Choice, a Pokemon Shifters RP

[Moonlight_Eevee]

Chompers came to a dead halt as he Rapidash asked a question in a very sharp tone. It then stomped its hoof in aggression. Chompers looked down at his friend in confusion. Was this the Rapidash's trainer? "Oh, I'm sorry," Chompers said, addressing the Rapidash directly. "Is this your trainer? If she is, she came out of the woods snapped at me then passed out. I is taking her to the red roof because of it." "Uh.....you do realize that she is a Rapidash," the tiny Pokémon said. "Yeah and?" Chompers asked turning to the little Pokémon. "If she is like you and her," the Pokémon replied back. "Then I completely lost my mind." It then shook his head as his tail started drilling in the earth.

 

 

[HomeForFlowers]

In comparison to the Ice Punch Jasper executed earlier, the Aqua Jet was vastly superior. The little brown pokemon was thrown into the air and bounce off the ground before landing with a satisfying thump. Jasper landed on the ground several feet in front of the brown pokemon, the water around him evaporating in the air.

"That's more like it!" Jasper said as slammed what most people could assume were his hands together. Why on earth his Ice Punch was so weak was beyond him. Maybe the brown pokemon had some sort of resistance to the move. Maybe the move itself was just weak. Either way, it didn't matter to Jasper. As long as he got a good fight out of the brown pokemon, then he would be content. A second brown pokemon, one who had been charging at Jasper earlier, let out a panicked yelp before hastily using Leer. Jasper took a step back, glaring over at brown pokemon who had used Leer. "Garnet, I didn't capture you so you could just sit back and watch," Jasper yelled over his shoulder as he briefly glanced over at the Deerling who was still standing a safe distance away. Garrett let out a snort of disapproval before turning her head to side with a dignified "hmph". Jasper rolled his eyes at Garrett's little show of defiance. He'd have to put her in her place later, but, for now, he had to focus on the fight.

 

Zoey and Tama didn't appear to be doing so hot. For whatever reason, Zoey was commanding Tama to fight the brown pokemon without fighting herself. Tama, much to Jasper's amusement, appeared to be having some trouble with the brown pokemon. Although he was standing strong, ready to fight at his trainer's command, he was panting and appeared to be out of breath.

"How weak," Jasper mumbled to himself quietly as he tore hie eyes away from his traveling companions and back to the pokemon he had just barreled into with Aqua Jet. Since Tama seemed intent on attacking the pokemon that used Leer, that left the first brown pokemon all to Jasper. Not wanting to waste another moment, Jasper leaned down and began rapidly digging into the ground. He burrowed himself into the ground and began clawing his way to where he thought his attacker was. For moment, Jasper hesitated, wondering if he was under the right brown pokemon. Deciding that it didn't matter as long as he hit something, Jasper dug upward and leaped out of the hole he had dug. Not noticing just who he was about to hit, Jasper spun around and slammed his tail into whoever he had surfaced near.

[PureDark006]

"Already?" Hygre repeated, looking confused for a second before turning to shoot Zoroark a look. The bigger fox kept her smirk, now matched by her son as he understood what had happened. "...Did you do something embarrassing again," she asked in a lowered voice; Zoroark was quick to shake her head, pointing at Zorua and shrugging before pointing at Lambert and then at her own throat.

 

The eye contact lasted another second before the human gave up, muttering something about 'why do I bother' and 'bunch of pranksters'. Both the foxes snickered, the smaller one snuggling against his mother's fluff.

 

"Whatever she said it's not true." Her Pokemon didn't look like she had done any of her particular brand of pranks, but there are things the Dark-type should be trusted with and things she shouldn't, and posing as her was definitely something she shouldn't. Especially considering that particular one was the cause of at least 40% of the numbers she's had to block. "Nice to meet you too, Lambert. I'm Hygre, Gym Leader of Kusba. And to clarify, this is the first time I've seen you. Any 'me' before was this Zoroark here," she added, thumb pointing at said Pokemon.

 

Zoroark let the humans do the talking, ears flicking as the Pokemon that had climbed the counter spoke. "Maybe," she conceded. Then, with a grin, she added, "but if he's going to involve others this little one must at least learn to not get caught."

"But what if I need to show myself?" her son asked.

"Then pretend to be someone else so you don't get the blame," Zoroark said as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Zorua 'ooooh'ed, smiling at Gaes as if saying isn't mom the coolest.

 

 

"Say, me and Mawile are considering issuing a gym challenge. I don't have any badges though, so you'll have to go easy in the fight."

 

"You are? That's perfect!" Hygre exclaimed, brightening up in a manner much like her Zorua as she knocked her fists together. "No holding back though! No matter what Pokemon I use, I'm giving it my all, so be sure to come only if you're prepared!"

 

She had to go get ready then; wake Zoroark up, turn on the lights, and get everyone rounded up in case they had to participate. And she was about to go back to get started on all that, when she finally noticed the kid sitting on the very non sit-able surface that was the floor and halted her turning.

 

"Is... is that child ok?" she asked, using the word 'child' even though by the looks of it they weren't that much younger than her.

 

The man with blue hair spoke up then, tone neutral as he shrugged. "They're fine. Just clumsy as hell."

 

Usually she would ask more and make sure it wasn't anything serious, but she currently was in a hurry and the pink-haired one didn't look scared or hurt. "Alright, I'm going back to the Gym now. We'll be waiting, Lambert!" she called as she ran off at a fast pace despite the heels she was using.

 

"Off we go then," Zoroark said, lifting Zorua up so he could jump into her mane. "Now pretend to have manners and say good-bye."

"Bye Gaes! Thanks for defending me! Bye Lambert!" Zorua exclaimed, grinning at them as he was into the secret too, head and front paws peeking out of his mother's hair as she exited the Center behind her trainer.

 

 

Pooch sighed, glad that everyone outside the 'game' had left. She glanced at her trainer, one ear tilted, and commented, "You were pretty quiet back then."

 

Rhapsody made a small 'hmm' sound, still looking at the doors after they closed. That Zoroark... she was strong, he could tell. Strong enough to beat him any day of the week. And that girl had six Pokeballs on that black cloth around her wrist; were there five more Pokemon with that strength?

 

He smirked, making Pooch narrow her eyes at him. "You said something about a challenge," he said to Lambert. "What's that about?"

 

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

 

Kabuto shook himself after the water attack, standing on unsteady claws. The blue Pokemon seemed to be in an argument with the one with the flower... I can use this, he thought, eyes glowing as he used Leer. He didn't have time to do anything else though, as the blue Pokemon used Dig and disappeared underground.

 

"What? Where??" he exclaimed, looking around in a panic. He looked to his friends for help, but one had turned to face the brown lion and the other was... On his back, snoring. Wow. Very appreciated. Perfect way to not let oneself be eaten. "Get off your shell and do something!!!" he yelled, waving his claws in frustration.

 

 

Meanwhile, the second Kabuto stood her ground; that brown lion had copied her move, but if she could end this quickly it wouldn't matter. "Take this!" she exclaimed, unleashing another Mud Shot; it had worked to push the other Pokemon away before it evolved, so it should be useful now too-

 

She couldn't do much more, as the ground shook under her, the blue Pokemon emerging and hitting her hard with the sphere on its tail. She yelped as she was launched to a side, falling on her shell belly-up and fainting from the attack.

 

 

The first Kabuto took a step back. All his instincts were telling him to run, but that would mean leaving his friends behind; what could he do? What would Kabutops do?

 

...Fight until the end.

 

He stood his ground, glaring at the brown lion, the human and the blue Pokemon, body shining briefly with his Harden move as he prepared to take them on.

Edited February 7, 2016 by Puredark006

[ValidEmotions]

Well, things were certainly interesting now. Apparently, Lambert was duped by Zoroark earlier and didn't even know it until now. The idea made her snicker with the fox pair. When Zoroark began talking to her, Gaes smiled. "I can always help. I like having a little partner-in-crime now and again," she remarked.

 

"...wile are considering issuing a gym challenge." Say what now?

 

Quickly, she turned her gaze upon Lambert and frowned, stifling any annoyance or surprise before it could surface and alert Zoroark. "Oh, a gym challenge. Sure thing," she muttered beneath her breath. Hygre was making her leave, excited at the prospect of a new challenger. Zoroark and Zorua were following suit.

 

"Now pretend to have manners and say good-bye."

 

"Bye Gaes! Thanks for defending me! Bye Lambert!"

 

"See ya, kid," Gaes responded, waving a tiny hand. "Don't get caught next time!" As soon as the trio were out the door and out of hearing range, the Mawile stood up on the counter and rounded a glare on Lambert. "Me and the Mawile are considering a gym challenge?" she snarked, a little incredulous. "Firstly, I have a name - use it! Secondly, when exactly did we come to the idea that you were my trainer?"

 

She fell silent momentarily, appearing to wait for the man's reply instead of just shouting over him. However, there was an odd feeling in her chest that rose at the idea of having a trainer - fake or not. Shoving it down, she shook her head and grumbled. "Because I like the Kid and don't want to see him disappointed, I'll do it. But you'll have to memorize my move set because I'm only telling you once."

 

A smile crept across her face before she took a breath. Quickly, she listed off her moves without bothering to slow down so Lambert could possibly catch them all. "I have Play Rough, Iron Head, Iron Defense, Sucker Punch, Brick Break, and Flash Cannon with Hyper Cutter as my ability." Wait... That was six moves? Blinking away the flicker of confusion on her face, the Mawile frowned again. "I have six moves...?"

 

Shaking her head, she rubbed her face with a hand. "Okay, that wasn't expected. Pokémon should only know four moves. I guess this 'game' doesn't care about the normal rules. So you'll have to pick four and stick with them," she stated.

[octopi]

All of them were in the same situation, then, without a doubt, and the possibility of this meeting being engineered was seeming more likely by the minute. Z would've preferred it if the others had been more forthcoming with their information, considering they'd shared everything they knew, but they supposed it was their own fault for not asking properly. They would just have to bring the subject up again at a later time.

 

The topic moved to Gyms, Zorua enthusiastically revealing that he was one of the Leader's Pokemon, and not a minute later the human herself showed up. Z's eyes drifted to her bracelet and the Pokeballs it held - and immediately wrenched their gaze away and stared at the floor tiles. That feeling was back. What was it about trainers that made them this uncomfortable? No, it doesn't matter - I have to focus. They bit their lip and forced themself to listen to the conversation.

 

Once Hygre left, they breathed a silent sigh of relief - then immediately shot Lambert an incredulous look. Did he intend to put their game on hold to pretend to be a trainer? Well... he was originally a human, they supposed. Either way, Rhapsody's question was more familiar territory. They twisted around to face him. "Gyms are places trainers go to hone their battling skills. There's - at an official Gym, there's a Leader you can challenge. You can get badges, which... well... the system is a little complicated." Or, rather, they hoped it wouldn't become relevant; the game was their first priority, after all.

 

They turned to face the rest of the group again just in time for Gaes to list her moves. "Ah, I seem to have six as well," they added. "I think - it would make sense, for it to be part of the game, I think. Er - a-at the very least, I can't imagine any other reasons... it's quite arbitrary."

[TehUltimateMage]

((Edited.))

 

Alright, maybe he should have asked for permission first before throwing Gaes under the bus.

 

When he revealed his intentions, Hygre was just as excited as Zorua was. Lambert chuckled at the enthusiasm. Was she always like this, or had there been no challengers for a decent amount of time? The town was pretty quiet from the few days he had been here.

 

Once she left, taking her impostor and troublemaker Zorua with her, all eyes were on Lambert.

 

"I figured it would be easier to leave you nameless instead of trying to explain why I named a pokemon after a suspiciously dressed human," Lambert defended himself at the accusation. Granted, it wasn't a really polite thing to do regardless of his cautious intention, but he couldn't think of a nickname on the spot that didn't sound like Twinkle-Toes. "Besides, it would be a good test of our abilities."

 

The Mawile took every opportunity to make his life harder, and he was starting to consider asking the blue-haired man to fight instead. At least he looked enthusiastic.

 

"Play Rough, Iron Defense, Brick Punch... Ash Cannon?" Except for Iron Defense, none of them sounded like actual moves since he didn't catch them properly. It would have been so much easier if he had a dex to check them... "It's likely that I'd have six moves as well. In official matches, we'll need to pick four and stick with them."

 

Adding to Z's explanation, Lambert gave what knowledge he had, "Yes, you earn badges by fighting and winning against the Gym Leader's pokemon. When you have enough badges, you challenge the League, where the strongest trainers in the land await. It's a very high honor for those who have made it that far." The man shook his head. "I'm not saying we should fight the league, and you have the choice. You don't need to aid me unless you want to."

 

 

~~~

 

"I don't remember having a Rapidash... I don't remember anything at all," Sine grumbled. But, the strange thing was that she knew what the pokemon was, and a general idea of its abilities, as if she had encountered one before but forgot. "This man's okay," she reassured the horse pokemon. "Are you lost too? The pokemon center's the first place most people look. You should come with us." The red roof was hard to miss, now that Sine focused her vision. The place would have a place to rest.

Edited February 7, 2016 by TehUltimateMage

[PureDark006]

Rhapsody listened to Z's explanations about Gyms (with a pause to snort at Gaes' small revenge before Lambert added in what he knew). Strongest trainers, huh? Who knew the humans had such a system. It seemed more complicated than the 'do what you want and if someone tries to stop you, beat them up' method he knew, but it looked like it provided an easy way to show to others how strong you were.

 

Well, 'strong', since the humans themselves weren't the ones doing the battling. But there was merit in being able to successfully command a pack of beings that could rip you to shreds in less than two seconds.

 

All in all, it seemed interesting. Even if the ones doing the fighting would be those two, he wanted to tag along and see how it was like. And maybe laugh a bit at Lambert if he tried to use 'Ash Cannon'.

 

Pooch tilted her head, a bit confused at what everyone was saying. Hadn't Rhapsody mentioned only five when she asked? All the other three who were involved said six though, and her trainer didn't seem bothered or surprised... Maybe she was misremembering. So instead she asked, "You didn't know what a Gym is?"

 

That got his attention, as he stared at her. "What, you did?"

 

"My pack lives near. We sometimes came here to get food since the Leader has a soft spot for Dark-types. I haven't seen her battling myself, though."

 

Rhapsody huffed, annoyed that he had been the only one not to know. He guessed this meant he hadn't had much contact with humans before, but if he was going to beat this game he'd need at least basic information. "I guess I'll go watch. What about you?" he asked Z, changing the subject.

[Moonlight_Eevee]

Zoey watched Japser in slight horror. He seemed to live for fighting. He then turned and addressed Garrett who seemed not want to fight. "Eep!" Tama said as a Mud Shot hit him, making him tumble backwards and therefore making him pass out. "Return Tama!" Zoey said nonchantely as she returned the Litleo. Putting her Pokeball up, she decided it was time to take the one who was snoring and flee. She turned to see that Japser was now gone and was replaced by a hole in the ground. Raising an eyebrow, she looked at the two brown shelled Pokemon to notice Jasper hit the second one, knocking her out. So that left the last brown shelled Pokemon. Instead of it running away, it stood it's ground. How touching. But she wasn't here to fight. No, she was here to just to grab one of these Pokemon.

 

"Now if you don't mind," Zoey said, going to leave Jasper to fight the last one. She cautiously went over to the one who was sleeping, hoping Jasper could distract the last one long enough for her to skedaddle out of there.

 

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

 

Anhew sighed. No answer. Walking around, she kept hitting rocks and trees. Every few seconds...ow....ow.... ow. She paused, hearing something in the bushes. She then heard the sound of wings flapping away. She sighed out of relief. She thought she was going to be attacked for a second. "Okay," she said to herself. "I need to find something....water! And food!" Anhew then started sniffing around trees and rocks. She needed answers. And fast. But for the moment she needed food. Going around and biting tries she paused at one tree. It had something hanging from it. She opened her mouth and let loose a small Dark Pulse to knock the thing down. Anhew bit into into it. Tasty she thought as she devoured the food item. She then craned her head up swanting to know if there were more food up in the tree.

Edited February 8, 2016 by Raptor of Dragons

[octopi]

Z bit back the urge to retort that they would've explained that themself if that was all there was to Gyms and nodded begrudgingly at Lambert's clarification. Now wasn't the time to be petty. Regardless of their opinion of the man, though, they jumped at the chance to be helpful. "Play Rough, Iron Head, Iron Defense, Sucker Punch, Brick Break, Flash Cannon," they recited, giving Gaes a blank look as they wondered why she had insisted on only listing them once. "Of which to choose four. For the battle. If you're - I mean, if you're sure about this." It was true that Hygre would have to go easy on him if he had no badges, but using a single Pokemon he'd just met who could accidentally turn into a human at any point to challenge a Gym? Even with the limited information available to them, it seemed like it couldn't be a good idea. Well, with no memories of Gym battles themself, they supposed it wasn't their place to argue. Chances were the man had been a trainer before all this, anyway.

 

As for Rhapsody's question... the other former-Pokemon was confusing them more and more by the second. Hadn't they asked to go with him because they had no other options? That hadn't exactly changed in the hour or so they'd been travelling together. Was there something they were missing? "I'll go too, I guess," they mumbled. If that were the case, they'd have to get up again. Fantastic. They scooted closer to the counter and grabbed its edge with one hand, slowly hauling themself to their feet. The process was made much easier (and less painful) by the lack of plant litter on the ground, and they were balancing on their own not half a minute later. "Was the Gym... to the right from here, if I'm remembering the map?"

[Kiran]

Oh, what a mess she was in.

 

Evelyn pushed aside a branch, careful not to let it bounce back and hit her when she let go. Why did she have to get so lost? Wherever she was, the forest couldn’t go on forever. She’d walked on for long enough that the only reasonable assumption was that she was going around in circles. At least, she thought so? She really wasn’t great at navigating forests, and having to stop every so often to rest didn’t help. How was she supposed to know how far she’d gone?

 

Had she done something to deserve this? She hated the thought, but it seemed to be so. ‘Rules’, ‘win’- didn’t those imply a game? One with very high stakes, if her memory was gone and she could...? Oh no, she was probably completely wrong. It could be anything else! It was still probably her fault, somehow, but she couldn’t jump to conclusions on what exactly was going on. A game was ridiculous, anyway. Games didn’t leave you without your memory and terrified and trapped and lost in an endless forest that she’d never ever get out of.

 

She needed to breath more. Less. Right.

 

She resisted the urge to lean against a tree for a second. It was fine, it wasn’t like she hadn’t already dealt with worse that day. Even if it had, well, caused her to turn into a Fletchinder. That had been more than a little odd, and really wasn’t something she needed at the moment. It might have sounded nice, being able to turn into a Flying-type, but it really wasn’t that simple.

 

It could have gone worse, at least! She hadn’t hit the branch that hard, and the scrapes from crashing into the dirt weren’t so painful. At least it had taught her that she she didn’t at all know how to fly, and she had no idea how one was supposed to learn such a thing. Besides, she had to admit that she was a fair bit frightened about the transformation. Best to stay on the ground for awhile.

 

As she continued on, she started to hear noises. Her eyes widened. Shouting? Other things, too, that suggested fighting. Oh, no, a fight!? What if someone was getting hurt? She broke into a run, trying to reach the location of the noises. Oh, no, oh no oh no, she really hoped that things weren’t too bad and that there was some way she’d be able to help and oh no-

 

She didn’t realize her mistake until she had almost reached the road. Given the previous two times she had shifted (once because of a panic attack and once when she had been startled), she had assumed that the change was brought on by fear for herself. It would be wrong to say that she wasn’t afraid now, but the situations were different enough that she didn’t make the connection until she was surrounded by light. By that point, it was far too late to do anything.

 

Suddenly, her legs were too short to reach the ground, and she tripped in mid-air. Panicked, she spread out her wings. For a second, she managed to glide over the ground. Her inexperience made it impossible to stay in the air, however, and a small tilt sent her crashing to the ground. A cloud of dust rose up around her. Somehow, she’d landed on her back. Flipping herself onto her feet was awkward, but somehow she managed, shaking the dust out of her feathers. Slamming into the ground had hurt, and she still didn’t know what was going on. She winced and focused on staying upright while surveying the scene, coughing to clear her lungs. There were more pokemon around than she had expected, and only one human. Three, uh, Kabutops? No, Kabuto, as well as a Litleo, an Azumarill, and a Deerling standing off to the side. The Azumarill was the only one that really caught her eye, being both adorable and one she knew quite a bit about. The other’s didn’t really have any presence competitively, being unevolved, so she didn’t know as much about them as she would have wished. Maybe she could guess about them, based on their evolutions?

 

No, no, that wasn’t important! All that mattered was figuring out what was going on. There was only one trainer, so some of the pokemon had to be wild? Which ones? Her head flicked back and forth, still trying to take everything in. Two of the Kabuto had already fainted, or something, and the Litleo had been recalled. She really didn’t know what to do in this situation! It probably hadn’t even been bad, and now she was interfering and people would ask questions, and- oh, what a mess.

[Quasismiles]

Rae allowed her head to rise and her aggressive posture to drop, seeing as how the girl was moving and clearly well.

 

"I don't know if I'm lost, but I was told to go to the red roof. From the path you're all walking, I'd assume you were headed to the same place." She blinked her crimson eyes at them, curiosity and hope being her two main emotions, now that the threat was gone. If luck was on her side, these strangers would know something about what was going on and she could ask about her... condition.

 

"Are you all pokemon-human hybrids as well?"

[Moonlight_Eevee]

Chompers let the strange woman do the talking. Okay, so she didn't own the Rapidash. He looked down at the small little yellow Pokemon. Its tail had stopped drilling and was now curious looking at the Rapidash. Chompers looked back to see the Rapidash had now raised its head and was more relaxed. The yellow Pokemon groaned as the Rapidash asked them if they were human-Pokemon hybrids. "I'm not," the Pokemon replied. "But these two right next to me are."

 

"I am Chompers," Chompers said, introducing himself. "I am Tyrantrum. I have no idea who she is." He looked down at the woman in his arms. He would transform back into his Tyrantrum, but he might end up hurting her. "And this is...uh....I never did get your name." "Oh, my name is Dunsparce," the Pokemon said, sweatdropping. "I guess I never properly introduced myself." "Just Dunsparce?" Chompers asked a bit surprised. "Yup, just Dunsparce," Dunsparce said.

 

Chompers then looked at the Rapidash again. Did it not know how to revert back into a human? @We can help you if you want," Chompers said.

 

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

 

Anhew bit the tree once more to feel more of food up in the tree. Using Dark Pulse, she knocked a bunch of the food down. She started eating the good food when she heard a voice. "Excusssssse me," a voice hissed from the trees. Anhew looked up to hear something slithering in the trees. "But thossssse applesssss are mine." "Oh, sorry," Anhew said sheepishly, pawing at the ground. "But I was hungry." So that's what she was eating. Apples. "Deinosssss are sssso annoying," the voice hissed. "I think you ssshall pay for eating my applesssss." Anhew then listened as the Pokemon tried to spit soemthing at her, luckily Anhew dodged it before running. It didn't help that she was blind and she kept running into trees and tripping over rocks. "Come back here little one," the voice said as she heard it slither after her.

 

"Someone help me!" Anhew squeaked as she ran.

[HomeForFlowers]

While Jasper was off beating up small pokemon that were clearly weaker than him, Garrett was off on the side of the road, her ears flattened as she watched her trainer mercilessly attack the poor pokemon who had the misfortune of invoking his wrath. She absolutely refused to partake in a senseless battle that could have been easily avoided if they just talked it out. Garrett doubted she would get used to Jasper's urge to fight and she doubted he would enjoy her pacifism for long. Hopefully, the Jasper would get so sick of Garrett that he would just end up releasing her so she could go on her merry way back to her herd and forget all about him. Just as Jasper slammed his tail into one of the brown pokemon, prompting Garrett to let out a snort of disgust, she heard a crash behind her. The Deerling turned her head towards the sound, her ears pricking up in interest. A Fletchinder had crashed into the ground and was now glancing wildly at the catastrophe before her.

"Oh my goodness, are you alright?" Garrett called to the bird as she trotted over towards her. "You aren't hurt, are you?" Garrett flickered her gaze up and down the Fletchinder. She didn't look hurt, that was for sure, but Garrett could have been overlooking something. "Do you need any help?" Garrett asked as she lowered gazed at the Fletchinder with a concern look in her eyes.

 

As Garrett tended to the strange Fletchinder, Jasper was busy dealing with the brown pokemon. Although he had hit the wrong opponent, the end result was the same. Two of the attackers were down and there was only one left to go. Tama had proven to be much more inferior than Jasper had first anticipated. Two Mud Shots and he was down? How pathetic. To his credit, Jasper, save for the Mud Shot he had taken as a human, had only been faced with Leers and no offensive attacks. Hopefully, the next attack one of the brown pokemon executed would provide a challenge. Out of the corner of his eye, Jasper spotted Zoey scooting over towards the sleeping brown pokemon. He let out a snort of amusement.

 

"What? You aren't planning on leaving, are you?" Jasper inquired with a sneer. That pokemon wasn't going to sleep for long and unless Zoey's pokemon form was enough to take it out, she'd have a problem on her hands. Not that Jasper cared, of course. Garrett was the one who convinced him to travel with Zoey; staying with the other shifter was not a choice he had made. Of course, she was the one who knew the way to town so perhaps it would be best to keep her within sight for the time being. "Whatever," Jasper said with a shrug. "This'll be over before too long." Turning to face the last brown pokemon, Jasper grinned as he noticed that he was standing his ground. "Not running away, eh?" Jasper asked in snarky tone. "Good, I'd rather not chase you down. It gets boring when your opponent runs away, you know?" Satisfied that the brown pokemon wasn't running away, Jasper used Aqua Jet, prompting water to materialize around him. He launched himself off the ground and began speeding towards the brown pokemon just as he had done earlier.

[Kiran]

Was she alright? It took a moment for Ev to figure out the answer to the Deerling's question. She was sure that she'd have some bruises, and her feathers had been ruffled badly, but nothing was broken. "No-no, I'm not hurt, I'm okay," she said, not making eye contact. Partially to avoid finding something to look at, she reached down to pull at a few of her chest feathers. It hurt, but the fidget was calming. It wasn't two seconds before she was glancing up at the battle again. The human, she was going to pick up one of the Kabuto? Why? If she was a trainer, couldn't she just use a Poke Ball? Ev turned her attention to the Deerling. "I'm sorry, I don't need help, I just... I heard fighting, so I ran over to see if I could help, but I don't know what I can do. Is that your trainer over there?" Or, was that a rude thing to ask? She really hoped not. Maybe the Deerling was wild, and had just come to watch the fight. She didn't seem too concerned about it, anyway. Though, if the girl was her trainer maybe she could explain.

 

Ev shifted from side to side, still struggling to keep her balance. It was getting easier, at least. That was good, considering that she couldn't shift back at the moment. She wasn't quite sure how, actually. It seemed to be just... calming down and wanting to change back, but that wasn't a very specific method. It was something she'd have to figure out later, anyway. "Uh, what's your name? Mine's Ev. Evelyn, I mean. Or, Ev's good." Aha, wasn't this going well? The Deerling seemed nice, having come over to see if she was okay and all, but even so this was awkward. Her first time interacting with anyone since she'd woken up, and it was going this poorly? It was doubtful that there'd be good times ahead. She started pulling at her feathers again.

 

A sudden movement of blue to her left startled her. Aqua, Jet, right! Of course the fight was still happening. Silly to forget. It also showed her that, as of yet, she'd still been completely useless in stopping anything. "Can't we...?"

[ValidEmotions]

Gaes almost seemed to pout when Z repeated the list of moves she'd given to Lambert. There went that part of the prank. At least she got to enjoy the man's moment of stumbling as he got half of the names wrong. Seriously, brick punch and ash cannon were amusing screw ups. "Those are the four you're going to use?" she asked, shifting her gaze back onto Lambert. She debated giving him another chance at picking, an unknown opportunity to select her three actual moves instead of having two and two.

 

But that would be too easy then. "Okay! Those four it is! Lucky for you, I have a type advantage," the mawile sang, grinning. Climbing down from the counter, she looked up at Z as they tried to remember which way the gym was. "That sounds about right, considering I think I saw it to the left when we first arrived. The gym and the Poke Center are the two biggest buildings; everything else is so small. So, it honestly shouldn't be that hard to find it. And, it's not like we're about to get lost in a tiny place like Kusba any moment soon."

 

As if suddenly remembering something, Gaes frowned slightly. "You're not going to shove me into a Pokeball, are you? Because I won't go quietly if you try."

Edited February 10, 2016 by Narvix

[TehUltimateMage]

"That was very helpful, Z," Lambert thanked them. "I'm sure that there won't be any problems." At least he now had a better idea of what the moves actually were without the words bleeding together, and the man pretended that he didn't feel embarrassed by his misheard mistake. He considered his options. Sucker Punch was a dark type move and so it wouldn't be of much use against Hygre, while Brick Break would be super effective. That left his choice of three out of the four remaining moves.

 

That is, until the pokemon decided that those were the four they were going with. Brick Break, Flash Cannon, Play Rough, and Iron Defense. And then, the ability. Where had he heard Hyper Cutter before? "Hang on. I believe Iron Head over Flash Cannon may offer us a better tactical advantage, since your ability prevents your attack from getting lowered." The words spilled out of his mouth, and it took him a heartbeat to understand what he just said.

 

"Brick Break, Play Rough, Iron Head and Iron Defense. That is my final answer." A pause. "I wish I could stuff you in a ball, but I'd rather not explain how I managed to catch a human."

 

Finally, he turned to Rhapsody. "Are you sure you want to just watch? It would be wise to have another pokemon on standby, and you do have the most experience out of all of us."

 

~~~

 

"I'm not--" Sine grumbled, her first thought being to deny the accusation, until she figured out that there was no point in even starting the charade. "Okay, I am. Call me Sine, I turn into a Sigilyph, and I know you turn back human by passing out or by thinking about it really hard." Her tone was getting progressively more annoyed. Could they just quit talking and just head to the Center already? It felt like they were standing here forever. Maybe Chompers could knock the pokemon out to force her back into human form?

 

[PureDark006]

The last Kabuto straightened up, his front claws leaving the ground as the blue Pokemon looked at him again. He wasn't scared he wasn't scared he wasn't scared he wasn't scared-

 

Wait, why was that Human walking towards his friend.

 

"Leave him alone!!!" he yelled, getting distracted for a second and not noticing the blue one making the water attack again until it was nearly in front of him. Yelping, he tried to use Scratch; but before he even knew if it had connected or not, he was being thrown back by the force of the attack. He actually landed on his belly instead of his back like the other two, but the result was the same as he fainted.

 

 

The sleeping Kabuto, the only one left technically able to battle, waved two of his claws and snored loudly.

 

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

 

Z didn't answer if they wanted to fight or watch, so by their unenthusiastic look Rhapsody guessed they didn't want to actively participate. Not that Lambert needed it, if what Gaes said about her typing was correct. What actual type was she anyway? Didn't look like a Bug or Fairy, so maybe Fighting. She did have Brick Break. Maybe Steel too, since she had three moves of that type (he hadn't heard of Iron Head before, but if that wasn't Steel too he'd eat an Aspear Berry). They should stay put to wait for Fia, but if the girl returned and they weren't there the logical thing was to wait, so he just had to remember to check on the Center again after the battle.

 

He raised an eyebrow at Gaes' words. Kusba was tiny? What the hell was up with humans? This was the biggest settlement he'd seen- well, as much as that counted since he didn't remember being to a settlement before, but he must have because the impression he got when getting to the town was that it was too big.

 

...He really wasn't looking forward to go to a place the Mawile defined as 'huge'. If he was confined to the ground as a human he had a feeling he'd lose his way pretty quick.

 

Lambert addressed him then, interrupting his thoughts about assuming Pokemon form upon entering and hoping they finish before his stamina runs out. Good thing the man admitted Rhapsody was better off than him, or his pride would have made him snap at the other for suggesting he follow orders. There was something about the idea of following someone else that made him tense up, as if he should avoid it at any costs - and, for once, Rhapsody actually had a clue about why that was. After all, if he had been an Hydreigon like he suspected, that meant he had been a Zweilous before evolution. Both heads of a Zweilous had distinct thoughts and personalities, as if they were two separate Pokemon stuck together, and control of the body was given to the stronger head. If he had lived through that, it would explain why he felt like it was a big issue to not be on the top.

 

Why was he feeling tense though? If he was the one that evolved, that meant he had been the strongest. He should be feeling as if him giving orders was a fact of life, not something he should be concerned about. Had his other head been as strong as him, then? Had having control been a struggle?

 

Damn. Thinking about all that was royally pissing him off. Lambert was lucky he had a need to beat something up now.

 

"Fine. But if I'm going as a Pokemon, I'm not going to be just some fancy back-up. I better be on the battle as long as Gaes or we're going to have problems," he said, throwing in a glare to make sure his point got across. "Pooch, you gonna return?"

 

"I'd rather not. It'd be better if there's someone with their memories intact at hand, in case something goes wrong," she answered, trotting towards Gaes to properly greet the other Pokemon with a sniff, now that she knew they were going to be spending some time together.

 

Rhapsody nodded and switched forms, instantly feeling better now that he had his three pairs of eyes and wings. He had already gotten accustomed to walking, but it truly couldn't hold a Litwick to flight. "Go with Dragon Pulse, Flamethrower, Surf or Earth Power. They're the most useful for this," he told Lambert. If he only said four moves from the beginning, there'd be less chance of the man getting confused. He raised his tail as he started to hover above ground, to prevent the black fur from mopping the floor, and signaled the exit with a smirk. "After you, Mr. Ash Cannon."

 

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

 

The Gym had the appearance of a normal building on the outside. A very big normal building, size large enough to use any kind of Pokemon on the inside, but a normal one nonetheless. There were trees planted on the sides and back to offer shade to passers-by, and the roof and sign over the doors were both black, the last one showing off the white Gym symbol. The windows, while clear, offered no view of the inside, as if it was too dark to see. A sign by the door cheerfully proclaimed to anyone who could read:

Kusba Village Pokémon Gym

Leader: Hygre

Star of the Moonless Night

 

Going through the glass double doors led to a small, simple well-lit room with brown walls and two gray statues of the Gym symbol flanking the entrance. On the base of each statue was a screen with a small keyboard under it, white letters reading "Certified Trainers" over a black background, the numbers 1 to 5 showing under the text. A wooden door was located on the other side, connecting the room to the true interior of the building.

 

To the area the Gym Leaders had complete power to customize.

 

Opening the wooden door led to a forest of dead trees, the light mist that permeated the area giving the darkened trunks and bare branches an ominous air. Instead of walls there were thick trees right next to each other, barely giving glances of what was behind, and no roof made the 'room' have a clear view of the deep clouds covering the sky. Small noises could be heard just outside of the range of vision - a footstep here, some rustling there. As if there were many unseen creatures around.

 

Hygre stood deeper into the room. The Leader was standing in the further side of an illuminated clearing, located right below the only parting in the clouds that revealed the starry night sky. "Welcome, challengers, to the Kusba Pokémon Gym!" she exclaimed with a grin, arms crossed in front of her. "Now, you said earlier you have no badges, so allow me to do the whole introduction to the League."

 

"As you definitely noticed, Gyms in Lamorak don't use Gym Trainers. You get to battle us directly so your team can be in top condition and no one complains of cheating. However, that's not the only difference; nope, far from it. For example, everyone was getting tired of Single battles, so we can use any kind the challengers want. Double, Triple, Rotation, Multi; you name it, we've mastered it. We even let more than one person fight at the same time, up to three - of course, only if between them they use six Pokémon. Remember that fairness? It applies to us too."

 

"Anyway, that's not the best part. Here, we use a system called 'Difficulty Levels', made so both novice and seasoned trainers have the same hard time beating us without it being outright impossible. The badge you win will have small modifications based on the level it's won at, too, so you can't lie for bragging rights. The higher the level, the harder to win, and it peaks at Five - a battle against our true team."

 

Hygre uncrossed her arms, adjusting her bandanna. "Of course, they won't let you into the League if all your badges are the easiest ones to get. Our Elite Four are a picky, busy bunch, after all. Not even us Gym Leaders know where they are half the time. Meaning the maximum number you can get of the lowest level is four; the rest won't count so no one can abuse the system."

 

She bumped her fists together then, looking as excited as she had in the Center. "Now, enough talking! If you don't have any questions, pick the kind of battle and your level! No badges means I'd usually recommend Level 1, but seeing your Pokémon there I think you can handle the third one. Choice is yours!"

Edited February 12, 2016 by Puredark006

[TehUltimateMage]

"Dragon Pulse, Flamethrower, Surf, and Earth Power," Lambert repeated to help him remember. The last three moves had pretty nice coverage between them and if he was lucky, he could get another advantageous matchup through secondary types.

 

The blue-haired man's alternate form was imposing, or would have been, if the pokemon was twice as large. The dragon -- it looked like a dragon -- was only a little taller than Lambert, though its floating gave it another foot and a half of height advantage. Nevertheless, the older man raised an eyebrow, impressed.

 

The plan was to send out Rhapsody first so he couldn't complain about not fighting, then swap him out for Gaes when it looked like Hygre was about to send in her last pokemon. He nearly changed his mind with the dragon's quip about Ash Cannon. He had a feeling that the group would never let him live that down.

 

~~~

 

Lambert stared at the Gym's exterior for more than half a minute. It wasn't hard to guess the leader's favorite color by this point.

 

The moment he entered the doors, he was embraced with a sense of familiarity at the sight of the room's layout, though again, the emotion failed to bring back any memories. He didn't know how often the leaderboards were refreshed, but there were no names on it at the moment. Slow week, even for the Gym.

 

"Wait, I almost forgot," he stopped the group before they entered the second door. The man fished through his pockets for the last of the Oran berries he had been gifted the day before. Only two were left, and he handed one to the Mawile, the other to the Hydreigon. "It's not much, but we can't be too safe. Let's try to make this quick and easy."

 

With that, he entered.

 

Lambert expected the room's challenge to be 'wander around aimlessly in the dark until the trainees assault you' and so he was pleasantly surprised when the establishment sported no such gimmick. Seems like Hygre blew all her League funding on the interior decor instead: it was hard to believe that he didn't step through a gate leading to an actual forest. If this was his first challenge, then he would have thought he would have been much more jumpy by the tricks and illusions intended to unnerve challengers like him -- and that only cemented the theory that this might have been something he had done before.

 

Hygre was waiting at the end of the room. She offered a helpful introduction to the League. Useful, considering that with the exception of the Houndour, none of the group had any memories. Unlike most of what he had been hearing and assuming up until then, what she said then was completely new. It discredited his déja vu theory and forced him to pay closer attention to the new rules.

 

Except for doubles, none of the battle modes sounded familiar to him. What, triple battles meant having three pokemon each on the field? Before long, the League would make full-on six-on-six beatdowns an official mode as well. He was glad at least that he had the choice, though a little disappointed that the region didn't do singles from the looks of it.

 

The levels system was new, too. This place definitely seemed to work differently than what his knowledge told him. It didn't matter what level he chose as it was their first official battle. Caution told him to play safe and use the lowest setting, though at the same time wiping the floor with some novice pokemon didn't sound like very much fun. There had to be at least a little tension in any conflict.

 

"Doubles, level two." He motioned with his hand for the two pokemon to step forth.

Edited February 11, 2016 by TehUltimateMage

[Moonlight_Eevee]

Zoey paused as Jasper addressed her. She looked down at the sleeping Pokémon before looking at the one who had fainted. She then turned to see a bird Pokémon had crashed into the ground. She raised an eyebrow as Garrett tended to the red bird. She then watched Jasper hit the other brown shelled Pokémon, knocking him out. "Hmmm," she hummed. It would be easier to grab one of the one who had fainted. "If these Pokémon are sort of rare, just think of all the money I can get." She didn't care who heard her, if she could fool innocent people, she'd be happy. She then walked over to the female brown shelled Pokémon and picked it up. She then looked to a bush to see a black and blue Pokémon jumping though the bushes, followed by a Seviper. Seviper? Odd, she recognized that Pokémon. The Seviper noticed the humans and backed off. She noticed the little black and blue Pokémon was now panting. "You okay?" Zoey asked with an interesting eyebrow.

 

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

 

Anhew was running for her life when she heard voices. Voices! She then turned sharply, ramming her body into a tree and tried to shoot off like a rocket. She growled in pain as she kept running into trees and stepping on sharp rocks, hearing her pursuer behind her. She finally ran through a bush and stepped onto a lot of dirt. She started panting as she heard her pursuer stop. She lifted her head to hear someone speak. "Yeah, I'm fine," Anhew responded, pawing at the dirt at the new voice. She still couldn't see, so it was kind of annoying to figure what everyone was. She recognize trees and rocks, so maybe Pokémon too?

 

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

 

Chompers looked down at Sine who claims to turn into a Sigilyph. What was a Sigilyph? But he noticed Sine's voice getting more and more aggravated. "You two, with me, now," Chompers said to Dunsparce and the Rapidash. Without waiting for a reply, Chompers turned and walked over into the building with the red roof. "Excuse me," Chompers said, talking to the person at the counter. "Yes, how can I help you?" the person asked. "This person need rest," Chompers said. "There is a lounge area behind you to your right," the person said, handing Chompers a blanket. Chompers easily shifted to have sine cradled in one of his arms and had the blanket in the other. He then moved over to the lounge area and gently set Sine on the couch and then put the blanket over her. He blinked. Why did he just do that?

[PureDark006]

Alright, Rhapsody was officially lost. Gym trainers? Single battles and whatever the others were? Elite four? What the hell were all of those? Why did humans have to complicate beating each other up.

 

At least Mr. Brick Punch seemed to know what he was doing. Rhapsody stared at his hand when the man moved it, not sure what in Kyurem's name 'doubles' was, until Pooch whispered from her position near Z. "It means each trainer uses two Pokémon at the same time. You have to go fight with Gaes as a partner."

 

Huh. Not what he expected. He didn't have anything against the female though, so he wouldn't complain.

 

Hygre grinned when the two of them stepped forward. "Cautious, eh? And Pink over there isn't participating? Oh well, not me who decided." She cleared her throat and raised her hand, shouting, "You heard the man! Four Pokémon of Level Two coming right up!"

 

As soon as she said that, a wristband with four Dusk Balls dropped from the sky above her. She snatched it from the air in one smooth movement, adjusting it on her left wrist and plucking the first two balls from it. Both capsules grew to their usable size as soon as they were on her hand, shiny covers reflecting the stars' light for a second before they opened and engulfed the area in front of them in white light.

 

The light faded away to reveal a Poochyena and a Stunky, both crouching in battle positions. "Battle start!" Hygre exclaimed, both her Pokémon instantly running off in opposite directions to surround their opponents.

[TehUltimateMage]

Both Hygre's first pokemon looked unevolved, but he knew better than to underestimate them based on stage. The Poochyena he knew more than the other one, which he suspected was a poison type because of the purple coloring, but it was just as likely to be another pure-dark type… He wanted to play it safe.

 

If he had known about the possibility of alternate battle modes, he might have rehearsed a strategy or two. Currently, Lambert could only hope that the two pokemon on his side didn't crash into each other. Best to keep them apart. "Get some distance from each other. Mawile, Brick Break on Poochyena," -- at that moment he realized that he didn't know Rapsody's species' name. He'd better not make a fool of himself getting it wrong. "Raps, use Dragon Pulse on the other one!"

[ValidEmotions]

Well, shoot. Lambert changed his mind, picking finalizing three actual moves and getting lucky with just one false. Nodding anyways, Gaes was quickly distracted when Pooch approached and began sniffing her. "Whoa, okay!" she exclaimed. Honestly, she should have expected the sniffing but, when you suddenly had a wet nose going near your behind, expectations sometimes went out the window.

 

~~~~

 

The gym was large and, further in, gloomy. Trees surrounded them and stars flickered behind the clouds. Faintly growing anxious, Gaes focused on not squeezing the juice out of the oran berry Lambert had given her. Eventually, Hygre spoke up, her loud voice carrying across the field to the group as she welcomed them and gave a brief run down of how gym battles went.

 

Doubles? Perfect. Glancing at Lambert then Rap, the Mawile stepped forward into the main section of the battle area at the man's signal. Then, Hygre called her pokemon and the battle start. Inhaling deeply, she set her nerves and fixed her stance. Twisting around to face Lambert, she felt the jaws at the back of her head part open as she glanced at the opponents from over her shoulder.

 

It felt - distressingly - familiar to stand this way in this situation. The jaws snapped close and open again with the agitation.

 

"Mawile, Brick Break on Poochyena. Raps, use Dragon Pulse on the other one!" Oh sure, use Rap's name from the get-go.

 

While Gaes was already snickering internally at Lambert's sort of luck for starting with a move she didn't even have, the idea of attacking right off the bat didn't feel... comfortable to her. Both out of spite for the man and the natural feeling of it, she chose to use Iron Defense. Again, her jaws snapped close and open, almost snarling. Her body began to faintly glow blue before a metallic shine seemed to flash across her form.

Edited February 12, 2016 by Narvix

[PureDark006]

Dragon Pulse, huh? Rhapsody guessed it was the best one to use right now since he didn't have any the opponents were weak against...Hang on, which was 'the other one'. Gaes wasn't attacking so he couldn't use that to fire the move at the one she wasn't- wait, was she using her moves at random?

 

He couldn't help snickering at that.

 

Hygre didn't let that second of confusion go to waste, as she called her attacks nearly at the same time Lambert did. "Focus energy! Swagger on Hydreigon!"

 

The purple Pokémon breathed out, small sparks of red energy raising from the ground below it. The black one took one long, hard look at Rhapsody and, with a condescending smirk, said, "Not moving yet? So lame".

 

Okay he was going to bleeping murder that little-

 

He didn't care who was who anymore; with a roar, he fired the Dragon Pulse at the dog, which quickly evaded it and ran out of the way to place Gaes between itself and the angry dragon.

Edited February 12, 2016 by Puredark006

[TehUltimateMage]

Lambert clenched his jaw, but otherwise showed no other external sign of his frustration and slight horror when Gaes used Iron Defense instead. They had barely even started and things were not going as well as he hoped.

 

He should have known from the incident at the Pokecenter that Gaes wouldn't be the most… obedient. Maybe it was her species' tendency to be deceivers, or, more likely, she just had a really Sassy nature. And, pokemon didn't like to listen to trainers with no proof of their strength.

 

And Swagger. Status moves were intensely crippling -- even though he admitted he didn't know their full potential -- and he didn't have any Persim berries. All of Rhapsody's moves were special, and so the attack boost would only make him hit himself in confusion harder.

 

But, he reminded himself, Fairy was strong against dark. Out of all the moves available to him, only one of them he wasn't familiar with and that was the one he banked on being of the correct type. He could only keep ordering attacks until the Mawile decided she wanted to listen. "Aim for the closest target. Play Rough, Dragon Pulse."

Edited February 12, 2016 by TehUltimateMage

[ValidEmotions]

Laughing at the Poochyena's comment at Rap, Gaes watched as the Hydregion's attack missed and the dark-type placed her between them. Shifting to keep both opponents in her sight, she started to pick her next move when Lambert gave his order. Attack the closest target with Play Rough and Dragon Pulse. The Mawile frowned. Neither she nor Rap had coordinated with each other to know how to stay out of each other's way.

 

This might not work as well as the man hoped.

 

Oh well. Lucky for him, she had already decided on Play Rough and wasn't about to change her mind. Spinning on her heel, Gaes sprinted towards the Poochyena. At the same time, the sound of Rap's Dragon Pulse reached her ears and she leapt aside, allowing the attack to race towards its intended target. The turquoise sphere of energy collided with the dark-type, popping like a bubble of water and creating a splash effect, the droplets vanishing before they hit the ground.

 

Taking the opportunity to catch the pokemon while it was down, Gaes darted closer, grinning. "Let's play a game of catch, shall we? You'll make a great ball!" she cooed, leaping upward, twisting mid-air to snatch the Poochyena with her jaws. She started laughing when her feet touched the ground, launching the dog-like pokemon into the air only to catch it with her jaws just before it hit the ground. Three more times she threw the pokemon up and caught it, summersaulting on the third catch to slam the Poochyena into the ground before releasing it and jumping clear.