for the record, our team does not only have to run on collabs. I want/expect individual posts as well so in the event I become busy and am gone for a day or two, (like the past two days) things still move along.
I suppose this applies for everyone as well. So let me go ahead and address this before it becomes a potential issue:
If your collabs take longer than a day or two to put together each, then dont bother until everyone has the time. OK? Also they dont need to be long. I dont want a situation where things become stagnant while everyone is trying to toss together huge collabs. While collabs are fun and allow for character interaction, I want/expect individual posts with character development and thouhts/reflections about their journeys and pokemon, etc.
So that being said, I'm not saying that I want you guys to post a lot. Not even once a day. Post when you can. I get people are busy, but thats when you need to realize it would be better to step back and do some postings of your own instead of collabing.
Now that I'm done, I still love all of you <3 and by no means am I trying to come off as upset or anything. The posting speed has been good for me, and as long as I see some ooc movement, I wont get worried for now. I just want to avoid the RP slowly dying because of people waiting on others. Thanks for your time and for reading this.
Team Madness start on their first step to working as a team, with a few road bumps along the way. Acacia explains grinding as well as how to determing the 'Level' of your pokemon. Then the team have at it, introducing a unique type of battling while they train their pokemon.
Salina: "You guys suck."
Shay: "....." *sighs*
Acacia: "And you swallow."
Salina: "Well, my mom said--"
Shay: "Oh my gawd Salina, will you stop bringing her up already?" *Emotionally smacks Salina*
Salina: "Why do you hate me?" *angsts in a corner*
Shay: "Well..." *elbows Acacia for help*
Acacia: *seriously uncomfortable* "It's okay. Lets all work hard to become less repulsive people."
Shay: "Agreed."
Salina: "Fine. But I wont like it!" (/ .□.)\ ︵╰(゜Д゜)╯︵ /(.□. \)
end.
Acacia, Salina, and Shay ventured out on to Route 4, taking their time to reach the edge of Santalune City. The view was fantastic, more beautiful than Acacia remembered it being. This time of year, the flowers seemed to be glowing, full of life and providing a safe enviornment for the pokemon who lived there. When they made their way to the large fountain, Acacia ran over to it and reached her hand out to touch the water. Smiling, she turned to the two sisters. "Hey, hey! Lets take a picture together and send it to the Professor!" she suggested excitedly. It was weird how much she missed travelling after being stuck at the lab for quite some time. They had only just started on their way, and she was acting like a little kid wanting to get lost in a big playground.
Shay was suprised when Acacia asked to take a picture, the last time she had taken a picture was back in Hoenn with mom and--, she had to stop herself there, not wanting to go there right now. "Sure, lets do it!!" Shay said, masking her apprehension over it. The entire concept made her kind of sad and wish she was back in Hoenn.
"I'm up for a picture," Said Salina, showing no signs of what had just happened back in the gate. She grabbed Shay's sleeve and pulled her in toward Acacia. She giggled as she pulled out her Holocaster and used it to take a picture of them all standing in front of the fountain. When she had taken a few she opened them and said "Which one should we send?"
Biting her lip, Acacia reached for the girl's Holo Caster and looked through the pictures. "Lets see, lets see..." she paused as she looked through them. Sighing after she saw them all, she shook her head. "No, we cant send these. He's going to say something about my hair in this one, and I looked weird in this one. My cheeks look fat in this one and... in that one my head is tilted too far." she said, pointing to the pictures as she did. Handing Salina her Holo Caster, she would start to fix her hair. "We gotta take some better ones." she mumbled.
"Why do you care so much what the Professor will say? He's only your mentor, right?" Shay asked, feeling a bit nosey. She was starting to think that maybe Acacia was related to the Professor, or that they were dating. She pushed these notions out of her head and listened to Acacia's answer.
At the question, Acacia's hands at her bangs froze. Her face slowly started to turn red and her lips formed into a pout. Crossing her arms, she cleared her throat. "Of course he's just my mentor, dont go thinking anything else!" she said defensively, though she wondered if maybe she didn't sound that convincing. Looking at her feet, she tried to explain. "Its just that... he always notices little things about me and teases me about it." she said. "It's not like I care what he thinks, I'd just rather avoid the frustration."
"That sounds tough," Shay said, still not convinced by Acacia's reasonings. Remembering the anger in Acacia's eyes when Salina had rebelled, Shay decided to drop the subject. "Lets just take a few more." Acacia quickly suggested in order to avoid an embarassing topic. Okay, it was true that she might possibly have the tiniest bit of... some feeling towards Sycamore. It was not that she would ever act upon it though, so often she never dwelled on it. These days she just admired from a distance and pretended to be upset every time he said something regarding her clothes and such. She could never tell if Sycamore paid special attention to her or just had sharp eyes. It was possible, he was a researcher after all. He needed to be able to spot the small stuff.
As Acacia thought about this, she realized her face was just gettting hotter. Shaking her head, she patted her face a few times. "On second thought, lets just keep moving closer to Santalune City. We'll do some training then." Before the two could question her any more, she sped off at a brisk walk down the road.
Shay rushed up behind Acacia, not wanting to get lost. "Is everything all set? You seem to be in a hurry." she looked over at her and continued "You wanna slow down a little?" Blinking, Acacia nodded and slowed down to a stop. Taking a deep breath, she turned on Shay and placed her hands on the girls shoulders. "You can't tell Sycamore I still like him! Swear it on your life!" she said, gently shaking her.
"Okay, okay! I swear!" Shay said, almost scared for her life, "I didnt even know, I mean, I did have an idea, but,"
"Hey! Wait for me!" Salina ran up behind the two. Them taking off had confused her so much she hadn't thought to run after them. Instead she had stood there. When Salina had caught up to the two, Acacia lowered her hands from Shay's shoulders and gave an embarassed smile. "Ah, sorry. I got a little carried away." Looking around, she could see the gate to Santalune in the distance. Nodding she reached to her belt and almost got Azurill's pokeball, instead got the one's for Wigglytuff and Scizor, holding them both in her hamd. "Anyway, let's get started shall we? Both of you pick a pokemon."
Salina reached for Duskull's pokeball and let her out, allowing her to float around her for a bit. Shay grabbed Skitty from the ground behind her and placed her at the base of her legs, allowing Torchic to climb to her shoulder. "What are we doing now?" Salina asked, noticing the pokeballs in Acacia's hand.
"Two things. First being observing how your pokemon fight without commands and second..." she paused. "Well I suppose we'll get to that part afterwards." she said, pressing the center to the balls for her pokemon and releasing them. "First, I want Duskull to attack Wigglytuff and Skitty to attack Scizor." Though she would give a reason for it afterwards, she stepped out of the way, knowing her pokemon already knew what to do.
"Okay! Duskull! Use Ominous Wind on Wigglytuff!" Salina said, her face growing very serious as she spoke.
"Hold on now." Acacia said. Salina's eagerness to battle was a good sign. "The point of this first part is to see how your Duskull would fight on its own if it didn't have your guidance. We let it make its own choices to see how it really fights." she paused, wondering if she should explain it more. "Afterwards, Skitty will do the same and then see how well the two would be able to work along side each other. I know it seems odd since you would think you'll be there to give your pokemon command all the time, but there is a point to it. I promise."
"Okay, then Duskull, attack Wigglytuff, I guess." Salina was suddenly confused with how to innitiate the battle. Duskull floated quickly over to Wigglytuff and used Night Shade as she passed. "Did I do that right?" Salina was confused beyond hope at this point, so much so that her face showed it.
"You did that perfectly. We're all just watching now to see how your pokemon reacts to certain things." Acacia said, nodding to Wigglytuff. The pokemon had allowed the attack to hit her, the move hardly doing any damage. The pink pokemon turned to locate the Duskull as it passed and went to chase after it. Wigglytuff knew better than to actually attack the little pokemon, but kept getting close enough to pressure it into doing something. Each time Wigglytuff got close, Duskull would float upward, just out of the other pokemon's reach.
Looking at Salina, Acacia spoke. "Duskull I believe typically have a high defense and special defense. Put that on top with it being a ghost type, that means you wont have to worry about it taking much damage in a lot of fights. It can be sent out at the front without you worrying. You see how it likes to move out of reach at the last moment? That causes effective distraction for Skitty to come up behind and attack." Calling to Wigglytuff, she would wait until the pokemon came to her side before she looked at Shay. "Skitty's turn."
"Okay Skitty, lets try this, just dont do what you did last time," Shay looked down at Skitty and waited a second while Skitty looked back at her, attempting to process what she was telling her to do. When Skitty finally realized what Shay was saying, she backed up behind Shay's legs and hid there. "Come on Skitty! We're on an adventure, your going to have to battle." Shay looked up and made an embarrased face at Acacia.
"Hmmm." For a moment, Acacia had no idea what to do, but after a few seconds of thinking, a lightbulb went off. "I got it. Shay, go and stand next to Scizor, will you?"
Shay followed Acacia's directions without question, although she was wondering what Acacia's big idea was. When Shay was next to Scizor, Acacia looked down at Skitty. "Okay Scizor, take Shay as your prisoner." she said, winking to Shay as Scizor reached out and took her arm in a loose grip. Shay gasped theatrically, getting what the plan was. Looking down at Skitty, she would say, "Skitty! Shay is going to be taken prisoner unless you listen and fight Scizor!" she would say dramatically.
Skitty looked at Salina and Duskull hoping that they would do something, but when they made no movement Skitty grew worried and after a second or two, angry. She began to rush toward her trainer and Scizor, its head beggining to glow a bright pink. Soon after, Skitty's head connected with Scizor's leg. Smiling, that was exactly what Acacia wanted to see. Skitty was using her advantage in speed to attack head on before Scizor could move. Though the move did little damage, Scizor played it off well, stepping back and releasing Shay's arm. "And it is as simple as that. That was good. Duskull and Skitty could potentially work well together once we practice it a few more times." Clapping her hands together, she smiled even wider. "What do you say you try it out on some wild pokemon now instead of beating up mine?"
"Okay!" Shay began to walk thorugh the yellow flowers nearby, searching for a pokemon. She stumbled upon an Eevee. "Okay, Skitty! Lets try to do this!" Skitty ran up to the Eevee and tackled it, then used sucker punch. After that, the Eevee seemed weak, "Lemme just...." she paused and retrieved a pokeball from her bag, "There!" Shay tossed the pokeball at the Eevee, which then slowly shook 3 times and clicked, confirming that the pokemon was caught.
Seeing her sister catch the Eevee encouraged Salina to catch a pokemon too. She walked into the red flowers on the other side of the Route and after a little bit of searching, found a little Ralts. Duskull used Dark Pulse almost automatically, nearly fainting the Ralts. Salina fished around the inside of her bag until she found one of the balls she had wrongfully taken so many of. Throwing it at the Ralts, she sat on the ground next to it, waiting a whole 10 minutes before it finally clicked, finalizing the capture.
Hours flew by faster than expected, but before they knew it, their pokemon were starting to tire from the constant training in the flowers. Thankfully for Acacia, Shay and Salina were pretty quick to catch on, and didn't need to be watched after the first few minutes. Everyone had stayed close, congratulated each other on captures, and continued training their pokemon. It was all in good fun. Managing to train Azurill a good amount, Acacia decided it was time to give the pokemon a break and returned it to its ball. Stretching herself, she looked around, spotting the two sisters not too far off. Going to where they were, she suggested they head to town to rest and look around.
"Sure, sounds like a plan!" Shay said, confirming her approval of the visit to Santalune City. "I'm game if you two are," Salina said, also approving of the stop. Both of them returned their pokemon to their pokeballs, having had a full day of training.
Acacia nodded and gestured for the two to follow her towards the city. When they reached it, the most notible feature of the place was the giant pokemon fountain that stood in the center of it. Looking around, she thought it would be best to hit up the pokemon center first and buy some supplies while resting. Glancing at the sisters, she wondered something.
"Hey, are you two familiar with the Pokemon Centers?"
"I think there was one back in Dendemille Town, but I don't remember for sure..." Shay said, a thoughtful look crossing her face. Salina looked over at Shay and said "Of cource there was a Pokemon Center. There is one in almost every place in Kalos." Salina looked back at Acacia and said "Why don't we have a tour for the sake of Old Forgetful here," The mini-insult was pointed at Shay, refering to her short memory. She didn't mean it in a mean way but more in a teasing way.
Giggling at the slight bickering, Acacia turned towards them and stopped walking. "So, how about a race?" she suggested. "Last person to the center buys us all food!" Quickly turning, she made a mad dash towards the big red building.
"B-But I'm broke!" Salina called out, rushing behind Acacia, Shay just beside her, fighting for second so she wouldn't have to pay. Shay cut in front of Salina, giggling, forcing her to suddenly slow down. Acacia didn't pay any mind to the two as she dodged past a few people and pokemon who were casually walking the streets of the city. When she got to the center, the double doors slid open for her and she stepped inside, shouting "SAFE!" when she did. Shay came up fast behind Acacia but was cut off at the doors by Salina, who had cut between a few buildings after Shay had slowed her down. As she stepped in, she nearly tackled Acacia, stopping mere inches from colliding with the older girl. Shay stepped in seconds later sighing and pulling out the spare cash she had and asking, "Is this enough?" 1200 poke sitting in the palm of her hand.
"Nahh, I want the most expensive thing here," Salina teased.
"Same." Acacia agreed, raising her hand to high five Salina. Salina lifted her hand and smacked it into Acacia's, producing a loud clapping sound. Sticking her tongue out at Shay, Acacia would then walk up to the nurse who was sitting at the counter. Unclipping only the pokeball of Azurill, she would hand it to the nurse who gladly took it to the machine that was behind her. She exchanged a few words with the woman before her pokemon was returned and she would wait for the others to do the same. The girls repeated Acacia's actions, handing the pokemon they had trained to the nurse, who gladly took their pokemon and healed them. The three then decided it was time for some food and then probably a nap. Beauty sleep was important, afterall.
Ookawa