Private/Closed A Kalos Adventure That Could Go Really Anywhere

[E1isha]

Hot on the heels of capturing his first Pokémon that wasn't one shot out of a computer, he pridefully showed off at the local Pokémon Center. Like most Centers across the region, there was a little bit of a hangout area where you could wait for your Pokémon to be healed, or in Tormey's case, show off your brand spankin' new Rotom that you caught from a creepy warehouse on the outskirts of town. Either way, Tormey felt really proud about something like this for the first time in his life. Proud enough to brag about it. He sat at the lounge, waiting for someone to come up to him. He thought that they would think he was cool for having two incredibly rare creatures as his first two, a Porygon and a Rotom. He didn't get exactly what he was expecting, however.
While he was sitting at the table by himself, he noticed that he was, in fact, getting all sorts of looks from people. They definitely weren't bad looks- heck, some of them were looks of astonishment. Some were obviously thinking, "How'd this kid get a Rotom and a Porygon on his first day? He must be some sort of prodigy or something." They would be correct in the assumption that it was his first day, however they would be incorrect if they thought he was a prodigy. In his eyes, it was dumb luck. If he hadn't been wearing electrical gloves, then Voltergeist surely would have defeated him without problem. And if that bugged device hadn't come in, then he wouldn't have Melissa.
The other looks, however, were a bit less positive. Some were wondering if he had bought them or cheated somehow to get them, or some things along those lines. At this point, he felt attacked almost. His anxiety was kicking in, and something told him that he had to prove to them that he had the skill. How would he prove that skill? He was going to challenge the town's gym and it's leader, Wulfric. Beating a gym leader on your first day is an accomplishment worthy of League recognition. Some kids even get plaques or awards when they do that. And with Voltergeist at his side, it might just be a possibility.
Hurriedly, Tormey ran back to the warehouse where he first found Voltergeist among all of the appliances. Using his knowledge of how all of them worked, he extracted each and every one of their motors and shoved it into his backpack. His pack was now really heavy, but he figured he would get used to it pretty quickly as he had done before. After this was done, he trudged on outside and made his way through the freezing cold to the gym. He looked at his Pokédex, where Melissa was inhabiting, and got its input. "Melissa, what do you think about this?" Tormey asked. He got the reply in the form of a text, which said, "The probability of you beating him with me is unlikely. Voltergeist must use the oven motor if it is to succeed." Melissa replied. "Oh Melissa, you're the best girl I've ever known!" he exclaimed. "Tormey, I am not a girl. I am a computer program completely devoid of gender."
Tormey had never actually been in a gym and had no clue what to expect, but he figured if he couldn't win the fight, then he could observe others' fights to watch and learn from them. He pried open the frigid doors to enter a room that wasn't much warmer than the outside world. He pulled down his backpack and unzipped it, pulling out the oven's motor. He sent out Voltergeist afterwards, giving him the simple command to take it over. Voltergeist happily obliged, and he took the form of a bright orange oven. Tormey took advantage of this, and had the creative idea to use this oven form to heat up his hands. "Hey, everyone! Come warm up your hands!" He exclaimed. This was when he realized that there was only one other person in the room that wasn't him. He still beckoned her over, anyway.

 

[Mega Lopunny]

Harper watched with curious intent at the boy with the mysterious electric Pokemon. Never before had she seen such bizarre creatures. In her arms was her best friend, her Cherrim named Luna. Cherrim was equally interested in the Pokemon on the other side of the room, so they approached. Harper walked with a spring in her step, briefly turning her head to see her other two Pokemon, Squish the Slugma and Ranger the Riolu, follow behind. They soon arrived beside the warmth of the Pokemon. It appeared to be in the shape of an oven, hovering atop the frigid floor with a red aura emanating from its core.
Ranger stopped just behind Harper, carefully holding onto her leg and peering out from behind. Squish, however, inched closer, sliding around the perimeter of the oven-shaped Pokemon and feeling its warmth. She, too, could produce such heat, as her body was composed of magma. Luna squirmed in Harper's arms, letting the warmth of the Pokemon change her form from overcast to sunlight. She soon sparkled with the glow of sunshine.
Harper smiled at the boy holding his hands by the Pokemon. "What kind of Pokemon is this? I've never seen anything like it!" After a pause, she quickly added, "I'm Harper, by the way. Are you planning to challenge the gym leader here as well?"

 

[E1isha]

"Oh? Hello Harper! My name is Tormey! And, uh, this guy is Rotom, but I call him Voltergeist. This is his oven form, but he has a base form, a washer form, a lawnmower form, a freezer form, and a fan form. I like his normal form the best, but since I'm gonna challenge the gym today I gotta have the advantage! Today is my first day as a trainer, after all. Oh, yeah! I have another one in my dex. C'mon out, Melissa!" Melissa did what he asked, and jumped out of his Pokédex, spinning around its joints almost as if it were stretching. "Hey, what kind of Pokémon do you have?" he asked the girl. However, before she could answer, Melissa quickly replied. "Slugma. Riolu. Cherrim, sun form. Types Fire, Fighting and Steel, Grass." He looked over at the other Pokémon with curiosity. "Woooow, I've only ever heard of Riolus! I don't even know what a Cherrim or a Slugma is. Must be pretty cool ones, huh? Especially that Slugma and that Riolu. They have the big type advantage, so I bet you'll make it. And I'm sure if you send out Cherrim first to put out a Sunny Day, then sent out Slugma with some powered-up fire attacks, Wulfric will be a piece of cake! I have a strategy too. I'm gonna send out Melissa, use Double Team, and then whittle down each of them with Tri-Attack until she can't fight anymore. And then, I'm gonna send in Voltergeist to take care of the rest! pretty good strategy, huh?" He said, getting excited at strategizing for whatever reason.

 

[Mega Lopunny]

Harper was amused by the eager boy's battle strategy. He was about a year younger than her, just starting his journey. "That sounds like a good strategy. There's no question that you'll win with your Rotom." She placed Cherrim on the ground. "Ranger here, my Riolu, won't be battling in this one, though. I recently caught him and he's very timid. Squish, my Slugma, and I have trained hard for this battle, though, so I think I'll be able to tough it out and win together!" She suddenly felt excited. "The gym leader, Wulfric, is just on the other side of this door. Would you like to challenge him first, or should I? I'd be glad to watch your battle if you prefer."

 

[E1isha]

"Boy, would I!" He exclaimed, almost dropping his backpack in excitement. He flung open the door, nearly hitting Harper in the face with it. He rushed in, encouraging her to watch him. "Wulfric, I challenge you to a battle! Three Pokémon, no items! How's that?" He yelled across the battlefield. "Gym Leaders can't say no to a challenge like that. Bring it on, kid!" he replied back. The two sent out their first Pokémon, an Avalugg, and Melissa. "Melissa, go for the Double Team!" Tormey commanded. Melissa vibrated at a really fast speed until she was almost invisible. Avalugg went for an Ice Beam, which hit Melissa. However, Melissa was still going strong, and Tormey called for yet another Double Team. And a few after that. Melissa was hit by another Ice Beam, but the rest missed.
"Melissa, go for the Tri-Attack!" Tormey finally said. The Tri-Attack hit the Avalugg hard, and it clearly got a side effect. "Avalugg is burned, woohoo!" he proclaimed to himself. "Avalugg, go for the Avalanche." Wulfric said. "Oh, crap, Avalanche! Melissa, Conversion 2, now!" Melissa became a Water-type, and took little damage from the attack. "Melissa's special attack is up...another Tri-Attack should do it...go, Tri-Attack!" The beam shot out at the opposing Avalugg, taking it down. "Go, Cryogonal!" Wulfric sent out his Cryogonal, which got to attack first. It used Confuse Ray, which somehow managed to hit Melissa. It accidentally hurt itself in the confusion, nearly knocking itself out with a Psybeam misfire. "Melissa, pull yourself together and send out a Tri-Attack!" he said. Melissa did as she said, however it was met by an opposing Ice Beam. Both sides were knocked out.
"Well, it's your time to shine, Voltergeist. Go for it!" Voltergeist hopped out onto the field, hot and ready for battle. Wulfric sent out his last Pokémon, his famous Abomasnow. Rumor has it that this thing can Mega Evolve. However, he knew that he had a major type advantage over Abomasnow, who was four times weak to Fire attacks. "You've given me no choice," Wulfric said, from the opposite side. He raised a weird stone-like thing into the air, and a huge ball of light enveloped his Abomasnow. Out of the ball of light came Mega Abomasnow, a much more powerful version of it. "Voltergeist, stay on your toes! Use Charge!" Voltergeist charged up, boosting his Special Defense. Mega Abomasnow used Ice Beam, which hit Voltergeist hard despite the resistance he had. "Voltergeist, Overheat!" Tormey exclaimed. "Abomasnow, Ice Shard!" Ice Shard hit first, but Voltergeist just barely hanged on. He unleashed an incredibly powerful Overheat, one that was so hot that it melted part of the battlefield and the heat could be felt by everyone in the room. It was a one-hit KO, however Voltergeist was incredibly weakened. Soon after the fight, Wulfric congratulated him, and gave him the Iceberg Badge.

 

[Mega Lopunny]

After watching the battle between Tormey and Wulfric, Harper had drafted a more extensive battle plan in her head. Wulfric took a moment to heal his Pokemon in the other room before returning to the battlefield. "I suppose you would also like a match today?" He called out to the girl. Harper nodded. "I'm here to earn the Iceberg Badge! Two on two sound alright to you?" The gym leader thought for a moment. "Two on two? A worthy challenge. Most challengers here want to use three Pokemon. I accept your challenge."
Harper turned to face Tormey. "You can watch this battle if you would like, too," she said with a smile. Her head turned to look back at the gym leader. "Are you ready for the battle? Let's begin!"
They each sent forth their Pokemon - Wulfric chose his Avalugg first, and Harper sent Luna, her Cherrim, into the middle of the battlefield. Wulfric motioned for Harper to have the first move. She accepted. "Luna, use Sunny Day!" Luna spun in a circle, summoning a bright light from the ceiling. Suddenly, her form changed into the sunshine form, and she hopped around. Wulfric nodded in approval. "Ice Beam, Avalugg." His Pokemon obeyed, sending a streamline of ice aimed at Luna. Luna jumped out of the way just in time. "Luna, use Solar Beam!" Harper shouted. The Cherrim took hold on the ground, looking up into the sky and then back at her opponent. All of a sudden, she let forth a beam of massive sunshine, making contact with Avalugg. Wulfric grimaced and shouted to his Pokemon, "Ice Beam, once more!"
Before Luna could recharge, Avalugg's Ice Beam froze her in her tracks. She squealed in fear. Harper gulped, looking back and forth before deciding to make a move. "Morning Sun!" Luna started glowing in a brilliant light, and gradually the ice around her melted. It was as if she was fully restored. Wulfric gasped in disbelief. "Avalanche!" The attack landed, weakening Luna greatly. Harper shook her head. "Finish him with Petal Blizzard!" A storm of petals rose around the battlefield. The Avalugg soon was too weak to continue battling.
Wulfric returned his Pokemon and then sent forth his Abomasnow. In sync with his trainer and the tiny stones each of them possessed, Abomasnow became encapsulated in light before reappearing as a mega version of himself. Meanwhile, Harper switched Luna with her Slugma, Squish, seeing as Abomasnow would be incredibly weak to a Fire-type Pokemon. Abomasnow used Ice Beam, which barely affected Squish. Squish slid forward and used Harden, becoming more defended against her opponent. Abomasnow used Ice Shard, barely even weakening Squish once again. Before Harper called out to her Pokemon, Squish used Yawn, making Abomasnow drowsy. Harper scowled. "Can you listen to me during the battle, Squish?" As soon as she said that, the opponent collapsed and fell asleep. Slugma turned to Harper for instruction. "Use Lava Plume!" The Pokemon finally obeyed, sending lava directly at the Abomasnow. Abomasnow was returned by Wulfric.
Harper cheered with glee, and Luna and Squish came to her side. Wulfric walked over to her and shook her hand. "That was a great battle. Thank you." He handed his Iceberg Badge to her before going into the other room to heal his Pokemon once again. Harper pinned the badge into her case, and then returned Squish. She picked up Luna before turning towards the door. "Where to next?"

 

[E1isha]

Instead of watching the battle, Tormey was more focused on tending to Voltergeist. The Overheat that he used took a massive toll on him, and it had completely fried the oven's motor, sending it back to the base form. "You alright, buddy? You did something amazing back there." he said, congratulating him on singlehandedly taking down the biggest threat he had ever faced, a Mega Pokémon. Voltergeist nodded, saying he was okay. Tormey knew he looked tired, and that he couldn't do even one more battle for a while. "Hey Melissa, you doing fine too?" he asked, remembering that Melissa was the one who had fainted and retreated into his PokéDex. "All systems online. Wait a minute...there's an update?" This surprised both of them, as there had not been an update to the Porygon software in years. "An update? For what?" Tormey asked, curiously. Maybe it was a Porygon3 patch or something. "It looks like nothing but a move. It says that I learned it. Would you like to install firmware 'TM13 Ice Beam'?" Melissa said, in its monotone voice. "Uh, sure, why not?" Tormey said, happy that something else good came from the fight besides the badge.
Tormey headed to the lobby to heal his Pokémon, and noticed the girl he had talked to earlier. "Hey, sorry I couldn't watch your fight, I had to deal with the aftermath of that Overheat," he said with a joking tone, before pulling out the charred remnants of an oven motor. "Well, now you can see his base form. He's a different typing and everything! Cool, huh?" Tormey looked back at Voltergeist, who was taking all the glory of being called "cool". "Hey, uh, where are you heading off to? I don't really have a game plan, but I was gonna ask if I could, uh, go...with you?" Tormey asked that sheepishly, fearing but prepared for rejection.

 

[Mega Lopunny]

Harper thought about the question for a moment before deciding whether or not to accept his request. After making a decision, she nodded. "Of course you can come along for the journey. I'm planning on traveling to Santalune City - there's a Bug-type gym leader there. Or we can travel back to Anistar City if you want to challenge Olympia." She then pulled out her Pokedex and pointed it at the Rotom, Voltergeist. The machine began to list off its qualities, starting with its Ghost-Electric typing. "If your Rotom is the Ghost type, it may be smart to challenge the Bug leader first. Bug-type attacks are very weak when attacking Ghost Pokemon." Harper smiled and walked towards the front door of the Snowbelle City gym. Once she pushed it open, she turned back to face Tormey, gesturing for him to follow her and Luna outside. She was hoping to get a headstart on the walk to Santalune City before sundown in order to arrive by midday tomorrow. Hopefully this boy would be fast enough to not irritate her impatient attitude.

 

[E1isha]

He followed her outside, while talking about what little of a plan he had. "Well, I don't think he's all that powerful in his base form. I could maybe find another oven motor, or even find another Pokémon on the way there so I have a more fair matchup this time. I mean, I challenged him to a three-on-three battle even though I only had two to fight with. In hindsight, that was a pretty dumb idea, but it somehow worked. Anyways, I wonder what we could find on the way there. Hopefully something strong enough to help me beat another gym leader." Suddenly, his face lit up, and he almost jumped. It was clear that he had just remembered something, and he brought it up to the other girl. "Hey, I just remembered something. I found this thing a long time ago and didn't know what to do with it, but I didn't bring it home. Just outside of the entrance to Route 21 I buried a weird light green plate-esque thingy in the ground. I dunno why, but something tells me I need to get it, so can we stop there real quick? Won't be long, it's a shallow grave." He laughed at his own use of the phrase.

 

[Mega Lopunny]

Slightly agitated by the delay on her journey, Harper sighed in exasperation. "That's fine. Let's go." At least the stop was going to be along the way. Once the two of them would have reached Victory Road, it would be just a short walk to Santalune City. She decided to return Luna, as her arms were becoming tired from carrying the little Grass-type Pokemon. "I wonder what that plate thing is... Could it belong to a machine? Or did it look like something else?" She slipped Luna's Pokeball into her back pocket with the others. Tormey was thinking about catching another Pokemon to aid him in battle. Maybe she should have caught another Pokemon as well - or maybe train Ranger or Squish.

 

[E1isha]

As planned, they headed off to the western gate of Snowbelle to Route 21. "Just a sec," Tormey said, as he ran off to the spot. It was essentially invisible to anyone who didn't know exactly where to look, but Tormey knew. Using his hands, he tore through the dirt until he saw the faint green shine. Within a minute or two, he had pulled out the entire thing. It was about the size of an old Pokédex, but it was slightly heavier. He put it in his pocket, and ran back to Harper. "Alright, I got it. I'm ready to go, for sure this time! No other stops unless I wanna catch something, or if we don't make it. If we don't make it, then maybe we'll find some cool ones that only live in the night! Like a Litwick or something. That Ghost and Fire typing would be great for a Bug-type gym, wouldn't it?" He pulled out the plate after he said that, looking at it curiously. "I wonder exactly what this is..." He whispered to himself.

 

[Mega Lopunny]

Relieved that the delay had passed by, Harper smiled as they continued down Route 21. Tormey seemed very interested in the plate he had discovered, but to Harper, it just looked like a useless scrap. Up upon the hill they approached rose the building of the Victory Road Gate. There were a few trainers congregating outside of it, battling their Pokemon. Many of them appeared to be preparing for a challenge with the Pokemon League. After a brief moment, Harper remembered his question. "A Ghost-Fire type may be very effective against Bug types. I'm planning to use Riolu, though there are no super-effective attacks he can use. He needs some training if he will ever become more confident in battles. If he can't win, I'll use Squish again, since she is strong against Bug types, too."

 

[E1isha]

"It probably would. However, I don't know if having two Ghost-types on my team would be the best option. Maybe I could find a way to keep Voltergeist in his motors permanently without trashing them so badly like he did." Tormey looked up at the people battling a ways ahead, and turned to Harper. "D'you think we'll ever make it to something so high-profile like the League? Maybe one day we'll be the champions, even." Still looking at the plate, he had an idea. "Melissa, can you figure out what this is?" Melissa jumped out of the device, and scanned it, before going back in. "This object appears to be one of the seventeen Plates. According to legend, each of these plates has the capability to change the typing of the all-powerful Arceus when it holds them. It also has the effect of boosting the power of any moves that share the typing of the plate by twenty percent. This plate is the Insect Plate, and deals with Bug-type moves." Tormey, despite being as smart as he is, had no idea what that was or that these things even existed. He figured that the legends must not have been passed down to him. "Well, that's interesting. Not that I have anything I could use it for. I'm keeping it anyway."

 

[Mega Lopunny]

Harper was intrigued by Melissa's scan of the Insect Plate. "Isn't Arceus that Pokemon from a long time ago in the Sinnoh region? My Gran mentioned something about it. She's from Celestic Town in Sinnoh." She trailed off, reminded of their arrival at the entrance to Victory Road. "I certainly hope that we will be able to reach Victory Road someday. Maybe once we have a full team of Pokemon will we be able to challenge to Pokemon League. I wouldn't expect to win, however, since the Elite Four and Champion are the strongest Pokemon trainers in the entire Kalos region." They entered the gate, where signs directed trainers passing through. "That sign there says Santalune City is just past Route 22, which is through that exit of the gate. Come on!" She hurried forth.

 

[E1isha]

"Sounds like a legendary or something, especially with the 'all-powerful' part Melissa nentioned. I don't know much about the legends, except for a few. I remember there used to be a really powerful one outside of Snowbelle at the Pokémon Village. I saw the cave but I never got to go inside it because there was always someone there that wouldn't let anyone in. And one time when I was too little to remember, there was a bird that flew over Snowbelle and brought one of the harshest winters ever. Too bad I couldn't see it." Tormey walked on by the gate to Victory Road, and gazed down, seeing Santalune just past the horizon, past a thick forest. "Where's the path at? I can't see it...maybe it got covered by the canopy or something. That's good, because I can hardly take this sun. Hopefully we don't get lost in there. I don't wanna be out for more than a day. I do wanna try camping out eventually, though!"

 

[Mega Lopunny]

The evening sunset dappled through the trees as they paced down the road. The echoes of nocturnal Pokemon waking up for the night began reverberating through the trees. Harper stopped her walking and let Luna our of her Pokeball. They turned slowly in a circle, closing their eyes and listening. "Can't you hear the song of the Kricketot? They only come out at night." Other Pokemon joined the chorus, and they heard the sounds of Hoothoot. "Maybe we should stop here for the night. We've been walking for a while now." She scanned the immediately surrounding area, and paced over to a clearing with a small rock in the center. Luna hopped onto the rock and Harper sat down beside the Cherrim. She then placed her backpack beside the both of them and withdrew a sleeping bag, along with a canteen of water. As she looked over to Tormey, a small Pokemon floated between them. Harper couldn't make it out, but it appeared to be a Ghost-type Pokemon. "What's that?"

 

[E1isha]

Tormey followed her into the clearing and laid down his backpack, pulling out all of the contents. In it was typical camping stuff; a sleeping bag, some lights, food, a change of clothes, 4 used motors, 9 Poké Balls, another pair of electrical maintenance gloves, the Insect Plate, and the Iceberg Badge. In response to her question, he said "Oh, that's just my stuff that I brought." Turning around, he noticed what she was actually talking about. "Oh, uh, that sure is something..." He said, staring at it. "Uh, its not doing anything. Maybe it's dead!" He said jokingly. However, he still poked it. It was dry to the touch, and didn't move. "Melissa, you got any idea of what this is?" Tormey asked. "I cannot scan it, it is too dark for accurate readings." Tormey sighed, and picked up a Poke Ball. "Can I even catch it?" He asked himself. Touching it with the ball, it was sucked up and encased. One. Two. Three. Caught. "Strange. Maybe Melissa can read it again." After a few seconds, it did read it. "The species is something I can't figure out. It's like it's dead or something. But it has moves, and I can tell you those. It knows Shadow Ball, Phantom Force, and X-Scissor, but that's all I can gather." Tormey held it in his hand, and looked over at Harper. "Well, have you got any ideas?"

 

[Mega Lopunny]

Harper furled her brow. "X-Scissor... strange. This Ghost Pokemon must also be a Bug type. Which Pokemon are both Ghost and Bug?" She opened her Pokedex and searched. "Shedinja? From the Hoenn region?" She paused, showing the image to Tormey. "It would make sense, since there are usually a lot of bugs in the forest at night. I wonder if it is a Bug Pokemon like Shedinja, but there are certainly other Pokemon that can learn Phantom Force and X-Scissor. And that might make sense, since Shedinja is made from the discarded shell of a Ninjask." Luna poked at Harper's water bottle. "Are you thirsty, Luna? Here's some water for you." She poured some water into a small cup and let Luna drink from it. Harper then looked back at Tormey with a mischievous grin. "Maybe it's the ghost of a different Pokemon!" She spoke in a spooky, sarcastic tone.

 

[E1isha]

He sent it out so Harper could get a better look at it. "See? It does, like, nothing at all. It just sits there, being dumb and floating there. I wonder if it'll even do moves. Well, I guess it's time to find out. Thingy, use X-Scissor on that tree over there!" Not expecting it to do anything, Tormey was quite taken aback when this lifeless husk suddenly unleashed a powerful cut at the tree, nearly hacking it down in one swipe. "Woah! That's so cool! I'm gonna name it...uh, Angel! Because of that weird halo thing on its head, and also because I'm pretty sure it's not 100% alive. But, if you say it's a Bug and Ghost type, it'll do well in the gym, and I can give it this!" He pulled out the Insect Plate, and handed it to Angel. Of course, Angel dropped it, because it never moves. "Maybe she can't hold anything. Hold on a sec." He took off his scarf, and literally tied the Insect Plate to it. "Ta-da! Now its moves are twenty percent more powerful!" He exclaimed, happy at his "innovation".

 

[Mega Lopunny]

Harper giggled at the scarf-tying operation. "That's bizarre," she said with disbelief. Luna nodded in agreement before hopping down to lie within the sleeping bag. Harper yawned. "It's getting pretty late. We should get some sleep if we're going to be well-rested during the gym battles tomorrow." She slipped into the sleeping back and curled up, hugging Luna tightly. Harper then thought to herself: This is boy Tormey is pretty cool after all. I first thought that he would just hold me back, but because of him, I've already been able to see a legendary Pokemon's Insect Plate, as well as the mysterious Pokemon. As she thought, she noticed a tiny reddish glimmer from behind the boulder. Harper reached out of the sleeping bag and brushed away some dirt, revealing the corner of a red-violet item. After pulling it out, she held it up in front of Tormey. "What's this thingy? It looks just like the plate you had discovered on Route 21, only a different color. If your plate was the Insect Plate, what could this one be?"

 

[E1isha]

He yawned, calling back Angel and getting into his sleeping bag. "I dunno anything about these Plates, really. You'd have to ask Melissa about that, she has all the knowledge," He pulled out his Dex and turned it back on. "Hey, we need you again. Could you pull up all of those-" in the middle of his sentence, he yawned. "-all of those Plates you told us about earlier?" Soon after he asked that, a diagram of each known plate popped up. "Most of the plates have not been found. The Insect Plate was one of those until earlier today. However, it is to be assumed that there is one plate for each type, and duplicates are known to exist. Please give a description and I will try to narrow the selection down." He looked over at the Plate, then back at the screen. "It's red, but also kinda purple, I guess." After just a few seconds, there was a result. "From your description, it appears to be the Draco Plate, which corresponds with the Dragon-type."
"Well, I guess that's our answer," Tormey said, before turning off his Dex. "I think I'm gonna go to bed now, I'm tired. Sleep tight, don't let some crazy monster steal you in the night, don't let the Bug-types bite, yadda yadda yadda..." He rolled over, slowly drifting off to sleep.

 

[Mega Lopunny]

Harper giggled. "Good night to you, too." She placed the Draco Plate into her backpack, along with the half-empty water canteen from before. Then she laid her head down and dozed off, listening to the sounds of the forest. A Chatot sung with a wistful glee in the distance, singing over the Kricketot who were continuously chirping. Harper thought about the Draco plate, and the many plates Tormey's Pokemon Melissa had mentioned. Where would they discover the next plate, if at all? Would they ever put these items to good use? The questions helped her fall asleep.
* * * * *
The next morning, Harper arose before Tormey did, so she snuck out of her sleeping bag as to not disturb him. She then let Ranger, her Riolu, out of his Pokeball. After a moment, she spotted a Bunnelby in the woods. "This is the perfect opportunity to train Ranger!" She whispered. "Ranger, let's go defeat that Bunnelby." She and her Pokemon scurried off into the woods, where they met up with the Bunnelby. Though afraid at first, Ranger stepped forth and attacked with Force Palm, followed by a quick Counter, ultimately defeating his opponent.

 

[E1isha]

Awoken by the sounds of battle in the distance, Tormey groggily rolled over. He was surprised that he was in the woods right now. Some part of him managed to forget that he started his journey yesterday, and he kinda thought it was a dream. Soon after he came to his senses, he sat up, and turned on his Dex. "Good morning," Melissa said to Tormey. "Morning to you, too," He replied, before calling out his other two. "Oh, hey, Melissa, could you get a read on this guy now? It's light outside today." Melissa got out of the system, and gave it a full scan, before hopping back in to give a message. "It is Shedinja. It has the ability 'Wonder Guard', which protects it from being damaged by any moves that are not super effective. This comes at a cost, however, as any super effective hits will knock it out in one hit." Tormey was incredibly happy and excited, as this ability seemed so cool to him. "So, the Bug gym can't do anything to him? Aw yeah, this battle will be a piece of cake!" Tormey said. Immediately after, he felt a strong rumble in his stomach. He soon realized that he hadn't eaten since breakfast the day before. He looked around hungrily, hoping to see food. Bingo! There was an apple tree nearby, but he couldn't reach it. Voltergeist saw his struggles, and had an idea. He took over one of the motors, and became something that looked like a fan. It floated up, and nudged almost a dozen apples out by accident. Before Tormey could see the fan form, Voltergeist was already back to normal. "Ew, these are hot," Tormey complained. In comes genius Rotom again, taking over a fridge motor and chilling them almost immediately. "Gee, thanks Voltergeist! Good thing I brought those motors, huh?" Voltergeist snickered, before leaving the motor. "I wanna share these with the others, but where are they?" Tormey wondered out loud.

 

[Mega Lopunny]

Harper and Ranger had defeated a few more Pokemon by the time she returned to the little campsite. Ranger was excited by his successes in the early morning battles, and felt a sense of confidence grow within himself. The two finally reached the clearing where Tormey sat. "Good morning!" Harper called. Ranger did an action move and fake punched into the air in order to show off his new battling skills. He then punched the small boulder beside Harper's sleeping bag and backpack, cracking it open. A gleaming light shone from its inside, and Harper hurried over to see what had occurred. To her surprise, a small blue spherical stone sat where the rock had been broken. Harper picked it up. "What is this?" She asked. Before anyone could answer, the sound of an explosion burst through their eardrums. Harper and Ranger turned around to face the direction of the source. Ranger's ears twitched before he began to run off. "Come back!" Harper shouted after her Pokemon, gathering her belongings and sleeping bag up into her backpack and carrying it with her as she ran off.

 

[E1isha]

"Hey, what's going on?!" He said, as he too was rushing to gather his stuff as well, before chasing after her. "What was that explosion? Was it something that a Pokémon caused, or a person?" Tormey pondered for a bit, before wondering. "Maybe it has something to do with that blue orb thing you pulled out. I mean, the explosion did happen right after that. Or maybe I'm just reaching, I dunno. But now's not the time for overthinking it, Tormey! Gah!" He tried thinking of what to do to get Ranger to slow down so they could catch up. "Wait a minute...Voltergeist, get up there and paralyze him!" he yelled, as he sent out its Poké Ball. Voltergeist zipped up to Ranger, and used Thunder Wave, paralyzing it. "That should help, maybe he'll stop and we can figure this out."

 

[Mega Lopunny]

Harper caught up with Ranger, finding him frozen in his tracks due to paralysis. Just ahead of him was the site of the explosion, and on either side of the crater that had been formed stood a trainer. The cloud of smoke dissipated and two massive Pokemon hovered in the air. Harper gasped - a Scizor and a Noivern. The trainer in charge of the Scizor wore a full suit of armor, and the woman in possession of Noivern was old and dressed in purple. "Who are those trainers?" Harper asked. "Their Pokemon are so powerful." Ranger nodded as Harper sprayed him with a bottle of Paralyze Heal. He shook free of the status effects caused by Voltergeist, slightly perturbed by the attack.

 

[E1isha]

"I have no idea. I've never even seen a Noivern capable of doing that. And I don't even know what that red thing is. Are we gonna, uh, steer clear of them? Judging from that explosion there's almost no way we can take them o- wait a minute, I just remembered something. Melissa, come out!" As soon as he said this, it was out. "You said you got Ice Beam, right? Snipe that Noivern out of the sky for me with it!" Melissa fired an Ice Beam at the Noivern as instructed. "That should do at least something, right? It's a four-times weakness, surely it got knocked out, right?" Tormey looked back over to where the two Pokémon were.

 

[Mega Lopunny]

Harper tried to stop him. "I think those two trainers are just having a Pokemon battle! Don't interrupt their battling." The Noivern fell out of the air, and the woman who had raised him gasped in surprise. She turned to look at where Tormey and Harper were standing and returned her Pokemon before walking over to them. "Do you know who I am?" She immediately asked. Harper blushed, stepping backwards in embarrassment. "No, ma'am." The woman sighed. "I'm Drasna, of the Elite Four. Why did you attack my Pokemon while I was in the middle of battling?" She was cross.

 

[E1isha]

"Because you caused a massive explosion and then- what was his name again? Ranger or something? Right. And Ranger here started making a mad dash towards it. It was really weird, and usually when stuff like that happens there's always something nefarious going on! So cease the evil!" He said, quite confident that he had found something evil or corrupt going on. His newbie side was really starting to show. "I don't know what a Drasna is but I'm sure it's nothing good! Now, tell me what you were really doing because if it made this guy run after you randomly, it probably wasn't anything good!"

 

[Mega Lopunny]

Harper was irritated by Tormey's persistence on the incite of trouble. "I'm sorry, Ms. Drasna," Harper began, then lowering her voice and nudging Tormey with her elbow, "... her name is Drasna." She then cleared her throat and tried to explain their situation. "After the explosion your Pokemon caused, my Riolu here chased after it. I guess he just wanted to see what was going on." She blushed. "We're just heading onto Santalune City when we heard the blast. What move caused that, by the way?" Drasna responded, "Boomburst." Harper continued. "Boomburst, huh. Well, anyway, I'm so sorry for all of the trouble he caused." She tilted her head, making it obvious that she was annoyed by Tormey's attack on the Noivern. "If I had any Revives, I would give you one." Harper internally was fuming, but also felt as if Tormey had attacked the Noivern just to upset her. Though it may not have been true, Harper decided to convince herself of it, and become furious with the boy she had agreed to journey with.

 

[E1isha]

"Hey, it's not all my fault. You started chasing after him and even you didn't know what was going on! It's only my first day, why do you have to be so judgmental? Not everyone can be as cool and awesome and experienced as you are, especially not me..." As he said this, his voice got quieter, almost down to a shy whisper, before he looked down in guilt and embarrassment. "Is everyone like this?" He thought to himself. "L-Let's just go. You were in a rush to get to Santalune City last night. Let's just get there and get past this. I can't stand arguments." He turned around, and slowly headed back into the forest that he had just come out of. Tormey made his way back to their camp, and sent out Angel. "I guess your weird, motionless stare is the only constant from here on out. I hope she's not terribly mad at me..."

 

[Mega Lopunny]

Harper was more mad than before. She had a way of taking things out of hand and out of proportion. She followed him through the trees, stomping aggressively and breathing heavily with rage. Once she approached him, she raised her voice. "I'm not being judgmental! I didn't make of these 'rookie' mistakes in my first day, week or even year! You should have been thinking! I was chasing after my Pokemon because I was thinking!" She growled, irate, returned Ranger and stomped her foot. "I'm going to Santalune City alone. You and your emotionless little bug can follow me if you want - if you can even find the city without having to interrupt someone's battle and ask for directions!" She grabbed her stuff and stormed off in the direction of the city. Harper ignored the look of guilt and shame on Tormey's face, her own red with rage. She wasn't the type of person to apologize with ease.

 

[E1isha]

"Hey! I'm sure he has emotions, he just can't express them, that's all..." He started tearing up after what she said, but he still followed her anyway, trudging along while crying into his pillow, which he was carrying. He hadn't noticed it, but Angel was, in fact, following him. Not that he really cared enough to notice at that moment, as he had just been yelled at by the person he considered to be his only friend in this whole thing. "Still, not everyone is the same as you so you shouldn't make fun of me for mistakes like that. Besides, I'm sure you've done things that are just as bad, but you don't see me or anyone else making fun of you like you were doing to me. But it's not like you're going to apologize because you're so stubborn, so why am I even trying?" He said that last part a bit louder, raising his own voice for the first time.

 

[Mega Lopunny]

Harper wouldn't respond, even more upset by what she heard. She became misty-eyed and broke into a run, hurt. The word 'stubborn' echoed through her mind. "Why can't you just say it's your fault? You messed up and you wouldn't even apologize." She sprinted away from him, trying to lose him behind her. She was crying - something about Tormey's comments had struck a chord within her. As she sprinted, she tried to shake it off, though she failed.

 

[E1isha]

After she began sprinting, he chased after her as well. Instead of trying to talk to her, he kept his mouth shut, and ran after her. He struggle to catch up, but eventually got close enough to grab her hand. When he did, he tugged her back with a bit of force, although no too hard. Right after he did this, he brought her into a really tight hug, and repeated the words "I'm sorry" over and over again while sobbing. "It was my fault and I shouldn't have been so sensitive but I couldn't help it. I'm so sorry I didn't want to make you cry-"

 

[Mega Lopunny]

Harper was taken aback. Nobody had ever apologized so profusely to her, not since her best friend Duncan had to apologize for leaving for Unova. She used one arm to separate herself from Tormey and the other to wipe the tears coming from her own eyes. "It's okay, it's okay... gosh." She tried to play it cool. "Get yourself together. Santalune City is just on the other side of this hill." She exhaled in relief, and decided to push away the tumult in her stomach. Trying to change the tone of the matter, she weakly giggled. "I'll beat you there!" And with that, she took off with a playful step.

 

[E1isha]

"Oh, no you won't!" He said, grabbing onto Angel and running with it in his arms. However, once he got to the top of the hill, he could feel his legs start to give out. He paused for a minute and spoke in between panting, "Jeez, I must be worn out from chasing you- I guess you won. I can't run anymore!" He tried to laugh, but his pants drowned it out and it came out as nothing more than heavy puffs of air. After resting for a moment, he managed to catch up with her down the hill. "So, what do we do here? Other than fighting the gym, of course. I guess I should get some new clothes, because I can't be wearing winter stuff this whole time, now can I?" He 'asked', in a joking manner. "What do you plan to do?"

 

[Mega Lopunny]

Harper had barely broken a sweat, and although ready to poke fun at Tormey's heavy breathing, she decided otherwise. "There's the Pokemon Trainer School, where new Pokemon trainers can learn about training Pokemon," Harper explained. "There's also a cafe up that hill, if you can make it." She giggled and continued. "Of course there's also a boutique, if you want to pick out a new outfit or two." Harper then pulled out her Pokeball. "I'm planning on challenging the gym first thing. I'll see you soon!" She pointed at the gym. "I'll be in there until the battle is over. Wish me luck!"

 

[E1isha]

"Good luck to you, since you asked for it!" He exclaimed, heading off towards the boutique in the town. He entered, and was picking out his clothes. Of course, he stayed true to his favorite color, orange, but he went with an orange and grey color combo for his outfits. He picked out a short-sleeve t-shirt with a grey Poké Ball logo on the front, as well as a trainer utility belt with room for all six Poké Balls and even more smaller compartments. He hooked Voltergeist's, Angel's, and Melissa's balls to it, before going to pay. However, on his way there, he noticed something intriguing. "Pokémon clothes?" Tormey said out loud to himself. He looked at them to see if there was any real utility to them. Surprisingly, there was. There was a small fanny pack-esque thing, which could hold one item. He called out Angel, and untied the scarf to put it on to see if it worked. It fit nearly perfectly, and Tormey put the Insect Plate inside the pack so Angel could benefit from it. Tormey kept looking at the rest, and called out Melissa to see if she wanted anything. He knew Voltergeist wouldn't be able to wear any of it, so he stayed in the ball. Melissa looked around, and took a liking to a white, silky scarf. Since she liked it, Tormey got it and tied it around her. He went to the checkout, and payed.
As he left the boutique, he went to the café that Harper had previously mentioned. It was about lunchtime, and he was getting hungry. He got his lunch, sat down, and ate. Not much special happened, but he did realize that he had a weird fortune of not having any Pokémon that could eat, let alone any that needed to. Voltergeist was made of plasma, Melissa was entirely made of code, and Angel was...Angel. As he was eating, he overheard some people people talking about a really cool Fire-type Pokémon that had been spotted in packs crossing through Santalune Forest. Naturally, Tormey was intrigued. Once he was done eating, he hurried down to the forest, where he entered, looking for it. He didn't see it immediately, and only saw a bunch of weakling Caterpies that even he could take down in one hit. He was about to leave, when suddenly the scent of smoke caught his attention. It was a faint smell, but it was definitely there. He followed it, until he came across a pile of freshly-fallen leaves with quite a few of them charred.
Brushing off the leaves, Tormey saw what could only be assumed was the Fire-type he had heard about. He insinuated this because it was shooting out little bits of flames. As soon as Tormey cleared off the leaves, the flames stopped, and the creature appeared to be happy. Happy as in it felt like its life had just been saved from imminent doom. The creature appeared to a be a weird, large insect with white fur and a happy-looking face. He felt the fur, which was explainably hot but also really soft. It brushed up on his leg affectionately, giving him mild burns. They didn't hurt too much, and after about a minute or two its fur was all the way back to a normal temperature. "Uh, hello, little guy?" Tormey said, confused. Surprisingly, the creature made a noise. It sounded like a, "Rvsshhhta!", but that's the only way to put it phonetically, although that wasn't too accurate. Of course, he tried catching it. One rattle, two rattles, and it flew open. The thing was clearly upset, though whether it was upset because he tried to catch it or because it broke out, he couldn't tell. He tried again. It broke out. And again, and again, and again, until finally, it clicked. He quickly sent it out, and it looked happy to say the least. Picking it up, he ran back into town, and waited patiently outside the gym for Harper to finish her battle.