Ask to Join Kickin’ it Kanto Style

[JoyPaws]

After Alice toured Cerulean City, Stacy eventually decided to head back to the gym. She still needed to be paid. Even if it was just for her lugging the box there...

Stacy entered the gym and had almost gotten to talk to the gym's leader, Misty. But then the same lady came stomping over and pulled her away.

"Didn't I tell you to stay out!?" The woman hissed at her. Stacy nodded slowly, "Mhm... But... The company still needs to be paid... Even it was just for the trouble of getting all the way here..." She mumbled.

"Don't you do refunds or something!? Cause this sure seems like something we would get a refund for!!!" The woman exclaimed, looking as if she might explode any moment. Yes, Stacy's father's company did do refunds. If it was damage to the packaging, usually, they wouldn't do refunds... But for something like this? Yeah, her father definitely would refund them. Maybe she was entirely wrong about this... perhaps she should have gone back home immediately and not pressed for money... The company was pretty rich, so maybe it wouldn't matter...

"Oh yeah... Um... Sorry..." She turned around and headed to the door, leaning on her cane as she did so. On the way back, she took a closer look around the gym. It was very pretty... Even if, personality-wise, the people inside it were not. Also, there were far too many pokemon for her liking... Far too many...

And then suddenly someone ran into Stacy! Stacy ended up bouncing back a bit at the force of the impact and landed on her butt. "Ow..." She mumbled as she grabbed her cane again.

 

[Crystal1302]

Alice tossed in the air and caught the souvenir baseball she purchased from Cerulean Marine Stadium. "Whew, we visited so many places! I hope Stacey had a good time," she said. "But that begs the question Cherry, where do we go from here? Ricky said something about needing to resurrect fossils and going to Cinnabar Island. Still, the Nav says we need to swim to get over there, and while I'm pretty good at swimming, I don't think we can make it all the way to Cinnabar without a pokemon to surf to fly on. Let's see: Drilly can fly but I don't think she can fly that fast and carry me and all my stuff. It'd take forever. There's you Cherry, but while fast, you aren't the biggest even when evolved. There's Poli, but he'd probably be more interested sucking my face than swimming. That just leaves us with..Karpy!" said Alice digging through her bag to find her Magikarp's Pokeball. "Gyrados is super big and fast, especially like a super strong Red Gyarados! We could get to Cinnabar in no time flat!" said Alice to her crustacean companion. "We just have to get in a bunch of battles with Karpy and we can finally get ourselves a red Gyarados! Let's see..good places to train here.." said Alice scrolling through a bunch of things on her PokeNav. "Aha! The Fighting Dojo in Saffron, just south of here! Let's go!" said Alice before running of in the direction of Vermillion before Cherry corrected her.

 

[Godjacob]

Connor's attention turned to Amelia as she cried at a discover, she apparently lost her Cascade badge and a sense of panic seemed to hit as he looked on with concern.

"Oh now, do you need..." Connor had began to ask, but before he could even offer a hand Amelia decided to go herself and insisted they stay behind as he respected her decision and waited. He hoped she'd be able to find her badge, would be a pain to work hard to earn something like this only to lose it.

Little how he had known that perhaps she had bumped into a little more than a badge...

 

[Imperfect World]

Amelia rubbed her head before standing up and holding a hand out to the girl in front of her.

“Sorry about that!” She said quickly, hoisting the girl up with a bit too much force.

She tried to stabilize the both of them so they didn’t teeter. Then she looked around.

“You haven’t happened to see a Cascade badge, have you? Blue, small, looks like a water droplet, shiny, super duper cool?” Amelia asked, describing the badge in detail.

 

[JoyPaws]

Once Stacy balanced herself, she leaned on her cane.

"It's completely fine," She replied calmly. The girl didn't seem to mean to do it so why get mad over being ran into?

Stacy listened intently to the girl words, thinking over her memory. "I know what the Cascade badge looks like," She said showing she was fully aware of the badge's existence and appearance, "Hmm... I think I might've... Do you remember where you were when you last had it?" Stacy asked.

 

[Imperfect World]

“I was here! I think… I dropped it somewhere, but I don’t know where…” Amelia said looking around the gym.

She looked into the water, on platforms and diving boards, and finally she saw it shimmering at the bottom of the pool.

“Found it!”

Without any hesitation she jumped into the pool, swimming to the bottom and rising back up with a splash. Her body was soaked and her clothes stuck to her sides. Still in the water she raised the badge up, not caring about or simply not noticing all the weird stares she got from the gym trainers. She raised the badge up in the air triumphantly.

“I got it!”

 

[Crystal1302]

Alice (after getting lost quite a bit) finally made it to the southern entrance of route 5. Right as she approached the door, an officer standing guard near it stopped her.

"Sorry, miss, the gate to Saffron's closed right now." said the officer.

"Aww, really?"

"Yes, the current guard's still sick and I need to get back to my post." said the officer before muttering about being very thirsty.

"Oh, that's a shame. Wait! Umm, Ms. Officer lady," said Alice digging through her bag. "If you're thirsty, you can have this!" said Alice handing the officer a bottle of Dewford Beach brand Soda Pop. "Dewford Beach Soda Pop! The best Soda Pop you'll ever have!"
The officer was shocked a bit before happily taking the Soda Pop. "Thank you so much! Y'know, just this once since you were a nice little girl, I'll let you through." she said before pulling out a ring of keys. "Yay Cherry! We get to go through!" said Alice to her crustacean companion. She unlocked the gate and opened the door for her to get into the city. "Thanks miss!" said Alice before walking through the gate. "Good thing I finally found a use for that Soda Pop. I think it's been sitting in my bag for months by now!" said Alice to Cherry. The officer overheard this as she took her first gulp before starting to wretch and spit it out. Alice heard some weird coughing noises but she just decided to ignore it as she finally got to the biggest city in all of Kanto: Saffron City.

"Wow, this place makes Cerulean look like Littleroot!" said Alice before running to look for the Fighting Dojo.

 

[JoyPaws]

Stacy blinked a few times before rushing over asking frantically, "Are you okay?! Are you alright?!?!" She offered a hand out to try and pull her out of the water.

After she had helped the girl up, she mumbled, "Your clothes are all wet..." She frowned.

 

[Imperfect World]

Amelia just smiled as she shook herself like a dog, most of the water coming off of her. However, she was still slightly damp.

“Eh, it’s all good! The sun will dry me off!” She said.

She took off her backpack and pinned the badge safely on the inside flap, securing it tightly and putting her backpack back on.

“I’m heading to Vermillion City! Are you heading there as well?”

 

[JoyPaws]

Stacy stepped back a bit after Amelia started shaking the water off. Stacy didn't like the idea of her nice dress being wet.

It still ended up wet. yay...

She raised eyebrow at the girl's statement. Alright then... Stacy thought.


Stacy shook her head, "I've been to Vermillion City before. When I was going through my journey I went through there. I actually got the badge." She seemed to zone out as if she was reminiscing about something long ago. Not that it was though. It was just two years ago when she had gotten it. Her badges now were somewhere hidden in her closet far from anyone's each. far from Stacy's reach. Her parents didn't think it would help for her to see them after her experience with the Venipede. They were right of course though.

"I'm not going there now though... My dad is probably worried about be by now he doesn't know I'm here... I should probably go to the pokecenter and call him." She said as she leaned in on her cane as if she was listening intently or telling something important. Not that it was though, Stacy was just telling Amelia stuff.

 

[Imperfect World]

“You’ve got a badge from Vermillion!” Amelia was in momentary awe, before she pointed at herself. “I’m gonna get one soon, too! We can be matchers!”

She then heard about how Stacy’s had to go call her dad, and almost offered to go with, until remembering she had left her friends and her Charmeleon in the secret underground road to Vermillion.

“I’d go, but I have to go meet up with my friends! If you want to talk more, you can see me in action in Vermillion City!” Amelia then waved goodbye and zoomed out of the gym, as if she wasn’t there to begin with.

It took her a few minutes to rush back down the secret entrance stairs, before tripping on the last step and sliding face first onto the floor, right in front of her Charmeleon. She lifted her face up, smiling at him.

“Hi Hito!” She said to her Pokémon, before standing up. “I’m back, and I have my badge now!”

 

[JoyPaws]

Stacy nodded, "I might do that..." Her voice was soft like she wasn't sure about it herself even if she would like it. But would her mom and dad want that?

She waved goodbye to Amelia and watched as she walked off. And then Stacy headed to the pokecenter and called her dad.

Stacy typed her father's number into the machine and then...
"STACY ARE ALRIGHT!?!? I'VE BEEN LOOKIN FOR YOU FOR AN HOUR WHERE ARE YOU!?" Her father seemed to shout through the screen in panic. Made since why he was panicked. She had been away from home for maybe two or more hours... Poor dad... She thought.

"Yes, I'm just fine dad... Jason said he hurt his food and needed me to deliver a package to Cerulean City for him." Stacy was about to explain more when her father said, "But he looks just fine! He's been walking around and laughing!"

"Yes, I know dad... It was clear he didn't, but I decided I should just do it..." Stacy said sadly.

"I'll make sure to fire him," Her father said with a sigh. He did look tired, "Well... Why didn't you get back? Jason said you left three hours ago but the journey to and from Cerulean City is just an hour."

"I got a bit sidetracked... I met this really nice girl named Alice and this other girl... I never got a name... They are both pokemon trainers I think... It's neat..." She sounded wistful why the end of it. Memories of when she was doing her journey... She kind of missed it but also... Pokemon... Wild creatures that would attack you any moment...

"-Stacy?" Oh. Her father was talking to her, "Are you alright there?" Stacy nodded. "It doesn't look like it..." Her father's voice was quiet. He sounded like he wanted to know what was wrong. Which of course he did... It was her dad after all...

"Just thinking about when I was going through my journey..." She said softly.

"You can always get back to doing it... It's not like you finished it... I can make sure you are able to always come back home if you get to scared." Her father sounded like he was gently nudging her to do it.

"Okay..." Stacy said, "I'll think about it... I'll be home soon..."

"Alright stay safe," Stacy's father said and then the screen turned off.

Stacy stood there for a good minute. And then she started her trek home. Maybe she would go back to her journey... Just maybe.

 

[Godjacob]

Connor hummed to himself as he tried not to mill over worries about Amelia, he only hoped she was able to find her badge as it would've been a shame to lose something you earned and was so important to one's journey here.

Soon enough, a familiar voice was heard followed by some steps as Amelia seemed to have returned, and good news she seemed to suggest she had her badge back as Connor seemed to smile as relief washed over him.

"That's good to hear Amelia. So, you guys ready to move?" Connor asked what he referred to in his head as this tunnel group of sorts as now that Amelia had her badge they seemed ready to go.

He had to admit, he was a bit excited what lied ahead on his journey and perhaps on this trip he'd get the chance to catch a native Kanto Pokemon.

 

[Imperfect World]

“Yeah, let’s go! Come on, Hito!” Amelia said, before turning and addressing her Charmeleon.

She dashed down the tunnel, Hito following quickly behind her. Amelia was so excited to battle the next gym, hoping to catch more Pokémon in the process.

 

[Ridge]

Next to the stairs that lea to the surface, Rick was leaning on a wall, tapping his foot on the floor with arms crossed, waiting for Amelia to come back. "I give her ten more minutes, which is more than I'm usualy willing to wait for someone who went out to pick a coin they droped on the floor at some random place." He muttered.

Zephir was napping in the middle of the way when a thud was heard down the corridor, which made the leafy cat perk and get up. Rick glimpsed to the side as Amelia finaly showed up, running. "Welcome back. Up to get some sunlight and fresh air? It's right there!" Said Rick, pointing up at the stairs.

 

[Godjacob]

Connor of course was traken aback by Amelia's energy as the young man shook her head when she dashed ahead and quickly tried to move to keep pace, though as he did he turned his head to Rick as he seemed to have an amused grin.

"A little patience never hurt anyone." Connor said, before he raced down the tunnel with Amelia and Rick as soon enough they seemed to see another set of tairs which he presumed led back up to the surface at the end of the tunnel.

"Alright well, let's get moving." Connor said, as he approached the steps carefully given his leg and moved them up at an even pace.

 

[The Heart of Frostfire.]

As the others began to into the tunnel, Lewis and Alexis slowly woke up from what appeared to be a trance. Before they 'awoke', Alexis was sitting in front of Lewis and the two seemed to be preforming some kind of ritual. At least, they had their left hand to the other's shoulder and the right hands were being held by the other. After they came to reality however, Lewis quickly stood up with a gasp eliciting a soft giggle from his companion. "And I believe that was a successful mind sharing. I have learned quite a bit about you, and... I apologize for what you've been through. Regardless, I feel as if we should join our new companions, they were likely waiting for us with concern." He spoke, quickly making his way into the tunnel with Alexis struggling to catch up.

"Oh, you don't need to feel sorry for me, Lewis! After all, one must learn to use all the pain and negative experiences in their life as motivation for improvement! You know this just as well as I do!" She replied in a cheerful tone. As she joined up with the others, she pulled some loaded cheri berries out of her bag and started snacking on them, giving quiet noises of enjoyment. "Don't worry about us, we've made it back to you as promised! Anyone care for a spicy snack?" She offered, showing an entire pouch full of the berries she seemingly enjoyed greatly. "Lewis is a bit of a wimp with spice, but I have more than enough to share!" She grinned, teasingly poking a frowning Lewis.

"I am not a wimp, as you claim. I simply do not see the appeal in such spice. I prefer... Other kinds of flavours." Lewis quickly replied, sighing.

 

[JoyPaws]

Stacy gripped the straps of her backpack close. This was a bad idea. This was a horrible idea. Maybe she shouldn't have listened to the call for adventure... Maybe she should have chosen to stay safe at home and not-

"Stacy are you sure about this?" Stacy's mother asked her worry reeked in her tone of noise. So did pride. The pride of knowing her daughter soon would be on her way to a future in which her daughter wouldn't be scared by the slightest sign of a zubat!

"Mhm... I'm sure..." Stacy lied. Why was she going through with this?! She could easily not go on the adventure! But... Her mom sounded so proud... And her father... He was so happy to see his little girl becoming so strong and brave...

"Well... Remember where I said you should head. You need to go through the cave in Cerulean City. It should lead you to Vermilion City... My employees have been using it at the moment, so I suggest heading through it. Remember you if you ever need help feel free to ask for help and-" Her father was going to continue but Stacy cut him off just then.

"Yes, I know dad! I'll be okay... I think..." Stacy said looking up at her parents.

"We just want to make sure you're safe..." Her mother said softly.

"I should get going... Huh..." She said slowly heading to the door.

"Wait!" Her father said quickly making her turn around, "You almost forgot about this..." He held a little black rectangular box out to Stacy. It was the box her gym badges were in...

Stacy took the box from her father. "Anything else..." She asked.

"Not that I can remember... I know you have pokeballs, potions, revives, money, food, and even more... I think you are ready!" Stacy's father smiled, "Now you go out there okay... You got this!" He said trying to make his daughter confident.

It wasn't working well but hey... He wanted Stacy to do this so... She definitely should. So, after a few goodbyes Stacy was off.

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

Stacy stood in front of the cave. This was going to be fun. Not.

Stacy gripped the straps of her backpack again feeling fear coursing through her veins. She was about to walk into a cave that was dark and probably full of pokemon. This was a horrible idea! THIS WAS A BAD IDEA!!! SHE WAS GOING TO WALK INTO A CAVE THAT WAS DARK AND FULL OF POKEMON WITH NO PROTECTION AT ALL FROM THE EVIL LITTLE MONSTERS!!! SHE WAS GOING TO DIE IN A DARK CAVE AND NO ONE WOULD KNOW! SOMEONE WOULD FIND HER DEAD SKELETON AND WONDER WAS POOR GIRL DIED HERE AND HOW! THEY WOULD NEVER SUSPECT THE REAL MURDERER WOULD BE THE POKEMON LIVING IN IT-

Why was she in the cave. Why did her legs decide to walk into the cave. She stared at the dark cave. The only light coming from outside the cave... Well... She was in the cave already... why not go farther...?

Stacy had walked around the cave a bit luckily not seeing a pokemon yet only hearing the squeaking of zubat and other cave dwelling pokemon. But that was about to change.

Stacy was feeling pretty relaxed by now. Except for when suddenly a zubat flew straight into her face. She let out a blood curdling scream and fell onto the floor swatting at the air, eyes closed, tying not to let the zubat hurt her.

In reality the zubat was about as scared as Stacy was utterly confused why this random girl was scared of it.

 

[Godjacob]

As Connor walked with the group to the end of the tunnel, and what seemed to be another set of stairs that led up back to the surface, he heard a pair of voices he had not been familiar with but recognized as he turned to see a pair of people who seemed to try to catch up with them; Lewis and Alexis.

He recalled they were a pair who were with Amelia when he first met this group but they seemed to vanish for a bit, whatever episode they had seemed to pass as not only did they return but one even offered some spicy snacks which hey, given he had not had much to eat today sounded as good as anything as he smiled and walked over to them.

"I could always enjoy a snack, thank you." Connor said as he was curious what this tasted like and it seemed a touching gesture on Alexis' part.

 

[The Heart of Frostfire.]

Lewis stood back as Alexis passed a few loaded cheri berries to Conner. "Careful, they're rather spicy, and can get a bit messy. Hope you like montery jack!" She giggled, stepping back again. "Lewis originally came up with the recipe, but they were meant for the sourness of wiki berries. I just modified it to be less of a desert!" She added, watching in anticipation. Meanwhile, her more scientifically minded companion decided to turn on the holographic screen of his holotech and began reading through various news articles and recent events.

"I'm fortunate to have designed the signal reciever of our latest holotech model to work even underground. Poor signal and interferance were a problem when underground and in more industrial areas, at least with the last few models." He quietly commented to himself, humming quietly. Eventually, he felt as if he was caught up enough with the events of Kanto and turned off the screen, turning his attention to Connor. "It's good to see a friendly face again. I apologize for vanishing, however Alexis wanted to share one of her more... Unique abilities with me." He spoke in a neutral tone, but his face had the slightest hint of a sly smile.

"He's such a unique person compared to everyone else I've met!" The psychic chimed in, her Umbreon coming out of his ball to gently rub against Conner, the slightly undersized quadruped purring(?) loudly.

 

[Ridge]

Rick was halfway up the stairs when he heard the familiar voices of Lewis and Alexis. For some reason they had ended up falling behind the group. Though, unlike some others, they were relatively quick to catch up. Rick heard Alexis offering some berries, and he was about to take the offer... until she talked about spice and he grimaced.

"Err... no, thanks." He said, waving his hand. "I honestly don't know why people like spicy things. It's literaly just torturing yourself and your taste buds." He added. Then he realized... Iris liked them. "On a second thought, I might have some usage for them." He said, walking down the stairs.

 

[Godjacob]

Connor took the cheri berries in hand and the warning in consideration as he none the less pressed on. He would take one of the berries and move it in his mouth, chewed upon it and he quickly felt the spicy heat hit as hie eyes seemed to slightly widen as he swallowed. "Oh w-wow wow you were not kidding, spicy stuff." Connor said as he took a sip of water and sighed out a bit before he smiled. "Still, these are quite good, thank you." Connor said to Alexis, and Lewis as well as he seemed to inspire the recipe.

He would take measured bits of the berries, always quick to have his water on hand to down the spicy after kick as he listened to Lewis who seemed to use his piece of tech to catch up on the details. Apparently Alexis shared one of her psychic powers with him and this only seemed to make Connor curious as he took a second to huff out after he dared to eat two of the spicy berries at once before he downed a shot of water and smiled at them.

"Hey no sweat! Just happy you guys caught up, always happy to have more friendly faces to travel with." Connor smiled as indeed, given he had began his journey on his own with only his partner Pokemon he had been happy to have been accepted to this larger group. Rick seemed to come down to try some of the berries as Connor seemed to take another as he seemed to enjoy the spice more as he had gotten used to it.

 

[The Heart of Frostfire.]

Alexis chuckled in reply to Rick's disbelief and shook her head, looking up at him with a smirk, passing Rick some as he finally decided to take some. "Well, mr 'spice is self torture', some of us have a high tolerance for the stuff! While you may think it's torture, some of us find it very enjoyable! If you don't want berries, I do have cheese, of the non-spicy variety!" She chuckled, reaching into her bag. While she searched, Lewis sighed and decided to chime in. "She's single handedly going to carry the food reserves of the team. I suppose it's a good thing, as it saves us money on food. The only thing she's missing is jerky." He spoke, his sly smile getting more noticable.

"Oh, I also packed preserved meat as well! Gotta keep a balanced meal, even when on the road!" Alexis chuckled, finally pulling out a small package of cheese along with some saltine crackers in a ziplock bag. "Lewis may question how I keep the food fresh, but that's just my own little secret~ Let's just say a little rotom helps me out, but it's not very talkative."

 

[JoyPaws]

Eventually the zubat decided that torturing the poor girl was not as funny as it thought it would be and left the girl alone.

Stacy lay on the floor a bit longer curled up in a ball, sobbing after the ordeal. Eventually though Stacy stood up, whipped her eyes, and started trekking through the cave once again. Just maybe... Much more terrified than before.

Stacy continued through the tunnel until she saw some sort of light... It clearly wasn't natural light from the outside... So, what was it then? Well, it had to be other people. It had to be. Though it could be an evil murderous nightmare pokemon like the zubat from earlier. Best to stay hidden. wait till it was gone. But maybe one peak would be okay.

Stacy peaked around the corner and saw some trainers. Okay well it was just people that was good. But they had pokemon. Duh Stacy. Of course, they have pokemon! Thats what they are training in the first place! She thought to herself. Well. Best to stay away. Don't want them catching you snooping and-

"Oww!" She grumbled as she held her knee, "Ow! ow, ow, ow..." She felt tears welling in her eyes at the pain of ramming her knee into the wall of the cave. That hurt! She must have scrapped her knee or something or it must have at least broken her skin because she saw a light hint of red in her white tights. Lovely. Just lovely.

 

[Godjacob]

"Hey if someone has free food then I say they are more than welcomed to keep personal secrets." Connor mused with a chuckle, having downed the last of the spicy berries with his water and quite enjoyed the snack. The fact that Alexis seemed to carry more food with her and even had it neatly sealed through...unspecified means, only seemed to reinforce that.

However, Connor's attention snapped over to a stumble and the sounds of a cry as someone else appeared to be on their side of the tunnel. Seemed to be a girl if what his distant gaze could guess, but given the lack of lighting her sans Amelia's Pokemon and some flashlights that had been hard to say. Either way he made his way over and seemed to see someone who scrapped their knee and had been bleeding which was not the best sight.

"He you okay?" Connor asked, as he reached to his bag and pulled out a hand towel, one he intended to try and wrap around the cut to deal with the bleeding as he glanced back over to the group. "Hey someone else is here, seems they hurt their knee!" Connor called back to the group.

 

[JoyPaws]

Stacy blinked a bit then quickly said, "Ah I'm fine!" She quickly put her down wincing a bit at pain that had always come whenever she put too much weight on it. She leaned on her crutch for some support. She looked at the group sighing a bit. So, her idea of hiding was not going to work. Snooping was super impolite anyways.

Stacy looked put her let out a bit to see how much damage was done and saw a tear in the pair of white leggings... Lovely. The area around the hole was stained red now and there was a tiny gash in her knee. It would be fine. Probably would heal up decently quickly. But then again this was her bad leg she was talking about. The one that had been bitten by a poison pokemon. So maybe it wouldn't heal as fast. But then again Stacy wasn't a doctor so she might have just assumed wrong about that.

Stacy pulled her leg closer to her again.

 

[The Heart of Frostfire.]

As the sounds of another person were heard, Lewis and Alexis were on the scene not long after Connor. Alexis returned her Umbreon and crouched down close to Stacy, but far enough away to be at a respectable distance as she inspected her wounds. "It's okay, try to relax! I have medical training, and if you'd like, I can do my best to tend to your wounds!" She smiled, trying her best to be friendly. While those who didn't know her would be offput by her kindness, she didn't care. "Looking at your wounds... I'm guessing you were attacked by something, am I correct? I can sense your aura, it seems something terrible happened to you recently."

Lewis sighed once again and leaned against the cave wall. "Please forgive my colleague, she's not very used to people, and as such, she doesn't have a very good sense of boundaries yet. However, we are working on it. Regardless of her poor manners upon meeting new people, she is very good with her preformance on healing, despite her lack of formal training. She'll have you back on your feet in no time." He commented, his eyes closing for a few moments as he let Alexis do her work.

"And I won't do anything if you don't want me to! I don't want to violate your sense of decency!" She continued to smile, rummaging through her bag once again. Making sure she had the supplies she was looking for, she returned her gaze to the stranger, her odd purple eyes glowing gently, a clear mark of her psychic abilities.

 

[JoyPaws]

To put it simply. Stacy felt extremely violated. Yes, it had always been a clear mark that she had some sort of issue that caused her to have to walk with a limp and have to use a cane. But people didn't tend to comment on it. And if they did, they would usually be a close friend something. But a total stranger on the other hand. She felt like she was being dissected. Also, the umbreon...

Stacy gripped her cane for some sort of support as she started backing away slowly. "I just hit my knee on a rock. nothing happened." That attack hadn't happened recently that had happened a year ago and she had no wish to bring it up again. She eyed the umbreon carefully as her breathing became shacky. That creature was huge. The size of probably a canine or something. That thing could hurt her easily even if it didn't have secretly evil abilities that absolutely no one seemed to think could be dangerous at all. Sure, it had been returned but she had a strong belief that pokemon could 100% break out of their pokeballs if they really wanted to.

Stacy froze. She held on tight to her cane. It was practically a security blanket for the girl. Maybe if she held on tight to the cane all the talk of pokemon attacks would stop and that maybe the umbreon wouldn't break out of its ball and tried to destroy her. She just shut her eyes tightly trying to not think about any of what had just happened.

 

[Godjacob]

Connor made sure to wrap the rag around the cut on her leg, even if she tried to downplay the situation something seemed to startle this girl; that much was evident given the shaky breathing as she seemed to eye something with that concerned expression and her body seemed to freeze on her. Poor thing seemed to be rocked by something, beyond just the knee injury.

"You know, we do want to help you. That much I can assure you of." Connor said as he looked the girl in the eye while he presented himself as sincerely as he could. "However, we can't really help if we don't get context for what is going on, or what is really troubling you." Connor added on as if they knew what she was upset with, maybe they'd be able to lend a hand with it as clearly this girl had been in distress and whatever he'd be able to do to help he seemed willing to try.

 

[Imperfect World]

Amelia, having fallen behind, dashed up the stairs at the end of the secret tunnel, now arriving on Route 6. She looked around the route and her friends, who she now saw in front of her.

“Oh! Hi! Where have ya been?” She asked excitedly.

She then looked to the girl she had met earlier, Stacy, who seemed to have a bleeding cut on her knee that was being tended to by Connor.

“Gee, what did ya do?”

 

[Ridge]

Rick took the berries from Alexis and put them on his beltpocked. "Alright, much thanks! Now... off we go." He said, as he headed back to the stairs once again. And once again, he was already halfway when Connor called out the group for yet another person that was coming their way. Though this time he didn't walk back. He just crouched untill he was able to see a girl holding on to a crane. She seemed scared, and that's an understatement. For some reason, people offering to help with her injury wasn't making the girl any calmer, either.

"Damn, she's absolutely freaked out." Rick muttered, rubbing his chin. Soon after, Zephir ran down the stairs and towards the girl. He stood on his hind legs to put her front paws on the girl's injured leg, before his body started glowing with a faint aura and green pulsing waves were sent through the girl's leg.

 

[JoyPaws]

Stacy was about to calm down. She took a deep breath and quickly said, "I'm sorry just. Lots of people. Also, pokemon heh..." She sounded a bit embarrassed as she made the connection that no her previous leg injury was not being talked about. They were talking about how she probably looked like a mess after the zubat incident.

Stacy turned to Conner, "Thank you... I'm just fine though! Just panicked a bit! But really, I'm just fine! I just hit my knee on a rock!" She smiled a bit and seemed much better.

That was until a pokemon ran over to Stacy and put its paws on her leg and it seemed to be doing something with her leg. She let out a very girly scream (especially considering she is a girl) and stumbled back a bit looking rather terrified at the suddenness at the pokemon's sudden appearance.

 

[The Heart of Frostfire.]

As Stacy was tended to by Connor, Lewis stood up straight and started heading for the exit, sighing. "Seeing as that has been dealt with, I shall wait for you in town. I hear Kantonian wine isn't too expensive, and I'm sure Alexis could use an antiseptic in her supplies. Not to mention Lady has a taste for wine, ever since we celebrated my coming of age." He replied, leaving after getting a silent nod from Alexis. "Oh, Lewis... You better not drink any of that stuff!" She called after him, the scientist shaking his head in amusement.

"I swear to Arceus, if he decides to spend the day in the bar... No matter!" She approached Stacy slowly, her hand out in front of her as the glow in her eyes continued. "Are you sure you're oka-" Her train of thought was cut off as Stacy started panicking from a Pokemon she didn't identify trying to heal her leg, so doing what she did best, attempted to share her calm, positive aura with Stacy. She had no real experience with attempting to use her psychic abilities to sooth emotions, but she hoped they would succeed. "It's okay, don't be scared. It's just a Pokemon, it's not going to hurt you! I don't need to be a psychic to know you've must have had a traumatizing past with Pokemon, but you don't need to worry. All of our pokemon are take and wouldn't dare do anything to harm someone else. We'll make sure you're safe." She cooed, using her voice to further fortify her attempts to calm Stacy.

 

[Godjacob]

Connor watched as Amelia seemed to race up the stairs along with Rick, seemed they lag behind a bit and tried to race to catch up having missed the scene with Stacy in the tunnel though Amelia and one of Rick's Pokemon seemed to return as Amelia asked what was up while the Pokemon seemed to startle the girl which of course seemed to be a bit of unfortunate development. Connor seemed to think that he was getting to her and she had started to calm down only for this to spook her. Alexis tried to assure Stacy that this Pokemon and really their Pokemon had meant no harm which was an account he intended to back up.

"Yeah believe me, it just wants to see what it up. Concerned, like we all are." Connor said, as he tried to help ease the tension here as if they could get Stacy to settle a bit they'd possibly be able to help her and whatever had been the source of the girl's distress as he hoped for no more suprises that'd twist this effort.

 

[Draco Nightshade]

Having observed the situation and feeling like they weren't getting anywhere Alex sighed before walking over to the others while Roxanne caught up with Rick.
"Pardon me for doing this." The blind man gently pushed past the Leafeon before lifting Stacy in a princess carry with little effort. "Before anyone says anything, I don't feel right about leaving her behind and time's a wastin'. I'm pretty sure that a lot of us would prefer some sunlight before it's gone so let's get going." Without another word, Alex made his way to the exit where the others were with Stacy. "My name's Alex by the way."

 

[JoyPaws]

Stacy stood there shacking like scared puppy staring at the leafeon in fear, "I... I don't know like pokemon much... They scare me a lot! I... I want to get over! I really am... It's hard in moments like these..." her voice was quiet as she said it all her voice turning into a tiny squeak by the end. She gripped a cane tightly, "Just get it away from me please..." she squeaked.

And suddenly she was picked up by a random man! Stacy started trying to get her way out of the man's arms in a panic. Surprise, surprise the little girl is surprised but a random adult man picking her up lol. Stacy let out more frighting squeaks like a frightened dedenne. Because yes. Stacy in fact was rather terrified and overwhelmed by the random burst of attention of the strangers.

In her struggle Stacy dropped her cane and reached her hand out for it but couldn't grab it do to her being a rather small twelve-year-old and being held in the air the opposite of being nearing the ground.

 

[Draco Nightshade]

Having had enough of the girl's warranted struggling, Aria guided them to a bench that he promptly set her down on. "Again, I'm sorry about that." He then nodded to his Lucario who had actually retrieved the girl's cane before handing it to Alex who in turn gave it back to Stacy, his Lucario returning to her ball when she was done. "We noticed that you seem uncomfortable around Pokemon so Aria thought she would give you space. As I said earlier, I'm Alexander Tempest, Alex for short. And you are?"

 

[The Heart of Frostfire.]

As Alex entered the scene, Alexis immediately turned her attention to the blind psychic and smiled. "Oh! You're back! I was wondering what happened to you! I remember you from a while ago, as we psychics are rather rare! It's not every day I meet another of my kind!" She exclaimed positively, her eyes now sparkling as bright as a dawn stone, only purple coloured. She then turned back to Stacy, following Alex out of the cave.

"Youngling, you need to calm down. We're not going to harm you, there is no need to be scared. Now, look at that, you dropped your cane!" She continued to attempt to sooth the young girl, even if her words seemed to not reach her. She reached to grab the cane but the Lucario got to it first and instead put her focus elsewhere, continuing to attempt to fill the area with calm, positive vibes via her aura. "There you go! Wouldn't want to lose that, eh? I apologize if everything is overwhelming, I know how you feel." She replied, her positive vibes starting to get clouded with dark memories.

"Back when I first entered proper society after my rescue... I was much like yourself. Absolutely terrified of people, having little to no trust in people... It took me a lot of work to gain trust. But I believe I can help you gain trust in Pokemon. After all, there are few Pokemon who actively take joy in harming people, even wild creatures are often more scared of you than you are of them. And with those owned by trainers, then it would be even safer among them, as a trainer who uses their pokemon to harm others would become a criminal in the eyes of the law. You need to try and calm down, there is nothing to fear." She continued to attempt to calm Stacy. While her words the first time were ignored, she still wanted to help.



Meanwhile, Lewis attempted to navigate the area, however as his holotech lacked a map, he quickly got lost lost in Vermillion. "I really should have went for a database update before I went to Kanto... I'll need to find a location where I can get a proper update." He muttered to himself, feeling absolutely embarrassed as he asked for directions to the nearest Pokecentre. After getting directions from a friendly local, he made his way in. Getting his Pokemon healed up out of instinct, he then sat himself in the seating area. Opening his hologear, he connected to the NanoCorp staff nexus, and imputting his security code, got to work getting information that would hopefully make his adventure in Kanto easier.

"Evilane is going to be disappointed in me... She may be eccentric, but she'd have never let this happen if she chose to take a vacation in Kanto... Speaking of which... I wonder if she'd be willing in meeting our little group... She's never gotten to know a psychic properly, if I remember correctly." He continued to quietly speak to himself, hoping nobody would overhear his conversation to himself and causing him further embarrassment.

 

[Godjacob]

"Oh oh dear..." Connor mused as someone came up and apparently decided the best way to "calm" Stacy down after this frantic meeting in the tunnel was to literally scoop her up in a carry which had understandable alarmed her more. Alexis attempted to assure her but he was certain this had been likely to fall on deaf ears as she was carried over to a bench as he sighed a bit....he cast a glare at Aria before he passed some words to Stacy for what little they seemed to be worth.

"I-I assure you we do want to help, and I am quite sorry about all this..." Connor said with a sheepish apology as none the less the group seemed ready to move as he hoped some space would help Stacy settle as they prepared to move up the tunnel. Least he managed to cover the cut on her knee which he figured would help but man...this had become messier than it needed to be.

 

[JoyPaws]

And soon enough Stacy was set down on a bench. She sat silently just gripping onto her cane like it was a part of her.

She listened to the woman's words but found it rather hard to believe she actually understood how she felt. Stacy had just been overwhelmed with a lot of attention by random people she had never met before and that wasn't something that happened in Stacy's normal life. Stacy also at the moment didn't exactly need people saying that she would get over her fear of pokemon. Yes, she would love to not look at them and think about all the ways they might kill her. But that wasn't at the top her list of things to do right now. Right now, it was just to calm herself down.

Stacy started taking deep breathes eventually calming her down enough to speak, "I'm Stacy Lone..." Her voice was still quiet put she was talking at least and that was a good sign! It also helped that it seemed that only three people were near her now and not in an in closed space. She listened a bit longer the people that were still talking and eventually said, "It's fine... People don't usually expect my reaction to pokemon... Plus, I don't enjoy a lot of attention being focused on me," She mumbled the last bit feeling quite ashamed of how she overreacted.