Pokémon: Amber [IC]

[Mundeo]

OOC


"Greetings, everyone! Welcome to the world of Pokémon!"

The crowds gave a cacophonous roar. The square was filled with people of all ages, but the majority were young trainers-to-be, all filled to the brim with excitement. Surrounding them were towering skyscrapers, all glimmering under the bright sun and watched from above. At the end of the square was a stage with one microphone, and one man. Everyone was here to see the Professor.

And when the man of the hour stepped onto the stage, the crowd erupted into cheer. This man was none other than Professor Açai, the leading pokémon researcher of the region. He was quite young for a professor - he was in his mid thirties at most; with tan skin; dark, well-kept hair; and a handsome face. Unlike another proffesor from a similarly tropical region, Açai was somewhat dressed for the job, sporting a white lab coat over beige pants and a blue, yellow, and green checkered shirt. Everyone was so anxious to hear what the professor has to say - all except one.

At the edge of the crowd stood one young, brooding teen with his arms crossed. He responded to the boundless energy of the event with a sigh. He did not want to be here. He could be doing better things, like training, or anything that isn't standing here under the blistering summer sun; it isn't his fault for wearing mostly black. Why was he here? Because his father, Mr. Altorre City Gym Leader himself, wanted him to. "We will go to Leandro's event" His father told him. "We should be there to welcome the new trainers to their adventure!"

Trainers. The thought made him want to laugh. They weren't trainers, they were just a bunch of little kids who didn't have the ambition or will to get a pokémon themselves, and were relying on the good professor to hand one over to them. They were naïve and weak. It wouldn't even be fun to battle any of them - it would barely be a battle at all.

But this gloomy child's feelings did not subtract from the uproar of the rest of the square. When Professor Açai began to speak again, the crowd hushed in anticipation.

"My name is Leandro Açai, but you all may also know me as the pokémon professor. I conduct research so that we may learn more about the pokémon that live around us. We live together, play together, work together, and sometimes, we battle together. That is why you are all here today. We are here today, standing in the center of Altorre City, the new, shining heart of the Maderia League!"

The whole crowd erupted into deafening cheer once more. The professor had to wait for the noise to quiet down before he continued. "You, hopefull trainers of the future, are here to begin your pokémon journey, and I am here to help you commenze that journey!"

Açai motioned to the screen behind him, and three items appeared on it: a backpack, a pile of five pokéballs, and a pokédex. "These are vital to a trainer who hopes to take on the newly formed Maderia League, and one day become the Champion. Our newest model of the pokédex can not only be used to record and find information on pokémon, but it can be used as a map and for communications as well! All of the tools you need to become a pokémon master are now at the palm of your hand! But most importantly..."

The images on the screen were all replaced by a single pokéball. "If you want to become the Champion, you need a companion! That it is why today, I will be giving each and every one of you your very own starter pokémon!"

The uproar grew to even greater heights. At the same time, attendants at the edges of the crowd began to organize the massive crowd into a single line. "Alright, everyone! Form a line!" The professor's voice mixed with murmers of excitements as the future trainers organized themselves. Among the line that snaked around the square was Halden Certamen.

[Finsternia]

Halden Certamen

Nataluz City was kilometers away from Altorre City, with the town of Melola as a buffer and a checkpoint between the two metropoles. The black haired aspiring Trainer have left his hometown three days prior. Excitement coursed through Halden's veins when he heard the news from the TV. The Professor of the Maderia Region was going to be giving out Starters for young aspirants! He trekked the well kept routes between the two cities, resting in Melola for atleast a day before setting out for Altorre.

And when the event started, Halden couldn't believe it. Hundreds, even thousands, were here for this day. He could see the Professor stand on stage addressing them all. "This is it! This is the day!" He whispered to himself as Professor Açai began his introductions. His job, humans' relationship to Pokemon, the newly formed League.

He watched the Professor project the "trainer essentials" as what he learned from the Academy. The Pokedex in question was indeed a different model than the past one. It isn't an encyclopedia of its own but is also a metaphorical Swiss Knife. But that isn't what made him more excited. The announcement of the Starter giveaway did.

Halden moved in line, squirming against the crushing crowd. The first few minutes of trying to find his place was whole chaos with young children and teens pushing against each other. He waited his turn and finally he was in front. Smiling confidently, Halden looked at Professor Açai with admiration. "P-Professor Açai, sir! I'm pleased to meet you! M-My name's Halden..." He said as he tried to look smart but only stutter and look awkward. "I-I am honored to see you in personal!"

[Lord of The Rings]

Elika Zircon
Novela Town

---

A short moment before sunrise Elika woke up with a stinging pain down her leg. She quickly looked up and noticed Nima lying half on top of her, with one of his blades pierced through the blanket, again.
Without waking Nima up Elika got out of bed, and went to the kitchen where her grandmother had already started to prepare an early breakfast.
"You're up early Elika, have the nerves kept you from a good night rest?" Elika's grandmother asked.
"If nerves come in the form of a blade than yes grandmother, it indeed kept me from a good night rest" Elika replied with a smile.
Elika's grandmother smiled back and handed Elika a sandwich, "Here take this, you'll need the energy today" her grandmother told before continuing.
"I think you should check by your father's house, there might still be some supplies you could use on your journey".
Elika nodded and put on coat before she headed outside. She hadn't been to her father's house since she had heard about his arrest, and who knew there might be something there that could help her.

As Elika entered the house of her father, which was only a few houses away from the home of her grandparents, it seemed that nothing had been touched since the last time she had been there. Elika started to search around for things that might be useful and within moments she noticed the first thing, it was a Pokédex lying on her father's desk. Elika figured it was an important tool as knowing what kind of Pokémon she was encountering could give her an edge when she wanted to approach it.
She continued her search but aside from the Pokédex she found nothing useful in the house. Only the basement was left unsearched and so she wandered down the stairs. She had never been to her father's basement before and wondered why, it wasn't her father who had ever stopped her from going there.
When Elika switched the lights on she quickly knew where the police had found the things her father shouldn't have had. The basement was almost empty and it was covered in a layer of dust, only a few boxes in a corner filled the room. Elika started to search the boxes but she found nothing but clothes and other useless stuff in the first few, though when she continued on she quickly noticed something. Behind the boxes there was a small safe hidden inside the wall. Elika checked it out and noticed it required a code to be opened, one with four numbers.
For some time she tried different things, her father's birth year, her father's birth day and month, and those of herself though nothing seemed to work. Then she realized, how could she even forgot. Quickly she filled in the birth day and birth month of her mother and with a click sound the safe opened. Elika cleared the safe before looking at what it all was. She noticed a couple of Pokéballs, though they were not normal Pokéballs. It were two Net Balls, two Heavy Balls, one Love Ball and one Luxury Ball. Amongst the stuff there were also three potions she could use.
Before she left she went through the pictures that were in the safe as well, pictures of her father and mother when they were still young, some even containing Elika herself as a baby. If only she could turn back time to live with a complete and happy family again...

Suddenly Elika escaped from her thoughts as she heard Nima calling for her from outside of the house. Elika wasn't sure how long she had been in her father's basement though it appeared it had been too long. She quickly placed back the stuff she couldn't use and took the pictures and gear with her upstairs where she was greeted by a somewhat panicking Scyther.
"Calm down Nima, you're waking up the entire neighbourhood" Elika said as she exited her father's house.
"Scyther!"
"I know I know, but you know I don't like to wake you up, especially this early."
Scyther never liked it when Elika left the house without him and for some reason it worried him when she did.
The two went back home where Elika's grandfather had woke up as well, "How is my little girl, are you ready to go on your adventure?" he asked before taking a bite out of his breakfast.
"As ready as one can be grandpa!" Elika replied as she gave her grandfather a hug.
Looking at the time Elika realized that it was almost time to set out. It felt scary though, getting so close to the moment where she would leave her home in order to wander around through the region.

The remaining time left Elika spend time with her grandparents and when the time arrived she started to pack her gear. She had become unsure if this was the right thing to do, though as always her grandparents noticed it and encouraged her to go, "If anything happens out there, know that you can always return home. But remember, don't worry too much, just keep a positive mind and you'll be alright."
And with those last words Elika left home with Nima, more or less ready to travel around the region and to learn more about it.
Upon approaching the edge of town she looked back once more, trying to memorize this image as a thought that she would see this image again when her path would cross her hometown again.

[WhatsamattaU]

Jude MacBeth, Garoma City

Jude Macbeth had butterflies in his stomach as he walked into the Garoma City Pokemon Gym. The fair skinned, dark haired teenager had never been in a gym like this before.
The place seemed empty. Maybe that was due to all of the excitement going on in Altorre City, today? Well, that didn't matter.
Feeling braver, Jude called out, to see if anyone would answer, "Hello? I'm Jude MacBeth and I want to learn about Pokemon battles!"

Walking into the gym was like stepping into another dimension. The gym was unconfortably sterile, with clean, white walls and clear windows that showed the clear contrast to the gray world outside. It looked more like a research laboratory than a pokémon gym. An attendant at a welcome desk let Jude through with a "Mr. Cyan will be with you shortly" into the actual battle area. It looked the same as the rest of the building, with bright, white walls and lights that gave off an oppresive light from above. There were markings on the ground of a slightly darker color that formed the outline of an arena. Large vents were attached to several places around the walls, filling the room with a constant hum.
At the end of the room was a desk, and there was a man sitting behind that desk. He was a sickly man- he wore a white lab coat with a lavender suit underneath, and his hair was an equally sickening purple.

"You don't have to shout. My hearing's just fine" The man said with a groan as he rose from his chair and moved in front of the desk. There was an evident sense of anxiousness coming from his voice. He certainly had the air of a mad scientist. "So you're a trainer. That's obvious. And you want to learn about pokémon battling? What about it? And make it quick, it won't be long before all of Leandro's little helpers come barging through that door begging for a battle"

Jude didn't like this man. Well, maybe being abrasive was just the guy's way. Still, it was pretty mean to a stranger who was only looking for help.
Jude took some steps toward the man behind the desk.
Trying to be brave, he said, softer but loud enough for the Gym Leader to hear, "Why so harsh? I mean, you sound like you don't even like being a Gym Leader."

"No, don't get me wrong. I love it, but you know what's going on" Cyan said, his mood slightly improved. "You know, in Altorre City. The Professor rallying a bunch of kids and sending them off to take on the league. With the amount of work I've already got, add a bunch of hyperactive kids to the mix and I know these next few days will not be the greatest"
The gym leader crossed his arms and looked at jude with a raised eyebrow. "I guess I still have some time to spare. So, what do you want to learn about pokémon battling?"

Jude could imagine all of the incessant challenges that the man would have to,endure in the coming days, with all of the newbie trainers in Altorre City, today. He softened just a little toward the Gym Leader.
He considered the man's question. What did he want to learn about Pokemon Battles?
Jude saw the man, seeming to become impatient, then without thinking Jude blurted, "I want to know how to give them good advice, in a fight!"

The moment Cyan heard those words, a smirk creaked its way open. "Is that so?" He turned around and pressed a button on his desk. With a hiss, a panel opened on the wall behind him, revealing several pokéballs. "I hope we can make something interesting out of this. I'm guessing this is your first battle, so by League rules, I have to use my weakest team" He grabbed three pokéballs, attaching two to his belt and keeping one in his hand.
"So, are you ready to begin your lesson?"

Apparently, they were not as alone as Jude had thought. The lights intensified and Jude could see a good sized crowd in the bleachers. Had they been waiting all this time, or had they arrived quickly as if someone had told them a stranger had gone into the Gym?

Jude followed the older man's face and eyes, indicating that Jude should go stand in the Trainer's box of the arena. On the Job Training, crap!

Jude made hesitant steps to the box and tried to calm himself. His heart. His breathing. Stepping into the box, he turned to see the Gym Leader in his place, across the arena. Jude did his best to meet the older man's stare down.... He faltered, but again engaged in the staring contest, round two.
Maintaining his gaze, Jude asked, "Now what?"

The two maintained their stare. Besides the roar of the fans, the room was completely silent. Cyan held a confidant, almost cocky gaze, but after a few moments, his stare faltered into a narrow squint.

"You've never battled before, have you" The Gym Leader asked, then sighed. "Alright, uh... you send out your pokémon, then I'll send out mine" His narrows narrowed even farther. "You do have a pokémon with you, right?"

Jude nodded his head in the positive to the Leader's question and, with his left hand, produced Lady's dusk ball from a pocket in his black leather jacket. He wasn't certain why he did it, but it seemed natural and as he threw the ball into the arena, Jude shouted, "Lady! Come on out!".

Lady freed herself from the dusk ball and the ball, as if by magic, seemed to bounce back into Jude's hand.

Lady seemed to grasp the situation at once and let out a fierce battle-cry as she floated in the air, between Jude and the center of the arena....

[Amistrinal]

Andy Klipsen
Novela Town

---

Andy tapped his foot, looking up at Aipom. The pokemon had waved off the alarm earlier, but he usually got up eventually. This was unlike him, especially for such an important day. He reached up a hand, only to find his reach just a bit too short to reach his Pokemon's bed in the rafters.
"Aipom, come on, its time to wake up." He said, pleading.

Aipom waved his tail a bit, and continued to snore.

Andy crouched down and jumped up, grabbing at the blanket and pulling it down with him. Aipom however, remained in place. "Aipom! We need to go!"

Aipom raised its arms and curled its tail as if it were flexing, laughing in its sleep. "ai ai ai... pom..."

Andy breathed deeply, and shouted.
"AIPOM!"

That had gotten his attention. Perhaps too well, as Aipom jumped to its feet and, in its panic, forgot that it slept rather high off the ground. Fortunately, Andy was right below him, and managed to catch him before he could hit the ground. Aipom smiled at its trainer, having the decency to look a little sheepish.

"Aipom, its late, we should've been out the door half an hour ago! You even missed breakfast!" Andy said, and Aipom paled.

He wiggled out of Andy's arms and racing around the small bedroom, grabbing his scarf and tying it around his neck. He jumped up onto Andy's shoulder and pointed at the door with its tail, waving its arms. "Pom! Pom!"

Andy rushed downstairs at Aipom's insistence, spotting his parents. They smiled at their son. "Got all your things together?" His mother said

Andy nodded, and gestured to his backpack. It didn't have much, just a couple pokeballs, some money, and a Pokedex that had arrived in the mail yesterday. "Yep, I should be ready to go. Wish me and Aipom luck!"

His father was the first to speak, and did so with a thumbs up. "Good luck, Andy! Just remember the first rule... of..." he trailed off as he watched Aipom drag his son out the door, before breaking out into a hearty laugh.

"That boy certainly has his hands full... HA HA HA!"

---

Andy breathed heavily, getting a brief respite from his forced sprint since Aipom had found a spare breakfast of Berries in his backpack, prepared by Andy's mother when Aipom hadn't shown up for breakfast. It looked like there was somebody else here, on the edge of town. An older girl with brown hair, and a Scyther by her side, looking back at the town.

"Um... hi." Andy said, finally catching his breath. "Are you heading out for your journey too?"

[Lord of The Rings]

Elika Zircon
Novela Town

---

Right before Elika wanted to turn around and start her journey she noticed something in the corner of her eye, a younger boy and his Aipom approached her. It appeared this boy was going on the adventure as well, something that eased the nerves of Elika a bit.
"Hi there. I am yes, I was just looking back at the town you know, saying goodbye, or until next time..." she said as she drifted off into her thoughts. Luckily Nima was quick to noticed and poked her with its blades, "Oh, I'm sorry, my name is Elika and this here is Nima, nice to meet you!" she continued as she extended her hand to the boy.

[Amistrinal]

Andy Klipsen
Novela Town

---

Andy shook her hand, and smiled. "My name is Andy, and this is Aipom. Nice to meet you." He gestured to the Pokemon which finished it's breakfast, and jumped up on to Andy's shoulder. It gave a small bow, and glanced at Nima. Aipom thought for a moment, and jumped up on Andy's head.

"Ai-Ai Pom! Aipom!" It shouted, putting it's paws up into a boxing stance and positioning it's tail on it's left side, the hand clenched into a fist.

"Aipom... I think it's a little too early to battle, don't you think?" Andy looked up at his Pokemon, and gave an apologetic smile to Elika. "I'm sorry about him, he's just eager is all."

"Pom!"

[Cruxa]

Mikey Queen
Selverde City

---

The haggard-looking boy stumbled out onto the street, followed by a small, brightly glowing ball of light. Underneath that ball of light was his Cyndaquil, Meteor. Meteor scurried up onto the boy's back, and with a cry of excitement held something up. Mikey scowled at the Pokémon. "Gimme that, before you eat it," he said, kind of crossly. Meteor had been diving in a dumpster for three hours, because he had believed that he might find something useful on their journey.

While Meteor had done that, Mikey had won a few illegal card games, netting him 1000P and a Poké Ball. As he turned the item over in his hands, Mikey realized what it was. "Meteor, this is a Sitrus Berry! But... it was in the trash. So you still can't have it." He tossed the berry away, much to the disdain of his companion.

The two walked towards the city limits. They were headed to their old home, Novela Town, to look for jungle Pokémon and friends to go to Altorre with. None of Mikey's Selverde friends had wanted to leave with him, not even his band members from Brain Dead.

Oh well. He'd make new ones.

[Lord of The Rings]

Elika Zircon
Novela Town

---

"An Aipom..." Elika mumbled to herself as she took out her Pokédex. She knew that it was an Aipom, but aside from its name and what it looked like she didn't knew anything about the Pokémon. She opened up the Pokédex and pointed it at Aipom,

Aipom, the Long Tail Pokémon. Aipom is able to climb and hang from branches using its powerful tail. Aipom live atop tall trees.

As Aipom made clear he wanted to battle Nima looked up at the Aipom with somewhat of an evil smirk before showing the sharp edges of his blades. If anything, Nima wasn't impressed with Aipom and he almost mocked the Pokémon with it.
"Have you battled with your Pokémon already?" Elika asked surprised as she felt somewhat behind on all of that. If she knew how to battle with Pokémon she would have been glad to battle, but with Nima being relatively young she never really dared to let him battle against other Pokémon.

[Mundeo]

Altorre City

With every child that came up to him, Açai would greet them with a smile, hand them a pokéball out of a large container full of them, and waved them off with a "Your pokémon adventure begins now!"

But this boy was different. Sure, he looked as flustered as the rest, but there was... something. And Açai saw that in him. When Halden came up to the stage, the Professor smiled. He had one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced, or seemed to face, the whole external world for an instant and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself. For a moment, he seemed not like a professor, but a close friend.

And as if he new that Halden was going to approach him at that time, and that place, long before the event even started, he said, "I've been waiting for someone like you. There's just something about you, and I just can't put my finger on it. Just a moment"

Instead of taking a pokéball from the top of the box, the Professor reached into the pocket of his lab coat. After a moment, he brought his hand back out to reveal not an average pokéball, but a glittering, black luxury ball. "He's one of a kind. He's been staying around with me for a while, but I think I can trust you with showing him the rest of the region?"

There he was, his hand outstretched, and the luxury ball resting anxiously in it. He held it out, waiting for Halden to take it.

Then, out of nowhere, a hyper beam cut through the intense excitement and struck the screen.

Without a word, Açai pushed Halden away as the screen and the metal frame that held it came crashing down. As gasps and shouts of shock and fear burst through the crowd, smoke covered the stage. Halden's vision was shrouded as he got back to his feet, but he can hear the sounds of scared trainers and someone pushed through them.

"Outta my way, ya little brats! I'm comin' through!

When the smoke cleared, Halden would see that there was someone else on the stage. No, just one - three men, and none of them looked like they were here to enjoy the festivities. And they weren't alone - many angry-looking figures emerged from the crowd. Two of the three on the stage looked like regular Altorre citizens, but the one who had just climbed onto the stage looked like he just crawled out of the slums. He had ripped jeans, a fading leather jacket, and a beanie.

"A'right, boys. Take the stash" The tattered man ordered, the other two jumped into action, grabbing onto the box of pokéballs and making a quick getaway. They didn't seem to pay any mind to the boy on the ground, and most of the crowd had already dispersed. The sounds of approaching sirens could be heard in the distance. Halden would turn around to see the Professor stuck under the screan, struggling to get out. It didn't seem like he was going to be injured, but he was not going to get out at the very moment. The luxury ball rested just a few feet away from him, just within Halden's reach. The man didn't seem to notice it yet, it wasn't going to be long until he did.

[Amistrinal]

Andy Klipsen
Novela Town

---

Andy scratched the back of his head. "Well, no... But he's been practicing a lot, and I've seen some Pokemon Battles on tv... So I might not have that much experience, and Aipom hasn't been in any battles since I've known him..."

Aipom's perpetual grin widened and he laughed a bit at the idea that some newbie could do any real harm to him. Aipom through a couple of practice punches into the air and looked at Nima, making a quick little 'bring it' gesture with his tail.

[Finsternia]

Halden Certamen

At first, Halden was confused about what the Professor said. But when the Professor reached into his lab coat instead from the pile, there was a new tinge of nervousness and anticipation that blossomed inside of him. On his hand was a shiny and well polished Luxury Ball, its black coloring and gold and red highlights seem to scream that this one is special. Indees it was special, as the Professor said, and the young man looked at the Professor with unsure eyes. "Th-Thank you sir. I-I promise that I'll take care of him!"

He was about to take the Ball off the Professor's hand but a Hyper Beam drove them down the ground. They were nearly hit and if that attack connected, it could have spelled a week or so in the hospital or even worse. The Professor had saved him, pushing him out of the attack's way. The impact on the stage's floor left him breathless for a moment. He can hear people screaming and running away, trying to leave the vicinity. Halden stood up, coughing due to the dust and smoke around them, and saw the Professor lying on the ground.

Halden rushed towards him and he saw that he was alright, except for being stuck under the large screen. "Professor! Are you alright?!" He said as he removed some debris off the man, trying to move the screen yet failing. It was too heavy for him. "Sir, I'll go get some help!" He said as he turned, only to see the goons take the box of Pokeballs. His eyes darted towards the pile and thankfully the Luxury Ball isn't with it. He soon found it lying on the floor. Halden took it in his hands and shouted at the goons. "Hey! Stop it!"

[WhatsamattaU]

Jude MacBeth, Garoma City.

The Gym battle was a learning experience, but not a pleasant one. Jude could tell that Cyan was toying with him. Probably the most exciting part of the battle for Jude was when Cyan ordered his Koffing to use Smog and Jude told Lady to also use Smog. Both pokémon sent forth clouds of noxious gas that buffeted against each other. But the Koffing had a move called “Assurance” and it seemed to really hurt Lady. But he got his Gastly to Hypnotize the Koffing and effectively used Lick. Still, before the Koffing fainted, Cyan changed out the Koffing for a Stunky. The new pokémon was impervious to Ghost and Psychic attacks, and Smog wasn’t very effective, either.

Soon, Lady had fainted. Jude returned her to her dusk ball. He walked over to where Cyan was gloating. It had been a hard lesson and Jude had learned a few things: One, that poison type pokémon were fairly resistant to poison. Two, you could switch out your pokémon before they fainted. Three, that a single pokémon wasn’t a match for a team.

Gym Leader Cyan looked down on him, as Jude stood before him. Jude’s frustration at finding himself wanting, at hoping for guidance and not finding it, at having Lady hurt for his naiveite, it was all on the boy’s face.

“Well, youngster,” Cyan said with a cutting tone, “you wanted to learn to give pokémon good advice in a fight? You should have told it to find another Trainer! Hahahahaha!”

As if the first burst of laughter hadn’t been awful enough, Jude heard Cyan laugh again and he was joined by his fanboys and fangirls in the stands… and… something snapped!

Jude’s balled left fist came from his side and landed an uppercut to the right side of Cyan’s chin, snapping the Gym Leader’s head back and making him stumble a couple of steps backward.

Jude stood there, shaking in rage and shouted, while some of the braver fanboys came down from the stands to defend Cyan and try to immobilize Jude. “You’re what’s wrong with pokémon culture and all your fans, too! You don’t really care about pokémon because you think of them as pit slaves! I was an idiot to think someone like you would help because you’re garbage!”

The fanboys held him firm while Cyan recovered. The Gym Leader whispered to one of his defenders and the boy ran off to do his bidding.

“Well, we’ll see who’s what after you’ve gone to jail and then to prison,” said Cyan with another smirk. Jude laughed a little on the inside because Cyan winced as he made that last, offensive smile.

[Lord of The Rings]

Elika Zircon
Novela Town

---

"Oh haha, same here" Elika replied as she felt somewhat relieved about it, "Me and Nima have practiced a lot down at the trees near our home, but with him being so young I never tried to battle against real Pokémon with him."

For a quick moment Nima looked up at Elika, who was still talking with Andy. Aipom wasn't backing down and Nima got more and more exited to battle, if only to see how much these provocations were actually serious. "Scyther!" he called out as he spread his wings and flew to a more open spot, readying himself for a battle with Aipom.

Elika looked up as she felt the wind passing down her legs when Scyther flew off to the open spot, "It looks like Nima wants to battle as well. If you're up for it, we could hold our first battle together..." Elika said to Andy as she scratched her head, unsure of whether this was a good idea or not.

[Cruxa]

Mikey Queen
Novela Town

---

Just then, Mikey cane running around the corner, panting hard. At his side followed Meteor, frantically struggling to keep up by bounding around on its adorably short little legs. Soon enough, though, they took notice of the two other Trainers and slowed down to join them.

"Hey," he said in between breaths. "What's up? I'm Mikey. How are you?" As Mikey introduced himself, he adjusted his leather jacket. Meteor then climbed onto his shoulder, with a braying cry of "Cynda!!!!" The fire on the Pokémon's back blazed up, causing Mikey to jump and the Cyndaquil to fall. Unharmed, Meteor went to go talk to Nima.

While his rowdy Pokémon went to go chat, the boy noticed who he was talking to. A twelve year old boy in a bucket hat and....

Wow.

Hello. What's her name? Mikey needed to know. Wow. Okay. This was going to be distracting.

Suddenly, a Pokémon burst out of the bushes. It was a Sewaddle, a tiny bundle of leaves and happiness. "Meteor!" said Mikey. "Use Ember!" Jumping up from his conversation with Nima, the little Pokémon released a ball of fire from his mouth directly at the Sewaddle.

The Pokémon was hit, and badly burned, but it didn't faint. In that moment, Mikey tossed a Poké Ball, bopping the Sewaddle in the face. It opened, and shook once, twice....

"Yes!" Picking up the poké ball, the walked back to the others. "I actually caught it!" He was beaming. Maybe this would impress the girl.

[Mundeo]

Altorre City

If Halden had not caught the thug's attention before, he definitely did now. While the other two goons kept on moving with the box, the "leader" of the three turned around. He could not have been much taller than Halden, but his presence loomed over him with a vile sneer.

"Stop? Yeah, as if! We ain't stopping nothing! And I don't take orders from some runt!" The thug taunted with a chortle. His chuckling stopped when he saw the luxury ball in Halden's hand. Jackpot. "How about you hand that over, kid? I'll really apreciate it"

Garoma City

Time as a concept does not exist in the inside of a cell. Seconds feel like minutes, minutes like hours, and hours like eternities. All there was for Jude to see was the dusty gray of the cell walls, and the rusted metal of the bars. That is, if we had to serve his full sentence.

After only few hours at the Garoma Police Station, a guard walked up to the cell door. "You're not the first person to try to attack a Gym Leader" He said, his expression blank. "I'm surprised you even landed a single punch. Anyway, you're pretty lucky, as some generous benefactor decided to post your bail. Your things'll be waiting for you in the lobby"

With that, the guard unlocked and opened up the cell door for Jude to leave. "Oh, and your 'benefactor' left this for you" He then produced a letter which he handed over to Jude before leading him out of the station.

When Jude opened up the letter, he would find a small, square note. All it gave was an address and a crudely written message: Come here tomorrow at 10 p.m.

[Amistrinal]

(Collab with Lord of The Rings)

Andy smiles, Aipom smiling wider. ”I guess it’s a battle then.” Aipom jumped off his shoulder, and ran to be across from Nima.
”You ready?”

Elika joined Nima at their side of the empty field, ”I’m ready!”
”Alright Nima, let's do this! Quick Attack!”

Nima nodded, spread his wings and flew in a zigzag manner towards Aipom, his speed increasing every second up till the point where he launch his attack directly at Aipom. Aipom watched carefully, observing each movement, and dodged out of the way at the last second, losing a few stands of fur in the process. Aipom swung his tail at the Scyther, keeping close to the ground.

”Nima, watch out!” Elika shouted from the back. Nima turned around but was too late to avoid Aipom’s tail and got smashed down to the ground. Aipom wasn’t that bad after all, Nima thought as he got up on his feet. ”Let's try that again, Quick Attack!”

Nima spread his wings once more and launched another quick attack at Aipom, this time fully focused and aware of Aipom’s quick reaction.
”Watch out Aipom!” Andy shouted, although Aipom would have done that anyway. Trying to mix things up, Aipom jumped into the air as Nima got close, only to get slammed into and knocked back towards Andy. Aipom pushed himself to his feet, a smile on his face, as he began thinking up a rather nasty plot, watching the scyther’s movements even closer.

”Good job Nima, now let’s keep that up, Night Slash!” Elika shouted as she got all excited herself. ”Scyther!” Nima answered as a shining glow glanced over his blades. Quickly Nima closed in on Aipom, ready to lash out at the monkey-like Pokémon. Aipom tensed himself and raised his arms, tensing himself as he jumped backwards. The night slash grazed his chest, and he could feel it sting, but he’d managed to evade the worst of it.

”A-alright Aipom, use fury swipes! Andy said, panicking from the hit. Aipom had a different idea, and swung his tail through the air at Nima, sending a barrage of stars at the scyther. ”AIPOM!”
Nima had no chance to respond to this. In fact, it came down so fast he didn’t even have the time to cover his face. ”Nima!” Elika shouted as she rushed herself onto the field.

As the dust settled it was clear that Nima had no energy left to get up and fight, even though he wanted to. ”The battle is over Nima, take your time. You fought great” Elika told the Scyther before she stood up, ”That was amazing, congratulations to the both of you.”

Andy picked up Aipom, who was looking somewhat worn out from the battle. "Thanks... that was a fun first battle, right Aipom?" Aipom nodded in reply, and crawled up onto Andy's shoulders. It was then that Andy noticed the new arrival on the scene. "Oh, uh, hi. Sorry, was kind of busy with the battle... didn't notice you there. I'm Andy, what's your name?"

[Cruxa]

Mikey Queen
Novela Town

---

"Hi," gasped Mikey, still holding the Poké Ball that held Sewaddle. "I'm Mikey. What's your name?" He dared not glance at the pretty girl and her Scyther. The thing scared the crap out of him, and he didn't particularly feel like becoming mincemeat should the Pokemon decide he was looking at the Trainer the wrong way.

Meteor climbed up onto Mikey's shoulder, and greeted Andy with a slightly over-loud "Cyndaquil!!!!" The enthusiastic Pokémon began to jump on Mikey's shoulder from enthusiasm.

"Sorry about him," said Mikey. "We just caught a Sewaddle. He's proud of himself." The boy gave a lopsided smile. "So, where are you guys headed? Mind if I tag along?"

[Gurori]

Hideki Ackerman

Eleven Hours of flight later...

And that wasn't even the worst part... The worst part was when they stopped at Alola despite being further away from Anglion than Maderia... Who the hell thought of that?!

Stepping off the plane, the first thing that came to Hideki's mind was sleep... But who wouldn't be thinking about sleep? It's not like he could've slept on the plane, y'know because of the children screaming because their ears were popping.

Let's just hope the person who was supposed to meet him was on time.

All this hassle just to research a single Pokémon.

[Mundeo]

Festaía City

Ever since the opening of the Maderia League, flights to the region have been overbooked to the maximum. Flights were being rerouted this way and that, just to keep Maderian airspace traffic-free. When Hideki stepped off of the seemingly unending plane ride, he had to wade through the crowds of tourists, researchers, and hopeful trainers alike.

Fortunately, someone was there to greet Hideki as he entered the loby of the airport.

"Are you the assistant Professor Hazel sent?" The woman asked the instant she saw the young trainer. She certainly did not look like she worked for Professor Açai; in fact, she looked like a regular Maderian citizen. And she had a certain air of elegance about her. For what reason, then, was this woman sent to greet Hideki?

"Just as young as she described. I guess that's just how they do things over in Anglion. Well, welcome to the Maderia Region"

[Lord of The Rings]

Elika Zircon
Novela Town

---

It didn't took long before Nima got back on his feet again. He was tired and worn out from the battle but wasn't planning on showing himself to be weak towards anyone. He did respect the Aipom though, the Pokémon had more strength than Nima expected.

Then out of nowhere a stranger showed up with a Pokémon. In a quick movement Elika took out her Pokédex,

Cyndaquil, the Fire Mouse Pokémon. Normally mild and even tempered, Cyndaquil will shoot a scorching flame out of its back when upset.

A fire type, that was something Elika hadn't seen in a very long time.
The Cyndaquil went towards Nima, who more or less growled at it, once more trying to show that he wasn't weakened or tired at all.

Before Elika could introduce herself and Scyther the stranger ran off again as he spotted a wild Pokémon. For a moment Elika felt somewhat insulted, but as she spotted the Pokémon as well she quickly headed over to watch it, and of course to document it in her Pokédex.

Sewaddle, the Sewing Pokémon. Sewaddle hides from its enemies by covering its head with a hood made from a leaf, and is known to eat its leafy clothing when food is scarce.

Nothing new this time, it was a fairly common Pokémon around these parts of the region. Elika even felt somewhat bad when the stranger fought it with the Cyndaquil, it seemed much to her as some kind of overkill.

After the battle was over the trainer returned and Elika, just like Andy did, introduced herself, "My name is Elika and that over there is my Scyther, Nima. Nice to meet you." She told as she extended her hand. "That was a fine battle over there, although a bit harsh in my opinion... But you caught a Pokémon!" she continued with a smile.

[WhatsamattaU]

Garoma City

Time as a concept does not exist in the inside of a cell. Seconds feel like minutes, minutes like hours, and hours like eternities. All there was for Jude to see was the dusty gray of the cell walls, and the rusted metal of the bars. That is, if we had to serve his full sentence.

After only few hours at the Garoma Police Station, a guard walked up to the cell door. "You're not the first person to try to attack a Gym Leader" He said, his expression blank. "I'm surprised you even landed a single punch. Anyway, you're pretty lucky, as some generous benefactor decided to post your bail. Your things'll be waiting for you in the lobby"

With that, the guard unlocked and opened up the cell door for Jude to leave. "Oh, and your 'benefactor' left this for you" He then produced a letter which he handed over to Jude before leading him out of the station.

When Jude opened up the letter, he would find a small, square note. All it gave was an address and a crudely written message: Come here tomorrow at 10 p.m.

Jude MacBeth, Garoma City.

Jude MacBeth was glad to be out of his cell in the Garoma City Police Department. The only thing looked good in the place had been officer Jenny’s legs. Well, the first thing to do was to go to the Pokecenter and get Lady healed up. The time it took for the walk gave him time to think.

He didn’t know who his benefactor was, the one that had posted his bail money, but he’d meet whoever it was tomorrow night. Jude was a little suspicious that this benefactor was looking for someone willing to break the law and maybe use violence, but it had felt good to plant his fist into that creepy Gym Leader's face. Maybe this was just the path his life was taking him down?

Arriving at the Pokecenter, Jude endured the hard suspicious and surprised looks of the other patrons and even Nurse Joy. The Nurse did her job like a good professional and soon Jude and Lady were back out on the street.

As they walked, Jude reflected a bit on how he had come to be where he was, in the here and now. He had nothing against pokémon. He thought of his Ghastly, Lady, as his best friend. She kept him out of trouble when he wanted to go hiking, or explore caves, or go fishing. They had a great relationship. He enjoyed going on trips with his human friends and their pokémon. No, Jude liked pokémon just fine. It was the Pokémon-Industrial-Complex that pissed him off! PokéKulture trivialized everything it touched. Need a new pillow, be sure it has a pokémon on it. What’s on the television? Something pokémon. Are you willing to fight for your beliefs? Have a pokémon battle!

His family had moved into new regions four times before Jude had turned twelve. With the news that there was to be a Maderia League, they were packing their things and selling their home in Garoma City. Well, Not Jude! Jude didn’t know how, but he was going to stay and fight. And he had an idea on what he was going to do. It sickened him, but, Hell, this was war!

So, now Jude found himself wandering around the more industrialized sections of Garoma, with Lady by his side, hunting for pokémon, looking to build his team.

Rattata scurried about and even though immune to ghost type moves, they offered Jude and Lady no trouble. Hopefully, they wouldn’t run into a Raticate. An evolved form of Rattata likely had much more power and experience than Lady. They made sure that they didn’t startle anything, as much as they possibly could.

They got to a street intersection and looked both ways. Jude watched Lady and she nodded as he motioned with his thumb toward the older buildings, down to the south of the city center. South it is then. Walking further, the teenager and the pokémon both stopped to sniff the air. A breeze from the southwest brought a scent that was more polluted than typical Garoma City air.

Following the scent to the corner of the next building to the south, Jude peeked around the corner and a few yards away, with it’s face turned away from him, was a Koffing.

Jude turned back to Lady, with a finger to his lips and softly said, "Let's see if we can make nice, yes?" Lady nodded and the pair casually walked around the corner of the building.
The Koffing heard them and turned. It's reaction Jude and Lady was ... wary.

Well, thought Jude, that’s not awful, looking at the Koffing, which appeared somewhat defensive. Then Jude turned slightly and said to Lady, “Lady, can you give the Koffing a friendly greeting, maybe ask how it’s feeling today?”

Lady gave Jude as much of a hopeful expression as a Gastly could muster and nodded. She turned back to face the Koffing and said with a tone of inquiry, “Gast-ly?” Jude had long ago given up on figuring out how pokémon could convey complex language with the simple saying of their names, or a part of their names.

It appeared that the Koffing relaxed a little as it smiled and it replied, “Kof-fing”.

Without making any threatening moves, Jude removed his backpack and took from it two servings of pokéchow. He placed one serving on the ground and gestured for Lady to ignore it. Then, he stepped back a couple of paces, placed the second serving on the ground and said to Lady, “That one’s for you.”

As Lady began to eat, the Koffing edged forward, into range of the pokéchow, took a sniff and then began to eat.

When the two had finished eating, Jude related his intentions to Lady and they spoke with Koffing, “Hello, Koffing.”
“Gast-ly.”
“I want you to be part of my pokémon team.”
”Gast-ly.”
“We want to stop people from using pokémon for senseless violence and amusement.”
Gast-ly gast-ly.”
“Sadly, that means we have to use violence to fight them.”
”Gast-ly.”
“Would you join us?”
”Gast-ly?”
“I have a pokéball that you can rest in, and we will travel all over the region.”
"Gast-ly gast-ly.”

The Koffing took a little time to consider the proposal and replied with a smile, “Kof-fing!”

The two pokémon spoke briefly as Jude took a pokéball from his pack, briefly showing it to Koffing before activating it on the pokémon. Koffing was immediately sucked into the ball. Then Jude let it out. The Koffing seemed to be okay and content.

An idea for a name for the Koffing came to Jude's mind. "Koffing," he said to the Koffing, "how about I call you, 'Gasser'? That way if there's ever another Koffing in the area, you'll know that I'm talking about you." Lady repeated Jude's idea in pokemon speech and the Koffing agreed to it.

“When we’re travelling”, Jude said, “sometimes it will be better and we will avoid unwanted attention if you’re inside your pokéball.” Just then, Jude heard his stomach growl. “Come on, you two,” said the smiling sixteen year old, “You’ve eaten and now I need some food!”

[Finsternia]

Altorre City

If Halden had not caught the thug's attention before, he definitely did now. While the other two goons kept on moving with the box, the "leader" of the three turned around. He could not have been much taller than Halden, but his presence loomed over him with a vile sneer.

"Stop? Yeah, as if! We ain't stopping nothing! And I don't take orders from some runt!" The thug taunted with a chortle. His chuckling stopped when he saw the luxury ball in Halden's hand. Jackpot. "How about you hand that over, kid? I'll really apreciate it"

Halden Certamen
"Over my dead body!"

Halden gripped the Luxury Ball close to his thumping chest. He stared at the ball and its shiny surface as he closed his eyes. 'I believe in you...'

"Go!" The boy threw the ball into the air, bursting into a blinding and glittering light as its occupant was released. It was a small Pokemon, around the size of an Espeon or an Eevee, with a mystical lavender and black fur. "Auroooo!" The Pokemon howled in a cute and small voice and quickly scanned the area timidly. He was in a slight distress when he cannot find the Professor, whining and purring like a household Meowth or Growlithe. When he did spot Professor Açai, he raced towards the trapped Professor and tapping him on the face with its paws.

"H-Hey... Um... My name is Halden. Professor Açai entrusted you to me..." The black haired trainer said as he reached his hand. "We will have the Professor out of the rubble. But don't worry! He's perfectly fine... We need to protect him from the bad guys... Do you want to help me?" The Auronis meekly looked at Halden, still afraid and too shy, but he bumped his nose against the boy's hand and showed affection. "So... Can you help me?"

"Au! Aurooo!"

He jumped in between of the thug and his new trainer in a stance of aggression. "Alright! Let's go..." Halden paused for a moment, thinking of what he should call the little thing. Looking at its fur coloration and its shy personality from awhile ago gave him the idea. "Phobos! Yes, let's go Phobos!" Phobos gave a growl of agreement as he seemed to like his new name. "We will not allow you to steal the Professor's Pokeballs!"

"Bring it on!"

[Cruxa]

Mikey Queen
Novela Town

---

"Yeah, I know, he said apologetically, looking down at the Poké Ball in his hands. "But Meteor was the only Pokémon I had, and I knew he'd either kill the thing or let it run away, so I tried the least worst option." He remained quite cool throughout the sentence, manning to look nonchalant and badass. His Pokémon, however, was telling a different story.

"Cyyyyyyndaaaaaaaaa!" cried Meteor, who was clinging to Elika's leg with all four of his little limbs. The wail could only have meant something like "You're my second-favorite person now." Rolling his eyes, Mikey gave a rolling whistle, and Meteor detached himself and ran up to sit in his place atop Mikey's shoulder.

"So, are you from around here? I used to live here, but..." He found himself wanting to tell his story. What was he thinking? They were strangers. How did he even know he could trust them? "Never mind," he added uncomfortably. "I live in Selverde now. It's a really cool city. Are you guys headed in that direction?"

[Arctica-Aleutia]

Duncan
Altorre City

Duncan, in human form, had just finished a long and somewhat tiring bike ride from Fantano Town. For the first part of the trip he had been listening to some classic rock on his walkman; a near miss with an oil truck had convinced him to turn him off and pay more attention.

He steered his bike into a park near the ceremony where the trainers were receiving their pokemon. He hoped to travel with a group of them and make some friends, but he wasn't sure how he was going to do that. He wasn't going to get a starter pokemon; as a pokemon himself, that would be a bit... wrong. He could say that he wanted to catch one himself later; but what about when that time came?

His thoughts were interrupted when a commotion broke out among the nearby trainers. Some tough-looking people had forced their way through the crowd, and had gotten their hands on the professor's pokeballs. He had to do something!

After stashing his bike and backpack in a bush and making sure nobody was looking, Duncan stopped using illusion and took on his normal form. Then, perhaps without putting enough thought into it, he leaped into the crowd and stood between the thugs and the professor, growling.

"You're not going to steal my fellow pokemon on my watch," he thought to himself.