Pokemon Violet IC

Shaun was vexed. He was now in Solaceon Town, where he resided in an old wooden house in the corner of the village. He sat back in a soft red leather armchair reading a book, with he feet propped up on an ottoman. It was summer outside, and though not far up north it was snowing, Shaun's anger kept him warm. Disinterested, he slammed his book shut loudly, and sat it on a table next to his chair. He began to pace, which disturbed his lazy Duskull from its nap. 

"Dus!" the creature called out in a hoarse voice, as if it had been inhaling smoke. 

"I don't understand it Duskull!" Shaun said, pacing back and forth across the empty fireplace "How can they beat me? They were just four lousy kids and I am the leader of an army! Yet they defeated me as if I were their play-thing! We cannot let this happen again! We must train! We must fight! Next time I see that boy Red and his pack of worshippers, we will defeat them all, and nothing will stop us!" Shaun punctuated this by slamming his fist on a book-covered desk, causing the tomes to fall to the floor. 

"Dus dus?" Duskull muttered, using his telepathy to pick the books back up. Shaun took a deep breath, and patted Duskull on the head lightly. 

"It is okay, my friend." he said "I am just in a bad mood. I am not mad at you". Duskull made as happy an expression as a creature with a skull for a face could, and Shaun chuckled lightly. Someone began to bang on the door. He walked over, Duskull following behind, and opened it. One of his men, wearing their usual brown uniforms, was at the door with a golden box in his hand. 

"Master," he said, bowing "the package has arrived!" Shaun smiled evilly, and took the box with a polite "Thank you". He put it down on the table, and examined the box a moment. it was about a foot and a half long and several inches wide, and was covered in gold leaf. The box's cover was adorned with four rubies on each corner and a sapphire, with tiny emeralds connecting each corner to it's adjacents. He opened the box, and placed the lid on the side. As he stared into the box, Shaun began to chuckle, and then laugh in that way only supervillains can. From out of the box, he took a purple object, adorned with stones, that resembled a heart, with different pipes pointing different directions. He threw his head up at the ceiling and laughed all the harder, raising the Azure Flute above his head. 

"With this!" he yelled "I shall conquer the entire Sinnoh Region!"

Maxx Toron wrote:

Cyril was taken aback by Israh's story, and his eyes lit up with a remarkable glint.

"You're talking about Uxie!" Cyril cried out "One of the three Pokemon said to have been made by Arceus to govern the world! That's amazing!" Cyril caught himself geeking out before he went too far, and stopped himself by taking a long slow sip of his drink, his eyes never leaving Israh's face. Many people would call it an abomination that Israh's face looked this way, with all of this unneeded color. Cyril thought it looked beautiful, however, like a Picasso. It made him think of a tribe of natives that he had met a while back when trekking through the Eterna Forest with Professor Toron. They had similar facial markings, though theirs was war paint, and was not nearly as beautiful.

"So, your facial marks." Cyril said, trying to be as kind about it as possible "Do they mean anything, or are they just there for decoration?"

Israh shook her head, frowning, "They have a meaning, but that is something you must find out on your own, Cyril. Unless it was very important, I would not keep these markings. For a long time, they have set me and my people apart from others. However, we all share one common thing, and that is that we can sense the Aura around us. This connects us to one another, and to our chosen Pokemon, and the rest of the world. The entire planet that we inhabit is connected by woven strands, even if two things seem separate, they are actually very similar. What is a human, but a combination of elements that can be found in the soil? What is blood, if not fire and water? It is liquid, and filled with energy."

With this, she turned to Wraith, and the Gastly looked at her, seeming to frown as well. "Wraith, I need you to keep this with you. It is very important." She then pulled something out of her bag, and, keeping it so that nobody could see, handed it to the ghost Pokemon. The object, a vague silhouette, faded into the cloud of gasses, and was seen no more. Israh then shot a glance at Cyril, and she shook her head slowly, "If you saw, tell no one." She said. "Secrets have power, and sometimes, it is better if that power remains locked away." She closed her eyes, as she suddenly felt a disturbance, "Something that has been kept secret, something powerful, is about to be set free, somewhere soon. I am unaware of what this something is, but disaster shall soon befall Sinnoh. This is not good, Cyril, the power of the flux is growing worse. It will start to affect the Pokemon soon, if not already. It is very bad, indeed." She opened her eyes, "We should challenge the gym, and leave, I don't think we should stay in Hearthome for long." It was a chilling thing to say, but there was somehow truth in that warning.

Riffraff and Wraith exchanged glances, and then looked at Ditto and Larvesta. Although humans couldn't exactly understand Pokemon, it was obvious that Israh's two Pokemon were suddenly alarmed. Somehow, as soon as she had said something, they realized that the area around them felt distinctly...wrong...somehow. The sense of danger, that they were not safe. They seemed to be asking Cyril's Pokemon if they felt it, too. If they didn't, they might be mistaken for being paranoid.

Israh stood up from the bench, "I'm going to go look for the gym, I don't want to be in this city any longer. You might not feel it, but I do. We should move, staying in one place for too long attracts trouble. At least, for me, at any rate."

Now that the great beast was calmed slightly, Red could return to Draco, but he did not know where he was. He reached into his pocket as if searching for a phone before realizing that he had forgotten to buy one, and therefor didn't have Draco's number. He would need to get an Xtransiever in Jubilife.

Which is where he would go next, as he could hit the Eterna city gym on his way. Perhaps Draco would have the same plan as him, in which they could meet up once again. But knowing how truly bad his luck was it wouldn't be the case. He was alone one a strange route with nothing but the clothes on his back, the money in his pocket, his pokemon, and a map. Which actually wasn't that bad. He kneeled down and took off his backpack, unzipping it and taking out his folding bike. He heard Deino grumble from being woken up, before it popped it's head out of the pack as Nick re-shouldered it and mounted his bike.

"We're heading to Jubilife, Thanatos. You okay with that?"

The little dragon's only response was pulling it's head back into the pack to resume sleeping.

Typical.

Cirrus sat down on the bench and took off his backpack. It seemed almost impossible that he was finally in Solaceon Town, home of Professor Toron. Solaceon was much smaller than Veilstone City, with no tall buildings or busy roads. Cirrus had seen little of Veilstone, having just passed through it after arriving in Sinnoh, but he'd been amazed by the city; it was the first place off Stark Island Cirrus had ever seen. 

As exciting as Veilstone had been, though, Cirrus was more excited to be in Solaceon because of the Pokemon lab. Only two days ago he'd gotten Professor Toron's reply letter inviting him to adopt a Pokemon in the town. He'd packed a backpack, found a boat ride to Veilstone City and hiked from there to nearby Solaceon Town. He'd been lucky to get between towns without encountering a wild Pokemon; as much as he'd have liked to catch one he had no Pokemon of his own to defend himself with in case it attacked. [OOC note: It's actually possible to walk from Veilstone to Solaceon without stepping in tall grass, so Cirrus isn't magically lucky.]

Cirrus folded his paper map of Sinnoh and put it away in his backpack; he wouldn't need it until he left Solaceon. Hopefully he wouldn't have to leave Solaceon without his first Pokemon. He stood up, stretched, put his backpack on, and got up to explore the town. It was surrounded by forest and open fields, and there were wide stretches of grass and trees between the buildings. He didn't know where he was going, but he knew the Pokemon lab the moment he saw it. It was clearly the newest building in town, and as he got closer Cirrus saw Professor Toron's sign outside the door. 

Almost shaking with anticipation, Cirrus knocked on the lab's front door.

Professor Toron opened the door to see a boy wearing what looked like snow gear. A cup of tea was in the Professor's hand, and Adam was sitting on his shoulder as always.

"Ah, perfect!" he said "You're Cirrus, correct? I am Professor Toron, presider over this ranch and Pokemon professor. Come in, please!" he ushered the boy into his living room, which was still being taken apart from the big event a few days before.

"We had a major event a few days ago here, and many trainers came. I was a bit concerned at first that I had not seen you, but now I guess I can stop worrying!"

---

"Well, I guess I'll come with you Israh." Cyril said, standing up. He returned Larvesta and Ditto to their pokeballs and began to walk towards the gym. Bernard soon join them, and they all three walked over to the large theatre-looking building in the center of town; Fantina's gym.

---

Draco, unsure of what to do, began to pat the little Yamask on the head in an attempt to comfort it. He was relatively new to these situations, and hadn't much in the way of help. He brought Dratini out of its pokeball, and it nuzzled Yamask on the arm with its snout, trying to make it stop crying. But it didn't, and soon others heard the cry. Two men in brown costumes suddenly stepped into the alley.

"Stop, kid! That Yamask is our's!" one of them said "And while we're at it, we'll take that Dratini of your's too!" Draco looked up at them, making sure it realyl was Team Phantom, and stood up straight.

"Oh yeah?" he asked "Then try and take them!"



"Go, Stunky!" one of the grunts said.

"Rattata, let's own this fool!" Yamask retreated behind Draco's leg, and Dratini looked angrily at its two opponents.

"Well, that's certainly not fair!" a woman's voice called from the other end of the alley. Claire appeared, and walked over to stand next to Draco. The Team Phantom grunts cursed, but they wouldn't back down, even to a gym leader. Claire exchanged glances with Draco.

"How about we do a double battle?" she asked. Draco smiled and nodded.

"Let's school these suckers!" Claire let out her Axew, and it stood next to Dratini, facing the Team Phantom grunts.

"Extremespeed Dratini!" Draco called out.

"Dual chop Axew!"

"Ratatta, use super fang!"

"Stunky, leer!" Stunky growled angrily at Dratini, lowering its defenses. Ratatta went to bite Dratini on the tail when it suddenly disappeared. Stunky went flying into the wall as Dratini crashed into it, sending the pokemon crashing into a wall. Axew struck the Ratatta in the belly, causing it to fall to the ground. All four pokemon got back up.

"Smokescreen, Stunky!" One grunt called out.

"Quick, extremespeed again Dratini!" Dratini charged at Stunky light speed just before it launched its smokescreen.

"Ratatta, bite!" Ratatta bit into Dratini's tail, causing it to cry out in pain.

"Axew, dual chop again!" Axew nailed Ratatta in the head with the first dual chop, and in the stomach a second time. It flew across the alley and landed on its back, defeated. Stunky rolled next to it, unconscious. One of the grunts let out an angry-looking Venipede, and the other a Natu.

"We're upgraded grunts!" one of them said. "Our pokemon are much, much stronger!"

"We'll see about that!" Claire yelled "Axew, dragon dance!" Axew began to dance in a circle, loosening its muscles and causing its attack and speed to increase.

"Dratini, thunder wave!"

"Natu, me first!" Natu's eyes lit up, and it struck Dratini with a shocking thunder wave, paralyzing it.

"Venipede, toxic!"

"Axew, dragon claw!" Axew stepped in the way of Venipede's attack, and slashed it across the face with a boosted dragon claw. It was a critical hit, and Venipede fell to Axew's feet, defeated.

"Dratini, extremespeed!" Draco called out.

"Natu, me first!" Natu vanished, and Axew was struck in the back of the head. It fell forward, and landed on its stomach, still conscious.

"You okay, Axew?" Claire yelled. It nodded. "dual chop!"

"Me first!" Dratini an Axew were each struck with a powerful dual chop. Both were knocked out.

"This thing is copying us!" Draco called out. "I have an idea! Go, Pineco!" Pineco exploded out of it's pokeball with an angry look on its face.

"Pineco, explosion!"

"Me f- oh no!" Both Pineco and Natu exploded. When the dust cleared, a rain of green feathers fell from the air. The grunt was defeated. He was angry now, and he ran towards Draco with an intent of beating him up. Suddenly, the grunt yelled as he was lifted up into the air and thrown back. The other grunt had already fled, and the second one found itself with a Yamask on its chest, huffing and puffing angrily. The Yamask lifted him up again with a powerful hex, and sent the man flying across town, into a pond.

"Dude, Yamask!" Draco called out "You're awesome!" Yamask giggled, and Draco turned to Claire.

"Thank you for helping me." he said.

"My pleasure Draco. I've been trying to get those loons out of the city for ages. Maybe now they'll wise up an leave". She looked down at the Yamask, who was now hugging Draco's leg. "I'll leave you guys to it, then. Farewell!" Claire left, and Draco was now alone with Yamask, who was smiling happily.

"Say," Draco said to Yamask "how'd you like to join my team? A strong ghost like you would be a great edition!" Yamask looked around, as if in thought, and then shrugged and cried out happily. Draco took out a luxury ball that he had bought at the pokemart, and opened it on Yamask, who was sucked in. The ball wiggled around a bit, and Yamask was caught.

Red looked up as he heard the sounds of fighting. He recognized both Draco and Claire's voices. Funny, dragon type trainer battling alongside a boy with a name that meant dragon who had a Dratini, the dragon pokemon. Come to think of it, the fact that he had two dragon types himself and the resident Jhoto pseudo legendary was somewhat strange. But the luck he had was something he wouldn't complain about.

He hauled it as fast as he could in the direction, but by the time he got there, the battle was over and done with, and Claire was on her way off. He was tempted to open his mouth to say something, but stopped himself. She had business to attend to, most likely, and she seemed fine. He switched priorities to Draco, who had caught a Yamask.

"What. The. Hell?" Red questioned, looking around. It looks as if everyone had been shaken and several pokemon had been running amok. He reached for Gabite's pokeball, as he didn't dare call upon Tyranitar yet. Trainer and pokemon did not trust one another yet.

"Should I be alarmed or armed?" He did have Deino in his backpack in case of a quick need. But the lazy thing was probably sleeping. He should make the creature walk for the rest of the journey.

"Thanks, Professor! Uh, you can call me Cir."
Cirrus's head turned from left to right, taking in the laboratory. He could hear the cries of small Pokemon somewhere nearby, and he was even more eager to see them now. 
"So... Where do we go to see the Pokemon? Are they in here?"

Alec looked across at the kid who had just entered the Professor's. Looks like I'm not the only late one… He was kind of glad that someone else had missed out. Looking as if he was standing on hot coals, he sprinted the short two meters to the door. "Hey! I'm Alec. I came here for my starter Pokemon too. Can I just call you Cirrus? Cir doesn't really sound right. By the way, aren't you hot in those clothes? It's sunny outside!" Before even waiting for an answer to anything he had just blurted out, Alec had already started talking to Professor Toron. "Cirrus is right. Can we get our Pokemon now? I'm kind of in a hurry to get back home, and I've been waiting here for ages."

Just like before, he heared a sound coming from the door at the front of the room. It was more clear this time, and it was definately a Pokemon cry. He thought of what he might receive. A Munchlax? A Shinx? Hopefully not something like a Rattata… Again, Alec heard the noise from behind the door. He couldn't wait any longer. Looking up at the Professor, he pointed out the door and asked him, "They're in there, aren't they? The Pokemon. Can we get them?"

Professor Toron jumped when he heard Alec speak. He had completely forgotten that the boy had been waiting for quite some time to get in there and pick his Pokemon. The professor nodded, and walked towards the door, throwing it open to reveal the newborn daycare; a room filled with plastic enclosures for young Pokemon to live and play in. Some of the cages were connected by what looked like the pipes from a hamster enclosure so that the Pokemon could get to their friends.

"Well, here they are!" Professor Toron yelled "It's time for you both to pick your first Pokemon!"

---

Cyril had just opened the door when a man in a brown hooded shawl and a black spandex suit ran out. He shoved Cyril to the side, and snatched Wraith's pokeball from out of Israh's hand. Bernard went to stop the man only to get a punch in the face and Whismur grabbed from out of his arms.

"Dess!" he called out, swiping at the hooded man.

"These Pokemon are now property of Team Phantom!" the man shouted. Bernard ran after the team Phantom agent, as did Cyril, who now realized that Larvesta's pokeball was missing.

"Come on Israh!" he yelled out.

---

Draco was relieved to see Red again, and tossed the Pokeball up in the air as if it were a baseball. The Team Phantom member who Yamask had pummeled was still laying on his back at the end of the alley, too injured to move. Draco put on a rather cool-looking face, which looked goofy with all the adrenaline running through him, and leaned against a wall.

"Neither." he said "No big deal, just caught a Yamask and a WHOOPED SOME TEAM PHANTOM BEHIND!" he yelled this last part very loudly, as if he wanted the whole world to hear that he had beaten their sorry rear ends.

"Can I just call you Cirrus? Cir doesn't really sound right. By the way, aren't you hot in those clothes? It's sunny outside!"


Cirrus couldn't recall having ever been asked that by someone near his own age. All of his friends had called him Cir, and he had gotten used to it. He didn't mind being called Cirrus, but back home only adults called him that.

"Sure, Cirrus is fine. Uh, these clothes really aren't that warm. They're just hiking gear, really." Thinking about this, Cirrus realized that he would have a tough time getting to Snowpoint City in the north, which he needed to visit for a gym badge. He hadn't brought any very warm clothing with him--in fact, he'd never owned any. Southern Stark Island was warm year-round. 

Professor Toron opened the door to the Pokemon kennel, revealing a room occupied by many clear enclosures filled with small Pokemon. Cirrus walked in and heard many of the Pokemon cry out in reaction to the guests. He noticed one interesting monster eating a leaf of lettuce: bright blue, with a brown tiled shell and a curly tail. While the Pokemon ate, Cirrus bent down to look at it more closely. Then, without warning, it let out an angry grunt and slammed against the plastic separating it from Cirrus with its forelegs. Cirrus jumped back, and as soon as he did so the Pokemon calmly returned to its lettuce. Did I scare it? He wasn't sure he wanted the blue creature.

Then Cirrus noticed a Pokemon in another enclosure looking at him. It had a round yellow body with black stripes, long arms, short legs and two rectangular horns that resembled the prongs of an electrical plug. More cautiously this time, Cirrus bent down to the Pokemon's level. It continued to watch him until he was at its eye level, then put its hand on the clear plastic wall and barked happily. Then the Pokemon sat down and tilted its head, still looking at Cirrus.

"Professor Toron, can I have this one?"

The sound of her own rapid breathing and heartbeat filled the young, soon to be pokemon trainer's, ears. It felt like she had been running for ages. She knew she was late, she knew she was very late.

But who could blame her? She wasn't from the Sinnoh region at all so everything seemed so foreign to her. She had traveled by herself before, but never this far away from her home region. The worst thing was that this trip was planned very precisely so she would show up on time, but she wasn't able to calculate a freak boat accident into her trip.

And now she was very late for getting her first pokemon.

This late girl will now be called Erica, and Erica is very mad at herself.

As she ran up route 209, frantically pushing aside trainers and avoiding tall grass. It felt like a life time but eventually she could see the tops of buildings peeking over the trees.

Her strides began to slow and shorten as she arrived on the doorstep of the Daycare. She looked a mess, covered with mud and sweat. It was a miracle that she even got dressed that morning.

She looked up at the door with a bit of a pained expression. She might have missed her appointment to get a pokemon, but there was no way the Professor would send her home empty handed...right?

"Ah, an excellent choice!" Profesor Toron said, walking over to Cirrus, "That's Elekid!" Professor Toron hit a button on the top-right corner of the cage, and a speaker recited Elekid's pokedex entry:

"Elekid, the electric Pokemon. A weak electric current flows between its horns. Sticking a hand there shocks the unwary. Spinning its arms around to generate electricity makes the area between its horns shine light blue."

With that, Professor Toron heard the knocking at the door, and left the room. He threw the door open to reveal yet another late edition to the new trainers.

"Ah, hello there, my friend!" Professor Toron said, gesturing for her to come inside. "Welcome to my laboratory! Are you here to get your starter Pokemon?"

---



"Dess, use uproar!" Dess the Whismur, who was already, having a miniature panic attack, began to wriggle around and flail while screaming at the top of its lungs. The Team Phantom operative who was holding him screamed and threw the Whismur through the air. It landed on top of a house, and slid down to land on an awning, still screaming its head off. The Team Phantom grunt still had Isra's pokeball, however, and he began to run as fast as he could towards the entrance to Mt.Coronet. He was soon joined by two other Team Phantom Grunts, who stood in the way of the three pursuers.

"You're not going anywhere!" one of them yelled.

"We'll see about that!" Bernard said, tossing his Pokeball. "Let's teach these fools a lesson, Lennie!" Lennie exploded out of his Pokeball angrily, and let out a loud "NOOOOOOOSE-PASS!!!"

"Ah, but I am an upgraded grunt! I am stronger! Let's go Woobat!" The grunt let out his Woobat, and it cried out in a loud screech "WOOOOOOOOO!" The other team Phantom member also threw a pokeball, and out came Tangela.

"Let's go, Larvesta!" Cyril threw the pokeball, and Larvesta appeared.

"Israh, we've got you covered, chase after that fool who took your Ghastly!" Bernard called out "Lenny, block!" Lenny sprang into action and spread his arms wide, keeping the Team Phantom grunts back so that Israh could pass through.

---

As Draco finished his thought, a loud voice spoke out from nowhere.

"Ah, excellent, right into the trap! I applaud you on your co-operation!" An explosion went off in the background, and smoke began to rise from the direction of the gym. Shaun, top hat and all, appeared at the other end of the alley. Team Phantom Grunts filed into the alley, closing both sides up, so that no one could escape.

"So, here's how this is going to work, gentlemen!" Shaun said haughtily "You are going to hand over your Pokemon, or I am going to take them by force. I really don't want to do this, but I have no choice. I've no qualms about ending your pathetic little lives right here too, so I'd listen and pay up! I-" Then, of course, Shaun looked down the alley. Red and Draco were gone. His mouth hung open a bit, still about to spit out the end of his threat, and then he closed it.

"How unfortunate," he sighed "I really wanted to get that Deino." He grabbed a radio from out of his jacket, and spoke into it.

"Executive Norman," he said "A very interesting prize is heading your way. I suggest you billet some men outside of your entrance to Mt.Coronet".

Erica's eyes whipped up towards the voice talking to her. The professor. He was just as cool in person then he was on the television. Erica dusted herself off, trying to look as presentable as possible. "Yes Sir! I'm very sorry I am late!"

((Sorry for controlling the Professor for a moment))

Erica then entered the yard of available starter pokemon. She tried to keep from frowning. She didn't see any pokemon that really peaked her interests. She walked around for a moment, observing the pokemon. A stubby pokemon munching on food first caught her eye, but then she saw a large snake made of rocks. She swallowed, the large pokemon was fairly frightening.

Maybe something smaller...She thought trying to find the perfect pokemon.

And as if on cue a little grass pokemon appeared to her. Erica kneeled in front of it, not knowing its name due to her lack of experience outside Hoenn. She offered him a hand, petting him on the head softly.

"Professor, I think I want this one."

Cirrus opened the cage and, holding the Elekid by its sides, lifted the Pokemon into the air, careful not to touch its electric horns. The Elekid didn't seem bothered at all; it merely shifted slightly and glanced around. It was too heavy for Cirrus to hold up for long, so he set it down on the floor. The Pokemon turned its head left and right, taking in its surroundings, then turned around and used its arms to hoist itself onto the top of its cage, where it sat down and turned its head toward the entry to the kennel.

Cirrus followed the Elekid's gaze and saw a girl walk into the lab. After greeting Professor Toron, she looked at the various Pokemon and chose a green-and-beige monster with a pointed nose and a green leaf-tail.

Quote :

"Professor, I think I want this one."

Seeing the girl pet the Grass Pokemon on the head, Elekid slid off its cage and ambled over in the direction of the Pokemon and the girl. Stopping a yard away, it stared at the Grass type and made a rumbling, buzzing noise. Cirrus walked after it and knelt, grabbing the Elekid under the arms to prevent it from moving closer.
"Sorry, I think my Pokemon is just curious. I'm Cir, by the way."

Alec paced around the room, looking at all of the different Pokemon. Most of the enclosures were empty, but it was still a tough pick. I haven't got time for this, Alec thought, I should already be out on an adventure, getting badges, catching Pokemon, defeating trainers… I've got to make a decision! Without wasting any time, he spun around and looked at whatever Pokemon was behind him. A Munchlax was sitting down with it's eyes closed, chewing on some kind of food. No way was he wasn't choosing a Munchlax, they were wayyyyy too slow. He needed something that was more fun, something stronger, something faster…

"Rufflet!"

Alec looked over to where the sound was coming from. Right next to the Munchlax was a blue and white bird with a feather on it's head. It was walking back and forth, and it looked unhappy. It needed to get out of it's enclosure, to be able to fly about in an open space. It needed to be free. This had to be Alec's Pokemon. He would definately feel sorry if he didn't choose it. "Hey, uh, Professor," he said, "isn't this a Starl- no, no, it's a Vul- NO WAIT I KNOW WHAT IT IS! A RUFFLET! It is, isn't it!?" The Pokemon looked up at Alec, clearly excited that it was going to be chosen. "Yea, and aren't they all males?"

Erica had almost tumbled back, since she was already in an unstable crouching position, when she heard the buzzing. One of her hands had quickly gone to the floor to keep herself from tipping backwards with shock. The little yellow pokemon himself wasn't scary at all, maybe Erica was just threatened by the fact it could shoot electricity.

"Sorry, I think my Pokemon is just curious. I'm Cir, by the way." wrote:

Erica quickly stood up, regaining her composure, scooping up Snivy and setting her on her shoulder. "No problem Cir." Erica said, trying to sound like she hadn't been scared by a tiny baby pokemon. "I'm Erica." She said quickly, returning the greeting. "It's nice to know someone else showed up late." Erica finished with a slight giggle.

The Team Phantom grunt slipped and fell to the ground, dropping Wraith's pokeball as he did so. He rolled out of the way of the charging Israh, and got to his feet, at which point he produced a pokeball from his shawl.

"That's it, little girl!" he yelled in a menacing voice. "I've had just about enough of you! Now I will crush you and take your other Pokemon while I'm at it!" He threw his pokeball and yelled "Let's go Shuppet! Destroy her!"




Team Phantom Grunt challenged PKMN Trainer Israh!



And the battle commenced (click this link to see the battle).

The grunt looked around, corner, and saw that his cohorts had too gone down, courtesy of Bernard and Cyril. He was all alone. He looked around fearfully, and then took off, dropping an item behind him, which revealed itself to be a Spirit Tag. Cyril jogged up next to Israh.

"Hey, that grunt dropped a spirit tag!" he said, picking it up and handing it to Israh "It strengthens ghost-type moves".

Draco shrugged, and began to walk slightly faster to keep up with Red.

"Sounds like a plan." he said "Plus, I heard that you can catch Feebas in a lake on the way. I've always wanted a Milotic. Though, both of our teams have a weakness to ice. How are we going to beat Candice if our dragons are rendered useless?"

--

"Ah, yes. Excellent choices all around! Elekid, Snivy, and Rufflet! All excellent pokemon!" Professor Toron nodded, and opened all three of the enclosures. The pokemon all jumped out to meet their new trainers. Professor Toron looked over at one of the cages sadly, and sighed. That cage had belonged to the Aipom that had escaped a night or two ago. Arceus knows where it was now.

"Remember to take good care of these pokemon, and-"

"Mind if I barge in a moment, professor?"



In through the doorway came an older man with short grey hair and a warm, friendly smile. He was wearing a labcoat, and walked with a wooden cane. He looked around the room happily at the trainers receiving their pokemon, and then nodded to the professor. Behind the man was a young boy with glasses, no more than eight or nine, with a happy-looking Aipom on his shoulder.

"Professor Oak!" Professor Toron said, smiling and shaking his old colleague's hand "I didn't know you were coming!"

"Yes, I happened to be in the neighborhood and saw a few more children coming to your lab to get their first Pokemon. I was overtaken by sentiment, and decided to come in and have a look around! I hope you don't mind!"

"Not at all! You're always welcome here, professor! And who's this little guy?" Professor Toron squatted down a bit and rustled the boy's hair. The Aipom, seeing his former master, frowned and hit behind the boy, deciding to crawl down his shirt. The boy giggled, and Aipom came tumbling out of the bottom, where he landed on his rear and scampered onto the boy's leg.

"Oh, this boy seems to have something for you!" The boy grabbed the Aipom off of his leg, and frowned.

"Here's your Aipom, sir?" he said, holding the frightened Aipom out. Professor Toron smiled, and looked down at the shivering Aipom.

"Tell me something, boy." he said "Do you like this Aipom?"

"Well, yes, but he's your's." Professor Toron nodded.

"Is this Aipom happy around you?"

"Well, yes, but I'm too young to have a Pokemon".

"No you aren't! My five-year-old niece has an Igglybuff and she takes great care of it!"

"Okay..." Professor Toron nodded again.

"Alright, just one more; how would you like to keep this Aipom?" The Aipom sighed in relief and the boy's eyes lit up.

"Really, sir? You'll let me keep him?"

"Well, he seems happier with you than he does with me!"

Professor Oak, meanwhile, walked over to see the new trainers. He was particularly fascinated by a bird with a white head and one red feather, being held by a teenaged boy.

"A very interesting choice." he said "Rufflets are known to be very strong and brave Pokemon!"

As the Rufflet was released, it jumped up at flew around in circles. Alec held his arms out and the Pokemon landed into them, flapped it's wings a few times, then rested against him. He held the Rufflet to his chest, not wanting to drop it. "Hmm," he said to it, "I'll have to think of something to call you. I'm not that good with names."

Maxx Toron wrote:

Professor Oak, meanwhile, walked over to see the new trainers. He was particularly fascinated by a bird with a white head and one red feather, being held by a teenaged boy.

"A very interesting choice." he said "Rufflets are known to be very strong and brave Pokemon!"

Alec looked up at Professor Oak. He'd only ever seen him on TV, never in real life. Now that he thought about it, he had never seen Professor Toron in person either. It must have been more exciting because Oak was from Kanto. His attention turned back to the professor. He had to say something, but what? "Uh… yea, heh, funny that you called it brave, it's second stage is Braviary!" Okay, that kind of sounded like he was insulting Oak's knowlege, so he added, "I think…" Well, at least he didn't say something like, Hi! I like shorts! They're comfy and easy to wear! He could just imagine some kid saying that… heh… Then he remembered. He was in a rush to get home! He turned to Professor Toron. "So, what next?"