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Posted by: Cube Aug 6 2009, 09:06 PM

"What a day…" Spencer sighed, as he gazed out the chopper's window. His first real glimpse at Furoh's scenery. For someone who had lived their life in a region that was 90% desert, the simple sight of a region that was actually green was something to behold. Back in Orre he had been fortunate enough to live in the relatively mild climate of Agate Village, but Agate was an anomaly. A lush patch in a harsh region. Furoh was all green. The sight of all this -illuminated by the mellow light of the setting sun - took Spencer's breath away. His Pokémon seemed to enjoy it too. …Well, Celia did anyway. Nils was too busy trying to get Agent Jennifer's attention, and Vincent seemed to be in a sore mood ever since they left the contest hall. Still… After what happened to day, Spencer didn't really blame him.

The first thing Spencer did after leaving the contest hall was call home on his new PokéGear. Unfortunately, he happened to call just as his mother was returning from a business trip to Sinnoh. Also unfortunately enough, ONBS had picked up on the story and had broadcast his name and photo all over the news. Needless to say, Mrs. Thorn was in hysterics when Spencer called, ranting and raving about how worried she was and how she had tried to call a million times and how her poor baby was nearly killed on his first day and why didn't you go to the hospital you could be injured and I don't care if they say you’re fine and why on earth did you choose to take that Shadow Pokémon do you know how dangerous they are and on and on…

Finally, after Stacy managed to bring her back to a punctuation-using level of calm, she insisted that he run to the nearest PC that very instant, much to Agent Jennifer's chagrin. After being berated on the video phone for another half hour, Spencer soon found himself on the receiving end of what Nurse Joy called a record breaking item transfer. Basically, anything that Mrs. Thorn could find that could fit into an item capsule was shoved into the transport machine. A tent, sleeping bags, and old tin pot, a berry dispenser she picked up at Floraroma town, authentic Lunar Wings from Alamos (He didn't even have Nightmares, why did he need four of them?), massive bottles of cologne, a souvenir Poke Flute (Why couldn't she have sent a Time Flute? It would have made his job so much easier…) and a pair of Shin Guards that she insisted he put on in front of the webcam. She almost sent Chompy over the BOX system until he and Stacy reminded her that sending him a Feraligatr would void his Trainer's License if he didn't have a few badges or ribbons first. (And even then, she almost did it anyway.) Needless to say, Spencer's bag was quite literally "tripping balls" by this point. Spencer was pretty sure Stacy tried to mention something about a PokeCon in that massive mess of a phone call, but Spencer could barely make out her words over his mother's frantic exclamations.

Finally, after about an hour of MomRant, the group had rejoined a very patient Agent Jennifer for the flight to MooMoo Land.

The flight itself was uneventful. Everyone was wearing ear protection (including the Pokémon, which was an amusing sight). Waker still had Locke draped over his shoulders like a Boa, who tried to give him another "hug" at least once during the flight, (which Spencer had the unfortunate task of having to help him out of.) He couldn't see Connie where he was sitting, but he could just catch a glimpse of one of Verity's pink pigtails peeking from behind her seat.

Spencer's thoughts were interrupted by Agent Jennifer's voice crackling through the tinny speakers in his ears. "We're going to be landing soon in that clearing. It's only a short walk to MooMoo Land from there, though it's probably closed to visitors by now. You may have to camp for the night."

"Great!" though Spencer, as he absent-mindedly stroked Celia's feathers. He had never really been camping before, though he had made enough campfires around the ranch to get the idea. It wouldn't be anywhere near as comfortable as staying at a Pokémon Center, but after a day like today, he didn't care where he slept, just as long as he got some rest.

If only he knew how to pitch a tent…

Posted by: Mechanical Lullaby Aug 6 2009, 10:15 PM

Waker swung his legs back and forth, his heels hitting the steel underside of his seat. The headphones he was wearing were uncomfortably tight, but he knew they were necessary if he didn't want to lose his hearing in addition to his voice. Locke, after another attempt on his life (thankfully ended by Spencer), had calmed down and buried his head into the coils around Waker's neck, fast asleep. Still running on adrenaline, Waker looked around the helicopter for something to occupy him until they landed - he could just barely see Connie and Verity from where he sat, and Spencer was gazing out the window, excitement on his face. Nils was busy tugging on Agent Jennifer's coat - she really didn't look too Happy about that - and the rest of the Pokemon seemed to be sitting with their trainers, not doing much. With nothing else to do, Waker looked down at the holo-card in his hands, wishing he could play the message over the roar of the helicopter's wings.


Shortly after the others had caught up with him in Barely, Spencer mentioned that his family wanted a video conference with him in the Pokemon Centre. While not too happy about it, Jennifer let the group go - as Spencer grew increasingly nervous under what seemed to be a rant from his mother, Waker made his own call to the small, rustic PokeCentre in Ecruteak.


"Oh, Waker!" the elderly Joy exclaimed, a wide smile on her face. "Oh, just hold on a minute, dear; I'll send a bird for your parents." Adjusting Locke on his shoulders, Waker watched as Joy whistled, a Chatot wearing a nurse's cap coming to her call. Joy murmured a few instructions to it, smiling as it nodded and flew offscreen. She then turned back to the screen, clapping her hands together. "Alright! Chatty's gone to get your mother - Mesa's not in right now." Joy humphed and shook her head, her graying pink hair floating around her face. "Those two are always out somewhere, your father and Morty. Why, just the other day, Morty said he saw a Raikou in the forests! Can you believe that?" Joy laughed, Waker doing the same, his shaking shoulders sending Locke sliding. Pulling the snake Pokemon back up, he didn't see when his mother came on the conference screen.


"Waker!" Beth Faland cooed, hugging the PC. "Oh, my poor boy! I heard about the attack from the Sellins, in Goldenrod - you remember them, right? - is that an Ekans?" Nodding in response to his mother's question, Waker held up Locke with some difficulty. The Ekans looked at her blankly before drifting off to sleep again. "Be careful with it," Beth warned, a frown on her plump face. She shook her head, hands on her hips. "You men, always getting into danger. Did Joy tell you about your father?" Waker nodded. "Of course, Morty had one of his tip-offs again - they went racing off to Olivine. Someone down there said they'd seen what they think's a Lugia, flying out over those whirlpools. Now - how are my cute little darlings?" Waker sighed and released his Nidorans, his mother cooing at them while the elderly Joy squeezed into the screen's range. She held up a small, blank card with a round impression on one side, sliding it into the transfer box.


"It's a holo-card," she explained. "Your father sent it a few hours ago, but the poor Spearow couldn't fly all the way to Furoh, so it stopped here." Before Joy could press the transfer button, Waker's mother snapped out of her trance and hurriedly shoved something into the tray, hitting the button herself. With a wink and an "I love you, darling! Call me when you get to the next city!" she was gone. Joy shook her head. "That woman..." she muttered, a wondering smile on her face. "Anyway, remember to take good care of those three." She eyed the Nidorans before they went back into their Pokeballs, both yawning widely. "Those two - well, you'll see. Have fun, and try not to get hurt again, alright?" With a smile, Joy closed the conference.


Waker was thrown back into reality then, Jennifer's voice crackling through his headphones. Spencer turned to him as the helicopter began to descend, a smile on his face. Smiling back, Waker slipped the holo-card into his pocket, the bag his mother had sent him unopened in his lap. Scratching the top of Locke's head, Waker half-stood as the helicopter finally came to a stop in a field strewn with flowers. A medium-sized dirt road was a short walk away, and, under a small copse of trees, a soft greenish glow emanated from a tiny wooden house.


Oh, a shrine, Waker thought, waiting as Jennifer hopped out of the chopper, holding out her hand to Verity and Connie. I wonder what Pokemon it was built for? Locke drowsily lifted his head, giving Waker a brief wake-up 'hug' before his impassive eyes drifted to the shrine. Suddenly releasing his hold, Locke raised his head and titled it, fixated on the shrine.


...Locke? Waker tapped the underside of the Ekans' head as he carefully climbed out of the chopper, breathing in the fresh evening air. Smiling even wider now, Waker threw out his arms, his mother's bag swinging from his hand.


Now, the journey really begins!

Posted by: Dragon Maiden Aug 7 2009, 02:06 PM

Meanwhile...

Aussie walked along the dirt roads just outside of Barley. She was completely lost because for the first time in her life she was completely alone with no idea where to go. Shadow was starting to whimper because her stubby little feet were starting to hurt from following Aussie around for so long. Aussie looked down at the Swinub. The little creature was dripping with sweat and looked as if she wanted to fall over and die. Aussie bent down and picked up Shadow in her arms and said to her "Those little feet weren't made for walking were they?"

Shadow looked up into Aussie's big penetrating eyes and replied with a feeble little "Swine." Aussie couldn't help smiling and giggling a little bit as Shadow nuzzled her nose into her chest and settled into her arms with a little sigh of contentment. "It looks as if I'll be carrying you from now on." Aussie said to Shadow. Shadow didn't reply because she had already fallen asleep in Aussie's arms. "Hey Mimic, I don't suppose you would carry Shadow for me. Would you?"

A little Hoothoot popped out of one of the smaller pockets of Aussie's messenger bag, only the top of her head and eyes showing. Aussie looked down at the little Hoothoot and she stared right back with her huge gleaming red eyes. The two stood staring at each other for what would have seemed like hours to anyone observing, but for Aussie and Mimic such exchanges were ordinary. Mimic didn't say a word, just blinked and Aussie turned away, a smile on her face. "I thought not, but I had to ask. The only thing you ever come out of that pocket for anyway is food," she said jokingly. "Hoot." Mimic said, before promptly disappearing back into the pocket. "Well, I thought it was funny..." Aussie murmured to herself under her breath.

Aussie stopped walking and looked at her surroundings. All that was around her was a dirt road that seemed to stretch on into eternity and a few dying pine trees that lined the side of the road. The needles on the tree were brown and dry, just like the road. Even the grass seemed more brown then green. The sorry-looking pine trees stretched their branches over her head, blocking out the sun. Everything was hidden in shadow, except something ahead. She squinted and tried to make out what it was. It took a second for her to realize what it was. It was a small brown building, some sort of shrine. She couldn't make out the details from so far away.

Aussie's natural curiosity was sparked. She promptly continued walking, heading toward the shrine she had seen. As she drew closer she noticed that the trees around her seemed to get healthier and greener as she approached the shrine. The grass was taller and a deep shade of green and wildflowers poked out of the grass, giving the woods a more colorful and alive feeling. Shadow wiggled in her arms and woke up. She immediately turned her squinty eyes toward the shrine and started snuffling in excitement. Mimic even poked her head out of her pocket and watched the shrine with curiosity. The very air around the shrine was electric.

Finally Aussie arrived in the clearing around the shrine. The area around the shrine was filled with wildflowers and tall grass. The shrine itself was simple enough. It was made from a deep brown wood that looked quite aged. It had three walls and a sloping roof, which sat on a base of gray stone. Moss covered the stone and the bottom of the shrine. The side of the shrine that was open showed that on the inside was a wooden stand, but nothing was on it. The road leading up to the shrine was starting to become overgrown with grass. Obviously nobody had been here regularly in a long time.

Shadow jumped from her arms and started sniffing around the base of the shrine. Once she had sniffed to her satisfaction, she turned around and disappeared into the grass. Aussie watched in amazement as Mimic jumped out of the pocket and ran up to the foot of the shrine. The Hoothoot studied the shrine for a moment and then Shadow came bursting out of the grass and jumped on top of Mimic playfully. Aussie waited for Mimic to get mad and attack Shadow as she usually does when the Swinub tried to play with her, but on the contrary, Mimic started to bounce around and hop on Swinub playfully.

Aussie sat down and observed the two. She took her pen from behind her ear and her notebook from her pocket and started to scribble notes. Her pokemon were acting completely out of character. Shadow rarely left her side, and Mimic, although curious, usually observed and watched things from her pocket. The fact that the little Hoothoot had actually left it to go look at the shrine intrigued her. Not to mention Mimic was usually serious, but now she was playing around and frolicking with Shadow. The only conclusion Aussie could come to was that the shrine somehow drew pokemon to it.

She sat and watched the shrine and her pokemon for an hour, contemplating many things when she heard the whirl of helicopter blades behind her. She promptly turned her head around to look for the source. She glimpsed a flash of metal as a helicopter landed in the meadow bordering the woods behind her. All her curiosity for the shrine and the effect it had on her pokemon vanished. Now her attention was focused on why a helicopter was landing in a seemingly remote location. She abruptly stood up. "Come on Shadow, Mimic. Time to go." The pokemon stopped playing. Shadow whimpered a little and Mimic's eyes looked a little sad but she obeyed. Shadow came and stood by her feet while Mimic ran up and jumped back into her pocket. Aussie turned around to face the helicopter and started towards it, curiosity eating at her every fiber.

Posted by: MAREEP Aug 7 2009, 03:12 PM

Connie followed the boys to the Pokemon Centre where Spencer could make his video call home hand in hand with Verity. As they walked, she speculated about how high the helicopter would go, whether people really did look like ants from up there and whether they could teach Courage and Victoria to carry them about when they got tired of walking yet.

"Combees only have little wings but Courage is quite light, maybe she could take you and Waker and Spencer and then Victoria could take me and we'd have your bags," she said, quite reasonably, she thought. "After all, helicopters must be really heavy and we're all going in one together and they stay up. Maybe, if we can teach Courage to flap really quickly..."

They walked in and left Spencer to his phone call, sure that he would prefer not to have them hanging around. His Mum had seemed quite worried when he had spoken to her as they followed Waker out of the Contest Hall. Connie waved to the rollerskating Nurse Joy that had served them ice cream the day before.

"Hello Joy," she called, hurrying over to the counter. "I'd like a rootbeer float with a tooti frooti scoop, please," she asked, flashing her trainer card. "And..." she glanced at her friend, who nodded.

"So would Verity?" finished Joy, with a grin. She got them their drinks and, as custom was slow for the time being, she settled herself opposite them behind the counter. "I saw your Mum," she said to Verity. "She came in to see if you had already gone to the Contest Hall. She seemed amazed the two of you were up and out before ten am. By the way..." she lowered her voice. "Is it true? I've been hearing all sorts! An attack by Team Deception! Jenny came in, and she said someone had lost a shiny pokemon."

Connie was too busy slurping at this point to add much to the discussion but Verity happily regailed Joy with tales of their adventures so far. Connie polished off her root beer and set about what hadn't melted of her ice cream scoop with relish. Listening to Verity's description of the Tauros, Connie noticed that her friend's ice cream scoop was melting into the drink fast and had been largely ignored in favour of the Contest Hall. It seemed a shame to waste it. Pushing aside her own glass, she pulled Verity's closer and slurped at the tooti frooti-y rootbeer. Connie joined in every now and then but focussed mainly on her desserts.

"And is it true that there were Shadow pokemon?" asked Joy, a little later, as Connie took her spoon to the sad little lump of ice cream that was all that was left of the two floats.

"Oh, yes," said Connie. "Our friends have them to look after. They're really scary. An Ekans (Waker's called it Locke) and a Scyther called Logan. They have to wear braces and things. We didn't want to look after them. I have enough trouble with my nice pokemon, I don't want poor ones with no hearts. We're going to go with Agent Jennifer in a helicopter," she finished importantly. "I think we'll be off soon." It looked as though Waker and Spencer were moving away from the video phones and looking for them. "Thanks for the floats! See you soon, Joy!"

Verity didn't seem too keen to be on their way but it wasn't long after that that they were all getting settled into the helicopter and handed ear muffs. Connie was so excited she could scarcely sit still long enough to sort out her safety belt. As they rose slowly up into the air, Connie waved and waved for all she was worth at the audience of Barley schoolchildren that had gathered to watch the excitement. She couldn't really stifle the self-satisfied thought that it was the two home-schooled bumpkins in the helicopter waving at them, and not the other way around.

As they flew over the first of the trees at the edge of town, Connie realised that she might wish their places were reversed. She certainly regretted the two sickly sweet ice cream floats in the pokemon centre, if nothing else. Within five minutes of being airborne, she was clinging to Verity's hand for all she was worth and chanting "I'm not going to be sick, I'm not going to be sick..." over and over in her head. It had to be in her head, because she wasn't sure she dared open her mouth. She certainly couldn't pay much attention to what was going on beneath them. She fixed her gaze firmly on the instrument panel and set about counting the number of times the little yellow light flashed, her chanting settling into sequence with the mesmerising flashing, as she tried to shut out the sickening motion and the sense of height.

When Jennifer's voice crackled over the headset, announcing that they were nearly there, she could have danced with joy. Jennifer was out of the helicopter first, holding out her hand to the girls. Connie pulled off the harness as quickly as she could and jumped down after her, gulping in the biggest lungfuls of fresh air she could conveniently manage and looking not a little green. She sat down on the grass and hoped it would stop feelin like it was moving soon.

"Thank you very much for the lift, Agent Jennifer," she said, as soon as it felt safe enough to do so. "Please don't ever take me in your helicopter again."

Posted by: Lindley Aug 7 2009, 04:11 PM

The closer the moment of actually getting into the helicopter came, the more Verity was conscious of a leaden weight in the pit of her stomach.

She held tightly onto Connie's hand as her friend chattered, and wondered what it would feel like to be in a big empty thing that made lots of noise and would fall down if the blades stopped turning. She'd made the mistake of asking Agent Jennifer what kind of pokemon they used to make them go around, and Agent Jennifer said they didn't use any pokemon at all, they used machines. That didn't seem right to Verity. The windmills at home made power for the farm, but they only needed a little bit of power, and surely something as big as a helicopter needed at least an manetric to keep going. The generators in town needed lots and lots of raichus to work. And it wasn't like the windmills flew away. Maybe the blades had solar panels on them - Verity had heard of towns where they had whole streets made of solar panels, but the helicopter blades just didn't seem big enough to help much, when the helicopter had to carry five whole people.

She really wished Agent Jennifer used safe, ordinary ways to get around, like pokemon who knew Fly.

"Combees only have little wings but Courage is quite light, maybe she could take you and Waker and Spencer and then Victoria could take me and we'd have your bags, after all, helicopters must be really heavy and we're all going in one together and they stay up. Maybe, if we can teach Courage to flap really quickly..."

Verity's heart skipped a beat with sudden hope, but it quickly faded. "I don't think Victoria can learn Fly yet," she said doubtfully. "And Courage can, but she's so little, I can't see how she can carry anyone until she's a Staraptor - unless she picks me up by the hair," she added, wincing at the memory of the little claws caught in her pigtails. Her pale skin was now shaded by a very sensible legionairre's cap, but she still had the faint stinging sensation that heralded the start of sunburn from their earlier walk. Maybe, if Courage evolved, she could shade Verity's head better. But it was strange to think of her cute little companion as a big, impressive Staraptor. It was much easier, somehow, to think of Butchette as a big machamp like her mother.

She winced a bit as they entered the pokemon centre. She'd always thought it was a huge treat to go there and have icecream - Bill was usually very strict about what she was allowed to eat - but she couldn't help noticing that the walls were covered by miltanks. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if the helicopter crashed before they reached Moo-Moo Land, she thought treacherously.

When her root beer float arrived, Verity was surprised by how little she actually wanted it. Something about the sweetness and creaminess just seemed... oh... To quiet her stomach, she focussed hard on Joy's cute face, and the story she was telling. Part of her hoped very much that Joy would tell her mother Joy that she had been very brave and self-reliant, like a true Amazon, and not like a silly, dependent little girl at all. The morning's reprimand still felt uncomfortably prickly to think about. She began to cheer as she told them all about their day - it really had been very exciting, and she couldn't wait to tell Joy all about Candyfloss.

She zapped the igglybuff out of its ball to meet Joy's happiny, and Verity and Joy cooed together - Connie seemed distracted by devouring Verity's icecream, for which Verity was devoutly grateful - at the sight of the small pink pokemon trying to out-cute each other. Happiny almost won when it proudly showed Candyfloss its oval stone "egg", but Candyfloss rallied quickly and managed to charm Happiny into giving her a turn, marching happily back and front holding it in front of her as if it was in a pouch.

We're going to go with Agent Jennifer in a helicopter"

The words recalled Verity to the situation, and she bent over Candyfloss to hide her sudden rush of nausea, gently detaching the oval stone and returning it to Happiny. By the time she straightened and returned Candyfloss to her luxury ball, Verity had regained her composure.

She scrutinised the others carefully for signs of panic, but Spencer and Waker both seemed excited and happy, and Connie was practically bouncing out of her skin. And... there were Barley schoolchildren clustered around the helicopter. It was time to keep up her brave face as an Amazon. Verity beamed at the children, tossing her (hastily brushed and rearranged) pigtails, and practically danced up into the helicopter as if it was the thing she had always wanted to do most in her life.

Inside, she kept up the excited facade, but was a bit relieved by the headphones - at least she wouldn't have to pretend to chatter merrily. She squeezed Connie's hand very tight, and forced herself to keep her eyes open, wishing that she could take Butchette out - but that would make the helicopter even heavier and harder to lift and, besides, people might guess she was scared.

The helicopter lifted... and Verity's heart with it. They were going up and up, and it felt like they were being lifted by, not machinery at all, but Verity's exhileration. The ground seemed to sweep by right under them, but the horizon was still and unmoving... by craning to the left, Verity could see the glorious blue sparkle of the sea where Barley met the ocean, and the farthest horizon. She had always loved looking out over the sea, and best of all to see the horizon where she could see that Emerence had been telling her the truth, and the world really did curve. Up high, Verity was more conscious than ever of the majestic sweep of the world's curve. She craned her neck still farther, hoping to catch a glimpse of a wailmer or tentacruel or even Kyogre, leaping up into the sun...

Connie was holding her hand very tightly, and Verity wondered if she was trying to reassure her. She turned to smile at her friend to show that everything was okay, but for some reason Connie was staring straight ahead, not looking at the spectacular view at all. Maybe... maybe she'd been acting too, and was really scared? She'd feel better if she knew how pretty it all was! No one could be scared when things were so beautiful.

Verity poked her with her free hand. "Look outside!" she mouthed. "Look right down an see how pretty it is!"

Connie turned green and turned her face resolutely towards the instrument panel. Verity wondered if maybe she wasn't feeling well. She carefully reached down to her backpack, managing to wriggle enough to reach it despite the safety belt, and offered Connie some soda pop. Connie, for some reason, just squeezed her eyes shut and didn't take the drink at all.

Verity was feeling really worried by the time the helicopter started to land - but that was so much fun, too! She bounced out after Connie.

"Thank you, Agent Jennifer! That was great!" She was distracted by the sight of Connie down on the grass. "Oh - Cnnie, are you okay?" She anxiously knelt beside her and wrapped a protective arm around her. "Did you eat too much icecream?"

She looked up at the boys. "I think I need to sit with Verity for a bit." Her manner suddenly became more businesslike, but she kept stroking Connie's back comfortingly. "If we're going to be camping, then Butchette can chop us firewood - she's really good at using karate chop for that - and Torchie can start the fire - she's really good at that. We'll need somewhere comfy to sleep - Victoria and Courage can gather up soft grass and leaves to put under our sleeping bags. Do you think Celia would mind filling up a billy so that we can make tea, and maybe make some damper or something for dinner? Or do we need something more substantial? It's been a long time since breakfast, and only Connie had icecream." Connie groaned. "The other pokemon can contribute by setting up a rota to guard us in the night, in case any wild pokemon venture out of the long grass and attack us. Right - have I forgotten anything?"

Something of Bill's self-assured grin leaked out of Verity's big red eyes. She might be the youngest of the group, but she suspected that neither of the boys had ever camped out all night with their mother to look after an ailing pregnant flaafy.

Posted by: Cube Aug 7 2009, 05:01 PM

"Afraid of heights Connie?" asked Spencer as he watched the visibly shaken girl leap out of the helicopter, followed shortly thereafter by Verity, Waker, and the Pokémon. Spencer unbuckled his harness before jumping out of the chopper as well. After making sure that no Pokémon were still on the helicopter, and that all of his belongings hadn't spilled out all over the floor, he quickly joined the others as Officer Jenny led them to a safe distance away from the helicopter.

"Don't feel bad Connie." Said Agent Jennifer, as she collected the headsets from the group. "I got sick during my first ride too. It's nothing to be ashamed of. You'll be able to walk straight again in a few minutes, I'm sure."

The girl smiled weakly at the police officer as she collected the last of the headsets. She really didn't seem like she was in any position to risk opening her mouth a second time. At least not for a few minutes anyway.

"Alright!" said Jennifer, talking over the constant whirr of the propellers. "I've got to report back to Daioh. You all have my PokéGear number, right?"

"Yeah!" shouted Spencer.

"What?!"

"Yeah! We have your PokéGear number!" shouted Spencer, nodding his head to get the point across.

"Okay! Good! Moo Moo Land is a few miles down the road! Call me if you have any trouble!"

"Will do!" shouted Spencer, as he watched the police officer leap back onto the chopper. The propellers roared as the machine lifted itself in the air, creating a miniature storm of leaves and petals in the air. Spencer threw his arm over his face to shield himself from the cloud of dust, using the tip of his scarf to protect his nose and mouth. By the time the dust cleared, the chopper was already on the way to Daioh, and the group was left alone in the forest's clearing.

"Well that was an interesting trip…" said Spencer, as he checked the time on his Pokétch. "How long were we in that Contest Hall… he thought. Though, admittedly his concept of time was thrown off through a combination of Jet Lag and Cologne-Related Flashbacks…

"If we're going to be camping, then Butchette can chop us firewood - she's really good at using karate chop for that - and Torchie can start the fire - she's really good at that. We'll need somewhere comfy to sleep - Victoria and Courage can gather up soft grass and leaves to put under our sleeping bags. Do you think Celia would mind filling up a billy so that we can make tea, and maybe make some damper or something for dinner? Or do we need something more substantial? It's been a long time since breakfast, and only Connie had icecream." Connie groaned. "The other pokemon can contribute by setting up a rota to guard us in the night, in case any wild pokemon venture out of the long grass and attack us. Right - have I forgotten anything?"

"That sounds good!" said Spencer, looking at the trio of Pokémon near his feet. "Nils, can help with the firewood too, and I'm sure Celia would be happy to help get us some water, right?"

"Lup!"

"Great!" said Spencer. "And Vincent can help out with the guard, right?"

"Char…" muttered the Lizard Pokémon, who didn't seem very enthusiastic about the prospect.

"What's the matter Vincent?" said Spencer, kneeling to address the Charmander at eye level.

"Char Charmander! Char! Charmander?! Char Der." He pointed to Spencer's bag, where the Interpol engraved Snag Ball sat perched upon a pile of capsules. Spencer picked up the Poké Ball from his bag and held it up to Vincent.

"Oh, you have a problem with Logan then?" Said Spencer, rubbing the Pokémon's head. "Listen, I know you aren't really keen on having him stay with us, and to be honest I'm not either. That's why I'm wearing the Shin Guards. But we owe it to him to try and open his heart again. Just like if you, or any other Pokémon had their heart's sealed. Do you understand what I'm trying to say Vincent?"

The Charmander just stared blankly at him for a moment before swatting the Poké Ball out of his hand, sending it rolling through the trees before opening with a flash in a nearby meadow.

"Vincent! What was that for!?!" shouted Spencer as he ran after the errant Poké Ball, grabbing it off the ground and preparing to call back the loose shadow Pokémon before it ran off.

Except… it wasn't running off. In fact, it seemed quite content to stay where it was standing, staring at an ancient wooden structure nestled between two trees. The structure was shaped like a small building, with a faint green glow emanating from within. Ancient words in Unown Script lined the bottom of the shrine, while an inscription in the modern language was carved into the wood.

"A roadside shrine to Celebi?" Spencer looked at the structure with awe, unaware of the fact that his Pokémon -including a rather surly Vincent- had gathered behind him again. Spencer was familiar with shrines such as this from Agate (There was a famous one not far from the Ranch), but this one seemed small, not to mention somewhat randomly placed. "I wonder who would build a shrine out here? he thought, as he took another step toward the shrine, before the loud snapping of a twig caused him to let out an embarrassing "yelp" of fright. He spun in place to see a pale young girl with white hair sitting near the shrine, who had apparently been watching the group the entire time.

"Oh… uh… Hi." Said Spencer, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head. "Didn't see you there. It's a very nice shrine, isn't it?"

Posted by: Mechanical Lullaby Aug 7 2009, 07:29 PM

As soon as Waker was done taking in the view, he spun around, facing the others. His wide smile faded a little as he noticed Verity and Connie - who didn't look so good - huddled near the helicopter. Walking over to them, Waker knelt in front of Connie, looking at her intently. With a tiny grimace he set his new bag down and dug in his old one for the notebook, freezing as Verity suddenly began issuing commands.


"If we're going to be camping, then Butchette can chop us firewood - she's really good at using karate chop for that - and Torchie can start the fire - she's really good at that. We'll need somewhere comfy to sleep..." Waker zoned out, a little smile dancing on his face as Verity spoke. She really seemed to be in her element now - out in the open, taking care of her friends. Shoving his notebook back in his sidebag, he grabbed the small satchel at his feet and stood up again, Locke moving restlessly on his shoulders. "...Right - have I forgotten anything?"


Leaving the girls for a moment, Waker released Azzy and Pora, the two immediately running free in the grass, "Nii!"-ing excitedly. Leaving little indents of crushed grass where they went, the two suddenly stopped and sat up on their hind legs, noses twitching. Azzy looked back at Waker for just a moment, his red eyes seeming to almost glow in the fading light. With a small cry Pora ran forward, Azzy at her heels.


Looking up, Waker noticed Spencer running into the small group of trees by the side of the road, the glow from the shrine seeming to get stronger. With a glance back at the girls, Waker began running after Spencer and his Pokemon, Locke now fully awake and staring forward intently.


Spencer, Azzy, Pora, where are yo- Waker stopped, frozen. Spencer was standing a little ways away from the shrine, Logan in front of him and both his and Waker's Pokemon behind and beside him. With a thud, Locke slithered off Waker's shoulders into the grass beside Logan, tail rattling gently. Everyone was fixated on the green glow pulsing gently from the shrine - except Spencer.


The breeder was staring at a small, pale girl standing near the shrine, a Hoothoot and Swinub near her. Waker blinked, mystified - Is that a faerie? - until Spencer cleared his throat and spoke.


"Oh... uh... Hi. Didn't see you there. It's a very nice shrine, isn't it?" Now that Waker looked carefully, he noticed the girl's outfit and shoes (which seemed to be in need of a repair - or replacement!). Not a faerie, then, he sighed mentally, leaning down and picking up his Nidorans. Broken out of their little spell, the two looked up at him happily, Azzy climbing to his usual perch on Waker's shoulder. Taking a step forward to stand beside Spencer, Waker smiled at the girl, Pora wriggling in his arms.

Posted by: Dragon Maiden Aug 7 2009, 09:43 PM

Aussie watched the helicopter from a distance. She wanted to get closer, but her shyness held her back. The thought of approaching random strangers and asking them questions frightened her. She was much happier just to observe and wait. She watched as a young girl with bright pink hair jump out of the helicopter. A girl with wavy blue hair wasn't far behind. The girl looked rather relieved to be free of the helicopter as she kneeled on the ground. Aussie had never seen anyone look so green behind the gills before. Two boys also came out of the helicopter, both with messy black hair, but one was wearing glasses and was taller while the other was on the shorter side.

The girl with the pink hair looked over at the girl with the blue hair and looked concerned. She knelt by the girl and gently put her arm around her. One of the other boys came around and knelt beside the girl also. The pink haired girl looked back up at the boys and said something to them, but Aussie couldn't make out the words, but it was obvious the girl had control of the situation. The quartet continued to stand around talking for a while before the helicopter took off again.

Aussie was completely fascinated by the others. She was so intent on watching them she had unconsciously taken out her notebook again and was scribbling notes. Mimic was also intent on watching them, never taking her huge red eyes off them. Shadow seemed more bored then interested. The little Swinub kept turning around to look longingly at the shrine. If Aussie had stopped watching the quartet for a minute she would have realized the shrine had started to glow a soft green.

The tall black haired boy had turned to three pokemon standing at his feet, a charmander, a piplup, and a treeko. He said something to them. The piplup and treeko seemed quite content with what the boy had said, but the charmander looked rather grumpy. The boy knelt in front of the charmander and spoke to the little lizard pokemon, but it didn't look any happier. On the contrary it seemed to get madder. The boy reached down and produced a snag ball, she recognized the logo on the pokeball from pictures in a book she had read. She started to jot notes down more furiously. She suddenly realized what she was doing and looked down at her notebook. She was silently laughing at herself. Why was she taking notes on humans? Not to mention stupid notes. One of her notes simply read, The Charmader is mad. She quickly put her notebook back in her pocket and her pen behind her ear.

Suddenly she heard a sound of a pokeball opening close to the shrine. It was the same pokeball that the boy had just been holding a few seconds earliers. She whirled around to see what could only be a shadow scyther, because it had come out of the snag ball, standing in front of the shrine, staring at it contentedly. Aussie could feel the panic rising in her. She felt as if she should run, but her fear kept her firmly rooted in the ground, staring with her huge wide eyes. Suddenly the tall black haired boy appeared into the clearing. He was looking at the shadow scyther, surprise evident on his face. Aussie quickly got control of herself at that moment, now was the time to disappear. She slowly took a step back but winced when she heard a twig crack under her foot. The tall boy whirled around, a little yelp escaping from his mouth. When he saw it was only a girl he visibly relaxed, but he looked nervous and curious.

The other boy that had stepped out of the helicopter suddenly appeared in the clearing too. He appeared to be following two nidoran, one a girl the other a boy. He looked up at the other boy and then at her. The boy blinked and looked slightly mystified as he set eyes on her. Finally the tall boy broke the spell when the nervous words "Oh... uh... Hi. Didn't see you there. It's a very nice shrine, isn't it?"

Aussie knew this was the time she should say something, but the words wouldn't come. Her aunt had always said she was "socially awkward" and now was a perfect example of that. All she could manage was staring at the two boys. Unlike talking, staring was something she was very good at. The only words in her mind were run, run, run. Aussie felt the tension rise as time ticked on, but then she felt the brush of soft fur as Shadow rubbed against her leg. She visibly relaxed at that moment. Something about having Shadow around all the time gave her confidence. She had just needed to be reminded of that.

"Hi... Yes it really is beautiful, isn't it?" Aussie looked back at the shrine. She had been so busy examining it she had forgotten to actually look at it. It did have a sort of magnificence and beauty about it; even in it's simplicity. She soothed the last of her frayed nerves and finally got the confidence to walk up to the two boys. She held out her hand to the tall one to be shook and said "My name's Aussie, and the little Swinub at me feet is Shadow, and the other one..." she stopped for a second to look down at Mimic with her head sticking half way out of the pocket, staring intently as she usually did, "that other one is Mimic. She's not to friendly but that's just the way she is."

She looked back up at the boy and tried to give the biggest smile she could, but inside she was still as nervous and scared as she could be.

Posted by: Cube Aug 7 2009, 11:05 PM

"It's nice to meet you too. I'm Spencer. That's Waker over there, and those two girls are Connie and Verity." Said Spencer, taking the girl's hand, noticing the strange stiffness in her handshake. Something about the girl's manner just seemed off to him at that moment. Between the stiffness of her movements, the way her glance darted between Logan and Locke, never quite meeting him in the eye. It took Spencer a few moments to realize what was going on.

"Oh! I'm so sorry." He exclaimed, rushing over to the Scyther and grabbing it by the shoulders. The poor girl must have thought they were some sort of Special Ops team or something. "I didn't mean to frighten you or anything. This is Logan, he's had his heart sealed. I volunteered to help purify him, and the police offered to give us a ride on their helicopter." He rubbed the Scyther on the head, who responded to his touch with a swift slap to his shin guards.
"My Charmander was being playful and swatted his Poké Ball over here. Isn't that right Vincent?"

"Char." Snapped the lizard Pokémon. He wasn't in the mood to act cute right now.

"Um… Waker here offered to Purify that Ekans over there." He gestured to the snake Pokémon draped over his neck. "Funny we should meet at a place like this, huh? Supposedly Shrines like this have the power to opened sealed hearts, although…" Spencer tapped a button on his PokeEtch, revealing a tiny pixilated Scyther and a small bar underneath it, which was unfortunately still mostly full. "We're nowhere near ready for purification yet. Um… Vincent, could you do me a favor and go spar with Logan in those trees over there? And no fire attacks. We don't want Smoky the Ursaring breathing down our necks."

"Char…" groaned the Charmander, obviously annoyed.

"Look." Said Spencer, kneeling down next to the Charmander. "I know you don't like him. But I volunteered to open his heart, and the least you could do is at least try to help? Even a little bit?"

"Mander…" sighed Vincent, as he grabbed the Scyther by one of it's restraints and led it out into the trees.

"Sorry about that." Said Spencer. "Vincent's been acting a bit strange lately. No idea why." He let out a nervous laugh. "Um… What are you doing way out here? Barley's pretty far down the road. Are you headed to Moo Moo Land too?"

---Meanwhile---

Vincent dragged the Scyther to another clearing a few hundred feet away from the campsite, before looking around to make sure no wild Pokémon lurked in the grass. He groaned as he turned to face the heartless Bug Pokémon before him.

<<Why hit Poké Ball? Was Napping.>> growled the Scyther. <<You lucky Shrine Pretty or Scyther cut you.>>

<<I'd like to see you try, with those ridiculous things on…>> muttered Vincent.

<<NO MAKE FUN OF SCYTHES!>> shouted Logan. <<Scyther try get them off, but things won't go. Stupid human in blue hat put them on while me sleeping.>>

Vincent sighed. <<Listen. I don't like you. You attacked my trainer, and Shadow or not, I do not like it when some punk level 3 Pokémon messes with my Trainer. Do you understand?>>

<<What wrong with attacking Human? Same as Pokémon.>>

<<NO IT'S NOT MAN!>> shouted Vincent. <<Don't you remember the story of the knight and the sword?>> The Scyther stared back at him blankly. <<Of course you don't…>> muttered Vincent, trying his best to recall the story as Grandfather Feraligatr told it to him. Of course… he wasn't doing a very good job of wording it properly.

<<Alright, there was this Human. And he found a sword right? You know, like those scythe things of yours? Anyway, he decided it would be really fun to go around killing Pokémon like us with it. For food or something. I don't know, it was really gross. Anyway, after a while the Pokémon got sick of it and ran off, and the human was like "Where did all the Pokémon go?". So he goes far and wide until her runs into a Pokémon. It might have been a Scyther, I don't know. It's a legend. Anyway, he's like "Where hither did all thy Pokémon go." And the Scyther is all "We haveth runneth off because thou has been slaying us…th."

So the man is all "NOOOOOOOOOO!" and snaps the sword in half and swears that no human shall harm a Pokémon again, and the Scyther makes a similar oath. And they became the first Pokémon Knights or something. I don't know. The point is that no human should ever harm a Pokémon, and no Pokémon should ever harm a human. It's just not fair.>>

<<No Human hurt Pokémon? No Pokémon hurt human?>> muttered Logan, obviously not comprehending the story. <<That stupid.>>


Vincent sighed. <<You're hopeless…>>

<<Well than…>> said Logan. <<If Pokémon no can hurt human… then Pokémon can hurt Pokémon!>> The Scyther lunged at Vincent in a wreckless tackle, taking the lizard Pokémon off guard.

<<Ooof!>> said the Charmander, rolling to his feet as he prepared to block the Scyther's next attack. <<For a weakling Shadow Pokémon, you sure hit hard!>>

<<SCYTHER NO WEAKLING!>> shouted Logan, as he prepared another attack, only for his padded scythes to be blocked by the Charmander's metallic claws.

<<Well if you're not a weakling, then prove it!>> shouted Vincent, as he shoved the Scyther into a near by tree. The Scyther growled as it seethed in anger, a violet aura seeming to burn around it like wildfire as it launched it's next attack, smacking Vincent with unexpected force. The Lizard Pokémon reeled for a moment before preparing to block again. <<That's more like it!>> he shouted, as he carefully deflected the Scyther's blows.

Of course, there was a method to the Charmander's madness. From his previous observation at the contest hall, he was aware that Logan knew only one damaging attack, which weakened him over time. By forcing him to spam this one attack on him (as he could easily block it, or end the battle with a well placed ember should the going get rough) he could tire out the Scyther to a point where it would be no danger to the humans at the shrine.

…Or at least, that's what he would tell Celia later. He mostly just liked watching the thing squirm. Besides, any aggression directed at him was aggression that wasn't directed towards Spencer or the others. As much as he was angry at the human for being so reckless in his choice of new party members, it was still the Charmander's duty to protect his family. And besides… this was kind of fun!

Posted by: Dragon Maiden Aug 8 2009, 02:09 PM

Well, Aussie was happy she hadn't stumbled into any sort of Special Ops team operation, but the fact of talking to total strangers still frightened her. Shadow rubbed up against her leg and let out a little "Swine?" Shadow usually did that when she sensed Aussie was nervous. She looked down at Shadow and picked her up again. The feeling of Shadow nuzzling her once again gave her the confidence to talk.

She listened to the pokemon sparring in the nearby woods and took a huge breath. "Actually I came here to study the local Beedrill. There's a hive nearby and I was hoping to study their nesting habits, but it seems I made a wrong turn..." She looked around at the woods and wondered where she was again. She had been so focused on the shrine the last hour that the fact she was lost had completely slipped from her mind. Although she wasn't to traumatized at having become lost. It had led her to find a very interesting area. She scanned the woods and the shrine and wondered what kind of pokemon lived here, and how the shrine had such strange influences on pokemon.

"Most people don't know this, but Beedrill have a softer side. They may be temperamental and chase off anyone who comes to close to their hive, but they are some of the best parents in the pokemon world. They are willing to protect their nests with their very lives. I've made friends with one of the wild Beedrill and now they let me near their hive. I've seen some quite intriguing things while observing them taking care of their young." Aussie stopped herself immediately and shook her head. She was rambling again. This was always how she managed to chase people off without meaning too. Once she got started on a subject she didn't stop. Who really cared about Beedrill nesting habits other then her really?

She smiled nervously and said "I'm sure you probably don't want to hear about Beedrill nesting habits though... anyways I think I'm going to stick around here for a while. I would like to look into what sort of species live around the shrine and how they interact with it. My pokemon acted rather strangely around it, and it seems to draw pokemon to it. I've learned a little bit already. It seems to have a soothing effect on them, but I would still like to learn about the why and how..." Aussie bit her tongue and silently told herself Shut up Aussie! You're the only one that cares! This was all she had heard her entire life, except from her aunt. Her aunt had always encouraged her to go out and explore and learn, but everyone else thought she was just some sort of crazy smart person who was to snobbish to hang out with the other children.

Thinking of her aunt brought back memories of what had happened just this morning...

"Mom, I want to go on a journey... by myself..." Aussie whispered to her aunt at the breakfast table. Her aunt looked up from what she was cooking on the stove. Aussie waited for her aunt to start crying and wish her luck on her journey as most other mothers she had seen do when their children set out into the world with their pokemon. Her aunt turned around, but instead of sadness, her lined face was taken up by the hugest smile she had ever seen on her aunt's face, which is saying something because her aunt was prone to smiling.

Her aunt pushed a wisp of graying brown hair out of her face and settled her twinkling blue eyes on Aussie and whispered back "It's about time. I knew you were like me, always seeking adventure, wanting to know more and more. Frankly I've been expecting this for years now. I thought it would come sooner actually." Her aunt turned around and went back to cooking without another word.

"Aren't you at least a little sad?" Aussie croaked, feeling hurt. Her aunt whirled around when she heard those words "I was sad when your mother died. I was sad when you father died, but how can I be sad for you Aussie? I'm not losing you. Sure, you won't be around the house anymore, but you'll be out there learning, growing. What more could a mother want?" her aunt said seriously. Aussie smiled, feeling relieved. She should have realized her aunt wouldn't have acted like normal mothers. Her aunt was far from normal, preferring to travel and discover to sitting at home raising a child. She believed children should be raised with adventure, not in some boring town in a boring school with the same boring routine every day. She wanted to stimulate Aussie's spark for adventure and creativity, things that truly mattered more then a fancy formal education.

Aussie had an education to be sure. Somewhere in her life her aunt had picked up a teaching degree, although she despised schools and formal education. She had taught Aussie everything she would have learned in school, but she did it while they were on the road, and she has some rather strange, but effective teaching methods.

"I want you to have something Aussie." her aunt said as she disappeared into the library. Aussie listened to her aunt rummage around in a drawer for a few minutes before she returned to the kitchen. She held some sort of photo in her hand. Her aunt sat down next to her and looked at her. Now her eyes were sad, something Aussie wasn't used to seeing in her aunt. Her aunt kissed the picture gently and gave it one long lingering look before sighing and handing the picture to Aussie.

Aussie looked at the picture and felt tears come to her eyes. It was a simple picture really. It was of a mother and a father holding a little baby. "That was the first picture they took of you Aussie. Your parents were so proud of you." Aussie silently placed the picture in one of the pockets of her messenger bag and looked back up to her aunt. "Thank you, mom..." she whispered. Her aunt nodded her head and looked towards the door.

Aussie smiled and stood up, heading toward the door. She silently slipped her shoes on which had been sitting next to the door. Most people would have gotten new shoes by the time they had reached the state her shoes were in but Aussie couldn't bear to part with her shnikes. Her mother had owned the company that had produced and sold shnikes and this was the last pair ever made after her mother passed, exactly her size. Aussie felt as long as she wore these shoes some part of her mother still lived inside of her, always with her.

Aussie turned the handle on the door and walked out. She breathed in the fresh morning air. She could go wherever she pleased now, but where? She considered her choices for a moment and thought she would head out towards the Beedrill nesting grounds. She hadn't been there in weeks, and so Aussie walked off down the streets of Barely, away from her home.

Aussie snapped back to reality, now wasn't the time for a flashback, but thoughts of her aunt crawled into her mind one last time, and now certainly wasn't the time for tears. Aussie bit her lip adamantly and squeezed Shadow harder, until the little Swinub squealed in protest.

Posted by: Cube Aug 8 2009, 06:36 PM

"Oh! No! I'm very interested!" said Spencer, noticing the faintest trace of a tear forming in the girls eye. "My family runs a Breeding Ranch back in Orre, so anything related to nesting or breeding is interesting to me." He smiled. "Though… I haven't had a chance to actually see a Beedrill nest. There isn't much of a demand for Weedle though, except in places like Hoenn. I'd really like to hear more, if you're willing to tell me?" She glanced at the shrine once more. It did seem to have some sort of soothing effect… Nils and Celia seemed to be enjoying it, and Locke did seem less… "huggy" than normal. "This is a shrine to Celebi, the Time Travel Pokémon. There's one back in Agate too, though it looks a bit different. This kind of looks like a smaller version of the one in Johto…"

Spencer reached into his bag, digging through the piled of capsules before pulling out his Pokédex, half expecting the familiar PDA interface to pop up on it's dual screens. Instead, the small scanner on the device glowed for a moment before analyzing the shrine.

"Hm… Context sensitive…" thought Spencer, as he slipped the Pokédex back in his pocket and pulled out another device his mother had sent him. Some sort of berry dispenser thing from Floraroma. Spencer scrolled through a list of berries, each tag listing medicinal effects, flavor balance, and nutritional value.

After deciding on the classic Cornn Berry (Which Spencer's mother had generously loaded about 5 of into the dispenser), the device released a berry into Spencer's hand with a small flash, perfectly preserved. He carefully placed the berry into a small hole in the shrine, before turning his attention back to the girl.

"There. Maybe if we're lucky Celebi might come to pick up that berry?" he laughed. "Now, tell me more about those Bee-" Spencer's Pokétch began to beep, switching to a small readout of his parties status. Logan's status was dropping… fast…
"Huh? Hang on a moment!" said the breeder, as he darted out of the clearing.

<<Why'd Dad run off like that?>> said Nils, as the trainer ran off through the trees.

<<I don't know…>> said Celia. <<Maybe we should follow him?>>

. <<Haven't we risked our lives enough for one day?>> sighed Nils, as he scurried after the trainer, Celia waddling close behind.

--Meanwhile--

. <<STOP BLOCKING!!>> panted the Scyther, as blow after blow was deflected by the Charmander. The less fortunate side effects of not having a heart were beginning to wear down on him, and the Scyther was on the brink of collapse.

. <<Stop being so stupid and attack me properly then!>> shouted Vincent, as he deflected yet another tackle. . <<Either use something other than that stupid rushing attack of yours, or give up!>>

. <<SCYTHER NO GIVE UP!>> shouted Logan, as it ran in for another attack. Vincent raised his claws to prepare for another Shadow Rush, only for the Scyther to assume a more controlled position… Rather that throwing itself at it's opponent and slashing wildly, it focused all of it's energy on a single slashing blow, slamming hard into the unprepared Charmander. Vincent was slammed to the ground by the unexpected blow, as Logan fluttered to a standing position with it's wings.

The Charmander clutched it's side. The Scyther was still far too weak to actually defeat him, but that attack was going to leave a mark… . <<I guess you can use another attack…>> said Vincent.

The Scyther panted as it stared back at it's opponent, it's violet aura still a flame. It got into position for one final attack, before Spencer's voice rang out through the trees.

"Logan! Vincent!" he shouted, as he stumbled out of the trees, his Pokédex in hand. The Scyther -whom Spencer was shocked to see actually had a visible aura- ignored the human's cries as it got ready for a final attack.

"Scyther!!" shouted Spencer. This seemed to get the Scyther's attention, as the violet aura surrounding it vanished in a snap, causing it to trip over it's own feet mid strike.

"What the hell was that?!" said Spencer, flipping out his Pokédex. The device seemed to anticipate his question, as it immediately brought up the appropriate entry.



"Reverse Mode…" whispered Spencer, as he recalled Logan to his Poké Ball for the walk back to camp. "…Thanks for keeping him occupied for a while Vincent." He said as he rubbed the Charmander on the head. "Just… spar somewhere where I can see you next time."

"Charmander." Nodded Vincent, as he followed Spencer and the others back to the shrine.

"Um… sorry about that." Said Spencer, as he released the exhausted Scyther back onto the grass, where it lay flat on it's back. "Their little sparring match got carried away… Hang on…"

Spencer pulled out his Berry dispenser a second time, popping a pair of Oran Berries into his hands before placing one in Logan's mouth, handing the other to Vincent.

"There. Now what was that you were saying about Beedril nests?"

Posted by: Dragon Maiden Aug 8 2009, 07:30 PM

But Aussie's mind was far from Beedrill nests, or even the exhausted scyther lying in the grass. The significance of what Spencer had just said still trying to find a hold in her mind. Her thoughts were going a million miles per hour. She plopped into the grass and placed Shadow lightly back on the ground. She quickly retrieved her notebook and started scribbling notes to organize her thoughts. The smile on her face was huge.

"A shrine to Celebi you said?" she was more speaking to herself then to the others. She had a habit of talking out loud when a huge idea came to mind. "It's said the Celebi only appears in times of peace..." once again trailing off to make a huge line of notes. "The thing about the shrine is it makes everything peaceful..." she swiveled her head to look at the clearing. The trees were greener here and it made the pokemon calmer, it all fit together. "Yes that's it!" she exclaimed to herself. She looked back up at the boys, her face giddy with excitement.

"Celebi uses the shrines as a way of traveling. This place is always peaceful, that means Celebi can always come here." She exclaimed. "I'm not sure how the shrine keeps this place always peaceful, but it does... It keeps it always ready for Celebi if Celebi should ever need to come to this time and place. Also it provides a form of escape, if Celebi should ever run into trouble it could just come here, and poof away to another time. It is its place of protection and rest."

She breathed in the sweet air of the clearing and let satisfaction course through her. It felt great to have discovered something no one else knew, the joy of knowing was wondrous. "Wonderful isn't it? All the mysteries to be discovered right at your back door..." she sat their reveling in the sunshine until she realized she had just had an outburst in front of people she barely knew.

She blushed deep red and replaced her notebook and pen to their proper places. "I'm so sorry. I got a little overexcited there." She stood up again and headed toward the shrine and wondered what sort of power gave it the ability to keep peace in this little clearing in the middle of the woods. If that power could be harnessed, the possibilities were endless. She ran her fingers over the cool stone and sighed. She could never tell anyone about the power the shrine held. It would be dangerous in the hands of the wrong people and it would be dangerous for Celebi if it's secret of travel became common knowledge. This was one of the mysteries of the pokemon world that was better kept a mystery. She looked pleadingly at Spencer and Waker and said "Don't tell, for Celebi's sake, don't tell."

She imagined the boys probably thought she was some kind of freak, first getting nervous, then sad, then excited, and finally solemn in such a sort amount of time, and maybe she was a little off her rocker. Mimic had popped out of her pocket and was glaring at the boys with her disconcerting red eyes. It almost seemed a warning. "Play nice Mimic," Aussie whispered to her, not loud enough for the boy's to hear, "I'm sure they won't tell." "Hoot." Mimic said rather bad-temperedly before promptly disappearing back into her pocket.

"I'm sorry. I really should explain myself. It someone figured out Celebi's secret with bad intentions they might destroy all the shrines in the world, leaving time traveling difficult or impossible for it, or they could do a number of worse things that I probably couldn't even imagine." She looked again pleadingly and sat down at the foot of the shrine, completely drained from all that had happened in such a short amount of time.

Posted by: MAREEP Aug 9 2009, 02:16 PM

"Hello Aussie, cute pokemon!" said Connie with a smile, as she and Verity joined the others at the edge of the meadow, once she was feeling a little less sick. "I've never seen Beedril nests, either; our family keeps Combees, though. I would like to have a look if we pass them on the way to Moo Moo Land."

Azzy, Pora, Celia and Nils seemed to be enjoying the proximity of the shrine, so Connie pulled out her little collection of pokeballs and released her monsters to join in the fun. Mary started chewing the lovely green grass at the first opportunity, only looking up at the shrine once she was chewing. Carmilla settled herself in the grass close to the shrine with a very satisfied sounding "Oddish!" Mary apparently decided that such a peaceful, beautiful place had obviously been set up for snacking and started a systematic grass-cutting exercise.

"Come on, Torchie," said Connie. "We'll look for some twigs and things to get a camp fire started while Butchette does her karate chop thing." The Torchic hopped from his customary place on Mary's back and followed his trainer with a bored sounding "Chic". The pair of them set off into the trees beyond the shrine. It felt disrespectful to be disturbing things too close to the shrine itself.

When Connie reappeared through the trees a short while later, she had her hands full of dry leaves and twigs.

"I'm sorry. I really should explain myself. It someone figured out Celebi's secret with bad intentions they might destroy all the shrines in the world, leaving time traveling difficult or impossible for it, or they could do a number of worse things that I probably couldn't even imagine."

"That would be awful!" said Connie, looking alarmed. She looked at the glowing shrine. "It does look awfully impressive. I'll go and get started with the campfire."

As she settled herself cross-legged on the grass, Connie realised they didn't have Bill's trusty eleven-bladed knife with them and without it, she was going to have trouble removing a patch of the grass to make the firepit.

"ODDISH! Odd, odd odd ISH!"

She was distracted from her fire making connundrum by the screams of one of her pokemon. She jumped to her feet and looked around for the problem. Carmilla was glaring angrily at Mary, her leaves looking rather the worse for wear.

"Mary, don't try and eat Carmilla, please, it's not very nice," she explained. "I know she's hard to see in the grass, I nearly stepped on her, too, but that's no excuse to chew other members of the party." Mary looked at her trainer and then back at the little grass-type pokemon. She stuck her tongue out. "Mary, you come over here with me and leave Carmilla alone," said Connie sternly. "Poor little Carmilla's going to wish she was never caught at this rate."

"Oddish!" said Carmilla, sticking her own tongue out back and settling herself back into the grass by the shrine.

"Mary, would you please eat me a circle into the grass about this big?" asked Connie, trying to distract the Mareep by indicating a nice size for a small campfire. "And Torchie, you start concentrating on the kindling. Think hot! Think sparks! You've tried this lots of times, I'm sure you can manage it without any matches at all this time, all right?"

It took no time at all for Mary to demolish the gras in such a small area. Once she had a nice clear patch to work on, Connie set about building a cone shape out of her dry leaves and twigs. Butchette arrived with an accomplished sounding "Machop!" carrying a pile of decent sized chopped up branches and logs that was taller than she was. SHe piled them up neatly nest to Connie.

"Thank you, girls," said Connie to the Machop and the Mareep. She built the fire up with the first lot of wood, so that it could get started. "Now, Torchie, lets see what you can do!"

"Torchic!"

Torchie screwed his face up in concentration and, with a determined ruffle of it's yellow wing feathers, it puffed at the kindling. There was a little hint of black smoke.

"Well done, Torchie," said Connie. "No smoke without fire, try again."

The little pokemon wriggled determinedly. It huffed. This time, there was a definite hint of flame at the very tip of its beak.

"That's it," said Connie excitedly. "keep it up. Verity, Torchie's learning Ember!"

This time, Torchie looked so determined, it seemed like he might explode. With his third puff, a tiny fireball hit the kindling at the base of Connie's fire, catching some leaves alight.

"You did it!" said Connie, grinning from ear to ear. "Well done, Torchie!"

The little fire type pokemon spent the next five minutes strutting around importantly, breathing little fire balls at everyone and everything he encountered.

Posted by: Lindley Aug 9 2009, 02:50 PM

"Don't tell, for Celebi's sake, don't tell [...] It someone figured out Celebi's secret with bad intentions they might destroy all the shrines in the world, leaving time traveling difficult or impossible for it, or they could do a number of worse things that I probably couldn't even imagine."

Verity looked up from where she had been organising Courage and Victoria's building up of soft bedding. Candfloss, elated at yet a new game in what had turned out to be the most exciting first day of life a baby pokemon could imagine, was running back and forth trying to follow them into the forest, then quickly changing direction and scampering towards the pile of soft grasses and flowers, then whirling and running after them into the forest again. It diodn't seem to bother her that she never made it more than a few metres before the much faster flying pokemon lapped her.

"Don't worry," Verity told the strange girl, kindly. "We won't tell anyone. I'm not sure what the secret is anyway; Mama says believing in legendary pokemon is - " Verity bit down hard on what she had been about to say, realising it would be rude, and she didn't like being rude. But she was pretty sure that if Suicune or something really cared about other pokemon and humans, they would have done something about Lenoilia.

"I'm sure, if there was a secret to be discovered and used for evil, someone would have found out and done it by now," she said comfortingly, instead. "Agent Jennifer knew about this meadow, and we're really close to Moo-Moo Land, which is a very big place. And this is just the kind of place bug hunters love. You can't trust bug hunters, you know - they're crazy. It must be from wearing shorts in winter time."

She carefully arranged Henrietta on the bed she and Verity would share. If anyone asked what a big girl of eleven was doing with a pokedoll, she could just tell them it was in case wild pokemon attacked in the night - or Locke and Logan broke their restraints - so they could all escape.

Verity, Torchie's learning Ember!

Verity ran over and clapped her hands with delight. "Torchie, you're so clever! You really are growing up and learning fast!" She looked over at the gigantic pile of wood Butchette had supplied, a bit thoughtfully. Torchie and Mary were obviously getting stronger; and Butchette seemed determined to help as much as possible. Maybe all their pokemon were getting stronger, to look after them better.

Her thoughts were interrupted as a small ball of fire rolled past her knee. Verity leapt away, shrieking, and Butchette leaned down and picked Torchie up by the scruff of the neck.

"MaaaaCHOP!" <<If you burn my trainer, I'm going to learn Revenge on your tail.>> She deposited Torchie on Mary's back.

Verity remembered, belatedly, what Bill had told her about succouring lost women. "Aussie, would you like to stay for dinner?" she asked politely. "I'm not sure what we have, though. If I'd known we were going camping so soon, I would have gone to the shops. I have some moo-moo milk, although it's Candyfloss's really, and Connie has some lava cookies and honey and - and - a pokeblock, so maybe we could make some kind of hot milk soup or something. Does anyone else have anything?"

Posted by: Mechanical Lullaby Aug 9 2009, 03:14 PM

Waker listened patiently to Aussie's story, smiling a little as he sat in the grass. Pora and Azzy played around him, occasionally running up and over his crossed legs, while Locke curled into a mass of coils, still staring intently at the shrine. At least he's not hugging anybody... Waker thought, catching Azzy mid-jump, tossing him in the air. Azzy "Niii!"-ed in delight, remembering the game from when he was just a hatchling. Pora butted Waker's leg, demanding a turn. Laughing silently, Waker swung her up in the air too as Aussie continued her story.


"This is a shrine to Celebi, the Time Travel Pokémon. There's one back in Agate too, though it looks a bit different. This kind of looks like a smaller version of the one in Johto…" Waker glanced up at the shrine, the soft green glow now accompanied by a Volbeat and Illumise, drifting high above the trees. Waker had heard stories of the shrine in the forests south of Goldenrod, but he'd never actually gone that far south. Setting his Nidorans back down, Waker stood and walked over to the shrine, watching as Spencer placed a single Cornn berry into the offering cup. Waker dug in his bag, pulling out a rather squishy-looking Magost berry to place in the cup - almost dropping it as Spencer suddenly rushed off to where Vincent and Logan were training.


There was a small hiss next to him and Waker looked down, Locke curling around his leg. Within seconds he was back on Waker's shoulders, his tongue flicking out from between the restraints on his mouth, looking at the berries with hunger in his eyes. Oh, right! You haven't eaten yet, have you? Digging in his bag yet again, Waker pulled out his jacket, spreading it out on the grass near the shrine like a picnic blanket, placing the remaining berries on it. His Pokemon rushed over, Azzy grabbing a Razz berry while Pora made a beeline for the single Wepear berry. Sitting down next to his jacket, Waker picked up another Magost berry and held it up to Locke for inspection. I don't know what kind of berries you like, so just eat whichever one you want, alright?


"There. Now what was that you were saying about Beedril nests?" Spencer was back, with an exhausted-looking Logan and Vincent trailing behind him. Waker waved at him and then at his little picnic, smiling as Celia eyed some of the berries. Locke's tongue darted out of his mouth, flicking over the Magost berry. Waker gently pulled the bonds of the Ekans' mouth, hoping that his hunger would keep him from attacking someone. After opening and closing his mouth a few times, Locke accepted the berry.


After that, time seemed to slip by - Aussie was saying something about Celebi and not telling anyone - not like I can, Waker thought, laughing silently - and then Connie and Verity were there, building a campfire. Waker's smile widened as Torchie set the branches and twigs aflame, clapping as he began to strut around the clearing. The clearing filled with a mix of bright light from the fire, the green glow of the shrine, and the tails of the Volbeat and Illumise - who were quickly joined by their friends.


Waker flopped back on the ground, the pains in his chest mostly gone. He turned his head and watched as Pora and Azzy maneuvered a block of wood over to the fire, clapping their paws together in a tiny high-five when they accomplished their goal. Sitting back up, Waker began to mess with his new Poketech, realising for the first time that it was on backwards. Blushing slightly, he quickly fixed it, the party readout coming into view. Pora and Azzy's tinny icons showed up as fine, the colours bright - they were nearby. But Locke's was muted, growing dimmer every second.


Frowning, Waker stood up and looked around - the mouth restraints were at his feet. Locke was gone.

Posted by: Cube Aug 9 2009, 04:57 PM

"Verity's right." Said Spencer. "There are shrines like this all over the country. People build them in hopes of safe travels, or good harvests or something. If there was a way that someone could use them for evil, they would have figured it out by now. Besides, it's not like more than two or three people have every actually seen a Celebi anyway. They're pretty illusive. I've lived near a shrine like this my entire life, and I haven't seen Celebi once."

Spencer began digging through his bag, before opening producing several capsules. Each of which popped open to reveal a random assortment of strange items… A Flute, those "Lunar Wings" (which were probably just dyed Pidgey feathers anyway…), and several packages of boxers (Which Spencer quickly recalled to their capsule), before finally found the cooking set his mother had packed him. It wasn't much - just a pot, kettle, skillet, and a wooden spoon, with a stand to hold everything- but it would do nicely. Another capsule contained a brightly colored Sleeping Bag his mom must have picked up from Alamos, considering the fact that it had Darkrai on it. (The entire town seemed to have a Darkrai fixation lately. But really? On a sleeping bag? I guess that's why she bought so many of the Lunar Wings…)
Finally, the last capsule contained a large rolled up tent, which Spencer stared blankly at for a few moments before gently pushing it aside.

"Um… I'll help cook, I guess." Said Spencer, pulling out his berry dispenser again. "Let's see… I've got a few Cheri Berries, I can mix it with some Aspear and Pecha berries to make a sort of Sweet and Sour sauce. Mom might have packed some rice and teabags in here too… Verity, you mentioned something called Damper, right? Maybe we can make some of that? It can be kind of like, a camp smorgasbord."

Spencer continued to fool around with his latest toy as Vincent rejoined his siblings by the newly lit fire, watching as Torchie paraded around it's new found ability. The concept of having to learn to breath fire was somewhat alien to him. He knew Ember right out of the egg! Still, it was kind of cute to see a younger Pokémon learn a new skill.

<<That wasn't very nice of you earlier…>> remarked Celia, as she coolly groomed her feathers in the light of the fire.

<<What do you mean, "That wasn't very nice of you"?>> said Vincent, taken aback by the Piplup's aloof attitude.

<<When you smacked Logan's Poké Ball out of dad's hands.>> said Celia, shooting an ice cold glare at the Charmander. <<You should have known better Vincent. There was a human in that meadow, and if Logan had gotten loose…>>

<<How was I supposed to know he'd get out of his Poké Ball when I did that?!>> exclaimed Vincent.

<<Because that's what Poké Balls do! You throw them and the Pokémon inside comes out! You live in a Poké Ball for Arceus's sake! You should know this!>>

<<You live in a Poké Ball for Arceus's sake…>> mocked Vincent, before he slumped down into the grass. <<It's not my fault that Dad had to get an psychopath of a Pokémon… "Oh! This thing tried to decapitate me! Let me adopt it!">>

<<Vincent!>> shouted Celia, leaping to her feet. <<First of all, it's not Logan's fault. If you had your heart sealed, you’d be the exact same way!>>

<<Oh, so now you're on the killer Pokémon's side too? Wonderful…>>

<<Vincent, in case you haven't noticed, that Scyther is a child!>> shouted Celia. <<He can't be more than two weeks out of the egg, and some human has already captured him and sealed his heart! Do you know what kind of humans do that sort of thing Vincent? Do you!?>>
<<No…>> shrugged Vincent. <<Bad ones?>>

<<The kind that steal, or even kill Pokémon Vincent!>> Celia was on the brink of tears now. <<And stolen or poached, that Scyther once had a family that some humans took it away from! Remember how you felt back in the contest hall? When that woman was attacking Spencer? Well that same woman could have done something a million times worse to that Scyther's family, and if you don't have the decency to at least try and show that poor child some sorely needed affection, then I don't want to talk to you anymore!>> The Piplup sat down in a huff, turning it's back into the fire type.

<<I understand where you're coming from Celia, I really do… But that thing basically just told me that it wants to kill dad. Sure, it's tragic what happened to it and all, but if you're just going to sit by and let dad pal around with a Pokémon that wants to kill him, then… I don't want to talk to you either!>> The Charmander turned it's back to his sibling, as the two Pokémon found themselves locked into a stalemate.

<<Um… guys… Something's wrong with Waker…>> said Nils, tugging on each of his sibling's shoulders.

<<I know he doesn't talk Nils.>> sighed Celia. <<But it's rude to point things like that out…>>

<<No… He seems worried about something…>> said Nils, looking around the campsite for a few moments before noticing two key elements were missing… <<Guys…>> he said, even more panicked that before. <<Where did Locke and Logan go?>>

Celia and Vincent each looked at Nils, and then at the spots where just moments before Locke and Logan were resting, before staring at each other in horror. This day could not get any worse…

-----
While the others were talking about Legendary Pokémon, what to cook, and general campsite preparation, Logan had remained in his fairly comfortable position on the grass, only moving for a moment to scare away a Torchic that thought it would be cute to shoot an ember over his head. He scratched at his restraints for a moment before glancing at the Ekans that the silent human had taken, who seemed to be working out how to escape from his restraints. Logan wished he was so lucky… That strappy thing the humans had put on him made even the simplest shadow rush more strenuous than normal, and the had to hit with all his strength to get the results of what a light attack would do before. Plus the padding on his scythes was just a nuisance now… He was pondering a method of removing them, when a green light seemed to descend from the trees, fluttering gently around the campfire before forming into a strange sprite like creature. The Humans and other Pokémon didn't seem to notice this new visitor. In fact, the human with the nice smelling hands was looking right through it like it wasn't even there. The only other Pokémon who seemed to notice it at all was the Ekans, who stared at it with mild curiosity. The sprite like Pokémon hovered gently in front of the shrine, before the Cornn Berry one of the humans had placed there before hand floated into it's hands. It alighted on the ground in front of the shrine, and began to delicately eat the offering kernel by kernel, never getting a single drop of juice on it's face. After finishing the last of the berries, the sprite Pokémon prepared to take flight again, before Logan could stop it.

<<Wait, Who you be? Why you take berry from house?>> said Logan.

The Pixie Pokémon laughed delicately, before flying a circle around the shrine, gently landing on it's peak.
<<You don't remember me? What kind of knight are you supposed to be? Forgetting my name…>>

<<Knight? What knight? Knight get dark, or knight lame person who no fight human?>> said Logan. <<We no know who you are.>> Locke hissed in agreement, as it forced the restraint of off it's face.

The sprite laughed. <<Oh, right. We haven't met before have we? Time travel has a habit of making introductions awkward…>> The Pokémon did curtsy in midair before flying to greet the two Pokémon. <<My name is Celebi. And you two go by Logan and Locke, correct?>>

<<Me no Logan. Me Scyther!>> exclaimed Logan, mystified that even this strange Pokémon called him by that weird name,

<<Hm… When I met you, you went by the name Logan. You were also much more polite. I suppose this is the day Spencer and Waker first adopted the two of you… You obviously aren't far along the whole purification process. I suppose I could… No. Don't want to cause a paradox… Paradoxes are such a pain, don't you agree? The last time a Celebi caused a time Paradox, Dialga had to spend eons fixing the problem…>>

<<ME NO KNOW WHAT A PAIR OF BOX IS! ME WANT KNOW WHY YOU HERE!>> shouted Logan, taking a slash at the Celebi, who deftly dodged it, only to have to do a u-turn in mid air to avoid a bite from Locke.

<<Hm… this time isn't very peaceful after all…>> sighed the Celebi. <<You two certainly aren't helping…>>

<<STOP TEASING SCYTHER!>> shouted Logan, as he rushed at the Legendary Pokémon, only to slam head first into some sort of invisible barrier.

<<This version of you isn't very fun at all…>>. said the Celebi. <<I'm leaving!>>
The Time Travel Pokémon immediately darted out through the trees, trailed by emerald green lights. Logan and Locke gave chase, weaving through trees and climbing over logs to keep up with the strange Pokémon. After a few moments, they found themselves crossing a fence, and then chasing the Celebi over some sort of pasture. Finally, just as it looked like one of them was going to catch the Celebi, it vanished in a flash of green light, leaving Logan and Locke alone in the middle of the field. The Scyther was far from pleased.

<<Stupid Green Pokémon flew away!>> he shouted, angrily striking at the ground with his padded scythes. <<Stupid human thing slow me down! IT NOT FAIR!>>

"MIIIIILLL" echoed a low voice from just behind the Scyther. He turned his head to see a large pink Pokémon standing just a few yards away, glaring at the pair. "MILTANK!"
The Cow Pokémon rolled itself into a ball, before launching itself at the pair. Logan instinctively assumed a battle ready position, preparing to strike as this new Pokémon came closer. If he wasn't going to get a Celebi tonight, he was at least going to have some steak…

-----

"TREECKO!" shouted Nils, as he frantically tugged at Spencer's scarf, as Celia and Vincent looked frantically through the campsite.

"What is it Nils?" smiled Spencer. "You want a berry or something? I still owe you some don't I?"

"TREECKO! TREECKO!" the grass type frantically shook his head before pointing at the patch of grass where Logan had lay just moments before. Spencer's jaw dropped.

"LOGAN IS GONE!" he shouted, leaping to his feet, before noticing a frantic Waker scribbling out a similar message about Locke. Vincent and Celia rushed back to Spencer's side, each of them looking similarly panicked. "Did you guys see Logan or Locke anywhere?" he asked, only for his Pokémon to shake their heads.

Spencer slumped back against a tree, his blood gone cold. "My First day and I already lose him? thought Spencer. He reached for his bag and pulled out his Berry Dispenser, Cologne case, and that leash thing that Elysia had given him before climbing to his feet.

"Alright… it's fine… We just need to stay calm… They can't have gone far… We just need to form a search party or something."

Spencer wasn't sure who he was more worried about… Logan and Locke… or whoever Logan and Locke met…

Posted by: Dragon Maiden Aug 10 2009, 11:13 AM

Aussie wasn't there to see any of the excitement. While the others had been making camp she had slipped off unnoticed. The others didn't believe her theory, but she wasn't ready to give up on it. She was sitting high in a tree, where nobody would think to look for her when they noticed she was gone, if they even did. She had her notebook on her knee and was scribbling down more notes and observations about the shrine and her theory. The wind shook the tree branch she was nestled in and Aussie had to hold out her hands and grab another branch to keep her balance. That was one bad thing about tree branches was falling off, but they made perfect hiding places.

Shadow was sitting at the base of the tree with Mimic. Shadow was sniffling sadly and trying to climb the tree, nervous at being separated from Aussie. Aussie looked down at Shadow and smiled at her "Don't worry Shadow. I'll be down in a bit and I'll give you a treat to make up for it." Shadow immediately perked up at the sound of the word treat and curled up on the ground contentedly, sighing happily she fell asleep in a matter of seconds.

Mimic would be harder to to make happy. The little Hoothoot was glaring at her especially hard. "You know, unlike Shadow, you can climb Mimic. Your more then welcome to come up." Aussie said to Mimic. Mimic merely harrumphed and turned away. "Be that way, Mimic. I don't even know why you’re mad." "Hoot. Hoot hoot hoot!" Mimic screeched very loudly. "Shh," Aussie said nervously "Screech that loud and you'll have everyone in Furoh coming to aid the dieing Hoothoot. Anyways I didn't come out here for a lecture."

"HOOT!" Mimic screeched so loud it hurt Aussie's ears. Aussie rolled her eyes and slipped out of the tree. "You miss Phantom don't you?" Aussie said to Mimic. Mimic didn't even give Aussie the dignity of a look much less a reply. Phantom was a wild Hoothoot that had lived near Aussie's house in Barely. Before she left, Mimic and Phantom had been getting very close. Aussie had even considered catching him, but the Hoothoot just seemed made for the wild, not life with a trainer. "Hey, I told you that when we left you wouldn't be able to see Phantom anymore. Don't blame me, you chose to come along with me." Aussie snapped at Mimic. Mimic turned around and glared at Aussie again and started jumping up and down screeching "HOOT, HOOT, HOOT!"

"All right, I get it! It's not about Phantom. What are you mad about then?" Aussie said to Mimic. Mimic was glancing back the way of the shrine and pointed adamantly with her wing. Aussie got the message. "You want me to go back? No way! What are you trying to be? My conscience? I feel guilty about leaving Mimic but..."

What was she supposed to say? Maybe the instinct to run had still lingered even after Spencer explained everything, maybe she just was to nervous around people, maybe she was still embarrassed about her rambling and outburst, the list of maybes went on. Excuses flicked through her head but she couldn't hide the truth. She was lost, completely and utterly lost. Without her aunt she had no confidence. She didn't know what to do. Her thoughts and emotions were tumbling in disarray in her mind. Maybe she should just go back home...

Suddenly she heard the sound of a very agitated Miltank. She covered her ears because the moo was so loud.
Shadow woke up from her nap and snuffled excitedly when she heard the sound. Mimic had jumped in fright and immediately returned to her pocket, shaking and occasionally peeking out to try and find out was going on. Aussie was curious but not stupid. There was no way she was going to see what was wrong with that miltank, unless she wanted to get beaten up to a pulp. It was obviously very, very mad.

Aussie stood up and walked the other way, away from the sound of the miltank and as she got closer to the campsite she thought she heard someone screaming something. She shook her head and thought of nightmarish scenarios where an enraged herd of miltank had gotten lose and were now trampling over everyone by the shrine. 'Don't be stupid' she thought to herself 'If there was a stampede you would have heard more moos and the sound of pounding hoofs' but she was walking faster, almost running. She came crashing through a bush back into the clearing. Everyone looked extremely agitated and frightened, especially Spencer and Waker, but Aussie saw with some relief that nobody had been run over by a herd of Miltank.

She crossed her fingers behind her back and hoped this wasn't about them finding her gone or she would feel guilty beyond measure. Well, she could always say she had seen something strange in the forest and gone off to look at it, but it was only a pidgey. That was always the excuse she used with her aunt when she didn't want her to know where she had gone off to... of course her aunt had soon figured out that it was trick, but of course they didn't know that.

She silently sat down in the grass by the edge of the forest and tried to look as if she had never left. She had to try to figure out what was going on without asking questions or they would realize that she had slipped off without telling them.

"Alright… it's fine… We just need to stay calm… They can't have gone far… We just need to form a search party or something." Spencer said quickly, trying to calm everyone down. Aussie felt herself panic. They must have found out she slipped off... but no that couldn't be it. They had all been looking around everywhere after the scream and obviously at least one of them had seen her, but they didn't look any less panicked for it. She eyed the bunch, trying to find out who was missing. It took her a second to realize that both of the shadow pokemon had disappeared. "Oh crap, that can't be good.” she muttered to herself.

She quickly stood up and looked around the forest, trying to catch a glimpse of them. They couldn't have gone far... but they were nowhere to be seen, but an idea had come to mind. She picked up Shadow and faced the others. "Maybe I can help. Swinub have a very good sense of smell. They need to, to make up for their poor eyesight, so maybe Shadow could track them for you?"

She hoped Shadow could at least. She had never trained her to track scents, but maybe, just maybe, Shadow could do it. "I'm not sure if it would work. I haven't trained Shadow for tracking, but it's worth a try at least." Shadow was snuffling excitedly again and looking up at Aussie. She had caught on to the feeling of urgency and was a little overexcited. She jumped out of Aussie's arms and started to run around Aussie's feet, looking for signs of danger. Aussie bent down and rubbed Shadow on the head. "You can do it, can't you?" she whispered to Shadow. "Swine?" Shadow questioned and continued running circles around Aussie's feet.

Posted by: Lindley Aug 12 2009, 02:14 PM

"Damper is a kind of bread you make in campfire embers. It's one of the best things about camping out..." Verity's voice trailed off, remembering a night long before her little brother had been born, when her mother had tucked her in front of her on her gigantic Rapidash Merrylegs and they'd ridden out to the far reaches of a farm to look after an ailing Flaafy. (Bill had made the mistake of asking her daughter to name her fire pokemon when it was only a little ponyta, and had lived with the consequences, despite the lack of Amazon cachet.) It had been very dark, and there had been ominous mooing quite close, but snuggled by the fire, munching damper and in secure the knowledge Bill and her Machamp Butch were close, Verity had felt perfectly safe. That was when Bill had promised her a pokemon of her very own, so she would always feel protected.

"But I have you, and Connie, already."

"Don't you want one, then?" Bill teased. "You see, I kind of had this egg that I thought you might like, but if I'm wrong..."

"Yes please, Mama! I want to be a pokemon master like you!"

"Anyway, you usually make it with flour and beer. Only, I don't have any beer, obviously, not for years and years. You can use water, though, or moomoo milk. Do you have any flour? I can supply the milk! Oh, don't look at me like that, Candyfloss - we'll get you some more at - at - " She found she couldn't quite say it. "The place we're going to tomorrow."

Putting the next day out of her head, Verity happily busied herself with helping get the food ready. It felt wonderful bustle around helping out her friends - and to have put off going to MooMoo Land for another day. She felt positively sunny.

"Iggleee..." A tragic crooning broke out at her knee, and Verity reached down to pick up the baby pokemon an snuggle it against her.

"What's wrong, Candyfloss? Is it that we're taking your milk?"

Tears welled up in the igglybuff's big eyes, and Verity hastily held her further away, remembering the effect Fake Tears had on the contest sponsors. "Buuuuuff!" Candyfloss wailed, and pointed a little paw to her beloved Locke - or rather, where her beloved Locke had been. Her eyes wobbled appealingly as she trusted her trainer to go get Mr Ekans to come play with her. At the same time, the boys were alerted to their missing pokemon.

Verity, still fruitlessly attempting to comfort Candyfloss, exchanged worried glances with Connie. What if - if you didn't train a pokemon, it was hard to keep it, right? Pokemon hated being stolen. If Locke and Logan were going back to their owners, and attracted them here... Verity didn't think she could face two Tauroses on one day. She stooped down and picked up Henrietta, just in case.

Her stomach seemed to drop to her feet, but she pulled her shoulders back, lifted her chin and smiled bravely at the boys. Amazon, she reminded herself. Her friends needed her. She tried to make her mother's square shoulders and reassuring grin, only a little let down by floppy pink pigtails and an igglybuff and a pokedoll clutched to her chest.

""Don't worry. We'll get back your pokemon. Courage and Victoria can scout in two directions, and come back if they find anything. I don't think we'd better wander off alone into the forest, though. Two groups should be enough - that way, with the flying pokemon covering two compass points, we can take the others. Boys and girls, maybe?" She corerected herself, belatedly realising she'd made an assumption. "That is, if Aussie - oh. She's gone." She blinked, hoping she hadn't upset the girl. She'd only tried to reassure her.

"MIIIIILLL.

Verity squeezed her eyes tight. She was miles away from Butterfree Farm - she just had miltanks on the brain, that was all. They lived in fields, anyway, behind nice safe fences - they didn't roll around freely around forests...

MILTANK!

She knew she was imagining it. Even so, she buried her head on Connie's shoulder, not moving until she heard Aussie's voice behind her.

Posted by: MAREEP Aug 12 2009, 03:13 PM

Connie tried to reassure Verity with a tight hug before they set off and sent their pokemon on their way. Verity called Courage and sent her off after the missing shadow pokemon.

"Victoria, I want you to fly over that way," Connie said, pointing off to her right. "Come and find me if you find Locke or Logan, ok? Be careful!"

"Combee!" said Victoria and she shot off determinedly, her flight pattern as she left starting wide circles over the trees but always travelling in the direction her trainer had indicated.

Connie looked around at the beginnings of their campsite. It wouldn't do to wander off and leave a burning campfire. It seemed such a waste of the nice, dry wood and kindling they had collected, but there was nothing to be done.

"Spencer, do you think Celia could take care of the fire, please?" she asked.

Taking Verity's hand, Connie smiled at Aussie. "It's definitely worth a try, if you and your Shadow wouldn't mind helping," she said. She was hoping the others were feeling braver than she did. Frankly, the thought of tracking homicidal pokemon with night on its way in woodland she didn't know didn't really appeal to Connie. She squeezed Verity's hand, determined not to let her fears show. As they set off into the trees, Connie couldn't help wondering what other sorts of pokemon might be lurking in wait for them.

"Mary, Torchie, Carmilla," she said quietly, "stay close please." There was no way she was going to be caught in the woods without her pokemon, even with Henrietta the pokedoll on hand. She was very pleased to have Butchette nice and close, too. The little Machop was marching along next to her trainer with a scowl as if she just dared a horde of shadow pokemon to ambush them in the dark. Torchie would have had no chance of keeping up and was in his customary spot riding on Mary. Carmilla seemed to have cottoned onto this low effort method of travel and was snuggling into the fleece so that just her leaves were showing behind Torchie. "Good luck," she called to the others, as they set off in the other direction.

"Um," said Connie, suddenly remembering how much darker everything seemed when you were under the canopy of the branches, "you know ghosts... Do you think they're always just ghost-type pokemon being silly, or do you think there are really real ghosts, too?" The trees were whispering in the breeze and Connie shivered. "And, I mean, are ghost type pokemon scary? Haunter sounds scary. Do they only come out at night, do you think?" She peered into the gloom between two old tree trunks, twisted and close together and not inviting at all. "Did you just hear anything?"

Posted by: Dragon Maiden Aug 12 2009, 08:01 PM

Aussie smiled when she heard Connie asking if ghost pokemon were scary. Now that she looked at the forest it did look threatening and dark, but Aussie was more then used to wandering in the woods at night and ghost pokemon also. "You don't need to worry. My neighbor had a Haunter. It liked to play tricks, but it was harmless. He was no more dangerous then a little kid jumping out from behind a wall and screaming boo. He gave a good scare but he was just playing. Ghost pokemon are just very playful and mischievous, but they would never hurt anyone under normal circumstances. Anyway, ghost pokemon prefer living in old abandoned buildings. The chances of finding one in the woods are slim to none."

Aussie quickly scooped up Shadow, who was still running around her legs and quickly carried him to where the scyther had last been laying. There was an indent in the grass where the scyther had been and Aussie gently set Shadow in the grass and said, "Can you find him?" Shadow merely looked at her strangely and snuffled excitedly again. Aussie sat down in the grass and gently picked up Shadow again, tipping her nose towards the ground. "Can you smell him?" Shadow merely whined sadly and wriggled in her arms...

In Shadow's Head

Why was mama sticking my face in the grass? It was itchy and unpleasant, not to mention this place smelled bad. It smelled of sweat and anger. I tried to wriggle out of her arms but she continued to persistently stick my head near the ground and continued her talking. I even whined but she all she did was sit me down in that unpleasant smelling spot and block me when I tried to move away. "Mama? Why are you doing this?" I whimpered but she merely looked at me and said the word "Track" again.

Suddenly Meanie stuck her head out of her pocket and looked at me with her big round eyes. "They want you to sniff out the pokemon that was last lying in that spot kid." Meanie said. I was confused. I sniffed the grass again and it still smelled unpleasant. "But this pokemon smells angry, like you do all the time Meanie. Why would Mama want to find Angry?"

"My name is not MEANIE and I'm NOT MAD!" Meanie screeched. "Yes maam, Meanie maam." I whispered, shaking. Meanie was mean and she scared me. Meanie rolled her eyes and looked angrier then ever "Who knows why humans do what they do. Just listen to them and do as they say." Meanie went back into her pocket and didn't come back out. I sniffed the ground again and wondered if I really wanted to find Mister Angry, but the thought of facing Meanie again...

Suddenly I heard Mama say, "Treat." My stomach rumbled and I thought of it's yummy, melt-in-my-mouth tastiness. Facing Meanie or Angry was worth a treat any day. Treats were the best thing in the world. They might even be better then Mama, might.

Inside Meanie's... Uhh... Mimic's Head

Grrr.....

Aussie tried as hard as she could to try to explain to Shadow what she wanted, but Shadow seemed very confused. She whined and whimpered pitifully. Aussie was on the verge of giving up when Mimic suddenly appeared out of her pocket and said "Hoot, Hoot hoot hoo" to Shadow. Shadow looked more confused and said "Swinub Swine. Swine?" I looked at Mimic and she looked very agitated "HOOT! Hoot hoo. " Her first hoot was so loud I had to cover my ears or risk going deaf. Shadow shivered in fear and mumbled "Swine..." before Mimic abruptly returned to her pocket.

Aussie was confused over the exchange and was convinced Shadow would not understand her. She gently rubbed Shadow's head. "Well, you tried girl. I might as well give you that treat I owed you from earlier. You deserve it after Mimic screaming at you like that." Shadow pricked up immediately at the sound of treat and Aussie watched in amazement as Shadow started to sniff the ground in earnest. The little Swinub sniffed for about a minute before heading off towards the forest at a brisk trot, well as fast as a trot could be with her little feet. Aussie shook her head and said, "I should have known a treat was the key. It always is."

Shadow whirled around when she noticed Aussie wasn't following and whimpered while jumping, eager to go. "I guess that's our cue. We should split up in case Shadow got the wrong scent. Who want's to come with me?" Aussie said and she stood up, a huge smile on her face.

Posted by: Cube Aug 13 2009, 02:54 PM

Under normal circumstances, Spencer would probably say something reassuring about how Ghost Pokémon wouldn't live all the way out here, and how the shrine would probably keep them from attacking.
Of course, these weren't normal circumstances, and to be quite honest, Spencer was in need of reassuring himself. Between the missing Pokémon, the angry moos of Miltank, and the pitch blackness that seemed to set in once Celia had put out the campfire, he could barely maintain his composure. He was supposed to be the adult in this group, and yet right now he was on the verge of breaking down like a child!

"All right…" said Spencer, struggling to stay calm. "There's probably an easy way for us to figure out if Shadow has gotten the right scent… Vincent, come stand over by that tree please?"

The Charmander obliged, the flames of his tail revealing that many of the trees along Shadow's trail had strips of bark missing, the damage growing more and more gruesome as the trail went on. Spencer felt a lump form in his throat.

"Well… I guess it's safe to assume that Logan has been down this way…" muttered Spencer, as the group followed the Swinub through the trees, the violent sounds of a battle growing louder as they ran.

<<This is all your fault Vincent!>> shouted Celia, as she awkwardly struggled to keep up with the others.

<<My fault!? How is it my fault?!>>

<<I don't know… You're the oldest, aren't you supposed to look out for your siblings?!>>

<<Okay, first of all, he's not my sibling.>> snapped Vincent. <<And second, maybe if you weren't berating me about how bad of a Pokémon I am, I could have kept an eye on him! Besides, isn't it Dad's job to watch his Pokémon?>>

<<Oh, so you're blaming it on Dad now!?>>

<<STOP IT! JUST STOP IT!>> shouted Nils, causing his Siblings to stop out of pure shock. <<Arguing isn't going to get us anywhere! It's not going to find Logan, it's not going to keep dad safe, and it's not going to help open the doors to any hearts!>> The Treecko panted for a moment, as Vincent and Celia stared. <<Vincent, I know that you're concerned for all of us. But the best way to deal with a Shadow Pokémon is to open it's heart. That's what Grandfather Feraligatr always said back home, right? Once his heart is open, he won't want to attack Dad anymore.>>

<<I guess you have a point…>> said Vincent, reluctantly.

<<And Celia, Vincent was only acting the way he was out of concern. Yes, what he did earlier was wrong, but it's not his fault Locke and Logan ran away. Shadow Pokémon just… do that, I guess.>>

<<I suppose…>> said Celia, glancing at her sibling.

<<Um… Sorry I did all that stuff earlier…>> said Vincent.

<<Sorry I blamed you for what happened…>> muttered Celia.

<<There. Are we all better now?>> said Nils, with a smile.

<<I think so.>> said Celia.

<<Yeah.>> said Vincent. <<But just so you know, I'm still not turning my back on that bug until he's purified.>>

<<I can live with that.>> said Celia.

<<Hey!>> shouted Butchette, from up the road. <<Are you three coming or not?!>>

<<Oh crap! Coming!>> shouted Nils, as he and his siblings hurried to keep up with the group.

-------

The group stumbled out of the forest, before climbing over an old wooden fence at it's very edge. Spencer- who could feel the soreness from earlier returning to his muscles- panted for air as he pointed at the mostly vacant pasture ahead. "I think this is the border of that Moo Moo Land place…" he panted, hands on his knees. "Keep an eye out for-"

"MILTANK!"

A large pink ball of flesh rolled past the group, aimed at what was clearly the silhouette of a Scyther a short while away. The mantis Pokémon launched a Cut attack at the Cow Pokémon just before impact, before slamming into the bug Pokémon and steamrolling it into the ground. Meanwhile, an Ekans who seemed to have been clinging to the Miltank with it's teeth was shaken loose, clearly knocked silly from the constant rolling. The Miltank built up momentum at the other end of it's roll, before making another spin back toward the severely weakened Shadow Pokémon.

"Someone do something!" shouted Spencer, utterly terrified. Butchette started to make a move for the Miltank, until Vincent darted out from under the fence.

<<Vincent, what on earth do you think you're doing?!>> shouted Celia.

<<I'm the oldest, aren't I?!>> shouted Vincent, as he leapt several yards in front of the Shadow Pokémon, as the Miltank prepared for it's final Rollout.

Rollout is a sequential attack, which relies on increasing momentum to do damage. Statistically, it doubles in damage with each hit, it's 5th hit being the most powerful. As a result, when the final Rollout came barreling toward the group, everyone was shocked when Vincent tried to absorb the attack himself.

The Charmander braced himself as the attack slammed into his open claws, sending shockwaves through his body. Still, the Pokémon valiantly struggled to hold the attack back from the others, digging it's feet into the dirt as the still rotating Miltank slowly pushed him toward the group. Vincent's hands were being rubbed raw, as it's claws just bounced off the Miltanks hide. Dust flew up in the air as the Miltank built up momentum like a drag racers tire. Still, he could feel himself slipping… At any moment, he could lose his grip and be flattened by the Miltank's attack, which would continue to launch itself at full force toward the others. Vincent winced… This was not one of his better ideas… Still, he struggled to hold back the attack, drawing from all his Strength.

His feet began to slip, he braced himself for the inevitable impact, drawing from the very last of his energy to hold off the attack for just a few more moments…

He felt a strange warming sensation in his chest, which soon spread throughout the rest of his body. The flame on his tail flared up as he gritted his teeth, a bright light filling his vision. Was he… glowing?

Spencer covered his eyes as the Charmander erupted into a flash of glorious light, a small http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGMYpvjuycA on his Pokétch going off. Finally, the light surrounding Vincent exploded in a flash, blasting away the dust that had surrounded the field. When everything had finally cleared, the group was treated to an amazing sight…

The Miltank had stopped rolling. Vincent had managed to stop it completely.

Except… it wasn't Vincent who was holding the Miltank back. At least… it didn't look like Vincent anymore. He was taller, his tail flame was brighter, he had sprouted a horn on the tip of his skull, and his claws had dug themselves into a particularly tough part of the Miltanks hide.

"Charmeleon…" Vincent let out a deep growl, as he shoved the Miltank away, causing it to unroll into it's normal shape.

"Is this… what an evolution looks like!?" said an awestruck Spencer, as he whipped out his Pokédex.

"Whoa…" said Spencer, as his newly evolved Pokémon slashed at the furious Miltank with a Metal Claw attack, it's tail flame burning blue. The Miltank snorted steam as it stroked the ground with it's hooves, preparing another Rollout attack. But Vincent was ready for it this time. The Charmeleon's claws shone like metal as it prepared another metal claw attack, as the Miltank curled into a deadly sphere. Taking advantage of the Miltank's momentary distraction, Vincent quickly spat embers at his right claw, causing them to glow white hot. It was a maneuver Spencer had taught him as a trick, thinking it would be useful in a gym battle or something. But Vincent was going to use it a bit more creatively now…

As the Miltank rolled toward Vincent for the second time, he focused all his Strength into his claw before thrusting it at the Miltank with terrible force. The searing hot metal combined with the force of the blow caused the Miltank to scream in pain. Utterly terrified now, the Miltank unrolled and dashed away from the Pokémon, leaving Vincent and the other alone in the field. Waker dashed to Locke's side, but Spencer was too stunned by the display to say anything.



Spencer slowly made his way to his Pokémon's side, silently giving each of them his last three Oran Berries. (He was starting to wish his mom had packed more than 3). Logan, while stunned, didn't seem to have any broken wings or other serious injuries, and Locke just seemed slightly battered from the whole experience.

After a few moments, Spencer finally managed to say something. "Vincent… that was amazing! I… I didn't know you had that in you. Evolving after just one day?" He laughed. "At this rate, you'll be a Charizard before the month is over."

"Meleon." Said Vincent, going into hug Spencer.

"Whoa! Wait! Hot claws!" exclaimed Spencer, holding up his hands.

Realizing his mistake, the Flame Pokémon allowed the metal coating on it's arms to melt off into a puddle of molten steel, lowering the temperature of his claws considerably, before he leapt into Spencer's arms.

It was at this point that Spencer realized how heavy Vincent actually was, considering how this simple act of affection had knocked him to the ground. "Um…, let's not jump into my arms again, okay Vincent?"

"Char." Said the Flame Pokémon. It was going to take a bit of time to get used to this…

Meanwhile, Logan had just finished his second Oran Berry of the day. (He was really starting to hate the taste…). Pulling himself to a sitting position, the Scyther clutched his head.

Something felt a bit clearer in his mind now… The flashback of that nest… With the two other Scyther… Massacre and Dest… no…

…Mama and Daddy?

Mom and Dad… his parents…

And they weren't attacking that human out of bloodlust… The human was attacking him… and his parents were defending him?!

And now, this Charmeleon was defending him too…

He didn't need defending, he was a Shadow Pokémon! He could take care of himself! And yet…
Something within him felt strange… Like that impenetrable wall that surrounded his heart was beginning to crack…

Somewhere… for a moment, Logan could have sworn he could hear that Celebi laughing…

Posted by: Mechanical Lullaby Aug 14 2009, 08:23 PM

Waker cradled Locke's head in his arms, watching Vincent's battle in pure awe, not noticing Azzy and Pora darting about, making sure no more Miltanks were on the loose. As Waker picked up his immobile Ekans, Locke looked up, sending a strange glance in Vincent and Logan's direction. Weird thoughts were beginning to nudge at his mind - vague memories of two giant, lithe figures, lowing faces on their bodies; other young, playful Ekans...He shook the thoughts out of his mind. "Head hurt," he hissed dully, wrapping his coils around Waker's neck. "Nap now."


"NAP?!" Both Waker and Locke turned, startled, at Pora's sudden outcry. "You had Waker worried half to death and you want to take a NAP?!" The Poison Pin Pokemon was furious, the spines on her back rising as she growled deeply. [/i]"Fine then - take your precious [/i]nap - Azzy and I will take care of Waker. OUR TRAINER. WHO LOVES US." Pora spat out her last words, turning away from the group, who stood in an uncomfortable silence. Azzy sat there, stunned - he'd never seen Pora this angry before. Cautiously, he made his way over to the other Nidoran and sat next to her, "Nii"-ing softly.


Biting his lip, Waker turned back to Spencer and the girls and shrugged, wishing he could write in the darkness. Instead he motioned back the way they came, and then shrugged again - Do you want to go back to the shrine, or stay here until morning? He was rather hoping they'd go back to their modest campsite at the shrine - the Miltanks in Furoh seemed quite a bit more Rollout-happy then the ones in Johto, and he really didn't want to be squished flat while he slept. Locke, eyes still wide from Pora's outburst, curled around his neck unhappily, tongue flicking in and out of his mouth. Waker realised it then - he'd forgotten Locke's restraints back at the shrine, as well as his jacket. Frowning, he kicked at the ground before clapping his hands loudly, startling Aussie's Swinub.


Pora growled as she got up, Azzy following her closely. Waker began to set off back towards camp, almost getting lost the second he left the small ring of light from Vincent's tail. With a sigh, he silently prayed that there weren't any wild Spinarak groups around - unwary travelers in Johto sometimes stepped on one, causing some very angry Ariados to attack. Making his way over a log that he didn't think he'd climbed over on the way out, he didn't notice the small, almost invisible shape in the trees, watching him with its tail waving slowly, a small smile on its moon-shaped face.

Posted by: Butterfree Farm Aug 15 2009, 12:06 PM

"Ghosts," Verity said quietly. She wasn't afraid of real ghosts - she'd been raised with a healthy skeptism - but ghost pokemon troubled her a little. Butchette was more than a match for most of the pokemon of the low levels found around Barley, but she didn't have a chance against a ghost type. And the last time Courage had battled, she'd been fainted almost as soon as she started. Verity wished she'd trained Courage more; she guility remembered Pokemon Training Class, in which Emerence had urged the importance of not just relying on one partner pokemon, but of raising a whole team evenly. But Butchette was just so reliable... except against ghosts. Or psychic pokemon. Or flying types...

Courage seemed reluctant to leave her trainer, for which Verity was really rather relieved and so she gestured to Courage to come sit on her shoulder just in case. Courage had her own ideas, though, and settled on her head again, with much pride. Verity didn't have the heart to dislodge her.

With Butchette by her side, Candyfloss in her arms, Shadow sniffing out scents, Connie accompanied by two mareep-riding pokemon and a bee pokemon, and the boys being surrounded by fire, grass, water and poison types respectively, it occured to Verity that they weren't really the most discreet search party of all time. They were more like a pokemon circus parade. The shadow pokemon would have no problem avoiding them - and anything scary would find them straight away. She clutched at Connie's arm for reassurance.

"I think this is the border of that Moo Moo Land place…" he panted, hands on his knees. "Keep an eye out for-"

"MILTANK!"

Verity froze in complete terror. "Fighting beats normal, fighting beats normal" her hindbrain repeated urgently, and Butchette looked questioningly up at her, but she couldn't make her dry lips form the order to attack. She couldn't believe how enraged the miltank seemed... this wasn't like the ones at home who just thought it was funny to roll around like pool balls, ricocheting off each other. It seemed to really want to hurt them, like the tauros from earlier in the day. They were all going to be squished, just like in her dream.

Vincent's valiant defence made her heart lurch. She stood, shaking and clinging to Connie, unable even to properly register that she'd just seen her first evolution. The miltank was gone... that was all she cared about, for the moment.

<<Not bad,>> Butchette told Vincent, grudgingly. <<I was just about to step in and handle it, of course. But your evolution is kind of impressive.>>

When Waker gestured back to the camp, she felt an almost sickening wave of relief. Still clinging desperately to her best friend, she began to stumble after Waker...

"What's that?" There was a rustling in the grass. Verity swallowed hard. She didn't think she could bear another miltank straight away.

Courage obediently whirled off her head, her claws only tearing at Verity's head a little, and went to go look.

"Courage, wait!"

"Starly!" The little bird pokemon pulled aside a branch of the scrubby undergrowth, and Verity felt a wave of relief. Not even a baby miltank could hide in something that small. She stepped forward and leaned down, curiously.

"Oh! Spoink!" she cried in delight. There was a small group of them hiding as best they could, but their incessant bouncing was rendering their hiding place pretty much useless. Delighted, Verity pulled her pokedex out of her backpack and pointed it at them.

"They're so cute. I always feel sorry for spoink, having to keep bouncing or die..." Verity's eyes filled with compassionate tears. But something was wrong.... the pokemon's eyes were leaking tears, too. And on top of their heads was... not a single pearl.

"OH!" Verity covered her mouth with one hand in shock. "Your pearls have been stolen! Oh, who would be so cruel as to leave you helpless like that?"

"Spoink!" wailed the little pokemon in concert, and Verity's eyes spilled over with her own tears. She fell to her knees, and held out her arms, pokedex still in one hand but Candyfloss slipping from her grasp into the grass. The little girl longed to huggle and comfort the dear little things.

"GRUMPIG!!!"

Verity turned her head slowly, and her pokedex came up and pointed almost as if my automatic control.



The pokemon drew in a long, grunting breath, and Verity suddenly realised what the Barley bullies must feel like when she turned out to have Bill with her. She sent a desperate look at the spoinks.
"Um, little ones, can you tell your Mama we just want to be friends? Please?"

Posted by: MAREEP Aug 15 2009, 01:05 PM

Connie was hard pressed not to laugh at Spencer nearly being knocked flat by Vincent's enthusiastic cuddle. A tiny, weeny giggle-ette may have escaped her just for a moment. She had been awfully impressed by Vincent stepping in to save them from the Miltank and his evolution was fascinating. She wondered if her pokemon were ready to evolve yet and whether she could encourage them.

Waker seemed as keen to leave any further exploration of Moo Moo Land for tomorrow and daylight as she was and Connie slipped her hand back into Verity's as they set off back to the campsite.

"Do you think Victoria will find her way back in the dark? Maybe I shouldn't have sent her off on her own." she mused as they walked. "Maybe my poketch has something useful..." After all, Spencer's had been monitoring his pokemon - it had alerted him when Veincent was evolving. She started pushing buttons. "This thing could do with a better light," she muttered, peering at the screen. "Maybe in the next version. Nothing. Well, hopefully she'll be back at the campsite already when we get there. And if not, maybe Shadow can help find her, too," said Connie, with a shy smile at Aussie.

Connie was surprised to see the little group of bouncy but cowering spoinks and she was horrified to realise they had no pearls. Verity seemed ready to try and give them all a big hug when...

"GRUMPIG!"

Connie gulped.

"Um, little ones, can you tell your Mama we just want to be friends? Please?" said Verity. She sounded almost as scared as she was of Miltanks.

Grumpig had to be a very high level and without Victoria, she was stuck without a pokemon with supereffective moves. Carmilla was her lowest level pokemon and the Grumpig was a psychic type, so that was no good. Ok, so she would try and use moves that would at least have the bonus of being the same type as the pokemon using them.

"Verity, I think maybe you should move away from the Spoinks," said Connie. "Come here, with me. Mary, I want you to try and Thundershock the Grumpig while we move out of its way, please."

Torchie and Carmilla jumped down from Mary's back. They seemed less than eager to be facing the Grumpig.

"Mareep," said Mary, uncertainly. <<Are you sure you don't want me to use Charge first, really?>>

"You can do it," said Connie, sounding as reassuring as she could.

"Mar..."

The Mareep's hesitation hadn't helped matters. Mary was hit by a determined headbut from the Grumpig and she sat down, looking surprised. She fell over onto the grass with a pathetic "reep" noise.

"Mary!" said Connie, darting forward to her pokemon, regardless of the Grumpig's proximity. She lifted Mary's head and, pulling a fresh water from her bag, helped the Mareep to sip.

"GRUM!" said the Grumpig, shaking its head. It seemed to be having trouble moving. The static in Mary's coat had affected it. "PIG," it said to the Spoinks, who bounced over and cowered behind it. Together, the little pearless Spoinks and the Grumpig backed away from the trainers and pokemon.

<<Your humans are looking after you,>> it said. <<You should keep hold of them.>>

<<We will, thanks,>> said Butchette, suddenly more talkative now the big Psychic type was backing off. <<You should try to be less intimidating to humans and then maybe they'd want to catch you, too.>>

<<Are you crazy?>> asked the Grumpig. <<I have had quite enough of humans.>>

<<She didn't seem like... those two,>> said Torchie, waving a wing at Locke and Logan. <<What's up with her?>>

<<Who do you think took the pearls, stupid?>> "Spoink?" There was one tiny little Spoink still cowering in the undergrowth. <<She's trying to look after us until we can find some more. That human really does seem to be looking after the Mareep, though.>>

<<You're bouncy! Be my friend!>> Candyfloss ran full tilt at the Spoink with its arms outstretched. <<I have lots of friends, my friend the Espy gave me my crown and EkansLocke gives me cuddles... wants to give me cuddles and I have a berry but I ate it.>>

The Spoink stared at the pink thing rushing at it.

<<You're... round.>>

"Is everyone ok?" asked Connie, looking around anxiously as she helped Mary back to her feet and recalled her to her pokeball. She thought she should probably let her rest.

"Torchic!"

"Oddish!"

"No," said Connie firmly, "you'll just have to walk."

Posted by: Butterfree Farm Aug 15 2009, 01:40 PM

Verity watched the scene with great confusion and quite a lot of relief, when the Grumpig inexplicably backed off. All the pokemon seemed to have become remarkably communicative, too.

One little Spoink was left bouncing forlornly, all alone.

"What's wrong, baby?" Verity asked gently. "Aren't you going with your Mama?"

"Spoink!" The little pig pokemon shook its head.

"Isn't she your Mama?"

"Spoink!" Another shake, and its tears began to flow again. Verity uneasily wondered if Candyfloss wasn't the only pokemon around who knew Fake Tears. Even so, she yearned to pick it up and give it a hug, but was too afraid of interrupting its bouncing.

"Do you know where your Mama is?"

"Spooooooink!" sobbed the little pokemon, and Verity began to cry again herself.

"I know how you feel," she told it. "Butchette and I are away from our Mamas. And so is Connie, and Courage, and Waker and Spencer and Aussie and all of our pokemon." A great wave of homesick longing for her mother sweapt over her. And they'd only been parted a few hours! Verity wasn't sure how she'd bear a pokemon journey.

"Would you like me to be your Mama for a while?" Verity asked timidly.

At this moment, Candyfloss flung herself into the spoinks's arms. "Spoink!" the little pig said, and carefully placed the igglybuff on top if its head, where its pearl normally resided. Its tears magically dried up. "Spoink spoink spoink!"

"Lee! Leee! Leee!" Candyfloss said gleefully on each ascent. <<Look, Mr Locke Ekans, I'm bouncing! Wake up and see me!>> She couldn't actually see Locke from where she was, but in her few short hours of life Candyfloss had already learned that pokemon, people and things tended to be exactly where she wanted them to be.

Courage circled back to her perch on Verity's pink head. <<The spoink is a hat too!>> she chirped excitedly. <<We are hat type pokemon! Candyfloss has a hat as well.>> The espeon's purloined tiara faintly glimmered in the light from Vincent's hotter flame.

"Oh, I have to keep it, now!" Verity said delightedly. "It's friends with Candyfloss already. Come here, little spoink." She tried to remember, from her farming lessons, the ancient pig pokemon summoning cry, used on Mamoswine and Grumpigs since time eternal. "Pig-hooey! Pig-hooey! Oh, it doesn't seem to be working," she said disapointedly, as the spoink - and igglybuff - continued to bounce on the spot.

"Machop!" Butchette strode forward and delivered an accurate Low Kick. The spoink flew backwards, Candyfloss and tiara tumbling over and over into the air. Candyfloss burst into noisy tears and went to the nearest pokemon, who happened to be Shadow, for comfort. The spoink gave a surprised "Spoink!"

"BUTCHETTE!" Verity said, shocked. "That wasn't very nice! And - what if the Grumpig comes back?"

Butchette shrugged, and then mimicked throwing something at the stunned pokemon. She managed to communicate that if Verity really wanted a low-level psychic pokemon who had lost most of its powers anyway, (although she, Butchette, couldn't possibly imagine why she'd want one,) now it had been defeated by Verity's pokemon Verity could perhaps do something like throw a pokeball at it, if she was so inclined.

"Oh!" Verity was glad no one could see her blush in the darkness. She fumbled in her bag, produced a pokeball, and flung it. It opened and captured the spoink in a blaze of light.

"I caught it!" She jumped up and down. "My first real pokemon journey catch!" She caught at Connie's hands and danced her around in a circle. "I'll call her - I know! She looked so regal, with Candyfloss and the tiara on her head. I think I'll call her the Empress of Fidona."

She beamed around at her friends, then her brow wrinkled with anxiety as a sudden thought struck her. "Oh - I do hope she can bounce inside her pokeball!"

Posted by: Dragon Maiden Aug 15 2009, 02:45 PM

Aussie watched everything with utter astonishment. She had never seen a pokemon evolve before, and even though she had seen battles she had never been this close to one, much less in one. She had begun to scribble notes on her pad. They might come in handy when she had to battle... or if one of her pokemon ever evolved. The thought of her pokemon evolving made her laugh. Cute fluffy little Shadow as a big Piloswine or even a giant Mamoswine? It felt as if it could never happen, and Mimic as a Noctowl? The thought made her smile. She returned her pen to behind her ear and put her notebook back into her pocket.

Suddenly she heard Shadow jump and make her strange little snuffling sound. Shadow ran up to her legs and started snuffling sadly. Aussie smiled down at her and picked her up. She gently rubbed the little Swinub's head and said to her "What scared you Shadow? You could never be a Piloswine. You'd never have the guts to be a pokemon that big and tough. Your to cute and fluffy."

Shadow looked up at her and said "Swine?" Aussie smiled again and replied, "That's right, I owe you those treats don't I?" Aussie went to reach into her bag but instead of treats she grabbed a handful of feathers. "HOOF!" she heard Mimic scream. "Hoof? What are you doing in the treat pocket in the first place Mimic?" She looked down at Mimic and almost laughed when she saw that Mimic had nearly eaten all the treats and her mouth was still stuffed with food. She grabbed the hoothoot by her leg and put her on the ground. "You have to walk home Mimic for eating almost all of the treats. You could have just waited for supper."

"HOOF! Hoof hoof hoof." Mimic couldn't speak right because all the food stuffed in her beak was garbling her words. Aussie nearly doubled over laughing at the spectacle. If there was one thing Mimic did not have, that was patience. She couldn't wait to eat and she couldn't wait to swallow to speak either. Aussie returned to the treat pocket and found there were just two treats left. She smiled. Perfect. She took them out and when Shadow got a whiff of them she snuffled and wiggled in excitement. Before Aussie had an opportunity to give them to Shadow, the little pokemon had snatched them out of her hand. "You can be fast when you want to be Shadow." She thought that was incredibly funny and started to laugh. Mimic was glaring at her from the ground, her big red eyes glowing in the shadows of the trees. "Well I thought it was funny." said Aussie. "Hoof." said Mimic, still chewing the unbelievable amount of food stuffed in her little beak.

"Maybe in the next version. Nothing. Well, hopefully she'll be back at the campsite already when we get there. And if not, maybe Shadow can help find her, too," Aussie looked up when she heard one of the girls say this, she had been absorbed in her own little world of snuffling Swinubs and impatient Hoothoots, but now she was snapped back to reality. She blinked and opened her mouth to reply when she heard a loud "GRUMPIG!" Both Shadow and Mimic jumped. The last of the stolen treats fell from Mimics mouth as she screeched, "HOOT!" and immediately returned to her pocket. Mimic stuck out the top of her head and eyed the approaching Grumpig warily and with curiosity. Aussie watched as Connie's pokemon battled with the Grumpig for a short while until the big psychic pokemon backed off.

"That was strange." Aussie said to herself. She looked down at Shadow and Mimic, both of which were shaking and scared. She frowned "Nice to know if I ever get attacked I'll have two strong brave pokemon to protect me." she said sarcastically. "Swine?" said Shadow. Aussie was starting to think evolving Shadow into a big tough Piloswine wasn't such a bad idea after all... but she could think about that later.

She looked back up at the Grumpig and noticed several small spoink at its feet. Now it made sense. Maybe the Grumpig was protecting its babies, but something was off about them... THEY HAD NO PEARLS! Aussie was horrified. She had never heard about spoinks without pearls... what would happen to them? Just as important, where had the pearls gone? Aussie tried to think up any plausible answer at all, but none came. She stood there thinking over the little Spoink's predicament but she didn't know what to do.

She looked at the others and blinked. She didn't know what to say or do, so she just stood there, eyes wide, staring, because that's what she was best at. She felt Shadow jump out of her arms to the ground. She just stood there. Let the Grumpig take care of it... she thought to herself It was their mother after all. For all she knew spoink were born without pearls... and maybe these ones were just to young to have one yet? She would have to figure out if spoink were born without them... Aussie was once again snapped back to reality as Verity's Igglybugg ran and started playing around with one of the spoink. Aussie looked around for the Grumpig but noticed its shadow walking away into the forest. She wondered why the spoink had stayed behind.

Verity was speaking to the little spoink when suddenly machop came up and kicked the little spoink. Aussie heard herself gasp and watched as Igglybuff ran up to Shadow of all pokemon for comfort. Both of the little pokemon appeared to be crying and sniffing the same amount. She definitely needed to evolve Shadow she decided then. She needed at least one pokemon who didn't cry at the drop of a hat, but watching Igglybuff and Shadow together... it was so cute. Maybe she really shouldn't evolve Shadow. She loved the little Swinub just the way she was, even if she was easily scared...

She turned to watch as Verity pulled a pokeball out of her bag and watched as she caught the little pearless spoink.
"I caught it! My first real pokemon journey catch!" Verity said happily. Aussie watched as Verity took Connie's hand and danced her in a circle. Verity smiled at them all and then suddenly sounding a bit worried said"Oh - I do hope she can bounce inside her pokeball!"

Aussie smiled. She knew what she had to do now. Evolving Shadow was a long way off anyway... for now she would just have to catch something with a little more guts and fire in it's belly then her pokemon. She wondered what kind of pokemon she would catch... but that was also a ways off. She would know the pokemon when she saw it, but for now... "Let's head back to camp and make some supper. It's been a long day for all of us and I'm starving." Shadow snuffled excitedly at the word supper, but Mimic groaned. She looked down at Mimic and noticed that the hoothoot was clutching its belly with its wing. "That's what you get for eating to many treats Mimic, but we'll take care of that sore stomach of yours when we get back." she said to Mimic. "Hoot..." Mimic said. Mimic looked slightly nauseas. Mimic's eyes started to flutter as she clutched her stomach. Aussie thought the pokemon was going to puke, but surprisingly Mimic fell asleep in a matter of seconds, her little body sinking and disappearing into the pocket. "That's one way of taking care of a sore stomach I suppose." Aussie said and smiled. A large snore erupted from Mimic's pocket.

Posted by: Cube Aug 15 2009, 05:48 PM

Spencer had taken the opportunity to try and hook up that weird leash thing Elysia had given him to Logan's harness. After an ordeal like that, he wasn't going to let him run away again.

Not that Logan was in any mood to run away… He was exhausted. Today was just one string of losses after another… He was vaguely aware of a strange fog that seemed to cloud his mind… He had never noticed it before… He assumed it had always been there, but he had never really given it much thought before recently. It was like, parts of his mind were blocked off. Every time he tried to think about his parents, and that nest (and he had no idea why he kept thinking about parents and nests, since they weren't really subjects he was interested in) his memory would fog after a certain point, and he'd reflexively remind himself that he didn't really care… Which wasn't true, because for some reason he did care, if for no reason other to know how that particular memory ended. But every time words like "family", or "parents", or "protection" came up in his mind, some part of his heart reminded him that he was a Shadow Pokémon. He was powerful. He wasn't supposed to care. A Shadow Pokémon doesn't need any of those things…

But lately… he was having trouble believing that…

He didn't even bother trying to smack the human when he hugged him, and tearfully asked him not to run away again. He was sure if he tried that new cutting move on his neck, he could have killed him easily… but he just couldn't bring himself to do so for some reason…

The fiery one seemed to be trying out his new form, stumbling over his larger feet on occasion, though he did seem to be showing off a bit, shoving aside the occasional fallen log to test his new Strength. The grey one didn't seem very impressed by this, though she did grudgingly complement him on his performance, which he duly thanked her for. (Logan wasn't really paying attention…)
The Piplup and the Treecko both seemed quite impressed though.

<<Vincent, that was incredible!>> said the Treecko. <<The fighting and the evolution and that new thing you did and…>>

<<Remember to breath Nils.>> laughed the Charmeleon, his voice significantly deeper that it was this morning. <<I'm kind of surprised this happened myself… I thought there'd be a bit of forewarning before I evolved…>>

<<Well… you have been breathing smoke a lot lately…>> said the Piplup.

<<Hm… I guess you're right… I have been smoking a bit more often lately…>> thought the Charmeleon.

<<…Hey Vincent.>> said the Piplup, after a long silence. <<That was really brave of you, by the way. Saving Logan like that…>>

<<Well… Just because I don't trust the guy, doesn't mean I want to see him die.>> said Vincent (That is what the humans called him, right? Vincent?) <<Besides… what you said earlier made a lot of sense… He didn't choose to be that way…>>

The Scyther felt a word forming in his throat, sticking like the skin of a particularly tough berry… After a moment, he barely managed to choke out a stifled <<Thanks…>>, before the reflexes kicked in again, and he found himself unable to say anything at all. His sole word seemed to surprise the party, stunning the Piplup more than Vincent's evolution did.

The three Pokémon started chattering wildly, mentioning words like "purification" and "heart", and "progress" that Logan wasn't keen on paying attention too.

Instead, he focused his attention on the trainer, who seemed to be speaking with the others about a small colony of Spoink they had stumbled upon. He seemed deeply concerned by the lack of pearls of the Spoink's heads. A Grumpig mentioned something about humans taking away the pearls… This struck a chord with Logan, but he was too tired to pursue that connection any further. He just wanted to go to sleep…

"Why would someone take a Spoink's pearl?" thought Spencer, as the pig Pokémon bounced away. "It's unbelievably cruel…"
Cruelty seemed to be a running theme lately… It disturbed him deeply… This region wasn't much better than Orre was…

Spencer recalled a story about poachers de-pearling Spoinks in the past, but he had never encountered one without a pearl. Though, the sight of Candyfloss bouncing on a Spoink's head was adorable. The low kick and capture did throw him off though. Still, he was quite happy to see Verity capture it.

"Congrats Verity!" he exclaimed, before launching into a short monologue about how Spoink's are fine inside their Poké Balls , and how there's a proper way to hold a Spoink in one's hand, and a bunch of other reassurances regarding Spoink's that will not be transcribed here.

When they had gotten back to camp, the group soon settled down to a normal pace. Vincent gladly ignited the campfire after some dry firewood was gathered. Spencer had pulled out his berry dispenser and was preparing a small Berry Based dish. Verity gushed over her new Pokémon while searching her bag for ingredients, while Connie, Waker, and Aussie and the other Pokémon helped out around the camp.

Logan wasn't really in the mood to deal with anymore humans now… His head hurt, his body ached, and quite frankly, he was in no mood to stay conscious for another moment.

Leaning himself against a tree, the Scyther slowly drifted into a dreamless sleep…

Posted by: Dragon Maiden Aug 15 2009, 08:42 PM

Aussie helped around the camp, carrying firewood, setting up tents, anything camp related she pretty much did. Aussie was more then used to the ins and outs of camping because of her aunt's large amount of travel. She may have spent more time in a camp then in her actual house in Barely. She was more then glad when suppertime came around. She was so exhausted that she wasn't even sure what she was eating but she was hungry. Shadow on the other hand was still up and hyper. She was running around playing and gobbled down her pokefood with a large amount of vigor.

Aussie felt as if she was about to go and drift off to sleep when something in the back of her mind started nagging her. She had forgotten to do something... but what? Sleep clouded her mind as she sat drowsily around the big campfire that was burning. It took a few minutes for her meandering mind to remember what she had forgotten. She immediately straightened up and all hint of sleepiness was gone. She was berating herself for forgetting something like that. How could she forget when she did it almost every night religiously?

She stood up and stretched and looked at the others. "I'll be back in an hour or so." saying nothing else, she wandered off into the woods. She thought the others must think her crazier then ever but this is a tradition she could not break under any circumstances. If one of them wanted to follow she didn't mind, as long as no one interrupted her. Aussie started searching for a good spot and soon came upon the base of a large tree covered in holes with many burrows under the tree where pokemon could hide or live. She smiled and sat down. She reached into her bag and drew out a large handful of pokefood and sprinkled it on the ground.

Shadow came around a minute later. The little Swinub must have realized her trainer had disappeared and come to join her. Shadow knew the ritual just as well as Aussie. She crawled close to Aussie and fell asleep, not even looking at the food. Shadow had learned long ago the food wasn't for her. Aussie sat silently and waited expectantly for several minutes. She heard the rustling in the branches around her as pokemon moved and watched her curiously. Finally she heard a buzz and a beedrill landed by the food and started eating it.

Aussie smiled. There was nothing more relaxing then feeding wild pokemon, and not to mention you never know what you'll find. She watched the beedrill eat for a minute but something else was nagging at her mind again. "Buzzbee is that you?" she said to the pokemon. The will beedrill looked up at her and started buzzing loudly. Aussie smiled. It could only be him. "Seems I stumbled across the old beedrill nesting grounds by accident Buzzbee." Buzzbee once again buzzed and started picking up several pieces of pokefood before flying off. Aussie followed.

She followed for several minutes before the buzzing became so thick you could hear nothing else. She walked through a bush... and there it was. The tree was covered in Beedrill, not one of which paid her the slightest attention. They tolerated her presence without question, because she had come around so often they trusted her. She spotted Buzzbee immediately, because he was the biggest of the beedrill, and made her way toward where the beedrill was sitting in the tree. On the branch was a neat comb-shaped little nest and inside was several weedle. Buzzbee carefully started feeding the pokefeed to each of the weedle in their turn.

Aussie thought that was interesting. Unlike most nesting pokemon the beedrill appeared to feed their babies equally instead of just throwing the food in and letting the strongest get the most, but Buzzbee appeared to making an effort to make sure each got their fair share. Also the little weedle were not fighting to get fed first, another common characteristic among other nesting pokemon. It made sense though. If the weedle were going to grow up to be beedrill and live in such a large organized community they needed to be well... organized, not fighting and bickering amongst themselves.

Aussie made a quick note about this in her notebook and then turned around. It was getting late and she hadn't come out at this particular moment to watch beedrill but to feed pokemon. She turned around and headed back towards the tree where she had spread the pokefood. When she returned, several more pokemon had come out of hiding to feed. They looked up at her cautiously, but she moved slowly and made sure not to be menacing and so they eventually ignored her. She sat back down and watched them feed. There was a nasty ratatta that kept on chasing off the other pokemon and tough spinark that kept on coming back after being chased off. Other pokemon came around and fed for a few seconds but these two were the ones that stayed around the most.

She decided to give them names like she did with so many of the other wild pokemon she befriended. Bully seemed appropriate for the rattata, but the spinark was tougher. Boulder perhaps, because he was so determined to feed... While she was thinking intently on this a bush behind her started to rustle. She whirled around and to her astonishment a ponyta appeared. This was far from the environment that a ponyta would live in... so why was it here?

It was dirty, scratched, and shaking. It's fur was so covered in dirt it looked brown, and it's flame was burning only weakly. It looked as if it was about to fall over from exhaustion. It was panting heavily as if it had just run for a very long time, but maybe the most astonishing part was it was wearing a bridle and saddle pad. This ponyta had just recently come from some human habitation and most likely someone had owned it. Aussie looked at it closer. It looked beautifully bred under all that dirt. She could recognize the look of good breeding, long legs, a small dainty head, and large expressive eyes, but the ponyta looked a little worse for wear. It was extremely thin as if it wasn't fed right and it looked to young to be saddle trained. By appearances it shouldn't even be separated from it's mother yet, much less ridden.

Aussie edged closer to the ponyta, but it looked startled when she came to close. She didn't want to scare it off so she sat down and simply watched. The ponyta eyed her warily but edged toward the food, when it came close it started sniffing it and looked as if it wanted to eat, but that wasn't possible with a bit in it's mouth, and it looked young enough that it probably wasn't even off it's mother's milk yet.

Aussie tried to move closer again, but this time the ponyta panicked and charged straight at her!

Posted by: Mechanical Lullaby Aug 15 2009, 09:30 PM

Waker sighed, sitting himself down in a small clearing he'd come to. Obviously what he'd thought was just a small group of trees was actually a rather sizable forest - he'd been walking for minutes now and he'd seen no sign of anyone else. Pora had taken up an icy silence, Azzy was in full-out 'protect' mode, and Locke...


...Locke was acting strangely. After Pora's outcry he'd simply lain his head on Waker's chest, not bothering to take one of his usual naps. Instead, he stared, focused, at the ground, his tail rattling every now and then. Waker absentmindedly stroked the top of Locke's head, getting to response - not even a 'hug'. Waker was seriously worried now - lost, in a forest, in a strange new country; none of his friends in sight. Squinting at the faint glow his Poketch emanated, he wasn't surprised to see that it was already nearing midnight. His first few days in Furoh had been filled with a mix of excitement and danger - contests, Shadow Pokemon attacks, discovering a shrine, angry Miltanks - and all Waker really wanted to do was sleep.


Still silent, Pora walked over and sat next to Waker, turning her head away from Locke. Azzy crawled into Waker's lap, making a little room for Pora, who ignored him as well. With a frown Waker picked up the Nidoran, who simply let herself be placed in his lap. Why are you guys acting so weird? he thought, a little frustrated. We're all together in this, okay? Please cheer up! Locke's tail rattled gently as a slight breeze picked up, chilling Waker slightly. His jacket was still back at the campsite, and he doubted his sweater was warm enough. Thinking longingly of the fire back at camp, he closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around his Pokemon, smiling as he suddenly felt very warm. Opening his eyes, he let out a soundless gasp as he realised the source of the warmth - Locke had curled around Waker's arms, looking at him strangely.


Locke's tongue flicked out of his mouth. He'd been thinking - which was a new thing in and of itself - about the strange feelings he'd had earlier, back when the rolly thing attacked him and the Scyther. Something about two tallish figures, curling around him and other Ekans, making them warm...


...And the squishy thing was cold, he could tell. Even if it meant being yelled at by the blue Pokemon again, it was at least...nice, was the word? Yes, nice, to be able to do what his parents had once done...


...Parents?


Waker smiled, hugging all his Pokemon close before slowly standing up, Pora and Azzy looking up at him. Okay, he thought, Locke still wrapped around him like a cape. We've got to find camp before we freeze to death! Waker struck a heroic pose, eliciting small laughs from the Nidorans. Sure, he was being an idiot, but at least nobody could see him. Closing his eyes, he spun in a circle and pointed straight forward, grinning as he opened his eyes.


Okay then, team! This way! Still posing, he began walking forward, Azzy chirping and nudging Pora into a brisk run. Locke picked up his head and swayed a little, smelling the sharp tang of fire on the air. "Right way," he droned, sounding bored. Before he could lay his head back down, he caught another scent. As he was about to hiss his new information to the blue and purple things, something jumped into the path directly in front of the small party.


"Ski!" The small cry seemed to penetrate the darkness faster than light. Azzy and Pora immediately sunk to the ground, both growling as Waker hastily pulled out his Pokedex, pointing the dim light at the shape in front of him.

...A Skitty. Waker thought, suppressing a laugh. Why are there Skitties in the forest? Azzy and Pora relaxed, just as Waker's Pokedex beeped again.





...Can this thing read my mind? Waker turned his Pokedex upside down, pointing it at himself and a random tree, without response. Frowning, he poked it, not noticing the angry glare of the forgotten Skitty until it let out a rather cute growl.


Looking back down at the tiny Pokemon, he smiled and kneeled down, sliding Locke off his arms. After all, Agent Jennifer had told him and Spencer to fight with the Shadow Pokemon, right? And Waker knew from his mother's stories that Skitties were good at cure contests...


Okay, Locke! Training starts now! Posing again, he pointed at the Skitty, tapping the ground with his foot. Use Wrap! ...Uh, wait, you don't know that, do you? Uh, just use Shadow Rush instead! Waker's actions were met with a blank stare from both Locke and the Skitty, who simply shrugged and charged at Locke. Swinging her tail in front of her, the Skitty Tail-Whipped Locke, who hissed and slid backwards.


"Locke! He wants you to attack it!" Azzy yelled, ignoring Pora's snort.

Posted by: Butterfree Farm Aug 16 2009, 03:00 AM

Catching a new pokemon had really brightened Verity's mood. Sure, it was a very small pokemon, and it wasn't very powerful without its pearl, but Verity secretly didn't mind that. It was a lonely, needy pokemon to love and protect, and it really needed her - that meant more to her than her very own Garchomp ever could.

She was terribly relieved that Spencer had reassured her that she could keep the Empress of Fidona in a pokeball or cuddle her without killing her. "The pokedex says the Empress has a gentle nature," she said, "She does seem very sweet."

<<Empress!>> Butchette grunted in scorn and some jealousy. She had been watching Vincent enviously, wondering if it wasn't about time for her to evolve herself.

Verity leafed excitedly through her new book on contests. "That means she's a very intelligent pokemon and she likes bitter pokeblocks - ew." She made a face. Well, if she isn't very good at fighting without her pearl, maybe I can use her brains in contests. I don't think she'd be allowed to perform with Candyfloss on her head, though, they would be like entering with two pokemon. I'll have to make her a hat! A hat that makes her look smart." She giggled. "Maybe glasses as well."

She became aware she was babbling and reading without helping, and blushed, putting her book away in her jigglypuff backpack. "I'm sorry - I'll help!" She stood up and started helping out the food. "There, Aussie - Spencer - Connie..." She froze. "Um, Waker?"

She looked at the others with eyes that were suddenly almost as round as Candyfloss's. She looked a little like an igglybuff for the moment, with her general pink colour scheme and wide red eyes. "Um, have you guys seen Waker lately?"

Spencer and Connie sat up, concerned. "We were following him back, and then - the spoink and the Grumpig. Maybe he's with Victoria," Connie said hopefully, although her eyes were worried.

Aussie, who had seemd to be half asleep, suddenly stood up and stretched. "I'll be back in an hour or so," she said, and left.

Verity stared blankly after her. It occured to her that they knew absolutely nothing about this girl except that she liked to keep secrets, and maybe that wasn't a good thing. They had just met her and aborbed her into the group - it had seemed natural to trust her after meeting the boys and forming a tight band of friends so quickly. But Verity was sure she'd seen the odd-looking girl around Barley, and there were things going on in Barley that were inexplicable and not very nice.

Aussie had already disappeared without saying why once ... and Locke and Logan had wandered off, and now Waker and his pokemon and Victoria were all missing, and this girl had gone off alone into the woods without explanation again.

"Connie, Spencer... where do you think she goes?" she asked uncertainly, not wanting to voice her suspicions fully. "There's something weird going on here - that miltank, and all the poor spoink. And Waker and his darling little nidorans and our Victoria are m-missing... What if they're in trouble? Waker couldn't even call for help if anything bad happened..."

Butchette made a rumbling noise, and patted her soothingly on the back. "Machomp!" she said, and Verity didn't need a Slowking translator to know her partner pokemon was vowing to protect them all.

"We need to find them," Verity said. "Only - " she took a deep breath. "Maybe the best way to find Waker and our missing pokemon is to follow that girl."

Posted by: Dragon Maiden Aug 16 2009, 12:54 PM

Aussie was panicking. What to do? What to do? she thought to herself, Duh! Run... that wouldn't work. Even an exhausted ponyta like this one could outrun her easily... there was only one thing to do... "Shadow... use tackle... please?" she looked imploringly at Shadow, who was just waking up. The ponyta was getting closer... it would be to late soon unless... Shadow seemed to sense Aussie's anxiety and after a little hesitation got up and charged at the ponyta.

Please let this work Aussie was silently screaming inside as she watched Shadow get closer to the ponyta... but no! The ponyta veered out of the way of Shadow's attack at the last second and Shadow instead ran headlong into the large tree with burrows at it's roots! Shadow squealed in protest and started to shake her head as if to clear it of cobwebs. The ponyta had completely forgotten about Aussie, but now it was focused intently on Shadow, and at the moment Shadow was vulnerable. The ponyta prepared to charge again but Aussie screamed, "Shadow! Duck and cover!"

Shadow whirled around and saw the ponyta coming at her. She immediately looked around for a way to escape, but there was only one place to go... Shadow barreled into the small burrow at the foot of the tree right when the ponyta charged into the place she had previously been standing. The ponyta planted its feet firmly in the ground and stopped. It sniffed the ground around the burrow where Shadow had taken refuge and huffed impatiently. It started to dig at the base of the burrow with its hoof, but to no avail. Bending it's head down, it stuck as much of it's nose into the burrow as it could, but Shadow was untouchable to the much larger ponyta while in that burrow.

Ponyta tried for several seconds to extract Shadow from her hiding place but soon gave up. Aussie watched in horror as the ponyta turned around and prepared to charge at her again. This time she had no one to help her. Mimic was still sound asleep in her pocket and there was no way she could wake her up in time... A squeal of pain erupted from the burrow where Shadow was hiding. The little Swinub came barreling out of the burrow with of all things, a rattata firmly biting on to her rear end. Shadow was running blindly in a panic. Luck must have been looking down on Aussie at that moment because the frightened Swinub ran right into the ponyta.

The ponyta tumbled and fell when the involuntary tackle hit it. The ponyta lay on the ground a second, looking defeated, before getting to its feet as quickly as it could. It did not attempt to attack again, but stood there shaking and panting heavier then ever. Aussie felt a sudden rush of concern and pity for the ponyta. It was obviously very frightened and confused. It had probably only attacked her out of fear. The ponyta looked around again, but it eyed one place in the woods, an opening between the trees where it could dash to safety.

It looked as if it was about to run and Aussie knew this was her only chance. She slowly and cautiously reached for her bag, making no sudden movements that would scare off the already frightened pokemon. She reached in and pulled out a pokeball and then threw it as fast as she could. The ponyta looked suddenly frightened at the quick movement and turned to run away, but it was to late. It was suddenly enveloped in red light and then it was gone. The ball fell to the ground and started to move. Aussie hoped the pokemon wouldn't escape... she closed her eyes so she wouldn't have to watch. The whole wood was silent, nothing moved.

Aussie slowly opened her eyes and looked at the pokeball and sighed with relief when she saw it was no longer moving and was unbroken. She walked over and picked it up. The moment was surreal. She had just had her first battle... if accidentally hitting the intended target because her pokemon was frightened about being bit in the rear end could really be considered a battle. She suddenly felt more tired then ever. It had been an exhausting day... and there was still more to be done.

Shadow came whimpering up to her feet. Aussie looked down and kneeled beside her. The rattata, who to Aussie's amusement turned out to be Bully, was still firmly attached to Shadow. Aussie grabbed the rattata and slowly pried it off before setting it on the ground. Bully looked at them both and chattered its displeasure to both Shadow and Aussie before promptly disappearing back into its burrow. "No more hiding in burrows for you Shadow." Aussie said to her. "Swine?" said Shadow while looking up at her. Aussie smiled and took a potion out of her bag and sprayed it on Shadow. "Don't worry. You'll be fine after a good nights sleep... though it may take a while for you to regain your dignity after an attack like that." Aussie thought that was pretty funny and started to giggle to herself.

"Hoot." Aussie looked back down at her bag. Mimic had woken up and was watching them curiously. "Well I thought it was funny..." muttered Aussie. Mimic only glared at her. Aussie stood up and returned her attention back to the pokeball in her hand. After a moment's hesitation, she opened it. In a flash of red light, the ponyta appeared again... but it was asleep? Rather conveniently actually. Aussie sighed with relief inwardly that she wouldn't have to deal with a frightened ponyta that was trying to run away.

She slowly crept toward it, but it seemed sound asleep. Aussie stood right beside and after a minute got the nerves to touch it. The ponyta did not react at all. It continued to sleep obliviously. The ponyta must be exhausted. Aussie examined the ponyta closer. The ponyta appeared to be a boy. She wondered if having a boy pokemon was any different then having a girl one, because that was all she had ever had. Her examination only confirmed that the pokemon was too young to be without a mother and that he was in terrible shape.

She stroked his sides for a moment, wondering at the bones that stuck out of his thin body at all angles. She was consumed by worry. Why had she been able to catch him? If he had been living in a human habitation and already been caught by someone shouldn't the pokeball she threw have had no effect? He was obviously unclaimed, but why would someone put a bridle and saddle pad on a pokemon they didn't own that was too young for any sort of riding? Obviously he also hadn't been well cared for either. She wished for answers, but also realized she may never find them.

She should head back soon. The others were probably wondering where she was and she had a lot of work to do tonight. She would have to feed the ponyta, clean him up, and cool him down. After so much exercise he would need at least a few minutes of walking to give his muscles time to loosen up and relax... and how was she supposed to clean him? Obviously she couldn't just dump a bucket of water on him because he was a fire type. All she had was her fingers. She combed her fingers over his dirty coat and they became covered in dirt and mud. There was no way she could clean him up with just her fingers... and what to feed him? Aussie didn't have any milk or formula at the moment, but he was obviously starving and should be fed soon... And he needed a name. That was something she could handle at the moment. She stood there for a moment considering and it came.

She looked at the ponyta, sound asleep in the middle of the forest caked in dirt and mud... "Welcome to the team Sandman." She whispered to him. She silently looked at the bridle he was wearing. She silently unbuckled it and let it fall to the ground. The person who had him before had tried to control him with pain and force, but Aussie was determined she'd find some other way. Aussie imagined Sandman waking up and panicking again. The thought gave her a headache. How was she going to control him? She turned back toward the direction of the camp... maybe she could get Spencer and Waker to help her with Sandman. Spencer seemed to know a lot about breeding and they both had experience handling crazed pokemon because they were taking care of shadow pokemon.

Posted by: MAREEP Aug 18 2009, 01:20 PM

Connie was trying not to appear too worried but she had sent her pokemon away to look for the others and now that Waker was also missing she was starting to get really scared. What if she'd lost her pokemon and the next time she arrived at a pokemon centre shebe told she wasn't careful enough for a trainer card?

What if, instead of Locke and Logan, Victoria had found Team Deception and she was now a shadow pokemon and needed restraints on her... on... Connie's train of panic ran off the rails of imagination. What would you restrain on a shadow Combee? Her plumettingness? Her pretty scent? Connie wasn't distracted for long though.

"We need to find them," Verity said. "Only... maybe the best way to find Waker and our missing pokemon is to follow that girl."

What if... what if...

"What if Aussie is from Team Deception?" blurted out Connie, suddenly, her train back at full steam. "After all, we arrive with two of their shadow pokemon in the middle of nowhere and just happen to run into someone who seemed almost to be waiting for us and then the shadow pokemon go missing, and now Victoria and Waker and all of his pokemon are missing and she just wanders off again, Verity's right, it does seem a little strange."

Sitting at the edge of a wood, in the dark, with only the star light and the flickering of a camp fire and Charmeleon tail to cast alaming, moving shadows on the darkness surrounding her, this was really the least sinister of the possibilities that presented themselves to Connie. She clung to Verity's hand but didn't seem very keen on moving away from the fire, now that darkness had set in properly.

"I don't think I like the idea of wandering around in the dark, though," she said quietly. "I think maybe we'd do better waiting here. Maybe Waker's just... well, taking a while to get back. If he got lost, the best thing we can do is keep the fire lit. Wouldn't hos pokemon be able to follow the smell of the smoke? And Victoria, too. I bet she'll be back really soon - she'll be able to see the fire or smell the smoke, or something. Won't she?" Connie sounded very plaintive. "In fact, I think I'm just going to go back to making up comfy little camping mattresses like we were before. You'll help, won't you, Verity?"

Connie's camp bed making might have been a tad on the manic side, but by the time it occurred to her that Waker may have picked up a PokéGear at the Contest Hall, there were little piles of dry ferns for everyone to make comfortable when it was time to sleep. Aussie's might be less padded looking than the others, possibly, but Connie had made sure there was one there, just in case she wasn't a Team Deception agent after all.

"Did Waker take a PokéGear, too?" she asked, "Can we call him and make sure he's ok? I mean... Um... he could... Well, maybe Pora and Azzie could squeak if he needed help, or something?"

"Combeeeee" came a noise over the trees.

"Victoria!" called Connie, jumping up. "You're all right!"

The Combee didn't seem quite all right, though. Her flying was rather wobbly as she fluttered into the range of the firelight. She was obviously exhausted but she also seemed a bit confused.

"What's wrong?" asked Connie, reaching out for the Combee. Victoria was doing her best to aim for her trainer and Connie was able to catch her before she crashed.

"Oh!" said Verity. "Do you remember when Temperance had to take out the broken frames from the hives? She used smoke to make the Combees drowsy! I don't think she likes the camp fire much, even though she must have been aiming for the light!"

"You're right!" said Connie. She moved upwind of the fire and sat down, cradling the bug pokemon in her lap. "Thank you for looking for the others, Victoria, I'll put you away for now and you can rest." She recalled her pokemon and stared into the fire for a moment. "Now, where's Waker and where has Aussie got to, I wonder?"

Posted by: Dragon Maiden Aug 18 2009, 08:42 PM

Inside Sandman's Dreaming Head

I felt as if the pain had been lifted from me. I was back where I belonged... but wait it wasn't me that belonged here. It was the newborn colt I was looking at, someone I had been but was no more. The building was dark but lit by the flickering of one newborns flame and a mother Rapidash's brighter flame. The Rapidash was nuzzling her child, but the newborn did not respond for several seconds. Afraid the youngling might be dead, I tried to move toward it but no matter how fast I ran I never got any closer. Watching in horror, I pleaded in my mind that he was alive. The newborn couldn't be dead. I couldn't be dead, but no, the little colt lifted his head at that moment and tried to pry his eyes open. Quickly he shut them when he realized that the world was full of bright colors that hurt his eyes.

The world was a much different place to the warm simple environment he had just emerged from. The remnants of his last home were scattered all over the floor. The eggshells gleamed white in the flickering light of his mother's flame. He wished more then anything at that moment to return to that place, but soon his wish was overcome by a more immediate urge he had never felt before. "Mama. I am hungry." he said instinctively without thought.

He heard a sweet melodious voice he recognized as his mother's even though he had never heard it before. He had never heard anything until that moment. "My child, welcome to the world, but we have something to do before you feed." his mother whispered to him softly. The mother seemed to realize that the youngling's senses were still sensitive and took the precaution not to hurt his tender ears by speaking to loudly. "Mother. I'm hungry... so hungry." The ponyta replied to his mother's remark.

"I know son, but it is tradition among our kind to tell our young this story as soon as they have the strength to speak. Listen closely for it is important." she said with urgency in her voice. "I will listen mother, but let it be fast, for I am hungry." the ponyta replied. "I see you will be impatient and wild like your father, son, characteristics that will not do you good in our world, which makes it all the more important that I tell you the story of the The Knight and The Steed." The mother said solemnly. She stood for a moment in silence, nuzzling her son before continuing to speak.

"Once upon a time there was a Knight. He was strong, brave, and great. All the good things a creature could be, but he lacked one thing. A companion and a steed. He searched the world far and wide for a worthy steed and found the One Who’s Name Has been Lost."

"Why was the Steed's name lost mother?" questioned the ponyta "How may one lose a name?"

"Shh my son and listen. You will soon understand. Then Steed was more brave, strong, and great then his Knight and he served the Knight faithfully. He carried him into battle and obeyed his orders without question, no matter even if it went against his very nature. The Knight earned great renown far and wide for his feats in battle, but his Steed gained none of the credit, even though he was greater and did more work then the Knight."

"Why mother? Should not the Steed gain the renown if he did the work?" said the confused colt.

"Shh my son and you'll soon understand. Even thought the Steed knew he was the greater of the two he was happy with what he was given, good food, a warm stable, and anything he would ever need to stay healthy and after he got to old for work he was still treated with the same respect as when he was young. He was happy in life and what had been given to him even though he deserved much more."

"How can one be happy when he does not get what he has truly earned?" said the ponyta.

"I will answer all your questions now son because the story is done. He lost his name because no one remembers it. Only the Knight's name lives on, not the Steeds after their deaths. The Knight earned the credit because his kind was blind and looked at only their kind as great and noble, and yet the Steed was happy because he knew in his heart he had done what he was bred and born to do, which is all our kind can do. You were born to be a Steed son." his mother said to him.

"Mother, why can't we be knights? I remember a time when our kind was free and wild, when we were proud and not slaves." questioned the youngling.

"Ahh. I see now. You carry the old memories in you. It is best you forget those times. They are long gone. Our kind was like that before the humans came, but now they are the ones who chose our destiny. Do not question it son. It is the way things are. Now feed and let us get on with the night. We have many more things to discuss."

The ponyta remembered he was ravenously hungry and tried to get to his feet, but they didn't seem to obey him. He stumbled and fell more times then he could count. I watched the colt in amusement. How could one be so innocent? How could a mother be so blind?



The world of the warm stable drifted away and the world reoriented itself. The night had turned to day and the dark building to a large meadow. The colt was playing with his mother watching. The mother watched proudly. As the youngling had grown he had stopped questioning why he must follow humans orders. Their human was very nice. She fed them well and treated them fairly. The Rapidash needed nothing more. Although her son had stopped questioning, he still retained his ornery streak. Sometimes he would disobey without reason, but he was coming along and she hoped he would soon grow out of it.

Her owner had left the Rapidash out in the meadow to graze and she was having a great time of it. The grass was sweet and the sun was streaming. She soon got so lost in the great day that she forgot to keep a close eye on her son and why should she? He was safe here. There was a fence to keep anything dangerous out... or so she thought.

I watched in horror as the man crept up to the fence and eyed his target. He was dressed all in black and moved so silently that the grazing Rapidash never even noticed him. I screamed in my head to let the colt go. Leave him where he was, where he could live a happy and long life, but the man had other plans. He could tell that the young colt was top-of-the-line. His breeding couldn't be any better and he would make a beautiful Rapidash that would sell for a high price when he was older. He couldn't give up a chance like this.

The man crept over the fence and ran over to the colt. He tried to coax the colt into coming and completely trusting, the colt came up to him. The man quickly slipped a rope around the ponyta's neck and led it out of the pasture. Nobody noticed. The man returned later and stole the ponytas pokeball right out from under the owners nose. Now he completely controlled him.

Once again things faded out and reoriented itself. This time the place where the colt was was dank and dirty. He was hungry alone and scared, but he could do nothing. He was powerless and even worse, he had given up. His new master had worked him nearly to death. He did not feed him right and spent hours a day whipping him and trying to get him to obey what he said.

He could still feel the bleeding gashes in his coat where the mean man had hit him with a whip and he was still tired from his most recent workout. All he wanted was a warm bed and good food. The colt heard footsteps coming down the hall and the mean man appeared again. He was carrying with him that dreaded contraption he put on his head whenever he got on his back and the red and white round object that kept him linked to him no matter how ho tried to get away. The man glared and said, "I will break you."

The man walked into the stable and forced the contraption into the young colts mouth then dragged him out of the dank and dark building into the sunlight. He quickly got on his back and started to whip the colt mercilessly, trying to get him to go. The colt was confused; he didn't know what the man wanted. All he knew is that he got on his back and caused him pain.

Suddenly a very loud noise scared the colt and he bucked. The man on his back screamed and dropped something out of his hand. The colt fell down with a thud and felt something crack under his weight. He looked down at his feet and saw the remnants of that dreadful red and white ball. Something suddenly felt different inside him... he was free?

The colt bucked again, and kept on going until the mean man on his back was thrown off him, and the colt ran without watching where he was going. Anywhere was better then where he was.

I felt myself panicking just as I had at that moment. I neighed and opened my eyes. Then I remembered what happened! I had been free, but now I was trapped again. Would it ever end? All I could do was fight. I stood up and looked at the human and prepared to charge...

Aussie watched as Sandman neighed urgently and suddenly stood up. He looked at her angrily and looked as if he was prepared to charge. Aussie instinctively pressed the button on her pokeball and watched with relief as he disappeared back into it. This might be more difficult then she thought...

Posted by: Butterfree Farm Aug 19 2009, 05:47 AM

Verity tried to be soothed by Connie, but it was a bit difficult to calm down once the words "Team Deception" had been voiced aloud. She was terribly, terribly glad Victoria had returned, but every time she thought of Waker, lost and unable to call for help, and the nidorans, who she adored, she felt a sick lump in her throat.

She was starting to hate Aussie... worse than Elysia. She had been scared enough already by going on a quest involving.. big pokemon, but now even their little group and the campsite didn't feel safe. She pulled Henrietta onto her lap and tried to eat, concentrating on threatening Candyfloss with her luxury ball every time she tried to entice food from the others.

"You've had quite enough," she scolded. "Don't you think you're round enough already?" Candysfloss looked plaintively at her with big round eyes, and she sighed. "I'll give you some moomoo milk before you go to sleep. I hope we can buy some more at the ranch, the way you're going through it."

She leaned against Connie, trying to draw comfort from her friend's solid warmth, and smiled and snuggled in when she felt an arm go protectively around her. She did love camping... the flickering fire, both from the campfire and from Vincent, was comforting, as was the presence of Spencer, who was quite grown up. If she closed her eyes drowsily against the light, Vincent's tail could almost be Merryleg's mane flickering, and her Mama could be close...

Verity's eyes snapped open. Mama. What would Bill think, if she knew her daughter had let a friend stay lost in the forest with a suspected Team Deception member and rampaging miltanks on the loose? What Amazon deserved a useless child like that? And she was sure Butchette was looking at her reproachfully.

She stayed very still, thinking hard. Then she got up.

"I need to go into the bushes to - um - you know - I'll be back soon," she promised, her easy blush rising.

Connie straightened. "Do you want me to come?" Verity shook her head, modestly. "Promise me you'll take Butchette, then. Pokemon don't get embarassed."

Verity smiled at her, feeling like the worst fraud in the world - but then, she really did need to go. "I promise." She beckoned to her machop, and they retreated into the darkness.

As soon as they were out of sight, Verity released Courage too, hushing her quickly. "Courage, I need you to go looking for Waker and Aussie - whoever you find first," she whispered urgently. "Don't get in danger. If anything seems wrong, call for help straight away. And please, please, please don't get lost like Victoria! Look, you can navigate by the moon if you go up near the canopy."

The starly nipped her nose affectionately to show understanding, and lifted silently up into the trees. Butchette grunted in approval.

Verity quickly took care of business and slipped back, snuggling a very sleepy Candyfloss back on her lap with Henrietta, and tried to relax, although her shoulders were tense as she listened and she was sure Connie was looking at her curiously.

****

Courage was very proud to be trusted on a secret mission. Sometimes she flet like Butchette was the only one Verity really relied on. It was okay when Courage was the baby, of course, but now there were not one but two new babies for Verity, and after all, Verity trusted her to stop her skin burning, she could trust her to fight for her, too. Courage was determined to win, this time, not like with that horrid Absol. Sometimes humans were so stupid - although Verity was really clever really, Courage amended her own thoughts loyally. Anyone with so many books had to be. She was just... nice. That was it.

Courage didn't like the forest. The shrine was lovely, but those poor spoink, and that miltank! There were clearly bad humans about, and Courage wasn't sure at all that Verity understood about bad humans. Maybe Butchette should train Verity for a bit. A pokeball was more comfortable than sleeping on ferns, and Verity would be safer if she knew a few attacks of her own.

It didn't take her long to spot movement, and circle down. It was the girl with the unfriendly Hoot-Hoot... and a ponyta, unconscious and with its frame nearly burning out, and covered with injuries. Courage circled, uncertain. Had the new human just found it, and would she give it medicine?

Then Aussie recalled the pokemon - to her own pokeball. Courage suddenly undertood with crystal clarity. The injured ponyta was hers. So this is how she treated pokemon with no one else around to see. Perhaps she was trying to break its spirit, to make it a scary blank pokemon like Locke and Logan, by torturing it...

"Starly!" shrieked Courage, at the top of her voice. "Starly! Star, Star!!!!!!!"

Aussie looked up, and Courage became afraid that the girl would flee before help came. She turned on her little wings and headed back for the campsite.

***

The group, worried but tired and afraid of venturing out into the dark to find their friends, settled on their soft "beds" and settled to sleep. Verty told herself that they'd done the right thing - the worst thing they could do was venture out after dark and all get lost and stumble around, missing each other and getting exhausted, all night. Waker would be far more likely to find them by seeing and moving towards firelight.

She snuggled into Connie's back, Candyflos tucked between them. She'd surreptiously handed Henrietta to her slleepy friend and smiled to see Connie's arms wrap drowily around the pokedoll. Empress bounced quietly to herself by the fire, fast asleep, and the sound wass rather soothing. Butchette slept sitting bolt upright, watching over them even in slumber.

There was a flapping, and Verity looked up, hoping to see a zubat - friendly zubats roosted in the trees at home. INstead Courage circled down towards her and landed accurately on her knee.

"Did you find anything?" Verity asked sleepily.

"Starly..." Courage was less certain than she'd been. Maybe she'd misuderstood; maybe the human was just helping. She determined to be very wary of the new human, and warn the other pokemon to be careful, but not warn Verity. In the morning, Butchette would know what to do. For now - well, Courage had failed to find Walker, and she didn't feel like mounting a rescue missue for Aussie, just in case she was a bad human. Curage wished she was a staraptor, who could take responsible decisions.

"Starly," Courage said sadly, shaking her head. Verity sighed and snuggled down again, and Courage took up her new place at Verity's head, tucking her head up under her wing.

Posted by: Mechanical Lullaby Aug 19 2009, 07:48 PM

In a different part of the forest. Waker was having some troubles.


First, Locke had just sat there and let the Skitty wail on him until Azzy had finally lost patience and forced Locke to attack - by biting him on the tail. Surprised at the sudden sensation of teeth sinking into his skin, Locke shot forward, knocking over the Skitty in a wild Shadow Rush.


And then he just sat there again, staring at the Skitty blankly as it struggled a bit and got up.


"Oh, for the love of Arceus- WHEN HE TAPS HIS FOOT, IT MEANS 'ATTACK'! BEAT IT TO A PULP!" Pora shouted, shocking both Azzy and Waker with the frustration evident in her voice. Azzy quickly moved away from the volatile Nidoran - he didn't know why she was so touchy lately. As a newborn, she had been sweet and gentle, and now...


...Now she was ignoring Waker's frantically moving arms, diving not at the Skitty, but at Locke.


The second Pora collided with the Ekans, the Skitty opened its mouth and began to sing a soothing melody. Remembering Candyfloss' little trick back in barley, Waker quickly clapped his hands over his ears, stomping hard on the ground. Pora ignored him again, attacking Locke in a frenzy. The Song didn't even seem to affect her.


"You're useless!" she shouted, claws deep in Locke's skin. He was wriggling around frantically, darkness creeping in on his mind, telling him to forget the pink thing and kill the annoying blue one. For some reason he couldn't fathom, however, he couldn't bring himself to simply tighten his hold on the Nidoran - the blind will to kill he had once had seemed to have faded. Instead, he rolled over, trapping Pora beneath him before slithering away, curling up at the base of a tree.


"STOP RUNNING!" Pora shook herself off and launched at Locke again, only to collide with a purple blur in midair. Azzy growled as he sat up, spines on his back risen.


"I don't trust him either," he said, eyes flashing. "But he's still Waker's Pokemon, and there's no need to attack him!"


"WILL YOU STOP IGNORING ME ALREADY?!" All three Pokemon - and Waker - looked up in surprise as the Skitty approached them, seething. "You're supposed to be fighting me! What is wrong with you?!" When she received no reply, the Skitty screeched in frustration. "Ohh, you lot are so hopeless! Almost as bad as those weird people at the farm-"


"Farm?" Locke hissed faintly (how he hissed a word with no s's is still a mystery). Pora and Azzy stared at the Skitty, red eyes blank. Azzy finally broke the silence with a polite cough.


"Um, we're in the middle of something, so could you please-"


"THAT'S IT!" the Skitty roared, although the effect was rather dampened by her cute looks. "I'm going to knock you all out, and then-" She broke off in mid-sentence, as a Luxury Ball bounced off her head onto the ground. She stared at it in shock.


Waker sighed. He knew that wouldn't work - the Skitty was barely even hurt, but he'd hoped the distraction of the Poke-conversation would be enough for her to be caught. Walking over to pick up the Ball, the Pokemon sat frozen, the Skitty trembling ever so slightly.


And then she exploded.


"HE COULDN'T CATCH ME?! HE COULDN'T CATCH ME?!! OH, THAT'S IT, THAT IS THE LAST THING I NEED-"


Even Locke was impressed with the slap Pora delivered.


The Skitty twitched as Waker picked up Pora, Azzy jumping on his shoulder like usual. Tapping his leg with his hand - a signal for Locke to follow him - he walked off through the forest, leaving the poor, whimpering Skitty behind.


"He'll pay," she murmured, twitching.

Waker pushed past a tree into the camp, where a sudden chorus of cheers and shouts awaited him. Suddenly smothered by Connie and Verity, getting a faceful of Courage's feathers as Locke was hugged by Candyfloss. Letting the Nidorans off his shoulders, he smiled up at Spencer, pulling out his notebook to write as the questions on where he'd been began to float around. Moving next to the campfire, he quickly wrote in large, slightly disjointed letters.

Posted by: Dragon Maiden Aug 19 2009, 08:09 PM

Aussie heard the screeching of a starly overhead. The pokemon seemed very agitated, and Aussie felt a prick of fear at the thought she may encounter yet another aggressive pokemon. She looked up and watched the starly circle around the ground once where she was standing before suddenly taking off again. Confused, Aussie stood looking at the sky for a moment but quickly shrugged it off. The starly circling above her was probably just a coincidence.

Glancing down at her pokeball, it was hard to imagine that the pokemon inside it would try to attack her if she let it out. Aggressive pokemon was something Aussie was not used to. Mostly she was around nice and quiet pokemon who liked humans, but she'd have to learn to deal with the other side of pokemon. Fast. Opening her bag, she slipped the pokeball inside and started walking. Since she had suddenly disappeared from the camp the night had become colder and the night darker. She shivered and wished the sleeves on her polo shirt were longer. The fire at the campsite was sounding better and better.

Her feet instinctively started moving faster in the direction of the campsite. Sleep, all she wanted was sleep. Of course she couldn't get that without looking after the ponyta. Leaving the pokemon in that condition without any help for longer then necessary was cruel, but she knew she couldn't do it by herself. The closest help was in the direction of the camp. Aussie imagined how much simpler the night would have been if she had not found the ponyta. Feeding the pokemon in blissful silence as she did every night before she went to sleep, curling up by the fire after she returned, and then falling asleep. It all sounded so appealing at the moment, but she had a stronger urge to help the ponyta who was now officially her responsibility.

Thoughts of him when he was older drifted into her head. She imagined a beautiful Rapidash, strong, brave, and noble. Realizing with some surprise, she had caught the pokemon she had wished for earlier in the day, a pokemon with a little more guts and fire in it's belly then Mimic and Shadow. Amusement was evident on her face for a flash of a second as she realized she had gotten exactly what she asked for. Sandman literally had a fire in his belly and there was no arguing he had guts, but maybe he was more fiery and gutsy then she could handle. There was only one way to find out though, and that was to give the little guy a chance to calm down and get situated.

She had been walking blindly the whole time she had been thinking of this. Aussie realized with some surprise she was very near the clearing. She recognized some of the trees she had passed earlier in the day. Her feet picked up faster a little more as she got closer. Excitement seized her at the thought of being back. The night had been longer then she could handle and soon it would draw to an end. Take care of Sandman and then sleep. Sleep was a magical word... The combination of her fast pace and drowsiness was not good. When she was seconds from emerging from the bushes into the clearing, she felt her foot get caught on something. She tripped and fell with a thud that seemed to echo louder then anything she had heard that whole night. Her bag fell to the ground and to her horror, the pokeball with Sandman came rolling out.

"No!" she heard herself screech as the pokeball rolled out of her reach into the clearing. Flashbacks of what had happened with the shadow scyther earlier whirled through her mind. Then she started imagining Sandman in the scythers place, but instead of staring calmly at the shrine, the ponyta took off running into the woods, never to be seen again. Another even more terrible scenario flickered through her head. Sandman appeared from his ball and became terribly angry. He attacked the others who were innocently sleeping without any idea what was about to happen and when he was done with them... he would come after her. She couldn't be sure what would happen. Regret about catching such an obviously aggressive pokemon flooded her. If Sandman attacked the others, she would be the guilty one. She would have been the one who brought him to this place without the thought of the safety of the others... Maybe it was best if she had taken him far from here and risked her own safety trying to help him instead of the others. Right at the moment it seemed better that she would die then Sandman get lose.

Rolling the pokeball made it's way closer to the shrine. Please don't open Aussie was screaming in her mind, but to her horror, the pokeball rolled over a large rock. When the pokeball flew through the air for a short distance and hit the ground, the impact was enough to cause the pokeball to open, right in front of the shrine. The ponyta came out suddenly in a flash of red light. Still sprawled out on the round, Aussie shut her eyes tight to block out the horrors she thought she was about to see, but nothing happened. Opening her eyes cautiously, Aussie saw the ponyta staring contentedly at the shrine, illuminating it by the light of his flickering mane. For a brief second, the miserable colt looked more proud and noble then anything she had ever seen, a flash of Sandman as a young horse, not as beautifully bred as he was now, but running in the wild, free, a knight. The strange imagining was shattered in a second as she realized the reality. Sandman was not noble or strong at the moment. He was weak and vulnerable.

Her feet seemed to move of their own accord, as if moved by invisible strings. She stood up silently and walked into the clearing. Sandman did not look at her, or even seem to acknowledge her. Whatever magic that shrine held, it had Sandman in it's full power. Aussie couldn't even believe that Sandman was capable of the level of calm he was exhibiting, but she was happy he was calm, for now. Suddenly, she remembered she wasn't alone here. She looked at the others, and the looks on their faces were impossible to describe. They were standing around Waker who seemed to be writing something on a notepad, but now they were looking at her.

Posted by: Cube Aug 19 2009, 10:09 PM

"Huh...!? I mean...There you are Waker!" said Spencer, as he spooned the last of his berry sauce onto a bowl of rice.
"Don't stray too far from Vincent next time, okay? Even poor Pora looks antsy..."

Spencer had a strange habit of becoming intensely focused when cooking. (When he cooks... he cooks) In fact (he was embarrassed to admit), he hadn't even noticed Waker or Aussie was missing until Waker had walked back to camp. Incredibly embarrassed, the breeder quickly converted his shock to relief as Waker showed him the notebook, only for it to revert back to shock again when he realized Aussie was still missing.

"OH CRUD AUSSIE IS... I mean... We still need to find Aussie! Right! Okay, where do you think she could-"

His shock turned into terror as a Ponyta was suddenly released in front of the shrine, causing Spencer to dash behind his Pokemon in shock.

"WE'RE UNDER AT... Oh..." Spencer adjusted his glasses as he got a closer look at the Ponyta. It seemed... weak.

Fabulously bred, yes. Spencer could tell that just from experience. It's "IV Genes" were probably on the high end of the scale. A Pokemon like that would probably be adopted from the ranch in no time... But this Ponyta had seen better days... it looked miserable... tired...abused.

"What happened to this poor thing?" asked Spencer, as Aussie ran to it's side, apologizing profusely. A brief explanation from Aussie only made Spencer feel worse.

"This thing had a saddle? You don't ride a Ponyta this young!" he exclaimed. "What on earth is wrong with this place?!"

He spooned his Rice and Berry Sauce concoction into bowls, sacrificing the meticulous ladling for a sloppier method that got rice and sauce all over the edges of the plastic bowls. Handing his friends and the pokemon their own bowls, he practically shoved the last bowl into the sleeping Scyther's face, who managed a half hearted swipe before falling face first into his bowl, the sound of munching being the only indication that he hadn't fallen asleep.

"This place is crazy... random shrines, people disappearing, Spoinks without pearls... That Miltank freaked out when Vincent attacked it... way more than I expected. It was probably a higher level too..." Spencer took a bite of his rice. "I don't know... It just seems so... weird..."

Posted by: Dragon Maiden Aug 20 2009, 04:52 PM

Aussie ran to Sandman's side frantically. She could hear excuses and explanations pouring from her mouth but she wasn't even sure what she was saying... Her mind was so scattered the words just came out, but Spencer seemed to accept them.

"This thing had a saddle? You don't ride a Ponyta this young!" Spencer exclaimed. "What on earth is wrong with this place?!"

She was happy she had said something at least a little coherent. Reaching toward the ground Aussie picked up Sandman's pokeball and prepared to put him back in, but then she thought what better time to look after him then right now. He was quiet and calm. Perhaps she could even manage him herself as long as he stayed like this. A bowl filled with rice and some sort of sauce was pushed into her face. She looked around and saw Spencer holding it there. Calmly she took it, not wanting to hurt his feelings. Obviously he hadn't noticed she has eaten her own food she had packed earlier in the day.

Picking up the spoon she slowly brought it toward her mouth. Better to be polite and risk a slight stomachache then refuse to eat, but she was surprised. The taste that hit her mouth was amazing and perhaps somehow a little familiar. Aussie loved how it tasted... but she couldn't figure out where she had tasted it before, but suddenly it seemed important she knew. Her mind scurried for a moment until it clutched onto some old and forgotten memory.

Aussie was younger. Her hands were chubby and when she looked at a strand of hair that had fell in front of her face. It was her natural color (something that nobody would ever know. It was too embarrassing). She was holding a spoon and greedily shoving food in her mouth that looked quite similar to Spencer's recipe.

"Slow down honey or you'll get a stomachache." a voice floated in from the other room, but Aussie was too busy eating to listen to the woman's voice.

A few seconds later a thin, tall woman appeared in the room wearing a pink apron. The woman had curly red hair that reached down to her waist ("I'll never cut my hair, and if I have any say in the matter we'll never cut yours, though your father disagrees." the woman had told Aussie on more then one occasion. Aussie always replied, "I want to shave off my hair mother. It's so ugly." Her mother smiled and said "I'm sure you'll grow out of it." The woman had been wrong, very wrong. As soon as she had moved to her aunt's house the first thing Aussie was did was to convince her aunt to let her dye her hair white and it had been that color ever since.) The woman's eyes were huge, taking up half her face, and they were blindingly blue and pierced every person they looked at. She was also very pale compared to most people. "What did I say young lady? Slow down." The woman grabbed the spoon out of the Aussie's hand. "But Mama! It's my favorite." Aussie whimpered, little tears coming to her eyes. "I know. I know." her mother said, stroking her daughter's head soothingly.

Aussie felt herself almost choke on her food. That was the first memory she had had of her mother... ever. She was fairly convinced the past few years she would never remember anything of her mother and she had accepted that fact and moved on, but now... The psychiatrists her aunt had taken her to had always said that most likely she had blocked out the memories because losing her parents because they were to traumatic. Aussie had accepted that and she grew up and thought less and less of her parents and soon her aunt had become her mother and her real mother had never existed. She hadn't seen a psychiatrist since she was eight... but she was fairly sure at this moment that they had been right. Why was the memory coming now? Was she becoming too happy? You lost your parents. Your not supposed to have a happy life they taunted her.

Aussie set her food on the ground next to Shadow, who was eating from a bowl that Spencer had placed in front of her. Shadow was a bottomless pit when it came to food. She could eat for an hour straight and still be hungry. She had attempted to control Shadow's diet but increasingly the Swinub had started to inflate and look more like Candyfloss then a Swinub. She should probably take the food away since Shadow had already eaten and had two treats.

Suddenly Sandman turned around and kicked Shadow away from the food. The round little Swinub went rolling and a sad whimper escaped from her. Sandman ignored it and started licking as fast as he could at the sauce covering the rice. He didn't seem to be able to eat the solid food, but he loved the sauce, a lot. Aussie ran to Shadow and picked up the whimpering Swinub "I'm so sorry." She said to her. "Swine!" Shadow said angrily. Surprise covered Aussie's face. Mimic got mad on a regular basis... but Shadow? "Give him a chance Shadow. He's hungry and probably not thinking straight. I doubt he acts like that normally." Aussie had said doubt but she was really thinking in her head I hope he doesn't act like that normally. "Give him a bit and I'll bet he'll get more friendly." "Swinub..." Shadow grumbled but seemed to be less angry then before.

Aussie looked up at Sandman, who was greedily licking the last of the sauce from the second bowl she had placed on the ground. Her feeding problem may be solved for the moment. Looking around, she spotted a pot full of extra sauce and placed it in front of the ponyta. Aussie watched in amazement as the ponyta drained it in a minute and looked up at her for more. "I'm sorry little guy that's all I have. I promise we'll get you some MooMoo milk in the morning though." Aussie was more then sure that the little guy had eaten enough berry sauce to feed a wailord. His face was stained with it. Aussie looked at his back and realized he was sill wearing the saddle pad from earlier. She silently picked it off her back and wiped his muzzle with it. He stood silently, eyeing the others eating and of course he was most interested in the berry sauce. “Be good and you can have some more." Aussie said to him. She silently wiped as much dirt as she could off with the saddle pad. His color changed from brown to a dirty off-white... well at least it was an improvement.

Aussie looked around for more berry sauce and noticed another bowl on the ground. It had probably been for Mimic, but the little Hoothoot had fallen asleep again, probably still recovering from her stomachache. Aussie picked it up and placed it by Sandman, who resumed his greedy licking. When he was done he sighed contentedly and Aussie returned him to her ball. Aussie sat down in the grass where she was and laid down on the ground. She was asleep before she could manage to stand up to get by the fire and the sleeping bags.

Posted by: Butterfree Farm Aug 21 2009, 01:04 PM

Verity's rapture over Waker's return cancelled out a lot of her ugly feelings. Everything felt better now the four of them were back together.

"A skitty attacked you? That's really strange - I always though skitty were cute little things. They can be pretty scary when they're scaring rattata away from the torchic feed, though." Verity interrupted herself to give Waker and his nidoran another hug. She was just so glad they were back! "And look, I have a spoink! Poor little thing doesn't have a pearl, though," she whispered. "Don't mention it, she's sensitive."

Aussie's return was less of a joy, even though Verity was relieved, and her tender heart immediately melted over the ponyta. Verity listened to Aussie's babbling, but something seemed off-key. It seemed impossible that a pokemon that obviously belonged to someone didn't already have a pokeball, and that ponyta was in a terrible state. She listened silently, giving Connie a worried look, but tried to put her suspicions out of her mind. After all, she'd been wrong about Elysia - Verity thought of Candyfloss's tiara and smiled.

"She'll be big enough to ride when she evolves," she offered. "Mama has a rapidash and she's huge. She's called Merrylegs," she added proudly. "Isn't that a beautiful name?"

She snuggled back down with Connie and Henrietta. Candyfloss's sweet scent washed over her, and the little pokemon, happy and warm, began to sing softly to herself. "Iggle-y-buff, iggle-y buff..." The human companions and pokemon all drifted off to sleep under the melodious sound.

Verity awoke boucing with energy, as dawn was just beginning to break. Maybe igglybuff-provoked sleep was sounder and sweeter than normal sleep, even if you did wake drenched with dew. "Connie, boys - Aussie, wake up!" Verity shook a groaning Connie awake, then turned to Spencer and shook him. Much amused by the idea, Candyfloss ran over to Spencer and rocked back and forth on her little paws, doing her best to shake him. The Empress of Fidona quickly got the idea and bounced over to Waker, doing her bit to wake him by helpfully bouncing up and down on his stomach.

"Empress! Naughty! Don't bounce on people when they're asleep!" hissed Verity. "Oh, Waker, I'm so sorry!" She was beginning to think that she and Connie attracted naughty pokemon, but Empress looked at her with reproachful hurt, and Verity couldn't stop the giggles rising as she picked up the spoink and hugged her. "Mercy, Spencer, please wake Aussie before Butchette takes it into her head to."

She kicked the dying embers up into flame, adding some more wood. "Let's eat quickly - we shouldn't waste the day! Pokemon, listen up. We need to tidy the campsite and get ready to leave. Butchette, Courage, Torchie - yes, you, don't look at me like that - Mary, Pora, Celia, Nils, Shadow - I choose all of you! Cleanup - GO!"

As the group hurriedly consumed breakfast, the pokemon restored the campsite to order in astonishingly quick time. Celia doused the fire, and the group lifted their various bags.

Verity recalled Empress and Candyfloss and took a deep breath. Holding Connie's hand with one hand, and Butchette's on the other (just in case of wild miltanks), Courage smugly nestled on her head, she felt like she could face a herd of rampaging tauros.

"Okay, team. All bound for Moo-Moo Land!"

Posted by: Dragon Maiden Sep 9 2009, 03:47 PM

Aussie woke up slowly and reluctantly. Her whole body ached from sleeping on the ground and she was still tired from the long night. She groaned and stretched. With some dismay, she realized she was covered in dew. That's what you get for falling asleep in the grass, she thought to herself. She watched the others scurry about the morning routine with half-opened blurry eyes. I'll just sleep for five more minutes... Slowly her head drifted toward the hard ground and her eyes started to close again when...

"SWINUB!" Shadow ran up to her happily and jumped into her lap. The loud excited exclamation made Aussie jump and wake with a start. Rubbing the little Swinub on the head, she whispered to it "I forgot. It's breakfast time, isn't it?" Swinub snuffled excitedly as if she had just learned she has won the jackpot. Aussie giggled to herself. Shadow acted like this at every meal. Aussie reached over to her bag and rummaged around until she grabbed a can of pokefood. Opening it, she placed the food on the ground. Snuffling louder then before, Shadow bounded over to the pokefood and started to greedily devour it.

Now I can sleep again. Sleep is a magical word. Aussies head was once again headed for the ground and her eyes grew heavy but then... "HOOT!" Mimic was sticking out of her pocket and glaring at Aussie in dismay. "I'M AWAKE!" startled, Aussie screamed loud enough to make a flock of pidgeys in a nearby tree fly away in terror. Aussie put her hand over her mouth when she realized what she had just done, but she couldn't help herself. The giggles escaped her. Soon she was rolling on the ground, her laugh echoing in the clearing.

After a minute, she laid down in the grass, to giddy and tired from laughing to move. Suddenly Mimics face obscured her view of the crystal blue sky above her. The Hoothoot stood firmly on her chest staring into her face with a look of dismay. "Well, I thought it was funny." Aussie said. "Hoot." Mimic said firmly, before hopping off her trainer and returning to her pocket. Aussie sat up and looked at the pocket that Mimic had disappeared into. "You're no fun." said Aussie, smiling while she did.

Mimic didn't bother to stick her head out. A muffled angry quiet hoot could be heard coming from the pocket, but that was the only reaction Mimic gave. Aussies smile widened a bit. This ritual happened almost every time she laughed. Mimic was always lecturing her after she laughed at something no one else found particularly funny, which was whenever she laughed. Her aunt had always told her she had had a strange sense of humor, and Aussie wasn't going to deny that anytime soon.

Standing up and stretching, Aussie was ready to begin the day. She bustled around, helping to clear the camp and pack everything up. The time went fast. Breakfast went past before she could blink. Before she knew it, everything was cleared up and the air was thick with anticipation over moving on.

"Okay, team. All bound for Moo-Moo Land!" she heard someone say. Aussie smiled. That statement seemed a perfect way to start a brand new day. She wasn't sure why it appealed to her so much, but she felt this day was going to be exciting at the least. Jumping around and squirming, she said hurriedly "Couldn't agree more!" Dashing towards the direction of the farm, she was almost running. "Hey, hurry up! What are you waiting for!" she screamed excitedly as she ran, not even looking back to see how far behind the others were.

Mimic poked her head out of her pocket for a moment and looked at her strangely. Aussie knew that look well. Almost everyone she met gave it to her. You're weird is what that look said. "You don't need to tell me that Mimic. I already know." she said. She had slowed down at that look, if only a touch. "I know I'm a little eccentric, but not in a bad way, right?" she said to Mimic. Mimic didn't reply, but merely disappeared back into her pocket. Aussie soon forgot that one-sided conversation as excitement and expectation welled up in her. Today was a new day.

Posted by: MAREEP Sep 14 2009, 09:26 AM

Connie had felt all warm and snuggled until she had been woken up and found that there had been a heavy fall of dew and everything was all cold and damp.

"Eeeew," she said, "everything's all icky. I vote we only ever sleep in pokemon centers for the rest of our journey. Maybe we can get some nice, fresh Moo Moo milk when we get to the farm, though, and that should help wake us all up nicely."

They made a quick breakfast of the bits and pieces they had to hand and it felt as though she had only been awake for a few minutes before Verity announced that they were "all bound for Moo Moo Land" and Aussie had run off at top speed.

"She's... really keen," said Connie with a grin at Verity as she took her friend's hand and they set off after her. "I think she likes Moo Moo milk even more than Candyfloss."

As they made their way through the trees, they soon came across a track that they had missed the night before. It was a dirt track with well-worn wheel ruts that indicated that heavy trucks came this way fairly often.

"I don't think much of their maintenance schedule," said Connie, disapprovingly, catching her foot in a particularly uneven pothole. "Bill would have had some rubble and hardcore down on this track ages ago. They must have some terrible puddles when it rains. I bet their Miltanks end up stuck on their way in from pasture."

As Verity helped her back to her feet, an odd jingly sound reached them. Bouncing along the track towards them from Moo Moo Land came an old ice cream van, playing "O Solé Mio". The elderly driver leaned out of the window and yelled at them to clear out of the way. The girls scrambled up off of the track and into the trees as he put his foot down, apparently risking the van shaking itself apart. He shook his fist at them as he passed and seemed really angry with them for being on the track.

"I'm not really sure that was justified," said Connie, shocked at the language the elderly ice cream man had used. "Even if it is his track!"

Undeterred, the little group pressed on and, soon they were at the gates to Moo Moo Land. As they made their way through the wide open gates into the farm yard, Connie gazed around in amazement. She knew what to expect from farms. Things tended to look well used. They were generally muddy. Doorways were always surrounded by an assortment of wellies and other boots. They should have been accosted by a friendly Growlithe or Poochyena by now. But not in Moo Moo Land.

Nearly everything gleamed.

Anything that wasn't gleaming looked freshly painted, clean and new. According to the helpful visitor signpost, there was a "Petting Zoo", a "Bouncy Castle" and a "Dairy Icecreamery". A notice invited them to "be sure to visit the visitors' shop on the way out" and to "come back for more Moo Moo milk goodness soon!"

"It's very... pink," said Connie dubiously, "isn't it? And clean. I wonder where the Miltanks are?"

Posted by: Butterfree Farm Sep 14 2009, 09:56 AM

"I'm not really sure that was justified,"

"Well, he is very ancient," said Verity doubtfully. "Maybe he had arthirtis or gout or something that was making him cranky." She had been brought up to respect her elders, but she was sure the elders in question had been more respectable.

She soon forgot the milkman in the wonder of MooMoo Land. No one had ever told her farms could be like this. She was squeezing Connie's hand in preparation for begging to visit the Petting Zoo when a voice like milktankbells broke into her thoughts.

"We-ell, 'course it's pink, li'l girl." A milkmaid stood before them, two buckets of moomoo milk dangling from a pole over her shoulder. "Dontcha like pink? Most li'l girlies do!"

Verity's jaw dropped. Butterfree Farm didn't have mikmaids, it just had really, really brave and intrepid women, like Connie, who went to milk the milktanks, and they usually wore dungarees and gumboots, that looked pretty muddy by the time they returned from the cattlesheds. This milkmaid looked like a beautiful young queen who had dressed up to play simple peasant girl. Her skirt - pink - was almost as ruffled as Verity's contest dress, her apron was frilly and blindingly white and her hair was pulled up in two shining cerise buns. She batted long lashes over big green eyes as she spoke.

"I - I love pink!" Verity managed to stammer out.

"'Course you do, 'course you do, honey?" the milkmaid drawled meodiously. Somehow her voice sounded wrong to Verity - she'd been called a country bumpkin many a time, but her own accent wasn't quite as country as this. She wondered if the older girl was making fun of her. "Dontcha just have the prettiest and sweetest pink hair and all yourself? But I'm forgetting my manners. I'm Tammy Rose. Welcome to MooMoo Land, ladies and gentlemen. I recommend you visit our Bouncy Castle to work up a good healthy appetite before you visit our icecreamery for the most delicious homestyle icecream you'll ever taste."

Verity opened her mouth to say that she'd like to visit the Petting Zoo first, please, Miss Tammy Rose, but before she could, flashes of light came from two of the pokeballs at her waist and the Empress of Fidonia materialised, a split second before Candyfloss materialised on the spoink's head. Spoinking with glee, the Empress set off in great bounds towards the Bouncy Castle.

"My, your pokemon sure got spunk!" Tammy Rose giggled as Verity set off full speed after them.

Her racing footsteps faltered soon. Ahead of her was... no, it couldn't be, that was a nightmare!

Four of the biggest miltanks Verity had ever seen in her young life towered ahead of her. To her terrified eyes, they were as huge as houses, and they stood in square formation, staring at her. She felt sick with terror. Her little pokemon were heading straight for them, Candyfloss squealing with glee.

Verity shut her eyes and ran faster, releasing Butchette and Courage as she did so. She couldn't let her newest pokemon get squished! Her foot caught on the infinitesimal crack between two smooth, polished paving stones, and she lurched forward, her eyes opening as she sought to keep her balance. Ahead of her loomed...

She began to giggle hysterically. Four huge, blow-up miltanks formed the corners of the bouncy castle. The Empress was already mounting the steps.

The little pearl-less spoink took a huge bounce, and then shot up into the air like a rocket, Candybuff flying off in surprise. The Empress tumbled over and over in the air, landed spring-down, and shot sky-high again, as Candyfloss ricocheted wildly from one wall to another like a bouncing ball, apparently without losing any momentum.

"Oh - oh no," Verity giggled. "What am I going to do? They'll never manage to get off!" she observed, as the Empress came to the bottom of one bound and apparently attempted to try to reach the moon on her next shot. "Butchette, please go rescue them!"

Her machop gave her a deep, meaningful look, hunched her shoulders and strode onto the bouncy castle. She reached up one muscular arm to catch Candyfloss on a trajectory past her, missed, lunged at the Empress, fell face-forward and shot up into the air, upside down. Candyfloss whizzed past her as she came in for the rebound.

"That'll be 900 pokedollars - 300 for each pokemon on the bouncy castle," Tammy Rose said sweetly. "Would any of you children or your pokemon like to purchase tickets also?"

Posted by: Dragon Maiden Sep 14 2009, 07:20 PM

At the first sight of MooMoo Land Aussie felt strangely out of place, like some freaky bleached white alien drifting in an all-pink universe. Her eyes drifted over the perfectly scrubbed barns and the bouncy castle where Verity's pokemon were bouncing around like out-of-control planets and felt smaller then ever. A few minutes ago she had been excited to start a new day, but it seemed that new day was already becoming sour.

The place was much to touristy for Aussie's tastes who had traveled to more then one off-the-beaten-path places with her aunt. She felt longing for the attractions and barns around her to magically transform into an abandoned dilapidated cabin just begging to be explored. She imagined herself climbing into a secret trapdoor in the floor into a dark damp basement covered in old cobwebs. She could almost feel the growing trepidation as the old steps creaked under her weight. Would they hold? What secrets did this old abandoned cabin hold?

"Hey ya. Lil' lady, there with the swinub." The words cut into Aussie's fantasy like a whip. The girl in the bright pink dress was looking at her intently.

"Wuld ya like to buy tickets fer the bouncy castle?" the girl said. Looking doubtfully at the large structure filled with crazily flying pokemon, her head shook no vigorously of its own accord. "Is there anythin' else ya wanna do? We have plenty of thin's to entertain a lil' lady like ya."

Aussie bit her lip and scanned the signs doubtfully. Nothing sounded very exciting to her after her fantasy about the cabin. Suddenly, Shadow burst from her side and ran to one of the paths branching off to a store. Her nose was moving and snuffling excitedly, as if she had just smelled something particularly enticing. Aussie looked up at the sign and written in a simple script the sign read "Dairy Icecreamery". Running up to Shadow's side, she deftly picked up the little swinub and replied "I think Shadow would like to check out the icecreamery. I think I'll head that way."

The girl in the pink dress pasted on the most false smile Aussie had ever seen. "Have fun lil' lady." Aussie gave a quick curt nod before looking at the others again.

"I think I'm going to head down to the icecreamery." she yelled to the others. "Meet up with you later." She swiftly turned around and headed down the path. The path was not very long, ending after about one minute of walking. Aussie looked at the icecreamery and sighed. It was shaped like a giant ice cream cone, topped off with pink ice cream, of course. The place was completely empty of people. The only sound was snoring, that came from the open window that faced the picnic benches lined up outside the icecreamery like an army of bored soldiers.

Aussie trotted over to the window and looked inside. A menu was hanging just above the head of the person attending the window, but the person attending the window appeared to have fallen fast asleep. So much for keeping up appearances. What kind of service is that? Aussie thought to herself. "Hello?" Aussie said quietly and shyly.

The attendant jumped up as if he had been stung by a bee. "I swear I wasn't sleeping on duty again Tammy! Please don't fire me. I need the money!" He said in a bleary half-scream. Aussie heard herself giggle as the boy realized his mistake. His face flushed a deep red, and turned even deeper red when he saw Aussie eyeing his embarrassing pink striped uniform.

"I'm... uh... sorry!" he stammered out "How may I help you lil' lady?" Aussie examined the visibly shaken boy standing in front of her. He couldn't be any older then her, 15, perhaps 16 years old. He has disheveled blond hair and large sad brown eyes. The sight of his obvious discomfort over his mistake made Aussie smile. Perhaps this place wasn't so bad after all.

"Don't call me lil' lady and I think we can call it even." she said jokingly. He smiled and his discomfort seemed to vanish in an instant. "Agreed. They taught us to say that to keep up appearances, but I really hate calling people that. It's so fake, but it's the only way I can keep my job. Though, it's not really that great of a gig." He laughed at his own statement while looking down at his outrageous uniform.

"I see what you mean." she looked over the empty benches and the uniform as if to clarify her point. Taking a quick peak at the menu, she turned her eyes back to the boy. "May I have two blueberry swirls please?" she said to him.

He smiled again and nodded his head. He disappeared into the back of the icecreamery and arrived a few seconds later, holding two bowls heaped in blue and vanilla swirled icecream. He set it out in front of her. "Congratulations. You've managed to find the only thing that's not pink in this whole place." He gave a dazzlingly huge smile. Aussie was glad to see it wasn't fake like the one from the girl in the pink dress. "That'll be 20 pokedollars each."

Aussie gasped when she realized she had no money. "I'm so sorry. I forgot I didn't have any money... I'll wash the dishes to pay or something. I'm so sorry!" Panic was evident on her face. Would she go to jail? Would Tammy fire the nice boy for serving her something she couldn't pay for?

"Don't worry about it. It's on the house." He smiled again and took a wad of cash from a pocket on his pink frilly apron. He inserted it into the cash register and turned back to Aussie. "That's in case Tammy comes snooping around to see if you bought anything. Not to mention there's no dishes to wash at the moment. I finished washing them before my nap."

Aussie smiled with relief and placed one of the bowls of ice cream next to Shadow. Shadow wasted no time sticking her nose into the ice cream and greedily licking it down. "Thanks a bunch. There really was no need for that. Who's this Tammy you keep talking about?"

He smiled sinisterly and waggled his fingers for dramatic effect. "She's the witch of all that is mean and pink." he howled in an eerie voice. "In other words my boss." Aussie laughed with a mouthful of Blueberry twist. Some of the ice cream came out of her mouth and splattered all over the boys clean pink apron. Suddenly, he was laughing just as loudly as her. Giddy with merriment, Aussie only laughed louder. "Seriously though. Tammy is the girl you saw when you first came in, the one in the pink maid's dress with the fake accent. She's not a nice person at all. Avoid her when you can. There's rumors going round that she's involved in something... well lets just say less the legal." The boy said soberly, cutting into Aussie's laughing fit.

"What sort of... activities?" Aussie whispered, suddenly feeling the cheerful pink atmosphere around her darken.

The boys face lost a few shades of color, as if he had seen a ghost. "I... I've said too much already." he whispered. "If she knew I'd said that, I would be fired, and I can't afford to lose this job." The boy turned away from her and ignored her from then on. What's going on here? Aussie wondered.

Posted by: Mechanical Lullaby Oct 7 2009, 04:54 PM

Waker felt distinctly uncomfortable.


Everything was pink - not a nice warm, magenta-ish shade, but a blinding hot pink that would've probably shamed that Skitty he'd fought back in the forest. Pora made a dubious noise and Azzy growled slightly, moving around Waker in restless little circles. Locke was dead asleep around Waker's neck, only the occasional hiss showing that he was, in fact, still alive.


Ducking behind Verity, Waker wandered away from the group, hoping that the bright pink thing he assumed was a milkmaid wouldn't notice him passing. Unfortunately she did, flashing him a sweet smile that turned just a tad sour when she noticed the sleeping Ekans around his neck. Waker quickly scurried on before she could talk to him, Pora and Azzy at his heels.


After only another few moments of walking (which seemed like an eternity in this oh-so-pink wonderland) Waker came upon what could only be a petting zoo - a few small Miltanks loitered about an equally small, fenced-in pasture, a few Mareeps and some Ponytas ambling by as well. Waker leaned on the fence, watching as a Ponyta gently nibbled at a piece of grass so green it resembled plastic. Pora and Azzy stuck their heads through the bottom rung of the fence, sniffing the air; Azzy scrunched up his nose in distaste while Pora made a small noise.


That one doesn't look so good, Waker thought, biting his lip as his eyes followed a particularly small Ponyta around the pasture. There's just something…not right. He glanced down at Pora, who had begun to squeeze her body underneath the fence. Waker frowned and bent down, tugging at the Nidoran gently. C'mon Pora, I'm pretty sure we have to pay to get in here, don't just dig under the fen- OW!


Waker jumped as Azzy let go of his leg, growling loudly and pointing earnestly at something to Waker's right. With a sullen hiss, Locke slid off of his trainer and onto the top rung of the fence, flicking his tongue out at the large, bull-like Pokemon on the other side. Pora squeaked and pulled herself out from underneath the fence, her ears standing straight up in the air as the Tauros lowered its head, horns glinting in the sunlight.


Um, nice Tauros, Waker mentally soothed, scooping up Locke and backing away. The Tauros snorted, pawing the ground with its front hoof. Good Tauros, just stay there, we're just leaving, honest… Waker looked around, hoping for a farmhand or even that very pink milkmaid - what was a Tauros even doing in the petting zoo, anyway? - to come and help.

There was no-one. He couldn't even see Spencer and the girls anymore.


I just have the worst luck - every time I go off alone something jumps out at me. Waker was a little surprised - all his life he's been upbeat and happy, despite his inability to talk. But, ever since he got to Furoh, ever since the contest hall…


With a load sound that Waker could only call a roar, the Tauros charged forward, the fence creaking ominously under its weight. Azzy dropped low, horn pointing straight forward and glowing a sickly purple. Pora was pacing behind him, growling for all she was worth, ears rigid. Waker tapped the ground softly with his foot and watched as Azzy and Pora subtly changed, tensing - if he could, he'd rather run away than risk his Pokemon getting injured.


With another roar, the Tauros broke loose and charged.


Waker took only a brief second to slam his foot into the ground, a signal to run, before he turned and dashed back in the direction he came, Locke squirming heavily in his arms. Not hearing the distinct sound of running behind him, Waker looked over his shoulder and stopped, stunned.


The Nidorans had held their ground, and now both of them were darting around the Tauros, Azzy nipping at its legs while Pora Scratched its side as the Tauros' tails whipped around, trying to hit the swift Poison Point Pokemon. Tossing its head furiously, the bull caught Azzy in a Horn Attack, throwing the small Pokemon off to the side where he struggled back to his feet, panting. Waker then realised something - his Pokemon were still tired from the battle at Barley.


Waker slammed his foot into the ground again desperately, hoping that even if Azzy and Pora ignored him again, someone from the farm - or better yet, from his group - would come and stop the now-enraged Tauros. Stop, come on, just run, you guys can't do this right now…! Steeling himself, Waker took a deep breath and ran back towards the fray, only to trip and hit the ground none-too-lightly. Flustered, Waker turned to stare open-mouthed at Locke, who was hissing excitedly and flicking his tail in front of him.


Waker turned back around.


Azzy and Pora had stopped their assault, but only for a moment - the two were now running full-tilt at the Wild Bull Pokemon, both glowing faintly. At first Waker simply thought they were both using Poison Sting (but Pora doesn't know that yet!) until the light enveloped them completely, and something clicked in Waker's mind, accompanied by a tinny alarm from his Poketch.


They were evolving - they didn't need to be Professors to figure that one out. Ever since Vincent's evolution Azzy had been thinking about how nice a view of the ground would be when you were two feet tall instead of right next to the grass. Pora, too, had been keen on the idea, and they had both been feeling just a little too small for themselves lately…


And besides, what better way to end an Appeal than through evolution?


The Azzy and Pora that slammed into the Tauros weren't tiny little rhino-rabbits anymore - their ears had grown larger and longer, and the spines on Azzy's back had elongated and sharpened. Pora's horn was gone, her tough skin now a paler blue. Both were taller and built more like small, vaguely rodent-like dogs instead of harmless rabbits.


And both were standing over a now-unconscious Tauros, Waker stretching his arms around them for a giant hug.


"See? Told you he'd like it," Azzy said rather smugly as Locke decided to join the hug as well with…less than favourable results. After catching her breath, Pora smirked and cuffed Azzy on the head. "Yeah, but it's too bad that you won't be able to sit on his shoulder anymore."


The resulting cry of "RIIIIINOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!", much louder than the Tauros' battle call, startled the Miltanks in the pen, sending them Rolling around in a frenzy.


It was then that Waker realised that the Tauros wasn't even that big, the horns only small nubs on its head. He was still blushing when a farmhand finally appeared a minute later, sending out a Drowzee to Hypnotize the Miltanks and pull the baby Tauros back into the pen, and to give Waker a good talking-to about controlling his gleefully dancing Nidorino and Nidorina.