[X] My Assistant

[Webbyness]

((Hope this is OK for a first post... I tried to figure out the location from your posts, if I've described Zeke being in the wrong place please let me know.))

Zeke had arrived rather swiftly in Petropolis and immediately searched for the nearest Pokémon Contest, wanting his debut to be as soon as humanly possible. Wasting no time in stretching his legs and getting acquianted with his new surroundings, Zeke moved on towards Arasam, northeast from Petropolis, where the first Pokémon Contest would be held. Zeke had just come to the lake south of Mt Carello, and was now en route to Arasam. He had hoped he would get there swiftly and earn his first ribbon.

On the road to Arasam, Zeke took a moment to rest, but Aipom was jittery and restless throughout the short break, jumping at the prescence of every being that moved. Zeke put it down to Aipom's timid nature, but the new surroundings certainly brought nerves to the purple monkey. The sound of rustling came from the bushes nearby, and Aipom scarpered, running off on it's own, possibly attracting trouble. Zeke and Croagunk were close behind, and caught up to Aipom as it sat with it's head in a bush, observing something and looking frightened. Zeke poked his head over the bush to see a Pokémon battle between a Charmander and an overly large Turtwig. The battle was intense and neither side seemed to be giving way, and was amazed at how the one trainer ended the battle after observing a mere burn. Both trainers seemed to be helpful towards each other and were very friendly, indicating they were friends. Zeke stood from behind the bushes and stepped forward after this battle ended, in an attempt to meet the pair and possibly become their friends. He seemed rather nervous but he was eager, maybe a little over eager.
"Uh, hi there... I just happened to see your battle, and... well, I'm Zeke. I just got here, I'm originally from Johto, and..." Zeke sighed, and took a deep breath before continuing. "... I'm going off on a tangent again... Anyway, I was wondering whether you guys knew the way to Arasam? I'm heading there to enter a Pokémon Contest, and I don't know much about Furoh. I was hoping someone could help me."

[Troy Bolton]

Matt had a nice nap. Ain't you glad to know that? Sadly, it was one of those dreams where you can only remember parts and bits of it. As it was, when thinking back, the only image he could even remember was:



When he'd decided to mosy on back to the BATTLEZONE,Matt saw that some of the brush had been pushed to a side. Observing the scene, the elder trainer confirmed his hypothesis as he crouched upon a half rotted stump. Danved had won. A new kid was there, standing awkwardly on his toes.

"-kemon Contest, and I don't know much about Furoh. I was hoping someone could help me."

Matt sprang from his stump, landing right in the nexus of the situation.

"Heya kid. Name's Fletcher, or Matt, or what have ya. So here's the deal. The nearest Pokemon Contest is prolly at Arasam, and I was actually heading that way m'self." A Croagunk stood beside the young man, gangly and smiling.

"Aw, cool beans. You keep its skin moist? I usually use this mashed grass. Its name escapes me, but usually Poliwag feed on them. But hey, I'm going off."

He turned to Xiao and Danved. "Am I master of predicting or master of predicting?"

Something overhead. Huh?

[Webbyness]

Zeke was rather flustered by the appearance of this new trainer, but he was pleased there was an offer to go towards Arasam. Zeke glanced down to Croagunk, who returned a creepy smile, unnerving Zeke slightly. He still wasn't used to Croagunk's overly happy attitude. He took in Matt's words of advice, making a mental note that he needed to keep Croagunk's skin moist. Many Croagunk were known for overly dry skin, so making sure it didn't get too dry would be a good precaution.
"Right, this kind of grass... remember that, OK, Croagunk?"
Croagunk responded with a smile and began to observe the grass, making it easier to be called to memory. Even if this this wasn't the right kind of grass, it'll make it easier to remember.

Zeke then looked back to the two trainers who had battled and then looked ahead to Matt, who was on the move. Being the only person to give him an answer, Zeke apologised to the pair before following Matt, but at a distance so that he wouldn't disturb him or cause annoyance. Aipom was rooted on Zeke's shoulder, feeling very wary of the other trainers.
"Hey, don't worry Aipom, things will be fine..."
As Aipom smiled weakly in response, Zeke looked to the sky and saw some kind of shadow.
"Whoa, what is that...?" exclaimed Zeke, hoping Matt had some kind of answer, obviously being a more experienced trainer.

[Shiny Ninetales]

"Hiiii, I'm Xiao. It's good to have someone else to join our trip to Arasam, let's go!" Xiao happily exclaimed as she petted Twiggler's head and began to follow the road towards Arasam. Lulu, with some effort and a small burst of magnetism, floated to Xiao’s head and gently head onto it as her master made her merry way to Arasam. After she took a quick few steps, Xiao turned around to check out the new trainer’s Pokémon. An Aipom and a Crogunk, an interesting pair of partners to have and the Crogunk looks like he is quite healthy and strong. Xiao wondered if Twiggler wanted to have a battle with the Crogunk.

“Hm?” Xiao replied as Zeke looked up at the sky and Xiao turned her head to check it out. Whatever the creature was, it was too far for Xiao to distinguish what kind of Pokémon it was and she wondered if it was friendly or not.

“What is that?” Xiao muttered as she turned her head to the side and rubbed her head.

[Troy Bolton]

Matt drew himself up to his full 6 feet. He stroked his chin philosophically. He flipped his fedora up and down. Hr punched his PokeGear, and got no. Connection. At all. Surely it'd come online soon.

"Well." He paused for a breath. This was serious stuff, after all.

"I have no idea."

He sighed.

"And I still don't know your name!"

Is that something crunching in the bushes?

[DJSanders]

David just caught up with the others and a new trainer."Hey I'm Davi- Whoa! What is that?" David exclaimed as he looked toward the sky.

"I have no idea"

David turned at the sound of Matt's voice and saw him look down from the sky and say "And i still don't know your name"

David then turned to the new trainer, nodded, and said "Matt, I think his name is Zeke or something like that.. " David looked the trainer up and down."If my memory serves me right?"

This post has been edited by Saved Of Grace: Mar 13 2009, 02:11 PM

[Webbyness]

Zeke looked around nervously; he hadn't realised Matt wasn't around when Zeke introduced himself.
"Uh, yeah, I'm Zeke. Nice to be of service, or whatever you people say here in Furoh..."
Zeke's attention was once again focused on the flying figure; what on earth was it? It could be a Pokémon, and if it was, it must be a flying type, but nothing was for certain. Zeke knew he had to be prepared for anything, whether it be a battle or an escape. Zeke glanced at Croagunk; he was rather calm, obviously staring to the figure again. He then turned his head and looked at Aipom; strangely enough, she didn't seem scared. A rare occurence, but as soon as the figure would come into view, Zeke would expect Aipom to grab onto his neck and not let go.
"Hey Aipom, be prepared to fight, OK? We haven't battled together yet so this should be a good chance. You too, Croagunk."
Both Pokémon nodded, with Aipom looking more uncertain, as expected. The three continued to gaze up, looking for any sign of the figure lowering itself.
"Come on, come on, hurry up...!"

[Shiny Ninetales]

Well whatever was grabbing everyone's attention, Xiao decided it was nothing to concern herself with and decided to sit down on a rock near some bushes to wait for everyone to continue their traveling. With a satisfied sigh, Twiggler sat down next to his trainer and was glad that Xiao decided to take a quick break. Both Twiggler and Xiao did not notice the bush had stirred but the ever so timid Lulu did since she was the closest to the bush. Without waiting for whatever to appear and attack her, Lulu sent a Vacuum Wave into the bush and surprised Xiao.

“Oy! What was that for? It’s just a bu-” Xiao was about to scold Lulu when something tackled the both her and Lulu into the ground. Xiao did not get a good look at what attacked her…

((Anyone is open to put whatever Pokémon to catch. ))

[Webbyness]

Zeke literally leapt in surprise as Xiao's Riolu attacked a nearby bush, also causing Aipom to jump back in alarm, landing on the floor in a painful position on the ground. Croagunk seemed rather unaffected by this, and stood smiling, eager to see what was in the bush. Zeke slowly crept backwards, not wanting to disturb whatever was inside; he was more worried by the figure overhead as it seemed much larger than what could be in the bush. He glanced back at Aipom, who was shaking slightly, causing Zeke to slowly scoop her up.
"Don't worry, it'll be fine..."
Zeke looked back to Croagunk, who was still staring at the bush, possibly preparing to fight. Zeke sighed, and shook his head in wonder.
"Croagunk, don't get involved... it's probably nothing, leave it be."

[DJSanders]

David turned to face the bush when a very angry Pikachu came out. "Guys don't worry I got this one I've been looking for a Pikachu for a while now. "Charmander stay out for a while I'm gonna let Totodile have a try first"

"Char?" The Pokémon looked at David then stepped back slowly.

"Totodile go!" A flash of light and Totodile was already dancing. "Totodile use leer" The Pokémon stopped dancing and used leer at Pikachu. "Great job Totodile! Keep it up!"The Pikachu shook its head and ran at Totodile then used Thundershock at close range. After the hit made its mark the Pikachu jumped back.

"Totodile next time don't let that thing get close to you jump out of the way or something" Totodile looked back and nodded. "Now, use water gun!" The Totodile hit Pikachu dead in the face but at the same time Pikachu used Thundershock and it want down the stream of water and hit Totodile. Totodile fell to the ground but he slowly got up.

"Ok we can't do that anymore. Use bubble" The bubbles came out and hit Pikachu. The pokémon shook it off and started running at Totodile again. "Totodile jump!" The pokémon sprang into the air and over Pikachu leaving it confused for a moment. "Use water gun and finish this!" The jet came out but same as last time Pikachu used thundershock and knocked Totodile out.

"Good job Totodile now take a rest" a flash of light and Totodile was gone. "Alright Charmander I guess you get a chance. Charmander stepped up and glared at Pikachu. "Get in there and use Ember!" The spurt of fire left Charmander's mouth and hit Pikachu in the leg leaving a burn.

The Pikachu stumbled to the ground and tried to get up. But then failed again. "Time to end this! Pokeball go" David threw a pokeball and hit Pikachu. It wobbled three times the fell still with a ding.

[Webbyness]

Zeke observed the battle from afar, eagerly awaiting the outcome. He was relieved to see the Pokémon was just a Pikachu, and this would obviously be a welcome addition to David's team. Zeke took a small moment to think; what Pokémon should he catch? He had Croagunk, the Poison and Fighting Frog, and Aipom, the Normal type Monkey. Any Pokémon would fit in with his team; the only problem was finding a Pokémon that he could actually catch. Zeke snapped back to reality as Aipom began staring into his eyes, prompting him to congratulate David.
"Nice catch, that Pikachu looked pretty tough. How many Pokémon do you have now?"

Aipom continued to stare at Zeke, feeling slightly worried about the young trainer. Croagunk looked up to Aipom, feeling quite curious, causing her to move out of his line of sight, breaking her concentration. Aipom uncomfortably looked ahead to David, not wanting to alert Zeke to her sense of worry.

[Troy Bolton]

Matt did what any technology prone teen would do- he tore through his messenger bag, and hastily powered on his old, forgotten cell phone. Who needed a cell when you had a Gear? Well, besides now. He impatiently waited as the "Turning Camera On" screen changed, then punched the "Camcorder" button- there was no chance he could get a still of the thing, it was moving too fast.

He managed to follow its movements for a little while- pacing after it- until he tripped over a strange ball shaped rock.

Dang. He crashed to the ground, already frayed pants ripping at the knees. His ol', reliable cell fell. The screen cracked, the battery popped, and a little bit of Matt died.

The ball bounced away, but his priority was with the creature. The trainer stared at it vainly, a hand half extended in a vain attempt to grab it, but it was gone.

"Dammit!"

[Webbyness]

Zeke watched with wide eyes as Matt hit the floor, dropping his phone and smashing it in the process. Something new was happening every minute, like a circus of freaks that had no control. The creature was still around, obviously; it was the only focus of Matt's attention, it seemed. Aipom still hung onto Zeke's shoulder, gripping his hoodie a little tighter, fearing she would be blown off if it got too close. Croagunk watched eagerly, as if it were waiting for a battle; Croagunk only got excited about battles when a tense feeling was hanging in the air for a while, due to his short attention span and slightly hyperactive nature. He glared into the sky, and stepped forward slightly, causing Zeke to consult Matt about the situation.
"Uh, I think Croagunk wants to fight that thing...! D'you think it's the right thing...?" Zeke's eyes darted back to the creature, which was now circling. "... If so, a little backup might be nice..."

[Shiny Ninetales]

Getting tacked to the ground by an electrical rodent tackle was one thing that Xiao did not like and especially what Lulu feared. As the Pikachu engaged with David's Totodile and Charmander, Lulu tried to get away by floating into the sky and into a nearby tree branch. Lulu then quickly tried to cover her body with the nearby branches and quickly hid out of view.

"Ow... what happened..." Xiao muttered as she sat up and looked around in a bit of a daze. She turned her head towards a sound of a battle and saw David catch the Pikachu that had attacked her and Lulu. Wait, where is Lulu? Xiao thought to herself as she quickly stood up and looked around for her little Riolu. Knowing what his owner was looking for, Twiggler slowly made his way towards the tree that Lulu was hiding and sent a Razor Leaf at the branch that Lulu was hiding on. The branch came down, along with Lulu, and crashed right next to Xiao.

"EEEEK!" Xiao screamed, a really girly scream, as she quickly jumped back. "What the heck are you doing Twiggler? That could have KILLED ME," Xiao continued to yelled as she walked towards Twiggler. Then she felt something squishy underneath her foot.

"Huh..."

"Twiiiiig."

"... LULU!"

Xiao quickly picked up her poor little Lulu into her arms and quickly wipped away the foot print that was on the Riolu's head.

"Sorry Lulu... are you okay?" Xiao gently asked as she petted Lulu's head to wake up the fainted Pokemon. The small pokemon replied with a lick to Xiao's face and then dugged her face into Xiao's chest.

[Troy Bolton]

"I don't think that's the same thing, kid. Don't worry, no matter what it throws at us, the four of us can take it out."

He glanced about. Danved was nowhere to be seen, probably chasing after his Pokeball, and a tiny Riolu with a footprint upon its dome was cuddling up to Xiao with vigour.

"Well, I've got your back."

Struggling to his feet, Matt drew 3 Pokeballs- "Croagunk, Maresa, Lavosh, let's go!" A burst of Seal-provoked smoke and lightening later, and the poison frog, tadpole and weed were all at attention. Well, actually...

One look at Lavosh was all Maresa needed. It at once jumped upon the Oddish, attempting to eat her leaves with a tiny mouth.

"What? No! Bad Poliwag! Return!" The now seriously confused trainer raised the borrowed Pokeball and sent the tadpole back.

Maybe it's in the water, I don't know.

The threatening creature swooped down, and Matt could at once see it. It definitely was not the creature from before.

Oh god maybe it's in the air.

"It's a..."

OOC: Webbster, you can make this whatever and finish his sentence.

[Webbyness]

Zeke jumped as the Pokémon began to swoop down, closer and closer to the group. He focused his eyes, trying to see what the hell it was. It seemed to be reflecting the light from above, making it seem almost invisible, or incredibly hard to trace. Zeke squinted in order to get a better look, realising it was covered in some kind of metal, or reflective surface. It let out a piercing scream, and swept lower and lower.
"It's a..." was all Zeke could hear from Matt's mouth. He launched himself closer to observe it as it pulled up, and he realised what it was.
"Uh-oh, it's a Skarmory! It looks pretty angry, too...!"
The Skarmory pulled up and steadied itself before releasing a stream of jagged gales, also known as Air Cutter, which was heading for the group. Croagunk stepped forward and released a stream of Poison Stings and caused them to explode, but many of them bypassed the attack and Croagunk tool the brunt of the attack.
"Croagunk, stay strong!"
Croagunk managed to stay stood up, but it obviously showed signs of weakness from the attack. It's body was covered with small cuts and grazes, which was to be expected with Croagunk's dry skin. Nonetheless, it was prepared to continue as Skarmory swooped down for another attack.

[tiakall]

Somehow, the surrounding area didn't seem very city-like. Thomas Nikado had seen enough of cities and not-cities to be pretty sure of that. Pushing aside another branch, he let out a sigh as he looked up at the sun, trying to judge if he was still going in the same direction.

The Torchic perched on his shoulder let out a disgruntled snort, fluffing its feathers in annoyance. "Yeah, I know," the man muttered to himself. "Last time I take a ride from a guy you don't like, all right? I should have known he was kind of fishy-looking. No pun intended. Even that Magikarp he tried to sell me seemed a little odd."

An angry, screeching sound interrupted the conversation, and the Ranger pushed through a bush, following the noise immediately. The Torchic let out a hiss in response, and then he rounded another tree and saw the kids...and the Skarmory. Without thinking, the Styler was in his hand, the baton activating.

"Hey!" he shouted. "Are you all right?"

[Troy Bolton]

"Are you all right, what a silly question," muttered Matt, a half insane smile on his face.

"We're obviously not all right," he shouted over to the ebony haired man, taking in his red and white jacket and odd lack of Pokeballs. A Ranger? Never met one before, but I saw one on TV once...

"Just calm it down and we'll do the rest. If nobody else wants it, I'll catch that dastard."

"Lavosh! Stun Spore!" The Oddish jumped forward, releasing light green spores from its much-hunted leaves. As if on cue, the Skarmory flapped its wings as if trying to start a-

"Whirlwind! Everyone grab onto something!"

Of course Matt, with his being in the middle of the clearing, had no where to turn.

"Croagunk, Lavosh, return!' He managed to recall the Oddish, but Croagunk had dug its feet into the ground. Matt gritted his teeth, and held his hat to his chest, trying to remain noble to the end.

This worked for about .2 seconds, then the reasonable side of him won out and he threw himself to a side. Course, it turns out that the path they were walking on was a beautiful lookout point, full of wonderful scenery, a luscious pool, contrasting a stark cliff.

Matt dived toward the cliff. Wise move. Cos, remember that Stun Spore? Matt gasped for breath, and the Whirlwind produced by the steely bird blew the spores into his mouth. His body suddenly would not react! He fell down...down...down...before landing, luckily, on a small jutting plateau.

Or, not so luckily. 50 feet from either side. There's no way he's climbing, or dropping. Nah, the only way Matt could get out would be to fly out.

If I could only reach my bag...!

The Cheri Berry in his bag could cure Pokemon paralysis, so who's to say it couldn't do the same for him?

And what is the fate of the others?

Matt didn't know. His hat landed on his face. Croagunk was...probably napping.

[Shiny Ninetales]

"Huh? What?" were Xiao’s words as she heard the quick exchange between the Pokemon Ranger and Matt, which ended with Matt yelling about holding onto some because of some kind of wind. Utterly confused by Matt’s words, Xiao did not expect a blast of wind to almost blow her away. The key word is almost because Twiggler understood the situation and quickly bit Xiao’s pants as she slid past him.

“EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK,” screamed Xiao as she held onto Lulu and her pants up, since being held by the pants plus getting forced away was not a pretty situation for Xiao. As the wind eventually died down, Xiao simply just laid on the ground completely spent and knocked out…

"This... sucks..." Xiao muttered before fainting.

[Webbyness]

Zeke had slightly more time to react to the Whirlwind, as Aipom jumped up a tree before anyone else caught on to the oncoming Whirlwind. Skarmory's wings produced a powerful gust of wind, blowing both Zeke and Croagunk back. The wind kept blowing, on and on, until both Zeke and Croagunk lost footing; both were blown into a nearby tree, Zeke landing awkwardly after the impact with the tree. Croagunk managed to twist it's body to prevent it from taking massive damage from the tree, instead forcing all of his energy into his feet, rooting them into the tree's surface with the wind still blowing. Unable to move, Croagunk merely held himself against the tree against the wind, but this was futile; his feet slipped once again and he slammed into the tree, landing on Zeke's lap.

Aipom looked on from above, feeling scared and upset. Skarmory noticed Aipom and began charging up another Air Cutter attack, prompting the purple monkey to scream loudly, almost rippling the air. This Astonish attack was barely enough to throw Skarmory off balance temporarily, giving her time to swing behind the tree and escape from Skarmory's gaze. As it glanced around, trying to track it's prey, Aipom's eyes fell upon the collapsed body of Matt, who had inhaled much of his Oddish's Stun Spore. She could see he had fallen a small distance, and was at least outside of Skarmory's gaze; but if she attempted to try and help him, she would risk getting both in trouble. She held back, feeling it would be better to leave him. She began to battle with her conscience as time began to run out.