Printable Version of Topic

Posted by: LittleShadowPokemon Nov 17 2011, 12:03 PM

Joey wandered around the land of Fidona. It had been two weeks since the helicopter from Starfall Field had dropped him off and he still felt like it was his first day. Leaning up against a tall, modernized building in Fidona’s capital and absentmindedly peeling mold off a roll of bread, the young trainer gazed around the city blanketed by tropical flora and atmosphere and surprisingly even fauna, noted as he shared a cleaner piece of bread with a neighborhood Chatot.

While it was a bit hot and humid, Joey knew too well the desert’s cold night than to spurn tropical warmth. Plus, the local library was the perfect haven with air conditioning. Quite content to spend his time reading and taking in everything of which he always assumed he was cheated during childhood, Joey only left to exercise his Pokémon and to look for food. Oddly enough, the Raticate, Sinbad, still felt inclined to tag along with Joey’s group, but it was not unusual for him to maintain independence by disappearing for a few hours or a day and refusing any food offered to him by Joey, who shrugged off the Pokémon’s indifference with the mentality that he didn’t need another mouth to feed.

Luckily, along with Pokémon books, the young man also pored over nutrition books and general education books. His only regret was not being able to stay longer and read the books forever, but in order to get the best food, one had to circulate amongst the business dumpsters precisely within closing time. Within a week, he had the most effective route. Thanks to that and city food health and safety laws that contributed to the disposal of perfectly good food that may have been on the counter longer than preferred, he ate quite well for possibly the longest stretch of time in his life.

Having finished his bread and stretched, he unfolded his crutches and started for his usual clearing on the edge of the capital city. Joey was pleasantly surprised that he was getting around so well. The sharp spasms of pain in his leg faded away to a near non-existent ache, unless he did something superfluous in movement where his nerves kindly reminded him to cut it the hell out. He fantasized about getting his cast off soon, but had no idea how to do so. Looking around the capital, he imagined that any number of medical facilities would charge for the procedure, and also for every individual step of it. Possibly, he could be charged just for entering the building. His mother’s rantings about the corruption of the medical field flooded back to him in a wave of what he was aghast to recognize as fondness.

“Glorified vets,” she would say. “That’s all they are, Joey. That’s all they are.”

Upon reaching the clearing, relief washed over Joey’s face to see his black and green tent still standing. Constantly, he had to remind himself that his was not Pyrite, where vandalism and theft reigned supreme. Truly, even the wild Pokémon living close to the capital seemed more tame and respectful than he initially expected, both giving him space to live peacefully and pleasantly interacting with him. Since establishing his tent in the clearing with a beautiful view of the capital, especially at night, the un-aspiring trainer and his Pokémon have had the opportunity to play with the local fauna such as Oddish, Whismur, and the ever-adorable Sewaddle. Approaching the tent and plopping down cautiously of his leg at the tarp entrance to the tent, Joey unintentionally caused the scatter of three Zigzagoon with their oran berries, scampering back into the undergrowth.

Clicking each of his four Pokéballs, Joey called out all his Pokémon to stretch their respective appendages in the fresh air and sunlight. Much like he felt his own physical and mental health flourish in his new lifestyle, he saw the same in his Pokémon. All the negative baggage from Pyrite melted away and shed off him like silk wrappings. He was glad to see the same of Claw. The Pidgey really seemed to have filled out lately. While he may never get away from his naturally small stature, he now seemed proportionately healthy, and his feathers and talons were strong and free of cracks or chips.

There was something else in Claw’s demeanor as well. He seemed more patient lately, more refined, and less irritable. He played whole-heartedly with the other Pokémon, even Jet the Seel. Perhaps having enough food to go around and a place to live for even a short while took some of the displaced pressure off. Jet hadn’t really changed all that much personally expect for the strengthened bond between trainer and Pokémon, and said trainer’s enhanced confidence in his battling abilities. Kimiko still had a wondrous and playful curiosity about her, but she seemed at the same time to moving away from her babyish self-absorption. She was becoming more cognizant of her surroundings and peers, and she interacted more than anyone in the group with the wildlife. She was becoming aware of battling, her moves, opponent’s moves, defensive maneuvers, and strategy, mostly due to watching Sinbad, who just happened to lumber out of the undergrowth and into the clearing of playing Pokémon.

Ignoring Joey completely beyond a nod of greeting, the Raticate stalked towards Babylon, his usual first choice. Since what was about to proceed had become a habit of late, Joey tightened in expected anticipation. Babylon, also knowing what to anticipate, scrunched away like a small kitten facing a spray bottle of water.

Joey recognized Sinbad as a competent battler and a virtuous tactician and liked to think he had the vaguest idea of what Sinbad intended. He truly thought that Sinbad meant to toughen up Babylon through confrontation, having pinned him as the weakest link, and Joey thought, rightfully so.

Remembering back to Babylon’s latest battling role, which was essentially hiding behind Claw and Joey giving what support he could, came a long way from running off the field, but it was still a few city blocks away from independence. Joey had come to appreciate Babylon’s gentler qualities such as sniffing flowers, rubbing against trees, and laying in a bed of soft and tender ferns among the earth. After seeing such a timid nature in the Eevee, he forgave him for the embarrassing loss and started to solely have concern for his own well-being and self-protection. That’s why, when Sinbad first started his self-imposed campaign, Joey did not interfere.

Sinbad advanced upon the quivering Eevee, slowly and confidently. By this time, Claw, Jet, and Kimiko all had stopped playing and instead looked upon the unfolding scene; Claw shifted uneasily and fluttered his wings, Jet was a cold and calculating statue of Seel flesh, and Kimiko’s wide eyes shone brightly in awe.

Then, Sinbad attacked.

Posted by: Living Arrow Nov 21 2011, 05:20 PM

When she had reached the bus depot in Port Barley, intending to catch a ride to some far-off town in Furoh, Lori Pardare had never expected to find herself back on a boat so soon. It was an odd story really. First, she had arrived to find the next wait for the bus to Gigarte to be six hours away and then she had heard it.

“Yeah! I just caught this Venipede on Fidona! When it didn’t register in my Pokedex I call the Professor back home and she said it was from the Unova region!” Some kid was telling another at the depot, a dark shape attached to his shoulder. Both kids appeared to be trainers and by the sounds of it were already ahead of Lori on the Pokemon-capture front. She hurried over without hesitation.

“Heeey!” She crooned as she trotted over, Pipster toddling behind. “Did I just hear that you caught an undiscovered Pokemon from FidonaaAAARGH! What the hell is that thing!?” Lori screamed and took a leap back as a shiny red face turned her way. The boys blinked back at her.

“Uh, this is my new Venipede…” The first boy said slowly. “She’s a new bug-type Pokemon from the Unova region.”

Lori shuddered, edging back further from the trainer and his recent capture. If there was one thing she hated above all else it was bug-type Pokemon… and Ghost-type Pokemon… And here one was. A massive red thing with gross antenna and a whole bunch of sickening legs under its shelled carriage. The mere thought of it was making her itch all over and now it was looking... right... at... her... She mentally screamed and damned her feet for not allowing her to run!

“Veeen.” It greeted her.

“It’s disgusting.” Lori uttered from behind clenched teeth, her eyes daring not to blink lest it come her way.

“What?!” The trainer’s face drew down into an angry frown. “What did you say?!”

“I said, it’s adjusting…” Lori hurriedly back-pedalled. “To the new environment over here… hehe…”

“Uh, yeah.” The kid scratched his head. “Right.”

“Sooo, any other new Unova Pokemon over there apart from that… that… bug?” Lori crossed her fingers at her sides. This could be a big step for her and the mission her sister had tasked her – catching a Unova Pokemon would be the very first rung on her ladder to success.

“You heard him, Pipster!” Lori grinned broadly as the boat pulled into the bay of Fidona. “Horses made of lightning! Toads that sing so loudly they can throw you away with just their voice! Wild pigs that breathe fire! Unova Pokemon are SO AMAZING!”

“Pip, pipLUP!” Pipster waved his stubby wings overhead in agreement.

The smallish city of Fidona was an exotic one. Wild Chatot flitted over rooftops (quickly scanned by the Unovadex to confirm that they were not one of Lori’s ‘targets’ since she had never seen one before) and even a Chimchar was seen stealing apples off a fruit market cart. Lori tried her best to keep herself in check, focusing on finding a lead that would take her to her first Unova capture, but the local sights were so bizarre it was difficult to keep on track.

“Hardly anyone wears proper shoes here,” she muttered to herself as they walked, “or any shoes at all!”

Slowly, Lori moved on through the city and towards the city edge where buildings became sparse and foliage more dense. Towering palms and other exotic trees decorated her vision but what was really catching her eye was the little plant walking by.

“OMIGOSH! A wild Unova Pokemon!” Lori pumped the air (without checking her Pokedex). “Do it, Pipster!”

“Pipipip!” Pipster threw himself into action without pause, his beak glowing a bright white and growing to several times its normal size to execute a Peck attack. The head-with-leaves was slammed in the side and catapulted high into the air with a cry of: ‘Oooodd!’

“After it, Pipster!” Lori cried with glee and together they burst through the long grass and into a small clearing. Without really blinking, the pair dashed between a Raticate and an Eevee and after the smalle Grass-type Pokemon that was bouncing rapidly away. “UnovAAA!” She wailed excitedly.

Posted by: LittleShadowPokemon Nov 22 2011, 07:00 PM

Babylon clumsily side-stepped a series of lunges from Sinbad, who didn’t hesitate to strike with tooth, claw, or quick whips of his tail. Each strike intentionally missed the distressed Eevee, intending to instruct and not harm, but Babylon only succeeded in getting flustered. Seeing the poor Pokémon’s contorted expression of terror and exhaustion, Joey hoisted himself calmly and smoothly with his crutches and shouted out to Babylon to perform a Defense Curl and Tackle technique. The small ball of brown fluff hesitantly obeyed, and Sinbad gave him ample opportunity to perform the attack. Joey was worried his communication had been sloppy. Having had minimal human contact lately gave him no reason to practice speaking nor put forth much effort into it. Having categorized himself as anti-social before, his new loss of basic, physical commutative capabilities brought on a whole new world of misanthropy.

Babylon, having completed the Defense Curl and Tackle combo on the Raticate, which was promptly blocked confidently yet gently, received a warm look from Sinbad. Had Joey been able to hear, he would have heard Sinbad’s constant instructive chatter to Babylon, commending this maneuver, or condemning that one, trying to incite the timid soul to attack in kind. Joey continued giving commands, and Babylon managed to complete about every third one, flinching every second, and running every first.

Sinbad was getting harsher during this regimen, and actually met each flinch with a short, smart whip across the Eevee’s shoulder, driving home the message that a flinch was unacceptable behavior. Joey hobbled closer and told Babylon to clear his head. Breathing heavily and standing shakily, but with a strong look in his eye, the Eevee did so, and eventually began completing more commands.

Sinbad twitched an ear towards a disturbance outside the clearing, but remained wholly focused on the battle. Babylon, preparing an attack, noticed nothing, but Claw and the others swung around and faced towards the city, which caught the immersed trainer’s attention, since the sound of the crying Oddish and pursuing trainer and Piplup crashing through the undergrowth would not.

The trainer was a girl who looked to be older than Joey, but he guessed that she was younger. Her flash of fiery red hair was her most distracting feature, but Joey didn’t get to see much else as her bursting in on their clearing was disturbing and sudden. Unfortunately for the girl, her pursuit of the Pokémon led her right in between Babylon and Sinbad as the Eevee loosed a Sand-Attack across the field.

Trying to take in the situation, Joey came to the premise that she was trying to capture the Oddish, and the conclusion that she was doing a terrible job at it. From what he had read, capturing a wild Pokémon meant weakening it and giving it a status condition before throwing a Pokéball at it, which would require a battle.

As a matter of fact, Joey became quite certain that he was witnessing terrorizing, as opposed to capturing. Not that he had any personal experience, having come from the desert region of Orre, where wild Pokémon life could not be sustained, but he figured that she was missing a few essential elements for catching Pokémon. Or… Joey thought, she could be a criminal. Women could be devilish and cunning when need be, he knew, so he decided to leave his options open and stay on guard.

Drawing himself up to his full height of 4’10”, he donned a look of cold determination and faced the intruder. His Pokémon hurried to his side, while Sinbad stayed poised on all fours where he was at initially, tail whipping back and forth with barely contained menace, an intense look on his face, and buck teeth glinting. Babylon took the advantage of the attention being diverted from himself to belly-crawl towards Joey’s open pack on the ground and swiftly disappeared inside. Only the tip of his tail and an exposed hind foot gave any explanation to the muffled munching sounds heard from within.

Posted by: Living Arrow Nov 29 2011, 06:04 PM

“And, now Pipster! Use Bubba-huh?” Lori rubbed frantically at her leg, while hopping sideways, as dirt and sand struck her bare calves. She muttered with annoyance andglanced to the side. A boy was standing there with a bunch of Pokemon just watching her. “What’re you looking at?” She grumbled, picking out a green-capped Pokeball from her bag.

“Whatever.” She turned back to her battle before the boy could make a response only to find the wild grass-type Pokemon disappearing into a bush and Pipster lying quivering on the ground, covered in a strange yellow pollen. “Aw, man! It got away!?”

Lori turned back to the boy that had distracted her. A whole bunch of Pokemon surrounded him – the Pidgey, Seel and Raticate she could recognise but she’d never seen a round pink Pokemon like that before – but the boy managed to hold her attention. It was clear from the violent swish-swishing of the Raticate’s tail that these Pokemon and their trainer were hostile but she didn’t know why. Did the Oddish belong to him?! No… It ran away…

*Is there something about me that just screams ‘trouble’?!* She inwardly moaned.

The kid, smaller than her but maybe around her own age, did not look in the slightest way happy to see her but he hadn’t said anything yet… Lori moved slowly to where Pipster lay twitching and, while keeping an eye towards the stranger, removed a Paralyze Heal from her bag and sprayed the Piplup with it.

“There, good as new.” Lor said quietly, scooping her partner up around the belly and holding his back to her chest. She faced the boy quietly and squeezed Pipster for support. His stubby wings squeezed her arm right back.

“Can I help you with something?” Lori asked tentatively. Her most recent adventure in Port Barley had taught her that trouble could find itself in the most unexpected of places and strangers could be capable of much worse than just beating you at a Pokemon battle (one kid had threatened to cut off all her hair!).

Posted by: LittleShadowPokemon Dec 5 2011, 12:43 AM

While the girl faced Joey, he saw behind her that her Pokémon valiantly took a stun spore to the beak. He had the impression that the girl was talking to him, but he couldn’t respond intelligently, so he chose not to respond at all. Once the girl noticed the fleeing Oddish and twitching Piplup, Joey considered getting a Parlyz heal to her out, but she moved too quick for his hesitation and the small blue penguin Pokémon was healed and in her arms. At the sight of the mutual support, Joey visibly softened. No criminal could care that much for her Pokémon, and she was starting to look scared.

Sinbad had grown bored by this time, and wandered a ways away to straighten some of the crushed ferns from their entrance, meticulously counting as he did so. Joey desperately wanted to show some sort of friendly gesture toward the girl and her Piplup, but he was drawing a blank and panic started to rise in his chest. He briefly considered diving in his tent and hiding. Luckily, breaking the ice was decided for him.

Kimiko, the incurable optimist of the team, toddled her way over to the girl and squeaked delightedly at the Pokémon she held, seeing only a potential new playmate. She raised her stubby little arms and stood on tiptoe as if wanting to be picked up as well, but unwilling to wait, she inflated herself to float eye level with the Piplup. Starting to giggle, she couldn’t hold the inflated form anymore and instead landed back at the girl’s feet to finish giggling, but continued to look up at the Piplup with bright eyes reflecting desires of future games.

Joey fumbled around in his pack after displacing a whining Babylon to look for his PDA. Finding it and flipping all four separate screens open, he wiped the screen with his sleeve. He was surprised to see new notifications on it with the information of each new Pokémon species he met, with Oddish listed as the newest one. Bewildered but hopeful, Joey hadn’t seen a Piplup before and hadn’t known they’d existed. Pointing the antenna toward the Piplup, disappointment sunk in his stomach like lead when the screen only showed a series of question marks. Sighing, he continued to fiddle with the setting, hoping it was only a malfunction and not a software problem. Claw kept a watchful eye on Kimiko and Jet resumed sunbathing apathetically.

Joey didn't know how he felt about Kimiko being so open with strangers and he started to move to go get her, but his foldable crutches were out of reach at this point and for some reason he felt a little fatigued. He realized it had been a few hours since he had eaten, and he pulled out some bread for himself (again displacing a grumbling Babylon) and his Pokémon and pulled out a bag of twist-tied gummy Teddiursa. Sitting down to eat, he thought about the ways of communion and acknowledging sharing a meal as the most basic friendly gesture, he gave the bag to Claw who took it in his beak, and with a pointed nod from his trainer, hopped over to the girl to present her with the bag of gummy Teddiursa.

Leaning back at his tent entrance and chewing on the bread, which was unusually mold-free, all of his tension dissipated by the pure interest of the interaction about to take place. Looking closely at the girl for the first time, she certainly didn't look like someone relegated to dumpster meals and sleeping on dirt. She was too pretty and dainty, but she did have a sense of fire about her; a sense of a mission.

Joey really wished he had that.

Posted by: Living Arrow Dec 8 2011, 03:13 PM

“Huh?” Lori watched on as the boy’s strange pink Pokemon toddled over while giggling inanely at Pipster. Lori instantly softened and her mouth turned up at the sides into a broad smile. “It’s so cute!” She announced to herself and Pipster who responded with a merry wave of his flippers to the Igglybuff that was floating around him.

*I guess he can’t be so bad if he has a baby Pokemon as cute as this around…* Lori thought to herself, lowering Pipster to the ground so he could play with the bundle of smiles that was waddling around them. It wasn’t long, however, before Lori realised why she had stopped in the clearing in the first place.

“Uh, you know you let that Pokemon that I was gonna catch get away, right?” Lori asked the plain-Joe boy as he rummaged in his bag. When no response came, she pouted. “Fiiiine. But no need to be rude!”

Lori stepped a little closer, deciding that the boy was no threat and watched him closely as he withdrew a Pokedex. Lori blinked. Compared to her state-of-the-art Unovadex the little box was like something out of the dark ages but there was no way for her to know exactly how old it was or from which region it had originated. Whatever the case, a Pokedex normally meant one of two things.

“So, are you a Researcher or a Pokemon Trainer?” Lori asked, looking around at the selection of Pokemon that apparently belonged to him. They were varied enough to suggest that he could be pursuing either profession but none of them looked useful to a scientist nor did they look all that powerful. Again, the kid didn’t reply as he seemed intent on doing other things.

*Oooh… maybe he’s a foreigner who doesn’t speak our language… Figures… Maybe he’s not a bad guy after all!*

“Pidgepidge!” A little Pidgey was passed a plastic bag by the kid and, after a nod of approval, the Tiny Bird hopped over to Lori with the bag and dropped it at her feet with a flutter of his wings. She peered down and scooped up the package.

“Gummy Teddiursa?” Lori untwisted the pack. “And I can have one? Uuh… Thanks!” She plunged and hand in and sank into a squat to pass one to both the cute pink baby and Pipster who snagged it with relish.

“Lup, Piplup!”

“That was nice,” Lori smiled at the guy who was finally looking her way and she popped a red gummy into her own mouth, “thanks! I’m Lori and I’m from Littleroot Town, out here catching and researching Unova-introduced Pokemon that have recently populated Furoh. And this is my partner, Piplup! Who’re you?”

Posted by: LittleShadowPokemon Dec 10 2011, 07:17 AM

Joey watched the girl eat the offered food and relaxed when the reaction was positive. For him, it was one less social step to overcome. Now looking at her, it was obvious that she was talking to him, to which he inwardly grimaced. Not sure how to respond, but certain that he really had to at this point, he hesitantly turned his head and tapped his ear, then shook his head to the universal gesture of "no". Not sure if his message got across, he took out his notebook and rummaged for a pen with a plastic Spinda top. He had bought it absentmindedly at Starfall Field thinking it was cute, but now he was hoping the girl wouldn't fixate on it too much and think him girly and effeminate. Also grabbing one of the textbooks he had recently bought, Joey snapped open his forearm crutches and went over to join the girl, trying not to drop his stuff in process.

Upon reaching where she was, he cautiously sank to the ground and folded his crutches to place beside him. Patting the ground on the other side, he beckoned the girl to sit with him. A small part of him chastised himself for getting involved when he should have been doing something productive, and another part applauded himself for making contact with another person, thinking if only his mother could see him now! Externally, he kept calm, collected dignity as he opened his notebook to the next clean page and scribbled on the first line:

When he was finished, he set the pen and notebook aside to wait for her response should she choose to give one, and started flipping through his textbook. It was this particular textbook that had a section he wanted to show her… Here it is!





Joey bookmarked this page and the advanced pages with sticky tabs in case his newest companion wanted a peek. He held the book open to the preliminary for when she was ready to look. Although intending to be helpful, he came to realize that she might not take it that way. As a matter of fact, she may very well take it as an insult, although he saw no reason why other than that she was a girl and knowing that they're a sensitive species and all. Caught between not really caring about her feelings to flatter her competence, but also not really wanting to cause any grief for himself to have to deal with, he considered closing the book and calling it a night. But it might have been too late for that…



Kimiko was overflowing with jubilance at the prospect of a new playmate, and the Piplup did not disappoint. After awhile, even Jet joined in, and Claw got closer, albeit not involved. He preened his feathers not too far away from his trainer. At the permeating smell of an opened bag of gummies, a certain bundle of fluff began sniffing around inside his trainer's pack. Catching the scent trail, the bag turned and scooted across the clearing towards Joey, roughly bumping into him, causing a dazed-looking Eevee to tumble out, nose and ears a-twitching with a mixture of shock from the impact and excitement for the food. Obliviously padding over his trainer's lap and books and paper, he set off on his never-ending quest for stomach fulfillment.

Posted by: Living Arrow Dec 14 2011, 05:22 PM

*Ooooh! So he’s a deaf kid? Makes sense, I guess. But, awwww, that totally must suck for him, though.* Lori mentally rolled her eyes to herself as he made the gesture and chastised herself for thinking the worst of him so quickly.

When the boy signalled for Lori to join him around a book, she shrugged off the initial weirdness and plomped down next to him. With her high skirt flowing around her hips like a mini wave, Lori leaned in to read what the boy was writing and flipped a massive swathe of red hair over her shoulder to make sure it didn’t end up blocking her view.

“So, what have we got here?” Lori muttered as she peered at what he had written. “Oh! No need to apologise!” She pointed at the phrase then pointed at herself and shook her head with a smile. Hopefully that came across as ‘no apology needed’ but maybe this deaf kid had a whole load of sign language things that would only make it more confusing… Ugh… Who knew talking to a deaf guy would be so weird?

“Aaand… Right! This is Pipster!” Lori said as she turned her head the other way to signal to her partner penguin Pokemon. “He’s my best friend and the very first Pokemon to come with me on my journey. He’s so awesome and- aw crap…” She turned back and smiled again, a bit of colour coming into her cheeks. That was embarrassing… Maybe she should write as well? It would be weird chatting at the poor guy if he didn’t know how to lip read…

She grabbed the pen. What followed was a bizarre picture of a stick-girl with one massive curl of hair and a round blob with two triangle wings and a beak. Under the girl, she wrote ‘Lori’ and under the beaked-blob, ‘Pipster’. To follow it up, Lori retrieved her Unovadex from her bag and pointed it at her partner for a quick scan before passing it to the kid to read the details it contained about the Piplup species. Just as she was about to give it to him, her eyes fell on the page he wanted her to read.

“Uh, I know how to capture a Pokemon…” Lori pouted and raised her nose. “My sister is Kino Pardare, Unova League Champion, you know… You know? Kino Pardare?” She hastily drew another stick-girl that looked exactly the same but taller, holding hands with the first. “My sister.” She repeated, followed by the further retrieval of a magazine from her bag. The front cover showed her sister in true Pokemon Master glory atop the winners podium, cup in hand and Tsubaki (her Serperior) towering behind her proudly. “So I don’t need lessons on…”

Faster than a striking Arbok, Lori’s hand slammed onto the page and pointed rather forcefully at the first reference: “Tricks for Hunting and Trapping”. She pointed hard and fast, over and over while pointing at herself with the other hand.

“Oh, gimme that!” Lori grabbed the pad again and scrawled under the picture: ‘I’m in Furoh to catch all sorts of newly introduced Unova Pokemon to research them! Please show me how to hunt them down!!!’ She stabbed the page several times for emphasis while grinning madly. Maybe this guy was an experienced trainer like Kino who could give her the right guidance into finding a Unova Pokemon and making her very first capture!?

Posted by: LittleShadowPokemon Dec 19 2011, 07:08 AM

Hoping he was giving socially considerate time to her unarguably cute drawings and the glossy, flattering magazine, Joey acknowledged all her materials and especially appreciated the Pokédex info about the Piplup, although the un-apologizing presence of the shiny, new, state-of-the-art technology made him subconsciously gulp and tuck away his dirty, slightly cracked, clearly outdated, and some would say “stolen”, P*DA device.

The girl on the magazine looked glaringly like the girl before him, except older and more mature, and she had another unfamiliar Pokémon proudly sharing the spotlight with her. He gleaned from the body language and her additional drawings that the girl on the magazine cover was Lori’s sister, and obviously someone famous and competent with Pokémon. Perhaps he had offended Lori. Scanning some of the cover keywords he saw Kino Pardare, and Unova League Champion. Sadly, and much to her dismay he imagined, he had never heard of Kino Pardare or even Unova, to which he forlornly shook his head and averted eye contact. How much of a hermit did he have to be to scare away any opportunity at human contact?

Joey visibly jumped when out of nowhere the girl started stabbing at his pages. All women were crazy, Joey was astonished to realize that what his father had always asserted was now starting to prove true. The sudden upsetting action even caused the young man to slur out loud.

“Okay, okay! Deaf, not stupid,” he mumbled while reading her newest message. Perplexed at why she was tormenting an Oddish then, what he knew to be a Kanto region Pokémon, Joey almost raised his question before remembering that it was probably best to leave it alone. Turning the pages to the violently requested appendix, his face fell as he started reading further down. Clearly an advanced section that appeared to be beyond Lori, and Joey was sure it was beyond himself, the first few paragraphs introduced the following chart that depicted useful Pokémon abilities where hunting was concerned, with some abilities even luring out specific types of Pokémon, but unfortunately none of them seemed particularly helpful to Lori.

He moved on to strategies of trapping, skimming the mentions of Arena Trap and Shadow Tag, both of them being abilities. Jumping right to moves, only Block and Mean Look were mentioned, Joey determining the latter to be Lori’s best bet at anything. Then, looking over at her Piplup, he considered the possibilities that it could be useful in any of the aforementioned ways. If that was her only Pokémon, Joey felt he had no choice but to consider her woefully under-prepared for her ambitious task.

Now, if she had something like the Pokémon in the Spotlight Article in the current section the duo were perusing, which was a rabid-looking creature apparently called a Watchog, then she would be pretty well set for life, the way Joey saw it. It not only had Illuminate, an ability established to be paramount in flushing out wild Pokémon, but it also had Mean Look, a way of trapping it, and then the move Super Fang, a well-praised whittling move. While the article sounded a little too promising, like a well-phrased ad, for Joey’s taste, one couldn’t argue with the formula for Pokémon catching. However…

“Do you have any of this?” Joey looked up at Lori and questioned. He was sick of writing, and the damage of her hearing his stereotypical slur attributed to the hearing impaired was already accomplished. He tried to keep eye contact in order to facilitate communication, but he just became aware that he was sitting next to a surprisingly pretty girl that he had no business associating with in the first place: a wholesome girl, and even kin to someone famous. Even now, he was on that path to disappointing her career-wise in catching a Pokémon and he didn’t have the good sense to apologize right there profusely and go hide in his tent until it was time for dumpster rounds.

After realizing what a shame it would be to let her down now, and that he didn’t really have that much to lose at this point and there was no downside to seeing this pitiful social charade through, Joey kept his breathing even and managed to maintain a decent kind of hollow eye contact that was bearable. Hoisting himself to a standing position and snapping open his forearm crutches, and donning them along with his pack with an odd sense of pride, he recalled all his Pokémon: Pidgey, Seel, Igglybuff, and Eevee. Sinbad was nowhere to be seen, to which Joey inwardly shrugged, figuring the wild Raticate could take care of himself. Then he started swinging himself across the clearing and into the jungle, then turned to Lori and motioned with a nod of his head.

“Can’t find anything if you don’t look.”

Joey led the girl and her Piplup to a different and less tamed clearing that he had sparingly explored in his meager free time, but remembered a small herd of Patrat romping around in this area. He was starting to feel hungry, so he balanced on his good leg and absentmindedly ate some bread, forgetting to peel off the mold in his nervousness at having to help almost a complete stranger catch a Pokémon, and a Unova one at that, not that he even partially knew what that meant.

Looking aside at his company, he vaguely wondered how she ate. From his sparse trips to the Fidona Pokémon Center, he observed that they had a cafeteria and dorm rooms for trainers on their journeys. He had been afraid to presume he would be allowed to utilize their facilities and loathed the idea of causing a scene and then having to deal with a confrontation. But maybe… he glanced at Lori. What if he managed to stick around her long enough where the situation would arise for them to share a meal together, and naturally she would want to go back to the cafeteria and eat, right? The gears were really turning in the young urchin’s mind now. If he tagged along, or had a plausible reason to, maybe he would be considered a trainer by association, and if she was as big a deal as she implied, who would dare challenge it?

The prospect of a real meal motivated his stomach to bribe his common sense into overlooking all that could go wrong with that plan, including foremost the notion that if she was that big of a deal, maybe she had private accommodations for eating, which he had no hopes of getting in on. Joey’s speculation was cut short by a yowling screech erupting from the undergrowth promptly followed by two close-distanced quadruped figures darting around the edge of the clearing, one clearly in deadly pursuit of the frantically sprinting first shape. The fractured light from the jungle treetops made them hard to recognize, and Joey was disheartened from trying his P*DA again.

When they came around closer, Joey caught a glimpse of a sleek, lavender, feline form sprinting close to the ground after a steel grey, fluffy, rodent-like Pokémon. They were both Unova origin Pokémon: Purrloin and Minccino. The two zipped around for a bit uninterrupted by the two trainers who watched in awe. The Minccino darted through some ferns, and the backlash (Fwwiiiip!) caught the Purrloin square in the nose, causing a Mrraaoo!! and a renewed chase up a tree. The Minccino looked cornered on the branch as the Purrloin confidently slithered forward toward it, towards a questionably safe-looking thin part of the branch where the Minccino momentarily cowered. Then, the two trainers could almost see the metaphorical lightbulb shine over the fluffy rodent's head as it brewed a devious plan. Very purposefully, it began violently bouncing on the branch. Frazzled now, the Purrloin dropped any pretense of confidence and with wide eyes and extended claws, the feline Pokémon clung tenaciously to the branch, which proceeded to crack, and snap. The maniacally giggling Minccino valiantly lept over the yowling Purrloin just in time to land safely on the other side of the branch while the feline flailed into the bushes below, a single claw horrifically just scraping and missing the attached end of the branch, causing twigs and leaves to fly up from up the thunderous impact of "kitty meets foliage". Shakily, the Purrloin dizzily padded out into the open, glaring up at the Minccino in the tree, before emanating a venerable hissing growl attack toward the target, causing the Minccino to scamper down the tree and away around the clearing, the hint of laughter and triumph slowly fading away as the Purrloin gained length on it.

The young cripple turned to Lori with a look as if to say, “Have at it.”

Posted by: Living Arrow Dec 28 2011, 06:22 PM

“Yes, my very first Unova Pokemon!” Lori exclaimed as she and Joey watched on, the pursuit of the fluffy grey rodent by the sleek feline completely enrapturing. It was, however, Lori’s mission to capture these Pokemon and first she would have to analyse her opponents. Her emerald green Unovadex was scanning her targets as they dashed through the undergrowth.

[Purrloin – the Devious Pokemon. Purrloin steal from people for fun, but their victims can’t help but forgive them. It attacks with sharp claws.]

Lori liked the idea of capturing a deceptive Dark-type Pokemon – it would make for a very tricky battler which could prove to be extremely useful in building up the number of wins under her belt. Not only that, but the kitty was super cute!

[Minccino – the Chinchilla Pokemon. Minccino prefer a tidy habitat. They are always sweeping and dusting, using their tails as brooms.]

If the Purrloin had been cute, the Minccino was KAWAIIIII! The way it dodged and evaded the pursuing feline was nothing short of impressive and it’s fast-thinking to keep away from those claws could turn out to be a big strength in any battle. Which one to capture first?! There was only one thing for it.

“Have at it!”

“OK! Let’s catch them both!” Lori cried, readying a fresh green-capped Pokeball in her fist. “Take ‘em both, Pipster! Bubble attack now!”

Puffing out his chest in true Piplup-style, Pipster launched his move.

“Piiiplupluplupluplup!” A wide spray of bubbles splattered across the clearing to burst heavily into both the Mincinno and the Purrloin, showering them in a spray of water than slowed them down long enough for Lori and Joey to hurry a little closer. Both the wild Pokemon instantly turned on Pipster, forgetting their primal rivalry for the moment. Pound and Scratch met little Penguin and before Lori knew it her little partner was tumbling backwards with Torchic running around his head.

“Oh, no! Pipster!” Lori rushed to his side and crouched down, checking his bruises. “It’s OK – you take a little rest and let Triss take over for a bit.”

“Luuup…” Pipster sighed, relxing into Lori’s elbow.

“Let’s go, Triss!” Lori summoned her Snivy and turned to look at her new-found teammate. “Two against one isn’t fair and I am not missing out on a Unova-capture! Please will you help me out?”

Posted by: LittleShadowPokemon Jan 21 2012, 01:23 AM

"Please will you help me out?"

The words could clearly be read from her lips if not from her wide eyed expression. Sighing inwardly, Joey started rummaging in his front scrubs pockets for his Pokéball. What would be best against these creatures? Peeking over at Lori's Pokédex, he summed up that they were a normal type and a dark type. He didn't have any type advantages in his party, at which he grimaced. Both looked to be incredibly speedy. He doubted he could out speed either of them, even with Claw and Babylon. Where one can't win with speed, one wins with tricks, and his Pokémon with the most tricks up her sleeve was Kimiko. Releasing her from her Pokéball, she immediately brightly waddled over to her teammate, a Snivy that Joey thought he vaguely recognized as a species. Glancing over at Lori, he tried to determine if this was her final Pokémon, or if she had more in her arsenal.

At least so far this was working. He was helping a girl catch two Pokémon. Surely it wasn't so hard to be a Pokémon trainer, after all. He could almost taste the cooked food now.

Guessing that the Snivy was a grass-type, a type known for its support moves rather than offensive maneuvers, Joey hoped it could aid in his plan. Looking over at Lori, he steadied himself on his crutches and tried to explain his thinking as best he could to avoid the associated slur of the hearing impaired.

"They are too fast. We need to cri…"

He couldn't bring himself to say "cripple", even though he thought it without flinching, and if his life hadn't taken that turn on a boat he would have said it for sure, but instead he tried again.

"We need to weaken them. Stop them from moving."

Kimiko was done exchanging pleasantries with Triss, and turned to look at Joey. The two locked eyes and nodded, ready to get serious, as serious as their opponents appeared to be, as the Purrloin looked absolutely vicious in a battle stance, and the Minccino had a steady determination and a certain flex of the tight rodent muscles that portrayed poise and alertness.

*Funny accent… Bet he's from Johto – ugh!*

"Weakening things is Triss's specialty! Right, Triss?!" Lori punched the air. Her Snivy sighed back at her and shook her head in disbelief before focusing narrowed eyes upon her opponents. "And, thanks to my lovely emerald Pokedex, I know exactly what moves she has!"

Lori delighted in the joys of her Pokedex. Not only had they taught her a bit more about her Pokemon, it also gave some guidance on type advantages in battle. After her rather embarrassing defeat in Port Barley when a dumb kid's Cubone defeated her Pipster because she didn't think to learn her beloved partner's movepool, she had made sure to learn what both of her Pokemon were capable of.

"OK, so my special Snivy knows some brilliant moves for slowing opponents down," Lori clapped her hands, "but let's attack first! Triss do a Vine Whip!"

And her Snivy was on the offensive, snaking vines flashing out from the collar on her neck towards the foe Purrloin in a deadly arc….

The vine slammed down on the ground where the Purrloin had been before it dodged to the right, then in quick succession of slams from side to side which the feline kept dodging, the vine finally hit home dead center when the Purrloin performed a fatal misstep. The Minccino rushed up in a wave of euphoria that comes with one-upping a long-time rival, the Purrloin. Jumping over the crouching Purrloin, the small rodent rushed forward and swung its tail around, releasing a string of stars headed for Triss.

"Kimiko, use Copycat!" The pink toddler wobbled slightly in front of Triss and with a twirl of her little paw, she sent a flurry of stars right back at the Minccino, who swiftly and gracefully maneuvered around the attack. Joey realized this was definitely going to be harder than it looks. Hoping the Copycat Swift would buffer the initial attack, but now he had to counter.

"Sweet Kiss," Joey called evenly to his small obedient Pokémon. With a quick response, Kimiko caught the eye of the Purrloin, twirled like a ballerina and then leaned forward making a throwing-kiss motion and ended with a wink. Inwardly groaning, Joey asserted that she could have done that without the theatrics, but made no move to reprimand her.

Posted by: Living Arrow Jan 24 2012, 11:51 AM

“Aww, c’mon, Triss!” Lori urged her Snivy from the safety of the edge of the clearing. “Grab that mouse thing and hold it down with your best Wrap attack!”

Complying with her trainer’s orders, Triss dove for the Minccino again and again but the grey bundle of fur was extremely adept at evading her attacks. The wild Pokemon, though incredibly focused on dodging, was still able to spin fast on its final move and slam the side of Triss’ head with its tail.

“Wow! I bet that was a Pound attack!” Lori watched on as Triss skidded around the grass, gliding to her feet rapidly and hissing a vehement promise to the small Minccino. “Fast and powerful – I’ve simply got to have it!”

The sensation of battling was still as exotic and intoxicating as ever – Lori was on a high that she had never felt before! Ever since she had left Twinleaf Town with Pipster and her first Unova Pokemon, Triss, she had dreamed of this day where she would capture her very first Pokemon fair and now was her chance!

“OK, Triss.” Lori counted off Triss’ attacks carefully in her mind. That kid Joey had said immobilising the opponent was key in a capture but that was proving difficult with Wrap. Her Grass-type also knew the move Glare and Flash – both of which could potentially distract the Minccino long enough for Triss to get her vines around it and beat it into recognition. “Let’s use Glare!”

“Sni!” The young Ivy Snake fired off her vines in deadly arcs towards the Minccino.

“Wha!? Not Vine Whip! I said Glare!” Lori moaned as her Pokemon disobeyed orders. With a large swathe of red hair clutched tightly in her fist, white-knuckled with rage, Lori yelled at her Pokemon: “Listen to me when I’m commanding you!!!”

“CINO!” The Chinchilla Pokemon cried as Triss’s first whip flashed past its face and the other snagged its tail out harshly from behind it. With a mighty heavy, the Snivy swung the Minccino over her head to slam directly into the ground.

“Snivy!” The Grass-type congratulated herself to soon. A flash of pink-red light passed along her vines and before she knew it…

“Why are you stroking it?!” Lori smacked a palm to her forehead. “Hit it!”

Her Snivy ignored orders once more even as the Unovadex whirred back to life at Lori’s hip:

[Cute Charm. Minccino’s special ability. Upon contact, Cute Charm may infatuate a Pokemon of the opposite gender – rendering them unable to attack.]

“Nooooo!” Lori wailed even as the Minccino wriggled free of Triss’s vines and hopped away, blowing his audience a mocking kiss before, with a cheeky wink, disappearing into the underground in a flash. “My Minccino…”

Posted by: LittleShadowPokemon Feb 11 2012, 04:38 AM

The Purrloin dodged the Sweet Kiss with innate dexterity, and quickly countered with a series of malicious Fury Swipes, claws gleaming in the low, unevenly distributed forest light, with a knowing twinkle in its eye. Not able to scramble out of the way in time, Kimiko was knocked back by various scratches accompanied with a heart-breaking wail. Joey clenched his jaw and sucked in air rapidly. It had happened so fast that the Purrloin had only seemed to twitch. Kimiko didn’t really seem to understand what was going on right away either, until the adrenaline seeped out and the burning pain of the scratches surfaced. Joey could see the situation play across her face. First, the wide-eyed toddler confusion, the reaching of one dainty paw to pat her face where the stinging started, and the subsequent pulling away to see evidence of the wound staining her delicate pink fur, and the distortion of her features as tears began to form in her eyes and a sob caught in her throat.

If Joey learned anything as a day care attendant, it was a small trick that worked a little more than half the time with young Pokémon. Knowing that they were heavily reliant on an authority or parental figure in order to gauge their own reactions, one could surmise that if you don’t freak out, they won’t freak out. If you’re acting worried, then there’s probably a good reason to be worried, in their mind. Thus, Joey had to play it off like it was no big deal, and the youthful Igglybuff might adopt the same idea. He had to act quickly before her own tears overwhelmed her.

“Kimiko, that’s a bad kitty cat, huh?” Kimiko turned and looked at her trainer, tears still visibly brimming in her eyes. The sight sent his stomach into painful knots. When Joey suggested that she spank the bad kitty with a Pound attack, she broke out in giggles while performing his request. Feeling like he could breathe again safely, Joey released the pent up air he hadn’t realized he had been holding. When distracting the youngsters, humour was traditionally the best route of action.

Inflating herself to look more intimidating and being able to cover more ground, she rushed forward with a tiny, pink paw poised for a powerfully perpetrated pound attack. Unfortunately, the speed and agility of the Purrloin triumphed every time. Its lithe, toned body contorting in spectacular ways to avoid each strike. Kimiko, panting quite audibly and visibly with a stressed look on her face, was ordered to fall back. Retreating slightly towards her trainer, she was told to let it come to her. Joey recognized an offensive tactic was proving futile, so he quickly racked his brain looking for an alternative. Deciding on one, he waited for the Purrloin to take the bait, telling Kimiko to hold steady when she looked back uncertainly at him.

The Purrloin, looking skeptical, hesitantly paced back and forth, gaining minimal distance each time, a cold, calculating look in its eye. Each padded step gliding over the top soil and grass with grace that refuses to displace a single atom exuded a building confidence, and the turns of each pace became sharper and more deliberate. Then, suddenly, the Purrloin came rushing in as a shadow with claws extended. Shocked at the sudden, unprecedented transformation into an ethereal state, Joey fumbled to stick to the original plan. It looked like a ghost-type move, and therefore would miss a normal-type such as Kimiko. But just in case…

“Kimiko, use Defense Curl now!” Adroitly following her trainer’s commands, the rubbery Igglybuff inflated herself and rolled to expose her backside, which the ensuing Purrloin connected with as an angry shadow. The impact caused a sick smacking sound where Kimiko was sent bouncing like a beach ball around the clearing until she flipped over mid-bounce and then used her limbs to gain traction and slow her momentum enough to deflate. Impressively, she landed in what could be considered an Igglybuff’s version of a three-point fighting pose, determinedly facing the off-balanced feline. The Purrloin had unexpectedly bounced off Kimiko and was shocked back into a physical form now sprawled in the dirt, dazed and looking nauseated. The attack had been slightly deflected but still damage sustaining. It was now or never to incapacitate it before it recovered onto its feet.

“Sweet Kiss, before it’s too late!” A rosy, illusionary heart floated from Kimiko’s air kiss gesture towards the supine Purrloin, unsuspecting of the attack. It hit home right between the eyes of the Purrloin and pervaded the unsavory creature with a countenance of sheer dopiness and put a definitive loop in its step as it struggled to stand. Joey relaxed and used the reprise to devise an effective counter.

A flash of movement to his right caught his attention and his stomach lurched at the disturbing sight of the small, fluffy rodent being twirled and slammed to the ground from the adroit vines of the elegant Snivy. Joey actually put his hand over his mouth in a grimace as his imagination overworked to fabricate bone-crunching sounds that weren’t there.

Getting caught up in Lori’s side of the battle, as was Kimiko, Joey observed as the Minccino’s ability kicked in, a coup that eventually led to his cheeky escape. Although he couldn’t hear the Pokédex at Lori’s hip, he was familiar with the ability from studying. Before Kimiko hatched, Joey was put in charge of her egg, and thus was given a new mission to learn everything he could about her species, which back then consisted of pitifully looking through picture books. Until recently, he had no idea of how pitiful that truly was. He remembered proudly considering himself a scholar, but supposing everything is relative, compared to his parents and their education level, he was a university professor at age seven.

Lori certainly looked crestfallen as the Minccino hopped through the underbrush into territory unknown. In a rare case of empathy, Joey rubbed each of his Pokéballs, imagining the profound loss if he had missed the opportunity to attain one of his Pokémon. Was Lori mourning the loss of a family member, in a way? Claw, to him, was better than a little brother. Reaching out to touch Lori on the arm, he offered what he hoped was his sincerest look and parted with what he hoped were comforting words. He might never know their impact because Lori’s eyes widened in shock. It felt like lead had fallen in Joey’s stomach as panic rose. Oh no, I’ve already messed up trying to be kind! But with a slow pointing gesture, Joey realized her reaction referred to something going on behind him. Whirling on the spot and swinging his crutches around, his voice caught in his throat with a gasp.

Kimiko, still oblivious to the world from a bout of cheering (for either Triss’s battle competence or the Minccino’s dashing escape, no one can be sure), was chosen as a new and easier prey by the one remaining foe. Having sort of assumed Minccino’s fleeing annulled the battle, the hearing-impaired trainer had forgotten all about the Purrloin, which was now deviously slinking toward the unaware baby Pokémon.

Feeling that she had had enough of battling, her scratch wounds still shining bright, Joey frantically searched his pack for her Pokéball, completely forgetting that it was in his front pocket. With the Purrloin closing the distance horrifyingly fast, he abandoned his search for her ball and instead followed his instincts, to find something hard, blunt, and heavy to throw at the Purrloin to deter it. Maybe he could muster to just slam it in front of it to scare it. Finally clasping something that seemed viable, he whipped it toward the approaching feline expecting to see either a book flopping from his grasp, or considering the shape in hindsight, a roll of bread he had neglected to seal properly, but instead he saw a spinning red and white sphere zipping toward the Purrloin, and smacking it on its fore-shoulder. With a heart-wrenching yowl, the Purrloin was sucked inside in a burst of red energy. It rocked once, twice, thrice, and then settled into a dim, inactive state.

For the first time in his life, Joey face-palmed.

Posted by: Living Arrow Feb 17 2012, 11:49 AM

“Oooooh NOOOO!” Lori wailed, grabbing her hair in both hands and squeezing tightly, tugging with angry fists while gesturing manically at the Pokeball in Joey’s possession. “That was MYYY Purrloin! Mine!!!”

How could this be happening!? First the Minccino had gotten away and then the guy who had agreed to help her catch both of her target Unova Pokemon was stealing them from her! How could he just turn around and snag that Purrloin away from her so cold-heartedly?! There was only one explanation:

“You’re MEEEAAAN!!!” Lori wailed, tears welling in her eyes before she could control them. “T-that was my Unova Pokemon! Mine!”

“Sni…” Triss slinked up to her trainer, the effects of Cute Charm finally wearing off with the escape of the wild Minccino. A long vine reached up to stroke Lori’s shoulder in a gesture of support. It went ignored as free-flowing tears took hold of Lori’s eyes and she collapsed on the spot – sinking to her knees with a wail of defeat to blubber into her thick hair that spilled around her head like a ruby waterfall.

“I-it’s just… j-just not fair.” She moaned into her palms. “I love Pokemon so so much and I still can’t get it right. Why do I even bother…?”

“Sni! Snivy sni!” Triss’s angry frown turned on Joey and the bouncy form of Kimiko. “Sni-ivy! Ivy sni sni!” ”Give us that Pokeball! Hand it over now or face the consequences! LEAF TORNADO!”A raging wind gathered in the base of Triss’s tail as razor sharp leaves began to dislodge and swirl into a vortex rising from the Pokemon’s back. The Grass Snake’s form shook with defensive anger as she dropped to the ground and arched her tail over her head like the sting of a striking Skorupi.

“Triss, stop it!” Lori’s arms wrapped around her Pokemon’s middle before the Grass-type could release her newest attack and, in the process, got slashed several times along her forearms. The cuts weren’t deep but they did sting and Lori winced, scrunching her eyes tightly as Triss released the attack to stop her trainer from getting hurt. “We don’t attack people like that!” Tears still fresh on Lori’s cheeks continued to roll despite her crying finally subsiding. “It’s alright… It’s alright…”

Posted by: LittleShadowPokemon Mar 15 2012, 08:29 PM

Joey calmly went and picked up the Pokéball, maneuvering the forearm crutches accordingly. He peered down at the small capsule in his palm. It was warm with the life contained within it. It was hard to believe that yowling, hissing mess was trapped inside. He decided against calling it out, imagining the lithe feline body coiled for attack.

The crippled trainer turned to look at Lori, who he was shocked to discover in the middle of a breakdown. She had been gesturing angrily to the Pokéball in his clutch. Applied with some lip-reading, the meaning dawned on Joey. Right! Joey realized. I was supposed to be helping her, and this looks really bad. By now, Lori was crying unabashedly, and truthfully, it broke his heart a little. He didn't like seeing those of the female species cry…it reminded him of his mother, even though she hadn't usually cried so openly and powerfully like Lori. Her tears had been silent, and persistent. He felt paralyzed with emotion as he watched her sink to her knees, and her Snivy wandered up still stepping lazily with the diminishing effects of the Cute Charm.

Their tender moment also added to the effect on Joey, and one by one, he thought about his Pokémon. Would Claw ever do that for him? In all the years they had been together, had he already done so? He racked his brain to remember, but found nothing. Would Kimiko ever sidle up next to him and give him soulful concerned eyes? Even as sweet as she was innately in character, he just couldn't picture her comforting him. Would rubbery Seel flippers ever embrace him? Would a bundle of warm, brown fur ever willingly crawl into his lap and rub against him?

His thoughts were interrupted by a sharp glance from her Snivy. Now with a dose of vehement intimidation, the Snivy started building up an attack and sharp leaves started dancing around her. Acting quickly, Joey withdrew his Igglybuff from harm's way and sent out Claw in a burst of red energy. Landing gracefully, the Pidgey quickly assessed the situation and entered a mental battle mode.

"Pidddeeee!" he screeched with out-spread wings and puffed feathers in an open stance. Not waiting for Joey's command, he started furling a gust in front of him, which dissipated almost as quickly once the pair saw what transpired next. Lori had flung herself upon her own Pokémon to stop the attack, risking a multitude of cuts primarily along her arms. A bright red substance trickled to the surface, and Joey sucked in a breath of air. He mentally began shifting through his inventory, trying to remember if he had any disinfectant left over. He couldn't remember having any, and he immediately kicked himself for being so foolish. Growing up in less than favorable living conditions such as Pyrite, one learned that infection was not something to mess around with; even the small stuff.

With less than ample optimism, Joey rifled through his pack, finding only Pokémon-related first aid ointments, as he had suspected. He took out his notebook and Spinda pen and quickly jotted down a note before carefully tearing it out. He hoped his handwriting was acceptable. Lately, he had been taking more care to form his letters. His mother had had beautiful handwriting. His father had been illiterate, only able to sign his name.

He hobbled over to Lori with determination. He kneeled on his good leg to be at her level and handed her the note and Pokéball containing the Purrloin by clasping his two hands over one of hers, making sure his intentions were clear.

"Here's your new Unova Pokémon. Congratulations," he said steadily, focusing with adroit concentration on his enunciation. It didn't feel like it particularly mattered anymore if she heard him speak. She already had, so there was nothing left to protect anymore. Maybe he wasn't speaking as terribly as he had first assumed. He took his hands away and nonchalantly wiped off a little blood on his scrubs top, a primary use of the material. He also noticed a small line of blood smeared on the Pokéball, but the note seemed clean enough.

He had felt a small pang of regret as he handed over the Purrloin. If anything, it was the first Pokémon he had captured, aside from Claw, that is, but he didn't really count that. Briefly, he wondered if the Purrloin could be useful in some way, or if he could sell it. In the middle of measuring out how much food could be bought with the money from the Purrloin, he talked himself out of it by reminding himself that he already had four lives he couldn't afford to feed, and that he had no business keeping.

After giving her the Pokéball and note, he rose to his feet with the aid of the crutches, and started to back off a bit. He hung back to give them some room, especially the Snivy, who had earned a wary eye from Claw. The diminutive Pidgey fluttered softly and landed on his trainer's shoulder, and twittered quietly. Joey had become accustomed to the pointy little bird talons finding balance by digging into his skin, and on some level, even found it comforting. He reached up and smoothed the feathers while wondering where their night was headed. After this little fiasco, he thought with remorse that he had probably forfeited their chance at a hot meal and even possibly an actual bed for the night.

He sighed, weary of thinking about it, weary of planning and hoping, weary of depending on circumstances to eat and sleep with safety. At this point, all he really wanted to do was go chill in his tent, sleep, and forget about today and the crying girl. Reading was also a viable option to force the images of the tear-stained porcelain face out of his mind, he considered.

Posted by: Living Arrow Mar 16 2012, 11:17 AM

Rather ironically, Lori didn’t hear the deaf boy’s words for a little while, focused instead on the small and smooth scaled form of Triss, her Snivy. Had Triss really felt her burning desire to capture her first Pokemon and translated her overwhelming sadness into a bubble of revenge? Her Snivy was always so calm and cool – a real level-headed Grass-type that always knew what was best for any situation. She’d even go as far to ignore her trainer’s orders to win a battle before and had done the same again when fighting the Minccino all because…

”Professor Juniper and I agree that this Snivy is going to be one of the most powerful that the Unova region has produced for some time.” Kino instructed Lori as she fed the small grass snake an Oran Berry. “Her attack power is excellent for a Pokemon of her level and training and she is incredibly smart, too.”

“Sni, sni!” The Pokemon nodded her head smartly to the Unova Champion’s words.

“Wooow…” Lori breathed, her eyes wide as she stared at the donated Pokemon. “She sounds… so… AWESOME!”

“She is, Lor.” Kino smoothed the head of the Snivy one last time before she looked up at her sister. The elder of the two had dazzling green eyes on a normal day but right now they were hardened peridots trapped in ice. “She is very awesome. But remember who the trainer is here. You’ll need to work closely with all your Pokemon, especially ones like this, to understand them and know how they tick. If you don’t then you might just find that you’re the one receiving the training.”

Lori nodded slowly but hadn’t the heart to admit she had stopped listening about halfway through. She was going on a Pokemon journey and she already had a powerful Pokemon! The Furoh region wouldn’t know what hit it…



“Huh?” Lori blinked through her tears and looked up at Joey, who was now holding her hand. His palms were warm and a little larger than hers despite her being taller. His touch made the cuts there sting but she was blushing too deeply to notice the pain. As his hand pulled away, her own palms felt bare and cold.

“My Pokemon?” She whispered, reaching out towards the Pokeball. “You caught it… for me?” The red and white ball was smeared with a reddish-brown mark that had come from the cuts sustained on her own arms but it still shone with the glamour of a freshly captured Pokemon. Her fingertips brushed the ball as they drew near and slowly gripped around the warm plastic capsule…

*Is this how I’m going to complete my journey? Wait for hand-outs and donations? Pipster and Triss were both given to me already and my mission is to capture and research these new Unova Pokemon – not get passed hand-me-downs until it’s time to go home… No, I can’t take it. Even though I want it and taking that Pokeball would be easy right now, how would I explain away the red ball that goes home to Kino? It’s not mine… I’d be a fraud. And if I’m the trainer, I need to start showing my Pokemon that I am just as capable as anybody else. That’s my Ninja Trainer Way.*

“Sorry, Joey.” Lori pushed the Pokeball back to the boy’s narrow chest. “But that’s your Purrloin. You caught it fair and square and that’s that. I’ve made a promise to myself and my Pokemon that I’m going to be the best trainer I can be and that means that I have to capture my own Pokemon my own way.” She wiped her tears away and smiled through the pain it brought her hands.

The note that had come with the Pokeball had gone completely unnoticed until then.

“Oh, you wrote something!” She peered at the note. The handwriting had a similar scrawl to her own. “Pokemon Center? Try again? Purrloin tracker? You’re… you’re going to help me catch another Purrloin?”

Lori wasn’t sure what to say. She was convinced Joey had been some psycho thief a couple of minutes ago and now…

“Deal!” She laughed. “And dinner’s on me!” She pulled open her bag to grab at her purse. “My sponsorship means I get to eat free at any Pokemon Center with up to four human guests and all of our Pokemon will be looked after, too. Then we can get up real early and bag one of those Purr-… No, I’ve got a better idea.” Lori laid a hand softly on Triss’s head as the Snivy stared up to her with consideration in her eyes. “I’m going to catch that Minccino that defeated us in battle. That way, I’ll prove that I am a real trainer and not just some rookie who’s ready to give up and go home. Thanks, Joey!”

She launched herself onto his shoulders, causing Claw to flutter off of his trainer in alarm. Her hug was tight and heartfelt.

“We’ll get that Minccino, alright!”

Posted by: LittleShadowPokemon Mar 20 2012, 08:43 PM

Claw portrayed the exact level of startle that his trainer tried to hide. Up until then, Joey had only hugged his mother. Even so, people in Pyrite would sooner put a knife in your ribs than hug you. After the short-lived initial shock, he decided it was kind of a nice feeling to be that close to someone, and he allowed himself the social awkwardness of putting his arms around her gently. It was over almost as soon as it started, and despite his well-contained knee-jerk reaction to strike out, he couldn't believe that as soon as she had let go he found himself wishing that it had lasted longer, or wishing she would do that again in the near future. At least she seemed to be over crying.

She didn't seem to notice his discomfort and he breathed an unnoticeable sigh of relief as they started walking through the shallow woods to the Pokemon center. He almost felt giddy at the prospect of a hot meal. However, he recalled that if his father had been here, eating on someone else's dime would have been woefully out of the question. Luckily, as Joey considered it, he didn't share his father's unreasonable pride. Especially on an empty stomach. He shuddered and shoved aside those acidic memories of his childhood home before they could anchor and drag him down. He occupied his mind with his surroundings to distract himself from the pity party he so wanted to indulge.

The walk was fairly uneventful. Joey swung easily, only getting snagged briefly on various undergrowth. Wild Pokemon went about their lives. Natu hopped confidently across tree branches and pecked at patches of moss. Taillow flew as a flock to land in a group of trees that clearly was known as their territory as headed by a few leading Swellow. Spinarak were waking up and sluggishly crawling around on tree trunks. Later in the day and heading towards evening bug-type Pokemon were starting to claim the night. Joey noticed that Lori had picked up her pace.

They arrived at the center in good time. Joey mimicked the other patrons as best he could and gave the Nurse Joy his Pokemon. He felt uneasy not having them around, but they were overdue for a checkup. They had been admitted to Pokemon Centers before, so he trusted them to behave. His thoughts lingered on the new Purrloin. The nurse also immediately offered care for Lori's scratches. The people that milled about the lobby looked so normal and naturally at peace, as if they belonged there as much as in their own house. He imagined each with loved ones, families, friends, spouses, children, siblings, jobs, lives, and happiness. He caught his reflection in a well-polished vase. Do I look like these people? Could I have all those things? Or at the very least, pretend to and get away with it? He answered his reflection with morose acceptance. Not with that messy, dirty hair. Not with those patched clothes. Not with that height. Not with those crutches.

He looked at Lori. She had a sister, and a very successful one at that from what he had been told. He wondered what that was like, to have someone that close. When he was little, he had always asked for a brother, but there was no favorable way to explain to a five year old about how the difficulty of his own birth had left his mother unable to carry another one to term. Once he got older, he asserted to himself that it was for the best. His father only would have made sure that he and his brother hated each other. If he had a sister, he would have been responsible for her in a way he never wanted to be responsible for anyone. Plus, it would have been one more person to leave.

Taking another sweep at the people around him, Joey realized that most of them were trainers like Lori. He considered all she had said about going on a journey and completing a Pokedex. An accumulation of all that he had read and seen since arriving in Furoh, he was starting to realize the culture shock. Everyone seemed to have a goal in mind, a mission, a journey, a path. No one in Orre had that. Orre didn't even have wild Pokemon, or gyms. Contests were practically fairy tales. People traveled, sure, but they were desert nomads unafraid of the death sentence that traversing the desert claimed. If the environment didn't get you, the territorial thugs sure as hell would. Joey was beginning to realize that it was safer here. Being homeless would be less noticeable, and maybe even hold less weight socially. If so, maybe he wasn't as doomed as he first thought. He reigned in his optimism before he got carried away and reminded himself to wait it out and observe cautiously, but he couldn't shake the thoughts.

An assistant nurse interrupted his thoughts and then motioned to Joey's cast and quickly shuffled him to a back room, leaving Lori back with the main nurse. After he was settled on a clean, papered cot, Joey recognized that the nurse was talking energetically. After some lip-reading, it became clear that she was offering to remove his cast. He tensed up. He began to regret not opposing going with her more. He might even be charged for being in the clinic room right now! He moved to get up and started apologizing for wasting her time when she stopped him by placing a hand on his shoulder and said something. He turned and looked her in the eye, cringing at the eye contact. No, he must have misunderstood her. Did she say what he thought she said? Even so, was he arrogant enough to assume?

"There's no fee for removing a cast, especially if I do it. Your leg looks healthy enough for the cast to be removed, but it will never get stronger if you leave it as it is. Just give me a minute," she smiled sweetly before going into an adjacent room for the proper tools. Joey smiled quietly and wondered how Lori and his Pokemon were doing.

Joey entered the cafeteria and tried to sight out Lori, hoping she had been tended to already and finished. Her shock of red hair wouldn't be hard to miss, he knew. He still had to use his crutches, but it felt like he had a new, lighter leg. The sight of his own leg had disturbed him. It was still slightly bruised and significantly weaker, but he was comforted that it would get better. It would just take some time.

Posted by: Living Arrow Mar 21 2012, 02:34 AM

Lori idly twirled the hologram over her Pokedex with one finger while resting her jaw in the cup of her other hand. She sighed heavily, tapping the device every now and again to scroll through the senseless list of attacks, abilities and other vital statistics of her Pokemon, Triss.

She sat in the cafeteria of the Pokemon Center, awaiting Joey’s return from wherever he had decided to go and had thought strategising her hunting of and battle with the Minccino from earlier. So far she had come up with nothing and all because she couldn’t rely on the Snivy’s inability to follow orders if she did not agree with them. Sure, there was always Pipster to take her place in the capture battle but he had been defeated super-fast by the wild chinchilla. She sat back and gathered a long bunch of hair in one fist, stroking it absent-mindedly and chewing on her lip.

Another deep sigh.

*What am I going to do?*

She glanced down at the scratches on her arms. The local Nurse Joy had put a healing salve on the cuts she had sustained from earlier and had thankfully remarked that they were shallow and so would heal very soon. That was a relief. So many tiny cuts ending in scars would have ruined her creamy skin but she hadn’t even considered the possibility until it had been brought to her attention.

“Miss Pardare?” Nurse joy waved from the reception desk. Lori clapped her Unovadex shut and hurried to the desk.

“Oh, Nurse Joy! How’s Pipster?!” Lori asked fervently as she grabbed at the pair of Pokeballs in the tray marked ‘Pardare’.

“He’s absolutely fine,” the nurse smiled sweetly, “and very excited to battle again!”

“Really? Pipster?” Lori frowned and clicked open the green Pokeball.

“Luuup!” Pipster squeaked with delight and pinned himself to Lori’s shoulder in a tight cuddle. His stubby beak buried into her collar bone but it didn’t hurt a bit – it only felt like Lori’s day got a little warmer and brighter after the deluge it had spiralled into earlier.

“Hi, Pipster!” Lori laughed and repositioned him to sit in a reverse-hug on her stomach. “Thank you for taking care of my Pokemon, Nurse Joy. I’ll make sure to look after them as best as possible until it’s time to see you again.”

“I’m sure you will, Lori.” Joy tapped a completion note away on her computer. “Please, enjoy the rest of your stay.”

“Thaaanks!” Lori waved as she and Pipster returned to the cafeteria.

From the very few that she had been to, Lori had noted that most Pokemon trainers decided to keep their Pokemon in their Pokeballs with maybe an exception or two where one partner remained on the outside. She had decided that falling in with the latter crowd was more her style since Pipster was more like a friend than a pet and putting him in a Pokeball for a long period of time made her feel glum that his beaming face wasn’t around. Joey, it seemed, had his own tack on things.

His group of Pokemon, which turned out to be a Pidgey, Eevee, Seel and Igglybuff, were all eating under supervision of Pokemon Center staff while their trainer was away and every one seemed to be inhaling their food rather than eating it. The Raticate she had seen before was nowhere to be found. Lori frowned. Wasn’t Joey feeding them? Could he? She hadn’t really considered it before but from the way he dressed and the way they ate, it wouldn’t be hard to believe he was short of cash. She mentally gave herself a pat on the back. A good deed for the day was done!

She returned to her table and clicked out her Pokedex, a new plan forming in her mind but this one wasn’t for capture or research…

Posted by: LittleShadowPokemon Mar 29 2012, 09:13 AM

Joey looked around for a few minutes before spotting Lori. Upon making eye contact, she waved him over, for which he was grateful. Now it wouldn't be like he was imposing his presence on her, even though he had an invite. Now, he hoped he wouldn't make her regret it. He had to bring something to the table. Something she would value. He started making his way over to Lori and he spotted his Pokémon nearby eating some food.

A staff member with a clipboard came over and reported on the health of his Pokémon. They were good overall, but he was given a pamphlet on Pokémon nutrition. Joey accepted it as gracefully as he could and put in his pocket. He looked over his group briefly and noticed the Purrloin was not among them. Following his gaze, the staff member produced a minimized Pokéball from an apron pocket. Pressing the button twice, the ball maximized and opened to reveal a yawning feline form. Settling down and taking in its surroundings, the Purrloin had a look of devout distaste for everything.

"This Purrloin is perfectly healthy. She's female, and a bit on the younger side," the staff member started to say when the second sentence warranted a sharp hiss and glare from the Purrloin. Her eyes went wide at the presumption and considered taking a swipe at the insolent human. The staff member fumbled, finished weakly, and left to attend to other duties. The Purrloin made a "mph!" noise and turned toward her own bowl of food and ate cautiously, glaring at the other Pokémon. Claw glared right back, but the other three pretended not to notice and continued on with their meal.

Joey went and sat next to Lori and offered her a weak smile. She was fiddling with her Pokédex, probably trying to figure out how to catch the Minccino, Joey guessed. The hologram that had been hovering over the screen was sucked back in as he sat down, so he couldn't be sure what she was working on. He greeted her with a nod. Hoping she still didn't hold any resentment about their battle earlier, he tried a conversation about some tactics in the most polite way he knew how.

"You know, an Attract is a hard thing to dodge. If you use your Pipl - Pipster, it shouldn't be effective. But if you're set on Triss, then you might want to talk with her beforehand," he recalled how the Snivy had disobeyed orders. "She seems smart, so it may be possible to reason with her that you're making the correct orders. After all, her decision didn't exactly turn out well," he looked down as he said that last part. "Just an idea…"

He couldn't imagine having a Pokémon like that Snivy, with that level of sentience. Sure, his Pokémon didn't always obey him – he cringed at the memory of his Eevee running off the field of a trainer battle – but this was a little different. He wondered if he should take his own advice and make his Pokémon part of the decision-making process. Well, maybe just Claw to start.

A harried-looking Chansey zipped by and gracefully set their trays of food down in front of them. Joey's eyes went a little wide. The freshness! The diversity! The smell! He reined in his voracious appetite before appearing like a wanton Swinub, and lightly dabbed at different portions with his fork, antagonizing over where to start. A part of his mentality automatically went into survival mode and he started guessing at the perishable rate for some of the foods and deciding what would be safest and most beneficial to ease into his bag when no one was looking. He didn't even know what to call some of these things, which made him realize how bland and limited Orre region food had been. While he started to eat, he glanced over at his Pokémon.

Kimiko was the first to make a move, and Claw chirped at her, but begrudgingly allowed her while keeping a wary eye on the two. The sweet-natured Igglybuff had picked up a pellet of her own food and extended it toward the Purrloin, who curled a lip at her in contempt. Had she not had her own food, this may have worked at least temporarily, but at the moment, the Purrloin felt very agitated. Kimiko insisted and the Purrloin flicked her ears back against her head.

Babylon saw his chance while Kimiko was distracted. Having finished his food long ago, he had been occupying himself with thoroughly licking the inside of his bowl for any errant crumbs. However, his little nose was working overtime to take in the smells of the nearest bowl of food, which happened to be Kimiko's. His twitching little nose guided him over to it on silent paws, and his nimble little tongue guided a pellet into his diminutive muzzle, which he chewed as noiselessly as he could. Claw was also too distracted to notice the Eevee, but Jet calmly pretended to stretch and…Fwaapp! Babylon was sent rolling back over to his own empty dish by the lash of a Seel tail. Dazed, Babylon collapsed into a frog-legged laying position and glared at the mischievous Seel, who only winked in return before continuing his own meal.

Posted by: Living Arrow Mar 30 2012, 11:53 AM

Joey’s odd way of talking didn’t seem all that odd to Lori anymore. Sure, it was still noticeable, but even people who could hear sometimes sounded far more incoherent and it wasn’t like he was shouting in some sort of over-compensating manner. His topic of conversation however, didn’t make her feel any better. She was getting a lecture again. She understood why the other trainer was talking her through her dilemma but it didn’t make her feel good about herself – it just made her feel stupid.

*Yet again I need someone to tell me what to do… Things have got to change…*

She decided not to say anything to Joey when he referenced the attack called Attract. Minccino’s Cute Charm was an Ability, her Unovadex told her that, but it had the exact same effect. Then he told her about Triss and her inability to take orders. While Joey seemed to think reasoning with her was a good idea, Lori was more convinced that her sister would have a different point of view. Kino would say they are called ‘commands’ for a reason.

The boy across the table was sweet. He spoke softly and wasn’t presumptuous or rude or sound condescending. She smiled at him.

“Got it.” She nodded, clicking her Unovadex shut. “And I think I have a plan for tomorrow but we can wait until morning for that.” She looked down to his leg. “Cool! Your cast is off! I bet that’s a huge relief! Guess those crutches are going to be around for a while longer though, huh?”

*Those crutches would be holding him back but he still knows what he’s doing… And he’s trying to help me… Oh, Joey! You’re such a sweet guy! That’s it. I’m definitely doing it now.*



“I’m all finished here.” Lori announced as she finished her meal and pushed the plate away. Burgers and fries were burgers and fries no matter where you went and that meal had been aweomse. “So I’ll get as much sleep as possible now and meet you back here at 8am?” She confirmed the meet time with the other trainer as she shouldered her bag and trotted away with Pipster close on her heels. “Sleep well, Joey!”

In her room, Lori clicked out her biro and began to scrawl a letter to her sister.

"There!" She licked the envelope and stuck it firmly shut, turning to her bright blue bundle of joy on the end of the bed. "Joey helps me get a Minccino and I help him get a sponsor. Good deed done!"

"Lup Piplup!"

Posted by: LittleShadowPokemon Apr 28 2012, 01:00 PM

Joey took his time eating and savored the food for all it was worth, so it was no surprise when Lori finished before him. They confirmed the meet time in the morning and exchanged pleasantries. He was actually a little relieved to be alone. Now there was no one to judge him when he started sizing up what to put in his knapsack for later. After considering the perishability of what was left on his tray, he slid the best estimates in as discreetly as he could. He didn’t glance around excessively for fear of any awkward eye contact. He hated those moments, or really any moments involving eye contact. He double-checked his actions.

Was it possible to be arrested for taking food from the cafeteria? he wondered. Best not to risk it…, he decided as he replaced all the leftovers back on his tray, and forced himself to eat a little bit more.

Claw, finished and satisfied, fluttered over to the cafeteria tabletop and landed near his trainer’s tray. His dull Pidgey talons scrabbled for grip on the smooth material. Once he was settled, he began preening himself meticulously. Joey was proud of himself. Due to his new reading on nutrition and a few little changes here and there, his metabolism and that of his Pokémon had been regulated and their health was better than ever. Not that they had a high bar to start off from. However, a regulated metabolism was a big responsibility, as Joey was finding out. Unlike during his childhood, his hunger had to be satiated more often and with better food. Going hungry was no longer the easy option. When all his Pokémon had been fed and returned to their Pokéballs, all except for Claw, Joey headed for the door, ready to retire to his tent for the night.

The luxury of having a hooded sweatshirt became apparent as the young trainer hugged his Pidgey close in the chill of the evening air. A hood would have been excellent right about now, but his only comfort was fantasizing about what type he would buy. Perhaps some sort of green to match his pajamas? Do hooded jackets come in Spinda patterns?

The walk back to his tent was uneventful, but the forest life was switching over, and the nocturnal Pokémon such as Noctowl and Misdreavus were resuming their post. He got back into his tent and wearily entered, however not able to zip it closed before something zipped inside. Claw took flight in panic and flapped around. Joey tried to calm him down before one of his talons could manage to tear the fabric. The last thing they needed was a draft in their house. While trying to catch the panicking Pidgey, Joey took a visual sweep to see what had gotten in.

A small, dark shadow was hunkered down in the corner of the tent and its whiskers were shaking violently. Two large and intimidating teeth gleamed in low twilight. A supple tail swished across the tent floor. It’s Sinbad!, Joey realized. Once the intruder was identified as Sinbad, Claw settled down, but perched broodingly on his trainer’s pillow. Joey went and sat on his sleeping bag after carefully closing the tent flap. Sinbad himself was perched on the far side on the bare tent bottom and calmly licked his paws and snickered in his Raticate language, looking as content as if he belonged there. Joey shrugged. He had faced more danger in his life, and Sinbad seemed harmless thus far. Must be tough being a wild Pokémon, he mused, especially at night when other more suited Pokémon come out to play. He didn’t blame Sinbad to look for shelter. After all, he was a bit out of his element not being on the ship.

He kept to himself and curled up as far away from Joey as possible, so the trainer recalled his Pidgey and wiggled into his sleeping bag after changing into his emerald pajamas. His day clothes were in a pile in the middle of the tent. He had a nagging feeling that he probably should have folded them and put them away nicely, but he also felt too tired to be bothered. He felt so free not having to accommodate his bulky cast anymore and the sensation of feeling on his leg was incredible, even though it was lined with a dull ache. He hugged his pillow and slept peacefully without a tinge of hunger for the first time in a long time.

Posted by: Living Arrow May 1 2012, 11:13 AM

Lori flounced over to the Pokemon Center counter and slid the sealed envelope over to the Nurse Joy that greeted her there. She had slept surprisingly well with all that she had sitting in the back of her mind and had left her room feeling refreshed and just about as bright as her iridescent hair.

“Good morning, Nurse Joy!” She sang, Pipster in tow at her side with an equally confident grin splitting his stubby beak. “Please can this be sent to my sister, Kino Pardare, by Dragonite Mail ‘toute suite’?”

The Nurse bobbed an acknowledgment and slid the letter into the hands of a pink Pokemon next to her that Lori recognised as specifically non-Chansey. In fact it seemed a little exotic…

“Nurse Joooy?” Lori crooned as she watched the smiling pink creature with a fluffy tail waddle away into the back room. “Who’s that Pokemon?”

“Oh him?” The Nurse blinked after the strange biped then smiled back at Lori. “That’s one of our new recruits from the Unova region. He’s an Audino and training to be a Nurse Joy’s assistant with us for a while.”

“Unova!? Audino!?” Lori gasped. Just how many people had caught Unova Pokemon already!? Was she really so far behind that even a Nurse Joy had her hands on a new specimen? This was simply unacceptable. Lori’s hand balled into tight fists of determination – a new Unova Pokemon would be hers by the end of the day!

Lori really didn’t get why Joey decided to sleep in his tent rather than inside one of the dormitories of the Pokemon Center but she supposed it had something to do with the same reason his Pokemon seemed so hungry the night before and his clothes looked so old and dirty. She knew enough of her own pride to realise when she should keep her mouth shut about matters such as money and success so didn’t raise it with him when the boy emerged from his canvas dwelling. Yes, it had taken her a little while to realise that he couldn’t hear her calling from outside but by the time she had given up and gone to grab the zipper, his bedhead had showed itself.

In the warm of the morning, Joey’s tent packed away and Pipster distributing the packs of cereal bars that Lori had procured at the Pokemon Center cafeteria that morning, the two trainers began to hatch a plan.

“So, I did some research last night.” Lori began, clicking open her Unovadex and waved it so everyone could see. Joey and Lori’s Pokemon were all in attendance, some still munching on their breakfast as she went over the ground she had already covered. “My Pokedex not only covers the rare Pokemon of the Unova region but also the species of Pokemon from the other regions like Kanto and Sinnoh. Turns out we have some great trackers on our team afterall.”

She drew a rough sketch of a Minccino’s head in the dirt with a stick.

“Our target is my Minccino that escaped yesterday. And the only way we have to track it at the moment is to sniff it out with powerful noses. That’s where Joey’s Pokemon come in.” Kimiko seemed delighted by this but Lori didn’t have it in her to tell the proud Igglybuff that she’d be of no help on this mission. “Raticate, Eevee and Purrloin all apparently have good senses of hearing and smell. Now, although we can’t hear the Minccino if it doesn’t make noise, it can’t help but give off a smell – the same smell that is still on Triss’s vines.” Lori was quite proud of herself for coming up with a hunting plan for the Chinchilla that had escaped her clutches and was eager to see how her new allies would take to the strategy. “All we need is a good sniffer to get us close, good listeners to pinpoint the location, and great battlers to take him out.” She added that last with a wink to her own duo of Pokemon.

“How’s that sound?!”

Posted by: LittleShadowPokemon May 4 2012, 12:06 AM

Joey woke early as a few streams of sunlight broke through the treetops and illuminated patches of the canvas. Had he been able to hear, the definitive sounds of intermittent crunching would have woken him long before then. He turned over in his sleeping bag to face the center of the room where an opened Pokéball lay discarded on the floor. His backpack, not much farther away, had a considerable bulge in the middle that moved in an inconsistent manner. With a sudden lurch, an apple core was unceremoniously kicked out of the opening. The munching sounds ceased momentarily, enough for a small lithe paw to dart out and snag the core back in as if a change of mind motivated a nimble muzzle to glean every fiber of fruit from the core. A few seconds later an even more debilitated core was thrust from the opening.

Sinbad was over in the corner doing what appeared to be a Raticate version of pushups. And he was clapping in the middle. While Sinbad finished up and stretched, Joey rolled up and strapped his relatively thin sleeping bag. In the middle of the checking his pack, Babylon tumbled out and scampered away with crumbs in his fur. Having sufficiently packed up inside, Joey was lacing up his boots when Sinbad went on guard and snipped in his Raticate language at the tent door. Joey finished lacing and shakily hoisted himself to his feet to exit the tent, and the first thing he saw was…Lori! Had he overslept? It didn’t feel like it, but he didn’t have a clock or watch either. Suddenly he realized that aside from foraging dumpsters, time didn’t really matter to him.

Packing up his tent had been an easy chore. He was getting better at it and couldn’t help but to glow with pride at the job well done. He tucked it into some bushes for safekeeping. While all the Pokémon were snacking on the cereal bars, Joey raked his fingers through his hair and tried to set it right. He actually pulled out a twig and flicked it away as quickly and as discreetly as he could. Gosh, he thought. Maybe it’s time for a haircut. It was getting long enough to curl into his ears and tickle him, which was irritating to a palpable extent. Joey made sure all his Pokémon said thanks for their cereal bars and each responded in their own language in varying degrees of enthusiasm.

Lori actually surprised Joey. He couldn’t hear her words, but her fiery spirit blazed through in her actions and demeanor. A sense of purpose started to kindle within him as well. Lori reminded him of a war general he had read about in his younger years. Even his Pokémon were incited. When Lori finished drawing the Minccino in the dirt, Kimiko waddled over and gleefully added a flower décor to one of its ears. Jet, Sinbad, Kimiko, and Babylon cheered to punctuate Lori’s main points, especially at their involvement. Claw didn’t cheer, but he was attentive and fluttered his wings every now and then. The Purrloin was still acting a bit standoffish and threw the rest of the gang a disgusted look at every cheer, but a malevolent glint appeared in her eye at the mention of her role in the hunt. When Lori was finished, Sinbad was the first to the front of the pack and faced the rest. With his tail whipping back and forth excitedly, Sinbad had donned a fire and brimstone edge to his Raticate voice as he attempted to rouse the others to action. Jet even saluted at the end.

“Sorry, you two, but your role is back up artillery,” Joey apologized as he returned the hurt faces of Jet and Kimiko. They would only slow them down, but Joey wanted Claw as aerial surveillance. The remaining Pokémon set quickly to work at Lori’s beckoning. After obtaining the scent from Triss’s vines, Sinbad and the Purrloin diligently went from tree to tree and sniffed for the trace scent of a furry chinchilla Pokémon. Babylon weaved uncertainly from flora to flora and rubbed against it lovingly. Joey had a sinking feeling the Eevee would not be of much help. Sinbad stopped at one tree and sniffed extra long. The Purrloin, suspicious, slinked over, but couldn’t smell a thing. Apparently, her sense of smell was not as acute as the Raticate’s, but her hearing was better. She followed behind the Raticate until she could smell the Pokémon as well, then she darted ahead with Joey and Lori racing to keep up as best they could.

Yes! Yes! There it is! That indescribable scent! That joyous scent! The scent of doomed prey! You shall not escape me this time, rodent. Victory, is mine! Dainty paws sped quickly across the jungle floor with a scythe-like tail swishing in anticipation. It was so close now. The scent was overwhelming. The Raticate went from tree to tree, not sure how to pinpoint the location, but the ears of the Purrloin twitched and turned almost imperceptibly. The Minccino didn’t necessarily have to go out of its way to make noise. One would be amazed at how much goes on without one’s control that was as loud as a freight train and shined like a beacon to the predator’s ears.

Purrloin put all of her concentration into listening, and there it was. That faint, rocketing heartbeat; the sound of blood pulsing through a tense rodent body was like a call to the Purrloin. The slight breathing of a small body trying to hide its presence was a red glare on a white sheet. Getting closer, the Purrloin could also hear the wind ruffle the distinctly soft fur of a Minccino. There was no hiding from this predator. The slightest move would be all she needed to know for sure. A small grey paw stepped lightly on a tree branch far above their heads, and the Purrloin darted up the tree before anyone could react.

You. Are. Mine!

Posted by: Living Arrow May 4 2012, 01:27 AM

*Yes, yes, YES!*

Lori mentally cheered herself on as she and Joey dashed after the fleeting shapes of Sinbad and Joey’s Purrloin in the forests of Fidona. Although her plan had been one suggested by the Pokedex in her pocket, Lori was extremely proud of herself for coming up with the idea of using Triss’s vines as a marker for the Minccino’s scent and was even more proud with the way she had delivered her idea and it actually be listened to while she spoke.

*My Way of the Trainer is shining today!*

Tree, shrub, tree, tree, shrub, they ran on. Finally, something new happened. With a surge of her liquid feline muscles, Joey’s Purrloin sprang upwards without warning at towards a low branch on a nearby tree. Lori and Joey skid to a halt just in time to spot the Minccino from before stepping out of the cover of wide flat leaves and into range of the attacking cat. Lori gasped.

“Cino!” The wild chinchilla stepped back and off the branch, escaping the Purrloin’s clutches by a hairs breadth and dropping straight toward the ground. Smiling up at the baffled Purrloin who had just missed her mark, the Minccino winked and blew her a kiss. Apparently the chase was on, but the Minccino didn’t count on the furor of his real pursuer.

“Triss, Vine Whip!”

Green vines snagged the Minccino from the air and swung him, stunned and startled, into the trunk of the tree with a resounding *crack!*. In another movement, Triss’s vines arced back and towards the ground…

“Hhhssssssk!” A hissing Purrloin’s claws slammed the point of the trunk where the Minccino had been very momentarily pinned just after his body was removed.

“Joey! Call her off!” Lori wailed, “This is my capture! You promised!”

Distracted by her trainer’s distress, Triss’s vines loosened and the nimble Minccino sprang free, somersaulting out of the reach of the vines and dropping to one knee to pant at a safe distance. The Purrloin, however, had other things on its mind and continued to race after the Minccino.

“Lup, PipLUP!” Pipster dropped into the Purrloin’s path with a declaration of ‘leave him alone!’ which earned him a swiped beak. The delay of the Purrloin, however, was all the Minccino needed. Without another word, it zipped into the undergrowth and disappeared.

“Nooo!!!” Lori wailed, dropping to her knees in defeat. “Not agaaaiiin!”

Posted by: LittleShadowPokemon May 6 2012, 11:05 PM

Claw hovered in dead air by flapping vigorously while looking intently at Joey, waiting for a confirmation. Joey nodded, and the Pidgey leaned back and flapped with a few hard strokes to send himself into an upward spiral in order to gain altitude. Gravity would be the tool that changes that altitude into speed. Claw refused to go above the treetops at first as it would obscure his vision, so it was a rocky ride when he rocketed forward around the trees. It was like a roller coaster that had no set track, and the speed was incredible at such a low altitude. Ground whipped past far below and tree branches were only stinging streaks of brown. Claw couldn’t remember ever flying this fast before. It was thrilling, to say the least, but it was also dangerous.

Left!Left!Right!Dive!Pull up!Swoop!Turn!

Decisions had to be made before they could be even properly thought. In fact, there was no thought. There was only reaction. Any miscalculation, any errant twitch of tail feathers, any unfounded dropping of a wing, and the bird Pokémon could be sent crashing into a tree and having a wing joint yanked out of place, a beak or skull smashed, or a leg twisted unrecognizably. There wasn’t time to think about that, however.

Claw wasn’t exactly the epitome of his species, but he was still a member of that species all the same, and he had the staple raptor eyes that would eventually make them all a fearless Pidgeot. Those same raptor eyes scanned the ground diligently to track each blade of twitching grass that betrayed the path of the fleeing Minccino. Tracking prey was no easy task, but it was one that Pidgey were born to do. Eyes that were designed to read a book in the outfield from home plate tracked tirelessly, and once the terrain started to change and the trees thinned out, it became less stressful, and Claw slowed and continued to move higher until he was above the treetops, trying to make the Minccino think it was not being pursued.

The Pidgey wasn’t alone. Sinbad had streaked after the Minccino right at the beginning, but he had trouble keeping up even though fleetness was his strong point. He had no way besides scent to tell where the Minccino was, but he kept an eye on Claw who soared above him as a failsafe. The only thing to spur his little rodent feet to zipping action was the thrill of a challenge and the prospect of an elusive adversary. Also, seeing the damsel in distress instilled in him a sense of righteous duty, and that quickened his pace. It became harder to run when the terrain changed to that of the more flat rock associated with mountainous regions. There were no hills and divots of jungle moss to use to his advantage in gaining distance. There were no vines to slingshot himself; just open land.

Luckily, their chase was ended as the Minccino raced up a craggy looking tree and flopped into a collection of sticks and dirt. Before he could lean over and scan the area for pursuers, Sinbad dove behind a rock, and Claw had perched silently in a parallel tree and waited. The two Pokémon exchanged communication through looks that implied that Claw would stay and watch, while Sinbad went back to get help.

In short, Joey was mortified. The shivering Piplup holding its scratched beak was a sad sight, and it was caused by his own Purrloin! He looked down at her Pokéball, the symbol of ownership, and the burden of responsibility. Before the feline could turn and sprint, Joey clicked the button and returned her, but not without earning a scathing look from the little deviant which disintegrated in a flash of red energy. When she was safely put away, Joey went over to the Piplup and Lori and apologized profusely as best he could. He kneeled gently, using his hands to bend his injured leg just right so as not to strain it or put pressure on it, and rummaged through his pack, bringing out a small, square plastic Poké first aid kit. In it were three freeze-dried Sitrus berries in a plastic bag. Opening the package and withdrawing one, he offered it to the Piplup in the most non-menacing, non-presumptuous way he could, and then carefully sealed the package again and packed everything back up. Then, while he was down at Lori’s physical level, a communication technique he had read about, he put his hand on Lori’s shoulder and looked her in the eyes as a form of comfort. He searched deeply for the words to go with them, but nothing surfaced.

“The battle isn’t over yet. Let’s hurry and catch up.” He could only hope immediate action would quell another meltdown from Lori. He did not want a repeat from earlier. He pushed himself to a standing position. The trek through the forest had been strenuous. Where Lori had been free to run, he had hobbled at an accelerated pace and probably used more of his leg than he should have. He turned to start after the Pokémon when Sinbad burst back through the undergrowth and motioned for them to follow him.



The two trainers followed the Raticate through the forest with Joey wishing he could be more gentlemanly or chivalrous by helping Lori through the more treacherous parts, but he had enough problems himself to even realistically consider it. It was a nice thought though. When the terrain started thinning out, Sinbad slowed and dropped lower to the ground, as if it were possible and motioned for them to do the same. Two humans crashing through the forest would be enough to set the Minccino running again.

From a safe distance away that seemed to be the only definitive break from forest to rugged terrain, Joey collapsed near a rock and panted. He was ready for a nap. He looked up and saw Claw ducking on a branch behind some foliage. They acknowledged each other with a friendly nod. Sinbad looked from Lori to Joey, not quite waiting for a command, but instead idealizing each heroic maneuver he could perform to procure the Minccino for the fair maiden, and allowed himself plenty of fanfare in each breath-taking scenario.

Posted by: Living Arrow May 7 2012, 11:13 AM

Lori was rapidly regretting sending that letter to her sister for the sponsorship of Joey. Theft number one had occurred only one day ago and, thank to her easy-trusting nature, theft number two was under way. It was almost unbearable! Why-oh-why had she ended up with such a horrible boy on what was meant to be the best Pokemon Journey of her life!?

“Piiip, Piplup!” Pipster’s relieved cries were what brought Lori out of her most recent bout of tear-filled hysterics and, lo-and-behold, Joey was surprising her again. His hand on her shoulder was reassuring and his gaze level. He hadn’t sent the Purrloin after her Minccino after all.

“The battle isn’t over yet. Let’s hurry and catch up.”

*Maybe I can trust him… If that Purrloin was acting without orders then he’s still on my side… OK, Mister Sweet. One last chance.*

Lori’s feet found all the right footholds as their flight out of the dense forest and into the sparse rugged terrain not thanks to her inetions, but thanks to her driven focus to get that Unova Pokemon! Joey’s Raticate, named Sinbad, and Pidgey, named Claw, had run after the Minccino after Lori’s initial battle and tracked it to another location. While she had been blubbering, Joey’s Pokemon had been helping her out and that only spelled guilt for the young red-head. She had been fast to judge the boy for not the first time and she had been wrong again.

They were pulled up short of a long break in the trees to spy upon a rather dried up and unhealthy looking tree in the center of an open blast of gravel and boulders. In fact, the tree looked pretty out of place but it was clear that it was the target of Lori’s next assault.

“Are you sure?” She whispered to Sinbad as she crouched low to the ground, an exhausted Pipster fighting for breath behind her. The Raticate’s furtive nodding and whisker-twitching was all the confirmation Lori wanted or needed. She turned back to Joey. “Right, time for round… are you OK?”

Lori, not a marathon runner by any means, had not thought once to ask how Joey was doing on his injured leg since the cast came off during their high-speed trek through the jungle and was fast becoming no stranger to Guilt who had decided to take up permanent residence in the back of her head. It was clear, blindingly so, that she was the more capable of the two trainers when it came to perusing their bounty and so this bout with the Minccino would be up to her alone.

“Don’t worry Joey,” Lori clenched her fists into balls of determination at her chest, “leave it to me!”

And with that, she was on the move.

Rock, rock, rock, gravel, rock, rock, protruding root, gravel, rock, tree!

With her hands and feet grabbing for any purchase that would have them, Lori threw herself into climbing the craggy tree and toward the pile of sticks at the top that would house her Minccino. Reaching the nest was, for all intents and purposes, far easier than Lori had initially anticipated and now she was there!

“You’re mine!” She squealed as she surged over the lip of the nest and flopped face-first into it.

“Chino!” The Minccino cried and with a ‘swoosh’ dug through the bottom of the nest before the researcher’s hands could grab it. Dropping back to the ground, the grey Chinchilla dashed for the treeline.

“NOOO!” Lori’s scream followed it in vain, not before the brown feathers of a Pidgey took to the air once more. Punching the sticks under her, Lori ripped them up in frustration and almost ended up knocking the single egg that was in the nest out of the tree altogether.

“Huh?” Taking the egg in her hands and momentarily forgetting her escaping Pokemon, Lori examined the warm shell and noted the odd blue and red markings on the creamy white background and could help but feel that this was no Minccino egg. Then again, it hadn’t occurred to Lori until that moment that the nest was not her Minccino’s home. It also hadn’t occurred to her that the real owner might be on his way home…

A terrible scream rent the air and, without needing to turn around, Lori took her chances and kicked the hole in the bottom of the nest, taking the plunge to follow her Minccino back to the ground. There was no way she was becoming Pokemon food when she still had that Minccino to capture!

“Aaahh!” Lori screamed as she hit the gravel below and rolled, her arms still clutched around the large white-red-blue egg. Somehow her feet found her and she was sprinting back towards Joey who had turned a visibly white shade of pale since she had left him to rest at the rock. The looming shadow that was growing around her as she ran could only be a bad sign and, not risking a look behind her, Lori plowed on towards the safety of the trees. “Ruuuuuun!”

Posted by: LittleShadowPokemon May 8 2012, 12:04 AM

The forest rocked with the aerial scream, but Joey didn’t notice as he was bent over tying his boot. He was getting ready to aid Lori in climbing, but when he looked up she was already on her way back. He quickly blanched when he saw why. His blood drained so fast he got a definitive chill, and his heart felt like it had dropped like a rock into his stomach. He froze, unthinking, as he watched in horror as a dark shadow started to overtake Lori in her frantic sprint. When she was almost there, the adrenaline finally fired in him to turn and run for dear life. The scariest part was that the monstrous Braviary that was quickly approaching was noticeably bigger than him.

Joey looked around for Claw to recall him to his Pokéball, knowing this was a fight that he could not even hope to win. He spotted the bird high and far ahead, apparently tracking the Minccino that had escaped again. Their only hope was to reach the tree line. Out here in the open, they were Mareep ripe for the plucking, as Joey remembered the line from an old fairy tale. The Braviary was big, hopefully too big to maneuver as easily as Claw had through the forest. Maybe, it even had more experience with that sort of thing, and getting to the forest would only doom them. Joey couldn’t decide, so he went with his gut feeling and kept going to the forest.

Where did Babylon wander off to? Joey worried, but not for long. Not long in their escape did Joey spot the brown ball of fur napping on a humongous mushroom growing out of a tree trunk. Without a word, Joey clicked his Pokéball and returned him without rousing him in the least. They sped on. Lori was easily gaining length on him and pulling ahead. He was getting sick of these crutches and the awkward lope he was forced to endure. On a whim, he considered folding them up and just running without them, but his leg was barely holding up now. He knew he couldn’t keep running. He had to hide, and he had to do it fast. He could feel the wind from the impending feathered goliath. He risked a glance over his shoulder and saw the talons on the giant bird. Were they getting sharper and glinting? Was that a Pokémon move?

Looking back ahead, he saw they were now in the forest, but it was still rather thin. However, ahead was a good sized tree with some of the roots up-heaved and burrowed out, thus making a small cavern. If only he could reach it in time… He turned back around and saw one of the most horrifying things of his life, and given his recent events underwater, that was a considerably horrifying thing. He saw the move that marked the final moments of life for prey from an aerial attack.

The wings of the Braviary jerked back and the tail feathers flared to slow the dive. Talons that could puncture through several of Joey’s organs with barely a twitch raked forward menacingly. It seemed to happen in slow motion, which is the only reason Joey was able to recognize the brown blur that raced up a nearby tree trunk, the leapt from the vertical sprint into an arching attack that coincided perfectly with the Braviary’s dive. Sinbad closed in on the Braviary, then one nimble paw started to glow with a dark aura. The Braviary turned to look at the intruder to look, and earned a Sucker Punch right in the eye.



The giant bird’s legs were thrown out from under it as it was sent careening onto its side. Legs and talons scrambled across forest floor, grasping hysterically at twigs, vines, moss, and topsoil, all which offered absolutely no traction as he lost altitude, but even his haphazard wind milling of wings could not stop the thunderous crash in the brush. Sinbad landed gracefully upon the follow-through of his attack and darted away rather easily, both congratulating himself on his heroism and calculating his next attack. His tail twitched with excitement and his whiskers shivered with anticipation.

Joey used this as an opportunity to scurry underneath the tree trunk, forgetting his crutches he had discarded in pure fright out in the open. He called to Lori to draw her attention to the place to hide. Honestly, he thought she could get away safely at this point, but he wanted her to have the option. And if he didn’t make it, she would be able to tell the details for his obituary. A shudder rocked his spine at the thought. He stumbled toward the hole and managed a slide reminiscent of those performed on home plate. Dirt kicked up all around his face and sent him into a coughing fit, but he was surprised to find out it was roomier underneath the tree than he first thought. There was a slight dip to the hovel and the trunk was hollow for most of the lower half, so there was some room to move around. As a matter of fact, he could pull himself to a sitting position and he leaned back trying to get as far inside the hole as he could. He pulled his legs up to his chest and held them, wishing he could have the ability to listen if the Braviary was still out there. The dirt was cold and it was darker than night inside the trunk. The smell of moss and rotten log was overwhelming.

Joey didn’t have long to wait, because the Braviary had rolled himself into a standing position and shook his wings. Dirt and twigs rumpled his majestic appearance, but his determination was only starting to get fired up. With another screech, he stampeded towards the tree where Joey was hiding and bent his neck down and started pecking violently at the roots that covered the hole that housed his prey. At least he had fallen completely in the forest and there was no feasible way to get back into the air at this point. Being grounded made him utilize his other natural tools, but unfortunately for Joey, his alternative options were none the less deadly. His hooked beak hammered the bark and roots like a sledgehammer in a construction site, tearing and splintering the wood with vicious snapping and cracking sounds.

From inside, woodchips pelted Joey, who covered his face from the assault. Hot tears began to sting his eyes, but he tried to hold them as he knew they would do no good to his current situation. He needed a clear head, but he was having trouble finding it. Within moments, this whole ordeal would be over. Bark flew away from the tree with force rivaling that of a tornado as the Braviary persevered. Now able to glimpse his prey, the Valiant Pokémon backed up considerably, then ran forward and flapped, getting just enough lift to slam his talons against the tree with all his might. With a precarious crrreeeeeeeeeek, the trunk tilted back and started to fall. Several popping sounds signified the roots that were being pulled out of the ground by force. Joey looked up to see the tree starting its descent, and his cover was slowly being pulled back over him like a blanket, ultimately revealing him. The tree stopped moving about halfway to the ground, having just enough roots to keep itself up, but still swinging none too confidently from side to side. Joey had no moves left. No ideas. All he could do manage was to cover his head with his arms and hoped it would be over soon.

Sinbad had a different idea.

Posted by: Living Arrow May 8 2012, 01:21 AM

“I will not be Pokemon food!” Lori screamed as she dashed through the trees, her flaming banner of hair whipping behind her in an uncontrollable wave. “Not today!!!”

The oath that she cried in her flight fell very literally on deaf ears as, yet again, she left Joey trailing behind in her wake. She chanced glances back now and then to see that he was keeping a fairly decent pace on those crutches but ultimately they were slowing him too much – the wild eagle that was giving chase would be upon him in moments.

*There’s nothing I can do!*

“Pip-lu-u-u-u-uuup!” Pipster’s squeal of terrified exhaustion was nearly all Lori could take. Was this it?! Was her journey really about to end even before she had caught a single Pokemon? Was she really that much of a failure?

“Lori!” Joey’s call snapped her head around once more to find him diving under the base of a dead old tree. It appeared as though the ground directly under the roots had been hollowed enough for any kid of their age to slip into but would never allow a creature the size of that monstrous bird access. It was a decent plan… as long as you could out-wait a bird like that.

Lori was about to turn back when she saw the bird land and begin its assault on the tree and it gave certain cause for her to maintain her distance.

“Joey!” Calling his name is all that she could do – there was no way she could stop that thing…

“Piiip, LUUUP!” Pipster went shooting back towards Lori’s new friend with a battle cry that didn’t even make a mark on the Braviary’s and within seconds he was out of her reach.

Even as the Piplup charged back to defend Joey, the Braviary was uprooting the tree to the point were it toppled back to leave the trainer completely exposed to the sharp claws and stabbing beak of the enormous feathered predator. The drably-dressed form of Joey J. Sweet cowered in the hole under the tree, awaiting the final swipe of certain doom.

“RaaaTICATE!” Sinbad’s leap was mighty for a Pokemon so surprisingly small. His front claws dug deep into the facial feathers of the bird, generating enough force to actually knock the bird over!

*Wow! If a Pokemon as small as that can hit as hard as that…* Lori stood back, disbelieving. *Then we might be able to win!*

“Pipster, use Bubble!” Lori’s attack order seemed futile at first but then her mind began to wander and a plan slowly began to develop. “Come on out, Triss!” Her Snivy blinked around at the situation and almost immediately her collar rose and gave a rattling warning of alarm. “Grab Joey! Use Vine Whip!”

With a swish and a whoosh, two snaking vines shot down into the exposed hole and gently wrapped around the boy’s chest. With a tug, Joey was dragged from the hole at speed to skid all the way back to Lori’s feet. She descended upon him with a tight hug.

“Joey! You’re alright!” She exclaimed with delight. Joy gave way to seriousness once more as they face the Braviary mid-battle with Sinbad and Pipster. “But we need to put that bird in the hole.” She informed him. “Look at those roots – it’s a cage! If it’s pinned down under that weight I doubt it will be able to move the tree so easily and it’s wings will be totally tangled!”

She scooped an arm under his armpit and hauled him up.

“Do you think we can do it?”

Posted by: LittleShadowPokemon May 8 2012, 02:22 AM

Well aimed bubbles exploded across the Braviary’s visage, causing him to ruffle his feathers and shake his head back and forth. The motion displayed the powerful, rippling muscles that gave the bird unprecedented mass for an aerial combatant, but those same muscles could carry a car while flying. Or uproot an ancient tree. Or squeeze the life out of a small teenage boy. Luckily, the bubbles distracted him enough for two slender vines to wrap themselves around Joey’s torso. A tear escaped his eye and ran down his cheek.

This is it! He has me in his beak!! No…it doesn’t feel sharp enough to be a beak. Oh my Arceus he has me in his talons! He’s going to squeeze me to death slowly! Joey mentally wailed. But we don’t all have to die, Joey decided as he reached into his front scrub pocket for his Pokéballs, intending to toss them to relative safety. However, the action made him realize that the size of what held him was far too small to be the claw of a Braviary.

He opened his eyes at that moment and saw that he was at Lori’s feet, with her Snivy retracting her vines while looming over him. He didn’t remember being dragged over there, but his adrenaline was responsible for that, much like hitting your head and waking up on the ground without knowing how you got there. He gratefully accepted her hug with an enthusiastic embrace. After she helped him up, he checked himself all over and patted himself down. No gaping wounds. No punctured organs. No guts spilling out. It might turn out to be a good day after all.

From what he could lip-read and grasp from her motions, he agreed with her plan. The hard part would be getting him in there without toppling the tree, and then would they be able to push the tree back on top of him? Sinbad and Pipster were already in front of them in battle stances, and Joey had to think quickly.

Claw? He had no clear advantage in this battle situation. Babylon was too timid, especially in these dangerous conditions. The Purrloin? No benefits there to outweigh the headache. Kimiko? They already had one trap planned, and they needed firepower to get him there. What about waterpower? Jet was quickly becoming his go-to battle Pokémon, but this environment was really out of his comfort zone. Distance attacks were valuable in this situation though, and it would mean he didn’t have to move much. Icy Wind! Claw never liked the cold due to his flying type, so the same must hold true for this massive flyer. Jet was clearly the most effective choice. He called him out and he quickly flopped over to join the ranks of Sinbad and Pipster with a determined look on his face.

He could see now that they were both on equal ground and still that the Braviary truly was larger than him. Taller by an inch or more, and definitely stronger, faster, and meaner, the mass of feathers and muscle stood sizing up his competition. His chest expanded and contracted powerfully. His gaze was fierce.

Joey turned to Lori.

“This has to be a combined effort. Triss has to get on the other side and pull the Braviary in using her vines while the others push. Then they can use the same technique to bring the tree back down to make sure it takes him awhile to get out. First, Jet needs to give him something to worry about.”

Posted by: Living Arrow May 11 2012, 11:43 AM

“Y’hear that, Triss?” Lori pumped a fist. “Let’s go!”

It was more than a welcome relief for Lori to be with someone who was taking charge in their perilous situation. Yes, she had thought of what she wanted to happen but no, she hadn’t thought about how to make it happen. Thanks to Joey, their game plan was sound enough to actually work and they even had some stronger Pokemon to help them out!

Together, researcher and Snivy ran around the back of the Braviary and into the shade of the toppling tree. With a stolid nod to each other, the pair began their assault.

“Vine Whip attack, Triss!”

“Jet, more Icy Wind!”

Wuh-PAH! Thin viridian vines that sprouted like striking snakes from Triss’s collar lashed around the giant eagle’s body, pinning its wings firmly to its sides. With a shocked cry, the Braviary stumbled back, towards the hole. Lori mentally punched the air… then did it literally.

“Yes! Take that!” She delighted in the evolution of their plan. “Now, Pipster help out with your own Icy Wind!”

“Piiiip….LUUUP!” Pipster jumped alongside Jet and released his own frosty attack (though smaller than his Seel team-mate’s) which only bolstered Lori’s rapidly growing ‘we’re-going-to-win-this’ mood. The joy of winning for a change even gave the girl cause for a little dance on the spot where she rocked from one foot to the other with glee.

”TSEEEEEEER!” The ear-splitting cry from the Braviary came with a massive surge of its body and, before Lori knew it, the tables were no longer turning in their favour. Caught up by the sheer power of her opponent, Triss was catapulted into the air while still attached to the great bird and found herself plummeting towards its head. In moment of sheer ridiculousness, Lori’s Snivy landed square on the eagle’s face.

“Triss, NO!” Lori wailed from behind, grabbing her hair instinctively over one shoulder in both fists. Why was everything suddenly going so wrong?!

“SNIII-VY!” Triss’s Glare, at point-blank range, was just as effective on the breviary as it would have been on a Pokemon her own size. With a strangled gulp, the bird shivered on the spot and the grass snake jumped free from it, releasing her vines and allowing Sinbad to fly in with a rocketing Quick Attack to the side of the head. Completely dazed, the Braviary stumbled back.

“Jet, use Headbutt!”

A Seel horn to the chest and another step backwards. Lori blinked. It was working!

“Pipster, Peck attack right now!”

Another hit, another step, and with a teetering moment, the Braviary was poised on the lip of the shallow hole in the earth like an oddly feathered ballerina before plummeting into a flapping mess at its base. Vines were already lashing out once more as Triss heaved on the precariously balanced uprooted tree to trap the Braviary under its cage-like roots. Icy Wind from the edge of the hole kept the struggling bird in place and the powerful mini package of a Raticate known as Sinbad leapt behind the tree to push at it with all the power he had.

It was all going to plan and for the second time, Lori could look over at Joey and think: *he really is a great guy to have around after all!*

Posted by: LittleShadowPokemon May 20 2012, 12:20 AM

After the dust settled around the trapped eagle, Joey finally remembered to breathe. The battle had been so exhilarating, especially when things had gone their way. But when Triss had been tugged onto the Braviary’s face, Joey had started running possible apologies through his mind for getting her Pokémon eaten by a wild bird. He didn’t suppose they made a card for that.

He and Lori looked at each other as their Pokémon came back from the fight, and it was the first time in a long time that he legitimately smiled. Once he realized that, he tried to wipe it from his face while turning away. Sinbad was at his feet now and jerked his tapered rodent head up as Claw passed by overhead. After circling a few times and cawing, the message was clear that he wanted to be followed. Perhaps he had been trailing the Minccino and knew where it was. Now that the adrenaline was draining from Joey, he realized how exhausted he was, but it would be easier now instead of letting the trail go cold by waiting. He turned back to Lori and nodded at her.

“You go on ahead. I’ll catch up.”

Joey walked stiffly over the branches, roots, and vines to the trapped Braviary. The figure had now stopped struggling in defeat, succumbing to paralysis. That, Joey believed, had been the deciding factor in their triumph, but he couldn’t bring himself to leave the Pokémon like that. Looking down at the dirty feathers still laced in brittle ice, he felt a pang of remorse. This Pokémon probably had a nest, a life, and he had to at least give him a fighting chance to return to it.

The cracked beak slid slowly toward him as the Braviary lifted his solemn gaze to peer at the young crippled trainer, who at that moment tried desperately hard to not lose his gumption. He swung his pack off and quickly pulled out two berries, a Cheri berry and a Sitrus. He had read about berry properties, and these two would easily allow this massive Pokémon to muscle its way free. So he placed the berries within plain view and reasonable reach, but still far enough away to make it a struggle, and allow the two trainers ample time to escape.

Packing back up, he turned, and recalled a subdued but grinning Jet with lavish praise. Then he hurried after Lori, with Sinbad at his side.

Posted by: Living Arrow May 25 2012, 10:54 AM

Success, success, SUC-FREAKIN-CESS!

Lori very literally gave a ‘whoop’ of joy and punched the air, jumping on the spot in a cute victory dance that made her flaring skirt swirl up over her hips several times as her hair swam circles of flaming red around her head. Pipster was the perfect mimic, leaping on the spot and flapping his stubby wings wildly while Triss dropped to one knee and panted heavily, shaking her head in embarrassment for her team mates’ behaviour.

Lori settled briefly and looked over to her new-found friend. Joey smiled at her. She beamed right back. Together they had triumphed over that massive bird! Joey turned away quickly to tend to his Raticate but it was the flutter of tiny brown wings that took both their attention. A nod from Joey was all Lori needed to know the chase was back on.

“You go on ahead. I’ll catch up.”

“Are you sure?” Lori croaked but Joey was already looking away – unable to lip read. She balled her fists and readied her body. She had proven so far she could work in teams – the same had happened with Will in Port Barley – but her solo skills were still lacking or untested. Her way of the trainer was to fight to the end and there was no way she was giving up now!

“Pipster, Triss!” She signalled to her Pokemon and soon found the Snivy riding her shoulder and the Piplup under her arm as she ran after Claw the tiny Pidgey through the forest.

“There!” Lori hushed her voice to an urgent whisper as she dove behind the cover of a thick shrub and peered through its leafy depths into the clearing beyond. There, panting and resting back against the trunk of a tree, was her Minccino.

Triss and Pipster, both still tired from their battles earlier, gathered close to watch the grey Pokemon catching his breath and sweeping the nearby area free of dust as he settled down to rest with a quick nap. Lori couldn’t believe it – this would be the perfect time to strike! All it took was the element of surprise – something that her other idol had to spare…

…

…

“Pokeball, GO!” Lori leapt from cover, pitching the maximised green Pokeball right for the Minccino’s head.

“Cino!” The chinchilla declared, springing up and swinging his tail around in a neat arc. With an audible ‘thwack’, the ball was returned to the trainer without the capture device even being activated.

“Now!”

“Sniii, VY!” A Vine Whip struck out from the bush immediately to the side of the target Minccino and connected squarely with its head. The powerful move sent the poor Chinchilla directly into the tree where it had been resting and air was knocked from it almost instantly.

“Triss, that’s enough!” Lori swept her arm dramatically, not hearing the rustling of bushes behind her as Joey caught up, “Pipster, use Bubble!”

“Piiip lupluplup!” The Piplup jumped out of the bush on the other side of the Minccino and sent forth his aqua missiles that further battered and weakend the opponent before it even had a chance to strike back at Triss who was already rushing in for the final move.

“Triss, use Glare!”

Two sinister eyes were the only thing that the Minccino could see when he opened them after being assaulted and, ensnared by their paralyzing power, it became completely unable to move. Lori’s arm pulled back one more time.

“This is the final time I’ll throw this ball!” She promised the world, “Minccino, you’re mine!”

Button met forehead. Capsule opened. Chinchilla covered in red light. Chinchilla became red light. Light entered capsule. Capsule closed. Capsule fell.

Acid collected in the lump which had found a home in Lori’s throat as she clutched her enormous swathe of red hair over one shoulder in both fists. The Pokeball rocked once… twice… it was almost too much to bear!... thrice… *Please, please, please!*. And stopped rocking…

“YES! YESYESYES!” Lori screamed, jumping up and down on the spot with uncontainable delight. She ran to the green and white Pokeball and snagged it up. Cradling it preciously in both hands she beam down at it. “My very first Unova capture! And you’re all mine!”

“Lup, Piplup!”
“Sni!”

Lori’s Pokemon congratulated her happily, jumping around her torso and hugging her where they could as she span around gaily.

“WE DID IIIIIIT!”

Posted by: LittleShadowPokemon Jun 11 2012, 11:03 PM

Joey caught up just as Lori was sending her Piplup after a gasping Minccino. He was glad to see that she had found it again. He slumped against a nearby tree to catch his breath when a bundle of feathers tumbled into his lap. He righted and smoothed the panting Pidgey before recalling him. He counted his Pokéballs with a grimace. Everyone, including him, was pretty tired by now (except for maybe Kimiko), and Sinbad was nowhere to be seen. Joey enjoyed watching Lori’s capture, thinking vaguely that this was more fun than reading it out of a book.
When her green and white Pokéball stopped shaking, his heart skipped a beat, and then he let out a sigh in relief. The chase was finally over.

After the touching scene where she and her Pokémon were celebrating, she came over and helped Joey to stand while absolutely beaming. Euphoria was in the air, and catching. Upon Lori’s invitation, Joey consented to accompanying her to the Pokémon Center. Not only did his Pokémon need rest, but he had hoped somewhere in the back of his mind for another free meal that wasn’t served on a trash can lid.

The two walked on through the forest deep in thought, Joey about food, and Lori about her new Minccino. Those reasons were probably factors into why neither one of them saw the upturned vine until Joey tripped over it, stumbling slow and seeming to catch himself with his crutches until he was suddenly jerked off his feet and suspended in the air, and very, very close to Lori. As soon as he realized, he struggled to right himself, but he only made things worse, and lost his crutches through the net in the process. Immediately wondering if a Purrloin’s claws could cut the net, Joey reached for his Pokéballs; several times, each unsuccessful. Being in a very awkward position, he feared extra movement would displace his Pokéballs and cause them to fall out of his pockets. He thus mentally vowed to get zipper pockets if he would continue to get himself into debacles like these.

The two struggling trainers didn’t have more time to attempt an escape because just as Lori was reaching for her Snivy, a trumpet sounded through the air. Only Lori heard it, but Joey saw the movement through the trees. Fleet-footed and confident, a whole group of people like Joey had never seen before emerged from the trees to stand expectantly underneath the net. One of them stepped forward with an air of command that clearly marked her as the leader of the small group. Joey did a subtle double take. Her?

She had a Pokémon by her side and it obediently followed her command. Joey had a feeling he had seen something like it before. It was a verdant quadruped with a bunch of seeds around its lengthy neck, and a crisp leaf with a notch taken out of it. Upon command, the Pokémon that Joey now recognized as a Bayleef used Razor Leaf to cut the net down from the tree, and Joey panicked during the falling sensation approximately one second before he and Lori were cradled gently by well-trained vines and placed even more gently on the ground. Still struggling with confines of the net, Joey and Lori were hoisted to their feet and set free of the net, only to be replaced by arrow-headed spears. Joey raised his arms in the universal placating surrender pose and tried to calculate how much damage one of those spears could actually do before he could get away. They looked potent enough to convince him not to cause any trouble.

Now that he was closer, he noticed with a faint blush that they were all women, and a particularly cute and young girl stepped forward to take his pack. He felt like protesting, but a spear was jabbed at him in a feint to serve as a pre-emptive strike. The group started marching them off through the woods, leaving Joey’s crutches in a heap behind them. Joey walked as best as he could, but it was noticed that he had a limp, and he was beckoned onto the back of another tribe member’s Pokémon, a Donphan, which was easily more than half his height. He needed assistance to get astride the tough, leathery beast. The Donphan didn’t seem to notice his presence and accepted it very apathetically. For the most part, the Donphan was mild-mannered and the ride was gentle and swaying with his lumbering stride, but Joey felt so self-conscious having been singled out and so high up in the air. He kept trying to glance at Lori to signal that they should escape, but too many tribeswomen were blocking their eye contact. It was just as well, because no matter how much he racked his brain, he always came to the same conclusion.

He needed to retire, and fast.

---

The ride was indeterminably long, and Joey felt bad for Lori, who had to walk at the constant threat of a poke from a spear. He tried to memorize their direction and route to figure out which way was back to civilization, but every tree looked like another and after a long journey every detail started to blend together into a mass of green and brown. In addition to that, Joey had his suspicions that the tribe members were purposely leading them in an indirect, winding path mean to confuse them.

When he was just to nod off, the Donphan stopped at the signal of the group, causing the small boy to gently topple forward. Catching himself, he looked around, seeing no apparent reason as to why they should have stopped. Then, like a haze parting, he saw them.

Immaculate tree houses entwined in the upper boroughs of the thick, gigantic trees of the jungle were only betrayed by the occasional loose rope ladder, and upon further scrutiny, elaborate rope bridges suspended among the treetops. A few carefully made straw hutches were scattered on the ground. Various Pokémon and their assumed handlers peeked through shadowy doorways before darting back inside. Families with small children paralleled their actions from the treehouses above. Joey didn’t manage to glimpse anymore than a tan face here or there. The group proceeded slowly through the small, makeshift village until they were in the supposed center of the hutches.

They paused here and another group of be-feathered tribeswomen in traditional tribal clothing with intricate tribal tattoos stepped out of the hut. There seemed to be an exchange of instructions, but Joey couldn’t make heads or tails by lip-reading. Recent shuffling caused Lori to be not too far from Joey, so he leaned over from astride the Donphan and whispered to Lori, hoping it was loud enough for her to hear.

“What are they talking about?”

“Nothing in English,” Lori whispered back.

Whatever it was, they seemed to have concluded as the tribal leaders made their way towards the two captured youths. After some intense scrutiny from the leader that made Joey squirm with discomfort, she motioned for her underlings to take them into separate huts. With a pained look, Joey watched as a buff-looking tribeswoman directed Lori by spear point to a hut on the other side, then the Donphan turned and Lori disappeared from view. The Donphan’s handler led them to his own hut and strong arms wrapped around Joey’s torso and forcibly dragged him off the back of the Donphan, who was now occupying himself by rubbing his tusks against a tree trunk. He was pushed into dark hut, causing a shooting pain in his leg and a wave of dirt to spray around him. He felt as if he had yelped, but he couldn’t be sure. He dragged himself onto a rectangular pile of hay that he assumed was meant to act as a couch. He could see a tribal leader enter in the low light, and another heavily decorated person of indeterminable gender that had a quiet and peaceful demeanor.

Addressing Joey directly, the tribeswoman appeared to be talking to him, but with the light behind her, he couldn’t see any of her features. He drew his knees up as best he could and shuddered in fear. How was he going to get out of this one? It didn’t seem fair to have survived everything else just to succumb here. He did his best to stifle a whimper before talking.

“I don’t – don’t know what you’re saying.”

The tribeswoman turned to the shaman and spoke, and that turn of her head allowed enough light to lip-read her next words.

“Did anyone see what they were poaching?”

Posted by: Living Arrow Jun 13 2012, 01:28 AM

“Baawww! A NET?!” Lori’s frustration was unparalleled as she kicked and squirmed on top of Joey, trying to free herself from the rope prison while her hair tangled all around them like their very own net-within-a-net. The fact that one of Joey’s arms was nestled right in the center of her chest went unnoticed, as did the brushing of their cheeks as she fought her bonds. Why did things like this happen to decent people? Lori was still high on the exultation of her first true capture and yet this net was bringing her down… well, strung up, but her mood was plummeting fast.

One squirm from Joey towards his Pokeballs was fruitless and so Lori attempted to release Triss to cut them down but she was smartly interrupted by their captors.

“Get us down!” Lori screamed at the bunch of jungle women that showed up in their little clearing. Obviously, they paid her no attention (who listens to their prisoners?) and they took their sweet time in letting them down from their awkward and more than a little cramped position above the ground.

“Right, who is to blame for thi- WAH!” Lori yelped as a spear was thrust in her direction…

“OK, now this is seriously starting to get old.” Lori muttered to herself as the beserker child with the stick behind her gave her back another short jab. A couple of teen girls around her giggled and pointed, touching their heads and gesturing openly with large hands. Whatever they thought about Lori’s hair, the trainer did not care a jot.

*Bugger off!*

By the time they reached the tribe’s treetop village, Lori’s feet were sore and aching. At least Joey was alright though – the women had realised his legs were injured and had let him ride a Donphan rather than make him walk. Why they hadn’t been as courteous to her was beyond her.

“My sister, Kino Pardare, will send a search party!” She declared as she entered the center of the hutches on the ground to where they were directed. “She’s the Unova League Champion and all of you will- HEY! I’m talking to you!”

Ignored, Lori was allowed to join Joey under the guard of several women while their lead captor convened with an older woman from inside one of the hutches. The newcomer was covered in some crazy tattoos and wore weird as hell clothes (that left nothing to the imagination) decorated with feathers and the odd bone here and there. Lori’s outrage was very rapidly turning to fear.

“What are they talking about?” Joey’s whisper was almost inaudible. Lori strained her ears to listen and then inwardly sighed.

“Nothing in English.” She responded, coming to the realisation that her previous rants were not ignored – they had just been misunderstood. Then a spear came her way again.

“Ah! For God’s sake would you stop pointing that at me!?” Lori complained as she was directed to move away from Joey and toward a small hut on the other side of the mini village square. She turned back to see Joey being dragged from the Donphan he was mounted on and sent toward another hut. “Hey! He’s got a bad leg!” Lori protested as she watched Joey limping into his stick-walled prison.

“Sit.” She was commanded she she was rudely pushed into her own hut. Lori’s eyes widened.

“Hey! You do speak English!?” She grasped at straws. “So you’ll know who my sister is! How powerful a trainer she is! I’m sure she’d go easy on you if you let me go!... And my friend!”

“Sit.” The order came again. Lori leaned sideways to get a look out of the doorway and spied the tribeswoman leader entering joey’s hut.

“Oh! What are they going to do to him?! He’s deaf, you know? He can’t hear a thing!” Lori hoped beyond hope that her captives understood that. Everyone knew that you should co-operate with your captors to survive a hostage situation but if Joey didn’t know what they wanted… “HE’S DEEEEEEEAAAAAAF!” Lori yelled at the very top of her lungs, rewarding her with a spear pointed directly between her eyes.

She gulped hard. And finally sat down where she stood.

Posted by: LittleShadowPokemon Jun 16 2012, 01:48 PM

Joey was not a poacher and he was just about to assert so when they were interrupted by the appearance of a tribal aide in the hut doorway. Again, some words were exchanged that he couldn’t see, then abruptly the leader strode forward and reached toward the top of the hut giving a command, and suddenly a Chimecho drifted down and began to glow, thus bathing the room in a soft, but effective light. The leader then ordered her Meganium (Joey wondered if it was a relative of the earlier Bayleef) to search Joey, and her vines pulled away with all of his Pokéballs. It was so quick and invading that it warranted a gasp from him and earned him a smart warning slap from a vine when he reached for his Pokémon. The Pokéballs were given to the shaman who bowed and left.

Joey wondered why the tribal leader had stopped trying to talk with him when another tribeswoman showed up and perched near Joey. This one looked to be a few years younger than him, but she had a kind face. Her purpose became apparent when she started signing, and Joey’s heart sank. They must have realized he was deaf, but he didn’t know how to sign. He started to shake his head no slowly, and then to clarify, he spoke.

“I can’t hear, but I can’t sign either.”

Perceiving this as a waste of time, the tribal leader stalked out, annoyed, and went to see the other prisoners, leaving simple instructions to keep trying and to report back later. The girl next to him sighed at her assignment and Joey grimaced. He hadn’t realized he was much of a chore to be around.

By the light of the hovering Chimecho above them, who was swaying and humming in her own little world, the girl continued to pose carefully enunciated preliminary questions and Joey answered, as truthfully as he knew how, having recognized the only way out would be to play their game. It was one of his life ambitions to live without having his mouth get him in trouble, but he had his own concerns for his Pokémon.

“Who are you, and where do you come from?” the girl started, obviously a bit bored and asking only questions she was expected to ask.

“My name is Joey, and…I’m from lots of places,” he offered, not really sure what she meant by that last question. She snorted derisively at his response.

“Are you a Fidonian resident?” came the tricky-to-lip-read follow-up. Joey hesitated again. He supposed he might be considered a resident, as he had been living in Fidona for a month or so now. He felt shocked that so much time had passed already. Slight irritation showed in the girl’s demeanor as she crinkled and twisted a part of her belt that hung off asymmetrically. He was surprised to see some modern clothing sprinkled in, most noticeably her angled cut skirt and floral patterned blouse.

“Where is your home?” the girl petitioned again.

“I’m sort of in-between homes right now,” was the best Joey could think to say. The girl snorted again in irritation.

“That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard,” she tossed her head as if shaking off nonsense, which made Joey very uncomfortable.

“I’m not sure what you mean,” Joey regretted having uttered that, fearing it would provoke her. Instead, it almost had a calming effect as she looked wistfully out at the village.

“I live in a tree house. Home is wherever you make it, and that’s the truth. If you’re homeless, that’s completely your choice,” she added while gazing out the hut. Joey didn’t have time to puzzle over her statement, because he took the opportunity of her pause.

“Where did you take my Pokémon?”

“I didn’t take them anywhere,” she turned back to look at Joey, who started to verbally protest. She halted him with a gentle raise of her hand and continued on, “That was our shaman who will be tending to your Pokémon and making sure they’re all right. No harm will come to them, belonging to a poacher or not.”

“I am not a poacher,” Joey bristled.

“We would be inclined to believe you, if evidence were not against you. I’ve been told you have an injured leg, as if a Pokémon had to defend itself against you,” the girl had a way of accusing so evenly and calmly, it was almost graceful. It would have been, had Joey not been on the receiving end.

“My leg got hurt months ago,” Joey started, but the girl waved the rest of his statement away with one hand.

“Our shaman will see about that. And even if that’s true, all that tells us is that you got hurt poaching months ago,” she stated while sitting back and crossing her legs and arms.

After she posed more questions of an equally intrusive nature, Joey finally thought to ask her name. She obliged after thinking about it.

“I am called Isi. It means Deerling.”

“Really?” Joey cocked an eyebrow.

The girl sighed pensively.

“Well, if you ask my grandmother, it means Stantler, but I think Deerling is cuter.”

Joey could have laughed at the notion of a jungle girl worrying about being cute, but he thought better of it, and went on.

“So, why are you wearing, you know, normal clothes?” Joey asked instead.

Isi peered down at her own attire and blinked. Looking back up at him, she rolled her eyes.

“What were you expecting? Grass skirts?” That time, given her tone and inflection, Joey did laugh a little, and he was certain he saw Isi smile as well.

That was when the leader appeared back in the doorway and both youths stiffened, suddenly remembering their societal places. With a nod from the older woman, Isi stood and brushed herself off modestly, then left the room, giving a comforting look over her shoulder as she passed behind the more traditionally clothed woman.

After Isi was gone, the woman with an air of command and confidence before him looked him up and down with judgment clear on her visage. Then she announced her terse conclusion.

“Until we decide what to do with you, you shall be put to work. Considering your leg, you will join the young children in craft-making.”

- - -

When yet another tribal aide led Joey to the circle of people outside another hut to start his “craft work”, he was amazed to see that the village had resumed what he imagined was normal life. Due to the novelty of the captives wearing off, people were no longer hiding, but instead hurrying from to place-to-place. It seemed everyone had an urgent purpose. This hut needed new straw. That cot needed new strings. Food needed to be cooked. The Pokémon were a whole another story. While most people could be seen with only a single Pokémon partner at their sides, some people could be seen training a whole herd of Pokémon at a time, usually consisting of the same species.

Joey got a few glances his way from the villagers until he sat down among a circle of small children and an older woman supervisor who nonchalantly handed him a wooden rectangle frame with grooved pegs jutting from the center and running all along the edge. He also found a clay pick and an expanse of rolled yarn, but he didn’t have a clue of what to do with them. Everyone around him was working dutifully, but also tirelessly avoiding eye contact with him and his cluelessness. Well, he was used to that. Without being obvious, he took peeks of what the other people were doing with their looms and tried to copy them. He wrapped the yarn around his pegs the same way and knitted them with the pick, but all he achieved was a tangle of knots. A tan boy next to him snickered, and Joey caught the motion out of the corner of his eye. Joey glanced at him in a dismissive manner. The little twerp seemed to be ten or twelve.

“How about a trade? I’ll show you how to do it, and you finish my work,” said the youth, thrusting his loom towards Joey. Clearly, this was meant as a non-optional offer.

“What if I don’t?” Joey challenged. For some reason, the young boy irked him, but he tried to ignore it. Surely as a child, Joey had been more respectful, or at the very least, silent.

“Sure would hate for them to catch you with your work not done,” the tan boy said thoughtfully. “They might even behead you at dawn,” he added as an afterthought.

Joey was almost certain that he was joking, but he also didn’t put it past these people. As he passed through the village earlier, he had glanced around for Lori, and did so again while crafting. He desperately needed to find her and get out of here, because he had the feeling that the matriarchs of this village preferred the “guilty until proven innocent” approach. If they found the trapped Braviary, newspapers back in Fidona would be publishing Idiot Boy Causes Redhead Girl to be Slaughtered by Natives, and that would just make trying to live in his tent more troublesome than usual. He might never have a peaceful moment after that.

To allay suspicion, he took the younger boy’s loom and followed his instructions while he reclined in his tan, athletic form, quite content that he was free from he dubbed ungraciously to Joey as “prisoner’s work”. Once he had some direction, working the loom and pick was easy and even surprisingly enjoyable. He wasn’t really sure what the kid was complaining about so much. He doubted there was something better to do, unless there was a TV in one of the tree houses. Joey worked swiftly, and while his stitches appeared a bit crooked and a few holes could be seen from where he either dropped a stitch or combined two by accident, it was still passable and his young acquaintance yawned and stretched.

“We’re finally done! Geez, that took it out of me. Hey, you’re not that bad,” he said as he reviewed the work. Then he put down the materials and bounced energetically into a standing position and started to leave. “Well, I’m off, but…” he paused as he looked Joey up and down. “I don’t know what the big deal is about you. You look harmless. You must be younger than me, kid.”

“I don’t think so, kid,” Joey stressed. “I’m seventeen.”

“Oh,” the boy muttered. It didn’t look like he believed Joey, but he also wasn’t going to argue the point.

After some consideration, he offered a quick escape to Joey, at least from his current task.

“I have some more work you can help me with, so it happens,” he grabbed Joey around his wrist and yanked him to his feet rather easily. To the old woman whom Joey had forgotten about, he announced in a mock-heroic fashion.

“I’m taking the prisoner to his next task!” he bowed with Joey dramatically and then turned and marched him off to around the backside of the village to a woodier area. The old woman nodded benignly and starting packing up the finished work from the looms into a wicker basket. To Joey, she looked too old to even function, and hardly seemed to care where "the prisoner" went. The native boy offered to "rough him up" some to make it seem more legit, but Joey declined on the basis of lack of necessity. Along the way, they exchanged names and pleasantries, or at least as well as Joey could while he was looking out for the shocking red of Lori’s hair and plotting his escape.

“I’m called Cuauhtémoc. It means ‘falling Braviary’,” the boy stated matter-of-factly. Joey stiffened with guilt, but shook it off before it was noticed. He didn’t even catch the first part in the least.

“That’s rather tragic, isn’t it?” Joey asked.

“No, it’s heroic. Why would it be tragic?” the native puzzled.

“Falling is the opposite of what flying-types intend, isn’t it?”

“No! Not like that. Not ‘falling’ as in someone killed it. ‘Falling’ as in going in for the kill.”

“That’s called ‘diving’.”

“Maybe to you. Translation isn’t perfect, okay?” the native boy bristled.

“Okay then,” Joey placated.

He was also about to ask where they were going and when they would get there, but the boy stopped, apparently having arrived at his intended destination and looked upon the scene before them with satisfaction. A troop of Bidoof and two Bibarel were working diligently to cut logs and shape them. The next part of their assumed assembly line required packing mud into the crevices of what appeared to be a small corral made of logs, except it was being filled with water. Deft little Bidoof paws packed in the mud which was then slapped noisily by Bibarel tails. A lone Magby stood nearby to harden the mud on the outside to cement the stability of the structure. When it was time, the Bibarel expertly filled the enclosure with a Water Gun technique. Cuauhtémoc noticed Joey looking and started to explain.

“They’re building two of these for the upcoming marriage ceremony. Here, I’ll show you,” he walked over to the water-filled log structure, and pulled out a Pokéball.

“Isn’t that considered technology? Hypocritic, much?”

“Harsh, much?” the native countered as he released the Pokéballs contents into the water. “We’re not as orthodox as some of the tribes around here, you know. Especially when they’re around my age or so. We’re allowed some technology in special circumstances, like this is.”

Joey got an eyeful of what “this” was, and his first impression was a horribly bloated Luvdisc that required medical attention, but upon closer inspection, he could tell it was structurally different from the Pokémon with which he was familiar.

“It is customary for each side of the bride and groom’s family to offer an Alomomola as a blessing to their union. The better the Pokémon, the better the blessing. It’s almost like a competition, but no one will ever admit it. This time, I’m in charge for my family, and I can’t let them down.”

The intense fire that burned in his eyes when he watched the Caring Pokémon swimming contentedly in its pen struck a chord with Joey. It was times like these when he considered if having a family and the accompanying responsibilities were worth it, and if he could ever live without the freedom he enjoyed now. He wasn’t expecting it when the native boy turned to him with that same intense look and posed his question.

“Will you help me?”

Joey faltered, and then recovered. He wanted a Pokémon battle, of course. How else would the Alomomola get stronger?

“I sure wish I could, but they took my Pokémon,” Joey muttered, feeling in his front scrub pockets for his Pokéballs. The emptiness engulfed him in loneliness. He was surprised to find that he felt vulnerable without his Pokémon within reach.

“Oh, right. I suppose they would do that. They’re probably with the shaman! I’ll be right back,” Cuauhtémoc bounded away before Joey could comment and the trainer glowered in envy at the other boy’s obvious athletic ability. In order to kill time and take his mind off it, he wandered over to the pen and reached out to the giant pink fish, which swam over sociably and greeted him in its mellifluous language. Not that he could hear it, but he petted the scales anyway and let his hand drift lazily through the water. It felt nice, cool, and refreshing. Even though being in the water led to all his current injuries, he still missed going swimming, but his swimsuit had been in his pack…, which had been taken earlier, and he hadn’t seen it since. He felt naked without his Pokémon and supplies, but he could survive awhile longer. He just had to remember to get his stuff before he escaped.

Before he could think any more on the matter, Cuauhtémoc bounded up happily and tossed Joey’s pack at him, noting that all of his Pokéballs were in there. Although he wanted to check on each one of his Pokémon, the native boy wouldn’t release his attention.

“There. Now, we’re all set to battle!” the native boy grinned.

"They were all pretty tired from before. We had a rough day," Joey pressed.

"Our shaman is the best in all of Fidona. Your Pokémon are fine now."

Joey suppressed a groan and reached into his pack. The order of his Pokéballs was scrambled, so it was a gamble on who he would send out. He grabbed one that felt lucky, and got poised to battle.

Posted by: Living Arrow Jun 22 2012, 01:16 AM

“I said let, GO!” Lori wrestled with the girl who had taken hold of her bag which contained her Pokeballs. “Those are my Pokemon!”

With a hard shove, the brutish female knocked Lori back down to the ground, the bag stolen successfully. Lori glared up at her and wished she had stronger muscles and the nerve to fight back harder but sense was ringing in her eyes, pleading with her not to get herself or her Pokemon killed. Instead, she pouted and stared daggers at the girl’s back. Another woman entered the hut, this one older and decorated with feathers.

“Where did she take my Pokemon?!” Lori demanded immediately, the heat in her voice controlled but still undeniably simmering. The woman, maybe around forty years of age, regarded her for a moment in silence before she spoke in a heavy accent.

“Your Pokemon are being tended to by our Shaman.” Was her response, followed by: “To be given treatment like that in a Pokemon Center.”

Lori snorted. As if a bunch of barbarian women could heal Pokemon as quickly and as fully as a Nurse Joy with her Chansey! Whatever these tribal women were eating, Lori was willing to bet it was illegal in most countries!

“And the egg shall remain in our custody.”

The egg?... The egg!

“What!? No! That egg is mine! I found it first!” Lori protested angrily, rearranging herself to sit on her knees, swathe of hair grasped between both hands. They had been kidnapped and now their Pokemon were being stolen from them?!

“Poached it.” The tribal leader corrected her with a stern frown. Lori frowned right back.

“Poached it? But it wasn’t even cracked…”

A breeze rustled through the hut as the tribal woman peered at Lori through narrowed eyes. There was a considering moment as she weighed the trainer up. Clearly, some scrutiny was being employed but after a minute she breathed a sigh and her stern eyes relaxed a little.

“How old are you, girl?” She asked.

“Sixteen…” Lori foled her eyes and eyed the woman suspiciously. “Why? You’re not going to try and marry me off to one of those dirty boys are you?”

“Ha! No!” The woman actually laughed and shook her head before saying to herself, “and we thought they were poachers at first!”

“You thought what with the who now?” Lori leaned closer. “You’re mumbling and that accent’s redic.”

“That comment you made before,” the woman ignored her, “about Kino Pardare. She really is your sister? The Unova League Champion? The pictures we have seen confirm the resemblance and we found a photo of you both in your bag.”

Lori blinked. Someone had listened to her? Oh yes! That meant they could be on their way back to town in no time! She silently thanked her sister and stood up, straightening out her dress for her imminent departure.

“And you are also a trainer?” The woman went on, a young girl entering the hut beside the elder and watching Lori with steeped interest. “A trainer of six years experience?”

Lori had to keep herself from gagging. She had been held back from embarking on her Pokemon journey at the age of ten since her family could not afford the sponsorship. Six years on and she had precisely one real trainer-to-trainer Pokemon battle under her belt and that had only been won since her tag partner had told her what to do.

“Of course.” Lori lied, folding her arms and raising her nose. “Fourth in the Sinnoh league and fourth again in Johto.”

“Really? We didn’t recognise the name…” The woman passed a look to the girl at her side. “What years?”

“Er…” Lori floundered. Lying really wasn’t going to get her out of there any faster!

“It doesn’t matter,” the woman interrupted again, much to Lori’s relief, “Star here will be grateful for your assistance while we tend your Pokemon. Now, I’ll leave you to get started and meet with you once the sun falls beyond the horizon.”

Lori wanted to askhow long that would be but the girl grinning at her stole her attention before she could ask another thing by grabbing her hand and running out into the village.

“So we make them battle and the experience gained will make that fish thing stronger?” Lori asked doubtfully. “And then your big brother can marry that girl with big healthy fish and that’s some sort of good luck thing?”

For some reason the tradition just didn’t stick with Lori. In fact, it was one of the most ridiculous things she had ever heard of. How would taking two strong Pokemon to a wedding give the couple a blessing? Why was a blessing even needed? Shouldn’t the Type of Pokemon matter more? Like a Ghost type could mean an early death or a flying type mean that they will go on long travels!? Lori’s mind ran away with her at the thought while Star went over and over the ceremony and the requirements but it was only when Lori’s Pokeballs were placed back in her hand did she really realise what was going on.

“I’m battling that Alohalolo… thingy?”

“Well yes,” Star’s eyes lit up at the prospect, “the experience gained from the sister of a League Champion must be the best it could ever get! It will be one of the most fantastic blessings our village will ever see, if you battle it!”

“Riiight…” Lori was totally in over her head. What if this Aloho-fish was stronger than her Pokemon? She doubted that those spears she’d been threatened with were just for decoration. “So when do we start?”

“Right now!” Star delighted in waving over a small girl carrying Lori’s bag. “Your Pokemon are completely healthy now, even your egg, and we can get started as soon as we go to the battle pool!” Lori faked a smile but the relief of having her Pokemon back was tremendous.

It turned out the battle pool was literally just that – a pool made from branches and mud where a collection of Bidoof and Bibarel (Lori knew those Pokemon from her home region. They were mostly considered to be a pest but she thought they had a dumb sort of cuteness about them) had constructed the make-shift fish tank. As they approached, lori could see that Joey was already there ahead of them with a younger boy.

“Joey!” Lori exclaimed and waved to catch his attention as she jogged to him, her hair snapping like a flaming banner in her wake. “Are you OK?” She asked quickly, looking him over for signs of mistreatment. “They hurt you? Your Pokemon?”

“No Pokemon would ever be harmed here,” Star interrupted softly, “and neither would you. You’re our guests.”

“Funny way to treat guests.” Lori muttered before turning back to Joey. “They’ve got it into their heads that I need to battle some fish thing for a blessing before we can leave. I promise it’ll be quick and then we can go back to the Pokemon Center for a big dinner – it’s all my fault we’re out here, anyway.”

She grabbed his hand and squeezed. “I’m really really sorry,” she admitted, “but I’ll make it up to you – I swear!”

Posted by: LittleShadowPokemon Jul 11 2012, 03:45 PM

In the rush when Lori arrived, Joey felt ecstatic. This was it! They could finally escape! The timid tugging of his shirt brought him to face his most recent acquaintance, who at that moment despite his build and height appeared to be such a little kid, Joey found it difficult to refuse. He sighed, resigned to battling again and rubbed his Pokéball. He felt highly uncomfortable and awkward when Lori reached for his hand. His knee-jerk reaction was to pull away, but he didn’t know if that would set the girl off again so he tried to return the gesture with what he hoped was sufficient contact and motioned to his big Pink Fish he had to battle. Lori nodded, understanding, and they parted hands with each other and resumed their respective battle positions at opposite ends of the log corral, which upon second scrutiny, was much larger than Joey first assumed. The corral extended far in the back, thus making a respectable battle arena.

Joey fumbled with his Pokéballs, reasoning that Jet would be the best fit arena, experience, and attitude-wise. If only his Pokéballs hadn’t been out of order… He picked the first one he touched and tossed it, and a sleepily cry of “Eeeeee-vee!” sounded from the emitted red light which solidified into an Eevee which quickly became bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

Whoa, Joey thought. Not bad for voodoo healing.

“You ready, Babylon?” Joey prompted. The Eevee yipped in the affirmative and started looking around for a food dish. Knowing the Eevee too well, he turned the brown puppy to face the Alomomola and said, “Not dinnertime. Battle time.” The puppy’s ears drooped, but he shook it off and resumed position, looking ready to redeem himself. From the looks of it, Babylon’s scathing loss was fresh on his mind, as was his recent training encounter with Sinbad. The fluffy little puppy uncharacteristically took a fighting pose and barked a challenge at the serene fish Pokémon swimming lazily before them.

“Alright, Babylon, go!” Joey commanded evenly. In a less-than-fluid movement, the Eevee powered itself onto the ledge of the log pen and found its footing on the slimy surface slick with splashed water. The Alomomola turned gracefully and propelled towards its new intruder leaving an indiscernible wake trailing behind it. Taking an order from the native boy, the Alomomola glowed a brilliant blue that spread to the water around it and formed rings that began to revolve around the Pokémon. Joey didn’t quite know what to make of this and fearing it was the first turn of a move that needed to charge, he ordered Babylon to run along the edge and the small creature hastily obeyed and the larger one turned from its spot in the pool to keep a confident, unperturbed eye on its opponent.

Inaction became painfully awkward as the second turn resolution of the charge never became apparent. The native boy seemed to be waiting patiently for something, perhaps for Joey to make the first move? Mentally running through Babylon’s available techniques again, Joey singled out Tackle as the only damage-inflicting move, and ordered Babylon to perform it, and regretted his haste only to take the pressure off himself. Babylon, who had stumbled to a confused stop as no attack came his way, pivoted on the log and dashed the other way. When he reached the right angle, he used his deft little toes for incredible grip to fling himself over the surface of the pool and soon enough he collided with rubbery, pink flesh, which was a lot colder and slicker than that of Kimiko. The powerful tackle surprised even Babylon, who soon found himself skidding along with his opponent to the opposite edge of the log pen, and using the fading inertia to flip adroitly onto the ledge. Instead of rolling his eyes and chastising the unarguably cool theatrics, Joey used the recovery time of the dazed Alomomola to order another Tackle, performed identically to the previous one except for an unfortunate miscalculation of momentum on Joey’s part. The ending flip had to be turned into an awkward dive as the ledge was out of reach from the short-sighted tackle.

Joey sucked in his cheeks with frustration and let out a shallow sigh while crossing his arms. Babylon burst through the water’s surface and his demure muzzle sucked in breaths as his unbearably soaked fur clung together in clumps above the water and weighed him down, thus inhibiting the progress of his stubby legs to propel him to the ledge. The giant sea creature approached swiftly and delivered subsequent slaps with its massive tail fin. Babylon was sent careening into a zigzag with each slap until he was slammed up against logs, which he turned against and scrabbled up, terror fueling his wounded body. The slaps had made Joey cringe, but he was running out of ideas.

While Babylon was panting and dripping wet on his perch, the Alomomola drifted in lazy circles a few lengths away, glowing blue and looking reenergized with each stroke of his fins. That was when Joey realized it must be Aqua Ring healing off the damage. He began to feel somewhat hopeless. The Pokémon was so bulky to begin with, and it kept healing constantly. Joey couldn’t deny that the cards were stacked against him, so he gave Babylon the only route he saw. Babylon nodded and seemed to gulp until some courage surfaced in his throat, where he proceeded to dash along the edge and administer cheeky tail whips at his opponent. Reluctantly, Cuauhtémoc gave the order to Water Pulse towards where Babylon was, missing closely each time. Ellipses of water pulsed rhythmically toward the edge, gaining strength with distance, and collided harshly with the structure and caused an unsettling creak and sway. Joey could see trickles of water seeping out through the logs and turned to his opponent, almost angry.

“What are you trying to do? Level the structure?” he accused with a subtle hiss.

The native boy looked back with wide eyes.

“It was supposed to hit on the first try!”

During Joey’s distractions, Babylon was hit with the water pulse when he faked the wrong way. He wasn’t hit directly or very hard, but he did tumble and start to slip off, so after Joey’s prompt, the little bundle of fur bunched and pushed with his last remaining grip to pummel the Alomomola in the most effective tackle yet, despite the less than ideal take off. All those Tail Whips seemed to be doing the trick, as after Babylon rolled away in the water, a palpable bruise was forming on the sea creature’s forehead. The fish still looked bulky, but Tackle was their only hope now, which the Eevee performed faithfully at his trainer’s command. The condense little paws were next to useless while swimming, and while the Eevee did get in a fair few tackles, the bulky fish sent him away with a playful Pound attack from its tail until Babylon sought shelter back on the ledge. Joey racked his brain for a solution, but he couldn’t see one. As Babylon scrambled back onto the ledge, the pink opponent drifted lazily away to start restoring bulk with Aqua Ring, no doubt.

Babylon looked to Joey and muttered a small, wavering “Eeeee-eee-ee” of defeat. Joey shook his head, motioning the Eevee back into the battle. The Eevee turned and saw the Alomomola become engulfed in rushing water and it shot like a streamlined bullet right for Babylon in an Aqua Jet technique. Babylon was aghast in terror, and at the first splash of the impending attack Babylon sprung off the ledge and into his trainer’s arms, who caught him awkwardly and became soaked from the Eevee-shaped silhouette dripping from his scrubs tops. Thankfully, polyester dried quickly. The native boy was pumping his fist in the air and ran over to give his great ugly fish a congratulatory pat. He then swaggered over to Joey.

“Yeah, I really don’t see the big deal about you! Are you even a trainer?”

“Good job on the match,” Joey congratulated solemnly instead of taking the taunt bait. Turning to leave, the younger boy plucked his sleeve and brought him back.

“Hey, I didn’t mean it like that,” he studied the shivering Eevee. “Maybe if you evolved it, then it could fight. Have you ever thought about that?”

Joey was a bit stunned as he gazed down at the Eevee. In the recesses of his mind, he always knew Pokémon eventually evolved, and he always imagined Claw would grow up to be a Pidgeot, but he never imagined it would be soon. He also didn’t know how to make a Pokémon evolve through stones, like his Eevee, or how he felt about it, but Babylon looked absolutely curious. He had read somewhere that when Pokémon evolved their personalities could change. Would Babylon be a better battler? Certainly, he would learn different, better techniques. What if Claw evolved? Would they still be friends? Would Claw even want to evolve? Thinking about this brought more decisions, worries, and emotions to the table than Joey felt he could deal with at the moment, so he shook his head at Cuauhtémoc and waved a small good-bye and walked humbly over to Lori to watch her battle.

He returned Babylon to his Pokéball to rest and fought internally with the duality of excitement and the fear of uncertainty that evolution brought. He certainly didn’t like going into this without researching his options, so he resolved himself to more reading once they got back to the PokéCenter. Which as the forest sun beat down upon his neck, he hoped was soon.

Posted by: Living Arrow Jul 21 2012, 03:45 AM

It was battle time and for once in her short career as a Trainer, Lori didn't feel like battling. It had been a really rough day and although the locals had claimed her Pokemon would be healed completely she had no idea what that really meant to these backwoods folk. She sighed, being led by Star up to the makeshift pool of water where their battle would take place and began to consider her possible strategy options. Scanning each Pokeball with her Unovadex, Lori was able to identify the Pokemon inside and she totted up their skills as she went.

*Pipster. He's always going to be ready for a fight and this water field is perfect for him... But sometimes our inexperience means he gets into a lot of trouble when battling...* She rolled the green-capped Pokeball in her palm and dropped it back into her bag. Next ball...

*Triss. She's the best choice to fight against a Water-type Pokemon, she's powerful and she knows what moves are best when I don't.* Lori frowned. *But if we knock that thing unconscious then it won't get any experience and we'll still be stuck here without holding up our end of the bargain.* Triss's Pokeball followed Pipster's into the bag.

*So that leaves my only option as...*

Lori scanned the attacks of the Pokemon in her final Pokeball and tried to remember how the ones she had seen were performed in battle. It was completely risky to send a new Pokemon into a match without having at least a discussion with it first to make sure it was on board with the trainer's decision to make it battle but Lori didn't much care for being civil with her new Minccino right then – all she cared about was going home. Well, back to the Fidona Pokemon Center, anyway.

“OK, Alomomola!” The Amazon girl named Star summoned her Pokemon from the depths of the pool arena and Lori indulged herself with a quick scan of her Pokedex...

“It's a UNOVA POKEMON!?” She declared, astounded that such a barbaric culture could have trapped and captured one of the precious Pokemon that Lori herself had been sent to capture, train and evaluate for her sister. What did this mean!? Was it right for Lori to demand capture rights or should she just examine the capabilities of this Water-type in battle and report those findings? She squared off on the edge of the pool, her newest green-capped Pokeball clutched in her hand. “Then I simply can't lose! Go, Chico!”

“Miiin-Chino!” The bundle of cute grey fur popped from his Pokeball to turn and look quizzically at the trainer who had summoned him, pressing a paw questioningly to his chest.

“Yeah, that's you!” Lori planted her fists on her hips and laughed, “it's the perfect nickname for an adorable Pokemon like you who can't keep the ladies away!”

“Chino, chino!” Her chinchilla declared happily, flexing the tiny muscles on his arms in a laughably manly display of power. Lori grinned. There was nothing better than a Pokemon with a personality!

“Right! So let's work together and win this battle! Use... erm...” Lori trailed off for a moment. It had only been a minute and she'd already forgotten! “Quick, what attacks do you know, again?!”

“Aloha! Use Aqua Jet!” Star's call snapped Lori back to the present as a bullet of water, complete with pink fins protruding from the top and bottom of the powerful stream burst from the water and straight at Chico.

“Oh no! Chico!” Lori cried as her new Pokemon was struck by the powerful attack, his fur getting soaked in the process, and throwing him high into the air with a pained squeak. Lori chewed her lip. Kino had been in far worse situations than this and had still won the battle so many times before... It was Lori's time to show what she was made of! “Do the shooting stars move!” She ordered the attack with the loose description, unable to recall the name of the technique, and her Chinchilla happily obliged.

“MiiiinCHINO!” A string of Swift stars burst from Chico's tail as he swept it back at the pool, the golden rays plunging into the water to hammer home on the Caring Pokemon. Although Lori couldn't see it, she was sure the attack was effective as it took a long moment before the fish managed to breach the surface of the pool again. Lori wasn't about to let up, her mind was racing back to the moment she had scanned the Pokeball...

“Doubleslap!”
“Doubleslap!”

The commands from Lori and Star came in unison and, also in unison, their Pokemon leapt for each other. Mid air, both chinchilla and fish threw their tails at each other one, two, three, WHAM! Chico's attack ended too soon and the final strike from the Alomomola hit home, striking the Minccino from above to propel him directly at the water below. With a small splash, Lori's Pokemon plunged into the water and was rapidly followed by the large pink fish.

“Chico! Chico!” Lori called over the water but a clear line of sight to her Pokemon was disturbed by the shimmering surface of the pool.

“Aqua Jet!” Star ordered an attack again, much to Lori's irritation. What was the girl trying to do? Show Lori up or something!? And why couldn't she just let Lori take a break for a moment to work out what to do next!? It was unfair to call attacks that quickly, surely!

From the water, the Alomomola burst as a swirling bullet once more, her target battered on her nose as he became caught up in the torrent of the attack. Lori felt so helpless as Chico went fling again, completely at the mercy of the fish that 'needed training'... That thing didn't need any training at all! At the zenith of his flight from the attack, Chico cried and looked out to Lori in anticipation of another attack to be ordered but she just stood there and watched in complete shock. What was she meant to do?

“Chino!” Chico squeaked to his new master, turning in the air to land towards the water with feet first this time. A miracle of timing and circumstance provided his footing in the form of the Alomomola's back and, with quick paws that managed to grip those slippery scales tightly, he latched on to the opponent Pokemon with his teeth gritting with concentration.

“Yes! That's it, Aloha!” Star cheered on her Pokemon, oblivious of Lori's distress. “Keep it up and shake it off!” Lori frowned. Then something clicked. Well, not literally. It was more accurate to say that there was a shift in Lori's brain at that moment and suddenly her battle strategy became much clearer.

“No! Chico, hold on tight!” She yelled back, gripping her ruby hair in both hands and wringing it tightly. “Hold on and use... Use Tickle!”
Chico's tail swept back and forth across the fish Pokemon beneath him, causing the fish to buck and thrash wildly under the tickling twitches it was bombarded with before finally shaking so hard the Chico was thrown clear of his foe and near to the edge of the pool.

“Aloha! Use Aqua Ring to restore your energy!”

“Chico, trap it with Encore!”

“Wait, what?!”

It was too late for Star to stop her water-type from executing the defensive move and with Chico's magical clapping of paws from the edge of the pool it wouldn't be able to use any other move for a while. Lori grinned. The moveset that she had read before had come back to her not only with what the moves did but also memories of her siter, Kino, using them on TV. Right now, Chico was mimicking the strategy that Kino had used in the Unova League with her Darmanitan, Ayame.

“Now use a barrage of Swift attacks!” Lori laughed, her swathe of hair released as she pointed dramatically at their target, just like on the TV!

Zingzingzingzing! Star-shaped rays slashed and flashed through the water to hammer home on the Alomomola again and again, each hit weakening it a little more as the effects of Aqua Ring could not keep up with the demand of the health lost at the hands of the powerful move. The large fish's movements slowed, her energy waning as Chico tore chunks away from its health with his repeated attacks.

“And, stop attacking, Chico!” Lori called. Her Pokemon obediently halted swinging free Swift stars with his tail and turned his head back inquisitively to his master. “All trainers need to be able to understand when their Pokemon have had enough in a battle – there is no reason to battle anymore since I really don't want that Alomomola to get hurt.”

“Huh?” Star blinked from across the arena. “You're forfeiting?”

“Yep!” Lori could barely contain her frustration. She desperately wanted Chico to batter that thing unconscious but getting home was more important and the speech she was stealing from her sister from a couple of years before (she'd had a battle with a local kid in Twinleaf Town) was more likely to help them out than a belly-up fish. “It may mean that we technically lose the match but a good trainer should understand when to throw in the towel and accept defeat. Pokemon are our friends and we should treat them like that – not like soldiers in an army.”

“Chino...” Chico blinked with wide eyes at his master. Could this be what a Trainer was really like?

“Wow...” Star breathed at her end of the arena. “That's really something... You're Kino Pardare's sister, alright.”

*Omigod it worked! She could have won that battle if she tried harder but now she's listening to me! TO ME!* Lori mentally exalted her performance (battle and education both), allowing Chico to leap to her shoulder where he licked her cheek sweetly.

“Yes, wise words, indeed.” The older woman from earlier approached as Lori and Joey came together after their battles in the village square. “You are certainly no Pokemon poacher and it is evident that the Unova League Champion's experience has also rubbed off on you. According to both Cuauhtémoc and Star an acceptable amount of experience has been gained in the battles that you two trainers have brought to this village. So, now that your assistance with our ceremonial Alomomola has been completed we can move on with the proceedings and you are welcome to join us for the celebration, if you wish?”

All of that was drawled in the local accent which Lori was just about coming to terms with when it came to interpretation. She looked to Joey who seemed a little distracted after his battle and gave him a shrug of 'it's-up-to-you'.

Posted by: LittleShadowPokemon Aug 7 2012, 05:03 AM

He had really hoped that Lori would have made the decision, as he suddenly felt very awkward as all the tribal faces turned to him for their decision on attendance. Each woman easily dwarfed him in size, and a single arm of theirs was akin to the size of his torso, so clearly social etiquette dictated that they attended the wedding, despite it not being Joey’s most favorite occasion.

Joey didn’t know what to expect from the wedding. He didn’t know if there would be a lot of fanfare, drinks, or hollering. When they all had arrived at the place of ceremony, he saw that everything was large and quiet. The trees seem impossibly high and scaled above him like some condescending monster. The unwavering trunks cast unusually long and menacing shadows that beckoned him, and Joey fiddled with his collar, hoping to alleviate the smothered feeling. The sheer amount of people that arrived surprised Joey, who couldn’t quite believe that many people could have been hiding in the trees. Everyone was in more tribal clothing than previously seen, but none looked more tribal than the bride and groom. Joey didn’t know how long the procession would be, but it looked dismal when everyone, including the bride and groom, became seated on the ground. Suppressing a groan, Joey joined them. The shaman from before was clearly acting the priest and he began speaking in broken English and weaved in and out of the tribal language. Joey did manage to catch the finer points of the discussion.

The sermon ran on and on about head of households, subjection, devotion, and partnerships. Joey didn’t recognize a single aspect of marriage, and nothing matched up with his childhood perspective of such a union, especially all the responsibility and benefits. He also saw something in the bride and groom’s visage that he never saw in his parents when they gazed upon each other: tenderness, caring, concern, and what Joey could only guess what love. The sermon dragged on forever, and Joey couldn’t help but to picture his own parents and wonder if they had realized what marriage meant. As the sermon trudged along, he became more and more skeptical and equally some other emotion he couldn’t identify. His deep thoughts also obscured the exchange of the blessings, and the vows were exchanged in a blur. His stomach churned during the kiss, and he rushed up to escape, but luckily, he didn’t make a scene, as everyone was rising to their feet and getting ready to depart back to village life. In that amount of time, two people had been joined irrevocably together for the rest of their lives, and Joey found that he couldn’t stand the thought.

Trying to hide the disgust on his face, both he and Lori said their good-byes, and hastily headed back towards the Pokémon Center following the congenially given directions. Evening was starting to wane in, and the temperature was dropping. Joey almost considered swinging back around to look for his fallen crutches from the ambush, but he had no idea where to look or even how long it would take. It was too risky, and as much as it hurt to keep walking, he knew it was the most economical choice. The constant dull ache of his leg was interrupted by a twinge with every step. Either he was getting so used to the pain that it was the new comfortable standard or he supposed all of the nerves in his leg were used up and he was becoming numb because it felt like the pain was diminishing the more he walked. With that in mind, he continued on without his crutches, and tried to slow down Lori the least he could with as little fuss as he could.

Thankfully, the trees thinned out and eventually broke into a wide expanse of cleared land with town resting on the horizon. The Pokémon Center fixtures could be seen above some of the buildings, and the pair trekked on, with a happier air than previously on their adventure, and rest, relaxation, and food clearly in their future.

Posted by: Living Arrow Aug 18 2012, 05:02 AM

Lori’s opinion of the Amazonian wedding was less than favourable. To her, the mixture of leaves and feathered headdresses were like a horrible addition in an episode of ‘Don’t Tell the Bride’ and the groom had gone the right way to having a very displeased wife. Not one crystal flute of champagne was offered to her and that was just wrong - surely they would commemorate the presence of the Unova League Champion’s sister at a wedding with some sort of fanfare for her? But no, they were possibly the most simple and backward people that Lori could ever have hoped to have met in her life. They sat on the ground, the ground, and that was about the last straw for Lori until the sermon itself which was the biggest yawn-fest the budding Researcher had had to sit through in her whole life.

“Well, that was fun.” Lori drawled her sarcasm to the back of Joey’s head before she realised he couldn’t hear her. Even so, his thoughts seemed to be on the same track as he was already heading away from the ceremonial ‘area’ under the trees.

“I am glad you enjoyed yourselves,” the village elder from before appeared at Lori’s shoulder and she gave a start at the sudden interruption of her thoughts, “and I thank you for your part in the proceedings with our Alomomola.”

Lori couldn’t believe her luck. The elder completely lacked a sarcasm-detector.

“Sure, no worries.” Lori did her best to stifle a blush as the village elder handed her a map. There was a roundabout scrawl of directions back to the port and the Pokemon Center. “Thanks.” Was her only offering in return. What else did they expect?! They abducted her! There were some goodbyes from there – Star and Cueta-kid giving the most hearty thanks – and before Lori knew it, she and Joey were completely forgotten and the celebrations of the village continued without them.

“Weird…” Lori muttered as she and Joey made their trek back to the Pokemon Center.

“Finally!” A proud voice with the accents of Twinleaf Town declared from the Pokemon Center front desk. “We were about to send out a search party!”

“Kino!?” Lori gasped with delight. Her flame-haired, porcelain-skinned sister looed fantastic as always, her hair styled up into a sweeping fringe and trailing down her back like sheets of scarlet magma. Haute couture emerald blouse and white jeans were her signature, completing the look of ultimate-trainer-gorgeous-badassness that Lori had grown to admire and respect with all she had.

“The one and only.” The elder Pardare grinned and held out her arms as Lori plowed into them, embracing her with a fierce hug. Lori was swept off the ground a little by the experienced trainer and the familiar scent of designer perfume filled her nostrils.

“Omigod! What are you doing here?! I only sent that letter this morning!” Lori gasped for breath.

“Well, yeah, and Dragonite Mail is the fastest sort of mail around. Since it was so urgent, I flew right over on Dracdia. It wasn’t far since we were training on Charizard Isle before I go on my Dragon-Destruction Tour before the Sinnoh League starts up again.” Kino explained. Lori nodded sagely. Dracdia, Kino’s Salamence, was an incredibly fast flier and Charizard Isle was in the Furoh region itself so nothing seemed odd about that to her.

“Oooh… Well, that’s awesome!” Lori beamed as Joey hobbled up behind her. She released her grip on Kino to step back a little and introduce Joey to Kino. “This is Joey, the trainer I wrote to you about? Joey, this is Kino – my sister and the Unova League Champion.”

“Ah, this is the guy, huh?” Kino folded her arms under her generous breast and looked Joey up and down. Although her look was scrutinising, it was not carrying any distaste. “And you say he should have a sponsor?” Another cursory look. “Are you a true Trainer, or something else?” Kino directed to him with a thoughtful brow dipping her forehead.

“A Trainer, silly.” Lori butted in.

“Are you sure?” Kino did not look away from Joey once. “You don’t seem like any Trainer that I have ever seen before… You’re not something else? A Researcher? Co-Ordinator? Pokeathelete? Provision of sponsorship is a serious matter and setting you up with the right contact is crucial – non-one likes to pay out for a while only to have their delegate change their minds and throw in the career towel too early for the sponsor to make any money on them. So, what’s it going to be?”

Posted by: LittleShadowPokemon Sep 17 2012, 10:31 AM

Joey fidgeted on the spot. It felt like a lifetime since he had left Orre to pursue some far-fetched dream. His entire existence had been so survival focused, he had had little time to peer beyond that haze into other aspirations. Trying to think back, he caught a glimpse of a memory of a flyer for Pokémon Coordinating. He didn't remember all of the information on it, but he remembered how it made him feel. Envy, longing, restless, and if he believed in it, he would have added hope to that list. He also felt insecure about his own path and he tried to bring all his battles back to mind to try to analyze his own battling aptitude, even though he felt biased. He wouldn't call any of his strategies beautiful, or any element of Pokémon Coordinating. He did have the experience of Barley's practice hall though, but he couldn't be certain that he was performer material. Upon thinking that, he started to feel really subconscious and started straightening his shirt and pulling his grey sleeves down. He admitted he was even a poor trainer, considering his latest match to prove it, but it was probably his best bet. Kino was giving him a stern look upon his hesitation to answer, and he opened his mouth to respond but all that ascended was a timid squeak. He choked it back down and tried again.

He was halfway through his declaration of, "I'm quite certain I'm a trainer," when the Center's doors were noisily thrust open and a gust of wind swept through to upset several magazines on a lobby coffee table.

Every head turned tentatively to the commanding presence that stormed through the door. Joey turned to follow the gaze of Lori and her sister to be surprised to find that the visitor was a woman. Her fit figure was nested appealingly in a beige business suit and white blouse with what Joey considered to be an anachronistic black ribbon tied up under the collar. Her gleaming golden blonde hair was tied up in a neat bun that only betrayed a few strands to frame her soft triangle face with high cheekbones that hid under her thick, black-framed glasses. Her expression was stern as she swept the perimeter of the Pokémon Center. Her gaze settled on Kino and broke into a lofty smile as she strode forward with open arms and addressed the Unova Champion.

"Kino, darling, it's been too long," the new arrival stepped away from Kino and greeted Lori in a dismissive fashion and then looked at Joey. "I most certainly hope this is not the new talent you had written to me about," she said as she circled the small, pitifully looking boy.

"I told you nothing was set in stone," Kino frowned, "you didn't have to come all the way here."

"Lieverd, that's the only way to stay ahead of the game," the woman circled Joey again, then addressed him, "As you know, my name is Jana de Vries. I'm looking for a new coordinator, but goodness me, you would be laughed off the stage," she declared as she plucked at a loose thread on Joey's polyester top. He withheld a cringe as best as he could. This woman talked in a way so unfamiliar that it was difficult to lip read. He felt a little indignant, but the woman pressed on without waiting for response. She looked thoughtful and started muttering.

"That could be part of his charm, his novelty. It would be expensive of course, but may be worth it. This case could certainly break my plateau. The hair would have to be redone completely. Teeth whitened, but they look straight enough. Not sure about his eye color, we'll see what matches his hair. Those clothes should be burned. He'll have to undergo a complete social transformation, but perhaps after the initial interviews so it comes as a shock…" de Vries rambled in this way and once Joey effectively felt like a Ponyta at auction he glanced worriedly over at Lori and her sister, at which point Kino stepped in.

"These are fine plans, but he hasn't even expressed what he wants yet. He may not even be a coordinator. Lori says he's a trainer."

"The more I think about it, the more perfect it gets. I can't lose this opportunity now. I'll be known as a miracle worker, even more so than already," Jana turned back to Joey. "What's your story, Jongen?"

Joey hesitated while piecing together what she had said, and then the full weight of the question bore down on him. How could he ever be expected to answer that with any justice at all? Instead, more out of sincerity than mirth, he crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at his potential benefactor.

"What do you want it to be?" he asked evenly.

"Clever boy," Jana blinked and turned to Kino, "he's catching on." The rest of the interrogation was constructed of quick questions met with reluctant and skeptical responses.

"Where are you from?"

"Orre. Pyrite Town."

"A desert rat. Intriguing. What did your father do?"

"Drink." A derisive snort met his comment.

"What kind of Pokémon do you have?"

"A Pidgey, a Seel, an Igglybuff, an Eevee, and a Purrloin."

"And? What else?"

"There is no else."

Jana turned aside and muttered to Kino. "You're trying to tell me this is a trainer? It's barely a person."

Emotions rose fast and caught in Joey's throat. He would have retorted, or at least stalked away, but he found he couldn't exactly disagree. The questions forced him to work through the lump in his throat. He was prompted for his name.

"Joey Jamie Sweet."

"Ridiculous. We'll have to figure out a stage name for you. What is your age? Twelve?"

"I'm seventeen."

"Youth is everything," she smirked while brushing a golden strand away from her face. "We should start lying about your age now. My mother taught me all about the secrets of youth. Call me a gender egalitarian if you must but I believe men have the right to be just as vain as women," she chucked him under the chin. "Especially someone as pretty as you. I can see it now. Your structure is actually rather pleasing. If anything can be said about poor people, it's that they have a penchant for making pretty children, as if they would have better activities to do." Joey visibly shied away from her touch, but she didn't notice as she had already moved on.

"When is your birthday?" she asked dismissively.

"In the winter."

"What day? What month?"

Good question, thought Joey, as he realized he wasn't sure. He tried to remember ever celebrating it, but kept drawing a blank. He shook his head.

"I don't know."

Jana sniffed unbelievably and turned to Kino.

"Is there something you're not telling me? Something's off about him. Is he retarded? Autistic?" she almost had a tinge of hopefulness in her voice from imagining all the publicity angles. It took every fiber of his good conscience to remain calm. He drifted off and tried to remind himself why he was enduring this when Lori came to his rescue.

"No! He's just perfectly fine. He's deaf and can't hear himself talk, so that's why. Also, his leg is injured…." Lori's fiery defense dwindled to embers as she gripped and stroked her hair with a troubled expression.

"Now my only concern is believability. He's almost too tragic to believe. We'll have to take it slow. But yes, you are a coordinator, aren't you? I could make you a star, not only from my own power, but my husband's influence. I'm sure you've heard of him."

Joey didn't have the heart to mention he had never had an inkling of her or her husband's existence, so he just nodded. The social pressure was starting to make him nauseous and his heartbeat was racing so much that he was concerned that it would show through his shirt.

Taking the nod as an affirmation to her proposal, Jana de Vries clasped her hands together excitedly and announced, "Well, that's settled! I'll take him, Kino. Let's have him packed and I'll send a car to bring him to my summer home here. Since we're here, I decided to go on vacation." In a flurry of goodbyes, the businesswoman had whisked away in the same fashion as her arrival, and Joey was left standing with Lori and Kino, staring down at his boots and breathing heavily, wondering exactly what had just happened, and he was certain a merciless gavel had just descended on his life.

Posted by: Living Arrow Sep 23 2012, 06:06 AM

As Jana left, Lori rather rudely (though she needed to do it with the best intention in her heart) stepped between her sister and her new friend, keeping her back to him completely. He wouldn’t want to hear what she had to say.

“That was not what I meant by a sponsorship deal, Kino!” Lori’s face deepened in colour to clash horribly with her flame-red hair. “That woman was just… just…”

“Horrible?” Yeah.” Kino sighed and sent a languid pair of eyes after Jana de Vries with more than a little contempt. “But she really does know her stuff. That kid’s life is going to change after this.”

“In what way!?” Lori demanded, her hair squeezed tightly in both fists over one shoulder. “She said horrible horrible things and said she’d make him lie about himself. That’s wrong! He should just be allowed to follow his own path and-“

“And what?” Kino cut Lori off with a glare. The younger of the sisters was utterly silenced by the frosty stare her idol returned her. “What did you think a sponsorship deal would mean? Well? That some random person with money who doesn’t have any guarantee that you’ll make them any money would just pay out on a whim? Sponsors need some sort of assurance that they’re going to make a return on their investment and shaping their trainer into whatever they need to be to make that happen.”

“But you-“

“But I didn’t need to change a thing?” Kino’s lip twitched angrily into a brief sneer. “You think I like to dress this way? It’s all an act. Yeah, I’m an awesome trainer, but I’m also just a regular teenager. I needed this image to keep my own sponsorship going to get to where I wanted to be and I don’t regret a thing. If you know what you want to do and you want it bad enogh, you’ll find you’ll do almost anything to make sure it happens.”

Lori blinked. She had had no idea. Kino had always just been her sister. Her personality had always been a little brash and headstrong but when had there been a change like that? Had Lori been too young to realise? Too blind to see the ways in which Kino was affected by her own sponsors?

“Look,” Kino’s voice softened and her eyes lost their intensity to bathe in a supportive glow, “I didn’t want that for you so I decided to be your sponsor. Not being able to live your dream sucks and I couldn’t sit by anymore while you stayed at home wishing to be out here. I could afford it, so I’ve taken you on as a Researcher so that you can realise your own dreams.”

“So you’re choosing my path for me? To be a Researcher when I want to be a Trainer….” Lori’s lower lip quivered. “Just like Jana…”

“Still so naïve.” Kino rolled her eyes. “What if I said that I need you to Research the battle capabilities of those Unova Pokemon by taking on the Furoh Gym Challenge? You’d need to get all four Gym Badges and take part in the Furoh League…”

Lori’s mouth dropped open. “Kino…”

“I expect a written report after each badge, mind.” The Unova League Champion winked and reached out to stroke Lori’s porcelain cheek with an equally porcelain thumb. Kino spared a glance for Joey. “He might find it hard. Keep in touch with him and make sure he copes. I’ll call up some Co-Ordinators in Furoh to drop in on him for some support but it really is up to him to make what he can out of the situation.”

“Mmm.” Lori nodded, a slow smile spreading out over her face. “Thanks, Kino.”

“Hey, what are big sisters for?” Kino laughed and waved over Lori’s shoulder. “Good luck, Joey. Bye Lori.” She gave her sister a tight hug and turned on her heel, crimson hair snapping like a banner in her wake as she strutted outside.

A little later, at dinner, Lori sat across from Joey and picked around at her food sparingly. Her appetite was somewhat quenched after seeing Kino and all she could consider now was what her next move would be. Where to find the next Unova Pokemon? Who was the next trainer she would battle? How she would strategize for a Gym battle?! But hovering over all of that…

“Hey.” Lori waved a hand under Joey’s nose to get his attention. Understandably a lot had been on his mind since Jana had paid them a visit and she doubted much else would be occupying his thoughts for a while longer. “Hey, how are you doing?” She asked, knowing full well what his response was likely to be. “It’ll be alright, y’know? You’re smart and know a lot about being a trainer already.” She wasn’t lying. He already knew way more than her, though she wasn’t about to start proclaiming that all over again. “This sponsorship thing… It’s just money. It means new clothes and food whenever you want it for you and your Pokemon.”

“And, just so you know.” Lori blushed a little. “I’m really thankful that you helped me to catch my first Pokemon. I’m not sure I could have done it without you… So I got you this!” From under the table, Lori produced a magazine with a young man on the front, posing for the camera with a crimson Vulpix at his heel and two Ribbons pinned to his chest. “I know it’s not much but it has some stuff in here about Pokemon Co-Ordinating and health foods and ball seal vouchers and other things. Oh, and I wrote my Poketch number down in the cover. It doesn’t do calls but you can IM me as long as there’s a signal.”

She beamed a bright smile.

“Do your best, Joey! You’re gonna be great!”

Posted by: LittleShadowPokemon Oct 10 2012, 11:16 AM

Joey was unaware of any tension during the dinner meal in the cafeteria that night and the subsequent parting of ways for bedtime. Tonight, Joey would be sleeping in a PokéCenter room, but instead it would be on Jana de Vries’s bill. He settled down in the comforting sheets for what he hoped would be a good night’s sleep. He turned and looked at his small pile of belongings next to his bed. His Pokéballs were lined up on the dresser and he deeply contemplated each one and its contents. He felt tired, but his mind would not cease in activity. Now, in his own private reflection time, he reviewed all the recent events, mostly Jana’s contract, but also the comment about his Eevee’s pending evolution.

From his readings he could remember that Eevee evolved from the radiation of elemental stones and certain environmental factors. As he started to consider each in turn he started getting a little excited. He had never witnessed an evolution before, and he considered it a magical connection between trainer and Pokémon, or at least he wanted to, but he sincerely doubted he had whatever quality it took to prompt such a phenomenon. He gingerly stepped out of the bed, and retrieved his Pidgey’s Pokéball from the dresser and released his truest friend, who fluttered over to the bed and settled in possessively. Joey crawled back in beside him and stroked his smooth, crisp feathers.

“Do you feel like evolving, Claw?” Joey asked himself more than his Pokémon. The bird Pokémon paused in preening and looked surprisingly contemplative for a moment before returning to his task without affirmation. “If you wanted to, I would help you, you know,” Joey muttered into the stiff comforter. Claw glanced at him and shrugged, refolding his wings. A small cooing noise glided out of his beak and Joey turned back around, choosing not to engage him anymore. He was never even sure what Claw could and could not understand.

As he understood it, the Pidgey species evolved rather early on and had three stages, and Jet as a Seel with only two stages would evolve later on. As for Kimiko, Joey had no idea what would prompt her evolution into a Jigglypuff, but he had a moonstone for whenever that happened. As for Babylon, Joey desperately wanted a Flareon, as he found that the most aesthetically pleasing, powerful, and he recognized that his team lacked a fire element. He had no clue about his new Purrloin, who he decided to name Mally, a generic feline name from the desert region. His thoughts vaguely revisited Claw growing into the more substantial form of a Pidgeotto and he drifted to sleep to images of a glowing Avian form.

Early morning sunlight coupled with a mouth full of feathers awoke Joey the next morning. He tumbled out of bed in a flurry of indignant squawking and panicked talons. Claw bird-stomped his way back onto the pillow with a glare and hunkered down defiantly while Joey’s small form stumbled into the bathroom to get ready for the day. The shower was magical. The water was so warm and Joey was shocked to find out he was truly paler than he originally thoughts as layers of dirt peeled away. After washing and conditioning his hair with small samples from the room, he realized how uncomfortable he had been all his life, and vowed never to let it happen again. His hair had actually been aching at the scalp and the relief from clean hair was almost overwhelming. Feeling clean for once went a long way in his attitude, and he felt more confident as he toweled off and raked his hair into place with his hands. He dressed and re-entered the room and started gathering up his stuff and regretted not being able to get his crutches or his tent back, but it appeared he needed neither of them for much longer.

Joey arrived in the lobby fully dressed, clean, and packed with his stuff slung over his shoulder. He glanced around and saw Lori already at the front desk chatting with the clerk. She turned and waved to Joey. He lifted his hand briefly and walked towards the door, but stopped next to her and wasn’t quite sure what to do. Luckily, Lori took the lead.

“Hey! Joey!” Lori’s memory of Joey being deaf was already fading as she shouted and waved in his direction as he entered the lobby of the Pokemon Center. He looked around for a moment, oblivious to her calling, until her frantic waving arms caught his eye. Lori gathered her Pokeballs and bag, hurrying to meet Joey in the middle of the lobby. Pipster slid off the counter in front of the Nurse Joy, waving a stubby wing her way, and tottered after his trainer.

“It got so late I thought you’d gone already!” She exclaimed, hefting her bag around on her shoulder to open the drawstring and hold it open for her friend to look inside. The egg that she had found in the forest rested inside, blue red and white markings decorating its glossy surface. “And I wanted to let you know something amaaazing.”

“Y’see my egg?” Lori reached in and pulled out the large shell. “This egg belongs to none other than a Unova Pokemon! Y’know that big eagle we battled yesterday? That was called a Braviary and this egg will hatch into its unevolved form, Rufflet! Can you believe my luck?! This is AWESOME!” Her joy could not be simply contained any longer since finding out the true identity of the egg and now it was flooding out all at once!

“So, in a way, when you caught Purrloin and my Minccino got away, it was a good thing!” She slid the egg carefully back into her bag and twirled it back onto her shoulders. “Things have really worked out for both of us, huh? You’re off to become Furoh’s next top Co-Ordinator and I’m going to take on the Furoh League Challenge! And it just so happens that the first stop in the Furoh League is right here!”

“The Fidona Gym?” It was clear that Lori’s mood was infectious as ever as even Joey was smiling pretty broadly.

“Yeah! I’m going to enter and get my first Gym Badge from the Leader there. It’s gonna be so so cool!”

The conversation was interrupted when a long white limousine pulled in front of the Center’s doors and came to a stop. The few other early morning risers craned for a better view of the vehicle and its occupants. The driver left the limo and came walking briskly up to the Center and through the doors while holding his driver’s hat down and keeping his smart driver suit with too many gold buttons closed as if the elements of outside were overwhelming. He walked up to the front desk and asked for Joey Sweet.

With a small, suppressed gulp of anticipation, Joey stepped forward and got the driver’s attention.

“I’m ready.”

“Joey!” Lori called after her friend as he steeled himself to go with the driver. She blushed a little as she squeezed a swathe of red hair between both fists. “My match at the Fidona Gym… I called ahead and booked already… It’s tonight… And, well, I’d really like it if there was someone there to cheer me on, y’know?”

Joey had turned and started heading for the door. He hadn't heard Lori call him, but something out of the corner of his eye made him turn back, something that signaled that someone was trying to communicate with him. He obeyed without thinking and turned back to catch Lori's request. Thinking a moment, he wondered if he would be able to get away on his first day. He shook away any hesitation and nodded at his friend.

"I'll be there."


End of Rp