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Posted by: Jonahman10 Jan 2 2012, 01:47 PM

Even in Gigarte, where the light was not natural except in a few locations where windows at the top of the dome allowed natural light into the city, night was simulated by a daily darkening of the lights that started on the eastern side of the dome and ended on the western side and reflected outside weather patterns. In general, the dome was carefully regulated to resemble an ecosystem typical of that on the surface. While residential areas may be kept at more moderate temperatures, agricultural facilities use technology to simulate winter in its fullest.

It is there, in the tenebrous of night it struck.

Mr. Darsey was simply incensed! His noble foliage had been ravaged by some form of dirty pestilence. Not only had he been disgraced by the presence of filth in his homestead, his guards had failed to catch the culprits likewise. Clearly, their specialty was in human intruders, not of Pokemon invaders.

It would be costly to employ professionals to counter the horrid infestation; amiable bystanders would be more dept at dealing repercussions than his droll guards. However, failure to eliminate the threat would result in a large financial loss. He pondered the possibilities quickly and soon realized he had already thought it himself. He would ask volunteers to aid the institution. After all, Gigarte was full of citizens eager to prevent a repeat of the Lenoilia disaster.

Mr. Darsey made a phone call, "Salutations. This is Fitzwill Darsey....Yes, I would like to make an advertisement for some help..."

---
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qqe0GdUpJHs

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a Gigartian in possession of a good fortune must be in want of some flora...

Amelia never got further into her Shane Austin novel because her concentration was interrupted by Uncle Joe. Uncle Joe had made a marvelous recovery since the Starfall Field Disaster, though Amelia never found out who the stranger she met was or where he went after she went to fight Regice. He still had a bit of a limp, but he was otherwise recovered from the trailer fire. After coming home, business was good but they still didn't have enough money to pay for the property lost during the Starfall field tragedy.

It was snowing outside. It was hard to think that it was almost a year ago she had been going to an art festival that led her to causing the Gigarte Grotto disaster. While something worse might have happened if they hadn't gone, she had put her friends in dangers way. But they forgave her anyways, and it was good being forgiven.

Uncle Joe made his way to the counter and started talking about how another high-class gardener in the city below had been having a pest problem. Of course he had preemptively volunteered Amelia to go and help. Between the events of the last year, her Pokemon had shown exponential growth, and Uncle Joe had volunteered her for these sorts of thing occasionally because Uncle Joe knew that Amelia felt that she didn't spend enough time with her Pokemon sometimes.

She usually enjoyed the bonding time with her Combee, Hope, and her Pidgey, Austin, but today she was curled up by the fire reading a book to them. She didn't feel like going through 5 inches of snow to get to the elevator down to Gigarte. Besides, farmers down there simulated the winter season to stimulate the growth of new buds. There would be snow inside this particular biosphere, which was mildly unusual because it was supposedly a dome for flowers which usually didn't require cold seasons.

She really couldn't say no, she was already volunteered! She put the book down and called Hope and Austin back into their balls. She got her boots and coat on and began her journey to the underground city. The snow didn't slow her down by more than a few minutes, and it wasn't long before she riding down the heated elevator into the warmer commercial area where the Elevator let out. She headed down the road to the agricultural section of Gigarte, where it was much colder than the warm commercial section. She headed to the glass building where Uncle Joe told her to go.

She opened the door into the facility, where there was a small reception room. No one was in the comfortable waiting room except the receptionist at the desk. She walked over to the receptionist.

"Hello, Ma'am. I am here to help with the pest problem, my name's Amelia."

"Please take a seat and wait for Mr. Darsey, the respected owner of the facility. There may be some other volunteers who will also help you with our slight issue. Thank You!"

Amelia nodded and took a seat on a small red sofa. Hopefully this wouldn't take very long...

Posted by: Dragonwish2 Jan 13 2012, 06:06 PM

Liz walked the streets of Gigarte, searching for the Pokémon Center. Her eyes scanned for a building of a bright red and white. A color caught her eye, and she looked to the sidewalk to see a pink odd pair of goggles. She picked it up and studied it, noticing the pink lenses and heart designs on the frame. She pocketed the strange item and continued her search, relieved to see the Pokémon Center just a few feet ahead. Liz entered and walked to the front desk, where Nurse Joy stood smiling. The woman greeted her merrily.

“Hello, and welcome to the Pokémon Center. How can I help you?” Nurse Joy watched as Liz unstrapped her pokéballs from her belt and set them on the counter.

“Can you do a check up on my Pokémon, please,” Liz asked. Joy pulled out a small steel tray from under the desk, with six indentations in the metal. She placed Liz’s pokéballs in each indentation and smiled again.

“Of course, just wait inside and I’ll ring the bell when they’re ready,” the nurse said. She carried the tray into a room behind her, and Liz took a seat by the entrance. The lobby consisted of the front desk, placed centrally along the back wall opposite the opening doorway, a bulletin board along the left wall with two doors, one leading to stairs and then further on to rented rooms of visiting trainers. The right wall had a small area with TV’s and lounge chairs, in one of which Liz sat. The room’s walls were painted white, but the furniture was mainly green and cream browns.

Liz looked down at her own attire and chuckled, for she was wearing similar colors. She wore a green shirt with white long sleeves, the green theme special for the occasion. Her new skinny jeans were a light grey, draping down to her green flats. Her long brown hair was down, draping over her shoulders. She blew at her bangs as she watched the television in the lobby, the scenes flashing through ads and commercials. A bell rang at the desk behind her, and she rose and walked to the desk. Nurse Joy nodded and set down the steel tray with Liz’s pokéballs.

"Here are your Pokémon. They're in great health." Liz strapped the orbs to her belt as the nurse spoke. “Do you need anything else?”

Liz pondered the question, and then nodded. “I found this item on the sidewalk before I came in. Do you know what it is?” As she spoke, she pulled the goggles from her bag. Nurse Joy reached for it, and then stopped herself.

“May I?”

“Of course.” With Liz’s approval, Joy took the goggles, examining them. She nodded, as if confirming something to herself.

“This is a TM. It’s a device that can teach its recorded move to certain Pokémon. This particular TM holds the move Attract, an infatuating move that leaves the target love-struck for the user. You’re in luck to find one, for most people don’t care to accidentally lose these.” She handed Liz the goggles. “We have a machine in another room that allows Pokémon to learn the move safely. Would you like to use it?”

Liz nodded, already knowing which Pokémon she would teach. She strapped her pokéballs back to her belt and followed the nurse into a hallway on the left. She stopped at a door and typed in a code before opening the door. Liz entered with Joy, taking in the large machine and plastic panel. The machine was positioned along the right of the rectangular room, with thin mechanical arms that looked like the perfect thing to hold the TM. Joy smiled at Liz.

“Choose the Pokémon which you want to learn the move and have it stand on the platform there,” she said as she pointed to the machine, “and we’ll stand behind this protective panel while your Pokémon learns the move.”

Liz chose a pokéball from her belt and threw it into the air, waiting as her Oshawott appeared. Oreo was playing with his scalchop, though he stopped when he saw Liz and Nurse Joy. Liz walked to the machine and set the TM between the mechanical arms. She beckoned Oreo to stand behind it. The Oshawott hustled to the platform, staring into the goggles with wonder.

“Okay, Oreo, now stand right there and hold still until Nurse Joy tells you otherwise,” she called to her Pokémon. Oreo slapped his tail to show he heard. Joy and Liz moved behind the plastic panel. Joy hit a button on the wall, and the TM lit up. Oreo suddenly seemed concentrated on the machine, and in a minute he began moving his arms and swinging his tail in a flirting manner. Joy nodded in approval and turned to Liz.

“He’ll be done in just a few minutes. In the meantime, you can watch here.” Liz nodded and thanked her as she left, then turned back to her water-type Pokémon and watched him intently.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Half an hour later, she was back in the lobby, with her Riolu standing by her side. Liz was scanning the bulletin board. Ryan, her Riolu, noticed a battle being displayed on one of the televisions, and he wandered towards it for a closer look. The scene showed a Sandshrew and a strange blue and tan weasel Pokémon with flames on its head and tail. The Sandshrew jumped and spread his arms wide, shooting speeding golden stars at the weasel. Ryan copied the motion, throwing his arms out, a glimmer appearing on his paws. He frowned and tried the motion again, this time sweeping them as if expecting stars to shoot from his palms.

Meanwhile, Liz spotted an intriguing flier. It read,
Gemma Farm asking for volunteers to assist in ridding the farm of a pest problem. If interested, come to this address and ask for Mr. Darsey.
Below was the address, written clearly. Liz took a picture of it and turned back around, calling, “Ryan, we need to get going.” Her Riolu turned from the TV and followed her to the door.
~~~~~~~~~

Liz entered the building and looked around. A small wooden desk sat to her right, with a woman standing behind it. Liz approached the desk and asked, “Is Mr. Darsey here? I’m here about the pest problem.” The woman smiled.

“Of course, just have a seat and he’ll be right with you. You can speak with the other volunteers while you’re waiting.” Liz nodded and turned, noticing now that a girl sat on a small red sofa behind her. A few other white and cream chairs circled with it around a round wooden coffee table. Liz sat in a soft white chair and smiled at the girl. She appeared to be about seventeen, with auburn hair and pale skin. She was wearing a tank top and shorts, relaxed as she sat. Liz aimed to be friendly.

“Hi, I’m Liz. Are you one of the other volunteers here as well?”

Posted by: Toogee Jan 14 2012, 11:07 PM

“So this guy looks familiar?”

“Oh, there could be no mistake. Intimidating looking fellow, tattoos all over his face. However, I haven’t seen him around for at least a month. He must be halfway across Furoh by now.”

Darius was following a lead about the whereabouts of the infamous Taggarty Lee, the dragon trainer who had nearly destroyed Blackthorn City. In his quest, the dragon trainer had journeyed into the depths of Gigarte, specifically the pokemon center. Unfortunately, the pokemon nurse informed him that his lead was a dead end; the once elite trainer would not be found in the relative peace of this underground city. With a nod to the nurse, Darius headed for the waiting room to contemplate his next move.

“Blast!” he said to himself. “Of course he’s not here. This crummy city doesn’t have a decent piece of meat anywhere. Who in their right mind would stay here for…oh, you were all listening to that?”

Of course, the waiting room was filled with other people, many of which were residents of the aforementioned crummy city. Darius, wanting some privacy with his thoughts, promptly left for the other side of the pokecenter. Some might have heard him mumbling something about “minding their own business”.

There was really only one option for the dragon trainer: immediate departure. The cuisine certainly wouldn’t keep him here, and with no dragons or dragon trainers around, there wasn’t much reason to stay. And yet, Darius saw his reason posted upon a bulletin board.

“A farm in need of pest control? Not exactly the most epic quest, but all legends must start somewhere!”

Yes, Darius had a thing for tasks involving people’s problems. It would certainly assure that his name and deeds were spread across the countryside, thus solidifying his future legendary status. Without hesitation, the dragon trainer pulled the flier right off the board and headed outside to find this Gemma farm.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Darius had quite a shock upon entering the agriculture sector of Gigarte. Compared to the city, it was bitterly cold, complete with snow and everything. How could anything grow in this freeze? The dragon trainer wrapped his cape tightly around himself to keep warm as he treaded towards the glass building.

Upon entering and promptly slamming the door behind (luckily, the glass was made of sturdy stuff), Darius unfurled his cape, revealing the rest of his rather foreign outfit to the people inside. He walked right past the girls and headed straight for the receptionist.

“Your pleas for help have been answered, for I, Darius Dovakin, have come to rid your land of this pestilence.” As soon as he finished, he slammed the flier into the receptionst’s desk. Though quite a bit startled by Darius’s entrance, she still told him to wait for the owner with the others.

Wait, others?

Darius took a better look at his company. One was a young girl (quite young at first glance) with brown hair and rather skinny appearance. The other was closer to his age and evidently not dressed for the weather. Still, the outfit showed off the girl’s features well, something a guy like Darius could appreciate. Though their skills might not be necessary with Darius around, it would be interesting to see what they brought to the table.

The dragon trainer quickly made himself at home, sitting in one chair while resting his feet in another that he dragged across the room. Sitting down was a little tricky with his broadsword along his left hip, but he adjusted it to his satisfaction. Once he settled in, Darius gave a short nod to Liz and Amelia and greeted the two.

“Anyone know why the heat’s off in this place? I thought they were growing plants in here?”

Posted by: Jonahman10 Jan 16 2012, 07:55 PM

Amelia waited patiently, wondering why she had taken her coat off. They were just going to go out into the cold again, and it wasn't even that warm in here. However, the red couch was nice and warm, and it would be too much trouble to walk all across the room to the coat rack. She wondered who else would be working here today.

Her question was partially answered as a small girl, probably in her early teenage years, skip happily into the facility. She spoke a little bit with the secretary and then sat down across the small coffee table from her. She was wearing some tan jeans and some pretty green shoes. She introduced herself as Liz and asked if she was a volunteer.

"Yes, I'm a farmer myself, and I know what it is like to have bad luck. She shuddered, reminded of her large debt before the Gigarte Grotto Disaster, "Ohh, my name's Amelia. Nice to meet ya!"

It wasn't long before some guy with a strange get-up and even weirder hair waltzed in declaring his presence. She wasn't sure, but Amelia thought she caught a glimpse of something that could have been a sword. He might have been pretty good looking, if it weren't for his bad taste in fashion. She also noticed that he was looking at her strangely, perhaps she should have gotten her Winter gear back on again.

What was even more peculiar about this guy, was that he apparently couldn't even sit down. He had to drag a chair all the way across the room so he could lounge. Though the way he was lounging, made it quite clear he was holding some sort of sword. It would be quite unfortunate if Mr. Darsey came in and found this weirdo lounging around, if Mr. Darsey's reputation as being proper was accountable. Finally, the weirdo alienated himself even further by displaying his lack of knowledge of botany, and failing to introduce himself. Still, it would be best if she put her best foot forward this time.

"Certain plants need winter to grow, it's sorta like a vacation for plants. It might be best if you put you feet down; rumor says that Mr. Darsey is really a strict sort of guy. My name's Amelia, what's yours?"

Posted by: Toogee Jan 16 2012, 11:47 PM

Darius took Amelia’s advice…sort of. It was true that he didn’t want to upset his future employer, but the dragon trainer’s execution was less than ideal. He kicked the chair to the other side of the room. It made a loud bump against the wall; luckily, it didn’t even crack the paint. Some amount of slush from his boots was left behind on the upholstery. Darius went on as if nothing was amiss. Besides, as he went on to become a legendary figure, that chair would be the landmark of Plant Town. I mean Gigarte.

“My name is Darius Dovakin. I came all the way from Opelucid in search of a dragon master, one with intimate knowledge of his craft. I’ve had no luck in Plant Town, but before I leave, I figured me and my team could flex our muscles against some of these pests here.”

As he said this, Darius patted the pair of pokeballs on his belt. He was quite ready to show off his pocket monsters to a whole new continent of people.

“So, how about you?” Darius asked Amelia. “What far away land did you embark from?”

Posted by: Jonahman10 Jan 18 2012, 05:18 PM

As Darius introduced himself, he shoved the comfy white chair halfway across the chamber, leaving a slushy mess in its wake. She saw the eyes of the secretary narrow on the peculiar man. She bit her tongue as he referred to Gigarte as "Plant Town". Something told Amelia that she wasn't the only one who would be losing their anger today. Somehow, she didn't believe Darius was all that he cracked up to be...

Amelia tried not to show her anger at Darius's referral of Gigarte as "Plant Town", but nonetheless her frustration showed, "Well, Darius, I come from a farm that is high above our lovely city of Gigarte. Though, I've never heard anyone ever call it Plant Town before..."

Posted by: Dragonwish2 Jan 18 2012, 09:06 PM

Liz listened intently to Amelia, and then looked up as a man entered. He had pink-red hair in the shape of a V, with a cape around his back. Liz was surprised to see a glimpse of a sword at his hip, along with what appeared to be armor on his chest. He talked to the woman at the desk before joining Amelia and Liz at the chairs. He made himself comfortable, sprawling himself over two chairs as a Meowth might when trying to soak up the sunlight. Liz eyed his scabbard warily, listening as he spoke. He asked if either of the girls knew why it was so cold. Amelia offered him an answer, displaying her botanist skills. She then replied in question his name.

The man kicked the chair he had had his legs propped up on, sending it spiraling into the wall. He spoke, his voice reminding Liz of something she might have imagined belonging to a fictional hero.

“My name is Darius Dovakin. I came all the way from Opelucid in search of a dragon master, one with intimate knowledge of his craft. I’ve had no luck in Plant Town, but before I leave, I figured me and my team could flex our muscles against some of these pests here.” Liz rolled her eyes at the misplacement of Gigarte’s name. She was normally tolerant of other’s lack of care, but Darius’ attitude was beginning to annoy her. “So, how about you?” Darius asked, “What far away land did you embark from?”
Liz looked to the chair he had kicked and was dismayed to see the reproduced snow of Gigarte staining it. She turned to Darius when Amelia had finished speaking.

“I’m Liz, Darius. I’m from Lilycove City in the Hoenn region. Isn’t Opelucid a dragon themed city? Are there many dragon-type Pokémon there?” In Lilycove, dragons were rare, even considered a bit mythical. To see someone living in a place where they were common was like meeting someone from another world. As she thought, Liz considered tracking down one and catching it. The idea was pelasurable, but easier said than done. She quickly drew her notebook from her bag, ready to write down any knowledge Darius might share on the elusive Pokémon. “Do you have a dragon-type Pokémon? If so, may I take a picture of him or her?”

Liz drew her camera in preparation and took a quick picture of Amelia and Darius, tagging Amelia as ‘Gigarte Botanist’, and Darius as ‘Dragon Knight with weird hair’. She set the camera on her lap and waited patiently. Mr. Darsey was nowhere to be seen yet, and Liz wasn't going to waste one second of her free time with her new friends.

Posted by: Jonahman10 Jan 20 2012, 05:44 PM

Amelia noticed that Liz also disdained Darius's use of "Plant Town", and explained that she had come from a far away region too. Though, if Amelia remembered correctly, Lilycove was one of the most stylish cities in the world, explaining her very good fashion savvy. She would probably get along with all the artists in Gigarte just fine, maybe they could go to the Gigarte Art Museum later.

Liz also took a quick picture of her and Darius and wrote something down. So she was keeping a photo-diary of sorts? Amelia remembered she had one of those when she was Liz's age. It would be fun to work with Liz, but she didn't know if she could manage to work with the hot-headed Dragon-hair guy.

After conversing for a short while, a door could be heard shutting in the distance followed by the footsteps that grew in intensity. In a few seconds, a man, about the age of twenty arrived in the chamber. He was very well dressed, in a style that reminded her of Victorian styled clothes. He wore white gloves, and had a monocle in his coat pocket. Amelia supposed he wasn't unattractive, and certainly not as weird as Darius, but he seemed very stuck-up by the way he moved.

He glared intensely at Darius, who's boots made him the clear suspect for dirtying the chair. After a few seconds, he regained his composure and began speaking in an arrogant, condescending tone.

"Hello kind people, it is my pleasure to introduce myself as Mr. Darsey. Now, I suspect that you all came here to aid in our situation. I was hoping that you would work simply for the good of your fellow man, but I suppose that I will have to compensate you. If you do a good job, I will not fine you for ruining that chair. Sound just? I hope your Pokemon are ready, we have quite an infestation, and you will not be granted amnesty for ruining any of my foliage. As you probably know, this facility specializes in especially rare plants, some species are exclusively found in here. If you are not able to complete the task, some of these plants may fail to produce the gemma that make the survival of the species popular from year to year. As you can see, it is clear that we work in the utmost fashion. Any questions?"

Amelia remembered reading in a virtual magazine that this farm made over 10 Million Pokii a year. If what Mr. Darsey said was true, one of these plants might be worth more than what she makes in a year. She would have to be careful not to harm any foliage, or else she would be even farther in debt than she was before the Gigarte Grotto Disaster! She wondered how much the chair Darius kicked cost, it could be worth hundreds of Pokii...

Posted by: Toogee Jan 20 2012, 11:34 PM

When Amelia informed Darius of her hometown (and its proper name), the dragon trainer simply winked and gave a nod to the girl.

“Catchy, ain’t it?” he said of Plant Town. “I’d say it’s pretty apt considering it’s freakishly green for a city built underground. I mean, after making a giant city hundreds of feet underground, who would have thought to put a giant forest in it?”

Darius’s attention was drawn away from Gigarte’s origins to the questions by the young girl sitting next to him. She seemed fairly interested in dragon pokemon. It had only been a few days since his arrival in Furoh, but Darius was psyched to have a fellow enthusiast of the most powerful class of pokemon. Dare he say that he had an apprentice in the making, one that would spread his epic tales across the land? With that thought in his mind, Darius answered Liz with a hearty laugh.

“Ha Ha Ha! Are there many dragons in Opelucid? That is like asking if there are clouds in the sky! In Opelucid, dragons are bound to our way of life, from our ancient roots to our glorious future! Most everyone has a dragon, for they represent power and honor. Both are qualities of the dragon trainers, the greatest of all pokemon trainers.

When Liz asked about his pokemon, Darius patted the pokeballs upon his belt.

“My pokemon possess the spirit of dragons. As a matter of fact, I’m here in Furoh to track down dragons. The elders say the many mythical beasts gather at this continent. Dragons are surely among them.”

Before Darius could introduce his team, however, their host had chosen to appear. He looked quite fancy, though not nearly as awesome as Darius. Their host began by glaring at the dragon trainer, who met his stare with a shrug. Darsey then went on about how special his plants were and how terrible the infestations were. Frankly, the dragon trainer would have to see the situation himself; Fancy Pants here seemed like the dramatic type. Still, he quickly spoke up when given the chance.

“First, don’t worry about the chair. It’s just water; I’m sure it will dry up.” Darius stopped short of recommending ottomans (maybe later) and moved on to the mission at hand. “And second, what exactly are we dealing with here?”

Posted by: Dragonwish2 Jan 25 2012, 08:29 PM

Liz jotted down keywords of what Darius said, awed that a place existed with so many dragon Pokémon. While he still had the hint of arrogance in his tale, Liz suddenly felt compelled to believe him when he said dragon trainers were the best, though she inwardly felt she should defend co-ordinators. A powerful and honorable trainer, she thought, and again she felt she were in a grand fairy tale. She was a princess, being swept off her feet by a mysterious but handsome knight and his dragon steed. She, however, felt she would almost rather be the prince, if it meant training a dragon Pokemon. An idea came to her, and she spoke.

“Of course, and with dragon types showing such, ah, majesty, would you have a recommendation for one both elegant and strong? I’m seeking to be a co-ordinator, and a beautiful dragon is just-“

She was cut off as a man entered the room. The man looked out of date, just as Darius did, but in a different era. Liz guessed he was Mr. Darsey. He wore a suit that looked to be the ancestor of the modern tux. A monocle dangled from the suit’s pocket, and his hands were covered by white gloves that appeared to be flawless, as if his hands were holy. The man spoke, first by confirming he was indeed Mr. Darsey. He went on to tell them of his rare plants and that there was to be no damage to them, something at which left Liz with a mild anger, for his tone seemed to feel undermining. He gave Darius a stare of annoyance that would have shamed a Growlithe, and he told Darius his reward would consist of not have to pay for the chair.

Liz looked back to the chair, recalling what her mother’s recipe was for cleaning mud stains from furnishings; a dabbing of Abra-Clean, and if the cushion had a zippered cover, removing the cover and washing accordingly. She was about to tell him she could clean it when Darius spoke to Mr. Darsey. Liz shut her mouth and waited patiently. Her mother had taught her to be quiet when others were speaking, especially employers, for both Liz and her mother had worked various jobs with often irritable people.

“First, don’t worry about the chair. It’s just water; I’m sure it will dry up.” Darius paused, as if in thought, than continued, “And second, what exactly are we dealing with here?” Liz wanted to shake her head and prove him wrong, but she kept herself silent.

“Yes, I’d like to know that as well, and as I has been saying Darius, a beautiful dragon is just what’d I’d-“

Again her question was cut off, for the same reasons as before. Another person entered. Liz glared at him with composed anger, though her face remained still and blank.

This would be a long day to try her patience.

Posted by: ShinyRalts Jan 25 2012, 08:41 PM

Fenrir was a little frightened of this big new city. He had just arived in Gigarte, and was feeling claustrophobic. Poochyena were never meant to live underground.

“Relax, Fenrir. Surely this cannot be more awkward than getting your trainer’s license was.” Fenrir was glad for Fang’s advice, it was true. His trainer’s license had nearly been a disaster. There was a new Nurse Joy at the Lenoilia Pokemon center. She, unlike most, hed not treated him before after some hunt or another.

“Well, what’s your name? No deary, that can’t be it. That name doesn’t exist, silly! Oh, that name was of a two-year-old boy who had gone missing years ago. He’s probably dead, so that’s not it either! Come on sweety, what’s your real name?” After finally convincing her that his birth name was his own, she had asked him to sign the trainer card. He could not write. They were both thouroghly exasperated when a vetran Nurse Joy took over for the newbee. He soon had a trainer’s license.

“Fenrir, where are we going?” Poor Scruff was as frightened as he was. Fenrir felt bad for the weaker of the two Poochyena. He had had it rough, three of his brothers being killed. Only Fang was left.

“I think we’ll shop. We need suplise.” They found the Pokemart and entered, excited by the amount of money in the wallet they had stolen from a poacher. About ten minutes later, they left, dejected. As it turned out, 500 Poke was only enough to buy about one potion.
“On second thought... we need money.”

As they walked through Gigarte, they passed the gym. Fenrir knew that as a trainer, he would soon battle the leader. But not yet. Fang and Scruff were not strong enough yet. As they passed the gym, they noticed a flyer. With some difficulty, Fenrir managed to read it. The flyer was an advertisement for a job. It didn’t seem to pay, but Fenrir knew that reputation was worth any amount of cash. It seemed easy enough; hunt down some pests and drive them out of the farm. He had been hunting and tracking his whole life. This couldn’t be that much different, could it?

That’s when he noticed the date. “Shoot! Fang, Scruff, we’re gonna be late! We need to move it!” The two wolves and Fenrir ran as hard as they could towards the farm. Without caring for apperances, (they never had thier whole life), they burst through the door.

Fenrir made an effort to yell in English. He wasn’t aware he was cutting someone off mid-sentence. “Sorry I’m late! I’m Fenrir. I’m here to help you get rid of those pests!”

Posted by: Jonahman10 Jan 26 2012, 08:49 PM

Amelia almost felt bad for the boy with Wolfish Features. Mr. Darsey gave him a stare, not dissimilar to the one he gave Darius. She shivered a little, she would hate if she were subject to that stare. Even though she felt bad for the boy, she couldn't stop feeling that only the women in the room were even from the right time and place. The longer this intense stare continued, the more time she had to realize the peculiarities on the boys face. His face was full of scars and he looked drastically underfed. He was even worse off than Mack was...

Mr. Darsey's frozen glare was broken by Mr. Darsey's booming voice, which carried a great deal of condescending annoyance, "Well, So good of you to join us, sir. Anyways I suppose we should skip the banter and just get on with the task at hand. It will save time if I simply show you all the facilities. You there, tell our newcomer about our enlightenment." It was rather interesting that he charged Liz, who the newcomer interrupted, with filling the new guy in on what had already happened. It was also quite odd that Mr. Darsey had been fuming mad about the chair a few minutes ago, and now he seemed to have forgotten about it.

Mr. Darsey made off at a a good pace, and wondered if the underfed-boy would be able to keep up with them. The waiting room only constituted a small part of the facility and it probably took less than a minute to go through the waiting room and the control room for his field's climate. The control room was full of complicated switches and buttons and flashing screens which individualized Mr. Darsey's field to his particular botanical needs. She was glad that since her farm was above Gigarte, the weather came naturally. This style of farming was way to expensive for them to maintain, even though it was apparently quite profitable if you could afford the start up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTSWYF3Ox1k

It was a fairly large area and a thick layer of artificial snow blanketed the landscape. The snow was thicker than the rest of the agricultural area, meaning that these plants probably came from someplace cooler than Gigarte, as the standard settings mimicked the climate of the surface to the point. Despite being artificially induced, seeing strange plants in a layer of glittering snow gave her a wonderful sense of majesty. The serene cover of snow was only interrupted by pristine tracks of Deerling.

Any other season there were probably graceful birds and interesting bug Pokemon, but most of those had either gone into rest somewhere or migrated to a residential area. However, she would have suspected that the Deerling would have gone to a warmer area too. Maybe they needed the change of the seasons just as much as all the plants did. They were the symbols of the seasons after all!

Mr. Darsey didn't seem to be affected by the wonder of the scenery, he merely seemed agitated about the Deerling problem. "As you can see from the track in the snow, we have many acerbating Deerling who mock this noble establishment by destroying the Gemma of the foliage and awakening resting bug Pokemon. Simply put, get rid of the beasts and settle down the bugs and your task shall be complete."

Despite it being rather cold, the task was very doable. Mr. Darsey seemed satisfied with the group and went off back into the building. She called out Hope, her Combee, and Austin, her Pidgey. They needed the training, but she felt bad breaking the tranquility of the moment. "Wow, it is so pretty. I feel bad ruining it all."

Posted by: Dragonwish2 Jan 27 2012, 09:45 AM

Liz studied the new person with intensity. He was just a bit taller and older than Liz, with shaggy jet-black hair darkening his already tan skin. His silhouette gave him a lanky appearance, with his knees and elbows sharp and black and ratty clothes draped over his chest and legs. His arms and face were scarred disturbingly, and his gaze gave Liz goose bumps. He smelled heavily of musk and body odor. A vague and ominous aura surrounded him like a poisonous cloud. Liz almost wanted to cough or plug her nose and look away.

Mr. Darsey pointed to her, waking Liz from her stupor. “You there, tell our newcomer about our enlightenment." Liz blinked and looked between him and Fenrir.

“Wait, what?” Mr. Darsey ignored her and turned, beckoning the group to follow. Liz rose, releasing a breath in an angry blast. She glanced at Fenrir and nodded briskly. If everyone was going to be an outcast in Mr. Darsey’s eyes, they had to stick together. “Alright, I’m going to tell you now there is no ‘enlightenment’, we just were told the situation. Some Pokémon are damaging his rare plants, and we have to get them to leave the plants alone. If you damage the plants, though, Mr. Darsey will give you a death glare,” she said, whispering the last part. Liz chuckled at her joke, hoping to lighten her own fear, but his stare made her go silent quickly.

She followed Mr. Darsey to a room full of flashing and labeled buttons. Screens covered in cryptic text and images of plants. A metal sliding door was built into the wall by the machinery. Liz guessed the room was for the false snow and temperature control, though she couldn’t be sure. Mr. Darsey pushed a large button on the wall and the door opened.

Outside was a winter wonderland.

Snow draped the foliage gracefully. Liz gaped in shock, a giddy joy bubbling inside her. Such peaceful snow was rare in her hometown, and if the heavy and torrential rains did freeze, it became dangerous hail or blinding sleet. Liz wanted to make a snow fort or a snow man, but something told her most everyone else in the room would disapprove. She considered the warning thought; everyone else there was older than her, most of them being around twenty or older, with the exception of Fenrir. She hated controlling herself, but she needed the respect of her partners to do the job well.

Liz spotted a mark in the snow, a set of hoof prints. Mr. Darsey answered her unspoken question.

"As you can see from the track in the snow, we have many acerbating Deerling who mock this noble establishment by destroying the Gemma of the foliage and awakening resting bug Pokémon. Simply put, get rid of the beasts and settle down the bugs and your task shall be complete," and with that, Mr. Darsey left. Liz stared him down as he left, and then turned to her Pokedex. She flipped the screen up and flipped through the pages of Pokémon information until she found what she was looking for.

”Deerling, the Season Pokémon. A grass and normal type Pokémon. The color and scent of their fur changes to match the mountain grass. When they sense hostility, they hide in the grass.”

Liz clicked the screen shut and thought carefully. She didn’t want to hamper the snow or plants, nor was she supposed to. Her fire type Growlithe seemed the first obvious choice, but he would easily set the entire field on fire by accident. Her Oshawott was clumsy, and her Zorua would likely damage the field on purpose if she knew it would cost Liz. Her Ralts might be handy later for trying to calm the bug types, but the two Pokémon that best fit the situation were Ryan and Serena, her Taillow. Liz pulled their Pokéballs from her belt, checked to make sure they were the right ones, and threw them into the air.

Her Taillow and Riolu appeared in a beam of blue-white light. Ryan studied the area with a calm gaze, turning to Liz when he had sufficiently memorized the scene. Serena gently flew above the plants, expressing her awe and joy of the snow in loops and twirls. The Taillow had grown up in Lilycove City with Liz, so she too was deeply moved by the blanket of white. Serena flapped her wings mightily and climbed into the sky, folding in her wings and letting gravity pull her down in a spinning movement. She opened her wings slowly two yards from the ground, and she landed gracefully on Liz’s shoulder.

“Ryan, use your ability to sense if there are any wild Pokémon nearby. Serena, fly between the rows of plants to try to spot anything moving. Don’t damage the plants or snow, and don’t attack anything you find until I get there.” Her Riolu nodded and began briskly running through the field, his small feet leaving gentle dents where he stepped. Serena took off with a gentler flap of her wings, and some snow blew into Liz’s face. Liz withdrew her camera and took a few pictures of the farm, ending with a zoomed in view of the Deerling print. She shivered and propped up a knee, setting her gray bag on her thigh while she rummaged through it for a jacket. She found a black pea coat and pulled it on, glad for the new warmth. In the coat’s pockets she found two matching black gloves, and she put those on as well.

Amelia chose two Pokémon next to her, a Combee and a Pidgey. She almost sighed and said, "Wow, it is so pretty. I feel bad ruining it all." Liz nodded in agreement.

“Well, the sooner we start, the sooner it ends, I guess. I’ll follow my Pokémon and see if either of them spot something. If you guys find anything, call me. I should be able to hear.” Liz turned and entered the thicket of plants where her Riolu had just moments ago disappeared. Her flats soon became soggy, and Liz constantly lifted her feet and rubbed them. She had chosen bad clothes for her job, apparently.

She picked up her foot for the fifth time and sighed. It was going to be a long work day.

Posted by: ShinyRalts Jan 27 2012, 02:37 PM

Fenrir stepped outside, (or was it inside?), into the field. He was shocked that it had somehow snowed underground. However, unlike the others, he was not at all struck by a sense of beauty. Snow had never been his friend in Lenoilia. Instead, survival skills drilled into him as a pup raced through his mind. One: never leave the pack in a snowstorm. Two: if you are unfortunate enough to be alone when a blizzard hits, seek shelter. Three: to hunt in the snow, you must be an excellently quiet hunter. Snow makes you more visible, but your prey is also. They will be leaving footprints... Speaking of which...

"As you can see from the track in the snow, we have many acerbating Deerling who mock this establishment by destroying the Gemma of the foliage and awakening resting bug Pokemon. Simply put, get rid of the beasts and settle down the bugs and your task shall be complete." Fenrir did not know what half the words in that statement meant. He understood the girl who had explained things to him better. No big words. English was too noisy in his opinion. Why couldn't it be like Wolf, in which 75 percent of the language is silent body language? The loud words would alert the Deerling of their hunt. Personally, the wordy language hurt his throat.

Fenrir made a soft growl and called over Fang and Scruff. "See the Deerling tracks? It appears we are tracking winter Deerling today. No kills, I doubt our employer would like that. Also, we need to calm down some bugs, but we can leave that to the other humans. Understood? We will set of now."

"Understood." The two Poochyena immediately began to weave through the plants, following the footprints and tracking the scent. Fenrir pulled out his claw. Deerling were not generally tough to hunt, but they were fast and easily spooked. He heard the two ladies talking behind him. He wanted to turn around and warn them to be quiet, but he doubted it would work

Stealthily, he set out across the snowy field, his footsteps barely even crunching the snow. Looking at the tracks, that was a heck of a lot of Deerling. It wa going to be a tough hunt.

Posted by: Toogee Jan 27 2012, 06:42 PM

Darius had heard just enough from Liz to know that she was very interested in dragons. Excellent! She would be the first to spread the virtues of dragons across this new land. Soon dragon trainers would spring up all over Furoh. They would found their own city to match the majesty of Blackthorn and Opelucid. It would appropriately named Dovakinia, after its founder and legendary figure.

But before he could divulge Liz into the menagerie of elegant strong dragons (of which included all of them), another guest entered the room. A homeless boy accompanied by puppies volunteered for the task of clearing out the pests. Though he could use an updated wardrobe, Darius respected the kid for roughing it out on the streets instead of being some pansy who obsessed over a bunch of flowers.

Speaking of which, Mr. Darsey led the group into his garden. The area was practically an idealized version of the North Pole, with a sprinkling of snow falling around them. Even the dead leaves added to the elegant look of winter. The only thing missing was a jolly old guy in a red suit. That was not what Darius was seeing, however. The dragon trainer saw a battlefield, snowy hills and valleys providing vantage points and choke points to rein the deerling in. The enemy was too busy frolicking amongst the dormant plant life to pay much attention to them. This was the perfect time for Darius and his pokemon to unleash fiery doom.

“It’s time for these guys to know the dragon’s wrath. Let’s go Bindy!” Unlike Liz, Darius went straight for the fire pokemon. Out of the pokeball emerged a charmander, who greeted the dragon trainer with open arms and a giant cheer. With her big dark eyes and bright smile, she was absolutely adorable. That didn’t sit too well with the dragon trainer.

“Bindy, that intro was far too cute! You want your enemies to fear you! Try again.”

“Charmanderrrrrrrrr…” Bindy scrunched up her shoulders and held her hands up next to her face. She growled low, though the effect came off as a cute creature trying to be scary.

“Yeah, we’ll work on that later. Right now, we have to get these deer out of this guy’s garden. Let’s show ‘em what dragons bring to the table!”

The pair rushed off into the garden, rounding a hill of snow to get a view of the enemy. As soon as they rounded the hill, Darius spotted a lone deerling munching on one of the prized plants. It had an entire patch of gemma to itself. He also saw that the valleys that the hills created formed a single path, the perfect set-up for an ambush. The dragon trainer pointed his charmander towards the path, specifically a spot just behind a large curve. Bindy obliged and walked over to the ambush point, while Darius snuck through the dormant trees to get to the deerling. His footprints dug deep into the thick snow at various points. Though it slowed his progress, the snow also kept his steps silent as Darius stopped a few feet from the little deer. Then, without warning, Darius pulled out his broadsword and bellowed his battlecry!

“FUS RO DAH!” Darius ran straight for the terrified deerling, his sword stretched over his head to make him look like a giant predator. Naturally, the deerling ran like heck through the garden, running between the hills as predicted. Surprisingly, Darius didn’t give chase. Satisfied with the outcome, the dragon trainer strolled between the plants as he waited for Bindy to fulfill her part in the plan.

The Deerling was running at full speed as he went for the curve, not realizing that he was not being chased. The little deer was too focused on what was coming behind him to see the fire lizard waiting for him. By then, it was too late: Bindy fired off an ember attack. However, its execution was very peculiar. The charmander grabbed her tail with a hand and held it in front of her mouth. Like a child wielding a bubble wand, Bindy blew through the flame upon her tail, spreading fiery sparks upon the deerling’s face. Being a grass type pokemon, the attack was quite effective, though the deerling still had the energy to turn around and flee. Bindy gave chase, wielding her flaming tail/bubble wand. The season pokemon was heading back into the patch…and straight for Darius!

“RAH!”

The surprise stopped the deerling in its tracks. This allowed the charmander to catch up and fire another ember attack. This one was even more effective, leaving a burn upon one of the little deer’s hind legs. Though he continued to run past Darius, the deerling’s movements were greatly decreased, stumbling through the gemma patch to get away. Bindy easily caught up, and with encouraging commands from Darius, she had no problem with firing off more attacks. One last ember strike finally brought the deerling down, landing in the snow with a “plop”

“Well met, Bindy!” Darius said as he petted his charmander. “We’ve drawn first blood! Let’s go show the others.”

The dragon trainer hoisted the fainted deerling upon his shoulders and walked with his charmander towards their starting point. Behind them, several of the charmander’s attacks had left a few singed leaves upon the gemmas. Because of the cold weather and moisture from the snow, this did not cause an inferno. Darius headed straight for Liz, for she had camera to record his victory.

“Behold! I’ve apprehended one of the culprits.” He showed off the poor deer that he wore upon his shoulders like a boa. “Quick, take a picture.” On cue, Bindy stood in front of Darius’s right leg and flashed a “V” with her fingers.

Posted by: Jonahman10 Jan 28 2012, 08:52 PM

It seemed that everybody was working by themselves, she was perfectly fine with this for the most part. Even though she liked Liz, the other two were too "Out There" for her personal tastes. Darius had chosen to use a fire Pokemon, even though they were supposed to be careful around the plants. However, his approach was effective. Amelia hoped for all of their sakes that Mr. Darsey wouldn't notice the burns on the foliage.

Darius had gone over to the thickets where Liz's Taillow was flying, leaving a trail of slush through the otherwise perfect snow. Amelia sighed, it was pretty while it lasted. Anyways, she should probably start as well, it looked like Liz and Darius had their area quite covered, but she didn't see where the underfed kid was. However, there was a relatively unsoiled plot of snow around some sort of tree.

Amelia trotted to the tree to investigate further and, on the other side of the tree there was a small group of Combees flying around in an unpleasant mob. Hope quickly jumped in to calm them down. They didn't seem to be as powerful as Hope, but they had a sheer numerical advantage over Hope. Besides, she might be able to get them to calm down peacefully.

At first things went well, but it wasn't long until things started to go badly: a Deerling was wandering closer to the tree, not seeing Amelia due to her lack of movement and her height being dwarfed by some thick evergreen bushes. Whatever had bothered the Combee swarm, had been caused by a Deerling for sure. Amelia, who had noticed the Deerling through a miniscule gap in the otherwise impenetrable hedge, commanded Austin to take care of the Deerling. Austin paused uncharacteristically, unsure of himself, then jumped over the hedge.

Amelia realized why Austin had paused: Hope and Austin had always fought together, and this was the first time that they were fighting by themselves. She was sure they would be fine, for once they were better trained than their opponents. She looked up to see how Hope was fairing.

At first her figure was hard to pick out among all of the Combee, but was distinguished when the others started forming up around her. She hesitated a moment, than suddenly flew up as an offensive Combee lunged forward to use a Bug Bite on her, resulting in the attacker to crash into a comrade. A few of the swarm combined their Gusts to form an attack, and Hope wasn't able to avoid it this time.

Hope lost an altitude of several feet, but managed to redirect her downward force to a horizontal Gust attack that hit several other Combees. This made a clear zone directly around her. Both sides waited patiently for the other to make a move. Hope suddenly flew backwards and turned around just in time to Bite the Combee behind her. The other Combees flew in as she turned around. Two created a combined Gust attack while the other went in to bite her. This time she was able to avoid the gust, but the other Combee managed to bite onto her wings.

Amelia's throat went dry as she saw Hope start to fall with the other Combee on her back. Strangely a feeling of serenity came over her. Apparently, so did the Combee on her back! Hope must have conjured a sweet scent to distract the Combees! Hope flew up several feet and started to summon a particularly powerful Gust attack, which hit the opposing Combee.

Suddenly all of the Combee started to gang up on Hope. Amelia shivered as the Sweet Scent began to wear off: there was no way she could go on fighting all of them simultaneously. But oddly, Hope had ceased fighting back. Amelia suppressed an urge to bite her nails, remembering she had gloves on. Soon the swarm completely engulfed her, but then dispersed almost instantaneously. They circled around in a harmonious circle, and at its center was a majestic Vespiquen.

Amelia's jaw dropped, she wasn't expecting that! Hope's new form was much larger than before, snd she was absolutely beautiful. She knew that they had trained hard ever since investigating the Gigarte Grotto Disaster, but she didn't expect this to happen so soon. The Combee resolved to disperse back into slumber, leaving only the gorgeous new Hope alone with Amelia.

Hope flew down to Amelia's level, and Amelia jumped up and Hugged her, "For a moment there I thought you were gonna be a goner, but I guess they were just marking you for your strength. Next time, please tell me before hand though! I was really scared."

Hope simply replied with an elegant buzz. Amelia was ecstatic, her Pokemon had evolved! Now she knew how Delainey felt when her Quilava evolved. It was like she had just won a Million dollars, she jumped up and down and then realized that Austin was still somewhere on the other side of the hedge fighting a Deerling. Amelia told Hope, and then ran around the corner into the next row of plants while Hope flew directly above the hedge...

Posted by: ShinyRalts Jan 28 2012, 09:14 PM

Fenrir took swift, silent steps. Fang had just scented three Deerling in front of them. He had heard the commotion of a battle behind him, and knew that the longer this went on the more the Deerling would make themselves scarce. He had to hurry if he wanted to catch them all.

"Ok, on three, we rush them. You two Tackle at them first, while I heard them in and prevent them from escaping. Normally, pinch moves work well in this situation. If they keep running, use Howl to scare them back in the other direction. We've done this a million times before. Ready?"

"One... Two... THREE!" Fang jumped the gun a litte bit and Scruff was a little late, but the Deerling were confused by the fact that they had come from either side of them. The two wolf Pokemon Tackled them around, knocking one over. However, it quickly got up. The Deerling, easily recognizing predators, started to flee.

That is when Fenrir came in. He let of a menacing growl as he appeared directly in front of one of the Deerling. The trio reared up and continued onward, not really afraid of humans. However, when the said human lept at them, howling and snarling, the Deerling revised their opinion and fled in the opposite direction. The problem was, Fang and Scruff were that way.

"Now!" His two partners then circled and tackled a few more times, seven to be precise. This felled the Deerling rather effectively.

"All right! We got THREE!"

"Now Fang, don't get too excited. We've still got work to... What are we supposed to do with three knocked-out Deerling?" It was a good question. Finally, they agreed that they needed to put all of them in one place and then somehow transport them out of the bio dome at the end. Fenrir found an odd orange and yellow rock ond the ground. To mark the spot, they tied it to a nearby tree where it would catch the light.

"Commence!" The pack once more continued the hunt.

Posted by: Dragonwish2 Jan 29 2012, 01:14 PM

Liz trailed her Riolu until he stopped, his eyes faintly glowing. Liz stepped quietly behind him and looked through the plants to see a Deerling and a Spinarak being circled by Serena. The Taillow cawed loudly, but she made no move to attack the two Pokémon. The Deerling made moves to escape, but Serena dove in its path with her claws reaching out in warning. The Spinarak fired multiple string shots, but it was no match for Serena’s speed. Liz looked to the Pokémon by her side and waited until Ryan stepped out. The Deerling froze in horror for a brief moment but then quickly resumed trying to flee with pitiful bleats of “Deerling!”

Liz gently pushed past the gemma plants and spoke. “Ryan, use your force palm attack on the Deerling. Serena, use wing attack on the Spinarak.” Her Taillow responded by diving, striking the Spinarak with her wings. The Spinarak made a scowling face, and Serena slowed down in fear of it. Ryan ran and pushed the Deerling into a snow bank. The Deerling climbed from the snow and charged the Riolu, turning sharply and kicking Ryan twice with its hind hooves. The Riolu was blown backwards, but he pushed his legs into the snow and remained upright.

“Good work. Serena, use your wing attack again on the Deerling,” Liz called. Serena chirped and repeated her attack, but she was careful to avoid the Deerling’s hooves. Ryan faced the Spinarak, his body building up strength for a Counter attack. The Spinarak stood still for a brief moment before a shady figure appeared between them. Ryan froze as the figure materialized into a replica of Liz, but this time appearing horribly cut and wounded. Liz gasped in shock at seeing herself. It surprised her that the thing that hurt Ryan most was seeing his trainer hurt. She found a new pang of sympathy and love for her aura Pokémon. The Riolu cringed, his attack forgotten after the Spinarak’s night shade move. It scurried away into the undergrowth before Ryan could retaliate.

Serena landed on Liz’s bag, chirping softly in triumph. Liz looked to see the Deerling lying in the snow, breathing softly as it tried to recover from the attacks. Ryan approached the Pokémon calmly and examined it. A short nod released Liz’s tension, and she stroked the unconscious deer.

A crash behind her made Liz turn. Rather than a Pokémon, which was what Liz expected, Darius appeared with a Charmander walking beside him and a Deerling strung over his shoulders. For a moment Liz feared he had possibly killed the creature, but the Pokémon’s white breath told her otherwise. Darius glowed with pride, and he spoke loudly.

“Behold! I’ve apprehended one of the culprits.” He exposed the Deerling’s side for a moment, revealing burn marks on its legs. “Quick, take a picture.” The Charmander made a ‘V’ with its fingers. Liz snapped the camera from her wrist into her palm, holding it in place. She took two pictures of the scene before turning it off again. She considered carefully what to say.

“Impressive. I found a Deerling as well, and we sent one of the bugs running. I just hope there aren’t too many more.” She looked to the Charmander and wished she had called her Growlithe out. Behind Darius was some burnt foliage. Liz instantly took back her wish and let the camera dangle from her wrist. “So, as I had been asking, if you’re a dragon expert, what dragon Pokémon do you think might best fit a Co-ordinator?”

Posted by: Toogee Jan 31 2012, 11:47 PM

As Liz marveled (in Darius’s mind) at the dragon trainer’s victory, she once again asked about a good dragon for her contests. Darius nodded; the girl was hooked on dragons! The dragon trainer would have to nurture that curiosity in order to turn it into an equal passion for the mythical beasts.

“Well, the dragon pokemon is not only powerful but also versatile. Any one of them would serve you well. The voice of Altaria will touch one’s soul with even the simplest melody. Milotic’s beauty is legendary, said to have captured an entire rainbow within its scales. And then there’s dragonair, who has the potential to transform into a devastating pokemon. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with having all three, maybe more!”

Darius gave a fist bump, almost knocking the deerling off his shoulders. It was brilliant. Liz could be the world’s first dragon coordinator- no! Dracordinator, a new class of contest goers founded by the legendary Darius Dovakin. Through Liz, Darius would begin a dynasty of powerful coordinators that would rule the halls of Furoh for decades to come. Crowds all over would be awed at the majestic beauty of dragon pokemon. All thanks to the heir of Dovakin.

Surely Darius was walking into legend at this very moment.

Posted by: ShinyRalts Feb 2 2012, 11:49 AM

Fenrir was beginning to wonder about the Deerling. There were so many and they all seemed so oblivious, they would never survive in the wild! Wolves would tear them apart. Fenrir suddenly felt guilty. He was a survivor and would not have any qualms about hunting Deerling, but these guys seemed like they needed to be in an inclosed space like this. He just wasn’t sure they’d survive with real preditors.

”Ok, guys, there’s one more. Let’s get that one, then see how the others are doing.” Fang and Scruff nodded, then the trio circled the Deerling. When Scruff and Fang jumped out using Howl, normal Deerling woul have run away from the potential preditor. Instead, the Deerlng just seemed confused.

Fang gave Fenrir an odd look. ”It knows I just raised my attack, right? It didn’t run off!” The Poochyena shrugged it off and hurled himself at the Deerling. The Deerling took the hit, then retaliated back with Double Kick. This was not good. The Deerling then seemed to... patiently wait for the next attack?

”It’s a trainer’s Pokemon!” That explained the last one, too! The first three seemed normal enough, but the last one and this one were acting downright odd. Fenrir wondered what sort of trainer would realese so many Pokemon. He then decided to keep his suspicions to himself, he could easily be wrong. If someone else more experienced noticed, then he would worry.

”Scruff, are you ok?” Scruff seemed exhausted. Suddenly, it hit Fenrir. Double Kick is no good on Poochyena. It hurts. A lot. Fenrir looked desperately around for some healing items. He saw some Sitrus berries in the snow. They didn’t really match any of the other plants, so hopefully they were weeds.

”Catch! Scruff and Fang quickly bit into a berry each. They then did one more pinch Tackle and managed to knock the Deerling out. They carefully moved it over to where the other four Deerling were.

Fenrir looked over at the others. A swarm of bugs seemed to be in the air. Good for them, I can’t stand bugs. They’re just so... creepy. He seemed safe... until he noticed a nearby Durant hill. Carefully, he backed away. He and his Pokemon were not equipped to battle steel types. Fenrir made the execuative desicion to back slowly away and leave it for that Charmander.

Posted by: Dragonwish2 Feb 10 2012, 09:41 PM

Liz daydreamed to the tune of Darius’s voice, letting him spin a tale where she was the heroin atop a graceful dragon. The name of Altaria and Milotic were familiar; Altaria were glimpsed sometimes flying above Lilycove City, and Liz had heard rumors that a gym leader possessed a Milotic in Hoenn. Dragonair were among the ‘imaginary’ Pokémon spoken of in idle chat. Liz could picture herself in a contest with a dazzling serpent, one with both beauty and power. The idea of all three seemed so tempting, it almost seemed teasingly cruel to dream of it.

Darius seemed to be overjoyed as well, displaying a push of his fist into the air. Liz turned to her two Pokémon, and was surprised to see Ryan gazing into the shadows of the plants. His eyes glowed, and he waved his paw over the plants. The darkness between the plants seemed to clear up, and two figures stepped out. On the left stood a Nuzleaf, and on the right was a proud grass snake. Liz called upon her Pokedex out of habit, letting it scan the Pokémon.

“Servine, the grass snake Pokémon. They avoid attacks by sinking into the shadows of thick foliage. They retaliate with masterful whipping techniques.” Liz clicked it shut, snapping a picture of the two Pokémon quickly.

“Okay, I’ll take on the Servine, you can battle the Nuzleaf. Good? Let’s go!” She beckoned her Taillow, and then pointed at the Servine dramatically. “Ryan, you’re up. Start off with a quick attack.” The Riolu responded immediately, almost disappearing from view as he ran in the snow. The Servine didn’t move, but the instant Ryan appeared solidly, a vine sprung from its neck and blocked his palm. Liz nearly gaped in shock. The grass Pokémon was faster than Liz expected. She would have to be cautious. The Servine lashed at Ryan with vines, forcing him to step back into the snow.

Liz gritted her teeth. With no obvious advantage on either side, the battle was going to be one of brute strength. She had no clues to who might come out on top.

“Ryan, use force palm.” Liz’s voice cracked, which scared her briefly. Her voice was normally deeper than the sharp squeak she had just made, and she hated being unable to stop it. Was puberty already hitting her? The battle prevented her from pondering it further.
Ryan hesitated for a moment due to Liz's voice changing, but then grabbed the vine blocking him and swung the Servine from it, throwing it into the sky. The Servine quickly twisted, righting itself like a cat and landing on two vines. The vines crept towards Ryan in an attempt to hold him captive. Liz caught on quickly. “Ryan, use quick attack to avoid it!” Ryan stepped back with amazing speed, dodging the vines with relative ease. He lunged forward, punching the Servine sharply in the gut. It let out a cry, slanting its eyes in a glare. Ryan’s defensive arm loosened, and the Servine shoved him away.

The use of leer was clever, if the only easy thing to do in the Servine’s situation. Liz admired the Pokémon, and she somewhat felt remorse for having to drive it away.

The two opposing Pokémon stared each other down. Liz could tell they were evenly matched; the next attack would bring victory or loss. Her next command was decisive. “Ryan, use force palm,” she whispered. Ryan heard her, and he pulled back his striking hand, the remaining arm pulled over his chest defensively. The Servine spun, leaves following its pattern into a tornado of foliage. The leaves shot out at the Riolu, engulfing him. Ryan splayed his hands out sharply, glowing stars shooting from his palms. Liz blinked in surprise. Ryan had learned the speedy attack of swift; where did he get that from? The stars broke easily through the leaves and struck the Servine. As the tornado cleared, Liz could still see them both standing. Ryan was covered in cuts now, and his cloudy breath was short and ragged. The Servine was in a similar condition, but it continued to gaze regally. Seconds ticked by, feeling like hours.

The Servine collapsed in the snow, unconscious and defeated. Ryan fell to his knees, and Liz let out a deep breath. She ran to her Emanation Pokémon and picked him up, cradling him like a baby. “Shh, Ryan, it’s okay. You put up a good fight.” She returned him. The sight of the unconscious Pokémon in the snow left her feeling empty and numb. Tears sprang to her eyes. Serena chirped from her shoulder, and Liz stroked her feathers. She hated taking on Pokémon viciously, even if they had done some wrong. Her last brutal fight had been with fossil Pokémon, and she herself had taken on two of them, with help. One of the two she had fought had been pushed over a cliff with her own hands. Liz stared at her fingers, flexing them, and feeling like she was in a horrible dream suddenly.

Serena nuzzled her neck, and Liz smiled at her. “Nice job with the Deerling, Serena. You should get some rest too.” Liz returned the Taillow and turned to watch Darius’ battle.

Posted by: Jonahman10 Feb 16 2012, 09:50 PM

Amelia rushed around the corner to find the battle winding down. Austin was by far better prepared for fighting than the Deerling. The Deerling was starting to let down its defense and offense. Austin decided that it was weakened enough and began to fly up high. After flying up Austin spiraled down with great speed, causing a whirlwind of air to send the Deerling scurrying off the property.

Austin circled around above, then landed directly on her shoulder. As the elegant new Hope approached the two, Austin's reaction was to spread out his wings to protect Amelia, but soon realized it was Hope. Austin took off and began to weave around Hope's new form. They greeted each other in a gentle embrace, though it was strange seeing how much larger Hope was compared to Austin. Amelia was absolutely thrilled that her training had finally helped her catch up to Daniel and Delainey, she would have to get together and show them Hope's new form.

After a few minutes of getting acquainted to Hopes new form, Amelia decided that they should go meet up with the others. Her area seemed to be cleansed of any major disturbances. Amelia, having trouble seeing over the tall foliage, sent Austin and Hope to scout. It only took a few seconds for the flying Pokemon to locate the others, and it wasn't long before she came to where Darius and Liz were. It looked like Darius ad Liz were just finishing up their battles with some Pokemon that were even more oddly placed than the Deerling.

"Hey guys! Guess, what! It looks like Hope, my Combee, evolved! How are you guys doing? I was really inspired at how beautiful she is now, I wish you could have seen the transformation: it was really intense!"

Not far away, the weird wolf-boy was backing away from a strange hill. It looked like some foreign Pokemon was making the nest. Strange, most ground and rock types preferred to live in the caverns reserved for the native subterranean species at the fringes of the city, not in the agricultural sector. Plus, she didn't recognize this species normally being seen around here...

"What are all of those weird looking Pokemon in the ground? I haven't seen them in Gigarte before!"

Posted by: ShinyRalts Feb 17 2012, 10:35 AM

"I... hate... Durant," Fenrir muttered under his breath. He had managed to back away without being attacked, a good thing indeed. Unlike some people who dislike ants, he had a good reason. His whole life, he had considered himself a dark-type Pokemon. Dark-types can't do much damage against steel-types, and bug-types did a lot of damage. He also had one other good reason: once the Den had been invaded by Durants. In the end, it had turned out to be someone trying to poach Poochyena, but he doubted they realized that it would also attract Heatmor. All in all, it was an unpleasant experience for him. This had happened when he was five.

After sneaking away, he noticed the others looking at him oddly. Once again making an effort not to speak Wolf, he shouted, "THEY'RE DURANT, AND THEY AREN'T TERRIBLY NICE!" He decided to go look for something else to do. When someone finally came over to help him using a Pokemon that was not at a terrible disadvantage, then he would take them on.

He noticed an odd color in the snow. ...Pink? Curious, he stalked the moving pink Pokemon. He was startled to discover that it was, in fact, a Deerling. That's odd... shouldn't it be white-brown in the winter? He looked at it closely. He certainly wasn’t imagining things.

”Hey, Fang, Scruff, check this out.”

“Woah... that’s wierd.”

“Yeah, it’s a little messed up. I wonder if it can tell how cold it is?”

“It’s shivering. I think it can’t go to its winter form. It wouldn’t be as cold in a winter form.” Fenrir could relate to a Pokemon who was different and had problems with camouflage. It was a problem he had faced himself. He suddenly resolved to catch it. A Deerling wouldn’t be half bad, and the poor thing was unlikely to survive long anyway. He tried to think of an effective way to catch it without hurting it. He had an idea.

”Hop out all at once and Howl really loudly. Hopefully, it will get confused enough we can catch it without attacking.” That they did. As Fenrir had planned, the Deerling was confused and frightened. It looked at him oddly. He supposed that the Pokemon wasn’t used to watching a human growl at it. He threw the Pokeball. Then, he had a Deerling.

”Hey, buddy, it’s ok. I’m here for you.” Not able to speak Deerling, he wasn’t entirely sure what it said. However, being able to speak one Pokemon language gives you an instinctive feel for all of the others, just as Pokemon seem to all understand each other. So, despite the fact that Fenrir’s first language consisted of growls and barks and the Deerling’s consisted of a certain tone of the words “Deer”, “Ling”, and “Deerling”, he could understand somewhat what it said.

”You... you won’t be like the first one, will you? He wasn’t very nice.” Fenrir had a bad feeling about that.

”Other one?

”The other trainer. But you can talk! You understand me? I think... my name is Cherry. Who are you?”

”I’m Fenrir. This is Fang, and this is Scruff.”

”Hi.”

”Hello!”

“Hi?” Everyone, having introduced themselves, felt a bit better. Fenrir was feeling a little bit more confident, although not as idioticly so as that Darius person. Personally, he thought he looked a bit too vain. He didn’t look like he would last in a pack, everyone would tear him apart and the wild would be harsh. Niether would his employer. The girls, though, looked slightly more determined. That may be a Mightyena Hierarchy instinct, though. Females are always given the highest positions of power in a Mightyena pack.

He set back towards the others, preparing to force one of them to come with him to take out those creepy Durant if he had to.

Posted by: Toogee Feb 17 2012, 10:45 PM

“You got it,” Darius replied to Liz’s battle plan. True, he probably could have taken them all by his lonesome, but he did want to see how Liz fought. If she was to become his future apprentice, she would have to know the basics of battle. Of course, Darius would have to worry about his own opponent first.

“Alright you little gnome,” the dragon trainer pointed at the nuzleaf, “today, you will feel the fury of dragons! Go, Snake!”

The charmander stood at Darius’s side as he unleashed his second pokemon: an ornery ekans. He was unaware of Gigarte’s aversion to poison types, nor would he have cared had he known. Type advantage was type advantage as far as he was concerned. At least he wasn’t using fire…yet.

The nuzleaf started off the fight by growing in size. Its growth maneuver was increasing its attack power. While somewhat concerning, Darius used that maneuver to command Snake to use wrap. The nuzleaf tried to stop the ekans with several razor leaves, but the serpent merely weaved around the attacks with its lithe body. The ekans continued slithering forward until one quick strike had him wrapped around the enemy.

“Yeah! Now weaken it with leer!”

Snake obliged, staring at the nuzleaf with golden eyes. Though the attack was successful at disarming the enemy, it also put Snake in a prime position to get clobbered. The grass type started using pound, pummeling the ekans’s head as if it were a punching bag. After three hits, the serpent retaliated by biting down on the pokemon’s fist.

“Poison Sting! Poison Sting!” Darius repeated himself in rapid succession. The ekans continued to bite down upon the fist, injecting his toxic venom within the enemy. The nuzleaf found it near impossible to hit back: both of its arms were locked up by the attacks (one arms was in Snake’s mouth, while the other was wrapped under the serpent’s coils). The razor leaves could not reach the ekans either; the snake was far too close to get at the right angle. The nuzleaf started dashing around in circles, attempting to crash into objects to hurt Snake. Its labored breathing was evident that the combined effort of poison, constriction, and weight of the ekans was finally taking its toll. A few more labored steps and the nuzleaf finally collapsed into the snow. Amid Darius’s cries of victory, Snake slithered back to his master.

“Great work, Snake!” Darius said as he reached out to put the ekans. The serpent responded by biting his arm. Snake blamed his trainer for the pounding he took earlier; such bad tactics would not go unpunished. Darius simply laughed as the snake pokemon attempted to inject his venom into the human.

“Don’t worry guys. He’s just playing. Snake knows that he can’t hurt me with this chain mail on. He just wants to roughhouse!” Darius proceeded to shake his arm playfully against the struggling ekans.

“I swear the moment I evolve, I’m going to kill you.”
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Soon after Darius returned his pokemon to their pokeballs, he noticed that the others had finished up with their battles as well. Liz seemed like she shed a few tears, not to mention cuddling her riolu earlier. It was to be expected; she was still a child after all. With age, she’d toughen up no doubt. Meanwhile Amelia was showing off her newly evolved vespiqueen. Clearly, Amelia had a bit more battle experience than he had originally anticipated. Though he didn’t mention anything, he was kind of jealous. Long had he wanted to witness the evolution of a mighty dragon. The adventure was still young however; he may get his chance yet.

And then, there was the wolf boy, who despite all his ferocious feral appearance, backed away from a colony of foot-long metal ants. Granted, any amount of foot long metal ants would give anyone pause. Darius, however, was a bit more familiar with this particular pokemon species.

“Ah, Durant. We have many of these on Victory Road. They prefer the mountains, but why in the world would they be in Plant Town?” As he said this, he watched as some of the durants were carrying off metal and electrical parts. In fact, there was a whole line of these ant pokemon stretching over the gemma gardens. Whatever they were doing here, Darius deduced that the answer lied beyond the estate.

“Come. We follow the ant trail! I think they have a lot to do with why we’re here…”
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Over snowy hills and through gemma plants (once again careful not to stomp upon them), the group caught up to wear the durants were coming from. A door that separated the agriculture sector from the wild area of Gigarte was broken, possibly by other pokemon. As they came closer to the opening, they would have seen the Durant streaming out of the bottom. The metal ants were tearing pieces of the dome frame, creating even large openings. This would certainly explain how the menagerie of pests came to be in the area. Upon closer inspection, there was a more pressing situation.

“You know, for a town that prides itself over plants, you guys sure do a carppy job of taking care of them,” Darius commented. “The place is bone dry!”

Gone were the lush greens common in much of Gigarte. The dominant colors here were the browns and yellows of dry plants and cracked earth. It was also deserted; the only wild pokemon present were the durants scurrying in a single-file line.

Posted by: Dragonwish2 Feb 18 2012, 12:23 PM

Liz gasped as the Ekans bit Darius. It didn't seem too happy for a victory. Darius laughed and explained how he was unhurt because of his armor. Liz stared quizzically but did not speak. The armor made sense, she supposed, if he was planning to be around dragons the majority of the time. Even the sword now had an explanation, even if brutal. She imagined herself wearing armor, a sword, and having strange hair like Darius. At the idea she laughed; as practical as armor might be, she would rather just buy some leather army gear for whenever she did something rough.

As Amelia approached, Liz turned and waited as Amelia let out a torrent of words in all of her excitement. Beside her now hovered a Vespiqueen, quite graceful in its movements. Amelia was clearly overjoyed about the evolution of her Combee, and Liz was curious as well, for she had never watched a Pokémon evolve. Liz snapped a picture of it, and then looked to the ground as both Amelia and Darius stared. In a militaristic line steel ants marched, each one about a foot long with large pincers. Liz shivered; the last time she had seen such massive and piercing jaws was on a Pinsir that had killed everything in its path. She noticed the ants carried metal parts, as though they had performed surgery on a computer.

Darius seemed to recognize the species. “Ah, Durant. We have many of these on Victory Road. They prefer the mountains, but why in the world would they be in Plant Town?” Liz shrugged in response, taking a picture of them before retrieving her Pokédex.

“Durant, the Iron Ant Pokémon. It is a bug and steel type. Durant dig nests in mountains. They build their complicated, interconnected tunnels into mazes.”

Liz was frowning by the time she closed it. If Durant lived in mountains, what was it doing here? If the Pokémon built the tunnels under Gigarte’s buildings, the infrastructure could very well collapse. She watched the ants march onwards away from the Gemma farm.

“Come. We follow the ant trail! I think they have a lot to do with why we’re here…” Darius followed the ants, and Liz trailed behind him.
--------------------------------------------------

The group arrived at the barrier that separated modern Gigarte from the wild outside. The single door that lay on the wall was torn apart, with Durant streaming from the bottom. Liz was only more worried; the openings could allow more than Durant into Gigarte, and if wild Pokémon attacked helpless civilians, there could be chaos. Liz considered blocking one opening with her foot, but another glance at the Durant’s pincers convinced her otherwise.

Darius looked past the openings in the door. “You know, for a town that prides itself over plants, you guys sure do a carppy job of taking care of them,” Darius said. “The place is bone dry!” Liz followed his gaze beyond, shocked to see a desert like area with Durant the only living thing there. She was glad to see her worry of wild Pokémon was proved wrong, unless every living thing had already vanished. She paused, considering. Liz erupted in a jump and pointed at the bare land.

“I know why the grass types were there! They must have lived here when it was nice, but the Durant somehow chased them out and made the place unsustainable for anything but themselves.” She was proud to have solved part of the mystery. Nevertheless, there still remained the question how the Durant managed to dry the place up overnight. Liz pondered it, and then muttered, “So much for my detective moment.” She turned to the rest of the group.

“So… anyone care to explain how the Durant sucked the life out of this place?”

Posted by: ShinyRalts Feb 21 2012, 06:49 PM

Fenrir looked at the humans... well,isn't that an odd way to think. Fenrir looked around him and quickly realized why he couldn't think straight. The place gave him a sense of deja vu, and not just because it was crawling with ants. It looked just as desolate as Lenoilia. He was half happy half sad. Suddenly, he was on his home territory. He knew what he was doing. On the other hand, that was part of what he was trying to escape when he left. Without thinking, he howled a low, mournful howl, a howl aching for home.

Finally, he sat, slightly forlorn, on the ground in front of him. He turned to Liz. "I don't think Durant did this. Durant don't naturally live here, but were put here. You can tell by the way they dig their hole. A natural Durant hole, like the one in the farm, is slightly oval-like, but this one is perfectly round. We're missing something..."

It hit him. The Deerling that had a trainer. The odd Durant. The odd appearance of Pokemon in the wrong environment. It was all a flashback to the Durant poacher. "Sabotage!" he barked, then switched to English so his companions could understand.

"It was sabotage. I don't know why, but someone has it in for the farm we were just defending. They made sure the Deerling went their, even adding their own. They put in the Durant, so that they looked home clear, so that no one suspected it. They probably even stirred up the bugs! It all makes sense!"

He began barking orders to Fang, Cherry, and Scruff. "Stay close. I doubt our enemy likes our snooping."

In English, he said, "We've got a battle ahead of us. Our enemy is not going to be happy that we are snooping. Stay alert. We may have trouble ahead."

Posted by: Jonahman10 Feb 24 2012, 05:24 PM

Amelia was surprised when the weird wolf-boy shouted loudly about how the foreign Pokemon weren't very nice. Darius also recognized them, though it angered her that he was so insistent on calling the city Plant-town. Probably the most helpful was Liz, whose Pokedex article revealed that Durant lived in mountains. Of course they couldn't be native here, Gigarte was in the middle of a plain!

Liz and Darius were already on the trail of the Durants, and she sprinted to catch up. Shouldn't she be the one leading, since she lived above the city? Her angered started to flash against Darius for being so overconfident, but she was able to bite her tongue, for now at least.

---

Amelia was shocked when they looked through the door which was broken open. Unlike most parts of Gigarte which flowed into each other, the agricultural sector was removed from the grasslands, which eventually rolled into several half-explored tunnels, by a wall. On the other sides of the city, the dome was incorporated with the wall and went straight from city to tunnels. She remembered something about erosion causing this side of the cavern to move away from the original boundaries of the city or something.

The grasslands section was generally left alone in order to study the impact of the city on the environment and for other ecological experiments. If something major happened here, it might take a little while for anybody to notice because of this. How long had these Durants been there, and who brought them?

Amelia just looked at the wolf boy strangely when he started speaking like a wolf. Was this kid serious? Though after translating, it seemed like their minds had come to similar conclusions. Amelia quickly agreed with the crazy-wolf-child before jumping through the gate so that Darius wouldn't take the lead again. Remembering that last time something like this happened, she did what she should have done last time and sent Officer Jenny a text via her watch. She certainly didn't want to repeat the Gigarte Grotto Disaster...

"Let's look around guys! I called the police; last time something like this happened...let's just say it got really ugly"

Amelia took off her coat and tossed onto the barren ground; she didn't need it because of the strange heat. After giving a brief look over of the barren grasslands she noticed what should have been a temperature control port, but was now colonized by the swarm of Durants. That explained why the temperature was so off. Upon further investigation she discovered footprints in the dry soils along with Durant marks. Undoubtedly, someone had definitely been here!

On the other side of the mound there was a grove, or what was left of a grove, and there was a group of men conversing under the trees, well hidden from other angles except when standing next to the control panel. She held her breath and motioned for the others to stop moving. When the trainers had entered, they had been far enough away that they weren't heard entering, but Amelia was certain that if they were too loud the group of shady men would notice.

She grew dizzy for a few seconds but regained consciousness quickly. Somewhere behind her came a loud yelp, though she couldn't tell where it came from. It was enough to alert the shady guys. Seeing her, the strange men quickly jumped up and ran after the imposing party and summoned their Pokemon to fight them. Amelia warned the others and then confronted the most intimidating man; after all, she was the most experienced! He was quite buff, but he was barely a foot taller than her. She scowled at him as they prepared to confront each other...

Posted by: Toogee Feb 26 2012, 08:01 PM

Darius listened as the others discussed the reason the Durants were here. Liz predicted that the Durants were the ones that ruined the environment, forcing the other pokemon to find food on the farms. Fenrir clarified further, believing that someone was going after the farm. He voiced his opinions in English and in wolf, a language of growls and body movements. Though it was a bit interesting to see, Darius wasn’t terribly surprised (he was more surprised the feral-looking boy knew English). Amelia seemed to agree, cutting off Darius as she ran into the dried grassland.

“Well excuse you!”

As they looked around, Darius joined Amelia in examining the mound. It appeared that the steel ants were making a home out of the environmental sensor. Judging from their trail to Gemma Farms, the durants were looking to expand. In their remodeling, they must have removed important electrical components necessary to maintain climate in the area. Amelia was concerned, so this likely wasn’t a “drought phase” like the snow on the farm.

“Well, that certainly makes the case for sabotage,” Darius remarked upon seeing the wreckage. Amelia however, waved at him to be quiet. There was a group of men talking underneath a dead grove of trees, probably discussing something nefarious. This was to be the big climax of Darius’ adventure in Plant Town. He would confront the bad guys, find out their evil plan, defeat them, and become hero to the plant people.

“I got this,” Darius whispered, moving to meet the group of suspicious figures. Amelia couldn’t let that happen, he could blow everything! With all the anger she kept inside regarding the dragon trainer’s… confidence, the Gigarte native finally unleashed it all with a swift kick to Darius’s calf. The blow stopped him dead in his tracks, as if he took an arrow to his knee a hammer struck his leg. The dragon trainer attempted to hold the pain within him, his face contorted to show his struggle. The pain continued to throb and he couldn’t take it much longer. He turned away from the others and let out a small “yelp”. It was just loud enough to alert the enemy group. Darius turned around to see the enemy approaching.

“Ah! They must have small pokemon serving as sentries. That would explain the small yelp I heard…over there.”

Darius followed Amelia and the others, limping along to meet one of the bad guys in battle.

“Hey, you kids aren’t supposed to be out here!” one of the men yelled. His bald head glistened in the sunlight, almost blinding Darius. “This here is pokemon only territory. No people allowed!”

“Uh…what’s your excuse?”

“You wanna know my excuse? Here’s my excuse!”

The man quickly unleashed his pokemon: an angry mankey. The monkey pokemon started jumping around in a rage, ready to break stuff.

“Oh really?” Darius began, “Well here’s mine! Snake, Leer!”

A pokeball quickly flashed in Darius’s hand just moments before he released the ekans inside. The snake pokemon stared into the enemy’s eyes. The mankey stared right back with his own leer attack. Unlike most battles, the trainers continued commanding leer, the match quickly devolving into a staring contest.

“Leer! Don’t blink! It’s a sign of weakness!” Darius warned.
“Yeah! What he said! Leer!” commanded the bald man.
“Leer!”
“Leer!”
“Leer!”
“Leer harder!”
“Leer with avengence!”
“You’re the Master of Leering!”
“You’re King Leer!”

The mankey and the ekans drew closer and closer to each other, each staring into the other’s eyes. Eventually, their faces were touching, their eyes red from staying open for so long. Even their trainers were participating, staring each other down in a challenge to each other’s manliness.

“LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE”
“EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE”
“EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE”
“EEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRpoison sting.”
“Ha! You blinked- wait, what? No!”

The ekans sank his fangs right into the mankey’s face, causing the mankey to run around shrieking. The snake pokemon flailed about with the mankey’s arms, sinking its poison into the enemy.

“Don’t just stand there, use Scratch!”

All it took was one scratch and the ekans fell to the ground. It’s greatly weakened defenses combined with the damage from the previous battle were enough to knock out Snake. Darius returned his snake pokemon back to his pokeball, scowling at the smug look upon his shiny headed opponent.

“It isn’t over yet,” Darius retorted back, holding his second pokeball.

((Permission to bunny Amelia given by Jonahman))

Posted by: Dragonwish2 Feb 27 2012, 10:41 PM

Fenrir spoke in barks and whines before translating that people had overseen the Durant. Amelia jumped through the rubble in her child-like eagerness. Liz followed her through the broken barrier, shuddering. If someone was behind the Durant, they had to be maniacal saboteurs! She now understood her sympathy for the grass Pokemon she had fought earlier. It had been driven away by the steel ants, with their horrible pincers gleaming ominously. Grass types wouldn't have been able to defend themselves against the bug and steel Durant. Liz instinctively reached down and stroked Ryan's pokeball, remembering the fights he had recently had.

Amelia beckoned them to silence, and Liz Crouched next to her, following her gaze. Men were talking in the remains of a building. They appeared very muscular and fearsome; again Liz shuddered. Darius boldly moved to confront them, but before Liz could calmly stop him, Amelia kicked him in the knee. Darius whimpered loudly, alerting he men of their presence. As the men challenged the others, Liz lunged out, meeting one of the advancing men with a pokeball. He smirked and released a Durant, this one a bit larger than the others and clearly the leader. Liz threw her pokeball into the air.

"Guinevere, I choose you!" Her Ralts landed in the dry dirt silently, watching her opponent with hidden eyes. 

"Bad move there, missy. Looks like I get to fight the amateur, he said, spitting the word in a pirate like accent. Liz's eyes narrowed.

"Guini, use confusion."
"Use your vicegrip Durant."

Guini held out her small arms, using her telekinetic powers to throw the metal ant away before it could bite. The Durant was untaxed by the attack. Liz realized the issue. Her Ralts was weak to bugs. Liz wanted to smack herself for the mistake.

"Durant, use your bite attack and end this." 

Liz muttered a groan at the command. The bug knew moves that could destroy Guini. The Ralts seemed to pause in thought as the Durant charged. Liz froze, an unfamiliar thought coming to her. An image of Greg breathing a flame came to mind. Liz blinked as the image faded. Guini jumped away from the Durant and began dancing, her hands glowing like coals. She aimed her hands upward in a spin and blue-white fire shot from it, surrounding the Durant foe and setting its steel armor alight. It screamed as it melted a bit, revealing a gap in the steel embodying it. Liz discovered to her surprise Guini had learned the mov will-o-wisp

"Guini, use will-o-wisp on the opening!" Liz was practically jumping with joy at the exposed weakness. She watched proudly as her Ralts fired again, the fire serpent seeping into its victim viciously as it writhed in the dirt. The Durant rose to continue fighting, but it stood paralyzed by its burns.

"Durant, use fury swipes."
"Stop him with confusion," Liz said quickly. Guini threw the frozen bug with her psychic abilities, knocking it pincers first into its trainers crotch. Liz averted her eyes in embarrassment at the bold move, but it was effective. The man returned his Pokemon slowly and withdrew another. 

"You asked for it. Tangela, go!" He released the Pokemon with some hesitation, as though he didn't want to call upon it. Liz could see it was his only other Pokemon; there were no other pokeballs on his belt. The Tangela was small and shaking in an odd dance, the vines on it moving like snakes. Liz was repulsed by the quivering appearance, as it reminded her of snakes on prey, each one pulling and turning over it's comrades. She pointed. 

"Guini, use confusion." Liz was confused as her Ralts  did not move.

It... afraid.

Liz was stunned. The fragment came to her mentally, along with a wave of pity and grief. Liz's mind felt suddenly open and vulnerable. The sensation was terrifying yet beautiful, and something about the openness led her to think of Guini. She looked to her Ralts, and then to the Tangela. She notched its shaded eyes stared in fear at its trainer in terror, not the stronger psychic Pokemon before it. 

"Use confusion," she said again. Gently, she thought. Guini lifted her hands and sent the Tangela softly backwards with her powers. It whined and ran to hide behind its trainer's legs. The man muttered an inaudible curse and kicked his Pokemon away. 

"Sorry, lass, seems the creautures here aren't so strong. I'll be seeing you." The man held the Tangela's pokeball and broke it, freeing the Tangela from its bounds. He then turned and bolted into the rubble. Liz glared after him, throwing up her Taillow's pokeball and releasing her. She pointed in the direction the man had fled. 

"Follow him and make sure someone can see or hear you once you catch him." She wanted to give him a piece of her mind later, and turn him in to Officer Jenny. Her Pokemon flew off, and Liz ran to where the Tangela lay, crying its heart out. Guini stood by it, stroking the still vines. Liz lifted her Ralts onto her backpack and picked up the Tangela. Guini stood on the bag's top, clutching the strap to hold herself still. Liz looked to her fighting comrades, watching their battles commence.

Posted by: ShinyRalts Feb 29 2012, 12:16 PM

As everyone ran towards the enemies, Fenrir wondered how insane everyone was. Why on earth would you do that? He did what he did best: he and Fang and Cherry and Scruff faded into the shadows. He followed slowly, knowing that-

"HEY! YOU! YOU AREN'T ALLOWED BACK HERE?"

Uncomfortable, Fenrir asked, "Why not?"

"You just aren't"

"That isn't a very good reason." He edged closer to his Pokemon. They were only in OK health, due to the battles. The only one in wonderful health was Cherry, so he supposed if it came to battle, then Cherry it was.

"It is to me! GO, Magikarp!" The orange, floppy Pokemon practically fell out of its pokeball. A MAGIKARP?

"Go for it, Cherry." Cherry gave the fish a bemused look and proceeded to Double Kick it, then Tackle a few times, doing... very... little? "Keep it up, Cherry, I have no idea why it isn't fainting!" Meanwhile, the trainer in front of him just kept on using splash. Over. And over. And OVER! He only appeared to be slightly unnerved by Fenrir's stare and wolfish talk.

"You can't beat them! I have three, and they're all level 100! I kept them from evolving and learning new moves because I'm trendsetting that way." Fenrir groaned. This was going to be a long battle. A very long battle.

Suddenly, after having FINALLY managed to knock out one of them, it hit him. It wasn't as if this trainer was holding him at gunpoint and forcing him to battle. He whispered to his Pokemon, "Magikarp can't block our path. Let's just go around."

It took a second for the guard to notice. "HEY! NO FAIR!" Fenrir wondered why. If a hunt wasn't going well. you just an away, right? Why not an excruciatingly useless battle too?

Unfortunately, the idiot had friends. As Fenrir sneaked off, he ran into another guard. This one was slightly smarter and sent out a Rhyhorn. Now, a Rhyhorn is much more capable of causing trouble than a Magikarp. That, and a tackle from one hurt, a whole lot. Fenrir had been on the receiving end of one before. Sighing, he told Cherry to get on out there again.

It was going to be a long day, wasn't it.

Posted by: Toogee Mar 13 2012, 05:09 PM

Darius was on the ropes. His opponent had scored the first win of the battle; who knew how many more pokemon he had? But that was the path of the dragon trainer. Facing seemingly insurmountable odds was the test of his strength. Coming out victorious would be the best start for his journey, not to mention his legend. It was all up to his charmander now.

“Finish this, Bindy!”

Once again, the charmander emerged from the pokeball, her hands over her eyes. A moment later, Bindy revealed her face, followed by a gleeful cheer. The bald guy proceeded to point and laugh at the charmander’s latest attempt to be scary. She scratched her head and looked to Darius; why was he laughing?

“Heads up!”

Bindy turned around too late: the mankey was coming down upon her. The karate chop struck her on her shoulder, causing the charmander to topple over. As she got herself up, she noticed the mankey’s breathing was strained. The poison from earlier was taking its toll. Darius took note of it as well; this would be a waiting game.

“Shake it off Bindy and use smokescreen!”

The lizard pokemon obliged, spewing forth a cloud of smoke into the mankey’s face. The bald man continued to issue commands, but the mankey was blind. His karate chops were flailing all over the place, not even coming close to Bindy. The charmander continued the assault with more smokescreens until the monkey pokemon disappeared in a cloud of black smoke. Darius saw the opportunity to finally strike.

“Pepper him with some embers!”

Bindy took her tail and blew across her flame, spraying tiny fireballs into the cloud of smoke. The spray of the attack made it easy to hit the target, causing the mankey to run out in pain. Combined with the poison, the opponent was weary. All it took was a simple scratch attack: the charmander charged forward and raked her claws into the mankey’s face. The force of the blow spun the opponent around in one full rotation before landing flat on his back. Both Darius and his charmander stood their ground and awaited the opponent’s next pokemon. However, all the bald man did was withdraw his fainted mankey and scowl at the dragon trainer. There were no other pokemon.

“Ha! Victory is ours!” Darius pumped his fist in the air while Bindy jumped for joy. It wasn’t quite the mighty roar the dragon trainer was hoping for, but at least they won. Just as they were giving each other high fives, the enemy was picking up a piece of metal pipe. If his mankey couldn’t win, he’d club the lizard himself. That outta wipe the smug look off his face, he thought.

The pipe was swung downward towards the charmander’s skull, but it never met its target. A flash of steel met it with a loud clank, causing the pipe to jettison into the dry fields. In a split second, Darius stood in front of his charmander, his sword pointed to the now weaponless opponent. Apparently, that sword was not mere decoration. Darius’s expression changed from victorious to serious, even discreet outrage. The dragon trainer stepped forward, causing the bald man to fall over in fear. Darius put his boot upon the enemy’s chest, still pointing the sword to his neck. Attacking a pokemon with human weapons without cause, especially in retaliation for a fair fight, was one of the worst things any trainer could do. In Opelucid, it was grounds for exile. Darius held his temper in check, only because Bindy was unharmed and safely behind him. The charmander watched quietly as her trainer addressed the attacker.

“There’s no questioning your lack of honor, so how about your motives? What is your business here?”

Posted by: Dragonwish2 Mar 21 2012, 11:33 AM

Liz heard the screech of a bird behind her and turned, coming face to face with the man from before; only now he held a blazing stick. Serena circled close by, not daring to come near the flames. Her tail feathers had burnt marks on them, signs that she had tried to fend off the intruder. Liz whimpered softly, fearing the fire and pitying her Pokémon. The man waved the torch precariously under her nose, his mouth turned into a malicious smirk and his eyes lit with sadistic enjoyment at her terror.

“You see, pathetic girl, we been planning to set this rotten place alight the entire time. We just had to make sure there was enough kindling for the flame.” He motioned with his free hand at the dry ground around them. “Once Gigarte’s lit like a candle, it’ll be too late for you and your pathetic friends to stop it. Not even a thousand Blastoise will be able to stop the spark we’re going to cause.” He looked down to the Tangela in Liz’s arms, his grin widening. Liz gaped in horror, realizing the idea he had just thought of. The man stuck the flame towards the Tangela. Liz quickly opened her arms, dropping the wriggling Pokémon and letting it run freely away. In the process, Liz’s hands smacked the man’s chest, harder than she thought. He staggered back in surprise, quickly becoming enraged. “Why you little,” he said, lunging towards Liz. His hand quickly enclosed around her wrist, easily holding her prisoner.

The young trainer panicked and her mind raced to find a solution. What would Ryan do? The mental response came immediately from within herself. He’d stay calm and kick this guy’s butt. She looked; he wasn’t exactly in a great position for her to literally kick his butt, but…

Liz lunged quickly, her knee tucked in sharply as he approached. He moved to block her with the fire, but her thin leg was too fast. His mouth contorted in pain as her knee struck his hip, and his grip on the torch loosened. She grabbed it, holding it out at the man’s chest like a sword. He raised his arms in surrender. Liz beckoned her bird Pokémon, and Serena swooped down to her, landing on her shoulder. Liz kept her eyes on the man, staring him down. “You’re a vile monster,” she spat. “I have half a mind to do to you as you did to my Taillow.” As she spoke, the Taillow obliged to show off the burnt scissor-like tail feathers. “What sick reason would you have for destroying Gigarte?”

The man snorted and spat, just missing Liz’s feet. “You’d have to kill me first,” he sneered. His eyes were sparked with fear, and he never took his eyes off of the dangerously close fire. Liz kept the fire aimed at him, taking the time to glance at Darius. His sword was held at one of the other goon’s neck, with his cute Charmander standing behind his legs and staring at the goon. Darius’ face was straight and burned with an inner blaze of hate and disgust. Liz looked past them at a fallen pipe. She immediately understood, it least vaguely, what had happened. She turned back to her own enemy.

“The audacity you had, to destroy a location reserved for the benefit of wild Pokémon, to attempt to obliterate a civilization, and to harm Pokémon in the process is calls for far worse punishments than I can give.” A horn blared in the distance, sounding louder as the seconds ticked by. Liz nodded. “I’m going to hand you to Officer Jenny,” she said. The man blinked in surprise, suddenly shaking his head.

“No, no, you can’t! We don’t know why they wanted it, we were just hired to do it, oh no…” He whimpered, dropping to his knees and groveling. Liz struggled to suppress her confusion. Before she could ask further on the subject, a car door slammed behind her, and an energetic but serious Officer Jenny ran to Liz and the man holding a pair of handcuffs. Liz handed the torch to her after she handcuffed the fallen goon. Jenny took it and snuffed it by burying it in a dirt patch. She returned to Liz, eyeing the others solemnly.

Jenny sighed. “This is going to be some report for the files, isn’t it?” Liz could only shrug in response, but her mind itched with curiosity; who were the ones who had wanted so desperately to turn Gigarte into the world’s biggest bonfire? She glanced at the handcuffed men, struggling to form an explanation.

A stream of smoke rose from where the torch was buried, mocking in it's harmlessness as it rose into the darkening sky.

Posted by: ShinyRalts Mar 30 2012, 04:00 PM

Finrir was monotonously battling the Ryhorn trainer. "Er, Cherry, just keep Double Kicking!" The Ryhorn, annoying enough, kept on charging in such a skewered direction that it kept on hitting the wall behind Finrir, as opposed to hitting Cherry. This was mainly a problem because Finrir had to dodge it so it hit the wall, not him. He really did not want to get tackled by a Ryhorn again. Yes, again. It was kinda a long story.

"Hey, mister evil!" The trainer scowled. "Why are you blocking my path? Why am I not allowed here?"

"I can't tell you." The two Pokemon were just continuing doing what they had the entire battle- tackling, dondging, and kicking. They had literally been using the same moves the whole time. It seemed to be a battle of which Pokemon got bored first, as neither seemed to be gaining any ground.

"Why not?" Finrir was beginning to lock eyes with the opposing trainer, a very intimidating sight indeed.

"Because I can't." He said it like it was perfectly obvious. After dodging yet another missed tackle, Finrir, who had only recently learned the language, took the statement literally.

"Really? That's kinda odd. How come? Do you not know? Surely you are capable of telling me?" Finrir had no idea how annoying he was being.

"NO! THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEAN! I MEAN I WON'T, AND AM NOT ALLOWED, TO TELL YOU!" Now the opposing trainer looked mad, exasperated, and bored out of his mind. He only was going to take one straw to boil over... And then Cherry missed, bowling into the trainer.

"THAT'S IT! THE LAST STRAW, WEIRDO!" The man suddenly came at Cherry with a knife. "THIS BATTLE EN- HEY!" Finrir had attacked back, protecting his pack, like instinct told him to. The two circled each other, not sure of what to make of the situation. Then, claw clashed against fang, until finally, an Officer Jenny pulled them apart, and unsure of who to handcuff, proceeded to do so to both of them.

Posted by: Jonahman10 May 19 2012, 06:39 PM

As Amelia confronted the tough guy, her tunnel visioned thickened between her and her foe who had dared to mess with her home. There would barely be a fight! She didn't even need to win because the police were coming anyways. She wasn't in a hurry though, she wanted a chance to beat this guy.


"Hey Thug, take this!"

"A Little Girl, Hah! Little princess, why don't you go home and you won't get hurt!"

"Aren't you being extremely generic today? Almost every henchman has said that at some time!"

The Henchman glared out her morosely before finally shouting, "It's a lot harder than you think to come up with these sorts of lines. Lets just start this thing."

"Fine, Go Hope, Go Austin!"

Hope gracefully floated out and hovered tranquilly in front of her, while Austin immediately started cawing a battle cry at the recently emerged Durant and Cherrim. Amelia grinned, this wouldn't be too hard: Cherrim had a disadvantage and could easily be taken down, leaving two Pokemon against one. Austin could distract the Durant, while Hope would get rid of the Cherrim.

The intense environmental conditions due to the maltreatment of the environmental systems had enticed the Cherrim out of its normal bud into a full out bloom, discharging excess energy to increase it and the Durant's power. Hope immediately pursued the flower Pokemon. Before Hope could reach her target, it summoned a cloud of Magic leaves to impede her progress. As Hope parried to left, the attack redirected and slammed into her. The offensive had little effect on her and Hope managed to get a bug bite squarely on the Cherrim.

Meanwhile Austin circled around the Durant, trying to build up momentum for a gust attack. However, The Durant began to kick a great deal of the sand up into the air. Visibility was greatly limited from the air, and Austin was forced to unleash his attack just to clear the dust left leaving a hit on the Durant to chance. Having cleared the air, it left room for Austin to make a move, and he flew down and jabbed the steel Pokemon with beak. The Peck landed straight on, but Austin was unable to retreat before the Durant bit his talon. Austin yelped and kicked off the Durant before returning to the air.

Amelia was close enough to slug the extremely generic man in the face. And that she did much to the man's surprise wheeling back, wondering why she wasn't standing around doing nothing like other Pokemon trainers did in the heat of battle. Suddenly the man became slightly less generic and broke tradition by facing Amelia. He made a quick kick to Amelia's legs and she fell down into the dry sand, baked soil and horribly dehydrated gemma. Amelia managed to pull herself up and attached herself to the man's legs and began to pull him down. Once on the ground, the less-generic goon was able to pin her down and force her arms to the back.

In a spurt of being spontaneously generic, the goon murmured, "You're coming with me little princess." Amelia wasn't able to break free and couldn't stop herself from cursing uncontrollably as she was pushed grudgingly towards the mouth of the cave....

Hope had the Cherrim nearly defeated and suddenly went into a Fury of Strikes, repeatedly striking the Cherrim with her arms. The Cherrim finally succumbed to the attack and fainted. Hope quickly rushed to aid Austin in his battle now that the Durant wasn't being powered up by Cherrim's special ability. Austin heard Amelia's struggle and immediately left Hope with the durant. Hope was mildly annoyed, but made no move to stop Austin.

Amelia was nearly to one of the grottoes a fair distance away, it would be difficult to track her once she was in the complex cave systems around Gigarte. Austin would know, not only had they gotten lost in the cave system before but the blue-haired lady required them as guides through the caves as well. Amelia should stop putting herself in those sorts of situations.

Austin blasted off towards Amelia, but he wasn't going fast enough; Amelia was already in the mouth of the cave and he was meters away. Suddenly, he began to feel like a new wind was underneath his wings. Austin started glowing. A surge of new found speed swirled around in his face. In mere moments, he reached Amelia as a full-pledged Pidgeotto. A Pidgeotto which smashed into the kidnapper's head as he was going through the first fork in the cave. A Pidgeotto that was soon in a warm embrace with its trainer.



-----------------
Darius had watched the others apprehend their foes just as he did. Liz’s performance was the most impressive. Though the dragon trainer thought he had to step in, the young girl managed to bring down the larger man and wield his torch. Such fighting skills were highly value in Opelucid society. Imagine what she could do with a sword!

It was when the other evil doer started explaining his plans to burn Gigarte to the ground. Darius thought it was a little extreme. True, Plant Town wasn’t the best place for a burger, but that was no reason to torch it. Besides, there wasn’t anything to grill over the flames anyways. What a waste…

“So, that’s why you guys are out here,” Darius asked the bald guy.

“What? No!” the enemy responded in dismay. “I have no idea what that guy is talking about! All I was told to do was to cut a wire and get my check. I…kinda forgot what wire to cut, so we just cut all of them. We didn’t want it to look like people did it, so we had the durants do it for us. Then I was told to wait here to guard the place and they would pay me.”

“How long have you been out here?”

“Too long! It’s friggin’ hot out here!”

Despite the fact that the bald guy was a criminal who tried to whack his charmander in the head, Darius was inclined to believe him. Liz’s captive was likely being over-dramatic, especially after cowering in fear of a lowly patrol officer named Jenny. On the other hand, it was entirely possible that both stories were correct. This may have just been an experimental run, a rehearsal for a much larger calamity. One guy simply knew more than the other.

But those were thoughts for another day. As the officers arrived on the scene, they apprehended Darius’ enemy and took him to a waiting patrol car. The dragon trainer put his sword away and put his foot on one of the earthen mounds that scattered the excavation.

“Plant Town can rest easy tonight. The heroes are victorious, among them Darius Dovakin of Opelucid. Remember it well!”

He was about to step off, but the events happening with Fenrir had called for an extension.

“Er, also among the heroes is Dog Boy over there, so if you guys don’t mind uncuffing him, we can all get back to the celebrating.”
-----------------
Liz returned her Pokémon and approached Darius. She smiled. "So, think I'm Dragon Co-ordinator material?" She jokingly flexed her muscles, and then burst into laughter at herself. "I'll have to go hunting for dragons sometime. Maybe you'll see me in a contest one day with a Dragonair, or an Altaria." She patted the red and white orbs on her hip, her mouth straightening as she considered the numerous possibilities with such Pokémon. It was awe-inspiring, yet she wanted to scold herself for such wild dreams as she thought. It would be difficult enough to discover rare Pokémon. Liz would plan for that, but she wouldn't let it overcome her other priorities; she would work for ribbons first with the Pokémon she had.

She smiled again. "You gave me an idea for my first contest. I can't wait to try it." In her mind's eye she held an image. Liz was determined to make it a reality. After Darius responded, Officer Jenny approached.

"These vandals will be taken care of under the full extent of the law. Good work helping stall them, kid." As the woman spoke, Liz felt an odd burning at her title. No regular 'kid' stopped people who wanted to burn down a city. The young tween nodded firmly with a false smile, but she felt conflicted at the merry expression. Before she could do anything on the matter, one of her pokéballs broke open and released Kelli. The Zorua ran around Liz’s feet before flashing red and transforming to look like a duplicate of Darius- but with two black ears sticking out of the red hair. The young trainer laughed and pulled on one of the ears, returning Kelli to her normal state before the Pokémon could use the illusory sword on her hip.

Liz laughed. "“Oh Kelli, back you go."” She held out Kelli’s pokéball and sucked her back in before looking back to her comrades. Amelia, Fenrir, Darius… She would miss them, surely. She nodded. “Well, I guess this is goodbye. If you ever hear a contest is in town, look me up.” With a wave she turned and left the dry field, aiming for the Pokémon Center with high hopes of the coming days.
-----------------
Amelia was pleased, but something was still off. She got sweet vengeance on the generic goon, her training with her comrades led to their new-found strength, they had rid Mr. Darsey of his pest problem. But something was still off; Gigarte's system would be sufficient to put out any fires here. Though this area would burn, it should have been contained by the metal barrier and functioning climate control modules. And this area seemed to be reached through the tunnels... The three outsiders seemed pretty excited though, she didn't want to rain their parade and Officer Jenny seemed not to mention anything either, but they would need to talk later.

Amelia heard Darius and Liz talking about a contest. Maybe Amelia should enter one, Hope's new form was simply stunning. Liz was a good kid, she hoped they could meet again someday and just hang out. It seemed like catastrophe seemed to be following Amelia around lately. Amelia gave Liz her business card and wished her luck on her journey. She then proceeded to promise that she would see Liz at a contest someday. Liz had to go and she went away from the crime scene. Amelia wished she could walk away...
-----------------
As the police cleaned up the mess, Darius listened to Liz’s plans for a future contest. She was genuinely excited about training dragons. Good. Darius was quite proud of himself to have inspired a young person into dragon training, especially in such an underutilized field as contests. She continued, saying that Darius himself inspired a contest! Imagine that! The dragon trainer didn’t even have a single statue built in his name and he was already an inspiration. That alone made the trip to Plant Town worthwhile.

“Well then, you’ll win for sure,” Darius replied with a smile across his face. “Dragons are always awe-inspiring. Even acts inspired by them and their trainers will give you an edge.”

Just then, the officer in charge came up to Liz and thanked her for stopping the thugs. Though the young girl didn’t seem as happy about the compliment as her face expressed, this was nothing compared to Darius’s shocked face. He was completely ignored for his efforts in saving the day! It appeared his adventure would be relegated to folk tale instead of official reports.

“She had some help,” he attempted to reply to Jenny, but he came face to face with…himself? The charmander by his feet gasped: there were two versions of Darius! The second one had pointy black ears, which identified it as the fake. A quick tug on the ear revealed the perpetrator to be a zorua, one of Liz’s pokemon.

“Well, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery,” Darius responded with a wink. He was pretty popular even among pokemon! And with that, Liz bid everyone farewell, off to train for that next contest.

“Later Lizard,” Darius waved back. With Amelia likely headed back to the Mr. Darsey and Fenrir presumably released by the police, the dragon trainer’s job was done. It seemed the repair crews were making great progress on fixing the wires: thunder clouds soon formed overhead, ready to drench the parched earth. Darius quickly said bye to the remaining members and recalled his charmander before she was soaked.





“Well, this is more like it!“

Darius had emerged from the underground elevator, back on the ground floor of Furoh. Bindy was back at his side, looking left and right as to which way to go. There really wasn’t much around them, so it was difficult to determine where their next conquest would be. Still, the goal was quite clear: find dragon pokemon and seek out Taggarty Lee. With that in mind, the dragon trainer looked over the horizon.

“If I were a reformed renegade dragon trainer, where would I go?” He thought about it for a minute before finally giving up. A reformed renegade dragon trainer could be anywhere there was a challenge! Darius really didn’t have any clues. For all he knew, Taggarty Lee could be right under his feet in Plant Town. No, not there. He was already in Plant Town. Going back would just be silly.

“I say we let fate decide,” Darius proclaimed. “That’s where the real adventure is to be had.”

The dragon trainer took the first step forward onto a brand new adventure, destination unknown. His charmander, however, ran in another direction, crying out playfully. She seemed to have other plans.

“Bindy! This isn’t the time for games! We’re supposed to be on a daring adventure!”

The big beady eyes of a very sad charmander were all it took to break the dragon trainer, though he tried not to show it.

“Fine, we’ll play a little bit of tag, but once I catch you, we’re back on the road!”

The fields above Gigarte were filled with the laughter of a charmander and the frustrated grunts of her trainer.
-----------------
Apparently Darius continued on his Quixotic quest while Liz and Amelia were saying good bye. Though he made her furious, Amelia couldn't deny he prevented the criminals from escaping, even if they were just generic goons. Though, for some reason it seemed like he was avoiding her as if she had done something mean to him. Had she done something in anger and forgotten about it in her tunnel-vision? The Wolf-kid was still here and Amelia thanked him for his help as the environment control was repaired. She finally got a chance to talk to Jenny as the rain began to fall.

They went back to the snowy agricultural district to prevent getting wet and subsequently freezing to death. Jenny's convictions had matched her own. The Grotto incident and this were related. They discussed the matter for a minute and Jenny thanked her for contacting her this time, even if they ended up ambushing the bad guys. Like usual their conversation ended with Jenny demanding that she got some rest and they would discuss the matter further after they were rested.

Amelia drudged back to Darsey's field through the thickening snow. Amelia found him on the phone, "Maybe it's because I find it hard to forgive the follies and vices of others, or their offenses against me. My good opinion once lost is lost forever. Good day, sir." He quickly dislodged the phone from his ear. He primly thanked her for her help but coldly urged her to leave because he was busy. Though for some odd reason he wanted to acquire Liz's contact information...


Amelia came home through the snow and curled up by the warm fire. On this cold winter evening she read her book to a Pidgeotto and a Vespiquen.