OOC: Ugh. I'm sorry if this post looks like hell, but i've burned hours on end on it and I'm too tired to do any more fixing-upping.
Also, Ph33r teh KCC logo:
BIC:
Christine followed the girl with her eyes as she turned to the vidphones, and found herself smiling for no apparent reason. Then she shrugged, turning her eyes back to Maren, who still seemed a bit nervous.
"So… Guess it's to Cerulean City with us." She said.
"Kai would have our heads if we don't get there." Maren laughed "I seem to remember something about the way there going through Mount Moon… But I also seem to remember something about there being a lighthouse or something in the area."
"Of course, I'd be able to double-check that if I've had those
maps…" Christine playfully growled, gently prodding Maren's shoulder.
"Oh, shush you!" Maren giggled, returning the prod just as gently "Okay, Okay, about time I got
that debt repaid. C'mon, Christie, Let's hit the town - I'm sure they have some high-quality navigation instruments out here. This is
Viridian, after all — this city has everything, from what I read."
"Sounds good to me, Maren-chan." Christine grinned "And after that, I think we should get ourselves some nice lunch. Y'know, catch up on old times and all. It's been ages."
"Alrighty, let's hit the road, then!" Maren laughed again, followed by a strange purr from Iriai. It was settled.
The two adventurers from the Orange Islands — and the strange type-shifting PokéMon in tow — left the PokéMon center, chatting idly amongst themselves.
~*~
The sun was slowly setting, casting golden-red reflections on the faceted glass dome of the research facility's biodome-greenhouse complex. A soft ocean breeze carried the scents of sea and grass to the largish house that stood nearby, partially attached to the dome. You could hear the faint humming of the hydroelectric generator in the distance — a biomechanically-engineered masterpiece resembling in some ways a large tree, dipping its roots into the ocean and drawing water from it into its depths — and in some ways a waterfall, cascading softly back into the ocean, spinning grand turbines that produced the electricity needed for a facility of that magnitude. The location was perfect — Between a secluded forest area just southwest of Celadon City, and a little cliff overlooking the ocean, a small path descending down to the beach itself — a breathtaking view of Vermillion bay, should one stand at its edge and look.
He was sitting on a comfortable wicker-and-cushion seat on the front deck of the house. His eyes were closed, his fingers finding the strings of the guitar all by themselves, flowing into a silent melody, intertwining with his voice and the soft chirping of crickets and the sound of the wind. That song always came up in his mind at sunsets, and it just seemed to fit in so nicely — this was almost a perfect sunset, after all.
By his side, on another wicker-and-cushion seat, a female Electabuzz was lounged, relaxing, her striped tail twitching every once in a while in a feline manner, mind seemingly captivated within the melody. Nestled within the grass that seemed to grow in abundance on the cliff area, amongst a patch of flowers, was an Ivysaur, the leaves on her back spread out drawing as much of the sunlight as she still could, chicory-blue flower bud glistening softly with excess moisture released. Not so far away, one could notice the figure of a Flygon, standing on the edge of the cliff and looking off into the misty ocean, seemingly lost in thought.
The song drifted slowly to a halt, as the trainer opened his brown eyes, blinking for a few seconds, leaning the guitar gently against the wall and picking the letter up from the glass-topped table again, looking at it. There were no addresses at all on it — just an envelope closed with an impressive seal — he was extra careful not to damage it when he opened that envelope earlier. There was an ornate card within it, the symbol that decorated the seal upon it as well — a symbol that resembled, vaguely, two PokéBalls set one within the other, and surrounded by eight points, like a sun. His name was printed upon it, along with the text that confirmed that this was an invitation to participate in a series of events that would begin soon across the entire region — and that, if he would choose to accept it, he should bring this invitation to a certain address in Pewter City, where the registration for what was to be known as the KCC: Kanto Contention Campaign. He's only been back home for several days — recently returning from a long journey across Hoenn, and this was truly unexpected.
For a while he wondered just who was arranging this tournament, and what was it going to be like. It sounded interesting, though, and, he wasn't cut out for just sitting back and doing nothing.
He'd have to ask his PokéMon if they were up to it, of course. He smiled at the Electabuzz — who was soundly sleeping, gently tapping her shoulder. "Wake up, Mari dear." He chuckled softly "I've got a bit of a question to ask you. All of you, as the matter of fact. Could you do me a favor and catch Arafel's attention?"
Mari's green eyes opened softly, gazing warmly at her trainer, a soft smile coming to her lips. She stood up, stretching a bit before plopping down to all fours, little blue sparks dancing between her antennae — soon followed by an electrical discharge into the sky.
In the distance, the Flygon's antennae seemed to twitch for a second, as he gracefully turned his head and gazed at the sudden burst of lightning. It was a call — it meant that the trainer probably had something important to say to all of them. The Flygon called out into the foggy ocean, spreading his taking to the air gracefully and naturally, twisting in midair and flying back towards the house, gliding on a few air currents before coming to a soft landing upon the grass, folding his wings. The Ivysaur was roused from her Photosynthetic state by the landing, and she slowly stretched in an almost feline manner as she walked over to the deck, leapt onto it and turned her red eyes to her trainer's.
"That's Mari, Menthe and Arafel accounted for." He grinned "Now, all we need is Tempest… Tiermes… and Lycos."
With every mention of a name, he drew a PokéBall, seemingly out of thin air, and threw it, releasing the creature within. A Ledian materialized in a beam of red light, immediately taking to the air and fluttering up to the Flygon's head, floating around it for a bit before zooming down to orbit the entire group. That was Tempest for you — always the hyperactive. A Lanturn appeared next, its form gently set on the grass — It couldn't move anywhere in this state, mind — fishlike water PokéMon were not designed for movement on land — But he could breathe, and he looked up at his trainer attentively — always the calm one, Tiermes was.
Lastly, behind the five of them, suddenly materialized the huge, metallic form of a Metagross. The blue, metal creature turned its eerily glowing red eyes slowly and purposefully at the trainer, locking into place. The trainer smiled a bit nervously — He's learned to trust Lycos a lot during their while together — but every time the Metagross gave him that look, he couldn't help but feel slightly nervous — he saw things in the creatures' eyes — things that terrified and fascinated him in the same time. He has long suspected that the Metagross enjoyed, in its odd way, making people feel a bit nervous. And letting them know that he knows far more than any of them ever will. But he learned to live with it. After all, it was a perfect reminder that no-one was perfect.
"Well, now that we're all here." The trainer smiled, turning his eyes to his team, surveying them seriously "I've been meaning to ask you if you're ready for a new adventure."
There was a moment of excitement as the team seemed to whisper things among each other for a while — then they turned their eyes to the trainer again, nodding.
"Y'see, we've been invited to what appears to be a whole new competition around Kanto, and I just want to know if you guys — and girls, of course." He paused, nodding to Menthe, Mari and Tempest "Were feeling up to a new challenge."
Menthe jumped over to the deck and stood by her trainer's side, pronouncing a decisive "Saur!". Mari was the second to join, standing bipedally by his side. Tempest ceased her orbiting to land beside her trainer in a battle stance, a flash of light reflecting within her crystalline-like eyes and her forehead and leg crystals. Arafel spread his wings and moved to an impressive battle stance, his claws encompassed for a second by a turquoise glow. Lycos simply nodded, and Tiermes flashed his bioluminescent nodes several times.
"It's settled then." The trainer grinned "Lyn invited me over to visit her in Viridian tomorrow. Our next destination after that would be Pewter City… And then, we'll see what this KCC thing is all about."
~*~
It was a chilly morning, but that's just how Gad liked them. He inspected himself in the mirror one final time, to see if anything needed particular attention. After he was satisfied with his appearance that morning, he stepped out of his room towards the kitchen.
His parents were still asleep — they apparently had a long night at the forest biotope monitoring a new clutch of recently-acquired Treecko eggs that have hatched before they were apparently supposed to. The only living soul in the kitchen at that moment was a Sandslash with crystalline, green spines — which exclaimed a happy squeak when she saw him.
"'morning, Tellus." He grinned, scratching the Sandslash's head softly "I hear the ‘treeks have been giving you hell."
The Sandslash rolled her eyes, grumbling something silently, making him giggle a bit. It took a lot to phase Tellus — she was almost always cheery, with a zany sense of humor at times. Seeing her grumble meant one thing — she hadn't had much sleep that night either.
He fixed himself a cup of some fusion coffee/hot-chocolate drink that he was particularily fond of, and drank it, feeling the warmth flow through his body again. It was a perfect hour to fly.
~*~
The Flygon took to the skies, his wings spread, gliding effortlessly above the trees, even with the trainer on his back. A pack of Pidgeys scattered as the Flygon's flight path intersected with theirs - a few curious ones turning their heads to look at this new creature. The trainer had a smile on his face as he observed the scenes — forest and plains and routes zoomed underneath him. So familiar, yet so different. Kanto has changed a bit during his absence, and he was rather thrilled at the opportunity of exploring it again.
He was also rather thrilled at the chance of seeing Lyn again. It's been a while since they've met each other last. She graduated the academy since, and, from what she told him, has found a more steady job as a forensics investigator in the Viridian City PokéForce Crime Scene Investigation unit. She's been chasing that dream ever since he could remember her, and he was happy to hear that she finally succeeded in accomplishing it. They've been talking steadily over the PokéGear communication channel, and were rather well-updated about each other.
She met him at the outskirts of town — where his Flygon landed — she hasn't changed a bit — her black hair was shorter and done in a ponytail now rather than cascading on her shoulders and down to her waist, but otherwise, she looked just the same. They've spent quite a few hours together — catching up on old times over breakfast in a small café, discussing their PokéMon and the paths that their lives have taken up until that point. She knew very little of the KCC — only that it was a fairly recent event, and apparently, no one knows who exactly was behind it. It was somehow linked to the Battle Frontier, but no one knew exactly how. One thing was certain — it was organized as hell.
When they finished breakfast, they wandered around Viridian for a while — the city hasn't changed much — it was still the sprawling metropolis that it has been when he left — and hasn't changed much. Underground criminal activity has decreased somewhat, but everywhere, there still was the omnipresent whisper of the Rocket syndicate still lurking in the shadows, their hands involved still in nearly anything. There were more trees though — which he appreciated. They were not quite far away from the shopping district when their day was cut short by her PokéGear beeping — she was needed on the job. They parted with an embrace, and then she was gone.
~*~
It was sometime around noon, and his wandering brought him not far from a large shop that seemed to specialize in hiking gear, navigation and survival equipment — when his eyes suddenly caught a pair of girls walk out, half embraced. One of them — with short reddish-gold hair and an extremely intricate black dragon tattoo on her arm — seemed to be studying a rather intricate looking navigational device, a holographic map of Kanto projected out from its display, and excitedly talking to the other girl — a green-haired one with a strange spiral ponytail and a fringe. He couldn't really make out what they were talking, but when they both burst into laughter, his eyes caught the PokéMon that walked by the reddish-gold haired trainer's side.
"What… in the world… is that thing?" he gasped softly, instantly producing his GPDS PokéDex and pointing it at the creature.
To his amazement, the device flashed once, twice, three times, and suddenly displayed four words he has never seen it display.
"Subject unknown. Acquiring data."
The PokéDex blinked several times, scanning something, and produced a three-dimensional hologram of the creature. There was no other data. For all he knew, this could have been the first time an entry was created for this thing. It amazed him that the thing had no assessment as for type, or anything really. This would be interesting to look into.
"Not now, Gad." He finally muttered to himself as the two girls and the fascinating creature were already out of earshot "I have Pewter City to get to."
~*~
"So what you're basically saying is that we can basically skim along the northern shoreline, dock somewhere near that lighthouse and that'd spare us some hours on end of walking through the mainland?" Maren blinked.
"Yup. So It's back to Pallet with us. I'd assume that's where you left your boat." Christine grinned. "This thing's much handier than just maps. Thanks."
"Well, considering how long I've been dragging you with these things, I figured I might as well compensate for the delay!" Maren laughed, and soon enough, the two were laughing. Christine caught, in the corner of her eye, for a second, a boy who appeared to be rather surprised by something and fiddling with what appeared to be a very high-tech PokéDex — but thought nothing of it. Probably just another random trainer who never saw anything quite like Iriai. She was used to it. She had to wonder, though — something seemed unusual about that trainer, though she couldn't exactly place it.
… Probably nothing. She shrugged it off, then proceeded to wrap an arm around Maren again and scratch Iriai's ears absent-mindedly. Pallet Town wasn't too far off — and assuming that everything would work out right, they'd be at Kai's research facility faster than you could say ‘Mount Moon'.