Fandom Pokemon Aetheric Platinum

[RingSlinger]

Nai seemed to slide downward from a standing position into a seated, cross-legged one. He thought it looked cool. He had seen his Sensei drop from standing to sitting with legs crossed a number of times, and had made it a point to learn how to do it smoothly. Another silly thing he borrowed from the older man he had come to respect so much.

"Maybe Kanto. I'd like to return to Kanto some day..." Minoru cocked his head, staring at his friend as she seemed to become lost in the utility of her Pokedex. "Although anywhere would be nice." The dojo he trained in had been in Kanto, located on a small island near Cinnabar.

"Ah I see. And suddenly it all becomes clear. This friendship has just been a facade... all to land you the free fancy food of a Pokemon League Champ. I'm hurt Livi," he placed a dramatic hand on his heart. "I wouldn't expect you to sit and cheer me on anyway. I imagine you'd be exploring wherever we are. Taking in the sights. Being unceremoniously hosed by the little one there" he gestured towards the tiny penguin, now perched upon the girl's back.

Minoru began to chuckle again as he saw Kana trot towards Ivy. He was fairly certain the little turtle would be a little too heavy for the spine of his fairly small friend. The chuckle turned to a full blown guffaw once more as he saw Ivy squirm under the weight of the two small Pokemon.

Kana stared Piplup down as it verbally berated her. Her face pulled into a sort of small Turtwig grin, as if in the short time she had known Minoru she had already learned his favorite face to make. It seemed very much like this tiny flightless bird wanted a battle, and if Kana were able to speak English, she might have asked her partner's permission to do just that. But she didn't. So she couldn't. She did, however, roll her eyes and cast a glance towards Minoru, wondering what he thought her best course of action might be.

"I could ask her to move now couldn't I..." he paused, faux-weighing his options for dramatic effect before. "Fine. Come on then, Kana, it seems three's a crowd, and we wouldn't want to do any permanent damage to Ivy's spine. She'll need that for all the walking we've got ahead of us."

Kana sighed, turning to Piplup and giving it a chiding look, as it to say I'm not doing this for you before two smallish vines emerged from either side of her shell, impacting the ground with a thud before lifting Kana up off of Ivy's back and placing her gently in Minoru's cross-legged lap, where she spun around a couple of times slowly, like a dog searching for the most ideal sleeping position before yawning a third time and lying down.

"Better?" Minoru asked, signature grin in full effect.

 

[Life.]

Even though she had successfully obtained her desired box, Sky couldn't help but feel even more irritation and anger once she heard Nai's response to her action. She wanted to retort back about how she found it odd that he was calling it sad that she was basing her choice off of color when really that was what he was about to use as his reason to pick it. His logic was simply baffling her. First he was going to pick the pink box because it was his favorite color and yet once it was in her hands he was calling it sad how she chose it for its color. "If he truly meant his words then he should've just waited for everyone else to pick," Sky muttered under her breath. She watched as the others left the room and went outside to meet their partners. Seeing as how Nai was one of the two to leave the room, Sky decided to stay back. At this point she didn't want to deal with him.

Brandon stayed behind with her. She decided to watch the revealing of his partner Pokemon before she discovered hers. Now that she saw from the other's introductions of their Pokemon that the color of the box did indeed match their type it caused Sky to become nervous once again. Although there wasn't really any reason for to be nervous considering her goals were more exploratory oriented rather than victory oriented.

Once she managed to calm herself Sky returned her attention back to her selected box. Gingerly she opened the package and began examining the contents. Before she forgot about it Sky wrapped the strap holding five empty Pokeballs onto her waist and then clicked on the Pokedex. Looking through it quickly she finally picked up the stand alone Pokeball. It was currently in its compact form. "Well I've probably waited long enough. Time to meet my new friend," swiftly she clicked the Pokeball to expand and then tossed the ball softly up in the air, holding her breath as she did so.

 

[Noivian]

Sky's Pokemon was an odd one - technically still just a baby, it was perhaps the most challenging starter to begin with. The Pokemon that emerged from the ball looked like it hadn't fully hatched, its eggshell covering the majority of the body.

Now that the Pokemon were all revealed, the only thing left to do was begin the journey. Of course, the group could always hang back, despite the celebration being more or less for the family of the journeying trainer. But the open road called: what lie ahead for our heroes? What mysteries will they uncover? What Pokemon will the meet and befriend? The world was a great big unknown, and as the sun rose higher and higher into the sky, it beckoned to the trainers, tempting them with treasures unknown, fame to be won, friends and enemies to make.

 

[RingSlinger]

The second flash of light from the inside of Minoru's house. It signified that all four starter Pokemon had been released from their balls. Nai took a deep breath. This was it. This would be the true beginning of their journey. Armed with Pokemon companions, the young trainers would soon start out into the world. He was... no afraid, afraid was the wrong word, but he did feel vaguely awe-struck. This was the largest thing he'd ever done. Perhaps the largest thing he'd ever do. This was the start of a journey that would prove once and for all whether he had it in him. Once and for all whether he was the best, or at least, whether or not he could be the best. A light smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. He couldn't wait. He gently lifted the now snoozing Kana from his lap, bringing her level with his face.

"Wake up, sleepyhead. We're gonna go meet the other Pokemon joining us for our adventure. I should introduce you to the other trainers as well."

Kana's eyes opened slowly. "Twig twig turtwig," she said, knowing full-well that Minoru could not understand her. He seemed to at least understand the gist.

Nai placed her on the ground with an unsurprising amount of care before standing up himself. He strolled past Ivy and her seemingly unhappy Piplup, chuckling to himself. As they came closer to the steps leading up to the kitchen he crouched down once more, whispering to Kana, "remember, nothing about you or me is inherently better than them. We have to try. We have to put the work in. But they're just like us. We're just going to work harder. Deal?"

Kana nodded with determination, following Minoru up the stairs. He rested both hands against the frame of the door before leaning forward, upper body into the kitchen area.

"So I guess the team's all here now. He glanced at the Chimchar sitting beside Brandon, this was predictable, given the contents of the Blue and Green boxes. He had never seen a Chimchar in person, and was immediately drawn to the flame it wore for a tail. He was, however, surprised by the presence of a Togepi. His lips pulled into his typical, by now familiar, grin. "Well Sky, looks like you got a cute one after all. Congratulations."

He wasn't being sarcastic. Togepi was incredibly cute.

"This is Kana. Kana, this is Sky and Brandon. I grew up with them. They're the other two who'll be coming with us on this journey..." He paused, glancing at both Brandon and Sky. "Speaking of. If the whole team is together... Are you two ready to head out? The day's still young enough, and know I'd love to get a start down the road... If you two are ready for it, that is..."

Kana puffed her tiny chest, holding her head with pride.

 

[The Hero]

Brandon took brief notice of Nai's entrance. "I'm ready to go, just give me a moment," he answered, returning to his pokemon. It was a chimchar and a fire type just as he expected. The fiery glow of its backside signalled its health. He started to think of a name for the little pokemon in front of him. He wanted it to be strong and unique. "I'll call you Wu," Brandon said to the little beast. Wu obviously didn't enjoy Brandon's creativity. It shook its head vehemently on the table top which caused Brandon to frown under his mask. He stood up from his chair, grabbed the pokeball off the ground, and walked closer to Wu. He tried to intimidate the pokemon with his size. The attempt failed miserably. The pokemon leaped from its position on the table and at Brandon's face. He acted calm at first, trying to calmly remove Wu from his face, but he smelled smoke. The fire from chimchar's tail had caught onto his wraps.

He struggled for a moment, feeling a strong, burning heat spread around his face. It hurt. "Mmm," he hummed, trying to quickly find his way to the sink. He didn't want to agitate Wu even more than it already was. He stumbled over a chair but made it to the sink. He doused his face with water extinguishing the burning face wraps and washed away the already burnt ashes. Wu, at the mere touch of water, furiously scratched at his face and clambered onto his back. This all occured in seconds. Now, Brandon had small burn marks around his mouth and scratches around his cheeks. "Alright," Brandon sighed, "you're wild, aggressive, and dangerous; I think Wu is a pretty good name." Wu gave one final slam onto Brandon's back, knocking the wind out of him, before it was put back into the pokeball. "Your guys' pokemon look pretty safe, wanna trade?" he joked towards his companions, "I'm ready to go now. Where we heading off to?" He had a tired look in his eyes, and his shoulders sagged.

 

[norway]

After several more moments of scanning a rather blank faced piplup, Livianna slipped her jet black device into her back pocket, "Alright, I think I got enough information on you. I want to know the best ways to work with you." Pushing off the grass as the light commotion from Nai's house beckoned the male's attention, honestly Ivy wanted to follow and see if the pink poke ball was worth the banter, as well as whether or not Brandon's choice could bring a fire to his eyes. She had not anticipated, upon stepping through the front door threshold, that the metaphorical fire would manifest and be brought to her poor friend's face. Ivy was caught in one of those should I intervene or not moments, one hand slightly extended though she hadn't the slightest clue what to do with the monkey practically clinging to Brandon's face. Turtwig was at a disadvantage, basic knowledge, and togepi appeared to be merely a baby, far to sweet to put in the line of fire. Best she used her little water tank. "Piplup! Hit him with some water!"

The little penguin spread his beak and puffed his chest, extending his round head forward and producing one, large bubble, that drifted along halfway to Brandon before quietly popping -- a faded vapor against the atmosphere. "A-Actually maybe we should just let this ride out, good job though," She swooped in to bring him out of harms way, his little flippers drooping as it had not been as epic of a scene as either of them had hoped. His head hung low over her arms though Ivy did not notice right away, instead watching the monkey's little beige fists beat at her friend's back and making a mental note to steer clear of it. Forever.

"I don't know about safe, I've got my work cut out for me -- " Ivy's heart beat hard against her chest, thumping lightly at the penguin's back. "I think your mom has something for burns stashed in the kitchen somewhere, doesn't she? I was always burning myself in here, pretending I could bake," She didn't answer Brandon's question, as Ivy hadn't the slightest clue where they could venture to.

Likely Sky and Nai would have better ideas, because truthfully the violet beauty was fine going anywhere. Even with a semi rough start and the gradually decreasing pitter patter of her beating heart, there was still some determination in the air to make the most of it. Well, maybe for her anyways.

She set her partner pokemon on the floor, and rummaged shamelessly through a few drawers before coming across a proper ointment for typical cooking wounds, burns and cuts, before bringing the tube over to Brandon. She felt the little bird's presence waddle away from her, and out of the kitchen. "Here, you'll thank me later," She offered a sympathetic smile, before breaking away from the group. "Eh -- I'll be back. Pep talk number three, I'm starting to feel like I have a child."

Quietly, she stalked after her penguin through a house she knew almost better than her own, following his determined waddle into the dining room, where piplup maneuvered all the way to a corner, crossed his little flippers best he could, and seemed to sit in disappointed silence. She took quiet steps before kneeling down, "Hey little buddy -- " Startled, he whipped around and squawked, blasting her face with another water gun's worth of shots. "WHY COULDN'T YA DO THAT BACK IN THE KITCHEN! I AM NOT A THREAT!"

Her words seemed to only upset him more, he chirped angrily, some long winded rant about his obvious insecurities. Or at least she pretended to gather that from his attitude. Wiping her face with her sleeves again, she sighed, "Look, I shouldn't have put you on the spot and asked so much of you when you're young, that was my bad. But I assumed, since you've tried to drown me twice, you could take on chimchar. What happened did you just get nervous?" She combed the damp hair that fell past her eyes back, looking a bit like a mess.

Piplup calmed down long enough to admit he had indeed choked when she called on him. "Well it's not your fault, so don't beat yourself up. I could have just as easily gotten a cup of water or something, I was scared, too."

He looked at her, skeptical.

"I was! Look, don't tell anyone, but I have a fear of monkey's. Chimchar, vigoroth, mankey, aipom -- they terrify me," The pokemon looked at her as if it were the stupidest thing he'd ever heard, although it did seem to bring some sort of sentimentality between them. "They're unpredictable, and stronger than they look. But hopefully chimchar -- err, Wu, was just overwhelmed and will come around. In the meantime we'll work on that bubble so we're better prepared next time," She patted her little buddy on the head, who seemed to settle for her response, and the two came through the dining room, comically sporting drastic different heights though there seemed to be a temporary peace between them.

Temporary.

 

[RingSlinger]

"I uh..." Minoru began as Wu leapt onto the face of Brandon. As soon as the fire began to spread, his first instinct was to lift Kana into the air and take her outside, where she'd be safe from the flames. He cast a look toward his small green partner. She looked back up at him for direction, a vague look of panic on her small face. He knelt down, putting a hand on her shell.

"It's alright, Kana. It's fire. It'll hurt both of us. So we'll have to be careful. If it looks like it's coming this way we can dodge out of the way and figure out if we need to strike back, but we'll do it together. Sometimes things are going to hurt us both. What's important is that we face them together. Sometimes it'll be scary, like it is right now. But we're here... in this... together... and we'll face it together... can you do that with me?"

Kana took a very deep breath, eyes locked with Minoru's. She didn't know much about what the Pokemon League would be like. She didn't know what was entailed in his desire to be champ. She did know, however, that she wanted to figure it out with this human. She exhaled, nodding with determination before turning attention back to the flaming monkey perched atop the face of Brandon.

He returned to a standing position, though both boy and Turtwig stood now, ready to leap into action. The action, however, immediately ended and Wu was put back into his Pokeball. "Hmm" Nai chuckled, "Proud of you, Kana..." he whispered, glancing down at the little turtle, who nodded once more, eyeing Brandon skeptically. Internally she wondered if she'd be able to keep both the bird and the monkey out of trouble. She hadn't even spotted Togepi yet.

Nai took a quick inventory of his childhood kitchen. Nothing was ablaze. Nothing seemed permanently damaged. Everything was fine. "I don't know what you think you were doing there, Brandon, but you almost set my home on fire. You can't just... there's a living breathing being in that Pokeball with control over one of the most dangerous elements in nature. You'll have to learn how to interact with it without endangering the property... AND lives of others... namely us."

Contrary to how it might have seemed, he took no joy in scolding the other boy. He was legitimately fairly grumpy about this. He began to answer Ivy's questions, but found that the girl had simply found the things she was looking for all on her own. He did remember her spending time in this kitchen in their early youth, playing around with baking recipes and occasionally burning herself by mistake.

"The only way north is Route 201. From there we can spend a little time exploring Lake Verity... Legend has it there's a Legendary Pokemon sleeping at the bottom of that lake...Maybe we'll catch a glimpse of it? The next real town is Sandgem."

 

[Life.]

Sky watched the shine of the red light bursting from the Pokeball intently as it formed into a small, spiky-balled Pokemon. The tiny creature had an egg for a body and short, stubby arms and feet. As soon as it was released from the Pokeball the Pokemon laid its eyes on the girl that stood right in front of him. Instantly the egg-shaped Pokemon cracked a smile to his partner. His smile and happiness was so infectious that Sky couldn't help but smile as well. All the bitterness that was accumulating from her interactions with Nai dissipated as soon she picked up the Togepi and heard its adorable voice. "You...you're perfect," she whispered as the small Pokemon flapped his arms happily and gave a small cry, "From now on you'll be known as Kai. We'll travel the world together and meet all kinds of Pokemon. What do you say little one?" Immediately the Pokemon slightly jumped in her grip, Sky couldn't help but giggle at his enthusiasm. Who knew such a small Pokemon made a big difference in her attitude? Any doubts of the trip she previously felt seemed foolish now.

All this time that Sky was meeting her partner Pokemon, Nai and Ivy returned back inside and some chaos was occurring between Brandon and his Chimchar. But it was as if there was a bubble surrounding Sky and Kai since she missed out on all these events. So it was quite awkward when Sky quickly turned around from Kai to face whoever was in the room yelling out her enthusiasm, "Who's ready to head o--woah what happened here?" First she spotted Ivy entering the room from the dining room with a Piplup by her side, but her hair and clothes showed signs that she was soaked. Then Brandon was slathered with some kind of ointment and his Chimchar gone. Lastly Sky saw Nai with his Turtwig. It seemed as though everything was fine between those two.

"Hm seems as though we have a couple of feisty ones in the group. Hopefully you aren't one," Sky gave a small smile down to the Togepi still in her arms. Kai simply responded with a small chirp. Seeing as how Togepi was a baby Sky didn't know if he truly understood her words or merely read her emotions. Until he grew, emotions and body language were probably the only cues he'll understand.

"Sure let's head to Lake Verity. It'll be nice to start off the journey with a pretty view as well as enjoy the outdoors. It's been a while since I've really trekked outside the perimeter of the town." For once Sky was in agreement with Nai.

 

[RingSlinger]

"Then it's settled." Minoru's travel bag was already packed and ready downstairs. It held a few changes of clothes, a sleeping bag, a few dried goods packed safely away, and everything else he might need if they were to set up camp on the road somewhere, something they would very likely need to do in the future. With a fluid motion, he lifted the bag and slid it over his shoulder, wearing it on its back. Minoru took a final deep breath in the home he grew up in before shrugging, "well, come on then, slackers, there's no time like the present."

He turned from his place in the doorway and walked back outside. His goodbyes with his parents and family members were polite, seemingly heartfelt, but otherwise fairly short. They said a few kind words and gave pats to Kana, and within a few moments he was on his way. He began the walk from his home that would lead to the edge of town. He began walking without pausing to wait for the other three. They'd catch up, he assumed. Ivy would take a little longer than he did, he imagined, saying goodbye to his parents, but it shouldn't take his adventuring companions that long. And, in his own way of trying to be friendly, he did walk a little slower than his normal pace.

The stubby legs of Kana trotted along beside him faithfully. Every once and a while she would cast looks up at him, finding him to be staring straight ahead.

"I grew up here, Kana. These are the homes of my friends and neighbors we're passing... Ivy, Sky, Brandon... We were all kids when we decided to do this. That's a little crazy, hmm?"

Kana made a soft rumbling noise in agreement.

"It's unfair a little... You can understand what I'm saying, but I'm at a loss as to what you mean."

Turtwig puzzled over this, she wasn't entirely sure what she was supposed to say other than the fairly predictable, "Turtwig. Twig Turtwig twig."

"Mmmm. Yeah. I'm still not sure what you mean... but perhaps... perhaps in time I'll understand a little better... Oh this is worth asking, would you prefer to walk? I can carry you in your Pokeball if you get tired, or if that's what you'd prefer..." He cast a careful look down towards the Pokemon.

"Twig Turtwig." Kana replied.

"Okay now hold on," Nai paused. The two were a block or two away from his home, and the others still hadn't caught up with him yet. "This one seems important. Would you prefer to be in your Pokeball?"

Kana considered this for a moment, before shaking her head.

"So... you'd rather walk with me?"

Kana nodded her large head, wearing the same grin that she seemed to have learned from hew new partner.

"Alright well. I think I like that better as well. If you get tired though just... er... find a way of communicating that to me. We'll figure it out. Hurm. We're getting a little far... I guess we should wait here for the others..."

Kana shrugged, taking a seat on the gravel road. "Turtwig" she said nonchalantly, casting a look up at him with large blinking eyes.

"You know, I'm pretty sure I agree with that."

 

[norway]

"Now, if you get homesick you just come right back here, Minoru will bring you -- "

"And if you run into trouble -- well, we know you won't but if our son starts any trouble -- "

"And for the love of Arceus child, eat something or you won't last the week!"

"Okay, okay," Ivy felt a bit flustered by how invested Nai's family was in her well being, though she had to say it was nice to receive the flood of attention from the adults, even if it was temporary and mostly because they knew she would look out for their son, as always. Keep his head on as straight as Nai's head could be, even if that wasn't much at times. "I'll eat, I'll eat -- look, I'll even take this banana!"

She received a few head shakes, but all smiles, and a lot of best wishes as she exited his house for what would be the last time, for a long time. Though her feet walked the path that her companion was already further down, her eyes briefly cast back down the street, where a couple blocks from here her home would sit, vacant and unused until her parents decided to come home. It was a little odd, walking in the opposite direction -- if it wasn't with her friend's families, Ivy never traveled, never strayed far from home, honestly never went outside the garage. But now she had all this responsibility, all of these options, and honestly it felt just a little bit difficult to breath in the face of.

Cold to the touch, a small blue, feathered flipper pressed against her calf, urging the girl to come back to reality. Piplup peered up at her, incredulous, wondering what on earth she was doing just standing there in the road like that, when they could be catching up with Kana and, more importantly, beating the non existent race to Verity. "It's not a race, blue," she told him with a pat to his head, before the pair made an effort to catch up with their companions further down the road. "Don't ask why I have a banana," She told him, dropping the random fruit in her bag. She placed her hands in the pocket of her over sized hoodie, shoulders sagging just a little as she exhaled into the air. "We don't have life points or stamina this time around, wonder how long I'll last before I'm out of energy."

 

[RingSlinger]

Kana sighed as she spotted the tiny penguin waddling up to where they stood. She shot a quick look up at Minoru, as if to ask what their relationship had to be. Whether or not she was allowed to use her vines to hurl the little bird several feet away from her if it gave her the trouble it had been giving her up until this point. When she looked up at Nai tho, she noticed he was looking at his friend, one of the two girls he had, apparently, grown up with. They were friends. And even without considering Nai's friendship, Ivy had been nothing but sweet to Kana since they met earlier in the day. With a hardcore roll of her eyes she decided that she'd be kind to this odd little penguin. As best as she could at least.

"Twig Turtwig," She greeted the tiny blue bird as the trainer and Pokemon approached.

"I wasn't going to, Livvi. Honestly I'd probably just assumed you brought a banana to consume. You know, what bananas are for traditionally?" Nai, raised an eyebrow, but shook this off. It occurred to him that his family had probably given her a guilt trip about making sure to stay fed, and given her a few parting pieces of food. She was lucky, he thought, it was simply a banana, and not a full tupperware set full of food. "Hmm. I guess if we're thinking about it that way, I'm not sure when any of us run out of energy... but... at least we're playing co-op. I don't think I'd enjoy this quite as much if it were single player. Even if it means we have to wait for Players 3 and 4 to catch up."

He was struck by a sudden memory, which he decided to ultimately vocalize.

"Do you remember going to Lake Verity when we were young? The three of you were better at swimming than I was. I had to wear floaty wings. We were young enough that it wasn't THAT bad, but I was mortified." His parents had taken all four children to the lake many years ago. "We all pretended to have seen the Legendary Pokemon of the Lake. Only Sky knew what it was supposed to look like. I don't remember what I claimed to have seen. I think I said it was huge with wings and claws. Sky explained in great detail why I was wrong, and again... mortified. I think I was mad the whole rest of that day. It'll be strange being back there now."

He shrugged, cocking his head to the side and casting another glance back towards his childhood home.

"This whole thing is gonna be weird, huh? Not bad. But... weird."

 

[norway]

Ivy snorted in response at the commentary, "Campaigns never were my thing."

She noted piplup's lack of greeting for kana and nudged the bird with her knee, causing him to fall over immediately. "Say hello you little mean nugget."

...lup.

"That's as good as he gets," She told Kana, rolling her eyes with the same dramatics.

Amidst the delicate memory, she quickly found herself back in those waters with child like sounds filling the air. Nai's mother was the one who taught Ivy to swim. She had forgotten that, actually, though it remained one of many, many reasons for her immense gratitude towards the closest thing she had to a mother. "All I remember is it was the closest thing Brandon ever had to a bath," She thought about the stories of legends, myths they were often referred to although Ivy was always caught up in them, on the edge of her seat, waiting for the next detail. Deeply, the girl believed in these deities and gods and protectors, despite proof of their mere existences being minute and controversial. She supposed knowing there were naturally kind creatures out there just looking to protect the world from evil, that they could even stand against humans when their egos got in the way -- that was comforting. "Sorry that's your last memory," She chuckled, trying to remember more. "Oh, that was the day I decided to eat a random berry and ended up going home early with food poisoning. My grandma had me drink apple cider vinegar for a month, it was terrible. Why would I ever do such a thing?"

She seemed ashamed now, but at the time, she truly had thought it was a blueberry. Twas not.

"It's been weird, but hopefully not forever. It's sort of like we're meeting each other for the first time -- even you and me, it's been a while since we did anything that wasn't being free loaders in your room," She tugged her lavender locks through the back of her cap, and adjusted her side bangs beneath the bill. "Trainer's probably always feel weird at first. I bet even Cynthia was just an awkward little mess, and now she's the first female basically running the country on her own. Big stuff, I guess. Maybe we can do that. Minus the tacky gym leader outfits."

 

[The Hero]

Brandon silently accepted the ointment from Ivy and gave her a slight nod as thanks. Applying the ointment, he hissed at the sensation. It stung pretty badly, but he finished up pretty quickly. He finally took notice of the togepi, but it was redirected towards Nai. Brandon stayed silent as he was reprimanded, curious of what the big deal was. 'This guy has been making quite the commotion over the small stuff,' Brandon thought, accepting the harassment. He wasn't angry more than he was irritated; but since he was in Nai's house, he would show respect to the host. The stench of singed fiber permeated his nostrils, and he could feel bruises forming from when his pokemon hit him. He had chosen a rather feisty pokemon. Brandon watched as Nai and Ivy departed without him and took it as his cue to leave. But before he left, the young man cleaned up his mess and shoved the burnt wraps in the sink into his pocket, staining his hand with soot. "See ya around Sky and Nai's family," he farewelled, "heading back to my place to get some stuff."

"Okay, what do I need?" he asked himself, looking over his room of disarray. "I need this and that, you never know when something like this might happen, ooh this would be a nice commodity." By the end of his organizing, his room was left in a messier, chaotic state with a pile of nick knacks in the middle. It consisted of a deluxe triple room tent, portable grill, large backpack, mini cooler, various snacks, medical supplies, canteens, lanterns, face wraps, and water. They all had little makeshift straps attached to them. big straps for the larger items. Slowly, he strapped on each item; and quickly, he felt his blood circulation slowing. "Mmm," he hummed, breathing in and out, "I got this." As he took his first steps, he felt his belt wriggling around his waist. He ignored the uncomfortable feeling until he walked out the house, staggering a little as he walked. The moment he stepped out of the house, his chimchar escaped out of its pokeball.

Wu jumped up and down around Brandon, trying to make him trip, but it only succeeded in bothering its owner. Moments pass, and Brandon was nowhere close to where Ivy and Nai were waiting. "Alright," Brandon muttered, dropping all the items he was carrying. He got down on one knee and gestured for Wu to come towards him. Wu didn't obey at first, but Brandon's disarming smile struck his curiosity. Faster than the eye could blink, the little starter was tightly tied, rump facing outward, onto the large backpack. It was unable to move its arms or legs. Wu struggled and cried for the the first few minutes but quickly died down and was now quietly riding along. Brandon questioned whether or not it was cruel, but he honestly didn't care very much. Now, without the distraction, he was quickly able to catch up with Ivy and Nai fast enough to hear her last words. "Cynthia was friends with a professor and had the right connections though."

 

[RingSlinger]

Kana gave a resigned sigh as she glanced over the tiny penguin once more before shrugging. She wondered if the it would always be this difficult or if the hostile nugget would ever grow on her. It was nice, she thought, to be outside though. She was becoming more and more confident that this experience would be something she really enjoyed.

"I had forgotten about the berry until just now. Well... no eating food you find on the ground this time around, alright? I wouldn't want to make you chug any apple cider vinegar." Nai listened to her, doing her best to comfort him, and perhaps herself at the same time. It was sweet. It was the Ivy he remembered from their childhood, although he had to admit, this did feel vaguely like the first time all of them would meet. He tried to formulate this thought into some sort of words but trailed off as they were joined by Brandon.

"Brandon... er... is all of that necessary... I don't know if you'll need, what's that, a cooler of that size... that big of a tent... and..." Minoru, as he scanned all of Brandon's belongings, packed onto his back like some sort of hermit crab or snail, was forced to do a double take when he came upon Wu.

"Brandon. I... erm... At no point is it my call to tell you how to raise your Pokemon... as that is entirely up to you... BUT I have to imagine that this..." Minoru seemed to be becoming more and more flustered as he built, "You know I'm honestly not even sure what to call this... is the best way to build a lasting or trusting relationship with... er... Wu, was it?... It does," and he tried to word this as delicately as he could, though his voice was certainly becoming slightly louder if not much more intense, "SEEM like maybe a good way to maybe get ALL of your things you've brought, which like... also... is that all of your things? Did you bring every one of the things that you had? Sorry, I keep getting distracted," Nai composed himself, "SET ON FIRE. It seems... at least to me, and you know, I'm no expert on Chimchars... like maybe... this will end in all of your stuff being ON FIRE..."

He paused, took a deep breath and looking down for a moment before his head shot up like a rocket as something from before hit him like the bullet train between Kanto and Johto, "And I'm sorry, no no, back to the first thing you said, did you imply that Cynthia... THE Cynthia, strongest trainer currently in our region, League Champion, didn't earn her way to where she is now?!?"

Minoru opened his mouth again to continue before he felt a soft pad on his shin. One of Kana's wines had given him a very, very soft tap. She cocked her head at him, eyes vaguely hard to read, though they held a knowing look.

"Twig turtwig."

"Ha. Yeah." This one he did understand. He looked down at the little turtle at his feet. She gazed up and him with large blinking eyes. To which he nodded. "thanks, Kana," he said quietly.

"I'm fine. I calmed down. I'm back. Brandon I think this might go poorly in, if we're being real, a great number of ways and I think maybe there's cause to reconsider the manner in which you've packed... yeah packed is correct, your Pokemon."

He took a deep breath, glancing once more at Wu, then at Brandon, then at Ivy, for any sort of Is it just me? Am I crazy here? sort of support before finally looking at Kana. Her large, determined eyes still locked onto his. It was calming. He settled into the realization that this was, at least in some major ways, out of his control.

"I shouldn't have yelled." He finally added. Kana nodded, nuzzling her nose against his shin.

"Twig twig turtwig."

 

[Life.]

"Aw sweetie he's adorable."
"Isn't he? His name is Kai."
Sky and her mother were hovering over the Togepi returning back the little Pokemon's smile with their own. Every movement of Kai ensued 'awws' from the females while Sky's father stood nearby with a backpack in his hand. "Uh Sky. Sky...Sky Elisa Mason," the tone her father used at this point sounded exasperated from his multiple attempts at trying to retrieve his daughter's attention.
"Oh uh yes dad?" her eyes were still on Kai but she had most of her attention on her father. "All your friends have left already. Wouldn't you like to be on your way? Well not that I want you to leave or anything..." like father, like daughter, he was masking his true emotions and shielding himself. Finally she turned her eyes towards her father and flashed him a warm smile, "I'm going to miss you too." His lips were quivering and his eyes were attempting to resist tears. Without saying anything more he handed over the backpack and gave Sky a big hug. Her mother joined them in their hug from behind Sky. Unlike her father, Sky's mother allowed her tears to fall, "Ev-Ev-Everything should be in the backpack. There's pr-probably even a bag you can carry Kai in. Be careful and have fun. Take care of the others."
"I will," at this point all that Sky could manage out was those two words in a whisper.

The three stayed clinging onto each other for a good minute until Kai gave out a small cry. "That's right Kai the others are waiting aren't they?" the Mason family broke away their embrace to allow Sky her freedom to leave. "Let's go Kai the others have probably been waiting long enough." Quickly Sky moved her things from the small handbag she brought to the backpack and then walked over to Nai's parents to offer her gratitude for their hospitality and to say her farewells to them as well.

Sky spotted the three familiar figures some ways away all standing there with their partner Pokemon. Kai spotted them as well and began squirming in Sky's grip as they approached the trio. "What is it? Want to go and meet the others?"

Togepi!

Before he tried to jump out of her arms, Sky placed the small Pokemon down. As soon as his feet touched the ground he ran, or more like waddled, over to the Piplup and Turtwig that were on the ground as well. Kai first ran up to the Turtwig and gave her a big hug before he turned to the Piplup to give him one as well. Sky simply smiled as she watched Kai. Although it seemed as though Chimchar was nowhere near the other starters.

"Wow Brandon that's quite the neat gas lamp you have there," Sky sarcastically teased as she finally spotted the tied up Chimchar. "Unlike Mr. Lecturer right here I'm just gonna go out and say it. Pokemon are not objects. Plus tying up Pokemon would not solve anything. If it did fix problems then I guess I would be tying people up left and right," the girl finished her words with a sweet smile that clearly conveyed a different message. "Now to Lake Verity shall we? Funny that the first place we are heading to is also known as Trust Lake." Sky ended her sentence there, clearly wanting to say more but decided against it.

 

[The Hero]

Brandon raised an eyebrow at Nai as he listened to the shorter teen's rant. Wasn't Nai uptight? Wu was his pokemon; if he wanted his items burned down, shouldn't he be allowed? He adjusted the various straps around his body, trying to get his blood flowing again. He visibly sighed. "No need to apologize Nai," Brandon commented, "I appreciate your concern over the little devil's well being." He turned around to look at Wu. The pokemon was physically relaxed, but you could see its hatred towards his trainer. "Heh, I think it might be too late," Brandon joked as he reached out to pet Wu behind him. He got a swift bite in return. "Mmm," he hummed, shaking his hand, "yeah, might be a little late." He wanted to say more, but the little waddling egg distracted him.

"Cute," he quipped, taking note of Sky's entrance. Once again, someone reprimanded Brandon for his actions. "I'm not trying to solve the problem more than I'm trying to shove and run away from it." Wu seemed to cry in agreeance. "See, it agrees." Brandon never actually discovered the gender of his pokemon. He had just assumed it was male. Maybe, that was the problem. Brandon's eyes widened. "Are you a girl?" Brandon asked. Wu shook his head, looking more irritated than before. "No, you're just a pain for fun?" Wu spat at Brandon. "I'll take that as a yes." He wiped away the saliva from his face."Yeah, funny thing we're going to trust lake, right?" He didn't find the humor in the situation.

 

[RingSlinger]

Technically he hadn't apologized, and in most situations he might bring this fact up. However, he was feeling calm. Sky's arrival hadn't broken this feeling. Nor had her reference to him as "Mr. Lecturer." He glanced at Sky, putting on his signature grin before casting a look down towards the Egg Pokemon that had just hugged Kana.

Kana cocked her head as the tiny egg had charged at her, flinching. The penguin would stop shouting, the monkey seemed, at least mildly, like a nightmare, and so she was fairly certain this little spikey egg would kick her in the shin, or pull on her leaves or something terrible. Instead she received a hug, and with great relief, sighed a peaceful sigh.

"Twig Turtwig," she greated Kai affectionately. It would be a relief to have another Pokemon around that seemed open to the idea of being friends with each other.

 

[norway]

Livianna did not intervene as a mostly one sided tension gradually escalated between her two long time guy friends, instead tilting the bill of her hat further down until just the tip of her nose was revealed beneath it. Her cap sported the official insignia of the champion guild, a limited edition purchase way back from a time where she, too, shared Nai's dream of becoming the strongest; both male's points were valid, though where as she knew damn well Cynthia was the strongest because of her efforts, Brandon was right. Everyone networked, and typically the best had already been off to a good start -- the balance there are the difficulties they've faced along the way, and with how Cynthia diligently works alongside the police force to track down criminals and stop masterminds from abusing pokemons power, well, that was good enough for Ivy, whether the woman had elite contacts or not. Yet, despite her well formed opinion, she kept it to herself, feigning a lack of interest from beneath her cap, though she was intently listening to every word they minced.

It was only when Nai described chimchar's physical binding that Anna had to push her cap back up her forehead, looking incredulously at Brandon. She empathized with Nai's irritation, but having witnessed the monkeys outrage, and also having her own biased fear of the monkey itself, she couldn't say much. It didn't appear to be in pain, yet just the sight of his binding itself was horrendous -- in any other circumstance she'd have not hesitated to unbind the small animal from his captor, but right now? Her and piplup exchanged glances -- the feeling was mutual, although the penguin seemed to have no disturbance at the sight of the monkey's odd state. The only advice she could offer was, "If a ranger sees that, you'll get arrested. Also, you should put some antiseptic on that bite, or you'll be purple by the time we get to sandgem."

Ivy, always making sure no one dies.

"It's terrible to tie up Wu like that, but it's also the most convenient method of discipline that keeps Brandon from sustaining any more injuries, or from us starting a forest fire so early on in the journey. If it helps, I've seen many rangers cage and leash their partners for short durations of time -- the binding on the ropes is coddling his nervous system, resulting in a calmer state of mind," That's what she told Nai, quietly, hoping that he would at least allow that to maintain his calm until they reached the next town.

"Ready, pip?"

The penguin looked at her with disapproval.

"That names not sticking either, eh? I'm sorry, we'll keep trying. What about ingrate?" The bird protested loudly, following alongside his trainer as the two started down the dirt path, the low chimes of her suggested, insulting names adorning the otherwise rather quiet air.

 

[RingSlinger]

Minoru cast a very dubious glance in Ivy's direction. He believed what she said, though he was fairly confident that Brandon hadn't tied Wu down with any of that in mind. He could feel discomfort rising within him, the need to correct or argue, but he forced this down, taking a deep brath and maintaining his signature grin. He took another look towards Kana, who gazed up at him. He nodded. "Tranquilo," he said quietly.

"Twig," Kana repeated, motioning her head towards Ivy and Piplup, who were beginning to walk away.

The shorter of the two boys put his hands casually in the pockets of his signature black and white letterman jacket, the insignia of Gun-Dojo stitched on the breast, shoulder, and back, though the last was currently hidden under his travel bag, and began walking down the road alongside the girl and her penguin. They had were leaving the boundaries of Twinleaf town and walking into the wide world. The wide world, in this case, being Route 201. The route itself was fairly wide and fairly straight. Nai cast his gaze around as they continued, looking around at the tall rows of trees that seemed to line the route. The sun, high in the sky, cast golden beams that coasted easily through the gaps in the trees at the edge of the route. Minoru wondered if this aesthetic was inherently hopeful, or if he were simply imposing his own feelings on his surroundings. He took a deep breath. The air smelled of freshness the scent of pine and grass filled his nostrils and made its way into his lungs. Beside him, Kana glanced around, too noticing the light through the trees. Being surrounded by this much green was a soft comfort to her.

"I suppose it's in our best interest not to start a forest fire," he agreed with Ivy said at first, casting a sideways glance towards his friend, "although I would be dishonest if I didn't mention that you being alright with this seems... er... vaguely out of character." He shrugged, cracking his neck as they advanced over the dirt path.

"You know you don't have to give Piplup a name. Plenty of trainers simply call their pokemon by the name of that Pokemon's species." Of course she knew this. Of course he knew that she knew this. He had calmed slightly, and thus this soft explanation of something she certainly already understood vaguely represented a return to his state of being collected.

Kana, trotting along at a comfortable pace cast a glimpse at Piplup. She could think of a few things she would prefer to call the little beast, but to anyone else they would simply sound like she was saying "turtwig."

 

[norway]

"I know," Ivy folded her arms behind her head, looking a bit uncomfortable with the topic at hand. Even with friends, one should never divulge their weaknesses, lest they be the victim of teasing for years to come, on every platform, and in every appropriate and non appropriate situation. Especially Nai, if he knew the reasoning for unusual he'd likely spend all of his savings on a giant oranguru suit and chase her around sinnoh. The thought made her wince, "Just... None of my business, is all."

Because he would totally believe that.

"The thing is, nothing fits him, he's got a cute face, but a big attitude, and when he gets much bigger, any cute name wouldn't fit." She thought about it, perhaps he was right, just leave the penguin with the name their scientists gave him. "Maybe little Nai, cause he's a lot like you," Ivy chortled, though she wasn't sure she could handle two Minoru's. "Wish I could ask Kana's opinion, I would think she has a lot to say."

The sunshine warmed her skin right to the bone, occasionally letting up as they passed under the shade of over arching, extended tree canopies. It was a bit of a hike, but Ivy loved it -- she was always in her room, to be outside in crisp air with a gazillion possibilities was, although overwhelming, exciting. Though she did wish she had more than a little bubble blower by her side, just in case, with her luck, they disturb a sleeping ursaring or something. Hopefully there weren't any around, though the thought of it made her pat the dex in her pocket -- pictures, she wanted to scan everything and learn all their little details. The device gave away a surprising amount of information from merely scanning even from a good distance -- it was a fun 'side quest' for her, if nothing else.

 

[RingSlinger]

"Mmm. I see I see... and this whole deciding that something you believe strongly about isn't any of your business... THAT's much more in character," he spoke through a very confident grin. She was, however, visibly uncomfortable, and not in a fun teasing sort of way, he'd change topics. This came relatively easy, as she had just compared him to her tiny blue friend.

"Oh he's like me is he?" Minoru eyed his friend very carefully, before casting his attention down toward the Piplup waddling alongside them, "What do you say, little one? Are we similar, you and I? Do we both have cute faces and big attitudes?" He weighed the implications of being like this little beast. Certainly they were alike in their below average size. Perhaps even in their need to prove something. This was an existential rabbit hole that he wasn't exactly prepared to go down, especially not on this relaxing walk.

"It's silly... but I think I'm starting to understand her... at least a little bit... Maybe it's just wishful thinking..."

Back at the edge of town, Kana had said something to him. He couldn't recognize the words, of course, because the words were simply the name of her species repeated. But the tone, the context. When she had first emerged from her Pokeball. When they stared each other down. He had said a simple word, something his Sensei had told him when he would become agitated or upset. Tranquilo. He wasn't sure how he knew. But that was what she had said to him. Or at least he thought it was.

"I named her, by the way, after a character from an old story I loved. Kana, the undefeated. A powerful empress. Ferocious and wonderful. It just seemed to fit."

He blinked, looking down again towards the Turtwig by his side. She nodded contentedly.

Minoru withdrew his hands from his pockets, interlacing his fingers and putting his hands behind his head as he strolled along. Like Ivy, he found himself considering what Pokemon might be around them, hidden in the wild. Unlike his friend, he wasn't so much worried about what might attack them. He was much more concerned with what fierce new allies they might come upon. Who he might discover in his quest to grow in strength. What new friends might want to grow with him.

 

[Life.]

Kai continued to hold a smile as the Turtwig eased into his hug, as for the Piplup there was no response. The Togepi turned around a few times in search of the last starter Pokemon, but he never found him.

"Hm well if you're just trying to run away from the problem then be my guest. Perhaps he prefers punishment," one of Sky's eyebrows raised slightly at the thought of it, but shrugged the idea away as she spotted Ivy and Nai making a headstart to the lake. "I'm glad you see my humor, which was none. Seems as though Ivy and Nai are already eagerly making their way towards the lake. Shall we join them? Perhaps we'll be able to spot the legendary of the lake, Mesprit," Sky brought her hands together and then parted them as she said the Pokemon's name to indicate the mystery behind it, "Legend says that anyone who touches this Pokemon will be drained of their emotions. Although I already feel as though working at my parent's shop has already done that for me. What do you think Brandon? Do you believe in this myth?" She flashed him a sly smile before walking away, leaving her questions as rhetorical ones.

"Alright Kai let's catch up to the others now," quickly Sky pulled out a smaller stringed backpack from the side pocket of her main backpack to place the Togepi in. Once the Pokemon was comfortably settled into the stringed backpack, Sky wore it to where Kai was held against Sky's chest like a baby carrier. "Onwards to the lake," Sky called out with Kai crying out happily.

The light colored brunette sped walk to pass Nai and Ivy. Her excitement was driving her energy as she began realizing the reality of her freedom to begin exploring the various Pokemon that lived in this world. Even though it was a local lake they were stopping by, it was a habitat nonetheless which meant various species of inhabitants in it. Sky held vague memories of when the four visited the lake. She was never the best at recalling things. So all she could remember was the happiness and joy she felt spending time with ones she cared about. Do those same feelings still linger? And will she ever relive them again? Some part of Sky wanted though, but most of herself doubted it may happen.

As they moved farther and farther away from the familiar landscape of Twinleaf Town and closer to the surroundings of Lake Verity, Sky pulled out her Pokedex readying herself to capture as much information as she could on Pokemon that she'll encounter. Although she'll probably already know the details of most of the Pokemon around Lake Verity and really around the Sinnoh region. After all majority of her free time was spent studying up on Pokemon that either her cousin would mail her about or because they were simply described in a book she had touched.

At some point though Sky stopped and turned around to see where the others were at. The last thing she wanted was to become lost. The idea of being alone frightened her. "Where are they at? Oh wait I think I spot the orange-haired monkey, and I don't mean the Chimchar. I think that's them," Sky whispered to Kai, squinting her eyes to see if it was them.

 

[RingSlinger]

A mild tug hit Minoru in the center of his chest when Sky passed them. He mentally chided himself for this. He wasn't losing. She was just walking ahead of him. It wasn't an actual loss. He acknowledged to himself, hands still behind his head as he walked beside, Kana, Ivy and her Piplup. His pace quickened slightly for a moment before he caught this as well, taking a deep breath and purposefully slowing back down.

He could still vaguely hear Togepi's cries in the otherwise fairly silent route, so he knew she couldn't be too far ahead of them. He again silently scolded himself for obsessing over this. As they reached the split in the route, he cast a long glance to the right. "I guess Sandgem town is that way," he said quietly, looking at Ivy once again, "That's the direction we'll go after we check out lake Verity..."

As he headed down towards the left, he caught sight of Sky waiting for them. He really did think the little egg Pokemon was a perfect fit for her. She had wanted something cute. He understood that impulse. He found Kana to be absolutely adorable, although he was fairly certain she could hold her own in battle a little more than Togepi. He was mildly disappointed as he considered this that he wouldn't feel right challenging Sky to a battle now, given the discrepancy in size and combat ability between their starter Pokemon. Perhaps when it evolved into a Togetic they could clash. Or at least once she captured a few other Pokemon. He wondered if Brandon would ever develop a tight enough bond with Wu to battle together. Ivy would make a joke calling it PvP, and he was certain she'd battle him in a second, but Kana had the type advantage over Piplup, and would continue to do so even after they fully evolved.

Brandon, it seemed, had dropped even further behind them. The boy was simply carrying too much on his back. If it weighed them down or made them travel too slowly he would say something again. Then again he realized that plotting confrontations with his traveling partners before they happened was probably not the best thing to be doing.

As they neared Sky he placed his hands back in the pockets of his jacket, cocking his head to the side, "You waiting on us?" he called out, from a small ways away. "Very touching..." He turned backwards, before turning back to face Sky. "Brandon is... uh... a little ways back still I think?"

 

[The Hero]

Brandon cracked a smile at Sky's comments, watching her go off to catch up with the others. It would be exciting to meet a legendary pokemon at the beginning of their journey; he was sure he could sell that type of information to others for some type of price. Although, he was sure that would make him unliked amongst his travel companions. They seemed to be a lot more tolerable of their pokemon than he did. Or, their pokemon were just more pleasant than his was. He looked back at his chimchar. His tail, Brandon was sure it was male now, was creating black smoke smudges on his backpack, but it was a small price to pay to keep the beast at bay; he wasn't too sure about the amount of items he brought though. Sure, he had the supplies to last for months if they ever got lost, but the load was hurting his shoulders and back. "Survival or comfort," he murmured to himself, putting his hand to his chin. Chimchar screeched in the background. "You would say that," Brandon spat back. He didn't really understand what Wu said to him, but he was sure it was rude. "It'll be good training," Brandon decided, starting his jog towards his companions ahead. His items jingled and clashed behind him along with a suddenly disrupted Wu.

Brandon wasn't sure if he'll ever get along with Wu, and he particularly didn't care. It would be nice if they got along; but if they didn't, he could always capture a pokemon that did. A starly would be nice. "Did my emotions already get sapped?" Brandon joked to himself. The straps were digging into his shoulders and rubbing them raw. In addition, the bite he had received from Wu was throbbing. Brandon would have to disinfect that soon. And, he could picture the red marks on his body the next time he would take a bath. The thought oddly brought a smile to his face as he reached the group. "How gracious of you guys to slow down for little ol' me," Brandon huffed, wiping the sweat he had built up from the jog. The constant motion of his jog had loosened the bonds of Wu's ties enough to escape. The little pokemon quickly took the opportunity to latch onto Brandon's face once again and pound on his chest. "Man, I hate you," the trainer dejectedly responded. It wasn't true. He felt more indifferent than anything, but it seemed like the appropriate response at the time.

 

[Noivian]

As the group approaches Lake Verity, they're met with a squeal of distress. It sounds from out in the forest, off the main path, generally in the north direction from where the group is currently located. If one were to listen closely, the sound of trickling water and rustling leaves could also be heard, indicating that perhaps a moving source of water is nearby. Several more squeals and cries of distress could generally be heard afterwards. As for whether our heroes decide to follow the sounds... that's up to them.