In Her Dominion - A Pokémon Roleplay (Closed, Started)

[Terratina.]

It was to have everyone out for once, though it was hard to see them through the dust cloud. They were certainly eager eaters. However, Mel didn't mind. They were happy, after all. Even Grimm was; the Sludge Pokémon had been forced to eat something relatively healthy compared to the usual gutter fare. Then again, Mel had coerced him into a trash-free diet. Meanwhile, Vincent was trying - as always - to sing and eat at the same time with cries of, "Wobbu~!"

Of course, it was a losing battle. Though, Mel had to admit, he was getting better and better at it. That reminded of something... The tournament! They still had to register! Well, that could probably be left until later.

Kero gave a short yawn and sat down. Soon, the others followed. Vincent and Grimm both blenched, and some of the people walking past the eatery had to dodge the small poison cloud, courtesy of Grimm. Afterwards, the Sludge Pokémon sank into the ground and started to nap. However, Casper still retained his usual peppiness and Vincent would probably stay up all night singing if he had his way. Nevertheless, back into their Poké Balls they went. Except for Casper, as it was his turn to roam free.

Normally, Mel would have gone back to the Sleeping Sunkern, but Casper had different plans. First, he floated off into a side street, causing to Mel to run after him. It quickly descended into a game of 'Chase Casper' as he ran off, never stopping for Mel.

At least until Casper seemed to grow bored of it. "Ha!" The Pokémon exclaimed as Mel finally caught up to him. Mel laughed in returned as she realised where Casper had brought her: the Pokéathlon Dome itself. He really wanted to sign-up and get that over with didn't he? Well, all she had to do was queue up and fill a few forms, right? Mel nodded to the Ghost-type, who then nodded in return. Both Trainer and Pokémon wandered up to the registration booth...

 

[Anayna]

Wash descended the stairs and upon seeing that they didn't stop at the ground floor decided to just keep going. So there was a basement, eh? Alright, if he was going to check the premises he might as well start at the bottom. Only made sense, reall... 500 pokédollars for some fizzy drink?! The good captain did, however, take the time to gawk indignantly at the prices the vending machines strategically placed outside the basement gym sported. They called this a hotel? Wash called it a den of freshwater pirates!

It were the noises emanating from the half-open door to the gym that brought Wash's fierce mind back to the basement. He didn't actually know what purpose this basement level served, and the bizarre soundscape of footfalls, heavy breathing, electrical sparks and the roar of fire did not help. If anything it was a bit alarming. What the heck was going on in there?
Wash opened the gym door slowly and entered with a measure of barely restrained trepidation... trepidation that turned out to be perfectly justified as he was immediately about to be run over by the red blur that was Kayla's Scizor.

"Blundering bazookas!"

"Sci."

Adelpha, who was just innocently running her laps, was less fazed by this encounter than the captain, who fell to the ground and curled up into a ball immediately, and effortlessly leapt over Wash to continue her run. Wash got back on his feet with some trouble, all the while dusting himself off, adjusting his cap and surveying the room.

"Speed-crazed corsair... grumble... road roller... mumble..."

It was a decently equipped gym that greeted his sight. There was even a small arena set aside for battles and a computer terminal in a corner. It was only now that Wash noticed the young woman currently occupying the gym. She seemed to be having something of a workout herself with the four pokémon here: the aforementioned Scizor, some bug thing that was lifting some surprisingly impressive weigths, and a Growlithe and Luxio that were in the middle of a fight.
Oh great. Another girl-child trainer. Stupid kids with their critters...

"Hey, girl! Keep your monsters under control, alright? They're a danger to decent folk!"

 

[CJ1145]

For a brief moment, a tiny triangular sandwich was precariously trapped between the fingers of a very hungry man. If it had been a living creature, it might have tried to bargain for its life. But alas it was merely a sandwich, and its succulent contents were inhaled. Simon pressed his forefinger and thumb to his waiting maw, eagerly chewing up his little hor d'oeuvre and throwing it down his gullet with an overacted gulp. "Oh, mm, mwah. Jeez, that's good... can I just," Wayne held up a finger as he held down a belch, addressing no one in particular. "Can I just take a--braaaap--a second to say, that sandwiches are basically the pinnacle of human achievement? Seriously. They are literally just... portable little meals in bread wrapping! Is that not amazing?!"

"Auroooom!" replied his Tauros, happily wagging its tails. Maximum Bison sat at the table with his trainer, happily munching on imitation Magikarp poffins. This was his third order, and he showed no signs of stopping. As Max slurped up the latest poffin Simon groaned. "You know we haven't actually won the prize money yet, right? You're gonna bankrupt me if you keep this extravagant diet up." The Tauros merely snorted in dismissal and buried its face in yet more poffins. Rankine and Seiba sat on the table, happily nibbling on a few Pokeblocks crafted out of Cheri and Oran berries. The Dratini was getting the shaft, as Seiba quietly plucked away every block it reached for with a twig it was carrying. Rankine glared at the thief.

"Dratini, tini, tin!" It lurched forward and tried to slam the Treecko, who casually leaned to the side. Rankine went rolling straight off the table, yelping in terror as it hit the floor. With its shish kebab now safe from the hungry wyrm, Seiba hopped off of the table, walking past Rankine as it nursed its wound on the floor. "Tini..."

"...Hmph. Ko." Seiba left it to sulk as it sought out the Charmeleon on the other side of the room. Seiba placed his twig over its flaming tail and began to rotate it slowly, giving its dinner a nice and even roast. Simon watched these events from a distance, deadpan.

"...Okay." Turning back to his own meal, he was reminded that he needed to catch the waitress again. Milady had opted to remain behind once they'd moved into the room...

[hr]

Simon warily leaned over the sleeping Nidorina, prodding her with a rolled up newspaper.

"Uh... Milady? That's... that's kind of my bed. I will be sleeping there."

"Ni-hee-do, Rin," replied Milady, snorting at Simon's limp attempt at authority. He was shot down like she hadn't bothered to aim.

"Then... where will I be sleeping?"

Without even opening her eyes, Milady nodded her head toward an open space in the corner, directly under the sink, and was back to sleep within the minute. Simon stood there significantly longer, blankly staring at the spot beneath the sink.

[hr]

Yeah, she'd probably be wanting a Herdi-bag...

"'Scuse me, miss? Marie?" he asked the waitress as she walked by. She stopped by his table.

"Oh, yes? Are you enjoying everything?"

"Yeah, yeah. It's all great. Can I get a box of the Kakuna Stir Fry to go?"

"Of course!" said Marie, scribbling down his order on a notepad. Simon held up a finger to stop her before her left. "Also, could I get another order of these little bite-sized sandwiches? They're amazing!"

"Well, I'm glad you like them sir, but you ordered the Chef's Full Course. It'd count as a full-priced order to alter it."

"Oh." Simon scratched his chin for a second, looking defeated before he flashed a stupid grin at the waitress. "In that case, could I order a sparkling smile on that pretty face?"

Not another word was spoken. Marie turned around and walked away. Simon watched her go, leaning back into his chair. "Huh. Sure hope she's still gonna put that Kakuna order in..."

"Aurooooooo!"

 

[Belmarc]

Well, there certainly seemed to be a lot of noise in the other room. And it seemed to be the source of the delicious smell... but no! He was not such a rude person as to burst in on the dinner of another. No, he would wait here patiently until someone came.

"Swinub!" And Collosal was gone again, straight towards that room. Well, he certainly couldn't just leave his Pokemon in there to cause a ruckus, could he? Following after the Swinub, who was already racing around the room excitedly, and stood in the doorway.

"Sorry about the little one intruding on your meal, he really likes food. And have you seen the manager of this hotel around, I'm hoping they've got an open room," he said to everyone with a slightly sheepish smile. There sure where a lot of strange people in this city.

 

[Texas Joker 52]

=HARLEY=​

She had just piled various foodstuffs onto her plate when she heard the laughing, causing her to look up and glare at the source of it. It was a boy, near her age with dark blonde hair and a tan hooded jacket, who tried to stammer out an apology between fits of laughter. Her eyes narrowed dangerously until he finally managed to stop.

"You laugh now, but if my Pokemon actually paid attention to their cues as opposed to their food, I guaran-damn-tee that you would've been shaking in your running shoes and impressed as to that entrance.", she said, jabbing her fork at him, while directing a glare at her Pokemon, Fahrenheit in particular.

The Combusken merely swallowed the Pokeblock he had stuffed into his beak, and stared back blandly. After a minute, he snorted, causing Harley to scowl a little, but her expression didn't hold any real bite to it.

"Suppose I can't blame you.", she murmured, reaching over and picking up another spicy Pokeblock and tossing it to Fahrenheit, who caught it deftly and started to try and shove it into his beak like the last one.

When she looked back at the other seated Trainers, she started to shovel her own food into her mouth without much care as to what the food happened to be, much like a mirror of her Pokemon. As it was, it was good fare, so she was satisfied there. Both Celsius and Oracle seemed to be equally satisfied with their own food.

"So, 'oo all 'ere for uh tour-ment?", Harley asked with a full mouth, glancing at each trainer in turn with raised brows.

 

[Mush]

"You laugh now, but if my Pokemon actually paid attention to their cues as opposed to their food, I guaran-damn-tee that you would've been shaking in your running shoes and impressed as to that entrance."

Trevor screwed his face up, trying to stop himself from laughing again. He managed a quiet "I'm sure", doing his best to sound sincere rather than sarcastic for once. In reality, he was far from sure but it wouldn't really do to go provoking this trainer anymore than he already had. That could always come later if he had the opportunity. She didn't really appear to be all that upset however and mumbled something resembling an acceptance of his apology. She then joined her pokemon in their indiscriminate meal, seemingly eating whatever was closest.

For some reason, there was something about this girl that bothered Trevor. He couldn't really figure out what it was though. Was it something in the song from before? Maybe...he couldn't place it. His ensuing fit of laughter had caused him to forget what it was that had caught his attention. Like anything else that made him think too hard he pushed it out of his mind, he'd remember later if it was important enough.

His stomach let out a low growl as he remembered what he was doing there in the first place. Turning back to the menu he saw Ice idly flipping through the pages. He also noticed a small Treeko using Ice's tail as a rotisserie. Either Ice hadn't noticed or he simply didn't care as he hadn't acknowledged it. Knowing Ice, it could very easily have been either. Probably both, actually. Trevor briefly wondered who it belonged to but couldn't be bothered worrying about it. If Ice didn't mind, he didn't either. He resumed looking through the menu when he heard the trainer from before (did she say her name was Harley?) saying something with her mouth full. He glanced at her and saw her eyes moving between the other customers. Whatever she had said Trevor hadn't been able to make it out. He shot her a quizzical look, hoping she'd repeat herself intelligibly.

 

[Pappytech]

Thomas and Faraday spared a few glances for the various trainers and Pokémon as they poured into the dining room, but not much else. It wasn't that they intended to be unfriendly, it was just that they were in the middle of their meal, and it would've been quite rude to speak to the new guests with their mouths full.

Still, that didn't keep them from discretely observing them. It seemed that quite the eclectic crowd had gathered here in the Sleeping Sunkern: A very dedicated supporter of Team Rocket (Best to keep an eye on her), a couple of trainers who looked moderately serious (Most likely here for the tournament), Trevor (Should go say 'hi' to him after this), and-

"Swinub!"

-an overexcited Swinub. Huh.

Momentarily distracted by the ice-type as it began snuffling around for food, Thomas glanced up just in time to spot another trainer, likely owning (or belonging to) the Swinub, waltz into the dining area. "Sorry about the little one intruding on your meal, he really likes food. And have you seen the manager of this hotel around, I'm hoping they've got an open room."

"Hold on, hold on," a slightly exasperated voice rang out, coming from the approximate direction of the kitchens, "I'll be right out. Just need to get the stir-fry-"

A sudden hissing sound filled the air, followed shortly by the clanging of falling cookery and a few poorly muffled curses. Apparently family-owned inns weren't exactly family friendly.

About half a minute later, an annoyed looking Marie prowled out of the kitchen, angrily waving a hastily bandaged finger around. Glancing over at the entry to the dining room, she quickly spotted the late arrival and made her way over to him. "Sorry," she said, a little darkly, after "Granny's probably taking her nap right about now. Come on, I can get you checked in."

[hr]

It took a few minutes, but Mel and Casper eventually made their way to the front of one of the registration lines, where they were greeted by a jubilant looking employee, dressed up in a colorful uniform with the Pokéathlon Dome logo on it. "Hello there," he said cheerily, picking up a blank entry form from a stack and snapping it into a clipboard. "I take it that you're here to sign up for the tournament?"

 

[CrazyBlaze]

"Hey, girl! Keep your monsters under control, alright? They're a danger to decent folk!"

Wash's entrance and comment did not sit well with Kayla. She thought they were good pokemon and hardly a danger to anyone.

"Hey they aren't dangerous! And they aren't monsters! They are pokemon, friends, well trained and resons...," at that moment one of King's Flamethrowers went over Kayla and Walsh's heads and into the hopefully flame-proof wall. At the same time Milan's Thunder Wave went wide and hit Vis' weight machine, shocking the Heracross. Annoyed, Vis stood up, advanced on Milan who shrunk back as Vis approached. When Vis got close Milan tried to run between the Heracross's legs but Vis managed to grab his tail and threw him off the stage and into Adelpha, who happened to be passing by at that time, knocking her to the ground.

Standing up, Adelpha opened her claws as a bright silver light gathered around in the middle of it. Adelpha let loose a giant silver blast that missed Vis as she dropped to ground and the Flash Cannon smacked into the wall, leaving a small crater.

Kayla watched the scene, her mouth hanging open at the carnage. She slowly raised her pokeballs and recalled all of them back silently, sticking King's ball around her neck and the other three around on her belt.

"Um. Hi. My name is Kayla," she introduced herself to the sailor.

 

[Texas Joker 52]

=HARLEY=​

When she noticed that laughing-boy had looked at her as if she had sprouted a new head, she shook her head and finally swallowed. "Sorry about that. I was just wondering, all of you are here for the tournament too, right?", she asked, once again looking at the trainers that sat there.

"I mean, Goldenrod is a nice city and all, but I can't see any other reason for this many trainers to just flock in, unless you prefer to watch a fight than participate.", she added with a slight sneer, clearly showing what she thought of spectators as opposed to fighters.

"Com-Combusken, Com Bus-Busken.", Fahrenheit added, with the same derision in his tone.

At that, her other Pokemon seemed to gather around the Young Fowl Pokemon, and each chirped in agreement. Harley couldn't help but smile a little to herself. Despite their differences in personality, they were fighters, each and every one of them.

Reaching over, she picked up a pair of bitter Pokeblocks and tossed them to both Godmother and Oracle. While the Misdreavus had simply caught it in midair and seemed to swallow it whole, the Murkrow caught it handily in her beak.

"Murrr.", she cawed, the sound muffled thanks to its beak being stuffed.

 

[Anayna]

The girl with the belts evidently didn't take kindly to Wash's comments.

"Hey they aren't dangerous! And they aren't monsters! They are pokemon, friends, well trained and resons...,"

Unfortunately, her impassioned defense of the team was somewhat undercut by the stray Flamethrower that went straight over the trainer and captain's heads. The Luxio took the opportunity to shoot a Thunder Wave that went wide, startling the Heracross. Which then retaliated by throwing the Luxio across the room into the Scizor. Which in turn provoked it to shoot a Flash Cannon through the air.
Wash decided to hit the floor again, clutching his cap.

Well trained? Resonable? They're a bloody Rube Goldberg machine of carnage, that's what they are!

When the dust settled the girl had retrieved her team and was looking awkwardly at the captain.

"Um. Hi. My name is Kayla."

Wash stared at her in disbelief. His eyes were bulging.

"'Hi'? 'Hi'?! That's all you have you say?! You and this... this raggle taggle bulldozer you call a team nearly level the place and all you have to say is 'hi'?!"

Of all of Wash's gripes with people this was perhaps his greatest. Being a trainer meant being responsible for one's team, and if you couldn't control your pokémon then you had no business being a trainer. This coupled with Wash's general disdain for anyone under the age of 31, meant that he was now fairly annoyed with young Kayla. And this meant a stern talking to.

"You kids! You toffee-noses shouldn't be allowed to keep these critters! Pokémon journey at age ten? You should be out working at ten! In fact..."

However, what with being busy yelling at the girl not even half his age he never noticed the red beam that flew out of his trouser pocket and materialized into a Spheal. Said Spheal gave Kayla a wave and a wide dopey smile, before starting to tug on his trainer's trouser leg.

"Spheal..."

"Were it up to me none of you would be let near a pokémon before you'd paid off whatever debt your parents racked up raising you! Work camps! They should implement those..."

"Spheal sphea."

"That would teach you responsibility! Would build character too! I'll have you know that my breath stank of seawater before my twelfth birthday, missy! I was never free to run off with some Mudchic or Torkip when I was..."

"Spheal." *CHOMP*

"Aaah! Spheal, you obese bowling ball, whaddaya want?!"

Even with his teeth sunk into Wash's leg, Spheal still managed to flash his master a adoring goofy smile. He then extended a flipper towards the PC in the corner. Wash still hadn't signed up for the tournament. In fact, Wash was completely unaware that this was necessary and intended to simply show up there tomorrow.

"What? No! Last time I let you near a computer you ordered seafood takeout all the way from Lilycove! On my bill!"

Unfortunately, Wash wasn't too adept at understanding his own pokémon.

 

[Terratina.]

"...I take it that you're here to sign up for the tournament?"

"Haunter!" Before Mel could even get a word out, Casper was already trying to speak for her. It was a shame that someone hadn't created a Poké Speak translator, otherwise the Haunter would possibly be Mel's mouthpiece. Still, the Haunter's intent was clear, but what about his trainer's? She blurted out a "yes" to the friendly employee, while it was not the most elegant thing to do, it got the point across. Wait... A thought came to mind: couldn't they have used a PC to register instead of waiting in line and filling out paperwork? A small pang of frustration pained her mind as she realised Casper's little trick. Was the Gas Pokémon trying to accomplish here? Well, that was something hidden behind Casper's grin... Nevertheless, she didn't want to waste time.

"Umm... Shall I fill out the form now? I don't seem to have a pen. Sorry..." Mel quickly added.

 

[Belmarc]

"Sorry, Granny's probably taking her nap right about now. Come on, I can get you checked in."

"Y-yeah." This was all certainly different from what he was used to. He'd done some travelling before, but only in high class hotels. Not that he hadn't tried to stay in one of those. Everywhere was swarmed with people, and the crowd in here was nothing compared to what he'd seen before. "C'mon Swinub!" The little Pokemon stared sadly up at the food on the table before trotting over to its trainer, grunting in disappointment.

 

[Pappytech]

"Umm... Shall I fill out the form now? I don't seem to have a pen. Sorry..."

"No problem at all!" the man behind the desk said, his smile fixed and unwavering. "Just let me... Ah-ha!"

With a small, entirely unnecessary flourish, he presented Mel with a pen unsurprisingly branded with the Pokéathlon Dome logo. Handing the pen and clipboard over to the girl, (and doing his best avoid making eye-contact with Casper), the man chattered on, offering instructions with the occasional flourish of his hands. "It's a pretty simple form, really. Just need your name, Trainer ID number, and a list of the Pokémon you plan on using in the tournament tomorrow. Oh, and of course we're going to need you to initial here, here, annnnnnnnd here.

"Participants under the age of ten must have a parent or guardian to sign with them," he continued, as though he was reading lines off of a script. Then, after flashing a friendly wink Mel's way, "But I don't think you'll have to worry about that, now will you?"

Apparently content to wait for Mel to finish the paperwork, the stand employee kept his warm grin and did his best to make an appropriate amount of eye-contact, paying no attention to the rest of the line stretching out behind the girl.

[hr]

"Shame you couldn't have gotten here sooner," Marie mentioned offhandedly as she typed some information into a cash register behind the front desk. "One of the other guests had apparently reserved a whole floor's worth of rooms, and was just letting people stay here for free. Which is nice and all, I mean, but jeez are some people crazy. Even if he's loaded, just blowing cash like that can't be a healthy way to make money."

Pausing in her typing for a moment, the waitress/desk assistant gave Tyler a quick once over. "Just one person, right? And Pokémon, of course, but just you?" Turning back to the register, the young woman briefly furrowed her brow. "One night's going to be 1,000 dollars, but if you're staying until the tournament ends it'll only be 1,500. Kind of a 'buy one, get one half off' type deal.

"So," she continued, looking up again, "what name should I put this under?"

[hr]

"I mean, Goldenrod is a nice city and all, but I can't see any other reason for this many trainers to just flock in, unless you prefer to watch a fight than participate."

Well, Thomas mused, washing down the last of his meal with a quick gulp of water, I suppose it's about time we greeted our fellow guests.

Nodding to Faraday, the man stood up from his table and paced over towards the other trainers, his gait steady and measured. After stuffing one last Pokéblock down its somewhat nebulous gullet, the Magneton followed after, hovering a step or two behind its trainer.

"You know," the scholar began as he approached the small crowd, his tone perfectly even, "I for one happen to find watching a battle far more educational than participating in one. In addition to being able to observe both teams and their respective strategies, you are also provided with an emotional buffer of sorts, one that lets you analyze the battle with perfect rationality."

Pausing for a moment, Thomas nodded respectfully towards the other trainers and Pokémon gathered in the dining room, though he natually took the time to say "Hello" to Trevor. Then he turned towards the boisterous girl in the Team Rocket jacket, raising a single eyebrow as he did so. "Honestly, I greatly prefer distanced observation to first-hand experience. Do you really think it's a pointless endeavor?"

 

[CJ1145]

"Honestly, I greatly prefer distanced observation to first-hand experience. Do you really think it's a pointless endeavor?"

"Kinda," said Simon, casually slurping down the last of his Octillery soup. He started gnawing on the last bit of rubbery tentacle, and kept talking with his mouth full. "I mean--mm--bashically what you're shaying is--yeesh this ish good--that you'd rather learn from other people's experienshes than your own, yesh?" He gulped down the last of the Octillery, looking briefly euphoric before moving on like the moment had never occurred. "You don't learn anything like that. All the experiences, and emotions, and junk that you collect... if they're not yours, then they don't have any meaning or context." He repeatedly poked the sides of his head with his index fingers with a jumbled expression. "It's just, uh, a bunch of... stuff floating around in your head. Boop boop. Hear that? Hollow as an Omanyte shell."

"Rooof!" said Maximum Bison in confirmation.

He quietly looked over at the people Thomas had actually been speaking to. He made eye contact with the girl dressed like some criminal. What were they called? Er... Team... Team something... Galactic, maybe? That sounds stupid. Maybe it just sounded like that. Team Glack? Team Black Tick? Team Spastic? Spastic colon?..

He was silent, lost in his own thoughts for a solid, disturbing five seconds before he abruptly said "I'm Simon." He then turned back to the next course of his meal, a Pidgey pot pie, and dug in.

 

[CJ1145]

POSTED IN THE WRONG THREAD.

 

[CrazyBlaze]

"You kids! You toffee-noses shouldn't be allowed to keep these critters! Pokémon journey at age ten? You should be out working at ten! In fact..."

Kayla was caught off guard by the sailor's angry outburst. Sure he had every right to be mad but the old man grumpiness of it all really surprised her. That and the sudden appearance of the man's Spheal

"Um excuse...."

"Were it up to me none of you would be let near a pokémon before you'd paid off whatever debt your parents racked up raising you! Work camps! They should implement those..."

"Sir I thi......

That would teach you responsibility! Would build character too! I'll have you know that my breath stank of seawater before my twelfth birthday, missy! I was never free to run off with some Mudchic or Torkip when I was..."

"I think your pokemon is trying to say som," Kayla's attempt to talk to the sailor was cut off when his pokemon bite his leg and he let out a loud bellow and he started yelling about from Lillycove.

"Well the best place for seafood here in Johto is Olivine City. It has the best Chinchou stew around and amazing Krabby legs this side of Mt. Silver. But are you here for the tournament? Because if you haven't registered yet then you can do so by.............PC." It slowly dawned on Kayla that she still had to do the same. "Now if you'll excuse me I have to go do the same." Kayla ran out of the room and up the stairs when her stomach started to rumble. Deciding that registering could wait she went to the dining room where some of the other borders were at.

"Honestly, I greatly prefer distanced observation to first-hand experience. Do you really think it's a pointless endeavor?"

Kayla walked into the room as a nerdy looking boy asked that question and had an answer on the tip of her tongue when one of the other diners answered, probably the one to whom the question was posed to.
"Kinda, "I mean--mm--bashically what you're shaying is--yeesh this ish good--that you'd rather learn from other people's experienshes than your own, yesh? You don't learn anything like that. All the experiences, and emotions, and junk that you collect... if they're not yours, then they don't have any meaning or context." "It's just, uh, a bunch of... stuff floating around in your head. Boop boop. Hear that? Hollow as an Omanyte shell."

"I agree with him," Kayla said as she entered the room.

 

[Texas Joker 52]

=HARLEY=​

"You know, I for one happen to find watching a battle far more educational than participating in one. In addition to being able to observe both teams and their respective strategies, you are also provided with an emotional buffer of sorts, one that lets you analyze the battle with perfect rationality.".

Harley turned to see the boy who had sat away from the group get up and start towards the rest of the seated trainers, replying to her earlier question. He was followed closely by a Magneton, and it was clear from looking at him once that he was an intellectual, probably an assistant to a Pokemon Professor, if not a Professor himself.

"Honestly, I greatly prefer distanced observation to first-hand experience. Do you really think it's a pointless endeavor?".

Harley opened her mouth to speak, only to have another, seated trainer speak up first. This time it was the owner of the Tauros, and his reply caused her eyebrows to wing up in surprise.

"Kinda. I mean--mm--bashically what you're shaying is--yeesh this ish good--that you'd rather learn from other people's experienshes than your own, yesh? You don't learn anything like that. All the experiences, and emotions, and junk that you collect... if they're not yours, then they don't have any meaning or context. It's just, uh, a bunch of... stuff floating around in your head. Boop boop. Hear that? Hollow as an Omanyte shell.".

She smirked a little, but that went away quickly as he turned and stared at her for a full few seconds, causing her eyes to narrow. And he introduced himself abruptly a moment later.

"I'm Simon.".

"Harley...", she replied hesitantly, before turning back to the academic.

"Anyway, he's right. Observation can only get one so far when it comes to learning something. Take a martial artist for example. He can watch his master fight all he wants, and see the form, the timing, the stances so that he knows the theory of martial arts in detail. But, that's all it is. Theory. Without the personal experience, without having actually performed it himself, and learned martial arts first-hand, he can't actually be considered a fighter. Same principle.", she explained simply, before she grinned.

"Though, even I'll admit, watching a good fight can be entertaining, it just isn't as fun as being a fighter yourself. Right, Fahrenheit?", she asked her Combusken.

Fahrenheit promptly executed a few quick, yet elegant, kicks, before nodding rather smugly.

 

[Pappytech]

"Kinda."

Curious, Thomas turned his head to face one of the other trainers in the room, one who apparently hadn't quite finished up his meal. "I mean--mm--bashically what you're shaying is--yeesh this ish good--that you'd rather learn from other people's experienshes than your own, yesh? You don't learn anything like that. All the experiences, and emotions, and junk that you collect... if they're not yours, then they don't have any meaning or context. It's just, uh, a bunch of... stuff floating around in your head. Boop boop. Hear that? Hollow as an Omanyte shell."

Huh. While the young trainer's manners could certainly stand some improvement, he was certainly capable of creating a solid argument. Though Thomas would've preferred a slightly more structured and less interrupted comment, it still had some good reason behind it. Better than the alternative, certainly.

After a few seconds of awkward silence, the trainer suddenly decided what he wanted to say next. "I'm Simon."

"Thomas," Thomas replied, inclining his head slightly. "Thomas Meminger. Nice to meet you, Simon."

The girl in the Team Rocket jacket, following the trend, offered her own name and her thoughts on the matter. "Harley... Anyway, he's right. Observation can only get one so far when it comes to learning something. Take a martial artist for example. He can watch his master fight all he wants, and see the form, the timing, the stances so that he knows the theory of martial arts in detail. But, that's all it is. Theory. Without the personal experience, without having actually performed it himself, and learned martial arts first-hand, he can't actually be considered a fighter. Same principle.

"Though, even I'll admit, watching a good fight can be entertaining, it just isn't as fun as being a fighter yourself. Right, Fahrenheit?"

Ah. So she did have reasoning backing up her opinion. Good to know.

"I see," the researcher stated, his words gaining a bit more life as he continued to speak. "Please forgive me if I'm incorrect, but as I understand it both of your arguments center around the differences between practical and theoretical knowledge. I believe that's where our misunderstanding originates.

"You're both correct when you say that taking a practical approach to Pokémon training requires practice; there's no sense in debating that. Please, understand that I was not claiming that practical experience was superseded by theoretical; I was simply saying that observation and theoretical understanding could allow one to better comprehend a battle as a whole.

"Undoubtedly, one who does nothing but watch battles will never actually become skilled at them. However, I believe that this same person will develop a good understanding of the battles they observe, and will be able to think about them from a different, occasionally deeper perspective than any of the participants. That's not to say that it's a superior perspective, merely one with different applications."

Satisfied with his rebuttal, Thomas pulled out an empty chair from a nearby table and sat down, looking back and forth between Simon and Harley. A faint hint of a smile flitted about his eyes and lips for a moment, but for the most part his expression remained unchanged.

 

[Anayna]

Kayla didn't let Wash's rant get to her and kept calm in front of the foaming captain. With the arrival of the Spheal and Wash abruptly chaning the subject to seafood the young trainer even offered a phlegmatic remark.

"Well the best place for seafood here in Johto is Olivine City. It has the best Chinchou stew around and amazing Krabby legs this side of Mt. Silver. But are you here for the tournament? Because if you haven't registered yet then you can do so by.............PC."

She then seemed to realize that she was in the same proverbial boat as the bearded sailor: neither had registered for the tournament. That really needed to be rectified.

"Now if you'll excuse me I have to go do the same."

Spheal seemed very happy that Kayla had understood his intent, and waved goodbye as she packed up her things and promptly left the gym. "Spheal spheal!"
She was nice. Spheal liked her. Admittedly, Spheal liked everyone but still. Wash, however, was just confused.

"H-hang on, what? Register? For the tournament you mean? How does that... Oi, wait up, girl child! Uh... what was the name... Kayla? Hang on!"

Too late. Kayla was gone, leaving behind a significantly pacified captain. Register for the tournament? This was the first he'd heard of this. To be fair, he had left Slateport hurriedly on a whim. A vindictive, outraged whim that didn't allow minor considerations such as whether he was even going to be able to participate in the tournament. Humph. Well, going by the girl child's words it was apparently not too late. It was possible to register online.
Unfortunately, this meant an encounter with Wash's old nemesis: computers!

"Spheal!"

Wash looked over to the corner of the room. Spheal had already rolled over to the PC and was now sitting snugly on top of the station. He was waving his trainer over, overexcited smile plastered on his face. Wash's frown deepened. Stupid perpetually happy bell-bottomed fat freebooter... I hate these infernal contraptions.
He sank into the seat in front of the station heavily.

"Alright you daedalean doohickey, how do I turn you on?"

"Spheal!" *Click!*

"Don't touch anything, Spheal, you idiot! I don't need you making this any harder than... oh, it seems to be on now. Are these things automatic? Okay, now where's Internet Explorer?"

"Spheal!" *Click!*

"No, not FireFennekin, you stupid box! Huh. Seems to get the job done, though. That's alright then, I suppose. Does this tournament have a homepage or something, or..."

*click clickity click*

"... Are computers voice activated now? I think this is just what I'm looking for! Spheal, you should see this thing! They finally figured out how to make them less cumbersome. Even you could operate this thing."

"Spheal spheal," the Ice type smiled sagely.

Five minutes later a Captain Herman Wash had registered himself for the tournament and was feeling rather pleased with himself.

"Well, I think I've earned my dinner tonight. Come on then, you freeloader. Can't very well starve you useless beasties, can I?"

Spheal clapped his flippers in open admiration of his trainer's technological know-how before returning to his pokéball.

 

[Mush]

The other's conversation was extremely distracting. Trevor wouldn't really have minded under normal circumstances but he was hungry and when it came down to between his priorities of food or training he was torn. Aside from an acknowledging nod to Thomas he did his best to ignore them, intently reading the menu. It shouldn't have taken anything like this long to figure out what to order but considering all the diversions and his general indecisiveness, he was having a hard time picking something. Granted, Simon's incoherent diatribe was easy enough to ignore but once Harley and Thomas actually started saying interesting things he began paying more and more attention.

Once Thomas had launched his counter-argument, Trevor found he was following along closely with the discussion and he couldn't stay out of it, despite his stomach.

"I'm with him." He said simply. "I spent a lot of time, maybe too much, watching battles. There are things you can see from an outside perspective that you'll never be able to see if you're fighting the battle yourself." Trevor spoke from experience and it showed. "If you're a participant then by necessity you have a single, narrow perspective. As an observer you're free to think more laterally. Its all about subjectivity." His normally easy going attitude had been replaced with a more analytic one, a holdover from his days of academia. He quickly dropped the more formal air though, he found it uncomfortable. "Of course, by the same token, actually fighting provides experience that no amount of observing will be able to match. I learned that lesson the hard way, I can tell you." He grinned. Starting out had been a trying experience. Only his obsession had kept him from being severely discouraged.

"So, I guess what I'm saying is you're all right. I'm a real damn fountain of wisdom, huh?" Sarcasm clearly invaded his voice. Derision included self-derision and he had plenty of that.