z

Young Writers Society


Pokebook VI: World Tour



User avatar
53 Reviews



Gender: Male
Points: 240
Reviews: 53
Fri Mar 24, 2017 6:35 am
View Likes
cheeb says...



"Jasmine," literally-cried Cam as the two left the bathrooms, "that was the funniest joke I've ever heard."

"Jasmine," she deadpanned, "mistress of giggles."

Before any more filler could take place, a large imposing man burst into view in front of them.

"YYYOOOOOOOOOUUU!!" he shouted.

"Us?"

"YYYOOOOOOOOOUUU!!" A gaggle of bodyguards stormed the hallway.

"I didn't know a group of bodyguards was called a gaggle."

"Jasmine - mistress of gaggles."

"YYYOOOOOOOOOUUU!!"

"What about us?"

"YYYOOOOOOOOOUUU!!"

"Oh my God," Jasmine groaned, pinching her nose, "he's monosyllabic and worse than Hannah at charades. He's doing that weird hand thing she does when she says she's a super saiyan!"

"YYYOOOOOOOOOUUU have to come with me!"

"Oh good, he has a vocabulary larger than Saul's."

Saul and Hannah entered the hall, followed by the others. They all had gum!

"This gum was our prime objective!" said Saul triumphantly. "And we got it! Really offsets my small vocabulary. I love it!"

"I find it a bit sweet," noted Connor.

"I love it!" shouted Saul.

"I like the fact that when you're chewing it you're not talking. It means we don't have to listen to you chowderheads argue about it." Saul slapped Nathan on the back of the head.

"YOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUU!!" The imposing man stepped up to Saul and grabbed a stick of gum, folding it into a gum crane before crushing it with his teeth. Then he bowed to all of them. "You may call me Okawa Toriyama, manager of this hotel, and yoo--you must all come with me, for I have something I must show you."

Hannah popped a bubble. "Okay, but it had better not be a gorgeous garden."

Image


"Oh God dammit." It was a gorgeous garden atop the roof, where they had, in order, poisoned, bubbled, poisoned, bubbled, seeded, and plowed the tiles before a beautiful sunrise. There was even a shrubbery depicting Hannah slugging Saul in the gut, complete with flakes of puke coming from his mouth over the sides of the building.

"Are those Christmas trees?"

Oh, and Christmas trees, too.

"Yes," affirmed Okawa Toriyama, manager of the hotel. "We don't have a damned clue in all of Japan...but we know you did it."

"Ermergerd, there's no way," said Alexis. "If we're the ones responsible for this, why would we have installed that chocolate fountain in the middle of the garden?"

In the middle of the garden, a fountain of brownish-looking water was flowing.
"That's not chocolate. Just look what you did to the sewage fountain!"
"Why, what's wrong with it?"
"IT USED TO BE WATER!"

"Okay, look," said Saul. "Clearly we - and by we I mean mostly Murtle - have caused some damage to your establishment. But we're all reasonable people; I'm sure we can come to some arrangement by which we help to fix - RAAAGH" he shouted suddenly, headbutting Okawa-sama in the stomach. He turned to the group. "CHEESE IT!"

Image


With all their bags grabbed, all their gum pocketed, and all their food in respectable Tupperware™ containers, the gang made a bee-line for the lobb--actually, they spent a really long time on the elevator, guys. Let's have this be realistic and listen to some chill tunes.

phpBB [media]


But when they DID arrive in the lobby, they encountered a somewhat-familiar face, stopping Saul in his tracks, in which tracks he suddenly lit up like a Christmas tree beside the sewage fountain.

"ARTHUR VERONICA WILSON!"

The lights in the lobby took a sudden dip and came back up a different color as a lanky young man in the center of the lobby turned around to see his brother and gang running to him.

"Ah, Saul! I was wondering if I'd run into you. So this is your group, huh?"
"No."
"Don't be rude, Saul," said Cam.

Art looked like he was about to speak, when he became aware of a purple hand moving about above his head. A disappointed groan came from Murtle's face when she realised Art was bareheaded.
"No bandanna for you to steal this time, I'm afraid, Murtle," he said with a smirk. "How are you, Jasmine?"
"Eh, same old. Scaring woodland explorers, growing Christmas trees, mastering the Art of comedy."
Saul giggled. "Nine-and-a-half out of ten."
"HAH!" Art bellowed. "Nice. You got that Misdreavus with you?"
"Nope."
"Shame. She has amazing hair."

“Hey,” Hannah popped a bubble. “Guys, remember that we’re being chased?”

“Yes.”

“And that the manager is scary and has a fountain of sewage?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, old man Okawa-sama? He’s...every bit as scary as you say. You should come to karaoke with me!”

All eyes creakily turned to Art and his huge grin.

“I bought out this place earlier today and hired an online DJ named Meloetta-BOT to DJ the place...when it’s not karaoke...d. Karaoke’d? Karaoked? Yeah, that one.” He pointed down the hall and yoinked his PokeGear out of the panel of controls behind him. “Come on! We have free Sashimi until it gets too hot for us to legally serve it!”

“FREE FOOD!” shouted the gang, and pushed Art for the door.

Old man Okawa entered the lobby, shaking his fist. “Get back here you meddling kids!”

(If you ask Saul about this encounter to this day, he will swear that Okawa was then tackled by a Houndoom shouting, “Houndoo Doundoo Doo!”)
the user formerly known as chibibo





User avatar
176 Reviews



Gender: Male
Points: 1983
Reviews: 176
Tue Mar 28, 2017 12:08 am
View Likes
sheysse says...



Alexis had to hand it to Art... It was a nice place. Seemingly endless food, a huge karaoke stage in the center, and a surprisingly quiet corner, perfect for Alexis. Maybe it was that social awkwardness she had always been a victim of, or perhaps her anxiousness towards loud sounds, but she stuck to the table in the corner.

The loud sounds always reminded her of her father shouting, the beer bottles shattering, her mother crying. She shook the thoughts out of her head. She hadn't lived with them in years, and her aunt made sure they never saw her.

Hannah was up on stage, competitively performing karaoke against Jasmine. Alexis wasn't aware karaoke could be competitive, but it was Hannah, and Hannah had the impressive and useless ability to make anything competitive. Cam watched from the sidelines, eagerly egging on the two.

Over to the left, Saul and Nathan were swallowing entire plates of chicken wings, seeing who could eat more without vomiting. For the record, Saul was winning, and Alexis noticed Nathan was turning a bit green.

Connor had come over and sat across from Alexis, but even though they had been friends for years, she didn't know what to say to him. It was just them, no one else around. For the first time in her life, Alexis was thinking about how stupid something she intended to say sounded. Perhaps it was the result of her social awkwardness, but yet it was totally different from past experiences.

Connor nodded to the rest of the room, and then Alexis sitting in the quiet corner. “So, I take it you don't like karaoke?”

“Never tried it.” Alexis shrugged.

A grin crossed his face, a plan forming. “Me neither. But I bet I'm better than you.”

Alexis too grinned. “I beg to differ.”

Connor hopped out of his seat. “Only one way to find out!”

They crossed over to the side of the stage, waiting patiently. By now, Cam was up singing with Hannah, and Jasmine was sitting dejectedly in the audience, clearly having lost. When Jasmine realized they were waiting, she hopped on the stage, shoving Cam and Hannah, shouting something about wanting to see the dweebs sing. Hannah made clear she had won, Cam's protests unheard, and they jumped offstage.

Connor and Alexis sang for a few minutes, and finally the song ended. Jasmine was still watching, but Hannah and Cam had gone to join the competition with Saul and Nathan. Somehow, Saul was beating Hannah, who won at every ridiculous contest you could think of.

Connor turned to Alexis. “See, obviously better.”

“No! I clearly wiped the floor with you!”

“You are sorely mistaken, I am afraid.” They continued to argue lightheartedly until Jasmine broke it up.

“Ladies, ladies, there is only one way to settle this. Like trainers,” Jasmine said, a scary grin sliding across her face. “Choose one pokemon, and send it out.”

Connor chose Hades, of course, putting Alexis in a difficult spot, since both of her Pokemon were Grass types. Finally she chose Ivy, because tackle wouldn't be entirely useless in this battle. Jasmine waved a flag appearing out of nowhere to signal for the battle to begin.

Hades lurched forward spewing an ember. Ivy slid sideways, narrowly dodging. However, Hades spun sideways and prepared a bite. Ivy then clamped his mouth shut with a vine whip, but he seared the vine, freeing his mouth. By then, Ivy had already jumped back.

While this was happening, Alexis found herself watching Connor as he commanded his pokemon. It was weird. She couldn't seem to focus on the battle, because her eyes drifted back to him. By the time she realized Hades had trapped Ivy in a smoke screen (resulting from the embers), it was too late to do anything. Hades jumped out of the smoke and bit Ivy, knocking her unconscious.

Connor began bragging about winning, but Alexis wasn't really paying attention to his words, more of just listening to his voice. Finally, he was done, and he turned away to rejoin the rest of the group. They were all standing by the bathroom door, waiting for Nathan to reemerge. Saul was apparently quite satisfied with winning the contest.

Alexis didn't really care that she had lost, because she realized something during the course of the battle.

She liked Connor.





User avatar
299 Reviews



Gender: None specified
Points: 24185
Reviews: 299
Mon Apr 03, 2017 2:16 am
View Likes
TheSilverFox says...



Kyoto at Nighttime (with Idiot)


Somehow, Nathan got the impression that he couldn't hold alcohol well.

As he stepped into the Kyoto Tower, clothes smelling like barf, eyes drooping, and head aching, he tried to remember the karaoke bar. The problem was that, thanks to the aforementioned alcohol, his memory was exceptionally poor. He wasn't sure why he had had alcohol in the first place, but he suspected a dare from Hannah, who he remembered having told him that he would be more tolerant of food if he just got past his imagination. She may have also pushed him and Saul into some stupid eating contest involving a ton of spicy wings. He could vividly remember feeling incredibly sick and rushing over to the bathroom as Connor was singing Katy Perry's "Roar" in his signature squeaky voice. Yeah, one of those nights.

He made his way towards his room, brushing aside concerned attendants and guests in clean bathrobes. The boy had requested to leave early after vomiting, and, after a few nervous glances between everyone else (though Hannah demanded he stay and listen to her stunning rendition of "Holding Out For a Hero"), they had helped him into a taxi. His memory indicated that they said something about letting him "prepare," though as to what he wasn't sure. Honestly, he didn't much care. All he wanted to do was get to his room, get rid of his smelly clothes, and bury his face in a pillow, suffocation be damned.

Half an hour later, he was in the midst of doing that. Nathan had undressed, showered (in what was, at first, extremely cold water, though he soon had the opposite problem), avoided the toilet with strange flashing lights, and was now standing in his bedroom in a small towel, having only just exited the aforementioned shower. He rubbed his eyes as he made to pick up the phone; his uncle would likely want some kind of a status update, or he'd wake up to a phone buzzing with angry messages and calls about every little concern. It was at that point, of course, the doorbell rang to a cheery, flitting tune, and Nathan instinctively walked over and opened the door to his room.

"Hello, nerd," began Hannah, standing confidently and beaming in the middle of the hallway, at the front of a procession of the rest of the group. "We asked for your room number at the bar and you gave us it and WOW that is much more of you than I wanted to see. But WOW, that swimming contest will be fun, when do we start on that again?"

It took a few seconds before Nathan realized the situation and closed the door enough to where he could peek out at everyone. "Okay, is this what I 'prepared' for?" he demanded suspiciously as he kept one hand on the doorknob and the other on his temple. "Why aren't you guys at the other hotel?"

"You helped make," said Saul dramatically, spreading his hands out like a rainbow. "a sewage fountain."

"And a topiary of me punching Saul in the gut, which is absolutely awesome," gushed Hannah.

"We might've pissed off the manager and had to flee the hotel," concluded Alexis, looking a bit embarrassed, and occasionally shifting her gaze between Nathan and Connor, the latter of which was trying his hardest to appear as small as possible. "So we don't have any beds, and we may have left all of our stuff at that the karaoke place because we were distracted by Hannah's singing.

Nathan, the memories of the past day hitting him in a gradual wave (including the sour gum and all those bodyguards), pinched his nose. "Give me a minute," he said, before closing the door. When he stepped over to the glass door leading to the outside balcony and pushed away the blinds to reveal the brown, nighttime sky of Kyoto, marked by millions of lights scattered among the massive space, he could've sworn he heard somebody call out, "YOUUUUUUUUUUUUU" from somebody at the base of the tower. However, deciding that he'd rather not be seen at the door or balcony in just a towel, he closed the blinds and picked up the phone, quick-dialing the first number that he saw.

After a few seconds of ringing on the other end, he heard a small and low-pitched voice state, "Nathan! What are you doing? How is your trip going? Have you won the challenge already?"

The kid sighed before replying, "I'm fine. I haven't completed it yet, but I'm almost there. Uncle, I just wanted to ask if you could rent any more rooms in the Kyoto Tower, because my friends got into trouble at their own hotel. Like...three or four, maybe more?"

The voice doubled in volume and intensity, spewing out a several-minute long procession of swears that gradually jumped between languages. After about five minutes of this, Nathan sighed and hung up. The old man would be pissed when they talked again, but that wasn't Nathan's concern right now.

Mostly, he wasn't sure what to do. On one hand, his friends were all expectantly waiting outside for him to say yes and invite them all in. There were enough bedsheets and pillows in this decked-out room for them all, so that wasn't necessarily a problem. He could contact the other hotel and negotiate with the manager for the return of his friend's rooms if they, for instance, never came back to the hotel afterwards, or Kyoto entirely. Which, given the nature of the challenge, they were likely to do (a relief to Nathan). If the man made some kind of unreasonable request, like demand they clean the sewage fountain and take down the bushes, they'd just sneak in with the help of Saul's connections and crash for the night. And it would be awesome as long as nobody played the Mission: Impossible theme.

On the other hand, they were mostly responsible for his feeling sick, tired, hungry, and miserable in general. He'd been pushed into ridiculous dares, made to eat sour food, and wandered up and down a mountain pointlessly. He was angry at all of them by now, as they had helped contribute to what were among the worst and most interesting days of his life. The boy had won his first battle among friends, knew the location of the Shiny Vivillion, and had alcohol for the first time, and was surrounded by a fun and enigmatic group of people with a wonderful knack for comedy. Still, Nathan just couldn't believe himself when he grabbed a pair of blue-and-white striped pajamas from the closet, walked over the entrance and opened the door. "You can come in, there should be enough pillows and blankets for makeshift beds for everyone," he said tiredly, groggily moving to the bathroom as everyone else stepped in and immediately began to make themselves comfortable.

By the time he got dressed and returned from the bathroom, everyone had set up little beds on the soft carpet surrounding his own, which was now almost totally bare of just about everything. They had apparently found a game of Apples to Apples and were now playing, as Hannah put it, an epic game, by one of the large sofas in the room. Most all of them were likely too tired/lazy to put on any of the spare pairs of pajamas in the closet (where Nathan surmised they had found the game, perhaps left behind from a previous owner), and Nathan could understand that, given how much effort it had taken for him to put on his.

"And Jasmine gets yet another card for answering "wet" with "bees"!" she announced as she patted down the ground next to her for Nathan to sit down, which he did so, before handing him a small pile of cards.

"This is pointless!" complained Connor, throwing down his cards from his position on the couch. "I had thought it would be amusing if I went with "dry," just to appease your lack of ability to understand this game."

Hannah laughed. "We're playing absurd AtA, not ironic AtA," she commented. "Okay, everyone pick a card for...ooh, 'depressing.' And you had better not be thinking about choosing any card that says 'mother,' Redreed, I'm watching you."

"That's not a very inspiring Apples to Apples game," said Saul before setting his card down.

Nathan peered at his own for a few seconds, too tired to think clearly. He chose "cake" and set it down.

Everyone else followed shortly, and Hannah looked through the assembled cards. "I know who was paranoid enough to pick cake," she joked, nudging Nathan in the shoulder. "We also have clowns, the dark, Batman - nice choice - a car, one of those choose-your-own-response ones."

"Blue. balls." said Saul with confidence.

"...and, Redreed, what did I tell you?"

Connor scoffed and smirked, but his expression vanished when he saw Nathan and he looked away. He was clearly embarrassed, or perhaps bitter. Nathan wasn't entirely sure.

"Egh," said Hannah, picking up the cards and throwing them into the air. "Blueballs is the winner, and I'm getting bored now. I need to go see if the money I (ノ◕ヮ◕)ノ*:・゚✧.'ed is still out there."

Cam stood up and yawned. "I'm way too tired from all that trolling and karaoke, so I'm going to bed. We can probably catch that Vivillion tomorrow, if we don't all have hangovers before then."

Nathan, impressed by how Hannah remembered the names for so many symbols, started grabbing the various cards and placing them back where they belonged as everyone else slipped off their socks and shoes (oh god the hotel room was covered with muddy footprints, another thing for his uncle to get upset over if told) and began to slip into their makeshift beds. "It looks like Jasmine and Saul tied, with 3 cards each. Maybe they can fix that with a Pokemon battle?" he joked quietly to himself as he saw Hannah make her way to the balcony.

"Aren't you going to help me clean this up?" he commented grouchily.

"I can do that," volunteered Connor, before doing that. Hannah opened the glass door and slid through as everyone else started to fall asleep, some laughing as they thought about the events of the day (in a friendly or malevolent fashion). The whole space fell silent and unnaturally calm as the late night draped over Kyoto, with the promise of a brand-new day perhaps a few hours from the horizon. Hopefully Hannah wouldn't be standing out there for that long, but she was eccentric enough that it was completely possible. If she was still doing so when Nathan woke up, and hadn't fallen asleep on the rail and left its impression on her face, he'd probably join her

As Connor picked up the box and put it back in the closet where he had found it, he whispered loudly enough for Nathan to hear, but quietly enough to not wake up anyone, "I'm sorry about the umeboshi. I didn't think you would react so poorly."

Nathan sighed one final time as he slipped into his comfortable bed. "It's fine. I'm probably going to have to be the reliable one, so I might as well have some challenges."

And the night was quiet, except for the errant fart or two (teehee).
S'io credesse che mia risposta fosse
a persona che mai tornasse al mondo,
questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse.
Ma per ciò che giammai di questo fondo
non tornò vivo alcun, s'i' odo il vero,
senza tema d'infamia ti rispondo.

Inferno, Canto 27, l 61-66.





User avatar
745 Reviews

Supporter


Gender: Male
Points: 1626
Reviews: 745
Mon Apr 03, 2017 4:22 am
View Likes
Lumi says...



The cool, wet breeze wafted against Hannah's face, her hair, her floppy too-big pajamas; and gave Kyoto a shimmering static about her orange lights. She gave off a sigh as she hoisted herself up on a solid masonwork portion of the balcony and squinted in the soft wind. This was the world. This was adventure and friendship and family.

This was weird.

She sat there for what felt like hours, though the time on her phone never passed 3am. She had stared at it the entire time, tracing the artistic digital non-circuits into a perfect heart shape that rotated lazily on her locked screen.

She thought about the color of it, the pinkish red, and how Alexis' had been teal with the same design. They were both so beautiful.

Brave Hearts.

"Mind if I see?"

Hannah's head tilted to the side to find Nathan standing outside the doorway, blanket over his shoulders. She shook her head and held out her phone, and hesitantly released when he grasped it.

"A Brave Heart...there's no explanation?"

"I think you're supposed to remember the moment, exactly where you were and what you did to earn it." She turned and leaned against the railing, rain-soaked hair meshing to her face.

"So you got this for finding Vivi."

"I don't want to think this adventure is so trivial, Nathan. Do you?"

Nathan squinted at her back. What had gotten into her? "I...suppose not, no. So what happened?"

"Lexus and I made a real connection while competing, dingus. And our company recognized it."

"So Mr. Masuda awarded you both Brave Hearts for connecting...but not for being the first to find Vivi-chan."

"You'd laugh if you knew what I really fantasized happening, you know."

Nathan squared his shoulders and chin and laid his phone on the masonwork of the balcony. "I will not laugh. I swear as your ill-humored Australian."

"You're my ill-humored kangaroo, though."

"Kangaroo, then."

She closed her eyes and shook her head. "I like to imagine that Lexus and I getting closer brought Vivi home, made her miss Mr. Masuda so much that she just couldn't be on the mountain alone anymore." She shrugged. "Everyone's gotta have a home somewhere. A lighthouse. A mothership. An aircraft carrier."

Nathan nodded to the glass door behind them. "A cramped hotel room."

Hannah nodded and took ownership of half his blanket, wrapping it over her shoulders. "Tell anyone about this vulnerable moment and all your meals for all your days will be as spicy as Satan's mixtape."

"You've seen all but my piping tonight, so I think, Hannah, you can trust me."

They both laughed out a quiet breath--before Nathan's phone produced a familiar beeping. His eyes narrowed as he grabbed it and looked at the lock screen to find a mild blue Brave Heart rotating.

"Dude, congratulations." Hannah patted him on the back.

Nathan grabbed up his blanket and opened the glass door, holding everything tightly. "Hannah, this isn't a good thing."

"Why the hell not? Tournaments don't win themselves."

Nathan threw his phone onto the bed, where it bounced off and hit Saul, waking him up in a start and a yelp. "No one is around, Hannah! No magic butterfly descended onto me in front of the maker of the Pokemon games!" He ran both hands through his hair, eyes wide. "Saul! Where is Art?!"

Image


So they were in Art's penthouse hotel suite--just Hannah and Nathan--and Art, of course, in his bunny slippers and matching Rotom Pajamas.

"How do you do it?" demanded Nathan.

"It's a bit technical for a beginner programmer, but I guess we all start somewhere. You seem about Miles' starter IQ when I met him, so we can--"

"NOT the transporter." Nathan sighed and held up his phone, showing the Brave Heart. "How are you monitoring us?"

Art slowly nodded backwards with an opening mouth. "Ahhh," he noted. "The Brave Heart Crest System." He yawned. "Come on in. This'll take a while. And my partners."

Inside, Art Skype called his partner, who answered squinty-eyed and wearing a Patrat tee shirt. "Arthur Veronica Wilson, why are you calling us at an ungodly hour?"

"Is that Art?" slurred a sleepy woman's voice from the background. "Tellim t'just email me the cupcakes, they taste the same."

Art's partner turned his head, then back to the screen, tilting his head to scold him. Whispered: "As you can tell, a very jet-lagged waifu landed tonight and needs to sleep for about eighty hours."

"Emailing cupcakes," mused Art, "that's rather genius."

"To your point?"

"We have our first Crest inquiries."

"But only three have been delivered from the system. One literally twenty-six minutes ago."

"These are two of the three. The other is a friend of theirs. Fascinating kids. Really remind me of our gang back in the day."

The partner sighed. "So you both have Brave Hearts of different colors? Art, what color is his?"

"Light blue."

"Produced when there's an abundance of the aura of wouldn'tyouliketoknow in the vicinity of the receiver. Hers?"

"Pink."

"Produced when a person or people around the receiver feel a certain way, also collected via aura."

"How do you measure aura?"

"We were left substantial research notes by the now-dismantled VOGON Laboratories. They had major research progress on the ability to monitor auras the way, say, a Riolu can. We used that technology and implemented it into the tranceiver chips for your phones for the tourney...but now it seems that a cooldown is necessary."

"Agreed. Send the kids back to their hotel rooms."

"Room."

"Unsavory."

"It's cramped."

Back in their hotel room, Hannah and Nathan looked at one another, their phones, each other. "Auras..."

"So they just...sample the energy around us."

Nathan leered. "What were you feeling when Alexis got hers?"

She looked away sheepishly. "I don't know," mumbling. "That nobody had, like, been that kind to me before."

Nathan shook his head. "We need to focus on the objectives and get some sleep. We can get Connor in on this once we get Vivi."

Hannah nodded. And once Nathan was back in his bed, she laid down on her pallet next to Jasmine's and flipped through her phone for her dad's number, texting him.

Hey Daddy,

The food here is lit!
I've got nine tattoos and
they all say Spicy Wad in
Japanese. Miss you, Lieutenant.

Delivered


She smiled at the message and locked her phone, closing her eyes; but unable to sleep, she checked for a response.

√ Seen 04:11am


She turned off her phone, and as her eyes shut, she forced her mind elsewhere, like the taste of emailed cupcakes, or how it seemed warmer, somehow, outside than in her blanket.
I am a forest fire and an ocean, and I will burn you just as much
as I will drown everything you have inside.
-Shinji Moon


I am the property of Rydia, please return me to her ship.





User avatar
1272 Reviews



Gender: Other
Points: 89625
Reviews: 1272
Mon Apr 10, 2017 1:22 am
View Likes
Rosendorn says...



A Wild Jasmine Appears

It was an absolute shame they had missed dawn on the mountain, because dawn meant mist, which meant obscured vision, which meant the perfect fairy tale backdrop for scaring people half to death.

Oh well.

They all gathered at the base, the only team left because Saul had spent a little too much time around Art and was a little too interested in making up a complicated, foolproof scheme with Connor. Cam and Hannah, meanwhile, were trying to argue that the best foolproof scheme out there was diving off and exploring every corner of the mountain with energy Jasmin kinda envied, and everyone else wishing the two groups would make up their mind.

Jasmin popped Roy out of his pokeball. "Y'know. I have a sniffer dog for moments exactly like this..."

The group turned to stare at her. Cam glared. "You could've mentioned this yesterday!"

Connor looked Roy up and down. "And we're dealing with a flying pokemon."

Jasmin nodded. "Yep!"

He narrowed his eyes. "Theoretically a pokemon lays down a scent trail, but when we're considering the sheer number of Vivillon that exist on the mountain, the likelihood of him picking up one scent instead of sending us on a wild goose chase is slim. We don't have a scent since Hannah washed her hair—"

"HEY!"

"—and finding Mr Pokemon again might be difficult, plus we could spend that time looking over—"

Jasmine smiled, nodded, and shrugged. "Suit yourself!"

Connor stopped. "Er... What?"

She pat Roy's head. "He'll just make sure we don't get lost, right Roy?"

A bark was her response.

That seemed to get the quiet ones of the group swaying one side or the other, and they ended up deciding that going through and trying to find clusters of Vivillon scales would give them the best chance of figuring out habitat, and maybe give a sense of the pokemon's movement. That also gave the benefit of a possible scent trail. Or a sight trail.

They trudged off into the forested mountain, Jasmine losing herself in the shadows behind. Murtle bobbed in and out of them, pulling faces every time she got a good spot. Jasmine kept hiding her mouth to not laugh terribly loudly— it could scare off the pokemon.

Cam yelling up front that she'd found a scale cache gave Murtle an absolutely devious glint in her eye; Jasmine ran along to see how good this would be.

The scales were gorgeous and would make perfect hair clips. Jasmine joined Cam and Connor poking them, everyone spreading out in the meadow to explore all the shiny.

Alexis held up a different scale. "Guys! It's a shiny scale!"

Roy bounded up and sniffed it, nearly getting it stuck to his nose in the process. He started bouncing on his paws and sniffing the air, Odor Sleuth at work. In all of thirty seconds he'd put his nose to the ground and pushed his way through the undergrowth, earning a few gripes from Nathan and Saul that looked more than a little dangerous.

"Oh come on," Jasmine said. "I'm doing this in petticoats. It just makes it more fun! Besides, we have pokemon if we get in trouble."

She boldly followed off after Roy, Cam, and Hannah, neglecting to mention that those petticoats were reinforced with Stoutland hair so they wouldn't rip even with a knife.

Murtle, meanwhile, had mysteriously disappeared.

An undetermined time later, everyone stopped at the glint of wings in the tree.

Connor, seeming to want to make up for his slip up earlier, went, "I got it!" and threw a pokeball.

It bounced off the scales, dropping to the ground unused and revealing translucent purple under the scaling.

"Haaaaunt haunt haunt haunt."

"MURTLE!"

Jasmine nearly fell backwards laughing. At a few Pointed Looks towards her, she tilted her head to the side. "Come on, that was hilarious."

Saul crossed his arms at Roy. "Don't tell me you lead us to Murtle."

Roy stubbornly shook his head and barked, getting back on the trail.

By lunch, Nathan and Connor and Saul were all saying it was a wild goose chase, and the distraction of constantly making sure a shiny glint in the forest wasn't a scaled Murtle hand made life more difficult.

Jasmine took a bite of the ramen she'd ordered for lunch. "We're on a mountain, guys. A mountain full of caves and paths and forests and abandoned camps and you just want to ignore all that for a pokemon? Why?!"

Connor looked at her like she'd grown two heads. "Don't you want to win?"

Jasmine shrugged. "We're in a pokemon competition. If you're not having fun you're doing it wrong."

Alexis was quiet. "I'd really like to catch a shiny Vivillon..."

Jasmine smiled at her. "You'll catch one! It might not be here, but it's not like this is the only place in the world with a shiny Vivillon."

That seemed to lift her spirits fractionally.

Saul sounded like Art again with his next line. "Why don't we all split up? If we get lost we can just text each other and have Roy find us."

"Did Art tell you about the time—"

"Yes, a million times, because you've never let him hear the end of it."

"That could be any number of times."

"Exactly."

They all finished their lunch and tromped back into the woods. Cam, Hannah, and Nathan split off into one group; Alexis, Connor, and Saul split off in another. When they all turned to Jasmine to see which one she wanted, she just waved at them and promptly veered off towards the path that just screamed Spooky Woods Stay Out.

"Alright, Roy, find us some place fun."

He yipped in affirmative and put his nose to the ground. Murtle decided to be slightly less pranks-everything-in-sight and more okay-no-you-aren't-getting-in-trouble-on-my-watch, her floating around every dark shadow and through a few trees to watch for strey ghosts, or dark types, or anything else unsavoury.

In the middle of the dead quiet woods, Roy barked in greeting.

Miles and Art yelped from somewhere in the trees.

"HEY JAS!"

Jasmine laughed. "You guys spent too much time around me!"

Art shrugged. "What can I say. You know how to pick cool places."

Jasmine looked at the surroundings, then up at Murtle, down at Roy, then to Art and Miles. They had gone a little pale, realizing that had given her an Idea.

"Have your Rotom with you?"

Art sighed dejectedly. "He's worse than Murtle for sticking around."

Jasmine grinned. "Wanna help me prank my friends?"

Miles, as always, looked more than a little sceptical. "Will there be bodily harm involved?"

Jasmine shrugged. "Is that a yes or a no?"

"That doesn't answer my question and your smile is beginning to creep me out."

"Fine fine," Jasmine said with a wave of her hand. "I will try to make sure there is no place for them to accidentally trip, fall, or run into a Vileplume."

Miles narrowed his eyes farther. "That was once."

A few beeps from around Murtle interrupted them, the two ghosts executing their secret handshake after so long apart.

"Well?"

Art and miles nodded. "Sounds like fun!"
A writer is a world trapped in a person— Victor Hugo

Ink is blood. Paper is bandages. The wounded press books to their heart to know they're not alone.





User avatar
293 Reviews



Gender: Male
Points: 17344
Reviews: 293
Wed Apr 12, 2017 4:00 pm
View Likes
BrumalHunter says...



Initially, all that interested Connor was finding the golden Vivillon so that he could be one step closer to winning the competition, since that was, after all, the ultimate goal. But while traversing the mountain, Jasmine’s words kept nagging at his thoughts. Moreover, he knew his mother would tell him the exact same thing. If only his books had told him what the perfect balance between having fun and being efficient was.

“Hey, Connor.”

He started and blushed a bit, embarrassed at being caught off guard. Alexis, who had called him, blushed as well, though he had no idea why. “Ahem, yes?”

She recovered just as swiftly as he had and pointed to their left. “Which variant is that?”

Connor couldn't help but gawk a little upon gazing at the magnificent insect before them. His vision flashed scarlet rimmed with white and black as the resting Vivillon opened and folded its wings. It took him about a second to remember he had been asked a question.

“Definitely Modern. I can’t remember the names of all the patterns, but that’s the only one so red.”

“When you two Bug Maniacs are finished, could we continue our search for the right Vivillon?”

Hades seemed to agree with Saul and leapt into the undergrowth, happily barking and chasing the poor Bug off. Alexis frowned. “Your dog is mean.”

Connor shrugged. “My dog’s just being a dog. I’m fine with him being playful now, since I don’t know how his personality will change when he evolves.”

The Houdour yipped and returned to the road, pressing his nose down to the ground as if his sense of smell wasn’t shot. Saul saw Connor's amusement and asked dubiously, “He does know where he’s going, right?”

“Not a clue. He forfeited Odour Sleuth in favour of learning to belch gas in the form of Smog. Very mature.”

“Cool.”

“He seems to think so too. It’s adorable in a way, and though his stubborn disobedience is frustrating at times, I know he means no ill.”

“What if he stays that way as a Houndoom?” Alexis asked.

“That would be quite ironic, considering the stigma surrounding the species. I’d get used to it eventually, but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit I was hoping he’d mature once he evolves. Some studies I’ve read say Pokémon personalities change regardless of attachment, but others say the exact opposite.”

“Which do you believe?”

“If people with degrees can’t make up their minds, how am I supposed to guess what’s right and what isn’t?”

She giggled. “You should use less of this–” she tapped his head, “–and more of this–” she tapped his chest.

“People can’t think with muscles they can’t even voluntarily control.”

“Actually, even I have to disagree there,” Saul interjected.

“If you thought with your heart while your brain served little purpose,” Connor teased, “I wouldn’t be surprised. But the same doesn’t apply to the rest of us.” He ducked underneath Saul’s fist.

“Very funny. Seriously though, Trainers who ally their minds with their hearts can achieve far more than those who rely solely on knowledge. Not everything can be learned from books.”

“Did you get that from Miles while you were staying with your brother?”

“CAN IT, CONNOR!”

Hades stopped and turned around, tilting his head to the side. He then bounded over for a quick belly rub before resuming his scent trail to nowhere. For some reason, they decided to continue following the dog, as they had done throughout the entire walk up to that point.

Connor scanned the trees for anything yellow, often getting excited but always being disappointed. It was sad how they were essentially in the largest, most diverse collection of flying insects in the world, yet he still wasn’t enjoying the experience as much as the others. Part of it was owing to the whole “thinks too much, lives too little” thing, but now Hades was also on his mind.

He had no doubt Seraph would be just as regal and composed after evolution as she was before, but Hades had always been the source of worry, both for him and his mother. She hadn’t been very pleased when Connor had brought Hades home, nor could she understand why he liked the smoking dog so much, even though their bond had manifested shortly after their first encounter and had grown incredibly since. Still, the Houndour was disobedient, and if that remained true even after evolution, it might take on a less playful nature and lead to something more sinister…

“You look down,” Alexis noted, startling Connor for the second time in an hour. “Don’t you like identifying the many different Bugs around us?”

“Identifying them is fine,” Connor admitted, glad her posed question didn’t require him to divulge his thoughts, “but discovering something new is much more– What is that?”

Saul and Hades stopped to follow the other boy’s gaze. It was focused on a pair of white wings, three yellow spots on each, resting on an overhead branch. Butterflies rested with closed wings, so it had to be a moth, despite looking a lot like a butterfly. Connor walked forward, not taking his eyes off the moth, and turned once he’d passed beneath it.

“Oh, it’s a Venomoth,” Alexis said. “It looks so cute while it's sleeping.”

Connor nodded. “It makes sense, since they’re nocturnal.” He produced a Luxury Ball. “I’m gonna catch it.”

“Look who decided to break the canine mould,” Saul said, regarding Connor with raised brow.

“What? No, this isn’t for me. Ma used to be a breeder, and I’ve never seen this colouring on a Venomoth before, so I think she’d appreciate it. I’d only consider catching a Bug if it was a Shiny Volcarona.”

“Even just one of those could burn down the mountain.”

“Touché.”

Connor prepared to throw the ball, but Saul held his arm down, shaking his head patronisingly. “You can’t just capture a wild Pokémon. You need to weaken it first. What kind of a half-rate bookworm doesn’t know that?”

Connor turned red. “It’s not always necessary! If a Pokémon trusts you enough, you don’t need to battle it at all.”

“Yeah, because a sleeping Venomoth totally trusts you.”

“Shut up and let him try,” Alexis admonished.

Surprised by her reaction yet glad it had the desired effect, Connor looked up and said, “Hades, use Ember!”

His dog enthusiastically spat flames at the oblivious Bug… until its eyes shot open and it was not quite as oblivious anymore. In fact, it nimbly darted out of the way and swooped past them, drawing Hades’ fire with it.

“Don’t torch us!” Connor exclaimed, joining his two comrades in diving out of the way.

He peeked out from behind a fern to see the Venomoth circling Hades, all the while scattering white scales. As Connor immediately expected, it was Sleep Powder, and after two more revolutions, Hades curled up and took a nap. He recalled his snoozing pup and instead sent out Seraph. The dainty fox seemed indignant at being summoned onto a dirty path.

“You can protest later! First, confuse that moth!”

Seraph gazed up at the moth with Baby Doll Eyes. It did confuse the Bug, but not in the volatile-status-affliction way.

“I don’t think that’s going to work,” Alexis whispered next to Connor.

“It will,” he whispered back, “because I used to read strategy guides to make her and Hades fall asleep.”

“Sounds super effective.”

Transfixed by Seraph’s cute gaze, the Venomoth didn’t expect to be hit square in the face with a purple beam of energy. It fluttered around wildly, scattering more white scales.

“Trust me, it was, but unlike with Hades, she actually remembered some of it, as that well-placed Confuse Ray illustrates. Seraph, Icy Wind!”

The Vulpix obliged, both slowing the insect and blowing away the Sleep Powder. The Venomoth decided defensive tactics were no longer effective, so it opted for firing Signal and Psybeams instead. Luckily for Seraph, who hadn’t ceased the chilling flow of air, it was too confused to aim properly and none of the beams hit her. Unfortunately for the other three, the wildly spinning Bug was more likely to hit them.

When the attacks finally stopped, Connor shakily rose to his feet and stumbled back onto the path. “Marvelous work, Seraph!” He leaned against a tree for support. “I’ll get to capturing the defeated Pokémon once I stop seeing five of you. I took one too many Psybeams to the face.”

Alexis, who seemed to have dodged all the attacks, unhelpfully said, “But it’s right there!”

Connor scowled. “Thanks for pointing at all of them.”

She walked over to him and looked at the dazed moth on the ground from over his shoulder. “If they’re all spread out evenly, try aiming for the second one from the left.”

She made room so that he could toss the Luxury Ball, but instead of hitting its intended target, it struck Saul on the cheek.

“I am not a Pokémon!”

Snapping out of confusion, Connor retorted, “Then don’t pretend you’re an illusory copy!” He collected the ball and tried again, hitting the Venomoth despite his terrible hand-eye coordination. He waited somewhat nervously for the ball to twitch three times, but he needn’t have worried, for the sparks flew without incident to confirm the catch.

Alexis cheered and handed Connor the Luxury Ball. “You just caught your first Pokémon!”

“Second, but thanks!”

“I could feel the asterisk in your tone,” Saul remarked, still rubbing his cheek.

“I thought you received her and Hades as gifts,” Alexis said, scooping Seraph into her arms and stroking the fox.

“Her, yes, but Hades was a stray I caught at my father’s shelter.”

“Did you have to battle him?” Saul enquired.

“Well, no, but–”

“Then this is your first catch. You can tell the others about it after we’ve finished gloating about how we caught the Shiny Vivillon, which we won’t do if we keep standing around. Let’s go.”

He marched off down the path, leaving the other two to gaze after him. “He realises he’s as lost as we are, right?”

Connor lifted his shoulders, palms faced upwards. “I swore I heard exclamations coming from up ahead while the Venomoth was beam-happy, so maybe there are people he can ask for directions.”

“I’m relatively sure we’re the only people in this neck of the woods.” An amusingly high-pitched scream followed by ghostly chuckling indicated otherwise. “Huh. Or not.”
But the Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
— Paul the Apostle

Winter is inevitable. Spring will return eventually, and AstralHunter with it.





User avatar
745 Reviews

Supporter


Gender: Male
Points: 1626
Reviews: 745
Thu Apr 13, 2017 2:36 am
View Likes
Lumi says...



"Nathan! I'm gonna need! That squealing! To stop! Right now!" The trio of Hannah, Cam, and Nathan were back-to-back-to-back in a triangle between the two most terrifying pokemon Hannah had ever seen. Two Blaziken had emerged from the forest with mighty roars--one the typical magestic red and orange, the other a black and purple. "Maybe if we stand completely still, they won't notice us..."

"Maybe if you keep quiet we won't be roasted for dinner!" Nathan hissed.

"Why are...why are they so big?!" Cam was awestruck at the shiny blaziken. That was, of course, until it roared and gushed out a volley of fireballs from its mouth. The other Blaziken absorbed the blows like they were cotton candy in a rainstorm.

Meanwhile, back at Prank Base Alpha, a grand game of rock-paper-scissors went on to determine who got to move. Beside Miles was his pride and joy: Megaman the Blaziken. Beside Jasmine was Haunter, holding up a shadow puppet of a black-and-purple Blaziken. Art was knelt on the ground capturing it all on video, which was being transmitted...somewhere.

"Let's make 'em roar again!"

"Okay!"

"Uh, Megaman! Do your Charizard impression!"

"BLAAAAAAAAAARGHZKN."

"Murtle, if you would be so kind?"

Murtle imitated the noise in perfect pitch, then cackled for good measure.

Art grinned. "Nathan looks about sick to his stomach. Shall we kick it up a knotch?"

Miles held up his megastone engraved in his wedding ring. "Let's go. Blaziken! Syncronize!" Murtle and Jazmine nodded and copied the flaming auras erupting around the duo. Blaziken's body began to grow and sprout new feathers, new flames. Murtle's puppet copied every detail.

And back in the forest.

"BLERCHHGHRHGH." Nathan lost his lunch as the ground shook around them, bugs flying out of trees all around. Cam stepped forward and brought out Yanma.

"I don't care how the odds are stacked against us!" she shouted. "I refuse to be trampled by warring chickens!" Cam threw a finger out at the red blaziken and called to Yanma: "Sonicboom!"

It was then that Hannah looked to Cam, in all her courage, and saw the screen of her phone flash orange. "C-Cam..." Hannah slowly nodded and brought out Hawlucha. "This may be it, buddy, but let's give em one helluva run for their lunch."

"Wait," called Nathan as he approached the red Blaziken. "The sonicboom...went right through the leg. I saw it..."

Back at Prank Base!

"New ideas! We need new ideas!"

"We just gave the red head a Brave Heart. Huh." Miles looked to Art.

"If we don't stop them, they'll find Rotom and potentially bring harm to him."

"Then we load up on the Megamobile." The three climbed into Blaziken's arms, and, as Miles nodded to him, he launched off in a giant leap down the mountainside into the forest below. When they landed, the trio of trainers turned on them, Rotom bobbing out of his hiding spot in the trees.

Art sighed. "Hannah, Nathan, girl who is very brave..."

"Gotcha!"



A moment later, after all had calmed down, and after Art had shut down what apparently had been a livestream to the Pokemon website, Miles held out his hand to the trio...only for no one to return the handshake.

Hannah, arms-crossed, narrowed her eyes. "You were the guy who yanked us around about crests and Brave Hearts last night."

"And you are the extraordinary ones who have been showing off your true natures--something Annie and I really hoped would happen, but weren't sure about in the long run--"

"Wait. Crests?" Cam and Jas walked into the conversation. "What are we talking about?"

"Check your phone, Cam. You were given a treat for being brave earlier." Nathan grinned. "That'll make an excellent note for Connor when we get him on this case."

Nathan turned to Miles next. "So you're McFarlane, co-founder of the Transporter."

He grinned. "That's right! They're long hours, but they're fun!"

"I heard in Business Insider that you were recently married to a Pokemon Adoption worker in New York." He nodded to the ring. "Congratulations."

"Ahhh, waifu. Likely still snoring in our hotel room, if I'm honest."

Art snorted. "Annie could outsleep a Snorlax during Winter."

Hannah casually walked away from the banter and sat by the road where a small group of Ribombee were flitting by trailing fairy dust. Behind them, staggering through the air, was a Cutiefly having trouble keeping up. Seeing Hannah outstretch her hand, it slowed down and landed, resting in her palms.

"Your friends wouldn't wait for you..."

"Cuuu."

"That doesn't mean they're any better than you, or that you're any less than them, you know."

"Lyyyy?"

"I don't like being left behind either." She let out a breathy laugh. "It's why I take lead so often, so I don't have to worry about it."

Cutiefly took in a deep breath before blowing out a bubbly pink heart that popped on Hannah's nose and made her smile.

"I like you, too."

Jasmine and Roy sat down beside her as the other trio approached from high on the mountain. "I think...from experience...that she wants to be with you."

Hannah nodded and brought out a Pokeball. "Would you like to be my partner? We would have lots of adventures together, and you would never be left behind."

Cutiefly tapped on the pokeball and entered it, allowing the capture light to go off instantly. Then, Hannah let her out.

"Stay with me, yeah?"

"Cuuuu."

"VIVI!" Alexis shouted from down the road. "VIVI YOU'RE MINE!"
I am a forest fire and an ocean, and I will burn you just as much
as I will drown everything you have inside.
-Shinji Moon


I am the property of Rydia, please return me to her ship.





User avatar
176 Reviews



Gender: Male
Points: 1983
Reviews: 176
Thu Apr 13, 2017 9:08 pm
View Likes
sheysse says...



“Alexis, wait!” Connor shouted, he and Saul chasing after her. But she was already sprinting down the path, leaving them in the dust.

She had seen Vivi, right there in front of her face. And she missed her chance. As she continued running, she tossed out Ivy, who elegantly landed on her shoulder. Ivy had far better eyesight than Alexis, and if someone was gonna spot Vivi first, she'd trust Ivy with that job.

There was something perfect about this scene. Ivy on her shoulder, running after a pokemon Alexis wanted. Just like when they caught Lily, still a Petilil. Ivy had been at her side since she was gifted all those years ago. Alexis couldn't even remember how long ago she got Ivy.

One day Ivy would evolve, it was basically inevitable. A pokemon as attached to their trainer as Ivy was couldn't go without it. Alexis was talking with Connor earlier, and he voiced his fears of Hades changing after evolution, but Alexis couldn't share those feelings about Ivy.

She couldn't believe that Ivy would change. She had always been Ivy, and always would be. Back when Lily evolved, Alexis was afraid, but in the end there was no change in personality, minus a bit of maturing that would occur even without an evolution.

Ivy put her tail on Alexis's neck with a soft coo, and Alexis stopped running. Ivy jumped into one of the bushes, rustling the leaves with a Vine Whip. Flushed out of the bush was Vivi, wings gleaming red in the light and her body the distinct white of a shiny sun pattern Vivillon.

For a second, Alexis lost her cool, but she regained it, pulling out an empty pokeball. It wasn't a Net Ball, but it would have to do. Tossing the ball at Vivi was ineffective, and Vivi immediately forced herself out of its grasp.

Vivi aimed a Psybeam at Ivy, but she hopped out of the way, landing right in a cloud of Poison Powder. Ivy fell over, poisoned. As she hit the ground, Vivi summoned a Hurricane, narrowly missing Ivy.

Vivi knows some intense moves. I guess that's to be expected of Masuda's pokemon. Alexis had been surprised that Vivi would attack, since she felt a bond had been formed. As she pondered this, Ivy charged forth with a Tackle.

“Ivy, stop!”

She looked at Alexis funny, one glance questioning why Alexis would order her not to fight back.

“We can't hurt Vivi. Its not right. Trust me, we can do this without hurting anyone.”

Ivy looked at the Vivillon before her, then back at Alexis. She hesitated, deciding if Alexis was making the right call. Vivi whipped up another Hurricane, and it headed straight for Ivy. She blocked it with a Vine Whip, and it dissipated.

Vivi waited for a return attack, but nothing came. Ivy waited too, for Alexis to tell her what to do, and Alexis smiled that Ivy listened to her.

Vivi kept waiting for something to happen when Junichi Masuda walked out of the woods. Without saying a word, he handed Alexis a Love Ball, and she knew what he meant. Tossing it, Vivi went in without a hitch. Masuda went and picked up the ball.

Connor and Saul came running from behind Alexis. “Finally, we found yo–is that Junichi Masuda?” Saul asked.

Masuda chuckled. “I am glad I followed Vivi. Somehow, I knew today would be the day she was caught.” He looked down at the pokeball in his hand, a pink Love Ball. Walking over to Alexis, he grabbed her arm, opened her hand, and placed the ball within. “Alexis, you have won the first challenge.” A vibration from her phone went off in her pocket as he said this. “Congratulations.

Connor and Saul stared, mouths hung open. Well, Connor stared... Saul was recording it on his phone, quietly narrating everything that happened.

“But, sir, I didn't catch her, really.”

“Yes, but a trainer who can refuse the urge to hurt a pokemon for its own good, and one who can raise a pokemon who trusts them so,” he glanced at Ivy, “is more than deserving of the victory. Besides, Vivi is my precious baby, and you refused to fight her. You spared her pain. For that, I commend you, and I know she will be in good hands. It seems fitting that she was caught in a Love Ball, and you gained her through love.”

“Thank you, Mr. Masuda,” Alexis said, eyes shining.

“Now, you three go home and rest. Hurry along now, before I start missing Vivi and take her back.” With that, he turned and strolled down the path.

“Wow, that was really cliché. But good job on winning,” Saul said, smiling. “Now, can we get back to the others? I'm starving.”

“Saul, you're always starving.”

“So?”

Alexis looked back at Ivy. “You guys get going. I'll catch up with you.” She went over to her Snivy as Saul and Connor walked away.

“Thank you for trusting me. I couldn't have won without you.” Ivy snorted contemptuously, as if saying 'yeah, I know.' Alexis sighed. “That's not how you're supposed to respond. Anyway, let's get you back in your ball.” Ivy rolled her eyes. “Fine, I'll let you stay out, as a thanks.” Ivy nodded and leapt onto her shoulder.

They began to walk back. Alexis began to return to her thoughts of Ivy evolving. As a Servine and Serperior, Alexis knew it would still be the same Ivy. The same Ivy that she so loved.





User avatar
745 Reviews

Supporter


Gender: Male
Points: 1626
Reviews: 745
Mon Apr 24, 2017 6:39 pm
View Likes
Lumi says...



"So we are all in mega hunt mode for Vivi because it's Vivi, you guys," said Alexis as the gang passed another gang of younger kids accompanied by what seemed to be a young parent, maybe an aunt or uncle, "and Connor comes out with this...researchical wowzer-Bowser on how pokemon can change when they evolve--or how they may not--and how not even the big wigs really get the whole thing." She took a deep breath and clutched her Love Ball to her chest. "I'm just glad Vivi will be Vivi for good."

Hannah and Saul looked at one another in the lead of the group, Hannah shrugging. "Eh, I'm not so worried," she confessed. "Usually a Pokemon's nature is...well, its nature. There's a professor on one of the islands in Hawaii who does research on them, and she says they even impact the combat styles of your pokemon."

There was a murmur that spread through the group. Jasmine spoke up with a smile from behind. "There was a professor in Madrid who did a study on Murtle after...being introduced. Apparently she's quite Naughty."

Saul turned his head. "Is there even a dribble of surprise here? Anyone? No? Okay."

"Exactly," Hannah said. "I've never seen my pokemon to be studied, but...I mean, Wings is pretty Sassy, and...well, I guess that doesn't matter on-hand because Wings won't be evolving as far as I know." She paused, stopping in her tracks, then turned to Connor. "..right?"

"Correct. Hawlucha is a pokemon unafraid to stand alone in an evolutionary chain. Your other two Pokemon, however..."

At the entrance to the buffet, she thought more on it. Belly and Babs. She didn't know how either of them supposedly evolved, and that sudden thought made her nervous. What if it was through feeding it a specialty spice food from a country she'd never visit? What if Belly only evolved in the Arctic Circle? Or if Babs needed to drink a special nectar from a plant on top of a mountain she couldn't climb?

It wasn't exactly them changing that scared her, but the prospect of evolution itself.

"Welcome!" A trio of Kimono Girls greeted the gang at the door, each with a gorgeous, multi-colored Fennekin at their feet. "We at Suddenly Sushi welcome our guests and their pokemon to join us in having a great feast of the senses!"

Another spoke up, hiding her face from another of the girls. "But mostly the sense of taste, if we're honest! Oh ho ho!"

While the others entered and paid the cover fee, Nathan knelt down and scratched a blue Fennekin under the chin, making it hum in delight.

"Would you be surprised to know that the magic a Fennekin may wield in the world differs depending on the fur it is born with? While most grow to learn psychic maneuvers, my darling Kurama will be a gorgeous Fire-type who can wield Ice techniques."

"It astounds me each day how every Pokemon is unique in this world," he said.

"Hurry along!" said the third Kimono Girl. "I can already hear your friends mowing down our beef supply! And feel free to have your pokemon out and about in the restaurant! They each deserve a treat as well!"

Image


"NAYFAN!" Hannah called from a large booth in the back, mouth filled with noodles. She swallowed like a vacuum. "You just missed it! We got an email from that famous caretaker in America--whatshername? Abby? Allie?"

Connor coughed into his napkin politely. "Her name is Annie McFarlane, and she's more along the lines of world-renowned than famous."

Nathan sat down at the edge of the booth to take a sip of soda Jasmine had put down for him. "What did the email say?"

Jasmine turned her phone's screen to him and read: "I'm no orange, but I hope you can speak me, the mountains so vast you may not see me. Travel the sea, Mate; Fight your Heart out, but don't waste a minute! Your journey starts now."

"That makes no sense to me."

All eyes turned to Connor, who was enjoying the broth from his ramen, and slowly looked up to the expectant glances. "Riddles are so rudimentary!"

"Then rudimen-tear into it."

He sighed and moved his bowl of ramen to one side, placing his phone on the table beside a small notebook. "I very well hope you lot didn't bring me along just as a cipher."

"Nonsense," deadpanned Jasmine. "We also brought you for the blood sacrifice at the end." Murtle appeared behind her and play-pretend stuck a dagger in her chest, eyes turning to X_Xes as she slowly, listfully swayed to the ground.

All but Connor and Jasmine, even before Murtle hit the floor, had returned to their food. Connor looked about. "Guys? Guys. There was a murder at the table!"

Hannah growled with an onigirazu half-stuffed in her face. "There'll be two if Saul doesn't stop STEALING MY RICE."

"CUUUUU!" Babs flew over from Hannah's shoulder and tried to pick up the heavy bowl of rice from Saul's unyielding clutches, but only succeeded once she blew a fairy wind into his face. "Fly fly!" And she returned to Hannah.

"Your Cutiefly just attacked me!"

"She got Fairy Justice," grumbled Hannah as she fed Babs a tiny bowl of soy sauce.

"Fine!" shouted Saul, and grabbed Hannah's last remaining Chashu Pork, shoving it in his mouth, chewing loudly right in front of her. "OM NOM NOM SO GOOD AND I'M NOT EVEN LYING FOR DRAMATIC EFFECT."

Hannah went red-faced and grabbed Saul's last piece of Tempura sushi, shoving it in her pie hole and chomping down. "HOW DELIGHTFUL! HOW ELEGANT THE FLAVORS! WHAT A TREAT FOR HANNAH!"

Saul growled. "I thought we were friends!"

Hannah clenched a fist. "You thought wrong!"

Saul stood up. "Don't incur my wrath, Hannah!"

"Are you forgetting which of us is jacked, Saul?!"

He backed down with a sigh. "I diiiiid..."

Hannah sighed and sat back down as well as she realized Babs was shaking behind her soda. "I'm sorry." She held out a hand for Babs. "I'm not like this normally. It's food. Food brings this out of me."

Connor hummed. "Luckily she only eats six times a day."

Down the booth, Cam turned her phone on as a new message arrived from her friend from Christchurch who'd decided to take a different party in the tourney. "Guys, I just got a Skype message from Matador99. He heard a rumor that the next tourney event will be some kind of dress-up contest? So maybe a cutesie thing?"

Nathan nodded and took a bite of his food, having returned to the table. "That seems like a nice change of pace. No rock climbing, no bushwhacking, and no giant Blaziken." He turned his gaze hard on Jas.

"I maintain that it was a glorious prank that brought you all closer together and has since gotten 500,000 views on YouTube." She shrugged. "And Murtle loves raking in the views on her channel."

"Haunt! Haunt!"

"Hmm," noted Cam, waving her phone in front of her face. "Not seeming very courageous today, are we, Nathan?"

He looked away and sighed, then looked to Connor, working away at the riddle while still taking sips of his ramen broth. It seemed to him, though, that whenever Connor was looking away from his phone, thinking, the screen would blink an unmistakable shade of purple, and he knew tomorrow was the day.

fin.
I am a forest fire and an ocean, and I will burn you just as much
as I will drown everything you have inside.
-Shinji Moon


I am the property of Rydia, please return me to her ship.





User avatar
299 Reviews



Gender: None specified
Points: 24185
Reviews: 299
Sat Apr 29, 2017 4:29 pm
View Likes
TheSilverFox says...



chapter ii. sunstone.



Sunlight peeked through the blinds as Nathan's eyes blinked. Wrapped in a single blanket on the soft mattress, he squinted at the hints of the Kyoto skyscrapers and homes in the distance. It was charming and quiet, with the light revealing dust particles descending onto the ground; for a second, he thought he was in Singapore. So, when he felt somebody poking the back of his head, he grumbled and shifted in bed, staying put. "Uncle I gotta wake up first," he mumbled as his tired brain, in futility, tried to kick itself awake.

"It's eight in the morning, nerd, so get up before I throw toilet water or something at you!"

Nathan screamed and shot up, now completely awake. Hannah was grinning evilly/happily beside the bed before she ran into the living room, where everybody else had gathered. Saul was happily recording the incident on his cellphone.

"Like brother, like other brother?" questioned Nathan as he pushed himself out of bed, grabbed his blanket, and threw it at them.

"It would've been cooler if we didn't already try the whipped cream thing on Hannah," said Saul as he deflected the blanket with an outstretched hand. "Do you know how much it's going to cost to fix a slightly dented screen?" Hannah slugged him in the arm and draped the blanket over his head.

Now Nathan was rummaging through his suitcase for a fresh set of clothes. "Where the hell did you even get whipped cream? I'm pretty sure there isn't any in this room." he asked as he grabbed a black shirt and blue pants. Since the odds they were going to get torn/attack/drowned/barfed on, it was better that he choose whatever would look like it had the least damage done to it at the end of the day. He was tempted to throw up again, given how much like wasabi the whole suitcase now smelled like.

"I-"

"NOT IMPORTANT," shouted Hannah as Saul threw the blanket aside, drowning out all other conversation. "THERE'S A NEW CHALLENGE AND I'M HUNGRY, SO GET SOME CLOTHES ON, JEEZ."

Nathan retreated into the bathroom. Admittedly, he was surprised that there was another challenge already, since they had only really finished catching Vivi, as he'd been reminded a million times, yesterday. That previous day had been nothing but regaling everyone about catching new Pokemon (and endless Fairy Justice), stuffing their faces full of food, and showing that video of Nathan throwing up and screaming before two false Blaziken, which had now gained over 1 million hits. Other than that unfortunate incident, it had been a cheery and bright rest of the day, and even the game of "oh god the floor is lava quick climb onto a lamp" had proved amusing, if slightly destructive and/or a possible fire hazard. Somehow, in spite of all the odds, it had progressed without much damage to Nathan's clothing or ego, but it had gone far too quickly. After showering, crashing on his bed, falling to sleep immediately, and suffering from a tumultuous nightmare about none other than the Blaziken, here he was, grabbing his fancy watch and slipping it on as he heard laughing and giggling beyond the bathroom door.

"IF YOU'RE THINKING ABOUT YESTERDAY, STOP THAT, YOU'RE WASTING TIME" somebody shouted as Nathan applied deodorant and brushed his teeth with orange-flavored toothpaste. Now looking fully-dressed and suave in his nice outfit, he smoothed his hair with a comb and washed his hands with lavender-smelling soap before opening the door and exiting the bathroom. Apparently, in his absence, Hannah had commanded that everyone else clean up by throwing their pillows and blankets onto Nathan's bad, and was now lying atop the pile, which extended high enough that she was pushing the ceiling fan with her hand.

She craned her head to watch Nathan and propped herself up on her hands (smacking against the fan) before throwing herself off when the latter prepared to turn on the said fan. Most everyone else, having long ago dressed and looking well-rested and eager, jumped out of the way as Hannah shot past them. Aiming for the room's entrance, the blur that was colored anything-but-blue yelled something about breakfast as she flung open the door and sprinted out into the hallway. Silence dominated the space as they heard her distant footsteps, accompanied by other people's shouting and the eventual thump-thump-thump of something walking or falling down a flight of stairs.

Saul put away his phone and picked up a wallet on the couch. "Do you think she'll come back?"

"As if that'll stop her," said Nathan, rolling his eyes as he observed the gigantic pile of blankets. He was tired enough that he wanted to jump right in it and fall right back to asleep, but he'd either asphyxiate or get yanked out because he'd be the only one without money, or the hotel manager from their last location would come over, or Hannah would try to play a game of charades and end up stuck in a Go match against a grandmaster. Or something stupid like that. "What is the challenge, anyway?"

Connor, if he had glasses, would've pushed them up close to his eyes before responding. "The Sunstone Festival. After breakfast, we are go to shopping for costumes based on Pokemon that can evolve with the eponymous Sun Stone, and then attend to Festival to see what is in store for us next. Of course, you would know that if you had watched the video, though I daresay I found it and its requests incredibly strange."

Nathan sighed and slouched. "Ugh, shopping isn't my strong suit. Fine, go on downstairs and get some breakfast. They probably have a buffet line or something simple like that. I'll join you when I get my bed made so I can translate if anyone's having trouble, but Hannah's charades should get some attention or food for you guys. When/if I'm ever done, I can probably give cash to whomever doesn't have money for outfits. I have a rich uncle, after all."

"Did you seriously say 'when slash if?'"

The boy reached the top of the pillow pile and threw the highest one down upon the offending speaker - Saul - who jumped out of the way. "Still more original than a whipped cream prank," Nathan sarcastically said, before adding, "and, on the way out, get Hannah's wallet before she tries to a. steal the food, or b. use someone else's wallet."

The rest of the group filtered out. Saul checked his pockets, checked them again, checked them three times, and soon was sprinting down the hallway shouting epithets and curses. Cam and Alexis were the last two to leave, turning out to watch Nathan briefly as he threw down more blankets and pillows and tried to figure out how to arrange everything. "Don't sleep in and forget breakfast!" said Cam before exiting the room, "except if you end up barfing out what breakfast you do have, which pretty much beats the point of eating it in the first place."

A few seconds later, Alexis nodded slightly and said, "Thanks for letting us sleep in your room. It was nice."

She closed the small door behind her as she left. There was a slight smile on Nathan's face as he continued, determined, with his work.
S'io credesse che mia risposta fosse
a persona che mai tornasse al mondo,
questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse.
Ma per ciò che giammai di questo fondo
non tornò vivo alcun, s'i' odo il vero,
senza tema d'infamia ti rispondo.

Inferno, Canto 27, l 61-66.





User avatar
745 Reviews

Supporter


Gender: Male
Points: 1626
Reviews: 745
Thu May 04, 2017 11:28 pm
View Likes
Lumi says...



"Feel that golden Kyoto sunshine!" Cam stretched as she and the others meandered out of the buffet hall and into the streets-a-bustlin' with folk and pokemon alike. "You know, we never gave this place enough credit! It feels like we just talk about food!"

Zig barked as he rounded Cam's neck and basked in the warm sun. Saul came up behind her and smiled. "You're right, you know? Screw the lookalike suit men! This is beautiful Kyoto! Its name totally means something in Japanese!" He gave Kyoto a goofy grin as he snapchatted the entire gang.

Alexis leaned in beside Jasmine, who was looking curiously at her phone. "Soooo...this festival sounds warm and fun and sunny!"

"I--" Jasmine started, smiling to cover her worry over her phone. "I hope so."

Alexis gave her a stern look. "Jasmine, don't make me force you to sign the No-Secrets Pact that Hanners and I signed!"

Hannah stuck her tongue out. "She really means no secrets, too."

Jasmine gave a small shrug. "It's simply...the festival will include a rental battle, and I'm looking at some of Miles' vetted shelters. Some of them couldn't afford to participate."

Hannah squinted. "What does that mean?"

Saul sighed. "It means that my brother likely cut corners."

Jasmine nodded. "There's one that's participating--a large conglomerate that is so notorious for the trade of Pokemon for money that Mr. Masuda literally based Team Rocket off them. But it's not that cut-and-dry for me. I mean, why rent Pokemon when you can bond with them? "

"So what can we do about it?" asked Nathan. "Businesses need to make money, and Miles and Art simply can't keep an entire transcontinental festival afloat without assistance. It's asking for financial suicide."

Connor raised his hand, the other busy typing away at his phone.

"Yeah, Connor?" Cam and Zig poked their heads around everyone.

"Why don't we talk to Annabelle Buckles McFarlane? Surely she can help."

Jasmine smiled. "I swear I put her hotel address somewhere in my petticoats..." Murtle floated down beside her, sticking out her tongue with a business card on it. "Ah! Here we go! Oh! They're staying at the hotel at the train station!"

Cam broke through the plotting and laid all up on Hannah's shoulders. "That sounds great guys, but some of us have cute kimono and yukata to pick out."

"Right, right," said Connor. "Costumes."

"Costumes?"

Absorbed in his phone, he began to walk away from the group. "I'll see you all there!" with a hand-wave.

Cam raised an eyebrow but shrugged it off. "Hannah, Alexis, Nathan, and I are going shopping. Saul, Jasmine. You go talk to Annie--she sounds great!--and get her to bring those cute and cuddlies to the festival! Personally, I wanna find a damned tree to climb!"

They all nodded. "So...to the shopping district?"

"To the shopping district!" Cam shouted.

Saul looked to Jasmine as the others walked off. "Think Annie'll still be cute?"

"Saul!"
I am a forest fire and an ocean, and I will burn you just as much
as I will drown everything you have inside.
-Shinji Moon


I am the property of Rydia, please return me to her ship.





User avatar
176 Reviews



Gender: Male
Points: 1983
Reviews: 176
Sun May 21, 2017 8:03 pm
View Likes
sheysse says...



“Who decided to produce that as a product?” Alexis asked while Hannah held up a Whimsicott pattern kimono. “I mean, who was like 'Hey, I got an idea. A Whimsicott on a kimono.'”

Hannah shrugged. “Who cares? I think it looks good.” She held it up to her torso.

Alexis had to admit, she was right. It did look quite good. It was white at the shoulders and covered in what resembled cotton balls. The sash across the middle was covered in the cotton-like substance too. The rest of the kimono was brown, minus the arms, which was a deep green. The green and brown shined under the florescent lights of the shop, and Alexis expected it to look even more dazzling under the sunlight.

When held up to Hannah, it made both herself and the kimono look perfect, and Alexis knew it would be a great injustice for Hannah not to purchase it. “It looks great. Definitely get it.”

“Coolio.” She folded up the kimono and placed it within the bag. Turning to Alexis, she said “So, you're getting a Lilligant costume, right?”

“Probably. Lily would either like it or cringe at it.” Alexis began walking down the aisle, Hannah following closely behind. Suddenly, she stopped, something catching her eye on one of the shelves. She pulled it out and revealed that it was, conveniently, a Lilligant dress.

The lower half of the dress was light green and mocked the leaf-like frill of a Lilligant's torso. The middle of it was a pale silver-white which glittered to the eye. On the shoulders was a yellow scarf which stuck out in spikes, like the petals of a flower. A dark green fabric which mimicked a stem of grass covered the sleeves, and down the back was the same shiny green fabric. It was a cape shaped like two overlapping leaves.

A headdress was included too, which naturally bore a huge red and yellow flower. Down the back draped a light green fabric which was translucent. When she held the outfit up to her head and torso, Hannah whistled.

“Looks good on you. Connor'll like it.”

Alexis blushed, then regained composure. “What? What are you talking about?”

“Oh, don't try and hide it. I've seen you act like a Magikarp out of water around him. You. Like. Him.”

“I've no idea what you're talking about.”

Hannah smiled. “He probably would say yes if you asked him out. I can't imagine anyone saying no to you.” She looked at the ceiling in thought, then shrugged. “Well, actually I can, if I try. But the point is I need to try. So, he'll probably say yes. Most likely. Definitely.”

“You sound a little like my aunt.”

“Which part? I hope not the part where I said I can think of someone saying no to you, if I try. Cause looking back, I probably should have kept that to myself.”

Alexis stared at Hannah for an awkwardly long period of time. “You're not used to giving relationship advice, are you?”

“No, I'm actually quite bad at it. Usually I just laugh at people in relationships, cause their hands get clammy and their faces turn red, and they kinda look like I did back when I have pubescent acne.” Alexis stared again, before the two broke out laughing.

“You know, we should probably go meet up with the others. I wanna see what nightmare Nathan's wearing.”

“Probably a Gloom or something. That'd be appropriate.” They walked off to the neighboring aisles.


Turns out Nathan actually got a Gloom costume. Alexis had to spend ten minutes convincing Hannah she couldn't predict the future, but she finally succeeded (except she did have Alexis choose a couple lotto numbers).

The crew went up to buy the items, and Nathan was stuck carrying everything. Each costume was packaged individually, so his arms were filled to the limit with massive white bags. The crew headed off to grab something to eat, while Nathan struggled to keep off.





User avatar
745 Reviews

Supporter


Gender: Male
Points: 1626
Reviews: 745
Wed Jun 07, 2017 4:08 pm
View Likes
Lumi says...



Annie Mac snored loudly.

Loudly enough that finding her, much to Jasmine and Saul's surprise, was not difficult. But they'd knocked on the door and woke her up, and as she did, a bubble burst in the back of her throat, making her swing a slap upwards as if to swat at an invisible Husband of hers; however, realizing her terrible mistake, she gathered herself and heard more knocks at the door, and called: "Just two shakes of a Buneary's tail!"

She ran to the bathroom. She gargled mouthwash and did magnificent things to her hair, but left the brush hidden in a knot in the back. She got dressed in a Kimono Miles had bought her that had a Larvitar belly. And smiling as she applied lip balm, she opened the door. "How can I help yo--Oh my lord in Heaven! Jazzy Jazz and Sollipop!" She brought them into an enormous hug and squeeeeeeeeezed them as hard as she could, but then remembered where they were. "Oh! Japan! Let me make you some tea."

Jasmine slowly, as if releasing air bubbles underwater, released bubbles of a laugh one. by. single. one. Saul just walked in and laid back on the bed, yawning. "Anniiiiiie, we've come to you in a freaking sticky wicket."

Clamoring from the kitchen, Annie giggled. "You don't actually say British things, Sollipop. What's going on?"

Jasmine sat by the table as Haunter hovered beside her, hands folded around her cup as if to pray over it. "Your husband."

"I have one of those now!" She giggled again.

"We noticed his ring," Saul noted, turning his head, "So who's the boss?"

Annie turned, holding a knife meant to slice fruit thinly. "Who do you think?"

Jas released another bubble. "If that's the case, then maybe you know about the corners being cut on the Pokemon Rentals today."

Annie shook her head. "Mmm, no. That's a flat no, I'm afraid. What's going on with Miles' corners? I make sure he does hot yoga with me everyday. We even have a room dedicated to it!" To this, Saul raised an eyebrow.

"Not that kind of hot, Saul," deadpanned Jasmine. She cleared her throat. "Miles couldn't get the Angels for Angels Care Center to donate their pokemon for the day, so someone else stepped in."

Annie poured the tea. "Who would've stepped into A4A's place?" She knelt down. Saul addressed the brush in her hair before sitting.

Jasmine sighed. "The Shuttle Conglomerate."

Annie stopped dead with her teacup touching her lips, steam rising into her nose. "And this happened just a few days ago while I was having meltdowns over flying to Japan...oh Miles noooo."

"We've developed a solution considering the attendance projected for the event, and the...propensity? that you have for the proper treatment of Pokemon."

Annie placed her cup down. "This is what he was trying to ask me." She groaned. "WHY IS HE SO BAD WITH WORDS?"

Saul cocked an eyebrow. "What did he ask you?"

Annie sighed and dropped her voice to sound like Miles. "'Anns, it'd be really great if the world's greatest daycare-r showed up in Japan!' AND THAT WAS ALL."

"Can you do it?" asked Jasmine.

Annie slowwwwwly nodded, then placed her phone on the table, smashing the button until Siri asked what was up. "CALL BUTTFACE."

"Calling Husband Number Four"

She smirked. "Gets me every time."

"Hello?"

"Yo, Bald Eagle, this is Buffalo, do you copy?"

"I copy, Buffalo. Over."

"You're on a conference call, Red Ranger."

"Then...uh." There was the sound of him shuffling nearer and arguing muffled with Art. "So are you, Pink Ranger."

"Hi, Annie."

"Art, shhh," cut Saul. "We're doing business."

"Nicely said, Sollipop." She handed him a lollipop from nowhere at all and brought Larvitar out of his pokeball to be part of the conversation. "Now Miles, you're not great at explaining yourself, and I'm bad at understanding you when I'm having meltdowns over flying to Japan so I think we may have missed something because you hired SHUTTLE instead of Buckles."

"Oh my God, are you really saying?"

"Yes, honeybee."

"Will you call your mom and get her to--"

"I'll do everything. Just fire Shuttle and get those kids ready to bond."

"Bond how?"

Annie looked at her board of trustees. Jasmine spoke up. "I will have the Japanese branch of the Cicero Corporation to send Poffin, Block, and Puffin machines. Card games, contest supplies, everything. We're going to have some fun to bond, and then you can have your silly tournament if you still want." She looked away. "Personally, I'd rather bond with a pokemon and rescue it for good. Never let go."

Annie nodded. "We should encourage that." She looked at her phone. "Are you certain it must be grass types only, dear...?"
I am a forest fire and an ocean, and I will burn you just as much
as I will drown everything you have inside.
-Shinji Moon


I am the property of Rydia, please return me to her ship.





User avatar
299 Reviews



Gender: None specified
Points: 24185
Reviews: 299
Sat Jun 10, 2017 8:25 pm
View Likes
TheSilverFox says...



Lunch Is Not My Favorite Season


Somewhere in the massive pile of bags that he was carrying through the streets of Kyoto, dodging cars with what little eyesight he had and accidentally running into pedestrians, was Nathan's outfit. The lady there had said that a Gloom kimono was just about the only new one they had left, particularly as many of the others had been left strewn about by the rest of the group. Nathan, feeling a bit depressed, decided that it felt appropriate enough for him to wear. It looked rather plain and drab, composed of dark blue cloth with green edges, complete with a matching blue cap and shoes. There was a cape made out of what looked like synthetic interwoven brown leaves, accompanying the red-brown flower (and it appeared to be real, which made him nervous about its flammability and survivability) stuck into the cap. He had tried it out earlier, when it had proven surprisingly comfortable, though he wasn't sure how much it was now wrinkled by being wrapped up and pushed ungracefully into the midst of the pile. At least it wasn't a costume, as that would've made his mobility that much more strained than he already was. As such, he was looking forward to seeing Connor's return.

Understandably, he was the last to arrive at the food court. He dropped off his bags and boxes upon a seat at a wooden table in the middle of the square, itself being quickly surrounded by his friends, and attempted to order food from one of the row of stalls alongside one end of the square. His request for simple noodles was met by the group with calls of "dull," "unoriginal," "boring," "where do you think you are?" and "we already ordered you food, didn't you notice? By the way, we miiiiiiiight need you to pay for some, most, all of it. <.< >.>" Honestly, without Jasmine, Saul, or Connor, it was Hannah who was doing most of the talking.

A few minutes and cash payments later, Nathan was holding a bowl of noodles in one hand and a plate of what he was promised was non-umeboshi-flavored onigiri (the latter of which he still disputed). The small group had taken to unboxing their outfits and showing off their purchases to each other (with Hannah explaining why her Whimiscott outfit was not "silly," as Alexis claimed she said, but depicted the most brilliant and legendary Whimiscott that nobody had ever heard of because it was so good). However, Nathan, not much in the mood for a conversation or the ensuing teasing that he was wearing his wasabi-smelling, barfed-on shirt underneath a much cleaner one so he could avoid strange looks until he could put it on before his Gloom outfit (for a more appropriate aesthetic), walked right on past them. He was tempted to just keep walking until he went past Kyoto, through the Japanese landscape, and into the sea, but he heard someone calling out his name. Looking up, he saw Cam had walked past him and climbed up into one of the two cherry trees towards the center of the space, patting a thick branch next to hers while she eagerly ate onigiri.

He rose his arms and handed his food over to her before attempting to scrabble up the tree. Lacking both the dexterity and clear footholds, he spent some time clawing the bark before grasping a low branch and pull himself upwards into the buds and faintly sweet smells. "Good going, angry beaver!" shouted Hannah as Nathan scooted himself onto the large branch - which creaked slightly, but stayed firm - next to Cam, who handed him back his food. They ate in relative silence while everyone else kept talking below, the two observing the bustling streets and high-rise buildings of Kyoto mixing with traditional houses and stores through the branches and buds.

"So...," said Cam, trying to start a conversation, "you seem a lot less happier than usual, and nothing really bad has happened today. What's wrong?"

Nathan sighed and slouched a bit more. "I'm not feeling all that confident-"

He was interrupted by the sound of something making their way up the other tree. After a few seconds, he heard Hannah shouting at them, "Nathan and Cam, sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g."

"Oh yeah?" said Cam in the middle of eating. "You're on that tree, and you're the only one on that tree, so you're kissing yourself!"

Hannah attempted to come up with a good comeback, but didn't have any in mind. In the end, she blew a kiss in the direction of Cam, who snatched it out of the air while Nathan ducked and shoved it down towards Alexis, who expertly dodged it by lowering her head under the table.

"You guys have it a lot easier," said Nathan as Cam resumed her original position and gestured for him to keep talking. In the meantime, Alexis bumped her head against the table at around the same moment that Hannah fell out of the tree, the latter having leaned out too much to blow the kiss. "I mean, Alexis basically won the challenge by sheer luck. She got to meet Mr. Masuda and Vivi long before anybody else did. All I did was head in the wrong direction, get pranked on live video, and then freaked out and threw up. Again."

Cam shrugged as Hannah pushed herself up from the ground and moved unsteadily to the table, while Alexis was feeling a bump at the back of her head. "But she still had to fight Vivi and only got her because she wouldn't harm the 'mon. It was still a tough fight and Alexis had to think of the most peaceful solution, which isn't that easy when you have that much power in your hands. She was a bit lucky, sure, but -" Realization struck her, and her eyes widened. "Oh, this is really about your uncle, isn't it?"

As Nathan froze up and raised an eyebrow, she explained, "Covering up your microphone isn't helpful when he has two volume settings - loud, and loud."

He sighed and bowed his head. "I swear, he's not a bad man, just...paranoid. He's worried that, if he steps away for five seconds, I'm going to turn out just like my father - a nobody."

"Doesn't sound like a good man to me," Cam commented as she finished her onigiri and tossed down the plastic plate to Hannah, who was trying to stare up and listen to the conversation. Hannah caught the plate and tried to throw it back, but it whirled around and smacked her on the forehead. She swore at it and referred to it as the angry boomerang.

"I...don't know," Nathan said. "I'm happy that I've got a rich uncle who's willing to give me whatever I need, so I'm not going to go up to his face and shout at him for always hanging over my shoulder. And my dad did give up on his chance to be a battler so he could be a repairman instead. On the other hand, my dad never liked battling."

Cam thought for a few seconds before responding. "Well, do you like it?"

The boy instinctively nodded. "Why wouldn't I? It's been my childhood and why I've come here. I would've left a long time ago if I didn't care about you guys or bonding with my Pokemon. It's just...my uncle takes all the fun out of it with his shouting and anxiety, and it might get worse soon."

"How so?" Cam grabbed Nathan's now-empty bowl and tossed it down at Hannah, who finally got the hint to exit the scene.

Nathan gripped the wood sharply, looking more anxious and pale than he had before. He breathed deeply before leaning towards her and whispering, "My uncle doesn't own the company, but he has a lot of stock in the Shuttle Conglomeration, and they're almost partners. I wouldn't be surprised if he helped set up the deal to have their Pokemon appear in the challenge."

A surprised Cam blinked a few times and then asked, "So what's going to happen when we kick them out?"

"Maybe he'll sue? It'd be too costly and wouldn't work that well, and my uncle doesn't want to damage his reputation. I'm sure he'll send a message to me that the competition is a fluke working against his family and that I need to train harder and do more, so I'll get some more cash and phone calls. Maybe some new Pokemon." Nathan shuddered. "I'm happy that not many people know my last name."

They then heard the sound of loud footsteps over cobblestone as Alexis ran over, phone raised in the air. "Good news!" she shouted happily, "They talked to Annie and got to replace that conglomeration group with a friendlier one! We need to put on our new clothes ASAP and go over to the festival to check out some surprises!"

"Let there be whimsy!" said Hannah in agreement, before widening her smile. "See, get the pun?"

"Yes, I get it," said Cam, rolling her eyes as she climbed down the tree and held out a hand for Nathan to join her. "Let's go have some fun. Forget about your uncle for now, and keep in mind we can always be there with you the next time he calls, if you'd like. And don't beat yourself up too much, okay?"

Nathan nodded as everyone walked off, bags in their hands, towards what they assumed and hoped was the general direction of the festival (which, after a few wrong turns and asking for directions, it was).
S'io credesse che mia risposta fosse
a persona che mai tornasse al mondo,
questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse.
Ma per ciò che giammai di questo fondo
non tornò vivo alcun, s'i' odo il vero,
senza tema d'infamia ti rispondo.

Inferno, Canto 27, l 61-66.





User avatar
293 Reviews



Gender: Male
Points: 17344
Reviews: 293
Sun Jul 30, 2017 1:34 am
View Likes
BrumalHunter says...



When Connor had left the group, he fully intended to buy whichever Grass type costume was available for purchase or rent. By the time he reached Shinjo Street, that was no longer the case. As it turned out, he had incorrectly heard “costume in the likeness of a Pokémon that evolves by means of a Sun Stone” as simply “costume of a Pokémon that evolves by means of a Sun Stone.”

Upon reiterating the dress code to the shopkeepers of the many clothing stores in the area, he thanked his lucky stars for watching the video again: in all the stores he checked, the only costume fitting the description was that of a Sunflora. If he had worn that to the festival, he would undoubtedly have replaced Nathan and his wasabi scent as the new joke of the circle. He firmly declined and asked if anything more casual was for sale.

...Sadly, his luck abandoned him there. Of the many Pokémon outfits available, few adhered to the given criteria, and those that did had already been nicked, save for the Sunflora costume and one Sunflora-inspired outfit, both in the same store. Grimacing, Connor rented the lacklustre outfit; it consisted of dark green everything, from the jeans and jacket to the sneakers and socks. Worst of all, it also included - it was almost too horrible to behold - a cream hat with two rows of yellow petals along the brim. He tried to convince the shopkeeper that he wouldn’t be caught dead with it, but she insisted it was the full outfit or nothing at all.

And so, with much grumbling, he headed for the festival. Connor was certain the others would have attires of a far more impressive calibre. And far cheaper too, most likely. (He could probably have bought the outfit at a stall for the tenth of the cost of renting it at the store.) He made a mental note not to target popular establishments for unexpected clothing acquisitions in the future.

At least he seemed to have arrived at the Shimogyo-ku festival grounds before the group - and, in fact, before most of the other participants. It made no sense how that could be possible when the clothing stores in Kyoto’s busiest shopping district had basically been sold out, but sometimes, fate could be a troll. Trying his best to hide his face beneath the hat, he approached one of the rental booths.

“Name?” the bored official enquired.

“Connor Redreed.”

The man verified his existence in the tourney’s database before collecting a random Pokéball from the dispenser and scanning it. He drawled, “Enjoy the festival,” before pushing the ball across the counter, not unlike a pharmacist providing a prescription.

“Thanks. Do you perhaps have an event schedule? I could have sworn there was one on the official site, but it’s gone now.”

“Plans have changed. The Sun Stone Festival is now the Rental Affection Festival. Check the site again.”

Seeing the man would be of no further use, Connor huffed and walked away. He abruptly halted upon realising the changed plans and event title meant Saul and Jasmine must have succeeded in convincing Annie to ditch the Pokémon suppliers. That in turn meant... they were expected to bond with a completely random rental Pokémon. He looked down at the Pokéball in dread anticipation. With his luck, he would get an actual Sunflora anyway.

He resolved to delay the revelation for as long as possible by finding a comfortable place to sit and memorising the schedule. His knack for remembering lists resulted in the plan’s failure, however, and none of the newly-provided activities could be completed without the rental, so he resignedly headed for the picnic area.

“Connerd! Over here!”

Connor groaned and turned to face his addressor. To his surprise, it was Cam, not Hannah, with Alexis somewhat hiding behind her. As expected, both had fantastic outfits.

“If you get to call me nerd, I get to call you dweeb. How’d you recognise me anyway?”

“That’s a good question. I would say we just looked for the person with the nerdiest costume around, but truth be told, Miss Lilligant here pretended she was a Pidgeot and spotted you with her Keen Eyes.”

“I don’t think your outfit looks that bad,” Alexis said in the way of greeting. She stepped into full view.

“Well, it can’t come anywhere near yours,” Connor admitted. “It’s lovely!”

Alexis blushed shyly. “Thank you.”

Cam grinned and announced, “Well, as much as I’d love to hang around and chat, there are trees to climb with nobody around to stop me. I’ll leave you two to it.” For some reason, she winked before departing, causing Alexis to blush a little more.

Connor shrugged. “I guess it’s just us, then.” Somehow, that made Alexis turn even redder. “Is that costume overheating you?”

“No, no, I’m fine.”

He frowned. “Well, I’ve seen you suffer from sunburn that one time over Skype, so if you’re overheating, we should probably get you into some shade.” He gestured at the sky. “This is an outdoor festival, after all, so if you’re unused to the light intensity - and Canada isn't exactly the warmest of countries - you’ll look like a Krabby soon. The park is large enough that you can easily find an unclaimed tree.”

“Okay, but, err... let me grab a picnic blanket and a card game, at least. You go find a suitable spot so long.”

She disappeared before he could deliver any input, so he simply did as was asked and waited awkwardly. She returned with the promised items swiftly thereafter. The card game was in reality just a regular deck of cards, whereas the blanket resembled the typical red and white chequered design, except in a dark green and yellow colour scheme. Evidently, there hadn’t been enough time to swap out the decorations as well.

“So, which Pokémon did you get?” Alexis asked after making herself comfortable.

Sitting across from her in a spot where the foliage was regrettably thinner and the sunlight therefore stronger, he sheepishly replied, “I... don’t actually know.”

Aghast, she asked, “But why not? Check it immediately!”

Connor raised his hands. “Yes, ma’am.” He tossed the Pokéball onto the grass, prompting an explosion of pinkish red light. A Grass Pokémon would have been fine, since they were rarely ever menacing. Instead, a fearsome silhouette blotted out the sun above him, a silhouette made fearsome by two gleaming scythes. He gulped.

“Oh, wow, a Scyther! I’ve never seen one before!”

“I think I prefer their pictures,” Connor mumbled, his eyes wide and brow suddenly sweaty.

“Don’t be afraid of it, silly. Otherwise, it will never obey you.”

Still wide-eyed, Connor said, “Pa tells me that all the time, but it’s easier said than done. And there aren’t usually such intimidating Pokémon at his shelter. I... I wonder what Hades will think.”

The brave hound, upon being released, promptly became the cowardly hound and fled in terror from the colossal bug. The Scyther immediately set off after him. Initially panicked, Connor soon saw the Scyther simply enjoyed the chase and didn't mean Hades any harm, though it clearly found the Houndour’s yelps as amusing as Alexis did. The amusement was short-lived, for it slowed down and gazed around before returning to Connor and sitting down next to the tree.

“Huh, I’d never have thought I’d see a Pokémon like Scyther do something like that. It’s not so intimidating anymore, is it?”

“I guess not.”

“Will you be keeping it?”

Connor considered it. “I could.”

“Won’t that interfere with your whole idea of having a dog-only team?”

“It’s canine-only - Seraph is a vixen, not a bitch. As for the Bugs, I guess I could keep them for a while and train them. Once I need the space, I can then send the Venomoth to Ma, which was always the plan, and then Pa gets the Scyther.”

“Do you think they’ll get along with your current team?”

“Well, Hades doesn’t mind as much as when he was introduced.”

Indeed, the dog didn’t. Other canines had been released by their owners or renters to roam free, prompting Hades to become brave again and chase them instead. They both snickered.

Alexis waving drew Connor’s attention, although she wasn’t waving at him. Turning to see who the recipient was, he spied Nathan handing some notes to Hannah some distance away. After the exchange, Hannah enthusiastically waved back and appeared to wink. She then proceeded to push a highly reluctant Nathan towards a Berry Blender.

“What was that about?” Connor asked, producing a large volume from his backpack. “And why are all the girls winking?”

“Oh, it’s just some bet they made.”

He opened the book at the back and scanned the index. “Regarding?”

“Err, how long it would take Cam to climb up a tree.”

Connor chuckled. “Nathan should have known better than to accept a bet like that.” He frowned and looked up. “Wait, if they were looking at us, where is Cam?” Scanning the area for her, he added, “I’m certain she didn’t come this way when she left us...”

“That’s not important!” Alexis cried. She further cut his survey short by pointing at the book. “That’s the Entomologist’s Encyclopaedia, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it is. How did you guess?”

“You once mentioned it was the first book your mom had bought you. I remember you saying she had chosen it after seeing how detailed the entry on Magcargos were.”

He grinned. “Mariel Redreed does love her snails. I should know – she’s prepared Shelmet quite a few times in the past. It’s... an acquired taste.” He looked down and caressed the cover. “But this book shaped my life. It’s what got me into reading non-fiction.” Finding the page number he sought, he turned to the entry on Scythers.

“Hey, you should look up Fomantis too.”

Connor looked up. “Is that what you got?”

“It was supposed to be a surprise, but yeah. What are the odds that we both get a mantis Pokémon?”

“I could calculate that if all the determining factors were known.” He licked his lips in annoyance that they were not. He sighed. “Oh well. But it’s less likely than receiving a Grass type in spite of the replacement rentals.”

“Why did you bring a book about Bugs to what would primarily have been a Grass tournament anyway?”

“Bugs are relevant to plants. I have a book on botany and poisons in my backpack too. I was hoping to wipe the floor with you in the tournament by defeating you with your own type, you know. But with my rental being Bug/Flying and yours being monotype Grass, it’ll now be a pushover.”

“Oh yeah? Then how about we settle this in a different arena?”

He shook his head, smirking. “Cards?”

“Exactly! How do you feel about Go Fish?”

“An unorthodox choice for a test of strategy, but I nevertheless accept your challenge. Bring it on!”

He released Seraph and she Ivy, Lily, and her rental Fomantis. Ivy won the first game, Seraph the second, and then Ivy won the third again. Scyther decided to cast away its apathy and shocked them by moving closer to play. It shocked them even more by actually winning.

“You sneaky bastard!” Connor exclaimed, laughing at the smugness of the Bug’s expression. “You’ve been observing us all this time to figure out how we play.”

Scyther crossed its arms and leaned back against the tree, content. Ivy tossed her hand into the centre and indignantly plopped down next to Alexis, turning her back on the great Bug.

Connor leaned back and supported himself with his arms against the grass. Looking at Alexis, he said, “The outfit really is lovely. Your usual hoodie is cool, but this perfectly matches your eyes.”

She blushed again, but not as much as before, surprisingly. Playing with a strand of hair, she responded, “And I like your... err...”

“This costume has no redeeming qualities,” he said, laughing. “You don’t even have to try.”

“I like your hat.”

Connor frowned in disgust and immediately took it off, running a hand through his hair. “Please, compliment me on anything but that.”

She giggled. “Okay... I, err, like your eyes.” Immediately after she said it, she blushed profusely.

“I think the sun’s getting to you despite the shade,” he joked, picking a blade of grass. “And in any case, my eyes aren’t part of my attire, so your compliment is technically invalid. I look like a non-descript safari enthusiast.”

“But you yourself said the outfit has no redeeming qualities!” she exclaimed in mock protest. “You stand out from the rest of our friends by having blue eyes instead of brown or grey, and blonde hair instead of brown or black. Where did you get the blue eyes from anyway? Your father? Your mother's eyes are brown.”

“I don’t know,” Connor answered, his sight focused on a patch of grass, yet seeing something else, something distant. “But I definitely got my hair from Ma. Pa always used to ruffle it and say it was exactly the same colour as hers...”

“Not anymore, obviously.” Alexis giggled. “Your hair might have matched hers when you were younger, but I’d say hers is closer to white now.” She look worried. “Err, don’t tell her I said that." He didn’t respond. “Connor?” Only after she repeated his name a third time did he react.

“Hmm? Oh, sure. Of course.” He rose and turned away, looking for his dog. “Hades, come on! We have to go!” The Houndour ceased his endless pursuit of the other canines and bounded over, barking at him. Connor stooped to scratch him beneath his skull collar.

“Go where?” Alexis asked. “I thought we were still chatting. Was it something I said?”

Now scratching Hades behind the ear but still without looking at her, Connor answered, “The tournament was moved to a later time, not cancelled.” He swallowed. “I have to ensure Scyther will follow my commands when the time to battle comes.” He hastily stuffed his encyclopaedia into his backpack, closed the zip, and rose. “Thank you for the company. I’ll see you and the others then.”

“Oh, okay. See you then!” Though he couldn’t see it in her face, he could hear it in her voice: Alexis was clearly disappointed. She tried to mask it behind a cheerful tone, but the attempt was futile.

Connor could only nod and quickly walked away, only stopping once he realised Alexis and her Pokémon weren’t the only ones watching him go. He slightly tilted his head in their direction. His voice cracked. “Scyther, Seraph, w-w-we're leaving.”

The great insect and icy vulpine remained stationary for a few seconds longer before the fox obeyed, followed reluctantly by the mantis. Connor resumed his hurried pace, heading nowhere in particular except away.
But the Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
— Paul the Apostle

Winter is inevitable. Spring will return eventually, and AstralHunter with it.








I don't think so alliyah, but don't quote me on that.
— TheBlueCat