Choice, a Pokemon Shifters RP

[PureDark006]

Rhapsody at that point wasn't even listening to Lambert; he wanted the dog to go down, and he was going to fire as many Dragon Pulse as he had to until that happened.

 

Luckily for the man's sanity, Gaes managed to take advantage of the attack to get close and grab the dog with her jaws. The Pokémon yipped as it was thrown in the air multiple times, trying to set itself free but not being able to do so before being slammed into the ground, making it faint.

 

Hygre was fast to return the Poochyena, getting another of the Dusk Balls on her wristband. "Toxic to Hydreigon! Fake Out to Mawile!" She called as a Nuzleaf materialized from the white flash of light, already running towards Gaes as Stunky stood up on its rear legs and shot a purple glob of dense liquid to Rhapsody.

 

He couldn't move out of the way fast enough, the move hitting him right in his left head. Hygre wasn't pausing as she was already ordering the Grass-type to use Torment on Gaes, her Pokémon taking advantage of the short distance between them after Fake Out's hit to yell straight to the Mawile's face.

Edited February 12, 2016 by Puredark006

[TehUltimateMage]

He cheered internally when Gae's move (which was, in his eyes, more of an overkill than Dragon Pulse) slammed the Poochyena down and Hygre swapped it out for a fresh pokemon. A hint of a smile creeped upon his stoic expression, although when he touched his brow he felt a little nervous sweat. One down, three to go.

 

The small victory was quickly overshadowed by the next pokemon hitting Gaes before either of them could react, then following up with Torment, meaning that he would only need to alternate between Brick Break and Play Rough. Hopefully, the pokemon would be smart enough to realize that as well.

 

He wanted to end this quickly; he had no intention of letting Toxic run its course, but with Rhapsody still under confusion it made it all the more difficult. He would have asked the Hydreigon to use Flamethrower on the grass type for another chance to knock it out right away (Leech Seed stuck out in his mind as the worst grass type move he had encountered and it would be terrible if it happened), but with the Mawile in the way it was too risky. Especially with her nearly getting caught in the crossfire last time.

 

"Play Rough then Brick Break to Nuzleaf in front of you, another Dragon Pulse to the poison type!"

 

He wasn't really sure if either of the pokemon were listening to him anymore, but there was no harm in trying to keep the situation under control.

Edited February 12, 2016 by TehUltimateMage

[ValidEmotions]

Gaes lifted her chin up in triumph as a smug expression crossed her face when the Poochyena fainted. Hygre was calling the dark-type back and then immediately sent out a Nuzleaf, the grass-type initiating an attack as soon as it was free. Gaes hopped a few steps back but it wasn't good enough. The Pokemon clapped near her face and a force of wind knocked her back. Tumbling a few feet, she barely had time to get on her feet before the Nuzleaf yelled at her.

 

O-o-oh that made her mad! Scowling, she charged at the Nuzleaf as Lambert gave his next set of orders. Enjoyably, Play Rough was given first and she closed the small gap, spinning on her heel to catch the Nuzleaf in the side with her jaws as if they were a bat. "Batter up!" she growled, leaping back as the grass-type was sent flying.

 

Closer to Lambert, she frowned, glancing back at him. "I lied. I don't have Brick Break. I have Fairy Wind," she informed before jumping upward and performing a set of front flips. As she did so, a strong gust of glittering wind raged towards the Nuzleaf, striking the pokemon.

[PureDark006]

He didn't know about before, but now Rhapsody was entirely sure he hated status moves.

 

He barely could heard Lambert over the haze that had settled on his mind due to the confusion. Shadows swam by the end of his vision, and they were getting him angrier and angrier.

 

The eyes on his three heads hazed over as he charged, attempting to take down the purple Pokémon. In his confusion, he missed, flying past at least 3 meters from his target and ramming head-first into one of the trees surrounding the clearing. There was a crunching noise as the wood broke, the top part of the tree falling to the ground.

 

Stunky started running towards Gaes as the move Night Slash was commanded, aiming it at her back as she defeated Nuzleaf, the Focus Energy from earlier making the shadows from the attack stronger as it resulted in a critical hit.

 

The second Nuzleaf was down it was already being returned, with Hygre sending out her final Pokémon with a familiar command of "Fake Out to Mawile!". A second Nuzleaf manifested itself, jumping at a high speed and aiming a flying kick towards the Steel-type that hit right after Stunky's attack. "Now Leaf Blade!" Nuzleaf's arm began glowing green, as it made the slashing motion of the attack towards Gaes' chest, the green energy radiating brighter than usual as it also resulted in a critical hit.

 

 

((Note: I have several witnesses that I'm not OPing, the dice rolls just really, really hate Lambert))

[TehUltimateMage]

It hurt itself in confusion... Looks like Rhapsody was useless in this battle, which was a shame. Might as well have tried a clean sweep with Gaes alone, if she didn't lie about her moves. His emotions culminated in a single word: why.

 

Since he already called out Brick Break and Gaes had already used Fairy Wind, Play Rough, and Iron Defense throughout the battle, he would have to rely on the first two in order to mask his mistake. She hadn't used Iron Head yet either, but he suspected that she lied about that one, too. No wonder pokemon battles were built on trust, and neither of them seemed to trust him enough yet (naturally since, they only met today). And, while it was out of his control, he couldn't see the Hydreigon trusting him any more after this.

 

Hygre's last pokemon… was another Nuzleaf? He recalled that Zoroark could take on the appearance of humans, so it wasn't a stretch to say they could pretend to be pokemon as well. And since this one just used a grass move, he could be certain that this one was the genuine article.

 

Now was the time to worry about Leech Seed and Grasswhistle.

 

Poison was toxic to fairies, but steel was immune to poison. The Mawile's typing was incredibly useful as the critical hits -- bypassing the Iron Defense from earlier by hitting weak points -- barely seemed to scratch her. She seemed to be in much better shape than the Hydreigon, at least, but even then Rap still looked like he had the better half of his health remaining despite the status effects piled on him.

 

On the opponent's side, Nuzleaf had two more moves it had yet to use, while the skunk had one more mystery move, probably of a poison type. The only real attack option for the latter was Night Slash, but the grass type definitely had another status move hidden away.

 

With that in mind, he did promise that Rhapsody would get as much action as Gaes did, and he liked to keep his word. "Iron Defense, then move out of the way." He'd make use of the time the Hydreigon took getting back to his senses after the collision by getting another move in, and then trust Gaes to put some distance between her opponents before they began pursing her again. "Raps!" he called, trying to get the dragon's attention, "Flamethrower!"

[ValidEmotions]

As Nuzleaf went down, Gaes soaked up the second triumph of the battle. The moment didn't last long as she heard the Stunky approach her from behind, startling her. Before she could fully turn and face the opponent, it struck with a Night Slash and sent her backwards with a gasp. In the next instance, the second Nuzleaf landed a Fake Out, causing her to stumble even more. The Leaf Blade added insult to injury as she couldn't react fast enough, causing her to tumble across the ground a handful of feet.

 

Furious at the onslaught, she hurried to her feet to hit back. Only, Lambert had other ideas apparently as he commanded an Iron Defense and retreat. Frustrated, Gaes obeyed and her body once more glowed blue. A shine flashed across her figure as she sprinted back towards Lambert, taking up her starting position with jaws gaping at the opponents and glancing over her shoulder.

 

"You're really going to try and have Mr. Ditzy take over?" she muttered, almost offended. However, she was willing to sit back as the man needed her to - mostly out of the hope of seeing Rap get his furry tail kicked.

[PureDark006]

Rhapsody wasn't even thinking anymore; the confusion was completely clouding his mind, and the damage from the Toxic had started to sap his strength since he crashed. With a roar, he released a Flamethrower, the tower of flames going up towards the half moon shining on the sky but dispersing before it could hit anything.

 

He felt the poison eating at his health again, the damage making him instinctively fly at top speed, crashing against another tree and taking it down before he flew upwards.

 

"Nature Power and Night Slash on Mawile!" At the command, Nuzleaf crouched and extended its arms, three floating spheres appearing in front of it and launching flames, electricity and ice at the Mawile as the move took the form of a Tri Attack. Stunky was already running from the side, the claws being covered by the strong shadows as the move took the power of a critical hit again.

Edited February 13, 2016 by Puredark006

[ValidEmotions]

Damn it Rap. Snap out of it already! Gaes watched as the Hydreigon raged, only to shoot flames upward and ram into another tree. Cringing at how pathetic he was in his current state, Gaes was stuck between feeling sympathy and amusement. She didn't linger long on the matter though, shifting her gaze back on the Nuzleaf and Stunky as Hygre gave out more commands.

 

Of course they were focused on her.

 

Leaping to the side, Gaes put a little distance between herself and Lambert so the man wasn't caught on the edges of the attacks. The Nuzleaf's Nature Power manifested as a Tri Attack; fire, ice, and electricity snaked rushed towards her. She jumped over one, ducked under a second, and twisted away from the third.

 

Only to be struck down by the Stunky's Night Slash. "Is that it?" she coaxed, rising back to her feet. She gave a smirk and sniffed with contempt. "I'm not even sweating yet," Gaes boasted. Although, she would be feeling some bruises later. Lambert's next command reached her ears and her smirk became a happy grin.

 

As she started to put some distance between her and the Stunky using backflips, sparkling wind was shot at the poison-type, hitting it before it had the opportunity to dodge.

Edited February 13, 2016 by Narvix

[HomeForFlowers]

Garrett heaved a sigh of relief as the stranger confirmed she was alright.

"Thank goodness," Garrett breathed with a small smile. "That's wonderful to hear." The Deerling cocked her head to the side and nodded in a communicative fashion as the Fletchinder explained herself. She said she wasn't hurt and yet so looked so uncomfortable. Garrett wasn't sure how birds worked exactly, but she was pretty sure they weren't supposed to pull their feathers out. Despite her concerns, Garrett simply offered a patient smile to the bird as she didn't want to provoke the poor thing or make the situation even more awkward than it already was. "Evelyn?" Garrett said aloud as the Fletchinder gave her name. "That's... a pretty name. My name's De- ah, um, it's Garrett." Garrett pawed anxiously at the ground in the light of her error, provoking several seconds of awkward silence. "Oh uh, yeah my trainer is down there," Garrett said hurriedly with a forced grin. "He's, uh, he's..." Garrett turned her head just in time to see Jasper slam into the brown pokemon with Aqua Jet, sending him flying into the air before landing on his stomach. The poor thing fainted as soon as it hit the ground.

 

"Is that it?" Jasper asked as he landed on the ground, the water around him dissipating into the air. Disappointment rang clearly in Jasper's voice. He was hoping the brown pokemon would last long enough for Jasper to get a scar or something but it turned out he was far weaker than Jasper had initially anticipated. The fact that his opponent got distracted by Zoey in the middle of the fight didn't help either. He scoffed at the fainted pokemon and began walking towards Zoey with a frown on his face. Jasper's ears pricked up as he heard Zoey coo to herself softly about how much money she could get for selling the brown pokemon. For some reason, the idea of selling the pokemon they just fought didn't sit well with Jasper.

"What makes you think they're rare?" Jasper challenged, the tips of his ears twitching irritably. "Just 'cause we don't recognize them doesn't mean they're rare. 'Sides, they were pathetically weak. Stronger than that Litleo of yours, but still weak." Jasper shrugged nonchalantly at his comment and winked at Zoey haughtily. Despite what he said, Jasper didn't fancy the idea of leaving the fainted pokemon out in the open. They could at least put them somewhere safe. They didn't necessarily have to be put on a pokemon center, just somewhere they wouldn't get eaten or something.

 

Before Jasper could voice his thoughts, a blue and black pokemon rushed out of the bushes with a Seviper close behind. The Seviper, for whatever reason backed off almost immediately and ran back where it came from. Zoey addressed the blue and black pokemon that Jasper quickly recognized to be Deino. While the two of them began talking with one another, Jasper turned his attention elsewhere. "Oy, Gabriel," Jasper called over to the Deerling. "get down here, will ya?" Garrett turned her head and peered over at Jasper as her ear flickered in interest.

"Oh, I have to get down there," she said softly as she looked back over to Ev. "Are you sure you don't need any help? I can- We can probably help you if you need any assistance."

Edited February 13, 2016 by Doctortear

[TehUltimateMage]

"I'd rather not listen to the ranting of a bruised ego after this," Lambert muttered back. Then, he commanded louder, "Fairy Wind, put some distance. Come on, Raps! Follow with Dragon Pulse on the purple one!"

 

Fairy Wind wouldn't knock the poison type out, but the follow-up attack definitely would. Rhapsody had been under confusion for quite a few turns now, but now was his chance to make a comeback. Else, he would have to wrap up the battle next round with Play Rough before poison knocked the Hydreigon out. He also had to watch out for Tri Attack and its chance of freeze, paralysis, or burn.

[PureDark006]

He didn't know if it was because it had been long enough already, but the flight helped clear Rhapsody's sense as he started to be able to see again.

 

He'd just have the worst time he could remember, even worse than that first day he spent stumbling around like he was a Spinda as he got accustomed to human legs, and all because he didn't fire fast enough to bring the dog down before it wrecked havoc on his senses because how in heavens was he expected to know all Pokémon names and that guy couldn't say anything he didn't know about that racoon either.

 

He charged up and fired the green sphere that was Dragon Pulse, which sailed the distance from sky to ground in a second, colliding against the purple racoon and sending it back as it finally fainted and got returned to its Dusk Ball.

 

Only the Nuzleaf left. "Repeat!" Hygre commanded, the Grass-type firing another Nature Power at Gaes that once again took the form of Tri Attack.

[TehUltimateMage]

Good. Last one.

 

Lambert steadied his breathing. Victory was nearly assured, now that Rhapsody finally came to his senses. He didn't notice his heart was racing until now, or that hints of a grin showed on his face. The Hydreigon looked as if he was getting tired out by poison but Gaes was still faring decently. Her last dodge was quite graceful, like it was rehearsed, and Lambert found himself quite impressed.

 

"Let's finish this! Flamethrower, then follow with Play Rough if they dodge!"

[PureDark006]

Rhapsody flew down, flames spilling from his closed main mouth for a second before he opened it and released the fire while the masked Pokémon launched the attack at Gaes. She managed to avoid most of it, including the blue ice that sailed past her and hit the ground behind, freezing it and making it grow multiple icicles that doubled the Mawile's size. The Nuzleaf barely had time to compose itself again before being hit by the flames; it was very satisfying indeed to see the Flamethrower leave a black mark on the area that was hit as the last of Hygre's Pokémon fainted.

 

Hygre returned her last Pokémon and fastened the Dusk Ball to her wristband. She stood on silence for a second, shoulders starting to shake, before she couldn't take it anymore and started laughing loudly, crouching down so her hands rested on her bent knees for support. "Oh my Darkrai. That was the worst string of luck I've seen in the whole year!" She managed to say between laughs, taking off her sunglasses to wipe a tear. "Your Pokémon were too strong. They could have defeated me easily and without taking hits. But all this happened! And that last Tri attack. If your Mawile had been just a bit slower, she would have been frozen solid!" She had managed to stop for a bit, but at those last two words she lost it again, hand covering half of her face.

 

She managed to regain her composure shortly after, still snickering softly as she regarded Lambert with her mismatched black and red eyes. "Okay, okay. Sorry for that. It was just so incredible." She snorted again and covered her mouth with the back of her hand. "Sorry. Honestly, best battle I've had in a long while. I'm so glad this is being recorded. Oh, but just for training purposes, don't worry! So I can show how a few status moves can give a huge advantage if used correctly. You're not a bad trainer, I just had the devil's luck."

 

She cleared her throat and straightened up, a big grin still on her face. "Gotta go fetch your badge and reward, give me two minutes," she said, turning and speed-walking in the opposite direction Lambert and the others had came from. The mist didn't take long to hide her from view, the sound of a hidden door being opened and closed following right after.

 

Rhapsody landed, wings resting as he stood still to prevent the poison from continuing its course. He then turned and shot Lambert the nastiest glare he could muster. "What the hell was all that," he snapped, baring his fangs at the man.

Edited February 13, 2016 by Puredark006

[ValidEmotions]

Ah, hell... Trying to avoid the second Nature Power, Gaes wasn't fast enough to recover from attacking the Stunky before she was forced to move. Ice and fire raged right by her, nearly hitting, but the electricity made its target. It zapped her, jolting her body and blasting her backwards where she tumbled to a stop. Damn that hurt! At almost the same time, Rhapsody finished the battle, burning the Nuzleaf with a Flamethrower until it fainted.

 

Picking herself up and brushing unseen dust off her arm, the Mawile frowned as Hygre began to laugh, confusion entering her expression. Apparently, seeing the misfortune of another was funny. Admittedly, Gaes could agree. And then the woman left to retrieve Lambert's prize for winning. When she disappeared, Rhapsody rounded on the man.

 

Now it was her turn to start laughing. "What do you mean, Ditz? If I recall correctly, you're the one that wanted to fight. In fact, you wanted more showtime than me!" she hooted, tossing her head back. "Watching your tail get swept across the room like a brush was great! The best part? It was all your doing!"

 

A large smirk occupied her face as she placed her tiny hands on her hips, jaws seeming to grin with her. "Face it, I did all the work in this battle. You couldn't hold a candle to the amount of shinning I did."

[TehUltimateMage]

Victory! If it wasn't for the combination of his terrible luck, Gaes' mischief, and Rhapsody's general ignorance, the battle might have ended on the second round. Nevertheless, they succeeded without anyone reverting to human form or any other major disaster, other than more embarrassment on his part when Hygre started laughing. He felt his ears grow hot.

 

O-oh. The battle was being recorded? He knew every battle here would be recorded, but it made him uneasy that they in particular were being recorded considering what was at stake. Oh well, no use dwelling on that any more.

 

She had cool eyes, though.

 

"That was your first official battle," Lambert retorted when Rhapsody snapped at him. "Now, fight's over, you two," he cut in after Gaes, stepping forward to place himself between the pokemon. "It's entirely not his fault. Can't help that confusion lasted four turns. We won, both of you did great despite some… issues," he stared at Gaes while stressing the word, "and I mean it. Thank you."

 

 

[PureDark006]

Rhapsody growled at Gaes, and was two seconds from Flamethrowering her smug face (because it hadn't been his idea in the first place to participate dammit) when Lambert intervened. "He's right, you know," Pooch added from her place next to Z, speaking in a soothing tone. "That was mainly us having bad luck. The moves against Gaes kept being critical hits too."

 

He scoffed and glared at the Mawile again for good measure. It was around then when he heard the mystery door opening and closing again, followed by footsteps as Hygre returned and approached Lambert carrying a rectangular wooden box, her sunglasses lifted and resting on her forehead. The Zorua they had met at the Pokémon Center was trotting next to her, a huge grin on his face as he sat down when his trainer stopped walking, tail held up and slightly shaking.

 

"Sorry for the wait. Now, the big prize!" Hygre said as she opened the box. The inside was padded in black velvet, sinking down where the three items were placed: a black TM, some PokéDollars, and the Gym's badge.

 

She started explaining. "The TM is the one for Thief; it's a damaging move that also steals held items if the user has none. But be sure to consider your Pokémon's personality before using it or you'll be missing all your socks in no time. Believe me, it happens. I'm still not sure if a secondary effect is that it gives them the uncontrollable urge to snatch your things or if I just have a bunch of troublemakers." She pointedly stared at Zorua, who grinned back. "Money prize for Level 2 is 3000. And the main prize, your very own Midnight Badge!"

 

The polished badge shone in the light of the full moon, fitting the shape it had: the upper half of a light orange moon made of something resembling glass, its lower half covered by a deep black cloud made of gemstones.

 

Hygre shifted her hold so she was carrying the box with her right arm, the left one reaching into her pocket and taking out a Dusk Ball. "If you'd like, I also wanted to entrust you with this little one," she said, pressing the button so the ball released the Pokémon inside. A black bird with a yellow beak and a pointy hat, who appeared perched on Hygre's shoulder. "You look like you'll be able to handle him. And his ability is Super Luck, so it should be a great help! Really, I would have picked an Absol so you'd get some disaster coverage, but the three I have are either for my own use or too young to be going off challenging the League. So, a Murkrow was a nice second choice!"

 

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[[Gaes and Rhapsody grew stronger from the battle! (Yes, even though Gaes did most of the work. Don't look at me, this is how exp works in Pokémon)]]

 

[[Lambert's items and team have been updated]]

 

[[The entirety of Hygre's character sheet has been unlocked]]

[TehUltimateMage]

Satisfied that the situation was relatively defused for now (though he wouldn't doubt that it would flare up again after both of them were healed back to full health), Lambert resumed basking in his victory, taking a good look at the gym's decor for the first time. The moon on at the back of the room had progressed from a crescent to a full disk throughout the battle, and the room was now decently illuminated yet still had its air of mystery. He wondered how much of it was special effects, and how much of it was created with the help of pokemon -- after all, the tree Rhapsody crashed into crunched fairly realistically.

 

While he was admiring the scenery, Hygre appeared through the mists again, holding a fancy box containing his victory goodies which she then explained. He nodded. The TM would be useful for swiping thing from wild pokemon, the money to buy supplies, and best of all, the badge that didn't have much effect at all other than for prestige. He took that first, admiring the craftsmanship by holding it up to the moon, before pinning it to the insde of his jacket. The money and the TM went straight into his pockets.

 

Hygre still had one more thing to give him, and took out a pokeball containing a Murkrow. The pokemon eagerly flew into his face -- prompting Lambert to shield himself with his arms -- before fluttering around him. "That's the guy with the terrible unlucky streak, eh? If you ask me, his jacket ain't that impressive. I got hyped up and everything, you know? Black would've been a much more flattering color, all black, every black, add some bling..."

 

"Thank you," the man said to the gym leader, ignoring the self-banter of the bird pokemon. "Super Luck, huh, that'll be of help for sure," Lambert chucked, though kind of dryly. He took the green and black Dusk Ball. Maybe he could catch up with that Absol from earlier, but he was relieved that she didn't choose one of those pokemon for him. He felt they were more trouble than they were worth. Not that the bird didn't seem like trouble already, but at least he now had a pokemon to call his own. He would have to be smart with his team from this point on -- without access to the box system, he would have to release pokemon instead of sending them into storage.

 

"Right, we're done here. Let's get you two healed up. Thanks again." Nodding to both Gaes and Rhapsody (and also Murkrow, after a beat of hesitation) he turned to leave.

 

"By the way," he added, back still turned, "I dig your glasses. Where do you think I could get a pair?"

[ValidEmotions]

Lambert intervened, attempting to dissolve the bickering before it could progress into anything more. At his pointed comment, Gaes's smirk twisted into an innocent smile. Her round eyes almost seemed to ask "who, me?" in the moment before she started snickering. The Mawile fell silent when Hygre returned, baring a fancy box that contained the prizes won.

 

The badge, some money, and a TM. The Murkrow was a surprise and Gaes watched him as he flew around Lambert. His commentary was amusing. "I don't think you should bother. He might just be a permanent disaster in the fashion department," she remarked.

 

"Right, we're done here. Let's get you two healed up. Thanks again." Lambert nodded at each of them before walking away, asking about glasses as he did so.

 

"From a store, dummy," Gaes quipped, following him.

[PureDark006]

"Just teasing, just teasing!" Hygre said when Lambert commented on the ability. "For real, I wouldn't give a Pokémon away out of pity. I truly think you'll be able to raise him properly."

 

She grinned at the comment about her glasses, pulling them down to cover her eyes again even though the man couldn't see. "These beauties? Went all the way to Naverst for them. Honestly, it was worth it, even when it was back before getting my Honchkrow so I had to hitch a ride with a friend. But oh well, he owed me after talking my ear off for three hours about this weird group he wanted to join. Once he gets going I swear there's no way of getting him to tone it down."

 

She then took a step forward and strongly pat Lambert on the back. "Anyway, congratulations for your win, Lambert! Good luck on getting the other seventeen badges!"

Edited February 14, 2016 by Puredark006

[octopi]

Z glanced at Pooch, who seemed to be content just watching the scene unfold, and silently slid down one of the trees next to the door to sit beside her. Despite whatever it was they had against trainers, once the battle had started, they were able to focus on the action with detached interest. Rhapsody hesitated to engage for some reason (he certainly hadn't been so cautious when he'd decided to headbutt Z two seconds after meeting them) and immediately got hit with a Swagger, setting the mood for the string of disasters that followed. Despite the two Pokemon's clear lack of experience in working with each other and Lambert's almost supernatural bad luck, he'd won in the end, and Hygre left to fetch his rewards.

 

Z let their breath hiss out through their teeth, and began the arduous process of standing up again. Well, that was that. Both Rhapsody and Gaes were strong battlers - perhaps they'd had experience before all this - but what had that exercise proved, really? Lambert was hardly going to go around the region getting a badge for every type when they were supposed to be figuring out this game nonsense. Hygre came back with a box of items and, to their surprise, a rather sarcastic Murkrow who immediately took to circling his new trainer. Well, they supposed money and another Pokemon who actually knew what they were doing couldn't hurt.

 

Lambert made to leave and they shuffled obligingly toward the door as well before hearing Hygre's remark about a "weird group". They froze. Today had been coincidence after coincidence, but... she couldn't be talking about the group the rules had mentioned, could she? No, they were probably just seeing connections where there were none. Still, that had reminded them (and now they mentally kicked themself for forgetting in the first place) that they had returned to this town with Rhapsody for a reason.

 

"Um!" They whirled around to face Hygre and nearly slammed their back into the door. "Actually - we..." They made a small choking sound as they met the woman's eyes and quickly looked away. Ah, there was that feeling again. They had only been in possession of a stomach for a few hours and they hadn't consumed anything in that time, but somehow they were sure they wanted to throw up right about now. But this was too important to drop. "A-actually - we - we aren't, we weren't just here f-for the challenge. There's also..." Crap, they hadn't planned what to say. Were they still trying to hide the whole game thing from outsiders? If so, what were they allowed to ask here?

 

"Do you... happen to know anything about Team Helix?"

[PureDark006]

"Team Helix? What are you, a mind-reader? That's actually the group I mentioned," Hygre said, crossing her arms as she thought. "Let's see... some sort of research group I think? I'm not too interested in what they study so I don't know much. If you really wanna know more, then head west to Route 89; eventually you'll reach a town called Vertia. The Gym Leader there is the friend I was talking about. Name's Laren; you'll recognize him because he insists on using his baby Anorith as a hat. I'm pretty sure he ended up joining, I remember him using that ridiculous uniform for a while, so he should know all about it."

 

The starting notes of a pop song suddenly started playing loudly. "Oh sorry, need to go now. Don't mention fossils to Laren if you know what's good for you!" she called as she walked away, fishing out her cellphone from her pocket and answering it, her voice growing fainter until it was cut by the door closing. "Yes, hi! So rare of you to call personally! Was just with a challenger, gimme a min-"

 

Zorua watched his trainer go, and when she was out of the room, he turned to the group with a smile. "You were amazing, Gaes! You kept getting hit with more and more attacks but nothing seemed to make a dent! And your moves were like wham! And foosh! And flip jump!"

 

He jumped as he exclaimed, two flip phones falling from the fluff of his tail at the sudden movement. "Oops. Right, wanted you guys to have this! Hygre doesn't use them anymore and it's pretty cool how they let you talk to people on other places. They seem to work in pairs so I got two!"

 

"Anyway I have somewhere I really have to go to so I wanted to drop these off before then. Bye Gaes! Bye Lambert! Sorry for calling you a creep, you're pretty cool!"

 

And with that, the fox sped away.

 

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

 

Just his luck, the road was already in view and no Tyrantrum. The trainer probably was on the town then; he'd have to make sure to drop by after finishing in the labs.

 

"Rith! Rith!"

"Hm? Seen something?" He squinted his eyes, spotting something further down the road. A blue spot, a teen girl, two black dots with yellow-

 

"Ah! The Kabutos!" he exclaimed, sprinting towards the group, his Anorith digging her feet on his hair to not lose her balance. "I'm sorry! Those Kabutos are mine! Did they do anything? I swear they didn't mean to!"

[Moonlight_Eevee]

Zoey frowned as Japer walked up to her and then said her Litleo was weak against the brown shelled Pokemon. "Well I don't recognize them," Zoey scoffed. She then turned to the little black and blue Pokemon. "And what's your name?" "My name? It's Anhew," Anhew said, listening to the conversation. She didn't like the way this guy spoke to Zoey. He sounded mean. Zoey then looked up to see a guy running up to them with a little creature on his head. Oh no Zoey thought. "Oh, so sorry, for knocking your Pokemon out," Zoey said. "Yes, they did indeed attack us, but we're all right. Jasper here knocked two of them out." She then mental cursed at herself. If Jasper turned in front of this human now, she would probably die of embaressment. She then looked down at Anhew and then up at the bird. Were they able to shapeshift into Pokemon too? The better not otherwise she'd have a real problem on her hands. She then gave sly grin. If Jasper didn't turn in front of the human, she could convince this guy that Jasper was her Pokemon. Same with Garrett. That would be so much fun.

Edited February 14, 2016 by Raptor of Dragons

[ValidEmotions]

When Z asked about Helix, Gaes stopped walking to turn and listen. So Vertia was the next step then. At least, by the initial sounds of things and what she intended to do. She had questions that needed answers and, knowing the rules, at least following Helix might yield a few. Hygre left when her phone began to ring, a cacophony of sound screeching from her pocket. In her wake, Zorua remained, beaming.

 

"You were amazing, Gaes!" he complimented, continuing on in his excitement and jumping until a pair of phones tumbled out of his tail fur. They clattered against the ground, one popping open and causing the screen to light up. She picked that one up as Zorua explained why he had them. And then he was off before the Mawile could even properly respond to his comments. Well, she could always say 'thank you' later. Maybe through a Mail or with the flip phones he'd given the group.

 

Examining the open phone in her tiny hands, Gaes noted the purple the covered most of the object, highlighted with black in the remaining areas. The screen was bright and had human gargle spread across it. Where there wasn't any strange lettering, there were simple icons like a gear or globe. The buttons had similar lettering in a smaller size with large numbers taking up the rest of the space.

 

Numbers! She knew the numbers! That made her feel better about not being able to read. She didn't have to worry about getting lost any more as long as she could read the numbers of each road. Beaming now, she eagerly pushed one of the buttons, holding it down to see if it did anything.

 

For a few moments, a level tone came out of the speaker and was soon followed by a series of different tones. The screen had changed from the water droplet background to a blank background with the number '5'. Once ringing could be heard from the speaker, the screen again changed to a green one with a phone symbol.

 

There was a beep and then, "Naverst Fire Department, this is Firefighter Jenna speaking. How may I help you?" The voice was faint but the volume on the phone was high enough to make the woman audible.

 

"Ah! It works! The phone works!" Gaes exclaimed, grinning. "Five is for firefighters in Naverst!"

 

"Excuse me? Hello? Who am I speaking to?"

 

Excited, Gaes held the phone to her head like she'd seen Hygre do and began speaking into it, albeit a bit louder than what was required. "Hi! I'm Gaes! I'm really happy that this worked! Don't mind me," she stated.

 

"I-I'm sorry? I can't seem to understand you. Ma-"

 

Gaes stopped paying attention to the woman, lowering her arm and turning her focus on Lambert. "This one's mine! I know the numbers!"

 

[TehUltimateMage]

Seventeen more badges?! Lambert was glad that he was facing the other way when Hygre gave him a pat on the back, because his impassive expression shattered into a dismayed gape before he regained control of his face. He thought leagues only had eight gyms. Eighteen was ten too many!

 

He was about to leave, but then the kid -- Z, was it? -- stuttered out to Hygre a question about their Helix objective. That's right, he nearly forgot about that. Now they had a concrete goal outside of 'wander aimlessly until something happens'. It would be a good idea to stock up on supplies while they had the chance here. There was no knowing how long the Route would be. Maybe it would be more wise to stay the night here.

 

He wondered if Team Helix was still recruiting? And, the fossil comment worried him a little. People obsessed with those rocks tended to be… extremely manic about their hobby.

 

"Route 89 goes through the forest," Murkrow commented, watching Hygre vanish through the mists. "If we convince this guy to book it now, we could make it there a little after sundown. I know all the places to--"

 

Lambert didn't know how he would survive if he couldn't understand the bird -- already he had trouble blocking out its talking, but he was certain that it would've drived him up the wall if he heard nothing but cawing. Still, it was worth it to keep the pokemon out for now since it knew the area. He shrunk the dusk ball and put it in his pocket with the rest of his belongings.

 

Waving goodbye to Zorua -- it gave him some personal satisfaction that the pokemon no longer considered him a 'creep' -- he was ready to leave, until Gaes managed to dial the emergency services of another city. He bit his lip. Turn away for a couple seconds and…!

 

"Let me take that," he knelt down and snatched the purple phone (and also the bright pink one in case someone else decided to play with that one too). "Hello? Yes, I apologize. A pokemon stole my phone. I understand. I won't let that happen again. Sorry again." He flipped the phone shut, conversation done. "I'll give it to you after I tell you what the buttons do," Lambert chided, "I'll just keep both of them for now." Partly to stop the former-pokemon from dialling strangers, and partly to clear the contacts within, knowing the mischief Hygre's pokemon were always up to.

 

~~~

 

It was a rather uneventful return to the pokemon center, the nurse not even questioning Lambert's new pokemon who refused to go into their pokeballs to get healed. While that was happening, the man stated his intention to leave for the next town now that he had enough money; they exchanged thanks. He hadn't known the nurse for very long, but he wondered if she would be alright managing those shipments herself -- though it was likely that she could, considering that the Kusba pokecenter was apparently single-staffed the majority of the time.

 

When Rhapsody and Gaes were back and the nurse gone to the back room to do some inventory, Lambert thought now would be a good time to discuss next steps.

 

"You can keep the Oran berries," he started off. "It is also fair that I split the prize money with you two, so," he withdrew his hands from his pockets, each hand holding a third of the stack. "A thousand Pokedollars apiece. Keep it safe and don't spend it all in one place! Though, uh, I would recommend buying things as a human, just so the clerk would understand what you want."

 

[PureDark006]

Pooch had tilted her head when Gaes pressed a button, not really understanding why Lambert would be upset at the action. She had seen humans doing that all the time, and the Mawile had mimicked them perfectly. Maybe there was something more to it? Lambert was the human one so he might instinctively know how to correctly use one of those. Kind of like how Rhapsody instinctively knew how to fly.

 

So she didn't say anything about the phones, instead trotting next to the Hydreigon as he scowled. She knew how much his temper could flare when things didn't go the way he wanted them to (just like a rebellious pup, but she wouldn't say that out loud), so it'd be better to keep an eye on him for a while. The only thing preventing him from throwing a fit right now was probably the poison he was afflicted with, so better to be careful.

 

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

 

Rhapsody stared at the weird leaves Lambert was handing out. What the hell was he supposed to do with that, eat it.

 

"It... might be better to explain what money is first," Pooch intervened, front paw scratching the floor. "And maybe we need to have a little chat with Murkrow about this group if we're going to be traveling together."

 

"And who was the one who decided that?" Rhapsody growled at her.

Pooch narrowed her eyes. "We've been through this-"

"You were the one who wanted to be in a group, not me, and-"

"Rhapsody, calm down-"

 

Those word made him snap. "YOU CAN'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!!!" he roared, taking off. The doors were already open - a small stroke of good luck, because if they hadn't been, he'd have smashed through them - and he flew past them as fast as he could, soaring upwards and out of view.

 

Pooch let out a frustrated whine. You can throw him off a cliff later. Damage control first, she thought as she faced the group. "I'm sorry. He gets like that sometimes," she said with a resigned look. "Just, please give him an hour or two to calm down and he'll come back by himself."