Battlegrounds : A Pokémon Role-Play { Closed } - Day Two: On the Road to Jade Forest

[Lambi]

Heidi took a look at the finished picture. "Wow. Such a pretty picture. Thank you. And you are quite the artist, I must say." She smiled even wider, feeling lucky to have found such a cute and talented girl. She noticed that she didn't say anything, but dismissed it as shyness. Perhaps later Eurydice would open up and start talking to her.

Heidi walked up to the reception desk right after Eurydice and was about to tell the man there their business, but he was busy on the phone, from the sound of things. Once he finished and asked the girls, Heidi answered him. "Yes, we're here to see her. I'm Heidi Xiol from Hearthrome City, Sinnoh, along with my Yanma, Yani. And this here's Eurydice from Kanto with her Ponyta." She said the last sentence with her palm pointing to the two beside her. Yani sat still on her head. "Is she busy right now, or can we see her right away?"

 

[NeoAC]

The boat trip over was a little rough, but that was to be expected. When parents skimp out on the Royal Unova and decide to book the discount ferry for their child's first big journey out into the world, conditions are expected to be less than ideal. This however made Robyn pine for a long bridge to cross instead of this dinghy. A car would have the same amount of leg room and wouldn't be constantly swaying back and forth.

At least her travelling companion enjoyed the ride. For most of the time, Nina swayed back and forth along with with the swells of the ocean. The young Petilil seemed to be more excited about going on an adventure than Robyn was. It was that kind of enthusiasm that kept Robyn going forward on the trip, all the way to the docking in Aquamar City.

Disembarking, when Robyn looked out at the Aquamar skyline, she almost felt like asking for her money back. The city was so similar to her home town, from the bustling ports to the skyscrapers towering above. She knew better though. The sign sporting no trace of Castelia's trademarked text directing her towards the customs office confirmed her passage, as well as told her where she had to go.

Customs was pretty straight forward. From the horror stories that she had been told of cavity searches and the like, it was a pleasant surprise. There was one thing that rang true however. The lineup was horrendously long, and the pain was starting to surface in her reconstructed knee from all the standing and waiting around. It was a good thing her iPod still had plenty of juice. That kept her mind off her knee and Nina occupied as the queue processed and they made their way to the front.

"Next!" the guard shouted out. Robyn hurried over and tossed her laptop bag on the ground.

"Here!" she stated as she placed her passport onto the counter in front of Paul, according to the nametag. "Robyn Springs. Hi! I,uh...I didn't realize there were so many people coming to this place..."

"Yeah, it's been a real rush since the League put out that announcement. Bunch of people chasing that big prize waiting on Waystation."

Me too. I'm going to get that money. I have to. "Shoot, and here I thought this was going to be easy."

"Hah. This job used to be easy. Then that ad went out. Now everyone is coming through. Some of them don't even have their passports on them. I had to send one guy into detainment, he claimed he lost his passport in the bathroom. Likely story." Paul started looking through the passport. "Where are you coming from?"

"Castelia City, Unova. This is my first trip to another country."

"Well, it's good to get out there. Any Pokemon with you?"

"Just Nina." Robyn indicated to her partner still held up against her chest, lifting her slightly.

At the sound of its name, Nina looked up at the other man. She closed her eyes and waved one of her stubby arm nubs at him. "Lillil!"

"Cute. Place her up here, please."

Robyn complied and Nina hopped onto the counter. Paul gave her the once over, spending a bit of extra time on the middle leaf of Nina's crown. "How'd she get that damage to the leaf here?"

"I have no idea. She's had that ever since I found her. It hasn't fixed itself despite multiple trips to the Pokemon Center."

"Fair enough. She looks healthy anyway." Paul returned Nina back to Robyn. "How long will you be staying in Gensia?"

"Till I beat the League. That's what I came here to do."

"Like I said, same as most people here." Paul stamped the passport and handed it back to Robyn. "Good luck."

"Thanks!" Robyn picked up her stuff and headed out of the customs office.

As the two walked out onto the boardwalk leading up to the city, Robyn paused underneath a giant sign, officially welcoming them to the City and the Region. She took a deep breath, inhaling the sea air that while recalling the scents that enveloped her while performing on the piers in Castelia, told her that this was the start of a new chapter in her life.

"All right, Nina," she stated, flexing her right leg to both get the blood flowing back through it and to make sure the brace was still doing it's job. "This is it. This is going to be tough, but we're going to beat all these people out here. With me?"

Nina was bouncing up and down in her trainer's arms. "Peti!Petilillil!"

Robyn smiled at her Pokemon. "Good. Now let's see..." There was another billboard near the Gensia sign that already seemed to have a bit of a crowd around it. Upon reading it, she found out why. At least the maps were provided on sight. From the way the other people at the board were behaving and the papers scattered on the ground, something had happened right before she got there. Not really any of her concern though.

"Excuse me," she said as she struggled to move past the commotion. As they moved back and forth, the twinges of pain started again. "Could I just get past and get a map, please?" she asked.

 

[Tortilla the Hun]

"Really, Spike, you should be more aware of the energy you're building up before you go touching people," said Caleb in a forced attempt at scolding the Pokémon as he had bent down to pick up the dropped maps. The lanky teen nearly dropped them again from being startled when he heard a female voice shouting behind him. He shot upright, clutching the folded papers as he turned to the source of the shouting.

Caleb saw a young woman, though likely older than he, running towards them along with a young Togepi leading the way. The woman scooped up the baby Pokémon who appeared to be struggling for release, looking curiously at Spike. Caleb's gaze returned to the woman, listening intently as she spoke. He was caught off guard when he realized she was talking to him. There was a slight pause as the Trainer fumbled for words. "Yeah, yes, he's...well, we're new to the region, also...both Spike and I. My name's Caleb...by the way."

Caleb found it increasingly difficult to maintain eye contact with the woman before him and was tempted to just run for it before he had the opportunty to make a terrible faux pas. Fortunately, momentary sanctuary approached in the form of another girl moving through a small crowd of people sounding as flustered as one dealing with crowds could be. Caleb stepped aside from the racks of maps, still keeping beside the woman holding the Togepi called Matti as he apologized. "Sorry, sorry...didn't realize I was in the way..."

 

[Pm0n3y]

Morgan stopped at a crosswalk. He found himself a the corner of two streets he obviously weren't familiar with. The map handed to him, as it seemed, was more suited for the region as a whole, rather than just for Aquamar. He let out a sigh as he began folding the massive map. He realized his military attire was causing odd or curious looks from the much more normally dressed pedestrians. Glances like these gave Morgan the idea of changing his clothes. Conveniently for him, a Pokémon Center was the first thing sighted at the other end of that crosswalk.

A bathroom and a sliver of privacy was all he needed. Some odd minutes later, he was dressed in more civilian outfit. He exited the stall and checked his status at the nearest mirror. He made a remark about his shirt, something about how it's (and a majority of clothes he's seen) obnoxiously emblazoned with a Pokéball-esque graphic on it, his taking up a definite 45% of his shirt, while colored opposite to the shirt's black.

"Speaking of Pokéballs..." Morgan began slipping his clip-belt through the loops of his jeans, making sure to detach the sole item attached to it. He began contemplating on releasing the Pokémon encased within it. The last time he let it out...he took a deep breath. He was in a enclosed space, it wasn't gonna get far...again.

"Alright...Chase, come on out." He said, the Pokéball opening. The bright light died down, a Chinchou appeared on the lavatory floor. Before Morgan could get another word out, the Chinchou made a break for it, running in between his legs, and quickly made an approach towards the exit. Morgan dove for him, luckily managing to get a grasp of the naturally slippery Chinchou. It tried wrestling from his grasp, and began slapping at him with its antennae.

"What is your-ow,ow!-problem?! You've been like thi-gah,fuck!-since I-ahg, stop it!-since I got you!" Morgan detested as the Chinchou continued to fight. Eventually, he gave up on reasoning with it, and managed to get it back in its ball. He rose from the strangely pristine floor of the restroom, sighing as he did so. Would he ever get through to Chase?

"Hmph. Whatever. Guess I should start for that Research center then." He grumbled to no one. With his bag drawn over a shoulder, he exited the Pokémon Center, in transit towards his sole destination.

 

[CounterAttack]

"Professor Willow is in the middle of a meeting with her colleagues right now," Jason explained. "I'm not sure when they finish up, since there's no finishing time listed on her schedule. Besides, according to the guidelines she has set down, she prefers to speak with about a dozen new Trainers at a time. It helps to answer questions that they may have, which can benefit all of them at once. While you wait for more people to arrive, feel free to have a seat, read a magazine or use the PC in the corner there. If you don't plan on staying, though, do come back soon."

As the receptionist spoke, a woman walked through the doors of the Lab. In her early thirties, her black hair contrasted her lightly coloured clothing. Six Poké Balls were attached to the belt of her jeans. She looked somewhat like a traveller, though she didn't carry a bag full of possessions. The woman greeted Jason as if he were a good friend, giving him a wave and speaking casually. "Morning, Jase. Is Mother in?"

"Hey, Kayla. She's in a meeting, though I daresay you won't have trouble slipping in to contribute a point or two," he answered, an amused smile playing with the corners of his mouth. Kayla gave him a simple, "Cheers," and walked past him, slipping through the double doors to the right of the reception desk.

"Kayla Willow is the Professor's daughter. She does a lot of travelling to help the Professor with her studies," he explained to the two girls present.

[hr]

"My name's Alix Redfern," Alix quickly introduced herself to Caleb before a new girl tried to make her way past to reach the map racks. Alix quickly got out of the newcomer's way, noting that she too sounded like she was new to Gensia, fresh off a ferry. The dark-skinned girl had a Pokémon out too... it appeared to be Grass-type judging by its colour and what looked like leaves on its head.

At the sight of another strange Pokémon, Matti got even more excited. He strained in Alix's arms to get a look at the greenish creature, but when the girl passed by, he looked down at the ground and whined a little. In Alix's experience, Matti whining meant he would start crying soon. And when he cried, he made sure everyone nearby heard him. Alix didn't want that, so she slipped around past Caleb to get a better look at the other girl, trying to gently calm her Togepi down a bit.

Matti perked up when he caught a glimpse of the girl's Pokémon, and began wriggling around again. "Togeh, togepi!" he squeaked, waving both arms at the stranger.

"Matti... don't get too excited, you'll tire yourself out," Alix commented before looking to the girl. "Sorry. He likes meeting new people more than I do, and that's saying something," she joked. "I'm Alix. What's your name? Are you going to see Professor Willow?"

 

[PrinceOfShapeir]

"Alright, we're heading inside. Do you want to go back in your ball?" The little Pidove seemed to shake her head. "Alright. Just try to keep quiet." Pidove chirped quietly, then settled in, perched on his shoulder. He pushed the door to the research center open, pausing briefly as he saw the older woman with the belt of pokeballs speaking to two girls. He hesitated briefly, then stepped inside, immediately dropping into a chair to see what was going on.

With a raised eyebrow, he noted the Ponyta standing in the room and the large insect type he didn't recognize. Apparently letting your Pokemon roam free in here was normal. Good, he didn't want to draw attention for not putting Willow in her ball. He lifted Willow off his shoulder and placed her in his hand, beginning to stroke her feathers while he waited.

 

[NeoAC]

The two people ahead of Robyn moved out of the way when she talked. Least the people here are friendlier than in Castelia. Can't get them to move out of the way to get a damn Cone there.

Both of them had their Pokemon out as well, and that attracted Nina's attention. The Grass-type started bouncing even more in Robyn's arms which made it difficult to hold her and grab the maps at the same time.

The girl who was blocking her before seemed to be having similar trouble with her Pokemon, which Robyn recognized from the book she read as a Togepi. "Sorry. He likes meeting new people more than I do, and that's saying something. I'm Alix. What's your name? Are you going to see Professor Willow?"

Robyn gave a quick look over the billboard now that she could read it and answered, "I'm Robyn and yeah, I guess I am going to be heading over there."

Nina was excited now. She was returning the wave she had gotten from the other Pokemon with both hands. "Petipeti!Lillil!" Robyn put her down on the ground for a moment while she grabbed one of each of the maps. Nina bounded over to Alix's feet to both look at her new friend as well as the other Pokemon standing there by the boy. She could feel the electricity coming off him but she didn't pay it much mind.

Maps acquired, Robyn went to retrieve her Pokemon. She bent down, immediately regretting it when she felt more pain in her knee, but she got Nina back into her arms. Robyn grimaced as she straightened back up, and Nina wasn't helping things. She wanted to play with the others, and she wiggled around to that effect.

"Here Nina, music time," Robyn told her, dropping one of her ear buds down to Nina's level. She put it right up to the bulb, and Nina instantly calmed down as the soothing sounds of SP filled her head. "There. I don't think she's been around any other Pokemon since I found her, so she's probably excited too. Um, so I can't really look at my map with her like this. How far away is Willow's?"

 

[Lambi]

"Ah, I see. Well, we can probably wait around a bit. I think I saw other new trainers here, so it shouldn't take long before we'll be enough to go and see her." A woman came into the Research Lab and greeted Jason, then walked away from the three there. Jason then explained who she was. "I see, I see. I guess we'll find out shortly if they resemble each other." Heidi giggled and Yani just looked curiously at Jason and Kayla.

Yani looked even more curiously towards the newcomer inside there with a bird Pokémon in his arms, flying over there to take a closer look at them both. Heidi noted that she wasn't on her head anymore and looked around, seeing her over where the guy and his Pokémon were. She walked over there and apologized for her Yanma. "Sorry. Yani can be so curious sometimes. Though I don't blame her since I've never seen that Pokémon before either. I assume she's yours?" Even with an unfamiliar Pokémon, she still somehow managed to find out what gender it was.

 

[PrinceOfShapeir]

Don't make an ass of yourself don't make an ass of yourself don't make an ass of yourself. The mantra began in Sam's mind as one of the other trainers approached him, a pretty redhead.

"Uh, yeah. This is Willow, she's a Pidove. They're all over the place in Unova." He tilted his head slightly in a quizzical manner. Pokemon. Good topic. "I don't think I've ever seen yours either." He paused for a moment, then held out his free hand. "I'm Sam Felix, from Castelia City." No! Stupid! You're Jerry McGraw! Too damn late now, you better go with it. He did his best not to look like he was upset or nervous, and probably managed to almost succeed, looking like he was just shy and flustered. Not that that wasn't also mostly accurate.

 

[Lambi]

"She's adorable." Heidi said about Willow. Yani took a closer look at Willow, then Sam, then flew around inside the reception area, wanting to spread her wings about for at least a moment. "Yani's a Yanma. They're not common in Sinnoh, only appearing in the Great Marsh. I'm Heidi Xiol from Hearthrome City in Sinnoh." She shook his hand, giggling at his apparent shyness. "Nice to meet you, Sam. Are you here to see Professor Willow as well?"

She took a look over towards Eurydice, wondering if she and her Ponyta would join them.

 

[SkyeNeko]

When Heidi went to greet the new trainer, Eurydice had taken a seat on one of the chairs, letting her Ponyta take a breather after loosening her bridle and saddle. She waved at Sam, but didn't approach, putting her headphones on. They were decorated with sharpie drawings, a cheap pair that she would replace as soon as she wanted something different. She started another sketch of her Ponyta, her most frequent muse nowadays, while they waited, watching to make sure that she didn't get into any trouble.

For her part, Ponyta just walked around a little, not very interested in the new pokemon that showed up. She was well-trained enough to not bolt off after everything. She snorted and shook her head and tail, her hooves tapping on the tile floor.

 

[PrinceOfShapeir]

"Interesting looking Pokemon. Yeah, I was told to come here after arrival, not entirely sure what it's all about. They say anything to you about why they need us here?" Caught between letting his remarkable ignorance show and gathering information, Sam opted for gathering information. These two didn't seem like the type to try and take advantage of him, not that he wasn't on his guard. They look trustworthy, it doesn't mean they -are- trustworthy. Plenty of teenage vipers around.

Plus, things tended to work better if you were at least amicable. "About Yani, you must have had a heck of a time catching her if they're that difficult to find."

 

[Lambi]

"Yeah, it wasn't easy. Even in the Great Marsh they can be hard to find. Some days certain Pokémon can be easier to find in it, and other days other Pokémon can be easier to find. I guess I hit a bad day to look for a Yanma, but after many tries, I finally caught Yani. And to my surprise, it was the same one I had met some years prior to that. What a coincidence, eh? It was really lucky too. That way, I got that initial connection between a trainer and their Pokémon." Heidi had gone on a little longer than she thought she had, but she stopped eventually. Eurydice seemed to be alright by the looks of it, so she sat beside Sam, talking to him.

"What about Willow? It can't have been that hard to catch her since Pidoves seem to be all around Unova, as you said." She looked down at the Pidove who seemed to be very relaxed in Sam's lap. Yani in the meanwhile went over to Ponyta to play with her, flying around her head in a cheery mood.

 

[Pm0n3y]

Morgan began to slow his pace as he reached his destination. The building was much different than all the other skyscrapers littering Aquamar. It was more wide, than tall. Windows were scattered all along the face of the establishment. Compared to the rest of the buildings in the city, (along with the Pokémon Center) it stood out fairly well. The name of the place, 'Willow Research Center', was engraved above the double doors in granite. The sailor let out a short sigh before entering through those double doors. There wasn't much to the lobby, there was-what looked like-a receptionist's desk, with some doors on opposite sides behind it. He scratched his head. There were others in the lobby, sitting off to the side. The three of them had Pokémon, all of which freely loitered out of Pokéballs. A trait that could easily show how loyal a Pokémon was to their master.

"Trainers, i'm assuming." He thought. Morgan grabbed a seat closest to him, next to a girl listening to music. Along with the girl's unusual white hair, It was hard to miss the Pokémon that stood ahead of her, a fine specimen that could only be described as a horse with a shimmering mane of flame. It was hard for Morgan to not be impressed.

"A Ponyta, huh? You don't see one of those everyday." He contemplated petting it, but didn't know how it-or its trainer-would react. Then he realized he had other questions. In hopes to get her attention, he tapped the young girl on a shoulder.

"Hi. Morgan Zakarias. Uhhh...should I like, talk to the receptionist or something? Like, should I be making an appointment?" He asked her. The heat radiating from the Ponyta, mixed with the central cooling system of the center was making his glasses fog up. The predicament made him chuckle.

 

[SkyeNeko]

Eurydice was lost in her music, inspiration flowing from her ears to her pencil. Suddenly, a tap on her shoulder made her jerk. She didn't mess up her drawing too much, nothing that couldn't be easily erased. When he introduced himself, she immediately flipped to the page of her book that had her standard greetings. Hi, I'm Eurydice was immediately presented to the stranger. She quickly produced her whiteboard, which had been sitting beside her neglected in favor of pencil and paper. That's Heidi. Came next. She had gotten pretty good at writing with the white part facing her audience. She erased it when she was sure he had read. We're waiting for Professor. She'll come when there's more of us. Sometimes it was hard for Eurydice to keep her sentences short enough to fit on the board without sounding like an idiot, but she managed.

 

[CounterAttack]

"There. I don't think she's been around any other Pokemon since I found her, so she's probably excited too. Um, so I can't really look at my map with her like this. How far away is Willow's?" Robyn asked.

"Lemme see here..." Alix mused, shifting Matti to one arm so she had one hand free. She pulled one of the maps out and awkwardly shook it open to consult it. The path highlighted in blue was the one she wanted... the Research Lab was near the exact middle of the city, and the Pokémon Center close by, so they wouldn't have to go traipsing all over the place looking for it. "It doesn't seem to be all that far from here. Maybe five minutes," she eventually answered Robyn.

It would be nice if all three of us were to go there as a group, she thought, glancing from Caleb to Robyn and back again. "So... shall we all go together then? It's good to have company on the road," Alix suggested as she tried to fold up the map one-handed and keep a tight grip on Matti with the other arm.

 

[NeoAC]

"So... shall we all go together then? It's good to have company on the road."

"If you guys are going, I don't see why not," Robyn agreed as she adjusted Nina's weight in her arms. "Just a heads up though. If you guys are going for that League Champion money, you're going to be disappointed, because you are looking at the winner right here. Me and Nina? We're going to take that League down for sure!"

 

[Tortilla the Hun]

Caleb had slipped the maps into one of the pockets on his backpack strap as Alix and Robyn were talking amongst themselves, quietly listening to the conversation. Spike began tugging on the leg of tall teen's jeans, grasping his attention with jumping and growling. "Ele! Elekid!"

"Alright, alright," said Caleb as he knelt to pick up the Pokémon and set him on his shoulder. Spike kept himself balanced, resting his arm on Caleb's head for support as Caleb stood. Just as he listened to the conversation, they were already talking about moving on as a group. Robyn had made clear that she would be the one to claim victory over the League of Gensia and Caleb couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm.

 

[elementsoul]

After a bit of trouble with trying to find her locational bearings on the map, Erika finally arrived at the Willow Research Center. With a sigh of relief Erika entered through the right double door and approached the front desk. The man at the front of the desk, who was wearing a nametag that indicated his name was Jason, was busying behind it. A sign was currently put up on the desk that read, ?

 Professor Willow is currently in a meeting. Gensia League challengers please proceed to the waiting area.

? There was an arrow underneath that indicated the direction of the area.

Quickly Erika headed in the direction that the arrow indicated. Erika saw four people and three Pokémon currently occupying the waiting area. There was a normal looking girl, with long red hair, that was talking to sloppy beat up looking boy who had an acute stench. The girl looked nice and approachable, but the guy set off a warning alarm in her head and she wanted to keep her distance. There wasn't a specific reason for the alarm, but his physical appearance didn't sit well with her; judging people by their cover wasn't beyond Erika.

Farther away a girl a bit younger than Erika sat next to a man who was clearly a couple years older than herself. The younger one appeared to have a sketch book on her lap and was currently holding up a whiteboard for the man to read. I wonder what that girl?s drawing. It looks like it would be a good conversation starter. The guy doesn?t seem as creepy as the other one either.

With a bit of an added step Erika made her way over to those two and sat down near them, before introducing herself. ?Hi I?m Erika. Are you two planning on take the Gensia League Challenge as well??

 

[Fragrance of Mtn Dew]

Alan continued to study the map, ignoring the ruckus and ensuing conversation caused by the other trainers around the billboard. His main concern right now was getting Clay ready to be the champion, until he heard one of them say something he simply couldn't ignore.

"If you guys are going for that League Champion money, you're going to be disappointed, because you are looking at the winner right here."

Hearing that from one of the girls behind him, Alan paused and looked up from his map. He probably shouldn't, but that was a challenge and he couldn't just let it go. He turned around and faced the three trainers in question, a confident smile on his face. "Sorry to butt in guys, but I couldn't help overhearing that you plan on becoming the champion of the League? I have to disagree. He may not look like much but this little guy," He paused to gesture towards Clay who was still stretching next to Alan. "He's gonna be the champ with my help." Alan finished and waited for a response. This whole thing may have been unnecessary, but meeting other Trainer's challenges and winning was what excited Alan most about this trip. If met others like that right off the bat, then he would be off to a good start.