[X] My Assistant

[Kamaitachi]

"While there is a six Pokemon limit, co-ordinators are encouraged to meet and train many different types of Pokemon. With combinations being such a stable of modern co-ordinator combat and appeal, it's become more and more vital to bring as much variety to your line-up as possible."

Francesco Rojas read intently, scratching in notes in his notepad as he went. Looking up, he watched as his four pokemon milled about, enjoying their time out of their pokeballs. Valentine, newly evolved into a Monferno, jumped about the treetops, chattering wildly with happy 'whoops' as Oberon, Cesc's Sneasel, chased after him with reckless abandon. The two agile Pokemon flashed through the trees in some madcap game of tag where only they knew all the rules.

"Fire. Fighting. Ice. Dark." Cesc pointed at the duo happily playing in the foliage. "Bug. Flying." He looked over to Bardolph, his wicked looking Scyther, who had contented himself with sharpening his scythe-blades on the flat of a rock. The praying mantis would evolve into a steel type eventually, and hadn't quite picked up on the idea of an appeal yet. The warrior-bug clearly only wanted to fight opponents, but had warmed up to the idea of using combinations with partners...which seemed at least a step in the right direction.

"Normal." Cesc looked to his side, where Tybalt, his Zangoose, sat dutifully next to him, watching the other pokemon in Cesc's entourage wearily.

"So...I have fewer than half the total types of Pokemon right now, and four Pokemon total." Cesc's heterochromic eyes met Tybalt's ever-serious ones, and the co-ordinator let out a smile.

"Alright then Tybalt. Today's mission: Let's catch a Pokemon!" Standing, he whistled sharply, summoning the remaining three Pokemon to his side.

"Okay! Let's find a really cool Pokemon to add to our team today. It'll be a good warm-up for the contest this afternoon."

He thought briefly about trekking over to the cave where all of the elemental stones were. Certainly there were plenty of cool Pokemon over on that side of the mountain, but it didn't seem right capturing Pokemon he'd helped as an ally just days before. It really felt like a betrayal of trust more than anything.

Recalling his Pokemon to their pokeball-homes, he figured he'd have a few hours to find and catch a new team-member. The past few days had been spent training and prepping outfits; there wasn't much more he could do there, not on the day of the event. A 'hunt' seemed like a reasonable distraction.

"Okay...let's see, in this habitat..." He started to think through the list of remaining types, then shrugged. "I'll just wander and see what I find."

As he stood up on the rock that had formerly been his seat, he straightened out his outfit, dusting himself down gently. He'd worn a thin white undershirt with a v-neck (to show off his collarbones, of course?), a pair of comfortable fitting blue jean-shorts, a pair of low-top red sneakers. He'd braided his hair earlier, noting that the tip of the braid was now down past his waist. A series of leather bands were around his right wrist, while another was around the bicep on his left arm. A matching choker was around his neck.

"You know..." Cesc said aloud to no one, "This skater-chic isn't half bad." He had dressed down for the day, since he'd wanted to save up all of his 'sexiness' for the performance later. He would hopefully be facing Troy of Arasam, after all, he needed to be on point both fashion wise AND battle wise if he was going to make any sort of impression.

But more on that later. The co-ordinator felt an adventurous grin settle on his face. It was time to wander around the mountainside.

[Tarbasilisk]

Julie was happy to let Cesc talk about about himself as they winded between the trees. She nodded, asked questions, and made appropriate sounds of encouragement when necessary. She wasn't particularly interested in divulging too much about herself, as a little doubt still lingered about her companion's trustworthiness. Nonetheless, she enjoyed his company.

As the conversation turned to Cesc's aunt and uncle's clothing business, Julie closely examined the outfit Cesc was sporting. True, the get-up wasn't exactly her style, the fabrics seemed to be of surprisingly high quality. She wondered if she'd entered his family's shop during her somewhat frenzied shopping spree earlier that day without realizing it. She asked Cesc to give her directions there after their trip through the woods concluded.

When Cesc began to talk about contests, Julie listened even more attentively. After all, her goal in setting out to Furoh was to win those very events.

"Troy, the Hall Leader, uses mostly Ground and Steel types. I don't really have any Pokemon that could do that well against them. Ideally, I'd have to win by points, but I heard that he's really flashy, and knows how to knock off your points, whereas I'm more of a 'make-it-look-really-cool-and-elegant' kind of co-ordinator, so I'm curious to see how our styles clash..."

At this statement, Julie became hopelessly confused. She didn't know anything at all about these so-called 'hall leaders'. Was Cesc implying that there was battling involved? A feeling snuck upon her that was analogous to forgetting that an important project was due that day in school. She didn't know the first thing about battling. Frankly, the entire process seemed brutish and uncivilized. If battling was indeed involved in contests, she doubted her pokemon were up to snuff. While Julie didn't want to seem ignorant in front of Cesc, she absolutely had to ask him for more details about contests.

No sooner had this thought crossed her mind when Cesc signaled for her to stop. At the sight of the beedrill - and more specifically, at the sight of their enormous stingers - Julie's eyes became as round as saucers. She backpedaled a few steps, raising her bag like a shield.

"Oh Arceus, no way."

To Julie's shock, Cesc was quite happy to charge into battle. Julie stood still while her eyes tracked the beedrill's every movement. Her legs were tensed like springs to run in case they decided to target her instead. She watched Cesc's energetic monferno test his own speed against that of the beedrill, leaping high into the air and spitting globs of flame. Julie felt grateful that it was someone else battling rather than her.

It soon became clear - to Julie's relief - that she was at little risk of being a target in the fight between the pokemon. The two beedrill seemed far more concerned with Cesc's (adorably dressed) monferno and the little ralts. From her vantage point at the edge of the clearing, Julie was left to wonder what exactly had prompted the beedrill to attack the ralts so viciously in the first place. Upon looking at the beedrill and the ralts more closely she concluded with a judgemental snort that beedrill - as a species - must be evil by nature. Could anything with such alien eyes and weirdly segmented limbs be anything but a bloodthirsty abomination? Probably not!

Julie was snapped out of her musings by the apparent change in the tide of battle. She gasped as Cesc attempted to shield the ralts using his own body while his monferno was rammed to the ground. She took a quick step forward, as if to rush in and help, but was stopped by Cesc's sharp request for an antidote.

Julie's hands started shaking with the sudden burden of responsibility. She knew without looking that she didn't have a single healing item in her bag. Looking around helplessly, Julie hoped an idea would occur to her.

...As luck would have it, Julie could recognize the distinctive foliage of a pecha bush a short distance away in the forest.

"I'll be right back!" Julie yelled.

However, as luck would not have it, calling the plant a bush would be a mislabeling. Back in Kalos, Julie's family manor was situated in a lovely part of the countryside, and berry farms were not uncommon. There, however, the bushes were kept trimmed to a manageable size, and the fruit was easily picked at arm's reach. Here in the wild forests of Mt. Carello, the berry bushes were unchecked by human hands and grew to the size of trees. Although Julie was fairly tall, she found that the sweet pink fruit was out of reach, even when she tried to jump up and snag it with her fingertips.

Thinking quickly, Julie reached into her bag and called out her furfrou once more.

"Princess! Tackle this tree!" She demanded.

Princess, who had struck a fittingly regal pose upon being sent out, now opened her mouth and looked at Julie with a plain expression of bewilderment.

"It's important, I need you to shake some fruit down!"

The furfrou paused to look at Julie's face for any signs of trickery, before huffing resignedly. She halfheartedly launched herself at the tree, the branches of which started to quiver promisingly. However, none of the fruit fell. Whimpering a little, Princess drooped her head as if hurt from the impact and used her baby-doll eyes on Julie so that she would be recalled again. Julie, however, was feeling more than a little strained about the entire situation, and pushed her feelings of sympathy aside.

"That was terrible. Try again." She said, coldly.

The furfrou dragged out her disarmingly cute attack for as long as possible until she was begrudgingly forced turn away and tackle the tree again. This time she gave a little bit more effort, and, sure enough, a ripe fruit was shaken from the stem binding it to the tree.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the only thing that fell from the tangle of branches. Princess, who was trotting back to Julie, was stopped mid-step by a plummeting yellow cocoon. Another, not far from Julie's feet, bounced to the ground, and swiveled its white pupil to look the girl dead in the eye. She could only watch in wide eyed horror as the kakuna was enveloped in a piercingly bright light that only grew bigger and brighter. Stingers, wings, and legs...

The newly evolved beedrill took flight and began to hover in place. Princess dropped to a crouch, a surprisingly fearsome growl rising in her throat. With a bark, she leaped into the air and tackled the beedrill nearest to her, knocking it back. The bee faltered in its flight, as if stunned. With this accomplished, the furfrou darted under the second beedrill to stand in front of Julie. A peculiar look was in the poodle pokemon's eye as turned her head to look at her owner.

Julie didn't catch on quick enough. The bee pokemon in front of her suddenly charged forward, stingers jabbing furiously. Princess instinctively braced herself and allowed her fur to absorb most of the damage.

"Don't just stand there, tackle it!" Julie cried, her voice rising in fear.

That was all the furfrou needed to hear. Leaping again, she buffeted the beedrill backwards with her body. Unfortunately, the other beedrill that Princess had stunned had now recovered, and darted forward to protect its relative. Feeling outmatched, Julie strained to remember furfrou's moves.

"Try, uh, sand attack?" She ventured, nervously.

Frou. Princess barked in the affirmative.

The poodle pokemon turned around and kicked dirt behind her in a graceful arc. The move landed squarely in the beedrill duo's faces. Blinded, they simultaneously launched a new barrage of fury attacks, but were unable to make contact with anything but the air and each other. They struggled to clear the dirt from their eyes, shaking their heads and rubbing at their faces with the sides of their stingers hopelessly. Julie decided it was best to take advantage of the situation while it lasted. She scooped the pecha berry from the ground and legged it back to the clearing, with Princess following closely behind her.

Spotting her human companion, Julie triumphantly waved the posion cure berry high in the air.

"Cesc, look what I found!"

Unfortunately, the beedrill had cleared their vision faster than expected. A noisy buzzing heralded the arrival of the two newly evolved youngsters, which burst from the treeline behind her. Julie's smile was wiped from her face.