Grand Dreams

[Doctor Oak]

"Well, Chikorita - here we are." A trainer stepped off onto the platform of a new Magnet Train, one that ran underground in a new attempt to link the various Pokemon Nations together. He looked around, sweeping spikey, long brown hair from his eyes as the wind battered the open-air station.

Staring out at the large city before him, he watched eagerly the busy lives of those carrying on their daily routines and was fascinated at how everything, right down to the atmosphere or smell of the air seemed like it was from an alien planet - rather than just a train ride away from home.

"Chika!" Chikorita smiled up at it's trainer, rubbing it's leaf against his long black leather jacket and snuggling into his dark-pantsed leg.

"The Hoenn Region." He said with a smile before chuckling and leading Chikorita away from the platform and over to the customs desk.

"ID sir?" A cheery, yet rather rotund man from behind the glass fronted booth pointed to the metal divet on his desk for ID to be dropped in for checking. Reaching into the inside pocket of his leather coat, the trainer complied and handed over a leather-bound Trainer ID.

"Doctor Gary Oak?" The man looked up, impressed - There wasn't a person in the world that didn't know of Proffessor Oak. "What brings you to Hoenn, Mist... uh... Doctor Oak?" The man said, happily returning the ID satisfied with who Gary was.

"Well, I've never really been to Hoenn before." Gary said smiling as he replaced his ID into his pocket. "Figured I'd come here, catch some new Pokemon and try out some of what Hoenn has to offer."

"Well, Doctor," The customs officer reached to a shelf beside him and pulled out a leaflet before slipping it across his desk to Gary. "I think these might interest you. You wont find 'em anywhere else but in Hoenn and they'll certainly be a challenge for such an esteemed trainer as yourself."

Gary glanced at the leaflet, but noticing the queue behind him folded it up and slid it into his pocket to check later.

"Thanks, I'll look into it." He smiled with a nod before turning to head off.

"Uh, one thing sir!" The officer called back as Gary took a step to move on. "Would you mind signing this for my son? He's going to be a Trainer himself next month and dreams of being the Champ like you."

Gary smiled and turned back, taking the current issue of Trainer's Monthly -which just happened to have his picture on the cover - and scribbling his signature on it. "Tell him I said good luck and I hope to see him at the next Championships." Gary hitched his bag up, looked down to Chikorita and finally headed out of the train station - into the open and bustling streets of Mauville City.

"Whaddya say we find somewhere to have some lunch?" He asked, looking down at Chikorita and receiving a chirpy smile in response.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

An hour later and the pair were sitting outside at a place called Café Mauville - a bowl of Pokemon food sitting on the floor next to Gary along with Chikorita as the remains of a hamburger sat in front of him on the table.

He leaned back in his seat, glass of cola in one hand and in the other, the leaflet the customs guy handed him earlier.

"Hmm, These are interesting, Chikorita." The Grass Pokemon happily continued to chow down on it's food, barely paying attention to it's trainer.

"Pokemon Contests..." On the front of the leaflet was a Pokemon Contest Hall - seemingly painted by a rather talented Smeargle. Inside, details on the contests folllowed and had caught the intent interest of Gary more and more as he read on.

"Let's see - Contests have two rounds, the first is an Appeal round," Gary continued reading quietly to himself. "In the appeal, a co-ordinater must synchronise with their Pokemon and show off a display of beauty, coolness, smartness, toughness and cuteness in an attempt to score as much points as possible from the Judges. Only the top 4 co-ordinators will proceed to the next and final round."

He looked over the page, skipping the photos from contests in action to the next section.

"In the second round, two co-ordinators must battle eachother for 5 minutes in an attempt to bring down their opponent's points by using attacks that show off these 5 fundamentals in action and at their best. If a Pokemon is knocked out or loses all its points, the remaining Pokemon will proceed to fight the winner of the other round. If the time runs out before either a knock-out either physically or points-wise, the judges must rule on a winner on the style of the battle."

More pictures followed before a final third section on the far right of the leaflet.

"In the final, the same battle-style will remain and the winner will be presented with a ribbon for that Contest Hall. If a co-ordinator can gather 4 ribbons from these Contests, they become eligable for the Grand Festival that takes place every year at Ever Grande City. The winner will earn themselves both the Ribbon Cup and immortality in Co-ordinator lore."

Below this, instead of pictures there was a list of locations and dates for all the contests taking place across Hoenn. At the top of the list was one in Slateport City, due to take place next week.

"Hey, Chikorita." Gary looked down from the leaflet to his Pokemon that had finally finished eating. "Whaddya say we head down to Slateport and give these contests a try?" He handed down the leaflet to show Chikorita - who, by looking at the pictures, seemed to be pretty excited by the prospect.

"Slateport City is supposed to be directly south from here - we could make it there in a few days and be just in time for the Contest." Again, Chikorita smiled in agreement.

"Right then." Gary said, lifting Chikorita up onto his lap and petting it gently on it's leaf. "To Slateport City it is." He leant back, looked up to the perfectly blue Hoenn skies and took another sip of his Cola as he thought about what lay in store for him in this new challenge.

 

[Prof. Cinders]

A small girl swam strongly through the waves, panting heavily as the shoreline came into view. She smiled, took a deep breath and dived under the lukewarm water, heated by the glaring sun beating down on the waves. Bubbles gathered above her from the many water types deeper in the sea, some who came to see the girl joining them. A totodile struggled to catch up with her, making obscene gestures at any pokemon that dared to venture too close. It finally came beside her, then overtook her and frantically made for the shore. The girl grinned, and increased her stroke to overtake the totodile - just as he was about to hit the shore.

The two surfaced, the pokemon jumping around angrily and shouting what sounded like "DIE DIE DIE DIE!" The girl burst into a fit of laughter, shaking her short blond hair dry and grabbing a towel from the waterproof bag she had been carrying. She wiped her ocean blue eyes free of water, wrapping herself in the towel so that only the top of a light blue swimming costume showed, and slipping on a pair of flip-flops. At last, the water type ran out of breath and fell to the floor, breathing heavily. 'Enough of a workout for you, Feral?' she said, her voice resounding with the sound of crystal. The totodile nodded, exhausted, before being pulled into a pokeball decorated with staryu-shaped engravings that hung from the girl's neck. Smiling, she took her clothes from the bag and dressed herself behind a wooden screen further up the shore, away from the main crowds of families and old couples.

Emerging, she tied her hair up with a navy blue band, so that it cascaded down her white t-shirt and shorts. She ran up the beach, making sure not to trip over the few stones and litter scattered around, eventually arriving at the city. She took one last look at the golden expanse behind her ending in the gittering ocean, then ran to the pokemon centre of Slateport.

 

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

Sitting on her own at a corner table in a small cafe in Slateport was a girl, sipping a small glass of mint tea, and immersing herself in the quiet, piano music that played in the background - as if waiting for some great revelation about what has been going wrong all these years and how to make the world a good and happy place without having anyone nailed to anything. That was the sort of thing that she liked to do on cold, rainy days. Of course, this day wasn't really cold and rainy, but she was in the mood to do it anyway, so she did.

She was tall, but not intimidatingly so, and had a slender build with the kind of proportions that somehow managed to be attractive without being, on the whole, overly curvy. Her skin was pale - not an unhealthy pale, but certainly paler than most of the other people around her - something that contrasted sharply with her stormy grey-ish attire. Her dark greenish eyes were obscured behind sunglasses and her long, curly hair was a darkish brown with a somewhat faded quality to it. She seemed like the kind of person who would be carrying some book or other at all times, or would be lost in some deep philosophical debate about the meaning of life, the universe and everything.

Sitting at her feet was a smallish creature that seemed to be a strange cross of fox, cat and hummingbird. Its body still maintained the quadrupedal appearance, but its fur seemed to mutate into sparkling, glistening feathers - green on most of its body, but purple on its paws and black on the top of its head and its back, with a strange feather crest adorning its head. Its tail consisted of four large black feathers - two of which were thin, about twice the length of its body and speckled in iridiscent dots of blue. Its wings were also brilliant green, with purple flight feathers, and appeared to have been designed to flit around in circular motions rather than to beat in powerful up and down strokes. The creature stared at the girl in puzzlement. She looked exhausted, and somewhat sad. Turning its brown eyes to her, the creature finally uttered a faint sound.

"Coliiiii?"
"I know, I know, Hane... I should stop lurking here and go out, it's a beautiful sunny day... Eeesh. You're worse than my mother sometimes." she grumbled. Then she smiled, affectionately ruffling the creature's feather crest "I'm just kidding, you know... But seriously, I think I'm done with adventuring for a long time. The whole journey here was tiring as hell... Sometimes I wish I could trade places with you... That way I could be chilling out in a PokeBall while someone else did all the travelling arrangements for a change..."

The Colibreon (for that is what it was) ruffled his feathers and made a sound that sounded sort of like a cross of an agitated 'mrow' and an indagant squawk and glared at his trainer. Then, his expression softened, and then, it burst out laughing, making the girl roll her eyes "Whatever am I going to do with you?" she asked, shaking her head.

"You're just lucky you're so damn cute..." she muttered under her breath.

Even though it had no external ears, Colibreon was an Eeveelution, and that line has always been blessed with excellent hearing. He fluffed his feathers and adjusted his sitting to a poise full of self-importance. He did not have much time to gloat before the beam of greenish light engulfed him and sucked him back into the Green and Purple PokeBall, the colors separated by a black line.

"Deities save me from Colibreons." the girl rolled her eyes as she rose from the table, clipped the PokeBall to her belt and stepped out into the light. It was a bright and sunny day, and the bustling streets of Slateport seemed extremely alive in comparison to the cafe's interior - humans and pokemon hustling and bustling through them.

It may have been luck or fate or whatever cosmic force that put the billboard in her way, with the large poster that caught her eye. But the fact was, it was there. And the thing it promised has caught her fascination in spite of herself.

"PokeMon Contest Hall Opening for Applications." she read the poster to herself. "We never had that sort of thing at home..." she said to herself, and read on. The poster generally described the event, announcing that information about the more specific details could be found in the PokeMon Center. She had to go there anyway. And it did seem interesting.

"Sounds like it might be worth checking out..." the girl thought to herself, and made her way to the PokeMon center.

 

[aaron25255]

"The Transoceanic Cruseliner is proud to say that we have finally arrived in Slateport City. Some of you travelers maybe interested to know that Slateport is home of Dave Corp., the Oceanic Museum, the worlds largest lumberyard, and is currently hosting a Pokemon Contest. For all you ribbon seekers, now is your chance."

A tall boy exited the ship as the last announcement was made. He had a red hoody on with the hood up. He had black pants that were rather baggy and had a blue backpack slung over his shoulder. He had a Vulpix balanced on his shoulders as well. At first it seemed that he was talking to himself, but if you paid attention it seemed that he replied to what the Vulpix said. "I still say that guy is to cheery. You should have let me take him down a peg." The Vulpix just yawn and yipped a little. "You always have your opinions." he said as he walked a little faster, nearly knocking off the Vulpix. He laughed as the Pokemon glared at him and headed toward the Pokemon Center.

As he entered the Pokemon Center he was astonished by all the people there. He pushed his way to the front desk. There stood a Nurse Joy, one of the many identical cousins that ran the Pokemon Centers all around the world. "I'm sorry but you're going to have to go back to the end of the line to register for the Contest." She didn't look at all pleased at what he had done.

"No, I'm not entering the contest. I just want a room for the week." Nurse Joy was taken a back a little by this request.

"Well I'm sorry sir, but all the rooms are reserved for Contest entries. If you want one you will have to enter the contest, and to enter the contest you have to go to the back of the line." The boy just stood there for a few seconds, then his Vulpix yipped. Everyone around jumped, startled by this sudden action from this boy's Pokemon. He looked at his Vulpix and turned back to Nurse Joy.

"Sorry, but no. I will try to find some other place to stay."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Man, I was starting to get a little claustrophobic in there. I guess we will have to pay for were we stay tonight." As he started to walk away he saw two girls heading his way. One was shorter than him and had blonde hair. She also had a pokeball around her neck that must have been custom made. The other girl was tall and thin, but not in the way that made her look as if she didn't eat. She to had a pokeball, but hers was hanging from her wrist and was green and purple. Both these girls stood out in this crowd for some reason. Yes, they were each beautiful in there own way, but they each had a sense of power around them. The boy walked a bit further away and sat down on a bench. As each one of the girls walked in they spotted him from the corner of their eyes, but didn't make that evident.

The Vulpix that had been on the boy's shoulders bit the back of his neck. "Oww! What was that for?" The Vulpix purred innocently after jumping onto the bench next to him. "Oh, quite you. You know you jealous." The boy turned around to see people staring at him. He than turned back around, picked up his Vulpix and headed down the street, muttering to what seemed himself, "Don't say anything!'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The boy had to try several different hotels until he found one that didn't have all the rooms full because of the Pokemon Contest. As he got his key to his room and started off the clerk grabbed his shoulder. "Wait! I can't rent a room to a person if I don't know their name."

The boy reached behind his head and scratched the back of his neck. "Oh yeah, my name is Aaron."

The clerk raised his eyebrow, "Just Aaron?"

"Oh no, Aaron Quicksilver."

After Aaron got settled into his room Aaron turned to Vulpix, "Are you hungry yet?"
'A little, where were you thinking of going.' Unlike most people Aaron could actually understand his Pokemon, or at least his Vulpix. But he didn't understand what she said. He actually heard her in his head.

"I don't know Jasmine, I was thinking of just walking around until we found someplace to eat that seemed okay." Jasmine nodded her head in agreement and headed towards the door. Aaron opened it and picked her up, placing her on his shoulders.

"This place is going to be packed because of the Contests. You know that don't you?"

Jasmine looked at, 'I know, but as long as it is good food and not that crowded I'm game.' "Okay." There was a brief silence and Aaron then said,

"But your still jealous. Oww!" Jasmine again bit him in the back of the neck.

((OCC: Okay, I edited it so that it looks better. I actually like it more this way.))

 

[Linkachu]

OOC:
Welcome, Aaron. It's always nice to see someone brand new jumping into RP

Your post looks pretty good, but remember to make a new paragraph whenever you change speakers. Take this paragraph for example:

After Aaron got settled into his room Aaron turned to Vulpix, "Are you hungry yet?" 'A little, where were you thinking of going.' Unlike most people Aaron could actually understand his Pokemon, or at least his Vulpix. But he didn't understand what she said. He actually heard her in his head. "I don't know Jasmine, I was thinking of just walking around until we found someplace to eat that seemed okay." Jasmine nodded her head in agreement and headed towards the door. Aaron opened it and picked her up, placing her on his shoulders. "This place is going to be packed because of the Contests. you know that don't you?" Jasmine looked at, 'I know, but as long as it is good food and not that crowded I'm game.' "Okay." There was a brief silence and Aaron then said, "But your still jealous. Oww!" Jasmine again bit him in the back of the neck.

Every time the speaker switches from Aaron to Vulpix and vice versa you should make a new paragraph. Maybe it'll result in a lot of short sentences, but it'll make your post much easier to read and give it a better flow.

Just something to keep in mind. I hope to see more posts from you in the future ^^

 

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

The girl's eyes widened when she saw the unholy amount of people that stood in the PokeMon Center to register for the contest. There was barely room for her to breathe, even with the advantages of being tall and thin at her side.

Hane didn't help matters either. Somehow, he managed to release himself from his PokeBall and was now fluttering over the crowd, his wings moving so fast they were but a blur. His feathers and fur sparkled, and his eyes were narrowed in a way that made some people uneasy. He looked as if he was ready to blow them all away if this delay took longer.

"Maybe it wasn't such a good idea after all..." she muttered to herself.

In a way, maybe she was right. Most of the trainers didn't seem all that impressive, but a few of them had an air of confidence around them that she couldn't fathom. A few others had their PokeMon out - most of them seemed to be nothing but showoffs - cutesy little specially-bred creatures that were being fed Hyper-blended PokeBlocks by their trainers who were gawking all over them as if they weren't their own pokemon. It really disturbed her.

Her turn at the registerring counter finally arrived, and she approached the desk (politely apologizing to a few people that she stepped on the toes of on the way - it was THAT cramped.)

"Name, please." Nurse Joy asked, clearly finding nothing impressive about the girl. She was just another number for her, probably. The Colibreon landed on the counter and glared at the Nurse, as if to show its dissatisfaction with her seeming disrespect. Joy's eyes widened for a second, before she uttered "And what... Is that?"

"My name's Emily Sylvanhart. And this... Is my Colibreon, Hane." she said, lightly blushing when she said the PokeMon's name "Don't mind him, really. He's got a bit of a knight-in-shining-armor complex. When he thinks someone is disrespectful towards me, he gets grouchy."

"Colibreon... I don't think that shows up on my registration." Nurse Joy raised an eyebrow "New species?"
"They aren't native to Hoenn - but they're a bit more common around My home region. Then again, Eevees in general are far more common there."
"A flying type Eevee Evolution?" the nurse asked, clearly surprised. Then, a choir of slightly irritated coughs sent her out of her reveries. The crowds were getting impatient.
"We can talk about Hane later." Emily replied with a smile as the nurse quickly finished the registrations and handed her a key and a small book - the official PokeMon Contest guidebook.

"Room 42." Nurse Joy said, "Thank you, have a nice stay, and good luck in the contests!"
"Thanks." Emily replied quickly, leaving the PokeMon Center with Hane following her trail. She couldn't even hear the nurse saying "Next!".

~*~

"Well, I suppose it's time to get some information about these contests..." she said, and sought out the nearest park she could find. She needed some peace and quiet to read...

 

[Prof. Cinders]

The girl entered the centre quietly, but was promptly pushed forwards into a sea of legs. 'Hey!' she yelled, tripping over feet and landing on her face. Whoever had come in behind her, however, had disappeared into the crowd, leaving the girl on the floor. 'Fine,' she muttered, and wove her way through to the main desk. She waved her hand above the desk after another participant left, trying to catch the nurse's attention - for once, succeeding first time.

'And what can I do for you, little girl? Have you lost your mother?' asked Nurse Joy, raising an eyebrow in near-agitation, her voice nevertheless hinted with a kindness rare in one so busy.

The girl was, however, less than amused. 'No I am not, thank you very much,' she replied sharply, jumping agilely to sit on th edge of the desk. 'I'm here to register for the contest.' She pointedly tapped her pokeball, smiling.

The nurse's brief look of surprise pleased her. 'Oh,' came the hesitant reply, followed with a quiet 'I see.' The girl smiled. 'Well, then. Your name, and since you're young, your age, please.'

'Katana Slifer, 10.'

A brief pause. 'Ok, then, Katana, here's your key and booklet. Enjoy yourself!' came the cheery reply eventually, and Kat gladly accepted the objects handed to her. She jumped off of the desk, once more weaving through the legs to the stairway. She glanced at her key, labelled "43", and made her way to her new room.

 

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

It was a small park, A little speck of green, not far from the central marketplace that she settled on. She was sitting on a bench, her legs crossed, and idly leafed through the pages of the booklet, enjoying the light breeze, laden with the scent of flowers. Quite a few of the trees and bushes were in full bloom. A few Taillows landed on the ground, pecking at the grass for a while and flying off again when Hane pounced at them in a catlike manner. He didn't really attack any of them - just mischievously scaring them away. Soon, he was bored of the birds ('stupid things - don't they ever give up? where's the fun in scaring the wits out of something that just keeps on coming back after a few seconds?'), and moved on to stalk a Beautifly that was hovering around a golden-flowered bush. He had a bit more fun with the Beautifly - as the thing was agile and kept darting out of its reach in jumping. Only when it took off and chased the butterfly around a few trees, the bug-type decided to give up and fluttered off somewhere else, denying the Colibreon any further amusement. He finally put it down to Beautiflies having no sense of humor whatsoever, and shrugged it off, folding his wings and rolling in the grass, swiping at little specks of dust and plant pieces with his claws.

Emily hummed softly as she read, occasionally moving to brush a tangle out of her hair. Hane just gave up, walking over to the bench and leaping onto it, resting his feathered head in Emily's lap with the universal feline look of 'I'm sorry to disturb whatever you're doing, It's just that I demand attention. Right now.' the girl sighed, shaking her head with a smile as she moved on to scritch the Colibreon's in the general vicinity of its crests, squeezing a few purrs from the creature, that snuggled closer against her and wrapped its tailfeathers around her. She finished her reading putting the book aside and devoted some more attention to the PokeMon, reflecting on what got her to Hoenn in the first place.

Hane was born as an Eevee cub when Emily was six and the bond that formed between them was so deep - that by the time Emily became a trainer, they were inseperable. Though they were new to battling back then, they've learned soon enough. They both had a thing for storms, and so Hane became a Colibreon, manipulating the forces of the wind skillfully. Hane was all she ever needed - she never felt inclined to take on the gym challenge. She never had this thirst to prove herself. She was in this for the travelling, and with such a fine friend by her side, what could she need more?

She had met people along the way but never felt particularily close to any of them. There was something she was looking for. Something her mind was looking for, and one night, she realized that she wouldn't find it in Miato. And so, she left Miato and got on the first ferry she found, minding not where it went. She found herself in Hoenn, and now here she was. She had wondered what the future might hold.

Finally, she stood up, Hane jumping up and fluttering around her ecstatically. The two left the park behind them and wandered off in the general direction of the marketplace. If she was already here, she might as well see the sights.

 

[Sem]

*Flop*

Seph awoke suddenly. He opened his eyes... bright light, he closed them again. He put his right arms across his face. "Did I fall asleep?" Seph thought to himself. He heard a cackle come from beside him. Seph opened his eyes and turned his head to the right. In the shade of the umbrella, he saw Sableye's form. His vision cleared and Sableye was laughing and had that all too familiar, mischievous smile on his face.

"Did I fall asleep, Sableye?" asked Seph as he sat up on his towel. Sableye nodded his head. Seph turned his head away from the purple demon and looked out in front of him into the vast ocean. The sky was clear, except for the Wingull and Pelipper flying about. He then looked down into his lap where he saw a bunch of sand gathered, obviously Sableye had thrown the sand on Seph and woke him.

"Well, thank you for the wake up call," Seph said as he leered at Sableye. Seph looked away and Sableye snickered. Seph got up and stretched his arms and grabbed some clothes from his bag. Seph had been swimming that day, he planned to go back into the city soon afterwards, but he fell asleep. Seph walked to the public showers there by the beach and rinsed off. He went into the changing area and put on a dry pair of black cargo shorts, his dark green t-shirt with the grey hood and sleeves, and slipped his feet into some sandals. Seph returned to his towel and began packing everything back into his pack. He zipped up the pockets and ran his hand through his black, dripping hair. He looked up at Sableye who was investigating a rock.

"You ready to go, Sableye?" Seph asked as he reached out his arm for Sableye. Sableye nodded and climbed the arm up to "Seph's shoulder. Seph trudged through the sand towards the the arch in front of him. Seph went under the arch and into the city. Seph came to Slateport as a vacation from his travels. As he walked farther into the city, a man ran past him and gave him a flyer.

"Sign up for the Poke'mon contest!" Seph heard the man yelling as he passed around flyers. Seph paused in the shade of a tall building and looked at the piece of paper given to him.

Poke'mon contest!

In 2 days starting at 11am.

Sign up at the Poke'mon Center and be ready to show off some amazing stuff!

"Hmmm, interesting," Seph thought. "Should we participate, Sableye?" Sableye grabbed the paper and looked at it with its large crystalline eyes. "We could give it a shot to see how we do." Sableye returned the paper and nodded, then turned its attention to other things. Seph continued north and found the Poke' Center dead ahead. On of the larger Poke'mon Centers, it was. Three stories high. Upper two floors were where the rooms were located. He could see the large amount of people inside. Some were practically spilling out of the door. He made it in after a few shoves and pulls and began snaking through the crowd.

"EEEEEEEEEK!"

There was a shrill cry and the noise level died down a bit. Seph stopped and looked around. People were starring at the creature on Seph's shoulder.

"Don't look into its eyes!" Seph heard on yell. "It'll steal away your soul!" cried another. Sableye gave off a malicious smile and people gasped and screamed. Seph shook and head and smiled. Sableye gave off a low, unsettling chuckle as Seph began moving forward. A path was made for him as the people stepped back. Seph reached the Nurse Joy. Nurse Joy found all this fear of Seph's Poke'mon to be ridiculous. She couldn't help but give a smile. Seph could tell that it lightened her mood.

Joy looked down and shook her head. She gazed up at Seph, "How may I help you?"

"I would like to enter the Poke'mon Contest," replied Seph.

"Name please,"

"Seph Serran,"

The Nurse typed a few things on her computer and then reached down under the counter. She stood up and gave Seph a book and a card with the number 41.

"You're room number is 41, Seph. Hope you do well in the contest," Joy said with a smile.

"Thank you, Nurse Joy," Seph grabbed the book and the card and went to his left. He heard whispers on his way to the elevator.

"How dare he enter such a monster into the contest?"

"Hope he does terrible."

"Stuck ups," Seph murmured as the elevator closed and carried him to the first floor. Seph got into his room and set his stuff down on the desk to his right. Sableye phased himself through Seph's shoulder and began exploring the room. Seph crashed onto the bed and looked blankly up at the ceiling. "Well, I'm in my first Poke'mon Contest ever. Wonder how well we'll do." Seph flipped through the book he was given and skimmed the pages. He dragged out his laptop and began looking up Poke'mon Contests. A while passed and Seph closed his computer and got up off the bed and stood in front of the sliding glass door. The afternoon sun was beaming through the curtains and filled the room with that warm afternoon glow. Seph put his hands behind his neck and stared off into the ocean view.

---------------------------------------------------

OOC: Ok, first RP post, ever practically. Hope this RP gets moving.

 

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

OOC: Mmmkay. Might as well revive this. I hope none of you mind if I speed time a bit. We've GOT to get some character interaction going soon, or this RP won't stand a chance. >_>

BIC:

Emily emerged from a nice hot shower wrapped in a white PokeMon center towel. The last few rays of the setting sun were visible. She spent most of the afternoon wandering through the streets of Slateport city, taking in the sights and scenes. She began with the marketplace and ended the trip with a nice, long walk on the beach, watching the sunset and enjoying the evening breezes. When the sun set enough, she walked back to her room at the PokeMon center. It was a standard PokeMon center room, similar to the ones back home - but subtly different - a few different touches. Well, it was a different region after all, it had to have its localized touches.

Hane was sleeping on a small round mat at the foot of the bed, curled up in a feline manner, his head under his wings in the manner of a bird. He had a long day himself, fluttering after Emily wherever she went, and was now content to sleep out of its PokeBall for a bit. The aformentioned PokeBall - the only one that Emily had, was on the top of a small pile of things that included a fresh change of clothes (a sleeveless stormy gray t-shirt and a pair of loose black pants made of an extremely light fabric, with a few purplish-lightning-like highlights), her trainer's belt, her Digital Storage Device, the contest guidebook and her sunglasses. She finished towelling herself and got herself dressed, adjusting a small micro-switch on the point where the left handle connected to the frame. The dark color drained from the lenses, leaving them clear, like regular glasses. Emily smiled for no reason, silently returning the sleeping Colibreon (careful as to not to wake him up) into his PokeBall and clipping it to her belt, along with her digital storage device. She stretched thoroughly, and made her way towards the exit from the room.

"Now, to get myself something to eat..." she said to nothing in particular, and walked out of the room.

 

[Prof. Cinders]

Kat stepped, bleary-eyed, from her room. She had no idea what the time was, since she'd lost her watch some time ago, but what she did know was that the sun was setting, and she'd gone to sleep at the desk in her room. And she was hungry. She quickly grabbed the keys behind the door, and turned a bit too quickly - straight into the girl who had just left the room next door. Gasping in surprise, she fell backwards, recovering her balance as soon as she realised what exactly had happened. 'Er... Sorry, sorry,' she apologised, bowing several times. Her face had gone a rather bright red. 'I didn't mean to, I mean, I didn't see you...' She stopped bowing, and attempted a smile. 'Are you here for the contest as well?'

 

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

Emily blinked lightly when the girl ran into her by mistake, but considering the fact that she looked like she has just woken up and was still a bit disoriented, she understood perfectly.

"Don't worry about it, It's alright." Emily smiled politely at the girl "Yes, as the matter of fact I am. It sounds like quite an... Interesting concept. Would probably give me and Hane something to do for a while... My name's Emily. Emily Sylvanhart. And you are, if I may ask?"

 

[Sem]

Seph snapped out of his thoughts when he heard some commotion comming from outside in the hallway. He had been standing there by the window for sometime. Seph turned around and picked up Sableye, who was on the bed, and lifted him onto his shoulder. Sableye was curious of the noise as well and listened attentively as they neared the door, its unblinking eyes stared. Seph opened the door and walked out into the hallway. Two young women were to his left.

"Don't worry about it, It's alright." He heard one of them say. He made his way towards them to introduce himself. A few more words were exchanged. "My name's Emily. Emily Sylvanhart. And you are, if I may ask?" Seph brushed his hair away from his eyes.

"I'm Seph," Seph budded in. Sableye smiled. "Sorry to bud in, heard some commotion comming from outside my room. Came to see if everything was ok, and to introduce myself to some new faces."

 

[Prof. Cinders]

Kat continued blushing violently, and answered, 'I'm Katana... Just Kat. Nice to meet you...' She trailed off, eyeing the sableye instead of the trainer that had just appeared - Seph. She hadn't seen any of those ever before, but from the various rumours she'd heard over her years as a trainer, it was something to avoid. Eventually, she managed to mumble, 'Nice pokemon there.'

 

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

"Nice to meet you too, Kat." Emily smiled, and then turned her eyes to the person that appeared almost out of no where, and then to the PokeMon on his shoulder - and her eyes widened.

"A Sableye." she said, a bright grin coming to her face "I haven't seen one of these since Azure Valley! The mineral composition of the rocks there is rich in crystal - it seems to draw them there. Although the ones we have back home usually have more crystals on their skin... REALLY fascinating creatures. I wonder why people seem to think they eat souls."

 

[Sem]

Seph blinked and smiled. Seph was used to getting attention from people when Sableye was out, which was almost always. Seph was also used to getting remarks such as Kat's, but Seph was surprised to hear Emily's words. He was glad to know some people actually took the time to educate themselves about the Sableye species, besides the various Pokemon professors.

"Yes, they are quite fascinating. I don't know why people think that they steal away souls either." Seph gazed at Kat and then back at Emily. "Sableye has never done such a thing, not to my knowledge anyway. Just a bunch of superstition. I once traveled with a girl who had her Shedinja constantly hovering over her head. Coupled with the fact that my Sableye is always on my shoulder, we were at many times not permitted from entering towns, cities, or certain areas due to the people thinking that we were evil." Seph laughed. "That Shedinja never stole a soul either…" Seph paused. Seph was always afraid that he at times talked too much. While he was relatively quiet, he would sometimes be quite chatty. Seph usually stopped himself on such occasions, afraid of boring the people he met. "So where are you two from?" Seph asked, changing the subject.

 

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

Emily turned her eyes to the Sableye, admiring the refractions in its eye crystals, and laughed silently at the thought of supestitious townsfolk fleeing from a pair of otherwise random trainers, only because a Sableye and a Shedinja were hovering around - as if the devil itself roamed through their town. People could be so... odd, at times... She had a hard time figuring them out.

Then the trainer's question caught her.

"Well, I'm from Miato." Emily turned her eyes to Seph again, smiling. "We're not very well known a region outside researcher groups. Mostly known for having some rather unique species of PokeMon, advanced technology and the GPDS project. We get a few odd looks ourselves at times."

 

[Prof. Cinders]

'GPDS?' said Kat, finally taking her eyes away from the sableye. It sounded like it was harmless, so why bother being scared of it? Superstition ruled over so many people's lives, who should it scare her at all? 'What's the GPDS project? Oh, and I'm from the Kyak Islands... A small town. Doesn't matter much, anyway.'

 

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

"Oh, that. That's our little pride and joy." Emily grinned, pulling out a small, sleek, and rather complicated-looking PokeDex from a pocket "GPDS stands for 'Global PokeMon Database Server'. It's generally an open-source project - Miato is a region that believes in the free sharing of knowledge - containing a lot of PokeMon research information released to public domain by a bunch of well known names in the scientific community. All Miato PokeDexes are connected to it and update themselves whenever new information is released. The project was started by Professor Erin Redwood of Jade Town, and currently has Professors Oak and Elm on the list of contributing researchers, among a few other less prominent though still famous names. Coupled with a few powerful in-depth analysis and comparison sensory systems, Miato PokeDexes have many useful functions that make them an invaluable tool in nearly all things PokeMon..."

She stopped and blushed lightly.

"Heh, it sounds like I'm trying to sell something. My sincere apologies."

 

[Sem]

Seph listened intently as he listened to Emily talk about the GPDS. Sounded real interesting to Seph.

"Heh, it sounds like I'm trying to sell something. My sincere apologies." Emily said, her face blushed.

"No problem," Seph said as he brush away the hair that had crept up in front of his eyes. There was silence for a breif moment. Seph shoved his hands in the pockets of his cargo shorts. "So is it safe to assume that you two are here for the Pokemon Contest?" Seph looked at them both and felt Sableye shift on his shoulder. Sableye had sensed Kat's discomfort and longed to scare her. Sableye had not scared anyone for a while. Seph could see Sableye's intertions in his eyes. A wicked smile formed. Seph shook his head at Sableye but Sableye could not resist. Sableye leaped off of Seph's shoulder and flew at Kat. Seph immediatly pulled out Sableye's Poke'ball. Just as Sableye was about land flat on Kat's head, he was gone in a flash of red. Seph put the ball away. He had an embarassed and simpethetic look on his face. "I...I'm sorry, he does that sometimes... He means no harm...." "She'll never wanna be near a Sableye ever again..."

OOC:Post fixed, sorry bout that....

 

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

OOC:

I think that this time your little bit of autoing has gone too far, Sem. You can have your Sableye pounce Kat, but leave it to her to decide if she's scared or not.

This sort of thing kinda kills RPs, and I don't want this RP to die. Not before Hane gets to bust open some heads.

Anyhow, I'd appreciate if you edit this so that Rach may actually be able to DO something with this RP and we can get a bloody move-on, thankyouverymuch. (nods)

 

[Prof. Cinders]

Kat immediately screamed and fell backwards, hands in front of face ready to defend herself. Landing hard on the floor, she looked up, and saw that the Sableye was gone. Breathing heavily, her eyes were wide with fear as she stuttered, 'D-does it always do that to strangers?'

 

[Sem]

Seph held out a hand for Kat.

"He does... He just gets the urge sometimes.... I'm sorry. Kinda what happens when you decide to train a team of dark types, bunch of mischievous creatures, they are.... but they're loyal and usually mean no harm." Seph stood with his arm still outstretched. He quickly changed the subject. "So you two here for the Pokemon contest by chance? I was about to check out the building..."

 

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

"Well, Yes. At least, that's what I am here for. I don't know about Kat, though." Emily said "We've never had that sort of thing back home, and I figured, what the heck."

 

[Prof. Cinders]

'I thought I'd have a go at it,' added Kat, attempting to smile as she took Seph's hand and got up slowly. 'My Totodile's pretty well trained, so he was sort of vicious in the battlefield... I thought I'd let him calm down a bit.'

 

[Sem]

Kat grabbed on to Seph's hand and got up. "Well, I'm just willing to try something new." Seph said. "Well, like I said before, I'm going to go check out the contest building, I feel I should get a good look at everything since the contest is tomorrow...You're both welcome to tag along." Seph began to walk to the elevator.

OOC:Should the contest be the next day?

 

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

"Sounds like a plan, assuming the contest hall is open for visitors." Emily nodded upon hearing the other trainer's offer. "I think Hane would like to see this too. I hate to wake him up for this, but... As a wise man once said, what the Hades ever."

She smiled, and released the Colibreon from its PokeBall. The flying-type Eeveelution materialized, yawning, stretching and shaking its iridiscent plumes a bit, eyeing the two humans that seemed to be around the area.

"Allow me to introduce you to my one and only best friend, Hane." She grinned, and the Colibreon chirped.

OOC: Yeah, I know, quick and dirty response, but I have to get off this bloody library computer soon. Stupid humans. X_x Also, yeah sure - why not. Might as well speed the damn thing up. Also, light edit, considering I had little time to post this and forgot that Sableye was returned. xD

 

[Sem]

"Allow me to introduce you to my one and only best friend, Hane." Seph turned as he heard this. He was soon eyeing something that he had never seen before... There creature looked at everyone and chirped.

"Interesting Pokemon you have there..." Seph said looking back at Emily. "Something I'd never seen before... I'd love to see it in battle... or contest battle..." Seph smiled and then continued towards the elevator.

 

[Prof. Cinders]

Kat grinned at the pokemon, and simply followed behind the others. The Colibreon was beautiful, considering its evolution line, and the pre-teen felt reassured by its presence - that not everything was as scary as a Sableye. Her own Totodile, although he'd bite her for saying so aloud, paled in comparison. Which meant competing against it would be even more exciting. 'You say it's a flying type?' she asked after a while, entering the waiting elevator. 'What sort of moves does it know?'

 

[Pichazard]

Can I just jump in if I want to?

 

[Linkachu]

OOC: If you've read through the rest of the posts and have a general idea what's going on, go right ahead.

And just incase anyone was wondering - and since it doesn't seem like he plans to say so himself - Oak has pretty much abandoned this topic, so if it means anything to you guys I'd just go on without him. That is all.

 

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

"Quite a few, really." Emily replied. "He's rather diverse - I've had him since he was an Eevee cub. Suffice to say that he has quite a few tricks up his sleeves. Shadow Ball, Flying-moves, the obligatory Steel Wing... Even a few Crystal-type and Grass-type moves, actually. When you're travelling with only one PokeMon, you must have diversity, or so I've learned."

She smiled at the other girl "So, are you going to have a look at the contest hall too?"

 

[Sem]

Seph waited until the two girls were inside the elevator. He observed the Colibreon as he pushed the button. Certainly a unique pokemon to say the least. The doors slowly closed and the elevator immediately began its descent to the bottom floor. The elevator dinged within seconds and the doors opened. Seph walked out into the less busy Pokemon Center and headed out through the doors. He continued through the city, walking west, the direction in which the Contest Hall laid. The sky was orange and the sun was beginning to set. The ocean scent was in the air. There was a cool, light breeze. He made it to the hall within a few more minutes. The hall itself was fairly large. Seph walked through the sliding glass doors into the main area. There was a desk which was now empty, its occupant having left for the day. Several chairs lined the walls, berry blenders scattered the floor. Seph walked through the door on the back wall, to the left of the desk. He was in a hallway; he passed a room on his right side, obviously the room where the trainers waited in-between contest battles. He continued on and went through another door in front of him and found himself in the contest arena. A large battle arena with a large screen behind it lay before Seph. Beneath the screen was what appeared to be the judge's table. Rows and rows of seats lined the walls. Seph went up into the seats to get a better view of the field.

 

[Doctor Oak]

OOC: Not only am I reviving this.... I'm RPing :O....

BIC:

The Contest arena was pretty close to a normal Battle arena, save the judges stand and massive Hi-Def LCD screen one might consider surprisingly close to the action - especially if you had a habit of smashing Pokemon through commentator's boxes in battles...

Standing in the Pokeball marked center of the battlefield, Gary Oak looked around him at his surroundings. Unlike a normal stadium, the seating wasn't around the entire arena - instead, it was set up with the battlefield literally being a stage. The amount of red drapes and general cutesey dressing up of the arena un-nerved Gary. This was definitely not his native battle format...

Chikorita stood at his side, also gazing around but with a much more wonderous smile on its face.

"Heh," Gary chuckled, noticing Chikorita's expression as he looked down to her. "Seems like you're definitely up for this then?" Chikorita smiled up at him and gleamed with a happy cry of its name.

"Well... we'll see just how ready you are tommorow..." Gary, if he was being honest with himself, was more worried about how ready HE was. A normal Pokemon battle was fine for him, he'd been doing those for 9 years. But this... this was completely alien to him...

He bit his lip and looked up to the massive screen in front of him, the words "Pokemon Contest" splashed across it for now - and tommorow it would decide who his first ever Contest match would be against - if he made it past the appeals round that is...