Pokemon: Mind and Soul [IC/PG-13/Not Accepting]

[Yui]

---

Location: Islesbury Town

Poké: 1340

"Chu stupid or something? I've still got a Pokemon, rubber brain. But sure, run away, it'll make it just that much easier to beat your sad little group down."

 

"Rubber brain? That's a new one," Kanon scoffed, already reaching for her next Pokeball. She threw it forward and out popped her trusty companion, the Poliwag. As it came out, the grunt's own second Pokemon shot an ember attack at her beloved Bubbles. Although it seemed to hurt him, the fire attack didn't look too bad against Bubbles's otherwise squishy body. Time for round two, I guess.

 

"Alright Bubbles, hit that lizard with a Water Gun!" At her command, the little blue Pokemon spit out a stream of water, aimed directly at the grunt's Salandit. Kanon had always wanted to see a Salandit up-close. It was a shame that her first time was under these types of conditions.

---

[👀 REP 👀]

 

---

 

Ivan quietly listened to the conversation between Jacklyn and the women, hands in pocket as he went along. The women then asked them why they were here, in this region. He wasn't sure what Jacklyn's answer was, but he sure as hell knew what his answer was. "I'm 'ere to turn a new leaf." He said, staring off to the sky. "Things back at home..." He stopped for a second, thinking about how to keep it brief. "...Let's just say things wouldn't have worked out if I tried to turn a new leaf back home. That's why I came here. To get stronger." 

 

He turned to Jacklyn. "How 'bout you?"

[Alaina]

 

Jacklyn scratched her chin a bit as she thought about the question, and looked curiously at Ivan's answer. As he directed it back towards her she said, "hmm, well, I guess I want to get a new start too..." The girl trailed off for a bit, seeming to be deep in thought. Shaking her head she then said, "but, aside from that, I wanted to go some place new! Like, my sister's already been all over Unova and told me a bunch of stuff about that place. So, I want to be able to do the same for her!" The girl nodded, now seeming much more confidant in her answer, before looking over to the woman again. 

 

The woman still had an expressionless demeanor about her, and her eyes shifted over to the silent one of the group. While Genny seemed to be deep in thought, nothing seemed to come to mind immediately and she remained silent throughout the whole of it. Her gaze focusing back to the other two, the girl nodded saying, "a fresh start is always good." After seeming to pause in her speech, the woman then said, "oh. Right...We're here." Looking just past the woman to the building behind her, it had appeared that they stopped to answer the questions right at the front of the pokemon center.

 

"Whoa." Seeming surprised by this, Jacklyn then got over it by starting to walk forward and saying, "well, thanks for the directions Lady! Come on-"

 

"Hold it..." The woman raised her voice, if only slightly, cutting the girl off. Looking to Genny she said, "do you truly have no answer?" 

 

Shifting around uncomfortably for a moment, Genny eventually looked towards the two and said, "désolée Ivan. Jacklyn. I do not believe this adventure and the dangers are...for moi."

 

"But c'mon Genny, we're one big adventuring party. I'm sure there's no danger we can't-"

 

With a hastened, "sorry," the girl turned away from them, no longer facing them. 

 

"Well....at least you found out now..." The woman seemed to have an ambivalent expression across her face as she said, "but don't worry...I was already going to meet an old friend...so, I'll help escort you back to New Port...As for you two..." She turned to face Ivan and Jacklyn. "Thanks...and good luck...I look forward to seeing you again..."

 

With a clearly forced smile and waving with half as much energy the girl said, "no problem...until next time." With that, the woman and Genny walked away, leaving the town of Islesbury. Once they were out of view, Jacklyn's hand fell to her side and her expression seemed to lack any enthusiasm. With a voice that seemed pained to talk she merely said, "hey Ivan, let's go rest for a bit." The girl put her hood up and kept her head down, as she quietly walked into the pokemon center. 

[Mr. Hyde]

 

The attack landed again, but wasn't enough to knock out Ralts.  Seeing this, Icarus looked on, disheartened, as he fell to the ground.  It was a tough site to see his Pokemon faint for the first time, but Oswald was proud of him nonetheless.  

 

"Good job Icarus.  We'll clean up the rest of the trash, and it's all because of your hard work."  Oswald returned the small bird to his Pokeball.  Taking out Archie's, he tossed out his partner onto the battlefield once more.  After a breather, he came in with a ferocious baa.  Alicia sent out her Salandit again, causing Oswald to become rather frustrated.  "This thing's trouble.  Archie, you're gonna have to watch yourself."  Archie nodded, but Alicia had already commanded an attack.  Sweet Scent.  The smell was so infectious that Archie couldn't help but take it in, not realizing that behind the nice smells, a wave of poisonous gas washed over him.  "Damn!  I should take my own advice"  Oswald gritted his teeth in frustration.  Archie was now on the same ticking clock that Icarus had been.  "We'll just have to finish this one quick!  Archie, Thundershock!"  Archie's tainted wool shot out, as it produced a small bolt of electricity towards Salandit.  "Don't cease fire, keep 'em coming!"  After the first Thundershock, Archie shot out two more to follow behind it.  

 

"Surrender now Alicia, and our Pokemon won't have to suffer for your crimes!"  

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

 

"Argh, stupid Rock!" The male Grunt shouted, ordering Zubat to use Absorb again. Before it was able to get off the attack Naomi muttered a simple "Horn Attack" and Princess slammed her horn into the Zubat before it was able to attack.

 

"Gotta be kiddin me...fine, Supersonic!"

 

Naomi tilted her head to the side as the Zubat let out a screech and sent out a wobbly wave of energy to hit Princess. As it didn't seem to do much the girl was fine with ordering Princess to Horn Attack again. However instead of the Zubat, Princess, in confusion, slammed her head into the wall. Which allowed the Zubat to break away from where it was trapped. Though it seemed to be flying more crooked than before.

---

The female Grunt was looking somewhat panicked as she realized that she was now facing a Water type. "That's unfair, choo knew what I was gonna use didn't ya? Some kind of dirty Psychic aintcha? Well fine then, predict this, brat!" She then ordered her Salandit to charge at Bubbles. When halfway there it let loose a Poison Gas headed for the Poliwag. And, as the gas approached the Water type, the girl ordered her Salandit to leap up and over the gas cloud, towards Bubbles. "Scratch it!" She called out, as the Salandit raked its small claws across Bubbles and landed behind it. "Again!"

---

"Surrender now Alicia, and our Pokemon won't have to suffer for your crimes!" 

 

"My Pokemon aren't suffering! They know we're gonna come out from this on top and that's why we can keep fighting! A simpleton like you could never understand." She tossed her hair and ordered the Salandit to dodge out of the way. The first Thundershock missed but the second hit. And, as she went to counter-attack, the paralysis acted up again.

 

"Such...such a trick won't stop us!" Alicia called out and ordered her Salandit to let loose one more Venoshock. The poisonous scattershot launched towards the poisoned Mareep.

[spoiler=OOC]Team Phoenix Grunt A (Male): Zubat, level 7, Absorb, Supersonic, Astonish

Beedril, level 10, Poison Sting, Bug Bite, Harden. KOed

Team Phoenix Grunt B (Female): Zubat, level 8, Absorb, Supersonic, Astonish. KOed

Salandit, level 10, Ember, Poison Gas, Scratch, ???

Team Phoenix Admin, Alicia: Salandit, level 9, Poison Gas, Venoshock, Ember, Sweet Scent

Ralts, level 10, Confusion, Teleport, Double Team, ???

 

Naomi: Princess is now Poisoned and Confused but the Zubat seems to be at quite low health as it is. Though Princess had lower percentage.

Kanon: Reminder that Bubbles now has a Scratch coming from one side and a Poison Gas from the other. Unless she does something clever one of those attacks are landing at least, maybe both.

Oswald: Salandit is at low health now but that Venoshock would do quite the number on Archie.

 

---

 

After the team, now down to two, rested up in the Pokemon Center, and did whatever it was they had to do, they headed back out into the city. They would hear vague mentioning about how evidently previously Team Phoenix had made a mess out of the fishing tournament, though not much about what happened afterwards, as they explored the city.

 

Around mid-day the group would get stopped by what seemed like a typical Youngster, though he had a clothespin on his nose. So when he spoke he sounded somewhat nasally. "Hey you! You're trainers right? I'm sick of seeing fish all the time so I wanna leave the city. If I beat you that means I'm strong enough. But I don't got a lotta time so lets make it a triple battle! Each of us uses one Pokemon!....Wait, there's only two of you." He looked around until his eyes landed on a short girl with blue hair. "Hey, over there, lost looking girl. Come over here and join our triple battle!"

[spoiler=OOC]So yeah, I won't put up the details of the Pokemon yet. But basically choose which of your Mons you'll use for the fight...and probably say something to the "strange" girl which is, yes, Belle. Which also means, Sethera, try and post as soon as you can :D

 

[Sethera]

 

The past few days had been absolute torture for Belladonna. First, her evil, evil cousin had tricked her into entering this stupid competition, this "League Challenge." Did she look like the kind of person who entered these kinds of things? Like a...trainer? Apparently some people thought so. Barely had she chosen her starting Pokémon when two people had popped out of the woodwork, asking her to join them. At the time, she hadn't understood why they seemed so keen on being in a team with her, but she had quickly figured out the reason after their first battle.

 

They had seen her cousin, and had assumed that she, by association, would be equally as strong. Or at least willing to battle others. However, they had been in for a nasty surprise when the girl decided to sit out the match, content to just watch the others fight. Seemed like that wasn't the thing to do in teams, though, as she had been left behind when they reached Fernsworth and she decided to not go and see the Pokémon Professor with the others. Then again, they hadn't promised they would come back, did they? Actually, they might've told her to not wait up for them.

 

Well, whatever happened, she was here now, through blood, sweat, and tears. Literally. That last route had been hellish to tackle by herself. Constantly bombarded by trainers, with no excuse to turn them away, being attacked by a giant Malamar...it was only by the skin of her teeth that she escaped, though it had seemed surprised at first, as if she hadn't been what it was expecting.

 

Belladonna had arrived at Islebury yesterday morning cranky, exhausted, and filthy. Washing herself, her clothes, and then sleeping for a good twenty-four hours plus. She finally felt refreshed, or as refreshed as could be for a person not used to walking around outside.

 

But not refreshed enough to battle, which was exactly what this random trainer apparently wanted from her. Of course I get called out the minute I walk out of the Pokémon Center. If I didn't need to stock up on supplies, I wouldn't be outside in the first place. "Hey, over there, lost looking girl. Come over here and join our triple battle!"

 

She stared at him with dead eyes, shuffling forward a few steps till she stood next to him. "Don't wanna," she mumbled out loud, taking the time to look at the other two standing nearby. A familiar-looking girl with a rabbit hood--oh of course, she was the one that chose the fire rabbit--and a darker-skinned thug. Wasn't there somebody else with them too? she thought, yawning. Oh yeah, a tall blond girl. Wonder if she got left behind too.

 

Belladonna blinked at the group sleepily, swaying slightly on her feet before catching herself. "Gimme a break. Too early for this."

[Alaina]

 

As the duo made their way into the pokemon center, they both rested their pokemon and ended up resting themselves as it was starting to get late at night. Jacklyn didn't seem to have any qualms with resting when they did, and didn't speak much, if at all, for the rest of the night. This seemed to persist in the early morning as well, however, once the duo left the pokemon center, Jacklyn seemed to pause for a moment, merely taking in a few breaths and stretching herself out. After she finished stretching she suddenly shouted, "aaaaahhhhhh!" With an even more sudden motion, Jacklyn struck her face with both of her palms with an audible noise to it. Looking to Ivan, two hand prints on either of her cheeks, the girl seemed to have a smile on her face as she said, "today's a new day, so now that we're all rested let's get to adventuring! Come on Ivan!"

 

Walking forward, the girl began to make her way to the docks of Islesbury in order to keep their adventure going. Though she didn't know much about the city, she figured if she just walked towards the sea that they'd eventually find their way there and so she continued on her way. However, they were eventually stopped by a young who seemed insistent on the two of them battling him in a triple battle. When he had mentioned that there was only two of them, there was a brief quiver in Jacklyn's expression, however as he pointed out someone else, the girl seemed to immediately go back to her enthusiastic disposition. 

 

While the new girl seemed to be rather resistant to the idea of getting into a battle, Jacklyn ran over to the stranger, grabbing onto and shaking her saying, "come ooooon, triple battles are super cool and fun and stuff!" Looking back over to her partner she said, "right Ivan?"

[Mr. Hyde]

 

"My Pokemon aren't suffering! They know we're gonna come out from this on top and that's why we can keep fighting! A simpleton like you could never understand." She tossed her hair and ordered the Salandit to dodge the attack, and succeeded in their first attempt.  However, dodging the second one was impossible due to paralysis.   "Such...such a trick won't stop us!"  She ordered Salandit to use Venomshock once again.  If Archie got hit by that attack, it would be really hard to come back.  The spread of the attack was just as big as before.  

 

"Archie!  Try and get out of the way!"  Archie did his best as he raised a leg, but the combination of his non-streamlined body and the poison's effects were enough to make him falter for a second.  It was enough for the Venomshock to creep up on Archie and strike him hard.  Archie baa'd in pain, but he was still standing.  He looked on, with his sludge spattered wool, with determination.  Looking back to Oswald, his trainer could see it, and acknowledged it.  "Right.  Let's take this one out."  Archie's wool bounced around with static, as it baa'd towards Salandit.  

 

"Take another shot!  Make it count!  Thundershock!"  Archie let loose a small, but seemingly stronger, bolt of electricity towards the Salandit once again.  

[Yui]

---

Location: Islesbury Town

Poké: 1340

"That's unfair, choo knew what I was gonna use didn't ya? Some kind of dirty Psychic aintcha? Well fine then, predict this, brat!"

 

"Not... really." Talk about a leap in logic. Just because the odds were against this Grunt, she was lashing out and assuming Kanon could see the future or something. Definitely not the case. If she could see the future, part of Kanon had a weird hunch that she might have never met Bubbles in the first place. Back to the present, however, the Grunt's Salandit was unleashing a flurry of attacks. First a scratch that Bubbles didn't really have time to dodge, and now both a poison cloud and another scratch. There was no way the Poliwag could avoid both. In that moment, Kanon had to figure out which attack she'd rather the Poliwag have to suffer.

 

"Water Gun it in the face as hard as you can! And jump a little bit too!" Bubbles, on command, did a small hop, spewing water out of his mouth as hard as he could manage. The water spraying out of his mouth pushed him back just a little bit. Only enough to just avoid the Salandit's claws, but landing him right in the poison gas, which it promptly ran out of on the other side. "Another!" For good measure, of course. The Poliwag spit out another stream of water, aimed into the poison. He was looking a little purple in the belly, which was unfortunate, but otherwise normal.

---

[👀 REP 👀]

 

---

 

Ivan turned to Jacklyn as she gave her answer, his ears perking up as he heard Unova. He had never been there, although apparently he had family there from what his mother told him. He shook his head when he thought about his family, eyes shifting towards the women. Apparently, they had made it to their destination. He was about to step in when...

 

"désolée Ivan. Jacklyn. I do not believe this adventure and the dangers are...for moi." Ivan glanced at Genny, giving the girl a nod as Jacklyn voiced her concern.

 

"Don't sweat it." He said, not sure how to feel about the whole ordeal. He didn't want to put too much thought as to what made her leave; he had enough on his plate.  He waved as their companion left, considering ditching the group too. Genny leaving, however, seemed to have negatively affected Jackyln as all of her enthusiasm seemed to drain out of her. Ivan nodded. "Yeah... let's get some rest."

 

---

 

Ivan's Pokemon were back to top shape now that they had rested at the stop. He overheard some talk about a Team Phoenix, blocking out any details and avoiding anyone mentioning them - whatever that was, it sounded like bad news, especially with his history. It didn't matter, he had his own adventure.

 

And, not long after they left the center, a young boy challenged them. Ivan was more than ready to train up his Pokemon, however, there was one problem.

 

"Triple battle?" Ivan simple said, confused. He had never heard of such an absurd notion; Double Battles were already rare enough as it was, and now there's triple battles? Why stop there; why not do a Quadruple Battle or an All-Out Battle? He shook his head, turning to Jacklyn. "I dunno about cool... it sounds ridiculous, to be honest." As he was saying this, however, a thought entered his head as he glanced at the new center of attention.

 

He was sure he had seen this girl on the boat earlier. Where was the rest of her team? Maybe she had done what Ivan was thinking of doing. Clever girl, he thought. Although, this gave him an idea. He didn't want to leave Jacklyn alone, not after having lost Genny. He decided that he was going to make sure this girl got recruited and, when she and Jacklyn eventually got close, he'd make his leave. 

 

"Hey!" He shouted at the girl after Jacklyn tried to convince her. "C'mon, we need a third for a triple battle, and it's not like you're doing anything right now." He gestured the girl to come over. "You can do as you please afterwards." He said, knowing full well he wasn't the charismatic face of the group. Not by a long shot. That's what Jacklyn was for.

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

 

"Princess...that's a wall, not a Zubat." Naomi muttered as she slowly blinked.

 

The Grunt laughed. "You're really dumb you know. You don't even know what confusion is do you? Hey Rhyhorn, why don't you come with me instead of that useless trainer?"

 

Princess, who had been staring down the wall, turned to look at the Grunt. Not just any look but instead a glare. A glare that caused the Grunt to stop laughing.

 

Without needing any direction Princess suddenly reared back and slammed her head into the Zubat. Her hard head collided with the bat and slammed it into the wall.

 

The Zubat hovered for a moment and then fell to the ground, unconscious. "Ya gotta be kidding me." The Grunt said, seemingly too bewildered to realize he lost.

 

"Oh...good job Princess." She said, returning the Pokemon to her ball just before she succumbed to the Poison.

---

The Salandit had clearly expected that her attack would have brought the Mareep down and so Alica's command to dodge came at a surprise. A surprise that resulted in the Salandit not being able to get out of the way of Archie's attack. It then fell unconscious and Alica returned her to the ball. "Don't worry, precious, I'll make them pay for their crimes." She then sent out her second Pokemon again, Ralts. "Use Growl!" She commanded and the little Psychic type let loose an oddly threatening sound. The waves of which hit Archie and made its physical attacks weaker.

 

"All we have to do is dodge and you'll lose!" Alicia declared. "You should've been more prepared and now you'll lose because of your foolishness! This is just the first of many victories for Team Phoenix."

---

The female Grunt's Salandit was struck in the face with a Water Gun, causing it to fall backwards, and was forced to roll to get back up.

 

However the Poison Gas was now too close to Bubbles to avoid and the poisonous gas managed to infect the Poliwag with its status condition.

 

"Don't give up, Salandit, we got this now that this dumb broad let herself get poisoned....like a dumb person!" She laughed and laughed and then called out to her Salandit to fire off an Ember attack. "Whatchu gonna do now? You don't got many turns left before you lose no matter what!"

 

[spoiler=OOC]Naomi: Naomi has won! But Princess wouldn't be able to handle a single round of Poison so it was a close call.

 

Oswald: Archie is at -1 Attack now and the Ralts is prepared to use either Double Team or Teleport to dodge (the first if Archie gets close and the second if he attacks at ranged) and to be clear

Ralts: 13%

Archie: 8%

Now, not necessarily Poison will KO next round but two more turns or one attack from Ralts will do Archie in.

 

Kanon: So Bubbles is poisoned now and facing another Ember. Salandit is faster than Bubbles remember so gotta make your shot placements count.

That being said the Salandit is about 1/3 health whereas Bubbles is about half.

 

[Mr. Hyde]

 

 

The growl had shaken Archie a bit, and made him a bit weary of the Ralts.  With that, it meant a Tackle surely wouldn't be enough to win if Archie hesitated.  But Archie couldn't just sit still either, as a Confusion from Ralts could make it's way fast towards a stationary sheep.  No...he'd have to be tricky about this last maneuver.

 

"All we have to do is dodge and you'll lose!" Alicia declared. "You should've been more prepared and now you'll lose because of your foolishness! This is just the first of many victories for Team Phoenix."

 

"Don't count your ashes before they revive!"  Oswald said, throwing a hand to the side.  She was right.  On one hand, he hadn't stocked up on any potions or antidotes before setting off.  On the other hand, it was quite the learning, and humbling, experience.  "Archie!  This is it!  Tackle!"  Archie baa'd with an explosion, and started to charge the Ralts.  As he got within a couple feet of the opponent, Oswald smiled.  "Stop!"  Archie did so by planting his tiny feet into the ground.  "At this close range, you won't be able to!  THUNDERSHOCK!  Let's go!"  Archie's wool lit up, as it released electricity in Ralts' direction.  "And your fatal mistake was looking down on a boy and his Mareep!"    

[Sethera]

 

Yawning, Belladonna turned around to leave. She had said what needed to be said. All that remained was finding a place to buy supplies. Not that I know what to buy. Her brow furrowed. She had never bothered to look up "what to buy for an extended camping trip when your cousin tricks you into entering a competition for an unknown region." If she had, she'd be psychic...wait. Okay, she'd be a stronger psychic. The likes of her cousin, which, few actual psychics had that level of talent to begin with, let alone a person who barely practiced their powers. Which she was starting to regret, just a little bit. If ever she had the ability to levitate herself, now would be the time.

 

And then her arm was grabbed. Soon after, she felt her body being shook back and forth, head spinning from the sudden movement. "Come ooooon, triple battles are super cool and fun and stuff! Right Ivan?" The taller, but skinnier girl said.

 

The blue-haired girl turned to the other member of the dynamic duo, hoping that he would be the voice of reason here. "Hey! C'mon, we need a third for a triple battle, and it's not like you're doing anything right now." No such luck apparently. "You can do as you please afterwards."

 

"Doing it now," Belladonna responded shortly, glancing at the Youngster who had called her over. He was hopping from foot to foot, seeming eager to "get the show on the road." Sighing, the girl briefly considered the pros and cons of accepting.

 

Pros. I can probably get these clowns to leave me alone once I do what they want. Cons. It's a lot of time and effort spent on something I don't even like. Also, they might not leave me alone once I do what they want. Cons outweigh the pros, so the verdict is...

 

"Don't wanna," she repeated, voice still slurred from waking up not too long ago, and attempted to shake her arm free from the other girl's grip.

[Yui]

---

Location: Islesbury Town

Poké: 1340

"Don't give up, Salandit, we got this now that this dumb broad let herself get poisoned....like a dumb person! Whatchu gonna do now? You don't got many turns left before you lose no matter what!"

 

"Win within those few turns I guess?" Kanon shrugged. "I'm not a very experienced trainer, but taking the poison seemed like the smarter option." Right? The decision made sense in her mind. If Bubbles could hit that lizard hard enough with more Water Guns, the battle would be over before that poison could do too much damage. Or at least, that was her thought process. "And for that matter, why are you saying it like I'm the person that got poisoned? Can you not tell a human apart from a Poliwag or something?" Maybe the Grunt was the dumb person this whole time.

 

Speaking of the Grunt, her Salandit fired off another Ember attack. As the little blast of fire connected with Bubbles, an idea clicked in Kanon's mind. Bubbles was already poisoned now, so...

 

"This is gonna sound weird, but go back into the gas cloud, and shoot a Water Gun in the general direction that Ember came from!"

---

[Alaina]

 

"Huh?" Was all that came from Jacklyn as the girl had refused the offer to battle once again. Her expression seemed to become more annoyed at the girl's counter enthusiasm to Jacklyn's own, yet still she was not about to back down. In spite of her enthusiasm, or rather the cause behind it, Jacklyn had never actually partaken in a triple battle. Despite their popularity in her home region, the girl had only ever been relegated to watching them from the comforts of her home or random trainers on the street or hearing about them from her sister. With such the opportunity being presented to her, the girl couldn't help but want to try it out. That and she was feeling a bit restless this morning. 

 

Looking at the girl, seeming to examine the girl. It didn't take long for the girl to realize that she was much taller than this girl, which meant she was probably older too. Jacklyn knew she wasn't that old either, so it must've meant that she was speaking with a little kid. A thought forming in her head, the girl let go saying, "fine." Beginning to walk away, she looked to her partner saying, "Ivan! I need to go take care of something real quick. Make...small talk with her?" Though she sounded unsure, she simply nodded to herself giving a short wave saying, "be back in a sec." With that, Jacklyn ran off. 

 

After some time had passed, Jacklyn came running back to the group. While the sweat on her brow and heavy breathing was indication enough that she had been moving as fast as she could, the girl had hardly seemed winded and had a much more positive expression on her face then when she had left. Bringing up a few small bags of what appeared to be candy, and after catching her breath a  bit she said, "hey Ivan, here. I figured that after our triple battle we could enjoy some nice Gummy Bewears." Giving him one of the bags of candy her voice then shifted to very overly dramatic as she said, "oh but look at this. I have one bag too many! After all, there's only us two doing the battle against him. If only there was someone else I could give this to...someone who would also battle." Her terrible acting was only made more clear by her continually and obviously looking back to and away from the new girl. 

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

 

Alicia scoffed at Oswald as the Mareep started charging in. "Don't you know Growl lowers attack? What do you think you're gonna do even if you hit...which you won't, Ralts, Double Team!" The Pokemon's body shimmered and blurred once again, the afterimages making it harder to determine where to hit.

 

However Alicia had been planning for a physical attack. When the Mareep suddenly stopped and let loose a Thundershock the electricity went through the afterimages and struck Ralts dead on.

 

The Ralts's body shook and dropped down as the damage was finally enough to bring her down. Alica stared for a moment, open mouthed, before her face twisted into anger. "How dare you." She hissed as she returned her Pokemon to its ball. "What's it to you if we take what we want? You're not even from here right? You, give the stupid pole back this was a waste of time. Lets get out of here."

---

The Salandit was crouched and ready to dodge out of the way. But both they and their trainer seemed unsure what to do as Bubbles hid. The trainer kept giving commands of going left, down, right, stay put, unable to make up her mind and thus the water gun struck her Salandit through the gas.

 

"Arrgh, just go into that cloud and Scatch, you can outlast this stupid little thing." The Grunt declared.

 

But that was when Alicia gave the order to retreat. "Aww but I almost won...wait, you both lost? Grrrr....Fine, Ember, Salandit!"

---

The male Grunt tossed the fishing pole towards Oswald angrily, and the trio started to back away. If they tried to pursue the female Grunt's Salandit would fire off more Embers towards them.

 

"You won this time but this battle didn't even matter! It was just a stepping stone in our grand victory! Team Phoenix will rise from the ashes and you'll all regret getting in our way!" Alicia called out as they left.

---

Slowly people began trickling back, shouting out congratulations to the group. And meanwhile, Naomi... "Can I sleep now?"

[spoiler=OOC]And the battle is over! Level up time!

Knight gained a level

Princess gained 2 levels

 

Icarus gained a level

Archie gained 2 levels

 

Lunar gained 2 levels

Bubbles gained a level

 

And everyone gets +400 Pokedollars

 

If you need any info let me know but feel free to do some downtime posts now.

 

[Mr. Hyde]

 

 "What's it to you if we take what we want? You're not even from here right? You, give the stupid pole back this was a waste of time. Lets get out of here."

 

"That's called stealing!  It makes you a criminal!"  Oswald said, as he grit his teeth as Alicia started to rally her friends and make an exit.  He began to give chase, when one of the other grunt's Saladnit's used ember to block his route.  "Dang..."  Oswald cursed, under his breath.  Archie sheepishly baa'd from behind him, prompting Oswald's attention to shift towards his half fainted partner.  "Archie!"  He cried out, hugging his partner.  "You did swell, so get some rest."  Archie disdained his pokeball if he could be beside Archie, but this was one time where he went in without a peep.  

 

"You won this time but this battle didn't even matter! It was just a stepping stone in our grand victory! Team Phoenix will rise from the ashes and you'll all regret getting in our way!"

 

"And this was a stepping stone for me to take down your whole little group!  I'll snuff out your flames wherever and whenever they rise!"  Oswald roared back, high off of his insanely lucky victory.  No...it wasn't luck...his training at the academy had kicked in.  However, that last stunt he pulled...it wasn't by the books, but it caught the crook of guard.  Maybe he was cut out for this after all.  He caught the Super Rod he had earned in his one hand, and placed it over his shoulder, triumphantly.  "We aren't done with them.  Not by a long shot."  He said to no one besides himself, before stepping towards Kanon and Naomi.  "Let's meet back up at the Pokemon Center in town.  Icarus is down, and Archie's poisoned real bad."  He waited for their responses before running off towards said Pokemon Center.  Once there, he politely asked the Nurse Joy to heal his Pokemon.  He then sat down in the lobby, waiting for them both to make a full recovery.  

[Yui]

---

Location: Islesbury Town

Poké: 1740

The Grunt was confused by Kanon's ridiculous idea of having Bubbles hide in the gas. Good. Because of the constant orders from the Grunt, her Salandit seemed unable to decide which way to go, and being the sitting duck it now was in the heat of the moment, got hit spot-on by the Water Gun. Everything was going... well, it could be worse at least. The Grunt then ordered her Pokemon to just go in and start scratching at Bubbles, but then...

 

"What's it to you if we take what we want? You're not even from here right? You, give the stupid pole back this was a waste of time. Lets get out of here."

 

"Aww but I almost won...wait, you both lost? Grrrr....Fine, Ember, Salandit!"

 

This battle was over. No point in letting Bubbles get more hurt than he already was. Kanon quickly pulled out her Pokeball, returning the Poliwag to his tiny red sphere of safety, and watching for anything else the Salandit would try spitting up. What mattered most was - even though she boasted that this wasn't over - Alicia and her group were gone.

 

"Good riddance to them."

 

"Let's meet back up at the Pokemon Center in town. Icarus is down, and Archie's poisoned real bad."

 

"My team's not looking much better. Bubbles isn't doing so hot, and Lunar's out entirely. Who could have guessed that a Zubat of all things would be so dangerous?"

Back at the Pokemon Center, Kanon had - after Oswald dropped his two Pokemon off - left her own duo of partners off with the nurse, and took a seat while she waited. She already didn't like this Team Phoenix crew. While she appreciated the services of Pokemon Centers, and the lack of a price tag even more, something about the air in these places always felt off to her. Nobody else seemed to mind. Must have been just a her thing.

 

"If I'd known there were Team Whatever lunatics living here, I would have just stayed in Hoenn," she sighed. "What about you, city boy? I've always imagined big city life is hectic and full of shady people." For the intents and purposes of the question, it was probably safe to skip Nomi. Even if there were shady people, she would probably be oblivious.

---

[👀 REP 👀]

 

---

 

The girl seemed completely uninterested in joining them. Ivan let out a sigh, but he wasn't done yet. He might not be the best with people, but he was going to get this girl to join them. He'd have to do something quick too, since Jacklyn apparently had something cooked up as she ran off towards her items. "Crap." Ivan thought to himself, now having to deal with the whole situation by itself. However, this might have been a blessing in disguise as maybe he could talk her into it.

Ivan took another glance at the girl. She seemed completely anti-social and uninterested... one had to wonder how someone like her entered a competition like this one. That didn't matter though; all that mattered was getting her to join them. "It doesn't take a genius to see you don't want to be here. At all." He said, crossing his arms. "I'm... not entirely sure what would drive a person like you to join something like this in the first place, but that's not my business." Ivan turned his head towards the Youngster, before turning to Jacklyn. "Let's make a deal." He turned back to the girl. "Dunno if this is the first time someone's called you out to join a battle like this, but I'm sure as hell it ain't gonna be the last, 'specially cause you don't have anyone with you." He gestured to the lack of people next to the girl. "So, how about you join us. Me and Jacklyn over there can do all the talkin', and you'll probably get pestered less if you're in a group." 

 

Before he could get an answer, Jacklyn had come back with sweets and some terrible acting. He decided to ignore her and get back to the main issue. "So... ya in?"

 

 

[Sethera]

 

"Huh? Fine." Oh good, the persistent one was finally giving up. Beginning to walk away, the girl looked to her partner saying, "Ivan! I need to go take care of something real quick. Make...small talk with her?" She then gave a short wave, saying, "be back in a sec." Oh great, that meant she was coming back. Ugh.

 

Well, it didn't matter. She'd be gone by then. Belladonna took a single, shuffling step, one of many she had taken this week, too many. She wasn't meant for this. She was meant to lie around and watch shows, like the third season of that new volleyball one starring a boy who was short like her. She hadn't gotten to see it yet, and she might not get to see it until who knows how long, just because her parents kicked her out of the house, and her cousin tricked her out of the gym.

 

The blue-haired girl scowled, continuing to walk at her normal, lethargic pace, when the male of the duo spoke up. "It doesn't take a genius to see you don't want to be here. At all." He crossed his arms. "I'm... not entirely sure what would drive a person like you to join something like this in the first place, but that's not my business." He turned his head towards the Youngster, before turning to the rapidly disappearing form of the other girl. "Let's make a deal." He turned back to Belladonna. "Dunno if this is the first time someone's called you out to join a battle like this, but I'm sure as hell it ain't gonna be the last, 'specially cause you don't have anyone with you." He gestured to the empty space next to her, causing her to scowl harder. She didn't appreciate the reminder of how her group left her behind. Not that she had wanted to be in a group with them in the first place, but it was still somehow insulting to be the one left behind, rather than the one doing the leaving. "So, how about you join us. Me and Jacklyn over there can do all the talkin', and you'll probably get pestered less if you're in a group."

 

Her first instinct was to say no, she didn't want to join them, she had had enough of being around people for a year, let alone these past few days. However...

 

"You can't say no!" A young girl in a skirt shouted at her angrily. "You're the only one around, so I challenge you!"

 

"Wow, you're lost already? Are you sure you're fine by yourself?"

 

"Dooreeoh!" a strange, warbling cry sounded from on top of the statue. Before she could blink, a large, floating Pokémon that looked a lot like that statue appeared, glaring right. At. Her. Oh. She was going to die, wasn't she? Or just be in terrible pain. Well, it was time to run and hope for the best. Right about now, she kind of wished she had at least one other person here. As a distraction if nothing else.

 

Belladonna had experienced being with a group, and being alone. Alone, she didn't have to deal with people, except she still did, just random trainers instead of traveling companions. And it was really difficult to walk through a route as one person, because there was nobody to help battle the trainers and wild Pokémon. No, she had to do all the work herself. It was like being thrown straight into the deep end, or training under Sabrina. She had seen enough prospective gym students run away because of her cousin's terrifying training methods. Luckily, she had never had the...ahem, "honor" of experiencing them herself. Or perhaps unluckily. If so, she might have been more prepared for this journey.

 

The only bad part to this was that...she would have to be in a group. And these people seemed persistent. But maybe that was a good thing. Maybe that meant they would be persistent in battling others, and letting her be.

 

The girl was still mulling it over when the other, Jacklyn, according to the boy, returned. While sweating, she hardly seemed winded, much like the protagonist of that one volleyball show, who had the stamina of a Rapidash. Her expression was also bright, holding up a few small bags of...was that candy? No, were those...Gummy Bewears? Sour edition?

 

Unbidden, a certain song passed through her mind. Oh I'm a Gummy Bewear. Yes I'm a Gummy Bewear. Oh I'm a yummy tummy funny lucky Gummy Bewear...

 

"Hey Ivan, here. I figured that after our triple battle we could enjoy some nice Gummy Bewears." The girl then gave him one of the bags of candy, her voice shifting to overly dramatic as she said, "oh but look at this. I have one bag too many! After all, there's only us two doing the battle against him. If only there was someone else I could give this to...someone who would also battle."

 

Belladonna didn't care that the girl was obviously trying to tempt her into battling. Because her stomach chose that moment to growl, and she stared at the sweet, heavenly bags of candy, zeroing in on the delectable sugar-encrusted treats. Those beautiful, multicolored, cute, Bewear-shaped treats.

 

"So... ya in?"

 

"Give me those treats and we have a deal," she decided with a snap of her fingers, her voice suddenly losing its exhausted edge. Just seeing the candy was enough to wake her up. "Well?" she turned to look at the others. "Let's get this over with. I'm hungry and my tummy waits for nobody."

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

 

Everyone seemed to be ready to go to the Pokemon Center, even Naomi, but there was one issue.

Naomi was already asleep. And Princess was far too hurt to carry her anywhere.

 

Though she, by some miracle, managed to, however they got her there, wake up while in the Pokemon Center's waiting room in time to hear Kanon speak. "There's a lotta shade back home." She muttered. "But that's cause of the biiiig tree...and the mushrooms. Allll the mushrooms Or were those trees, too..I forgot. Something...plant-y."

 

As they rested up, the mayor of the city herself came into the Center. She looked around and, when her eyes landed on the group, made her way over. "Ah, Oswald yes? There's something here for you. Unfortunately it's not as much, those dastardly Team Phoenix members managed to get away with some of it, but here's some of your prize money for winning the tournament. I do hope this experience didn't sour your feelings on our city. It's usually quite the lovely place I assure you."

[spoiler=OOC]So the pouch she hands to Oswald contains 500 Pokedollars. Also this is basically a free reign moment, lemme know what y'all wanna do. If you want to skip to next day, that's fine too, still nothing specific planned for this city.

 

---

 

"FINALLY" the Youngster said. "Gosh you guys take forever, I told ya I didn't have much time didn't I? Guess I gotta make this quick. This is to prove I'm tough enough to leave this stupid fishing hole!"

 

As the group sent out their Pokemon he, with surprisingly practiced ease, grabbed the three Pokeballs at his side and sent them all out simultaneously.

Out of the balls came three different Pokemon. A Starly, Elekid, and Pichu. They seemed to not be very surprised to find themselves standing side by side. It seemed that this boy had practiced doing this many times before.

 

A small crowd was gathering. Most seemed to be older folk who were watching with a sort of amusement at the "younguns antics".

 

"Starly, Elekid, weaken em', Pichu, Thunder Shock the Lepash!"

 

The first two Pokemon moved closer to the group. The Starly let out a Growl, and the Elekid Leered them. All three of the group's Pokemon would feel their attack and defense get lowered, and then the Pichu, from behind the other two, shot out an arcing, but small, bolt of electricity at Rus.

 

"How's that? Let's see you beat my expert combination!" The Youngster said, literally bouncing in place with excitement.

 

[spoiler=OOC]Youngster Kevin.
Starly, Level 7, Keen Eye, Growl, ???, ???
Pichu, Level 7, Static, ???, Thunder Shock, ???
Elekid, Level 7, Static, Leer, ???, ???

 

[Alaina]

 

Jacklyn's expression shifted from its faux anguish to a more ecstatic and assured one as she snapped her own fingers and pointed to the girl, saying, "you got yourself a deal, bub." With that out of the way, the girl got her pokeball ready as she saw the youngster far less patient then she was on the matter, which was a small feat in of itself. As he sent out his pokemon, the girl in turn tossed out her own saying, "go get 'em Rus!" As the Lepash got out, it let out a puff of smoke from its mouth as it got ready to fight. 

 

Looking to its side, seeing the new girl's pokemon be sent out, it seemed to have a look of recognition cross its face. Without much of a greeting, it instead looked more focused then before on the battle. As the Youngster's pokemon went to attack, Jacklyn said, "alright Rus, dodge it!" The Lepash, however, was not fast enough to dodge the shock and so winced as it took the attack. "Okay, maybe next time. But ember it now!" Though it seemed slightly irritated by its trainer, the Lepash moved forward and let loose a small burst of flame from its mouth. Though the Lepash wanted to strike back against the Pichu, with the other two standing guard in front of it, the ember was instead aimed at the elekid instead. 

[Sethera]

"FINALLY" the Youngster said. "Gosh you guys take forever, I told ya I didn't have much time didn't I? Guess I gotta make this quick. This is to prove I'm tough enough to leave this stupid fishing hole!"

 

"Not sure why you don't just leave, but whatever," Belladonna shrugged, nodding a reply to Jacklyn, but saying nothing more, her mind already turned to the battle ahead of them.

 

The Youngster sent out three Pokémon at that point. A Starly, Elekid, and Pichu. Baby Starly are sometimes known to be afraid of heights. Elekid can go only two hours before needing to charge. Pichu are often left alone for long periods of time while its parents forage for food.

 

But none of this information was useful for battling. Still, at least she wasn't doing it alone this time. Taking out a Poké Ball, she tossed it half-heartedly at the ground. In a flash of light, a small, chubby cow, a Poamoo, was released. Turning its head this way and that, it let out a lowing sound at seeing the Lepash sent out next to it, waddling to the side as if it wanted to greet it. But it was at that point that the rabbit got shocked by the Pichu, at the same time the Starly Growled and the Elekid Leered.

 

"Moo, do um...your new thing. With those vines. On, uhh..." Eeny, meeny, miny, moe, her finger landed on the oversized socket plug, "on Elekid."

 

The cow nodded, manifesting two long vines that whipped toward the electric type. At the same time, the rabbit, "Rus" if what she was hearing was correct, spit out an Ember.

 

Oh, maybe this wasn't such a good idea...oh well. That was something she hadn't anticipated...their attacks getting in the way of each other.

 

But Moo was patient and slow, his vines ambling their way toward the Elekid. By the time they reached it, the Ember had long since reached the Elekid. However, the electric type had seen the attack coming and leapt up to avoid the flames...right into the Vine Whip.

 

"I guess it worked out," Belladonna mumbled. Maybe she wasn't too bad after all. That was good. The sooner they finished this, the sooner she could eat those gummy Bewears.

[Mr. Hyde]

 

Oswald's Pokemon had been promptly healed.  When he received them, it wasn't long before Kanon and Naomi had joined him in the lobby.  

 

"If I'd known there were Team Whatever lunatics living here, I would have just stayed in Hoenn," Kanon sighed. 

 

"You did the right thing today Kanon.  You proved to me that you can stand up to those thugs.  I appreciate the backup, partner."  He said with a smile.

 

"What about you, city boy? I've always imagined big city life is hectic and full of shady people." 

 

"There's a lotta shade back home." Naomi muttered."But that's cause of the biiiig tree...and the mushrooms. Allll the mushrooms Or were those trees, too..I forgot. Something...plant-y."

 

As he was just about to answer, an older woman entered the center looking for him.  

 

"Ah, Oswald yes? There's something here for you. Unfortunately it's not as much, those dastardly Team Phoenix members managed to get away with some of it, but here's some of your prize money for winning the tournament. I do hope this experience didn't sour your feelings on our city. It's usually quite the lovely place I assure you."

 

"Oh, thanks!  But saving the city is a reward in and of itself."  He said, as he took the money off her hands.  "Cash is a close second."  He said with a slight laugh as he placed a hand on the small of his neck.  A lovely city might've been pushing it as far as adjectives went, due to the smell, but he had to admit he enjoyed his time here.  "Those brutes won't bother you anymore, and I'll come back for more fishing tournaments."  He nudged the air in between them with an elbow.  "But watch out, I might be a little more famous next time!"  He laughed again, as he said his goodbyes and waved to her.  "No wonder she's the mayor.  Nice Lady."  Oswald said, placing the money in his pocket.  He then pondered for a moment about what they were talking about before, until it popped up into his head.  "Yeah!  Goldenrod sure can be grimy sometimes...it's a big city so there's tons of spots overlooked by the community and law enforcement.  But I managed to take care of my mom and I...and now I'm trying to make something better of myself."  He looked to the Super Rod that he had sweat over for the whole day.

 

"I think I'm doing a pretty bang up job."  

[Yui]

---

Location: Islesbury Town

Poké: 1740

"There's a lotta shade back home. But that's cause of the biiiig tree...and the mushrooms. Allll the mushrooms Or were those trees, too..I forgot. Something...plant-y."

 

Mushrooms aren't plants. They're fungi. She didn't want to sound like some know-it-all by saying that out loud, but the inaccuracy was bothering her. Then again, it was Nomi. Knowing herself and Sleeping Beauty over there, Kanon probably would have been more surprised if Nomi knew the difference at all. The way she described her home sounded appealing though. It must have been a place with lots of the natural beauty of the world involved, not like the urban jungles of some other places. Like Oswald's home, for example!

 

Speaking of whom, after the mayor had come by to give Oswald what was still left of his prize money, and his commentary on the woman, he answered Kanon's question.

 

Yeah! Goldenrod sure can be grimy sometimes...it's a big city so there's tons of spots overlooked by the community and law enforcement. But I managed to take care of my mom and I...and now I'm trying to make something better of myself. I think I'm doing a pretty bang up job."

 

"Big cities sound awful. Shady neighborhoods, probably super crowded, and everything looks so... gray. No wonder you're trying to make yourself better, if it 's that kind of place. You've got a decent first step going, if nothing else." Not long after, a nurse had arrived with Kanon's pokeballs. She gave the nurse a quick thank-you, before turning her attention back to her traveling partners.

 

"If everyone's Pokemon are healed up, we might as well head over to the next town. Much as I like it here, I'd rather not stick around too long and spend the night in a place that reeks of fish."

---