(PTA) Defiance of the Forgotten: Knights of Hoenn

[IrnBruAddict]

The waves lapped up against the side of the boat, as it slowly made it's way towards Ever Grande City. A group of Carvahna swam alongside, looking hungrily up at the passengers who dared to poke their heads over the side, and a small flock of Wingull flew overhead. 16 trainers had presented invitations at the docks, and a surprise battle had forced half of that number to head home, leaving only the 8 victors to board. What made it worse was the fact that those fights were televised, and losers were forced to head home early, without ever setting foot on Ever Grande.

The majority of the trainers were now out on deck, chatting away as they slowly sailed onwards. The majority of the press were gathered inside, in the dinning hall, where a luxurious spread had been laid out.

And of course, each of you had your own room, with a bed and bathroom, if not much else. They were surprisingly spartan compared to the rest of the ship.

[MichaelGoldclaw]

Catherine sat in her room. She thought about sparring with Striker or one of her other pokemon, but she didn't want to break anything. She was broke, but still had some supplies. She then got up, looked an the mirror, and fixed her hair. She then decided to start exploring the ship.

[Anubis Dread]

It was sunny, fresh, and the ocean was sparkling! There was a nice breeze that blew her dyed red and streaked blue hair out alongside her as she looked back at the mainland. She should be happy, but instead Tiffany felt unusually pensive. She hadn't really expected to make it this far when she got her invitation. She was a coordinator and not a fighting expert or master trainer like some of the other people on board after all. She'd thought she'd just show up, plug Team Neo-Magma, make a good showing and go home. Instead she was on a boat heading to Ever Grande City.

On the one hand, this was great! If she could make such a good showing and spread some good will for her team just in the trial phase, imagine how much good she'd be able to do once they got to Ever Grande! On the other hand though, what would happen if she went even further? Would she have to quit coordinating to take on whatever role they had in mind for her? Maybe it was for the best if it did some good, but at the same time it seemed like she was getting further and further from her roots.

Looking down into the ocean at the Carvahana, Tiffany fiddled with the bow on her pink and lacy faux Neo-Magma uniform. She hadn't even changed from her show clothes yet, she should really head into her room and change into some beachwear. Or at least something a little more casual. Still, she had to wonder if the Carvahana would be happier if ships didn't go by them all the time/

Sensing her pensiveness, the Numel she had released by her side some time ago to sunbathe lazily reared his head and let out a simple Nuuuuu, before rubbing its head against her pants leg. Smiling, Tiffany crouched down and pat him firmly on the head. "It's okay Ruby, I'm fine. You just relax, you did real good work back there!" She gave the pokemon an affectionate wink before continuing. "I never would have gotten this far if it wasn't for you!"

The Numel blushed for a moment, letting out another affectionate Numel before sinking back down and closing its eyes to soak up some rays. Which of course made Tiffany chuckle - Ruby had been a member of Team Neo-Magma before even she was, and he was taking everything in stride. She supposed she should just relax a little.

Alright! Standing back up straight, she nodded a bit to herself while smiling. It was time to make the most of this chance, rather than worrying that it wasn't something she should be doing! There were a lot of high profile trainers and other people on this ship, and if she showed how strong and good Team Neo-Magma was she could make some real headway! But first she should probably change. Right after Ruby had had enough sun of course.

[Esprit15]

Dressed differently than she was while boarding, in a ratty looking shirt and torn jeans, Zoe is in one of the battle areas, a Mawile in front of her. "Harder, Kogasa!". The Mawile charges forward, slamming it's large jaws into the girl's crossed arms. She gets pushed back a bit, but only a bit. "Again!" Another hit knocks her back onto the ground, but a force of energy bursts forward, knocking the Mawile back as well. She pulls herself up, running towards the downed mon. "Defend!" She sweeps her leg forward towards the Mawile's gut, but it rolls away, spores floating into the air. She sends another pulse, knocking it for a loop. It stays down. "Come on, up. Up!" The Mawile pulls itself to its feet, entering a combative stance.

"That will do for today." The girl dusts off, leaving the training area.

[Aneurin]

Sayuri

Lurking in one corner of the dining room, Sayuri surreptitiously tries to avoid the eye of anyone she recognises from PokeMonthly and all the awkward questions about her press badge that would probably entail. But it's worth it for the free nibbles, and so far the smell coming from Muckles' pokeball has helped keep awkwardness out of a five foot radius.

You get used to the smell after a while, she reflects, tipping some tidbits from the blate in to the waiting jaws of Teddy, who wags his tail so hard his whole back end wobbles. I barely even notice it now. Just wish I could've gotten rid of him before that point,

Not that there was much chance of that; apparently, even by the standards of grimer, Muckles stinks. Which is, of course, why nobody wants him.

Rising, Sayuri makes her way back over to the buffet table for more food, clicking her tongue to call Teddy to heel. Teddy's always been a good boy, but she could do without a scene - even an accidental one - which is why Willow and Ali are safely locked in her room, unless Ali has finally figured out doorknobs and gone out to start some fights.

[Esprit15]

After Zoe gets out of her training, she picks up the tired looking Mawile, carrying Kogasa as she heads over to her room to change to something more decent. As she does, she runs into a rather fit looking girl with a Lucario. "Hey, I saw your fight the other day! Catherine, right?"

[MichaelGoldclaw]

Catherine nods. She, however, did not know Zoe. She then replies "Yea, I'm Catherine and this is Striker, but you are a bit unfamiliar to me. May I ask your name?"

[Esprit15]

"Zoe. Zoe Moranai. I was the one who lamented that trainers weren't allowed to participate in place of one of their team members." She holds up the Mawile, who is curled up in a ball, but otherwise looks rather content against the ragged girl. "Kogasa loved watching your Tyrogue fight. What are you going to evolve him into?"

(OOC note: Tyrogue are male only species)

[Anubis Dread]

Some time later, Tiffany stood in front of the doors to the dining hall, nervously patting down her new change of clothes. She'd put her hair up, and donned a rather frilly white dress for the occasion. There'd be a lot of people there after all, and it was a pretty high quality function. Even if it wasn't, there was press there and she was a semi-famous coordinator. She had to look her best. Though having Neo-Magma branded across such a white and frilly dress would completely ruin the look, she did have a band with the name in her hair. After all, she had to keep wearing her uniform in some way, right?

Gently resting her hand on the pokeballs hanging from the belt under her dress, she smiled before opening the doors and stepping inside. Well it wasn't quite as high profile as she had maybe expected, but there certainly were a lot of press and people. Come to think of it, she probably wasn't anymore famous than anyone else who'd come to this point now. They all shared the same achievement of making it this far. Everything leading up to it was almost made null by that one achievement.

Making sure to keep a smile on her face, Tiffany gently walked over to the buffet table and began to fill up a plate. She was starving, and it wouldn't really do well for her or Neo-Magma's image if she just went up and talked to the press right away.

[MichaelGoldclaw]

"Hopefully a hitmonchan. I have been training his guard personally."

[Esprit15]

"Right, you were the boxer. Silly question to ask. So, you liking the ride so far?" It was now occurring to Zoe that she forgot to go back to her room to change. It can wait.

[MichaelGoldclaw]

"Well, I kinda like it. I was hoping to get some food. After that I was going to see if there is a place where I can train with Striker."

[Esprit15]

"Well Kogasa and I just practiced in an empty battle field, so it shouldn't be too hard to find one. Lot of people are wary of showing off too much, lest other people see their strategies. Should probably get a bite to eat, too."

[MichaelGoldclaw]

"Well, I guess I will head to there afterwards, but only to kill a bit of time. But first, I'm hungry. If you like, we can go together."

[Esprit15]

"Sounds good." Zoe decides to forgo changing just a little bit longer, her now growling stomach thanking her.

[MichaelGoldclaw]

Catherine heads off to the cafeteria (or whatever it is referred to) with Zoe to get some food.

[Aneurin]

Sayuri

Sayuri nudges Tiffany slightly, as she hunts through the buffet table for the little tofu thingies that Teddy seems to love so much, and maybe a bowl of salad to sneak back to the cabin for Ali and Willow. Some might consider liberating the free food to be slightly immoral - but for a freelance photographer with hungry pokemon to feed nothing is off-limits. Although Muckles seems quite happy to eat just about anything, including the carpets given half a chance.

"'Scuse me, could you pass the sandwiches please?" she asks in her slow drawl, absent mindedly shoving Teddy's inquiring nose away from Tiffany's leg. She hesitates a moment, then glances inquisitively at Tiffany. "Say, you're one of the trainers, right? How're you findin' things so far?"

She looks at Tiffany again and grins. "I like your dress - where'd you get it from?"

[Anubis Dread]

Sandwhiches? Oh, right. Tiffany shot a smile at what had to be a reporter, reaching over for the plate of sandwhiches and holding it out for the woman to take. At least she thought she was a reporter. The alternative was a member of staff, and she didn't think one would risk getting in trouble chowing down on the food. ...this food WAS for reporters too, right? It didn't matter too much she supposed.

"Yep, sure amI!" Tiffany replied cheerfully. "It's been a bit of a wild ride honestly. I'm a coordinator more than a battler, so I didn't really expect to make it this far. I guess all that training back when I was active in Team Neo-Magma stuck with me. As for the dress, I make it myself of course," she winked. "I like making clothing and accessories for people and pokemon. Anything to make the world a little prettier is something worth doing in my book."

Something was sniffing at her leg... the girl looked down, before her eyes widened and her face lit up. "Oh wow, what a cute Growlithe! Is it yours?" she asked curiously, getting down on her knees and holding out a hand for the pokemon to sniff.

[IrnBruAddict]

As Catherine and Zoe enter the dining hall, they find it quite a spacious affair. There were several large round tables where most of the press were relaxing, already having grabbed a bunch of pictures from the first fight. With them was Jeff, easily the most hated of the trainers in the tournament. He was there, giving some grand speech about how awesome he was, and how he was going to steamroll the rest of you. The guy had an ego, and whoever would take him down was probably going to get the thanks of pretty much everyone.

Other than that, there was Tina, the youngest member, only 13, who was shamelessly flirting with one of the royal knights who was here to lend an official air to the whole proceeding. The guy looked bored out of his mind, but Tina kept yacking on and on and on ....

And of course, next to the food tables they spotted Tiffany, another of the contestants, in a rather impressive white frilly dress, chatting with a member of the press who had her Growlithe out.

A large knight in impressive armour crosses across the dinning hall, and flicks on a TV monitor.

Jeff the Ace Trainer with the massive ego, would fight Zoe the pale Psychic
Dal the genious Researcher, would fight Catherine the hot blooded Boxer
Tiffany the bright eyed Coordinator, would fight Tina the youthful Underdog
Noctis, the Unovan representitive, would fight Violet the Water ace

It seemed the matches would be 2 on 2, and held once the boat docked.

[Esprit15]

Zoe sighs. Why did she have to fight him? Well, better scope out the competition... She pauses for a moment to try and clean herself up a bit. Had to rush her for food and this is what happens: situation where a bit of clean up would have done her a world of good on making an impression. "Give me a second. Gotta say hi to the competition, after all, make a good impression."

"Hey, Jeff. Loved seeing your fight before. Really, you looked great. Looks like you and I are competing next. Looking forward to it." She formally extends her hand to shake his. "You ready?" At 'ready,' she takes a quick glance at his thoughts, seeing what, if any, mons come up in his mind.

[Anubis Dread]

It had suddenly got a lot more noisy. Frowning a bit in confusion, Tiffany tore her eyes away from the cute pokemon and looked up at the source of the sound. Oh, so those were the matches for when they docked? Interesting! So who was her opponent?

"I guess they paired the two cute trainers up," Tiffany joked with a small laugh when her eyes spied the girl who would have to be her opponent. "Fine by me, it looks like it will be a fun match!" Truth be told though she was still a little nervous... she had faith in her pokemon, but despite her appearance from what she'd heard Tina was an Ace Trainer. And a highly specialized one at that. All her pokemon would be well trained for battle, unlike Tiffany's...

[Aneurin]

Sayuri

Grinning, Sayuri graciously accepts the plate of sandwiches, and with an expert 'accident' dropps one in to the waiting jaws of the growlithe.

"'Preciated," she says cheerfully, loading up her own plate with the white triangles of bread. "So how come someone as good at clothin' as you ended up in a place like this?" Sayuri gestures around the room in an effort to encapsulate the whole tournament. "I mean, why go for it if co-ordinatin' is more your style - if you don't mind my askin',"

At Tiffany's question about the growlithe, she glances down at Teddy with a mixture of affection and exasperation. "Oh, and he's mine. Can't get rid of the silly thing. He's been followin' me since we were both born. His name's Teddy, and I'm Sayuri, by-the-by,"

As if on cue, Teddy extends and obedient paw to be shaken and Sayuri grins. "Mind you, wouldn't trade him for the world,"

With the announcement of the match-ups, she follows Tiffany's gaze and casually notes the faintly worried expression. Sure, she's no expert trainer, but she can still sooth a few worries away - and, hey, if someone's well-disposed towards her, might get her a bit of work.

"Well, sure looks like an interestin' match-up for you. But I reckon you've maybe got the edge; you've probably been workin' with your pokemon for longer, right? So you know what they'll do, even if you don't go in for the fightin' too much," she pauses for emphasis and then grins. "I'll be rootin' for you, anyway. Always a pleasure to meet someone who thinks there's more to pokemon than just fightin' them all the time,"

[Anubis Dread]

Oh the Growlithe wanted to shake! Smiling, Tiffany took the paw and shook it, before her other hand went to pat the pokemon proper. "I can really tell you've had him for a while, he's in peak condition," she noted. "Fur could use some grooming, but that's hard to avoid with such a beautiful coat on such an active pokemon," she teased.

"As for why I'm here... well I got the invitation, and thought it would be a good idea to show up as Team Neo-Magma's represenative," she smiled up at the reporter, before reluctantly stopping her petting and standing back up. "It's the same reason I got into coordinating to begin with. That and I like pretty clothes and showing off," she winked. "I didn't really expect to get this far though, I guess I'm stronger than I gave myself credit for."

"Unless she's been working with Pokemon since she was under half my current size I suppose you're right," Tiffany admitted, smiling a bit at Sayuri's concern. "Still, win or lose I got this far, and I don't intend to lose just yet! Oh, and I'm Tiffany by the way. Of course, you already knew that I'm sure," she laughed softly. "It was good talking to you, and I definitely feel the same way!"

[Aneurin]

Sayuri

Giving a soft snort at Tiffany's compliment, Sayuri gives Teddy a poke with her foot. "Well, the dozy lump always did prefer a good scratch and a nap to a proper brush," she takes the distraction as an opportunity to snag one of those tentacruel-shaped jelly-things for her plate. And a tofu-thingy for Teddy, of course.

"And of 'course I knew who you were - anyone who made it this far's worth knowin'," she laughs as Tiffany introduces herself. Nope, didn't have a clue - I should probably learn these kids' names at some point.

...Not that that's been too easy, the speed at which things have gotten to this point. But with only these few left, at least she has a sporting chance to keeping track of who's who.

"Well, anyway. Been a pleasure meetin' you - take care out there," she nods, as she heads away from the buffet - plate fully loaded, and a couple of treats hidden in her camera bag - and back towards the tables. "C'mon Teddy,"

As she goes, she makes a mental note to have another talk with the girl if she gets the chance - she's heard a great deal about Neo-magma, some good, some bad, some strange and some utterly unsubstantiated. It'd be kinda interesting to get Tiffany's view on them - not that it's any of her business, but Sayuri's nothing if not nosy.

[MichaelGoldclaw]

Catherine noticed Dal wasn't here, so she just waited for Zoe to finish

[Anubis Dread]

Tiffany smiled as she looked at the reporter - Sayuri, rather - walk away, idly taking a bite of the food from her plate. It was nice to talk to someone from the press who wasn't so pushy. Most of the time they either tried to dig up contravercy by baiting her with the less pleasant Neo-Magma rumors or reduce her to a pretty face. So it was- oh wow this was REALLY good.

Resisting the urge to eat too quickly (it really wouldn't do to have the face of Neo-Magma smeared with sauce), Tiffany scanned the room, trying to get a feel for who else she should talk to. Most of the reporters seemed to be keeping to themselves, likely waiting for the event to start before talking to any of the contestants.

As for the contestants themselves, it looked like she was lucky and her opponent was actually here in the dining hall. On the other hand, maybe she should actually prepare some. The battle was two on two, so she had to work out which two of her pokemon synergized best together. Still, it would be rude to not say hello at the very least, right?

Walking over to the young girl trainer and the bored looking knight, Tiffany put on a smile as she addressed her competition. "Hi, I'm Tiffany! It looks like we're going to be battling once we get to port."

[Dracio]

Since the boat had left port Noctis had been walking its length and berth wandering around like a leaf caught on the wind. Eventually though, he had simply given up on his walk and settled to take a quick nap on the deck under the sun with Pristrix using him as a comfy place to bask in the warm rays. Unfortunately his nap was often interrupted with the thoughts of why he was even here. He had been approached to attend the tournament not only as a representative of the Rangers but of Unovan as well, the pressure was definitely on him to look and do good.

Eventually as usual though, both his thoughts and nap were interrupted by his partner who gave him the obligatory hunger look Noctis had come to learn. With a sigh of defeat Noctis placed Pristrix on his shoulders and got up to go walk to the galley were the food was. Who knows perhaps he would see some of the other trainers there and, perhaps catch what the winds would be carrying his way when they reached land.

[IrnBruAddict]

Tiffany

The little girl looks up from her place, clinging to the arm of the hopelessly bored knight.

'Hello. Teeny Tina looks forward to fighting you, since other than Tina, it seems Tiffany has the cutest dresses. Teeny Tina would totally like some fashion tips after the match is over. But Teeny Tine advises Tiffany not to underestimate her just because of her size. Small is powerful.'

Oh great, she was one of those girls who spoke in third person and used an overly cutesy voice.

Sayuri

As soon as Sayuri takes a seat, a slightly pudgy man comes on over and sits across from her, holding a bottle of wine.

'Hey, you're the PokéMonthly chick, ain't ya? Name's Jerry, columnist, work for Rostrubo Gazette. Seen some of your work, pretty good to be honest.' He offered Sayuri a glass of wine as he poured himself one.

'So think you'll be able to finally snap Princess Elizabeth? Next to no-one has ever gotten a picture or an interview with that shut-in. Even this whole tournament deal seems fishy, not her whole style, y'know? Most of the other guys aren't even trying to get her. They'll either report on the tournament, or otherwise try to fine some information on the whole Princess Anna and the Prince of Unova engagement rumours. They think Little Liz the black sheep of the family isn't worth reporting on.' He waves a hand dismissively at the other members of the press.

Zoe

Jeff seems annoyed that he was interrupted talking about how awesome he was, until he spots it was Zoe who interrupted him. 'Hey. The chick from department store family right? Moranay or something? Look babe, I know you're hot and rich, and you probably want a sexy stud like me to be your trophy husband or something. And while I would love that, old Jeff here has his sights set on the Princess. Once she sees me in action, she's sure to fall for my greatness.' He gives his hair a flick and flashes a glistening white smile. Sure, he might look like a male model, but his face just screamed for a punching.

His thoughts were filled with thoughts of what Zoe might look like under that dress, what kind of panties she would be wearing, and how much she would fawn over Jeff the stud. All of his thoughts seemed to revolve around himself. The one sight Zoe did catch related to his team was a picture of Jeff, standing atop all the other contestants and clutching a massive trophy while his Golett carried him on it's shoulder. So it was safe to assume he at least had a Golett.

'But don't worry. As a consolation prize, I'll make sure you have an awesome battle. You'll never forget the day you lost to Jeff Patricks! You tell your kids, "Yeah, one day, long ago, I battled the Champ back when he was still entering Youth Tournaments". They'll totally dig it!' He shoots Zoe a wink.

Noctis and Catherine

As Noctis made his way to the dinning hall, he passes by Dal and Violet, two other contestants, who were having an argument up on deck. Violet was fishing, and had gotten into a fight with Dal over what the scientific name for a certain fish was, or something like that.

As Noctis enters the dining hall, he bumps into Catherine, quite literally, who was standing at the entrance to the dining hall waiting for Zoe.

[Esprit15]

"Moranai, and as wonderful a guy as you likely are, you're not really my type. Sorry, dear. I wish you luck with the princess, though." As the flirting gets stronger, she smirks, irises glowing brighter. Yeah, very much not my type. Most would at least control thoughts like these. Oh well, thanks for the info. I know just the thing to send at your Golett.

And please, never touch me again, unless it's to shake my hand after I kick your smug ass. With a smile, she gives a light bow to the press. "See you at the competition!" And back to her companion.

"Okay, I'm going to have to win my fight against that guy. Muking creep."

[Anubis Dread]

Oh. My. Arceus.

"You are too cute!" Tiffany practically squealed at her direct competitor. "I'd love to chat once this is all through! Though you're wrong on one things - this dress is adorable," she teased, sticking out her tongue slightly. "Though you probably make yours look a lot cuter than I make mine look. I'm a little less cute and a little more... well let's just say I've never gotten an offer from Cute Idol Monthly but gotten plenty of letters from Beach Babe Express," she sighed. "Not that I didn't rock the one issue I appeared in, but still..."

Collecting herself a bit, she smiled at Tina. "Anyway, I'm looking forward to our fight. I'm sure you're really strong. Oh and a little word of advice?" she went on, arching her eyebrow as she looked between her and the knight. "Sometimes it's best to be a little less aggressive. It's just like catching a pokemon - you have to weaken them first," she finished with a wink.

[Dracio]

Noctis has his thoughts distracted with what wonders of culinary delight might exist in the room up ahead. Being a ship of such class and given its purpose he was rather hoping the food would rate up there as well. Not even giving a thought to his immediate surroundings Noctis walks into the galley and then straight into Catherine. Acting quickly Noctis manages to avoid falling over and recovers quickly, noticing that he appears to have accidentally bumped straight into a tough looking girl who didn't even budge.

With a slight blush from his blunder Noctis says, "My most sincere apologies for not paying attention and bumping into you like that, the thought of food got both me and my partner here kind of... distracted. Pardon me where are my manners I am Noctis Eques of Unova. May I ask your name?"

[MichaelGoldclaw]

Catherine is knocked back a little. "Sorry. I'll get out of your way." She steps aside and then notices Zoe. "Do me a favor and kick. his. ass.

[Esprit15]

"Don't have to tell me twice. Creep was clearly undressing me with his eyes." Hm, would a childish prank be inappropriate now? Likely. Better to wait until later, at least when the source would be less noticeable. Then again, it was always noticeable from her. Psychics at the school couldn't pin down why her powers manifested so oddly. "Though I think you could more than kick his ass if you had to."

She turns to the new arrival. "And who would this sir be? A ranger, by the looks of it."

[Dracio]

Seeing that the girl isn't paying attention herself it seems Noctis gives a slight huff at her ignoring him. Though the pale girl that walked up said something along the lines that suggested someone in the room might be a muk of a person. Noctis decides that he should be identified and then stayed away from.

After noticing the said muk Noctis hears the pale girl address him, she is quite polite and very observant to catch him that quickly, but then again he wasn't really trying to hide anything after all. Noctis gives a quick laugh before nodding to her.

"Yes madam, I am a Ranger and I hail from Unova; my name is Noctis Eques and it is a pleasure to meet you." After saying this his little partner puts a claw into his face and then points to the food table eagerly. " Yeah, yeah I get it partner your hungry, I'm hungry, we're both almost drooling at the food so lets go get some before you threaten to eat my boots again. Would you two care to join me?"

[Esprit15]

"I'd love to. Pleasure to meet you. Unovan... And you came all the way here for the competition?"

[Dracio]

As they walk towards the food table to appease a certain hungry sandile Noctis makes some small talk with mirth and light heartedness. "Yes I hail from Unova as I said and as for the reasons well the competition is a big part as to why I am here. The other pieces though may or may not be so easily guessed. As I am sure you have heard the Rangers are not seen in the best of light around Hoenn as they use to be.

Scratching his head a little and showing a bit of embarrassment about that particular revealed truth Noctis attempts to change the subject quickly. "So who do I have the pleasure of talking too and if I may be so bold what is your stake in this competition?"

[Esprit15]

"Zoe Moranai, of the Mossdeep School for Psychics." If he knew anything else, he could say so, but it was unlikely that he paid much attention to local Hoenn news from the past too closely. "I was a rather decent trainer a while back in Lilycove. When I... when I moved to Mossdeep, I kept it up while I trained at the school. Apparently it was good enough to garner notice from the princess. The teachers did say that I had a lot of potential as both a Psychic and a Pokemon battler, and I guess they weren't the only ones to think so." As she speaks, food gathers itself on her plate. A good deal of it: scrambled eggs, several strips of bacon, three sausage links, a pile of hash browns, two bagels with packets of jam, a cup of coffee, a pecha muffin, a bowl of chestos and orans and a smaller bowl of cereal... "Training leaves me a bit hungry." Kogasa grabs a plate full of muffins with her horns, to share with Zoe's team.

[Dracio]

Noctis grabs two plates and begins to pile bacon and a few other available meats onto with a side of berries. The other is laden with eggs, bacon, hash browns, and several assorted muffins. "Trust me as a Ranger I could tell you the importance of training yourself as well as your pokemon, but I think you have that down better than most. Its good to hear you are as active as them, it creates a bond of understanding and friendship that is needed if both are to reach their potential. Or at least that is what my instructors always drilled into us. Besides if we are expected to keep up in our training the start is a good breakfast."

Following Zoe over Noctis quiets for a moment before asking, "So whats it like to be a psychic, the few I have met have always given me different answers. I mean we are taught about what a psychic is and what they can do, but not what they are like.

[Esprit15]

"Well hate to bring more disappointment, but from what I gather, I'm just as different from the rest." She sits down and begins to dig in. "My abilities only surfaced about a year ago, way later than they do for normal Psychics. It's... interesting. The school taught me to not see it as a reason to set myself apart from the rest of the world, or think of myself as better than those without powers, but of course there is differing opinion there. I tend to agree: I'm still the same person I was before I had them. I'm not any better than you or Catherine here." She takes a bite of the pecha muffin.

"But I guess the question feels vague. 'What's it like to be a psychic?' Well what's it like to not be a psychic? It's part of who I am. In just over a year, it's kind of become a part of me. When you don't trust someone, you read facial cues to become more certain of their motives. I look at their thoughts. It isn't as different as it seems. It's just extra senses." It seems like it should be easy for her to answer. She was totally normal for 14 years. One year should be a huge transition, but between all the other transitions, it kind of was just part of the changes. New home, new sensory inputs, new streets.

"It's kind of like when you think about something you want to do, but have no physical means to do. Think about when you want to throw something at someone, even though it's a bad idea. For me, that desire is another sort of limb, a way of interacting with the world." A white mist coalesces around the jam, opening the plastic packet and picking it out of its container as the mist shapes into a knife, scraping it out. The mist picks up a bagel, cutting it in half and smearing the jam onto the inside. "What's odd is that a lot of Psychics don't have their powers manifest like this. They will the bagel to cut itself and it pulls apart." The misty looking hands press the jammed bagel halves together now, letting their controller take a bite. "Helps you keep your cool though when stray thoughts are actions in and of themselves."

[MichaelGoldclaw]

Catherine shakes her head after colliding with the Unovan. She was a bit set off when she replied, so she got her senses back and retrieved some food. She laid out some for her team and sat down with Zoe and the Unovan. "Sorry for not responding there, I was still a bit dizzy. I'm Catherine, hot-blooded boxer girl."

[Aneurin]

Sayuri

"Yeah, I'm from PokéMonthly," she says, perhaps a little more flatly than she needs to. It's hard enough to get respect in this business without being called 'chick'. "Sayuri - and thanks, I have the Gazette delivered, so you guys must be doin' somethin' right," she adds, waving away the offer of the wine.

"I'm more here for the pokémon, really. I do the wildlife side of things normally, so this is branchin' out a bit with this - not sure I'm up to the Human Interest stuff just yet. I ain't about to pass up the shot, mind, but I'm not gonna chase the poor girl," she grins slightly, and fishes out a tofu thingy for her, and another for Teddy. "Mind my askin' what your interest is, though? Sure, it might not be her thing, but duties of state come first and all that rubbish - what else could there be to it?"

Well, Jerry certainly sounds like a man with a theory he wants to share - and who is she to deny him? Might even be worth something if it's true, or even if it's not.

[IrnBruAddict]

Tiffany

The little girl gives Tiffany a wink back. 'So it's Teeny Tina's cuteness against your mature sexy body? Tina thinks that'll be a close battle, but then again, our real battle is with pokemon, not looks.' She giggles. 'Lets make a deal. If you beat Tina, she'll cheer for you through the rest of the tournament, and you do the same if you lose. We can't let the boys like that bore Dal or that thug Jeff win now, can we?'

She giggles, kicking her feet excitedly, and once again hugs the knights arm. 'But this is one thing Tina won't back down on! If you let the mon go, it's fair game for others to catch it, right? Tina's not letting this one out of her sight!'

Sayuri

The man nods, as if Sayuri had a valid point. 'Were it any other princess, maybe you'd be right. But I heard she wouldn't even see members of the League when they came to visit, and she even snubbed the Unovan Prince when he visited to court her elder sister. Honestly, she doesn't seem to give a damn about royal duties. Yet if word is to be believed, it was her request that this year's tourney was to be held in her name.'

He motions to the gathering of trainers on the ship. 'She avoids public duties all the time, and yet she forces these strangers to come over and fight for her? I dunno, just doesn't mesh, y'know?' He drinks his wine. 'Then again, maybe Crown Princess Maxine finally talked some sense into her, and I'm just a paranoid old man who's looking for a story that doesn't exist. Honestly, it's getting hard to tell these days.'

[Anubis Dread]

Tiffany couldn't help bursting into laugher. "I'm not used to someone so cute calling it that!" she admitted, before adopting a pose and sticking her tongue out teasingly. "It's a welcome change though. You have yourself a deal Tina, let's hope one of us takes the top! Though I'm not backing down for our fight - let's both go all out!"

At Tina's next comment Tiffant sighed softly, but with a smile on her face. "Fair enough, if you're happy with an arm I'm not one to butt in," she relented. "Who knows, throw enough balls and eventually you'll catch even a healthy pokemon, right?"

"I'd really better catch up with some other trainers and prepare for our battle," Tiffany realized. "It was great talking to you Tina!" With that she reluctantly parted ways from the cute trainer and walked back into the center of attention in the dining room proper. As far as first matches went, she didn't know if she had an edge in terms of the battle. But it was nice that her opponent was nice enough that she'd be happy to give her the victory if it came to it. Not that she had any intention of going easy on her!

[Dracio]

Sitting down with Zoe at a table Pristrix quickly moves into Noctis' lap as soon as the plates hit the table to begin devouring his food. This causes him to shake his head at his partner's antics, before turning to Zoe and listening to her talk. "I guess I'll just have to settle with your answer for now then, though I get what you mean about having to stay calm less you do something unwanted. I have to say though that extra training you put in with your talent must help with training your pokemon as well if your battle was anything to go by. So don't sweat it about your next battle you've got both luck and skill while your opponent has only one. And with all the evil glares going his way I don't think he'll have too much support blowing in his favor," says Noctis with a small smile.

Turning his head to Catherine he nods at her, "We all get lost in thought at times and lose track of whats around us, so no big deal. Just try and keep it together in your next bout, after all no matter the outcome you want to be able to say you gave it your all right." And with that Noctis begins to dig into his and move the berries out to side for his the rest of team when he gets back on deck. He also pockets the muffins for later with a gleam in his eyes.

[MichaelGoldclaw]

Catheine nods "Yea, I am usually focused in a fight, so I should have no problems."

[Esprit15]

Lecture on her experience as a Psychic over, Zoe starts on her pile of food. Kogasa goes through two muffins, and takes a few more for the rest of the team. Zoe had initially planned to let everyone out, but with Jeff over there, she didn't want to give him any more info than she had to. Tewi, Chen and Medicine could wait until they got back to her room.

"So, Catherine," Zoe adds between mouthfuls, "what's your story then? We both gave ours."

[MichaelGoldclaw]

Catherine exhaled. "Well, I am from Petalburg. Born and raised there. I grew up watching boxing and enjoying it. When I hit 16, I got my first pokemon, Striker." She gestures to the Lucario filling up on food. "She was just a Riolu then. I started my journey then. I got others, Brawler, Fighter, and Raider, along my journey, but I didn't just catch pokemon. I met someone who was very similar to me. Hannah, my rival, was just like me. A trainer who liked boxing. We got along. We may kick each others asses here and there, but in the end, we can have our arm around each others shoulders. Were like sisters. But I am going off on a tangent, back to me. Later on, I was in a tournament for martial artist trainers. I took first place, but I owe it to striker. When she evolved, she flipped the epic switch and won it for us." She picks up a slice of cheese pizza and takes a bite. She then swallows. "That's about it really."

[Anubis Dread]

Let's see... she could either go back to her room to prepare, or mingle some more. Seeing as they still had a little bit to go before port and also that there was very little prepare since she'd already dolled herself up for the part, mingling it was. She wasn't interested in the man boasting about himself, but there WAS a close knit group of trainers talking.

"Hi!" Tiffany greeted warmly as she walked up to the group, finally taking another small bite from her plate as she joined them. She was starving, but between the reporter and Tina there hadn't been much time to actually eat. "You guys are all finalists too, right? I'm Tiffany!"

She shot a smile at the group, which waivered a little bit when her eyes rested on the boy from Unova. That style of dress was... familiar, and made her a little bit uneasy. But she couldn't put her finger on it.

[Dracio]

Listening to Catherine's story till its end Noctis nods and smirks at the adventures she has been on. "Looks like you have had quite the start of an amazing journey so far Catherine, and with no end in sight either. Its good you have a rival you can actually get along with, not many people can say that, in fact not many can say they particularly like their rivals.:"

Seeing the new girl walk up to the table Noctis took stock of her to try and get a read on his intentions. Her dress was beautiful, hair which looked well kept and healthy, and a band in her hair. And with that everything fell into place within his mind on who she was and who she represented. He couldn't afford to act badly here or risk worsening the view on Rangers and what people were saying about them. With Tiffany introducing herself Noctis would just roll with it and play neutral, for now after all there is no harm in playing nice. "Greetings Tiffany, I am Noctis and yes we three are also finalists as well. That is a lovely dress you are wearing, I'm sure a lot of girls are after you just know to where you got it from," says Noctis warmly.

[Anubis Dread]

"Plenty of girls, yes. And girl's only, unfortunately," Tiffany replied with a flirtatious smile as she eyed Noctis up and down. She was sure she had seen something like... oh. A Ranger's jacket. He was a Ranger, in the same bracket of finals as a Neo-Magma Grunt. Or so she thought of herself. Whoever arranged this competition either had a profound sense of irony was just hoping to stir up some fights before the battles even began.

"So, what's a man like you doing in a place like this?" she went on pleasantly. "A Ranger in a Hoenn contest, I mean," she probed, trying to continue the facade of being simply interested and flirtatious and failing to conceal both her worry and... not hate, or disdain, but she certainly bore some ill-will.

[Esprit15]

"Actually, I am wondering where you got that..." Zoe smiles to the newcomer. "What's wrong with us all being ladies?"

[Dracio]

Catching the tension building slightly Noctis tries to dispel it as swiftly as possible. "Really only the girls are chasing you, in a dress like that I thought you'd be like honey to a Ursaring." He ends his light remark with a good-natured laugh. With a small sigh, though his tone changes back to a firm timbre, "I'm sure a person with an eye for detail like yourself can hazard a guess. We Rangers aren't exactly seen in the best of light here in Hoenn, so in order to correct that measures are being taken. All in the hope that we can stop this descent and change what people think for the better. Or at least that is our hope as of now. So whats a pretty face like you doing here?" Noctis says the last bit with a eyebrow raised in a questioning look.

[Anubis Dread]

Forcing herself not to focus solely on the ranger in their attempts to dance around a confrontation, Tiffany smiled and addressed the pale young woman before her. "I made it myself! I tend to make all of my own clothes and accessories," she replied, adjusting the Neo-Magma branded band in her hair. "Nobody knows my tastes better than I do, after all," she joked with a soft laugh.

No more dancing around the issue it seemed. "It's a shame, you're cute for a ranger," Tiffany sighed, before giving him a determined look. "I'm not sure where you got that idea from, but frankly it seems to be the opposite for me. It seems like Neo-Magma is considered the black sheep of the environmental world, and you rangers can do and say whatever you want because you're not privately funded. Including slurring us because you don't think we can do any good in the world," she huffed a bit, getting a little frazzled. "I'm here for the same reason you are for an organization who actually needs the good will because they don't get a huge government paycheck, and I'll stomp you if we come head to head to make it happen."

Staring down the ranger for a few moments with a determined look on her face, she eventually relaxed and sighed. "Look at me, trying to be the face of Neo-Magma and I'm making a huge scene like a child," she bemoaned. "I love your dress by the way! she went on a lot more cheerfully to Zoe. "It really suits you! You were... Zoe, right?" she tried to remember from earlier in the competition and when they were boarding.

[Esprit15]

(Given that Zoe hasn't changed from training clothes)
"Um... Thanks? I didn't really get to change yet..." Zoe looks back down into her food.

[Dracio]

Hearing Tiffany mention Neo-magma and catching her tone in her tiny rant Noctis begins to look for ways to salvage the situation. "Wait, what do you mean Neo-magma? What the muk do you mean by that, I was just commenting on the fact that coordinators need an eye for a detail. And since you are an accomplished one you must surely know how to spot it."

[Anubis Dread]

Totally missed that, sorry.


"I know what you meant," Tiffany replied a little huffily. And it certainly wasn't what he said. None the less, she didn't really want any of the reporters to be attracted to the scene. Arceus knew Neo-Magma had enough problems without their star coordinator attracting negative press.

"Well, that's why I'm here anyway. I'm sure the other trainers who have made it this far have better reasons to be here than just to earn some good will," she replied, forcing her tone back to pleasantry and putting on a smile.

[Dracio]

Noctis' smile did not falter though in his head the thought "why in the name of the great dragons is this going south so fast" kept on repeating. Taking a different approach he adopts a compassionate look before speaking in a softer tone. "That may be true in that the other trainers may be here for better reasons than us. But that is not what I believe, because what can be greater than fighting for something you believe in especially if you truly think it's ideal are just. I'm not really able to judge you or anyone just because you follow something you think is right. In fact if you truly believe in it you should prove to world that what you are doing has meaning beyond yourself." With that said Noctis beings to smile again and scratches his partner's head.

[Anubis Dread]

"I fully agree, but did not think it was the best thing to say when my ideal clashed with someone else's," Tiffany laughed it off, refusing to get into an outright fight. It just... irked her that the ranger thought having over an only 50% approval rating in one of the what must be a dozen regions they operated in was worth attention when- no no, don't even think about it. It had just been a while since something prickled her so badly.

"In any case whatever organization we represent or reason we fight, we're all just trainers in the contest in the end. Competition rather, if it was a contest I would feel a lot more confident," she joked with a small laugh.

[Aneurin]

Sayuri

She pauses for a moment, and thinks about it.

"...huh. When you put it like that, it does sound sorta fishy," she rolls the idea over in her mind a while longer before nodding. "I'll keep an eye out for anythin' interestin', anyway. If you'll keep me posted, I'll tip you off about which of the trainers is from Neo-Magma," she adds with a wink. Sure, it's not a particularly brilliant secret as Tiffany seems quite happy to anounce it, but it's a show of good faith and that's what matters - right?

Sorry for a short post, but I'm exhausted right now.

Also my apologies to anyone who has, knows someone who has, or has actually heard the southern/Texan-y accent Sayuri's using. It's not one I'm particularly familiar with, and I'm almost certainly mangling it horribly.

[IrnBruAddict]

Sayuri

Jerry nods in agreement. 'Seems fair. Neo-Magma is still a pretty divisive issue these days. Getting a story from one of them will attract a fair few readers. And just remember to keep your camera ready, just incase.'

Everyone

A large bell started ringing, somewhere in the distance. Not long after, the other two contestants make their way down into the dining hall.

'Yo, we can see the docks. Looks like we'll be landing soon' said Violet, a purple-haired Water Ace who gave off a total surfer-bro vibe. Flip flops, swimming shorts and a waterproof jacket that was always open to show off his impressive abs.

'Yes, he's right' said the other one, Dal. He wore a bomber jacket and jeans, not the usual nerd outfit, but the fact he had a pass to the Littleroot Lab on his jacket was proof of his intelligence. 'Soon half of our number shall be eliminated again.'

Jeff stands up on the table, laughing. 'Yeah, sorry to see you guys go home so soon. But just thank your lucky stars. Since you go this far, you'll be able to see me win in person.' Dal looked irritated by this idiot, Violet was ignoring him and Tina was behind him, pretending to throw up.

[Esprit15]

Zoe follows behind Tina. A faint, white mist forms around Jeff's shoelaces as he stands on the table. The laces come undone, retying their selves with their counterpart on the opposite shoe. If you hate this guy as much as I do, you won't say anything, she says to the others.

[MichaelGoldclaw]

Catherine nods and grins. She finishes her food and waits to watch the fireworks.

[IrnBruAddict]

'Now now ladies, no need to crowd round. Look with your eyes, not with your hands. This fine specimen of masculinity is for the princess alone!' He makes to jump down off the table, but stumbles when he moves due to his shoelaces. He trips forward, his knees hitting off the chair, and ten tumbling over himself, landing upside down on his head.

'He's an embarrassment to my own gender' sighs Dal, while Tina broke into hiccups from laughing so much. Violet facepalms, but nonetheless goes to help Jeff up.

[Esprit15]

Zoe gives a mischievous smile to the others, heading back towards her group. "Anybody know when the next fight is supposed to take place?"

[Anubis Dread]

Tiffany's face as a very deep shade of red as she clasped both hands to her mouth and tried to resist doing more than a giggle. Oh Arceus, the guy got what was coming to him, and Tina's reaction was so adorable, and... she couldn't just laugh, she'd collapse in front of all the reporters!

"It's-" Tiffany attempted, but a guffaw existed her mouth the minute she opened it, which she had to force back down. Okay, calm, calm... there we go. "It's when we dock right?" she giggled. "I don't know when that is though."

[MichaelGoldclaw]

Well, good luck to you all

[Aneurin]

Sayuri

She grins broadly and sticks out a hand for Jerry to shake. "'Preciated. Tiffany, the girl in the pretty dress, is the one who talked about Neo-Magma," Sayuri adds, with a nod towards where Tiffany's standing.

She glances up as the bell rings, and then listens to the announcement. "Well, I reckon that work's beckoning again, huh?" she sighs, and rises slowly. "Guess I should go bother the trainers before it's too late. Think I might start with Mister Clumsy over there," she adds, with a slight smile as she watches Jeff go tumbling. She's not had much to do with him, but he seems a throughly unpleasant young man in need of a hefty dose of humility.

"Best of luck," she says, with a half-wave as she threads her way over to the fallen idiot. "Hey, you alright there?"

[Dracio]

Noctis smirks as Jeff fells to the ground and barely manages to avoid laughing in front of everyone. "Well I don't see anything amiss with this he just poorly jumped. Anyone know when we are suppose to land?"

[IrnBruAddict]

Sayuri

Jeff pulls himself to his feet with the help of Violet, and kicks so furiously in anger that he rips appare his tied shoelaces, along with tearing the top of his shoes.

'Argh, dammit! Now I gotta go get changed, get my other trainers.' He turns to Sayuri. 'Look babe, I gotta get changed, I'll give you your interview after I wipe the floor with this lot. You might as well start with those losers over there, since they won't be around for long.' Violet gives him a nasty stare behind his back, but says nothing as Jeff stomps off.

The Water Ace apologises to Sayuri. 'Sorry Miss, seems like he's in a bad mood.'

The Trainers

Dal turns to the rest of the group conversing. 'Yes, we'll likely start not long after we land, although I guess now we're held up waiting for Pretty Boy there to go find new shoes. I wish everyone the best of luck, with one obvious exception.' He nods his head in the direction of the retreating Jeff. A voice over the speakers tells everyone that the ship was now pulling into port.

One of the tournament organisers, a woman with a clip board and a headset in a fancy blazer came over. 'Remember, it's a 2 on 2 battle, so please select the pokemon you'll be starting with before we commence. Once you've done that, I'll escort you to the arena.'

[Aneurin]

Sayuri

"Jeeze," Sayuri stares after the angry teenager in bewilderment. Okay, the fall was embarrassing, but it wasn't that bad. "What's eatin' him?"

She shakes her head as the woman in the headset comes over.

"Guess that time's up, huh? Well, best of luck guys," she says, reaching down and scratching the loyal and ever-present Teddy behind the ears. "Make it a good fight and I'll see the pictures get just as far as I can get 'em," she grins warmly and pats her camera bag with her free hand.

[MichaelGoldclaw]

Catherine takes out the two balls for Striker and Brawler "These two will do." She looks down at them. "We got this."

[Anubis Dread]

A two on two battle... this would be tough. If it was four on four she wouldn't need to pick, and could adapt to anything. As it was she'd have to think very carefully on what she needed to do in this battle, and what her opponent would think to do.

Tina... she was an Underdog. That meant she specialized in unevolved pokemon. Unevolved pokemon had above average speed but below average defenses most of the time. So... that meant she should focus on below average speed and above average defenses, since chances were they'd be slower no matter what and they had to take a hit. But at the same time she was also cute, so maybe she used cute pokemon? Cute natured pokemon had above average speed, but most pokemon considered 'cute' had above average special defense...

Ugh! Okay, so with that all in mind she'd go with... "I'm going to go with these two," Tiffany decided finally, holding up the pokeballs for Ruby the Numel and Sparkles the Cherrub. "I guess that means it's finally time to fight huh?" Funny, she didn't remember ever eating a Buttefree, and yet there was a whole bunch of them in her stomach.

[Esprit15]

So Jeff was a fairly decent trainer, for all his social shortcomings... One mon that he prides himself on is a Golett... Doesn't seem the type to hold back early on... Tewi and Chen would be good leads. My Marill and my Espurr will be my selected team, she tells the woman.

[Dracio]

So violet was going to be the next obstacle to moving forward. Water ace's can be dangerous and that leaves half my companions vulnerable to them. Which means its a good thing it is only 2 versus 2 and that I brought Fulmen my Blitzle and Procella my Tropius with me. "Well Fulem and Procella it looks like you two are up. Lets go out fighting and have some fun." With that Noctis makes sure the two pokeballs carrying his blitzle and tropius are ready for deployment.

[IrnBruAddict]

Once Jeff was back, the group was led out to the docks, then walked up into an impressive garden. Following along a path, walking past many beautiful flowers and even seeing a maze in the distance, they approach a large mansion. No doubt the Place of Evergrande. More than a few members of the press were snapping pictures of just how beautiful it was.

In the centre was a large marble arena, which had been sectioned off into 4 sections for the battle. Up above, on a balcony overlooking the spectacle, was 4 large seats, no doubt meant to be occupied by the members of the royal family. Once again, the King's ailing health prevented him from being here, and the seat to his right was missing an occupant too, probably the crown princess.

A woman stood up there, and approached the balcony. One look at her was obvious. Princess Annabelle. The model for beauty and grace, her face was known across Hoenn and even the world news. While she gave off the impression of being a little slow and a little shallow, she had a kind heart and ran many charity organisations. 'I bid you greetings, proud young trainers. Thank you for coming to a special annual Hoenn Youth Trainer's Tournament. As you know, this is my younger sister's 16th birthday, and so 16 of you were selected to come compete here in the Royal Gardens. Of the remaining 8, I wish you good luck and look forward to see what you all achieve in the future.'

She sat down on the leftmost chair, leaving the 2 empty chairs between her and her younger sister. Where Annabelle was fair and beautiful with hair of golden blonde and eyes of emerald green, Elizabeth looked dark and brooding, with raven black hair and grey eyes. While the elder was tall and graceful, the younger was slouched over looking uncomfortable. The older sister had a beautiful tanned body shapped to perfection, while the younger looked pale almost to the paint of gaunt, and looked skinnier than she should be. And the strangest thing of all. While Anabelle greeted everyone, she seemed to be gazing dreamily over everyone, not too bothered by what was happening, merely enjoying the moment. On the other hand, the young Princess Elizabeth was staring at the contestants with such ferocity it gave the impression she might order their execution at any moment.

'Let us not delay. Let the tournament begin!'

I will give out the damage that the dice roll. All Defence/Special Defence and Weakness and/or Resistancies should be calculated by you guys when seeing how much HP your pokemon lose.

Tiffany

Tina sent out a small Eevee, and before Ruby could react, the small bundle of brown fur charged, body slamming into her for 44 p normal damage.

Noctis

As expected, Violet was using a water type, a Carvahna. Despite it's amazing speed, Fulmen had a slight advantage and would get to act first.

Zoe

Like she thought, Jeff started with his Golett, going straight into a Rollout, hitting Tewi for 20 p rock damage.

Catherine

Expecting Catherine to send out a Fighting type, Dal starts with a psychic type, Gothita. Unfortunately for him, Striker was faster.

Sayuri

Jerry looked over all the contestants. 'Get some good action shots and I'll buy them off you for a fair price and give you credit.' He then looked up at the balcony. 'See what I told you. That little girl gives me the creeps. You'd almost never know those two were related.'

[Esprit15]

As expected. "Rather paltry opening move, Jeff. Tewi, show them how to properly capitalize on a weakness. Bubblebeam!" The Marill fires a slew of bubbles at the ground type.
AC: [roll0] 2
Damage: [roll1]
If Crit: +[roll2]

[Anubis Dread]

What... what had just happened? There'd only been one attack, an already Ruby had taken 38 damage! That was over half his health! This was worrying... did she make the right choice? She hoped that that was a one shot move and not something the enemy could use multiple times...

"We don't have time to put on a good show here Ruby! Let's try and end this in one shot!" The Numel mooed in approval, before glaring at the enemy and setting its feet firmly into the earth. It's Neo-Magma branded medallion swayed as it gathered together all the heat it could and hot out a super hot Flame Burst!


AC: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]
If Crit: [roll2]

[MichaelGoldclaw]

Catherine smirked. She might not be a strategist, but she knew it was good choice sending out striker first. She then said "Alright, Striker, use force palm." Striker nods and then rushes froward. he ten leaps up and sends her aura coated palm at her adversary


[roll0] AC 2 18-20 paralisis
[roll1]
if crit [roll2]

[Dracio]

Noctis smiles when he see's Violet send out Carvahna, confirming that Fulmen was the right first choice to use. "Alright Fulmen lets show our friend here how we do handle aggressive negotiations. Let's start things off with some shock and awe shall we, Shock Wave." With that Fulmen moves into ranges and unleashes its power.


Shock Wave hits automatically but
Electric Damage: [roll]2d10+22
If Crit: +[roll1]

[IrnBruAddict]

Zoe

The Golett faints. 'You just had a lucky start, sending out a water type.'

He sends out a Pikachu which quickly paralyses Tewi with a Thunder Wave.

Tiffany

While the attack might not have knocked out the Eevee normally, the recoil from the Take Down was enough to cause it to faint.

Tina quickly replaces it with a Minccino, which starts off with using Encore on Ruby. 'That was good, but can you do it again?' She sticks her tongue out at Tiffany teasingly.

Catherine

All Dal does is give an annoyed 'Tch!' when his pokemon is too paralysed to attack.

Noctis

Violet smiles when he sees his fish go down to the Shock Wave. 'Electric type? Too bad, I have something to deal with those.'

He sends out a Barboach, but Fulmen was still faster.

[Anubis Dread]

"Nope! At least not yet," Tiffany admitted playfully as her Numel looked somewhat confusedly around the arena, as if not sure what to do. "Thankfully Ruby isn't the only one you're fighting," she went on with a wink, before walking over to her pokemon and liberally applying a Potion. She should probably save it, but she couldn't even risk getting knocked out of the first round!

"Okay Ruby, hang tight. Just take one more attack, counter, and we've all but won! Okay?" she smiled and patted Ruby before applying the potion and returning to her position.


Potion: Healing [roll0]. Current hp total is 16.

[Dracio]

Noctis notices Violet's smug reaction and decides to don a sinister grin of his own. "Now, now don't think that we are going to let stop us. After all we have a reputation to uphold, not to mention Fulmen has his pride. Let's show him that we aren't just full of fancy light and shock value. Strike quickly."


Quick Attack AC2: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]
If Crit: [roll2]

[Esprit15]

"Aw, someone upset that their awesome didn't rub off on his team? Tackle!" The Marill readies to swing at the Pikachu with a long stick that it was holding.
Paralyze: [roll0]
AC: [roll1] 3
Damage: [roll2]
If Crit: +[roll3]

[MichaelGoldclaw]

Catherine smiles. She then says "Striker, quick attack." striker then sends a fast, but effective right jab


[roll0] AC2
[roll1]
[roll2] in case of crit

[IrnBruAddict]

Catherine

The Gothita goes down, and Dal sends out a Butterfree to take it's place. Striker is again faster.

Zoe

The Pikachu retaliates, hitting Tewi with an Iron Tail for 45 p steel damage.

Noctis

The Barboach takes the hit, then retaliates with a Mud Bomb for 33 p ground damage.

Tiffany

The Minccino takes advantage of the pause to heal, and Doubleslaps the Numel for 37 p normal damage.

Still Encored for 1 more turn, sorry :smalltongue:

[Esprit15]

(6/51 HP, since sheet hates my phone)
Tewi reels at the hit, but she's bulky. "Nope, try again! Tewi of course, not you." Tewi swings again.
Para: [roll0]
AC: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2]
If Crit: +[roll3]

[Anubis Dread]

Why be sorry? After all now Ruby can do...


Ugh, another 31 damage! That completely erased everything the potion did! But more importantly, it bought Ruby one more turn to charge up. Which meant...

"Alright Ruby! They know what's coming, so give them what they want!" Tiffany urged her pokemon on. Stumbling back to its feet, the Humel charged up a huge amount of heat before blasting it at the enemy! With that much speed and that much damage, the enemy's defenses HAD to suffer for it. If this didn't end it, then one more attack from her second pokemon would.


Yeah, that :smalltongue:. In all seriousness Numel is of course going to use Flame Burst

AC check: [roll0]
Damage check: [roll1]
Crit damage if applicable check: [roll2]

[Dracio]

Fulmen falls to the ground from the mud bomb completely unconscious. Gritting his teeth Noctis returns Fulmen to his pokeaball and unleashes Procella the Tropius against Violet. "Alright Procella its time to finsh what Fulmen started and avenge him."


I take it that Violet's mon with get to go before Procella due its speed

[IrnBruAddict]

Noctis

Yes, its faster

The Barboach proceeds to hit Porcella with an Aqua Tail for 42 p water damage.

Zoe

You jammy git :smallannoyed:

Jeff's Pika charges u, shooting electricity at Tewi, but it goes wide and arcs into the ground.

Tiffany

The Minccino takes a fair bit of damage, and responds with a pounding foot on Ruby's head, hitting for 27 p normal damage.

[Esprit15]

Tewi readies to swing for the bleachers.
Para: [roll0]
AC: [roll1] 3
Damage: [roll2]
If Crit: +[roll3]

[MichaelGoldclaw]

Catherine smiled. She was in the lead. Striker hasn't been scratched and she is 50% done. "Alright, another force palm." Striker then jumped up. She coated her hand with Aura energy and then thrusted her palm forward

[roll0] AC 2 18-20 paralisis
[roll1]
if crit [roll2]

[Anubis Dread]

"Ruby, no!" Tiffany called out in concern as the Numel took the hit. Struggling to its feet, the pokemon tried to stay there before collapsing, having simply taken far too much damage.

"Come back Ruby, you did well," Tiffany reassured her partner as she returned him to his pokeball. "Alright, let's end this fight! Go Sparkles!"

Throwing out another pokeball, the device shot out a swirl of energy which eventually solidified into her Cherubi, complete with a Neo-Magma branded sunhat. Unfortunately, odds were with how Tina had been fighting so far her Mincino would have the edge over Sparkles 4 speed.

[Dracio]

Procella takes the hit and shrugs of the attack and faces her opponent with a glare as she unleashes razor edged leaves at them.


Note crit range is 18-20
AC 4: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]p grass damage.
If Crit: [roll2]

[IrnBruAddict]

Catherine

The Butterfree takes the hit, not taking much damage, and sends out a Sleep Powder, that Striker easily avoids.

Noctis

The Barbach didn't have a chance, and quickly falls, leaving Noctis as the first to win his match.

Zoe

The Pikachu hits Tewi for 26 s electric damage.

Tiffany

The Minccino runs over to Doubleslap Sparkles, but whiffs and hits nothing but air.

[Anubis Dread]

Alright. It all came down to this. She could either do something she could do over and over again in case Sparkles got encored... or try to end it right now. With the Mincino already being hit hard, and Sparkles not having much in the way of good at-will attacks, the choice was clear.

"Sparkles! Give them a grand finale! Magical Leaf!" Smiling with a cry of Cherubi, Sparkles shot out two glowing leaves that homed in and struck their targets.


Magical Leaf cannot miss.
Crit Checking: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]
Crit Damage if applicable: [roll2]


EDIT: Er, that's +32, not 21. So the attack has an extra 11p.

[Esprit15]

Tewi falters, then falls. "Good. Was worried you'd be all bark and no bite. Now, Chen," she sends out a SO MUKING ADORABLE little grey cat.

Well, until Zoe yelled "Psybeam!" Then its eyes went red and a blast of psychic energy went barreling towards the Pikachu.

AC: [roll0] 2, 19-20 confuse
Damage: [roll1]
If Crit: +[roll2]

[MichaelGoldclaw]

"Now, quick attack." Striker jumps up and then gives a swift jab to the Butterfree

[roll0] AC2
[roll1]
[roll2] in case of crit

[Aneurin]

Sayuri

As she watches the young princess, Sayuri frowns thoughtfully.

"I see what you mean," she mutters to Jeff as she snaps a couple of shots of the battles, while Teddy sits pressed against her ankle. Willow and Ali are safely inside their pokeballs to prevent Ali invading the matches - which would probably cause quite a lot of trouble. "That's one strange kid,"

[roll0] vs. 15

If successful [roll1] x20 for the value.

[Dracio]

Seeing the Barbach fall before the might of Procella brought a honest smile to Noctis' face. Walking up he pats Procella on the back and tells her what a good job she did. Soon after this Noctis walks over to Violet with an out-stretched hand and says, "that was a mighty fine match there Violet. You sure did teach Fulmen a lesson, that speed means very little if there is no way to go. To bad Procella here had to end our match so quickly."

[IrnBruAddict]

Noctis

Violet shakes back with a firm grip. 'S'cool bro. Never thought I would win, just wanted some good fights and got what I asked for. Good luck man.'

Zoe

The Pikachu had no chance, taking the attack face first, and tumbling over backwards, fainting. Jeff looked on speechless.

Tiffany

A camera flashes right as the Minccino took the blow head on, and was hit with such force that it went tumbling right out of the arena, unconscious.

Catherine

The Butterfree takes the hit, and looks damaged, but at that moment, it releases it's Stunspore, and Striker seems to seize up. Striker is now paralysed.

Sayuri

Sayuri got a fantastic picture, right as the attack lands, giving just the right mixture of momentum while keeping the clarity of the subjects.

[Esprit15]

Zoe picks up the little grey cat, who mews cutely to the audience, in her left arm. She extends the other to her opponent. "That was an excellent battle, wouldn't you say, Jeff?"

[Anubis Dread]

Wait... that was her second pokemon, right? So she'd beaten both of the enemies? And Sparkles was still standing. Which meant...

"We won!" Tiffany squealed, jumping up and down for joy before running over to Sparkles and hefting her into her arms. "And YOU! You did great! Gave us a star finish even though it wasn't a contest!" The Cherubi in her arms blushed, before replying with a soft Cherubi.

She couldn't believe it... she'd beaten an actual trainer! Like, a specialist trainer who knew battling WAY better than she did! This was amazing! And... oh...

"It was great battling you Tina," Tiffany forced herself to calm down and smile at her opponent. It was kind of rude to be so happy to win when her opponent was right there.

[IrnBruAddict]

Tiffany

Tina looks down-heartened, but when complimented by Tiffany, she seems to cheer back up slightly. 'Well, it's not how Tina wanted it to go, but she will uphold her end. Teeny Tina won't forgive you if you don't win, so good luck.' She looked to the other matches. 'Although it is a shame I won't get to see you beat Jeff...'

Zoe

Jeff looks dumbstruck. He frantically reaches for another pokeball. 'C'mon, one more! I can beat you with one more pokemon, just give me a chance.'

A knight appears behind Jeff, and quick as a flash, strikes the trainer in the back of the head with the hilt of their sword. The young trainer folds over, unconscious. 'There shall be no violation of the Princess's rules. Jeff Hitcher has lost.' The tall armoured figure throws Jeff up over their shoulder, taking him away.

As they walk past Zoe, she hears a low whisper coming from under the knight's helmet. 'Use your powers like that one more time, and you shall be ejected next. Mind reading opposing teams is forbidden from this point on.'

[MichaelGoldclaw]

Striker attempts to fight the paralysis. " Get back in there, girl. Force palm."

[roll0] AC2
[roll1]
[roll2]

[Esprit15]

Zoe gives a nod and a light bow. "I'm sorry. I was not informed. It shall not happen again." How did they know? There must be another Psychic around her somewhere, one of those counter-spying ones that detects residue. A bit shaken, Zoe heads out of the arena to find the other winners.

[Aneurin]

Sayuri

"Well now, don't that make a pretty picture?" Sayuri murmurs with a grin, while she snaps a picture of Jeff being carried away. She nudges Jerry. "Think you got a use for a picture like that?"

As she talks to the other journalist, though, her eyes stray to the young princess - just how is she reacting to all of this?

Using Snapshot on Jeff being carried away.

[roll0] x20

[IrnBruAddict]

Catherine

The Butterfree mentally assaults Striker, hitting for 24 s psychic damage.

Sayuri

Jerry gives a smiling nod. 'Looks like this competition is more exciting than we were expecting, hehe.'

The Princess was staring down on the battles as they ended, now solely focused on the Dal vs Catherine fight. As if she could feel Sayuri staring at her, the Princess's eyes swivelled over to Sayuri, giving her a cold long stare. She waves over some woman with a clipboard, and asks some question, pointing at the photographer. The lady flips over some sheets, and whispers an answer into Elizabeth's ear. The princess dismisses the woman with a wave of the hand, and continues to stare at Sayuri.

[MichaelGoldclaw]

Striker easily shook off the hit. "quick attack." She then jumps up and sends a swift jab, but stops. "Dang."

[roll0] paralysis
[roll1] AC2
[roll2]
[roll3] in case of crit

[IrnBruAddict]

The Butterfree hits for another 25 s psychic damage.

[Anubis Dread]

Jeff? Oh the jerk! Someone had beaten him? Tiffany looked around a bit puzzled, having been completely lost in the world of her battle. He had been beat, and was being dragged off as well! Great!

"Well at least someone got the satisfaction," Tiffany laughed, smiling at her opponent. "Don't worry, whether they're jerks or not I'm sure there'll be plenty of matches worth cheering for!" The reporters were all concentrating on the last match it seemed, which made sense... except for one who was paying more attention to the princess. The princess... hm, she really wasn't very flattered from those clothes. Or that hair. Which was a shame - she looked a little gloomy, but if she were dolled up a bit more that would really work for her!

...and now she was wishing she had a couple of hours to play dress up with a princess instead of focusing on what would happen next match. She had to chuckle at herself.

[MichaelGoldclaw]

Catherine noticed that striker was being hit on hard, but she was tough. She just needed one or two more hits. "You can do it! Give it all you got, Girl! Force Palm!"

[roll0] paralysis
[roll1] AC2
[roll2]
[roll3] in case of crit

[IrnBruAddict]

The Butterfree continues to chuck attacks at Striker, hitting for 27 s psychic damage.

[MichaelGoldclaw]

Sticker appears to be weakened, but she still keeps strong, despite being on the verge of being knocked out. "You may fall down, but you can still do some damage. Quick attack."

[roll]1d20[roll] para
[roll0] AC2
[roll1]
[roll2] in case of crit

[Esprit15]

"Hey, Tiffany! You won your match I see. Jeff lost his. All bark and no bite, it seems."

[Anubis Dread]

Oh hey! It was... Zoe! From the ship! She guessed she must have been the one to beat Jeff. That was good, she'd seemed nice.

"Seems you weren't, congratulations Zoe!" Tiffany replied cheerfully. Though what if he wasn't and Zoe was just that strong? She didn't know anything about Zoe, if she was matched up against her next round she could be in trouble...

[Esprit15]

Zoe smiles. "Thanks! Looks like you won, too. Wish I could have paid your battle more attention. Should have been quite impressive to watch." Normally Zoe would be taking a peek or two at the mind of her conversation partner, especially to look a the battle. However, given the reaction to her reading Jeff's mind, couldn't be too careful.

[Anubis Dread]

"I know right! I wish I could have seen you beat that Jeff guy. Plus I'm in trouble now because I have NO idea what anyone else is going to use in battle for the next round," Tiffany admitted with a sigh. "Speaking of, any idea when that's going to be? It looks like this round is all but over, but no-one has said anything about the next one."

[Esprit15]

"Yeah, I know what you mean." She looks around for knights like last time. "While he was going on about how awesome he was, I may have taken a small peek into his head to see what he would use. Changed who I lead with too. It's why I got a bit of reprimanding from them when Jeff was carried off."

[Anubis Dread]

So, Zoe was a psychic? That explained a fair bit she supposed.

"Well I guess you're just going to have to work extra hard for the next round then! Though it looked like you may have won even without reading his mind! Then again maybe not, which is probably why you got a talking to..." Tiffany admitted.

[Esprit15]

"Well it was because I knew what his favored mon was. If I pick a counter to it, as long as my counter is a strong mon, it's probably going to win. At that point, he's down a mon and I have spent minimal effort in doing so. Foreknowledge is quite important in a fight.

Personally, I'm curious if they would have had the same reaction to just researching Jeff on a database. It wasn't like I was stealing personal information, just what he likes to use in a fight."

[Aneurin]

Sayuri

Yeah, that's one scary little girl, Sayuri thinks, giving the princess a big smile a wave on the basis that it probably can't make things any worse.

She nudges Jerry with her elbow, and mutters; "I think I've made a friend there. Reckon any minute now some guards'll be escortin' me to meet her for tea and cake," she take a surreptitious glance at the Zoe and Dal match in the hopes of spotting what had captured the princess' attention before locking eyes on to the girl again. "Damned if I know what's got her go-goat, but d'you think you could arrange for my cake to have a file in it?"

[Dracio]

Walking over to Zoe he gives the pair a smile. "Regardless of which method you could of or did lose you still be the braggart. As good as foreknowledge is it is still useless unless you can act upon it and pull through. And by your fight I would assume you pack the skill as well as the mind to use such an advantage. Your partners also deserve credit for being able to follow through with your attack plan. So congrats on your victory."

Turning over to Tiffany his look turn a bit more serious. "And you Miss Tiffany are no pretty face clad only in bright colors. Your training in competitions seems to have given you no small edge in normal battles either. If I had a hat I would tip it in admiration for your spirit and diligence." With that said Noctis tips his head and places a small smile back on his face.

[Anubis Dread]

Oh, he'd won... joy. Tiffany really didn't want to turn this competition into some kind of Neo-Magma and Ranger grudge match, but if they both kept winning round it might end up being inevitable... at least he was nice, despite the organization he belonged to.

"Why Mr Ranger, how brazen to flirt with the both of us so outrageously," Tiffany teased somewhat flirtatiously herself. Better than risk snapping again. "Not that I entirely mind the attention," she winked.

[Esprit15]

Zoe was liking more and more the people who won. Even if the Ranger was a bit of a smooth talker, he didn't give of the same slimy vibe that Jeff had. Then again, Jeff had ego, not flattery. She blushes a bit, though it looks like more given her light skin. "Really I just hit his Pokemon harder and faster than his could hit mine, and Chen just got a lucky hit in." The Espurr in her arms gives a small "Mrawr" but otherwise remains as stoic as ever. Zoe scratches the feline under her chin. "Excuse me, an amazingly well placed attack, Chen." There's the faint hint of a smile on the Espurr's face. "What say we all go find out when the next battles take place?"

[IrnBruAddict]

Catherine

The Butterfree hits Striker for 29 s psychic damage, as well as confusing Striker from it's mental assault.

Sayuri

Jeff takes a large step away from Sayuri, to be sure it was her the princess was staring at. 'Hmm, looks like you got her attention for some reason. Think she's a fan of your work or something?' He points to the gathering of victors. 'Besides, looks like this round is almost up. Might want to dwell on that rather than Her Royal Darkness up there.'

[Dracio]

At Tiffany's comment Noctis just bends his head down a little and begins messaging the bridge of his nose. "Why am I always accused of flirting when ever I speak my mind and compliment someone. At least this time I don't have some guy trying to swing at my head just for complimenting a girl. Or at least I hope no one is going to come and try to clothesline." Noctis turns his head one way then the other before making a mock sigh of relief.

Turning to Zoe he tone changes back to from joking to casual, "True that may of been what you did but you could have the all the power in the world, but if you don't know how to use it then its kinda of pointless. Sure there are times of finesse or brute strength, but you need a sharp mind to know when one is better than the other."

[MichaelGoldclaw]

Striker collapses on the ground. She falls unconscious. "you did good, girl. Striker, return." Striker returns to her ball. Damn, there goes my ace and my only one not weak to psychic or flying "Brawler, your up." Brawler comes out of her pokeball. Brawler comes out of ball ducking and weaving.

[IrnBruAddict]

Brawler is faster.

[Anubis Dread]

"Because you're a shameless flirt," Tiffany outright stuck out her tongue as she teased the ranger. "And you're fun to make fun of. I wouldn't want to hit you though. Who would want to damage such a beautiful face? Besides, I'm pretty sure I dislocated my shoulder the last time I tried to hit someone," she laughed.

[Esprit15]

As Noctis jokes about being hit, Zoe pretends to wind up for a swing. "Nah, I wouldn't. But it is true. Longer fights make for more drawn out tactics, fast ones like this favor the quick finish."

[MichaelGoldclaw]

"Alright, brawler, Tackle."

AC3
[roll1] damage
[roll]2d8+6

Archeus be generous

[IrnBruAddict]

.... And with that, the Butterfree which had caused so much trouble finally goes down.

Catherine: 1350
Tiffany: 1125
Zoe: 1050
Noctis: 900

Split between the pokemon you used

Elizabeth stands and walks away into her palace, while the Princess Annabelle moves to the edge of the balcony and applauds, along with the majority of the staff and the knights. 'Let us hear it for such a wonderful performance. My sister is very impressed. Bravo!'

The press swung their cameras between taking pictures of the group and taking pictures of Annabelle applauding. When she had a chance, a small woman with a headset came over and got the attention of the trainers. 'We have the medical bay set up, ready for when you wish to heal up you pokemon before progressing further.'

[MichaelGoldclaw]

"Alright, Brawler, nice job. Now come back." she said. She walked up to Dal and extends her hand. "You almost had me there. You did great. I guess you didn't expect this brawny girl to have enough brain to start with a pokemon not weak to the typical counters to fighting."

[Esprit15]

"Perhaps one of the medics would know. It's their work schedule, after all." Zoe makes her way to the medical bay. While Tewi is patched up, she asks one of the medics "Excuse me, do you know when the next fights are supposed to begin? Is it later today, or will this be a week-long affair?" She hoped it was not the latter.

[IrnBruAddict]

Zoe

'Well that'll be up to the Princess miss. It's her show after all. There have been rooms readied for you all, if you wish to retire for the time being. And of course you have access to all the Palace facilities while you're staying here. Hopefully it'll be over today or tomorrow.'

Catherine

Dal sighs, but smiles and shakes Catherine's hand. 'I'll admit, the Steel typing threw me for a loop. In the end, your raw power beat my tactics. Good luck going ahead.'

[Esprit15]

The girl nods. "Thank you, sir. And thank you for taking care of Tewi as well."

[Anubis Dread]

Walking over to the medical tents, Tiffany heard and... rooms to retire in? Oh thank goodness! She loved this dress, but it was practically a shame against her team to battle out of her uniform. Even if it was a dolled up version. If they had rooms she might have time to wash and dry it before the next bout. Or at least the one after that. If she made it that far...

"Please take care of them," Tiffany implored as she handed her injured pokemon over to the attendant. "Oh, and I don't suppose the competition holders would supply us with potions?" she asked thoughtfully. She was out of potions and out of cash... not a good position to be in.

[MichaelGoldclaw]

"well, good luck in the future, take care." Catherine leaves and heads out to let striker recover.

[Dracio]

Noctis walks over to the medical tent after Zoe and Tiffany to hand over his Tropius and Blitzle for healing. "Please treat them well, they did their best out there today and deserve a good rest." And with that the two pokemon are given off to be healed.

Turning to the two others, "Well it looks like we won't be here to long if they think it will be over in the week few days. We should joy it while we can, as I'm sure we all have hard worked planed for after this is over win or lose."

[Esprit15]

"Not too much. Maybe a few public events for the Mossdeep School since I was chosen for this, but I'm going back to the semi-quiet life as far as I know." Training, practicing, studying a bit of business for when she became of age.

[IrnBruAddict]

As the medic healed up the pokemon given to him, he turns to Tiffany. 'Fraid not Miss. There is no shop or mart in the Palace since it's not open to the public, and any medical supplies are stored in the guard barracks, so I doubt you'd get much off them. But you could try the Royal Gardens. I've spotted more than a few berry bushes over there. Someone over there might let you lot take a few for the match.'

[Esprit15]

"Well, sounds like we've got some time to kill. Hey, who is up for a little palace exploration? We are allowed to roam at least some of it."

[Dracio]

Turning his head to Zoe Noctis raises his hand to his chin in a thinking gesture. "That does sound like fun Zoe, and you're right we have time and too much of it to spare. I shall company you if you don't mind me coming along that is."

[MichaelGoldclaw]

Catherine turns to Zoe "Hey Zoe. Mind if I tag along?"

[Esprit15]

"Sure, why not?"

[Anubis Dread]

Hm... berries huh? She didn't know if they'd be useful or not. Still, it was worth a shot. She had no potions left, and something told her the battles coming up would be tough! Of course she still had THAT, but she wanted to save that for the finals... blowing it in the semi-finals would make things difficult.

"Thank you," Tiffany replied, before turning to her competitors. "You guys are exploring? I guess I'll come too! I bet the inside of that palace is AMAZING!"

[Aneurin]

Sayuri

"So... you don't reckon it's tea and cake time, then, huh?" Sayuri laughs, as she turns her attention away from the Princess of Brood and back to the victory celebrations - and the loss commiserations. "Anyway, think I'll chat to the losers for a bit, then maybe go for a wander. Fancy comin' along?" she adds, glancing at Jerry and raising an eyebrow.

[IrnBruAddict]

Sayuri

'I ain't got nothing better to do until it's time to eat. I can keep you company, sure.' After asking after the losers, it seems Violet had went back to the docks to go fishing for the time being, Tina was hanging off that cute knight again while she dragged him to the dining room, and Dal would likely be in the library. Any of those 3 would probably be fine to grab a word from. Jeff was sleeping off a headache in the guard barracks, and would be unavailable for interviews for the time being.

Competitors

Asking one of the organisers about where you could go in the castle, she lists over the main attractions. There was the royal library inside the palace, which housed many rare books as well as a couple of special antique items like a mini-museum. There was the maze and the garden along the east side, where the berries supposedly grew and a few wild pokemon gathered. There was a pool nearby for swimming as well as a tennis court (the King was quite the player back in his youth). The knight's guard barracks was on the west side, which included a court for training on, which apparently doubled as a basket ball court when they had leisure time. And of course there was the grand hall, where there would be food and refreshments for the competitors and press.

[Esprit15]

"One of you was interested in berries? How about berries and possibly running into a wild or two?" Zoe swaps Chen for Kogasa, the Mawile.

[Anubis Dread]

She needed berries if she was going to win this things! But how else was she going to put on a good show for Team Neo-Magma if she didn't talk to the press? It was a hard decision... but after her last victory, she was on a battle high. She was thinking she could actually go all the way! Maybe...

"I like the sound of that," Tiffany agreed.

[Aneurin]

Sayuri

After a few cheerful enquiries, Sayuri sets course for the docks to find the Water Ace with Teddy trotting along at her heels. After a little while, more to make conversation than anything else, she asks;

"Any special reason you're down this way? I mean, sure; big tourney, international stuff, resurgence of the old League, once-in-a-lifetime-story an' all. But... I dunno. Just wonderin', really," she says cheerfully, while watching him closely out of the corner of her eye. Sure, he's been pretty friendly and open so far, but that stuff about the princess earlier... Hey. Always worth asking, right?

Using the Watcher feature Applied Psychology to know if his answer's true or not. If he believes it's true, he doesnt appear to be lying.

[IrnBruAddict]

Sayuri

Jerry laughs. 'Meh, nothing much. A job is a job. I'll just grab a photo of the ever elusive Princess then be back home. All this really is is one massive birthday party. Other than the royals, it's not like anyone special is actually here.'

Yeah .... dude is hiding something. The last sentence in particular seems an outright lie, designed to deflect Sayuri.

Berry Pickers

It was easy to find the garden. It took up most of the grounds east of the palace building. The outskirts of the maze were lined with Sitrus, Cheri, Pecha and Persim berries. The guide told you it was fine as long as no one took more than 4 berries each. There was also the entrance of the maze, which was supposed to contain some smaller pokemon species, inspired by the famous Mr Backlot garden in Sinnoh. The further you went inside, the rarer the pokemon. It was said the very centre of the maze held a secret, but most people never got that far in.

If anyone wants to go exploring the maze, roll me a d100 for your luck hunting for pokemon, and a WIS or INT check for finding the middle of the maze. If you're sticking in a group, only use one INT or WIS check.

[Esprit15]

After the group gathers berries (two Cheri and two Persim), Zoe looks at the maze. Shouldn't be too hard. If the goal was to reach the other side, it would be easier, though time consuming... But it isn't. Center mazes tend to be best solved... That way. "I'm heading into the maze, anyone who wants to follow me is free to." To the center goes the Psychic and her Pokémon!
Give Persim to Chen and Cheri to Kogasa

INT: [roll0]

[Dracio]

Noctis who had followed he group so far was content with the restriction of only picking two berries. He in fact was quite happy walking around with people for a change and enjoying the weather. When they reached the garden he chose to pick 2 Sitrus, 1 Cheri and 1 Pecha Berry.

As Zoe talks about heading into the maze for fun Noctis smiles, "The maze sounds like quite the fun idea if you ask me." and with that he follows Zoe in secretly hoping he doesn't get lost along the way.


[roll0]

[MichaelGoldclaw]

Catherine smiles. "Sounds fun. Lets go." Catherine follows Zoe through the maze

[Anubis Dread]

Hm, four berries... in her last fight she'd barely scraped through because she'd had the fortune of getting a free round of healing. If something like that happened again...

"Wait for me!" Tiffany called as she stuffed four Sitrus berries into her pack, following the group. She was more into showing off than solving riddles, so she's stick with the group.


[roll0]

[IrnBruAddict]

The group follows Zoe as she leads them further into the maze, getting lost in the twists and turns. Despite knowing she was heading further in, it didn't seem like they were closing into the centre of the maze this way. The groups hopes increase as they see an opening up ahead, thinking it might be the middle. But as they near, they come across an ornamental pond, with a bridge over it leading further into the maze. Among it's crystal clear waters could be spotted some fish with a purple stripe running down their bodies. Well, the sign outside did say all the pokemon in the maze were wild now didn't it?

[Esprit15]

Zoe keeps her distance from the pond while Kogasa and Chen lap up some much needed water.

[Anubis Dread]

Hm... Tiffany frowned thoughtfully as she looked at the pond. She'd wanted a water-type for a long time, but she didn't think these pokemon would be a good fit. Besides, they were clearly happy just swimming in their pond.

"I hope they take proper care of you..." Tiffany whispered to the pokemon. Unless they could take care of themselves, but she wasn't sure if such a small pond could sustain so many pokemon without human help.

[Aneurin]

Sayuri

Huh. Well, that's interesting. Wonder who could be here? Er... who's here that Jerry's interested in, anyway. Probably not some dandified twit, or industrial tycoon, but it's always worth checking.

"Oh, I don't know..." she shrugs as they stroll along the docks in search of Violet. "Would'a thought anyone who was anyone'd be here, really. Royal shindigs seem like the place to be if you can wrangle the invite. Show off a bit, look good for the cameras, try'n out-fashion your enemies..." she goes on, watching Jerry out of the corner of her eye for his reaction to her words.

As they walk emerge from an alleyway, Sayuri looks round and gives Jerry a slightly embarrassed grin.

"Say, uh, don't suppose you can see him anywhere, can you? 'Cause I'm wondering if we didn't maybe take a wrong turn somewhere..."

Sayuri's pretty happy to leave things there for the moment; she knows he's hiding something, and that's good enough for the moment - though she'll probably try and track down a guest list as soon as she can.

[IrnBruAddict]

Sayuri

Jerry shrugs at the suggestion that someone truly important would be here. 'I dunno. I mean most of the important League people are dealing with the whole Team Rocket issue over in Kanto and Johto. Kicking about a royal party when there is a war going on doesn't exactly send the right message to the public, know what I mean?' Hmm, was it just Sayuri's imagination, or did he stress the word most? And he just assumed she meant Team Rocket when he mentioned enemies. Hmm ....

'Oh, there he is. Yo, Violet!' Violet turns round from a spot sitting on the docks with 2 fishing rods beside him and one in his hands, and waves back at Sayuri and Jerry, but gives him the "quiet down" hand sign. 'Opps, sorry.'

Maze Group

Looking at how clean the water is and how healthy the fish are, it seems likely the maze is well tended. In-fact, it looked like there were underwater pipes, possibly leading to other ponds elsewhere in the maze.

So no love for Finneon? Meh, fine, no biggie. If no one wants to catch one, feel free to go on ahead and roll me one more wild roll, and one INT or WIS check (unless you guys plan on splitting up :smalltongue:)

[Aneurin]

Sayuri

Oh, yeah. She's definitely going to be keeping her eyes open now. Oh, and they've just disturbed the person they were coming to interview. Oops.

Nevertheless, she waves as she walks up to the young water ace and then stops dead. Wait, wait, wait. That looks great!

"Hold on a tic..." she mutters, feverishly reaching for her camera, squinting through the view finder and snapping a couple of shots of Violet and his fishing rods silhoutted against the crystal seas, and the bright blue sky above. The way the boats provide a natural framework to the picture's just an added bonus.

"Um... sorry," she says sheepishly after a few pictures. "Don't think we met properly on the boat. Name's Sayuri - freelance photographer and jobbing journalist, and this is Jerry of the Rustboro Gazette. Don't suppose you'd mind us havin' a chat with you?"

[Anubis Dread]

It did look like they were well cared for. That was great! She'd hate to think the poor little Finneon were underfed or abused. Instead they were taken care of properly, and looked happily. One in particular looked especially happy, staring up at Tiffany as she peered into the pond. With those big eyes, and that... adorable little... confused expression...

No! They were well cared for and... she only had two spots left in her team that... had to go to... very special pokemon... and she'd never caught a pokemon for herself before... all her pokemon had been gifts... and all the pokemon she caught had been for Neo-Magma... so... to catch a water pokemon like... so cute... like this one would be... hard... she didn't... have a fishing rod or... anything... to grab... it... to...

She muffled a squeal. Too cute! It was probably a bad idea, but... she had to have it! It was too cute! Um... she had to grab it out of the water first, right? And it would be a bad idea to stick her arms into a pond full of wild pokemon. So...

"Come on Ace, let's get us a new partner!" Tiffany called out happily as she threw out a pokeball. A burst of energy errupted from it, which eventually formed into her star Rufflet Ace, complete with Neo-Magma branded flying goggles.


I'm assuming Ace goes first? Or does Tiffany need to fish it out somehow before the battle can begin proper?

[IrnBruAddict]

Tiffany

You only get a free turn when ambushing a pokemon, but since you're making clear you're going to battle this one, it's just the fastest who goes first, so Ace in this case. The pool isn't that deep and the Finneon is on the surface, so getting it out isn't an isssue this time.

Sayuri

The kid just looks up at Sayuri, giving her a shrug and a friendly smile. 'Nah, s'cool. Go ahead. Here, wanna fish while we talk?' He lifts upone of the rods, offering Sayuri a shot at it.

[Anubis Dread]

Okay, so Ace was strong. REALLY strong. She couldn't risk him taking out the cute little Finneon in one shot. So she'd just make him use a weak attack that would knock out half of its hp or so, then start throwing balls. That being the case...

"Ace, hit it with a Peck attack!" Tiffany called out. Hopefully she didn't knock it out... or not do enough damage, for that matter.


AC: [roll0]
Damage: (Roll messed up, BUT looks like it missed anyway so its a moot point)

[Esprit15]

Seeing one of her companions stopping to catch one of the fish, Zoe heads across the bridge (quickly) and peeks her head past the shrubbery, deciding which way they will go next.

Chen meanwhile sees a fish and decides that Chen wants a fish for a friend. Since Zoe made Tewi Chen's friend after Chen fought with Tewi, maybe fish will be Chen's friend after Chen fights with fish? Her reasoning sorted out in all its flawlessness, Chen sends a telepathic attack at an unsuspecting Finneon.
Special, Psychic
AC: [roll0] 2, 19-20 confuse
Damage: [roll1]
If Crit: +[roll2]

Kogasa watches, curious at what the Espurr is up to.

[Aneurin]

Sayuri

With a cheerful grin, Sayuri drops down next to Violet and picks up the rod before treating it to a slightly puzzled look.

"Sure thing, so I guess that makes the first question of the interview 'just how do you fish'? I kinda grew up on a ranch, then lived in a city. Never really picked it up," she says with a mareepish grin.

[Dracio]

Noctis stands on the bridge and watches the two fight for a fish. The scenery around him was relaxing and the sounds of the lake were washing the stress from the fights from him. Releasing Pristrix from his ball the sandile takes up his usual spot and lies basking in the open weather. Seeing Zoe starting to look ahead he makes his way over to her.

[Esprit15]

Zoe nearly jumps as Noctis approaches her. "Whoa! What are you doing? Erm, I mean... Hey."

[Dracio]

Taking a step back Noctis holds up his hands in, " Woah there, didn't mean to startle you. I just saw you looking ahead and thought you might want an extra pair of eyes to scout the way.... Not that your eyes are the problem or anything, just trying to be helpful is all."

Noctis silently curses his choice of words, only to have Pristrix snicker at him for his trouble.

[Esprit15]

"Don't worry. I'm just jumpy... For some reason." It's a small pond. How can you be scared of that? You were on a boat for Muk sake! Then again, you were inside the entire time... "Anyways, I'm trying to get an idea of what path goes where, what the maze designer was thinking... If anyone had a flying Pokémon... Wait, Noctis, would you be a dear and give me a boost? If I can see above the hedges I can maybe find the center."

[IrnBruAddict]

Chen and Ace

The fish expertly dodges the bird as he swoops down to peck at the water surface, earning Ace nothing but a splash of water in the face. In return, the fish gives it's little body a wiggle, and the pond and everywhere around it starts to be covered by rain. The weather is now raining.

Chen hits the fish hard, knocking it into the red, and in return it blasts the cat in the face for 29 s water damage.

Filthy Maze Cheaters

Peeking over the top, Zoe notices the tops of the bushes were rather spiky. Someone who tried to climb over them would probably get slashed and stuck. But over to the right, probably northwards, she could see the top of a structure, likely a statue or monument in the centre of the maze. Couldn't make out what is was from here though.

+4 on your next navigation roll.

Sayuri

'Here, let me show you.' He reels in his own line, then takes up one of the other rods. He gives it to Sayuri, then stands behind her and shows her how to move her arms to cast off, holding her arms and moving them gently. 'It's just getting the right motion. You'll do fine.' He flashes her a smile. Was he flirting? He's totally flirting, isn't he?

Jerry suddenly seems a bit red-faced, and takes a great interest in reading his texts while Sayuri was, ahem, "interviewing".

Gimme a d100 roll and see what you fish up

[Anubis Dread]

Raining... wait, it made it rain? Did that mean maybe it was the type of Finneon that had an ability that worked better in the rain? If that was the case it could be perfect for her team! Once she scrounged together some money for more accessories anyway...

Tiffany was about to call out for a Wing Attack, before glancing over at the other Finneon that was battling the psychic pokemon. That hadn't been all that hard a hit, and it still knocked the pokemon almost out... she would have to be careful after all.

"Don't get discouraged Ace, Peck it again!"


AC: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1] I think? Away from sheet right now.

[Esprit15]

Ow! Fishy hurt Chen! Bad fishy! Chen lets out a yelp.

So that's where we're going... "Thanks. Now if I can get down..." As Zoe climbs down, she sees Chen give out a cry. "Oh crap, not again..." She dashes over, tossing a ball to try and save the fish as Chen readies another attack.
Ball: [roll0]

Psybeam
Special, Psychic
AC: [roll1] 2
Damage: [roll2]

[IrnBruAddict]

Ace hits the fish, leaving it looking wounded. In response, it nails Ace in the chest for 34 s water damage. Across the pond, the other fish is spared Chen's wrath by getting captured in a pokeball.

Level 13, male, swift swim, stark natured

[Anubis Dread]

She knew the rain would make any hits Ace got that much worse, but after that blow he was barely left standing! She had to end it this round... but she couldn't afford another attack.

"Alright, let's hope this works... get in there Finneon!" Tiffany cried as she threw a ball at the fish pokemon, hoping to capture it while it was weak.


Basic Ball - [roll0]

[Aneurin]

Sayuri

She grins to herself. The flirting would be kind of sweet if, you know, Violet wasn't so much younger than her. As it is, it's just a little creepy.

Still, if it keeps him talking she can put up with some creepy.

"So, like this, then?" she says, flicking the rod in fashion that might, if you were generous, be said to slightly resemble Violet's casting style. If you weren't feeling generous, or had some regard for the truth, then the best you could say was that the lure ended up in the water.

[roll0]

[Esprit15]

Zoe recalls the ball with a spectral hand, while another grabs Chen by the scruff of her neck. "Chen," she says, calm but firm like a mother scolding a three year old, "I love you, but I've told you this: We can't keep adopting every Pokémon that strikes your fancy into our family. Moreover, you can't pulverize everything that attacks you when you hit them first. If you don't want to fight, you have to play nice and be gentle."

CHEN-O-VISION!!!
Zoe runs over as fishy disappears. Suddenly, Chen is pulled up by a familiar force behind her shoulders. By the scruff again? That means Chen did something good! "Chen," says mama in her usual tone as the Espurr is taken into Zoe's arms, "I love you, and you found a new adoption to our family! Be a bit more gentle next time though when you weaken them. You can't pulverize every Pokémon you fancy."

Reality
With a sigh, she sets the Espurr down. Your swear Chen didn't ever hear what she said right. Wish they were receptive to telepathy, but it's like getting into an iron safe with a wooden saw: Wrong tool for the job and too weak to make a dent anyways.

When the others are ready, Zoe takes the lead again. So if the end was there... Maze: [roll0]
If it is needed: [roll1] If not, discard.

EDIT: PFT! HAHAHAHAHA! So much for cheating!

[IrnBruAddict]

Tiffany

The ball hits the Finneon, and captures it. Unfortunately, that only lasts for a second, and the ball soon splits in half, spitting the fish back out. In response, it aims a Water Gun at Tiffany, hitting her for 24 s water damage and getting her thoroughly soaked. But on the bright side, the rain now disappeared.

Sayuri

Violet watches the lure splash splash down into the water with a bit of a chuckle. 'Hehe, kinda. Next time just relax more.'

After a few minutes of Violet showing Sayuri how to wiggle the line to attract a fish, she feels a sharp tug on the line. 'Okay, that's good. Now bring it in slowly. Lift the rod up, then reel it in as you bing it back down. Let the rod do most of the work.'

Give me either a STR or DEX check t reel it in.

[Aneurin]

Sayuri

"You're pretty into this fishing thing, huh?" Sayuri asks, trying to follow his intructions and - frankly - wondering if she shouldn't have maybe let Willow or Ali out just in case she actually catches some form of stroppy fish-thing. Teddy's wonderful, but he mortally hates water.

Dex [roll0]

[Anubis Dread]

Darn it, Ace couldn't take anymore damage! "Return Ace!" she called, calling the fainted pokemon back to its pokeball.

This was troubling... she wasn't sure how much more damage the Finneon could take, but she also couldn't afford to waste another ball. She only had one left! That being the case, she'd try to give it a small tap to weaken it more, then throw her final ball. And the pokemon who could do that best was...

"Come on Gumdrops!" Tiffany called, sending out a happy looking Trubbish in a Neo-Magma branded sundress. The Finneon would be faster, she knew that, but Gumdrops defense was unbeatable! She could take it, and hit back just a little bit...

[IrnBruAddict]

Tiffany

The Finneon takes aim at Gumdrops, and hits with a Water Gun for 21 s water damage.

Sayuri

'Well really I just learned it since alot of the guys back in Dewford town liked to fish. I prefer a good wave to surf, but I'll admit, fishing is nice and calming when you just want to relax.'

With a few good tugs of the rod, Sayuri reels something in, throwing it out on the docks, causing Jerry to jump back in fright. A Carvahna was now splashing across the wooden dock boards, looking confused and angry.

'Huh, a Carvahna. I already have one of those. You want it?'

[Anubis Dread]

She should have started with Gumdrops from the get go... it was doing practically nothing to her with that little bit of 5 damage!

Be careful Gumdrops! Just... tap it with a Pound attack!" Tiffany called out.


AC: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[IrnBruAddict]

The fish is hurt by the attack, but doesn't faint. It responds with another Water Gun, for 25 s water damage.

[Anubis Dread]

9 damage... Gumdrops was doing well, but if this battle went on much longer she'd be in trouble. As it stood she might need to go back to the medical tent as soon as she was done here anyway. She didn't want to risk making the Finneon faint... but she only had one ball left... she guessed it was now or never!

"Please work!" Tiffany begged the ball, before throwing it at the water pokemon.


[roll0]

[IrnBruAddict]

It seems politeness does indeed work, and the ball slammed shut and sunk under the water, shuddering a few times before stopping and floating back to the surface for Tiffany to pick-up.

Level 13, female, swift swim, calm natured.

[Anubis Dread]

Yes! She was out of pokeballs, but in exchange she finally got a water pokemon! One she could tech Cute moves too even! Granted its Nature wasn't ideal for gaining cuteness, but it was still her new pokemon!

"I don't think I'll be able to use you in a serious battle in a while. Not until I raise you up anyway," she spoke to the ball. "Still, welcome to the team... Princess!"

Tucking the pokeball away, Tiffany returned her Trubbish before looking down at her pokeballs throughtfully. "Over half my pokemon are in bad condition... I may need to go back to the medical tent. Anyone else need to head back?" she asked.

[Aneurin]

Sayuri

"Dewford, huh? Haven't been there in a year or two. What's it like these days?" she starts, before being interrupted by a sudden lack of resistance on the line as the pokemon virutally flings itself out of the water.

Huh. For a moment, when the Carvanha flew through the air, she could sort of see the appeal of the whole fishing thing. Now she's faced with a thrashing, angry pokemon and is covered in sea water... not so much.

"Um. Can't say I do, really," Sayuri replies, eyeing the thing with the suspicion of the non-angler while resting a wary hand on Ali's pokeball. "I ain't got an aquarium, and don't much fancy buyin' one. Plus it's awfully ugly and vicious-lookin',"

She looks at it again for a moment.

"...it's not goin' away on it's own, is it?" she adds, hopelessly.

[Esprit15]

"Already? But it's so early..." Her team was taken out by a little Finneon? How did she make it this far?

[IrnBruAddict]

Sayuri

Seeing the way Sayuri was looking at the fish, Violet can't help but chuckle. 'If something that small scares you, I'm guessing you never surfed when you were down at Dewford, huh?'

Jerry pulls out a Pidgeotto. 'Hey, if you want, I can Whirlwind it back into the water?'

You don't need to fight it if you don't want to, just an opportunity.

Maze Group


Dracio and Goldclaw, what are you two doing?:smallconfused: I'll just assume Espirit is heading further in and Aneurin is heading out, so feel free to follow whoever, or something.

Zoe

Zoe and Chen head on further into the maze, rushing ahead since Zoe thinks she knows where she's going. But with all the loops and turns, she's sure she is now actually further from the centre than she was earlier, with no idea how to head in the right direction.

Eventually, Zoe is walking along a long straight path in the maze, when she notices a small alcove off to the side, hidden in a wall. Poking her head around the corner, she spots a strange statue, half a man's height at about 3 foot tall, but despite looking humanoid it didn't look too human. It was fashioned from a bluish stone, with a swirl in the centre.

Tiffany

Tiffany and her team head out of the maze, but for some reason, she can't help shake the feeling she was being followed. She kept getting this unsettling tingling feeling on the back of her neck, but every time she turned round, there was nothing behind her. Eventually she makes it out of that maze, back to the open gardens with the berry trees.

[Esprit15]

"Hey Chen, check this out." The Espurr looks ahead as well at the unusual statue. Must touch the statue, must touch it- "Uh-uh, you're not wandering off. Remember when you did that at school and got bound to the ceiling of the boys' bathroom until a teacher found you?" Chen of course did remember the incident quite well. She never got the sparkly thing from that human's pocket. But this is different! It's not sparkly.


"But... I am curious." With the curious Espurr held in her arms, the curious Psychic goes closer to investigate the statue.

[MichaelGoldclaw]

Catherine is currently next to Zoe. She moves closer to the statue to inspect it.

[Anubis Dread]

Okay this was giving her the creeps... what was looking at her?? It couldn't be a pokemon, otherwise it would be more obvious right? ...right?

It was probably just her imagination playing tricks on her. For now she needed to heal up her pokemon! If it still felt like she was being watched after that- what was she thinking?? It was just a trick of the mind to begin with, there was no reason to be worried!

[Esprit15]

Zoe smiles as the boxer catches up to her. Catherine feels a presence inside her head. Oh good. Not everyone left after their Pokémon got a bit bruised.

[Aneurin]

Sayuri

She shrugs and grins sheepishly; "Wouldn't say I was afraid," she says. "Just... eh... not a fish person, I guess. And thanks, but I've got it," Sayuri adds as an aside to Jerry, plucking Ali's pokeball from her belt and releasing the little Fartfetch'd - who immediately sets up a fierce quacking and waves her leek threateningly at the carvanha.

Sayuri sighs. "Yeah, you can fight it," she glances apologetically at the others. "Sorry, she's a fiesty little thing. Used to steal tauros off my family's ranch - we never did figure out why. I only really keep her and her psyduck partner 'cause they'd be far more trouble if I didn't,"

I'm fine with the fight - it's just Sayuri who's not too thrilled at the prospect.

Ali has SPD 10

[IrnBruAddict]

Sayuri

Speeds are tied, so Ali goes first.

Tiffany

Tiffany quickly makes her way back to the tents, and gets Ace and Gumdrops healed, along with her new Finneon Princess. But still she had that feeling, tingling the hairs on the back of her neck, that something was behind her, following.

"Is that all the pokemon you need healed up dear? Anything else we can do for you?" the nurse asks.

Maze People

As if sensing the people come closer to it, a strange glow began to emanate from the statue, and a yellow light appeared within, pouring out the eyes and the spiral on the chest. The girls were so wrapped up in looking at the statue, that they didn't hear soft padding footsteps behind them. Something long and pink comes out from around the corner, and smacks Zor in the back, hitting her for 14 p dark damage and knocking Chen out her hands. The statue also drops into a fighting position, ready to attack.

Speeds for whatever you are using please. (Zoe has time to send out a new one if she doesn't want to use Chen)
Also, Zoe can't pick Chen up for the remainder of combat.

[Esprit15]

Zoe: 6 Dex
Chen: 13 Speed
Zoe grunts as the things hits her. Chen hisses as her ride is forced to drop her. "What in the void!? Chen, Psybeam, the thing behind us!" Not that Chen had to be told twice, the Espurr already going for the kill against the unknown pink thing. White energy meanwhile pours from Zoe, forming itself into a spectral blade that plunges itself into the statue.
Psybeam
AC: [roll0] 2, 19-20 Confuse
Damage: [roll1]
If Crit: +[roll2]

Extrasensory
Zoe loses 10 HP
AC: [roll3] 2, 19-20 Flinch
Damage: [roll4]
If Crit: +[roll5]

[Aneurin]

Sayuri

She looks down at the excited dance that Ali is doing at the prospect of a fight and sighs.

"Yeah, you can fight it," she says somewhat reluctantly, and steps back as Ali clams the leek firmly in her beak and launches herself at the carvanha before rocketing past it, bashing it with her wings as she takes to the air with a quack of triumph.

Sayuri winces and turns to Violet as the fight beings in earnest. "So, uh, how'd you get into pokemon trainin', then?"

Ali is using Aerial Ace, and her full fly speed of 10 to Pass.

Aerial Ace cannot miss and does [roll0] physical flying damage.

[MichaelGoldclaw]

Catherine is shocked by the sudden attack. She hurridly garbs striker's pokeball. "Striker, get out and see where the beam came from." Striker came out and nodded. She closed her eyes to use the aura to find the foe.

Speed is 11

[Dracio]

Noctis had fallen a little behind Zoe and Catherine when they spurred ahead. As it was when he did catch up he was looking at a battle just now starting. He could help the two and remain being seen as a good person or he could sneak ahead and try to outpace this challenge.

In the end his honor held out the longest, so he would stay and help. With Pristrix already on his shoulders he bade his companion to launch into action and help out.


Sorry it took me so long to post

Pristrix Speed is 7

[Anubis Dread]

Okay this was really creeping her out... whatever it was followed her all the way to the medical tent? And no-one noticed it? Something HAD to be there. She had good instincts... sort of. Enough to know this wasn't just a trick of her mind. Still she just wanted to get somewhere safe where this feeling would go away...

"I heard something about a ball room where the press was gathered? Do you have any idea where that is?" Tiffany asked the nurse. There was no way she was catching up to the others if she went back to the maze anyway. Plus she was out of pokeballs after her tussle with Princess.

[IrnBruAddict]

Maze group
You guys outspeed them all, so go ahead and take your turns. Since Dracio is fighting here too, one of you roll one more d100 and we'll add in a 3rd opponent.

Tiffany

'It's over in the main building, through the double doors on the east side.'

Sayuri

The Carvahna takes the hit, and with it's rubbish speed and only Melee moves, it can't do anything to attacker. It looked fairly hurt, so it must not be too defensive.

'I watched this video of Bruno versus Volkner as a kid, and it was amazing. For weeks, all I could think of was wanting to learn pokemon battling. You ever watch any of the old Elites? They were a thing to watch.'

[Anubis Dread]

"Thank you," Tiffany replied cheerfully, taking her pokemon back and leaving the tent before letting her smile vanish. She was still getting the creeps, but at least now she could go to a public place where whatever was happening would hopefully stop! She didn't think trying to find whoever or whatever was looking at her was a good idea, so this was the next best course of action.

[Aneurin]

Sayuri

With a triumphant cry, Ali hurls herself back towards the flailing Carvanha with all the fury and self-assurance a leek-wielding duck can manage - which is, apparently, quite a lot - and rains blows down on the hapless fish pokemon.

"Can't say I did, really," Sayuri raises her voice to be heard over the sounds of battle nearby. Teddy lies down and puts his paws over his eyes. "Too busy runnin' wild, I guess. So how'd you get started? Buy a pokemon, catch one or just made a friend?"

Um. Reading the description, I find myself confused as to how this works - is it possible to use it against the same target multiple times, or does each attack have to be against a different opponent?

The description of Scatter implies each attack must be used against a different Legal Target, but the move itself is One Target.... hence confusion :smallconfused:

So, assuming it's multiple attacks against 1 target...

[roll0] vs. AC 4 - Damage: [roll1]
[roll2] vs. AC 4 - Damage: [roll3]
[roll4] vs. AC 4 - Damage: [roll5]
[roll6] vs. AC 4 - Damage: [roll7]
[roll8] vs. AC 4 - Damage: [roll9]

Attack ends as soon as one misses.

29 Physical Normal damage

[MichaelGoldclaw]

Striker take a moment to use the aura to see if anyone is sneaking around. Catherine moves torward the statue and waits to hurl a powerful punch

Striker is using Aura to check her surroundings
Cath is about to use focus punch

[Dracio]

Seeing his girls getting ambushed Noctis has Pristrix leap into action. The Sandile was quickly switched from his lazy relaxed attitude to his work mood. No longer was he the playful and relaxed sandile but a cold calculating force in the field who would see his task done.

Seeking to limit the foes engaging them Pristrix uses secret weapon on the pokemon behind the girls that attacked Zoe.


Sand Tomb AC4: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[IrnBruAddict]

Maze Group

The moving statue takes the brunt of the attacks, but manages to deflect the psybeam, but Zoe hits it dead on, flinching it and making it look pretty hurt. At the same time, the object wrapped around takes the Sand Tomb, and from the bushes emerges a large pink thing which sucks the tentacle thing back into it's mouth. Apparently that was a tongue, gross!

The pink thing takes a deep breath, and lets out a screeching call. Fortunately, no one was confused by the loud noise.

Glancing around with aura, Striker can see 3 hostile shapes. The statue, the pink thing which has emerged from the bushes, and another aura. Looking at it, the shape quickly jumps over the hedge, and a large brown bird swoops down, pecking at Chen's face, but Zoe manages to hold it off.

Yeah a 2, a 1 and a flinch. Good return to the game Irn, good return :smallfrown:

Sayuri

Yeah, the wording on Scatter is pretty strange. But you rolled correctly, so :smallbiggrin:

Ali hits it solidly with the leek the first time, and the second hit is enough to knock the monster fish out.

'The usual, a hand me down from an older sibling, who in turn got his first pokemon from our dad. It was a Minum, so I thought fishing would be a good idea to catch new pokemon, since I had the advantage. Next thing I know, I got so many Water types, and I'm a Water ace. What about you? Why'd you get into journalism? You look like you could have made a decent trainer.'

150 xp for the fight

Tiffany

Tiffany soon follows the increasing noise, and spots an open door with a reception going on inside. Standing outside the door, a tall amazon of a woman was having a discussion with a scruffy looking man in a lab coat, and Tiffany can make out things tht the discussion is pretty heated, although they both stop when she gets near. Inside, through the doors, she could spot a few people talking to the journalists, including Princess Annabelle who was chatting away, Liza the former Gym Leader, who was snacking at the foot tables, and a mature Steven Stone, president of Devon, having a nice drink by the bar with a few older gentlemen, one of whom was telling a loud and raunchy story, which was annoying all the others at the bar.

[Esprit15]

Zoe pulls out a Pokéball and throws it at the statue. "Chen, shake it off and use Confusion on the pink thing." Chen focuses again on the pink, long tongued creature, uncontrolled thoughts spilling into its head.

Capture roll on stone statue, remember that flinched last turn adds to chance of capture: [roll0]

Confusion
Psychic, special
AC: [roll1]
If Crit: +[roll2]

[Anubis Dread]

She may not be all that good at catching wild pokemon. She might not be the strongest battler. But there were two places where she excelled - in the contest hall, and at the party. She was finally in her element. And that odd feeling had gone away. She sighed in relief, noticeably relaxing as she took in the sights of the hall.

That woman was pretty in a way, but it looked like she had her own things to deal with. Besides, she had to focus on the prize - the reporters. If she could put on a good show for Team Neo-Magma, it would go a long way towards showing that they were a genuine organization and not a group of deep cover thugs. Still even with her being a finalist it would be hard to get attention. After all the princess was right there, as was a former gym leader, but... but... buhhhhhh...

Tiffany's jaw went slack as her eyes passed the bar. O... M... G... she'd seen pictures of Stephen Stone before, but somehow in person he was just so much more... wow. He just had so much more presence, he seemed almost larger than life! Oh Arceus, should she go and talk to him?? But he was at a bar, and she was under aged. But she was a contestant, she should be able to go wherever she wanted! But what would she say? Oh Arceus, he'd fought the old Magma hadn't he? What if he hated her??

She couldn't just stand here looking slack jawed right? What if he noticed? What if a reporter noticed? Snap out of it!

Okay, okay, back to earth. Just um... just walk in past those two for now, just... walk into the room, see what happened.

[IrnBruAddict]

If Goldclaw or Dracio doesn't post soon, I'll just split the maze group into 3 spearate fights with each of you fighting one creature, so as not to hold Es back.

Tiffany

As Tiffany got closer, she could make out that the fat little old man was telling a rather risqué story, and was being rather too boisterous about it. Several of his companions were looking rather annoyed, but no one seemed to have enough guts to interrupt the old man. "... So there I was, all covered in this oil, with a couple local lads nearby. And I have to say, the sun glistening of a native boy's flesh is a delight to look at. Well next thing you know, I'm reaching down and ..."

Steven accidentally bumps into the old man. "Whoops, sorry there Von Gel, old chap, but I see one of the contestants over there and I'd like to say hello. Do carry on without me." He presses his drink into Von Gel's hand, who looks at it and then downs the liquor.

"So as I was saying, the chaffing ..."

Steven makes a rather hasty exit from the bar and approaches Tiffany. "Well hello miss. I understand you're one of the contestants? I do apologise for missing the last round. I hope you had a fun match." He gives Tiffany a small smile that would send many a Hoenn housewife weak at the knees. In his old age, Steven had kept the same dignified air about him. While his hair had lightened to be almost white, and he now sported glasses to help him see and a neatly trimmed goatee, he still looked every bit the confident and powerful man he did in his youth. While in the past he was known for his battling skills (being a former champion and even commanding Groudon of the Weather Trio) he was more famous over the years for his business acumen, his research on various sciences and of course his charity work. He was also known to have trained Princess Elizabeth, as all 3 of the royal daughters had been trained by a different champion, with Steven having tutored the youngest. It was the most likely reason why he'd be here, looking out for his young protégé.

[Aneurin]

Sayuri

It takes Sayuri a few moments to reply - mostly because she's staring at Ali, as the little Farfetch'd prods the unconscious carvanha back into the water with her leek.

"Uh... sorry? Oh, right. Well, I always liked bein' out in the air and takin' photographs, and while I loved our ranch I just didn't much fancy runnin' it. I joined the paper as a photographer, and started on writin' stories when I found out the money wasn't that good," she gives a half-shrug and a grin. "Can't say I ever much saw the point of the whole battlin' thing - sure, suits some but just not me. It's them who're the expert battlers, more'n me," she adds, with a nod towards Teddy who's snuck up behind Ali and is trying to push her into the sea.

"So... I guess the dreaded question, now - and I'm sorry I'm askin', but I figure I should - how'd you feel about gettin' knocked out? And d'you have a favourite to win out of the others? Looked like you had a pretty good fight, whatever the outcome - just wasn't your day, really," Sayuri asks, doing her best to layer her voice with as much sympathy as she can - and she is sympathetic, really. To come all this way and lose? Can't be nice.

[Anubis Dread]

...meeeeeeelt. He was way older than she was, she should not be so effected by that smile! Then again she supposed whatever his age Stephen stone was still one of the most powerful and popular men in Hoenn. If not simply THE most.

But she couldn't let herself be charmed... she was on a mission. She had to make a good impression for Neo-Magma. And there was something else she wanted from him... something important. But if she brought it up now there's no way she could get it. It was best to just lay on some charm of her own.

Filtering out the background noise as well as she could, Tiffany forced herself back to composure and gave the former Champion a smile. "I can't fault you for missing it - you're a busy man. And it being only the first batch of finalists means it wasn't as important as any to follow. Still I have to admit my heart is still racing... I'm not as used to battle as I would like to be," she admitted with a sigh.

[MichaelGoldclaw]

Catherine releases a powerful haymaker, launching her fist at her target, the statue. It was too late to react to the pokeball being thrown. Striker coats her pal in aura energy and strikes the pink thing.

Focus punch vs 2
[roll]7d10+28+4

Force palm v2 paralysis 18 and above
[roll]2d10+8+20

[IrnBruAddict]

Okay, since Dracio still hasn't posted yet, I'll just assume he's off in a slightly further off part of the maze, swatting at the violent Noctowl that's eating his face

Zoe and Catherine

Catherine winds up a powerful punch, but instead of connecting it goes right through the statue and blows away a section of the hedge behind it, opening a large hole in the foliage. Zoe's ball follows, and luckily doesn't go through, catching the creature.

Level 16, stoic, iron fist. As Es guessed, it was a Golette

Between Chen and Striker, the pink creature takes too much damage, and the Lickitung ends up fainting.

Tiffany

Steven gives the girl a kindly smile. 'Not all of us are cut out for the battle scene, but that doesn't mean you're any less skilled. Don't forget, my own field of specialisation is geology, and Wallace was a master co-ordinator. Even the mighty Cynthia was an archaeologist and Diantha was an actress. Not being a battler makes you no less of a trainer. I'm sure as long as you give your best, you'll do fine.'

Sayuri

Violet stares out over the open ocean. 'Honestly? Truth be told, I'm not too bothered. It's not like I've never lost before, and I wasn't expecting to win. I mostly came here on the chance to visit Victory Road. I'll head on down to visit it tomorrow after the matches are finished.'

It seemed strange, that Violet didn't seem upset at losing, but it was true. He just didn't seem that bothered by it, in fact, it almost seemed like he was relieved to be free of an expectation, free to go off and do his own thing.

[Esprit15]

"Gotta watch for those Ghost types. They'll really Muk up you up if you aren't ready." Zoe picks up Chen again, and looks at the sky. They had been in the maze longer than expected. Whatever was in the center, it could wait until tomorrow. "That was quite a punch though," she adds, looking at the damaged section of hedge. "I'd hate the be the one to piss you off."

[Aneurin]

Sayuri

Relaxing slightly, Sayuri smiles. She hadn't been worried, really, but you can never tell how some trainers will take a defeat - although Jeff's reaction might be a little more predictable than most. That's going to be a very un-fun interview.

"Good for you. Hope it's everythin' you want it to be. As for me, I reckon I'll take a walk - the Incredible Pudge here could use the exercise," she nudges Teddy with her foot. Teddy treats her to a reproachful gaze. "And I'm sure Ali wouldn't mind a chance to blow off some steam terrorisin' the local wildlife," she adds, nodding towards the Farfetch'd who's enthusiasticly trying to fight her own reflection.

"See you around. Best of luck with everythin', and give me a call if you ever need any portrait work doing," she says, passing Violet a business card "You comin', or we meeting back at the hotel?" she calls over the Jerry as she starts to walk along the waterfront.

Sayuri's going to hang around the waterfront, maybe find a quiet beach if there is one where she can let a grimer wander loose without anyone complaining.

[MichaelGoldclaw]

Catherine nods "Yea, by the way what was that weird statue thing. Never seen a pokemon like that"

[Anubis Dread]

...well, he certainly earned his reputation for being charming. But she wasn't about to let herself be COMPLETELY out done.

"Those are very kind words," Tiffany replied with a blush. "I don't expect to ever match those great names, let alone your own. I'd just like to do my small part for the cause."

[Esprit15]

"Not entirely sure, but I recognize a ghost when I see one. I can ask a nurse when we get out if this maze."

[Dracio]

Seeing his opponent take the hit Pristrix lunges forward to engage the enemy head on in the hopes to finish the fight quickly.


Bite AC2: [roll0]
Bite Damage: [roll1]

[IrnBruAddict]

Noctis

The bird swoops round, dodging the attack, and swooping down on Pristix to ram into him, for 25 p normal damage.

Tiffany

Steven smiles to himself as he fondles a stickpin on his lapel. 'Well, as long as you have confidence in yourself and a goal, I'm sure you'll be fine. And hopefully when my little god-daughter comes out of hiding, you and your new companions will have a new goal.' He had a twinkle in his eye, one that clearly gave the impression he knew something Tiffany didn't and he wasn't sharing. 'I do hope you'll give it your best to get along with Liz. I know she's ....' he was stuck for the word, '... unique, but she could use a friend or two, and it did seem she was excited to meet you and the others.'

Sayuri

'Oh, I'll give you a call,' replies Violet with a wink, as he eyes Sayuri as she walks away.

When the photographer approaches Jerry, he checks his watch. 'Eh, uhh... you know what? It's getting a little late. I think I'll catch up with you later. I think the party has started, and there was someone I was wanting to have a word with, who should be showing up soon. I'll, uh ...catch you later on, kay?' Jerry makes a rather hasty get-away, double timing it back to the mansion, clearly struggling with the speed.

Cat and Zoe

Poking her head through the hole that Catherine had made in the maze wall, Zoe could see the gardens again. Wait, what?

It seemed that even with her cheating, they had ended up further from the centre than they previously were. The duo were now at the outer edge of the maze.

[Esprit15]

Seems that one wrong turn had sent them in the opposite direction that Zoe intended to go. Well, like she had said, it was getting late anyways. She picks up the ball and heads out the hole in the shrubs. "Catch you tomorrow, Catherine. Good luck, you'll need it." Zoe looks around to see if there was any general direction that others were going, then stops by a healing tent to have her new capture identified, her and Chen's bruises bandaged up and then proceeds to follow the crowd.

[MichaelGoldclaw]

Catherine nods "Same to you" The first chance she would get, she would find an area to spar with her pokemon as a means to get her exercise for today. after that, she would rest up and after she recovered, well, she had no idea. Maybe find something to kill time and then get some shut eye.

[Aneurin]

Sayuri

Resisting the temptation to roll her eyes at Violet's comment, Sayuri waves to Jerry.

Huh. That was kinda odd. Wonder what he's up to...?

She shrugs it off. Maybe she'll see him back at the hotel, and figure things out there.

"C'mon girls," she says, releasing Willow the psyduck as well. "Let's go find somethin' for you guys to wear yourselves out with - and maybe a somethin' interestin' to take pictures of,"

She picks a direction that appears to have some beach-esque promise and starts walking.

I'm happy to rejoin the others whenever - just filling time until the plot kicks in. Not really looking for anything in particular at the moment.

Sorry for the delay in posting, currently moving and starting a new job which is eating a lot of free time and energy. If I had more of both, then Sayuri'd be on her way to bother Jeff right now :smallwink:

Should be back to normal in about a week, when I get settled though - and I can probably manage some short posts in the meantime.

[IrnBruAddict]

Everyone

Some speakers kick in, and an announcement is sent out through the grounds, stating that dinner will be getting served shortly, and if anyone was wanting to attend, they should head to the dining hall.

Zoe

Zoe is informed her capture is a Golette, a rare artificial pokemon from Unova, and her team are patched up. And hey, it looks like there was food getting served inside, bonus! Most of the people seemed to be heading that way, although Zoe spots a couple people peel off and head outside, including what looked to be Liza from a distance.

Sayuri

It looks like the few people out this way at the docks were heading back to the palace, although a few security guards stood outside. Up ahead, a little to the south, there was a little beach that looked out across the docks, and Sayuri could see the great mountain of Victory Road from there. Looks bloody imposing at this time of night.

Cat

The best area for sparring nearby would be the empty basketball court, near the guard barracks. It seemed most of the knights were on duty, fully dressed and hanging around in the palace, so it was mostly pretty quiet out this far. A few scorch marks on the ground tells Sayuri that this spot is no stranger to a pokemon battle or two, so it should be good for a quick spar or two.

[Esprit15]

A gurgle from her stomach tells Zoe that she should eat something, but a quick visit after one of her oldest teachers couldn't do much harm. Chen clings to her shoulder, equally hungry but too tired to fight with Zoe about food.

"Hey! Liza!"

[Aneurin]

Sayuri

Okay, that? That right there? That is impressive.

Sayuri lets out a long, slow whistle at the sight as Ali dashes towards the sea with a quack of delight - or, possibly, challenge. It's sometimes hard to tell. Her psyduck co-conspirator waddles after her at a somewhat more sedate pace. Teddy gives his mistress a long-suffering look, then pads after them in the vain hope of keeping them out of trouble.

Grinning slightly at the sounds of water-based mayhem nearby, Sayuri snaps a few pictures of the mountain before whistling sharply.

Naturally, nothing happens.

"Hey!" she shouts. "Dinner!"

Ah, now that worked. A horde of damnp pokemon come pelting back up the beach - tongues lolling, feathers flapping, beaks quacking and leeks waving. It's amazing how much of a horde the three of them can make.

With her happy entourage at heel, Sayuri wends her way back to the dining hall. With any luck, she can still remember the route.

[IrnBruAddict]

Zoe

'Sorry, can't stay and chat.'

Before Zoe and make to go after Liza, a sudden gust of wind blows up and causes some dirt to get in Zoe's eyes.

Perception

Sayuri

Led by her team's sharp noses and empty bellies, Sayuri finds the dining hall. It seems some of the contestants weren't there, Violet was missing, as was Noctis, Catherine and Jeff (but he likely wasn't showing up again). Jerry also wasn't here, despite having the physique that suggested he's not one to miss many meals.

Gimme a Wisdom check to see how many of the people present Sayuri would recognise.

[Esprit15]

That's strange. Zoe tries to follow after them. [roll0]

[MichaelGoldclaw]

Catherine decides to put off sparring, deciding to get a full meal first. She heads to the dining hall, hoping to get a good meal after a long day.

[Aneurin]

Sayuri

She looks around with interest as she takes her place in the buffet queue. Kinda odd that so many people are missing. Sure, Violet's probably still fishing, but Jerry?

Wonder who he's meetin'? Sayuri frowns slightly, and almost forgets to stuff a sandwich in her pocket for Muckles.

Wisdom!

[roll0]

Sorry for the delay in posting, been a busy week.

[IrnBruAddict]

Sayuri

Damn... all of them? She recognises almost all of them? This girl has good eyes on her.

Steven was chatting away with that girl in the Team Magma outfit, then there was the Princess Annabell who was chatting happily with Roy Walsh, owner of the Sootopalis News Network. There was Von Gel, a notorious beurocrat that everyone hated, but was born into high blood and had a powerful family, so he was tollerated, provided he could keep his grabby hands to himself. He was chatting away with the sailor Mister Briney, who was pushing 120 and was still alive and still running his boat. There was Professor Max Birch, son of the late Professor Birch, and he was arguing with a tall and muscly looking woman, despite the two trying to not attract much attention to their argument. After looking a bit harder, Sayuri realises that large woman was actually the Crown Princess Maxine, the older sister of the other two princesses and heir to the throne of Hoenn. It was hard to recognise her since she was rerely photographed, and almost always in her regal uniforms, while she was currently in some jeans and a black tank top, making her and Birch in his lab coat stand out amoung the better dressed crowd. Last but not least, Sayuri could spot the birthday girl herself, sitting on a balcony overlooking everything, seemingly feeding something she was hiding under her table.


Zoe

By the time Zoe rubs the sand out her eyes, she hears a small "pop" and looks up to see Liz wasn't anywhere to be seen. And perhaps it was just her imagination, but did Liz's voice sound a bit deep, more like a man's voice?

Catherine

Catherine makes her way to the dining hall, and finds it quite full. The only faces she recognises are a couple of her competitors, and Steven, since he was a national hero. Since no one else had anything to do with boxing or battling, they are likely not important.

[MichaelGoldclaw]

Catherine sits down, waiting to get food if it was to be served or picking some food up and putting it on her plate if it was all on the table.

[Esprit15]

That's odd... Something to remember. With an outward shrug, Zoe heads back into the party. Maybe she sent a double, just in case... But why the need?

[Aneurin]

Sayuri

As she loads up her plate, she lets her eyes wander. Who to talk to, who to talk to...

Wait. Is that Birch Junior over there? ...and one of the Princesses? Well, they look like interesting people to speak with. Might even be able to find out what the Birthday Girl is feeding under the table up there.

'Course, it'd probably be best to try the oblique approach and get a good earful of what they're talking about before interrupting. Might be something she doesn't want to get in the middle of.

Wis check to eavesdrop for a moment before going over.

[roll0]

[IrnBruAddict]

Sayuri

As Sayuri moves closer, she can make out the two seem to be talking about Tate and the League, and their fight against Team Rocket after they declared war by attacking Pewter City. From what she can make out, Sayuri picks up that both Birch and Maxine want Team Rocket gone, but they disagree with how the League is handling things. Maxine thinks that by giving Tate the Champion position after Lady Caitlin's resignation, all they are doing is taking away a valuable military resource if Rocket ever turns it's gaze to Hoenn. Max Birch on the other hand believes that by consolidating a large group of powerful trainers, they are making a powerful strike force for when the League makes it's counter attack. But he agrees Tate shouldn't have been made Champion over the more sensible candidate of Iris of Unova. The conversation then turned to how bad Rocket's foothold in Johto was, with Maxine wanting to send troops in to Johto while Birch was suggesting caution, what with all the civillians that live in Rocket controlled areas.

'Dammit Minnie! A large scale attack on Johto would just cause widespread panic. Remember, Rocket holds about half of the cities in Jotho, and a large portion of the population is sympathetic to the Rocket cause, even if only because they are anti-League.'

The crown-Princess looks annoyed. 'Yeah, I know a lot of people don't like the League. I'm one of them! But you don't see me raising a Team Rocket flag over the castle, do you? Hoenn has dealt with terrorists in the past, and these Rocket scum are worse. At least Aqua and Magma thought they were doing the right thing, Rocket is just making a power grab.' She looks out at all the party guests, and spots Sayuri floating nearby as the closest member. She quickly approaches Sayuri, but before the photographer can say anything, Maxine puts her in a headlock. 'So, what do you think of the Rocket situation? How would you deal with them? Wipe them out right now, wait foot around and leave it to the league to finally make a move, or are you press guys off your heads and think we should negotiate with them?' she asks as she drags Sayuri over to Birch, still in the headlock.

If anything could be said to describe Maxine's personality, "blunt" would be a good start.

Zoe

As Zoe enters, a butler approaches her.

'You are one of the competitors, yes Miss? The young madam would like some company while she eats, and would most like to discuss your performance this afternoon. Would you be so kind as to humour her, and I will have some food brought over for you?' He motioned to the back of the room, where Zoe spotted the creepy birthday girl sitting at a table all alone at the back, doing something under the table.

[Esprit15]

Zoe gives a curtsy. "Oh course, sir. It would be an honor." She'd much prefer interacting with the non-creepy girl, but royalty was royalty. She makes her way over to her host.

"Good evening, madam," she says, making a similar gesture as she did to the butler. "You made a request of my company?"

[Aneurin]

Sayuri

Well, that's an interesting conver- Eep!

Okay, so the crown princess if pretty strong. It's nice to be included, but, well, maybe she could let go now? Please?

"Erk!" Sayuri manages, before managing to eek out enough room to breathe a little. "Um- Um. I don't see why it should be the League who fixes this? I know they're a multinational organisation, but I believe they are -gasp- and should be a group that should recognise and promote personal achievement and pokemon welfare, rather than a largely ungoverned paramilitary capable of dictating terms through overwhelming force. The Rocket situation -wheeze- is the responsibility of the various regional leaders, and a coalition of nations would undermine the anti-League power base Rocket has. I doubt that -gasp- diplomacy would work, but even an unsuccessful attempt would probably reduce public sympathy for Team Rocket if you did attack.

"Um. I could talk some more, but I'm finding it quite difficult to breathe your -wheeze- highness. Would you mind letting me go, please? I'm also worried my farfetch'd might to something I'll reget,"

...like smacking a member of the royal family in the back of the knee with a leek in the middle of a formal do. Sayuri really, really hopes that Ali isn't going to do that, but given that she can't see her the little farfetch'd could be up to anything.

[IrnBruAddict]

Zoe

The girl looks up at Zoe, staring at her with dark glassy eyes. She looks at her in silence for a rather uncomfortable time, then tilts her head. 'Ah, yes. The cheater. Well done, I'm impressed. No one else here in the tournament had the gall to try and cheat, using their own natural gifts, although any of them could have. So for that you have my commendation.' All throughout, she had stared straight into Zoe's eyes. She picks up a glass of red wine, and sips on it, then pulls a repulsed face.

'Bleck, this is horrible. Well, I am glad it's at least non-alcoholic. In a few years, I'll need to drinks the real stuff. I don't look forward to that.' She places the wine glass at the edge of the table, so it was resting precariously on the edge, then "accidentally" moves the hand so that the back knocks the glass off to the floor, shattering. Zoe hears something move underneath the table, moving over and slurping up the spilled wine.

'So tell me, could you have won without cheating? Or are you someone who can only succeed with the deck stacked in your favour?'

Sayuri

'Seems like you know your stuff. Heh, you sound like my little sister.' The future Queen releases Sayuri rather suddenly, but grabs her arm so she doesn't fall over from being let go.

'Cool duck you got there. She better watch herself though, or I'll have her for dinner.' The princess knelt down, and snapped her teeth at Ali. Birch responds by giving her a smack on the top of the head.

'She's right, you know. If Hoenn did rise up against Rocket, it would do nothing more than make us an obvios target and make the League even more annoyed at us. If there was a coalition of nations, things could go much smoother.' Birch turns his attention to Sayuri.

'My apologies for my companion. Minnie takes some getting used to. I'm Maxwell Birch. I take it you're with one of the press organisations?' He offers his hand to Sayuri. The princess, meanwhile, was having a staring contest with the Farfetch'd, and seemed to be losing.

[Esprit15]

Zoe watches the girl, keeping eye contact as she spoke. She was raised to interact with people in positions of authority, even if she didn't like it. She forces a small smile at the question. "Oh, I could have won regardless. I simply like to cut out uncertainty. He had made some unsavory comments to me earlier, so I wanted to humiliate him as much as possible. You don't walk into that without doing a little bit of investigation beforehand, as I'm sure you know."

"And if you will permit me a question, Mistress? Why the interest in me? It can't have simply been having the gaul to do a little mind reading before the fight. You're impressed with that, so why did you really call me in here?"

[IrnBruAddict]

'It's important. It's important to know why you decided "Jeff must not win". Was it because you decided you didn't want someone like him taking the victory and the fame? After all, someone that irresponsible becoming a champion, it reflects badly on all of Hoenn. Or was it simply that you didn't want him to defeat you. Was your pride so shallow that the thought of him being better than you just made your skin crawl?'

'Were you doing things for the sake of others? Or for your own petty sense of pride? I find myself asking "Do I want to oppose them because I feel it's in my people's best interest? Or am I simply enforcing my own power to crush those I disagree with?" I wanted to know your thoughts on the matter. After all, one day, you'll have power over a large number of people.'

[Esprit15]

"He disrespected me, and so I put him in his place. Nothing more, nothing less." She bites her tongue. The girl was blatantly baiting her, and Zoe would not be a pawn in her game.

[Aneurin]

Sayuri

She gratefully accepts the princess' arm as she coughs.

"Um, thanks. I dated one of the politics correspondents. Well, we went on a date. Half a date. He wouldn't stop talkin' about the Rocket situation, so I sorta left," Sayuri says, looking faintly embarassed. She accepts Birch's handshake "Sayuri Tentin, kinda here on behalf of PokeMonthly. This is Ali. And... uh... how much trouble would I get in if my farfetch'd smacked the crown princess with a leek? In a purely hypothetical sense, of course," she adds, reaching down to take the leek off of Ali. The farfetch'd breaks off the staring contest with Maxine long enough to loudly register her lack of appreciation at losing her beloved alium.

"You can have it back after the party, if you behave," Sayuri says sternly, before giving the other two a very apologetic look. "I'm sorry 'bout her. She's pretty scrappy. Before she lived with me she used to steal tauros from our ranch for some reason. Her and a psyduck. Never did figure out why,"

Teddy chooses this moment to shepherd Willow back to Sayuri, and away from whatever mayhem she'd been wreaking.

"Speakin' of, this is Willow and Teddy. Say hello, boy,"

Teddy obediently sits down and offers a paw. With any luck, the Crown Princess will be thrilled and charmed by this - and if she isn't, Sayuri doesn't have a damn clue what will thrill and charm her - so now's as good a time as any to ask a risky question;

"I hope you don't mind me askin', your highness, but is everythin' alright with your sister? She didn't look all that happy earlier.

...and what did you mean about me bein' like her, or did I misunderstand you?" she adds, suddenly nervous. Possibly personal questions - this could get awkward.

[IrnBruAddict]

Zoe

'So you are nothing more than a spoiled little girl who thinks herself above her station, not taking into account what her actions can do? You truly are an amusing one.' She leans forward and smiles at Zoe, an unnervingly smile. Not malicious or evil or even gloating. Not even an amused smile.

'If I asked you to forfeit the tournament, would you? Or would you rather take a penalty match as punishment? Hypothetically of course, if I were to ask.'

Catherine

Upon taking a seat, a young man soon comes over to Catherine, bearing a plate of appetisers and a menu. A quick glance at the boys hands, and Catherine immediately notices they are bruised and calloused, marking someone who is more suited to being a fighter. Usually only fighters and martial artists had hands like that, not waiters.

Kline

Kline, having been hired as temporary staff for the event, was surprised to find out he was actually supposed to be working such a fancy get together. Everyone from the royal family, a handful of gym leaders, even Steven fricken Stone was here. He still couldn't believe his fake identity had managed to hold together to pass the security check for something like this. If they had any idea who he really was, no way in Void was he getting within a hundred feet of this party.

As a temporary staff member, his duty wasn't the gym leaders, or the diplomats. Kline's group was to see to the contestants and the press. When he looked over the list of competitors, he had spotted a name which had surprised him, that same girl he had rescued from that accident. Luckily it didn't seem she had recognised him.

Kline was given a plate by one of the chefs, and pointed over to one of the competitors who had just taken a seat. According to the sheet he had memorised, this one was called Catherine.

Sayuri

Strangely, the Princess ignores Teddy, and instead picks up Willow. 'Oh my god, who's a cute girl. You are. Yes you are!' She spoke with a babying voice that defied her build and her usual warrior personality.

Birch just laughed, catching Sayuri's eye. 'Sorry about that.' He gives Teddy a quic scratch behind the ear as a consolation prize. 'She meant what you said about Rocket. It sounds similar to what the little Princess was saying .... actually, forget I said anything.'

'As for the Farfetch'd, you won't get in any trouble. I can't say the same if she decides to hit one of the other princesses or a diplomat, but this lug here is pretty easy going when she's not on duty.'

'Yeah, tonight I'm not Princess Maxine Constance de Hoenn, or Captain de Heonn of the Knights, tonight I'm just a big sister at a party for my little sister.'

Alys

Alys was a contestant in last years competition. She had done pretty good too. She came second place. And a few months later, the gy who had beaten her in the finals had been pulled up on charges of doping his pokemon with performance enhancing with "Rare Candies" as the drug was known. While his victory in the tournament wasn't officially overturned, they couldn't well go inviting him back to attend this years. So luckily, the "Fairy Princess of Pacifidlog" was back in the palace.

This year's tourney totally blew last years out the water. Since this one was changed into a grand birthday party for the Princess, it was much more extravagant compared to Alys's own experience. In fact, only Annabelle had showed up last year, and only at the opening and closing ceremonies. This year, they were totally invited to dine with them!

Alys had entered the hall and was soon directed over to a table at the back, where it looked like Princess Elizabeth was chatting away with that Zoe girl, who Alys had watched win earlier today.

Sorry if the posts are a little rushed today guys, a bit busy today, but I wanted to get Mesi and Blues introduced into the game

[BluesEclipse]

Alys smiles as she looks around, before blinking as she realizes just who is at the table she was directed to. I can't believe it... I thought I was lucky just to get the invite to come back this year, but now I'm actually going to get to meet the princess, and even dine with her! Seeing the conversation between the princess and one of the competitors, she makes her way over, somewhat nervous. Oh... what do I say, what do I say? she thinks to herself as she moves over to the table, and decides to introduce herself - hopefully without making a fool of herself in the process. "Um... hello, your highness... I'm Alys Baldwin - the runner-up from last year's tournament? It's truly an honor to meet you..." She curtsies, then turns towards Zoe and says, "And it's nice to meet you as well - I saw your match. It was quite impressive..."

[MesiDoomstalker]

Ma'am, your menu. Kline gave, with his best haughty accent. He gave a small smile, waiters were friendly and approachable. As he placed the appetizer tray and the menu in front of the women, have gave a curt bow, before turning on his heels. He scanned the room for his real prey. He wasn't sure what he'd do, if anything at all. But he had to meet her, at least once.

[MichaelGoldclaw]

Catherine raised an eyebrow. No waiter would have those kinds of hands normally. Before he left, she would ask about those hands "You aren't normally a waiter, are you? Those hands say otherwise."

[MesiDoomstalker]

Kline froze for only a moment, his face betraying him if he didn't have his back turned already. He turned slowly, wearing an innocent, slightly amused smile. Of course not Ma'am. Food is my world. You'd be surprised how damaging food preparation is to the hands! He waved dismissively.

[Esprit15]

"That's an extreme leap of logic. I wanted to win, so I did. I wanted to put a sleazy guy in his place after he harassed me, so I did. It wasn't because I was spoiled, it wasn't because I saw my station as superior to his, even if it is." Zoe grits her teeth. She will not control you.

"And let's focus on one of those in particular: Spoiled? I'm not the one musing about 'Hm, maybe I could abuse my power as a superior to harass one of the contestants for my own amusement.' That would be spoiled. I was invited as a contestant for the match. I will do what is in my power to win. If someone bests me, then I will take my loss with dignity. What I will not do is bend to the will of someone else who sees me as nothing more than a plaything.

Hypothetically, of course, if you were to ask." Her irises shone with a faint white glow. She was eager for an excuse to lash out at this girl. There was a witness now - if the other girl struck first, she would have more than her own word.

Looking at the new arrival, she gives a smile, adopting a more ladylike posture at once. "Thank you. Your own last year was rather impressive as well. Right down to the last move." Much better than before. Alys's arrival was just what she needed to calm down.

[MichaelGoldclaw]

Catherine seemed a bit unconvinced. Why would he lie? Considering the circumstances, it is likely he is a bodyguard. "I doubt it is that damaging to your hands. Look at mine." She raises her hands. A bit less damaged, considering she wears gloves, but the damage was there. "I wear gloves, but still. I doubt you got that from just cooking."