Regan Calhoun

@Zapdos@Sanguine Rose@Shazamrock

Regan offered Nils a friendly smile, though there was a touch of sympathy behind it. This “Nils” had apparently been roped into something most likely unexpected, though perhaps not unwelcome. “Welcome to the party, Nils. I’m Regan.” She noticed the other male trainer had already run off. Faye had seemed set on partying with him, and the adults were ejecting them, so she supposed it was best to follow the muscled one. For now.

As Sage approached him, Kaebe kept calm, like Regan had explained to that child before, steady while the smaller creature investigated him. Once the Eevee was satisfied, the dinosaur wagged body happily before the motion settled back into his tail, while he growled and croo’d about his own excitement. He was eager to see all the other pokemon about, as well as his friendly trainer. She’d quickly found some of his favorite spots for scratches. He didn’t often get pets, but he sure did love them.

While David went about going through the offices and thanking absolute every person he could, Regan motioned for the others to go out and, perhaps, take in some of the sights while they waited. Honestly, the scenery inside the Evig HQ was fantastic, so she wouldn’t have blamed them, but she didn’t much feel like waiting here, either. There were pokemon to be seen outside. She’d keep her eyes out for anything interesting or unusual, perhaps a pokemon not often seen in the city? But, wouldn’t that just be a stray pokemon from outside the city..? Maybe. Whatever the case, she’d have to get the hang of catching pokemon and commanding them in battle and other high-strung situations if she wanted to be a Ranger. More of the other situations, probably, but that was harder to find on a whim than a battle.

At any rate, there were plenty of pokemon that didn’t seem particularly tough around. She only had ten balls, and not a bunch of money, so she should make her catches count, right? She could make more by catching pokemon, and finding them. Were rare pokemon stronger? Maybe, if she could find a spot the weak or common ones didn’t tend to go?

David called dibs on a rather plain-looking pidgey Regan had absolutely no interest in, “ah, sure.” The most interesting thing she noticed was how he retrieved his ball. He hadn’t touched it, it just came to his hand. She hadn’t seen something, right? He’d introduced himself, she nodded, “Regan.” She’d been too caught off-guard by his display to offer more. Her Tyrunt nudged against her hand, “oh, and this is Kaebe. Isn’t he cute?” She smiled at her starter and knelt down to give him more pets.

[Search for rarer or stronger pokemon]

"Duh, buh' Oy loike em, Oy wahnt one and thyre strawng leettle buggahs. Oy cahn hahndle ih'." The scars did little to dissuade Steph, who until the Hydreigon picked her up by the scruff of her shirt and tossed out of the building, would continue to try and pester the Professor for answers as to where to find a Deino. On the way out, she would try asking the Hydreigon for some absurd reason, not even able to understand its response if it even ever gave one anyway.


Pouting, the girl huffed as she sat down where she had been discarded and crossed her arms over her chest. What was his problem? Wasn't it literally their job to go and catch whatever they wanted? She had half a mind to go back in and try asking again anyway, but no doubt any such attempts would just find her back in the same situation. So with a sigh, she unpuffed her cheeks and stood up as she dusted herself off. They had mentioned others had raised a Hydreigon, so maybe she would have better luck with them? Of course she would have to find them first, but she already had some ideas as to who to go ask.

A gym leader who used dark or dragon types were the first type of people to cross her mind, or maybe she could luck out and find someone else. If nothing else, she recalled from something she read that they lived in caves or something? Would just have to go spelunking and hoping to find one maybe. Worst case, she would just have to get enough recognition that she would force the answer out of Kapoc himself then. Proving herself was simple enough in her mind after all.

For now though, she supposed she should get going. But where to? Clarissa had mentioned going to the Sewers, and Adrienne had mentioned something crying down there, or was it the director? Steph hadn't paid that much attention, instead focused on Kapoc. So Steph could join that little adventure, and she was still mulling over the prospect of travelling with her. However Steph was keen on a different idea right now, one that was between the Park and the Harbour.

Her growling stomach confirmed the latter, knowing she had passed some food stalls over but now that she wasn't still feeling the ill effects of sea travel? She absolutely wanted a bite to eat. On the way however, she wanted to test Dusk out against some of the local Mons, namely some Ratatta to get some experience before moving onto the birds and their annoying ability to fly. Some Ember spam should handily deal with whatever she decided to fight against.

On her way while doing this, she would keep her eyes and ears peeled for other things however. The girl was easily distracted after all, so anything sufficiently shiny or cool looking enough would gain her attention. Otherwise keeping an ear out for rumours she knew was always a good thing, never knew who you could meet or what you could learn by paying attention to things like that.

[Aka its grinding time while seeing if she can learn something new or find something on her way to go get something to eat, hopefully find something cool but if nothing happens will just continue her way to the Harbour]

Audrey happily smiled at the younger trainer, it seemed like their journey was promising already. They were quite similar to each other too, "Oh! I forgot to mention, meet my partner, Rift! He's a little timid so yeah..." Audrey spoke as she petted the little Pokémon. Audrey looked around noticing alot of people leaving, looks like alot of the others are leaving. Perhaps i should leave aswell? "So...I believe we should go now, Archie?" Audrey asked.

Anyways, she gently grabbed the kid's wrist after getting an answer and quickly left with Rift following nervously into the big streets of Grand Glory City. It seemed rather awkward with so much silence, deciding to break it up the girl asked; "So...Your pokémon and mine, similar nature aint that such a coinci-" Audrey was cut off by a wailing sound coming from a wealthy-looking old woman, sprinting into action she quickly rushed to chase after the thief. What could be more great then helping the elderly get their life savings back? she looked back seeing if Archie, her new friend wanted to chase along. Audrey wasn't really the fastest girl ever, more of average and the thief was a tad fast, "Err can you like do something!!!" Audrey asked Archie as she tried to catch up.

@Baraquiel

Well, she had expected a fair amount of diverse results from her efforts in questioning and asking at the very least.

Amelia turned towards Clarissa, surprised by the question and it showed. She figured no one would want to travel with her, seeing as she was so small and possibly the youngest one there. She didn't know the age of the boy with the Chespin after all but he was taller than her, so he was possibly older. Regardless, she would remain silent for a few seconds due to her surprise before eventually giving a reply.
"A-a-are you sure? I'm not very strong and I might not be able to keep up. I need to take things slow. I would like to but... I don't want to get in your way." She said, looking down at the ground while fiddling with the hem of her hoodie.

The psychic nodded gently at the younger girl....and from there the words felt as if they flowed toward mouth a bit without thinking too much about them. Like it was an impulse, in an instant, running through her mind and out of her vocal chords. Yet the psychic choked herself back a little, even if it felt rather jarring for a moment internally, trying to hold back a bit rather than just spurt out

What had come over her to almost blurt out like that? Thoughts back to a younger version of herself, one terrified and feeling weak after her powers had first emerged before she'd gotten help from her grandmother? It was also safer to travel together if the younger girl wasn't too strong herself, though, physically or otherwise. Yet trying to be respectful and give the smaller girl time to collect herself, at least before she talked to her again, the psychic moved on to the next person in mind. Someone who seemed ready to get-going if needed, or at least seemed to be a 'go-getter' as she heard her mother call people with a similar energy in the past.

"Hy Clahzza whahts up?" Stroking Dusk's...chin? Steph would listen as the girl first of all was asking her to travel with her, before adding on she wanted to see the sewers.

"Mybee, sao lawng as youre haydin south Oy dawnt say the hahm roigh' naow eh? Wouldnt moind chaeckin eow' the sewahs at some point buh' Oy gawt somethin Oy wahnna gao chaeck eow' fuhst. uh...taext ya luytah? Aw somethin. Oy dunnao much abeow' thiies do-heeckay." Shaking the once more pulled out Rotom Phone before once again pocketing it, she let Clarissa continue on her way before first things first, she made her way to the Professor once more. No doubt her walking up to him caused a shiver to go down his spine.

The peculiar redheaded girl who'd approached her seemed good to ask first, as if nothing else she seemd apt and ready to go out and do something. She didn't want to rush others, admittedly, but the psychic did worry a little about the matter of covering ground. Or, perhaps, her own excitement to check out if her gut instinct was right about the sewers was going to bear fruit. Not that it perhaps always would bear fruit, but, well, she had to try at least, right?

"A text would be great, and I can text you as well instead of you texting me."

She didn't want to make it uncomfortable for Steph, so texting the girl later would be good on her end then. Plus now it seemd there was at least one potential candidate to travel with despite the new and peculiar nickname of 'Clazza' at least. And the girl seemed patient enough to let her go ask others too, so as she went around the psychic didn't look back for a hot second before taking a glance again-....aaaand the girl was gone as soon as Clarissa looked back in her direction again.

Ahem. O-Oh...had she done something wrong? Ah, well, Steph had said she was wanting to check something else out first at least. It was also something to note that the redhead wanted to travel south, it seemed, upon leaving Grand Glory. No problem! If she grouped with other who didn't mind heading south, perhaps Steph would be a potential person to group up with. As much as facing the 'tough road alone' seemed to paint a familiar picture in her mind, at least when thinking about her homeland, traveling with others was as much a safety matter as it was practical in her mind. Her mother had said she needed to 'socialize more', as it were, ah, yes. That was a thing she had to keep in mind, and how better to get to know another than taking the time to on the road?

One potential option on the 'sorta maybe' side of things, it seemed, Clarissa would try to approach others nearby if she could. Perhaps it'd come off as 'desperate', but...s-she was trying to do things as best as she could, yes? Whether it worked or not was besides the point of making the genuine effort. Else she'd not get an answer of all things.

But the well-dressed boy in pink was gone before she could get to him, though based on his initial reaction to his own starter Pokemon allone she felt it was potentially safe enough to believe he wasn't one to go investigate the sewers of all places. The blue-haired boy seemed to just abruptly leave, so he wasn't an option, but he could perhaps be someone to battle for experience as well. Same for Steph whether she traveled with her or not, really, based on her own impression of the other girl's attitude and the like in the psychic's mind. She seemed well enough to want a good battle indeed. Beyond that the fashionable girl, whom she only had a first impression of anyways aside from how she'd reacted to the cute little Joltik, was already gone in a camera flash. But these three were not all of the people in the lab either at least.

Meanwhile the exciteble boy with the Chespin, and the girl with the Zorua, seemed to be talking as well. She didn't want to disturb them, though, so Clarissa would leave them alone for the time being. The girl with the Tyrunt approached the photographer girl with the Eevee as well, then, and so she'd leave them alone as they talked for the moment being. Despite the tiny tinge of deject feelings that popped up after having managed so little success thus far, she'd at least go to ask the adults the questions she had about the sewers. As 'unclean' as the sewers were, perhaps some Pokemon down there was set to be one of her partners for the road ahead, hmm? So it'd be good to be informed at the very least.

Because Kapoc was still there, he was still around when Clarissa asked about the sewers. "I mean, it's mainly a breeding ground for Grimer, Trubbish, and Rattata though those Grimer and Rattata are of the Alolan variant. We brought the Grimer from Alola, but the Rattata are more of an invasive species though they seem to prefer to remain in the sewers until night."

Adrianne chimed in. "Oh, I did hear something in passing. Apparently, someone can hear something crying. Beyond that, there must be some other things that have made its home down there that we aren't aware of either."

"I'm more curious if any of the original fauna still remain or were completely displaced by the city's construction." The director mused.

Something crying down there? That was what caught her attention the most, turning curiosity into more of a burning desire to investigate. Her gut instincts had to be right about something down there, hmm? Hopefully. Not that they had to be always right, or would be for that matter. Beyond that, Trubbish and Alolan Grimer and Ratatta would be good grounds for training with Sir Lopsalot in part. Especially the Ratatta. Catching a Trubbish and an Alolan Grimer would be good to do, as the psychic would note to herself, to see if they might make a good fit on her team as well.

Also it would be good to do this to both fill out the Pokedex, and perhaps as poison was potentially a useful typing once they got into forested and wilder areas perhaps. Didn't grass types live there more often? She'd read that somewhere in preparation for all of this, since...well...living in a Pokemon-poor region was apaparently very rare to most places? Hmm.

"Thank you, your answers are most helpful."

Her thanks were sincere despite their delivery in her usual manner, and she tried to keep things professional and polite, but....indeed what could be crying down there? She wanted to investigate for that outright and first, if possible, within a reasonable measure. Not just if it was a rare Pokemon, frankly, but more because-...she...well, the psychic would glance breifly at Sir Lopsalot for a second as the memories came back to her mind. The Buneary, meanwhile, would look back with a tinge of worry in his eyes as he saw the breif flash of a look he could understand well enough come over Clarissa's eyes.

But, yes, if any original Pokemon from before the city was built were there too? That would be something to keep an eye out for as well perhaps, or at least along the way while investigating the crying and catching a Trubbish and Alolan Grimer alike maybe. Yes. A plan was coming togther for her, at least, if she ended up down there alone. Ahem. She did need to keep moving on, ah, to avoid everyone else there leaving before she could so much as get in a question if nothing else (even if the answer was no).

Yet as she tried to move onward, it would be the next seemingly not-busy person she went to ask that seemed to finally respond to her.

"Hey hey," he said, introducing himself once more and extending a hand towards her if she was inclined for a shake. Unlike Steph, his was only an offer, and a soft one at that. "I wanted to talk to you a moment."

"You came here with your pokemon already. Oh, and you, too, David-" Nils looked over at the enthusiastic older boy, beckoning him over with a nod of his head. He hadn't missed the fact that David hadn't claimed a pokeball. To the both of them who had that in common (and one other surprising thing that others were unaware of), Nils said, "I'm curious how long you've been with your partner pokemon. And... I was wondering if you more experienced trainers were interested in a little competition? I want to see how strong this guy is."

He patted the mudbray on the head. Mudbray seemed perfectly fine with this plan, digging one of his hooves into the ground and snorting happily. Both pokemon and trainer glanced at Sir Lopsalot as well to judge the bunneary's reaction.

"Doesn't have to be in the lab, we can find a good place out in the city," he followed up with, "Ah, but no worries if you don't want to."

Clarissa would accept his offered handshake, softer and less loud than Steph had been, and listen to his request. A battle? She certainly wasn't agaisnt a little spar to kick things off, though she had wanted to get onto the road if possible while they still had daylight. It was important to get things started well, she supposed, and on a good foot.

It also wasn't as if her and Sir Lopsalot had fought others really, but they had watched battles at the Pyrite Colosseum and tried to practice at home even after moving to Evig at least. Yet even as she thought for a moment about the matter, Sir Lopsalot seemed to grin readily back at the other trainer and Pokemon as he put his little paws on his hips proudly. Oh. She knew that lok. He was certianly up for such as well, it seemed, and it didn't take reading his mind to understand that on her end after the last several years.

If he was already getting in that sort of mood for a battle-....yeah, it might be a good warm-up before traveling then, whether they ended up alone in the sewers or not. Then again, after taking a look at the Mudbray, he looked like a hardy little guy himself who could take a hit. Hmm.

"Well, I wouldn't call myself an experienced trainer. Still, it would be our pleasure to battle you. We could go find a good spot to battle as well, but after would you perhaps-"

"I do not envy her. Well, anyway, you guys can seriously all leave now. Chop, chop, get to it. Seize the day and whatever. Oh, and Clarissa, remember what I said. Bye." And Kapoc went back to his lab.

A small chill visibly ran down the girl's spine in this case as Kapoc called out to her again. S-She had heard him, yes. Be careful. Don't go showing off her powers willy-nilly. H-Her parents had reminded her the same way, but in a more serious and personal manner before she'd left to come here this morning. There...there had to be some reason to be reminded like this more so in particular, right? There had to be. So she'd try to do her best. She was already trying to do her best, but she'd just been trying to help with regards to that empty litter to be thrown away-...breathe. In and out. Breathe. Focus. In the nose, out the mouth. Good. Yet as she looked up again, Clarissa found something missing.

Hmm? Where had the other boy, the other psychic, David, that he Nils been pointing to? By the time she tried to look around and find him, the same guy who seemed to be grinning and ready, the photographer girl had spoken to him and the two seemed to be off and out of the door already with a shout from David. Letting out a small but soft sigh audibly, it was around this time Clarissa saw Amelia glance over herself and then at Nils with a look that almost seemd expectant to the psychic. Was the other girl curious if they were going to battle still? Plus, well, the adults had made it clear they didn't want to mess up the inside of the building either for that matter by now as well.

Clarissa looked Nils back in the eyes.

"Ahem, yes, we'd be happy to battle you still, if you're amenable to such-?"

She then looked to the smaller girl next to them. She had trailed off to try to informally ask Nils his name at least, so she would breifly look to the girl she'd tied asking first to group up with at least.

"Would you like to watch if we battle?"

Hopefully she could still talk to Amelia about grouping up after this. Maybe Nils as well, perhaps, depending on his own plans for things. Even if they didn't go to the sewers, they could group up again later once she was done perhaps. That was her plan to propose to Amelia if she didn't want to go, and anyone else if they didn't want to right now but still wanted to group. That'd be ok, right? Hopefully? Hopefully things would be well in the end in any case, yes. At least, assuming they even got to battle and Nils didn't need to leave now himself for some reason.

@Zapdos@Remram@Lunarlord34@Joshua Tamashii@Shazamrock

"Heya there, Rift! Nice to meet you! This is Bravos, my partner!"" Archie cheerfully greeted Audrey's Zorua as Bravos timidly waved its paw at the two. He joined Audrey to go out the lab, glancing numerous times ar Adriane. He wanted to talk to her so badly but something within him told him it wasn't the right time yet. Perhaps he felt it in himself that he's not worthy of his champion's attention yet. As Archie nodded in response to Audrey and left the lab with her, he was determined to become a Trainer confident enough to be like Adriane.

While his wrist was in Audrey's hand, Archie reached out and grabbed Bravos' paw so they could walk together. He was beaming with anticipation in starting an adventure with Bravos and alongside new friends too with Audrey and Rift.

Just as they got out of the building, they heard the voice of an old woman screaming as a thief stole her belongings. Archie immediately ran with Audrey to try and catch up with him. "Che-Ches!" Bravos, after a moment of hesitation, ran to follow his Trainer. The boy and his Chespin were quite fast, more than Audrey but the thief was a tad bit faster too.

"Stop!" Archie yelled at the thief while running. "I'm gonna try something!" He said to Aubrey as he picked up one of his Pokéballs and threw it with as much force as he could muster, aiming it right at the thief's head.

@Xaltwind

The Sentret for a moment looked surprised before it realized the situation it was in, getting into a fighting stance. Well, there was not much that a Sentret could actually do in the face of an electric spider shooting out webs made of crackling electricity. The Sentret was able to land a single Scratch against Evelyn's Joltik, but it was only for a small amount of damage. However, with a throw of her Pokeball the Sentret was absorbed into it in a beam of red light and the ball landed on the ground. It began to shake.

It rolled once...

It rolled twice...

It rolled thrice!



Joltik's HP is still in the green.

.
@Zarkun

Meanwhile in another part of the park, Jason and Slayer were busy jumping a bird. Actually, the Pidgey was actually quite aware what was happening as it seemed ready to battle as if it had something to prove thought it was not like it could do anything to avoid Slayer's Disarming Voice since it bypassed accuracy checks. A beam of heart shaped sound waves hit the bird, sending it tumbling back before it threw its weight forward and tackled the bird. When Slayer used Double Team, the Pidgey seemed unperturbed by the copies that surrounded it. In fact, it was looking directly at the real Ralts before it tackled the Ralts again.

Perhaps seeing that Slayer was losing, Jason would throw a Pokeball and once the murder bird was absorbed into the ball via a beam of red light it shook on the ground.

It rolled once...

It rolled twice...

It rolled thrice!



Slayer is currently at low HP.

.

@Crimson Flame and co

All players at the park would walk around and look for more Pokemon and more information on any Pokemon they could find here or within the surrounding area. Occasionally they would see little orange dogs with black marks and cream-colored tuffs of fur wander around or lie around shaded spots underneath the trees.



Sometimes another Pokemon appeared, a little green bulb with three leaves protruding from their heads and red little eyes. They were simply being, bathing in the sun of this spring day. How these things moved around when they lacked the limbs to do so? The world may never know.



As for the information they found out, this was what they found.



What do you do?

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@Zapdos@Sanguine Rose@CitrusArms

And David decided to just send it by throwing a Pokeball, critically catching the bird.



Anyway! Onto the tour of Grand Glory City's wonderous sites! Albeit they were missing a party member of one

As they walked and being a bit more observative, they would see more of the Pokemon that would inhabit the urban areas of the city. In the alleyways there were these cats. One of them was a purple cat with cream patches of fur and these strange violet markings above its eyes. They looked adorable, and yet there were mischievous looks in their eyes as if they waited for you to let your guard down.



Then there were these other cats that just... they just stared into the void. These things with gray fur with white tuffs of fur on its ears and paws, their pale purple eyes with their darker purple pupils just looked off into something that we could not comprehend.



Around the areas with construction were these bipedal light grayish blue things that were lifting up heavy materials with three brown fins on their heads. What was odder was that no one was telling them what to do, but in fact, they didn't really seem to be doing tasks. Were... were they there just to do weightlifting?



And thanks to Regan looking for rarer Pokemon, which included information, the group found out the following information.



After a little bit the group would arrive at stop one of Faye's photographic tour! It was a white marble fountain of impressive stature gushing with water. At the very top of the statues were two wolf-like Pokemon, one wielding a shield and one a sword. Beyond that it really was just a normal fountain. It wasn't some sort of historical landmark given how young the city was, but it was an appealing landmark. It did seem like a symbol of strength, the perseverance and grit of a region under siege by wannabe usurpers.

Well, it's not like they had an actual tour guide. It really was only just a fountain. Once Faye did whatever she did to set up her photo, maybe getting David and Regan in the photo as her stand-in models or simply took a photo of the scenery she would notice that there was something off about her photos. Something very pink photobombed her photo.

A bipedal pink doglike Pokemon stood on the edge of the fountain, it looked as if it wore a pink smock with a light blue collar and had blue dots evenly spaced apart. However, it had a matching blue bow on one of its ears.



It certainly did not look like a wild Pokemon, but where was its owner?

What do you do?

---

@Lunarlord34

This was just bullying. Literally nothing could actually hurt Dusk because everything was so low level that they only knew normal type moves. So, Dusk was unleashed upon the poor masses of wild Pokemon, burning them with its spectral hellfire with the cute smile on its face. Steph has become death, the destroyer of early game Pokemon.



Well, after leaving destruction in her wake she would see some other Pokemon that the city had to offer.

In the alleyways there were these cats. One of them was a purple cat with cream patches of fur and these strange violet markings above its eyes. They looked adorable, and yet there were mischievous looks in their eyes as if they waited for you to let your guard down.



Then there were these other cats that just... they just stared into the void. These things with gray fur with white tuffs of fur on its ears and paws, their pale purple eyes with their darker purple pupils just looked off into something that we could not comprehend.



Around the areas with construction were these bipedal light grayish blue things that were lifting up heavy materials with three brown fins on their heads. What was odder was that no one was telling them what to do, but in fact, they didn't really seem to be doing tasks. Were... were they there just to do weightlifting?



While watching for Pokemon, she also kept her ears peeled to hear about anything interesting. This was what she heard.



However, all of that eavesdropping made her even hungrier, and she certainly found food truck selling something called a shawarma with the caption 'Highest Quality Synthetic Meat'. The one that manned the food truck was a man with very heavy facial hair and not just his thick black mustache waxed heavily and looked like it was ready to fly off his face, but his eyebrows were thick and droopy, obscuring his eyes and yet, he was very, very bald. Shiningly so.

He looked at her with a gruff look, or at least what she thought was a gruff look because it was hard to tell what kind of face he was making underneath that glorious mustache and eyebrows. There were only three things on the menu: shawarma, shawarma combo meal, and a various list of beverages so technically more than three. She was not even given a chance to put in an order; he had a knowing look of how hungry she was and made her order for her.

She was given a box filled the pita wrap fill meat, tomatoes, cucumbers, and various different colored sauces and a pile of fries, or chips as she most likely called them, on the side. As she ate her lunch, she made her way down to the port. The towering buildings that made up the skyline slowly became smaller, humbler the further away from the city center. As foot traffic and vehicular traffic dwindled, so did the noise. One got the feel that this was where people actually lived, at least people who made a more realistic living. Eventually, she arrived at a clearing where she could see the sea.

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@baraquiel@Gremlin

Archie threw his Pokeball with as much strength as a ten-year-old could muster at the purse snatcher. With perfect aim and precision it...! It flew past the thief's head. The thief laughed as he ran and said, "Nice try brats, but it doesn't pay to-!" The Pokeball that the aspiring hero threw was still on the ground and the fool wasn't watching where he was going, so his foot stepped on the metal sphere and slipped backwards. Essentially, Archie rolled an 8 and this man rolled a flat 1. Task failed successfully?

This gave the two fledgling trainers a chance to catch as the thief scrambled to get back onto his feet though in a panic, he sprinted to the closest alleyway only to meet a dead end in the form of a tall chain link fence.

The sleezy looking man heaved with a heavy breath as he turned around and looked at the two kids that no doubt caught up to him. "Oh give me a break... Alright, you wanna play hero? Don't go crying when you lose."



He threw out two Pokeballs and in a flash of white light out came a strange little bipedal round cactus with sunken eyes and a hippo with a primarily dark brown body with other patches of brown and tan in some sort of cameo pattern.





The holes from the Hippoptas suddenly erupted with sand, whipping through the air ferociously. The Cacnea seemed to have a reaction to the sand, its body started glowing with a sandy beige color as if empowered by the sudden weather change.

Your Rotom phones hovered in front of you and said the following:



The battlefield is a narrow alleyway, making it a difficult place to battle as there is little room to dodge in a single battle context let alone a double battle. You two have the faster Pokemon, so you move first. How do you react?

@Remram

As Valerian was walking in search of a better Pokémon, he heard the sound of rustling leaves. He turned his head, just in time to catch a glimpse of a small, green creature peeking out from behind a patch of flowering bushes. She had a round body, stubby little legs, and a leafy sprout atop her head like a bow. Its big red eyes blinked up at him. And then, she smiled.

“A Petilil.” Valerian said aloud.

Aurelia Rose buzzed over to the little Grass-type with an eager chirp.

Valerian slowly stepped forward, eyeing the Pokémon. Unlike the Ducklett or the Sentret, this one had taste.

The Petilil tilted her head, then did a tiny spin. Her leaf bow wobbling as if it were curtsying.

Valerian blinked. “…Well,” he murmured. “At least one Pokémon in this park knows how to make an entrance.”

He crouched down, examining the Petilil more closely. “You’re not a Fairy type…” he mused aloud, “But you’re undeniably well composed, not to mention adorable!”

Aurelia Rose hovered between them, looking at Valerian expectantly.

Petilil gave a cheerful squeak and gently nudged Valerian’s shoe with her leafy head.

He raised a brow. “Affectionate and photogenic.” He straightened up. “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to take on a second companion.” There was a dramatic pause. “But if you must travel with me, you’ll need a name that suits your aesthetic.”

Petilil looked up at him.

He tapped his chin. “Laureline? Amarantha? No… Let’s see how you battle first. I’ll not name you unless you earn it.”

Petilil perked up. Challenge accepted.

Aurelia Rose buzzed in delight, circling her new potential teammate.

Valerian lifted a hand, then pointed with an elegant flourish. “Aurelia Rose, let’s give our admirer a show. Use Fairy Wind!”

And so begins Valerian’s attempt at capturing a wild Petilil

---

---

Evelyn stared intently at the slowly, rhythmically shaking little ball of red and white. Her breath was held, her eyes fixed, her hands gripped tighyt... And then, relief. And a big, sunny and excited smile broke out all over her face, cracking the facee of the stoic model-to-be in kuch the same way a rock smashes a window when thrown at it.

"Joltiiiii-hiii-hiiik!"

The girl squeed happily and rushed forward, scooping her brave little partner off the ground and embracing him lovingly in a tight hug. The bug-pokemon chittered first in confusion, but then let out a noise that sounded like some kind of mix between elated giggling and smug 'huu-huu-huu' laughter. Well, as much as a joltik could sound like it was laughing, that is.

"You were so cool! And strong! You're the best!"[/colro] She showered her successful partner with adoration and praise, which the little one appreciated, given his happy... Expression...? it was mostly the eyes, really.

Then, as if struck by a sudden bolt of thunder. A thunderbolt, if you will, the glamorous girl remembered. The newly caught pokemon! Right, you had to actually go and pick it up afterward It wasn't like it was going to come magically floating on back to you, after all. Calming herself down, and setting joltik back on the ground, she strolled over to the pokeball resting on the park grass, unhurried and composed, with the same catwalk-stroll she always had. Bending forward a bit, she gingerly plucked the sphere form the ground and held it in her palm, gazing at it in wonder.

Then she smiled.

"Alright, come on out, Sentret!"

Again, she did her little pirouette, leaning forward and tossing the ball into the air while striking a fabulous pose! And this time, the ball didn't come crashing down on her noggin', instead deigning to land a few inches infront of her. The unmistakable sound and light of a pokeball opening and releasing the creature within resounded, and soon, a new shape stood before Evelyn and Joltik.

"Sen... Tret?"

A moment of quiet. Then the Sentret spotted Joltik. The two locked eyes, a tense moment passed, so tense you could cut it with a knife. They stared. A duel of composure. Was it resentment for having lost to the bug? Anger at being caught? Defiance? ...

"... Sentret!"

... And then the fuzzy goofball let out a happy cry, with a big smile on its face. Joltik, who had previously just stood its ground and stared at the new ally, reared on his hind-most legs, chittered excitedly, and then rushed forward. Immediately climbing onto Sentret, who began to laugh furiously as the little spider-pokemon's legs tickled it something fierce. Eventuially, joltik found its way onto Sentret's back, and then to the tail. And much to its name-sake, Joltik promptly attached itself onto said tail.

"Oh. My. Gosh. You two... ARE SO STINKIN' CUUUUUUUUUUTE~!"

A cuteness overlaoded Evelyn couldn't restrain herself anymore and nearly dived headfirst into the pair. Running over to their side, she knelt down and quickly wrapped her arms around Sentret, who let out a surprised 'Sen!=' before realizing he wasn't in any danger and followed up with a happy 'Tret!'.

[color<=gold]"Aw-haa-haa~! You're so warm... Don't you worry, Sentret. I'll be looking after you from now on, okay?"

"Sen-tret!"

Energetic chittering.

"Oh, right. I guess Joltik's gonna help out too. Haha."

More energetic chittering

"Sentret~!"

Finally releasing her new partner, after what felt like an inordinate long hug, Evelyn gave the little creature a few pats on the head and a few scratched behind the ear. But she then rose to her full height and looked around the park. ALl she could see were more pidgeys, meowths, more sentrets and so on... Hardly anything exciting. After all, why would she need to catch the basic-bawk-bird now that she had this little raggamuffin?

Still, she had to consider the health of her new partner. He'd taken a pretty significant blast from Joltik's electroweb, and could probably do with some patching up - even if he seemed alright at the moment. Still, using a potion right now seemed like a poor idea. Especially since she knew that Grand Glory City has a Pokemon Center. Yes, it'd be better to go there and get both Sentret and Joltik treated - even if the latter hand't actually sustained any damage during the brief scuffle.

Still, she wasn't ready to leave the park just yet. After all, the day was still young, and she--

Musical Jingle ♪~

Oh, her phone? Oh right, she'd gotten a mail earlier, didn't she? Evelyn stuck her hand down into the pocket of her shorts and retrieved the device. However, instead of seeing one new message, there were two. Blinking, she opened the first one. As expected, it was the photography from before. It was... Nice... Well, it had been taken nicely. She... Couldn't really say the same for the rest of the participants... Apart from the Prince, the rest either looked like they didn't want to be in it, or like they were just goofing off. Had they no sense of what a monumentous day this was? Or what a monumental deal this very first picture of their journey was supposed to be? Bah. Amateurs. The blonde scoffed in exasperation.

Eve then opened the second message, and let out a surprised 'Oh~!' at the message. It seemed her bank account had received a nice little donation for her recent capture. A fact that brought a smile to the girl's face.

"Good, with this I'll be able to prepare better before leaving." She spoke to nobody in particular, aside from her own two pokemon, who were now busy engaging in some playful wrestling, tag and tickle-fighting. As she put the phone back down into her pocket, and looked at the pair, she couldn't help but giggle warmly at the sight.

"Alright you two, that's enough. C'mon, we're gonna look around a little bit more, ask some of the locals a few questions, and then go get you two checked up at the Pokemon Center, okay?"

"Sentret!" The Sentret saluted in acknowledgement. Joltik... Chittered... As per usual.

Recalliing both critters to their respective orbs, Evelyn once again scanned the park. There were a few locals out and about. She didn't much care to approach the ones who were in the midst of battling or training, and instead opted to go and hail a pair who were seated on a bench, seemingly just relaxing and having a nice leisurely time. Inquiring about the local pokemon, events and general gossip, the only thing of any particular note she got out of them was the mention of some, supposed blue-fox that nobody had been able to catch... Which, sorta cast doubt on its entire existence to be frank... As well as there bieng some wierd noise coming from manhole covers and the sewers... Sewers... Why would anyone go there? Trudging around in... No. Not thinking about it. Get that image outta your mind right now. Moving on!

As the blonde shook her head to clear it from undesirable mental thoughts and images, and as she was walking along one of the park paths, a sudden rustling, foolowed by a sharp, loud noise, stopped her in her tracks. Out of the shrubs to her right, a new, unfamiliar face emerged. A face that was made of fluff and friend. Evelyn stared at the beast, and it stared back, happily wagging a tail and panting with an open mouth.

"Eh? ... H-hold on...!

She once again reached down into her pocket and retrieved the rotom phone. Fumbling a bit, she managed to find the dex-app and scan the creature. A Growlithe, it asid this was. Eve listened to the factoid blorted out by the phone, then looked back over the creature. It was just... Sitting there... Not too far from her. Wagging its tail. Looking at her with those big, adorable puppy-dog eyes... Did... Did it want something...?

"H-hello there... Aren't you a cutie."

A happy bark responded to her compliment.

.. And a metaphorical arrow pierced Evelyn's heart as she dramatically reeled backwards, clutching her chest and making a 'Gwaa-haaah!' noise. No, this wasn't... This... Couldn't... Two fluffy snuggle-bugs right after each other? Although... Comapred to Sentret, this one seeemed a bit more... Err.... Capable of taking care of itself.

Still!

"_{I... Want you...!}"

Phrasing aside, a fire had lit in Evelyn's golden eyes. Figuratively speaking, of course. It wasn't like the Growlithe had used Ember on her face. Yet. But no, this friendly little pupper who had trotted out of the brush to come up and greet he.r.. How could she possibly refused!? Plus! Unlike all the other pokemon in the park. like the pidoves and pidgeys and duckletts and... Whatever else! This was the first of this kind she'd seen. Which meant... Maybe it was rare? Was it a rare pokemon!? Had a rare pokemon just wandered out and presented itself on a silver platter to Evelyn? Was she that lucky!?

... Of course I am. I am the protagonist here, after all.

Repulsively self-centered inner monologues aside, Evelyn smiledd at the pupperoo, pointed dramatically at it and let out a:

"Alright, I will catch you, Growlithe!"

The pup barked happily, but then also rose from its sitting position, taking on a confident, battle-ready stance. It almost looked like it was happy to get a cjacme to fight... Wait, was that hwat it had been looking for? it'd appeared out here in the open just to get to throw some paws? Well, whatever! With a graceful twirl, Evelyn sent one of her two filled pokeballs flying, letting it land a small bit off from Growlithe, and again, the sound and sight of a pokemon emerging from within resounded.

Joltik appeared! ... Staring confusedly at this considerably larger, more menacing-looking pokemon before him now... And then he glanced back at Evelyn...

"C'mon, Joltik! You did great before, you can do it again!"

Confident chittering.

And so begins Evelyn's second attempt at capturing a new pokemon. This time aiming to nab a Wild Growlithe, using prettty much the same 'tactics' she'd utilized earlier.
Quick Capture Attempted.

---

"Mhm. I'm happy to have him. Phantump is my favorite, especially the shiny form." She said, a small smile on her face. Phantump heard this and let out a proud cry, puffing out his chest as he did so. Amelia then looked at Nils' partner. "Yours seems good. They look very calm. I hope the two of you get along and have a good time together."

Oh, so this Phantump was a special color too? And the girl's favorite no less! No wonder she'd perked up, that was a great start to her journey. Amelia's subtle praise also made Mudbray appear almost bashful, the pokemon ducking his head slightly while flicking his ears. Nils ruffled his mane in response. "Me too," Nils chuckled. "So far so good."

As for the the proposal Nils had made, while David had initially seemed into the idea of a battle based on his expression, it was Clarissa who accepted. Nils' smile grew wider even after being admonished by the professor. The boy held his hands up in a gesture meant to placate before the director stepped in. He definitely didn't want to get on Kapoc's bad side... so soon, at least, but preferably not at all.

"Not in the lab, got it," he said. And as the trio of adults left Nils waved after them too. If he hadn't been so eager to get started he would have liked to get to know Evig's heroes a little better, but he'd just have to do so another time.

Nils went to turn back to Clarissa as she seemed to be asking something of him, but she was caught by Kapoc as he left, and Nils himself by Faye, her newest companion Regan, and David approaching.

The intrepid photographer headed over to the small group forming where Nils had joined David, the smallest trainer with a hood pulled up, and the psychic that she'd barely registered throwing some rubbish away without lifting a finger. "Hey! So, we were going to head out. David, Nils, did you guys want to tag along with me and...-" she quickly checked her phone when she realized she hadn't caught the other girl's name before looking back up at the group - "Regan? Or were you going to set out with these two? Or with each other...? There's this cool fountain in the center of Grand Glory that I've been dying to get a picture of. So -" She looked at Regan. "That's our first stop, if you don't mind. But we'll head elsewhere where we can see if we can add to our team pretty shortly after that"

So they were heading out as well now! Sight seeing with a photographer as part of an entourage did sound like fun, however he had other plans now that Clarissa had agreed to a battle.

"Ah, I'll have to catch up with you all lat- oof-" He paused as David passed by and slapped his back. Nils shook his head good naturedly before continuing. "Sorry, like I'll said I'll catch up later. We've all got each other's contact so it'll be easy to find each other again. Have fun though. Oh- nice meeting you, Regan."

Finally he swiveled back around then to Clarissa and Amelia. Even if they were going to be the last trainers out of the lab, he shouldn't keep them waiting for long.

"Ahem, yes, we'd be happy to battle you still, if you're amenable to such-?"

"Of course I'm still 'amenable,' it was my suggestion, right?" He said with a teasing lilt to his voice, amused at her formal way of speaking. "I'm sure it won't take long to find a good place to do it in the city."

He glanced at Amelia, giving her an easy nod. "I'm 'amenable' to you watching too, if you wanted. Wouldn't be a problem at all."

Maybe she was interested in pokemon battles too? Well if she signed up for this pokedex project it made sense. Nils certainly wouldn't say no to another battle, though maybe he should try and catch another pokemon first so he didn't push his new partner too hard too fast. Nils returned the still unnamed Mudbray to his ball, storing it in his pocket for now. Then he swept an arm out towards the terrarium's exit. "C'mon, let's get going!"

---

After familiarizing himself with Mudbray's capabilities as they walked, at least as far as what the pokedex app stated, Nils felt ready enough. With so many people and pokemon in this city, there were plenty of spots where they could compete against one another. Since Nils wasn't picky, any old spot was good if it was open and out of the way.

He stood opposite Clarissa across the chosen space, pokeball once more in his hand and his mouth in the shape of a grin. Though Mudbray was his first pokemon, this was not technically Nils' first pokemon battle (even if the first one hadn't gone well at all). It was why he'd specifically challenged the two he figured were the most likely to have battled before as well. Alright, here we go. I'll do it just like gramps.

The donkey pokemon was released from his pokeball, standing firm in front of his trainer. He let out a snort. He was ready.

"Count us down?" Nils asked Amelia. As soon as she gave the word, the battle would begin.

With some early levelling done, Steph felt quite content with herself right now. Dusk seemed pretty capable in a fight, but she was aware of the advantage she held over these Pokemon so she wasn't going to let it go to her head. While not the most studied on pokemon battles and their intricacies, she had watched more than enough of her fair share of League Battles in general amongst other things to know a fair chunk of what to expect in general. Being part Ghost gave her the edge over normal types, it was one of the reasons she was taking the chance to level him up while she could.

Most certainly taking note of the Machops as she passed, she figured she would catch one on her way back into the City itself. She had always wanted a Machamp, and she wondered if any of them would be up to an arm wrestle? It wouldn't hurt to try and see if they would, otherwise just battling and catching one was high on her agenda. Of the two cat-like pokemon, Purloin didn't really get her attention. She might catch one but she wasn't exactly keen on them, as for the Espurr, a little more interested and would maybe try her luck but neither had caught her attention quite like the Machop had.

Though upon hearing about that battling gauntlet...that certainly got her attention. As did everything really, like that gremlin tearing it up in the trash, that blue fox sounded interesting and something messing with someones apartments power made her ears twitch. The Port thing also sounded like something she would certainly look at when she got there. But that gauntlet? That was right up her alley. She would need another two pokemon though, so she would absolutely need that Machop for sure. She just had to find a second pokemon....

And speaking of getting her attention, the wafting scent of hot food certainly caught hers and as she followed it to its source she gave the truck a look-over. Without a word shared as she made eye contact with the owner, she simply nodded as the food was handed to her and she would happily begin munching away without questioning the method of payment on offer here. We don't talk about that.

Eventually arriving at the Harbour as she ate while she walked, she took a moment to appreciate the scent of the ocean. It hadn't been as nice when she was on the boat of course, but on land? She could appreciate it. Though during this appreciation as her attention was being split between what was happening between some individuals in one part of the square and what she believed to be the dodgy pokemon seller in the other, she found her food was being targeted.

"Oi ya bloimay feelthy scohlywahg, buggah off!" Presuming her simply telling it to go away wouldn't work, which lets face it it wouldn't, she gave a glance to Dusk and gave the thought of battling it a real go. She was at a severe typing disadvantage though, and she didn't want to throw Dusk unnecessarily into the fray like that at this present moment. She did need some more pokemon to take on that gauntlet though...but was it worth it?


For Dusks part he seemed keen to fight it, making little shadow boxing motions towards the bird as it circled them and came back in again. Bah, fuck it! Lets fucking do this! Not exactly the Pokemon she wanted as her first catch, but a Wingull wasn't too bad anyway yeah?

"Igeht Dusk, laets geh' ya a bud ya heah me? Hiieh' him weeth an Astonish as he swoops on in, thaen a Smog whoile he recovahs frawm thaht leettle suhproise." Deciding to just forgo any further thought over just simply acting, Steph would give Dusk his instructions as she would pull out one of the Pokeballs handed to her before. She would need to chip away at it a bit more no doubt before she felt confident in throwing the Pokeball, maybe exchanging a couple more turns of Ember and trying to dodge what she presumed was Water Gun it would have in its arsenal. She had half an idea to use Smog as a bit of a smokescreen, but she didn't fancy her chances by the seaside, nor did she want to interrupt passerbys too much right now.


[The idea here is to go a quick catch by whittling away at it after hopefully catching it offguard when it swoops down to try and steal some food, maybe even using the food to distract it so Dusk can get his hit in and then throwing a pokeball when it seems low on health.]

After this, she would make her way over to see what the stall owner had to offer, leaving the battling commotion for afterwards.

A lot was happening and it was very hard for Amelia to keep track of it all. Some people left quickly, some stayed behind to talk and plan to travel together or to battle each other, and others just... did things she couldn't really keep track of with everything else going on. So, she focused on the things and people that seemed to directed at her, which where Nils, Clarissa, and the battle they were planning on having. It was the talk of this battle that seemed draw the adults attention, as the new trainers were quickly told that battle in the lab would not be tolerated. This was something the young medium could understand. Taking note of this, it seemed both Clarissa and Nils were set to leave, inviting Amelia to come along and watch the battle.

Amelia actually was surprised that both of them would invite her along and it showed in the shock on her face but it quickly passed as she broke into a smile and nodded.
"Okay! I'd be happy to watch!" She said happily before everyone began getting kicked out of the lab by Professor Kopac. As the man moved to return to his studies (or maybe his nap?), the young child moved over and gave him a quick hug. "Thank you for Phantump. I'll be sure to take care of him."

With that, she moved back towards Clarissa and Nils, giving the Professor one last wave good-bye before following the two older trainers outside and into the city. She stuck to staying behind them as they walked, trying to not fall too far behind but maintaining a respectable distance, as she still wasn't sure how the two really felt about her. They seemed friendly enough but they were still strangers and she didn't want to do anything that might make them dislike her. As they walked, she would look around at the city, actually taking it in now and enjoying the sights, occasionally letting out a gasp or excited cry when something caught her interest. All the while, she hoped that her sixth sense would pick up on a Ghost-type, as she was eager to make more friends.

Eventually, Nils and Clarissa would find a place to battle. Once they did, Amelia would move off to the side, looking for a place to sit down and watch until Nils asked if she would count them down. She was surprised once again but quickly nodded and moved to stand between the two trainers and their pokemon but with a bit of distance so she would, hopefully, avoid being caught in any crossfire, looking a bit nervous. She took a deep breath before speaking.
"This will be a one-on-one battle between Mister Nils and Miss Clarissa. The first trainer who's pokemon is unable to battle will be the loser. Are you both ready?" She announced, similar to what she had heard on TV. Once they had both set out their pokemon, she made one last annoucement. "BEGIN!"

Despite how rough Slayer was from the battle, both he and Jason jumped in celebration when the Pidgey stayed in the ball and the aspiring champion rushed to pick up the Pokeball, grinning from ear to ear. "Good job, buddy! The first of our new partners, though we should definitely get you to a Pokecenter..." Slayer was still enthusiastic as he indicated that we should let the Pidgey out and Jason grins with a rueful shake of his head. "Alright, alright, might as well. Hope they don't take getting caught personally..." Spinning the ball on his finger tip before catching it, he tosses the ball and lets the Pidgey out.

"Pidge? Pidgey!" The normal and flying type flapped her wings slightly as she looked around and then at Slayer. "Pidgey? Pidge Pi Pidgey."

"Ra Ralts. Ra Ral Ral Ralts." The conversation is brief and the Pidgey looks at Jason expectantly and hops over closer to him.

"Well, that wasn't too bad...Alright, let's give you a name...Pidgey are known to wander...how about...Rover?" The Pidgey seems to think it over for a moment before nodding.

"Pidgey!" Jason laughs at the enthusiastic acceptance of the name and pats the bird-like Pokemon's head before recalling both of his partners.

"Right, need to get Slayer to a Pokecenter, but first..." He began properly talking with people around the park and, as a result, got some good information for his efforts, learning about sightings of what could easily be some rare Pokemon, or at least out of place ones, though the crying in the sewers sounded like it needed investigated quickly. After making a trip to the Pokecenter, and getting scolded by Nurse Joy for letting Slayer get so roughed up and told to take better care of his Pokemon, he returned to the park and let both his partners out of their Pokeballs. "Alright, Rover, Slayer and I will take the ground, I need you up in the air. We're gonna try and find that mysterious blue fox."

"Pidge!" Rover lets out a call before soaring up into the sky, leaving Jason and Slayer to start walking around, watching for tell tale signs of the mysterious Pokemon.

Mentions: @Baraquiel

Audrey quickly was outpaced by the kid, she stopped to put Rift back into his pokeball as it seemed the little trickster was getting scared. She mumbled "How badly does this guy want a purse..!" before sprinting again trying to catch up, "Man, kids are fast!". She stopped as Archie was gonna do something, confused by the kid grabbing a pokeball.

Audrey was shocked as Archie threw the pokeball straight to the man's head, with perfect percision and...Should've expected THAT. Audrey sighed as the pokeball missed badly, she continued her chase but could NOT hold her laugh when the thief fell due to the pokeball "PFFT— hehe!" She catched up to Archie before trying to get the purse back. Unfortunately the thief managed to dash away before she could get the purse back, Audrey and Archie chased the man to an alleyway with a dead end. "Your trapped here...with us!" Audrey grinned as the scumbag challenged her and Archie.

Her rotom phone dinged as Sven took out a hip..popotas(??) and cacnea,
DING!
#331-Cacnea, the Cactus Pokemon. It prefers harsh environments, such as deserts. It can survive for 30 days on water stored in its body. Its yellow flowers bloom once a year.
"A cacnea?..Never seen one!"
DING!
#449-Hippopotas, the Hippo Pokemon. It shuts its nostrils tight, then travels through sand as if walking. It shrouds itself in sand to ward off germs.
"Honestly I never really knew how to say that pokemon's name."
The hippopotas conjured up a sandstorm, sand lashing out of its holes and into the air, the cacnea seemed to glow a sandy beige before Adurey's phone rung— Hippopotas' Sand Stream ability has created a Sandstorm!
The Sandstorm has activated Cacnea's Sand Veil ability! Cacnea's evasion has increased!

I've got this...! Audrey sighed, striking a pose before throwing out her pokeball, "I'm counting on you, Rift!" her heart raced as Rift popped out of his pokeball, "Zor...!" Rift yelped at the cacnea, "Now Rift! Show that cacnea whos boss! Use sucker punch!"

"HA! Eat dirt, sucka!"" Archie yelled triumphantly when his plan kind of worked in their favor towards the end. It's so satisfying seeing a a smug person get instantly hit by karma. Even Bravos couldn't help but giggle when the thief tripped on the Pokéball. This gave them the chance to catch up to him and trap him in an alleyway.

"Wha- You really wanna battle? Fine, let's do this!" Archie said defiantly as he and Audrey get ready to fight. He looked at Bravos and grinned at his Pokémon. Bravos looked a little hesitant at Archie but seeing the excitement and the determination in its Trainer's eyes made it inspired too. They both nodded in agreement. "A true hero always defeats the bad guys! Let's do this, Bravos!"

"Ches! Ches!" Bravos the Chespin hopped onto the battle as the sandstorm raged around them. Their Rotom phones hovered before them and gave them valuable information regarding their opponents.

"Okay, uh..." As Audrey directed her Zorua to attack, Archie took a quick look in the Rotom to see the moves his Chespin currently knows. "Got it! Bravos, use Vine Whip on Hippopotas!"

"Ches... Pin!" Bravos released two green vines from its body, then used the vines to attack the Hippopotas at a distance.

Regan Calhoun

@Sanguine Rose@Zapdos

There were a number of rumors to be heard from around the city. Only a few piqued her interest as something she had a reasonable lead for. She posed for Faye’s picture casually, at the fountain, and approached the photographer afterward after calling Kaebe to her side, “anywhere else you want to head, Faye? I’m going to check out some rumors about an apartment complex with power issues. If I’m lucky, it’ll be a pokemon causing the problem. If I’m not lucky.. I’ll be able to check out the roof. I wonder if different birds hang out, up there?” She turned and eyed the critter pokemon that were hanging around. None of them stood out to her. David had been rather interested in pidgey, though. Did he like birds? Regan turned a smile to the boy in question, “Wanna see if we can get up on a roof, David?” His pokèball had recalled to his hand, before. What kind of useful things could this boy do?

That blue fox sounded interesting, but how could she approach something that could sense her and would run away? She would definitely want to take on the trainer school gauntlet, but she’d need more pokemon. If the apartments got her a member for her team, then she’d only need one more after that. Perhaps she should go for four or five, though? She’d just have to see.

There were other things, too. The fisherman at the pond, the crying in the sew-.. Nng, maybe she wouldn’t go in the sewers. Surely, someone else would investigate. Maybe someone hired by the city. Or a paid Ranger.

Faye could join her or not, but Regan knew where she was going. She needed more pokemon to take on that gauntlet. If there was a pokemon causing power issues, was it an electric type? Or maybe a ground type? Either would be useful. She looked at Kaebe, considering his Dark/Rock typing.

Of course, that was assuming it was a pokemon. With any luck, there would be a maintenance person. If she explained she was checking for a potential pokemon as the cause, maybe this potential maintenance worker would show her around. That was a big if, but it was a known issue, right? It sounded like it had been happening for a while.

Kaebe took her hand gently in his mouth to catch her attention as they approached an intersection. She looked down at him, surprised by the sudden grip on her hand. He could be very gentle, it seemed. Made sense, with his stubby little arms. His mouth was his most useful hand. “I’m gonna have to find you a playmate of some kind, I think. Maybe some kinda.. geodude? Hmm..” She pulled up her Pokèphone and went into the pokedex app. Was this thing blank, or could she look up pokemon information from a previous record? She rubbed Kaebe’s neck with her free hand as they continued to walk along.

[Investigate Power Outages]

David Wayne





@Sanguine Rose@CitrusArms

She hadn't seemed too interested in the Pidgey, but it was her loss. At least she introduced herself.

“Regan.” She’d been too caught off-guard by his display to offer more. Her Tyrunt nudged against her hand, “oh, and this is Kaebe. Isn’t he cute?” She smiled at her starter and knelt down to give him more pets.

“Pretty cool, yeah!” David had offered in response. Not like the Pidgey though. Of course not. The dino didn't have the mental connection of oh right most people aren't psychics he just remembered. The man shrugged, then moved on figuratively and literally with the team towards the park.

It was a nice little place, with different Pokemon. The Machop was familiar - he had seen them at a place back home that always seemed to be under construction - but the others were new. The fountain itself was neat, and he helped Faye with pictures however she asked. He kind of wanted to splash around in it like he saw on a certain TV sitcom, but a certain Snubbull caught his attention. It didn't look wild like the other Pokemon he had seen. He wanted to ask something; another member of their group beat him to it though.

“Wanna see if we can get up on a roof, David?”

Having not heard the preceding parts of her statement, he didn't realize she was talking about a power outage.

“Great idea! We can probably find his owner from the high ground,” he said, referring to the pink Pokemon. Or was it a her? Whichever, really.

Turning back to the Snubbull, he asked it “are you lost? Would you like us to help you find your trainer?”

David would help the creature if it wanted help, otherwise he would simply follow Regan's lead in the building.

[Investigate power outage/help the Pokemon]

---

"Perfect!" Nils called out to Amelia with a smile, but he quickly set his eyes back on his and Mudbray's opponents. The battle had now officially started, after all!

"Start with iron defense!" His pokemon brayed and hopped forward, and when its hooves hit the ground it took a sturdy stance. Mudbray had gained a thin layer of mud since first being released back in the lab, and the coating hardened over his skin in preparation for the fight.

A sturdy-looking Pokemon indeed, but Clarissa had an idea come to mind as well at least. Hopefully it would be a good enough start, or at least...well, they'd have to see in the end. All the same, they couldn't waste this chance to prep as well at the start of the match. Thus the psychic would call out a command of her own-

"Use Defense Curl!"

His body curling up a bit where he stood, staring at his opponent with both determination and careful eyes, Sir Lopsalot's defensive power rose.

Nils grinned. So they both had the same strategy! To him, it meant Clarissa was taking the battle as seriously as he was. Good! Even a low stakes battle like this should have your all put into it. With both pokemon braced and ready, now was the time for real action it seemed.

"Go with mud-slap!"

"Bwaaa!"

Mudbray charged towards Sir Lopsalot, stopping short only to turn and flick his legs out and splash a heavy heap of the mud gathered on his body off at the buneary.

Clarissa, for her part, kept her stoic poker face as Nils grinned back at her. He seemed...excited. A bit like Sir Lopsalot had been to come and battle in the first place. All the same, he went with an attack of his own as the Mudbray charged forward to attack with a Mud-Slap. A bit of a slow move, perhaps, but speed was among the things Sir Lopsalot did best!

"Jump over that attack and use Power-Up Punch!"

The Buneary, matching his trainer's timing, leapt up and over with some agility as the Mud-Slap was thrown at him. His body twisted a little in the air, though, and as he landed he would be facing the rear of his opponent. However, his little right fist had already begun to glow as his little paw clenched tightly in preparation.

"Bun!"

Surging forward, and wasting no time, the Buneary attacked the rear of the opponent with a Power-Up Punch!

It connected, the fuzzy fist striking Mudbray's flank before he could do anything else. Mudbray lurched forward slightly in surprise and went to turn around, only for his trainer's next words to reach his ears.

"Stand your ground and use rock smash!" Nils called. Mudbray stopped turning and instead planted his front legs, giving Sir Lopsalot only a short window to react before the donkey pokemon's rear legs kicked out forcefully towards the buneary.

The Buneary's attack rose as power surged through it upon its little fist making contact with the Mudbray. In Clarissa's eyes, this was a good and a nessecity to boot. The Rock Smash would, however, be barely dodged as the Buneary leapt aside. Part of the attack would even graze a little fur on his left side to boot as Sir Lopsalot moved to dodge out of the way.

A close call!

"Do it again, and then keep following up with it!"

Successive attacks would raise Sir Lopsalot's attack, pushing the enemy further and further as qwuickly as they could before...well, before potentially taking a bad hit. Speed. Strength. They had to rely on this right now if the opponent was as sturdy as it seemed. But it wasn't a guarantee they'd win either. However, they also couldn't stop and think if they wanted to switch plans either for now...so onward it was with this strategy for now.

In response to his trainer's call, Sir Lopsalot would rush in to attack the Mudbray again with yet another Power-Up Punch. He'd likewise keep trying to do this, dodging or leaping about/over the Mudbray to 'keep it up'. Like falling into a rhythmn of sorts, really, of attacking and bobbing and weaving to try to keep the pressure on. He...he could do this, he had to!

Even if Clarissa hadn't made Sir Lopsalot's strategy clear, Nils foresaw the bunny pokemon taking advantage of its higher speed and reliable way to keep getting stronger. The Power-Up Punch made contact yet again, making Mudbray stumble, and yet when Mudbray moved to ram its head into Sir Lopsalot in retaliation the little rabbit easily hopped out of the way before coming back in for another strike. Nils called out where he expected the buneary to punch from, but Mudbray was just too slow to dodge these swift attacks. And they were steadily growing more powerful.

However, something was happening to Mudbray as well. The coating of dirt on his body was slowly hardening every time his body was struck. Maybe it was being stimulated by the attacks and thickening in response? Nils would have expected that the flurry of ever-stronger punches would have worn Mudbray down more even after opening with iron defense, especially as Mudbray had been pushed back a fair bit by now, but the hard, thin shell of mud seemed to be protecting him. Every time Sir Lopsalot attacked and got stronger, Mudbray's defenses rose with it. Ah, so that's Mudbray's ability! Nils thought.

But they couldn't just let Mudbray keep taking hits. Damage was damage nonetheless, and eventually they would lose if it piled up high enough. After taking yet another Power-Up Punch, Mudbray let out a whine and a snort as it regained its footing. Once more his ears flicked when Nils ordered a change in their own strategy.

"Run, Mudbray!"

The pokemon didn't stop to think about the command, just trusting his trainer and following it. Mudbray charged away from Sir Lopsalot, which would make the buneary give chase if it wanted to keep on the attack, hopefully forcing an angle of attack that would be easy for even Mudbray to see through: from behind him. And then, "Stop and use Mud-Slap right now!"

Sir Lopsalot had fallen into the rhythmn, weaving and leaping to get about the opponent to land more Power-Up Punches, but the opponent seemed to be getting tougher even as it took damage yet still. But in Clarissa's mind, well, it would only be so long before the Mudbray's defenses quit rising or they maybe got a lucky critical blow in, yes? In theory. But they couldn't stop keeping up the pressure...that was something the two of them were in-sync about at this point in time. They had to not let up, not even in pursuing the opponent, lest the opponent got a chance to get a chance to regroup or get out-of-position to-

*THWAP*

Despite his attempt to pursue the seemingly fleeing Mudbray, Sir Lopsalot would find himself forced to leap horizontally at the rear of the Mudbray again in order to try to land a blow. Yet he was mid-leap when the sudden counterattack was made, now, taking a face full of mud that stopped the little Pokemon suddenly and sent him flipping right onto his back. It was a real Mud-Slap to the face of he and his trainer's plan of action to be sure...

"Bun bun..."

Sir Lopsalot tried to wipe off his face after rushing to get back up on his feet, even if not all the mud could be removed as quick as he was trying to get it off, but as he tried to launch a Power-Up Punch at the opponent right afterward anyways and was attempting to get back in the groove of his prior flurry of attacks once more-

"!!!"

...It was going to barely miss, and was still aimed at the rear end of the Mudbray. Clarissa could see it. Oh no!

There it was, the turning point! Nils could see it too. "It's aiming at your left!"

And with that call out, Mudbray shifted to the right instead, swinging around to face Sir Lopsalot after the buneary's near miss. As it moved Nils gave his next order of, "one more mud-slap!" and Mudbray reared up to fling even more sight-obscuring mud at his opponent.

Hit in the rear, Sir Lopsalot was slapped by the mud as he careened narrowly past his target. He hit the ground and rolled a little bit, before slowly he stood up once more to wipe his little face off. Muddy and not too happy with the whole affair, however, he seemed eager to get back to things once more. It seemed he was prepared to do the same thing again, taking the gamble of acccuracy once more, except when the voice of his trainer cut in somewhat abruptly.

"Wait...clean your face off first this time."

Letting out a small sigh as he did so, if anyone was close enough to hear, the Buneary would take the moment to wipe his face off and eyes out better this time around. So muddy. He didn't mind mud, but this was annoying! A tough opponent though, that was for sure. Good. Though as he wiped his eyes clear, and despite the now more labored nature of his breathing, he looked back at his opponent with a direct and determined stare.

Meanwhile, Clarissa would glance over at the Mudbray once more. The opponent was tough....durable even, though it was of note that both Pokemon had taken damage thus far in this battle despite that. Sir Lopsalot had the speed advantage, but the defense was in favor of the Mudbray. Hmm. they had to end this decisively, as decisively as possible at that. But with those Mud-Slaps, they couldn't risk another miss and further hampering the accuracy of Sir Lopsalot's attacks by being too fancy this time around.

There was only one thing to do-

"Get ready for one last Power-Up Punch, this time....head on!"

Straightening his little back up, Sir Lopsalot clenched his little left paw this time as it began to glow with an awesome power.

While Sir Lopsalot was wiping to clear himself from the mud, his opponent took the opportunity to have a breather. Trying to keep up with the buneary on top of withstanding the attacks was wearing on him. Nils studied the situation during the lull, and though his competitive side told him to take advantage of Sir Lopsalot's distraction... he didn't issue a new order. Not yet. He was having fun with this battle, and even though Mudbray was tiring it didn't seem like the pokemon was having a bad time either. He looked at Mudbray, and Mudbray glanced back at him, an understanding passing between them. And then, Clarissa and Sir Lopsalot were ready to continue, and with an entirely new strategy- interesting!

"Head on, huh?"

Nils grinned. "We can't just not meet them, right, buddy?"

Mudbray let out an affirmative snort, his tail wagging slightly. If Mudbray was up for it then that was that!

"A direct attack with rock smash!" Nils called out. Mudbray stamped his front hoof on the ground once before charging to meet Sir Lopsalot, and turning at the last moment to throw a kick out to meet the buneary's punch!

As the two Pokemon leapt at each other, their attacks clashed with a thundering crash! Well, at least by the standards of smaller Pokemon if naught else. Yet the impact of their clash would kick up a cloud of dust from the ground as a critical blow was landed by one of the two sides. Paw met hoof. Mettle met mettle. Determination clashed with determination. But who would come out on top? Who would be left standing? Which Pokemon would emerge victorious from the first battle of these Pokemon and trainers' lives? And, frankly, who would clean up the-

"...Buuuuuuuuun..."

As the dust settled, one could see both Pokemon standing there, scuffed and breathing and tired. Yet, despite trying to stay standing on his now wobbly little legs with all he had in him...the Buneary would fall flat on his little back in the end with a soft but tired call. It was like a tired teenager moaning out in complaint as they collapsed back onto a bed at the end of the day almost. Tired, not happy with it somehow, but defeated all the same.

"..."

They'd lost. Win or lose, though Clarissa felt something odd. Almost like a sense of...relief? No, it was something else.

But whether she was able to get a good tell on the emotions or not right now, affter lightly biting her lower lip for a moment a light sigh escaped the psychic's lips as she calmly walked forward to pick up her tired Pokemon in her arms. She was ginger and gentle in picking him up, admittedly, though after picking him up she walked back over to Nils before extending a hand to him to shake as she nestled the battle-worn Buneary in her left arm. Sir Lopsalot, for his part though, would just tiredly cross his little arms and-...w-was he adorably pouting just a little bit?!

"That was a good match, Nils."

Nils had knelt down and beckoned Mudbray back over to him once the outcome of the battle was confirmed. He'd taken Mudbray's face in his hands and smushed the pokemon's cheeks, rubbing his partner and whispering congratulations. Nils was a confident young man, but somehow the fact that he and Mudbray had won that bout had taken him by surprise. When you lost way more challenges than you won, that was only natural. That surprise didn't last for very long though, elation quickly sweeping it away.

"Great job! You're a tough one," Nils told his pokemon. "I can tell you'll get even tougher. Aha, a strong pokemon like you needs a strong name... how does Tors sound?"

The nickname was pronounced like Nils' own, the final letter almost silent. It was indeed a short, strong name. Mudbray seemed to like it. The newly named Tors stuck out his tongue and licked a stripe up his trainer's face.

As Clarissa approached Nils stood back up, taking the girl's hand in kind and giving it a firm shake, once up and down. Hopefully she didn't mind the fact that his hand now also had a thin coating of swiftly drying dirt on it thanks to Tors.

"It was. Thanks for indulging me," he said. He then glanced at the tuckered out buneary. The expression on Sir Lopsalot's face was hilariously cute. Poor pokemon, hopefully his pride wasn't wounded too badly. "You're a mighty little buneary. We couldn't have asked for a better sparring partner, right?"

Tors nodded his head tiredly. Not wanting to tire him out anymore, Nils produced Tors' pokeball and returned the mudbray to it.

"We should probably get these guys healed up," Nils suggested. Which meant at the very least his next immediate destination was decided. Briefly he wondered if there was more than one pokecenter in a big city like this. He didn't make to move away from the area immediately though, especially if Clarissa -and their audience of one- were inclined to head there too.

Speaking of Amelia, Nils glanced over at the girl. He'd been focused on the battle so he hadn't caught much of any of her reaction, but maybe they'd be able to see it on her face now. Hopefully it had been as exciting to watch as it had been to participate in.

@Crimson Flame

Thus the royal prince's first ever wild Pokemon battle commenced! Valerian's Cutiefly fluttered its little wings quickly, kicking up a gust of sparkling, shimmering pink wind forward at the sentient bulb. The Petilil was blasted back, wincing slightly in pain, but otherwise it had not received that much damage. While Cutieflies did have okay special attack for this early in the game, Petilils were also quite defensive stat wise so at the moment a move like Fairy Wind wouldn't do much though the point was to catch the Pokemon, not knock it out.

The Petilil let out a war cry and its body were enveloped by a green light. It was if it grew larger, albeit slightly, but it also looked stronger. It sure wasn't going to make catching it an easy task for the prince.

Valerian's Rotom Phone hovered next to him and said the following:



The Petilil shot out a red of light from the leaf on its head straight towards Valerian's Cutiefly.

How does Valerian react?

---

@Xaltwind

Evelyn was certainly correct that catching a Growlithe was going to be a bit more difficult than catching a Sentret thought was that was due to two things: how close they were in level and the type disadvantage that the fire-type had over the bug-type. However, the Joltik just beats out the Growlithe in terms of speed and would get the first blow with Electroweb, which did a decent amount of damage though when the Growlithe retaliated with Ember and inflicted a heaping amount of damage on her Pokemon. If Evelyn ordered her Joltik to use Double Team then it would at the very least would make it more difficult for the Growlithe to hit it, which it did. Chipping away at it with Fury Cutter as to not knock it out brought it to low enough health that she could attempt to catch it.

With a Pokeball and a dream, she threw it and absorbed the fire pup into it in a beam of red light. It fell to the ground and started to shake.

It rolled once...

It rolled twice...

It rolled thrice!



Also...



Joltik is at low health.

So, what does Evelyn intend to do now?

---

@Lunarlord34

So as soon as the shitbird swooped down, the little spectral candlestick that could jumped up at the Wingull and used Astonish, which was just an attack in a startling fashion. The narrator will leave that up to its trainer to describe it because there no doubt that they can scar me more than I ever could. Whatever Dusk had done certainly worked because the Wingull flinched in shock, leaving it open to get pelted by non-super effective sparks of flame and was inflicted with the burn status.

The chip stealer retaliated with Water Gun, shooting a pressurized stream of water at the sentient candle and hitting it square in the face for half of his health, but it hardly mattered. With a Pokeball and a spite, she threw it and absorbed the audacious bird into it in a beam of red light. It fell to the ground and started to shake.

It rolled once...

It rolled twice...

It rolled thrice!



"Um, are you okay?" Steph would hear behind her and if she turned around, she would need to crane her neck to look up at the concerned citizen. The person in question was a sweet looking young woman around Steph's age with shoulder length black hair and ruby red eyes. She also happened to be over six feet tall.

"That Wingull really was persistent. You handled it pretty well... Though it looks like your Pokemon really took a hit. Poor guy. Do you mind if I patch him up?" She asked looking at the shiny Litwick with a worried look.

What does Steph do?

---

@Zarkun

Now how in the world does someone find a Pokemon that is able to evade people before they could even get a proper look at it? Well, using a flying-type to survey the park from above was a good start though the park was large, quite large. Walking around aimlessly led to a whole lot of nothing at first though as they approached a much more forested area of the park, which really meant there were more trees clustered together than usual, they saw something. A little blue blur quickly ducked behind a tree.

However, if Jason and his Pokemon gave chase they could get close and then it would turn into a blur again, and again, and again. Each time he thought that there was a moment of success, the little blue thing would just slip away as if it knew exactly where Jason was the entire time. If Sisyphus had a boulder, Jason had a blue fox leading him by the nose the entire time until it would have left him and his Pokemon panting with exhaustion and perhaps just a tad frustration.

"Oh dear, it looks like you haven't had much success either." A creaky voice said from behind and if he turned around, the young man would see this old, unassuming woman that stood at about 4'5 that radiated sweet old lady energy. She looked like this fragile thing and yet she stood there with confidence as someone experienced.



She hummed in thought and then said, "You're going to have to change your approach to catch that Pokemon, dearie. Though you strike me the type of man that moves first and think later."

How does Jason respond?

---

@baraquiel@Gremlin

And off with a spring Rift threw a surprising strike at the Cacnea before it could make its first move. Rift swung its paw at the sentient cactus though it jumped back to avoid the swipe with an ease that seemed unnatural for something as round and as aerodynamic as this spiny looking bastard. When it landed, it gave Rift the biggest shit eating grin that a sentient cactus with a sunken-eyes and creepy and literal holes for a mouth could give.

Nea nea. It motioned tauntingly at the Zoroa with its hand (stump?)

"Cacnea! Use Poison Sting!" Ordered Sven. The Cacnea held up its arms and the prickly needles on its arms began to glow with a light purple hue before it shot a volley of purple needles at the fox.

Meanwhile, Bravos at his trainer's orders grew vines grew vines from its back and proceeded to whip the sand hippo from a distance. The Hippopotas cried out and recoiled from the pain from the super effective lashings it received from the Chespin.

"Hippopotas, bite down on the vines and give it a whirl!" The ground type snarled in pain before its massive mouth bit down on Bravos' vines and the next thing the little Chespin knew it was being hurled towards one of the alley walls.

While they were not receiving direct damage from their opponent's Pokemon, they were still receiving passive damage. The sandstorm that was summoned by the Hippopotas was slowly chipping away at both Bravos and Rift.

How do Archie and Audrey react to this situation?

---

@Zapdos@CitrusArms

So no one told you that life would be this way.

So off to solve someone else's problems! While David did try to get the Snubbull to come along with them in hopes that they could find its trainer it was too taken by Faye's camera. Agreeing to meet up later, if possible (due to rl stuff), David and Regan were off to find the apartment complex that was having electrical issues. Let's just assume that they asked for the address of the apartment, otherwise they would be looking around for months for that specific apartment.

Eventually they arrived outside a rather ritzy looking apartment building. One of those super modern looking buildings that looked more like they belonged on a movie set than a place that people actually lived in not just because it looked like living there would mean paying with one of your kidneys, but because it was so modern that it had no personality, sterile. Upon entering the sliding glass doors, they arrived in a lobby that looked as luxuriously bland as one could have imagined it to be. It was just beige, white, and black as far as the eye could see with furniture that seemed really uncomfortable to sit on. At least you thought it was furniture. It was minimalist in the worst way possible.

There was a front desk manned by a man that looked like he had air of undeserved self-importance and dressed like the way this lobby looked.

"Can I help you two? You... don't look like you'd know anyone here." If it sounded like an insult, rest assuredly, it most certainly was.

Amelia's cheeks turned red at Nil's compliment as she stood back once the battle commenced, Phantump floating by her side and watching with equal interest. Both trainers started out by increasing their defenses but both quickly switched to offense. It started greatly in Clarissa's favor, with Sir Lopsalot using it's superior speed and mobility to land some hits and under most circumstances, she knew Power-Up Punch would start swinging things in the female trainers favor. But she noted that despite powering up, Sir Lopsalot's blows never seemed to deal more damage.
Mudbray's defenses seem to be increasing with each hit. It's a bad match-up for Miss Clarissa by the looks of it. Amelia thought to herself as she watched the battle with a certain intensity. Even if she wasn't in the battle herself, she could still try to learn something from what was happening in front of her. It was hard to tell who would win, the fast and acrobatic Sir Lopsalot or the grounded but tanky Mudbray. It would eventually come on to a single clash but Amelia had a feeling she knew who would come out on top at that point. It was as she suspected and Mudbray came out on top, it Sir Lopsalot being knocked out. Remembering her roll as judge, she stepped forward. "Sir Lopsalot is unable to battle. Mud... Tors is the winner!"

Her face red yet again, she slowly moved over to the older trainers as they talked about what to do next. She heard Nils mentioning getting Sir Lopsalot and Tors healed. She knew there was a pokecenter nearby but she didn't say anything in regards to that as she was certain Clarissa knew where it was. Instead, she focused on the battle.
"It... it was a good battle. I... I think it was... a bit in Tors' favor though. Tors is studier and only got more sturdy as the battle went on. Sir Lopsalot would need to move more unpredictably to make use of it's better speed. But Tors had a move that had a type-advantage against Sir Lopsalot while Sire Lopsalot didn't have one for Tors... S-sorry." She said, mumbling the apology while looking at the ground, her face growing steadily redder.

---

---

Evelyn had watched her little champ put up a great fight against the new fluffy adversary. Despite being at a disadvantage, as fire had this funny little tendency to severely harm bugs, her Joltik didn't look phased in the slightest!

Or, well... He hadn't... Until he got singed with a face-full-of-fiery embers... At which point the spazzy little electro-spider was quite verbal about his discontented and dire situation, not to mention the flailing of many legs and running around in a circle, trying to get the air to somehow soothe the searing pain of having just been lightly toasted.

Letting out a gasp, Evelynh ad, more on reflex than any sort of elaborate, strategic cunning or planning, told Joltik to use its Double-Team, which seemed to have saved the little guy from getting even crispier. ANd in the end, Growlithe was worn down enough for the blonde to toss her ball with a graceful flourish, and once again acquire a brand new member for her growing team!

She smiled happily when the pokeball stopped shaking, and let out a relieved sigh.

Then quickly power-walked over to Joltik and swept the little trooper up in her arms.

"You were wonderful, Joltik! You're the best."

The little bug chittered happily, but not with his usual energy and gusto. it seemed the two back-to-back fights had worn the little guy out, not to mention him being plenty hurt form this last scuffle. Evelyn looked him over as she nestled the little creature in her arms, making sure there were no lingering issues like a Burn. But it seemed, for now, all this little fellow would need was some good old fashioned TLC from a reputable PokeCenter.

But, first thing's first! She walked over, after putting Joltik back down, and plucked the freshly used pokeball off the gorund. Then, with a spinning flourish...

"Alright, Growlithe, come on out! You too, Sentret!"

... She threw two pokeballs at once, wht a move! The familiar sound and light of the technological spheres resounded, and soon the two fuzzy critters were sitting there on the grass, right infront of the blonde and her spider.

"Sentret~!"

The Growlithe barked happily, wagging its tail in a sluggish, rhythmic way. At the sound of the new pokemon's voice, Sentret turned around, and leapt onto its own tail in surprise - not having realized there was a newcomer already. This made Joltik... Laugh...? It ... It was kinda hard to tell... But it was letting out some rather quirky chittering. At the sight of the happy bug, Growlithe rose form its sitting state, plotted over and gave the little electro-rascal a big, sloppy, wet dog-lick. Which caused the little one to flip over on its back and enter a state of panic yet again, as it flailed wildly with its small legs in the air.

Now it was Sentret's turn to laugh. Which prompted Growlithe to wander up next to the brown fuzzball and start sniffing it's tail. The entire situation ws very endearing and sweet. Well, at least until Growlithe decided to push Sentret over and start fervently licking its face. Which resulted in Sentret flailing its tiny arms and legs in a panic and abject humiliation.

Evelyn covered her mouth and stifled a laugh.

"Look at you guys, best friends already."

A happy bark from Growlithe.
... Disgruntled, exasperated chtters from Joltik.
"... Sen.. Tret..." That... Sounded unconvincing...

[color=gold]"Right, well. We need to get all of you patched up, okay? So c'mon, let's go to the Pokemon Center and ge-WAHGAHAPT!?"

Evelyn, however, was too overconfident in having laughed at two of her pokemons misfortune, and it seemed Karma had a bone to pick with her for that. For in the next moment, before she could finish her sentence, a certain happy pooch had flung itself at its new master, tackling her to the ground and was now proceeding to dog-smooch the ever-living crap out of her. Much to the joy and snickering of Joltik and Sentret.

"Uwaagh...! Growlithe, no! Bad! Very bwaahh-stop!" Her protests were interspersed with laughing from the tickling sensation, but also with a voice that sounded thoroughly annoyed. After all... Dog-breath... Not exactly Evelyn's ode de parfum. Eventually, Growlithen relented and climbed of his trainer, happily sitting next to her and letting out a content and happy bark, as if he'd done nothing what-so-ever.

"... Alright, that's enough out of you three... C'mon, back you go."

Rising, with a face-full-of-slobber, Eve recalled her pokemon one after the other, back into their respective balls. Then, reaching into he rpocket and withdrawing an honestly way-too-fancily embroided handkerchief, she wiped off her face. Yuck. Gross.

Good thing that pupper was a cutie, otherwise the blonde might've considered sending him over to Kapoc's lab asap.

But with the shennanigans in the park over and done with, and with nothing else she really cared about left to do, the stylish gal began her trek out of the nice, pleasant park, and back into the crowded streets of Grand Glory City. A dingle-lingle-ling on her rotom phone caught her ear, and she looked it over, realizing she'd received yet another sum of money for catching her newest bud. But... Wait... That was 500p more than she'd gotten for catching Sentret, right? ... Wow, she really had found a rare pokemon!

The elation was almost enough to make her forget about being slobbered on. Almost.

Regardless, the young teen used her phone, while she had it out, to look up a map of GGC, and managed to navigate her way on over the local Pokemon Center. There, she handed off her three pokemon to the Nurse, allowing them to be tended to be a paid professional. Meanwhile, Evelyn herself made use of the facility by visiting the restroom, and giving herself a proper wash of the face. Followed by an extensive rework and repplication of her make-up... It actually took longer for Evelyn to get done than it took for her pokemon to get treated...

But putting that aside! Now with her three musketeers all patched up, it was finally time!

Time to...!

... Go shopping.

What? You thought this girl was just gonna go racing out of the city and look for adventures and mayhem without getting supplies first? Thus, using her phone again, Eve looked up where the local PokeMart was located, and headed towards there.

En route, she noticed a few more pokemon roaming the streets and alleys that she hadn't originally seen. Like the mischievous purple-sorta cats... They were cute... But... There was just this nagging feeling in the back of the girl's head that, if she tried to approach them, they'd probably start Fury Swiping at her... Besides, she'd already gotten two new pokemon already. Getting any additional ones would make training a chore later on. So for now, she left the kitties alone...

... I'll be back though, don't you worry...

Arrriving at the outside of the store, it was... Well, a store. The typical thing you'd expect a PokeMart to look like. Right, the time was now! Approaching the automatic doors, they opened, and a she stepped in, an electronic bell announced the arrival of this new customer.... Now, time to look at what was on offer, and decide on what to buy.

Evelyn is inspecting and browsing the PokeMart's selection of items.