Pokemon: Mind and Soul [IC / PG / Not Accepting / Co-Hosted by Skaia]

[Skaia 578]

Getting excited as the others of her team had come to aid her, the girl reached down for her own pokeball as the thug had seemed ready to fight them as well. Seeing that the enemy was a fire type pokemon, Jacklyn had figured that sending out another fire type probably wasn't the way to go. After all, Rus only ever used ember, and so Jacklyn didn't want think it would work out well. As such, pulling out her other pokeball the girl shouted, "alright, let's do it Cherry!" Throwing her pokeball, the girl sent out the bunneary, the latter of which seemed to pumped and ready to fight once again. 

Looking at it, though, the Buneary suddenly came to term with two things. One, it was yet another bird she had to fight today. Two, it was far more frightening than the birds  she had taken on just a few hours ago. Startled by its stern look, the Buneary took a step back and looked to Jacklyn with a look of concern on its face. "Bu?"

"Don't worry Cherry." The girl gave a thumbs up to her buneary, "there's no way we'll let a bird like that beat us. We got this! Especially if we all work as...a team..." The girl trailed off as she saw Belle fail to catch her pokeball yet again. The girl mumbled, "we'll work on your form later." Turning her attention back to her own pokemon, the girl said, "alright Cherry let's go! Use Pound!" With a nod, the Buneary began to charge forward, only for the Fletchinder to begin moving flapping its wings and prepare to strike. At its trainers orders, the Fletchinder soon zoomed forward with a Quick Attack towards Cherry. 

Edited November 16, 2019 by Skaia

[reparoni 161]

 

---

"The hell's that suppose to mean!?" Ivan barked, clenching his fists. "I ain't doin squat, punk!" The nerve of this guy to say something like that. The fact that he knew why only made his more upset. Still, it seemed as if they had a Pokemon battle on their hands, as the punk let out his Fletchinder. He watched as his fellow teammates pulled out their Pokemon and took on the bird in a 2v1. Ivan reached for one of his before stopping himself. The thought of going in on a 3v1 like this felt wrong. He knew it did, because he had done it many times before - it was one of the ways to make up for his weakness as a trainer, he'd get some Team Skull grunts and gang up on someone. However, as Belle fumbled around with her Pokeball and as he noticed how much stronger their foe seemed, he let out an annoyed sigh.

"Aw, to hell with it." He said, tossing out a Pokeball. "Go, Don!" The Murkrow emerged from the ball, taking a second to get a good look at its new surroundings. There was a strange rabbit, a rat, and a rather menacing looking bird. "Peck the bird!" Ivan said, pointing at his foe. Murkrow's attention snapped to the other bird and, with a mischievous grin, nodded its head before darting towards Fletchinder, slamming it with a Peck.

[yui 574]

Location: Road Outside Skrelp Harbor
Poké: 1,000

"R-really? You'd have me along just like that? Thank you so much! You dont know what this means to-"

You're right. I don't. This Korova adventure must have been real important to Milla, then. Kanon would be lying if she said the same of herself - she could just as well explore Hoenn instead - but she was already here now, so seeing it through felt more like a principle thing. Not to mention her own curiosity about the region.

"I look forward to travelling with you."

"Likewise."

And then there was the question Nomi posed. The question of where this trio-gone-duo-gone-back-to-trio was going. Well, that much was obvious. Kanon pointed back to the road, away from Skrelp Harbor that they'd just left. "We take this route to the next city, of course. And if we find something interesting along the way, we check it out! Let's get going. We can get to know each other as we walk and talk." Without much else to contribute to this conversation, Kanon started back to the road, turning on her heel to face the other girls. Continuing on backwards, Kanon asked "Where are you two from, anyway?"

[LordCowCow 839]

"Tch, three on one. This day turned out to be such a pain." The grunt said. The Fletchinder was struck by Jacklyn's Buneary and countered in return with Quick Attack. Even as the Pokemon pulled back to attack again it was hit with a Peck from Ivan's Pokemon.

"Oh come on...Get back, and up, then hit em with an Ember!" The Fletchinder flew backwards and spat out several volleys of flames at the opposing Pokemon. Small cinders that shot out in a spray from the bird's beak.

"Now Growl!" He followed the attack up with an intimidating chirp.

Spoiler

Remember you can do some actions for the grunt yourself too, my additions will likely be fairly small overall.

---

"I look forward to travelling with you."

Naomi wondered what the girl expected. What did traveling with a group really mean? It only just hit her that this is the most she'd been around people in basically ever. Was there something to it?

"We take this route to the next city, of course. And if we find something interesting along the way, we check it out! Let's get going. We can get to know each other as we walk and talk."

"Oh....mkay den." Naomi muttered and started to shamble after the other girl. They didn't get far before Naomi started to slump and, before reaching the edge of the city, Princess emerged from her ball and stood next to her.

She smiled and slumped over Princess's back, squirming until she was laying fully across, and the Rhyhorn let out a grunt.

Then, just noticing the new addition, Princess turned towards Milla and Rondo. She didn't do much and instead just examined them for a while before following after Kanon.

"Where are you two from, anyway?"

The question gave Naomi pause. What was the name again? She remembered the sign...."Laverre. Kalos. Lotsa mushrooms." She nodded, holding onto Princess, as they left the city.

---

The initial route out of the city was rather plain. There wasn't even any tall grass. However this only lasted for several minutes of travel before the route split off in two directions. To the right, southward, was what appeared to be a blockade. If anyone were to try and go that way several people in uniform would stop them. Warning that the way beyond was home to many strong Pokemon, too strong for those without several gym badges to deal with, and turned them away.

The other way was the true Route 103.

An incredibly warm route, in some places greatly, which ran alongside of a vast desert called The Soundless Barrens. As the group traveled along the route they would find frequent stands set up along the route. Selling cold water to stave off the heat. As well as hats and parasols to keep away the sun.

Spoiler

Welcome to route 103! As always the info I give is more general and not necessarily everything. For instance wild Pokemon can vary more than I say. This is to give an idea of what to expect.

You may battle trainers, or catch Pokemon, or battle wild Pokemon, just let me know.

Also, I'm gonna need to know if you all are gonna just go into the desert, go through the route for a while first, or go to the next town before the desert, and such.

Trainers: Various Youngsters and Lasses with common early Pokemon and some Fire types. Various athlete trainer classes as well.

Encounters: Fletchling, 20%. Vulpix, 15%. Litleo, 15%. Exeggcute, 15%. Numel, 10%. Doduo, 10%. Magby, 5%. Tangela, 5%. Ponyta, 5%.

 

[Doggo 218]

With both girls agreeing to her joining them, Milla found herself with a team once more. Her journey could continue after all! The next time she called home it would be to happily report on her progress rather than tell her parents she was coming home. Kanon seemed to be the leader of the two new teammates and she led the group on towards the next route to the next city. Rondo stayed happily in Millas arms for a few minutes before wiggling about some; basically he was asking to be let down. This Milla complied with and the Sneasel walked alongside her, though ever so slightly ahead of her as he ever wanted to be the first to jump into action. It was cute to his trainer so she never protested. She was surprised however when one of Nomi's pokemon, a Rhyhorn, emerged from its pokeball. Nomi seemed to want to either nap on it or ride it, or perhaps both. Regardless, there was something cute about it all. Milla found it interesting to learn where the Rhyhorn-rider was from. Laverre in the Kalos region. The only detail offered was that there were lots of mushrooms. A melody floated into the girl's mind as a scene of a town sitting atop a forest of massive mushrooms came into focus. She didn't have long to focus on it as she realized it would be her turn to answer the question.

"Oh... Well it's not than interesting a place. Or is it interesting places." she said voicing her own thought process on the matter. There was an obvious answer but then several less obvious from when her family had moved a lot during her early childhood. Was any of that interesting? She very much doubted it. What was a boring old city full of dragon-type trainers to a magical mushroom kingdom? But they would be expecting an answer no doubt. "Um... home's Blackthorn City, in Johto."  she finally said after wondering if there were any extraordinary details to add to it. "But more importantly, where are you from Kanon?" she asked with a genuine curiosity. She hoped it was another fantastical sounding place. It would serve to distract from the ever increasing heat as they progressed along into the route.

[Skaia 578]

Jacklyn grimaced as Cherry was very clearly out matched in the oomph of the attacks displayed. All the same, she called out, "alright Cherry, let's keep it going. Pump yourself up for round two!" The Buneary pumped its ear into the air as it shouted out excitedly as well, only to then immediately lose its gusto as a few balls of fire made their way towards the pokemon. Immediately defense curling in response, it naturally did nothing and Cherry was simply pushed back by the fire. Though clearly in pain from the attack, the Buneary seemed ready to continue fighting as the bird growled at them. Looking towards the Buneary yet again, the flaming bird flapped its wings a bit before diving at them for yet another quick attack. 

As the bird sped forward, Jacklyn just shouted, "alright Cherry go! Jump at him!" Confused at the order but going with it all the same, the Buneary jumped up and avoided the quick attack, only to land on the Fletchinder's back. The bird, low to the ground before, had its stomach smash into the ground with the sudden wait being forced onto it, only to begin to pull back up. This, however, proved to be a struggle in of itself as Cherry was still on board holding onto it, more out of fear of falling then anything else. "Yeah, way to go!" 

[yui 574]

Location: Route 103
Poké: 1,000

"Laverre. Kalos. Lotsa mushrooms."

A Kalos girl, was she? Kanon wasn't really sure if that explained anything or not, but she'd heard nice things about the region before. She'd always considered it worth a visit. Speaking of places worth visiting, the desert seemed worth visiting. And also out of bounds for Kanon and her motley crew of newbie trainers. Quite a shame. As she and the other girls continued down the road, making their way to Route 103, Kanon noticed it was quite warm. One could even call it hot. Now, Kanon was used to a few sorts of conditions, most of them tropical. She could take on the kind of humidity that made the air feel more like hot broth no problem, but dry heats were not a sensation she was familiar with. And as the heat increased the more the girls continued down the route, the more Kanon was not comfortable with it.

Enough so that by the time Milla provided Kanon with an answer, the Hoenn girl was already reaching for the top buttons of her raincoat.

"Um... home's Blackthorn City, in Johto. But more importantly, where are you from Kanon?"

"Fortree City," Kanon answered, undoing each button from the top in turn, and revealing the t-shirt and miniskirt underneath. She then removed the raincoat from her body entirely, slinging it over her shoulder as she continued down the road. No, this still was uncomfortable. It was her legs. Sitting down and removing the long rubber boots as well, Kanon continued "It's in the Hoenn Region. It rains a lot, and the houses are up in the trees. You get a lot of chances to have run-ins with wild pokemon there, too, and all the climbing up and down is good exercise."

Wet, humid, and full of green. So basically, the exact opposite of this place. Those water stands would probably be worth a visit. Especially if the group ventured off into...

Pointing over into the vast desert, Kanon asked "You ever had an adventure off the beaten path before, Milla?" Somehow, Kanon got the feeling that Princess would appreciate a trip through the desert too.

[Sethera 290]

The Rattata was furious.

Ever since he was a little rat pup, he had known that he was better than the others. The other pups were content to do nothing but eat and lie around all day, but he knew that there had to be more to life than that. He wasn't like the others. He was better.

With ambition gnawing a hole in his body that even food couldn't fill, he had fought and climbed his way to the top of the rat pack. There, he had led his pack against other Rattata, killing those who resisted and letting those who surrendered join his group. Each time, he thought it'd fill the hole, but each time, it did nothing more than make it bigger. Eventually, this drove him to higher and loftier goals, and he started to attack human beings as well.

The other Rattata weren't sure about that. Human beings were dangerous, they'd told him. They would either beat their fellow Rattata up until they were bloody and unconscious, or trap them inside brightly-colored balls. But he knew that no matter how dangerous they were, he would be more dangerous yet. He was the chief Rattata, the rat king, and someday, he would stand at the top of a pile of corpses and servants, and then, then maybe, he would fill that maddening hole in his body. That hole that wanted more.

Except then he was captured by one of the humans he had attacked. All of the others before her had run away or been defeated, forced to give up their food to the rat pack, but she had had the audacity to capture him instead. A human, his owner? His master? What a laugh.

No mere human could ever be his master.

Because he was the Rattata of Rattata. The one that stood at the peak of the garbage pile.

The top percentage.

And he wouldn't let this human get her way.

So as soon as he was released, he attacked. The human, that is. Not the other, unimportant humans, no, he attacked the human. The one that had made such a fool of him back at his territory, and forced him inside that strangely comfortable ball.

The Rattata jumped up, scrambling up her clothes toward her face. The face was the weakest part of a human being. That or the juncture between their legs, but he'd found only certain human beings reacted to that. No, for female humans, they reacted the most when their face was targeted.

The human was trying to get him off, tugging at his body, but he dug his little rat claws in stubbornly and continued to climb.

He would show her who the real king was.

Edited November 24, 2019 by Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd

[reparoni 161]

 

---

"Don!" Ivan shouted at his Murkrow was struck with the Ember. The dark bird, caught off guard by the attack, seemed like they were still fine, although the ember had done a number. He shuttered at the bird growled at the, Ivan simply nodded, pointing his finger at the other bird while Cherry was attacking it. "Follow her up with that... er... oh, Pursuit!" He shouted. brninging some confusion to Don for a second. Still, he understood the order and, with a nod of his head, dived back into the fray, surrounding itself in dark energy and a sharp eye, in case the Fletchinder decided to make a break for it.

[LordCowCow 839]

"Um... home's Blackthorn City, in Johto."

Naomi didn't know much about that place. The name sounded like something in a book. It brought to mind magic and castles and dragons. Naomi spoke up with the first thought that came to mind. "S'Rondo a Dragon?"

"It's in the Hoenn Region. It rains a lot, and the houses are up in the trees. You get a lot of chances to have run-ins with wild pokemon there, too, and all the climbing up and down is good exercise."

Meanwhile Kanon was from somewhere that sounded downright awful. If you were up in a tree and went to bed wouldn't you just fall to the ground? "S'that why you don't sleep much?" Naomi asked.

She wasn't sure about the question. The beaten path. The desert looked pretty beaten up to her.

Thinking about it, wasn't it really warm here? Her clothes were meant to help her stay warm but this was getting a bit much. Squirming she started to take her jacket off. She just let it fall and Princess, moving her head, caught the article of clothing on one of the spikes along their head.

Naomi got it in her mind that she should probably try and battle some other trainers. She was supposed to get stronger right? That's what her Pokemon wanted.

Unfortunately most of the trainers on the route they passed, when they looked at the Rhyhorn she rode, completely denied the battle.

Until an athlete, with a Timburr, decided to give it a try.

Naomi rolled off the side of Princess and barely managed to avoid landing face first. Then she sent Princess in. With the jacket still hanging off of her.

Spoiler

So while y'all do w/e and decide to do stuff Naomi is gonna be doing a battle. It doesn't mean you can't move on since it's not something that'll last but just didn't want to do nothing.

---

"Come on come on, shake it off!" The thug called out. Fletchinder tried to swerve back and forth but Cherry seemed to be holding on still. Even as the Murkrow came in from the side and attacked.

Which caused the Fletchinder to hit the ground again. "Ahhhh, oh I got it. Quick Attack the other bird, forget that bunny on top of ya!"

The Fletchinder gave a chirp and, struggling, turned towards the Murkrow and took off at high speed, with Cherry having to hold on to try and keep up, to slam into Ivan's Murkrow.

The thug noticed Belle's trouble with her Pokemon and seemed to be startled. "Uhhh, someone...gonna stop that Rattata from eating that girl or nah?"

Spoiler

Not much but another reminder that you can control some of the thug's actions too in your posts.

 

[Doggo 218]

Nomi must have had some idea of what Blackthorn City was like. It's dragon-type focus was pretty well known so her asking if Rondo was a dragon could have been a subtle reference to that. It was almost enough to make her giggle in response. But the way it was asked, Milla had to wonder if it wasn't just an honest question. Rather than assume it was a joke it seemed better to clarify.

"He's a weasel... but wouldn't he be adorable with little wings?" she said as she looked lovingly down at her partner who was walking at her side. He flexed in response though whether this was to say he was cool enough already or was him pretending what it'd be like to have them Milla couldn't say. Her attention swiftly shifted to Kanon as she explained she was from Fortree City in Hoenn.

"That sounds lovely. The constant white noise in a picturesque forest..." she mused aloud as a tune for another city she'd never been to came to mind. It sounded like it would be a very comforting place. Where one could do a lot of deep thought and reflection with relative ease. The heat was continuing to rise which only made any attempt at deep thought here harder. She followed her new teammates in like fashion and removed her long outer jacket, fully revealing the white top she had on underneath. It left most of her shoulders and neck uncovered but it did ultimately have sleeves that helped hold it up. With her coat put away with some neat folding into her backback, Milla flicked her rather long hair off her neck and back a few times before untying the yellow ribbon on her head. She gathered her together into one hand and tied the ribbon around it to form a singular large ponytail to help let in some air for her back. As she did so Kanon asked her if she'd ever ventured off the beaten path in her time while pointing to the desert in the distance.

"The last time I did I found this cutie." she said with a small laugh while reaching down to ruffle Rondo's head. She was all for going through the desert, it would be a whole new experience. "I say we go for it. But first..." she trailed off while taking in the route they were currently on. It felt like time to add to her team. Rondo and Sonata were but the start. She needed another friend. Though as she and Rondo set off in search, it was quickly apparent she wasn't going to be finding ice-types here. She was somewhat disheartened. Fire-types weren't exactly her thing and that's mostly what was around. With her Sneasel ever close by she moved about and sighted a few fletchlings. Maybe her feeling had been wrong. Maybe the desert was where her new friend would be. But then it came into view in the grass. Something so adorable it might even give Rondo a run for his money.

A wild Litleo appeared!

"That's gonna be our new friend!" she declared triumphantly to her partner who was already charging in to begin the battle.

[Skaia 578]

Cherry, for her part, did what she could to hang onto the Fletchinder as it started to flap around and try to shake her off. Even as it was struck by the Murkrow and sent to the ground, the Buneary still managed to keep her grip on the creature true until it finally decided to take off for yet another attack against the Murkrow. While Jacklyn was thrilled by Cherry's raw capability at gripping onto a bird, looked over to the thug in confusion as he made his comment. "What? What are you - what the - " the girl exclaimed as she saw Belle being mauled by her own Ratatta. Having an equal amount of shock and confusion to the thug, if not more, Jacklyn just shouted, "how did this happen?!" 

Rushing over to her friend's aid, Jacklyn went to go grab at the rat, continually attempting to pry it off Belle without any real regard for Belle's personal space. Cherry, meanwhile, devoid of any orders as to what to do was still going with her last instruction to hang onto the bird. As it zipped forward Cherry's grip began to slip and, regardless of hitting Ivan's Murkrow or not, the sudden stop jerked the Buneary forward and launched it off the Fletchinder. Tumbling to the ground, Cherry sprang back up before looking to Jacklyn for what to do next. The Buneary, now confused as well by  the scene of her trainer trying to pry  a rat off of the blue haired girl, turned her attention back to the Fletchinder. Not really sure what to do, Cherry simply did what came naturally and bounded forward, attempting to pound kick the bird yet again. 

[Sethera 290]

Belle hadn't expected this.

Actually, she had expected Moo to be the one to be released from the ball. Calm, gentle, well-behaved Moo, who actually listened to her. That's why she chose it, after all. Even if that other girl, which she now knew to be Jacklyn, hadn't chosen the Lepash, she would have still chosen the Poamoo. Well, the Bearble had looked kind of...cute, but she wasn't one to be swayed by cute things.

And even though she knew that that Rattata had been difficult to capture, she didn't expect it to go so far as to attack her. After all, she was its trainer, so it had to obey her. That was how this stuff worked, right? At least, whenever she saw people battling in the Saffron Gym, it had been trainers giving orders to their Pokémon, and their Pokémon listening without question. So why was it so different for her?

Yes, why exactly was her own Pokémon trying to eat her face right now?!

Unfortunately, it didn't look like her companions had noticed her...predicament. Ivan kept on ordering his Murkrow to attack, and the thug kept on ordering his Fletchinder to fight as well. Until he did notice, and his question made Jacklyn take notice too. The girl rushed over to help, a little bit too close for comfort, but in this particular case, Belle didn't mind. She was all for the other getting as close as she wanted, so long as she got...this blasted...rat off of her!

"Aaargh!" Belle shouted in frustration, trying to push the Rattata off of her. However, the Pokémon was too stubborn to budge. Even her psychic powers would be useless here. The Pokémon was far too big, for one, and she had to have a certain level of...well, level-headedness to use them. So no, she would just have to do it through strength of arm. Which...she didn't have much of.

The Rattata chittered angrily as its teeth came frighteningly close to her face. It probably would have actually bitten her face were it not for Jacklyn's incessant tugging from the other end, pulling it back enough that they swiped down on air instead of skin. Belle wouldn't really call herself vain. It didn't particularly matter to her whether it was her face that was wounded or a place people couldn't see, but getting hurt in general was just something she didn't really want to happen.

"Gerroffa me!" the girl cried out, continuing to attempt to pry the rat off of her.

[reparoni 161]

 

---

Don managed to hit the other bird, sending it and the bunny on its back tumbling down. However, it didn't take long for the Fletchinder to pick itself up and, with Cherry still on its back, made a mad dash towards the Murkrow with a Quick Attack. Don didn't have much time to react, as it was too busy smugly celebrating its victory, and was sent flying backwards. "Don!" Ivan shouted as the Murkrow stopped itself in mid air, now flying and with a scowl on its face. Ivan was far too focused on the battle to even give Belle a glance. He was sure the girl was fine, and if she wasn't, Jacklyn would definitely step in. Right now, Ivan had a battle to win.

"Focus, Don!" He commanded, pointing towards the Fletchinder. The Murkrow let out an annoyed squawk, although whether it was directed at Ivan or Fletchinder wasn't very clear. "Use Peck!" He said, Don wasting no time to dive bomb once again towards the Fletchinder with its beak. Fletchinder, having recently gotten rid of the rabbit on its back, was suddenly hit by a Peck from the bird. Angrily, it retaliated with a Peck of its own, and before Ivan could say anything, the two birds were angrily pecking at each other, even clashing beaks at one point. "I... uh..." Ivan felt like he should command Don to do something, but the Murkrow was efficient on its own, if not a bit outclassed. While the two birds had gotten a few hits between each other, it was clear that the Fletchinder was hitting harder than the Murkrow.

Fortunately for Don, their Pecking duel was interrupted by Cherry, who had taken the opportunity to pound kick the Fletchinder from behind. Ivan turned to her, forgetting that Cherry was even in the fight. He didn't hear Jacklyn command the Pokemon to do anything, so he was caught off guard. "Oh shit... Uh... Good job, Cherry!" He said, pumping his fist. "You too, Don!" He said, as the Murkrow took the moment of peace to brush off some dust off of its feathers and straighten its hat.

[yui 574]

Location: Route 103
Poké: 1,000 850

"S'that why you don't sleep much?"

"No. That's just because urban areas make me uncomfortable." Kanon wasn't sure why that was the conclusion Nomi had drawn up. But the desert was beckoning. It seemed that the lazy girl didn't really have an answer for Kanon's question. Milla, on the other hand...

"The last time I did I found this cutie. I say we go for it. But first..." Milla went off to go search for something. For what though?

"That's gonna be our new friend!"

Ah, a new Pokemon to add to her team. Not a bad idea. Kanon thought about her three occupied Poke Balls that she already had. Maybe acquiring another new friend so soon would be a bit too hasty. Instead, Kanon turned her attention to the water stalls. 25P for a water bottle. Quite a good price, she had to admit! Kanon bought six. With no interest in catching a new pokemon of her own or battling other trainers at the moment, Kanon made for Milla's confrontation with her new friend-to-be.

Cute.

[LordCowCow 839]

"Ha, jokes on you, I trained specifically to beat Rock Pokemon so I could tackle any mountain with ease! Watch my combo and be amazed!" As Princess charged towards the Timburr to Horn Attack it the Fighting type used a Focus Energy and then, after Princess hit it with her horn, pushing the Timburr back, Leered at her.

Once done the trainer had them come in and use Low Kick on the Rhyhorn. Naomi winced as she saw Princess drop to the side from the force of the kick. She frowned as she watched her Rhyhorn trying to get back to her feet. The opponent called out for the Timburr to use Low Kick again when Naomi suddenly remembered something. "Oh, Flying." She muttered and returned Princess to its ball.

"Giving up? Good call, you had no ch...wait you have another Pokemon?"

Naomi sent out Knight and the Athlete groaned in frustration. "This isn't looking good, Timburr, Bide!"

Naomi didn't know what the other Pokemon had done. They seemed to be waiting for something. With a shrug she ordered Knight to use Absorb. The damage didn't seem to do much to the Timburr but they still didn't budge so she just kept it up.

After the second Absorb an energy blasted from the Timburr and Knight was struck by a wave of energy. He bounced off the ground but got back up ready and raring to go.

The opposing trainer gave a smile. "Maybe it's not over, Bide again!"

Knight seemed about to go in to attack again but Naomi told him to wait. The Hoppip turned to his trainer with a frustrated look but Naomi just pointed at the Timburr. Knight looked over at it and watched as it stood there, not moving, waiting, waiting. The Athlete seemed to grow uncomfortable "Aren't you uh...going to do anything?"

Naomi blinked. Then remembered what other moves Knight had. "Sure...Synthesis." Knight, happy to be getting a command, complied, and absorbed the light nearby to heal themselves back up to full.

The Athlete dropped down to his knees. "How could this happen to me! I was so prepared for any rock!" And soon after decided to give up, handing over to Naomi some winnings.

Naomi patted Hoppip on his forehead and the small Pokemon gave a trill of happiness. Now that she looked closer she thought, maybe, Knight had actually gotten stronger. "G'work." She told him before returning him into the ball.

She then turned to the other two, having forgotten they were around for a moment, and asked "Zup?"

---

"That's gonna be our new friend!"

Litleo heard the call from the human and froze up. Slowly she turned her head to look and saw the Sneasel coming towards her. She let out a surprised yip and started to back away into the grass. But then she remembered how human owned Pokemon tended to be. If they wanted to fight then they'd find a way to do it. So, reluctantly, she poked her head out of the grass, opened her mouth, and shot a spray of Embers at the Sneasel.

Spoiler

Knight leveled up! And learned Tackle! Naomi got 200 Pokedollars for winning.

Litleo: Female, Level 6, Timid Nature. Moves: Leer, Tackle, Ember.
Note, Andx, feel free to control the wild battle from here as much as you want. Preferably in one post so we don't leave Kanon hanging too much. (though Yui feel free to "train up" too if you wish)

---

The thug, distracted by Belle's plight, was suddenly brought back to the battle at hand as the two bird Pokemon went at it with a flurry of Pecks. "Ah, no, Fletchinder behind you!" But it was too late. Cherry had landed yet another Pound attack on the Flying-type and that was that. With one last chirp the Fletchinder fell to the side, knocked out, and the thug had to return it to its Ball.

He ruffled his hair in frustration and stomped a foot. "Alright already, be that way, ya brats!" He reached to the side and grabbed hold of what looked like a child-sized backpack. He raised it up and tossed it over towards the trio of trainers. "Fine, you give it back. Stupid kid dropping his crap and running off. I ain't got time for this." He shoved his hands in his pockets and, grumbling, stomped away from the edge of the alleyway.

After a bit, once the grunt had left, a little boy poked his head out from the alleyway. "Is he gone? I-I didn't know what to do when he came storming over to me, it was so scary...o-oh, you got my bag back for me!" He rushed over. "Thank you so much, did that scary guy hurt you?"

Spoiler

Bit short buuuut, Don and Cherry gained a level!
And you've earned 240 Pokedollars, split up as you'd like.
If you wanted to say something to the thug before he left and the kid came out you can, just let me know.

 

[Doggo 218]

Milla's heart almost couldn't take it as it appeared the wild Litleo wanted to run rather than fight. But sure enough, it stood its ground. This was it! A proper battle!

Rondo charged in even as the Litleo fired its Embers. It was occurring to Milla that her partner was at something of a type disadvantage here.

"Rondo!" she called out in concern. The Sneasel was quick but not quick enough in this case and it took the brunt of the attack to its chest, eliciting a gasp from his trainer. But he stood strong and looked back to her which was signal enough to calm down and give him orders. "R-right, Feint Attack!" she declared. An attack that never missed that the Sneasel readied with his claws. Despite the pain from the Ember it delivered a strong blow to the Litleo who, while not weak to Dark moves, seemed a lot more shook up about taking a hit than Rondo did. It backed up some, it was obviously scared to be in this situation. But then it dug in its heels and a serious look took over its face. Leer was incoming!

"Taunt it!" Milla ordered her partner, who channeled his ego and beckoned the Litleo to come at it with one hand. This shook up the lion some more as its serious facade dropped. At Milla's command Rondo went in to scratch the Litleo who took the hit and returned with an impromptu tackle. Milla was beginning to worry about Rondo and his ability to take many more hits. The initial ember had done more than he would let on. If the Litleo fired another one she wasn't sure he'd be able to handle it. As if reading her mind, Ember was exactly what the Litleo next readied and the girl almost couldn't look as it went flying towards her partner. It was a blink and you'd miss it moment, which is exactly what she did.

"Huh? Rondo where did you...." she muttered aloud as Rondo was no longer where he'd been standing, the embers burning out on the ground where he'd stood. He was now behind the lion pokemon with a face that said it was nothing personal as he Scratched at the thing again. Milla's heart skipped a beat at how cool her little cutie was but also determined this was enough beating on the little Litleo. It didn't seem like it wanted to fight much more so maybe one was all she'd need. She called Rondo off while tossing in a pokeball from her bag. She nearly missed but was relieved as it curved in just enough to tap the Litleo's side. The pokeball did it's work as the pokemon disappeared inside of it but now was the really tense part. Human and weasel stared at the pokeball intently. One shake, no escape. Two shakes, no escape. Both held their breath, the instant stretching out to eternity... and three shakes. Both exhaled and relaxed as the pokeball settled.

Litleo was caught!

"Rondo we did it!" Milla cheered as she ran over to retrieve the pokeball and her partner. Immediately she grabbed the Sneasel and began looking him over like a concerned mother. He wanted to dismiss her but knew by now this was inevitable. The ember hit was the most important and so Milla withdrew one of the potions in her possession and began applying it to Rondo's chest. The pain was soothed and his usual smirk took over with a more relaxed and normal posture. Now it was time to shift her attention to her new friend. She let the Litleo out of its ball, who, upon seeing Rondo, cowered on the ground a bit placing her paws over her face.

"Hey there, it's alright. We're friends now." she said with a beaming smile as she gently pat the thing's head. Milla retrieved another of her potions and began applying it to the visible scratches from Rondo's claws. Litleo perked up as her injuries stopped hurting and got her first real good look at her now trainer. The two shared a gaze for a moment before Milla scooped her up off the ground and held her close in her arms. "You're the cutest little thing you know that? Ohhh what to call you..." she trailed off, her mind turning.

"Andante! That's your name!" Milla declared in a burst of an idea. It shook the Litleo in her arms some who then looked up to meet her trainer's eyes. "You like that?" she said softer this time. With a nod the deal was sealed and Andante buried her face into her trainer's chest trying to cuddle her. It seemed like it'd be nice, so long as Rondo kept his claws to himself. On that note Milla decided to let her partner rest for a bit while she got to know her new friend. With as cool a look on his face as he could muster, Rondo waved as he returned to his pokeball, a motion Andante meekly returned from her place in Milla's arms. And now it was time to show her teammates. Or teammate in this case as while Nomi had gone off to do something, Kanon remained close by.

"Look at her Kanon!" she shouted giddily as she approached her new teammate with her new friend. "Isn't she just the most adorable little thing?!" Milla exclaimed as she held Andante out at arm's length, the tuft of red fur on the lion's head waving about as she did so. Never did she have more energy than when showing off her pokemon. And as far as interacting with her new team, this would be the most energetic she'd been yet with them. "Andante, this is Kanon. She's gonna be your friend too cuz we're traveling together!" The lion looked at her trainer then to Kanon. She was clearly nervous about this but with how happy Milla was it was hard for the lion to stay overly distressed at the situation.

[Skaia 578]

"Gaahhh! What is your - come on already you stupid - " Jacklyn continued to let out noises of frustration as she made her way to pry off the Rattata that was firmly stuck on Belle's face. She was clearly having trouble with this beast, as it seemed quite intent on biting into the young girl's face and wasn't budging much. However, Jacklyn decided that enough was enough and went to go full force into taking this stupid rat off her friend's face. Pushing herself closer, the girl practically wrapped her arms around the Rattata, bringing up one foot and pushing it into Belle as if to give herself something push off of to help hoist the rat off. This was, of course, not a wall but a person she was pushing into and so she almost immediately stumbled and fell backwards. 

However, at the end of it all, her sudden tumble had been just what she needed to pry the rat off of her friend. And so, lying on her back and holding the pokemon in the air, she shouted, "ha! I gotcha!" 

Oh and it also looked like she just won her battle against the thug. With a big smile on her face she shouted, "way to go Cherry! You show - ah, settle down - Belle!" The girl shouted back to the trainer of the Rattata as it started to struggle in her grasp and bite at her face. As the thug left, tossing the bag to the group, Jacklyn simply had an annoyed expression on her face as he walked away. There was a very familiar feeling she was feeling as the whole thing settled, but she didn't really dwell on it as the kid who the bag belonged to had come back into view. 

As he praised the group for defeating the thug, Cherry pridefully jumped into the air and seem rather content with herself. Looking at the boy, Jacklyn, still on the ground and wrestling a rat, simply asked him, "did you drop this earlier?"

[Sethera 290]

Belle sighed in relief when Jacklyn had finally pried the Rattata off of her. The girl was annoying at the best of times, but she at least came through for her companions. Like against that boy in the lighthouse earlier, even if that had been totally unnecessary. Still, the girl was definitely grateful for this instance. She didn't really want to deal with coping with an injury on top of mustering up the energy to walk around.

It seemed like the battle against the thug was won at least, though he didn't seem all that bad. If he hadn't pointed out her rat problem, well...that could have been pretty bad. Also something about what he said was a little confusing...why did he say the kid dropped the stuff if he was the one who took it from him? Did he scare him into dropping it or was this all just some misunderstanding?

Jacklyn's voice cut through her thoughts. "Way to go Cherry! You show - ah, settle down - Belle!" the girl resumed her struggles as the Rattata attempted to bite her face off as well.

The blue-haired girl jolted. Oh, yeah. Oops. Fumbling around for her Poké Ball, she finally grabbed it and took aim at the rat. Except as soon as she clicked the button, instead of forcing her newest Pokémon to return, a familiar Poamoo appeared instead.

"Moo," he lowed in some confusion as he glanced around, before noticing Jacklyn grappling with the Rattata. The confusion changed to shock as he looked back up at his trainer.

Belle, however, was busy trying to find the right Poké Ball. "Oh, that wasn't the right one. Is it this one?" She held one up. "No, I think that's an empty one."

"Moo!"

"What?! I'm a little busy here--oh wait," the girl thought. "Moo, use Vine Whip on that Rattata to keep it from moving around so much!" Wait, no, Jacklyn's there too. Well, hopefully Moo knows not to wrap her up too.

Thankfully, the Poamoo was rather careful with his vines, wrapping them around the rat's torso in an area Jacklyn hadn't grabbed. It then started to tug the creature away from the girl.

"Okay, that's not it...not that either...wait, I think this is--yes, found it!" Belle held up a single Poké Ball triumphantly. "Get in the ball! Now!" she ordered angrily as she aimed the ball at the Rattata, a beam of light shooting out from the opening and enveloping the Pokémon. As soon as it had returned to the ball, the girl let herself slump to the ground in exhaustion. "This Pokémon is more trouble than it's worth," she muttered. "I thought Rattata were supposed to be easy to train, too."

With that over, she looked to where a little boy had appeared, running over to them. She just let out an annoyed grunt. If it weren't for Jacklyn deciding to help this brat, I wouldn't have almost gotten hurt like I did. Actually... she glanced down at herself. I did get hurt! Rats don't just have sharp teeth. They have sharp claws too. Ugh. She would have to clean up after this. And maybe get new clothes. Ones without holes or tears in them.

Edited December 11, 2019 by Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd

[yui 574]

Location: Route 103
Poké: 850

After a bit of a fight, Milla had successfully caught the wild pokemon! One that she immediately took to calling Andante.

"Look at her Kanon! Isn't she just the most adorable little thing?!"

"E-Er, um... yeah..." Kanon was taken aback by Milla's enthusiasm. She was mostly used to venturing off into the wild alone, and out of the people she'd been journeying with so far, she was mostly used to Oswald's drier attitude or Nomi's... well, her general existence. This kind of excitement from another person was a pretty new thing to her. The pokemon was cute, though. Kanon made a note that the next time the group was taking a break, it wouldn't be a bad idea for her own pokemon to get familiar with the ones Milla had.

"Andante, this is Kanon. She's gonna be your friend too cuz we're traveling together!"

"Nice to meet you, Andante." Kanon then nodded over in the direction of the desert. "For now, let's see if we can't find anything interesting over that way." Without much objection from the other party members, Kanon took the lead. Once she was in the desert itself, the first thing she noticed was the feeling of the hot sand between her toes. This... was actually pretty nice, though she could do without the air also being quite as hot as it was. Was this how it felt at beaches, too? Kanon made a note that she'd absolutely have to stop at the beach if the group happened by one later in their adventure.

Kanon also took care to watch her step, though. No telling what might be living just under the sand, and she didn't want to provoke a wild pokemon into biting her foot!

[reparoni 161]

 

---

It felt good, actually helping someone for once. "Good work!" He said towards Don and Cherry, reaching for Don's Pokeball. The Murkrow tried to play it off like it was nothing, although he was practically beaming joy as he returned to his Pokeball. As the thug left, Ivan decided it would probably be a good time to check on Belle... who was currently battling her own Pokemon. "Oh boy..." He said, shaking his head. "Just... get that figured out, alright? We should get going..." He said, prepared to walk out and resume their activity.

As he heard Jacklyn talk to the kid, however, he stopped. "Right." He muttered, turning back around and towards the two trainers. "You ok, kid?" He called out, walking back towards Jacklyn, before stopping when he saw Belle. Her clothing was in shambles, but she was now holding a Pokeball and, notably, the Ratatta was gone. "...how? Actually, nevermind. Don't tell me." He said flatly. "At least you finally got it under control."

[LordCowCow 839]

Having put Princess in her ball Naomi didn't think to send her out again. Which meant that to follow the others she'd have to shuffle along on her own two feet. When returning Princess to her ball her jacket had fallen off and so she scooped it up on the way. "S'that a new one? Are THEY a Dragon?" Naomi asked of Milla as they made their way into the desert.

The Soundless Barrens. A wide swath of land covered in sand and swirling winds. The sand whipped around creating sandstorms frequently all across the land. While there was much wind it was strangely quiet. Beyond a few dozen feet in fact it seemed that there was a complete silence. Still despite the eerie nature of the place the people of the region didn't seem to think much of it. In fact multiple trainers could be found in the desert. Training in the heat and the sand.

In the distance every once and a while strange pillars cropped up. These pillars appeared to be the only place that the sand never seemed to touch. Though despite this many of the Pokemon of the desert avoided the place.

Spoiler

Aaand welcome to the desert. The first "important location." You can explore the desert a bit, maybe check out the pillars, battle more and so on. Or head straight to the city if that's what you want. Anything you need to know let me know. Depending on where you go, might run into something or someone.

Note, I intend Naomi to catch something here.

Trainers: Various backpackers, hikers, collectors.

Encounters: Desert. Sandshrew, 30%. Numel, 15%. Cacnea, 10%. Diglett, 10%. Drillbur, 10%.Sandile, 10%. Baltoy, 5%. Darumaka, 5%. Ponyta, 5%. Trapinch, 4%. Gible, 1%.
Pillars. Bronzor, 40%. Wynaut, 20%. Solrock (Day), 10%. Lunatone (Night), 10%. Sigilyph, 10%. Inkay, 10%.

 

---

 

"did you drop this earlier?"

The boy nodded, then shook his head, then scrunched up his face. "I...I dunno. I ran into that scary man and he yelled at me. Then I started to leave and he chased after me. I only noticed it was gone later. B-but thank you for scaring the bad guy off!" He looked over at Ivan. "Y-you too!" He said. Soon after the boy scampered off, saying he had to get home in time to eat.

The group found a place to stay for the night after that. Whether they simply stayed in their rooms or went off to explore the city at night the next morning they would find themselves on the next route.

With the sun beating down and energetic salespeople selling bottled water, hats, and parasols every so often. They overheard some talk about some other group, something about a scary Rhyhorn, that had been through earlier, and the trainers seemed to be a bit more energetic than the norm even with the sun beating down on them.

Spoiler

Short post but moving on to the next route. I'll copy the info from the other post. But also let me know if there's anything in the city you wanted to do before leaving and we can figure that stuff out.

Welcome to route 103! As always the info I give is more general and not necessarily everything. For instance wild Pokemon can vary more than I say. This is to give an idea of what to expect.

You may battle trainers, or catch Pokemon, or battle wild Pokemon, just let me know.

Also, I'm gonna need to know if you all are gonna just go into the desert, go through the route for a while first, or go to the next town before the desert, and such.

Trainers: Various Youngsters and Lasses with common early Pokemon and some Fire types. Various athlete trainer classes as well.

Encounters: Fletchling, 20%. Vulpix, 15%. Litleo, 15%. Exeggcute, 15%. Numel, 10%. Doduo, 10%. Magby, 5%. Tangela, 5%. Ponyta, 5%.

 

[Skaia 578]

With the Rattata out of her hands, Jacklyn stood back up and smiled as the young boy thanked them for what they did. Handing the bag back to the boy she said, "well, be sure  to take proper care of it from now on! An adventurer is nothing without their bag!" As the boy made his way back to home the girl took in a deep breath and said, "good work team! We sure showed them our amazing team work! And now! To bed!" Declaring this, the girl began to lead them to a local hotel and seemed very keen on going to sleep as she went into her own bed. Today had been something of a trying experience, and Jacklyn simply wanted to rest and reset for the next day. 

The next having come about, Jacklyn was once again ready to take on whatever the world was to throw at her. Looking to the others, she declared, "alright gang! Let's get going and continue our journey!" Looking at the lazier of her two companions, she then said, "after we get you new clothes." 

Presumably, one shopping trip later the group was on their way onto the route proper. Taking in a breath of air as she made her way out of the city, the girl then looked in awe as she saw the desert before her. "Look guys! There's sand. So much sand! It's like a beach but like, without the water!" The girl had known about deserts, though never been to one herself. They were supposed to be generally hot, uncomfortable, treacherous and sort of empty. They were also a staple and source of adventures of all kind! "Well gang, are you ready to go explore some sand!? Or is your blood pumping to take on more trainers!?" She pointed between the desert and the route proper. 

[Sethera 290]

Ivan wasn't that sympathetic to Belle's plight, but she hadn't expected him to be. He was right. This was her own problem, though she had been quite relieved to see Jacklyn help out. She would try to remember that she did that if the girl started going on about adventure and excitement again. She was annoying, but she had a good heart. Feeling a little lighter, Belle listened to the boy's blathering with an unusual amount of patience. The fact he pretty much ignored her was taken in stoic silence as well.

Soon after, they all went to a local hotel for a well-deserved rest, and in the morning they were ready to go...or would've been, if Belle didn't need new clothes.

Unfortunately, she wasn't able to find a good baggy sweatshirt and sweatpants like she was wearing before. In fact, most of the outfits were rather summery. There were also some that were obviously based around a "theme," like an Eevee theme or a Pikachu theme. Trying to go for something as nondescript as possible, she also tried to see if she could get it in dark colors. She preferred darks to searing rainbows or cutesy pastels. At least she could walk around with a modicum of dignity intact that way. The girl glanced at Jacklyn. She really couldn't understand how the other could walk around in a bunny hoodie, of all things. She could at least take Ivan seriously in his outfit, even if it looked a bit thuggish.

However, she wasn't having much luck there. In fact, she ended up being forced to go with a sleeveless shirt and shorts, though at least the shorts were black. The cashier had told her she would appreciate the lack of coverage later, but she wasn't sure exactly how she would appreciate feeling half naked. She tugged on her shirt, glaring down at the bumblebee stripes. She would have preferred a nice black-and-gray instead, or just plain black or plain gray, but as luck had it, they had neither. Nor did they have any sort of sleeved shirts available, which she thought was criminal. Still, it was better than that flashy pink-and-aqua laced top she'd seen to the side. No way in the Distortion World was she getting anywhere near that monstrosity.

Upon entering the next route, Belle finally realized why the cashier had said what she did. It was sweltering. She wasn't used to walking around in the hot sun like this. Thankfully, she was dressed like she was, or she might not have been able to handle it. Though I'm still not sure if I can handle it.

Jacklyn seemed unaffected by the heat. "Look guys! There's sand. So much sand! It's like a beach but like, without the water! Well gang, are you ready to go explore some sand!? Or is your blood pumping to take on more trainers!?" She pointed between the desert and the route proper.

"I have an idea," Belle volunteered. "Let's not go toward the broiling hot desert." She wasn't thrilled with the idea of taking on more trainers, but she was even less enthused about stepping foot in a desert of all places.

[Doggo 218]

Milla was more than content to do whatever with her new friend securely in her arms. She was glad Kanon seemed to like Andante well enough. She could only hope all the pokemon between the three of them would get along as well. It reminded her she'd yet to introduce either of her new teammates or Andante herself to Sonata. But given the conditions and their destination, perhaps that was a greeting best left for later. The heat along the route would only build as they approached the distant desert. Nomi had returned from her business with a question upon seeing Andante. Now this time Milla knew it had to be a joke.

"No, this is a cute little lion." Milla giggled in response to her new friend's question. She wondered how long a joke like this might last. Maybe it would be an inside joke they'd always get a laugh from seeing a new pokemon in the years after their adventure had concluded. Beads of sweat began forming about the girl's forehead in large numbers as they group pressed on into the Soundless Barrens. Wind swept the oceans of sand here and there and did little to relieve the heat. There would be more trainers and pokemon to meet here, yet a peculiar feature captured the observant eye more than anything. The pillars dotting the landscape in the distance were the first things she wanted to know more about. After letting her team know her intentions she began walking off toward the nearest pillar with Andante following nervously behind her.

Upon arriving, an eerie feeling set in. Abruptly the wind all but ceased. To go from hot air blowing in her face to complete calm felt less than natural. None of the wild pokemon seemed to approach these pillars. Or at least there were none immediately visible in the area. Perhaps there were some ground types hiding under the sand. But even the sand here seemed off. The girl reached down to the ground to feel the particles. It seemed like sand but something was different that she couldn't place. The grains felt different but past that it was difficult to say. Andante seemed more nervous than usual to be here. With a calming pet to the head Milla returned the Litleo to her ball to let her calm down some as she continued investigating. The pillar itself was rounded and incredibly smooth. Something like that couldn't be a natural structure.

After scanning the area some, another person took the girl's attention. They were standing near the pillar on the other side. She saw no reason to trouble them as yet. She simply wanted to watch. As if by watching she could summon answers to her curiosity about the odd location.