Ask to Join Second Chances

[MelodyMay]

As the large boat made the journey to Île de la recherche. Having come from Kanto, Nobukazu was grateful that the CEO of P.f.P., Yuki Touma, had made sure his travel was paid for. The pokemon he had been able to select from her list (not all were available as he wasn't the first person she visited) sat on his shoulder during the ride. Ruffling her wings, she seemed to greatly enjoy the sea breeze from her perch on his shoulder.

"How are you holding up, Mary?" he asked her; having never owned a pokemon before, he made sure to keep a careful eye on her. "Piiiidg!" she thrilled before trying to preen his shoulder length hair. "Thank you, Mary," he said, a single chuckle escaping him as a ghost of a smile flitted across his face.

However, trainer and pokemon both froze when the island began to appear on the horizon. It almost looked like a greenhouse reaching into the sky. The beams arching from the island floor and the surrounding waters high into the sky above. Kazu could barely see where they all connected even when he tilted his head all the way back. "A greenhouse? I thought all pokemon were supposed to be found here; how are ice types supposed to live here?" he wondered aloud.

By they time they reached the dome, it became clear that it wasn't your typical greenhouse. The panels weren't glass; they seemed to be comprised a transparent purple energy. Each hexagonal panel was about ten feet long and ten feet wide. What was most eye catching was how the panels weren't defined by metal beams, which seemed to only serve to provide a wide area for panels to appear. As the boat neared, a large area of panels vanished so the boat could pass through. Once inside, Kazu couldn't see any of the panels except for those almost right beside the boat.

It wasn't much longer before they had docked. The area they were in was on the edge of a grassland and a forest. Waiting for the passengers when they disembarked were several P.f.P guards who ushered them all in front of a stage where Yuki Touma herself was waiting for them all.

 

[StormingCobra]

Anthony jumped off the top deck onto the docks of the island before being led to the stage where Yuki Touma was. He saw Kazu next to him in the crowd, but stood and waited for Yuki to say something.

Jake, his Eevee, jumped out of his ball and ran in circles. Jake jumped onto Anthony’s shoulder, causing his trainer to show a weak smile. It was the first time he smiled since before Rachel was charged and arrested. He quickly changed his expression back to normal before looking back at the stage.

 

[FrostCrispz]

Yin watched as the many people headed off the docks of their ship, standing at the far back side waiting until everyone got off. His Chimchar, Fist, sat on his left arm, which was out. By the time 3/4 of the ship's passengers have left, Yin climbed off. The panels around the area seemed quite interesting, and the way they change to resemble the wildlife.

Fist climbed up onto his trainer's head. "Yea, this seems nice." Yin said to his pokemon. He pointed up to the stage where Yuki Touma stood. "Hey, do you think he's gonna say something?" Yin asked himself, to which Fist nodded furiously. "Hey, stop it. You're gonna fall off."

 

[Fructus]

Travis was very glad as soon as he felt solid ground under his feet. The great majority of the people on the ship wouldn't have seen him during their voyage, since he spent nearly all his time in his cabin. As much as he didn't like to admit it, travels over sea were...unpleasant to him, to put it mildly. He'd spent more time in his bed than anywhere else. Only when it came to food or showering he would manage to get up. The presence of a shower in his cabin was greatly appreciated- it had been months if not years since he had felt warm water on his body. That and the fact that he maybe wouldn't smell like a Stunky that had been playing in the dirt for once.

A noise, akin to the clicking of pincers, sounded close to his feet. Travis had grown more than acquainted with the sound during their trip. Crane, the Corphish he had chosen to be his partner, anxiously looked up at his trainer. The red-and-cream colored Pokémon hadn't taken too kindly to Travis's seasickness. The former vagabond had quickly learned that his new Pokémon was rather energetic and impatient. Every time they'd leave the cabin for food, Crane would gladly lead the way, happy to move around. Being stuck in a room wasn't something for him, and under normal circumstances, Travis would agree. But now, on land, Travis could see that the Corphish had even more trouble containing himself.

The young man met the gaze of his partner Pokémon and grinned. "Don't worry, buddy. You've got plenty of room to go wild now." Travis shot a glance at the stage where Yuki Touma herself was waiting, surrounded by a good amount of guards. It seemed like the majority of the other participants were already waiting. "But, uh, I'd prefer it if you'd wait until Ms. Touma finishes her speech." Crane didn't seem all too happy with the prospect, but at the very least he didn't raise too much of a ruckus while the duo joined the others.

 

[MelodyMay]

Yuki smiled down at the gathered contestants. She couldn't help but feel a bit gleefully naughty, as though by accept her offer these people had made a deal with a devil. Considering the experiment she had already decided the top 10 would participate in, she supposed the feeling wasn't exactly out of place. Still, using the acting skills that come with having been a business woman for more than half her life, she was able to school her face into a mask of calm serenity.

"Welcome one and all! I'm so glad you all decided to attend; for those who don't make it far, don't worry. When you get home there will be a debit card in your mailbox linked to an account with the 3,000 PokeYen or, for those here for a sick relative, the payment for their next treatment. Before you all head out, I have just a few things to explain.

"First off, you will all receive a small pack that contains a wrist watch looking device, six collar looking devices, and six pokeballs. The wrist watch is a counter. It will keep track of how many points you have. Through the touch screen interface, you will enter what kind of battle you are fighting; a 1v1, 2v2, etc. You will wager points in each battle; this will be a predetermined amount obtained from multiplying the number of Pokemon you used by a hundred. Yes, you can go into negative points and if your counter records you lost three times in a row, you will be kicked from the tournament automatically," she revealed, pausing for a sip of water as well as to let this information seep in.

Kazu fretfully scratched Mary's head as it all sunk in. He loved the Pidgeot line but the starting phase was... not the most ideal thing for battles. Still, he would have to overcome it... for his boys.

"How will we know you've lost?" Yuki continued. Holding up the collar looking device she had mentioned before, she let the crowd get a good look. It was a Smokey shade of black with a red light on the back and, when she pressed a button on the side, released four arms that to connect together to resemble a harness. "This device, when attached to your Pokemon, will be able to monitor their health and are linked to your counter. They'll know when you're in a battle. When your Pokemon has been sent into the battle, the red light will turn on, showing they have been registered by your counter as having entered the fight. When the tracker deems the pokemon's health too low to continue battling, the light will begin flashing and a loud beeping will occur. The poke.on will automatically be registered as downed for the battle."

As the surrounding guards began passing out the packs, Yuki continued. "Now I'm sure you've noticed the barrier. This is to prevent Pokemon from leaving or entering as that could damage our test results. We have similar barriers separating the habitats and allowing us climate control; this is how we can have every Pokemon species live here. At the barrier for each new biome, you will go to a checkpoint manned by a guard. They will update your counter so we can better keep an eye on things and you'll be allowed through. At these checkpoints you can also heal your team and have Pokemon learn TM moves. What is available to you will be determined by how many points you have. The first ten to reach three thousand points will be the top ten. Due to the limited supply of trackers, you may only have six Pokemon. And with that..." she paused, grinning mischevously at the crowd.

Kazu tensed, checking his surroundings. The grassland was vast and stretched out intto the horizon on his left. On his right was the towering forest. Mary could train easily there... "Have fun," Yuki told them all in a sing-song voice, tossing a green flag into the air.

 

[StormingCobra]

Anthony withdrew Jake and immediately broke from the crowd. He walked out into the forest on the right to search for Pokémon. He found a few, but none interested him. They included Wurmple, Seedot, and Weedle. “My favorite type is Fire. I wonder where I can find some Fire Types.”

He walked around until he saw a barrier. He walked towards it to the checkpoint. “Which biome is behind this barrier?” he asked. He knew what types of Pokémon lived in certain environments, so he just needed to know what environments there were.

 

[Fructus]

Travis frowned. Those rules were no joke. Three consecutive losses could sound like a lot, but he didn't doubt that some contestants would be hit by tough luck. Meeting opponents that have the advantage over you three times in a row would be enough to secure one's elimination. Not that Travis really cared about winning the contest- the participation prize of 3 000 Yen was more than enough for him. The young man followed the falling green flag with his eyes. Everywhere around him, people tried to get away from the crowd, frantic to be the first to catch a new Pokémon or win a battle. Luckily, Travis had no reason to be as hasty. He carefully examined the wristwatch-like device. It didn't seem too different from an actual wristwatch. It wouldn't look too good on him, but there wasn't really any reason for him to care about his appearance on the island.

Travis's face scrunched up when he felt an albeit weak twinge in his right calf. Seeing a good amount of the other contestants leave had apparently fed Crane's impatience. The Water-type Pokémon was practically begging to go now. "Alright, alright." Travis gestured towards the forest. "Mind if we go there first?" The Corphish's pincers anxiously clicked. Taking it as a yes, he paced towards the biome on his right, with his partner Pokémon in tow.

From what he remembered during his time in Sinnoh, forests were often the habitat of Grass-, Bug-, Normal- and Flying-type Pokémon, and in some rare cases even Ghost-types. Sure enough, his assumption was correct- the trees were filled with Pokémon like Wurmple and Burmy, and some were home to Starly flocks. He was able to recognize some of the species from his home region, but to his amazement, Pokémon from all the different regions seemed to -more or less- peacefully live together. At multiple moments he would come across a lone Bellsprout, or small groups of Sewaddle. At one time, he could even have sworn he saw a small, purple Pokémon with a strange, long tail disappear between the leaves of a tall tree.

Just as he was pondering over where the contestants would spend the night, he was faced with the sight of a large barrier. "The first checkpoint already?" Travis wondered aloud. Though he hadn't found anything too interesting in the forest so far, he wasn't sure about leaving the biome this soon. After all, his visit had only been brief and superficial- he surely would have missed a lot of Pokémon. Still, knowing what the area up ahead was could never hurt. As he made his way towards the guard of the checkpoint, he noticed that another young man had apparently asked the same question. Travis figured he might as well stick around to hear the guard's answer if that were the case.

 

[MelodyMay]

The guard smiled at the two young men who approached him. "Leavin' the forest already?" He chuckled a bit, seeing that the boys had the same common misconception that many of the guards had when they started working here. "A pokemon's typing can have very little to do with their preferred habitat; Pokemon of all types adapt to the world around them, not the other way around. Their types really just put limits on where they can go; for example, fire types won't go to the rainforest because of the almost daily rains. And even though grass types can survive in a desert, the only grass types who live there are cacti pokemon. Another example is the grasslands; you can find all but two pokemon types there but that isnt a garuntee you can find all species within those types there because some species are only in certain habitats."

He then started tapping on his tablet, pulling up the registration screen. "Beyond this barrier is the mountains. There are species in the following types to be found there: poison, fire types both with and without external flames, flying, water, normal, electric, dragon, rock, ground, steel, fighting, psychic, ghost, and dark. Though, I feel the need to point out that the only types of Pokemon not found in the forest are ice types, dragon types, and fire Pokemon that have external flames," he explained with a smile.

-----​

Kazu wandered around in the forest, looking for a river or pond. A water type would really help Mary out; it could resist ice types and hit rock types hard. Although, the dual weaknesses to eletric types could be his ticket home. Still, it was a place to start.

Wandering around, the forest was teaming with life. The most prevalent were bugs and common normal types, of course, but from the corners of his eyes, Kazu was sure he saw a bushy set of dark red tails. Fire types in a forest? He supposed it wasn't too much of a stretch; the pre evolutions had every opportunity to thrive on the native grass and bug types.

 

[Fructus]

Travis nodded understandingly at the guard's explanation. It sounded reasonable enough, though that meant he had missed even more Pokémon in the forest than he initially thought. Before, he was pretty sure he wouldn't be heading for a new biome already, now he was one hundred percent sure he wouldn't be doing that. He grinned. "Thanks, sir! I'll be sure to scout the forest again before heading to the mountains, personally."

Travis shot a brief glance at the other young man standing next to him. He seemed to be quite a lot taller than Travis, but that wasn't particularly surprising, considering the former vagabond was rather short. He wondered whether he was supposed to initiate conversation. Social contact wasn't particularly his forte, but that was mainly because he barely had any over the past few years. Pretty much the only people he talked to on a semi-frequent basis were his fellow beggars.

On the other hand, it couldn't hurt to ask something either. Maybe this person knew more about the island, or had seen some rare Pokémon in the forest or something. "Sooo..." Travis tried to think of a decent icebreaker. "Have you seen anything interesting in the forest?"

 

[FrostCrispz]

Yin lept forward into a run. "To the mountains!" He said to Fist, who sat down on his back hanging on. The two made it to the barrier quickly. "Mountains please." He said to the guard. "You sure?" The guard asked. In reply, "Yup." The guard, unable to stop him, let Yin pass. He picked up the pace on his way forward. Fist then knocked the hat of the guard. "HEY!" He screamed, picking the hat back. Yin then held his fist so Fist can give him a Fist pump, which he did.

Yin threw his body up the mountain side. "Nearly to the top." He said to Fist. The monkey pokemon nodded. Making it up to a clearing, the two sat down to rest. "Lets set up camp here." Some rocks shifted to the side beside them. "Hrm?" Slowly, a Rockruff walked from behind a boulder. "Hey there, boy." Yin said, hoaxing in the rock type. Slowly, the pokemon walked up to him, staring right into his black and white eyes.

 

[MelodyMay]

Kazu eventually found the barrier and saw a boy rush through into the mountains. "Well he's in a rush," Kazu commented. He had noticed he was several years older than many of the other contestants and, in his opinion, it showed through the impatience he had just witnessed. Still, he had to get busy; there were further prizes ahead for the top ten.

"Mary, fly down that way and see if you can find any bodies of water," he ordered. Mary chirped in reply, taking off happily. Her collar coujld barely he seen under here fluffy neck feathers. While she was gone, Kazu took a moment to relax in the sun. Still he couldn't be completely relaxed; this giant zoo was still a cage and without a garunteed escape, he needed to be vigilant.

Mary returned shortly, calling out in glee. Kazu had to run to keep up with her as she led him to a small stretch of beach. The trots of the trees twisted in the sand where the boundary between sea and forest met. A guard stood in the beach area. "The coast doesn't have a barrier of its owm?" Kazu asked him as Mary landed to play among the sea foam.

"Nah," the guard answered. "The coast is different and I'll register that you've been here but the coast is left open to each no one so we can see how the species of that environment interact with the sea," the kind guard informed. "I'm mainly here to hand out fishing poles," he added with a chuckle, pointing to several stands of high grade fishing rods.

Taking one, Kazu offered a smile to the man. "Thank you, sir. Mary," he called to his now happily soaked starter, "let's head back to the forest. Fly ahead and look for a river, lake or pond. She did so happily, sending water droplets everywhere as she had to work her wings extra hard until she dried off.

It wasn't long before Mary led him to a lake but before Kazu could get settled in, he noticed another contest member with what appeared to be an Smoochum by her side. Before he could so much as wave hello, a rude little Ducklett crashed into the woman before landing in the lake. Gasping in concern, Kazu dashed over to the downed woman, making sure to pull her head out of the water. "Are you okay, ma'am?!"

 

[StormingCobra]

“Thanks, I think I might stay in the forest for a while longer,” he said to the guard. He walked back towards the forest and sent out Jake. “Time to catch some new team members, Jake,” he said. The Eevee nodded and ran towards the grass.

Anthony chased after his hyper partner. Jake was eager to battle, despite his disadvantage of being a normal type. He walked a bit closer to the grass, and it started to rustle. Anthony walked towards the grass and saw the purple Poison type known as Nidoran (M).

The Nidoran suddenly jumped up and got into battle stance. “Alright, Jake, time for our first battle,” Anthony said. “Use Quick Attack!”

 

[FrostCrispz]

Yin sat down with the Rockruff on his lap. Fist was keeping lookout above the two on a high up rock. "So, you want to join us?" Yin asked the pokemon. He reached out to pet the pokemon. Rockruff let him scratch his head, proceeding to rub the rocks on his neck on Yin. "I take that as a yes." He said taking out a pokeball. Holding it loosely in his left hand, Yin tapped Rockruff's head with it sucking it up and capturing it.

Just then as the pokemon was caught, another trainer came running across to see Yin. "I challenge you to a battle!" The boy shouted, looking down at Yin who was relaxing on a rock. Replying, "Yea, alright. Let's get this over with." Yin stretched and climbed to his feet. "One on one sound good to you?" He asked the boy, sending a glare at him. His opponent studdered before answering. "Uh, sure." He said nervously at the sight of the black and white eyes. The boy fumbled around until he found his pokeball. "Go Grubbin!" He called out releasing his pokemon. Yin shook his head to his feet. "Hey Fist, wanna come beat a bug up?"

 

[Fructus]

As the other young man ran off into the forest again, Travis raised an eyebrow. Solid. The one time he tries to make social contact with someone, and they straight-up just ignore him. The brown-haired man sighed. "Oh well, it was worth a try." He looked at Crane. "Wanna go try and see if we can find something in the forest?" The Corphish clicked his pincers in glee.

It being Travis's second trip through the forest biome, the young man took his time to examine his surroundings. The high trees were calming, in a way. They reminded him of Eterna Forest. Though this place was much less spooky, they were still obviously alike. Travis sighed. Almost no sight of any Pokémon. The overabundance of Wurmple and Starly that were there previously seemed to have thinned out. Just as the young man wondered whether he'd even be able to find a new Pokémon, he stumbled across one.

And stumbled meant literally stumbled. He had no idea how he missed the Pokémon, but he suddenly felt something big and lumpy in front of his feet. Luckily he managed to keep standing upright, but the Pokémon he hit didn't seem to be too happy. Travis had never even seen this species before. From its build, antennae and three pairs of small feet, he could deduce that it was obviously a Bug-type Pokémon. As the new Pokémon began to hiss, Crane went to stand between his trainer and the Bug-type. The red-and-green-colored Pokémon glared defiantly with big yellow eyes at the Water-type. "Well then." Travis nodded. "I guess this'll be our first battle here!"

 

[MelodyMay]

Turns out the woman had been fine and she left the lake without further incident. Kazu considered fishing but he had no bait. So he and Mary went back into the forest to find some berries. It wasn't long before he discovered a battle going on. A young man with an Eevee fighting a male nidoran and in the distamce, he could make out another young man with a Corpish. As he couldn't see what had them on edge, he presumed it was a bug or, at least, something small enough for Mary to stand a decent chance against.

Heading their way, He was just hoping the Pokemon had found berries. He really wanted a water type; it would just help Mary so much. By the time he arrived, he saw an unfamiliar Pokemon. "Mary, take off and scout for berries but stay nearby," he whispered to her. Who knew if this thing was aggressive or had a big brother. After all, anyone unfamiliar with Kanto would not expect to see a swarm of Beedrill pop out of the trees when the mess with a Weedle.

 

[Fructus]

The first to charge forward was the Bug-type Pokémon. As it let out another feral hiss, the creature curled up into a ball. Much to Travis's and Crane's surprise, the Pokémon picked up speed quickly as it rolled at the Corphish. The impact of the attack pushed the Water-type Pokémon back, but Crane seemed to be able to withstand it. The assault wasn't over yet, though- the Bug-type rolled around, aiming for Crane once more. The Corphish groaned lowly when the second attack made contact.

Travis clenched his fists. Crane could withstand some attacks, but he wouldn't be able to keep bulking them all. He did his best to remember the moves Crane knew. Metal Claw, Harden... Right! "Crane, Bubble!" The Corphish opened his pincers as he shot a volley of foamy bubbles at the approaching ball of bug. The attack made direct contact, as the approaching Pokémon was forced out of its ball formation. The glare in its yellow eyes became even more fierce.

Travis slowly took a Poké Ball out of his pocket. The Bug-type Pokémon didn't seem like it would give up, so it could make for a reliable partner. But first he'd have to weaken his opponent still.

 

[StormingCobra]

Jake was able to hit the Nidoran with Quick Attack, and then he followed up with Covet. He was hit with Peck, but didn’t take much damage. The Nidoran used Leer, lowering Jake’s Defense. Jake hit with Covet again, but was hit with Poison Sting. He landed another Quick Attack before Anthony threw a Pokeball at the Nidoran. It shook once, twice, thrice, and click! Anthony caught Nidoran.

He smiled as he picked up the Pokeball containing the Poison type. “What should I name you?” he asked himself. He pondered for a second before deciding a name. “How about ‘Tremor’?” Anthony knew about the evolutions of Nidoran, so he decided to go with a name that fit its final form. He wanted to catch at least one more Pokémon before leaving the forest.