Cytia Pokémon League IC

[aturtledoesbite]

Apple Town is a sleepy little place, with very little worth mentioning. The Pokémon Lab of Professor Evergreen is the most notable structure, set up near the entrance to the town.

Beyond that, there are only a number of residental buildings, as well as a lone PokéMart.

North is Route 701.


You find yourself standing in front of the Pokémon Lab, along with a host of other people of all shapes and sizes. Some even have a Pokémon out with them. Professor Evergreen is expecting you -- and likely everyone else here -- inside.

What do you do?

Link to OOC (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?491304-Cytia-Pok%E9mon-League-OOC)

[Charm25]

There's always something comforting about being in a crowd.

When you're alone in the wilderness with nothing but your own two hands and maybe a pokemon that doesn't want to eat you, that's where bad things happen. Cities are much safer, there's plenty of people that are more than willing to point you in the right direction - especially when you know how to get people to open up. For Marcus Osterbahn, the most important thing was getting some people that could endure the wilds and chaos that would certainly show up - and if they were easy on the eyes, so much the better.

Still, there's no good way to introduce oneself to strangers, much less strange girls, so Marcus seems content to mill about, waiting for someone to introduce themselves.

[Elfbird]

(I said all that, but... being among all these strangers is a little overwhelming... Well, there's no point just standing here!)

Standing a little bit aside, the average-looking girl in shrine maiden's attire suddenly flips the point of her naginata into the dirt, ties a bundle of cloth to the base, then rights the weapon and nonchalantly begins sweeping the lab's front steps with her improvised dry-mop. She occasionally glances at the crowd's reflection in the windows, trying to get a feel for her fellow applicants.

Yumeko's Vulpix had been riding on her shoulder to stay out from underfoot in the crowd. Startled by the sudden movement of inverting the naginata, Pyrrha leaped down and found her way to sit primly at the feet of the smallest(?) girl in the crowd, Rui. Pyrrha looks up and gives a cute little growl of greeting.
(Pyrrha will stay close to familiar people - Rui, Zui, anyone she traveled with - as much for safety as comfort, being a tiny step-on-able critter. She wouldn't mind being carried or perched on a shoulder if offered.)

[Merilan]

There was always the odd one out in a crowd, and lo and behold, it was probably the girl in the ostentatious and flashy magical girl outfit standing to Yumeko.

Dressed in trailing pinks and reds, adorned with lace and ribbons, Zuikaku looked like she was more ready for a stage concert than travel, but nonetheless she osmehow makes it work. Unlike Yumeko, who has a reasonable and real weapon, her weapon of choice is... a similarly ostentatious-looking flourescent pink toy sword, secured to a ready-made clasp on her belt.

The other point of note is the noticeable Moon Stone quite clearly embedded onto her forehead, with old scab and skin to indicate that that's been there for a looong time, and is probably not getting out without some kind of major, dangerous surgery.

"Sorry, sorry!" Zuikaku hurried along next to Yumeko, having detoured in the middle of her application... she grinned and put a hand to her head, sticking her tongue out playfully. "Just got contacted by the Lunar Capital while writing things down, happens sometimes, you know? You ready? Let's go in and get our Dexes!"

[ptdapen]

The overall lack of buildings made the town appear like a foreign country to one used to densely packed cities. The blonde gazed upon the crowd and wondered if they outnumbered the town's usual residents. They were certainly an interesting bunch; she enjoyed flashy outfits but thought of them more as costumes than everyday garb. Perhaps she was not one to judge with her frilly blouses and bow accessories. In the end, it did not matter to her. She was eager, or more-so antsy, to start her first, real adventure. And so, she strode up to the lab without speaking to anyone.

However, when she reached the entrance hesitation swept into her mind, her usual bright smile faded from her face. Samantha saw the professor's assignment as irrevocable and she wanted to be without regrets. She had lied to her father about leaving with a group of friends to a resort. One of them was sure to snap and tell the truth eventually. She knew that revelation would hurt him dearly. "I won't let anything stand in the way of my destiny," she resolved inside her mind with clenched fists. Her expression then reverted back to joyful as she entered the building. "Hello! I'm here to meet Professor Evergreen!"

[Charm25]

"A shrine maiden, an idol, and a schoolgirl walk into a laboratory...sounds like the set-up to a bad joke, or an even worse anime." Marcus thinks to himself. There are of course several more people here, but the three of them seem to be standing out at the moment. It doesn't take much time to size them up, there's a lot you can learn about someone just by looking.

First was the young woman standing on the steps of the lab - her profession was quite clear from her outfit, and with that came certain expectations. That she had a Vulpix standing guard and was carrying that naginata indicated those expectations were likely true, meaning there's a good chance she knows how to use it. She seemed like a reliable type, probably not one that would be willing to entertain antics but was approaching things with an open mind. Certainly not a bad person to have on your side.

Next was the silver-haired girl with the chunk of rock in her head and the toy sword clipped to her waist. Marcus has had his fair share with teenagers deluded with illusions of grandeur, and all of the warning bells were going off for a repeat of the same. Sure there might actually be something behind it, but for the most part he doesn't like his chances.

Lastly was the blonde that just walked in. She seems...hard to read, somehow. Her clothes and makeup suggest she'd feel more at home in the club than a lab, but the way she carried herself made it plain that she meant business. It's a curious dichotomy, and that jumped her to the top of Marcus' interest list. Sidling on over towards her, Marcus will gently let himself be bumped into her as a way to get Samantha's attention.
"Whoops! Sorry 'bout that." Marcus says after the contact, smiling a little in an attempt to open her up a little. "I think the professor's waiting to meet all of us at once. Can you imagine how tiring it'd be to try and do his whole routine for each of us? He wouldn't have time for anything else!" The young man chuckles a tiny bit, hoping she finds as much humor in that joke as he did in coming up with it.

[SiegeTower]

Usually the best place to get some coin was the bigger cities but it seemed Bob's wandering had landed him somewhere rather humble. Bob was going to keep on walking to the next city but then his stomach gave a rumble. Before he carried on, he could maybe earn enough money to pay for his next meal. That wouldn't be too big a deal. He looked around to see where the best place would be to set up. If he did it outside the pokemart maybe they'd be happy Bob caused a lineup. Last time he tried that though it was a no go. There was also the Pokemon Lab though. There seemed more than a few trainers entering it today. Trainers with new pokedexes are often excited enough to pay. Hey there was even one Bob was familiar with. She'd probably pay for the show even if it was her fifth.

With that, Bob was done his rhyming thought process and lay his hat on the ground.

Bob would go with his usual set for when he really needed some cash. The lyrics of the song specifically asked for donations. It was a classic though so most people wouldn't know it was actually out of desperation. Bob tunes his guitar as best and as fast as he can and begins to play. Bob provided the melody and his beloved companion Tambourine provided his natural percussion. Unfortunately, Bob also provided the vocals. This was undoubtedly the worst part of his act.

Bob begins to play (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIAzQ6M2Bow) and makes eye contact with all the passing trainers. He encourages them just to donate a small bit of money by looking at them and then down to his hat. When the red clad girl passes by him, he makes a little bit more of an effort to gain her attention. It worked before and maybe it would work again.

[CateranEnforcer]

Approaching with a long and steady stride walks a tall boy with short brown hair and sporting a regalia of hiking gear; sturdy boots, a warm pocketed vest, a framed backpack, and the bright orange travel uniform of the Pokemon Junior Rangers. On his shoulder sits a tiny yellow Joltik, possibly even sleeping. He plods purposefully towards the gathering crowd, his gear clinking in rhythm with his footsteps and reaches back to retrieve a canteen of water from which he takes a long drink.

Justin takes a deep breath and pauses in front of the laboratory. It had been a long hike, but that had never stopped him before. He took a moment to adjust the straps of his backpack to ease a bit of soreness out of his shoulders, and did a quick pat down on his vest to make sure nothing had fallen out of his pockets. He had traveled rather light, just enough for this trip so he'd have to resupply here in town. Looking around, quite a number of people must have traveled here to see the professor.

“Hey everyone! Hope I'm not late! Are we supposed to head inside?” he waves to no one in particular and wondered how many came in here in groups or alone. He himself was alone for the last half of his journey, except for his his pokemon. He smiles at the musician and tosses 5p as the thought occurs to him.


5 Pokedollars given to Bob!

[Esprit15]

From the back of the crowd, the brown haired girl simply watches at first, showing up a tad late. Her outfit sits somewhere between ordinary and flashy, being a bright enough link to be noticed yet still dark enough and plain enough to not be an eyesore, and clearly loose enough to keep cool, even on a cloudless day. Her hair is neatly tied back, not more than a few stray strands covering her face.

It looks like they found people from every walk of life possible, and a few that she would have never even considered. The acrobat looks over to her shoulder, petting the large, green spider that sat on it. "Well, I have a hunch that this is the building we're looking for." While Nila makes a few friendly waves and smiles toward the other trainers as she heads into the building, the girl makes no immediate attempts to talk to anyone, simply ducking and weaving through the small crowd in order to reach the front, bypassing the performer. Nice playing, but not with those vocals.

[ptdapen]

Samantha blinked and turned about to see Marcus. "Don't worry about it. Are you excited to go inside too?" she inquired. It was her assumption that he bumped into her because he too was in the zone. She tapped her chin as the stranger spoke about the professor. "I could have sworn that she was a woman. Regardless, I believe you are right." The tune outside caught her ear with its familiar notes and voice. She motioned for Marcus to follow her if he so desired before heading over to Bob.

"I did not expect to see you here," Sammy announced to the musician. She enjoyed watching him perform but not to the extent of one of her friends. That friend had fawned over him for what seemed like ages. The thought caused the socialite to giggle to herself for a short moment. "Is it good luck if I tip you before the journey begins?" Regardless, she threw in some pocket change. Before she had paid more for a performance but she did not have to luxury of her father's paycheck for this adventure. She had to make due with her last allowance.

5 Pokedollars to Bob!

[SiegeTower]

Bob nods with great thanks and enthusiasm as the Pokeranger is the first to give him a tip. Those fine lads are training their juniors the right way. They know a hard working musician when they see one.

Bob's plan also works a second time when precisely the girl he was aiming for tosses him a coin. His song was near over at this point so he finishes his guitar strumming with a flourish (http://rockitboy.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/5868690133_1888509365_o.jpg) once Samantha tosses him the change.

Anything that gets ya jazzed for your trip is good luck! I can play ya another one for on your way out. Any song ya like." Bob was ready for a special request but notices the large eclectic group gathering around. "Or uh, any song all you cats would dig. What's the occasion?"

[Lokyar]

Johnny approached the building with Pepper bounding around at his feet, the ever-excitable ball of fluff approaching critical glee from all the new people he'd seen that day. So far Johnny had been forced to endure three old grannies, one enthusiastic dog breeder, and at least two dozen children that had waylayed him in his 'quest' to answer the advert about testing the new pokedex model.

'I thought dark types were supposed to be moody and isolationists...' Johnny half-grumbled internally. Of course he knew Pepper was atypical for a houndour, and the overly expository dog breeder was only the most recent one to go on about how he probably had more than a little arcanine in his pedigree.

As he finally approached the lab he spotted the crowd outside of it slowly filtering inside and subconsciously tugged at the tip of his short-sleeved jacket's hood. He was relieved to see that the crowd wasn't entirely children, at least. As he neared the edge of the crowd he looked towards the first person that caught his eye and asked "This the place for the new 'dex testing?" It felt like a stupid question, but at the same time it at least formed coherent words and got the inevitably awkward first sentence out of the way.

[Elfbird]

At Zuikaku's approach, Yumeko leans on her nagimop and wipes the dust from her forehead.

"Ah, I'm glad you caught up! Was the message urgent? Cresselia must get lonely during the daytime."

"I'm just about done sweeping here. Seems like people are settling in for a wait; do you and Tsukimi want to help polish the windows? Or maybe we should find some refreshments to serve..."


It takes Yumeko a while to catch on to the whole "tip the musician" concept, but after some pointed looks and overhearing the city-lady's comment about good luck, her eyes light up with understanding. She drops a handful of coins into the hat, claps twice, and bows. "I pray for my companions' safety on our journey and curry noodles for dinner."
She then returns to work as if using musicians as portable shrines was the most natural thing in the world.

13 pokedollars to Bob!

Also: as prior acquaintances, how should Yumeko address Zuikaku? Zuikaku, Zui, Zui-chan, crazy moonspeak, other?

[Merilan]

I think Zui-Zui or Zui-chan sounds fine!

The twin-tailed magical girl waved with a confident, infectious grin and pumped her gloved fist. "Yeah, it was all right! I'll help sweep if you want!" She wasn't really sure what she wound up scrawling on her application, she only really snapped out of it after she turned it in... but surely it... wouldn't affect anything, would it?

Tsukimi, the little Spritzee, bobbled on over and floats near Zuikaku's shoulder to sit on it, letting out a cute little noise. She smiled and handed a five over to Bob as well, saying, "Hey, I like your music! Zuikaku, from Mango City, by the way!" addressing both Bob and Samantha, since they were close together.

[SiegeTower]

Bob is elated when one of the girls tosses him more than double what everyone else had been giving. He becomes a little saddened though when she mentions curry. Did he really seem that desperate for food? Bob totally was but he didn't wanna seem it. Being a beggar wasn't a good rockstar image.

Yet another girl dropped some coin Bob's way as he was contemplating how homeless he looked. He thanks the girl before his eyes become rudely affixed to the rock in her skull. Bob tries to save face then quickly changes the subject.

"Oh yeah uh, I dig the bindi. Very spirtual. looks good on ya." Bob coughs. "So what's the occasion for the gathering? I can play a song to fit the mood if you have any requests."

[Mura-neechan]

Reina sighed a bit as she looked around the small town. Now bustling with a crowd it had no means to support whatsoever, Reina found herself in a situation that was far too complicated for her own liking. Choosing to mostly ignore the elder and rather versitile trainers, the girl instead simply moved to head inside without a word. Hefting her bag over her shoulder the girl would take a second to gauge each partcipant as she saw them. Maidens and magical girls, as well as adventuring types from all over. It was fairly chaotic, without reason to be. Her opinion wavered a bit, as she found that the Pokemon Professor had not adequately created an organized method foor this job. That thought caused Reina's foot to stop, right at the door as she processed it. They required assistance to a degree that they recruited from all over, even a region as far away as her own. This task could easily be far larger than simply tracking down a pokemon, or supplementing a pokedex with a trainer's information. It might require skills from a broad group like this, or perhaps the group itself was a test to see if one was the right fit. As Reina let out a small sigh, she'd move to push open the door and jerk her head to anyone else standing outside.

"I doubt our host has an infinite amount of time. Maybe this can be handled quickly."

[aturtledoesbite]

Entering the laboratory, you see a woman, probably in her early 30s or so, typing something up on a computer while glancing at a notebook. In addition, there is a boy, no older than most of you, frantically running around, seemingly making sure everything's ready for...well, all of you. In the lab itself are numerous different machines with functions most of you can only describe as 'arcane'. There is also a table with a large sheet over it, though bumps in the sheet suggest that there's something underneath.

"Hey, Professor! The Trainers are here!"

The boy gets no response.

"Professor!"
"James, I'm trying to analyze these results, can you hold on a litle while?"
"The Trainers are here!"
"Huh?"

The woman swivels around in her chair, noticing you all coming in while blinking in surprise.

"...They're quite early, aren't they?"
"No, Professor, this is when you told them to show up."
"James, I said tomorrow at 10 AM, didn't I?"
"Yes, Professor, but it's not tomorrow. It's today, and it's 10 AM right now."
"...Oh."

The boy runs over to where you all enter, saying in a voice just low enough that the professor can't hear him from across the room, "Sorry about this, she normally loses track of time while working. I don't think she slept last night..."

The professor stands up and begins walking forward, stopping at the table.

"Ahem, well then. Let's see...a couple seem to be missing, but there are a few extra faces in the crowd...oh well, they look reliable enough. Hello, I'm Professor Evergreen! Thank you all for coming and agreeing to assist with my research! Before we start, are there any immediate questions?"

[Merilan]

Of course, it was entirely too large to just be a bindi, but close enough. Zuikaku was about to say something when the professor and the somewhat-sudden sounding girl called them in, saying, "Uh-- something fanfare-y, of course! We're going on a journey!"

She stomps inside with pride and enthusiasm, the energy just seemingly bouncing off off her. "Zuikaku here, also known as Witching Dream! I'm ready to serve, for the sake of the people, love and peace!" No, that wasn't a question.

[SiegeTower]

"Fanfare, eh? I think I can swing that." Bob starts to play (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtfBZ1ueHYg&t=2m25s) a song as everyone hustles into the professor's lab. Thankfully this song was purely instrumental and saved folks from Bob's singing.

[Elfbird]

Yumeko follows Zuikaku inside, makes a reserved bow to their hosts (letting go of the nagimop to clasp her hands properly), and barely catches the precarious polearm before it clonks the magical girl on the head.
At some point Pyrrha reappeared at Yumeko's feet.

"Yumeko Shiroi, ready to serve. Latias bless our meeting. And Ho-oh bless your coffee, Professor."

[Esprit15]

Nila raises her hand, but speaks before being acknowledged. "What do most of those machines do? What do you study? And what is on that table, covered up by that sheet as though you didn't want it to be seen yet?"

[Nyna]

Rui Mitsuharu

"Oof... sorry I'm late." Rui's voice would come from the direction of one of the side windows as the mewing of a Skitty would shortly follow, Baron Von Whiskers proudly trotting over towards Yumeko and Zuikaku for his much deserved petting. Rui, on the other hand, looked like she was more in need of a grooming as she'd grumble a bit, following the cat through the window as she'd pick a twig out of her hair, a couple of leaves falling off of her dirty top as she did so. "Baron here saw a Rattata or something in the bushes, and of course he had to give chase..." And she'd dismount the windowsill without much more fuss.

She'd approach the crowd, moving to stand next to the two girls that she knew as she apologized to the Professor. "Sorry about coming in through the window... was just trying not to lose sight of Baron." Rui would blush just a bit, looking away in mild embarrassment... what a great way to show off her skills as a Trainer...! No treats for Baron tonight...

[tonberryking]

Bob's leaving with the others deprives one of his newfound fans to donate to the cause. The little cubone had been standing behind his master, and she wasn't all that talkative. He'd finally gathered up his courage (and a rock to put into the donation hat) only to watch as most everyone shuffled inside when they were called. He seems a bit forlorn, just standing there tapping the rock against his skull helm until his master nudges him gently.

"Stay away from them, Clubton, we're just here to figure out what the professor's angle is.

Her age, nearly an adult, isn't the only thing that sets her apart from even this eclectic crowd: Ryoko looks like she came from a fight, another fight before that one, and from the way she stands near the back, arms folded under her ribcage, she's going to a fight after this. She tries to hide a scowl at the sight of such a large crowd, only softening when her cubone tugs at her pants leg. She lets him hold on but she doesn't unfold her arms.

"What's in this for us again?" she rudely but directly asks, hovering near the doorway. If it weren't for her height, she'd probably be unseen by either the professor or her assistant. "I mean, this ain't a paying job, so do we get some sort of status or freedom to travle if we help out?"

[ptdapen]

"The professor inside asked for people help test out something or another," Samantha said while observing the others. The magical girl was stranger than she had initially observed; she had a gem embed in her head! It would be rude to stare so she turned her gaze away.

Another stranger had went straight for the entrance as Sammy had done before. The socialite let out a soft sigh. "Why did that boy tell me to wait?" she mused inside her head before going inside.

[SiegeTower]

Bob Autumn (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1U1AvwqFIl9ub_621RbfHWXFMskXi2EcKNsnCilEdln4/edit#gid=1948544039)

Bob watched as folks funneled inside but didn't follow. It wasn't his business what was going on in there. All he needed was their coin as they entered the lab.

Luckily, the crowded lab resulted in one girl and her Cubone keeping the doorway open in the back. Bob was able to partially hear what was going on. He strummed his guitar gently as no one was around to tip for the time being. He would catch this mass of trainers on the way out again.

[Lokyar]

[ - Johnny Brockton - ]

Having stayed near the back of the crowd put him somewhat closer to the girl that had spoken up than the rest of the group, and though her questions were valid enough he felt compelled to play devil's advocate against the abrasive way she asked them. "I seem to recall a saying about gift horses that feels appropriate. Getting to test next gen tech is generally the payment, not the other way around."

[CateranEnforcer]

Justin Hawkins
Sheet (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1CWaOLvF4M9D38u07Ni7y-gUDNgPe8ILxqwYryum2wN8/edit#gid=0)

Justin walks inside and stands at attention with the rest. There's an awful lot of chatter going on that might make it hard to hear, so he keeps his questions to himself. A part of him wants to help manage the group to keep things organized and moving smoothly, but doesn't want to over step his bounds. These aren't your friends in the Rangers, out here that'd just be bossy. So he just smiles and replies in a free moment, “Nothing from me right now, just eager to hear what you have in mind for us Professor!"

[tonberryking]

"Hey, I'm just making sure there isn't a catch, buddy," the rough looking young woman says towards Jonnhy B., though she only spares him a fleeting glance rather than face him. From her tone, she's most certainly not actually anybody's buddy here... yet. Her Cubone continues to hold onto her trousers, and ducks his head away from anyone who stares.

[aturtledoesbite]

The boy, whose name is James, you suppose, glances toward the professor after Nila's numerous questions. "Um, Professor, maybe you should go ahead and start, then answer the questions that aren't covered afterward?"

"Oh, hm. Yes, that would be the sensible option. Very well!"

"As I said, I am Professor Evergreen, a Pokémon Professor. While it would be accurate enough to say I study Pokémon, it would be closer to the truth to say I study Pokémon habitats. Just think of me as a 'Pokézoologist'! Have you ever wondered why different Pokémon species can be found in some regions, but not others? Take the Zubat species, for example. They practically overpopulate the Indigo, Hoenn, and Sinnoh regions, but are nearly nonexistent in Unova, Kalos, and even here in Cytia! My focus, essentially, is to learn why that is."

"However, before I can even begin, I need to know what Pokémon exist in this region, which requires fieldwork that I am, regrettably, too understaffed here to do myself. That's where you all come in! I want you all to go and record all of the Pokémon families that live in Cytia. And to do that...you'll each need a Pokédex!"

On delivering that last line, Professor Evergreen grabs the front of the sheet covering the table and pulls it off with a dramatic flourish! Underneath the sheets, several Pokédexes are arranged. Some are a gleaming red, others a cool blue, and yet others a calming green. There appear to be enough that everyone can get the color of their choice.

...Turning back to the professor, it would seem that the sheet she pulled off has now settled on top of her. "Maybe I should've practiced this..."

After a few moments spent removing herself from the sheet, Professor Evergreen turns back to all of you. "Go on, take one! The colors are cosmetic, so just pick your favorite! I'll continue once everyone has a Pokédex."

[tonberryking]

Ryoko, from the back of the room, doesn't even attempt to brave the crowd. Instead, she gently pokes Clubton with the base of her sneaker until he looks to her, loyally:

"Clubton. Go gimme a blue one, but don't hit nobody." she lightly smirks at her pokemon and after a moment of basking in her attention, Clubton waddles around the legs of those gathered, with a bit of unnecessary melodrama along the way, until he's at the table. Around the red pokedexes.

"No, no!" she hollers over the din, "Blue! Like my jacket!"He waddles over towards the green ones, and Ryoko just gives in with a shrug. "Close enough!" To be fair, he's only 15 inches tall, so it's not like he can see the dexes very well... Or reach one for Ryoko, come to think. He hops up and down, trying to get to them before he's trampled by the other trainers...

[ptdapen]

Samantha Clark

The socialite took a glance behind her to see Bob still outside strumming his guitar. Since so many questions had been asked alongside chatter she took the moment to rush back outside. "Come on, you might be able to get paid for this!" Sammy told him before tugging on his arm. "Plus the professor seems a little... spacey. I'm sure she won't notice or even care."

Regardless of Bob's response, Samantha rushed back into the lab to see the big reveal. She held back a giggle over Evergreen's antics and went forward to pick up a Pokedex for herself. For a brief moment she considered picking up a blue or green one to upset some outside, vague force but inevitably retrieved a gleaming red one.

As a sort of test, she decided to test it out right away on her own swablu; she theorized that it would be rude to approach someone else's Pokemon for the experiment. With a tad bit of flourish, she released Sayaka out of her little home. The female avian puffed out her chest and let out a squawk as a show of grandeur before flying atop of her owner's head. "Hey, hey, lemme get a read on you!" Sammy requested gleefully.

[Merilan]

Zuikaku
Inwardsly, Zuikaku sighed in relief that nothing... too amiss... seemed to have happened with her application. She winked at Rui and beckoned at her, saying, "Rui, over here! Geez, you really like to run off, don't you?" if only to indicate that, yes, the girl with the cat should be here and was not an unwanted burglar or anything.

She hummed to Yumeko and said, "We should get a different colour each for us! Green'd suit you, don't you think? Red would match my outfit..."

[Elfbird]

Yumeko Shiroi

"Excuse me. Pardon me."
Yumeko shoulders her way through the crowd until the 'dexes are in reach. Seeing the struggling Cubone, and hearing the harsh calls for "blue" over the din*, she hands a blue Pokedex down with a smile before reaching a green one for herself.
Meanwhile, Pyrrha sits safely near the edge of the room.

"Zui-chan, Rui-chan! Which ones do you want?"
Yumeko glances around for her friends and picks them out in the crowd**. By now they're close enough to get their own, so Yumeko retreats to where Pyrrha is and begins examining the piece of technology now in her hands.
...Miraculously, she manages to boot it up AND register Pyrrha without any explosions***. Whether or not she can repeat the feat...


*Perception: 8
**Perception: 11
***Tech Ed: 5

I'm sometimes rolling to help make decisions and/or justify outcomes. Should I post when I do or keep the numbers to myself outside of skill checks vs. Important Stuff?

[Esprit15]

Nila Lamya
It's Kanto, not Indigo. Indigo is the name of the Kanto-Johto league, the girl thinks, biting her tongue.

Nila looks over the colors. Ugh, nothing that matched her outfit. Pale Night chitters. True. If you can't blend in, stick out! The girl nabs a green one, fiddling with the device until she finally figured out how to turn it on.

She looks longingly at the group of friends. And here she was alone, an ocean away from home... Nila sighs, letting the spider again. "So what are we doing, exactly? Just photographing local species?"

[CateranEnforcer]

Justin Hawkins

Justin waits patiently for a spot to open up. No need to rush and clog up the area, there was plenty for everyone. After a moment he walks up and picks out a red Pokedex to sorta match his uniform. He turns it over in his hands and holds it up for moment just looking at it before carefully opening it to look inside. “What do you think of this, Dusty?” he asks his Joltik on his shoulder, who is no longer able to continue his nap. He holds it up for examination and the little spider seems to sense the electrical power contained within and moves a bit closer to try and latch his tiny legs onto it. Justin pulls it away quickly, “I know that look in your eye! Don't worry we'll find you a good source soon, let's not break the professor's stuff.”

[Aneurin]

B.T.

While the others are picking out pokedexes, the door slides open again to admit a slender young woman in jeans, striped t-shirt walking boots and a large backpack. She's dark haired, and wears it in a thick plait down her back, with a turquoise-coloured streak in the fringe. She has a pokeball on her belt, and a rumpled looking map in her hand. She's also red in the face and sweating, as if she's just been running. Which... considering she's late, she probably has.

"Hello? Sorry I'm late. I tried to take a taxi, but it dumped me... Well, I don't really know where it dropped me off other than 'not near here'," she says, with an exasperated look at the paper map in her hand. "Had to wander around 'til I spotted a landmark thats actually on my map," she adds, a little grumpily before brightening up. "Again, really sorry. Er, I didn't miss anything important, right?"

[Nyna]

Rui Mitsuharu

Rui would hurry on over to Zuikaku, smiling a bit as she continued to brush some of the dirt off her clothes. "I think brown would match my clothes right now..." She'd smile a bit though as Baron came over to headbump her legs, the girl crouching down to give him some scratches despite being a little upset with him from earlier still.

And she'd look up as Yumeko called over. "Aah, I'm fine with whatever, honestly. Might as well go with Zui-chan's idea, right? I'll take whatever color you two don't~"

[CateranEnforcer]

Justin Hawkins

Justin turns to the newcomer, eager to help out,"We just started, so your just in time. We're gonna be cataloging the pokemon species of this region. Go ahead and grab a pokedex, the professor said we could. I'm Justin by the way." He looks over her and her equipment. Looks like she came prepared for a hike as well. "Nice gear you have there, you travel far to get here?"

[tonberryking]

Ryoko

Clubton the cubone 's eyes widen and he makes a happy little chirp noise underneath his mask as he gleefully takes the offered pokedex and hastily waddles back over to his master. Ryoko, on the other hand, gives Yumeko an even look for a moment that's hard to read the intent of. By the time Clubton returns to her side, she switches attention to her little buddy and playfully raps him on the skull helm when he gives her the device. "That'll do..."

"So if we were just going to wander around Cytia and meet pokemon anyway we just have to record them with this? Like a camera? ...Seriously, that's all you want?" she calls out again from the back, incredulously. Nobody gives away things for free like this, so she's still more than a little wary.

[Charm25]

Marcus Osterbahn

Birds will be birds, apparently. Marcus can't help but chuckle at Samantha's troubles, but among all the problems that seem to be popping up, this one seems to be one he can manage to help with. Grabbing a shiny red pokedex of his own, Marcus will scan the fluffy swablu before whistling a bit.* The flying-type pokemon seems to tilt its head, before flapping its wings a bit and landing on the offender's head.

"...Well, I should have seen that coming. But at least you can scan it, right?" Marcus can't help but chuckle at the reversal of fortunes, but it's something...right?
"I'm Marcus, by the way. You are?

Charm: 4d6+1=13]

[SiegeTower]

Bob Autumn

Bob tried to listen in on everyone but the mass of people and chatter was impossible to decipher. He was about to reside himself to practicing some difficult chords when Samantha reappeared from the crowd, grabbing at Bob's arm. "Wait what? What's going on?"

Bob snags his coin filled hat and straps his guitar to his back as he's pulled in by Samantha's antics. He really had no idea what he was supposed to be doing. Something about getting paid? Well Bob would follow along as long as navigating the crowd didn't inadvertently damage his guitar.

All the folks around the musician seemed to be nabbing those electronic looking things on the table so Bob figured he was supposed to do the same. His uncertainty revealed itself though as he silently gestured to the Pokedexes questioning to the professor if he was allowed to take one. She didn't pay him any attention of course. With an uncertain hand, Bob grabbed a green Pokedex off the table and made it very clear he was taking it. He slowly lifted it up and held it up near him making sure everyone could tell he was taking one. He was unsure of what to do after it was clear he wasn't stealing anything so he just cleared back out with his new Pokedex in tow.

Bob had no idea what this thing was or why they were giving them away. He guessed it must have been some kinda promotion for the building he was busking in front of. Really seemed like overkill for a promotional tool. These electronic things seemed expensive.

Bob pocketed the new device and looked around the area. Everyone was fiddling with the things. They would be too distracted to bothering listening to him play. It was maybe time to find something to eat or just start heading over to wherever Bob's feet took him. He guessed he would say goodbye to the girl who scored him the pocket calculator.

"Hey uh, thanks for the tip. The one in the hat and the one about the electronics." Bob throws up a grateful peace sign but sees that Samantha is currently preoccupied by a Pokemon on her head and a boy at her side.

"Okay well uh, I'm gonna peace out. Take it easy." With that Bob was ready to head out to...wherever. He didn't have a grasp of the local geography or even a map so he would just follow whatever roads looked like they lead somewhere. He could maybe thumb a ride if he got too tired. Bob hoped he'd eventually wind up somewhere where he could score a steady gig playing his tunes.

[Merilan]

Zuikaku

"I think I'll stick with the Red, so you get the Blue one, Rui!" Zuikaku exclaimed excitedly, holding the device up. She was about as hopeless as Yumeko when it came to devices, but this one looked... easy enough, right? Point, click, scan...

Sure enough, the device registered Tsukimi and the Spritzee data appeared on screen. "Wooow, it's so high-tech! Ehe, I'm really looking forward to it!"

She glanced around the room as more people trickled in, perhaps surprised that the musician was also one of the people who were chosen to scan the region for its pokemon. The new girl that just arrived that Justin was talking to also felt a bit... familiar, but she couldn't figure out why. But she thought of a question, looking back to the table.

"Ah, hey, Professor? So how're we supposed to organise ourselves? Did you want us to just run off to different corners of the region?"

[Aneurin]

B.T.

"Ah, thanks," B.T. replies, awkwardly, to Justin as she tries to lose herself in the mess of not-very-late people who seem to be here for this thing, too, and snags a pokedex. Blue, 'cause it matches her hair. Ooooh. Hair. Did I remember to bring any dye? "Call me B.T., and... yeah. Could say I travelled far, I guess. A bit of everywhere, but most recently Kanto. Well, actually, most recently-recently from the airport to here. But, y'know," she shrugs bashfully. "How about you?"

[Mura-neechan]

Reina Travies

Reina would stare a bit as the Pokemon Professor spoke. Her body stiffened a bit, as she felt like every bone in her frame had just shattered. She was hearing words of trainers, aides, and their respected professor for a while now, she'd be able to get back to that, and process it all in time. But it was as though time was slowing for the girl, grinding down to a halt, as Reina clenched a fist rather tightly at her side, a silent screaming resounding through her body as anger slowly built at her feet and started to rise through her. She'd simply stare directly at Professor Evergreen with a flat emotionless stance, as she internalized all her emotions. Unwilling to expose her actual first impression or the seething it was certain to create. Of course. Of course, it is. Mother knew her, mother respected her. Of course, it would be like this. Laid back, loopy, silly nonsense. This was supposed to be different.

Even the girl's inner feelings would become jumbled, unable to properly form, as she'd slowly brace herself and push forward. The first signs of brain activity returning to her body appearing in her eyes, as they'd shift about. Remembering that she needed a Pokedex, the girl would close her eyes, shaking her head and shifting off the negative emotions. She'd really been expecting soomeone more like Professor Oak, or Professor Elm... maybe hoping a little too hard on that. Sighing a bit, she'd approach, as she moved close enough to claim her own blue Pokedex. She'd wait there for a bit as she'd stare at James and Evergreen for a moment, before turning off. "At least it isn't a Pokephysicist." As she'd head back, she'd look to Ryoko.

"It is probably an experiment. To see if Pokemon can exist outside their prefferred envrionments, and establish why those environments are preferred to begin with. After all, Pokemon are traded from region to region all the time. It doesn't make a great deal of sense why there hasn't been more intermingling between regions."

[aturtledoesbite]

As the Trainers scanned the Pokémon they came with, the Pokédexes read out the data on the species out loud.


Swablu, the Cotton Bird Pokémon. Normal/Flying Type. Height: One foot, four inches. Weight: Two-point-six pounds.
Swablu uses its cottony wings to polish everything around it. It also likes to land on people's heads, so a woman walking down the sidewalk could suddenly discover she's wearing a fluffy Swablu hat.


Vulpix, the Fox Pokémon. Fire Type. Height: Two feet, zero inches. Weight: Twenty-one-point-eight pounds.
Vulpix starts its life with a single tail that splits into six as it grows. The fire inside its body is constantly burning.


Spritzee, the Perfume Pokémon. Fairy Type. Height: Zero feet, eight inches. Weight: One-point-one pounds.
Long ago, this Pokémon was popular among the nobility for its lovely scent. Instead of spraying perfume, ladies would keep a Spritzee close at hand.

"I see you're all quickly adapting to the Pokédexes! Good! In addition to being able to scan Pokémon, these new models have Unova's X-Transceiver functionality, allowing you to call anyone whose X-Transceiver address you know, including those of the other Pokédexes here. All of them have my own address saved already, so you can all get in touch with me at any time. They also accept voice commands!"

To demonstrate, Professor Evergreen grabs one of the untaken Pokédexes and opens it, holding down a button with a stenciled image of a microphone on it at the bottom of the device's face. "Pokédex, tell me about Sinnoh."


Sinnoh is known as the spiritual center of the world. This is primarily due to the Church of Arceus, with branches in every major region, having its headquarters in Hearthome City. In addition, Snowpoint Temple and the Celestic Town shrine attract believers of all stripes.

Several years ago, the criminal organization Team Galactic caused numerous disturbances throughout the Sinnoh region. They were stopped by that year's Pokémon Champion Lucas, after which the organization was disbanded. Details of the incident are unknown.

According to the most recent census, a majority of Sinnoh's residents believe that Fire-type Pokémon are a myth. This is likely due to the abnormally-low saturation of the type throughout the region.

"...I knew I should've picked a shorter entry. Anyway, questions! Let's see, yes, all I'm asking is for you to scan the Pokémon of the region. You can even keep the Pokédexes afterward. As for organization...you're all able to sort that out amongst yourselves, right? ...Right?"

The professor looked like she really hoped she wouldn't have to pair you guys up.

[Elfbird]

Yumeko Shiroi

Yumeko, standing clustered with Zuikaku and Rui examining their Pokedexes together, looks up and raises a hand.

"Professor, surely you don't need redundant data? I think Zui-chan meant that our groups should explore different parts of Cytia, rather than all go one way as a mob. Will that be okay?"

After hearing the answer, Yumeko returns her attention to her green 'dex. She tries to scan Tsukimi and Baron von Whiskers, and accidentally takes a selfie that confuses the program as much as it does the miko. [Does it work the same as it did on Pyrrha, since she doesn't own those two?]
The 'dex entry for Vulpix brought a piece of a song to mind; Yumeko gives the fox scritchies between the ears and sings softly to her.
"~There is a wild fire inside you/A burning desire you can't extinguish...~"

[Lokyar]

[ - Johnny Brockton - ]

Slipping around the crowd Johnny grabs a red pokedex, exploring the basic options while the professor's drones on about the region. At the mention of moving as a single group Johnny breaks in. "I don't do crowds. If one or two of you want to coordinate efforts, then sure, I can do that. But it would probably help if we knew something about each other instead of pairing up because we like each other's hats."

Putting his 'dex in his pocket turned to face the crowd more directly. "I'm Johnny Brockton. I have an...affinity for fire-types. And I'll say now that if you have a problem with me hitting a wild pokemon then don't come with me, because anything trying to attack Pepper goes through me first."

[CateranEnforcer]

Justin Hawkins


B.T.

"Ah, thanks," B.T. replies, awkwardly, to Justin as she tries to lose herself in the mess of not-very-late people who seem to be here for this thing, too, and snags a pokedex. Blue, 'cause it matches her hair. Ooooh. Hair. Did I remember to bring any dye? "Call me B.T., and... yeah. Could say I travelled far, I guess. A bit of everywhere, but most recently Kanto. Well, actually, most recently-recently from the airport to here. But, y'know," she shrugs bashfully. "How about you?"

Justin smiles, clearly impressed, "That's pretty neat! This is the longest journey I've been on, hiking from Lemonville through the mountains, and to here. This project is a great excuse to explore more. I can't wait!"

He quickly hushed as the professor speaks and listens carefully. The professor makes it sound so easy. He chimes in when Johnny speaks up,"It's a good idea. We should organize ourselves into groups, It's always good to have people around so you can look after each other out in the wilderness. I'm Justin Hawkins, member of the Pokemon Junior Rangers. I'm pretty skilled at looking after myself in the outdoors. I'd very much like to explore some forest areas to look for some of my favorite bug pokemon."

[Merilan]

Zuikaku

Zuikaku nodded to Yumeko, and said, "Yeah! I think some of us know each other already, so that should help pair things off, right? Yumeko and Rui and I, and... ah-- wait a moment, Yume-chan..."

She wandered on over, deciding to sate her curiosity and waved as Justin and B.T were talking with each other. "Kannazuki Zuikaku! I'm the Chosen of the Moon, as decreed by the Lunar Capital, and my soul name is known as Witching Dream!" Unaware -- or perhaps proud -- that her intro in no way helpfully described her at all, she turned to B.T to tilt her head as if peering at something. "Um, sorry... have we met before? I'm kinda twigging-- something familiar! Ehe, I have a bad head for faces, I guess."

[Elfbird]

Yumeko Shiroi

"Huh, that's a good point..." Yumeko calls to Zuikaku with puzzled look. "Zui-chan, has the Lunar Kingdom told you where to go next? Or I could consult Palkia in the stars, if you don't mind waiting a few eons for a reply." The miko doesn't seem to think twice about saying such strange things aloud in a crowded room - or else doesn't think it's strange at all.

"Baron von Whiskers here might be a close substitute, hm?" She tickles the Skitty's ear as she says so, wearing a sarcastic grin.

[ptdapen]

Samantha Clark

"Figures that the description is right," Samantha stated with a shrug. After taking her turn to scan she stuffed her Pokedex into her pocket and seized Sayaka with both of her hands. "Come on, time to stop sitting on heads." The socialite snuggled her swablu's beak with her nose before letting her go. Without any hesitation, though, the avian returned to her original perching spot. "Oh please, you're just trying to embarrass me in front of the others now. I swear she's better behaved when there aren't others around."

Sammy let out an exaggerated sigh when she noticed the musician departed from the building. "Drifters can't stay in one place for long, huh?" she mused in her head. She had intended to drag him along to meet her friend and play matchmaker. Her attention turned back to the other boy next to her. She opened up her mouth but then realized that she ought to speak up to introduce herself to everyone else as well. "My name is Samantha. Some of my friends like to call me Sammy though. I'm actually from Sinnoh," she mentioned before pointing to Evergreen's Pokedex. "Oh and don't worry, I know that fire types exist."

The blonde looked at the professor and let out a faint sigh. "Perhaps it would be best if we let you return to your work." She took a short bow as a sign of gratitude and went outside. She was unsure if the others would follow along but she guessed that at least some would. Being outside was also a great opportunity to call after Bob. "If you don't mind I could use a bit of fanfare wherever I go!" Sayaka's eyes beamed and she nodded along with the announcement. In the avian's mind, this was the story of the great Sayaka and her noble carrier.

[SiegeTower]

Bob Autumn

Bob had taken the hat off his head to give it a scratch. He really had no idea which direction to start marching in. Luckily he was given a hint by a girl calling after him. The Swablu adorned girl hinted she was headed somewhere so maybe Bob could head in that direction to.

"I can give ya some fanfare. All I gotta know is where you're from, where you're going, and I guess a name would be okay too. If it's something I can make rhyme." Bob gave a dorky smirk with a peace sign. He snickered at his own joke. "If you wanna be addressing me by anything, call me Bob Autumn. Say the whole thing each time. I think I'm gonna have to make that a habit because I'm gonna be in one of those Elvis Presley versus Elvis Costello situations. You know, with Bob Dylan?" Bob didn't check to see if his outdated references landed with the young girl. "Oh yeah, and my percussionist here is named Tambourine. Groovy name for a Pokemon that really knows how to groove." Bob's Tympole companion bounces up with a joyful demonstration of his natural percussion talents.

After Samantha gives her name and home region to Bob he ponders for a moment. Then after a couple seconds more, he snaps his fingers knowing the perfect song to play."I think you'll really dig this one!" Bob gets his guitar ready and strums a couple bars to let Tambourine know what song he was going for.

Well she was a Sinnohen girl
Raised on promises
She couldn't help thinkin' that there
Was a little more to life
Somewhere else
After all it was a great big world
With lots of places to run to.... (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXkblbJqwn0&t=0m35s)

Bob sings his song with some slightly altered lyrics. The singing was worse than usual as he was clearly trying to mimic a singing style that wasn't his. His heart was in the right place though and the lyrics were very much appropriate for Samantha, even if Bob didn't know that.

Bob marches behind his new friend with the fanfare she desired. Soon enough he would head out though. If Sam was also leaving, Bob was sure to follow her footsteps instead of his own.

[Esprit15]

Nila Lamya
"So, who wants to team up? I can probably knock the stupid out of anyone who tries to take pick a fight with a bunch of seemingly easy targets," Nila says. Everyone is so talkative. It was a bit off-putting...

[aturtledoesbite]

"People are heading out already? Let's see, was I done with everything...? ...Oh, wait, don't leave just yet!"

The professor continues regardless of whether the eager trainers stayed or not.

"Jimmy, do you have them?"
"They're right here, professor."

In Jimmy's (or was it James's?) hand, there is a small briefcase-like container, which he hands to the professor.

"There aren't really enough for each of you, but I suppose you've all already got Pokémon of your own, so while this isn't really necessary...I wouldn't be a very good Pokémon Professor if I didn't send you off with a Pokémon!"

On saying this, she opens the briefcase, revealing six Pokéballs. Hanging off of each is an easily-removed label identifying the Pokémon inside. There looks to be a male and female each of Turtwig, Charmander, and Froakie.

"I can't think of a good way to distribute them fairly, so...work it out amongst yourselves? You're welcome to use the back room if you decide to have a Pokémon battle over them. Otherwise...talk it out? Please don't take more than one for yourself."

Alright, so, here's where the results of the guessing game play into! Elfbird and Esprit15 are allowed first choice for which of these Pokémon they want, if they want any of them. If both of you choose the same one...well, work it out. As for the rest of you, feel free to talk it out or battle it out or however you want to decide it. Make friends! Make rivals! Or just eschew the whole offer and run off!

As for the Pokémon themselves, they're level 10, gender determined by whichever one you pick, but everything else is your choice. They each have one egg move, Frenzy Plant/Blast Burn/Hydro Cannon, as appropriate, at level 50.

[Esprit15]

Nila Lamya
"Wait, free Pokémon?" Nila says, surprised, quickly dashing up to the professor and snatching one of the Pokéballs. "Dibs on the land turtle!"
Taking the Female Turtwig, if there is no argument.
Hm, if nobody would approach her, she just had to approach them. "Hey! Pretty boy! Stoic girl! Come on, let's form a group!" she says, trying to grab Marcus and Reina. They didn't seem to be grouped with others yet – might as well fix that!

[Nyna]

Rui Mitsuharu

Rui would take her blue pokedex as she'd begin fiddling with it. She wasn't quite so technologically ignorant as her two older friends, as she'd quickly find the scan function and point it at Baron~ Followed by curiously pointing it at every single Pokemon in sight as she'd get to work on this whole encylopedia thing early~ Might as well get a head start, right?

The young girl wouldn't show too much interest in the Pokemon being given out, though. Not that they weren't interesting or great, probably, but she'd rather scan them~ Though Baron could probably use a friend. Hmmmm... Rui would stare at the pokeballs, not sure whether she should be greedy or not, but eventually deciding that she'd only take one if no one else seemed to want to...

She'd instead turn her attention over to Yumeko and Baron Von Whiskers as the Skitty received some rather lovely scritches. "Baron always seems to find the best path for me getting covered in mud, so I hope you brought a spare change of clothes if we're following him~"

Looks like this is the list of pokemon that people have sent out thus far:

Skitty (Baron Von Whiskers)
Vulpix (Pyrrha)
Tympole (Tamborine)
Joltik (Dusty)
Spinarak (Pale Night)
Houndour (Pepper)
Spritzee (Tsukimi)
Cubone (Clubton)
Swablu (Sayaka)

Rui will try to scan all of them~ Might as well get that Pokedex collection started, right?

[Charm25]

Marcus Osterbahn

Huh, Free pokemon. As good as his own partner was, having more pokemon by his side was never a bad idea - plus, he'd need to keep up with the rest of the pack if he didn't want to be left behind. As he's called over to where Nila is, Marcus will eye the case with pokeballs a bit more.
"Thinking if you want me around, it'll help if I grab one of them. Hopefully no one has any argument..."

Marcus is looking to take either Charmander once Yumeko makes her pick. If two others (or one other if she takes a Charmander) want to fight over it, we'll work something out then I guess?

[tonberryking]

Ryoko

Ryoko freezes for a moment. Her eyes narrow and before Clubton realizes what's going on, she's picked up her buddy, slung him over her shoulder (at least he seems used to this, without complaint) and makes a beeline for the pokeballs. Of course, a couple of them are already taken by the time the bulldozer girl gets up front, but she has her eye on a specific, firey prize.

"Charmander's mine, kids." she growls, expecting a challenge for it.


Like Charm25, I'm giving Yumeko preference (some of them were claimed before Ryoko gets there) and if she doesn't pick either Charmander, Ryoko will try to grab the female one before Marcus can. If only one is left, well.. this is going to escalate into a pokemon battle pretty quick. :V

[Lokyar]

Johnny shrugs from his position on the outskirts of the group. "Pass. I'll capture what I need."

[CateranEnforcer]

Justin Hawkins


Just doesn't find himself too attached to any of the offered pokemon, but feels it would be too good to pass up something that may help on his journey. A water type might help cover his Dusty's weaknesses and perhaps be useful in other ways. He'll wait his turn and eyeball one of the Froakies. He can't help but wonder if the professor actually planned it this way on purpose, to breed conflict here and leave things unorganized on purpose. Or perhaps she is just this way all the time.

Still, he thought it might be a good time to try and take things into his own hand. Regardless of how the pokemon picking goes he steps up in front and takes out a regional map. “Heya everyone! Justin Hawkins of the Lemonville Pokemon Junior Rangers! Since we're looking to do this task effieciently, why don't we figure out where everyone is going and with whom to make sure we preform out task as best we we can!” He points to his map, “We can all communicate with each as needed on these new Pokedex so I volunteer to help keep track of everyone to make sure you have safe journeys. Does anyone have a preference on their partners or region? Come mark it up on my map and I'll help us stay connected!" He writes in own name on the map and that he would prefer the forest to explore the forest region.

It was kind of a bold move stepping up, after all, he didn't really know anyone too well. He excited to try to put forth some of his ranger training to the test, but if the group didn't go for it he'd understand. This was the professor's project after all, not his but she didn't seem to keen to try and take charge herself so he might as well try.


If there is one available, Justin will grab a Froakie.

He'll also offer to keep track and write down all the various groups that in the process of forming, and maybe try to get in one himself.

[Aneurin]

Justin Hawkins

Justin smiles, clearly impressed, "That's pretty neat! This is the longest journey I've been on, hiking from Lemonville through the mountains, and to here. This project is a great excuse to explore more. I can't wait!"

He quickly hushed as the professor speaks and listens carefully. The professor makes it sound so easy. He chimes in when Johnny speaks up,"It's a good idea. We should organize ourselves into groups, It's always good to have people around so you can look after each other out in the wilderness. I'm Justin Hawkins, member of the Pokemon Junior Rangers. I'm pretty skilled at looking after myself in the outdoors. I'd very much like to explore some forest areas to look for some of my favorite bug pokemon."

Zuikaku

She wandered on over, deciding to sate her curiosity and waved as Justin and B.T were talking with each other. "Kannazuki Zuikaku! I'm the Chosen of the Moon, as decreed by the Lunar Capital, and my soul name is known as Witching Dream!" Unaware -- or perhaps proud -- that her intro in no way helpfully described her at all, she turned to B.T to tilt her head as if peering at something. "Um, sorry... have we met before? I'm kinda twigging-- something familiar! Ehe, I have a bad head for faces, I guess."

B.T.

"Yeah, it is," B.T. nods as Justin talks and she fiddles with the brand new pokedex, examining menus and features. "I'm actually here for a holiday, more than anything, but helping out with this isn't really going to stop me doing that. And... huh," she stops, a flips through a few more menus. "Well, this thing beats the snot out of that old DexApp thing. Which I guess isn't hard since that once thought magikarp were highly desirable and had fins made of solid gold. User-maintained databases my bum," she grumbles aloud. "And... anyway. You sound like someone bright enough not to set their own foot on fire. I'd be willing to travel with you, at least as far as the next city,"

If there was more she had to say, though, it's cut off as Zui approaches and introduces herself. Which earns her a very... unsettled look from B.T. who is quietly wondering if she isn't further from the exit than she's strictly comfortable with.

"I... uh. I don't think so?" B.T. offers, cautiously. "I think I'd remember someone so, ah, flamboyant,"

If there's anything left unclaimed, I might take it, but only the charmander really appealed and I think there's going to be more competition than I can be bothered with for them.

[Elfbird]

Yumeko Shiroi

"Oh... hm?" Yumeko and Pyrrha approach the briefcase at the assistant's beckoning. Yumeko goes back and forth for a while, oblivious to the rapidly increasing competition from the others in the room...
Pyrrha stares intently at the female Charmander's ball the whole while. Yumeko finally picks up the female Froakie's ball, gives a word of thanks and ambles back to her group to introduce her new companion. Pyrrha lets out a slightly fiery cough of annoyance and follows.

Back on the sidelines, Yumeko crouches and releases her new Froakie from her ball. The frog glances left and right, then quickly resolves to staring back at Yumeko while she thinks of a fitting name. Froakie is the first to blink.*
"...Kagerou. You are to be my ninja, my trusted retainer, on this journey which we are about to undertake. You are to follow my orders without question; to watch over and protect me and my companions; to strike down those who would threaten our health or mission. In return, you shall have my patronage and companionship in all matters, and curry noodles not less than once per month as circumstances allow. In Suicune's name we swear a solemn oath.
Kagerou gives one firm nod. Yumeko nods back.
Then Yumeko breaks into a happy grin and rubs Kagerou's head, rather confusing the poor frog. Whew! I just quoted one of the old Unovan epics, but that was kinda heavy! Welcome to the team, Kagerou. I'll be counting on you!

Yumeko stands up and beckons excitedly to Rui and Zuikaku. "Come see, come see!"
In the brief void of attention, Pyrrha steps up to Kagerou and fixes her with a level gaze. Before sparks fly between them, Kagerou humbly lowers her head until Pyrrha gives a faint nod of approval and trots away.**


*Focus 17 vs Focus 10
**Focus 15 vs Focus 8
...And the rivalry between fire and water continues! Poor Kagerou ;.;

[ptdapen]

Samantha Clark

The socialite bore a great smile until the topic of names came up. "I could have sworn we exchanged names," she remarked as she tapped her chin. She had definitely heard Bob's name repeated over and over. "Well, my name is Samantha, though a lot of people call me Sammy." Her expression changed back to cheerful during the musician's deliberation. "It's nice to meet you both officially. Oh and this here is Sayaka. As you can see, she enjoys sitting atop of my head for extended periods of time."

She enjoyed listening to the tune though the overt appropriate nature of the lyrics flew past her mind as her mind wandered. Once again she went up to Bob Autumn and tugged at him to follow her. "I thought other people would have been as eager to start as I am but they're still lingering. Might be something important in there. If you don't want to come in then wait for me, yeah?" she explained before hurrying back into the lab.

Samantha saw the clearly labeled Pokemon being given out for free. Her smile inverted slightly when she realized that the professor was, once again, unprepared for the crowd. Regardless, she was intent on retrieving at least one of them. The passion inside of her called for the female Charmander. She strode forward with the assumption that nobody would challenge her. "If you don't mind, I'm going to take this one," she stated to no one in particular while reaching out for her chosen starter.

[tonberryking]

Oh there's a challenger for the charmander alright...

Ryoko

Back off, Blondie, I claimed her first!!!" With her cubone slung over her shoulder, Ryoko may not look the most.. poised, but she gives Samantha a rather scary look, "I'm claiming this charmander; she could use a strong trainer like me! If anything or anyone gets in my way on this 'job', I'll bulldoze it to smithereens!"


...Can we intimidate other PCs? I wanna try intimidating other PCs:

[roll0]

[Merilan]

Zuikaku

Zuikaku pauses a little, catching B.T.'s uncomfortable look, and rubs the back of her head. "A-aah, yeah, you're right, I must've gotten mixed up... I'm sorry!" Her head was starting to stir again. Where was it that she saw a familiar face like that? Maybe just a sense of deja vu...

She heard Yumeko calling to her, and turned back. "Um, sorry to bother you!" She turned and hurried back to the two, beaming as she says, "Wooow, is that a frog, Yumeko? Nice! I wonder if I should pick one too, but, ah... I really am not so great at all of that training stuff." Zuikaku, self-professed terrible Pokemon trainer.

She flinched just about when she was about to make her choice at Ryoko piping up rather passionately, waving her hand. "Hey, hey! Don't fight! What about that one over there? There's still spares, right?" She pointed to the pokeball with the male Turtwig.

[Esprit15]

Nila Lamya
"Hey, relax," Nila says, running over to the brewing fight and laying a hand on Ryoko's shoulder. "No need to get hostile. Let's settle this without fists, hm?"

[Lokyar]

"Granted I'm new to the whole trainer scene-" Johnny butts in. "-but wouldn't a disagreement like this traditionally be handled with a trainer battle? It's no skin off my back either way, but it seems easy enough to me. Decide which one you want, battle the others who want it, to the victor the 'mon."

[Mura-neechan]

Reina nodded as she was shown how the Pokedex worked, flipping it open, as she casually looked over its features as well, curiously clicking through the options, testing out the different features a bit. She'd ignore most of the noise around her, until there was the mention of a few pokemon. Finding a Charmander available, she'd sigh softly, moving her 'Dex to her pocket as she calmly walked towards the display cases. Doing so would completely ignore Nila's attempt to grab at her, either from a lack of noticing or the desire to get away. Shrugging a bit, she'd take the lone pokeball on her belt, casually holding it in a pair of fingers, before maximizing it, and looking to the others who were salivinating over the idea of free pokemon. Her eyes fell on a few of the others, particularly the noisy Ryoko as she'd smile a bit.

"I'll take the male Charmander, then. I don't care what you guys want to fight over, but I'll make a deal. Rather than trying to face me in a Pokemon Battle, I'll take the X-Transceiver adress of what would be my competition. In return I'll send over one of the eggs it'll eventually produce. Sounds pretty fair right? You get something, rather than simply losing out in the traditional battle. Everyone wins."

[Charm25]

Marcus Osterbahn

Marcus will frown a bit at Reina's suggestion, but eventually he relents. "Alright, fine. But since apparently we've been paired up into a group the contact information won't be needed. I would like something nice, though." While he certainly could challenge the girl to a battle over it, the plan is to be sticking with her for a while, and he can surely get in to the female trainer's good graces a lot easier by conceding this small favor.

"So, I'm Marcus, didn't catch either of your names though. Think we're good with three, or should we get one more?"

[SiegeTower]

Bob was happy to sing to his new fan. She seemed like good human company during the next leg of Bob's drifting. When she headed into the lab though, Bob was planning to wait outside. He didn't want to risk someone in the crowd accidently bumping into his guitar and damaging it.

It seemed his fan was having a bit of trouble though. Some other girl was giving off some seriously bad vibes. Bob supposed he would try and bring the peace. He strapped his guitar to his back and clumsily pushes through the crowd of trainers. He couldn't figure out what most of them were going on about. One of them seemed to have pulled out a map though. Bob would be sure to ask to look at that after. The map bearer also seemed like an experienced hiker. He really might be able to help out with some hitchhiking tips. Bob's mind was really drifting though. He had to focus on helping his fan.

He comes up to Samantha and puts a friendly arm around her shoulder. He would have done the same with the girl giving Sam trouble but it seemed another trainer had already stepped in to do that. Bob gives his spiel to the roughneck regardless.

"Be here now flower child. We thrive on the singularity that is you with your selfness." Bob throws up a peace sign with his free hand. "Make love not war. I can throw some tunes your way to get the positive vibrations going. We can all jam together no problem and lay it out straight for the can."

[Esprit15]

"Three seems manageable to me. I'm Nila, by the way," she says, bowing slightly to Marcus and Reina.

[ptdapen]

Samantha Clark

Ryoko was the first person in a very long while that had directly opposed Samantha in a long time. The socialite suffered through several mood fluctuations due to the events this caused. At first she was simply surprised but then it grew into fear for her own well-being. Her father had coddled her during her upbringing so she was unused to anyone using anger on her. Somebody may have noticed her shaking where she stood. The distress then focused on the others getting involved with the conflict. Sammy did not want to shame herself in front of the rest of the group, especially if a Pokemon battle was to be involved.

Sayaka, on the other hand, narrowed her eyes at the opposing trainer's Cubone. She was ready to fight any enemy's in the name of glory and valor!

It caught Samantha's attention that another girl was able to seize the other Charmander without much effort on her part. Confidence surged through the blonde's mind; she wanted to be the same. Anger crept in as well. Who does she think she is? And what was the professor thinking when she let this ruffian in? flamed inside her thoughts.

But the fire simmered and returned to a short panic when Bob Autumn entered the picture. Samantha turned her head around and was immediately relieved to see whom touched her. Some of his words were lost in translation but Samantha believed she understood his message. "Very well," she stated with a hint of haughtiness. She grabbed the Pokeball containing the Male Turtwig and smirked at Ryoko. "I will spare you the trouble of facing me in a Pokemon battle." It was her subtle desire to build up her own image while limiting any antagonizing her.

Her swablu did not agree with such grace and squawked at her owner to change her decision. "Come now, there's no need for that. Let us carry ourselves with elegance," Samantha remarked to her Pokemon. She turned her attention to the professor and bowed her head again. "Thank you for the parting gift. Shall we depart now?"

[aturtledoesbite]

The professor watched the bickering with no small amount of interest. She was a little surprised, but also glad, that no one decided to battle over them. That was a good omen, probably.

When the briefcase was emptied, Professor Evergreen took it and put it away. She then turned back toward the crowd.

"Alright, alright, just one more thing, and then you can all run off."

She cleared her throat, speaking in a more serious tone than she's taken so far.

"You are all about to start your very own Pokémon adventure. For some of you, it may only be a chapter of a greater tale, and for others, it might be your entire career. At the risk of sounding cliché, treasure the friendships you make on this journey, not only with your Pokémon, but with each other as well. No matter what hardships you may face, I am certain all of you can stand up to them, provided you stand together."

After this, she takes on her prior, cheerful tone of voice.

"And most importantly, don't forget to have fun with it! Goodbye, now! Don't be a stranger!"

With that, she turns around and sits back at her desk, resuming her work. There is the impression that even if someone attempted to get her attention again, it would fall on deaf ears.

...You're dismissed? Or something? The professor's assistant still lingers around, if you have any unanswered questions, though you aren't sure how helpful he will be.

[Merilan]

Zuikaku

Zuikaku sighed in relief as the argument diffused itself, and she nodded and winked at Samantha if only as a gesture of gratitude. Then she turned to the professor as she spoke, and pumped her fists up. "Yeah! We'll do our best, and Rui, Yumeko and I are already best of buddies!" Fired up and just ever filled with energy, she threw both her hands up.

[Elfbird]

Yumeko Shiroi

At the Professor's dismissal, Yumeko wanders over to where the junior ranger has his map laid out. She kneels and brings out her own map, much older and worn, for comparison. Thinking out loud, she stares and points while once again processing the vastness of the world beyond the one she had previously known.

"Four main groups, four directions. But from here...
Team Hiker wanted to go toward Strawberry, and Team Idol just came from Raspberry. Team Foreigners are all new to the region, and those two..."
(Shrine Maiden Secret Technique: paying attention while looking otherwise. It's a great way of picking up travelers' stories and small-town gossip back home~)
"I suppose Team Easterners shall go north, to Lemonville. The view from a mountaintop must be incredible..."

Yumeko looks to Justin for approval, then takes her map to check with Zuikaku and Rui.
"Of course, we'll need supplies as well. Tell me what you two need and I'll run over to the PokeMart. Rui, are your little legs up for crossing the Damascus ridge?

[CateranEnforcer]

Justin Hawkins


B.T.
"Yeah, it is," B.T. nods as Justin talks and she fiddles with the brand new pokedex, examining menus and features. "I'm actually here for a holiday, more than anything, but helping out with this isn't really going to stop me doing that. And... huh," she stops, a flips through a few more menus. "Well, this thing beats the snot out of that old DexApp thing. Which I guess isn't hard since that once thought magikarp were highly desirable and had fins made of solid gold. User-maintained databases my bum," she grumbles aloud. "And... anyway. You sound like someone bright enough not to set their own foot on fire. I'd be willing to travel with you, at least as far as the next city,"


Well it was worth a try. Despite no one really offering up their travel plans, Justin began to take notes himself on the topic. Still he chuckles as B.T. tells her anecdote. “Well, I won't say I've never set my foot fire before, but not recently at least. Yeah I passed through Cherry Town On the way here, it's not too far. I'm thinking of heading east after that,” he explains still pointing at his map. “There we can go through the Dessert Desert, and bypass those mountains. Raspberry City is north of that and then we're just a short way from the great Strawberry Woods!” he nods to himself pleased with his plan. “You don't have to stay the whole way, but there's safety in numbers in the wilds, ya know. Speaking of...”

He turns to musician Bob and his new friend. “So, which direction do you think you two are going to be heading once we set out?”


Gen Ed to know about gyms and stuff [roll0]

[Merilan]

Zuikaku

"Damascus mountains, huh..." Zuikaku stretched a little with a grin. "All right, I guess we should find some camping gear before we go, in case we have to stay out! Or, hehe, we can just camp out at the summit for a night, right?"

[Esprit15]

Nila Lamya
"Um, Marcus? Which city should we go to, first? I'm not from here."

[SiegeTower]

Bob Autumn

The situation seemed to be winding down nicely with no one having to come to blows. Bob frees his arm from Samantha as she picks a new Pokemon. He doesn't pick one up himself. He already felt he was freeloading too much by taking one of the promotional electronic thingy giveaways.

Bob is addressed directly as the trainers around him seemed to be organizing something. He had no idea what was going on but he answers the questions as honestly as he can.

"I'm grooving with the flow. My main mam Sam might be diving for a place to jam. I'll be cruising with her no problem man." Bob throws up his usual peace sign. "All the hip cats are at least going for more than two though since it's the loneliest number since the number one. Ya feeling any good vibes from the crowd Sam? I think you could totally learn to make more love with our new friend here." Bob gives Ryoko a happy look and nods his head thinking that the three of them would be great together. How Bob came to that conclusion is beyond anyone's understanding.

"Whachya think flower child?" That nickname may or may not have been ironic for Ryoko. "Time to increase the love now that the war's been avoided?"

[Elfbird]

Zuikaku

"Damascus mountains, huh..." Zuikaku stretched a little with a grin. "All right, I guess we should find some camping gear before we go, in case we have to stay out! Or, hehe, we can just camp out at the summit for a night, right?"

Yumeko's face lights up with excitement. "I would love to see the summit! Have you ever been there, Zui-chan? Oh, but it's a bit out of our way, are you sure it's okay...?"

"I'm used to sleeping outside, from long nights in the shrine or getting lost in the forest chasing after Rui-chan, and Pyrrha can keep us warm. We'll need food, medicine, bedrolls, maybe some rope... Anything else?"


9 Survival... she might not be as useless at this as I thought xD

[Aneurin]

B.T.

"Yeah, that works," B.T. replies to Justin thoughtfully. "I was thinking of doing a tour of all the Towers. They're quite the landmarks, after all. Although..." she taps Justin's spread map just above Cherry Town. "I do want to spend a day at the lake. It's supposed to be lovely, and I bet it'll be a great place to start scanning pokemon for the pokedex," she adds, happily. Then shoots a glance at the Bob, Justin, Ryoko and Sam. Though Bob's look contains a certain amount of puzzlement. Did he just say what I think he said? "Don't know how you feel about a day of fishing, lazing on the shore or anything, but there'll probably be a load of trainers wandering around looking for battles if that's more your speed,"

[Nyna]

Rui Mitsuharu

What with her scanning all of the Pokemon around and generally amusing herself with playing with her new Pokedex, Rui would kind of miss the little altercation taking place over the Charmander, but her attention would snap back to everyone once the Professor dismissed them and Yumeko asked her a question. "Aah, yep, I can do a little mountain climbing! I already brought a rope and everything. I think I've got everything I should need already..." She'd pull her rather large bag off of her back, opening it up for Yumeko's inspection. She really did have everything, but there was a rather distinct lack of bandages...

"Oh, and since we're heading by it anyways, want to stop by Cherry Lake? I bet there are some water pokemon we can scan there, and I'd love to go for a swim! I brought a swimsuit and everything~" And she'd seem to suddenly catch what Yumeko said, gasping in mild indignation. "H-hey! We won't get lost because of me anymore, that hasn't happened since I was 10!"

Rui actually has Novice Survival, but she's got pathetic medicine ed so I made her forget to pack her bandages~

[Mura-neechan]

Reina would stare at Marcus for a moment, as she went to retrieve the Pokeball, quickly minimizing both and setting them on her belt. She'd mutter something about finding a proper name together, before moving to speak. Only to be interrupted as Evergreen made her last speech, and Reina rubbed her brow in irritation. She had to wait, allowing sentiments to sink in where she really had no desire. When things finally cooled down, the girl would turn back to the others, staring a bit coldly.

"I don't know where this idea came from, but I'm not traveling with you. I'll happily keep my end of the bargain, but I don't think we'd exactly... mesh. I might head off alone for a while, to get my bearings of this region, so while I appreciate the desire to use my strength, I don't see this as some school project where you just select the two people next to you and figure it out along the way."

Reina would take out her Pokedex again, to send Marcus her address, before moving to leave the lab, regardless of what feedback she got. Even if it might have seemed a bit harsh, Reina's face didn't show any concern at all. Speaking frankly like that seemed about as casual as any other chore, and she certainly wasn't speaking with any kind of malice. Her tone was soft, sincere, and extremely practical. Unless either of them would try to physically stop her, she'd head outside, and review Charmander's entry in the Pokedex.

[Esprit15]

"Huh. Loner. Oh well, if that's her inclination, so be it. Hope she manages things, alone. Even with Pokémon, the wilds can be dangerous." Nila shrugs, then looks around. "Guess it's just the two of us?"

[tonberryking]

Ryoko

The escaped con gets really tense as people surround her; she even wordlessly shrugs off Nila touching her shoulder rather aggressively, her lips about to break into a snarl. She nearly starts a scene, but from her other shoulder, Clubton wiggles around protesting Ryoko's growing ire. Suddenly, he's her conscience, and with a ragged growl she looks away with a huff. At least she doesn't appear smug when Samantha renounces her claim on the fire lizard... Though that may because more wind's taken from her sails when Bob starts up.

" Uh... Whatever, Music Man. I doubt Blondie's gonna be happy with me tagging along. Hell, I'm pretty sure none of you kiddies want me along, so I don't care who lets me into their club."

Clubton, who's been set down by now, tugs at Ryoko's pants leg again and points at Yumeko. The friendly one. This has an unintentional effect: Ryoko visibly twitches when looking at the shrine maiden, and hastily tries to get her pokemon off that idea. "Seriously, Clubton? The Sugar Plum Fairies all know each other; they really wouldn't want a coupla bulldozers on their team..." Clubton makes a small wail noise, kicking at imaginary dust.

[CateranEnforcer]

Justin Hawkins


B.T.

"Yeah, that works," B.T. replies to Justin thoughtfully. "I was thinking of doing a tour of all the Towers. They're quite the landmarks, after all. Although..." she taps Justin's spread map just above Cherry Town. "I do want to spend a day at the lake. It's supposed to be lovely, and I bet it'll be a great place to start scanning pokemon for the pokedex," she adds, happily. Then shoots a glance at the Bob, Justin, Ryoko and Sam. Though Bob's look contains a certain amount of puzzlement. Did he just say what I think he said? "Don't know how you feel about a day of fishing, lazing on the shore or anything, but there'll probably be a load of trainers wandering around looking for battles if that's more your speed,"



“The lake seems like good stop while we're there, and there does seem to be two of those towers on the way as well. It might be a good idea to get you another pokemon too while we are there. I didn't get to see too much on the way down. Hope we see something interesting, especially bugs! In any case, this trip practically plans itself, after the forest, we plan a route back north to the third tower and then down to Lemonville for a full circuit!”

Justin rolls up the map and looks around. “To get anywhere we need to go through Cherry Town though so if anyone still needs a partner by then or changes their mind we can meet up there.” He had offered before to help catalog the group, maybe they'd be more accepting of the idea after a bit of travel. Still he took his own personal notes and stowed them away. “If anyone gets into trouble, don't be afraid to contact me. Helping people out is what the Rangers are all about!"

He takes a moment to test his new Pokedex on his the newly acquired Froakie. Have to think of a name for this guy.

Turning back to B.T. “Well anything you want or need before we set out?”

[Charm25]

Marcus

Now that all of the conflict seems to be cleared up, all that's left for them to do is get ready to set out. Seeing Reina brush them off is...a little disconcerting, to be honest. Marcus isn't used to people telling him "no" when asking to hook up. "Ah yes, the 'I'm not here to make friends' bit. Has she SEEN how often that blows up in someone's face?" Then again...there's a decent chance she'll change her tune soon enough.

Nila seems like she can hold her own, but all the same...things get better when they travel in packs. A lot more opportunities to make good relationships, mostly. And the way things lie, there does seem to be an idea forming in the young man's head as he whistles again.
"Yo, Sammy! Wanna tag along with us? Thinkin' about heading east." The invite silently was extended to Bob as well, though since he's already made inroads with the blonde, she's probably got the better chance of agreeing to it.

[Merilan]

Zuikaku

Zuikaku perked up and nodded, pumping her fists excitedly. "Ooh, nice, Rui! I'm not really much of a mountaineer as you two, but if any scrapes or cuts happen, leave them to me! Mom's trained me, after all."

She glanced around to the rest of the room, maybe kinda noticing Ryoko and Clubton gesturing at them, and then said, "Was that that lake we saw off in the distance on the way here? I'm pretty keen for that, myself!"

[SiegeTower]

Bob scratched the unkempt scruffiness that is his stubble. He wasn't sure who to answer to. Sam was his main ride out of here so he guessed whatever she said would be good to go.

"So uh, Sammy boy. Wanna tag along with our newest friend so we still get to cruise with with that charmander? The cat who just offered? Or uh, there's that skirt who just peaced out. She looks like she needs some love. Wanna make it so she's not left hangin'? I'll go with the flow of whoever you gel with. I'm sure I can work all your names into a song. S'long as no one's name is really hard to rhyme."

Bob absent mindedly takes his guitar off his back and into his hands. Just the thought of music distracted him. Tmabourine suddenly jumps back with energy. It seemed Bob's Tympole companion didn't care for much other than music as well.

"If it's a tough choice for ya Sam. I can always flip some coins that got tossed my way today. Don't wanna bum someone out by not going with them on purpose, right?"

[Aneurin]

Justin Hawkins



“The lake seems like good stop while we're there, and there does seem to be two of those towers on the way as well. It might be a good idea to get you another pokemon too while we are there. I didn't get to see too much on the way down. Hope we see something interesting, especially bugs! In any case, this trip practically plans itself, after the forest, we plan a route back north to the third tower and then down to Lemonville for a full circuit!”

Justin rolls up the map and looks around. “To get anywhere we need to go through Cherry Town though so if anyone still needs a partner by then or changes their mind we can meet up there.” He had offered before to help catalog the group, maybe they'd be more accepting of the idea after a bit of travel. Still he took his own personal notes and stowed them away. “If anyone gets into trouble, don't be afraid to contact me. Helping people out is what the Rangers are all about!"

He takes a moment to test his new Pokedex on his the newly acquired Froakie. Have to think of a name for this guy.

Turning back to B.T. “Well anything you want or need before we set out?”

B.T.

"We should see some good stuff around the lake," B.T. says agreeably. "Especially if we camp there tonight, and see what comes out to drink at dawn. I'm curious about that desert, too. Never been to one before. Hot dry places, sure, but not, you know, a real desert. And... I think I'm good on stuff," she adds belatedly. "Might do some shopping up at Cherry Town, though, especially for a rod because I might've sort've left mine at home a little bit,"

She makes a sweeping gesture towards the door.

"Well, ladies first. Off on the road to adventure and all that,"

[Lokyar]

"Come on Pepper, I need to pick up some supplies and a map before we head out." A lack of accompanying bark had Johnny looking around his feet and then further afield for his straying puppy, only to find it stalking a cubone.

Pepper got close enough to sniff Clubton and then barked happily, spinning around in a circle before looking excitedly between the small pokemon and Johnny. Sighing Johnny caught up to them. "Sorry about this, he makes friends entirely too fast for my liking."

The puppy spun once more before looking up at Ryoko and wagging his tail. "Come on, buddy, don't hassle her. I'm sure she's already made plans."

[CateranEnforcer]

B.T.

"We should see some good stuff around the lake," B.T. says agreeably. "Especially if we camp there tonight, and see what comes out to drink at dawn. I'm curious about that desert, too. Never been to one before. Hot dry places, sure, but not, you know, a real desert. And... I think I'm good on stuff," she adds belatedly. "Might do some shopping up at Cherry Town, though, especially for a rod because I might've sort've left mine at home a little bit,"

She makes a sweeping gesture towards the door.

"Well, ladies first. Off on the road to adventure and all that,"



Justin Hawkins

Justin nods and smirks at the cheeky comment, “I'm going pick a sleeping bag for the journey too, since we'll be spending some time outdoors. Dusty chewed a hole in my last one,” he gestures to the Joltik trying to nap on his shoulder once more. She's got some really good ideas about these locations, this could really work! With that, he heads out of the lab to begin their journey.

[Elfbird]

Yumeko Shiroi

After looking over Team Anime Girls' Sugar Plum Fairies' Easterner's collective gear, Yumeko nods with approval. "Rui-chan has rope, rations, and spray medicines; Zui-chan has medical training, and I have a first aid kit and grooming supplies. Let me just pick up some more bandages and we can head to the lake!

Yumeko hurries out of the lab, leaving her Pokemon and naginata behind. She briefly catches Ryoko's eye in passing; it's hard to say what the look contains.

Stepping into a PokeMart is like entering a foreign world, or an alien space ship, with all of its brightly-packaged products arranged in such cramped quarters and popular music blaring from the ceiling. Still, they have one in Strawberry Town, so it's not completely unfamiliar. With small effort, the miko tunes out all but the few things she's looking for and finishes fairly soon.

5 Bandages: 300*5 = 1500p
2 Candy Bar: 75*2 = 150p
4 Enriched Water: 75*4 = 300p

Total funds: 1987-1950 = 37p remaining

She thanks the clerk and puts 3 bandages and 2 waters into her pack, then bundles the rest inside the PokeMart bag and finishes it with an elegant bowlike knot.

Returning to the lab, she approaches Ryoko (mindful of the excited Houndour running around their feet). Yumeko makes a modest bow before extending the package toward Ryoko with both hands, then watches the roughneck's eyes until she's taken the bag. Finally, she says "Moltres... no, Reshiram watch over you," nods firmly, and turns to rejoin her group.
Walking away: "...Or maybe Lugia? Oh, whatever," she mutters with a shrug and shake of the head.

2 Bandages
2 Candy Bar
2 Enriched Water

Yumeko shows Zui and Rui what she picked up, and suggests distributing their supplies so they're carrying balanced weights and each have a bit of everything for emergencies. "Only... I couldn't quite afford a sleeping bag, so it looks like Pyrrha and I will be camping under the stars, eheh... ^^; Lucky our Pokemon can spend the night in their Pokeballs."

Shouldering her pack and settling her walking-spear in her right hand: "Well, is everyone ready to embark on our grand adventure?"

[ptdapen]

Samantha Clark

Samantha's cheeks brightened after Bob Autumn's remark on "making more love." In her mind raged, "What is this guy's problem?" It crossed her mind that she should slap those dirty thoughts out of his mind. However, the blonde came to the conclusion that this was simply the way he spoke. "I think it's a bit much to say we're friends," she muttered. Sayaka nodded along with that assertion. Both of them had no intention of tagging along with someone they didn't get along with. The conflict would distract Samantha from her end goal of beating the Pokemon League and Sayaka only wanted shining knights in her presence.

What caught her eye was the fashion in which the loner girl left the premises. Samantha desired to know what Reina's angle was, her talents, her motivations, everything. But she concluded, in her mind, that any attempt to reel her into a group would be fruitless. Once again, though, Bob Autumn's mention of love caused her cheeks to redden. "You should be more careful about your whole love-making remarks," she requested with a lapse in composure. "And Sam's too short! And no 'boy' either!"

Sammy let out a big huff before she looked between the backpackers and the others whom just extended an offer to her. The former seemed intent, from her perspective, on exploring the region rather than going from gym to gym. Their survival skills seemed useful, however, but ultimately she decided against them. They seemed to be satisfied with a duo anyways. Marcus and Nila appeared to be amicable company, if not too friendly. She wondered if there was some part of them she missed that Reina had seen or if Reina simply desired no company at all. She quickly came to the latter conclusion though and smiled at both of them. "Going eastward sounds like a solid plan to me. I do plan on challenging the league though so let's try not to get sidetracked."

[Merilan]

Zuikaku

Zuikaku smiled and nodded in approval, checking the bandages out. "Yep, that'll do fine, but, ah..." She frowned and said, "That's no good, you'll catch a cold! Rui, c'mon, let's chip in for some sleeping gear!" She looked at her purse and scrummaged around, before managing to fish out her own 1,995. "Uh... did you see how much they were? I really want everyone to be comfortable outside!"

[Elfbird]

Zuikaku

Zuikaku smiled and nodded in approval, checking the bandages out. "Yep, that'll do fine, but, ah..." She frowned and said, "That's no good, you'll catch a cold! Rui, c'mon, let's chip in for some sleeping gear!" She looked at her purse and scrummaged around, before managing to fish out her own 1,995. "Uh... did you see how much they were? I really want everyone to be comfortable outside!"

Yumeko waves a hand dismissively with an embarrassed smile. "It's fine, it's fine! They're, uh, really expensive... and I've got Pyrrha so I won't catch cold! Oh, but Zui-chan doesn't have one either - why don't we make a campfire instead? That'll be good for everyone!"

[tonberryking]

Ryoko

There is an almost dangerous silence surrounding Ryoko after Yumeko forces her to take a bag of supplies and bids her an attempt at a traditional goodbye. In fact, as Clubton waggled his tale happily the tall girl pales, only to grit her teeth a moment later and clench her hands.

Her parents didn't even try to say goodbye like that.

"Some other time, Music Man.... she hastily says to Bob before she once again snatches up Clubton and hauls ass out of the lab, tearing up the space between her and Yumeko's entourage. She's red faced and angry by he time she descends on the sugar plums.

HEY!!! You stupid miko, you're supposed to name ALL three--Moltres, Zapdos, and Articuno for th e traditional goodbye! Hell's bells... she pants and then falls in line with the three. It's stupidly clear that you don't know anything! So I'm coming with you losers until I'm sure you're not going to go walk off a damn cliff while looking at something shiny. Jeez what did they teach you dummies in school...

She rants a while more, and she's clearly a bit embarrassed, blushing the whole time. Clubton couldnt be happier, though she has yet to put him down. Besides, I know how to cook...

[Aneurin]

Justin Hawkins

Justin nods and smirks at the cheeky comment, “I'm going pick a sleeping bag for the journey too, since we'll be spending some time outdoors. Dusty chewed a hole in my last one,” he gestures to the Joltik trying to nap on his shoulder once more. She's got some really good ideas about these locations, this could really work! With that, he heads out of the lab to begin their journey.


B.T.

"Dusty?" B.T. blinks, and finally registers the joltik's presence. "Oh! Well, aren't you adorable, huh?" she hesitates a moment before following him out. "Well, I guess the others blanking us means they're not all that interested... so, yeah! Off we go. Road trip time!"

B.T. gives the others, particularly the professor, a cheery wave as she walks out the doors - and on to the road to... well, probably not the road to adventure no matter what she may like. The road to tourism, at least. Still a pretty good road to be on all things considered.

[Merilan]

Zuikaku

Zuikaku blinked in very clear surprise, but as it became equally clear Ryoko wanted to go with them, she couldn't help but have a very big smile on her face as her typical enthusiasm just pushes forth to the fore. "Aww, you only had to ask! Welcome to the team, Ryoko-chan!"

[Elfbird]

Yumeko Shiroi

When Ryoko's rant runs out of steam, Yumeko looks toward her, blinks a few times, tilts her head. "...I'm impressed. Nobody's given me a lecture like that since I was Rui-chan's age and told Sensei that Jirachi is a cruel, selfish... never mind. You're clearly more than an emptyheaded delinquent, so why do you care which god does absolutely nothing for you?"

"Also, didn't go to school. The gods demand their own brand of monotony, eh?" She lifts a trailing sleeve by way of indication, and there's a bitter edge to her laughter.
Pyrrha, on the other hand, seems thoroughly pleased and lets out a couple happy barks, walking between Yumeko and Ryoko.


I wondered what might bring out Yumeko's acerbic side, surrounded as she is by infectiously cheerful companions. Answer: Ryoko. Now to see if Team Sugar Plum Fairies can imbue Ryoko with their Aura of Kawaii Justice. Mweheheheh...

[Esprit15]

Nila Lamya
"No objections here," Nila says, returning to smiling, bowing to Samantha as she mentions interest in joining. "I'll likely be making a go at them myself, though I'm not much of a trainer." It was a relief to have someone else joining, honestly. Two would be better than one, but three would be better. Plus, this girl sounded like she was actually a pretty ambitious trainer, so it might be possible to pick up some pointers from her.

[Lokyar]

Pepper whines as Clubton is whisked away, but Johnny picks him up. "Don't worry, little guy, we'll go find some friends for ya."

Leaving the lab Johnny made his way back into town to restock his first-aid supplies and a new tent. Supplies on hand he made his way towards the road out of town towards Cherry Town.

[SiegeTower]

Bob Autumn

Bob absentmindedly strumms his guitar. He seems to have forgotten where he was as he stood in the middle of where most people were trying to walk. He didn't even notice Ryoko flying by. Bob would have very much appreciated the girl making some new friends if he had.

When Sam's name is said, he temporarily gains focus again as he was waiting for her to decide on things.

"Huh? What's happening? We going somewhere?" Bob had failed to keep up with the conversations Sam was having with the other trainers.

[ptdapen]

Samantha Clark

The blonde let out an exasperated sigh before seizing the guitarist by his shoulders. "How can you be so absent-minded!" she whined, "Please stop talking about me 'making love' with other girls! Or other people really!" Sayaka chirped at the display and fluttered over to take a spot on Bob Autumn's spot. "Very funny; she thinks you're in the right. Sorry about the head-sitting though, she very much believes that the world belongs to her." Sammy then grabbed her swablu with no resistance at all; Sayaka had already won as shown by the pleased look on her face.

"We're going to have to go north first. I suppose all of the groups have to. Then I believe the best course is to go to the desert, then Raspberry City, then through the mountains. That will at least get all of the novice gyms out of the way," Samantha elaborated to the group. She had no reason to believe there would be an argument so she turned about and headed towards the road.

[SiegeTower]

Bob didn't expect the jostle from Samantha. The sudden motion made him accidently make a rather unpleasant noise by running his hand up the frets of the guitar. Tamborine was not amused by the poor musical display.

"Hey Hammy Sammy you gotta learn to make love. Not just with people but with the world man. You can't fly high if you're chained to the bad mojo you're dragging along." Bob was rather amused by the head sitting performed by Sayaka. This Pokemon knew what he was getting at. "I'll cruise with you to the north. Cities with gyms get a lot of treaded ground. It's a mando hot spot to get my jams in the minds of all Cytia kinds." Bob throws up his usual peace sign.

There wasn't much else to be done here so Bob follows Sam down the road. There seemed to be two others coming along as well but Bob didn't make any attempts to introduce himself. He was about to start a song and that was more important. Introductions could be done between the sets.

"And hey, I don't wanna bum you out with some bogus lyrics. This cat will just express his own love until you want to get in on that action." Bob gets his guitar ready again, Tambourine gets ready in turn.

Close your eyes and I'll kiss you
Tomorrow I'll miss you
Remember I'll always be true
And then while I'm away
I'll write home every day
And I'll send all my loving to you... (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8sFwVD4p20)

[Nyna]

Rui Mitsuharu

"Sleeping gear, huh? Well..." And the girl would look up at Ryoko in surprise as Ryoko approached the group and promptly yelled at Yumeko. Rui's eyes would widen a bit at first, clearly a bit upset at the sudden lecture that Yumeko was getting from stranger, but she'd calm down as Zuikaku and Yumeko seemed to take a much more measured approach, even accepting Ryoko into their group. "Aah... well, that's fine I guess..." Rui would look away a bit, clearly not thrilled with the prospect, but...

"Um, so... anyways... I don't mind pitching in for sleeping gear, but if you both need something... maybe we can make some money on the road? It'd be bad if we spent all of our cash before even setting out..."

[Charm25]

Marcus Osterbahn

Marcus smiles a bit as Samantha decides to fall in with them - that was nice. Bob deciding to tag along was...well, hopefully there's a bit of hidden depths there. Nila seems agreeable with it, so it seems they're pretty much set. As for her comment about gyms...well, it wasn't really something he'd thought about, but there's certainly worse ways to experience the region. "Sounds good. As for the league, may as well take a shot, right?"

As they head off, it's pretty clear that the peleton isn't going to thin much until Cherry Town, which gives Marcus a chance to get to know his traveling partners a bit better. "So Sammy, where exactly in Sinnoh are you from? It's usually pretty cold out there, isn't it?"

[Merilan]

Zuikaku

If Zuikaku made any kind of face to Yumeko's sudden change in disposition, she didn't show it. Then again, she seemed to take everything at her own pace... whatever slow pace that might be... "That's fine, though, isn't it? If this is a long trip, we'll need sleeping gear! What do you think, Ryocchan?" Already with the nicknames?!

[aturtledoesbite]

It quickly becomes clear that the division into groups was merely an academic exercise at the moment as all twelve of you enter Route 701.

Route 701 is fairly sparse, only really being notable for connecting Apple Town to Cherry Town. You can travel along the main road, avoiding the Pokémon, but there are a number of young Trainers walking the roads and it's inevitable that you will be challenged before too long. Or you can eschew the road and walk through the tall grass, avoiding Trainers but opening up the possibility of encountering wild Pokémon.

The choice is yours.

[Esprit15]

Nila
I'll properly purchase items after work, tomorrow.
The acrobat sighs as the musician talks... Like her aunt, honestly. "That may be your belief, Bob, but Samantha is not comfortable with it, by the look of things, so for the sake of peace, could you please not use that phrase, at least while around us?"

Looking at a map, and hoping that she can drag the subject away from 'making love,' Nila looks over the map. "I personally lean toward avoiding trainer fights, so how about we stick to the trees. Besides, we're going looking for local Pokémon – what's more local than right outside of town?"

[tonberryking]

Ryoko

"Look, miko, I got some beef with the gods, but when I had suffered enough, he sent me Clubton," she nudges her cubone, who seems to be regaling Pyrrah with an explanation of how awesome his 'mom' is, "So I think the score's eve---"


"Don't call me -chan..." Ryoko says suddenly to the moonstone girl, but her heart's not into the correction. "Anyway.. I already have a tent and a sleeping bag; now I got a fire source... and cooking gear. I can feed you princesses and even make candy or anything else if you wanna go sell it door to door or even to them kids off in the distance.... Wait."

Ryoko motions to the roads. Hey girls, you wanna cut through the grass, or score some money offa them punks?" there is a subtle implication Ryoko's gotten money this way before in her words, "Either way, make a profit or make some new pokepals, I guess... We win."

[Merilan]

Zuikaku

Zuikaku seemed totally onboard that idea, the worries of a lack of sleeping bags already forgotten. Just how short is this girl's attention span?!

"Ooh, yeah! Let's play with the locals, Yumeko, Rui!" she pumped a fist up and hurried in the direction of the roads. "What do you think they're up to, hopscotch? Conkers? Hide and seek?" Oh, Zuikaku is so in for a disappointment.

[SiegeTower]

Bob happily plays his music while the whole group of trainers head north. He wasn't good at picking up their names or making small talk but he did attempt to get a grasp of what songs they liked based on their requests. Really the only name he bothered to remember was Samantha's because that was the only person he was sure he was traveling with. There were supposed to be two others Bob remembered but he forgot which two they were exactly.

When Nila mentioned getting off the topic of love, Bob said he would have no problem with that. At least he thought he wouldn't. You'd be surprised how many songs mention some kind of affection at one point or another. This became somewhat of a stumbling block as Bob started a song but once certain lyrics came up, he's abruptly stop and then try and think of a new one. Tambourine was not amused at this and gave Bob more than one angry tail slap to the top of his head.

When folks started to split off, Bob waited to see who he'd be walking with now. He was sure to follow in Sam's direction. In the meantime he tried hard to think of an appropriate song for parting ways that didn't mention still loving each other though they were apart. When he thought he had one he made sure Tambourine was ready then played everyone off.

You say yes, I say no
You say stop and I say go go go, oh no
You say goodbye and I say hello
Hello hello
I don't know why you say goodbye, I say hello
Hello hello
I don't know why you say goodbye, I say hello (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rblYSKz_VnI)

[Elfbird]

Yumeko Shiroi


Ryoko

"Look, miko, I got some beef with the gods, but when I had suffered enough, he sent me Clubton," she nudges her cubone, who seems to be regaling Pyrrah with an explanation of how awesome his 'mom' is, "So I think the score's eve---"
Yumeko looks down at the Cubone with a mix of skepticism and curiosity. "Indeed? Then is Clubton himself some scion of the divine, or perhaps an avatar...?" She looks back up to Ryoko. "I wonder what god looked so kindly upon your suffering, yet turned a blind eye on so many others." Yumeko hastens her steps, but soon trips on a sleeve and falls back in beside Ryoko. She doesn't seem angry, exactly, but not quite herself either.
At that last comment, Pyrrha's enthusiasm suddenly drops off and her tails reflexively twitch a bit. The fox does seem to find some comfort in Clubton's company though.
. . .
A short while later, Yumeko pipes up again. "I'm sorry, Ryocchan. It's not your fault that those things happen; it was wrong of me to snap at a new friend, and clearly Clubton adores you. It's just... the Forest Shrine can be hard to get to, y'know, and those awful smells, not to mention Pyrrha's old..." The miko abruptly shakes her head and gives it a light hit with her naginata, then turns her attention to Zuikaku as if nothing had been said.


Zuikaku

Zuikaku seemed totally onboard that idea, the worries of a lack of sleeping bags already forgotten. Just how short is this girl's attention span?!

"Ooh, yeah! Let's play with the locals, Yumeko, Rui!" she pumped a fist up and hurried in the direction of the roads. "What do you think they're up to, hopscotch? Conkers? Hide and seek?" Oh, Zuikaku is so in for a disappointment.
Yumeko nods at Zui's suggestion, but drops back a step as if ready to hide behind the slightly shorter girl. Just after getting used to this crowd, so many more strangers...
"Ah... I'm not bad at hopscotch?"

[ptdapen]

Samantha Clark

For the walk Samantha decided to put Sayaka back in her Pokeball. From her perspective it was better to keep her as a secret to any wandering trainer or wild Pokemon. The former would not be able to guess her set up and the latter might show less animosity. Or more. She wasn't an expert in the slightest. And on the plus side the action kept Sayaka from plopping on top of everybody's head.

"Have you ever heard of Hearthome City? It's a bit similar to Raspberry City I'd say," Samantha responded to the question. She went on about the various spectacles that she enjoyed. "Oh and I never really worried about the weather. My daddy made sure I was always ready."

It pleased her that the wandering guitarist stopped his incessant love-making remarks. She knew he meant no harm by it but she preferred not being flustered every so often. She sent a smile back to him as a sign of gratitude for his constant attempts to find a new song. When she turned around she noticed that all of the original group were spaced out along the route. "Fancy seeing all of you here!" she called out to them.

Samantha then looked over to Nila and smirked. "There's no way I'm avoiding these challengers," she declared as she started some light stretching. "They will try and they will lose. Besides, I'm sure the others will identify the Pokemon in the grass. I have a feeling that girl who was scanning all of the Pokemon will do it." With the entire group present it felt like the best time to show off her skills. After all, if her goal was to be the best of the best she had to start of showing it to someone.

"I do admit though that catching some of the Pokemon might be a good idea." Sammy opened her mouth to speak more but interrupted it by biting her lip; she was unsure if she wanted to admit that she had never done it herself before. Sayaka had been a gift and the Turtwig as well. She had only performed training drills and a couple casual 'battles' with her chic friends. She let out a sigh; there was no way she was going to admit that to anyone.

[Lokyar]

As Johnny and Pepper come to the main road they look towards the trail of trainers for only a moment before veering as one towards the grass. "Those guys never like when I get involved. Anyways training first." Pepper barks and gets into a ready position while Johnny does a few warm-up stretches. "That tree to that large rock, five laps. Go!"


----
Johnny and Pepper Train.
One Hour Later...
---

"Alright boy, let's do this. You know the routine. Focus on heating up, I'll keep you safe. And if you find someone you like sparring with, let me know."

Pepper barks back and rushes into the grass, Johnny jogging behind him.

[Nyna]

Rui Mitsuharu

Rui would eye the road a bit, then look back to her companions with a bit of a smile. "Um, we're in no big rush, right? So why don't we see if there are any interesting Pokemon worth catching in the wilds around here? I'd love to play with the locals too..." Rui's smile would widen a bit as she used Zuikaku's term for it, "But I think it'd be best if we caught another pokemon or two before getting into any trainer battles~ Besides, Baron wants more friends!" Baron didn't seem like he particularly cared at the moment, instead peering at Clubton suspiciously, wondering what this strange new thing was...

[Mura-neechan]

Reina would smirk softly as she found herself entering the route with the rest of the assortment of people. It was a little bit to crowded for her liking, as Reina would find herself stretching a bit and bending so that she could adjust her shoes somewhat. Once she was satisfied with the results, Reina simply patted Kenshiki's Pokeball, and stepped forward, breaking off into a solid run. Not only was moving a bit more quickly a general desire to get ahead and towards a proper destination, but she didn't want to miss the oppurtunities laid out straight ahead. Strength could only be acquired from pitting oneself against others, something which Reina was quite interested in testing out. She wouldn't be dashing, or anything, but making a good pace as she raced down the route, looking to see what other trainers could be lurking around. She was well supplied enough to last for a while, and perhaps she and Kenshiki could pressure an opponent into giving up good information if they had any interesting Pokemon.

[Aneurin]

B.T.

Ambling along in the wake of the mob of other trainers who are bravely blazing that trail to wherever they're going, B.T. gives Justin a sidelong look.

"So, what got you into this pokedexing thingy? And what do you want to do now?" she asks him amiably. "Any pokemon with an ounce of sense'll be running a mile from this lot, and I bet Professor Evergreen already has most of the data she could need on things that live right next to her lab, but we could look around I suppose. Or... I don't know. Push on ahead, and try and beat the rush?" she shrugs. "Whatever. I'm not bothered one way or the other, really,"

[CateranEnforcer]

Justin Hawkins

Justin breathes in the fresh air happy to be on the road again, not in any particular hurry. He liked to stay somewhat close to the crowd but also far enough to give them some space. Dusty had woken up and was making jittering noises at the Froakie hopping along beside them. “I think I'm going to call you Joey, after one of my camping buddies. He was a great swimmer.”

Turning to return the look to BT, “Well, I mentioned it before, but I'm about to be too old to be a Pokemon Junior Ranger, when you turn eighteen you're no longer a kid anymore so before that happens I wanted a chance to travel the region and hone my skills. This is shaping up to be a great adventure! There's so many places to explore, but I think we'll need to earn some badges as well in order to improve our trainer's license. There's a lot of things in those stores off-limits for us.”

“As for right now you feel up to challenging these trainers? I can scout the area pretty reliably and see what's around here, looking for berries and the types of pokemon here. I am eager to keep moving though as well, so we can reach that lake destination. Want me to take a look around first?”


Gonna go ahead and roll a Survival check to scout the area if BT is agreeable. It's my skill stunt as well. Otherwise I think we'll press onward on the road.
Survival:[roll0]

[Aneurin]

B.T.

"Oh, tell me about it," B.T. grumbles, rolling her eyes. "Getting older sucks. I really advise against it. You have to pay tax, get a job, do paperwork and if you do anything illegal and get caught you get a proper ciminal record," she hesitates for a moment. "...Let's just pretend I didn't say that last thing, okay? Anywho, you want to scout then knock yourself out. Figuratively. Not literally, please. While I'm not really in a hurry, I still don't want to have to drag you back to town to get your concussion treated,"

B.T. waves a hand dismissively, as she takes a look around the trail.

"Let me know if you find anything cool,"

[Charm25]

Marcus Osterbahn

Marcus will smile at Sammy's explanation, hanging his arms behind his head as he walks alongside her. That comment about her father was notable - mostly in how it implied several things about her. It's unclear whether or not he'll be able to use it, but having information is rarely a bad thing.

As Nila pulls towards the wild grass and Sammy pulls towards the trainers, Marcus has to make a decision - and decides to follow the former into the tall grass. "Think I'm gonna tag along with Nila - you both have two pokemon, I need to catch somethin' to catch up!" Giving the blonde a half-hearted salute, he turns into the woods to catch up with the other girl in his party.

[ptdapen]

Samantha Clark

Samantha took the time to observe all of the other trainers. Each and every one of their choices intrigued her; they gave her insight on what their motivations were. What caught her eye most though was Reina jogging forward. From the blonde's perspective this route had become a racetrack. "There's no way I'm falling behind," she said to her traveling companions. "You can search around in the grass if you want but I'm not waiting." Her attention focused on the guitarist for a few moments. "Can you play and sing while running? If not, well, now is a great time to learn how to!"

With her words all spent Sammy started running after the loner. "Do let me know what Pokemon you find in there though!" she exclaimed to no one in particular. She intended to backtrack if necessary to find new additions to her team if any were suitable from her perspective.

[SiegeTower]

Bob Autumn

Bob is caught off guard by Samantha as usual. He really wasn't made to move at any pace faster than a leisurely stroll. Sam had a way of getting his feet working though. When she starts sprinting away, Bob rushes in the same direction. He clumsily holds his guitar as he runs which really was putting a damper on his speed. Also slowing him down was the fact he forgot Tambourine. Bob realised this soon enough though and turn around while jogging in place so his Pokemon could catch up.

Tambourine was not amused and his first course of action was to give Bob a harsh tail slap on the top of the head. Once that was out of the way, Tambourine used his tail to firmly grasp around Bob's neck. With the Pokemon and trainer reunited again, it was time for Bob to charge after his fleeing companion.

Bob needed to learn to play and sing while running and this was a feat that was truly beyond him. Holding his guitar against his torso as he ran did not help his aerodynamics. The thumping of his feet and bouncing of his body also did nothing for his singing voice. To top it all off, Bob was also being slightly strangled by his Pokemon as the Tympole had no other means of hanging onto Bob. if only there was a more effective method for trainers to transport their Pokemon. Unfortunately, Bob couldn't think of a single one.

Despite everything working against him, Bob still ran behind Samantha and by Arceus, he was going to sing while doing it! Bob picked a song with very fast spoken lyrics. Even if they involved love, he didn't have time to think of another one.

I've just seen a face
I can't forget the time or place
Where we just met
She's just the girl for me
And I want all the world to see
We've met, mmm-mmm-mmm-m'mmm-mmm .... (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbKGsEK_T9g)

Bob followed Sam along looking like a goofball and blasted his music like a siren. Any trainer on this road would have to be both blind and deaf to not see the pair of them coming.

[aturtledoesbite]

Zui, Yumeko, Ryoko, Rui

As the four of you discuss what you intend to do, Clubton finds himself face-to-face with a quadripedal Pokémon with mostly tan fur, except for a black splotch on the center of its back, and a small tuft of a tail. It seems to be staring intently at the bone in Clubton's hand.


Reina, Samantha, Bob

As Samantha catches up to Reina (and Bob catches up to Samantha), the three of you encounter three other Trainers; all of them are wearing sunglasses along with what appear to be uniforms that lack identifying markers. The one in front appraises you and says, "You'll do for a warm up," as the three call out their Pokémon: A Timburr, Shinx, and Ponyta!


Nila, Marcus, Johnny

The three of you end up looking for Pokémon in the same general area. As you search the grass, you hear Johnny's Pepper barking at something! Investigating reveals that he ran into a group of Rattata! The rat Pokémon seem to be on edge from Pepper's yapping.


B.T., Justin

After examining the tracks, Justin quickly find what he's looking for: a wild Sewaddle! It looks up at Justin curiously...then looks behind Justin and begins to waddle away; it appears a pair of Starly also found the Sewaddle and intend to attack it!

[tonberryking]

Ryoko

"S'cool. I know about being in an isolated place, miko... Although, uh, Kid? Do you really think Pokemon trainers would wanna pla--

The roughneck nearly bites her tongue hearing Zuikaku's ideas and almost tells her what's really in store when Clubton makes a noise. She looks down, nonplussed.

"Huh. Hey girls, we have company... Probably more in the fields." she says, thinking for a moment, trying to figure out what the fuzzball is before she fishes out her pokedex and aims it at the interloper. Clubton, for his part, holds his boneclub away from it, not looking too happy at the outside interest towards his weapon of choice.


[roll0] just to see if Ryoko can figure this out on her own: a Pokemon Edu check of the lowest caliber....

[SiegeTower]

Bob Autumn

"Huh?!"

If Bob was a car you would hear his tires screeching as they came to a halt. The poor man is barely able to stop his momentum as the weight of his instrument and the Pokemon dangling on his neck wanted to continue moving forward. Tambourine was kind enough to let go and jump off when this occurred though. The extra air was certainly a treat for Bob but it wasn't enough to stop him from panting way too heavily for air.

"W-what-" Bob loudly exhales. "Warm up?" Bob breathes in heavily. "The running was enough for me." A few more pants followed by a cough. "I'm beat. You go on ahead and do your thing without me. Fwoooooh!"

The guitarist plopped his butt straight on the ground for he was ready to begin his resting. Bob didn't get what the other trainers were really getting at until they brought out the Pokemon.

"Hey hey take it easy Buddy Rogers. I'm a lover not a fighter. Tambourine here is my music partner not my sparring buddy." The tympole takes a place next to Bob and vibrates a pleasant tune from his cheeks to corroborate the tale.

[Esprit15]

Nila
The girl drops to a defensive stance, Pale Night chittering protectively from her head. "Hey, hey, we don't mean any harm. Just passing through... Can you calm your Houndour, or are we going to fight them?" she asks, casually, reaching for a ball while staying on her toes around the wild.
Shift Action: Flutter – AC is increased by 3
Pulling out a Pokéball

[tonberryking]

Ryoko

Looking down at the stray puppy, Ryoko spends a moment of silence contemplating the pokedex before she looks at her poor, perplexed Clubton.

"Clubton, throw your boneclub a ways." Her cubone seems shocked that she would suggest such a thing, as if she had just told him to put it into a wood chipper. "Clubton. Do as I say. It'll be alright." Mother's word being final, Clubton reluctantly pitches his club a ways, and of course the lilipup dashes after it and brings it back to him. Ryoko has him repeat the game a fectha few times before she picks up the pup, who offers no complaints. In fact, its tail is wagging!

"So, uh, I guess we caught a lilliwhatsit. I got the charmander back at base, do any..um.. of you.. wanna?" she keeps the puppy pokemon aloft, looking for any takers.

[ptdapen]

Samantha Clark

"There's no time to rest Bob.. Autumn!" Samantha exclaimed to her minstrel companion. She had been so much in the zone that she had not noticed his efforts to keep up with her despite how admirable they were. Even the words hadn't met her ears. She tossed out her own Pokemon and out puffed her majestic swablu. "Come on Sayaka and Tambourine! It's your time to shine. There's no way these guys are going to beat us." The blonde winked at Reina afterward. "Looks like you're stuck with us after all."

[CateranEnforcer]

Justin Hawkins

“Heh, you make it sound like you're decades older than me. Oh but don't worry, this shouldn't take too long.” Justin hurries off to get the lay of the land, looking for signs of passage and other indicators of wild pokemon. He keeps his pokedex out to see if this has any helpful advice on the topic, just in case.

When he encounters the wild bug looking pokemon, he scrambles to scan it with the pokedex. “Whoa look at that! Hey, BT check this...” he stops as he notices the birds making hungry eyes at the leafy pokemon. “Whoa now, not this time. Dusty, let's go save this little guy. Spider Web those birds!”

He calls out again to BT. “Over here! I might need you help to avoid that concussion after all!”


When/if combat rounds start, I'm looking at these actions.

Justin will use Focused Training on Dusty as a his Standard Action and additionally granting him 1 momentum.
As a Swift he declares Starly 1 as the Tagged target.
He holds a potion in his off-hand, just in case.

Dusty will move and use Spider Web on Starly 2 if he can reach.
Momentum: 1

[Lokyar]

Nila
The girl drops to a defensive stance, Pale Night chittering protectively from her head. "Hey, hey, we don't mean any harm. Just passing through... Can you calm your Houndour, or are we going to fight them?" she asks, casually, reaching for a ball while staying on her toes around the wild.
Shift Action: Flutter – AC is increased by 3
Pulling out a Pokéball

Johnny looks back with a smirk, several long metal throwing spikes in his hand. "Well I'm certainly gonna fight them, you're free to join in."

via roll20 I have confirmed there are four Rattata. My and Pepper's Init are 5 so you'll go before I do.

[Merilan]

Zuikaku

Zuikaku was on her way to rush to the road when Yumeko and the others called out to her, and she turned to face Ryoko as she did battle against it... through enticement of the Cubone's bone. Her eyes light up as she exclaimed, "Ryocchan, that's so cute! It wants to follow you now, you can't let it down! Call it something cute, Ryocchan!"

[Aneurin]

Justin Hawkins

“Heh, you make it sound like you're decades older than me. Oh but don't worry, this shouldn't take too long.” Justin hurries off to get the lay of the land, looking for signs of passage and other indicators of wild pokemon. He keeps his pokedex out to see if this has any helpful advice on the topic, just in case.

When he encounters the wild bug looking pokemon, he scrambles to scan it with the pokedex. “Whoa look at that! Hey, BT check this...” he stops as he notices the birds making hungry eyes at the leafy pokemon. “Whoa now, not this time. Dusty, let's go save this little guy. Spider Web those birds!”

He calls out again to BT. “Over here! I might need you help to avoid that concussion after all!”


When/if combat rounds start, I'm looking at these actions.

Justin will use Focused Training on Dusty as a his Standard Action and additionally granting him 1 momentum.
As a Swift he declares Starly 1 as the Tagged target.
He holds a potion in his off-hand, just in case.

Dusty will move and use Spider Web on Starly 2 if he can reach.
Momentum: 1


B.T.

"...Not that much older," B.T. mumbles as she wanders over to where Justin's looking. "What's up? ...Oh," she blinks as she takes in the scene and winces. "Ah, the food chain in action. Never pleasant to watch, even less pleasant to get involved in,"

She sighs aloud. "But I bet your Joltik's going to be next on the menu if I don't help out, so... ugh," she sighs and, unclipping a pokeball from her belt releases a pancham in a flash of red light. "Right, Panny. Protect the bug. Bugs. Whatever,"

B.T. - Standard Action to release Panny in front of Justin and Dusty. SPD 12.
Panny - Wait for everyone else to take their damn actions before doing anything since he's SPD 2.

[Nyna]

So, Rui snuck off on her own while Ryoko and Yumeko were distracted by the Lillipup last night in the roll20~ They ended up finding her after the fact though, I'll just assume that Zuikaku would've followed them when searching for a Rui.
Rui Mitsuharu

Rui would scratch behind one of Baron's ears in reward as her Pokedex read off Starly's entry. "Whose my good hunter, huh? Yes, you are~ Good boy, Baron~" Rui would giggle a bit as she'd put the pokeball for her new Starly into her pouch, picking up Baron and straightening up, turning around only to find the rest of her group heading her way through the tall grass.

"Oh hey, I caught a Starly~!" She'd pull the pokeball right back out, showing it off to her friends with a grin. "It was a battle for the ages~ Hmmm... I think I'll name him Eggolas~ How'd playtime with that pup go?" While talking, she'd put the pokeball back, next taking out a Potion while nimbly holding a slightly squirming Baron in her other arm, carefully spraying the medicine on his bruise as his squirming intensified.

Rui uses a Potion, Baron recovers 20 HP~! Also, what's Eggola's HP at after capture? I assume he's not at full and probably has an injury, right? Also, not that familiar with PTU yet, do we get pokemon exp for captures, or only for knock outs?

[Mura-neechan]

Reina

The younger girl would frown as she found someone catching up to her. Her pride was a bit wounded, but she'd quickly get over it, as she found opponents. A trio of fashion disasters... Reina quickly placed a hand on her cheek, nearly slapping herself for the very thought, as it forced a shiver to run through her entire body, as Samantha was giggling at her. The girl would sigh softly, before reaching to her belt, taking Kenshiki's pokeball and casually tossing it next to her, as the device would explode in light, before sailing back to her hand in miniturized form, wierd blob Pokemon happily appearing at her side as it looked around at the crowd around her.

"I'm starting to think like Fer... Oi. Now I have stalkers following me. At least you didn't call me some weird nickname. I am Reina Travies of Johto, you can try to help or sit back and learn something. Kenshiki, eliminate the targets. We'll start with the horse, and cycle through."

Reina smiled a bit, as her Goomy would stand upright and at attention, waiting for its moment to strike.

[Elfbird]

Yumeko Shiroi

"Congratulations to you both!" Yumeko makes a small giggle of pleasure at the team's sudden influx of cute new companions.

"Zui-chan, did you also... Oh! What's going on over there?" She points to where the 2v3 battle is unfolding on the road ahead. "Are they... playing a game? But it looks really serious..."*


*Intuition 11 to tell that it's probably not hopscotch... probably.

I imagine the other two groups are concealed by the tall grass, or else Yumeko would notice their situations too and point them out with equal concern. So much violence on the very first day!

[Merilan]

Zuikaku

Zuikaku, on the other hand, doesn't appear to have made motion to capture a new companion, rather happily bobbling around her new friends. Zuikaku, you should probably take training a little more seriously...

"Oh, huh..." Zuikaku squints a little, and then grins as she says, "That looks like a lot of fun, are their Pokemon playing with each other?"

[SiegeTower]

Bob Autumn

Tambourine was on Samantha's side for the battle. It seemed the young Pokemon's natural battling instincts overcame his unusual musical ones. Bob wasn't sure what had gotten into his percussionist.

"Hey Tambourine, that ain't the way to spread the love. What are you doing buddy?"

Tambourine slaps his tail against the ground and throws Bob a mean look.

"O-okay...if you're sure."

Bob slowly gets up from where he was sitting. He keeps his guitar close to him and readies himself for, he doesn't know what.

"I guess I'll play us...a battle hymn?"

Bob needed a moment to think about what he would sing. He certainly wasn't used to playing music in this context.

[ptdapen]

Samantha Clark

"I am not stalking you!" the blonde whined, "There's only one road for us to go down! And Sayaka and I are just as capable as you are!" She stomped on the ground with her fists tightened as part of a little fit; she was not used to people being unfriendly to her. Reina's words had been the second time today! But she recollected herself and gave Bob Autumn a thumbs up. "Play a glorious hymn to announce my... our first victory of this journey!"

Samantha turned back to the loner and nodded. "Alright Reina, I'm Samantha and I came from Sinnoh. I'll let you take the lead. Sayaka! Peck that horse!" Sayaka nodded and soared forward beak-first towards her designated opponent.

The socialite then walked forward with a slight curl on her lip. She was hedging her bets that dorks like these guys would get distracted by a girl as charming as she was. The only doubt she had was that today already proved that her charms were not infallible. Regardless, placed one hand on her hip and blew a kiss to the apparent leader of the opposing group. She added in a wink too to seal the deal.

Samantha:
I'm assuming the one in front was Trainer One so he's the target of Lovely Kiss. If I'm wrong, just target whoever.
Lovely Kiss: [roll0]

Sayaka: Attacking the Ponyta!
Peck: [roll1] (Focused Training?)
Actual Damage: [roll2] + 12 (Attack Bonus)

[Esprit15]

Nila
Carefully watching the Ratatta, Nila slowly edges her way around the underbrush, focusing her mind on the obvious weak points on the small mammals. While her overland distance is slow, her actual motions are rather quick, never staying in exactly the same place for more than half a second, instead dancing and leaping her way around the field.
Standard Action: Focus Energy - Nila is now Pumped
Shift Action: Flutter - AC increases by 3
Swift Action: Disengage - Move 1 2 meters

Pale Night
If Ratatta approaches through the tall grass and makes a melee attack
Pale Night watches her trainer circle around the grass, always eager to give chase to prey. Pale Night however preferred to wait for her prey to come to her, and lo, a morsel approached her, eagerly, even! The Spinarak spits a bit of web at the foolish rat.
Normal, Physical, Melee
AC: [roll0] 2, Lower enemy Speed, Critical hit on 19-20
Damage: [roll1]
If Crit: +[roll2]

If Ratatta ignore Pale Night
Pale Night watches her prey, enjoying how blissfully unaware they are of her. That lack of attention would cost them. She backs away a little bit, firing poisonous barbs at one of the rats that she could reach.
I'm not writing half a dozen different contingencies for all the different ways that the Ratatta can move, but suffice to say I'll move Pale Night after the Ratatta move, and pick an available target, since most likely they'll target Pepper.
Poison, Physical, Range 6
AC: [roll3] 2, Poison on 16-20, Critical hit on 19-20
Damage: [roll4]
If Crit: +[roll5]

[SiegeTower]

Bob Autumn

It was finally time for Bob to sing a pro-war song! ....he couldn't do it. Bob simply didn't know any. Well he did but they were wrong. They weren't classic. They were the most dreadful of all thing, modern.

Bob had to resort to plan B. It may not have been a pro-war song but at least it was about adventures. That was close enough. Bob begins to play while Tambourine does his battling thing.

Get your motor runnin'
Head out on the highway
Lookin' for adventure
And whatever comes our way
Yeah Darlin' go make it happen.... (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMbATaj7Il8)

Bob tries his hardest to motivate the Pokemon. He played as best as he could given his percussionist was occupied and this song was not meant for an acoustic guitar. Bob kept on playing his heart out though. He hoped Tambourine would try his best to.

It seemed Bob's Pokemon did as Tambourine took the initiative to attack the Ponyta. Tambourine was a natural fighter as all Pokemon were. That spunky little water type blew bubbles all over that flaming horse's face.

Tambourine uses bubble
To hit: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]
If Crit: [roll2]

Bubble lowers Ponyta's speed by 1 combat stage on a to hit roll of 16+
Bubble has burst 1 and will hit any other enemy Pokemon in range.

Bob cheerleading ability motivates the Pokemon. Spends 1AP to motivate all three pokemon. Motivated Pokemon gain 1 combat stage in the stat of their choice.
Tambourine will pick SPATK.

Tambourine has Friend Guard.
Trigger: An adjacent Ally takes Damage
Effect: The damage is resisted one step further.

Tambourine is Inspired.
Inspired Pokémon gain a +1 bonus to Evasion and +2 to Save Checks.

[tonberryking]

Ryoko

Ryoko looks down at her puppy after everyone passes his claim back to her. He looks up at her with large eyes and she tries not to smile.

"Clubton, meet your new brother, Snips. Now, c'mon boy, this dex says you're good at finding things. Go have at."

After assigning a pokeball to her newest family member Ryoko lets him down and gives him the order to 'pickup' anything he can fetch, and while he disappears into the grass, the colder, crasser Ryoko is back.

"They're playing a game called "Loser gets Mugged," Kid. Whoever loses that pokemon battle has to cough up dough to the victor. S'why I think we should stick to the tall grass until we all have a posse'a pokemon, not just one."

[aturtledoesbite]

Zuikaku, Yumeko, Ryoko, Rui

Snips comes back with a shiny green rock soon enough, with a leaf marking on one side. The four of you approach the gathering of Trainers up ahead, just in time for...


Reina, Samantha, Bob

...the trainer battle to begin! The Ponyta whips Sayaka with its tail, intending to soften up the fluffy bird for its companions to team up on!

Samantha's flirtatious kiss completely grabbed the trainer's attention, completely forgetting to actually command his Pokémon!

Tambourine wriggled up and let out a cloud of bubbles, nearly extinguishing the Ponyta and softening up the Timburr!

Sayaka followed up with a Peck against the flaming horse, knocking it out entirely! Its trainer exclaims, "Already?! Geez..."

"Shinx, uh...Tackle the Tympole!" The kitten-like Pokémon dashed forward, ramming into Tambourine! (15 damage)

Bob's song fills the air, motivating the Pokémon to do their best!

Kenshiki gurgles forth; it couldn't hit the Ponyta as its trainer wanted, but it quickly adapted and aimed to catch the Shinx in its bubbles along with the Timburr! Neither one looked like they could take much more punishment!

The Timburr stands there, waiting for a Trainer's command that's not coming. The other trainers try to get his attention. "Hey, dude, get your head in the game!" "...Huh?" ...but he's already missed his chance to act!


B.T., Justin

Dusty's web entangles one of the Starly, leaving it to leave itself vulnerable trying to scrape off the webbing! The other Starly, seeing that its food wouldn't be so easy to reach, hits Panny with one of its strong wings! (30 damage)

The Sewaddle slowly starts edging away from the Starly, but stops when it realizes it hasn't been attacked yet, noticing that the people are interfering. It seems to be staying put to watch the proceedings.


Johnny, Nila, Marcus

As Nila slinks around the grass, one of the Rattata -- still watching the Houndour -- focuses, looking for a weak point if it has to fight.

[Charm25]

Marcus

Rats.

Well, they look like rats, anyway. Maybe mice - Marcus never really figured out the difference between them. Regardless, it certain is...much less noble than the starting pokemon the professor offered...but at the same time, they're rare, and whatever this is probably isn't. It might be worth trying to catch - or just fighting for the experience. He can at least keep them from running away. "Alright Flavio, get ready to trap 'em when I tell you to, okay?"

With that he'll turn to Nila and the third potential ratter. "Either of you interested in catching one, or just beating 'em up?"

[Lokyar]

Johnny shrugged, not taking his eyes off the Ratts. A moment later he realized the others might not be taking their eyes off the things either and spoke up. "Not a concern here, at least not with this number. Might reconsider when it's down to one, or if an opportunity presents itself, but don't hold back on my account. Pepper certainly won't."

[Elfbird]

Yumeko Shiroi


"They're playing a game called "Loser gets Mugged," Kid. Whoever loses that pokemon battle has to cough up dough to the victor. S'why I think we should stick to the tall grass until we all have a posse'a pokemon, not just one."

"To... cough up dough? That sounds uncomfortable. Are they bakers?"
Yumeko's confusion only grows more intense as the battle progresses. She blushes profusely at Samantha's... bold flirtations, but keeps glancing back to watch even when she looks away. Her head bobs to Bob's beat.
"...Oh, they're playing with bubbles! Ehe--ah?! That one just passed out! It looked really hurt!"
Yumeko whips her head between the six Trainers and her companions, trying to read the situation. Most of them seem unconcerned, even eager, so she won't do anything sudden, but she's ready to rush in the moment help/first aid is called for.

Pyrrha, meanwhile, watches the battle with an excited glint in her eyes. She barks encouragement to Team Idol, though too quietly to hear from so far off, and stretches during lulls in the action.

[Esprit15]

Nila
"Not a huge fan of them. It's not exactly in the top percent of Pokémon back home," Nila says as she back flips closer to her allies.

[Merilan]

Zuikaku

Zuikaku folded her arms and had a kind of distasteful expression on her face. "Yeah, I don't see any dough... also, doesn't it have to rise for a while? You shouldn't eat raw dough, you know! I tried that once with cookie dough, and mom scolded me real bad for it."

She stepped forward to say, "But, if there's one thing I know I don't like, it's seeing Pokemon get hurt!"

Uh oh, is she about to just run straight into the middle of a Pokemon battle?

[Elfbird]

Yumeko Shiroi

"Ah... Maybe the fire-type Pokemon was supposed to be baking the dough, but ate it instead, and that's why it got punished? A-and the bubbles didn't really hurt it, but the surprise gave it sudden indigestion?! Wait! Maybe it passed out because dough got stuck in its throat! Somebody make sure it can breath!!"

Yumeko and Pyrrha step up beside Zuikaku, the miko dropping her naginata and hastily retrieving the first aid kit. She can handle medicine and bandages, but will leave the hands-on first aid to Zuikaku's superior training.

[ptdapen]

Samantha Clark

The blonde turned around and placed a hand over her mouth to muffle her laughter. "Boys are so predictable!" she mused in her head. She turned back around to see that one of the opposing Pokemon was already down for the count. Sayaka chirped a miniature victory tune; that had been her very first opposing Pokemon taken down! "I knew you could do it!" Samantha shouted with her fist pointed straight into the air. "No one can defeat the burning passion within our souls!"

It then crossed Samantha's mind then that they never scanned the Ponyta. "Don't forget about our assignment!" she exclaimed to her battle partners as she pulled out her own Pokedex. "Sayaka! Take out the one carrying the log!" Sammy held up her Pokedex to the timburr in hopes that it would tell her what it was.

Samantha: Pokedex on Timburr!

Sayaka: Peck on Timburr. I'll have ATK get boosted by the music.
Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1] + 14 (I did the calculation for the boost correctly right?)

[CateranEnforcer]

Justin Hawkins




B.T.

"...Not that much older," B.T. mumbles as she wanders over to where Justin's looking. "What's up? ...Oh," she blinks as she takes in the scene and winces. "Ah, the food chain in action. Never pleasant to watch, even less pleasant to get involved in,"

She sighs aloud. "But I bet your Joltik's going to be next on the menu if I don't help out, so... ugh," she sighs and, unclipping a pokeball from her belt releases a pancham in a flash of red light. "Right, Panny. Protect the bug. Bugs. Whatever,"

B.T. - Standard Action to release Panny in front of Justin and Dusty. SPD 12.
Panny - Wait for everyone else to take their damn actions before doing anything since he's SPD 2.

"Hey, bugs are pretty great when you get to know them," he replies. "Show her Dusty, get that bird off Panny!" The little spider clicks in response and skirts around the edges until it finds a good spot to dart it and with a static crackle, leaps at the Starly. Justin winds up an arm and throws out a pokeball at the trapped Starly. He might as well after all. It is their job to catagorize them, after all.

He calls to the bug hiding in the grass, "Don't worry little guy, you're not getting eaten today!"


Justin uses Focused Training on Dusty as a swift action and grants him 1 momentum.
Justin uses Fling on the trapped Starly 2 to fling a Pokeball.
Attack[roll0]
Damage:[roll1]
Crit:[roll2]
Capture:[roll3]

Dusty has 2 momentum from last turn plus 1 from the orders bringing him to 3.
Dusty uses Struggle on Starly 1 if it it still up, or Starly 2 if not.
Attack: [roll4] (-4 if it's on Starly 2)
Damage: [roll5]
Crit:[roll6]
If he hits, he gains 2 more momentum for hitting a tagged target with a SE attack and gains one more at the end of the round bringing him up to 6.

I think this is right. If there's anything wrong let me know!

[aturtledoesbite]

B.T., Justin

Justin's Pokéball smacked the tangled Starly, drawing it in and shaking a few times before clicking shut!

Dusty's voltage electrocuted the other Starly! It didn't look like it could take much more!

I glossed over Panny's turn so I could post this; feel free to have him act now either before or after your own action.


Johnny, Nila, Marcus

The remaining Rattata react once Marcus's Pokédex flashes at one of them! All three of them lunge at the closest thing, which is Pepper! Johnny quickly moves Pepper out of the way, taking the brunt of the damage himself!

Rattata 1 uses Bite! 2 damage! Johnny is flinched!
Rattata 3 uses Tackle! 8 damage!
Rattata 4 uses Tackle! 8 damage!


Everyone Else


Timburr, the Muscular Pokémon. Fighting Type. Height: Two feet, zero inches. Weight: Twenty-seven-point-six pounds.
Timburr always carries a wooden beam, which it trades for bigger ones as it grows. These Pokémon can be a big help to construction workers.

[Lokyar]

As the Ratt Pack rushes forward Johnny snaps his finger and leaps forward, landing in front of Pepper who had quickly backed away. Landing where the hound had been a moment earlier Johnny crossed his arms in front of him, the air in front of him faintly shimmering as all three collided and knocked him back again. "They're clumped up! Circle and smog!"

Pepper quickly circled around Marcus and the pack of rattata before opening it's mouth and expelling a cloud of noxious black smoke at the nearest of the rodents. "Tough little buggers, they usually drop from the first blast. Opportunity's knocking if anyone's feeling lucky."

Johnny Intercepts the first attack! Damage in post above. Remainder of turn pushed back to Init 0 due to Flinch.

Pepper moves(circling around north, difficult terrain taken into consideration) and uses Smog on Rattata 1 and 3. 38 damage to each.

[Nyna]

Rui Mitsuharu

Rui would watch the battle with a grin, excited as she spectated a bit, before looking over at Zuikaku and Yumeko with mild alarm. "Woah woah woah! Zui-chan, Yumeko, they're having a Pokemon battle, you can't interfere! I mean, I assume it's an official one, the trainers aren't trying to beat the snot out of each other, after all." Rui would sigh softly. They were supposed to be older than her, right?

Well, time for them to pay attention to something else, then. Namely, her. "Anyways, let's leave them to it~ Onwards!" And she'd make her way around the battle, running up the road... Hopefully they'd get the hint and move to catch up, because Rui wasn't looking back to make sure!

[SiegeTower]

Bob was almost distracted by the girl running in on the Pokemon battle. Luckily there was another trainer handy to call her back. Bob had thought that maybe the girl running up was a kindred spirit. One who also wanted to put an end to all the fighting.

"Hey Tambourine maybe it's time to stop fighting and go back to-" Tambourine glares at Bob yet again. He avoid eye contact with his Pokemon and goes back to singing. He starts to sing a little more gently. In a way that could put some Pokemon to sleep.

Carry on my wayward son
There'll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Don't you cry no more... (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2X_2IdybTV0)

Tambourine continues doing what he does best and tries to bubble all the remaining Pokemon.

Bob uses sing on the Shinx.
To hit: [roll0]
Target is asleep on a hit (AC10). On a miss the target becomes slowed and suffers a -2 penalty to evasion.

Tambourine uses Bubble
To hit:[roll1]
Damage:[roll2]
If Crit:[roll3]

Bubble lowers the target's speed by 1 combat stage on a to hit roll of 16+
Bubble has burst 1 and will hit any other enemy Pokemon in range.

[Aneurin]

B.T.

"Attaboy, Panny," B.T. calls out, trying not to wince as the Starly slams home. Though Panny doesn't seem to be too badly hurt by it, at least. "Go get it," she adds, fishing out a pokeball and pitching it overarm at the remaining Starly, trying to time her throw against the almighty smack that Panny deals the impertinent bird with his bamboo cane.

Panny - Tackle Struggle on the remaining Starly.

[roll0] vs. 2+EVAS
[roll1] [22] Target is pushed back 2m. Physical, Normal.

B.T. - capture attempt on the remaining Starly.
[roll2] vs. 6 Status.
[roll3]

Modifiers (included): +2 to hit for Tools of the Trade.

EDIT: Whoops. Misread Justin's post, and thought he was capturing Starly 1 - not Starly 2. Which means a few parts of these actions don't work. The first attack is no longer a Tackle, but instead a Struggle (not enough run up for Tackle), which still hits and deals 2 less damage (now noted).

[Mura-neechan]

Reina

Simply scoffing at the poor display before her, Reina would wave a hand outwards, and form a grip, as she stared at the final Pokemon. That Shinx would be the last target, as she rather lazily called out to her own Goomy. "Absorb, finish it off, Kenshiki." She'd release her grip in satisfaction, as the her Pokemon would quickly glow, as particles would trail first outwards, before being drawn back towards Kenshiki. The little Pokemon not gaining any real benefit from sucking the will to fight from its opponent, but still happily wiggling around as it did so.

[Lokyar]

Seeing the Rattatas weakened and tied down Johnny decided to take a chance, throwing a pokeball at the ratt nearest to Pepper. It sailed right over it's head into a nearby bush, prompting a confused look from Pepper. "..."

Throw Pokeball. Miss.
Focus Training on Pepper

[aturtledoesbite]

B.T., Justin

The Starly is drawn into the Pokéball, shaking a little bit before clicking!

The Sewaddle watches the humans, wondering what they'll do now that the Starly are taken care of.

7 Pokémon EXP to both of you! Don't forget to mark Starly as caught!

Justin: Level 10, Sassy, Keen Eye, Female
B.T.: Level 10, Proud, Keen Eye, Male


Samantha, Reina, Bob

Sayaka's and Kenshiki's attacks finish off the Timburr and Shinx, leaving the Trainers without any Pokémon!

"Aw, man! You guys are too tough!"

After giving you three the prize money, they run off, likely to the nearest Pokémon Center.

15 Pokémon EXP for each of you, as well as 1 Trainer EXP and $500!


Nila, Johnny, Marcus

Pale Night's stinger connects with the Rattata in the back, but doesn't faze it much.

Flavio steps forward and sends a small shockwave through the ground, tripping up the other three Rattata and Slowing them!

Johnny's Pokéball sails wide of its target, failing to hit anything!

[CateranEnforcer]

Justin Hawkins

"Great job!" Justin calls to BT. "I'm going to see if I can get this little guy to come with me." Justin inches closer to the grass, but stops a safe distance from the bug. He pulls out his pokedex and tries to get a read on it before kneeling down and offering a hand to it. "Hey there, little guy. You want to travel with me? You won't have to worry about getting eaten with me!"

[Aneurin]

B.T.

B.T. rolls her eyes by way of reply and ambles over to pick up both the fresh captures as Justin talks to a bug. As she strolls back, she tugs out the brand new blue pokedex and points it at the sewaddle and, with her free hand, taps Justin on the top of the head with the pokeball with his Starly in it.

"Here you go," she says distractedly, dropping the ball into his lap as she fiddles with the pokedex. "Where was the scan button again...? Ah, there we go. Shame we didn't have a chance to get those two Starly before we caught 'em,"

She's distracted by a tug on her jeans and looks down into an irate black and white face.

"Yes, yes," B.T. says soothingly. "I've not forgotten you, Panny. You did great. Here... lemme see if I have a mint for you..." she adds, patting at her pockets while the 'dex chimes.

[SiegeTower]

Bob Autumn

"Wow...we actually won?" Bob falls back on his butt now that the adrenaline of the fight had passed. Tambourine happily bounces back over to his trainer and snuggles up next to him. Tambourine's own fighting spirit had died down as well.

With the battle over, Bob plays a small victory fanfare on his guitar. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkCzlg6-xEQ)He was a little light headed though so he doesn't stand back up from the middle of the road.

So uh, guess we keep walking?"

[ptdapen]

Samantha Clark

Samantha had heard of the concept of taking the loser's money but always found it to be an odd custom. She accepted the money graciously though; she believed it would have been rude or condescending to go against the practice. Sayaka resumed her rightful position on top of her owner's head. "Alright, alright, you've earned it," the blonde commented. She turned over to the onlookers and gave them a slight bow. "And that's how you win a Pokemon Battle. But of course I did not do it alone." She turned back and smiled at Reina and Bob. "You know, we should have scanned more of their Pokemon. I suppose there are more out there though."

"The journey is not over yet!" Sammy suddenly shouted. Her swablu instinctively took to the sky and was ready to go on. "Bob... Autumn! It's time to finish this race!" Nobody had ever said anything about racing to the next town but somehow it had sparked in Samantha's mind. She ran off from the others with her avian Pokemon in tow without waiting for her minstrel at all.

[Mura-neechan]

Reina

Another flawless victory. The might of a dragon can't be tested on weaklings around here.

Reina smirked a bit as she'd nod in approval to Kenshiki, before returning her to the Pokeball. Setting herself up again, she'd notice that Samantha felt she'dd start running. Amused a bit by the concept, the girl would quickly dash forward, as she'd move to reach outward and grab at the girl's arm, as she raced beside her, and would push herself a bit more to cross in front of her, a wild smirk on her face as she'd slow, and hold up Kenshiki's pokeball, still enlarged and ready to be thrown again.

"Not so fast~ You wanted to rush into my battle. You seemed to do alright, but if this keeps happening, I want to make sure that wasn't just dumb luck! If you've got confidence in your Pokemon and your skill, face me."

[tonberryking]

Ryoko

Ryoko isn't quite sure what to make of the stone Snips retrieved for her, but she seems to know how to deal with her traveling companions.

"Hey! Whoa! Get back here you two!" she says, making a mad grab for both Yumeko and Zui before thoughtlessly dragging them back towards the tall grass.

"Seriously, what is wrong with you?! When I said dough, I meant MONEY! Cash! Currency! The stuff you exchange for goods and services! There are trainers who patrol the routes all day and will force you into battles that you have to pay for if you lose. Literally! It's a scam if you ain't careful! And you know how to make everybody angry? By interfering in a battle between two groups! Hell, I oughta know, I had to beat the crap out of all them kids awhile back..." she bites her tongue, wishing she hadn't said so much but she lets go of the girls.

"Urgh. Look. If you see trainers battling with their pokemon, you don't interfere unless some a-hole pulls out a weapon or attacks the other trainer or blatantly cheats. That's how it works, and you'd better figure it out fast, because we're gonna run into some of these no-good brats sooner than later."

Clubton and Snips watch the whole thing, the lillipup growing more steadily impressed with his new trainer. Clubton's just glad he didn't screw anything up.

[SiegeTower]

Bob Autumn

Bob didn't want to get up from the comfortable soft spot he had found on the ground. When Samantha bolted though, he felt obliged to follow. Luckily the other girl seemed to stop Sam dead in her tracks. Bob would have ample time to shimmy over now. They were too far to hear talking now but Bob would get in on their conversation later. Right now, it was butt resting time.

[Elfbird]

Yumeko Shiroi

Yumeko slowly regains her composure after Ryoko's hasty explanation. "I... see. So such contests are normal, and the Pokemon are not at serious risk? Then... if there are more of them up ahead, we should catch up to Rui-chan.* It must be scary to battle alone."

Yumeko returns to the spot that Ryoko had dragged them away from to pick up the dropped first aid kit and naginata. Seeing Bob sitting nearby, she then walks up to him, drops a handful of coins in his lap (or hat, if it fell), claps twice and bows. "I pray for understanding of this vast world, and for all the jerks to suffer embarrassing yet hilarious accidents."

"Thank you for showing us a good battle, Mr. Music Man." The miko bows once more and scampers off down the road to chase Rui.


*Intuition 11 to tell which direction Rui went this time

13p to Bob!

[Merilan]

Zuikaku

Zuikaku gets yanked back with a surprised blink, and furrowed her brow to rub at the moonstone. "Hmm... I'm not really sure about that... their mothers should have taught them better!"

She waved at Bob and Samantha as well, saying, "Oh well, nice work you guys! That was a really good show!"

[SiegeTower]

Bob Autumn

Everyone was passing Bob on the road while he just sat there exhausted. Only once the shrine maiden tipped him once more did one consequence of Bob's actions hit him.

"Did...did those cats just give us some scratch for winning that battle?" Bob looks down at Tambourine as if he had the answer. The real answer lay in Bob's wallet though. When Bob felt the extra heft given up by the other trainer's, a revelation hit him.

"Tambourine! I know how we're going to fund our band expenses now!" Bob jumps up with renewed vigor. "We're finally gonna get that 1965 Fender Stratocaster we've needed!" Tambourine starts bouncing around in time with Bob as the duo have the spark of music burning within them again.

Bob pulls out his guitar and plays. He didn't bolt for Sam and play poorly like he did before. Instead he walks at a fast pace to catch up to the girl but keeps his music as fine tuned as he can make it. He makes sure to linger a little bit longer near the shrine maiden when he catches up to her. She earned a performance from the music man after her recent tip.

Money, get away
Get a good job with more pay and you're O.K.
Money, it's a gas
Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash
New car, caviar, four star daydream,
Think I'll buy me a football team... (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpbbuaIA3Ds&index=10&list=PL8EAA83325701CE9C)

[ptdapen]

Samantha Clark

"What did you need Bo-oh," Sammy responded when she was grabbed by the arm. The last thing she had expected was for Reina to be chasing after her. Sayaka's beak dropped a bit as well. After the challenge was issued though they both regained their composure. "I bleed confidence! Not literally of course; let's not test that." She took a few steps away from her and pointed up to her swablu. "Well we're already ready. Let the victory go to the one with more burning passion!"

As soon as Reina called out her Pokemon of choice Sayaka leaped off into the air. "Sayaka! You know the drill! I want to see those wings spread out as wide as they can before your glorious strike!" She jumped in place in hopes that her swablu's enthusiasm would rise as well.

Rolls will be in Roll20
Samantha: Inspired Training on Sayaka
Sayaka: Peck on Kenshiki (or Joeniki if sent out instead)

[Esprit15]

Nila
Seeing that her allies are being prioritized over her, Nila forgoes the careful, nimble approach, instead to opting to rush the Ratatta closest to her allies, leaping around Marcus and driving a foot right at the Ratatta nearest Pepper.
Fighting, Physical, Ratatta 3
AC: [roll0] 2, Flinch on 15-20, Crit on 18-20
Damage: [roll1]
If Crit: +[roll2]

Pale Night
Hey! Stupid Prey! I'm over here! Pay attention to me!
Poison, Physical, Range 6, Ratatta 2
AC: [roll3] 2, Poison on 16-20, Crit on 19-20
Damage: [roll4]
If Crit: +[roll5]

[aturtledoesbite]

Reina, Samantha

The duel commences! Sayaka takes an early lead, incessantly pecking at the gooey Dragon-type! It managed to weaken the Swablu some with its bubbles, but despite Reina's best attempts, it couldn't withstand the assault!

The tables turned, however, when Joeniki the Charmander came out. Finishing off Sayaka, Samantha quickly replaced her with Hashirama, the Turtwig. From there, type advantages carried the day as Joeniki incinerated any chance Sam had of winning!


Nila, Marcus, Johnny

Nila's kick sends the Rattata flying! It's not getting up any time soon.

The Rattata in back notices Pale Night after being shot at, scampering through the grass to Tackle it! (19 damage)

Since it came up in the Roll20 chat, I'll mention: when I print out damage numbers, they're calculated after defense, weakness, resistance, and any other modifiers.


B.T., Justin

The Sewaddle considers it a moment, accepting the offer as the Pokédex begins to drone on.


Sewaddle, the Sewing Pokémon. Bug/Grass Type. Height: One foot, zero inches. Weight: Five-point-five pounds.
Sewaddle makes clothing for itself by sewing leaves together with the sticky thread it produces from its mouth. Fashion designers often use it as a mascot.

[Mura-neechan]

Reina - Samantha Post Battle RP

Reina Travies called Joenki over, quickly spraying the bruised side with a potion, ignoring the Charmander's complaints with... rather practiced precision, and flicked it on the side of its head. "You did well, but don't become arrogant. You were simply superior to your opponent. You will not always be."

Samantha Clark approached the victor with her hands folded behind her head. "I guess you were more determined than I was," she admitted. She pulled out 500 Pokedollars and held them out. "I believe this is the standard award."

Reina Travies tilted her head a bit, as she'd return Joenki to his Pokeball. Rising up, the girl simply shook her head. "I have little interest in your money. The entire point of this was to see if you could make proper decisions under pressure."

Samantha Clark clutched the money in her hand. "I'm not in it for the money either! It's... tradition! It's a sign of respect." She pondered on asking for what she meant by 'proper decisions' but the money was more frustrating to her.

Reina Travies nodded in complete understanding. "That's right. It won't be enough, but if you save up, you can probably find a mentor to help you with the basics. Once you understand how a Pokemon Battle is determined, you can challenge me again. I'll happily take your money then."

Samantha Clark blinked in disbelief and turned about for a bit. This situation was utterly foreign to her. The only person she knew who was similar was her own mother. And Sammy hated her mother. "What is wrong with you?!" she shouted.

Reina Travies smirked a bit, as she'd secure the minimized Pokeball to her belt and stared at Samantha. "There's nothing wrong with me. I'm strong, and capable. When I challenged you, I knew full well what Pokemon you had, and that it would be a difficult battle for you. I also needed to fully test the defenses Kenshiki had. You were useful, but this was never a battle I expected to lose. If you are angry at me for being a bit harsh, it is only because I know that you can also become strong."

Samantha Clark clasped a hand over her mouth. "Forgive me for raising my voice," she stated afterward with a short bow. Still, Reina's explanation did not satisfy her at all. It was as if the loner was entirely inhuman to her. "Hm, I suppose nothing is wrong with you. Maybe you can give me tips on battling and I'll help you with etiquette?"
Blondie: That last part is meant to be a bit of a jab.
But also sincere~

Reina Travies shrugged a bit, as she looked at the girl's sporadic reactions. "My etiquette? I'm pretty well raised, you know. How many fundraisers have you been dragged to?" The girl would place a hand on her hip, into something of a bit more haughty appearance. "Regardless. If you wanted to pay me to teach you how to be a battler, that's a different matter entirely. However, I don't tolerate any crap while I'm teaching someone."

Samantha Clark smirked a bit. "Etiquette might have been the wrong word. I just meant you could afford to be a little less harsh." She tapped her chin as she thought. "Quite a bit, really; I suppose we aren't so different. As for paying you? I have a feeling I could teach you a thing or two too. I'm pretty talented at getting my Pokemon up and ready to do their best. I suppose I just led them astray!"

Reina Travies laughed lightly, as she'd look to the older girl, not wavering in the least. "Led them astray? You should have surrendered, or accepted the draw. All you did was cause your Pokemon pain."

Samantha Clark covered her face with her palm for a bit. She had thought they were getting somewhere but the loner still had biting words. "Yeah, I admitted that I made the wrong call. But we don't get stronger without struggles from time to time. We can't have the world handed to us on a silver platter after all."

Reina Travies almost... maybe she did... It was brief, but Reina almost seemed to giggle at those words. "You don't throw your paper plates on the floor, either. If you'd taken my earlier advice, you could still have two functional Pokemon while learning something you didn't know of one of my own."

Samantha Clark called out her poor swablu and sprayed a Potion onto the cotton wings. She held it in her arms for the rest of the conversation. "Oh Sayaka will be back in action soon enough. And I'll reiterate that not everyone can be perfect." She chuckled a bit when a realization came to mind. "If you consider our battle as one of your lessons then I suppose I did pay you."

Reina Travies shrugged, as she'd move to head back down the route. "Well, good luck then. I need to see if there's proper match down the road." The girl would bend to her pre-run pose, bracing herself to take off.

Samantha Clark tilted her head and incidentally caused her unconscious swablu to do the same. "Wait what did you mean by that last part? Are you implying... ugh."

Reina Travies simply nodded. "That you aren't a reasonable contest? You are still a weak trainer. Your pokemon carries you in its strength. It is extremely capable, and with the right training, it could be enormously powerful."

Samantha Clark pet her swablu on the head. "You're right about one part: Sayaka is strong, no doubt about that." Once more the girl chuckled. "I have a feeling nobody on this route will satisfy you. But you're free to try. Anyways, I suppose you'll get to the town first." She lightly shook the unconscious avian in her arms. "I have to wait for my darling here."

Reina Travies nodded again, taking off without a word, waving her arm as a gesture of parting. Her concerns quickly shifted from Samantha, as Reina marched onto Cherry Town.

[SiegeTower]

Bob had almost caught up to Sam. It took him quite a while as he was enjoying playing for the shrine maiden. She had been the apple knocking him on the head which made him realise how he was going to fund his musical career. She deserved a song or two. Bob thought this was a thankful gift he was giving her but others may have disagreed. Bob's guitar playing was good but he seriously needed some vocal lessons.

After Bob had finally caught up to Sam, the battle between her and Reina had already passed. Bob wanted to go up to his friend and play her a song but his mood came down after seeing the fainted Sayaka.

"Hey what happened? Sayaka didn't seem like she needed to crash. Everything copacetic?"

[Charm25]

Marcus Osterbahn

Woah! Geez... Marcus reacts rather abruptly when the rattata all start baring fangs and attacking. It's now clear he wants nothing to do with anything that can do THAT - which means dispatching them post-haste is the best plan he can see. Thankfully, his Trapinch is decent with crowd control.

"Alright Flavio, keep tabs on 'em, then tag'em with a Bulldoze!" The trapinch shouldn't have much trouble with that!

Activating Inpsired Orders, +1 Evasion Bonus
Flavio's Bulldoze! [16] Damage [7,1]+10+19 = 37 damage

[aturtledoesbite]

Nila, Marcus, Johnny

The two Rattata in the fray see Nila as a threat after she kicks their friend away, so one of them Tackles her! (20 damage)

The other goes for Pepper, but Johnny takes the blow! (5 damage)

I wrote it as you intercepting for Pepper; lemme know if you wanted to intercept for Nila instead, or for neither.

[ptdapen]

Samantha Clark

The blonde watched the loner go down the route with a tornado of thoughts raging in her mind. She was starting to get used to the bluntness Reina used with her words. That trait made her more interesting in a way than the others who would not hesitate to kiss her boots. Still, Sammy felt that Reina could learn a bit about what she considered to be etiquette or manners. She loathed to admit it but she enjoyed being worshiped at times. At the very least she waved back to her. "Good lu... have fun with yo... see you later!" she called after her.

It also appeared that this girl would prove to be an interesting rival. Bob Autumn, as pleasant as he was as a companion, did not serve as a someone to test her strength. The only other person Samantha could think of was Ryoko though she had no idea how skilled of a trainer the ruffian was.

Samantha turned about to Bob and gave him a genuine smile. As a joke she decided to place one hand on Sayaka's mouth and moved it for mock speech. "I just need to take a nap after a tough battle but I'll be up in no time," Sammy told the guitarist in a play voice.

[Esprit15]

Pale Night
That's more like it! The Spinarak bites into the purple rat's flesh, injecting the Rattata with a little poison to weaken it.

[SiegeTower]

Bob Autumn

Bob throws Samantha a weak smile after her small bit of puppetry. It was obvious to anyone that Sam was trying to hide a little bit of sadness with her joke. Even Bob's usually airheadedness could see through that. Bob wasn't sure what happened exactly but it seemed like Sam was taking this loss of her battle rather hard. Maybe she just wasn't used to it. She was young and thought she could take on the world. That first moment of disillusionment is always the hardest.

Bob offers Samantha a hand.

"Hey we're not done with this road yet. Next stop's Cherry Town. Before the two head off again. Bob gives Sam a bigger smile and a peace sign. As the two continue on their journey, Bob plays the most appropriate song he knows to mark the occasion.

She's my cherry pie
Cool drink of water such a sweet surprise
Tastes so good makes a grown man cry
Sweet Cherry Pie... (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjyZKfdwlng&t=0m12s)

[CateranEnforcer]

Justin Hawkins


B.T.

B.T. rolls her eyes by way of reply and ambles over to pick up both the fresh captures as Justin talks to a bug. As she strolls back, she tugs out the brand new blue pokedex and points it at the sewaddle and, with her free hand, taps Justin on the top of the head with the pokeball with his Starly in it.

"Here you go," she says distractedly, dropping the ball into his lap as she fiddles with the pokedex. "Where was the scan button again...? Ah, there we go. Shame we didn't have a chance to get those two Starly before we caught 'em,"

She's distracted by a tug on her jeans and looks down into an irate black and white face.

"Yes, yes," B.T. says soothingly. "I've not forgotten you, Panny. You did great. Here... lemme see if I have a mint for you..." she adds, patting at her pockets while the 'dex chimes.


"Ouch! Oh thanks. That was exciting. I feel like a real trainer now." Justin stands back up and dusts himself off. "And don't worry, I've totally forgotten that thing you didn't say." An odd statement which clearly suggests the opposite. He collects his pokeballs and Dusty takes his accustomed spot on Justin's shoulder. He pats the spider gently, hair standing a bit on end as a result. "We'll get a chance to train them tonight. Shall we be off? Maybe stick to the roads the rest of the way? I wonder how the others are doing."

[aturtledoesbite]

Nila, Johnny, Marcus

Pepper's poisonous Smog knocks out both of the Rattata near him! The last one gets caught by Johnny in a Pokéball!

Everyone gets 8 Pokémon EXP!

[Lokyar]

Johnny dives in between Pepper and the ratts again, intercepting it's attack and being driven back once more trailing steam from his outstretched arms. As Pepper continues spewing toxic fumes at the nearby rodents Johnny spins and throws another pokeball at the more distant one, smiling as the distinctive ping signifies a successful capture.

After retrieving the two balls, one containing a Rattata and the other from the empty grass, he turns back to the others. Particularly to Nila. "Those were some impressive moves. I'm used to a fairly simplistic shield-spear dynamic with Pepper, I'll admit not having to hold them all off by myself is refreshing. Here, I've got some medical supplies for those bruises. It's the least I can do for the help."

Using 4AP on First Aid Kit to heal Nila twice and myself twice. 1AP remaining.
Nila: +6hp, +6hp
Johnny: +10hp, +5hp

[Aneurin]

Justin Hawkins

"Ouch! Oh thanks. That was exciting. I feel like a real trainer now." Justin stands back up and dusts himself off. "And don't worry, I've totally forgotten that thing you didn't say." An odd statement which clearly suggests the opposite. He collects his pokeballs and Dusty takes his accustomed spot on Justin's shoulder. He pats the spider gently, hair standing a bit on end as a result. "We'll get a chance to train them tonight. Shall we be off? Maybe stick to the roads the rest of the way? I wonder how the others are doing."


B.T.

"All fine by me," B.T. says easily, as she passes Panny a mint and scoops him up in her arms. "I figure I'll come back later and do some more scans anyway, so we can push on if you want. Not starting my holiday by crawling through the bushes in search of pokespoor sounds pretty awesome," she shrugs. "Not that I object, really. Doing that's fun sometimes. But, you know, holiday,"

She pauses, rummaging in one of the side pockets of her bag for something.

"Just give me a sec to..." she mutters, still searching, before pulling out a small bottle with a triumphant grin. "There we go. A little something for the pain for my best boy," B.T. says, smiling as she gently squirts the potion on Panny.

"You know, I don't think you've met yet, have you? This is Panny," she indicates the bundle of black and white fuzzy attitude in her arms, that's swining a bamboo cane ominously around.

[tonberryking]

Ryoko

Ryoko lets out an aggravated sigh.

"Anyway... look, we should get moving more through the tall grass. All of us have at least two pokemon except for rock head here and if we're going to go on this journey as...a team..." she grits her teeth when she says this, "Then we can't afford any liabilities. So let's go see if we can improve our roster a little more, and then get to this damn Cherry Town everyone's so excited about, huh?"

Attempting to take the lead, Ryoko (hopefully) tries to herd the others onwards.

[Esprit15]

Nila
The girl bites her tongue at the other trainer catching the Rattata. She did say that she wasn't too interested in catching it, so she can't blame him for not reading her mind when she changed it. The annoyance was somewhat mitigated by his being willing to fix her up without even being asked, too. "Yeah, no problem. Sorry I wasn't over sooner to help more," Nila says as she looks off toward the Rattata that she kicked into a tree. He'd probably be fine... "Out of curiosity, do you know your way around a fight, too, or do you generally just take hits for your friends?"

[Merilan]

Zuikaku

Zuikaku blinked and said, "Oh? Uhh, I didn't know you had to have a lot of Pokemon. Tsukimi and I seem to be doing okay so far, it's not about how many you have, right? It's about how close a friend you are with them!" largely without a care in the world, grinning. "Besides, I'll fight for my Pokemon, and that makes two! I'm like a Pokemon on my own!" Infallible logic!

[Lokyar]

Johnny Brockton

Johnny lightly twirls one of his throwing spikes in his right hand as he responds. "These aren't just for show. I doubt they have the impact that kick just did, but they do the trick for putting down anything that doesn't have the good sense to show it's belly when Pepper gets going. But for the most part, yeah, I'm the 'shield' in our partnership. At least until..."

He hesitates for a moment, then seemingly coming to a decision he pulls down his hood. His deep red hair is disheveled from the constant coverage. Closing his eyes and looking up towards the sun he breaths in for a moment then puts his hands together in front of him. After a few moments he pulls them apart to reveal a tiny ball of flame the size of an acorn. Releasing his breath in a sudden gasp the fire flickers out.

"Until I can get a handle on that." he says, breathing slightly heavily as he pulls his hood back on again. "The spark's there, but I'm missing some element to make the final connection. That's why I'm heading towards the Tower of Fire."

[Esprit15]

Nila
"Whoa!" the girl says, jumping back. "I mean, I knew there were people connected to the elements, living next to Saffron, but I never thought I would meet one." Pale Night hides behind her trainer, wary of the hot light that showed up in the other human's hands.

[Lokyar]

Johnny Brockton

"It's a somewhat recent development, and not exactly one I was thrilled with at the time. A boat in the middle of the ocean isn't a great place to suddenly become 'connected' to fire, not to mention the unpleasant side effects. But it is what it is, and teaming up with Pepper has given me a bit more control over it than meditation and breathing exercises ever did."

Pulling out his pokedex he pulled up it's number and held it out for Nila. "I should get going, I'm hoping to get to Cherry Town early enough to ask the locals about the Tower before it gets too late. I'm not great with crowds but if you ever feel like teaming up or just need a training partner this is my number. Name's Johnny."

[Esprit15]

Nila
"Nila," the girl says, exchanging numbers. "Gimme a shout if you need help out of a jam," the girl says with a smile.

"Come on, Marcus! Let's go find Sam and Bob, see how their experience on the route was."

[Lokyar]

Johnny Brockton

Johnny nods, then before leaving waves to Marcus. "Good fight, see ya around man."

Whistling for Pepper the two leave, making their way further along the route. "I think it'll be a while before we can handle four on two like that, so I'm gonna be depending on that nose of yours. If you find one or two, go at it. Any more than that steer us clear. But if you smell another fire pokemon...well, let me know and we'll sneak up on them. Nothing like a surprise attack to turn the odds in our favor."

[CateranEnforcer]

Justin Hawkins





B.T.

"All fine by me," B.T. says easily, as she passes Panny a mint and scoops him up in her arms. "I figure I'll come back later and do some more scans anyway, so we can push on if you want. Not starting my holiday by crawling through the bushes in search of pokespoor sounds pretty awesome," she shrugs. "Not that I object, really. Doing that's fun sometimes. But, you know, holiday,"

She pauses, rummaging in one of the side pockets of her bag for something.

"Just give me a sec to..." she mutters, still searching, before pulling out a small bottle with a triumphant grin. "There we go. A little something for the pain for my best boy," B.T. says, smiling as she gently squirts the potion on Panny.

"You know, I don't think you've met yet, have you? This is Panny," she indicates the bundle of black and white fuzzy attitude in her arms, that's swining a bamboo cane ominously around.

"You're right, this would be the first time. Don't think I've seen a pokemon like that before. Where are they from?" Out of curiosity, he pulls out his pokedex. "Let's see if this thing knows too. Oh Dusty, why don't you say hello to Panny?"

The little spider seems to hesitate, but slowly lowers himself on a thread to the ground and scurries over to have a closer look at Panny. The tiny, fuzzy spider clicks his mandibles together in greeting.

"Sorry he's a bit tired. When we get to town I'm going to find him some power to recharge on."

[Lokyar]

As he strolled through the grass Johnny pulled out his pokedex, taking advantage of the quiet to do a little much needed studying.

"Alright, let's see how this thing works. She said it responded to voice command. Pokedex, how many fire-typed species are known to live in Cytia?"


I'm sorry, that information is not in my databanks.

"Hmm. Okay, what information is in your databanks regarding fire types?"


Searching...
...
...
Search returns:
"Fire-type Pokémon in Kanto"
"Fire-type Pokémon in Johto"
"Fire-type Pokémon in Hoenn"
"Fire-type Pokémon in Sinnoh"
"Fire-type Pokémon in Unova"
"Fire-type Pokémon in Kalos"
"List of Fire-type Pokémon"
"Interactions between the Fire type and other types"
"Gym Leaders with Fire-type Pokémon"
"Notable trainers with Fire-type Pokémon"
"Fire-type Moves"

"Expand on Gym Leaders and Notable Trainers with Fire-Type Pokemon."


Gym Leaders who specialize in the Fire type include:
Blaine in Kanto
Flannery in Hoenn
Chili in Unova (former)

Notable trainers with Fire-type Pokémon include:
Red
Brendan
Maxie
Marley
Alder

Johnny sighs as the readout progresses. "Pokedex, restrict results to Cytia Region."


No results found.

"Alright, plan b then. Pokedex, do you have any information regarding the Tower of Fire?"


No information found

"Hmm. What categories of information are available for the Cytia Region?"


Searching...
...
...
...
...
No results found.

"Wow, she really did give us a blank slate. Pokedex, is there a reason your databanks are so sparse for this region?"


The Pokédex database is written by Pokémon Professors, who send Pokédex Holders out to gather information on the region. This data is then sent back to the Pokémon Professor, who writes the entries for the region and links already-existing segments of data to the region, as appropriate.

"So some information exists, but it doesn't know what to link until we go out and ask the right questions. Alright, let's go ask questions then..."

[aturtledoesbite]

Zuikaku, Ryoko

As Zui espouses the virtues of her teamwork with her Pokémon, she gets the sense that her Moon Stone feels a bit heavier than normal. As she glances up, she sees that a Starly has perched itself right on top of the lunar rock! Strangely, the Starly seems a little more...pink? than the other Starly seen on the route. It doesn't seem like it wants to move from its perch.

[ptdapen]

Samantha Clark

Sammy smile grew before she grasped the offered hand. She was not sure why he wanted to take her hand but it seemed like he wanted to be friendly. "I wonder if they have any tasty restaurants at Cherry Town. You know, it's funny; I passed by here on the way to the Pokemon Lab but I don't remember a thing about the place!" She shrugged and simply laughed it off. "Though I must say, I think you might want to get another Pokemon, either here or soon. The others dove into the grass earlier to get some reserves."

[Merilan]

Zuikaku

Surely, anyone would notice when added weight falls on their head! ... ... ...

"Whew, my head feels heavy all of a sudden!" Zuikaku grinned, putting her hands to her waist. "I think I've had a lot of excitement in just a day, hehe..."

... who misses something like that?!

[Aneurin]

Justin Hawkins

"You're right, this would be the first time. Don't think I've seen a pokemon like that before. Where are they from?" Out of curiosity, he pulls out his pokedex. "Let's see if this thing knows too. Oh Dusty, why don't you say hello to Panny?"

The little spider seems to hesitate, but slowly lowers himself on a thread to the ground and scurries over to have a closer look at Panny. The tiny, fuzzy spider clicks his mandibles together in greeting.

"Sorry he's a bit tired. When we get to town I'm going to find him some power to recharge on."

B.T.

"Panny's from Kalos. Me and my sister found him and his brother there while dad was working, but I think pancham - that's his species, for the record - can be found here, too. That's what dad said, anyway," she frowns a moment. "...I think. You know, I probably should have called home when I got off the plane, now I come to think of it," B.T. adds with a frown. Then she shrugs.

"Ah, whatever. Mum'll call Professor Evergreen some time soon, anyway, just to make sure I was alright. I'll call 'em tonight, just to prove I'm not lying dead in a ditch somewhere," she heaves an exagerated sigh, then winks at Justin. "Parents. What're you gonna do, right?"

[Nyna]

Rui Mitsuharu

Rui would eventually slow down to a walking pace as she headed on down the road. There was only one way to Cherry Town so it wasn't like she actually needed to stop and wait for the others to catch up, but no reason to run the whole way~ Besides, Baron would probably get all tired and cranky if she made him run on those short little legs forever... Still, hopefully her ploy had worked and kept Yumeko and Zuikaku from interfering with the trainer battle.

Either way though, Rui was feeling a little too impatient to actually stop, so she'd continue on down the path, keeping an eye out for trainers or pokemon...

[Charm25]

Marcus

"Lot of help you were..." Marcus mutters to himself, before catching up to Nila and eventually Sammy.


"Though I must say, I think you might want to get another Pokemon, either here or soon. The others dove into the grass earlier to get some reserves."

The blond shakes his head, having caught the tail end of the young woman's conversation. "Nothing there but a buncha mice. Gotta find something better than that! How was your battle?" He had caught brief flashes of her and Reina squaring off, meaning if they hadn't battled already then one was in the wings. Perhaps he might be able to rope the more aloof trainer in easier than he thought!

[SiegeTower]

Bob Autumn

"Huh? Why would I want more Pokemon? Tambourine here is the only one I've ever seen that can keep a beat." The bouncing Tympole vibrates his cheeks simulating a drum cymbal as proof. "No point to get anyone to join the band unless they can play something. I don't think mice can manage that."

[aturtledoesbite]

Further searches for wild Pokémon and trainers prove uneventful, and you all eventually find yourselves in Cherry Town.

Cherry Town isn't much bigger than Apple Town, and it shows. Notable structures include the Pokémon Center with the bright red roof in the center of town, and the blue-roofed PokéMart next door. Built into the side of the PokéMart, however, is an additional structure. A sign in front of the door says "Fishing Goods".

Near the north end of town, a large building stands above the rest. It appears to be labeled as a "Pokémon Trainer School", and can likely explain things like how types interact and what a given Pokémon might be ailing with...which might be more helpful if all of you didn't have pocket-sized encyclopedias with the information.

South is Route 701. North is Route 702 and Cherry Lake. East is Route 703.

The sun is beginning to set; further traveling is inadvisable.

...The pink Starly is still sitting on Zui's headstone.

[Lokyar]

Finally arriving in town Johnny begins looking around. Though he doesn't plan on staying in one, having spent all of his cash on supplies and having resigned himself to camping on the road, an inn or town market might have a few people he could ask about the area.

[Esprit15]

Nila
Hm, fishing supplies... Well, they probably have camping supplies as well, might as well make a stop. Maybe see something unexpected. "Hey guys, I'll meet you at the Pokémon center, okay?Gonna hit up the store really quick. I could keep going into the evening, but let me know what you guys talk over." With that, she jogs off to the store, and then the little fishing stand.

[ptdapen]

Samantha Clark

When Sayaka came to, she chirped and batted her wings until she was able to break free from the hold. The swablu then attempted to knock off Bob's hat and take her rightful place on top of his head. Regardless of the outcome, Sammy rushed forward and seized her Pokemon once more. "You just got out of such a difficult battle and this is what you do?" she exclaimed at her Pokemon. Sayaka merely nodded as a response. "Sorry about her. It's just in her nature to love head-sitting."

Sammy took a look over her poor swablu's body. "You still look a bit hurt darling. Let's get you patched up at the PokeCenter." She marched forward to the hospital without waiting for the others. Hashirama assuredly still required help after all.

[Elfbird]

Yumeko Shiroi

"Ah, there's nowhere to spend the night..."*
"A 'Pokemon Trainer School'...** Oh, Zui-chan! You said you're not so good at that, right? Come, let's go see! You can come too, Starlette," she adds to the pink bird on Zui's head.
"Ryocchan is already a really good Trainer, so you probably don't want to... Could you keep an eye on Rui-chan for me? Unless you two do want to come after all."
Yumeko makes a quick bow to Ryoko, then takes Zui by the hand and starts excitedly pulling her toward the Trainer School. Hopefully they're still open at this hour...


*Gen. Ed.: 2 (what's a Pokemon Center?)
**Perception: 12 (That Thing Looks Important)

[Aneurin]

B.T.

Town, at last. Woo. No, really, much excitement and so on and so forth. Shame it'd taken so long to get here, really and it'll be dark by the time they get to the lake.

Oh well.

"You still up to camping out at the lake tonight?" B.T. asks Justin with a considering glance at the reddening sky and growing shadows. She's still carrying an increasingly sleepy-looking pancham in her arms as they approach the town. "Whatever we do, I need to swing by the center to get that Starly we mauled fixed up properly,"

[Merilan]

Zuikaku

Zuikaku jolts just a moment, before laughing to nod and go, "O-okay, I'll follow you!" and walks towards the Trainer School, before blinking. "Who's Starlette, by the way...?"

[aturtledoesbite]

Nila

The Fishing Store has the following items for sale.


Old Rod: $1000
Bait: $250
Bait x10: $2000
Fishing Lure: $1500
Water Filter: $500
TM73 Thunder Wave: $2200


Yumeko, Zuikaku

A sign hanging on the front door of the trainer school reads "Closed". Come back tomorrow, maybe?

[Elfbird]

Yumeko Shiroi

"Oh, it's closed. Then I guess we should check in at the Pokemon Center...? Or, did Zui-chan want to do anything else tonight?"

Yumeko gently pokes at the belly of the Starly still patiently sitting on Zuikaku's head. "Zui-chan, you shouldn't ignore your new friend you know. They must be getting tired; make sure they have a comfortable place to sleep tonight!"

[SiegeTower]

Bob's hat is easily knocked off his head by Sayaka. The musician was much more used to it being slapped down by Tambourine's tail than smacked off in the opposite direction. A nice shiney coin falls out of the hat as it's hit away but Bob is incredibly quick to catch the currency.

"Ain't nothin' if the free flying bird wants to groove on the flat top. Just gotta make sure my scratch don't go flying away with it."

When Bob and the rest of the Pokedex crew arrive at Cherry Town, there wasn't much to look at. The sun was setting so it was best to call it a night. Bob used to crash wherever he could but one perk he had learned from gaining his percussionist was that there were free couches for him to snooze on at every Pokemon center now. A free roof over your head every night was a vagrant's dream. Bob was taking full advantage of that tonight.

[tonberryking]

Ryoko

Ryoko has a limit of how much silliness she can stand to point out before she just rolls with it, although for the remainder of the trip to Cherry Town she and Clubton exchange glances and wonder to each other when Zui is going to notice her new friend. She even handwave negates Clubton's silent offer to bop Zui's new headgear and by the time they reach the town she ponders her (and possibly the other girls') next move.

"So, uh," she looks down at Rui, trying to pretend she knows the younger girl's name, "While Pinky, Rockhead and the Miko are occupied, and because the damn pokemart only has poke-themed clothes instead of something normal... keep in mind she is still wearing a rather tattered (boy's) uniform from some unknown school, "You wanna get something to eat after we check your starly into the pokecenter? she heads towards the center anyway, possibly for similar reasons as Bob to check out the free sofas undoubtedly inside.

[Merilan]

Zuikaku

Zuikaku paused for a long moment... ... ...

"Huh...?" She looked up and -- well, discovered that it was kind of hard to stare at one's forehead. "Eh? Is there something there? Ehhhhhhhhh?!"

[Esprit15]

Nila
"Well... Nothing like a good deal on a TM. I'm sure I'll catch something that can make use of Thunder Wave, or get something for it," Nila says, paying for the TM 73 and returning to her group at the center.

"So! We sticking around here or are we braving the night and sleeping outside?" Nila asks, putting a little more emphasis on the latter.

[aturtledoesbite]

Everyone

As each of you enters the Pokémon Center, the Nurse Joy on duty will call out, "Welcome! How may I help you today?"

Those of you that have injured Pokémon go up to the counter, where she takes the Pokéball for a minute and places it in the recovery machine; it doesn't take long before she returns the Pokéballs.

When asking about a place to stay for the night, Nurse Joy says, "Of course. How many rooms will you all need?"

As you all sort out the details, a man with glasses, slightly-disheveled black hair, and a dusty overcoat walks in. "Excuse me, are there any Pokémon Trainers here? I need your assistance!"

[Esprit15]

Nila
"Some of us. Whatcha need?"

[Mura-neechan]

Reina would quietly head to the Pokemon Center first, to recover Kenshiki's stamina. Finding the little blob dragon back in good health, she sighed softly. Night would be coming in soon, which bred a whole slew of possibilities. Most pokemon would be hoveled up in their shelters, sleeping and dangerous through numbers. But Nocturnals and Dark types could easily be around... It could be useful to add such a Pokemon to her collection. They weren't what she was after, but it might not be a bad placeholder. Reina frowned a bit in thought, as she'd begin to leave, quietly quoting some of Taena's teachings to herself. "The Trainer never rests before their Pokemon, the Trainer never eats before their Pokemon. Form bonds and ambitions together through shared experience. Improves cohesion..." The girl would snap out of her daze, just before leaving as the old man cried out for help. Placing a hand on her hip, she'd look to the man from her side. "There's a small number of real Trainers here, and a few others of various capability. I can't gurantee helping you myself, but I'll at least listen."

[Esprit15]

Nila
"Real trainers? As opposed to what?" Nila asks, catching the implication.

[Nyna]

Rui Mitsuharu

Rui would nod in response to Ryoko's question. "Sounds like a plan to me. Let's go get Eggolas patched up." Rui would walk along with Ryoko as they approached the Pokecenter. She'd gladly check in Eggolas at the counter, as well as reserving a room for herself, and another for Ryoko while she was up there, before walking back over to the woman. "Got us each a room, and..." She'd look over towards the man with glasses. "Let's find out what he wants~" And she'd walk on over curiously.

"If it's something I can help with, I'll do it! What's the problem?"

[tonberryking]

Ryoko

Ryoko remembers to get another room for Yumeko and Zui (note: singular room) before following Rui. She shakes her head though and attempts to take control of the situation:

"Yeah. What's in it for us?"

[CateranEnforcer]

Justin Hawkins

Justin nods to B.T. "Yeah sounds good, Dusty could use a bit of a rest there." He looks around at the deepening night. "Hey, Pokedex do you know how far it is to the lake from Cherry Town?" he says aloud. Turning back to B.T. "Depending how far we have to go, it might be better to wait for morning. I'm fine with trying if it looks promising though." He heads to the pokemon center with the rest, even though all his Joltik really needs is a bit of rest.

Dusty, now fully charged, skitters around the pokemon center, going between feet, up walls, and across the ceiling. Justin lounges in a chair, fiddling with his pokedex when the man walks in asking for help. He stands straight up at the request for help, and asks,"What's the problem, sir?" He casts a sidelong glance at Reina as she makes her comment about real trainers, and his lips purse a bit but otherwise he says nothing. With a snap of his fingers, he calls Dusty to him to rest peacefully on his shoulder again.

[Aneurin]

B.T.

"He probably just wants a pokemon battle," B.T. comments, disinterestedly as she flips through one of the magazines in the waiting room. "So, anyway, I still want to get up to the lake for dawn," she goes on, clearly dismissing the stranger. "Or a bit before. I guess we could get up early, that'd be inconvenient... and we'd still need to buy rods tonight if we wanted to go fishing. Unless they do rentals up there..." she frowns for a moment. "Any idea if they do? You're from around here, right?"

[Charm25]

Marcus Osterbahn

"Geez, Reina, play nice!" Marcus chides the wannabe dragon master. Having seen and registered the gooey goomy in his dex, he's figured out it actually isn't a poison type, which changes his view of Reina significantly - not a frumpy "I don't want to make friends because I'm so bad" demeanor, so much as a "you people are beneath me" sort of mindset. The latter was, strangely enough, easier to work with. A few feats of strength should really help change her views of the boy.

Thankfully enough, someone needs help, and it might give him a chance to show what he can do. "Calm down man, we can help. Whatcha need?"

[SiegeTower]

Bob looked around as everyone talked about being "real" trainers or not. Bob was sure he fell in the latter category. He was just gonna go rest up for the night while these folks did their thing.

[aturtledoesbite]

Everyone

The man gives a sigh of relief when so many people offer their help "Well, you see, I'm a researcher of sorts. I was trying to decipher some ancient tablets I'd found in my travels when a group of armed men came and stole them from me. I'm not really much of a trainer, so I don't have any way to recover them myself. They split up after they took them, so I don't know which routes they went on or where they took the tablets, but as dark as it's getting, they can't have gotten far...please, can you all track them down and recover them for me?"

At Ryoko's question of the reward, the man scratches the back of his head. "Er, well...I don't really have much money, but...I can teach Pokémon a few moves; maybe I could teach yours something?"

[CateranEnforcer]

Justin Hawkins

Justin raises an eyebrow at B.T. "This might be a good chance to faint two Pidgeys with one Rock Throw. You think some ran to the lake?" He steps forward, "Not to worry, this is the kind of thing the Pokemon Rangers are for! I'll have a look around!"

Turning to B.T. "This should only take a minute, I hope if you want to pick up your rod!"


Survival to track [roll0]

[Aneurin]

B.T.

"So... you're offering to reward us for calling the police for you?" B.T. gives the stranger a funny look. "Because this sounds like a job for the police, what with the whole theft thing. And the fact that even if we did feel like a bit of vigilante justice, we'd have to be pretty daft to follow a complete stranger out into the dark and run off down some country roads on the strength of their say-so," she adds pointedly, as she folds up the magazine and places it back on the table beside her.

And then Justin cuts in and B.T. sighs.

"...Never mind,"

[Mura-neechan]

Reina casually waved off the concerns of others about her words, folding her arms at her belly and listening to the man's story. He mentioned teaching moves, which had promise, even if it was an unknown and limited promise. Sighing softly, Reina simply moved to approach the man, and stare at him for a moment, before releasing her arms and nodding, taking a hand to flip her long hair back and smile a bit.

"I'll see what I can do. It might take some time to recover these things, how can I get back in touch with you after I've acquired one of these tablets?"

[Esprit15]

Nila
"We," she says, correcting Reina's use of the singular, "would be more than happy to, by the sound of it. Could you just describe them for us? Should make it easier to identify them. Faces, clothes, what they were armed with." She looks over at her travel group. "Want to do a little more travel before calling it a night? Might even be able to catch them sleeping."

[ptdapen]

Samantha Clark

Sammy expressed great remorse to her Pokemon after they were healed by the Pokemon Center. Sayaka took her place on top of her owner's head as recompense and Hashirama held his head high. The blonde thanked her turtwig for his resilience and recalled him back to his Pokeball.

Her attention turned to the commotion going on with the stranger. Her first instinct was to volunteer to help but the last battle had admittedly left her spirits dampened. She was clearly not undefeatable and these dangerous men would likely not fight by League standards. But when others started to volunteer she gripped her fists tight and stepped forward. At that moment she could not believe that she even hesitated. "Yes, it seems that most of us are willing to help you," she told the man. "What's your name by the way? I'm Samantha." She smiled at him as a sign of reassurance.

"Don't mind Reina. It's in her nature to be... honest," Samantha commented with an amused expression. Other people had to experience the scathing remarks. Those comments stilled irked her but she was learning to tune them out. Her father had complained about her mother daily and usually immediately when he had gotten home from work.

Sammy wondered though if the girl was a loner by original choice or because she found it difficult to communicate with others without them getting offended. It would be untactful to ask so she resigned to learning more about her gradually if at all possible. The prospect felt doubtful to her though due to their conflicting nature.

With those thoughts dealt with, she returned to her musician companion. "I'm not sure how big on heroics you are but if not for him could you come with me?" she inquired with a low voice. "I could use your support. We could use your support. I saw Sayaka fighting stronger than she has in a long time due to your songs." She gave him a thumbs up but redacted it to a peace sign that he had favored before.

The socialite then went back to the rest of the group and assumed a commanding position. She was not sure if she was making the right decisions but she stood confident. "We will need to split up in order to catch each and every one of the ruffians. I think it'd be best if we agreed to all return here at a certain time so that if one of us gets lost or worst we can decide to support them."

[Lokyar]

Johnny Brockton

"Pepper, grab his scent."

The fluffy houndour runs up to the man and begins sniffing him studiously while Johnny approached the man. "I'll need to know where you were attacked and any place you came from or went to from that location, and if the tablets were taken in a personal item like a backpack. Pepper might be able to pick up the trail from there."

Turning back to the others Johnny pulled out his flashlight and held it up inquiringly. "Show of hands on how many people came prepared to travel at night?"

[Merilan]

Zuikaku

Zuikaku emerged into the Pokemon Centre at about this time, flailing and hurrying up to the Nurse Joy-- "Mom-- er-- I mean, Miss Joy--" Oh god that's awkward, when your mom looks like every other Nurse Joy out there, uuu homesick "--I've got a Pokemon on my head!! Help!"

So peaceful...

[Esprit15]

Nila
"I can. Just let me grab a flashlight," the girl says, looking through her bag. Could have sworn she bought one, but no worries.

[Aneurin]

B.T.

"...I suddenly understand all the frustration we must have caused mum and dad when we were growing up," B.T. mutters, massaging the bridge of her nose to ward of the incipient headache. "Why the hell am I the responsible one here?"

With a heartfelt groan, B.T. levers herself to her feet, climbs on a chair and waves to attract attention. When that doesn't work, she just starts shouting over the milling group.

"Oi! If you're honestly going to go running around a strange place in the dark following a vague story from a total stranger looking for criminals, then you're going to do it the smart way. Insofar as it's possible. First up, no-one's alone. Groups of three or more so if something goes wrong, you've got someone to help and someone to fetch more help. Second: you're all collecting my number and leaving your own with me. I'm staying here, and if anyone gets in trouble I'll round up help. Which brings us to three. Check in with me every twenty minutes with your GPS location. If you miss a check in I'll assume you're in trouble, get help, and come looking. So don't miss a check in - when I'm looking for your butt I'm not looking for anyone else's who might really be in trouble, right?"

It's not a perfect solution, but, hey, they're clearly not going to be deterred and with a bit of luck the worst that'll happen is that someone gets lost, has a bit of a scare or sprains an ankle. Of course, that's assuming no-one actually finds said criminals. And that this isn't some kind of trap.

[Elfbird]

Yumeko Shiroi

Yumeko grips her naginata a little bit tighter and looks for her companions in the crowd. Pyrrha sits primly on the corner of the counter to stay out from underfoot.

Ryocchan, Rui-chan, ...Zui-chan. We must help, of course. Pyrrha and Matches can light our way. If we race to the foot of the mountains, we might catch them in a... difficult position. She smirks slightly with that last part, imagining setting on the crooks with fire and spear from below while they try to climb a sheer face. As if Team Sugar Plum Fairies would be so fortunate.

While waiting for the others to get organized, Yumeko checks the laces on her sneakers, wraps up and ties her long sleeves, and re-secures her clothes so she can run without difficulty.

[aturtledoesbite]

Zuikaku

Nurse Joy stares at the pink Starly, in addition to the Moon Stone lodged in Zui's head. It seems peaceful enough. She reaches up toward the Starly, though, and it pecks her hand away. "Well...I suppose it must like the...Moon Stone." She seems to have mentally decided that the Moon Stone was a secondary concern at the moment. "Hold on one moment."

Nurse Joy reaches into a drawer on her side of the counter, pulling out a Pokéball. The top of it was blue instead of red, though, and had a crescent moon stenciled on it. She hands it to Zui. "Try using this."


Everyone

The man ends up stepping back a bit, likely unused to dealing with so many people all asking questions. "Uh, well, my name is Charles. Let's see...the men had black uniforms with...I guess they were sun symbols on the front? It looked like they all had daggers and Pokémon with them, too. It happened just outside, not too long ago. The tablets were each in their own back, to protect them from wear...oh, I hope they're undamaged..."

He pauses for a minute, clearly worrying over the state of the tablets, before continuing. "Oh, uh, I'll be staying here tonight, I guess; tomorrow I'll be heading toward Orange Town to study the Tower of Fire, and I should be there a while; you should be able to find me there."

[Merilan]

Zuikaku

"O-oh, thank you!" Zuikaku looked apologetic and grateful at the same time, before -- taking the moon-shaped Pokeball to kind of... ... ...dunk it onto her forehead. "There there, little Starlette... come in there? C'mon... it's comfy in there! There's-- snacks and comfortable pillows and television!"

[Mura-neechan]

Reina nodded as she was given the information, starting to head out herself, clearly ignoring Nila's concerns for safety, as she tossed a Pokeball, letting loose her charmander and moving to grab her own torch. "Alright, Joenki, let's get going. We'll head north, so it might be a little while before we can get your tablet back to you. If I recover it, I'll have it sent to the Orange Town Pokemon Center." Reina smiled, a bit kindly to the researcher, before she'd hurry off from the center, dashing out alongside her Charmander, to take the northern Route.

[CateranEnforcer]

Justin Hawkins


B.T.

"...I suddenly understand all the frustration we must have caused mum and dad when we were growing up," B.T. mutters, massaging the bridge of her nose to ward of the incipient headache. "Why the hell am I the responsible one here?"

With a heartfelt groan, B.T. levers herself to her feet, climbs on a chair and waves to attract attention. When that doesn't work, she just starts shouting over the milling group.

"Oi! If you're honestly going to go running around a strange place in the dark following a vague story from a total stranger looking for criminals, then you're going to do it the smart way. Insofar as it's possible. First up, no-one's alone. Groups of three or more so if something goes wrong, you've got someone to help and someone to fetch more help. Second: you're all collecting my number and leaving your own with me. I'm staying here, and if anyone gets in trouble I'll round up help. Which brings us to three. Check in with me every twenty minutes with your GPS location. If you miss a check in I'll assume you're in trouble, get help, and come looking. So don't miss a check in - when I'm looking for your butt I'm not looking for anyone else's who might really be in trouble, right?"

It's not a perfect solution, but, hey, they're clearly not going to be deterred and with a bit of luck the worst that'll happen is that someone gets lost, has a bit of a scare or sprains an ankle. Of course, that's assuming no-one actually finds said criminals. And that this isn't some kind of trap.


Justin nods,"B.T. is right, these are dangerous criminals we might be dealing with, you shouldn't just run off on your own. If we're going to get anywhere, we should move carefully and in groups. I found three sets of tracks, one to the north, south, and east. They can't have gotten far, so we should return here when we are able, or at least report back." He's looks around at the group. "Few people are already trying to head north, what about the east and south routes? We can easily return to our other plans after this is dealt with."

Justin fears this is going to go just as well as his attempt to organize the group at Apple, but it can't hurt to try again.

[Lokyar]

Johnny Brockton

"I'm heading towards the Tower tomorrow too, wouldn't mind someone familiar with the area as a guide and I can keep this happening again on the way."

Johnny waves to the girl on the chair. "Sounds good. I'm in the dex under Johnny. Considering who we're going to be tracking down it'd probably be a good idea if each group had someone that can fight, too. So far I know that's me and Nila. I'm gonna have Pepper search the area and try to catch the trail, if you're playing operator I'll leave it to you to organize the groups."

Exiting the pokecenter Johnny followed Pepper around as he searched for the matching scent of the researcher and his attackers.


Pepper Perception(Tracker)
[roll0]

[ptdapen]

Samantha Clark

Sammy stared at the majestic starly on top of Zuikaku's head. Its majesty for the time being took complete precedence over the theft. Just as she was planning on tossing a Pokeball, however, the moon girl tapped it with one of her own. She frowned and returned back to the task at hand.

"Did she just run off by herself? Wait, I'm not surprised at all," Samantha commented on Reina's departure. It was her belief that no matter how capable the loner was that she could not handle a group of thieves by herself. "I don't think we have much time for more planning. Someone needs to go after her. I suppose I could but I'm not sure if she wants me around." She turned to B.T. and gave her a thumb's up. "I'll keep you informed just like you asked."

She waved over Bob with the assumption that he'd follow her to the gates of hell and back. "Which way should we go? Anyone you want to bring along? Are we going to, uh, chase after her again?"

[tonberryking]

Ryoko

"Yeah, yeah, Miko. I'm on this one.... Snips!" Releasing her lillipup, Ryoko picks him up and without any sort of apology holds him close to Charlie. The puppy starts sniffing at him on command: "Get this nerd's scent, we're gonna go hunt down the a-holes who took his history project." She doesn't seem all that concerned that some other girl (Reina) ran off alone at night. She seems okay with leaving her to her fate.

"Rockhead, you.. uh.. you have a sword right? We'll hunt these goons down and just full on attack 'em and let Acreus sort out whatever's left. Little kid, this is apparently to Rui, whom Ryoko hasn't figured out a halfway derogatory nickname for, "Can you fight, or are you just gonna lob pokemon into the mix?"


Snip's perception check [roll0] I'm assuming I can blow AP on this... I hope.

[SiegeTower]

Bob was ready to call it quits and let everyone else handle it. A little coaxing from Samantha brought him back though. Samantha's adoption of the peace symbol sealed that deal.

Bob wasn't ready to fight any big bads on his own but he was more than happy to support someone else doing it. Just to keep them safe. He wasn't gonna go hunting after anyone but he was going to make sure those that did didn't get hurt along the way.

"Uh, tailing the skirt's worked for us so far. Think she might wanna jump bad with everyone though and that's more than she can take. The real gone cats can't always believe their own hype."

Bob's answer was clear to him. He didn't take a moment to consider if it translated for Sam.

"Uh, how are we gonna call back to the cats on the homefront? I never scored a phone." Bob never did get acquainted with the device given to him by the professor. He would need to be filled in on that later. Right now it was time for him and Sam to give chase once again.

[Esprit15]

Nila
"If she wants to run off, she can. No sense holding onto her if she wants to run off alone," Nila says to Bob.

[ptdapen]

Samantha Clark

Sammy scratched her after the guitarist stated his opinion. Something about cats and jumping around. Not much of it made sense to her except for the part about it being more than she could take. "Ordinarily I'd say she'd be fine out there but she could get seriously hurt or worse," Samantha told Nila. "I'm certain she won't like anyone following her but I'd rather her be alive and angry at us than dead. Come on Bob... Autumn, let's go!"

The blonde charged out of the PokeCenter and went straight northward like the loner had said. Sayaka was a bit disgruntled by the loss of her perching spot but she flew alongside her human with determination. She agreed with helping Reina regardless of the circumstances; they were heroes and when people needed help they would always help!

[aturtledoesbite]

Zuikaku

The pink Starly is drawn in the Pokéball! It lightly shakes a couple of times, almost experimentally, before sitting still and clicking shut!

Level 10, Modest, Keen Eye, Female

Instead of Normal/Flying, it is Flying/Fairy and is the Wind Vestal

Use this movelist instead of the Pokédex PDF's list: http://puu.sh/pFbsR.txt

Everything else is as a regular Starly.


Everyone leaving the Center

As you leave, Charles calls out to you, "If you find any of my tablets, please bring them back here as soon as you can! And whatever you do, don't damage them!


Johnny

Pepper sniffs around, and reports a scent trail heading north to Route 702. He sees a few people also heading north; maybe he could go with them?


Ryoko

Snips catches the same scent trail going north, but he also smells a trail going south, back toward Route 701. No one else seems to be going that way.


Justin

As people filter out of the Center, he finds that only a handful of people are left. One group went north, and another went south, but no one's followed the eastern set of tracks yet.

[CateranEnforcer]

Justin Hawkins

"There's a path this way I can see." Justin points to the east."I'll lead a group to them! I'll give you a call BT if anything happens." He shrugs helplessly. "And sorry about the fishing and camping. Duty calls. We'll go for sure," He tosses her a thumbs up.

[Elfbird]

Yumeko Shiroi

Yumeko's voice becomes clipped; a commanding mood unlike her usual carefree attitude. "Understood. Snips, Ryocchan, we'll be counting on you to lead us to the crooks. Pyrrha, Kagerou," she releases Kagerou from her ball. "Be our eyes in the night - help us find them first. In Cresselia's name, we shall punish them!"

Yumeko will follow Ryoko out of the PokeCenter, whether they wait for Zui and Rui or call for them to catch up. Pyrrha will stay with the Trainers, using Ember regularly to light their path (unless Ryoko or someone brought a flashlight). Kagerou will stick to the shadows in the treeline and parallel the group, on the lookout for a potential ambush - ours or theirs.

Here's a collection of general rolls for use during the pursuit. Let me know if you want any other skills or rerolls. I hope it's not too many ^^;

Yumeko
Intuition: (3d6)[roll0]
Stealth: (2d6)[roll1]
Athletics: (3d6)[roll2]

Pyrrha
Perception: (2d6+1)[roll3]
Stealth: (3d6+1)[roll4]
Athletics: (3d6+1)[roll5]

Kagerou
Perception: (2d6+1)[roll6]
Stealth: (2d6+2)[roll7]
Acrobatics: (3d6+2)[roll8]

[Lokyar]

"Got a trail." Johnny calls out to the others. "North route."

"Alright boy, let's go!" Johnny and Pepper rush off towards the north route to catch up to the others.

[Merilan]

Zuikaku

Zuikaku's eyes reflect the stars she sees in the Starly as she says, "Welcome onboard! I'll take really good care of you... uh--" She paused again, and then chimed, "Your pink feathers remind me of autumn's leaves, so I'll call you Momiji!"

She looked to Ryoko and Yumeko, completely unaware of what's going on. "Eh? Are we going out again? I'm a bit tired, but... you know, I'm ready to go! And yes, the Moonlight Greatsword shall shatter evildoers asunder!"

She holds the sword up and strikes a pose, then hurries after the others.

... no matter how you look at it, it's plastic ... it even has an obvious slot where you're supposed to put batteries in it ...

Is this really okay?