[X] My Assistant

[Toogee]

Castle Vonmoto

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

Alonzo Vonmoto paced around his room, his excitement started to show through. He had guests today: a new generation of trainers, coordinators and others would soon descend on Castle Vonmoto. Lonnie kept staring at his pocket watch, counting the minutes till their arrival. As he did that, a chansey ran though the open door, handing her master a device. Lonnie stared down at the screen: over twenty golden dots were heading for the center; one was almost there. The tickets had come back home.

“Penny, give this to Horace,” Lonnie said to the pokemon. “I also want you and your sisters to help the staff tend to our guests. I have my own preparations to make.”

The chansey nodded and scurried back out the room, yelling down the halls to alert her siblings. Lonnie simply walked to a specific tile on the floor, a white tile with a diamond shape in the middle. He pressed his cane on what appeared to be a wine stain. Suddenly, Lonnie started spinning at an incredible velocity, eventually disappearing out of sight.

Within moments, the man appeared in another part of the castle, on top of a similar tile. His surroundings suggested that he teleported inside a circus tent: yellow and red striped cloth covered the walls, and in the corner was a chest covered in purple cloth with a crystal ball on top. Lonnie was inside “Calypso’s Fortunes,” one of the many things set up within his carnival room. But this was no time to play games; he needed to get ready for his guests.

“Do you need another reading sir?” Lonnie turned to the source of the telepathic speech. The shiny espeon stood in front of a tall mirror in the corner of the tent, trying on a small turban. The purple hat had a purple feather attached to a red jewel, matching quite nicely with her bright green fur.

“Not today, Calypso,” Lonnie replied. He occasionally took advantage of the espeon’s future sight ability. Recently, he had been coming more often, having grave concerns about what he had seen. Not today though; he had more trivial concerns.

“Blue or black-blue stripes?” Lonnie asked, holding up two ties.
“Neither. You don’t want to intimidate your guests with a professional look.”
“Good thinking. Sweater it is.”
“If you don’t mind me saying this, I must remind you that your vision is not definite. Things can change.”
“Oh, I’m counting on that, Calypso. I’m well aware that what I saw could have been from 100 years from now or next week. What I do know is that we will need to band together before it is all over. That’s what makes these get-togethers all the more important. I believe the friendships made here will play an important role before the end.”

The espeon nodded in approval as Lonnie went back to the teleporter tile.

“Hurry, sir. Their arrival is upon us.”
“Oh, I’ll be ready. The real question is will they be ready for what I have in store…”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Adventure in Barley

I’m writing this entry in a pokecenter in Barley. I thought all I would be doing would be grabbing supplies. I knew things would be different when I met a group of friends. Among them was Andrew Simons, an aspiring trainer from Sinnoh. He has a weird looking mark on his hand; people used to call him a demon when he was small. Strangely, he seems to like it when I call him Demon.

Anyway, we toured the Barley Boardwalk, a huge mecca of shops and boutiques (sadly, no camping store; I’ll have to keep looking for one). It was a nice day for it too; the sky was blue, the temperature was actually quite comfortable with the sea breeze blowing against you. We also visited the Pokemon Fan Club, where we got to sit down after the shopping venture. The guy there was pretty nice; he used to be a surfer before retiring out here. A little weird at first, but he grows on you.

I wish I could have said more about the beach, but we had a run-in with some pokemon stealing food. We were able to chase them down on a scooter, which go surprisingly fast BTW. We made a wrong turn right in the middle of a contest (I really wish I taped that)! We then found out that the thief pokemon were really homeless, trying to survive on what they could find. I was going to take them back to the fan club when a trio of gangsters wanted revenge on their stolen lunch. We had no choice but to intervene. It was a close battle, but Turnip pulled me through once again. He’s an ivysaur now; I promise I’ll have pictures soon!

I also made another friend: a growlithe named Fenrir. He still has a collar; I’m wondering if he belongs to someone. Until we do find this out, he’s traveling with me. Sure, he has a little gray in his fur, but he still has some fight in him.

I was hoping to be out of Barley by now, but a strange little delibird interrupted the journey. He gave me this golden ticket and flew off. I later found out that this was an invite to this computer guy’s castle for a trainer event of sorts. I’m not terribly familiar with my multi-billionaires, but it might be a good idea to get to know one. Besides, there are supposed to be trainers and coordinators coming; it would certainly be nice to meet some more people and their pokemon.

I heard that these tickets are rare; some would say fate has chosen me to attend. I don’t know about that; I’m going because I want to!

I’ve got to get going; I think I hear my ride. I promise I’ll get pictures up soon!

Until then,
-Pan

It was just a couple hours later that Pan found herself on a helicopter flying over the Furoh landscape. She couldn’t help but look down at all the forests, plains, and people below. It was too bad she couldn’t make out any details; the helicopter was going incredibly fast, faster than she thought the flying machines could go. Of course, this wasn’t a regular copter: this one had wings fitted with two turbines, shortening the trip considerably.

She also noticed that the temperature was falling as they neared their destination. Pan underestimated how much time she had to pack; she was only able to grab a forest green sweatshirt reading “Celadon City High”. She proudly wore the high school emblem (a vileplume flower under the name) over her purple vest and black, long-sleeved shirt, but her denim shorts would be no good against the chilly conditions of Mt. Carello. Pan hoped she didn’t have to spend too much time outside.

The two seats next to her were occupied by Fenrir and Turnip. The long ride to Carello allowed Pan to get to know the growlithe a little better. For starters, despite his calm serious demeanor, he loved being scratched behind his ears, thumping his right leg in response. The ivysaur shook his head in disappointment, watching the old dog suddenly reverting into a stupid drooling mess. Meanwhile, Chi-Chi was sitting at the window, sharing the few of the scenery with her human and the tailow Flick. The pachirisu and tailow seemed to be playing a game, trying to find and point out humans before the other. Pan turned around to check on the tailow’s trainer and her travel companion, Andrew Simons. The young trainer was sprawled across an entire row of seats, fast asleep (she wished he had at least buckled up). After Turnip kicked Andrew out of the seat close to Pan, he chose to take the row behind them. His spheal, Icicle, was having a blast rolling all around the passenger area. The room filled with the spheal’s laughter as he rolled with the turns of the helicopter. Pan couldn’t help but smile; everyone seemed to be in good spirits.

Suddenly, Chi-Chi started cheering and jumping up and down, pointing outside. Pan looked out the window to see a giant stone castle. From above, she could see the odd octagon shape, along with four tall towers. Though one would think a castle would look old, this one still seemed relatively recent; she imagined this is what they looked like in medieval times. The helicopter started to slow down: they were descending onto the rooftop. Pan asked the tailow and spheal to wake Andrew up; they were more than happy to jump on top of him and yell into his ears.

Pan exited the helicopter, reminded once again that this was not shorts weather. It was cold! Though there were no winds, small snowflakes slowly floated down towards the earth, indicating that it was freezing. Pan crossed her arms for warmth, happy that she at least brought a sweatshirt. While Fenrir seemed perfectly fine in this weather, Turnip was clearly uncomfortable in this new environment, while Chi-Chi once again took shelter inside Pan’s vest. She quickly walked towards the entrance, noticing that the towers were much taller than they appeared from the air; she “guesstimated” they were three stories. A man in a white shirt, black pants, and black vest awaited the first arrivals at the castle entrance. Both Pan and Turnip were glad they parked so close.

Pan followed the butler down a spiral staircase, into what could be described as the living room. The floor consisted of plush red carpet, comfortable enough to lie on. The beige walls proved to be a nice contrast to the red, while the chandelier provided dim lighting for the room. The first objects to catch Pan’s eyes were the adjacent seating areas, along with adjacent fireplaces. The furniture matched the color of the carpet and came in all shapes and sizes: couches, recliners, loveseats, it was all there. The room was huge; Pan didn’t know how many people were attending, but this room could probably fit everyone in her school. Finally, there was a wall that mostly consisted of a giant window, overlooking the snowy landscape of Mt. Carello. The elements combined to give an almost intimate vibe. All Pan cared about right now was the comfortable temperature. “Nice and toasty,” she thought to herself.

“Welcome to Castle Vonmoto,” said the butler, “Please, make yourself at home. The others shall arrive shortly.”
“Thanks,” Pan replied, making her way to one of the couches on the far left, towards the window. The coffee table was well stocked with refreshments: marshmallows for roasting in the fireplace and a candy dish filled to the brim, among other food items. Several magazines were set in the middle of the table, with headlines like “How to be at your best in your next contest” and “Crisis in Noverus: What You Need to Know”. Chi-Chi crawled out of Pan’s vest to pick through the candy. She found a peanut butter cup, unrapped the foil exterior, and quickly bit into it. The heavenly combination of chocolate and peanut butter brought tears to the pachirisu’s eyes. She quickly obtained more of the delectable treats, hiding under the table to eat them in secret.

Turnip decided warm up next to the fire (but not too close), laying on the soft carpet. Pan released her baltoy Pivot, who began “scanning” its new surroundings. After that, she took off her boots and lay on top of the couch, warming her sock-covered feet under Fenrir’s belly, who was laying comfortably at the other end. As she waited for guests to arrive, Pan took one of the magazines and looked at a picture that caught her attention: a photo spread of the most recent Arasam contest winner. Her eyes glanced over the pictures of the flittering butterfree, the tag team of a jolteon and cranidos, and that awesome shiny hair. It was that shiny hair and his unblemished face that brought back memories of high school, of adventure in and around Celadon City, and of an old friend she hadn’t thought about during her own Furoh adventure.

Well well, Daz. I told you you’d set this place on fire…

Though she hoped to see him again one day, Pan suspected that coordinators were busy people, especially ones that grace magazines. She would have to settle for the collage of pictures presented in the magazine.

Little did she know that this would not be a lazy day of reading magazines. Another adventure would soon begin…

[Xal]

Malcolm didn't know if what he was travelling in was best described as a plane or a helicopter, but whatever it was it was fast. The propeller and turbines were whirring away powerfully, forcing them through the sky almost scarily quickly. The helicopter must have been roaring, but inside the cabin the noise was just a dull humming. It was quiet enough for Pichu to curl up and sleep on Malcolm's lap anyway. He looked over at Pidgey and smiled. The small bird had clambered up to the window and was staring at the outside world rushing by below them. Pidgey loved nothing more than flying and did so virtually all the time, but he'd never been this high and certainly not this fast. Malcolm could tell that he'd like nothing more than to go outside and fly alongside the helicopter, and the thought of Pidgey trying to keep up made him chuckle for a moment. It suddenly reminded that when he received the invitation Malcolm had briefly considered letting Pidgey take them (jokingly, of course) to the castle.


"What's this?"

A bird pokemon swooped down from the sky and landed at Malcolm's feet, dropping a golden slip of paper onto the path. Malcolm wondered what kind of pokemon it was, but before he had a chance to react the bird had flown off.

"Pi, Pichu!" Pichu announced as she scooped the paper up off the floor and handed it to Malcolm. It was an invite to some kind of massive event for pokemon trainers, situated at a castle in the snowy mountains.


Malcolm didn't hesitate to accept, and soon started planning for his trip. In the time before leaving for Castle Vonmoto he'd made sure that he had everything he would need, plus more.


"So, have we got everything?" Malcolm asked to his two pokemon, the night before they were due to set off from Barley.

"Let me just go trough my clothes and plan what to wear tomorrow." He said, opening up his bag and thumbing through his clothes (a series of completely identical blue jeans and green jumpers).

"No, no, um, maybe not... ugh, definitely not this, no... Ahh, this should be perfect!" Malcolm grinned, pulling out a green jumper and a pair of blue jeans.

"I'm glad we've got that sorted out." He said, laying his clothes out for the next day. They were in a hotel near the airport, ready to leave on a helicopter the next morning.

"I don't suppose we could just forget the wait and you could take us, eh Pidgey?" Malcolm asked, but Pidgey didn't seem amused by his joke. He seemed to appreciate it about as much as when Malcolm had told Fishy that it was his job to swim upstream to the mountains, carrying everyone on his back. Malcolm was used to Fishy being unamused by his antics though, and took some comfort in the fact that he didn't appreciate Pichu's idea of humour either.




Whilst Malcolm was reminiscing Pidgey had returned to staring out the window, and then suddenly starting chirping about something.

"What is it Pidgey?" Malcolm asked and leaned over. He could see a castle below them, standing out against the white background of the snow.

"Pichu, we're here!" Malcolm said, nudging the sleeping pokemon. She blinked groggily and yawned, stretching herself out as she tried to wake up completely. She looked up at Malcolm with an annoyed expression, this was the second time she'd been woken up today (the first time was in the morning, and the mere recollection of being awoken at such an ungodly hour sent a shiver down her spine) and she didn't appreciate having her precious sleep interrupted.

"We're here, Pichu." Malcolm repeated, hoping she'd realise this time. Pidgey just had time to move out of the way before Pichu bounded towards the window to look out of it.

"Pi, Pi, Pichu!" She squealed, ecstatic about her holiday. The helicopter slowed down and started to descend, eventually coming to a stop on the roof of the castle. Malcolm threw his bag onto his shoulders and started towards the door, followed by Pichu. Pidgey fluttered onto his shoulder, as he often did. The three of them exited the helicopter and were instantly hit by a blast of freezing cold. Pichu and Pidgey were anyway, Malcolm just smiled. He knew he'd made a good choice with his jumper. Pichu was shivering and climbed into Malcolm's arms, but the butler (at least, Malcolm assumed he was a butler) soon greeted them and escorted them down a large spiral staircase. Malcolm clung tightly to the banister, worrying that his wet shoes from the snow might slip.

This post has been edited by Xal: Dec 17 2009, 11:29 AM

[Protoman]

After his previous adventure with newfound friends, Alex and Tikal, Tyson, the young hotshot trainer from Johto had made his way towards Barley. Tyson, however, looked far from pleased to do so. He had a grimace on his face, hunching his back in the process. Blaze, the young Cyndaquil, nudged Tyson, trying to get him to cheer up.

"What's the use?" Tyson said in a state of semi-depression. "I'll never see her again...aw man...this totally bites, Blaze..." Tyson was referring to Tikal, his new crush, whom he and Alex partnered up with for a short time. Now that Tyson had been coming from Barley, all tasks completed, he automatically thought that there was no more hope.

"Cynda Cyndaquil!" Blaze said, putting a cheerful expression on his face. Tyson looked at the Pokemon and smiled weakly, not really worrying as much about Tikal as he had been doing. He rubbed the Pokemon's navy blue head, relaxing young Blaze. Tyson then thought about what kind of adventures would await him in his near future.

"We'll go on another adventure soon, buddy," Tyson told his companion before noticing a bird like Pokemon come down from the sky. In its beak was a golden letter, addressed to Tyson himself. He took the letter and read it, but before he could clearly see what the Pokemon was, the bird had already taken off. Tyson was left befuddled, scratching his head due to this state...

After stretching rather profoundly in the seat of the plane, Tyson cracked his neck and looked down. Still asleep... he thought as he looked at his Cyndaquil, Blaze. He stroked Blaze's back and stared out the window, almost like an evil villain. He smiled rather widely, stretching once more and looking to his left. He was shocked to see Blake, his rival.

"You..." Tyson hissed in a rather hushed tone, "what are you doing here?"

"Why are you whispering?" Blake responded, not caring that Blaze wasn't awake. He then looked down and looked back at Tyson, mouthing the word "oh". "To answer your question," Blake responded, in the same tone as Tyson, "I was invited."

"So was I..." Tyson told him, pulling out the gold letter. Tyson then shrugged off the fact that Blake, the one person he was trying to get rid of, was still around. After looking back out the window, he noticed a large castle surrounded by snow covered land. We're in the mountains? Tyson thought to himself. Whatever, Ice types are weak against fire, so...cool! Tyson stroked Blaze, this one waking the young fire styled echidna. He showed Blaze all of the snow and the very large castle. The plane then began to lower, powering down as they touched land. Once the door was opened, Tyson proceeded to step outside, soon struck with a series of shivers and sneezes.

"That's what you get for wearing shorts," Blake told him while shaking his head, "idiot."

"Hey shut up!" Tyson blurted at Blake before slowly walking, trying not to slip. He was soon greeted at the rooftop entrance, being led down the stairway along with Blake.

[Douken Sota]

Douken could easily remember the island life. The constant temperature pretty much meant that he could wear shorts and short sleeves all day, every day. It was a comfortable feel. Stepping out of the Hybrid Helicopter-Airplane: wasn't at the least!

After the events that took hold in the Barley Police Station, he quickly got met up with a Delibird who offered him a golden ticket. After he took it, he watched the Santa-bird take off before reading it, seeing some rich dude was holding an event for trainers currently in Furoh. he read the instructions on where they should meet, and when he got to the Pokemon Center, he only had 5 minutes to get on! Rushing by everyone, he scurried himself on board, feeling lucky he made it before it took off.

Did he have a sweater? No. Did he have pants? No. Was there anywhere he could change to in the first place? No. Besides the tiny bathroom, the room was pretty open, full of other trainers that were coming from Barley. So no matter how he looked at it, he was stuck with the clothes on his back. These thoughts, however, never did come to mind inside the hybrid. Inside the pressurized hull, it felt like how it was inside Barley in the first place. It was when they landed and got out into the snow did those question s slap him in the face with the cold air and snow at his feet. It was at this point he because a shiver-fest!

The minute it took for the butler to arrive felt like an hour of torture as his body was surrounded in the cold, sneezing a couple times from the figged air. When the butler invited them in, he slowly followed to the living room. "Please, do make yourself at home," the butler said, but once the freezing Douken saw the fire, he slowly headed for it, collaping in front of it, nearing falling on top of an Ivysaur, saying, "Warmth....."

[Amissa]

To: Douken Sota and Pan
Location: Near the fireplace (eventually, like the last paragraph)

"What would you do if I sang out of tune? Would you stand up and walk out on me? Lend me your ears and I'll sing you a song, and I'll try not to sing out of key," Daniel sang loudly. He actually was singing out of key but it was hard to tell with all of the noise that came from the helicopter that they were riding in. Besides, his pokemon were used to Daniel's vocal inadequacies and forgave him for it. Since they were the only ones in the vehicle, aside from the pilot, Daniel continued to sing to his heart's content.

It was no wonder that his heart insisted that he sing. Today was to be a big day. Scarcely out of Gigarte and already he'd secured an invitation from a millionare to attend his huge party for trainers and coordinators in Furoh. Daniel had good reason to feel so high spirited. With the beautiful view of the mountains below and the envigorating chill of the air around him, Daniel reflected on the moment when he'd received that invitation.

"Okay guys, now what do we do?" Daniel had asked his pokemon, a Machop named Hercules and a Nincada named Geb. "I'm interested in a gym battle or maybe just some exploring. Maybe we should look for some more pokemon to capture. Where should we go?"

Daniel took out his map and gazed at it for a moment, appearing deep in thought. Then, he resolutely shoved the map back into his pack, apparently having decided on a course of action. He stuck his arm out, pointing directly in front of himself and closed his eyes. Next, he spun around in a circle as fast as he could go. He spun and spun until he was too dizzy to spin anymore. It felt like the world was shifting and he had a hard time staying on his feet. Before he knew it he had toppled over, landing on his pack, its contents painfully jamming into his back. He opened his eyes to see where he was pointing only to find a strange bird pokemon before him.

"Hello, how can I help you today?" he asked the bird. He was still very dizzy. The image of the bird seemed to shift and tilt in front of him. The bird tilted its head slightly in amusement and then handed over a golden piece of paper and took off again. Daniel waited for the dizziness to pass and then read the paper.

A goofy grin spread on Daniel's face. The boy jumped up and crowed for joy. "Guess what guys!" He shouted to his pokemon, who were standing a ways off observing and hoping that Daniel didn't hurt himself in his madness. "We're taking a ride!"

Now he and his pokemon were enjoying the trip to Castle Vonmoto, though some were enjoying it more than others. Geb didn't appreciate the cold one bit and climbed into Daniel's navy blue hoody for warmth. Daniel himself felt comfortable enough, even with sharing his hoodie with a twelve pound insect pokemon. While he still felt the chill, it was refreshing to him. The open mountain air tasted glorious and crisp, so different from the warm earthy air that he was used to living in the underground Gigarte.

Hercules was half in Daniel's lap, gazing out of the window. His expression showed interest, but Daniel didn't think he was as eager for this trip as his trainer was. Hercules didn't enjoy crowds, and Daniel knew that he'd probably need to keep him in his pokeball once too many people got around. Geb would perk up once the atmosphere got warmer.

"This looks like it. We're descending now." Daniel announced to the two pokemon. Geb poked his head out of the neck of Daniel's hoodie to look around. "Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends. I get high with a little help from my friends. I'm gonna try with a little help from my friends." He sang during the descent, partially to keep himself and his pokemon calm. This was a very new experience and they were all pretty nervous.

Once it stopped, Daniel led his crew out of the helicopter and onto the rooftop. Geb brought his head back into Daniel's hoodie, making the teenage boy look like he might be pregnant. Hercules looked around the area distrustfully. "It's okay guys," he reassured them before politely greeting the butler who led them down the stairway into the giant living room. He smiled at everyone around, pleased that there was a lot of space and not too many people just yet. It looked like Hercules could manage outside of his pokeball a little longer.

"Oooh, marshmallows! Hey everyone, how was your trip?" Daniel cried happily before grabbing a marshmallow and a roasting stick and proceeding to toast the confection over the fire everyone was gathered around. Geb, sensing the warmth, climbed out of the bottom of Daniel's hoodie and down his legs to the floor giving the appearance that Daniel just gave birth to a Nincada. Hercules stayed close to Daniel and glanced at the other trainers nervously.

This post has been edited by Amissa: Dec 17 2009, 01:57 PM

[Gearbits]

To: No one in particular
Location: The window, cause he's a giant man child excited by snow.


His adventures in Barely to a close, Sawyer was pretty happy with himself as he continued on. He'd made some friends perhaps, or at least some kids he could strike up a conversation with should they bump into one another at a Poke Center. It was hard being the only on past puberty. An exaggeration, but really how he felt given how late in the game he was starting his own journey. "Did you have fun Zigs?" She chattered happily at his feet, nose to the ground and searching out items as she usually did. Most of the time it was bottle caps. Sawyer had a wicked bottle cap collection.

They were barely even out of the port town with a slip of golden paper all but slapped him in the face.

Needless to say, he did some pretty un-manly flailing of the arms before catching it up in both hands to see what exactly it was. A golden ticket. He swore he'd seen a movie that started out in the same fashion. "What in the-" Was that a Delibird of all things that had dropped the ticket? Said Pokemon was already too far when he'd regained enough sense to look around and check. "Look at this partner," he knelt to let Zigs stare at the ticket. An invitation to a 'Castle Vonmoto' for some sort of winter event. It sounded like fun, meeting other trainers, perhaps one closer to his own age. Doubtful, but a possibility Sawyer wasn't about to pass up. Plus he'd never seen snow. Snow was good. It always looked awesome on television. And television was never wrong. "We need to buy a sweater."

"Zigoon."


-------------------------------------------------------

Television had been wrong.

The sweater was helping though. Sitting in a chilly helicopter was not his idea of super awesome winter fun times. But at least he was warm-ish. A zigzagoon sleeping in your jacket really warms the internal organs. Does nothing for the extremities though. His knees were absolutely freezing. They were close to landing though, which was a plus. Swayer preferred being on the ground, well, in a boat, but on the ground was close enough. Flying was not his bag. The pilot jacket was for show. He was a sailor, not a pilot. Dad was a pilot. He was jostled out of thoughts when the helicopter tipped a littler to veer towards their landing point. Getting closer he could see the castle, and shifting to look properly out his window.

Television was not wrong after all!

The snow was so pretty. The castle wasn't half bad either. Landing took another minute, tops, and he was slipping on his hat, a brown cap styled after a sailor's hat, golden anchor affixed to the front, and putting his bag over his shoulder. Stepping outside in the light snowfall wasn't ideal, it was cold after all, but he could deal with it if snow was always as pretty as it was. Zigs popped her head out the jacket, twitching ears tickling Sawyer's chin as he made his way to the open door and waiting butler. "Welcome, this way please," a graceful motion of the arm and they were going down the spiral staircase and entering into what appeared to be a large living room, a few trainers had already arrived, which was nice to see. It was never fun to be the first person to arrive, but at least he was on time, or perhaps slightly early. There was a sitting area, and the fireplace, but it seemed a little crowded by shivering trainers. Now that he was inside he was actually rather cozy. The perks of an insulated jacket and having your zigzagoon hiding herself down the front of it. Once inside though she scurried easily out the neck around to his sit on his shoulders, sniffing around and inspecting her new environment from a distance. It was impossible to stop her though as she scrambled down Sawyers arm and then his pant leg towards the bowl of shiny wrapped candies. Her trainer didn't even need to pause mid-step as he took off his hat, thumping off the few bits of snow, as he made his way to the large window to take a look at the snowy landscape. It was a nice view, definitely a nice view.

He smiled softly, pushing hair from his face before looking back to make sure Zigs wasn't getting herself in trouble. She was collecting a few of the foil wrapped candies from the bowl, pausing to stare at the Pachirisu beneath the table before scampering back to Sawyer full speed. He knelt and held out his hat for her to drop her prizes in, scratching beneath her chin before he took one of the little chocolates and unwrapped it for her. She caught on quick, and was a rather intelligent Pokemon, but only having little claws to unwrap things with was often a chore. "Good find," he chuckled as she plopped down on her back end to eat her delicious treat. It was habit to congratulate her on finding anything at all. A sort of encouragement to let her know her little habit was a good thing. She did on the odd occasion bring him useful things. When he was sure she didn't need assistance to unwrap anymore candies he stood again and turned back to the window, staring out at the light snowfall. Why exactly had it taken him so long to see it?

It was going to be a good holiday.

[Master Houndoom]

It was a very tired group of four trainers that finally came into one of the pokemon centers of Petropolis. Lead by a fairly tall, blonde haired boy who's usual braided ponytail was in disarray. Following him was a slender, petite girl with mussed red hair, closely followed herself by a tired looking younger girl, barely in her teens, who's blonde hair was pulled back in a long ponytail. Trailing after, looking tired yet still stunningly groomed, was the final member of the group, a boy with perfectly quaffed brown hair and a fashion sense so keen that even clothes he had walked in from a small house between Arasam and Petropolis looked rather attractive on him.

The red haired girl broke from the group toward the PC, but the group did not get far. The blonde boy collapsed into a chair, leaning his head back and groaning. "Never again. The next city we go to is going to be by pokemon, or bike, or something."

The other boy looked sideways at the blonde. "It didn't help that after lunch you and Meiko took off to snog, you know, Jaima," he said archly, a small wicked smile forming on his lips as his friend began to redden.

Meiko, the redhead, arrived just then, holding a pokeball tightly in one hand. She raised a tired eyebrow and smirked at Darryn. "Fine. Next time we won't sneak off, we'll just snog in front of you."

Jaima's blush deepend, but Darryn snorted. "At least I'll know what's coming, and not walk in on it like I did. Honestly..."

Jaima raised his head, opened his mouth and raised a finger, as if to make a point, then thought better of it and turned to Meiko instead. "Did you get what you wanted?"

Meiko grinned, a sparkle in her eye. "Goodbye Rockclaw, Hello Chompwater!" She raised her fist, with the pokeball in it, triumphantly. Then, as a wary afterthought, glanced at the blonde girl. "Don't worry, though, Tuesday... I won't let her out unless we need her..."

Tuesday blinked at her, then nodded, swallowing and trying to school her features. She smiled timidly. "I don't want to be a bother..."

If Meiko had wanted to respond, it was interrupted by a small red and white waddling bird. Without preamble it walked straight into the pokecenter, right up to Tuesday, and handed her a small gilded envelope. The bird then gave a salute with his wing, waddled out of the center, and flies away, leaving a stunned quartet.

Tuesday opened the envelope carefully, staring at the golden ticket for a while before prompted to speak. "It's... it's an invitation to a castle. A gathering of trainers..."

There was a slight pause, then Jaima spoke up. "Do you want to go, Tuesy?"

"I do," she admitted, but when she looked up, her eyes were full of regret. "But I don't want to be the only one..."

As if on cue, the doors opened again. The same delibird waddled in, looking a bit chagrined, stopped in front of Darryn, and handed him a similar gilded envelope. With a salute of his wing, he turned and waddled off again. The four humans' reactions were similar to the last time.

"Well, there," piped up Meiko, smiling a bit. "Now you don't have to go alone!"

"But-"

Once again, the doors opened, and the bird, now muttering "bird, del birdi del..." angrily under his breath, marched up to Meiko and handed her an envelope. It turned, but instead of waddling off, it pulled a small device, similar to a pokenav, from it's sack-tail, and regarded it, peering up at the four after a moment. Nodding, it pulled yet another gilded envelope out, checked the name, and handed it to Jaima.

Tuesday grinned. "All right, now I'll go."

Jaima regarded the ticket. "It says there will be a helicopter to pick us up in an hour and a half. That leaves just enough time for showers and a light lunch..."

* * * * *

Air churned around the copter with a "whopwhopwhop". Despite the roomy cabin, the trainers riding the transport left their pokemon in their pokeballs, owing to the size of most of them. Only some of the smaller ones were permitted out (and in the case of Jaima's kirlia, Mercury, she had decided she didn't like flying and put herself back into her pokeball.)

Jaima looked out the window, fascinated, grinning as the scenery whirred past beneath. Only a small whimper made him turn, blinking, to look at his girlfriend.

Meiko was sitting, her hands on her knees, her eyes closed tightly. Her breathing was even, but forced to be even, as if she were trying to remain calm. When Jaima put one of his hands on top of hers, she gasped and twitched.

"You're afraid of flying, Meiko?"

"No!" She took a deep breath, realizing the denial was far too loud. "No. I'm not afraid of flying." After a pause, in which she still did not open her eyes, she admitted through grit teeth, "I'm afraid of helicopters."

Jaima blinked and scootched closer to Meiko. "But you've flown by pokemon, right?"

"Jaima," she said, her voice quavering, "Flying pokemon have been flying their whole lives. They're built for it! This is a metal contraption, and metal is not known for being light enough to fly!"

Jaima bit back a chuckle. "Er... there's skarmory..."

Meiko opened one eye, the expression on her face shrewd. "I don't fly on skarmory, either. And if you laugh..!"

Jaima couldn't help but grin. "At least I got to open your eye..."

Meiko swallowed, but relaxed as Jaima put an arm around her. "Don't worry, sugar," he said. "I won't let you fall."

* * * * *

It was a surprise to three quarters of the quartet that Meiko didn't fall on the ground and kiss it when they landed. However, decorum was maintained, and they were lead by a butler through a foyer. Th butler motioned to a bank of video phones lined against a wall as they passed. "Please feel free to use those phones to inform your families that you are alive and well if you are so inclined." When no one made an immediate move to the phones, he nodded and continued to a spiral staircase. "Please make yourself at home as we wait for the other guests to arrive.

At the bottom of the stairs was an opulent and well apportioned living room, full of tables with magazines and snacks, and dotted with enough seating for a small army, all in plush red and beige. The butler gave a short bow and ascended the stairs to await more arrivals, as Darryn, Jaima, Tuesday, and Meiko all looked around at the ones who had come in before them.

[Protoman]

Collapsed in a chair, sitting close to a window, was the young, not so eager looking Tyson. After the long flight and the bitter cold from the outside land, Tyson looked...rather disgruntled to say the least. He stared at the outside snow falling from its home in the sky to the ground below, pondering what he was going to do as he watched it fall, flake by flake. Finally the young trainer stood up, attire totally different from the rather incorrect wardrobe he had earlier. On his body, he wore a soothing red vest along with a crisp black t-shirt underneath. Along with his vest, he wore matching red pants, red shoes, and a snugly fitting red hat. While he was at the large castle, he tied his hair into a ponytail, preventing it from flowing like it would have earlier.

"I am sooooo tired," Tyson groaned as he was standing in front of the soft chair. He stretched, cracking his back and soothing his muscles in the process. Ten seconds afterwards, he collapsed back into the seat, gazing at the outside world once more. "I hope I get to meet some other trainers here too," he said to himself before sitting upright in the cushioned furniture. "I need to see how good everyone is now, not just how much better I've gotten." Tyson looked at his two Poke Balls, gaining a serious expression on his face. I have two Pokemon, Tyson contemplated as he gazed at them both, they're all the help I need right now... Tyson then looked around the room, seeing more and more trainers come into the building. Well, Tyson continued to think to himself, at least I'm not the only one who got the memo.

Suddenly, pain rushed through Tyson's head, causing a sudden shock to come to him. He grabbed the sides of his head in agony, praying that the pain would stop soon. Why now? Tyson asked himself in despair, why me? Why did I have to be cursed with this...this constant agony? Please, make it stop...someone! Anyone! HELP ME!!!! Tyson closed his eyes in sheer discomfort, almost going into tears. Finally, the pain subsided, allowing Tyson to resume his natural routine. Tyson sat back, completely freaked out about the sudden pain he felt in his skull. He looked at his hands, making sure he was completely alright. He then wiped his eyes, drying them if they were wet from his tears.

[Xal]

"Why am I not surprised?" Malcolm smiled as Pichu hopped over to the refreshments by the warm fire, skipping around the small collection of trainers who had arrived at the castle earlier. She jumped onto the table and started tucking into a sandwich, apparently not even deciding to see what was in it. Most of the Pichu evolutionary line were known for liking apples, but Pichu had a massive sweet tooth (or she would have done it it hadn't been rotted away by sugar). Malcolm joined her at the table and started unwrapping a sweet to give to Pidgey, In response to this the small bird instinctively jumped off his shoulder and onto Malcolm's right forearm, as he popped the candy into Pidgey's beak with his left hand.

"Pichu, please try to leave some for everyone else..." Malcolm sighed, but Pichu only beamed happily at him and carried on eating.

"Look, there's marshmallows. You like roasting them, right? Let's go to the fire."

Pidgey flew towards the fire obediently but Pichu was a little more hesitant.

"Come on Pichu, you'll love it." Malcolm said encouragingly as she slowly left the bowl of sugary treats behind, though she was clearly unsure of her decision. The two of them took a stick, Malcolm taking an extra one to roast a marshmallow for Pidgey, and proceeded to put the marshmallows in the flames.

"Right Pichu, that's it, take it out now." Malcolm said as he took his marshmallows out, eating one and giving the other to Pidgey. It was delicious, he had no idea where mister Vonmoto got his marshmallows but Malcolm could clearly see - or taste, or feel, from the delicious texture of the warm gooey yet scrumptious snack - that having more money than you knew what to do with had a lot of simple benefits as well as extravagant ones.

"It's done now Pichu, take it out. No Pichu, out!" He ordered as Pichu's stick started to burn. Malcolm pulled it out and blew the fire out, but the black lump of what used to be a marshmallow wasn't so easily dealt with.

"Here you go... enjoy." Malcolm grimaced, handing the mess to Pichu. She happily wolfed it down, but a moment later she went completely still and had a disgusted look on her face.

"What, was there not enough marshmallow with your charcoal?" Malcolm asked, and she shook her head in response.

"Well then, don't incinerate your food. Honestly, I'm glad you're not a fire type, you'd live off nothing but ashes." He sighed. "Maybe it would be a better idea for you to go back to the food you don't need to do anything with, besides eat. But we all know you're an expert at that, so I don't see how you can go far wrong."

Pichu didn't need telling twice, she made her way straight back to the food and grabbed two handfuls of candy (which, for someone of her small stature, was two candies). Malcolm shook his head and smiled, preparing another set of marshmallows for him and Pidgey.

[Dragava]

"Delibird!"

"What is this?" Lizzie was wandering around Barley when a pokemon that she had never seen before approached her. It was offering her a golden ticket. Lizzie looked it over. By the time she had finished reading it, the pokemon was gone.

"Looks like I can't run away even if I want to, huh?" Riolu, who was sitting on her shoulders just grinned to itself. "Let's get ready for the trip, shall we?"

***

The helicopter was very noisy. That bothered Lizzie a bit. The helicopter, being made of metal, was cold. That bothered her more. She wished that one of her pokemon would be able to fly her there, but nothing in her party could fly.

"Let's let Charmander out to warm us up a little. What do you think, Riolu? Riolu?" It took a while for Lizzie to notice that Riolu was not with her. It was looking out of the windows in awe. It had never been flying before... and apparently, neither had Lizzie. It took a while for her to notice Riolu shivering. She put it in her sweatshirt.

"Better?" Riolu didn't think so, it was struggling. After a while, its foot managed to press Charmander's pokeball, sending it out.

"I see, you want Charmander to look outside too?" Riolu nodded. Lizzie picked it up so that it could look outside, Charmander tucking its tail away from Lizzie.

"Char..." Charmander looked sad.

"Charmander? Something wrong?" Lizzie petted Charmander on the head. That seemed to cheer it up a little.

***

Lizzie arrived in the living room with Charmander and Riolu. She ignored those who were already there and proceeded to raid a candy bowl.

"Still sad, Charmander? Here have a candy. It might cheer you up. "Lizzie tossed her charmander a spicy candy. She assumed that it, being a fire type, might enjoy it. Charmander just ate it indifferently.

This could be a problem, Lizzie thought. Charmander's depression seemed to be rubbing off onto her. If this goes on, I won't be able to meet any challenges I may face.

[Protoman]

With his head no longer thumping, and his attitude now rather friendly, Tyson got up and walked over to the candy bowl, taking one of each flavor. He then grabbed a marshmallow and a stick and sat down in a wooden rocking chair. He thought about all of the things that had been going on in his life recently, numerous thoughts leading to Tikal. He shook his head, trying to get the thoughts pressed to the back of his mind.

"She shouldn't be in my head like this," Tyson said to himself, hoping no one would hear his hushed tone. "I mean, she can battle," Tyson soon had a smirk on his face, "not to mention she's a fox," Tyson kept thinking about her before they had departed. Everything that came to mind he remembered, including their goodbye...Tyson tried to block the images again, this time to no prevail. He sighed and pulled out his two Poke Balls, touching the buttons on the front, making them expand. The spheres opened, releasing both Blaze and Hydro, both of which were looking rather confused. Hydro looked around at all of the trainers and Pokemon in the room and got excited. The little Squirtle then got a devious look on his face, which caught the attention of Tyson.

"Squirtle?" Hydro said with an innocent look on his face. This didn't phase Tyson as Hydro soon realized. He fell into a slump and just looked at Blaze, who was still sniffing in the air out of sheer confusion. Tyson wasn't paying any attention to his marshmallow, which had turned as black as a Houndour's fur. He slyly threw the rest of the stick into the fire, whistling as he did so. Hydro and Blaze caught a glimpse of this and snickered.

A second sudden rush of pain hit Tyson's cranium, making him grasp his head in agony once more. No... he thought to himself, in total desperation for this pain to stop, ...not again...not here...It was too late for Tyson to try and get to a room. He simply sat there, head in his hands, and sobbed silently. Tears covered his face as they dripped down his cheekbones to the carpet below. He couldn't take too many more of those ferocious, tremor like headaches without screaming in agony. His head slowly throbbed in a moderate fashion before finally soothing itself. Tyson wiped his face again, hoping no one noticed the major agony he was in. Blaze and Hydro kept pulling on Tyson's pants leg, trying to get his attention. Tyson looked at them both, concern written on their faces. Tyson forced a weak smile and petted them both on the head. He struggled not to cry from the pain that he was experiencing earlier, but it was becoming too unbearable for even him.

[Toogee]

To: Douken, Daniel
Location: Couch at the far right, near the window (same as first post)

As time went on, more and more trainers arrived. Pan looked up to realize that a couple of trainers have sat in her vicinity. One boy nearly fell on top of her ivysaur. Turnip gave an annoyed growl before getting up and moving towards Pan. He was really hoping the crowd would be much smaller; he decided to stick close to Pan. Pan, however, was thrilled at all the new faces. She quickly put down the magazine and looked to Douken.

“You know, you should watch where you fall down. You might land on a grumpy ivysaur. Like Turnip here.” Pan nodded and smiled, letting Doukan know that she didn’t mean it as reprimanding. “The name’s Pan,” she ended, now sitting up against the couch arm.

Another boy, Daniel, entered the area, asking everyone about the trip. “It was quicker than I thought it would be. I guess everyone took a ride in those ‘super-copters’?” Just as she finished, Pan noticed two small paws sneaking up from under the table. They attempted to reach into the candy bowl, only to knock the bowl over. Its contents spilt across the floor. The pachirisu revealed herself from under the table, shrugging her shoulders at her human as if she was trying to say “whoops”.

“Pachi pachi- *burp*.” The tiny belch escaped Chi-Chi. She gave a small gasp and put her paws over her mouth. The shocked expression on her face put the cuteness factor off the charts. Pan reacted quickly: the camera around her neck quickly went into her hands and flashed, recording the moment for later memory. “Got it!” Pan remarked, quite proud of her “quick pic skills”. She then grabbed a napkin from the table and proceeded to wipe the chocolate off the pachirisu’s paws and mouth.

Sorry for the shortness; I’m trying to get a post in before more people post. Been busy.

[Master Houndoom]

Jaima stretched his arms, allowing the tension to leave them. He shot a grin to the others and released his pokemon, judging there was enough room to allow them to roam freely and then some. Mercury the shiny kirlia took a quick look around, her dark blue eyes falling on a boy in the rocking chair near the fire. Shadow the Lucario spent a similar amount of time looking about, but showed no interest in any one being in the room; he was guaging possible conflicts, though only Mercury and Grondir, the ivysaur near Jaima's feet, knew it. Eventually the Lucario moved near the door and leaned against the wall. Grondir moved to have a look at the other Ivysaur in the room, approaching with caution; he knew grump when he saw it. Fang the luxio moved to as close to the fire as he could get, curling up for a nap. Tsunami the marshtomp moved to the window to watch the snow. Only Ember, the quilava, stayed near her trainer, shyly peering about from behind his legs.

Likewise, Meiko released hers. Desertdancer the sandshrew joined Mercury, and Ramhorn the heracross took a station on the other side of the door from Shadow, looking similarly calm as the lucario, but being similarly aware. Cosette the turtwig rested on the tops of Meiko's feet, looking about warily, before scampering to stand near Grondir. The only pokemon Meiko did not release were a small happiny, as Meiko had been carrying her, and the inhabitant of the pokeball in Meiko's right hand.

Jaima leaned in and whispered to Meiko, who had glanced at Tuesday with a guilty longing on her face. "She'll have to get used to her sometime, you know," he murmured to her. "If you're going to keep Chompwater on your team."

"Maybe," Meiko sighed, "I should just rebox her..."

"Tuesday'd never ask you to do that. She'd feel guilty about it."

Meiko looked at Jaima and sighed. "It's ok-"

"Maybe," Jaima cut her off gently, "you can let her out over there, and Tuesy can get used to the idea from a distance.

Meiko pondered, then smiled, shakily. "Let's try that, huh?" She sauntered to the other side of the room, releasing a feraligatr, which, after a pause, she unabashedly hugged tight.

Jaima chuckled. "Ok, guys, I'm gonna mingle a bit. Have fun!" With that, he and Ember moved to one of the tables, where a small pichu was peering at an empty candy dish with what looked like a mournful expression.

if it seems I'm bragging, I apologize. I'm simply telling who and what my pokemon are, for those who don't read all the rps ^^;

[Amissa]

To: Pan, Douken, Malcolm (briefly), and Tyson
Location: Next to the fireplace

"It's nice to meet you, Pan. My name's Daniel," Daniel said nervously, his cheeks taking on a very light touch of pink that was hardly noticeable on his tan skin. However, his blush quickly darkened as he saw Pan run over and see to her chocolate-covered Pachirisu. Cute girls with cute pokemon, what could be better?

Daniel removed his toasty marshmallow off the stick and looked over to Hercules. Just as he expected, the Machop looked increasingly uncomfortable as more trainers entered the room. He briefly smiled at Malcolm in greeting before turning his attention to his Machop. "Hey, it's okay Herc. Here, have a marshmallow and then you can go back inside your pokeball, kay." Hercules came over to Daniel and took the sticky marshmallow from his hands. He leaned against Daniel's leg as he ate and the trainer gave his pokemon a reassuring pat on the head. "Alright, Hercules return!" Daniel said after Hercules had finished eating. A red glow was emitted from the pokeball that Daniel held in his hand and soon Hercules was safely occupying the device.

"He's shy," Daniel explained to Douken as he placed Hercules's pokeball on his belt.

Just then another trainer who had joined them by the fire caught Daniel's attention. Daniel looked hard to see exactly what was going on with the guy and noticed that he seemed to be crying. Instantly, Daniel's man-instincts kicked in. He looked left and right to see if anyone else had noticed. Then he positioned himself in a way to block Tyson from the view of as many trainers as he could. Softly he asked the trainer, "Are you okay? Your pokemon seem a little worried about you." He had no intention of letting the trainer know that he'd seen him crying. There was no need to embarrass people as soon as you meet them.

[Dragon Maiden]

To: Imaginary friends?
Location: Hiding in the corner!

Aussie smiled to herself as she sat by the edge of the ocean. A chill wind blew across her face, whipping her hair into her eyes. She brushed it away with her finger and sighed. The wind smelled of salt and fish, a smell she knew by heart. The tide rolled in again, wrapping itself around her ankles and making her shorts wet. She didn't really mind much. They would dry eventually. Out of the ocean crawled a small krabby. Aussie smiled in delight and nearly crowed her enthusiasm. Opening her bag, she drew out a handful of Pokémon food and spread it out across the sand. The krabby looked at her suspiciously and snapped its claws. Aussie took the hint. Scooting back a few feet, she waited patiently for the krabby to take the food.

It moved forward cautiously, walking sideways. Aussie watched in complete rapture the whole time. Only a person like her could find this fascinating. Instinctively, she had reached for her pen and notepad, posed to write when she noticed something noteworthy. Her concentration was so complete she nearly jumped out of her holey old shnikes (that's right. Shnikes, not Nikes) when the krabby unexpectedly jumped and rushed back into the water. Aussie frowned and felt anger rise up in her. Who had interrupted her moment? She snapped her head around to look for the source and relaxed when she saw it was a Delibird.

Her anger dwindled away into curiosity. What was a Delibird doing here? This wasn't there native environment, unless it had a trainer of course. Aussie looked around for anyone standing around who might be the trainer of the Delibird but frowned when she found herself completely alone on the beach. If it wasn't here with its trainer then why was it here? Curiosity ate at her every fiber like a knawing hunger. As if in response to her curiosity, Mimic poked her head out Aussie’s bag and Shadow snuffled as she woke up. The little Swinub had fallen asleep at Aussie’s feet. Mimic turned her big red eyes to the sky and watched the Delibird with the same intense curiosity as Aussie.

As if to reply to her burning curiosity, the Delibird stopped directly over her head and dropped something. Aussie watched as a flash of gold fell from its claws. She reached out to grasp it but a sudden gust of wind blew it off its path in another direction. The golden object landed squarely on Mimic’s upturned face. The Hoothoot shrieked in protest as the golden slip of paper obscured its eyesight. Aussie looked down and bit her lip as Mimic continued to hoot angrily. She tried to suppress the giggles, but that was an impossible feat. The laughter bubbled up and out of her like a fountain.

Taking one of her wings, Mimic wiped the golden slip of paper off her face. It fluttered to the ground by Aussie’s feet. She gave Aussie a glare that would scare any sane person and muttered “Hoot.”

Aussie giggled again and gave a crooked smile. “Well I thought it was funny.” She quipped to Mimic.

Mimic hooted her disgust and immediately returned her head into her pocket on Aussie’s bag. Angry hooting could be heard from the bag as Mimic grumbled and made the worst of the situation. Aussie giggled once more before turning her attention back to the piece of paper. What was it? She reached out to grasp it but another burst of wind caused it to flutter and fly across the beach. Stumbling to her feet, Aussie chased after it. She spent the next few minutes chasing the piece of paper across the beach, attempting to catch it. The wind was playing with her. Every time she almost grasped it, the piece of paper would suddenly change course.

Aussie almost gave up when the wind suddenly changed direction. She gasped as the golden piece of paper rapidly changed course and smacked directly into her face. Grabbing it as quickly as she could, she giggled as she thought of how she must have looked with the piece of paper stuck to her face. Angry hooting erupted from the bag on her pocket as she giggled again.

Before Mimic had a heart attack, Aussie decided to see what the golden slip of paper said. Squinting, she examined it silently. As she read it over, she felt herself shaking. The golden slip of paper trembled in her grasp. Shadow sensed her trainer’s distress. Running over to her feet, the Swinub started sniffling and whining, attempting to figure out what was wrong. Aussie smiled down at Shadow. The little fluff ball always seemed to cheer her up. “Don’t worry Shadow. It’s not anything to worry about its just a…”

She couldn’t make herself say the word. Gathering. A gathering meant people, lots of people. A gathering meant mingling. A gathering meant strangers. All of these things were terrifying to Aussie. She was chronically shy of new people. Her reaction was always to pause and stare, not a good way of making friends. She wasn’t even at the gathering yet and she could feel herself sweating. The fear clogged her system and made her breathe a bit faster in panic. Her eyes stared blankly. Staring was something she was extremely good at.

Swinub knew how she reacted to new people. Shadow looked around for the stranger but when she saw the emptiness around them she whined and pawed at her trainer’s feet. That got a reaction out of Aussie. It always did. She smiled down sadly at the Swinub and scooped her up. Hugging her with extreme intensity, the Swinub squealed as her grip got to tight. Aussie relaxed her grip as Shadow puffed indignantly at being used as a way for Aussie to relieve her fear, but soon she returned to grunting, but happily this time. Shadow sighed contentedly and snuggled into Aussie’s arms, falling asleep again. As she watched her cute little fluff ball sleep in her arms, Aussie decided she would go to this gathering. It couldn’t be as bad as she imagined…. Right?

…

It was worse… so much worse then she thought. The helicopter ride passed in a frenzied blur. The whole time she had been squeezing the life out of Shadow in an attempt to relieve her anxiety. Mimic still had not gotten over being laughed at. The Hoothoot refused to come out of her pocket or speak with Aussie. If Aussie had a parachute, she was fairly sure she would have jumped out of the helicopter. She might have done it without the parachute even, her anxiety was crashing through the roof, but at that moment they had finally reached their destination.

Aussie’s stranglehold tightened around Shadow even more. Shadow was too constricted to squeal in protest anymore. She merely wheezed at the added pressure. Realizing what she was doing Aussie gasped and let go of Shadow. The Swinub sighed in relief and fell into her sitting lap. “We’re here.” Aussie managed to wheeze out as the helicopters blades stopped. They had landed.

The rest of the time passed in liquid slowness. The time seemed to have slowed in attempt to make Aussie even more twitchy and panicky. It felt like forever until the helicopter door was opened. Jumping out, Aussie gasped in the cold frigid air. Shadow jumped to the ground when Aussie stood up. As Shadow emerged into the frigid weather, the Swinub perked up considerably. She started snorting excitedly, running for the nearest pile of snow. Shadow snorted in delight as she plunged into the pile of snow. Aussie couldn’t help smiling a little bit at that. Well, Shadow had grown up in the cold. It was her native environment. She must love it. It eased Aussie’s fear a bit to see her Pokémon so happy.

A butler appeared and spoke extremely formally to her. Aussie felt like an honored guest, but her throat was too dry and her anxiety still too great to form a proper reply. The butler seemed to sense her anxiety and didn’t push her. The butler merely nodded and showed the way.

Aussie followed him stiffly. As she walked away, Shadow perked up and ran behind her, covered in a layer of fluffy white snow. As a chill wind blew, Aussie was glad she had packed a blue parka for the occasion or she would be freezing right now. As they neared the building, Aussie felt her fear become replaced slightly by curiosity and excitement. There was adventure here. The whole building screamed adventure. As the butler was just about to open the door, Aussie paused hesitantly. “Can you give me a moment?” she asked breathlessly.

The butler nodded as Aussie attempted to build up the confidence to walk through the door. She shivered as another cold wind blew. Slowly, without thinking, Aussie reached up and took out her ponytail. She rarely did this, but when she did it was as if she became a whole new creature. As her white hair drifted around her face, the effect was dazzling. She went from looking human to something pixyish and otherworldly. Her pale appearance next to the white of the landscape bleached her out more then usual, almost the color of a ghost. A soft wind blew, blowing her hair up in the wind. She stared at the building with her large haunted looking eyes. Their piercing icy blue made her seem like a ghost.

When she was finally done staring, something she was extremely good at, Aussie felt herself walk through the doors. Her feet moved of their own accord. She had no power to stop herself. As she stepped inside the building, her hair fell back into place and framed her face. She would put it back in a ponytail, but for now she would be the strange and mysterious pixie that was part of her personality.

She felt like a mysterious mythical creature as she floated up the spiraling staircase after the butler. She had detached from herself, frustrated by her anxiety. She couldn’t handle one more moment of nervous tension. As she floated up the staircase, she finally reached her destination. There were trainers all about the room, talking to each other. Pokémon ran around playfully. Aussie watched them with silent brooding eyes. Her gaze was intense and piercing. She briefly scanned the room and settled for a quiet corner where no one seemed to be. Positioning herself quietly in the corner, she turned around and tried to melt away.

She hope no one would notice the nervous, pale, pixyish girl in the corner watching them all with large eyes. She could survive if no one noticed her. She could survive if they allowed her to stare. She couldn’t survive if a stranger approached her. Her nerves would return with a fury then.

This post has been edited by Dragon Maiden: Dec 17 2009, 08:06 PM

[Douken Sota]

To:Pan, Daniel
Location:Fireplace to table

When Pan spoke up about nearly landing on the Ivysaur, he gave a nervous chuckle and scratched the back of his head, saying, "Sorry about that. And sorry to you too, Turnip," and offered an Oran Berry to the Ivysaur. When she introduced herself, he replied, "Douken. A pleasure." He got up from his position, feeling not as numb, and headed over to the table. "Got any warm drinks out here? I was in such a rush to get to one of those hybrids that I forgot to get pants or a sweater..." he chuckled nervously, shivering a bit more. "Not exactly the wisest move out there." He laughed again, trying to shake it off before grabbing a cup and pouring himself a cup of hot cider. He then adjusted his glasses and sat down between Pan and Daniel.

"Let me guess, a random Delibird came up and gave you a gold ticket?" he asked them, taking a sip of the cider, letting the warmth fill his body. Feeling he should let his pokemon stretch, he took off two pokeballs from his belt and opened them up, letting out in a white light a Croagunk and a Seel, who instantly got a bop on the horn from Douken's palm. "Now we are in public Seel. Don't go out and begin to 'hug' everyone like how you always do..."

[Protoman]

To: Daniel
Location: Rocking Chair near Fireplace

Tyson sniffled a little and looked at the trainer. He saw me... Tyson said to himself, ...and not at a worse time... He finally wiped his eyes dry and breathed in deeply. Blaze and Hydro looked relieved finally after noticing their master was perfectly alright. Tyson nodded his head briefly and then rubbed his head a little bit.

"I'm alright," Tyson told him, "just a major headache. They usually happen more spaced out, like when I go to sleep, but..." Tyson started to think about why they were happening so frequently now. Normally, he thought, I'd get headaches when I was in danger. Why am I getting them now? Tyson had realized he drifted off into space. He then redirected his attention to the trainer. "I'm okay," he said rather bluntly, still bewildered as to why his head was hurting him so much. "So," Tyson began, sticking his hand out in hopes of getting some form of greeting, "to formally introduce myself, I'm Tyson from New Bark Town." e put on a large smile, trying to convince his Pokemon and the new trainer that he was alright. "What's your name and where are you from?"

In a distant corner of the room, Blake was standing, pondering whether or not to tell Tyson that he was experiencing similar problems, but not with his head. As pain shot throughout Blake's left arm, he put a grimace on his face and gritted his teeth. After the pain subdued, he went to a nearby bathroom and removed his jacket, revealing a large closed wound that he had received from his left shoulder all the way down to his forearm. Blake grabbed it in pain, soon almost blowing his little secret of not being invincible. The only major difference between Tyson and Blake was that Blake's injuries were by choice. Tyson's peculiar headaches were happening out of the blue...

As Blake put his jacket back on gingerly, he finally walked back outside, passing by a very large, alligator like Pokemon. He already knew that this was a Feraligatr, and he did not try anything hastily. He continued to move to the seat that Tyson was sitting in prior to his moving near the fireplace. Blake simply stared out the window, reminiscing on his training he was giving his Pokemon...

As the rain poured down onto Blake's head, he stared at his Pokemon, Totodile, angrily. The young, scared Totodile had just been taken from Professor Elm's lab not too long after Tyson's dad came home with the Cyndaquil from the same place.

"Alright, Totodile," Blake said fiercely, "you'd better show me what you can do, or it's gonna get ugly." The Totodile cringed in fear from this statement. "Didn't you hear me? I said show me an attack!" The Totodile looked at Blake with big, watery eyes, hoping that he didn't have to do this. "That's it!" Blake bellowed before taking off his jacket, "I tried being nice to you! Now I'm gonna make you attack!!!" Without another word, Blake charged at the Totodile, causing him to panic. The Totodile closed his eyes and scratched Blake along his arm. Blake hit the ground, landing in a puddle of water as he did. Totodile looked at Blake in concern, but Blake simply smiled. "Nice job," Blake told his stolen companion, "you might be a strong Pokemon after all..."

Blake frowned up as he took out both Poke Balls, releasing Totodile and Bulbasaur, both of which looked rather mean.

"You two hungry?" He asked, actually showing compassion towards the pair. Both nodded, and Blake went to grab a few marshmallows. He tossed them both in the air, and both Totodile and Bulbasaur caught them. "Good," he finally said before sitting down in the comfortable chair, "I'll feed you two some real food soon, alright?"

[Ganymede]

Waker Faland was enjoying the sun in a field near Barley, flat on his back in the shimmering grass with his arms thrown out. Azzy and Pora were racing through the long blades, leaping over Waker and the sleeping Ekans beside him in their game of impromptu tag. Locke occasionally stirred, shifting his long body to catch more of the sun's rays. A Butterfree floated past on the breeze.


Waker smiled. After stretching out his arms, he reached over and rubbed Locke's head, his smile widening when the Ekans simply gave a drowsy hiss, not even bothering to open his eyes. Just a week ago the Ekans would have reared up and struck at the boy - Waker considered his lack of aggression a sign of the Shadow snake getting closer to purification. His smile faded a fraction as he remembered the other Shadow Pokemon that had been rescued in Barley - Logan, Spencer's Scyther. It still hurt a little to think of his old traveling group and what may have become of them - he could only hope that they were doing well and that Logan was well on his way to opening his heart.


It was in the midst of this particular train of thought that Waker's Poketch began to beep - quietly, at first, and then growing in intensity and volume. Sighing and mourning the loss of the sun-drenched peace, Waker scrambled to his feet and shuffled through the grass to his jacket and sidebag, shaking off a stray Caterpie that had taken the bundle of cloth as a temporary nest. Fishing through his sidebag, Waker finally caught the strap of his Poketch and pulled the beeping device out, squinting through the glare on the small screen. The simple, pixelated picture displayed four familiar icons - a generic trainer icon, blinking on the field map at the same spot Waker was standing. A long, squiggly line representing an Ekans was nearby, unmoving. The Nido's icons, however, were not on the map - an arrow flashing at the top of the screen signaled where the two had run off two, probably causing the beeping noise. Tapping the arrow with his finger, Waker waited as the next map screen loaded.


The nearly-identical Nidorino and Nidorina icons blinked at him, stationary in front of another icon - Waker could just make out feathers and a crest of some sort. Frowning, he strapped the Poketch onto his left wrist, shrugging his black jacket on before swinging his sidebag onto his shoulders. He stomped the ground once, waiting patiently for Locke to wake. The Ekans still hadn't gotten used to Waker's inability to give commands, and, combined with his lackluster nature, the Snake Pokemon was slow to move when asked. After a few moments the Ekans was curled at Waker's feet, disappearing in a dim purple flash as Waker recalled him.


It only took five minutes to walk to where the Poketch said Azzy and Pora were (although Waker bet he couldv'e gotten there in less than three minutes if he had ran). Climbing the last sloping hill, Waker set his sidebag down and rolled his shoulders, jumping at the sudden noise to his right. Nestled in the grass next to a rather tall shrubbery was a Fearow - a Pokemon Waker had only seen glimpses of in the autumn forests north of Ecruteak. The coordinator let out a soundless gasp before he noticed the blue and purple forms next to the Bird Pokemon - Azzy and Pora. The two let out happy cries as he approached, walking slowly in order to not scare away the Fearow.


Without so much as a welcoming glance the Fearow dipped its beak under its wing - Waker finally noticed the bag strapped to the bird's body - and pulled out a single, gleaming ticket. Stretching its long neck, it waited rather impatiently until Waker hesitantly accepted the ticket, the sun gleaming off the slim card. With a great cry, the Fearow flapped its wings and raised itself into the air, gaining altitude before flying southwest. Waker watched as it went before twin tugs on the hems of his pants brought him out of the clouds.


Squatting in the grass so the Nidos could see, Waker read the ticket.

---

Growing up in Ecruteak, a city drenched in history and the old-fashioned way of life, Waker had seen many houses and other buildings lavishly decorated - the Kimono Hall the most grand of the un-renovated structures in town.


Compared to this room, however, the Hall seemed like nothing more than a child's dollhouse. Plush cushions and sweeping swaths of red and beige fabric were everywhere, adorning the room in such a way that Waker was instantly reminded of the forests of northern Johto. A butler glided past, making Waker feel very drab in his plain black jacket and beige shirt. He suddenly wished he had asked his parents to send him his Contest tuxedo - a little late now, unless this mansion had an exchanging machine somewhere.


Hovering nervously near a large chintz armchair, Waker glanced down at the four Pokeballs attached to the inside of his jacket - two had the tops painted purple, one blue, and the last a deep red. He had made sure all of his Pokemon were present and accounted for before he had boarded the helicopter in Barley (the second he had been on in less than a week - maybe it was a good time to invest in a Flying-type?), but he was still worried that one of them had gotten out; Azzy had figured out how to get out of his Pokeball, and Locke was a slippery little snake...


Sighing, Waker leaned back, forgetting that there was not a wall behind him. With an undignified flailing of the arms, he fell back into the chintz armchair, scowling. He could hear one of the other guests laughing - what a great first impression, he thought bitterly - and pulled himself upright, straightening out his collar. He reached into his sidebag and pulled out three items - the ticket he had received from the Fearow, a hot pink pen with a Snubble plush hanging off it, and a notebook that was conspicuously covered in Bunearies and Roselias. Flushing at the last two, he quickly reminded himself that they had been gifts from Verity and that it was perfectly acceptable for a mute like him to have any sort of notebook he could come by (although he did think Roselias were rather nice). He flipped to the second page and took his time writing, making the words large and legible - he didn't want the people here to be confused by his normally messy scrawl.

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

Sighing soundlessly, Waker shook the Snubble pen up and down, trying to force more ink out of the pen. I guess it's more of a novelty than anything, he thought glumly.

As 2gamers has advised us not to use as-of-yet uncaught Pokemon in this RP until their capture post, Waker will only let slip little hints about Everest until he makes an appearance in his current RP.

[Toogee]

To: Douken, Daniel, Grondir, end with Shadow the Lucario
Location: Same as last post, eventually will move near the door

Turnip cautiously took the berry from Douken’s hand, using a single vine to pick it up. He didn’t like being bribed with food, but not enough to refuse the food itself. He ate the berry grudgingly and curled back up at the foot of Pan’s couch.

Meanwhile, Pan nodded at Douken’s remark on wardrobe choice. “I’m in the same boat. I thought I would have had more time to get some warmer clothes. At least we’re inside.” In the cozy interior, shorts weren’t so bad. Pan hoped she wouldn’t have to go back outside anytime soon.

When Daniel introduced himself, Pan gave a small smirk. The boy was clearly a bit shy around her. “Nice to meet you,” she said as she tended to the Chi-Chi. The conversation didn’t progress further: Daniel walked toward another seemingly in some kind of distress. Pan didn’t want to draw attention to the situation by going over there (the boy didn’t seem to be in the mood for crowds), but she did think it was nice of Daniel to go over there.

Douken changed the subject to the delibird messengers.

“Yep me too. Hey, how much did you tip your delibird? Mine kept asking for more; I nearly ran out of change!” As Pan spoke about delibird tipping, more pokemon appeared on the scene. Douken released his Croagunk and seel to join the party, while another ivysaur approached, followed by a turtwig. The baltoy Pivot zoomed towards Douken’s pokemon, arms spinning wildly as he surveys the pokemon. Turnip paid particular attention to Grondir; he was fine with a fellow ivysaur around, so long as he didn’t make a move on Pan.

“Hey, you met a new friend,” Pan exclaimed to Turnip. She knelt down to the level of the ivysaurs. She then grabbed a marshmellow and handed it to Turnip.

“Here, give it to your friend.” Turnip took the treat in his vine…and promptly ate it. Pan gave a disapproving look, but still pet Turnip lovingly. “I know, I know. You’re still the best ivysaur in the whole world.” Turnip nodded in agreement, but Pan turned to Grondir and Cosette.

“He gets a little jealous,” she whispered to the other pokemon. Pan then stood up and stretched. Chi-Chi ran up Pan’s leg and took shelter under her sweatshirt and vest, hidden from view. While Turnip preferred to stay right where he was, Fenrir was ready to look around. Knowing this, Pan beckoned the growlithe to come with her, while telling her ivysaur to keep her seat warm.

“I’m going to check out who else is here,” she told Douken. As she left, Turnip took her place on the couch. He trusted Fenrir enough to keep his human out of trouble, so Turnip refocused on the Grondir.

“She’s mine,” Tunip said as he curled into the new spot. He said this both as a proud statement and a warning in case the other ivysaur was getting the wrong idea.
----------------------------------------------------------------

Pan noticed a lot of trainers around, as well as their pokemon. Though there were many people to meet, a certain blue pokemon caught her eye. She walked towards a lucario leaning near the door. Pan had heard of these pokemon, a symbol of cool and hip trainers (so she was told). She never had seen one in person and quickly took the opportunity. As she stood in front of Shadow, she tried to think of a proper greeting. Somehow, she thought giving the pokemon a treat might be a bit of an insult. Pan went with a universal greeting.

“Hello,” she said, giving a warm smile as a sign of peace. Fenrir sat next to her, a simple observer of the conversation.

[Protoman]

To: Daniel, Douken; Jamia and co.
Location:fireplace; other end of the room

Tyson started to feel much better and was about to start a conversation with him until he heard someone discuss about how they got their letters.

"Excuse me for a moment," Tyson said to the trainer, not trying to be rude, "something came up." He snaked his way towards another trainer, this one now talking to a Seel. "Excuse me sir," Tyson began, "Did you say that you were given a golden letter by a Delibird? Not trying to butt in or anything...I'm just curious." Tyson failed at being sneaky, even in the least bit.

Elsewhere, Blake had discovered a couple trainers that he wanted to start a conversation with, in hopes of learning about them.

"Hey," Blake said, rather rudely to the blonde trainer with his hair tied back into a ponytail, "you look familiar...what's your name and where are you from?"