[X] My Assistant

[Douken Sota]

To: Daniel, Pan, then wander
Location:Fireplace to middle

Daniel pulled him over to ask about the Deliberd messenger and replied, "Yeah... There could be a chance the owner has a flock of them being messengers giving them out. How else did so many people get here by those hybrid copters?"

When she talked about the Delibird she met, he answered, "When mine gave me the ticket, it flew off right away, wanting no tip at all!" He took a sip as he watched the Baltoy spin his way to check out his teammates. Croagunk gave a blank stare as Seel gave a friendly wave hello, since she was told not to give out her hugs.

"Alright you two. Now don't get into much trouble, alright? I want you two to stay in this roo until I say so. Meet me back in front of the fireplace when our host arrives, alright?" Seel nodded in response as Croagunk just puffed his cheeks as usual. At first, Douken thought you needed a mind reader to understand him, but through time, he learned the body language. He understood they agreed and the trio headed off in different directions, Douken to the middle as he sipped his hot cider again, Croagunk walked around aimlessly, and Seel walked to pretty much whoever she saw, waving to them.

((Edit as for replying to Daniel))

This post has been edited by Douken Sota: Dec 17 2009, 11:10 PM

[Amissa]

To: Tyson, listening to Pan and Douken, Douken's Seel
Location: Seating area, near the fireplace

Hearing Douken bring up the birds and their ticket delivery, Tyson was clearly interested. Daniel moved closer to the couches around the refreshments as well, listening as the other trainers conversed. He thought it was awfully rude of a Delibird to expect a tip from poor struggling trainers. Maybe the one that went to Pan was just a little on the greedy side. Daniel took a seat on the couch, trying to leave plenty of space between himself and Pan's Ivysaur. He felt a little intimidated by the pokemon, but felt slightly comforted when Geb crawled over and climbed onto his lap. He placed a hand on top of the Nincada affectionately as Douken and Pan took off to go explore.

"A Delibird? Sounds like a type of lunchmeat. I didn't even have time to whip out my pokedex to identify the thing. Name's Daniel by the way, Tyson. I'm from Gigarte. It's nice to meet ya," Daniel said, belatedly accepting Tyson's offer of a handshake. His grip was firm and his shake was energetic. "Maybe you should try some water for that headache. Water and potato chips always works for me. Do they have potato chips here?"

Daniel began looking closer at the refreshments, helping himself to half a sandwich and a cup of hot cocoa. Upon seeing Douken's Seel and receiving her wave, Daniel waved right back, smiling excitedly. "You know," he said to the Seel, "I think water types are awfully cute. Do you like water types, Tyson? Seel, could I pet you?" He extended one hand hopefully.

This post has been edited by Amissa: Dec 18 2009, 12:24 AM

[Umbrae Calamitas]

To: Pan
Location: Near the door

Tuesday had slipped back into her prior nick-namesake of Silence upon their arrival into the hall, which was steadily growing more crowded. Her eyes swept across the faces of people and pokemon alike and, after watching both Meiko and Jaima call out their pokemon, her fingers drifted to the pokeballs resting upon her belt, as well.

She watched Jaima walk off to socialize was unspoken regret and, feeling an incessant need for close company, well aware of her companies each moving off to meet with other people, Tuesday let a couple of her pokeballs flash open.

Tuesday's pikachu, Tempest, took her customary place upon her trainer's shoulder as her eyes scanned the room with a narrowed gaze. Dante, the charmeleon standing in front of Tuesday, had a similarly observant eye as he swept the room, but he seemed satisfied. Unlike Tempest, he wandered off in search of other pokemon, his eyes scanning the area for both trouble and possible companionship. Tuesday still didn't miss the occasional glances in her direction, though. Not that she minded at all, but the charmeleon seemed to be picking up habits from Jaima. Or perhaps it was the other way around.

"Bui." Tuesday glanced behind her to see Odysseus, the gruff buizel, standing with his arms crossed over his chest as he focused his gaze intently upon some pokemon near him. He seemed to be weighing them up with his eyes, as though checking to see if they were ship-worthy. Tuesday resisted the urge to sigh. She should have named the buizel Ahab.

She moved her own gaze across the room, checking to see where Dante had scampered off to. As she caught sight, instead, of a blue-crested kirlia, she was glad that she hadn't released Ashleigh. No doubt the hyperactive houndour would have caused a scene, chasing the kirlia around the room in some disturbing desire to try and lick the poor pokemon to death. Eowyn was also safely tucked within the confines of her pokeball. Tuesday was too concerned about the youngest of her pokemon in the company of just she and four companions to even think about releasing the creature in a room full of people.

Tuesday felt more than saw Zorro leave the place where he had been standing just behind her. She turned to see the riolu bound off toward the wall, and she caught sight of Shadow near the door, leaning up against the wall in what seemed to be a casual position, but Tuesday knew that the lucario was more than aware of his surroundings.

As she watched the tan, black-haired girl step up to Shadow and speak to him, she saw Zorro dash past (rushing too close to the girl to have been attempting anything but gain her attention) and nearly skid into the wall in a bad judgment of his own momentum. After her staggered back into equilibrium, he turned and leaned up against the wall in a pose that mimicked Shadow's. It might have looked almost as cool, too, if not for the fact that the feather on Zorro's pirate hat was sticking almost straight up, while the hat itself sat crookedly upon the riolu's head.

Tuesday sighed softly and, with Tempest mumbling under her breath (no doubt offering obscenities toward the riolu, considering her temperament and their love-to-hate-each-other relationship), walked over toward where Shadow was leaning against the wall. He was still holding that casual position, but Tuesday knew he was aware of her nearing presence.

Tuesday sent a look in Zorro's direction, but the riolu merely grinned at her and peered into the bag hanging from his shoulder. Tuesday held in a groan, wary of what costume the aura pokemon would put on next. She hoped he hadn't found anything new.

"I... I am sorry about that," Tuesday said softly, waving a hand toward the riolu. "Zorro can be rather..." Her eyes narrowed slightly in thought, and then in admittance. "Well, let's not mince words - annoying." She offered the older girl an apologetic smile, her eyes flicking down momentarily to take in the older growlithe, before holding out her hand and hoping it didn't shake. Trust Zorro to essentially force social interaction upon her. She was going to shred that feather.

"I'm Tuesday," she said, swallowing thickly. She motioned toward the lucario standing near her, his presence, as always, a strength. "Um... I see you've met Shadow."

[Douken Sota]

To:Daniel
Location: Middle of the room (Seel: with Daniel)

Douken watched as Seel began to say her hellos, glad she was not hugging people. That usually meant Seel on top of people. He watched the trainer interact with her and when Daniel offered a petting, she clapped happily.

Before Daniel did, Douken called out, "She likes to be petted on the horn. Just don't bop it unless she has bee bad." It was one way of communicating with her. A bop meant she did something wrong or she shouldn't do something, but a pet on the horn meant she did a good job and was good.

Once the Seel was petted, she clapped again and headed for the door to meet more new people she never saw.

[Master Houndoom]

To: Turnip the ivysaur, Blake, Pan
Where: at the couch, near the table, and at the door, respectively.


Grondir toddled to where the Ivysaur sat, enduring the ritualistic offering of food that trainers often suggested and smart pokemon tolerated. After all, free food. He nearly laughed out loud when the other Ivysaur, Turnip by name, ate the marshmallow. He hoped it wasn't symbolic.

<<Grondir,>> came a shaky voice behind him, and Grondir knew it was Cosette, <<he looks like he's going to eat me!>>

Grondir glanced back at the turwig, following her gaze to the growlithe on the couch. He did, indeed, look hungry, perpetually so, but not for turtwig. <<No, little one,>> he said with infinite patience. <<It would upset our human friends if he did so, and that would start a fight. You're safe here, with me,>> he said. Cosette relaxed, ever so slightly.


<<She's mine,>> the other ivysaur rumbled, and Grondir looked at him in surprise until he realized the other was speaking about his trainer.

<<So she is,>> agreed Grondir. <<But don't worry,>> he chuckled, nodding toward Jaima, <<I'm sure she'll grow up soon.>>

<<Grondir, be nice,>> chastized Cosette fearfully. <<If you make him mad, he might eat me out of spite!>>

* * * * *

Jaima heard the rough voice, and turned to see a rough looking boy staring at him. He pulled the sandwich from his mouth, swallowed the bite he'd taken, and bowed stiffly at the shoulders. "I'm Jaima Kuonji from New Bark town in the Johto region." He raised his brows, blinking. "Who might you be?"

Instead of waiting for an answer, Jaima scanned the room, finding Darryn, Meiko, and Tuesday (grinning to see Tuesday interacting with a young girl and Shadow) with his eyes before turning back to the sandwiches.

* * * * *

Shadow (the lucario) sensed the girl coming before he looked up and saw her. Ramhorn stood still as a statue, his mind and aura blank, ready for anything in split seconds. Shadow raised his eyes as the human smiled and greeted him.

Just as he was about to answer, Zorro skid into view and took up a position next to him, trying to put on the same air of casual awareness, but marring it with his feathered cap.

<<Little Brother...>> Shadow began, then shook his head. Zorro grinned up at him, then began to dig into his bag. If anything, thought Shadow, this should be amusing.

Kohai Tuesday approached to apologize for the errant riolu, then introduce herself. "I see you've met Shadow..."

Not as of yet. I was about to introduce myself when our Little Brother interrupted. Shadow grinned at Tuesday, then turned his attention to Pan. I am called Shadow, trianed by Sensei Jaima Kuonji. It is a pleasure to meet you.

Pan seemed to be confused, blinking and looking around before looking at Tuesday and asking, "did you hear that?"

[Protoman]

To: Jamia; Hydro and Blaze
Location: Near the table; close to the fireplace

"The name's Blake," he responded simply, "I'm also from New Bark Town and Johto, which probably explains where I know you from." Blake lifted his right arm, due to the condition of his left one, in an offer for a handshake. "I honestly hope things will go well around here," he continued, constantly staring at his left arm, just in case something negative happens. "This place is too big for any major catastrophe, if you ask me."

Meanwhile, Totodile and Bulbasaur had made their way towards Blaze and Hydro, staring at each other angrily.

"What are you two losers doing here?" Totodile asked Hydro and Blaze, both of which, looked furious at the other.

"Minding our own business, big mouth!" Blaze responded in anger. He glared at the small, blue crocodile in fury, hoping he'd get the chance to battle him once more. Tyson was distracted for the moment, so this might be the only opportunity that he would have to get his old friend back to his senses.

[Umbrae Calamitas]

To: Pan
Location: Near the door

Tuesday grinned, unable to help it, and anyone who knew her pokemon well enough might have been slightly disturbed by the fact that her grin almost mirrored that of her impish riolu, Zorro. She glanced at Shadow, smiling. Though she had quickly grown accustomed to the fact that the lucario could speak telepathically, it never ceased to amaze or please her when he did.

She turned back to the girl. "That was Shadow," she said, motioning toward the lucario in what she hoped was a helpful manner. She sent him an apologetic glance for her next words, which seemed a little too scientific and less courteous to the intelligence of a pokemon, though she didn't know how else to put it. "Lucario are able to speak telepathically through the use of their pronounced powers of Aura."

They were focused momentarily on something that she knew, so she didn't stammer as she prattled off her knowledge, eager to help. "Riolu, such as the case of Zorro," she motioned at the blue and black pokemon who had traded in his pirate hat for a brown vest and cowboy hat, and tipped it lightly when the girl glanced at him, "don't have Aural powers nearly strong enough to manage such a connection, but they do have limited powers of their own, sometimes strengthened by the relationships they have with those around them." She grinned at the girl when her explanation was through.

[Toogee]

To: Grondir, Douken’s pokemon, Shadow, Tuesday
Location: On that couch from before, near the door

Seeing that Grondir had no interests in taking his trainer, Turnip refocused his attitude to something both pokemon might relate to.

“Grow up? If I were only that lucky,” he grunted as he started with his rant. He used his vines to bring the bowl of marshmallows to the ground for the young turtwig. “Twelve years I’ve been waiting for her to grow up, stop sticking her head in all the wrong places. I had to evolve just to get her out of that Barley town in one piece!” After looking back to check on Pan, he turned back to the other pokemon. “Are all humans like this?”
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Not too far away, the baltoy stared back at the craogunk and seel. Having no way to communicate, the floating clay doll simply stared back for a time until one of the parties became bored. Needless to say, Pivot wasn’t much of a conversationalist with any species.
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Meanwhile, Pan was startled as the little riolu ran past her legs and stood next to the lucario. Fenrir perked his ears up upon Zorro’s sudden appearance; the pirate hat topped off the odd experience. Pan kneeled down to scratch the riolu’s chin; he seemed like a pokemon that would enjoy such an action. “I like your hat,” she said, continuing to rub his chin until a young girl showed up. She introduced herself as Tuesday and offered her hand. Pan used this hand to lift herself off the ground, shaking it when finally on her own two feet.

“I’m Pan, and I’m used to ‘annoyances’, so don’t worry about.” As the conversation turned to Shadow, a voice entered Pan’s head, explaining everything as if the lucario himself was speaking. That couldn’t be possible; pokemon can’t speak! Pan looked all around before turning to Tuesday.

“Did you hear that?”

“That was Shadow,” Tuesday replied.

“Come on, stop playing around! Pokemon can’t talk,” Pan said, thinking it was some practical joke. After Tuesday gave a scientific explanation on Aura speak, Pan understood…ish. Though this would have been one of the things covered in her behavior class back in Celadon, Pan still wasn’t quite sure how it worked.

“Ooh, let me try!”

She turned back to the lucario, squinting her eyes tightly. It looked like she was trying to blow his head up with her mind. In actuality, she was trying to send a mental message to the pokemon, moving her head closer to his to get better “reception”.

"THAAAAT’S A NIIIIIIFFFTY POOOOWWWWERRRR YOOOOOU HAAAAAAVE THERRRRRRE!!!"

[Master Houndoom]

To: Turnip, Blake, anyone immediately around Mercury, Pan and Tuesday
Where: all around the room.

Grondir took a marshmallow for himself before sliding the bowl to Cosette, who eagerly took.a pair and chewed on them. Grondir patted her on the head before addressing the other ivysaur. <<It's... hard to say. My trainer doesn't go looking for trouble so much as it finds him and those around him. Unless he's in a place called a 'gym', then he looks for trouble and they reward him for it,>> he grumbled a bit, rolling his eyes.

* * * * *

"Mm," Jaima agreed, swallowing again. "Maybe. New Bark's big enough, but I didn't get out much before I came here. Sandwich?"

* * * * *

Mercury had merely wandered. The room was almost overwhelming with its emotional varieties. She worked on her shields and filtered, and began to understand why she had to go through such upheaval in her earlier travels. She would have relaxed, except that a voice slammed into her, not so much as an attack as a stereo suddenly being turned on right next to her head.

THAAAAT’S A NIIIIIIFFFTY POOOOWWWWERRRR YOOOOOU HAAAAAAVE THERRRRRRE!!!

GAH!

Mercury looked around, wide eyed. An image filled her head of a seaking shouting to a wailord, with a semi-crazy finneon mourning the fact that she 'couldn't speak wailord'. A quick glance showed where the problem was: Zorro was rubbing his right aural sensor, and Shadow's eyes were wide and twitching. The human near them and Tuesday, who seemed concerned with Shadow's reaction, was asking if Shadow had heard her. Or merely wondering very loudly, it was hard to tell after a mental assault like that!

Miss Trainer, she sent gently, floating up behind Pan, the entire tri-region area heard you. Perhaps you should simply talk. Shadow and I can hear just fine!

In an attempt to take the sting from her words, she smiled at Pan.

[Douken Sota]

To:No one in particular.
Location: Douken: other sofa; Croagunk:Snacks table

Douken gave a sigh before taking another sip of the cider. Things were very lively, but he couldn't really see any familiar faces around. So instead of barging into someone else's conversation, he merely took to the sofa that wasn't surrounded by Pokemon like the two Ivysaur. It would be fun to know what they are saying... He then took a Pokeball from his bag and looked at it, thinking about something before putting it back on his belt.

---

Croagunk decided it was time to see what they had in the way of snacks their host provided them with and jumped onto the table and walked on it, looking about. <<Lets see.... Sweets... Sweets... Sweets... Man, where is all the sour stuff. Sure sweets are good, but I would rather have something more sour...>> When he couldn't find a sour treat, he just took one of the chocolates and ate it, still standing on the table.

[Toogee]

To: Grondir; Shadow, Tuesday, Mercury, whoever else around them
Location: Same as my last post.

“That’s nothing. Mine goes off to find some place no one has ever been before. You’d think she’d ask herself why no one’s been there. Things would have been so much simpler if she just stayed in Celadon and worked at that pokemart. Nope, had to be an adventurer.” Turnip sighed as he finished. “The worst part is that that’s one of the things I like about her…”

He looked to the tiny turtwig, enjoying the marshmallows. “How about you? What’s your human like?”
-----------------------------------------------------------------

Initially, Pan looked confused. Both the lucario and the riolu looked as if someone yelled in their ears. She scratched her head, wondering if it worked.

“Do you think he heard me?” Pan asked Tuesday, meekly smiling. Perhaps she overdid it. Just then, another mental voice entered her mind. This one “sounded” different; Pan looked around for the source of the second voice.

“Now who’s brain-talking?” Pan asked, finally looking behind her to see the kirlia. Judging from the fact that this pokemon was floating in the air, Pan assumed she was the new arrival.

“Oh! Oh. …Ohhhhh…” Pan just realized that her attempt at mental communication was the equivalent to screaming in someone’s ear. “Sorry. First time.” Pan said to all involved. The kirlia’s smile made her feel a little better about the incident.

“Oh, and I’m not a trainer,” she added, trying to change the subject. “I actually work for the museum in Petropolis, traveling all over Furoh and taking pictures of what I find.” Pan pointed to her camera around her neck, signifying her primary duty. She wasn’t sure how interested others would be in her museum work, so she didn’t elaborate.

As Pan spoke, a hint of Chi-Chi’s face peered out from the bottom of Pan’s sweatshirt, observing the little riolu in his cowboy clothes.
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Location: Camera Room

The wall was lined with hundreds, if not thousands of images. Some were stationary, others on the move. On the biggest screen in the room, Lonnie watched his guests interact with each other; several security guards were also in the room to keep an eye on the other cameras. Lonnie nodded in approval; things were going very well so far. He looked down to his dewgong, who waited impatiently to join the guests. Next to his head was an upside-down top hat, filled with paper slips. Lonnie sat down and petted the dewgong’s horn.

“Not yet, Seamore. Give more people time to arrive, time to talk. We’ll begin soon enough…”

[Amissa]

To: Waker, starting with Douken's Seel
Location: Still chillin' on the couch near the fireplace

Daniel felt almost giddy after petting Seel's horn. The only time he'd ever seen a Seel himself was when a traveling Pokemon circus came to Gigarte. That Seel had clapped just like Douken's Seel too. It was probably just something that Seels do naturally that humans get a kick out of. Looking around the room, he couldn't help but feel excited by all of the new people and pokemon, especially the pokemon! They were everywhere, and Daniel loved it.

Sitting nearby, he noticed a trainer trying to write something down in a notebook. The trainer hadn't spoken to anyone yet, so Daniel wondered if he might be shy. Daniel hated for anyone to feel left out, so he approached the trainer and took a seat beside him, carefully shifting Geb off of his lap.

"Hey, is it cool if I sit here?" he asked, offering the trainer a chance to tell him to buzz off if he really didn't want to be bothered by Daniel. "What's up? Your pen not working? Hold on, I might have one somewhere." Daniel had to fish around in his backpack until he found a pen. The cap had teeth marks from being chewed on thoughtfully a few times, but otherwise it was a simple black pen. He offered it over to the trainer. "This one should work, I think."

Geb, Daniel's Nincada, felt only a slight annoyance at being removed from his trainer's lap. He easily got over it and moved on, climbing on top of the refreshments table. Seeing the marshmallows, he speared on with one of his claws and proceeded to devour it with his little insect mouth.

This post has been edited by Amissa: Dec 18 2009, 06:17 PM

[kingbirdy]

Iko was on his way back from his friend's house, when he a bird waddled around a corner and ran into him. It was a red and white thing, which he recognized as a delibird. The Delibird stuck a golden ticket in his hand and flew off. Iko read the ticket, and found out he had been invited to a special party at some millionare's castle on top of the mountain, but he had to be at the Pokecenter in one hour to get a ride there. He ran the rest of the way home, and quickly packed a bag of clothes and put on a jacket. after that he got his pokeballs, put Nova on his back and ran to the center, across town.

**********

Iko rubbed Nova, his Charmander, on the head. They were in some strange helicopter-plane hybrid. Nova was sitting in his lap, his tail flaring with excitement, and Oshi, his Bulbasaur, was looking out the window. Oshi called out "Bul, Bulba!" and Nova ran over to the window. Iko went over to see what they were so excited about, and saw a strange shaped castle below. "That must be where we're going, guys." All of a sudden, the heli-plane thing tilted, and came in for a landing, pressing all it's passengers against the window. It landed quickly, and they stepped off. He put his jacket back on, as he had taken it off in the heli-plane. Then he scooped Nova up on his back, and a butler escorted them down a few flights of stairs to a main room with several fireplaces and chairs around them. He saw one large group, and headed over there. He saw that everyone else had all their pokemon out, so he brought out Flare and Giga. Then he sat in one of the chairs and examined the table in front of him. It had a candy dish, a few magazines, and some marshmallows for roasting. He reached forward and grabbed a handful of candies, and pulled one apart. Before he could eat it, though, Giga came up and grabbed it. "alright, you can have that one," and handed him another one, still wrapped. Giga was smart enough to get it open on her own. He hoped, at least. foil might be difficult for her, though. He also handed out a few candies to all his other pokemon, and pointed them to the dish.

[Protoman]

Tyson had finally regained total control of everything(earlier, his pain drove him through every action he took). Tyson stretched once more, making his way towards the candy bowl, only to have found that it was emptied by a small Pichu. Tyson smirked at the tiny mouse Pokemon and went back to the seat at the window. After flopping down into the soft chair once more, he smiled and thought about how friendly the people here were.

"They all remind me of someone I know," he said to himself, pondering on who this person he was thinking about was. Just then, his rival, Blake appeared, looking rather grim as well.

"What's up?" Blake asked him calmly.

"Nothing," Tyson responded, "well, apparently you."

"Funny," Blake responded before clutching his arm in pain, "but that's not what I meant."

"What happened to your arm, dude?" Tyson asked, rather concerned about him. He may have been his rival, but they still were living, breathing creatures, not machines. Tyson then saw part of Blake's gruesome scar and shuddered. "How did that happen?" He finally managed to ask.

"That's," Blake was about to become very rude and snap at Tyson, but something told him otherwise, "not important now," he finished. Blake then got out both Poke Balls and made his Pokemon, Totodile and Bulbasaur return before they started a fight with Tyson's Blaze the Cyndaquil and Hydro the Squirtle. Tyson looked at Blake with his black, piercing eyes, finally shrugging to what Blake said.

"It's your arm," Tyson told him, "so I really can't tell you anything about what to do and what not to d-"

Pain...sheer tortuous pain...his skull felt as if it was about to split in two. Tyson found it utterly unbearable to tolerate. He groaned lowly, gripping the frontal part of his head in total agony. He got down to one knee, unable to stand up with this much pressure surging through his head.

"Tyson!" Blake said out of concern. Blake dug into his pocket and pulled out a small package of medicine. He took one small sphere and held it out in his palm to Tyson. "Here, take this, it will make the pain stop!"

"Ggh!" Tyson said in pain that ripped through his skull like scissors cutting through paper. He grabbed the pill, hand shaking as it finally made its way to his mouth and down his throat. He began to lose the pain slowly as he sat on the floor.

[Living Arrow]

To: (Meiko), Pan, Jaima, Tuesday
Location: Near the doorway

While the trip up to the castle had been amusing, it had also been extremely short-lived. For their next little adventure, Darryn felt extremely under-prepared and more than a little under-dressed. He inwardly sighed. When were people going to realise he needed time to look as good as he did? It didn’t just happen at the click of his fingers!
Upon entering the castle, Darryn had selected Lady, Romeo and Victor to represent his team in the meeting hall as Bravo wouldn’t appreciate not being able to fly in such a confined space and there simply wasn’t room for November and Zulu to be wandering around, too.

“Er, Meiko…” Darryn muttered as he looked around. “Where do we start with a bunch like this?”

All around the room trainers and Pokemon alike were milling around, talking and eating. He was surprised to see that most of the teens around him appeared to be near his own age. For some reason he had expected a host of younger trainers to have arrived at an event like this – younger trainers were usually more frivolous and jumped at the mention of free food – but seeing so many faces with a slightly more mature edge made Darryn feel a bit more comfortable. Something else, however was not…

“I dunno… I guess we just find someone who looks free and start having a chat? It’s a bit random but it looks like Jaima and Tuesday aren’t having any trouble… wait a second! Are you telling me you’re shy?! Darryn Kellor! If I didn’t know better then I’d-” She cut off quickly, concern open on her face. “Darryn? What’s wrong?”

The lights in the room were so insanely bright that Darryn had to squint to blot them out. Even so, some of the gleaming colours that were swooshing in and out of the Pokemon in the room seemed to reach directly under his eyelids to force themselves on his retina. It didn’t hurt exactly, it just overwhelmed Darryn’s senses completely.

“I- I’m fine, Meiko.” He managed to get out, forcing the lights away bit by bit. “I just got a little dizzy is all.”

“Really? You looked like you-”

“Vul! Vulpix!” Lady commanded regally from her place in between the two trainers’ feet. Meiko glared down at her.

“I don’t need this again!” Meiko announced, backing away from Lady quickly. “I hope your dizziness wears off, Darryn.”

Darryn rolled his eyes at his fire-type partner and allowed Meiko to move off when a girl’s eyes caught his from across the room. Standing next to Jaima and Tuesday, the girl was taller than the would-be researcher and shorter than the trainer from Johto. Her black hair, quaffed in the same style that Darryn remembered, framed her head in neat sweeping curls that emphasised the outline of her heart-shaped face. Her eyes and mouth still wore the same tiny wrinkles that said she smiled a lot and he knew from experience that she laughed and sang more than anyone else he knew during their time at Celadon High.

"PAN!?" Darryn squealed with excitement. "PAN! IT'S ME!!!"

[Toogee]

To: Darryn
Location: Same as my last post.

"PAN!? PAN! IT'S ME!!!"

Whatever the current discussion was at the moment, Pan blocked it out. Upon hearing that voice from her near past, she turned to her old friend. He was less regal than she remembered from high school (this was the guy who would special effort in his wardrobe for just a Tuesday afternoon), but she wouldn’t forget that face, or those, ahem, “assets”. She ran away from the group and straight into Darryn’s arms.

After his appearance in that magazine, she honestly thought she would never see him again. To see him here of all places…she would have to make the most of this. The force from Pan running right into Darryn would cause the two to spin around for a brief time. Her arms wrapped tightly around his neck, her legs lifted from the ground. As they spun, Pan kept saying “Daz! Daz! Daz!” until she finally stood on her own two feet. After she calmed down, she took a good look at her friend.

“Dressing down today?” Pan smiled. These were the first words she had spoken to him since he had left Celadon.
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In all the commotion, Pan’s pachirisu fell out of her comfy nest. She looked around to see her human really happy to see another. Since such attention was not given to her at the moment, Chi-Chi felt a little upstaged. She crossed her arms and puffed her cheeks; she was in cute angry mode, pouting as she sat on the floor.

[Ganymede]

To: Daniel
Location: Still in that rather cozy chintz armchair near the refreshment table.


"Hey, is it cool if I sit here?"


Waker started, nearly dropping his pen in surprise. A boy with short brown hair around his age was sitting next to him, smiling. Before Waker could hold up his half-completed note, the boy continued speaking. "What's up? Your pen not working? Hold on, I might have one somewhere."


Feeling a little lost, Waker simply sat and stared as the other boy fished around in his backpack, finally emerging with a plain pen.


"This one should work, I think." He handed it to Waker, who took it with a slight nod and quickly wrote down his last Pokemon's name and a final sentence before handing both the pen and the notebook to the other boy, keeping his gaze firmly on a rather tasteful crack in the floor.

Hello, my name is Waker Faland, and I am from Ecruteak City, Johto.
I am in-training to be a coordinator and I have some Contest experience. I am not very good at battling though.
My Pokemon are Azzy, Pora, Locke and Everest.
I cannot speak.

While he waited for the boy to finish reading the carefully written words, Waker lifted his gaze from the floor and took a closer look at the other people in the room. With small jolt of surprise, he realised that almost all of them had at least one of their Pokemon out - some of them had even more. Even the boy next to him had one - a disgruntled-looking Nincada nibbling at a marshmallow. Waker quickly pulled out two of the Pokeballs from the inside of his coat - the blue-topped one and one of the purple-topped ones.


I'll give Locke and Eve a rest, he thought, hitting the release on the two Pokeballs in his hands. They had quite the adventure in Barley, after all. In twin flashes of light blue and red-violet light, the Nidos emerged, yawning. Azzy almost immediately went for the refresment table, snagging a sugar cookie and crunching on it contentedly, not even bothering to look around. With a resigned sigh Pora whacked him on the head before leaping onto the table, wandering over to where the Nincada was, watching it nibble on the marshmallow.


Waker watched the Nidos with interest - aside from their brief romp in the field outside of Barely, the two had barely been out of their Pokeballs since the incident with the Tauros at Moo Moo Land. His smile lessening a little at the memory, he sighed and shook his bangs out of his face, only looking up again when he heart a joyous shout. He watching in mild confusion and curiosity as a girl with ruffled black hair and a boy standing in one of the larger groups ran to one another, hugging each other excitedly.


Looks like they're having fun, Waker observed.

[Amissa]

To: Waker
Location: Seats by the refreshments table

Daniel read the note carefully a moment, a bit confused. In the meantime, Geb glanced up at the female Nido before him. He hesitated, thinking of a good way to start. Then he speared a second marshmallow with his unused claw and offered it over to the female. "Try?"

"Oh." Daniel said as the glow of enlightenment filled his previously puzzled expression. He handed back the notebook and the pen. "Well it's sure good to meet you, Waker. My name's Daniel. I'm from Gigarte here in Furoh. My pokemon are Geb and Hercules. Geb is that Nincada there on the table and Hercules has to stay in his pokeball for the moment. He doesn't dig big gatherings like this. He's my Machop. So which of your pokemon is Azzy or Pora or Locke?"

Daniel looked curiously at the two Nidos, but remained cautious. He had encountered Nidoran and their ilk while he was volunteering at the Pokemon Center in Gigarte. He thought hard and was able to remember what the nurses had warned him about, that Nidoran secrete poison from the barbs on their body and that to prick yourself on one could lead to disaster. Right, so these guys would fall under that vast 'do not cuddle' category.

This post has been edited by Amissa: Dec 18 2009, 11:34 PM

[Pumpkin King]

"Vincent! We're going to miss the helicopter!"

A sixteen year old boy clad entirely in black packed all his belongings. He was slightly perturbed that he had just arrived at Fidona and was already off to some foreign city. "You know, I'm not so sure we should be goin, Joey. What if that Delibird just made a mistake? Why would someone so famous choose two novice trainers like us?" Vincent had been debating with himself whether or not he should go to this special event he and his new traveling partner had been invited to. It was very rare that Vincent made a firm decision and very often needed someone to make a decision for him.

"We've gone over this before," Joey told Vincent. "This could be our only chance to go to anything like this! We should take advantage of it."

Vincent sighed and turned to his Spheal and Squirtle laying on the messy bed next to him. It seemed superfluous for housekeeping to tidy up every day because with Vincent's Squirtle in the room, nothing could stay clean or neat. "I'm not asking you two what you think," Vincent told his Pokemon. "I already know what you want to do." He was the only one who wanted to stay.

Joey's face went pale as he looked out the window. A helicopter was making its way toward the Pokemon Center. "We have to go now!" Joey hastily gathered his bag and other belongings and darted out the door saying, "I'll try to hold up the helicopter. You check out and meet me there."

"But-" Joey was already out of sight. Vincent accepted the situation for what it was and made his way to the motel's check-out counter, with his Pokemon following closely behind him. However, once Vincent handed over the card key, Joey walked in looking disappointed.

"Missed it," he said.

Vincent couldn't help but feel guilty. "Oh... I'm sorry. You really wanted to go, didn't you?" Before there was a response from Joey, Vincent thought of an alternative. "I have an idea!"

***

"Holy crap! It's s-s-so c-cold!"

"Yeah... I didn't think about that part..."

Joey and Vincent were dangling in a woven basket being held by a Drifblim. They were soaring high above Furoh and as such, the temperature had significantly dropped. The trip was taking longer than planned because it was very difficult to control in which direction a Drifblim flew. They just went with the wind. Fortunately, after a few hours of suffering through the cold, they were close to their destination: Castle Vonmoto.

"We should've taken the Dragonite Express," Vincent commented.

This time Joey felt guilty. Joey's wallet limited the luxury of his adventure. Though Vincent had enough money for the both of them, Joey insisted he paid his fair share.

Vincent noticed the awkwardness and changed the subject. "Look! Let's follow that helicopter!" He pulled on the ropes holding the basket to catch the attention of the large purple Pokemon above them.

"Well, better late than never," Joey said positively as they started the descend.

[Troy Bolton]

Location: Living room, en route to Aquarium.
To: Apparent young ward, Zeke. Felicitations given to all present.
Status: Struggling with heavy baggage (ah, the curse of pubescent trainers' ensembles)

The day had begun to chill its cold sonata when the Delibird came. It flew through an open window, having to stop to force its bag through. Instead of passing its golden gift to the obvious choice, the ribbon-bearer, it passed it to the small, mousy boy admiring the bow. After much stuttering and insistence that it belonged to the ribbon-bearer, he reluctantly accepted it.

The other boy, the ribbon-bearer, was more than a little put out, but he recovered well enough. Through some lucky serendipity, his non-trainer friends had begun a short autumn's end break from school, and were free. They were easy and carefree days, those that followed, full of love and laughter.

`~`~`~`~

After some halcyon time with his friends, Woodrow dreaded the day his journey continued. He would guide Zeke to the Caste Vonmoto, then beg a ride from the helicopter pilot back to town, a plan insisted on by Mrs. Spencer [!].

And lo, the day did come most quickly, as dreaded days often did. One could find Woodrow lounging in his room, unpacking and repacking his baggage. A small green blob snored on his pillow, drooling partially acidic saliva.

"That's everything," he murmured, staring at his messenger bag. Looping it over his back, he made to take one last glance at the room. An old blade winked at him, and he withdrew it from its place on the wall. A cavalry bayonet used by Woodrow's great-grandfather, it was the lad's 16th birthday present from his father. Enrolled (or perhaps forced) into tutorage for the archaic weapon by his father, he had grown some comfortability and talent in it. He wouldn't be challenging a Scyther or a Gallade to a duel any time soon, but he could manage not to stab himself in the face.[!]


He felt something slip into his back pocket. He reached back to examine it, but was stopped by a lithe hand. A spin incorporated into a spin and-

"Kathryn," he said, biting his lip. I hadn't even heard you come in.

"I know, I know, Pokemon adventure. You've already got a ribbon, and that makes you a bit of a celebrity, doesn't it?" Woodrow sighed, and his response was quieted by a well-manicured finger on his lips.

"I just wish," she sighed, averting her eyes. Her next words were quiet, clipped. "I wish I could come too."

"I know, Kate. I know." She turned away, looking at his suitcase and returning Otoro to his ball.

Sudden, raw emotion flooded Woodrow. Excitement, that quivering teenage nervousness that accompanied expectation. Joy and happiness, like a warm blanket, and a few darker, but no less vibrant emotions in the shadows of those there. That sensual thrill of her scent, in seeing her face, the shock of her perfume. He wanted to tell her, to let her know what it meant to me that she was here. But when it came to Kathryn, ever since that whole relationship thing started, he'd been a little worse than normal at verbal expressions.

When she turned around again, he had pressed against her. A quiet gasp of surprise and pleasure, and when his mouth met hers, it was the kind of thing that would make a priest reconsider his vows.

`~`~`~`~`~


Annette DeGrove straightened her uniform, looking out into the field expectantly.

She was to wait on some spoiled rich boy with a scarf and his (rather cute, in an old-fashioned way, if Donna was to be believed) manservant. The manservant was red-haired and the boy brunette...or was it the other way? One of them held a Croagunk as a pet, she remembered that. Ah, there she was goofing off again. She couldn't get fired, she needed this job.

The dusting of snow and pervasive 'fft-ftt-fft' alerted the girl to another helicopter touchdown. Annette opened the door to greet them, hastily putting on some mittens with the assistance of her teeth. A young brown-haired boy with a prominent scarf stepped out first, a Croagunk trailing behind him. Stepping out second was a red-haired lad, not much older than the boy and dressed in crisp white shirt, dress pants and a black vest, complimenting a red tie.

But what did she know? The new fashion was butlers who grew up with their masters, wasn't it? Or maybe it was battle butlers...combat butlers? Annette patted her bun self-consciously.

"Ah, you must be the Fletcher party from Arasam- trainer and loaned butler."

The boy looked confused, but the butler cut in. She disliked the look in his eyes, calculating and bright, but his words came quick and smooth.

"Quite. The young master is rather fatigued from the helicopter ride, so I must see to his accommodations. Come, young master."

The now-very confused boy meekly followed his butler, leaving the poor maid DeGrove frankly not knowing what the heck.


`~`~`~`~

The two walked in silence until the maid diverged, curtsying as she excused herself for the other guests. Woodrow drew next to his friend, whispering into his ear.

"Listen, Zeke. This is my chance to come along to. They think I'm a butler- your manservant- and I guess I can understand why. It's my vest," Woodrow groaned, picking at a button of the dark velvet, "and my speech. What can I say, I'm a man of refinement." The new butler straightened up, brushing some dust off of his dress pants.

"So, if you would, young master, allow me to carry your bags." That was for the benefit of anybody listening.

...Hell's bells, they were heavy.

"Valjean, please assist me." From a vest pocket, a gloved hand retrieved a bulky Friend Ball (Apricorn-made balls couldn't be minimized, you see- something about organic material) and tapped the button. Hitmonchan appeared, gazing about at the lavish accommodations.

"Very good. Please see to my suitcase, as I carry the young master's toiletries." Valjean gave him an odd look, but hefted the baggage nonetheless.


Through the living room, and my, two of the new rising stars- Jaima Kuonji, a dual-badge winner, and Darryn Kellor, ranked the same as the not-butler himself, with the prestige of Arasam behind them. Urging Zeke on, the two continued to their room. It was a bit of a hike, with the two getting lost more than once.

"My, but this is lush, is it not?" A king sized bed for the rich kid Zeke was supposed to be, and a modest queen for Woodrow. He didn't have time to look at it, however, as he felt a certain inclination to go fraternize with the other guests. "Leave your things here, but keep a Pokemon or two on you in case you get a challenge. I'll take Valjean, Otoro, and Ariana." He grabbed the two Pokeballs holding the amorphous ones, and set off, the younger lad in pursuit.

He bit a lip. He'd have to mix his butler's facade with his fraternization, but a part was a part, and Woodrow did not go out of character. The two reached the living room once more, and Woodrow cleared his throat. In a loud, resonant voice, he proclaimed.


"Presenting the great Zeke Matthews, son of Dave, son of Dwight. Lord of Johto, friend to all. And I, Woodrow Spencer, am but a pittance of a trainer, with but 4 Pokemon and a ribbon to my name. Please, I hope that we shall all become fine, fast friends."

He swept into a deep bow. And they said overacting would get him nowhere.