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Posted by: Living Arrow Dec 25 2009, 12:13 PM

This thread is for those who wield the Pidgeotto card only.

Team Kellor - Mascot Card: Pidgeotto - Scavenger Pokemon: Torchic, Tyrouge, Haunter
http://forums.gtsplus.net/index.php?showtopic=4110 - Living Arrow - Kanto/Furoh - 17
http://forums.gtsplus.net/index.php?showtopic=26159&st=0&p=691363&#entry691363- Protoman - Johto - 16
http://forums.gtsplus.net/index.php?showtopic=27186 - Trace Warel - Sinnoh/Furoh- 13
http://pane.wikia.com/wiki/Reilly_Coons - Sinnoh - ~13/14
http://forums.gtsplus.net/index.php?showtopic=4959 - Pumpkin King - Hoenn - 16
http://forums.gtsplus.net/index.php?showtopic=16100 - LittleShadowPokemon - Orre - 17
Mack Ramsay?


Darryn felt kinda awkward leading the way into the South Corridor - he was used to following behind Jaima - but no-one seemed to mind. Not even Reilly who, oddly, had been the first to follow him in. The floor was carpeted in a rich royal blue fabric not dissimilar from the red in the waiting room and the walls were the same off-white colour with the same wooden doors that they had seen when they had entered. Each door on either side of the hall was marked with a number - an easy way to keep track of which room belonged to who once they had picked them.

"So we pick a room each, first?" Darryn suggested to the group, turning to the third door on the left. A golden number 5 hung in the middle of the door over the golden scrolled handle. He looked back down the hall to find the others picking their own rooms and letting themselves in.

Darryn slung his bag down on the bed while Lady pranced onto the table where she sat patiently, watching as Darryn made himself familiar with the facilities. His room was decorated predominantly in gold and blue with all the furniture made of the same dark red wood as the doors. Everything was immaculately presented, even down to the picture frames that decorated the far wall. Six images of a trainer and their Pokemon were there, each with a different year inscribed underneath. The oldest went back a good fifty years while the most recent was nearly twelve years previous.

"Not been updated for a while, huh?" Darryn said to himself, checking the state of the bathroom quickly... "Hey! What?!" He ran into the white-tiled room to find a door through on the other side. Whoever was in room 7 would be sharing the bathroom with him... He sighed. He had always had to share a bathroom and just when he thought he was getting a break...

Deciding that he really didn't need to unpack anything vital, Darryn left his bag on the bed and only removed his Pokeball belt which he strapped on with a little frown. He didn't really like wearing the clipped belt - he didn't have a matching outfit - and so normally would just pull his Pokeballs straight from his pack.

"Premier, Quick, Heal, Repeat, Luxury, Dive." Darryn counted off the Pokeballs as he clipped them home into their slots at his waist. "All set and ready to go!"

Back in the hallway, Darryn waited patiently for the others, Lady sitting calmly by his feet.

Posted by: LittleShadowPokemon Dec 28 2009, 02:56 PM

Joey followed in the middle of the group converging into the South corridor, trying to make himself small and unnoticeable. It was even immaculate in a hallway. The walls were without flaw, and the carpet still had some spring. He remembered the dented clay and mismatched rotting wood of the walls at home. The carpet at home was thinner than paper, like stepping on the cement foundation itself. The financially-challenged trainer could certainly get used to this.

"So we pick a room each, first?" he heard Darryn say. The boy with the well-groomed Vulpix made him want to hide his pokemon in their pokeballs, but he perished those thoughts almost as soon as he'd thought them. Sure, Claw was a scrawny and tattered Pidgey. But he was his scrawny and tattered Pidgey. It's not like he himself was much better, and they shared a common origin, where they were probably the cleanest of the town. Pyrite Town isn't for the faint of heart, yet they had survived and come this far, at least.

Joey looked up to notice a set of doors on each side of the hallway, with golden numbers embossed in the fine wooden doors. Odd numbers on the left, even numbers on the right. Not too hard to remember. He saw Darryn turn into Room 5, and kept walking a door past that. He ducked into Room 7 quickly, wanting some time to calm down while he steadied himself. However, he caught Vincent walking past his door, and swiftly pulled him in. A friend wouldn't be so bad and this was an opportune time, and while he had seemed to scare Vincent, he shrugged it off with "Good thing I saw you. You almost missed our room." Joey figured if Vincent didn't want to stay in the same room with him, he could very well leave, but he knew the boy's indecisiveness by now that he knew it would be easier on him if he made assumed decisions for him.

The room itself was amazing. Joey couldn't believe that people could actually live here. The walls were a baby blue color with purple Shellder bordering the walls. The dressers were a darker, sea blue with wave-like moldings as the handles. Exploring tentatively, Joey opened and closed several drawers before taking a bottom drawer for himself for his extra set of clothes and emerald green pajama set with matching slippers. Due to his short stature, he was used to taking the lower shelf or drawer for personal possessions. One of the dressers contained a large mirror, which he knew that Vincent would be ecstatic about. He bet that one of the drawers would even contain complimentary beauty care products, not that Vincent didn't have his own, probably.

Joey finished putting away his non-essential things and kept his backpack with him, and his pokeballs in his scrub-top pockets. When Kimiko was done playing on the bed decorated with a Dewgong-carved head board and Clamperl pillow covers, he picked her up and left the room with Claw still perched on his shoulder. Vincent probably needed some privacy anyways, if he decided to stay.

Out in the hallway, Joey saw that somebody else was already done and waiting. Darryn from Celadon....Joey didn't recognize much more of the town rather than a glimpse of the word on a map once from the Daycare Atlas. The Vulpix from before was calmly waiting at his feet. Claw fluttered down unexpectedly and hopped closer, for a better look.

Claw's not one to try and make friends, but then again, he's curious, and there weren't any Vulpix in Orre, as far as I know. Joey thought. He tensed, and waited to see how this would turn out. As he saw from the Vulpix already, she's fiery, and a bit...snappish. Kimiko wanted a closer look too, after seeing what Claw was up to. She inflated herself to wiggle out of Joey's grasp and floated down, slightly behind Claw and cooed at the Vulpix. All Joey could do was avert his attention in embarrassment.

Posted by: Protoman Dec 28 2009, 03:32 PM

In a desperate dash to the first room he saw, Tyson quickly got to the room with the golden "3" stamped onto it. He opened the door, slinging his bag down, finally making it to the bathroom. Slamming the door behind him, all that was heard afterwards was the sound of relief.

"Ahhhh..." Tyson said in a relieved tone, "I've been holding that since we took off!" After three minutes(two of which consisted of him washing his hands and looking around the new environment), Tyson came out of the bathroom. He then threw off his black and gold attire, wearing his dad's old Pokemon Ranger outfit. He took the baseball cap off, letting his hair hang down. After staring at the mirror for a brief moment in time, Tyson finally got his Poke Balls up, preparing to leave the room. Before leaving, he observed it closely. He noticed the room being a sky blue, being contrasted by the dark burgundy dressers next to his white bed. The sheets on the bed were a stunning sky blue with cloud patterns on it. This reminded Tyson of a Swablu, causing him to chuckle to himself. After finally exiting the room after the observation, he saw that both Darryn and a new person were waiting outside of their domains. Before Tyson could ask any questions, he rushed back into the room, forgetting his bag inside. He retrieved it, sighing in relief. Finally, Tyson locked the door behind him, looking at his teammates.

So, He began to think about the situation at hand, I've got to catch the Pokemon without catching them... "Brilliant." Tyson blurted out loud.

Posted by: Trace Warel Dec 28 2009, 07:40 PM

Crystal went into a room with a golden "1" on the door. it was astonishing inside. Teal blue with dark red. I like this room. It's really nice. Plus, it's got 2 of my 3 favorite colors. The bed was green, with a yellow line down the middle. In the middle of the line, it split into 2 lines, came around in a circle, and joined back together. Remids me of the stories my mom told me of the Super-Ancient Pokemon, Rayquaza. It was almost as if the room was made for her. "If this room were any better, it have to have Rayquaza waiting obediantly for me. Ha!" Crystal laughed at her joke. The carpet was blue, with a red, curved streak through it. "Kyogre," she murmured. In the bathroom, red and brown, red being the domanent color. "And Groundon," she sighed out, "This room reminds me of life in Hoenn." She sighed again. She set down the stuff she didn't need, grabbed Qua's, Lat's, and Zigzag's Pokeballs and let them out. "Hey guys, you want to meet the team?"

"I'm in. What about you guys?" Qua asked Zigzag and Lat, "I say we go."

"Sure, whatever," Zigzag said, bored.

"Why do you always have to be such a party pooper, Zigzg?" Lat said negatively, "And yes, I'm in."

"I don' know," Zigzag said. He was just trying to make her trust him.

"Ok then, it's settled! Come on guys!" Crystal said enthusiastically after they replied, leading them out.

Posted by: Umbrae Calamitas Dec 28 2009, 08:30 PM

Reilly walked calmly down the hallway following the pretty boy. He knew, of course, that the boy's name was Darryn, but it wasn't like he was ever going to call him by that name, so why bother remembering it? He felt the same way about the others in the boy's group. JenJen called them Team Rogue. He supposed that fit. Sounded a bit too cool for them, though.

Pretty Boy suggested that they each take their rooms. Personally, Reilly thought a nap sounded really good right about now, but then, he hadn't slept the night before, so perhaps he was a tad biased.

The others seemed to gravitate toward the right side of the hall, so Reilly went left and snagged the room with the golden 4 hanging on the front. He stepped through the archway and shut his door, immediately dropping the demeanor of professionalism that he had been portraying (except for those moments when he got a tad snarky with Pretty Boy - the boy deserved it), and tossed his backpack onto the bed, followed by his pokeballs, which exploded open.

"Hey, girl!" Reilly said enthusiastically, as his electrike, Buttercup, came bounding over to coat his face with saliva, as she licked his cheeks exuberantly. "I missed you, too," he assured her. He glanced up at the others, making sure everyone was all right. They all seemed content so, scratching Buttercup under the chin once more, Reilly rose to his feet.

"Okay, so we're off on a scavenger hunt." He rolled his eyes. "Like a bunch of five year olds. I am so not going to enjoy this." He missed Indiana's eyeroll at his attempts to sound mature. "Treebeard, Boromir, I want the two of you to stay here. Keep an eye on the room and my stuff."

Boromir gave a sharp nod in understanding, but Treebeard looked crestfallen at being left behind. "Hey," Reilly said, patting the bonsly on the head. "I need someone well rested and ready for when we face against ShortStack again. You know who I mean - the little girl who thought you were a grass pokemon." He winked at the bonsly, and Treebeard giggled and danced. "We'll nail her this time for sure, but I need you rested up." He nodded at the buizel. "You too, Boromir. If the girl's got as many fire pokemon with her as she did before, you can bet this will be easy as pie with the two of you battling."

The buizel nodded sharply, the bonsly mimicking him. Reilly recalled Buttercup and his doduo, Lestat, into their pokeballs. Indiana the monferno leapt up, wrapping his arms around Reilly's neck, as the boy left the room and stepped back out into the hall. He saw Pretty Boy standing there, waiting for everyone else to get done, his fancy-pants little fox sitting at his feet.

Reilly put on a good sneer as he neared the boy. "So why'd you bother coming here, Pretty Boy? This scavenger hunt might be rough. You wouldn't want to mess up your hair."

Posted by: Pumpkin King Dec 28 2009, 10:13 PM

Vincent, having just returned from unconsciousness, felt entirely disoriented. The card he chose could have been an Arceus for all he knew, but he followed the only person he knew among the myriad trainers in the common room. It was rather fortunate that both Joey and Vincent happened to grab Pidgeotto card. Otherwise, a group would be one member short.

Keeping his hand on the wall for support, Vincent slowly walked behind the five other trainers in his group. The boy in front caught his eye. The boy's hairstyle was executed perfectly and, like Vincent's, not a single hair was out of place. There were several differences between this boy and Vincent, though. For one, the boy had a better sense of color coordination while Vincent's outfits varied from day to day only by shades of black. Another, more prominent difference was the sense of confidence the boy radiated. Though Vincent tended to his appearance with the utmost care, he was never confident with himself.

Vincent didn't know how he felt about the boy, or the other strangers in the group for that matter. He only had appearance to judge from but he personally knew never to judge a book by its cover. Vincent spent almost all of his free time in the beautiful worlds created by the text of a book.

"So we pick a room each, first?" the boy in front suggested. Soon after, everyone disappeared through doorways left and right. Alone in the hallway, Vincent looked down to his Pokemon who were following closely at his heels. Wally the Spheal was rolling like a ball while Squirt the Squirtle walked on all fours, inspecting the minute details of the subtle intricate design on the blue carpet.

"You guys want to pick the room?" he asked. Vincent suddenly regretted asking his Pokemon to choose. The two started bickering right away. Resolving the issue, Vincent returned them to their Dive Balls and continued walking. However, there was still the issue of which room he was going to occupy for the next few days. Suddenly, an outstretched arm caught Vincent by the shoulder and pulled him into Room 7. He was frightened for a moment but relieved when he discovered the owner of the arm was Joey.

"Good thing I saw you. You almost missed our room," said Joey, making the decision for Vincent.

Vincent set his bag down on his bed and put everything in its respective location. His OCD wouldn't allow any other way. Engrossed with organizing his belongings in the drawers, Vincent didn't take any time to appreciate the opulent decorations of the bedroom. It did come to his attention that he and Joey would be sharing a bathroom with the occupant of Room 5, which did not please him at all. He had adapted to sharing a bathroom with Joey, but to add another person was impossible. Vincent liked to take his time in the morning and the evening making his face acceptable for his OCD. He didn't know how to trim down that time without skipping an important aspect to his ritual.

Joey and his Pokemon left the room, leaving Vincent alone. Vincent reached for the PokeBalls on his belt and let Wally and Squirt get a feel for the room. "I really think you guys should stay here while I go on this excursion. I don't think you two are experienced enough for something like this." Then a terrible thought occurred to Vincent. That rambunctious Squirtle tended to destroy anything and everything within his reach. "Actually, you could use this opportunity to learn from more experienced Pokemon," he quickly amended. Vincent picked up his unusually small Spheal, the runt of the litter, and opened the door for Squirt. The Squirtle dashed into the hallway and Vincent followed, finding Joey and his other teammates.

Vincent swallowed the lump in his throat and prayed no one would acknowledge his presence.

Posted by: Living Arrow Dec 29 2009, 06:10 AM

"Aww, cute Pidgey." Darryn commented as Joey rejoined them. The scraggy little bird puffed out his breast with pride at Darryn's comment which the Co-ordinator scratched softly. His knuckles rasped through the dry, cracked feathers and memories came flooding back. "When I started out, I had a Pidgey just like this one. Well, mine was completely overweight and could hardly fly four feet, but he had some other issues, too. Maybe I could give you my feather-treatment formula when we finish the scavenger hunt?"

Joey grinned and the Pidgey cooed happily. Lady watched them warily but made not a single move. Darryn fussed with the Igglybuff a little - he had an odd fondness of Baby Pokemon - and watched as the rest of the make-shift team assembled.

"Brilliant." Tyson stated when he came out of his room.

"Yeah, that Lonnie guy was right - it is brilliant to make new friends, huh?" Darryn said in response. From the look on the other guy's face, Lonnie's intentions weren't the 'brilliant' thing to which he had been referring.

They were quickly joined by that Crystal Chick and then Reilly. Darryn was already sharpening his claws before the kid spoke.

"So why'd you bother coming here, Pretty Boy? This scavenger hunt might be rough. You wouldn't want to mess up your hair." The younger kid provoked him.

"It'll only get messed up if this hunt is as rough as your mother looks." Darryn smiled sweetly, Lady giving him a mental high-five. "Less of the drama please, Reilly?" He suggested in front of everyone to try and make the kid look and feel stupid.

*Aww! That Spheal is SO cute!* Darryn's eyes widened as the little ball of joy rolled into the hall. *I want one... But Victor is way better than that Squirtle - score one for me!*

"Right, so we're all set?" Darryn asked the group, getting nods of confirmation in return. "Cool... Then let's get started, shall we?"

Posted by: Trace Warel Dec 29 2009, 02:45 PM

"Come on!" Crystal said, heading down the hall. She stopped at a door. "I'll wait for you guys in here!" She said loudly down the hall. She went in.

Inside it was huge. There was a Ferris Wheel, arcade machines, games, everything. "This must be the Carnival Room," Crystal muttered.

"Huh...? Hey! It's the Torchic with the blue tag!" Crystal said, surprised. The Tochic turned around when it heard Crystal.

"Tor...?" It inquired. "Chic!" It ran up to Qua, happy to see another Torchic. "Hi, I'm Torchic!" The Torchic said to Qua.

"Hey. I'm Qua," Qua said normally.

"Hey Qua, come here," Crystal whispered to Qua, seeing that the 2 Torchics were making contact. She scooped up Qua. "I've got an idea. You can try and convince the Torchic there to give us the tag. How 'bout it?"

Posted by: LittleShadowPokemon Dec 29 2009, 03:02 PM

"Aww, cute Pidgey." Darryn said. Joey breathed a sigh of relief. So, he was a nice handsome boy. So far at least. When Darryn offered his feather-treatment formula, that made Joey grin for once. Maybe he could make Claw looking into a proper bird. But if Darryn had a Pidgey when he started, what did he have now? He's obviously been adventuring for awhile, Joey was still new, due to circumstances. Claw cooed happily at the attention, and hopped back to Joey while Darryn fussed with Kimiko. Joey enjoyed the happiness while petting Claw, and then Vincent and the rest of the team assembled.

"....Then let's get started, shall we?" The group started moving forward down the corridor, seeing where they'll end up next. The hall continued down a little ways, then the girl, Crystal, sprinted ahead and ducked into a room.
"Come on! I'll wait for you guys in here." Joey jogged, catching up, and his Pidgey fluttered in behind him, pleasantly surprised at the large size of the room. There's a Ferris Wheel in here. It's the Carnival Room, Joey sighed inwardly. I so hope there's not a Mechanical Tauros in sight.

A lot of flashing lights advertised different mini-games, but Joey was all Carnival'd-out, still having lucid flashbacks of the Barley boardwalk. First, he would relax over by that kiddie pool and let Kimiko splash around while Claw enjoyed some flying and exploring. Joey could see he had his eyes on that Ferris Wheel. While Joey made himself comfortable, and Kimiko got busy playing in the partially filled kiddie pool. There were some bath/swim toys in the water as well, and Joey didn't really have to worry about her drowning, since big brother Jet had taught her how to stay afloat by inflating herself.

Not too far away, he saw Crystal and her Torchic interacting with another Torchic. Except that Torchic had a blue tag. Joey reclined into a supine position and played with his silver dog tag around his neck, watching this incident unfold, while keeping an eye on his Igglybuff in the pool.

Posted by: Protoman Dec 29 2009, 07:06 PM

Tyson sighed deeply before seeing the Torchic along with Crystal. He wanted to capture it, probably to try and train it, but then remembered Lonnie's words.

"Great," he sighed before putting away the empty Poke Ball. "Not only can't I use my Poke Balls, but the tag is the only thing important here...just great..." Tyson cracked his neck a little before stepping into the Carnival room. He whistled lowly before examining his surroundings more thoroughly. He noticed the room was a lovely shade of lavender, giving it a rather soothing feeling to it. The lights from the arcade games flashed vigorously, desiring for someone to play them so badly. Tyson almost went over there, had he not been constantly distracted by the Torchic. He saw a young man with a Pidgey near the pool. Trying to make new friends while he was here, Tyson walked towards him, finally reaching him.

"Pretty nice place, huh?" Tyson asked the young man, seeing an Igglybuff floating in the water. Tyson almost laughed at the Igglybuff, seeing as how it looked like a small balloon drifting at sea. He redirected his attention to the trainer. "My name's Tyson," he said with a smile, "you?"

Posted by: LittleShadowPokemon Dec 31 2009, 01:20 AM

Claw fluttered back to Joey, who was leaning in a recumbent position upon the plastic kiddie pool. It only reached halfway up his torso, and he could easily lean in and play with the Igglybuff. The Pidgey stretched his wings and began preening.

The tall boy from before, who had the Cyndaquil, caught Joey's eye and walked over.

"Pretty nice place, huh?" he asked Joey, before looking at Kimiko and laughing at her amusing appearance. Joey nodded, and the boy went on. "My name's Tyson," he said with a smile, "you?"

Joey managed a slight grin and said, "Joey, from the Orre region." Then Claw hopped up and flapped once to get into the kiddie pool and start splashing around with Kimiko. Finally, the spirit was getting into him. Joey couldn't ever really remember Claw interacting with the small pink baby Pokemon that much, so this was a personal relief. Plus, Claw needed some fun in his life.

Joey turned back to Tyson, who was now sitting cross-legged next to Joey, making the height a little more even, and asked him, "So, I know you have a Cyndaquil, but what else do you have? I myself have this Igglybuff and Pidgey, and a Seel whom you will probably see later. I didn't catch any of them, or any Pokemon, and I've never battled, although I've read about it. To me, you look like the battling type, am I right?"

After all, it would be a shame to let a strong-looking Cyndaquil go to waste. However, Joey himself felt that his Pokemon weren't quite the battling type themselves. Jet's too hyper, Claw's too reluctant, and Kimiko is just plain too young. Besides, he never had anything to aspire to before now aside from keeping himself and his Pokemon alive.

Joey dipped his hand back into the water and playfully splashed his Pokemon, making Kimiko laugh and making Claw splash back using his wings while exclaiming. It was okay if he got a little wet. The material of his clothes dried fast, since they were scrubs.

Posted by: Umbrae Calamitas Dec 31 2009, 10:17 AM

The carnival room, for what it was, was surprisingly quiet. There was still music, of course, and the sound of the rides churning, but the screaming and sounds of people that usually permeated a carnival was oddly absent. It was to be expected, considering where they were, but still surprising.

Reilly glanced through the room, but otherwise stayed to the side. Pretty Boy was moving through the room and had wandered out of Reilly's sight, not that he cared. He saw the torchic with the blue tag talking to one of pokemon a member of his group had with her.

Indiana chattered at him expectantly, but Reilly shook his head. "They've got this under control," he assured his monferno, clinging to his arm. "I'm not going to interfere in any plan that they have already made up." Indiana made a sound suspiciously like a snort, and Reilly had to agree with the monkey pokemon. Was he not confident in his abilities to get the tag from the torchic, or was he just a coward when it came to interacting with other people?

If the shortstack could see you now, he sang to himself.

He glanced over where a couple boys were talking at a small pool, but refrained from going over, since it would require him to return Indiana to his pokeball.

He'd just stand here, in case he was needed.

Posted by: Pumpkin King Dec 31 2009, 03:53 PM

Vincent stepped into the Carnival Room and was in awe. It wasn't so much the carnival itself as it was the fact that it was empty. He never really could enjoy a carnival because of the massive amounts of people they usually attracted. Vincent didn't handle crowds very well.

He began gravitating towards Joey by a small inflatable pool, but came to a halt when the kid with a Cyndaquil began talking to him. The last thing Vincent wanted to do was mingle. Meanwhile, a Spheal was rolling towards a stand where it seemed that cotton candy was being sold, but there was no vendor. "Wally!" Vincent cried after his Spheal. "The last thing you need right now is-"

Naturally, there was a loud crash at another stand. Squirt had managed to get his beak into something he wasn't supposed to. By the time Vincent rushed toward the source of the crash, the Squirtle had discovered the effects of helium on one's voice.

Vincent's right palm met his forehead. "Squirt! Don't mess around with that!" When the tiny turtle giggled mischievously in an awfully high pitch tone, Vincent couldn't help but chuckle at Squirt's new voice. With a sigh, Vincent said, "You can have as much fun as you want, but keep an eye on Wally and DON'T BREAK ANYTHING."

Noticing that he was unneeded for the task, Vincent left the group and meandered through the carnival. He enjoyed the sights without having to worry about people judging him or getting lost in a crowd or any other population-related issues. He passed many rides he probably would have enjoyed, but decided against them in favor of his stomach. Having passed out so recently, he didn't want upset his body in any more ways.

Vincent froze in his tracks as he approached an empty stage. The stage had always haunted him. Having a bad experience when one is young can leave terrible impressions on the grown individual. However, Vincent had always had a curiosity for the stage, a curiosity he thought he could never satisfy. A close friend of his, Victor Bays, would often tell him of the wonders of performing, but Vincent could never relate. A little voice in Vincent's head was saying, "Take a chance."

***

The lights were coordinated excellently in time with the music as the first notes started of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUZwdbeS2mM&feature=related There was a karaoke screen displaying the upcoming lyrics, but Vincent already knew the song by heart. What he didn't know was that the speakers that the microphone was plugged into propelled the sound far enough for his teammates to hear.

((I know it's not the original, but I'm too much of a "Gleek" to resist!))

Posted by: Trace Warel Dec 31 2009, 06:01 PM

Should I? Ya, I should. Qua nodded, confirming that he would do it. You had better be sure about this, Qua's little voice inside thing said.

"Great!" Crystal exclaimed. I hope this works, she thought to herself. She set Qua down. "Now do this!" Crystal said hopefully.

"Hey, um... Torchic? That Tag you got? We need it. Could we please have it?" Qua asked Torchic, worried and hesitating. Please work, Qua prayed.

"Hm... Ok, but on 1 condition," Torchic said with a smirk.

"What?" Qua said, groaning a little. He had never really been one to take the conditions.

"We go around at least one time on the Ferris Wheel, together," Torchic said, smiling.

"I don't know... I'll need to ask Crystal," Qua said, a little more worried. Qua turned around.

"Well?" Crystal asked, very excited. Qua turned and faced the Ferris Wheel. He pointed at the Ferris Wheel with his beak. He then faced Crystal again, stood on one foot, and started acting like a Hoothoot. He had always been good at imitating Hoothoots. He then roared with his tiny, chick-like body in a acward position, the way Crystal had always said reminded her of Dialga. "So it wants to go around on the Ferris Wheel with you one time, then it'll give you the tag? That'll work just fine. Go ahead," Crystal said, slightly surprised.

"Come on," Qua urged Torchic. They got on a seat, with a little help from Crystal. She then went ove to the controls and started it up.



"Thank you, Qua. Here you go," Torchic said happily. It exchanged the Blue Tag to Qua.

"Thanks!" Qua turned around to face Crystal.

"You got it, Qua! Hey guys! I got the Tag!" Crystal exclaimed excitedly to her team. She got down close to Qua, took the Tag, and said, "Thank you, Qua. You're the best." She smiled.

Posted by: Living Arrow Jan 3 2010, 02:58 PM

Darryn walked slowly into the room that Crystal had indicated and immediately stuck his tongue in his cheek.

"Who in their right mind would have an indoor carnival?" He muttered, looking around the enormous space for any sign of other people - staff to man the equipment and tourists. There were none. "Waste of money, if you ask me."

<Indeed, Prince Darryn.> Lady assured him, trotting ahead and sniffing at the ground. She raised her scarlet head and looked back towards the center of the room where most of the others were clustered. Crystal and her Torchic were communicating with what appeared to be their first target - another Torchic with a blue tag stuck to its chest.

"Looks like they've got that sorted." Darryn shrugged. "This scavenger hunt thing won't be as difficult as I thought."

<The blue tag was described as the easiest to obtain.> Lady reminded Darryn, springing up to the rail around a teacups ride. <The remaining two won't be as simple to take.>

"Yeah, I remember." Darryn assured his Pokemon. "And that's why you're out here - just by judging the way the other Pokemon move, I doubt any of them have a great deal of battle experience. I'd say the brat is the best out of the lot of them but he couldn't dent us... We'll hold back until we need to." He smiled fondly at his prize Pokemon. "You'll get you're chance to show off - don't worry."

Lady raised her nose proudly, making Darryn laugh to himself. His laughter was cut short as the floating melody of one of his favourite songs caught his ears. Nodding to Lady, they jogged toward the speakers to find a stage at the absolute center of the carnival room. The dude dressed in black - Vincent - was there, singing quietly into a microphone. With a grin, Darryn charged for the stage.

The second verse was just kicking in...

"A singer in a smokey room," Vincent sang with mild confidence - almost as though he was ashamed to be on the stage in the first place. Darryn had the microphone out of his hand before he even knew himself what he was doing.

"A smell of wine and cheap perfume!" Darryn finished the line, holding the microphone between them for the unison. Singing filled Darryn with so much Glee that he just couldn't pass up the opportunity to practice for his upcoming Contest in the same way he had for http://forums.gtsplus.net/index.php?showtopic=18928. True, the song was different, but a performance was a performance!

Posted by: Trace Warel Jan 3 2010, 04:19 PM

I still can't believe I'm the only girl on the team... Crystal thought, shaking her head. "So te-" She was cut off by Vincent and Darryn. "A smell of wine and cheap perfume!" they sang. Ugh... I'm getting annoyed, which is not good fo them, Crystal thought irratated, getting a twitch nex to her nose under her left eye. She went up to the stage. "Hey Darryn! Where do you think we should go next? We got the blue tag, so should we return it to Lonnie, or get the other two, then bring 'em back?" She hollared up to Darryn.

Posted by: LittleShadowPokemon Jan 3 2010, 04:50 PM

Joey listened to Tyson's response and nodded. He was interrupted by some commotion. He couldn't quite hear it, but Kimiko sure did. She inflated her wet, rubbery body and floated above the inflatable pool rim and landed on the concrete and started waddling "baby" high speed into the depth of the carnival. Claw gave Joey a questioning look, and his trainer nodded. "Let's go," he said, waiting for the Pidgey to splash-flap out of the water and follow Kimiko. He gave a similar nod to follow to the rest of the group, but it was up to them to follow. Joey apologized to Tyson to cutting their conversation short, but he couldn't miss this.

After jogging behind Kimiko who'd had a head start, Joey's black leather boots were making a clack-thud on the ground. He slowed when he saw Vincent's Pokemon on neighboring vendor carts. Wally was busy nibbling on the Spheal-blue Cotton Candy, while Squirt was preoccupied with sucking all the helium out of a balloon tank then giggling it out rapidly. Joey shuddered. Well, he supposed it was okay because Wally wasn't chomping it, and spent more time giggling with Squirt than eating, and the tiny turtle Pokemon wasn't holding the helium in, which could have been dangerous.

When Joey looked up for Kimiko, he realized his suddent pause had lost her in the fair. They were closer, so Joey could almost hear the music. Claw came fluttering back from inside the twists and turns of the carnival and looked at Joey quizzically while flapping to stay aloft. The trainer held out his left forearm and knowingly the Pidgey grabbed on gently with his young, dull talons and plucked at the sleeve to show Joey where to go. The Pidgey then turned and flew off, this time slower and more steady and Joey followed in close pursuit. When he got there, he had no idea what to think of what he saw.

Claw settled onto Joey's shoulder and made little fussy noises. "Bwuck...bwuck...bwuck..." he chattered until settling himself to watch the performance. Usually, Claw detested such ruckus, but there was something different here. There was an awareness in his eyes, a jealousy? Joey looked pointedly at the Pidgey, who looked down and busied himself with preening. What's gotten into him?

Kimiko herself was watching enjoyably, until she inflated herself onto the stage. It was a struggle, as it was higher than she ever had to float before, but she's had lots of practice, which Joey didn't always approve. He actually thought about stopping her, as if her intrusion was rude, but he decided to let it go. His own interruption would cause more of a problem, and it's rude to interrupt a performance, is it not? She got on stage and started waddling around, and swinging herself on one small foot and kept dancing in this manner. Not exactly poetry in motion, but it was nice to see her have some fun.

The intrigued trainer himself went over to a booth and leaned up against a post, swirling his silver, gleaming dog tag with his right hand and comforting Claw with his left. "Some people get all the luck, being on stage. But it takes a certain type of people. It's not for us, Claw. We're different. You know." Joey told him. He stopped to clean his dog tag, making sure it was immaculate at all times, even with the often twiddling. Thinking about what he said, he rationalized. They were from Pyrite Town after all. Jet and Kimiko could get away with things like this, but he and Claw were a different breed. They were raised right along with Criminals for Arceus sake. While it was just a daily motion at the time, how many people here would be appalled? Joey himself didn't know how to think of it.

Turning his attention back to the brilliantly lit and decorated stage, Joey watched Vincent. He thought he could recognize the song, from somewhere. Surely, the overly-nervous boy couldn't be taking this very well? Firstly, being caught singing, secondly, having someone that close to him physically and singing also. If so, it was a new stride for the boy. Then again, Joey has heard rumors that magical things happen while singing and being on stage. But what did he know? So he sat back and watched the remaining performance, curious as to how well it could turn out.

Before he could enjoy it, that one girl, Crystal, came up, and she didn't look happy. Oh ****. She was yelling up to the stage, "Hey Darryn! Where do you think we should go next? We got the blue tag, so should we return it to Lonnie, or get the other two, then bring 'em back?" Joey jumped into action swiftly, startling Claw who meritoriously managed to keep his balance, and bounded over to Crystal in a few steps and clasped his hand over her mouth to muffle the second half of her sentence. He looked up at the stage, and with the music blasting, they appeared unmoved by the girl's sudden shouting. Giving Crystal a look, he led her over to where he had just been standing, which he figured would be a better place to communicate and easier to hear.

He started talking to her before she could interject him, "Look, I don't know about you, but even I was taught manners, and I would like to see how this performance plays out." She wouldn't even last a day in Pyrite with mannerisms like this, Joey thought to himself. Maybe he had been too harsh. He awkwardly finished with..."But...you're welcome to stand..next to me...and watch." Claw pecked him behind his left ear. "Quietly," he added, rubbing the pecked spot, and giving Claw the evil eye, but he knew it was just a gentle peck.

Posted by: Trace Warel Jan 3 2010, 06:43 PM

"Hey, if this is how it's supposed to be at a Carnival, ok then. I'venever actually been to one, so I should enjoy it. Thanks for getting me back into my normal mood. Hey? I remember you! If you didn't hear before, I'm Crystal Halo or you can call me Chick. Hey do you want some soda? I had seen a vending machine back there," Crystal recalled. I hope this is a beginning of a new friendship here, she thought happily.

Posted by: Umbrae Calamitas Jan 3 2010, 11:59 PM

Reilly really didn't care about the music playing, but Indiana had hissed and shrieked at him until he had given in with a roll of his eyes and followed everyone else toward the stage at the center of the carnival.

He had to admit, Pretty Boy had a decent voice. Indiana tugged on his hair lightly with a paw, and Reilly rolled his eyes. "Fine," he muttered, glaring at his monferno lightly, "he has a good voice, and he can sing. Big deal."

Indiana screeched lightly at him, punching him lightly in the head.

Reilly was about to retort when his attention was caught by the one girl member of their group. She stalked up to the stage with a twitch in her eye. It was hard for his attention (and the attention of Indiana) not to be drawn to her.

"Hey Darryn!" she hollered up at the stage, ignoring the fact that the two were in the middle of a song. "Where do you think we should go next? We got the blue tag, so should we return it to Lonnie, or get the other two, then bring 'em back?"

Reilly drew his lips back, narrowing his eyes. "Rude much?" he muttered. Indiana screeched agreeably.

He watched another boy pull the girl away with a grateful sigh. He turned his eyes back to the stage.

So maybe he didn't like Pretty Boy. It was still a good song.

Posted by: Pumpkin King Jan 4 2010, 02:17 AM

Vincent was thoroughly frightened when Darryn hopped on stage next to him, but some driving force compelled him to persist. The melting pot of emotions going on inside Vincent's head were almost too much to handle. There was a powerful wave of embarrasment flushing into his cheeks and though it may not have been purposeful, Darryn very clearly upstaging him was enough to make tears well up in his eyes.

Darryn was holding the single microphone in between them so they could sing together, but Vincent was slipping into the back so he might escape. This was a bad idea! I knew it from the very beginning! I should've never even considered such a-

In a flash, Vincent had grabbed a second microphone without thinking and jumped back into the next verse. "Workin' hard to get my fill, Everybody wants a thrill." Vincent's voice had suddenly gained a resonant quality as opposed to the hollow tone of before. He was feeling the music, not just reciting it. Vincent felt different inside too. He felt the need to assert himself, a competitive nature he had very rarely tapped into. He was not going to let anyone upstage him.

Working his way up to the chorus, Vincent garnered whatever breath he could catch without missing a beat and confided that he could hit that high note just as well as his partner could.

Vincent felt an urge to wince as he approached "Somewhere in the night," but mustered up a miraculous amount of courage. Somehow, the note came out beautifully. Vincent hadn't even known his voice would allow him to go that high. Unbelievably content with himself, Vincent sang his heart out.



The duet got a full applause from most of the team, though one boy, Reilly if Vincent remembered correctly, clapped only half-heartedly. Darryn turned to Vincent, most likely to comment on the performance. However, the wonderful feeling of confidence Vincent had quickly disappeared and turned into the nasty feeling one gets when they feel they're about to vomit. Vincent felt intimidated suddenly by the tall handsome figure next to him. The spotlight felt like a search light and the applause sounded like the audience was mocking him.

Vincent darted off the stage and towards the nearest garbage can.

Posted by: Protoman Jan 4 2010, 08:23 AM

Tyson clapped vigorously, as did his Pokemon Blaze and Hydro.

"Bravo, you guys," he yelled to them, hoping that he could be heard, "bravo!" Tyson then began to go to the rest of the group. He smiled widely, slightly sighing with happiness that they were having fun and connecting as a team. He thought about all of the teamwork that he had done not too long ago, which brought about the memories of..."Tikal..." Tyson sighed to himself. He couldn't come to the realization that he wouldn't see her for a while, if he ever saw her again. His black, bold eyes began to water slightly, making the muscles in his eyes try to hold back the oncoming tears. He succeeded, wiping the few tears from his eyes before smiling again.

"Well, one down," Tyson said before sighing, "and about ten more to go..." An eerie feeling came over him, giving Tyson the shivers. He panicked slightly, but looked around to see what had happened. Nothing came up, causing Tyson to shrug it off and wait for Darryn's next move.

Posted by: Living Arrow Jan 4 2010, 04:38 PM

Darryn drank in the energy that flooded him as he sang, rejoicing in the life it gave him to be on the stage. Back when he had taken part in the Arasam Contest he had felt nervous and stupid but after all the practice and support he had only gotten more confident. In fact, he was at the top of his game! Not only that, but this Vincent guy had a pretty decent voice, too.

Their song ended and Vincent ran off, looking particularly queasy.

*He looks how I felt after my first Appeal!* Darryn laughed to himself quietly and made his way off the stage to rejoin the group. The rag-tag bunch watched him eagerly... Almost expectantly.

<They wish for you to make the next decision.> Lady informed him in private, sitting quietly at his feet. <It seems they have chosen you for their leader in this game.>

<You have got to be kidding me!> Darryn sent back, unsure of what to do. Jaima had been the one unofficially nomiated as the leader in their travelling group - Darryn was like the second in command. <But I guess Riker did get left in charge whenever Picard left the bridge... GEEK!>

"Er, I guess we move on then?" Darryn suggested to the group. They looked eager enough so Darryn unclipped the Premier Ball from his belt. "Then let's see which way to go next. Bravo, I choose you!"

"Pidgeooooh!!!" The Pidgeotto screamed merrily as he left the ball, exploding upwards in a flash of light and trailling gleaming golden feathers as he flew which spiralling down slowly to the ground. His Featherdance entrance combo still needed some work but it was getting there.

"Find us the nearest door out of here!" Darryn called up to his bird Pokemon.

Since the Carnival room was so big, Bravo could fly freely under the vaulted ceiling and soon enough he was back, calling and circling for Darryn and the team to follow. They did so quickly, each making sure their Pokemon were nearby before heading off. Once they were in sight of the large door that Bravo had found, Darryn recalled the bird Pokemon and headed towards it.

"And behind door number two..." He said, just as he cracked it open.

Posted by: LittleShadowPokemon Jan 4 2010, 06:07 PM

Now everyone seemed to be gathered around the inspiring singers. Joey arched an eyebrow nonchalantly, not fully taken in by the music. It must be great to be a performer..., Joey mused. Claw buried his feathered head into his wing. What's up with him? Joey asked himself at the tiny bird's strange behavior. As the song ended, Joey walked over to the stage and held out his arms for the exhausted Igglybuff, who had been twirling around on stage. Seeing her trainer, Kimiko inflated herself and floated down off the stage. She seemed very content and relaxed, a sort of fulfillment. Joey's eyes filled emotion at seeing the baby Pokemon in such a state from performing.

Turning to see the other performer, he could see that Vincent was well-involved with the garbage can. Apparently, a wave of uneasiness found him as the music adrenaline wound down. He patted his back and gave the only comfort he could, "That was way better than when you sang at home in the shower." This comment was met by another bout of heaves.

Claw nudged Joey and looked towards the rest of the group. Everyone was looking at Darryn expectantly. Joey didn't mind the message it was sending. Or at least, he thought it didn't. No, of course it didn't. This Darryn person kept pulling surprises out of the bag, of course it would awe such bystanders. Then he did just as he had been; he pulled another surprise out of the...pokeball. Joey recognized it as a Premier Ball, and out burst a beautiful Pidgeotto performing a Featherdance technique. The whole bird seemed to just...glow. Claw looked on in absolute adoration. Joey wished he could promise the young Pokemon that he would be like that someday, but a disillusionment with promises back-peddled the thought.

Darryn gave a command, and everyone started following the Bird pokemon. Claw flapped after him, jostling a "Hey!" out of Joey. He gripped Kimiko securely and grabbed onto Vincent's wrist so he wouldn't get left behind. Hopefully, he was done spewing his guts out, but it couldn't be helped now. They jogged along behind, following the Pidgeotto and catching up to the group. Claw was flying too, but hung behind the Pidgeotto and took care not to get too close. Joey knew why all too well.

They stopped in front of a big door, that was sure to lead to another room. The door was a dark, rich, wooden color, ornately carved with gleaming silver adornments. It had a knocker as well, in the shape of a Budew. It was attached by its vines up top, and its body was the knocker. It was superfluous to use it, though. Joey stepped forward and pushed the heavy door open....and saw.....a giant playground?

Kimiko, seeing all the shiny, Pokemon-themed equipment, quickly inflated out of Joey's arms and skittered over to the Lickitung slide. The stairs were situated in the back and went up into the back of the Pokemon into a closed-canopy staircase that opened up onto the slide, Lickitung's tongue. Upon closer inspection, Joey saw that the "stairs" in the back were really just small, rounded bumps meant for people and Pokemon to crawl up on. The slide appeared safe enough, although quite big, and left Kimiko to play.

There weren't any people around besides his group, but he saw plenty of Pokemon playing among the equipment. He also noticed a Hitmontop swinging along something. Mankey bars?

There were Mankey bars along one side of a Jungle Gym, and in another corner there was a large climbing rope web. Wait....that's not rope....., Joey looked closer. It's...some sort of...web. His thoughts were confirmed when a rather motherly looking Ariados descended from the ceiling, beckoning trainers to come climb with her.

Joey eschewed exploring the rest of the fun-looking equipment and ran over to the Ariados, ready to take on her challenge. He'd never been very strong throughout his life, and he was incredibly short, looking to be no more than 12, while actually being an adult (almost). He came to the first web, and saw that the web "rope" had been woven thick. He touched it, tentatively, testing it out. It had a slight "stick" to it, but nothing major. This Ariados must have had quite the project, making so much and making it with so much care and detail. By the looks of her, Joey could tell this Ariados was a female. He gripped the closest thread and pulled himself up, climbing up the netted web. He managed to get close enough to see that the Ariados was wearing a pink flowered collar with a tag, reading, "Charlotte." That was all Joey saw before she sped off to another web. She wants to play a game.

Posted by: Protoman Jan 5 2010, 10:00 AM

Tyson looked in awe at the Featherdance as the Pidgeotto performed it right in front of them. Blaze and Hydro, however, began to feel slightly weak. He looked at them, realizing that the problem was the technique, since it does lower the Pokemon's attack force. He made them both retreat into their Poke Balls, following the group out the second door. He noticed as soon as he walked in a sudden change of climate.. He wiped his brow, removing the little bit of sweat that was on it. He looked around, noticing the new environment looked like a playground he saw back at home. He sighed deeply, with a smile on his face.

"Just like old times," Tyson muttered under his breath, "back at home..." He thought to himself about the times he went to the playground, his mom and dad playing with him. Dad... Tyson thought to himself, ...mom...I'll come home after I take Furoh by storm. I promise! He adjusted his hat before walking forward. This caught the attention of a few Mankey, one of which glared angrily at Tyson.

"Mankeeeeeeeeeeeey!" the Pokemon screeched before jumping onto Tyson's head, taking his hat from him.

"HEY!" Tyson bellowed, rather agitated at the Mankey, "GIVE ME BACK MY HAT!" Tyson reached for the Mankey, missing him by inches. He darted after the little Pokemon, but couldn't catch him. Tyson then snapped his fingers, pulling out the Poke Ball that contained Blaze. He opened the Poke Ball up, releasing the young Cyndaquil in a flash of light. This new environment made the Cyndaquil very happy, since it was a lot warmer than it was in the carnival room.

"Cyndaquil!" Blaze said to Tyson, saluting his trainer and waiting for his orders.

"I want you to use Smokescreen on that Mankey. He has my hat, so after the smoke gets to him, grab my hat, alright?" Blaze nodded and walked forward. This angered the Mankey as he began to look at the Cyndaquil in pure rage.

"What are you doing here, fire breather?" Mankey asked Blaze before balling up his fists angrily.

"Can I have that hat?" Blaze responded, hoping to get a yes from the Pokemon. Mankey pondered this question, but ultimately, surrendered the hat to the Cyndaquil. "Thanks!" Blaze told him.

"Tell your human that he didn't have to yell at me!" Mankey replied, sulking that he couldn't keep the trainer's hat for himself.

Posted by: Trace Warel Jan 5 2010, 05:26 PM

Crystal looked around and noticed something she had always wanted to do-Rayquaza Rope Climbing. She immediatly ran over and started climbing. "The secret is to grab the fins and push up. Annd when you get to the arms, you can propel yourself to the top because the arms are made of a really sproingy rubber. You grab the hands, leap off while olding on, and it will sproing you back up so that hen you get a good height up with the arms, you let go and you'll go flying," Crystal remembered from when she was younger, her brother told her that. Then, she got to the arms. She grabbed the hands and jumped.

Posted by: Living Arrow Jan 8 2010, 12:05 PM

Darryn frowned as they entered door number two and watched as the other trainers dispersed. It seemed that their second destination was similar to the first in that it was a room designed for fun. The Carnival Room, however, provided the fun - you sat down and got whizzed around - while the Pokemon Room was more like a giant playground with different activities spread around as random.

"Why have all of this indoors?" Darryn mumbled to himself, walking past a whack-a-diglett game and peering around the room. There were other Pokemon scattered about but none seemed to be carrying one of the coloured tags that Lonnie had shown them.

<There is a presence here, Prince Darryn.> Lady seemed distracted - her gaze wondered all around but never settled once. <But it is masking itself.>

"Really?" Darryn loked around caustiously, too. "Like the way a certain Team we all know and love masks itself?"

<No.> Lady's response was immediate and full of relief. <I would know that feeling anywhere, now. Whatever this thing is, it's content to watch us.>

Darryn rolled his eyes. Since travelling with Lady, Mercury and Shadow he had grown acustomed to their psychic abilities (although he was still edging around his own) but whenever he came across a person or Pokemon with the same level of mental aptitude it made him nervous.

The others seemed to be having a good time so Darryn was loathe to ask them to move on. Instead, he resigned himself to the fact that he was going to look like a goon for playing with anything in the room, anyway, so grabbed a mallet on the whack-a-diglett machine and waved Vincent over to join him in a game.

Posted by: Protoman Jan 8 2010, 12:21 PM

After finally getting back his hat, another chill came across Tyson, this one just as terrible as the last. His facial expression showed this, making Blaze feel a little uneasy. He then saw Lady and wanted to introduce himself to her.

"Hi," Blaze said plainly to the Vulpix. He knew that most Pokemon were friendly by nature, but had no clue as to what Lady's attitude was like. "My name is Blaze. What's yours?" Meanwhile, Tyson sighed, looking for another of the Pokemon that they were trying to find in the mansion. He looked both left and right, hoping to see some sort of sign of a Tyrogue, or Haunter. He knew that Haunter would be harder to spot, since it was a ghost type. He continued to look for the fighting type Pokemon, not being able to find it at all. He sighed in failure, soon scratching his head as well.

"If I was a Tyrogue," Tyson began before putting his hand on the back of his head, "where would I be?"

Posted by: Trace Warel Jan 9 2010, 01:32 PM

Crystal flew down, bounced back up, and let go. She flew up and grabbed the horns. She slammed the circle on top of the head, sounding off a loud buzzer, indicating that she made it to the top. She then grabbed the rope that put you down and jumped once again. It slowly lowered her to the ground, and when she got to the ground, she let go and it zipped back up. "Wo Ho!" She yelled out.

Qua saw Blaze and Lady. He wanted to go meet them. He went over to the Cyndaquil and Vulpix. "Hi, I'm Qua!" He introduced himself proudly.

Posted by: Pumpkin King Jan 9 2010, 11:24 PM

The next room did not impact Vincent in the slightest way. He was much too concerned with how terrible his mouth tasted, how he could swear that he felt a hair fall out of place and just how badly the day was turning out for him. "First I miss the helicopter, then freeze my butt off in that Drifblim basket, then pass out, then vomit after being on stage. How could it possibly be worse?"

Vincent quickly sealed his mouth shut and covered it with his palm. He wasn't one to fall for silly superstitions, but he was also one not to take any chances. Just as he did so, a Jynx walked right past him. The rhythmic movement of the Jynx's gait and the Pokemon's strong psychic influence had Vincent's hips moving.

"I just had to jinx it," he mumbled in defeat.

Taking his mind off himself for a moment, he absorbed the surroundings. He had never been to a playground of this calibur. It certainly was impressive, but the only thing that ever attracted Vincent at playgrounds was the swingset. He scanned the area for one but his gaze met that of Darryn's. The boy gave a cordial smile and with a hand gesture invited Vincent over to a Whack-A-Diglett game.

Accepting the invite with a bit of disappointment, Vincent walked over and grabbed a mallet. The game started, but Vincent was much too uncoordinated to hit a single Diglett. He could hear Darryn chuckling at Vincent's ineptness at the game. Vincent quickly conceded defeat and dropped the mallet.

"Um, I-I don't think I in-introduced myself," Vincent stammered, making a feeble attempt to make conversation. "I'm, um- My name i-is Vincent."

Posted by: LittleShadowPokemon Jan 11 2010, 05:20 PM

Watching the Ariados speed away to the next web over, Joey felt exhausted already. He didn't feel quite too comfortable being so high up, and only having himself to hold him up. Claw flapped up to him and eyed him askance before plucking at his sleeve, almost unbalancing him. "Claw!" Joey said, not loudly, but exasperated. He couldn't climb down in defeat. "Claw, go keep an eye on Kimiko, okay? I don't like her being by herself." Claw hesitated, obviously not wanting to leave his wingless trainer suspended above ground. Joey set his stare, and eventually Claw glided over to the Lickitung slide to watch Kimiko, helping her up and down the stairs, and making sure she wasn't bullied, but still let others have a turn. One day, he'll obey me without hesitation, Joey thought morbidly. Whoa, where did that thought come from? Joey shook his head to clear it, and continued upward and over towards the Ariados.

She was waiting patiently. Joey already knew that she could well out-speed him, but what about her agility? He hurried towards her, and actually thought he was going to get close enough, until in a blur, she spun away and behind him. Her agility was impeccable, for an Ariados? He didn't think something that bulking would have good agility, but they were in her territory: webs. Okay, new tactic. It was like a big game of tag, and in tag, you didn't always have to necessarily out-speed your opponent. Just block their escape.

Joey tried again, edging high towards her, and her eyes were on him. He kept edging a bit higher in a low ratio to distance, but he needed to be higher than lower for his plan to work, because with this method, he wasn't very fast at all. Now, he was close enough to see the texture of her skin, and the glint in her eye, and the drool dripping from her fangs. The Ariados tensed and started scuttling beneath him. In a sudden impulse, he made his move, letting go of the web and free falling dropped to catch and land right before the Ariados, who back peddled among the stringy web to stop herself and retreat before Joey could win. He was gasping for breath and his heart was pounding. It felt like he wasn't going to make it for a moment, like thinking there's one more step on a dark staircase, and your foot coming down through nothing. Thinking he found his winning strategy, he dropped to stop her descent and herd her back up. Then he would try to rapidly climb back up to stop her escape outward. This was where he saw a flaw. Dropping down was swift and efficient, but climbing back up was not. Not until he made a mistake did he see a possible advantage.

His ultimate goal was to get the giant spider Pokemon into the top corner, which he gained ground on the drop, but lost on the upswing. Upswing. When he accidentally dropped too low (causing his heart to pound more), he noticed a significant addition of stretchiness in the web. He bounced, once, twice, thrice, four times, and after that time he launched himself from all four limbs up. He probably gained about four stretches of length in web just there. The Ariados watched him curiously. He caught his breath, and decided not to hesitate. Hesitation caused eventual inaction, a paralysis of the mind. That wouldn't do here. The Ariados was still above him, so he bounced, one, two, three, spring! and grasped the web above him, but nearly missing. He pulled himself up, realizing how much faster and efficient this was, but also how dangerous it could be. But, anything to win, right? He kept up his pattern, until he saw something to his horror. The Ariados started doing the bounce/drop technique, like it came natural to her. She had been keeping cards up her sleeves, taking it easy on him. It really irked Joey.

He wasn't far away from the Ariados. In another, slightly diagonal spring, he would have her. She was backed into her corner, with no way out. He prepared to bounce and spring, but before it was completed, and after it was too late, he saw his downfall take place. The Ariados spun a web string from her mouth, tucked in her legs, and gracefully fell through a gap in the web and went under it. This completely blew Joey's mind, never expecting it. He had just sprung when she fell through, and the weight on her web string caused the web to concave tightly, and it convexed as soon as Joey landed, which sprung him roughly outwards, knocking the air out of him. He grasped for something to hold onto, that wasn't there. He was too far out and started plummeting to the ground.

Kimiko wasn't far away, and having gotten bored of the slide for now, had resolved herself to playing on Claw. The Tiny Bird Pokemon tolerated it, remembering he had to be a good boy. Kimiko patted his feathers and hopped around on his back. Luckily, she was hanging on Claw saw Joey's fall unfold and rocketed himself towards the scene with all his little bird might while squawking madly. He wasn't going to make it in time, and even if he did, there was little to nothing he could have done.

The Ariados had by this time flipped herself back onto the top of the web, and seeing Joey falling she shot a strong string of web at him, catching him around the torso, stopping his fall roughly and retracting him back up before he could hit the ground. Exhausted by the adrenaline rapidly leaving his body, he let the Ariados stick him to the web where he closed his eyes and finally got his breath back. She then got closer to him and lowered him to the ground on her web, where he laid on the hard floor on his side, Claw and Kimiko crowding around him. The Ariados hopped back into her web, her job done.

Claw plucked lightly at him and nuzzled him while chirping quietly. Kimiko patted him and looked up at him with her big round eyes. Joey was breathing easier now, but still was trying to calm his nerves. If he wasn't upset at how he had almost become playground debris, it was how the Ariados had beaten him. Slipping through the web and utilizing the underside like that, and he hadn't thought about, hadn't the skill to do it.

But it wasn't cheating, was it? No...No...certainly not. It was right for her to use the pieces on the board to her advantage. No use holding back when you have the power to win..., Joey rationalized with himself, then opened his eyes to show his Pokemon that he was okay. He sat up and bent his knees, feeling a little light-headed, and relieved. He hugged Claw and Kimiko and sighed. He really hoped no one saw that, and decided to stand up and creep off to another portion of the playground, and deny all allegations of the embarrassing incident.

Posted by: Living Arrow Jan 15 2010, 12:10 PM

Lady looked disdainfully at the two Pokemon addressing her. She felt some sort of kinship with any fire-type but respect ran thinly in her blood. There were few Pokemon that she actually considered to be worth her time and even then, they had to earn it.

"Don't talk to me." Lady snorted to the Cyndaquil and Torchic, rsing fluidly and sauntering back to her trainer.

"Um, I-I don't think I in-introduced myself," The black-clad boy managed to stammer. "I'm, um- My name i-is Vincent."

Darryn smiled. He understood why people like Victor - people who were shy and quiet - came to be in this world. It was a confidence thing. He understood, but he didn't agree with it. Since he had been little, Darryn had had his sister's support in being the person he wanted to be, despite the opinions of the other kids at school, and he had grown into a successful trainer-turned-co-ordinator. Well, if success meant one Ribbon and a Gym defeat...

"I'm Darryn." Darryn replied, setting down his mallet and leading Vincent towards a park bench in the bizarre playground room. They sat together, Lady leaping up to lay in between them. Darryn fondled the curls on her head as he talked to Vincent. "I'm from the Kanto region but now I live in Furoh. It's alright, I guess, but nowhere near as good as my hometown - Celadon City."

Vincent smiled weakly and avoided eye contact. Darryn appraised him again, trying to ascertain Vincent's path. It seemed that all of Lonnie's guests were trainers of some description and he had noticed the obvious Trainers and Co-ordinators upstairs. Vincent, however, didn't have a clear label. Darryn laughed inwardly. When he had started out, people probably thought the same about him.

"I'm a Co-ordinator." Darryn offered again, fishing into the inside of his hodded sweatshirt and pulling out his Ribbon Case. He clicked the clasp to reveal the passionate red, pure white and sparkling gold of the Metalliclaw Ribbon. "But as you can see, I've not gotten very far yet. What do you-"

"TYROGUE!"

All around the park, purple humanoid shapes jumped from their hiding places, tackling the scattered trainers' Pokemon to the ground before running away to group together in an odd formation across the park-like arena. There were six in total, all grinning wildly and high-fiving each other for their job well done at hiding.

"ROOOGUE!" A seventh Scuffle Pokemon launched itself out of nowhere towards Lady. her eyes flashed blue and, without bothering to even stand, she catapulted him away with a blast of Extrasensory. The Tyrogue plopped to the ground with a sigh, unconscious.

"Lady!" Darryn moaned, scooting her off the bench so he could check on the poor Pokemon. "You knocked him out! We were told not to injure the Pokemon in the Castle if we could help it!" His Vulpix turned an unimpressed eye and yawned.

"Ty! Tyrogue, ty!" One of the group of six announced to the room, holding aloft a ball tied in string attached to - you guessed it - a yellow tag.

The trainers throughout the room had all obviously seen it - they were drawing closer slowly, their Pokemon (a little ruffled from being tackled) following with caution. THe wild Tyrogue gestured broadly, tossing the ball up in the air and catching it again with impatience.

"I think it wants us to play and try to get the ball of them?" Darryn suggested to the group. "Like, with our Pokemon?"

The wild Tyrogue pointed at Darryn and clapped sarcastically.

"No need to be rude! Sheesh!" Darryn exclaimed. He turned to the others. "So it's like American Rules Football? We send our Pokemon to get back the ball but we fight a little along the way. There's six of them and six of us, so how about one Pokemon each?" The was a mix of agreement from the others - even Reilly who kept shooting Darryn murderous glances.

<Lady?>

<Don't even think about it.> Came the stern reply.

Darryn giggled and maximised his Dive Ball. "Let's go for the win, Victor!" His Squirtle burst free from the ball, spinning in the air like a ballerina while spewing bubles that glittered and popped all around him before landing lightly and Ice Punching the remaining bubbles to shower him with snow.

The game was on!

Posted by: LittleShadowPokemon Jan 15 2010, 01:23 PM

Joey was just about to go hide for a bit until he heard the racket.

"TYROGUE!"

Small fighting type Pokemon just seemed to appear out of nowhere. Joey clicked open his PDA and caught the information of the fleeting Pokemon. He was right, Fighting Types. "Kimiko, return." He clicked her Pokeball open and deposited in his front scrub pocket, and took out Jet's. The Tyrogue had started tackling Pokemon, and he saw Claw go down out of the corner of his eye. The indignant Tiny Bird pulled himself back up and launched himself at the nearest Tyrogue.

"Claw." The Tiny Bird immediately backpedaled and stopped before impacting the Tyrogue, which scampered away. Joey beckoned to his Pokemon. "There's no need for that. Let's go to the others, quickly." Joey ran beside the flapping Pokemon with his Seel's Pokeball in hand, poised for action if need be. When he got with the rest of the slowly forming group, Joey saw something that certainly stopped him in his tracks. Vincent and Darryn were sitting on a bench together, with Darryn's Vulpix in between them. He said her name was...Lady? He managed to see the Tyrogue leaping to Tackle Lady, but he never made it. Her eyes glowed a brilliant blue and knocked him back and out. Joey shivered, his heart pounding. That was...amazing. He gained even more respect for the resplendent fox.

He took a scan of his surroundings, noticing that now there were six Tyrogue left, and one was holding up a ball. They wanted to play? Wait a minute..., Joey looked closer. There's a tag hanging off one of the balls! Then he overheard what Darryn was saying about Football rules and how they each had to use one Pokemon.

Darryn himself brought out his Squirtle - Victor? - that did a beautiful entrance. Why were all of his Pokemon breath-takingly amazing? Joey looked at his Pidgey and sighed. The Squirtle looked like Vincent's, except maybe...a little more mature and confident? He was bigger too.

Joey looked at Claw and then at Jet's Pokeball. Claw was swift and could probably knock the ball away from one of the Tyrogue, but he couldn't grasp it. Jet was very good at manipulating round objects (probably from pushing Kimiko and Wally, Vincent's Spheal, around) while he himself was not very fast or fluid on land. He was very enthusiastic though, and would love the game. When it got right down to it, Joey knew the big picture of the decision he was making. Claw was the logical choice as the other team members had Pokemon that could probably work well on ground. Joey believed in logic, didn't he?

Would he choose a Pokemon for the benefit of the team, or for the benefit of his Pokemon and himself?

Posted by: Trace Warel Jan 15 2010, 05:58 PM

"TYROUGE!" Out of nowhere, Tyrouges were tackling the Pokemon. Qua barely managed to avoid one, but then, another came up from behind and still got Qua. Qua got out then, then called to Lat and Zigzag.

"Delta formation!" Qua qued. Zigzag and Lat came up and Qua got on the back end of Zigzag. Lat got on top of Zigzag. Then, Qua started up an Ember and Zigzag started running.

Crystal noticed this. "Guys! Stop! Qua! Lat! Return!" Zigzag stayed, for Crystal was gonna use him for the battle-Football game. Zigzag stopped when he realized that Qua and Lat weren't there any more.

Posted by: Protoman Jan 25 2010, 03:57 PM

The cry from the fighting Pokemon almost caught Tyson off guard. He soon regained himself, focusing on the challenge at hand. He thought about who to choose in this situation. He then thought about when his Cyndaquil had used Smokescreen to escape. He smirked and looked at the small team of Tyrogue.

"Blaze," Tyson said before pointing at the others, "let's play some football!"

Posted by: Living Arrow Feb 3 2010, 04:59 PM

As the other trainers readied their Pokemon, Darryn frowned across the "pitch". The six Tyrogue seemed to move in neat formation - a clear sign of their companionship and team work. On the human's side of the field, however, a rag-tag bunch of Pokemon formed up into a loose line facing their opponents.

Victor, a Squirtle. Tyson's Cyndaquil and Crystal's Zigzagoon. With Reilly, Vincent and Joey still picking their Pokemon Darryn couldn't help but wonder what would happen if they lost. Would the rest of the trainers really be OK with not getting the yellow tag? He doubted it. Their Emotaglows confirmed his suspicions - they were mostly determined with a hint of their more basic meotions squeezing through into the light.

<How much are we going to bet the brat gets that ridiculous monkey out?> Lady sneered privately to Darryn, watching Reilly with judging eyes. Darryn made no reply but simply smiled. Despite her clear distaste for Coons' Pokemon, Darryn recognised why Lady would think Indiana, the Monferno, would be the player of choice - he had free arms when he ran. So far, Victor was the only member of the team that was bipedal and even then, the Squirtle was unlikely to be as fast as the other Pokemon around him, irrespective of his level.

The Tyrogue began to tense as the final three Pokemon were selected and the match began.

Posted by: Trace Warel Feb 3 2010, 09:58 PM

"You'll pay for hurting me and my friends!" Zigzag growled at the Tyrouge that tackled Qua. It did a raspberry at him then pulled down the purple skin under its eye and stuck its pink tongue out at him. "Why I oughta! I'm warning you!"

Posted by: LittleShadowPokemon Feb 4 2010, 09:10 PM

Joey looked around at the Pokemon forming a line on their side. Squirtle, Cyndaquil, and Zigzagoon. A quadruped and two flexible Pokemon. The young trainer looked down at his Pidgey. "Claw, you should do this. You're quick enough to zip forward with a Tackle and knock the ball away for another to come quickly and pick it up. Are you up to this?" The Tiny Bird Pokemon looked at him full on, a look of puzzlement and confusion. Then he looked towards the line of Pokemon forming the mismatched team against the well-organized Tyrogue. He hedged back towards his trainer, reluctant to be a part of a team. He fluffed his feathers and pretended to be preoccupied with preening. Joey knelt down and put his hand on the bird's head and started scratching underneath his head feathers to make him coo. He whispered softly to him, "Please. I know you can do it." The Pidgey listened, nodded, and with a few more adjustments of his wings, hopped over to get in line, looking back at his trainer, who reassured him with a nod and a slight smile meant only for him. That was all the Pokemon needed.

Posted by: Loganberrypaw Feb 13 2010, 02:19 PM

Crystal felt a rumbling. "Huh? AHHH!" She screamed when a hug amount of snow came tumbling down into the room. She nearly got buried, but didn't. "Is everyone alright?" she called out, worried about her male teammates, her only teammates.

Posted by: Living Arrow Feb 18 2010, 04:27 AM

“Ok, guys.” Darryn looked along the line of assembled trainers and their Pokemon. “Let’s win this little match and get that tag – but remember we shouldn’t hurt the wild Pokemon here too much.”

There were mumbles of agreement from the others as their battle plans were calculated as quickly as possible. There was no time to go over a proper strategy – they’d all just have to band together and hope for the best this time. Darryn fingered his belt slowly. If the team lost, he still had Romeo and Bravo – they could easily outpace the young Tyrogue and get that tag off them without a hitch.

Thunder rolled in Darryn’s head as the tension and suspense in the room grew. All of the selected Pokemon were ready to go and yet… That wasn’t in his head! That was real thunder!

There was an ear-splitting roar as the roof of the playground room collapsed in the back corner over the monkey bars, showering the immediate zone with rubble and snow. Darryn had no time to think. No time to plan what to do. The wave of white snow pouring towards them would be upon humans and Pokemon alike in seconds. Almost like a reflex, Darryn had a Pokeball in his other hand. “November, go!”

The Repeat Ball emitted Darryn’s immaculate Rapidash who stood firm against the incoming ice, her crimson flames flaring brightly. In the immediate confusion, Darryn reached out and grabbed the nearest person to him. His hands found Joey, gripping around the boy’s arms and drawing him close.

“Claw!” Joey cried as he struggled in Darryn’s arms – easily restrained due to his small stature. As though summoned by magic, the Pidgey was delivered quickly to his trainer’s feet by a swirling blue aura that matched the colour of Lady’s glowing eyes. Darryn ignored it all.

“November! Use Fire Spin! Lady, Flamethrower on November!”

The immediate heat that swamped Darryn, Joey and little Claw was not that of a burning fire but that of a protective one. November’s spiralling flames shielded the humans from harm while pouring an immense amount of cunter-pressure against the rushing snow. With the Fire Spin bolstered by November’s triggered Flash Fire, the falling snow had no option but to fall around the group in a neat circle, unable to reach the protected group. The same could not be said for the other trainers and their Pokemon. In a massive rush, the snow crashed down upon the rest of the room mercilessly and covered all in sight in mere seconds.

Darryn let go of Joey once the room stopped moving, his own arms shaking with fear as he patted November’s flank. She nuzzled his chest fondly and support him as he surveyed the room.

"Squiiiir..." Victor's head emerged from the wall of snow, clearly dazed and confused. He saw Darryn and pulled himself free of the ice, tottering on weak legs towards his trainer. The Dive Ball in Darryn's hand was hastily opened and the Tiny Turtle disappeared inside.

A crackling buzz came from the broken intercom buried somewhere in the snow.

<Master Vonmoto is sending us directions to the nearest exit.> Lady informed Darryn with a far-away gaze in her eyes. <He also recommends that we move now rather than help others who may be trapped – his staff shall be scouring the castle for support.>

“Is everyone alright?!” A cry came from somewhere in the field of white. Crystal’s head bobbed into view.

“Joey and I are over here!” Darryn called back, waving his hands over his head to show off their position. “The psychic Pokemon are going to guide us out of here but we need to move now – security teams will arrive any minute to rescue the others. Lady, my Vulpix, says that everyone is still alive under that snow – they’ve either taken shelter or have managed to dig snow tunnels. Whatever the case, they are safe and we need to get out of here asap in case there is another avalanche. Our best bet is to follow behind my Rapidash as she clears a path until we find the way out."

With a quick agreement, the three trainers fell into step behind November as she melted a path through the snow to the nearest door… Wait… there were no visible doors!

“Oh, great.” Darryn moaned. “Now, what do we do?”

Posted by: Loganberrypaw Feb 18 2010, 09:52 PM

"Hm... Do you have any Pokemon that know Dig? Because if you do, we can dig through the wall! Or, well, we could dig into the ground and the dig around until we find the hot springs. It might work," Crystal thought about it and came up with that.

Posted by: LittleShadowPokemon Feb 19 2010, 06:13 PM

Joey's mind was already so far in calculating his game strategy that he didn't even realize the thundering noise wasn't his heart pounding. His reaction time was slow and he didn't fully understand what was happening even when the snow was coming in. He was transfixed. It seemed to be happening in slow motion now, and it was beautiful. The snow unfurled and exploded into the room with the force of devastating nature. He could do nothing but stare at it, then he was snapped back into reality when a pair of hands grabbed around his arms and pulled.

He suddenly found himself standing very close to that boy, Darryn, with a Pokemon he knew to be a Rapidash standing in front of them. Her bright flames were just as beautiful as the snow, but seeing her reminded Joey of something. Frantically, he looked around and called out, "Claw!" Where was his Pidgey? He needed to know, to get to him, to protect him. He subconsciously struggled against Darryn, but the bigger boy was too much to struggle against. Luckily, Claw seemed to appear before him and Joey didn't understand why. Was this a dream?

After that, Joey was engulfed in fire, as was Claw and Darryn, but it wasn't burning him. It must be a dream. After that, the incident passed so fast. Snow unfurled and buried everything around them, but the fire protected them and the snow fell about them in a circle. Once everything stopped moving, Joey felt Darryn let go of him, and hadn't realized he had been hanging onto him. He felt a little regretful he let go so soon, because he suddenly felt very weak, like his heart was racing ahead of him and he couldn't keep up. He fell to his knees and hugged Claw before clicking him back into his PokeBall. He was safer in there.

Crystal apparently was alright, but then Joey looked around for Vincent, and started to call out his name when Darryn told him that they had to move now, and help would come for him later. He felt relief at hearing he was alive. But for how much longer? Joey brushed the thought out of his head. This was out of his hands now. He had to worry about himself. He followed Darryn and Crystal as his Rapidash (November?) melted a path through the snow, looking for the doors. Except, the group was finding no doors. With the snow now covering everything, the room was harder to navigate, much like walking down a street at night. It was too different to tell, and Joey turned around several times looking for something familiar. He heard Crystal's suggestion and quickly refuted it.

"It's stone, I don't know of anything that can dig through stone, unless it has a drill on its head. And it's too dangerous anyways. It could possibly cause all the snow here to pummel down through to another floor and endanger more people, and who know where we'll end up? No...it won't work." Joey racked his brain, until he saw a happy sight. The Ariados from earlier! The large Spider-like Pokemon descended from the ceiling on a strong thread, and Joey moved through the snow towards her. His clothes were getting wet, but he didn't care because as they were scrubs material they dried fast. Placing his hand upon the Ariados, careful of her horn, he looked into her eyes and talked. "You've lived here for quite awhile, maybe you know where the door is?" The Ariados nodded her head and took off in a direction slightly right from where they were heading.

"Darryn, Crystal, over here!" The two trainers saw and followed closely behind him. It was rough getting through the snow and across the room as there were a lot of obstacles and debris to overcome, and the Ariados had to wait for them several times. Joey started lagging behind. He still hadn't shed the effects of the poor environment afforded to his youth and nearly entire life. When the Ariados finally pointed out the location of the door, she scuttled back as the graceful Rapidash melted the snow away to reveal the door. It was one of the heavier, more ornate doors, but Joey couldn't make anything of the material. It looked to be stone.

Going over in his head all the possibilities of his Pokemon's abilities, he came up with squat and sighed. He felt so useless. A baby Igglybuff couldn't do anything to a stone door. Not even sing it to sleep. Claw was basically powerless, and probably already used up as it is. Joey's Seel, Jet, was the most probable answer, but even a long-shot of a probability. He had a powerful headbutt attack, but not powerful enough for this. Joey remembered that water is strong against rock, but Jet has yet to produce a full on water attack. Are his Pokemon really that weak? Joey started seriously thinking that he needed to do some hardcore training, if he could manage to get out of here alive, he thought with a cringe.

In conclusion, Joey turned to his two companions, shrugged and sighed, and stepped into the background saying, "I have no idea what to do now..." Give us a miracle, Darryn.

Posted by: Puck Feb 19 2010, 11:32 PM

Reilly had been hanging in the back, away from the trio. The only one on the team that he knew was Darryn, and he didn't care to associate with the pretty boy if he didn't have to. It was no secret that the two of them didn't like each other. There was something strange about that boy, and Reilly didn't like him.

Still, he had to admit that Pretty Boy was fairly useful. There was no way that they wouldn't have suffered some injuries had that snow hit them dead on. The flashy Rapidash, with help from that bitch of a Vulpix, had done wonders to keep the snow from reaching them. Reilly hated to admit it (and he never would aloud), but they probably owed their lives - or at least their well-being - to Darryn's pokemon and his quick thinking.

Standing in the back of their small group, his arms crossed over his chest, he turned to the girl with a raised eyebrow as she suggested digging. "The walls and floor are made of stone. What are you - stupid?" He curled his lip at the girl, and then turned away swiftly before she could reply, walking past the others to stand next to the pretty boy.

"Well, it looks like you're leading this shindig, Sparkles." He crossed his arms and leaned up against the wall, raising an eyebrow at the pretty boy. "Guess we're doomed, huh?"

Posted by: Living Arrow Feb 20 2010, 07:16 AM

"Oh." Darryn raised an eyebrow to find Reilly stalking their way. "I see you managed to dig yourself out." He looked the boy up and down again. "Pity."

Reilly's mouth began to open but Darryn raised a finger.

"Time and a place, Haystack Head." He cut him short, secretly a little relieved that someone else had managed to drag themselves free with seemingly no injuries. He turned to face the problem before them. The wild Ariados had successfully led them to a door but as Joey (and Reilly) had identified, it was going to take a lot to break their way through into another room since the walls and the located door were made of stone and its hinges were shattered. It wouldn't be moving any time soon.

"Aww crap." Darryn muttered to himself, chewing his lip in thought. He hated to admit it but he was at a loss. Since he had left Gigarte to start his trainer journey, Darryn had never been in the driving seat of his adopted team. Even at the very beginning, Jaima and Mindy had both had more experience and it had been the girl who had led them all the way to Lenoilia and even a little beyond. After that, Darryn had gone solo (who would consider travelling with Darck to be part of a team?) which had resulted in disaster on Mount Carello before Jaima showed up to save him. Since then, his friend had led him, a younger girl called Tuesday and an experience trainer from Johto, Meiko, from Arasam all the way to Petropolis in the deep south. True, Darryn had helped out along the way but he wasn't a leader.

Another fault he found within himself, and one that he had experienced time and again, was his inability to think up strategies on his feet from scratch. Yes, he could train new moves and combinations into a repertoire. Yes, he could select them and use them as they were needed. But what could he do when the situation called for something he had not experienced before or prepared for?

<Lady? Can you contact Mercury and see how far away Jaima is? I'm sure he could help.> Darryn fidgeted nervously.

<I will not beg for help from an anorexic, blue-haired, namby-pamby, sarcastic little->

<Fine! Jeez! Can you at least make sure they are ok? And check on Meiko and Tuesday, too... Oh! And Pan!>

<I already have.> Lady yawned. <There is psychic interference all over the castle since so many communication channels are open. Vonmoto's Pokemon, however, assures me that no-one is dead and that if we follow this particular path we will soon end up meeting with another group of survivors.>

"Oh, thank God." Darryn rubbed his head. Everyone stared at him blankly. "I mean, right! Let's um... let's get through this door then! I need you all to stand aside for this and brace yourselves for any more cave-ins - it won't be smooth."

The three trainers shrank back behind Darryn as November melted a runway towards the offending door. Lady remained patiently at Darryn's feet as he selected the Luxury Ball at his belt and signalled his Rapidash to move out of the way.

"For this task, we only have one choice." Darryn said as he rolled the Pokeball in his hand. "I choose, Zulu!"

The Luxury Ball exploded open, sparks and soft orange light expelling from within and materialising into the solid form of Darryn's Rampardos. He heard whispers of awe from behind him and couldn't help but give himself an inwards pat on the back. But the time for gloating was long since past.

"Zulu, I need to to use your most powerful Headbutt on that door." Darryn spoke to his fossil Pokemon who rolled his eyes with distaste in a 'awww do I have to?' expression but readied himself all the same. "And Lady? Power it up with Extrasensory like you did back at DeBrody's - we need to to be a Zen Headbutt if we want to max our chances of breaking through." Lady liquid moved to her feet to stand behind Zulu, her eyes glowing blue with Psychic energy.

Zuluj took off like a rocket, roaring his defiance at the target while lowering his glowing blue head and going in for a full-out charge of aa Zen Headbutt. Darryn squeezed his fists together and grit his teeth as the Rampardos connected with the door with a resounding CRACK that sounded more like the Pokemon's neck had broken. Thankfully, however, an enormous split appeared in the door as Zulu rebounded, snorting angrily at the target.

"Good! Now take it down with a Hammer Arm!"

Zulu roared once more and surged ahead, punching with all his might. The broken door caved instantly, crumbling before the Rampardos' rage and revealing an empty hallway beyond. Reilly made a sarcastic comment under his breath but Darryn didnt rise to the bait. It seemed no snow had managed to penetrate that particular hall - something for which Darryn was very pleased. He recalled November and Zulu swiftly, clipping them back to his belt before picking up Lady and moving to the doorway.

"OK, guys. Let's get the hell out of here."

Posted by: LittleShadowPokemon Feb 20 2010, 06:49 PM

The next Pokemon that Darryn sent out really sent Joey back into the insecurity corner with the inexplicable urge to hide all of his Pokemon forever. Once the Rampardos broke open the door, Joey did his best to shake off those feelings. It seemed his experience with Darryn was just making him vow again and again to get better. Maybe that's the true purpose of a good trainer? Joey didn't know, but he did know that every Pokemon of Darryn's so far was extremely Kick Ass.

The group now consisting of Joey, Darryn, Crystal, and some other boy that wasn't in Joey's favor crawled and stepped over the debris of the now devastated stone door and into the hall. No snow had gotten into it, but it was cracked along one side and seemed to moved over and crooked. They kept running through different halls. Most of the way was travel worthy, while a couple of doors needed a quick combined effort of the boys moving debris or lifting a smaller door that had been rocked off its hinges.

Not much later, the group squeezed through a splintered door frame into a room to relax. Joey, for one, was out of breath after traversing the now-wrecked Castle Vonmoto. The room they appeared to be in must have been the library. Some furniture lay strewn about, and most of the bookcases were upright, except for a few along the far wall that had tilted. Joey decided to catch his breath by checking out the books. He needed anything to get his mind off of this crisis. He felt like he was about to hyperventilate. His expression quickly calmed over the books, indulging in a flashback to the small Daycare in Agate Village, and the skimpy, worn bookcase of even more worn books that Joey basically learned from. These books are much better (even after surviving an avalanche), and there are a lot more than he ever had his hands on. One older looking book caught his eye, but like a lot of things, it was out of his reach. He took one Poke ball out of his front scrubs pocket, and called out Kimiko.

She appeared on an empty space in the shelf with her arms stretched out wide and joyous, probably immune to the fact that an avalanche had just rocked the Castle. Her bright eyes looked up to Joey, ready for his request. He picked her up and said, "Hey beautiful, see that book up there?" They both looked up and Kimiko nodded. "Can you get it for me?" Kimiko answered his question by inflating herself up to that shelf and started pushing the book over to him. It tipped off the shelf and Joey caught it with a hurried thanks. He opened the book and started reading while Kimiko enjoyed herself by walking along the shelf.

While Joey was flipping through the book, Kimiko found a book of her own that she would like. It was colorful and looked to have a lot of pictures. When she reached to pull it out, something from the other side pulled
it back. She pulled again with renewed ambition, only to have it pulled back, and out the other side, with her going along with it! Joey, hearing her cry, looked up to where she had been.

"Kimiko!" Joey ran along the other side, book in hand, to look for his baby Pokemon.

What is going on?

Posted by: Living Arrow Feb 21 2010, 11:37 AM

"Hey, check this out." Darryn beckoned the others to join him at a splintered door frame.

"What's in there?" Crystal asked eagerly. "Is it a way out?"

"Hmm. Don't think so." Darryn ducked his head inside. "But we should probably take a few minutes to grab a drink and a little rest before we move on. Let's have a look inside."

He stepped through, with the other trainers in tow, to find themselves in a poorly lit room with many bookcases strewn about the room. Some bookcases were standing firm and untouched but a whole row at the back of the room had toppled over where the ceiling had collapsed in much the same way the one in the playground room had. Snow and ice decorated those book like sparkling diamonds protecting the pages within.

*Hmm... it's so pretty... maybe I could use ice in an effective appeal move...*

The team appeared to spread out to tend to themselves so Darryn moved to a small reading table to sit and take a drink of water. Lady sprang to the table to sat down in front of him.

<I do not like this place, Prince Darryn.> She said, her usual lofty tone carrying an edge. Darryn opened his Inner Eyes and took note of her Emotaglow. It was purple with a sickly yellow-green tinge. She was mildly afraid but predominantly annoyed. It was understandable.

"Don't worry about it." Darryn cooed as he smoothed her fur. "We'll be out of here in no time and we can get back to Petropolis for the Contest. Lady seemed to tense at the mention of the city but made no comment. "How much further is it, anyway?"

<Well, if this Calypso creature is correct, we should be meeting with one of the other teams three halls from now. From there it won't be difficult to reach the basement.> Lady informed him, each of her six tails waving warily. The stopped dead for an instant and her eyes widened. As soon as the moment came it had passed and Lady was sitting more at ease. <And it seems the blonde male is alive and well - ChromeDome is with him.>

"Thank god." Darryn whispered to himself. "What about the girls?"

<I cannot break through the interference.> Lady replied quickly.

"Really? but Mercury managed to-"

<I cannot break through.> Lady snipped in, looking away with shame.

"No worries." Darryn stroked her curls fondly. "I'm sure they're all alright. It'll take more than a bit of snow to slow Meiko down and I doubt Tuesday and Pan would have many problems."

Trainer and Pokemon rested a little longer before the quiet was broken by Joey's cry.

"Kimiko!"

"Joey!?" Darryn got to his feet quickly and clicked for Lady to follow. They trotted to where Joey was rushing about the bookcases frantically, barely able to see his face in the dim lighting. "Joey? What's wrong?"

Posted by: Protoman Feb 22 2010, 08:10 PM

Completely muffled within his white icy prison, Tyson's hand was waving for assistance. With Blaze being his only help, a quick Ember melted down the snow for him, allowing Tyson to breathe and finally clamber out. After knocking the snow off of himself, he looked around for anyone to be in the room with him.

"Aw man," Tyson yelled in frustration, "I'm behind everyone else!" Tyson, without another word, ran off in search of the others, noticing the splintered door as he ran. "Darryn? Joey? Where are you guys?" Blaze, who was running right next to him, heard voices, but didn't quite know where they were coming from...

Posted by: LittleShadowPokemon Feb 27 2010, 04:54 PM

Joey zipped to the other side of the bookcase only to see a shadow speed away to another bookcase. He raced through the bookcases following the suspicious shadow and shouting Kimiko's name. He heard Darryn coming up behind him. By this time, Joey was nearer to the back of the dim library where the snow crystallized bookcases were domino-ed against each other. The shadow finally accumulated into a spherical entity that Joey had only glimpsed before. The shadow unfurled to reveal a screaming Igglybuff in its grasp, and the lights flickered in the library while a curdling laugh resonated throughout the room.

"Haun.....Haun....Haun....Hauuun!" The shadow solidified into an identity that Joey knew as the Pokemon Haunter, before turning back into the swirling, pulsating abyss of blackened fear. Of course, Joey thought.

"Leave her alone!" Joey shouted while maximizing Jet's Pokeball and tossing it in the air. "Go save Kimiko, Jet!" Joey shouted in an unwonted way. He had always prided himself on his calm exterior, but seeing his own baby Pokemon so afraid, screaming and wiggling in the malicious shadowy grip, disintegrated his serenity completely. As he realized this, he gritted his teeth and tried to get in control of the situation as Jet materialized from energy in front of him.

Immediately, the usually fun-loving Seel put on his battle face with a defiant "Seel!" bark and lowered his horn menacingly. Battle time. Joey smoothly slid into calculating mode. The Haunter was too high up for a Headbutt, so it was a relatively easy choice on which strategy to use. "Jet! Use a Growl attack!"

The Seel braced himself against the floor and sucked in enough air to imitate a Spheal balloon, before throwing his head back in a threatening growl. The Growl attack hit the Haunter and made it waver. It lost some altitude in its loss of focus, low enough for a Headbutt. "Jet, take it out with a Headbutt now!" The Seel flopped its way forward before hitting a length of frost on the floor, making it gain momentum in sliding. When he got close enough, he threw himself up into a headbutt, horn aimed right at the Haunter. He flew forward in the attack, and the look of surprise on both the Seel's and Joey's face was priceless when the attacking Pokemon flew right through the laughing Haunter. Darryn leaned over to Joey and said nonchalantly, "Normal attacks like Headbutt has no effect on Ghost-type Pokemon like Haunter." Joey's self-esteem and pride plummeted and he made a mental note to follow his shame spiral later, when he had time.

However, Jet's attack did bump Kimiko out of the Haunter's grip, and then its look of surprise was great revenge. When Jet met the ground, he quickly gained traction and turned to double back underneath the Haunter and catch Kimiko, who was now smiling and laughing, feeling safe on Jet's back. Jet skidded back to Joey, and the Haunter was looking furious, having his toy stolen. The fully formed Haunter turned towards Joey and his two Pokemon in front of him and started gathering a dark energy between his two detached claws while exuding a malevolent aura flow.

He was wearing a tag, Joey noticed. But he didn't have time to point that out to Darryn before it started to use a Shadow Ball technique.

Posted by: Living Arrow Feb 27 2010, 06:29 PM

“Lady!”

Darryn’s Vulpix sprang into action, nimbly jumping Jet and the rescued Kimiko with a single bound and landing on splayed feet. Even as the dark sphere of ghostly power was fired from the Haunter’s hands, Lady spat free a swirling green orb of her own. Shadow Ball met Energy Ball in a hard collision that exploded on impact, kicking up dust from the surrounding bookcases to cloud the trainers and their Pokemon. Darryn started coughing almost immediately, ducking low and backing away while nudging Joey to follow.

“Ghost Pokemon are really hard to battle and it won’t be any easier in the dark – we should get out of here!” Darryn urged the shorter trainer back through the library, Lady following behind Jet as he lumbered after them. She kept darting glances back, tails flicking menacingly, while she brought up the rear.

<Prince Darryn! The spectre has a tag!> Lady informed Darryn hastily, darting ahead to cut her trainer off from leaving the room. Crystal, who had heard the commotion came running over, looking worried, and Reilly wasn't far behind her.

<So what?! We’re leaving!>

<No! I will win this competition!>

Darryn glared down at his proud Vulpix. She had always been known for her ballsy, bitchy, vain, selfish nature but never had Darryn known her to be competitive unless it was on a stage. Something within the Fox Pokemon had changed, that much was clear. For her to want to continue the treasure hunt even after the apparent avalanche…

<I will not lose to the others!>

<You’re bothered about Jaima and the others beating us to the prize?!> Darryn signalled for Joey to move on but he held firm next to Darryn, not wishing to leave the library on his own. <It doesn’t matter any more – the treasure hunt is over. We can just leave.>

<But what if they have already gotten all three tags?> Lady demanded, waving her tails rhythmically. <I will not lose!>

Joey and Crystal hovered expectantly by the doorway, waiting for Darryn. Reilly simply crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow, waiting for an explanation of what was going on. It was just then that Tyson’s face appeared in the doorway, looking extremely relieved to have found them. Blaze, his Cyndaquil jumped into the room quickly, sniffing at the dusty air. Darryn sighed. There were four of them – it should be easy enough to out-number the Haunter and get the tag – but if any of the other trainers found themselves battling 1-on-1 with the Ghost type, they’d be in for a good deal of bruising. The Haunter would be no match for a Pokemon of Lady’s strength but it could fight far better in the dark than she could, even with her psychic abilities.

“Guys, before we leave we have two options.” Darryn told them all, holding up his fingers to count off their choices. “One. We just make a run for the basement and get out of here in one piece. Or two. We try to get the last two tags before we go and try to win this treasure hunt competition thing. There is a Haunter in here that has a tag that we need and we know that the Tyrogue back in the playground room have the other. If we work together, we can get both and move on in no time but we all have to agree – our safety comes first before any competition.”

He looked around the collected trainers and shrugged.

“So, what’s it to be?”

Posted by: Protoman Feb 27 2010, 07:43 PM

After breathing heavily for a few moments, Tyson began to gather his thoughts into speech, gaining the attention of Darryn.

"I say," Tyson began, swallowing before opening his mouth again, "that we stick around and get the other tags." With his muscles tightening and his pulse now slowly returning to normal, Tyson felt the weakness in his legs set in. With a wobble and a deep breath, Tyson placed his palms onto his kneecaps, breathing extremely heavy and dripping sweat onto the floor. "Phew! Man, am I outta shape," Tyson said, looking up at the rest of the group.

Posted by: Puck Feb 28 2010, 12:34 AM

"I've been thinking this game was useless since we started," Reilly snapped, reaching to his belt and pulling off a pokeball, "but I really hate haunter." He tossed the pokeball into the air, letting it flash open, fireballs exploding in accordance to the seal as a short theme song played. A growlithe appeared from the flames, running lighting across the snow.

"Phoenix, odor sleuth, if you would, so we can finish this stupid battle."

The female growlithe's dark green eyes glowed red, and beams abruptly shot from their depths at the haunter. Odor Sleuth took its effect, allowing the haunter to be struck by moves of a normal, as well as a fighting type.

This would be over in but a moment.

"Phoenix, go at it with flame wheel. Indiana, mach punch."

The monferno hanging from Reilly's shoulder let go, landing on the ground and kicking off into a flip with a shrieking cry. He landed in front of the haunter and pulled his fist back, red and orange energy surging around it, before he slammed his powered fist into the haunter's ugly face, sending the startled ghost pokemon reeling with a cry of "haun haun haun..."

Indiana leapt backward with a flip, right over top of the flame wheel that Phoenix sent hurtling at the haunter.

Reilly gave a mocking yawn of boredom, making sure to glance back and catch the pretty boy's eye. He wasn't the only one with kickass pokemon - Reilly's were even better.

"Indiana, fury swipes and blaze kick!"

With a shriek, the monferno swiped his claws at the haunter, digging his nails deep into the creature's ectoplasmic flesh with every swipe, shocking the already confused haunter further by the possibility of such a manuever. Before the haunter could recover, Indiana's leg was surrounded by fire, and he aimed a kick at the ghost pokemon's head.

"Lady, use energy ball!"

Reilly smirked. "Finally decided to the join th- HEY!" Reilly spun to face Darryn when the green glowing ball of energy slammed into Indiana, rather than the haunter. "What do you think you're doing?"

"The pokemon holding tags belong to Mr. Vonmoto," Darryn said sharply. "We're not supposed to hurt them."

Reilly clenched his hands into fists at his sides, searching for something to say. In all truth, he had forgotten about that, and had been frustrated that Darryn's pokemon had saved them. He had been caught up in the idea of looking cooler than the pretty boy in front of a crowd, and instead, he had screwed up.

There were about ten seconds where he thought he might try to explain himself, but then his pride kicked back in, and he turned to his growlithe in anger. "Phoenix, roar."

The growlithe obeyed instantly, turning to the haunter and throwing her head forward as she roared viciously. The haunter cried out in terror and fled through the wall, dropping the tag in its haste to pass through something solid where they couldn't follow.

Reilly recalled Phoenix and Indiana, as he turned swiftly. "There," he said, as he shoved past Darryn, pushing the boy out of the way roughly with his shoulder, "it's not hurt."

He ignored the lot of them and kept on walking.

Posted by: Living Arrow Feb 28 2010, 07:24 AM

"What a douche." Darryn sneered after Reilly's back as he stalked from the room. "I really can't stand that kid."

The other three trainers all shifted uneasily. Clearly Darryn and Reilly's little exchange of words had made them uncomfortable and rightly so. Darryn flushed red with embarrasment and shrugged to the collated trainers.

"Sorry about that, guys." He apologised with a regretful shake of his head. "We shouldn't have done that - we just don't get on, that's all."

"Clearly." Crystal muttered.

<Lady, where is Reilly going?> Darryn asked his Pokemon with a tad of worry. <He shouldn't be walking off like that - brat or not.>

<I am afraid he is just getting anywhere that is away from you, Prince Darryn.> Lady replied with a lofty sniff. <Good riddance.>

<Aww, dammit. Can you let Master Vonmoto know that he is wandering off so someone can find and guide him to the basement?>

<As you wish, Prince Darryn.>

The atmosphere in the dusty library had fallen like a lead balloon after the outburst between Co-Ordinator and trainer but the original question still remained. Did they complete the treasure hunt or not? True, it was dangerous to waste time in getting down to the basement but Darryn felt responsible for Lady's happiness and the other trainers' safety. At least asking them gave them the oppotunity to dispute continuing with the original mission.

"So, everyone? Do we go for the final tag?" Darryn asked, his stomach pitting with guilt that Reilly had run away because of him.

Posted by: LittleShadowPokemon Feb 28 2010, 01:44 PM

Joey recalled his now relieved Seel and Igglybuff in slight shame. It may have been him in trouble, but two other clearly experienced trainers had completely stepped in and taken over. While he didn't really like the thought, he knew realistically it had saved him. He indulged in his shame spiral now more than ever because he too, like the trainer with the Monferno and Growlithe, had attacked with the intent to hurt, and while his attack hadn't done anything, he was now greatly relieved that it hadn't, otherwise it could have been a grave mistake. He didn't remember to not hurt the Pokemon. He reasoned through it like this: Since it made the first move, and the Castle had just been rocked by a devastating avalanche, this was an extremely different situation, where survival and safety were made a priority, and Joey subconsciously assumed in the back of his mind that all previous bets were off; new rules reigned.

Another reasoning went like this: If all possible, it was best not to worsen the situation, and follow the golden rule of not hurting the Pokemon of the Castle. And since it was possible, there was no need to do otherwise. Joey reasoned himself through a resolution that everything worked out for the best, and his Pokemon were just too little to play with the big boys right now. He inwardly cringed at the last phrase. He looked up and finally came back into his physical surroundings from his long line of thought and realized that something had happened, and the other boy was gone, and Darryn was looking troubled.

"Sorry about that, guys." He apologized with a regretful shake of his head. "We shouldn't have done that - we just don't get on, that's all."

Joey was curious as to what happened exactly between the two, but chalked it up to rivalry. He looked around for the other boy, and concluded he must have left. Darryn was now looking with a far-off look in his eye, and his Vulpix had the same look. The short black-clad boy decided to let it be and walked over to where the Haunter had fled, trying not to draw attention to himself, and started playing with his dog tag around his neck while he looked around for the tag. It had fallen in a small pile of snow after clattering against the solid wall, and he quickly wiped his dog tag free of fingerprints with his sleeve and stooped to pick up the tag. Then he quickly back-stepped away from the wall, slightly afraid of the possibility of the Haunter's return.

He started walking back towards the group in time to hear Darryn say, "So, everyone? Do we go for the final tag?" with a catch in his voice. Something was troubling him, Joey finally clued in on, but he wasn't one to trouble with human emotions, and then he felt his own guilt considering that boy had saved him at least twice now.

Taking out his Spinda plushie that he had won back in Barley, he wrapped the tag securely around its neck. Now they were both wearing necklaces and pendants. Then he turned back to the group after tucking the plushie away into his front scrubs pocket opposite of the one holding his Pokeballs in order to hide it, although he didn't know why.

"I say, we go after the final tag. We've come this far, and we know who has the other tag." Joey spoke up, hoping to be acknowledged by the group instead of drowned out in other chatter like usual.

Posted by: Living Arrow Mar 5 2010, 01:35 PM

"So we're going to get the last tag, I guess..." Darryn inwardly sighed. Lady stretched out her muscles as though preparing herself for the extra effort but the smug tint to her eyes was plain for all to see. After he had unofficially been appointed the group's leader, Darryn had felt that safety should come first for every human and Pokemon following behind him but if they were going to forego that themselves, who was he to stop them?

"Well, I don't think those Tyrogue are going to be easy to dig out," Darryn started looking between the trainers with some thought, "but there are bound to be other Pokemon in the castle that have tags too, right? So if we bump into any along the way to the basement we can just get it and keep heading on our way."

<I can locate the tag.> Lady announced to Darryn privately, her eyes already glowing a hazy blue.

<But what about the interference from the other psychics?> Darryn asked quickly but got no response as his Vulpix clearly strained her mind to reach out into the castle. There was a long wait involved, Lady's brows furrowing deeply as she struggled to explore through the walls of the castle with her mind alone. From previous experience, Darryn knew that Lady's capabilities were a lot greater than simply scanning a castle but with all of the psychic action amid the stone walls she was coming up against barriers she had never had to cross before.

<It's ok, Lady - you can stop.> Darryn told her softly, with more than a little worry in his thought-voice. Joey moved as though to speak but stopped himself as a low growl began in Lady's throat. WIth a cough, she pitched forward and collapsed in a heap, blood trickling from her nose.

"Lady!" Darryn scooped up his Vulpix faster than a Kangaskhan with child, cradling her to his chest protectively.

<Corridor. Left. Third right. Second door... on right...> She finished slowly, daring Darryn to mother him any more. He bit back his response of her being folish to try something so difficult and instead encouraged the others to follow him back into the depths of the castle. They all followed willingly as Darryn brought them to the spot where Lady had inidcated and nodded at the door for one of the others to step forward.

The hall they had come down was relatively untouched by snow but from the looks of things the room beyond had suffered the same fate as the playground room as ice crept from under the door.

Posted by: Living Arrow Mar 11 2010, 03:57 PM

Darryn's hand reached out to the door handle to push it open but was frozen short by mere centimeters as a deafeninng rumble echoed along the passageway. His head flicked to the left in unison with the sounds, turning towards the source of the noise with wide eyes.

"W-what was that?!" Joey edged nervously closer to Darryn as the Co-Ordinator's hand instinctively went to his belt. Lady tensed in Darryn's arms, her ears pricking up to their full height despite her weakend state.

"Another avalanche?" Crystal supplied, peering into the dark corridor nervously.

Another ground-shaking rumble sent tremors through the trainers' feet but this time the sound was accompanied by the very faint sound of a high-pitched scream.

"Someone's in trouble!" Tyson clenched his fists together.

"And that didn't sound like an avalanche..." Joey murmured quietly.

"I think you're right." Darryn nodded, suddenly aware that the four humans had all unconsciously moved closer together. "Lady... could you?"

<I know I'm asking a lot but we can't run into trouble if we're not prepared - it could just get a whole lot worse.> Darryn emoted to his Pokemon.

<As you wish, Prince Darryn.> Came the predictable reply.

A long moment passed as the trainers steadied their breath and nerves while Lady scouted the source of the rumble and screams with her psychic abilities but once her eyes stopped glowing, they were wide with urgency.

<Your female companion! She is in trouble!> Lady alerted Darryn immediately and almost as quickly, he broke into a run.

"Hey, Darryn!" Tyson hollered, chasing after with Joey and Crystal not far behind, but the Co-Ordinator wasn't listening.

*Meiko?! Tuesday?! I've got to help them!* He berated himself, sprinting down the stone hallway with Lady guiding his feet. As though hearing her thoughts, Lady's voice blossomed once more in Darryn's mind.

<Your friend from when you were a child... She is hurt.>

If anything, that just made Darryn run faster.