[IC] Pokemon: Earth

[ouTland01]

06:22
Avery wakes with a start, momentarily confused at his surroundings. It takes him several minutes to remember the night before -- making it into a campsite, looking for a manager or counsellor, realizing that it was closed for the season, and giving up and sleeping there. He had pulled a tarp from his bike’s storage unit and made a lean-to with it using the bike itself as an anchor. Coming back to himself, Avery crawls out of his blanket into the cold spring air. He stretches and lets out his team out one by one, greeted by groggy Pokémon. After they eat, he repacks his bike and calls them back to their Pokéballs.
“Two more hours,” he reminds himself, muffled by the helmet. “Then, what, eight hours of work? That’s fine. That’s great.”
Avery groans, but mounts his motorcycle and rolls out of the camp.

───── ⋅⋆⋅ ───── ⋆⋅ ☠ ⋅⋆ ───── ⋅⋆⋅ ─────

17:14
Cold wind steals the trainer's breath as soon as he steps out of the warm Collections Building, and he sucks in a gasp.
“Fuck!”
He vows to buy a scarf, and speed-walks to the staff parking lot. A bit down the pavement, several underclassmen turn away, deterred by what looks like an absolutely livid expression on his face. In truth, he’s just a little irritated, but his demeanour and facial features lend his reactions to be much more severe than they really are.
Once at his bike, Avery puts his helmet on and kicks off. Just turning a corner, he’s able to see his destination – Hendrick Medical Centre. It’s barely a two-minute drive, but it takes him a while to find the main building and park.
The Gym leader retrieves his bag out of his bike and pulls the strap over his shoulder, tugging his helmet off. Instead of locking it in his storage bin, he leaves it in-hand and enters the Pokémon Centre.
Avery walks up to the nurse at the desk and smirks, quirking a brow. His smooth south English accent reaches fairly clearly over the din of the main lobby. “Hello, handsome. Would you mind showing me to the overnight rooms?”

[Alisdragon911]

Faye is glad that the nurse gave her pokeballs back to her before she left the Pokémon center with Samantha to a small park nearby the Hospital. Faye is glad to see that Samantha call out a Clauncher, she saw these Pokémon at the beach. She pulls out a pokeball, “Snivy I choose You!” Snivy came out ready to battle he will check the place out later. “Whiskey likes taking on challenges, I can tell this is going to be a good battle.”

[Balthazar007]

@jeroukoo@Alisdragon911@Wayward@ouTland01

March 2nd, 2019 was a cold day for many in the Northern Hemisphere, a day of new beginnings, and another day in the life for others. Some would lay their head down comfortably, while others would have scrap to get by. Such is the way of the world.

March the third couldn't come quick enough...

@jeroukoo
Having spent the night in an uncomfortable, yet warm, holding cell, it was now time for Malcolm to wake up and get a move on. It was 9:30am and a toasty 2°F when Malcolm was released back onto the streets. The kind officer at the front desk who gave him back his belongings suggested that he stay at the local Wyoming Rescue Mission homeless shelter, located a few blocks away... if he were to stay another night in Casper at all. Though, thoughts of traveling south were definitely tempting...

@Alisdragon911
Faye had (won/lost) her first Pokemon battle, but more importantly she had made a friend. There was no bitterness between either trainer or their Pokemon. It was 11am in the morning, and they were checking out of the Pokemon Center together.
"So do you want to travel together for a while? Or are you the lone wolf type?" Samantha joked.

@Wayward
Despite a moderately comfortable bed to sleep on, Bryan had to find out the hard way why they called this "The City That Never Sleeps". Sirens, the occasional backfiring car (or perhaps gunshot?), either way, he was up early and ready to get moving. If he was serious about taking on this New York City gym league, he would need to visit one of the other boroughs today, but which one...?

@ouTland01
Even the great state of Texas was cold this Sunday morning. By the time Avery left the Poke Center, it was right at 32°F. Literally freezing in Texas, what was the world coming to? And the projected high for the day? A whopping 37°F. Still, he was hear for a reason, and he wouldn't let the weather drag him down.

[Little Bird]

The night before...

Having finally cleaned up and settled into his room for the night, Bryan sat awake and contemplating at the small table that served has his room's desk. With Ev sitting on the bed next to him, he riffled through the pamphlets and maps of the city's gyms and other things worth doing. "Well, this is looking like a bit of a breeze," he said, patting Ev on the head. "It'll take a little while, but we can make a quick path on this one. Other than the Shore Side Gym, Raph will have a field day, type-wise. We'll have to be sure to find you a Thunder Stone before we get to Staten Island; that's if you still want to be an Electric type."

Ev met Bryan's gaze with a hint of second thought. "Yeah," Bryan said. "Don't worry. You've got time to think on it. How about this: if we happen to run into another Electric type, or a Grass type, we'll hold the decision for another time?" Ev nodded happily."

And a new morning rises.

The night's sleep had been passable. Bryan rolled out of bed at his third alarm as the sun would have reached over the New York skyline. Fitting what few items he had used the night before back into his backpack, he and Ev departed their room. He (and his Pokemon) made quick work of breakfast in the Hospitals dinning area, and were even allowed to take a few things to have for snacks while they were making their rounds to the gyms.

Stepping out onto the street side, Bryan fitted on his winter hat against the morning chill. "It's a bit cold," he said to Ev. He held out the Eevee's seldom used Pokeball. "I'd appreciate it if you got in. It's enough for me to be out in the cold. No sense in you sharing that burden. Though saddened, Ev, in understanding, went willingly into the confines of the Pokeball. "That takes care of that," Bryan said, assured all of his Pokemon would be in top form when it came time for the challenges. Nodding to himself, he departed on foot, heading due North along Madison Avenue. Head North to the Bronx. Take on that Ghost gym. From there we can rough it down to Queens, and then Brooklyn, and after that we'll head to Staten Island. Might take longer than a day; but it'll make for a good circle to bring us back here.

[Alisdragon911]

Faye giggles as a Shinx falls onto her head then falls to the ground. She rubs her head as she looks at the sleeping Shinx to make sure it is okay. “Do you want to go straight to the gym or stick around here to see what is happing in town today?” She puts her hand on the Shinx to see it is still alive, she sighs in relief it was only sleeping. She guess the Shinx was sleeping on a ledge above her and Samantha.

[Balthazar007]

@Wayward

As Bryan walked the cold crowded streets, he noticed something, there weren't many Pokemon walking around. He spotted a few wild Pokemon hanging out in an alley way and spotted a few up on roofs. What he didn't see was Pokemon walking beside their trainers. Sure, they could all be doing the same as he was, keeping their Pokemon warm in their Pokeballs, but these people didn't seem that nice. There had to be another reason.

Eventually, Bryan boarded a train headed north. This cut his travel time down to a respectable hour, give or take. By the time he reached the gym it was noon. The sun was high and the gym was... closed???

The doors to the old mansion/gym were locked. It was then that he noticed a plaque on the side of the building with the gyms hours of operation (5pm to 1am). Then it hit him, this was a Ghost-type gym. Ghost Pokemon and their trainers are hardly ever the morning type.

With five whole hours to kill, Bryan would have to find something else to do until the gym opened. Luckily, he was right between the Botanical Gardens and the Bronx Zoo. He could check out the foreign Pokemon at either of those locations. Hell, he had time for both if he wanted.

---

@Alisdragon911

"Well," Samantha said, "If you want to join me, I think I'm ready to visit the Gym." She nodded to the little Shinx who had made itself comfortable near her feet. "Sparks is my strongest Pokemon, he was my starter. I think I have a fighting chance at a Water Gym. If we head out now, we can make it back in time to watch the Contests this evening. They start at 5pm. Today is two-star contests, so we couldn't compete anyways. I might tomorrow though. Mondays through Thursdays are for one-star contests."

Samantha was clearly excited that Faye was thinking about joining her. A week of traveling alone had admittedly left her a little lonely. And so, the two called for a ride, asking the driver to head to the Water gym.

Halfway there, now outside Savanah's city limits, Samantha turned to Faye with a start. "Oh, I'm sorry." Through their ride, the two girls had been staring out the window, hardly saying anything. It was the sight of an Ariados hanging between a couple of trees that made her think. "Do you want to stop somewhere along the way and hunt for Pokemon? There's no rush to get to the gym."

[Little Bird]

Bryan was only a few blocks along when he noticed the shift in tone. Beyond the absence of many Pokemon, there was something odd about the other people with whom he was sharing the sidewalks. Darting briefly into a short alleyway and out of the crowd, he checked the time, and his map. "Ugh. At this rate I'll definitely be spending all day on these gym challenges." He quickly searched the map, finally finding his saving grace. At a fast paced walk worthy of a Wall Street Banker's hustle, he arrived in a Subway concourse. A rail pass paid for, he rode the metro closer to his destination.

An hour of relatively uneventful travel passed, and Bryan removed himself from the train and returned to the surface. The gym was close by, and he practically sprinted to the doorway... Only to be greeted by a pair of locked doors. Confused, he made a second and third attempt to open the doors, as though they were merely stuck and needed a bit of work to open. After his third failure, he backed away, and gazed up towards the upper levels of the mansion, hoping he might catch the eye of an occupant.

It was only then that he noticed the plaque by the entrance. "Gym Closed During Daylight Hours," he read aloud. "Will Be Open 5PM-1AM." He heaved a sigh, and walked across the street and away from the mansion. "Guess I've got time to kill," he said, dejectedly. "So..." he again checked a map of the area, "we've got the Botanical Gardens, and the Bronx Zoo nearby. Might be able to squeeze both in. I'll start in the Botanical Gardens. Maybe there'll be wild Pokemon in there that I can catch; more likely there than the Zoo." Pretending to raised spirits, he set off toward the Gardens.