Chronicle

[Artiste]

((OOC: Once you join, I will PM you the rules, which are strict for a reason, and which make the topic chock full of OOC. *Winks at Stel*))

It was a beautiful day in Sunyshore city. A bright, cloudless day with the sun shining down on the solar panel roads above the city itself. Powering the city, and reflecting light down on the quaint little houses. And the people who resided in them.
One such resident was still laying in bed, asleep. His alarm went off, just as the digital clock on his nightstand said 6:00 AM. As his eyes opened, he remembered something of great importance. He, Matt Palmer, was setting out on his Pokémon journey today.
He yawned, and got up out of bed. He opened the burgundy curtains that covered his Bay window, and looked down on the city he had lived in for seven years. It was bustling, as it always was during any time of day. Matt saw Volkner opening the Gym, still hoping for a worthy challenger. He had not had one in a very long time. As Matt's family lived about fifty yards from Volkner's Gym, Matt called down to him:

"Hey, Volkner! How're 'ya doing today?"

"Hello, Matt!" He replied, turning around. "I'm doing great. You still coming over for that last session today?"

"'Course I am! Wouldn't miss it for the world!" Matt said, grinning.

"Okay, see you at seven, then!"
And he walked into the Gym, probably to prepare for His and Matt's last training session before he set out on his journey.

Matt walked over to his private bathroom, after getting his favorite clothes from his closet, turned on the shower tap, waited until it was waited until it was warm, took off his clothes and stepped into the shower. He let the warm water wash over him for a second, and then started taking the actual shower. After about five minutes, he stepped out of the shower and dried himself off, and put on his clothes, A white collared shirt with a cross on it, and said "Jesus died for ME!"(his favorite), his very dark blue denim jeans, his socks and his cross necklace that he wore everywhere. His spiky white hair always sprung into a postion that went out to the left of his scalp slightly, and his red eyes were bright and cheerful.

He sprang down the small staircase leading to his room, as it was in the attic, ran through the hallway, being careful not to wake his baby brother, Aidan, and walked more carefully down the bigger staircase that leaded to the first story of his house.
As he had expected, his parents, Ceceilia and Luke, were sitting at the table, plates of Bacon, fried ham and sausage laid out in front of them. Matt took his place at the table, and said:

"Morning!"

"Morning." They said in unison.

Luke then said, as his son dug into his plate of food, "Matt, we're going to miss you, and so we bought you this, so we can keep in touch."

He handed Matt a strange red watch with one button on the side.

"What is it?" Matt asked.

"That, is the watch of your dreams. It's called a "Pokétch". It has a phone on it, a digital clock, and status screens for your Pokémon." Cecilia chimed in.

"Whoa... Thanks!" He replied, gratefully. he put it on, and returned to eating his breakfast.

"Matt! Slow down, your going to have a stomach attack!" Luke said.

"I can't. I have my last training session with Volkner at seven!"

"Ahh, that's right... I forgot."

"Well I didn't!" Matt said.

He continued shoveling his food down his throat until it was gone.

He bade farewell to his parents, shouldered his backpack, and stepped out into the sunny city.

((I hope this is acceptable.))

 

[Clydae]

It was indeed a beautiful day. Settled under a gnarled tree on a small grassy hill, Clydae tiled her head against the warm bark to observe the passing sky, however cloudless it was. She knew she was close to Sunnyshore as the soft roar of the ocean pressed against her ears. She closed her bright green eyes, considering for a moment what she was planning to do. She had always had a hard time leaving Pokemon behind, especially after catching them in the wild at level 3 and raising them to kick the pants off of the Sinnoh Elite Four and their champion. With a sigh, the elder teen, around the age of nineteen, opened her eyes, and stroked the grass at her side. She wore dark-wash jeans that were a size too big, and a loose belt that held six pokeballs. Also, she wore a dark green shirt with a black jacket that had silver wings printed onto the back that were slightly obscured by her curly,midnight brown hair that fell down past her shoulders, capped with a two-toned green knit beanie. Her bag currently lay at her side, but was a black, one-strap backpack with a bright green pokeball design. She reached for it now with a half-glove clad hand to fish out her poketch. She didn't like wearing it on her wrist, for it would conceal one of two simple tattoos. On each wrist was two letters, "dx" for the left and "dy" for her right. After checking their distance from the city, she leaned back against the tree once more with a contented half smile. She wished she would be content to stay here with the tree, the grass, the three stone spikes to her right...

Oh, that's right, the hill was moving. Or rather, he was walking. In reponse to the stroking, Clydae's large Torterra grunted happily. While most trainers would use a swifter form of transport (i.e. walking), today she wanted to prolong this last journey as long as she could. Clydae and the Torterra were to arrive in Sunnyshore City any moment now. And they weren't alone. Opposite to Clydae on the tree was a Lucario, standing against the trunk, face pensive and still. Intertwined within the stone spikes was the mischevious sea weasel Floatzel, and basking in the sun near the giant tortoise's head was the sole female of the team, a Luxray. Overhead circled a large Crobat, entertaining himself on the ocean air current that mixed with the inland breeze to give sporadic moments of lift for him to play. And lastly, circling the slow Torterra was a Rapidash, anxious to reach their destination.

The Rapidash, Zakh, soon got his wish as his hooves finally clacked on a paved walkway, a welcome change to the silence of traveling through grass and dirt. With this development, the firehorse gave a whinny of delight and pranced for a moment before realizing that he was in public now, and was supposed to look impressive and imposing. Clydae gave a laugh as Zakh tried to save face by switching to an instantaneous serious demeanor. The trainer then looked up at the familiar semi-transparent upper walkway/solar energy supply. She needed to tell Volkner about her plan to start over with a new underdog team. Literally. She needed him to understand that she would challenge him again with no expectation of a badge, but just for a record. She already had his badge safely in its case, and wasn't going to ever give it up. Hopefully he would remember her. He had been the most excited gym leader to be defeated. It had been a long time, however, but she still liked to think she made an impression. Or at least Telpe the Torterra that pretty much took Volkner on by himself.

With this in mind, she hoped to visit the gym leader with her team before she started her new adventure. Rousing Chetala the Luxray and Feanor the Floatzel, Clydae asked Telpe to stop, as he could not make it up the steps. Reluctantly, his passengers dismounted the grassy hill of a tortoise. She opted not to return the massive creature just yet, instead she gave yet another sigh.

"Look around, guys. You might not see Sunnyshore City for a long time. But I think you guys will like Cinnabar Island and Kanto." She held a hint of sadness in her voice as she herself looked around the city.

 

[Artiste]

Once he stepped outside, Matt was almost blinded at how bright it was. As soon as he had regained his eyesight, Matt started sprinting toward the Gym, only to smack into a tree.

"Yeouch!", Matt cried.

No, not a tree, Matt realized, but a Toterra, with a person, presumably the trainer, standing to the side, her assortment of pokémon all near the Grass-Ground typed pokemon.

"Oww....", He whispered, and then spoke to the trainer, "Hello. Sorry for smackin' into your Toterra, Miss."

He cast his eyes around at the pokemon. He could see, other than the Toterra, a Lucario standing against the tree on Toterra's back, a Floatzel, with a mischievous look in it's eye, a Luxray, and a Rapidash standing, impressively, and finally, a Crobat, hovering above the rest.

The trainer herself, was brown-haired, beanie perched on top, wearing a green shirt with a jacket over it, and loose bluejeans. Matt noticed two tattoos on her wrist. But the thing that most interested him was the Luxray.

Matt looked back at the trainer and said; "A Luxray, huh? I've got one, too."

 

[Clydae]

Clydae was pulled from her moment of sad reflection by a cry that came from behind her. She turned swiftly to see what was behind Telpe, finding a boy there where she found herself facing a boy who had just unfortunately ran straight into the large tortoise pokemon, who merely shifted his weight slightly at the minor disturbance of his gravity. Clydae smiled meekly, giving a sheepish chuckle. "Oh dear, sorry about that," she was quick to respond, hoping he wasn't too hurt or irritated. She beckoned for the Lucario to hop off his noble slow-moving steed. Once Argo was at her side, she snapped off a pokeball from her belt and recalled the Torterra back to his more compact, convenient location. Her half-gloved hands deftly returned the pokeball to its position on her belt where it had been for the last months of her journey, from the beginning of her time in Sinnoh. Her hand lingered there for a moment, before she realized that there was the boy still there from his not-so-pleasant encounter with Telpe.

"Oh, I'm sure he didn't notice. A Torterra isn't really the best thing to have sitting in the middle of the city anyway." She laughed lightly, putting her hand behind her neck as a nervous gesture. She gave a quick scan to the rest of her team, making sure they were all capable of staying out without causing anyone else any sort of bodily harm. With the comfort of the portable hill gone, Feanor and Chetala resigned themselves to lay on the warm stone of the city walkway. Clydae watched carefully to make sure Feanor didn't try anything funny, but once he was settled, the trainer was able to look back at the boy. At his words about her Luxray, Chetala, Clydae gave a silly grin. "Yeah? Chetala here was my first catch in Shinnoh. She's been with me since the beginning, just like Telpe, the walking roadblock and Feanor here, too," she gestured to the drowsy Floatzel who had managed to drape himself over the Luxray's back without any sort of harm.

Clydae realized that she was standing here in the middle of this boy's city with a full of team of pokemon and no introduction. "Oh, I'm Clydae, by the way. I'm here to talk to Volkner." She extended a half-gloved hand after doing a deft dirt check. The "dy" tattoo was clearly visible on her right wrist just above the glove-line. "I have his badge already, but I've got a new plan I have to tell him about." She decided to add, dashing any hopes of a gym battle. She feared that if she had another battle with her team, she wouldn't be able to leave them.

 

[Artiste]

((OOC: It's called "Sinnoh". xD))

"Oh. Well, nice to meet you, Clydae. I'm Matt." He replied. I was just going there, as well. I train with Volkner. Well, I did", He smiled. "My last lesson is today, as I'm setting off on my journey around Sinnoh."

His Luxray, Dusk, started shaking in his pokeball, obviously sensing the presence of a trainer.
In a flash of red light, as Matt released him, Dusk the Luxray appeared, and he howled.

"Not here, Dusk! We're in the middle of the city!" Matt whispered. He shifted his attention to Clydae, and said; "This is my Luxray, Dusk."

Dusk was different. He was a Shiny, but not in the traditional sense of the word. He was black where he should have been yellow, and white where he should have been blue. He had shocklingly red eyes that matched his trainer's.

"Luxray!" He replied. He then noticed Chetala, and walked over, to introduce himself, probably.

 

[Clydae]

At Matt's reply, she looked up at where the gym was perched above the central city below. "I see. Well, it would make sense that would train with a Luxray there, then." She laughed slightly, looking back at her own. Chetala felt that feeling that she was being watched, and raised her head to observe the younger trainer. She would have stood to move closer to the conversation if not for the four-foot sea weasel draped over her back. With an indignant grumble, she lay her head back down to try and listen to what the trainers were saying. Clydae looked back to Matt, noting his words about starting his Sinnoh adventure. "Oh? so you're going to travel Sinnoh with a fully evolved Luxray? I left all my pokemon back in Kanto when I started here. I started out at Twinleaf Town with Professor Rowan's level five Turtwig, soon to catch Chetala and Feanor at level two." With this said, Clydae couldn't help but break into a silly grin. She had always done that. New country, new start. Though often, she would call upon old friends to travel with her later in the game.

When Matt released his Luxray, the first to react was in fact Chetala, who rose a black brow at the strange-looking fellow of her species. Clydae made no external sign of surprise, but noted the outgoing nature of the creature, and his gregarious entrance.She merely observed as Dusk treaded towards Chetala. This will be good... Clydae thought to herself, watching with a slight smirk.

"Your Luxray is certainly outgoing." She noted out loud to the boy beside her, waiting not for Chetala's response, but Feanor's.

And, just as Clydae finished the thought, Feanor raised his head to look at the strangely-colored copy of his current perch. Deciding that a white Luxray would definitely be more comfortable then the current black one, Feanor hopped from Chetala's back, attempting to land himself across the back of the other electric perch. Feanor was lightning quick, one of his talents that lead Clydae to victory against the Elite Four. With this spectacle at hand, Clydae looked back to Matt once more,

"And yet, so is my Floatzel." She added with a soft chuckle. She paused for a moment, then gave a whistle to get Feanor's attention back. "Well, what do you say we head to that gym, eh?" She needed to do this quick or else she would start rethinking her plan.

 

[Artiste]

"Well, as for Dusk being fully evolved, my parents wouldn't let me go on a journey until I turned fifteen. And I turned fifteen last week. It's given me eight years to train him." He smiled again, and said; "I can't wait! And yeah, we should get in there."

With that, he motioned for Dusk to follow, and he sprinted into the Gym. The Off-color pokemon obliged immediately, as he didn't want a Floatzel taking a nap on his back.

Once Matt completed all of the puzzles the Gym had to offer, he leaped into Volkner's battle stadium, as he always did when he cleared the traps, only to see it completely decked out in the battle decorations.

"Heya, Volkner!" He said to his friend, who was standing on the other side of the stadium. "You've got a battle today? I didn't know. I can leave." He added.

"No need, Matt. Yes, I do have a battle today. Against a young trainer with a Luxray." Volkner replied.

Matt was puzzled. "How'd you know Clydae was coming?" He said.

"Haha, She called, but she's not the challenger, Matt. You are."

"Then who- WHAT?!" He practically screamed that last part. "ME? Why ME, of all people?"

"Because you won't have another chance until you come home. And that won't be for a while. Go, Luxray!" He threw a red and white pokeball into the air, and his prized Luxray came out in a flash of red light.

"Well, if you insist, Volkner. Dusk, let's go, bud!"

The Pokemon leaped forward, much like Matt did when he entered.

"Matt" Volkner called, "You can have the first move, you'll need it."

"Talkin' smack already? You must be confident. Dusk! Thunder Fang!" Matt said, calmly. He had prepared for this day for eight years. And he was going to win.

((OOC: Could you control Volkner, Clydae? I think I mentioned the battle determined by loser in the rules. I can't do it, it wouldn't be fair. xD))

 

[Clydae]

((Sure, I'll do my best. To save time, think we could just have the one pokemon for Volkner for this battle instead of his usual four? That would take a while ^^;)

Clydae was surprised at how quick the boy was to get a move on. Not up for running, but not up for getting left behind, Clydae gave a whistle, bringing the attention of Zakh the Rapidash. Clydae swiftly mounted the firehorse, having done so many times. "Get up to the gym, Zakh! Everyone else, follow us there." Zakh was quick to respond, happily running up the steps and over the solar walkway. Clydae had to duck to get through the automatic doors, but the puzzle was already done, so Clydae was able to arrive in time before the battle began. She gave a smirk, and steered her steed to Volkner's side of the arena, dismounting behind him. Her other pokemon were fast on her heels, and they gathered to watch the battle. Clydae released Telpe so she could have a grassy seat to witness the battle. Chetala watched with particular interest. She had taken on Volkner's Luxray some time ago, and watched curiously as to how her oddly-colored equivalent would fare.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once Matt had leased his first attack, Volkner was quick to repond. Matt's choice of thunder fang was interesting to be sure, but electric-on-electric attacks would make for a long battle.

"Luxray, take the hit on your side, but brace yourself!" Luxray did as he was told, though curious as to why he was being ordered to take damage. But when Dusk's electrified fangs made contact with Luxray, Volkner was quick to call out, "Now! Use Crunch while he's got you!" With this strategy, Dusk would have a rough time dodging a normal-effective attack. Luxray did take some damage from the Thunder Fang, though not very effective. The electricity melded with his own, but the bite almost made him unable to perform his Crunch, but Luxray was able to swing his head to deliver the dark attack.

 

[Artiste]

((OOC: THANK YOU! :3))

As the Crunch connected, Matt cringed for his white friend, but said; "Alrighty, that's just what I was waiting for! Dusk, jump back, and use Crunch, yourself!"

Crunch was moderately powerful, and with Rivalry, Dusk's trait, and Matt hoped it was going to leave Volkner at a disadvantage.

"Luxray!" With a cry, Dusk leaped back, and then leapt forward again, to get more power in his Crunch. Or so he thought.

((OOC: Thanks again, Clydae!))

 

[Clydae]

((Heh, I'm time-concious :3))

Volkner laughed lightly. Good strategy if he didn't give so much away. While Dusk was retreating back, Luxray wasn't going to just stand there for that hit.

"Luxray, dodge and use Charge Beam!"

Volkner watched as his own Luxray used it's high speed to dodge out of the way by jumping over the running Dusk. In transit, Luxray prepared his special attack, twisting his body so that when he landed, he was able to lease his Charge beam at Dusk who would probably be off balance from charging. It was an electric attack, yes, but it had a chance at paralysis, and would deal some sort of damage, which if Volkner was calculating right, he had the upper hand with.

"Come on, Matt! Give Dusk some credit, no need to yell out your entire strategy!" Volkner called to his young apprentice. He laughed heartily. The boy was doing well, he had to admit. Unfortunately, Dusk's Rivalry would have been canceled out by the opposite effect presented by his own Luxray's Intimidate upon its entrance into battle.

 

[Artiste]

At Volkner's words, Matt's brain started working furiously.
I have to find a way to communicate without speaking! Argh!

A voice said in Matt's head.

Not just any voice.... That was Dusk! Can you hear me, buddy? He thought.

Dusk replied.



While they were figuring out the method, that Charge Beam was coming. And fast!



He obliged, and set up a Special Attack reflecting shield, warding off damage, already low because of Luxray's low Special Attack. It made contact, as Matt knew it would.



He shot forward, and Luxray, unable to dodge, took the damage.

And, he took it with a small flinch of pain.

With the delay that Giga Impact causes, Volkner found his chance.

"Luxray." He whispered, as the pokemon was close enough to hear, "Charge, now".

"Ray!" He replied.

Volkner smiled. It was over.

"Discharge". It was little more than a murmer, but Matt heard, and he knew this battle was over. The pokemon's move shot towards Dusk like a rocket, and Dusk, unable to move from the energy lost, was hit with the full brunt of it.

He fell. Matt ran over to him, too afraid for his pokemon's health to be dissapointed, and said; "Dusk, are you alright?"

He replied.

"Dusk! No, I have to get him to the pokemon center!"

"I'll come with you, Matt." Said Volkner.

"Okay, I've gotta move! You coming, Clydae?"

Without waiting for an answer, he sprinted out of the Gym, past the traps, and out into the harsh sunlight, Volkner close behind.

 

[Clydae]

Man this kid's got energy, Clydae thought quickly as she jumped off her hilltop pokemon, swiftly removing four of the six pokeballs from her belt. "Feanor, Chetala, Rauko, Telpe, Return!" As the floatzel, Luxray, Crobat, and Torterra disappeared in a flash of red, Clydae mounted Zakh once more, and Argo was close behind. Without needing any sort of command, Zakh took off out of the gym to catch up with Volkner and Matt. Leaping over the puzzle traps, the Rapidash made it out of there in no time, allowing for Clydae to see the two turn the corner down the steps for the Pokecenter. Going down steps was not the most comfortable of feats for Zakh, but he took the steps as fast as his hooves could make sturdy contact with each stone step. Finally, they were down, and Clydae hopped off her mount, returned him to his pokeball and ran into the pokecenter with a skid. With a heavy sigh, Clydae used Argo for support to lean on.

"Is Dusk alright, Matt?" Clydae managed to ask through heavy breathing. They had sprinted so quickly to the Pokecenter, and Clydae didn't have a clear view of what exactly had happened. She gathered that Volkner had yet again bested the young trainer, and Dusk might have been pushed a little far with that Giga Impact. Even with eight years of training, Dusk's battle experience had to be fairly limited with so few trainers around. But Clydae was concerned with the pokemon's well-being at the moment, waiting to hear what Matt or Nurse Joy had to say on the matter. Seeing as it was a normal battle, nothing could be too serious. Or so she dared to hope.

 

[Artiste]

As Clydae rushed in, breathless, Matt tried his best to look upbeat, but he was still worried out of his skull.

"We don't know yet. I hope so. He's my best friend..." Replied Matt, all traces of his upbeat, energetic persona gone.

"I'm terribly sorry, Matt... I didn't mean to get him that bad..." Said Volkner, downcast.

"S'okay, Volkner. You didn't know. I'm sure He'd be saying the same thing." He smiled. "And he will! He will get better! I'm sure of it."

"Good 'ol Matt! Haha."

Their conversation was interrupted by Nurse Joy, one of the hundreds, walking in the room, a Chansey pushing a cart with a pokemon on it. Not just any pokemon, Dusk!

"Dusk! You alright, buddy?" Matt said, rushing over to see him.



Matt conveyed the message. "Dusk says thanks for the terrific battle, Volkner."

"Dusk says...? How do you know what he's saying?" Said Volkner, confused.

"As I figured out in the battle," He lowered his voice, "I'm telepathic!"

"AMAZING!" Yelled Volkner. Thankfully, as Sunyshore was a quiet town with little to no trainers, he wasn't overheard. "Oops, sorry".

((OOC: Giving you a chance, xD)

 

[Clydae]

Clydae observed the conversation quietly. Still leaning on Argo, she took the time to study the interaction between Volkner and Matt. It was a very Volkner-ish thing to do, taking on an apprentice. And it looked like he picked a pretty good one. Clydae's emerald eyes fell upon the stoic Lucario that served as her support. She frowned slightly, as he was being very quiet. He was alway quiet in speech, but he was quiet with his actions today, as well. Sometimes Clydae cursed his intelligence. Lucario were known to understand human speech, but Argo understood beyond that. He was an interpreter of emotion and body language. Clydae suspected that he knew what her next plan of action was. But yet again, now wasn't the time. Both their attentions were averted when the healed Dusk was wheeled out of the treatment center.

Clydae removed herself from the comfort of Argo's shoulder to step towards the cart where Dusk was being held. She knew how Matt was feeling. Clydae had a problem with getting too emotionally connected to her teams, even to the point where she had an emotional crisis when she considered substituting a single member of her team for a new pokemon. She also kept her pokemon out as much as possible so that they could bond with each other. Which gave another reason for her reluctance to change any aspect of her team.

But her thoughts were yet again diverted when Matt said something about Dusk speaking. At Volkner's reaction, Clydae couldn't help but burst into a fit of laughter. "Com'on Volkner, you can't say you've never encountered a telepathic trainer thus far, can you? Man, you need to get out. Visit Kanto's Sabrina, she'll teach you a thing or two about telepathy." Clydae was honestly surprised that Volkner questioned Matt's ability. Clydae herself had met many followers of Sabrina who took that tactic to the max. And many trainers grow to understand their pokemon's speech, if not their thoughts. Clydae didn't boast the talent herself, but she had a similar silent tactic for commanding her own battles. But that would come later. Right at that moment, she had to interrupt this revelation.

"Volkner, you got my call, right? I'm going to be challenging you again in the future with a brand new team just to see if I can. I know you Sinnoh gym leaders don't usually do rematches, but it will be completely different, and the other gym leaders have already agreed."

It was surprisingly difficult for her to say, knowing that she would have to do the deed of changing her entire team in mere moments. She looked at Argo sadly. The Lucario was turned away, pretending to be interesting in something in the opposite corner of the pokecenter.

 

[Artiste]

Matt's eyes almost bugged out at Clydae's attack on Volkner's love of staying at the Gym, yet Volkner himself said nothing.
Then, he almost burst out laughing, and was hard put to stop it.

Once he got himself under control, Matt said; "Are you really starting over? I can't imagine that, probably because I only have Dusk, and wouldn't EVER leave him anywhere. I might take that advice, instead of Volkner, Clydae."

Said Dusk.

He replied.



Matt said, mockingly.





He was roused from this silent immaturity arguement by the Lucario. He was looking at a corner of the pokemon center, looking anywhere but at Clydae, it seemed.

"Hey, Clydae, any tips for my journey?" Matt finally said, breaking the silence.

 

[Clydae]

wouldn't EVER leave him anywhere... This statement of Matt's tore away at her heart, seeing what she was about to do, and what she had been forced to do in her journeys in the different countries. She had to close her eyes for a moment to hold back a tear. She couldn't start now, or she'd never get through what would have to come next. Her eyes sadly drifted to Argo. She should have returned him to hes pokeball before, but she couldn't do it now. He knew already, and it was no use blocking him from it now. Clydae slowly slid off her hat, ruffing up her dark near-black hair. But she wrung her had to try and ease her nerves. Her gaze fell on Volkner. She knew he loved staying in the gym, but a recluse is still a recluse, and there was a lot to learn out there, even if it meant simply to get in touch with his fellow gym leaders. But that was an issue already of the past as Matt had requested her advice on his journey. She gave a soft smile, eyes downcast once more. She took a breath.

"Yeah, I have some advice. First off, never be afraid to try something new from your normal habits, you might jut be surprised. Second, each pokemon is unique, even within a species, so never expect the ordinary from any one pokemon. Thirdly, if a pokemon of you team doesn't seem to carry its weight, don't give up if you can help it, they'll come through at the most unexpected times. Even if you catch a pokemon because you have to, don't be afraid to connect with it, you might just find something there you never thought could be there. And never, ever let anyone tell you that you are raising the wrong kind of pokemon because they are just common, average fighters that are around just to start you out and should be traded out for something better. And lastly... never be afraid to make the effort with a pokemon; if it's a new addition later in your journey or is lagging behind or seemingly not improving, train him anyway, you might just get the strongest addition to your team."

Throughout her list, Argo's eyes slowly drifted back to his suffering trainer. He knew where this list came from. The first piece of advice was in regard to Telpe, as Clydae had never chosen the grass starter in any country before. Second was Chetala because electric pokemon are supposed to have speed, but Chetala was naturally slower, but had the highest defense of any Luxray around, as well as an impressive attack stat. Third and fourth were Rauko and Zakh. Fifth was probably Clydae's most amazing feat- Feanor. Chided for not swapping her Floatzel for her Gyarados, Clydae was determined to take the little weasel to the top, and she did. But the last piece of advice cause d Argo to step back to his trainer, placing a soft paw on her arm. It was him.

 

[Artiste]

Matt knew he had struck a nerve. Matt said.

Dusk replied.

As the Lucario stepped up up and layed it's hand on her, Matt realized, for the first time, the bond Clydae had with her pokemon.
And she was starting over. Matt couldn't imagine that, not for a second.

"I'm very very sorry, Clydae... I didn't mean to hurt your feelings..." Matt said, downcast.

"Matt..." Volkner piped up, "You're the same as you've always been! Hahahahaha".

Dusk said.
Matt almost burst out laughing again, but stopped himself just in time, knowing that he had hurt his new friend's feelings, and he was determined to fix it!

"Anything I can do to fix what I said, Clydae?" Matt said, ignoring Volkner, who was still laughing. "I didn't mean it, really."

 

[Clydae]

Clydae's hands continued to wring her hat, her now messy locks falling over her eyes. She took a steadying breath, calmed by Argo's hand on her arm. She couldn't look him in the eye, but she could feel his understanding. It was too much for her. But she knew that Argo and the rest of her team trusted her and had the utmost confidence in her and all of her decisions. She couldn't waver now. She had a mission to really prove herself, and prove to people that it isn't the pokemon that determines its strength, but the effort of its training. She knew she made the first step with Feanor. A well-trained Floatzel is just as good as a well-trained Gyarados. But now it was time to take it to the next level. She took another steadying breath, hearing Matt's words, and deciding to block out Volkner's words all together.He really needed to get out of that gym every once in a while. Learn some tact, as well as some things about the world. But that was beside the point. She took her hat, shook it out, and moved her hair out of her face to replace it. She had to do this now.

"It's okay, Matt. I hope that you don't have to do what I have had to do now four times. But you can't keep thirty pokemon with you at once." She paused for a moment, and finally looked at the pokecenter's PC, a monster that seemed like the worst possible fiend right now. "But it's not like I'm releasing them or anything. I'm sending them back home. To be with my past teams. And I'll have to call on them eventually for some help."

She was trying to rationalize her decision again. But she just had to do it now. "Well, here goes. I have to check in with Oak before I say goodbye." Walking to the PC, she took out a card of some sort, and swiped it through the high-tech machine. The screen distorted into what seemed to be an older operating system. She scrolled through the menu, and finally found the link to contact professor Oak back in Kanto. He was often in Sinnoh looking at the new pokemon, but she requested that he be back in Kanto today to receive her team personally. Logging in to the system, she was greeted with two great gleeful roars instead of the professor's face. Clydae laughed with delight.

"Hey Matt, come meet two of my other pokemon, Vash the Charizard and Sinatin the Typhlosion back in Kanto!" On the screen, the two fire pokemon had apparently forced the professor from his desk in order to greet their trainer. She smiled and placed a hand on the screen, nostalgic thoughts running through her head. Finally, Oak managed to squeeze on the screen between the two large beasts. came Oak's voice over the PC sound system. Clydae nodded slowly, and Oak got th message.

 

[Artiste]

((OOC: That was a long one, huh? Kinda sad, too. xD))

Matt was on the verge of tears after watching Clydae's display of love towards her pokemon. And when she said that last sentence to Argo, he couldn't help but smile.

Matt gathered himself, and said; "Boy... That was a tear-jerker, huh Volkner?"

"Sniff... Yeah... sniff..." He replied, barely holding the flow of tears that were waiting back. He had procured a tissue from somewhere, and was dabbing his eyes as he spoke.

Matt said to his friend.











Matt checked his Pokétch, and it said 12:30 PM.

"Yikes! My plane is about to leave! I've gotta move!" He said, excitedly.

"Where are you going?" Asked Volkner.

"Oreburgh. To start at the first Gym." Matt replied. "I'll be back here someday, to whoop you, Volkner!"

"I'll be waiting. See you."

"Bye!" And he ran out the door.

I sure do run a lot... Matt thought. Hahahaha.

The Airport of Sunyshore loomed in the distance, getting closer every second.

 

[Shiny Motley]

Sighing heavily, Sarah looked around the near-empty plane. She seemed to be the only passenger besides an old man. What was taking the plane so long for departure?

Prima, her Kirlia, tugged at her wavy brown hair from behind for about the 10th time. Looking behind, Sarah replied, "What is it? You've been pulling on my hair for the last 10 minutes straight! What can be so important that you need to pull my hair!?"
Prima stared back at Sarah with her mesmerizing eyes. Prima asked, or, rather, thought. Being a psychic Pokemon, it was normal for Prima to use telepathy to help communicate her thoughts. Sarah shrugged. Looking down at her watch, she saw that the flight was 5 minutes late for take-off.

Kia, Sarah's Eevee, leaped onto her lap, knocking her glasses askew. She yawned widely. Must be getting kinda late, Sarah thought. Looking outside, she saw that the sky was still bright. Sleepyhead, she thought.

 

[Artiste]

((OOC: BOY, S_E, you've gotten a LOT better! I'm amazed at how fast you learn. I think I know why, though.))

BIC:
The Airport was chock-full of early morning travelers, and Matt had a rough time getting through to the receptionist's desk.
Once he got there, he was completely frantic.

"Hi! Um, here's my ticket." Matt said hurriedly.

The receptionist was dressed in the traditional Airport garb of Sunyshore, a Sky-blue top, with the same color pants, and shoes, and cap.

"Okay", She said, handing him his ticket back. "You're all set, and your Gate number is Fourteen. Better hurry, the flight leaves in five mintutes."

"Thanks! Bye!"

"Have a nice day!"

"You too."

He took off running toward Gate Fourteen, at full speed. With Matt, that was fast.

"Flight 24 bound for Oreburgh leaving in three minutes!" Blared a voice over the intercom.

As he reached the gate, the attendent was just closing the door.

"Wait! I need to get on that flight!" Matt called, waving his ticket like he'd seen on TV.

"Cutting it close, aren't 'ya? Here, hand me your ticket." He took it, and punched a hole in it, too Matt's confusion. "Here you go, hurry!"

"Thank you! Have a nice day!"

"You took the words right outta my mouth, kid."

He took the last part of the tunnel at a run, making it on to the plane just in time.

 

[Clydae]

((OOC: Yeah, may or may not be a novel instead of a post And boy I was sad xD And yay, new RPer to join us!))

While Clydae was planning on staying with Argo clasped in her arms as long as she would let him, she remembered that she was being watched. With a sniff and swift half-gloved hand to wipe her eyes, she completed her PC transaction with the withdrawal of five eggs. Not pokeballs, but eggs. She really meant it when she said starting over. She stowed the small eggs in her pouch, and turned to Matt and Volkner, who looked like a complete mess. But before she could attempt to speak after that whole ordeal, Matt and Dusk were off again, saying something about a flight. She stared for a moment, then remembered that she had to catch that very same plane with no pokemon to fly her there (she refused to reverse the drama by asking Rauko to fly her there already). She had tickets in her pocket, one for her, one for her friend Rusco who was unable to make it, so she handed the ticket to Argo.

 

[Shiny Motley]

"WHAT is going on here!?" shrieked Sarah. She was waiting for a long time, and decided not to keep track of time. Right after she said that, a girl rushed in with a Lucario and took a nearby seat. About half an hour later, she saw a boy also dashing in. Right after he came in, she heard a door slam behind her. About time too, she thought as the plane started moving. Lucky they got on right before take-off.

Soon after lift-off, Kia woke up. She looked up at Sarah in a kind of pleading way. "I want some breakfast," she whimpered. Sarah smiled and took a piece of bread from her purse and fed it to Kia. "You better eat fast, we're going to land pretty soon," Sarah purred.

Purred? Sarah looked around. Nobody seemed to be looking at her. Relieved, she continued watching Kia ripping apart her toast. Sarah really wanted to keep it secret: she could understand Eevees, and knew how to speak their language.

You better be a bit more careful, she thought to herself. Soon, the world will come to see you, the amazing Eevee-communicator.

 

[Artiste]

The flight attendent lead Matt(He had returned Dusk to follow the rules) to the plane, adn once he stepped on, looking around. The only other people on the plane was an elderly man, a young girl with a Kirlia, and Clydae?

He went over to Clydae, and said; "How'd you pass me, Clydae? I didn't even see you!"

He sat down, and looked around again. The young girl, who had seemed young from afar, wasn't so young, after all. She wore glasses, and an Eevee was sitting on her lap, the Kirlia playing with her hair.
The elderly man was dressed in a casual grey suit, with loafers, and his greying hair was short. He was sitting attentively in his seat, waiting for takeoff.

Matt turned back to Clydae, and said; "So, how DID you pass me?"'

The plane took off, and they had arrived just in time.

((OOC: YAY, new member, and YAY, it's S_E.))

 

[Clydae]

Clydae spotted Matt finally rushing through the door, and she chuckled as she heard the door shut on his heels. As he approached with his question, she frowned slightly. "You didn't see us? Argo here gave me an agility piggy-back ride!" she grinned slightly, patting the indignant Lucario by her side. Argo gave a grumble of discontent, as it had been mildly humiliating, but at least if Matt didn't see, no one really did. Clydae smirked at her companion, then looked back to Matt, "You cut it close there, Matt. Lucky you made it, huh?" She laughed slightly, and remembered that he had left before the end of her PC transaction. The thought was an instant downer, but at least now she had something to show for all the trauma.

"Hey Matt, check it out. I didn't do all that weepy goodbye for nothing, you know." And that said, she removed her bag from the seat in front of her, and opened the top zipper of the backpack, showing the five different colored eggs that were gently packed inside. "My new start is in here." She smiled slightly, hoping that this would make her separation from her team worth it. She hoped the eggs would hatch soon after arriving in town, or else she would be dead weight on this little adventure of hers. But that thought was pushed aside as she took a moment to scan the plane, spotting the other trainer. Before she spoke, Argo interrupted her thoughts,

 

[Artiste]

"Eggs...?" Matt replied, shocked at the severity of her 'Starting Over'. "You're kidding, right?"

As Argo winked at Clydae, Matt asked; "What is it? What's the joke?" He looked at them both blankly.

Inquired Dusk.

Matt replied.





The girl in the glasses' Eevee had awoken, and was eating something. Toast, it looked like.

((OOC: S_E, it's twelve-thirty five in the afternoon. xD))

 

[Shiny Motley]

((OCC: Oops. I'll change my post.))

Ah, at last, there were some noisier companions. Bored, Sarah decided to introduce herself to the two trainers. She was particularly interested in the young lad. Putting on her best smile, she walked up to them. "Hello! Nice to meet you! My name is..."

But before she could finish her thought, something came bounding toward her and knocked her off balance. "Ow, hey! Hadn't I told you NOT to tackle me while we were on the plane?"

"Whoops. Sorry, I forgot," smiled Kia in her usual way. Sarah rolled her eyes.

Brushing herself up, Sarah decided to start over. "Hello! My name is Sarah. And this is my Eevee, Kia. Oh, and that over there is my Kirlia, Prima. We're on our way to Oreburgh to battle our first gym and..."

"Get to the point already, jerk!" growled Kia.

"Well, then why don't YOU try introducing yourself?" Sarah replied in an undertone. "And stop interupting me!"

But Sarah seemed to forget what she was going to say to the two trainers, and so just tried to rap up by asking, "So, um, what are your names, sir and mam?"

 

[Artiste]

"Matt", the he replied. "Nice to meet you, Sarah. What a mischevous Eevee." He smiled.
He made sure there was nobody around, and then let out Dusk.

"This is my Luxray, Dusk."

The white and black Luxray said;

"Dusk says it's nice to meet you, Sarah."

 

[Clydae]

At Matt's question, she laughed lightly. "No, not kidding. I wouldn't go through that whole ordeal to do the exact thing over again!" She smiled, but that smile faded slightly as Matt asked what Argo's little 'joke' was. She sneered at her Lucario, and shoved him in the face as she turned back to Matt, "Oh, it's nothing, Argo's just being a little jerk," she replied. And Argo gave some sort of muffled laugh from behind his trainer's hand. They acted like siblings, or friends that were a little too close. But this was discarded for the time being, and Clydae released the dog-like face. Her attention was almost immediately diverted as she observed the unknown trainer come over to greet them. But it seems that she wasn't so good at the secrecy thing as she snapped at her Eevee who had apparently interrupted the poor girl. As Matt introduced himself, Clydae gave a small waring glare to Argo, who seemed to be in the mood to mess with her. But then, it was Clydae's turn to introduce herself. The elder teen looked to the Eevee, then to it's trainer with a light smile.

"I'm Clydae. And this is Argo."

She gestured to the Lucario at her side, who sat with his arms crossed, eyes slightly narrowed in keen observation. Clydae sighed slightly, "He's being a jerk at the moment, sorry." As she apologized, she gave a sharp jab with her elbow to Argo's side, who jumped in his seat slightly. Not to be outdone, Argo looked up at the new trainer with most innocent puppy eyes he could muster. And, he decided to send a mental broadcast for all present to hear,



Clydae was surprised that Argo decided to go public with his speech, but just huffed and rolled her eyes at his antics.

 

[Artiste]

Matt's eyes widened at Argo's little phrase.

"Hahahaha. Obnoxious, aren't 'ya, Argo?" He said, leaning down to pet Kia. "Adorable little pokemon, Eevees."

Piped Dusk.



He looked about ready to hit Matt with a Giga Impact, but when he spoke, he was calm.

Matt replied.

 

[Shiny Motley]

Smiling, Sarah replied, "Oh, Argo doesn't look like a jerk. He actually looks quite cute." Then looking up at the boy, Sarah said, "Matt, eh? Nice name. I'm glad you think Eevees are cute. Of course, I think so too. Kia's been with me since the beginning."

Kia started purring under Matt's touch. Sarah smiled. "I never really bothered to evolve her, though. She's not too keen about evolution, herself. Too many choices. Prima is anxious to evolve, though. She jumps every time she gains a level."

"Too true," whispered Kia. "I never know if I should be Espeon, Umbreon, Flareon, or Jolteon."

"Shut up," Sarah mumbled. Looking at Clydae, she asked, "What're doing with so many eggs? Wanting to start a team from scratch or something?"

 

[Clydae]

Argo smiled smugly at the contradiction to Clydae's accusation of jerk-ness. But Clydae dismissed him with another roll of her bright green eyes, and turned her attention back on to the young trainer. Clydae observed the Eevee closely, refraining from answering it's inquiry directly. Instead she decided to answer the Eevee as if answering the trainer, "I would vote Umbreon or Flareon, personally." Near the end of her statement, Clydae's eyes flicked back to the Eevee. But then Sarah noted, like Matt, her excess of eggs. Clydae chuckled slightly as she pulled her bag to her lap, extracting one of the eggs from it to observe it. She was happy to note that this one was close to hatching. The others, on the other hand, weren't quite so close. Clydae sighed lightly, needing to answer Sarah's question.

"Sort of. You see, I've kinda already maxed out my possibilities here in Sinnoh, so I'm not starting, but starting over. Here, see this,"

Clydae ruffled through another pocket of her back to pull out her trainer case. She dusted off the top of the case where a picture of each gym was embossed. Che clicked open the case, where eight decently polished badges lay in soft black bedding. She handed it to Sarah. To add to the effect, Argo found where he stored his champion badge, the one bestowed upon pokemon to defeat the elite four.

"So, I have a team of unlikely pokemon waiting to hatch. To see what kind of trainer I really am. I'll be satisfied if I can take this team to the top."

Clydae huffed lightly, as she remembered the difficulty of her planned task, considering the pokemon within the eggs. But it was a team that she had pondered forming since her first journey eight years ago, so she was finally ready to do it.

 

[Artiste]

"Hmm... So that's why..." Whispered Matt. "I was wondering what the reason was".

Said Dusk.









Matt's attention snapped to the front. An attendant was coming.

"Dusk", He said, worriedly, "There's an attendant coming! Return." He took out his pokeball, and returned him in a flash of red light.

Dusk said.

 

[Shiny Motley]

Seeing an attendant, Sarah quickly rushed back to her seat.

said Prima in a slightly cool way.

"Nah, of course not. The subject just never turned on you, that's all."

growled Prima.

"Come ON! You know, they were really interested in Kia! And what did you do? Sit in your seat like a statue. Come ON Prima, we all know you're more powerful than Kia! Just think; once we start battling, they'll see how awesome you are."



Sighing, Sarah slumped in her seat. "You just wait," she mumbled. "You just wait and see."

Just then the attendant came up to them. "Is anything wrong?" she asked her.

Sarah shook her head. "Nope. Can I have a glass of water?"

"Of course."

As the attendant walked away, Prima asked,

 

[Clydae]

Clydae snapped her trainer case shut as everyone dispersed. Replacing it and her recently black trainer card in her bag, Clydae took no notice of the attendant. She conveniently skipped over the row with the now death-glare dealing Lucario so they didn't have to deal with any interruptions. Clydae sighed slightly, looking closely at the eggs in her bag. Argo, after giving a rather large yawn, glanced at Clydae's glossed over face as she peered into the bag.

 

[Artiste]

As everyone went back to their seats, Matt started wondering what he was going to do against Roark. He was a Leader who used the Rock and Ground types to his advantage... Dusk wouldn't be able to take much punishment from a Ground type.

Hmm... I wonder if I'll be able to find something to beat Roark's Pokemon... It'd have to be a Water, or Grass type. Ground would work on the Rock Pokemon, but not on the Pokemon of the same type. Matt thought.

Dusk said.

Matt replied.





He turned to Clydae, and said; "What do you think I should do against Roark, Clydae? I only have Dusk."

 

[Clydae]

Clydae was staring into space while idly stroking Argo's sleeping head. Lost in thought, she was brought back by Matt's voice addressing her. She blinked away the clouds over her eyes in order to focus enough for cognitive speech. Turning around in her seat as best she could without disturbing Argo, she pondered the question for a moment. It was a valid question. As high of level as Dusk apparently was, a gym of rock pokemon would inevitably have a large enough arsenal of ground attacks to take out most electric pokemon. Even Chetala with her high defense wouldn't go unharmed in the Oreburgh gym. Oreburgh, Oreburgh... she thought to herself for a moment, picturing the Town Map in her head. To the west will be Route 3, which if I remember correctly.... Ah, yes. The picture was complete finally in her head, and she gave a nod to Matt. She supposed if he was going to take on the rock gym, he was definitely going to need to capture another pokemon. And Clydae knew of at least two helpful pokemon to search for that would not only help him defeat Roark but be of great use later.

"Well, there's plenty of Starly around, but the rock attacks would murder it, too. They aren't held in very high regard, but There are plenty of Bidoof around. And if you took a little time to evolve it, it gains the water type as a Bibarel. Plus, Bibarel can learn most of the useful HMs you'll need to get around, so they are great pokemon to keep around or in storage. But another lucky option since Oreburgh happens to lie directly east of Route 203, you can try and find an Abra. I have a pokeradar that could probably help you out in that endeavor, but you have to catch it in one move or else it will teleport away. While an Abra won't necessarily hold up as well against Roark as a Bibarel, a Kadabra later would probably benefit you as a permanent or temporary team member in the long run."

Clydae ended her data-like ramble with a short nod, and added quickly, "but I still recommend a Bibarel for your HMs later." She gave a small smile, remembering Pioka in her box back at the PC. The little beaver was always happy in serving as the HM mule, allowing for better access to the entire Sinnoh region. "Oh, and if you plan on having a Gyarados later, I would suggest fishing for a Magikarp now. They are a pain and a half to train up enough to evolve." Another one of her box pokemon, Cheeze. She thought for a moment before hesitantly adding, "Or, I could give you mine. He's at level thirty-five, so he wouldn't obey you until your third badge or so, but he could take Roark with his eyes closed." She chuckled lightly. Even if Gyarados didn't always obey, the one out of five chance for each turn that he did would easily take out any of Roark's pokemon. Both his water and ice moves were super-effective, and his dragon attacks were just plain powerful. Add in flying type to avoid all ground attacks, and you have the perfect Roark-defeating machine. She couldn't keep Cheeze around anyway, nor could she send him back home with her other pokemon due to her territorial red Gyarados from the Lake of Rage. They wouldn't get along, probably ending in one of them getting seriously hurt.

 

[Artiste]

"Um, yours? I couldn't do that...And besides, I don't want to lose by the Gyarados disobeying me. I'll catch a Magikarp- Oh, that's right! My friend lives in Kanto, and I could trade him a Sinnoh Pokemon for a Kanto Pokemon that could take Roark!", Matt said, excitedly. "He's always wanted a Staravia, for some reason".

Said Dusk.





"We will be landing in Oreburgh in five hour's time." Said a voice over the intercom.

"I could trade a Staravia for a Squirtle. My friend works at Professor Oak's lab. How does that sound? And, FIVE HOURS?"

 

[Shiny Motley]

Five hours.... there must be a mistake. Looking down at her watch, she saw that it it was actually ... WAIT! The watch was wrong, because for some odd reason, the watch said 12:00 am, though the sky was pretty bright. Oh, no, not again, she thought. Looking at a pokeball on her brown belt (EVERYTHING was brown on Sarah.), she quickly looked around, then let out a Shinx. Thunder purred in an innocent way.

"Okay, I need an explanation. WHAT did you do to my watch this time? Put so much electricity in it so that it broke?"

Thunder smiled and shook his head. "Liar," Sarah said.

The Shinx started to laugh a bit. Sparks were flying off everywhere. Kia growled at him.

"Okay, I take that as a yes. So, can you fix my watch for me?"

Thunder looked at the watch for a short moment, then yanked it off with an almighty snap. Then, he started to rip apart the watch as ferociously as possible. "No, stop!" Afraid of causing a commotion, Sarah quickly returned Thunder into his pokeball. THAT is why you should always keep him in. He's so mischievous, and strong, that Thunder, Sarah thought.

 

[Clydae]

She refrained from laughing. It would take quite a lot of work for any of Roark's pokemon to take down Cheeze, but Clydae simply gave a casual shrug, though she worried about what exactly she would do with her Gyarados. She had caught him as such a weak Magikarp that releasing him wasn't an option. And she wasn't fond of keeping too many pokemon in storage. It had to get boring in there. But she couldn't think about that know, as it wasn't much of a pressing issue. She listened to Matt as he mentioned a Kanto trainer giving their Squirtle for a Starly. Before she could comment, Zakh sent her a mental message, . She rolled her eyes, and gave him a soft flick on the ear before turning back to Matt. "That must be a really good friend of yours, Matt. Not many trainers would take a Starly for a Squirtle." She gave a slightly nervous laugh, thinking of what Argo had said. She sure wouldn't make that sort of trade, but it wasn't her place to say anything else on the subject.

Instead, Clydae's attention was averted by Sarah's newly released pokemon that seemed to be giving quite a bit of trouble to its trainer. Clydae had to contain a chuckle, though she felt for Sarah's plight. Chetala could sure teach him a thing or two. And he would love Feanor- but her nostalgic thoughts were interrupted yet again by Argo's voice in her head,