Open Growing Up Early

[=Nightshade=]

Hey Charmers! I’m so glad you decided to take a look at my RP. Here’s the discussion thread: https://pokecharms.com/threads/growing-up-early-rp-discussion.21972/#post-831590

Cairo screamed at the top of her lungs as the Ursaring drew back its massive claws. Father, then mother, cut down in the space of a few seconds. Gasping, the six-year-old girl scrambled backwards, wanting to be anywhere but there.
Suddenly, a flash of white! As the Ursaring's blow came down, an Absol cut across its path. One claw sliced Cairo across the face, but she was otherwise unharmed. Crying, she huddled against the back wall as the shadows of the two battling Pokemon danced in the waning light.
The Ursaring lumbered back into the woods, howling. The Absol turned. Sniffed at the girl. Cairo looked up and tentatively patted the Absol's head. She pressed one hand to her face where the Ursaring had wounded her and said, "Ow."
The Absol touched its horn to the girl's head. A soft light emanated, and the cut healed itself. Cairo threw her arms around the Absol's neck in gratitude.
For the next few years, the two were inseperable, living in the forest and eating berries, sleeping in trees, and just having a great time. On the edge of town at sunset, Cairo and her partner would always watch as the sun slid beneath the horizon.
Pulling on clothing she had sewn from leaves and plant fibers, she stood up. "What do you think?" she asked Absol.
Absol replied by tackling the girl. They wrestled for a few minutes, then Cairo stood up. She was eleven now, and wanted to see the world.
"Ever wonder what's out there, Absol?" she asked. Absol tilted its head in agreement. "What do you say we go and find out?"

 

[Brecker]

"Ugh, seriously? You won't even TRY it for me?"
Ari's Deino growled at him in response.
"I-I'm your trainer! you're supposed to do as I say! S-so please, just this once?" Ari was starting to well up...
"DeiNOOO!!!" The pokemon barked at him angrily, and snapped at his feet before storming off.
Ari sighed and slumped down against the trunk of a tree. He watched as his Deino disappeared into the brush. This is not what he had in mind for himself when he ran away from home... He took a moment to wipe his eyes before fumbling around for the last empty pokeball in his bag.
"This is my last chance..." he thought to himself. "One of these days Deino might not come back, and if I don't have a pokemon of my own by then... I'll be all alone."
Ari rose to his feet and slapped himself in the face in an attempt to clear his head and harden his resolve.
"Alright, let's do this!" Pokemonless, and with a single pokeball in hand, he made his way into the woods.

 

[=Nightshade=]

Cairo breathed in deeply, took one last glance down at Absol, then proceeded to leap down the path into the city. But she had hardly taken her first step when a crashing from the woods behind her made her jump a foot in the air. A Deino came tearing out of the woods like it was being chased by a serial killer. As she turned, it ran into her legs, then looked up at her in terror. She immediately dropped down to eye level with the Deino.
"Hey," she whispered, so as not to frighten it more. "Hey, where did you come from?" Calming down, the Deino curiously looked around Cairo to her Absol, which came forward to touch noses with it. "Do you have a Trainer? You sure don't look wild."

 

[Captain Cardboard]

The blue haired man made his way through the forested undergrowth, a large backpack on his back and a grin on his face. This wasn't the man's first time backpacking off trails, and it certainly wasn't going to be his last. Also on his back, underneath his backpack, a sword's hilt poked out over his shoulder. He wore well-worn hiking boots, along with blue jeans and a blue t-shirt. On his face, a scar across his nose and cheek could be seen. From his belt hung 5 Pokeballs.

Robin had been hiking through the backcountry for a few days now, but judging from his map, he was getting close to a city. That was great! He was running kind of low on food, it would be a perfect place to restock and maybe earn a bit of coin.
"Plu, plu!" The Plusle on Robin's other shoulder said happily. Robin simply nodded in response, ducking under another branch as he continued on is way.
"We're getting close, Cherry. At least by the end of the day, we'll be in the city." Robin said. It was about that moment when Robin noticed a break in the underbrush. No, not a break... a trail. Pushing his way through the bushes and trees, Robin stumbled onto the trail a brushed himself off. Looking back and forth, he found a rather comforting sight. The city, within eyeshot of his position on the trail.
"Well, it's a good thing we hit this trail, huh Cherry? Or we might have ended up overshooting the city completely." Robin said, rubbing his Plusle behind the ears. Looking the other direction on the trail, he noticed a child not too far up the trail. She was dressed in all green, and alongside her walked an Absol. With a smile, Robin waved to Cairo.
"Hello there!" Robin called over to the girl in green. "I don't suppose you could tell me what city that is?"

 

[=Nightshade=]

Cairo looked up, noticing for the first time a blue-haired guy (he looked about twenty) standing a ways off. “Is that your trainer?” She must have seen something in the Deino’s face, because a moment later she said, “Nah.”
The man waved to her and asked her which city was down the hill.
“I’m not sure,” she admitted, once he was within talking distance. “I was going to go down to see it for the first time today. I don’t suppose you’d know whose Deino this is? Your Plusle is cute, by the way.”

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Robin looked down at the kid, then back at the small, Dark and Dragon type Pokemon before shaking his head.
"Uh, sorry kid. I haven't really seen anyone for the past few days, so I don't really know." Robin said. As Cairo got closer, something unusual stuck out about the girl. Her clothes. They weren't really clothes made of cotton or wool or polymer. No, these clothes... They looked like they were made from plants and clothes sown together. Robin had seen this type of clothing before, and it usually wasn't good... And to see a little girl wearing these types of clothes was disconcerting, to say the least.
"So, uh... what are you doing out here? You live around here?" Robin asked Cairo. The man looked up and down the trail, hoping to spot the girl's parent's or family. The Plusle on Robin's shoulder smiled sweetly at Cairo, waving cheerfully to the girl.

 

[=Nightshade=]

“My name is Cairo,” she said with unwonted maturity. “My parents were killed by an Ursaring when I was six. I live in the woods. I’ve been wanting to go into the city for a while, but I never worked up the courage to until today. Absol is the only reason I’m alive. She was too late to save my parents, but...” She trailed off with a pang of grief. “I have this to remember them by.”
She pulled back a curtain of flame-red hair to reveal a healed scar on her cheek.
“What brings you here?” Cairo asked.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Robin stared down at the girl, trying to process the information she dumped on him. He... wasn't expecting that, to say the least. And the girl, Cairo, had been living out here all this time? She didn't look much older than ten! The swordsman crouched down to Cairo's eye level, watching the girl carefully. Then the way she easily moved past it and continued the conversation.
"I'm just, uh, wandering around..." Robin said before shaking his head and waving his hand. "Um, uh, hold up. You said you've been living in the woods, on your own, since you were six?"
Robin's expression changed from confusion to concern.
"I'm... I'm sorry to hear that. You don't have any other family?" Robin asked.

 

[=Nightshade=]

"I have Absol," Cairo offered. "But other than that, no. We take care of each other, live off wild berries. The Pokemon in the woods are normally very friendly. When they're not, a well-placed Dark Pulse from Absol can usually take care of it."
The girl dropped her gaze, seeing light glint off something shiny on Robin's hip.
"You have a sword," she noted. "Why? Are you expecting someone to jump out of the woods and stab a knife in your back? The locals here are really friendly. And by locals, I mean me, myself, and I. Absol too."

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Robin nodded, still feeling quite concerned about this child. The girl spoke with a strange maturity that didn't seem to fit her youthfulness, and that concerned Robin even more. But before Robin could ask anything else, Cairo pointed out Robin sword. The swordsman glanced back at his blade before managing a smile and turning back to Cairo.

"No, no. I'm not that paranoid. And even if that were to happen, I've got Cherry here to protect me." Robin said, scratching his Plusle behind her ears. Cherry let out a happy noise as she nuzzled against Robin's cheek. "No, I don't use it to fight people. It's got a couple of purposes. For one, I'm a street performer. I do shows with my sword and my Pokemon, being all flashy and trying to entertain people. I also help with Pokemon techniques. I'm a Move Tutor, which means that people pay me to teach their Pokemon moves that they otherwise wouldn't learn. Or help their Pokemon to remember moves they've forgotten. Or forget moves they want their Pokemon to forget. Those sorts of things. And when it comes to teaching certain new moves, or remembering certain moves, my sword can help me teach the Pokemon. It also helps clear a path when I'm backpacking off the trail."

Robin paused for a moment before continuing.
"My name's Robin, by the way. Robin Deux. Do you... need anything? Any food? Any help?" Robin said, his concern for this kid not changing.

 

[=Nightshade=]

“I think we’re okay in terms of food,” Cairo said, frowning. She opened a backpack fashioned from a piece of cloth to show him the berries inside. “You can have some, if you want, they’re quite sweet.”
She didn’t think the man would take her up on the offer, but she thought it would be considerate to ask.
“Really, though, I just want to see the city, and after that, the world. Absol and I have been working really hard to become powerful. Haven’t we, Absol?”
Absol purred in affirmation.
“I want to become a Pokémon trainer,” Cairo continued, “but I’m not sure if whatever professor is there will allow it if I’m alone.”
She didn’t phrase it as a question, but the implied request was clear.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Seeing that Cairo had at least a little bit of food, Robin was able to relax a bit. Of course. Cairo wasn't the first person he had met on his travels that had been raised by Pokemon, and usually they were quite adept at living off the land. Cairo was one of the more communicative of the ones Robin had met, but then again the others Robin had met had been in raised by Pokemon since they were babies. It appeared that Cairo had been older than that when she was forced to live by herself.
"No thanks, I'm pretty good. Thanks for the offering though." Robin said. He shook his head a small smile spread across his face. "I don't know what it is with kids thinking that they have to seek approval from professors to become trainers. I mean, I sure didn't, and neither did a lot of my friends."

Robin stood back up, putting his hands on his hips and looking down at Cairo.
"But if that's something that you really want to do, I suppose I could go with you." Robin said, looking away and acting like it wasn't that big of a deal. He peeked back over at Cairo, his smile still present. "If that's something we're gonna do, we need to get you some real clothes first."

 

[=Nightshade=]

Cairo looked down at herself and blushed. “You're right. These clothes are not gonna cut it." She grinned suddenly and looked up. "Hey, at least I have something on!" Absol slapped her leg with its tail as if to say, Not funny, Cai. "Ow! It was just a joke, Absol..."
Absol turned its head to look down at the city, its impatience palpable in its gaze.
"We'll go soon, Absol," Cairo assured her. "Just wait a little longer, okay?"

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Robin thought for a moment before taking off his backpack.
"Tell you what. Give me a moment." Robin said. Cherry jumped off the trainer's shoulder as Robin dug through his backpack, taking out some supplies as he did so. It took him a few moments, but Robin was finally able to dig out one of his cleaner shirts. It was a green one, with a print on an Arcanine mid-leap on it. It would be quite large on Cairo, but it would work for now.
"Try this on, huh? It'll do until we get you some real clothes." Robin said, tossing the shirt to Cairo. With that, Robin began to put his gear back into his backpack. As he did this, the Plusle approached the Absol, inspecting the larger dark type before smiling and jumping around.

Finally having his gear packed up once again, Robin shouldered his backpack and got back to his feet.
"Now! Let's get going! It shouldn't be long until we make it to the city." Robin said, giving Cairo a thumbs up. With that, the backpacker began to make his way towards the city, making sure to keep pace with Cairo.

 

[=Nightshade=]

Cairo slipped behind a tree to change into the shirt. It was very large, but a vine around her waist to cinch it had it looking like a dress on her. Not a very attractive one, but still. Better than the leaves she was wearing before. She was in a much better mood now, finally starting off on her journey.
As Absol and Plusle introduces themselves in Pokémon-speak, Cairo followed Robin down the path into the city. In the morning light, the windows glimmered and smoke from fireplaces waved enticingly. Her face broke out in a wide smile, and she tucked her hair behind her ear, no longer caring that anyone who looked at her could see her scar.
This was it— she could finally view the world’s wonders as everyone else’s equal!
And once she was their equal, she would grow even stronger.
That way, no one could ever hurt her or Absol ever again.

 

[Brecker]

Ari trudged through the forest with reckless naivety - the sound of sticks and leaves crackling underfoot alerting every pokemon in the vicinity to his presence, friend or foe... He really had no idea what he was doing.
"Yoo-hoo! Any pokemon around here? Preferably cute- WHOA!"
Just like that a Furret popped out, its head titled in confusion.
"YOU"RE ADORABLE" Ari proclaimed.
"F-furret?" the pokemon's confusion intensified.
"How would you like to become a star!?!?" he leaned in expectantly, with a huge smile on his face, as if he were waiting for the pokemon to talk or something... but of course, he was met with silence. "Oh, that's right: you probably have no idea what I'm talking about..." he muttered, half to himself... "But never the matter! let me explain:" He took a few steps back and cleared a stage for himself in the brush.
"Picture this: lights! cameras! a brilliant backdrop and a shining stage!" his words were all accompanied by dramatic arm-motions. "I'm looking sharp-as-hell in a tux and everyone's like 'Oh wow what a handsome coordinator! I wonder what kind of pokemon he uses?' Ari swung his arm and pointed at the Furret. "That's where YOU come in! You'll come out of your pokeball all like SSSHBLAM! KAPOW! using all kinds of moves in all kinds of combinations - I'm still working out the details on part that - anyway, then the audience'll be like..."

Ari went on rambling about contests for a few minutes and by the time he finally finished, he was out of breath and panting a little.
"So, whaddya say? Sounds like fun, right?"
"FURRET!" The pokemon exclaimed affirmatively. In all honesty, it had no idea what the boy had just tried to communicate to it... but it was sold on his enthusiasm alone.
"WOO!!! Alright, go pokeball!" Ari shouted and the ball hit the Furret square in the head. Three shakes and a click later he'd caught his first pokemon.
"Yesyesyes this is awesome! I can't wait to start practicing! But first things first..." his smile faded and he looked around at his
surroundings. "How do I get out of here? Let's see..."
Ari only managed to take a few steps before he heard a menacing growl behind him...
"Urrrsaring..." Ari spun around to see a great caniform towering over him, eclipsing him in its massive shadow. Ari had just captured the pokemon that the Ursaring had been eyeing for lunch, and it looked like the beast had someone else in mind now...
"Uhhh... h-hey, how it going? S-sorry, but I gotta- WAH!"
The Ursaring roared and made a swipe at Ari, which he just barely managed to dodge.
"Crapcrapcrap!" he cursed as he broke into a sprint. The bear trailed close behind him. "Not like this, not like this! Things were finally starting to go my way!"

Through bleary eyes he could just barely make out what looked like a person in the distance...
"HELP MEEE!!!"

 

[=Nightshade=]

A scream suddenly sounded from behind Cairo and Robin, followed by an enraged roar. Cairo wheeled. That sounded familiar...
She hurdled a fallen tree trunk, Absol at her heels, and ran back up the path in the direction of the scream. The Deino, which has been following, hitched a ride on Absol’s back.
“Hang on!” she yelled into the trees, fear sharpening her senses. “Help is coming!”

 

[Captain Cardboard]

But just before Robin made his way into a city, a yell caught his attention. But before he could do anything about it, Cairo was already off running towards it.
"Hey, kid, wait!" Robin said, running after Cairo. But it appeared that he had only ran a few steps when a teen came into view. Chasing the brown haired teen was a rather large and angry looking Ursarang.

"Oh, jeez." Robin muttered as Cherry quickly hopped onto Robin's shoulder. He glanced over to the Plusle. "You can handle this, right?"
"Plu!" Cherry said, a determined smile coming across her face. Robin held out his arm, and Cherry jumped onto his wrist. With one sudden movement, Robin flung Cherry forward. The Plusle jumped off her trainer's wrist at the last moment, flying towards Ari and the Ursaring chasing him. Sparks were flying from her cheeks.
"Cherry, Thunderbolt!" Robin commanded. The Plusle landed in front of Ari, stretching her small arms up to the sky and letting out a cry. With a loud crackle of electricity, a large bolt of lightning shot down from the sky towards the Ursarang.

 

[=Nightshade=]

Cairo skidded to a halt as Robin’s Plusle shot a Thunderbolt at the Ursaring. She looked back at him and grinned.
“Absol, follow up with Dark Pulse!”
The Dark Pulse struck the Ursaring right after the Thunderbolt, sending the Ursaring reeling.
“Finish it off with Psycho Cut!” Cairo cried. Absol obeyed, slashing out at the Ursaring with the blade that protruded from its head.
With a last menacing growl, the Ursaring loped off into the woods.
“Well,” Cairo said, breathing hard. “I must say, that was terrifying. Exhilarating, but terrifying all the same.” She turned to the other boy, the one the Ursaring had been chasing. “Are you okay?” she asked, fear left over from the battle sharpening her gaze.

 

[Brecker]

Ari covered his head and faced the other way while Robin and Cairo made quick work of the Ursaring. Only once was he was absolutely sure that the threat had been dealt with did he turn around to sneak a peak at his saviours.
He noticed a little girl staring at him, and promptly straightened himself out and brushed off his clothes.
"Ugh, this is embarrassing" he thought to himself.
"Y-yeah, I'm fine!" he responded to Cario while rubbing the back of his head abashedly. He was trying to laugh the whole thing off. "That's one helluva Absol you got there... Oh, and that Plusle too!" He scanned his surroundings for the electric-type's trainer and laid eyes on Robin. Ari lightly bowed to the both of them. "U-uh, thanks..." he stammered. "Who knows what would've happened to me without you two..." He was silent for a moment. "I'm Ari by the way!" he smiled and extended a hand. "I'm not ACTUALLY this weak, y'know... aha... getting chased around by wild pokemon and whatnot..." he looked at his feet, pensively. "I have a Deino that's pretty strong, but he always wan- DEINO!?" Ari's compulsive need to justify himself was interrupted when he spotted his missing pokemon hanging out with the newcomers.
"Dei" the pokemon responded dismissively.
"If you were here, then you could've at least helped me with that Ursaring!"
"Deiii" the pokemon mocked.
"Hmph" Ari whipped out the dragon-type's pokeball and returned it. "Well, we don't exactly get along sometimes..."

 

[=Nightshade=]

“That was your Deino?” Cairo asked, surprised, as the dark- and dragon-type slid off Absol's back. “He’s such a cute little thing. My name is Cairo. This is Robin, his Plusle Cherry, and Absol of course... I heard the Ursaring and...” Her fingers absentmindedly traced the jagged white line on her cheek. “I think we can all agree that they’re pretty nasty Pokémon. That was a young one. The full grown ones are even worse, if you can imagine that. What brings you out here in the woods?”

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Robin's jog slowly came to a walk as the Ursarang was driven off. He waved hello to Ari, then knelt down to his Plusle's level.
"Hey, nice shot! You really showed that guy!" Robin said to Cherry. The pair high-fived, then Cherry jumped back onto Robin's shoulder. Cherry back with him, Robin made his way back over to Cairo and Ari. The teen had just recalled a Pokemon, the Deino that Cairo had been asking about earlier. The kid seemed like pretty normal, it was impressive that he had a rarer Pokemon like a Deino with him. The swordsman glanced around before leaning against a tree. Cairo seemed busy, so he'd just wait until her and this teen were done.

 

[Brecker]

"He IS cute, isn't he?" Ari shouted in agreement. "But he doesn't wanna put it to good use - just wants to fight all the time... I mean, makes sense considering who raised him..." he trailed off. "A-anyway, it's nice to meet you all!" he gave a nod to all the people and pokemon present.

When Cairo gestured to her scar, Ari stood in stunned silence. "...Who is this person?" he wondered to himself. But he was snapped out of his reverie by a question.
"What brings me out here? Well I finally saved up enough money to buy a pokeball, so I came here to catch a pokemon... a pokemon who'll actually help me busk (unlike Denio...)" he grumbled the last part under his breath. "Street performers can make a lot more than people who just beg, so I'm hoping to increase my income a bit..."

 

[=Nightshade=]

Cairo nodded thoughtfully. "Robin's a street performer," she mentioned offhandedly. "Absol and I prefer battles. My instincts and Absol's power is generally enough to give us the upper hand in all kinds of battles." She glanced back at the city. Would she ever get to go? "Would you like to come with us to the city?" she asked instead. "Surely there will be a job for you there."

 

[Brecker]

"He is!?" Ari replied enthusiastically. He glanced over at Robin, who was leaning against a tree. "He has a sword, though... scary... maybe I'll wait a bit before I pester him with questions" he thought to himself.

"Yes, please! I'd love an escort back to town - don't know how long I'd last in here by myself after all, haha..."

 

[=Nightshade=]

"Yeah," Cairo answered. Then, noticing Ari's apprehensive glance at the sword, said, "He uses the sword in his performances. Now come on! We're wasting daylight!"

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Seeing that Cairo was finally ready to go, Robin adjusted his backpack and began to make his way back onto the trail. It looked like he was going to have to do a bit of babysitting for now, but he didn't think much of it. Cairo sure knew how to handle her Pokemon in a battle, but then again so did both of the feral children Robin had met. She had potential for becoming a trainer, that was for sure. Then there was Ari. The fact that he said street performers made more money than just beggars, well... That was concerning. The kid shouldn't have to be resorting to begging, but it sounded like that was what he was doing.
"Just my luck..." Robin said under his breath. Stuck with two kids that probably didn't have a place to live. Still, he'd make the best of the situation. The swordsman began to make his way down the trail to the town, a smile on his face.

Cherry looked back to Ari, watching the teen for a moment before deciding to jump off her trainer's shoulder. The Plusle jumped across the ground before heading over to Ari. She quickly climbed up the boy's leg and onto his shoulder, nuzzling him while trying to act as cute as possible.

 

[Brecker]

"AWWW! Look at you!" Cherry was making Ari's heart melt with her antics. "You're even cuter than the pokemon on TV!" He nuzzled her back. Ari hadn't met many friendly pokemon in his life, so this was all very new and exciting to him. "Oh, I know: let me introduce you to my new friend! Maybe some of your star-power will rub off on her, haha..." he reached into his pocket and sent out Furret from her pokeball. "Furr!" the pokemon leaped onto his free shoulder and began sniffing around curiously, admiring the new scenery; she could sense the city coming up. She then climbed around the back of Ari's neck to sniff/greet Cherry.
"WAH! Hey, that tickles!" Ari's shoulders flinched involuntarily and he almost lost his balance... he scrambled to rejoin the others, and the group continued onward.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Seeing Ari quickly darting to catch up, Robin slowed down a little bit to let the teen catch up. Along with Cherry on his shoulder, it appeared that the teen had a Furret as well. Quite a cute Pokemon. Robin fell in alongside Ari, and Cherry gave the teen one last nuzzle before greeting the furret and jumping back to Robin's shoulder. Robin looked the teen up and down before deciding to speak up. It appeared they still had a bit of a walk in order to get to the city, so might as well make conversation.
"So, kid. Are you from around here?" Robin asked Ari.

 

[EmoKitty21]

Alex had been wanting to do this for quite awhile. It took him years to finally work up the courage to do it. Being someone who hated to be alone, he had fallen in love with a very sweet man, who seemed to love him back just as much.

Alex had just gotten away from his homelife when they met. The guy was very sweet and seemed to want to take care of Alex, though that all changed when Alex got a good paying job. He loved his work, and was fairly good at it. He worked from the ground up at the age of 13 and built a business. He worked hard, and put a lot of timw into his home.

He had bought a town home in Johto, and with a lot of time he had the place looking how he wanted the place to. It took him two years before he was able to move into the place, but it was well worth it. It was a three story town home that he spent a lot of money on, and made it into his dream home.

Growing up Alex did not have a normal childhood, the only person who actually cared was his grandmother. She was a sweet person who helped him get on a boat to move from Sinnoh to Johto. He had to get away from his parents. The scar that he has on his left eye was because of his father. He had cigarette burns all along his arms from his mother. When he turned 13, he ran away. He made his way to his grandmother, who helped out with a way for him to get away from the region. She was the one who had given Alex Sass, who was a faithful companion to him.

All Alex had to his name was what his lovely grandma had given him. He was also glad to have his guitar with him as it would come in handy to make some money if needed. It did come handy, because he was offered a job as a performer in Violet City. He made a name for himself and eventually moved onto performing with Sass.

He quickly moved up in fame and in the financial ladder. When he finally got the chance to be with someone, he met Victor. Victor was sweet at first. He was kind and very loving. He was about two years older then Alex, and after two years of dating, they moved into the new townhome that Alex had redone.

Alex's love life did not turn out how he had wanted it to. After awhile he learned just how manipulative his boyfriend was. It seemed all that Victor cared about was the money that Alex earned. Victor had lost his job about the same time they had moved, so he ended up living off of Alex for awhile.

What happened after that was that he fell into the wrong crowd, and into drugs. Alex's happy ever after was gone after that. Victor became physically abusive and verbally as well.

For years it had gone on, and after awhile his boyfriend started to sell off the things that Alex had bought for his home. All of his beautiful furniture was sold by his boyfriend. Alex had taken it because he was truly afraid of the man, and the boyfriend knew it.

Well with bit of luck as it were, he was able to change the locks on the house. He set all of Victor's things and set them outside of the door. He was glad to have called a locksmith to change the locks on the place. He also called the Violet city police to make sure that someone was there when he picked up his things.

He was glad that he did, because he would not be there when his ex boyfriend got home. It was with a heavy heart that he left his home, which he was glad to know that he would be restoring to it's old glory.

With Sass by his side, Alex made his way to the airport, and with a ride on a plane, he was in Veridian city. He had his guitar in hand, and a new outlook. He hoped that this new start would be a way to get over all of the pain that he had went through his childhood. It also helped that it was his birthday. Which he hoped would be better then the last.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Finally, the pair had made their way into the city. It was only then that Robin was greeted to the sign that read: Viridian City, the Eternally Green Paradise. Robin couldn't stop a grin from spreading across his face. Viridian City. He had thought so, but couldn't have been one hundred percent sure. A quick scan of the city showed Robin that, well, not a whole lot had changed since he had last been there. Same old, beautiful green city. Which meant... Sure enough, the thrift store was in the same place as before. Robin nudged Cairo, gesturing to the store.
"Now, what do you say we get you some clothes, huh?" Robin said to the girl.

 

[=Nightshade=]

“That’d be great,” Cairo said thankfully. “I recently figured out that I’m not size large.” She grinned at Robin as she led the way into the store. Selecting a white shirt, navy hoodie, and light-colored jeans, she slipped into a dressing room to try them on.
When the girl emerged, she was back in the Arcanine shirt-dress, the other clothing draped over her arm. “These fit,” Cairo said happily. Absol nodded in affirmation.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Robin followed Cairo into the store, only pausing just outside to take off his sword. He laid it on the ground next to some bushes, taking a Pokeball off his belt as well. With a flash of red light, a Farfetch'd appeared standing right next to Robin's sword. But this Farfetch'd was slightly different than your normal Wild Duck Pokemon. Instead of a leek, the Pokemon held a small sword known as a wakizashi, with it's sheath and hilt in a green, plantlike design.
"Sorry, Sam. You know the drill." Robin said, kneeling down to pet his Farfetch'd. The bird Pokemon looked down at Robin's sword before sighing and quacking irritably. Robin smiled and got back up as the Farfetch'd sat on Robin's sword, looking back and forth carefully.
"Thanks, buddy. This shouldn't take long." Robin said, entering the thrift store.

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

Robin leaned against the counter as Cairo walked out of the dressing room saying that the clothes fit.
"Alright, nice. Now see if you can find a pair of shoes that fit and put on the clothes, then we'll get out of here." Robin said to Cairo, giving the kid a thumbs up. He paid the cashier for the clothes and paid in advance for the shoes, glancing back at Cairo. The clothes were way cheaper at the thrift store than an actual clothing store, but Robin didn't have that much food in the first place. Looks like he was gonna be sticking with Ramen for the next little while, but if it meant the kid would have some clothes that was a sacrifice he would be more than willing to make.

 

[=Nightshade=]

Cairo nodded and headed to the shoe section in the thrift store once she put her new clothes on. According to the size guide, she was a size six in women’s. She glanced along the shelves, searching for something her size.
After trying on several pairs of sneakers, boots, and sandals, she finally settled on a fairly cheap pair of black combat boots. Cairo laced them up, tucked the box under her arm, and walked back toward Robin, a grateful smile on her face.

 

[EmoKitty21]

Alex had been in Veridian for awhile now, and it has been much more calming then when he was in Johto. He would be glad to have not received an angry call from his ex, as he was sure it was coming. He just hoped that he could forget about him.

With his quitar in hand, Alex and Sass sat out under a large oak tree, and begun to play. There was a few people who tipped him for playing requests, and he was happy to do it for them. It seemed that just getting away from his ex had lightened up his mood a lot more then it had been in the past.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Robin gave Cairo a thumbs up once again, putting his Arcanine shirt back into his backpack before nodding to the employee manning the register. Thank goodness for thrift stores. They might have gotten in trouble if they had tried to pull this at a normal clothing store, but here at a thrift store this didn't seem out of the ordinary. Strange customers were a norm in here.
"Looks good, kid. You need anything else? A backpack or something?" Robin asked Cairo.

 

[=Nightshade=]

“I think I’m good, now,” Cairo replied. “I’ve got this.” She turned to show Robin the backpack she had fashioned from a piece of strong fabric; it was the one that held her berries. “Thank you for all this. I’m sorry I’ve been so much trouble.” Absol scuffed the ground with her claws in a rare show of deference.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Robin nodded, remembering that Cairo had shown him her makeshift backpack before.
"Hey, it's been no problem at all!" Robin said, giving Cairo a thumbs up once again. "I mean, you have to have clothes, right?"
The pair began to make their way out of the thrift store. Not far away, Robin could hear a guitar playing. Sam was right where Robin had left him, sitting on Robin's sword and looking around carefully. The Farfetch'd gave Robin a confused look once the trainer had approached with Cairo and the Absol. Who the heck were these two?

"Thanks, buddy." Robin said, sliding his sword back onto his back. Cherry jumped off of Robin's shoulder, explaining excitedly to the Farfetch'd that these were new friends. Robin gestutured to his Farfetch'd, then to Cario and the Absol.
"Cairo, uh... Absol. This is Sam, my Farfetch'd. Sam, these are Cario and her Absol. They're new friends." Robin said. The Farfetch'd bowed respectfully to the new pair, and Robin recalled the bird Pokemon back to its Pokeball.
"Alright, Cairo. Where are you heading now?" Robin asked the girl.

 

[Brecker]

Ari had given Robin a tentative synopsis of his situation as the group made their way to Viridian city. He mentioned that he was originally from Vermillion city, but that he'd left home to start his "pokemon journey" (but by his dishevelled appearance and lack of supplies it was apparent that this was no conventional pokemon journey...)

But mere moments after the group had gotten out of the forest, Ari had to make an unexpected and abrupt departure... "O-OH LOOK! HERE WE ARE! U-uh, thanks for everything - B-BYE!" he stammered and he dashed off before he even caught a response.
Unbeknownst to the others, Ari had spotted - and was spotted by - a certain thug who he was not on particularly good terms with; unfortunately, Ari's current lifestyle had him on all-too-familiar terms with the city's criminal population... He dove into the nearest alleyway and weaved his way through the city in chaotic, unpredictable lines, desperately trying to lose the thug who was pursuing him; thankfully, he'd had a pretty good head-start, and it wasn't long before he'd given the thug the slip.

Ari stumbled out of the alleyway onto a random street, leaning forward with his hands on his knees, panting. There was a guy playing guitar just down the road.

 

[=Nightshade=]

That question brought Cairo up short. “I’m, uh, not sure, actually,” she said, realizing how little she knew about the city. “I don’t know if there’s a Professor in town, and if there is, where to find them. Ai, this is so complicated...” She shook her head in confusion, somewhat overwhelmed. “I really don’t know where anything is...”