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Posted by: Toogee May 16 2014, 12:44 PM

http://forums.gtsplus.net/index.php?showtopic=71222

“Darius Dovakin, the rising trainer of dragons, has finally exited the woods of Furoh to take on the fields of Loch Ranch. A mysterious voice (yours truly) has taken residence in his mind, demanding that he solves a riddle: go to the darkest corner behind a lock that needs no key. Not even the wood fence surrounding the ranch would stop the dragon trainer from finding this fiend. One could only imagine the strong words he had in store for this mysterious telepath, er, I mean me.”

“Hey, I’m the only one who can hear you! You don’t have to keep repeating why I’m here over and over again! I get it!”

“Darius gazed in frustration over the foothills of Mt. Carello that made up the ranch. Green fields stretched for miles. A herd of stantler galloped over these hills, playing about in the morning sun. A flock of tailow flew overhead, searching for the ranchers that would spread out the feed. Amon all the scenery, Darius had an epiphany.”

“Wait…if you’re describing all this stuff and it’s happening now, that means you’re here! Show yourself!”

“Darius turned all around to find any pokemon that were watching him. What he found caused him to jump back. The blank pink eyes of an espurr looked right up to him. Darius had never encountered such a pokemon; it looked like something out of a horror movie. Clearly, he was scared.”

“I’m not scared! It caught me offguard, whatever it is.”

“Scared out of his mind.”

“SHUT UP!”

“Mighty Dovakin cowers to a little kitty cat. Perhaps he will cry.”

“ARRR THIS IS YOU!”

“Esp!”

“Darius drew his sword and pointed it to the espurr, convinced that the voice in his head was coming from the pokemon. Naturally, the espurr turned tail and fled, not wanting to find out what Darius was going to do with his sword. The dragon trainer gave chase, determined to finally end this madness…”

“Get out of my head, you scary- I mean, scaredy cat!”
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nessie was running across the field and up the steps of the Loch residence. She found her grandpa reading the paper, while her grandma was cooking a big breakfast for the staff. The girl entered the dining room, taking a moment to catch her breath.

“Gramps! Granny! There’s a man chasing our pokemon!”

“Ah, another rambunctious trainer trying to prove his might,” John Loch replied, barely looking up from the paper. “Grab your pokemon and sort him out. Get Molly to back you up.”

“But this guy has a sword and he keeps yelling at…nothing.”

John put down his paper; this certainly didn’t happen every day. He rubbed his mustache to ponder the situation.

“Should I call the police?” Nessie asked.

“That shouldn’t be necessary right now. Besides, Scott’s way closer. His number should be on my desk. See if he’s around.”

“And ask how he likes his eggs,” Virginia added.

Posted by: 7eeveelutions May 16 2014, 08:16 PM

"This is really starting to piss me off!!!!" Scott growled as he walked along a stand of trees that was just outside his property. "I'm really starting to wonder if he really exists at all."

Behind him, a pair of small Eevees walked in his footsteps, doing their best to avoid the two-foot-tall grass that surrounded everything in the area. Behind the Eevees, a relatively pretty teenage girl followed a few feet behind, and behind her was an Electrike. Both she and Scott wore the deep red vests that signalled to everyone nearby that they were Rangers.

"But the Lochs said they've seen him several times, and other trainers in the area have reported a few brief sightings as well," the girl said.

"I don't care, Amber. I'm telling you, he doesn't actually exist. They must have seen some kind of other Grass-type, maybe even a shiny something which they mistook for...... wait......" Scott looked down at the dirt briefly, before muttering, "No, never mind, it's nothing.

The two Rangers were discussing multiple sightings over the past few months of a very rare Pokemon that happened to fall under Scott's team's specialty- a Leafeon. However, this Leafeon hadn't shown so much as a footprint to either of them or any of their Pokemon, or to Scott's Braviary or the local pair of Ranger Staraptors, or to any of the workers building Scott's new Ranger Station. As a result, Scott was seriously beginning to wonder if there was really a Leafeon at all. Most of the sightings had been around dawn or dusk, when the Eeveelution was presumably moving from a sunlit area to a place where he or she could shelter for the night. It was currently just after dawn, so they'd probably already missed the fox, but it was worth trying regardless.

"Whatever. I give up for today. Let's head back."

Scott walked over to a small wooden fence nearby and jumped over it, with the rest of his party following. The fence was all that separated his land from the surrounding wilderness, but seeing as his land was mostly fruit and berry trees which he didn't regularly tend to, he didn't feel much of a need to keep people from intruding. And besides, he had a huge scary eagle guarding his land. If anyone could beat that eagle, beating him and Amber and the entire construction crew would be a simple task by comparison.

But as the group left, not a single one of them noticed a large tan-and-green fox stir in the grass next to the fence......
____________________________________________________

After about 15 minutes of walking, the pair of Rangers and their teams of Pokemon made it back to the location of Scott's house- or rather, where the house used to be. Currently, it was nothing more than a three-foot-deep crater and a single wall of charred wood, the result of a lightning bolt causing a fire that reached a poorly-placed propane tank. The explosion had leveled most of the first floor of the house, leaving the second floor to collapse in on it. And not only did the explosion take out the house, but it took out both of Scott's parents and all of their Pokemon except for Braviary. Scott had no siblings and barely knew his grandparents (who lived in Sinnoh), so he was essentially living alone until Ranger Command decided his land would be a good spot for a new Ranger Station. Now, as the station was being built, Amber was living with him.

Behind the house and under a giant apple tree were the graves of his family. In front of the house were the foundation and walls of the new Ranger Station, with six construction workers and a team of Fighting-type Pokemon scurrying around trying to get it built.

It was going to be a special station- Scott's parents had been rich and had left him with plenty of money, and a substantial part of that was going to upgrading the station beyond the minimum that Ranger Command payed for. In addition to the standard living area, two bedrooms, two offices to work from, and a commons area for passing Trainers to visit, Scott was adding a third bedroom, two storage rooms, a cellar, moving all the living areas to the second floor and expanding the commons area. In addition to that, a tower was being built along the side of the building closest to the rubble of Scott's house (from the road, this is the back side). This tower would be about six stories high, with a two-floor section at the top. The bottom of the two floors would be a work area and observation deck and would include some nice radio equipment. The top floor would be an aviary, where Braviary and any visiting Ranger birds could stay.

Since it was out in the country, the building would still be heated by propane...... but this time the propane tank was being installed well away from the house.

In addition to this, Scott was thinking of having a second house built and then renting that house out to someone who could look after the fruit and berry trees on his land. Plus, he was having space cleared to make a field wide enough for a full-size transport helicopter to land, although he wasn't planning on actually buying a helicopter.

Scott stood staring at the single wall that remained from his previous house. His two Eevees had been returned to their Pokeballs, and Amber was sitting nearby with her Electrike. "You know, it would be really funny if that Leafeon is avoiding you specifically because you're looking for him."

Scott grunted, and opened his mouth to respond, However, his cell phone began ringing and interrupted him. "Hmm...... it's the Lochs. The probably want us to visit them for breakfast."

"I'm always up for thier cooking. Nobody fixes eggs like Mrs. Loch does," Amber said, and Scott answered the phone.

"Hello? Yes, it's me. Yeah, I'm back at my tree farm right now. ...... huh? You can't be serious."

Amber suddenly looked concerned as she listened to Scott talk and recalled her Electrike back to her Pokeball.

"That's...... this guy must be high on drugs or something. I'd stay away from him, Amber and I will deal with him when we get there. Hmm? Yes, we'd love to stay for breakfast afterwards, but there's no telling how long this will take. Ruby is probably over on your land somewhere already though, so she might take this nutcase down before we even get there. Wait...... you said he had a sword? As in, a longsword? A broadsword!?!? What is wrong with this guy? Does he think he's some kind of...... nevermind. We'll be there soon. Bye."

Scott looked sideways at Amber. "Apparently, some guy with a broadsword is running around the Loch Ranch attacking random Pokemon, so I guess we'll be getting a workout before breakfast. Do you still have that handgun you got off that robber a week ago by any chance......?"

Amber shook her head. "No, I gave it to the police in Baccate Town. They wanted it as evidence for some other crimes."

"Great. So we have to deal with a guy that has a broadsword and is probably high on drugs...... with no weapons of our own. This will be fun. I'd better not end up in the hospital again."

The walk to Loch Ranch was a little over three miles, so even while running it would probably take them a good 25-30 minutes to get there.
________________________________________

Meanwhile, Ruby the Vulpix had woken up very early that morning and was already out at Loch Ranch looking for any male fox-like or cat-like Pokemon to flirt with.

Instead, she found an intruder with a broadsword.

She had been trained by Scott specifically to be able to act on her own without his input. As a result, she was perfectly capable of taking down foes on her own, whether the foe happened to be an angry Pokemon or a thieving human or even just someone who challenged her to a battle. However, the broadsword changed things. She'd been taught not to go after anyone with a weapon, even if it was just a knife, except in self-defense, but at the same time that had been assuming she was the only potential target.

But it seemed like in this case, everyone was a valid target for this guy wearing a cape. As a result, she felt that she had to at least do something......

Scott had given Ruby her own custom-made Ranger vest to wear, so that when she patrolled on her own other Trainers could distinguish her from a wild Pokemon. The vest was the same red color as the ones human Rangers wore, and had four pockets so that she could hold multiple items. There was one pocket on each side of the vest and two on her back, a small top pocket and a larger bottom pocket. The top pocket held a GPS device so that Scott always knew her general location, while the other pockets were currently empty.

The vest, of course, also made her a relatively tempting target for the less-friendly people and creatures out in the world, and the Vulpix was very well aware of this as she stepped around a tree, positioning herself directly behind the broadsword-wielding human.

Her first course of action was to try and restrict his movement by surrounding him with a tornado of fire- Fire Spin.

Posted by: Hydra May 17 2014, 06:04 AM

"I'm going to knock some sense into you buffoons if the both of you don't stop fighting each other!"

"If that old man is not already dead by the next time I see him, I'll make sure that old coot is rotting in his grave for pulling such a foul act on Me!"

Hot-headed as ever Sebastian was letting his anger bustle out in the form of abuse. It had been the prospect of gaining two new pokemon over one that had Sebastian so attached to the trade he had made with the old man in Petropolis, little did the fiery haired young adult know that the two new pokemon that would be joining his team were seemingly always fighting each other and disobeying orders. After acquiring his two new team members Sebastian was focused on searching the nearby caves of Petropolis that had been rumored to contain rare items, and the prospect of finding a Magmarizer and Electerizer for the future evolution of Magby and Elekid was a bright one. Things went from bad to worse for Sebastian though as he and his team had been unsuccessful in their venture through the caves to find any rare items, this had topped off a day that the escapee from Unova would not forget anytime soon.

It was quite possibly the silliest mistake that Sebastian had made since his final event in Unova, but the young man was content to let his pokemon stay out of their pokeballs most of the time in case any wild pokemon appeared that they could hone their skills upon. Blade the Scyther and Jaws the Totodile had been attempting to stop Magby and Elekid from picking on each other as they traveled along, however their attempts were futile as no matter how hard the duo tried the pair of troublemakers just kept going at it. Sebastian's point of view towards the latest additions to his team as bitter rivals, and that was one thing that he was not going to put up with in his team. A formidable team was exactly what Sebastian was trying to build, however the pair of Elekid and Magby obviously were not showing any interest in being part of their new trainers team as they consistently disobeyed his orders to stop what they were doing, and that was leaving a very sour taste in Sebastian's mouth, their antics were starting to become so tedious that their trainer was thinking of abandoning them.

"Why can't those two be like you?"

At least Sebastian knew that Blade had gained trust in him over time and would listen to him as the boy professed to his bug type pokemon that he was model for what he was wishing his new pair of pokemon would be like. At times the young mans only company was his foursome of pokemon as he was trying his best to keep a low profile whilst traveling the Furoh region to ensure that the special forces of the Unova region could not find him, majority of the time whilst traveling Sebastian would often scan his surroundings to make sure that he was not being watched by anyone.

Since leaving Petropolis in anger from an unsuccessful venture, Sebastian had been making his way towards the Furoh-famous Loch Ranch. After eavesdropping on a group of civilians in Petropolis on his way out of the city, Sebastian had learnt the rumor that there were some strong pokemon near and inhibiting Loch Ranch, and that prospect of strengthening his team before returning to the city to eventually challenging the gym leader was a bright one. Most trainers would only be able to acquire pokemon via trade or capture, but Sebastian felt he had an upper-hand with his adept thievery skills, however he was hoping not to use them whilst at Loch Ranch in case he got caught, then things would go even more downhill then they already had been going.

It had been a few long and strenuous days for Sebastian and his team as they followed a rain soaked map towards their destination of Loch Ranch. According to the map and the landmarks that were on it, Sebastian had worked out that he was on the home stretch of heading towards the famous ranch. Keeping level headed had been a tough task to say the least for Sebastian as he had put up with the different spectrum's of weather in heavy rain and then boiling sunlight, let alone having to put up with the ever energetic duo of Magby and Elekid always being pests when allowed to roam free from their pokeballs. Despite the actions of Magby and Elekid since obtaining the pair, Sebastian was not inclined to simply abandoning them as he had payed a price to get them, and he felt that since he had been tricked that sometime in the near future he might play the same card on someone else if the young pair of pokemon did not improve their maturity. Whilst following the dirt road towards Loch Ranch Sebastian had been envisioning in his mind of how exactly he was going to survey the pokemon of Loch Ranch without being caught in the act.

Posted by: Toogee May 18 2014, 12:06 PM

“Those stubby legs can’t save you now, villain!”

“One would think that my calm demeanor of speaking would not match the blind panic of the cat Darius was chasing. Perhaps his desire for revenge blinded him from logic. Oh look, fire.”

“Gah! What is this?!”

“Darius found himself in a fiery cage. He grabbed his cape to avoid catching on fire. This was certainly not the espurr’s doing; that cat didn’t even bother to look back as he kept running. Perhaps the pokemon wasn’t the culprit after all. The dragon trainer turned all around and faced the perpetrator of the fire attack: a vulpix with a rather dapper red vest.”

“Hah! You admit it!” Darius said to the vulpix. “Only you would comment on that sweet vest with all the pockets! Guard yourself, narrator! Don’t think I can be contained so easily!”

“Darius stabbed his sword into the ground, trading his weapon for a pokeball. He tossed the ball through the streams of fire, though he burned his hand doing so. Darius sucked on his burnt knuckles to alleviate the pain, while his charmander emerged. Aw, are those jazz hands?”

“Enough with the jazz hands, Bindy! This is the thing that’s been in my head. Now he’s trying to cook me! Dragon’s Rage!”

“Bindy put down her performance hands and faced her opponent. As she shouted out, a stream of blue flames lashed out at the vulpix. Oh dear, whatever will I do to avoid this?”

Posted by: 7eeveelutions May 18 2014, 08:10 PM

"Scarlet needs to hurry up and evolve into an Espeon, that way she'll be able to teleport us all the way to and from Loch Ranch without ever having to run there again!" Amber said as she and Scott ran.

"Sounds like a great idea, but I don't know if Scarlet will even be able to teleport herself, much less teleport one or both of us!"

"Well, evolve her already and find out!"

"She will evolve when she's ready! It's not like Ruby where I can evolve her whenever I please!"

There was a brief pause, followed by "Well, at least it isn't really hot or really cold today."

Their good-natured, if somewhat random, conversation continued as they ran past a guy with spiky orange hair.

"I wonder if Ruby's already attacked that guy? I hope she's okay," Amber said.

"I'm sure she's fine. No amateur with a sword is going to be able to hit her. Maybe she even scared him off with her willingness to attack or something."
_____________________________________________________

Ruby was confused for a moment. Confused enough that her mind briefly drew a blank card and her train of thought crashed.

She wasn't surprised that the sword-guy was going to use a Pokemon to attack her while he was trapped inside Fire Spin. However, the choice of Charmander was rather weird, and now it was trying to use a fire attack to stop her. Had this guy never encountered a Vulpix before or something?

It was only a moment before the blue flames impacted her that she realized they weren't part of a Fire-type attack, but rather a Dragon-type attack. By this time it was far too late to evade the flames, so she simply stood there and took the damage from them silently. Luckily, her vest was fire-resistant, not that lighting it on fire would have actually hurt her.

It took her a moment to sort through her senses and figure out what had actually happened, and to attempt a counterattack.

She looked disinterestedly at the Charmander, and her tails began to grow a bright purple color before all six of them shot off a small orb of purple energy. Each orb went flying towards the Charmander, but instead of hitting him they began to circle him at faster and faster speeds before detonating in a bright flash of light.

Confuse Ray.

And to back it up, she quickly made a follow-up attack with her other "psychic-like" move Disable, which had her tails and her eyes glowing a different, darker shade of purple before she attacked with an invisible wave of energy to disrupt and confuse the Charmander even further.

Of course, she had no idea if the Confuse Ray had actually worked, as it was a new move of hers as well. However, Disable was a trusty move and she was sure it had taken effect. Throughout both attacks, she still did not move from her initial location.

All that was left to see was how the sword-guy and his Charmander were going to react. She readied herself to run in case the Trainer came after her with his sword now that the Fire Spin tornado had dissipated.

Posted by: Hydra May 19 2014, 06:37 AM

Constantly looking around to scan his surroundings the fiery haired young adult from the Unova region felt as though he was being watched by someone or something nearby. Despite the ruckus that Bolt and Flame were making it was Sebastian's keen eye for detail and adept ability to hear the slightest of movements that proved his thoughts to be true. As Sebastian turned his head to look on the path that he had been walking along he noticed a tall thin guy and a tall thing girl both dressed in what looked to be ranger uniforms who both had brown hair that was moving around as they ran at a pace much faster then the casual walk that Sebastian and his crew were doing. Thankfully it seemed that the pair had only shunned a glance towards Sebastian as they ran past him, the looks on their faces showed that they were indeed in a rush, and by logic they were headed towards Loch Ranch if they were to continue following the path. Once they were out of sight Blade looked quizzically towards his trainer, and it didn't take long for the usually aggressive male with fire like hair to respond to his pokemon,

"Looks like things may get more interesting then I first thought they would!"

Always up to a challenge Sebastian had a smirk on his face as he realized how isolated Loch Ranch was compared to other places in the Furoh region, chances were that the pair who were in a rush were similar to the local police, exactly the people that Sebastian wanted to keep his distance from. Turning his attention back to the path ahead of him Sebastian noticed a brown entrance like gate that had the words 'Loch Ranch' painted delicately against the smooth wood. The traveling had been increasingly difficult having to put up with the 'pest pair' of Magby and Elekid, but finally it seemed they had taken a break from their antics as they set their sights on the path ahead and noticed just as their trainer had the ranch owned pokemon that roamed a fenced in area.

"So we finally arrive and you two fools finally decide to shut-up, you want to keep your mouth shut as well or I'll leave you to rot in this overrated pig-stye!"

Not one for fun and games Sebastian had a stern tone to accompany his message to Magby and Elekid, they were on their last straw by the sounds of it. So far only Blade and Jaws had proven to be mature enough to realize that consequences were likely if they were to misbehave, and their trainer respected that they were not acting like his latest additions to the team. As Sebastian passed under the gate like entrance of Loch Ranch the fiery haired trainer noticed nearby in the corner of his eye what looked to be a Vulpix in combat against a Charmander, the criminal side of Sebastian seen it as a nice diversion to help him enter the ranch without being noticed, his only problem it seemed would be getting back out of their again when things calmed down, but at the current time Sebastian was not worried about that as soldiered on towards the fence that caged in the ranch pokemon, Sebastian was constantly keeping an eye out in case he were to be seen.

Posted by: Toogee May 23 2014, 08:41 AM

“The vulpix countered with a pair of psychic attacks, which only cemented Darius’s view that this pokemon was indeed the culprit. Bindy was left twirling about, dazed by the psychic barrage of attacks. That only made Darius more determined to defeat this foe.”

“Oh, so you think you can do this to both of us?” he said to the vulpix, walking to the battle after the fire dissipated. “You may screw with my head all you want, but you can’t do this to Bindy! Not without a fight! Scratch!”

“DEEERRRRRRRRR!”

“The charmander emitted a rather goofy growl as she charged towards the vulpix. Her arms whirled like windmills as she attempted to deliver the attack.”

“And stop referring to yourself in third person! It’s stupid!”

“Am I doing that? Last I checked, I wasn’t a vulpix. Or a girl for that matter.”

!

Posted by: 7eeveelutions May 23 2014, 07:09 PM

"Scarlet, shield Ruby with Protect!"

As a clearly disinterested Ruby stood in front of Charmander and didn't even try to dodge the attack (presumably waiting for the last second to dodge, a bad habit of hers) as she kept her eyes on the Charmander's Trainer and his sword, a small female Eevee darted in from the side, positioned herself in front of Ruby and then suddenly created a bright yellow-green bubble of energy. The bubble extended about two feet from her body in every direction.

It was her newest move, Protect. It was also the first TM used by Scott for any of his Pokemon.

"Veeeeee!!!!!!!!!" The little Eevee did her best to growl menacingly as Charmander's claws bounced harmlessly off of her energy shield, although even her best attempt at being scary probably wouldn't have even scared a Caterpie.

A few seconds later Scott ran up behind Scarlet and Ruby, panting. Amber was close behind him, and her Electrike, Nikila, was beside her.

"*pant* Why...... *pant* Why couldn't you get Command to build the station a little closer to the ranch when we knew we'd be here all the time???" Amber complained to Scott before the two Rangers turned their attention to the other Trainer and his Charmander.

"Looks like Mr. Loch wasn't kidding when he said it was a broadsword......" Scott muttered. "Well, at least he's attacking Ruby with something other than the sword. Even still, I should have brought Braviary with me......"

He then raised his voice, speaking to the opposing Trainer. "We were called here because someone entered Loch Ranch without permission and started attacking things with a broadsword. Seeing as you have a broadsword, you're the main suspect here. It would be best if you surrendered and we aren't forced to take you down, but that is your choice."

Scott picked a Great Ball off of his belt. This belonged to his second and also rather weak Eevee, Ebony, but for all the opposing Trainer knew it held a dragon. Amber did likewise with her baby Absol's Pokeball.

"So what will you do now? If you are willing to give up, step away from your sword and recall your Charmander, and we'll go from there. If not, you are in for quite the beating," Amber continued in Scott's place.

Posted by: Toogee May 31 2014, 11:40 AM

“Hey!” Darius said to the rangers “Can’t you see I’m in the middle of a conversation? I will buy your cookies later!”

“Darius, completely forgetting that he was in the middle of a battle, dismissed the perplexed parksmen as junior rangers out on a fundraiser. Bindy was left on the ground, poking at the protect bubble. The stupefied look upon her face disappeared into shock as the bubble dissipated. She had to sit down to take it in, though the charmander remained polite and waved at the eevee and vulpix before her.”

“Oh, right, I had nearly forgotten about Darius. He looked up to the sky, quite angry that I had tricked him so.”

“That’s right, Narrator! I’m looking at you! Now, if you’re not a vulpix, what are you?!”

“As I said before, go to the darkest corner behind a lock that needs no key. Until then, we shall continue our little game.”

“Curse you! Curse you and your ancestors! I’ll find you!”

“Darius pulled his sword out of the ground and sheathed it. He then picked up his charmander, hoisted her on his shoulder, and went on his way. Bindy waved goodbye at the rangers and pokemon while Darius focused on his next move.”

Posted by: 7eeveelutions May 31 2014, 01:10 PM

"...... huh?"

"...... what?"

The two Rangers looked at each other, entirely confused.

"He said something about cookies. Does he have cookies? I want a cookie," Amber wondered.

"No, I think he thought we had cookies."

"Do you?"

"Of course not. You would have already sensed them and bitten me until I gave them to you, just like the previous three times I've tried hiding cookeis from you," Scott muttered.

"What was that?"

"Squawk squawk squawk squawk squawk."

"...... what?"

"Nothing. Let's just deal with this guy already. He clearly isn't in his right mind. And why does his Charmander keep waving at us? Is it just really friendly or is there something wrong with it too?"

"Ruby might have confused it."

"That makes sense...... I guess."

They and their Pokemon looked off in the direction their foe had gone. "Well, since he's still technically trespassing, I guess we can't just leave him be. I'd love it if he ran across some elite trainer's dragon though. That would be fun to watch," Amber said.

Thinking back to what had happened on Mt. Arasam a few weeks ago with the Mega Absol, Scott muttered, "No, it wouldn't be very fun to watch......" His shoulder instantly started hurting again, even though the injuries received that day had since healed.

"Hmm? Did you say something?"

"Yeah, I said you and Nikila should start tracking that guy already. I need to heal Ruby."

He returned Scarlet to her Pokeball, and then returned Ebony to his Pokeball as well- the small male Eevee had been hiding in a nearby bush, waiting for a chance to pickpocket the insane Trainer of whatever he might be able to use against Scott and Amber using Covet (other than the broadsword, since he couldn't lift it). He then picked up Ruby and rummaged through his bag for some Oran berries as Amber bent down to talk to her Electrike.

"I need you to track him for us. He shouldn't be very far ahead of us, so it shouldn't be hard."

The average-sized female Electrike nodded and set off on her way with her nose to the ground as her Trainer followed. Scott followed several paces behind, still holding Ruby.

"Looks like we might have to immobilize him so he doesn't keep wandering off. "

Posted by: Toogee Jun 5 2014, 09:24 AM

“It’s you! Or it’s you! I know it’s one of you messing with my head, so confess now!”

“Darius had stopped his running once he came across his next suspect. Or suspects. It was rather confusing, addressing both ends of a girafarig. While Bindy was sitting on the ground in an attempt to refocus her head after confusion, the dragon trainer kept circling around the long neck pokemon. He narrowed his eyes to discern any tell from either face. The front half looked confused, while the back half was snapping his jaws in anticipation of striking.”

“Stop acting like you’re not in front of me!”

“ Darius yelled straight into the face of the girafarig’s front half. The pokemon responded with a shrug…and Darius flew backwards. He rolled as he landed on the ground, sort of like a really loud and obnoxious ball. The girafarig smiled: this wasn’t some annoying human. This was a toy! The psychic pokemon propelled Darius further along, chasing after him with glee.”

“Ag- oompf- stop- blah!”

“Charmander Char!”

“The incoherent pleas from Darius was all the warning Amber would receive as the game of Dariusball headed for a collision course straight for the ranger and her pokemon. The charmander ran after both in an attempt to save her master, crying out for the pokemon to stop. Now, excuse me while I take a break to point and laugh. HAHAHAHAHAHA….”

Posted by: 7eeveelutions Jun 5 2014, 05:02 PM

"Wolf, do a barrel roll!"

As Scott joked about the situation, Amber took more direct action to avoid getting bowled over by their insane human opponent and then trampled by a Girafarig.

As Darius continued to get flung closer and closer, she released her second Pokemon, a not-yet-fully-grown female Absol named Luna. "Luna, disrupt that psychic attack!"

She then took a few steps backwards and to the side to get out of the way of the human bowling ball in case Luna proved incapable of stopping him while her Absol took action.

What she was trying to do was simple in theory but very hard to do safely in reality. As her powers of darkness all but negated any psychic powers, all she had to do was project those dark energies around Darius to protect him, something that Amber had already trained her how to do as she was on the team purely as support for Nikila.

The problem was that she had to be touching- more specifically, holding on to for a couple seconds- Darius for that to be possible. She could potentially wait right in the path of his rolling, but she'd be more likely to get hurt, so instead she stood off to the side and waited for him to roll past.

Then, as he rolled past, she reached out and tried to grab a hold of his flailing arms. That was the hard part, getting the timing right to grab him without hurting him too bad and without having her teeth ripped out.

But, being only a baby, she couldn't quite do that. Her attempt to bite him missed entirely and he rolled right on past. She was fast, but catching up before Darius hit his head on a rock or some other object while he rolled was likely impossible, so that only left one more option for the junior Rangers...... to target the Girafarig itself instead.

As Amber tried to come up with a strategy for Nikila, Ruby acted and shot out another set of orbs for a Confuse Ray attack. However, she too missed.

However, before Amber could come up with any plan, Scott stepped in with one of his own involving Luna. "Luna, try using Taunt. See if that gets the Girafarig's attention. And once that happens, Ruby, try Disable. See if that scares it off. For all we know, that psychic type belongs to someone who left it here on the ranch, so actually attacking it could cause problems. In that case, support moves only, but no status moves."

Luna quickly responded with a surprisingly scary roar, which apparently in Pokemon language meant something really mean. Scott had no idea where she might have learned such cruel language, but in any case, it worked.

The Girafarig finally stopped chasing Darius and let him roll to a stop as both of its heads turned to look at Amber's little Absol. It was quite clearly angry for having its game interrupted, not to mention angry about whatever naughty words Luna had just called it.

As it did so, Amber growled, "Since when have you been allowed to order around my team? And did you seriously just tell me to 'Do a barrel roll?'"

Scott merely shrugged and focused on the current situation. He'd probably be bitten later for it, but for now they had a job to do. He was still trying to figure out what exactly this guy was talking about...... and who he was talking to.

As soon as the psychic focused its gaze on Luna, a barely-visible ripple of energy caused by Ruby's Disable struck it from the side. The giraffe-horse-thing simply gave her a sideways glance before focusing back on Luna and charging.

"So much for not hurting it...... get ready to dodge!"

Posted by: Toogee Jun 8 2014, 10:38 AM

“Darius finally stopped rolling, though my tortuous laughs still echoed in his head. And with this continuing conversation, one could not blame the confusion in the dragon trainer’s mind. He might have done something stupid.”

“Whoops, too late.”

“Darius stood up and witness the rangers taking on the angry girafarig. Those poor kids caught up in his plight. All they wanted to do was sell cookies so they could go to PokeWorld. …Wow, did he really just think that? Anyways, Darius rushed to the rescue, calling forth one of his pokemon- no wait, that would be the smart thing to do.”

“FUS RO DAH!”

“The dragon trainer instead leaped onto the back of the girafarig, his arms around the pokemon’s neck in a chokehold. The move knocked the long neck pokemon out of his taunt, running around the rangers in utter confusion. The girafarig’s cries could be heard across the plains. All the while, the charmander was chasing them both, firing off flame bursts to defeat the girafarig and save her trainer. The fire balls kept missing however, causing flaming patches along the grassy field.”

“More cries came from over a hill. A pair of girafarigs was approaching quickly, angry that their child was being attacked. Things were escalating rather quickly. Nice work, Darius.”

“Shut it, this is all your fault!”

“You’ll never listen…”

Posted by: 7eeveelutions Jun 9 2014, 02:23 PM

This is the best proof so far. He is totally insane.

Amber silently acknowledged this in the back of her mind as her focus stayed on the small Girafarig and the Trainer, along with his Charmander.

Scott, on the other hand, kept a wider view of the situation, noticing the two larger Girafarig approaching and also noticing that Charmander was setting the field on fire.

The two larger Girafarig seemed highly agitated. It appeared that a full battle was now unavoidable.

"Amber! Take out that Charmander before she sets the whole field on fire!" Scott yelled as he re-released Scarlet from her Great Ball, and as he also let out his other Eevee, Ebony. The two brown foxes took up positions on either side of Ruby, facing the approaching Girafarig parents.

"Crap. I haven't had time to give Ruby that TM yet...... oh well," Scott sighed. At least his Eevees had their TMs already, although they were both non-damaging moves, whereas the TM he was carrying around for Ruby was Hidden Power. As the two Girafarig changed their focus to him (as he stood in between them and their baby), he gave his first command to his Eevees.

"Ebony, try Substitute. Scarlet, assist Ruby with Helping Hand. Then I want both of you to go kiting, Ebony to the left, Scarlet to the right."

He was aware that they couldn't actually kite since they had no ranged attacks, but it still kept the fragile little foxes at a good distance from their opponents and used their speed and size to their advantage.

Ruby, of course, simply charged forwards right at the two Girafarig as the two Eevees used their support moves. Scarlet's Helping Hand caused her paws to briefly glow, which was followed by Ruby's paws briefly glowing as they accepted the assist. Ebony's Substitute, on the other hand, created a look-alike version of himself, which followed him as he ran off to the left.

Before Ruby could attack, however, both of the Girafarig moved first. One of them charged at Ruby as she approached, while the other fell for the bait and attempted to attack Ebony from range with Psybeam.

Ebony easily avoided the beam by putting on the brakes and coming to a complete stop, with his Substitute stopping right between him and the Girafarig. He then took off running again, running in a wide circle around the Girafarig while Scarlet did the same from the other side.

As the second Girafarig tried to Stomp Ruby into the ground, the Vulpix also just barely managed to dodge, but she was unable to maintain her balance through the running dodge and fell over, skidding to a stop just about a foot away from her foe as the psychic-type readied itself to attack again.
____________________________________________________________

Amber took a vastly different approach to dealing with Darius, Bindy, and the smaller Girafarig.

Unlike Scott, she had actually taken the time during the basic Ranger training to learn how to make various sounds using the Ranger Whistle.

Different sounds meant different things. One of them meant "Ranger in need of assistance," while others called for a specific kind of assistance, for instance needing a Flying-type for aerial recon or needing a Water-type to put out fires. About a third of wild Pokemon in areas with at least some human contact and slightly more Trainer-owned Pokemon knew at least one of the whistles.

In this case, she pulled the whistle out of her bag and whistled two low notes followed by three high notes. This was the "Ranger in need of assistance" whistle.

Now all she had to do was wait and see if anything responded to the call. Back at Scott's tree farm were a pair of Ranger Staraptor, so it was possible they would assist, although they were not battle-trained. More likely, some other Pokemon from the Loch Ranch would show up to assist.

Of course, she couldn't only wait and see what happened. She had to do something in the meantime.

"Nikila, paralyze them! All three of them!"

Her Electrike responded with a howl and a large Thunder Wave that arced out in an attempt to hit everything in front of her.

Posted by: Toogee Jun 15 2014, 07:25 PM

“As Bindy chased after the girafarig and his passenger Darius, the back head of the long neck pokemon launched a confusion attack. This knocked the charmander further back. This proved fortuitous for the fire-type: she was out of range of the thunder wave assault. The girafarig yelped as the electricity surged through his body. Being electricity, the attack traveled into Darius as well. The dragon trainer fell off his stubborn mount, unable to hold on.”

“What the hell!” Darius shouted towards Amber. “I better get a discount on those cookies!”

“Though Darius and the girafarig were slowed, the pokemon saw this as a chance to strike. Darius broke from his conversation with Amber to run away…or crawl, as his legs were paralyzed. It turned into a very slow chase scene, with the girafarig stumbling towards Darius one clumsy step at a time.”

“Bindy could only watch as her trainer struggled to flee. But then, he stopped and rolled on his back, grinning wildly at his opponent. Because he still had enough stupidity left for his overflowing bravado. Of course, his young pokemon saw it as bravery and strength. Could she ever possess such qualities as her master? Indeed, she was but a child who preferred play to battle. Such a charmander would not aid Darius, even as he defied his fate.”

“I am Darius Dovakin, descendent of the first dragon trainers. You do not scare me! I will fight you with no legs if I must. If I go, I take the narrator with me! You hear me, Narrator!”

“You clearly do not understand the concept of telepathy. Anyways, where was I? Ah, your slow and bloody demise. Darius raised his fists to prepare for a punch out should the beast get closer. The girafarig accepted his challenge and continued his drunken charge. Heh, reminds of one of those marionette puppets with the strings on their limbs. What a way to go…”

CHAAAARRRR!!!

“No charmander would come to his aid. No charmander came. In a flash of light running across the field, Bindy took a form more worthy of the warrior Darius required. Bulkier, taller, and armed with shaper teeth and claws, Bindy stood between the girafarig and her trainer, her growls far more ferocious than before.”

“Bindy was reborn.”

Posted by: 7eeveelutions Jun 15 2014, 08:52 PM

Amber sighed, and then said one word to Nikila.

"Again."

Her slightly sadistic Electrike didn't try to complain, and moved a few steps closer before letting loose another, slightly stronger Thunder Wave aimed specifically at Darius and the Girafarig, ignoring the newly-evolved Charmeleon in the hopes of paralyzing the other two so badly that they couldn't move at all. Of course, since Charmeleon was standing in between the two targets, it was bound to get struck anyway.

"Maybe I didn't need to use the whistle after all. Oh well, if anyone actually responds to it, maybe I'll let them finish you weirdos off. Although...... what was that you said about cookies? Are you willing to sell me some at a discount if I go easy on you?"

She looked up at a pair of Staraptor circling overhead. They were the two birds from Scott's under-construction Ranger Station; they were not trained for battling, but rather for speed and stamina as messenger birds, which explained why they had arrived so fast. Of course, being body-slammed by a full-grown Staraptor travelling at maximum speed would still probably break some ribs.

She had high hopes that other Pokemon would respond, though. After all, they were in the middle of a ranch full of Trainer-owned Pokemon. At a minimum, some were likely to be bored and looking for a good fight. And there were probably males looking to impress females too (or the other way around) by winning a battle.

After a few more moments, they arrived.

First came a Linoone.
Second to respond was a Machop.
Third, Riolu.
Fourth, a pair of Beedrill.
Fifth, a Ninetales.
And last but not least...... an Altaria.

Seven Pokemon, plus the two Staraptor if things still didn't go well. Plus her two wolves and Scott's three foxes, along with herself and Scott. It was now 16 vs Mr. Insane and his Charmeleon vs the Girafarig family.

"I would recommend surrender. Although, I'm not sure you can talk anymore with all that electricity that's gone through you, and you probably can't move well enough to tap out or make any other signals...... so really, you're screwed."

She motioned for Linoone, Ninetales, and the Altaria to go help Scott, then held one hand up high into the air to signal the Staraptor to land before she, Nikila, and Luna began to approach their victims. Her other newfound allies formed a ring around Darius, Bindy, and the small Girafarig to prevent them from escaping if they somehow managed to regain the ability to run.
_____________________________________________

"I suppose the ability to call for assistance would have been extremely useful back on that mountain...... I would have loved to see the look on those poacher's faces when they suddenly were surrounded on all sides by angry Pokemon," Scott muttered as Altaria fluttered down next to him.

"And what is it with everywhere I go having Ninetales? Are they really that popular......?"

While he talked to himself, Ruby rolled around on the ground doing her best to dodge all of the Girafarig's stomps, while the two Eevees ran circles around the second Girafarig, which couldn't seem to decide which one to try and take down first. And with Ninetales, Linoone, and Altaria, the battle was clearly going in his favor.

"...... I need one of those whistles."

Posted by: Toogee Jun 21 2014, 12:15 PM

“Ah, the little fire type finally came into her own. Bindy strafed around the girafarig, hoping to get to a vulnerable point. As the girafarig was slow to move, it was rather easy to get to his side. This had the added bonus of shielding the charmeleon from the second barrage of thunder wave. Brilliant, unlike her master’s recent decisions. Darius also seemed happy, a crazed smile stretching across his face. …No, that’s him paralyzed.”

“With both Darius and the girafarig paralyzed, Bindy returned to Darius’s side, facing Amber and the electrike. The charmeleon made no move against them; her interests were for Darius’s protection. Yet the appearance of several other pokemon made her very wary of the situation. She growled a warning to them all. The tense situation was only interrupted by blaring sirens.”

“Evidently, a large gathering of random pokemon did not go unnoticed by the ranchers. Four of them came in a large jeep, riding onto the scene. Several blows of a whistle signaled the ranch pokemon to break up the fight while the ranchers surveyed the situation. One look at Darius and the two rangers left a lot of questions. One of the ranchers approached Scott and Amber, somewhat perplexed by the scene.”

“So…my name is John…I guess this is the sword guy?” the rancher asked, waiting for some sort of explanation. The other three were preparing medicine to heal the paralysis of the girafarig and Darius.

Posted by: 7eeveelutions Jun 21 2014, 01:43 PM

Scott sighed and recalled both of his Eevees before explaining. "Yeah, this is him. Not only has he been walking around with a sword and apparently attacking anything psychic that he sees, he's also been talking to himself. Or rather, yelling at himself. It's really odd. He's a bit too old to have an imaginary friend...... he mentioned a narrator once or twice, so maybe he thinks there's someone narrating his life for him or something. I'm curious as to what kind of new drug he's on." Ruby took up position at his feet, waiting for a berry or an apple or some other kind of food.

Seeing as the battle was now apparently over, most of the various Pokemon called by Amber's whistle dispersed in various directions. Only the two Staraptor and the Riolu remained behind. Amber, on the other hand, pulled a pair of handcuffs out of her bag and said to the crazy guy's Charmeleon, "Move aside. For his own safety, it's best if we cuff him before he runs off and attacks something again once he's free of paralysis."

Her Electrike continued to follow her as she spoke before moving towards Darius's sword to poke at it, while her Absol sat down to rest. Luna wasn't entirely battle-trained yet, so even a short battle where she didn't do much like this one tired her out.

The two Staraptor landed in a tree nearby.

Posted by: Toogee Jun 22 2014, 10:05 AM

“Well, I guess we’ll wait on the paralysis heal until we get him back,” the rancher John replied, somewhat disturbed by the frozen smile on Darius’s face. The paralyzed girafarig was quickly healed and led off back to his herd.

“Ooh, such strong language, Darius! Of course they’re going to take care of their own before you. You did do all of this. Now, let me see if I can move things along…”

Soon enough, the voice that had haunted Darius for so long entered the minds of Scott and Amber.

“Scott Carson, Amber Harrison. Allow me to introduce myself. I’m the voice inside Darius’s head, lovingly called The Narrator. As fun as it has been to watch his antics, I do actually need to speak to him face to face. He has a riddle to solve that he has woefully ignored. Solving it would lead him to me and end all this trouble. Kindly help him out.”

"Ah, the story continues, and with an expanded audience! Bindy would not budge for Amber. She did not trust her after all the thunder wave attacks she did to her master. The charmeleon hissed at the girl for any attempts to touch him. Perhaps a gentler soul needs to intervene, hm?"

Posted by: 7eeveelutions Jun 22 2014, 08:32 PM

"...... Did you just hear something?" Amber turned to ask Scott.

"Yeah, I heard it."

"It's probably some bored psychic somewhere on the ranch who's just looking for a little fun," Amber muttered.

"Or maybe this...... guy is the key to some world-saving prophecy."

"Do you really believe in that kind of stuff, Scott?"

"No. But it's fun to visit the message boards online of the people who do and troll them."

Amber didn't know what to say to that, so Scott simply sighed. "Do something to either convince or restrain that Charmeleon. I need to talk to her trainer. Darius, was it?"

He took one of the paralyze heals from Mr. Loch and continued, "Knowing you, you'll probably go with the latter and restrain her...... just try and do as little damage as possible, okay?"

Amber merely grinned in an evil way that would give any kind of guy goosebumps as to what she might be planning and called the two Staraptor up to her to give them some quiet instructions. Shortly thereafter, the two large birds of prey took off and began circling the battlefield.

At the same time, Scott let Ebony back out of his Pokeball and bent down to whisper something in the little Eevee's ear, before the fox took off into some tall grass nearby. "Now then, I'm going to give Ruby that TM we were talking about earlier...... so make sure no random attacks head in this direction, okay?"

He dug through his bag before finding a small box contained a VR headset and bent down to talk to his Vulpix while Amber gave her first commands to her two wolves.

"I hope you're ready, Charmeleon, because this is going to make you regret not moving aside! Nikila, Shock Wave! Luna, Feint! Go for formation Alpha!"

Luna darted forwards with both her front paws and the horn-claw on the side of her head glowing a light grayish color while Nikila reared up on her hind legs, charging up a lightning attack that was normally unheard of for an Electrike of her low skill level.

The plan of attack was for Luna to get in close and feign an attack with her claws before spinning around and kicking out with her back legs to attack, then jumping out of the way to get out of Nikila's line of fire before the destructive power of Shock Wave was released.

As they began to attack, the two Ranger Staraptor began to tighten their circling, moving closer and closer to Darius and Bindy as well......

Posted by: Toogee Jun 29 2014, 10:09 AM

“Well so much for gentler soul! It appeared that Amber was just as much a brute as Darius, preferring sheer force to diplomacy. Oh Ms. Harrison, it is not wise to attack a pokemon defending her master like a mother to her young. Like Darius, I suppose you prefer to learn your lessons the hard way. Hearing the commands issued, Bindy stood over Darius to defend him against the attacks.”

“The absol Luna was the first to initiate the strike. It was a handy maneuver, tricking the opponent to watch an attack from one side only to be hid from the opposite end. Of course, it assumed the target had any interest in blocking the attack. The charmeleon didn’t care whether it was claw, horn or foot that was making contact. The entirety of the already battle-weary absol would be engulfed within her dragon rage upon the attack’s approach.”

“CHHAAARRRR!!”

“While Bindy prepared some ABSOLutely delectable barbecue, the shock wave attack surged from the other side of the field. The charmeleon roared in pain as the electricity surged through her body. Being an area attack, the shock wave hit Darius as well, his body convulsing despite the paralysis. I only wish I had a camera; it would have made a perfect meme…whoops, distracted again.”

“The ranchers had about enough of the attack. While using a weakened pokemon as bait for a sneak attack was only questionably ethical at best, Darius getting caught in the crossfire was likely to bring in the authorities and the lawyers. That was bad press Loch Ranch could not afford.”

“The rancher John immediately approached the charmeleon and sprayed her in the face with a spray bottle. Instead of water, he sprayed Bindy with a solution of parasect spores. Unlike raw spores, the solution stuck to Bindy’s face, allowing for greater exposure. This in turn dropped the charmeleon before she knew what hit her. Bindy laid beside her master in slumber. The other ranchers immediately grabbed the empty pokeball on Darius’ belt and summoned Bindy back inside. They then carried a very stiff Darius to the jeep for transport.”

“Well, that was…unorthodox,” John said to Amber. “There’s an on-site pokemon center we’re headed to if you and your partner want to join us.”

“John was acting polite, but I can tell you right now that his thoughts were less so. Very juicy stuff, heh heh.”

Posted by: 7eeveelutions Jun 29 2014, 08:38 PM

Due to the use of a fiery defense instead of a dodge or block, and due to her total lack of experience, Luna was caught completely unaware. The Dragon's Rage attack was more than enough to knock her off of her feet, leaving her attempted Feint attack with no weight behind it to cause damage.

Normally, this wouldn't have been an issue. However, there was the second attack from Nikila to contend with as well. As Luna was lying on the ground and barely conscious, she was unable to avoid the incoming Shock Wave and was knocked out.

Luckily, this wasn't a problem because the ranchers leaped into action to subdue the Charmeleon.

Scott sighed. "It's a wonder I ever lived through basic training with you in my class...... were you going to do what I think you were going to do with the Staraptor? Nikila's lightning was supposed to be just a distraction, wasn't it?"

Amber merely smiled and said, "Negotiating is always much easier when the opposing side is being carried a hundred feet up by a Staraptor."

"But we...... never mind. We're going to the Pokemon Center with the Lochs and the ranch hands." He then said to Mr. Loch, "You guys go on ahead, we'll follow on foot since there probably won't be room for both of us in the jeep."

Mentally, he hoped that they figured everything out before this "narrator" drove him insane. He was beginning to see why Darius had been attacking everything.

He picked up Ruby, who was immersed in the teachings of the TM's VR headset and barely seemed to notice. Ebony popped back out of the bushes, having been unable to complete his objective before the battle was over- which was using Covet to part Darius and his broadsword. The little Eevee was returned to his Great Ball, along with both of Amber's Pokemon, while the two Staraptor flew back towards the Ranger Station.

The walk to the Pokemon Center only took about ten minutes, by which time Scott hoped that Darius would have healed enough to be able to at least talk about whatever it was the voice was trying to say.

As they got there, however, their radios began to buzz and vibrate, and they both displayed a message on their screens.

Lenolia Ranger Station requesting backup for a drugstore robbery and shooting from all nearby Ranger teams. Call Dispatch ASAP.

"Hmm...... well, I'm going to stay here and try to figure all of this out, but you can go if you want," Scott said as Mr. Loch looked out of the Pokemon Center at them to see what the buzzing noise was coming from.

Amber grunted. "Well, if you say so. I'm taking both Staraptor, though, since it sounds like they'll be needed. Can I take Braviary?"

"He'll never listen to you, but you can try."

Amber stared at him for a moment, then looked through the window for the Pokemon Center before pulling out her whistle and using it to call the Altaria from earlier, before saying to Scott, "Well, hopefully this won't turn into something even worse than a robbery and shooting." She then switched the radio channel to Lenolia's dispatch center and said, "Dispatch, this is Sigma 2...... responding to the reqeust for backup with an Omega Altaria and two Alpha-class Staraptor from the Loch Ranch area. Will be there as fast as possible."

The dispatcher responded over the radio at the same time Amber mounted the wild Altaria and flew away, so Scott didn't hear what they said.

Once she had flown off into the distance, Scott sighed and said, "Well, now that she's gone, maybe I'll be able to get something done peacefully."

He muttered to Mr. Loch, "She had to respond to an emergency in Lenolia," and walked inside the Pokemon Center, finding Darius lying on a stretcher, still somewhat paralyzed.

The first thing he did was pull out a pair of handcuffs and cuff Darius so that if he went crazy because of the narrator, he'd have a hard time really doing anything.

After getting that out of the way, Scott spoke to him while setting Ruby down on a nearby chair.

"Now, those are just temporary, but seeing as you have a sword I'm not real fond of the idea of keeping you entirely unrestrained. That, and I can still charge you with a couple counts of assault with a deadly weapon, in which case I'd have to arrest you anyway. But before that, I want to know about this...... umm...... weird voice."

Posted by: Toogee Jul 5 2014, 10:20 AM

“Well look who decided to take a break from pokemon pampering to take charge of the situation? Scott was at the pokemon center at Darius’ bedside. The dragon trainer was slowly but surely recovering from his paralysis. Let’s check in on him.”

“B…leh…B…”

“His speech was still slurred as he tried to answer Scott’s questions. …wait…here it comes…”

“BLACKHEART!”

“And he’s back.”

“I try and save you guys from a stampeding girafarig and she stabs me in the back?! Doesn’t even have the guts to face me! I was going to buy your entire stock of thin mints, but after this? I’m only buying one box…maybe two.”

“As he attempted to gesture with his hands, Darius realized that he was handcuffed. That didn’t help his feelings of betrayal. Before he could voice his opinions on ranger conduct, Mr. Loch entered the room.”

“We’ll get to your grievances later,” Loch said to Darius. “Now what in tarnation is going on?”

“There is someone talking to me in my head!”

“That declaration seemed to shut everyone up. As Mr. Loch was not privy to our little chat, he was liable to think he was dealing with a crazy person after all. And yet he was willing to hear Darius’s tale.”

“He showed up a couple weeks ago, constantly talking about some riddle. He kept taunting me through every hour, day and night. No idea what he was saying. He kept hinting as to his identity, so I went after him. But he kept tricking me! And now we’re here.”

“And the riddle?”

“Something about a dark corner behind a lock with no key.”

“FINALLY! Thanks for getting to the point so quickly! Mr. Loch turned to Scott to hear his thoughts on all of this. The rancher had no reason to believe the deranged fellow, though he very much wanted to give Darius the benefit of the doubt. He looked to Scott to give him a reason.”

Posted by: 7eeveelutions Jul 6 2014, 08:47 PM

Scott facepalmed and seriously considered walking over to a nearby wall and banging his head on it repeatedly.

"Okay, ignoring the other problems with your way of thinking...... I'm 17 years old. Do you really think I'm selling cookies? I'm a bit old for that. I suppose Amber might look like someone who sells cookies though, but don't tell her that. Anyway, she had to respond to a robbery, so she left. And if she did have cookies, she wouldn't be giving them to anyone else anyway, especially not thin mints."

He paused for a moment before saying, "And you're the one who caused the Girafarig to go rampaging in the first place, so even if you had managed to save us, it would still be your fault."

He then changed topics back to the voice and turned his head to look at Mr. Loch. "Well, this voice also spoke...... well, is speaking to me and Amber. Or at least was speaking to Amber, although now that she left it might not be anymore. And it did say something about a riddle. It's rather amusing hearing his life narrated like a book, actually."

Scott then turned back to Darius. "But, I've been here enough to know most of the ranch and a decent part of the surrounding area at least somewhat well...... and I can't think of any dark corners with locks. You might be searching in the wrong place."

He turned back to Mr' Loch one last time. "Unless you happen to know of a place that fits his description?"

In the meantime, while continuing to sit on a chair next to the group, Ruby was so amazed by the optical illusions generated by the TM's VR headset that she was drooling.

Posted by: Toogee Jul 13 2014, 08:46 AM

“Darius did not understand Scott’s retorts. How was he supposed to know that Scott wasn’t held back a few years and was still on cookie duty? And whether it was his fault or not, he still saved them and did not deserve a thunder wave to the back for it. He kept these thoughts to himself, but for the benefit of Mr. Carson, I just repeated them. You’re welcome.”

“Darius struggled to shake his fist to the sky (handcuffs) as Mr. Loch spoke up.”

“Hm…was it lock or Loch? We’re pretty much open to everyone all the time. Perhaps your mind reader has a lisp or something.”

“Screw you, Mr. Loch. Screw you.”

“Did someone hear something? Er, anyways, we just finished building a cave for all the zubat and swoobat colonies. The Mrs was getting sick of them hiding in our basement-”

“TO THE CAVE!”

“Darius struggled against the cuffs as he attempted to get out of his bed.”

“Release me and fetch my sword! We’re finishing this once and for all! You’ve spoken your last, Narrator!”

“We shall see…”

Posted by: 7eeveelutions Jul 15 2014, 06:08 PM

Scott sighed when Darius burst out about going to the cave right away."Well, I suppose I can uncuff you, but...... the sword stays here. I cant have you killing this telepathic guy off the moment we actually meet him. He might tell us something useful...... at least I think it's a guy. Telepathic voices really all sound the same whether they're male or female."

Before removing the handcuffs, Scott stashed the sword's sheath (with the sword in it of course) underneath the cushions of a nearby sofa. He didn't want Darius to have it, but he didn't want some random Fighting-type to come across the sword and start playing with it either.

He then pulled Darius up onto his feet and pushed him out of the Pokemon Center before uncuffing him, muttering "You can go get your sword again once this is all over with."

He looked up at the sky and the few clouds it contained, before remembering that he'd left Ruby inside the building. His Vulpix was still completely inside the virtual world of the Hidden Power TM and wasn't aware that everyone else was getting ready to move out, so he resorted to carrying her again.

"Well,I suppose it's time to get moving then...... are you coming with us?" Scott asked Mr. Loch. They only needed to know the general direction of the cave to be able to find it, but it would be nice to have someone show them the exact location so they didn't have to search for it and waste valuable time. On the other hand, if they had to search for it, there was a better chance that he would stumble upon that Leafeon he'd been searching everywhere for...... or maybe something even rarer.

Posted by: Toogee Jul 16 2014, 09:30 PM

“Note to self: spare sword.”

“While Darius lamented over the loss of his weapon, Scott was attempting to get a third member for their crew.”

“Fraid I’ve got to pair off some broncos and mares for a customer,” Mr. Loch sadly replied. “You should be able to find the cave very easily. Just take that road up ahead and take the first left. Can’t miss it. …Wow, that guy’s fast!”

“Upon overhearing the directions, Darius rushed down said road, driven by fury against my omnipresent voice.”

“That’s right Narrator! I’m coming for you!”

“Well then, I best make the most of this. How about a song to pass the time? One bottle of berry juice on the wall, one bottle of juice. Toss one up, make sure it’s stuck. Two bottles of berry juice on the wall!”

“That won’t work on me! I just won’t listen! LALALALALALALA…!”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

30 minute later…

“203 bottles of berry juice on the wall, 203 bottles of juice…”

“La…La…la…DAMN YOU STOP THIS MADNESS!!!”

“At last, Darius Dovakin finally broke, tears streaming from his eyes in exhaustion.”

“Take that back! It’s not true!”

“Fortunately, Darius’s shattered mind lay upon the mouth of a cave opening that was two stories tall. Several zubat were darting around the stalactites that dotted the ceiling. Though this appeared to be a legit cave, one touch of the walls would let anyone know that this was no rock formation. Perhaps it was some sort of foam material. In any case, I’m in here and you’re not. Come seek your answers inside.”

“On a side note, I’m surprised this Scott fellow stuck around. I’m sure he was plotting your death somewhere on the way here, Darius. Bet he picked a spot to bury you too.”

Posted by: 7eeveelutions Jul 16 2014, 11:09 PM

"Eh? Plotting his death? No, not quite...... but a certain harsh mentor of mine has this rifle that fires these special-made paintballs that aren't actually full of paint but instead have stuff in them similar to the stuff in a firecracker, so that when the paintball strikes something it creates this loud sound. Tieing you to a tree and unloading 50 of those on you sounds like a much better idea than just killing you and burying you somewhere. They hurt really bad, by the way," Scott replied to the narrator more than to Darius. Of course, the narrator was starting to drive him insane too.

The so-called explosive paintballs were meant to be fired at the ground to scare away aggressive wild Pokemon and not to be actually fired at someone, but regardless...... Scott really wanted one.

Scott had been hanging back, studying the ground as they searched for the cave. Knowing that running across a Pokemon as naturally passive and elusive as a Leafeon was going to be next to impossible, he was instead looking for its footprints to tell him were it had been recently. This was far easier said than done, considering that it had an identical footprint to Umbreon and Glaceon, and while the print's size could rule out Glaceon, even if he found a print there was no way to tell if it was the Leafeon or an Umbreon instead.

So far he had failed to find any evidence of the elusive Grass-type, although he did see a set of tracks that believed belonged to a Jolteon, among many other rare Pokemon tracks. But this was the region's main daycare center, so it wasn't really all that surprising to find rare tracks.

And then they came to the cave. They were currently standing in front of it, looking at it from the outside.

Scott was surprised that the Lochs had managed to build something so big without him knowing about it. As far as caves went, it seemed huge. He tapped on the wall a few times, and muttered, "Looks like it's built out of some kind of quick-hardening foam...... and painted to look like bedrock. Not a bad way to quickly make a cave."

In his arms, Ruby shook her head a few times to get the TM's headset off. She was finally done learning how to use Hidden Power. Scott quickly stuck the headset in his bag.

He spoke up a bit. "Well, here we are. I'll let you go first, so that all the bats attack you and not...... not....."

He trailed off as his eyes moved from the inside of the cave to the outside walls to the area right outside the cave...... and a tan fox sitting up against the side walls in a patch of sunlight that made it through the surrounding trees.

It looked at him, and their eyes met.
And then the creature Scott had spent so many hours looking for unsuccessfully took off running.

"OH NO YOU DON'T! YOU AREN'T GETTING AWAY!!!!!!! RUBY GET HIMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Scott half-threw Ruby as the Vulpix leaped out of his arms to give chase to the Leafeon. Scott took a moment longer to give chase himself, instead grabbing Darius by the collar of his shirt to drag him along so that he couldn't get away from them.

But the chase only lasted for all of about a 50-yard dash.

Just behind the cave was a spot of extremely thick undergrowth among a stand of large oak trees, next to a small pond. Many of the bushes were covered with thorns, but there were several small holes in the tangle of branches and thorns that were just barely big enough for the three-foot-tall grass-type to enter. Ruby was sitting outside of one of those holes, hesitant on entering.

"Hmm...... okay maybe chasing him wasn't the best idea...... gonna have to switch gears here or he will never come out." He had known beforehand that it would never stick around long enough for him to get a fair battle out of it, so the only ways would be to either befriend it or bait it, or chase it around until it got too tired to run away anymore. He'd also learned from conversations with the Loch's and other area residents that this Leafeon was most certainly a wild Pokemon that just happened to be living on the Loch Ranch.

He thought for a moment, then decided that he might as well let Darius go since he knew he'd just be going inside of that big cave.

"Okay, Darius, I'll give you two choices. You can either stay here and potentially find a new Pokemon to capture while I'm doing this and then I can help you out in the cave after I catch this guy, or you can go in alone and possibly get all your blood sucked out by Zubats while you try to open that........ door with no lock thing."

I bet he'll go in alone...... and then maybe all the bats will have a feast off of him and not be hungry when I enter later, so they won't bother me.

As he spoke, Scott bent down and peeked into the hole in the bushes that Ruby was sitting by. Several feet back, he could see a pair of brown eyes staring back at him. Seeing his target watching him, Scott used his (as Amber sometimes called it) "super-epic food of befriendingness!" which was really just a package full of gummies that had been made with extracts from Sitrus, Leppa, Chesto, and Persim berries. While the extracts were quite diluted compared to the berries themselves, they did cause the gummies to have a small portion of the effects that the berries had. As a result, between those and the added flavoring and sugar content of the gummies, many kinds of Pokemon just loved them. They also apparently had the scent of all those berries as well, although Scott couldn't tell the difference between them and regular gummies.

He thought he saw the Leafeon stand up shortly after he opened the bag, but it was so dark within the bushes that he couldn't quite tell. It didn't seem to be approaching him for the gummies, so Scott tried adding his voice into coax it out of hiding.

"Hey buddy, I'm sorry I yelled at you...... please come out. You don't need to be scared of me, I'm a Ranger."

Posted by: Toogee Jul 19 2014, 03:30 PM

“Hey, what the hell?!”

“Ah, so close yet so far away. It seemed something caught Scott’s eye and he needed Darius to come along for the ride. Dragging him across the field only slowed the ranger’s progress, but that didn’t seem to bother him as he proceeded after a wild pokemon. Darius had no idea why he was going along with this. Quite frankly, neither did Scott. So he let him on his way.”

“Oh sure. Now you let me go, after dragging me a mile away! I better get some cookies after this!”

“Darius stomped back to the cave, rather angry for the delay. Once he arrived, he did not hesitate to enter into the dark. The dragon trainer stepped lightly, for he knew that even the slightest disturbance would wake the zubat-”

“NARRATOR! SHUT UP AND SHOW YOURSELF!!!”

“Well, I guess my warning went unanswered. The cave filled with the shrieking of surprised zubats, sending them flying around in all directions. Though they did not bite, they were still very angry, smacking Darius around with their little wings. Darius responded like the giant oaf that he is: he lunged his arms around and growled like a savage. Who felt more at home in this cave: the zubats or the caveman? Entertaining as this is, it’s about time we end this charade.”

“LEAVE US!”

“At my telepathic command, the zubats stormed out of the cave, the flock circling above the mount as they awaited to reenter. Not all the creatures left however. What remained was another bat like creature, but far more handsome. His fur was the color of royalty, his eyes golden like treasure, and his nose a leaf in the wind. His big ears would catch the slightest sound, such as the footsteps of our ranger friend. He, not surprisingly, is me.”

“Understandably, Darius was dumbfounded. He had not seen my kind before. Please, check one of your devices. Yes, that pokedex what does it say?”

“…Noibat? Another bat pokemon- wait! You’re a dragon-type?!”

“Ding ding ding! Yes I am! And I have a message for you from my master, Grandmaster Beed.”

“!”

Posted by: 7eeveelutions Jul 19 2014, 10:39 PM

"What the......?" Scott turned around to see a whole swarm of Zubats fly out of the cave and begin circling around above. "Well, I guess that means they aren't eating that guy alive, so...... he probably doesn't need my help. I can take as long as I want here then."

Guessing that having a fire-type like Ruby around might make the Leafeon more nervous and thus less likely to come out of hiding, Scott returned his Vulpix to her Luxury Ball. Of course, she complained very vocally as he did so, screaming "VUUULLLLLLLL" as she disappeared in a flash of light.

"Okay, now it's just you and me, little one...... Ruby is gone now. She wouldn't have hurt you anyway though...... aren't you hungry?"

For a moment he contemplated bringing out Ruby and Scarlet, but decided that the sudden appearance of two Eevees was probably just as likely to scare the Leafeon as it was to bring it out of the thorn bush.

However, even with Ruby gone, Leafeon didn't budge. "You're a stubborn little fox, aren't you? Well, here. Try one, at least. See if you like it."

He reached into the berry-gummy bag and picked out a single blue gummy, then reached partway into the bush- as far as he was willing to without getting all scratched up by the thorns or bitten- and set the gummy down on a leaf.

"There. I think that one has the flavor of...... umm...... actually they're all the same flavor, just different colors. But you do like berries, don't you? These are made from several different kinds of berries."

Even still, the Leafeon did not move in the slightest. Scott was dumbfounded. Was it really this afraid of people? Had something happened to it in the past?

Well, at least it isn't like that Glaceon from the mountains a few weeks ago. That thing was just evil.

Wondering if maybe it just didn't like the color blue, Scott stuck a green and a brown gummy next to the blue one. But even three gummies wasn't enough to lure the Leafeon any closer.

"I guess you just aren't hungry then...... well, that doesn't leave me many options."

On second thought, maybe bringing the Eevees out wouldn't hurt any......

As he reached for the two Great Balls sitting on his belt, the Leafeon watched every movement of his hand very closely. The flash of light generated by the two Eevees being released didn't seem to bother the grass-fox any.

However, the sudden appearance of Scarlet and Ebony at the entrance to the bush definitely did. Scarlet was so excited to see an Eeveelution (she had been knocked out prior to the appearance of the Glaceon at Arasam, so she never met him) that she threw all caution aside and rushed into the bush through the opening.

"Scarlet, wait.....!"

Amazingly, however, the Leafeon did not attack her, although it did draw back a little farther into the bush. Scarlet stopped just in front of him and then more slowly stuck her nose out to sniff him.

Meanwhile, Ebony used that time to snatch all three of the gummies for himself before also approaching the Leafeon.

Barely able to see Leafeon anymore through the two Eevees, Scott looked up at the mass of various bat Pokemon flying round up above. "I wonder if he's doing all right...... well, I can't hear that telepath anymore, so they must have met. You know, it would be really funny if it had lured him all the way here to eat him or steal his soul or something like that."

After watching the bats for several seconds and wondering if there was any pattern to the way they were flying, Scott looked back at the bush to find Leafeon at the edge of the hole in the thorns, with Scarlet nudging him onwards.

"Hi there. It's all right, I won't hurt you......" He reached out his hand, and the Leafeon started to draw back into the bush, but Scarlet continued to nudge him closer so after a moment of hesitation, he let Scott pat him on the top of his head. Standing next to the two Eevees, he looked huge, being more than three times their size. "You're...... a lot bigger than I thought you would be."

And thus, thanks to Scarlet, Scott ended up with a third Eevee. Within five minutes Leafeon had gotten over most of his initial fear and was sitting next to him munching on gummies.

Scott lined up a few different Pokeballs so that the Leafeon could choose which one he wished to reside in, and after some deliberation he choose (not surprisingly) Scott's only spare Luxury Ball.

"Well, that wasn't so bad. No battle at least. You know, I've never caught any Pokemon by battling them yet......" He looked at the Luxury Ball that now contained his fourth fox. "I think I'll name you Moss."

"Well, I guess it's time to go and check on Darius." Scott returned his two Eevees, put Moss's Luxury Ball on the fourth slot on his belt, and then began to walk back towards the cave.

Posted by: Toogee Jul 20 2014, 11:48 AM

“Darius had many questions on his mind. How could a little bat like myself possess telepathy? All that changed upon the mention of Grandmaster Beed. The grandmaster was a famed explorer, venturing into unknown lands to find and capture new dragon pokemon. Many dragon trainers knew of his tales of different countries and the people within them-”

“Yeah yeah yeah. I know all of that! What message does he have for me?”

“OK, right to the point then. Grandmaster Beed has passed away.”

“What?! No! I will avenge you, Grandmaster!”

“Shut up and put your fist down. He died in his sleep.”

“Impossible! He was too young!”

“He was 112.”

“Oh…”

“In his will, he has requested dragon trainers from all over the world to gather in Furoh for the reading of his will and the ceremony. You must be east of Gigarte in one fortnight.”

“Then I must make haste- wait a minute. So all of this talking in my head was a test to see if I was worthy to attend right?”

“Oh no, that was just me being an asshole. When Grandmaster died, I was free to do what I want. I decided to play with your head before giving you the bad news. Thought it would soften the blow. Also, it was fun. I guess you could call me the ‘anoibat’. Ha ha ha!”

*POW*

Darius punched the noibat so hard, it knocked the quotes/italic tags out of this paragraph even he felt it. He wasn’t feeling a recoil however. He was feeling his mind being released from the unwelcome guest. Darius smiled: he could finally think again!

Darius left the noibat (ko’ed from the surprise attack) on the floor as he made for the exit. When he reached the outside, he found Scott coming back.

“Rejoice, ranger! I have fought the creature haunting our minds and have come out victorious! He won’t mess the likes of Darius Dovakin ever again!”

Posted by: 7eeveelutions Jul 20 2014, 02:19 PM

"Eh? It's over already? It didn't take me all [i]that[i] long to capture Moss...... did it?"

He wondered for a moment if he should go inside the cave to make sure Darius hadn't gone on a murderous rampage and killed the telepath, but all the bats were beginning to return so he decided against it.

"Well, I guess that solves one problem. Now it's time to get back to the previous problem...... that is, you were attacking everything that even remotely sounded like a telepath. Not only that, but you attacked my Vulpix, and she isn't even the least bit psychic." Scott folded up his arms and tilted his head to one side.

"Protocol says I should arrest you and change you with a couple counts of assault and a couple counts of assault with a deadly weapon...... but then, I could probably charge whoever the telepath was with something too considering this was all its fault. I really hope you didn't strangle it or use some kind of hidden knife or anything to kill it."

He paused for a moment to consider a new idea, and then said, "But if I try to arrest you, I know you'll either run or fight back, and I don't have any kind of magical restricting moves like Amber and Nikila do...... so I suppose I'll just have to fine you instead. I believe each count of assault has up to a $750 fine and each count of assault with a weapon is $1000...... and you attacked both me and Amber and that Girafarig with your Charmeleon, so that's three counts of assault, and you attacked Ruby and...... something else with both your Charmeleon and your sword, so that's another two counts using a weapon...... so you're looking at up to $4250 in fines. Although, since you seem to like cookies so much, I suppose if you bought four thousand cookies I'd let you go. Hey, are you even listening to me?!?!"

Posted by: Toogee Jul 24 2014, 09:56 AM

Scott's list of charges fell on deaf ears, for Darius was on his victory march back to the Loch residence. He had saved himself, the male girl scout, and possibly everyone at the ranch from the psychic terror known only as the Narrator. The dragon trainer would recount his tale so that future generations would learn of his deeds. Then, they would build a statue of himself in his honor, just like in Plant Town!

“Probably should check on how that is coming along,” Darius thought to himself as he continued onward.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After the long trek back, Darius had joined the Lochs (and presumably Scott) at the dining table. Mrs. Loch had served everyone grilled cheese sandwiches with a side of homemade potato chips. In between delicious bites of food, Darius told his story.

“And so, in that cave *munch munch* the telepath revealed himself as a noibat. *munch munch* It’s like a zubat, but purple and with a funny nose. Anywho, *munch munch* he was a dragon type from one of the elders of my kin. The noibat had informed me that the great Grandmaster Beed had passed away and that my kin were gathering in the east to say goodbye *munch munch*. As for why he tortured me for weeks on end, it was all a game for the newly-freed pokemon. I popped him in the face just so he wouldn’t try it again. *munch munch* This food’s good.”

Mr. Loch made a quick call to one of his employees to check the cave for an injured pokemon. Afterwards, he turned his attention back to Darius.

“First leafeon, now noibat. We’re gonna have to do another head count just to figure out how many wild guests we have! As for you, Mr. Dovakin, with your telepath defeated, this means you’re done going after our residnets?”

“Yes sir! The foe has been vanquished, so I am free from his trickery.”

“In that case, I’d prefer to avoid a legal hassle and call this a giant misunderstanding, if Scott agrees. I’ll let you go on your way on one condition: your sword stays here.”

“My…sword?”

Poor Darius’s face dropped upon hearing that he would be losing his first (and only) sword he had ever wielded. It was a comparatively small price to pay for freeing his mind. Still, he was going to miss that blade.

Nessie was holding the sword and scabbard at the time, pulling it out to admire the shine of the metal. Darius rose from his seat, knelt down to the girl, and helped her unsheathe the sword. If he was to give up the sword, it would be in his own way.

“I, Darius Dovakin, beseech upon you the Dawn Blade. It is the first blade I have ever wielded. When people ask about this sword, you will tell them my story, my legend. You will pass this on to your children and your children’s children. They will know what one man is capable of in this vast world.”

“That I don’t doubt,” Mr. Loch mumbled sarcastically to Scott as he watched Nessie beam over the new family heirloom.

Posted by: 7eeveelutions Jul 24 2014, 11:35 AM

Scott sighed. "Well, I suppose I'll go along with it, if only because I really don't feel like trying to arrest him." He had already scarfed down the entire sandwich in hunger, but was eating his chips more slowly.

"I'm sure there are several dozen more unknown visitors on the ranch besides my Leafeon and that bat thing...... Noibat? That cave alone probably contains several wild Zubat in addition to all the trainer-owned ones. In fact, the wild Pokemon I've been hearing the most about is supposedly a full grown Tyranitar that several other Rangers and hikers have met near the north end of the ranch. There's a good chance it lives on the ranch itself, or at least visits sometimes. Luckily, it isn't aggressive, so I've never had to go searching for it. And with all the Leafeon sightings around here, there might even be another two or three of them besides the one I caught. There could even be a Moss Stone on your ranch somewhere."

He paused for a moment, then said, "And I'm not even sure that the Altaria that went with Amber on the robbery call in Lenolia was trainer-owned, to be honest. Although if it was, that might be a problem if its owner comes by while it's gone...... we aren't supposed to use other people's Pokemon unless it's an emergency. Although, that may have counted as an emergency......"

In the back of his mind, he was thinking about something else though. That sword really doesn't serve any practical purpose, but I have to admit it looks awesome. Maybe I need to start wearing a sword on my belt. People might take me a bit more seriously then, at least, and they wouldn't be as nervous as if I were carrying a rifle...... and it would look more epic too. Maybe I could get one of those swords with a design painted into the blade, like a Vulpix breathing fire...... then I would definitely be stuck with the nickname 'Fox' though, with four fox Pokemon and a sword with a fox on it...... but it definitely won't be a broadsword. Maybe a short sword. Although, I am tall enough to easily carry a long sword, so that might be a better idea. Or maybe a rapier. Although I have no idea what a rapier is, it at least sounds more awesome than a regular sword. But what would I name it? Do I even need to name a sword? It seems kinda unnecessary, but if the whole point of having a sword is to look awesome, having a named sword would help...... and there's also still that issue of getting one of those guns that fire explosive paintballs......

He shook his head to clear his thoughts and decided he'd deal with looking awesome later, then finished off the last of his lunch and stood up. "Well, if this is all dealt with now, I'd better be getting back to my station. I might be needed in Lenolia or elsewhere soon, so I need to get ready to do some travelling and make sure that the station's construction will go fine without me. I'll talk to you all later then."

After shutting the door behind him, he sighed once again. "This was a crazy day. But at least it turned out well this time."

And so he began the few-mile-long trek home.

Posted by: Toogee Jul 24 2014, 04:37 PM

“Farewell and go bust some litterers for me!” Darius shouted to Scott as he left. He turned to the Lochs to bid them farewell as well.

“With that, I too must depart. My adventure must continue! More evils must be vanquished!”

“Just stay out of trouble,” Mr. Loch said as Darius walked out of the house.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Once he was on the road, Darius summoned his charmeleon to accompany him. Bindy emerged with a roll, standing back up to flash a pair of jazz hands. Her trainer did his best not to crack a smile (“It’s a warrior’s scowl!”) as he delivered the news.

“Bindy, we’re headed back east! The dragon trainers are gathering to honor the late great Grandmaster Beed. We shall join them. Onward!”

The two ran down the road together, eager for their next adventure.