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

[yui 577]

Location: Route 103
Poké: 850

And so it was that the group had set off into the desert. And Nomi didn't know what a lion cub was. Either that, or she didn't bother to check what she was supposed to be looking at before asking. The desert was... well, hot. Sand was hot on her bare feet, the desert wind was hot on the rest of her, and overall it was just really hot. Kanon continued to mind her steps as she the team proceeded along. While Kanon was expecting some sort of ruins out here, and while she certainly did find some, it wasn't quite the kind she was expecting.

Here Kanon had been expecting some sort of ancient temple mostly lost to the sands. Instead, it was pillars. Odd pillars too. Not only did wild pokemon seem to avoid it, but as if even the wind avoided it, the air was suddenly perfectly calm as she approached it, following up behind Milla. While Milla was busy observing some person off at another pillar, Kanon had her attention on the one right in front of the group.

Bet the view from on top is pretty nice. No way she was climbing this thing though. But there was no rule against giving it a tap with her knuckles to see if anything would happen, right? Tap, tap, tap.

[reparoni 161]

 

---

The next day, after replacing Belle's ruined clothing, the group headed out to the next route. A desert greeted them, something that Ivan was not very pleased with. The sun was brightly shining as he felt a sweat drop fall from his forehead. His jacket wasn't really helping at all, but he wasn't about to just take it off - he was used to walking around in the leather jacket in the sun. Jacklyn seemed excited about the desert for whatever reason, he didn't get why. It was like the beaches back at Alola, but without the part that everyone loved about the beach.

"I agree with her." Ivan said bluntly, pointing towards Belle. He could barely stand the heat as it was now; he wasn't about to go walking straight through the desert like this. Plus, trainers were a better way to train up his own Pokemon - after all, he still had to become stronger. He started walking towards the road where the trainers were waiting for a challenger to appear.

Edited December 22, 2019 by REP

[LordCowCow 842]

It seemed that the group had come to the same conclusion. Sand wasn't a fun thing to deal with. In fact one might say it was course and rough and irritating and gets everywhere. So they decided to instead to continue down the route. Which, while still hot and sunny, was not nearly as filled with sand.

What it was filled with, however, were trainers. Many of them filled with youthful and athletic energy. As they made their way halfway across the route, and day started to turn to night, a particularly youthful and energetic girl stopped them on their path. She stood, feet apart, hands on her hips, as she stared them down.

"You! Everyone who tried to come this way were so weak. I had to send them packing. You're the first people I've seen in an hour so you're going to have to battle me for keeping me waiting!"

She grabbed a Pokeball and sent it out without waiting for a response. Revealing the flaming Ponyta inside. "My name is Dinah by the way. I plan to become the next champion and I need to train. So who's it gonna be? I don't care how many of you I have to fight."

Spoiler

Boom, time for a named trainer. As many of you as want to battle her, one at a time, is free to. Orrr if you want to avoid a battle that's an option to. She seems rather on edge though.

Dinah: Ponyta, level 10, Flash Fire. Moves: ???

---

"No, this is a cute little lion."

Naomi nodded. Though she wasn't sure she got it. After all even if she didn't know much she did know there wasn't a lion type. She wasn't quite sure Milla knew that though. But it wasn't her place to teach her.

Plus, it was so warm, she couldn't really focus. More clothing was shed from the girl as they made their way through the sand. Why was something so light so difficult to walk on? More clothes came off until all that Naomi was left with was her undershirt. Which was even then damp with sweat. They had ended up, without Naomi even realizing it, standing before a pillar of some sort. They could hear something as they got close. It almost sounded like a whisper. Perhaps just the wind. And yet, as they had noticed before, the wind didn't disturb this place as they stood here.

Still, there was some sort of whisper. Wordless but insistent. As they touched the pillar they'd feel a ringing in their ears.

Naomi, standing back from it all, frowned to herself. "Ugh, squids." She muttered and shook her head. Then she wandered away from the pillars and back into the sand. While the other two still watched it.

As she wandered off the other trainer wandered over to them. She was dressed fairly well. Wearing white, and seemed to have an air of confidence about her. Though the smile she gave was shaky. She shifted uncomfortably and winced. As though something was bothering her.

Then she spoke. "Hey...you two. I...I want to have a battle. I don't know why, I was training all day, but I really, really, want to battle."

---

Naomi didn't get far before her foot suddenly sank down into the sand. She fell flat on her face in the hot substance. She lay there for a few moments before tilting her head upwards.

She saw a small creature. Orange. With a large head and strange, star-like, eyes. It looked at her and seemed to laugh before digging under the ground. Naomi stared for a bit longer before getting to her feet. She took a step and, once more, sank into the ground and fell.

And yet again the Pokemon popped up nearby to laugh. She tilted her head before nodding. She had to do something about this, didn't she?

So she sent out Princess. "That one. Let's beat it." She told the Rhyhorn.

Spoiler

Yes, spooky pillar stuff. And a trainer! Specifically Rising Star Paula. Do you accept her challenge?

Also yes time has come for Naomi to do battle with a mysterious totally not Trapinch opponent.

 

[yui 577]

Location: Route 103
Poké: 850

As Kanon knocked on the pillar, the whispers she'd been hearing near it stopped. They were replaced with a ringing noise. More weird voodoo shit no doubt, like that hypnotizing statue from before. Kanon couldn't help but feel like that was why this was an unpopular backwater region that had to put out ads for aspiring new trainers. She'd never heard of this sort of weird stuff in Kalos or Alola, and anyone looking for a vacation spot knew those two regions were pretty popular picks. But this wasn't about tourists or weird magical stuff that she didn't really understand.

"Hey...you two. I...I want to have a battle. I don't know why, I was training all day, but I really, really, want to battle."

This was about the trainer that had approached the pair... wait, pair? Kanon looked around at her surroundings. Nomi had disappeared. "Where did that idiot go this time?" Kanon groaned under her breath, putting her head against the pillar. Then, a bit more audibly, Kanon stated, "Alright. I'll battle you."

[Doggo 218]

Milla couldn't help but look about as she lingered near the strange pillar. It sounded like someone was talking to her, yet neither of her teammates nor the other girl about the area seemed to be saying anything. In search of the source the girl eventually drew closer to the pillar and, with some restraint, lightly placed a hand upon the structure. A ringing resounded in her ears which startled the girl and caused her to withdraw her hand rather quickly. As soon as the sound came it departed. That touching the pillar was the source of the ringing she confirmed by touching it briefly several other times. Without a doubt these structures hid some deep secret. There were all sorts of fantasies and stories to concoct to explain it. And yet no melody came to mind get her thoughts going. It was all still processing, the texture of the sand in the area and the strange sounds especially. Somewhere in the midst of her thoughts Milla took note of Nomi's departure. But as she hadn't seen the girl leave she had no idea where she might have run off to. This felt concerning enough to bring up to Kanon but there was something else to take their attention before she could turn to her teammate.

"A battle? Here?" she muttered in response to the trainer's challenge. That she specified there being two of them finally alerted Kanon to their missing teammate. She seemed frustrated, like this happened pretty often. "She can't be that far off..." Milla pondered as she looked off on the horizon in several directions. But without any real concern for Nomi's whereabouts or well being, Kanon accepted the challenge to the battle. "A-are you sure Kanon?" she asked of her teammate. The girl wasn't exactly eager to battle given the strangeness of the setting and their teammate who had wandered off. But if Kanon was certain she wouldn't argue. She'd find a safe spot out of the way to watch the proceedings instead.

[LordCowCow 842]

Paula ran her hair through her brown bob cut and shifted awkwardly from one foot to the other. She wasn't entirely sure why she wanted to battle so badly...but she did. She really did. She felt an itching urge to send out her Pokemon and attack right now. Even though the other girl hadn't sent a Pokemon of her own out yet.

Rising Star Paula has challenged you to a battle.

With a flick of her wrist the girl sent out her first Pokemon. A Tympole. The Pokemon looked back in confusion at its trainer but the girl didn't seem to notice. She pointed forward towards Kanon and called out, "Rain Dance!"

The small Pokemon made a motion that seemed mostly like an odd sort of wiggle. Yet from that, high above them, small dark clouds formed and the area within the pillar was suddenly covered in a warm rainfall.

"Now Bubblebeam!" She called out. The girl didn't seem to have noticed that Kanon hadn't sent a Pokemon out yet. The Tympole hesitated for a moment before doing as its trainer asked. Sending out a torrent of bubbles, strengthened by the rain.

If either of the girls were to look at Paula they'd see her eyes had a somewhat glazed over look to them and her expression was mostly flat.

Spoiler

Rising Star Paula: Tympole, level 12, ???, Moves, Rain Dance, Bubble Beam, ???, ???

Battle start! Yes the level is fairly high I know. You gotta BELIEVE

Might be a hint that you might want to do some training before the city wink wink nudge nudge

Over in the sand Naomi was having trouble in a very different way.

Princess had been slapped in the face several times by mud. And, while it hadn't done much damage to her, she had gotten her foot stuck in one of the holes the Trapinch kept making. It would go underground and pop out to launch some mud at Princess. The Rhyhorn was powerful but unable to get an attack off. Naomi was thinking, thinking, and thinking some more. Harder than ever before.

But her thinking was interrupted as Knight burst out of its ball. "Ah, you're s'posed t'wait till I..." Naomi looked at Knight, then Princess, then the Trapinch. "Oh."

She then returned Princess to her ball and had Knight go out instead.

The Trapinch popped out to attack again and only found Knight. It looked in confusion as its Mud Slap seemed to have little to no affect. Then Naomi ordered Knight to use Absorb and the Ground type felt some of their energy drain.

It squirmed its way out of the sand and launched itself, albeit slowly, towards Knight. Opening its mouth to Bite down on the Pokemon.

[Skaia 580]

As the group had come to the decision as to where to go next, which was unfortunately not the desert, they began to walk down the route proper. The route itself wasn't much to talk about, though Jacklyn could feel the adventurous energy brimming from all of the trainers that seemed to be occupying it as well. It wasn't until they were halfway through that they were stopped by a new figure on the road. The girl, seeming agitated and willing to fight, set the spirit of combat alight in Jacklyn. Which is to say, the girl pointed at Dinah as she sent out her Ponyta saying, "I'll have you know that we're on a quest to become champions ourselves! So, if we meet like this there's no choice but to battle here! Right gang?" The girl shouted back, but didn't really await their response as she started rifling through her own pokeballs. 

Sending out Cherry, the Buneary started hopping in place, seeming to instantly affected by the energy of combat that seemed to be in the air. "Alright Cherry let's - wait," the girl back tracked a bit before looking back to her opponent. Seeming to have forgotten something, the girl simply declared, "I'm Jacklyn!" Nodding to herself, pleased with this outcome, she then looked back to her Buneary saying, "alright Cherry, knock 'em out!" The Buneary nodded, looking ready to go as it jumped towards the Ponyta, going to pound at it. 

[Sethera 290]

Belle yawned as all three of them walked down the road. She was more and more grateful for her change in wardrobe the further they walked. She was just glad that they didn't have to deal with sand for now. Here everything was softer and smoother at least, though still hot.

Halfway through the route, a twin-tailed girl stopped them before they could go further, standing with quite the stereotypical anime tomboy pose. "You! Everyone who tried to come this way were so weak. I had to send them packing. You're the first people I've seen in an hour so you're going to have to battle me for keeping me waiting!"

Would this girl be a tsundere, maybe? She seems to fit the hotheaded part, at least. Belle sighed as she watched the other send out a Ponyta. "It's way too hot to be this energetic."

"I'll have you know that we're on a quest to become champions ourselves! So, if we meet like this there's no choice but to battle here! Right gang?"

"Their goes our own energetic girl," Belle grumbled, but it lacked the bite it normally would've held. This reminded her though...she really needed to get something to deal with fire types, since using her Rattata in a battle was out of the question. This meant that...she would probably have to capture another Pokémon. One that was hopefully not nearly so aggressive.

As Jacklyn introduced herself, the blue-haired girl glanced around the route. "Wonder if there're any good Pokémon around." So far, all she had seen while walking through here were fire types. Does fire resist itself? I think it does, but it doesn't matter. I don't really want to deal with the extra heat of trying to capture a fire Pokémon right now. Still, it might be a good idea...ugh.

She glanced at the boy beside her. What's his plan? Is he going to try to catch Pokémon, watch the fight, or battle trainers as well? It was probably easier to just ask, so she did. "What're you planning on doing, Ivan?" Ivan. Two syllables, which was one syllable too long. She really needed to come up with a nickname of sorts, but it'd be annoying if he didn't like the name and got mad.

Dealing with people really is such a pain.

Edited December 30, 2019 by Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd

[yui 577]

Location: Route 103
Poké: 850

It was time to battle! Kanon didn't really have much time to think about which of her pokemon to lead this off with, before her opponent sent out their own and ordered it to use the move Rain Dance. Reflexively, Kanon did two things. One was reach for just behind her neck, where her hand would have found a hood. The other was to reach at her side where her pocket would be. A brief moment of surprise as her pocket hand found itself grabbing air and her hood hand found itself grabbing not a hood. Right. Took it off when we got to the desert.

Kanon - in a hasty, fluid motion that she was clearly used to - slipped her arms back in through the sleeves of her raincoat as the area around the pillar was met with a warm rainfall. She didn't quite have the time to zip it up or get the hood over her head before Kanon's new opponent made the call for her pokemon to attack. An attack with no pokemon to target. Did that mean Kanon herself was the target? Not good! Kanon's hand rushed into her pocket, grabbing the first pokeball it touched and immediately sending out a pokemon. From the pokeball sprung out her Inkay, who was met with a stream of bubbles directly in the beak.

"What's the big idea trying to attack a trainer like that!? If that's the kind of fight you want, come at me yourself instead of making your pokemon do your dirty work! Ursula, show her pokemon what we're made of! Hit it with a Peck!"

Seriously, what was this girl's problem? As Kanon zipped up her raincoat and placed the hood over her head, she kept her attention on the battle in front of her.

[Doggo 218]

Milla had begun shifting to the side to make way for the battle without actively thinking about it. Observing was one of her hobbies and this battle was sure to be interesting. She was delighted to see Paula send out a Tympole and marveled as the small creature was able to make it start precipitating in the endlessly dry and hot desert. Rain Dance was a powerful move to be certain and she was soon distracted of thoughts of what different dances Rondo, Sonata or Andante might be able to perform. But the carefree thoughts of a girl staring up into the sudden rain were pulled back down to earth as she saw the pokemon launch its first attack, yet Kanon had to send out her own pokemon. The girl reached a hand out and the beginning of a call to her new friend to watch out sounded in her voice, but Kanon acted quickly enough to avoid being hurt. A cute little Inkay appeared and took the attack for its trainer. But that such a sacrifice was needed was truly lamentable. Milla wished to scold the challenger before them for her action but again Kanon was faster on the draw and yelled at her opponent.

"She should be alright for this..." Milla muttered to herself as the rain dropped down upon her. She made no direct actions to cover herself, fearing she'd dry out all too quickly once the battle was over as it was. Instead she studied the trainer who had seemingly ordered her pokemon to attack a human. "Perhaps she was overeager... and yet the Tympole hesitated. She must be quite the angry person to-" she cut her audible pondering off as she looked to Paula's face. No emotion visible and her eyes seemed hardly focused on where she was. She had been so ready to battle and yet there was none of the passion one might expect. It seemed unwise to comment as yet to Kanon who needed to focus on the battle. But if something else were to go wrong... well Milla prayed she wouldn't have to intervene.

[reparoni 161]

 

---

The group walked along the route, the heat becoming more and more unbearable. Still, it beat walking through the actual desert. Ivan kept an eye out for any potential challengers, although everyone seemed to be busy doing their own thing. At least, that was until they bumped into a rather energetic girl, who challenged the group where they stood. Jacklyn, their own energetic girl, didn't miss any time responding to her. Ivan simply smirked. "Well, when ya'll done if you still got some fight in you, I'll take you on." He said, turning to Belle. From what she said, it sounded like she wanted to catch something around the area. Considering how well the last time she tried to catch something went, he could only imagine how it would turn out.

She turned to ask him what he was planning on doing. "Well, I was going to battle her." He said, nudging his head towards Dinah. "But she's a little busy." He said, crossing his arms. "You said you were gonna try and catch something 'round here? I'll tag along. I could use another member, and you could use the help. Plus, maybe I'll find some other energetic brat to beat."

[LordCowCow 842]

Dinah cracked her knuckles as Jacklyn rushed in for the challenge. "That's what I'm talking about. Glad there are still trainers willing to fight." As Cherry went in to Pound the Ponyta the small pony Pokemon moved to the side. Given its four long legs it couldn't side-step so it instead hopped over to the side to avoid the initial attack, albeit just barely. "Tackle it, show that Buneary whose boss around here!"

The Ponyta gave a whinny and ducked its head down slightly before charging at the smaller Pokemon. Going in to ram her at a close distance.

Dinah was bouncing on her heels from side to side as she watched the battle. Biting her lip as she looked to be getting into a zone of sorts. Though she did glance up when Ivan spoke to Belle and told him "If you want to fight after don't go too far, this'll be fast!"

Spoiler

So something I wanted to talk about with battles like this where more than one can challenge. Especially important once gym stuff happens.

I was trying to figure out how to handle that and decided that case-by-case I'd let the team decide. If you want to do it one after another or if you want to write them out at the same time and just imply there was an order.
The former is better in the sense it's more logical and easy to follow. Plus people can react to battles going on and learn from them.
The latter is a lot faster and doesn't have 2/3 of the group waiting around for it to finish. (though in this case seems you found something to do)

Anyway...

Dinah: Ponyta, level 10, Flash Fire. Moves: Tackle, ???

---

"What's the big idea trying to attack a trainer like that!? If that's the kind of fight you want, come at me yourself instead of making your pokemon do your dirty work! Ursula, show her pokemon what we're made of! Hit it with a Peck!"

The girl stared at Kanon for a moment. She blinked a few times and responded with a hazy "What? I...I don't know, I just. I just think we should battle. I have to battle you. That's all. I-" She seemed concerned for a moment before her eyes once again got a clouded-over look. "Tympole use Round." She said.

Ursula landed the peck on Paula's Tympole, striking the Pokemon between the eyes and causing it to wince as the tender area was struck. But they followed up on their trainer's order nonetheless. They opened their mouth and let out a chirping noise that grew in volume and intensity. Creating a sonic wave that hit Ursula and caused the others in the area to hear a ringing sound in their ears.

The girl seemed to, for a moment, hesitate as the noise reached her own ears but was soon back to her previous state.

Spoiler

Rising Star Paula: Tympole, level 12, Hydration, Moves: Rain Dance, Bubble Beam, Round, ???

Rain Dance turn: 2

As always if you want a couple rounds of action let me know Yui.
And Andx if you're struggling to figure out something to do with Milla we can talk

Off in her own world Naomi had a sudden idea of how to respond to the Trapinch's attack. She ordered Knight to use Tackle as the Trapinch came in to Bite. Knight, seemingly thrilled by its new move, darted right into the Trapinch's attack and slammed its small body into the Pokemon's head.

The Trapinch didn't get a chance to bite down before they were struck and, being a Ground type in the air, could do nothing but fall back down to the ground. Naomi then told Knight to use Absorb. While the excited Pokemon seemed less than thrilled to use that move it complied, draining even more of the Trapinch's energy away, and dealt super effective damage on it.

With a frustrated cry the Ground type wormed its way back into the dirt. Knight bounced around in mid-air, darting here and there, trying to figure out where the Trapinch had gone. Watching Knight move was starting to tire Naomi out and she almost drifted off before seeing the Trapinch pop back up and launch a Sand Attack at Knight suddenly.

"Look out." Naomi muttered with all the urgency of a frozen burrito. Thankfully Knight, being a Flying type, was nimble enough to move out of the way. Naomi was about to order another Tackle when she noticed the Trapinch standing with a pose that reminded her of the trainer battle earlier.

Not wanting to attack and have Knight get countered the girl considered her options...for a few seconds.

With a shrug she pulled out her only remaining Pokeball and, not worrying about weakening it farther, tossed it at the Trapinch. The Pokemon seemed surprised by this action but could do nothing as it was sucked into the ball. It shook. Once. Twice. Three times....and the button stopped flashing. Indicating she had caught the Pokemon.

She shuffled her way over, patting Knight on the head, as the Pokemon seemed to pout at its battle being cut short, before returning the Hoppip and grabbing the newly caught Trapinch. She stared at the ball for a moment, thinking of names, and thinking about what the small creature reminded her off.

Naomi seemed to struggle to figure anything fitting out but then with a nod decided. "You look like a Bug." She told the ball and settled on naming her new Trapinch the dubious nickname of Bug.

Spoiler

Naomi has a new teammate!

Trapinch, Bug, Level 7. Hyper Cutter. Impish Nature. Male. Moves: Bide, Bite, Sand Attack, Mud-Slap

She'll be on her way back to the others.

 

[Sethera 290]

"Well, I was going to battle her." Ivan replied, nudging his head towards Dinah. "But she's a little busy." He said, crossing his arms. "You said you were gonna try and catch something 'round here? I'll tag along. I could use another member, and you could use the help. Plus, maybe I'll find some other energetic brat to beat."

"If you want to fight after don't go too far, this'll be fast!"

"Well, you heard her," Belle shrugged. "I'm not even sure if I'm gonna get anything, either." She was thinking about it, but she thought about a lot of stuff. Doing it was a whole different matter. "F'you wanna come though, lesgo." Her words started to slur as she became more and more tired from the heat.

The girl would then start to look through the grass nearby. She wasn't having much luck, though, as most of the Pokémon she came across ran away from her before she could even pull out a ball. Frowning, she glanced at Ivan. "Sho'd we give up?"

[Skaia 580]

Cherry was knocked aside by the oncoming tackle, rolling backwards a few time from the momentum of the hit. Laying flat on her back, Cherry rolled a bit before springing up and back to her feet, seeming ready to go to take on the Ponyta some more. Jacklyn looked at her foe, clearly a bit annoyed that it had managed to dodge and counter itself. And, while it was likely not the best idea to go in for the same attack yet again, Jacklyn was faced with two problems. One, Cherry knew nothing to fight with other than Pound. Secondly, Jacklyn was not one to back down from a challenge, and this was most certainly a challenge within a challenge that she had to accept. As such, the girl shouted, "alright Cherry, go in for round two! Pound again! But with uh, more gusto this time!" 

Cherry had no idea what that meant, but that didn't really seem to matter as she nodded and seemed let out a "bu!" Hopping in place for a bit, Cherry began to hop forward and make her way towards the Ponyta. This time, as she got close enough to pound she decided to do it with more gusto! Which is to say, rather than just immediately hop at the fire type, she staggered her timing and unintentionally feinted, getting close and charging up her jump before leaping into a pound. 

[yui 577]

Location: Route 103
Poké: 850

"What? I...I don't know, I just. I just think we should battle. I have to battle you. That's all. I-- Tympole use Round."

Ahhhh. So it's like that. Well, Kanon was no expert hypnotist. But that sudden shift in demeanor was good enough to tip her off. And if there was one thing she knew about these sorts of things, be it from books or from her own personal experience in the not-so-distant past, it was that people could be snapped out of it. "Ursula, don't let up with those pecks! Keep her pokemon busy!" Kanon set down her backpack, fishing through the contents. If it wasn't the middle of the day, she'd have a more reasonable answer to this problem, but it wasn't, so that wouldn't be any good. So instead, she procured something that she'd been rather hoping to eat the next time the group had to do some camping.

A can of mushroom soup.

Hopefully she'll understand when I explain it to her. Kanon took a deep breath, wound her arms back, then flung the can directly at the opposing trainer, aimed right for the head.

[reparoni 161]

 

---

Ivan simply gave Dinah a thumbs up, turning back to Belle. The heat wasn't doing either of them any favors, as he could tell it was wearing down on her too. Wiping his brow, he followed Belle towards a nearby patch of grass. He saw mostly Fire-types running around, which made sense considering where they were. He saw a Litleo walk by them, giving them a glare, before wandering off somewhere else. He turned towards Belle, who wasn't having much luck catching anything. He let out a sign. "Not much luck?" He said, turning back towards the grass as he let out a sigh. "One of these days I'll help ya out on this catching thing..." He said, turning back towards Jacklynn and Dinah. "But, if ya don't got anything ya wanna..." His thoughts drifted off when his eyes caught a Vulpix. An orange vulpix.

"What the hell?" He said, turning his attention to the Vulpix. Had he encountered a shiny Vulpix!? But what was an Ice-type doing out here in the desert? He then remembered about regional variants, how different environments change Pokemon over years. In fact, he had seen one before - a purple Grimer without any colorful lines on it - from a tourist way back when. Was this some sort of Fire-type Vulpix? "On second thought, why don't I teach you how to catch things through example?" Ivan said, pulling out a Pokeball. "Go, Po!"

The Vulpix, meanwhile, tilted its head as it saw the strange man point at it. Out of curiosity, the Vulpix slowly made its way towards the man, a bit of caution but mostly intrigue as it saw the panda appear right in front of it. The Pancham, meanwhile, turned towards the Vulpix.

"Unless the Pokemon explicitly asks to join your team, you need to battle the Pokemon a bit." Ivan said, eyes locking with the Vulpix. "Po, use Arm Thrust!"

The Pancham nodded, leaping towards the Vulpix and swinging its arms. This caught Vulpix off guard, although it did manage to avoid getting hit more than twice from the attack. In retaliation, the Vulpix let out an Ember, hitting Po right on its chest. Ivan reached into his bag, before realizing something crucial.

He didn't have any Pokeballs.

He tensed up, pausing for a second. Now this was embarrassing, to say the least. He glanced over to Belle, wondering if he should ask if she had any Pokeballs to spare. No, he couldn't. Luckily he was already sweating from the heat, so it was easy to play off his hesitation. "O-Ok, Po, go for Tackle." He said, trying to subtly remove his hand away from his bag.

[LordCowCow 842]

"More gusto?" Dinah said. She blew a stray hair from her face and moved into a wider stance. "Don't let them outdo us, Ponyta, you show them your gusto too, Ember attack!"

Cherry's attack landed right under the Ponyta's chin and the Fire type stumbled backwards awkwardly, its four hooves clacking against the ground as they moved back, from the force of the blow. But the Pokemon didn't seem much dissuaded and, with its partner's encouragement they let out a whinny and shot out several small balls of fire from its fiery mane.

"Alright Ponyta, gotta show her we mean business, go in for a Tackle, don't let up for a second!" The Ponyta snorted and then ducked its head down as it ran towards Cherry to go in for another Tackle.

Spoiler

Sorry to the other two but I thiiiink you have enough to continue on your own anyway. Anything you need you can ask.

And feel free to get a bit more info for the battle too, Skaia.

Dinah: Ponyta, level 10, Flash Fire. Moves: Tackle, Ember, ???

---

While Ursula was able to get in to Peck the opposing Pokemon again it meant that the Round attack had struck the Inkay. The two special attacks starting to take its toll on the small Pokemon.

Its trainer didn't even seem to notice as Kanon acted. Focused entirely on the opponent in front of her she didn't so much as flinch as the can came in. When it struck her on the head she let out a gasp and put a hand up to where it struck her. Stumbling back she looked around. "What...what's going on, ow, what hit me?" Her eyes then moved to Kanon, and the battle, and she took a moment to process the sight.

"Okay I don't get it but I guess we're in a battle, don't think I'm gonna lose just cause I, uh, was distracted! Come on Tympole, Bubblebeam!"

---

Naomi finally made her way back to the pillar where her companions had apparently created a rainstorm in the desert. She blinked in confusion but stepped inside the area of rain, searching for Milla. Much of her clothing was now bundled up in her arms, just a t-shirt and her skirt remained as she shuffled over towards where the only trainer not in a battle was. "Zup." She muttered.

Then, she dropped the pile of clothes, pulled out a ball and released her new Trapinch.

The Pokemon tried to burrow under the ground but Naomi picked it up, holding the Ground type in both arms and presenting it to Milla. "S'Bug." She said, nodding at the squirming Pokemon.

Spoiler

Battle is still on, and Tympole is launching another Bubblebeam. Don't feel like you can't get multiple rounds in a post, just lemme know.

Rising Star Paula: Tympole, level 12, Hydration, Moves: Rain Dance, Bubble Beam, Round, ???

Rain Dance turn: 3

 

[Doggo 218]

In all her watching of Pokemon battles, Milla wasn't sure she'd ever seen one quite like what was playing out before her. First the challenger had attacked Kanon before she'd had a pokemon out. Now Kanon was throwing things at the trainer in the middle of their pokemon fighting. It seemed strange to think that her old teammates would have more respect for the sport than these much kinder girls she now found herself with. Perhaps this was simply the way of things in this new region and Kanon had been much faster on the uptake than most. That could do it. Whatever the intent or stance on honor, somehow the challenger seemed more aware of herself than she had been. Maybe she wouldn't have to point anything out to her teammate. In that case, this would be a much more traditional battle from here with any luck. In the midst of her pondering a simple greeting sounded as Milla's eyes shifted and brought Nomi into view. It was soon made apparent what she had been doing as she produced a Trapinch she had caught.

"Oh my. A Trapinch. But those are only Ground Type as I recall." she said, choosing to fix on the designation of bug for the bright orange pokemon. It certainly didn't feel wrong, but then who was Milla to question what various pokemon scientists had classified everything as. Was she reading too far into this? Most likely. In fact, this was probably another of Nomi's jokes like how she'd asked if Rondo or Andante were dragons. In all this thinking she took little notice of the continued rain that was gradually going to drench her. There were things to explore while Kanon continued the battle. Like confirming it wasn't just her mind playing tricks on her in this place.

"Nomi, do you notice anything off about the sand here?" Milla started while patting the Trapinch on the head a few times with a soft smile. "And if you could place your hand on the pillar here and tell me if anything happens that'd be great too."

[Skaia 580]

As Cherry slammed into the Ponyta's chin, the Buneary landed back on their feet, hopping around for a bit and a bit off balance as the fires of the ember came over towards her. Getting struck by a few of the flames, the Ponyta then began to charge at her. Seeing this, Jacklyn shouted, "alright Cherry, go on the defensive and brace yourself!" Cherry looked over to Jacklyn and gave her trainer a nod, defensively curling into a ball as the Ponyta crashed into her. Rolling back a bit, Cherry hopped back up seemingly having taken less damage from the attack then before. "Now show them what you got!" With an emphatic "bu!" Cherry leaped forward and struck her foot into the recovering Ponyta's nose yet again. 

Dinah, none too perturbed by this, smirked and called out, "how about this then, Tail Whip, and then Tackle again!" Shaking its head for to reorient itself, the Ponyta let out a neigh before flicking its tail and then charging at Cherry again. 

"Cherry! Evasive maneuvers!" Cherry hopped around a bit, hopping to the side to avoid the Ponyta as it ran towards her. "Now once more with gusto!" The buneary hopped back towards the Ponyta, kicking her foot into the horse pokemon's side. With the ponyta stumbling to the side, Dinah responded with yet another tackle. Matching in turn, Jacklyn ordered Cherry to go forward and pound yet again, this time the two pokemon colliding as Cherry's foot slammed into the Ponyta's head, causing them both to recoil back from the hit. 

With the distance having opened between the two the Ponyta went for an ember and at Jacklyn's behest, the Buneary curled up yet again to give itself a defensive boost. This didn't do anything against the fire, but as the Ponyta went for a countering tail whip, Jacklyn simply shouted, "pound again!" Leaping forward, Cherry struck the Ponyta in the middle of its tail whip and, not one to lose herself, Dinah commanded her Ponyta to tackle once more. With the two pokemon right next to each other, Cherry leaped over the ponyta again to avoid it, before leaping back and went in for one last pound. 

Striking true, the ponyta seemed to have been bested, and Cherry exhausted as a result. Still the Buneary triumphantly pumped her ear into the air and Jacklyn let out a, "whooooooa! Way to go Cherry!" With a smile on her face, Jacklyn pointed towards Dinah saying, "how about that!?" 

Edited January 16, 2020 by Skaia

[Sethera 290]

Belle ran halfheartedly through the grass before stopping once she realized something. Trying to capture a fire Pokémon with only a grass type on hand wasn't very likely. Sure, she had that Rattata--which she still needed to name--but it was virtually unusable. If she tried sending it out it'd probably just attack her again.

"Not much luck?" Ivan asked, letting out a sigh as Belle shook her head. "One of these days I'll help ya out on this catching thing... But, if ya don't got anything ya wanna..." he trailed off as he caught sight of something. "What the hell?"

Belle followed his gaze. "Oh, Vulpix. Nice." She wasn't sure why Ivan looked so floored. Was he some sort of secret Vulpix lover or something? But no, it looked more like he was surprised to even see it here. "Are no Vulpix where y'from?" she mumbled.

"On second thought, why don't I teach you how to catch things through example?" Ivan said, pulling out a Poké Ball. "Go, Po!"

I still need to find out how he organizes his balls.

"Unless the Pokémon explicitly asks to join your team, you need to battle the Pokémon a bit." Ivan said, eyes locking with the Vulpix. "Po, use Arm Thrust!"

Belle nodded. This made sense. She remembered fighting that Rattata for quite a bit and having to throw a ball a couple times before catching it. She watched Ivan reach into his bag and freeze before calling out for another Tackle. Ah, she thought. He probably decided that now's not quite the right time for this. Smart. Throwing a ball too soon could just be a waste of time, as she'd discovered.

Actually, rather than just watching, now would be a good time to figure out which Poké Balls her Pokémon were in, and making sure she could remember for later. Digging through her bag, she winced as she realized that, one, after the disastrous incident with her Rattata, she'd mixed up the balls in use with the empty ones, and two, she had no clue which were which.

"Sheesh," she muttered, digging through and pressing the button on each. "Okay, that's empty, empty, Moo, empty, empty, Rat--aagh! Back in the ball! Back in the ball!" in her wild flails, the girl didn't even notice one of her empty Poké Balls dropping from her bag and rolling over to where Ivan stood, gently bumping against his foot.

When it was over, Belle breathed a sigh of relief. "Least returned it 'fore could attack again."

Edited January 24, 2020 by Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd

[yui 577]

Location: Route 103
Poké: 850

"What...what's going on, ow, what hit me?"

Well, it seemed to have worked. Splendid.

"Okay I don't get it but I guess we're in a battle, don't think I'm gonna lose just cause I, uh, was distracted! Come on Tympole, Bubblebeam!"

A little less splendid, but I can't call it unexpected, can I? Well, at least she knew now that throwing soup cans at hypnotized people was a good way to snap them out of it. That would surely be important info later. And just as this girl's Tympole continued with the bubblebeams, Kanon planned to have her own Inkay continue with the pecks. "Don't let up! Keep pecking! We can explain what happened after the battle!" Honestly, Kanon kind of wanted to have this girl tag along for a while. A move like Rain Dance would be a great relief from the desert heat. It's the least she can do for me after I broke her out of that trance, right? And we could very well be headed the same way, too.

[LordCowCow 842]

"Oh my. A Trapinch. But those are only Ground Type as I recall."

Naomi tilted her head, not really understanding why she was being told this, and gave a half shrug in response. "He's Bug." was her only response.

She tried to give some serious thought when Milla asked about the sand. Was there something weird about it? Well, honestly, plenty. "It's hot." She said, nodding. "Ground shouldn't be hot. And not wet at all. I didn't know ground got this dry." She didn't often go out of her house back home but she still remembered the marsh that was right outside the city. She was still surprised to find how different other places were in that regard.

"And if you could place your hand on the pillar here and tell me if anything happens that'd be great too."

Naomi didn't really like that. She felt uncomfortable about the things. They made her feel crawlies in her skin and head. But she didn't really have any reason not to and it would be more of a bother to tell Milla no. So she ambled on over to the pillar and leaned both of her hands onto it.

Her face scrunched up as she could hear something. She felt like she was being told to do something and, uncomfortably, she felt an urge to do it. But, no, that was silly. She didn't want to do things. She just wanted to relax.

A ringing began in her ears and she pushed off of the pillar, giving it an annoyed look. "Dumb rock." She muttered.

---

Paula glanced up at the rain as Ursula came in for the Peck attack and frowned. She seemed to be mentally counting something and, because of this, Ursula got in a couple pecks before she snapped out of it and called out "Ack, Tympole, Round!" The Pokemon, low health, chirped and jumped back and into the air before opening their mouth and sending a shock wave of sound towards Ursula.

The rain started to peter out and the Rising Star, as soon as she noticed, called out for her Pokemon to use yet another Rain Dance to bring the rain back.

Spoiler

So, Yui, Tympole is open during this attack and is fairly low health. Depending what Kanon does she might take down the Tympole within these couple rounds. I can let you know the next Pokemon if they do. Though Ursula is pretty low on HP.

---

Dinah gave an annoyed look as Jacklyn gloated. "Lucky hit, but it's not like your Pokemon is doing all too hot! And I still got more where that came from! Tyrogue let's show them your blistering speed, go!"

The Pokemon that came out next seemed small, and rather scrawny, but as they came out and crouched down in a fighting stance it was clear that the Pokemon was ready to fight.

"Start it off with a Mach Punch!" Dinah called out, thrusting her fist out at the same time. It was clear that the girl was getting into the fight, though she seemed more focused on her own Pokemon than anything else.

The Tyrogue darted forward incredibly swift, its fist glowing slightly, as he swung it right at Cherry's body.

Spoiler

Short part but yeah, one Pokemon down, another out.

Tyrouge, level 10, Guts, Mach Punch, ???

 

[Skaia 580]

Though Cherry was pretty haggard, neither she nor Jacklyn were all that bothered by the second pokemon being sent out. "Alright Cherry, just like before!" Jacklyn emphatically pointed at the Tyrouge, to which Cherry pumped her ears in the air to get ready to fight. Unfortunately for both Jacklyn and Cherry, they weren't entirely aware of what they were getting into when the new opponent came out. As such, Cherry was caught unaware as the Tyrogue sped forward and slammed its fist into Cherry. The exhausted Buneary had the wind knocked out of it as the punch hit them in the gut and was simply sent backwards by the impact. 

Jacklyn took a second to register what just happened, and looking at the ground she was momentarily stunned. Seeing the knocked out form of Cherry she was left speechless for a moment before saying, "well, uh, you did your best. And all. Uh," returning the defeated pokemon to her pokeball, Jacklyn cleared her throat before pointing at Dinah yet again. "But don't think I'm done just yet!" Reaching back, she called out, "c'mon out Rus!" 

As the Lepash was sent out, letting out a puff of smoke from its mouth as it seemed ready to brawl, it looked over to Jacklyn briefly with a rather annoyed expression. Jacklyn, in turn, returned an equally sour expression, coupled with an "ehh? You got a problem?" As the two glared at each other, proverbial lightning being exchanged in the process, before turning away from each other in a huff. Rus turned back to Tyrogue, clearly ready to start fighting and Jacklyn simply said, "whatever. Rus, use Emb- " before she even began speaking the Lepash had already launched a series of small fire balls towards the Tyrogue. Annoyed, Jacklyn said, "okay, yes. But at least wait for me!" Rus merely let out a puff of smoke at this. 

[Doggo 218]

Milla watched curiously as Nomi responded to her requests. First the sand. Her teammate felt the sand and commented on the heat and dryness of it all. It was an interesting note given the ongoing Rain Dance from the battle nearby. But the girl said nothing really to the strange quality of it compared to normal sand, meaning Milla's initial idea of something being off with it remained outside being phrased in concrete terms. And while that was frustrating, Nomi was moving on to touching the pillar which was probably more immediately interesting. She made no direct comment on the ringing but the annoyed look and calling the pillar a dumb rock indicated she must have experienced it too.

"As I thought, there's certainly something unnatural about this. Someone or something put these here. But to do what?" the white-haired girl pondered aloud as Nomi's investigation came to a conclusion. Milla took some time to look over the pillar again. As far up as she could see clearly on the structure nothing seemed out of place. On every side or angle it was the same story. She placed her hand once more upon it, confirming the ringing sensation from earlier. She stepped back some before grabbing a pokeball and releasing Rondo to her side. The Sneasel looked around, wondering what he was needed for and eager to impress whatever it was. He saw a battle going on that Milla wasn't a part of so that wasn't the plan.

"Rondo, could you please use Scratch on this pillar here?" the trainer asked of her partner while crouching down to do so at eye level. Rondo looked to her, then to the pillar. His posture slouched as he looked back at his trainer. He didn't seem to want to get any closer to it. That Rondo would be afraid to do anything worried the girl but after a moment he looked back to the pillar and started walking. "Wait Rondo, if you don't want to-" she started but her partner went ahead and performed the requested move. The tension built as Rondo readied his claws then all at once a decisive Scratch! And then nothing. The pillar was unmoved. The Sneasel retreated to Milla's side who put a hand gently on the back of his head. "Thank you." she said softly while looking back to the mysterious object.

"So nothing above... hitting it doesn't work..." Milla thought while looking around. Her eyes landed on Nomi and her new Trapinch. A ground type. That was it! "Nomi, do you think uh... Bug was it? There might be something going on under the sand. You think maybe Bug could give it a look?"

[yui 577]

Location: Route 103
Poké: 850

The tympole was wide open! "Now! Go in for the finisher!" Ursula rushed down the tympole who was receiving no orders, slamming her beak into the foe, and following it up with an aerial strike from her small tentacles. Although the rain - which had briefly petered out - started back up again, the tympole responsible for it was down for the count now. This brief pause in the battle was a good time to recall Ursula to her own pokeball. Just as this girl tossed out her next pokeball, Kanon did the same, revealing the second round of battle.

On Kanon's side, her trusty poliwag. On the opposite team, a kabuto.

Since she's a water-type, it only makes sense to have her fight in the rain. Kanon's poliwag - seeming to move quite a bit faster in the rain as it awaited orders - immediate jumped into action once Kanon gave the order. "Go, Water Gun! Open fire--er, water? ...just shoot the thing!"