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Posted by: Jaima Dec 22 2008, 04:30 PM

Members: Darck (Darck), Jaima (Jaima), Living Arrow (Darryn), and The Rose Crusader (Melinda).

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Three figures travelled the road at dusk. One, a girl in her mid teens with long hair the color of dark honey, forged ahead, from time to time looking from side to side, but mostly facing forward, almost straining. Whenever a hill was crested only to show more road ahead, the smallish figure fidgeted. Occassionally she wiped her hands on her jeans or pulled at her loose, comfortable blouse, each movement becoming more and more agitated as the sun lowered to the horizon.

The other two hung back, keeping an eye on their companion, but neither venturing comment. One, a dark haired boy with three pokéballs attached to his belt, looked slightly confused at the actions of the one ahead. He was dressed in a conservatively stylish manner, an outfit that showed his physical attributes without looking as if he were flaunting it. He turned to his other companion, a blonde boy with a long braid and glasses, raising a brow. The other boy didn't acknowledge him openly, but watched grimly as their friend became more and more distressed.

Finally the blonde leaned toward the brunette. Removing his wire frame glasses, he wiped them off on his tank top, which was underneath a kung fu-esque jacket. "We're going to have to stop for the night soon." He adjusted the leather bandolier that ran diagonally across his chest, making sure each of the five custon decorated pokéballs were firmly in place.

"Is that a problem, Jaima?" The other boy asked, causing his companion to shrug.

"I really don't know, but she went to some pretty extreme measures to get us to Gigarte before sundown. I have a feeling if a truck was coming this way, we'd be seeing the same thing all over again." Jaima shrugged and sighed. "I think we'd better tell her sooner rather than later." Despite the 'we', he sped up alone to confront the girl.

"Mindy, we need to stop for the night."

"No."

Jaima blinked, then shook his head. "What do you mean, no."

"I already told you, I... i can't." She was trying to be tough, but it was failing her, and the last words came out plaintively."

"Look, Min," Jaima said, gently, putting a hand on her shoulder. "It's getting dark, and no one's coming. We need to find a place to set up while we can." At Mindy's doubtful look, Jaima squeezed her shoulder softly, in a reassuring manner. "Darryn and I are gonna be here. It'll be OK. OK?"

She didn't say anything, but looked past him. By this time, Darryn had caught up, but Mindy was looking even further down the road, as if hoping a car would come by. Finally she nodded, looking away in silence.

"I'll set up the tent." Jaima was already pulling his backpack off. As he passed Darryn, he murmured to him, "Why don't you stay in there with her tonight? She might feel better, hmm?"

Posted by: Living Arrow Dec 22 2008, 04:54 PM

The journey out of Gigarte had been everything that Darryn had hoped for. True, the walking was a little tiresome, but all three of the trainers were fit and healthy so none of them were tiring very quickly. Sadly for them, however, the sun was yawning his farewell as he descended towards the surrounding hills, taking with him the light of the evening. It was as Mr. Sun fell that Darryn noticed, along with Jaima, that Mindy was getting somewhat restless. Darryn would have gone as far to say that she was nervous but that didn't seem completely in character for her. She was normally so confident and sure of herself that Darryn doubt "nervous" was in her emotive vocabulary.

"In the tent?" Darryn murmured, watching Mindy shrewdly. "Sure. Uh, I have a spare blanket if you want it? It might be cold late at night out here - I wouldn't know, what with living underground and all..." He passed Jaima the sumptuously thick, black cashmere sheet to his friend before he could refuse. Darryn had an idea that he might have - Jaima was so polite and giving that he probably would have insisted that Darryn keep it for himself and Mindy.

Darryn subconsciously stroked the three different Pokeballs at his belt. Metapod's evolution still rang clear in his mind and his ears buzzed with the sound that Caterpie had made as she had cried her elation and she had made the change. It had excited him so much that he just couldn't wait for Pidgey and Eevee to follow suit. Metapod's condition had improved by so much after evolving that the mere possibility that Pidgey could improve in the same way had him wishing every moment for a battle to start with *any* Pokemon or trainer just so the chance could improve even the tiniest bit more.

He moved closer to where Mindy was waiting in quiet, wrapping her arms around her own shoulders like a protective mantle.

"Hey, it's OK." Darryn moved alongside her and gazed into the distance, too. "Still thinking about Queen?" He took her silence as an affirmative but he doubted that the temporary loss of her Vespiquen was the only thing on her mind. "Well, this is how I think of my sister when she's not around. I take a look at the sky and pick out the sun, moon or a star and just think to myself *Hey. Cleo could be looking at that, too.* and it lets me know that we're still connected no matter how far apart we are. So, if you're ever worried about anything... let's say the road at nighttime?... then just think that Queen is watching over you on the other side of the sky."

There was a long pause.

"Oh man, I'm *so* gay!" Darryn knuckled his forehead and laughed. "Or I could stay in the tent with you tonight for some moral support? Sound fair?"

Posted by: The Rose Crusader Dec 26 2008, 11:48 AM

Melinda had been more reserved this trip than the one to Gigarte. The emotion sprung from the apparent loss of Queen had subsided, but there were still lingering moments where she was hit with depression. But through thick and thin, Melinda always tried to remember how it was always for the better, for Queen and that it would be selfish of her to not let Queen go back to Floaroma Town. Mindy still socialized wit her companions a decent amount, but not as much as she had done with Jaima previously. As the trip progressed, the thought of her beloved bee pokemon drifted towards the back of her mind, and eventually she was talking feverishly with her traveling friends. Mindy was having a grand old time until the peach-colored setting sun glared its rays into her eyes, temporarily blinding her. Once her pupils had dilated, Melinda looked in the distance. There was no apparent civilization ahead. "Oh no..." she thought, "Not again...".

"Mindy, we need to stop for the night."

"No."

Jaima blinked, then shook his head. "What do you mean, no."

"I already told you, I... I can't." She replied. Melinda's heart was pounding, her mind racing trying to find a solution to the looming danger. She couldn't stop; she had already explained that to Jaima...hadn't she? There were too many thoughts flying through Mindy’s head for her to focus on one in particular.

"Look, Min," Jaima said, gently, putting a hand on her shoulder. "It's getting dark, and no one's coming. We need to find a place to set up while we can." Jaima squeezed her shoulder softly, in a reassuring manner. "Darryn and I are gonna be here. It'll be OK. OK?"

The words went in one ear and out the other. "There has to be another way!" Melinda looked past Jaima and Darryn, as the trio's movement had now come to a full stop. There was nothing but desert-like sand in the distance, followed by more and more of the substance. She turned back in the opposite direction to see nothing again but lush greenery from the outskirts of Gigarte's above ground area. He heart doubled its time as there was nothing to be seen. "You're alright Mindy, you're okay." She tried to calm herself, but nothing would work. Melinda turned to her sense of sounds and tried to listen for something, anything that could be heading their way.

Nothing. Complete and utter silence. Melinda now realized the truth that she was trapped out here in the wilderness, and nodded solemnly towards Jaima. Mindy looked away from the two and wandered a bit away from them, wrapping her arms around herself like a protective blanket. "What am I going to do..." Mindy cried to herself, her arms trembling with fear.

"Hey, it's OK." Darryn moved alongside her and gazed into the distance, too. "Still thinking about Queen?"

Melinda sighed. The ever-thoughtful Darryn was trying to comfort her. At least she had supportive friends. Her mind began to wander as Darryn gave his lovely speech about missing someone.

"...If you're ever worried about anything... let's say the road at nighttime?... then just think that Queen is watching over you on the other side of the sky." Melinda sighed at the sweetness of the boy. Sure, he was gay. But that didn't make him any gentler or different than anyone else in the world. Mindy could actually feel a closer bond with him that she just didn't have with Jaima. They had both been so kind to her, even when she dismissed them. Mindy was grateful to have such caring companions.

"Oh man, I'm *so* gay!", Darryn announced. Melinda burst out laughing with her friend, completely breaking the eerie silence that had surrounded the two. "Or I could stay in the tent with you tonight for some moral support? Sound fair?"

Melinda grabbed the boy by the arm and hugged hi tightly. "That'd be great Darryn". the two made their way to a nice dry spot and began to set up the tent. Mindy was pretty much clueless about everything outdoorsy, so she hoped that Darryn knew a thing or two. Sure enough, Darryn knew exactly how the tent worked and set it up, with a little help from Melinda in record time.

"There we go! All set". Darryn announced quite triumphantly.

"Wow Darryn, is there anything you don't know?" Mindy giggled. The boy had completely turned around the girl's mood. She was feeling better. But that was only because, like Queen, the thoughts of the terrors of night were pushed to the back of her mind.

Feeling she should take some initiative, Melinda walked towards Jaima, standing i the middle of Darryn and he. "Anything else we should take care of?" Mindy chirped as happily as she could.

Posted by: Living Arrow Dec 28 2008, 06:07 PM

"I dunno," Darryn shrugged, "you guys are the experienced travellers - I was only forced into Scouts for a couple of months so I'm afraid my outdoorsy expertise pretty much ends at getting a place to sleep ready... Speaking of sleep... Eevee!"

He tossed the Quick Ball to the ground where it flashed brightly to expell the puppy and bounce back to his hand with a flourish. He replaced the orb on his belt and frowned down at the grinning Pokemon who was wagging his tail with utter, unexplained, glee. Darryn mentally sighed. How did his little Eevee manage to store up so much energy like this? No wonder his hips weren't aligned properly.

"I'm gonna have to play with this little one before bed, else he won't sleep and rest properly for the morning." Darryn looked to Mindy and smiled. "Fancy tiring him out with a bit of 'chase-the-stick'?"

Part of Darryn's reasoning for a retrieval game was that in a short while it would be too dark for Eevee to find the stic, so he'd be running in circles without having to disturb the trainers any more than he had to. That way he'd get tired and be ready for the morning with as little fuss as possible. Well, that's how it was meant to work, anyway.
The other part was a distraction exercise for Melinda. Whether she noticed that fact or not, Darryn had no idea, but the same principle went for her as it did his Eevee. After all, get someone tired enough and they don't care where they sleep... Again, Darryn only hoped that was the case as he selected a stout stick and passed it to Mindy.

Posted by: Jaima Dec 29 2008, 06:29 AM

Jaima was actually glad that Darryn had decided to pitch the tent. His entire experience with camping constituted a tent in the backyard on warm summer nights. And thew tent had been one of those tiny pre-folded snap together deals that would blow away in a really strong wind (and had once). He had only volunteered because it seemed like the right thing to do.

Now Jaima busied himself with gathering firewood, both for dinner and for talking afterwards. He had the help of five pokemon, all of whom took to the task with gusto. With so many, the job was done in half the time needed, and each pokemon began to play, Mercury and Shadow tossing a stick around, Fang carrying one in his mouth for chewing, Grondir distracting Ember by tapping the opposite side he was on with a vine, and Ember playing along.

"OK, goofs, gimme the wood we've gathered. I need Grondir, Shadow, Ember to find some stones to put around the fire." The three took off, excited to be sent on their own, with Mercury trailing happily after Shadow. Fang looked at the departing in confusion, which quickly turned into sadness.

Jaima knelt down and ruffled the shinx' mane. "Don't be sad, Fang. I held you back for some special training." He pulled the stick from Fang's mouth, grimacing slightly as it was rather wet. He stuck it into thw grounsd by one end about six feet away, then went back to Fang. "I want you to charge up, then try to focus the lightning at the stick. Can you do that?"

"Nx, shi!" Squeaked Fang. He focused hard, but when he released the electricity, it discharged all around him. Fang's face fell again.

"Aw, c'mon, buddy. It's training! If you got it on the first try, you wouldn't need training, right?" Jaima smiled down at Fang. His hair was frizzed out and he shook a little. "Now, keep trying. I'm going to ne waaaaay over here."

It took Fang a few minutes to stop laughing.

Before long, Grondir, easily dragging two stones with his vines, Ember, rolling one, Shadow, carrying one, and Mercury, floating three with utmost concentration, arrived. Jaima directed them to arrange them in a circle well away from the tent, then put the sticks they'd gathered in a roughly pyramid shape and had Ember start the fire.

"Darryn, Mindy! I got a fire started! Let's make dinner, I'm starving!"

Posted by: The Rose Crusader Dec 29 2008, 10:35 AM

"Sure," Melinda replied to Darryn as she half-hazardly caught the twig thrown to her. Melinda and Eevee had a blast playing with the stick, running around and throwing it. Mindy would throw the wooden twig, Eevee would retrieve it and bring it to Melinda, and Mindy would praise the pokemon. This simple game of fetch had done more than Melinda realized, taking her mind off of the prospect of sleeping outdoors, and in doing so calmed her down. Mindy had almost forgotten about the others, but remembered immediately as Eevee began to falter and tire from their little game. "Great job Eevee, I think you got faster during our little game!" Melinda exclaimed. The bouncing little furball of energy squealed with excitement and jumped up onto Melinda. "Ho there, it's alright, good job," Mindy tried calming the cute beast down, placing the pokemon on the ground. After finishing the fun game, Mindy heard Jaima call out to her and Darryn:

"Darryn, Mindy! I got a fire started! Let's make dinner, I'm starving!"

“Be right there!” the girl in the green blouse announced, gathering her pokeballs and Eevee and making a beeline for the rising campfire. While the last meal the gang had consumed, the one back in Gigarte, had been excellent, they had surely burned off all the energy they ate by now with all the walking and traveling. Melinda sat down on a nearby log and let Eevee go play with the other pokemon. “So Jaima, what do we have cooking?”

Posted by: Living Arrow Dec 30 2008, 07:10 AM

Darryn watched Mindy and Eevee with great pleasure as they played their game of fetch, glad that both of them were getting something beneficial out of the exercise. Eevee in particular seemed to be getting faster and faster as he went. Already the fastest out of Darryn's Pokemon it seemed crazy that the puppy was managing to push his boundaries even more by simply playing a game of fetch. Even so, that was something he would have to record in Eevee's file, especially alongside the fact that his hips were out of alignment.

While the two played nearby, Darryn called on Pidgey and Metapod so that he could give them both once-overs before bed. He applied Pidgey's feather-regrowth spray and cleaned the rest of him with tentative strokes of a wet cloth. The bird cooed quietly throughout, clearly tired, and finished off his check by using Roost. The aura of light that befell him restored more feathers in an instant and Darryn grinned before taking another picture with his mobile phone and making a record of in in the bird's file. Despite Pidgey's maladies, he was fighting fit and looking better than ever. Darryn was very proud of his own hard work in improving Pidgey's condition and was looking forward to the day that the bird would follow Caterpie in his own evolution.
He polished Metapod afterwards, checking for signs of her old fungal infection and spraying the old medicine in the nooks and crannies of her carapace just to make sure that the condition was completely treated.he updated her file, like the others' and picked her up in his arms, moving to Jaima and Mindy with Pidgey flapping awkwardly behind to perch on his head.

"So, Jaima. What do we have cooking?" Mindy asked.

"Yeah, my Pokemon and I are gonna start wasting away unless we get something in us soon." Darryn laughed. "It is a steak dinner tonight? Maybe pasta? Oh! How about a nice roast vegetable stew!?"

Posted by: Jaima Dec 31 2008, 12:07 AM

"Well, nothing's cooking yet, but pasta sounds excellent!" Jaima looked around, smiling. "This reminds me of a story. My sisters wanted to go camping, but mom was away at a seminar. I was twelve, I think, so the girls were six. Anyway, I don't know the first *thing* about camping, and I'm not about to go out in the freaky woods with two six year old girls. No problem, we'll go out in the back yard, right?" By now, Jaima was getting into the satory, grinning broadly. "So I go out with our biggest blanket, and I flip it over the clothesline, and I stake down the corners, see? It was pretty good for the night. But Mariko wants to cook hotdogs or somesuch. Well, I'm pretty sure that an open flame isn't allowed. Nooooo problem, says Natsume, and she goed into the house, and comes out with a confused Ember! Long story short, we roasted marshmallows over her rear all night!" The story, told as he prepared the pans he'd brought, brought laughter to Jaima's lips.

"So," he said, still grinning, "who's got the food?"

Posted by: Living Arrow Dec 31 2008, 06:38 AM

Darryn giggled at Jaima's story. He wished that he had had a younger sibling or two to play with. Cleo had been great and all, but since she was older he couldn't help but feel that he had missed out on such an important experience as being a 'big brother'.
Pidgey chortled lightly atop his head, swaying this way and that while grabbing to Darryn's head more tightly with his little claws. Metapod's eyes shone with mirth but she made no sound.

"Well, I don't have the food." Darryn said, pawing at his backpack to get a look inside. "I've just got my clothes, Pokemon Accessories, a couple of Pokeballs, some medicine and bandages and a few leftover Bluk Berries from the park... I thought Mindy was carrying the food?"

Eevee came trotting back to Darryn, making a very pronounced yawn and nuzzling his ankle a little. He grinned - the job was done - and head out the Quick Ball for the puppy to return to for a sleep.

Posted by: The Rose Crusader Jan 1 2009, 08:39 AM

Melinda looked up at her two traveling partners and gave them both strange glances. "...What? I'm not carrying the food," Mindy assured the two, almost laughing herself because they expected her to. "All the food I have left is 3 of Feebas' Poffins. But they're...well...ya know..." At this point everyone was confused. It seems that no one had take nthe initiative to buy any food for the journey. Melinda had the 'best' excuse of all; she thought the trip wouldn't take more than a few hours. Boy, was she wrong. "I mean, someone has to have something, right?" Melinda announced, posing the question to her dumbfounded friends. The seriousness of the situation had not dawned on Melinda yet, as she simply was not aware of the consequences of no one having any food. She was becoming more more aware of the fact, however, as her stomach's growl grew louder and louder.

Posted by: Living Arrow Jan 1 2009, 08:22 PM

"Well that's a real downer." Darryn sighed, feeling his stomach churn with the anticipation of its next meal. "Nothing to eat and we're miles out of town now so going back seems like a complete waste of time. Then again, we can't exactly just sit around and hope that food finds us."

Darryn read the disappointment on the others' faces. Gigarte behind and Lenoilia ahead. Both were such distances away that it didn't seem that turning around would be in anyone's best interests but carrying on meant going hungry for a good long while - not only the three trainers but also their Pokemon.

*If only the Pokemon didn't have to eat, too... maybe we'd be able to find something for just us but for how many mouths now? Thirteen? And out on the road?*

"Hey, you know... our Pokemon were all wild once, so they must know how to fend for themselves. Surely they could help us get something to eat tonight? Eevee has a good sense of smell... so should Fang and Ember. Then there's Pidgey, Taillow and Mercury - they can scout from the air and see if there are any convenience stores anywhere near here, or even a farm where we could buy some stuff. Even then, we'd probably have to wait until tomorrow when it's light before we really find anything - I don't fancy climbing trees for fruit at night if I can break my neck in the process." Darryn let out another sigh. "Other than that, I'm fresh out of ideas. What do you two think? Shall we sleep on it?"

Posted by: Jaima Jan 3 2009, 08:20 PM

Jaima was nervous, suddenly, and taking stock of the situation. No one had said for him to get food, but no one had asked, either. He rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed. They were all old enough to know better, but were too excited by the prospect f travelling together and their new badges to pay attention.

At Darryn's suggestion, Jaima started. "Hold on, only two of mine could have ever possibly been wild. Grondir was bred, all the starters are. In fact, like you pointed out, he was specially bred. Ember was bred, too, and Shadow was given to me as an egg. Only Mercury and Fang have ever been wild." He shrugged. "I mean, I don't mind if they scout, they're all smart, but they may not be as good at it as wild pokémon."

He reached into his bag and handed out the last of his mints, which he'd gotten for Mercury the day they'd had the impromptu spa. "Maybe this'll help a bit."

Posted by: The Rose Crusader Jan 3 2009, 11:31 PM

Melinda thought about their current situation for a moment. They had no food or water, and anything that they could find would barely last any time at all. "Well there still are three stale poffins," she thought. "No," clearing her mind. How crazy was the hunger going to make the poor girl? Melinda starkly sent out her two pokemon who were delighted to see the mints being handed out by Jaima. There were just enough for Darryn, Jaima, and Melinda's pokemon all to have one. "We'll have a gathering session tomorrow guys," Melinda announced. Someone had to step up and take charge, why not the usual bossy Mindy anyway? "But for now I think we should all conserve our energy and get some rest tonight". She spoke. No one objected to what Melinda said because it seemed like the right thing to do at that moment.

Feebas looked at the remains of the white plastic bag that held the three remaining poffin with wide, dilated puppy eyes. Taking notice of the non-verbal communication, Melinda informed the pokemon in a strong whisper,” Not now Feebas, that would be very rude." Feebas' gaze casted downward, sad that he had not been triumphant in her battle for the goodies. "But if you're good tonight, then you can eat them tomorrow" Melinda said with a smile. Jubilant, the Feebas gobbled down the mint and returned herself to her pokeball. After her pokemon were satisfied and returned to their pokeballs, Melinda took notice of some of the other pokemon in the group's party. Grondiir was looking quite pale, and Darryn's Metapod should have definitely been getting more nutrition in such a vital stage of its life. "I believe Taillow will make an excellent scavenger pokemon for tomorrow's 'hunt’,” as Mindy liked to call it, adding on to what Jaima said earlier and trying to boost the already depressed morale. "But it is getting late, and I think we should all head to bed and get a good night's sleep, alright?"

Posted by: Living Arrow Jan 4 2009, 04:04 PM

"A good night's sleep sounds good to me." Darryn sighed, clicking open the Premier and Net balls to suck his two Pokemon back inside to rest. "You still OK with being outside, Jaima?" The braided blond gave Darryn a reassuring nod and bid the pair goodnight.

Inside the tent, Darryn cleared his and Mindy's packs to the back and set their pillows at either end of the construct so that they were top-to-tail and allowed Mindy to climb into the center of the tent, leaving him to sleep by the 'door'. Hopefully that would help her feel somewhat safer while camping outside and reduce the amount of stress that she was clearly going through. He worried about her strange fear of the night under the sky - something that most teens had grown out of by her age. Maybe it was caused by something that happened to her when she was younger? Who knew?

The pair said very little to each other as they slid into their sleeping bags and snuggled as best they could on the hard ground. The prospect of going hungry in the morning really didn't bear thinking about until they woke and Darryn was tired enough from the walking without a lack of food sapping his energy.

"'Night Mindy," he whispered as he drifted off, "don't let the Spinarak bite..." His voice trailed off and his breathing slowed and became more rhythmic with the welcome drumbeat of his slow heart as sleep took him.

Posted by: Jaima Jan 6 2009, 09:22 AM

"Good night, Min. Good night, Darryn."

Once the two were settled in the tent, Jaima put out the fire made sure it was properly buried. He almost wished he had a water pokémon to do it properly, but the dirt was good enough, he decided. He took the cashmere sheet (he almost hated to get it dirty...) and put it over the sleeping bag, which he had unzipped and left out so that his pokémon had room to sleep on it. He made sure they were all covered by the sheet.

He gently pet each one of them as they lay down, sighing. Maybe they could find some food in the morning. At the least, he hoped they could find some for themselves. He was a big guy, he could handle a little bit of lack of food.

His stomach growled in protest.

"Ember, do me a favor and make sure it's warm for everyone, OK?" Cyndaquil like to burrow, so Jaima didn't see her acknowledge, but it did get warmer under the blankets. "Mercury?"

"Ral," came the sleepy reply.

"Can you tell if pokémon come to make people have nightmares?"

"Lts."

"Please make sure one doesn't come for Mindy, OK?"

Mercury stood and nuzzled Jaima's arm before sleepily floating into the tent. He received a picture of her settling in the corner near Mindy's head. Jaima smiled a bit, then rubbed his cheek. Her scalp is getting dry. Need to ask Darryn about that in the morning, was his last thought before drifting to sleep.

Posted by: The Rose Crusader Jan 7 2009, 08:49 AM

The trees outside Melinda’s window were rustling very loudly. It was the middle of the night. The wind made a strange ominous hum. Darryn and Jaima both lay in their beds sleeping while Melinda tossed and turned in the night. Not far away, a Hoothoot cooed creepily. It turned out to be a very spooky night. She was unsettled. She sometimes spoke strange words, and she did not even know what she was saying. You see, strange things were happening to Mindy; things that she could not understand. These ‘things’ had happened to her ever since she was a little kid. Not often, but every once in awhile. Melinda never understood any of it, so she usually just brushed them off as nothing. This one was just the same, and yet it wasn’t. The last time she had experienced a dream it had turned out horribly wrong. Melinda prayed that this time she would have different results.

Stormy emerald clouds surrounded Melinda’s peripheral vision. This time the images that passed over her eyes did not go as quickly as before, and she could see each of them very clearly: Smoke rising over trees and a man clad in black with a strikingly memorable black ponytail; distinctly different from Jaima’s. Next Melinda saw a group of travelers cross a creaking bridge over a dirty moat and moving towar- it stopped. The dream just stopped. Suddenly, horrifyingly familiar onyx black clouds entered the dream that completely overshadowed the bright and familiar emerald ones. Melinda remembered what happened last time; Mercury had saved her. But this time, Melinda saw through these black clouds some pictures just like the others: Two shadowed figures backed into a corner surrounded by creepy men, a silhouetted demon monster staring down two unsuspecting travelers, one much larger than the other. Then it was burning building with people standing on the ledges of windows!

Melinda saw other pictures as well, but they were too scary for her to remember. These black clouds had brought a lot of horrifying images that scared Melinda dearly. But what concerned her the most is how the bright light which had saved her last time was not there; Ralts and Melinda had grown a bond since then! Something was wrong. Terribly wrong.

Posted by: Jaima Jan 7 2009, 02:16 PM

The night had passed peacefully, once Jaima was able to forget about his stomach and finally let himself drift to sleep. He'd taken off his kung fu jacket and folded into a pillow, and Fang lay near his head on a trailing sleeve. Grondir actually preferred the bare ground, because he could Ingrain himself into the ground. Shadow was behind Jaima's knees, and Ember was warming the sheet from within the sheet. Only Mercury was missing, and he'd sent her to watch over Jaima. He only hoped she knew she could sleep while she did that.

He'd been dreaming, of a field day with his sisters he'd been asked to accompany them on (he was told he was a chaperone, but he suspected that he'd been sent to learn, since he was home more often than not in those days), in which they'd been explained the beauty of grass type pokémon. That was he'd first gotten a glimpse of a chikorita, which Mariko was instantly enamored with. Natsume also enjoyed the bug pokémon, but they caused Mariko to squeal and cling to her brother.

He was quite happy with this dream. It was nice to remember happier times, and a feeling of peaceful contentment pervaded his sleep.

A cloud passed overhead in the dream, black and menacing, blocking out the light. Jaima did not remember that day being cloudy; on the contrary, it had been sunny that day. The sunny day had been chosen because grass types tend to come out into the open when it was sunnier. No one in the dream reacted to the cloud. The pokémon frolicked, his sisters laughed and carried on, and the teacher tried, valiantly to give her lecture. Jaima couldn't shake that the cloud wasn't right, however. It was as if someone were whispering it in his ear.

The cloud passed, but the uneasiness remained. However, the dream would not let him go. It was as if someone were holding him down, and whispering that it was all right, even though he knew it wasn't. He could feel the darkness nearby, but it wasn't in his dream anymore. Something shivered. He couldn't describe it better, it shivered as it tried to stand firm.

"Raaaaaaaalllll." The cry was a low moan, filled with flagging strength and waxing terror, and Jaima exerted his will on the dream.

He woke up with a burst, looking toward the tent even as he reached for his glasses. The tent walls were shaking on the side furthest from the door, and there was a pale light visible through the tent's fabric. It was in the pale light that Jaima noticed several pokémon: Gastly and haunters, shuppets, a drowzee, and, in the middle of it on, yipping and growling as if egging them on, was a vulpix, down on his forelegs with his tails in the air, watching the place where Mindy and Mercury were.

They hadn't noticed him, but that wouldn't last long. Jaima roused his pokémon, who shook their heads as if, they, too, had been caught in a dream, but upon seeing the pokémon surrounding the tent, they roused themselves.

"Darryn," cried Jaima, catching the attention of the Drowzee and several shuppet, "we have a situation out here!

Posted by: Living Arrow Jan 7 2009, 05:03 PM

Darryn slept awkwardly, his legs bunched up as far as they could go in the crowded tent. While he dozed, he became faintly aware in his dreams of something warm and bright tickling at the edge of his mind. He mentally batted it away and rolled over.

*Raaaall…*
“No, Justin… mmm that’s nice…”
*Raaaall…*

A wall suddenly slammed into Darryn’s mind and Mercury’s face appeared before his eyes, her horned head quivering as she cried and wailed in the tent. Mindy’s head was cradled in the Ralts’ arms, the girls face sheening with sweat and her eyes dancing manically beneath her eyelids.

“Wha-?!”
“Darryn! We have a situation out here!” Jaima’s call was urgent and worried – enough for Darryn to grab at his bag then launch himself over Mindy and out into the dark.

“Haunter!” The ghost Pokemon Shadow Punched Darryn in the arm, knocking him to the ground. A cold breeze stiffened Darryn’s naked torso as he tumbled and sprang back from the gang of Pokemon that was surrounding the tent. Luckily for him, his Pokeballs were still on his belt, fastened to his jeans.

“What the hell?!” Darryn yelped, backing off from the menagerie of scary Pokemon. “Hey! Get away from there!” He shouted at the creatures that were advancing on the tent. Ralts wailed loudly, still clutching tightly to Mindy. “I said get away!” He ran in, swinging his arms at the ghosts that pervaded the scene. A sudden pain in his ankle made him scream as a wild Vulpix clamped her jaws down tightly on him, growling angrily.

“Pidgey, Metapod, Eevee!” Darryn smashed at his belt, knocking the Pokeballs free and releasing his partners. “Attack together!”
With the arrival of the three Pokemon, Mindy’s attackers briefly scattered and their attention turned onto their new opponents.

“Jaima! We’ve got to fight them off!” Darryn yelled to his friend. "Mindy's not waking up! What's going on?!"

Posted by: Jaima Jan 8 2009, 02:58 PM

"I don't know!" Jaima cried, gritting his teeth. Mercury was in trouble, and Mindy wouldn't wake up. He managed to forget his fear enough to start issuing commands.

"Grondir, stay engrained! Get these shuppets off me! Fang, go after that Hypno! Bite him! Shadow, try to get that vulpix out of the way! Ember, take on that Haunter! We have to get them away from Mindy!"

The commands were good ones, but the battle, he could see, was not going well. The vulpix sprang away from Shadow whenever the riolu got near, biting him in the flank or tail, then spin to harrass Darryn more. The shuppets floated and darted in and out, avoiding Grondir's vines, and since Grondir was engrained with the ground, he couldn't move to protect a wider area. Fang was frozen in place by the hypno, who was laughing evilly. And Ember was terrified, and though she attacked, her fear made her miss more than not.

Jaima picked up his sheet and rolled it, using it as a flail, but all it did was scatter the ghost pokémon; otherwise the sheet went right through them. He tried to see what was going on with Darryn when a light caught his eye. A bunch of leaves came whipping by, glowing with red energy. Jaima barely ducked away in time to keep from getting slashed, and he felt the band on the end of his braid pop and his hair flow loose.

There was no time, however, to think about that. Out of the corner of his eye, a shadowy movement caught his attention. Just as he looked to see what was going on, a wail from the tent distracted him. Mercury was fighting, but she was losing, and the Haunter was there, his mouth open wide, and a glowing energy coming from the tent.

Misdreavous and Mismagius darted past him, a whole family of them, it seemed. "Dammit, there's more!"

Posted by: Living Arrow Jan 8 2009, 04:51 PM

"Pidgey! Go help Ember!" Darryn commanded, jumping back from the Vulpix as it came at him once more. Pidgey took off into the dark, kicking up a Gust to blow the Haunter away from Ember to buy her some time to regroup. Mercury continued crying through the din, but at least Ember and Pidgey were shielding her and Mindy from any direct harm.

"Metapod, get on that Drowzee with Fang, try to hold it down with some String Shot!” The bug type launched itself into the gloom with a cry and Tackled the Drowzee down before teaming with the Shinx and firing silk all over the psychic type.

“And Eevee, get this damn thing away from me!” Darryn cried, dancing clear as the Vulpix snapped and yapped at his ankles. Eevee came on the offensive immediately, darting between Darryn’s legs and jumping past Shadow with his immense speed. Darryn still couldn’t get enough of his Eevee’s moves!
The Vulpix bounded away from Darryn as Eevee came bolting towards her and responded with a flash of flaming projectiles.

“That’s Ember! Use Protect!”

Eevee set up his green bubble-like shield just in time to deflect the attack, allowing Shadow to come hurtling through the resulting smoke with a fist aiming for the fire-fox’s face. The fox was too fast, however, and her short legs flashed with movement as she sprang away.

“And that’s Agility!” Darryn was very impressed with this wild Vulpix’s abilities. It seemed to have some pretty good speed – a fair match against his Eevee.

As the battles raged on, Darryn’s nerves got the better of him and he began to seek the potions in his bag. They would probably be needed if… Darryn looked at his hands. It wasn’t his bag, but Mindy’s that he’d picked up from the tent during his rush to help Jaima. His annoyance faded a little as he heard the clacking of Pokeballs inside the rucksack.
“Come on out, guys!” He threw Mindy’s two Pokeballs into the air to expel both Taillow and Feebas. Feebas came falling back down with her wide-eyed stare to flop into Darryn’s arms.

*God knows what this thing can do…* Darryn search for Feebas’ dropped Pokeball in the dark with the full intention of recalling it, but with the device nowhere to be seen, he just continued to hold it in his arms as it struggled weakly out of water.

“Taillow! Please, help Mindy!” Darryn called up to the bird who was looking around in complete confusion. “Over in the tent!” Taillow’s eyes narrowed on the spot where Mindy continued her fitful dream and plunged into the gang of Shuppets that were drawing near to her position.

The night suddenly came alive with more swirling shapes in the air, making Darryn duck as the Misdreavus and Mismagius flooded the campsite.

"Now what?!"

Posted by: Jaima Jan 9 2009, 03:36 AM

"We keep fighting, that's what," Jaima said grimly. "Grondir, sleep powder on the newcomers!"

"Bul!" Grondir's bulb bulged, the shot out a cloud of sleep powder that floated rapidly to the cloud of ghost types. Two of the mismagius set up barriers, and Jaima grit his teeth. Howevee, the barrier, instead of stopping the powder, funneled it to the other attackers. It even managed to miss the swooping Taillow and other pokemon working to defend the camp.

"Darryn, I think they're on our side!"

The subtle ploy worked to get Jaima thinking. "Ember, Shadow! Sand attack at the vulpix, now!

Stopping what they were doing, the cyndaquil and riolu kicked sand at the vulpix, temporarily blinding it. It responded with a gout of flame that barely missed Shadow.

"Crap, that thing's tough!"

Posted by: Living Arrow Jan 10 2009, 06:20 PM

When the new ghosts appeared to be helping the situation, Darryn's shoulders relaxed a little. At least something was getting better!

"Crap that thing's tough though!"

Darryn grinned. "It sure is, Jaima. And in a few minutes, she's going to be mine..." A fire lit in Darryn's eyes as the Vulpix managed to dodge another attack from Shadow, even while blinded. Her ears were darting this way and that, using sound to navigate around her opponents. She really was tough. Tough and ballsy.

"Hey," Darryn nodded towards the Vulpix, "leave this one to me. It'll take all of my Pokemon to take her down and all of my focus, too. Here, take Feebas." He passed the gasping fish over to the blond then turned back to confront the snarling Vulpix who had managed to clear her eyes of the dirt that had blinded her and was glaring daggers at Darryn.

"Pidgey, Metapod, return!" His Pokemon balked from their battles and look to their trainer in confusion but hurriedly left what they were doing and rushed back to Darryn's side. Eevee bounded back to his ankles and barked his excitement.
Jaima's Pokemon slowly backed off from the fire-fox at his command and Darryn began to plan his strategy.

*I can't send Metapod right away - she'll just get burned to a crisp... but then Eevee needs a little time to get his breath back... so that only leaves...*

"Go, Pidgey!" Darryn announced, signalling the start of his battle for the Vulpix.

Darryn crossed his fingers as Pidgey waddled across the ground at speed towards his new opponent. The Vulpix snorted a derisive laugh and flames ignited in her mouth. "Gust attack! Make sure none of the flames reach you!" Darryn urged his fat bird.
Pidgey immediately tore up a wind that baffled the Vulpix completely and extinguished the cinders between her teeth. Angrily, her eyes began to glow a sinister blue as her next attack began.
"No! That's Extrasensory!" Darryn cursed, watching the aura of psychic energy erupt around Pidgey. The bird squawked loudly and shook violently as the Vulpix attacked from a distance.

"Now, Metapod!" Darryn called out, thankful that his bug had managed to circle the fox undetected. Her rigid form zoomed out of the night and the surprised Vulpix took a hard tackle to the side. “Great, now get out of there!” Darryn called, watching Metapod spring into the air and swing away on a cord of silk. The Vulpix howled her defiance and spat embers into the night.
Her anger was short lived as Pidgey came rushing towards her, his whole body charging at top speed. In a flash, her agility kicked in and she was dodging his attacks easily.
“Pull off and use Gust!”
Pidgey skidded to a halt and swung his wings hard in the Vulpix’s direction but she managed to run rings around him before any wingbeats could propel enough wind to catch her unprotected.

“Go, Eevee!”
Eevee dashed into the fray, his focus driving his Quick Attack as he rammed the Vulpix into the air. She squealed with pain and span, throwing down as much Ember as she could. The orange flames slammed down on top of Eevee relentlessly, fixing him to the spot and dealing their fiery damage.
“Eevee! You’ve got to do something to get out! Anything!” Darryn urged. That heat looked unbearable and Darryn could even feel its intensity from where he was standing. "Eevee! Get out of there!!!!"

There was a primal scream from beneath the smoke and flames as Eevee let loose an unnamed attack. Golden stars erupted like a fountain, swirling upwards at the Vulpix as she fell.
“I don’t believe it!” Darryn gasped. “You know how to use Swift?!”

The Vulpix’s ember and Eevee’s swift met in the air, tying for strength as they unleashed their powers upon each other. Darryn was mesmerised by the battle, watching the two canines leap and dodge each other while spitting their projectile attacks with equal speed only to be evenly matched.
Darryn was thankful for the presence of Pidgey and Metapod as they watched for gaps in the battle to try and lend their aid.

*One final move.* Darryn held his breath. It would have to work!

“Eevee, use Double Team!” He commanded, watching Eevee split into many and zoom around the confused Vulpix. She tried to hit one with a bout of Extrasensory but the clone merely vanished as was replaced with another.

*Now that she’s stood still!*

“Pidgey, Gust her back into the air!” Darryn watched as Pidgey kicked up an enormous Gust that dispelled all of the Eevee clones and threw the fire-fox high into the air, wailing as she went. Eevee managed to dodge the attack only by a hair as the wind came tearing through the space between them, tumbling end over end to land in a quivering heap nearby.

*And now to wrap this up!*

“Metapod! String Shot!”
High in the air and spinning, there was nothing the wild Vulpix could do to prevent the incoming silk. The Gust even managed to tie the silk around her body tighter and tighter as it worked the threads in spirals that clung neatly to her vulpine form.
“And finish with Tackle!”
Metapod came flying out of the night above the falling Vulpix, connected with her body and drove her straight downwards and into the ground. The resounding crash made Darryn wince only a moment before he grabbed at the first spare Pokeball on his belt.

“Excellent work, everyone! Heal Ball, go!” He tossed the ball straight and true at the whimpering fox and watched with triumph as she disappeared inside. The ball wobbled several times, its central button glowing white then fading to gray before glowing white again with every shake. It seemed to take hours before the final rock came and the signalling *DING!* announced the Vulpix’s capture.

Collecting up the new ball, Darryn ran to where Eevee was lying and picked him up. The puppy was exhausted – he had been battling as hard as possible to maintain an even footing with the Vulpix but she’d been holding back, if only a little. He was so proud of his Eevee and the others for managing to work together to bring her down but if it took that much, who knew what that Vulpix would be like one-on-one?

Tired himself, Darryn hurried to where Jaima was, his Pokemon involved in battles of their own.
"Got her!" He grinned, his smile turning to a frown. "How's Mindy?"

Posted by: Jaima Jan 12 2009, 08:26 AM

With the vulpix occupied, the ghosts whipped into a frenzy of activity. Ghost for ghost were fighting each other, misdreavus and mismagius against haunter, gastly, and shuppet. The drowzee, however, was wreaking havoc. It's psychic attacks were having more of an effect than the ghost type attacks were against it.

"Time to even the odds. Grondir, stun spore! Fang, keep trying to bite it!" Jaima swept the battlefield. Mercury was't crying out anymore, and he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. He sent good thoughts at her, and got a warm feeling in response.

"Ember, take out that Haunter! The other ghosts are holding their own, help them!" Poor Shadow had nothing to fight, so he went into the tent, but stopped short at the entrance. Jaima started to move toward them when a rock glanced off his head, sending him to his hands and knees. It wasn't a sharp stone, but it hurt. Jaima dropped Feebas.

The fish pokémon landed, then flipped herself toward the drowzee, flailing and slapping it with it's tail as she reached the psychic pokémon. The drowzee was so surprised that it stopped, allowing Fang to get in a good Bite on it. It howled in pain, shouted, "Zee!" at Fang, and teleported away. Taillow swooped down and flapped his wings at the Haunter near the tent, allowing Ember to get her own ember attack to hit it.

"Haun!" The haunter looked around confusedly. It had been concentrating so hard on keeping Mindy under the attack that it hadn't been paying attention. That was when Mercury broke free, and with a burst of light the Haunter was sent reeling.

"Haun! Ter haun haun!" It cried, floating erratically up into the sky. Shuppet and gastly followed it in a spiral pattern, and the rest of the ghost pokémon, severely outnumbered, simply vanished.

Jaima crawled into the tent, panting, his head aching, to see Mindy just beginning to sit up, bleary eyed as if she'd just been woken from a nightmare. She was pale and sweaty, but seemed all right. Darryn poked his head in, looking exhausted yet jubilant.

"What's going on, guys?"

Jaima chuckled, feeling the relief in his chest spur the laugh on to a full fledged belly laugh. The laugh died on his lips when he say Mercury, who was wobbling. Her head helmet had spots on it now, as if the green covering were fading and peeling. Beneath it was a shiny, blue helmet. "Mercury, what happened to you?"

Mercury's eyes widened, and she reached up and brushed away more of the green. With a stricken look, she made as if to dash past him, but Shadow, who had come to Jaima's side with the rest of his pokémon, stopped her. A kind of silent communication happened between them, and Mercury reached up and brushed off the rest of the green, revealing a shining blue dome.

"I... I don't understand... are you hurt?" Jaima was confused and scared for his youngest, but an image, wavey and hardly understandable, flickered through his mind of her hatching from an egg with a blue dome, then covering it (at least, the dome faded to green as if painted on).

Then she fainted.

Jaima lifted her, gently holding her, and looked at his companions. That was when Jaima noticed the other pokémon who had been at Mindy's side along with Mercury.

Posted by: The Rose Crusader Jan 12 2009, 02:31 PM

""What the heck is going on!?" Melinda thought to herself. She had never heard of a Ralts that could shed before! When something rustled into her stomach Mindy saw a bluish-gray figure snuggling into Melinda. The small pokemon looked up at Mindy and smiled. Smiled. It was one of the most genuine things Melinda had seen in quite a while. The tiny ghost pokemon snuggled into Mindy even more, trying to give her a hug. Melinda picked up her arms and welcomed her little friend. "Hey there..." she whispered.

"Misdreeeevus!"the tiny pokemon cooed, burrowing deeper into Melinda.

"Hey, stop that!" Melinda laughed as she and Misdreavus comforted each other.

"How did you get here?" Melinda spoke, looking the ghost pokemon in the eyes. She couldn't keep a straight face however, and started laughing and hugging the pokemon immensely. A bond between the two was sparked at that moment; one that could not easily be severed. Melinda felt much better than she had only a few minutes ago. In the corner of her eyes Mindy noticed two purple figures begin to float away. "Wait!" she cried out. The two pokemon turned towards the girl as she got up, Misdreavus in her arms. "Misdreavus are these your parents?" The screech pokemon nodded with a smile. Suddenly the two Mismagius' eyes glowed a soothing violet ray.

Suddenly the darkness of the night transformed into a floral paradise-- Floaroma Town! Mindy couldn't believe it! The flowers were swaying in the wind, just like she remembered it. But wait. There was no breeze flowing through her hair, or the gleaming sun shining on the back of her neck. Of course it was not real, it couldn't be. But it made her much more relaxed nevertheless. The Mismagius themselves had transformed into a young human couple, a pretty young woman and a handsome man. Between the two adults was a little girl, holding each of their hands and smiling. Suddenly the man's mouth opened, "You are very special, Ms. Melinda Rose," he began. "Your clairvoyant abilities are very strong, as we are sure you are aware." Mindy hesitantly nodded. "Your power is great, and is very enticing to all psychic-energy pokemon. The council has decided that you must not be tainted by evil and must be protected," the male finished. A puzzled look came over Melinda's face. The woman nodded and began to speak. "We have come to a conclusion," the little girl took steps toward Mindy, "that our daughter Misdreavus will watch over you during your life." The small girl reached Melinda and held out her hand while smiling at the girl.

Usually at this point, Melinda would be confused and second guess herself. Not now. Now she knew exactly what she had to do. Without hesitation, Mindy grasped the girl's hand. In a flash of violet light the flower paradise vanished. She was back into reality, only this time Misdreavus was staring deeply into Melinda's eyes; into her soul. "Take care of her" a mysterious female voice called out to Melinda. Melinda returned the smile to her new pokemon and hugged it once more.

"Thank you," Mindy whispered. After the hug had ended Misdreavus phased into Melinda's bag and pulled out a pokeball. "Alright, here you go Misdreavus." Melinda announced. The ghost nodded as she reached up and touched her the pokeball. Unlike most normal captures, the ball did not roll one time, it just clicked. It was all so peaceful; nothing could change Melinda's clam mood right now. Well, except for one thing.

"No really, what happened?"

Posted by: Living Arrow Jan 12 2009, 02:55 PM

Darryn blinked. Mindy caught a Misdreavus… fancy that!

“Well, I think you were kinda under attack…” Darryn said slowly, looking to Jaima for support. “I woke up and Mercury was in here, crying over you, so I took a look outside and there were a bunch of Pokemon around the tent. They seemed to be focusing on you for some reason and you wouldn’t wake up… that’s when Jaima and I tried to fight off the Ghost Pokemon but a whole bunch of other Ghosts showed up and helped us out… It was all sort of confusing…”

Darryn shrugged. “But we’re all OK, which is the main thing to focus on, right?” he looked down at Eevee in his arms who was looking very tired, indeed. His heaving sides rose up and down in exaggerated motions as he tried to get his breath back.

“But anyway… yeah, we fought a whole bunch – even Taillow and Feebas – and I caught this little beauty,” he shook the Heal Ball at Melinda, “and then you sorta woke up when the Ghosts all ran away… other than that, I have no clue!”

“Reee?” Eevee licked at Darryn’s hand. He knew exactly what the puppy wanted but sighed and shook his head.

“No, Eevee. No dinner tonight, remember?” He said softly, stroking the evolution pokemon’s head. Eevee nipped at Darryn’s hand and gave a weak bark.

“Shinx!” Fang announced, facing away from the tent and hopping a bit. Ember joined him and also began dancing on the spot.

It was after a few more seconds that the smell of stewing meat and vegetables began to draft into the tent and only a couple more before Darryn stood up and peered into the night.

”Hey! Someone’s cooking out there!” He sniffed again. “And it smells *good*! What say we all go take a look to see if whoever it is can spare us something for the Pokemon?”

The others hurriedly grabbed their things together and sent off into the night towards the delicious smell.

Posted by: Darck Jan 12 2009, 09:45 PM

In a small make shift camp set up far enough from the group of weary travelers to not notice to fight, but close enough a short walk they would arrive upon him.

Darck was sitting around a small but warm fire, the flame flickered in the nights air, a wrought iron camp stove on iron legs stood over the fire, a large steel pot on top of that. As Darck stirred the stew he was cooking it suddenly dawned on him that he had clearly made far far too much for him and his Pokemon to eat in one even two nights. And sadly left overs were not his thing. Wafting the simmering stew he let out a soft sigh. It smelled delectable.

"Mmm can't wait to taste it can't you Totodile?" Darck looked over at his Crocodile Pokemon it was laying down next to the fire, odd for a water Pokemon to lay so close to the warm fire, it tends to dehydrate the sensitive skin. In the distance the sounds of twigs breaking and leaves crunching could be heard.

"Wonder what that could be...Croagunk..check it out will you?" The lazy frog looked at Darck with a look of confusion

"Guuuuuuunk" it was whining..whining to its trainer.

"Fine..never wanted you to go anyways...Charmander? Will you please check it out for me...pretty please?" The small lizard's tail grew brighter and it leaped into the air and darted off into the woods its tail fire could be seen fading away into the distance.

Posted by: Jaima Jan 13 2009, 01:08 PM

I don't know, guys. I mean, we should sleep or something. We definitely shouldn't intrude on someone else's dinner. Who makes dinner for a bunch of straglers, anyway? I don't want to impose. We shouldn't impose.

...

Who'm I kidding, anyway, I'm starving!

Jaima followed along with his companions, his pokémon spread in what he could only define as a defensive pattern around the entire group. He held Mercury, who had not awoken from the exhaustion, but Grondir and Ember flanked the group, Fang had his traditional spot on Jaima's shoulders and head, but felt tense, and Shadow was in the middle, looking from side to side. Even as they stayed wary, Jaima could tell they were tired and hungry as well, but he couldn't convince them to get into their pokéballs and resting, and he couldn't bring himself to let go of the poor faited ralts.

As they approached the small camp, which had been a bit farther than they had expected, the smells from the camp became more inticing. Jaima's stomach rumbled, and though he thought he heard it echo through the small hills nearby, he suspected the answering growls were from Mindy and Darryn. The struggle had taken quite a bit from all of them, and going without wasn't an option.

If the person they approached didn't have at least enough for their pokémon, Jaima was going back to Gigarte and getting food for everyone.

The campfire in the distance glowed, and Jaima heard a twig snap. It was loud enough to have come from him himself, but he stopped anyway, nerves at edge. Just as he decided he was jumping at shadows, the shadows moved. He gasped, and Fang's claws extended, causing him to hiss as they scraped his scalp.

From the direction they were going emerged a charmander, and Shadow tensed to leap. "Easy now," Jaima said, just loud enough to be heard. "Stay cool unless we know it's an enemy."

Grondir and Ember were just as ready to jump, but stayed still. Jaima nudged Darryn and Mindy to call their attention to the charmander, but the bright light of it's tailfire had already done that.

"Hey, little guy," Jaima said, squatting down to make himself look less imposing. "That your camp ahead?"

Posted by: Living Arrow Jan 13 2009, 02:20 PM

When the Charmander emerged, Darryn couldn't believe his luck. He absolutely adored its evolved form, Charmeleon, after using it so often on PokéDuel and now was the perfect time... to... catch... it?

*Think about it, Daz. Why on Earth would a Charmander be walking around out here, in the middle of the woods, away from the mountains where they normally breed? Got it yet? Ding! It's a trainer's!.... Dumbass...*

"Damn it!" Darryn muttered to himself as the Charmander nodded the afirmative to Jaima's question and led the gang back towards his camp. Pidgey made sure to land on topof Darryn's head for the rest of the walk - his stubby wings tired from battling. Metapod, however, continued to bounce along next to her trainer's ankles and Eevee rested (albeit unpatiently) in Darryn's arms. His latest capture remained at his belt.

*What am I going to do with her if she is still how she was when I caught her?* Darryn's mind wandered away from the thought of food for mere milliseconds before i snapped back into place with the increasing power of delicious aromas that were wafting towards them. Eevee's nose flisked and he kicked free of Darryn in an instant, hurtling towards the campsite.

"Nooo! Eevee!" Darryn wailed, running after the puppy. Eevee ran right up to the darkly handsome teen that was sitting near the fire and bounded up to his leg, pawing at him manically and wagging his tail like crazy. "Eevee! Stop that!" Darryn yelled. Pidgey fell off his head and plopped onto the floor while expelling several feathers in the process and Darryn caught up to his Pokemon and scooped the excitable canine up into his arms once more. "I am so sorry!" Darryn apologised profusely to the strikingly HAWT young man.

*No, Darryn! YOU'RE A BAD DARRYN!*

Posted by: Darck Jan 13 2009, 02:46 PM

Saying guy made Charmander upset, she was very proud of her gender and as such felt the need to defend herself. The flame on her tail flickered and then roared with power it lit up the night sky, she was careful not to ignite any of the trees. This also signaled Darck of intruders raised a eyebrow to the woods. Charmander looked at the other trainer who was eying her suspiciously "Char...." she said quietly and looked back towards the camp

"CHARMANDER" His voice could be heard ringing through the forest, the deep call of its trainer was enough to make the little lizard tuck her tail and turn around it head tilted and looked at Jaima giving the trainer a sort of follow me nod as it lead the weary travelers through the woods closer, closer, to the makeshift camp, the smell of the stew was intoxicating.

"Ah..there you are Charmander, and you brought guests?" Darck didn't take his head from the pot, he took one final smell and deemed it ready to eat. Charmander took her spot next to Darck worming her way between her and Totodile a very cute Eevee curled up next to Darck's leg and the young trainer apologized profusely to him about his Eevee

"It's quite all right, really...I've often wanted my own Eevee." Darck reached down and started scratching the small pokemon behind the ears

"you all look like you've seen better days" Darck smirked and grabbed a bowl, ironically there was three more bowls, and about a dozen poke-dishes lying out "Care for a warm bowl of stew? and a fresh cup of coffee?"

Posted by: Jaima Jan 13 2009, 03:32 PM

Jaima blinked, then bowed low, bending at the waist. "You are most kind," he said, almost struggling to keep himself from grabbing the bowl and wolfing the contents down. "We've found ourselves in need. The offer is greatly appreciated."

Ah, if his mother could see him now. She'd be so proud. And then she'd check his temperature. Just in case.

His sisters would just start giggling and mocking him. And he thought he helped raise them better.

... Yep, I must be hungry, I'm scolding my sisters who aren't even here.

He took the bowl, and made sure all of the pokémon had enough to eat before starting himself. Shadow sat resolutely waiting until he was served, and bowed to the young trainer who'd made the meal. The rest simply ate, smiling happily at each other and the nearby humans.

Mercury woke with a start, sniffing, and Jaima fed her some vegetables from his spoon. The stew was savory and delicious, and before he knew it, he and Mercury had finished the bowl.

"You're a life saver." Then, as if he were hit in the back of the head (and he could have sworn he felt his mother's ring), he sat up straight. "Forgive me for my rudeness! I am Jaima Kuonji. These are my companions, Melinda Rose and Darryn Kellor, and my pokémon, Ember, Fang, Grondir, Shadow, and Mercury." As he listed the pokémon, he pointed to the cyndaquil, shinx, bulbasaur, riolu, and ralts.

Posted by: Living Arrow Jan 13 2009, 04:47 PM

*You can HAVE my Eevee if I can have your number!!!*

The kind trainer allowed them to share his meal and Darryn couldn't be happier.

*Hot bod, cute Pokemon, great cook... yay! *

"Awes!" Darryn said around a mouthful of stew. "Dis tayshts great!"

Eevee practically wolfed down his share while eyeballing Pidgey's bowl. The fat bird merrily gobbled down what was in front of him before Darryn pulled it out from under his beak. The bird looked up at his trainer in startlement, a feather falling out of his wing.

"No, Pidgey. Remember - we're watching your weight so we can get your flying up to speed, m'kay?"

Pidgey sighed and sat down, a fat blob in the dark sulking under his very own personal raincloud. Eevee, however, took that chance to polish off his bowl and bound to Darryn where the trainer fondly tickled the evolution pokemon's ears and let him finish what Pidgey had started.

"Oh, Mindy," Darryn reached over to Feebas who was sat inbetween them, "these should help Feebas a little more." He plopped the remaining Bluk berries into Feebas' food and watched the fish awkwardly eat while propper up against Mindy's leg.

As Jaima gave his introductions, Darryn piped in afterwards. "And these are my Pokemon. You've met Eevee already but Pidgey and Metapod are mine, too. I also just caught a new member for the lineup but I'll save her introduction for when I've had a chance to welcome her to my team myself."

Darryn looked over the other trainer's Pokemon. "Your Pokemon have really amazing skin and scales - you must look after them really well." The young Charmander raised a claw and gave Darryn the thumbs-up. He grinned back at her and gave her a wink.

Posted by: Darck Jan 13 2009, 05:03 PM

"You're a life saver." Jaima said as he introduced his companions and his Pokemon team Darck for the first time that night Darck stood up, his height dwarfed most people his long coat form fitting as he extended his hand to Jaima, then Darryn, followed by Mindy. Who's hand he delicately kissed as a sign of being a gentleman.

"My name is Darck Firebird, and these are my three companions. Charmander, my fiery female, Totodile my vengeful crocodile, and Croagunk...the lazy toad." Charmander smiled brightly and her tail burned brighter, Totodile shot a look at the other Pokemon and ate his bowl of food in one gulp, and Croagunk looked at the other peoples food before looking at the rest of the Pokemon.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all.. I haven't seen another human since I left Gigarte, I've been tracking an Absol..its been very allusive to me..its been 3 days" He sighed and sat back down on his tree stump.

"So..if you don't mind me asking, what are you all doing out in the woods?"

Posted by: The Rose Crusader Jan 13 2009, 07:05 PM

The trudge through the darkness of the forest was fraught with bitter chills. Unlike her companions, Melinda's pokemon laid safely in their pokeballs. She believed that they were safer there than outside; Feebas had trouble outside of the water and Taillow had taken quite a beating during the fight. Misdreavus, however, laid in Melinda's arms. They were inseparable already; like they had never been apart. While Melinda hadn't actually smelled the food that the others apparently had, she had attained a small cold overnight and her nose was stuffy, she immediately realized the very familiar scene. Smoke rising over trees just like the ones ahead! She remembered the picture with perfect precision, not a bit of blurriness in it. "Well, at least we're going the right way..." she thought to herself.

The encounter with the Charmander didn't startle Melinda at all; she could see how young the lizard pokemon was. More importantly, how seemingly harmless. Mindy followed behind her two friends closely who were following the fire type themselves. The gang stumbled upon a cozy-looking makeshift campsite. Mindy immediately noticed the handsome young man who was cookin--..."A man clad in black with a strikingly memorable black ponytail" Melinda heard. She looked around to find a source of the voice, and was relieved when Misdreavus smiled up at her. The picture was clearly imprinted into her mind, the same one as in her dream! Not only has the Misdreavus created an unseverable bond, but she even increased the remembrance of Melinda's strange and unfamiliar images. Melinda sat down on a log with her two traveling companions and sent out her other two pokemon. Feebas propped herself up right on the log next to Mindy while Taillow enjoyed the company of the slightly-obese Pidgey.

"Hey, I'm Melinda," the girl followed in suit of her friends. "This is Taillow, Feebas and Misdreavus." Her pokemon smiled at Darck and his pokemon. "It's a pleasure to meet you." Without warning Darck stood up and softly kissed Melinda's hand. "Ooh, chivalrous. These guys in ponytails know how to treat ladies!" Melinda thought. Misdreavus wasn't very hungry, she preffered the company of Ralts very much though. Taillow dug into the stew while Feebas began eating his three leftover poffins from before. They didn't taste as good as they previously did, but with some ingenious insight of Darryn, a but of Bluk berry juice made it delicious; Feebas was in ecstasy.

At the question of what they were doing, Melinda sparked up. The newly swallowed food in her stomach eased the grumbling that had been there previously, much to Mindy's delight. "We are just traveling from Gigarte, where Jaima and I won our first gym badges to Lenoilia en route to Arasam, where we hope to be victorious again," Mindy announced quite pleasantly. She was proud of herself, Jaima, and their pokemon.

Posted by: Living Arrow Jan 14 2009, 12:35 PM

When Darck kissed Mindy's hand, Darryn couldn't help but discretely nudging her with his elbow. "Mine!" He whispered through clenched teeth over a fake smile so that only she could hear and winked.

"Yeah," Darryn confirmed Melinda's description of their journey, "and I'm coming to try and get my first badge at the Arasam Gym. I decided against trying out in Gigarte since my Pokemon were relatively new to battling but they're learning fast. Right, guys?"

Darryn Pokemon barked, squawked and (whatever Metapod do) their agreement.

"In fact, my Metapod evolved recently after getting some decent battle experiece in Gigarte. She's in top condition now and I can't wait for her to evolve again. In fact, it would be nice if Pidgey and Eevee evolved soon..." Darryn gave a start when he realised that he was babbling about evolution again and addressed Darck once more. "But now, we're going to Lenoilia before taking the northwest road to Arasam. I don't suppose you've been to Lenoilia before? It would be great to know what to expect when we get there!"

Posted by: Darck Jan 14 2009, 09:06 PM

Darck's hearing was superb and he held in a small laugh at Darryn's 'mine' comment. He looked over at his Charmander and smirked slightly. I would give anything to not have to worry about evolution.. its always so stressful and troublesome

"Oh..so. You don't have..... a badge. Yet" He looked over at Darryn and was measuring his worth as a battler and over all trainer. Then glanced back to Jaima..he seemed to be the main battler of the group, even so much as to give nicknames to his partners, it always seemed like such a waste of time to nickname a Pokemon to Darck.

"So..." He glanced over at Mindy. "You have a badge. What did you use to win it?" He grabbed another ladle full of stew and poured it into his bowl.

"Evolution...such a troublesome thing. I'd keep Eevee at its present stage till it wanted to evolve.. Charmander on the other hand. She wants to evolve and there is nothing I can do to help her, aside from a grueling training session that would do more damage than good. Care to trade?" He was half serious but highly doubted going through with it.

"As for you comment about Lenoilia, no I've never been. Sorry.. I'm not really even headed there. I'm just pursuing Absol and coincidentally its in the same area." A big spoonful went into his mouth, and as Darck chewed it he closed his eyes a deep sigh escaped his mouth, his trusted Totodile looked up at him and growled.

Posted by: Jaima Jan 15 2009, 11:10 AM

Jaima wasn't sure if the question was directed at him or at Mindy, or possibly at both, but he was rather proud of his and Mindy's accomplishment. He was also slightly rankled at the seeming dismissal of Darryn simply because he didn't have a badge. Not having a gym in his home town, he didn't know what it was like for people who started their journeys from places with gyms, but sometimes it was better to get to know your pokémon a bit before you tried to get a badge.

He let it go, though. After Darryn's battle before the gym on their behalf, and the battle last night with the ghosts, in which he caught the really tough vulpix, Jaima was convinced of Darryn's ability.

"I used Shadow and Mercury," he said, pointing out the riolu, who watched Darck's pokémon casually, and lifted his other arm, in which the ralts waved sleepily before going back to her telepathic chat with Mindy's misdreavus, "against a cacturne and a graveller. Mindy used her combee and I traded Grondir to her. She's an excellent trainer; Grondir managed to get to a level I'd never thought he could under her care."

Mindy was also excited about her accomplishments, and he knew that she would rather tell about her battle rather than have it done for her. However, before she started, Jaima smiled and bowed low from his sitting position, a move that Shadow mirrored. "You've done so much for us already. May I ask one more favor? We were attacked by a horde of ghost pokémon, and would like to avoid that. May we set up our camp near yours?"

Posted by: Living Arrow Jan 15 2009, 02:30 PM

Darryn considered Darck's tone from across the fire. He wasn't being rude or anything like that but it irked him that it was even a possibility that he was being scaled down while sitting with Jaima and Mindy. Sure, they had badges and were great trainers but Darryn knew he had other skills that they didn't... just because he didn't have a badge...

"No, I don't have a badge yet." Darryn said, looking down at his Pokemon with an edge of regret, "and I'd be surprised if anyone would have been able to with the time I had with Pidgey and Caterpie before I met these guys. But everyone's got to start somewhere and I started a few steps behind..." Darryn's dark eyes rolled up from his Pokemon to watch Darck again. "Do you have any badges yet? Are you even taking the league challenge?" He asked.

Darryn's eyes quickly flashed over Darck's Pokemon before the trainer could give an answer. He'd judged the three quickly when they had enetered the clearing but he had had more time to look them over properly in the firelight.

*That Charmander's claws are far too short... her tail is slender, too - very young indeed.... The Croagunk is like my Pidgey... And that Totodile... that Totodile is stronger than the rest... his eyes are clear and focused and that tail is firm...*

"As Eevee's trainer, I'll decide when and what he evolves into but only when he's mature enough and has reached the peak of his training in his current state." Eevee barked delightedly and nuzzled Darryn's leg. "And thanks, but no thanks on the trade. I don't think there is another Eevee in Furoh with fur like this and I already have a fire type with me, anyway." He patted the unnamed Pokemon that rested in the Heal Ball. "She's quite the battler and I literally caught her only a few minutes ago. I can't wait for her to show me what she can really do."

Darryn silently agreed with Jaima that moving their camp to Darck's was a good idea. It would make fighting off any more of those ghosts easier if there were more Pokemon around and no matter how experienced or inexperienced Darck was, Darryn was quite happy to have someone to look at in the interim period between battles.

Posted by: Darck Jan 15 2009, 03:12 PM

Darck looked over at Darryn and then Jaima with a confident look in his glazed over eyes, with a serpent tongue he spat back a simple reply.

"The Pokemon league is such a troublesome and pointless event. The best of the best from their home towns all come out and say the same BS 'I'm going to be the best'...they all fail before they even get to the Elite's. But I've been to a handful of the gyms.. I can honestly tell you this though, I've never lost a gym battle." He grinned and Totodile looked up at him with a tilted head. His fangs could be seen shining in the camp fire light. The same glazed over eyes that Darck had, his Totodile had, if anything it could be said that these two shared the same personality.

"As for spending the night at my camp...sure. Go for it, I've got some extra bedding around too, check that bag, if you need something. Oh.. I snore.." Darck kinda laughed it off and looked at the fire then pointed to a large old military bag.

"I also wake up kinda early to cook breakfast...anyone have any food allergy's I should know about?" Darck looked down at his Charmander who was curling up into her own little ball, her tail tucked in the center kept her own body warm. Croagunk found a log that looked like a rocking chair. 'I swear..you're the most useless Pokemon I've ever seen Croagunk.. why I even bothered to catch you let alone bring you along I'll never know.' as if it could read Darck's mind Croagunk looked down sad, and Totodile smirked.

'Once I get that Absol.. Things will change..Totodile won't be the only battler in my group.'

"Stay up as long as you'd like.. but it's been a long night for me. So for now, Goodnight" Darck stood up, bowed in front of Mindy, nodded to Jaima and Darryn. He retreated into his tent and Totodile followed, the crocodile Pokemon laid at the foot of Darck's sleeping bag and guarded the door.

"Get some rest Totodile.. tomorrow the hunt begins" Darck grinned and Totodile growled.

Posted by: Living Arrow Jan 15 2009, 03:50 PM

"I'm going to get the tent." Darryn announced and strutted out of the campsite quickly, Metapod and Pidgey making haste to keep up with him. His footsteps crashed off into the woods for a while until there came a loud shout:
"EEVEE!"
The puppy barked once, ran in a circle, and dashed into the woods after his trainer.

"Never lost a gym battle my ass." Darryn muttered to himself. Pidgey flapped up and landed on his head once more. "And I will be the best but not in the way he thinks. I'm not some souped up jock of a trainer who just throws Pokeballs and yells. I've got everything I need to succeed and my Pokemon are the tools. To be an amazing trainer you need far more than strength and the passion to win - you need brains and I'll show him a thing or two in the morning. Goodbye trainer-in-the-making, hello Darryn Kellor: Pokemon Fashion and Health Care expert!"

Darryn's heated and angry walk back to the original camp was cooled by the chilly breeze but by the time he got there he was still piping hot.

"OK, so he thinks he's the gym big-shot does he?" Darryn snorted. "We'll see. Everyone, return." The balls falshed open in Darryn's hands and sucked his Pokemon back inside before they could say goodnight. Darryn unclipped and maximised the Heal Ball. He touched it to his forehead and let the easing wind settle him a little.

With you on my team, nothing's going to stop me.

Unannounced, Darryn pressed the release button on the Heal Ball and watched his magnificent new capture materialise in front of him. The Vulpix looked up with him, contempt in her large dark eyes. Her head tilted slightly as Darryn watched her in quiet, figuring out her every line, every curve, every detail.

Fur. Twenty-two to twenty-four millimeters. Good for a wild Pokemon but needs shampooing and some conditioner. Lustrous red fur, darker than the ones in the books... Bright eyes. Ember... I'll need her to learn Flamethrower... Extrasensory... she's smart, skilled... Agility... and as fast as Eevee if not faster...

The Vulpix raised her nose and looked away from Darryn, boredom marking her every hair.

"Your name is 'Lady'." Darryn said simply, looking her over again. "I'm Darryn."

Lady blinked and looked at Darryn again, those burning brown eyes cleaving into his own. She stood slowly and took a few steps towards him, those eye tilting and questioning Darryn's mood.

"We're going to work together from now on, OK?" Darryn said, minimising the Heal Ball. "I'll make you stronger and more beautiful than any other Pokemon there is and you'll help me to achieve my goals. Understood?"

The Vulpix took another few steps towards him and sat. Those extraordinary eyes watched Darryn in silence for a moment longer.

<Lady. Beautiful.> A powerful voice erupted in Darryn's head. Somehow he'd been expecting her voice - expecting the caress of her mind sroking his. He didn't flinch, merely blinked. <Strong.>

Darryn crouched and held out his fist for Vulpix to sniff. Her nose touched his knuckles briefly as she took in his scent before pushing into his hand, allowing him to stroke her soft head.
"Good girl." Darryn said, relieved that the taming had gone so easily. "Now, back in the ball." Lady glared daggers at him.

<Cage.>

"Alright then," Darryn said while putting the ball away, "no cage for now."

Lady nodded once and sat where she was while watching patiently as Darryn began packing everything away. After all, a Lady doesn't have to lift a finger when her Prince can give her everything she needs.

Posted by: The Rose Crusader Jan 15 2009, 06:06 PM

Melinda had found the handsome stranger very interesting. He certainly wasn't easily readable, there seemed to be more to him than met the eye. Their conversation had been mildly interesting, as Mindy already knew what each of her friends were going to say; she had been there for mostly everything. Darck seemed like an interesting fellow, someone Melinda might want to know a bit better. The campfire began to subside as no firewood was left and Darck announced it was time for bed. She chuckled at his snoring joke and acknowledged his politeness towards her. Yes this young man certainly was different from your normal, cocky trainer one usually meets on the road. It was really late into the night--1:13. Melinda said goodnight to Jaima and returned all of her pokemon to their pokeballs. Well, except for Misdreavus. They still had some talking to. "I'll be back in a few Jaima, I gotta go see what Darryn is up to,” she told Jaima with a smile. Melinda could tell Darryn wasn't going to go get the tent; she had it in her backpack. It was woman's intuition, one might say, or the fact that Darryn's hands were clenched as he got up from the gang's pow-wow.

It didn't take long for Mindy to find Darryn with Misdreavus on her shoulder. She noticed Darryn in a miniature clearing of trees in the middle of the forest kneeling down to his Vulpix. He started packing things when Melinda walked in on him.

"Are you okay Darryn?"

Posted by: Jaima Jan 16 2009, 11:20 AM

One didn't have to be an empath to know there was tension in the air. It probably didn't help if one was, to be truthful. Everyone was on edge because of the attack and the subsequent hunger, and while the food helped, their host had bent a few nerves. It was most likely a guy thing, Jaima thought, since Darryn was the one stalking off, and Jaima had also found himself "raising his hackles", as his mother called it.

Stress does funny things to people.

Jaima looked at his pokémon as he leaned against the log. He was proud of them all for their night's efforts, but the battle and the food had put most of them to sleep. Only Mercury stayed awake, and that was likely because she'd slept from after the battle to when they arrived at Darck's camp.

A flash of an image crossed his mind, of Mindy smiling, and Jaima flashed Mercury a look. Mercury smiled at him innocently, the false type of innocence he had long ago identified being unique to troublesome little girls. A new image flashed, of Mindy surrounded by two ponytailed boys who had hearts in their eyes.

"All right, little miss, what are you implying?" He smirked at the ralts, and she giggled. "I don't have those feelings for Mindy."

No Lie!, thought the Ralts, looking stern.

"I don't!" Mercury's look turned skeptical. "OK, fine, I sorta do. But does she return them? No," he answered himself firmly. "She has no problem looking at other guys and thinking about them, but me? I'm not just in the friend zone, I'm Mayor of the zone. I mean, what do these other guys have that I don't? Darryn's not even into girls, not that there's anything wrong with that, but, I mean, I am! I just don't get it..."

Mercury's eyes were wide. tired?

"Yeah, I guess I am. But I need to talk to you. Man," he muttered, "I'm glad Mindy wasn't around to hear THAT little tirade..." He cast a sidelong look at Mercury, who was looking at him with concern. "And don't tell her, either, or her Misdreavus. Seriously, I'd rather just be friends."

No lie, thought the ralts, but it was gentler and less teasing. Jaima stroked her head.

"So, why didn't you tell me?"

The ralts looked down, and though she did not look Jaima in the eye, her images, which were now sharp and clear and realistic rather than her usual cartoon or drawing pictures, erupted into his mind. In it a little ralts was hatched, her soft top helmet blue. All of her siblings, including a kirilia, had green tops, and a few of them laughed at her. The kirilia, however, befriended her and played with her and taught her to float and dance. Then a human woman came, shouting the word shiny and some other things that weren't clear. The woman's thoughts, the aura that appeared around her, was dark red and black, frightening the tiny ralts. A black ball with a yellow design on it was thrown, and, at the last second, the kirilia launched the ralts away, and she watched her mother charge into the fray as well.

The memory went black, and when she returned to consciousness, the kirilia was gone, and her mother lay unmoving. Her eye was closed peacefully, but there was something wrong about the way she was laying...

The images faded, and Jaima found himself swallowing thickly. "I'm sorry that happened to you, Mercury, but it wasn't your fault. That was a bad human who did that." He held her as she snuggled into him. In his mind he remembered a lullaby, and thought about it.

nice, she thought to him. safe. warm.

"Yeah, sweety. I'll keep you safe. I'll keep all of you safe." Holding Mercury, he leaned his head back, jsut for a little rest. Before he realized it, he was asleep.

Posted by: Living Arrow Jan 16 2009, 06:38 PM

Lady noticed Mindy approaching long before Darryn did - her pointed ears swiveled in her direction several times before Darryn heard the crunching of twigs that heralded her arrival.

"Are you OK, Darryn?" She asked quietly.

"Uh, I guess." Darryn sighed. "It's just that Darck guy. Why does he feel that people who have a dream, like so many other trainers like us, are bound to fail? Wanting to be the best at something and actually achieving them are two different thing, true, but it's not stupid to want to succeed. If I felt that way, I probably wouldn't even be here right now. I mean, look at the state Pidgey and Caterpie were in when I started out. To be the best everyone needs the passion and drive to announce it to the world and not have to worry that people like him are looking down on them." He sighed again. "Does that even makes sense?"

Lady paced to stand in between Darryn and Mindy, her eyes completely focused on the girl. There was no kindness in her brown eyes, nor was there malice. Simply the blank stare of consideration.

"Oh yeah, and this is my new Pokemon - I caught her while you were asleep and she's taking some time out of her ball to get to know us all. Her name is 'Lady' and together we've decided to give Darck a battle in the morning."

Darryn's Vulpix raised her nose and looked down it regally towards Melinda with a sniff of contempt. Darryn frowned at her.
"Come on, Lady. Be nice." Darryn said firmly, walking over to stroke her head. "Mindy's a friend of mine so treat her nicely, OK?"
Lady glanced at him once and blinked slowly, almost seeming to pout in the dark.

"But really I'm OK, just needed to calm down is all." Darryn reassured Mindy. "How about we move all these things back to the other campsite and get some sleep? I'm pretty tired and I think we could all use some shut-eye to clear our heads."

Posted by: The Rose Crusader Jan 16 2009, 09:39 PM

"Me to," Melinda replied. Sometimes people don't need advice; they just need someone to lend them an ear. That's what Darryn wanted right now; it was obvious. But, even though she was acting as a listener, Melinda couldn't help but add a lil' of her own opinion to the conversation. And as they were picking everything up that Darryn had plopped down, Melinda interjected, "Don't judge Darck so quickly," Mindy spoke looking Darryn in his beautiful brown eyes. "I think there's more to this one that meets the eye." she winked at him. As everything was collected, Melinda picked up Darryn's hand and pulled him along. "Cheer up Mr. Sunshine!" she joked as they ran along through the forest back to the camp.

It didn't take long to reach the campsite again and build up their tent. All other life on the campsite had subsided for the night and Melinda and Darryn tried to put the tent together as quickly and quietly as possible. As soon as it was finished they both jumped right in; it had become quite the chilly night. Darryn zipper up the door as Melinda laid her head against the back of the tent; assuming the same positions they had before. Except this time there was an extra pokeball and both trainer's belts and a loving ghost pokemon was wrapped in Melinda's arms. As their lights went out Melinda softly whispered, "Goodnight Darryn" and he responded. As they were both about to finally fall asleep, extremely loud snoring could be heard coming from nearby. Melinda and Darryn both sat up, looked at each other and announced:

"Darck!"

They certainly laughed about that one for quite awhile. But eventually they adapted to the annoying sound and drifted off into the land of dreams.

Posted by: Jaima Jan 17 2009, 12:31 AM

The morning arose, beautiful, majestic, even. The sun shone down through the trees, finding patchy rest on two small tents, one human sleeping against a log, and several pokemon, near the human. The human, a boy with blonde hair pulled back in a braided tail, opened his eyes, blinked in the light, and expressed exactly what the morning meant to him.

"Ow."

He tried to move, to sit up more fully, but felt the need to express more fully his experience of the morning.

"Ow!"

By now, the little ralts, who slept closest to him, floated to his eye level which, with his head stuck back and to the side, put her at an odd level. hurt?

"Yeah, Mercury, I'm hurt. I fell asleep and my head was at a weird angle. Now I can't move it at all."

Mercury put one forelimb to her mouth, and the other on the elbow of the first, and thought. She gave a happy squeak, dove into Jaima's bag, and held up, from within it's depths, a paralyz heal.

Jaima laughed. "Ha (ow) ha (ow) ha (ow)! No, sweety," he managed when he'd calmed down, "pokemon medicine doesn't work on humans."

what does?, the ralts asked, genuinely confused.

"Humans have medicine. And, for stuff like this, sometimes a heating pad works." He imagined a flexible square with heat lines radiating from it on the back of his neck.

The ralts clapped happily.

And that's why, when Darck, Mindy, and Darryn came out of their tents, they found Jaima up, cleaning around the camp, with Ember laying across the back of his neck.

Posted by: Living Arrow Jan 18 2009, 04:46 PM

"Mornin', Jaima!" Darryn yawned and stretched as he exited the tent, Lady padding along behind him, close to his ankles. Her delicate features scrunched up as she let loose her own yawn and took in the campsite's details in the morning light. Darryn's hair had taken a beating from his twisting sleep but his latest Pokemon seemed as perfect as the moment he captured her.

"Oh, sore neck?" He nodded at Ember who looked oddly proud with herself as she warmed the muscles around Jaima's shoulders. "Good idea having Ember do that though - she's a perfect size for you!"
Lady looked up at Darryn then at Ember, then back to Darryn.

<Perfect?> She asked Darryn directly. He chose to ignore the petulant tone in her tele-voice and scooped her up instead. Her cashmere fur whispered so softly on his arms that he wanted to squeeze her even closer to him but

"I've decided to call her Lady since she's such a little madam and she seems to like it so far." He told the blond as Mindy joined them. "We're going to go for a jog then wash and see about breakfast. Either of you want to come with?"

Posted by: Darck Jan 18 2009, 09:58 PM

Darck emerged from his tent, Totodile happily following him with the same unimpressed look, with a large yawn, Darck looked around, his hair was perfectly tied back, he looked like he had been awake for hours and he had just woke up.

"Mornin travelers. I hope you slept well." Darck looked over at Jaima who seemed to have a kink in his neck, Darryn who seemed oh so thrilled to see him, and Mindy who took in the morning sun like a radiant flower in bloom.

"I might be able to fix your neck if you want" He walked over to Jaima and popped his own neck, making a slightly bone chilling sound, he offered his hand and to have Jaima turn around. As Darck went to Jaima's aid, his Totodile started walking off into the woods he came back moments later with an arm full of suitable firewood and began stacking it in the fire pit.

"Oh yeah...breakfast.. Uhm, are there any food allergies I need to be aware of so I don't ya know...kill someone?" Darck laughed slightly but he knew how bad it could be to go into shock and be away from a town.

Posted by: The Rose Crusader Jan 18 2009, 10:41 PM

"No food allergies from me," Melinda informed the young man clothed in black. "Anything is fine with me, seeing as what you did was that stew, I'm sure it'll be great!" Mindy spoke enthusiastically, giving Darck two thumbs up. She had been up for a few minutes, taking in the glorious sun as it shone brightly down on their campsite. Mindy turned to Darryn when he mentioned going for a jog in the beautiful morning that ad blessed the trainers' with its presence. "Jaima look a lil' out of it right now, but I'd love to go on a jog right now," she told Darryn. The two put on their running shoes and Melinda put on a light jacket perfect for early morning runs. Melinda decided to leave her pokemon behind, as none of them would really enjoy the run like Darryn's. "Ready when you are," Mindy announced, showing off her immense flexibility; a trait not many people had. It was something that melinda occasionally took pride in, being able to place her palms on the ground wit her knees locked as others looked on in amazement. Calisthenics weren't the extent of Mindy's athletic prowess, however, as Darryn would soon find out.

Posted by: Jaima Jan 19 2009, 04:53 AM

"Um... Sure." Jaima was wary, but in the end, pain beat cold hard logic. He'd either be pain free (which, though he was glad that Ember was being so helpful, was a bit of a hassle keeping her on his neck) or he'd be dead. He... really hoped he wouldn't be dead.

Somehow he managed to relax, and with a twist that sounded and probably looked worse that it was, the bones in Jaima's neck realigned. He almost fainted, though even he couldn't have said if it was from the sound or the relief.

"Aw, man, thanks!" He kept Ember in place, but now that his neck was better, it was just to soothe the lingering soreness.

He answered Darck's question in the negative, but did not mention that he preferred oriental style foods when he could get them. Beggars couldn't be choosers, and in this case, they were beggars. He'd have to find a way to make it up to Darck later.

He spotted Mercury glaring at Darryn's new acquisition. If she'd had fur, the ralts would be bristling. "Mercury, be nice."

bad doggy, came her voice, accompanied by images of the same vulpix eggeing the ghosts on, complete with a sinister grin and long pencil thin mustache, which Lady twirled with two digits of her forepaw.

"Mercury, Lady is part of Darryn's team now. Be nice."

very bad doggy, snarled the ralts, folding her limbs. Jaima did not push the issue, because her mental statement included an undercurrent of grudging obedience. Besides, she wasn't wrong. Lady had been at the head of the attack.

Shadow looked bored, and Mercury was in a bad mood. "Hey, Shadow. Since Darryn and Mindy left without me, how about you help me train?" The riolu looked outright thrilled to do it. "Grondir, watch Mercury. And don't offer any domestic help to Darck unless he specifically asks you. Last time you did something like that, you got in a fight with that mudkip and there was a huge mess."

"Busaur!" Cried the bulbusaur, mortified.

Jaima and Shadiw went to a clearing. Shadow sat while Jaima began running through warmups. When he spent too short on a stretch, Shadow tsked. Jaima ignored it and ran through a basic kata. Step-punch-step-back-block-step. Shadow had his face in his paws when it was over.

"What?" Jaima knew he wasn't very good, but to see it confirmed by his pokemon was almost too much.

Shadow stood, and did the same corm. Where Jaima had been jerky and woodern, Shadow was graceful. Jaima found himself in awe.

Shadow pointed to Jaima, then his own eyes, then his own chest. Then he beckoned to Jaima and began showing his master how to do the form again. Jaima was happy to oblige, and, it seemed, he might be getting the opportunity of a lifetime.

Posted by: Living Arrow Jan 19 2009, 12:56 PM

Darryn half muttered a "G'mornin'" upon Darck's exit from his tent but felt somewhat unnerved that he had to be nice to the guy since he was helping them out but also still peeved at his outlook on so many other trainers.

*Damn, why is he so pretty?!*

Darryn watched as Darck crunched Jaima's neck back into place and half winced at the sound it made.

*And why is he so damned resourceful?!*

"No, no allergies." Darryn confirmed his own good health along with his friends as Darck kindly offered to prepare their breakfast. "But we're going to work up an appetite, so anything starchy would be nice!"

Darryn hurriedly put on his running shoes with Mindy and called forth Eevee and Pidgey from their balls before taking off into the trees.
The run went smoothly at first, Vulpix and Eevee keeping ace with Darryn easily as they scampered along beside his ankles. Vulpix, however, kept shooting Eevee dirty looks between Darryn's legs at they flashed by. This went unnoticed by Darryn who was paying much more attention to his flagging Pidgey who was waddling along briskly behind them.

"Come on, Pidgey!" Darryn encouraged the bird. "Try flying to keep up!"

Pidgey cooed and flapped awkwardly as he ran, fluttering from the ground for a few moments each times before landing, running, and jumping into the air once more.
As time went by the encouragement directed towards his flying-type's ears began to grow more and more impatient as the bird got slower before finally sitting down and stopping altogether. Darryn frowned at the bird and recalled him to the Premier Ball to rest while the rest of the troupe continued.

<Weak.> Vulpix offered primly, her steps springing more lightly than before as if to show off her own atheletic ability. Darryn ignored her comment and instead focused on Mindy who was also beginning to slow down. A faint sheen of sweat clung to a few stray wisps of hair that had become matted across her forehead.

"You're doing great Mindy, we're past half way now!" Darryn cheered her on while his own legs and lungs merely sighed with the relief that they were being used in the outdoors once again. He as something of a fitness freak back home and with the stress off his journey starting he had let his focus on exercise wane but it was all coming back to him in an exciting flood of energy that made him want to sprint as fast as he could. "Keep it up just a little while longer!"

Posted by: The Rose Crusader Jan 19 2009, 04:53 PM

Melinda focused on her running pattern to keep herself moving through the foliage/ "Left...right...left...right...left..." and so on and so forth. It was an easy groove to get into, her pace of course. Melinda used to run cross country and was pretty good at it to--there were more slow cells in her body according to a doctor than fast cells. Of course, they had a fancy scientific name and everything but that's what Mindy called them: slow and fast cells. If you had more fast, you were a sprinter and vice versa. Melinda was 76% slow cells, which made her a very talented cross-country runner. Pidgey couldn't keep up with the gang so Darryn had to return him to his pokeball. She felt sort of ad for the poor bird, but she was being challenged enough by the running and really didn't have any time to ponder about the subject. "Left...right...left...right...left..." she kept thinking in time with her movement.

"You're doing great Mindy, we're past half way now!" She hated to admit it, but she was relieved when Darryn said this. It had been a long time since Mindy had trained for cross-country and her body had to try and remember everything at a very fast tempo. "Keep it up just a little while longer!" Melinda was glad for her friend's encouragement; it was helpful. But Melinda was in the mood for a lil' fun.

"Just try to keep up!" Mindy egged Darryn on, speeding up ahead of the rest of the pack. Mindy let out a laugh when she saw Darryn's face as she zoomed right by him. She just kept laughing and laughing and laughing, not paying any attention to what was ahead of her. Suddenly the ground below her gave out! Melinda found herself falling off of a cliff. She was stunned for a moment and it took her a second to try to grab onto something to save herself. Mindy struck luck and grabbed on a protruding root. As Melinda held on for dear life, she looked down and saw a river of raging water beneath her. "Help!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, "HELP!"

Posted by: Living Arrow Jan 19 2009, 05:07 PM

"Wah! Mindy!" Darryn staggered into a sprint as his friend's chocolate hair swooshed downwards and out of sight. Her immediate screams were almost a relief as Darryn hurried to catch up but when he saw the cliff, he was in no mood to laugh.

"Hang on!" He yelled, skidding to the ground and leaning out over the edge to reach towards where Mindy was clinging to a bunch of roots and grass, her legs kicking above a raging torrent of water below.

"Reee!" Eevee, carried away with the whole situation didn't stop running in time and shot over Darryn's head, plummeting downwards at an alarming rate. Darryn gasped as his puppy fell and fell, kicking out at the air as if trying to run upwards as the cascading water rushed to meet him.

"Return!" Darry's Quick Ball was in his hand just in time to fire its collection beam downwards and suck back the crazed little Pokemon. "Damn it!" Darryn gasped, tossing the Pokeball behind him and focusing on Mindy who was still squealing for him to grab her.
"I can't reach!" Darryn snarled, his fingertips stretching towards Mindy's handhold but falling very far short of their target. "Wait there!"

Mindy hollered a few choice expletives as Darryn's head disappeared from he view but a flash of light from above the clifftop announced Darryn's idea.
"Metapod! use your String Shot, now!" The sticky threads poured out, over the ledge and clung to Melinda's body in ever-thickening layers. Darryn appeared at the clifftop once more, his Metapod in his arms.
"I'm going to pull, now! Don't let go!"

Mindy grabbed onto the strings that were already sticking fast to her clothing, arms and hair and slowly let go of her root-like lifeline. The tension in the silk immediately became apparently as her body's weight was drawn onto the string but slowly she began to rise as Darryn and Metapod battled to pull her upwards.
When Mindy was finally back on solid ground, Darryn collapsed in a heap, his sides heaving heavily. He fought to regain his breath while Metapod lay on the grass, stretching her back from the exertion of holding onto her silk strings. Lady merely snorted at Mindy after the whole ordeal and looked away, sitting by Darryn as patient as a queen as her master regained his breath.

Posted by: The Rose Crusader Jan 19 2009, 05:40 PM

Melinda nearly collapsed as she climbed over the ledge and laid on the ground breathing heavily. "Huh huh huh...." she gasped heavily, fighting for the oxygen into her lungs. "Thank...you...Darryn..." she managed to get out. Suddenly out of their pokeballs appeared Misdreavus, Taillow and Feebas, all crowding around her to see if she was okay. "Guys, I'm okay," she assured them, but they wouldn't give up. They all jumped on top of her as Melinda laughed her head off. Misdreavus snuggled into her usual spot in Melinda's tummy as Taillow hugged Mindy's head. Feebas was content with the patting of Mindy's foot with her flipper as the fish gasped for breath itself. But something was wrong. The shifting of the weight from having all of the pokemon out seemed to move the ground beneath them! "No one move!" Melinda exclaimed as her pokemon nearly froze on top of her. Any sudden movement could have caused the edge of the cliff, which they were sitting on, to collapse into the river below.

Without warning, a flash of red fur zoomed into Mindy, causing the ground beneath her to start sliding down. "Go!" Mindy exclaimed, throwing her pokemon away from her. Feebas barely managed to roll away to safe ground as Taillow and Misdreavus flew away from her. Misdreavus tried to hold on but Mindy wouldn't let her. She knew she wouldn't be getting lucky this time. She saw Darryn run up and try to grab hold of her, and it almost worked. But for a split second the rocks beneath her moved faster, and then slowed down (which was strange in itself) putting Melinda out of grasp of Darryn. She tried desperately to grab onto something, anything! But the root she had found before wasn't there anymore; it had snapped off as Melinda was carried up by the string shot.

As Melinda fell down the side of the cliff she could see her life pass before her. Her childhood. Combee. Her mother's shop. Everything that made her special, unique. As she looked below she saw violent waves smashing against jagged rocks. "At least it'll be quick" she thought. Right before she was going to hit the water, Melinda closed her eyes waiting for the inevitable.

But the inevitable never came.

Mindy had landed on a comfortable blue surface. Soft. Feathery. Melinda opened her eyes to see herself flying through the canyon at an immense speed. It was a beautiful sight; the way the sun shined down on the rough water was something Melinda had never seen, nor would she soon forget.

"Swellooooooooow!" the pokemon beneath her cried as he performed aerial tricks to make Melinda laugh as she held on.

"Swellow! You evolved!" Mindy exclaimed. As if second nature, Melinda pulled Swellow up and directed him back towards where she fell. The majestic swallow pokemon was very pleased with his new form as she began to slow down and land on the cliffside, much farther in than Mindy had landed before. Melinda dismounted her new bird pokemon and gave it a hug, "I'm so proud of you!" she exclaimed. Next Mindy turned face and stared at Darryn. "That fox tried to kill me!" she said pointing her finger right at the pokemon, who gave her a malicious and nasty snarl.

Posted by: Darck Jan 19 2009, 09:59 PM

Darck was cooking over a hot skilled as all his Pokemon helped, all but Croagunk, "I swear... that Pokemon, Ugh I just want to be rid of him some days" Darck thought to himself. Totodile was chomping down trees with his powerful jaws for Fire wood, Charmander was keeping the fire hot and Darck was cooking Eggs, with fresh herbs he had left over, a bit of chive, some diced Garlic, some red pepper.

"Breakfast is almost ready Jaima. When do you think Mindy and Darryn will bless us with their presence?" Darck laughed at the last part but for the most of it, serious when it came to Mindy, she had caught his eye and it was getting under his skin.

"Croagunk seriously...do something, or I'm not even going to let you out of that damn ball anymore" Darck was a very patient person but since his capture, Croagunk hadn't lifted a finger to help out, never once battled and just sits back letting things be done for him. "I new I shouldn't have wasted the poke-ball on the likes of you...Croagunk aren't even that rare.. I wonder if I can trade you in for something else" Darck wasn't serious with his comment, he was hoping to piss off the toad enough to spark a flame into his actions. And it worked!!! Croagunk jumped up and the lazy eyes became serious and fierce, he began using a brick break on the trees that Totodile had chopped down and turned them into appropriate log sizes for Firewood.

"Thanks buddy...I knew you would help" Darck sighed happily and looked at the eggs he was making.

Posted by: Jaima Jan 20 2009, 02:38 PM

That's amazing... how did he know I was there? Jaima had just returned from his training with Shadow, and had approached Darck from the side and a little behind, unintentionally out of sight.

"I can't say I know, Darck. We only just started travelling with Darryn, so they've never jogged together--" Jaima was cut off by a startled cry from Mercury, who had been lazily floating near Grondir. The bulbasaur had made good on Jaima's instruction to watch her, but was tense, as if secretly hoping that Darck would ask for help.

Mercury sat straight up in mid air and looked as if someone had slapped her. Her eyes glowed, and her shout, mentally, was rough and angry. It was so loud in Jaima's head that he wondered if every psychic type or those able to hear psychic types could hear it.

Bad mean evil nasty horrible wicked UGLY DOGGIE! She seemed to be surrounded by an aura, and was facing the direction that Mindy and Darryn had run off in.

"Mercury!" Jaima's voice was stern. "You stop that right now!"

Instead of looking cowed, the ralts turned to Jaima, eyes glowing, and images, sharp, clear, and bright enough to give him a headache, filtered into his thoughts. A red blur striking Mindy in the chest. Her falling off of a cliff, hanging on for dear life, before falling. The vulpix' face appeared, snarling and lookig malicious.

"Stop it!" It was more of a cry of pain than admonition, but Mercury was beyond caring. He grabbed her ball from his bandolier, causing her to return, but not before feeling the indignant anger at being uncerimoniously dismissed.

He was on the ground, breathing heavily, and looked up to see Darck watching him. "Something happened to Mindy." Without another word, Jaima called Shadow. "Find 'em and see if they need help. I'd send Mercury, but I think she'd attack Lady without even thinking about it." Shadow bowed and ran in the direction the pair had jogged toward.

Posted by: Living Arrow Jan 20 2009, 03:09 PM

The speed with which Lady moved left only a streak of reddish-brown across Darryn's vision and by the time she had thrown herself into Mindy's stomach and pranced away, Darryn's eyes barely had time to blink before his friend disappeared from view once more.

"Mindy! No!" He screamed, hurrying to the edge. A second blur, this time blue, swept past his face as Mindy's Taillow dove into a stoop, following his trainer with all the speed he could muster. Misdreavus wailed loudly overhead as the bird plummeted downwards. Darryn couldn't fathom what the tiny bird thought he could do - after all Mindy weighed many times his own little weight - but silently prayed that somehow a miracle would stop Melinda's fatal fall. The water below her raged angrily, spitting up globules of white spray like saliva from the mouth of a ravenous Sharpedo.

"Taiiiiilloooow!" The brid screamed as it raced downwards and was enveloped by a brilliant white light.

*Yes! He's doing it!* Darryn mentally punched the air. He was seeing it again! *He's evolving!*

The miraculous evolution of Taillow came at just the right time as the larger bird dove even faster, sweeping underneath Mindy and launching her upwards with powerful beats of his trim wings. He was far larger than most Swellow that Darryn had seen - even larger than Jaima's Mr. Postman - and his feathers were a magnificent royal blue.

*I want one!* Darryn prayed, watching with an open mouth as Swellow brought Mindy back to a safe spot on the cliff where she immediately began shouting.

"That fox tried to kill me!" Mind yelled.

"Vuuuul..." Lady uttered a gutteral snarl. Darryn nearly punched himself in the head. With Taillow evolving he had momentarily forgotten why Mindy was falling off the cliff for a second time.

"No, Lady!" Darryn yelled down at his Pokemon. "What the hell were you thinking!?" He screamed at her, advancing on her small body from behind. Her ears twitched, catching his motion and she sprang away from the humans to a safe distance where she petulantly closed her eyes and turned her head away.

An unannounced explosion of light at Darryn's belt brought forth Eevee who began yapping and snarling at Lady who glanced at him once then looked away once more.

<She pushed!> Mindy's Midreavus floated over to Darryn, her eyes glowing as she communicated with him.

"Yeah, I saw..." Darryn said.

<She pushed twice!> Lil Miss urged, floating down to hover by Eevee.

"YOU PUSHED EEVEE, TOO!?" Darryn yelled at Lady, his hands balling into fists. "What would ever make you do that?!"

<Weak.> Lady looked at Eevee. <Ugly.> She looked at Mindy.

Darryn's teeth clenched so hard that he felt they would crack in his mouth at any moment. His new hope for reaching his PokéDream was a psychopath! The Heal Ball was gripped tightly in his shaking hand.

"Get. In. The Ball." Darryn hissed at Lady. She glared at him and reached out with her mind.

<No.> Her stubborn voice carried a hint of malice. <Cage.>

"I said GET IN!" Darryn fired off the collection beam and his startled Pokemon was drawn back into the ball with a wail. His sides heaving with heavy breathing, Darryn put Lady's ball away on his belt. Quietly he called back Eevee and Metapod., too. He turned to Mindy with tears brewing in his eyes.
"I am so sorry, Mindy." He gasped with each breath. "She'll never do anything like that again, I promise you. I really mean it. If she does, then she's gone. I can't have an... an animal like that hurting anyone."

"Ri?" Darryn and Mindy turned to see Shadow running towards them. He looked left and right suspiciously as he came as if expecting an attack at any moment.

Darryn calmed the Riolu by showing him Lady's closed ball and reassured him that no-one was in danger... well, not anymore. Quietly and with a lot on his mind, Darryn and the others made their way back to camp in silence with Shadow leading the way.

Posted by: Jaima Jan 21 2009, 10:27 PM

When they returned, Ember was back on Jaima's neck, flopped happily across it, and Jaima looked as if he were sporting a headache. He had his forehead propped in one hand, and Mercury's pokeball was resting in the other. He was looking at it forlornly.

When he noticed that they had returned, he stood gingerly and approached them, gently sliding Ember off of his neck. He hugged Mindy impulsively. "What happened? Are you all right? Mercury went nuts, showed me..." He shuddered. "What happend?"

When they explained, Jaima paled and muttered under his breath, "She was right." He released Mercury right then. The ralts pointedly ignored him and moved to Mindy.

is ok? Bad mean doggie not hurt? Jaima's lips pressed together, but he said nothing. Instead, as if struck by inspiration beyond himself, he played back, as vividly as he could, her reaction and how it made him feel. Mercury wilted.a little, but there was no other reaction.

"C'mon. Darck's made breakfast. We'll eat and regain our strength before we get the whole story."

Posted by: Darck Jan 22 2009, 02:59 PM

Darck was on edge the entire time from when Shadow left to when Darryn and Mindy returned. When they finally returned to camp Jaima was inquiring to there well being and asking what happened. To Darck it didn't matter what happened it just mattered that they had returned safely and in one piece.

"Yeah...breakfast is ready" Darck stood up and walked into his tent, it wasn't loud but you could clearly hear him stuffing something into something (it was clearly his gear into his bag)

"SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL" A bright beam of light a loud crash, and a huge tree fell 50 feet from the camp, Totodile let out a fierce roar. Darck ran out of his tent and saw the illusive white shadow jumping from tree to tree through the forest. He was firing off white attacks from his blade, something on the ground was running through the forest, it was small and had huge jaws on its head. But aside from that it was impossible to make out.

"Sorry guys... this is where we part, That Absol isn't going to get away this time, Come on Totodile." Darck grabbed his belt of poke-balls and threw it on, with insane speed he darted through the forest.

"SOL!" Another beam of light connected with the ground, an explosion of dirt and foliage went everywhere. The Pokemon it was chasing turned and glared it was using a Mean look attack. Absol froze in its place. Darck finally saw what the Pokemon was, it was a Mawile, Mawile launched forward its jaws open and attacked Absol.

"Absol dodge it!" Darck shouted to the frozen Pokemon. "That Mawile needs to back off, this is my fight." Absol jumped into the air and evaded the vicious guillotine attack.

"Absol you will be mine this time" Darck noticed a cut on Absol's leg from their previous encounter, Totodile got a clean bite in and scraped his left back leg.

When Mawile noticed Darck's presence the harmless looking Pokemon made a break for it. Darck charged forward Totodile next to him. "This is the last time we're going to fight Absol. You're already tired and injured. We're both at full strength, there's no way I'm going to let you get away this time."

"Totodile, hit him with a Water Gun!" Darck's Totodile shot a water gun towards the ground and launched himself into the air, Absol was so high in the tree that the Crocodiles little legs couldn't jump that high, his water attack was powerful enough to send him into the air. With a quick twist he stopped the attack and began to fall, he was close enough and fired off another Water Gun, the Absol tried to move but his leg was injured too much and got clipped in the front leg with the water gun, not full damage but enough to slow him down even more.

"Good work Totodile, Land safely if you can" Darck cheered on his talented water Pokemon as it gracefully began its decent. There was only one problem. In the air you can't dodge.. Absol knew this and launched from his tree limb with elegance, Absol jumped from tree to tree further down gaining momentum and launched a Scratch attack on Totodile's back. Totodile was pushed to the ground and took a handful of Damage, The strain was getting to Absol, he began limping and panting heavily.

"Totodile, you okay?"
"DILE!!!!!!!!!" the crocodile jumped up and glared at Absol
"SOOOL!" the absol went to charge in and the pain in his right front and left rear legs kicked in, he was having a hard time standing, let alone the ability to charge.

The Absol took a knee and looked at Darck, it was clear that Darck had won even before the match had started..Wild Pokemon didn't have the luxury of Poke-centers or Potions. All they had were wild berry's and time. The Absol nodded to Darck. Darck grabbed an Ultra ball off his belt, he only had 2 ultra ball's He walked up and tossed the ball, it flew in the air and opened up, the Absol was sucked inside. Rocked...once.....twice...... twice......twice.....it just sat there. As if the Absol was contemplating the finally, ....three times. Dong. Absol was finally caught. Darck picked up his poke ball looked at his panting Totodile, and sat there looking at the forest's tree tops.

"Why was that Mawile fighting Absol though..."



Monk: Oops. When catching a Pokemon, add up your total Pokemon's levels (8+5+2= 15) and divide it by the number of Pokemon (15/3=5) So your Absol's level 5, not 17. That's insane.

Edit - Darck: Woops sorry Monk, guess I missed that rule.

Posted by: Living Arrow Jan 22 2009, 05:24 PM

The breakfast that Darck had provided the gang was truly a meal to remember by any normal standards. Darryn, however, could only taste cardboard and ash. Not because his palette was any different from the others' but because Lady was still playing on his mind, snatching his attention like a troublesome child.

As Darck ran into the trees Darryn and his friends passed a look around the group. They all nodded in unison and took after the black-clad youth, sprinting into the trees some distance behind him.

As Darryn ran, his thoughts of Lady swirled into a whirlwind of confusion that threatened to burst out of his head in rivulets of emotion. He hated how the fox Pokemon had treated Mindy and Eevee ad yet he still loved her for what she was. She was the first truly amazing Pokemon that Darryn had caught and it just wasn't fair that her mind was riddled with twisted thoughts. All of his Pokemon had vices: Pidgey was fat, Metapod lacked confidence and Eevee was... well, Eevee was Eevee. But none of them were psychotic.

Darck's figure loomed ahead where he had stopped, confronting what looked like a massive white canine with strange black claws and a horn.

"Absol..." Darryn whispered to himself.

A flash of movement by the wild Pokemon showed a short figure dashing into the bushes. A rustle here, a rustle there... suddenly a yellow face popped out of a nearby bush. The Mawile giggled to herself and held a hand to her lips in a mischievious manner as she smiled creepily at Melinda. The motion lasted but seconds before the Pokemon ducked down into the bushes and disappeared.

"Wha-?" Mindy stared after the fleeing Pokemon.

Darryn shrugged to himself and moved closer to watch Darck's battle.

The performance that Darck's Totodile gave during battle was something truly special as it shot itself skyward with a Water Gun attack and proceeded to do battle with the wild Absol. The Disaster Pokemon already bore the injuries of other battles when Darck unleashed Totodile upon it but Darryn could still recognise the proud neck and sturdy legs of a Pokemon that had been in some tough scrapes. The Absol was experienced and strong but no steam engine could run forever without adding extra fuel to the fire.

Darryn watched in silence as Darck's orders led his Totodile to victory and the Absol was captured within the thrown Ultra Ball.

Slowly, Darryn stepped out from under the trees and applauded Darcks capture, secretly a little envious that the guy had caught such a rare and strong Pokemon.

"Nice capture," Darryn said. "Your Totodile fought well, too. I've got to say that I'm impressed. That technique of getting into the air was pretty cool and I respect your determination to catch that Absol. I guess that means that what you wanted to do in this area has been accomplished now, huh? Where are you going from here?"

Posted by: The Rose Crusader Jan 23 2009, 10:43 PM

Melinda stared right into the peculiar eyes that seemed to pierce her very soul. Its appearance was unlike anything Melinda had ever come across in her life; it was exotic enough alright. But Mindy knew that the most beautiful and exotic of flowers always had a nasty bite. The pokemon's head was attached to an enormous structure, the same size as its body! It was when the shape opened up to reveal an enormous set of razor-sharp jaws that Melinda got the heevy-jeeves.

"Wha-?" Mindy stared after the fleeing Pokemon.

Strange. Unreal. An optical illusion, or her mind playing tricks on her perhaps. Yes, that was it. The demonic creature that had fled the scene had done so in quite the peculiar fashion. It grimaced at Mindy with both sets of mouths as it blended back into the shadows of the dark and dense forest behind it. Astonishing. Nothing else. Melinda was so awestruck with the bizarre pokemon that she forgot where she was for the moment, just thinking about that one fiend of a pokemon.

Posted by: Darck Jan 25 2009, 12:20 AM

"Thanks Darryn." Darck sighed softly and gripped the Ultra ball in his hand as he scanned the faces of his 'friends.' Mindy was watching the fleeing Mawile, Jaima was near un-readable. Darryn was awe-struck. He thumbed over the seal and was re-thinking his new purpose in being where he was.

"huh? Where are you going from here?" Darryn's words were running through Darck's complex mind.

"Where will I go.. I.. don't know honestly, I came to these parts to capture an Absol, I wanted to capture another dark type but.. I doubt I'll find a wile Eevee or Umbreon, and I highly doubt I'll find a Sneasle.. so I guess its just time to train and head to a gym.." Darck paused for a moment.

"Why? what do you have in mind?"

Posted by: Living Arrow Jan 25 2009, 04:20 AM

Darryn's ears pricked up at the mention of dark-types. Did this mean that Darck wanted to be a dark trainer? Or maybe he had his sights set on seomthing else...

"Well, we're headed to Lenoilia at the moment," Darryn informed him, "I read somewhere that you can find evolutionary stones in some of the more... rustic... parts of the town. I want to get one or two to help my Vulpix and Eevee evolve when they should. Other than that, I guess we're going to take the north west road to Arasam and its gym."

*And maybe I can have the Lenoilia Joy fix Lady up with some pills...*

"In any case, we really need to get back to camp before anything or anyone trashes the tents and whatnot. THen we need to get moving again, I guess. Lenoilia is still a long way south and it'll probably take most of the afternoon, maybe the evening, to get there and find the Pokemon Center. I heard it's a big city so we'll have to get our bearings or a map as quickly as possible when we arrive."

Darryn moved back, through the trees. "Come on guys."

Leading the way, Darryn's thoughts turned back to Lady and what she had done. He knew it was going to take a while but a seed of determination was beginning to grow inside of him - a seed to make her right and put them both on the path to victory.

Posted by: Jaima Jan 26 2009, 06:29 PM

"Well, then it's settled," said Jaima, still watching in the direction Mindy had turned. He'd thought he'd seen something, but whatever it was had long since gone. "Just let us know how much we owe you for supplies."

As they headed back to camp, all of his pokemon in their usual places, Jaima noticed Shadow nudging Mercury. He turned his head to see what was the matter and caught the ralts glaring at the riolu. When she noticed that they had gotten their trainer's attention, Mercury turned away hastily, a blush creeping between her eyes. Shadow nudged her again, and just as Jaima opened his mouth to reprimand the fighter types, a hasty mental voice filled his head.

sorry.

I'm not mad, Mercury. You just... Worried me.

no lie?

Promise.

With that, the little pokemon hugged Jaima's head, and his mood became lighter.

At the camp, Jaima's pokemon all helped, from carrying supplies, to helping with the breakdown. Before long, they were ready to continue their journey.

Posted by: The Rose Crusader Jan 31 2009, 05:33 PM

Melinda opened up her PokéGear to its holographic image of the Furoh region. Mindy zoomed the 3D image in on their specific location and had it set a navigation path to Lenoilia. It was about a half a day's journey to Lenoilia, so the group of trainers would definitely get there before nightfall. Once everything had been gathered, Melinda began the journey by leading the group farther into the forest, just as her PokéGear had dictated to her. Melinda couldn’t take her mind off of the mysterious pokemon that she had only gotten a glance of earlier when Darck captured his Absol. It was…riveting. Enchanting. Horrifying. Entrancing, something she couldn’t take her mind off of. She decided that she would just have to ask Darck about it later. For now, they had a lot of ground to cover.

Melinda was in a state of shock, and had been for the past few hours. The forest that the gang had camped in had been nice, but once they began walking, a sort of transformation took place. The peaceful sanctuary that had reminded her of Gigarte suddenly changed into a disgusting, murky swamp. A perplexed Melinda, who was obviously not familiar with the Furoh Region, had thought they had taken a wrong turn or the PokéGear had made a mistake! Jaima comforted her, however, that everything was fine. He explained to her the history of Lenoilia, how the metropolis of Petropolis’ waste had poisoned the picturesque city of Lenoilia, turning it into a human wasteland.

Melinda was horrified at this, not only because of how horrible it must have been, but at the realization of how easily Floaroma could end up with the same fate. If Jubilife City had changed how it handled its garbage, things might have been very different for her home town. Darryn continued the story, adding how Lenoilia now runs rampant with crime and gangs. To think that Melinda had been excited to visit Lenoilia! Darck reassured Melinda, however, that it was not all as bad as Darryn had described.

The group had been travelling down a desolate path for quite some time now. The bright blue skies had been blanketed by a disturbingly dark eerie color. They had been travelling along a river, too. Well, if you could call it a river. Deteriorating trash was visible above the water, and the pungent stench had made Melinda’s numb with disgust. The smell was… well… indescribable. The water had even turned a poop brown color! The path the travelers had been walking on was probably the most pathetic thing Mindy had ever seen. The trainers’ steps created clouds of particles on the dust road they were walking on. To their left and right, fields of desert-like conditions with patches of crabgrass here and there.

Suddenly the gang stumbled upon a white board. Melinda looked, her mouth gaping open, at her PokéGear as it dinged, “DESTINATION”. Melinda looked up at the structure before her. A large box-shaped piece of wood had been painted white. Iron letters marked “Lenoilia” quite clearly; even though more than half of them were missing! Graffiti covered the sign completely, making it barely recognizable. The words written in the graffiti were so guttural, that they cannot be repeated here today. Melinda tried to calm herself with the memories of Floaroma’s entrance gate which she took so much pride in. It was a painted floral design, with real living flowers spelling out the words “Floaroma Town”. Her family personally cared for the living sign, which was why she was so proud of it.

But this. Nothing could erase this from her memories.

Melinda felt a few drops of rain begin to sparkle down from the already dark clouds above. Suddenly thunder crackled extremely loudly as the rain started beating down harder. Not even moving from her spot, Melinda turned around to her fellow travelers. “Well, here we are. Welcome to Lenoilia,” she said ever so cheerfully

Posted by: Jaima Feb 2 2009, 11:22 AM

Jaima looked around, horrified. Rather than a pleasant city, he found a wasteland, as if it had been destroyed by a biological terror the likes of which had not been known by man. Dark clouds made the landscape look dark, and, from the shadows came growls and calls that sounded out of this world. Mercury trembled against Jaima's head, and Shadow tensed, hyper aware.

"Everyone back in their balls," Jaima said, sadness in his voice. For once none of his team seemed reluctant. He returned Mercury, Fang, Grondir and Ember, and held Shadow's ball up to him. "If I need help, I will call you," he said, looking in the Riolu's eyes. Shadow nodded, reached out and touched the button on his ball, and recalled himself.

Jaima had looked up Lenoilia on the map card that Kamon had provided him, and had hoped that the description of the city was either very old or false. Looking around at the swamp and city, his hopes were dashed. What pollution hadn't accomplished, gangs had, covering anythng that was stationary with vile graffiti. He looked at Mindy, who looked like she might cry, and couldn't blame her. He felt like he might as well.

It started to rain.

"Well, here we are," Mindy announced in a shaky voice. "Welcome to Lenoilia." Sarcasm dripped from her words.

"Isn't it magical," Jaima replied softly, the same amount of dry humor and absolute disgust in his own phrase.

No one seemed to want to cross the bridge first. Jaima himself wanted to pull his bandolier off and hide it in his bag until they were through the polluted city, but he stilled his hands at his sides instead, wishing he could stop them from shaking.

"Kipf, kipf," came a weak cry from below and to the left. Jaima blinked and looked. Everyone seemed entranced by the spectacle before them, and the noise had been so soft that no one had heard it over the rain. Jaima couldn't even be certain he'd heard it at all.

"Kipf, kipf." The sound was weak, and Jaima looked down. Something in the fecally colored water moved, and Jaima nearly flinched back, but something about the tiny weezing cry made him look over the rail instead.

"Kipf..." The brown blob moved, pulling itself out of the corroded water to flop on the bank. Muck oozed off of it, revealing the pale, sickly blue skin beneath. It couldn't have been very old, but it was a pokémon, and if Jaima had to guess, a water type. Those realizations happened in the back of Jaima's mind, because the only thing concerning his conscious thought processes was the fact that this pokémon was as near death as he'd ever seen.

Jaima vaulted over the rail and landed next to the pokémon, slipping and falling on his rear. He lifted the poor creature and used the rain to try to get the majority of the slime off of it. It opened pale blue eyes and coughed, "kipf, kipf," before closing them again and going still.

Jaima was terrified the little thing had died in his hands, but he held on to it as he climbed up the slippery bank. Once on more solid ground, he pulled off his gi top (revealing a black tank top underneath) and wrapped the pokémon in it. "Guys, I need help here," he called, pulling out his pokégear. The directory came up, and having one hand full, he practically shouted at the device to let the voice recognition software dial for him. "Professor Elm!"

There was a long connection time, then Professor Elm's smiling face came on the screen. The smile faded as he saw the look on Jaima's face. "Jaima, what is it?" His demeanor changed, from kindly to serious, his voice coming out clipped.

"I have a sick pokémon on my hands, Prof," Jaima said, his own tone clipped. "We're in a town that's absolutely polluted, and a water type was in what passes for water around here. Any suggestions?"

"Is there a pokécenter nearby?"

"Don't know. We just arrived here, but I don't think there's anything legitimate. The next closest town is Arasam, and we're heading there ASAP."

Professor Elm nodded, relaxing slightly. "OK, I'm assuming you got it out and cleaned it as best you could. He'll need-*" A loud squelching noise issued from the gear. At first Jaima thought it had shorted, but he knew they were waterproof, at least for rain. The screen went white, and the words flashed in red: CONNECTION LOST.

Jaima let loose a string of swear words that were only slightly less vile than the graffiti.

"Do any of you have any potions and antidotes?" Jaima was scrambling in his bag for his kit. "I only have three of each right now. Berries!" He said the last word like a revelation. "Oran, Pecha, Lum, Sitrus, Rawst in a pinch." He looked at his companions. "Please guys, I can't let this little one just die..."

Posted by: Living Arrow Feb 2 2009, 01:20 PM

Darryn's first impression of Lenoilia matched the apparent feelings of both Mindy and Jaima. He wrinkled up his nose at the smell of the murk and dirt all around them and suddenly felt grimy all over. Thoughts of bathing in rose oil were a welcome distraction despite how briefly they lasted.

"Wha-?" Darryn watched as Jaima flung himself into a muddy ditch off the side of the road and proceeded to squabble about with a messy blob in the mud. It was only when Jaima announced that he was holding a living creature was it that Darryn bothered to move.
He watched on in helpless worry as Jaima called for help from Professor Elm of the Johto region and got even more distressed when the PokeGear's signal cut out.

Jaima called for assistance, desperate to give the little Pokemon some aid but shock had rooted itself deep into Darryn's bones.

*Pulse... airways... breathing...* Darryn's first aid course from years before slowly surface in his mind but nothing concrete seemed to form between his ears.

Darryn stared at the bundle in Jaima's arms, frozen to the spot. With all the health care training he had, surely this would be the one place he could put it to best use?! But what to do? Without his books and really understanding the situation, Darryn was at a loss for words.

*Potions and antidotes are no good unless we actually know what is wrong in the first place... oh crap! Come on, Darryn!*

"Give it air!" Darryn suddenly shouted, still standing in the same spot as Mindy bothered over the sick Pokemon with Jaima. Darck watched with a curious frown, completely unreadable. They all gave him a set of stares that almost shoved Darryn back into his silent shell. "I mean, it has to breathe first and foremost. and to really know how it breathes, we need to know what it is..." He ran to Jaima and gently stroked the creature's head, wiping off handfuls of dark sludge. The blue of the Pokemon's skin was smooth... smooth like a Poliwag from the Celadon City pond... but its body wasn't like the round Tadpole...

"It's skin being so smooth and hairless combined with the fact it has legs means it's an amphibious Pokemon so it breathes with both its lungs and through its skin!" Darryn abruptly announced, his confidence kicking back in after its momentary stupor. "It needs to be properly washed first before we try and do anything else! Everyone's drinking water should be enough but then we need to identify cause of injury, take preventative measures, then use treatments like Potions last when we can be sure nothing is getting worse..."

Darryn proceeded to hastily open his canteen and fling the water inside at the muddy Pokemon, half splashing Jaima in the process.

"We need to be fast!" Darryn urged.

Posted by: Jaima Feb 2 2009, 03:56 PM

The water from Darryn's canteen splashed half on the pokémon and half on Jaima's face. Ordinarially Jaima wouldn't have minded, considering the rain coming down, but he had been opening his mouth to speak when Darryn threw the water.

"Darryn," he said calmly after a bout of coughing, "you're right, we need to be quick. We also need to be careful." He ticked off on his fingers. "The pokémon is a water type, but it's been exposed to a toxic sludge for an indeterminate abount of time. That means it's been poisoned, and until we get to a pokécenter, we need to find a way to treat the symptoms. That's why I need the potions and the antidotes, to feed to it gradually until we can find a place where a skilled nurse can take over." As he spoke, he felt himself calming as well. "I was hoping I could send her to Professor Elm back home for treatment, but the pokégear isn't working."

Jaima helped clean the little pokémon off, making sure that it was breathing as it did so. "I'm not 100% on water types, especially since I've only treated Johto specific species. I'm worried about this rain. With all the pollution in the air, it could be acid rain. I think she'll be OK wrapped up in my jacket for a while, but it woul dbe best to get her out of the storm, preferably into some clean water."

Thinking helped him remain calm, remembering his work with Professor Oak. Like many towns with labs in them, they sometimes had to act as emergency pokécenters. Luckily his mother was a breeder and knew some things about different pokémon species. Still, he'd have been happier if he could have had Professor Elm's help on this.


Monk- You're awesome, Jaima.

Posted by: The Rose Crusader Feb 7 2009, 05:35 PM

If Melinda hadn't already been absolutely appalled by the pathetic town, then she certainly was after seeing the poor water pokemon nearly poisoned to death by the toxic sludge! She only wished that she could help! Wait... maybe she could! Melinda reached down into her bag and pulled out her favorite item: the Berry Dispenser. It was a commodity in places like Floaroma Town where berries were used in everyday activities. She had not once needed to use it in the Furoh region, but this sure had seemed like a good time as ever. Melinda owned the extra large dispenser that could hold about twenty berries at a time. Melinda frantically clicked through the berries on the device's LCD screen, trying to find the berry that would be best suitable for this situation. The machine electronically shrinks the berries so that they fit compactly, and then recognizes them, so that it keeps track of how many berries are left. Melinda saw that she had two of pretty much everything: Cheri, Chesto, Pecha, Rawst, Aspear, Leppa, Oran, Persim, Lum, and Sitrus.

"Oran, Pecha, Lum, Sitrus, Rawst in a pinch!" Jaima announced in frustration. Melinda immediately dispensed all five of the berries Jaima had called for and handed them over to Jaima, hoping that he would find at least one of them suitable for the ailing pokemon.

Posted by: Living Arrow Feb 9 2009, 01:33 PM

Darryn was completely embarrassed. Not only did he lose his cool but all of the things he had learned at the Pokemon High in Celadon City had gone flying out of his head like an angry flock of Spearow. He watched on nervously as Mindy offered up her berries to Jaima and watched Jaima look from one to the other, trying to decide which to give to the sick Pokemon first. Darryn inwardly groaned. He knew all sorts of things about how each of those berries would improve a Pokemon's condition but their medicinal effects eluded his thoughts.

"Try all of them?" Darryn weakly suggested. He really didn't know what else to say. His personal strengths were in making things look good and training specific abilities with different Pokemon by bringing out the best in their behaviour. Pokemon medicine was completely beyond him and identifying that weakness so clearly at such a crucial time was devastating.

He flicked open his Pokedex - the only thing he had that might even come close to helping in the situation.

[Mudkip, the Mud Fish Pokemon. The fin on a Mudkip's head is sensitive to vibrations and may be used as a radar to detect movement around it without using its eyes. When under water this Pokemon uses the gills on the sides of its head to breath and its tail fin for propulsion.]

"Right, so it's poisoned and needs proper help." Darryn muttered to himself. "Then let's get an idea of where to go. Pidgey!"
He threw the Premier Ball up into the air, forcing the bird to emerge in mid-air. It's litling flight threatened to let it fall but somehow the Tiny Bird stayed aloft.

"Pidgey, go and fly over the town. Find the Pokemon Center then come back here and lead us to it, OK?" Darryn ordered his Pokemon.
Pidgey squawked his outrage at being asked to fly that far but took off nonetheless, floating upwards at a respectable speed and towards the town.
With Pidgey disappearing into the sky, Darryn turned back to Jaima and Mindy, waiting for them to decide on how best to treat the Mudkip for now.

Posted by: Jaima Feb 9 2009, 02:29 PM

When Mindy handed over the exact berries he'd asked for, Jaima was too relieved to censor himself. "You're brilliant, Min," he muttered. He washed his hands with his own cantine, then washed off the berries and smashed the pecha and citrus berries into a paste, scooping some up with his finger and sticking that into the pokémon's mouth. "Come on, little one, have a taste..."

It was a tense few seconds in which the little water type didn't move, but then he felt its tongue touch his finger. Immediately, it rasped in a deep breath and coughed, splattering Jaima's chest with mucous.

"Niiice," he muttered, but didn't seem to mind otherwise. Instead he gently ran a thumb across the blue skin between its fin and spiked gil, chewing his lower lip. The pokémon opened its eyes once, then closed them. Though there was still a little gurgle, it seemed to be breathing easier.

Jaima closed his eyes. "OK, that'll have to do for now. Let's get under something and see what we can do from there." He turned to Mindy and Darryn, his eyes full of gratitude. "Thanks for your help. It was a good idea," he said, addressing Darryn directly, "to send Pidgy to find better facilities, and to wash this one off. I should have thought of that myself." He nodded, then looked around. "Come on, there's an eave over that way that's dryer than here." Without waiting, Jaima crossed the bridge into what was once Lenoilia Town.

Posted by: The Rose Crusader Feb 14 2009, 08:54 AM

As the group walked through a desolate city they all came to realize the reality of this pathetic town. Dark. Creepy. Eerie. Sinister. All of these words flew though Melinda's head as they were matched with visual descriptions of their own. All she could wonder, apart from the ailing Mudkip, was that how no one had thought to help this suffering town? Furoh was a fairly wealthy region, and could easily have helped the decrepit town. Regardless, Melinda cleared her mind of such thoughts as the group walked through the barren streets of Lenoilia. The wind had begun to howl violently which Made Mindy shudder. It as getting darker and the day was barely through!

Suddenly the gang heard and saw a Pidgey cooing and flapping its arms toward them. It landed in Darryn's arm and pointed with its exhausted little wings towards a luckily nearby Pokemon Center. Surprisingly enough, the Pokemon Center was fully operational. Spotless of any dirt or decrepitness, it looked just as healthy as the one in Gigarte and Barley. Melinda wondered how this was the only thing that seemed to be cared for in this town. As they walked into the center Melinda decided to sit down on the couches and pick up a copy of Trainer's Weekly, as she had missed last week's issue.

Posted by: Living Arrow Feb 17 2009, 01:55 PM

Darryn fussed over Pidgey when his fat form fluttered to his arms and made sure to congratulate the Pokemon on a good job well done. Miraculously the bird had returned with just as many feathers as he had left with, giving Darryn the signal that they were finally beginning to take firmer root with the medicine he had been given in Gigarte. He let Pidgey dive back into the Premier Ball with a flash and followed the others to the Pokemon Center.

One by one the trainers passed their Pokeballs to the Nurse Joy on the other side of the counter and moved to the rest area to wait for their lot numbers to be called out.
Darryn held back on his Heal Ball, retaining Lady at his belt while the others were treated behind the scenes. Rather than sit with the others, he nodded to Mindy and gestured towards the door to signal he was going outside for a bit and left the Center.

In the dark, grimy streets of Lenoilia Darryn couldn't help but wrinkle his nose at the stale stench that clung to the flat city air and dug up the memorable sweet freshness of Gigarte. He might have been underground for longer than he would have liked but at least it was clean! He watched a sickly Rattata spring from a bin and dash into a tiny hole, dragging what looked like a bone along with it. As someone who took pride in appearances he was left feeling rather empty in this dirty town and looked forward to leaving. That was until he saw the flyer. It was yellow and crumpled, pen scrawled on it rather than it being professionally printed. It was not how it looked, however, that caught Darryn's eye.

[Evolutionary Stones! Ever wanted to help your Pokemon move along to its next form without the wait? Look no further! Come to Denizen Alley to find all sorts of items that could help you and your Pokemon reach their finest in not time at all!]

He snatched up the paper and examined the map that was scribbled underneath the brief message. It looked as though "Denizen Alley" was in the brewery quarter near to the edge of town. Easily walkable but still around half an hour from the Pokemon Center. He immediately began considering how much time he would have to spare to take the trip across town without the others leaving him behind as they continued his journey. Maybe they'd want to go too? Whatever the case, Darryn slipped the paper into his pocket and focused on what he had gone outside to do.

"Lady."

He clicked open the Heal Ball and his Vulpix emerged, primly snorting and turning her head away from him. He didn't bother to chastise her but instead bent down and took the Soothe Bell from his backpack.

"Lady, I want you to wear this beautiful bell." He said, choosing his words carefully with his hot-headed Pokemon. "I think it would suit you very well and you would look even more pretty."

The vulpine's head swivelled to him, her large brown eyes gazing into his own.

<Beautiful.> Her voice finally said, her head bobbing a nod as she paced towards him and allowed Darryn to fasten the item to her forepaw. Her muscles seemed to relax a little as the soft chime of the bell sounded as she raised and lowered her foot, testing its weight.

"Good girl." Darryn muttered, not forgetting what she had done to Mindy. "Now I want you to make a fresh start with my friends, OK? No complaints, no anger, no calling anyone ugly or weak. Just be calm and still and act how a real Lady would, yes?"

His Vulpix spoke a single "Vul" and nodded, keeping close to Darryn's ankle as he went back into the Pokemon Center and joined the others.

Posted by: Jaima Feb 20 2009, 12:52 PM

The nurse hadn't discussed anything with him, just taken the injured pokémon and hurried to the back. She had left the carrier with his actual team's pokéballs on the counter, but a chansey had come out and taken them shortly thereafter. That was when the adrenaline wore off.

Jaima avoided the furniture as much as possible. He was still caked with mud and slime from his ordeal with the water pokémon, and soaked to boot. But he really wished he could sit down and recuperate. He felt emotionally drained, as if the gloom of the city had sucked the life right out of him.

Wiping off his hands as best he could, he reached into his bag for a change of clothes and excused himself to the bathroom, where he stepped into a stall and stripped. The shirt was absolutely ruined, and there was a red spot on his chest from where the poison slime had soaked through, but Jaima ignored it for the time being, instead wiping off as much of the grime as he could from his skin before getting into some dry clothes. Once he had some pants on, he stepped out of the stall and washed his chest off. The red mark burned a bit, but did not seem to be causing him any serious harm. He'd keep an eye on it.

He finished washing and dressing, then undid his braid and rinsed the muck from his hair. Afterward he redid the braid and slid his glasses back on.

The image looking back at him looked much older than sixteen, but that would be cured by a nap and a shower.

When he stepped out of the restroom, Mindy caught his eye and pointed to the front desk, where an expectantly looking nurse was looking around. He stepped up to the desk.

"Mr. Kuonji, I want you to know, I'm not the police. We are very discreet here at the pokécenter by matter of survival. But I want to know, so I can treat her properly, where did you get that mudkip?"

"That what now?"

The nurse's eye's hooded slightly. "The pokémon you brought in. It's a mudkip. They're native to the Hoenn region, and is used as their water starter there. Where did you get him?"

Jaima's brow furrowed. The nurse must have been nervous, because she went on before he could answer. "You see, that mudkip came in before with another man, who was large and bald and complained that she wasn't carrying her weight. I offered to keep her and send her to an adoption agency, but he muttered something and left. That was three days ago."

The emotions that Jaima had felt were drained came rising to the top. "Three days! Arceus, you mean she was in that... that... fetid excuse for a stream for three days?!"

The reaction might have frightened someone else, but it seemed to relieve the nurse. "Oh, you found her in a stream?"

"No, I found her in an over ground sewer! Is she all right?" Jaima's fingers clenched on the counter, turning the knuckles and fingertips white. Again, the nurse seemed to physically relax.

"She'll be fine. Whoever did the first aid managed to help the removal of the toxins along nicely. I think she was very lucky that you and your friends happened along when you did." The nurse smiled brilliantly and practically flounced back to the back. Jaima, however, was much more subdued when he went back to his friends.

"She said the pokémon was someone else's. That can only mean they dumped her." He rested his head back and sighed. "Arceus, I hate people..."

Posted by: The Rose Crusader Feb 21 2009, 09:10 AM

Melinda didn't end up reading much of the magazine, there was too much to think about. The weird town. Th abandoned pokemon. Her pokemon. After they received treatment from the Nurse Joy, Melinda called each of them out of their pokeballs to have a look at them. Misdreavus was her wispy lil' self and Feebas was actually looking more content. Melinda reached into her bag and fed her the last of the stale dry poffin, which again, Feebas devoured quickly. "There's no more Feebas, I'm sorry" she told her pokemon. Feebas sighed, but surprisingly stayed smiling, as if it didn't matter anymore.

Swellow was looking wonderful, better than her other two pokemon combined. Swellow's brilliant blue feather with contrasting red breastfeathers and face gave him a special look among Melinda's team. But it was his sharply shaped wings and tailfeathers that defined his magnificence. Evolution had done wonders for the tiny swallow pokemon indeed. But what made Swellow so different was really his size. Most Swellow grow to about two feet and 50 pounds, according to Darryn's PokéDex, but Swellow was at least four feet tall! Melinda got up to weigh her new pokemon at a machine in the center which told her that the bird pokemon weighed an enormous 76 pounds! It wasn't that he was fat or anything, but strong and fit. "A work of art", Melinda thought, "My lil' blue jay". Mindy was remembering how pathetic the bird had been when she had first captured him. Alone. Small. Weak. Noting like the behemoth that stood before her. Melinda hugged Swellow tightly, whispering, "I'm so proud of you Jay, you're amazing". the pokemon's wings soon covered Melinda, which made her just love him all the more.

Melinda returned her pokemon and walked into a nearby bathroom to freshen up. Her hair was a mess and would need proper cleaning, but that would come later. She combed out all of the gook and put it in a tight ponytail with a hair scrunch, watered down the rest of the grime and left the restroom. Mindy walked back to the main group just in time to see and hear Jaima's conversation with Nurse Joy and was appalled by what she heard. Dumped? Someone actually dumped their pokemon in a toxic sludge infested stream? Melinda stayed silent though, because Jaima did the talking for her. Once the Nurse had left Melinda walked over to Jaima and held his hand as he sat down. She had tried to settle him down, because geeze, was he fumed.

"Jaima, it's okay. Mudkip is safe in your hands now. You can't control what these other brainless insensitive jerks do with their pokemon, but at least you saved little Mudkip. It's over for him, so don't feel bad, okay?"

Posted by: Living Arrow Feb 21 2009, 09:45 AM

Darryn noticed the way with which Lady tensed up when she saw Mindy and instinctively picked her up, cradling the Vulpix in his arms softly but firm enough so that she wouldnt be able to struggle free for whatever reason she might make the attempt. He crossed the foyer to catch the tailend of the Nurse's conversation with Jaima and instantly felt terrible. Caterpie and Pidgey were in awful condition when he had taken them as his own but never ever had he considered treating them the same way that the wayward Mudkip had been.

"It's over for him, so don't feel bad, okay?" Mindy reassured their friend.

"Yeah, plus raising her to be the best she can be would be the biggest and best come-back you or her could ever give her previous owner. Just think how they would feel when they realise the idiocy of what they've done. You never know, it might even convince them to treat their Pokemon better if they ever saw her again." Darryn added his own advice, Lady nodding along with him.

<Strong. Beautiful.> She told Darryn, giving what seemed like begrudging support. A Chansey toddled over to the front desk with Darryn's Pokeball Tray and he reached down to take up the three balls and fasten them all back to his belt.

"Aaaand," Darryn fished in his pocket, "this place might be able to help! They say they can help Pokemon evolve and I'm sure they must have other things to make ours even more amazing. I'm planning on heading over town this evening if either of you guys want to come?" He spared a look for Darck who was waiting near the Nurse's station. "You could come too if you fancied it."

Posted by: Jaima Feb 25 2009, 12:46 PM

((For some reason, I spent all this time not knowing Mindy had posted ))

Jaima sighed, squeezing Mindy's hand lightly before letting go to accept his tray of pokémon from the chancy, who bowed (as much as she was able) and scampered back to the healing area. The Nurse of the pokécenter had been behind the chancy and bowed, holding the mudkip in her arms. The mudkip looked tired and still pale, but much better than when Jaima had pulled her out of the muck.

"Mr. Kuonji, I'm sorry I implied that you had stolen this pokémon. You other pokémon are fit and healthy, and you obviously went to some lengths to make sure the mudkip survived." She took a deep breath and blew it out, as if preparing to say something difficult. "She's obviously abandoned. Why don't you claim her?"

Jaima looked the nurse in the eye and nodded, fishing a pokéball out of his bag. He held it up to the mudkip, who tilted her head at the device. The pokémon looked at the nurse, who smiled encouragingly, then reached out and touched the button with a foreleg. It was instantly swept up in energy and pulled into the device.

The nurse smiled. "Thank you. I hope you will take care of her. And congratulations for the brilliant first aid."

"My friends helped." Jaima's voice was tight. "Darryn helped wash her off, and Mindy provided the berries. Darryn's pokémon also found this place." The nurse smiled at each of the three companions with Jaima, and walked back to her counter.

"Darryn, I'll go with you. I think I'm going to need to see if there's anything to help Tsunami," he held up the plain red and white pokémon that he had just "captured" the mudkip with, "grow strong."

Posted by: Living Arrow Feb 25 2009, 03:43 PM

"Awesome-o!" Darryn bobbed on the spot, shaking Lady uneasily around and making her Soothe Bell toll its merry chimes. "Well, how about we all get some dinner then head on over to this place? It's in town so there will be streetlights around even when it is dark so there shouldn't be anything to worry about."

He added that last part for Mindy, remembering her worry from the night before. He felt a little weird having to reassure someone for being scared of the dark but if anyone caught onto his fear then they'd probably think the same of him.

"Hopefully evolving will make my Eevee calm down a little or at least give him some sort of maturity so I don't have to keep an eye on him all the time." Darryn sighed, crossing through the Pokemon Center to the food court where they would have their evening meal.

Posted by: The Rose Crusader Mar 2 2009, 11:04 AM

Melinda sat down at the table with her fries, hot dog, and a shake. She sat next to Darck who decided to get a burger. "So Darck..." she began, trying to strike up some sort of conversation with him. Darck had been pretty silent since the gang ad arrived in Lenoilia. "What do you think about Darryn's evolution scheme? It might be good, maybe it could even help some of our pokemon!" she exclaimed as she took a hand full of fries.

"I think I want to just explore this town a bit. None of my pokemon are compatible with evolution stones, so there would be no point in me going there." Darck explained while taking a bite out of his burger.

"Alright, that's cool," Melinda told him. "I think I'll join you in exploring. Don't want to be caught alone in this town, you know"" The boy nodded as the couple ocntinued their meal in silence. Soon Jaima and Darryn had joined them and they continued their talk of evolution. Melinda had already evolved two of her pokemon: Taillow and Vespiquen. She wondered if her Feebas had any potential in evolving, but didn't want to sound stupid and ask the question. Mindy was sure Misdreavus could evolve because she had seen Fantina's Mismagius on her television plenty of times as a kid. Melinda wasn't so sure that Misdreavus wanted to evolve, however, so Mindy decided to keep it at that.

"So are you guys going to the evolution exposition tomorrow or tonight?" Darck asked quite randomly as he finished his burger.

Posted by: Living Arrow Mar 2 2009, 03:00 PM

"Well, I'd rather go tonight." Darryn said as he pulled up a seat and sat alongside Mindy. "I don't know about you guys but I'd sooner get this done then leave this town first thing in the morning. I don't think the air here is doing my Pokemon any good and Lady's going to need some training at some point - preferably somewhere less covered in grime."

Lady gave a nod of agreement, her Soothe Bell laughing on her ankle.

Darryn hastily muched down his own meal, pushing most of the meat onto a fork for Lady to have to herself. Her trainer spared the briefest of moments considering his actions towards her, hoping that his other Pokemon would not become jealous, but that only turned into thoughts of evolution.

*Eevee would benefit the most from evolving - he really needs a more mature outlook on his behaviour and a few stronger attacks would really help him out in battles rather than relying so much on defense and dodging...*

"So, tonight? What do you guys think?"

Posted by: Jaima Mar 3 2009, 02:49 PM

"Tonight sounds fine," Jaima said, setting down his kontatsu and ramen and taking the seat next to Darck. "We should probably take a pokemon for protection." Picking up his chopsticks, he started pulling noodles into his mouth. As soon as he found out Tsunami was okay, he felt ravenously hungry. "I'm going to leave Mercury, Fang, and Grondir with Tsu. They're the easiest to acclimate her. Shadow and Ember will come with me." He turned to Darryn. "We'll go after dessert, huh?"

Jaima's food was gone soon after he'd announced who was going woth him, and he had to spend a few moments consoling Mercury and Grondir about being left behind. They finally seemed to understand and soon Mercury was cooing over Tsunami, who was awake, though still groggy.

"OK, Darryn, let's go."

Because Jaima was heading out, he didn't hear the Nurse, who was young herself (who else could be convinced to take such a dangerous post but a teenaged Joy?) Ask Mindy if the "tall blonde boy" was single...

Posted by: Living Arrow Mar 10 2009, 02:04 PM

Darryn shooed Lady off his lap to rise from his seat and join Jaima but quickly spared time to give Mindy a <be careful> look coupled with a glance at Darck before fishing out the poster from before.

Out in the streets of Lenoilia, Darryn spread the sheet open and showed it to Jaima so they could both get a look at the scribbled map. Darryn hated to admit it but he was terrible with directions and waited for the other trainer to point in the direction which they should be headed before they began the walk across town. The late evening air was stale and stank of open bins much to both trainers distaste but neither wore their opinion as openly as Lady who tiptoed around every inidentified blob on the sidewalk with her nose lifted high with self importance.

It took a little over a half hour to reach Denizen Alley after one wrong turn and an unfortunate encounter with a Spinarak which Darryn begged Jaima not to mention to anyone... ever...
Denizen Alley turned out to really be just an alleyway with a single shadowed door in one wall with a cracked and faded sign above the threshold. It read 'Rock Polish Rewards' but Darryn saw nothing rewarding about the place. It looked like it had been abandoned for more than a couple of years and a family of Rattata seemed to have made a home in the drain by the door, judging by the footprints left in the excrement that had been left there.

"Ugh," Darryn groaned, "I guess they don't care too much about appearances, huh?" He gave Jaima an apologetic look, sorry for bringing him to such a nasty place, but was intent on going in and not wasting the entire trip. Slowly, Darryn pushed the door open and was very surprised to find that it didn't creak like he expected and merely slid back to reveal a dimly lit interior.
Lady looked inside then back at Darryn with a look of *You don't expect me to go in there, do you?* before snorting and padding in first, her trainer close behind.

As Darryn's eyes conditioned themselves to the gloom of the shop, Darryn called out to the surroundings, "Hello? Is anyone here?"

Posted by: The Rose Crusader Mar 13 2009, 09:40 PM

"Oh, why I do believe he is single," Melinda explained, winking at the youthful Nurse Joy. Melinda and Darck followed a good distance behind Darryn and Jaima before they disappeared into the darkness. The dark night sky was pitch black, only lighted by the glimmer of the stars and a few oddly spaced street lamps on the roads. A small breeze shivered Mindy's bones as the girl put her hands on her shoulders. Melinda hadn't thought of bringing her jacket with her and it was to late to turn back now. Anyways, the couple was just walking aimlessly through the town, so Mindy would have to pull out her PokéGear and map her way back.

The rest of Lenoilia was just as horribly nauseating as what they had seen before. Rotting garbage flowed through the streams that lead deep into the underground sewers. It was like the gang had stumbled into a toxic waste dump or something. Whenever Melinda thought she saw someone, the figure immediately disappeared into the shadows. It seemed to her that the people of Lenoilia knew better than to be walking around in the dead of night. Melinda and Darck continued around the desolate city trying to find something of interest that they could investigate. It was only when Mindy heard a small explosion amidst the cries of pokemon did the Melinda and Darck rush off in the direction of the whimpering. Their pokeballs were at hand and ready as the two prepared for a fight.

Posted by: Jaima Mar 18 2009, 11:51 PM

Jaima's disgust with the city was not well hidden, and it wasn't long before he'd recalled both Ember and Shadow into their pokeballs. Despite Darryns companionability, Jaima tended to shy away from too much closeness. He was afraid that Darryn would think he had personally insulted Jaima (he hadn't) or that the blonde trainer still didn't trust Lady (he didn't, but that wasn't why he shied away). The actual reason was much more visceral.

Jaima hadn't showered yet, and he was positive he reeked to Mt. Coronet.

The trip was uneventful, save for an occurance with a spinarak that had Jaima fighting laughter, as well as reminding him of his sister (who, until very recently, was terrified of bug-type pokemon). Though he really wanted to tell, he promised he wouldn't, "so long as you don't ever cross me," he added in his most menacing tone.

He could have sworn he heard the vulpix giggle.

When they reached their destination, Jaima's misgivings came to the front. "Maybe we should come back later," he whispered as they crossed the threshold. His further arguments were interrupted by a single voice.

"Well well well... Look what the purugly dragged in..."

((Ooc: sorry it took me so long, I've been in a networking class all week.))

Posted by: Living Arrow Mar 20 2009, 12:11 PM

"Well well well... Look what the purugly dragged in..."

Darryn was just to reply to Jaima when the raspy voice materialised from the gloom accompanied by a shuffling of heavy feet. Even in the dim light, Darryn could make out the grizzled man that presented himself to the pair of trainers, his hands rubbing over each other with dry strokes and he dry-washed his dirty digits. The nails on those hands were so cracked and flaky that Darryn had to stop himself from coughing with disgust.

"Some trainers, yes?" The man's eyes flashed between Darry, Jaima and Lady with little flicks as he drank in the sight of them. His short stature and clumsy build put Darryn in mind of an old Politoed that had spent too much time in the sun and become shriveled and crispy. "Been quite a while since we've had any trainers, hmm? Welcome to my Rock Polish Rewards, yes?"

"Uh, yeah!" Darryn held up the flyer. "I found this and thought you might be able to help with my Pokemon?"

"A Vulpix, is it?" The man's eyes dashed to Lady and up to Darryn very quickly. "Oh yes, I've helped with a Vulpix before!"

"No, no!" Darryn hastily waved his arms and hoped that Lady wouldn't take any offense to the suggestion that she needed 'help'. "Not my Vulpix. I have an Eevee and thought maybe he could be given a hand in evolving - he's got some behavioural issues that need to be ironed out."

"Eevee, yes? Well you're in the right place, hmm? We help you here... but you?" He looked to Jaima and scanned the other trainer over. "You have a Pokemon that needs to evolve, hmm? I help you, too?"

Posted by: Jaima Mar 23 2009, 03:50 PM

"Ah... no," Jaima said, scratching the back of his head, nervously. "I'm just hear with my friend." He took a step back, hoping to put the man's focus back on Darryn. He checked his pokégear, more for a way to take attention from him than anything, since the system was still down. As he waited, smiling stiffly when the man's attention came back to him briefly, he thought of his kids, especially Tsunami, and what was happening with them.

* * * * *

Mercury gazed at the mudkip, who was currently, and patiently, enduring Fang's playful batting. She liked the little pokémon, though she noticed that the water type tired easily. But Grondii had explained that the little new one had been sick sick sick, and now was better but still had to get over being sick sick sick. It was very bad, or had been, but now it was getting better.

Trainer Jaima had left the new pokémon with Grondii, Fang, and her, to help her get used to being owned. And the new pokémon was scared for a while, but the nurse (who blushed when thinking about Trainer Jaima) was very very nice to all of them, and Mercury got to tell Tsumami all about how much Trainer Jaima was a good person, and that they hardly EVER had to go into their pokéballs if they didn't want to.

Shadow was in his ball right now, and he didn't like it, but he trusted Trainer Jaima too. Maybe she should check on Trainer Jaima.

...

Something is wrong. She floated to Grondii and tried to get him to see how wrong something was, it was wrong and bad and wrong! Grondii didn't make her go away, but also said they couldn't do anything about it. Still, something was wrong. Maybe Mindy's new friend could help...

* * * * *

Jaima waited, patiently (which was a feat, as he never liked to wait) when the idea struck him. Maybe a training machine would be good...

Posted by: Living Arrow Mar 23 2009, 05:13 PM

"Well, we help here, yes?" The man reached out and laid a crusty palm on Darryn's arm, leading him to the far side of the dimly lit room where a simple wooden table stood, covered with a dark cloth. The fabric bulged in places, signalling that objects were hidden underneath its shadowed form.

"I-er, yes." Darryn stuttered, uncomfortable thoughts danced through his mind at the little man's touch. Darryn really hated body contact from complete strangers - especially ugly old men. Lady seemed to share his worries as her little face grimaced while she followed them to the table.

"Good, good. You see, we help many types of Pokemon get stronger here but I specialise in evolution, hmm? It is all very well and good providing a power-boosting item to make a Pokemon a tad stronger but complete evolution gives us the best results, oh yes it does." He swept the cloth from the long table, revealing an array of all different sorts of items. Darryn took each one in as quickly as possible, trying to identify any of the many pieces as anything other than junk. A rag here, a cd there. Something that looked like a red box with a skull on. A yellowed old tooth. Then he saw them. At the end of the table, completely seperate from the rest of the items was an array of colourful stones. Even in the dark Darryn could make out the translucent appearance of images within the gems, encased in coloured crystal.

"We take this for example," the man plucked at the yellow stone on the table and twirled it between his fingers. An orange flame seemed to dance within the gem, marking it clearly for what it was.

"A Fire Stone." Darryn mumbled.

"Yes yes! Fire Stone!" THe man agreed, his rasping voice taking on some fitful excitement. "With this we make your Vulpix evolve!"

"VUL!" Lady screamed instantly and hissed, the hair on her back rising menacingly and her tails swaying dangerously over her head.

<Ugly. Old. EVIL.>

"Lady!" Darryn admonished her, giving her a stern look and turning back to the man. "No, I don't want Lady to evolve. Like I said, I have an Eevee - he's the one that I want to evolve."

"But a Ninetails so beautiful... rare... valuble..." The ma muttered darkly.

"Yes, but I am happy with Lady the way she is. My Eevee just needs a little boost to be the best he can be - at the moment he's struggling a bit." Darryn insisted. The man cast him a wry look and kept darting glances at Lady who had still not calmed down completely.

"Ok, I leave you to look around the shop, hmm? You let me know when you find what you need, hmm?" The man offered, backing away from Darryn and Lady slightly.

"Uh sure, thanks," Darryn smiled, secretly shuddering on the inside before looking back at the table and trying to decide what it was that he wanted to do with Eevee...

Posted by: Jaima Mar 24 2009, 02:39 PM

The commotion had caught Jaima's attention. This wasn't overly difficult, since there was nothing to look at. All the interesting things seemed to be on the long table. In truth, Jaima had no desire to force his pokémon to evolve, but he understood that some of them needed to evolve to get stronger, and needed to be made to do so, rather than doing so naturally, as Darryn's Metapod did.

Even so, by the reaction from both Darryn and Lady, she wasn't eager to change, and, more importantly, he wasn't about to force her to do it. This upped the respect Jaima had for the beautification student quite a bit.

Jaima stepped up next to his friend and spoke to him in low tones. "You know, eevee evolve in a lot of different ways... They don't all involve stones." He chewed his lip, then came right out with his reservations. "I don't trust this guy. He seems a little... off." Shrugging, Jaima smirked. "He keeps staring at my balls." Darryn blinked at him, and Jaima's eyes slammed closed. "My... pokéballs... on my belt..."

"But if you want my opinion, I suggest water, electricity, or dark. Water's tough, electricity will take advantage of the training you've given him, and... well... dark's just cool."

Posted by: Living Arrow Mar 26 2009, 01:15 PM

Darryn snorked a laugh at Jaima's 'balls' comment and listened to his advice on Eeveelution.

"Yeah, all those sound cool but I hear that the rarest of them all are native to certain areas of the Sinnoh region and this shop has fragments of the rocks that induce those particular lines..." Darryn frowned. "I never thought making this decision would be so hard..."

As Darryn discussed Eevee's potential pathways with Jaima and took his Pokedex to help them research the possibilities concerned, Lady began to snoop. She padded quietly away from her trainer to look around the rest of the dank room to see if there was anything worth her attention in the grotty hovel. She trotted to the far end of the room, keeping well away from the disgusting old fool near the door, and leapt up to the the nearest table top to get a better look around.

Under her feet on a yellowed piece of paper was a hastily scrawled letter, written in spider-like handwriting, that caused her to frown down at it for some time. A casual onlooker may have thought that the little fox was reading the message but anyone else would know that the once wild creature had no idea how to read the words inscribed under her nose. Her eyes glazed for a moment as a weak Extrasensory passed over it and she shivvered. The paper seemed cold and angry. Emotions were wrought through its fabric that made her want to cry and shout at the same time but she still had no idea what it said - only that it wasn't nice at all. A human, however, would have seen the message and immediately left the shop.

[Mr. Horsham,

Please find enclosed the latest list of Pokemon desired by 'the Boss'. Note that fire types are the must-have this season and fully evolved forms will be richly rewarded.]

That was how the first couple of lines read but all Lady saw was a page of ugly scribbles and ink spots. She gave a nonchalant shrugs and pounced from the table to return to Darryn as unimpressed with her surroundings as before.

<Flareon. The Flame Pokemon.> The Pokedex intoned as Darryn continued to cycle through the options. So far he had been impressed with Jaima's current favourite - Umbreon - and had loved the sleek look of the water evolution, Vaporeon.

"Flareon, yes?" The scabby old man returned to the trainers in an instant, his hunched form sneaking up to them with no warning. Darryn flicnhed and almost dropped his Pokedex altogether.

"Well, I haven't decided," he said to the man politely, "there's so much to consider..."

"Ah, I see..." The man's shifty eyes darted around the room. "Well, I have many things to benefit any fire Pokemon, hmm? Do you have any more with you? If I see them, maybe I can provide some assistance to increase their attack power, yes?"

Darryn tilted his head. "Uh, aside from Lady? Uh? Well, Jaima has a Cyndaquil, right?" He offered his friend a 'whats-the-worst-that-could-happen?' shrug and nodded towards his Pokeballs.

Posted by: Jaima Mar 27 2009, 11:49 AM

Jaima rolled his eyes and plucked the brown and tan pokéball from the bandolier. He had an uneasy feeling, but it felt almost as if it were outside of himself. He was just being paranoid, and the peddler's unclean, overeager look wasn't helping at all.

He pressed the button on the front and allowed the ball to open and dispense it's energy, which coalesced into the form of a cyndaquil. Ember blinked up and looked around the place. She looked dubious, but the peddler rubbed his hands together gleefuly.

"It does things, yes? Show me it's power, and I can help you, hmm?" He didn't look at the trainers, but rather kept his eyes flickering between the cyndaquil and the vulpix. Jaima thought he might be drooling a bit, but hid his distaste.

"She's not well trained. She's not much of a fighter at all, really. I've been lax in her training. But she's got some spark," he added hastily, not wanting to seem like Ember was a weakling. In truth, he knew his lack of training made her less likely to battle.

"Spark, is it?" He knelt down, and Jaima almost stepped forward. "With proper training, she could be a powerhouse, yes?"

"I'm sure of it," Jaima said, confidently. Ember seemed to enjoy the confidence.

"I have just the thing," the peddler said, his voice still. "Wait here, I will get it, yes?"

Without waiting for an answer, the man stepped into the back. Jaima felt his spine straighten in agitation.

"Look, maybe we should go on, wait until we get to Arasa--"

"Douse them, douse them, yes? Knock them out and bring them to me!"

From the back room burst a full team of pokémon. A machoke stepped forward, cracking it's knuckles. Behind it came a kadabra, crackling with psychic energy, and a fat golbat, leering down at them. A graveller stepped out as well, cracking it's massive stone knuckles. Leading them was a poliwrath, which swept Ember and Lady against the wall with a massive Water Gun attack.

* * * * *

Mercury had backed against the wall, her eyes wide but blank. Nurse Joy had no idea what to do, and the kind trainer's bulbasaur, the little ralts' teammate, wouldn't let her near.

nonononobadnonononoscarynonoshadowtrainerjaimanonono MIIIIIIIIIIINDDYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!! MISSSSYYYY!!! The last part of her mental stream came out as a cry, and the ralts leapt into the air, and vanished, leaving the bulbasaur and the Nurse staring at each other in shock.

Posted by: Living Arrow Mar 27 2009, 05:45 PM

"Hey, wha-!" Darryn yelled, moving towards where Lady and Ember had been thrown by the Water Gun attack. His path was instantly blocked by a large purple mass and before he could look up...

"Vital Throw!"

The Machoke hurled Darryn clear across the room where he slammed into the far wall and fell to the ground, gasping for breath. The sound of rushing feet could be heard as Jaima moved to defend him but the Poliwrath and Graveller had cornered the blonde on the other side of the room.

Darryn groaned as he blinked away his daze and strained to ignore the powerful throbbing in his back and side.

"What do you think you're-" He started.

"Air Cutter!" The Golbat was suddenly filling his view. Darryn raised his arms to defend himself at the tearing wind descended but an unanounced flash of light revealed all three of his other Pokemon screaming their defiance as they took the attack instead.

"Everyone, attack together!" He helplessly ordered, sending his tiny Pokemon into the fray with the evolved beasts that filled the room. There was nothing else he could do but watch as his Pokemon fought desperately to protect their trainer in the most dire of situations. He scanned the area where Lady had originally fell but there was no sign of the firefox amid all of the confusion.
Pidgey was thrown upwards into the ceiling by a Psychic attack, Metapod crushed under a Karate Chop and Eevee pelted by a ferocious Wing Attack all so fast that Darryn barely had time to blink. Flashes of light came from where Jaima was battling, too, but Darryn couldn't see past the large shapes around him to really see what was going on.

"Jaima! We've got to get out! Can you see Lady or Ember?!" He yelled, hoping that somehow the other trainer had managed to defend the pair that had been caught so badly off guard.

Posted by: Jaima Mar 30 2009, 12:45 PM

"No!" Jaima was backed in a corner by the massive graveler, who's partner seemed reluctant to fire off any more water with the stone/ground pokémon in front of it. He couldn't see around it, so he couldn't see if Ember was OK, and his heart was pounding in his chest as he groped for the last pokéball on his bandolier. Finally finding it, he released Shadow.

The little riolu took one look at the big stone pokémon and paused. Then he grinned, cracked his knuckles, and launched himself at the rock pokémon. With a mighty kick, he managed to back it up a step, but the poliwrath behind it stepped forward and launched a punch at Jaima. Shadow leapt backwards when he heard his trainer huff, and punished the poliwrath with a kick to the... body... part... thing.

The poliwrath grabbed the riolu and flung him into the air, grabbing him and slamming Shadow to the ground. He was stunned, but not out, not yet. The Graveler converged with the poliwrath and concentrated on helping to pummel the riolu.

You stay 'way from Shadow and Trainer Jaima!

All action seemed to stop as the tiny, blue ralts appeared from nowhere. She used the distraction admirably, picking up leaves from the mulch and crud on the floor and launching it toward the two pokémon, staggering them just enough to let Shadow escape and recover, all the while, mentally howling badbadbadbadbadbadbad!.

The graveller sneered and rolled toward Mercury, who floated straight up with a gasp. He came to a stop next to Jaima, and the world darkened, flashed bright white briefly, and went black.

Posted by: Living Arrow Mar 30 2009, 01:13 PM

"Damn it!" Darryn cursed just as his Metapod went flying past his face. Her stiff body smshed into the wall before sliding to the ground and hanging limp next to him. He was about to reach out to her when Pidgey plopped down alongside his fallen team mate, fathers filling the air as they puffed out of his body.

"No!" Darryn gasped, gathering them up in his arms and retreating to the wall, away from the advancing Pokemon. Somehow, Eevee was still on his feet. The little puppy seemed to be breathing very heavily though as the battle he had been fighting had been very tough, indeed. His tiny frame was swept up in an aura of blue light as the Kadabra used Confusion and flung him to the side brutally. The ball of brown fur tumbled end over end to lay in a heap near the opposite wall.
Darryn moved to rescue him but the Machoke made a sudden advance, blocking him off from the Evolution Pokemon. Darryn turned his body just in time to protect the Pokemon in his arms and received a Karate Chop to the back that threw him to the ground and knocked the wind from him completely. Gasping desperately for air, he rolled over to find the Machoke coming again, a massive fist drawn back for a mighty Dynamic Punch.

"Reeee!" Eevee appeared from nowhere, springing to take the blow, instead.

"Protect!"

The green bubble appeared just in time, the Machoke's fist flashing against the hard surface. Even though Eevee felt no direct pain from the impact, he was still thrown clear of Darryn once more to crash into the long table that he had been looking at before. All of the items on the table were thrown up, into the air where they rained down across the room.

"Get away from me!" Darryn yelled at the three Pokemon that were now surrounding him, malicious intent in their eyes. The way they moved showed that they had no such intention. On they came, menacing shapes in the dark that chilled Darryn right to the core.

"PIDGE!"
"META!"

The Pokemon in Darryn's hands struggled free of his grasp and leapt towards their foes with screams of defiance. With a brilliant white flash, the pair of Pokemon surged towards Darryn's attackers and began to change shape...

Posted by: Jaima Mar 31 2009, 11:45 AM

Jaima couldn't have been out for too long. The fight was still raging. His left cheek was on fire, causing all other sensations to recede to the background. There was water and pebbles on the floor around him, on top of the debris they'd walked in on. He could hear the sound of exhertion, but couldn't open his eyes.

Mercury's here. Shadow's out. Where's Ember? She was hit. Water.

No! Leave Trainer Jaima 'lone!

He could feel the exertion even as a damp hand clawed at his shoulder. He yanked away, sending a wave of dizziness and nausea through him. He pushed himself to his hands and knees and opened one eye.

Shadow leapt into, then through, his field of vision, and Jaima heard a distinctive crunch sound before the riolu flew back through, limp and out of control. He tried to follow, but his neck protested, even as the blue pokémon recovered and came back, attacking again.

A wave of confusion ripped past him, making his head swim worse, but a wet, gurgling roar behind him said that the attack hit it's intended target. Jaima tried to crawl away, only for his arms to give out.

His cheek hit something, on the side that hurt. Something round, and open. Plastic or metal. It cut his cheek, and he moved his hand to brush it away.

He opened his eyes again, and a distinctive tan met them, with steel grey above it. Ember. The thought caused his eyes to open more, hoping to see how his pokémon was.

It wasn't his pokémon. It was her pokéball. Specifically, the lower half. The metal piece was the hinge, which had broken.

Broken..? NO!

Jaima shot up, ignoring the nausea, casting about for Ember. The wet hand grabbed him again, and Jaima grabbed it, pulling it into a spin and tossing it and the body it was attached to away, in desperation.

Trainer Jaima? Mercury's psychic voice was shakey, weak, but Jaima didn't register it. Instead, he kept searching, stumbling because of his headache.

"Ember! Ember!" He cast about, but couldn't find the fire pokémon anywhere. The hand grabbed him, turning him to face an angry poliwrath, who punched Jaima in the stomach and sent him flying. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't think. A flash, like before, but brighter and longer in duration, blinded him, forching his eyes closed. He couldn't open them again. He was so tired...

I told you to leave Trainer Jaima and Shadow alone. Now you've really ticked me off!

The voice, Jaima thought as he blacked out again, was familiar, but at the same time, not so much. He caught a flash of blue and white, whirling around the poliwrath, before he fell and dropped into darkness once more.

Posted by: Living Arrow Apr 1 2009, 01:21 PM

"Pidge-o-ttooooooo!"
"Freeeee!"

Darryn clapped his hands to his ears as one of his newly evolved Pokemon began to scream. Their shrieks of desperation were falling on ears that were FAR from deaf but were certainly pushing them in that direction.
With mighty beats of their wings, the two Pokemon kicked up a swirling Whirlwind that lifted up the Kadabra and Machoke, flinging them to the far wall and pinning them there like ragdolls. Darryn grinned before yelling his support for his freshly evolved pair, urging them to fight hard and strong. That was, however, until the Golbat came surging towards him, fangs glimmering like knives.

From his position on the ground, Eevee couldn't really see all of what was going on but did manage to witness his partners' evolution. He watched with awe as they battled back against their foes and turned the tide of the battle with a simple combination and envied them for their power. A flash of shadows from the corner of his eye announced the reappearance of the Golbat, this time attacking Darryn! Energy surged to Eevee's feet and he dashed to defend his master. He jumped the fragment of table, skidded to a halt between the bat and Darryn before barking a simple 'Vee!' and stamping on the stone that had fallen off the display.

Brilliant white light consumed the Evolution Pokemon as he evolved, growing larger and stronger, his fur extending out into strong points, his legs becoming thinner and firmer.

"Jolteon!" He announced his new form, spitting a lightning bolt from his mouth with alarming ferocity, nailing the flying Pokemon to the ceiling where it crackled and fried under the electrical attack.

Darryn danced for joy, punching the air with enthusiasm.

"That's right! Do it, guys! Show 'em what you're made of!"

Posted by: Jaima Apr 1 2009, 03:54 PM

There was dancing on the other side of the room as well, but not in joy. This dance was a dance of combat, a dance of life and death. Mercury whirled around the poliwrath, dodging it's swiped as she spun around and around it. As she did, leaves strewn in from the street rose in her wake, glowing with otherworldly power, forming clouds and spinning around her like her gauzy skirt-like tails. When she stopped, they continued, breaking into three distinct groupings.

One flew at the poliwrath, cutting it and sending it back. That is for Shadow!

Another whirled and flew, knocking it down. That is for Trainer Jaima!

A third, this one followed with a ripple of air as she followed the magical leaves with a confusion attack. And that is for Ember!

She landed on the ends of her legs, casting about. It was time to deal with the rock.

But the rock was being dealt with. With a screech, Shadow leapt up, slamming a paw into the rock in an uppercut almost worthy of a fighting game, sending it crashing back. The graveler tried to stand, but Shadow bounced from the wall, landing on it with a kick between the eyes.

Jaima dashed past them, heedless of their victories, and Mercury followed, feeling Shadow on her skirttails. The trainer stumbled through the curtain and hit the wall, just as Ember wailed. A bright nimbus of light surrounded her, and she was drawn into a black and green pokéball. The man, wrinkled and grinning gleefully, cackled as he saw Jaima. "Too late, yes! Caught her. You broke her ball, hmm? She's mine now!"

Jaima's lips quivered, and he charged the man, tripping and missing, but knocking a second pokéball away from the vulpix nearby. He stood to his feet, his fists clenched. Long, straggley hair hung in his face in limp clumps, and he glared at the man through a part in the vine-like hanging in front of his eyes.

"Give her back."

"Too late," the man said, scooping up the ball. "It's only fair, yes? The ball breaks, and a new catch is made."

"GIVE. HER. BACK!"

The man sneered and produced a voltorb, which quivered in his palm. Without a word he tossed it in the middle of the room. Instinct took over for Jaima, and he reached out, grabbing the groggy vulpix by the scruff and tossing her into Mercury and Shadow, diving after her when the ball exploded.

When the dust cleared, the man, and Ember, were gone.

"Dammit," Jaima whispered brokenly, and though Mercury and Shadow clung to him, he could only stare into the doorway where his first pokémon had disappeared.

Posted by: Living Arrow Apr 5 2009, 01:42 PM

"GIVE. HER. BACK!"

Darryn's head whipped around to see the old man dashing away, leaving a stunned Jaima to stare after his stolen Cyndaquil. A massive pang of pity flashed through Darryn as he saw the pain stricken expression explode across Jaima's face - a look of utter despair as his Pokemon was stolen away from him. Darryn's attention was snapped away again almost immediately as his new Jolteon went dashing past, chasing down the Golbat to attack it once more.

<The theft.> Lady suddenly announced in Darryn's head, her proud nose pointing in his direction. She seemed to have recovered at least a little from the surprise attack that had caught her so offguard and was radiating angry thoughts towards her trainer. <Defeat the weak and ugly.>

Darryn bit his lip. Yes, he really wanted to run and help Jaima and get Ember back, but there was no way he could just leave his other Pokemon to battle with no support. He'd need to finish the battle quickly and cleanly... But he knew so little about his new Pokemon... But maybe there was one way to finish it as smoothly as possible...

"Butterfree! Use Sleep Powder!" He commanded. "Everyone else get out of here!"

Jolteon spat lightning onto the Golbat once more, shocking it into the path of Pidgeotto who threw it into the Kadabra and Machoke with a mighty Whirlwind. As one, the pair shot out through the open doorway as Butterfree began to spin, the scales on her wings fragmenting and shattering to release a heavy dose of sleep-inducing dust into the small shop. Darryn ran to collect Lady, scooping her up in his arms, and ushered Jaima and his Pokemon towards the nearest exit.

"Jaima! Go go! We can still catch him if we hurry!" Darryn urged his friend to take up pursuit as the final Pokemon fell under Butterfree's sleepy spell.

Posted by: Jaima Apr 6 2009, 03:14 PM

Jaima shuddered, then surged to his feet, panting. Darryn's shout seemed to come from far away, but the message still spurred him on. They could catch him. They could get Ember back.

Trainer Jaima!

Jaima almost ignored Mercury's mental summons, but it was so full of panic that he turned anyway. Shadow was dragging his leg, determined to keep fighting, but obviously injured. Mercury floated next to him, worried to touch him lest she hurt him.

Panic welled in his own throat. "Can you teleport him back to the nurse?" He fell to his knees next to Shadow, who bared his teeth as Jaima reached for him.

He won't let me! Mercury sounded distraught.

Time was wasting. Ember was getting further away. Finally, Jaima scooped up the riolu and the kirlia. "Darryn! Shadow's hurt! See if Lady will consent to contacting Mercury if you find him, and she'll lead me back once I have Shadow situated!"

Eeeewww, Mercury mindwhined, even as Jaima dashed off, clutching her and a struggling Shadow.

Posted by: Living Arrow Apr 7 2009, 01:46 PM

Darryn balked for a moment. He felt so shockling honored and yet horrified all in one instant. Jaima trusted him to find Ember on his own? Darryn could see that Shadow was injured but that was what a Pokeball was for in Darryn's book. Pokemon gets hurt, put it in a ball, go to a Pokemon Center when you're ready. Simple as that. And yet Jaima was keen to get the Riolu treated as quickly as humanly possible. He really *did* care for Pokemon on a whole different level than Darryn. Maybe it was a good thing he was so close to his partners? That sort of bond would have to take quite some time to build up so maybe that was why Darryn didn't feel as strongly...

"Sure, Jaima..." Darryn called after the other trainer who was running back towards the Pokemon Center. "I'll get her back... And you'll help, won't you Lady?" The Vulpix gave a solemn nod after a brief pause. "So let's get started! Pidgeotto! Up - scout for that old guy from the air. You too, Butterfree!"

The two flying types immediately swept up into the dark sky, shadows ghosting across the stars.

"OK. Now, Lady - is there any way for you to try and track why this guy was going? Maybe using Extrasensory?" Darryn hoped for a miracle but got none.

<Ugly has no presence in my mind.> She told him, her chestnut eys ablaze with fury.

"Right... Jolteon? Do you have any techniques that might help track down Ember?" Darryn asked. His Pokemon looked extremely forlorn as he weakly shook his head and averted his gaze to the ground. "Don't worry, Jolteon - Pidgeotto and Butterfree will do their best. Try not to worry too much, OK? Let's start searching with our eyes, yeah? Looking the old fashioned way might just work. Let's split up and meet back here in about an hour. Sound good?"

The pair of canines nodded to their trainer before bounding off in separate directions. Darryn watched them go until all he could hear was the faint chime of Lady's Soothe Bell before he also ran down the nearest street, hoping desperately that somehow he could find Jaima's stolen Cyndaquil.

Posted by: Jaima Apr 7 2009, 05:57 PM

Ember's out there, Ember's out there, Ember's out there

It was a litany that repeated with every step he took. Shadow was hurt, Mercury was tired, and still all he could think was that Ember was out there, somewhere, scared, in the clutches of an evil man willing to kill people and pokémon, who had who knew what in mind for her.

He felt cold against his cheeks as he ran, and realized he must be crying.

Ember would understand. The words caressed his mind, but did nothing to calm him. The words were true. He recognized the conviction in the sentence. A hundred images flashed past him that confirmed it, from Ember stepping forward to protect one of the younger members of the team, to the time she jumped into battle against Lemonade when Fang was knocked out, to the simply motherly way she looked at them all, even Grondir.

But he couldn't get the feeling out of his mind, that he was betraying her. He could have put Shadow in his pokéball and continued the chase. But who knew how long he would languish in there? There was no evidence that being in a pokéball reduced or eliminated pain felt, in fact, poison affects lingered even while the pokémon was in the ball. He couldn't take the risk. He wouldn't take the risk.

And Ember would approve of that. If she knew, or if she found out after he got her back, she would approve of Jaima making sure Shadow was safe and healed and well before he went after her.

He set off an explosion with a pokémon in an enclosed room. A powerful one. He probably trained the pokémon not to hold back and kill itself to set off an explosion. What is that monster doing to Ember?!

Calm.

How can I be calm? How can I calm down in the face of this?

You have to calm down, you're holding us too tight!

Jaima took a breath, loosened his grip, and turned the corner. He saw the pokécenter and sprinted ahead, bursting through the door as they opened.

The Nurse behind the camera gave a startled squeak, reaching for something behind the counter before recognizing the trainer bursting into the center.

"Mr. Kuonji! What's wrong?"

Jaima put Shadow on the counter, painting, hanging off of if, trying to catch his breath. He couldn't speak, but the efficiency of the nurse willed out. She began examining the riolu, despite the fact that he was baring his teeth and growling at her.

Calm down, Shadow. Don't bite the Nurse, Shadow. Stop trying to force palm her, Shadow. CUT IT OUT, YOU LITTLE RUNT!

Mercury put her hands tro her small mouth, looking stricken, but the last outburst must have worked. Shadow stopped struggling and let the Nurse check on him. If he seemed stricken, the Nurse didn't touch on it.

I'm sorry, Shadow, I'm sorry...

"He's broken his leg. Your r- OH!" The Nurse made a double take. "This is the little ralts, right? But she's not a ralts, she's evolved! Congratulations!" When Jaima simply looked at her, as if she'd suggested he put an injured pokémon in a pokéball (as if she'd ever suggest such cruelty). After a few moments of awkward silence, she licked her lips.

"Mr. Kuonji, is something... is something wrong?" The trembling in her voice brought about a clenching of Jaima's jaw. "I-I'm sorry if I did or... or said--"

"Someone stole Ember. My cyndaquil. Someone stole her right out from under me. While I was standing there."

The Nurse put a hand to her mouth in stunned silence. She looked as if she were going to weep, but Jaima simply stared at his clenched fist.

"I'll watch after this one, Mr. Kuonji. Please go and see if you can find her." She did let tears slip down her face, then, but otherwise continued with her examination.

Jaima stood, then growled. "Fang! Grondir! We need you!" Jaima looked at Mercury, who was still watching Shadow, who was still looking away. She straightened. I'm ready..

Grondir and Fang stepped up, and Mercury looked at them, bringing them up to speed. They reacted and bristled, and, without another word, Jaima and the rest of his team dashed out the door.

Nurse Joy wept.

Posted by: The Rose Crusader Apr 7 2009, 09:16 PM

Melinda and Darck stopped rushing toward the site of the commotion as they stumbled upon a peculiar scene. They had entered a decrepit junkyard: rotting garbage and old automobiles in pyramids surrounded them. The contaminated river that the couple had seen early on in Lenoilia made reappeared, this time cutting through the dump. There was a massive gathering of pokemon at what seemed to be a platform on which one pokemon was raised above the rest. Melinda hadn't recognized the particular species of pokemon they were observing. They weren't small, but certainly were not large, around two feet in length. They were like little green elves, all standing in a slow moving line, waiting for their chance to see the pokemon on the podium. It was their purple and black leaves that had initially confused Melinda, but it all became clear quickly.

Back in Floaroma Town, Melinda had many friends; both pokemon and human alike. Her best pokemon friend Combee always loved to play in the Roselia's land where she could pollinate known as the Floaroma Meadow. Melinda spent a lot of time in the Rose Grove, an extension of the Floaroma meadow, and knew some extensive information about the Roselia that inhabited it. For example, “Roselia seem to be peaceful Pokémon, but can attack fiercely with powerful poisonous attacks upon sensing danger”, was one of the many lines of information she remembered looking up in the Poképedia about Roselia. This particular species had always captured the mind and heart of Melinda. They were her favorite pokemon species. Melinda was convinced; she simply had to have one.

But these Roselia were different. The ones in the Rose Grove back in Floaroma were a more relaxed shade of green and had red and blue rose petals. The Roselia in Lenoilia town looked contaminated: their coloring had tints of yellow and their petals were purple and black. This would be expected, Melinda thought, of pokemon living in such a horrible destitute habitat. All of the pokemon must have deteriorated with the town as the pollution from Petropolis infected the once thriving city. As Melinda got up to advance towards the colony of Roselia, Darck stopped her.

“Shh,” he whispered. “Let’s see what they’re doing.” He had a point. There had to be a reason that all of the Roselia were gathered around another one. The couple stealthily made their way behind heaps of junk, trying to get closer and obtain a better view of this “ceremony”. As Melinda and Darck settled behind a few used up oil containers and observed the Roselia’s odd ritual.

Posted by: Living Arrow Apr 12 2009, 06:24 AM

Fire burned in Darryn’s muscles as they screamed for more air, forcing his lungs to work into overdrive as he ran through Lenoilia. The darkened streets became endless corridors of black that mocked the trainer’s efforts to locate the stolen Pokemon. His ragged breaths snatched at the foul-tasting air and his teeth clamped tight as he focused on the task at hand.

I’ve got to find her! Jaima left it up to me! He told himself, sprinting to the next corner and taking a left. The hour he had given his own Pokemon was almost up but he was saving every possible second of that time in the hope that he could cover enough ground to locate the thief and rip him a new oesophagus. It was my fault we were even in that place! If we don’t get her back I don’t know what I’ll do… Jaima will hate me. Probably Mindy, too. It’s my faut!

“Free!” A shadow swept overhead as Darryn’s newly evolved Butterfree drew down towards him. He didn’t take time to notice her stunning appearance. He couldn’t see the perfect formation of the scales on her immaculately shaped scroll-style wings. He didn’t observe the way in which her delicately grown antennae bent and flexed with a mind of their own to display her emotions of fear and worry. He just saw a tool for the situation he was in. He was desperate and his tools were what he needed to fix the shattered night of ruin.

“Butterfree!” He gasped, continuing to run towards the rendezvous point. “Any luck?” The bug type’s weak utterance and shake of head nearly made Darryn spit. She had, just like him, failed. He didn’t speak to her further, focusing only on finding his other tools and finding out their progress.
By the time he reached the alley where they started, Darryn’s body was in fits of pain but he ignored it completely. Anger had taken over all control when he saw what was waiting for him. Lady and Jolteon sat at the agreed meeting place, their sides heaving with exhaustion.

“You both failed, too?” He spat. “Why are you all so weak?! We need to find that man! Jaima is counting on us to find Ember and get her back! Don’t you know how he feels for his Pokemon? Don’t you get it?!” He screamed at the collected Pokemon, restraining himself from actually hitting any of them.

“Geooh!” A black flurry of wings announced Pidgeotto’s return as he plummeted from the sky to collapse in an awkward heap on the cobbles.

“Well?!” Darryn yelled, hurrying to the bird and holding him up to the scarce light from the street lamps. Pidgeotto shook his head weakly and passed out, his eyes rolling far back in his avian skull. “Dumb bird. Get in the ball!” He held up the Premier Ball to suck the flying type back inside. “In fact, all of you get inside.” He recalled Butterfree and Jolteon with speed but as he reached for the Heal Ball, his hand grasped at nothing.

<Stop.> Lady’s voice announced in his head for the first time since his return. He whirled to look at her and found the Heal Ball under her foot. He frowned.

“What do you think you’re doing?” He snorted.

<You are become weak.> Lady intoned, her brown-eyed gaze shimmering in the dark.

“Me weak!?” Darryn laughed. “They all evolved and they still aren’t what I want them to be! If they haven’t gotten stronger then why did they even bother?”

<You. Protection.> Lady said, her tails waving menacingly over her head. <Strong now. Protect you.>

“Well why can’t they use that to protect Jaima’s Cyndaquil, huh?” Darryn retorted.

<Fastfoot. Go far and fast. Scuttleflier view many places. Featherfall go even farther. He leave hard ground and return. They weak no more. You weak.> Lady berated him, her eyes flashed with conviction. Darryn blinked.

“My Pidgeotto? Flew right out of the city? That’s impossible! He’s fat and that’s too far even for a normal Pokemon to manage.” Darryn protested.

<Now strong.> Lady insisted. <See us. Hear us. We strong for you.>

Darryn gasped. The agony of his own limbs seemed to be completely numbed by his insightful partner. While he had been so focused and harsh she, most surprisingly of all his Pokemon, understood best what had transpired that night. Ember’s theft had been out of his hands but to try and protect him three of his Pokemon had evolved. Not only that, but they had gotten so much stronger in the process and he hadn’t even noticed. If they had the sorts of feelings for him that they would go that far to defend him, why hadn’t he noticed it sooner? Because he was more focused on how they looked and how that made him look as a trainer?

Lady’s gaze seemed far away for a brief moment before she sent Darryn one last message.

<Longman return. He understand.> She said calmly. <Be strong.>

Posted by: Jaima Apr 13 2009, 12:51 PM

Jaima had long since stopped running. Mercury was quiet, and, though Grondir and Fang were both confused, they seemed to understand the implications. Fang bounced around, eager to do something to find Ember, and could only content himself with pointless action. Grondir, on the other hand, kept a steady pace, watching each corner and alleyway with suspicion.

"Mercury," Jaima said, his voice catching. He'd known this would happen. He'd known that if he left Darryn and his pokémon, he'd never catch up with the person who'd taken Ember from him. The choice had seemed so easy at the time, and now seemed like it was the biggest mistake of his life.

I can't find her, Mercury finally admitted, her voice so quiet and full of grief that Jaima nearly broke into tears right then and there. I haven't been able to track her since the explosion. The thief isn't anywhere nearby, either.

"H-how can you tell," Jaima asked in a raspy voice. Mercury didn't look at him.

Darryn is three blocks away, and angry. Lady is angry as well, at Darryn. All of Darryn's Pokémon feel hurt and confused, and are in their pokéballs. There is a woman in an apartment feeling depressed and in despair. She's going to sleep now. She paused, then, when her voice came back, it was stronger, angrier. You blame yourself for this. If I can feel all that, I'd find the thief. Because he'd be scared, or he'd be happy, or I could find SOMETHING to make him PAY!

Jaima stopped. Mercury was right. He blamed himself. "So do you," he said gently, and Mercury whirled.

I'm a pokémon! I should have been faster or... or stronger somehow!

"And I'm your trainer. I never should have put her in that kind of danger to begin with." Jaima sighed. The face of Mercury's self-loathing had the unexpected yet welcome effect of keeping him from sinking into his own. He looked at her, unable to smile, but told her the truth as it was on his heart. "I'm proud of you, and Shadow. You fought hard and managed to face down real danger from evolved pokémon."

Mercury sniffed, and turned away. Jaima sighed again. "Grondir, Fang... stay close. I didn't bring your pokéballs with me. Fang, on your spot."

Both pokémon dropped visibly, and Fang had to be lifted to Jaima's shoulders. He gave a low, keening mewl and was silent.

This way, Trainer Jaima, Mercury said, drifting toward Darryn's spot. He found his friend standing numbly on a street corner. He looked dazed, ashamed, and lost in thought.

"Let's go back, Darryn," Jaima said. "There's nothing more we can do. I'll... I'll leave it to the Jennys."

* * * * *

As it turned out, when they returned to the pokémon center, an Officer Jenny was there, speaking with a hand-wringing teen Nurse Joy. She stood as he entered, and the Joy flushed and looked away.

"Joy asked me to come by," she said, looking at him with an expression that was not unkind. "She said you lost a pokémon..?"

"She was stolen," he said, amazed that he could get the words out. Jenny's eyes softened. She was an older Jenny, in contrast to the young Joy, and seemed tired. She actually appeared to slump when he mentioned Ember'd been stolen.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Kuonji. No one cares about Lenoilia, so people get away with things... it's not chronic enough to justify a task force, but pokémon get stolen pretty often here."

Jaima did not look up, but nodded, staring at the ground. He answered Jenny's questions automatically, with Mercury helping him fill in the details. Jenny was impressed at both Darryn and Jaima's pokémon, and if she wanted to admonish them for trying to find the man on their own, she refrained.

"We'll do what we can, Mr. Kuonji." She squeezed his arm softly and walked out the door. No one needed to hear the "but there's not much we can do," part of her statement.

"Thank you, Joy," Jaima said, bowing, politely but woodenly. Joy sniffed.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Kuonji. I wish I could do something."

Jaima looked her in the eye, and she bit her lip. "I wish I could, too. May I use your phone?"

Joy pointed to the corner, where a seldom used, worn down phone station sat. The screen seemed to have escaped any vandalism. Jaima considered not activating it anyway.

Before he could turn it off, a face appeared, light green hair framing it, eyes lighting up when she saw who it was. "Jaima! Are you all right? The Pokégear system is down, and Mr. Postman tells me you're in a place he's not-- Jaima?"

Jaima stared at his mother's image, fervently wishing that he was home. He'd only felt worse than this once, and then he'd forced himself to be strong. He was finding it nearly impossible to be strong now.

"Mom," he said, his voice cracking with the strain of keeping it steady. "Mom, some-- someone..."

"Jaima, it's OK. Just take it slow..."

"Someone took Ember."

The words hung in the air, and then tears were dropping from Jaima's face, blurring the stricken look on his mother's image, blurring the walls, and the phone, and the world. He put his head on the table and bawled.

Posted by: Living Arrow Apr 13 2009, 02:05 PM

Darryn couldn't bear to watch Jaima cry as it threatened to draw tears from his own eyes with the contagion of sorrow so he moved back to the admissions desk to leave his Pokemon for recovery. Lady protested at first but rather than kick up too much of a fuss she merely waited to be put back in her ball and passed to Nurse Joy. He breathed a sigh of exhaustion and moved to sit on his own at the general waiting area, calmly focusing on his breathing. His father had always taught him that a man should save up his tears for when he was alone before he let them out and when he did that it should be short-lived and completely controlled. As such, Darryn merely sat and thought, waiting for a time to release his emotions more amicably to his surroundings.

*I really did think Jaima would blame me but he's being so understanding about this... I hope he isn't blaming himself - it was my fault, after all... He's going to need loads more support now... Did he say Ember was his very first Pokemon? Oh, why don't I pay more attention?!*

"Mister Kellor?" The nurse called from the desk, waving him to come over. Jaima's plight had affected the woman, too. Her eyes were red from where she had been rubbing away tears but at least she was keeping busy to quell her sympathy. "I was running some scans and I have to say well done."

"Wha-?" Darryn frowned, looking over the short report that the Nurse handed to him.

"Preliminary readings show that when your three Pokemon evolved, their health improved rather substantially. Your Pidgeotto is now its optimum weight and its feathers are firmer and do not fall out like they did before. I measured the ideal wing shape to determine how it should be raised from now and I'm very pleased to say that this Pokemon can utilise both speed-based attacks and distance-based attacks. In other words, it is extremely versatile.

Now, your Butterfree has undergone a major change. It has evolved twice in one week and so I would normally expect it to be in a bad way considering the pressures that go on inside a Pokemon's body when it evolves. Instead, your Butterfree is in a wonderful condition. I have noted, however, that its breathing has become strained since you came in with her in her Metapod stage. I fear Lenoilia's pollution may have caused it... Even so, some fresh air should clean her right up!

And your Jolteon is also doing well. His hips are now perfectly aligned so his agility no longer has any hinderances. One odd thing I did notice about him though is his peculiar electrical field. It seems to have a life of its own, controlled by how he is feeling. If you see his fur soften and become flat to his body, that just means he is calm and not generating any excess static charge, so don't worry about that.

Now, I've listed some changes that theyve gone through and how you can manage certain things about their health and appearance in the coming weeks to get them to their top form for you to read while I finish their treatment. I hope that's alright?"

Darryn's wide-eyed thanks silently gaped from his mouth which was doing a very neat impression of a Magikarp. "I, er... thanks!" The Nurse bobbed a curtsey and went back to the operating theatre to tend Darryn's Pokemon while he completed reading the report.
According to the data given to him, Darryn could now see that his Pokemon had not only become healthier but also stronger. Each one had new attacks that seemed to have developed from their previous equivalent moves. Pidgey's Gust was now Pidgeotto's Whirlwind and his Tackle had become a Quick Attack. Butterfree's movepool had exploded into a variety of new techniques and Jolteon had picked up the all important electric attacks courtesy of the Thunder Stone...

*They did this all for me?* Darryn mused as he sat back down to wait for Mindy's return and Jaima's emotional phonecall to end.

Posted by: Jaima Apr 14 2009, 05:04 PM

Jaima felt as if his heart had shattered into tiny shards and leaked out his eyes. However, once he was finally able to control his thoughts again, he could feel that, yes, it had broken, but only some of the anger and self-loathing inside it was gone.

He still blamed himself. How could he not? But there was room in it now to possibly forgive himself.

"Jaima-chan? Ogenki desu?"

Jaima blinked, seeing blurred table beneath his eyes. That was his mother's voice, and she was speaking softly... Oh, right! He'd called her!

"Bmomb?" He sniffed, raising his head and wiping his eyes roughly, more to clear them than out of anger. "You're still on the phonde?"

"Of course I'm still on the phone, Jaima! What kind of mother hangs up when their child is weeping?"

"Um... one on a budget?"

Midori Kuonji smiled. "You called me, dear."

"Crud," Jaima replied, thinking of how much he was going to owe for the call. Midori's smile widened slightly.

"Jaima, I know you're hurting, but please don't blame yourself."

Jaima took in a shuddering breath. He smiled, or tried to, and nodded. "OK, mom."

"Young man," Midori snapped, firmly. Jaima straightened on instinct alone. "That act never works. Promise me you'll try not to blame yourself!"

"Yes'm!" Jaima swallowed, then smiled sheepishly. "Thanks, Mom."

"Tsk. You're my son. Of course I'm here for you." His mother smiled. "Anytime."

The connection closed with parting "I love you"s, and Jaima walked to the nurse's station. Joy was busying herself, and it had only then struck him that he must have made a scene. When she turned, her eyes were rimmed with red. Jaima's heart sank.

"I'm, um, sorry you had to see that," he muttered. "Hard day."

Joy reached out and touched his hand. "It's understandable, Mr. Kuonji." She attempted to look more cheerful, and, actually, succeeded, but seemed self conscious about that. "How may I help you?"

"Is Shadow OK? My riolu?"

"Oh! Yes, he's mended up just fine. It was a sprain, and I've got him in a potion bath to speed healing. May I have a look at your kirlia?"

Mercury floated over to her, and Joy checked her vitals, stroking her blue crest lightly. "She's an alarming specimen, if neither of you mind me saying so. I've never seen one with a blue crest before." Joy handed her a mint, and Mercury took it, popping it into her mouth.

If I told you to stop blaming yourself, would you?

I'll answer you as honestly as you answered your mother...

Touché... at least try, OK?

I will... I have to talk to Shadow.

"She'd like to speak with Shadow. Can you let her rest in the back?"

Joy smiled. "Certainly." She took Mercury by the hand and lead her to the back room. When she came back, Jaima smiled, shakily.

"My party and I will need rooms for the night. Do you have openings?" Even he, in his addled, grieving state, knew it was a dumb question."

"Yes, sir," Joy said, biting her lower lip. Jaima smiled a little more firmly.

"Thank goodness, I thought we'd have to sleep outside."

Joy's eyes widened, and she barked a laugh, then covered her mouth. Jaima looked at his hands. If he could joke, maybe this wasn't the end of the world.

So why did he feel guilty.

"I'll let my companions decide how to room up, but I'd like to have a room to myself... so as many as four, please."

"Certainly, Mr. Kuonji."

"Call me Jaima."

Joy smiled, a genuine happy smile, and bowed slightly. "All right. Jaima."

She passed a key to Jaima. He tapped it lightly against the counter and walked to Darryn.

"Sorry about that." He didn't look at Darryn, and didn't give him a chance to speak, because he was starting to feel bad again. And he wanted a shower.

"I've taken a room alone tonight. I... I just need some time." He moved to leave, then stopped. "I've been saying this to everyone, but Mercury told me something while we were still out. Don't blame yourself. I mean... had three opponents, and... anyway. Merc said you were really mad. Your team did a good job. Thank 'em for me."

He was starting to tear up again, so he walked away, hoping to apologize for his rudeness later.

When he got to his room, He found a surprise. "Oh! ... wait a minute, Mr. Postman?"

The green Swellow was on his bed, holding a single letter in his beak. "What are you doing here? Mom said you didn't want to come here."

The swellow dropped his letter, indicated it, and gave a soft "swell."

"Thanks. Um... you can roost here if you'd like. I have the room to myself."

Mr. Postman ducked his head, indicating the letter, then hopped to the other bed. "Swell."

Jaima took it and sat at the desk, unfolding it. It hadn't been in an envelope, and looked like it might have fallen off of a postal pokémon's package purse.

... Why am I thinking in alliteration?

* * * * *

Mr. Postman, stop teasing him!

* * * * *

Jaima shrugged and read the letter.

Jaima blinked. "Hey! This isn't for me! It's for some guy named Brone!"

"Swell," Mr. Postman said sleepily. Jaima sighed. He still had an urge to answer it. Besides, he wouldn't SEND it...

Hello, Tuesday.

I'm sorry if this is unexpected. My postal pokémon must have found your letter and sent it to me by mistake. I had it halfway read before I realized it wasn't from my sisters (you're a lot like them, but a little better read... don't blame them, they're ten, and... well... not fond of books.) Still, I shouldn't have read it.

Sometimes my postal pokémon's smarter than people think he is. He's here in a place called Lenoilia, which is a real stinkhole (you might not even wish your sister here. But then, you might. You don't seem to like her much). If you ever find your way here, pass through as fast as possible and head to Arasam or Gigarte. Gigarte is awesome, but there're two nurses there. One's kind of... mean. She doesn't like trainers much. But the city itself is really neat! (avoid the Pokéking, though. The food is... well, ew.)

Forgive me my indiscretions, I've had a bad day. I don't even think I'll send you this. It's just nice to write things down. I've had the worst day since...

My dad died six years ago, and somehow today was almost worse.

I kind of don't want to go into detail. I don't know why. Maybe it's because it'll make it more real if I do.

Good luck in your travels.

Jaima Kuonji.

P.S. I thought the joke about Dante was kind of funny, actually.

He folded the letter and put it on top of the first. He'd have Mr. Postman take the letter to it's proper owner. If Jaima was right about the Swellow, he'd be able to tell just by touching it.

He went to the shower and took a long, hot one. When he came back, Mr. Postman and the letters - both of them - were gone.

"Aw, man!"

Posted by: The Rose Crusader Apr 14 2009, 09:48 PM

The poisoned Roselias all huddled around another, observing one sitting above the rest. She was separated from the rest of the colony for a reason; she looked nothing like them. Above the others she sat on a throne of junk, empty oil tankers and broken down cars. But unlike the others, this Roselia was, for lack of a better word, pure. Instead of the poisoned appearance of her friends, this Roselia's coloring was beautiful shades of red and blue, just like the ones back in Floaroma Town. Pure. Melinda dubbed her Rose, to keep her separated from the rest of the pack. As Mindy looked harder, she noticed that all of the other Roselia's around her were males. She had learned how to differentiate their genders from the Poképedia: males have shorter skirts than females. Melinda observed as each male Roselia tried to impress Rose. They showed off impressive arrays of moves, strut their stuff, or even tried singing to her. Rose sat still, unimpressed by what they had to offer her. As the rejected Roselia's left the line and retreated to the back, slowly creeping forward again, their motive became very clear.

It only took her a moment, but then, Mindy gasped.

"What's wrong Melinda?" Darck asked inquisitively. Like her, Darck had been paying close attention to the ritual, but he couldn't make heads or tails of it. "Are you okay?"

Melinda was breathing heavily, but she would be fine. "Yeh-Yes...Ih-I'm fine." she sputtered out. "It's just...astounding" Melinda said with amazement in her voice.

“What's so amazing? Their just courting and al-"

"No, no Darck, it's much more than that," Mindy announced, her eyes never steering away from a depressed looking Rose.

There was a long silence before either of them spoke again. Melinda continued to observe the 'dance'. One by one, the miserable looking Rose rejected the Roselia. Melinda picked herself up, fully recovering from the initial shock and spoke:

"She's just like me."

Posted by: The Rose Crusader Apr 15 2009, 09:45 PM

“Leave me alone!” Melinda cried as she ran through the fields. The sky had darkened upon Floaroma town, and Mindy felt a slight drizzle on her face. Flowers and plants below were crushed as stomping feet mowed over them. Melinda’s pursuers would not cease, however, and continued after the girl. With Combee gone, the only hope Mindy had was the Flower Shop, but she had been picking berries and was far away from her safe haven. Suddenly Melinda tripped on a big vine. She yelped in pain as she fell to the wet earth. Her face head smacked the ground, her face covered in moistened soil. As she struggled to get up, her arm was grabbed. Melinda whipped her head around to face a grinning boy her own age. Melinda’s screams were stifled as the boy dragged her away from the well-worn path, and into the darkness.

The memories still haunt Melinda today. This was how it began: the flirting, the courting. Mindy just wasn’t interested; she could do so much more than just a housewife! And she knew it to! She rejected everything they offered her, no matter how wonderful it all seemed. Of course, that depends on how you define wonderful. Mindy’s take on the word wonderful was nothing like theirs. The open road, exciting adventures, new and mysterious places! That was Mindy’s idea of wonderful. The things her potential suitors presented to her were nothing like that, the exact opposite of what she really wanted from life.

So Melinda rejected it. Everything. And just look what happened to her?



The relentless procession of Roselia’s continued to stupefy Rose. The perfect, pure, specimen of her species, Rose was the apple of all the Roselia’s eyes. All that they offered to her was wonderful by their standards, but Rose wanted more. Much more from life. The open road, exciting adventures, new and mysterious places! Not the provincial shithole of Lenoilia! As she unfocused her brain, she noticed two creatures observing the procession, one much more intently than the other. Eventually, the two made eye contact. It was then that...



...something sparked within Melinda. A long lost sister? An identical twin? These two eyes that met reflected like a mirror into two undifferentiated souls.

It was at that moment that the two diamonds in the rough sparkled like they never had before. A connection, a link, had been created. It was nothing like...



...Rose had ever experienced before. All she knew, the accepted, the ordinary, the status quo, went away. Instead, there was something new. Something that surely was not there before, and Rose was sure that it would never leave.



Melinda got up from her crouched position, completely compromising the couple’s stealth-like state. Darck reached out, but was unable to stop Melinda. All of the Roselia stopped as Mindy walked herself over to the back of the line of Roselia. Melinda would make sure that this situation would not end up like hers did.

Posted by: Living Arrow Apr 18 2009, 05:30 PM

"Sorry Nurse Joy," Darryn shrugged across the counter, "I don't mean to make your job harder or anything like that but can you see my Pokemon one more time this evening?"

The Nurse quirked an eyebrow and tutted, accepting Darryn's tray of Pokeballs for the third time that day and took them to the back room for healing. Her Chansey darted after her obediently but not before shaking an annoyed fist... stump at Darryn with a curt "Chan!" to tell him not to expected treatment a fourth time that day. Darryn had absolutely no probelm with that setup. In fact, he hadn't even really wanted to battle Kat but she had kinda forced him into it which had, luckily for him, resulted in another victory for Team Kellor.

Kicking back in one of the Waiting Area armchairs, Darryn flipped the channels on the TV to try and find something to pass the time until Mindy's return. He wondered if Darck would still be with her whe she came back. If so, at least Darryn could have something nice to look at before he went to bed. For comfort's sake, he had signed up for himself and Mindy to share a room so he could fill her in on the details that had transpired that evening and see what she had been up to in the meantime.

With a relaxed sigh, Darryn rested his head and tried to quell thoughts of guilt as The Poké Make-Over Show Began...

Posted by: The Rose Crusader Apr 19 2009, 04:28 PM

The line grew shorter as Melinda made her way to the front of the line. Rose's demeanor stayed the same: unimpressed, bored, wanting something more. Melinda knew that she could give her just hat.

More.

As there was only one group of Roselia stood in front of Mindy, something unexpected happened. The group of Roselia suddenly leaped from their positions towards Rose! "Not again! Not ever again!" Melinda thought loudly. She was ready though, and she would make sure it wouldn't happen again. Melinda threw out her pokeball quickly and Swellow appeared out of a white explosion towards the attacking Roselia. "Stop them!" Melinda cried. Swellow swooped into the fray faster than the Roselia could jump and swiped all of them away with a wing. A cringing Rose shuddered and opened her eyes after realizing the danger was gone.

But it wasn't.

The Roselia's that had been behind Mindy suddenly sprung forward, all wanting Rose. Needing Rose. It was then that Melinda jumped into the fray, shocking all of the Roselia.

"STOP IT, STOP IT RIGHT NOW!" She cried, putting herself between hordes of Roselia and Rose. "Don't you all get it? Rose can't be with you, she just can't. She is pure, you are all tainted; each and every one of you! Why can't you all just understand that she was made for more than this provincial life!" Mindy pleaded. But the Roselia would not listen. They were not even conscious, in a trance created by Rose's beauty. Melinda looked behind to find Rose curled up and crying in the corner.

No. Not again.

Melinda's eyes turned red. Her hair shot out into spikes. Two red eyes appeared beside her, and her mouth grimacing. Her nails grew feet in length and she began to froth at the mouth. Electricity sparkled from one hand while fire burned on the other. "Melinda started cackling, howling at her aggressors. It was not an earthly screech, but something far beyond the mental capacity of a mere human. The demonic presence was evidence as her emotions completely took over Melinda. The clouds darkened and thunder and lightning crashed in front of Melinda, inches away from the horde of Roselia. As she reached out to them with her burning hand and her hand cackling with electricity, they all ran away. Scared shitless, they all retreated. Every one of them. The lightning strikes followed them, however, so they ran faster, yelping and jumping with fear.

Then, everything disappeared. Melinda started laughing, hysterically even. Swellow joined in to, as did a Misdreavus who suddenly appeared out of nowhere. She was breathing heavily, that saintly little ghost, but she had done great. As soon as Melinda had calmed herself down, she noticed Darck with a suspicious look on his face. "It's alright Darck, it was just Misdreavus!" With a sigh of relief the boy gave her an okay, but preferred to keep his distance.

Melinda turned to Roselia, who had started chuckling with her. The two locked into each other's gazes as Melinda opened her mouth to speak: "Rose, would you like to come with us?" Mindy asked. Swellow stood proudly beside Melinda and Misdreavus perched on her shoulder, both smiling happily. The pokemon gave Melinda a good hard look. "We can travel to far off places, distant lands! We can battle together, you and me! And Swellow, and Misdreavus, and maybe even ole' Feebas," Mindy announced, releasing Feebas from her pokeball for a split second to see the fish flop around, smiling before returning it. The group chuckled again as Melinda outstretched her hand to the pokemon. After a moment of thought, Roselia joined Melinda's hand with hers. It was perfect. Melinda had finally captured a Roselia. "A diamond in the rough". It was all serene, perfect, nothing could get bet-

A large explosion echoed throughout the junkyard and probably for a half a mile or so, followed by the cries and shrieks of many pokemon. “Oh no,” Melinda thought out loud.

“Mindy, let’s go, now!” Darck yelled at her. Melinda started running, all of her pokemon following right beside her. Roselia had perched herself right on top of Swellow, as she couldn’t keep up with the running because of her stubby legs. Melinda soon caught op with Darck, who had sent all of his pokemon out. It did not take the group long for them to reach the site of the explosion.


An enormous robot had planted itself right in the middle of the junkyard. It was at least two buildings tall in length and was made completely out of old rubber tires that could be found around the junkyard. An enormous net was swung over the mecha's shoulder as it noticed Melinda and Darck. That net held hundreds of Roselia's, all crying and weeping, trying to escape their bonds.

"We've got to help them!" Melinda announced.

"No shit," answered Darck. The two sent their pokemon out to try and free the horde of Roselia, but were stopped as the enormous mecha attacked them with its free hand. Darck's Absol managed to evade the frenzied hand of the mecha and ran up its rubber arm. It carefully moved about the monster's body until it reached the glass eyes of the beast, and then sliced its way through them wit ha faint attack. The robot went crazy, giving Swellow and Roselia the time to fight back. Swellow flew Roselia up to the net and let her unleash a barrage of poison stings all over the net, but it didn’t work. Frustrated, Roselia started glowing white and actually getting larger. She repeated the process until she was so big Swellow couldn't hold her for much longer. Roselia tried again as much larger spikes of poison were shot at the net, and it snapped to perfection! All of the Roselia jumped out jubilantly. Suddenly, Absol jumped out of the mecha, something in its mouth, as the robot began to explode. Absol must have caused quite a lot of damage, as the giant was very formidable. Nonetheless, The head of the mecha suddenly ejected itself from the rest of the tires as the tires exploded, causing quite the “fireworks display”.

As soon as all of the Roselia saw Melinda, then all sprinted the heck out of there. Melinda returned all of her pokemon to their pokeballs, as did Darck after inspecting his Absol. Melinda picked a pokeball out of her bag and outstretched her arm once again to Roselia. “You comin’?” Roselia nodded and touched Mindy’s pokeball.

One.

Two.

Three.

PING!

Melinda clutched her new pokemon in her hand took a minute to enjoy the moment.

Posted by: Jaima Apr 21 2009, 03:18 PM

Jaima dreamt. It was a tired dream, one he'd had every time he was upset since his father died (there, he thought it, out loud, and without flinching or feeling like he was walking into a church covered in mud). Even as the dream played out, he recognized that his mind was dwelling on sadness that should have been long past.

It was the funeral for his father. Professor Elm was there, looking solemn and dressed in a dark suit, which was odd since he was usually seen, on TV, in his white smock. Two of his assistants were there as well, along with three Nurse Joys, one of which was weeping openly into a handkerchief. His Mother was staring at the casket as if it would open suddenly and his father would pop out, alive and whole, and laughing at the trick he'd played. His sisters, one on either side of her, hugged her thighs and tried to cry silently.

No one glared at them. Some weren't as discreet as the two four year old girls.

This is where the dream changes. The thought was idle, even sarcastic. If he was afraid, the dream would change to the casket bursting open and a decrepit, shambling form looking disturbingly like his father would come out, reaching for him and his sisters. He wasn't afraid, though, so it didn't happen. It faded as the minister's voice droned on about what a great man his father was, speaking of his achievements and kindness to others in ways that anyone could have said about anyone else and nothing of how he would comfort you when you were sad or laughed loudly at silly puns or kissed his mother on the cheek every morning whether she was in a good mood or not.

The minister didn't mention that his pokémon died with him. He didn't mention that he had strong hands and arms and played airplane with Mariko, Natsume, and Jaima (and sometimes, if he was feeling playful, with Mommy, too). He didn't mention that he liked to sing even though he wasn't very good at it.

For some reason, this all made Jaima angry this time. He's not talking about Kei Kuonji, he's talking like anyone could be in that box.

In his dream, he began to grow. He was 12 now. Working to make extra money after school.

Now he was 14. Quitting school to work full time at the lab, taking off early to walk the girls, now 8, home from school and have dinner ready.

Then 16. Kissing his sisters goodbye as he left for another island and they left for their journey. Kissing his mother goodbye as she was left alone.

Your father would be proud of you...

It was an off handed statement, and as soon as he reacted mentally, the presence that made it fell away, with the slight hint of a blush in its makeup. Jaima mentally rolled his eyes and didn't wake.

The dream, however, changed. While he'd grown, he had been at the funeral still, and everyone else had stayed the same around him. His sisters were still tiny and clinging to his mother's thighs. His mother was still staring desperately at the casket. Nurse Joy #3 still wept into her handkerchief.

But now, the dream changed. It was the day after the funeral, and Jaima was in his room, looking forlornly at the pokéball he'd received the day before. He was 10 again, and he was so numb he couldn't even think of what to do with anything. He was tired, he knew. He hadn't slept well in the last few nights. But he had a pokéball in his hands, and he had to do something with it.

Professor Elm wouldn't even let him give it back.

His finger slipped and pressed the button. Or maybe he'd pressed it on purpose. It was hard to remember.

Out popped a tiny grey and tan mouse looking creature, with squinty eyes and a long tapered snout. She was cute.

It was the first thing he remembered getting through the litany of "my father's dead" that had started since the funeral.

She looked up at him, quivering, and Jaima looked back, numb. She squeaked, her shaking slowing, and he blinked at her.

Something dropped on his arm. He looked at it, a tiny splash of water soaking into his shirt, then looked up. A leak? Who'd fix it now?

Was it raining out? Wasn't it supposed to rain for days after someone died?

He looked down at the Cyndaquil and sighed. She was looking at him quite a lot like his sisters did now, as if he could and would make it better. He didn't even know what this little thing needed making better. Maybe she was hungry.

He reached for his bag and found a berry, which had softened with age. It looked like it was still good. He sniffed it. It smelled like it was still OK. Just soft.

He held it out to the cyndaquil, and she took it, hesitantly. Soon her hunger had gotten the better of her, and she began to eat in earnest.

"You've been in that ball for a week, haven't you. I'm sorry." His voice didn't sound sorry, but it didn't sound like he'd meant to either. Maybe he was sorry.

"C'mon, let's go to the kitchen." He stood and opened his door. He didn't look back, but he heard the pitter patter of cyndaquil feet and knew she was following.

He looked through the cupboards, and found some berry mush. It was usually used to top toast, but it should do for now. He spread some on some bread and put it in front of the cyndaquil. She lapped at it, her behind wiggling happily.

He almost smiled.

"Jaima... hun'ry, Jaima."

Jaima looked at the doorway and saw his sisters peeking in, looking sad and forlorn and watching the cyndaquil eat shyly. Mariko was glancing between him and Natsume, her lips pressed together like their mother's did when she was annoyed.

"When was the last time you two ate..?" He couldn't remember.

"Yesterday," whispered Mariko, as if she would get into trouble for saying so.

"At the fun'rel," whispered Natsume, looking as if she might cry.

"Well... what time is it?" His stomach told him it was time to eat, and neither of the girls could tell time yet. Not on the Miltank clock on the wall. Let's see, the short fat hand is near the one and the long thin hand was on the nine...

It was too late to not have eaten.

"Where's Mom?"

"Mommy's sleepin'," said Natsume, swallowing thickly. Jaima sighed.

"Well, come in here. I'll make sandwiches."

The two girls walked in and sat on the floor, near the cyndaquil. They watched her, interests peaked, but still subdued. Finally Mariko looked up.

"Can I pet it?"

"Her," Jaima said automatically. "Professor Elm said she was a she." Mariko wrinkled her nose, and Jaima nodded. "Let her sniff your hand, then if she lets you, you can."

Mariko put out her hand and let the cyndaquil smell it. When she didn't get bit, she put her hand out and stroked her back, stopping before the flames.

"Her fur is soft."

The Cyndaquil's flames shortened, then went out. Natsume put her hand out, too, and was allowed to pet as well.

Jaima put plates out, one for each of them, and watched his sisters stand and grab their sandwiches hungrily. He wanted to tell them to slow down, but he was just as hungry and his mouth was too full of sandwich to stop them.

He watched them eat, and even though they were both loud and both annoying and always got into his stuff, he knew he'd have to take care of them. Mom was too sad. He was too sad, too, but someone had to do it, and he already had a pokémon to take care of.

But he'd do it.

Someone had to.

"What's'r name," Mariko asked around a mouthful of sandwich. Jay swallowed his, looked at the cyndaquil, which had hopped by his leg, and said the first thing that came to his mind.

"Ember."

Jaima woke up. It wasn't a gasping, sit up in the bed, crying out in the night wake up, it was just opening his eyes.

There was water in his ears, so he HAD been crying. But he felt better than he had since the fight at the "shop". Even better than he had after the emotional display during his phone call with his mother.

Mercury was sitting on the table next to his bed, kicking her legs.

Sorry... I couldn't resist.

"No harm done," he said, voice raspy, and looked at her. "Did Shadow forgive you?"

She nodded, and smiled faintly, then looked at him. Did you forgive you?

"I'm starting to, I think. I just..." He couldn't help the sudden rush of anger. It'd happened about a week after his dad's funeral, too. He lashed out and punched, meaning to hit his pillow but missing, hitting the wall. He stayed like that, breathing heavily, until the rage left him.

Mercury looked at him with alarm and fear in her eyes. Trainer Jaima..?

"I... I think I broke my hand."

* * * * *

"No, it's not broken, Mr. Kuonji." Joy had her hands on his, soft and gentle fingers pressing the bone, feeling for cracks. "You probably bruised the bone a little bit." She looked at him, flushed but stern, lips pressed together. "I'm not a people doctor, so you should probably have it checked when you get to a city with a hospital." She sighed. "What possessed you to attack my wall, Mr. Kuonji?"

Jaima, too, was flushed, but because he was embarrassed. "Would you believe it seemed the thing to do at the time?"

Joy fought off a smile with some success. "So you're feeling better..?"

"My hand or losing Ember..?"

Joy's mouth opened to apologize, but Jaima waved his good one. "I'm dealing with it. I'm just upset that I let it happen, and I really want her back... I think I'm done crying over it for now. I'll probably prove myself wrong when Mindy gets back."

Joy nodded, swallowing, then looked at him. "She's... um..." She sighed, and closed her eyes. "I don't usually see cyndaquil with people our age."

"I didn't do well by her when I got her. I didn't really do well by her on this trip. She's so timid..."

Joy patted his hand and offered a sad smile. "When did you get her..?"

"I was ten," he started, looking far away. "The day it happened, I found out my dad died. I was so numb I didn't take her out of the ball for a week." When Joy looked like she couldn't believe that, he shrugged. "I fed her right away when I finally did. She helped me realize I had responsibilities." He ducked his head. "I still do, which is why I can't let this stop me, but..."

"But..?" Joy looked almost hopeful, though Jaima never saw it, as he was looking out the window.

"But I'm wondering if I should stay for a while, in case she gets loose... comes back somehow."

Joy said nothing, but looked down. Jaima sighed again.

"I know I'm probably not good company, but would you like to join me for dinner? I wanted to be alone a while back, but... right now I don't."

Joy looked up, surprised, then smiled. "I... I'd love to, Mr. Kuonji..!"

"OK," Jaima started, smiling a little. "Two rules. No worrying about how I feel about Ember... if it comes up, it comes up."

"And the other?"

"My name is Jaima. Please use it..?"

Joy smiled again, more brightly. "I'd love to... Jaima."

Posted by: The Rose Crusader Apr 21 2009, 05:40 PM

"Well that was fun," Darck joked. Melinda laughed with him as the couple walked out of the junkyard and back onto the streets. The cooing of Noctowls and Hoothoots echoed through the misty streets as the two made their way back to the Pokemon Center. It was far too late for them to do anything else, and Melinda was pooped. The long, agonizing journey to the freaking shithole of Lenoilia had killed Melinda, even in her peak physical condition. It was very late; so late in fact that Melinda didn't even want to look at her watch to realize how long she had been up. Like before, the dark night sky was still pitch black, only lighted by the glimmer of the stars and the full moon.

Darck had had his hand s in his pockets for quite the while, his head down, thinking heavily. It had taken Melinda awhile to finally notice the perplexity on his expression, and as they were reaching the end of their journey back to the Pokemon Center Melinda stopped. Darck followed suit, his mind still in a daze. He awoke from his trance and looked over at Mindy with a troubled look.

"What's wrong Darck?"

"Noh-Nothing. Nothing's wrong, Mindy. It's... it's... well, see for yourself." Darck reached into his black jacket and pulled out an unfamiliar, strange looking device.

"Wh-...Where did you get that?"

"When Absol attacked the machine, he must have attacked the robot's controllers. After the mecha exploded and the head part left, Absol came up to me and handed me this thing," Darck spoke ,motioning towards the device. "While you were with Rose, I took a look at it, and it seems like it fits around your hea-" Darck said again, placing the machine on his head, covering one of his eyes with the clear material. "It doesn't have any switches to turn it on or anything," he kept going, Mindy listening to him. "I think it’s broken".

Darck took off the eyepiece and handed it to Melinda. "No, it's alright, you keep it," Mindy told him. "Whoever those people were that wanted all the Roselia, they're obviously not good." Then Melinda noticed something on the machine. it was small, and could go unnoticed easily, but on the red square that connected the two parts was the black outlining of an insignia. The letter "C" was clearly visible, with some other lines to make the insignia complete. Mindy had no idea what it stood for, but pointed it out to Darck, who didn't know either.

“Anyway, I just wanted to let you know. But...let’s not tell Darryn and Jaima, okay?”

“Uh-okay Darck, if you say so,” Melinda complied. She didn’t see the logic in not telling them, but it was his possession and his decision. Darck and Mindy continued on the final stretch to the center and were relieved when they finally walked through the automatic sliding doors. The warmth, light, and protection of the pokemon Center greatly calmed Melinda, who had been on wits end ever since leaving it before. After spotting Darryn on the couch watching The Poké Make-Over Show, she motioned to Darryn and jumped right on the couch next to him, suddenly filled with vigor.

“Darryn!” Melinda squeezed. “You won’t believe what happened tonight!” Darryn had been quite surprised, he didn’t quite know what to believe of all this. With a click of the wrist, Melinda released a pokeball from her waist. In a dazzling display of bright white lights, Rose appeared with as divine a look as she could have.

To Mindy’s dismay, however, Darryn didn’t seem as enthralled by the stunning pokemon as Melinda had hoped. “Are you okay Darryn? What’s wrong?”

Posted by: Living Arrow Apr 22 2009, 11:32 AM

“Are you okay Darryn? What’s wrong?”

Darryn took a long, deep breath and switched off the tv before slowly and methodically going through the events of the night. Going to the shop in Denizen Alley. The weird guy that had been there. The way he and Jaima had been ambushed and how Ember had been stolen. He told of the way that Jaima had returned to the Pokemon Center with Shadow and how he had searched for Ember with his own Pokemon but had no luck in the process.

As the story grew, Mindy's face grew heavier and heavier - she clearly felt bad, too but there was nothing that she could have done which Darryn made sure to make clear to her. He rounded off his version of events with Jaima's understanding attitude and how their friend had managed so well thus far.

"Really terrible, huh?" Darryn moped to his friend, absently rubbing the thorns on her new Pokemon's head between his fingers. The Roselia seemed to enjoy it and smiled sweetly while twisting her head this way and that. "But if Jaima can focus on looking ahead rather than dweeling on it then I think we should support him.... On a lighter note, I just won a Pokemon Battle with an old friend and my Pidgey, Metapod and Eevee all evolved! They're being seen to by Joy's Chansey right now but I'll introduce you to them again later... what else... Oh yeah. Joy got us a room to share - she and Jaima walked past earlier towards the food court but they seemed like they wanted some privacy."

Darryn grinned down at the rose Pokemon. "And, Mindy? She's beautiful!"

Posted by: The Rose Crusader Apr 22 2009, 06:02 PM

"Poor Jaima..." was all Melinda could think. Mindy remembered Jaima explaining all of his team members on the lonely trip to Gigarte from Barley, and she couldn't forget the story of his innocent, timid Cyndaquil. The poor thing, to have been stolen form such a loyal trainer into... well, who knows what. Melinda wouldn't know what to do if their roles were reversed; if she had lost any of her precious pokemon. Heck, she'd even be sad if poor lil' Feebas was taken away. But Mindy couldn't go on being depressed about the situation, not when everyone else would be. So she decided to stay positive about the whole thing, and to boost other's morale to. Like a cheerleader... almost, but not really.

Mindy smiled when Darryn mentioned how all of his pokemon had evolved, congratulating him on a job well done. But by the time Darryn had said he had one a battle against an old rival, Melinda's smile wasn't so genuine anymore. "Uh-oh, he might become a threat now...," thought the ever carefully planning Melinda, "better watch out."

"Let's leave Jaima and Joy alone," Mindy smirked, "I do believe that she has a thing for him" she giggled.

"Alright guys, I'm gonna get going. See you tomorrow," Darck announced, heading down the sleeping quarter’s corridor and entering a vacant room.

When Darryn remarked to Melinda about her new pokemon, Roselia and Mindy both blushed a bright rosy red. "Thanks, she's a keeper, my lil' Rose," Melinda replied. "My diamond in the rough" Melinda spoke towards her new pokemon, stroking its naturally toxic head gently so as to not cause any poisonous effects.

The Pokemon Center was silent now as Darryn and Melinda sat on the couches next to the turned off television. After a slightly awkward silence, Melinda posed a question to her companion, "So Darryn... where to next?"

Posted by: Living Arrow Apr 23 2009, 12:34 PM

"Next? Well, I guess we go to bed?" Darryn shurgged, rewarding himself with an "oh-you-dumbass" expression from Mindy. He face-palmed, groaning to himself as he caught on to her real question.

"Right... er... well the nearest Gym is in Arasam which is north west of here. I took a look at the coach service around here and it seems pretty regular... only it's two vehicles per day... If we wanted to get to Arasam by tomorrow afternoon then I suggest we get the morning coach at 10am. It leaves from the Pokemon Center so we don't have to get across town or anything." Darryn frowned at the clock in the waiting room. The plastic Ambipom's tails were pointing at eleven and four. "It's pretty late but I'm going to have a pep-talk with my Pokemon before they sleep. We need to have a proper, er... conversation? They've been through a lot tonight and it's about time I thanked them for what they've done."

He lounged back and looked up at Mindy sleepily.

"You going to try and get your second Gym Badge, then?" He asked while yawning, his jaw stretching wide and slurring his words.

Posted by: Hungry Hungry Houndoom Apr 23 2009, 02:56 PM

"So when my mom came home, there the three of us were, in the back yard, holding sticks over Ember's rump and roasting marshmallows." Jaima half smiled, tapping his chopsticks on the edge of his bowl idly. He had only gotten rice, but even that was only half gone.

Joy smiled and patted his hand. She seemed to have a wonderful grasp of when he was getting sad again. Perhaps it was the training. At the beginning of their meal, she had kept him listening with a description of all the things they had to learn, most of which dealt with pokémon, but, more and more in the recent years, involved getting a feel for the trainer as well. "To be able to read a trainer's mood is to be able to tell his pokémon's condition," she quoted, then explained that, originally, that meant to help with the immediate diagnosis. "Since coming here, though, we've found you can tell if a person is a proper match and make, subtly, of course, recommendations."

Now Jaima had lapsed into stories about his family and pokémon. He had winced at the lack of training they'd had before he came here, but if Joy was appalled at this behavior, she never showed it. In fact, she seemed quite pleased with the way he treated his pokémon in general.

They sat in companionable silence, Jaima doing his best to finish his rice, and Joy nibbling on the salad she'd taken. They spoke of the courier who came twice daily to replenish their stock, and of the immunity the pokécenter enjoyed to the thieves and thugs that seemed to take over Lenoilia when it had become polluted. Finally, Joy asked the inevitable question.

"What will you now?"

Jaima thought about it, then sighed. "I have an idea, but I have to talk to my kids." Joy blushed and grinned, but did not interrupt. "See... they know Ember, and they know how she'd react to what I'm planning, so..." He shrugged, looking up at her. "So I'll let you know in the morning."

"Jaima?" Joy's cheeks were bright red when he looked up, and she was staring at the table rather than him. "I... I know this is a bad time, but..." She took a breath, which hitched a bit. "You're the nicest person I've met, ever. Even before I came here. I was... I was wondering if..."

Jaima put his hand on Joy's, and she looked up, swallowing, looking as if she'd been caught with her hand in a cookie jar. Jaima smiled.

"You don't think I really asked you to eat with me just for the company, do you?"

Joy's smile was bright as Jaima left, and when she put her Chansey on watch duty, there was a decided spring in her step.

Posted by: The Rose Crusader Apr 23 2009, 06:19 PM

"Yeah, I suppose I'll try to get a second one," Mindy finished up. They both got up from the comfortable couch and headed towards their room. Melinda and Rose stretched and yawned down the corridor, eventually ending up at their room. Darryn lead the way, opening the door and getting settled. There wasn't much to settle, however, as they wouldn't exactly be staying long. Melinda plopped herself on the bed, not even bothering to undress, and just laid there for a moment. So many things to think about, to worry about. But she had to remember what was important, and not care about the little stuff. If she had cared about all of the little stuff, Mindy wouldn't get anywhere in life. After a small rest, Melinda smiled at Rose and told her how happy she was to have her on the team. Rose nodded, a mutual agreement. Soon the pokemon yawned again and hopped back into her pokeball to rest for the night.

Darryn was busy giving a pep talk to his pokemon when Mindy slipped into the bathroom to undress. When she came out in her underwear, Darryn was busy contemplating something with deep thought. She would have talked to him about it, but she was just to exhausted. Melinda was pleased however, for once, that he didn't look at her like she was an object. At least someone didn't. "Goodnight Darryn," she yawned again, plopping onto the bed and falling asleep.

Posted by: Hungry Hungry Houndoom Apr 24 2009, 03:29 PM

They all sat in a circle on the bed, Mercury in the front, mirroring Jaima's cross legged posture, Shadow next to her, also mirroring the sitting style, but looking disgruntled. To Mercury's other side was Fang, with Grondir rounding out the crew. Being less human shaped, they sat on their haunches. Tsunami was near, but sleeping, still recovering from her three day poisoning. Her breathing was easier, but she was still sick, a little bit.

All eyes were closed, but a shimmering distortion flowed around Mercury's horns.

You didn't have to call me a runt! I know I'm small!

Mercury groaned in frustration. Shaaaadoooow, I told you, I'm sorry! I was upset and you were upset, I didn't mean anything by it!

I'm plenty strong, you know!

This isn't helping, guys, Grondir sighed, calmly. Our trainer asked for this to talk about our missing teammate, not to bicker.

I'm not a runt!

Of course not, Shadow, but Mercury agrees with you.

She does? Oh... sorry.

Thank you, Grondir.

I miss Ember-mama... The shinx's ears were back, and he was looking forlorn.

That's why we're here, Fang. Jaima did not look around. It was much harder to link a human to pokémon thoughts than it was to link pokémon thoughts together. Mercury's head was starting to hurt, but she was doing so valiantly, and Jaima, either recognizing it or simply trying to stay focused, kept his mind on the conversation.

You've already heard what I want to do. I told you before Mercury decided to connect us. I want to know what you all think.

I want Ember-mama back! Fang nodded vigourously, his tail switing from side to side in both the real world and the mental plane they were on.

You know how I feel, Trainer Jaima.

No one will stand in my way again. I will not fail you, Sensei Jaima.

Grondir was silent for a while. You know what Gentle Ember would think of this, don't you?

Jaima did not look, but Mercury felt his attention shift to Grondir and made it look as if he did in the mindscape. The images started to blur. I know. What do you think, Grondir?

I think we should do it anyway, of course.

Then we're agreed. I'll tell Mindy, Darryn and Darck in the morning.

Before they could do anything else, the connection broke, and the pokémon all blinked rapidly, as if suddenly waking to a bright light, save for Mercury, who daintily held her head in her hands. Jaima reached over and stroked her head crest, sending soothing thoughts.

Trainer Jaima, can you try to teach them human speech, please? She was joking, mostly, and Jaima smiled.

"You did good, Mercury. Let's all get some sleep."

Rather than collect any of them into their pokéballs, he let them find places to sleep. While his pokémon did fall asleep, it took a while for him to follow suit.

* * * * *

He didn't rush. Despite the discussion of the night before, he still wasn't sure he wanted to follow this course. He'd grown close to Mindy, and Darryn in a short time. He still wasn't sure how he felt about Darck, but the guy was nice enough, and he had given of himself to help people he didn't even know.

But this was the right thing. Ember would want him to move on and get his badges and become a champion. To Jaima, all of that was secondary. Ember was strong inside, he knew, she could take care of herself in a pinch. But he'd be happier, and she'd be happier, if they were together again. So he'd have to make sure he found her.

He ignored the beeping of his pokégear, knowing it was either Mindy or Darryn, impatient to leave. He hadn't even known it was working again until he heard the beeping. Finally, with his team in tow, he set out to the front door.

Without his bag.

Mindy looked up, and Jaima smiled apologetically. Darryn smiled, but the smile faded slightly. Darck raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not going, guys." Jaima found he couldn't meet any of their eyes. "I'm not giving up or anything, but right now I need to try to find Ember. The guy will probably come back eventually, and maybe I can find something at the shop." He shrugged. "I can't just leave her behind. So... I'll miss you guys, but I have to stay for a while."

He finally looked up. "I'll catch up with you, though. And Mindy? When I do, we'll compare badges."

Posted by: Living Arrow Apr 24 2009, 05:33 PM

He's staying?! Darryn chewed his lip and held back a gag as guilt poured over him - fresh and sticky like oil it weighed on his shoulders like boulders but still managed to seep all the way to his bones. If only I had done more... No... There was nothing I could have done and my Pokemon weren't to blame... I know that now.

Jaima's change of heart, however, could hardly be seen as unexpected. Darryn's talk with Lady and the other Pokemon the previous night had highlighted just how deep the trainer-trainee bond ran and for someone like Jaima, that would be a raging chasm compared to Darryn's growing trench.

"Guys, I wanted to say I'm sorry for the way I spoke to you earlier tonight." Darryn began, huddling on the edge of the bed with his four Pokemon staring up wide-eyed at him. Their unwavering obedience was as clear as day since their evolution. All of them carried an air of maturity now - especially Jolteon. It was most shocking <pardon the pun> coming from the lightning hound since he had been such a ditzy and troublesome Eevee but it was certainly welcome. In fact, it had turned out the Jolteon had become everything that Darryn had wanted him to be since he had forced evolution upon himself at that dismal shop.

We understand. Lady sent to him, nodding to the rest of the group who all bowed their heads with respect and squawked, buzzed or barked their agreement.

"OK," Darryn shifted uneasily, "but don't let me treat you like that again. I've been stupid to go on thinking of Pokemon the way I have without questioning what I was doing. You all know I'm kinda obsessed with the way you all look but from now on I'm going to make a big effort to make sure you feel good, too. The way you all came to protect me and Lady when we were hurt was amazing and I want you to know that I'm going to do all I can to repay you with everything I can offer. I'm so so proud of each of you and I would really like it if we can be friends like how Jaima and his partners are. Their feelings for each other make them stronger than just good health and strategy can compensate for... it's called empathy, apparently. And when we have empathy we can all reach our goals, I'm sure of it!"

The assembled Pokemon began to squawk, buzz and bark louder and with more conviction - their eyes lighting up happily.

"Now, what do you all want?" Darryn asked, leaning closer to them. "Tell me and I'll do my very best to make it happen!"

Pidgeotto flapped manically and bobbed his head. Butterfree's antennae swirled in loops as she sang her own wants and needs. Jolteon barked and his hair stood out on end, gatthering into hundreds of needle-like points.The screeching continued avidly for a few moments before Lady could translate.

Faster. Stronger. Even more beautiful.

"Then that's it!" Darryn clapped his hands together. "We start together tomorrow and I promise not to let you down again"



"If you're sure, Jaima." Darryn smiled. Jaima had been a good friend since they had met in Gigarte. Their rocky start over Mindy hadn't seemed to have intruded upon their growing friendship and he was glad to have made a friend in the trainer. Jaima had taught him so much about how to feel what your Pokemon were feeling and how to satisfy their emotional needs as well as their physical ones.

"Ember is very lucky to have someone like you to look after her - she must be very proud to have you as a trainer. Just remember that we're proud to know you, too and if you ever need us to help with anything we're only a Gear-call away." Darryn shook Jaima's hand and drew him closer for a quick man-hug which involved much back-patting. But as Darryn got closer he lowered his voice to a whisper so that only Jaima could hear. "You'll be comparing badges with me next time, too. I'm going to catch up before you know it and when I do, I expect a proper match..."

He let go of Jaima and gave him a reassuring grin to try and spur his friend on to better things like those he himself was aiming for.

"I'll be seeing you soon, Jaima."

Posted by: The Rose Crusader Apr 26 2009, 08:30 AM

Melinda reached out and embraced her friend. That's all she really could do. No words needed to be said; the feeling of the moment said it all. "We understand Jaima," she whispered in his ear. "I know if our roles were reversed, I would do the same thing" she assured him. As the hug ended, Mindy returned to her spot between Darryn and Darck. "Make sure you find Ember, okay? We're gonna miss you, but we all understand, am I right?" Darryn and Darck both nodded their heads in agreement as Melinda embraced Jaima in her arms once again. "An hurry back to," she whispered, pecking him on the cheek. Mindy was sincerely going to miss Jaima while he was busy trying to find Ember. Ever since she had arrived in Furoh, Jaima had been there, always at her side. He was the only one who knew about one of her secrets, and she had found a certain solace in keeping him as a close friend because of that.

Yes, Mindy would truly miss Jaima.

But she knew he'd be coming back.

The gang comprised of Darck, Darryn and Melinda climbed into a car that would safely transport them out of Lenoilia. Darck leading the way in waving goodbye to Jaima, the threesome drove off into the dark streets of Lenoilia, leaving Jaima behind at the pokemon center. The three headed in the direction of Mt. Carello and the location of the next Pokemon Gym in Arasam City.

Posted by: Hungry Hungry Houndoom Apr 26 2009, 01:00 PM

After hugs all around, and a manly nod to Darck (who he barely knew still), Jaima watched the transport take his friends to their next adventure. Part of him wished that he was with them now, but he simply couldn't imagine going on and winning badges without Ember on his team.

He sighed to himself, and turned to Joy, who smiled wanly at him. "Thanks for letting me stay a while, Joy," he said, and she merely nodded her head.

His friends were out there, and while he had a good reason to stay behind as they went on, he felt he had a good reason to catch up with them as soon as possible. Since he'd come to Furoh, almost to the moment the ship he'd been on landed, Mindy had been by his sisde, encouraging him, helping him, and showing him that determination can take one to lengths he hadn't dared imagine. When they arrived at Gigarte, Darryn joined them, and quickly became part of the team, showing them the importance of proper care and standing behind them. Darryn had even started a battle when he thought that someone was going to stop Mindy and Jaima from trying for their badges. Darck showed signs of also becoming part of the team, despite some initial nerve grating. They were all good friends, and he'd miss them.

Therefore, he'd have to join them again when he could.