Private/Closed PokéSync: Role Play Thread

[ThAtGuY101]

Guy debated on whether he should pick up Goju or not seeing him attempt to pet pichu, though after the interaction went smoothly, all seemed fine. Guy looked at Ally and Andy, "So now what? Wanna watch the Lilypad Contests? Should we head there soon? What do you guys think?" Guy asked.

"Bonsy bonsy!" Goju let out a cheer as he looked up at Guy. Goju smiled at the shy little cleffa, waving his head balls at the pink baby, like waving a hand.

 

[ThePlayfulFox]

Hilda glared at Ron. "Ahem, I actually was raised not far from a modern town. Just because I'm not from a big city, doesn't mean I don't know how to use modern technology. We just don't own one because one, it's too fragile for our work; and two, it can be a distraction." She frowned at Ron, not liking his joke. Especially since she was bullied for this exact thing anytime she went anywhere other than Floccesy Town. "And, yes, I navigated it just fine." She glanced over at Mari and her eyes widened. "Be careful! Modern technology is fragile! You could brake it!" She shook her head. Despite them sharing a southern accent, Hilda could hardly understand Mari herself. She couldn't imagine how difficult it was for Ron and Esther to understand. She gave a sigh, Felix for once behaving. "So, who are we fightin' against first?"

***​

Avery smiled at the new arrival as he came in. "Hey Shrio!" She looked back at Victor. "Thanks!" She returned her attention to Shiro, listening to Noah's plan. It was really well thought out. But he was left to the side. She frowned. "Noah, you can be up front instead of me. Reed may only have one weakness, but as you said a lot people pick up dragons as their starter. Stella is a fairy-type, which means she is immune to all dragon attacks and she is only weak to steel, dark, bug, and ghost. And she is far better at attacking than Reed. You know? And guys, Shiro said that he was going to fight with Glacier. Remember?"

 

[RenzFlintrock]

“I agree that Stella could do really well here, but I think Shiro and Glacier can handle any Dragons that show up pretty well. And I think Reed would be pretty offensively strong against other popular picks, like Fire and Ground types. Those types of moves tend to be quite strong offensively, so having a good counter is important. Besides, Reed protects the other two against Fire type moves that they’re weak to. And Reed can stay in the fight longer with Recover. Stella and I just probably don’t make as much sense. Trust me, I want to battle, but I think this strategy is for the best, at least for now. We can always have me tag in another time if the strategy doesn’t work as well as I’m hoping. I just think this is our best chance of winning until we have more specific information, y’know?”
He paused, and took a deep breath. He was so tempted to accept the offer, but he also knew strategy would make a big difference in battles like this.
“If you guys really think Stella and I will do better, we’ll be in the first match instead of someone else. I just want to make sure our team does well.”

 

[kyuukestu]

As if to answer the questions posed, at that moment the Pokedevices for all registered trainers went off simultaneously.

The Battle Tournament was about to begin and the first round would see Team Happy Campers face-off against Team Hot Stuff. Both teams would have 10 minutes to select their participants and report to the battlefield.

@ThePlayfulFox @RenzFlintrock @MegaAbsol @Grand Master Koop @Clite of Dragonbow @Alternate_Mystery @~Patriot~ @Moxxie the ultimate imp

 

[Hecotoro]

Ron couldn't help but give a small smirk at the reactions of his teammates. He hated to admit it, but being with them reminded him of his time with his sisters and that made him feel comfortable. He could feel Furia's confusion as to why Ron felt the way he did, but his positive feelings, for the first time, seemed to be calming Furia's need to be on guard all the time, almost making it seem like she was capable of relaxing. Without wasting more time, Ron let out Rawr, his Larvitar.

"Your ready?" He knelt down and patted the rock type on the head, while the Larvitar looked around with an awed expression at the things around him, including the trainers. "Give it your all okay? We're here to gain experience." Ron stood up before giving his team a positive nod. "Alright alright, I'll try and keep the barn jokes to a minimum, don't want Esther here making that weird, expression thing again. Gonna give me nightmares, geez." He gazed at his Rotom Phone and sighed loudly. "Let's do this. We taking on some chumps named Happy Campers?" He couldn't help but to chuckle at the name that seemed to been have decided by a ten year old and then cracked his fingers before leading the team towards the arena. "Whoever feels they need to step out on the first match go ahead and do so, I'm going all in, right Rawr?"

The Larvitar named Rawr, who was doing his best to keep up with Ron's long steps looked up and let out a small roar. He excitedly ran ahead, stepping first into the battle field and looking around at the crowd who's eyes were on him. Furia's attention was completely on her teammate, starting to regret leaving their first competition to an inexperienced battler. But Rawr looked ready to go, running towards the crowd and showing them his adorable roar, that in his head sounded more fierce. Winning some of public already, Rawr ran around Ron, scouting out the field and his partners, anxious to begin.

~~~ Victor ~~~

"We're ready, lead the way." The peaceful giant stood up, holding Cat up on his shoulder and followed his team towards their first encounter. He was excited, this would be their first competition and where the history of his name would begin. If he wanted to be taken serious in the fashion community one today, he needed to gain recognition first. "Remember Cat, Harden to defend, bug bite and tackle to push back and String Shot for support." He stretched his arm out as they stepped out onto the battle field, allowing Cat to effortlessly move across Victor's arm and jump forward on the the field. "We're ready to go!"

 

[Godjacob]

"Yeah I say we should go soon, we might be able to get a good seat of we hurry!" Ally smiled as she seemed to be in support of that idea. The idea of seeing this big contest in person had the Alola native all excited and she only hoped that her enthusiasm had not been a turn off for her new companions. "I-if that is okay with you guys?" Ally added, sheepishly.

The Pichu had taken note of the more shy Cleffa, and perhaps mirroring the Bonsy waved its tail as if to wave to Cleffa as it tried to show it intended to be friendly.

 

[~Patriot~]

July 8th, Lilypad Town Coliseum
---------------------------------------------

"Back off pipsqueak!" Monty snapped at a white haired kid through the crowd as said white haired kid asked the gecko girl to team up nigh-immediately after he did. "I saw her first!" The man finished shoving his way through the crowd but reached the girl just behind the kid, and before he could give the little brat a proper Old Guard send off Monty was distracted by a sudden spike of excitement through he and Omen's Sync-Bond.

A wave of glee washed over Monty through Omen, and in a flash of fur and scales the Houndour had put himself between his trainer and the girl's lizard as the reptilian Pokemon sprung forward. < Yes! Let's fight! > Omen communicated, words dripping with anticipation for battle. There was no battle to be had, though, as the girl grabbed her partner before it got very far and Monty hooked his boot underneath Omen’s belly to pull the pooch up into his arms.

< "PUT ME DOWN!" > The enraged Houndour barked, squirming in his trainer's arms in hopes of returning to solid ground.

I can't have you picking a fight in the middle of this crowd, Monty communicated. The last thing we need is you injuring our potential teammate.

< But you were about to pick a fight in the middle of this crowd. >

"Yes, I know!" Monty huffed in exasperation as he turned his attention back toward Lizard Girl and White Hair Kid, only for the Kalosian to scowl in disapproval as the girl proposed they form a trio.

“A team of three?” Monty growled in annoyance. “How many people can even be on a team?“

Ring the Rotom-Phone’s voice piped up from Monty’s inner jacket pocket to answer his question. “BZZZZT…A minimum of four participants are required for a team to enter!”

The Kalosian rolled his eyes and thought, That’s a major pain in the ass. But if we need more teammates anyway…

Monty sized up White Hair kid again, noticing for the first time that the kid wasn’t really a kid at all but likely only a year or two younger than him. Maybe it won't be so bad after all, he thought as White Hair Kid produced a blue frog Pokemon which the Kalos native immediately recognized as a Froakie.

"My name's Monty and this-" The man gestured to his Houndour partner, who had planted himself in front of Monty's boots and was visibly sizing up his new tag teammates. "-is my partner Omen. Good to meet you, Moxi." He turned to the girl and asked, "And you are?"

 

[Clite of Dragonbow]

"Y-Y-Yes! We are coming!" Replied Shiro and headed with Viktor and others from his team, ready for the first battle... Or not.

He was really nervous, but hey, can you blame him? It was his first Trainer fight, but he had Glacier and his teammates with him So that made him a bit cheered up.. They Just needed to win... Pay attencion and dont belittle the opponent they are about to face.
He stepped onto battlefield right after the Viktor, glad Glacier took the scarf off before fighting So he doesnt lose it and they were ready for a battle!

 

[Hecotoro]

June 10th, Snowpoint City, Ron.

"Why are we here again?"

Ron groaned as they stepped out of the airport, wearing a black hoodie over his usual clothes and still rubbing his hands together, feeling the cold weather upon his skin. Furia was out and about, not minding the cold air, unlike Rawr the Larvitar, who didn't like it so much. The small fire type looked up at her trainer, a bit ashamed of how he couldn't take a cool breeze. The feeling crept upon Ron, causing the punk to look down at the Cyndaquil and shake his head, "We can't all breath fire like you."

He looked over at his traveling Mari, making sure she was ready to travel and gave her a firm nod before stepping into the famous Snowpoint City.

The place was a lot more ancient looking than Ron expected, he imagined outdoors heaters all over the place, but instead people seemed more relaxed and okay with the cold weather. They were clearly insane, the weather was nothing compared to the heat in Goldenrod and they were in the middle of summer! Thinking about it, going to Snowpoint during the hottest days of the year wasn't a bad idea, but he would never admit it to Mari.

"Look, coffee." Ron said, using the minimum of words possible to keep his warm breath in his body.

He lead them to a small coffee stand, where there was a couple in front of them. The options were pretty basic, warm beverages like tea, coffee and hot coco. But then next to them they had cold ones, like smoothies and sodas. Insane, these people were insane. "One large coffee..." Ron turned towards Mari, "I'll buy this time, what you want?"

 

[MegaAbsol]

Mari stepped off the odd flying contraption with a grin plastered across her face, hands deep in the pockets of her pants, pointedly strutting about in nothing but the aforementioned pants and a thin t-shirt. Her bag bulged with the bulk of her heavy winter coat, which she would at most pull out for the colder nights, but in the middle of the day? She let out a snorting laugh at Ron and swept her gaze up and down the shivering man, making no moves to hide her condescension. "Me? Aw, ain' nuthin' Ai'wl be nee'in', y'all ai'n leukin' too fain thar yersel' though, pals, why'n thees col'? It don' amoun'o a 'ill 'o beans!" Cackling at the end of her statement, Mari ran a hand under her collar, mockingly chattering her teeth at Ron before striding up to the stall owner. "Ai'l ge'it. Aye 'ere now, where's 'is cawfee? Man's freyzin'!" Despite all her peacocking, Mari herself had put away her pokemon in their pokeballs, letting them rest, sheltered from the frightening cold. Both of them were still young, and she'd seen what eternal winter did to the wings of birds who were born too early in the winters, when the spring thaw hadn't hit yet.

 

[Hecotoro]

June 10th, Snowpoint City, Ron.

"I don't know what the fuck you're saying sometimes, but I heard something about coffee." Ron smiled, teasing the girl as he looked down at her, "Hot Coco for you though, I don't want to imagine a Mari with caffeine running through her veins."

With a simple nod and holding up two fingers, Ron ordered their drinks. The man at the stand had a soft smile on him, clearly curious about the odd pair he saw in front of him. Specially the girl who seemed to be immune to the cold. While they waited, Ron took a sit at one of the tables outside the shop, Furia using the opportunity to save energy by snuzzling up on Ron's lap.

"No way are we camping. Pokemon Centers have cheap rooms, I say we book one." Ron let out that chill cold smoke from his mouth, trying to see how much he could produce before he continued, "Probably best for your Pokemon also." He began to pet the Cyndaquil on his lap, for the sake of his cold hands.

As they sat there, their beverages were placed on the table. Coffee was on a simple to go cup, while Mari's had a bigger top, giving it space for the whip cream and straw to come out of it. Ron held up his cup towards Mari, "Cheers." He took a sip, feeling the warm liquid sit just right into his cold mouth. "Say, Mari, what was your home like?"

 

[ThAtGuY101]

~Guy post! Guy post Guys look! Looooook! it's a guy post! Finally he got off his lazy butt and did what he said he would...!~

Another morning and another perfect beautiful day, and another perfect oppertunity for our eager heroes to continue their journey. Step by step, they would eventually reach their destination, Snowpoint City.

"Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhggghhh... What time is it...?" Guy started off his morning with a loud yawn as he looked around within his tent. Goju was in the corner with its red bulbs poking out of crumbled up sweater.

"Bonsy bons...?" The bonsly woke up in confusion. Head poking out of the waist hole. The long sleeves of the sweater were wrapped around his head. Goju shook the sweater off then looked at Guy confused.

Guy looked back at his bonsly, Goju. Oh... your awake. Great. Now where is.... In the far other side of the tent was a brown rock looking figure with a near skull-like shape pointed at them.

"There you are... We should get breakfast soon. Then head to town" Guy said. Guy got out of his tent, wearing nothing but a pair of shorts that loosely hung around his waist. The cold winds were the first thing to hit him. He stood there in the cold for a few seconds before getting dressed. He had found some food the day prior and some was kept safe for the next day. He enjoyed a nice warm breakfast and so did his pokémon when they eventually decided to get out of the tent.

Goju left the tent and was the second on the scene. Eating a few berries and drinking some kept water. Eventually Guy's second pokémon. His kabuto named Rook would be the third to emerge from the tent. Guy wondered how the others were doing. The people he had headed up north with. He looked into the distance as he had placed his tent rather high on a large hillside overlooking a rather breathtaking view of the valley down below. He could nearly see the town in the distance as well. He packed his stuff. "Ready to go...?" Guy asked, looking at his pokémon.

 

[~Patriot~]

Nuatsiki Tenkiwara
One Week Ago - Rustboro City, Hoenn

Warm sunlight and a cool breeze streamed into a small kitchen through an open above-the-sink window, bathing one of the apartment's two occupants in the feel of Hoenn's summer. Her long, lithe legs rested one on top of the other on a circular wooden table, and her chair was leant back on its back supports.

A disinterested sigh escaped her lips as she shuffled through a stack of envelopes, and her steel-gray eyes scanned each line with half hearted scrutiny.

Junior Research Assistant at the Weather Insitute? Pass.
R&D Internship with the Devon Corporation? Thanks, but no thanks.
Junior Physicist at Mossdeep Space Center? Yeah, right.

The trio of freshly delivered job offers were tossed from their reader's manicured clutches unceremoniously, flapping onto the kitchen table to join the messy stack of similarly discarded letters. Junior positions? Internships? They knew who she was, and they knew her record. The supposed greatest minds of the Hoenn region should at least know how to make them worth her time.

And that was just it. Her time. She was only seventeen, on the cusp of the prime of her life, and what would she have to look forward to in one of those positions? Years of being the newbie, the kid, the junior or the intern.

Her classmates would probably kill for the chance to get even one of her offers, but that was the problem. These insitutions, as desperate as they seemed to recruit her, were made up of people just like her classmates. In other words, she'd be the same big fish in Hoenn's vast pond that she always was, only this time she'd have to kiss ass to the little fish that outranked her.

Yeah-fucking-right!

The girl hardly acknowledged a set of incoming footsteps, and stayed reclined as her mother entered the kitchen.

"More letters for the reject pile?" A silky-smooth Kalosian accent rolled off of her mother's tongue, dulled a bit by her time spent in the Hoenn region but present all the same.

"They still haven't given me something I can't refuse."

Her mother rolled her eyes as she set a kettle on the stove to boil. "You'd refuse anything they gave you, anyway." She paused for a second as she lit the flame, then turned back to face her daughter. She had an apprehensive look in her eyes, and crossed her arms as she leant back on the countertop.

"It's still not too late to take one of those jobs, ma chérie. You'd be well paid, you'd be well-respected, you'd be safe."

"I'd be bored." The daughter swung her legs off of the table and shot her mother an annoyed look. "Have you talked to Dad lately? He's plenty safe and secure, but he's miserable!"

"I did speak with your father." The screech of wood-on-wood sounded briefly as the mother took a seat at the table, and her tension seemed to melt away as she leaned forward. "Or more accurately, he spoke to me about trying to get you back on to plan-a."

"HAH!" The girl threw her head back as she scoffed. The lengths her father would go to ignore her wishes really was almost comical. "I already have a plan-A. Going to Mossdeep to work with him is more like plan-Z."

"Je sais, ma chérie, I know. I told him, but you know how he is."

"He's annoying is what he is!" The letter from Mossdeep was no doubt his doing, too. Something in her dad's jumble of crossed wires he called a brain just couldn't take no for an answer. He was too afraid to leave Mossdeep, too afraid to stick it out with her mom, and too fuckin' afraid to let her do her own thing.

"He means well." Her mother's tone was tired, like she was getting sick of saying the same thing so many times. Her daughter couldn't blame her, of course. They'd had this same conversation countless times leading up to her graduation. "But he lost a lot of colleagues when the viruses spread. He's just a little nervous about you going out into that same world."

"Pff, too bad for him. My Trainer ID's on its way whether he likes it or not."

DING-DING!

Speak of the devil! The girl swung her legs off the table and practically sprinted to the front door, her sock-clad feet gliding across the floorboards as they tried to stop her excited momentum. A blue-clad man awaited on the other side as she FLUNG! the door open, and tucked under his arm was the keystone of the rest of her journey.

"Package from the UPL for..." The mustachioed man checked his clipboard as the girl did her best not to snatch the package out from under his arm. "Nuatsiki Tenkiwara."

"That's me!" A quick signature and "Have a good day" later and Nua slammed the door. The package was small, light, but monumentally precious. Her heart raced as she carried it back to the kitchen, and her mom's eyes were lit up with secondhand-excitement. At least she could count on someone to be happy for her.

With two hands Nua tore it open, and a shiny little aluminum case clattered to the table. She snatched it up, grinning ear to ear, and flipped it open to reveal her Trainer ID and eight slots ready to be filled. An excited cackle escaped her as Nua examined the plastic card, ignoring her mom's requests to "Let me see!"

Her photo. Her name. Her seven-digit ID number. This little piece of laminated plastic was her key to the United Pokémon League, her key to the Bronze League, and the last thing she needed before she could get registered with the league and get her first pokémon. She could cackle with excitement!

Nua left the case with her mom while she raced to her room, eagerly swiping her PokéNav Plus off of her cluttered desk and racing back to the kitchen table. Her nimble fingers flew across the screen as she installed the United Pokémon League app, and her anticipation grew as the progress bar slowly filled.

"Mom, give-"
"I'm still looking!"
"Hand it over!"

The mother and daughter played a game of miniture tug-of-war, but Nua's clearly superior youthful vigor won out! The app was installed, the all-important seven digit ID was punched in, and BOOM! She was in!

The girl sped through her profile creation and navigated to her real area of interest: the Pokémon Project.

Her mother sidled up to her side to snoop over her shoulder. "So which one are you going with?"

Which one should she go with? The list was vast, with over a thousand options and more being discovered every day. There were so many factors to take into account; types, strength, team compatibility, and that wasn't even mentioning looks and personalities. Then there was the Synchronization Bond to think of.

The phenomena had been heavily researched since the second advent of the Darkest Day, and everything pointed to it being an incredibly intimate process. The relationship would be something she'd never come close to experiencing until now, with her very being intertwined with her partner. Whoever she chose would know everything about her, from her most basic thoughts to her most volitile emotions.

Nua's lips pursed. This was going to take more thought than she anticipated. "I'm not sure yet," was all she offered her mom before excusing herself from the table and meandering to the living room. She flopped down onto the leather couch, and lay back to study the list a little closer.

Normal-Types were out of the question. Typically vast movepools aside, they were entirely too normal; statistically and aesthetically lackluster. Flying-types were pretty similar in that regard. Skip!

Ground and Rock were equally unappealing. Pokémon who revolved around digging in the dirt and mud? Nope!

Poison, Electric, and Ice were the next to fall. Toxtricity caught her eye, but each type more or less did one thing well. Her first partner would be the one who would never leave her side, and thus should be able to thrive in most situations. Bug was axed, too, for more or less the same reasons. Strong Bug-Types were few and far between, and ineffective against too many potential opponents to be her ace. Next!

The elemental trio were cut next. Professors worldwide gave out Fire, Water, and Grass pokémon to their chosen few sponsored trainers, but those types were common and strong enough in the wild that she could build a team with them around her starter. Moving on!

Taking jabs was never Nua's style. Whether it was in a debate, in class, or at an academic competition she preferred her victory to be overwhelming. Quick, precise, correct answers were what she always gave, and she wanted a pokémon who could perform similarly in battle. Thus the defensive types of Steel and Fairy were out.

The ethereal trio...now those were some pokémon Nua could get behind. Powerful and with few poor match-ups, the types of Psychic, Ghost, and Dark were prime candidates. Then again, she'd feel like she was encroaching on her brother's territory if she went with a Dark-Type partner.

The type was notoriously difficult to control, too, as were Ghosts. Powers fueled by raw malice and raw emotion respectively...could she handle a Sync Bond with something like that? Dark was out, but she'd add Ghost to the running with Psychic.

Fighting was a tantalizing option. Fast, bulky, and with remarkable combat prowess, Fighting-Types were effective in all but the worst possible match-ups. But boy were most of them ugly! Pokémon like Mienshao were few and far between, and...no, it was just Mienshao. The Martial Arts Pokémon was exactly what Nua was looking for, but a quick check of its known compatible moves cut it from the list. It would be a strong choice for an addition to the team, but starting with it? Eh...no.

That left her with one option, the type Nua felt herself drawn to the most: Dragon. Prideful. Powerful. Versatile. The type embodied overwhelming power in a way none of the others could match, proven by the reputation of most regions' pseudo-legendaries.

The pseudo-legendaries— the height of raw statistical power in the world, eclipsed only by anomalies like mega evolutions and gods. Their growth rates were generally slow, but their potential was unrivaled.

Now they'd be perfect!

Nua was already familiar with the might of Salamence and Metagross, Hoenn's twin titans, but the others she only knew by name. Excluding Dark-Types and the aforementioned Metagross, her options were Dragonite, Garchomp, Goodra, Kommo-o, Dragapult, and Baxcalibur. Ugh, she hadn't narrowed things down enough.

Dealing with Goodra's slime sounded completely unappealing, so that took care of one of her options. Baxcalibur seemed like a one-trick-pony, without much in the way of coverage in its known movepool— it was out, too. Dragonite and Kommo-o were logically good choices, but she just didn't vibe with them. Sayonara!

That left Garchomp, Dragapult, and Salamence. They each had their merits, but picking Garchomp would feel...weird. The Mach Pokémon was known for its prowess, and it was capable of flight despite being a Ground-Type. It was the Sinnoh champion's ace, and practically a star of the Ultra Space War. If Nua chose a Gible, she'd feel like she would be training in that champion's shadow.

Looking at Dragapult's general statistics page and movepool, the "Stealth Pokémon" held an edge over Salamence. It boasted everything she was looking for: precision, power, and versatility. The differences in bulk and attacking strength were miniscule compared to the massive speed the species boasted; the fastest of all the pseudo-legends.

It was a looker, too. Nua felt a giddy as she scrolled through pictures and videos of it online. This was the one! What were its pre-evolutions like?

"Oh, what the—"

Like a plane shot down, Nua's hopes for Dragapult fell as she navigated to the page for its first stage.

{Dreepy: the Lingering Pokémon — After being reborn as a ghost Pokémon, Dreepy wanders the areas it used to inhabit back when it was alive in prehistoric seas. In the evening, groups of Dreepy will fly at high speeds over the ocean and poke at Pokémon in the water for fun. It has a habit of biting at Clauncher even though it doesn’t feed on them. This is said to be vestigial behavior from when Dreepy was alive.}

The girl's eyes homed in on the final line of the entry. Oh, no.

{If this weak Pokémon is by itself, a mere child could defeat it. But if Dreepy has friends to help it train, it can evolve and become much stronger.}

A mere child could defeat it?! So much for power. If she chose Dreepy, she'd be in for a long grind through the Bronze and Silver leagues. The "level" system was more a timeline of growth than a hard rule, but 50 levels until evolution? The Bronze League's rules against outside help wouldn't be in her favor with Dreepy, either. The missile-lizard only had access to four moves naturally, and without her brother backing TM purchases she'd have to raise a small fortune to make Dreepy viable.

Bagon would be a more logical choice. It would be strong enough to get her through the Bronze league, and should theoretically evolve at the start of the Silver and Gold leagues respectively.

Still, Dragapult's appeal was clinging for dear life in her psyche. The looks, the potential, it had everything over Salamence beside early viability. Tch, this was getting annoying. So many factors to consider, and a lifelong commitment to her choice.

Fuck it. Nua pulled out her smartphone and held the power button, bringing up the virtual assistant. She wasn't getting anywhere thinking it through, and whichever choice she reached would probably leave her wishing she'd made the other. She'd leave it up to chance, heads for Bagon and tails for Dreepy. "Flip a coin."

Nua held her breath as the command processed. This was it.

"It's tails." The response was simple, yet it felt like a weight off her chest. Raising the little drake through fifty levels would be...challenging, but if anyone was up to the challenge it was her.

Given the mere week left until the start of the Bronze League, the Pokémon Project's lists had been throughouly picked clean of desirables. Nua was unsurprised to see no Bagons were available, nor any other pseudo-legends for that matter, but luckily there was still a single Dreepy yet to be claimed.

"Mine!" Nua frantically tapped the selection option, and after a few seconds of processing she was notified of its incoming delivery to the Rustboro Pokémon Center. Yes, yes, "YES!"

The girl leapt from the couch, unable to contain her excitement at securing her first choice. Her and Dreepy, rising stars against the world! With her genius and its potential, nothing could stop them. They'd climb the highest mountains, they'd brave the deepest depths, they'd reach the top, everyone would know their names.

After all, it was only natural that someone like her would stand at the pinnacle.

~~~~~~~~~~
​

Ta-ta-ta-tap-ta-ta-ta-tap.

"...and then Mrs. Nakiri said that daughter of hers, what was her name, again?"

Ta-ta-ta-tap—"Erina." —ta-ta-ta-tap.

"Droite! She said Erina's going to be studying in Paldea of all places. Something about a culinary school."

Ta-ta-ta-tap— "Mhm." —ta-ta-ta-tap.

"She mentioned that classmate of yours...Izuku? Apparently he's going off to Fiore to become a Ranger. Seems everyone's leaving the nest, it seems like just yesterday was your graduation blah blah blah..."

Nua barely registered her mom's words. She was all too focused on the contents of the clear box sitting between them on the dinner table to hear much of anything, and her fingers ta-ta-ta-tapped the table anxiously. A red-and-white sphere was contained within those six plastic panes, her partner.

Her bowl of bouillabaise, a fishy Kalosian soup that her mom made on special occasions, was long since drained and Nua was confident that her constituation would be high enough to handle the initial shock to her system that the Sync Bond would deliver. The only thing standing between her and the Dreepy waiting in his Poké Ball was—

"blah blah blah...Oh, but I'll let you get started with your pokémon." Her mom stood from the table and, despite Nua's protests, wrapped her daughter in a big hug. "I'm so proud of you ma chérie."

The two were each others spitting image, and thanks to her mom's relatively young age they were often mistaken for sisters. The difference between them was the scowl plastered across Nua's face, and the smile and watery eyes on her mom's.

"Yeah, I love you, too." Nua shook out of the hug and swiped the plastic box off the table. "I'll let you know how it goes."

Her exit couldn't have been quicker, and in a flash Nua was down the hall. It was time, it was really time! She felt giddy as she slammed her bedroom door shut, and her hands shook as she rushed to unclasp the poké ball's box. The small, dormant sphere was cold to the touch, but it gleamed in the evening twilight filtering in through the blinds on her window.

How should she initiate the Sync-Bond? Physical contact was the most common method according to her research, and in some cases the bond could be initiated through the ball itself. She didn't feel any different holding the ball, though. It was the same metal sphere she'd handled several times at Rustboro's Trainer School, plain and inanimate.

Releasing the creature within was the only logical step, but how would it react? Well, there was only one way to find out.

Nua's thumb pressed the button and held her breath. CLICK!

The room was bathed in a flash of white light—

CRASH!
THWACK!
BANG!
THUMP!

A barely perceptible shadow zoomed around the small room faster than Nua could track, slamming into walls and ruffling papers as it moved. "Stop, wai—" FWOOSH! Nua yelped as she felt the pokémon shoot by her feet to the underside of her bed, and a final THUMP! sounded out.

The tick-tick-tick of her wall clocked counted a few seconds of silence before Nua let out her breath. What was she getting herself in to? The girl gingerly stepped onto the floor and crouched down next to her bed, peeking underneath to see a pair of small yellow eyes staring back at her.

"Come on out, I'm not gonna hurt you." She slowly outstretched a hand, careful not to spook the creature into attacking. The yellow eyes blinked slowly, regarding her in a way she couldn't quite read. They started moving closer, and Nua was able to get a full view of her new partner.

The Dreepy was longer than average, maybe a foot and a half long, and it slithered on air like a fish in water. It was kind of cute, in its own way, and it looked up at her quizzically as it emerged from under the bed.

What should she say? "Hi, I'm Nu—"

Dreepy suddenly darted up, wrapping himself around Nua's outstretched arm and getting his face right up to her's. She gasped in shock, but her surprise was quickly overwhelmed by a sudden tug from the pit of her stomach. The Sync-Bond was initiated, and a deep, primal hunger gnawed at the core of her being.

Calm down, focus! The flow of energy increased with every passing moment, and Nua poured everything she had into the torrent; her ambition, her drive, her will. She held nothing back, and neither did Dreepy. His voracious hunger, his curiosity, his own ambition and drive to soar.

Nothing could have prepared her for the feeling of her soul, the depth of her very being, being merged with another. Dreepy relinquished his hold on her arm and floated upwards to explore, but she was left struggling to stay upright. Her mind was flooded with foreign emotions, her thoughts felt tangeled, and intense dizziness overcame her as her body heated up.

Dear Arceus, her trash can! Nua dove to the bin behind her desk and retched, then retched again, and again. The entire contents of her stomach were emptied, yet she felt no better. Her head swam like the Dreepy above her head. Completely overwhelming was the only was to describe it. Was it like this for everyone? Would it be like this the whole time?

She could barely hear herself think over the swirling jumble of emotion pounding in her head, but something came to the forefront. Sympathy?

Nua felt Dreepy wrap himself around her shoulders, contorting his neck to brush his cheek against her's. That cheered her up a bit. "Thank you." She reached a hand up to scratch the little drake under his chin, and he closed his eyes in satisfaction at the touch. Strange, she kind of felt that, too.

Deep breath. "I'm Nuatsiki. I suppose you'll need a name, too." Something...bold. Powerful. Precise. Huh, precise.

"How about Seido?"

The Dreepy tilted his head to the side then nuzzled her cheek again. "I'll take that as a 'yes'." She reached to scratch his chin again, prompting a sort of strange pur from the ghost-dragon. Her and Seido against the Bronze League. Everyone would know their names before long.

 

[ThAtGuY101]

~Guy Larch...~
~Interactions: Ron...~
~References: cyndaquil, Mari...~

"Aaaaaaaaeeeeeeeeeee ooooooooohhhooooooo" Guy yelled off the hillside. He didn't know any yodeling songs, but he liked doing that on hikinh trips. With all his things packed and his pokemon gathered up, he was ready to go. His kabuto, Rook sat on his bag and his bonsly, Goju sat in his arms. Guy sat in the edge of the cliff, and slid down. He wanted to hold his hands in the air, but as he loosened his grip on Goju, he realized how stupid of an idea that was and held on tightly to his lil rock buddy. He hit the ground running. Snowpoint City was right up ahead. He leaped which was an extremely stupid idea cause he sunk into 3 ft of snow. It eventually became four feet, but eventually he managed to get out of it. Eventually even reaching a clearing.

Soon enough, he'd get an eyefull view of the sky above and the ocean below out in the horizon. He stood there looking out at all there was to be seen. Snowpoint City looked like a perfect place to be. He eventually headed over and would reach a coffee place.

"Scuse me...! Scuse me!" I'll take one coffee! What do you mean what kind? Coffee. Uuuuuuughhh... Mocha I guess..." Dolan said taking his cup. He nearly tripped and fell. A little bit of his coffee splashed out and burned his hand causing him to let out a yelp and fumble around with his cup. Causing him to burn his hand again. Causing him to fumble around more. He eventually managed to get a good grip of it.

"Ouch... Ouch... Ouch... Hot as fu-" Guy paused. He looked around. Rook didn't even want to look at Guy so the fossil mon turned his back to him. Goju hopped on one of the tables, and Guy took a seat. Guy began to blow on his coffee. He looked around and saw a boy and girl talking. The boy had a cyndaquil and using his brilliant sense of deduction, he decided he'd ask.

"Hey you! Mohawk kid. Are you a pokémon trainer too? I bet you are. I mean you got a pokémon and all... That kinda confirms it. Probably. Not necessarily. You shouldn't assume! It makes everyone look bad! but I bet you are! Are you...?" Guy said pointing at Ron.

 

[MegaAbsol]

Mari let out another full-throated laugh as she and Ron briefly wrestled for control over their order before stepping aside, letting him place the order. What on earth was caffeine though? Did he just mean coffee? "Aye, yer'n 'urrie'bou'th'cawfee 'en mai bleud? 'Ken, ye sheld wa'ch mei 'ith shoogar," She flashed another devilish grin, her one crooked teeth glistening in the cold snowy morning. As they took their seat in the tables outdoors, overhead umbrella laden with frost, Mari gave it a playful kick, causing a cascade of the powdery material to the floor around them in a neat circle.

"My 'hom? Oh, aye'n 'twas great, 'uge mountains awn yonder, cle'n aer, 'old water. Oh ye', t'were'n 'old, much colder 'an'is. Ye prooba'ly weren' leeve our'n fairesi'e'n ye came," Her words were spoken with another huge smile on her face as she watched her hot chocolate drink arrive - life in the mainland was amazing, there was so much that was simply readily available. "Chawklet weren'e' fa-ancy tree' fer'es too, ey,, ey' ge'i' e'rry summer w'en th' merchan's came," One scarred hand waved animatedly in the air as she continued to ramble, speaking all about the summer days when the frost in the air broke. "An' wha'bou' ye, rough man lik'yoo livin' oot in'th' streets, whi'h ceircoos di'dj'ye 'scape froom?" She asked, face contorting in a smiling snarl, exchanging banter like blows; rough, cheerful and without restraint, and perfectly accompanied by a little wad of tissue paper torn and balled between her fingers before being flicked to Ron's face.

 

[Hecotoro]

June 10th, Snowpoint City, Ron.

"Shit, just when I think life out in the country sounds fun, you make it sound like a job." Ron stuck his tongue in disgust. "If we ever go, I'm taking some supplies with me. Beer, coffee, pizza and stuff..." The punk looked at his coffee a bit before taking the first sip, quickly putting it down. "Yeah, still hot."

The piece of balled up paper smacked him right in the forehead, which only gave him a malicious smile, there was snow and now he wanted revenge. "First thing, any circus would've been lucky to have me. But, I was a showman." He shrugged, looking cocky and feeling his city stories were more interesting than milking goats on a farm. "I was in a band, you know, a rock band. I played the drums. I also had an apartment with a roomie, no sleeping on the streets."

Before he could start sharing his stories, some random guy starting calling out to him. Ron turned around and set his eyes on the person interrupting his conversation. "I am, what's it to you? If you're looking for a battle, I'm busy trying to have my coffee."

 

[MegaAbsol]

"Ay, lai'me, ci'y sl'i'kers 'ike yoo 'oouldun't git't ennywhey," Mari stuck her tongue back out; even if she didn't know what an apartment was, she knew when he was mocking her, and she wasn't about to take it lying down. "'Ay mou'h ta'yme'n 'ey'n... ey'n... ey'ncloejure, ta'm'ooch o' th' Wayld lou's fr'em'ye. Cor, caime 'ish outta'en ayce layke soom'taime'en EAT th' feish fr'aish, 'en'hen ye'll geddit, ay'l git thay'ock barn't vooise ar'igh'uned oop," She cackled, tapping the side of her face and glancing down at his hands.

"Hay'l t'bet, look'et'chu, bang'in'oon drou'ms'all dey an' steell en'go'thouse soff ci'y'boy 'ands," Mari was just about offering her own hands for comparison, palms up to display the weathered roughness and calloused grip when some other kid interjected their conversation with entirely too many words. Having grown used to Ron's slow drawl, this boy's words were nigh indecipherable to her. "Eh? 'ey goot'en ACKsent foor'eal, what'en de Sam'ill 'e saiyin'?" She whispered not-so-quietly, leaning not-so-subtly towards her companion while eyeing him not-so-discreetly. Avery would have been a whiz at translating the unfamiliar accent to her, and she hoped he was listening from inside his pokeball, but odds were the little owl was all tuckered out from the flying around in air as thin as this.

 

[Hecotoro]

June 10th, Snowpoint City, Ron.

"Yeah what she said, beat it pal." Ron leaned back and put his coffee up to his lips to take a burning hot sip, that he refused to admit, had destroyed some taste buds.

Ron set the cup down, feeling Furia's curiosity towards it, wondering if she could handle the heat. But the punk was more focused on actually relaxing for a change, despite the freezing weather. "Let's head to the Pokémon Center. If we're taking on the gym, we can probably get some intel on it. You'll probably need it to, unless they teach you about battles at the farm."

With a slight stretch, the Goldenrod naitve stood up, coffee in hand, and began to walk towards the calm yet lively city. Snowpoint was a popular vacation spot, but it was also a personal goal for trainers. It was the furthest town in the north of Sinnoh, those who dared to walk to it always came out stronger or were lost to the endless blizzard. This made their gym leader a tough one to beat, someone who could take a casual walk in the hellish route or Mt Coronet, was bound to be a force to recon with.

"You got any plans to fight ice with birds?"

 

[MegaAbsol]

"Ay, 'ow rood, ay'm'ose'tay Poekay'o'fait's'ell'a taime! 'ow d'ya thank ay'urned thi'?" Mari turned to show off a long silvery scar running down her back, but Ron was already on his feet. The girl rolled her eyes, yelled "jes'd'mit ye'r freyzin'yer bawls af aw'raday" and hurried to gather her things to trail after him.

As the refreshingly cold wind picked up, Mari stuck her mouth wide open, letting out an exhale that plumed into a great puff of billowing fog, and she left it open for a minute, tongue out and enjoying the chill like some sort of odd crocodile. Her friends' question made her tilt her head, and she opted to respond cursorily, jaws still pried apart. "a'e'unnlo'et, e'ntgo'gn'lan, 'ut'h'ow'ad'en'et'bey?" She gurgled out, words barely legible.

 

[ThAtGuY101]

~Guy Larch...~
~Interactions: N/A...~
~References: meanies...~

Guy Larch had sat there drinking his beverage passively listening to the conversation nearby. They didn't have good listening skills cause they didn't even notice him, despite the fact that he spoke in a clear decisive tone.

He was also taking in the sights, but most importantly he was finishing his drink. He had no clue what the girl was talking about. He assumed she might be speaking in a foreign language. The mohawk kid spoke in a mildly rude tone, but there was no way he was talking to Guy like that, right? As they headed to the pokécenter, Guy assumed he must have been talking to the coffee worker. Glancing over at the worker with a bewildered expression, he shrugged.

"Some people don't know how to fuckin' behave, I guess" Guy got up. His pokémon were healed. He had his own business to tend to. He glanced over in the distance at the gym. With his coffee glass empty and his pokémon staring at him, he got up. Put the cup where it should go, and headed to the gym. He had rock type pokémon so he was feeling a sense of confidence in his plans. Not a whole lot, but enough. It was a gym leader after all, clearly they had a plan for this situation. He approached the sliding doors. He stood there anxiously for a few moments when the door slid open.

Anyone inside could see him standing there. He didn't wanna look overly nervous and since the door was open, he had to either activate his fight or flight sense. With one shaky step forward, he began walking inside. He took three deep breaths then looked around inside. There was usually someone at the entrance to greet the challengers. An older man was there to see Guy walk in. Guy gave a friendly greeting and spoke about his intentions in taking on the gym leader. The second friendly person he spoke to in Snowpoint City.

 

[~Patriot~]

Nuatsiki Tenkiwara
June 10th - Snowpoint City, Sinnoh

Cold, cold, cold! What, on Arceus' green earth, compelled swaths of people to vote Sinnoh of all places to kick off the Bronze League? Was there a secret cabal of opposable thumb wielding Ice-Types conspiring against her?!

Even through her heavy black jacket, Nua shivered against the frigid sea breeze as the S.S. Endeavor pulled into what was possibly the most pitiful port the girl had ever laid eyes on. 'Collection of docks' was more accurate than a port proper, and the sight coupled with the abysmal weather were enough to send a pang of homesickness through the Rustboro native.

A pang of concern quickly followed, along with the disorienting feeling of her partner gliding through the air. Nua could feel his twists and turns through the Sync bond, a phenomena she was having a frustrating amount of trouble navigating, but at least the closer he got the easier it became to reach out to him.

I'm alright, Seido. The cold's just already getting to me.

She knew he was thoroughly unconvinced, and lent over the side of the railing to watch the wyrm fly in to check on her. The Dreepy was graceful and fluid as he slithered on air, and he popped up in front of his partner with his quizzical yellow eyes mere inches from her steel-grays.

Nua smiled. "I told you, I'm ok. Come on, we're here." She extended a hand, and Seido dove through her loose sleeve to curl himself around her arm, shoulder, and neck. He wasn't entirely convinced, but the promise of some heat to sap off of her was enough to soothe his nerves.

With her partner back at her side, Nua hefted her heavy black ruck and disembarked alongside a sparse smattering of fellow passengers. Her first steps on Sinnoan ground felt monumental, and she nearly erupted into a gleeful cackle.

This is where it begins, Seido! The start of our journey!

Ahead of them they had figurative and literal mountains to climb, trials to overcome, and glory to win. In the meantime, though...

Nua shuddered against the cold as she strode forward. They needed to warm up!

**********

The docks were apparently in some sort of traffic-heavy district of Snowpoint, with an airport nearby and establishments galore eager to pillage and plunder any unwary pedestrian's pockets. Unfortunately for her, foreigner Nuatsiki was a prime target. It wasn't long before she found a small coffee stand, and the smell of roasting brews and a hot drink lured her in hook-line-and-freaking-sinker.

"Me-me-medium coffee, t-two creams two sug-g-gars, please," she ordered through her shivering, and in no time at all her liberation from the oppressive cold arrived. From the first sip her mood went up! up! UP!—she'd survive, after all! Seido relished in the warmth, as well, and Nua had to resist scolding him for sapping her sweet, sweet rising body temperature. Eh, he'd know she thought it, anyway.

So, where to next? Nua had absolutely zero intention of challenging the Snowpoint Gym anytime soon, but the surrounding routes were said to hold a few Pokémon that could help her out in the near-future. She'd have to pull up a map, or at least get a general idea of where they wer-

As she scanned the rode ahead, Nua's piercing gray eyes landed on the most outlandish couple she'd ever seen leaving the coffee stand. Nevermind the most "punk" punk to ever punk—his girlfriend might as well have been fuckin' naked! A t-shirt, in this cold?!

With any desire to mind her own business overruled by the sheer curiosity of how the rough-looking girl was surviving, Nua strode the short distance to the couple and interjected into their conversation. "Excuse me, but aren't you freezing out here?"

 

[Hecotoro]

June 10th, Snowpoint City, Ron.

"Seriously Mari, if we're going to make this work, we need to start speaking the same language." Ron sipped his coffee, starting to feel the effects of the warm beverage smooth his freezing soul. "Say yes if you mean yes and no if you mean no, okay?" He teased the girl.

He wouldn't mind paying closer attention to her, but it was way too cold to focus on several things. He was trying to keep himself warm and Mari wasn't even trying to speak anymore, just making random Pokemon noises. In fact, he was about to just concentrate on his coffee, when his eye caught a sight of something. Ron looked up as some girl approached them and he suddenly wasn't cold anymore.

"Mari doesn't feel cold, I think she's from another planet. She also talks in her native language sometimes." The league required people to travel in threes and a girl like that could be great to have around. In fact, most groups were either of three boys or three girls. If Ron walked up to the next gym challenge with two girls, his popularity would peak, out of envy from the full boys teams of course. "Yo, where's your team?" Recruitment had begun.

 

[MegaAbsol]

"A'ye," Mari moved to half heartedly slap her hand on Ron's face, to get him to shut up and stop speaking. "Ye ge'that mouf fer Chrismis, mate? Stawp runnin' et ragged, hey, cen'tchye see shay's tawkin' t'mey?" Flashing a great buck-toothed grin, Mari turned and stuck out the same hand cheerfully at the new girl, giving her an appreciative look up and down. "Cheers, nayme's Mari. Maribelle Glory Everleigh," The accent seemed to settle down at the recital of the full name, as though the girl has carefully practiced saying the words over and over again until they were clear as day - well, a day that might be considered clear where they were from, perhaps. "And, cold? Nah, this'ere is henpeckin' weyther! Quite tittery, eyven! Foine, very foine, ah'm glad nayt all'en the reygen is boilin' o'or laike a pot," She groused, hoisting her gigantic camper's bag higher on her other elbow, "although some'n wee men 'ere cleerly rayse'tay be kawards, like this'un, cayn't 'andle anythen worse'an ay PERfektley woorm an'humeyd 'oom, like'n some kind'o finicky 'omegrown ro-ose," She scoffed, giving the man at her side a simpering smirk.

 

[~Patriot~]

Nuatsiki Tenkiwara
July 5 - Snowpoint City

Stumped! Stupified! Bewildered! All of the above! Even fluency in two languages couldn't come close to helping Nua piece together the jumbled puzzle of speech that t-shirt girl dropped on her. She managed to catch her name, but the rest? Maybe every third or fourth word! What did the punk say, 'from another planet'? He had to be right! A frozen planet, where the inhabitants learned to speak by watching Pokémon communicate!

"So you're Maribelle the Mystifying," Nua said, latching onto the only things she understood. "Whatever your secret is, clearly it's working for you." The girl rounded onto the punk next, raising an eyebrow and asking, "And who are you, Unnamed the Unmannered?" Her arms crossed and she continued with a tone of mocking innocence, "No introduction and asking me where my team is...how am I supposed to know you're not preying on young trainers new to the region?! I don't know you!"

Nua felt a tug from her Sync Bond, and her heart picked up rhythym as Sedio began uncoiling himself from around her arm. She was still working on the intricacies of human language with him, and to her dismay he still needed lessons.

It was just a joke, Seido! They're alright...probably.

She could tell the wyrm wasn't convinced, and he slithered his way up her arm and out of her coat's top opening to get a better look at the pair of humans. He coiled himself once and twice around her throat, protecting her most vulnerable spot, and his large yellow eyes bore into Maribelle and the punk from atop her head.

They hadn't been in any battles yet, but Nua was fairly certain he wouldn't attack. "If you really must know, I'm Nuatsiki, this is Seido, and we're still...exploring our options." The League's three-per-team requirement was their biggest early hurdle, since there was no chance Nua was going to try and join a team from one of the forums. What if they turned out to be friggin' weirdos?!

She and Seido eyed the punk expectantly. "And you are...?"

 

[Hecotoro]

July 5th, Snowpoint City, Ron.

Who the hell was this girl supposed to be? She walked in with a high and mighty attitude, even letting that weird lizard slid around like some sort of inspection? Ron already knew he was going to hate her, but he was a sucker for good looking Vaspiqueen wannabes.

"Woman you're the one who approached us. If you're not looking for a team, then you're either looking for a fight." His smirk turned into a frown as he eyed the new arrival. "WE are actually looking for a third member, so if you're just going to get in the way, I suggest you step aside."

The punk wasn't about to be pushed around by some leather freak. Besides, her puny Pokemon looked harmless while he had a walking flamethrower. Even if Ron couldn't fight her himself, Mari would whoop her ass anyways, he could still humble her down a step or two. "Ron is my name, Ron the unmannered. So, you stepping to the side or what?"

His disgust for the woman had already spread to the slumbering Cyndaquil, causing her Pokeball to shake a few times before she popped out. The small fire rodent yawned loudly, upset she had been disturbed by the negative feelings coming from her trainer. But, one look at Nua and she was already understanding why. If this woman walked as she talked, then Furia was ready to put her in her place.

 

[MegaAbsol]

Mari had let out a gleeful shrieking cackle, sounding suspiciously jackal-ish in her uproarious laughter at the woman's mannerisms. Oh, this girl was alright! Not that she had any idea at all what she was saying, of course - Mari was perhaps even more clueless than Nua herself. The girl vaguely recognized that the trenchcoat wearing woman was speaking a language she was familiar with, but beyond that, the too many words and long multisyllabylic sentences had her as lost as a blind Growlithe in a meathouse.

"Aye, ken, what'shay seyin'?" She turned to Ron, great toothy grin still stretching from ear to ear before it faltered, as she felt the man's mood shift. Her previously loud question, rising to a crescendo, halted and abruptly fizzled to an uncomfortable silence as the mountain-dwellers' gaze flitted between the two aspiring Bronze League contenders, feeling the tension spark in the air.

Why were they upset anyways? Sure, the new arrival seemed a little rude, but she respected a peer who spoke her mind and wasn't afraid to exchange words and blows! All water off a Ducklett's back, or so they say; she wasn't sure, she'd never really seen a Ducklett. She knew the kind, people like this girl who liked to talk big; whether she held any real illwill was yet to be seen. Or perhaps that was exactly what Ron had already sniffed out? Was she really a woman of questionable character...? Mari slid her now suspicious eyes upon Nua too.

"Aw'right, shoe's ovar, keids, sin'e y'all ken play naice," She took it upon herself to diffuse the situation and stepped in between them, mutually elbowing both the trainers apart, flashing a cheery smile at the Cyndaquil that decided to introduce herself. She was fairly certain the state of affairs wouldn't blow up to a proper scuffle, even if the punk she had befriended had proven to be quite unpredictable - but resorting to a pokemon battle to brush off any misunderstandings wasn't off the table. If it did have to come down to a fistfight, atleast Mari was certain she could keep it under control - the new girl didn't look like much of a fighter - heck, the girl looked like she could use more sun, the poor lass, must've been underfed as a child - and Ron, while powerful, was prone to lose himself in the heat of the moment. She turned to sympathetically pat her friends' muscular arm, taking the opportunity to give it a squeeze for future reference, and turned to Nua.

"Girly, I ain't iunno wha'tcha sai'tay 'im, but 'ey seems raight madder 'en a wet hen. Oi'm inCLIN'd t'say 'eyrigh'though, th'way tis gooin' fer ye, tis rainin' doun yer side o't'hill. Ye cannae dance an'it's too wet to plOUGH, so I rilly ain't see much nuthin' batter fer ye't'do. Naice snayk't'ere, by th'way. So aye, I guess what'en'e'm tryna say is," Mari paused uncomfortably, realising she'd started the sentence off without too much to satisfactorily conclude it. "Eh, bugger it, just faight'it oot, ye two, y'all ain't be needin't'makit so sherius!" She rolled her eyes and moved out of the way, watching the girl with a frown.

 

[~Patriot~]

Nuatsiki Tenkiwara
July 5 - Snowpoint City

It didn't take a Psychic-Type to understand the sentiment tangled up in Maribelle's strange dialect a challenge's reiteration sounded the same in any language. Nua let the girl's words linger in the frigid air for a moment, and felt her heart skip a beat as she stared down Ron the Unmannered and his Cyndaquil.

This soon?
Just like that?
When they'd only just met?!

How lucky she and Seido were, that only a few minutes after they'd arrived in Sinnoh the punk was willing to let them start their win streak! Just the thought got her blood pump, pump, PUMPING!

"I'm not going anywhere," Nua stated bluntly, her eyes never leaving the punk's as a grin began creeping out of the corners of her mouth. Sensing his trainer's intent, Seido uncoiled himself from her entirely as she continued, "I was just wondering how Maribelle could handle the cold so well, but with a hothead like you around it's no wonder she stays warm."

Every word was calculated, meant to destabilize an opponent before the clash even began, but she wasn't trying to take first place at some academic debate. In her mind, Nua knew the League required her to join a team.
...the pull...
The girl felt a tug through her Bond. In the depths of her being, she didn't need a travel team.
...the need...
What she really needed was to win!
...the hunger...

"I'll tell you what, Ron," Nua said as her arms uncrossed and her hands drifted into her coat pockets. "You need another person, right? If you win, I'll join your team. I'll even apologize."

A glint passed through her piercing eyes. Arceus, did she love a wager! "But if I win, I'll still join your team...only I won't apologize. Sound fair?"

 

[Hecotoro]

July 5th, Snowpoint City, Ron.

Ron snarled and turned around, walking away from the group with his hands in his pockets and looking up at the sky. His Cyndaquil remained in the same spot, her small eyes looking at their future opponent. That was until Ron stopped walking, making the fire type turned to face her trainer, tilting her head in confusion.

"Sorry girl, you already had your fun, we need to test out our new teammate."

Furia spit a small ember at the snow before returning to her Pokeball on her own. Ron growled as the Pokemon's anger spiked in his head. "You will get your turn next time, I promise." Ron shook his head and pulled a Lure Ball out of his pocket. The small red fish splashing inside as the sync bond threw confusion into Ron. "Don't worry mate, you'll do fine."

The Lura Ball split open and the red carp Pokemon emerged into the scene. It started flopping around from one spot to another, splashing snow all around it. Ron smirked as he looked at Nua. "You get one shot to try and defeat us, before we crush you."

 

[~Patriot~]

Nuatsiki Tenkiwara
July 5 - Snowpoint City

"How kind," Nua crooned sarcastically, folding her hands and bringing them up to the side of her face. "You'll really let us kick it off? Thank you so much!" Of course, Ron wasn't really being kind—he was playing some trick, some fugazi, some famoose on par with counting cards or rigging elections. Otherwise, sending out the world's most recognizable flopping red fish made exactly ZERO sense when he had a perfectly good Cyndaquil!

Heh. Whatever it was, it wouldn't matter. A grin spread across Nua's face as she tapped into the Sync Bond, communicating directly with the Dreepy pirouetting at her side.

Seido, on my mark use <Astonish>.

She recieved a feeling of recognition back, and stayed silent as the wind blew, the snow fell, and Ron's Magikarp flopped. If Ron was kind enough to give Nua the first shot, she'd choose when it came.

Wait...wait...NOW!

In the moment the Magikarp contorted to push back off the ground, Seido SHOT! forward. Nua felt a tug from her core as he sapped her energy, fueling the gathering of ghostly energy in his head as the Dreepy manuevered to ram into their feeble opponent, and her heart thump, thump, THUMPED!

They hadn't had any actual battles until now, but Nua had tested their stamina a couple of days prior. What she learned was simple and expected; she couldn't fuel a fight for shit! Nevertheless, here they were. They'd just have to try and win before she lost her lunch.

 

[MegaAbsol]

Mari furled up her lip, rubbing her nose with a thumb as she curiously watched the exchange between the group. Whatever the girl had said had clearly really gotten under Ron's skin, because the man had resorted to straight up walking away from them. What could it have even been? The man she knew would have sooner resorted to a fisticuff than simply peacefully walking away from his problems. Was this what the young ones called character development?

Nevermind, she spoke too soon, for the punk soon whirled around, evidently preparing to jumpstart his very rocky relationship with the girl who had been chattering her teeth just a minute ago, evidently as rivals and competitors first. She made haste to get out of the way, hopping on to a rock to match Ron's dramatism, prelimnaries before the actual fight itself. Ripping out a carefully folded handkerchief from her pockets, she waved it about, showboating about.

"Aw'igh', an'ere whey'av'a traina faigh' beh'twayn Rawn Toowe's fr'm... er, tha' plec', an'..." She peered closer at Nua, as though staring at her hard enough would reveal the information the girl had failed to absorb. "An'tha'un, fr'm, yes," She announced loudly, brandishing her arms as she introduced each one of the fighters in turn. Evidently she had been a little slow on the uptake too, for Ron had already released his fighter of choice.

A Magikarp? "Ey, Aves, wake up, you gotta watch this," She prodded the sleeping pokemon in her pokeball, managing to rouse Zorya at the same time. The two flying types were groggy, but receptive to her words. There weren't too many pokemon she was familiar with; it seemed as though the Pokemon world was a vast and expansive one; but Magikarp she certainly was familiar with. The scaly fish was deemed so useless that predators would opt to catch it and spend the hours required to debone it and consume what little fleshy parts it had over hunting something with more substance to it, simply because of how overwhelmingly easy it was to hunt it down. Mari and Avery shared an unspoken 'look' as best as one could over a telepathic bond, and shrugged.

"Aye, girly, naw'ye gat'en exCU't'loose et'ell. Iunno wha'ye bin'sayin' t'im, but ay'll rays'ya-a-bet o'maiown! Win, an'thay'dood pays'ya! Loose, an'ya o'us BOTH 'alf a thou o'thees!" Mari enunciated by rubbing her index finger and thumb together in the characteristic sign for money. "Wot say? Put'cher mone'ver yer mouth is, eh?"

 

[Hecotoro]

July 5th, Snowpoint City, Ron.

Ron crossed his arms as he watched the battle start. Nua started with a good move, going for a flinch to keep Magikarp down. Sadly, it did the opposite. Ron smirked as she watched the move impact the Magikarp, sending the red fish flying about a meter or two. The water Pokemon laid on the snow, his tail flopping.

"Now, you've done it, show them how it's done, Rage!"

The Magikarp smacked the ground with his tail, allowing him to jump into the air, the jolly chill expression from the carp had disappeared and now he was pissed. That bitch ass dead excuse for a dragon had attacked him while he was playing in the snow, blood will be shed and it wasn't going to be Magikarp's!

The fish located the lizard, took a deep breath and shot some sort of fireball made of pure energy, pure rage. The impact would cause a small explosion. Ron flinched at the energy being taken from him, but his smirk remained, only for a second. Panic in his eyes as he saw Magikarp started jumping and blasting Dragon Rage everywhere.

"Shit! Wait, Rage, calm down!" Ron called out as the energy drain caused him to fall to one knee while the once happy water Pokemon went on a rampage.

 

[ThAtGuY101]

As Guy stood inside the gym, he debated about going ahead and requesting a battle, but perhaps he'd leave and come back after he took some time to think a strategy through. Maybe even train a little before the battle. A bit awkward walking in the gym only to get cold feet, but he waved at the door greeter and explained his situation, to which the man kindly understood.

As the hiker stood outside, he glanced around and began walking. He carried his bonsly in his arms. He eventually heard some noise and when he got closer, he saw a battle in the distance. Some people were battling a pokémon. He didn't recognize the people right away, but he noticed the flopping fish using dragon rage. It was almost bewildering. He never seen a magikarp do anything other than splash.

He had a hard time believing anyone would need help against a magikarp, but CV considering the magikarp he was looking at, he decided to call out to the people dealing with it.

"Are you guys alright?" He asked. Goju was a rock type, so Guy was hesitant in actually taking it on. It might have knew a water type move too.

 

[~Patriot~]

Nuatsiki Tenkiwara
July 5th - Snowpoint City

Like a fat kid versus a tub of ice cream, the outcome was decided as soon as the battle began. Only thing was, Nua had no idea Seido was the ice cream and the Magikarp had a comically large spoon in its back pocket.

FWOOSH!

Seido barrel-rolled out of harm's way from the first blast, and his trainer's eyes widened as the ball of blue energy SOARED! past a mere foot or two away from her head. What. The. FUCK WAS THAT?! She had expected a famoose, but this was on an entirely different level! Nua's eyes narrowed, her jaw tightened, and his fist clenched within her jacket pockets.

The Magikarp kept blasting, kicking up snow and rock as its attacks as Seido tried his best to evade the errant explosions. Nua focused on the Sync Bond, pouring energy into him regardless of her own hesistation. She had to call another move, to bail him out, to think of something befor—

BOOM!

A cloud of smoke appeared in the space where Seido had just been, and in an instant the tug was gone. The flow of energy was disconnected. Her mind was just that—her mind and her's alone. The Dreepy dropped from the air, rolling backwards and stopping just short of Nua's feet.

Damn it. They'd lost to a MAGIKARP! Nua's teeth gritted as she seethed, but the punk wasn't giving her time to wallow. His fish kept blasting away in random directions, and Nua's eyes met Ron's panicked expression with a start. Shit, he wasn't in control of the situation in the slightest!

"You won! Call off your fish!" She shouted, scrambling to retrieve Seido's pokeball and recall him before an errant blast could catch him while he was down. Another blue orb soared precariously close to her, and Nua practically jumped out of her skin when it EXPLODED! behind her.

If Ron couldn't handle his own Pokémon, then Nua only had one other savior. "Money? Yeah, I'll pay you, just do something, Maribelle!"

 

[Hecotoro]

July 5th, Snowpoint City, Ron.

Whooshoom!

Rage disappeared from the field and back into his Poke Ball. Ron sat on the ground, actually sweating in the middle of the snow. "That was fucking insane." He laughed a bit, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

As he shook his head he got to his feet, dusting off the snow from his clothes and breathing heavily. "Damn, you really pissed Rage off." He grabbed his head and flinched. "I'm about to pass out, I'm heading to the Pokémon center."

Ron shot Mari a thumbs up, turned around and began making his way to the Pokémon center, tumbling now and then but with a cocky smirks on his face.

 

[MegaAbsol]

"Ey, what the-"

BO-DOOM!

"Aw, hell no," All three of the company's eyes on the rocks widened, as Mari started with horror. Avery and Zorya, now wide awake, blinked starstruck - well, atleast Avery did - as the pulsing orb of power shot past the challenger's Dreepy and off into the distance. And that wasn't the end of it either; like a shotgun firing off, blast after blast escaped the flopping Magikarp, flying willy-nilly as the pokemon writhed about on the ground. She hopped smoothly off the rock, dodging one of the blasts and wondered if kicking the fish into a corner was the right thing to do. Would it just get madder?

"Aves, put him to sleep!" She called out in her mind, reaching round for her pokeball-- "What?! Me?! Are you insane?! No way! Don't send me out there, Mari!" The owl's whimpering plea rang out, halting the girl in her tracks. "What?! This ain't the right time to hesitate at all! Come on, one quick Hypnosis, just like we practiced!" Too late, they had no more time to dilly-dally, her hand was already wrapped around the Hoothoot's pokeball. Clearly she wasn't the only one who had this idea neither, because the challenger girl was calling out to her to do something, anything!

In two long strides, Mari was at Nua's side, skidding to a halt as her rubber soles screamed against the frosted ground, and threw up an arm, shielding the two girls from the snow getting kicked up from all the explosions. Her free hand flicked Avery's pokeball free, and the owl let out a wail as he appeared, firing a powerful blast of psychic energy straight into the ground. Eh? Where did the Magikap go?

Her eyes snapped to Ron, clutching the menace of a Magikarp's pokeball in his hands, and she frowned as she watched him sweat in the icy snowscape. Fear of hypothermia aside, the flopping fish had done a real number on the man - and further still, something stirred deep in the girl's heart. Avery, despite not being a psychic type, possessed enough mastery over the skill to not only communicate with his trainer, unlike Zorya, but also to understand concepts, insinuations, traces... and he felt it the same moment Mari did. That power...

"Ey? Ver'd'ye t'ink yer goin', stumblin'awf aloon?" Mari called out, running to catch up with the man, waving a hand at Avery over her shoulder. The owl stood still, blinking first after her, then quizzically up at Nua as the two stood there in the settling snow, exchanging quiet glances. In the distance, he could vaguely hear someone call out to them, and his round little body turned to face their direction, but they had evidently been too far for Mari to hear, and he could only offer them a reassuring, albeit trembling wave of the wings.

"Oi!" The girl caught up in no time, grabbing on to Ron's shoulder to whirl him about, but had overestimated the strength left in the man's body because she immediately leaned in to offer him a shoulder of support. "Wot'ern tha'all'aboot? Yer gunna doe'summin'bou'ha', rayt? That fish'n gawt moure problem'n'han Carter's got li'l pills, an'it's only gunna ge'worse'nce it get'n older! Then ye'll 'ave'a reyl biggun runnin'all o'r hell's 'alf acre! Tell me ye've go'ta'plan fer tha', ye numbskull!" The final comment was more of a demand than a real question, but a hint of a plea had wormed its way into the headstrong girl's tone.

 

[~Patriot~]

Nuatsiki Tenkiwara
July 5th - Snowpoint City

What...what just happened?! Logically, the pieces were there—Seido got the first hit, then in the pokémon-battle-equivalent of flipping the chessboard over and slamming a set of checkers down the Magikarp went on a fiery blue rampage.

The few moments replayed in Nua's mind in an endless loop, rooting her to the snow-covered ground until long after Ron the Unmannered stumbled off and Maribelle the Mystifying chased after him.

She should have started out with a different move. She should have poured more energy into the Sync Bond. She should have expected whatever the fuck that move was. She should have been quicker to react to it. She should have...she should have...she should...

She should have won.

The snow fell gently on Nua's face, and even as the frigid air swirled around her the girl felt warmer than ever. She should have won. Her lips curled inward, and through surprisingly blurred vision she looked down and noticed the little Hoothoot standing at her feet for the first time.

Nua sniffed and blinked the moisture away, pulled from her trance by the avian stranger. "You're...Maribelle's Pokémon, aren't you?" The girl bent at the waist to get a better look at the quizzical creature, still towering over it while she raked it with an analytical gaze. "You've got some trick, too, don't you? Hurricane, no, I bet Brave Bird!"

Nua stood back up fully and chuckled, her defeat so absurd that it was the only thing left to do. A Magikarp with, what was that, Dragon Rage? Only a few minutes ago she wouldn't have believed it if she'd seen a video; of course she'd lost to that!

A wide smile graced her face, and she looked behind her to see the couple were still only a little ways down the road, probably headed toward the Pokémon Center. The stumbling mess of a punk had beaten her this time, sure, but next time it wouldn't be so easy. Next time she would win.

Back to her new feathered friend she looked—"We're getting left behind, fella. Let's catch up."

 

[Hecotoro]

July 5th, Snowpoint City, Ron.

A chuckled escaped his lips as Mari went on a full on rant about training his Magikarp. "Of course I got a plan." He paused for a bit, trying to actually think of one on the spot. "I just need to train more with it. Build bonds and stuff you know?"

Hopefully she knew because he just knew what to do on paper. He had never actually done something like it before. All he knew was that the fish was happy and jolly until he was struck by the little dragon. So, maybe he was looking at a quick tempered Pokemon, which reminded him of a certain sister. Still, he got a peak at that rage and it was blinding red. Therefore, if his small water type was going to go from zero to one hundred, they were going to have to work on that.

"Let's just get to the Pokemon Center and then we can figure things out."

Upon arriving to their destination, Ron thanked Mari for the help and moved over to leave his Pokemon with the world's most trustworthy receptionist, a Happiny. Ron made his way across to a small cafeteria and slumped down at a booth. He ordered a coffee and a whole pizza. His energy still felt drained, but being away from his Pokemon actually helped out a bit.