Private/Closed Rocket, sans Rainbow

[Tailon]

Dean Hale awoke with a start, his eyes snapping open. He was still in his bedroom, shrouded in darkness. A glance at the clock revealed it was 3 in the morning. From an installed perch by the window, a smallish bird with a hat of feathers crowed softly, inquiringly. The boy shook his head from where he lay on the bed to ease the Pokemon's worry, and in time, drifted off again, ignoring the stray fireworks that had woken him.

~~~

Sunrise in Viridian brought the first stirrings of a tradition nearly as old as the city itself. Today, the trainers who had set off from Pallet a day or two prior would arrive, bearing the year's crop of Pokemon from the Professor's Starter Program. Tomorrow, they and the new trainers setting out from Viridian without standard Starters would begin the trek through Viridian Forest.

Because Viridian was central to the Indigo League, Viridian Forest had become something of a traditional first obstacle. After the relatively safe, Ranger patrolled first Routes 1 and 22, the forest became a test of conviction and the bond with their Pokemon for new travellers. In recent years what had been essentially a large block party along the main road leading into the forest had expanded to a citywide event with two new arrivals: a fresh Gym Leader, the ex-Champion Blue, and a stop on the high speed Magnet Train which connected the region to Johto, and allowed more young trainers than ever to start from the fabled forest.

Naturally, the city's businesses had adapted, and now for the week before those two days temporary stands lined the streets, while shops held sales and special events in anticipation of the influx of travellers. Today, Dean planned to attend the formal arrival of the Pallet trainers, where they would be greeted by Professor Oak, who had flown in for the ocassion, and his grandson Blue. Afterward, a day of shopping was in the works, taking advantage of the specials and sales to stock up on last minute supplies before the next day.

 

[Keleri]

Jamie ran down her checklist, carefully ticking off each item on the list while arranging her supplies to precisely utilize the space in her backpack. She had to be fully prepared for travel! No Pokemon Ranger would be needed to fly in to rescue her like a ten-year-old, no, she was an adult, and she was absolutely not going to get killed by Beedrill or Ursaring or--

She exhaled strongly, centering herself. No need to let her imagination run wild; fifth graders did this all the time--well, usually with an older mentor--and she wasn't even going on a badge quest, really. This was a very important project and Prof. Holly would need regular updates on every site and her progress. Just. Maybe if she was going that way anyway...

Okay. Breathe. She had her clothing--fast drying, UV protection, antibacterial--warm hat and gloves, bag, tent, sleeping bag, trail food for when she couldn't get to a Pokemon Center, first aid, potions, status healers, multitool, charger, firestarter, money, Pokeballs, Pokedex--

Jamie patted her pockets. Pokedex.

"Feeb? Have you seen my Pokedex?"

Phoebe, an enormous and fluffy Flareon specimen, yawned expansively from her position on Jamie's bed and chirped inquiringly. Her trainer cast harried glances around the room, lifting and scattering objects from every surface until it was in hopeless disarray, her plastic grade school trophies tipping over and falling behind the dresser.

"I'm going to be late," Jamie muttered. She went into the hallway and yelled down the stairs. "Mom? Is my Pokedex down there?"

"Haven't seen it, honey!"

Jamie checked her pockets again and dove into her closet to check the pockets of everything inside it, leaving behind a wreckage of wrinkled garments and swinging hangers. Finally, she fired up a VOIP program on her computer and called her 'Dex.

Somewhere in her carefully-packed backpack, something buzzed.

"Son of a beach--"

***

Jamie sighed, settling into her bullet train seat and watching the countryside whisk by. She'd arrived at the station with a nail-biting half an hour to spare, but security and their steel- and psychic-type Pokemon had passed her through without a pause. She'd looked at the other travelers' faces furtively, her imagination calling up visions of criminal gangs and Pokemon heists, but everyone on the platform had simply looked tired or bored or both.

Here and there she'd seen a bright-eyed teen or pre-teen heading out with a huge bag and a single Pokeball on their belts, much like her, though she of course had two Pokemon, and was better-prepared--no, she hoped they were just as prepared as her and just as safe. Definitely. Nothing bad would happen to them. Or her. And if it did she was an adult and--

Anyway. The other trainers were heading for Viridian, like her: the festival at the foot of Route 22 was a great spot to stock up on supplies, and audition Pokemon looking for trainers or visit a trader. She didn't need those things, of course, but there was something terribly exciting about visiting the festival, and to experience that same concentration of energy and hope. And Professor Oak and Blue would be there, and probably other professors and trainers of significance as well: it was the ideal time to network.

But afterward she'd be going on to Viridian Forest, to chase down the first of the ambient energy anomalies on Prof. Holly's map. This project was a chance for her to make a name for herself: lots of researchers shied away from field work, but she'd show them that not only did she have the academics, but she could hold her own in the field as well, the drive and tenacity to roam where others feared to tread, the pokemon trainer-researcher-explorer who could discover what was out there to a 5% confidence interval.

If she didn't get killed by Spearows, anyway--shutupshutupshutup

 

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

The first thing that went through Iolana Kalili's mind when she stepped off the airplane in the Saffron Regional Airport was "Well, this is different."

And it really was. Malie was fairly large by Alolan city standards, and its airport was by no means tiny - but this airport almost felt like a small city of its own, and as the bus connecting it and Saffron City proper dropped her off in what would be considered the city center, it occurred to her that her perspective on what consituted a city probably needed redefining. There was an entirely different atmosphere to Saffron, and it wasn't just the lingering smog. The "Shining Big City" certainly lived up to its motto - it was big, and bright, and noisy, and something told her that at night it would have been an absolute neon hell. Part of her was aware that she was probably standing there gawking like a bloody tourist and that some of the people that shuffled by might have been staring - but at this point, she really could not give a Raticate's rear end. This was it - she has actually gone and done it. A whole new adventure, in a whole new region - uncharted territory, far away from home and everything that she spent the last few years becoming far more familiarized with than most people back home did.

Well, not everything, per se. She had Kea with her, of course - she could not picture going anywhere without the Ninetales who has been her steady companion for over five years. And she had Dracaena - a relatively fresh catch that she was hoping to become more familiar with in this new region. She had her Z-Ring. And of course, she had her collection - the eighteen colourful Z-crystals set in the tessellated diamond-shaped brackets on her belt - Proof of her journeys of old, catching the morning light (or perhaps it was more than the morning light, but also the power sleeping within the stones themselves?) in a rainbow of color.

The girl grinned. At this point, she honestly did not care what the locals thought. It honestly couldn't be as bad as how they often looked like when they visited her home turf. This was her new journey, and all she had to do was drop in the local Pokémon Center, register herself into the league challenge - and then she'd be all set to conquer whatever challenges it was planning to throw at her, effective immediately.

~*~

Or so it would have been, had the local Gym Leader not been absent from her post on that day. In a stroke of rather inconvenient timing, Sabrina - the so-called "Mistress of Psychic Pokémon" - was apparently off in the Unova region, filming a sequel to "Mystery Doors of the Magical Land". Her second - who took on challengers in her stead - said that she was due to return sometime later this month - and Iolana decided she was going to wait. It's not like she was in a rush or anything like that - if she was going to do this so called "gym challenge", she was going to do it properly. Her preliminary reading about such suggested there were at least 7 other gyms she could take on - and since Saffron sat smack dab in the middle of the region, getting back would be a cinch.

There was just one slight problem. Where to now?

The League Guidebook she received from the Pokémon Center when she registered suggested there were three gym cities surrounding Saffron - Cerulean to the north, Vermillion to the south and Celadon to the west. Each - save for Vermillion - specialized in a type that one of her companions had a type advantage against. However - each had the potential to turn that type advantage around. The local Grass specialist had multiple partial Poison-types in her care, and the leader in Cerulean specialized in the Water-type - and like the ocean, those were unperdictable. It would have been a challenge either way - and Iolana was hard-pressed to pick which one she wished to test her mettle against first.

Eventually she settled on none of the above - further reading led her to find a note that took her off in a rather unexpected direction. Apparently, she found the perfect time to hit the Kanto region - right around the time a festival of sorts, dedicated to new trainers, was about to take place in Viridian City. A few years ago, she probably wouldn't have made it on time - but thanks to the recently completed expansion of the Kanto-Johto Magnet Train, she could be in Viridian City very quickly for a very affordable price - and honestly, she may have been here to challenge the gyms - but part of a journey was seeing the sights, and this was an opportunity. Besides, a festival dedicated to trainers would surely have opportunities for battles - and maybe getting some training in before rushing headlong into the gym gauntlet could be a wise idea.

~*~

A little over an hour later, as Iolana stepped off the train and onto the platform in Viridian City, it occurred to her that she has never seen scenery woosh by quite the same way in her entire life. How fast was this thing and how was it so fast? The amount of power the train in question consumed was probably phenomenal - she heard something about a once-abandoned power plant having been refurbished to compensate the power grid for the energy the thing consumed, but that may have been an exaggeration. A mystery for another time, anyway - there was a festival to look into... assuming she wasn't going to drown in the veritable tidal wave of people leaving the station, of course!

 

[Dark Soul]

Click!

“Beautiful!” Oliver called out to the old lady and her Eevee as they held a pose behind their market stand, the Eevee hugged tightly against its owner’s chest. He checked out the photograph as it appeared on his camera’s screen. The lady was nicely centered in the photo, and the daylight white balance was doing marvelous things with the colours of the many flags and products that the lady’s stand was adorned with. “Thank you so much!” Oliver said, in his mind already looking forward to featuring the shot in tonight’s update to his blog.

“It’s no problem at all, dear!” The old lady dressed in a long, beautiful red kimono said as she put her Eevee back down on the stool beside her. “I’m so glad to see you youngsters are enjoying the festival as always. This is one of my favourite times of the year!” Oliver nodded understandingly. He could have not have wished for a more marvelous introduction to Kanto himself, diving straight into the rich culture of Viridian on his second day in the region.

For as much time as Oliver spent trekking through nature, cities like Vermillion- where he’d stepped off the boat from Sinnoh just yesterday- and Viridian always made him feel a little more at home. A childhood spent in the hustle and bustle of Rustboro had made him appreciate the peace of travel, but cities were the hotspots of rich culture and vibrant life in any region- And Viridian was boiling over with people and brimming with joy today.

Truth be told, Oliver was waiting for night to fall. To him, cities were always at their best after dusk- seas of light contrasting against the quiet dark of nature. He knew, though, that by the time the festival was over he would already be itching to move on to the next place. Maybe he’d travel back to Vermillion to get some shots of the water PokeMon flying around or resting lazily in the harbor, and see where he could walk from there.

About twenty minutes and a few snapshots later, Oliver’d reached the outskirts of the festival, and a grassy field where food stands were selling freshly cooked meals to eager and hungry customers. The scent caught a hold of Oliver’s nose, and it wasn’t long until he was sat on a tree stump on the field eating a bowl of rice and spicy beef with a Linoone wrapped up on his lap and a Riolu standing watch just a few feet away.

His foreign PokeMon were the subject of a few interested gazes and pointing, though no one approached. Oliver’d been warned by a fellow well-travelled passenger on the cruise ship that the people of Kanto tended to be more reserved than the average Joe you’d find in Hoenn. He didn’t mind a bit of peace during his meal, though.

Looking at Holly, Oliver began to think that perhaps he should challenge a trainer or two before the festival wrapped up. Holly seemed eager to get the exercise in after her idle time on the ship, and Koda, well… He scratched the Linoone’s tummy. Koda had spent more than enough time doing nothing but napping and eating.

 

[Rex]

There were lots of things you could say about Ryan. A veteran trainer with an adventure in his home region under his belt, he had been struck by a sense of wanderlust yet again. From his home in Unova, he had traveled all the way to the Kanto region. He'd left behind his old team, taking only his starter, the Dewott he'd named Dodger, along with him. Fairly typical for an experienced trainer wanting to have a fresh start. This new adventure, however, wouldn't just be a badge challenge. The boy had already done that, and now, at nineteen, he was looking for a new experience.

Adventurous was one of the things you could say about him, another was studious. After an unfortunate accident in his youth that cost him his right eye, Ryan had dedicated himself to studying Pokemon so it would never happen again. He didn't blame the Sandile that had attacked him, not really. It had been his own stupidity and not realizing the signs the Pokemon had been giving him. The Pokedex he had been given at the start of his adventure had been an invaluable tool in his quest for knowledge. But as he traveled, he noticed that the digital encyclopedia was out of date. Pokemon were living things, they were constantly on the move, shifting from place to place to find the best possible habitat. Some of the Pokemon he had encountered in Unova weren't even registered as appearing in the region!

This intrigued him. As he had thought more about it, the idea started forming in his head that maybe it was time for him to try and leave his mark on the next generation of Trainers. If he could travel a region, record the new Pokemon he saw there, and present his findings to the professors. The Pokedex would be updated, and maybe keeping it up to date could be another part of a new trainer's expedition. That's why it had to be Kanto. The region's 'dex was of similar size to Unova's own, and the regional professor, Oak, was the device's creator. He'd get more mileage presenting his evidence to Oak himself than Juniper or any of the other region's professors.

And that was why Ryan found himself standing in Saffron City. Dressed in his usual blue coat and black pants. The jacket was worn closed today, hiding the sleeveless black shirt he had on underneath. He wore a red cap, purchased locally and pulled down to hide his eyes. Or, more accurately, the eye patch covering the scars and glass eye on the right side of his face. Ryan wasn't embarrassed by his injury, not in the slightest. But people had a tendency to stare, and the Dewott standing next to him gave him away as an outsider already, he didn't really need their critical gaze cast upon his face, too.

Anyway, the city's Gym Leader was Sabrina, a psychic and Psychic Type trainer. Also a famous actress, he'd seen her movies. He'd also done his research on the Kanto League before setting off. Much like Striaton was the traditional first Gym Town of Unova, Pewter served that same role for Kanto. Brock, the Pewter Gym Leader, was part of a not insignificant portion of traditional first Gym Leaders who used Rock Type Pokemon, and their respectable bulk, to force Trainers who had been relying on brute force up til that point to start thinking outside of the box. Sabrina was traditionally challenged sixth, with Trainers following a somewhat odd, wandering route through Kanto.

While Ryan didn't really consider himself a traditionalist, Sabrina was out of town, and wouldn't be back for some time. He had come to Kanto to challenge the real Gym Leaders, not some stand in. Plus, as sure as he was of Dodger's strength, he didn't want to rely on the Dewott by himself to get him through the region. There was apparently a festival going on in Viridian City, celebrating new Trainers starting their journeys or what not. Oak and his grandson, the Viridian City Gym Leader Blue, were both going to be there. Blue wouldn't be accepting challengers, but it was only a hike through Viridian Forest to Brock and Pewter City. Most importantly, he could get to Viridian with time to spare by taking the bullet train. Getting anywhere else wouldn't be half as quick. Plus, Unova didn't have bullet trains, so this would be a treat.

---

He had been right, the bullet train had been an experience. The landscape flew past him almost to quick to study, and they arrived in Viridian after only an hour or so of travel. Ryan couldn't help but wonder how long it would have taken to go all the way to Goldenrod City from Saffron. If he wanted to hit up Johto after Kanto, the train was definitely an option. As he stepped onto the platform, taking a moment to release Dodger from his Pokeball again after he'd kept the Dewott contained through the ride, he took in the scenery. They called it a city, but compared to his hometown of Castelia, Viridian was more of a town with delusions of grandeur.

As he dodged around people getting on and off the train - a skill he'd had years of practice with in the bustling streets of his home city - he caught sight of a girl who looked about as out of place as he did. A fellow tourist, perhaps, wearing a bejeweled belt of all things. He wasn't exactly sure what drew him to engage in conversation, but he weaved through the people over to her, Dodger close by his heels.

"Are you lost, or just taking in the sights?" he smiled, tilting his hat up to expose his left, good, eye. It was bad enough he was striking up a conversation with some random person out of the blue, no need to look shifty on top of it.

 

[Tailon]

Dean hopped awkwardly down the stairs, still clasping a Trainer's Belt containing a single, custom Ball, to his waist. The Pokemon the Ball belonged to, a small Murkrow named Don, fluttered down behind him, waiting until the boy somehow managed to land on stable footing before taking his rightful perch on Dean's shoulder.

Don was in place, that put him at ease. The boy waved a quick goodbye to his parents on his way out the door, running again through his mental checklist of necessities for the day wallet, phone, belt, Ball. Ready. Dean moved almost mechanically through the city he had known since birth, making his way west toward the main road past stall and shop hawking their wares.

Don acted as guidance system, knowing the city from the sky, to an outside observer the boy and bird may have seemed like two parts of a single organism. Together, they eventually reached a temporary stage, erected near the main road Pokemon Center, where stage hands and technicians were still milling about in last minute preparation.

 

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

Iolana was not exactly accustomed to weaving through crowds - but she managed somehow. And now that she was out of the immediate morass of humanity attempting embarking and disembarking - but not out of the station yet - she followed the signposts with her eyes in search of an obvious exit when a voice caught her attention. It was a trainer - an older boy who seemed to emerge from the crowd straight in her direction, accompanied by what she assumed was his Pokémon - a bipedal, blue furry creature that she did not recognize. Probably just came off that train themselves, really.

"Are you lost, or just taking in the sights?"

"Mostly trying to sight the exit sign so I can get lost." she grinned, her hands instinctively forming the rainbow-formed greeting gesture prominent to her homeland. She wasn't in Alola anymore, of course, but old habits died hard. "Or, at the very least, get myself somewhere where I can see some actual sights. I heard there's supposed to be a festival over here somewhere - something tells me it isn't in this train station."

 

[Keleri]

Jamie wandered through the festival, looking over the various vendors' wares. It was bigger and more bustling than when she'd been here as a true newbie, full of entrepreneurial hopefuls and more corporate sponsor tents than she remembered. She indulged in a taiyaki stall and broke the tail off the Magikarp-shaped pastry to give to Feeb, who reduced it to carbon and nibbled on it daintily.

She'd been to the professors' stands first, listening eagerly to students' presentations and projects, but as she tried to visit with them their expressions had turned glassy in that Oh God I Will Have To Talk To Fifty People Today way. She'd left them with a contact ping on their Pokedexes and kept going, a little disheartened, but reminded herself that she already had a great--an amazing--project to focus on.

The Pokemon traders and breeders were already busy, with various Pokemon preening on display. In truth this wasn't a super great place to get acquainted with a new Pokemon, but it was always fun to look, although she got a mild shock from a wild-caught Pikachu. Not a good fit, she supposed, smiling and holding back her Strangelove-spasming arm as the trader apologized.

Well, that was prooooobably a sign that she should get moving. There were a number of different energy anomalies and gradients to look at in the area, and she'd be better off getting onto Route 2 ahead of all the newbies. They wouldn't think twice about challenging someone who looked grown up to a battle, and she'd feel bad about turning Feeb loose on some poor Bulbasaur or Caterpie.

She should've been looking where she was going and not woolgathering, because she walked straight into someone and pulled away, gabbling apologies.

 

[Rex]

She did this thing, a sort of odd gesture he'd never seen before. He took a step back, just in case he was invading her personal space or something like that. Her verbal response, however, seemed pleasant. She apparently was also here for the festival, they'd probably been on the same train. He smirked in response to her quip, then motioned around the station.

"What, they don't usually hold festivities in train stations where you're from?" He quipped back, "I'm afraid I'm as in the dark as you are as to where this party is. Our best bet might be to follow the crowds, though. I find that usually gets me where I need to go in life."

He took a moment to offer his hand to the girl, hoping that shaking hands was a thing that crossed cultural boundaries, "I'm Ryan, by the way." He motioned to his Pokemon with his other hand, "And this is Dodger."

 

[Dark Soul]

“Oh, it’s alright!” said Oliver, who’d just managed to move his camera out of the way. The girl with the candy pink hair and shiny white outfit looked truly worried, but he gave her a smile. “Don’t worry about it, I was distracted too.”

He pointed at the Linoone that was bouncing on its front legs energetically, practically glued to his feet. “This is Koda, and he likes to get in the way when I’m walking. Don’t you, buddy?” He scratched Koda behind his ears. He was glad Holly was already back in her ball- two young PokeMon to look after would have been too much.

“I’m Oliver, by the way. Nice to meet you!” He introduced himself. “What’re you in town for?”

 

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

The other trainer appeared to be somewhat confused by her greeting for a moment. She honestly wasn't all that surprised - it was very much an Alola thing, after all. Apparently her tone was enough to explain it, though - and that honestly suited her just fine.

For a random person randomly talking to random strangers in a train station, he seemed friendly enough - and after a comment or two suggesting to follow the crowds, he promptly introduced himself as Ryan and his unfamiliar Pokémon as Dodger, and offered a handshake.

"Iolana. Pleasure to meet you both." the girl smiled, returning the handshake and nodding at the Pokémon in greeting. "And you never know - we don't really have major railways back home, but if we did I'm pretty sure someone would have found an excuse to set a festival up around 'em. They love their festivals, really."

"And they would probably consecrate it in the name of the long-lost fifth guardian deity of trains, Tapu Choochoo." she thought to herself, but she left that part out.

"Anyway - I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like your partner before. Am I right in assuming they're a Water-type, though?"

 

[Rex]

Ryan crossed his arms. "No major rails? Oh man, if you're ever in Unova, you have to give the Battle Subway a try. Takes you on a loop around the region, and has you battling Trainers all along the way. Really tough ones, too. If you can take down the twins that run the trains, you're probably more than ready for the Elite Four."

He was getting ahead of himself, though. She did return his handshake, so at least he wasn't left standing there awkwardly. She then mentioned that she'd never seen a Pokemon quite like Dodger, though she did follow it up by correctly guessing his type.

"You assume correct. Dodger here is a Dewott, the first evolved form of the Unova Region's Water Starter, Oshawott," he nodded, "We just arrived from the Unova region this morning, doing that whole 'starting over' thing that's popular with the kids."

 

[Keleri]

"Sorry! You're sure you're okay?"

The person Jamie bumped into was a tall, thin guy with a Linoone and a camera-- a serious one with a big lens and everything, not just a Pokedex camera. Oh god, what if he'd dropped it, she'd be on the hook for that one, get it together Jay--

She shook her head and smiled; the guy didn't seem angry, and he was introducing his super cute ferret-like Pokemon and himself.

"Sorry, Oliver. Koda looks like a sweetie," she said, offering her knuckles for the Pokemon to smell. "I'm Jamie, I'm here for a bit of sightseeing before I get back to work. What are you up to? Are you a photographer?"

Phoebe gave Koda a sniff as well, and Jamie kept her hand on her Pokeball in case she got over-excited, but the Flareon sat back on her haunches and chirped, puffing her fur up luxuriantly.

 

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

So Ryan was from Unova - wasn't that the region the Gym Leader in Saffron hecked off to? - and his partner was one of the starter Pokémon of his home region - and he was here for the same reasons that she was, apparently. She took note of his comments regarding the Battle Subway - it sounded like it would be an interesting challenge, if she ever ended up in the neighborhood. She would definitely need to bring the old guard in for something on that scope.

A musing for another time - she had two whole regions to get through before she even considered a third.

"We have something in common, then!" Iolana nodded "New region, fresh start, the whole shebang. I'd introduce you to my partners, but they're the sort of 'mons that kind of need their space - not as compact. Maybe once we get out of here? I'm pretty sure they'd appreciate the fresh air."

 

[Dark Soul]

“Did this brick of a device give it away?” Oliver said, laughing, holding up his camera with two hands. “Yeah, sightseeing’s what I’ve come down here for, too. Normally, I tend to do mostly nature stuff, based in Sinnoh- but I’m not one to miss out on a good festival!”

Koda sniffed at the hand that Jamie held out at him, then quickly turned his attention to her Flareon, which had hopped up to him and began sniffing right back. Koda hopped up and down excitedly again, giving off a playful squeak as the Flareon puffed up its majestic mane.

“So what’re you working on, if you don't mind me asking?” Oliver asked, adjusting his camera strap in the meanwhile. “If you do your sightseeing in such a hurry, I can’t imagine how fast you do your job.” He continued with a well-meaning wink.

 

[Keleri]

Jamie laughed and covered her eyes. "You know how it is, got to keep that strict timetable or the big boss will eat me." She brightened. "I'm doing a research project for a professor! It's terribly fascinating, there's energy-- You might know about how some Pokemon evolve due to environmental factors, like Eevee? Basically there are all kinds of natural energy flows all around the world, and they influence the Pokemon that can live in different places. I'm visiting some different hotspots around Kanto this summer to map them and take readings. There might," she added conspiratorially, "also be some interesting Pokemon nearby, so I've got a few Pokeballs handy for research purposes."

Yeah, interesting Pokemon ready to eat you, was her intrusive thought, but she tried to ignore it.

"How about you, where are you off to after this?" Jamie smiled at Koda. "He looks like he could make it to Viridian Forest and back while we're standing around here chatting."

 

[Dark Soul]

“That sounds fascinating! I knew energies from certain stones can trigger some PokeMon to evolve, but I didn’t know there was so much more to it than that…” Oliver made a mental note to be the first to offer up to be the photographer for an interview shoot, if this research ever made it into the news.

He laughed at Jamie’s comment about Koda. “Y’know, I’m sure he could! They’re know to get up to sixty miles an hour, so they can circles around most PokeMon- Well, not literally, they can actually only keep a straight line when they’re at full speed.” Oliver said. “It’s kind of hard-wired into him. Of course, if you’re an assistant to a Professor, you might have already known that sort of thing!” He continued.

“I don’t know exactly where I’ll be off to next. I never do, really- I didn’t even know I’d end up in Viridian when I stepped off the boat in Vermillion yesterday, until I heard about the big festival. I have a few points of interest like Viridian Forest and Mt Moon, where I’m sure I can get some great shots if I hole up for a few days..”

A thought occurred to Oliver out of the blue. “Hey, about that natural energy flows thing… I have a PokeMon that’s not from around here that might just be of some use.” He retrieved his second PokeBall from his belt and opened it, a streak of blue energy flying out and forming a shape next to him.

Holly looked around timidly, then looked Jamie and her Flareon straight up and down. She must have liked what she saw in their auras, as she approached Jamie with an interested look in her eyes. “This is a Riolu, and they don’t see like we do- Well, they do, but they see more… They can see the ‘aural’ energies that come off of people and other PokeMon, and even things that aren’t alive.” Oliver explained. “Now, that’s how it was explained to me by an old man in Canalave City. I don’t know if that’s the same kind of energies as what you’re talking about, but…” He trailed off, realizing he was already in way over his head.

 

[Keleri]

Jamie almost shrieked but stopped herself just in time, so as not to startle the young Pokemon.

"A Riolu," she whispered, scanning it with her Pokedex. She stooped down and politely offered Holly her hand to sniff. "Hi Holly, aren't you a pretty girl? Yes! Exactly! Pokemon that can sense Aura are like natural detectors for this sort of thing, it's how they'd find evo stones and ambient energy back in the day, right? Of course there are some very interesting variations in how the energy manifests on people and Pokemon versus environmentally, the waveforms are a little different--"

A thought came to Jamie, and she blurted it out without thinking. "Why don't we travel together a ways and see how Holly reacts to the energy hotspots? I mean, if you want to, it sounds like you're heading to Viridian Forest anyway and no pressure, it can just be to the closest one, I mean you might find it boring or it might not work for whatever reason which is totally fine," she babbled.

Phoebe's ears perked up at the newcomer and she greeted her as well, although the wheels turned in the Flareon's tiny brain and a dial turned to "We Are Not Currently About Me". Feeb stood on her hind legs and balanced on Jamie's leg, mrrrting to indicate her impatience.

 

[Dark Soul]

Holly got a more enthusiastic response from Jamie than he’d ever thought she’d get. The researcher knelt down and extended her hand again, and Holly didn’t back away as she normally did when people or PokeMon approached her with enthusiasm. After scanning Holly with a red device Oliver recognized as a standard PokeDex, she started into a dialogue about ambient energies with an enthused spark in her eyes.

“I’d be up for it! Since I’m going there, I don’t mind you tagging along. I was planning to set Holly loose on some of the braver PokeMon there after I’ve filled my quota of good shots, anyway- She always loves to get some training in.” Oliver responded. “If you don’t mind, though, I was hoping to still get shots in of the city, so it might end up being a bit later… Oh, how about I register your number? I could call you up when I’m available!”

He retrieved from his pocket a device the size of two fists, golden in hue but quite beat up and scratched. At a press of the blue button, two arms collapsed out of the main body and a slightly cracked screen flipped up and took a few seconds to flicker to life. “I should really get a new one of these.” Oliver said sheepishly.

 

[Keleri]

"Yes! Of course! That's perfect, I need to poke around here for a few supplies first, and it looks like Feeb wants some attention." Jamie laughed when she saw the vintage device. "That's old school, I think my starter prof had one of those. What did they call them? PokeSat?"

Jamie got out her Pokedex and sent the contact, and was confused when Oliver's device didn't beep. "Oh! I bet it's too old, I'll give you the contact manually."

"See you in a few!" she said afterward, waving to Oliver and his Pokemon.

This was exciting! See, networking! If he calls back, of course, said a voice, and if you didn't bore him with all that science stuff.

Um, it was extremely cool science stuff, mean brain voice. Jamie huffed and picked up Phoebe to distract herself, pushing her chin into the Flareon's fur. Feeb wriggled happily and knocked off Jamie's hat.

As she set Feeb back on the ground and got her belongings in order, Jamie noticed activity increasing at the festival's main stage. Was it getting close to the time for the Oaks' presentations?

 

[Rex]

The crowds had lessened somewhat while they talked. Still a decent number of people, but not Castelia streets packed at least. Though, Ryan wondered off hand if his standard for 'a lot of people' was unreasonably high. Still, he didn't intend to spend the entire day in the train station. So, motioning for Iolana to follow him, he weaved his way back through the crowds, off the platform and out of the station.

His original opinion of Viridian needed further revising, he found as he stepped out onto the streets. Viridian had a small town air to it. Not to sound condescending, but it was a quaint place. Good for a visit, but not a place Ryan thought he could stay for any length of time. Things were fairly active today, the streets were dotted with stalls hocking souvenirs, food, and games. Not too terribly different from a carnival back home, though obviously with a local Kanto flavor that couldn't be found in Unova.

"Well, I'm not sure what exactly I was expecting," Ryan said, "But when I thought city-wide going away party for new trainers, I'll admit this wasn't exactly what I was picturing."

 

[Psycho Monkey]

It had been two days, but Ruby Pratt was almost at the end of the winding uphill slope known as Route 1. She paused for a moment to take off her round glasses in order to wipe a few beads of sweat from her brow. The trek through the grassy fields wasn’t really all that difficult but the teenager still felt fatigued from doing more walking up a slight incline than she was used to. As a denizen of Saffron City, Ruby was used to flat concrete and pavement beneath her feet instead of dirt and grass. It was something she knew she’d have to get used to quickly now that she was a Pokémon Trainer.

Ruby looked down at her new partner, a small bipedal turtle with dark blue scales and a tail that curled at the end. She was letting her Squirtle, who she named Leonardo, walk around with her outside of his Pokéball to both experience the journey with her and as protection from Wild Pokémon. He had been one of the three Pokémon given out this year by the renowned Prof. Oak as part of his Starter Program. The Bulbasaur and Charmander had been claimed long before Ruby arrived to the lab due to her being late. She had misread the bus schedule and as a result missed the bus she was supposed to take and had to wait for the next one. Prof. Oak was glad she made it but still gave her a scolding none the less as it meant he would be behind schedule getting to Viridian for the Festival.

“He said the Trainer Festival was in two days, right Leo?” Ruby asked him. The Squirtle paused for a moment to think about the question before nodding. Ruby closed her olive eyes and groaned in embarrassment hoping she wouldn’t be late for this too. Maybe she should have spent less time enjoying the natural scenery and the warm early summer weather when she should have been walking at a quicker pace to make up lost time.

Within the hour Ruby finally arrived in Viridian City. It was a quaint and vibrant town compared to Saffron City. The air was clean, the bright blue sky wasn’t obscured by towering skyscrapers, and everything felt so spacious! It would have probably been even more spacious were it not for the numerous stalls lining the streets and the crowds of people. Up ahead there was a line of people holding a long white banner reading “Welcome New Trainers!” in bold red letters. As soon as they saw Ruby and Leo approach they broke out into applause giving them their congratulations.

“Huh? Oh… yeah… thank you!” said Ruby graciously having not expected there to be a welcoming committee to greet her. Leo looked around at all of the people with uncertainty. If reptiles could blush, he’d probably be a shade of purple. He wasn’t used to getting this much attention from people.

“How did you find Route 1? It wasn’t too difficult was it?” inquired one of the middle-aged women in the line-up.

“No, it was fine. I ran into a few Wild Pokémon, but Leo did a good job of fending them off.” she responded motioning her hand to her Squirtle. “Um… could you point me to the Pokémon Center so I can get him healed up?”

“Certainly! Just go up this street here. It’s the big red roofed building, you can’t miss it.” the woman directed. Ruby thanked her while thinking to herself You’d be surprised knowing how bad she was with directions at times. But these seemed simple enough. On the way she passed by a large stage which is where she assumed Prof. Oak would be giving his presentation. She wondered if she’d run into the Bulbasaur and Charmander Trainers there or if they would be lost in the crowds of people that were already gathering.

The Pokémon Center wasn’t much further from the stage. Ruby returned Leo to his Pokéball before going inside where there were already several people waiting around. Unsurprising given the festivities going on. Hopefully it wasn’t a long wait to get Leo healed up.

“Hi! I’m here to get my Pokémon healed.” Ruby stated, probably obviously, to one of the nurses at the nearest counter.

“Sure thing. We’ll have your Pokémon in fighting shape in no time.” the nurse said with a friendly smile taking Leo’s Pokéball. A few moments later the nurse returned the Pokéball. “Thank you for your patience. We hope you come back again.”

“Thank you! Have a great day!” said Ruby cordially.

On her way out she thought about what she wanted to do first. Visiting one of the food stands to get her and Leo some lunch was definitely a priority. She also needed to buy all of the necessary supplies like Pokéballs, Potions, Antidotes, and food for the road.

“Hey hurry up! The presentation is going to start soon!” shouted a group of kids to one another as they ran down the street towards the stage. Ruby sighed to herself. Looks like lunch would have to wait.

 

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

Compared to Saffron, Viridian City certainly seemed smaller and less populous as far as cities go. Nontheless, it was a city, and with the air of celebration and the colourful stalls selling sundry goods to whatever festival-goers, it reminded her a bit of Konikoni City, back on Akala Island - but without the charming sea view. The thought of Konikoni made her smile a little to herself - the place held an important memory for herself and her closest partner, and though she did not expect Viridian to have similar significance, it was a fun thought.

Ryan seemed to be somewhat less impressed.

"Well, I'm not sure what exactly I was expecting, But when I thought city-wide going away party for new trainers, I'll admit this wasn't exactly what I was picturing."

"Maybe things are just getting started, really." Iolana shrugged "Things are already quite different from the celebrations back home when kids set off on their island challenge. Can't say I mind - I came here for the new experiences after all."

"And speaking of which," she said, as she reached into her jacket pocked and pulled out a minimized Pokéball, expanding it to its natural size "I should probably let my partners in on the fun too. Rise and shine, Kea, we're here!"

The sphere in the girl's hand snapped open and released a burst of red energy which promptly coalesced into a large, vulpine form, its thick coat appearing to fade from bluish-white to pure, nearly transluscent white at its legs and at the wispy tips of its mane, its chest ruff and its nine tails - tips that appeared to almost hover softly, as though billowing in a winter wind that was not truly there, the morning sunlight forming nearly prismatic refractions as it filtered through these wisps. The creature stretched gracefully, trotting closer to its trainer's side from the spot on which it materialized, gently nudging the trainer with its head - and the trainer in question proceeded to re-shrink the creature's ball, place it in her jacket pocket - and promptly brush her fingertips through the creature's mane, gently scritching it behind the ears.

"Good morning, sleepy head." the girl grinned "I figured I'll let you out the moment we actually got to start this journey properly, and now's as good a place as any. Welcome to Kanto."

She then turned her eyes to the other trainer, beaming in pride. "Introductions are in order, I think. This is Kea. She's been with me right from the start. Five years now, give or take! Kea, these are Ryan and Dodger."

The Fox Pokémon turned her face to regard the Ryan and his Dewott with an unreadable look through piercing blue eyes. There was a sense as though these eyes saw something beyond what appearances belied - and while not judgmental, per se, there was still something slightly unsettling and otherworldly about this gaze - but one would be hard-pressed to put their finger exactly on just what it was.

And just like that, her expression softened and her eyes closed, an expression resembling a smile appeared on her face. Clearly, whatever it was she sought, she has found. Or maybe she just didn't want to mess with them too much. Deities knew with Kea.

"Don't mind her, it's just her way of saying hello." Iolana chuckled nervously "Between you and me, she can be just a bit dramatic."

The fox's eyes snapped open and she tilted her head, indignantly glaring at Iolana for a moment. Iolana glared back. They held each other in their gaze for a little while, the fox making a great effort to show her concentration on the glare, the wisp-tips of her mane and her tails curling and swirling around each other before she finally poked her tongue out in what could only be defined as a textbook blep, causing the girl to laugh.

"Some things never change." she mumbled, then took a look around. There were crowds, but there was still enough room to let her other partner out. Part of her was mildly concerned about drawing too much attention but - to hell with it, the partner in question needed her dose of sunlight. Reaching for another jacket pocket, she quickly produced another ball - this one white and green, red and yellow markings denoting it as a Friend Ball - and expanded it to its full size. She took another look around, and when she was positive there was enough space, she pointed the ball and released its contents with a single word.

"Dracaena."

If one were to describe the thing that emerged from the Pokéball in one word, "Tall" would probably be an accurate descriptor. The thing was about four to five times the height of its trainer and resembled a palm tree on thick, clawed legs. From its peak, three heads - yellow, egg-shaped and sharp fanged - appeared to gaze down in three different directions, shaking their crown of leaves and tilting their head slightly in the direction of the sun, as though to soak up its rays as efficiently as possible. a fourth head - smaller, greener, with fewer leaves and attached to a long, thick flexible branch - a facsimile of a tail - seemed to survey the surrounding area with small eyes, providing the creature with a ground-height view of the area its heads could only see from above, before turning to face Iolana, bobbing slightly as the trainer nodded in greeting, caressing the creature's cheek for a moment.

"I hope you can make do with the sunshine. I know it's not as bright as it is back home, but-" Iolana began, but the creature seemed to regard her with a funny look from its tail head, while high above, its three heads emitted a chorus of contented bellows, a faint vibration appearing to travel across its entire body, as it did.

"Good enough for me." she nodded, and the tail-head bobbed up and down in acknowledgement, turning to face Ryan and Dodger for a moment and repeat the gesture before resuming whatever it was it was doing - keeping the creature stable and processing more visual output, she assumed.

"Anyway, that's Dracaena. My own personal quadruple facepalm, one could say. I caught her shortly before I left, figured this would be a good chance to let her stretch her wings a bit." Iolana stretched herself, and resumed petting Kea - whom, at that point, proceeded to sit by her trainer's side and playfully nudge her for more scritches. "And that's Team Iolana, Kanto Edition so far! Rather looking forward to see who else might end up joining these two. But that will have to wait. There's a festival to celebrate!"

 

[Dark Soul]

“Holly, dodge!”

Before the second word had left Oliver’s mouth, Holly had already skipped to the side of the Graveler’s rampaging tackle. She moved fleetly and with deftness across the battlefield, taking a single leap to get behind the Rock PokeMon’s back.

“Force Palm!”

With a battlecry that sounded more like a mewl, Holly placed a single paw on the Graveler- and a quarter second later, a blast of pure power catapulted her foe to the edge of the ring as a sound like a thunderclap rang out.

The Graveler groaned, tried to get on its feet, but collapsed back on its face. A flash of red energy retrieved it into its ball, and the bearded mountaineer standing opposite Oliver gave him a hearty belly laugh. “I’ve never had my PokeMon beaten so fast! You have quite the little warrior there!”

Holly puffed up her chest and allowed herself a bit of a smile. “That I do!” Oliver said as he walked into the ring to pet Holly on the top of her head.

The mountaineer met him in the ring and, as per the custom, handed Oliver a prize in the form of a handful of Kanto’s slightly antiquated-looking PokeDollars before they parted ways. “You keep this up, Holly, and our days of living off of Berries will be over soon.” Oliver said, and Holly looked relieved at that idea.

Oliver noticed that the people who had been milling about, and even some of the other Trainers practicing on the grassy makeshift battlefield were all moving in a certain direction now- towards the center of town, if his sense of direction wasn’t betraying him. “Must be some central event, huh.” Oliver said. Holly looked up at him curiously as Oliver retrieved her PokeBall from his belt. “Let’s get you inside, Holly.” He said. “I’ll be sure to let you two out to watch if anything exciting happens.”

 

[Rex]

'Island challenge' huh? Ryan certainly hadn't heard of anything like that. Come to think of it, he never ended up asking where this girl, Iolana, was from. She seemed more inclined to give Viridian a chance than Ryan himself was. Really though, there was no reason for him to be so cynical, Kanto certainly seemed like a nice place. There was nothing with it being different from Unova.

"You got a festival too, huh? Making me feel left out over here," he quipped, "I just ended up getting Dodger and starting on my way. Didn't even meet the people who'd gotten the other two Starters, let alone have anything special like this."

Now, however, was apparently the time for Iolana to introduce her own Pokemon. It only seemed fair, he'd introduced Dodger to her after all. The first, containing a Pokemon named Kea, was a normal enough Pokeball. The Pokemon inside was much less so. Ryan's first thought was that it was a Ninetales - Vulpix, it's prevolution, was one of the non-Unova native Pokemon the trainer had come across during his original travels in Unova. It was completely the wrong color though, blue and white where Ninetales was orange and yellow. It also seemed to have a somewhat wispy quality to it, but Ryan couldn't quite place it. He wondered, for a moment, if it was shiny, he'd heard of the rare genetic mutation, but never seen it in person.

The Pokemon seemed to take an equal interest in him. Its cold blue eyes sent a piercing chill down his spine. He'd experienced this bone numbing cold once before, it was a time he didn't like to remember. It was as if in this one moment his entire past was laid bare for this Pokemon to discern. He stood his ground and kept a straight face, but he couldn't hide the slight tightness at the corners of his lips of the shiver that raced down his body. Dodger took this moment to step from slightly behind his trainer to just in front. Only a slight shift, the Pokemon remained to his trainer's right, but the intent was there.

As quickly as the moment started it stopped. The Pokemon apparently found what it was looking for, as it broke off eye contact. Its entire body language suggested 'smug.' Maybe it knew it had gotten to the Trainer and his Dewott. Iolana played the episode off as being a simple introduction, and perhaps to her it was. Likely, she'd never been on the receiving end of it! Honestly, dramatic was a bit of an understatement.

He cleared his throat before speaking again, "Five years, huh? You've got us beat, Dodger and I have only known each other for two, two and a half maybe? My parents weren't the fondest of my dream to be a Trainer, so it wasn't until I was seventeen that I started my adventure."

The second Pokeball was of a design he did not recognize. That meant it was unlikely to be of a design manufactured by either Sliph or Devon, both of whom were widely present in Unova. The Pokemon inside was called Dracaena - an odd name, but Ryan wasn't one to judge. The strangeness of the Pokeball and the name, however, were nothing compared to the Pokemon itself. It looked like a palm tree bearing unripe coconuts. Only, each of the coconuts, three of them in total, had a face. The Pokemon had legs, but no arms, and a tail with another coconut on it. Wait, that coconut had a face too. Did that mean the tail was really another neck? This Pokemon was incomprehensible.

Iolana was talking again, he suddenly realized. He looked back at her from where he'd been staring at the palm tree Pokemon. "Uh, right. Taking a chance on a new Pokemon huh? Bit risky, but you do have your Kea with you and I'm sure you're more than experienced dealing with ornery Pokemon." He'd only brought Dodger with him, the idea of also bringing along the Pokemon he'd had the least chance to bond with hadn't even occurred to him.

He scratched the back of his head, where his hair met his hat. "I admit, it's my turn to be confused. Your Kea seems like a Ninetales, but she's clearly not a normal one. And I have honestly no idea what Dracaena is."

 

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

"Kea is a Ninetales alright, I'm not sure what you mean about a 'normal' one, though." Iolana grinned, petting the vulpine creature more. "I mean, you don't really see Ninetales that often anyway, except high on Mount Lanakila - Fae tend to stick to their places of power and Ice-types don't really thrive in warmer climates. But still - she looks pretty normal to me! A particularly fine example of her kind, but it's not like she's a Fire-type or something."

She motioned to the Exeggutor, who appeared to shift her weight a little and stretch her tail out to keep her balance as a brief undulation progressed up her neck, her heads shaking in an attempt to drive away a flock of three passing Spearows which appeared to take interest in the crown of leaves at her peak. Anyone well-versed in the comings and goings of Spearows would know that this slight display would not stop the creatures - but after the fifth or so flyby, the Coconut Pokémon grew weary of the tiny birds' shenanigans - and with a flash of light in her eyes and a faint ripple of power in the air around her heads, the Spearow rapidly veered away, disappearing back into the clouds in zig-zagging lines. Confusion, the first line of defense of a psion.

"As for Dracaena - she's an Exeggutor. Right off of Exeggutor Island, actually! They're Grass-Dragon types, although honestly, she hasn't quite gotten the grasp of the 'Dragon' part quite yet - tends to happen when they evolve early. She's still a bit of a growing child."

 

[Rex]

"But, they are Fire Types?" Ryan frowned. "Hold on."

The Trainer dug through is coat pockets for his Pokedex. The Unova model Pokedex was quite different from any of the local 'dexes, and nothing like the Alola 'dex. It looked almost like a calculator, with a Pokeball decal painted around a single white button. Pressing said button caused a second screen to extend out the top, and the machine to come to life. The Trainer scrolled through the listing until he found the one he wanted, selecting it and turning the machine around so Iolana could see it.

The Pokemon on the screen, identified as Vulpix, was a russet and cream colored version of the six tailed Pokemon, identified as a single Type Fire Pokemon. He followed this up by next showing her Ninetales, with cream fur and red eyes, and also a pure Fire Typing.

"They aren't supposed to be native to Unova, but I've seen them on my travels regardless," he explained, "At first I thought your Ninetales might be Shiny, I've only heard of that mutation, never seen it, but if it's a different Type too, then..." He broke off, lost in his own thoughts. Ryan only knew of one Pokemon with Type difference between different forms, Damatarian, whose Zen Mode gained Psychic Typing. Even then, it maintained Fire Typing, while this Pokemon was completely different.

The Exeggutor attacking a flock of bird Pokemon brought Ryan back out of his thoughts. He flipped the 'dex back around so that he could see the screens, then pressed the button to put it back to sleep. "Sorry, kind of got sidetracked there. Suffice to say, I've never seen a Dragon Type quite like Dracaena. Closest is probably Hydreigon, but even those two are practically nothing alike. Seems like you guys have some interesting Pokemon where you're from."

 

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

"Huh. Nifty. They sure don't make them like that back home." was all Iolana had to say in regard to the creatures she saw on Ryan's Pokédex, an expression of fascination and mild confusion crossing her face. Fire-type Vulpix and Ninetales? What *will* they think of next? Kea, who also gave the device a cursory inspection, seemed to tilt her head to the side in response - looking more like someone who has just met their mirror universe counterpart and had certain reservations regarding their choice in facial hair. Both trainer and Pokémon, however, were certainly interested in the creatures portrayed on the screen - what sort of temperament would a Ninetales of such wildly different elemental affiliation even be likely to have? What manner of attacks would they execute? There was a part of them that would have loved to battle one - and if what they read about one of the gym leaders being a Fire-type specialist was accurate, maybe they may yet get the chance.

"Sorry, kind of got sidetracked there. Suffice to say, I've never seen a Dragon Type quite like Dracaena. Closest is probably Hydreigon, but even those two are practically nothing alike. Seems like you guys have some interesting Pokemon where you're from."

"Oooh, I battled one of those once!" Iolana grinned "Weird-looking things, with those bizzaro-plumes and secondary sock-puppet heads. Hit like a truck, but really don't like Dazzling Gleam. They're not exactly native to my home region either, but every once in a while, one of them's been known to pop up around Ten Carat Hill itching for a fight. Kea and I figured we'd give it one if we ever got the chance, and - Oh for the Guardians' sake, there she goes again."

And indeed, something seemed to draw the Exeggutor's attention, as the creature seemed to wander off, lumbering slowly in the general direction of what appeared to be some kind of a central stage. Come to think of it, the crowds were generally appearing to head in that direction as well - Iolana could pick up a murmur or two about a presentation about to start or something to that effect. Maybe it was the movements of the crowd that piqued the creature's curiosity. Maybe it was a slight shift in the position of the sun or something else that only a Pokémon could sense. Or maybe it was a running berry - in Dracaena's case, she could never be too sure. And being from Alola, she has definitely run into her fair share of running berries.

"You never just catch them, do you?" She rolled her eyes lightly and sighed "I suppose I better see what caught her attention - and maybe see what this presentation thing these people are talking about is all about. Er, you're welcome to join me if you want?"

Throwing her glance back to the Exeggutor for a second - at least there was no chance of her losing sight of the creature in the crowd - she nodded at the other trainer and the Dewott, before turning around and following the plant-creature, the icy Ninetales in tow.

 

[Tailon]

"The presentation..."

"...Brand new trainers..."

"Starter Program..."

The murmurs spread through the crowd like wildfire as the moment of truth approached, the main event to set off the entire days' festivities.

Dean had already made his way to the main stage, where the air was abuzz with excitement for the yearly tradition. Small kids sat on their parents' shoulders, bright eyed at the prospect of the adventure they might embark on in a few short years, older attendees looked on with pride at the next generation, and dozens of fresh faced trainers looked on in envy, determination, or excitement.

In the fullness of time, a blond haired man in a suit and sunglasses ambled onstage, carrying a microphone in one hand. While this man had been the MC for the past several years of the festival, no one could ever seem to recall his name if asked, and he never introduced himself on stage.

The announcer raised the microphone and spoke in his characteristic performative drawl, "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back once again to the Festival of the Starter here in Viridian City! As always, I have the privilege to introduce your two guests of honor!" Gesturing to stage right, he continued, "First, the former Champion from Pallet Town, who made the very same journey just a decade ago, your Gym Leader, Blue! Oak!"

A young man appeared from behind the curtain, looking confident, but still bemused at being announced so extravagantly year after year. As soon as he made his appearance, the crowd burst into applause. Dean clapped along with the others, but he couldn't help feeling uneasy. Something was wrong and Don was becoming twitchy and upset.

Blue reached the announcer's side, and the MC began to speak again, "...And as always, the foremost scientific mind in Kanto, inventor of the Pokedex, Professor Samuel Oak!"

The Professor appeared at stage left, wearing his famous lab coat and a genial smile. The Professor was getting on in years, but he still remained full of life even as he physically slowed down. As the Professor reached the other two men, he shook the announcer's hand before accepting the microphone.

"Good aftern-" almost as soon as he began to speak three things happened. First, the microphone cut out, simply enough. Second, Blue began to spin around, reaching for his belt. And third, a Great Ball whirled from behind the curtain, already opening to release the light inside.

Before anyone could potentially react, a tremendous brown bear, with a circular marking in its belly fur, easily 11 feet tall, held the Gym Leader firmly to the ground with its enormous, dangerous looking claws. The creature was heavily scarred, the result of years of harsh battle, and its expression was impassive as it held a man's life in its paw.

"Good afternoon, everyone," came a smooth, silky voice over the speakers, "I hope you all understand what happens to the Gym Leader if anyone makes the wrong move," the voice continued as the curtains parted to reveal its source. A tall man stood there, holding a microphone and wearing a long coat over a pitch black suit. He wore a soft cap of a familiar design, and the lapel of his coat bore a visible, scarlet, "R".

"I really would appreciate your cooperation while my associate collects," the man said, gesturing to his companion, a stocky woman in a white dress shirt bearing the red R and dark grey pants, as well as the same hat, "Don't waste the on the ones out of their Balls, Sal, you know the drill."

Evidently she did, taking six Poke Balls of various designs and tossing them into the crowd, revealing a Machamp, Krookodile, Tentacruel, Kangaskhan, and Tangrowth, which got to work moving through the crowd, checking people for full Poke Balls and ocassionally grabbing a few that seemed to pique their interest.

Dean stood paralyzed, only consoled by the fact that he only had Don, who was already out and seemingly not worth their time.

As this happened, the man on stage continued to speak, "I do hope you folks understand what it is that's happening but for the denser among you I will spell it out. My name is David, and I am the new Boss of Team Rocket."

Murmurs and confusion had already been bubbling among the crowd, but now they burst forth in earnest as people processed what the man had just said. As the Rockets' Pokemon began to make their way back to the stage, each clutching a few Poke Balls, there was another burst of light as one of the most famous Pokemon in the region appeared. Blue's Arcanine burst from his ball with a mouth full of flames, dragging the great Ursaring away from his master.

Blue stood, speaking as well, "Seriously? Again? Red chased you idiots out of the region when we were just kids! What makes you think you can just show up in the open again?"

David grinned, and said simply, "Because I just did."

In that moment, Arcanine went crashing along the ground behind Blue as the Ursaring disappeared back inside its Ball. The other six Pokemon also turned to light as two Pidgeot appeared and immediately formed the elemental structures of Fly, allowing the two Rockets to climb aboard and take to the skies just as police cruisers began arriving on the scene.

---

Dean was shaken. He had heard the stories of Rocket, though he wasn't old enough to recall the time when they ran rampant. But the stories had never painted them as so ruthlessly efficient or anything resembling that strong of trainers. Don snuggled softly against him as a police officer asked a few questions before turning him loose to enjoy the remainder of the festivities, as they had done for most everyone who had been in the crowd. The presentation of the Starters had been postponed to the next day, with increased security and Blue himself now on full alert, but barring another incident, the festival would continue.

 

[Keleri]

Jamie's heart flew into her throat as soon as Prof. Oak took the stage. Blue was a powerhouse of course, sometimes-Champion, the master of titanic battle Pokemon with an easy smile and more than a bit of a swagger. But Dr. Samuel Oak was Doctor Samuel Flipping Oak, inventor of the Pokedex, discoverer of dozens of species of Pokemon, and the first to scientifically describe dozens more. He'd done it all, roaming the wilds, battling at a high level, and he'd come back down to have the academic career.

Jamie had always admired him. But... knowing what she knew now... she had to wonder how many assistants' and students' work had been subsumed under the aegis of Prof. Oak. Who were they? She'd never known their names. Had anyone? They must have gone on to their own careers. They must have. And she'd--

Light, on the stage. A huge Pokemon--Ursaring--appeared. Was this part of the show?

It roared and hurled Blue to the ground.

No. No, it wasn't.

That red R--

Jamie remembered being a kid, remembered safety PSAs about Team Rocket and their thugs. The boogeyman, the gangster in black with the red R crudely stenciled on their gear. She knew now that her life had never really been in danger from those punks--they were thieves, not murderers--but, well. Accidents had happened.

The man on stage was threatening a really big accident.

More light: Pokemon were dispersing through the crowd, big ones. Shouts of outrage reached her as she realized what the man had meant: they were stealing Pokemon.

People started pushing past her in the crowd, hands on their trainer belts and fearful glances cast behind, and they started to move faster and look less where they were going. Jamie grunted as somebody pretty much punched her in the shoulder. What--what was--

Feeb. Si. We need to go.

Her feet had more sense than her head; Jamie realized she'd been walking backward as she stared at the stage, eyes flicking between the Pokemon going through the crowd and the huge Ursaring on stage that still--still! what good was being a gym leader, if--held Blue down, and Prof. Oak's hands reached for Pokeballs that weren't there.

More shouts. People pushing her. A kid was crying somewhere. Pokemon squawking in confusion. She needed--someone shoved her and she stumbled--where were the police--

All at once the crowd parted and Jamie took gasping lungfuls of air, stumbling away behind a row of seller's stalls--she was hiding in the bushes for chrissake--

Jamie sat down hard on the leaf litter, her legs feeling like jelly all of a sudden, and she tossed down Feeb and Sireen's Pokeballs. The Flareon and Seel rematerialized, looking around and looking at her, chirping and chuffing an inquiry. Jamie shook her head, shivering, drawing her legs up to her chest.

"Team Rocket," she forced out, teeth chattering. "L-let's just hide." Some hero she was.

 

[Dark Soul]

"Good afternoon, everyone," Said a smug voice over the towering speakers. "I hope you all understand what happens to the Gym Leader if anyone makes a wrong move.”

Oliver swallowed hard. There was only one thing going through him right now- fear. The gigantic clawed PokeMon was straddling the young Gym Leader with a single paw, and a dismayed hush had fallen over the crowd; Trainers, parents and children looked confused- was it an act they were seeing?

Oliver’d been only half paying attention to the show after he’d caught snippets from some bystanders on what it would be about. He wasn’t particularly interested in a big introductory speech for all the new Trainers, and had therefore wandered off to the sides, where a small outdoor café with a rooftop terrace had been constructed out of artfully crafted wood (authentic Kanto carpentry, Oliver presumed). From the rooftop terrace, Oliver enjoyed a coffee and a great view over the main stage.

Now, though, he wished he hadn’t come at all. A PokeMon attacking a man under a literal spotlight? It wasn’t an act he was watching unfold, he was sure of it- especially once two figures appeared from behind the curtains, the red patterns on their monochrome outfits eliciting gasps and murmurs from the crowd.

As if by reflex, Oliver’s hand went to his camera. He took a knee to hide below the wooden balustrade of the terrace, with only his head and camera peeking out over the rail, and zoomed in on the figures just as the woman in white released six PokeMon. His heart was racing as he took shot after detailed shot of the two criminals and their hulking PokeMon, who were stomping through the crowds ripping PokeBalls out of the terrified audience’s hands.

It was a brazen display; Oliver doubted whether they even cared about being caught on camera. In fact, that may have been exactly what they wanted- publicity. The man in the dark coat merely smiled. "I do hope you folks understand what it is that's happening-” No!, Oliver thought. “-but for the denser among you, I will spell it out.” Alright, that’s uncalled for.

“My name is David, and I am the new boss of Team Rocket."

A roar of flames lit up the stage at that- A large maned PokeMon had broken free and was tackling the PokeMon holding the Gym Leader captive to the ground. The spiky-haired Gym Leader scrambled to his feet and exchanged words with the thief that Oliver couldn’t register in his agitated state, but the sound of police sirens came through, prompting the two shady figures to recall their PokeMon and take to the skies on two similar large bird PokeMon.

Oliver took a moment to catch his breath as the crowd began to thin out, herded by the busily motioning police agents. He didn’t know what he would have done if those PokeMon had approached him for Koda and Holly’s balls; Fought, of course, but also most likely lost. He hurriedly chugged his lukewarm coffee before running down and maneuvering through the crowd, towards a detective in a hat and blue trenchcoat.

“Citizen, are you hurt? Are all your PokeMon accounted for?” The detective asked, firmly grasping a notepad in a white gloved hand. Oliver shook his head. “No- yeah. I’m fine, officer.” The detective nodded. “Good. Care to give me a report of what you saw, exactly? We’re gathering as much information as we can.”

“I can do you one better than that, officer.” Oliver said with a wry smile, holding his camera up. “I’ve got photos of the two criminals and their PokeMon on here.” He flipped up a small lid on his camera and removed a small plastic card with a simple click. “Here, you can take the SD card. I’ve got spares.” The detective looked at him with a grateful smile as he took Oliver’s card. “Thanks a bunch! Still, can I get you to give an account?”

Oliver nodded. “Can I ask something first? Who were those criminals? People seemed to recognize them, but I’m kind of new in town.” He said. The detective’s brow furrowed. “Well, they call themselves Team Rocket.” He replied. “And we used to think ‘em gone, after Red drove them out through show of force. They’re lyin’, thievin’ no-goods- but, ah, well, we’ll have more to tell you as our investigation moves on.” He continued, then gave Oliver a meaningful frown. “Just know this. You ever run into ‘em again, stay clear and hide. They’re not to be taken lightly.”

Oliver nodded and started talking about everything he’d seen and done during the show. His thoughts, however, stayed with his PokeMon, and he felt anxious in his gut.

For the first time, the possibility of losing Koda and Holly had occurred to him.

 

[Psycho Monkey]

The crowd in front of the stage only grew a little bit larger from Ruby’s arrival until a blond-haired man in a suit and sunglasses walked up to kickstart the presentation. The new Trainer hastily sent out Leo so that he could enjoy the show with her.

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back once again to the Festival of the Starter here in Viridian City! As always, I have the privilege to introduce your two guests of honor!” he shouted enthusiastically into the microphone. He dramatically pointed to the right side of the stage.

“First, the former Champion from Pallet Town, who made the very same journey just a decade ago, your Gym Leader, Blue! Oak!” Arriving from behind the curtain at the MC’s call was a tall man who gave the crowd a wave in answer to their applause. “...And as always, the foremost scientific mind in Kanto, inventor of the Pokédex, Professor Samuel Oak!” Ruby gave a cheer at seeing the professor take the left side of the stage. She was looking forward to the chance of thanking him again for Leo. It had only been a few short days, but she was already attached to the Squirtle.

Just as Prof. Oak took the microphone to make his speech, a Great Ball was flung from behind the curtain releasing an Ursaring covered in scars that promptly tackled Blue to the ground.

“What is all of this?” Ruby asked in confusion and worry.

“Good afternoon, everyone. I hope you all understand what happens to the Gym Leader if anyone makes the wrong move.” threatened a professional sounding voice, the owner of which revealed himself by stepping out from behind the curtain. He was dressed in all black from his hat to his shoes, but what stood out to Ruby the most was the red ‘R’ emblazoned on his coat.

Ruby’s body completely froze while her mind continuously repeated “It can’t be” over and over again. She had just been a toddler at the time, but she still remembered the Takeover. Some of her earliest memories were of her and her mom not being allowed to leave their apartment for any reason. Not being allowed outside. Every couple of days scary people dressed in black with big red ‘R’s on their clothes would show up at their door and herd them to a building where they could get food and water. There was a lot of crying and fear from all of the people that were gathered.

Then one day everything changed. The scary people stopped coming and Ruby and her mom could leave the apartment whenever they wanted. Ruby could play outside with other kids and go to school like any normal child. She didn’t understand what was going on at the time but when she got older her mom explained that a group of bad people called Team Rocket had taken over Saffron City and placed every citizen under house arrest to prevent people from fleeing and getting help from the outside. That was when a brave Trainer from the outside had snuck into the city and defeated them. His name was Red, a young boy at the time who would go on to become the renowned Champion of Kanto.

The sound of police sirens snapped Ruby back to reality. The Rockets were retreating on the backs of Pidgeots. Ruby let out a deep breath as she felt her legs go weak causing her to temporarily stumble. She felt a warm touch on her leg and looked down to see Leo giving her a concerned expression.

“Leo!” she cried out dropping to her knees to give him a tight hug. “I’m so sorry! I completely blacked out. I should have stayed focused so I could protect you. I’m so glad you’re alright!” she apologized shamefully. She took off her glasses to wipe tears from her eyes. They had been towards the back of the crowd, much further than Team Rocket’s Pokémon had ventured so the only threat to them would have been people trying to run away. It didn’t change the fact that Ruby was scared out of her mind. Team Rocket had taken over Saffron City when she was little but that was so long ago. She thought she had put the whole thing behind her the same way most people outgrow childhood fears of monsters hiding under the bed. Seeing a revitalized Team Rocket in action today however proved otherwise.

 

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

It did not take long for Iolana to catch up with Dracaena - Exeggutors were many things, but fast walkers they were not - and while the people at the back of the crowd tended to give the creature a wide berth (and regarded it mostly with confusion as its trainer appeared and gave them apologetic looks) the crowd around the stage was getting pretty thick - too thick to traverse with ease. But whatever interest Dracaena garnered soon faded as the sea of whispers among the crowd was cut by the theatrical voice of an announcer on a PA system - clearly the opening of the main event - introducing the local gym leader and former regional champion, and the local Pokémon professor - Professor Samuel Oak.

Even in far-off Alola, the name of Professor Samuel Oak was rather well known - and not only for his own ample scientific achievements, but also for being a cousin of one of the local well-known scientists native to the region itself, Professor Samson Oak. But Iolana couldn't help but do a double-take when she saw the man on the stage - he was paler, his hair was shorter and he was dressed less garishly, but otherwise the professor was the spitting image of his cousin - and as he started talking, she couldn't help but notice their voices were almost exactly alike as well... Before he was rudely cut off.

The attack happened seconds later - the gym leader was pinned to the ground by a large, mammalian brute of a Pokémon as a man whose voice oozed smugness and a woman that remained silent but appeared to have a full team of six Pokémon took to the stage, introduced themselves as Team Rocket and made their purpose - using the newly found hostage situation to steal people's Pokémon - known.

The people around her seemed confused and terrified - which certainly seemed to be the desired effect as the interloper carried on, his voice and stance dripping with the insufferable over-confidence of a man who knows that no one would dare resist him as he got his way, and the woman - all business-like, in sharp contrast to the showmanship of her companion - seemed to wait patiently as her team of large, intimidating creatures traveled through the crowd, snatching Pokéballs from trainers.

Iolana's blood boiled. What the hell kind of region was this? Pokémon thieves using hostages to steal people's Pokémon? In broad daylight? This sort of thing was unheard of back home. Sure, there were some ruffians and troublemakers - but they were a surface nuisance, never a threat - all bark and no bite. But these arrogant Sons of a Stoutland here... She could feel the temperature dropping around her and the deep growl of the Ninetales by her side as she shifted to a battle ready stance, and she could feel herself shift to one as well - feet planted firmly in the ground, eyes scanning the crowd for potential threats, slowing down her breathing, the faint light that the crystals on her belt gave out faintly pulsing with a brighter light in tune with her heartbeat. The Exeggutor, too, was on high alert - leaves rustling as though a breeze was shaking the boughs, prepared to strike at the trainer's command if necessary - though with this hostage situation, both Pokémon and their trainer knew that they could not charge headlong into the situation. With only two Pokémon by her side - and none that were particularly fast - and potentially twelve opposing Pokemon - there was nothing she could do about the mess on the stage before the brown beast would strike. But if these creatures turned their eyes to her and attempted to attack - she was not going to be easy prey, hostage or no hostage.

But the interlopers' Pokémon were already making their way back, carrying their loot with them. And it was then that the Gym Leader, apparently, chose to act - an Arcanine materializing out of a Pokéball on his belt in a burst of light and fire, dragging the brute away and releasing the trainer from his grasp, bursting into a dramatic line about how this happened before and these people have been driven away - only for the smarmy git and his silent accomplice to return their Pokémon and flee the scene on the wing with their ill-begotten loot just as the local police force found the time to arrive.

What took them so long to mobilize? For that matter, what took BLUE so long? Surely, a gym leader - a former regional champion at that - would not be so stunned to be caught by surprise that he couldn't signal one of his Pokémon non-verbally. Was he waiting for an opening in the brown beast's attention? Was he trying to find out what these people were up to and not take action before it's too early - only for action to be taken too late? Had he acted sooner, maybe the victims of this crime would have still had their Pokémon!

Deep breaths, Iolana. Relax. You don't know all the details.

But these thieving bastards-

A Pokéball is just a machine. It can be stolen, tampered with or disabled. A Pokémon's heart is not so easily swayed.

A soft cry shook her from her thoughts - Dracaena's tail-head was looking straight at her with the sort of bewildered look of a child who wants to know if it's safe to come out. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and sighed, touching her forehead to the Exeggutor's tail head. "It's okay, Dracaena, they're gone now." she murmured reassuringly. Kea's stance shifted again, from a tense, about-to-pounce position to a more relaxed one, as she wrapped a few of her tails around the trainer. There was nothing they could have done this time, but this particular incident left the girl from Alola with a new sense of purpose. Oh, she would conquer the gyms here. She had Kea and Dracaena and with them she would build a team in this region that could give her original team from home a run for its money, and if she runs into these smug pricks and their edgy fashion choices and their obsession with the letter R again, Someone is going to get a face full of Z-Power.

"Miss, are you alright? Are all your Pokémon all accounted for?" asked one of the police officers that were now working their way through the crowd. Late or not, they were still doing their jobs.
"They're both right here." Iolana nodded, keeping one arm draped around the Ninetales and gently scritching the Exeggutor's tail-head with her other hand. "We're okay. So does this sort of kūkae happen here often?"

~*~
​

The police have been and gone and the presentation of the starters, or whatever it was, was postponed to the next day. Security has been increased - but otherwise it appeared that the commotion was settling and the festivities were to resume - but she could not help but notice that the air has been somewhat soured. Nevertheless, she intended to make the most out of this festival, and enjoy it in spite of what happened. After all, fear only triumphs if you let it.

The trainer from Alola and her Pokémon were on the move. A stand selling interesting rocks and gems caught her eye - and in particular, what appeared to be fossils of a sort that were apparently uncommon back home. One of those could make a fine souvenir, at least.

 

[Rex]

Iolana seemed to know what Hydreigon was, at least. That was good, otherwise she might not have known what Ryan was talking about and the conversation would have gotten nowhere. Not that it didn't seem somewhat circular already. Ryan had been caught off guard by just how different their respective experiences had been. This was his first time having a real conversation with someone from outside Unova. Kanto's system had seemed fairly similar to Unova's, in the broad strokes at least, while he was looking into the region. Alola being so different simply seemed odd.

Thankfully, the Exeggutor decided that this was the moment to wander off. That certainly saved him from any further awkwardness. The Pokemon certainly seemed quirky, though Iolana took it in stride. 'You never just catch them,' indeed.

"No, I suppose you don't," Ryan mused. For a moment, he regretted leaving all his other Pokemon behind. He hoped they didn't feel betrayed by his decision to only bring Dodger. He'd explained it the best he could.

Iolana was heading off to join the crowd, as that seemed to be the general direction her Pokemon was leading her. She invited Ryan to tag along, and he saw no reason not to. He followed after her, and Dodger fell into step beside him. The crowd seemed charged. According to the man on stage, this whole event was a regular occurrence. It seemed like a strange thing to have a festival about, but Ryan wasn't here to question people's traditions and culture. Well, no more than usual, at least.

They were introduced first to the local Gym Leader, Blue - an odd name to be sure - Oak. So this man was related to the Professor. The crowd went wild, Ryan clapped a few times as well to be nice. Next out was the Professor himself. He caught Ryan's interest more. After all, it was the professor's invention that brought Ryan to Kanto to begin with. Beside him, Dodger gave a warning bark. Ryan turned his head to look down at the Pokemon, damned lack of peripheral vision. The Pokemon's blue fur was standing on end, and he'd grabbed one of his scalchops. Not a good sign.

The microphone cut out, Ryan's head whipped back to the stage in time to see a brown, Beartic-like Pokemon emerge from its Pokeball and slam the Gym Leader to the ground. This was clearly not part of the show.

"Dodger," Ryan warned, pivoting his body to the side so he could see the entire stage in front of him with his left eye. The Dewott moved in front of his Trainer, a watery blue aura extending from his held scalchop.

A man in black too the stage, soon joined by a woman. Both wore a red letter "R" on their outfits. Ryan's blood chilled, as images flashed in his mind. Black and white banners fluttering in the wind, billowing white robes, a blue letter "P." Seemed like Unova wasn't the only region with problems. The woman - Sal - released five Pokemon. Two he recognized outright, Kangaskhan and Krookodile, two more looked similar enough to Machop and Tangela for Ryan to assume they were part of those lines. The fifth was new, though given its appearance Ryan supposed it was a Water Type.

The man introduced himself as "David," the leader of Team Rocket, as the woman's Pokemon fanned out and started grabbing Trainer's Pokeballs. Ryan quickly moved Dodger's ball from his belt to his coat pocket, and shoved both his hands into said pockets for good measure. Still, the man had cautioned the woman not to bother with the Pokemon already outside of their balls. Ryan hated this, but he kept Dodger close. They weren't going to take the Dewott as long as Ryan kept him out of his Pokeball. He couldn't cause a scene, there were two many Pokemon in the crowd, not to mention the one still holding down the Gym Leader.

A girl broke from the crowd, the Rocket Pokemon didn't follow. A camera flashed. Ryan didn't see who took the picture, didn't know if they were smart to get photographic evidence or terrible for snapping a picture of the suffering on display. It wasn't until the Pokemon returned to the stage, arms full of their ill gotten gains, that the Gym Leader took action. It was too little, too late, though. Their stolen goods in hand, the two Rockets absconded on the backs of their flying Pokemon. The Gym Leader was left standing there looking like an idiot, with his Pokemon laying on the stage. How pathetic! Not like Ryan was one to talk, though. Still, he couldn't imagine Drayden or Lenora suffering through such an outrage.

The police soon arrived, you'd think they would have been here sooner given that this was a big event that probably needed some kind of security, but here we are. Ryan gave his statement as best he could, though he didn't think he'd be much help in this instance. He was near the back of the crowd, after all, not to mention the whole one eye deal. More importantly, once Ryan was finished with that business, he noticed that Iolana had taken the time to disappear. She was more than capable of taking care of herself, Ryan was sure, but still. With what had just happened you'd think people would want to stick together.

"Guess she didn't want to hang out with us anymore, huh Dodge?" the Trainer asked his Pokemon, trying to break the tension in the air. The Dewott was probably even more incensed than Ryan was. He was never one to turn down a fight, even when the odds didn't look good, and there was Ryan doing exactly that. He'd get over it eventually, but for now Dodger was ignoring his Trainer, who could only sigh in defeat. This was not a good way to start their Kanto adventure.

 

[Tailon]

Go home go home go home turn around you have to go home it is Not Safe.

Dean was stone faced as he moved through the crowds of the festival. There was still an air of nervousness about, or perhaps that was just him, but, regardless, the festivities were slowly getting back into gear.

His parents had called a few minutes after the incident, and he had reassured them, even though he had to leave had to turn around Not Safe. Don perched still on Dean's shoulder, gently grooming at his hair as he approached a table of stones, fossils, and gems. The boy stood for a time, looking at the table without really looking.

 

[Dark Soul]

Oliver ran his hand over Koda’s back absentmindedly. The PokeMon was curled up on his lap but, rather than sleeping, kept its eyes open. It didn’t need a sense for auras like Holly’s to know that the mood was tense.

The vigor had drained from the festival after the disastrous show, and most people had already headed home. The few still roaming around on the streets, between sellers who were already beginning to pack up their stands, looked a little lost and a little saddened. Oliver empathized- it looked like he wasn’t going to get his nightly shots after all. That wasn’t nearly as bad a fate as that of those who’d had their dear PokeMon taken away from them, of course.

He pulled Holly, who was sat resting against his side, a bit closer with his free arm. The Riolu’s wizened eyes look at him with worry; She could feel his fear, of course. Oliver had spent the last half hour sitting on a bench considering his options. He wasn’t considering leaving, even if that was the safest option. He’d only gotten here yesterday and the fare hadn’t been cheap.

Maybe keeping a low profile was the best option. Photographers weren’t supposed to get involved- He didn’t mind staying out of the action long as he had a vantage on it. These Rocket grunts would be mostly sticking to cities in all likelihood, and he was most often out in the wild. By avoiding large gatherings he could avoid unwanted attention… but on the flip side, safety in numbers was another thing to consider. Maybe he could have some of the PokeMon that he’d left in the care of his mother and some friends in Hoenn and Sinnoh transferred over. Maybe he could find a travel companion.

Wait. Oliver came to his senses. I have a travel companion! In all the excitement and worry his thoughts had strayed away from the friendly researcher he’d met just hours ago. Jaimie had been excited to tag along with him into the wilds even before the danger of Team Rocket was thrown into the mix; Surely she wouldn’t reconsider now.

He activated his PokeNav, brought up her number and rang it.

 

[Keleri]

As things had quieted down, Jamie had crawled out of the bushes hoping no one would notice her. Someone did, of course, although it was merely a police officer going from person to person and scanning their trainer ID and checking over their pokemon. She directed Jamie to a stall that had been set up with hot drinks, and she immediately began to feel better after a steadying coffee.

Haha, just kidding, her hands were fricking shaking. Team Rocket's appearance changed everything. Not only did she have to worry about getting killed by a rampaging Murderqueen out in the deep wild, but she could get turned into a jam spatter by a Murderring walking into town and have her pokemon stolen to boot. This was stupid.

Nope, she couldn't do this, she couldn't put Phoebe and Sireen in harm's way--sorry Prof. Holly, but she'd have to find somebody stronger and braver. Jamie miserably pulled out her phone and started checking bullet train times to head back home, when it buzzed and covered the ticket app with an incoming call.

Jamie sniffed loudly and sighed before hitting Answer. "Hi Oliver!" she said brightly. "Were you in the crowd when--God, wasn't that insane!?"

Mutual horror out of the way, Oliver reiterated their plans to travel together and Jamie's stomach sank. God, what was the point when they only had casually trained pokemon-- well, then again, it's not like Rocket Elites would be coming after a couple of lower-mid-level trainers-- and Holly the Riolu might be able to sense bad intentions--

Yes. Yes. It just might be possible.

"You're so right, Oliver," she was saying. "If you're ready, let's meet over by--" Jamie scanned the fairground. "Are you still at the festival? Do you see that tall palm tree?" Wait, palm tree?

 

[Dark Soul]

Oliver felt just a bit relieved to hear Jamie's voice on the line, and to know that she was safe and still with all her PokeMon. Although her voice sounded shaky- much as she tried to mask it with a casual tone- at least the one person in this region who was more than a stranger to him hadn't already been dealt a bad hand. To think this was supposed to have been such a joyous day. Oliver could only hope that it wouldn't be telling of the rest of his journey. He was not in any way prepared for more of such disaster.

He was glad, too, that she still wanted to go along with him on his travels. They would both feel a little safer thanks to it, he figured- The more people and PokeMon in one place, the harder it was for someone to get the upper hand on them. In fact, he might not even have to get his other PokeMon transferred to him with the company of Jamie's partners; Hoenn PokeMon like his Mawile or his Shuppet might only attract more attention due to their rarity around these parts.

Jamie uttered the words "palm tree" and his heart skipped a beat. "Wait, where?" He looked around, didn't find any trace of a palm tree, but the mention of it brought back memories of warm weather and surfing in Slateport summers. "Uh, I don't, but it shouldn't be hard to find. I'll see you there!"

It took a couple of minutes of wandering the streets around the central plaza before he caught sight of what Jamie'd been talking about. A palm tree stood out from the thinning crowd, though something was off about it- the way it rustled gently despite the lack of wind. As he came closer, he could see that the trunk tapered down into a much thicker lower section, below which were- feet? Not only that, but strange spherical objects that were decidely not coconuts were hanging from the green crown. They looked like faces.

He came to a halt just a few feet from what he presumed to be a PokeMon, taking his camera into his hands and pitching it upward to catch the emerald fronds and keratinous faces at the top of the tree in the sunlight. "That might just be the most astounding looking PokeMon I have ever seen." He commented to a lady in a green hiking outfit with a colourful belt. "Reminds me of home, in a weird way." He snapped another picture, then looked at the girl again. "Oh, sorry. Are they yours?"

 

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

She was honestly surprised at the price.
For 'genuine fossils recovered in Mount Moon', the seller certainly placed quite the low price tag on them. Admittedly, there was some variation based on the quality of the fossil, but even the one that she has acquired (a complete and incredibly well-preserved fossil of some kind of ancient arthropod that seemed to have a bit of an opalescent sheen to its dark form) was really quite affordable. This certainly piqued her curiosity, and she could not help but ask - and the seller explained that Helix and Dome fossils were fairly common finds in and around Mount Moon and the price was, for the most part, a formality. He didn't honestly expect to sell very many fossils at all - he expected the evolution stones and elemental gems (which were far more heftily priced) to draw more interest from festival-goers.

"But since you picked this particular one out of all the others," he said "A word of advice. Should your journey take you to Pewter City, do visit the Museum and ask them about the restoration program. A fossil of this quality might just be of interest to them - and if it is, there's a chance you might walk out with a far more impressive relic of this region's past than a mere pretty rock."

She thanked him for said piece of advice, though she did wonder what he meant. Restoration program? She has heard rumblings about restoring Pokémon from fossils even back home - but never put much stock in them. Oh well, the least she could do is ask. Pewter was definitely on her itinerary - it was a gym city after all.

Iolana slipped her newly-acquired fossil in one of her pockets, and turned her eyes back to her two companions. Kea remained in close proximity to the trainer, tails still protectively curled around her - while Dracaena appeared to be still somewhat on edge, six of her eyes surveying the scene from above while her tail-head appeared somewhat intrigued with some random boy who had a Murkrow on his shoulder, the small bird apparently grooming his hair - as if trying to reassure its trainer. He did seem fairly distraught, to be fair - but that was hardly surprising considering what just happened.

Oh, yes. And whatever happened to Ryan? She wasn't sure if he accepted her offer to join her when her Exeggutor wandered off - and in the commotion, she kind of lost track of him. She hoped the Unovan boy and his Dewott managed to go through this ordeal unscathed.

She was interrupted from her reverie by the sound of a camera shutter clicking - someone just took a photo of Dracaena, and the someone in question - a very tall long-haired man with a rather expensive looking camera - just mentioned how the Exeggutor "reminded him of home in a weird way", apologized and then asked about it.

"She certainly is." Iolana nodded "I suppose she kind of stands out from the crowd, doesn't she?"

 

[Psycho Monkey]

After the incident, Ruby went back to the Pokémon Center for a safe place to sit down and collect herself. The place was a lot more crowded than it was earlier which led her to believe many of other Trainers must have had the same idea.

Once she had processed everything that had happened, she called her mom to tell her what transpired. While Ruby was sure her mom was still at work at this hour, she wanted her to hear the account from her firsthand and not on the news later. As expected, Louise flipped out when she heard her daughter’s story leaving Ruby to reassure her that she was fine and that Team Rocket never got near her. They talked a bit longer about other topics like how Ruby’s journey was going despite being only a few days in, anything new going on with the neighbors, and how the five-day forecast projected clear skies and warm temperatures for western Kanto meaning Ruby would have nice weather on her way to Pewter City. Before hanging up, Louise gave the trademark parental comments of “Be careful, stay safe, I love you.”

“I love you too Mom.” Ruby responded. Talking to her mom helped her to calm down and relax so she was now ready to go back outside to once again see what the festival had to offer. It could have just been her imagination, but things seem much quieter around town compared to the bustle a few hours ago. Made sense really. Viridian City had just experienced what could be considered a terrorist attack. Police presence was greatly increased but rather than feeling at ease it only served as a reminder of what had transpired. It was only natural that people would be on guard, especially those who had their beloved Pokémon taken from them. Ruby’s heart went out to those people and she wished there was something she could do for them but there wasn’t. Not unless she went out and faced Team Rocket on her own and made them return the stolen Pokémon. Unlikely since Ruby was so shaken up by them the first time that she completely blacked out. She could only pray that such a horrible event was a one-time thing, which was unlikely as this was probably just the beginning of something terrible.

However dwelling on the attack wouldn’t change what happened nor would worrying about any future attacks. The festival was still on, and while some venders had already packed up shop, many were still out trying to make the most of their investment and to be there for the festival-goers who opted to stay in spite of Team Rocket’s stunt. Ruby’s first order of business was to hit up a takoyaki stand to grab lunch for her and Leo. While they ate, they slowly wandered from stall to stall to see what all was offered. There were a lot of nice trinkets and crafts being sold as souvenirs. Some of them were hand made while most of them looked mass produced. A representative from Viridian’s local Poké Mart was there selling discounted Pokéballs, Potions, and other medicines in bulk for the new Trainers who may or may not have known about or had time to visit the main store. Ruby walked away from that stand with her backpack heavier and her wallet lighter. At least Item Balls had been included with the purchase to make the load less cumbersome. In the distance Ruby noticed a tall palm tree towering above the surrounding stalls.

“Oh wow! Look at that Leo!” she called pointing to the out of place tree. “Let’s check it out!” she decided. She was curious to find out if it was part of some stall, and if so, what they might be selling to warrant such a publicity stunt. Once she was close enough to see the kissy face on the tree’s tail as well as its stubby legs, it became all to clear that this was no display piece, it was alive.

“No way! I’ve never seen a Pokémon this big before!” cried Ruby in awe at the giant. Standing nearby was a breathtakingly beautiful fox Pokémon with snow white fur that shimmered in the sunlight. “Look at you! You are so gorgeous!” Ruby squeed reaching her hand out, but then recoiled her arm as if fighting the instinct to pet the white fox. She knew she couldn’t just go around petting ever Pokémon she met, but sometimes she just couldn’t help herself. Ruby noticed a few of the Pokémon’s tails were wrapped around a girl who looked to be around her age or maybe a little bit older. She must be its Trainer.

“Your Pokémon is really beautiful.” Ruby complemented to the other Trainer. “Can I… can I pet her?” she squeed unable to contain herself. Leo could only stare at his Trainer and wonder if she was always like this as he got the same reaction two days ago when they first met.