Pokémon Paramount Ventures—The Legendary Cygrus Region! [Reboot/Co-Hosted by Zextra and Rainbow Dash]

[Ｄｈａｒｃ]

OOC Thread: [url="http://forum.yugiohcardmaker.net/topic/271534-pokemon-paramount-ventures%e2%80%94the-legendary-cygrus-region-rebootnot-startedaccepting-reserved-positions-onlyco-hosted-by-zextra-and-rainbow-dash/page__view__findpost__p__5715542"]http://forum.yugiohc...ost__p__5715542[/url]

Rosencrantz Blackwood stood at the base of Greenvine Hill, looking inside the mouth of the cave. He could feel the warm, moist air slowly wafting out. Lampent hovered by his side. They could feel eachother's excitement.
"Well, Lampent, buddy, what say you and I get down to business?"
"Lampent." The Lampent nodded.
"Alright...Our destiny awaits us...And our first steps toward it are through this cave."
"Pent, Lampent."
Rose nodded and smiled. He felt a wonderful combination of nervousness and excitement welling up inside him.
"Attention, trainers and Pokémon of the Cygrus Region!" Rose was shouting to nobody in particular. "I am Rosencrantz Blackwood, of Undella City, and this is my partner, Lampent! We will become the greatest trainers this world has ever seen!"
"Pent...LAMPENT!" Lampent shot a jet of flame straight into the air.
And with that, they entered Greenvine Hill, where the first and one of the most important parts of their journey was sure to await them...

[~Kip~]

Leonard walked through Greenvine Town to see a giant jet of flame coming from the top of Greenvine Hill. He wanted to check it out, but Bulbasaur, his partner, wanted to start their journey. After all, it has been 2 years since they went anywhere. Leonard decided that Bulbasaur was right, so they headed toward Gradnis Forest. His brown hair swayed in the light breeze, and his blue clothes moved with his skinny body. He was determined, and this was visible through the look on his face. While he walked, he stopped here and there to enjoy the fresh Cygrus air, and Bulbasaur also took advantage of these rests. But this walk was informational to him. He wondered what kind of strategies to use on the first gym leader.

But soon, he was there. He had gotten to the entrance of Gradnis Forest, and inside he could see scurrying bug Pokemon, and soaring bird Pokemon. He looked up, however, to find one of the most horrid of things. A Pidgey, all alone in a nest, and a wild, tough-looking Fearow coming after it. the Pidgey was screaming in fear, and the Fearow looked quite aggressive. [i]Where are the mother and father; away, while this poor little bird is being attacked![/i] But Leonard knew he could not sit here and think while this poor bird was about to become target practice for the Fearow.

"Bulbasaur, use Vine Whip, grab the Fearow's wings!" Leonard ordered. He watched as Bulbasaur launched some vines from its body toward the Fearow, and constricted its wings. It had grabbed just in time, for Fearow had its beak in pecking range of the Pidgey.

"Now toss it into the tree!" Bulbasaur jumped in the air slightly, then twisted around its body to toss the Fearow as easy as a boy tossing a baseball. the Fearow flew into another tree, and began to fly off, knowing its defeat would have been certain.

At this moment, the Pidgey's father, a Pidgeot, came back to the nest. The Pidgey had explained to its father the situation, and father knew what to do. he signaled the Pidgey to do something, but Leonard could not quite tell what it was.Pidgey flew down to Leonard and pecked one of his Pokéballs. It dropped on the ground and absorbed the Pidgey, and began to shake softly. After 3 shakes, pidgey was caught. Leonard thought nothing of it, and moved on.

[Grunt Issun]

Leo stood just to the outskirts of Greenvine hill, just within earshot of some crazy person shouting at the top of their lungs to... the hill, maybe? Followed by entering the hill with their pokemon. Leo sighed at this display, "What was that all about? If these are the kinds of people I'll have to deal with here, maybe it would've been better to stay back in Unova" Leo thought aloud, then turned to his partner, Klink, "but then, I guess you would probably get bored or something" Leo guessed, then started slowly making his way down to the entrance of the cave and looked up at the hill, "I guess this doesn't look to intimidating" Leo thought aloud again, "Well Klink, I guess we have to go through, huh?" he asked rhetorically, then took his first steps in.

[Ｄｈａｒｃ]

Rose and Lampent were strolling calmly through Greenvine Hill. The sudden outburst was just what he needed to calm his nerves.
"Alright, Lampent, let's see what new prospects await us in this place, shall we?"
"Lam," Lampent replied.
As if on cue, a small armor-plated Pokémon peered out from around a corner.
"Ah, an Aron! Lampent, let's do this!" Lampent positioned himself between his trainer and the Aron. "Go, use Flame Burst!"
Crimson flames began swirling in front of Lampent's face before forming into a ball of red energy. Lampent then spun, and the ball shot forward, the speed making it into an elliptical shape. The attack hit Aron and exploded violently, flames and sparks shooting everywhere.
"Alright, good one, Lampent!"
As the smoke began to clear, the smaller Pokémon was still standing. Aron pawed the ground, then shot forward, a silvery aura enveloping him.
"Lampent, Protect!" Lampent was surrounded by a sphere of green energy, which Aron promptly slammed into headfirst. "Good, now use Psychic on the Protect!" Lampent's eyes glowed blue, and so did the outline of the Protect. Suddenly, the sphere reversed upon itself, swallowing up the Aron. Slowly, the walls of the sphere began to close in, and the Aron frantically tried to stop it, firing numerous Metal Sounds and Screeches, but to no avail.
Finally, Lampent released his moves, and Aron fell to the cave floor, exhausted.
"Good, now, Pokéball, go!" Rose threw the capsule device at Aron, opening and enveloping the creature in red light, pulling Aron inside. The ball rocked back and forth once...Twice...Thrice...Finally, with a loud beep and a shower of sparks, Rose realized his capture was a success.
At first, he was dumbfounded. Then, a grin slowly spread across his face. "Yeah! We did it, Lampent!"
And with that, he returned the ball to his pack and proceeded through Greenvine Hill.

[CrystalCyae]

Ashmin wasn't exactly pleased with her decision to take a boat to Cygrus for the Evraflow Conference. Next time, she promised to herself that she'd take a plane.
She took a deep breath of the only-slightly salty air, trying not to feel sick. Her Cyndaquil Ryn staggered beside her.
"Sorry Ryn." She said slowly, bending down and picking the Cyndaquil up. "Didn't know we both got seasick. I know for the future though, correct?"
Shouts echoed across Greenvine Hill, some of which were people shouting to the sky about how they would be the greatest trainer. A bit of a cliche, that was, but Ashmin didn't mind. Many believed they'd be the greatest. Ashmin just wanted the excitement and adventure that came with journeying, as well as the knowledge.
She thought for a moment. "Which way shall we go Ryn? Towards the cave, or the forest? I think you'd prefer the forest, but that is your decision."
"Ryndaquil! quuiilllryn!" Ryn said softly, pointing a small arm at the forest.
"Thought you'd agree with me. Let's go! Maybe we can catch another Pokemon for a team that can do awesome things!" Ashmin exclaimed, walking to the forest.

[~Kip~]

Leonard advanced through the forest, until he begun to see a bright light up ahead. He ran ahead, only to be stopped by a group of bug catchers. About seven or eight had surrounded him, and began to send Caterpie and Weedle to use String Shot to tie him up. They attempted to take his money, but Pidgey broke free and began to peck at the Bug-Type Pokemon. The Bug catchers realized they stood no chance against a Flying-Type, so they ran, returning their injured Bug-Type Pokemon first. Pidgey began to free Leonard and Bulbasaur. They found their way out, and could easily see Gradnis Village. When they finally got to the village, Leonard and Bulbasaur wanted to challenge the gradnis gym Leader, Shibi, but they knew they all had to rest for the night. So they headed for the Pokemon center, and rested there all day.

[Ｄｈａｒｃ]

Rose sighed and looked up at the sky. He finally made it out of Greenvine Hill, and he had arrived beneath the roots of a large tree in Gradnis Forest
"So...This is Gradnis Forest, eh? What do you suppose awaits us in here, Lampent?"
"Lampent...Lamp, Lampent." Lampent lowered itself to the ground and looked at the ground. There were signs of a struggle—Bird Pokémon feathers were scattered about, and two sets of footprints—One belonging to a human, the other to some sort of small, quadrupedal Pokémon. Just then, out of the blue, a Fearow squawked overhead and beat its wings furiously, whipping up a fierce wind that almost blew Lampent away.
"Boy, he's mad, huh? Wonder what ticked him off...Lampent, let's use Flamethrower!" Rose had to shout just to hear himself.
"Lam...PENT!" A jet of flame shot out from in front of Lampent's face and shot upward at Fearow. However, it didn't reach very far, as the flames were being blown away by Fearow's massive gusts of wind.
"We need a different tactic...Lampent, Protect, and then follow it up with Psychic!"
Lampent formed a green bubble of energy around itself, blocking the harsh winds, and his eyes began to glow blue. Fearow's wings began to glow blue as well and slow their pace before stopping, causing the Pokémon to fall to the ground.
"Good, he's down! Now, lets—!"
Incredibly, [i]another[/i] Fearow (this one considerably larger than the other) appeared from the brush. It appeared as though it had been injured in a recent scuffle. It suddenly shot forward with a Pursuit and slammed into Lampent, who had since let down his Protect. Seing no other course of action, Rose sent out Aron.
"Ron!"
"Alright Aron, I need you to help Lampent!" Rose shouted. Now, use Rock Tomb on the smaller Fearow!"
Aron's eyes began to glow with a faint yellow-orange light, and four slabs of earth shot out from the ground and fell on top of the small Fearow, injuring it considerably.
"Good! Now Lampent, I need you to use Flamethrower on the big one!"
Lampent shot a jet of flame at the Fearow and hit it square in the chest, knocking it backward.
Both Fearow were now considerably weakened, and they slowly flew off, not wanting to stick around for the end of the battle. Rose smiled, and the trio walked off toward Gradnis Village.

[CrystalCyae]

The tall trees that surrounded her stretched their branches to the sun, shielding the soft ground from the heat.
Ashmin took note, interested in the forest and it's inhabitants.
Squarks of fury rent the air, the sounds of Pokemon defeated by others, trained or no. Sounds of battle echoed, as those who passed through fought to be safe from the wild.
Ryn glanced around cautiously as Ashmin finished writing her notes in a small journal.
"Sorry if you're afraid Ryn." She said, bending down to pat Ryn on the head. "I'll try to resist taking notes on this place until we get out, and I can examine from a distance."
Ryn rolled her eyes and shot an ember into the air.
"Sorry for boring you."
Ashmin laughed, and stood up. She searched the trees for a moment, wary that Fearow - for the cries from before belonged to them - would swoop. She knew that was her nature if they felt threatened. She personally saw herself not as a threat, but that was their interpretation, not hers.
"If you're bored, we might as well head off. Besides, once we get through, I doubt the gym would be open. And battling the gym on the first day with only one pokemon, however strong, would be suicide. Let's go."
Ryn nodded, and bounded away, eager to leave. To her, it mattered not that she could trump any bug or grass type in this place. It mattered that she got out, since trees worried her.
Ashmin noted it in her mind for later. Nothing would be missed.
They walked further, before another furious squark rent the air. Flapping wings and short gusts of wind accompanied it.
She refrained from cussing extensively, and ran after Ryn. The squarks followed. The chase was on.

[~Kip~]

Leonard walked up to the Gradnis Village Gym the next morning. He had been quick about getting into the gym, and then realized the giant gym with areas of tall grass, and trees. But Leonard had remembered something oak had always told him: Work smarter, not harder. So Leonard sent out his Bulbasaur and Pidgey. "Bulbasaur, use Vine Whip to propel yourself into the air like a helicopter, and Pidgey, fly up! Now lead me through the trees and grass to the leader!"

Bulbasaur began to use two Vines protruding from its body to propel itself in a helicopter form. Pidgey flew up, and they both surveyed the area. After a bit, they told Leonard to follow them, which he did. He, miraculously, encountered only 1 Pokemon, and got to the gym leader quickly. And so the 2-on-2 battle began.

"Alright, you're up Pidgey!" yelled Leonard. the small bird flew upwards.

"Bulbasaur, you go!" yelled Shibi. "Use Razor Leaf!" And Shibi's Bulbasaur fired many razor-sharp leaves at Pidgey.

* * * * * * * * *
"Alright bulbasaur, finish Grovyle with Bullet Seed!" Bulbasaur shot many, many small seeds at Grovyle, who took the shots and fainted from exhaustion.

Gym leader Shibi walked up to Leonard. he took a badge out of his pocket, and handed it to Leonard. Leonard thanked Shibi, then headed to the Pokemon center to heal Pidgey and Bulbasaur. he knew he was already at his first step to conquering the Cygrus region, so he decided to rest for the day, even though he was up only for two hours.

[Zextra]

(Sorry about the flashback, but otherwise it would take too long to play catch-up )
Caden, now sitting in the very outskirts of Gradnis Forest, recalled his last capture on Greenvine Hill. He sat on the grass before reaching into his bag. As he pulled out a Pokeball containing his newly-caught Drilbur.

***
[i]"Milotic, Spotlight!" Caden called as he rapidly hurled a Pokeball above a swirling tornado of dust. "Milotic, use Dragon Pulse at the base of the dust spiral!' Caden commanded as the serpent-like Pokemon fired a jet-blue stream of energy-like substance at the swirling dust. The attack connected with something solid as the dust was blown back. A greyish colored sphere rolled out of the space where the dust had been, revealing a mole-like Pokemon. [/i]
[i]Caden quickly pulled out his Pokedex and flipped it open before the screen displayed a picture of the Pokemon. "Drilbur, the Mole Pokemon. Drilbur are very skilled diggers, said to travel around thirty miles per hour underground. They can tunnel through soil by putting both claws together and rotating at high speed." an electronic voice explained. [/i]
[i]"In that case...I'm going to catch it" Caden decided as he gave a swift snap before commanding Milotic's next move. "Milotic, launch Dragon-metal Shower!" Milotic's tail glowed silver as it began the combination with an Iron Tail, following up by shooting a Dragon Pulse directly at it. Upon impact, the metal on Milotic's tail shattered, and the shards that crippled off it shot upwards above the opposing Drilbur, mixing with the blue energy of the Dragon Pulse. The result was a dazzling silver and turquoise rain of energy and force that bombarded Drilbur, knocking it out. [/i]
[i]"Now...you're mine!" Caden grinned, hurling a Pokeball at the fallen mole - the Drilbur was sucked into the ball in a ray of red light. The Pokeball shook several times before halting to a stop.[/i]

***
"Well that's enough time wasted" Caden shrugged as he picked up his backpack, starting on his way to Gradnis Village. As he arrived, he saw two signs - one directing towards the Pokemon Center and the other towards the Gradnis Gym. Caden thought for a minute before he came to a decision. He took the left path towards the gym. "Drilbur can't battle in its current condition, so if I battle now, I'll probably be at a disadvantage, should the gym leader here use more than one Pokemon, but the gym will probably be too busy tomorrow morning. With that, he entered the gym.

Upon entering, Caden looked around, only to find an indoor forest. "So...a maze? Shouldn't be a problem..." Caden thought, holding up a Pokeball before a white light emerged from it. "Milotic, use a trickle of Ice Beam on the grass to create a layr of frost following the footprints of whoever was the last to go through here" he said as Milotic's mini-Ice Beam lit up a trail of fresh footprints. Caden walked along it and got to the end, encountering the gym leader, Shibi. After a brief greeting and introduction, the two began their battle.

***
Nearing the end of the battle, Milotic stood face-to-face against Shibi's Leafeon. As Leafeon let out a powerful Solarbeam, Milotic countered with an ice Beam, neutralizing the damage. Following this, Leafeon charged at Milotic with a Leaf Blade. This move, however, caused Caden to grin. "Bad idea...Milotic, Dragonmetal Shower!" Caden commanded, as Milotic's powerful storm of blue and silver crashed down around it, pinning down Leafeon in the process. "Milotic, Ice Beam!" Caden called as Milotic let out the finishing blow, knocking Leafeon back into the wall.
Following the battle, Caden received the badge from Shibi before thanking him, and left to the Pokemon Center, where he was to spend the night. He dropped off his Pokemon to Nurse Joy before heading towards the so-called "trainer dorms".

[Premier Alexander Romanov]

In the Trainer dorms, Caden found a young man with spiky dirty-blonde hair that had a blonde patch, goggles, a T-Shirt with some quote about a Rattata being in the top percentage of something, jeans, and a laptop with a webcam that was currently pointed at him. "Hello, everyone. It's ThatGuyWithTheGoggles here on my second day of the expedition into Cygrus. So far, I have managed to catch a Combee and a Surskit that I named Beatrice and Bubbles, respectively. I'm about to take on the first Gym Leader, who also uses Bug Pokemon, but I think I can take him. Also, I-" He then turned to see Caden and smiled. "Greetings, fellow Trainer! I'm Daniel, from Castelia City in Unova!" He extended a hand. "And you are?"

[Zextra]

Caden opened his eyes in his bed to find an unfamiliar voice talking to him. He looked up to find a man with blonde hair staring down at him. "Caden Azure of Sootopolis City in Hoenn" Caden smiled awkwardly, sitting up to accept the handshake. "Pleased to meet you" he greeted back as he looked up at Daniel. "Sorry about the circumstances we had to meet in..." Caden mumbled as he stared down at himself, dressed in his "night clothes": a black t-shirt and a pair of dark blue shorts. "Well, hearing that you're about to face the first gym leader, I wish you the best of luck" Caden concluded, stifling a yawn. "Sorry about that...long day for me today, so I should probably get some rest - perhaps we could meet up later" he offered politely as he got ready to pull up his sheets.

[CrystalCyae]

"Go away, stupid Fearow. We haven't done anything!"
Angry squarks in reply. Not the best response from crazy, angry birds, but that probably couldn't be helped.
Ashmin glanced backwards. The bird beat it's wings at that exact moment, harder than usual. The small gust of wind that ensued sent Ashmin off balance, causing her to trip and fall.
"Ryndaquiiiilllll!" cried Ryn, stopping dead in her efforts to get away.
Ashmin blinked to clear her vision, then groaned. "When I have the oppurtunity, I'm buying better glasses." she mumbled, groping in the dirt. Behind her, the Fearow continued to squark. It sounded close. Too close. But without her glasses, Ashmin couldn't even direct Ryn in attacking.
Not that Ryn really needed a command to defend her mistress.
Still groping, Ashmin heard Ryn cry out, and glimsped a blurry shadow flying her, in the direction of the Fearow.
Ryn herself took a deep breath, and flames shot from her mouth, thick and fast. She spun a short circle mid air, and faced Fearow again. The flames followed the movement, surrounding Fearow in a firey ring.
Fearow squarked, and fell, wings scorched. Ryn walked slowly towards it, and she raised an admonishing paw.
"Leave us!" She squeeked, though to Ashmin it sounded like "Ryn!" The Fearow was eager to obey, staggering away.
Something cold found it's way into Ashmin's hands, and she raised it to her face. Luckily, they were her glasses, and she rubbed them on her t-shirt to rid them of mud and dirt.
"Let's go Ryn." She suggested. "The sooner, the better. Don't want that Fearow returning with reinforcements."
So they ran from the forest, Ashmin still making mental notes that she had to remember to write down in her journal.

[Premier Alexander Romanov]

Daniel started to put up his stuff. "Got it. I'll find another room so you can sleep." He then looked up at his hair. "Chu, look after the rest of my things." Unbelievably, the blonde patch of his hair started to move, rustling and heading towards his hairline, until a quartet of small blue eyes poked out. The creature jumped onto the table, revealing itself to be a Joltik. Daniel's hair, however, was now much less spiky, and looked rather normal. "Goodnight, Caden. See you in the morning." He crept out of the room with his laptop and the charger cable to go with it, leaving the Joltik to curl up into a tiny ball of yellow fluff near his belongings and softly hum as it went back to sleep.

[Ｄｈａｒｃ]

Rose finally exited the forest, his Aron and Lampent in tow. In his pocket, he had another capture—A Foongus—That he had caught specifically for this Gym Battle. He new the double resistance and Poison advantage would come in handy. But first, he had to enter the Pokémon Centre and heal his Pokémon. It was late evening now, so Shibi was probably only going to accept one more battle...
"Hello, my name is Nurse Joy! Would you like me to heal your Pokémon?" The nurse smiled brightly at him.
"Uhh," Rose blushed. "Y-Yeah. Yes, please." Rose smiled sheepishly back at her. He then returned Lampent and Aron to their balls and procured Foongus's ball from his bag. A Duosion from behind the counter swallowed all three balls in a process reminiscent of endocytosis and used Recover, fully healing all of them. The Pokémon then released the three balls onto the counter in front of Rose, who gladly accepted them and made his way back outside.

*~♪~♪~*

Rose was covered head-to-toe in scrapes and water from trying to dodge all the Gym Pokémon's attacks. Finally, he made it through the miniature forest and arrived at the battlefield. It was completely covered in grass, barring the stream that ran diagonally through it and all around the stadium. There were a few trees around the field, and at the center was a large boulder. All-in-all, it was good for both first-time Gym battlers and a Grass Gym Leader.
"Hello there, my name is Shibi, and I am the leader of the Gradnis Gym. This is sure to be my last battle today, so I hope I enjoy it. After all, I'm going to have some trouble with my Solarbeam." Shibi pointed up at the massive glass dome covering the entire gym, and Rose saw that the sun was almost completely gone for the day.
"Right. My name is Rosencrantz Alexander Blackwood, of Undella Town. I hope this will be fun for the both of us."
So, Rose sent out his Foongus, while Shibi sent out Sewaddle.
"Foongus, use Clear Drain!" Foongus released a translucent cloud of poisonous spores that snaked its way toward the catterpillar-like Pokémon. When the attack connected, many spheres of golden light swriled away from Sewaddle and shot at Foongus, which would have replenished his health, had he lost any.
The battle was on.


*~♪~♪~*

"Lampent, use Belial Flame!"
Lampent formed a Shadow Ball in front of his face and crimson flames swirled around it. Slowly the flames turned a dark violet in coloration, and Lampent fired the new dark sphere of flame.
"Grovyle, use Inti's Breath!"
The Grovyle had already been bringing in what little sunlight he could throughout the battle, and was finally fully charged. He started forming a golden sphere of energy in his mouth, and blue-and-green air began swirling around it The air was so thick and powerful, it looked like flames. Grovyle finally fired, a wide beam of gold, blue, and green energy at the incoming attack. The two blasts collided and created a massive explosion.
"Lampent, use Protect and Psychic on part of the explosion!"
Lampent formed a curved field of green energy in front of him and redirected a good portion of the blast at Grovyle.
Finally, as the dust settled, Grovyle lie face-up in the river, defeated.
"Yeah, we did it, Lampent!"

*~♪~♪~*

Back at the Pokémon Centre, Rose helaed his Pokémon and examined his new badge—The Seed Badge. He placed it in his badge case and began heading to the trainer dorms on the next floor.
"Hold on, kid!" Shibi came running in, holding a Pokémon egg. "Here, I want to trade—This egg for your Foongus."
Rose examined the egg. It was mostly light green, with three large red stripes on the front and an odd darker-green design on the back.
"Umm, yeah, sure." Rose smiled and the two went over to the Trade Machine.

*~♪~♪~*

Rose lie up in a bed, the new egg next to him in its case. He was sorry about trading Foongus away so quickly, but he knew he would be in good hands with Shibi; he was a Grass Leader, after all. He began to drift off to sleep, and dreams of the Eraflow Conference played in his head.

[~Kip~]

The next morning, Leonard headed toward the Alluvium Desert, but his two pokemon were in his Pokeballs, which was an exceptionally rare occasion for when they were extremely tired. He was hoping to find a nice pokemon to add to his team, so that he could face the next gym leader in Teramean City. He headed straight for the desert, then turned around, realizing that he should buy some more PokeBalls, since he only left Greenvine Town with one. he headed back, and bought standard pokeballs, because he thought simpler was better for him. He looked at a kid playing with his Pokemon, a Pineco, and Leonard wondered how well Professor Oak was treating his Pineco that he had caught on his journey through Kanto. So he went back to the PokeCenter and called him on the video phone.

"Hello Leonard" said Professor oak, picking up the phone. "How are you in Cygrus Region? Ooh, do you have any badges yet? Where are you as of now?"

"I'm doing great, professor, thanks for asking. And I do have one badge, the Seed Badge from Shibi. I am in the Pokemon Center in Gradnis Village. I just wanted to see how you and Pineco were doing."

"Oh, Pineco's doing just great!" A small Pine-cone-like Pokemon appeared on Oak's end of the screen. It was obviously excited to see Leonard. It jumped with joy at the sight of its former caregiver.

"My, how you've grown!" commented Leonard. "You know, maybe before the Conference in Evraflow, I can have Oak send you over, we'll do some extra training, and you can help me?" He said in delight.

The Pineco was speechless at the moment, it was way too excited to do anything. In just a few weeks, he could see his trainer again, and maybe battle with him like in the older days back in Kanto. Professor Oak said a hearty "goodbye", then hung up. Leonard also put down the phone, and then headed straight for Alluvium Desert. He was determined to be one of the first trainers to enter the Evraflow Conference this year. he skipped down and out of town, and began quickly on his journey to Alluvium.

[Hydra of Ages]

Wayne was reading a book as his boat pulled into the lush village of Gradis.

Cygrus was a new land, and its people were pioneers; no home was older than a decade, two at most, and even in a rural little suburb he could see the hints of construction, sawdust in the air, hints of the sour notes of heavy machinery- it was a quaint place, but industry was very much alive. The wilds were, of course, as untamed as one would expect a barely-explored continent to be; even from the docks, he could spy the thick orchards to the west of the town, no doubt teeming with life unfamiliar with human contact. Old things rested here, he knew- things far older than any of them.

But the old had to make way for the new; that was progress, after all.

He tucked his book, A Research upon Red, into his briefcase and rose from his seat. He thanked the ship's captain, spared some change for the crewmen that served him along the way, and took his first few steps on the solid ground of his new home. He sniffed; even the air was different. Thicker, more nourishing- almost like he was breathing from an oxygen tank. He smiled a bit at that- whatever his troubles were to be here, oxygen deprivation would be one of them.

He pulled a sphere from his pocket, attached to a long chain, and flipped the side-switch to release the being contained within. A zubat appeared in the startling burst of light, flapping his wings confusedly before twittering and flying over to Wayne's wrist, which it sniffed. Satisfied in that he had found his master, the zubat proceeded to grab onto his sleeves with his hooklike feet and curl up once more.

Wayne chuckled, "how slothful. But very well Sunshine, I'll carry you" he said with a smile, walking off towards the city. The first matter of business would, of course, be accommodation. The age and size of the city meant that, in all likelyhood, there weren't any hotels of significant quality; indeed, what was an 'Inn' was probably just rented space in one of the larger houses for a day or so. The Pokemon center seemed to be the better option, given their circumstance for helping weary travelers- and besides, sleeping in a Center was a time-honored tradition for people on their quest, correct?

Sunshine squeaked at him.

[CrystalCyae]

It was pretty dark out as Ashmin stumbled the last few metres into town. She hadn't thought she'd been trapped in the forest so long. Surely not. More things she would simply have to investigate at a later date. Though it was probably the adredaline rush.
Glancing back, she saw dark shapes flitting through the trees. Not exactly eager to see their owners, she continued on to Pokemon Centre, Ryn and another Pokeball in tow.
"Welcome to the Gradnis Village Pokemon Centre! Would you like me to heal your Pokemon?" said the Nurse Joy behind the counter.
"Yes please." Ashmin said, returning Ryn to her Pokeball, and handing both over to the Nurse. She handed the Pokeballs to the Duosion, who used Recover on them. The Pokeballs where then handed back to Ashmin, who accepted them greatfully.
She glanced around for a moment, before heading into the trainer dorms. She would make her study notes, go to bed, and tell Elm in the morning. Then, of course, she would fight Shibi, the gym leader of Gradnis.
Walking into one of the dorms, she sent out both her Pokemon. Ryn stretched, and let out a yawn.
The other Pokemon smiled slightly at Ryn, and stretch its fragile vines in the air. Slight perfume filled the air. Ryn smiled back.
“Good to see you two get along well.” Ashmin commented, patting her new Budew gently on the head. “Now, unless you guys wanna sleep in your Pokeballs, I’ll set up the blankets so you guys can sleep at the foot of the bed.”
Budew giggled.
“If you make Ryn set fire to the bed, neither of you would get the usual amount of food for a week or two.”
He gulped, smiled vanishing.
“I was joking Tyla. Relax a little. I often make stupid jokes. Ryn could tell you so much.” Ashmin smiled, and made herself busy.
Once she set up the bed to the satisfaction of Ryn and Tyla, she sat herself down, and pulled out her journal. “I’ll turn the light off in a minute, you two. Just gotta write some things down quick, then we can sleep. Afterall, we’ve had a busy day in that forest.” She said, pulling out her pen.
True to her word, she jotted down her notes quickly. She’d extend on them in the morning, before Ryn and Tyla woke. Reaching up, she turned off the light, plunging the room in a dim darkness. The only light was Ryn’s flames, dimmed to the lowest possible without being wet, sending out a warm, fuzzy glow.
“Night guys.”

[~Kip~]

it was official, but Leonard got himself lost in the desert. He lost his map in a Sandstorm, and to make things worse, wild Pokemon had knocked out Bulbasaur and Pidgey. now Leonard wished Oak would have sent Pineco over earlier. For now, leonard was stranded in the desert, and he had been walking for hours on end. It was extremely hot, and all Leonard could do was search for another Trainer to help him. Leonard looked back at the bag that he had tailored in kanto, how it was blue and red. he went into his pouch for water, but to his dismay, it has evaporated in the heat.

"Now... i wish... I started... with... a... Water-Type... Pokemon!" he could barely squeezed out the words from exhaustion. he was lost, completely lost, and to make things worse, he saw no trainers come through the desert.

[Zextra]

The next morning, Caden woke up bright and early - perhaps a bit too early. At 4:07 AM, the sky outside was still dark. Nevertheless, Caden showered and got dressed, grabbed his bag, and left the Pokemon Center, heading out of Gradnis Village. By around 6 AM, he was in the depths of Alluvium Desert. He quickly whipped out his Pokedex and glanced at it. "So it is around here after all..." he thought as he continued to wander through the desert.

***
After about an hour of walking, Caden stopped as a rumbling sound grew nearer and nearer. Suddenly, a wave of sand outlined by a blue light burst out of the ground and started to crash down on him. Instinctively, Caden reached for a Pokeball and hurled it at the incoming wave of sand. "Milotic, Ice Beam, quick!" he called as a white light burst open to reveal the water serpent. Milotic let out a cry before shooting a cyan-colored blast at the sand. A shard of ice appeared and expanded, encasing the ice, successfully stopping it in its tracks. Caden glanced at the giant ice colossus, then turned around only to find a stream of blue thunder heading straight for him. "Milotic, absorb with Iron Tail!" he called quickly as Milotic instantly coiled around him, neutralizing the Thunderbolt attack by deflecting it with a silver tail.

It was at this point that Caden caught a glimpse of his attacker - a mostly yellow and black-colored Pokemon flying in the air, glaring at him with a single eye. "So you've shown yourself" Caden thought, smirking slightly. "Milotic, attack Sigilyph with Ice Beam now!" he declared as Milotic shot another cyan-colored beam at the Pokemon. However, just before the attack connected, the Ice Beam became cloaked in a blue light, causing the attack to dissipate. "Just how I like it" Caden thought as he quickly analyzed the battle situation in his head. "Milotic, create a Sandstorm with Twister!" he called as Milotic stuck its tail in the ground. Almost instantaneously, the sand around Milotic burst upwards, creating a tornado of sand. "Now, Milotic, spin upwards into the tornado and fire a spiraling Ice Beam!" Upon the command, a light emerged from inside the sand tornado, followed by a series of blue streaks firing out of the sides. The wild Sigilyph attempted to redirect the attacks, but there were too many for it to handle, and it was eventually knocked down by one of the numerous streams of blue light.

Caden extracted a Pokeball from his bag and chucked it at the Sigilyph. The Psychic-type Pokemon was absorbed into the ball in a flash of red light. The Pokeball shook several times, before stopping completely. Caden picked it up and brought Milotic back in its Pokeball, then put both spheres back into his bag. He stopped for a moment to breathe, then kept moving along in the desert.

[~British Soul~]

In Greenvine Town, Silver woke up and rubbed his eyes ready for the day ahead. He had gotten used to having Totodile wake him up, but Silver found out that Totodile was still asleep, then he heard a knock on the door. Silver woke up Totodile, got dressed and went outside to investigate who or what had knocked on the door of the house he was staying at overnight, he searched high and low and found nothing, he would later find out from the locals that wild pokemon like to live in Greenvine Hill so Silver went there to check it out.

About half an hour later, Silver arrived at Greenvine Hill only to be greeted by a Bidoof who laughed at Silver "hmm a Bidoof, Totodile use Ice Punch!" Silver ordered Totodile to use Ice Punch, as Totdile's fist froze up, the Bidoof didn't see this coming and became startled, but was not fast enough to run away and was injured. Some of the other wild pokemon came out, which made Silver run up to Bidoof and asked why he knocked on his door that morning. The Bidoof then told Silver that he was pulling a joke on him because he was lonely, Silver nodded his head upon this and asked Bidoof to join his party and held a pokeball. The Bidoof was reluctant at first, but then Silver got some food out to tempt Bidoof into joining, it was then that Bidoof walked into the Pokeball *nudge 1, nudge 2, nudge 3* the pokeball released sparkles, Bidoof was cuaght and the other Bidoofs cheered and walked away. Silver didn't want to draw attention to himself by doing a dramatic pose, but instead thanked Totodile for the capture and both of them left Greenvine Hill.

[Ｄｈａｒｃ]

Rose was walking through the Alluvium Desert, Lampent hovering by his side. He had Lampent carry the case for the egg, as his flames would serve as a good incubator, and it was easier on the party as a whole, as there was very little space in Rose's pack ( he had been thinking about buying a new one anyway).
At one point, this duo came to a small cave in the side of a cliff. "Well, this looks like a good place to set up camp for now, don't you think, Lampent?"
"Lamp," Lampent agreed.
As Rose began unpacking his bag onto the cave floor, there was an odd, somewhat foreboding shuffling noise off in another corridor, not far from where Lampent had set down the egg.
"Uhh...Lampent? I don't think we're alone in here..."
The duo went silent, and they waited. Suddenly, a small yellow shape dashed out from the tunnel they heard the noise coming from and grabbed the egg.
"Ah! A Scraggy! Lampent, use Psychic to grab the egg!"
Lampent's eyes glowed blue and an invisible force pulled the egg case from Scraggy's arms. Scraggy kept running for a few seconds, then realized what had just happened.
"Scrag....SCRAGGY!" Scraggy jumped at Lampent, preparing to punch it. As Lampent put it's guard up to block the attack, Scraggy suddenly disappeard and slammed into Lampent from behind, knocking the Lamp Pokémon into a wall.
"Agh! Lampent, I know it's risky, but...Use Inferno!"
Lampent's flame started to glow brighter and brighter, and then it suddenly died. Then, Lampent fired an enormous blast of blue flames at the Shedding Pokémon, causing it to get pushed into the cave floor so hard that a smoldering crater was left at the end of the attack. Scraggy was still conscious, but he could no longer move.
"Oh! Oh, Scraggy, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you that badly...I only meant to weaken you enough that you'd leave! Here, let me just find a Energy Root and Heal Powder..." As Rose looked through the various piles he made on the cave floor, he suddenly heard a sound. He looked over to see a Pokéball releasing a shower of sparks, signaling a capture. Rose picked up the ball and immediately knew what happened. "Well then...Welcome aboard, Scraggy." Rose smiled and released Scraggy from his ball so he could start healing his injuries.

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

[color=#000080]"Skuntank, Explosion! Let's do this!"[/color][color=#000000] Juan Monsignor commanded a tired Skuntank, who looked over at a fat blob-like Pokemon which he could easily identify as a Snorlax. But this wasn't any Snorlax; it was trained by Ash Ketchum himself, who had somehow managed to travel all the way from Pallet Town in Kanto... just to participate in the Evraflow Conference and try his luck.[/color]

[color=#000000]Nonetheless, Skuntank mustered all the energy it had left and exploded right into Snorlax's face, resulting in the oversized Pokemon toppling over and fainting. Ash was shocked to see this, and it showed. Juan knew this battle wasn't over just yet though, the both of them still had one more Pokemon apiece up their sleeves. However, it was still an amazing spectacle, especially since the whole tournament was filmed in front of a live audience.[/color]

[color=#000000]"Oh my, what do we have here?"[/color][color=#000000] the MC asked the audience rhetorically, "And just like that, Snorlax is out, but since Skuntank used Explosion, it [i]too[/i] is unable to battle. Looks like Juan managed to even the scales, as both trainers are down to their last Pokemon. But whatever the case, we've [i]certainly[/i] got ourselves a close call here."[/color]

[color=#FF8C00]"Snorlax, return,"[/color][color=#000000] Ash extracted the poor Snorlax into his Pokeball, before looking up to face Juan, [/color][color=#FF8C00]"Well, you've been a tough opponent so far, Juan, but I'm not gonna throw in the towel just yet!"[/color]

[color=#000080]"Likewise Ash, likewise," [/color][color=#000000]Juan stated before a brief chuckle, [/color][color=#000080]"I'm afraid only one of us can take this victory and win the tournament, however, and if you have what I [i]think[/i] you have left, then that will have to be me."[/color]

[color=#FF8C00]"I wouldn't count on that!"[/color][color=#000000] Ash called out in defiance, [/color][color=#FF8C00]"Charizard, I choose you!"[/color]

[color=#000080]"Tyranitar, have at it!"[/color][color=#000000] Juan shouted in response, as both combatants hurled the Pokeballs containing their final Pokemon. As they emerged, the two of them roared in readiness, before seeing each other eye to eye.[/color]

[color=#000000]"Now[/color][color=#000000] [i]this[/i] [/color][color=#000000]should be interesting," the MC stated, before moving on to explain, "Sure, Tyranitar has the type advantage, but Charizard has the upper hand in speed, and this particular one has overwhelmed a lot of trainers' Pokemon lately. Then again, the latter could be said about our Tyranitar pal here. Anyway, never mind that, who's gonna win this tournament? Will it be Ash Ketchum, who's come all the way from Pallet Town in Kanto just to get to this point? Or will it be Juan Monsignor, who was just recently appointed to our current Elite 4? There's only one way to find out... let the BATTLE BEGIN!!"[/color]

[~British Soul~]

Silver went back to the house he was staying at and packed up his things as he wasn't prepared to leave when the Bidoof knocked on his door. Before he left, he stopped and thought about what was awaiting him in what seemed to him as uncharted territory, then Totodile sprayed water on his face, then it hit him,
"Thanks Totodile, i needed that. I needed to realise that i should be prepred for anything, hey wait a minute, you learned Water Gun!" Silver couldn't be happier with Totodile and hugged him before putting him back down. Silver then looked at the Town Map he had received before he left for the Cygrus Region to see where he needed to go next,
"So...it appears that i need to go through Gradnis Forest to get to Gradnis City. Let's go Totodile, we have some trekking to do."
Totodile nodded as the duo left the house, however Silver was a tad cautious just in case any wild pokemon attacked.

About an hour of trekking through the fields later, Silver took a sip of water and wondered if he was gonna reach the forest. At one point, he got out his compass to see if was heading i nthe right direction, but he trusted his instincts. Just as he was about to give up hope, what looked like dark greenery came into view. a first he thought it was just a bush, but then it grew larger and closer into view as ever before. It was then when Silver knew he had reached the forest, however he also heard chirps in the distance, and glanced to see what was making the chirping noise.

"Nice, a group of Starly, quick Totodile, strike with Water Gun!" Totodile jumped on Silver's back, climbed his arm when he pointed and then jumped off into the air and launched his attack on the unaware Starlys. As one of them got soaked, the others flew away as Totodile used an Ice Punch just before landing, Starly's wing was frozen and weighed him down onto the ground. Then Silver reached for a pokeball, took aim and threw it
*nudge 1, nudge 2, nudge 3* Starly was caught. Now Silver felt ready to venture through into the forest, but not before giving his new parter Ice Heals and Oran Berries to bring Starly back to full strength.

[Ｄｈａｒｃ]

Rose exited the cave back into the harsh Alluvium Desert, Lampent by his side, as per usual. This time around, however, the egg was nestled in his pack, as they had used up some supplies in the cave. As they walked, Rose recalled the "discussion" he had in the cave with his newly-captured Scraggy.

*~♪~♪~*

[i]"So, Scraggy, why did you try to steal the egg I have here?"[/i]
[i]Scraggy began speaking. "Scraggy, Scrag-Scrag-Scraggy..."[/i]
[i]Rose, unable to understand Pokémon language, pulled out his Pokédex and launched the experimental translation function.[/i]
[i]"...And attention get have I leader Scrafty. Scrafty leader powerful is and fearsome does punish. Must egg get so useful is Scraggy. Strong is Scraggy but strong as not Scrafty. Scraggy must treasure and prisoner have brought to useful be or punish be I.[/i]
[i]Rose processed the words and ran them through several mental filters before finally understanding what Scrafty said. It was no wonder that this translation was merely a prototype. "Alright, that makes sense...so did you get in my Pokéball just because you wanted to get away from Scrafty?"[/i]
[i]Scraggy shook his head. "Powerful you is. Scraggy powerful to be wants. You with power can get."[/i]
[i]Rose took this in and nodded. "Hmm...Well, I'm not really all that strong right now, but we can grow stronger together, okay?[/i][i]"[/i]
[i]Scraggy nodded.[/i]

*~♪~♪~*

Rose noticed a boy with brown hair about his age returning a Milotic to his Pokéball.
"Oh! Hey! You! Are you headed to the Terramean Gym as well?" He ran and caught up with the boy, kicking up sand in Lampent's face as he did so. "Hey there. My name's Rosencrantz Alexander Blackwood. But you can call me Rose or Alex or whatever you feel like. What's your name?"
Lampent finally caught up with Rose and hit him in the back with a small Shadow Ball, a little bit of payback for the sand in his face.