Pokemon - Tale of the Summoners (Main/Accepting/Started!!)

[Proto]

[center][u][b]Opening Post: Day of the Ceremony[/b][/u][/center]

[spoiler]The morning sun shined brightly down apon the village; a certain liveliness filling the town. There were children playing all around and dressed in decorative masks of their favorite creature. This was a incredibly important day; most would consider it a day in which a boy becomes a man, and which a girl becomes a woman.

People, farmers, holy men, even travellers from far away came to witness this mystical event.They all gathered around a high ceremonial platform, where a village elder, a wrinkled old man accompanied by a equally ancient humanoid creature, stood. It was unnatural.... it's face resembled a foxes yet a distinct tattered facial hair similar to the beard of a goat! It's body was old and somewhat frail, however there was a look in it's eye, that of wisdom and great power. Both mediatating figures wore brown robes, merely sitting there in front of a large ruby red flower of some sort, palms held together.. as if they were praying.

Below the platform stood multiple teenagers, all of whom were considered old enough to take part in this quest of taming these dangerous creatures... however there were some, namely a particular girl, which many a rumor had been spread about her background... who weren't necessarily willing to do this for the sake of helping their fellow man.

However, all were considered equal here, as these brave young individuals.... were willing to risk their lives for this quest. They will have to face many dangers, cross perilous forests, to get their training, but hopefully they will bring us both new understanding of our fellow creatures, and find out how to help us work WITH them.

All of this pumped through the mind of the good Father Hawthorne, though he had spent many years in priesthood, this was the first time he has held a proper ceremony.... As well as the first time that they had ever taken this risky manuever of showing it to the public, normally Summoners would be hand-selected and kept in secrecy... however his brothers had wanted the whole public to start appreciating these magnificent creatures more... how better to do it then show them how they can bond?

The old man stood up and wiped his brow, his companion rising with him, the exotic humanoid encouraged his good friend as Hawthorne stepped up and called up for a sermon.

"Greetings my children, I am proud to announce that these brave young individuals, have decided to take their time and begin partnering with these Pokemon!" The audience winced a bit, the lesser Pokemon were rather harmless, cute and small but... this village had had it's fair share of wild attacks from the beasts as well.

"Do not fear! As they will not be thrust into this world empty handed, instead have faith my good brothers and sisters, that today is only the first day of partnership and training for these upcoming Summoners."

He wiped his brow again, his Alakazam partner gesturing him to continue. "As today marks the start of their pilgrimage, they will each be assigned with a first partner! Now do not worry... as these were hand-selected beforehand so we will NOT be sending out a beast on these children that they do not have the ability to tame beforehand. Though they might take some getting used to I can ensure you that they will not injure you beyond repair."

A small smirk appeared on the old man's face. "However.... we will not just GIVE these partners to them, beforehand a little demonstration on how these people can benifit our lives." The Alakazam closed his eyes for a minute, and suddenly seven closed scrolls appeared in it's hand, the audience gasped. "These young ones will each be given a trial... one that they will complete in order to receive their first partner, however be warned, as these are tasks that no normal man could normally succeed at, though I trust your training will be more then enough to fufill these tasks... I reccomend that you meet back at this point after you have completed it to receive your starter, farewell and good luck!"[/spoiler]

[Bloody Bunny]

Alice smirked and quickly skimmed over the scroll with her blood-shimmering red eyes, quietly murmuring of her task, “So basically I have to simply outwit a Ninjask and catch it all the while retrieving some holy mumbo jumbo scroll and avoiding an Aggron huh? Sounds easy enough… hmph. This will be a cakewalk.” She glanced over at the other trainees who were skirmishing over their trial scrolls. She dashed off shortly to the origins of where it was first stolen, the crowd of people waving and wishing everyone else good luck. So just like that, she vanished off into the distance, the back of her jacket rapidly flapping in the wind as she displayed her uncanny ability to run at high speeds without so much as breaking a sweat.

She stopped at the monastery for a breather, only feeling a slight bit of fatigue and glancing around the surrounding landscape in awe, reminiscing of how she wound up here in the first place. “Hahaha, silly me, I have no time to dawdle around,” she realized, stretching to loosen her muscles to be ready of the task at hand, “the Ninjask is located around here, in the open plains where thin rivers meet. If I recall correctly, Ninjask are the speed demons of all Pokemon, invisible to the naked eye as their movements are stealthily swift. Just thinking about it boils my blood, but it is no match for the Great Alice!”

Suddenly, a profoundly loud vibrating of veined wings filled the air. Alice jumped, peering outside of the monastery in the open plains, spotting a gold and blackish grey cicada holding a dusty old scroll. “That must be the Ninjask that stole this place’s scroll!” The insect buzzed about, its crimson-red eyes scouting the area, soon perching upon a gargantuan iron-clad bipedal dinosaur-like Pokemon of sorts, but only for an instant. “So that’s the Aggron I need to be wary of…” The Aggron viciously tried to claw at the insect, but in the blink of an eye, it disappeared from sight, appearing several hundreds of feet away now hovering over a thin river. “… The books do not lie when they say Ninjask is the fastest Pokemon to date… I guess I’ll have to approach it cautiously, but we’ll see. What baffles me is as to why it would only stay in this location.”

The sunlight basked down upon Alice as she looked up, shading her forehead with her right hand. “Ugh, this heat will drive me insane…,” she commented, slowly removing her jacket and unbuttoning her shirt to her singlet. They dropped on the sacred grounds of the monastery, showing no disregard and smiled, stretching once more. “Aaahhh! Now this is more like it! Now I won’t be restrained as much. This Ninjask is…MINE!” she yelled with determination, striding forth with speed of her highest caliber, the wind beneath her arms and legs just a few more strides to the Ninjask. Then when she thought she was in reach of the cicada, Alice performed a daring leap, extending out her arms to the Ninjask, ready to retrieve the scroll.

“Curse your fate that your opponent is me you Ninjask because now I… GOTCHA!” she screamed out in false happiness, opening her arms to reveal a crack with nothing in it… “W-what…?” she was stunned, speechless, then realizing she was hovering over the river, before dropping head first into it. “Ahhhhh!!! Bl-bl-bl-“ she bubbled, the light current washing her away near the bank of the monastery as she bobbed her head out to breathe, coughing and gasping. “Great! Now I’m all wet but I guess it does beat the heat…” lamenting on herself, pulling herself back onto land to devise another method to capture the Ninjask, flying about the open plains once more. “Grrrr… it’s too fast! Even if I manage to get close enough to it, there will be no way for me to catch it using regular methods… Gaaah! Think Alice, think!” scolding herself.

Alice tried and failed a many times to outwit the Ninjask, crashing hysterically on the ground, back into the river, and even tripping on her own shoes. It made a complete and utter fool of her and that upset her greatly, panting and sweating. “OH MY GOODNESS DAMN THIS NINJAAAASK!!!” she yelled with frustration, the words echoing into the air, attracting the attention of the nearby Aggron as its heavy clawed foot stomped the ground, shifting its attention to her, causing a small shockwave. “Oh… shi…” Alice whispered to herself as the metal tri-horned beast roared fiercely, shaking fear into her.

A few seconds after the metallic beast roared, it was struck by a single stone, which flew fast and blurred the air around it. The Aggron twitched, directing it's attention to a boy a few years older than the girl in front of the beast. He had a bow loaded with a single arrow, and with a single precise motion, he pulled back and let go. The arrow did not fly very far, as it struck under the plating of the Aggron's knee. The beast roared once more, before lumbering off to confront the boy.

“Who was that…?” Alice whispered to herself, taking a peek to where the Aggron headed off to, but decided to blatantly ignore the unknown ally who aided her just now. She got up from the ground and dusted off her legs and shorts, her mind situating as to how to attain the speedy insect. “Oh hidden index of intelligence, grant me knowledge from the void of my memories…” she chanted out loud, but quietly, a gentle breeze grazed the grasses of the plains and her hair flowing gently before settling down to its regular position. “I got it!” Alice exclaimed in joy, “If you cannot come to them… make them… come to you! Ninjask love tree sap, but there are no trees nearby, however… there are berry bushes in the monastery’s garden and should like berries like any other Pokemon would. It wouldn’t hurt to try it.”

Alice began collecting a different assortment of berries, ones that should akin to the likeness of that Ninjask’s tastes, taking out a pestle and mortar, mushing and mixing the berries together, eventually into a somewhat thick and liquid texture that gave off a distinctly sweet and pleasant aroma. “This should do it…” Alice commented on herself, spreading some of the mixture onto the palm of her hands, ready to confront the Ninjask once more. The high-pitched sound vibrated through the air, indicating it was close and so Alice approached it cautiously, holding out her hand of ground up berries in hopes her method would work. She stood still and stiff, holding her breath in complete and utter silence…

“Niiin-nin-nin!” the Ninjask wafted slowly in the air, seeming to enjoy the aroma, gently hovering near Alice’s hand and taking its sweet time to eat the sap. “I-it worked…!” she whispered in glee, taking this time to snatch the scroll lodged in between the cicada’s frontal claws. Eventually, the Ninjask finished eating and sped about in full energy across the fields as Alice hurriedly dashed back to the small village, the recovered scroll in hand, having completed her task… and then she remembered. "Ah crap... I forgot my clothes..." she facepalmed, receiving awkward stares from the crowd, gripping the scroll tight in her hands, trying to avert their gaze.

And yet... she oddly liked the attention.

[fenrir]

((Quick OoC: Just a reminder, check the OoC thread for your character's trial. Just consider your opening post as a sort of prologue, and remember to finish it within the first post. You can solve your trial in a variety of different ways, as long as you end up 'proving' you could be a summoner. Any question; you have the OoC thread.))

Darius quickly picked his trial off the floor. It was a piece of parchment torn along the bottom, signed by the head monk himself. He read it quickly, then crumpled it up and placed it in a bag attached to the belt hidden underneath his ragged leather tunic of sorts. As he flipped his hood over his head, he observed the people around them. They were all reading, with the exception of one girl, who darted off only a mere second after she finished reading her trial. Coincidentally, he would have to head the same way.

He passed through the crowd of people cheering for the summoners, blatantly ignoring the village that was supporting him, and caught a glimpse of the girl he would end up following. With that, he left.

---

The Aggron in question hadn't exactly done anything yet. Rather, it was doing a fine job of taking care of the Monestary's garden. In taking care of it however, it didn't want anyone to visit it. Darius himself had no experience with Aggrons; he knew they were fiercly territorial, yet took care of their territory extremely well. Many a royal landscaper have taken some of their designs after viewing the territories of Aggrons. They were marvelous creatures indeed, and yet terrifying. Outside of this, little else was known about them. It's not like anyone could study them upclose either.

Upon arriving at the Monestary, the monks gave him a quick briefing of sorts on the location of the Aggron. The garden of the Monestary wasn't right next to the Monestary, thankfully, and was instead located nearby the rivers below the Monestary. This was also coincidentally where the young girl from before was attempting to finish her trial.

They pointed him to a long winding path that lead from the Monestary to the garden, and warned him not to stray from the yellow-brick path, as the fields surrounding it would quickly disorient him. He didn't really believe that, but he followed the path anyways.

It didn't take very long for Darius to find the Aggron after that. It's territory was clearly marked, with a dead stantler crushed by a rock nearby the entrance of the garden. The garden itself wasn't a sight to behold or anything; it had a few well taken care for trees and certain plants that under normal circumstances [i]would[/i] be a site to behold. Interestingly enough, the Aggron wasn't in the garden the moment he arrived, but instead was lounging around a river to the east of the garden. The river itself extended from far past the garden and continued onto the Monestary itself.

The girl from before was attempting to capture a Ninjask, conviently nearby the Aggron. This would actually play quite well for Darius, as he quickly began to formulate a plan to take over the territory.

---

Then he got the bright idea to throw a few rocks at it's face.

Almost instantly it roared and lumbered over to it's aggressor, with the ferocity of a angry old man. Upon closer examination, the Aggron was old. A little [i]too[/i] old. Two of it's horns were broken, and it's armor in certain locations were cracked, including it's kneeplate. As Darius lured it up the hill the garden was located at, he fired a few quick shots under it's knee, hoping to stop the creature entirely. It didn't work however, as the Aggron continued, snapping the arrows that were lodged under it's plating.

When they reached the garden, the archer quickly scaled the large rock at the entrance, and upon reaching the top, posed with his bow aimed at the Aggron's head.

Now the Aggron, even though it was old, still had the basic ability to lift that rock. Yet, it had no drive to continue fighting over it's territory. It was old; any vigor it had before was long gone. It gave a low growl and swept it's tail along the ground for a few times, before lumbering off. The garden was no longer his, and Darius's work was done.

---

He returned to the ceremony; hood still covering his face. The crowd seemed to have forgotten about him, and instead had their eyes on someone else. He seemed to oddly blend in as he moved through the crowd to retake his position nearby the summoner trainees. Even when he did take his stand again, the crowd did not cheer.

Which is exactly how he liked it.

[Hydra of Ages]

Cyra ignored the crowd around her as she received her scroll. She was aware of their stares, of the rumors that must have leaked from her village- it was logical that they'd want a look at the Demon Summoner, the unholy one that was offered as a sacrifice to appease the Dark Gods. This task that she had to complete- that was the terms of her deal. She had to accomplish this if she wanted to pay her debt to her village, to save them from the Dark Gods. She regarded the scroll with an almost religious delicacy- the scroll was her reason for existence.

Quietly, she unfurled the scroll, and read. She didn't know how to read very well, but before she had left, they had given her a couple lessons on it. She saw the directions, the task, and committed them to memory.

She had a task now.

-

The knights had been setting up camp. There were fewer of them now- though they had once been many, the campaign against the Hydregion had thinned their numbers, in one way or another. Only the most dedicated of them had remained, trying to avenge the lives and livelihoods that had been ruined by the dark beast only a few days ago. It had become such a trial for them that it had necessitated asking for help from other sources.

Cyra appeared out of the darkness, startling them briefly. They hadn't expected a summoner- or, for those who did, they didn't expect to find one with such cold, bright eyes, staring at them with a sort of distanced intensity. She spoke only a couple words, only what was necessary, and left only a couple scraps of paper in her wake.

The Knights huddled together with the scraps, noting that it had once been a scroll of some sort before being cut into pieces. On what had formerly been the reverse there was now a set of stright, horizontal lines, with various dots arranged across each- and a direction on a roughly drawn map, done with an unsteady hand.

-

In was dawn. The Hydregion was tending to its nest- a mass of brick and wood, metal and glass, shattered remains of what had once been a bustling town. Its favorite spot was a perch along one of the towers- the annoying towers that had rang every day, nearly every hour when wretched humans had been controlling it. It hated the noise, hated the ringing in its six ears. The quiet pacified and emboldened it- this was its land now, and nothing would take it back. Especially not anything human.

It saw the girl. She wasn't one of the men in the metal shells, nor did she have a pointy stick to annoy the dragon with- it was strange to the Hydregion for a few moments, until it decided that it didn't matter. Humans would never have his land again. It bellowed at her, all three heads demanding blood, terror, vengeance- it was atop its territory now, and nothing would stop it. It leaped forward in a rage- the girl didn't move. She didn't have terror in her eyes. Her dark hair flittered in the breeze, but the dark green stayed resolute, almost sharp. It enraged the creature- why wasn't this one fleeing?! Where was the anger, the fear? The emotions that the Hydregion knew all humans possessed, all humans depended on! It was infuriating! It bore down, jaws snapping and eyes burning- then suddenly, stopped in place when it heard the peal of a bell.

[i]The Bell![/i] The Hydregion HATED the bell- why was it playing now? Why now, now that all the humans were gone? It forgot the girl for the moment- she wasn't important, and moved quickly to the edge of its own tower. It was the offending tower, and how it moved back and forth. It seethed- that shouldn't happen! The Hydregion's anger built- and then dampened, as it realized the bell moved in a strange pattern now. A beat, rather than a single peal per second. It confused the hydra for a moment- why was the bell different this time?

Then, a second bell started playing- this one a different note, in a different set. The two bells rang together, forming a melody. The dark dragon was confused, but felt its anger being sapped away. This sound was different. Almost... pleasant. It cut through the fog of annoyance the dragon had built up.

A third bell chimed in, adding complexity to the set. The Hydregion closed its eyes -briefly, just briefly- so it could hear the pattern better. It hadn't heard the bells ring together in melody before. They were always loud, individual, vying with eachother in discord. This was... harmony.

To a being of multiple minds, harmony was bliss.

More bells intruded into the song- these hit notes higher than the others. They were smaller, made a gentler sound- the Hydregion barely even registered that they were coming from the girl, not a tower. The music wove together, gently, caressing the dark being with their soft sounds. The Hydregion smiled, and for the first time since its fighting minds had evolved into a maddened, chaotic whole, entered the sweet embrace of sleep.

-

Cyra returned to the ceremony the same as she left- except this time, there was no scroll. Her eyes had the same hardness, but somehow, she felt something had been resolved. Some sort of harmony had been achieved.

The rings of her staff jangled a little as she moved it. A soft twinkle. Music.

[Blake]

Jesse hurriedly scooped up one of the assignments, and read over it quickly. He sighed with relief as he read. [i]"Thank Arceus, something involving a bug and one of the lightning creatures. It's a good thing I packed some Cheri berries after all."[/i] The boy patted his bag on the side, where the bright red berries had been placed. He turned to leave the town, seeing one of the town's Mareep by the entrance. He walked over to the sheep, and pet it, immediately getting a "Maree!" from the creature. He pulled one of his Cheri berries out, and fed it to the wooly Pokemon, before stroking its wool as the electricity lowered, and the beast seemed to be in a slight daze.

--------

After about an hour, Jesse stood on a hill, not far from the small village. [i]"Alright... There's some woods to the right... the pier is that way... And the town itself is straight ahead. Electabuzz live in the forest, but, from what I've heard, of inhabit towns... So, I'll check there first."[/i] Within a few minutes, he was entering the small town, looking about nervously. [i]"I really hope this is over quickly..."[/i] He mentally groaned as he caught glances from the people around town. He made his way through the town, looking for any signs of the beast.

"Need some help, son?" A crotchety old voice filled Jesse's ears, causing him to jump. "You look kinda lost, and I know you're not from around here. Got a name?" The old man stood a head shorter than Jesse, slightly hunched over. He held a cane in his hand as he looked at the teenager. Jesse stammered as he told the elderly man his name, and was immediately met with a reply. "Jesse, eh? The name's Louis. What can I do you for?"

"W-well, I'm here for a t-trial. H-have you had tr-trouble with an Electabuzz lately?" The man looked him over, squinting as if to discern his motives. The old man motioned for him to follow, leading him to the edge of the town. He was instructed to go about 100 yards into the forest to find it. "Th-thank you, sir." Jesse squeaked out, and ran off, leaving the old man shaking his head.

-------

"Electabuzz, come on out!" Jesse called out into the forest. He heard the familiar noise of static, and got low to the ground moments before a bolt struck past him. "I'm here to help, not hurt!" he called out. He pulled some of the Cheri Berries out of his bag, and held them up. "Look, I've got berries! Don't Pokemon like you love this kind?" He laid them on the ground, and stepped back, giving the creature its space.

The Electabuzz walked out, scowling, but not directly angry. It shot for the berries, and back to its vantage point in just a couple seconds, leaving Jesse to bide his time. He looked around the tree he had hid behind after a few minutes, and saw the berries taking their effect. The Electabuzz was leaning against a tree, dazed, with one arm laying over its body. He walked up to the beast, which tried to shoot some electricity at him, but fizzled. The berry had reduced its output. "Now, just relax..." Jesse instructed the Pokemon, pulling the arrow out of its foot.

Even in its relaxed state, the beast kicked Jesse hard, making him fall back, clutching his stomach. When the pain subsided, he looked at the Pokemon's bleeding foot. [i]"Didn't the scroll say there was a... Ahah!"[/i] Jesse's eyes landed on some web nearby, presumably from an Ariados. [i]"That's perfect!"[/i] He gathered some of the web, and wrapped it around the loopy Electabuzz's foot, after cleaning it. "Now, you should stop bothering that village now. Alright?" Jesse pet the electric Pokemon with a smile, and walked back towards the village he had come from.

-------

Another hour passed, and Jesse stood at the place he had gotten his trial from, looking about nervously, as before. [i]"Well, at least I've learned enough to be able to help out... Maybe getting a partner will be a goo thing, particularly one I know how to take care of... Like a Spinarak or Mareep. That would be nice..."[/i] He saw the sheep from earlier at his side, rubbing up against him. "Reep!" it called out happily, before wandering off, leaving a smiling Jesse.

[Crystal Remnants]

Ryder took in all the excitement in the air as he examined the setting around him. He couldn’t believe what was happening here. Now, as a teenager, he was getting the chance to experience a journey most others could only dream of doing. However, it wasn’t going to be as easy as simply be handed a pokemon and being on his merry way. No, it was going to take hard work. Deciding that it would be for the best to not waste any time, Ryder proceeded to get his scroll, and promptly read it.

As he read the task, another wave of excitement came over him. It was truly a task worthy of testing his abilities as a future summoner. Rolling up the assignment and placing it in his bag, Ryder quickly made his way to the village, noticing that there was another boy heading the same way.

--------

Reaching the village, Ryder stopped and looked around. He looked around, and saw a large man carrying a heavy load of wood. Figuring that the man would know the way to the cave, Ryder decided to stop and ask him for directions. “Excuse me sir, but where might I find the cave where the Rhydon is located? I seem to have forgotten where it is.” The large man looked at him with a stern expression on his face.

“Why would you ever want to go to a place like that? That creature is dangerous, and will bring you nothing but trouble!” He was obviously trying to deter Ryder from even thinking about going to the cave. “Well, you see, I have no choice. This is my trial if I am to become a great summoner!” Ryder replied. The man stood there, examining Ryder. After about a minute of silence, he sighed reluctantly. “Fine… I’ll tell you where to find the Rhydon. Besides, if I didn’t tell you, you’d probably just go around asking others in the village until you found someone who would tell you.” The man did not look very happy, but Ryder simply smiled and laughed at the man’s response. The man pointed a direction in the forest, and told him to follow that path until he found the cave. Nodding, Ryder thanked the man, and was on his way.

--------

Making his way through the forest, Ryder spoke aloud to himself to pass the time. “I wonder what this Rhydon will be like. According to the task, it shouldn’t be too violent, as it hasn’t done anything yet. But I guess I’ll just have to find out when I find it.” As he walked, Ryder thought he heard a noise coming from somewhere in the woods. It sounded like something yelling loudly. It even sounded like a person. That was when Ryder remembered seeing another boy headed towards the same village as he was. He didn’t really get a good look at him, since the boy had taken a different path.

Focusing back on the task at hand, Ryder emerged from the woods into a clearing, and saw a cave directly in front of him. It was very dark, and Ryder couldn’t see much in front of him. “I wonder if this is the cave I was supposed to find. It seems like it is, but I can’t see inside of it…” Ryder paused and thought of a plan to lure out the Rhydon that was supposed to be inside. “…I’ve got it!” Pulling his bag off of his shoulders, Ryder opened it and looked at the berries in his pack. “Hmm… a super tough rock type like you would probably enjoy one of these.” Ryder pulled out two chesto berries and placed them on the ground. He then rolled a third one into the cave, and waited.

He heard a crunching noise, followed by heavy footsteps. The Rhydon emerged from its cave. It was less than half-a-foot taller than Ryder, but that didn’t stop it from seeming like a giant wall from Ryder’s perspective. Once out in the sun, it looked around, and then saw the other chesto berries Ryder had laid out of it. Bending over, it picked up the berries in its massive claws, and shoved both in its mouth. It chewed them happily, which pleased Ryder. He walked up and touched the pokemon on its stomach as he stared in awe. An entire village feared this giant creature from afar, but up close, Ryder saw that it was a gentle beast. Ryder proceeded to rub the Rhydon’s belly, which gave it great pleasure as it wagged its tail back and forth. The tail slammed into the side of the cave entrance, and immeadiately a large rumbling sound was made. Ryder and the Rhydon paused, both of them sensing trouble. They then looked up at the cliff, and saw cracks forming quickly. “Oh man! We’ve got to run!” Ryder quickly ran from the cliff, with the Rhydon close behind it. They stopped and turned just in time to see the entire cliff crumbling and falling hard on where they were originally standing.

Heart racing and startled, Ryder took a moment to contemplate what had just happened. He then remembered that the task had said the dangers of the cliff. Now, due to his carelessness, the entrance to the cave was blocked off. He looked at the Rhydon, which was saddened by the loss of its home. “Don’t worry Rhydon. I’ll do anything it takes to find you a new home!” Ryder smiled and walked along the side of the formation where the closed off cave was, with the Rhydon beside him. After about an hour, they had found a cave that could fit Rhydon. And because it was much further away from the village, there was no chance the two would ever have to worry about interacting again. “Good luck Rhydon. I hope you live a good life.” Ryder gave one last glance at the pokemon before he walked away, happy with what had happened this day.

--------

Making sure to get back as quick as possible, Ryder ran at top speed until he got back, which did not take too long. A sensation of accomplishment spread throughout Ryder as he arrived at the group. With his trial now done, he could become a full-fledged summoner. Waiting for those who had not finished to arrive, Ryder thought to himself. [i]”I can’t wait to see what kind of partner I’ll get! I know it’ll be something awesome! And no matter what it is, I know we’ll grow strong together!”[/i]

[Nexev]

Alex was confused, why were people gasping? Was someone hurt? Oh no! He should go help them! As Alex tried to move through the crowd to find the supposed injured person he was eventually pushed, apperantly people wanted him to "get this overwith" get what over... OH WAIT the alakazam did something cool. Alex heard the alakazm a while ago and then the old guy said some stuff. Alex guess the alakazam then did something to make the audiance gasp. No one was hurt after all. That is good. Welp Alex feel silly. So Alex felt some weird cylinder object placed in his hands. Thier is a pause and then some voice urges him to read it.

A few minutes later and a quick removal of Alex bandages, the voice, sounding much quieter, seemed to be muttering something about it's mother.

Alex felt fingers wrap around his arm as a voice told him to follow him.

A few minutes later the voice explained to him that he got his pokemon early as his quest is a long one. Soon after he heard the chirping of a Natu as what was likely the afortementioned chirper climbed upon his head. He felt a wave of energy fall over him, a pleasent energy that seemed to be the psychic powers of the natu welcoming him to his life. Alex thinks he will call the bird Gunthor the Unfathomable. Then Alex was given a round weight, apperantly this weight was a egg and he was to nuture it into life. With a word of thanks Alex took his leave, soon Gunthor chirped as psychic energy washed over his left side, telling him to take a few steps to the left before continuing. After doing so Alex found the door.

Alex knew this was the begining of a beautiful friendship.

Alex gathered the many rags he had accumulated over his travels spreading his faith and wrapped them aroung the egg, making sure their was a large hole to allow the egg to breath should it hatch. He then put the egg into a basket.

Once he did so he took a trip to the woods where he left his wagon, the chirps and hoots of the wild surronding him, just the way he liked it.

He took a book from the wagon, it's pages covered in brail, sweeping a hand over it's pages he began his story.

"Once in a age before we remenber their was a being, a being known as the Creator...." as he spoke the sounds around him dimmed, as if they two wished to hear the tale he was telling his companion as well as his future one.

[Naimo]

[i]At least they had the sense not to send me after a furry Pokemon[/i], Ambrosia thought to herself as she casually paced the streets of the town she had been sent to. Fortunately, she blended in; at least nobody could tell she was a Summoner-to-be.

The main reason for all this secrecy was simple; Ambrosia, being close to finishing her training, had been sent to deal with an unruly Pokemon, a task reflective of her future career, it seemed. From the information had been handed to her, her immediate thought was that the creature in question was a Psychic-type - either that, or an evolved Pokemon with a psychic-based move somewhere in their moveset. Ambrosia was hoping it was the first; at least it wouldn't be as chaotic to deal with, and probably wouldn't result in much blood, sweat and tears, to put it metaphorically.

So far, she had been "undercover" for nearly 3 hours (177 minutes, to be pedantic), during which she had her lunch break. Thank goodness the Pokemon hadn't struck then - it would have been so embarrassing to be caught out whilst in the middle of a lukewarm, badly created ham and cheese sandwich; all her training hadn't been done to lead her to fight a potential future companion with crumbs and shards of ham all down the front of her shirt. No, because Naimo takes Ambrosia very seriously, so much so that she will never break the fourth wall again when RPing as her.

Ambrosia would have continued fruitlessly searching had she not been alerted by something moving near her. She turned her head to the right; she happened to be facing an alleyway, and although the darkness there was thinner in daylight, she saw a white flash disappear ... and it looked a lot like the hem of a skirt ...

Her instincts kicked in, and Ambrosia race-walked into the alleyway. She emerged on the other side, and saw her culprit floating in the middle of the street; the Ralts' legs dangled only five or six centimeters off the ground, and Ambrosia gently walked up to him. She could have done it more subtly, but with her figure, she would have eventually set off alarm bells - and that was exactly what she had done. The Ralts seemed to inhale, before it gave a piercing "RALTS!" and seemingly began to swell in size.

At first, Ambrosia wondered whether it was brave enough to do it in front of people - until she glanced around, and realised that she was the only person there. Confused, she spun on the spot, and sighed; so, there were roadworks there! That was effectively sealing off the street, save for the alleyway. Not that she was going to retreat back - no, this was what her training was for - she was there to tame Pokemon, with or without sandwich stains adorning her clothes.

Even though she wasn't entirely sure that the Ralts was [i]really[/i] that big, she was still somewhat intimidated. It had swollen to three times the height of her, and she was now staring up at its piercing, oval magenta eyes. If she knew what its moveset was, that could have helped her a little more - but as of now, she was left to deal with it physically, and without the assistance of any Pokemon! Was this going to remain the accurate reflection of her career that she had first envisaged 180 minutes ago?

"RALTS!" It lifted a foot, and Ambrosia threw herself out of the way; she narrowly missed it as it crashed down onto the ground - except nothing shook. She quickly recovered, leaping to her feet before she was once again forced back into the entrance of the alleyway - her body narrowly missed being squished by where the big toe would be on a human foot. Alas, size was playing a very advantageous part in this rampage; Ambrosia had no time to get up before she was back on the floor, slowly bruising her palms and buttocks from the constant painful move.

By now, she really was scampering in the alleyway, when she noted something unusual. Normally, a Ralts that size wouldn't be able to go down the alleyway - but this one was walking through walls and houses! Incredulously, it was dealing no damage! There were no footsteps as it walked either! It suddenly clicked in Ambrosia's mind - this was just one large-scale illusion! She then did something that would be, under normal circumstances, stupid - she idly got up, and casually brushed any dirt off her body whilst a massive foot was threatening to squash her. She wasn't afraid anymore, and when the limb came down, she could feel a cool sensation rush through her body as it went straight through her, without leaving any injuries at all.

"Ralts!" The Pokemon was panicking as it realised she had seen through its defenses. It enlarged itself even more, and kept stamping on her - but she remained calm, and stared lovingly at it; eventually, the latter, unable to hold it any longer, shrank back to its normal size, and with a slight "Raaa-", it began to flee to the street. At once, Ambrosia chased after it, determined not to let the distressed Pokemon get away. Fortunately, it was currently not in the right mindset, and it had barely wandered into the middle of the street before it halted, confused; it didn't know where to go. With a sweeping embrace, Ambrosia hugged it around the waist; she was expecting him to flail like a Magikarp, but instead, it just gloomily sat there.

"Hey, come on, what's the matter?" she gently asked it. She could tell something was bugging it - but what? "Do you belong to someone from here?" She presumed the Ralts meant no as he shook his head. "OK ... so how come you're here?"

No answer. The Ralts was just weakly beating the back of her palms. "Hmmm ... if you're not someone's Pokemon ... what about your family? I'm sure you must have somebody..."

That was enough to provoke a sudden "Ralts! Raaaaaaaalts!" Ambrosia faintly felt a smile on her face; so, the Pokemon was just lost! His mentality was that of a child's - and he must have been scared, hence all those illusions. She gently cuddled him as she began to make her way out of the town again; he must have sensed that she was helping him, as he remained limp in her arms. She could feel him breathing, and there was a certain waft of gratification coming from underneath his helmet. She picked the fastest route out of the town, and when she finally left, she glanced at the surrounding neighbourhood; where was she going to look? There were vast forests surrounding them - she had to be back in time for the ceremony!

"Listen, I can't stay with you to look - if I let you go, can you go back to your family? Hey!" She barely had to finish; the Ralts immediately wriggled out of her grasp, and with a fleeting wave, dashed away into the forest, weaving between the trees and out of sight.

Ambrosia smiled as she too waved goodbye at it; it seemed that he knew his own way home. There was that unerring feeling of satisfaction whenever she helped a lost Pokemon rising in her chest, and for a brief moment, she remained still on the spot, still turned to face the trees. Then, she remembered her real purpose for the day, and she began to dash back for the ceremony.

[Proto]

The crowd was in uproar with the trainer's returns, they had each gone off to do a task that no man would normally come back from alive.... Well except for that blind one.... he got it off easy, then again a blind person would get a fairly easy beginning...

The good father grinned on the return of the aspiring Summoners, even though he had to MAKE SURE that each of them would complete their tasks successfully.... it was always nice to have full confirmation he didn't just send children to their dooms.

"Ah, by some miracle you have returned at the same hour! I do hope that you consider yourself well-prepared by conquering these tasks... now! For your reward! Alakazam if you will..."

The ancient wrinkled yellow humanoid beside him smiled slightly, before closing his eyes, his brain in complete focus....

"First.. Alice Sakurei! For your knowledge in these creatures and completion of your task with flying colors... I award you with your first companion!"

The Alakazam took a meditative stance, his eyes closed as the bright red bulb began to unfold, showing it's true petals, red with yellow dots with a yellow center, sparks of green energy began to sparkle in the air as the sihlouette of a leafy creature, consisting entirely of curves appeared in the center.

The yelow humanoid raised it's hands to the skies, and six other flowers, identical to the one in the center appeared, each with a slightly different color and pattern on them.

Father Hawthorne walked over to the side, calling the trainers up one by one, when he finished his speech, the flower adjacent to him opened, showing another sihlouette of a different creature.

"Darius Mawler, for your sheer talent in raw fighting and combat with even the strongest of beasts, I grant you your first companion."

"Cyra et Beliel... for your uncanny talent for taming the most gruesome and unholy monsters ever to roam this earth! And showing no fear even when facing the mightiest dragon! I grant you your first companion."

"Jesse Adams. For your ability of empathy and talent with healing the injured with such compassion! I grant you your first companion."

"Ryder Williams. For your outstanding proficiency with Pokemon caretaking and determination to improve! I grant you your first companion"

"Alex Ga-..... where is the boy?" the old preacher suddenly stopped in his tracks, looking around desprately for the sixth child.... he had only given him a egg! How is it possible that he could have.... Maybe he couldn't read his trial and went off thinking his was as dangerous as the others! He looked around frantically, sweat pouring on his robes before a young monk, couldn't be older then eighteen years walked up on stage.

"Father, we sent the boy on his way, none to worry, he has his partner with him already and he should be perfectly fine!"

The good father wiped his brow, letting out a sigh of relief before shooing away the young monk with a wave of his arm.

"Now then.... Ambrosia Waite! For your expertise in improvising against the unknown and surprising compassion for these Pokemon, I grant you your first Pokemon!"

He took a moment to catch his breathe.... gazing at the children looking at him blankly, unknown what to do. "Well do what you've been trained to do SUMMON your new comrade! Take your prizes!"

[Bloody Bunny]

The dark-haired girl twitched in an annoyed manner, somewhat irritated that out of all the summoners, Father Hawthorne butchered her name. However, her excitement and anticipation of her soon-to-be partner overthrew that peeve and she just let it slip without so much as a single signal of a word. Alice pondered for just a second on how to “summon,” remembering the harmonica she was bestowed upon. “That’s right… my harmonica,” she reminisced of her time back at home playing the piano before moving onto the wind-reliant instrument.

She reached inside of her singlet and pulled out her precious silver pendant which was attached to the beautifully serene, violet harmonica with six individual perfectly square holes crafted to perfection. Each one plays a different note, assuming for six Pokemon total. The almost obvious silhouette of her partner became enshrouded by the others, but if what she was thinking correctly, she would smile at its sight. Alice carefully held her harmonica up to her lips and gently blew into the first slot. The instrument glowed a distinctive forest-green aura, indicating her partner’s type.

A sweet and harmonic forest tune flowed into the air, the crowd in awe of what was happening. An intricately designed glyph of leafy substances, matching her instrument’s color appeared under the flowery petals her summon starter was in. The flower came into full bloom before disintegrating to the air, revealing a green, curvy reptilian-like creature with a slender body, pointed curved snout with a cream-colored underbelly, matching pointed stubs as feet, a set of red snake eyes, and three palmate leaves assorted on its tail. Alice gazed upon it in awe and a satisfying happiness as the Pokemon put its stubby leaf-like hands on its hips and let out a prideful “Sniiivvyy!” The cry of the Snivy indicated it to be female with its tone incredibly feminine and somewhat sassy, catching eye-to-eye with her summoner.

The Snivy smirked and leaped gracefully into the air as the crowd gasped in amazement, the snake-like Pokemon landed next to Alice and quickly walked around her, before rubbing its head up and down Alice’s right leg in an affectionate manner. Alice could not help but daze into her “OMG SO CUTE” state snuggling with her newly acquired partner and cradling it into her arms. “Wow… finally… I have a Pokemon… no… a partner to call my own,” she commented, feeling a warm joy in her heart, gazing around everyone else with her Snivy, waiting to see what they would obtain.

[fenrir]

Darius observed Alice summon her partner, taking note on how the Snivy appeared to match her gender and temperament. The leafy glyph, green harmonica, and budding flower did however catch him by surprise. The crowd likewise, stared at the newborn creature in awe. Realizing that he was showing a little too much by being amazed, he quickly returned to his usual poker-face. With an embarrassed look on his face, he fumbled in his pocket for the chain of whistles he kept.

The whistles were a pure silver, without a smidgen of dirt. For one that didn't seem to care for such instruments, he did take awfully good care of them. As he brought the first, largest whistle to his lips, a watching monk made a gesture to take off his hood. Under normal circumstances he would have turn away and walked off, but considering this was supposed to be a ceremony...

He slowly flipped his hood back, fully revealing himself once more. It was only then that he put the largest whistle once again up to his mouth.

A sharp, yet clear whistle cut through the crowd's awing. With that whistle a strong gust of wind emerged suddenly, causing the crowd to scream in surprise and lift their arms to block themselves from any flying debris. His whistles began to take on a light brown color, almost beige actually. A glyph of the same color appeared in the air in front of him; it depicted two horizontal parallel waves. The glyph fades away as feathers fall from it's faint presence. The feathers amass to a very small ball like figure, around the size of the Snivy.

The feathers are blown away soon after they take form, revealing a young Rufflet with it's eyes closed. The Rufflet slowly opens it's eyes, blinking once, and then begins to flap it's wings. Lifting itself from the ground slowly but steadily. Before it can make much distance, it lands on Darius's head with one foot.

As if mimicking it's summoner, it began to observe the people around them, squawking once in surprise at the crowed of people behind them.

[Bloody Bunny]

Alice caught eye of the dark, messy-haired young man, simply adoring the rather cute and plump Rufflet that was roosting on his head. Then she recognized him in a quick flashback of her trial not too long ago. “H-hey! You, seaweed head! You’re the one who saved me from that Aggron!” she excitedly yelled, her Snivy staring at them with a curious gaze. The young man however simply ignored the short girl, turning his back to her in tough-guy fashion with his Rufflet squawking at her. “… The f-…” Alice let out to herself, puffing her cheeks in quick annoyance, turning red.

She felt insulted and the thought of being ignored angered her greatly, the Snivy gritting its teeth with her summoner, feeling her emotions through their sacred bond. “HEY!” she yelled out obnoxiously, a clack of rushing footsteps charging for the young man as she put all her strength into that tackle to get his attention, subsequently knocking him down.The boy, now on the ground, only glared at the girl. His Rufflet was in the air, flapping wildly above the girl, squawking at her but not making a move. The boy gritted his teeth, bearing the attention of the crowd as they watched the drama ensue. "What do you want?" he replied, too late it seems.

Alice towered over him, planting her shoe onto his stomach, laughing conceitedly. “Ahahahaa! I, the Great Alice Sakurai would like to thank you for saving my life and to show my token of appreciation, I have decided to travel with you!” she explained with great dignity and enthusiasm, her Snivy leaf-pumping her right hand. As soon as she had finished her sentence, the boy had yanked her foot off and pushed her back. As he got up, his Rufflet once again sat on his head, still squawking. "Get lost." was his only reply, as he began to walk towards the crowd.

“Aaah!” she gasped, quickly regaining her momentum and balance, being an athletic girl, despite not looking like it. As the rather rash and cold young man turned his back on her, Alice was persistent and followed him. “W-waaaait!!!” she yelled in the distance, chasing after him, reaching her arm out to grab his shoulder, but the Snivy wriggled out of her summoner’s arms and instinctively let out a cry. “Sniii!” she pressed on, two thin vines beginning to rise up from her regal, golden collar, before rearing her head back, “vvyyy!” The two vines cracked down upon the young man’s back, that lashing and oh so painful whipping noise echoing through the air as Alice gasped with shock.

[Hydra of Ages]

Cyra watched the proceedings without a flicker across her face. She was praised, once, for her fearlessness- why would she be scared? This was what she was supposed to do, after all. Her life was her penance. It didn't matter too much when it ended, so long as she was doing her duty while doing it. She had no illusions that she'd live very long, not when she was a living tribute, so what was an extra day? Week? Month?

It was just a fact that she'd internalized- so much so that she was briefly shocked when the Holy Father didn't seem aware of it. But then again, why would he?

Keeping an eye on the two summoners who had already succeeded, she composed herself and stood up straight, smoothing out her robes slightly. She thought about the darkness she'd seen in that Hydregion's eyes, the bellows of the monsters that hid in the dark of the forests. The remembered the destruction she'd seen in that ruined town, the devastation caused by a single unchecked monstrosity. That was why she was here- that was why she was a summoner.

From her satchel, she removed her smallest bell and with a quick movement, held it above her and rang it. Smoothly, she took a graceful step to the side and rang it again. Once more, she moved and the bell tinkled.

She felt the darkness form around her- a shapeless mass of writhing fingers, leaching into the world around it. It concealed her, isolated her- there weren't any other people nearby.

The bell's single chime turned into a melody. A concert of different tones and rings echoed from throughout infinity, pulled into being by the ringing of the single instrument. They wove together in the lonely cocoon of shadows, forming notes, interlacing chains of song and rhythm that tied themselves into gold patterns, weaving about her on the ground and shining into the blackness. The lines grew, growing in complexity as the tune did, tracing themselves across infinity and back, lighting up the cage of darkness with cracks in the night-

and then the night shattered, letting the sun's dying light shine through. The lines of gold glittered in the sunlight, and the shards of darkness fell, becoming pieces of broken glass- and then feathers, falling together from the sky like snow. The golden lines shifted forward, corkscrewing into a thinner, shorter shape, and gathered the feathers as they fell, developing them into wings. The ball of light was covered in the darkness before it finished, then lifted off from its path and floated in front of Cyra.

The last of the light faded into a sharp beak and pair of beady, golden eyes, a Murkrow shaped out of the music and feathers of the night. He flew around, then dipped back before grasping Cyra's shoulder with his yellow claws; he turned his head and observed the girl passively. Cyra did the same back.

[fenrir]

With a sickening crack the vine whips found their mark, and Darius was sent flying to the ground a few feet in front of him. His Rufflet once again took off, this time making a brave assault against the ebony haired girl, launching a fury of attacks at her head. Darius pushed himself off the ground, still low. Slowly he picked himself up, dusting off the dirt that had smeared his leather attire. With a sense of hidden rage, the boy pulled out his bow that was previously held in it's case on his back. Silently he notched a single arrow, and aimed it at the girl's head amidst the series of vicious pecks being delivered by his raptor companion.

He was starting to like him.

"Ow ow ow!" Alice covered her head in pain, Darius' Rufflet continiously pecking the poor girl's head. Her unusually overprotective, but prideful Snivy catched a glimpse of the arrow being pointed at her summoner's head and with it, she instinctively ensnares the Rufflet with her vines.

She cried out and darted behind Alice, holding the tribal baby eagle threateningly where Darius' arrow points at Alice. The Rufflet squawked loudly, trying to wriggle itself free from the grips, but its wings had been clipped and firmly wrapped around, having no chance to escape. Snivy gritted her sharp, reptilian teeth as the palmate leaves on its tail wagged with natural energy, glowing a faint evergreen aura.

A quick whipping noise silenced the Rufflet's squawking, as the arrow landed in front of Alice. Darius walked over to Alice, bow still in hand. The Rufflet began to furiously peck the vines holding it, eventually freeing itself only just barely. It landed on Darius's head once more, glaring at the Snivy. He gritted his teeth, "What the hell do I have to do to get you to leave me alone?" he muttered.

"Hey, watch where you point that thing, you grouchy seaweed-headed emo!" Alice insulted, putting her hands on her hips sassily, the Snivy mimicking her movements. Alice glared with her piercing red eyes into Darius, scowling before rearing her head back and sighing.

"Fine, I'll leave you alone," she started, "but if we cross paths again, you will let me accompany you!" Snivy stuck out its tongue at the flustered bird, sneaking one of its whips to poke the Rufflet in the back, turning its head before giving it one more smack in the face, snickering. The girl scooped up her Snivy and snuggled it and whispering, “Good work!” She walked off to the distance beyond the crowd to an unknown destination.

Darius sighed loudly, the crowd was staring at him now. He glared back, then turns off to walk in a similar direction to where Alice left to.

[Nexev]

"Long ago before you or any of our forefathers tread this land, before this land was even there to be treaded there was nothingness. A vast emptiness, pure in it's vacancy, and yet in this purity it still lacked. Eventually the Emptiness itself realized this and willingly relinquished what many lesser beings cling to, it's own perfection. And with this perfection that the Emptiness sacrificed he created a focal point of power, The Green Sun. Imagine high up in the sky a orb of incalculable energy, irridescent green from the sheer amount of potential that it holds. Through the power of this star many different planets and breathed life into them." Alex read from his book as his fingers drifted across it's brail script.

To honor his creations he changed his name to the Benefactor and his power is what brings us life. While he has many plans, plans within plans that make denying him impossible he had special plans for the planet we inhabit. He took the green star's power and imbuded each of the life here with that power, that sheer potential to change and make change. To some of these he also imbuded the power of his very mind, while all pokemon are intelligent (especially you Gunthor) these pokemon were different, they were ambitious, they knew how to force the enviroment to adapt to them, not the other way around, these were the Light Pokemon and in time they ruled the others. However in this they achieved some semblence of perfection and grew lazy, sitting down and doing nothing. 'What is there to do?' they would cry out 'when all that could be done we already accomplished?' and they were heard by the Benefactor.

So the Benefactor used his power and through it's power made an avatar, it's name was Arceus, the plate bearer. With his power the light pokemon where split, the minds turning into humans like me. The husks of power grew sentience and became the dark and ghost type pokemon so many shunned. But they are our brethren and should be given the respect they deserve. Those who did not split went to a new world that the Benefactor created to restart civilization so that it may reaccomplish everything it already did. They were accompanied by the humans and pokemon, and these light pokemon disappeared into legeneds, helping to create the modern world as it is seen now. Arceus then left but a new power filled the space. The changing thought, Deoxys. Deoxys was born of the Green Sun itself and while not filled with the same amount of power as Arceus it still has the drive. It lives in the old world that reached perfection so long ago and watches, making sure to shake things up whenever our civilization would become doomed by redundency. Deoxys gives our lives meaning and we must thank the Benefector and him by making the most with our lives. So when you grow big and strong Gunthor or when you hatch into whatever you are in there Mr Sleepy, we will do our best to allow everyone to be as happy as they can be. For that is the true meaning of life, to make sure all life has meaning."

Alex then went to bed along with his new companion, he didn't know what tomorrow would bring but hopefully it would be something.

[Bloody Bunny]

Alice wandered off into an open forest path, guarded by two rows of rustling bushes in search of Pokemon to train her Snivy on. Alice was cradling it like a baby with its tail hanging on the side, still glowing with that same evergreen aura. She wondered what it was about as she trotted about the path wandering into an enclosed area and at the center, a small aged hut teeming with various insects inside and out.

“Oh gross…” she commented, weirded out by the numerous Weedle, Caterpie, Spinaraks, Sewaddle, and Venipede that swarmed the hut. Alice backed out of the area to turn the other direction, stumbling upon a gargantuan boulder and then… she saw it…

A yellowish cream-colored weasel like Pokemon with maroon pink “sleeves," slender matching colored legs, accustomed with the same colored band pattern around its neck and forked tail coated similarly on the tip was training upon the boulder, rapidly punching, kicking, and jumping around. Alice thought to herself, closing her eyes to her [i]Index of Intelligence[/i].

“If memory serves me correctly… that’s the pre-evolved form of a Mienshao that I saw back at home in an article, a Mienfoo! Such a graceful and powerful fighter… I must have it!” she exclaimed out loud, catching the attention of the combat weasel. “Snivy, are you ready?” The curvy reptile nodded and hopped from Alice’s arms into the open battlefield, raising its snout high in regard with its leafy arms on its sides. Alice took note of its still-glowing tail, unable to fathom what it symbolizes. The fighting weasel took on a defensive stance, raising one arm behind its head, rearing the other one on its side.

“Oh well… Now, if I can remember attacks Snivy can learn… aha!” she realized, pointing her fingers forward. “Snivy, get close to it and use Wrap!” she proclaimed, the green snake dashing forward quickly with its light feet, ready to envelope the Mienfoo in its body. However, the Mienfoo’s eyes shined in a red twinkle, able to “detect” her Snivy’s movements, dodging it by merely side stepping and back-handing the snake on its sides to guide it without failure, stumbling down to the dirt.

“That’s Detect!” Alice exclaimed, the Mienfoo not giving her a respiratory period to recover, striding at the downed Snivy and smacking it with its cream-colored paws multiple times causing several cries of pain to emit from the snake, crashing onto the ground. “And that one was Doubleslap…” commented Alice in awe, but she refused to back down. “This Mienfoo is tough… Snivy, strike him down with Vine Whip!” she commanded. Snivy reared her head back, the vines erupting from her collar viciously, slamming them forward in attempt to lacerate the weasel.

This particular Mienfoo, however, was exceptionally self-trained, using Detect once more to perform acrobatic feats jumping over the first vine that was slammed down and then using its agility to dash across the other, its right arm building up a violet aura before getting into close range with Snivy and thrusting its arm out, releasing a powerful shockwave of energy, knocking her into the air, in which Snivy cried out with intense pain. Alice’s eyes lit wide open with shock as the Snivy landed on the battlefield with a thud, knocked out.

“Aaah, Snivy!” Alice expressed with worry, quickly rushing to her downed Pokemon. She knelt down and cradled Snivy as it looked up at her with shame and disappointment in its red-eyes and Alice cooed it. “You did good… that Mienfoo is just too strong,” she reassured her partner, not upset with her at all. She looked up at the Mienfoo who taunted her with a gesture of its arms as Alice gritted her teeth, dashing off back to the village, having lost her first wild battle, and leaving the Mienfoo to snicker in victory.

[Crystal Remnants]

Ryder observed all that had happened at the ceremony. Three people had already gotten their partners. [i]"A Snivy, Rufflet, and Murkrow… Man, I can’t wait to see who my partner will be!"[/i] Ryder, excited to finally arrive at his what would be the first step on the journey that would lead to his destiny, stepped forward from the group. Immeadiately, any chatter that was going on in the crowd fell silent. It was time for the next summoner to meet their chosen partner.

Ryder excitedly reached into the back pocket of his jeans, and grabbed his instrument. He looked at it with awe, beholding the tool that would give him a partner, just as the other summoners’ tools had done for them. It was a beautiful pan flute, made of silver. Ryder brought it close to his mouth and blew into the first hole. The moment the air from Ryder’s lips passed through the length of the flute, a loud wave of sound was emitted. It engulfed everyone in the crowd, as it spread through the air. The sound was harmonious and beautiful, with a warm feeling, like a happy memory. It made everyone in the crowd smile. The color of the first pipe on the flute changed to a teal color, with a white circle in the middle.

As this happened, a ball of light rose from one of the flowers, and danced around in the sky, until it fell back to the ground. The single happy note faded away, as the ball of light grew into a figure. Then, suddenly, the light dispersed, leaving a round blue creature with a white lower jaw and a white circle on its chest. “Munchlax!” it shouted, raising its arms in the air. Ryder opened his mouth to reply, but paused, as he tried to think of words that could express how he felt right now. “…AWESOME!” he exclaimed. “I’ve got my very own Munchlax!” Ryder grabbed the Munchlax by the sides and picked it up. Examining its smile, he spoke to his new partner. “I can tell that you and I are going to get along great!” With that, Ryder put the Munchlax down, and they stepped back, happy and waiting to see what kinds of partners the other summoners would get.

[Naimo]

Ambrosia took out her melodica, and blew into the mouthpiece as she struck a C major. She immediately felt her situation change; she shivered violently as icy gales blew into her, trapping her in the center of a frosty tornado. Well, at least it was an Ice Pokemon - hopefully not a Cubchoo, she would be appalled if she had a furry Pokemon as her starter.

Her fingers felt frozen as she continued to play, but it was necessary - she had to Summon her partner, it wasn't an option, but a necessity. As she continued to play, the gales around her slowly deceased as something sprouted out of the ground, protecting her in a crusty cone-like cage. Her eyes suddenly widened in surprise as the wind died down completely, reduced to beating violently around the unlikely cover.

[i]Oh ... I'm in an ice cream cone...[/i] She suddenly had a hunch as to what her Pokemon was - a thought which was disturbed as a gloopy white substance almost smacked her on the head. She staggered to her feet, and although she was no longer playing, she could still hear her melodica going, reminding her that she was merely in some kind of vision. She barely registered this thought when she felt something cold brush her calf. She spun around, and saw that the gloop had merged with the cone somehow, and staring up at her was her new partner -

The waffer suddenly disappeared as Ambrosia, now back in the real world, ceased her tune. It had been complete - she was no longer inside the giant ice cream cone - and looking up at her, by her legs, was her brand new partner. It was a Vanillite.

Just having it for a starter Pokemon was enough to convince her that if she had to eat an ice cream, she should never attempt to have one the same size as her Vanillite; she had to use both her hands to cup him around the cone, and even more strength to lift him up to her face. She was satisfied with him - as long as he was never in sight when she was hungry, she was certain they would get on without having any accidents at all, including the potential disaster of leaving him under the sun for too long, or him tripping over and staining the pavement with ice cream, or anybody mistaking him for an actual edible item. Actually, thinking about it, was it possible that he was edible? After all, she knew that the cream on the Vanillites' head could melt, surely it would qualify as being tasty as well?

Suddenly, she sneezed; oh bugger, someone had a fur Pokemon with them! She peered over her Vanillite's head, and with some horror, saw Ryder with his Munchlax. She knew her luck would run thin eventually.

[Proto]

OoC: This post is in the memory of Ravenous Black.

Father Hawthorne watched from his seat, a sigh of relief left his mouth, at least he had taught these children enough for them to control these lesser beasts... still he would have to have someone keep a eye on them so they won't get killed... And there was always that blind one.. he was never quite the sane one as his antics were rather... dangerous, he would have to send one of his younger ones to go after him.

He did a quick check of the flowers, and surprisingly one still had their orb flickering, however dimly in the center of their flower.

He looked around anxiously and counted.. the messenger had mentioned that the blind child had been excused early due to special reasons... But what of the young medic? ...Well his task wasn't to hard was it, so what if he was the only one who had to deal with two rabid Pokemon instead of one... surely he's fine just...

"Father! Fatheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeer!" A young messenger appeared, he reckonized him as the one he had sent to monitor the Adams boy's quest. The crowd stared at the man in shock, the man dashed up to the old priest. At a closer inspection it appeared that he was crying, his hands were covered in dirt, his normally clean clothes ripped in several places. "What has happened Brother Daland!" The cleric asked, as he watched Daland gasped for breath, his hands on his knees before coughing out a reply, tears dripping from his eyes.

"J-jesse Adams! The Summoner! He's been killed!" the crowd gasped, all staring at the stage in front of them. Hawthorne gave a look of disbelief, stammering for a bit. "H-how is that possible! He had all the background required! This test was explicitedly chosen for him!"

Daland gave another wail before letting out. "The Aradios! We expected that it had left the area a good long time before! The boy succeeded in taming the Electabuzz but then while his back was turned the spider saw that he had stolen his web. I-it was so sudden and... I-I couldn't do anything sir...."

The Alakazam came out of it's meditation, it's eyes wide open, the Father quickly grabbed the messenger and guided him to the back of the stage.

"What are we to do now? We can't just send out these children after one of them just got killed in their first task!"

"I-I'm not sure sir."

"This is disaster... the town will be in a damned riot, I'll have my head on a stick!"

"What of his family Daland, do they know of this?"

"No sir, I went straight to you after it happened..."

"Well we can't just stop the ceremony now... my superiors insisted that this go through. We need a replacement Daland.... Do you know anyone with Summoner training? Anyone else?"

"W-well...."

"I don't have time for this! Go! Quickly fetch them!"

Daland and Hawthorne then emerged from behind the platform, the priest desprately trying to save face, the audience stared wide-eyed at him, surely this senile old man couldn't possibly consider continuing this ceremony after what has happened. "We... apologize you in the audience had to hear that but.. Jesse Adams has passed away today.. But he was brave. God bless his soul and hope for the best for the poor boy.... As we currently... have a vacant spot for the Seventh Summoner of this group.... will anyone stand up?" He watched as the crowd slowly sunk down, not one person raised their hand, who WOULD be insane enough to take a dead boy's place and threaten their life any more?

[Hydra of Ages]

Cyra raised her head briefly. Someone had died?

She gripped the edges of one of her robes slightly. Surely, she knew how dangerous the wilds were- and those summoner tasks brought them into the direct path of such danger- but it hadn't occurred to her that someone else might die before her.

She was a bit confused. She knew that her own life was relatively unimportant, but what about the other summoners? They weren't demon-kin. Sure, they fraternized with pokemon, who were all untrustworthy at best, but that didn't make them demonspawn. They were relatively normal from what she saw- the children who, in her village, would make up the next generation. The wives, the husbands, the woodworkers and healers; the people she was sent to protect.

Except they chose the same path that she had- except, they hadn't. What was she supposed to think of that? Summoners gave their own lives to defend that of others, that's how she knew it. So why would those people throw away their valuable lives? It almost made her angry-

A sharp shock to the side of her head brought her out of her thinking. She looked to her left at Murkrow, who was staring at her with a bland expression, beak poised to rap her head again. She paused, pursed her lips for a second, then looked away once more.