The Festival of Stars

[Kalseng]

Kalseng shook in anger. This would not be how the battle ended. Kalseng would fight again, fight harder, fight more! He had to get this battle. It was what he was missing. The tournament would start in a few days, but that was too long.

"Hitoshi!" Kalseng claled. His voice wavered in and out from his voice now, and an even deeper one. "Three on three battle! I one once, let's go again, shall we?" Kalseng offered. His knowledge of emotion took over again, and he straightened out. He stood back up, and his anger subsided. Kalseng had to have this fight. "I'll choose differently!" Kalseng's voice was calmer. "Haunter! Return!" Kalseng called back his haunter, and gripped a new ball. "Whaddya say, Hitoshi?" Kalseng needed this fight.

It was like his fix.

 

[Scarabi]

Hitoshi stopped in his tracks; he began to lightly chuckle under his breath and shook his head. This boy never knew when to give up! Slowly, the Rocket turned towards Kalseng with a relaxed, smug expression.

"You are a very persistent trainer...I'll give you that." Hitoshi placed his hands into his side pockets, turning fully around to not strain his neck. "Though, persistence and annoyance have a fine line. I am not about to give a little boy what he screams and cries for. I may decide so once you do some growing up." He shrugged his shoulders slightly, closing his eyes all the same. The boy, he noticed, seemed to have a split personality. A Jeckle-Hyde complex, more or less. He should keep an eye on this one. "I had my fun. Now I am taking my leave from the stage." He turned around once again, and began to walk away. Domino and Tyson continued to be having trouble with the pokemon guarding them; they were angered by Hitoshi's obliviousness to their dilemmas.

 

[Kalseng]

Kalseng had a good sense of his personality now. That last sentence solidified his resolve. He put his hand up to his chin in an attempt to act like he was thinking hard. But then, he shook his head and smiled. "I never thought executives of team rocket could be such chickens... I thought they could embrace defeat and learn from it, but I guess I'm wrong." Kalseng said, taunting Hitoshi. "But alas, I was looking for a challenge, not a cowardly weakling." Kasleng was pushing it now, but this might get him the battle he wanted so badly.

 

[Cody]

"That's...that takes it..." Cody couldn't stand to see Kal like this. Kal, his newest friend. Kal, the traveling bard. Tossing an Ultraball into the air, Cody ran up and tackled Kalseng to the ground. "What is WRONG WITH YOU!??!" Cody barked, directly in his face. Out of the Ultraball came a well-trained Poliwrath, to serve as backup should Kal go crazy...

 

[Scarabi]

"Say what you want, Kalseng." Hitoshi stopped once again, but did not face Kalseng this time. "I did have my fun, yes, but now I must attend to business." Hitoshi appeared collected, but his innermost thoughts were filled with dread of facing his boss and to tell him that he had ended the Festival mission without consent or success. The Rocket then removed his walkie-talkie from his back pocket once again. He lifted the device to his mouth, and pressed the switch to send a message.

"This is Hitoshi. Send me a flight, Grey. I'm only four coordinates away from you. And would you like to do me a favor?" The machine buzzed, and then another voice became audible.

"A favor? Isn't the transportation enough, Hitoshi?" The masculine voice questioned. "What kind of favor?"

"Bring your pokemon. That is all." With the click of a button, the conversation ended. Placing the walkie-talkie back into place, Hitoshi turned towards Kalseng and Cody, along with the other trainers. A sneer pulled at the corner of his mouth. "A new playmate is coming for you. He will take my place. Hopefully...you will be satisfied with him." He then peered down at the fallen boys, raising an eyebrow. "If you still want a three-on-three, please do not kill your partner...both of you." He almost laughed at this dark humor.

 

[Kalseng]

Kalseng was watching Hitoshi stride away, when he realized something. Even though he had taunted her, maybe he didn't need to battle. Maybe he would be done. And then the pain came on. He felt the weight slam into him, throwing him off balance. He slammed to the ground, his head rebounding off and settling back down only to be screamed at again. Kalseng felt the headache rear its ugly head, and he pulled out of his battle state.

He had total memory of what happened, he wasn't someone else, he was just soldifying himself. His face softened, his eyes returned to ehri average cheeful sparkle, and his body relaxed. He stared at Cody in the face, the agnry, twisted face full of rage and anger, and Kalseng cried. Tears poored down his face, and he felt his head pound with each sob that tore from his lips.

Kalseng then heard what Hitoshi said register. Maybe once more today... just one more personality soldification. But for now, Kalseng sobbed.

 

[Cody]

"What the-?" Cody exlclaimed at the sudden tears from Kalseng. Cody's Poliwrath also had the same look on his face. Cody's face was directly over Kalseng, just as the rest of his body was. Doing the only thing that seemed proper, Cody stood up, dusted himself off, and offered his hand to Kalseng.

"You coming?" Cody asked with a semi- sympathetic tone. Cody was smiling again, with the same look he always seemed to wear as a child. He hoped, this would make Kalseng feel better, and that he was forgiven.

 

[Kalseng]

Kasleng reached out to cody's hand, and pulled himself up. He continued sobbing as he stood up, trying to wipe the tears that quickly formed with the backs of his hands. His tear ducts were faster and superior. Kalseng stood for a moment, calming himself down, and he soon reduced his massive tears to simple sniffles. He turned to everyone there, and cried out "I'm sorry!" He then continued to wipe his face clean, and he fell into cody's shirt, desperately trying to stop sobbing, but they worked themselves back up.

 

[Cody]

"I 'spose this is what being a dad feels like...." Cody thought to himself, though he still didn't know Kal's age. Being angry at a child, then having the child break down. Then, you'd have to be willingly supportive, and, Cody did just that. For a moment, he just let Kal sob. Then, when he noticed the strange looks, he walked Kalseng over toe the rest of the group, and sanity. "Go on and sit down," Cody said, notioning the rock under a tree.

 

[Scarabi]

While this display of friendship occurred, the sky began to bring a down pour of leaves. A strong wind came through, along with a boisterous noise; it sounded like machinary of some sort. Hitoshi turned his gaze away from the trainers, seeing that a helicopter was coming closer to the ground. Domino and Tyson gaped in disbelief that their comrade was truly going to abandon them. The helicopter landed in a clearing of land, and then ceased, its propellers gradually coming to a halt. The side door opened, and a man in an Executive Team Rocket uniform hopped out. His obsidian hair was slicked, and he strutted over towards Hitoshi.

"Hitoshi...I'm assuming you want me to battle these punks." The man was now standing next to him, and he glanced several times at Cody and Kalseng. Hitoshi nodded with a frown.

"Thanks for the helicopter. You can take it from here, Grey." Hitoshi began to head over towards the helicopter, and Grey began to crack his knuckles in twisted excitement.

[OOC: Grey is actually from the Pokemon manga (was running out of executives >.> ). He has a Houndour. ]

 

[Cody]

"Hold on just a mo' (moment)" Cody said, standing up. "Norris, stop that copter!" The Poliwrath leaped out of the lake, and sprinted for the copter. Being a master of all swim types, all of his muscles were incredibly well-toned. "Ice Beam!" Cody called. Still running, the Poliwrath formed a circle with his hands, much like a Lucario. After focusing for a moment, a beam of incredible ice was shot at the part of the helicopter touching the ground, freezeing it in place.

"Now, use Dynamic Punch on the propellor!" Cody called once more. Norris focused an immense amount of energy into his right hand. It began glowing from all the energy stored up within, and then in a swift jump and hit, the attack was launched. And missed. The accuracy of Dynamic Punch was low, so a thin propellor was easy to miss. Instead, it put a well sized dent on the top of the copter. Actually, it had ripped through the surface, and a hunk of metal clanged agaisnt the bottom. "Let's make this even harder for them! Use a focused Hail!" Noriss stored up energy with an ice base in his hands. In a quick movement, he shot all the energy into the sky, causing a hailstorm...but focused only over the copter and the surrounding 10 feet or so.

 

[Scarabi]

Hitoshi froze; he stared at the sight of the helicopter being mangled with a blank expression. He realized that these trainers were definitely a determined bunch...too determined; in fact, it almost made him mad.

He then turned around, glaring at the pokemon who had destroyed his escape. Then, his gaze shifted to Cody and Kalseng.

"It seems as though everyone enjoys my company. I don't know whether to be flattered or irritated." He then stomped his foot against the ground once again, causing a pokeball to emerge. Then, he kicked it forwards in mid air. "Come out! Houndoom..." The pokeball landed upon the ground and opened. A dog-like pokemon appeared before everyone. "Use Smog." Once he directed this order, the pokemon opened its mouth, releasing a thick smokescreen. As the air filled up, Hitoshi began to cackle.

"I am sorry to leave so soon, everyone, but there are things that must be done! Your festival is safe...if you can defeat the Team Rocket members here, that is!" His velvet, masculine voice echoed throughout the area as the smoke created a haze; nothing could be seen. "Maybe we shall meet again...but for now, I bid you adieu!"

The Team Rocket executives coughed and choked, unaware that the fellow executive would retreat like this. As the smoke began to clear, Hitoshi and Houndoom had vanished, gone as if they had never been there in the first place.

[OOC: Well, that will be the last time you guys see Hitoshi for now. I'm afraid that I'll be busy with college life and soccer in the next few weeks, so I'll have to leave the RP for now T_T However, I left you guys some NPCs to use for the three-on-three if you choose to do so. I might come back on tomorrow to post a conversation of the report Hitoshi gives to Team Rocket about the failed mission, so you guys can see the aftermath. It was fun these past couple of days, and I had a blast XD Maybe sometime in the future I'll come back to this RP as Hitoshi (or another character). Or maybe I'll join another RP in the future with Hitoshi to try and wreak more havoc. I wish this RP the best of luck and that it finishes with success =] See ya guys! ]

 

[Cody]

((Such a shame you've got to go! Do well at college eh?))

"How'd they get out of here....."Cody mumbled, staring at the still wrecked helicopter. Norris looked equally distressed, doing his post-trauma air punches.

"Hey...." Cody realized, "I haven't eaten all day.....Time for dinner I'd say.." Cody looked up at the sky, and the sun had almost fully set now. Silver had finally stopped dancing, and was rummaging through Cody's bag for berries.

"Ay, Kal," Cody called, "You okay bud?" Cody asked.

Through all this, Norris saw fit to go over to the constricted Rockets, and begin beating on them. After several minutes, he asked Arbok to release them. And when he did, Norris lifted Domino above his head. She was in too much pain to scream anything as she got chucked in the lake.

 

[Psycho Monkey]

OOC: Actually Cody, I think only Hitoshi fled. Scarabi was kind enough to leave us Grey to play with. I call him!

After the battle with Hitoshi, Kalseng seemed to have reverted back to normal and began crying. Cody had been consoling him and brought him back to the group when anew Rocket Executive by the name of Grey appeared on the scene.

"Don't worry Kal, I've got this guy. You just stay here and rest." Brian said gently patting Kalseng's shoulder.

Just as Hitoshi was about to escape via the helicopter Grey arrived in Cody shouted "Norris, stop that copter!" A Poliwrath emerged from the lake, and with a barrage of attacks, turned the transport to scrap. Hitoshi was none to pleased with this dilemma.

"It seems as though everyone enjoys my company. I don't know whether to be flattered or irritated." Hitoshi said. He sent out a Houndoom from his shoe and became hidden in a thick Smog that resembled more of a smokescreen. Brian coved his face with his arms and held his breath so not to breathe the gas in. He heard the coughs of the other trainers and the abandoned executives. When the smoke cleared Hitoshi and Houndoom had vanished. In his place was a very irritated Grey.

"Damn that Hitoshi!" growled Grey. "He calls me out here, only to have my copter destroyed and then he has the nerve to vanish like that!" He then turned to the trainers standing by. "I have you punks to blame for all of this. Who will be my first victim?" Grey asked with a hint of malice.

"I will. Unfortunately for you, I will be your only battle because you will be the one who looses." Brian said confidently walking up to the lake for combat.

"You're pretty brave. Foolish, but brave. Can you back up that talk?" Grey taunted.

"Send out your Pokemon and we'll see." Brian responded with a smirk.

"As you wish. Come Houndour!" called Grey summoning his rot rouler like Pokemon. The fire dog growled at Brian with an intimidating roar with flames coming out the sides of its jaws. Brian let out a soft chuckle at the Houndour's pathetic attempt at a scare tactic. The fact that Houndour was a Fire Type had sealed its fate before the battle even stared. "What's wrong, are you scared? Send out your Pokemon already!" demanded Grey.

"As you wish." Brian said calmly lifting his right arm to a 90 degree angle. With the snap of his finger, Axel came flying out of the forest covered in fire. The Flare Blitz caught Houndour completely off guard and sent it flying into the lake. The Infernape barely managed not to fall in himself. Grey's eyes widened as he looked back and forth from his fainted Houndour floating on the lakes surface to the golden Infernape who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

"What- How did-" was all Gey was able to say.

"Confused? Allow me to explain. Even before my arrival I had Axel here stay hidden in the forest. Sort of a Deus Ex Machina to say the least. Standing by the lake and the fact that you used Houndour was just lucky coincidence. Then all I had to do was give the signal." Brian repeated what he did moments ago. " Just a simple snap of my right fingers next to my ear." explianed the trainer.

"It was about time too! I was getting bored." grumbled Axel putting Grey in a choke hold.

OOC: I would continue a bit further, but I must be off now.

 

[Cody]

((When I said they I meant Hitoshi and Houndoom were gone....lol))

"That was fast...." Cody mumbled. In the last minute or so, Domino had climbed out of the lake, and she and Tyson ran off. Not only that, but Axel had ellimanated a Houndour. At this point, the sun had completely set behind the nearby mountains, and the moon began to climb. Tonight was the first night of the week long full moon.

Cody looked over at his backpack. All his belongings had be strewn along the ground. Stupid monkey. Cody began stuffing things back into his backpack, including several oran berries....which didn't make it to the backapck. When he was finished packing, he looked much like he did when he first arrived at the festival. His backpack slung on a shoulder, and Silver standing on the strap, and an Ultrball in his hand. Cody made a quick switch, and Norris was back in, and Dream, his Salamence was out.

"I'm going back to the festival and grabbing some dinner, at least two of you could fit on Dream as well." He began taking his mount on the great dragon, his mind set on food.

 

[Kalseng]

Kalseng watched as the helicopter was partially obliterated, as the trianers fought, and as everything else unfolded. The series of events was confusing and hard to follow, but it was fun to watch, to say the least. When Cody explained where he was going, Kalseng wanted to follow him.

"I-hic-I'd like to g-go..." Kalseng said througgh his sniffles and hiccups. "C-can I-hic-ride Dream too?" Kalseng asked.

 

[Stomper]

Daniel sat, simply napping in the shade of the willow tree, unaware of the events currently happening. It's a little known fact that it is almost impossible to wake Daniel when he's sleeping. However, when he finally woke up, Hitoshi was gone, a wreck of a helicopter in his place. Yawning and rubbing his eyes in a groggy manner, Daniel turned to his pokemon, who were also napping in the shade of the tree.

It was a rather cute scene. Rhydon seemed to have simply fell over from fatigue, and the rest found ample sleeping areas around him, Arbok being intertwined with his tail, Nidorino being held (against his will) like a miniature teddy-bear, and Scyther perched at the top of Rhydon's back, subconciously balancing his wirey, mantis-like frame.

Yawning and stretching, Daniel did something he doesn't normally do. He pulled out three pokeballs and set them upon Rhydon, Arbok and Scyther. They would be too tired to make the long trek back. Released from Rhydon's vicelike grasp, Nidorino ran up to Daniel and playfully nipped him in the leg, merely a love tap.

I'm going back to the festival and grabbing some dinner, at least two of you could fit on Dream as well." Said Cody from across the clearing, motioning to the massive dragon by his side.

"Come on, buddy," Daniel yawned, motioning for Nidorino to follow, "Let's go." He stood up on wobbly legs, still half alseep, and wandered back towards Cody, Brian and Kalseng, the latter seeming rather torn up about something.

"Got room for *yawn* one more?" Daniel said, the words falling ungracefully from his sleepy mouth, not bothering to adjust his suit as he nearly always does. Looking around, he noticed the rest of the Rockets had vanished. Half-shrugging, Daniel simply wobbled and collapsed on Dream's back, and commenced snoring.

While this was happening, Nidorino hopped up on Dream's scaly head, barking excitedly. Still making small sounds of excitement, Nidorino hunkered down, wrapping his paws around her huge head, unfortunately only getting about halfway around. Moving his large, purple ears side to side, Nidorino looked almost like a small radio tower on Dream's head.

 

[Cody]

"Alright, Daniel, Kal, get on then!" Cody said, standing on Dream's shoulder, with his hand on her head. He gave Nidorino a quick scratch on his side. "Sorry guys," Cody called to Brian, Rosie and Rosa, but we're full!" Cody said, laughing much like a child. "If you guys wouldn't mind sitting...." Cody motioned.

"Oh (sniff) sure.." Kalseng mumbled, he and Daniel both quickly sat down.

"Alright Dream, let's go find us a burger stand!" And with that, Dream flapped her massive wings, and they were airborne. The forest they had just been in climbed up the nearby mountains, and in nestled in between some mountains, Blackthorne could be seen. "Turn around girl, head for the Star Fest...." Cody said, patting said dragon on her head. "Hold on tight!" Dream flew with incredibal speed, heading for the star fest. Smelling some kind of meat, Dream made her descent.

"Well," Cody said, hopping off the dragon and onto solid ground, "If you liked that, when the festival is over we'll go for a longer ride!" Cody said to his new friends. "Dream, return, I'll save some for ya" Cody said with another of those Cody smiles.

"Hope you guys aren't vegitarians!" Cody laughed approaching the stand. The menu was filled with nothing but meat, steak, chicken, ribs, any kind of meat imaginable. Cody placed his order, and walked to one of the nearby tables. Silver finally poked his head out of Cody's backpack, glad the flying was over.

 

[Kalseng]

Kalseng approacehd the stand, his stomach still catching up with him. Looking through the list, not a lot poked out for him. He scanned quickly, and found a few things. "May I have a hot dog, a chicken breast sandwich, some veal, a hamburger... and an order of ribs?" Kalseng gestured at each menu item, and the cashier stood for a moment, his eyes wide. How could someone eat that much? He muttered out the ammount, and Kalseng paid the ammount in full.

Kalseng sat down at the table with a tray piled high with every form of meat food imaginable. He started with the hot dog, and worked his way down to the ribs. Once he was done, he disposed of the dishes and leftovers, and sat back down.

"Dessert, anyone?"

[[Kal's a freaking bottomless pit.]]

 

[Stomper]

As Dream landed, Daniel (who was still asleep) fell off uncerimoniosly (sp?). Finally awake, Daniel stood up and stretched, his back creaking like a rusty door. Still yawning, He wandered over to Cody and Kalseng, who were contently stuffing themselves with food.

"I *yawn* think I'll backtrack and pick up Brian and the twins with *yawn* Rhydon. I'll be back soon." He murmured. Not waiting for an answer, he selected Rhydon's pokeball and summoned him. Rhydon' grateful to be back out of the pokeball, danced a little and hugged his trainer affectionately. "Now, Rhydon," Daniel managed to say, "We need to go get the others. Use *yawn* Dig." Daniel finished. With a faux-salute, Rhydon began spinning his drill-horn. He ran outside and dove into the ground, his spinning horn drilling into the earth. In a matter of seconds, Rhydon disappeared from sight, a gaping hole in his place. Shrugging, Daniel sat back down at the table, still slightly groggy.

"No need to worry, *yawn* he'll be back soon enough." He yawned, tossing a side of ribs over to Nidorino. Without another thought, Daniel fell asleep again, his head clunking into the table. Thankfully, his head wasn't in any sort of meat sauce. Oblivious to mostly everything else, Daniel began to snore again.

OOC - Brian and Rosie/Rosa, feel free to auto Rhydon, just remember, he's a big, affectionate goofball. ;D

 

[Psycho Monkey]

OOC: Thanks Stomper but you don't have to worry about me, I've still got Aerodactyl.

"Sorry guys, but we're full." Cody said with a laugh to Brian, Rosa and Rosie.

"It's cool." said Brian removing a Pokeball from his belt. He flicked it in the air where it opened and materialized a stone grey prehistoric Pokemon. "I have my own ride." Brian turned to Rosa and Rosie. "There's only room for me and Axel on Aerodactyl's back but I can still take you if you don't mind being carried in his claws." Brian offered the twins. (You can decide if they come with me or Rhydon, Chibi)

Aerodactyl took off once the passengers were loaded and followed closely behind Dream. When they were over the festival Aerodactyl dive bombed only pulling up inches from the ground and landed neatly on his feet.

"If you liked that, when the festival is over we'll go for a longer ride!" Cody said to Kalseng and Daniel.

"I say we have an aerial race." suggested Brian practicly challenging Cody. [Insert Response here] Brian called back Aerodactyl and walked up to the stand. "I'll have a medium well steak and a cheese burger cooked the same way." Brian said to the vender. "Actually make that two of each." he corrected after a brief second of thaught. Brian got his order and walked back to the table. When he got there Daniel was face down on the table and Axel was poking him.

"Stop that Axel! It's rude." Brian scolded.

"I'm just making sure he's still alive." Axel said in defence. A loud snore answered that question. Brian gave Axel one of the steaks and began eating the other one. Before Brian was even half way done his first burger Kalseng asked if anyone wanted dessert. Brian just stared at him remembering how much was on his plate at dinner, and that was only 2 seconds ago.

"What are you, part Snorelax?" he asked sarcasticly. Another snore from Daniel made Brian want to pose the same question to him.

 

[Kalseng]

"Nawww..." Kalseng said, dismissing the thought. "I just eat a lot after battles. It takes a tole on my psyche." Kalseng said, tapping his temple lightly. This was true. It did take a huge tole to rip your personality, rearrange it, and put a different one back. And to snap like Kalseng did, that took even more. Kalseng was surprised he could do it half the time. But he did anyway, and that was what worried him.

But not now. Today was a day of celebration. After all, the first rounds of the tournament were tommorrow. The first one out of the ten rounds each trainer would have were tommorrow night. They wtarted at 6, and went till midnight. It took a while to get through over 500 pokemon battles. So Kalseng took today as his last day of total relaxation.

He wanted his brain to rest before he went to the tournament. He needed all of his psyche, most favorably in tact.

But Kalseng knew how unlikely that was.

 

[Cody]

"G'night Guys." Cody suddenly said standing up. His backpack was on his shoulder, so was Silver. "We've got a lot of work to do for the tournament tommorow." And with that, Cody's back was to the group, as he and Silver walked off.

The lights of the makeshift city had been dimmed down, so that the stars and moon would be seen in full glory. Walking to the hotel, Cody saw how true this was. Tonight was the first night of the week long full moon, and Cody was truly astonished by the sight. Silver's head was pointed straight up the entire walk to the hotel. Comets darted through the sky, seemingly in endless amounts.

The window on the hotel had been replaced by the time Cody and Silver arrived. Upon walking into the lobby, he placed several hundred thousand Pokedollars on the counter to pay for the window. The man behind the desk gladly excepted. Instead of going back up to the room, Cody took a seat in one of the lobby's many armchairs, and pulled the table a little closer. He pulled his laptop out of his bag, and placed the five Pokeballs he had with him on the table, next to the laptop. "Time for some team rotation..." Cody mumbled, powering up the laptop.

After a few moments of clicking, password typing, and loading, Cody had arrived at the International Pokemon Transfer site. He entered another password, and was soon on his personal storage area. The laptop sent a wireless signal to the five Pokeballs, absorbing the Pokemon and transforming them into data. They were swept into the database, and then re-formed in miniature. Cody highlighted the Pokemon he wanted to be placed in the Pokeballs, and waited for the data to transfer. Silver had in this time, fallen asleep in the next armchair over.

 

[Kalseng]

Kalseng watched Cody walk away to the hotel, his pokemon watching the beauty of the sky. Kalseng picked up his drink, and slammed it down, the warm liquid sliding down his throat. It was really just a very creamy hot chocolate, perfectly suited to Kalseng's taste. It was a waste to just open his throat to it, but it saved time. He figured it was a good time to sleep, judging from his drowziness and the darkness suffusing the entire fair. Each light seemed to be a beacon in the dark, shining, revealing the different vendors. Kalseng needed to cut costs on rooms, because the prices increased as the days went on. So he walked out, away from the festival and into the forest between the streets. It was thick, but it was also scattered with clearings.

Kalseng wandered out in to the middle of the forest, groping his way past all sorts of branches, trees and various other forst parphanaelia. The trees soon broke into grass, into a clearing. It wasn't huge, but it wasn't too small for a large group of people to sleep in, but then again, Kalseng wasn't a large group of people. Kalseng found a good, dry place with lots of leaf and branch coverage, and reached for his bag.

His bag had been "Hidden" the entire time, because it was being covered by his cape. He was surprised it didn't buldge as he walked, but because it didn't, he didn't feel stupid carrying it around. He unhooked the bag from his shoulders, and pulled out his sleeping bag, decorated with various leaves and grass, with a dark green backdrop. He laid it out on the ground and unzipped the sides, opening it up. He slid in, nestled between the two thick ammounts of covering. He stared up at the sky, watching the shining stars.

Haunter appeared with a few seconds, prodding Kalseng. Kalseng laughed and pulled out Haunter's pokeball. He called out "Return!" and a beam of red energy shot out towards Haunter. Haunter was soon converted into a red energy mass, and was pulled in. The pokeball made a clicking noise, Kalseng pulled it back under the covers, and clipped it back onto his belt. The stars were shining so bright in the dark, they were practically bursting with life and fire. It was beautiful, and soothing... In less than ten minutes, Kalseng had fallen asleep.

 

[Cody]

Time continued to pass, slowly moving it's way to midnight. Silver was now in a comfortable sleeping position, and Cody wasting a good night's sleep. He was still at his laptop, continuing to configure his team. Which is incredibly ridiculous, as there only about 12 or so to choose between in Cody's case. He sat clicking away on his keyboard, while the rest of the festival went to sleep. It was Tuesday, the first day of the tournament. It also meant the opening ceramonies for the tournament.

After about an hour more, Cody had the team figured out. He hit the transfer button, and the five Pokeballs were loaded with Pokemon once more. He carefully scooped Silver up, and returned to the room. Upon returning, he placed Silver on his bed. Following that, he took a shower, and got in bed himself.

 

[Chibi]

"Nothing like a good bit of shut eye, eh?" Rosa flopped down on the soft white bed, back in their hotel room. Amazingly, they had slipped back in unnoticed (the credit going to Rosa's Aerodactyl and Rosie's Charizard), and now Rosa had only one thing on her mind after gorging herself in every kind of meat possible: sleep. She opened one eye to glare at her twin sister, "And don't you dare set that orange rodent on me again, or I'll give you a bump on the head that won't go down for a season." With that, she turned on her side, and was snoring gently seconds later.

Rosie also lay on her bed, but sleep did not come easily for her. With the anxiety of the upcoming tournament of five hundred (FIVE HUNDERED!!!!) and the nagging fact that Team Rocket might destroy the entire thing, Rosie could hardly swallow back at the food stand and as a result, didn't eat. Which, Rosa became a Munchlax. Nervousness made Rosie's guts feel as if they had twisted upon themselves, making her more unwilling to digest food. She lay on her back for what seemed like forever, watching the ceiling as if trying to read some foreign language that had been carved into it.

But, as time took its toll, Rosie felt her eyelids drooping, and she was eventually asleep; images of battling pokemon, a thousand stars and a magnificent pokeball swirling around in her mind.

 

[Psycho Monkey]

Brian hadn't even noticed the others leave. Since the sun dissapeared below the horrizon and the stars visible Brian's attention had been on the clear beautiful sky. Spacificly the full moon. He sat motionless as if in a trance. His breathing was calm, his body relaxed and his mind at peace as if he was experiencing a type of euphoria.

Axel had seen this change in his trainer many times before. Every month for years Brian went through this ritual. When the full moon rose the only things that could break Brian away were the need to move, sunrise, or if he was overtaken by sleep.

"Yo B-Ri, If we're sleeping outside tonight can we at least find someplace more comfortable?" inquired the Infernape.

"As you wish." Brian said actually taking his eyes off the sky. After leaving the town, the duo layed down on a grassy hill with the moon in full view. Axel layed back and prepared for sleep. He often wondered if Brian had picked up this habbit 19 years ago when he was born under a full moon or if it was derived from his crazy nature.

What ever the case, it was almost perfect that the next day was a tournament. Some of the side effects of this unique form of meditation included an increase in energy and focus. A perfect mix for up coming battles. Several hours into the night Brian finally faded into sleep.

 

[Stomper]

While everyone went to their hotel rooms to sleep, Daniel was simply oblivious, still asleep at the dinner table.

"Pardon me, sir." A deep, rough voice shocked Daniel from his slumber. He peered lazily up at the person who so rudely woke him up, who was apparently some form of hotel security. Placing a large amount of pokedollars into the officer's hand, Daniel simply groaned, "Room.", and trudged off towards a pokemon banking device, a PC. He sleepily inputted his password, and withdrew two pokemon. First, he withdrew his Mightyena, a pokemon he usually carried with him, but previously vouched to leave behind. Second, he did something no trainer would expect to do. He withdrew a Rattata. No, he is not insane.

After he finished retrieving the two additional pokeballs and placing them on his belt, Daniel swaggered away, searching for a comfortable bed. He eventually stumbled into a (thankfully) empty room, and flopped down on the bed, resuming his nap.

 

[Cody]

(( I now declare it daytime. Kal said I could.))

The morning began with a bang. Literally. Cody had made the unfortunate mistake of leaving his other trouble making Pokemon out with Silver, aptly named Gold. Gold was a Pichu. He and Silver both got along well, and could battle very well. The bang was caused by Gold releasing an accidentel electric spark. Said spark hit Silver, who flew into the air, and hit the ceiling, with a nice bang.

"Stupid monkey...." Cody grumbled as he groggily got out of bed. Then WHAM-O! Adrenlyn.(sp) The though of the battle got his moving instantly. In a matter of ten minutes, he had showered, gotten dressed, and ran out of the hotel room with Silver and Gold on his shoulder. As he continued down the hallway, he saw an open door. On the bed, he saw the figure of Daniel. Cody couldn't help himself, and told Gold to run up and give him a nice shock. He did that, and just stood there, with a big goofy smile, as Cody and Silver rushed into the lobby. There was a free breakfest, like most hotels had. He rushed through his bowl of cereal, and then started pacing. Silver leaped down onto the floor, and began mimicking him, with the slight slough and hands behind back and all. (Picture an Aipom pacing..it's funny)

In his mind, Cody was picturing all the battles that would have been fought by the end of today. He thought about his. He couldn't fight agaisnt any of his friends in the first round.....could he?

 

[Stomper]

Daniel awoke to the smell of ozone and burning silk. Only when he was fully awake he clued in to that he was being shocked by a tiny Pichu. Lazily, he draped his hand over the side of the bed and picked up the little mouse pokemon by it's tail, and stared at it. The Pichu giggled.

Previously hidden by Daniel, a large, black dog-like pokemon rose up from the bed and yawned. It was a Mightyena. It eyed the Pichu with a would you mind? I'm trying to sleep. look in it's eye. The dark pokemon then set it's head back on the pillow and resumed sleeping. Then, it's tail twitched, revealing the sleeping form of another pokemon. This time, it was a tiny, purple mouse. The Rattata yawned, blinking it's sleepy red eyes. At the sight of Cody, Rattata squeaked and darted into Daniel's backpack.

Nidorino, Scyther, Arbok and Rhydon were all sleeping on top of each other when Daniel finally rose out of bed, looking somewhat like a tuxedo-clad undead. "Come on, guys, it's breakfast time." He yawned, kicking at Arbok, who was closest to the bed.

Having awoken the rest of his team, Daniel, Nidorino, Scyther, Arbok, Rhydon, Mightyena and Rattata (Who was still hiding in Daniel's backpack) all marched down the stairs, looking nothing short of a pokemon army, led by the suit-clad human up front. Sitting down at the breakfast table, Daniel gave Cody a playful glare, "Quite the alarm clock you have there." He said, stifling a yawn. Nidorino trotted up to him, and Daniel instinctively began to stroke the pokemon's barb-laden head.

 

[Psycho Monkey]

OOC: You're not planning on the F.E.A.R stratagy are you Stomper?

Brian's eyes shot open. He braught his knees to his chest and with a powerful push kick was back on his feet. After brushing the grass off his clothes he walked up to Axel, who was still sleeping in a ball, and gave the monkey afew taps with his foot.

"Wake up you lazy bum." said Brian like a parent waking up a child for school. Axel grabbed Brian's foot by the heel and flipped the trainer on his back. Axel picked himself lazily off the ground and looked at Brian.

"Well whad'ya know, I'm up before you." Axel mocked.

"Haha." Brian laughed sarcasticly getting up. He pulled out his Poketch and called Cody to find out where everyone was. Cody picked up and said to meet him in the lobby of the hotel for breakfest. "Quite the alarm clock you havce there." Brian heard Daniel say in the background. "Alright Axel, today's the day of the tounament. For a quick warm up I say we race to the hotel we stayed at last time."

"You're on! No one can beat me in speed!" the monkey said confidently. With that, they both took off running for the festival. Pepole in the streets moved to the sides in suprise when the two runners came through. One of the vendors who had been selling apples had to lift his basket over his head to keep them from getting knocked all over the street. When the hotel came into view Axel was in the lead by a good 20 feet. For a brief moment he turned around and stuck his tounge out at his trainer.

The victorious monkey stood outside the hotel entrance with his arms crossed and a cocky grin on his face as he watched Brian finally catch up. Brian slowed to a stop and started panting. "I'm glad to see you're in tip top shape. Looks like my training has payed off." he said between breaths and wiping sweat from his brow. Axel rolled his eyes at the comment. Brian shook his black T-shirt at the collar to air it out some and cool off. He pulled out a water bottle from his pack and chugged half of it, partially dehydrated from his run. After wiping his mouth with the back of his wrist, Brian walked in the hotel with Axel following. They looked around for a bit looking for their friends, though it wasn't hard spotting Rhydon. "Morning guys." said Brian cheerfully walking up to the table to join Daniel, Cody, and their Pokemon.

 

[Chibi]

Rosa and Rosie also awoke, but not with a bang, but to a bang. A loud report that came from a few rooms down was enough to snap pokemon and stars out of Rosie's mind and make her leap out of bed with a yelp. It was thanks to Rosa's "training" that Rosie came awake all at once, when they had first started out, Rosa amazingly wasn't the one who was still groggy after waking up, but Rosie. So, Rosa decided to "train" her sister, by introducing her to coffee, and shaking her on the shoulder to wake her up, when that didn't work, a swift kick in the ribs always brought results. So Rosie was now frantically swiveling her head around, looking for the source of the noise. When she finally concluded that the sound had not originated from their room, she went over to Rosa's bed.

Fearing that her sister would accidently break her teeth out fearing another attack from a Raichu, she shook Rosa's shoulder as gently as she dared. "Rosa," she whispered, "come on. Wakey, wakey."

"Mm?" The reply was so soft and muffled by pillows that Rosie thought it was another snore, but she noticed Rosa's muscles tensing below her hand.

"It's morning," Rosie explained, "like, I think 7 or 8, maybe-"

"EIGHT!!!" Rosa screamed, all but flying out of bed. Rosie leapt back and saw her sister go through the air, almost seeming to fly in slow motion, with the bed sheet flapping behind her like some cape that got thrown off. Somehow Rosa managed to land on her feet and stared at Rosie. "Why didn't you wake me sooner?!" She shouted.

"I just woke up." Rosie explained, releasing Sweetie and Sparky, who were all too happy to be out of the restraining pokeballs. Blaze and Volts soon joined them. The next few minutes were a blur of activity as the twins showered, got ready for the tournament, and gave all of their pokemon a few berries to munch on while they went down for a real breakfast. Of course, elevators were no favorites of the two trainers, it always made them feel queasy. Rosa played her favorite game of grabbing the railing and leaping down to the next flight of stairs, startling the life out of anyone else and never having to step down a single step, while Rosie came behind as fast as she could without tripping and breaking her neck, apologizing and hurrying down, and following her were twelve pokemon with enough firepower to take over a small town. Some people had to almost flatten themselves to allow Rosie's Tyrannitar and Rosa's Rhydon to pass through, always fearing that the stairs would break under their weight.

When they finally got to the lobby, Rosie cast a glance over her shoulder. "Maybe we should put them back in their pokeballs?" She asked, fearing that the sight of so many fierce pokemon would alarm some people. She could still here the sobs of a little girl that had found herself inches away from the saw-like teeth of Rosa's Aerodactyl. That, and the fact that most of them were simply too big to get through the door, (only Blaze, Volts, Sweetie and Sparky managed to slip through) Palkia knew how they got themselves into the stairway in the first place.

"Wha? Oh sure," Rosa agreed, pulling out two pokeballs, one Great Ball, and one Ultra Ball, and shot out four identical red beams into the doorway. Somehow the beams found their targets through all the clutter, and half of the barricade vanished. Four beams belonging to Rosie cleared the passage completely. The two twins rushed to get away from the tide of people that had been built up from the doorway, and Rosa always having the sharp eyes, spotted some very familiar people. "Hey guys!" She called, waving and jogging over to Daniel, Cody, Brian, and the pokemon that were present with them.

 

[Cody]

Cody stood up suddenly. Daniel, Brian, Rosie and Rosa had all just appeared recently. "Very sorrry guys," Cody said standing, as Silver leaped upon his shoulder, "I've got to be going, much more preperation to do for the tourny...." He mumbled. He reached over and grabbed his bag, and his cup of coffee. He quickly walked out the door of the hotel lobby. On the early morning streets, shops were opening, and the sun was rising. A crowd of people were already gathered around a sign speaking about the opening ceramonies that would take place today/night.

"Whattya think Silver?" Cody asked his tiny monkey. Silver replied with a smile, his teeth gleaming as much as the polished Everstone he wore as a necklace.

One fountain caught Cody's eye. It was simple, and had a ledge around it, presummevly for sitting. Which, is what he did. Planting himself upon the fountain, he opened up his bag. Reaching through tons of junk that must have some use, some TMs and HMs, Cody grabbed his laptop. Powering it up, he once again logged onto the Pokemon Storage Network.

"Gold can't battle...not in this tournament...." He mumbled, dragging some icons around with his mouse. "Venus and Mars work well together....." He mumbled again, "And So does the Boiling Water combo..." With a few more clicks, he was done.

What was beside him now, were two Pokeballs, (one belonging to Silver) an Ultraball, a Diveball, a Safariball, and a (is it fast ot quick?)ball.

At this, Cody shut his laptop down, and placed it back in his bag. It was around nine, and the streets were beggining to fill up more. Cody and Silver sat on the ledge of the fountain, waiting for something to do.

 

[Stomper]

Stretching sleepily, and snapping several joints in the process, Daniel blinked at the twin trainettes and Brian, who had shown up at approximately the same time. Judging from some amount of panic in the stairwell, they had not descended quietly.

"Hey guys!" One of the twins shouted gleefully as she trotted over to the group.

Daniel simply gave a half-hearted wave and clonked his head down on the table again, groaning slightly. Just then, something in his backpack twitched. Rattata poked his tiny head out of the open bag and surveyed his surroundings. Nimbly, as one could only expect from a Rattata, the tiny pokemon leapt out of Daniel's bag, pouncing on a bread-basket filled with all manner of muffins. He swiped as many of the delicious pastries he could carry, and leapt to the floor, shyly approaching Rosa/Rosie's Chickorita. Rattata peeped bashfully, covering his face with one paw as he held out a freshly stolen muffin for Sweetie. Quickly scampering away, Rattata proudly shared his bounty with the rest of the pokemon. Taking one muffin for himself, he leapt up on Mightyena's back and commenced nibbling.

"Morning guys." Brian said, waking Daniel once again. As always, Brian's faithful Infernape Axel was seen beside him. Rhydon in particular took intrest in the firey monkey, tromping up to Axel and poking him several times with a stoney finger.

"Don't mind him," Daniel yawned, removing his glasses to rub at his eyes, "Rhydon's never seen an Infernape before. As a matter of fact, Arbok hasn't seen one before either, have you?" He continued, posing the question to the purple snake next to him. Arbok simply gave a slightly pompous humph, and turned away, proceeding to bully Rattata for his precious muffin. This meritted her a bonk on the noggin and a growl from a not-too-amused Mightyena.

While this was happening, Rhydon's interested poking elevated into bearhugging. The huge pokemon lifted up Axel as if the fire monkey weighed nothing, and commenced to hug the living daylights out of him.

 

[Cody]

Time had crawled it's way to be around eleven-thirty. According to the many posters around the town, and the many trainers migrating to the center of town, the ceramonies were to begin soon. Realising this, Cody and Silver stood up from the bench. He glanced quickly at the side of his backpack, and confirmed he had the six Pokeballs he needed for the tourney.

The migration of trainers was that of many variables. Some girls, some boys. Some woman, and some men. And a few that, Cody couldn't even tell. Silver stayed intently on Cody's shoulder as the two gained the pack of trainers. A few were reconizable, and a few were probably never heard of outside their commmunity. Each and every trainer here had a common goal, winning this tournament.

Nobody exactly understood the prize, but they all wanted it. Who doesn't enjoy statues of your own head? Oh and some magical Pokeball thing. That could be cool enough. Approaching the center of the town, the trainers all halted, at some sort of red tape that had been placed. The registration building began to vibrate. Then, it's walls fell to the ground. It seemed to flip on the inside, and revealed the stadium. The ceramonies and the tourney itself would be held here. Bleachers were quickly placed by workers, thousands of seats. The entire crowd, Cody included, swarmed themselves into the seats. Cody was fortunate enough to get a rather good one, and several seats around it he planned to save for Daniel, Kal, Brian, Rosie, and Rosa. (...That's all...right?) He sent a quick text message to all of them, telling them to get their arses to the stadium.