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

[Skaia 580]

Jacklyn frowned as Belle seemed to want to be over and done with this adventure before it had even begun. She perked up again as Ivan made his comment about wanting to become champion and essentially echoed her thought as to why Belle was here to begin with. Jacklyn, again, couldn't help but frown at the situation that Belle had found herself in. While she didn't think it was fine to be forced into an adventure, since she couldn't leave the girl might've tried to enjoy it anyway. More to it, though, the girl didn't quite like her final sentiment. "Well, going on a journey for riches is fine and all - in fact, most great stories start with someone looking for wealth and treasure. However!" The girl pointed to Belle, as if challenging her saying, "by the end of this journey, you'll love the outdoors no questions asked!"

"Um. Excuse me, your food's here." The waiter had arrived, in what was likely an unprecedented speed for the restaurant business. "Alright for the young gentleman over here. The grilled kelp with some kelp water." The waiter had presented to Ivan a plate of what appeared to be kelp that had been roasted, arranged in an almost patty like shape and thickness, with charred black kelp going across the top of it, as it emulate grill lines, alongside a glass of water with some kelp in it.

"For the girl with the blues, some the Double Deep Fried Kelp Deluxe with some kelp soda." The next plate he presented was a series of what appeared to be just fried cylinders. Though the shape was similar to that of a mozzarella stick, it was much thicker than normal, and when Belle went to bite into it she would find that it was actually a piece of fried kelp, wrapped in kelp that had then been fried as well. Her soda as well was presented, it looking like a sickly green carbonated beverage, with extra sugar packets on the side.

"And finally for the girl with the bunny hoodie." He then presented her glass of kelp juice, similarly green but less fizzy to Belle's beverage, and a plate of what appeared to be a pile of kelp that was on fire. "Don't worry the fire is edible. Enjoy!" And with that, the waiter left them to their food. 

As Jacklyn looked cautiously at her flaming pile of kelp, the girl looked back to the others saying, "anyway. There's so many fun things to do outside, heck there are things that you can do inside that are more fun outside, that I refuse to let you deny the fun of adventuring!" 

[Mr. Hyde 204]

"There's a reason I decided to buff Nidoran's stats rather than lower yours." Icarus slammed into Nidoran with a Quick Attack, sending the small Pokemon backwards. With Icarus near the ground, however, it made it easier for the Nidoran to attack. "Now, Double Kick!" Chad called out. The Poison Pokemon charged in and stood up on his hind legs. The first kick, coming from its front legs, didn't seem to do much but knock Icarus off balance, but the second follow-up struck the Starly on its beak and seemed to cause much more damage than the first. "Lowered attack doesn't matter if I get a critical hit! But might as well play on both sides, Leer!"

As the Nidoran let off a ferocious gaze, Icarus couldn't help but flinch a little.

"Don't let that guy scare you Icarus!"  Oswald cheered.  "We just gotta throw him of his game!  Shake him with another growl!"  The Starly did just that, chirping once more to try and ward off it's opponent.  He'd have to risk Icarus getting in close yet again to land any sort of attack, but the small bird had obviously taken quite the kick earlier.  He'd just have to do this by the book.  "Let's see if he can catch up!  Icarus, commence a flurry of Quick Attacks!  Full speed pursuit!"  

Oswald looked to his other teammates for a moment, realizing Kanon had won and Naomi had lost.  He had to win this for the team!  Oswald smiled, his stomach tied in knots.  This was as close a battle as he'd had yet.

"You're trying to land critical blows now?  I thought luck wasn't a strategy?"  He laughed.  "Hypocrites get the max sentence!"  

[yui 577]

Location: Skrelp Harbor
Poké: 700

 

"Good to meet you miss Kanon!"

Kanon didn't say anything in response. Merely returned the head bow. Kenta came off as a pretty cheery guy.

"Oh, uh, I mean, I'll beat you next time don't think I'm down for good, uh, so there! Was that right, Fuyumi?"

And not particularly  bright either. Kanon found herself rolling her eyes too, though she didn't like that this Fuyumi girl was of the same mind. Kanon wasn't really sure who she would rather have as a third party member between this guy and Nomi. Speaking of which...

"Your companion is asleep."

What else is new?

"Gee, think someone should wake her up? Bet she has to go to the Pokemon Center. Specially if she was battling Fuyumi, she's never lost ya know."

"Just leave her there," Kanon insisted. Worst case scenario, Oswald would do something about it, right? Kanon didn't really have any plans on waking the girl herself. It was like one of those dumb boxes with the little arm inside. Sure you could flip the switch, but it would just put it back the other way itself at a moment's notice anyway. That was what waking Nomi up felt like to her. It was probably better to just keep watching the wrap-up of Oswald's battle.

[LordCowCow 842]

"You're trying to land critical blows now?  I thought luck wasn't a strategy?"

"There's a difference between relying on luck and maximizing your chances. A real trainer would know that." Chad snapped back. Icarus slammed into the Nidoran and knocked the Pokemon, who had cringed in reaction to the growl, farther back. Before Icarus could attack again, Chad continued speaking. "Like this, return!" He withdrew his Nidoran and swapped them out for his Bellsprout.

"Let's see if you can knock that bird out of the sky, use Vine Whip!" He called out. Of course the attack wasn't an effective one against the Flying type but that wasn't the point of the swap. Now that Nidoran was back in its ball the effect of the Growls had worn off.

If the vine whip managed to land the Bellsprout would try and grip Icarus and pull it down to the ground.

---

"Just leave her there,"

"Wow, and I thought Fuyumi was cold!" Kenta said, then laughed.

Fuyumi was watching the fight closely again. Specifically she was staring at the yet unused Pokeball on Oswald's side. "Maybe it's weak." She muttered. But her eyes narrowed nonetheless.

Kenta didn't seem to know what to do so he just waved towards Chad "I'm gonna go to the Pokemon Center, okay?"

Chad waved him off. An annoyed expression briefly crossing his face "You don't have to tell me everywhere you go! I'm trying to concentrate!"

Spoiler

Note, Bellsprout has low HP atm

Chad: Bellsprout, Level 9. Ability: ??? Moves: Growth, Vine Whip
Ducklett, KOed
Nidoran, Level 10. Ability: Rivalry. Moves: Focus Energy, Peck, Double Kick, Leer

 

[reparoni 161]

 

---

Ivan simply stared at Belle as she explained herself to him. Was she so careless that she didn't do any research before signing stuff? She did seem like the kind that would overlook something like that, however. Plus, the last part of her statement hit close to home. He kept quiet for a bit as she laughed about making enough money to avoid the real world forever. The thought of going back to Alola had never crossed his mind, he knew his family wouldn't take him back. Not after having ran away twice. He wasn't even sure if Team Skull would take him back at this point.

His train of thought was interrupted by the waiter, who had their food. In front of him was now a series of roasted kelp, designed to look like a giant patty. Next to it was a glass of water with some kelp in it. He turned back to Belle. "So ya didn't really have much of a choice, huh? Rough..." He said, stabbing his food with his fork. "Still, sounds like you're makin' the best of it. Good on ya." He said, tearing a piece out of the kelp with his fork. "Plus, it'll do ya good to get some sunshine." He said, biting the food on his fork.

[yui 577]

Location: Skrelp Harbor
Poké: 1,000

"I'm gonna go to the Pokemon Center, okay?"

"You don't have to tell me everywhere you go! I'm trying to concentrate!"

"Wait," Kanon interjected. Raising up her hand, the raincoat-clad girl said "I'm coming too. If you could pick up Nomi off the ground and bring her along too, since you're the one who suggested she visit, that would be great." After all, she had her own pokemon to heal up too. Kenta was a pretty formidable opponent for Kanon's fledgling team to face off with. If she was going to be a trainer - something she still wasn't quite 100% on herself - she'd have to start taking it pretty seriously. Maybe doing some research was a good idea? Or... something. She wasn't sure.

Adventures were complicated.

[Sethera 290]

"Well, going on a journey for riches is fine and all - in fact, most great stories start with someone looking for wealth and treasure. However!" The girl pointed to Belle, as if challenging her saying, "by the end of this journey, you'll love the outdoors no questions asked!"

"Somehow, I don't think that's going to happen," the blue-haired girl sweatdropped. There might have once been a time when that was possible, but definitely not now.

"Um. Excuse me, your food's here." The waiter had arrived, and quite speedily at that. He began to hand out their food, all of which looked rather...shady. "And finally for the girl with the bunny hoodie." The blue-haired girl watched as the waiter moved on to Jacklyn. He was...treating her normally. And she was...treating him normally, though she seemed to be leaning away from him for some reason. And the food as well. Well, that made sense, anyway. The food was on fire. Was the waiter also on fire, or was this some weird thing people did when they liked other people?

Shrugging, Belle picked up a fried cylinder and bit into it. "Mmm, not bad," she muttered, dumping every single sugar packet into her soda as she munched. Taking a gulp of the drink, she decided that it wasn't bad either with the sugar added to it.

"Anyway. There's so many fun things to do outside, heck there are things that you can do inside that are more fun outside, that I refuse to let you deny the fun of adventuring!" Jacklyn continued.

Ivan turned back to Belle as he began to eat. "So ya didn't really have much of a choice, huh? Rough... Still, sounds like you're makin' the best of it. Good on ya. Plus, it'll do ya good to get some sunshine."

"I get enough adventure and sunshine right from my room," the girl muttered. "Legend of Link: Whiff of the Wild is all about that. It even has a day and night cycle." She shook her head. "But you're right, I'm here now. I didn't have a choice at all, but sometimes, I guess that's what happens." She stared at the table, her face the very picture of gloom. Picking up another piece of Double Deep Fried Kelp Deluxe, she bit into it and chewed.

Swallowing the piece, Belle glanced at the others. She and Ivan had both shared what they wanted to do, why they were here. All that was left was Jacklyn. Except...she had a feeling she could guess what the girl would say. She could ask, just to be polite, but what was the use of all that? Anyway, eating was more important than conversation right now. If they continued to talk so much, the food would get cold, and that wouldn't be good.

[LordCowCow 842]

Chad wasn't entirely satisfied with the battle. It seemed that the boy was somewhat distracted near the end. And afterwards he found out why. It seemed the boy was worried about some kind of statue. After the battle he had questioned him about it and, when Chad told him he didn't know, and to ask the professor, the boy seemed to take it to heart.

Oswald went back to the center after, with Chad barking at him to let his teammates know he'll be back after some more training.

Naomi didn't even wake up as Kenta picked her up and over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Even after their Pokemon were all healed up she still was asleep and Oswald suggested they stay the night.

The girl woke up in the middle of the night, surprisingly wide awake, after spending the rest of the day asleep. She noticed Oswald leave the room and, after some time and he didn't come back, she rolled off the bed and used a table to stand up. Where she found a note. Evidently Oswald decided he had to learn more about the statues and had decided to go off on his own.

Naomi wondered if she should feel worse about this. But all she could muster was a shrug and a moment wondering what this meant for the other two. Maybe Kanon would go off alone now too?

Well, nothing she could do about that. She lay back down and let her mind wander until morning, where she'd let her head flop to the side to watch Kanon's reaction to the note.

Spoiler

If you wanted to talk to the rival group a bit more, Yui, let me know and we can hash that out. But yeah, other than that, skipping to the next day and taking Oswald out of the group.

The newcomer will appear at a time determined later but at latest it'll be when we leave the city.

 

[Skaia 580]

Jacklyn started to twirl her fork in the flaming kelp, still cautious of the fire on it, as she listened to Belle's comment about going outside. Frowning a bit, the girl couldn't quite understand why she wanted to stay inside and do nothing but play games all day. Jacklyn knew what it was like to watch all of one's adventures on a screen. She knew what playing video games was like, even if she also had a habit of playing them outside. And she knew that they were fun, especially compared to some alternatives. But even if they enjoyable or she were alone, to simply keep to that and never do anything herself just sounded too boring of a way to live. Looking down, the girl took a deep breath as she looked at the newest trial of her not so boring adventure. 

With a face of steely resolve, the girl pulled the kelp to her mouth and in one swift bite ate the food, fire and all. She was very noticeably sweating, as the heat from the food was quite intense, but still chewed quickly and swallowed the piece down. Letting out a deep breath, steaming rising from her mouth, the girl tried to collect herself before looking to her food again. It wasn't particularly good, but the girl felt as though she had accepted some kind of challenge and wasn't going to back down just yet. And so, she continued to eat at it, bite after bite. 

Eventually, Jacklyn had finished the meal, and though she had been victorious she certainly didn't look it. Face red, sweat covering as steam billowed out of her mouth, the girl bent her head back over the chair she was in as she let out a stream of pained groans. Looking over to the table nearby, in her stupor, she saw two friends also eating their own kelp themed dishes. As they talked she merely heard one say, "thanks again for covering for me."

"It's fine, it's fine. But I - "

"Yeah, yeah. 'You told me so.' You just never think it's going to be you, you know? Honestly, I thought I got rid of all that hoodlum gang stuff when I moved here." 

"Well, you know. Being part of some themed gang is all the rage these days. Trying to be fashionable or something. Well, just pay better attention and you shouldn't be bothered by them."

As Jacklyn was recovering, part of the  conversation stuck out to her. The girl's eyes looked back upwards as she said, "I wonder how much this costs?" Eventually the waiter came back and cleared their table and once everything was taken care of wished them a good night. Looking to the rest of the group, still clearly recovering from her dish, the girl slammed her hands on the table saying, "alllllllriiiiiiiiiight gang! Where to next?" 

Edited October 31, 2019 by Skaia

[yui 577]

Location: Skrelp Harbor
Poké: 1,000

The day had come and gone, quite eventfully what with the statue and the run-in with another group of trainers. When Kanon woke up the next day, she was surprised to find Oswald gone. Even more surprising was a note he'd left. Apparently he wanted to learn more about that statue, and felt it better to investigate on his own than with the girls. And here I thought I was the one that wasn't a people person. That was unfortunate, to say the least. Kanon was starting to like that guy, and then he leaves. And...

Kanon's eyes drifted over to Nomi. And that means I'm stuck alone with you. Wonderful. She seemed to be awake, at least. "Good morning down there," she said, folding up the note and shoving it into her raincoat pocket. "Get up. We've still got a whole region to take on, and the sooner we're out of this big city, the better." Kanon wasn't sure what awaited down the road, but as much as she hated to admit it, she wasn't exactly willing to tackle it on her own. Even if her backup was just Nomi.

[Doggo 218]

A deep sigh sounded to accompany shuffled steps. A girl with long white locks bouncing about behind her as she moved was walking around Skrelp Harbor, her head angled ever so slightly down. Not that there was anything interesting on the ground. She simply couldn't be bothered to lift it any higher at the moment. In her arms was a Sneasel who seemed content to be there, at least so long as no one was directly looking at him. He would wriggle and fuss whenever he could notice someone looking at the duo but the girl's arms held on well enough. She wandered about without any real aim before sitting down at a bench. Her shoulders slumped and her grip on her friend loosened, allowing him to move about more. Despite this he did little more than sit on her lap, looking up at her face. There were no tears as yet. How long that would last was anyone's guess. But what mattered was she definitely looked down in the dumps.

"Well Rondo... It's just us now. And Sonata of course..." she said softly while raising a hand to pet her Pokemon's head. This was Milla Reuter, one of many beginning trainers that had come to tackle the new region. But now she found herself without a team. Getting by with two other trainers to help had already been somewhat challenging at points. But they'd had some experience by now. Surely the teams were just to help everyone starting out she thought. "Maybe we can do it by ourselves?" she asked with doubt clear in own voice. Whatever thought process she ran through in her own mind couldn't get rid of what she already knew. She was going to need a team. And that would require some other team or teams falling apart like hers. Rondo as she called the Sneasel turned about to look her in the face. He seemed more than confident and tried brandishing his claws as if to say he could handle it all himself. This elicited a small laugh but ultimately didn't lift Milla's spirits. This troubled Rondo who began looking around the area. The two sat for some time like this, Milla not knowing what to do, Rondo looking for anything to help his trainer.

"I should probably call Mom and Dad... Going home might be for the best..." Milla spoke after a lengthy pause while sounding even more dejected. Giving up was something Rondo couldn't allow and the weasel popped up from her lap. With swiftness he hopped down to the ground and began running off to who knows where. "R-rondo wait for me!" Milla called out in a panic as she took to her own feet and began trying to follow her partner. He was a lot faster than she was so she'd need him to stop running if she ever wanted to catch him. But still, he never did anything like this. What had gotten into him?

[LordCowCow 842]

Naomi watched Kanon as she picked up the note and read it. As it turned out the girl seemed...upset. Not a broken up about it sort of upset but still upset. Which was weird. They hadn't known Oswald long and there was never any promise of staying together or anything.

Did this mean that Kanon wouldn't want to go off on her own?

"Get up. We've still got a whole region to take on, and the sooner we're out of this big city, the better."

"Mmkay den." She muttered.

Seemed like it. Naomi grunted and rolled herself off the bed and onto the floor. She flopped over to the nearest solid thing, in this case Kanon herself, to aid herself in standing back up.

"Imma get goin."

Once up she felt a wave of dizziness hit her and she stumbled her way out of the door. Forgetting to change for a moment until someone outside the room mentioned it. Grudgingly she went back to the room to change and, without brushing her hair, she shuffled off again.

"Imma get goin...again"

Naomi assumed that Kanon had intended they were going to leave right then so she stared at the city map in the Pokemon Center, not really retaining any information, before heading off in whatever direction she first saw.

Eventually they would find their way towards the exit of the city. Before reaching it, though, Naomi, trailing behind Kanon, would feel a tugging on the bottom of her shirt.

Lolling her head to the side Naomi saw why. A Sneasel was grabbing onto her sweater and tugging. She blinked at them without understanding but didn't stop them. Nor did she fight it when the Pokemon started to pull her off to the side. Simply stumbling along with wherever the Pokemon was going without saying a word.

[Doggo 218]

Milla had long since become winded from chasing after her Sneasel. She'd lost him fairly quickly because of how much faster he was. Whatever it was he was trying to do, she wasn't going to be able to stop it much as she disliked the idea. Running around in circles about town felt less than helpful. The girl paused a moment, hunched over, and tried to catch her breath before standing up and looking all around. Rondo couldn't have left the city by himself. Wherever he was running to he had to be coming back. She believed that much anyway. Though she generally disliked doing so, Milla began asking passerby if they'd seen a Sneasel running past. After a while she finally got a positive answer and was soon on her way to finding her partner. Before long her Pokemon came into view, tugging at the sweater of a girl that was following him. He was ushering the person forward.

"Rondo! What are you doing?" Milla called out in a panic as she ran up to Naomi. "I'm so sorry, he's usually much better behaved than this." she began while trying to pick the Sneasel up. This much he allowed but he didn't release his grip on the girl's clothes. Milla tried tugging a bit to get him to let go to no avail. "Rondo, stop it! What's wrong with you? You shouldn't bother people like this." she tried scolding him but still nothing. The behavior was frustrating her enough that she reached for his pokeball from her pocket. She didn't want to force him like this but he had to behave somehow or other. Right before being drawn back into the ball Rondo gave her a look and motioned his head toward Naomi which caught her off guard. The Sneasel was now back in his ball which freed the sweater he'd been holding onto so stubbornly.

"Sorry about all that. He's never done anything like that before. He didn't hurt you did he?" Milla asked of Naomi, finally focusing her attention on the girl Rondo had dragged her way.

[Sethera 290]

As Belle ate, her eyelids drooped lower and lower, till she let out a large yawn. See, her body was conservative. It conserved energy by being constantly exhausted, then when it was hungry, the energy it had been conserving quickly came to the rescue, in the pursuit of getting something to eat. However, now that she had eaten her fill...she was tired again. It was a rather late hour, but that had nothing to do with that. The girl was used to staying up late playing video games, after all.

As Jacklyn ate her food, her face seemed to get redder and redder. Belle wasn't sure why, but--wait, no, it had to be. She was feeling shy? She had a crush on that waiter, after all. That was it! And she kept looking over to the side, not paying attention to their table. She was probably staring at that waiter. The girl didn't know the first thing about subtlety, did she? Then again, what was the point of being subtle? If you liked someone, best to go for it. At least, that's what Belle thought.

The girl's eyes then looked back upwards as she said, "I wonder how much this costs?"

Belle raised an eyebrow. "If ya wanna tip extra, won't hold ya back, but i'unno if that'll get his attention or not." She shook her head. "Jus' tell him."

When the waiter came back, the girl stared at Jacklyn, but didn't do anything more, and neither did the other girl. While disappointing, the blue-haired girl didn't care enough to do much more. If she wanted to be a chicken, then, well, that was that.

Face still a bit red--really, she should've just confessed--Jacklyn slammed her hands on the table saying, "alllllllriiiiiiiiiight gang! Where to next?"

"Bed," Belle responded curtly. "Tired."

[yui 577]

Location: Skrelp Harbor
Poké: 1,000

Kanon had let Nomi lead the way. In hindsight, she wasn't really sure why she'd done it. It felt like the path she'd taken to get out of town had a lot of loops and easily-avoided detours. Or was that just her? In either case, they still made it out of town all the same. As they made their way out of town, Kanon took the lead instead. While letting Nomi lead the way through the city streets was one thing, she didn't trust the girl to be the leader of the pair in the wilderness. This was decidedly Kanon's element, so it was only natural she be the one to lead the way once out of town, right?

As she was now the one in the front, Kanon didn't notice at first when Nomi had fallen behind. Or when she'd been brought aside by a pokemon. Not until looking behind her to make sure the girl was keeping up, and noticing she wasn't there. Great. Kanon turned back, retracing her steps to try and find Nomi, wherever she'd wandered off to. Without much luck at first. Then, suddenly, she heard a voice.

"Rondo! What are you doing?"

It was something at least. If this person wasn't with Nomi, maybe they'd seen her? Kanon followed the voice as the girl kept talking, eventually finding herself reunited with Nomi, and met with someone she'd never seen before. Given her repeated apologies and checking if Nomi was okay, it didn't seem like she was an enemy, either. Kanon eyed the girl over a bit more closely, before turning her attention back to Nomi.

"You shouldn't go wandering off like that," Kanon sternly said. "People might get worried." And then there was the matter of this stranger. Who was she anyway? With her warning to Nomi handled, Kanon redirected her gaze back to this white-haired girl. "And then there's you. ...thanks for finding Nomi here, I guess. Name's Kanon. And you are?"

[reparoni 161]

 

---

As Ivan was eating, he couldn't help but overhear something about a gang from one of the nearby tables. He grimaced - were people already picking up he was part of Team Skull? No, there was no way. As far as he knew, no one outside of Alola should know about Team Skull - they were very much a local team, as far as he knew. They might have been talking about that Team Phoenix that one old guy was talking about. He tried to ignore it, focusing on eating his food, but the thought lingered in his mind.

Eventually they finished their meals and were sitting around the table, ready to go. "Where to next...?" He said, before turning to Belle who immediately mentioned going to bed. Ivan simply rolled his eyes, taking a look outside of one of the windows. It was getting late, but he wasn't tired. He was ready to keep working on getting his team stronger. "...let's find a play to stay and drop this one off." He said, pointing towards Belle. "I've got more training to do before the day ends."

[LordCowCow 842]

Naomi made her way around the city. Dragged by the sneasel. She wasn't sure where they were going but he only stopped when some other girl came up and yelled at him. Trainer? Must be. Probably. If not she was stealing the Pokemon very well.

"Rondo, stop it! What's wrong with you? You shouldn't bother people like this."

"M'not bothered." Naomi muttered, swaying a bit now that she had to adjust to standing there without being pulled again.

"Sorry about all that. He's never done anything like that before. He didn't hurt you did he?"

"Huh?"

Naomi tilted her head to the side. Not really understanding what the girl was asking. "F'course not. Heza Pokemon." What a weird thing to say. A Pokemon wouldn't really try and hurt a person would they? "M'fine." She clarified.

She was silent for a bit, just watching the girl, when suddenly Kanon appeared on the scene.

"People might get worried."

"Why?" she asked, though didn't really expect an answer. Especially as Kanon was now focused in on the other stranger.

"And then there's you. ...thanks for finding Nomi here, I guess. Name's Kanon. And you are?"

Naomi slumped a bit then, wanting to sit down, but not having the energy to bend down. "Rondo parrently." Naomi muttered, saying the only thing sounding like a name she remembered being said recently.

Spoiler

Yes there is a banner for the team but I won't use it till the team is actually "formed."

Also yes Yui I will keep using that image.

---

The group first had to decide where it was they would go. But either way as they left the restaurant and continued along the streets they would eventually hear the sounds of running.

Turning a corner they would see a young boy, probably not even ten years old, running with a panicked face down the street and turning down an alleyway.

Before they even had much time to register what had happened they saw someone chasing after the boy. With long, red, hair and a coat with a symbol on the back that resembled the one that had been in the description of a group of thugs that they had occasionally heard about. He stopped for a second looking back and forth, clutching what seemed to be a bag. He then moved towards the alley that the kid had gone down. "Where they heck did you go, you little runt? Come back here, and stop your damn whining!" He called out angrily, shaking his fist and stomping his way down the alley.

Spoiler

Whats this? A thug chasing after a young boy? Hmm, interesting.

If you do anything about it, and want to get any reactions, lemme know.

 

[Doggo 218]

Milla was surprised to see a second girl walk up to them as she had been trying to get Rondo to behave. The girl the Sneasel had grabbed she called Nomi, and she introduced herself as Kanon before asking for a name in return. Nomi meanwhile had seemed altogether unaffected by what Rondo had done. It was curious how she assumed that simply by his being a Pokemon she naturally wouldn't be hurt. That was far from the image of wild animals Milla held in her mind. From some of the information she'd heard about different Pokemon she had to imagine it would be only natural to assume an interaction with them would end up in being injured. Though in a city like this perhaps she simply assumed every Pokemon she encountered to be owned by a trainer. That made more sense. But while this thought process was weaving itself through her head, Milla's mouth needed to start fumbling through social interactions.

"N-no, Rondo's my Sneasel." She started a bit unsure of where to begin with these two. "I'm Milla. A rookie trainer here... well..." she trailed off. Until recently she'd been a new trainer in the region. But with how things were looking it didn't feel right to still call herself one. "I was on my way to make a phone call when Rondo ran off on his own. I should be thanking you for putting up with him and getting him back to me. But I don't mean to trouble you any further so I'll just be on my way now." Milla spoke as her eyes seemed to move past the two she was currently speaking with. Her lips trembled slightly as she concluded, having to remind herself that being on her way meant being on her way home. An adventure cut woefully short. She was so in her own head that she didn't realize there were only two people in front of her. Surely their third was only a corner away she reasoned. But she couldn't get what Rondo had done out of her head either. Why had he gone out of his way to drag Nomi to her side?

Edited November 8, 2019 by Doggo

[yui 577]

Location: Skrelp Harbor
Poké: 1,000

"Rondo parrently."

That was an odd name.

"N-no, Rondo's my Sneasel."

Okay, that made a bit more sense. Rondo was a Sneasel, and the trainer he belonged to was...

"I'm Milla. A rookie trainer here... well... I was on my way to make a phone call when Rondo ran off on his own. I should be thanking you for putting up with him and getting him back to me. But I don't mean to trouble you any further so I'll just be on my way now."

Milla. Milla who was going on her way, by herself. Where was she going that was so important? And was she going alone? Letting a rookie trainer - at least, she seemed like one maybe - run off on her own... Kanon didn't really like that idea. She couldn't have been alone this whole time, right? There was a lot Kanon couldn't really piece together, but-- "If you're heading for the next town over, we're heading that way too. You can tag along if you want."

What was that, me? I must be getting soft.

"Huh? No I was... going to head back. My team's already split up so I don't think going further in would be wise."

Her team split up, huh...? Today of all days, Kanon kind of understood that. "Right. You wanted to come to this region, didn't you? We're your new team, then. One of ours actually left us behind today so..." Kanon couldn't help but feel as if she was getting soft. But she sort of understood this girl's dilemma. Part of it, at least.

[Skaia 580]

Jacklyn folded her arms and leaned back with a pout on her face as Belle made her suggestion. It wasn't unexpected, though Jacklyn still couldn't help but get annoyed by the girls generally tired and lazy attitude. Naturally, she perked back up again as Ivan had made his own suggestion, and happily nodded along with it. "That's the spirit Ivan! A good work and training ethic leads to an even longer and more fulfilling adventure! So," standing up and beginning to walk from the place the girl shouted, "let's find a hotel!" 

As Jacklyn began to lead the group through the streets, the girl's attention was eventually caught by a curious sight. Seeing a small, frigthened boy running from what Jacklyn could only imagine was a thug, the girl felt something well up in her. Looking to the group with clear excitement on her face, she pointed to the alley saying, "alright gang, we have our next goal in front of us. Onward!" Jacklyn wasn't a particularly heroic person and neither the potential injustice before her nor the glory to be gained by stopping it was what spurned her on to do so. Rather, most famous adventurers were steeped in heroism, and thus stopping such injustice was only par for the course. This excitement was all the more apparent as she bounded into the alleyway after the man with the strange gang jacket shouting, "halt villain!" The girl giggled to herself after saying this, clearly thrilled to have been able to say it at all. 

The thug looked around before turning. "What, you talking to me?"

Folding her arms, Jacklyn frowned at him and says, "well yeah. You're the only villain around here."

"Hey you don't even know nothing bout me, why don't you buzz off, don't need another brat causing me trouble."

"I don't need to know anything about you to know when someone's doing something they shouldn't be." Looking at the thug, the girl stood her ground, looking forward as she expected the rest of her team to roll in and help her take care of this thug. Like a real adventuring party. 

[Sethera 290]

It was literally nighttime, and yet these two still wanted to continue? What were they running on, Energizer Scorbunny juice? "How late gonna train?" Belle asked, glancing out of the window herself. Still, she couldn't help but be relieved that the first thing they'd do was find a hotel. That was more like it. After paying and leaving the restaurant, the girl couldn't wait to go to bed. It had been a long day, after all. Or maybe not that long. But long for her, anyway. Though it seemed more and more like her days were getting filled with such "long days."

She was distracted from her gloomy musings by the pattering of footsteps. Turning the corner, there was a young boy, younger than them anyway, running down the street and turning down an alleyway with a panicked face. Soon after he was followed by a man with long red hair and a coat with a strange symbol on the back. "Where they heck did you go, you little runt? Come back here, and stop your damn whining!" He called out angrily, shaking his fist and stomping his way down the alley.

"Well, this has trouble written all over it. Let's go," Belle said, hoping to dissuade her companions from doing what she had a feeling they would do. And she was right.

"Alright gang, we have our next goal in front of us. Onward!"

"Nooo," the blue-haired girl groaned as she dragged her feet, but followed nonetheless. "I just wanna go to bed."

Eventually catching up to Jacklyn, she sighed as she overheard their, frankly, ridiculous conversation. What was this, some cheesy shounen anime? "Why are we here again?" she muttered. "Let's just leave."

[reparoni 161]

 

---

They eventually decided to find a hotel to drop off Belle at. As they started walking through the streets, though, an interesting site crossed them. He saw a scared boy run from a man in red through an alleyway. This was very much clearly the Team Phoenix they had heard so much about. Ivan grit his teeth, as he had seen a similar scene to this one play out before back in Alola. Back then, however, he was the one that would chase people down. Granted, he never hunted down a kid like this, but was what he did really that much worse? Jacklyn was way ahead of them, running right towards the action before Ivan could even say anything. "Jacklyn!" He shouted, chasing after the girl. She was ready for adventure, but she didn't realize just how dangerous these kind of people were.

When Ivan got there, he saw Jacklyn confronting the man. "Hey!" Ivan shouted from behind Jacklyn, walking up next to her. "Why don't you try pickin' on someone your own size, punk!" He said, crossing his arms as he looked at the thug right in the eyes. It was unsettling, like looking into a mirror. A rather red mirror, but a mirror none the less. Still, if he was uncomfortable, he did not show it. Instead he had an angry scowl on his face as he stared him down.

 

[LordCowCow 842]

"I was.... phone call....Rondo ran..... thanking you for......him back to me. But I don't....trouble you.....on my way now."

"Who's troubled?" Naomi asked. She had been fading in and out as the girl talked but there was something going on here. So, despite her sleepiness, she tried to pay attention. The girl didn't seem to want to leave but she was leaving anyway. Why? What did that do?

"Right. You wanted to come to this region, didn't you? We're your new team, then. One of ours actually left us behind today so..."

Naomi was starting to think that Kanon really didn't want to be alone. She wondered why. It wasn't really that bad. Still.... "If y'wanna come y'can." Naomi said. She wasn't going to stop her.

Though she wasn't entirely sure of one thing. She looked over towards Kanon, "Where're we goin?"

---

"I don't need to know anything about you to know when someone's doing something they shouldn't be."

"Whatcha talking about? All these stupid kids bothering me, what an annoying day." The thug grumbled. He nodded as Belle spoke up, "Listen to your little friend there, she seems like a smart girl, just run along now."

"Why don't you try pickin' on someone your own size, punk!"

He let out a groan and looked back at Ivan, meeting his stare. "And what're you doing? You should be agreein with me if anything, c'mon, tell your friend there to back off."

Though it was clear that these two wouldn't. "Fine whatever, you wanna mess with me, then let's get this over with."

He then pulled out a Pokeball from his side and sent out a small red bird, a Fletchinder, who let out an aggressive chirp and flapped its wings, standing on the ground and staring the group down.

Spoiler

Alright so Flechinder may seem a bit strong given your levels atm but note its his only Pokemon and you're free to 2v1 or 3v1 if you want.

On that note

Fletchinder, level 17, Flame Body. Moves: Ember, Growl, Quick Attack, Peck

Telling the whole thing cause feel free to do some control of the battle. Just don't give lines for the grunt. Also try and coordinate a little with the others to not trip over each other. (or to trip over each other intentionally I suppose)

 

[Sethera 290]

While Belle wanted to leave, it didn't seem like the others did. Ivan stepped forward and said something...well, something very predictably heroic. Almost as if he were a hero of a video game or something. However, his appearance didn't match his words at all, and that changed the tone from "hero saving the day" to "thug confronting another thug." It was rather interesting, but not something the girl had the care, or leisure to study. And I don't know how to feel about being called smart by somebody so...stereotypically villainous, but I guess I'll just take the compliment.

What was more concerning though, was he was saying Ivan should agree with him? Does he mean because he looks like a video game thug, or is it something else? Is Ivan on his side? The suspicion didn't last for very long, however. Belle considered herself a sensible person, and while it was a possibility, it didn't seem very likely, since he was confronting the guy here. Which meant, he was probably saying it because he looked like a thug. To be fair, he really does look like one. And sometimes acts like one too.

Still, the stereotypical villain had obviously decided to give up, sending out a Fletchinder. Belle didn't know much about them, aside from the fact that they had a flame sac in their body that was underdeveloped in the earlier stage. Or that apparently pictures of Fletchinder were shown on the internet as some sort of symbol for a pretty girl. No, she wasn't really sure why either.

"What a hot bird," she said flatly, quoting the meme she had heard once. "All right, in that case, I'll send out Moo." Her Poamoo was smart and seemed like it knew what it was doing, which would be helpful for this battle. There was something niggling in the back of her head though. Like there was something she was forgetting. Multiple somethings maybe. Shrugging, the girl grabbed a ball...and realized what she was forgetting. "Oh yeah...I never labeled you. Oops." Sweatdropping, she threw it. "Um...go Poké Ball."

The ball bounced against the ground, opening up to reveal a large, purple rat before bouncing back into Belle. Were she more coordinated she would have been able to catch it, but as she was not, it ended up smacking her in the arm instead. "Ugh...this isn't a good start," she mumbled.

[Doggo 218]

So distracted was Milla mentally that she could hardly process was Kanon and Nomi were saying. She had to blink a few times and look back to the blue-haired girl. What had she just said? They were her new team? One of theirs had left? That seemed impossible. This was the impossible scenario she'd determined wouldn't be happening for her. Rondo couldn't have possible known this and led them to her intentionally either. None of this seemed plausible. The girl had to shake her head and really process it all again.

"R-really? You'd have me along just like that?" she asked softly, almost shying away from it. She didn't want to build up her own hope in the event she'd misheard. But she knew what she'd heard. She'd played it again in her head enough times she had to believe she'd heard it right. "Thank you so much! You dont know what this means to-" she cut herself off. For one, she doubted they wanted to know too much about her. But another thought crossed her mind. However impossible it seemed, Rondo must have been trying to get them to come help her. She released the Sneasel from his pokeball and as the creature appeared he stood there with his arms folded, eyes closed and head turned to the side. No doubt he was still upset.

"Rondo! Thank you!" she cried as she scooped him up to some initial protest and gave him a big hug. He tried to stay upset but gave in before long and returned it. With trust between partners restored he stayed happily in her arms as Milla turned her attention back to her new teammates.

"I look forward to travelling with you." she said with a soft smile. She made no indication of a next move. They had been kind enough to have her she would leave it to the more senior members of the team to decide where they were headed.