Private/Closed Pokémon: Bronze and Iron {A New Region Adventure}

[~Aura~Slashz~]

Alexander laughed internally. A Grass-type Pokemon being a predator to a Fire-type? How silly.

But this was no time for games. He had to finish this. Battling was serious business, and he had to finish this.

“Alright, it’s time to go! No hesitation! Wigwarm, Growl!”

The frog Pokémon growled as harshly as it could. The intent was to lower Aloegar’s (or Earl’s) Attack, which would make the target’s physical attacks weaker.

And as Leafage and Tackle are physical attacks, this would likely be a little detrimental.

 

[Draco Nightshade]

"It's nice to meet you too, Professor." Wulf took the professor's hand with a firm grip before letting go, silently relieved that he didn't have to continue listening to Sedge go on and on about his card collection. He then turned to the woman he assumed was the other half with an extended hand.

~Professor Gem's Lab~

Diana smiled as she began petting the Pokemon in front of her, scratching Wulfleur behind the ears and scritching Dripurr under the chin, even shaking Matchling's foot when it reached over. "Oh, I wish I could bring all three of you home with me."

 

[Charlotte Pryce]

Chaplet Town
Professors Troy and Octavia Myrtle
Pokémon: Chickapea, Sizzly, Puggle, Litleo (Troy's partner), & Hoothoot (Octavia's partner)
Interactions: Sky & Wulf

Octavia Myrtle shook Wulf's hand.

"How do you do," she said. "My name is Professor Myrtle."

"So is mine," joked her husband, "Only my first name is Troy. You may call us Professor Troy and Professor Octavia for the sake of convenience."

"Pleased to meet you," Sky said. She meant it too.

"I see you've meet our son Sedge," Octavia noted.

Sky's smile faltered. "Yes, he's been quite entertaining."

She shared a look with Wulf that expressed her boredom and exhaustion at having been bombarded with a Pokémon Card lecture.

"Sedge, why don't you play in the yard?" Troy offered. Sky noticed he winked when he said it.

"Sure Daddy!"

Sedge took his Pokémon Cards and ran off.

"Now, I imagine you two are anxious to meet your starters." Professor Troy grinned mischievously as he revealed what he had been concealing behind his back. He opened a brown box which contained two ordinary red and white Poké Balls. "Well, go on! Take one."

Sky looked toward Wulf, confused. She shrugged her shoulders and gestured for him to choose first.

Coronet City
Professor Zanzibar Gem
Age 32
Pokémon: Wulfleur, Matchling, Dripurr,& Dratini
Interactions: Diana

"I know," Professor Gem agreed. "But you know the rules: one trainer, one starter Pokémon."

He handed Diana the thumb drive.

"This will allow you to download an app I designed," Professor Gem explained. "Once you are out in the wild you may encounter strange wild variants of Pokémon that I call Divine Forms."

He took out his Rotom Phone and showed Diana a shaky image of a black Pokémon with three heads and glowing red eyes. The Pokémon appeared to be made out of smoke.

"I believe that these Pokémon are capable of becoming one with their element. If you happen to see any in your travels, first of all, run. Second, if you can, I would appreciate it if you document them for me. With your help, I think I can figure out what causes this transformation."

 

[Draco Nightshade]

"Uh, okay?" Wulf slowly grabbed the ball closest to him as he looked at Professor Troy in confusion, not sure what else to say. He waited for Sky to take the other one.

~Professor Gem's lab~

Diana sighed before her ears twitched at the new information. "Divine forms?" Turning around and seeing a picture of one, Diana could not deny her fascination with this subject. But the trio of Pokemon vying for her attention brought her back to the task at hand. "I choose you, Wulfleur." Picking up the Grass type, Diana then received the thumb drive.

 

[Charlotte Pryce]

Chaplet Town
Professors Troy and Octavia Myrtle
Pokémon: Chickapea, Sizzly, Puggle, Litleo (Troy's partner), & Hoothoot (Octavia's partner)
Interactions: Sky & Wulf

Sky took the remaining Poké Ball from the box.

"Congratulations!" Professor Troy's voice rang out louder than a Chimecho. "You are now officially Pokémon Trainers."

Sky turned her Poké Ball over in her hand. It was extremely light. Other than that, she could not find anything out of the ordinary about it.

"Uh, Professor..." she hesitated. "These are empty."

Professor Troy did a palm slap to his forehead. "Bless my soul! Did I forget to mention the trial?"

Trial? Sky was starting to feel sick to her stomach.

"Just a small test," Octavia assured them. "Your Pokémon are in the garden maze we set up out back. Find them and catch them using these Poké Balls and they will be yours."

"In the old days, Trainers didn't simply get handed their Pokémon," Troy explained. "They had to prove themselves by going out into the wild and finding a Pokémon to call their own. Naturally, we don't want to put you in danger, but this way you might learn something about yourselves and the Pokémon that best suits you."

With that little twist, the Professors Myrtle led Wulf and Sky to their garden maze. It wasn't very big, just an enclosed area separated by tall hedges.

"Good luck to you both!" Octavia said. "We'll be waiting inside when you receive your Pokémon."

With that, she and Troy went into their lab and shut the door.

Sky gulped. She looked first at the maze, then at Wulf.

"Personally, I preferred when they just handed us a Pokémon."

Coronet City
Professor Zanzibar Gem
Age 32
Pokémon: Matchling, Dripurr, & Dratini (Diana received Wulfleur)
Interactions: Diana

"Congratulations!" Professor Gem said, handing Diana the drive and Wulfleur's Poké Ball. "You are well on your way to becoming a Pokémon Trainer."

Dratini perked up and slithered over to Diana, apparently congratulating her.

 

[Draco Nightshade]

Wulf shrugged. "Beggars can't be choosers, Sky." Looking down the path, he twitched his ears unconsciously before continuing. "So, you wanna go together or split up?"

 

[Charlotte Pryce]

Sky looked at the paths laid out in front of them. The first hedge divided the maze into two paths: right or left.

"I think we are supposed to choose our own path. Maybe we can meet up at the center of the maze?"

Even saying it she didn't sound confident. Still, this was only a game. Right?

"I think I'll go left. Go whichever way you think is best."

 

[Draco Nightshade]

"Sounds like a plan. Meet you at the center." With that said, Wulf walked down the path and turned to the right, leaving Sky alone. Looking around the maze for any sign of the Fire Pokemon, Sizzly, Wulf made sure to keep his eyes and ears wide open as he walked through the hedgerows.

 

[Charlotte Pryce]

Sky and Wulf weren't the only ones keeping their eyes and ears open. Unbeknownst to Sky, a Hoothoot was sitting on top of the hedge maze watching her every step. Sky heard the sound of grass rustling and kept slowly down the path. She passed a sign on her side of the maze that said: DO YOU BREAK THE MOLD OR SHAPE IT? Sky wasn't sure what that meant, but decided to turn right. She ended up at a pond where something was taking a bath.

Sky wasn't the only one being tracked. Trailing behind Wulf, hidden amongst the hedges, was a Litleo. Any moment, Wulf would come to a sign that said: DO YOU FLEE THE FLAMES OR FIGHT THEM? When that happened, Litleo was supposed to jump out and intimidate Wulf. Whether Wulf ran forward or stood his ground would determine what happened next.

 

[Draco Nightshade]

It didn't take long for Wulf to notice the sign in front of him. "Do you flee the flames or fight them? Huh." The second he finished reading aloud, the Litleo that was following after him made itself known with a little roar. Wulf turned to face the feline, giving a glare that unnerved most humans, mostly because of his eyes.

 

[Inkage]

Aceso knew that the best they could do at this point was stall. "Well then, use leer, Earl!"

Earl laughed at the attempt the Wigwarm made to growl, and it is decently hard to attack well when you can't take the opponent seriously.
It then shot the Wigwarm with a deep stare, intimidating it, and lowering it's defenses. The entire turn had been wasted.

Aceso just knew that Earl would fight more heatedly the moment it saw Wigwarm as an actual threat. It was a predator, after all, and Wigwarm was prey.

Earl was starting to get more energized. The climate of Crest Island was fairly nice, helping the warm blooded Aloegar warm up and devote more of his attention to battling. But it wasn't exactly working at peak capacity. After the leer, Aloegar just yawned, waiting to see what this whole thing was about anyway. Was this some sort of intimidation contest? Aloegar really didn't entirely see the point of it, or why his 'opponent', if it could be called that, was so energized.

 

[Charlotte Pryce]

The Litleo backed up a bit. For a human, Wulf seemed a bit intimidating himself. Suddenly, the Litleo's ears perked up. About time. He turned, looking once over his shoulder at Wulf and ran off.

"Hono?" Something made a little grunting noise behind Wulf. From it's hiding place, a small red-orange bear-like Pokémon with a black flame patch over its belly emerged. It's black tipped ears and tail resembled dying flames. This was Sizzly the Fire-type stater of Chaplet Town.

Curious of this human who seemingly made a scary lion cub back down, Sizzly stood at the front of the path sniffing the air between him and Wulf.

Meanwhile...

Sky approached the spot of the pond where an unidentified Pokémon was taking a bath. At first, she thought it was a duck, until she spied its beaver-like tail. The Pokémon was covered in blue-grey fur. It had a bill like Psyduck's only it matched its tail's leather-like color and texture. The Pokémon used all four of its black webbed feet to paddle around. It climbed out of the pool and shook itself dry.

"Puggle," Sky whispered, realizing this was in fact the Water-type starter of Chaplet Town. She held the professor's Poké Ball down at her side, not wanting to startling it.

 

[~Aura~Slashz~]

Alexander realized this battle could a take a long time, and if he continued to use Growl, it wouldn’t really do anything. The turn was practically cancelled out.

He also noticed the yawning from Aloegar’s side. He knew it wasn’t ready for battle, but he didn’t know what he had to do to make it ready.

But anyways, Alexander went with the first attacking move.

“Alright, Ember, now!”

Wigwarm shot a small burst of flame towards the opposing Aloegar. If it hit, it would be super-effective and even had a very small chance for a burn effect. However, it’s likely the Aloegar could survive this, as Ember is one of the more weaker Fire moves.

 

[Inkage]

The Aloegar's head shot up instantly the moment it was hit. It seemed hurt, and yet...more energetic somehow?
It's eye's were now fully open, and it regarded the Wigwarm with much more seriousness.

It snarled lightly, more than eager to teach this thing a lesson. The heat from the ember seemed to have stoked it's inner rage.

Aceso smirked. There it was. "Earl, use tackle!" Earl nodded, running at the Wigwarm full on like a mini fright train. Aceso didn't care about winning, per say, but giving commands Aloegar wanted to follow would help their relationship. Plus, she didn't have a lot of avenues in terms of strategy. So tackle it was.

 

[~Aura~Slashz~]

“Wig!” Wigwarm seemed quite hurt and actually got knocked down.

“Wigwarm, you alright?” Alexander asked, truly wondering if his starter was alright.

“Warm!” Wigwarm seemed a little more pumped up, but also kind of weakened.

”Alright, use Ember once more! Give it all you’ve got!” Alexander commanded, which Wigwarm followed. The Pokémon spit out a small burst of flame at Aloegar, hoping to take the opposing Pokémon to lower health.

 

[Inkage]

Earl wasn't that great at dodging, really, considering he was more built for biting, so there wasn't any real way ember was going to miss.

"C'mon, Earl...You can do it!" Earl seemed pretty down at this point, it's pupils dilated and zooming from thing to thing. But it had at least another tackle in it. Again, knowing Earl would lose, Aceso yelled, "Tackle!"

And again, Earl zoomed towards the frog, maw twisted in a snarl like some tiny demon. Earl was way too into these dramatics, thought Aceso, but at least it was cute and interesting. Like watching a cartoon.

 

[~Aura~Slashz~]

Wigwarm couldn’t dodge either, his lack of experience prevented him from doing so.

Wigwarm seemed really hurt from that last one, but it knew it had to finish the job. The end of the battle was near.

“Keep it up, buddy! You got this!”

“Get him down with Ember once more!”

Another Ember would go directly at the opposing Pokemon, hoping to potentially finish it off.

 

[Inkage]

And with that, the wannabe Kaiju fell. A short, simple battle through and through. Earl deserved the rest.

Aceso looked at the ground...And then lifted her head, smiling softly. "I didn't really expect to win that, so this isn't too disappointing."

Queen stretched, walking over to her trainer with a sense of importance. They smiled smugly at Aceso, almost as if to say 'should have used me!' Aceso nodded at Alexander, saying, "Congrats."
Turning to the Professor, they said "You said there was an dig nearby? Do you think it would be possible to go see it?"

Queen padded over to Wigwarm, looking at it with a newfound curiosity. The Meowth had before determined that it tasted terrible, so she was much more interested in the way it bounced around.

 

[Draco Nightshade]

Turning to the new sound, Wulf's visage softened when he realized it was the very Pokemon he was looking for: Sizzly. Not wanting to scare the Fire type, Wulf sat down on the ground and beckoned the bear cub over to him. "Don't worry, I won't bite."

 

[~Aura~Slashz~]

Alexander jumped up and down. His unbeaten streak continued.

“Let’s go!! Nice job, Wigwarm!! You did it!!” he exclaimed, coming up to the exhausted Wigwarm and giving him a long hug.

Wigwarm embraced the hug, proud of its victory. Alexander got out of the hug, smiling at it.

But then as Queen approached, Wigwarm immediately hopped away. Alexander watched and chuckled a little, allowing it to play out, but he made sure no one would get further hurt.

“I gotta give it to you, Aceso, you truly did well with your Aloegar for having such a type disadvantage,”

Alexander intentionally made sure he pronounced the girl’s name right this time, showing respect after a battle.

“Wait a minute, there’s a dig?”

And it looks like Alexander already went back to his forgetful self.

 

[Charlotte Pryce]

(EDITED)
Chaplet Town

The cub wandered over to Wulf curious. He got closer, so much so that Wulf could pet him if he had the mind.

Meanwhile, Sky was also trying to get the Pokémon of her choice to trust her. She took an Oran berry out of her pocket and crouched down low.

"It's okay," she said.

The Puggle sniffed at the snack. It waddled over a little bit, then stopped, then waddled again. Evidently, it was trying to decide whether the berry came with strings attached. The Puggle leaned in closer. Sky could almost touch him, but she wanted to let the Pokémon make the first move. Just then, something swooped past Sky and snatched Puggle off the ground. Sky watched in horror as her new friend was carried high into the air by an avian menace.

Hoo!

Sky recognized that call. A Hoothoot. A Hoothoot was carrying off that poor Pokémon.

"Hey!" Sky yelled, so loud that Sizzly's ears perked up. She ran after them but it was no use. There was no way she would be able to catch the Pokémon while they were in the air. She looked around for something to throw. There were no twigs or stones along the path. She was helpless. Unless...

Sky looked at the one item she could throw. Without a second thought, she took the professors' Poké Ball and chucked it at the owl Pokémon. The ball bonked Hoothoot on the head. Dazed, the Pokémon released its hold on its prisoner. Puggle fell through the air as Sky dove to catch him.

"Gotcha!" She exclaimed as the Puggle fell into her arms, the berry was clutched in his webbed paws.

"You okay?"

The Puggle responded by gobbling his berry up. He burped.

Sky chuckled. "I'll take that as a yes."

As she stood up, she realized that this section of the maze was a circle. This must be the center.

"Wulf!" she cried. "Are you out there? I think I found the center of the maze."

Crest Island

Professor Rhoa applauded the trainers for their effort.

She pondered Aceso's question before responding.

"Sure! I don't see why not. As it happens, I have a friend there who does the excavation."

She slung her pack around her arm. It would be nice to see how ol' Reed was doing.

"Make sure you grab all of your things if you're coming along," she told Aceso and Alexander. "The Dig Site is relatively new. I don't know how close we are going to get, but we might be lucky enough to see them unearth artifacts from the ancient kingdom."

 

[Inkage]

Aceso heard the Professor's response and Alexanders response at the same time.

She decided Alexander's took personal priority.

She looked touched that he bothered to say her name right. Maybe she could give the scatterbrain another chance to remember...
"I...Thank you, Alexander." She smiled, seeming more genuine about it this time. And now for Ms. Rhoa.

"I thank you. I will obviously use this to learn more, so whenever you are ready, I am."

Meanwhile, Queen saw it hopping away and resorted to a tactic only employed by her. She learned it was effective for stalling the neighbor's Arcanine, and that she herself could use it for food.
Queen planted her feet firmly on the ground and shook, releasing one or two berries she constantly kept in her thick hair. Queen then pushed one in Wigwarm's direction.

Ah, the behaviors of domestic Pokemon...Strange.

 

[Draco Nightshade]

First he noticed Sizzly's ears perk up, then the two were running through the maze playing a game of tag that ended when Wulf caught the bear cub. "Gotcha!" Promptly lifting the Fire type off the ground, Wulf held it close while walking the rest of the way. He was relatively close to the center when he heard Sky call for him. "I think I'm almost there Sky!" Wulf looked at the cub in his arms. "Hold on tight Bud." Not wanting to take any chances, the Sizzly did as it was told before Wulf picked up the pace. It was weird, not to Wulf but to anyone else that didn't already know him, but he almost seemed to know exactly where he was going even if he'd never been before, navigating through instinct. His parents often joked he was part Pokemon, but he didn't believe that for a second. Arriving at the center, he saw Sky holding a Puggle in her arms and called over. "Hey Sky!"

 

[Charlotte Pryce]

Sky turned with a start, then smiled.

"Wulf! Thank goodness. You would not believe what just happened."

She noticed Wulf was holding a Sizzly in his arms.

"I see you found your Pokémon," she teased. "Now, let's get out of here before--"

Mreowr! Before Sky could finish her sentence, a Litleo jumped out at them. He was followed by the Hoothoot, both the exact same Pokémon's Wulf and Sky encountered earlier. Sky's Puggle wiggled out of her arms and climbed on top of her head, evidently still shaken about being taken for a joy ride.

Sky however was looking at the two new Pokémon. They did not approach, but their hoots and meow-like roars indicated that they wanted something. Sky turned to Wulf.

"I--I think they're challenging us."

 

[Draco Nightshade]

Wulf sighed as he agreed. "I think you're right." Looking back at the Sizzly in his arms Wulf asked. "You wanna take the Litleo and I'll take the Hoothoot?"

 

[Charlotte Pryce]

Sky nodded. It seemed like a good plan. Prying the Puggle from off of her head, Sky gave the Pokémon a reassuring look before setting him on the ground.

"We got this," Sky said. Puggle didn't seem to sure about that, but he didn't run away.

Hoothoot and Litleo apparently gathered which opponent they would be facing. Hoothoot charged at Wulf's Sizzly attempting to use Tackle. Meanwhile, Litleo used Leer on Sky's Puggle.

"Go for Bubble!" Sky instructed.

 

[Draco Nightshade]

The Hoothoot was fast and hit Sizzly, knocking it back. "Sizzly, use Ember!" His ears and tail ignited before he spit a small ball of fire at the bird.

~Professor Gem's lab~

Diana took a closer look at the picture of the divine form, noticing it had three heads. "Is that a Hydreigon, Professor?"

 

[~Aura~Slashz~]

“You’re welcome,” Alexander smiled. He seemed a little taken aback from Aceso’s sudden genuineness, but he seemed to like it.

“Professor, how long is exploring going to take? I… kinda need to start training and catch new Pokémon…” Alexander asked.

Meanwhile, Wigwarm decided to use its semi-long tongue to bring the berry in, immediately consuming it and actually making a small, cute little burp.

 

[Charlotte Pryce]

Chaplet Town

Direct hit! Sizzly's Ember attack hit the Hoothoot, causing it to stumble. It did not appear to be burned, but evidently that attack had taken a bit out of it. It used Growl in retaliation, aiming to lower Sizzly's attack.

Puggle's attack also made contact. Due to Litleo's weakness to Water, the attack hit hard, but Litleo wasn't down for the count yet. It moved in for a Tackle. Poor Puggle was crushed as the Litleo pounced on top of him.

"Shake him off," Sky ordered. "Then use Bubble again."

Puggle shook himself loose of Litleo's hold. A spray of bubbles shot out of his mouth and hit Litleo in the face. Could this be a critical hit! Sky watched with rapt anticipation.

Professor Gem's Lab, Coronet City

Professor Gem looked again at the clip.

"Actually," he confessed, "I don't know. Hydreigon is the only Pokémon I am aware of that has three heads. However, most of the Hydreigon in this region are Dragon-Poison-type. The Pokémon in this video seems to suggest a Dark-type. I suppose it's possible this is the Unovan variant, but I could swear this Pokémon had three sets of eyes."

He trailed off again, lost in thought as usual. Dratini bonked its head against the Professor's leg.

"Ow! Geesh! Sorry, Diana. I tend to get lost in theories."

Crest Island

"It's not far," Professor Rhoa assured Alexander. "If you'd prefer to go exploring, I can point out some of the best Pokémon spots. You'll find a lot of Ragcoons, Caterpies, Wurmples, and Rattatas in the tall grass, but I know where you can find some rarer ones too."

 

[Draco Nightshade]

"Hit it with another Ember Sizzly!" Despite knowing that Sizzly and its evolutions were better physical attackers, Wulf decided to use the attack whose power was not reduced by the Hoothoot's Growl. Thankfully, the little bear obliged, spitting another tiny ball of flame at the bird.

~Professor Gem's Lab~

"Huh? I didn't know that Hydreigon had a regional variant. But a three headed Dark type?" Diana thought for a bit before shrugging her shoulders. "I'm drawing a blank Professor. And speaking of, I don't actually have a Pokedex or a Rotom Phone."

 

[Charlotte Pryce]

Chaplet Town

Hoothoot stumbled again. This time it fell over. It was followed by Litleo who, due to the super-effective damage taken from Bubble, fainted after two attacks.

"We did it!" Sky cheered. She leaned down and gave Puggle a high five. She then went to high five Wulf.

Professor Gem's Lab, Coronet City

Professor Gem snapped his fingers. "I can fix that."

He rummaged through his desk again and took out an old custom Pokédex.

"This used to be mine," he told Diana, "but seeing as I hardly leave my lab these days, I don't mind letting you have it."

He gave the Pokédex to Diana.

"I do know that the mysterious Pokémon was filmed somewhere near the Perilous Mountain Range, but I don't recommend going there until you have a highly trained team. Start small, then work your way up."

 

[Draco Nightshade]

Wulf returned Sky's high-five before Sizzly jumped back into his arms. "Oof! I was not expecting that. You did a good job Sizzly." The bear hugged his human as it seemed to like the attention and compliments. Wulf then looked back at Sky. "I still need to seal the deal and officially make Sizzly my Pokemon. How bout you Sky?" While he spoke, Wulf pulled out the empty PokeBall he was given and lightly tapped Sizzly's forehead, the Pokemon disappearing in a flash of light inside. The ball didn't even shake before it clicked.

~Professor Gem's Lab~

Receiving the Pokedex, Diana set the Wulfleur back on the floor before fiddling with the settings on the old device, successfully registering herself as the new owner. "Thanks Professor Gem. Though, do you happen to have Wulfleur's PokeBall on your person by any chance?"

 

[~Aura~Slashz~]

“Actually, I’ll come with you guys,” Alexander nodded. He was very eager to get going, but he felt like he needed at be a little more patient. After all, Wigwarm was quite exhausted at the moment and probably didn’t want to train at the moment.

“So, where is it?” Alexander asked the Professor.

 

[Inkage]

"Yes, where is it?" Aceso asked.

Queen did seem to be at least somewhat apologetic, mostly because Wigwarm wasn't tasty and was a waste of energy to try and eat.

 

[Charlotte Pryce]

Chaplet Town

Sky nodded. She copied Wulf by taking out her Poké Ball and holding it over Puggle's forehead, only it was Puggle who bumped the Poké Ball with his forehead. Like Sizzly, he disappeared in a flash of light. Sky was so happy she almost cried.

There was a sound of clapping. Sky stood up and saw Professor Troy and Professor Octavia standing in the center of the maze.

"Well done," Octavia said.

"Congratulations," added Troy, "you two are officially Pokémon Trainers."

"How long have you been standing there?" Sky asked. She wanted to say 'thank you', but she was genuinely perplexed.

"Oh, long enough," Professor Troy Myrtle answered cryptically. "Well, we better get these guys healed up. You two did an excellent job tiring them out."

Troy Myrtle and his wife took out their Poké Balls. Two red flashes later, the Hoothoot and Litleo were gone.

"They were yours?" Sky gasped.

Troy nodded.

Coronet Town

This time it was Dratini who fetched the item. He rolled Wulfleur's Poké Ball across the floor towards Diana.

"Thank you, my friend," Professor Gem said, "Well, Diana, I imagine you are in a hurry to get started on your adventure, but..."

He flashed her a weak grin. "Would you fancy challenging this coot to a Pokémon Battle?"

Crest Island

"Patience, you two. Patience."

Professor Rhoa shook her head and smiled. "It's just down the main road, past the Pokémon Center. The area is mostly sandy so we might run into some wild Petrina or Sandshrew. Of course, bird Pokémon are everywhere, I advise you not to engage until you get your Pokémon rested up."

With that settled, she started to go into detail about the archeology project.

"You know, actually the Dig Site isn't too far from the main port, where ships come and go from Crest Island to the mainland. Some believe the remains found in that area come from the old kingdom of legend. It was said that the first ruler of the island built a labyrinth under his palace where he would trap his enemies. If true, this could be a monumental discovery."

 

[Draco Nightshade]

"Of course they are." Wulf spoke in a slightly sarcastic tone before adding. "I guess that was also something done in ancient times?"

~Professor Gem's Lab~

"Thank you." Thanking the Dragon type, Diana crouched down to pick up the PokeBall before returning her attention to the professor's question. A Pokemon battle? She wasn't sure about that but if she doesn't start now, when will she? With this in mind, Diana smiled as she answered. "Let's do it."

 

[~Aura~Slashz~]

“That sounds awesome! Do you have a map? I’m kinda… bad at directions, admittedly,” Alexander exclaimed and requested.

Alexander didn’t take the main port to the island, he took the southern port, the one that connects Mithos to other regions, instead, so it would presumably be in the other direction.

Wigwarm wanted to take a nap, but he didn’t want the Meowth to get a jump on him, so he was alert. However, Alexander soon returned him to his Poke Ball to allow the Frog Pokémon to rest.

 

[Inkage]

"I know the area well. If you just follow me I can guide you, Alexander." Aceso smiled. "I am a local, after all, and the dig apparently isn't too far. So it should be fine, right, professor?"
"And I think that's really fascinating. Think of all the potential artifacts we could discover! Oh, I just can't wait! Though I doubt any of those archaeologist would be brave enough to venture too terribly deep inside. Anyone who'd explore a hundred year old catacomb would have to be made of stone!"

"Yet without your scientific clout, Professor, I doubt we would be allowed anywhere near the dig site."

 

[Charlotte Pryce]

Chaplet Town

Professor Troy chuckled. "No, not really, but I thought it made the maze a bit more exciting."

"It was...interesting," Sky admitted, not really sure what else to say.

Professor Octavia broke the silence by clapping her hands.

"Well. Now that you have your Pokémon, I guess the only thing left is Pokédexes."

She took some items out of her bag.

"Do either of you have a Rotom Phone?" she asked Wulf and Sky. "I can give you the app instead."

Coronet City

Professor Gem grinned like a school boy. "Great!"

He lead Diana outback. His yard really wasn't much more than a yard, but there was plenty of space. Professor Gem turned his back.

"Draw at ten paces," he said, winking over his shoulder. "I always wanted to do that."

He walked ten paces before releasing his Pokémon. Obviously, he was going to have Diana's Wulfleur fight Dratini

Crest Island

Professor Rhoa looked quizzically at Alexander.

"Goodness! Didn't your parents give you a map?"

She was reassured when Aceso offered to navigate.

"Yes, I think that will be fine." She grinned. "And I'm touched at how excited you are about this. We probably won't see the cavern, but I bet I can get us an insider preview."

When they got to the Dig Site, however, she was surprised to find people standing guard.

"Strange," she hummed. "I don't recognize these folks. New sponsors perhaps?"

She realized once again she was talking out loud. "Come on. Let's check this out."

 

[~Aura~Slashz~]

Alexander completely ignored Aceso’s remarks. He should have known that was coming from that smartass.

“Uh, they were kinda against me coming here, so all they gave was some Pokedollars,” Alexander mentioned.

“But they used to live on this island, apparently.”

He looked at the guards, seeming a little suspicious. However, he decided to follow the professor.