Pokemon Diversity Reloaded

True North · Jun 3, 2016

Chople Berry Chase & the Furret Twins (Visual)

Jay tried to focus as he had become slightly unsettled by the strange woman's last statement. He'd meant to say thank you to the stranger, but her assurance that they'd see each other again threw him off and left him somewhat speechless whenever she left him there in the darkness. "Well you certainly don't look scary. That's for sure." The kind words of Kid entered into Jay's memory as he thought about the lady in the night. In comparison to the peculiar woman shaded in the dark, Jay guessed he was probably as frightening as a Cottonee. Before succumbing completely to his thoughts, Litleo brought him back to reality with a pawing to his thigh.

Yeah, Eevee's gift. The silvery haired Jay became refocused as he searched along the tree line. He looked down at Litleo who pawed at his thigh again for his attention. "Would you like to help?" Jay retrieved his pokedex from his coat pocket and activated it to make a quick search. After a few touches upon the screen, Jay found what he was looking for and zoomed in with his fingers. A red and gold Chople berry was displayed upon the screen in which Jay showed to Litleo. The cub's round eyes lit up as if she had recognized the particular berry, but then she ultimately responded with a slobbery knaw on the vulnerable pokedex. "Maybe not." Jay muttered, pulling back his now sticky hand.

Chople berry trees were fairly common in Numera, but they usually grew quite deep in the forest. The trees were planted there, because of their benefits for Normal types in the area (as the type majority). However, there was a specific set of Chople berry trees that grew on the outskirts of town which Jay heard of - he just wasn't sure where. A rustling in a nearby shrub claimed Jay's attention and a sudden burst of an unknown furry creature alerted Litleo. RRET! The wild furret scurried fast upon the grass and ran up Jay's leg and torso, evading a snap from Litleo's curious jaws. Once upon Jay's shoulder, the ferret creature looped across Jay's arm to steal his pokedex.

"Wait- That's not YOUR'S!.." Jay exclaimed with bewildered eyes as he watched the Furret dive off his arm with his pokedex. PSH! With a sudden surprise, Jay's outstretched hand lit up in flames from an ember attack that was meant for Furret. LEYY! Litleo let out a determined cry, but then quieted down in shock at her friendly fire. "N-No-NO!" Jay yelled as he quickly slapped his hand upon the ground to put out the fire. Racing after the Furret thief, was a twin furret that held something that dismissed Jay's panic. Within the other Furrets paws was a recognizable, red berry. "Whad'ya know..Eah.." Jay mumbled, with a wince at his burnt hand. Leo.. The cub gave it a quick, guilty lick.

"-It's ok, you were just startled." Jay assured Litleo, as he kept his watch on the Furrets who sped away. "I can't lose those Furrets." Jay immediately stood to chase after the thieving ferret pokemon. Any other time he'd just ask his uncle for a new pokedex, but one of those Furrets knew where he could get his gift for Eevee. It was difficult to keep sight of the Furrets in the night time, but Litleo made it easier as she led the charge with a locked on focus. Before Jay knew it, he was rushing passed Bee with the Furret twins who had weaved through her legs. "Sorry.. Can't explain now!" Jay quickly shouted awkwardly to Bee once he realized she was there. @EchoRun

Glee! Igglybuff floated down from Bee's shoulder with an excited smile from the commotion and began to bounce after them gleefully. Meanwhile, Litleo was on their tails as one shot into a log and the other disappeared into the bushes. Jay dashed into the forest, but stopped in his tracks at the sound of a distressed cry. FURR! One of the Furrets was caught by Litleo inside the log, and became stuck at the end of the opening. Jay immediately squeezed inside the log to pull Litleo out who had snagged the helpless Furret's tail. "LET GO. You'll hurt him-" He said in a panic, as she released the fluffy tail from her teeth and was dragged unwilling from out of the log by Jay.

RETT! Furret held tight to the Chople Berry as he tried to wiggle out of the narrow opening, but was failing at escaping. "Please, be calm. I'll try to help you." Jay said with a comforting tone before squeezing back into the log. BIBA! A new, fierce cry came from outside the log which made Jay freeze. A large, water beaver pokemon (Appearance) stormed into the area after seeing that his wooden snack had become occupied by strangers. Not too far away was his lodge at the marshes, further into the forest. The outcries of Furret had disturbed the peace, and causedt he angry beaver to investigate. LITLEO... Jay thought about the fire cub in a panic, and tried to think of what to do.

Ret? The second Furret returned with a pop of it's head through the bush. It's eyes quickly became worried at the sight of her brother being trapped with a raging Bibarel nearby. IGGLY! Igglybuff twirled out of nowhere in anticipation of her arrival to the scene, but was quick to tumble out of the way of a blast of water that shot from Birbarel's mouth. Igg? Once seeing Jay was inside the log, she puffed her cheeks bravely and bounced over to the heated beaver. Beside her was Litleo with a light, rumbling roar. LEY! After bolting to protect Jay, the cub was blasted off her feet by a powerful Water Gun attack. "No, LITLEO!" Jay's shout echoed from within the log.

FrozenDreams · Jun 3, 2016

The Tournament is Cancelled!

Inside of the Numera Pokemon Center was quiet. Thanks to the amount of people participating in the festival, there is usually not too much service that happens inside the Pokemon Center during this time. The nurse who was working there was cleaning off the dust from the shelves and the Audino was organizing various files inside of the desk. It was a nice and calming time for the two to fix up the hospital for future trainers.

As the doors to the Pokemon Center swung open with force. The nurse and Audino jumped up in surprise. The older man carrying an injured Eevee rushed into the Pokemon Center and looked around for the nurse. Hesitating, he ran to the nurse after he found her cleaning off shelves.

"Oh! Marcus, what are you doing..."

"No time, this pokemon is in critical condition after a fight in the tournament gone very wrong." The owner, who's name is Marcus, said while catching his breath. The nurse got a bit upset with Marcus, she never did like his tournament idea for the festival as something like this would happen.

"You see, I told you something like this would've happen." The nurse sighed as she took a look at Eevee. Noticing quite the wounds on Eevee, such as broken bones, bruises, and even lack of energy. The nurse gasps. "What happened?! This isn't...How..." The nurse couldn't even fathom to understand how this pokemon gotten so badly injured.

"We don't have time for chitchat, get her to somewhere safe and help her." Marcus yelled, The nurse immediately jumps from Marcus booming voice, confirms the situation with a nod and safely grabs Eevee from Marcus' hands. The nurse calls Audino back with her as the both of them rush into the back of the lobby. Marcus sat down on one of the seats and wiped the sweat from his hands. Now we just leave it to them. Marcus looked at the backdoor as he wonders about strid's Eevee. A ringtone rings from Marcus' pocket. His Pokegear was ringing as someone was trying to get in touch with him. Normally Marcus wouldn't answer it if he was busy with something important, but he was taking a few minutes to relax after getting Eevee to the Pokemon Center so maybe it would be a good time to check it out. Pulling out his Pokegear, he accepted the call from his gear and put it to his ears.

"Hello?" Marcus said through the Poke'gear.

"Ahh sir! There you are." It was the announcer for the Battle Pit. He seemed a bit panicked with the tone of voice coming through the Pokegear.

"Something the matter?" Marcus worried that a commotion may have started outside of his place.

"Nothing wrong. Celeste has suggested we cancel the tournament. Everyone seems to have lost their interest in the tournament thanks to the last match."

"So even she seems it would be wise to cancel it."

"Sir?"

"I give you permission to cancel the tournament. As things stand now, continuing it at this point would be risky."

"Alright, i'll give the announcement to the audience. I just hope this doesn't affect the festival in any way."

"It already has." And with that. Marcus hangs up the phone. Laying back on the seat, he wonders what this will mean for Numera and its future.

Back at the Battle Pit

The Battle Pit was growing restless, people were leaving and others wondered if they should stay and continue after experiencing something terrifying. The announcer seemed a bit scared too. This was the first time that something like that has every happened.

The bracket was still on the TV screen mounted in top of the resting station, showing who was battling who.

There were still matches involving the others that didn't get a chance to go this round, such as Celeste against Blake, Alvin vs Clavies, and Maxie vs Red. Were they still planning on continuing, some of the audience members hope not. With Marcus' permission to cancel the tournament, the announcer decided to go ahead and give the announcement so that people can go on ahead and finish the night however they want.

"We have a change of plans." The announcer said through the microphone. "After a bit of discussing this heated topic on hand. We decided that it would be for the best of everyone here that we cancel the tournament. We don't not know what might happen to the Battle Pit, nor any other future events in the festival. So go on ahead and get some rest, I think we all deserve it after what happened tonight." And with that, the announcer went with the staff and helped clean up the Battle Pit as the audience left the Battle Pit.

Maxim · Jun 3, 2016

Alvin

The Tournament, Canceled?!

Alvin saw his name come up on the TV screen. It seemed that after the next match he would be facing off against the girl Clavies. Still, thanks to the mess earlier, it seemed that the tournament would be delayed for a little while. Understandable given the circumstances he supposed. The boy soon became bored out of his mind just sitting there; 30 whole minutes!? He knew it was bad, but it still seemed a little excessive to the boy.

He looked up for a moment, trying to figure out what to do while he waited. He could go and talk with Jay...although would he be incensed right now? He certainly could not find the blue haired boy in the bleachers, so he might have gotten cold feet and left already, or so Alvin thought. Come to think of it, Astrid, Bee, everyone else he knew was gone. A bit disappointed, he decided to chat with his opponent, not like there was much else to do.

Alvin walked over and sat near Clavies, then initiated a conversation "Heya! You must be...Clavies right? Nice to meet ya. Seems we're gonna battle after this whole thing blows over." He paused for a bit, wondering what he should say next. "My Torchic's getting pumped to tackle your Ra---"

He was interrupted by the fluttering of a familiar pair of wings. "Chatot!" the Pokemon said eagerly to Alvin. "Hey, good job out there sport, we sure showed him didn't we?" He turned his attention back to Clavies "Anyways, my Torchic is ready to bra--"

He was interrupted yet again, this time by the announcer. "We have a change of plans." The announcer said through the microphone. "After a bit of discussing this heated topic on hand. We decided that it would be for the best of everyone here that we cancel the tournament. We don't not know what might happen to the Battle Pit, nor any other future events in the festival. So go on ahead and get some rest, I think we all deserve it after what happened tonight."

Alvin was flabbergasted at this announcement "Wait, they canceled the whole thing, what?!" His eyes open wide, he was left silent for a few moments, before saying "Why...don't they know that's exactly what that nutcase wanted? If he didn't win the tournament he'd probably be okay getting the whole thing canceled. What a load of..." Alvin stopped mid sentence, wanting to stay calm before Clavies "Well, I guess that's that." he huffed. He then waited for Clavies' response before he continued further.

====================================

Thomas

Meeting in the Forest

Thomas walked a little ways outside of Numera Town. The leaves were making sounds as he passed by, he having gone deep into the surrounding forest. He wanted to be alone for a little while, not only for his own sake, but also because he had received an e-mail from his father, ordering him to contact him as soon as readily available. The enigmatic boy eventually found a good tree stump to sit on, that seemed fairly far away from civilization. He laid down his backpack by the stump and sat down, only to find that one of his Pokeballs had opened from the former event. Out came a green and yellow wolf, who smiled at Thomas when he got out.

"Electrike!" it said, wagging its tail happily at the sight of Thomas. The boy chuckled a bit and said "Not now Alpha, I need to contact father." getting out his laptop and trying to ignore his Pokemon for the time being. However, Alpha was having none of that, and jumped on Thomas's lap, briefly scaring the boy. When he got over the initial shock though, Thomas smiled and started petting the Electrike, "All right all right I can delay a few moments." He set down the Pokemon on the ground, then his laptop on his lap, and started petting Alpha. Once a few minutes had passed by, Thomas said "Good boy, now then, let's get to business shall we?" Alpha was content, and smiled back at the boy, laying down on the ground while Thomas got his work done.

Thomas opened up his laptop and called his father using a video chat program. A few rings later, and an older man with blue hair and a sharp black suit greeted him. "Ah, you're here. What have you to report?"

"You wanted something from me boss? I have also taken a few scans of Pokemon around Numera, including a few trainers. Finally, I have obtained a Squirtle from Professor Atlas like you suggested."

"I hear you also entered a tournament."

"Yes, but I had some...unfortunate luck."

The man got up partly from his chair with a frown on his face. "Unfortunate luck? There is no such thing as luck, which you would do well to remember. I hope you realize failure is not tolerated..."

A bit panicked, Thomas said "Well, you see. It is impossible to win every match you come across. Better that we lose a match that means nothing in the long term than something that could cause catastrophe, after all."

The man sat back down, surprisingly pleased with the response. "I suppose you're correct. Keep training so that nothing can stand in your way. Now then, let's see these scans."

"Roger that." Thomas said as he started the process. "I wasn't able to get much unfortunately. This is Numera after all, home to the worst type of Pokemon and those of trainers just starting their journey."

"I see..." the man intently looked over the list that Thomas had gathered, a large smattering of Normal types native to the region, a few wild cards, and Pokemon from the tournament. Eventually he said "The Slurpluff?"

"Not a good idea, that belongs to Celeste Di'Arma, daughter of Selena Di'Arma. They're famous in this region, and trying anything with their Pokemon would invite disaster." Thomas said bluntly.

"Indeed..." the man went over the list again, and stopped at a certain Eevee. "Interesting...this Eevee, where did you find it?"

"With a beginning trainer named Astrid. She has rather little control over it though."

"I see. It's stats are impeccable, whomever bred this is quite the genius. Such a powerful Pokemon. Thomas, I want you to obtain that Eevee, by whatever means necessary. It shouldn't be a problem if your account is correct."

"But sir...there's really little point to getting the Eevee. It's..."

"Thomas, when I ask for a Pokemon, your response should be 'Yes sir'. Understand?"

"Y-Yes sir."

"Good, now then, what I wanted to ask you about was..."

It was at this point that Thomas heard a voice, a female voice saying "Right!" a fair distance away. A bit annoyed at the interruption, Thomas said "Sir, I'll need to call you back. It seems I'm not as alone as I had hoped."

"Very well. Call back when you get a chance." the man said, as he closed the channel.

"All right then. Let's see what's going on this time. Alpha, come with me." The Electrike made a happy sound, and followed Thomas into the woods. After a brief time, he stumbled across a familiar looking girl looking for herbs in the surrounding area. Thomas recognized the girl as Astrid, and she was using her Pokedex as her only source of light. Knowing it was getting close to night time, Thomas got out his own, actual flashlight, and shined it on Astrid "It works better if you carry your own flashlight you know." He smirked for a bit, then said "Now what are you doing out here? Aren't you supposed to be competing in the tournament?"

EchoRun · Jun 4, 2016

Rise of the Fur Slug

There was no response. She wasn't sure what else she expected. Although, it was rather nice in the outskirts. It was nearly quiet, aside from the cries of Pokémon in the distance. It wouldn't hurt to stay for a little bit. Maybe see if Slakoth would feel at home in a tree here...

The peace didn't last for too long.

As she was looking around, the two Furrets ran past her, weaving between her legs before taking off. Treecko watched them, and followed them shortly, but not going far enough that Bee lost sight of him. Jay and Litleo followed shortly after the ferret Pokemon, not really stopping to explain much and leaving a very confused Bee in their wake. Bee had every intent on following them, but she clearly wasn't the only one.

"Ah- wait! Igglybuff!" The pink Pokémon followed the action, and Bee was pretty sure she had seen a certain Grass-Type chase after them as well. Sure enough, Treecko was gone. "Ugh-Treecko!" Pushing past the confusion, she chased after the group, doing her best to keep up. Losing them would neither be helpful nor a good idea.

When she caught up, she was greeted by what was honestly a rather odd sight. While it certainly raised a lot of questions, now would not be a good time to ask them, mostly because of the aggravated beaver Pokémon that had already hit Litleo with Water Gun. It looked sort of like the one from earlier, but she couldn't remember that one's name right now. It was likely to be its evolution or something like that... Focus!

"Uh- Treecko!" She shouted to get her Pokémon's attention. Once he looked at her, she pointed at the large beaver Pokémon. "Use...Pursuit! Pursuit!" Treecko didn't need to be told twice. "Tree-Treecko!" He charged at the Bibarel, surrounding himself in a dark energy as he ran towards it. If he were to strike, he'd try to bounce off of the Pokémon and follow it up with a Pound attack, then retreat in an attempt to stay out of its immediate reach.

While Bee and seemingly everyone else was focused on the situation(s?) at hand, Slakoth took the opportunity to drop to the ground and mosey on over to the agitated Bibarel. It took a while, and other Pokémon would have been able to land a few attacks before he got where he was going, but once he was close enough, he waved to the Bibarel to get its attention. Then he... Yawned? "Slaaaaaa..." A bubble was released from his mouth, and floated up to the beaver, popping in its face. It didn't seem to be very effective. Bee wasn't really sure what to make of it. She wasn't sure how Slakoth had gotten there in the first place. Determination, probably.

"Slakoth?"

True North · Jun 6, 2016

A Chance to Flee

After a painful roll onto the earth, Litleo lay there motionless under the moon's glow which made Jay's heart stop in that moment. While Igglybuff distracted the monstrous beaver with her bouncing in the air, Jay threw himself out of the hollow log and rushed over to his fallen little hero. The sound of Beatrice's voice pierced the air and was followed by her gecko pokemon charging for battle. Jay perked his head in their direction as he took Litleo into his arms.

"CAREFUL!" Jay shouted to them both, and gazed down to Litleo who opened her eyes with a wounded look. "I'm so sorry I left you alone..." His face became worried, and he held the injured cub close. LIT! In response, the now fiery cub wiggled in his embrace and tried to get loose for revenge. "Litleo, no-- You'll get hurt again." Jay refused the let the cub go who was becoming angrier now, spitting balls of ember in each direction. LEOOoo!

Once Treecko got close enough, the heated beaver deflected the gecko's charge with his large, flat tail. Iggle. Igg. Iggle. While Treecko attempted to attack, Igglybuff was playfully distracting Bibarel in the air. After a quick spin around, Bee's grass type was able to land a pound attack on the Bibarel's furry side once the beaver put down it's guard to swat at Iggly. Rel! The beaver pokemon barked with a clap of it's tail against the ground.

"Slaaaaaa..."

A yawn came out of nowhere which seemed to cause a sudden silence around the area. When Bibarel's attention had been claimed by Robbin and Bee's pokemon, Slakoth had used the opportunity to slug on over to the angry beaver. The lazy creatures yawn was reciprocated by Bibarel who gave a big toothy yawn of his own. But before succumbing to sleep, the angry wood eater had one more turn to wreak havoc upon his victims.

I don't know how to help... Jay thought to himself anxiously. After hearing the yawn, his face had become curious for a second and then changed to a look of realization. That may be our chance. He remembered a yawn-like attack that actually made a pokemon drowsy. If he correctly recalled from his studies, the victim would be forced to rest soon after.

Stealthily scurrying over to her brother, the twin Furret tried to use her teeth to tug the other one out of the log. Ret... Her brother quit his struggling and grew silent as he realized his predicament. Fur. The sister Furret reassured him that she would protect him if they would become the next targets. She tried again to free him from the log, but she wasn't having any luck.

While the attention was off of he and Litleo, Jay took the time to try and calm his furious lion cub. "Please, calm yourself. I can't help like this." LEY! She cried with another ember blazing up the air. Jay nuzzed his cheek into Litleo's soft head in order to comfort her, but the cub wasn't letting up with her wild temper tantrum. LITLEO! LEYYY! Stopping her noise, was an unexpected ray of red light that enveloped her body and caused her to fade.

"I'm sorry..." Said Jay, as he pressed an empty pokeball onto her ear and captured her inside. "-but I can't let you do anything reckless." He looked down at the red and white ball in his hand with a guilty expression. "You're free to leave when this is all over." He spoke to the ball with a promising, protective voice. The cub's weakened health locked her inside for her to rest. BA! The cry of Bibarel caused Jay to jerk his head in Bee's direction.

Unbothered by Slakoth, the infuriated Bibarel turned his attention on Treecko and impulsively hurled himself toward the smaller pokemon with his blunt fangs extended for a sleepy Hyper Fang attack. A few yards behind Treecko, was Buneary who was susceptible to being hit if Treecko were to evade the strike. IGGLY! Igglybuff warned them, so they might have a chance to move. Jay tried to warn too, but it was all happening too fast for him to shout in time.

Once landing upon a target (whether ground or foe), the Bibarel wobbled over to a near stump and curled up to sleep within the blades of tall grass.

...

Level 15, Bibarel's Hp: 79 > 75 current (4 damage by Level 6, Treecko) (2x6+10/250x45/60x40+2)x1x1x1x1[0.85,1] = damage formula
Level 6, Litleo's Hp: 62 > 41 current (21 damage by Bibarel) (2x15+10/250x55/54x40+2)x1.5x2x1x1[0.85,1] = damage formula

FrozenDreams · Jun 6, 2016

A Strange Encounter (Astrid)

Walking around in the dark, eerie outskirts at night with barely anything but the light of a pokedex wasn't safe, especially from a girl who didn't have any pokemon on her at the time being. Astrid knew that traveling around the forest at night wasn't safe due to mostly predators that usually lurk around the outskirts of Numera at this time, but she was too concerned about Eevee being in the Pokemon Center injured every second. Finding this so called herb that Viola told her about would be the only way to possibly save Eevee. Of course, she could've just waited until daytime to find it, but the chances of Eevee dying in the Pokemon Center could increase if she doesn't find the herb fast.

It didn't make it easier trying to find the blasted herb in the darkness either since it limits how much she can see around her. Astrid struggled to find the herb she was trying to find for her dear Eevee. As she was looking for the herb, a bright light flashed on Astrid's face, blinding her temporary. "Ahh!" Astrid screamed as she jumped back from the light and fell to the ground. Looking around the field, she quickly spots where the light was coming from. Astrid could barely see the face of the person wielding the flashlight. Seems like the person was making fun of her for not using a flashlight instead of that puny light from the Pokegear.

"Thanks for the reminder." She sneered lightly, but not enough to come out as rude. She got up and put away her Pokegear for a little bit. Getting a more clearer view of the person, Astrid figured out who this person was. He was one of the contestants in the tournament, Alvin's opponent, Thomas. She wondered why he was all the way out in the forest too, but it seems Thomas was the first to ask his question. Seems he's wondering why she's skipping out on the tournament. I suppose Thomas didn't hear the news about what happened there about half and hour ago.

"Well there was an accident in the tournament, so it's on a break for the time being. I've been looking for a certain herb that would heal most wounds a pokemon had. Since Eevee was injured from her last battle, I thought I give her something to fix her up for the next battle, since the machines there only heal certain amount of damage to a pokemon." she explained the situation to Thomas. "Just as long as you are there before your match starts, you won't get disqualified." She said with a heartful tone to her voice. She still had a bit of sorrow in her mind about Eevee, but she didn't need to dwell in the past about what happened. Trying to find that sacred herb was the only thing that interested her intelligent mind.

"By the way, what brings you out here? I doubt a teenager like you would just randomly be walking around at night in the outskirts for no reason whatsoever." She asked. At least Astrid had a reason forgoing out in the woods, as dangerous as it is without a pokemon, Astrid was still determined to find the herb for Eevee. While waiting for Thomas' response, Astrid pulled out her Pokedex and used it as a flashlight again and continued to search for the herb she was so desperate of finding.

@Maxim

A Curious Investigation (Merlin)

"You lousy police! You should know not to get in my way when I have to deal with someone" Archie, the mischievous and loudmouth gang member, yells from the top of his lungs as the police struggle to keep him at bay.

"You gang members are always as hassle, especially the Seviper Gang." The police snarks back at Archie as the two of them continue to bicker and fight each other. While Archie usually gets the hand of breaking free from the police officer holding him down. But the Police usually finds a way to hold down Archie.

Merlin slowly crept up behind a tree closest to where the two are fighting. Merlin observed the two of them fighting. Seems like the police nowadays can't seem to stop a huge hulking man who seems to be on steroids. But by just observing, he could tell that the police officer wasn't getting tired while Archie was still fine.

"Reinforcements will be here soon, you won't be able to escape." The police officer continued to hold him down on the dirty ground. There seemed to be no one around them watching or else they jump in and help out the police officer. This seemed to last a little bit until a surprising shout from the west of them caught the attention of both Archie and the police officer.

"Hey buddy!" The voice echoed through the area. As both people stopped to look around where the source of the voice came from, two guys appeared about a few yards from them. Both of them dressed in rugged clothes and rebellious hairstyle, one was bald and the other had a mohawk. Something out of taste for Merlin as he gags internally. "You're messing with our friend here. Best you let go before we beat the stuff outta ya." One of the gang members spoke in a Brooklyn accent.

"Are you guys from the..."The police officer tried to ask, before getting interrupted by the other gang member.

"Yeah...We're from the Seviper Gang, best that you follow our orders if you wish to live that is." The other gang member cracked his knuckles.

"Tch! Friends of this guy huh? Don't ever mess with a police officer." as the police officer threatens the other two, he pulls out a pokeball from his left hand, but in doing so, fredd Archie's left arm too. Before he could open the pokeball and release his Pokemon, Archie grabbed the Police officer's neck and strangled him. The police officer struggled for air as his face turned blue, was there actually going to be a murder here on Numera, but after some more struggling, the police officer lost consciousness. Archie, seeing this, released his grasp on the police officer and falls to the ground and got back up on his feet.

"Heh, punk's still alive, but that's fine." Archie gave a grin of victory as his comrades come to talk to him.

"We heard what you did at the festival." The first gang member said.

"Tch! If the leader hears about it, he'll ream you so bad you'll wish you were never born." The other gang member spoke in a terrified voice, but also in an angry voice too.

"The fox is still fine. Just badly injured. That B**** got what she deserved for mocking the GREAT ARCHIE!" The ego was still gleaming from Archie like a man who had just found enlightenment. "Come on, we got other work to do." Archie smiled as his other gang members follow him towards Thundercloud Village.

"Don't forget, our leader is visiting Mermadelle City for a few days to discuss plans with the other members about eliminating the Zangoose Gang." The other gang member spoke to Archie to remind him about the meeting going on at the city of water. Soon, they were out of sight.

Merlin, who witnessed the events unfold around him, walked over to the police officer. Checking his pulse and attempting to hear his heartbeat, seems like the man was indeed, alive. Still alive, that's good. His mind full of worries after seeing the Seviper Gang in action. Gotta be careful. These guys really do mean business. I'll have to take extra cautious around them. Merlin hid himself back at the tree after he finished checking on him. Just as he hid, three other police officer arrived at the scene, seeing their unconscious friend lying on the ground and discussing among themselves.

Zangoose Gang huh? Last I remember, they were more or less, rivals against the Seviper Gang. Unlike them, The Zangoose Gang are a tough group of people who seek to destroy anything that does any harm to Epica. I don't know why they are a gang seeking to protect Epica, but if it helps slow down the Seviper Gang, then i'm all in for it. With that said. After the police finished up with the scene and took their friend to the hospital, Merlin left back into Numera and decided what he should do next.

Nano · Jun 6, 2016

Clavies: Tournament has been Cancelled?
Ralts - Milotic - Swablu - Litwick
Her name was right back on that screen, and then that thirty minute intermission happened. Ugh.. As much as she hated seeing that near murder of a pokemon, Clavies couldn't do anything. The motivation to continue on with battling had been completely drained the moment she saw what happened to Eevee, and was near devestated when she even bothered to picture what it would have been like if such a thing were to happen to Ralts, or any other one of her pokemon. Out of no where, one of her pokeballs had opened up; her Swablu. The little puff bird had rested on the girl's head, acting like some sort of hat. Despite this being a childish act, Clavies just giggled weakly, allowing her pokemon to act as her hat. As much as she loved Swablu, she could be so childish sometimes. I mean, Clavies only caught her recently, and the cloud pokemon already had quite the attachment to her. "Thank you, Swablu." She said, with the swablu getting cozy in her own wings.

There was silence for a little while, with Clavies sitting down and not really moving much of anywhere. She had a feeling that Milotic would want some attention, now that she viewed herself as 'presentable', so maybe she should take her out to perform every once in a while. Geez. Just the thought of performing in front of so many people almost made her feel embarrassed and anxious again..

Her thoughts were interrupted the moment her ears picked up the chiming of a young male, with her dark coloured eyes glancing over from the side. Wasn't he the one with the Torchic.. Right, his name was Alvin, wasn't it? Her next opponent? He seemed rather cheery, which was probably one of the few good things after an event such as this. "A-Ah.. Yes. My name is Clavies, nice to meet you too--" Right after he was interrupted, a pokemon had fluttered over to Alvin, with a rather cheery and perky voice. Clavies' face had lit up slightly, upon seeing such a perky pair of pokemon, coupled with yet another perky trainer. They all suit each other.

He returned to speaking, that is, until an announcment came on. Despite having a rather surprised expression on her face, part of her wasn't know what exactly she was expecting. It was a no brainer that they would probably have to cancel it, if a pokemon was nearly murdered. Even so, the boy in front of her appeared to be rather bothered, even annoyed by that fact. "U-Um.." She had intervened, even if it were in such a hushed and meek tone. Up close, the male was just a little bit taller than her; probably because she was younger than him. Her eyes fell down to his Torchic, who looked as though they wanted to complain as well. A small smile crept up to Clavies' face, pointing down at Torchic, and then at Chatot. "They're both very.. Cute." She had said, smiling at both of the pokemon. Swablu was nuzzling into top of Clavies' head, almost tickling her. "H-Hey, Swablu, you're messing up my hair.." She said, carefully bringing her hands up to her head slowly, almost in anticipation to catch the blue cloud bird.

(Remember, Clavies can communicate with Pokemon. If Torchic or Chatot speak, then write it out as though they are speaking human language xD)
@Maxim

Buneary: Oh god, more beavers
Dizzy Punch - Attract - Jump Kick - Agility
And where was the cotton ball bunny during all of this? Why, with Bee of course! And the adorable little Igglybuff! The two of them have been playing for a little while, and Buneary was having an absolute blast while playing around! She had intended to return to Clavies after the two left, but she kind of got carried away. When Litleo and Igglybuff had hopped on ahead, Buneary was behind with Bee before the two of them had arrived at a.. Less than desirable scene. Iggly had just barely managed to avoid the enraged beaver, and Treeko had attacked the thing; it taking barely any damage.

What had caught her eye, however, was what Slakoth had done. Soon after, the beaver pokemon had extended out for a hyper fang, most likely hitting the little rabbit if she had not moved aside. Swiftly, rather than just running away, the Buneary actually charged after the beaver, hopping up into the air, with her leg glowing faintly. "Bun! Bun bun! (Treeko! Out of the way! I got this!)" the rabbit had cried out, propelling herself with agility, and legging off with a Jump kick in hopes to hit the thing's face and knock it off, just before it could slump down and go to sleep.

@EchoRun @True Self

EchoRun · Jun 6, 2016

A Series of Rather Fortunate Events

"Yeah, careful. WE'LL TRY!"

Treecko's Pursuit missed. Or rather, Bibarel had managed to deflect him with his tail. This only made Treecko more intent to hit him with any attack, and once again he charged, this time using the attack Pound once the beaver was distracted by Igglybuff. This attack hit, though it seemed to do very little damage. While this was still rather irritating to the grass-type, he had at least gotten a hit in.

Slakoth on the other hand seemed very proud of himself. Whether it was because his attack had hit or because the Bibarel didn't try to attack him. Either way, he seemed pretty content with his contribution to the battle so far, and was glad to sat back and watch as all of the others made their next moves.

Bee watched from the side, trying to keep up with everything going on. Although Treecko's first attack hadn't worked, he had managed to at least land a hit with Pound. "Good move, Treecko!" She was really worried about Buneary and Igglybuff, since neither Pokémon was actually hers. She'd feel terrible if they were to get hurt on her watch. With everything going on, she hadn't really noticed Slakoth until he was yawning in the middle of the battle. It wasn't very clear what that was supposed to do, until Bee noticed the beaver Pokémon yawning as well.

It's...tired? That could work to their advantage, so there was no reason to complain. However, just because the Bibarel was tired, didn't mean it was giving up yet.

Treecko heard Igglybuff's warning and dived out of the way of Bibarel's Hyper Fang. He was about to go after the beaver, when he heard Buneary's warning to get out of the way. With a bit of disappointment, he jumped out of her way as well. He then waited to see whether or not her attack would hit.

Once the Bibarel had fallen asleep, Bee quickly looked over all of the Pokémon in her care. They all seemed to be okay. She wasn't so sure about Jay, Litleo, and the Furrets. "That went well... Jay! What happened? Are you two okay?" She asked as she walked over to him. Although it was a little strange;Bee could have sworn she had heard Litleo over here during the battle, but now the cub was nowhere to be seen. "Where's Litleo?"

Maxim · Jun 6, 2016

Alvin

The trio, Alvin, Icarus, and Chatot, smiled at Clavies comment. "Well, thanks." the boy said, putting his hand behind his head.

However, when the feeling faded, the Torchic started pecking Alvin's knee a bit. "Ow, what'd you do that for?" the boy demanded. "Torchic Tor Tor Tor ("Alvin, you just about saw a murder in front of you, of course they canceled the tournament!")" the Torchic said. "Torchic chic chic ("And if it weren't for that bird's stupid prank we wouldn't be in this mess.)"

This got a laugh out of the Chatot "Cha... tot Chatot Chato Cha Chatot! ("Yeah, right. As if he was not going to do that anyway. You should've seen the look on his face when he had water all over his face. And his attempt to look cool. What a gold mine!")

"Tor... ("You mean the one of pure rage? Right.")"

"Chatot. Cha Cha tot ("He always looks like that. Kinda like how you look stupid all the time.")"

"TOORRRR ("Why you little!")"

The Torchic tried chasing the parrot Pokemon around. They went in a circle about Alvin's legs continuously, until Alvin finally had enough. "Guys! Cut it out!" The two Pokemon stopped for a bit, then continued going around again. Alvin sighed and said "Sorry Clavies, it seems my Pokemon are a little annoyed by something. Sometimes I wish I could figure out what's going on. Nutty Pokemon."
=========================================

Thomas

Thomas looked quizzically at the girl when she was scared by his light. Why would she be scared of a little bit of light? He was not able to think about this for too long, as Astrid's response to his question gained his utmost attention. The Eevee had been injured? My, this won't do at all. he thought as he scratched his head. The Eevee got injured to the point that the Pokemon Center cannot heal her all the way. There must have been a conflagration I was unaware of. Thomas closed his eyes for a second, trying to come up with a response to this situation, when Astrid asked him what he was in the forest for. "Oh, you know, just the typical Pokemon catching and training. I also intend to make camp here, it is a nice enough spot I suppose." he responded, having prepared this lie in advance.

It was then that Thomas came up with an idea. "Say, do you know what this plant looks like? I could help you find it. Not like I have anything else important going on." he said. It was a lie of course, but first thing was first, if father wanted the Eevee, it had to be in good enough condition to take to him no? "Two lights are better than one after all."

FrozenDreams · Jun 15, 2016

Camping Alone? Seems Weird Enough

As Astrid continued to search the ground for the herb Viola told her about. She listened to Thomas' response as to why he was wandering around the outskirts at night, she seemed a bit peculiar. Normally any kids, that includes teenager too, shouldn't be camping out in the area without adult supervision. And normally, this would be illegal too, as the kids, rather their parents, could face some fines or even jail time for neglecting their children. But Thomas is rather old enough to take care of himself, still it seems weird that he wants to set up camp all by himself without someone there.

Regardless of the situation, it seems Thomas is capable of handling himself well and Astrid shouldn't need to worry about him other than getting into trouble. Astrid could hear the leaves shaking from the soft wind blowing around the darkened fields of the outskirts. When Astrid was approached by Thomas to help her find the herb, she felt a bit happy inside. "I would appreciate it Thomas." Astrid smiled. "The herb looks very similar to one of the petals around an Meganium's neck. They usually bloom for a few days every few years. And they usual bloom at this time of year." Astrid firmly said to Thomas. She might have lied about them appearing at this exact time and this exact year since Astrid wasn't sure about the day and year they bloomed, but you know what, it was her determination that led her to find it no matter what happens. "Hopefully that should be enough information on what we're looking for." With a firm smile on her face. The smiling girl, Astrid continued to search hard in the night with a small flashlight beaming from her Pokedex in order to find the healing herb that the mysterious girl told her. Hopefully she wasn't lying about it to make her feel better, but I doubt she would come all the way to tell her a lie...Or would she?

With the night ever so strong, Astrid, who's legs were dirty thanks to being on the dirty ground, wondered how her Eevee was doing. Thinking how much pain she must be enduring as she continues to fight with the fatal injuries received by the fighting pokemon and his murderous trainer. While her mind was clouded with the thought of Eevee, she still continued to search with Thomas helping her out. Only Arceus only knows what will happen to the Eevee.

True North · Jun 16, 2016

A victory clue

GGLY! A shout of relief came from the floating pudge ball as she hovered to the ground gently and waddled over to hug Bee's leg. Beatrice's gecko and the bunny managed to avoid the monstrous beaver's fangs which caused Jay to sigh in his own relief. What happened next didn't surprise him too much. Bibarel lazily picked himself from the ground and gave another sleepy yawn.

Before wobbling off to retire, Bibarel unknowingly ducked in time from the Buneary that went soaring over his head with a failed kick. The nonchalant snuggle into the grass to sleep was like an added slap to the face of the determined rabbit. Meanwhile, Jay was busy making his way carefully to the log with the enslaved Furret. Before making it there, Jay stopped in his place to kneel in a non threatening way toward the sibling Furret. Her eyes widened in a cautious way and she drew closer to her brother in a protective stance.

Prior to advancing, Bee had made her way over to check on him and Litleo. Jay kept his kneeling position and kept gentle eyes on the Furrets as he answered her questions, "We'll be ok. Litleo and I just rushed into the wrong territory." Jay showed Bee the pokeball in the palm of his hand to answer her question and continued, "She just needs healed."

Before deciding to advance, he looked to the green haired trainer with appreciative, teal eyes. "If you hadn't followed, then I would've been in a pretty tricky situation. So, thanks... To all of you." He then gave a smile to Treecko, Slakoth, and Igglybuff who had helped in the time of need. "Excuse me..." His focus returned to the furrets. The human's kind gesture to those around him eased the sister Furret's anxiety and her eyes now became desperate like her brothers. Jay noticed the ferret pokemon's change in demeanor and he took it as an opportunity to approach.

As he made it to the log, Jay spoke gently to the male Furret who was squirming in a panic again. "Relax, don't be afraid." His calming voice caused the Furret to become at ease, which let Jay carefully push his body free into the hole.

The now free Furret squiggled backward out of the log where he had entered to begin with. RRR! A jolly purring sound escaped the sister furrets lips as she was reunited with her brother. Urrr The brother furret responded with a purr of his own and they shot up Jay's arms in unison to dance happily upon his shoulders. Jay let out a chuckle as their whiskers tickled his neck and he gave an accomplished smile while the Furrets chattered thankfully. His expression quickly grew blank, however, as the Furrets raced back down his arms and sprang away. Once leaving the scene, Jay gave a disappointed sigh, but then was surprised by their return.

Placed at Jay's feet, was his Pokedex and a certain berry. "The Chople berry-" Before he could say anything further, the Furrets swiveled through his legs one last time before dashing away with grateful smiles. Thank you. Jay thought as he watched them off. As soon as they were gone, Jay turned to Bee after bending down to retrieve the items. "I have Eevee's gift." He gave a short smile to Bee as he held up the berry. Once doing so, he wiped it clean on his shirt and placed it in one of his pockets. "I better get Litleo to the center. I'm glad everyone's ok."

While Jay and Bee conversed, Igglybuff had released her embrace on Bee's calf and wandered over to something shiny in the grass. Ig? When she returned shortly after, Iggly gave a poke to Bee's leg and puffed up to her eye level to show what she had found. Wrapped arond her little, stubby arms was a familiar necklace that dangled before Beatrice. Jay was completely unaware as he prepared to leave. @EchoRun

EchoRun · Jun 22, 2016

Unfortunately, Buneary's courageous move missed, sending the rabbit Pokémon right over the Bibarel's head. Bee winced as Buneary passed over the beaver's head, and Treecko ran over to make sure she was alright.

"Makes sense." Bee quickly glanced at the sleeping Bibarel, who was (fortunately) still asleep. Jay's presentation of the Pokeball was a pretty good explanation for where Litleo had gone. "Oh. That's a good idea. That Water Gun couldn't have been good for her, after all."

"Well, you know..." Know what? She was following the Pokémon? Yes. She wasn't sure if she would be able to find Jay again of she hadn't followed? Also yes. It was a rather strange situation and she wanted to figure out what was going on? Of course. There was no single good reason for following, and it wasn't like she had taken on the aggravated beaver Pokémon, so she was glad he was thanking the Pokemon. "Of course." Bee stepped back and checked up on her current brigade as Jay helped out the Furrets. When they left, Jay turned to her showing the berry the Furrets had given him."Ah, good!"

"Sounds like a plan." Before she could do anything else, she felt something poke her leg. She looked down to see Igglybuff, who then floated up with something in her arms. "Huh? What's this?" Bee reached out and took the necklace from Igglybuff, examining it before realizing what it was. "Oh! Good find. Uh... J-" She turned to Jay to show him Igglybuff's find. "Jay. Igglybuff found this," Bee said, holding up the necklace by the chain so he could see it. "It's Robbin's, right? Do you think he could be out here?"

Maxim · Jun 22, 2016

Thomas

Excellent. Thomas thought. Clearly this girl did not suspect a thing about his hidden motives. "Like the leaves of a Meganium's neck you say. Seems like it will be simple enough to find." He then tilted his head a bit, and gave a sharp whistle. Alpha came running out of the bush it was hiding under. "This is my Electrike." he said, almost making a smile at the name. Then he returned to his neutral countenance and threw a pokeball hidden in his bag. "Beta, you come out too." Out came a Squirtle...who promptly started napping. "Beta!" Thomas commanded sharply, and the Squirtle woke up and stood at attention, though it was still clearly a bit sleepy, and had trouble holding up his salute. "All right, we are looking for an herb shaped like a Meganium leaf. We will find it by tonight. Now start looking." The two Pokemon then darted off into the forest for a bit.

It was then that Thomas remembered how much trouble Astrid had had with the Eevee. He turned his head towards Astrid and said "See? A firm hand and your Pokemon will do what you command. All you have to do is show them you are the one in control. Your Eevee has yet to learn that I see." He briefly thought about asking her to trade the Eevee to him once this was over, but he thought better of it. It was a bit too soon to pull that card after all. What he then realized was that he was giving advice. Why did he care about Astrid's progress? All she was good for at this time was to help heal the Eevee so he can present it to the boss after all. Even so, she did seem intelligent enough, and perhaps in a way, interesting? What? What the heck is this nonsense? he thought, shaking his head rapidly to dispel the thoughts. Surely he did not feel any weak emotions towards Astrid at all. Yeah.

To get his mind off his maddening thoughts he said "Well, shall we start looking?"

FrozenDreams · Jun 23, 2016

A New Friend! (Astrid)

"Yes!" Astrid spoke loudly Although they are petals and not leaves. Astrid reminded him in thought, though it doesn't work that way. "Pretty big to find. They usually grow at this time so it should be easy to find, if it wasn't so late a night at this point." Astrid chuckled to herself. Since Thomas knows what a Meganium is, she didn't have to waste time to telling him about it. Thomas was a smart and intelligence young guy and Astrid believed. Astrid watched as Thomas called out his two pokemon. An Electrike and an Squirtle, which was named Beta. Astrid seemed rather intrigued at the Squirtle's nickname.

"Beta?! Do you name your Pokemon off of the Greek Alphabets? Cause that is so cool! Amazing choice Thomas." She was ecstatic. It's not often you know that someone nicknamed their pokemon off the Greek alphabet and since Astrid reads on such history, she enjoys this kinda stuff too often then you realize. She was a bit happy of Thomas, until Thomas commanded his pokemon to find the Meganium leaf. Just saying that a Megamiun's petals are leaves just annoys Astrid to no end.

It's PETALS! Not Leaves. Astrid internally screams in her mind. While it wasn't a big deal, since leaves and petals looked similar, She can't stand when someone says something totally inaccurate to what she knows. Anyways after both pokemon rushed out to find the herb. Thomas questioned her ability to controlling her Eevee better, especially in battle. Astird looked down in sadness as she recalls the memories with Eevee.

"The thing is, when I first got Eevee, she was fine. She followed my commands without issue, it was only when she wanted to battle and when she in battle is when she acted on her own command." She sighed. "So now that I know more about her, I can get started on getting her under control." But quickly looked back up and gave a gentle smile to Thomas. With Thomas wanted to go ahead and start looking together. Astrid nodded her head. "Sure thing Thomas." She gave a thumbs up and continued her search for the healing herb with Thomas as an ally.

Minutes have passed since Astrid and Thomas searched around the darkened fields for the rare herb that spawns once every few years. Both of them have been struggling to find the herb they've been desperately looking for. In order to help keep both of their sanity from dropping, Astrid decided to chat up with Thomas and get to know him.

"Your fight with Alvin was good. You had such a huge advantage over him and you had such wonderful combos too." She cheerfully said to Thomas, hoping that he wasn't too bitter to what happened to him and Beta in the Battle Pit Tournament. "I'm sure the next time you and Alvin fight, you'll win the battle." Talking to Thomas was keeping her mind occupied from the stress of finding the sacred herb. She continued to talk to the Thomas to help keep her focused on finding the herb.

"Where are you from Thomas? And what brings you here to Numera Town?" She asked. She was curious to know more about her smart and awesome new friend that she made here in thee outskirts while searching for the herb Viola has told her about. She did worry about the pokemon here that could be watching the both of them search for the herb without any pokemon to protect us.

She hoped everything would be fine.

A Special Event is Going Live Soon! (Merlin)

Merlin returned to the festival after he witnessed the escape of Archie from the police's hands. He could've reported to the police and helped them out on where Archie might have went, but he's sure that the police have already been dispatched to look for him and his other friends. Merlin walked around while he observed the festival, it seems there are less people than before, mostly considering the fact a lot of them went to the Battle Pit and left after the incident with Archie and the red headed girl. Even though there are less people around, they are still having a good time. Probably not aware on what happened recently.

Breaking the thought of Merlin's observation was a young woman around the same age as him. She had long brown straight hair with a black hairband over it and wore a yellow mini-dress just fell to her thighs with black short shorts underneath the mini-dress, given to all dancers in the festival. She was rather cute and charming according to Merlin and appreciated what he was seeing from the girl.

"Hiya!" The girl gave a warm smile to Merlin as she stood in front of him with a sexy pose. "Looks like you need some fun in your life." She winked. Merlin responded back to the lady with a smile of his own. The dancer follow her eyes all around Merlin, observing the clothes that he is wearing. "You dress very nicely for a cute guy like yourself and it looks like you can impress a woman like me with such beauty. Maybe you and I can talk more once the festival is over." The amount of compliments Merlin is receiving from this one woman is astounding. Some say that Merlin might be similar to another person a very long time ago who started his journey in Kanto and had quite the cheerleaders in his squad.

"Heh. I like that. Can you show me your dance? I would love to see it." Merlin said in a rather flirtatious way to the dancer. "I'm sure you've got more to bring to the table I presume?" The dancer took his invitation to show him more stuff that would impress him.

"Of course! Allow me to show you my best dance, only for you sir." She seductively smile, ready to give Merlin some fine dancing. But before she could do any dancing, the speakers boomed with a loud voice.

Attention everyone! The Main Event for the Numera Festival will began shortly, please report to the center of the festival. Thank you.

The dancer was a tad bit disappointed that her dance was cut short. I mean, she could continue with the dance and show the man a good time, but she wanted to see the main event more. Either way, she liked the idea of being with the man while watching the event more. "Ahh! The main event is starting soon!" The young dancer became energetic when she heard the announcement. It was something she was looking forward to since she started working as an volunteer. The young woman grabbed Merlin's left arm and cuddled to it. "Would you like to take me there and watch the event together?" She politely asked. Merlin gave a charming smiled and nodded his head.

"Of course, my lady." The gentleman then escorted his 'date' towards the center of the festival, where the rest of the staff were finishing up preparations for the main event.

A few minutes later...

The center of the festival was slowly getting packed. The stage was nearly completed and would be moments until the event started. Merlin and his date arrived as the area started to get packed. "Aww. Doesn't look like we'll be getting the front row seats for this event." She sighed, being a bit disappointing that she'll have to watch the event in the far back.

"Don't feel bad, i'm sure it'll be good regardless." He reassured her. The dancer smiled and laid on his shoulders.

"You're such a wonderful person." She giggled. as she finished giggling, someone rushed over to where Merlin and the dancer are, she had darker toned skin and also wore the same clothes as the dancer. She was the same age as both Merlin and the dancer.

"Annie! There you are, we have a problem." The other dancer said.

"Huh? What's going on?" Annie replied back.

"One of the dancers for the show got injured during practice and needs some help. Can you come with us and help us? The instructor said you were trained to help with a injured ankle." She pleaded for help for Annie, even though she was having a good time with her 'date'.

"How serious is it? I'm kinda busy with something in the minute." Annie was annoyed when her friend wanted to take her away from the man she found. However, the other dancer was not amused.

"Your 'boyfriend' I presume? This is the fourth time this month Annie." The other dancer knew about Annie's mischievous plans to get the hottest guys around town with being a dancer. All three of them didn't last after the first date for some reason. Annie was focused on getting a hot boyfriend with whatever she could use.

"Can't blame me. i'm having fun with this man, meanwhile you haven't even found your man yet." Annie teased the other dancer with a sick burn, but she didn't care about it and decided to get on Annie's case on her recent lollygagging.

"The instructor did threaten to kick you off is you lollygagged too much. Best get to her ASAP if you don't want to lose your job." The threats were real. Annie was about to yell at her for threatening her, but she was right. She did lollygag too much outside of her work and looked around scoping for the hot studs and her instructor chewed her out on it. Annie didn't want to risk it anymore if she wanted to keep her job.

With a sigh, Annie replied back. "...Alright, i'll be on my way." She said in a defeated tone. Merlin just watched as the two girl argue among each other and left the area. He didn't like Annie's personality and her...mischievous ways after the way she behaved. Perhaps it would be best if he moved somewhere else so that Annie can't find him.

As Merlin relocated himself closer within the crowd as they got hyped up. The stage was nearly complete and the main event was about to start soon. Merlin watched from the crowd of people as they finish up with the preparations. It would be only a matter of time before the event started.

Maxim · Jun 23, 2016

Thomas

Talking with Astrid

"Hmm..." Thomas said, thinking about how hard it might be to find the herb this late at night. Still, he was determined to find the herb, and said "I am sure we have enough light to illuminate the herb in no time." He was then somewhat surprised by Astrid's remark about the Greek alphabet to name his Pokemon. Sure it was a theme that he found quite neat, and he was impressed that she knew what those names meant, but it still seemed strange to the boy. What did Astrid get out of the names of his Pokemon? He then said "Uh...I suppose it is a good a naming scheme as any. My Electrike's named Alpha if you are curious, my first Pokemon." Geez, now he was doing it, engaging in pointless conversation. Oh well, at least it would be distracting if nothing else.

Suddenly he heard a cry from the bushes. Beta came out of the bushes holding a plant in its hand. Thomas then said "Ah excellent, we have the...clover. Beta this is a clover, not the herb we need. There are only three leaves here." Thomas gave a short sigh, before listening to Astrid's words about Eevee. Strange, even though it defied her, she still seems to enjoy it's presence on the field. Such a silly notion, that would have been gone from my team in an instant. There is no point in training something that will give you so much trouble. he thought. "Eh, perhaps. Still seems like more trouble that it would be worth to teach it how to behave." He briefly thought again about introducing his trade, but he still could not do it right now.

He was interrupted in his thoughts by Beta's cry again, in his hand, he held a flower with five petals. With a groan Thomas said "Beta...six. It's a plant with six leaves. Try again..." It was then that he heard Astrid make an unexpected move, she started praising his performance in the tournament. "Mmm...I'll admit the strategy is good on paper but..." he put his head on his hand and said "A loss is still an unacceptable loss. It was only fortunate it happened on so trivial a matter. It will be a good strategy when I beat Alvin with it next we meet, but until then..." The teen stopped for a moment, looking at Astrid and deciding to stop his rant for now. "Although, I thought you were the friend of Alvin? Was I mistaken?" Of course, then Astrid asked him another odd question, where he was from. "Uh..." he was not sure whether to answer truthfully, as it might somehow connect him to the boss, and that would be bad. Then again, how's a beginning trainer going to make that kind of connection? "Ah, I am from Virutox City, in Aquias, here on...business. Mostly I am just training my Pokemon for the role I hope to play in the future." He hoped that would be enough to satisfy your curiosity. Then he blurted out "What about you?" He regretted asking the question, as it meant more conversation, but he could not do anything about it now without sounding suspicious, so he held his tongue.

As soon as he asked though, Beta came out with yet another herb. Thomas looked at it, and it turned out to be...a four leaf clover. Agitated, Thomas said "Well, it's lucky to find a four leaf clover out here. But it is SIX leaves I'm after you nincompoop! SIX!" Beta slinked away, somewhat ashamed. Then Thomas took a few deep breaths...he was not supposed to show any sort of emotion, and here he was flying off the handle for a silly thing. His cheeks flushed red with embarassment when he said "Uh...sorry you had to see that. Beta is a rather...difficult one to get a hold of."

True North · Jun 24, 2016

Gathering for an Important Event

FUSHshh! A swirling flame lit up the streets which grabbed a certain girl's attention from where she stood at the tofu stand. Fire dancers flipped and tossed across the festival site as they followed along with the ginormous Gyrados puppet that swiveled around in its own dance.

Leonie's eyes lit up in admiration as she witnessed the sight, and she attempted to get her sleepy crocodile to take a peak too. "Look! Isn't that wicked?" She asked the Totodile, while trying to retrieve her sleek camera from its pouch on her belt.

Totodile paid no mind to the entertaining sight as she took the opportunity to "catch some Zzz's" in her master's arms. "Oh c'mon, you're going to miss it!" Leonie said as she managed to pull out her camera and snap a few shots single-handedly. The baby croc just responded with a cute snore.

"Got some sick shots to show you when you're done napping..." The minty haired trainer informed her water starter, and then gave her a funny look. "Areee you ever done napping?" She asked with a sigh.

The lazy crocodile had slept the whole way in the phantom, snuggled up in the soft leathery seats. She had even been half asleep when Leonie had chosen her at the lab as well. While stuffing her face with tofu on the stick and looking through pictures, Leonie looked up to notice something.

Festival attendants were gathering at the center of the festival site and guests shortly began to surround an elevated platform. "Mmh. -M'wonder what's going on th'were?" Leonie said aloud between mouthfuls. Her question was soon answered by an announcer right after.

"Attention everyone!
The Main Event for the Numera Festival will began shortly, please report to the center of the festival. Thank you."

~~~

"Interesting. Shall we take a look?" Asked Leonie to her sleepy Totodile who just gave a half awake blink as a reply. "We will then!" The mint haired girl declared with a humored smile. She was looking forward to seeing what the event had in store for her.

As she made it over to the crowd of people, Leonie spotted a booth where two trainers were apparently trading their pokemon. A boy was trading his bulbasaur for a girl's Oshawott. "Already?" Leonie thought aloud with a strange look. She just let it go after both parties looked happy with the switch. Meanwhile, a stealthy creature caught her eye that whipped around a festival stand with something in it's arms.

"WAIT! GET BACK HERE YOU PESKY DEVIL!" Exclaimed a festival worker that ran after a thieving Linoone. Leonie cringed and tried not to remember an old habit as her Pokewatch began to chime. The chiming ended as she clicked a switch to answer her parents call.

"Leonie!" Her parents said in unison with giddy faces galore. The wife became quiet as her father started the questions. "How's the journey, hun? Snap any good shots yet? I know y'have!" Her father grinned.

"You bet! Anxious to share some that you won't believe!" Leonie gave them a big smile.

"Wickedddd." Her father said, trying to be the "cool parent". Leonie's mother spoke this time, "Did you get your new pokemon?" She then looked the Totodile over when Leonie lifted her to the screen with a smile. "It's precious, Leonie. Be safe! We love you. Remember-"

"We're your biggest FANS!" They both said together with big grins which caused Leonie to get tickled. Leonie blew a kiss to them both before saying, "Love you both. I'll be safe! Later for now." She ended the call after several shouts of good bye from her parents.

The event hadn't yet started as Leonie arrived, and while she wait, she spied a handsome looking man standing near her. Woof. A coral blush burned upon the trainer's cheeks as she glanced over at the man, but she quickly looked away to not show that that she was checking him out.

"What to ah, say..." She thought over a conversation starter before directing her words to the man, "How do you like the festival?" Once speaking out, she quickly followed up with something else to not seem awkward. "Wonder what this event's all about... Name's Leonie by the way."

"Hiya! I'm back, babe!" Ran over Annie with her arm linking around Merlin's. "Everything's settled now. I love being back in your firm embrace teeheehee. Didn't miss me too terribly?" She erupted in a fit of giggles while completely ignoring Leonie's existence.

Okay. Curve ball... Leonie thought, standing there in an odd silence when the clingy lady arrived. AWK-WARD. Would like to disappear now. She wanted to leave, but her body felt frozen in that second as if subconsciously waiting for the man's answer to her. @EternalInfinity

.....

Hide and Seek's Over! Or is it?

Lit up by the moon's glow, was a clearing in the forest where a boy could be seen huddled against the concrete wall of a special entrance. The sounds of the Farewell festival were distant, and the hoots of a HootHoot echoed through the warm night air.

Dropping his head against the wall behind him, Robbin freed his face after he had kept his head buried in his knees for some time. He quickly jerked his head up to finally realize that it was way quieter than usual since the start of his journey. Igglybuff was usually bugging him by now...

"IGGLY?" He looked around to see her nowhere in sight. Musta lost her after those CLOWNS stole my necklace! The memory of a Furret jumping upon his shoulders and ripping off his necklace as he ran from the festival entered his head. A similar one followed after it in snickering chatters.

Short Flashback: Both Furrets dashed away from the festival in the direction of the treeline in the outskirts. One carrying a random bangle, while the other carrying Robbin's necklace. They headed for a familiar looking route and broke through the shrubs to run passed a certain hollow log, but one of the Furrets suddenly jolted to the side by an unexpected threat. A hungry Noctowl made a swoop for the sister Furret causing her to drop Robbin's necklace. After escaping by the hair of their heads, the Furrets made it to the base of a hollow tree where they kept their collectibles.

Linoo. Their leader, Linoon, awaited them with an anxious expression. He was hoping to see that they had more treasures to add to their stock. When he saw that the sister Furret didn't bring something at all he gave a displeased look and scolded her. NOON! Fur... She tried to explain.

FlWP. Meanwhile, Noctowl made a swoop for the eye catching necklace and carried it a few yards from where it had been dropped, but then dropped it himself once startled by a loud noise coming from the nearby festival. Several minutes later, the Furrets edged there way around the scene to retrieve the necklace, but it wasn't where it originally was. They eventually returned to their hideout passed the log with disappointed faces. :End

"Guess I gotta find the little chub." Robbin thought out loud, as he traced something in the dirt. But that means, I gotta go back.. A sick feeling hit his gut as he remembered his humiliating loss to Jay's veggie headed friend. Before he could delve into the thought any longer, something approached.

.....

A Significant "Hiding" Place

Jay began to leave the scene with the others until Bee grabbed his attention. "Hm?" Jay said to her with an unsuspecting expression. When he saw that she was holding Robbin's necklace, he had to get a closer look to believe it. "That's his for SURE."

The possibility of Robbin being lost in the forest at night flashed across his mind and Jay's heart began to race in worry. WAIT. He immediately turned and looked at Bee with a pause, "I believe I know where he might be-" He had a look of self disappointment and an assured nod. @EchoRun

"Mind tagging along, in case there's more trouble?" Jay asked Beatrice politely with a hopeful look. "There's a path near here that leads deeper into the forest, toward the hills." Jay explained with Robbin's suspected location on his brain, "We should be safe once we reach it."

IGG! Igglybuff gave an aggreeable nod to Jay's decision, as she made it upon Bee's shoulder to hug a hold to her neck.

Before leading the way he informed Beatrice, "The maze is a good walk from there." Jay hoped Bee wasn't familiar with the maze he spoke of, one that was locally known as the Maze for the Dead. A highly complex maze that lead to the ancient catacombs of Numera. (Pictured here)

...They/Jay arrived at the entrance to the haunting maze (Visual). The patchy bush-like exterior protruding from the concrete walls with staked bars at the top that surrounded the maze. Enchanted looking trees towered behind the walls of the maze, and an eery statue stood at the end of the entrance where the moon could be spotted peeking over the edge. Jay stepped forth to skim the area, but his brother was nowhere in sight.

Walking over to the base of the wall, Jay stuck his foot out to pinpoint a certain tracing that could be seen upon the ground. "Yep, he was here... He must have returned to the festival." Jay said aloud, as he walked away from the letter R that was freshly traced in an area of dirt - Something Robbin always did in that exact spot. Robbin wanted to visit the maze all of the time, but they were told to never go inside when they were younger.

"Litleo..." Jay reminded himself of his injured friend, and turned back in the direction of town with a bothered expression. How was he to be a good Caretaker if he kept getting distracted from his responsibilities. He gave his fist a tight clench as he scolded himself within his head.

Nano · Jun 24, 2016

Clavies: Nutty Little Pokemon
Ralts - Milotic - Swablu - Litwick
She wasn't even sure at this point. Swablu was out of her own pokeball, creating a nest out of Clavies' hair much to her own discomfort. However, her attention was drawn to the Torchic at Alvin's knee, and she really had to suppress a giggle from what it had told it's trainer. Yes, the tournament was going to be cancelled after witnessing a near murder; that was a fact. Heck, she wouldn't be surprised if the police were already trying to interrogate Archie for such a brutal act. She was just worried sick about the Eevee and Astrid.. Just the cries that the Eevee screamed was enough to leave a scar at her heart. Others weren't able to understand the poor thing, but the things that they screamed was clear in her ear. With that, she shuddered a bit.. Best not think about those things now.

Her depressing thoughts were snapped apart upon witnessing the two other pokemon having their little fight. Personally, she thought it was adorable. Alvin on the other hand, didn't seem to understand what they were fighting or arguing about. Chatot was kind of taunting Torchic, who seemed to have quite a short temper. As expected from fire pokemon. It's cute until they evolve to be taller or the same height as yourself. Then.. Not so much.

"Pff.. Chatot, that's not a nice thing to say to Torchic." She chimed, pointing over at the little chick pokemon. "You compared the little guy to Archie, terrible thing to do." Yes, she was scolding, but she could barely take herself serious since she was practically suppressing a laugh herself. Just then, something popped right up to her mind. Almost on cue, her ralts popped up, and started using her telepathy in order to communicate with both humans. "I think you forgot that the main event is happening soon." She informed, greeted with a completely dumbfounded Clavies.
@Maxim

Buneary: And I missed. Great.
Dizzy Punch - Attract - Jump Kick - Agility
Her awesome kick missed. Crud.

The little rabbit pokemon ended up crashing into the tree behind it, and she had to bite her lower lip to stop herself from letting out a cry of pain. This is what you get for rashly using Jump Kick thinking that you'd hit. After that, she hopped up and followed Bee and Jay, hoping that she would find Clavies again. "Bun Bun!" She called out, holding her arms up. She probably wanted to be picked up, since she was still hurt.

@EchoRun @True Self

FrozenDreams · Jun 25, 2016

Astrid and the Injured Pachirisu

Astrid was excited to know that Thomas first pokemon, which was not only an Electrike, but he also named it fro a Greek Alphabet too like his Squirtle. "That's awesome. You know, I read some history book about the Greeks that use to worship many Legendary Pokemon that ruled over the world. Quite a very structured civilization back in its time" She recited what she remembered from the books. The Greeks were very civilized and used their pokemon very wisely compared to other civilizations in the past. The first pokemon ended up getting a wrong plant and Thomas reassured it to look for the six petaled herb. Hehe! Maybe it just got the plant confused. She smiled under her thoughts.

As Thomas responded back to Astrid's concern with the ravage Eevee, Astrid looked worried. Does Thomas not have the patience in training a disobedient pokemon, even if it could be very useful in the future? Something about him is fishy, but I don't see anything weird out of him so I guess he's okay? After finishing the thought, Astrid responded back to Thomas. "Sometimes even the best pokemon are hard to control. Just look at Ash's Charizard. When it evolved fully, it disobeyed him for quite some time, but after putting a lot of effort to try to control him, he was one of his strongest pokemon." Astrid admired the history of some of the most legendary pokemon. And she did admire Ash for being brave, strong, and honest. But that's just her.

The Squirtle returned again with another plant, a different one, but not the one they are looking for. Astrid kinda chuckled. She listened to Thomas' complaint with his battle against Alvin and got off to a small rant, until he questioned why she was asking him this, thinking she was a friend to Alvin. Astrid has only meant Alvin once, before the tournament, she hasn't gotten the chance to learn more about him and his goals. So Astrid sees him more as a rival than a friend. "Well I consider Alvin to be a rival. We've only talked once and I only cheered on him because he was going to be my opponent in the tournament." She continued to shine her flimsy light around the ground, looking for the six petaled herb, but was still having some trouble finding it, perhaps she should go somewhere else to find it. She also followed up her statement with something else. "Plus, I thought it would be nice to cheer you up a little in case you were bitter with the match, I mean you had your win stolen in the last second. I would've been bitter about it if something like that happened to me." She tried to console him, even though he probably doesn't really need it. Astrid was impressed when Thomas told her that he was born in Aquias. She's never been there and wanted to check it out one day after she finished with her journey on Epica. "That's amazing. I've been wanting to explore Aquias for quite some time since I learned about it as a young girl. I can't wait to explore there once I finish this journey in Epica."

Aquias. It wasn't something Astrid talks about a lot, but has heard rumors about it and how beautiful it was. Many people go there on a vacation and explore the vast and wondrous areas that Aquias has to offer. From the wonderful beaches to the lively jungles to just about everything. She wanted to explore it since she was a kid because of how it captured her eyes since she saw pictures of it. It wasn't long before Thomas asked the same question to her. Astrid looked up to the clear and beautiful sky, where the moon glow so bright and so luscious.

"I grew up in Numera all my life. At first I didn't know anything about pokemon because I never had an interest in them at first. But after a few important events happened in my life, I became vastly interested in pokemon so much, that I seeked out training from Professor Atlas here to becoming a future researcher. Now i'm going on a journey to test myself as a person and a researcher." She felt like she poured her heart out with this information to someone she can trust. With that out of the way, Astrid decided to continue searching while talking to Thomas. Beta returned with another clover. Astrid could not stop admiring the turtle's attempt to finding the herb. "Well I do give it points for trying though. Just a bit of training will make him into a better finder." Thomas was a bit mad that his Squirtle kept finding different plants that weren't the ones we were looking for. He was trying his best to be better than her, and to some extent he is, but maybe he's overdoing it. As she got back to searching for the herb, Astrid heard the faint sound of a pokemon to the left of her direction.

Pachiiii...

The pokemon was nearby Astrid and Thomas and it sounded like it was in pain. Astrid looked around to see that a white squirrel with faint blue stripes that goes from its forehead to its tail, with some pointy tips coming out of the blue stripes on its tail was lying down on the floor writhing in pain.

The squirrel was lying just a few feet away from Astrid and Thomas and wasn't moving much. Astrid rushed over to it and looked at it. "Are you alright?!" Astrid loudly spoke to the injured Pachirisu. It only gave out a small moan, trying to speak out to Astrid, but was weak. It then coughed and release some purple bubbles from its mouth. Astrid immediately knew what this is. "It's poisoned." Astrid said to herself and maybe Thomas if he was close to her. He checked the squirrel for any type of bites and surely enough, there was two small holes on it's body. Looks like the poor creature was attack from a poison fang and was poisoned from it. "Looks like a predator tried to kill the Pachirisu, but it managed to escape with being poisoned."

After finishing the analysis, Astrid looked around the darkened field, she remembers there was a certain herb that she could use to help heal the poison from a pokemon or a human being. That's right, I saw a Pechoran somewhere around here. If I can find it, I could use it to heal not only Pachirisu's poison, but heal it back to normal. Astrid remembered back when she was working with Professor Atlas that she was studying various plants around Epica, some that are rare, probably something like the herb Viola mentioned, to ones with useful abilities. Astrid looked around frantically to find the Pechoran, a herb with a mix of orange and purple in it. It didn't take long before Astrid found it on the opposite side of where Pachirisu was laying. She took out a cup and a water bottle from her stuffy backpack. She opened the lid and poured the water into the cup. Astird pulled the Pechoran out of the ground and crumbled it up to small pieces.

Astrid mixed the crumbled herb into her filled cup and mixed both the water and the herb with a spoon, with enough mixing, she finished making her own drink that would be used to heal the sickened squirrel. She walked over to it and kneel down in front of it. She put the cup closer to it's mouth as it panted. "Here, drink this. It should heal your poison and recover some wounds." She firmly said as she opened the squirrel's mouth and slowly poured it in its mouth. Pachirisu slowly drank the homemade drink until it was all gone. Pachirisu choked on it a bit as it tried to drink all of it down it's belly. The bite marks slowly closed the wounds up thanks to the drink, but it still kept the scar on its body from the bite.

The Pachirisu slowly felt it body slowly rejuvenating from the drink Astrid made for it. As it regained it's lost health for thirty seconds, it slowly got back up on its feet before jumping in joy with the poison and the pain being removed. Astrid gave a huge smile to the now energetic Pachirisu. Pachirisu! Pachi Pahchi RISU! You could tell by its cry that it was extremely happy and full of power again. "I'm glad you're feeling better Pachirisu. Be careful when wandering outside at night okay?" She petted the squirrel firmly as Pachirisu enjoyed it, curling its head up to her hand each time it petted.

"We've got to find a six petaled red herb now. So be safe when you travel back home okay?" She joyfully said to the Pachirisu. Suddenly, the squirrel remembered something as Astrid finished her statement. It found some sort of herb similar to that of what Astrid said. Maybe it can lead her to it. Pachi! It joyfully cries out to Astrid as it gains her attention. "Something the matter?" She asked to the jumpy squirrel before it started to run off, it then looked back at Astrid and motioned her to follow her. Astrid wondered why it wanted them to follow it. She wasn't sure of the danger that would follow, but she felt that she needed to follow it. "We better follow it. It might be showing us something." Astrid wondered, before running off after it.

About ten to twenty seconds of following the Pachirisu, they reach the area Pachirisu was wanting to show them. The area was well lit thanks to some of the plants that illuminates the darkness and there were many kinds of herbs gathered around in one area. Some of them are well organized with colors and size. It felt like they discovered a wonderful garden out of nowhere. It was like they discovered something truly amazing.. Astrid realized some of these herbs could be use to make other items, such as antidote, awakening, potions, and many more. Astrid went ahead and gently ripped some of them out and put them in a sealed bag, where they would be safe before putting them in her backpack.

Pachirisu!

The squirrel tried to grab Astrid's attention so that it can show her something. Astrid walked over to see what the Pachirisu was trying to show her. A six petaled red herb was just laying there nicely set. It didn't take long for Astrid to realize this was the herb Viola was talking about. "This is it!" Astrid screamed. She found the item needed to perhaps save Eevee's life. She was happy and overjoyed. Who knew that saving a pokemon's life would reward you with what you were seeking. "Thank you so much Pachirisu!" She praised the young squirrel for showing her this, with it, Eevee's life would be saved. Pachirisu! The squirrel joyfully cried as if it was trying to say your welcome. Pachi Pachi Pachi Pachi! Pachirisu started to gnaw on the roots of the herb so Astrid could take it with her. Once it finished cutting off the root, Astrid grabbed the huge herb with her arms and carefully balanced it.

"Alright, time to take this herb to the Pokemon Center." She smiled as she gracefully runs with the herb in her hands. "You coming Thomas?" She asked, waiting for Thomas' response before heading to the Pokemon Center.

Waiting Before the Main Event

Minutes have passed after Merlin witnessed quite a scene between two beautiful women. He was glad to get away from Annie, even though he didn't mind her approach, something about her was off...Something Merlin couldn't pinpoint. Now he has some time to think about some other important things. But that didn't last long before another girl approached Merlin while he was thinking.

Merlin wondered what event would they be going over. He's not familiar with Numera' history, but something about this festival makes it worth celebrating every year. Not even the school gave him much information on Numera, more or less, Epica. The sound of a woman caught Merlin's attention. The voice sounded a bit shaky, maybe someone is smitten by the glorious Merlin that she is having trouble talking to him. He turned around to face the girl. She had medium length minty hair like color and had some flashy clothes on while carrying a Totodile. It seems she too is a newly fresh pokemon trainer just like Merlin. Not bad for a cute looking girl. Interesting... Merlin give a firm smile as he checked her out.

But before anything could be said, guess who appeared to steal the spotlight. The same dancer girl who tried to steal Merlin away from the world. Luckily she didn't notice Merlin and him checking out the woman that slowly approached him. Great, she managed to find me. Clingy little girl. And just before I can introduce myself to this flashy young woman. Thanks Annie. He could feel his nervousness coming back a little. He didn't mind being around Annie when he first met her, but something about her feels just off to Merlin. She clinged on to Merlin like a girl who was reunited with her long lost doll. Merlin quickly returned to his smooth side, hoping to entertain Annie more, but with danger lurking around the corner, he would have to be very careful on what he says. It seems they are back to their 'date', but...

"Oh! Hold on, i'll get some food for the event. You stay there while I get you something good. Be back soon my love!" Annie unhooked from Merlin's arm and rushed towards the nearest vendor to get something. With a sigh of relief, Merlin was free...for the time being. Merlin turned around to see that the same girl was there, frozen, waiting for something. It seems she decided to stick around, even though Annie could've given her the message that he's busy. Merlin would need to explain himself so that his reputation wouldn't be damaged in the future.

Especially not right now.

"I do apologize for what you just experienced milady." Merlin nodded his head to the girl. "The girl you see isn't my girlfriend, she only claims to be my 'girlfriend'. Quite the clingy little girl. Clingy girls don't usually suit me. I prefer the classic ones, those who know how to treat me right when I treat them right." He smiled to Leonie, at least, that was the name she gave him before Annie interrupted. "I am Merlin Adrian, young gentleman from the Kalos Academy for Talented Trainers and a fresh new pokemon trainer aiming to become a gym leader. Please to make your acquaintance Leonie." He finished with a firm and solid bow to Leonie. His charming look and his manners would possibly capture the young maiden's heart. He walked over to Leonie to talk to her about the festival, hoping that Annie doesn't come back sooner than expected.

"Anyways the festival's main event will probably involve the history behind Numera and why it is celebrated every year. It might be an interesting story. Even I don't know about it since this is my first time Epica. So it'll be a nice treat to end the festival this year for new trainers and those in Epica." He could hear that the crowd were talking louder about various topics. It was a bit hard for him to talk over the crowd. "Shall we move somewhere away from the noise? It'll be hard to talk to you with all this noise around us." He tried his best to get his voice over to Leonie from the crowd. He awaited a response from Leonie before deciding on something.

EchoRun · Jun 25, 2016

Ah, Right, the Creepy Maze Way Outside of Town. That's Definitely What I Was Thinking

"Yeah?" Bee gave Jay a questioning look. "Of course. Just let me-" Buneary's calls interrupted her, and she looked down to see the rabbit Pokémon, holding up her arms. "Ah. Buneary." The way she was holding up her arms kind of reminded Bee of how little kids sometimes asked to be picked up, so she picked up Buneary, then walked over to Slakoth and picked him up with her free arm. He transferred himself to hang onto her back. After a quick mental check to make sure the whole brigade was still there, she nodded. "Lead the way, Jay."

"A maze?" She didn't mind the long walk, although it seemed odd to have a maze so far from the town. What good was a maze, especially if it wasn't even anywhere near the town?

When they finally reached the maze, Bee was a little deterred by its appearance. "Do you mind me asking why this is all the way out here?" She stepped towards the entrance, but didn't go inside. Treecko grabbed her leg before she could, and even if he hadn't, it wasn't like she was planning on waltzing on into the maze. She knew better than that.

Instead she walked over to where Jay had found something on the ground: an "R" traced into the dirt. Well, that was some of the most solid evidence she had seen since they started looking for Robbin. "You think so? Could he be in there?" She turned and gestured towards the entrance, but really she was trying to indicate the whole maze. Hopefully that wasn't the case.

When Bee turned back around, she noticed that Jay seemed bothered about Litleo. Oh, right... She had gotten a bit caught up on finding Robbin. She mulled over the situation before speaking. "You know, never mind. You're probably right. We'll probably have better luck finding him at the festival than if we stay here." And, well, even if he wasn't at the festival, he had to go into town at some point, right? It was either that, or she could stay here a little while longer while Jay went back to town, but that would mean Jay would have to navigate the forest on his own, and she'd have to stay by the maze alone, and neither of those seemed like good ideas.

Just some mood setting stuff I guess?

True North · Jun 27, 2016

Legendary Union and Unrighteous Divide

"Attention everyone, the main event is now STARTING." A lady with braided curls spoke upon the mic. "Please welcome Mayor Xarlo to the stage." She directed a hand toward a middle aged man with shoulder length grey hair.

"Greetings young trainers. Thank you for attending this special event." Xarlo said with a touch of his bold glasses. "Not only is our Farewell Festival a way of bidding you farewell upon your journeys, but it is also a celebration of the history of our town." "-Specifically Numera's significant origin..." He gave a pleased smirk to the faces in the audience as he could see he had most of their attention.

"The ground we stand upon supported the presence of many legendary pokemon. All gathered to resolve a betrayal committed against Arceus himself." "The Betrayer, was a youthhood companion to the Alpha pokemon (Arceus)." Xarlo collected his thoughts before continuing, "-A parasite in nature and form..... Feeding off of the power of those around it, and obsessing over the abilities it did not possess."

"Considering itself superior to humans, the Betrayer was disgusted by the submissive role its own kind played under the lead of 'inferior beings'. It came to despise humans, perceiving them as users of pokemon."

"A proposal was given by the parasitic thing to the creator of the pokemon world... Erase humans from existence and let pokemon rule the world freely." Informed Xarlo, as he noticed the audience was now listening intently. "-Arceus opposed this, explaining how humans served a greater purpose... one beyond the understanding of pokemon alike.

"-Ridding the universe of human life was said to cause a great disparity in the world, and was against the laws of nature."

"Displeased with Arceus' refusal, the Betrayer soon began to resent the Alpha because of it. It secretly envied Arceus' ability to change form into any pokemon type, and henceforth type alteration became it's greatest lust." Xarlo removed his glasses to clean them before continuing, "With rebellious intentions set, the parasite sought after the plates of Arceus and absorbed their characteristics by some unspoken ability... granting it a form of all known types."

----

"Infuriated to the point of denied forgiveness, Arceus banished the Betrayer from its council and summoned a meeting of all legendaries. Once explaining the forbidden act, some of legend became seduced by the enemies intentions because of their own personal motives." As Xarlo continued with the story, actors flooded the raised area wearing intricate, tribal costumes portraying the legendary and mythical pokemon.

"An unrighteous divide occurred that same day, and the legendaries became torn between what was right for the betterment of the world. A side was chosen among the legends and some even chose not to intervene on either end... With some unavailable to help."

The actors upon the stage danced harmoniously, illustrating the divide that the mayor spoke of. Those dressed as legendaries such as Mewtwo and Giratina swayed to the other side and marked the opposition of Arceus' wishes.

"The great Alpha asked for the neutrality of Dialga and Celebi in order to protect the integrity of the present time. In return, promising the containment of Arceus' reckless wrath until the fiend was discovered. After acknowledging the potential of the betrayer's new found power, Arceus asked the remaining council on its side to help find the parasitic fiend and to await further action."

"A decade of unthinkable peace followed the disappearance of the legendary thief. A period in which the town of Numera began its creation. Another decade passed, and the infant town was thriving and popularized by the very legend I tell you of... brought to life by a lost human witness, Horazi Numera."

Gasps from some of the audience members were heard as the witness's name was revealed, and Xarlo continued, "Yes, the town's founder." He then finished with a final bit of statements, "To this day, the Betrayers whereabouts are unknown and it is uncertain if its plans have yet been thwarted. Nevertheless..."

"-Our town is the meeting place of a Legendary union, honored by our beloved Monument Square. The sacred grounds for the discussed determining of our world's reality. A place where some of you will be returning to someday. Keep this imprinted in your minds, thank you."

Before exiting the stage, the mayor ended with one last thing, "And special thanks to the local History Exhibit for sponsoring this event." Following Xarlo's leave, was a spectacular performance by the event's actors which resembled a battle between the legendaries in a mesmerizing dance. @EternalInfinity @Maxim @EchoRun @Nano

A Charming Surprise

The handsome man finally broke the ice which allowed Leonie to draw in a breath. It was just the two of them again, as the "clingy little girl" had left to get some snacks. "It's mkay." She finally peeped, and her cheeks began to feel warm at the sight of the man's killer smile. Academy for talented trainers. He's like a dream.

Snap out of it, Leonie. She stated within her head, as she hoped that her blush wasn't deepening. "Pokemon gym leader..." The words slipped from her mouth after she reciprocated his bow with a light bow of her own. The question was more out of surprise from a reflection of her old childhood dream. "That's incredible! An admirable dream."

"Pleased to meet you too, Merlin." Leonie added, before listening to his response about the main event. His answer was all that she mostly expected, but she thought the question would be a good conversation starter. "That'd be nice! Would love to learn more about Numera's history. Epica is new to me too." Leonie revealed, with a smile to the handsome man.

When the gentleman asked if they should move somewhere less noisy, the sound of the event announcer rang out through the area. "Guess they're starting..." She said in response to his question. She was going to add that she'd love to talk after the event was over, until the Annie chick whirled back on over to reunite with the charming fellow.

This time Annie didn't pretend to be so clueless... sneaking a glare in Leonie's direction when she retook Merlin's arm. "I got us some Pignite skins, babe. I bet you love them! A manly man's treat teehee!" She whipped her head in the direction of the event as it started and used it as the perfect excuse to ditch Leonie. "OHH LOOK LOVE, it's finally happening. Take me closer! I don't like this view." She said with a look toward Leonie.

The indirect insult struck a nerve within Leonie, but she just held her breath for Merlin's sake. "Probably should get going. Enjoy the event, Merlin." She directed her words to him with a light smile. "Glad we met." She began to leave... Glad we met? Be more obvious, why don't you? Leonie thought, with her face feeling hot now. Whether from anger or flattery, she couldn't tell.

TOT. Leonie's awakening starter gave her a startle. "So you're finally done napping?" The sleepy Totodile just replied with a groggy yawn. Leonie chuckled, and she stepped a few feet away to watch the main event. @EternalInfinity

Worrisome Indecision

"Some say it represents the separation of the dead from the living." Jay revealed to Bee in response to her question about the maze's location.

He wasn't completely sure if that was the real reason, but he had heard that rumor growing up. It wasn't exactly a family friendly maze, so it was probably best it was distanced from children that could get lost within it.

"An underground cavern close to town led the townspeople straight to the interior of the catacombs, but the entrance has since collapsed over the years... leaving it inaccessible and unsafe for excavation." Informed Jay, as he pictured the site of the old cavern.

(Cavern interior visual & Cavern entrance visual)

When Bee asked him if Robbin could be inside the maze, he immediately answered. "I'd really hope not." Robbin had made some unwise decisions growing up, but the maze was always just something he admired from the outside. "Though, it's pretty unlikely."

"Robbin's always been afraid of being contained for too long. The maze gave him chills." Jay explained, with a smile to himself. Most of his brother's fears were known to him, and he knew his little brother would never admit them to anyone.

"With all of the frightening and unfortunate stories we heard about this maze growing up, you'd think he knows better than to venture inside." Jay said, as he looked over the exterior of the tricky thing. "No one has successfully navigated it in very many years. It's far too large and complex without the map. If one went and got lost within it, it would be close to impossible to find them. Some have perished that way..."

Jay intended to go on and tell Bee of how pokemon (wild or trained) refused to be anywhere in or around the place (even high or below), until Litleo entered his conscience. That's when Bee agreed that Robbin would probably be found at the festival. "Agreed." Jay replied to her, and turned to lead the way back to town. Before he left, a sickening feeling creeped into his stomach which caused him to stop in his place.

Maybe all of this worry is physically affecting me... He just thought, with his face glancing back at the death honoring maze.

....Back at the festival, Jay felt a lot better being around the lively spirit of the townspeople. Igglybuff's eyes were like eye blinding diamonds as she took in her surroundings in excitement. The pink bubble kept her hold on Bee's neck while laying across her shoulder comfortably.

"It's good to be back. Thanks for searching with me." Jay told Beatrice as he looked through the bulk of people. Most seemed to be heading toward the center of the site for something. "I'll go heal Litleo... and continue to look for my brother. He might be where everyone is gathering."

From what Jay had seen, it didn't look like any of the pokemon under Bee's care had been injured (at least not enough for medical attention). She may want to join him to the pokemon center for Astrid and Eevee, but he wasn't so sure now was a good time to deliver his gift. He remembered how Astrid had fled from him, and he was beginning to feel like he had become a bother to Astrid.

"We can meet again there." Jay told Bee, referring to the special event, before heading off to get Litleo taken care of.

....

A Strange Reunion

"What the what?-" Said Robbin at the sight of two dark creatures speeding up to circle around him as he stood. Zo! One of the foxes screamed up at Robbin while another cried with a freaky snicker, RUAaa!

"Woah. You wanna be MY POKEMON?" The boy asked enthusiastically. But before he could reach down to pick up the unknown creatures, they backed away and tried to entice him to follow them inside the maze.

"Are you crazy? We'll get lost in there." Robbin said to the fox pokemon. "Mannn, I could use a pokedex already!.." He had never seen these type of pokemon around Numera or Cloudsloom before.

Upon Robbin's refusal, the two dashed away to disappear inside the dreaded maze. "AYO WAIT." The purple headed boy half shouted, as he watched them run away. "DARN. I coulda snatched one of em." Robbin mumbled to himself.

Robbin walked to the edge of the maze's entrance, but hesitated at the sight of the creepy statue awaiting at the end of the first pathway. So many ways they coulda gone.... He thought, as he took out two pokeballs. Purrloin was knocked out, and that only left Chespin.

"AUGHH. SCREW THAT." Robbin said, as he remembered the maze's history. Shouldn't they avoid this place?... He recalled, referring to the fox pokemon. He just gave an odd look before walking away.

....While reaching the end of the forest path, Robbin found himself approaching an intimate scene. A girl around his height was in a quiet dance at the edge of the festival, under the moon's glow. She appeared to be alone with no one else around in the dark area. That's not weird... Robbin thought sarcastically. He attempted to ease around the scene, but the sound of him did not go unnoticed by the girl who seemed startled.

"Who's there?" The fragile girl called out into the shadows. (Appearance)

"Ehhhh. Yo? Robbin, here." Robbin stepped into the light with a strange look on his face. "Why you not at the festival?"

"Hello-hi." The girl said, and her face calmed when she saw he wasn't a threat. "Dancing's easier when no one's watching." She told him, as she saw that he didn't look very threatening. TUMP! A floating stump-like pokemon agreed which swirled from behind her. (Visual)

Robbin was going to add that it wasn't very safe for a small girl to be in the dark alone until he saw the strange ghost. "WUHT. You're a trainer?" He couldn't believe that the girl had a pokemon, and he almost forgot that they looked the same age.

"Not really-no. Phantump is like family." She said as she lifted her petite hand to bring Phantump in with a cuddle to her cheek. "You came from Cloudsloom, didn't you?" The girl asked, which made Robbin stop in his tracks.

"YEAH. How you know that?" Robbin asked with a curious tilt of his head.

"I'm from there. You look familiar." She said with a look of recognition, and an unusual troubled look followed.

"Ghosts were banned from there." Robbin said as the Phantump danced around them, mimicking a child's laughter.

"And that's why I left! Like many people did..." The girl turned her attention toward the festival. "My favorite part!" She skipped off to join the others at the center of the festival with Phantump swaying behind her.

Girls are weird. Robbin thought, as he followed her to the festival. He hadn't gotten the girl's name, but he was convinced that he didn't care to know anyway. Several minutes passed as the group began to form at the center, Robbin spotted the girl spinning Phantump in anticipation as she watched the main event begin.

"Ohp-sorry." The unnamed girl said once she had brushed against an older girl who had walked up nearby. "I like your hair. I love green." She added shyly with a curious look. The girl happened to be one that Robbin instantly recognized with his pink munchkin latched to her head.

"BEE?" Robbin called from across the crowd, and watched as Igglybuff spun around in an instance. IGGLYBUFFFF! She soared off of Bee's shoulder and reunited with her master with happy tears. "Ay Iggly... what's goin on?" He said with a smirk. "Is the tourney over already?" @EchoRun

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