Zai

The same way any other card would work. Related cards and characters can be a part of your backstory or possibly tag along as NPCs, but for instance playing the entire dark scorpions gang (even though they all do appear on the same card) would not be allowed simply due to the amount of characters involved.

IC ~A Zai RP~ ~Logo by Thar~ Rules & Information Setting Plot Applications The Party

“Sorry about the wait. First thing’s first, we’ll probably have an old friend dropping by here at some point during this, so don’t freak out if someone you guys don’t recognize comes in. With that out of the way… How we all doing today? Excited to get back to the best part of school?” The best part of school? Well, hopefully Hitomu was right about that. “Okay, okay, I’ll get to the point. For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Hitomu Amaya, Captain of this merry band of misfits. Anyone who was on the team with me last year though knows I use the term ‘Captain’ very loosely. Usually you’ll see and hear more from my vice-captain, Hattie, way more than me.” Hitomu nodded towards Jun. “She’s great by the way. If you every need any help she’ll be your best bet.” Yushiro grinned, remembering the duel he had against Jun during tryouts. She was an interesting girl, that much was certain, but he was happy he'd gotten to play against her. With everything he'd been thinking about lately, Yushiro had almost forgotten that he played duel monsters for fun, and she had reminded him of that. “What else… I’ve been a member of BY’s Duel Team since my freshman year, when I was fifteen. I was a part of all three of the Relay Teams that won regionals the last few years, and then a bunch of individual tournaments that I can’t remember. I think I mostly recently competed in the Talent Cup that Industrial Illusions hosted for high school students. I’m not really sure, but if you’re curious, you can just look the records up on one of the holo tables over there. I think that just about covers it though. Any questions any of you want to ask me? If not, I’ll just go ahead and jump right into the mandatory Conduct review we have to do every year.” "Yeah, can we just skip right to the conduct review and get it over with?" Oh. Right. He was here too. The albatross across Yushiro's neck, who coincidentally only came up about to about that height on him. Their duel was this weekend, and the thought of having to contend with Hiraku's deck and his skill at using it wasn't something Yushiro relished. "What? That is to say what could you possibly need to review? Is this club full of riffraff and scoundrels? I, for one, know my conduct is always top class. I would hope that none of you can say less than that. Otherwise what kind of club did I decide to grace with my membership?" This girl again. She was a strange one alright. Kinda cute, but really weird. "No can do, Hiku. This is a part of every first day meeting and will continue to be so!" Jun replied, then turned toward Gabby. "and most are decent enough people, but a review is always necessary. If you break it's a pretty big deal, so we just have to make sure that all of our members know what they're getting in for, and if you're from a different kingdom, you want to make sure that both codes of conduct are the same right?" Before anyone could respond to Jun though, the door opened, and in walked Liz. She looked really good, too, though Yushiro quickly banished the thought; he was here to focus on dueling. Sorry for running a bit late, captain. Elizabeth set her notebooks and duel boxes down on a table behind the captaincy, "Been a while since I made the hike. Was longer than I thought." Yushiro gave her a wave, then turned back to listen to whatever else the captains had to say.

So, to be completely honest, I have no clue what I am going to do. I might do a little bit of everything. Take on the gym's, catch pokemon on the way, maybe even take on the pokeathlon. As for me, I'm from Nacrene City in Unova." "Hey, if you don't mind, I'd like you to be my first battle in Johto. My Archen versus your Cyndiquil. What do you say?" Trey grinned. "A battle? Bro, you read my mind. Lets do it!" Ollie perked up, evidently eager to let off some steam. "Roc, stop that. Next thing you know he's going to taunt a Tyranatar or a Dragonite." "Just means he's eager. And trust me, he's gonna need the energy. So, shall we get started?" Trey ran his hand up underneath his hat as Ollie walked out in front of him. "Fair warning though, we don't pull any punches." "Quiiii!" The flames on Ollie's back ignited, and the cyndaquil hunched down on all fours- ready for a fight. Clearly, the type advantage Roc had didn't worry either of them. Around them, pedestrians on the road had begun to notice that a battle was about to start, and though a crowd of onlookers was forming, many kept their distance. Best not to get caught by a stray attack. Soon, they had cleared out of an area about half a block long for the two pokemon to battle in. Trey looked over his opponent for a moment, trying to formulate a plan. An open field like this one would play to the flying pokemon's advantage no doubt, but judging by Emile's attitude and Roc's behavior, Trey guessed that Ollie was the better trained, which meant that they might not be able leverage it as well as they otherwise could have. Perhaps a little subtlety was they way to go.... "Alright. Why don't you two get it started?"

Did … did you just ask me out?" Yushiro's face turned a bright red. He was nervous already, and Elizabeth teasing him only made it worse. He didn't even notice that her cheeks were also getting a bit rosy. "Or, well, I suppose ask me in, really. Well I'd be glad to play some more cards Yushiro. But uhm, I hope this date comes with us being able to talk a little more than a week at a time?" At once Yushiro felt stupid. And sorry. The fact that she was still giving him the time of day was a small miracle, let alone saying yes-wait, SHE SAID YES. A wave of relief and excitement washed over him. Maybe Jo was right after all. "Its just, I really enj-" A pained look flashed across Elizabeth's face as she put her feet back on the ground and lost her balance. Reflexively, she stuck her hand out to catch herself, and Yushiro felt her palm come to rest on his chest. When she turned, their faces were mere inches from one another. Yushiro's heart raced as they stared into eachother's eyes for what seemed like minutes. For a few moments, he found himself getting lost in her face; her big, beautiful grey eyes, and her lips.... Then she turned away, her face now bright red with embarrassment. "Sorry, sorry! I didn't mean to assault you there. I fell at the dance studio before, I guess my knee is a bit worse than I thought." Elizabeth laughed softly, obviously trying to break the tension. "What I was trying to say was... I really enjoyed our previous date, I've been looking forward to the next opportunity to do so." "Honestly, me too." Yushiro finally replied. At this point, he felt like he owed her some sort of explanation. "I didn't mean to ignore you last week, its just..." He paused, inhaling. "Well, I guess I I'm nervous. Super lame, I know." Now it was his turn to laugh. "Actually, unless you're really looking forward to staying in and playing cards with me, why don't I make it up to you? Wherever you wanna go, whatever you wanna do, lets do it. My treat." Internally, he couldn't help but laugh at himself. For her part, Liz seemed to be thinking about something else. At last, she responded. Well hey, listen, if I'm going to come to this duel team meeting for Hitomu and then go off somewhere with you I'll need to freshen up a bit. Sweaty tank top isn't exactly my preferred state of fashion. See you at the meeting later?" A little non-committal, but Yushiro took what he could get. Then, she opened her arms after she finished speaking; an obvious invitation for a hug. "Yeah, definitely." He leaned in and embraced her, squeezing her tightly and earnestly, though not so strongly as to make Elizabeth think he was trying to cling to her. It was the kind of hug he gave his friends and family; emphatic and caring. After a couple of moments he pulled away. "Take it easy on your leg, ok?" ---- About an hour later, Yushiro found himself outside the building in which the team was supposed to hold their first practice. Alone. For a few moments, he started getting nervous again. Was he sure he was in the right place? Was he late? Where was everyone? Thankfully, the approach of a familiar pair assuaged his fears. He saw Jun and Hitomu, both encumbered with several boxes, walking in his direction. "Hey, you guys need a hand with those?!" he called out as he made his way toward them. Sticking with the captains for the time being was probably a good idea; less awkward than standing by himself, at least.

“You’re alright man. We were winding down anyways.” "Oh, Hi Yushiro. It wasn't much of anything. Take a seat,” Yushiro nodded, and slid in next to Elizabeth. “I take it you’re Yushiro?” he said, extending a hand for Yushiro to shake. “Between Lizzie and Hattie, seems like the girls in my life can’t stop talking about you, so it’s nice to finally meet you. I’m Hitomu.” Hattie... He must have meant Jun. "Jun had something to say about me?" Yushiro asked, slightly surprised that he was worth mentioning. "But yeah we've met a few times before." he continued, leaning over and shaking Hitomu's hand as firmly as he could. "I get coffee from you a lot." “Congrats on making the team, by the way. I was actually just asking Lizzie if she wanted to swing by for the meeting today. She used to beat me all the time back when we were freshmen, so I figure she could show you all a thing or two, you know?” "Thanks, though to be honest I'm still not sure if I'm actually good enough to make the cut. I got beaten pretty badly last week." As he was speaking it dawned on him that Hitomu might not be the best person to voice those reservations to, and instead, Yushiro decided to change the subject. He turned to look at Elizabeth. The girl wasn't nearly as put together as she had been the last time he saw her-just jeans and a tank top with her hair up in a ponytail. Even still, he couldn't keep himself from admiring her for a moment. Liz was gorgeous, even when she didn't clean up. As shallow as the thought was, sometimes even Yushiro was surprised by his good luck. "But uhhh, that's actually part of why I came over here." Oh right: the actual reason he was here. Almost instantly, his nerves came back, but he tried his best to force himself to power through. "I uhh... Actually was wondering Liz i-if" He stuttered for a moment, realizing he'd called her Liz instead of her full name. Gosh, was this awkward. "you wouldn't mind helping me practice for my match on saturday. Y-you know, if you're free later and you're not burnt out after practice." Hooo boy. That almost couldn't have come out worse. What was he even doing? Making an absolute fool of himself, and in front of his new team captain, to boot. What a way to torpedo your social life. He could feel his cheeks getting rosy again, despite his best efforts to fight it. Why couldn't he just say what he really meant to say. Was a "Hey I really wanna hang out with you again, wanna do something later?" so hard?

"Alright Yushiro, out with it. What's got you in such a knot that you're acting like this? Busted. Still, Yushiro made a last-ditch effort to throw his boss off. “Oh, you know… nothing really. Just kinda… daydreaming.” Totally bogus. Quite possibly the most transparent lie he’d ever told. “Daydreamers don’t muck up their work this badly. So I’ll ask again, what’s bothering you?” He sighed. “Sorry Jo, I just… I’ve got a lot on my mind lately, and to be honest, I don’t know what to do about it.” Being that frank about it didn’t make him feel any better, but Jo had a talent for prying honesty out of him. “That so?” Jo leaned onto the counter, an intrigued look on her face. “I don’t mind listening if you want to talk about it.” Want to talk about it? He hadn't even told his best friend about Liz yet. Liz. When had he started calling her that? Like they were good friends or something. No, better to just talk about something he knew Jo could help him with. “So I kinda got myself roped into a duel at the Kickoff Cup this weekend and, well… I’m pretty sure I’m toast. It’s gonna be in front of basically everyone, too.” “Then you need to train a lot, and just play your best.” Jo turned her attention away for a short moment, to deal with a customer that had come up looking for something to munch on. She took note of the order, and wrote it down. Turning to get started on the pretty simple meal, Jo continued “I used to get nervous before tournaments myself, when I dueled competitively. I still remember my first one like it was yesterday.” “That’s kinda why I’m worried about it. I’ve been training and well, I’ve lost pretty much every game I’ve played since.” He paused a moment. “I don’t know why it's bothering me so much, either. I never used to care about winning like this. Guess it's different when you’ve got a big audience.” “Hmmm… not as much as you’d think. Obviously you’re there to win, but as long as you treat it like just another duel and do your best, you can at least go home saying you tried if you end up losing. But don’t forget to train! You are training for this, right?” “Yeah. I am. Went out for duel team and everything. Got beat pretty bad during tryouts too.” “How bad are we talking here? I saw your duel the other week and you played to a tie. That’s a start.” Yushiro’s face went flush. “You saw that?” His tie against Hiraku wasn’t a game he was particularly proud of. “But uhh, I got decked. Totally outplayed.” Yushiro leaned back against the counter, awkwardly looking toward the roof of the truck for a moment. “I don’t think I’ve got the skills or the deck to cut it, honestly.” “Let’s see it then,” Jo insisted, holding out one hand as the other kept working on the food. “I’ve got a few extra cards lying around that might help you out if you need them.” Old cards from an old time. Jo didn’t duel enough to justify keeping them anymore anyway, though her actual deck wouldn’t be leaving her side quite that easily. He fished around in his pockets a bit before producing his deck box. “Jo you don’t need to do this, you know.” Stupid thing to say. Of course she didn’t need to help him out. The fact that she hadn't just fired him on the spot was a small miracle. “It’s fine; I don’t really duel all that often these days you know.” Jo thumbed her way through the deck, looking the cards over. “Mhm, mhm, mhm… I think I see the problem. You need something to win with.” Jo handed the deck back to Yushiro, before opening the little red box at her side, pulling out her own pile of cards. She went through, looking for something particular… there! She slid the corner of the card out a bit more, holding the pile out to Yushiro so he could pull the card out. “Try this one on for size.” Yushiro gingerly pinched the corner of the card and pulled it out. What immediately stood out to him was the name text: Gold in color. This thing was rare. “You sure you want to give me something like this?” he said as he read it over. Clear Wing Synchro Dragon, a level 7 dragon-type. It was sleek and fearsome looking; the kind of thing Yushiro expected Jo to keep in her extra deck back when she was a pro. “Even when I had it, I didn’t summon it that often. You’ll get way more mileage out of that card than me, so take good care of it." He nodded. “Thanks. You think this’ll be enough?” He came off a little apprehensive, despite his attempt to hide his nerves. Card games were usually what he used to de-stress, and one being the source of some of his worries was making it difficult to cope with everything else that was bugging him. “As long as you’re good about training and keeping the right plays in mind, yes.” “Here’s hoping it works.” He replied. Jo's eyes narrowed, and with a swift motion, snatched the card back out of Yushiro's hand. "Alright kiddo, spill it. What's really got you all out of sorts?" Yushiro blushed. Jo always saw right through him, or maybe she was just really good at getting him to drop his guard. Either way, there wasn't much point in hiding it. "Well.." he paused, trying to figure out a way to word it that didn't make him feel so embarrassed. "I started talking to this girl, and-" "Called it." Jo interrupted him, a coy smile appearing on her face. "So my little Yushiro's in looove is he?" She dragged the word out a little longer to tease him. "L-love?" His face was bright red now. "N-no its nothing like that-I-I m-mean i-it kinda is but its not that serious we only went out one time and it was just sorta casual you know we just dueled at coffecards it was no big deal." Jo giggled. "Don't be silly. Its a big deal to you if she's got you so flustered, right? So what's the matter? She turn you down for a second date?" Again, Jo was playing with him. Revenge for his poor performance this shift. "It went really well, actually." Yushiro looked away. The conversation was too awkward for him to make eye contact. " We dueled for like, three hours, and it was a lot of fun-even if she did beat me almost every time. Its just... She's way out of my league. I don't really know what I can do to impress her, so I've been trying this competitive dueling thing, but you know how that's going. So we haven't been talking to much for the past few days. I don't really know what to say to her." "Yushiro, you already did." "What?" "If this girl's so far out of your league, and she went out with you anyway, and you both had a good time, then you've already impressed her." "I... don't really follow you Jo." Jo groaned. "She's interested in YOU, dummy, not your dueling skills. You're a sweet boy, and believe it or not that's something girls actually like. I guarantee if you just ask her to hang out again, she'd be delighted. You giving her the silent treatment because you're nervous is only going to make her think you don't like her." Yushiro stayed quiet for a moment, mulling it over. Before he could speak again though, Jo put Clear Wing back into his hand. "And if you're still worried, let this guy give you some confidence." She gave Yushiro a reassuring look. "I know that whole heart of the cards thing's a big cliche, but telling myself that my deck had my back always helped me get over my anxieties before a game. Trust your cards, and trust yourself, ok? If you do that, you're gonna be just fine. No matter what happens." Yushiro nodded, his boss's point having gotten across. He gently slipped Clear Wing into his deck box, then went to get back to work. "Oh no you don't. I can't have you burning anymore food. You're free to go for today." 'You sure?" "I'm sure. Now get out of here before I decide to dock you an hour's pay, lover boy." The last comment was enough to shoo Yushiro out of the truck. A minute or so later, he was walking past the tables that were arranged in the vicinity of Fast Food when he heard a familiar voice saying something. "I know you don't want to talk about it… I'm familiar with that feeling. But when you're ready, or if you're ever hurting, I'm not exactly a therapist but I'd be glad to cook you a meal and cry with you.” It was Elizabeth, and from the sound of things it looked like she was having a heart-to-heart with... Hitomu- her opponent from the other week, and Yushiro's new team captain. Best to keep moving so as not to interrupt them. "Just do it, you idiot." The words rang out in his head as Yushiro felt himself almost automatically begin to walk toward them, and before long he was in plain view; there was no backing out now. Quickly, he came up with a way to insert himself into their conversation. "H-hey guys. Sorry if I interrupted something. Mind if I sit down? I uhh, actually wanted to ask you both some things."

Ah, a Cyndiquil. Hello Ollie." He said, smiling to the fire rat. He then released the pastry-craving bird, making sure to keep a hand on his leg. The Prehistoric Avian immediately cawed at his owner sadly, knowing that he had been caught. "This is Roc, an Archen. However, he is a rare Pokemon from even where I am from. He is a reborn fossil from the Prehistoric Age. This formerly fossilized bird is known to be the ancestor of all birds. He just so happens to have a sweet tooth, which is is why he had been trying to fly to the bakery just behind you. I didn't know back then they had rock candy. Get it? "Roc" Candy? Huh? Huh? Trey stared back blankly at Emile, the other trainer's joke having made the same impact on him as a bouncy ball would to a wall of concrete. "Sorry, bad jokes are kind of my thing. So, Trey, where are you from and what are you going to do, other than the whole reason we were sent here?" "Sunnyshore city in Sinnoh my man. Best beaches in the whole region. And as for why I'm here, that's easy." Trey punctuated his statement by flashing his new badge case. "I'm here to take on the pokemon league. How about you man?"

And so it was that the students of Blue Yonder had found their way into their school clubs and extracurriculars. Friendships began, and bonds were formed. In the months to come, they'd all remember carefree days like this fondly; days when the weight of the world wasn't on their shoulders. Soon, events that they could never have predicted would be set in motion, and the fate of everything and everyone they knew would hinge on the decisions they made, and the cards they played..... Ending theme ----- “Good morning darling. How are you feeling today?” The blonde-haired boy asked, taking a seat on a stool next to her bedside. “In great pain, reeling from the sting of defeat, and hardly able to stand on my own for more than a few moments. But I can stand, and walk. I won’t be laying like this much longer.” “A good day, then. Marvelous. I’ve got more news for you if you’d like to hear it.” He shuffled around a bit on the stool, inching closer to her as he did so. “I would. Please, tell me all about it.” “I found one of them. Finally. It’s in the hands of one of my classmates.” “You found one!?” she exclaimed in surprise, sitting up straight in her bed. Her fingers tapped against her legs eagerly, making a set of small clinking sounds on her right side. The look of surprise was only there for a short moment though, before returning to its icy, neutral state. “Good work. I knew I could count on you. So, which school are we looking at in this sad little city?” “My first choice was the correct one. Blue Yonder Academy, they call it. Wasn’t much of a surprise. They love to duel there.” He paused a moment, then sat up and gingerly grabbed her left hand, holding it in both of his. “But work isn’t really what’s on my mind today.” A tender smile appeared on his face, which conveyed the rest of the thought to her adequately enough. “A bit of fresh air would be nice, yes. Let’s go, darling.” He felt his cheeks warm for a moment. It wasn’t very often that she called him that, especially lately. Today was definitely a good day. He leaned over the girl's small frame, tucking one of his arms underneath her knees, and the other behind her shoulders, so as to cradle her body when he lifted her up. She was heavier these days, but not so much that this was a problem for him. He’d made sure to stay in shape. “One day soon, I’ll be holding your hand instead while you walk on your own two feet, but for now this will have to do. I hope you don’t mind too much.” Opening Theme Episode 4: Feather and Flame ------- Today was the day he'd decided on. Locating her again wasn't too difficult; just a matter of simple deduction. Now, all that was left was to make an appropriate entrance. One that was provocative enough. The die had been cast, and he couldn't back down now. Thankfully, an opportunity presented itself soon enough as he spied the girl walking alone on campus. With a flourish, Raven descended from his perch, landing rather theatrically but a few feet in front of Kyouko and tipping his hat to her in greeting. "Ahh the lovely miss Kyouko. I trust you've been preparing for our duel? Or perhaps, maybe, you were hoping I'd forgotten about it over the past week?" Taunting the girl known for her violent temper perhaps wasn't the best plan, but it was sure to work. --- It had been almost a week since tryouts, and the warm September weather was beginning to wane as October approached. Yushiro had always hated this time of year, very much preferring seeing green on the trees and enjoying the sun. These days though, he didn't have much time to lament the weather. There was a lot more on his mind. For starters, his deck. It was clearly inadequate, as his lucky draw with Hiraku and the absolute thrashings that both Elizabeth and Jun had given him plainly showed. Weeks ago, it wouldn't have mattered all that much to him, but recently he'd found himself playing duel monsters for more than just the fun of it, and when something was actually at stake, losing hurt a lot more. He'd been trying to tweak it some in his free time, but the current build wasn't at all satisfying to him. There was more than just the cards, too. His texts to Elizabeth had become less frequent, and he hadn't seen the girl in person since tryout day. Part of it, he was acutely aware, was his own fault. He didn't really know what all to talk to her about over a text conversation, and, embarrassingly, he was too nervous to ask her to hang out again, not without at least improving his game (both duel monsters and otherwise) some. He hadn't told Akira about any of this yet, either. Mostly out of fear that his best friend would somehow make things even more awkward for him, good intentions or no. Still, mulling over it all internally wasn't getting him very far. All of this was running through his head as he flipped burgers during another shift with Jo at Fast Food. Yushiro was lucky that the lunch rush was over for the day: he wasn't focusing on work very hard and would never have been able to keep up with the volume. Still, even with things being slow, the amount of overly well-done patties coming off the griddle clearly showed that he wasn't focused on his work, and Jo could almost certainly tell that something was up with the boy. At last, things in the food truck came to a head as the smell of charred beef wafted up toward the cash register where Jo was counting her money, and Yushiro snapped out of his train of thought just in time to see his boss glaring at him. He gulped audibly.

"Jeez... she really went all out didn't she." Trey had spent the last few minutes going through the large cardboard box that had materialized out of his PC item storage. It was filled with various things from Jasmine: potions, full heals, an escape rope, even oran and tomato berries for Ollie (how thoughtful of her!), but what really stood out was the badge case: red-orange in color (Trey's favorite), but clearly made from some kind of high quality, durable metal. It contained foam cutouts for storing each of Johto's eight gym badges, and was emblazoned with the symbol of the Pokemon League on its hinged lid. Trey had never seen one like it before; the ones carried by Sunnyshore Gym challengers he'd met were usually blue plastic things with covers that slid off. Jasmine must have had it custom ordered from the Johto league, or Arceus-forbid made it herself with some of her Steelix's alloys. It was so nice he almost felt embarrassed about carrying it. Gym leaders certainly didn't do things by halves, did they? "Guess we really do owe her big time, huh Ollie?" Trey said, looking down at his partner who was currently in the empty box, half eaten berry in his paw. "Well, we should get going. Finish up your snack and lets book it." The Cyndaquil nodded, shoving what was left of the Tomato berry into his mouth and hopping up onto his trainer's shoulder, using the bench he'd been sitting on as a springboard. Trey picked up the box, tossed it in a bin, and made his way toward the door. They hadn't made it very far out of the pokemon center when Trey caught sight of something in his peripheral vision. He turned just in time to catch a glimpse of a flying pokemon diving straight at his head. Reflexively, Trey closed his eyes and ducked down, which threw a surprised Ollie off his shoulder, landing the poor Cyndaquil on his back in the dirt. After a few moments however, having felt no impact, Trey looked back up to find a boy about his age looking at him instead. "Oh my gosh, I apologize for my bird. He can get unruly at times." He stuck out his hand. "My name is Emile." Without hesitating at all, Trey grabbed the hand, gripping it firmly, and shook it. "Name's Trey. And that's Ollie." He said, gesturing to his partner, who's back was now alight with flames and who was definitely not very happy. "Nice to meetcha. What kinda bird is he?" For a moment, Trey's attention was drawn back to the pokemon center, specifically the sight of another guy rolling what had to be a substantially lazy wailmer through the doorway, but then an angry jab to the back of his calf brought his attention back. "Dude, Ollie, I get it bro, sorry for throwing you off, but next time hang on a little tighter and you won't wipe out." Ollie crossed his front paws over his chest and let out a "Qui!" that passed for a cyndaquil version of a "hmph".

"And you are?" Aston was taken slightly aback. Usually, girls didn't immediately seek him out. There was often a waiting period. Upon further examination, she didn't appear to be human, either. Some sort of alien; her skin was grey. Before he could reply though, there was another pang in his head; he'd overestimated his endurance for the day. Reflexively, Aston shrunk away, putting some distance between himself and the steadily growing crowd of his fellow students. Luckily, it seemed that another student, who was also non-human had mistakenly believed the girl was talking to him, and answered for him. Perfect cover. A few moments later, Aston was back in the corner of the library; far enough away that things were tolerable for the moment. Really, he should have left by now, but his frustration at the prospect of wasting another day was making him stubborn, and he had resolved to power on through all the myriad signals he was getting from everyone around him for as long as he could. Maybe he'd even introduce himself if he could just reign things in for a minute or two.

The voice of Roger Parsons narrates. Everyone has a dream that fills their heart; a journey they must take, a destiny to fulfill. As close as your imagination exists a magical place, where wondrous creatures with incredible powers help make dreams come true. This is the world of pokemon. Here, pokemon and humans live in harmony. Some keep pokemon as pets, while others, known as pokemon trainers, compete with them in amazing contests of skill and strategy. Whether they battle, perform, race, or compete, all trainers and their pokemon hope to one day be the best, and become pokemon masters. This dream burns brighter than most in the hearts of five young people. Emile Birou, Trey Joule, Olivia Fournier, Jin Takenaga, and Kahurangi, all beginning their journeys as pokemon trainers at the same time. As they each make their way to Cherrygrove city, none of them realize that their destinies are intertwined, or that they're in for the adventure of a lifetime. BGM "Hey bro. You told me to call you when I got here, soooooo...." Trey Joule leaned in toward the vidphone's screen so that Volkner could hear him more clearly. The pokemon center was extra lively this morning, between the usual trainer traffic and all of the TIP participants who had arrived to pick up their GPS spikes from the MapCo representative. The background noise wasn't helping the already shaky reception from Sunnyshore City. "Wow, I'm kinda surprised you actually remembered. The regional ferry ride wasn't too bad was it?" "It was pretty smooth. We even got a good view of Alto Mare when we crossed the lagoon." "You should stop by there when you get a chance. Its a really cool town. Oh, forgot to tell you! I told Jas you were coming and so she put together a little care package for you. Its in your PC box." "What?! Duuuude you told her I was coming to Johto?" Trey groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Its not like I was gonna keep it a secret from her. Besides, she's gonna see you in Olivine eventually anyway." "Ughhh duuude this is so lame. Its bad enough I have to battle your girlfriend for a gym badge in the first place. The least you could do is save me from the big sis act." "Sorry, no can do pipsqueak. I'll tell her you said thanks for the gear though." "Yeah, yeah. You do that." "There's a little something from me in there too, by the way." "That's not like you. Did she rope you in too?" "Nahh, Its just a little present to commemorate your journey. You gotta promise me something though." "What's that?" "You can't open it until you've earned your first badge. Deal? It'll ruin it if you do." "Sure, sure. I'll leave Jasmine's stuff in there with it to keep it some company." "Trey come on get over it- oh crap the Gym's got a challenger. Hey I've gotta go." "Don't sweat it Volk I'll make sure I thank her myself when I get to Olivine. Don't make it easy for 'em ok?" "Not a chance. And hey you better not lose to Jasmine. It'll make us look bad." "Yeah sure whatever. Catch you on the flip side." With that, Trey hung up, and turned back around to face his cyndaquil, who'd been sitting on the bench behind him, listening intently. "Well Ollie, we're officially on our own. You ready to go do Johto?" "Quiiil!" "That's the spirit bro. We've got our stakes, so all we needa do is get everything squared away and hit the road!" Trey paused, craning his neck to follow a cute girl with a skitty for a moment. "Couldn't hurt to get acquainted with the locals a bit first though. Maybe ask about the sights? Whaddya think?" "Qui-Quiiiiil!" Ollie nodded in the affirmative, though really he was just eager to do something other than stand still. If he was lucky, they might even find themselves a battle before they left town.

" Hi Yushiro!" A familiar voice caught Yushiro's attention, and as he turned his head he saw Elizabeth as she waved. Well this was unexpected. "Looks like you got dragged into doing tryouts eh? Why isn't the Captain doing this, anyway? I know he's at work and all, but I thought this would be a mandatory duty of his." "Dragged" wasn't exactly the word, but Yushiro wasn't about to admit that he'd tried out to impress her. "Hey!" He replied. "Yeah.... sooorta. I figured I'd see how I measured up, you know?" He glanced over in Jun's direction for a moment. "Turns out I've got quite a lot of improving to do." "Well the captain's busy handling another tryout elsewhere." Jun cut in, making over-exaggerated hand gestures and suddenly becoming more emphatic tone, she followed saying, "one for a great and powerful and dark princess no less!" Chuckling to herself briefly, the girl then said, "but, he left me with the all important task of manning the fort and and holding back the floodgates against all applicants. Of course, I've only tested Shiro here so far and," she paused for a moment as if trying to figure out what to say before going, "well, he made at the very least." That was.... very considerate of her, actually. A more honest appraisal of things would probably have gone "Well, he's awful, but he's a good kid so I let him make the team." Not exactly flattering. It was beginning to look like Jun was more in tune with things than she first appeared to be, and Yushiro was internally thankful for it. Before Jun could say anything else, she then was pushed forward as the familiar sensation of a tackle hug came from behind. Though the voice was confirmation as to who it was, Jun was fairly certain she knew who it was before it came out, giggling to herself with a smile on her face saying, "hey there Suji." After that, the girls seemed to peel off into their own little crowd, which over the next few minutes appeared to grow as other people Yushiro wasn't familiar with came out of the woodwork. This put Yushiro a little on edge: he wasn't really good with crowds of strangers and the lingering fear that someone would bring up his poor dueling performance was also nagging at him. Unconsciously, he shuffled a little closer to Beth and familiarity. "Yep, got a kid into the duel team and got a friend to meet a super star. Two dreams in one day, you did good Jun, you did good." Yushiro rolled his eyes and let out a "Pff" in exaggerated fashion, trying to play things off in front of all the girls (and a single guy in wearing a fedora, and Yushiro thought he was a dork) like he wasn't nervous. Not that anyone, save maybe Beth and some one he recognized in the background as her friend Ashley, was actually paying attention to him. Better safe than sorry though.

"nm...nmn..n.." His head was burning again. There were too many people, too close together. Even through the walls Aston Ainsley could feel what they were feeling; nervousness and excitement, but also boredom, sadness, and even a twinge of lust: his absolute least favorite (feeling someone else's jollies affect your own mood was quite possibly the most unnerving sensation he'd ever experienced). He knew it was going to be a bad day when he woke up feeling manic: a telltale sign that he'd been feeling the emotions of every dreaming person within a 50 foot radius of his bed, and that had, as it always did, given way to the burning within an hour or so as the rest of the students awoke and went about their days; feeling more normal, everyday things that put a far greater strain on him. Reflexively, Aston rubbed the four rings on his fingers in sequence, left to right, with his thumbs, and that cooled the pain in his temples slightly. The plan was to stay in his room all day, and hopefully avoid this, but obviously that ship had sailed, like it had yesterday, and the day before- he hated transport ships. With no other choice, Aston sat back up, and walked out of his room. If he was going to suffer, he might as well suffer with some company. --- Sometime later, Aston found himself in the library. Social spaces like this often made for the best vantage points from which to feel people, and if Aston focused hard enough he could tell who was experiencing what, and sometimes even toward whom. The easiest was, of course, when a girl (or occasionally a guy) looked his way, and as the gears turned in their heads and their instincts came alive he'd get a pang in his chest and a little heat in his temples. Other times someone would be angry, and the thoughts that most people keep to themselves would be running through their head, and a painful cold sensation would flash over him. Today though, the vibes were good- normal; boring. He could handle it, at least for a little while. After a few moments basking in the sea of banality, a twinge of annoyance caught Aston's attention, and he turned his head just in time to catch some girl scolding a guy wearing... was that a gas mask? And Aston thought he was a weirdo. "Excuse me, that mask. You know all illnesses need to be reported to the staff correct? Do you have the clearance to be around others right now?" Then something peculiar happened. Another girl appeared from his peripheral vision and interjected in the conversation- not weird in and of itself, but the fact that Aston noticed her, not felt her, immediately stood out to him. His senses hadn't worked that way in years. "If he was ill, wouldn't he more likely be in bed or something? And those aren't even the types of masks people wear when they're sick. His would be better for a gas leak or landing on a planet with a toxic atmosphere." Slowly, and as subtly as he could, Aston inched his way closer to the three of them, his curiosity piqued.

Accepted. Annnd that’s a full roster! Expect an IC within the week.

Both accepted

Interest noted. Still bummed that the post apocalypse didnt take off last time

I’d be into some maverick hunting I suppose. Assuming i have time

Accepted

I literally feel you, man.

“Allright, Draw!” Yushiro took a second to look over his hand. The card he drew hadn't changed the move he wanted to make. “First up, I’ll activate my set trap: That Six!” The card’s hologram flipped up, and out of the art came a large mechanical contraption, cartoonishly leaking puffs of steam and not looking all that stable. “Oh? Dice rolling? That’s something new.” “You should get used to it. Now, next up, I’ll normal summon this: Speedroid Ohajikid!” On cue, the monster appeared, tipping its hat to Jun. “When Ohajikid’s summoned, I can special summon a tuner from my graveyard, and use it for a synchro summon.” Yushiro fished Tri-eyed dice out of his grave. “Three plus three is six, so I’m gonna drop a level six synchro monster. Place your bets, ‘cuz I’m summoning Hi-Speedroid Kendama in attack mode!” As Yushiro spoke, the synchro rings appeared around ohajikid, and in a flash of light, Kendama appeared, its lance aimed squarely at the Wyrms opposing it. ATK: 2200 “Next, I’m activating Kendama’s special ability! By banishing the panchingo-kart in my graveyard, I can inflict 500 points of damage directly to you, Juju. Sorry if it hurts a bit!” Kendama charged past Jun’s monsters and poked her in the gut with its lance, just hard enough for it to be mildly unpleasant. LP: 8000 -> 7500 “I’m not done yet, though. I’ve still got a battle phase, too, and in it I’ll destroy Suanni. Kendama, you ready?” Kendama responded with a lightning quick 360 degree spin; it was raring to go. “Good. No go get ‘em!” Again, the armored top was off, and it stabbed through the fiery wyrm at a much higher speed than it had hit its master. “Oh no, my Suanni! But, it’s a shame about your synchro monster too Shiro.” As she jokingly feigned danger, while the dragon had been speared through, there seemed to be a large collection of flames burning down Kendama. “Because, I activate my trap card, Yang Zing Brutality. So, during a battle, a Yang Zing of mine doubles its attack, but it also gets destroyed once the battle is over.” ATK: 1900 → 3800 As the attack values changed, the flames expanded, destroying both Suanni and Kendama. LP: 7900->6300 Yushiro grimaced. It was a surprisingly good move, and he’d walked right into it. This was gonna be a hard game. “Wow… guess I had that one coming. That’s the end of my turn, unfortunately.” Smiling to herself, she said, “well, sadly before your turn is over, because of Supply Squad, when a monster of mine is destroyed I get to draw a card. And, when Suanni is destroyed I can bring a Yang Zing monster from my deck onto the field in defense mode. And, I guess when a Yang Zing of mine is destroyed, Chiwen can also come back from the grave too.” “Seriously!?” Yushiro hadn't seen a play of his turned completely around so quickly in a long time. “I know, aren’t my wyrms awesome? Yes you are,” she gave a bit of a cooing noise as she pet Bixi still on the field. “Anyway, I bring out Bi’an, Earth of the Yang Zing and Chiwen onto the field. Now then, my turn. Draw!” Looking at the cards in her hand the girl seemed very happy, humming to herself as she looked at her hand. “Well, Shiro, did you know the fun thing about Chiwen. It’s also a tuner. How lucky am I to get to test a fellow Synchro user?” With her smile only growing wider she declared, “now, with the level 1 Chiwen I tune it with the Level 2 Bixi and Level 3 Bi’an.” The light wyrm moved into the sky, turning into a single ring of golden light as the two other Yang Zings turned into glowing spheres of Blue and Brown respectively. “Drake beneath the reef, bring a great deluge with you. Synchro Summon! Come forth, Level 6, Coral Dragon!” A giant column of light shone where the ring and spheres had been, revealing an orange and gold coral covered dragon in their place. ATK: 2400 “Sadly, when Chiwen is summoned from the grave, it’s banished when it leaves the field. But, it’s sacrifice will be well worth it! Now, I activate Coral Dragon’s effect, allowing me to discard a card from my hand, to target one card you control and destroy it. Sadly, I’ll be getting rid of your dice roller.” Discarding a second Bixi from her hand, the dragon roared as it shot out a gout of water towards Yushiro’s revealed trap card. It got soaked, and almost instantly short circuited and exploded, covering Yushiro in some soot. “Awww, gross. Gotta remember to make it cleaner next time.” “Well don’t worry Shiro, because Coral Dragon will clean you right up. Go!” At the command of the owner, the dragon took in yet another deep breath, before firing yet another gout of water, though, this time directly at Yushiro himself. “Can we no-” his sentence was lost amid a stream of gurgles as the water went in his mouth and covered the rest of him. LP: 6300 → 3900 “See, all better.” Flashing a grin and a thumbs up, Jun finished saying, “and I’ll just set one card and one monster face down and end my turn.”

I hate myself for doing it but hey, here I am. Fuck.

Accepted

Trey & Ollie

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