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Post by Tout-Perd on Mar 8, 2009 21:43:54 GMT -5
While the others had tended to hygiene and family, Dace had gone to the main desk at the center. She had Taraek (having scooped him up while Durant had been speaking), Ganesh, Minnow, and the Oddish all stowed away in their Pokeballs, two in each hand. She fumbled with them, desperately trying to avoid pushing the trigger buttons to release their contents.
She stepped up to the counter, and reached up, dropping the spheres roughly on its veneered surface of fake stone. She glanced around expectantly for a moment, noticed a chromed bell on the counter. Dace paused only for a moment, and then hammered on the bell with her fist.
Hearing the noise, a nurse immediately set her cup of tea down in the break room, and bustled out to the main area of the center. She brushed a curl of dyed pink hair out of her face, and bowed politely.
"How may I help you today?"
"My Pokemon and my friend's Pokemon need some healing..." Dace began, paused, and reached into her hip pocket. She produced another sphere, "And I'd like to donate a Snubbull."
"To where? There's quite a few charities that take Pokemon."
"I dunno, really. I caught it because I thought it was a Jigglypuff, but this just doesn't work with my style," Dace sighed, and tossed it in the air.
"Are you sure you want to donate it? Because I can't look it back up for you later..." The woman's voice showed light hints of concern.
"Ehhh... Yeah. My family wouldn't want another Pokemon hanging around and I don't like Pokemon with fur, sooo..." Dace turned her heels inwards slightly, and averted her gaze.
"I'll take it then. Just put it on the tray with the others, and I'll send it to a PC where somebody will find a good home for it," the woman smiled quietly, and piicked up a grey tray from the stack by the main computer. She set it down in front of the girl, and helped her move the balls into it.
"Thanks, miss. Can I use the phone?"
"Of course. But remember, keep the call local and under ten minutes. Otherwise it eats into our... uh, our funding for communications, and we have to reduce the speed on our PC connections."
"Ohhh... Okay. I will! Thanks!" Dace sprinted away from the counter, her shoes loudly slapping the linoleum tiles of the floor. She stopped only by slapping against the wall by the phone, bumping away from it and reaching for the phone.
She muttered a string of numbers to herself tersely, twice, tweaked her smile slightly, and then tapped the numbers into the phone rapidly, each with an obnoxious beep. Cradling the phone to her ear, she awaited an answer. The phone rang once, half a ring-
"Hel-" A female voice answered.
"Hi, mom!" Dace cut her off loudly.
"Hey, Dace! Good to hear you!" Dace's mother answered warmly.
"Same to you, mom! This is the best trip I've been on for- Forever! Laksha and Durant and me and our Pokemon just got here in Cerulean, and the nurse is healing everybody up, and the other two are right over here with me!"
"Everybody okay?"
"Yeah, we're all fine. Minnow got a bit beat up by a Granbull, but then Ganesh and Taraek teamed up and kicked his butt, so we all got out okay."
"Don't say Butt."
"Oh, sorry mom!"
"It's okay. Just don't say bad words... Anyways, your father's at work again, but he wanted to know how training was going for you."
"Oh, it's goin' okay. I caught a Snubbull, but I sent it away since... well, you know..." Dace muttered.
"Mmhm. That's probably for the best. What about that Granbull you mentioned?"
"Oh, Durant caught it. But he might not keep it, since it's too tough for us to use right now. We don't know yet... OH! And Minnow found an Oddish and we all worked together and caught it and now it's in Durant's party. I guess he likes grass types, right?"
"Maybe he does?" Dace's mother changed her tone. "Maybe he'll be a gym trainer when he gets done with this!"
"Ooh, that would be really cool! I'll say that to him some time!" Dace looked over at Durant and Laksha, and saw that they had reclaimed their Pokeballs and were shouldering their packs.
"Gotta go, mom!"
"Okay. Stay safe, and take care. If you're in trouble, run right back to Cerulean, and call us. We'll be right u-"
"Don't worry about it, Mom! We beat a Granbull that was tough enough to be from the caves! We'll be okay!"
"Don't get too confident, Dace. You're really good for your age, and your dad did a really good job helping you with Minnow, but you're still only start out. Take it slow, okay?"
"Ehhh... I guess, mom. I'll try."
"Okay, well, if you've got to be going, I'll let you be on your way," Dace's mother spoke quietly, clearly slightly nervous about letting her daughter go.
"Okay. Love you, mom!"
"Love you too. I'll seeya tonight."
"Oh, I'll seeya then. Ummm... One moment," Dace covered the phone, "Hey, Laksha, how do you say Bye in Indian?" The startled girl looked back towards Dace.
"Well, it's... Alvida. But-"
"Alvida, mom!"
"Bye, Dace! I'll seeya later!"
Dace hung up the phone resolutely, and plucked Minnow's ball from the table. She pocketted it, and looked to the group.
"Everybody ready to go?" Hearing no complaints, Dace scooped up her significantly lightened pack and slipped it onto her shoulders. She threw her head back, and pushed through the front door, into the sunshine.
"Next stop, the bridge!"
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Post by {WW}BetaBloodWolf7 on Mar 9, 2009 16:23:39 GMT -5
Durant put the great ball in his pocket, and returned Oddish's ball to his belt.
"It's not really that. I've seen Shadow pokemon controlled before, it just takes a lot. Back in Pyrite Town we saw them a lot, so much that my parents often took me on trips to escape them. Though since I was homeschooled staying at home could have left me out of school for a couple weeks and my mom wouldn't stand for that." He sighed again, having not quite recovered from his talk with his Aunt Julie. "It's just that Shadow pokemon can be really dangerous, I saw a lot of people get attacked by shadow pokemon, and a lot of them hd to go to the hospital. But those were the ones with trainers. The worst ones were the ones that escaped and attacked out in the desert. Sometimes I wonder if that's why Taraek was alone all those times we met. I guess I'm just worried that that might happen here. That's part of why my parents moved back to Kanto. They were afraid that Cypher might start up again, or maybe another group, and cause problems for Orre again." He then stopped and picked up Taraek, then began walking between Laksha and Dace.
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Post by Tout-Perd on Mar 11, 2009 18:08:39 GMT -5
"That'd never happen here. Orre's all deserts and stuff, and there's only one gym there..." Dace toyed with a strap on her backpack as she walked.
"If Shadow Pokemon started showing up here, there'd be armies of trainers all trying to stop them. And if a bunch of newbies like us can stop one, imagine what a Gym Leader could do! I bet that Lieutenant Surge could beat a dozen of them without even trying!" Dace, at first seriously musing over what Durant had said, now seemed to be carried away by the idea she had proposed.
"I bet that just the Gym Leaders put together could beat hundreds of those Shadow Pokemon, and that isn't even counting all the really strong people who are better than Gym Leaders around here. My tutor is stronger than them, I know. He probably could beat on Shadow Pokemon all DAY and still be fine afterwards."
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Post by Beelzebibble on Mar 11, 2009 19:34:59 GMT -5
Laksha made to recall Matsya, but the Remoraid hopped about in a looped ring, indicating that she wanted to stay out. This surprised the girl; Matsya was usually the party member least comfortable with travelling over land, but Laksha supposed they'd encounter plenty of water when they crossed the Nugget Bridge, and especially if they went all the way to Cerulean Cape.
Besides, it was a nice change of pace. So she kept Ganesh in his Pokeball for the moment and permitted Matsya to carry on alongside her as they left the Pokemon Center.
She was puzzled, however, at Dace's and Durant's discussion of Shadow Pokemon. "I really don't know a lot about Shadow Pokemon," she said. "When Cipher was just taking hold a few years ago, they offered my father a job helping to develop their technology, but he opted out; he didn't like their ideology. He never told me a lot about what exactly they were up to. But..."
She looked at Durant as she added, "Weren't Shadow Pokemon supposed to... I mean, didn't they look... shadowy? A darker coloration? Visibly tainted aura? The Granbull's appearance seemed normal to me."
At his glance, she immediately gushed, "Of course, you would be able to tell better than I -- I really don't know anything about it -- I'm probably wrong--"
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Post by {WW}BetaBloodWolf7 on Mar 12, 2009 12:03:14 GMT -5
"Most people can't see that aura around them though. When I met Professor Krane he told me that he's only heard of one person ever seeing the actual aura, though he did make a machine that can see it. As far as coloration goes though, I've seen shadow pokemon before and not all of them look that different from normal ones. "
He paused briefly to look up at the sky.
"And as for a group creating shadow pokemon in Kanto.... Well, I wasn't here then, but I heard the Rockets had control over a lot of it. My mom even told me a rumor that one of them was a gym leader, though I think she just told me that so that I wouldn't judge people based on appearances."
Taraek sighed and jumped out of Durant's arms to the ground. He then looked at Durant, Dace and Laksha, then shook his head and began watching Matsya.
2000!!!!!!!!!
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Post by Tout-Perd on Mar 15, 2009 0:28:41 GMT -5
"Yeah, it had to be. I mean, there might be some evil people who pretend to be good or something, but if people act like they're good, they're good," Dace rolled her eyes in response to Durant's remark. A youth on a bicycle zipped by with a clatter, and the girl followed him with her gaze until he turned a corner.
"Wonder where he's going so fast..." She shrugged, and increased her pace until she had caught up with Laksha and Durant. The sea breeze had been growing stronger and stronger, the scent of salt and fish becoming much more noticable. Gulls flitted overhead, both of the mundane variety and the Pokemon equivalent.
"This is great, guys. The weather, the place, the people... Even if we're going off to fight something dangerous, I feel like my heart wants to flutter out of my chest," Dace's gaze was focused skywards, a vague smile on her lips.
"It's not quite what it said, but a book my class read said something like that. That's the best I remember it. Kinda boring really, but the guy who wrote it at least said some really neat stuff-" The group rounded a corner, and came to the end of the roadways. Streets stretched in every way except for before them, the route to the north.
A massive bridge stretched for hundreds of feet, its planks only mere feet above the lapping waves of the inlet. Its finely crafted wood shown brilliantly in the sunlight, despite the years of wear it had to have been through. Fishermen and sightseers were strewn along its length, gazing out towards the brilliance of the Pacific Ocean. Dace, her grin much larger now, used her hand to brush some of the mud from a plaque mounted on a pier.
"Nugget Bridge. Guys?"
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Post by {WW}BetaBloodWolf7 on Mar 15, 2009 0:52:36 GMT -5
Durant looked at the inlet and the bridge, with a slight look of awe on his face. "Wow! It looks so amazing!"
Taraek walked up close to Durant, and paused to look at the bridge and the people gawking at it. He then gave an unimpressed sigh and began walking towards it, with Durant following closely behind.
"I've been wondering, why do they call it Nugget Bridge?"
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Post by Beelzebibble on Mar 15, 2009 10:23:45 GMT -5
Without a moment's hesitation, Matsya sprang toward the bridge. Laksha followed her, and watched as the Remoraid flopped happily into the water, sending a crown of drops into the air. "Don't go after any bait," Laksha cautioned her. Of course, any fisherman worth his salt would have recognized that Remoraids weren't native to this area, but it wasn't worth the risk.
As the other two trainers caught up to Laksha, she heard Durant's question. "Maybe the builder wanted it to look like gold?" she ventured. "It's certainly been kept well enough polished for that... Or maybe there was gold found in this inlet. It runs all the way past Cerulean City."
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Post by Tout-Perd on Mar 21, 2009 23:33:10 GMT -5
"Pretty simple, really, kid," a voice answered. It seemed deep, full of bravado, but with a false note to it. A gaggle of youths of varying ages drifted closer to the trio, talking amongst themselves.
"We're why."
"Huh?" Dace scratched at her elbow.
"Let me explain," the speaker uttered, and the group parted to either side. A boy, ganglingly taller than his peers, stepped forth. His shredded T-shirt and jeans declared the same rebellious spirit that blazed in his crystal blue eyes.
"Up north? That's mostly fine and dandy. Weak Pokemon, easy trainers, a short route. Really nothing dangerous, except for the remnants of the caverns. The League collapsed the caverns years ago to prevent people from entering, and it worked. But Pokemon still make it out some time," The boy turned, and spat on the ground.
"Those Pokemon are tough enough to eat rookie trainers for breakfast. So the League gave us directions to hold this spot 'gainst any newbie trainers, and keep them from crossing unless they're strong enough to fight the nasties over there and survive."
"And how do you tell that?" Dace mumbled, clearly reaching into her pocket while eying the youth.
"I'm pretty sure that you already caught on. We battle them," the boy reached over his shoulder, pulling a bag that he had slung there into his grasp. The others in the group began making similar preparations.
"All of you? How-" Dace glanced back to Laksha and Durant for reassurance.
"How many?"
"Twelve. Using one Pokemon each. If you can actually beat every one of us, you get a nugget of gold to mark your victory."
"Or pawn for cash," a young man with hair over his eyes interjected, and received an elbow to the ribs for his remark.
"What if we don't fight all of you?"
"Then you can't go-"
"There's three of us. We beat a Shadow Granbull together, so whatever it is up there, we can beat it together," Dace drew the sphere from her pocket.
“Together?” The leader glanced from Dace, to Durant, to Laksha, and then spoke again. “Ehhh… Tell ya what. I’ll hear reason. You three can each face one of the best three of us, one on one each. If any of you lose, you’ll go home crying and we stay here.”
Two others stepped forward, reaching for the containers that held their champions. The first was the shaggy haired boy, tattered flannel shirts tied around both his shoulders and his waist. He drew his hands from his jeans pockets, a green and white pearlescent sphere spinning in his palm.
The new one stepped from behind the tall boy, a slight grin forming already. A large yellow sweatshirt drooped over her eyes and covered her hands. The edges of denim shorts peeked out only barely from beneath the goldenrod garment.
“I stayed quiet before, let the boss deal with some kids, right?” Her grin grew into a full-blown smile.
“But it looks like I’m going to get to do something, after all. Most trainers never even make it to me in the first place, y’know?”
“Oy. Who do we fight?” The other boy asked.
“I’ll fight the girl with the Remoraid… She’s got the most, so she’s the strongest I bet. The boy has the Bulbasaur and somethin’ else, so he’s second strongest. Gamboge, you take him. And Layne, you fight the little girl. She only has that one Pokeball…” He paused, meeting Dace’s eye.
“She chose it too quickly to have more than one choice.”
“Ehhh… Okay,” Layne brushed his hair aside to size up his opponent.
“I’m the speedbump that stops like three quarters of the guys that come up here.”
“I- I like running over bumps!”
“Huh. Huuuuh,” Layne sighed, shrugged, and threw the sphere. -------- The leader stepped back from Laksha. Most of the group trailed either him or Gamboge, standing back a short distance and chattering amongst themselves. Some seemed to be placing bets.
“So, what’s your name?” The boy unzipped the bag, and arbitrarily plucked a ball from it. He waited for Laksha for a moment.
“Mine’s Jud Steinbruek. My friends call me Jud, and the rest just call me boss…”
“I’ve been leader here for three years now. You don’t have a chance.”
OOC: Awkward, meh. But it works.
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Post by Beelzebibble on Mar 23, 2009 15:47:37 GMT -5
Jud added: “Fighting with your fish there, I take it? Tell you what, I’ve got just the thing. Brutus, out!” And the Pokeball he tossed onto the wooden planks opened to reveal a Mankey. The fuzzy primate immediately swung himself up onto the railing of the bridge and perched there, wrinkling his porcine nose at Matsya.
“Fine, fine,” Laksha said. “But I wonder if you wouldn’t mind fighting on land instead of the bridge?”
Jud frowned. “Why’s that?”
“Well, I don’t want to cause any damage to the wood, of course,” said Laksha, as she dropped a Pokeball onto the pebbly shore. In another moment, Sankh the Slugma appeared. His molten body gave off a faint hiss as he oozed forward.
Jud looked quickly from the Remoraid to the Slugma and back to the girl. “But…!”
“I never announced that I was fighting with my fish there, did I? No, I’d much rather use Sankh, if it’s all right.” Laksha’s hand flew to her mouth. “Oh! And how rude of me, I forgot your question earlier. My name is Laksha Karttikeya.”
If the change bothered Jud, he didn’t show it. “Whatever,” he said easily. He stepped forward and off the bridge, and Brutus hopped off the railing onto the soil. The Mankey took an aggressive stance as he stared into the Slugma’s vacuous eyes. In the river, Matsya paddled back and forth urgently, trying to catch the imminent fight from all angles.
“Brutus, let’s start this off simple. Low Kick!”
Almost faster than Laksha’s eyes could follow, Brutus sprang forward to execute a downward-oriented kick. Sankh recoiled at the impact, but so too did Brutus, who instantly leapt back, squealing and holding his reddened foot.
“Hmm,” Laksha said. “Harden, Sankh, won’t you?”
Sankh stopped moving for a moment, allowing the magma to cool and set slightly. When he resumed motion he was slightly slower, but his external layer of lava had visibly darkened a shade.
“Harden, huh? Better get your heavy hits in before his defense goes up any more, Brutus.” Jud made a small gesture with his flat palm. “Karate Chop.”
Brutus obediently hopped forward and around the Slugma, distracting him, before striking him with a well-timed Karate Chop. The hardened lava cracked where Brutus’ paw had struck, but once again the Mankey cried out and fell back to nurse his paw. He stuck out his coarse tongue to lick at the burn marks.
Jud’s upright posture was starting to flag. Laksha was satisfied; he was growing worried. She was prepared to play a defensive game as long as she needed to. Brutus might have Sankh thoroughly outstripped in speed and dexterity, but the Mankey had one glaring weakness: a complete lack of special moves. All of a Mankey’s natural techniques, she knew, were direct; Brutus’ considerable power was solely concentrated on upfront physical attacks. And although Ganesh or Matsya would have proved a better match for Brutus in agility, Laksha knew she needed only wait for Sankh’s scalding body to burn the Mankey so badly he would be unable to launch another strike.
Brutus let out a small whimper. Jed’s face flushed. “Are you really expectin' to get off this light, Laksha?” he fumed.
“Oh I don’t doubt you’ll surprise me,” she said, “but it seems to be working well enough for the time being. Another Harden, Sankh.”
Again Sankh paused, and again his body darkened as the magma gradually solidified. But this time, Jud was ready. “Call off the attack for now, Brutus. Let’s hear that Screech!”
Brutus seemed only too happy to oblige. His fur stood on end as he let out a pained Screech that made Laksha’s eardrums throb. Sankh squirmed as the sonic attack crumbled his external layers of hardened lava. Brutus’ cry had successfully shaken off Sankh’s enhanced defense.
“We’re heading for a stalemate eventually if we keep this up,” Laksha smiled. “Sankh, Recover, please.” And Sankh’s eyelids drooped serenely as his molten body reconstituted itself. No damage from the Low Kick or Karate Chop remained visible.
Jud grinned suddenly; a thought had apparently just occurred to him. “Big deal. Swagger.”
Forgetting his burns for the moment, Brutus complied at once. He circled Sankh a few times, eyeing him heatedly. Then, with a braggish sweep of his uninjured paw, he puffed out his fur, turned up his pig’s snout, and began to strut back and forth, kicking the pebbles up around his feet. All the while he kept his defiant eyes trained on Sankh. Laksha whispered a gentle assurance to keep the Slugma calm, but she could see she was failing; his eyes shrank to enraged slits and his body steamed more strongly than before. His flaming head turned this way and that.
“There, good! That’s got his blood boiling,” Jud called over his shoulder to his inactive friends, who hooted obligingly. Laksha drew her breath in, uncomfortable. In this state, Sankh’s attack power was presumably heightened, but he might be too confused to be able to attack successfully. She knew it would be best to play it safe and tell Sankh to use Harden again, but the laughter from those on the bridge annoyed her. Instead she called, “Sankh! Rock Throw!”
Sankh dredged up a chunk of solid ore from within his body, apparently to fling at the Mankey who was now doing handstands for his appreciative audience, but Sankh aimed so poorly that the mineral bounced off the plaque at the entrance to the bridge and struck the Slugma square in the face. Jud’s friends erupted into jeering.
“All right, that’s just embarrassing,” said Jud. “Look, I want to finish this quick, okay? But let’s squeeze in a Focus Energy before the big finale.” Brutus, rather unusually for a Mankey, obeyed by settling into a relaxed posture and closing his eyes. Jud looked at Laksha. “Last move.”
“Smog!” said Laksha quickly, before even thinking about it, hoping to disrupt the Mankey’s concentration. But Sankh was still confused, and although he bubbled violently in his struggle to emanate the filthy Smog, the churning chemical reactions only seemed to make him more fluid and vulnerable without so much as causing Brutus to twitch.
“Pitiful,” said Jud, shaking his head. “Pitiful. All right. Focus Blast.”
Brutus squinted his eyelids shut even harder, and his body glowed. A sphere of amber-colored force surrounded him. Laksha’s eyes widened, just as the Mankey’s own eyes snapped open. The sphere expanded, flew forward, and hit Sankh dead-on. The Slugma was thrown back and lay splattered against the shoreline, his magma spread out over a far wider surface area than was healthy. Only his head retained its basic shape, yet his eyelids were uncharacteristically closed.
Laksha was horrified. A projectile attack, after all! “Mankeys don’t learn Focus Blast!” she protested feebly.
“Of course not, smarty-pants. Not naturally, anyway.” Jud assumed a condescending tone. “It was more a TM kind of deal, you know?”
Laksha looked down, conceding the point. Brutus kicked the air a few times with a shrill howl. Jud glanced over the damage, grinned, and turned back again to his friends with another one-liner. “Wiped the floor with him.”
The other trainers laughed ever harder.
Yet, as no one but Laksha paid attention, Sankh’s eyes steadily opened. He blinked at Laksha raptly, and she saw at once that his confusion had abated: He was ready for one more command. Laksha leaned close to him.
“Lava Plume,” she whispered, “if you think you can.”
Sankh pulled his dripping mouth wide in affirmation. Then, he sank into the earth.
Laksha knew he was seeping down past the surface layer of pebbles to the dirt beneath, but his disappearance took Jud and the others by surprise. Even Brutus paused in the middle of his raucous victory dance to look around.
“Oh, come on,” Jud said after a puzzled moment. “Brutus didn’t break him that bad—”
But before he could finish his sentence, a massive flare burst up from beneath Brutus’ feet. Looking like a prominence on the surface of the sun, the arc of flame bore the screaming Mankey high into the air. When the blaze dispersed, Brutus plummeted back to the ground. He rolled over limply, his fur charred black, and fainted.
And Sankh pushed up out of the pebbles, back in his normal shape and looking as fit as ever. With his unblinking eyes staring into nothing, he looked to anyone else as though he scarcely even comprehended what had happened. But Laksha beamed with pride to see that his head was held a bit higher than usual: his small subtle gesture of triumph.
“Oh, Sankh!” she gushed, fighting back a desire to run forward and hug him, which would have seared her skin off. She giggled as Matsya spritzed water lightly onto Sankh to show her approval. Cloud after cloud of steam rose off Sankh as the water evaporated instantly, and the Slugma bubbled in contentment.
Jud too looked to be fairly bubbling over, but in his case it wasn’t quite with pleasant thoughts. “That was cheap!” he said furiously. “That match was against Brutus from the start! Thing’s like a living volcano, how was he supposed to fight that?”
Laksha looked up sharply. “And you certainly declared victory hastily enough, didn't you, for someone who thought the odds were stacked against him?”
Jud opened his mouth, closed it, hesitated, and then pounded his fist onto the wooden railing of the bridge. “God, whatever. You win. Don’t get all cocky. All we need is to beat one of your friends, Laksha. And by the look of those two, we’re gonna trash them both.” With that he retreated into the gaggle of trainers on the bridge, a couple of whom patted him on the back reassuringly. He glared acidly at the one trainer who, judging from the fact that several others were begrudgingly stuffing bills into his hands, appeared to have bet on Laksha’s victory.
Laksha didn’t answer, but withdrew Sankh with a final word of thanks and stepped assertively back onto the bridge herself. She gave a calm smile to Dace and Durant and leaned on the railing to observe the other fights, while Matsya floated attentively on the water below her feet.
OOC: Well, Sankh is just a blast and a half to write. I hope I managed to convey the various complications of battling with, and against, a creature made out of pure magma. Among all Pokemon, I think Slugma and Magcargo are probably two of those whose translation out of a video game context and into RP has the potential to be the most dramatic. Here it becomes clear as it never was in the games that they’re two pretty damn distinctive creatures.
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Post by Tout-Perd on Mar 23, 2009 23:07:12 GMT -5
OOC: Slugma learns Recover? Why'd I ever stop using it again? Oh, right. Four times weak to the most common Physical move (Earthquake) and Special move (Surf), or a weak basic. I need to address that issue in my next tabletop game.
Oh, and btw, Photu, his name is Jud. I believe you typoed it once, and then the error replicated itself.
Blood, we're waiting on you, buddy.
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Post by Beelzebibble on Mar 23, 2009 23:30:38 GMT -5
OOC: Oh my god, you're right. You know what, it's because of that hick battle I wrote for the Bulbagarden contest. I'll fix this.
Anyway, other than the name bastardization, I hope I handled his character well.
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Post by {WW}BetaBloodWolf7 on Mar 23, 2009 23:56:21 GMT -5
"Listen here kid! You're going down, just like your friends" said Gamboge as she stepped towards Durant.
Durant smiled at her. "I'm glad you're so confident, it means Taraek and I are in for a good match."
"Yeah, good'n fast! Go Nidra!" She threw her pokeball down, causing a small Nidoran to appear.
"Tackle now Nidra!" Before the words even finished leaving Gamboge's lips, the small purple pokemon dashed straight for Taraek.
Durant waited a moment for the Nidoran to get close enough, then enthusiastically gave orders to Taraek. "Vine-dodge Taraek!"
Just before Nidra could hit Taraek, he jumped up , and pushed himself forward with his vines. Nidra kept going, shocked at the sudden disappearance of her opponent, and nearly crashed into Durant, whose smile had grown wide due to the confused look of his oppoent's pokemon.
"That's a dirty trick!" Gamboge shouted at him, her mouth reversed from a smile into a frown.
"Nidra, show that Bulbasaur what we think of that! Ice Beam!" The small pokemon turned around quickly, and before Taraek could move, shot a small blue beam out of it's mouth, hitting the Bulbasaur in the face.
"Taraek, sleep powder!"Taraek stood there for a moment, shaking the thin layer of frost off of it's face before shooting off a small seed at his opponent.
"That's not going to work! Aerial Ace Nidra!" Again, the small purple pokemon charged forward, easily dodging the small seed which released a powder where the Nidoran had once been, but this time jumped inot the air and performed a sharp twist, bringing it's front claws down forcefully on Taraek.
"See?"began Gamboge, who once more wore a grin on her face "You're not going to be dodging with your vines anymore. Infact, pretty soon you won't even be HERE anymore!"
Durant laughed. Even Taraek, who was breathing rather hard, looked somewhat bemused.
"Nope, we'll be at the other end of the bridge. Take Down Taraek!"
Taraek got back up and charged at the Nidoran, slamming it hard with the side of it's body, causing Nidra to go spining head-over-heels back in Durant's direction.
"So what! Nidra can take more than just that, but I bet that you can't! Give it another Aerial Ace Nidra, give it everything and let's finish this up!"
Nidra got back up, and looked just as flustered as her trainer did. She charged at Taraek again, but with even more speed than before. As she closed in she jumped up in the air and began to spin before extending her claw at Taraek.
"Taraek! catch her with your vines, send her flying again!"
Taraek smiled as widely as Durant had been as he extended his vines and wrapped them around Nidra's outstretched leg, he then spun his vines around, while still holding onto the Nidoran. Suddenly he let go sending her flying back past Gamboge where she hit the bridge, then bounced over it into the water below.
Gamboge stood there, shocked as she watched her pokemon fall. Before wshe could respond, one of her friends jumped down to grab Nidra before she could sink below and drown.
She then turned to face Durant, with tears streaming down her cheeks.
"F-Fine then! I'll just beat you myself! You're not going to get ahead! I w-won't let you!"
She stepped forward, priming herself for the dash at Durant, but was caught by two of her friends.
"Gamboge, you lost. He beat you fair in-"
"SHUT UP! HE DIDN'T HE CHEATED! THROWING WITH VINES DOESN'T COUNT!"
Despite her small size she managed to pull forward, even while being held by her two friends.
"It's completely legal. You lost fair and square."
A moment later another friend came and stood infront of her, dripping wet and holding the unconscious Nidoran out to her.
"See? She's just unconscious, she's not even hurt that badly. Just a couple bruises."
She quickly snatched up the Nidoran, and sat down. After a few moments, she looked up at Durant.
"Fine. You win." She said, then got up and walked away before Durant could say anything to her.
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Post by Tout-Perd on Mar 25, 2009 17:21:21 GMT -5
"It's all on your shoulders now, little girl," Layne remarked with a grin, his Pokeball lying on the earth in front of him.
"Arencha gonna send out your guy, first?" Dace queried, Pokeball still in hand.
"He's already out," Layne said with a grin, strolling over to his Pokeball and scooping it up with his toe. He kicked it into the air, and caught it in his pocket.
"Huh?"
"Just send your Pokemon out. You'll see."
"Whatever! Minnow, be ready!" Dace spun, throwing the ball down at the end of her revolution. There was an explosion of flashes, and the lights seemingly froze in the air. They drew inwards, collapsing into a recognizable sillouette. A tiny creature, wrapped in garbage and litter, glared defiantly from the soil at the base of the bridge. The sunlight glimmered off of bits of foils and plastic in its woven armor, dotting the ground around it and playing across the gathering crowd.
"And yours?" Dace gestured, her Burmy picking up the Pokeball with its tiny forelimbs. It set the ball on top of its head, and flipped it back to the girl.
"As I said. He's already out, girl. Ronski!" Layne threw his hand forwards dramatically, inducing anticipatory mutters from the others in the group. A high pitched whining was heard from above, growing louder quickly enough to be noticed.
"Protect!" Dace barked, and Minnow obliged. A semitransparent orb of light surrounded the insect, kicking up a wave of dust and pebbles around it. The debris hung in the air for only a moment, and then was shunted violently to either side as a lime-green blur came tearing in from inland. There was a loud crack as the blur struck the forcefield, but it didn't stop, seemingly richocetting off to the side. It tore out over the water, kicking up a spray in its wake.
"What?" Dace gasped, her mouth hanging open slightly at the sight. Two long furrows had been gouged into the earth, meeting at her Burmy's shield, and stopping.
"That's Ronski... Ronski? Hold," Layne jerked his thumb towards where the blur had stopped, now revealing its true form.
It, too, was an insect, though it towered over Minnow, and even was taller than either trainer. Wings on its back hummed with a steady rhythm as its fanged maw worked open and closed. Its most distinctive features, gigantic scythes where hands would be on a normal creature, were crossed over its chest. It hovered twitchily, seemingly only barely restrained by its owner's orders.
"Oh, great. A Scyther," Dace groaned, her Burmy showing similar exasperation.
"Yeah. I grew up in Fuschia, then moved up here. Ronski and I go waaay back," Layne smiled slightly, and pointed towards Minnow.
"Cut it."
"Minnow, Tackle!" Dace's orders reached the Burmy only a fragment of a second before the bloodthirsty beast did. Tumbling sideways, it rolled barely clear of a massive blow that sliced open the soil in a spray of loam. Wasting no time, it righted itself and launched at its enemy. The impact shoved the beast back but a step, and Layne's orders quickly followed.
"Pursuit!" The draconic mantis snapped forwards, bringing in its scythes and pinning the worm against its body with the blades. There was the noise of ripping and crunching as the limbs rended through layer after layer of Minnow's cloak of garbage.
"Minnow, new move! Bug Bite!" Dace spat out quickly, fumbling with the words. The Burmy didn't nod to acknowledge the order, and simply slammed itself forwards, driving its mouthparts into the Scyther's thorax in a spurt of green slime. The creature shrieked and released its grip, trying to pull away from Minnow.
The tiny Pokemon held firmly against its larger foe, its beak stuck. Both it and the Scyther struggled, trying to pull apart to resume the fight.
"Real nice of you to impale my Pokemon," Layne deadpanned, eying the combatants from beneath his lifted bangs, "Facade."
Ronski stopped moving for a moment, as if gathering its focus, and then threw its arms back, throwing its chest outward. Minnow went soaring backwards, somersaulting through the air before crashing to the ground.
"You got a single lucky hit in, girl. But I'm not going to fall for something like that again!"
"We'll see about that! Minnow, Tackle!" The Burmy rose to balancing on its end again, shaking its head to regain its composure. It stared at its enemy for a moment, gave an irrate squeak, and then bounded forwards once more, bouncing on its tail. After two such leaps, it bore low, and then shot upwards.
"Give them a taste of what they did to Nidra! U-Turn!" Ronski raised a sickle, blocking Minnow's Tackle, and then spun aside. It seized the Burmy against its own body, this time being careful to keep it facing outwards, and shot into the air once more. Pausing above the water beside the bridge, it hovered for a moment before accelerating suddenly and releasing its hold. The minute bagworm went flying high up into the air, almost lost to the vision of the spectators.
"Thanks for the setup, Durant!" Dace said with a wild grin, pointing her finger skywards like she was about to fire a handgun.
"Comet Maneuver!" She shouted triumphantly. pumping her fist in the air. There was a flash of blue from above, and a cerulean sphere flickered into existance high above the battlefield. It rose for a short distance, then paused as it ran out of momentum. Ronski paused, a curious glint in its eye as it regarded its former prey.
The orb began to fall, gravity taking its toll. However, instead of falling straight earthwards, it changed trajectory. Shooting diagonally towards Ronski, it accelerated suddenly. The ball crushed into the mantis, sending it sprawling downwards in jumble of limbs.
"Ronski, catch yourself! Agility!" The Scyther flipped about in midair, firing its wings rapidly. The whine increased in volume as it strained for control, growing even greater in intensity as it neared the water's surface. It stopped, finally gaining control, hovering at the surface of the water. Its feet dipped into the brine, skimming the crests of it.
"Using Protect as a battering ram? What kind of bullcrap is that?" Layne shouted, flinging his arms out to the sides.
"It works! Minnow, Hidden Power!" Dace cried, and Minnow obliged. The shield around it shattered into fading sparks, the Burmy plunging through the cloud of lights. A luminous ring formed around it, spinning and crackling as it grew outwards.
"Ronski-!"
"Release!" The Burmy pitched forwards, the ring of lightning around it shooting free. It exploded into thousands of sizzling motes, showering down on the Scyther and the stream below. With each one, there was a flash and hiss, cumulatively creating a dazzling strobe effect over the entire bridge. Ronski, caught in the midst of the attack, could only jerk about as the electricity took the control from its muscles.
"D*** it!" Layne screamed, his voice cracking. He held up his Pokeball, and the collapsing Scyther vanished before it hit the water. Dace did likewise, catching Minnow an instant before it would have performed a disastrous cannonball.
"Cheap little witch!" Layne growled, stalking away from the group.
"I... I just did what worked," Dace responded, her expression slightly shocked.
"All three of you, go on. Hurry along the bridge. I don't think we'll like you hanging around here with us, with the way that you three battle." Jud muttered. He jerked his thumb, and the trio found themselves ushered along by the crowd.
Once they were out of an earshot, halfway along the bridge, Dace spoke again.
"They don't like the way we battle? We battle good. That's all there is it, right?"
OOC: I'll fix this up later on. Right now, GTG.
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Post by {WW}BetaBloodWolf7 on Mar 26, 2009 21:59:37 GMT -5
OOC: Lee, were you going to add more to this, or did you just want us to continue where you left off? Ph, ok then.
BIC: "That was great Dace! I'm glad you didn't use that move on me in the tournament back in Lavender Town." said Durant, who was still beeming from his match with Gamboge. He looked down at Taraek, who had been making odd noises since Gamboge had left. The small bulbed pokemon seemed to fidget, unbable to keep still due to the energy coarsing through him from the match. Infact, after a closer look by Durant, Taraek didn't seem to have sustatined many injuries at all from Gamboge's Nidoran.
"Hey, do we have time for one more match? Taraek looks like he wants to keep going."
Durant crouched down and placed his hand on his friend's head and patted him gently. Taraek however shook him away and began to pace, as if trying to exhaust the energy that he seemed fit to burst with.
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Post by Tout-Perd on Apr 21, 2009 1:31:37 GMT -5
"Thanks...But, Durant, I did use that move on you in Lavender-" Dace paused, a smile touching her lips.
"I probably just hit Taraek so hard that it made you forget!" She snickered to herself, adjusting her pack and tucking away Minnow's Pokéball in her pocket. She threw her head back, and took a deep whiff of the air.
"The ocean smells really good- Uh, kinda. You know, it smells good for being full of dead fish and stuff-" She was cut off in her babbling by Durant.
"No, I don't think we do have the time. If there really is a rampaging Pokémon up here like the guys back there said, than we should all save up as much strength as we can," Dace crossed her arms.
OOC: Short, but it gets us moving. And now, we're a hair away from the meat of the plot.
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Post by {WW}BetaBloodWolf7 on Apr 21, 2009 11:11:49 GMT -5
"Really?" Durant asked, his brow furrowed as he tried to remember. "I really don't remember that. But it was awhile ago too." He grinned, rather sheepishly at her.
"We should have a rematch sometime." he said, still smiling.
Taraek ignored them and continued pacing, but was nearly running now, as if he couldn't manage to calm down. He stopped for a moment, and looked up at Durant, then ran towards the other end of the bridge.
"Taraek!" Durant called out to his friend, but the small blue dinosaur continued running. Durant stood still, astonished at Taraek's actions, and then took off after him.
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Post by Beelzebibble on Apr 26, 2009 9:19:03 GMT -5
"I'm worried about Taraek," Laksha mumured to Dace. "He looks much more restless than I would expect after a match like that. If he doesn't let off some steam and calm down, he'll wear himself out."
She didn't like the thought of that. Laksha wasn't inclined to show it, but she'd been worried by the presence of the trainers on the bridge. It wasn't unheard of for the League to install a station of trainers to guard an area like that, but so close to civilization? The central hub of Cerulean was still in clear view behind them. How could such a threat lurk just outside Cerulean's gate?
Whatever it was, she didn't want Taraek to burn himself out before they were halfway to their destination. She looked at Matsya, swimming along briskly near her feet, but changed her mind. "I'd better send Ganesh after him."
She tossed a Pokeball onto the bridge, and Ganesh popped out. Without needing a command, he quickly raced ahead, past Durant, to keep pace with Taraek. Neck-and-neck, they passed the far end of the bridge and reached the rocky shore beyond.
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Post by Tout-Perd on Apr 27, 2009 0:01:32 GMT -5
"Laksha..." Dace put her finger to her lip, thinking.
"Y'sure that Ganesh should go after Taraek? If he's upset about something-" She cupped her hands around her mouth, and whispered in Laksha's ear.
"Taraek's kinda a jerk. He wouldn't hurt Durant, and he prolly won't hurt us, but if Ganesh goes after him, he'd prolly see it as attacking or something. It's best if we go get him, and let Durant take care of Taraek," Dace's tone was slightly tentative, her hands balled up at her sides.
"Besides, if that big evil Pokemon shows up, we want our best guys with us, right?"
OOC: Dace is another tricky character to write well, though that may just be the current situation in the topic. She'll smooth out a little in a few posts.
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Post by {WW}BetaBloodWolf7 on May 2, 2009 22:05:40 GMT -5
Taraek, noticing Ganesh, increased his pace, running as fast as his little legs could carry him. He had soon crossed the rest of the bridge and continued running right up to a ledge, which he managed to jump by using his vines.
Durant continued running and arrived at the ledge just a few seconds after Ganesh had, then proceeded to climb up the ledge after Taraek.
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Post by Beelzebibble on May 6, 2009 10:27:06 GMT -5
Ganesh ran into a spin and bounced onto the ledge from the rough terrain below. Taraek was still dashing among the rocks up ahead. But Ganesh knew Laksha wanted him to cool Taraek off, and so Ganesh promptly felt about with his trunk for some mud after yesterday's rain. He scooped up a clump with his trunk, then rolled ahead. He quickly overtook Taraek, being much faster while spinning than either of them were while running, and lobbed the mud directly into the Bulbasaur's face. A Mud-Slap to make Laksha proud! That would give Taraek pause until the trainers could catch up.
OOC: In stark opposition to Dace's words, I think a mini-fight between the trouble boys right here is just what the story needs. Conflict between the heroes! I love it!
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Post by {WW}BetaBloodWolf7 on May 21, 2009 22:32:38 GMT -5
Taraek shook the mud off of his face and, taking a step forward, growled at Ganesh. Durant managed to climb to the top of the ledge just in time to see Taraek lash out forcefully with his vines.
OOC:Neither big, nor bad, but it gets it started. Next post will be better.
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Post by Beelzebibble on May 27, 2009 12:39:30 GMT -5
Ganesh let out a snort as he was hit by the Vine Whip. A fight! He didn't think Laksha would approve, but she wasn't here and this was important. It was vital to act and react quickly. Ganesh took a step back, then used Tackle, hoping to hit Taraek with his full weight.
* * *
"Ganesh!" Laksha called. She and Dace had only now come to the end of the bridge. To Dace, she added, "Let's not lose sight of them. Matsya, return!"
After withdrawing the Remoraid, she hurried to the ledge. She took off her sandals and tried to scale it slowly, aware that she was hardly in good climbing form while wearing a dress.
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Post by Tout-Perd on May 29, 2009 17:55:04 GMT -5
"Easy enough!" Dace rapidly outran Laksha, reaching the ledge. In a maneuver that was half instinct, half serendipity, she put both hands on the ledge, and jumped while pulling herself upwards. She barely cleared the top of the obstacle, tumbling to the ground while she was still off balance. She stumbled to her feet, and tried to brush the mud off of her shirt.
"C'mon!" She turned, offering a muddy hand to Laksha, to help pull her onto the plateau.
"If either of them gets hurt, we're gonna be a lot weaker... You guys have to stop this!" Dace didn't want to say the true reason for her concerns... Minnow was pummeled by her battle with the Scyther, and beyond that, her showing in recent fights had been dismal as well. Dace wasn't exactly confident that on her own, she could do much more than stall the feral Pokemon for a few moments.
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Post by {WW}BetaBloodWolf7 on May 29, 2009 22:48:17 GMT -5
Taraek took a step towards Ganesh and once more swung his vines, but this time he swung from the side, trying to knock Ganesh out of the way.
Durant had already sat down by the time that Laksha and Dace had finished climbing up the ledge. When Dace had started talking he turned to face her.
"No.... Laksha can call this off if she wants to, but something is really bothering Taraek." He then turned back towards the battle. "He needs to do something, I don't know what but there's something that's just bursting to come out of him."
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Post by Beelzebibble on Jun 8, 2009 15:29:58 GMT -5
OOC: Is a Bulbasaur gonna have to evolve around here, or what?
Ganesh stumbled over Taraek's vine, but fell forward and collapsed onto the Bulbasaur, knocking him to the ground under Ganesh's weight. A successful Tackle! Laksha would be thrilled. Oh, no, there she was and she didn't look thrilled. Actually she looked upset. And she was shouting, "Ganesh! Stop!"
The Phanpy rolled off the Bulbasaur and stepped aside, ears drooping. Ashamed, he averted his eyes, with the consequence that he wasn't watching Taraek get back onto his feet.
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