IC Posting

[KiKi Kitsune]

[FONT= 'Yesteryear']Sayako Akili[/FONT]
​

Sayako plodded along the path to Goldenrod City. She could see the lights of the buildings not too far in the distance, but she was exhausted. Even after a few years of travelling, she still got tired quickly. Her body had never been great at storing energy, so it was to be expected. Kaya, the more energetic of the two, bounded out in front of her trainer only to stop and sniff the ground. The growlithe would fall behind momentarily before sprinting forward and continuing the cycle. The canine's antics raised a small smile out of the researcher. 


"Kaya, come on. You have to go back into your pokeball now." The slightly larger than average growlithe gave a whine of disagreement. "I'm sorry, but we're almost in the city." Sayako retrieved a pokeball and a red beam engulfed Kaya. 


"I'll let you out again when we get to the rest area, okay?" She wasn't actually sure if pokemon could still hear when in their balls. Perhaps she should look into that as well. It was an interesting subject.  


The slim woman glanced around her at the buildings curiously, looking for signage to the pokecenter. Finding a vague pointer, she followed the supposed path to her destination. It was getting dark and the thought of a comfy bed compelled her to quicken her pace. However, her steps came to an abrupt halt as the sound of explosions reached her ears. Despite the better or tired parts of her mind arguing against it, Sayako's curiosity took her towards the ominous rumbling. Where there were explosions, there was a high chance of something most would flee from. 


She was not disappointing. As she turned a corner, she got close enough to see flames licking into the sky. Their tendrils cutting through the dark, encroaching sheet of night. Sayako could only stand there, enchanted by the fire only a block away. It wasn't that large yet and would probably be put out by itself once its initial source depleted. Although, she had no idea as to what the source was, so it could take hours to burn out. 


She would happily stand there until the fire faded and had all intention to. Unfortunately, the stampeding pokemon had other ideas. A small group had branched off and were heading Sayako's way. Being completely unaware of her surroundings, the burn marred girl was knocked over, letting out a surprised yelp. She Scrambled on her hands to try get out the way. She managed to get to the side of the road but not without being hit in the side by what she could only guess was a mightyena. Being so small, it was easily enough to knock the wind out of her. She curled over herself on the sidewalk, coughing dryly.


She really needed to work on her getting distracted so much. It was going to get her killed one of these days. Hell, she had almost died thanks to it multiple times already. 

 

[Arael]

The first wave of rumbling didn't seem to wake Victor as he rolled over in his sleep, but the second one which seemed closer and more evident than before caused him to jump awake, almost falling from his bed. He could hear the cries of Pokémon but thought someone had just left their television on...and was extremely loud.


"What the hell is going on?" 


He yawned loudly before grabbing his glasses and looking out at the streets of Goldenrod. The sight of the stampede made his think it was only a dream, but the damage they caused was horrific as different species rushed through the streets and knocked over whatever was in the way. 


Victor checked his phone only to see two missed calls from his boss and a text that insisted on him getting pictures of this, while the idea was crazy to him it was his job and he had to do it. 


"I need a new job, one that doesn't involve death...dad said I should've majored in law but did I listen? Noo..just had to go into communications. " 


He swore under his breath as he quickly got dressed, well half dressed. Still in his pajamas with a black hoodie was dressed in his opinion.


The streets were filled with Pokémon running wild. Some chasing people while others just simply ran in confusion trying to escape. Victor shook his head as he began snapping pictures from a safe distance, making sure to watch his surroundings as he made his way towards the Pokémon Center but paused along the was as he noticed a woman curled up in the sidewalk where most of the stampede had just came through.


"Are you alright? While I'm sure the pavement might be really comfortable, there's sort of a stampede going on..so you should probably get somewhere safe." 


[SIZE= 14px]@KiKi Kitsune[/SIZE]


[SIZE= 14px](Sorry if I held you guys up)[/SIZE]

 

[KiKi Kitsune]

Sayako coughed into her hand a few times more before looking up at whatever had caused the shadow that had cast over her. She saw a young man - roughly her age - with black hair and glasses. She felt his grey eyes boring into her. Judging her. Granted, that's just what she thought he was doing. If he was or not was a completely different kettle of fish. The female tensed up as he spoke. He was asking if she was alright... Or maybe he was actually commenting on her stupid decisions. It was rather unintelligent to sit on the floor during a stampede, so it wouldn't be surprising if that was indeed what he meant. 


Well, he could just be suggesting she move from the area to prevent herself further damage. What if he wanted her to leave because she was being a nuisance? Looking at him again showed a camera. A reporter of some sort? Oh dear, she was probably getting in the way of his shots, making his job more difficult. Sayako began quivering. 


"I-I'm sorry. I... I'll leave. Sorry." She wobbled to her feat, apologizing the whole way. "I didn't mean to be a bother. S-Sorry." She gave a small bow before scuttling away, stumbling a fair bit as she did. A pain shot through her side, causing her to clutch it with a wince. The pokemon ramming into her earlier had caused damage, it seemed. By the feeling of it, a bruised rib. She really needed to get to the pokecenter.


"Oh right..." She had gotten distracted by the fire on her way there. She had no clue where she was or how to get to the center. She considered letting Kaya out to try help her, but with all this chaos, she didn't want to risk letting her pokemon getting hurt. The noise and constant movement of stampeding pokemon made it difficult for the burnt woman to get her bearings. She clutched her head in frustration. "Why am I so stupid?" She asked, despite having a published scientific paper. What came next was a difficult decision to make for her. Well, all decisions were difficult for her, but this one more so than general. 


Now, did she go back to the guy who spoke to her earlier and ask for directions, or try find it on her own? If she went back, he would just think of her as even more of an idiot. If she didn't, she might get caught in the stampede again. After close to a full minute of consideration, Sayako made her choice. She had lived through several fires, so her body must be pretty hardy, right? Surely she could take another tackle or two... Hopefully. 


With that decision in mind, the fire fanatic carried on her current path, hoping it would lead her somewhere. Preferably somewhere safer than her current position. 


@Arael

 

[Arael]

Victor sighed as he watched the woman slowly get onto her feet. Maybe he'd come off a bit rude, which was why she tried to quickly vacate the area while still rather unsteady. he'd snapped a few more pictures of the area and the Pokémon as they rushed through it before putting his camera down and noticed how the woman seemed unsteady as she tried to move and looked as if she would fall over before even reaching the Pokémon Center.


"Excuse me, I'm sorry if I came across as rude." 


He held back a yawn as he fixed his glasses and looked over her. She did seem to be in pain as he noticed her clutching her side. 


"If you'd like I can take you to a Pokémon Center, it's not far from here and I was headed that way so it wouldn't be any trouble. "


After all that was the least he could do after what he'd said earlier, sure he was making a general statement but he didn't even take her condition into consideration. So maybe she'd let him make it up to her by this small act of kindness, he also wanted to get his Pokémon back from nurse joy so they could continue on with their journey. 


"I'm, Victor by the way."  He gave a faint smile and figured she'd at least be more comfortable if she knew who she was walking with instead of hanging around a complete stranger.


[SIZE= 14px]@KiKi Kitsune[/SIZE]

 

[KiKi Kitsune]

Her head snapped to the side so quickly that it was a mystery how her neck didn't break. "Oh, no, um..." Did she have her previous estimate completely wrong? The man was now apologising for rude behaviour on his part. That couldn't be right. Sayako was the rude one. She had assumed that he would find her irritating and want her out of his hair as soon as possible. He had proven that wrong by coming to her a second time and even offering help. "I-I'm sorry, I just..." She racked her brain, trying her best to find a complete sentence without taking half an hour. "Y-you looked busy, so I didn't m-mean to disturb. I'm sorry. You w-weren't rude." The female managed to stutter out. She was surprised by how well it had come out. Far better than her barely understandable responses she usually made in pressured situations. 


The mention of the pokecenter got the smallest of smiles from Sayako. "I meant to go there, but the fire..." She placed a hand over the mostly burned half of her face, usually hidden by her mane of hair. "I got distracted." Her voice was barely audible over the noise of rampaging pokemon. One would think that after multiple near-death experiences thanks to fire, she would have learnt her lesson. "I-if it's not inconveniencing you... I c-can follow." 


She nodded at his introduction of himself. A few moments passed before she remembered it was rude not to respond in kind. "Sorry. I'm Sayako... Sorry." She kept her eyes on the floor, following Victor by keeping his feet in sight. She kept her hand on her bruised side, wallowing in her embarrassment. Why could she not just talk to people normally? 


@Arael

 

[Arael]

Victor couldn't help but chuckle at the woman's behavior. She seemed to be at a list for words duemail to his complete personality swap, sure he was known to switch gears every now and then if it helped others but at the same time he felt like he owed it her, especially after his rude behavior earlier. 


"It's fine honestly, I guess I was wrapped up in my work and since it's rather early I'm still trying to wake myself up." 


When she mentioned a fire, Victor had turned to look back in the direction that the stampede had come from and noticed flames visible off in the distance. It was quite the sight to see but it also made him wonder where Goldenrods police force was and why they weren't enforcing some sort of protocol to keep citizens off the streets at all costs until everything was clear, the fact that not much seemed to be getting done upset him but he didn't let it distract him from getting both of them off the streets.


"It's fine, I was actually heading that way and since I'm all done here is think it's best if we get there as quick as possible."


He gave Sayako a reassuring smile as he led the way down the streets, all while making sure they were both clear out of the way when any Pokémon rushed by the pair. And off in whatever direction they desired. "There's no need to apologize, you didn't do anything wrong I promise." The more they walked, the more Victor wanted to go and make sure Growlithe was safe, the small canine was probably going crazy from all the commotion outside.


[SIZE= 14px]@KiKi Kitsune[/SIZE]

 

[Spinach]

Haru gritted the cold dirt between his teeth as he struggled to get back up. His tongue was numb from the metallic taste of the blood in his mouth. His nose was broken, his left arm in tatters, and it had been awhile since he felt movement in the right arm. 


“Don’t even bother.” a voice commanded.


It was a voice that he had been searching so far and wide to hear: his sister, Aki’s. He looked up and smiled, only to feel her boot stomping down on his face. Haru coughed as blood filled his lung. 


Haru’s quagsire, Kusamochi, lay motionless an arm’s length to his left. A Team Rocket Grunt squatted next to it and prodded it with a handgun. What Haru attempted as a gesture to stop him must have looked quite awful, because the Grunt stopped poking Mochi and guffawed. 


“Ha ha ha, is he serious? Tell me he’s serious.” 


“Pathetic. We’re wasting our time here. Let’s go,” Aki jeered. “Come back, Pidgeot.” 


‘Hey, is that the pidgey I caught you,’ Haru wanted to say. But only a desperate gargle came out. 


Haru closed his eyes and drifted into sleep. He thought he heard shouts and footsteps coming in from far away...






Haru sat up from the hospital bed. Even though the light in the hospital room was dimmed, his disorientation was palpable. He struggled to gather what memory he could, when a soft knock came from the door. 


“Oh, Mr. Suzu you’re awake,” the nurse said. “And good timing too. Bugsy’s here to check up on you.” 


The lavender-haired man entered the room with a pleasant smile. 


“Hey, how are you feeling?” Bugsy extended his hand. “Name’s Bugsy.”


“I’m still getting my bearings. Thank you Bugsy.” Haru smiled and shook his hand. He felt a bitterness rising in the back of his throat. 


“I would have offered to come back later if it was a friendly visit, but I’m sure you’re all too aware of the gravity of the situation.” 


Haru nodded, his body tensing up.


“Let’s get the official business out of the way then. Mr. Harunosuke Suzu, of Ecruteak City. I am glad to inform you that the League will not be charging you with an illegal battle with an unidentified participant, nor will you be charged with a reckless endangerment of a pokemon.


“The situation was investigated and we have obtained a number of eyewitnesses that confirm your claim that you were ambushed upon, and your status as a pokemon trainer taken advantage of by the opposing party identified as members of Team Rocket.” 


Haru slouched backward, sighing. 


“And Mochi- I mean, my Quagsire?” 


“Oh he’s being cared for at the centre. You’ll be able to retrieve him once you get back on your feet. Allow me to apologise for all these paperwork. It’s all standard protocol to take when somebody gets involved in an illegal battle.” 


“And I do appreciate the work League is putting in, now that I’m in the clear-” Haru said, when Bugsy held out his hand and interrupted him. 


“I wouldn’t say that just yet, Mr. Suzu. May I call you Haru?”


“Well, I am calling you Bugsy, am I not?” 


Bugsy gave a hearty chuckle and wiped his brow. Haru realised Bugsy was as anxious to give the previous report as Haru was to hear it. 


“Give it to me straight officer. You’ve done much for me, saving me from those rascals.” 


“As a part of procedure we investigated your Pokedex history and found you haven’t registered a single licensed battle in over five years. And yet, you insisted that you intend to continue your journey through Johto.” 


“That is true.”


“While it is not uncommon for people to acquire their Trainer License early on and don’t use it for many years, the League’s official recommendation is for people to earn a Recency of Practice document from their local Gym before they begin their journey as a Trainer.


“While it is not a necessity, it would be helpful for you to prove to the League that you act in good faith by following the guideline, especially given your injuries. I as a Gym leader cannot, in good conscience, allow you to go on any further unless you prove your skill to the League.” 


“What do you recommend?” 


“I’ve written you a letter of commendation for you to visit Falkner’s- I mean, Violet City’s Gym. Take the Route 33 to the Union Cave, then up the Route 32 until you reach the city. He is better equipped than I to handle the needs of a new trainer than I am.” 


Haru thanked him and exchanged pleasantries until Bugsy left. Urgent Gym business. Haru’s head was swimming with the influx of new information given to him. His brief encounter with his sister taught him many things, especially just how weak he was to save her. He swore he would not fail her again, and if a few Gym badges were what it’d take to get her back, so be it. 


Haru closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep once more. He dreamt of the workshop. 
 

 

[KiKi Kitsune]

Oh no, he was laughing at her. She was such a imbecile sometimes. She always said such stupid things. Why couldn't she just speak normally? She curled in on herself a bit more as they walked, back slumping in defeat. The least she could do was try to keep up with Victor's quick steps. She mumbled a thanks to him agreeing to let her follow. 


With her eyes glued to the ground, she completely missed the smile he offered her. "Sorry." She said impulsively about her apologising. She winced at her idiocy once she realised what she just did. She decided it would be best to remain silent unless completely necessary to avoid further embarrassment. Luckily, the Pokemon Center wasn't too far. Sayako couldn't help but start lagging behind at the end. The pain on top of her condition plus the fact that she had been walking pretty much all day meant that she was far from top shape. 


She coughed a few times, the motion causing pain to spike through her side. She hissed in pain, clutching her side. She did her best to concentrate on her breathing, but every inhale caused her bruised rib to ache. She needed to go rest. "Thank you for helping me. I won't bother you more." She gave a small bow, not making eye contact once. "Have a good night. Sorry again." 


@Arael

 

[ChoShadow]

Tomoya and Yume waited patiently for the sudden horde of Pokémon to die away before finally leaving the safety of the Poké Rest area in the Pokémon Center and venturing outside. 


A quick scan of the area revealed that although the Pokémon had stampeded out of the city, they hadn't done a terrible amount of damage on their way. A few broken street signs, millions of footprints in the ground and cracks in the concrete streets, and a few turned over trash cans, but overall damage was kept to a minimum.


As they looked up the way they saw the smoke rising from where the explosions took place. Tomoya was half convinced they should head that direction, but decided against it as he didn't believe the two of them had any business going there when the fire fighting teams were likely on scene already and the two of them would just get in the way. So instead they decided that their best option now was to head elsewhere. They both still wanted to continue with their plan of heading into the Ilex Forest to find more Pokémon and train their own Pokémon as well.


So that's what they did.


Together they made sure their affairs were in order and headed South to the Forest as the sun started rising over the horizon. Along the way they stopped at a small restaurant and had a solid breakfast for around $30, bringing Tomoya's funds down to $2,420 as he paid for the meal. Easy to regain with a battle with another registered Trainer.


With their bellies full and the sun now firmly hovering over the horizon they set off to the Forest to train and capture new Pokémon.

 

[Spinach]

“Slowness is its own merit,” the green-haired woman shouted as Haru struggled to maintain his footing. “Do not try to match your opponent’s style move for move. Play your game, not theirs.”


Before Haru’s eyes a Zubat fluttered its wings, poised to strike once more. For a pokemon so small it packed a surprising wallop. Clever, too. It had begun to direct more of its attacks against Haru when it realised Kusamochi was a sitting duck without Haru’s orders. 


Paulina- his new mentor- came to find him on the day he was released from the hospital. Apparently Bugsy took some liberty in organising a chaperone of a sort getting Haru from Azalea Town over to Violet City. She was a researcher studying the Ruins of Alph, although she hinted to having once been an accomplished trainer from Unova- an ace of a sort- in her introduction. 


“Remember what I taught you,” Paulina’s voice echoed through the walls of the Union Cave. “You have to lure your opponent into your own tempo.” 


Haru ducked under the zubat’s next attack - feeling a savage buffet of wind passing just over his head - and looked over at his quagsire, Mochi. Mochi looked unhurt and blissfully unaware of his current predicament. 


“Mochi,” Haru whispered. “I’m going to lead the zubat onto you. See if you can dislodge the rock over by your side and throw it with all your Strength.” 


If Mochi understood Haru’s direction, it wasn’t clear. But it was as his mentor said: if you wanted your pokemon to trust you, you have to trust them first. If anything, Haru knew he could trust Mochi to put his safety in its best interest. Haru glanced over to his left and saw the zubat baring its teeth. Perhaps it was hungry. And if it was blood it wanted, the creature will soon have it one way or another. 


The zubat lowered its head and began its descent into a divebomb- Now! Haru shouted as he ducked- no, rolled- into Mochi’s direction. The zubat struggled to change its course of flight to match Haru’s movement, but it was already too close to make such sudden correction. And at the end of its flight path- stood Mochi the quagsire holding a large rock over its head. The zubat squeaked and turned, but the watermelon-sized boulder came upon it with a deafening crash. 


“Good job,” Paulina applauded, watching the zubat crawl away into the comfort of darkness. “A battle is about a trainer versus a trainer as much as it is between the pokemons. It was a risky move you pulled off there, but the deception worked out.” 


“I had a good teacher.” Haru replied, withdrawing Mochi back into its pokeball. 


“Don’t get ahead of yourself now. I still have a trick up my sleeve to teach you. Falkner’s a specialist in Flying-type pokemon… I’m sure it will come handy.” Paulina took out a pokeball from her side and sent out a Slowking. “Are you ready for your lesson number 2?” 


Haru wiped a sweat off of his brow and smiled. Mochi proved itself remarkably resilient against the zubat’s onslaught. Adrenaline was flowing through his blood, and he wanted to know more about his and Mochi’s abilities. 


“Yes, ma’am.” 
 

 

[Arael]

Victor sighed and shrugged off the girls actions. She seemed a bit all over the place, but most likely just shaken up from everything going on in the city so he waited outside for a few minutes before entering the Pokémon Center himself and heading up to the counter where he was greeted happily by the nurse and was told to sign off on Deerling's early release that simply stated that he'd be responsible for taking care of her on such an early leave and that if anything happened he couldn't hold them responsibleven, a bit grim when you think about it but at least it was straightforwardand to the point.


Within a few minutes she'd returned with both pokeballs on a small tray. The dark haired male gave a small bow of thanks before taking both pokeballs and heading back outside where he released Growlithe and put Deerling back into his bag. 


"Hey buddy, ready to hit the road again?" He gave a faint smile as the small canine barked eagerly. 


Victor nodded and began leading the way back to Ilex Forest with the intention of actually making it through this time. As he walked he looked over the photos in his camera and even snapped a quick one of Growlithe as he walked beside his trainer. 


"Perfect..maybe I'll keep a record of everything." Victor mumbled quietly as they both entered the forest. 


[Open to anyone.]

 

[ChoShadow]

 





Date: December 5, 2016


Time: 1315 (1:15pm)









Tomoya and Yume entered the forest at around 10am or so, and had spent the better part of the last several hours walking deeper into the forest on the main path using Tomoya's compass and a map of the forest to ensure they didn't get lost. Along the way they placed pencil markers on the map to show themselves where they were for extra security.


At around 12:45pm or so, they decided to head off the main path and into the forest proper where they began to see more and more Pokémon. Some of them were too dangerous to risk battling, so they carefully made their way through and past them to find better targets. They settled eventually on an isolated Budew skittering about through the underbrush, whom Tomoya decided to battle with Shin. The battle was quick, given Tomoya's level-headedness and ability to command and give orders, but it wasn't easy nonetheless. Shin was still inexperienced in battle, so it took a bit longer than Tomoya intended. Shin had demonstrated that he didn't wish to follow Tomoya's orders the whole time, so he'd have to work on Shin's discipline.


Later on they found a nice open spot to set up for lunch and relaxed with their Pokémon for a while before deciding to battle each other for practice. With both their Pokémon out they explained that it was practice and that hurting one another was not the objective, but learning and experience were. They took up sides on opposing ends of the clearing and sent both Pokémon into battle. It was largely one-sided in Tomoya's favor since he wasn't afraid to command Shin forward into battle whereas Yume was hesitant because she didn't want to burn or hurt Shin. Tomoya had to encourage Yume to stop holding back and let Blaze battle the way he was meant to before she finally relaxed and gave Blaze more aggressive orders.


All in all their battle went smoothly with Tomoya calling it off as soon as he saw Blaze and Shin showing signs of exhaustion. No point pushing them beyond general exhaustion. Best to let them rest and eat and recuperate. Both were still in good condition though Shin seemed to have a light burn on its rear right leg which Tomoya tended to. Mostly just singed fur, thankfully, but still he tended to it all the same.


With their Pokémon resting, the two of them sat together and discussed what they should do and where they should go next. Tomoya suggested that they return to Goldenrod, but Yume suggested Azalea Town as it had a few places she wanted to visit. Namely the Slowpoke Well and the famous Azalea Gardens out behind the Gym. A few exchanges of ideas, and they settled on Azalea Town. But first they needed to let their Pokémon rest a bit longer.