Draven Davidson
Date: February 17
Location: Route 202, Sinnoh
Pokemon Team: Ma'a the Hoothoot
Night came.
Draven worked with Ma'a, and by the end of their specialized training, Draven not only got what he wanted, but also a sizeable headache to boot.
He was able to work with suppressing memories, making his body language follow along with the truths of his statement of "I didn't do it" far better than if he were to lie. Which, he was lying, but to his own suppressed mental state, he wouldn't know what he did until Ma'a released her psychic pressure within his head by using Hypnosis again.
Not only that, but they were able to fine tune Draven's alter ego, giving him memories of coming to Sinnoh and being denied a Starter by the Professor, giving his alter ego access to portions of his memory to make it more believable. Now, Draven did know how dangerous this was. Not only could he lose his identity if this went too far, but he could also have this alter ego revolt against him because he still acted like a person.
But now, it was time to initiate Operation: Purrloin & Amnesia.
After taking some caffeinated migraine pills, he asked Ma'a to help him change persons.
He felt his mind drift towards some recess and something else take hold, his body shivering as this other presence took hold of the reins.
He opened his eyes.
"Avery Alberich"
Date: February 17
Location: Route 202 -> Sandgem Town -> Jubilife City, Sinnoh
Pokemon Team: Ma'a the Hoothoot
Opening their eyes, Avery looked up at the stars and sighed. The memories they had coming here flooded their mind, just as they did every time Avery woke up. It was something they got used to.
As they spoke, their voice was several octaves higher than Draven's, making them sound more like a woman. "Ma'a, wait for me out here, 'kay?" They smiled, petting the owlet on the head. They felt their head and their eyes widen as they felt patted their hair, gasping. "Why didn't you tell me my hair's atrocious??? Ohhh, nooooo, we can't have thaaaaat." They dove their hand into their backpack, rummaging through for a brush or a comb. Finding a brush, they went about brushing their hair to at least make it look somewhat better. Sighing as they smoothed over their hair, they pulled out a wig and grinned. "Alright, now to
really make myself disappear."
Fixing a deep burgundy wig with a loose ponytail with hidden bobby pins over their head to hold it in place, they then put in orange, prescribed contact lenses over his eyes, wincing at how it made their eyes dry, before pocketing their glasses for safekeeping. They then got out of their clothes, wincing at how stupidly childish these were, and put on something a bit more their style: a grey, long-sleeved wrap shirt they bought recently upon landing in Sinnoh, dark grey sweatpants, a dark grey neck wrap that could cover his face, combat boots, and black gloves that went up their forearms. Setting the clothes and their phone in their backpack, they zipped it up and looked for a suitable, hidden spot within the trees. Putting the backpack up in a tree, their Hoothoot then flew along beside them as they made their way around the lab.
There were a few guards, some had their Pokemon out. One of them being a Luxio.
Avery scrunched up their face.
Sighing, they turned to Ma'a before giving a slight nod. Avery remembered the Pokemon inside the lab had made a ruckus, so they assumed that the guards were also to keep the Pokemon inside and from escaping. If that was a repeat offender, maybe they could help the thing escape.
They waited until they were sure the Professor left to go home, with only a couple researchers staying behind to work late into the night. Then, there was a shift change among the guards.
Bingo.
Avery didn't know how long it would take for the shift change, but they were ready. They crouched and jogged towards the establishment, their Hoothoot using Confusion to turn the camera somewhere else and away from a window before using their psychic powers to lift the latch. The Hoothoot then flew onto the roof to look like some vigilant wild Pokemon looking for things to eat, while Avery lifted the window quietly, deftly hopped inside, then closed it and locked it behind them. Looking around, they found themselves within a storage room. They quietly padded through the storage room, looking for any Pokeballs with Pokemon in them, but none were here.
Figures, that was probably a smart move on their part.
Then, the ruckus started again.
"Hey, Chimchar, it's okay, just go back in your Pokeb-AGH!" The words of a researcher trying to sound calm and reassuring reached Avery's ears, as well as a screech and what sounded like flames. A door opened, footsteps walking in, and Avery heard the yowl of a cat-like Pokemon - probably the Luxio - do some electrical attack. The Chimchar yelped, charged with a screech, then whimpered as it was blown back by something, then the sound of a Pokeball returning the Chimchar and the sound of a device moving and keys jingling.
"Thank you, sir. That would've been very bad."
The guard sighed, shaking his head. "This Chimchar is making everything pretty lively, isn't he?" There was a hint of wryness to his tone, as if he were smirking.
"Hah, you could say that again. At least he ate, so I won't feel bad for locking him in this display table."
"You sure he won't break through the glass?"
"Hah, you sure about that? The dome here sends jamming signals into the Pokeball, something we had to buy and utilize because this is I think the eighth time the Chimchar has tried leaving. We don't want to lose him in Jubilife City, nor do we want him to end up causing trouble, so in the jammer he goes."
"Huh... Well, just as long as he doesn't pop out again. Carry on." The guard's footsteps were heard as he left the room, closing the door behind him.
Avery waited for a few more minutes before they heard footsteps approaching the storage room. They slunk towards the corner, watching as the door slid open and the researcher walked inside, unaware of Avery's position.
An arm wrapped around the man's throat, another hand placed over his mouth and plugging his nose, and the struggle ensued for several minutes as Avery managed to keep their hold and slowly suffocate him to unconsciousness. Letting the man rest on the floor, they grabbed his key and ID card, went to the display case, and found the Pokeball with a symbol of an ember emblazoned on the ball. Unlocking the case, the Pokeball immediately opened, the Chimchar appearing before them.
The two stared at each other, unsure of what to do now.
"You wanna be free?" Avery asked.
The Chimchar's eyes lit up, and he immediately bolted. Avery grabbed the Pokeball, only for a door to open right as Avery was about to go through the storage room.
"HEY!"
Quickly bolting into the storage room, they pulled down shelving around them to make as much noise as possible. Another door opened and the man yelled at him. "Hey, go outside to this window, catch him!"
The Chimchar had already used the door the first guard opened to escape outside, while Avery unlocked the window, pushed it open, and jumped out. One guard was going running at them with a Geodude throwing rocks at them. Ducking under a thrown rock, Avery then used the windowsill to vault themselves up and onto the roof's edge, of which they grabbed and threw themselves over. Avery then ran over the rooftop, quickly putting Ma'a back in her Pokeball without the guards noticing for now, then paused and waited.
They heard one of the guards coming up from the spot they leapt from. Padding across the rooftop, they looked over and around the northern edge towards the tree line. The guards were circling the lab.
"You got the guy on camera?"
"Yeah, think so."
Avery found one of the antenna on the top of the building and moved it about. It creaked, but it was stuck to the top. They couldn't use it. They were starting to run out of options.
A guard finally crawled up to the rooftop, and his Luxio hopped up beside him. "You, stop!"
Avery paused, then sneered behind the mask they wore and held up their hands. "Oh~?" Their voice was much higher than Draven's. In fact, they were purposefully sounding more like a woman to throw them off. "And you think you're gonna stop an up-and-coming villain mistress like moi~?" One of their hands placed against their chest, their orange eyes glaring at the guard as if he were beneath them.
"Then you give me no choice. Luxio, Thunder Wave."
The Luxio's body glowed brightly before sending off largely harmless electrical waves at Avery. They dove behind the antenna they were bothering earlier, the lightning arced into it, proving to be a useful lightning rod. Avery then ran towards the northern side of the lab, jumping off the roof and reaching for a branch. Grabbing it successfully, they swung to the next branch, landed their foot on another, and began to carefully run through the treetops.
"Hey, stop!"
They heard the voices get quieter, they were really losing them! This was absolutely thrilling! Who knew being a criminal was so fun??
But now, it was time to vanish. Quietly padding through the treetops, they deftly moved through. The training they did in Hoenn was pretty nice, even if it was annoying. All they needed to do was to get their backpack, spray themselves down, and change out of their disguise and be in Jubilife City.
Easier said than done. They were now searching the tree line. Avery managed to find their backpack, and after carefully slipping it on, they then carefully made their way to Route 202. They ended up seeing some guards walking the route, and they mentally cursed. They continued North, toeing on the line between Route 202 and the vast forested wilderness.
They finally made it to the city limits, and there were no guards in sight. Were they finally free???
They ran into the city, hopping into an alleyway, made sure there were no cameras, and began pulling the bobby pins and the wig off, pulled out their contacts, setting them in their contacts tray, and changed into their normal clothes they woke up in including their glasses. Stuffing everything in they bag, they pulled out a masking spray and sprayed down their backpack, then splashed a bit of acetone inside the backpack after taking some things out. Stuffing some of their extra shirts on it, they then put their things back inside and pocketed the emblazoned Pokeball inside. The acetone was not only there to help get rid of the smell and/or mask it, but also to assault the noses of any nosy Pokemon trying to smell their stuff. The acetone was something they bought quite a while ago, but needed to stock up on because they were on a nail polishing spree, much to the chagrin of Draven unbeknownst to Avery.
Pulling out of the alleyway, they released their Hoothoot and traveled with her on their shoulder, trying to act normal as they walked aimlessly through the city streets.
Time to go to Oreburgh City~.
Draven Davidson
Date: February 18
Location: Jubilife City, Sinnoh
Pokemon Team: Ma'a the Hoothoot
Mentions: Hazel (H47E)
The next morning, the news were all over the incident from last night. The cops had began to patrol more, and the Professor made a statement for whoever can find a red-head young woman who matched the appearance in the video footage. It was weird seeing his body type under baggy-ish clothes in that image, but he found it rather nice. Being a criminal no one knew about. How well could he get away with it?
Draven, right as he woke up, had Ma'a suppress his memories of the events last night and made sure the Pokeball that was stashed in his bag was covered in acetone, as well as a full corner side of his backpack, letting it get damp in one corner. That way, it looked like his bottle of acetone exploded or leaked out.
He went to the store to get a new one, buying two bottles of nail polish remover. Once he did so, he was about to leave Jubilife for good before a cop stopped him in his tracks. The cop was behind him, and his Hoothoot was in his arms, holding her to his chest as she faced the world ahead. She looked up at him, Draven looked deep into her eyes, and her eyes shone blue for but a moment.
"Hey, kid."
Draven turned around, looking a bit surprised. "Yes, sir?"
"Have you seen this person?" He held up the picture. Draven couldn't shake the sense of familiarity, but couldn't piece together as to why. His face scrunched up, and then his brow furrowed.
"She looks familiar, but I don't think I've seen her anywhere recently. What happened, what did she do?" He looked up at the cop, who looked a bit amused and confused.
"You haven't heard? She stole a Pokeball from the lab and made a mess of the place. Not only that, but the Chimchar escaped. We don't know where he is either. If you see either of them, call us and let us know."
Draven nodded, giving him a soft smile before noticing the man sniffing the air. "What is it?"
"Two questions." The cop looked at him suspiciously, raising an eyebrow as he looked around him at his backpack. "Where were you last night? And what is that smell?"
"Oh, I was out on Route 202. Yesterday, I went to the professor's lab to get a Pokemon, but I didn't realize I couldn't get a Starter Pokemon. So, I got my Pokedex updated and went to Route 202 to see which kinds of Pokemon I'd like. After finding a few, I didn't want any of them, so I camped out nearby. You can ask this kid, uh..." He trailed off and looked around, but was unable to find him. He then shrugged. "Well, there's this kid with a Froakie. He's got reddish hair, blue eyes, looks like your typical journeying trainer with a hat. Comes from Kalos and name's Hazel. He took me to Route 202 and let me off to the lab myself. You can ask him if you're concerned. As for that smell." He gave the officer a sheepish smile. "One of my acetone bottles leaked all over my bag last night. So I just bought a couple more today."
The officer watched Draven curiously. He didn't seem to be lying. If he needed to, he could always ask this Hazel kid about Draven and the type of person he was. But it seemed like Draven was fine. "Well, if you find either the girl or that Chimchar, call us. Okay? You have a nice day now."
"Sorry I couldn't help you out anymore than that, sir. Hope the search goes well."
With that departure, Ma'a's eyes shone blue and the rock in his head lifted its pressure. He groaned, rubbing his forehead. "Man, the acetone must be getting to me, too. Thanks, Ma'a." He breathed a sigh of relief. He was home free. All he had to do was leave Jubilife and head to Oreburgh City.
Oreburgh City, here I come. And where's that Chimchar...
Draven Davidson
Date: February 19
Location: Route 203, Sinnoh
Draven's Pokemon Team: Ma'a the Hoothoot
Avery's Pokemon Team (Unofficial): Ajax the Chimchar
After a day of traveling through Route 203 and
still not finding any Pokemon for himself to catch, Draven heard the familiar sounds of a screeching monkey. Rushing towards the sound, he found the Chimchar squaring off against a Ralts. The Psychic/Fairy-Type used
Confusion, but the Chimchar rushed forward with a
Thunder Punch. However, the attack backfired, causing the electricity to shock himself and stop himself in his tracks. The Confusion hit, causing the Chimchar to roll back and hit the tree. The Ralts then scurried off, not wanting to be found again.
That Pokemon might be good for Avery.
Draven leaned against a tree, looking at the beat up Chimchar. "Hey, you're the one who escaped the lab, hm?"
The Chimchar rose to his feet and got on the defensive, eyes glaring at the intruder. However, the boy's calm demeanor had him confused. He didn't look like he was gearing for a fight anyway. Draven set down his bag and sat away from it, smiling softly. "I was the one who saved you."
The Chimchar eased slightly, but looked at him confused.
"I should still smell the same as I did then, with a hint of chemicals. Here. Smell." He held out his hand. His usual scent came back after that spray down, as the spray only lasted for a day. The acetone was still on him, but it wasn't as bad anymore. The Chimchar cautiously came forward, sniffed his hand, then glared at him confused. Draven pulled out the burgundy wig and put it on, then opened the contacts case to show off the orange lenses.
These were definitely the same, and the Chimchar looked at the boy with curious eyes. Draven set his stuff away quickly, and leaned against the tree, looking tired. "Why were you so intent on leaving the lab? I heard you try and escape twice the times I was there."
The Chimchar huffed and crossed his arms, looking away as he didn't want to talk about it. Though, something then came over him and he pointed up at the mountain. Draven craned his neck to look at Mount Coronet with some confusion. "You want to go up there?" Chimchar nodded and whimpered. "I don't know why you want to go up there, but you'll definitely have to get stronger if you want to reach there right?" The Chimchar nodded again. "I also saw your Thunder Punch could use some work. I think I can help with that." He then smiled. "So, what say you? Want to join me?" The Chimchar tilted his head in confusion.
Draven pulled out the same Pokeball the Chimchar was held in, and the monkey hissed. Draven held out his hands. "Hey, it's okay. All I'm going to do is return you in this ball, release you from this ball so I can use a different Pokeball on you. Are you willing to be recaptured? I promise, I'll take you home, but you'll have to train with me and do what I say to get there, okay? Even if what we do can be a little criminal, but it's to get you strong and back to that mountain, okay?"
The Chimchar glared at him, then huffed, embers blowing out of his mouth as he hopped back. Draven chuckled, watching the Chimchar's stance get ready for a battle. "Alright, if it's a battle you want, it's a battle you'll get." He stood up, his Hoothoot flapping down from the treetops and hopped about on each foot alternatively. "Ma'a. Ready." The Hoothoot trilled, and the Chimchar hissed before clapping his hands, creating a flinch-causing shockwave. The
Fake Out landed, and the Chimchar took this time to rush forward and - despite the failure earlier - the monkey's fist crackled with electricity and readied to punch the Hoothoot. This time,
Thunder Punch didn't fail.
"Ma'a,
Zen Headbutt." Wanting to show off her own strength, the Hoothoot's head glowed a bright blue and she headbutted the electrified fist. It hurt her, the Hoothoot crying out as the electricity arced into her body, but she won out and the Chimchar's fist couldn't stop the Hoothoot's head from going past it and hitting him in the stomach, sending him flopping towards the ground. Grunting, the Chimchar charged again, this time spraying a field of
Embers at them.
"Ma'a,
Air Slash." The Hoothoot's wings glowed a bright sky blue, and she flapped them to create a cutting wind blade, the cutting wind dissipating the Embers harmlessly and continued on towards the Chimchar, who rolled under it and came with glowing fingers as he went to
Scratch her.
"
Echoed Voice." Ma'a screeched out a shocking soundwave of energy, the Chimchar barreling through it despite the pain it caused and landing his attack. However, the Hoothoot recovered and used Echoed Voice for a second time, the stronger attack sending the Chimchar back and into the same tree.
Panting, the Chimchar glared at the Hoothoot, then at the human. He screeched, probably saying something to the effect of 'I'll never lose' to Draven. It lunged forward, only to collapse into the ground.
Smiling, Draven walked over and picked up the exhausted Chimchar. Taking him to a Pokemon Center was not a good idea. The Pokeball was still ID'd to the professor and they could probably track it if they see it's use somewhere else.
He didn't know how the whole Pokeball, ID, or releasing them if you weren't the trainer for them worked, but it wouldn't hurt to try. He returned the Chimchar, held the button on the ball, then released him, the energy coming out blue instead of red or white. The Chimchar was freed from the ball but likely was still registered as League's property.
Completely wiping down the ball, he gave the ball to his Hoothoot, who grabbed it with her talon claws only to avoid leaving an identifiable talon print on the ball, and flew towards Route 204 and the Ravaged Path to throw it somewhere before coming back to him. Now, it was time to nurse the Chimchar back to health, keeping a different spare Pokeball in case the Chimchar wanted to be owned by him.
But not yet. He couldn't yet. They had to wait for a long time before the Chimchar can become a part of his team officially in any capacity. Plus, Avery didn't have a Pokemon Trainer license, since they used Draven's license, so essentially Draven was half illegal and half a criminal. If he captured the Chimchar too quickly after the incident at the lab, they'd notice an odd discrepancy in his team including a Chimchar when he went to fight a Gym Leader and saw the Pokemon he had in his possession, if they did that at all.
But the Pokeball releasing the Chimchar from its hold? He was sure it pinged them to this location or wherever the Pokeball was.
After Ma'a came back, he returned her and carried the Chimchar into Oreburgh Gate, eventually hiding within the Gate for a whole day before coming back out to Oreburgh City the next.
Draven Davidson
Date: February 20
Location: Oreburgh City -> Route 207 -> Mt. Coronet, Sinnoh
Draven's Pokemon Team: Ma'a the Hoothoot
Avery's Pokemon Team (unofficial): Ajax the Chimchar
It had been a few days since he left Jubilife City, he had helped heal the now wild Chimchar back to full health, trained with him when they had the time, and Draven was left pondering. How the hell was he supposed to let Avery capture any Pokemon without the Pokemon tying to his ID and his name???
He'd have to find some kind of ball or maybe just befriend Pokemon and have them nearby for when he need them as Avery. For right now, the Chimchar he nicknamed Ajax was resting against some boulders in the rocky cliff face, making sure he wasn't seen by the populace as per Draven's instructions. He also tried telling Ajax about how he managed to become "Avery", but he realized it only confused the poor monkey. So he had to explain it that he was "playing pretend" but believing he is Avery for that while. He managed to help the Chimchar understand, even if it wasn't how it really was.
As for today, he was going around collecting supplies, buying a few Potions and a couple Revives from the money he betted against a few miners on their breaks. Since most of them had Fighting-Types or had Geodudes with rather pitiful special defenses that couldn't handle several Confusions, they were pretty easy. Plus, the feathers were starting to darken, leading Draven to believe she was super close to evolving. She even stopped hopping between each talon due to the slight change in her hormones and behavior.
However, as the morning continued, the skies darkened and a flash flood of rain started almost immediately. Whipping his head around, he looked for the Chimchar before running North. The Chimchar had slipped off the now wet rocks, and was trying to avoid the mad rush of streams.
Figuring they'd be safer in the mountain's cave, Draven rushed forward and scooped up the Chimchar as he came jumping into Draven's arms to hide from the rain that bothered him. The flash flooding had caused a problem on Route 207, the Ponyta there whinnied loudly and tried to find some place to hide in the limited areas they could, steam rising from their manes and tails, while Geodude tried to find crevices to hide from the water. Kricketots tried to find crevices or the like, but found that nearly impossible.
There was a Stantler Draven caught sight of, braying as it tried to climb the cliff face that led to the rest of Route 207. He watched as it expertly dug its hooves into select areas and managed to make its way up top. Keeping the Chimchar clutching at his chest and stomach, he followed the Stantler's path, scrambling up the cliff face, startling the deer and sending it running off towards the North.
They were so close.
One hand hold.
His footing slipped, nearly crushing the Chimchar against the wet rock wall and pain shot through his body from his leg. The Chimchar screeched in panic, Draven grunting. "Hahh, sorry-, hey, wait!" The Chimchar had enough, jumping off of Draven and running towards the east. Now that he didn't have to crush the poor thing, he crawled up finally, grunting as he felt so sopping wet. He chased after the Chimchar, who was screeching and waving his arms at the young man as he took shelter within Mt. Coronet's cavern. Finally, Draven made it into the cavern, panting and shivering from the cold and wet of the rain.
"Sorry, Chimchar. I would have stayed in the city but I couldn't let anyone see you. It hasn't been long enough-fffffuuuck..." He looked down at his leg and saw a nice red cut, his pants bleeding through. "Damn it." He groaned, shaking his head. "Come on, let's get higher up."
There were little ponds in this part of the cavern, and some of the water was coming down from the set of caverns above them. He groaned. "Damn, my luck is just getting worse... I think I have an Escape Rope to help us get up there..." He looked in his backpack and found that everything was pretty soaked beyond measure. He groaned, leaning his back against the wall and resting his head against the cavern wall.
He thought about calling Hazel, but he still had Chimchar. The soaked monkey looked up at him, his fists clenching at his shirt and tried shaking him, yelling and screeching. Draven chuckled and patted his head, getting the Chimchar to pause, teeth gritting. "I'm not giving up. If that's what you were concerned about. I just need to rest. We can climb that after we rest some." He pointed towards the northeast of the room. "I would dry you off, but we don't really have anything dry right now. So, we rest for the time being, try and keep ourselves warm, and then once we've rested a little, we can try getting to higher ground in the cave. If we go too high though, we'll end up freezing our butts off because the higher up the mountain we go, the colder it'll get. I think it's snowing up there right now. Or hailing because of the downpour." He spoke, but he wasn't sure if the monkey heard him. He looked down at the thing, noticing it was shivering and clinging to him. Wrapping his arms around him and trying not to touch his flame, he sat there like that, hoping the rain would at least subside.