Little Bird

Pokemon: Earth

Bryan's ride arrived within a few minutes of him requesting it. A plain, white, four-door decorated with the Pokemon Association's seal came to a stop at the curbside in front of him. The driver, all business, quickly beckoned Bryan into the vehicle. Complying, Bryan sat himself and buckled up in the back. For the duration of the drive, which took an oddly long time, based on Bryan's previous experience with riding through the city, was uneventful save for the traffic. The driver wasn't the talkative type, which suited Bryan, as he wasn't typically one to make conversation with people when they were focused on their work. The only activity over the course of the forty minutes that followed was Ev wandering about the back seat watching the people and other Pokemon along the streets as the car made its way through the city. Bryan spent the time doing the same, as well as observing Ev's reactions; Ev always proved a comfort to him, even in his worst of times.

If anything bad happens to you...

The car came to a stop outside of the hospital. The driver turned to Bryan. "This is you," the driver said.

Bryan noticed that the courteous smile that the man had been holding to was waning. Not keen on agitating his ride, Bryan began to unload from the car. Grabbing his backpack from the floor next to him, and calling for Ev he made his exit. "Thank you," he said to the driver as he exited the vehicle, discretely leaving leaving a ten dollar bill on the center console next to the driver once his back was turned again; he wasn't sure if it was typical to leave a tip for IPA drivers, but hoped that it would at least be taken as a good gesture of appreciation.

A minute later, Bryan was approaching the hospital's reception desk. "Good evening," he said to the receptionist. He presented his Trainer ID, setting on top of the desk. "Do you have any rooms available for a trainer and Pokemon?"

Pokemon: Earth

"Dammit!" Bryan cursed under his breath as he walked away from the desk towards a nearby PokeStore that he hadn't noticed on arrival. "Not the friendliest of sorts, huh, Ev?"

"Eeeevee." Ev nodded in agreement.

"I mean, yeah, it was kinda stupid of me to not see the stores in the station; but he didn't have get so testy about it. Ugh. Probably gets asked about things a thousand or more times a day I reckon."

The pair stepped into a small Pokemon shop just inside of the station entrance from 42nd Street. Their first sight in the shop was that of a rack filled with various fliers and pamphlets relaying information about the various Pokemon related attractions, events, and activities, taking place within the city. "Look's like we'll have plenty of reading material while we relax later," Bryan mused as he took a single copy of several pamphlets.

Setting foot outside of the station on East 42nd street, Bryan pulled out his PokeDex; it was the first time since he had gotten it that he had really paid much heed to it. "That guy at the desk did say that we could use our PokeDex to find spots in the city. Maybe we can..." he searched through the device's multitude of functions, and soon enough, he found a program similar to Uber or Lyft, through which he could call for a ride via the Pokemon Association. "Hmmm... nearest Pokemon Center is at... He said Madison Avenue... so that'd be Mount Sinai Hospital? Roughly." He punched in for the address and awaited his ride's arrival.

Pokemon: Earth

@Wayward Pokemon cannot have two abilities. A hidden ability replaces the regular ability.

@ouTland01

Will amend ASAP

EDIT: Fixed. Made a quick change on the Scraggy's Ability.

Pokemon: Earth

"Now arriving at: Grand Central."

The PA announcement chimed as the train began to slow into the station. "This our stop, Ev." With the train still in motion, Bryan stood up, taking a moment to reassure his stance. Once balanced, he pulled his backpack from the overhead rack. The train came to its complete stop as he finished securing his gear to his person. He made a single, final sweep of his belongings, taking special care to make sure that his belt with his PokeBalls, particularly the two housing his Pidgey and Scraggy, were on his person. Confirming that everything and everyone was accounted for, he walked to the opening doors, and out onto the platform.

Swiftly proceeding from the platform, Ev following closely, he walked along the upward escalator, emerging into Grand Central Terminal. Both his and Ev's heads immediately drifted about, taking in the interior architecture; both Pokemon and trainer were wide-eyed. "Never gets old," Bryan mused softly enough that only Ev could hear. Despite it being Grand Central, there didn't seem to be too large of a crowd in the station. "Mostly looks like other trainers tonight," Bryan commented, peering about, partially hoping to catch another glimpse of the young woman with the Pikachu.

He stopped a short distance from the information kiosk at the center of the station. "First thing's first," he said to Ev. "We should find ourselves a Pokemon Center. There should be one near here. Surprised there isn't one in the station itself, actually." He stepped up to the Kiosk. Once settled in and taken care of, Bryan would figure out the next move. While navigating NYC wasn't his forte, he knew, at least, what there was at least one Pokemon Gym in each of the five Boroughs, and he'd have to hit those up eventually; that was, after all, his reason for traveling to NYC. Challenge the New York City Pokemon Conference, and prove your mettle today! he mused, quoting a commercial he had heard on the radio not long ago. He chuckled as he approached the clerk at the kiosk. "Excuse me," I'm a Pokemon trainer. I'm looking for info on Pokemon Centers, Marts, and gyms, if you can help."

Pokemon: Earth

I have updated Bryan's Pokemon team.

Pokemon: Earth

Click Clack! Click Clack! Click Clack!
The rhythmic knocking of the train as it rolled down the line gave filler between the songs shuffling through Bryan's playlist. Head pressed against the train's window, his eyes were closed. He had spent most of the trip from New Haven half asleep; riding passenger always made him feel drowsy. Eyes still closed, he reached to his lap, and patted Ev, his Eevee, also sleeping lightly, upon the head. Ev responded with a gentle sound like a cat's pur.

The next song on Bryan's playlist made its entrance. His eyes opened as the verse began. Peering from the window out to the scene of New York City unfolding before him, he softly spoke along to a few choice lyrics. "I just want to feel OK." A rustling on his lap alerted Bryan to Ev's waking. The Pokemon looked up to Bryan as if knowing what was on his mind.

"Remember the last time we were in the city, Ev?" he asked, removing one of his ear buds, and holding near Ev's ear. "When we saw her at GovBall?"

"Eevee!" Ev responded in calm bliss.

"Now arriving at Harlem-125th Street."

The PA announcement called the station as the train came to a halt. "Almost there Ev. Next stop is us." Ev made another purring sort of noise, and hoped to the seat next to Bryan. Both watched as a young woman and her Pikachu entered their car.

"Eeev!" Ev turned and looked wistfully at Bryan.

"What are you thinking Ev? You want to be an electric type someday?"

"Eeeveee!" Ev nodded.

Chuckling, Bryan laid back in his seat. Note to self: pick up a Thunderstone in the city.

Pokemon: Earth

<Snipped quote by Wayward>

You got it, but I'm going to have to do your Pokemon lists tomorrow morning actually. I've been on the road all morning and have to go into work soon.

@Balthazar007

That's fine. If I'm good to make my opening post, I can get that in without any of the other Pokemon in my team being accounted for.

Pokemon: Earth

@Wayward

Your character's personality and bio are on the long side, which isn't a deal breaker or anything, but try not to go overboard on your IC posts. This RP us in the Free section for a reason. Other than that though, it's all good.

I'll get those lists of Pokemon ready for you tomorrow morning.

Glad to have ya!

@Balthazar007

Nice. It's good to be getting back into the swing of RPing. Also, I'm figuring for my character's starting placement, just have him already in NYC. I'm just gonna start off with him on the train as it's getting towards Grand Central; well, specifically at Harlem-125th Street, and leaving for Grand Central from there. But for simplicity's sake, we can just place him at Grand Central because he'll be there within my intro post.

Pokemon: Earth

Wasn't sure where you wanted character sheets submitted to. Posted one up on the Characters tab though. It's been a while since I've RP'd. This seems like a good one to hop back in on.

Pokemon: Earth

Name: Bryan Krause
Age: 28 (As of IC Date)
Hometown: Watertown, Connecticut, USA
Current Location: Riding the MetroNorth from New Haven, CT, to New York City

Appearance:

Height: 6’
Weight: 210lbs
Build: A bit more fatty than he’d care to be, but generally healthy.
Markings: Has a tattoo on the underside of his right forarm that reads “Until the finish line carries you home.”

Personality: Bryan can be… a bit jarring…

He was raised to believe in certain standards of excellence, and in always being able to raise the bar on those standards; yesterday’s best can only be today’s worst, and today’s best can only be tomorrow’s worst. To an extent, he takes this sort of mantra more seriously than necessary, and finds himself in difficulty when it comes to coping with times when he hits barriers or experiences limitations in the progress he is able to make. It’s frequent that he finds himself gravely discouraged in moments in which forward momentum is lost.

Firmly a believer reaching one’s potential, he extends that manner of thinking when he considers his peers and his environments. Having seen the best in himself, he strives to display his best self to others. Upon seeing the best in others, he grows to expect the best from them. When he perceives himself, another individual, a group, or even a place, as not at least living up to their highest potential in a situation, frustration ensues on Bryan’s end, typically manifesting in what some regard as temper tantrums. It was this very mentality, and reactiveness that resulted in him leaving his previous day job.

All in all, Bryan is of a sort that can’t happily live knowing he didn’t put up an effort, and even more so, one that is driven in the face of anyone that would doubt his ability. Taking his failures and others’ reservations of him, both recent and distantly passed, as motivation to prove he’s better, he will, with little thought, go above and beyond to prove his worth, even to the extent of putting himself at risk.

Beyond this eccentricity, Bryan displays a genuinely invested and caring individual. Whether it’s care for a person, or care about a task, there’s little room in denying that he is devoted. Even in the moments when he asserts that he ‘doesn’t care anymore,’ this divestment is in word only, and extant on the surface, and only for a brief moment. He’s tender with those that he knows to be struggling, as he understands, from his own experience, what it’s like to be in a rough place, and the importance of having a friend to lean on. Though he won’t allow himself to lie for the sake of sparing a friend’s feelings, he’ll always be one to search for words of encouragement, and keeps his criticisms constructive.

Biography: Bryan’s history with Pokemon is a strained one. Over the course of his late teenage years he made efforts to become a trainer. With his parents’ permission, he began training at age sixteen with an Eevee, dubbed “Ev,” as his partner. In those younger days, his passion for Pokemon was something unbridled, and a burning force in his heart.

As he grew older, ‘real life’ always seemed to find a way to pull Bryan away from any serious push to become a trainer. Often one to play it safe, Bryan chose the ‘stable’ route of day jobs, and getting a college education, over going out into the world and investing into being a Pokemon trainer. While he showed some promise, his reservations with taking the risks involved frequently kept him from rising as far as he could. By age 28, his attempts to keep up with his Pokemon training and his day job brought him to the point of burnout.

Following in the wake of a particularly rough weekend tournament, in which he witnessed Ev, among the rest of his team, get dealt a particularly harsh defeat, Bryan saw reason to discontinue his efforts as a Pokemon trainer, and focus on work, and keep his Pokemon as companions.

It was a short lived existential crisis, however. The Monday morning after the tournament found him witness to a new inspiration. Realizing how far off his dreamed path he had fallen, and knowing more than before just how capable he truly was, he resolved to rekindle his passion for raising his Pokemon, and soon leave his day job to pursue life as a Pokemon trainer. But things always get worse before getting better; as much progress as he made, his time spent at work over the next year proved a constant drain and epicenter for frustration.

His resentment towards the life of a laborer, and towards not living to his own potential, boiled over recently in a spat with a manager, prompting Bryan to resign his position on the spot. Already prepared for the occasion with a packed backpack with the supplies and funds needed to kickstart his journey, he returned home, gathered what he needed, and caught the next train out of town.

Pokemon Team:
Ev, the Eevee, Level 20

• Quick Attack
• Bite
• Double Kick
• Headbutt

Ability: Adaptability

Kai, the Pidgey, Level 17

• Gust
• Mud-Slap
• Quick Attack
• Wing Attack

Ability: Keen Eye

Raph, the Scraggy, Level 16

• Headbutt
• Feint Attack
• Low Kick
• Sand Attack

Ability: Shed Skin

Fun Facts: There are three things in the world that Bryan finds unconditional fulfillment in: Pokemon, the great outdoors, and music. Among his belongings in his travels are a drum practice pad, a pair of sticks, and a set of panpipes, as well as having enough music on his mobile device to last him several hours without repeating a track (unless he backtracks to it).

Bryan has long aspired to travel the world. Though he's seen much of the United States and parts of Canada throughout his younger days, he longs to leave the North American continent. His first desired destination would be Australia.