In Her Image: a Pokémon RP

[CJ1145]

He must've realized that his half healthy Zangoose was going to have no chance against Daria's remaining Pokémon, Terry. In any case, Daria Pace is now the first winner from Group 14!

"WA-HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

Daria's legs shot in strange, awkward directions as she rocketed out onto the field, grabbing her Staryu and lifting it high into the air for the world to see. The crowd cheered, and the thunder of their applause shook the stadium, all the while Daria continued to beam and laugh.

Several minutes later, she finally made her way towards the Blue Tunnel, giving a slightly disappointed glance back at the Red Tunnel. She'd wanted to congratulate Remy on the awesome match; maybe offer a sparring session between Jet and his Primeape. Sadly, he'd walked off before she'd gotten the chance to. Slamming her cap back down on her head, she touched the little buttons on the three filled Pokeballs on her belt. They popped open, letting Spiegel and a barely-conscious Slagger get a breath of fresh air.

The Graveler immediately collapsed onto Spiegel's side, who began to mutter to himself as he hoisted him back up onto his feet to lead him down the tunnel. Gemini casually rolled alongside them, leaving Daria to clasp a hand on Jet's shoulder and give him an apologetic grin.

"Hey, sorry ya didn't see any action Jet; I promise, you'll be first one out in the second round, 'kay?"

Jet nodded, unwilling to question his trainer. "Hitmonlee."

"Hehe, great!" Daria exclaimed. The pair of them picked up the pace to catch up with the rest of their team, and they slowly marched down the tunnel.

 

[JdaS]

"Hey, sorry ya didn't see any action Jet; I promise, you'll be first one out in the second round, 'kay?"

"If that is all you have to offer, I wouldn't waste my time."

Daria and her partners' path was blocked by a huge, musclebound mountain of a man in a grey Gi.
He stared down at Daria and Jet.

"Such a rare and powerful Fighter is wasted in the hands of an impulsive child such as yourself. You lack the discipline necessary to bring out the true potential of that Pokémon."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, on the other side of the arena, Remy was getting an earful.

"...which is exactly why, with Forte as my bodyguard, I'll make you pay for leaving me in Veilstone City! Anyway, gotta run, see ya Remy!"

The impulsive girl left as quickly as she appeared, leaving Remy with nothing but questions and a sore face.

"Jeez, how'd she even find me? And what's this crap about a bodyguard?"

Making his way to the podium, Remy spotted Darius with his Pokémon.

"Hey there, enjoy the fight?"
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And with that out of the way, let's move on to the second match of the group! In the Red corner, representing Violet City and our very own region of Johto, MATT SERAS!!!

And in the Blue corner, from Cherrygrove City ALSO in Johto, KAYLA DENIT!!! Let's hear it for these two Johto natives!!!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Ooh it's Matt!" Exclaimed Remy.
"GIVE 'EM HELL, KID!!"

 

[Pappytech]

In the Red corner, representing Violet City and our very own region of Johto, MATT SERAS!!!

Matt dimly heard the announcer's voice echo through the stadium, and the answering roar of the crowd. The voices were dull, muted, as though his ears had been stuffed with cotton, or some other fluffy substance; he could make out the words and shouts, but just barely.

Conversely, the unending beat of his heart threatened to deafen him. Thump thump. Thump thump. Focusing on the familiar temp, Matt felt himself slipping away, fading from this world and heading towards someplace entirely unknown.

"Quil?"

Spike's curious squeak shook Matt from his reverie, nearly as effective as a bucket of icy water to the face. Looking down at the bundle of fur and flames resting in his lap, the boy couldn't resist a smile. "Heh, sorry about that buddy; guess I'm still a little nervous."

The Cyndaquil stared at Matt with a worried look upon his face, gently nudging the trainer with its warm muzzle. "Cyn, cyndaquil!"

Chuckling slightly, the green-clad lad lifted a hand, scratching Spike behind his ear. "Hey, I've already made it this far, right? At this point, it'd be more embarrassing to run away then to just head out there."

When his Pokemon still refused to look away, Matt began to stand up as he continued to talk, trying to convince himself as much as Spike, "What's the worst that can happen, huh? We lose? So what; we've lost before. Just never in front of so... many... people..."

Suddenly, the roar of the crowd seemed much, much louder. Matt felt his lungs seize, his breath halt, his mind beginning to descend into panic. Reaching for the wall to steady himself, the trainer nearly stumbled to the ground, before

Besides, I'm sure you'll do fine. You have a kick ass team right there.

Remembering Remy's words, Matt managed to steady himself. After a few seconds, both his heart and lungs returned to their normal tempo, and the nervousness in his eyes was replaced by a determined gleam. A small smile crossing his face once more, Matt pulled out an ordinary Pokeball, pointing it at Spike. "Hey, here's a crazy thought: What say we go kick ass and take some names, huh?"

"Cyndaquil!"

Spike returned to his Pokeball in a flash of red light. Strapping the shrinking device to his belt, Matt readjusted his emerald hat, before steadily marching towards the exit. Stepping out into the daylight, Matt found himself surrounded by hundreds of cheering faces, a sea of people enveloping him on all sides. However, his eyes were unseeing, glued to the blue tunnel that faced his own. Let's do this.

 

[Redryhno]

"Hey there, enjoy the fight?"

Knuckles had seen Remy coming before he spoke up and had grabbed a clawful of popcorn from the bucket between he and Daffy, and Daffy helped out by squirting a bit of water on it and making it soggy. Just as the red haired loser of the previous match sat down, the popcorn was placed under his nearing backside and with a small *SQUELCH*, the popcorn had somewhat adhered to the seat of his pants. The two pokemon burst into laughter.

"Psy,Psy,Psy,Psy,Psy,Psy,Psy,Psy,Psy,Psy,Psy.....Psy,Psy,Psy,Psy,Psy...Psyduck!"

"Sandslash,sandslash,sandslash,Slllllasssssh!"

Darius however, didn't notice him until the popcorn incident was over and done with, by which time he took out his pipe and tapped the two of them on the head with the pipe, getting their attention.

"Hey guys, quit that."

The two looked suddenly depressed, but it was short-lived as they realized the popcorn between them was still half-full, and delved back into it with renewed gusto.

"It was a good fight, though you should've pulled your Primeape in and thrown out your Zangoose when the Staryu came out. That Crush Claw attack would've saved you then and left a relatively healthy Primeape to battle the Hitmonlee. It might not have stood that much of a chance against it, but a sight better than Zangoose, their rage and unpredictability really messes with other Fighting-types." As he spoke, he shifted back and forth to his pipe, and began puffing on it enough so that a small cloud of smoke appeared around his head and didn't abate until he accidentally dropped the coals onto the stands. He quickly stamped them out and pulled his bag of tobacco out again, dropping some on his "TORKOAL TOBACCO CO." with their logo of a Torkoal with sunglasses and their slogan underneath, "I'D CLIMB MT. MOON DURING GEODUDE MATING SEASON FOR A TORKOAL".

"Want any?" He asked and extended the bag towards Remy, dodging Daffy's and Knuckles's attempts to grab it for a laugh.

 

[CJ1145]

"Such a rare and powerful Fighter is wasted in the hands of an impulsive child such as yourself. You lack the discipline necessary to bring out the true potential of that Pokémon."

Daria looked up at the man with a wide, flat mouth. Utter expressionless. She quietly reached up a hand, grabbing a bit of his gi.

"Mister. If ya came down here just to tell me that, I'd suggest you turn around and walk away. Because nobody..."

She pulled, tossing the man off of his feet.

"--but NOBODY..."

She swung him around, slamming him into the wall.

"--says crap about me OR MY POKEMON." She jammed a finger up towards his face, practically snarling at him. Jet stood behind her, looking just as angry if a bit more reserved. "Jet works his ass off every day training, and I'm not gonna have some block of meat try and badmouth him! Ya wanna talk trash, then we'll settle this RIGHT HERE. RIGHT NOW. Call out your best fighter, and Jet'll kick him to the curb!"

She pulled him away from the wall, and tossed him out into the middle of the tunnel. "And then, I'm gonna do the same to you."

 

[nuba km]

Lee was too late to watch the first fight has he had first gone to the pokecenter so snover could recover from the previous fight and while he was there he had his octillery checked out. He arrived just in time to see the beginning of the second match, he made sure to find a seat to watch it from that had no one he knew near it so he could concentrate on observing.

 

[JdaS]

SQUELCH

Remy removed the soggy popcorn from the seat of his pants, groaning and muttering to himself. He then turned to the culprits and offered them a sarcastic smile and a thumbs up.

"Cute guys. Real cute."

He then listened to Darius' opinion on how he would've taken Daria on. Politely declining his offer of tobacco and trying not to chuckle at his shirt, Remy made an attempt to defend his loss.

"For what it's worth, Zangoose hasn't learned Crush Claw yet. I did try to get Daria to use Hitmonlee against Primeape, but I guess she was too smart for that. At the end of the day, she had the type advantage"

Remy looked at the field where Matt had already waited for quite a while for his opponent to appear.

"Hey, where's the kid's competition, anyway?"
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The audience was getting impatient as this Kayla Denit girl was taking her sweet time to take the stage. After a few minutes, the PA system crackled and Terry and Andy were back.

Ladies and Gentlemen, we are deeply sorry to inform you that Ms. Denit is in fact, not in the building. She has failed to appear on time.

That's right folks. That means Matt Seras WINS BY DEFAULT!

The groans of disbelief could be heard across the stadium, as people felt robbed. They paid to see these matches and now there were no shows? What a gyp.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*MEANWHILE SOMEWHERE IN HOENN*

A girl with a Scizor is seen facing a trio of goons.

"Just give up girlie! These here Pokémon are our property now."

"Forget it! I'm was due in Johto for a tournament days ago, instead, I'm here chasing after you wastes of space and your boss! You're gonna pay. SCIZOR, BULLET PUNCH!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the blue corner tunnel, Forte didn't seem at all phased by Daria's aggressive response. With the slightest of pushes, he made the girl let go of his Gi. After staring her down a while, he turned and started walking.

"Save it for the ring, child. Once I crush Ken Capins, you and yours are next."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well that sure was unexpected... Anyway, it is time to momentarily take a gander at Group 16's progress.

Indeed it is Terry, and without further ado, in the Red corner, FROM PASTORIA CITY IN SINNOH, TOM RELICT!!!

Aaaand in the Blue corner! From LAVENDER TOWN, KANTO, RUPERT GRAVEL!!!

 

[CJ1145]

"Save it for the ring, child. Once I crush Ken Capins, you and yours are next."

"LEE!"

Jet took a step forward; his trainer had done a solid for his rep, and it was time to return the favor. But before he could throw a jab or kick of any sort, Daria took a step away and threw an arm up, barring his path. She looked over at him, a devilish gleam in her expression.

"Save it, Jet. If the big, soft Teddi-Bear here wants a couple more hours to pray before we beat him to kingdom come? I say let him."

She turned around, and with a quick quartet of zaps, called all of her Pokemon back into their balls. She clipped them back onto her belt and exited the tunnel, throwing a hand back to Forte. "See ya, chump. Tell Arceus or whoever I said hi."

[hr]

"Hey."

An ultimately unamused looking Daria sat down next to Darius and Remy. She gave a fake punch towards her former opponent, and gave a half-hearted grin. "Good show out there, Snow-boy."

She looked down towards the Stadium, at a very confused-looking Matt exiting the grounds, with no opponent in sight. She tapped her Pokeballs, releasing her team as she asked, "So what'd I miss?"

Her Pokemon immediately found themselves seats. Spiegel sat in the row behind the trainers, with Jet by his side. Slagger preferred to stand next to Daria, so as to get a closer look at any matches. Gemini, on the other hand, snuck over to the popcorn bag to swipe a few bites from Darius' unsuspecting Pokemon.

 

[Pappytech]

That means Matt Seras WINS BY DEFAULT!

Moans and groans came followed in the announcement's wake, as the crowd bemoaned the no-show. So lost were they in their disappointment, most of them failed to note Matt as he turned about and walked back towards the Red Tunnel. As the trainer marched, there was no cowardice in his eyes or fear in his step: He walked with purpose and strength into the dim tunnel, away from the arena and the sea of spectators.

Then he collapsed against a nearby wall and began hyperventilating.

 

[Shakomaru]

Well that sure was unexpected... Anyway, it is time to momentarily take a gander at Group 16's progress.

Indeed it is Terry, and without further ado, in the Red corner, FROM PASTORIA CITY IN SINNOH, TOM RELICT!!!

Aaaand in the Blue corner! From LAVENDER TOWN, KANTO, RUPERT GRAVEL!!!

"Ah, what a shame. Red just isn't my color." Tom walked out into the middle of the arena. "Hey Rupert! Get out here! Let's have ourselves a match!"

Skor?

"Gee, I HOPE he'll show. Wouldn't be like him. At least... I don't think it is. Rupert? Are you in there?"

Tom tried to look over to the other corner, but it was too far away.

 

[Redryhno]

"For what it's worth, Zangoose hasn't learned Crush Claw yet."

"Really? I thought that was Zangooses special move, I was sure one of them would get it before Knuckles here."

"Sllassh?"

"Nothing, Knuckles, just talking about you is all. As for where the kid's opponent is, no idea. Maybe stuck on a boat somewhere."

Daffy looked around to see the Staryu sneaking up on he and Knuckles, and seeing as how they were both done with what they wanted of the popcorn, offered it to Gemini.

"Psy?"

 

[nuba km]

Lee saw daria, seeing as it would be a bit till the next fight he walked over to here and said with more then a hind of aggression 'I got a bone to pick with you' without giving daria any time to respond lee spoke in a single breath 'I care about all my pokemon, just because I don't call one for my pokemon a fighter does NOT mean I don't care for it, I also don't have to make my pokemon put there all into every attack because I don't want to just turn them into fighters maybe I just want to make learn the difference between a friend and someone who abuses their kindness and putting your all into a ruthless set of attacks doesn't always work I play to my pokemon strengths whether it makes sense to use them in battle or not' Lee took a mamoswine breath and said 'anything else you might want to say?'

 

[CJ1145]

'anything else you might want to say?'

Spiegel leaned forward and put a warning claw on Daria's shoulder. The trainer shook in her seat, before slowly lifting her head to look straight forward. Lee couldn't see her eyes under the brim of her hat; she spoke in a slow, even tone with only the occasional warble hinting at the rage beneath.

"If you really do care for your Pokemon, good. But if you tell me one more time that I abuse the kindness of my Pokemon... I will hurt you. I train my friends as they ask to be trained; our dream is shared. And I don't have to justify myself any more to someone like you."

She looked up at Lee, finally; her eyes, narrowed and angry as they were, were red, and the smallest sheen of building water could be seen on the sclerae. "Go. Away."

 

[nuba km]

'ugh' Lee grunted 'I am NOT saying you are abusing the kindness of your pokemon, I am training snover because I want him to learn about that. You have seen how nice he is, when I found him he was practically starving to death as he would just give his food to any pokemon that asked for it.' Lee was really trying to sort out misunderstanding but with the glare he was given he still kept his hand over octillery's pokeball just encase this got out of control for him.

 

[CJ1145]

"Go. Away."

 

[JdaS]

Remy didn't like where this was going. Looking past Daria at Lee, he'd try and contain the situation.

"Hey man, I don't think this is working. You two are obviously at opposite spectrums of trainerdom and bickering about it won't help. How about you agree to disagree and leave it at that, hmm?"

 

[nuba km]

"Hey man, I don't think this is working. You two are obviously at opposite spectrums of trainerdom and bickering about it won't help. How about you agree to disagree and leave it at that, hmm?"

'well I don't see why she is so angry at me, I merely said that aggression isn't always the best plan, which is true. She accused me of believing in my pokemon, not only a insult but also wrong' lee looked back at daria 'I am going to be go outside and get ready for a pokemon battle, your choice if you come' Lee then left and waited outside the building holding duskull's pokeball.

 

[Anayna]

"Rupert? Are you in there?"

For a minute it seemed that Rupert was in fact not in the blue corner's tunnel, and he was certainly nowhere to be seen in the ring. Before anyone could get worried about yet another match with a missing contestant, however, steps were heard in the tunnel. Rupert half-ran out of the tunnel, still dressed in his great big coat no less, into his designated corner. He was terribly out of breath.

"Huff... I... puff... I-I'm here."

A rather irritated tournament official had found him in front of the computer terminal just minutes before the match. Rupert was supposed to have been standing ready for the match and people had apparently been looking for him. Having completely lost all track of time he tried to apologize, but was interrupted as the official insisted that he hurry to the ring immediately. And so here he was. Surrounded by a crowd with a thousand eyes, each of which felt like a red-hot needle piercing him. Oh god; in his last minute preparations and hurry Rupert had completely forgotten about the sheer amount of people that would be watching him, judging him. The finals would probably even be televised, so even the people back in Lavender Town would be watching. He had originally agreed to join this tournament to appease them. Rupert tried to push his social phobia back as he had now realized that battling to appease others wasn't a good enough reason to fight.

They don't matter, Rupert. None of the people here matter. They might as well not be here so just ignore them. All that matters is that you do right by your team. The only entities that matter in this ring is Team Rupert... and Team Tom.

With that Rupert finally looked up to the red corner, at Tom. The bespectacled boy was grinning, seemingly pleased that his opponent had showed up. Rupert still didn't know how he felt about fighting Tom, but he wasn't going to hold back. Throwing off the heavy coat, revealing the two lone plain pokeballs attached to his belt, Rupert wasted no time in picking one out and throwing it into the ring. The red light that sprang from it materialized into a small brown figure. The Cubone slowly raised it's masked head, attentively taking in the foreign surroundings and the cheering crowd. It's gaze finally came to a stop at Rupert, and trainer and pokemon simply looked into each others eyes for a moment. It almost seemed as if they shared an intimate moment.
Finally, Cubone nodded approvingly and turned to face it's opponent, bone club at the ready, and Rupert couldn't help but smile as he knew that Cubone did under it's skull mask.

"Okay, let's do this."

"CUBONE!"

 

[Evrant-Knight]

Caleb watched as his opponent walked away, being followed by his butler.

"Hmph. How arrogant a fool can you be Nicholas, your foolhardy nature, is what has earned you the disdain of fellow noblemen and noblewomen. Despite the apparent rivalry between our two houses; I at least tried to show compassion and kindness towards you. If it takes your defeat it battle to have you realise this fact, then so be it." Caleb thought to himself, a look of calm anger appeared on his face, annoyed that such a loathsome individual was to be his opponent. He soon returned to watching the next proper bout, as the one between Kayla Denit and Matt Seras, was cancelled due to Miss Denit not being available.

"Hmph. I wonder what happened to the poor girl?" He asked himself, as Rupert brought out a Cubone.

 

[Shakomaru]

"Okay, let's do this."

"CUBONE!"

"Heh! I love your spirit today Rupert!"

great. I was hoping he'd use haunter first. Well, I'd better save Kusari for it. Trapic can't do much against it anyway. I need him as a tank for my plan anyway.

"Alright! Let's go Kalmia!"

Tom threw out a pokeball that burst open with a green bird like symbol. As the symbol faded it left behind the houndoom.

"HOUNDOOM!"

"Let's make this a good battle Rupert!"