Adinitium City

Adinitium Pokemon Center

Mike and Doug both fall asleep soon after hearing the good news about the Houndour. The trainer is sleeping in one chair, while his pokemon is sleeping in the one next to him.

Once Nurse Joy has completely healed the Houndour, she leaves to return to the front desk. But, she noticed Mike sleeping in the chari and gets a blanket for him. She the wraps the blanket ahead him and returns to work.

---

Leaving the Pokemon Center, Daph wasted little time in pointing her feet back towards the training gym and walking back at a decent clip. Once inside, she found the next trainer in line and challenged him, wondering what new twist this one would bring to the field.

Her first thought upon seeing the whismur was one of burgeoning dread. Unless she was mistaken, that pokemon knew Uproar, which did sustained damage and wouldn't be affected much if at all by Smokescreen. Well, at least it's defenses were weak- they'd have to hit fast and hit hard. Tiberius was the one with the speed advantage here, so she used it. "Tiberius, hit it with Bubble, quickly." The horsea darted forwards, spraying a stream of concussive bubbles right at the whismur.

"Uproar!" Jonothan called out. His whismur was hit with bubbles before it could begin, but got up crying. Jonothan and the judge both had on very large and thick earmuffs. They knew exactly what the little whismur was capable of.

The small pokemon opened its mouth wide and let out a horrid screech, crying and screaming in its rampage.

Daphne flinched, resisting the urge to cover her ears and then deciding there was no point and clapping her hands over them. Tiberius, who had been at a much closer range, was reeling from the attack, and Daphne realized that she actually would have to yell (loudly) to be heard over the noise. "Tib! Keep going! Shoot bubbles into its mouth if you can!" She couldn't be sure if Tiberius had heard her, but she was fairly certain he had, either that or he was irritated and had the same idea. Taking careful aim, he shot more bubbles, these ones aimed right for the troublesome noisemaker's face.

Whismur easily took in the bubbles into its mouth. The screech was cut off in a millisecond, whismur bending over to choke out the water stuck in its very delicate airpipe. At the moment, whismur couldn't move, and was stuck on the floor. Jonothan whispered to his whismur from a distance, asking if it was ok.

Daphne frowned; her intent had not been to drown the creature, but, well, a battle was a battle, and unless they wanted to be dealing with earsplitting auditory torture again, they'd take this opportunity now that they had it. "Quickly, Tiberius," she urged, voice back to normal volume now (though her ears were still ringing). "Again." Shaking himself a bit, the horsea moved, flitting around behind whismur and shooting for its back, hoping to perhaps knock it over or at the very least just keep wearing away at its defenses while he had the opportunity.

Whismur finally regained its voice, but was soon knocked over by more bubbles hitting it's back. Jonothan and the judge covered their already protected ears and back away a few feet. Whismur got back up, tears streaming from its eyes, its mouth slowing opening. When sound did come out, it was at least ten times worse than the legend of the banshee. Its screech was more loud and shrill than powerful, enough to disorient horsea.

“Nngh.” Daphne was certain her ears were going to start bleeding soon if this kept up. She was well ready to direct Tiberius to use the same trick, but looking over to him, she was able to determine that he was far too disoriented to aim that well, and he was listing slightly to the right despite trying to stay in one place. Come on, Daphne, think. There has to be some way we can hit it… Chewing her lip, she sort of wished the arena had more features to take advantage of, though really, she supposed, perhaps its plainness could be an advantage as well. There was nothing to hide behind. “If you can’t aim, just keep moving in a circle around it!” That way, a good amount of the bubbles would still hit, even without conscious attempt at it.

Tiberius did his best to comply, but his circle was shaky, and slower than it would have been otherwise, due to his dizziness.

Again, the bubbles went into whismur’s mouth, causing it to pause and choke out the water. Everyone in the gym got a break from the screaming and could relax again, at least while whismur was still down. Jonothan knew there was nothing he could do until whismur could get up again.

The lucky shot and absence of noise were enough to help Tiberius clear his head, and at Daphne's instruction, got very close to whismur, hitting it with a close-range shot before darting away again in anticipation of possible retaliation, firing more hits at long range while he still could.

Whismur was pelted with bubbles, it had taken a lot of hits and was barely standing up. It opened it's mouth wide, but no sound came out. It's trademark move was disabled for the moment, and the little pokemon was confused and wondering what to do.

"Pound!" Jonothan called out. The little pokemon started slowly running towards horsea, limping a little bit and trying to land a hit.

Daphne considered a Smokescreen, but decided that whismur was probably battered enough that she'd rather use the time beating it before it could use that Uproar again. Not just for her, but poor Tiberius as well. Thinking quickly, she decided to improvise. Directing Tiberius to keep up a steady stream as the whismur advanced, she waited until just before the little pink pokemon got there. "Now, aim it at the ground, as hard as you can." If Tiberius thought that was an odd suggestion, he didn't hesitate, and the resulting stream propelled him upwards and over the whismur's head. "Now, fire at its back before it turns."

Whismur could barely follow horsea's movement, from the ground and in the air, it was slow in reaction. The pokemon was pelted in the back and fell to the floor, this time rather hard. It was a critical hit and brought whismur down for good.

Jonothan ran towards his pokemon and gave it a hug, a kind gesture to his baby pokemon.



Shaking hands with Jonothan, Daphne moved away from the arena a distance and rummaged around in her bag for one of her potions. “Here we go, Tib,” she murmured, spraying the little blue pokemon with the miracle cure. Trilling low in his throat, Tiberius nudged her hand, and she smiled, patting his head softly. “One more, buddy, and then we’ll have our first badge.” A training gym’s badge, sure, but it would still be an accomplishment for them.

Approaching the leader, a young woman, Daph nodded, slightly perturbed by the wide grin she was wearing. Nevertheless, she was not an easily-intimidated soul, really, possibly just because fear took an awful lot of effort.

Taillow, huh...?she noted, watching the bird pokemon flap around the room. Fast, and a full moveset, too. Better be careful. Daphne tossed Tiberius back onto the field, and, recently healed from his potion and with a brand-new move to try out, he was enthusiastic and ready to go.

The taillow was flying around the room in circles, eyeing Tiberius whenever it got the opportunity. It slowly landed on the floor and waited for the match to begin. When the judge lifted up the flags, it shot right back up in the air, working out the plan that Sandra had made for it. Its small body was glowing blue, using Focus Energy to get its body pumped.

The move made taillow stay still for a small moment in the air, since it required concentration

Now that she had another status option, Daphne was trying to determine which was smarter to use first. In the end, she decided to lower taillow's already-pitiful defense stat. "Tiberius, Leer." In the moment when taillow froze, the horsea locked eyes with its airborne opponent and stared it down, what were once rather harmless red eyes now flinty and frightening. Hopefully, such a look would give the focused pokemon pause before it tried to attack.

Taillow almost fell to the ground, losing it's concentration in flying after getting the stink eye from horsea. It regained its composure and began flying again in circles. This time it was getting closer and closer to horsea, moving in for a peck. Tailow's movements and dives were a lot like the movements of a pokemon going in for its prey. Swift, deadly and accurate.

“All right, Tib, now, Smokescreen,” Daphne directed, watching the predatory circling pattern and not finding it too much to her liking. Tiberius shot the smokescreen into the air, clouding the area with a thick black fog. All the same, taillow had been close enough already for the first peck to hit, and Tib scooted backwards, disappearing into his own smokescreen. “Don’t stay put, buddy. Guerilla tactics again,” she urged, meaning of course the pattern of rapid movement followed by spurts of bubble. It would be a little harder to hit taillow because of its ability to fly, but luckily Bubble had something of a range.

Taillow easily dodged the bubbles, seeing as they were directly in front of its eyes. When the smokescreen came up, taillow flew around the smoggy area, gaining speed in its circular movement. The smoke was clouding up into a twister until taillow broke from its pattern and flew away from it; dispersing the smoke.

The taillow was now going in for the exposed horsea, another peck aiming right at it.

Daphne’s fingers drummed an uneasy rhythm on the side of her leg, and she tried to think this through. If its speed was enough to disperse Tib’s smoke, she needed to slow it down. The one method she had of doing that was Bubble, but taillow was just fast enough that that would also be difficult. “Wait for it, Tiberius. Make sure it commits to a peck before you hit again, and make your shot count.” Thus instructed, the horsea stilled, presenting an easy target for the bird, but why bother trying to dodge? It hardly ever worked without a way of lowering accuracy, after all, and his defense was pretty good.

As soon as taillow swept in, Tiberius tipped backwards onto the ground, giving himself precious inches more distance, and shot bubbles as soon as taillow’s belly was right above him.

Taillow's feet were caught in the bubbles, sustaining damage and making taillow wince in pain. But the attack did not hinder taillow’s flight and it continued to fly, fast and sure around horsea. It went in for a peck again, and hit horsea right in the stomach, an eye for eye.

Now tailow was gaining height, flying into the sky and nose-diving down into the gym, its own version of quick attack.

The peck hurt, but luckily Tiberius’s belly was covered in smooth scales, which offered him some protection from the bird pokemon’s beak. As he got up though, Daphne noticed that taillow was sweeping straight in for a quick attack, gaining speed from his linear trajectory. Well, that meant the chances of it swerving were low. “Smokescreen.” Tiberius shot the attack, but this time instead of expecting it to stay for long, Tib adjusted his position only enough to avoid the Quick Attack. “Now, Bubble everywhere.” A stream of them shot right into the air, mingling with the smokescreen so that an attempt at dispersal would hit taillow several times with bubbles.

Taillow saw his scenario, bubbles or sketchy smoke screenscreen. The plan was to quick attack the opponents pokemon to hell, but like most battles, the plan never worked out perfectly. And this impingement caused for taillow to make a choice.

"Pick the smokescreen!" Sandra called out to taillow. Taillow did and dived right into the black smoke, getting hit with a few bubbles as well. Taillow couldn't land yet, because of his foot injury and the dangers of a bird pokemon walking was too big. So instead it was cruising into the air, looking for horsea in the thick screen.

Because the smokescreen was his own, Tiberius had no such trouble, and spent the next while moving around, peppering the inside of the screen with more bubbles. “Okay, Tiberius, enough of that. Take a direct shot.” Nodding (or at least approximating it as well as a horsea could), Tiberius located taillow and took another aimed right for it before ducking into cover again.

Taillow was hit with a sniper bubble attack, and looked around to see where horsea was hiding. Finding the effort fruitless, taillow flew out and began the process of dispersing the smoke screen, flying blindingly fast in circles and then breaking from the pattern.

When the smokescreen cleared, taillow dived in for the exposed horsea, another Peck attack. The bubbles that were sprayed out both inside and outside of the smokescreen had hit taillow in the break up process. The bubbles did not pop or simply fall down like hard objects, they lightly floated down instead, like feathers. Taillow's wings were hurt in the process, slightly wet and throwing off taillow's overall balance in the air.

But that didn't stop taillow from aiming straight at horsea.

Seeing the effect of dampened feathers on taillow’s flight pattern, Daphne changed tacks. “Tiberius, soak it as much as you can.” The intrepid little seahorse took a deep breath, firing another burst at the incoming bird pokemon. If he had to take a hit, well, he was relatively durable, but he wouldn’t last forever.

For the most part, taillow dodged all the bubbles, at least directly. If it was clearly visible and avoidable, the speedy bird could fly completely out of range from the attack. But the bubbles that were the furthermost from the left side of its dodging arc, were caught in the pressure of the speeding taillow, and popped. The water from the bubbles completely dampened taillow’s left wing and caused it to fall on the ground.

“While it’s down, Bubble again. Get close,” Daphne instructed, and Tiberius didn’t have to go too far, and he went in to hit taillow at point-blank range with more bubbles, moving for the left side to keep the imbalance and make it worse if at all possible. Daphne really didn’t want the bird taking off once more.

The bird was pelted by bubbles and couldn't stand on its feet because of a bubble attack from before that didn't heal well. Birds and their weak feet. Sandra shook her head slowly. Taillow was technically down for the count, but it was too stubborn to give up. So instead, it rolled its body on the floor over to horsea, hoping to peck it when it got close enough.

Daphne looked at the judge to see if he was going to call the match, but it appeared that as long as taillow wanted to keep moving, the match continued. Grimacing, she asked Tiberius to move away (and he was now much faster than poor taillow), and give it one last shot. Hopefully it would be enough to send the bird down for the count.

Tailow tried to dodge the bubbles, but in the end, a rolling body wasn't the most nimble. The attack wasn't enough to destroy tailow, just enough to stop him from moving.

"Congratulations! You beat Novice Mortlocke! Here is your Dojo badge!" Sandra cheered happily, withdrawing her taillow and handing Daphne an orange badge that was outlined like a mini dojo, much like the dojo they were in now.



“Phew.” With a wide yawn, Daphne recalled Tiberius (he was fine for now, but she’d pay one last visit to the Pokemon Center before heading out), and accepted her badge with a smile. That had felt surprisingly good, all things considered. She’d never been one who wanted or needed anything to show for the things she did, but there was no denying a strange satisfaction to the completion of the training Gym. It was something she’d have to think about a bit more.

Lex was still at it though, so she made her way back to the front and sat herself down against one of the entrance pillars, facing in towards the battle arena areas. From here, she’d be able to keep track of what was happening, maybe get a few ideas for motion drawings. She expected the battle to come between Macho and taillow would be really interesting to watch. Actually... rummaging around in her (somehow still completely organized) bag, she pulled out her notebook- unlined, since her writing was neat and small enough that lines weren't necessary- and a pencil. Couldn't hurt to be ready, right? Balancing the pad on her crossed legs, she laid the pencil atop it and pinned her new badge to one of the backpack straps with a wistful expression. This was... fun? Yes, I think so.

It was getting dark, she could see through a window. Daphne wondered if there would be any interesting Dark-types about this evening. She was rather fond of those, among others.

Tiberius grew to level 9!

Adinitium Pokemon Center

Mike awoke in the middle of the night, a blanket wrapped around him. He yawned a bit and looked out the window next to him. It was easy to tell that dusk had already past and the moon was shown, full in the sky. He could swear in saw a pokemon flying in the sky, passing in front of the moon as it continued its flight. The trainer then stood up and went straight to the large, glass window giving anyone looking in a view at any injuried pokemon forced in there. But toninght there was only one; the Houndour.

With all the equipment around it gone, Mike could get a good view of the injuried pokemon. She seemed to be looking better but, now the trainer could actually see the Houndour's ribs, proving that Nurse Joy was right when she said that it hadn't eaten for days. There were also plenly of cuts and bruises, proving once agin, to the trainer's dismay, that the nurse had been right. Mike sighed as he watched the pokemon breathe. At first he had hoped to catch it after it reecovered but, it was now clear that, it probably would take months to get better. And although he would have waited days, weeks even, he couldn't spare months.

Doug woke up as Mike looked away from the glass. The pokemon grunted as he looked at his trainer. Mike, used to the grunts replied, "Yea, she's better then we found her but, its clear she wasn't in a good shape to start with." At that, the Aron seemed to get sad, probably because it was hoping that they would have found a new traveling companion in the Houndour. Mike sat down next to his pokemon. "I know buddy. I wanted to catch her too."

The Aron, then jump off its chair and went straight towards the door. Mike got up and followed it, a bit confused. Doug jumped up and tried to open the door but when that didn't work, he looked up at his trainer, hoping he would get the message. It took his trainer a moment before he understood and opened it. Once the door was open, the pokemon headed right out of the pokemon center, with his trainer right behind him.

As they left the center, Doug contiued marching towards Route 4 and Mike finally understood what his pokemon wanted it to do; catch a wild pokemon. The trainer ran up next to his Aron, smiling and nodded at it. Doug got the message and ran out of the city, full of determination, with Mike right behind, an unused poke' ball in his hand.

Adinitium City Entrance

As they walked back into the city, Mike couldn't help but stare at his poke' ball, containing his new pokemon. Doug, on the other hand, had gotten over the excitement of having a new companion but, not over the thrill of actually catching a pokemon. For some reason, the little Aron couldn't help the fact that he wanted to catch more.

Mike yawned as they continued walking, still staring at the ball in his hand. He knew he would have to come up with a name for his newly caught Hoothoot. It only seemed right since Doug already had a name. But, what could he name it? The rainer could, of course, come up with a lazy name like "Flyer" or "Owl". However those weren't original and seemed like there would be a good chance he'd met another "Flyer"/"Owl". He sighed and put the poke' ball away. still having no idea what to name it.

Doug watched his trainer stare at the poke' ball, wondering why but, that stopped once he heard someone talking. And, of course, the Aron had to find out, what about. So, pulling on Mike's pant leg at first, he then ran towards the noise, with his trainer following right behind.

When they got closer, Mike reconsided some of the boys from his old class. And as he came around the corner he saw the rich boy, ummm Sliver, talking to the gang, clearly making a joke at their expense, by the expressions they made as he finished. The trainer then walked closer to the group, until he was a few feet away. "Hey guys, what's going on here?" Which got everyone's eyes on Mike, including Joshua's. When he noticed Josh was involved, he swore under his breath, knowing that he was somehow, being bullied.

Adinituim City

Mike yawned as he watched the sun rise. He had been up all night, lost in the night life of Adinitium City.It wasn't that he didn't lnow his way around. It was that the city seemed to change at night. A lot of "intrestering" shops and places opening up for business. None of which, he went into, mostly because he was looking for the pokemon center. The sad part was that he had passed a way to it several times. Doug, actually got some sleep in his poke' ball and was yet to be let out by his trainer.

As the sun breathed new life into the city, Mike found the center. The trainer ran in and noticed how few people were actually awake. But, at least Nurse Joy was at her post. He then handed his pokemon to her, asking for them to be healed. As soon as she took them, Mike went towards the emergency section to check on the Houndour from yesterday.

The pokemon was still sleeping in her bed, all the equipment now away from her. But, she actually did look better then she did from last night. However, it still seemed like it would be impossible to catch her. Mike sighed as he watched the pup breathe. He then sat down, deciding that he should see if the Houndour would wake up or, at least wake here til his pokemon where taken care of.

The trainer yawned again, knowing that he only had about three hours of sleep. He took out his pokegear and looked for an timer function or something simlar. A little nap couldn't hurt. It probably be worse if he didn't sleep, right? Upon finding a timer, Mike set it for two hours, just a short nap, and hopefully long enough for him to feel refreashed. Soon, the trainer feel asleep, holding his device close to his ear, so he would hear it when it went off.

Adinitium City, Pokemon Center

Sean was standing in the middle a dark forest, surrounded by strange sounds and calls of nocturnal pokemon. He looked around nervously from tree to tree, jumping when he spied illuminated eyes in the darkness. There was suddenly a much closer sound, coming from behind him. He turned quickly and saw, climbing through some bushes, a massive electabuzz. He froze in fear as static sparked across it's body, making it glow unnaturally in the dark. He reached for a pokeball at his hip, but there weren't any. He turned to run as fast as he could, but tripped on a branch and fell forward into the dirt. By the time he rolled over, he was paralyzed by fear by the pokemon's menacing form. He could physically feel the static make his arm hair stand on end while the pokemon charged for its attack. “Electa,” it growled, “BUZZ!!” It discharged a massive bolt of energy into the poor boy. It discharged again with a very loud “Buzz buzz buzz buzz...”

Sean sat bold upright, his long hair and face drenched in sweat. He jumped at the sound of the phone next to his bed buzzing, “buzz buzz buzz...” He looked around the room and realized that it wasn't his. It took him a second to remember everything that happened the day before. Okay... I'm in the pokecenter...

“Buzz buzz buzz” rang the phone again and Sean picked it up, “Hello?” He asked tiredly. “Hi, this is Nurse Joy, I'm just giving you a wake-up call telling you that we've restored your pokemon to full health, you can come down and collect them when you're ready.” God, you can hear her smiling Sean thought smirking, “Thanks, I'll be right down.”

“Right down” for Sean, meant after he did his hair and spent much too long picking out an outfit (this time a tight fitting red t-shirt tucked into even tighter black pants and a metallic studded belt hanging loosely from a few belt loops). He walked up to the counter and collected his two companions, “We hope to see you again!” Nurse Joy rang.

Sean looked down at his two pokemon. The joy that these two creatures brought him was more than he had felt in a very long time. And the fact that together they were actually good at battling rose that feeling to another level above that. Sean's trademark smile crept across his face as the two little bugs stared back up at him with admiration. With a warm, yet till empty feeling in his stomach, Sean made his way to the cafeteria.

As he looked around the large room, enjoying the smell of breakfast, he layed eyes on a young man around his age sitting alone. Sean eyed him for a while, analyzing his appearance. It took a little while to remember him, they went to academy together, never really spoke, but he definitely remembered his face. Sean picked up his food and made his way over to the boy. He stood a few feet away and beamed, “Hi there,” he said happily, “Do you mind if I join you?”

---

Daphne opened bleary eyes and looked around. This wasn’t her room… oh, right. She hadn’t stayed at home last night, but a Pokemon Center. Kind of silly, when you thought about it, since the two were in the same city, but well, she’d said her awkward goodbyes and everything yesterday, so…

She was on a bunk above someone else who’d slept here overnight, so she climbed down the ladder as quietly as she was able, hoping not to wake them. It didn’t take her long to shower and change, and she was pretty much ready to go. High-maintenance, she was not. Descending the stairs to the main floor, she picked up her singular pokeball and contemplated for a moment. She should probably stop by the mart, grab a few more things. She considered the Battle Club for a while, but in the end, she had enough money for the time being and she really wanted to feel like she was making some lateral progress.

Lex still had that gym leader to deal with, and she was up surprisingly early this morning, so she decided to venture out onto Route 4 and see what she might see. “Mm… Nurse Joy? If you see my friend, the tall broody-looking one with the hair over his eyes, could you tell him he’ll find me on Route 4 when he’s done if that’s the way he’s headed?” Not that there was really anywhere else to go if you wanted to get off the island, but the implication was that whether he met up with her later or not was entirely his decision. She didn’t want to bother, and friends though they were, Daphne assumed nothing. They were both loners, in their own way, and for all she knew, he may wish to go it alone for the time being. This was more her style than asking the question.

Once her stop at the Pokemart was concluded, she struck out on the path to the docks, but strolled along at a rather leisurely pace, stopping now and then to check the tall grass for footprints or signs of pokemon habitation. She wasn’t what anyone would term a collector, but she would probably need more than just Tiberius if she did decide to run (or in her case, amble) the battle circuit. At this point, she wasn’t sure that was her choice, but she certainly wasn’t going to enter contests, and she wanted to do something with tangible results, for her father’s sake if not her own.

Adinitium City, Pokemon Center Cafeteria

Sean smiled playfully. I don't know what it is about awkwardness he thought happily, But I can't help but love those inflicted with it.

“So, uh, you like bug pokemon huh?” Asked Josh shyly. Seanapillar and the newly captures kricketot climbed onto the bench next to Sean with hungry looks in their eyes. Taking sympathy, Sean offered them each a piece of his toast. “Yeah,” Sean began, “Well, I like other pokemon, but the first pokemon I ever caught was a caterpie, so my mom got me a wurmple in preparation for me leaving the house.” He stroked the silcoon sitting next to him. He stopped for a second, realizing what Josh would ask, and what he would have to answer if he didn't fix it, “I had to let the caterpie go though,” Sean's smile dropped for just a second, but returned soon enough, “And I just happened to catch this little guy yesterday.” He patted the kricketot on the head, which it seemed to enjoy because it clanged its antennae together, making a xylophone sound. “Oh! I've got to give him a nickname.” Sean paused and bit down on his knuckle, “I know! Seanaphoner! Cause of the sound it makes! What do you think Josh?” Admittedly, Sean almost forgot that he had company due to his monologue. Still cute though. He thought, inwardly winking.

Adinitium Pokemon Center

Mike felt a bit weird listening on their conversation. Even though Sean was doing most of the talking. The trainer took a bite out of his pancakes and looked down at the pokeballs that hung of his waist. It felt even stranger that he wasn't eating with Doug. He and the Aron had eaten about every meal together for the last couple of years. Maybe he thought he was betraying his pokemon a bit, as he took another bite out of his food and savoured it.

As he heard Sean say something about catching a Caterpie, Mike couldn't help but find it strange that this pokemon wasn't currently with his trainer. But, Sean quickly changed the topic, making it clear he didn't want anyone to mention said pokemon. But, Mike couldn't help feel a little curious about the lost Caterpie. Maybe he should ask but, that probably would piss off Sean and get him off speaking terms with that trainer. Maybe he could ask Sean's best friend, Amy. Mike felt a slight heat come to his face.

Amy, probably was the nicest girl at the school, or well atleast to Mike. She always was the person who would lead him notes for the days he missed. And she would study with him over the phone a couple times, for subjects that he sucked at. Mike did like her, but he wouldn't call it a crush. Luckily no one knew about his feelings or he would have gotten made fun of or something. And when he thought of any kind of relationship with her, he always guessed that she and Sean were a couple. No matter how strange of a couple they seemed. But as Mike thought about Amy, he couldn't help but get worried. He hadn't seen her since yesterday, right before his slip up and battle. And Sean might have seen her, atleast he might as well ask.

So, grabbing his breakfast, Mike walked over to Sean, just in time to hear the last part of his conversation. "Hey Sean." He then smiled a bit. "Seanaphoner, sounds like a great name for that little guy." The trainer then took a deep breath, preparing himself for what he was about to ask. "Mind if I sit here?" This being the only other time Mike ever asked Sean something.

Adinitium City Charles' House

The dim light shone peaked through the dark curtains, landing right on Artemis' eyes. He was never one for the mornings, or afternoons for that matter, but Wolfy, his Growlithe, was slowly conditioning him to getting up earlier for being a Pokemon master required walking around and training.

Artemis stood up slowly from his bed, his hair was completely messed up as it was every morning, Artemis sulked quietly over to his closet, selecting one of the same shirts, that it seemed he wore every day. Growlithe barking and wagging his tail in the background. Char turned around to see the little puppy wagging its tail and what seemed like a smile. He sauntered over to the little pup, embracing him in his arms, a fire cough soon following, Growlithe's ember was coming on fast, it still needed practice, but it was coming along.

He finished going around the room getting ready, collecting his bag, Wolfy's pokeball, his poketch and all the other fascinating gadgetry that accompanied him on his journey. The time had finally come to set off, but for real this time.


Adinitium City
The crisp afternoon air, brushed gently across Char's face, the air was sharp and slightly damp. "Come on Wolfy lets do this." Char said and with that the little dog barked and they set off on their adventure looking for fellow pokemon to join their team.

Adinitium City
Char and Wolfy walked through the humid air, watching as he saw all the other trainers in the area rushing about their business. It seemed like everyone was in such a rush to just become the best they could be. He looked down at the little Growlithe following him and all of the travels they had made after they graduated from the academy came back to mind.

The story of how Growlithe took on the Buizel and lost miserably but they had made a friend in that area. Unfortunately that particular Buizel had to stay and protect his family or they would have been traveling companions. Then there was the story of the "king of the hill" Ivysaur that helped them stop Team Rocket's hopes of starting in the Faria region.

All Char could do was appreciate his best friend and start what he needed to do. He walked quietly over to the Battle Club and Performance Hall paid the entrance fee, hoping to find some one to train with him and become his good friend.

Adinitium City Pokémon Center

Josh laughed and smiled at Sean. "It's a good name." He reached into his own bag and sent out his Buneary. We're going to be heading out soon..." Josh paused and blushed. "D-do... Doyouwanttocomewithus?" It came out in a big, rushed jumble, and Josh's face turned even redder.

That was when Mike showed up asking about Amy. Glad for an escape from feeling awkward, Josh told Mike he had seen Amy heading off down Route 4. "You could probably catch her if you hustle," he added.

Adinitium Pokemon Center

Sean smiled and admired the boy across from him. He was particularly handsome in his own right. Not particularly manly or anything, but his timid nature and shyness managed to wriggle their ways into Sean's chest and play around with his heart rate and breathing. Both of which spiked at the young man's request. Sean opened his mouth to accept happily when... (I know this... he thought hastily) Mike came over and asked to sit with them. A small noncommittal noise came out of Sean's open mouth, which Mike must have took for an acceptance. Sean's smile drooped out of slight irritation, This kid he thought with contempt, Interrupting me and my moves... He returned his focus to the cutie in front of him, holding his buneary.

Sean's interest was perked when Mike brought up Amy. They had just met the day before, why would he be so worried? Unless... Sean thought, his gossip senses tingling, Awww, he's got a crush~ Choosing not to reply to him, in hope he might get the message to let the two others be, Sean kept these recent developments for later, maybe when he could divulge the information to someone.

After a few moments of quick debating in his head, Sean decided it was time to take action, “Anyway, before I was interrupted,” he said, trying not to sound too cross, “I'd love to accompany you and your adorable little friend here.” He inwardly grimaced and turned to Mike, “Do you want to join us?” He offered, “Mike!” he added quickly, probably revealing his mistake more than covering it up.

Mike considered it, but decided against it, “No thanks,” He replied, “I'm gonna stay here for a little bit.”

Sean inwardly threw his fist in the air, Sean gets alone time now!, “Alright, have a good day.” Sean turned and offered his hand to Josh. Part of him was screaming at him that it was too forward, but the rest of Sean cheered him on, “Come on,” he said with a smirk, “Lets get out of here.” His ego was swelling to dangerous levels.

Josh's face turned an obvious shade of scarlet, but hesitantly took the outstretched hand in his. The pair departed from the cafeteria together, hands clasped just longer than normally.

The walk from the pokemon center was a generally quiet one. The pair was followed by Josh's buneary and Sean's kricketot toddling along. Seanapillar was attached to Sean's shoulder securely. He was trying to suppress his habit (well, obsession) with being social. Slowly but surely, he could feel his bubbling need to converse grow inside him. It took a very strong force of will to keep quiet. Thankfully, Josh broke the silence, “S-so...” He said softly, “D-do you know where we're going?” He sounded just a bit nervous, which softened Sean's insides just a bit.

“Yeah, we're going to head south out of the city and head to the ferry to get us across the river,” Josh looked just a little bit intimidated, “Don't worry, I was there last night, we can handle any pokemon that'll come at us.” Sean beamed at his companion and affectionately touched his back.

Together, the two boys exited the city and headed off into Route 4, to continue their journey.

Adinitium Pokemon Center

During the whole conversation, Mike couldn't shake the feeling that Sean was angry at him, for disrupting them and forcing him on them. But that all changed when he mentioned Amy. Suddenly, Sean didn't seem so hateful but, at the same time, he gave some kind of dark, knowing presence. Maybe he knew about the crush. No, not a crush, an interest. But, was it really that easy to tell? Or was Sean just good at telling those kinds of things? Wait, shouldn't he be mad if he knew? They were together, right? Mike sighed, way too confused to even try to figure that mess of questions out.

Sean the asked him, if he wanted to join them, or something similar. Mike, politely said no but, he wasn't so sure, still trying to figure out at least of those many questions clouding his skull. Then Sean did something completely unexpected. He got up and stuck his hand out to Joshua. A handshake, perhaps? Josh, gingerly took Sean's hand and they walked out, still holding hands. And not how a mother and child would but, how two longtime lovers might. Suddenly, a lot of the questions, just got answered.

Mike stood up after they left and let out a deep sigh. Sadly, it made a lot more sense that Sean played for that team. Based off the way he acted and did somethings. Honestly though, Mike could care less about that type of thing. But, now nothing was keeping him from Amy. His face quickly redden as he thought about it and he shook his head, quickly, trying to get that idea out of his head.

Mike paced a bit, wondering what to do, when he looked down, noticing his poke balls. Feeling pretty bad about not letting Doug eat with them, he tossed the ball, releasing his Aron, and catches the ball. Doug, upon being released, looked up at his trainer, angrily. Mike sighed. "I'm sorry, ok? But I had to talk to them, without you listening." The Aron grunted and rolled his eyes. His trainer then picked up his second poke ball. "How about we meet our new teammate?" The pokemon looked at the ball and stared at it, wondering about his new pokemon. Mike chuckled at Doug's reaction. "I'll take that as a yes." And with that, he threw out the ball.

As soon as the Hoothoot was let out, he looked around, now noticing he wasn't in his usual surroundings. Mike and Doug, both, cautiously, walked over to the Hoothoot. "Hey, little guy." The pokemon jumped up, sun in the air, landed and tilted his head to the side. "Hoot?" Doug suddenly charged in and stopped, sliding a bit, their heads barely touching, once the Aron stopped. He then preceded to tap his forehead against his new comrade's, telling him who's boss. Mike ran over to them, trying to stop Doug before he did something stupid but, Hoothoot mimiced what Doug just did to him, softer so he doesn't hurt himself.

Mike and Doug, looked at each a bit surprised at how that bird reacted. Hoothoot made what was probably a smile. "Hoot, hoot!" Mike chuckled. "I think that means you want to join us." The Hoothoot hopped up and down, nodding. Doug grunted, trying to act indifferent but, Mike could tell he was happy. "But what do we call you? I mean I would prefer if you had a name..." They all thought for a moment before Mike snapped his fingers. "How about Sho? It means fly." The Hoothoot hopped up and down. "Hoot!" Doug groaned, this time completely not caring. The trainer smiled. "I'll take that a yes." And with that, the newly named, Sho jumped up, flapping its wings fast enough for him to land right on Mike's shoulder. He then looked at Sho. "You like it being high don't you?" The Hoothoot nodded. "Hoot, hoot! Hoot!" The trainer smiled again and looked at Doug, waving him on. "Come on, lets get out of here." Mike then went out of the door, Doug, grunts and follows him.

As the group left, Mike was tackled to the ground, Sho fell off his shoulder and lands on top of Doug, knocking him to the ground as fell. The trainer thought he was about to be attacked but, instead he started getting licked, all over his face. After a couple minutes, the licking slowed enough for the trainer to get a look at his "attacker"; the Houndour that they saved and had been watching. She stood over Mike, panting a bit. The pup seemed a lot better, now that she was off her bed but, her rips still stuck out and some of the bruises were still visable. It was still pretty sad, how some could be so uncaring to actually be able to cause so much harm to an innocent pokemon. Mike sighed and, gently pushed the Houndour off of him and got to his feet. Doug manages to push Sho off and stand. Sho, on the other hand, refusing to use his other foot and kept falling as he got knocked around. His trainer felt some pity for the bird and picked it up, placing him of his shoulder.

Houndour ran around the little group for a bit, wanting to play and probably even come with them but, she was still sick. The pokemon coughed once or twice as she continued her run. Mike sighed. He felt for the pup, he really did, but, when all was said and done, the Houndour still needed medical care. The trainer then stopped her from running and knelt down in front of her. "I know you want to come with us but, your still sick, and this is the best place for you to get better." The Houndour tilted her head to the side and whimpered. Mike sighed again and stared at the pup. "I'm sorry girl but, your health comes first. You can understand that, right?" She, sadly nodded. He could barely handle, looking into those sad eyes but, he had to endure, for her sake. "Hey, how about if, when I come back, if you still want to come with me, I'll let you." She barked loudly and started to run again, her strength renewed by those simple words. So, with a heavy heart, Mike left, saying bye to Nurse Joy and the Houndour.

Heading straight for the gate, he saw both, Sean and Josh leave together. Mike, without much thought ran up to catch them. "Hey! Hey, guys!" He soon caught their attentions and was able to catch up. He the bent over and panted. "S... sorry if I'm... intruding." Mike the stood up, his panting stopped. "But we are kind of going the same way and its safety in numbers." Damn it, he wasn't saying this right! "So, umm, could I please travel with you two. And if I really am a bother, we can spilt up at the next town." Mike, finished it all off with a nice, nervous smile.