Choice, a Pokemon Shifters RP

[TehUltimateMage]

The new guy flashed a smile while he descended lightly, accusing her in turn of suspecting everyone she met. She threw a glance at Emil. Green bean acted way too suspicious as well, with his jolly but silent demeanor. "Yes." she answered Leonard. "Yes, I do. "

 

He did have a point about the silence in the forest. Sine just assumed that they were making too much of a racket and made the wild pokemon flee, but in hindsight that didn't make sense at all. Chompers only hammered the point in. "I'm Sine, that's Emil, and that's Ch-" Wait, that was a weird name for a human! They didn't think about this before...! "That's Charlie, b-but everyone calls him Chompers. It's a nickname."

 

Nice save.

 

"We're heading to Lifferoad, and you're the first sign of life we've seen in a while too."

The trainer might not give a straight answer and she silently cheered that Chomper's little raptor pokemon asked the question. She doubted either of her's would be of any use in this situation. "Shady business aside, you look like you got into a bad fight. Are these two things related?"

[ValidEmotions]

Kim smirked as an Eevee burst from the boy's Poké Ball. "You think your Eevee hasn't battled before?" he repeated. Shrugging, he waved dismissively. "Alright, fine. One Pokémon each, then. I hope you're ready!" Leaping backwards, Kim flipped and pushed off the ground with a hand before landing several yards away on his feet. Mostly. He wobbled slightly from overbalancing but managed to gain his composure.

 

Giving the other boy a confident grin, he sniffed in contempt. He swept his arm forward, pointing at the Eevee. "Chespin, use Vine Whip then Tackle!" Kim ordered.

 

Chespin hadn't looked too certain, eyeing the Eevee when she pawed at him in a playful manner. "Should we really be battling these two?" he questioned again, sprinting to catch up to Kim as his trainer made a gaudy display of getting ready. Standing at the boy's side, the Pokémon shifted his weight anxiously. Cringing, Chespin rubbed the side of his head. "Okay, okay! No need to shout! I'm right here!" he wailed.

 

Jumping forward, Chespin moved in front of Kim, a pair of vines lashing out towards Eevee. Successful or not, Chespin didn't wait long before rushing at the opponent, head first in a Tackle.

[PureDark006]

"Hm. That nickname sounds like it has a story behind it," Leonard commented with a small, curious smile as he glanced between Sine and Chompers.

 

The Fairy-type shook itself one final time, feathers fluffed enough, before settling down and looking at the Archen. "About the wild Pokémon? I don't think it's that important. These two..." It interrupted itself, glancing at Leonard before shaking its head. "Nevermind. But they probably ran away from this area. They should be coming back in a few days."

 

Leonard shrugged at Sine's question, letting out an exasperated sigh. "Actually, no. My friend pushed me down from the top of a tree. If I hadn't let Togekiss out, I might have gotten more serious injuries." Togekiss huffed and stared at its trainer, slightly glaring until Leonard added, "Fine, so I might or might not have been provoking him. He's still a brute."

 

He glanced at the forest him and Togekiss had come from, clicking his tongue. "And talking about the devil..."

 

Right as he said that, there was the sound of cracking wood as a Weavile came out of the forest, using a massive Night Slash to cut down at least three of the trees that were previously in front of her, eyes zeroing in on Togekiss. A wave of leftover electricity from the Paralysis status made her flinch after the attack, just enough for her trainer to catch up to her - a very, very pissed-off looking man, almost as tall as Chompers and sporting the kind of glare that could send people running in the other direction. Like Leonard, he had some wounds too; less in quantity, though his left ear had a half-dried trail of blood under it.

 

"I FOUND YOU, YOU SON OF A-" he started to yell, before he noticed the group of trainers nearby. The next word that left his scarred mouth was, while still a swearword, a different one that what he was probably going to say next.

 

"...Jeff. How very charming of you to join us in your half-naked state. Where is your coat?" Leonard sighed, pointedly throwing a disapproving glance at the other's chest, bare save for some bandages that went around its upper part.

 

The comment earned him the double bird.

 

"Jeff and his remarkable display of manners aside, we don't want to bother you three too much. I'm sure you have better things to do than stare at his muscles all day."

"Oh you."

"Please, in front of an audience?"

 

Jeff growled, tightening his hands into fists and darkening his glare. Sensing the battle was over, Weavile dropped her hostile stance and wiped some sweat from her forehead, looking curiously at the group of trainers and Pokémon.

 

Leonard proceeded as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened at all. "But we're looking into a certain issue, and are trying to find people who could help. Would any of you happen to know someone who lived in this region around fifty years ago?"

 

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[[information on NPCs has been updated. Unlocked: part of Jeff's character sheet]]

Edited September 19, 2016 by Puredark006

[MyWhiteKnight]

Ellie sat down and listened to everyone talking. The vulpix tilted her head to listen to the chattering. A shock ran down her spine when they started talking about shifters. Even with her memories gone, she didn’t realize that there would be others like her. That means that they are also playing this game. We’re all competing and yet, we probably need each other to defeat Team Helix. Whoever they are, Ellie reasoned, watching with greater interest than before.

 

One of the young women, apparently fed up with pretending not to understand the poisonous snake, addressed the pokemon himself. The snake appeared confused and startled, gaping that the girl in front of him. Before he could respond, the girl introduced as Cass and her friend began talking amongst themselves once more before deciding upon returning to town.

 

Cass turned towards Ellie and the combee with a pleasant smile, inviting the both of them to go to town. At this, the other girl huffed and turned on her heel, and stormed back up the trail. Ellie watched for a moment, head tilted to the side. Something inside darkened, the feeling of being unwanted creeping up within her. She shook her head and nodded at Cass. If these people were also looking to stop Team Helix, it was in her best interest to stay close.

 

While clearly disoriented, she felt more confident in her strides. Ellie knew if she kept walking at this pace, she’d be left behind. At least she still knew where town was now. As she took a few steps forward, the remaining girl turned towards her and asked, ”Would you like a lift, too? You look a little woozy.”

 

Ellie paused. It was obvious that these people had the same abilities as she; understanding and talking to pokemon while human, and maybe even turning into them themselves. They were going to town, and, at this rate, it could take the rest of the day for her to do the same. However, she didn’t know them and didn’t know if she could trust them. At the same time, they didn’t know if they could trust her, either.

 

”Yes please,” Ellie nodded at the girl with a small smile.

Edited September 21, 2016 by MyWhiteKnight

[hazeh]

There was something about the blue haired man that put Valda off. She studied his face blatantly, arms still folded, her head slightly tilted to the side as if something were simultaneously puzzling and annoying her. She was doing her damn best to ignore the human woman and the weird goo-blob who'd followed her to the small gathering of pokemon-dressed people. Valda's lip had twitched faintly when the girl spoke up originally, but as long as she pretended that the voice was coming from Flooey-- because the stupid balloon was saying something similar not long ago-- then Valda remained unfazed.

Sort of.

 

Valda's gaze had dipped back down to the Axew as it moved closer to the other woman. A chill swept down her spine and she tensed again, a growl building in her throat as the memory of her dream fluttered behind her eyelids; a strange emotion was welling from deep within her at the sight of the Axew, and it made Valda extremely uneasy. Something about the young off-colored dragon was evoking a mixture of fear and fondness all tightly wound up with loathing. It's just an Axew, she scolded herself, eyes still fixed on the small Pokemon. Just a damn Axew. Whatever made her on edge, it was slightly placated by this, and Valda assumed that this bizarre reaction had less to do with actual Axews and more with the relative similarity to her dream. She blinked and then scowled at the Axew, as if personally blaming him.

 

The woman was speaking again. Whether it was spurred on by Valda's inability to deal with her emotions or the fact that this human was determined to be a thorn in Valda's side, or an unfortunate combination thereof, there was no clear cause: the older woman's unnaturally yellow eyes blazed in anger, and she turned sharply to face the other woman. In the same blink of a moment, Valda's hand lashed out of nowhere to grab the girl by the wrist and twist it upward, her neatly manicured fingernails clenched tightly around her skin. "I've had just about enough of you," Valda said coldly, teeth bared. Valda stared down at her with contempt as if she were looking down at something grotesque and unworthy to be within a mile radius of herself. "Master Gaes, is it?" Her grip tightened more. "Trainers--" she said the word with a sneer, appearing dangerously close to throttling Gaes instead, "--or not, if you have information regarding Helix, I will be there. And if you are like me, you are a sorry excuse for a Pokemon. No self respecting Pokemon would call themselves a trainer." The vehemence in which she spoke the last few words erupted suddenly, and with them small flickers of fire burst forth from behind Valda's white teeth toward Gaes's face. At this, Flooey squeaked out a surprised "Oh no!" and drifted closer, but Valda had already released Gaes's wrist by flinging it far from herself with a short growl of disgust. Her yellow eyes raked down Gaes's figure before narrowing on her red ones again and ending softly, "I will hurt you if I have to." A moment later, something brown came running around to where Valda stood. She glanced down at it with disinterest as it slammed on the brakes at her feet. Had it touched her, there might have been a different reaction-- but its smile was met with cold indifference, and Valda finally growled, "Keep moving or I'll hurt you, too."

 

The Drifloon spun nervously in the air, her stringy arms waving as if she were floundering for a course of action. As soon as Valda turned away from Gaes, Flooey made immediately for the other girl and piped, "Hi! Sorry about that! She's a little...intense...pay no mind! I'm Flooey, by the way! That's Valda. But anyway! What's this Taismog business you were saying?"

Edited September 20, 2016 by Shiny Hazard Sign

[octopi]

Rhapsody turned to snap at someone else, and Z followed his line of sight to find a man with an ostentatious X across his shirt, who wasted no time in asking Lambert about the game. Well then - nothing for four whole days, and now two in a row? That couldn't be a coincidence. There was no way to confirm their theories until they met back up with the others in Taismog and exchanged notes, but this could be a chance to get some valuable data. They shuffled forward a few steps. "Uh, excuse me - "

 

A loud voice from behind them interrupted their question. Z squeaked in surprise and pivoted around to see the woman from before growling out a warning at Gaes, her nails digging into her skin.

 

Z swallowed slowly. What happened? They hadn't been paying attention. Had Gaes said something? Not hard to imagine, given her disposition, but what was it? The woman let go before her Drifloon could intervene, but her tone remained every bit as poisonous as before. Was that... better? No, it couldn't be. They reached up to tug at the sides of their hat. If only they hadn't shifter their focus - Rhapsody and Lambert probably could have handled it -

 

"Um," they blurted out, then immediately realized just how bad of an idea that was. Why was she upset? She'd said something about - trainers? And Helix? "I - sorry, I didn't - quite h-hear - uh - that is to say - hnn." They let their breath hiss out between their teeth, frustrated despite the circumstances. Why was this so hard? "Sorry - sorry for the inconvenience; please, we... there's no need for threats. W-we're trying to do the same thing. Right? Team Helix is, ah - a research organization, as far as we can tell. We're trying to get to the Gym Leader, so we can... get to a place, where we'll be able to get more information. You're... welcome to come with us?" They glanced at Rhapsody with the last sentence, then fixed their gaze on the ground. "If - uh, only if you want. I mean."

[DuskOfTheStars]

Eevee yipped as Vines hit her. "That hurt!"

 

Then a Tackle hit her. "Owww!"

 

Dammerung moved to block the attacks, but when they hit he hissed. He was a bit ticked. Even if Eos had been newish (and started it), even if she was going to get stomped, he let her battle... And what was Meeres thinking, letting Eos battle - he should've refused...

 

No use getting mad now, Meeres decided. Stay calm and battle. Even if your charge is getting beat up. Still.. stupid choice stupid choice I'm gonna GET him... "Eos! Tail Whip!"

 

"Is that move? What's Tail-Whip? I know Wish..."

 

Dammerung grit his teeth. "Fine then! Wish!"

 

Eos called out, looking up towards the sky. A star streaked overhead, and stardust began to drift down.

Edited September 20, 2016 by Dusky_Flareon

[ValidEmotions]

Oh, this was going to be fun...

 

A smirk played at the corner of her lips, red eyes sparking with something akin to excitement. Gaes sucked in a breath when the woman snatched at her wrist, moving closer to hiss her threats in her face. "Go ahead and bite," Gaes crooned. "I love it when they do," she purred, batting her eyes and giving the woman a sultry gaze.

 

With her free hand, she made a flippant gesture, slowly combing her fingers through her dark hair. "On a more serious matter...," she continued, fixing the angry woman with a flat gaze. She didn't let the lick of flames in the woman's mouth phase her, though the heat did threaten to coax sweat to her brow. "Did you ever hear me call myself a trainer? I know how to blend in with humans, honey. Do you?"

 

Idly rubbing her wrist, Gaes gave the woman a pleasant smile. "Great! Glad to hear you're joining us then. Things will be much more interesting with another woman around. Honestly, Rhapsody's fun to toy with but toys eventually grow dull," she sighed, speaking so only the woman could hear her. Glancing down at Tusk, she gently patted the Axew's head in a reassuring gesture. She would be fine, he didn't need to fuss.

 

"You must be a dragon type, I can smell it all over you," she commented. "Why do dragon types all seem so pissy? Honestly, most of you act like you have a stick up your butts," Gaes groaned. Shaking her head, she shifted her gaze to the Drifloon that approached her to apologize. Laughing, she waved away the Pokémon's words. "Ah, I like it when things get intense," she replied, winking at the Flooey. "It's nice to meet you, Flooey. I'm Gaes, this is Tusk. Over there is Rhapsody, Lambert, and Z. That's Zoey there, Tama, Q on Lambert's shoulder, and... I forget the Duosion's name..." she trailed off. Wow. A lot of names to list.

 

Resting her chin on a raised hand, she hummed faintly. "Taismog?" Z spoke up then or, really, started sputtering nervously. Fixing them with an encouraging glance, Gaes let the pink-haired individual finish speaking. They were cute, in an odd little way, that Gaes couldn't help but feel the need to pat their head or ruffle their hair.

Edited September 20, 2016 by Narvix

[Moonlight_Eevee]

“Right,” Gogurt said, flickering his ears. “Gogurt, can I ride you again, my legs are starting to feel tired,” Anhew said. “Of course!” Gogurt said, immediately lowering himself to let Anhew on. Anhew at this point knew what to do. “And thank you for trying to keep me safe,” Anhew said, leaning foward to give Gogurt a hug. “Awwww,” Gogurt said, blushing a bit. He then nodded at Cass as she mentioned the Seviper wasn't going to let them in anyway. Gogurt sighed in relief as he felt Anhew hold his horns once again. It was then that Allison started to have a small argument with Cass. “Excuse me Miss Allison,” Gogurt said, chiming in. “But with all due respect, Master Anhew probably won’t know the difference if she’s talking to human or Pokemon. Would people take notice of a young blind girl talking to Pokemon? If so, what then?” He felt frustrated at Allison, she was the type of person who could care less about Anhew.

 

He sighed as Allison questioned the Seviper about why the gym leader wasn't doing anything with the area as a Combee came flying up who had a similar attitude as Allison. It was then that the Seviper got hissy with Allison, explaining the reasoning as Cass invited the Vulpix and whoever her trainer was to join them. “How do you do ma’am?” Gogurt asked, addressing the Vulpix as she wobbled. “Miss Cass, if your arms are full, someone can always ride between my horns.” “Are you sure you can handle the weight?” Anhew asked a bit concerned. “Nonsense!” Gogurt replied, sensing his trainer's nervousness. “I’m confident I can hold the weight of one of them.” He then looked over to see a person in a really fancy outfit, rubbing their right arm, muttering to themselves.

 

----------------------------

 

Jack waited for their Combee to come back. When she did, she had an annoyed look on her face. “Gym leader’s not letting anyone into the forest,” Regina said, not bothering to answer the woman with the red hair. The other woman besides her walked off in a fit if rage and the blind girl didn't concern her. “The red hair offered us to join her.” “Good girl,” Jack said, patting Regina on the head. Regina gave them a murderous look before Jack returning her. ’A-are you going over there?’ Sark asked nervously. 'Yes,’ Jack replied as they slowly walked towards the little group. Jack heard Sark make an undescribable sound in their head, so Jack described it as whimpering. “It’ll be okay Sarky,” Jack muttered as they started to rub their right arm. “It'll be okay. Don't be afraid.” He cleared his throat before looking around. “Ah, hello,” Jack said, smiling at the red haired woman. “My name is Jack. I heard you made an offer for me to join you. How can I turn down such a request from a beautiful lady such as yourself?” They then looked over at the gaping Skiddo.

 

Anhew was a bit confused at this point. Who was this Jack person and how did he- no. They. How did they tie into this? She heard their footsteps walking over to Gogurt before patting him on his head. “You must really love your trainer,” Jack said. “We need more Pokemon like you in this world.” Gogurt blushed and turned his head away from receiving any further praise. Sark was silent, so Jack figured he must be rather shy around new people.

[PureDark006]

"Yeah, what d'ya turn into?" Rhapsody teased, elbowing Lambert with only enough force for the other man to feel it. "C'mon, he asked nicely and all."

 

While Zoey introduced herself, Rhapsody made a mental note to raise hell if the group wanted to go in the direction the stranger had pointed at. He had had enough of forests, and a cold one? No thanks. Heads would fly before he went there willingly. That aside, he had no complaints about the guy joining; might be starting to get crowded, but he didn't piss Rhapsody off, so he didn't particularly care. "Name's Rhapsody. I'm an Hydreigon."

 

"No self respecting Pokemon would call themselves a trainer."

 

Curious at the angry voice, he looked back to the others. Gaes seemed to be picking a fight with the woman from the fountain, judging by how the taller one was fuming in her face. Tusk was next to the Mawile shifter, face as pale as his scales would let and holding onto her yellow dress as if his life depended on it. Whatever it was, Gaes didn't seem fazed at all, even though Z next to her looked five seconds away from deciding to learn Dig and spend the rest of their life underground.

 

He walked towards them, if only because if there was a fight he wanted to at least watch. Or, preferably, jump in. He hadn't had any satisfying ones since Vertia's Gym leader "Oi, guy's coming with us," he mentioned, pointing over his shoulder at their newest acquaintance. "What's the deal over here?"

[TehUltimateMage]

"I prefer not to talk about it," Lambert ended the discussion abruptly. He brushed off Rhapsody's comment (while literally brushing off the spot where he was playfully jabbed), because he didn't want to give the pokemon the satisfaction of knowing after he pressed him for answers for nearly a week. "If you want to make it official, then welcome to the team."

 

Lambert did not know when he started referring to his group as 'the team', but it felt familiar to call them that. Most of the shifters they met came and went, but Rap and the kid and Gaes were there from the beginning.

 

He was pulled out from any further talk with the new guy by the commotion with the other lady, this time, who had grabbed Gaes and looked like she was ready to bite her head off. They were too far for him to interrupt before the Mawile shifter slipped out of the situation, but he grit his teeth and marched that way, following behind Rhapsody.

 

Nobody threatens his team.

 

~~~

 

"Muscles," Sine whispered. Then, more enthusiastically to Emil, "Muscles!"

 

When this new man, Jeff, entered the scene, Sine found it difficult to keep her eyes away from him. Sure, he was too old for her tastes and his face showed it, but there was no denying that, ahem, he was more swole than a Throh. Even though his pectorals were hidden behind bandages, his perfectly chiseled abdominals seemed to give off a glow of their own. The scars, both old and fresh, were the icing on the macho man cake.

 

Leonard's question seemed to pass right over her head.

Edited September 27, 2016 by TehUltimateMage

[Felixr2]

The first one to introduce themselves to him was a girl called Zoey, a... Purrloin shifter. That had to be the word they used for people like them.

 

"I'm curious, does Phenac city ring a bell to you?"

 

After the girl had asked this, the two people who were talking to March earlier introduced themselves. The one who noticed him first - Rhapsody - was a Hydreigon shifter. And the other one - Lambert - didn't want to talk about it. However, his own clothes looked like a Metagross in some way, and Lambert's looked like... Glalie? He could imagine why one wouldn't want to tell that...

 

March turned himself towards Zoey, who seemed to have two Pokémon that... March had never seen before. One of them, the one that looked like some sort of cat-pokémon and had just released himself from his pokéball, seemed very happy that he was joining the group. Frost, however, seemed to be startled by this little Pokémon; maybe it could be a fire type? It definitely looked like one. The other one was a floating slimeball... March didn't even try to think about what it could possibly be.

 

"I'm sorry, but I know as much about Phenac city as I do about Purrloin - of which I have never heard before. At least I don't recall ever hearing of one before. Neither have I ever seen those two pokémon you have."

 

Behind the people talking to him, there was something going on... March didn't know what was going on, but he decided to watch the scene from behind his sunglasses.

Edited September 27, 2016 by Felixr2

[ValidEmotions]

Sniffing, Kim grinned at the other boy as his Eevee was struck by both of Chespin's attacks. It really seemed like this pair didn't know how to battle. It'd be an easy victory, then. A frown flickered across his face for a moment at that thought but he shook his head. He would see this battle through, be it challenging or not. Especially since he was the one that issued it.

 

Chespin waited, poised a few feet in front of Kim. He shifted his weight anxiously, wanting to finish this battle as soon as possible. But it looked like the other trainer was having tro- He blinked, curiosity perking at the exchange between the boy and his Eevee. Did... Did he not know the Eevee's moves? And...

 

He shook his head. He was probably overthinking the situation. Still...

 

"Chespin, use Leech Seed!" Kim ordered. He ignored much of the banter from the other boy, not caring about whatever he was muttering about.

 

The grass-type sucked in a deep breath. On his exhale, he fired a trio of seeds at the Eevee.

[hazeh]

Valda was fairly certain she had never encountered someone so infuriating as this Gaes woman. She just did not shut up. The insinuation was nearly lost on Valda-- who stared at Gaes, doubting that this girl would actually enjoy getting her flesh torn into by sharp teeth-- but the tone of Gaes's voice rose suspicion on the meaning behind her words, even though Valda couldn't place why. Acid-yellow eyes narrowed into slits, and her dark purple lips curled back to flash clenched white teeth. A deep, nearly guttural growl rumbled in her chest. Whoever Gaes was, she had seriously no sense of self-preservation, and for some reason Valda's itch for bloodshed flared stronger than usual for it.

 

"You're even dumber than you look," Valda snarled, and suddenly her hand was whipping out again, reaching for the smooth expanse of Gaes's throat. The tips of her red nails had barely brushed Gaes when a large sphere of dark, swirling energy shot out and collided with Valda's hand, knocking it away. She spat flames and flexed her fingers as a cold, numbing static spread through her bones from the contact.

 

Flooey hoovered a few feet away, string-arms still held aloft from where she'd fired off the Shadow Ball. "Oops," she said in a small voice, just as Valda darted forward and slammed the flat of her knuckles into the plush surface of the balloon's body. The Drifloon squished inward and then popped off Valda's fist with surprising speed toward the boy in the sunglasses with a faintly uttered squeak. She bounced into the X on his chest before floating slowly to the ground, looking deflated.

 

Valda whirled around to face Gaes again, and a bright glow began to radiate from her figure, ready to engulf her. Yet movement distracted her; the little odd-colored Axew had moved in front of Gaes, his face blanched and frozen with terror as he gripped the yellow dress.

 

And for some reason unbeknownst to her, the light shattered around her frame and dissipated into the air, leaving Valda human. She stared down at him, fingers still half-curled into claw-like arches. Her heart thundered in her chest. Vale. The sickly Noibat from her dreams was there, in front of her, staring up at her in fear. Valda stepped back, startled. When she blinked, the Noibat was gone, but the little Axew was still looking to her with the same expression etched into his young face. Unease bubbled up in her gut. That confused her more than anything, because as much as she felt she knew of herself, unease or uncertainty-- and whatever the hell kind of weird, sudden drive she had to make the Axew stop making that goddamn face at her-- was not something she was familiar with. It felt wrong. Valda's brow pinched together and she bared her teeth again, but now she had forgotten, or at least dismissed, her anger toward Gaes for the moment. Instead she placed her fingers on her temple to quell the rising thrum of a headache brought on by the green Noibat's name as Gaes patted the Axew's head.

 

A small, stuttering voice wormed its way into Valda's attention, and she glanced over at the blue-haired man and the pink-haired human child who had spoken. Whatever kind of human this was, anyway, for its mannerisms seemed strange to Valda in a way she could not distinguish. She frowned at them as they spoke and folded her arms as their sputtering speech came to a rather awkward halt. This human was non-threatening in the way a wet tissue was non-threatening, and Valda briefly wondered if this one was another Pokemon-turned-human-turned-occasionally-into-Pokemon and not an actual human at all. Real humans, Valda knew, were conniving, arrogant, and as trustworthy as they were ugly. Not demure and submissive.

 

At that point, the man who'd been standing close to the child drew closer, and Valda felt herself bristle again as he and the white haired one approached. She lifted her chin higher and stared the younger one in the eye with blatant dislike. Though, realistically, that wasn't much different than how she'd looked at any of the others. "If you're trying to find Team Helix, then I will be coming with you," she responded coolly, side-eyeing Gaes with little less than murderous intent. When her gaze returned to Rhapsody and Lambert, she added after a brief pause, "I suppose you plan to fight the gym, then, to get your information. The leader specializes in fighting types if you weren't aware." She dug her nails into her own arm at the thought of the gym leader's bipedal Pokemon with the psychic powers that had chased her from the city that very morning. If she'd been at the top of her game, and not messing around with the humans, she could have taken that Pokemon down, she was sure... Valda snorted softly and turned to see Flooey rising up from the pavement. The small dent in the Pokemon left with the impression of Valda's knuckles had filled back out, leaving the balloon the same purple orb with dangling strings like usual. A curl of black hair fell loose from Valda's pins from the movement, and she swiped it away as Flooey meandered back to where they stood.

 

"So, gym battle, is it?" The Drifloon asked cheerfully, bobbing around Valda as if the previous five minutes hadn't occurred. "Fighting types can't touch me, you know. But I really don't know much about battling. Haven't done much of it so far."

 

Valda rolled her eyes and muttered something that sounded like "haven't done much of anything" and "why does this thing keep coming back" under her breath.

 

[ValidEmotions]

Parting his lips to start speaking, Emil paused as everyone's attention shifted to something else. The second man, Jeff, had made as much of an interesting entrance as the first. Albeit more rudely. Humming softly, he glanced at Sine when she started muttering about muscles. It seemed like at least one person was content to stare at Jeff's muscles all day.

 

Frowning, Emil adjusted the strap of his bag to be more comfortable on his shoulder. "I don't know the locals or former locals, here," he replied simply. Looking at Sine again, he continued to frown. "And I don't know about her or Chompers. We've only just met today," he explained. Returning his gaze to Leonard, he tugged faintly on his earlobe. "What issue are you looking into?"

[Moonlight_Eevee]

Zoey frowned, obviously not pleased with the guy's answer, but she wasn't going to press the issue. "Ah, oh well," Zoey said. "I didn't really know what a Purrloin was the first time I shifted. Tama and Globbers I had to learn what they were." Zoey turned and look to see Gaes talking her way out of a fight, but the angry lady was far from done. She had threatened Tama! Zoey felt really irked that this lady threatened Tama. Tusk was there trying to diffuse the situation. "Oh mother of Mew," Zoey growled as the lady punched what looked like a balloon Pokemon. It was purple with long little strings for arms? Legs?

 

"Gah!" Zoey said moving slightly to avoid the balloon. It hit the guy behind her. Zoey then froze as the lady started to glow. "Idiot!" Zoey hissed, more to herself then anything. How would one stop a shift? Before Zoey could say anything, the lady stopped randomly glowed and returned back from being part Pokemon to being completely human. Zoey sighed in relief before Z started speaking to her. She debated whether or not to get in the middle of it, so she turned back to the Metagross shifter. "You okay?" Zoey asked. "I know the balloon hit you." She looked back at the Pokemon and felt a bit sad for the Pokemon. "I don't believe I caught you name."

 

----------------------------

 

Chompers grew very confused. Charlie? Chompers is a nickname? "Go with it," Feathers muttered very silently. "Ah," Chompers said, clearing his throat. "It's rather... embarrassing to talk about." He hoped that was the right word to say. Feathers perked up at the Togekiss' response. It mentioned they ran away. Why would wild Pokemon on a route famous for the neverending battles run away? "Alright," Feathers said, nodding at the Togekiss. "Just curious."

 

It was then another creature came running up and another human yelling at Leonard. Chompers blinked, wondering what the strange word out of his mouth was. Jeff was the human's name and said some rather interesting words to Leonard and doing something with his hands. Leonard said something about doing something in front of an audience. Whoa! Were these two about to...Chompers immediately cut that thought into pieces. He turned slightly to hear Sine whisper excitedly. Something about muscles. He looked back at Jeff and blinked. Jeff was nearly as tall as he was and covered in scars. It did make Chompers really impressed to see a human covered in these wounds and would have been attracted to him, but he was no female Tyrantrum. Hopefully those words wouldn't fly out of his mouth by accident in the future.

 

He could see why Sine would be attracted to Jeff with his scars, but not muscles. Then again, he wasn't used to being a human so what did he know?

Edited October 5, 2016 by Raptor of Dragons

[PureDark006]

Weavile glanced between the Archen and Togekiss. "What're y'all talking 'bout?"

"They were curious about where all the Wilds went," Togekiss shrugged.

The Dark-type snorted. "Didn't they all ran away 'fter we left a third of the western forest lookin' like a hurricane aftermath while trying to murder Ginger?"

 

Togekiss face-palmed. Weavile just said "What?"

 

Sighing, Togekiss looked at the Archen and the Omanyte with a small pleading look. "Please don't tell your trainers. Our humans might be fond of reckless battles with no rules, but they only ever practice with each other. Neither of them would involve a third party," they explained.

 

"Dunno why's illegal if w'all know what we're doin'," Weavile complained, flinching when another jolt of electricity from the Paralysis went through her body.

 

 

Leonard was assuming that the girl would be the first to answer (her two companions hadn't yet showed an interest in small talk, after all), but she seemed to be too preoccupied at the moment with her attempt to memorize Jeff's musculature. Wasn't the first, most likely wouldn't be the last. The other man's lack of a reaction kind of irked him though; Leonard could get the 'I am ripped and I know it' kind of indifference to being ogled, but Jeff's brand of 'I give a Rattata ass about my appearance so who cares if others stare or not' was something he'd never completely understand.

 

As the man named Emil answered though, that gave him an idea.

 

"Now, explaining everything for free would be such a hassle, Emil," he said in a friendly tone that bordered on playful mirth. He returned Togekiss into a Poké Ball, starting to leisurely throw up and catch the item as he spoke. "Let's make a deal. How about a friendly Double Battle? Or Triple, if you all wish to participate. If you defeat us, we'll answer any and all questions. If not, Sine and Chompers will finish answering mine. Seems fair?"

 

Jeff raised an eyebrow, anger gone for the moment as he returned his Weavile too. "Since when are you this sadistic?"

 

Leonard smiled mischievously, taking out a Luxury Ball and balancing it in his index. "We'll be using these." He added something else, but in a whisper faint enough so that only his friend would hear.

 

Ignoring Jeff's 'now I know you've gone nuts' look, Leonard spoke in an audible tone again. "Jeff and I will use only one Pokémon each. Would that be enough of a handicap?" he asked, making sure to let a faint challenging tone seep into his words.

[hazeh]

Cass shifted Dagaz over into one arm and then squatted down in front of the Vulpix. With a warm smile, she reached out and stroked the fox's head curls before answering Gogurt over her shoulder, "It's no problem for me. She can't weigh any more than Dagaz does." The Fennekin wagged his tail briefly at the mention of his name, and then perked his ears as Cass gently scooped the Vulpix into her free arm. When she straightened, the two foxes were side by side, and Dagaz's silvery face was alight in excitement.

 

A new voice piped up, and Cass turned to see with surprise a young person standing in a rather...odd outfit. They were smiling, however, and so Cass returned it with ease and nodded her head in lieu of waving. Dagaz shrank slightly against Cass's chest, though the Vulpix's presence next to him seemed to placate some of his shyness. "Oh, hello," Cass answered, "You must be that Combee's trainer." She looked over at Anhew for a moment, and then glanced at where Allison had disappeared back into town before gazing back at the newcomer and finishing, "Nice to meet you, Jack. I'm Cassandra, but you're welcome to call me Cass if you'd like." A soft, bubbling laugh rose from her at his compliment, and her grin widened. She was a bit of a sucker for flattery. "That's sweet of you, thank you. We're just about to head back to town to meet the gym leader. My friend headed back a few minutes ago, so we're going to follow this Sevip-- hey, where'd he go?" Cass turned, but the snake had slithered off in the same direction as Allison. He'd gone so fast, Cass didn't doubt he'd already overtaken Allison on the way there. She'd heard the Seviper mention something about an "Alvah," but had no idea what it meant and had been too enamored with the cute Vulpix to pay it much mind.

 

"Come on, before we lose him!" Cass held the two foxes close to her in a firm grip to keep them from bouncing and jogged quickly off toward town after the Seviper, hoping that the single weaving track in the grass would lead her after the Pokemon.

 

 

Allison had barely set foot back into Taismog when the click of a Pokeball sounded from her hip and a beam of energy shot to the ground at her side. It morphed into a large figure before shattering into the old, grizzled Aerodactyl, who humphed upon seeing a Seviper zoom past not a moment later.

"He's off in a hurry," Arrow grunted, trailing after Allison as she continued in the direction of the gym. His lumbering footsteps felt like small tremors beneath her boots.

Allison scowled. At least the Aerodactyl had chosen this moment to exit his Pokeball, and not the ten minutes prior when she'd been stuck inside the PokeCenter with the blind child. "Don't worry about him," she said flatly, "he's the errand boy for the Gym Leader, who we're going to see right now."

Arrow's long tail swung slowly across the grass behind him, knocking over a piece of firewood that had been propped up against the side of a house. "Gym Leader? What use are those?"

"Hell if I know," she muttered in response.

The Joltik on her shoulder danced in a circle and sang, "I know! More friends!"

Arrow turned a glaring red eye on the bug; it squeaked and ceased dancing immediately.

 

The sign on the building read "The Seviper's Fang" and looked rather ominous. Allison lifted an eyebrow at it, though her expression suggested she was still as unimpressed with the bar as she was enthusiastic about meeting the gym leader. "How fitting," she commented dryly, mostly to herself, as Arrow squinted up at the lettering and made no sense of it whatsoever.

 

"Allison! Hey, wait up!"

 

She turned slightly to see Cass trotting up the path with a few others in tow. She was holding onto two foxes, one of which Allison recognized as the Vulpix from the sign post. As Allison paused in the doorway, Cass skidded to a halt next to Arrow, careful to avoid his pointed tail.

 

"That Combee's trainer is named Jack," she said cheerfully, gesturing at the aforementioned person with a tilt of her head. "I think they're going to come with us to meet the gym leader."

 

"Fantastic," Allison said, sounding less than pleased. Arrow snorted and lowered his head over Allison's shoulder to look down at the Vulpix in Cass's arms.

 

"What's this?" he asked, wrinkling his scarred nose at the unfamiliar fox.

 

Cass turned away from him to shield the Vulpix from the massive Aerodactyl. "She's a friend," Cass answered, though a moment later she blinked down at the Vulpix and added, "Though, I don't actually know your name. Do you have one?"

 

Allison waved her hand dismissively and pushed open the door. Arrow remained outside, though he stuck his head through the doorway to peer into the dark interior. Cass squeezed past his giant head after her friend. Inside, Allison had stopped a few feet from the counter, where the Seviper seemed to be greeting the bartender.

 

At the man's words, Allison's stony face narrowed into a glare. Her lips parted to respond, but suddenly Cass's hand (free of holding the Vulpix, whom she'd settled onto the ground a moment prior) slapped over Allison's mouth to muffle whatever retort was about to fire off. Allison's fiery blue eyes snapped over to Cass, only to find Cassandra staring, mesmerized, at the bartender.

 

Cass's cheeks were slightly colored as she gazed at him. "Uh, no trouble," she breathed, still holding Allison's face. "We just, uh, we just wanted to know--um, what's going on with the-- the forest?"

 

Allison twisted free of Cassandra's grip, recoiling with a look of disgust. However, after a quick study of the redhead's enchanted expression, she shook her head and added, "What's going on in there? We have business to attend to."

Edited October 7, 2016 by Shiny Hazard Sign

[Moonlight_Eevee]

Jack smiled at the woman- Cass- as she scooped the Vulpix in her other arm. A burbling laugh came out from her as they praised the Skiddo, before thanking them. “I-I’m Anhew,” Anhew said, speaking up. “And this is Gogurt, my Skiddo.” “It's nice to meet you Anhew, you too Gogurt,” Jack said, wondering if they should offer to carry one of the Pokemon. Sark was still quiet and it sort of worried Jack. They listened to Cass as she mentioned a friend had headed back to meet the gym leader, before mentioning they were about to follow a Sevip. “Alright,” they said, nodding their head, as Cass started jogging after the trail the Sevip left. “Miss Anhew,” Gogurt said. “I might have to run after them, so hold on tight please.” “O-okay,” Anhew said nervously. Gogurt nervously started galloping after Cass, hearing Jack jog close by. The outfit they wore was still really weird, but Jack had no trouble keeping up as they made their way back to 'The Seviper's Fang’ making Jack want to facepalm. Sevip was short for Seviper that Cass cut it off in her haste.

 

It was then they meet Cass’ friend who looked none too pleased from their presence. Their grin faltered. 'What did we do wrong?' Jack finally heard Sark say in a very sad voice. 'I don't know' Jack replied, not realizing he spaced out to talk with his other half. 'Maybe something happened to her that made her distrust people.' 'That Pokemon looks scary' Sark said. 'It’ll be okay Sarky~' Jack sang.

 

Gogurt felt Anhew become highly annoyed that Arrow was out of his Pokeball. As soon as Arrow spoke, that's when she got annoyed. Gogurt didn't mind him as long as he left Anhew alone, but he looked up at Jack as they muttered something, slowly rubbing their right arm. Anhew heard it too and looked up at Jack sort of curious. She heard a name, Sarky, escape softly from their lips. Who was Sarky? She swiveled her head as Cass spoke again. “Hang on,” Gogurt said, moving forward to get into the bar, luckily before Allison entered followed by Arrow’s head. Gogurt breathed a sigh of relief before that happened. Gogurt was impressed by the bartender, but he stayed close by Cass as she tried talking to the gym leader but failing, leaving Allison to ask the question. He looked over to see Jack enter the place.

 

'My kind of place' Jack thought to themselves as they looked around highly impressed. They froze when they laid eyes at the bartender. 'Jack, I think this is a bad idea' Sark said nervously. 'What could be so bad about it?' Jack asked back coolly. “Well aren't you Mr. Handsome,” Jack said, giving their signature smile before two words escaped their lips, not of their own doing. “No Jack.”

 

Both Anhew and Gogurt looked up at Jack in confusion. Did they just refer to themselves in third person and why did their voice get really sad? Jack was wide eyed as they covered their mouth. What in Mew’s name Sark!?

Edited October 7, 2016 by Raptor of Dragons

[TehUltimateMage]

"Follow us if you wish," Lambert told the new shifter. The nonchalance was a bluff; despite her bitter attitude, threats of violence, and eyes that broadcasted her hatred for the world, he couldn't leave her to fend for herself and get arrested in the process. He already had a band of misfits following him. What was one more to the pile? And it was better to have her under supervision than roaming free, even if she and Gaes... didn't particularly get off on the right foot.

 

"We'll be giving the Gym Leader a good beating," he bragged, striking his fist with his palm. He omitted any mention of his team's crippling Fighting weakness. "So, if you would like to let out your anger when we get there, that'd be great."

 

He had studied one of the city maps posted around town. It would only be a short walk to get there once the crowds began to thin, and the Pokemon Center wouldn't be too far from that. Maybe it would be a good idea to regroup first, to avoid another disaster like Kusba now that there were more pokemon on the team. Strategically, shifters -- preferably pokemon shifters -- were much stronger but came at a considerable risk. In terms of matchups with the pokemon on hand, Qrow might be useful, as would Globbers and the ghost balloon. With a little difficulty, those three would be able to conquer level two.

 

"How do you two feel about Fighting types?" he asked Rhapsody and Gaes.

 

 

~~~

 

"It's a deal!" Sine shouted. She hadn't been paying attention to most of the banter between Emil and Leonard, but she snapped out of her daze in time to hear him issue a challenge. A little game.

 

If he was talking about those questions that he asked before Mr. Jeff appeared on the scene, then the joke was on him. She would have told him anyway. What they were doing here, was it? Who they were? If they knew someone from the region? She was sure that she, Chompers, and Emil -- if the other two agreed to fight -- would get curb-stomped if the rest of their pokemon were like the Togekiss or the Weavile.

 

"Just go easy on us, alright?" she said, nudging the shell of her Omanyte, which continued to utter a soft "nooooooooooo this isn't a smart deal" from inside. Her other pokemon still wasn't used to her commands and refused to listen half the time. It didn't seem like it was going to be much of a battle at this rate.

[Felixr2]

"Ugh"

 

The weird balloon pokémon that had been with the people in the distance had been punched into March's chest and fell to the ground.

 

"Ah, excuse me, my name is March." He said, resting the urge of scratching his neck in what would be a false sense of nonchalance, and an obviously false one at that.

 

"And this here is Frost, the Snorunt I caught today."

 

He kneeled down to pet Frost a bit.

 

"It's nice to meet you."

 

After saying this, March heard Lambert say something that caught his interest: "We'll be giving the Gym leader a good beating."

 

He made his way towards the man in the Glalie outfit, impressed by his claim of power. "The gym leader? You must be quite strong then."

 

The balloon pokémon flew up again, moving back towards it's trainer.

Edited October 9, 2016 by Felixr2

[PureDark006]

The woman named Valda moved again, and the only thing that stopped her from trying to hurt Gaes was the attack of her own Pokémon. Tusk watched in near horror as she spat fire and punched Flooey into another guy with sunglasses. All his instincts were screaming alarms in his head as the woman turned to them again, eyes blazing like twin violent suns, and as she started to get surrounded by a white glow the only thing in Tusk's mind was I can't let her hurt my friends.

 

Before he knew it, he had moved to stand in front of Gaes, little body trembling as he fully expected Valda to switch her fury to him. The woman stopped her glow and bared her teeth, making him flinch, but for some reason she did nothing more. Still, he remained in the same position, in case her temper rose again and she tried something else, even though he had yet to stop trembling.

 

 

That woman... Rhapsody was getting the same kind of feeling from her that he got from Tall Guy back at Vertia. The way she carried herself and the edge on her words hinted that she had been a Pokémon before, and possibly a wild one to boot. Interesting.

 

"I'm game," he answered Lambert's question with confidence. Him and Gaes had murdered everything at the last Gym in two hits or less - a type disadvantage would just mean the battles would be a challenge, which is how he liked it (how he got both badly poisoned and confused, hurting himself twice, in the Kusba battle did not count, no matter how much the Mawile said it did).

 

Which reminded him. "You two know how to fight?" he asked Zoey and March as their group started to head towards the Fastfall Gym. Zoey was the only shifter he'd interacted with that had a Pokémon form he recognized (though no one knew if it was possible for her to evolve into a Liepard, or what it would entail), but he hadn't had the chance to see her battle in it. And he hadn't got the first clue about what kind of Pokémon March was, so he was curious about it too.

 

-------------------------

 

The journey towards the Gym didn't take long. For whatever reason Tusk kept glancing at Gaes as if he didn't know if he should run away screaming or get on his knees and start kissing the ground she walked on, but Rhapsody decided to ignore the new behavior. The small dragon seemed terrified of Valda, but he was still trying to walk normally even with her in the group and that took guts, so he wouldn't poke fun at the young one for now.

 

The Gym was already visible, Rhapsody by now recognizing the distinct sign that marked it, when the window of the building to the right of the group broke with a noise loud enough to startle him.

 

Or, more accurately, a woman shattered it as she was thrown through it.

 

Instead of falling on her back amidst all the broken glass, she shot an arm out to rest her palm against the floor, quickly turning the fall into a back-flip that ended with her landing on her feet with the practiced grace of a feline. The shards of what used to be the window didn't seem to bother her, as she straightened up and exclaimed with a huge grin, "See, THAT was a Seismic Toss!"

 

The Machop who was staring at her from the other side of the gaping hole, face several shades paler than what should be possible for its species, proceeded to faint.

 

The human stared for a few seconds. "Sawk, you did tell her the window is rigged, right," she commented as she nonchalantly brushed some shards from her shoulder. A grunt that could be taken as either 'Sure did' or 'Nope, forgot' came from somewhere inside the building.

 

Rhapsody stared at Lambert, pointing at how the other people around were either stopping to take photos or completely ignoring what just happened. "Is this considered normal?"

 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Right after Cedric, a small group entered - two women, one of which was holding a Vulpix and a silver Fennekin, followed by a man and a girl riding a Skiddo, an Aerodactyl staying out with only the head inside. The bartender set aside the glass he had been polishing, his right hand on his chest as he bowed lightly with a polite smile. "I welcome you to my establishment, The Serpent's Fang. My name is Driemen, Gym Leader of Taismog. How might I be of service?"

 

He listened as he set a glass on the counter, over a round beverage coaster, and fetched one of the jugs inside a mini-fridge behind him. The pink-haired man's actions were bizarre and Driemen made a mental note to keep an eye on him, but as accustomed to drunk people as the Leader was, he didn't show any outward reaction besides letting his smile acquire a playful edge as he commented, "My apologies, but my preference is for nicknames to not be able to be applied to the giver too. Makes it less confusing, you see."

 

He started to carefully pour the liquid inside the glass, addressing the group as a whole again with a conciliatory tone. "As for the eastern forest, as the sign read, at this point in time it's become a place only members of the League can enter. A group of Ghost-types have taken residence in its depths, and they seem to hold a grudge against humans, children in particular. It is not a place I would currently recommend for a group of travelers such lovely young ladies are part of," he said as he set the jug down to the back, his tone light as he made eye contact with the redhead woman and flashed her a smile.

 

Pretending to not notice Cedric quietly wrapping his tail around the jug with the leftover juice (both snake and container disappeared under the counter, followed by chugging sounds), he let his tone gain a serious edge again. "I know not of what business one might have in such a place, but I strongly advice for you four to try and change the location of it, if possible."

 

That said, he pushed the glass towards the girls, now sporting a drinking straw and a round slice of apple pressed into the rim. "A gift for the little miss with the Skiddo. I hope she enjoys apple juice."

 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[[information on NPCs has been updated. Unlocked: part of Tae's character sheet]]

Edited October 11, 2016 by Puredark006

[DuskOfTheStars]

Danmerung hissed again. The other boy was grinning. Grinning in an I know I'm going to win way. And for some reason, it made Meeres furious.

 

Then he saw the boy frown. Why did he frown, when he was winning?

 

"Chespin, use Leech Seed," the other boy called.

 

Eevee yelped as the seeds implanted into her.

 

Meeres wasn't going to back down from the fight though. He couldn't. "Eevee, Tackle!"

 

Again Eevee stared at her Trainer. "Tackle? What is Tackle?"

 

Damnerung remembered another move. Eevee used it, didn't they? "Swift... Swift!"

 

Eevee responded with a cry, creating stars in the air around her before batting them at Chespin.

 

Then stars drifted lazily down from the sky - tiny stars that almost looked like stardust. As they landed on Eevee, the motes seemed to glow softly before being absorbed into the Eevee, who now looked less battered.

Edited October 11, 2016 by Dusky_Flareon

[ValidEmotions]

"No." Emil's frown had deepened at Leonard's challenge. "It's even more of a hassle to go through with some battle I'm sure you'll cheat in. Why should I bother battling for answers you clearly aren't willing to provide anyway?" Shaking his head, he shrugged. "I'll get answers from someone else who's more pleasant to deal with," he dismissed.

 

"Besides, I don't know these two well enough to properly battle with them." Waving Leonard's 'proposal' away, Emil idly fixed the strap of his bag before making to brush past the pair of questionable men. "I'm heading to Lifferoad then. Enjoy your battle for answers. Sine would have made like a growlithe and barked if Jeff asked her to," he quipped as he left their company.

 

~~~~

 

Chespin covered his face, grunting and stumbling backwards as the Swift struck. "Why does it seem like your trainer doesn't know a thing about you?" Chespin questioned, frowning at the Eevee. "And -," he paused, eyes widening. "You're talking to him! Like, having an actual conversation!" he exclaimed. "Kim! Wait! The trainer's just like you!"

 

He was bouncing, waving his arms and turning to face his trainer, no longer caring about getting the battle over with. "Are you listening to me?" he sighed.

 

Kim scowled at the grass-type. "Yeah, yeah, I'm listening," he grumbled. "Ma-a-an! Why can't ya just shut up once in awhile and actually finish a battle?" he groaned. Rubbing his neck, Kim glanced at the other boy. "So you can talk with your Eevee just like I can talk with Chespin?" he pressed.

 

~~~~

 

She bristled.

 

At the bare touch of the woman's fingertips against her throat, panic reared its ugly head in her mind, rapidly covering her body in rigid stillness. Red eyes wide, she watched the Drifloon crash against the new boy's chest before hitting the ground. Light began to fill the corner of her vision but it faded before she even registered it, only noticing Tusk standing protectively in front of her.

 

"- eel about Fighting types?"

 

Blinking, Gaes jerked her gaze to Lambert. Swallowing, she shut down the panic that wanted her to tremble and cry. "Fighting types? No big deal," Gaes answered, shrugging a shoulder as she attempted to regain her usual attitude. She had completely missed what the Dragon woman had been saying or what Lambert had said in response.

 

Glancing down at Tusk once more, she rested a hand gently on his head again, rubbing it in a brief gesture of affection. She pulled her hand away, noting faintly that it quivered. Curling her fingers against her palm, she focused on moving her feet forward.

 

--

 

The gym looked identical to the other two, with the exception of the exterior color scheme. And the broken window.

 

Shaking her head, Gaes folded her arms. "Depends," she replied to Rhapsody. "It'll probably be normal to see you flying out the window after today," she smirked.

Edited October 20, 2016 by Narvix

[hazeh]

Valda's yellow eyes trained on Lambert's face. A shadow crossed her own for a moment as he spoke, but the earlier violence in her stare seemed to have dissipated. Something about his mannerisms, or perhaps it was simply his word choice, felt strange and familiar. She didn't like it. "I most certainly will," she said, her voice oddly soft, and a small, wicked smile graced her features. "Fighting Pokemon don't like me."

Flooey bounced in front of Lambert's face as she circled around Valda with a careful attention to the berth she gave the unstable shifter. "Nobody likes you," she chimed cheerfully, floating upwards when a soft breeze pushed her around.

The cold smile widened somewhat. "Precisely," Valda answered, eyes dangerously bright.

 

When both Gaes and the other man-- Rhapsody, or some such-- agreed to battle, Valda did not react. She did not particularly care what either of them did, so long as it wasn't the annoying banter the former had tried so hard to nettle her with. Speaking of, Valda was pleased to note that Gaes had dropped the matter for now, yet the feeling of victory fell flat at the expression still carved into the Axew's young face. She scowled at him again. He was shaking like a leaf, and those strange emotions continued to boil deep within her stomach at the sight of him. It bothered her way too much. "Stop that," she demanded, but then the group began to move off toward the city gym, and she made a point to stay far from the Axew as possible. For her own comfort, of course.

 

 

The gym came into focus after a while. Another smile ticked up the corner of Valda's mouth at the large, somewhat fresh scorch mark that marred the facade of a nearby building as a distinct black line across several windows. She stopped in the front of the group to gesture at the gym. "That's the place," Valda said, folding her arms. Not a moment later, a window close by suddenly shattered as a human woman vaulted through it and flipped back onto her feet effortlessly. Valda felt her skin itch in anticipation for a shift at the sight of her. "And that," she added with a bored, unimpressed wave of her hand, "is the Gym Leader."

 

She couldn't wait to get back into battle and show that bipedal Psychic-type was pain really felt like.