[X] My Assistant

[Living Arrow]

<<Looking for a max of 2 people to RP for the moment - maybe more at a later date>>

“Oh. My. God.” Darryn grimaced at the open Pokedex. It’s scanner, held over his Pidgey’s Premier Ball, clicked and whirred as the analysis completed its cycle. The LCD display flickered to life, giving the new trainer some very bad news indeed.

Species: Tiny Bird
Height: Within normal parameters
Weight: Far above average
Attacks: Tackle / Sand Attack / Gust / Roost
Condition: Very Poor

“You have got to be kidding me!” Darryn wailed, slamming the scanner back into its port and stuffing the machine into his pocket. Minimising the Premier Ball, he clipped it to his belt alongside his other Pokeballs with a mutter of distaste. His cellphone was in his hand immediately, his thumbs flying across the buttons.

[O gr8 cleo. Dis bird is fat and useless and the bug is nrly dead. Nxt time leave the catchin 2 me. PS no u cant borrow my shoes. Dx]

With the text message whooshing of the screen, Darryn crammed it back into his shoulder bag and sat back. In Gigarte there weren’t many places for him to get some time alone, but he had managed to find a fairly smart corner of the park to gather his thoughts on his new Pokemon.
Pidgey, fat and tatty, had a couple of chips out of its beak – that would need sorting – and its feather moult was incredibly patchy. Some oil treatment would help, but a proper diet was what would set the Tiny Bird straight. Considering the Pokemon’s weight, Darryn doubted it could fly far (if at all) and was particularly dubious if it could actually use Gust attacks. Its claws needed a trim, too.
Then there was Caterpie. Its antennae were flimsy and bent at the wrong angles. The bug’s exoskeleton was lacking the classic crispness of the bug type and Darryn was pretty sure some sort of fungal infection had set in close to the creature’s suction-cup feet. In fairness to the Worm Pokemon, however, it had the only two attacks that Darryn could expect of it. The only problem was its Timid nature. Letting it out of the Net Ball for an examination had led to somewhat of a recapture as the thing had bolted at the first chance.

Rolling his eyes, Darryn got to his feet and gathered his things. The Pokemon Center was near to the park and Nurse Joy would be able to sort out the minor flaws in his Pokemons’ physiology before he got to the real job of tidying them up.

~Two embarrassing hours later~

Darryn huffed out of the Pokemon Center. For the first time in his living memory, he managed to walk down the street without checking himself out in the reflection of the parked cars he passed.
How dare they! Not just the stupid kids but Nurse Joy, too!
His ears burned red, hidden under his hair, as he strutted away. He had known before going to the Center that his Pokemon were in poor condition, but that wasn’t his fault! They had been caught that way! Of course, Nurse Joy hadn’t believed him and had insisted on writing a letter to his parents but after much pleading, Darryn had convinced her that he wouldn’t let the pair get into the same condition again. The younger trainers inside had laughed when Pidgey was brought out on a dinky stretcher, its fat cheeks practically forcing its eyes shut. It had squawked violently at the uproar of noise and fallen to the floor, expelling several more feathers in the process.

Disgusted at the embarrassment caused, Darryn had fumbled the Balls back onto his belt and left with as much dignity as possible. Not really taking notice of where he was going, the newbie soon found himself back in the same spot in Gigarte Park, scribbling notes in a leather-bound notebook on what his plans for his two shameful Pokemon would be to improve their condition and confidence.

[Living Arrow]

“OK, Caterpie.” Darryn said, touching the Net ball’s release button while aiming the device into his lap. The Worm Pokemon exploded forth to land awkwardly between the teen’s legs (a position most cheerleaders used to envy).
The bug struggled manically as soon as it got any footing and shot free, screeching crazily as it bounded away from its trainer. Darryn was faster. His soft hands were cupped around the bug-types body in a swift and firm motion, drawing the creature in towards his chest. He made soothing noises through his lips, while stroking the Caterpie’s carapace evenly with his thumbs.
“Good girl.” Darryn whispered as the Pokemon slowed its struggling to a quiver halt where it calmly rested in a ball on its trainer’s chest. “That’s it. I’m not gonna hurt ya.” He said softly, smiling down into the large black eyes of the Timid creature.
Ever so slowly, Darryn let go of his Caterpie, pleaseantly surprised that the bug didn’t make an attempt to run. At least that was a start! The Pokemon’s condition was still appalling, however. The antennae would only be fixed with a healthy diet and exercise. The exoskeleton needed waxing and cleaning, along with calcium supplements in the diet. And lastly, the fungal infection on the bug’s feet would only be fixed with the fungicide that Nurse Joy had given to Darryn at the embarrassing trip to the Pokemon Center.
“Now, Caterpie, I’d like for you to do some working out while I prepare something to eat, OK?” Darryn asked, lifting his Pokemon off of his lap and placing it softly on the grass. The Caterpie looked around nervously before giving a sight nod.
“Cool beans!” Darryn clapped his hands and Caterpie shoved her face into the dirt, scrabbling wildly to get away from the noise.

Five minute later, with Caterpie calmed once more, Darryn set up five sticks, poking out of the ground, several metres away from where his Pokemon was sitting.
“Alright, Caterpie. What I want you to do is use your String Shot to throw threads over the sticks from this far away.” Darryn coaxed Caterpie to move towards a little mark that he had scratched in the ground. “The thread need to either land on top of the stick’s peak, or need to hit the stick from side-on. That sound OK to you?”
Caterpie gave a weak nod, although its neck was raised a little more. At least its confidence was up a little.
Darryn patted his Pokemon on the head and moved a little away to watch the bug’s progress and he fixed up sandwiches for himself and a flask cap-full of sugary sap for the worm. He added a dash of mix to the creature’s mixture before taking it to her to ensure addition of a small amount of extra calcium to her diet.
Those lessons at Celadon High were really paying off! As he ate, Darryn watched with increasing excitement as Caterpie’s silk threads were getting closer and closer to their mark. Cheering her own, Darryn made a detailed sketch on his pokemon’s condition and titled it “Day 1”. A few notes were made alongside the picture and he took a photo using his cellphone to ensure that his work was accurate.
Caterpie’s training was underway.

[Living Arrow]

“Come on, Pidgey!” Darryn flapped his arms up and down in a reverse-windmill motion. “Like THIS!” His fat bird Pokemon rolled around on the floor, laughing his little beak off. Several feathers broke free of his belly in the process, exposing a few more centimetres of exposed pink flesh. Darryn sighed and stopped acting the inevitable clown. Teaching his Pidgey to use an effective gust attack was like swimming through treacle.
“Fine,” he rolled his eyes and squatted down, stroking Caterpie smoothly, “if you don’t want to take training seriously, then I’ll just focus on Caterpie. At least she is making an effort.”
Pidgey’s squawking tumbles slowed. Tears of laughter were blinked away as the podgy ball of feathers got back on its feet and assume the wings-wide stance that was the starting point of their training. Darryn inwardly grinned. Emotional blackmail was way too easy.
“OK!” He clapped his hands and Caterpie winced. Still timid, but she was at least partly getting better with unexpected noises. “From where you are, use a gust to blow this oran berry off of my head.” He reached up and placed the dark blue fruit on top of his immaculate red-brown locks.
Pidgey took a deep breath and his focus narrowed. Beady eyes homed in on the oran berry, boring deep into its core. With a frustrated flapping, Pidgey commenced the gust attack. Darryn stood patiently as the breeze that the bird was generating grew slightly.
“Come on, Pidgey!” He cheered the bird on. “A bit more, you’ve nearly got it!”
The strain was plain to see as Pidgey put all of his tiny weight behind the flying attack. Even so, Darryn knew the berry would not fall. He was only 15 feet away. Any Pidgey should have been able to manage a gust attack to strike at that distance. After taking measurements, Darryn was fairly certain that the problem in this case was that the fat paunch of his Pokemon’s stomach was getting in the way of the regular wing-beats that were needed for a truly co-ordinated gust.
“That’s enough, Pidgey. Take a break.” Darryn announced, dropping the oran and walking towards where the bird was puffing and panting, trying to get its breath back. “Caterpie, you too.” Caterpie squealed politely and followed her trainer. The sticks behind her were wrapped tightly in silk – the product of a surprisingly accurate and effective string shot.
Pouring the two Pokemon some water out of his flask, Darryn let them relax while he responded to the text message that his sister, Cleo, had sent to him during his training.

[no worries daz. i was doing some thinking and reckon you should take this chance to practice all the things you learnd on pokemon dvlpmt. make a portfolio and post it to the fashion orgs when you complete a pokemon’s makeover. it should get you points when you apply for pokemon care and fashion centers. Cx]

Darryn had loved the idea. He already knew a great deal about nutrition, dietary requirements and beauty treatments, not to mention the courses he had taken in co-ordinating exercise and development of character classes. He was bonding with Caterpie quickly. Signs of her outward development were somewhat lacking (it was early days yet) but in a short amount of time, she had at least advanced her string shot into an attack that most other bugs would be proud of.
Pidgey, the jolly beast, was somewhat of a problem. Jolly and a tad lazy, the fat bird had much further to go. A diet and exercise were the two main things that he needed before any real treatment could get underway. Even so, Darryn began flicking through his notebook to see what the best type of salve would be for a flying type’s feather regrowth.

[Living Arrow]

Darryn awoke groggily. He had slept outside a handful of times in the past, but never on bare ground. Some kind of mat was normally under the fit teen’s muscled back, but not now. He gave a mighty yawn and sat up, stretching his arms wide to loosen the tension on his neck and shoulders. Sanding, Darryn surveyed his makeshift camp. Neat fire, backpack, sleeping bag and Pokebelt accessory.
Buckling his Pokebelt, Darryn cleared up his things and began setting up a new training area for Caterpie before setting about breakfast for himself and the two rag-tag Pokemon.


Caterpie lolled back with fatigue. The assault-course that Darryn had set up for her was short, but intense. First, she had to circuit three trees, without touching the ground, by swinging from string shot. Then, she had to burst through four paper barriers before jumping high over a stick balanced across two that were sticking out of the ground, without knocking it off.
“Excellent job, Caterpie!” Darryn grinned. The bug really had done an amazing task of shooting around the little course. True, she had faltered a few times and even run off in the wrong direction, but after several attempts, she really was getting the hang of it. “You can take a rest now, while I sort Pidgey out. Tomorrow, we’re going to head for Port Barley and do some training out west. How’s that sound?”
Caterpie bobbed her head up and down, making gurgling noises in her throat-sac. Pidgey watched on, calmly sitting atop Darryn’s backpack.
“Now, for you.” Darryn moved over to Pidgey and held out an arm for the bird to hop onto. He did so, if a bit clumsily, and his eyes shone with joy as Darryn set the bird on his shoulder. “Today, I thought we could get in some flying practice. You know – aerial manoeuvres and all that. Sound good?”
Pidgey looked somewhat apprehensive but gave an inclination of a nod.
“Good! Then how about we-” Darryn stopped mid sentence. Something was approaching.
What came out of the nearby grass was like no other pokemon that Darryn had ever seen. The easiest, and most accurate, way to describe it was ‘a big brown ball of fluff’. The thing was simply covered in so much hair, that no discernable features were visible underneath all of the untrimmed fur so identification of the species was impossible. Bidoof? Sentret? Darryn looked closer. Maybe a Zigzagoon? Meowth? Teddiursa? There simply was no way to tell what on Furoh it was!
Darryn grinned. Whatever the thing was, it was the perfect project.
“Time for your first battle, Pidgey!” He laughed. “That thing is gonna be mine!”
Pidgey flapped clear of Darryn’s arm and plopped onto the floor.
“Go, tackle attack!”
Pidgey sped across the ground, his tiny claws scrabbling madly in the grass as he raced towards his target. With no eyes visible, the thing couldn’t prepare itself for the incoming attack and so was hit head-on by the overweight bird. In the brief moment were the mystery pokemon was bowled off its feet, Darryn was able to count four narrow paws flailing in the air.
Sand attack will do nothing with all that fluff in the way.
“Do another tackle!”
Pidgey hopped once than darted towards the brown creature. Suddenly, a green barrier emerged from within the long hair and before Pidgey could stop, the bird slammed into the defence and bounced off, losing a few feathers in the process. Darryn gasped.
“It knows Protect?” He muttered to himself. “It can only work a limited number of times in a row, so use tackle again!”
Pidgey go to his feet and charged once more. In a flash, the brown fur was moving out of the way at incredible speed.
“A Quick Attack?”
Pidgey, angry now, span about and fired off a gust. The wind was just enough to knock the creature over, before the tiny bird species flung itself upon the creature with another tackle. Brown fur hung in disarray as the Pokemon slowly regained its footing as it turned, breathing rather heavily. With all the fur in its face, it couldn’t see the oncoming Quick Ball.
Caught by utter surprise, the unidentified Pokemon was sucked into the ball with a flash of yellow and blue light. The ball hit the ground with an audible clack and rocked back and forth. Back and forth. Back and forth. Then it remained still. Darryn breath caught in his throat as he moved slowly towards the Quick Ball. Caterpie and Pidgey followed beside him, peering at the unmoving orb.
“I did it!” Darryn cheered happily.
Caterpie screamed in fear and belched a wet mass string shot at her owner. The sticky goop spread all over his shirt in a gross patch. Darryn grimaced at the slick feel of the silk seeping through his shirt, but didn’t say a word. Instead, he calmly called his Pokemon back into their balls. Then he uttered a few choices phrases that proclaimed his disgust, before throwing off the shirt and wiping himself down.
Exhilarated by his latest capture, yet disgusted at the bug-induced mess on his front, Darryn lay down in the grass and sighed. He might be dirty and tired, but at least he had a new Pokemon and a fit body to get away with wearing no shirt!

Eevee, male, level 7

Attacks: Quick Attack, Protect, Double Team

[Living Arrow]

[Eevee. The Evolution Pokemon.]

“You’re an Eevee!” Darryn laughed, flipping the scanner on his Pokedex closed. “And, according to this, you know some decent attacks! You’re health is… fine, I guess. And your condition is red… sorry about that.”

The Quick Ball looked up at him blankly.

“Oh yeah, erm, sorry, come on out.” He clicked the button and his new Pokemon materialised next to him. “You heard all that?” He asked.

The ball of fur made a bobbing motion which Darryn assumed was a nod. He frowned. This Pokemon was in serious need of a haircut. The fur itself, however, was of fair quality. He stroked where he thought was the top of the Eevee’s head and felt carefully for split ends. None. He smiled.

“OK, so we just need to trim this fur and then-”

“Ree!” A Protect field burst out of the Pokemon’s thick hair, batting his hand away. The brown mass began to quiver, but it did not run.

“Yowch!” Darryn rubbed his fingers. “Alright! No haircuts! Sheesh! At least let me get it out of your eyes!”

He rummaged in his bag and took out one of his own bandanas. It was black with blue streaks and one of his favourites. Even so, he couldn’t have a blind Pokemon on a battlefield. He reached over carefully, not wanting to trigger another Protect and held back the enormous fringe that covered his Eevee’s eyes, while tying the bandana tightly around its head to prevent it falling over its face again. The face looking back at him was angular for an Eevee and Darryn smiled.

“You’re a boy, eh? That’s cool. And that really suits you,” he said while knuckling the bandana, “hope you like it. It’s yours.”

Eevee barked with joy and flung itself upon Darryn’s bare chest, licking at his neck madly. Darryn laughed and rolled back, enjoying the feeling of the Pokemon’s soft fur brushing back and forth on his skin. It almost tickled, but not quite. Laughing, Darryn put on a green bandana and played with his Eevee a little more. “Look, now we’re ninjas!” Eevee barked happily. The creature was full of energy and particularly Hasty to provoke games of chase with its new trainer. Darryn spent hours playing like that, rolling in the grass, chasing his companion through the grass and teaching the creature how to backflip properly, leading by example and cartwheeling over and over to display the agile moves that would be helpful to the creature in battle.

“Pidgey, Caterpie! Join the party!” Darryn laughed. The Premier and Net balls flashed open. “Say hey to our new partner, guys!”

Pidgey squawked a laugh and saluted with a wing, while Caterpie shied away and waved from a distance.
Under the dome of Gigarte, warmed by the summer sun, trainer and Pokemon fooled around without a care in the world, nor cloud in the sky. Darryn grinned. This was how training was meant to be.

[The Rose Crusade...]

Melinda hopped out of the truck and slammed the door shut. "Thank you!" she said, smiling and waving to the driver. She saw Jaima appear out of he trailer that the truck was carrying and walked over towards Mindy. The man smiled and waved back, and went on his way down the road towards Lenoilla. As his truck began rolling, dust was spun up from the ground. Melinda and Jaima coughed for a few seconds, but recovered quickly "See Jaima? I told you that we could get here by 4:45 P.M.!" Mindy announced, her voice raspy from the particles. She looked down at he Pokégear. "Okay... well, 5:34 A.M. isn't that far off." she said softly, recovering from her obvious blunder.

Things weren't as Melinda had planned though. The land around them was barren, almost resembling a desert. But her navigator insisted that she and Jaima were in the correct place. "Strange" she thought to herself. The pair turned and walked towards an old sign that faintly read, "Welcome to Gigarte!" As they walked closer to it, they noticed a newer, smaller sign right next to the big antique. "Welcome to the Gigarte Arboretum! Entrance is via the elevators fifty paces ahead." in very small print. "Well come on Jaima!" Mindy shrieked excitedly, pulling Jaima along.

~Twelve Hours Earlier~

"Okay, so maybe I underestimated the trip..." she told Jaima. The sun was beginning to set, and she was getting nervous. Jaima and Melinda had made good progress, but there was no way that they could reach Gigarte. She felt an anxiety attack coming on. There was no way she would be sleeping outside at night. She gulped and turned to Jaima. The couple stopped walking. "Jaima...I am about to do something. It’s completely unlike me, I know. But, as they say, desperate times call for desperate measures." she told him, her arms shaking. "I'll be right back." she ran off into the woods and came back a minute later wearing an extremely low-cut shirt and short shorts. Mindy had also taken her headband off and let her locks flow down to he shoulders. Without saying anything else to Jaima, she walked over to the side of the road; faced to direction they had walked from, and put her hand out in the street with her thumb up. Melinda smiled as a huge car with beaming headlights slowed down.

~Present Time~

The two jogged over to a crystal podlike structure. They were about to press a nearby button, when suddenly, a light flashed red. Immediately, the glass door opened down the middle. A man wearing an expensive suit and carrying a briefcase and some kind of beverage came out. They two shrugged it off, realizing that they were definitely in the right place. They entered the pod and pressed the button that read, "Down." Suddenly, the pod shook. The two began their descent. For about ten seconds, they saw nothing but ground around them. But after that... Well, it was almost the most beautiful thing Melinda had ever seen. (Second to her days growing up in Floaroma Town.) It was a complete subterranean civilization. It was a dome, made out of unbreakable glass. Looking up at the dome's ceiling, one would assume that they were looking up at the clear blue skies. The dome was so enormous, that in fact, it created this illusion. There hundreds of trees in view, which Melinda and Jaima both saw as they descended from the very top to the bottom of the dome.

They landed safely and the doors of the crystal pod opened. Melinda led the way as the pair took their first underground steps. They landed in what appeared to be some sort of park in the grand arboretum. A few trainers were nearby, training their pokemon with intensity. Jaima and Melinda were enjoying themselves very much when Mindy's pokeballs both shook. Combee and Taillow exploded out of two of them and soared up into the sky. The two pokemon both though that they were still outside, so Jaima and Melinda played along. Taillow especially enjoyed the high, beautiful sky and the clean air.

They wandered further and found a boy getting up from the ground with an Eevee by his side. Looking at the boy Melinda felt something inside her jump. As far as Melinda was concerned, the boy was her definition of beauty. His lean muscles ripple through his skin, and his biceps were to die for. Mindy composed herself, and trying to not be noticed blushing in front of Jaima. she turned away for a split second, pulled her shirt down a little bit, and revealed a little more of something she never does. He was wearing jeans, which disappointed Melinda a little bit, but she still thought nothing less of him. "Wow..." she thought, "he's hot". Mindy noticed the bandana he wore on his head, but she saw beneath it ravishing brown hair, messy after a night's sleep she thought. She pulled off her headband as she got closer and threw he hair in front of her. It's shiny, gleaming locks were always what made boys go ga-ga over her. Usually, she would never do anything like this. But this boy is different, she thought, so...indescribable.

As she walked over to him, he bent over to pet his Eevee. She bent over, her hands on her thighs and chest facing the ground. That was boys' favorite position to see her in back home. Melinda tapped him on the shoulder, her finger poking strong, sturdy muscle. "E-xcuse me. Are you from around here? If you are, do you know where we can find the nearest pokemon center?" she asked as sincerely as she could. In truth, her Pokégear told her this information, but she just felt the urge to talk to this guy.

[Living Arrow]

Darryn looked up. A girl was smiling at him, a guy clad in green following closely behind. He straightened up and smiled back. Eeve moved to the girl's legs and began sniffing at her shoes before bounding over to the guy and doing the same to him.

"Pokemon center? Sure... hang on a sec." Darryn tugged at the knot in his bandana and pulled it free, shaking his hair out to fall back around his ears. "Since I was planning on heading out that way, I'll take you there myself. I just caught that Eevee and it'll probably need a once over before I put it through some proper training. I'm Darryn, by the way." He smiled and held out a hand.

With a whoosh of green, Caterpie launched herself up Darryn's leg (where she had been clinging to rest) and out, along his arm to peer suspiciously at the girl. Her ridiculously bent antennae wiggled back and forth menacingly as she gurgled noises out of her crispy throat. Her rotting suction-cup feet squelched on Darryn's skin and made him shudder slightly.

"Hey! Don't be rude!" Darryn berated his Pokemon, fishing it off his arm and clicking the button of the Net ball to the bug's head. With a disapproving hiss at the girl, Caterpie flashed back to her ball where Darryn reposition it on his belt.
"Sorry about that," his cheeks burned with embarrassment, "my Caterpie really isn't like that all the time. Guess she's just a bit wary of other people."

[Master Houndoom]

Hours ago

Jaima was trying, very hard, not to be smug. It wasn't actually an overwhelming need to be smug, it was just that, well... any smile or look or "ha ha I told you so" might be taken wrong.

OK, maybe he did want to be smug, but he was trying not to be. He opted, wisely, perhaps, for silence.

"Jaima... I am about to do something. It’s completely unlike me, I know. But, as they say, desperate times call for desperate measures."

She walked into the woods a good distance, until she was completely invisible. Jaima shook his head and allowed a chuckle. Just as he was about to call that he had a tent and they could just camp for the night, she emerged from the forest.

He was stunned. She walked out in a low cut top and very short shorts. Her hair was down, framing her face in loose waves. She didn't spare a glance to Jaima, just stepped to the side of the road and stuck out her thumb.

She was gorgeous.

Jaima wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead and tried not to stare in the wrong places (place, really, as her back was to him). A couple of glances got past his notice.

Soon a truck and trailer pulled up, slowing when it caught sight of Mindy. The driver rolled down his window and peeked out. "C'n I help you, little lady," he asked, not a small hint of a leer in his voice.

Jaima repressed the urge to yank him out of the car, wondering in his addled state where it had come from.

Mindy explained that they were trying to get to Gigarte, and that she'd hate to be caught out in the dark in a strange region, and could he, the driver, help them? "Sure," he cried, enthusiastically, "hop on in!" Then, as an afterthought, he seemed to realize that Mindy had said "us".

"Oh. Yeah... um... there's room in the trailer. With the tools." There was a definite smirk in the young man's voice now, but Jaima paid it no mind. First off, responding to an insult from someone he'd probably never see again was stupid. Secondly, his mind was still fogged from seeing Mindy in those clothes.

"Thanks," he said, not realizing he'd made his voice deeper and more gravelly.

Now

Jaima's ass was sore. There was no better way to describe it. He had sat in the bouncy trailer for hours, and now he had a sore ass. And he knew, he knew that the driver had made a point to drive the trailer over every... single... pothole on the road.

But he wasn't going to let that get to him. Oh no. We ought always to deal justly, not only with those who are just to us, but likewise to those who endeavor to injure us; and this, for fear lest by rendering them evil for evil, we should fall into the same vice.<1> His father, when he had been alive, had been something of an amateur scholar and did his best to teach Jaima to be tolerant.

Not that he always was, but he was trying.

He could see the frown on the man's face when Mindy stepped to Jaima's side and waved. The driver took off quickly, kicking up dust that left them coughing, but that was fine. In a way, it was a little victory for his sore ass.

They found the elevator and descended into a marvelous place, full of beauty and nature that made Jaima want to cry out. As they walked, exploring the beautiful zone, Jaima let Grondir out of his ball and the rest came out on their own. Mercury, oddly, picked a place on Jaima's right shoulder, opposite of Shadow. Fang rested on top of his head as always, and Ember and Grondir walked, looking around. Ember banked her fire as low as possible, staring wide eyed at the surroundings as if she were afraid she would destroy it by accident.

Mindy's flyers erupted from their pokéballs and soared around, especially Taillow, who seemed thrilled to fly high and long in the warm sunshine. The pokémon did not seem to realize that this was an artificial structure, and Jaima, having difficulty believing it himself, did nothing to correct their assumptions.

After a nice walk, Mindy stopped, and seeing her stare forward, Jaima turned his attention there as well. There was a boy, playing with a trio of pokémon. One was a brown mound of fur, but Jaima recognized the tops of the pointed ears and the lighter brown fur collar enough to see that it was an eevee. Another was a rather portly pidgey, and the last looked like a very sick caterpie. They had been rolling on the ground and the boy got up, not aware of them yet.

Mindy stepped forward, then pulled off her headband again and shook her hair out. Something in Jaima jumped as she walked forward and asked for directions.

The caterpie's warning had been a minor thing to Jaima, except that a closer look made it look as if it'd been poorly mistreated when it was caught. Jaima couldn't get his mind off of Mindy and this boy, who introduced himself as Darryn. Mindy seemed... no, she was quite taken with him.

The sun had not abated, nor grown any darker, but to Jaima it felt as if clouds had rolled in.

Kuonji, you're an Idiot.

Mindy's encouraging words from Port Barley rolled through his mind, and he mentally shrugged. She did say she wasn't interested in you that way.

She also said she wasn't looking for a boyfriend at all, didn't she, hissed a sneering, oily, evil voice that sounded too much like his own for his comfort.

Things change, he said, but knew he'd have to take time to deal with this, now.

"Ah, Mindy... um... go on ahead and... if you'd get us some lodging, I'd appreciate it. Give me a call on the Gear when you do, k?" He stepped backward a couple steps. "I'm going to walk around. Grondir wants to explore."

"Bul?" The bulbasaur looked confusedly up at his trainer, and was recalled to his ball to keep the lie intact.

Jaima grinned, hoping it looked sincere. "I'll just let him out in the park. Give me a call!" He walked off before Mindy could protest. In a way, he hoped she took it as giving her a chance to get to know Darryn better. He'd hate her to think he was jealous.

He was, but he'd hate for her to think that.

He found a clearing and let Grondir out, enduring the little pokémon's grunted complaints. "I know, I know, I just... I had to get away. And we need to talk, anyway."

He sat down and motioned for his team to listen. Grondir and Ember sat together, but the other three remained where they had been.

"Grondir, in that last battle, you stopped because your opponent was sleeping. And that was very noble," he continued, stopping the bulbasaur's protests. "But you need to realize, when you fight and they're sleeping or paralyzed or even poisoned, that's part of the fight. If you had been asleep, Lemonade would have made sure he took advantage of it."

Grondir looked both rebellious and chastened, and Jaima laid his palm on the plant-lizard's head. "It's OK. Really, I said I understand, and I do. And if it were something else, like a serious injury, I'd have stopped the match. But sleep and all those is allowed. You're not going to hurt your opponent enough to do them serious harm, or I wouldn't be a trainer, OK?"

Grondir thought, then nodded and bounced, rubbing his cheek against Jaima's shin. Jaima turned to Ember, who was looking so despondent that Mercury was literally shivering.

"Ember?" The little pokémon didn't look up. "You don't like fighting, do you?"

Ember's head jerked up, and she looked fearful again. Jaima stroked her brow.

"I waited a long time to train you. If you don't want to fight anymore, I'll understand. I can send you home to mom. She'll love to see you back."

Ember squeaked and launched into a long monologue. Rough visions filled his head, looking blocky, like wrinkled paper cutouts, of Ember staying by Jaima's side, but not fighting unless needed. Jaima looked at Mercury briefly to see that she was looking intently at him, her tiny, beady blue eyes glowing slightly. That's handy... I think... a little weird, too.

"OK, Ember," he said aloud. "I'll tell you what. You fought really well, but if you don't want to fight, then I won't make you... and I think it'll be OK for you to travel with me, as long as you're not there when I fight in a gym..? I don't know. We'll see. And I'll find another fire type somewhere, I'm sure. OK?"

Ember looked relieved, then sad, then relieved again. Jaima patted her head and lay down. Shadow hopped up to shadow box, and Fang curled up next to Jaima's arm. Mercury sat on his chest, light enough that he could barely feel her.

She stared at him, sending thought-pictures of a heart that was darkening, with Mindy and Darryn walking hand in hand (in little wrinkled-paper motions) while Jaima stayed behind and got paper-rained on.

"I'm OK, Mercury," Jaima said, closing his eyes. "I just need to make sure I'm not a jerk when we meet up again, yanno?"

Another paper-picture emerged, with Jaima's head becoming huge, then biting off Darryn's paper head. Jaima laughed, and paper Jaima looked embarrassed.

"Yeah, that's exactly what I want to prevent. I'll be OK."

He closed his eyes, and wasn't exactly sure when he fell asleep. But nap he did.

<1> A/N: The quote is attributed to Haerocles the philospher.

[The Rose Crusade...]

Melinda said nothing and just stared. The was his hair fell just made her want to. "Wait..." she thought, "is that...scented shampoo?" Mindy took small notice after she came to the positive conclusion. She had been staring so intensively; she didn't even notice the Caterpie's fuss or Jaima leaving. "You lead the way, Mr. Darryn." she said smiling. Mindy beckoned for her two flying pokemon to follow her. As Darryn was finishing packing up, she noticed he decided to not even put a shirt back on. "Wow, either this guy is clueless or he's playing along. I guess I’ll just do that to." she smiled. Darryn put his backpack on and looked to her to see if she was ready. Mindy nodded and they began walking.

Along the way to the pokemon center, she made a couple of advances towards Darryn. For example, she commented on his extremely muscular physique and his flowing beautiful locks. But to Mindy's surprise, Darryn didn't blush, or seem to notice she was flirting with him. He just made comments on her words about his body, but they weren't filled with the awkward moments that flirting brings. He just seemed to be a very friendly person. Melinda was beginning to get frustrated. Never before had this happened to her. She had never been so attracted to another boy like Darryn. She had always brushed the others off, because they were all just googly-eyed buffoons. It was very strange for Melinda no to be lusted after, and it would take some getting used to.

Then, she decided to take a risk and go all the way. As they were walking in the direction of the pokemon center, she reached down and took hold of his hand and held it gently in hers. Melinda then watched closely for his reaction, knowing that this would be the turning point. But for some reason, he stopped and looked down at the ground, almost as if he was scared. She just sat there and wondered what he could possibly be doing. "Darryn...are you okay?" she asked, wondering if she had accidentally broken a rule of his religion or something else crazy unbeknownst to her.

This post has been edited by The Rose Crusader: Sep 13 2008, 11:52 AM

[Living Arrow]

she reached down and took hold of his and held it gently in hers

- his "what"?! I'm gonna assume hand....

Darryn decided not to ask after the guy in green. He seemed focused on something else, so Darryn decided instead to just enjoy the walk to the Pokemon Center with company. With all of his own Pokemon safely back in their balls, Darryn led the foreign girl out of the park and towards the Pokemon Center. She made a few comments about his chest and arms but he shrugged them off. Loads of people did that, after all. It was only when she grabbed his hand that Darryn finally realised why a stranger had been so friendly to him.

"Darryn... are you ok?"

Darryn gulped. Heat flashed into his cheeks. This was the bit that he hated doing with all girls that had done similar things. It never got easier and talking about it the first time always made him incredibl nervous.

"I, err..." he stammered, "I'm very flattered...err... but... err... y'see...." He took another gulped and wriggled his hand free of the girl's in as gentle a way he could, while making it as fast as possible. "I'm really sorry but you don't have the slightest chance with me..."

*Reword!!! Reword!!!*

"Err... what I mean is... I can tell that you're really...um... pretty? But... oh.... erm.... I know! Let's say I was a Pokemon. I'd be more interested in a NidorinO than a NidorinA... if you know what I mean?" He sighed. It was done. He had hoped that situations like that would never arise again, not after graduation, but here he was, doing the same thing all over again. With the same Poison Pin reference. That was odd.

Darryn blushed. "Really sorry..." :S

[The Rose Crusade...]

Melinda gasped at the boy. "Ohmigosh! Don't be sorry. It's my fault." she made the connection in her mind of what he was talking about. Mindy sighed. "I...well. You see, I'm usually not like this. Really. The twelve hours have been pretty intense, and I had to do something I didn't want to do, but I had to. And I guess, you could say I was sorta stuck in that mode, and I needed some kind of release." Mindy stopped and collected herself.

~Seven Hours Ago~

Melinda was sleeping quietly in the cab of the truck. "So far so good..." she thought. Suddenly, the truck hit a bump and Mindy was awoken violently. She got of in a frenzy and looked around to see if everything was okay. The hula-dancing figurine was still on the dashboard, and the truck driver was not phased. "So little lady, glad you finally woke up..." chuckled the driver. The cab was small, and there wasn't much extra room for anything. The driver yawned, stretching his arm. On the descend, however, his arm went around Melinda's shoulders. Mindy froze, fearful of what else the driver might do to her. But whatever he was palnning, she wouldn't let him get away with it.

"Sorry, but no thanks." she stated strongly. Melinda removed his arm from her shoulders and scooted over as far as she could towards the door of the cab, away from the driver. The driver responded with an audible. "Hmph" and was silent for the rest of the ride.

~Present Time~

"I don't know... I guess most boys that see me usually go nuts and gawk at my like I'm a picture in a porno magazine; And I always hated that. But you... well, you didn't do that, and that set you apart from the others. But now, I guess I know why you didn't..." she paused. "In a way, I almost understand what you feel. That beauty is a curse..." Melinda stopped to think about what to say next. "Anyway, I apologize for putting you in such an awkward position. It won't happen again, I promise." she said with a smile.

"Oh, by the way, I'm Melinda. But you can call me Mindy." she said, holding her hand out again, but for a shake this time.

This post has been edited by The Rose Crusader: Sep 14 2008, 07:50 AM

[Living Arrow]

Darryn shook Mindy's hand and felt the tension drain completely out of his body.

"Oh, god. That's a relief!" Darryn laughed. "How about we go in and get our Pokemon looked at? I wanna see what the nurse thinks about my Pokemon now..." Momentary annoyance made Darryn grit his teeth. "Plus, I just caught my Eevee and it needs a prelim check-up. I took a look myself, and everything was fine, but I need a second opinion and I know nothing about its internal condition. Seems I don't have much luck with healthy Pokemon, but my fingers are crossed on this one!"

He led the way, stepping through the automatic doors and into the main entrance of the Pokemon Center. Several trainers were ordering food from the cafeteria on the left while a few more sat patiently in the waiting area, to the right of the doors. A large LCD screen was showing off a stadium somewhere in Johto where a live competition of a Contest was taking place. A middle-aged woman Coordinator was showing off her Rhydon with a series of Hammer Arm displays on multiple blocks of wood. Darryn gave an inward sigh.

*I'll have Pokemon as gorgeous at that one day.*

Rather than waste time watching the Contest, he carried on to the reception desk, which was currently devoid of nurse or Chansey, and rang the bell to call for their attention.

[The Rose Crusade...]

"Okay, sounds good to me!" Mindy said with a grin. Melinda returned Combee and Taillow to their respective pokeballs. They had been so busy playing, they didn't even notice what was going on. She watched as Darryn walked into the Pokemon Center. She caught herself staring again, and scolded herself. "You are NOT like that, Melinda!" she told herself over and over again. Mindy took in her surroundings. She saw the TV that Darryn had been looking at a second earlier. A middle aged woman was displaying her shiny Rhyhorn by using one of its attacks in succession. "I do enjoy contests," she pondered, "maybe I shou-...Nah, battling is for me!" . Mindy focused her attention away from the television for a second and noticed some of he guys turn their attention from the TV to her. She simply rolled her eyes at them, muttered something, and walked briskly into the bathroom.

~Five Minutes Later~

Melinda emerged from the bathroom with her normal attire on. She had changed from her skimpy 'Little Lady' outfit to her casual clothes. Now she was dressed in black sneakers underneath a pair of black jeans. On top of that, her olive green tank top gripped tightly to her torso. Mindy finished her look off with her usual green cloth headband wrapped around her skull. Brown, flowing locks fell to her shoulder blades, waving from side-to-side with every step. Her spinach-colored Pokégear was enclosed around her right wrist, available quickly just in case of emergency.

Mindy saw Darryn at the counter talking to Nurse Joy. "Probably about that Eevee he mentioned earlier..." she assumed. Melinda turned to go sit back down when she made a distressing realization; she had no idea where Jaima was. She got up and ran outside the Pokemon Center and dialed furiously on her Pokégear. When he didn't answer, she turned on the walkie-talkie feature and lowered her mouth towards the small screen. "Jaima? Jaima, are you there? It's Mindy, me and Darryn are at the Pokemon Center, but where are you?" she said animatedly into her Pokégear. Melinda was hoping that he wouldn't have another run-away incident again, because if he did, she would have to find him...again.

[Master Houndoom]

Jaima dreamed.

He dreamed of the past, something he hadn't done in quite some time. He was ten, having just received his first pokemon, and was waiting excitedly next to a girl with red hair, who was very impressed with his knowledge of pokemon. "Yeah, my momma's a breeder from here, and pop's works on pokecenters."

"Really," cooed the redhead. "My dad's a librarian. Momma doesn't live with us anymore, but daddy says it's cause she's a sl-"

"OK!" Professor Elm interrupted their conversation by coming up and handing them their pokegear. Jaima was instantly absorbed in the device, studying it's functions as Professor Elm explained them. The redhead was peering over his shoulder rather than looking at her own. When Jaima glanced at her, she blushed. This was what Jaima remembered as the time he knew the unmitigatable truth: Girls were weird.

"I'm going to be just like my hero, Misty," said the girl as they walked out. "Everyone will know the name of Meiko and her mighty totodile, Chompwater!"

"Oh, yeah," Jaima said, his eyes sparkling. "Well, one day I'm gonna be a Champ-"

"Jaima," said a voice behind them. "Your mother's on the phone... I think your dad's... Been hurt."

The world spun for what seemed like hours, but when Jaima moved to run out the door and home, he could hear Meiko calling his name. "Jaima?! Jaima!"

He woke to Mindy's voice, blinking rapidly. Hitting the button on the side of his gear, he croaked out, "Mindy? I must've fell asleep. I stepped out like I told you. Um... Grondir! He was enjoying the sun... I'll meet you guys at the center." Just then, he heard a rustling, and saw a little green body with an almost yellow bisected bulb on top of it's head. "But first, I need to get a present for a special lady." He turned off his gear and smiled at the budew...

This post has been edited by Jaima: Sep 14 2008, 10:39 AM

[Living Arrow]

She was peeeing over his shoulder? EW! I know she must like water sports since she loves Misty so much, but that's gross!!! XD

"I already explained this once before," Darryn snapped at Nurse Joy who was fixing him with a cold hard glare. "I only just caught that Eevee. And, just like with Pidgey and Caterpie, I brought it straight here to have it checked out! I mean, sheesh! I want to be an expert in Pokemon Health Care and Fashion - the Pokemon I raise are in good hands!!!"

"It doesn't seem that way from where I am standing." The nurse snorted, pushing the tray of Darryn's Pokeballs across the counter. "Not a one of your Pokemon is fully healthy and I see no other trainers bringing in a whole set of unhealthy Pokeballs twice in one week."

"That's not. My. Fault." Darryn growled. He felt like doing a double-snap in front of her face, but that would have been going too far. Despite his annoyance that the nurse didn't feel he was looking after his Pokemon properly, he understodd what she meant. If he had been presented a set of Pokemon in the same condition as his, he'd probably think the same. "Well, can you at least help me out with my Eevee. It needs to be sedated so that I can cut its fur without him struggling?"

The nurse took a pensive stance for a moment but gave in. "Alright, Mister Kellor, but I'm warning you - I want to see a full improvement, especially with your Caterpie, the next time you come in here. And that poor Pidgey has even fewer feathers than when you came in the first time with it. Just be careful and patient with them and keep using the treatments that I prescribed last time. Ok?"

Darryn nodded. He waited patiently while the Quick Ball was gassed with Spore from a Parasect then left the counter. Mindy was nowhere to be seen - she'd probably got bored of the guy who took little interest - and went to the waiting area. Rather than sit, he released the no sleeping Eevee onto an examination table and took some scissors from his pack. As he began cutting the Evolution Pokemon's fur, he grew worried about its condition. According to Nurse Joy, the little puppy had some internal problems. It's hips were suffering from a minor displacement that would take a lot of work to be fixed. Also, the Pokemon's heart had a faint murmur that could be anything and every now and again, he would skip a breath for no visible reason.

*Just my luck to catch another sick Pokemon*

[The Rose Crusade...]

"Okay, that's cool." Melinda said with a sigh of relief. "Gosh, I hope I'm not the special lady.." Mindy shuttered. She did not want Jaima to think that anything was happening between her and Darryn, and hoped he wasn't going to arrive with a box of chocolates and flowers or something like that. That would just be embarrassing. Besides that idea, Mindy was glad that another possibly grave ordeal was over. Instead of just waiting around outside of the Pokemon Center or Jaima to arrive, she decided to go check up on Darryn and see what he was doing.

Melinda waltzed into the center and noticed many trainers' eyes turn toward her, do a double take, and turn away again. Mindy sighed and just walked right past them to a table behind the counter where she saw Darryn with a pair of intense looking scissors. "Oh no...Is he cutting his pokemon into food or something!? she thought with uncertainty. Melinda rushed over to the counter where she saw Darryn snipping away carefully and delicately his Eevee's brown fur coat. She wiped a sweat droplet from her forehead and put her hand back down to her side with relief. "Hey Darryn, that looks pretty cool. What did the Nurse say about your Eevee? Are you a coordinator or something? Mindy asked inquisitively.

This post has been edited by The Rose Crusader: Sep 14 2008, 07:32 AM

[Living Arrow]

Darryn briefly looked up from his task to see that Mindy was back.

"Oh, hey. A coordinator?" He trimmed up the fringe of his Eevee into a smart sweeping quiff. "I don't know about that... What I really want is a sort of mix between a coordinator and a breeder. To be able to boost the physical health of a Pokemon to its max, but with that in mind, I also want to be a Pokemon Fashion designer and make Pokemon look even more beautiful on the outside than they can in their natural condition. But, with what I have to work with, that aint going to be easy."

He finished off taking the bulk of fur from Eevee's body and turned him over, inspecting his work. The fur was nice and short, with a little extra length left around the paws to make it look like he was wearing furry little boots. The curling fringe over his eyes made him look like an obvious male without having to get really close to check for sure and left his eyes clear to see perfectly.

"So, what I'm really doing now is proving that I have the skill to take even the weakest, ugliest Pokemon and make it not only strong but sitting comfortably atop the head of fashion with its natural and man-influenced characteristics." He smiled, lifting Eevee's head gently to re-tie the bandana into place. "I'm just starting out and I know it won't be easy, but I think raising challenging Pokemon will be what will make me an excellent Pokemon Health expert and Fashion designer so that I can work with the big names! It would seem, however, that luck is against me at the moment. Even this Eevee has problems - the nurse was telling me how its internal condition doesn't match how good it appears on the outside. All my Pokemon are sick, even in their best conditions, but I'm gonna try and overcome the odds to prove how good I am at what I do!"

He fingered the two Pokeballs at his side. *But judging by these two, I've still got a long way to go*

"What are you into, Mindy? Battles? Contests? Breeding? Maybe fashion?"

This post has been edited by Living Arrow: Sep 14 2008, 09:09 AM

[The Rose Crusade...]

Melinda found what Darryn told her to be very interesting. Mindy listened very carefully: she wanted to know as much about Darryn as she could. He seemed like a very interesting person. "Wow, he has a lot of ambition, and I respect that." she thought to herself. "He seems very skillful with those scissors, maybe he studied pokemon fashion somewhere..." she wondered. "Before I start talking about myself, all I can say is...wow. You have so much ambition and are very goal oriented. I admire that,” she told him. "And I believe that by challenging yourself, you are only going to become closer to those goals." she said with a smile. "Now, about me. Well, to tell you about myself, I first have to start with my family." she swallowed. "Get your pens and pencils out," she said jokingly, "this is going to be a long one."

"Okay, so my mom and my aunt grew up together very close, but they had very different opinions. My mom, she believed that pokemon's beauty was achieved from the outside. And my aunt, she always believed that inner beauty was the best thing a pokemon could have. So, at the coming of age, they both went their separate ways. After their adventures they both settled down by opening businesses. My mom decided to open up the "Pick a Peck of Flowers" shop in the Sinnoh Region with my father, working on the sheen of pokemon to make them more glamorous. But my aunt decided to go on another route. After marrying her husband Zane, she settled down in the Kanto Region. You see, my aunt is the famous pokemon breeder Suzie, owner of "Suzie's Salon" in Saffron City." she informed Darryn, who's eyes widened.

"It's an extremely successful business that they ran. But since opening it, as you might know, she let her apprentices run that shop. Now, she is located in Cherrygrove City in the Johto Region where she opened up a new branch of "Suzie's Salon"...I got a little off topic from your question, sorry. I just thought you might want to know," she said with a wink. "Anyway, so in Cherrygrove, the had a kid about the same time my mom and dad had me. Her name is Trixie. Trixie, to her mother's extreme disappointment, is a materialistic girl. However, she is the real coordinator. Me? I enjoy watching contests, but to my mom's disappointment, I'm not much of a coordinator. In a way, one could say that we were born to the wrong parents," Melinda chuckled.

"I always excelled at battles, and people always acknowledged me for being creative in them. So yeah, I guess I'm going to be a trainer," Melinda declared. "There's a gym in this city, right?" she asked. After he responded, she remembered something else Darryn mentioned. "Oh, and I do love pokemon fashion. But I do agree that a pokemon's inner beauty is just as important as external looks." her attention turned to the Eevee. "You really are masterful with your approaches to pokemon beauty. I mean, just look at the Eevee! Its coat is already ten times healthier! Now, I know that you are in for a few challenges already with your own pokemon. I do have another trial for you, but only if you are interested," Mindy said mysteriously, fingering a pokeball she detached from her belt. "But if you accept, it might be the toughest challenge you'll ever face," she announced with a straight face.

The link to Trixie's biography is on a site that has been assaulted by ads. You can try to get there. If you can, consider yourself lucky. It's not extremely important that you all read that, just a little tidbit I'd like to share.

This post has been edited by The Rose Crusader: Sep 14 2008, 12:37 PM

[Living Arrow]

"Oh. My. God. Shut up!" Darryn's jaw was having difficulty rising. "Your Aunt is Suzie?! As in the Suzie?! I love her! I went over to Saffron on a field trip with the girls from the Celadon gym. It was so amazing! I mean, wow! The things that woman can do with a Tangela's vines?! AMAZING!"

He watched as Mindy's hand strayed to a Pokeball.

*Well, here it is. Your first challenge to a real Pokemon battle is coming up and you've got three sick Pokemon at your disposal... great.*

"You want to battle?" Darryn's shoulders slumped. "I'm really not very good yet. I did battle basics and all that at school, but my Pokemon are... well... y'know... But I guess I gotta start somewhere, right?"

[The Rose Crusade...]

"Oh no no no. I didn't mean to challenge you to a pokemon battle." she replied. Mleinda grabbed his arm and lead the way over to the water tank in the lobby of the pokemon center. Mindy let go of his arm and picked up the pokeball she was fingering not long ago. Melinda pushed the button in the center and immediately out of it shot a straight red line. The line traveled through the tank, and then materialized in the form of a fish. Feebas looked at thw two inquisitively, not having met Darryn before. Her lips were chaffing from the water, and a scale or two fell off of its body and fluttered down to the bottom of the tank.

"This is the challenge." Melinda replied, pointing to Feebas while still ooking at the confused face of Darryn. "Could you exam it, and, I don't know...make it look...happier?"