[X] My Assistant

[Cube]

Parking his scooter outside, Spencer was relieved to finally be at the Pokemon Center. A Pokemon Center meant a free bed, free food, free medical treatment for your Pokemon. Plus, if you were lucky, you might see a Nurse that wasn't related to every other nurse in the country!

"Hello... Joy is it?" asked Spencer to the Nurse at the front desk.
"Yes, actually." said the Nurse. "How did you guess?"
"Just a hunch. I'd like to check in please. Do you still have any free rooms left?"
"You're just in time. We're on our last two." said the Nurse.
"Great!" said Spencer, pulling out his wallet. "I'll take them both please. One for me and my silent friend here, and one for these two girls here. Here's my Trainer Card." He handed a small red card to the Nurse, who quickly swiped it through her computer.
"There you are." she smiled, handing Spencer his card back. "Two rooms. Your friend's Pokemon are being taken care of as well."

"Thank you!" said Spencer. He did a small bow as he headed into the Common Room to meet up with the others.

Spencer couldn't help but laugh at Connie's description of the Miltank's. "They are supposed to be stubborn Pokemon if they aren't trained properly. I wouldn't really know though. I haven't spent much time around Miltank. I grew up on a farm as well, but we're more focused on breeding Pokemon for battles and contests than for milk."

There was a sudden burst of movement in Spencer's Bag, as Nils leapt forth in a flash of light. "<"ICE CREEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMM!!!!!"> It shouted, darting around the Pokemon center in search of the mentioned sweets. He crawled all over the room, acting like a hyperactive Mankey, and frightening some of the more herpetophobic trainers in the area. <"Ice cream? Ice cream?! I heard ice cream? Where's the ice cream? I SMELL IT! ICE CREAAAA-oof!">. The hyperactive Treecko found himself being grabbed by an exasperated looking Charmander.

<"Hey! Let go! What about the ice cream!?">
<"Do you want me to Ember you again?">
<"No...">
<"Then calm down!">

----

Nils fell to the floor with an annoyed "Treecko", pouting.
"Char..." sighed Vincent, as he dragged his sibling back to his trainer's side.

Spencer sighed at the Treecko's shenanigans. "That's Nils. He's always like that... Poor Vincent takes it upon himself to keep him in line sometimes. It's almost adorable." His eyes traced a line of Treecko footprints that had made the walls of the Pokemon Center look like a Family Circus strip. "Almost..."

This post has been edited by CubeB: Jun 26 2009, 02:34 PM

[Ganymede]

Waker stood on tiptoe to see over the counter as Spencer handed the nurse his card. Behind the counter was one of the large healing machines, with more visible through a door behind the nurse. She flashed a quick smile at Waker and walked into the room, grabbing the Pokeballs filled with injured Pokemon along the way. Waker let go of the counter and followed his new friends.


<"Spicy ice cream? Azzy, that's disgust- AHH!> Pora cut off with a shout as Spencer's Treecko launched over Waker's head. Pora leapt from her trainer's shoulder into his bag, shaking and tangling herself in Waker's rarely-used jacket. <"What is it? What is it?! Are we under attack?"> Her voice was muffled. Azzy sighed and watched Nils as he tore around the Pokemon Centre, upending a Spinda and sending a young woman into a minor panic attack.


<We've been in Furoh for less than twenty minutes,"> Azzy muttered, watching Vincent grab Nils. <"And we've already been in a battle and destroyed a Pokemon Centre. This is shaping up to be a great adventure.">


Waker grabbed on to Spencer's sleeve, laughing so hard his body shook. He barely noticed when Pora dived into his bag and began shouting, her frantic calls adding to the general mayhem. One of the assistant nurses was already heading their way, a Chansey tagging along beside her. Waker wiped the tears from his eyes and gave a soundless hiccup before resucing Pora from the tangled mess in his bag. He quickly made sure she hadn't squished any of his berries, hiccupped again, and placed her back on his shoulder.

This post has been edited by Nezzie: Jun 26 2009, 03:28 PM

[Verity Lily]

All of her shyness forgotten, Verity was giggling so much she was almost crying. She thought Vincent was almost the cutest thing she'd ever seen, except for Fiddy and Courage - and Butchette was cute too, she loyally corrected her own thoughts. She couldn't help not being little or pink. Maybe a tiara or something would help. Verity let her pokemon out of their balls, deciding that Butchette was healthy enough to be cured with moomoo surprise icecream rather than a pokemon centre machine.

It was a pity her egg wasn't ready for icecream yet. She hoped it would hatch into something she could wear on her shoulder like Azzy and Pora. She resolved to practice with Courage as soon as she got the chance.

Verity went to her favourite booth and settled in, taking out the egg and snuggling it on her lap so that it could see all the other pokemon having fun and be tempted to hatch faster. She kind of wanted to get out Henrietta, her for-emergencies-only-not-a-toy pokedoll, too, but she was afraid the boys would laugh.

<<I bet I can handle spicier icecream than any of you wimps can,>> Butchette said sweetly. <<I can handle icecream so hot it would blow even a charmander's fire into a volcano. And I can handle icecream so bitter that a grown Lucario would run screaming, and so sour that it would melt an Articuno.

But I like mint choco chip best. You should try it, it's yummy!>>

<<I like everything, as long as it has berries,>> Courage put in.

A very young Joy-in-training wearing a frilly apron and rollerskates, an old friend of the girls', glided over, her Happiny toddling at her feet. "Hi Connie, hi Verity!" she sang out, her candy-pink pigtails bobbing. "I guess you want icecream?"

"Yes! And for all our pokemon, and for our friends and their pokemon, too. Oh!" Verity suddenly remembered what she had seen Spencer doing, and pulled out her brand new trainer card. "Look what we have, Joy!"

"Awesome!" Joy beamed. "Congratulations, girls. On the house, then!"

Verity smiled thanks, and turned back to the boys "Our Miltanks don't battle in competitions, but they practice rollout all the time anyway. They play 'Miltank Marbles': they go into corners and rollout and try to hit each other. They think it's fun. But Connie's not scared of them the least little bit," she added proudly. "And it's because of their milk that this pokemon centre has the best icecream ever, right, Joy?"

The pint-sized Joy looked a little uncomfortable. "Um, actually, Verity, we've been getting our milk somewhere else lately. Aunty Joy said that your milk is too expe - high-quality to be wasted on icecream anymore. Um, I'll just go get the icecream - I'll get some of every flavour for your friends to try!" She scooped her Happiny up on her tray and skated off quickly towards the kitchens.

Verity was a little taken aback, and worried - did the women at the Farm know, she wondered? - but she was a very polite little girl. She bit her lip for a second, then turned her attention back to her guests.

"I'm sure you're great at battling, Waker, with pokemon like that! But what's a coordinator? Are they like a battle referee?"

[Cube]

"That's strange..." thought Spencer, watching the nurse skate off into the other room. "There isn't really that much of a price variation in milk, is there? Wouldn't milk from a local farm be cheaper anyway?"

His thoughts were interrupted by Verity's question. "You don't know what a coordinator is?" he asked, quite surprised the girl had never heard of coordinating. "Haven't you ever seen a Pokemon Contest? I thought they were pretty big in Furoh..."

Spencer looked around the room for a remote control, eventually finding one on a coffee table in the middle of the room. Making sure no one was watching the TV, Spencer flipped through the channels until he landed on a live contest from the Sinnoh Region.

A line of elegantly dressed trainers stood on an elegant stage, which Spencer recognized as the Heathrome City Contest hall. Releasing his Piplup - who was immediately enthralled by the televised contest - Spencer returned to his seat. "This is a contest. Those people are Coordinators."

He pointed to the television as it each of the trainers released their Pokemon. "From Olivine City, Johto: JASMINE!"
A girl clad in a white sun dress tossed a Heavy Ball.
"Let's Go Rusty!" she cried, releasing a Steelix in a shower of sparkles and confetti; it's metal coating polished to a brilliant shine.

"From Jubilife City, Sinnoh: Casey!" A Nurse Joy in an elegant dress modeled after the traditional Nurse uniform did a bow before tossing her Heal Ball.
"Do your best Pinky!" she shouted, releasing a Chansey dressed in a similar outfit, flashing hearts and starts accompanying it's appearance.

"From Heathrome, our very own Fantina!" A foreign looking woman in a violet dress did a pirouette as she tossed released her Pokemon.
"Loony! Allez!" A Drifblim appeared in a similar shower of sparkles, clad in lace to make it seem even more ghostly than normal.

"And last but definitely not least, from Twinleaf Town, former champion of the Grand Festival: Johanna!"
A middle aged woman in an elegant ball gown tossed her Pokeball straight into the air. "Let's Go Jumpy!" she cried, as her Kangaskan was released in an explosion of confetti.

"And now! The Master Rank Super Contest shall commence!" the Announcers voice emanated from the televisions speakers. "First, the visual round! Our judges will judge each of the Pokemon on their entrance, appearance, and general condition!"

A group of judges walked on stage and began examining each Pokemon, taking notes and inspecting their general condition.

"A Coordinator is kind of like a trainer, but instead of training for combat, they train Pokemon for performing in contests like these." explained Spencer. "This is the Visual Round. Next is the Appeal Round, where each Coordinator takes part in a small performance. And after that is the Acting Round, where the Pokemon are paired off and take part in a series of Mock Battles, where you have to both dazzle the judges, and beat your opponent. At least, that's how it works in Sinnoh. To be honest, I have no idea how it works in Furoh..."

[Ganymede]

Waker titled his head and stared at Verity through his hair as he sat down. She seemed upset about the milk and Waker briefly wondered why the Centre had stopped using the kind from her farm. Pora made a sympathetic noise and crawled off his shoulder to the girl, tugging on her sleeve with tiny claws. Azzy too jumped off Waker's shoulder and onto his lap, nudging his bag.


"Nido, Ni," the Nidoran murmured. Waker sighed and hiccupped again. What, you want ice cream and a poffin? "Niiiiido, Nido Ni!" Azzy insisted. Giving in, Waker rummaged through his bag and broke off a bit of a bright red spicy poffin. Azzy quickly wolfed it down. If he keeps eating like this, we're gonna run out of Poffins...


Spencer, who had been talking to Verity, had suddenly grabbed a remote. The unmistakable sounds of a Contest filled the room and Waker's attention immediately went to the TV. As the contest began, he smiled widely, hiccups forgotten. Azzy stared at the screen raptly, ears sticking straight into the air. Feeling for his bag, Waker broke off another pit of poffin, this time a dull green, and held it out absentmindedly to Pora.


As the trainers were announced, Waker inhaled sharply. He quickly grabbed his notebook and began writing furiously. When he was done, he held it out to the girls and Spencer.

I've seen Jasmine before!
She comes through Ecruteak sometimes on her way to the Day Care.
She lets all the kids in town play with her Pokemon!
I didnt know she was a Coordinator!

Waker jumped as someone behind him laughed. He looked down and noticed Pora and Azzy on the floor, both moving in circles with their heads held high in a mock Appeal round. Pora stopped, looked around the Centre, then jumped and spun in the air. Someone clapped on the other side of the room.


<Showoff,> Azzy muttered.

This post has been edited by Nezzie: Jun 26 2009, 10:44 PM

[ROMANA]

Connie released Mary from her pokeball as they all sat down. She frowned at the news that the Pokemon centre were no longer using Butterfree Farm milk but soon forgot about it with the arrival of ice cream and her first introduction to competitions. She was caught spoon half way to her open mouth as she watched the introductions to the contest that Spencer found on TV. Those pokemon had... accessories. She looked at Verity. She had a feeling this was going to be popular. She knew for a fact that her friend had done her best to stick flowers to Butchette. She had even seen evidence of daisy chains before the Machop had managed to 'lose' them.

Waker held out his note pad and Connie read quickly. She looked up at the screen. "I don't know that I'd want to play with a pokemon that big," she said with a grin at Waker. "It looks scary! Is it friendly? It must be really odd to see someone you know on the television!" Connie's mother didn't really hold with television. Connie had only seen it when they'd come into town.

The pokemon on the television were awfully impressive. Connie watched her friend's expression with interest for a moment but was then distracted by little Pora pulling at Verity's sleeve. Pora and Azzy were so incredibly cute! They were pretending to be in a contest like the pokemon on the screen. Connie giggled delightedly and applauded Pora's spin.

"Waker, you must have been working really hard with them, they're so cute!" said Connie. "I wouldn't even know where to start with training a pokemon for that sort of thing." She would have continued but she was distracted by a sudden weight in her lap. Mary had decided that her trainer was obviously finished with the uneaten and ignored icecream and had placed herself in Connie's lap. Her head was in the bowl and she was slurping enthusiastically. "Do you think you could do that, Mary?" asked Connie. The Mareep looked up, ice cream all around her mouth. She looked at Connie quizzically and then licked her nose happily, leaving a trail of minty, melty ice cream in her wake. "Apparently not."

[Verity Lily]

Verity's expression brightened as she stroked Pora's head, obviously melting faster than the icecream at the little pokemon's kindness. As a result, Butchette was a little out of temper when the television came on.

She scowled at the screen when the Steelix appeared. Big stupid metal snakes thought they were so tough, but they were useless against fighting types like her, Verity had told her. She flexed her muscles, hoping there would be a Primeape sent out against it or something so she could watch it take a fall.

But there was no battle. Butchette watched the show in dawning horror.

When Butchette's new pokemon friends utterly betrayed her by parading in front of them, Butchette took one glance at Verity's radiant face and sunk to the floor, arms crossed over her head. Somehow, she had lost all interest in icecream.

Verity's cheeks had flushed as pink as her hair, and her crimson eyes were sparkling as she clapped her hands, icecream and worries alike forgotten. She was enchanted. Her mother and her teacher, Emerance, had taught her that pokemon were hard-working partners, companions, guards and farm workers. They had never said anything about sparkly hearts.

"Connie's right - that's fantastic! You must know your pokemon really well to make them so cute!" she said. "I didn't know anything about contests. I wonder why Mama never told me?" She crushed down the image of her strong, weatherbeaten amazon of a mother and what she would think about making pokemon shiny. After all, it was a whole realm of things about pokemon she didn't know yet - Verity sometimes felt slightly panicky when she realised all the things she didn't know - yet. She decided to become an expert on contests as quickly as possible.

She also decided that she was going to catch a Kangaskahn like Jumpy herself one day, whatever it took. A pokemon with an inbuilt baby was worth doing anything for.

"I bet Mary could learn! She's really cute and pretty already and you're training her really well. And - maybe my pokemon could..." Courage made a sound surprisingly close to a Machop-mocking snicker, and fluttered to the middle of the table, ostentatiously preening her feathers.

"Is that why you came to Furoh, to have contests?" Verity asked eagerly. "Would you - would you mind if we watched you? Just once?"

"I, too, would be interested in watching," a smooth voice broke in. Verity looked up and saw a proper grownup, one with deep purple hair swept stylishly back from his face, and a black suit with a cut that, inexperienced as she was, Verity knew enough to recognise as miles away from the off-the-rack clothes sold in little Barley. Gold glimmered in one earlobe and on his cufflinks. She felt a stab of discomfort at a grownup man intruding on their conversation - but, as it happened, the man clearly had no interest in either of the little girls.

"You young men have some very interesting pokemon, I noticed you when you came in and now this little... display," the stranger said, giving Waker and Spencer a dazzling smile. "Barley is a... quaint little town, and the local pokemon are somewhat... provincial. I would appreciate the chance to see your pokemon in action at some point."

Verity gaped resentfully at him a moment, then turned to make a face at Connie. Provincial! Butchette was the best woodchopper around, everyone in Barley knew that!

Going to post in discussion about NPC.

This post has been edited by Lindley: Jun 27 2009, 04:48 PM

[Ganymede]

Waker laughed and poked the ice cream in his bowl with the spoon before taking a bite. In a flash, Azzy and Pora had umped on the counter, staring at the bowl with wide eyes. Waker downed another bite and, with the spoon still in his mouth, began writing in his notebook again. Azzy and Pora immediately went at the ice cream, happily slurping it down.

It takes a while to train!
But it's worth it :)
There are five kinds of contests:
Cool - Azzy is trained for these!
Smart - Pora is trained for these!
Cute
Beauty
Tough
I dont have any accesories yet though.
The Johto and Hoen contests are simpler than the Sinnoh and Furoh contests
and they dont have an appeal round.

Waker paused, the spoon sticking out of his mouth, a concentrated frown on his face. He pulled the spoon out and took another bite of the ice cream. Pora had already stopped eating and had begun to scold Azzy, who was spilling ice cream on the counter. Waker pushed the bowl aside and caught Verity blushing. He grinned and continued writing.

Before I can enter a contest here I need a pass.
They should have a registering table in the hall.
Im sure your Pokemon could enter contests too!
Butchette could be in a tough contest
and Mary could be in a beauty or cute contest.

You also need to know how to make poffins :)

Waker flushed bright red at Verity's question. He hadn't thought his new friends would be so interested in his goals - or look to him for advice. He suddenly felt a little shy and overwhelmed. He flipped the page in his notebook and was just about to write again when the strange man interrupted.


Waker jolted a little and smilied at the man nervously, intensley aware of his cold eyes. He heard a low growl and turned to the counter, where the ice cream lay in a forlorn puddle. Azzy's barbs stuck straight into the air, legs spread far apart in an attempt to look larger. Pora had sunk low to the counter behind Azzy, barbs close to her skin. Waker coughed, his smile fading.


I've never seen them so angry, Waker thought, biting his lip uneasily. He seems nice enough...

[Cube]

Thanks for that Nezzie, I was about to post but I got called away again.

"Um... Thank you sir." Said Spencer, stunned by the man's compliment. "I'm flattered. I'm sure my friend here is as well. He doesn't speak you see."
He didn't see why he would be complementing his Pokemon in the first place. Azzy and Pora were the ones putting on the show. Celia was glued to the TV, Nils was face first in a bowl of Moomoo surprise, and his Charmander was staring at the man like he wanted to test out Metal Claw on that fancy coat of his. Spencer picked up the fire type and set him on his lap, taking care to avoid the flaming tail. "Behave around the nice man Vincent." He patted the Charmander on the head, but it never ceased it's angry glare. "Um... who are you exactly?"

"Oh, of course. How... thoughtless of me. My name is Ura Refson, a connoisseur of all things Pokemon." He smiled, his teeth meticulously whitened. "You can consider me a sort of... talent scout, if you will."

"Talent scout?" Spencer cocked his head. "For what? The League? Battle Frontier?"

"My personal amusement, mostly." said the man, leaning in closer. "Though I do have connections."

Spencer could feel Vincent tense up in his lap, Azzy and Pora's growls growing louder. "Nice to meet you..." said Spencer, nervously. "Um... I'm Spencer, and this Waker, Connie, and Verity."

"Connie and Verity?" said the man; "Those are strange names for Pokemon..."

"...Connie and Verity are the girls, sir."

"Oh." the man scrunched his nose in disgust. "Forgive me, I didn't see you there..." he said, his voice lacking any semblance of sincerity. "But enough introductions... tell me, where did you two get such... rare Pokemon? Nidoran, Piplup, Charmander, and Treecko? Surely you couldn't have gotten them from Barley..."

"Um... well, I'm not sure where Waker got his Pokemon." Spencer nervously tugged at his collar. "Somewhere in Johto, I suppose. But I bred mine myself."

"Really now?" The man eyed the Charmander closely, to the point where Spencer had to grab it by the tail to prevent any incidents. "Well... I'd love to see them in action. Are you aware of the new Practice Hall down the road from here?"

"Practice hall?!" Spencer was shocked. "What do you mean "Practice Hall"?"

"It's a venue for practicing Pokemon Contests of course." said the man; "I wouldn't expect you to know about it. It's the first of it's kind after all. The League figured that since so many people pass through Barley, it would be prudent to build one."

"So... It doesn't give out a ribbon?!"

"Not an official one at least." said the man. "It's not sanctioned to do so. Besides, it doesn't have an official Hall Leader anyway."

"Hall... Leader?"

"I wouldn't expect you to know about that either... Furoh is the first region to implement them after all. In order to win a Ribbon, you have to defeat the Hall Leader in a Battle Round. It's an attempt to appeal to the 18-25 Male Demographic, I guess. Still, it thrills me to see young trainers such as you two competing in a contest battle..."
Ura smiled again. Did that man Bedazzle his teeth or something? "The league is giving out contest passes to coordinators who complete mock contests at the Practice Hall. I expect to see you both there."

Spencer was still reeling from the man's words. Furoh's contests were much different than what Spencer was expecting... He couldn't help but wonder what Waker was feeling right now...

[Ganymede]

Waker stared at Ura in numb shock. A...battle round? But...we can't fight! Waker distantly felt the pen drop from his hand to the floor. He swallowed and Pora, making a sympathetic noise, crawled into his lap on top of his notebook. He curled his arms around the Poison Pin Pokémon and glanced at Spencer. Vincent looked about ready to murder the man and Spencer's face had gone pale. Obviously, the news had affected him, too.


Waker bit his lip again and shifted his weight on the stool, a sudden cry jolting him out of his thoughts.


"NIDORAN!" Azzy yelled, launching himself off the counter at the man. Waker gasped and shot up off the stool, sending his notebook and Pora crashing to the ground. Two ribbons - one red, the other green - fell out of the notebook as he grabbed Azzy in midair, the Nidoran's poison barbs digging into his arm. Azzy immediately withdrew the barbs, but Waker could already feel the new scratches on his arm tingling. Holding the squirming Pokémon in one hand, he hit the release on the Pokeballs on his bag and watched the two Pokémon disappear in flashes of blue and purple light.


His face burning, Waker ducked down and grabbed the items he had dropped on the floor. Standing up, he shakily wrote something down and handed his notebook to Spencer, motioning towards the bathroom.

Im sorry about Azzy mr Refson
He's very protective

He'd been poisoned like this before, when Azzy was still a hatchling and couldn't control the barbs on his back and ears. A poison as simple as Nidoran's was easily curable without the use of an antidote, so he wouldn't have to waste one of the bottles his father had made for him. All he needed to do was wash his arms and sweater, and he was pretty sure he still had a poffin in his bag that had been made out of Pecha berries. I'll be fine. I just hope Spencer and the girls aren't too upset about the contests...

This post has been edited by Nezzie: Jun 28 2009, 12:48 AM

[Lost Eventide]

Hope you guys don't mind if I drop Cirykins in here =3 I read through most of the thread, and I think I have most of the idea on what's going on, but if I miss something please lemme know! =3 Lol, now to try and get an intro together xDDD Also, sorry if any of the colour tags clash poorly with any skins you guys are using. I use Zergoose and there's a possibility some may appear a bit light I'm assuming D=

"Bulba!" The cry accompanied the Bulbasaur's quick movement as the small, dino-like plant Pokemon promptly dove into his trainer's leg and wrapped its small, stumpy legs around it. The tall nineteen-ear-old in questioned stumbled, a clear look of surprise crossing his face as he did his best to catch his balance before looking down accusingly at the creature. What in the world had startled him now? He paused for a moment, and closed his red eyes with a sigh. As if he needed to bother asking.

"Treeck!" The response to the Bulbasaur's action came almost instantly: an annoyed tone that showed clearly that the Treecko, who had been following at her own leisure, didn't approve at how poorly her fellow grass-type had taken her jibe. Honestly, giving a little snarl to show who precisely was boss was hardly something to overreact about. As her trainer turned to fix her with a rather disapproving look, she simply grunted and turned her head, her arms crossed over her chest. As far as she was concerned, any trainer that seemed incapable of speaking to her wasn't really worth her time.

Ciro sighed deeply, removing the floppy brown hat that sat on his head to run his fingers through his white hair. The trainer, while apparently decently built, seemed to have an almost sickly-pale tone to his skin. His clothing seemed to be almost entirely designed to keep most of his flesh hidden, despite how warm the outfit could possibly get in warm climates: a brown jacket, underneath which happened to be a white t-shirt, and even under that a close-fitting black top with long-sleeves, the wrists of which visible at his wrists. Then couple in the long pair of brown pants, and the hat he had just now replaced on his head and you've gotten an outfit that seemed to only allow sun to really focus on his hands and perhaps areas of his neck. It was a safety feature in all honesty. Considering he had managed to grow with the recessive gene of albinism, Ciro, unfortunately, burned very badly, very quickly.

His Bulbasaur was still cowering by his leg, and it was all he could do but crouch down and attempt to pry the grass-type off. He hadn't intended on doing anything with Pokemon to begin with -- after all, the only reason he left his hometown of Harlimton, Orre was to escape the draft -- but Verdell and Thorn, his Bulbasaur and Treecko respectively, had found their way into his bag by a means he could only assume had been his grandparents judging by the note that came with them.

Of course, he certainly wouldn't have minded if they got along a bit better. He had decided to let them out in hopes that he could maybe get to know them and potentially teach them a few hand signs, but for the last forty-five minutes at least it had been a constant battle between the two; though it was obvious Thorn was always the clear winner. It didn't really help matters at all that Thorn seemed to have limited respect for him to begin with due to the fact he couldn't vocalize commands.

Ciro finally seemed to be able to tug Verdell off his leg, though rather than letting the Bulbasaur trot beside him, the man chose to instead hold the creature close to his chest in an almost baby-like fashion. He shot Thorn a small look, though the Treecko promptly ignored it. He couldn't help but wonder if maybe he'd be better off just returning her to her Pokeball but... he sighed again. He couldn't do that. It'd be unfair. Instead, he merely gave a jerk of his head, which he was confident Thorn had seen, and began to walk again.

As for Thorn, she followed without much complaint. One may wonder why she listened to commands such as that, but the answer really was simple: as a trainer, Ciro gave her food. Food was something she needed, and she had no desire to find it for herself. Anyway, that Bulbasaur he had with him was fun and easy to rile up a bit.

( ' · . ¸ ( ' · . ¸ ¤ ¸ . · ' ) ¸ . · ' )

Given the fact he was from Orre, and from an even more technology-lacking location than most areas in the region at that, Ciro really had very little knowledge when it came to raising Pokemon other than the utmost basics. Fortunately, those basics happened to include the idea that a Pokemon Center was a rather safe haven to rest and relax. Plus, it was indoors, and given the sensitivity of his skin he tended to prefer remaining in shaded areas where he could.

The automatic doors rather startled him as he entered, his red eyes growing large as the hand he had reached out to push them open remained held uselessly out in front of him. Thorn scoffed, and promptly walked inside on her own accord, while Ciro backed away and watched as the doors closed again. Amazing! needless to say, his thoughts as he again walked closer and watched them open were completely in awe, and if he hadn't noticed that people walking by on the street happened to be staring at him rather strangely, he probably would have kept himself entertained for a fair while. All the same, the sudden, loud cry from a small, purple creature had caught his attention.

He had no way of knowing what a Nidoran was, or that they were poisonous for that matter. All he saw was that it seemed the small creature had jumped at a man, but was successfully restrained. Had he come at a bad time?

Ciro bit his bottom lip, but began to look around for Thorn. Verdell was still clutched tightly to his chest, though the tentative "B-bul?" and a small indication with one of his claws gave Ciro enough of a hint to recognize that the female Treecko was presently perched on a nearby chair. She seemed to be quite amused by the entire situation with the Nidoran, and even seemed to be giving the poison Pokemon a silent applause for his efforts.

Her trainer sighed again and set Verdell down -- only to have him cling to his leg again so he had to approach Thorn with a somewhat inhibited and probably rather amusing gait -- before walking over and giving Thorn a slight tap. Maybe they'd be better off just getting out of the way of all these people and potentially finding something to eat...

Hopefully I got the locations right =3 And sorry for the semi-wall of text, I wanted to try and establish the relations between Verdell, Thorn, and Ciro a bit xD

[Verity Lily]

Verity bit her lip. She'd been so pleased at the idea of Tough contests - the little voice in the back of her head warning her that Butchette maybe wouldn't go for a cute contest, no matter how much her trainer wanted her to - and now everything was all spoiled. She loved the idea of a Training Hall to practice in, but it was clear that Uta didn't want girls tagging along.

Verity felt like there was a wall of male bonding cutting Connie and herself out. First the boy in Barley, now Uta... It hadn't been like that on the farm.

And, Verity reminded herself, shoulders straightening, she wasn't just any silly girl to be ignored and left out. She was an amazon.

****

Some time before Fidelius had been born, Verity had been dutifully working at the painting homework Emerance had set, wondering why, no matter how hard she tried and how meticulously she drew the lines, her group of rosalias looked more like random blobs. Everyone else on the farm seemed to have artistic talent of some kind or other - except, when Verity thought about it, her mother. The thought made her wonder - what was Bill doing on the farm? She farmed, of course, everyone on Butterfree Farm helped looked after the pokemon, but most of the women treated the farm as a way to pay for art supplies, and Bill didn't paint or sculpt or make music.

"I'm not an artist, honey," Bill told her, when she asked. "I'm an amazon." It was the first time Verity had heard the word.

"I come from an island called Fidona, where lots of strong women live - strong fighters and strong pokemon trainers - called amazons. But one day there was a bad man who did something very wicked, that made a whole region of Furoh poisonous. Some of us went to our leader, Ruby, and asked her to stop it. But she did a deal with the man and let him do whatever he liked." Bill shook her head. "Pollution is very bad, sweetie. Only poison an steel pokemon like it when the ground is full of sludge. And it's especially bad for women and female pokemon. When the air and water are nasty, then it can even poison little unborn babies inside their mothers." She rested a protective hand on her swollen belly. "A real amazon wouldn't let a man do that to other women and children. A real amazon doesn't think of money and nothing else. A real amazon would fight for them, because - well, you know how Connie looks after you and makes sure you don't get hurt because she's bigger?"

Verity nodded.

"When you're an amazon, it's like that. So Butch and I left Fidona and travelled a bit, until we found Butterfeee Farm, and we decided to stick around and look after everyone here."

"Because you're bigger than them," Verity concluded.

Bill's lips twitched. "That's exactly right."

Verity thought about it a bit. "Mama, I want to be an amazon like you," she decided.

"I thought you said wanted to be a pokemon master?"

"Yes! I do!"

"...and last week you said you wanted to be an idol star, if I remember right."

"I'm going to be an idol star too!"

Bill laughed. "Verity girl, you can be anything you want." She kissed the top of her daughter's candy-pink head. "Especially if you and Connie stick together - an amazon is always stronger with a companion by her side. But, honey, remember this - there are men out there who will do anything to women, or pokemon, or children, if there's money involved. Too often in this world, men look after themselves and each other, and women look after the men and children, because they're too little to protect themselces, and no one looks after the women. So amazons have to look after women and children and protect them, especially when bad men are chasing pokedollars. That's what being an amazon is all about."

****

Stinging from Uta's rejection, Verity wondered crossly if this was going to turm out to be men looking after each other and themselves, and she and Connie would just get discarded. Just when she was starting to learn about contests, too! She pouted and moved closer to Connie. Connie wouldn't abandon her.

Just as Verity was toying with the thought of saying goodnight and taking Connie and their pokemon up to the room to be alone, Azzy made his leap, and Verity was almost sure that Waker was hurt. She couldn't beleive that such a sweet pokemon would be so horrid.

Verity battled with herself a moment. After all, girls were less interesting than pokemon anyway, weren't they? She and Connie had to look after themselves!

But - women and children needed to be defended by amazons, her mother had said. And Waker was bigger than her, and male. but he wasn't completely grown up either, at least not as much as Uta. That meant it was probably her job to protect him. And also... Spencer and Waker had been awfully nice. It wasn't their fault Uta thought she and Connie were provincial pokemon or whatever he had said.

Verity made an effort, and stood up, clutching her egg, and followed Waker, tapping him on the shoulder. "I have some lemonade," she offered. "And an antidote. And some special moomoo milk from the farm, although I was sort of saving it for the baby when it hatches, but it might make your arm feel better." She glared defiantly back at Uta. "After all, we all need to be in good shape for the Training Hall."

Nothing, she felt, would stop Connie and herself showing that they and their pokemon would be as worthy of any talent scout as any boy.

[ROMANA]

Today had been a very exciting start to her pokemon journey, what with one thing and another, but events were getting ahead of Connie. She had been about to ask what a poffin was when the man had interrupted. And then she had been about to ask what provincial meant when Azzy had launched himself at the man. Vincent looked like he would have joined the Nidoran like a shot if Spencer hadn't had a tight hold of his tail. Mary was still too interested in her ice cream to have registered what was going on. If they had eating contests, thought Connie, it would be interesting to try Mary against Nils. Connie slid out from underneath the Mareep and stood up. And realised how much taller than her Mr Refson was. She bit her lip.

"I think..." she said, quietly and realised he was ignoring her. "Excuse me, Mr Refson" she said more loudly, looking up at him. "but I think you're upsetting my friends' pokemon. I don't think you're supposed to do that in a pokemon centre." She felt a tug on her coat. Butchette was standing next to her, gazing up at the man with her best tough expression. Connie would have grinned but she thought it might make her look even more silly than she already felt she must be, standing there and telling off a grown up.

Verity's attention seemed to shift away from Waker and back to the strange Practice Hall man for a moment. "After all, we all need to be in good shape for the Training Hall," she said.

Connie nodded. "That's right," she agreed. "My pokemon need to practice, too. Mary's going to be..."

"Mareeeeep!" said Mary, chasing the last chocolate chip around the bowl. It escaped and fell out of the bowl onto the floor. Mary followed it, taking a head long nose dive to the floor for a chocolate chip.

"... a Smart pokemon." Connie just about managed not to wince.

Behind the man, she could see another man with a Bulbasaur attached to his leg. He seemed to be having trouble removing it. He was walking toeards a Treeko on a chair and he was having to drag the Bulbasaur along with each step. That wasn't something you saw every day. She couldn't remember ever having such an interesting visit to Barley.

[Ganymede]

Waker felt the tap on his shoulder and turned to Verity, smiling at the bravery of the two girls. The second Azzy had launched himself at Ura he'd decided that the man wasn't as nice as he'd first thought. The man obviously couldn't care less about the girls, which didn't settle quite right with Waker. His arm gave another uncomfortable twinge and, flashing an apologetic smile at the others, he pushed open the bathroom door. It was mostly empty - a Happiny was wiping down the mirror with a small wet cloth. Catching sight of Waker holding his arm and Verity's worried expression, the small Pokémon turned on the water at one of the sinks and motioned them over.


Waker pulled up his left sleeve gingerly, wincing as the cloth brushed over the cuts on his arm. There were three small gashes there, all with a sickly green tinge at the edges. Waker inhaled sharply as the Happiny guided his arm under the warm water and rubbed at the cuts with the cloth. A very small trickle of blood dripped into the sink and the Happiny frowned. She handed the cloth to Verity, jumped off the counter, and pantomimed a bandage. With that, the baby Nurse Pokémon opened the door and made a beeline for the front lobby.


Azzy's Pokeball jiggled sadly. It's okay, he thought, wishing he could comfort the Pokémon out loud. Okay? You were just trying to help, you didn't do anything wrong... Waker held the Pokeball reassuringly with his free hand for a moment, then reached into his bag and shuffled around. He pulled out his jacket, a blue bandanna peeking out of one of the pockets, and placed it on the counter. Digging in his bag again, he pulled out his mother's old poffin case, the poffins inside rattling around. With difficulty, he opened the case one-handed, found a bright pink poffin, and broke off a chunk. After chewing the chunk, he made a face at the mirror. Ugh, it's too sweet!


With a small cry, the Happiny returned, holding a tiny first-aid kit. Just before the door shut, Waker could see Connie and Spencer at the counter, Ura nowhere in sight. Behind them, a man with a Bulbasaur wrapped around his leg was glaring at something just out of sight. The door shut gently and Waker returned to the Happiny.


Smiling at Verity, the Pokémon rummaged in the first aid box and pulled out a long strip of white cloth, along with a new washcloth. She jumped back onto the counter and turned off the water before drying Waker's arm gently and wrapping the bandage around his arm. When the job was done, the Happiny smiled at the two before shooing them out of the bathroom with her tiny arms.


Laughing silently, Waker grabbed his jacket and the poffin case before tugging on Verity's sleeve.

[Cube]

"I'm so sorry sir, I swear that Azzy and Vincent aren't normally like this!" said Spencer, keeping a firm grip on Vincent's tail as he dug for his Pokeball. The Charmander let out a final deep growl before Spencer managed to return him to his ball. "They're both normally quite friendly, I have no idea what's gotten into them..."

"It's perfectly understandable." said Ura, waving off the situation like it was nothing. "Young trainers often have trouble controlling their Pokemon. They can be unruly little things sometimes."

'"Controlling" their Pokemon?' Spencer certainly didn't like this man's choice of words, though they were somewhat accurate in context... Still, the phrase tended to have bad connotations in Spencer's mind, considering Orre's history.

Spencer was about to respond to the man's remark, when Connie began to tell him off. The man wrinkled his nose as if the young girl was a pile of dung. He opened his mouth as if to scold her, but then deciding better of it, he turned his attention back towards Spencer. "Well then..." he said. "I suppose this young lady is right. I don't want to disturb you any longer. I still expect to see you and your friend competing at the Practice Hall, however. Preferably with a Pokemon that knows how to behave..." And with that, Mr. Refson was gone.

Making sure the strange gentleman had completely left the center, Spencer released a very annoyed Charmander.
The fire lizard did a quick check to make sure the man was completely gone before taking a seat next to it's siblings in front of the TV, where Fantina was performing a dazzling appeal.

"Is it just me..." said Spencer, as he stirred his now melted ice cream. "Or did that guy really creep you out?"

-----

Nils licked the last droplet of ice cream from his bowl. <"Aw... it's gone already? Now what?"> He sighed, looking around the room for a new source of sugar. Vincent was currently pouting in front of the television, and Celia wouldn't do anything to stop him while a contest was on anyway. The only thing he'd have to worry about is getting sent to his Pokeball, and he could break out of those easily.
Quietly crawling away from his bowl, the Treecko stealthy climbed into Spencer's bag, unzipping the plastic lined pocket where he kept his berries. Plucking a juicy looking Magost berry from the pouch, he was just about to take a bite when he saw her. A ravishing (at least to another of it's species) female Treecko. Nils's little heart started jumping, as he practically melted into Spencer's bag. Quickly pulling open his accessory case, he began digging through tiny hand sewn pieces of clothing before finally finding his favorite outfit. With remarkable dexterity for a Pokemon, The Treecko emerged from the bag dressed in a tiny trenchcoat and fedora, bouncing the berry in his hand. Casually approaching the other Treecko, Nils coughed to get it's attention, before tossing the berry into the air and firing a single Magical Leaf at it, slicing it in half. Deftfully catching the two halves in his hands, he offered the other half to the object of his desire.

[Lost Eventide]

Sorry for the slight wait ^^; Was working all day yesterday then my internet cut out xD Nils is adorable though <3 *hoping she hasn't unintentionally jumped in front of anyone posting-wise*

Thorn seemed to simply ignore her trainer, leaving poor Ciro trying to avoid looking rather silly in his vain attempts to get his Treecko to listen to him, and his Bulbasaur to let go of his leg. Verdell... he thought, becoming rather exasperated by the Bulbasaur's insistence to remain an inhibitor to his movement.

Thorn, of course, had known what her trainer wanted to do, but she wasn't about to obey when there were other things going on. In fact, there was another rather... amusing individual approaching right now! She tilted her head, one of her eye ridges raising slightly as she noticed another Treecko, a male, emerging from a bag in some sort of... outfit she supposed. Why would a Pokemon wear clothing? She thought that was merely some way for human trainers to colour themselves up. After all, Pokemon had dashing colours and patterns. Humans were just plain with their pattern-less skin and very little fur.

The other Treecko's cough caused her to turn her head entirely. Her slit-like eyes followed the berry he had just tossed into the air, and she couldn't help but be vaguely impressed by the accuracy of his Magical Leaf as he sliced it in two, though her gaze settled on the half he offered to her for a moment. Well, such a display was somewhat unnecessary for simply slicing a berry in half to share in her opinion. She twitched her tails, bit reached out and took the half he offered. Well, he gave her no reason to really be annoyed she supposed.

/And to who do I owe thanks?/ she asked, rather nonchalantly as she settled herself into a more relaxed position. If he thought she was going to show she had been at least somewhat impressed, he had another thing coming. Thorn wasn't the type to show praise that easily.

Of course, the new situation left Ciro rather stuck. He had no idea who that new Treecko belonged to, though he knew for a fact now that Thorn had a distraction to use as an excuse, he wasn't going to get her to budge. At least he didn't have that issue with Verdell, though he was more apt to trip over the Bulbasaur than anything else.

He glanced around for a moment, raising a hand for a moment as he made a move to catch someone's attention so he could try signing, but stopped halfway. Meh... doubt anyone knows it... he thought to himself, instead slipping his hand into the bag that was slung over his shoulder. He pulled out a black notebook, and flipped it open to a blank page where he quickly scrawled a very large question mark. Hey, he figured he had made as much of a spectacle of himself as he could having walked around with a Bulbasaur clinging to him. Why would it matter?

He ripped the question mark out and tucked the notebook under his arm before he held the piece of paper up and pointed at the new Treecko to indicate he was curious to know who owned the Pokemon in the... was that a trenchcoat and a fedora? He had only just noticed that the other Treecko actually had clothes on.

Was that a common thing for Pokemon? He frowned, glancing down at Verdell for a moment as he tried to picture the Bulbasaur in some sort of outfit. Needless to say, he found it rather difficult.

[Cube]

<"The name's Nils."> said the Treecko, doing his best noir detective impression. <"What's a pretty girl like you doing in a town like this?">

It was an impression born from a film Nils has seen late one evening back in Orre, while sneaking into the Ranch House to get some sweets. Mr. Thorn has fallen asleep while watching one of those Classic Film channels; the mystery channel to be precise. When Spencer and his sister woke up the next morning, they found Nils passed out in front of the TV, having sat through a marathon of detective movies. So when it came time to make contest accessories for each Pokemon, Nils knew exactly what he wanted. All he had to do was turn on the Mystery Channel and point at the detective.

-----

Spencer couldn't help but laugh when he noticed the spectacle on the other side of the room.
"It looks like Nils has a new lady friend." he said, grinning. The Treecko's antics did help to ease the tension a bit, though he did wonder who the other Treecko belonged to in the first place. It took him a few moments before he noticed a very pale man holding a sign over the Treecko, apparently asking the same question.

"Oh! He's mine!" said Spencer, pointing at the Treecko. "He's gotten into my accessory case again. He does this sometimes."

[Verity Lily]

Verity felt a lot better now that Connie had chased off the intrusive adult. She cast an admiring look at her best friend, resisting the urge to high-five her for standing up for the dignity of beginning girl trsiners everywhere. She did hope that Connie's defiance of Uta wouldn't put a damper tagging along the next day. She really wanted to see a contest in action.

By this point, Verity could take communicating with notebooks in her stride. She smiled shyly at the newcomer.

"Your bulbasaur is very sweet," she ventured. "It must get a bit heavy wearing it on your leg like that, though, even though it would be a saving in pokeballs. Nils is so sweet, too!" she added, turning to Spencer. "I've never seen a pokemon wear clothes. I wonder if Butchette would like to play dressup like that?"

Butchette took a moment to consider what kind of clothes her trainer was likely to put her in and how much pink chiffon and glitter that was likley to involve, made a strangled "Maaa..." noise, and stalked towards the door for some fresh air.

Verity sighed and rushed after her, sighing and scolding. "Butchette! You don't have to take it like that, silly. It wws just a sugges-"

Butchette growled deep in her throat, a vicious warning noise that Verity had only heard once before, when a Seviper had threatened the farm's torchics. Verity stopped in shock, before she realised the sound wasn't aimed at her but at a truck on the road outside the pokemon centre. Gentle murmurs from it suggested that it was being used to transport Miltanks.

"What's wrong? They're just Miltanks - probably the ones that are supplying moomoo milk for icecream now." Verity sighed at the thought. "You've seen Miltanks before, 'most every day." She soothingly stroked the ridges on her partner's head.

Butchette flexed her muscles and growled again, and to Verity's horror there was an answering thud, and then a bang as something hit the side from inside the truck. "Oh, no, Butchette, you've scared them! They're starting to rollout!" There were sounds of snowballing collisions inside the truck, and Verity covered her mouth with her hand in horror. Surely Butchette hadn't made enough noise to cause that!

"Come on, we have to warn the driver before they're all hurt!" Verity started to run forward, but once more she caught her lace under her foot and stumbled. When she regained her balance, the truck had already pulled out and was screeching out of Barley, ominous thuds and all.

"Oh, dear. I hope they're okay." Verity dismally scratched at the ground with her foot. "I hope we didn't make something bad happen. Come on back, like a good girl, before we cause any more trouble." Butchette, still making angry, threatening noises, reluctantly came back to her pokeball.

Disconsolately pocketing Butchette's pokeball, Verity went back inside to find Connie. She promised herself she'd confess the problem and seee what Connie suggested, but only once they were alone in their room. Suddenly, Verity couldn't wait to go to bed. It had been a strange day, but Verity had confidence her best friend could make everything better.

[Ganymede]

Waker watched as Verity ran after Butchette, holding his bandaged arm with one hand. ...I don't think she's too happy about dressing up, he thought. He walked over to Spencer, gently took his notebook back, and sat down. He looked curiously at the pale man before beginning to write, thinking about the Training Hall.


Okay, let's see...We'll need more poffins and berries before we leave Barley - Do berries grow in the wild here? - and we'll need to get some accessories. He tapped his chin with his pen thoughtfully before yawning widely. Maybe a barrette for Pora... Waker yawned again. He quickly finished writing and held out his notebook to the stranger, his arm throbbing slightly. Frowning, he shook shirt sleeve down to cover the bandages.

Hello! My name is Waker and I cant talk.
You cant talk either, can you?

He glanced down at the man's Bulbasaur and hastily added on to the paper.

Is your Bulbasaur OK?

As he waited for the pale man to read his slightly skewed handwriting, he shifted his feet and swayed a little. It'd been a long day and if he wanted to be ready for the contest tomorrow, he'd need to get to bed soon. His arm throbbed again. Should also sleep off the poison... He withdrew his notebook and flipped a page. Waker was glad his mother had bought the largest book she could find - he'd already filled out a good quarter of the pages. He tugged at Spencer's sleeve and held up his notebook.

Spencer, I'm tired.
Can you tell me our room #?
Are you and the girls tired too?

I'd of posted earlier - and this would've been much longer - but I had to go somewhere and couldn't leave for almost four hours. Sorry about that ./

This post has been edited by Nezzie: Jun 30 2009, 07:57 PM

[Verity Lily]

Sorry, meant to post in the discussion, not here!

This post has been edited by Lindley: Jul 1 2009, 02:25 AM