Margo was glad that out of the two boys, at least one knew when to admit he was wrong and apologize for his actions. A quick wave of her hand dismissively was all that Dan got in response, as if she had in fact not been expecting an apology at all. She gave a smile and a nod in response before glancing in Indy's direction. He seemed to be starting to doze back off now that Dan was gone and Margo followed his lead, napping with Crowne for the rest of her time in recovery.
It had been a few days since she had been released from the hospital and the boys were off doing their own things today--she believed Indy went to talk with that Breeder today while Dan was taking a day trip with his mother to the coast-line, if she remembered correctly. The teenager was left to her own devices and had decided to do some light exploring, not daring to go too far from the trails that were marked on a map she had been given by the nurse working at the pokemon center. Saffron City was just down one travel station but Margo didn't venture to the fabulous city, instead opting for enjoying nature on Route Five. To the left of the path, through a thicket of some trees, was a lovely little river that Margo was dipping her feet in. Oceana and Crowne were splashing and squirting water at each other while Poinsettia paid across Margo's shoulders to enjoy the sun.
An odd sound started coming from the trees behind her, an awful screeching howl that seemed to be getting louder as the leaves of the trees rustled. Suddenly a pack of Mankey came barreling through the trees, not paying any mind to Margo as they were a dozen feet down the river as they crossed to the other trees. They were strange looking pokemon, with little pig noses and gangly little arms and a tail that they used to help them swing across the branches of the trees. Just in time, the girl was able to pull out her pokedex and get an entry on them as the last one appeared to pass over the river and join its packmates.
"Mankey, the Pig Monkey Pokemon. This Pokemon lives in treetop colonies and is extremely quick to anger. If it loses sight of its group, it becomes infuriated by its loneliness. However, because it goes into a towering rage almost instantly, it is impossible for anyone to flee its wrath."
Margo frowned at the little default picture of the monkey, its face definitely an indicator of its perpetual anger. "Well that's awfully sad, isn't it? The only way it seems to know how to react is with anger..." The girl continued to make a face as she stared at the pokedex that vaguely reminded her of someone, unaware of the rustling as a lone Mankey came barreling out of the trees at the opposite end of where his packmates had just passed through.
The pokemon started to panic, a tightening around its heart making itself known as it began to breathe quickly. His eyesight started to blur, tears beginning to well as he looked around for any sign of his family. The first thing to come into view was Margo, sitting on the edge of the river and staring at her pokedex. With lightning speed, the pokemon was charging at her and making that same awful screech that its family had done, his body becoming engulfed in a red energy.
Margo's scream pierced the air, her fear startling all the other nearby pokemon. A flock of Pidgey shrieked with her as they took flight to get away from the impending danger.
The teenager opened one eye cautiously, amazed that she hadn't gotten the wind knocked out of her from the rampaging pokemon. She scrambled back hastily, gripping clumps of grass as she dragged herself away from the Mankey who was now being blocked from Margo by Crowne. The Squirtle was gritting his little teeth as he held the Mankey's fists and attempted to keep him at bay, still dripping water from how fast he had managed to jump out of the water. It was obvious that the Mankey was stronger than him, but the adrenaline coursing through the Squirtle was palpable as he defended his trainer. "C-Crowne.." Margo could barely hear her words as the Squirtle only barely glancing over his shoulder and grinned at her.
Oceana was quick to react as she noticed her teammate struggling, the turtle being pushed back and leaving a trail of dirt as the grass was pushed up behind him with the force of the Mankey. The Wingull gave a caw of distraction, getting the evil monkey to look at her instead and during this instant Crowne quickly made his move. The turtle lunged at the Mankey's shoulder and sunk his teeth into him, getting a good hold on the Mankey as it yelped and began to bounce around in pain, attempting to throw Squirtle off of him. Crowne eventually gave up after being smacked a few times in the head, flung into the water with a tremendous force. By this time, thankfully, Margo was on her feet and formulating what to do. It wasn't exactly fair, but she had to protect herself and her pokemon.
"Poinsettia, use your Stun Spore! Hit him with a String Shot as soon as that's done! Oceana, get ready to send a Wing Attack his way!" The teen gathered up all her courage as she barked the orders, her Scatterbug shuffling in front of her and doing as commanded while she kneeled by the side of the river and helped Crowne get out of the water, his head swimming as he tried to get ahold of himself. The Mankey went after Margo again but was, again, stopped in his tracks as the yellow dust began settling over him, his muscles slowly tensing up and unable to maneuver anymore.
The pokemon felt that same tightening in his chest as his nose flared, and water began to form once again. Margo noticed the tears in his eyes, a flicker of something besides anger. Was he scared? Her mind immediately snatched the snippet of information the pokedex had given her earlier: 'If it loses sight of its group, it becomes infuriated by its loneliness.
Poinsettia did as she was told, firing a string shot at the pokemon to keep him trapped and unable to move any closer from them. Oceana was flapping her wings and creating a small hurricane to throw at the Mankey when suddenly she stopped, her trainer suddenly in front of the monkey and... attempting to capture it?
Margo stood in front of the short pokemon and looked down at it with pity in her eyes, her lower lip pushed out slightly in a typical teenage girl pout. The Mankey looked back at her with that same anger from before, but again, Margo couldn't ignore that little sliver of some other emotions: fear and loneliness. She dropped the pokeball she had in her hand, letting it bounce on the Mankey's head and engulfing it into the pokeball. Before it could begin fighting the ball, Margo snatched it up and cradled it in her hands and bringing it to her lips.
"Hey, it's going to be ok... I know you're scared right now and all you know how to do is yell and scream and fight..." Margo paused as she felt the ball shake violently in her hands. "I know you don't know where your family went and you're terrified. I know how it is to be so alone in an unfamiliar place..." Again, she paused as the pokeball shook. Was it slower this time? "We didn't mean to hurt you, we just didn't want you to hurt our family... I'll let you go if you'd like to go find your family and you know, be crazy and angry all the time..." Once again, the pokeball gave a shake, but it was much calmer now. "Or, you can be apart of this family now. We can work through all of this anger and use it for more productive things like protecting others and helping those in need."
The girl smiled as the ball beamed at her, signifying her catch.
Margo has spent most of her time on the boat ride back to Septoh contemplating how to confront Indy. By this point, she had basically repressed her feelings of rage for so long that it was now just the principle of the matter that she would like to get across to him and whether she won or lost, at least she would have gone through with her resolve.
After the group had gotten off the boat, Margo quickly stepped ahead of Indy to cut him off, placing her hands on her hips and looking at him with a genuine smile but a small fire flaring in her eyes. Her arm sliced the air and she pointed an accusatory finger at him as she suddenly spoke, in her still slightly raspy voice, "I challenge you to a pokemon battle, Indigo Rose." The confidence radiating from her pose and her voice was slightly jarring, even to herself.
Squirtle -- 'Crowne' -- Lvl 20 + 5 = 25 Wingull -- 'Oceana' -- Lvl 17 + 4 = 21 Alolan Rattata -- 'Julep' -- Lvl 15 + 4 = 19 Scatterbug -- 'Poinsettia' -- Lvl 13 + 3 = 16Evolved into Spewpa while in Kanto, unbeknownst to the others at this time Spearow -- 'Wulford' -- Lvl 17 + 4 = 21 Mankey -- ??? -- Lvl ???
*All of these levels were earned during various training time during the visit to Kanto, including the Mankey encounter mentioned above.
₽40 earned over the course of the 14 day trip to Kanto (Originally ₽70, but Margo spent some on food and other supplies while in Kanto). Margo now has ₽85 in her account.
Margo stared down at her resting Squirtle with a sad smile, holding him close to her. He was laying across her chest snoozing peacefully as she sat up in her hospital bed, the curtain drawn around her bed to separate herself from Indy and Dan. She had felt as if her throat had closed from the Smog attack they had gone through, still feeling scratchy and irritated from the poisonous gas.
She was still having the occasional rage-induced thoughts wash over when she remembered the boys admitting how stupid they were. Figures though, boys will be boys, she would eventually always circle back to that same excuse. 'Of course we should've called the cops from the very beginning. But you two decided to battle these hard criminals instead of calling the people who's job this is.'
The teenager was pulled from her thoughts as she heard Indy's feeble voice--she hadn't spoken out loud since the incident despite being awake for quite some time, but she hoped she didn't sound worse than him. She could also hear Dan's voice, the two of them having a short conversation. Opening her mouth to make herself known, a hoarse croak was all that she could manage. Wincing in pain she closed her mouth and instead decided to lean over on her bed and pull open the curtain around her makeshift 'room.'
She gave them a tiny smile of acknowledgement, waving at the pair of boys in greeting. Pointing at her throat, Margo gave a little shrug, as if to say 'I can't speak right now, sorry about that.' The nurse who checked in on Indy smiled politely as she gave Margo a glass of water from her nightstand. Margo smiled back at the kind woman as she drank from the glass, before glancing back towards Indy and Dan and blinked expectantly, as if waiting for the apology she felt she did in fact deserve.
Crowne was still blissfully snoring gently in her lap, a tiny bubble coming from him nose.
Margo was way out of her league, and she knew that perfectly well, just as the boys had to realize they were out of their element in a battle like this. This was the whole reason that the police were employed, wasn't it? Not for these teenagers to take things into their own hands. But, alas, things couldn't be that easy as Dan barreled his way out of the door behind them and insisted upon their engagement.
She felt her muscles tense like an animal getting ready to pounce as the thieves began to stake a claim on each of them. And then there was Margo. The teenager tried her best not to agree with the leader of the gang in his suggestion, swallowing her cowardice and letting New Margo take over for her.
"Tch, that'd be too easy, don't you think? Go get him Crowne." The leader of the thieve's rolled his eyes in exasperation, glancing towards his cohorts before setting his own treasure down and engage in her battle. Crowne valiantly leapt in front of his trainer and blew some menacing bubbles from his mouth as the thief threw out his first pokemon: a Sandshrew.
The little sand mouse rolled out of his pokeball in a ball before popping out at Crowne and leading with a Sand Attack in an attempt to blind the water turtle. Crowne sucked himself into his shell to avoid the sand before actually blowing some menacing bubbles, his Bubble attack bursting on the Sandshrew's belly and letting out a tiny grunt of displeasure. Margo couldn't help but give an encouraging word or two towards her pokemon at his performance so far, ordering a Water Gun next. The Sandshrew countered with a Dig attack, burrowing under the ground before the water splashed on him this time. "Withdraw!" Margo called as her partner submerged himself within his shell once more, just as the Sandshrew popped up from the ground, sending the brown shell flying.
"Alright, another Water Gun, Crowne! While you're above him!" The Squirtle appeared from within his shell once more, looking down at the Sandshrew before spitting a torrent of water down upon his head. A critical hit! Margo was surprised at the accuracy and power of her Squirtle's attack on the ground type, the mouse promptly fainting and falling on his face in the dirt. Crowne landed in front of Margo and placed his chubby hands on his shell triumphantly--albeit a little worse for wear already--as Margo gushed about how well he had performed. The thief let out a jolly laugh, finding the teenager's celebration premature as he recalled his pokemon and sent out his next: A Meowth.
Margo was quite smitten with the little cat at first appearance, but her affection for the pokemon was short lived as it lunged for Crowne and quickly sunk its teeth into his arm. The Squirtle let out a whine of pain, jumping back and bumping into Margo's legs from their proximity. She felt bad for her pokemon but she shuffled him back onto the field as the Meowth backed off, hissing in disdain at them both. Before she could retaliate with a Tackle attack, the thief had already given the pokemon another command to use Fury Swipes on the turtle, the pokemon beating down on Crowne harshly, managing five rounds of the attack before letting up. By that time, Crowne was haggard and breathing hard, shivering as he attempted to stand back up. Margo couldn't watch it anymore. "Crowne, return. It's time for someone else to take him on." The trainer returned her pokemon before he could refuse, his pokeball twitching in defiance but not outright disobeying by coming back out. Instead, it was Oceana's turn in the spotlight, the Wingull coming out of her pokeball with a flourish of her gangly wings. Margo watched the Meowth readying itself, its chest low to the ground and tail high in the air in a pouncing position. Oceana did as she was commanded, letting out an awful squawk before its Supersonic attack landed on the Meowth, the cat stumbling around with spirals for eyes. However, how luck would have it, the Meowth had learned Thunderbolt from a TM the thief had stolen from before and it wasn't confused enough to miss its attack. A large thunderbolt came from above and shot down Oceana like a fly versus a flyswatter. Margo's eyes widened exponentially as the thief laughed his jolly laugh once more while his pokemon stumbled around helplessly from its confusion. Again, Margo recalled her fainted pokemon, whispering a quick thank you and a quick apology before sending out her next pokemon: Julep, the Alolan Rattata. Julep had the upper hand at least, with the Meowth being confused for the time being. The Rattata used Quick Attack and was able to wittle the Meowth's health down a bit before it hit itself in its confusion. It wouldn't be too much longer until the Meowth fainted, if it continued to hit itself. Julep shook its tail in a taunt as he used Tail Whip, before it snapped out of confusion. Again, the cat went to sink its teeth into Margo's pokemon, but Julep was quick in his movements and all of a sudden the two pokemon were connected. They both had a hold of each other in their teeth, and both let go at the same time, hopping back from one another. One second... Two second... And then they were both on the ground fainted.
And then there was one, an Octillery being thrown out onto the field to replace the Meowth and a Spearow to replace the Alolan Rattata. Wulford glared ferociously at the octopus and used a Growl attack in order to intimidate his opponent. The Octillery sent a rock blast in his direction, but Wulford was quick to avoid it, taking flight to put some distance between the two of them. "Focus yourself, Wulford! Let's make this attack count!" The bird nodded in agreement, a red energy enveloping him as he used Focus Energy from his spot in the air. Octillery attempted to shoot Spearow with some more rock blasts, to no avail as Wulford weaved between the rocks through the air. Wulford let out an ugly squawk before diving into the red Octopus with a Peck attack, made more effective from the focus energy from before. Once the Octillery recovered however, it was the same as Oceana, the pokemon sending out a final Rock Blast that shot the wily Spearow right out of the sky. It was down to Poinsettia and Margo's heart was aching. Sending out her little Scatterbug was frightening, but she tried to keep a brave face in front of both her pokemon and this criminal in front of her with a grin on his face. 'I should've just let him go.' She thought to herself as a sour taste entered her mouth. "Let's try to paralyze it!" Poinsettia stood up tall and shook her little antennae, Stun Spore coating the Octillery. Even with the paralyze advantage, Poinsettia was clearly outmatched and it wasn't long until Margo was finished, her team now full of fainted pokemon.
Margo wasn't even sure what to do now, stepping away from their battle field and glancing towards Dan and Indy. Dan was in the midst of battling another thief while Indy was on his Pokedex, calling the police no doubt. She felt a slight wave of anger wash over her--that's what they should've done in the first place, instead of letting her poor pokemon get beat up.
Hmmmm... I don't know, I think I'll just go for the dice roll. Even with numbers on my side I just don't think I'll be able to beat them lmao. I'm good with doing a dice roll and no re-rolls, and whatever the outcome is, it is what it is. :) Thank you for allowing this instead of showdown!
Whoops I forgot to mention in my last OOC post but I don't think I'll waste the time on a showdown battle lol... I just don't think that Margo's pokemon will be strong enough to put a dent in the thief's pokemon if they're going to be three level 20's.
Is there a way we could do like a dice roll or something in place of a showdown battle? If not, that's fine, we'll just have to coordinate a showdown battle, I suppose.
Time was seemingly going by fast and slow, simultaneously. Her eyes were assaulted by the light coming into the previously pitch black room, blinking quickly to try to get her eyes adjusted. Crowne was doing the same, his face smudged with the oily substance from before. Margo was able to make out a shadowy figure by the door with a large sack over his shoulder, a normally comical representation of a thief now brought to life. Despite Indy's attempt to capture his cohorts, the criminals were able to pull themselves free of Kovi's string shot, dashing towards the door before stopping short as Dan's shout rung in Margo's ears.
Another flash of light and Dan's Grotle was blocking the thieve's getaway... At least for a moment before he was shoved out of the way by an invisible force? The men called it Mr. Mime, but Margo was puzzled by the lack of form the pokemon had. While she didn't want to admit it to herself, Margo hardly thought that their group should take these people on by themselves--wasn't there a police force for a reason, after all? She couldn't bring herself to say anything until she got out of the museum, however, thankful for Indy's quick thinking once more to grab the door with Kovi.
The young woman dashed outside, following Indy's lead and holding Crowne close to her chest. The squirtle was getting antsy, still aggravated by whatever was stuck on his face, and squirmed out of her grasp to stand next to her with a defensive stance. "You guys, shouldn't we just call the police? We can't possibly take these guys on with our pokemon..." She didn't want to sound like a party-pooper, but it was just common sense that these probably-hard criminals would have pokemon that would wipe the floor with their own young pokemon, right?
The trainer was ready however, one of her hands reaching to her belt to pull off another one of her teammates to back their group up, biting the skin of her lip nervously as she exchanged a look with her squirtle.
I'll just wait for Balth's reply / decision on if the door was left open or not before I post again, if that's alright? I am here and present though, so I figured I'd leave a little message to let everyone know.
Margo, despite her initial resistance to the idea of the museum, was enjoying looking around at the exhibits. Like she had said earlier, history couldn't hurt anybody, and maybe they would all learn something while they were here. The evolutionary stones were quite pretty; the elements had been captured within these pieces of rock and danced around with untapped power. She had kept Crowne out of his pokeball, the squirtle dawdling along next to her happily enough.
When she got to the water stones on display, she decided to show her little water-type, bending down and picking him up. The turtle rested his chubby arms on the glass and looked down with sparkly eyes. Margo let out a little giggle as he made a gasping noise, a little water bubble coming out of his mouth. She perked at the sound of her name, looking at both Dan and Indy's objects of interest. She had to admit that the prehistoric pokemon fossil was a little cooler than Indy's moon stone, but then again she had thought the water stones were quite pretty. For some reason, she wondered if engagement rings could be made from those elemental stones--wouldn't that be something?
Darkness? Margo clutched Crowne closer to her chest suddenly as she blinked quickly, wondering if she was having a stroke. The girl bumped into Indy in the inky black, Crowne making a sound of disapproval as he was pushed into the oily substance on Indy's shirt. The poor squirtle squirmed in her grasp, but Margo refused to let go of the pokemon while they were in the throes of an apparent hostage situation.
She tensed as she heard footsteps pounding towards them, unsure of what to do with herself. She wished she could be brave and have her pokemon do something to help, but for some reason she was frozen and didn't have anything to say or do. Crowne seemed frustrated with the lack of action, looking up at his trainer with an expectant expression that she couldn't see.
Indy however seemed to take hold of the situation, hatching a quick plan and putting it into action. Seeing the flashes of light of the criminal's pokemon, Margo still couldn't bring herself to do anything. She wasn't sure what was coming over her--was she truly being a coward all of a sudden? She was cursing herself into the ground before she finally was able to regain use of her vocal chords, barely.
"C-Can anyone see what pokemon they have?" She was embarrassed by the way her question came out as a whimper.
