[centre] [h3][color=f7941d]~Avery Grant~[/color][/h3] Hugs were awesome. All of life’s problems wiped away. All by physical contact with other human beings. Well...except for a few things. Like, why couldn’t Avery fit inside a Pokeball? There are plenty of Pokemon bigger than he that go in just fine. It’s not fair. A private little abode, all to oneself. Avery would set up the most awesome room ever. He’d even invite all of his new friends. And the Pokemon too, of course. They’d have to show him the ropes. But...how would their Pokeballs work with being inside a Pokeball? Oh. Wait. Voltorb’s a thing. Crisis averted. Abigail pulled away from the hug. Avery was confused. That was hardly a group hug at all. It had only gotten to the three of them. Group hugs were only truly awesome when a bunch of people come together and share the love. Now he was just holding Peggy. One plus two equals three. Three makes a group. Three minus one equals two. Two make a duo. A group does not equal a duo. Therefore, this was no longer a group hug. Just a...duo hug? A normal hug? Well, that was fine. Maybe he could learn some of Peggy’s survival skills via physical osmosis. … Huh. Something smelled...different. Peggy decided to break the group hug which wasn’t a group hug anymore, leaving Avery hugging himself. She did the same. Alright. Nothing like a post hug self-hug to cleanse the hug muscles. That was a thing, right, Brain? Brain? ...Huh. Oh. Wait. People were talking. Alright, Avery, Brain’s not around at the moment, so it’s up to you to FOCUS. Focus on the good people. Focus on the...on the uh... Avery looked around. His posse had moved forward a few yards. He, however, was just enjoying the nice, pleasant shade. It was so cool and refreshing. And moving. And screeching. And that’s not shade, is it? And why was the ground moving. And why was the sky getting bigge- Ouch. Avery hit the ground, his unsuspecting head bouncing off the path, sending a meteor shower to cloud his vision. Avery laid still, not wanting to move. His head didn’t feel that great now. And besides, he was enjoying the river of darkness rushing above him. Goodbye, darkness. Have a nice trip. Avery just had a great trip. A good trip is the best way to have a great fall. He heard someone. … Wasn’t that Melody? She was saying the something. I think we have a sandwich? Sandwich? Avery sure hoped there were sandwiches. He could eat a couple right now. Avery lifted himself off the ground, into a sitting position. He was so hungry...he could practically eat a giant rock snake war hero. Like that one. Oh. Oh, it doesn’t look too happy. But... But Musicbro and Biteybro along with Abibro and Spideybro were handling it. Shame, that. Avery wondered what the rock bubby tasted like. And about that time, Brain kicked back in. Must have gotten out of the tunnel it was driving through. [i]Avery, old boy, old pal, ya gotta do something![/i] Avery frowned. He was doing something. He was tired. And his head hurt. He was resting. Someone had said something about camping, right? This was technically camping. And camps were safe places. Snakebro couldn’t do anything, even it wanted to....although Avery could tell it just needed a hug. Or the glorious taste of victory over unsuspecting newbie trainers. Probably a fifty-fifty chance either way, really. [i]Avery, m’boyo.[/i] No fair, brain. Channeling Papa Garfield wasn’t fair. [i]Aye... these auld anes hae seen coontless faces ay th' flam in mah lifetime... but wi' thes in, ah cannae say ah've ever seen mair pure an' genuine hatred…[/i] That didn’t make any sense, Brain. And Papa Garfield doesn’t talk like that. You’re so silly, Brain. But Brain’s words struck a chord with Avery. He got to his feet, and despite feeling a touch dizzy, managed to balance himself fairly well. He looked around for some way to defend his friends...rocks...grass...Pokeballs containing vicious, battle-hardened warbeasts… AHAH! Avery grabbed a strong looking branch from the ground. Well, maybe not a branch, but a stick. And maybe not strong, but flimsy as all get out. And maybe not a stick, so much as a twig. Ah, oh well. That’s enough effort. Time for WAR. Avery launched forward, twig at the ready. He was fully prepared to open a can of whoopass on the Onix…oh. Huh. The dude was much, MUCH bigger close up... Well then. Huh. There was but only one choice. Avery coiled back, then launched the twig with all the strength he could muster. It soared past the Onix’s head. It didn’t even seem to notice it. [color=f7941d]“Go fetch the stick, boy! Go on! You can do it!”[/color] Well, that was pretty stupid. What was a twig going to do against a rock? Nothing, that’s what. A groan came from below him. Avery glanced down. There was a tired looking Phanpy. Blue? But Blue was in his Pokeba- Avery looked at his hands. Blue’s pokeball was in his right hand. Green’s was in the left. When did h...Didn’t matter. The others were attacking the beastie. Avery couldn’t stand on the sidelines. His Pokemon seemed to agree, albeit for differing reasons. To Green, the Onix was a sworn enemy, a menace in the area. The glory that he would gain by slaying the beast? Why, he would be a legend, spoken only in whispers by the elderly to their grandchildren. Generalissimo Green, savior of the forest realms, slayer of snakebeasts, scion of doom, harbinger of the endtimes. World domination would be within his reach if he could ju- The Onix thrashed about, sending Spiderbro flying. Avery couldn’t blame the rocksnake. Spiderbros could be freaky sometimes. He heard someone call for a retreat, but h-wait, what was that sound? Blue? Blue. Blue had taken off in a charge, flanking around the Onix and aiming squarely for it’s center. Just get some more speed. More speed than...than… Than Blue would indulge in the ultimate dinner. Rocks were yummy. Sometimes, the rocks had arms, and they were even tastier. This bad boy? It made Blue’s mouth water. He could totally eat the whole thing, right now, and never move again. And he would die a happy Phanpy, his belly never again yearning for substance. It would be so satisfying… THWACK! Lord Sir Onix was not amused by the Phanpy’s antics. As the little blue elephant charged in, Onix noticed, and whipped its tail around to stop it. It made contact with Phanpy and sent the poor guy sailing back towards Avery in a manner much too similar to the grand slam of Green just a little while ago. Avery lifted Blue’s Pokeball and recalled his pal right before his pal slammed into him, crushing all manners of ribs and squishy organ things. Avery searched for Green. The Pinebro had gotten itself stuck in a small hole as it attempted to roll towards it conquest. Now, he simply sat staring up at the ground, trying his damnedest to nudge himself out of his earthly prison. GLORY MUST BE H- Avery recalled him as well, now sprinting off towards his friends. His backpack flapped against his back with each step, spurring him on. He had to get to them, had to make sure they got away safely. He had to, he had to, he had to. [/centre]