over.

"Aster, Mimi, Velvet, Cation," Cyril looked down with a bright smile as he caught the four's attention, "how about we do a bit of training? We're gonna need to be as strong as possible since we will run into many potentially strong Pokémon and trainers and we need to be ready for anything! How 'bout it?"

The four looked over between each other before looking all up and responded in unison, "Budhapibuneeeshiiii!" Alright, looks like they were all in accordance with one another as Cyril grinned at them all and beckoned to follow after him as the three went off to train on Route 1.