[PKMN FULL] Unific: The Challengers' Journey [M][IC]

[the sloth]

Bennett Myrtle

Chapter 3-5: Emerge Victorious! Battle for the Chrysalis Badge!

Party:

Current Location: Dolce Stadium, Dolce City

Bruna looks over her selection of Pokemon, after returning Monarch to her ball. She fought well, but got blindsided bad. It was... a little insulting to be losing to a Grass type, of all things! Still, this was just a fight for fun, for the challenger to prove his worth. If he was a fan of hers like he said he was, she didn't want to seem like a pushover and dissapoint. She grabs one ball with a confident smile, sending it out onto the field.

"Camberwell, you're up!"

Monarch was elegant and beautiful in her own right, but Camberwell had not just beauty, but charm to go with it. The audience goes wild as she comes out, cheering and posing for the audience... while a familiar, sparkling glow comes off of her. Berry recognizes it without any prompting from her trainer, and charges forward for a Tackle, but Camberwell is prepared. She intercepts the attack with one powerful flap of her wings, stopping Berry's charge and making her tumble back as sharp gusts of wind graze her body!

"Berry, h-hang in there!" Bennett tries to encourage her, his hands getting clammy around her Pokeball as she's lying on the ground, dazed but still in this... that is, until a thick, yellow silk netting pins her to the grass! She pushes against the constraints to no avail, the electrical surge running through it not helping her any. The webbing does start to tear away after a few moments... from a rather strong wind. A sparkling gale from the Beautifly's Silver Wind is powerful enough to blow away the Electroweb, and make Berry roll across the field a couple times more before stopping, flopping onto her side and groaning.

He couldn't watch it any longer. Bennett's eyes nervously dart towards the assistant at Bruna's side, his panicked and dishelved expression catching his eye before he gives one of the signals he'd been told about during his coronation for the Amateur League. He nodded in confirmation, and it only took a couple moments to hear a whistle blown, allowing Bennett to return Berry to her ball.

"You did your best... I-I'm sorry I let you get hurt that much..." He murmurs under his breath, while the crowd intensifies from this development. Camberwell had soundly defeated Berry, although she just barely managed to deal with Monarch before her with a type disadvantage.

"Berry is no longer fit to battle! Both sides are now neck-and-neck, each with only a single Pokemon left!" The crowd gets even more excited at that announcement, the intensity making the boy's heart pound harder... hard enough that it felt like each beat made his whole body quiver. He pulls Jingles' ball out of his bag, remembering how, while powerful and faithful, his track record was currently spotty thanks to his rambunctiousness.

"... Don't fail me now, boy... I know you really want this too."

He mutters to the ball itself, as if his Pokemon could hear him from within, before sending him out. There's some ooos and aahs from members of the audience who didn't know they'd be seeing a Dragon-type participating in the Amateur League today, which was more than you'd think, with how many up-and-coming trainers that were challenging Bruna today. As soon as Jingles realizes he's the center of attention, he forces out his best roar for the audience. Even if it's pretty squeaky, the display still riles up the crowd for the climax of the battle.

"Camberwell, you know what to do! Give 'em a show!" Bruna doesn't miss a beat, as her Beautifly flaps her wings and begins her marvelous dance anew. Jingles growls, not sure what she was doing, but just knowing that he likely shouldn't just let her do it. Bennett is about to issue a command before he starts running, going for an ol' reliable Headbutt, but the Beautifly just hovers out of the way. He digs his claws into the ground to slow his charge, turning and going for another but continuing to whiff.

"Jingles! Use Uproar!" Bennett yells to his companion after the third whiffed Headbutt, and it first it looks like he's going for a fourth... but as he gets closer and Camberwell starts to fly in a different direction, Jingles leaps off the ground and roars (more like screams) at the butterfly with a destructive burst of sound! She staggers back in shock, covering her ears in distress as she stumbles onto her tiny legs, which aren't as graceful as her wings. The dragon grins, and doesn't hesitate to take advantage of this opportunity by pouncing on top of the butterfly. The two tumble a couple times across the field, before he ends up right on top of the squirming Beautifly! Bennett holds his breath, but can feel an undeniable adrenaline build up inside him as they're making process. Bruna is, again, undeterred, simply giving her next command.

"Camberwell, Giga Drain!"

As Jingles rears for a brutal slash with his claws, the Beautifly's proboscis coils around his forearm like an appendage, a green vaccum of energy coming out of its tip as the dragon starts snarling and scratching in a attempt to get her off of him! He winces in pain as he feels some of his vitality being drained, but that doesn't stop him any from putting up a fight. With a harsh rattling of his scales, he eventually manages to shake her off, but she flutters back up into the air before he can pounce again. He starts running at her again, but of course, she keeps flying out of his range! Rather than setting up this time, she's firing Electrowebs both at her opponent and generally across the field, to create traps. Sure enough, one of webs she shot towards the ground rather than at him ends up making the dragon runt trip and tumble, all tied up!

"Jingles! G-get out of there, quick!" Bennett yells, remembering this to be the same way Berry got outmatched. The Jangmo-o snarls and scratches at the webbing, which is thicker and harder to pierce than he anticipated! An irritating shock goes through his system constantly, frustrating him to no end as Camberwell saunters over with an air of smugness... steam subtly starts to rise from the entrapping before the Beautifly goes for her next move.

"Use Attract!" Bruna commands, confusing Bennett once he heard it. Attract? What was she planning...? Camberwell flutters around the trapped Jingles a couple times while he keeps giving her death glares, before blowing a kiss, a lovely pink aura coming off of her... and it works. His demeanor changes right around, barking excitedly before tearing right through the webbing in one leap! A gasp of surprise comes from almost everyone as he jumps atop Camberwell once more, but was now roughly playing with her, playfully nibbling on her nose. The Beautifly squealed in disgust and dissapproval, trying to do something to shake him off of her. But for some reason, the dragon felt a lot stronger, harder to push off of her... especially once he suddenly snapped out of his stupor and pushed back!

He pinned her tightly to the ground, growling and smirking as he saw the Beautifly began to panic and plead. No mercy! He grinned with glee before rearing back, and then smashing his skull right into-... the grass? He made a decently sized imprint of his head in the terrain of the field, but Camberwell had suddenly vanished! Bennett was caught just as off guard, and looking at the other side of the arena, he could see Bruna putting back the ball Camberwell had been in, as her assistant talked into his lapel before a whistle was blown three times in quick succession, signifying the end of the fight.

"Bruna has forfeited! That means that Bennett Myrtle has won! Congratulations!" The caster declares, and the crowd goes wild! Both Bennett and Jingles look at the audience, and then at each other, the both of them realizing then and there that... they won! Jingles yips happily, running right over to his trainer and jumping into his arms like a Lillipup!

"We did it! W-well, YOU did it, but..." Bennett chuckles awkwardly, but Jingles licks his trainer face to show his appreciation before they both walk back to the center of the pitch, Bruna meeting them at the center with an awkward smile.

"Man... that's what I get for being cocky. I really thought that Electroweb had you done for!" She grins, happy with her loss before looking a tad flustered. "Sorry about the forfeit. I mean, I think we already knew that would've knocked her out, so I was just saving her the trouble, that's all." Bruna seems pretty averse to her bugs being bashed and taking more pain than they needed to, and rightfully so, he figured. Before Bennett can say anything on the matter besides nodding in acknowledgement, Bruna's given a fancy leather case by her assistant, and pops it open before presenting it before him. "Ahem! As Dolce City's Gym Leader, for your hard work and battling prowess, I am proud to present onto you the Chrysalis Badge! Great work, Bennett!" She declares all proper-like, but there's a hint of her childish excitement bubbling up from below the surface. Bennett reaches gently into the casing, picking up the badge and holding it like it could break if he looked at it funny.

The badge was cocoon-shaped, and had a stained-glass esque pattern of varying hues of green. He stared at it for so long in utter disbelief as the crowd roared and cheered for the successful challenger. Jingles climbed atop his trainer's head, and gave another roar like he did when he first entered the arena, eating up the glory while Bennett just... stared at his badge in continuous disbelief. Watching it glisten from the sunlight and the slightest movements, he was lead back out of the arena, and the following hour or two felt like days with how fixated he was on his prize.

Bennett still couldn't believe they actually won.
​

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[WizardOfOdd]

Matthew "Matt" Callista
Location : Dolce City
Partner Pokemon :

​

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Chapter 3 - 1
Arrival​

"Huff… Huff… Finally… We arrived…" Matt tried his hardest to catch his breath.

This led to disapproval from Sherry, for her it was proof that her trainer needed more training. She quickly mouthed out her disapproval much to Matt's chagrin.

"Shut up! You rode on Oswald's back… You can't complain that way to me, young lady…" He sat down on the nearest bench while chugging on the Fresh Water he prepared before the journey.

It was a rough morning for Matt, not only he had to experience multiple incidents that had caused his body to be quite sore early in the morning. He also had to run as fast as he could to Dolce City as his schedule was ruined due to the night's incident. Those factors combined with the fact that he lacked sleep didn't help at all.

"Krow?" Oswald perched on the right side of the bench beside Matt with Charlotte still sitting on his back. It seemed to Matt that Charlotte has taken some liking to the idea of flying and it helped fix her opinion of Oswald, it was unexpected to him that Charlotte quickly warms up to Oswald that fast after the terror she felt last night but he still had to be thankful.

"Hmm… We still have three hours, but we still haven't prepared our accommodation for the night. That'll prove bad when night came, a lot of trainers are going to handle that in the evening, but I bet most of the people already booked rooms of their own at the Pokemon Center. There's no time to prepare for a tactic rehearsal at this point, but I think I already get the gist about the abilities of each one of you. I'll be counting on you guys, especially you Oswald."

Oswald bowed slightly, he felt happy to be depended by his master. He was confident that with his abilities, victory would be assured.

Sherry, however, snickered at the statement, she believed that her ability is enough to take home the victory for her team. Oswald who realized this chose to heed no mind to his comrade, believing that the results brought from the battle would be enough to silence her critique of him.

"I know you're powerful Sherry, we trained again and again before. But first, you do realize our opponent is a user of Bug-type Pokemon, remember Pinsir? And two, our opponent is one of the youngest winners of the Challenge Cup. It's not going to be a walk in a park for us, Sherry. Overconfidence could lead to mistake which eventually will cause our downfall.

"Hat!" Sherry pouted at Matt's lecture, while Oswald nodded slowly, realizing that his judgment was too hasty. As expected, his choice to follow his new master was a very great choice after all. He was too absorbed in thinking that he forgot that Charlotte was still on his back, nuzzling her face on his back.

Having not much time to spare, Matt returned his Pokemon back to their respective Pokeball, much to Sherry's chagrin. After that, he skillfully finished all of his business, he booked a cozy inn nearby, healed his Pokemon at the Pokemon Center, and even stocked some necessary items for his journey. Obviously this was done with help from the friendly local populace, without them Matt would probably spend all of his time finding the right way to reach his destinations.

With only a little time left to spare, Matt changed to his outfit back at the inn.

"It's now or never… Time to show everyone what I can really do." Matt raised his clenched fist upwards full of spirit before going off for the gym challenge.
​

 

[Juno]

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Rowlet Art Cred

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3-5: MAKE A SPLASH

The crowd went silent with confusion for a moment. A few giggles could be heard from the audience. Across the stadium, he could see Bruna give him a weak smile. Neither her, her assistant, not the caster seemed sure of what to do next —they all seemed to think Edwin had simply made a mistake, and gave him the time to correct it. When he did not recall Pyrite to choose another Pokemon, the caster finally spoke. "The challenger has chosen his next Pokemon, a Magikarp! ... Right?" He added, just to make sure. Edwin nodded.

"This is a strange turn of events alright, and definitely a Dolce Stadium first!" The voice continued booming, "Maybe the young challenger Edwin Jones will make a Splash with his unique choice here, and wow us all!" A few groans from the audience could be heard, presumably at the caster's pun.

"I—okay!" Bruna found her voice. "We won't hold back though, right, Gypsy?"

Edwin smiled back at her. "I'd expect nothing less from a Gym Leader!"

He bent down to give Pyrite a quick pep talk, who flopped around skittishly. Edwin felt bad for him—Theodore had been prepped and hyped for his moment days in advance, but Pyrite was just dumped on this field unceremoniously, with zero preparation. Edwin had not anticipated this moment, either, but he did his best to get him in the zone.

"Alrighty, so here's the game plan. Theodore has already weakened him quite a bit, so don't worry too much. Unlike with Theodore, Gypsy's gonna have to fly down to get at you sometimes, so I think our best bet is just lunge at him and try to Tackle him down whenever he flies close! We have an ace up our sleeve, too—for our finishing move, Bounce on him just like we practiced with Rosa, okay? They'll never know what hit 'em."

Pyrite stared back at him with an intensity he had never seen before. Not that Edwin had spent much time looking at the Magikarp's face prior to this, but... for the first time, Edwin really felt like he was listening to every word he was saying.

"I believe in you." He said. He really meant it this time, which surprised even himself. He patted the Pokemon's shiny belly. "We're so close. I know you can do it."

Newly invigorated, Pyrite made his way to the center of the pitch. Gypsy circled overhead, waiting for his trainer's command. He looked a bit worse for wear after going up against Theodore, but definitely still battle-ready. Once Edwin nodded at Bruna, she called out, "Alright, Gypsy! Hit him with Silver Wind!"

Still emboldened by the Quiver Dance from his previous battle, Gypsy struck fast and hard, releasing a harsh, silver dust that buffeted the Magikarp. He tried to look for an opening to retaliate, but true to her word, Bruna and Gypsy were not holding back. "Now, Confusion!"

The range on the move must be limited, to Edwin and Pyrite's luck, as the Dustox kept trying to get closer before letting out the beam each time. With each attempt, Pyrite jumped up and either slapped him with his tail, or knocked him down with a Tackle, as Edwin had prepped him to do.

"That's right! Keep Tackling!" He shouted. We're doing it! Hopefully we can keep chipping away at his energy like this...

But after a few tries, the frustrated Dustox finally swooped down low and picked up Pyrite with his stocky, red legs instead, taking him into the air with him.

Uh oh. "Flail! Flail!" Edwin yelled, but it hardly needed to be said—the Magikarp started thrashing about violently out of fear as he was suspended in the air by the winged beast. Gypsy stubbornly held on, which resulted in him receiving quite a beating from Pyrite's Flail. It didn't look like the already-exhausted Dustox was having much luck in close combat.

Bruna seemed to realize this as well. "Let go!" She commanded. "Get some distance and use Poison Powder!"

Pyrite struggled free as Gypsy loosened his grip mid-air, and landed in the grass with a dull thud. A few gasps could be heard from the audience. Edwin almost leapt out onto the field, but stopped himself. 'They're sturdy lil' creatures,' Rosa's voice echoed in his head again. She's right, he'll be fine.

Just then, a shower of fine, purple dust drifted downwards, sprinkling over Pyrite's body. He kept thrashing, trying to shake it off. The poisoning seemed to affect Pyrite much less than Theodore. But we still had to watch out for the—

"Venoshock!" Bruna called out.

No! He had to think fast. "Now, Pyrite! Bounce!"

Gypsy released his venom, which hit a patch of grass that Pyrite was on moments ago. Puzzled, he looked around, searching for the Magikarp, who was no longer in the grass.

"What the—" Bruna exclaimed, watching Pyrite soar up over Gypsy. Every eye was on the flying fish Pokemon as it bounded high above the field.

And then 30 pounds of Magikarp came crashing down onto the Dustox.

Gypsy tried to move his wings, but they were firmly pinned under Pyrite. Bruna and her assistant rushed over. The two of them gently rolled Pyrite off him and inspected the Pokemon. They huddled over him for a while, but moments later, a red glow appeared, and Gypsy was returned to his Poke Ball. As Bruna stood back up, the caster announced, "Gypsy the Dustox is no longer fit to battle! Pyrite the Magikarp has won the match! Which means... Gym Leader Bruna is out of useable Pokemon for this battle, and the challenger Edwin Jones has won! Congratulations!"

The crowd was cheering loudly all around him. Edwin's heart was pounding out of his chest. As the ridiculousness of the situation hit him, he almost laughed out loud. Did I just win my first Gym battle with a Magikarp?!

Pyrite bounded back towards him, with much more confidence than when he was first let out onto the field. "Oof!" Edwin exclaimed, as the Magikarp leapt up and tossed himself into his arms. "You did it! You did it! I knew you could!" He shouted gleefully, spinning around with his arms around Pyrite.

Bruna and her assistant made their way towards him. This time, she picked up a leather case from his tray and carefully opened it, holding it out in front of Edwin. A beautiful, cocoon-shaped badge sat inside, waiting for him. The girl smiled up at him as she cleared her throat. "Congratulations, Edwin! As Dolce City's Gym Leader, I officially present you the Chrysalis Badge. You and your Pokemon did amazingly today."

Wordlessly, Edwin set Pyrite back down and picked up the badge to get a closer look. The stadium's spotlights bounced off its green, glassy surfaces as he turned it in his hands.

​

"Thank you," he said under his breath.

"No, thank you!" The girl laughed lightly. "That is going to be a battle I'll remember for sure. A Magikarp, of all things. You got something really special there." She nodded at his Pokemon.

"Yeah," Edwin said, looking down at Pyrite with a grin. "Yeah, I really do."

Party

Rowlet // Theodore

Tackle
Growl
Leafage
Peck
Shadow Sneak

Magikarp // Pyrite

Splash
Tackle
Flail
Bounce

Egg // ???

This Egg still looks like it's a quite a while away from hatching.​

Journal

1-1: "Edwin"
1-2: Networking
JP: Unwelcome Reunion
ft. Janice Carter
1-3: Dark Horse

2-1: Theodore Bugsbane
2-2: All That Glitters
2-3: Something Fishy
2-4: The Prodigy's Protege
2-5: Fool's Gold

3-1: Try Your Luck!
3-2: Ready & Refreshed
3-3: Underhanded Tactics
3-4: Believe
3-5: Make A Splash
​

Trainer Card



OOC Post​

Badge Case

Chrysalis Badge


Venom Badge


Wing Badge


Dive Badge


Sand Badge



Cinder Badge


Electron Badge


Spear Badge


Illusion Badge


Monument Badge

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[gimmepie]

Elleni Vargas

Chapter Three - Part Five

"A Ground type? Interesting choice."

"My only choice, but I'm confident in him." Elleni responded.

Elleni looked down at her Cubone, he didn't look as confident as she claimed to be, but he steeled himself, brandishing his bone club at the ready. He'd fight his heart out regardless of his own confidence levels for Elleni.

"Giga Drain!" Bruna commanded. At once, her Mothim fired of an array of the glowing tendrils of green energy, all of them closing in on Perdito.

"Detect!" Elleni was not about to let Perdito take a super-effective hit that easily. Perdito's eyes glowed blue, and with an eerie grace he did not possess moments earlier he began to move. He stepped around, leapt over or ducked under each and every one of the tendrils with a casual ease before his demeanour returned to what it was before. No, not exactly like it had been before. Now there was a little more confidence in the way he carried himself.

Elleni grinned despite herself, if Perdito was starting to feel like he could actually pull it off, who was she to not throw everything she had at the battle?

"Perdito, Growl and then Fire Punch!"

Perdito let out a sharp sound, somewhere between a growl and a bark. The seemed to radiate with a strange power as the sound travelled, Eggar let out a shiver as the attack washed over him, weakening his defenses.

Perdito dashed forward as fast as he could, leaping up and attempting to punch the Mothim with his free hand, which was now encased in searing flames. He was slower than Eggar though, and the Bug type managed to dodge around behind him.

"Confusion!" Bruna retaliated.

Elleni couldn't see the attack itself, but she felt its power. So did Perdito as he was blasted back along the battlefield. Perdito groaned from his place on the ground, pushing himself back to his feet. He wasn't going to go down just yet.

Still, Elleni was realising she had a problem. All of Perdito's moves were close-range except for Growl. Meanwhile, Eggar's moveset seemed to be entirely ranged. She was going to need excellent timing, otherwise the Mothim could just keep out the way while buffeting Perdito. Unfortunately, that seemed to be exactly Bruna's plan.

"We're not giving you a break, Giga Drain!"

"Detect!" Elleni yelled.

Once more, Perdito moved as though possessed. Nimbly avoiding the surge of green lights that sought to sap him of his longevity.

"You can't dodge forever," Bruna called across, "Signal Beam!"

The follow-up attack came as the Detect fell out of effect. A fast and powerful beam of green and purple energy, shooting right for Perdito. Without time to get out of the way, he lifted his bone in front of him. He was pushed back several feet, skidding across the grass, but he managed to avert the worst of the attack… just. Still, that gave Elleni an idea.

"Run at it!" Elleni called, Perdito instantly abandoning his defensive stance and making a crazed run for the Mothim. "Now Bown Club-"

"That won't work on Eggar," Bruna chided, but Elleni wasn't done.

"On the ground!" Elleni finished, ignoring the Gym Leader.

Perdito understood exactly what Elleni wanted. As he ran, he slammed his bone into the battlefield with a tremendous force, never abandoning his forward momentum. He was launched like he'd been standing on a catapult, flying away from the bone and right for Eggar.

"Fire Punch!" Elleni ordered.

Eggar was too shocked to moved, despite Bruna commanding him to dodge. A moment later, Perdito's blazing fist slammed into the Mothim and sent him careening into the grass below.

A beam of red light encompassed the Mothim as Bruna called him back to his ball.

"Well," Bruna said with a wide grin, "I definitely didn't see that coming."

"That was the idea," Elleni replied, unable to keep herself from smirking a bit.

"This is far from over though," Bruna responded, now wearing a smirk of her own. Her assistant brought her the tray back and Perdito collected his weapon from where he'd left it. She selected the last of the Pokeballs offered to her before throwing it out onto thee battlefield. "Luna, let's go!"

The ball exploded with a flash of light, revealing another lepidopteran Pokemon with a deep purple body, brown abdomen and lavender coloured wings: a Venomoth. Like Eggar before her, Luna immediately began a beautiful Quiver Dance.​

 

[Juno]

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Rowlet Art Cred

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3-6: ROLE MODEL

The water in the sink swirled with bits of purple in it, as Edwin squeezed and rung out the last of Gypsy's Venoshock residue from both his own tracksuit and Theo's scarf. He would have washed these in the bathtub, but that was currently filled almost to the brim with cool water and occupied by Pyrite, who merrily splashed around in it like a very small pool.

Theodore was also resting in a little tub himself, relaxing and soaking in some bubbles. Edwin had already taken his team to the Pokemon Center to get them professionally cleaned and healed up right after leaving the stadium—the bubble bath now was just a little after-battle treat.

​

As Edwin rinsed the garments one final time and hung them up to dry, his X-Transceiver buzzed again. Wiping his hands on a towel, he pulled the device from his pocket and put it back on his wrist, before answering the call.

"Hello—"

"CONGRATULATIONS!" He jumped a little at the loud squeal, and immediately lowered the volume on his device. "Oh, you did so well, my boy! And that Magikarp—when did you catch a Magikarp? A golden one, no less. Oh! He was just dazzling on camera when he Bounced up and all the spotlights were on him. Not to downplay little Theodore's part in the battle, either, they both fought so well!"

"Thank you, Ma! Was Lily watching, too?"

His sister squeezed into frame when their mother remembered this wasn't a 1-on-1 call. "Hi Eddie! Yeah, congrats!"

Picrew Maker Credit​

"Thank you, Lil," He beamed, long having accepted his beloved family wouldn't call him Edwin.

"Oh, it was so fun watching you on TV. I almost thought you wouldn't make it to the battle! You were struggling a bit in the challenge, huh?"

"Yeah! I thought I was done for there, too. Luckily..." he thought back to how he completed the challenge, and his voice trailed off.

His mother sighed. "Yes, I know. That poor girl you pushed out of the way. That wasn't very nice. I will admit, I was a little disappointed in you there. I raised you better than that." She pursed her lips.

Edwin shrugged. "I... taught her a valuable lesson in competition. I'm sure she will look behind her shoulder more often from now on."

"I thought it was funny." Lily chimed in.

"Now, look what you've done! What kind of example are you setting for your little sister?"

She's not that little, he thought to himself. Lily was only two years younger than him, but he decided to apologize to his mother anyway, instead of arguing that point.

"I'm sorry, Ma. I'll be more mindful of my status as a role model." On camera, he added mentally.

"That's better," she smiled, placated. She squinted at the screen, looking around the room he was sitting in. "Where are you, anyway? Is there another League-sponsored party? This place looks so fancy."

"Oh, no, I decided to treat my boys to a nice hotel room for the night, after all the work they put in today." He peered into the bathroom and smiled. Pyrite was doing small backflips in the bathtub, sloshing some water onto the marble tiles. Theodore seemed to have finished soaking in his bath, and was now rolling around in a towel.

"And... How much did that cost?" His mother asked cautiously.

"It's ₱2,500 per night here, but since they were honored to have a challenger stay at the hotel, they gave me a small discount. So, ₱2,300."

"Eddie, that's almost half your prize money!"

"Right, meaning I still have more than half my prize money—"

"Don't get smart with me, young man." Ma cut him off sharply, as Lily giggled in the background. "You have to be better with your money! You can't spend it the way you always do, especially since you're living on your own now. Starting tomorrow, you are going to be picking up odd jobs when you can to make up for your foolish spending habits."

"But ma," he started. Their mother paid him no mind, and continued talking.

"If not, I swear to Arceus, I will march right down there and haul your ass back to Fugue, where you will help me grow vegetables and herbs for the rest of your life!"

"Now, there's a terrifying thought," He muttered. "Alright, alright, calm down, Ma. Smile! That scowl is unbecoming of a beautiful lady like yourself. You'll get wrinkles, and we don't want that, do we?"

His mother tsked and turned away briefly, but Edwin could see she was smiling at his cheeky comment.

"But seriously, I promise, Ma." He said as she turned back to the screen. "I'll start looking around here tomorrow for odd jobs and stuff like that, and I'll... limit my spending habits."

"That's my good boy." She nodded approvingly, before looking down at her watch. "My, look at the time! You should start winding down and getting ready for bed, okay? Don't get crazy with your bedtime just because there's no one around to enforce it. Okay, I love you! You boys take good care of each other!"

Party

Rowlet // Theodore

Tackle
Growl
Leafage
Peck
Shadow Sneak

Magikarp // Pyrite

Splash
Tackle
Flail
Bounce

Egg // ???

This Egg still looks like it's a quite a while away from hatching.​

Journal

1-1: "Edwin"
1-2: Networking
JP: Unwelcome Reunion
ft. Janice Carter
1-3: Dark Horse

2-1: Theodore Bugsbane
2-2: All That Glitters
2-3: Something Fishy
2-4: The Prodigy's Protege
2-5: Fool's Gold

3-1: Try Your Luck!
3-2: Ready & Refreshed
3-3: Underhanded Tactics
3-4: Believe
3-5: Make A Splash
3-6: Role Model
​

Trainer Card



OOC Post​

Badge Case

Chrysalis Badge


Venom Badge


Wing Badge


Dive Badge


Sand Badge



Cinder Badge


Electron Badge


Spear Badge


Illusion Badge


Monument Badge

​

 

[WizardOfOdd]

Matthew "Matt" Callista
Location : Dolce Stadium, Dolce City
Partner Pokemon :

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Chapter 3 - 2
Bug Issue​

"Phew, glad that I made it… It's too close for my own comfort though…" Matt made it just in time for the opening speech, it took a while for him to recheck the contents of his bag to make sure nothing was left behind, he even checked it thrice just in case he wasn't careful enough. The architecture of the town is pretty amazing, but Matt also felt it was also very confusing for him. Once again, he had to thank the local populace for helping him.

Not long after, he could hear a noise from the front row, apparently, the speech was about to start. With that in mind, he decided to listen carefully to what the Gym Leader was saying just in case if there are some important details mixed in the speech. He listened to the speech with full attention.

Several minutes passed, the speech finished without any issues, but there was no important information other than about the gym challenge. "They weren't kidding when they said the gym leader was very young…" Matt envied that Bruna is in the Pro League at that age, it made him even question more about his life choices.

Realizing that he didn't focus on the task at hand, he slapped his cheeks to help him focus. "Focus Matt… You'll never be able to face the Gym Leader if you don't focus."

"Um… Young man, are you okay?" One of the gym staffers asked Matt in concern of his well-being.

"O-oh I'm fine… Just a little bit nervous, that's all." Matt laughed while rubbing the back of his head, ashamed that he absentmindedly slapped his cheeks without realizing the people around him.

"Haha, don't be so nervous. I'm sure you'll be fine." The man handed a net to Matt.

"I hope so, thank you so much." Matt bowed slightly after accepting the net.

"No worries, good luck out there." The man walked away to hand the remaining nets to the rest of the competitors.

The words from the gym staffer were more than enough to boost Matt's morale. "No time to hesitate I guess, I just have to go buck wild out there…" Matt did some warm-up to loosen up his body.

Not long after, the horn blared loudly which signaled the start of the challenge. Immediately after the horn blared, Matt made a mad dash to reach the Bug-types as quickly as possible. While he ran to the nearest bug-type Pokemon, he threw one of his Pokeball, it was Oswald's. "Oswald, I have a request to make. Help me catch a few Bug-type Pokemon, would you?"

Recognizing the hectic situation surrounding them, Oswald realized that he had to act immediately. He quickly nodded then left his master to search for a Bug-type Pokemon as soon as possible. Matt chose to only let Oswald out as he believed that letting out Charlotte and Sherry right now would just overcomplicate things.

The first Bug-type Matt found was a Caterpie, it was easily caught by Matt who jumped and swung his net as fast as he could towards the branch where Caterpie was. He was so confident that it wasn't a Ditto and it was proven true when it didn't shapeshift after it was caught. He gracefully landed unlike how he usually does, there was almost no margin for error and he had to stay fully focus if he wanted to challenge Bruna.

The next bug he encountered was a Weedle, this time he didn't even bother to take a look at it. He had a plan and he was going to abide by it.

"Good thing I've learned about Ditto before this," Matt smirked before continuing his dash. He had watched several pro competitors around the world used Ditto in their matches. Ditto was certainly an annoying Pokemon to handle due to its ability to transform itself into another Pokemon. But the ability itself had a severe flaw in terms of disguising itself… Which was the fact that for some reason Ditto couldn't copy the eyes of its targets, leaving it to be easily identifiable as long as the eyes were visible.

Armed with that knowledge, Matt skipped Bug-type Pokemon who had naturally small eyes and instead went for Bug-type who had big eyes such as Caterpie to help him save time.

Matt looked back towards the rest of the competitor, some were able to skillfully catch the bugs, while some others were either struggling to catch one or were duped by the disguised Ditto. His attention, however, quickly shifted to a Wurmple nested at the trees above. The Wurmple didn't look different at all as much as Matt remembered how Wurmple supposed to be and the fact that it had large round eyes gave the green light for him to catch it.

He slowly climbed the tree in order to catch the Worm Pokemon, but the Wurmple realized Matt's attempt and used its thread to glide down and avoid the net. To make things even worse the Wurmple's attempt to avoid Matt did succeed, but it left the Worm Pokemon defenseless when it didn't realize that a girl was swinging her net towards it.

"Drat!" Seeing the despairing sight, Matt couldn't hide his disappointment and let out a disapproving noise from above the girl. Either it was a coincidence or karma for complaining, the branch climbed by Matt cracked and sent the young man falling to the ground face first.

"Ow…" Matt rubbed his face, at least there was no blood coming out from his face. With the Caterpie still safe inside the net, he thought it would be best to stop complaining and continue his attempt in catching the pesky bugs.

The girl panicked seeing the fallen guy and immediately rushed over to see his condition. "Are you okay!? I'm sorry, I didn't see you trying to catch the Wurmple."

"No, no, It's all right… It's not right for me to complain about that under this circumstance." Matt dusted off the dirt from his outfit. "Besides, we don't really have much time to catch the rest of the bugs needed so I guess we should continue catching the Bug-type Pokemon… Bye, good luck on catching the rest." Matt dashed away as quickly as possible.

"Wait I haven't asked your name yet!" The girl screamed.

Matt turned back for a moment and screamed back to reply. "It's Matt! Nice to meet you!" He continued his dash without waiting for the girl's reply. He would love to talk with his fellow Amateur League challenger, but there should be more time in the future for small talks. For now, it's all about catching the bugs because otherwise, he's done for.
​

 

[budube]

Carmen Sylvia
Chapter 3 - Part 4: vs. Bruna​

---

Dolce Stadium, Dolce City - Morning​

She was sitting on the locker room, waiting for her challenge like the rest of the trainers. Elleni was there too, but she was called earlier, and she could recognize some of the other challengers from the opening ceremony.

Presto and Gareth were outside their PokéBalls and Carmen was explaining the strategy to them. Echo was there too, by her side, serving Carmen as an strategist.

"Gareth. Take this, use it during the battle when it's necessary." she said handing him a berry. If what Echo said was true, that berry could be useful for him.

"Karr!" Gareth nodded and accepted the item his trainer gave him before being returned to his PokéBall.

"Presto, you know what to do right?" Presto nodded and let out a squeak and returned to munching some berries from her bag. "Good. You can make as much of a show when we're called to the battle. Make everyone love you." she said, cleaning the mess he did on himself with a paper.

"Echo, you…"

"Number 297, Carmen Sylvia! It's your turn." one of the staffers suddenly interrupted. Carmen got up and took a deep breath before making her way back to the pitch.

"You take pictures."

'Roger that, Mrs. Carmen'

---

The crowd shouted in excitement. Flags flying in green and white colors and fans jumping cheerfully, some with their faces painted those colors too, all around the spectator seats.

Some of them cheered for Carmen, remembering her great debut at the opening ceremony, but some of them didn't seem to be too convinced after the Spinarak situation. But the main target of the cheering was Presto, who was flying and making a show around the whole field. Carmen smiled and with a prideful pace limited to only wave her left hand at the crowd. She wouldn't show off as much as Presto did, that would be ridiculous. When the girl got to the center of the pitch she extended her right arm; Presto landed on it and both bowed at the crowd at the same time.

Bruna and her assistant came later, along with another wave of cheering and applause. Carmen walked towards her and extended her hand at the gym leader. Bruna was surprised that she did that herself instead of waiting for her to take the initiative like most new trainers do, and that she didn't look nervous at all.

"May the best trainer win, Leader Bruna." Carmen said in a confident voice, taking the first word as she did most of the time.

"Yes! Good luck- I-I mean…" she cleared her throat and changed her expression into a more serious one. "Let's give it our all, erhm…" she stopped there and pointed a finger at the girl with doubt.

"Carmen."

"Y-yeah, that! Let's give it our all, Carmen. I'm not going to take it easy."

"I hope you don't."

Both trainers walked to the opposite sides of the field. The assistant showed Bruna a tray with six PokéBalls from where the Gym Leader took two. Suddenly, Carmen felt how she changed from one moment to another, she was now more serious than before. She knew what she was doing.

"Let's begin, now!" she said, "Camberwell, you're up!"

A white light flashed and the silhouette of a two winged Pokémon could be seen. The black body of the Bruna's Beautifly contrasted with the yellow borders of her wings and the yellow, red and blue marks it had.

"Presto, you know what to do!" Carmen said, pointing forward to signal the Noibat's entrance. Presto squeaked and moved forward.

Camberwell fluttered, making dance full of beauty on her spot. Carmen smiled Quiver Dance, she also starts with boosting moves. Presto was moving too, but obviously not dancing. He moved full speed at Carmen's side of the field, creating two copies of himself out of air.

"Camberwell, Air Cutter!" Camberwell extended her wings and did a swift turn on her spot, shooting two blades of thin air at Presto, but none of them hit the real Pokémon, making the other copies disappear in thin air.

Carmen grinned at that close call. It was risky but it went as planned. "Presto, use Supersonic!" Presto opened his way through the fading clones and shot a beam of sonic waves from his ears. Camberwell swirled and fluttered up and down, often hitting the ground with her body, trying to snap herself out of her confusion.

"Gust." Presto used his wings to create a small whirlwind that flew towards the Beautifly. Camberwell rolled back, dragged by the strong wind shot at her. "Wing Attack." Presto glided towards the opposing Pokémon, making his wings glow a white light before attempting to strike Camberwell. To Carmen's surprise, the Beautifly dodged just in time, she shook his head and went back to her attacking position. Presto lunged forward, extending his wing again, preparing another attack but he suddenly stopped after a pink light flashed between the two Pokémon.

"Presto! Don't stop now!" she said, her heartbeat getting stronger and all the heat going up to her head. Presto didn't seem to listen, he was instead following Camberwell around the field, and not with the intention of attacking her. Camberwell winked at him, Presto shivered and covered his face with his wings and hid behind his trainer. She could hear the crowd going "aww" at Presto's act and saw Bruna and her assistant smiling too. "Why are you suddenly so afraid of… oh!" she blushed a bit the moment she saw Presto's face. He was… smiling, but it was a smile of shyness. Attract. She used that against the other kid with the Jangmo-o, it's seemed to be some kind of desperate move back then and it probably was this time too. Carmen shook her head. "I don't approve her. Now keep moving and fight!"

Presto moved forward, looking back at Carmen and shivering. He was about to use Gust but he didn't feel like hurting her. He looked back once more at his angry trainer. "Don't look back!" she shouted, but he couldn't turn his glance to the Beautifly.

"Air Cutter!"

"Presto, move!" The moment Presto reacted, he was struck by another two blades of thin air, generated by Camberwell's wings. Presto returned to Carmen's side with a sad face. He wouldn't fight her and it was too early to change to Gareth. Carmen could feel how her first victory flew away until a stupid but maybe good idea crossed her mind. "Hug her."

Presto squeaked alarmed and shrugged covering his eyes embarrassed.

"Just a friendly hug. Nothing else, that's the only thing I'll allow."

Presto shook his head very nervous.

"I think you like her too, you just saw the way she winked at you." Presto turned her head to the Beautifly, dancing and flapping her wings while Presto loafed around. "But let it be a calm hug, nothing too invasive. One that lets her know that what you two want is impossible, and that I won't allow it."

"Less talking, more battle! Camberwell, one last Quiver Dance and let's get done with this."

Carmen sighed. "I'll give you the last Tamato Berry if you do it." Presto's eyes opened at the sound of that, and he rushed with his wings extended against Camberwell. I should've started with that Carmen thought.

Bruna changed plans after seeing Presto glide towards Camberwell at full speed. She instead ordered her Pokémon to shoot an electrified web at Presto which trapped him on the ground, but was able to break off easily. Another Electro Web, and the same thing happened and then he dodged a third one. Presto was weakened by the recent attacks but cheerfully and determined flew to his beloved one with his arms extended giving a white glow. He tackled Camberwell, and wouldn't let her go. Camberwell used her proboscis to drain Presto's energy trying to take him with her.

"Presto, Leech Life!" Presto doubted for a bit, but in the end bit the Bug-type, draining her energy as well. Both Pokémon fell together in the middle of the field. None of them were moving. The assistant made some signals to both trainers to which they both nodded. The crowd went silent for a moment, but everyone got hyped from one moment to another.

"Well, it seems like none of the Pokémon can continue fighting." He said holding a mic. "Both trainers have one Pokémon left. Whatever happens now will determine the result of the battle."

Carmen sighed and smiled. "That's not how you hug someone, but the Wing Attack was a good detail." she said returning the fainted Pokémon to his PokéBall.

"Your Pokémon pulled a good fight there, trainer."

"Thanks. Yours too." Carmen suddenly got more nervous, one Pokémon left and apparently all of them had Flying-type attacks according to the battles she saw. I can do this! she thought, looking at Gareth's PokéBall.

"Go, Luna!" another white light flashed and a purple winged Pokémon came outside. Bug and Poison, but still has wings.

"Gareth, it's up to you now!"

---

Carmen's Party:

 

[Juno]

[tab=backtostory15]

[/tab] [tab=pokemon15]

[/tab] [tab=journal15]

[/tab] [tab=id15]

[/tab] [tab=badges15]

[/tab]

Rowlet Art Cred

​

3-7: SWEET DREAMS

Edwin lay in the hotel room's king-sized bed with a green paste smeared evenly on his face, and two cucumber slices over his eyes. His peace was disturbed when Theodore snatched one of the cucumber slices from his face with his beak.

"Quit it," he mumbled, opening his uncovered eye. "You had your bubble bath, now it's time for my relaxation."

Theodore ignored him as he ate the vegetable slice. "Gross. That's been sitting on my face for 15 minutes." Edwin sighed and sat up, making his way to the bathroom to wash off the face mask. Pyrite was still in the bathtub, but he wasn't moving. Bubbles floated to the surface from his mouth occasionally. Edwin figured he was sleeping, and dimmed the lights so the Pokemon could rest—fish sleep with their eyes open, after all.

He finished his skincare routine and started going through his bag for pajamas. Oh, right... as he rooted through his clothes, he pulled out the Egg he purchased earlier, which had been safely bundled up in his T-shirts and sweaters. Almost forgot about this. He sat down on the edge of the bed with his pajamas in one hand and the Egg in the other. His heart leapt as the Egg rocked a little on its own. Did I imagine that? He held still for a moment and watched it carefully in case it happened again, but it didn't.

Just then, Theodore waddled to the edge of the bed as well to join Edwin, looking at the Egg curiously. "See this? When it hatches, you'll have a little brother or little sister! Of sorts," he added, still completely unsure of what was going to hatch from the Egg. Theo's eyes shone as he stared at the Egg. He chirped with delight, then motioned for Edwin to set it down on the left side of the bed.

Theodore pulled a blanket over the Egg with his beak, before clambering up and sitting on it protectively.

​

Edwin laughed. "Oh, you're taking your 'brother' role seriously, huh? Okay, you take care of the Egg, but try to get some rest, too." Edwin changed his clothes and climbed into the right side of the bed. The bed was wide enough he was certain he wouldn't roll into Theodore and the Egg no matter how much he moved around in his sleep. Pokemon Egg shells are pretty tough, anyway.

He clicked off the bedside table lamp and settled in, watching his little Rowlet 'incubate' the Egg resolutely as he drifted off into a deep sleep. Whatever was in the Egg, he knew one thing for sure—it was going to be loved and protected by its new family.

It appears to move occasionally. It may be close to hatching.

Party

Rowlet // Theodore

Tackle
Growl
Leafage
Peck
Shadow Sneak

Magikarp // Pyrite

Splash
Tackle
Flail
Bounce

Egg // ???

It appears to move occasionally. It may be close to hatching.​

Journal

1-1: "Edwin"
1-2: Networking
JP: Unwelcome Reunion
ft. Janice Carter
1-3: Dark Horse

2-1: Theodore Bugsbane
2-2: All That Glitters
2-3: Something Fishy
2-4: The Prodigy's Protege
2-5: Fool's Gold

3-1: Try Your Luck!
3-2: Ready & Refreshed
3-3: Underhanded Tactics
3-4: Believe
3-5: Make A Splash
3-6: Role Model
3-7: Sweet Dreams
​

Trainer Card



OOC Post​

Badge Case

Chrysalis Badge


Venom Badge


Wing Badge


Dive Badge


Sand Badge



Cinder Badge


Electron Badge


Spear Badge


Illusion Badge


Monument Badge

​

 

[the sloth]

Bennett Myrtle

Chapter 3-6: My Beloved Mother

Party:

Current Location: Pokemon Center, Dolce City

Somewhere around two in the afternoon, Bennett finally left the gym after a couple of formalities and congratulations by the staff, as well as his victory against Bruna being documented and his trainer card reprinted. It didn't change much, although they did offer to let him retake his picture, to which he declined. All that was added was a picture of the badge he just earned being added right above his picture, along with 7 other dots as placeholders for future badges. A neat little touch that made it look all the more official, and gave Bennett another excuse to look at his card in appreciation once more.

His next immediate stop was the Pokemon Center. Jingles looked more or less fine, and even when he offered to have him healed up too, he turned it down, possibly out of pride. Berry got roughed up pretty bad, though. Bennett had been starstruck from winning, and then antsy about leaving once that subsided so he could get her healed up as soon as possible. He head past the sleek, sliding glass doors and was greeted by the center's AC sending a surprisingly refreshing breeze over him, but didn't let that distract him for more than a moment. The center luckily didn't seem that busy, so he was able to walk right up to the front desk and give the nurse Berry's ball.

"Just this one? Very well, sir. Please take a seat, we'll have your Phantump back in peak condition in no time!" The nurse cheerfully guides him, and before Bennett can even turn, someone grabs him from behind! He gasps in surprise, but very quickly recognizes the familair warmth and the voice behind him.

"Bennett! My little boy, winning his first badge on TV! I saw the whole thing!" She smothered the boy with hugs, but Bennett was no stranger to them, and in fact welcomed her affection. Jingles was around his neck, and hopped onto the older woman's unoccupied shoulder. Likewise, her opposite shoulder had been ferrying her Chatot, Rosetta, who chirped happily and hopped onto Bennett's shoulder. Both people and Pokemon reunited, with Bennett fondly remembering the bird Pokemon like an aunt while Jingles would show friendliness, but snarl and grumble when Grace hugged and nuzzled him.

He got a better look at his stepmother now, and she didn't look a day older. Granted, he'd only been gone for just under a week, but it felt longer. Grace Myrtle towered above her son at about 6', with fair skin that was smooth, and only had minor wrinkles in a couple places. Her dark brown hair was long, swept to her right and going a couple inches past her shoulders while starting to gray. Grace wore a pair of mottled, half-rim eyeglasses over her amber eyes, and had a small beauty mark near her chin. She had a build average for a woman her age, simply a little thinner and with a flat build all around. A large white lab coat rested on her shoulders, unbuttoned and showing she had a yellow blouse and jeans underneath and black two-strap sandals on her feet.

The only thing that stood out to Bennett as abnormal was the stapler in one hand.

"Oh, this?" She noticed her son's curious gaze, and turned his attention to the noticeboard off to the side of the center's waiting room. Various promotional fliers for a lot of the local businesses in Dolce adorned them, and there was one paper that had only one corner stapled on so far. Bennett squinted his eyes as he looked at it in closer detail...

Newbie Trainers Wanted!

Hello! If you are participating in the Amateur League for the first time, I would like to perform a study on any interested trainers and their partner Pokemon!

My name is Prof. Grace Myrtle, and I study human and Pokemon relationships on a professional level. The Amaetur League starting back up is the perfect time of year to study and learn how the people and Pokemon of Unific come together and form unbreakable bonds.

If interested, please inquire below! Compensation of at least 1000P will be provided to any greenhorn trainer that allows me to study them and their Pokemon.

Below were some tear-off segments of the flyer that had both Grace's number and the address of their home. Bennett looked over the whole thing curiously before looking back at his mother.

"You're doing some kind of... study?"

"That's right! Without you and Jingles around the house any more," She pets the dragon on her shoulder, who grumbles a little but doesn't reject the pets. "I don't have anybody to help me out, so I'm looking for other starting-out trainers to study." She then seems to get an idea right on the spot, grinning in anticipation. "Aaaand, this would be the perfect opportunity to make some new friends, wouldn't it? I saw you talk to that girl during the challenge, eheh." She playfully pinched Bennett's cheek, who just blushed but didn't say anything.

"I-I guess..." Bennett notes, while Rosetta chirps softly while picking through the boy's hair for dirt, or anything else that might've gotten into it during his travels. He gives her an affectionate pet before she squawks, and says;

"Squawk! Welcome home!"

"Haha, thank you! I missed you, too." Hearing Rosetta greet him so, even after being away for such a short time, was still incredibly heartwarming.

Grace finished stapling her poster, and then talked with her stepson, asking him about this-and-that on his journey so far, before Berry was eventually healed. Bennett brought her out too, and the Phantump warmed up to his kind-hearted mother rather quickly. It felt something like a family reunion.

"Come on, let's head home. I know you won't stay for long, but you don't have any complaints about not having to pay for a hotel or sleep in a tent tonight, do you?" Bennett nodded as such, smiling all the way home and not caring in the slightest if anybody saw him so close to his mother in public. Not that he understood why people his age were emberassed by their parents, that's something he still didn't quite get.
​

​

​

 

[WizardOfOdd]

Matthew "Matt" Callista
Location : Dolce Stadium, Dolce City
Partner Pokemon :

​

​

Chapter 3 - 3
Patience​

"Remember, no shame in losing, okay? This is basically your debuts in the big leagues, so I don't put too much pressure on you guys. It's great if you can win, but what's important is that you have to remember the experience you got from here." Matt gave his last pep talk to Sherry and Oswald that's going to fight. Oswald was very focused on learning whatever Matt's instruction is while Sherry was getting sleepy waiting for the time to battle.

"Number 007, Matthew Callista!"

The announcer had called Matt to the stage, he was very happy that he got a relatively early call, that way he could watch some of the competitors' fight to plan out his action. Although he finished the challenge relatively quick, it wasn't for the reliable Oswald who brought two Bug-type Pokemon just a few moments after the falling incident, he probably wouldn't even be called right now.

"Welp, that's us. Let's rock the audience folks!" Matt put both Oswald and Sherry back to their Pokeball in order to avoid Bruna concocting a strategy while they're out of their Pokeball. Instead, Matt held Charlotte with his left hand. He was sure that Charlotte at least would learn a lot seeing two of her comrades battling Bruna.

Matt took a deep breath before he walked through the tunnel, just as he walked out of the tunnel he could hear the roars and claps coming from the audience. The crowd was very impressed with how fast Matt able to finish the challenge while avoiding all of the Dittos. Not to mention his Murkrow who managed to grab two Bug-type in quick succession, lucky for Matt the crowd didn't see Oswald brutalizing the Bug-type to make them stay put during the carrying process. However, some part of the crowd was pretty surprised that the challenger came out carrying a Budew, they thought it was pretty gutsy for Matt to use a Budew against the Bug-type Gym.

Both of them meet in the middle of the stadium to exchange a wish of luck with each other. Bruna's smiling face didn't exude any imposing aura at all, but for Matt who had watched her battle before, it just meant that her switch was still not on yet, he knew she'll be like a totally different

"Hi, nice to meet you," Bruna held out her hand.

"Nice to meet you too, I can't believe I stand in front of one of the youngest Pokemon Trainer that is a member of the Pro League," Matt responded by shooking her hand.

"Aw, thanks… However, flattery will not make me go easier on you. Don't think I'll let you trot away unscathed while using Budew as your first Pokemon." Her tone of voice changed, her gaze also turned serious as the battle time almost came. Matt didn't want to intervene when she already got in the mood to fight, but he had to clarify something first.

"Well, I already expected that. But, this little Budew here is going to be a spectator, it hasn't been long since she hatched so I think she could learn a thing or two seeing my other Pokemon battle."

"O-oh? Is that so… Sorry, I was too hasty in my judgment." Bruna's tone and demeanor reverted back, but it didn't last long as one of the officials signaled her to start the battle.

"Well, I guess we should start now. Let's see… I choose you, Camberwell!" Bruna picked one of the Pokeball from the tray. She threw it, releasing the beautiful Beautifly out of its Pokeball. The crowd getting heated up as they saw one of Bruna's prized Bug-type Pokemon.

"Go, Sherry!" Matt chose to bring out his Psychic-type Pokemon, and with it, the battle started.

The Beautifly immediately started to move gracefully with bright sparkling energy surrounding her, this gave Matt visual cues on what to do next.

"Sherry, Psybeam!" Sherry shot a pink beam towards the Beautifly, realizing the danger the beam posed against it, Camberwell stopped her dance and dodged the attack.

"I'm not going to let you get an easy Quiver Dance to pass, Bruna!"

"Confident, aren't you. Well, let's see if you can survive this. Silver Wind!" Camberwell unleashed a powerful wind with silver crescents on it at a fast speed, knocking Sherry back."

"Welp, its fast as I expected… This is not going to be easy." "Hang on Sherry, Psybeam once more!"

"You're never going to beat me that way, you know. Dodge!"

Sherry's attack didn't manage to hit the target just like last time, Bruna was confident with her chances. The crowd cheered hard for Bruna while just a few cheered for Matt at this point. Most of the other people that didn't cheer for Bruna were silently watching while feeling bad for the boy.

"Time to end this. Camberwell, use Silver Wind once more!" Camberwell shot out another powerful gust of wind, this one also hit the Calm Pokemon. Sherry wasn't going to go down that easily, and she managed to stand up once more. However, It was fairly visible to the crowd that she was started to get exhausted. The crowd started to get silent as they continued to watch what appeared to be a one-sided beatdown."

"You can always forfeit you know? You don't have to be embarrassed to do that if you don't think you can beat me now." Bruna tried to help Matt avoid being a total embarrassment, but the young man thought otherwise.

"Thanks, but no. Sherry, Psybeam!" Another pink beam of psychic energy was shot towards the Beauty Pokemon, this made the crowd wondered what the hell was wrong with Matt as he used the same attack again and again.

Bruna sighed seeing the attack, it seemed to her that she had to make the boy truly defeated in battle instead of making him admit his defeat "Dodge it Camberwell, end it with another Silver Wind!"

Camberwell swooped in towards the Calm Pokemon who was looking hapless at this point, this time she tried to fire a Silver Wind up close to maximize the damage. Unfortunately for her, this was what Matt expected to happen.

"Now Sherry, Mystical Fire!" It was too late for Camberwell to dodge the attack as she was already swooping in for an attack, she fired her Silver Wind in hopes of stopping the flames from engulfing her. Unfortunately, the powerful torrent of flames overpowered her attack and caused her to be smothered in the unforgiving blaze sending her crashing down.

"Camberwell!" Bruna yelled at her Pokemon, but unfortunately, she wasn't able to respond to her trainer's call. With the fainting confirmed, the caster immediately made an announcement.

"Camberwell the Beautifly is unable to continue battling! Sherry the Hatenna has won the first match!" The crowd erupted as Matt who they thought would lose the battle reversed the flow completely with a single move. Matt smiled as the odds had turned to his favor.

"Ahh… I was naive… I thought you were an amateur from how you keep using Psybeam again and again."

"Well, that's actually my strategy you know? There's no doubt you'll be able to defeat me if you seriously fight Sherry due to how slow she is… I had to gamble with her power and endurance to take you down. Besides, you didn't remember to use Quiver Dance thanks to your Silver Wind keep hitting Sherry, right?"

Bruna wryly smiled, she was lured into a false sense of security due to how easy Camberwell hit the Calm Pokemon. If she used Quiver Dance before, Camberwell would probably still standing right now. But it wasn't time to lament the mistake she did, she had to gather her focus back and beat Matt's two remaining Pokemon.

"Go, Monarch!" The Vivillon beautifully came out from her Pokeball to the gasping and applause from the crowd who were in awe of her beauty.

Matt glanced at Sherry who was just stopped jumping in joy when she saw her new opponent. She was very confident that she would also topple this opponent easily with the help of Matt, or so she thought.

"Good Job, Sherry!" Matt returned Sherry to her Pokeball, much to her shock and chagrin. "She'll nag me endlessly for this, but oh well…"

Bruna and the crowd waited in anticipation of what Pokemon Matt would bring in to battle Bruna's Vivillon. The question was soon answered when Matt grabbed his second Pokeball.

"It's time to bring on the big guns. Go, Oswald!" The Darkness Pokemon emerged from his Pokeball while letting out a loud cry. The crowd turned ecstatic as the Pokemon they waited from Matt was finally out on the field.

"Don't expect me to do the same mistake twice." Bruna readied herself.

"I don't, but don't expect me to pull any punches now," replied Matt, the atmosphere on the field grew even tenser than before as the battle was about to reach its climax.
​

 

[gimmepie]

Elleni Vargas

Chapter Three - Part Six

"Bone Club!" Elleni instructed.

Perdito ran at the dancing Venomoth, leaping with all his might and swinging hard with his weapon. The Venomoth flapped its wings hard, pushing itself backwards and narrowly out of the way, causing Perdito to land on the ground below it.

"My turn now," Bruna commented coyly, "Luna, Poison Powder!"

"Hell no!" Elleni cried out, "Detect!"

A thick spray of purple, powdery spores exploded out from Luna's wings and began to fall across the battlefield where Perdito was standing. The Cubone's eyes shone with blue light as he gracefully moved forward, not backwards, rolling under the cloud of toxic Poison Powder to a spot behind the Venomoth.

"Fire Punch!" Elleni gave the follow-up order.

"Bone!" Perdito shouted, leaping up and slamming the Venomoth with a fist cloaked in flames from behind. Luna shrieked tumbling forward through the air. The Bug was out of control for a moment, then, it suddenly fired a green and purple Signal Beam from its forehead.

The attack shot past Elleni, never a threat to her. But Luna let it push her backward, righting herself in the process. She flew back until she was behind Perdito.

"Confusion!" Bruna ordered.

There was an invisible blast of psychic energy and Perdito was smashed across the pitch, rolling to a halt on the turf. Wincing, he immediately climbed to his feet. He wouldn't just lay on the ground when Elleni needed him on his feet.

"That's the spirit," Elleni grinned, "It's going to take a lot more than that. Headbutt!"

Not even a second later, Perdito was rushing the Venomoth again. He leapt for her, trying to ram her with his bone-armoured head. This time though, Bruna was more than ready.

"Poison Powder!"

Elleni bit her lip to prevent herself from swearing loudly. Perdito sailed through the purple cloud, his attack colliding with Luna and knocking her back through the air again. As he landed, he staggered. There was no way he could avoid the Poison Powder in mid air, even with Detect, and it had taken immediate effect.

"There's no shame in surrendering, you're on a timer now," Bruna remarked.
Elleni felt her eyes narrow, she was on a timer definitely, but surrendering was not something she could bring herself to do. It would feel like a betrayal of Ladrona and Perdito's efforts.

"Not happening, Fire Punch!"

"Signal Beam!" Bruna countered.

Perdito charged forward, his free hand ablaze, but he was forced to abandon his attack as he dived to the side to avoid the colourful beam that detonated against the ground where he had been only a moment earlier.

Perdito rolled to his feet, ready to resume his offence, when suddenly he swayed, staggering to the side as the Poison continued to take its toll on him.

"Venoshock!" Bruna seized on the opening.

Luna attacked immediately, flying in closer and then blasting Perdito with a noxious sludge that impacted him with enough force to send him flying back across the battlefield. It seemed that it hadn't been a miscalculation to use a Pokemon that wasn't immune to Perdito's best attack after all. Luna was a much more fearsome foe than Eggar had been.

Perdito wheezed as he got back to his feet again, nearly falling back down in the process. He was nearly on his last legs, but stubbornly refused to go down.

"Growl, then Bone Club!" Elleni called, looking to maximise the damage she could do.

Perdito charged again, releasing a loud, barking Growl as he did so. The attack radiated through the air, washing over the Venomoth, causing it to shudder. Then, Perdito jumped for her, raising his club.

"Disable." Bruna smirked.

Briefly, Perdito pulsed with blue light. The next instant, he was free of the glow but found he could not make himself swing his Bone Club. Perdito sailed past Luna as she danced gracefully to the side, skidding to a halt on the other side of the battlefield.

"It's over," Bruna said, "You just lost your best weapon and soon the Poison will knock your Cubone out. It's okay to stop."

Elleni looked at the referee, he seemed poised to issue the call for the battle end. Then she looked at Perdito, her Cubone was stubbornly trying to attack with his club, getting progressively more annoyed as an invisible force seemed to restrain him. He stared right back at Elleni as he glowered, continuing to struggle.
"No." Elleni found she almost growled the word, unsure of what was coming over her. Like hell though, was she going to back down when her timid little Perdito was fighting that hard for her.

"Okay," Bruna said, smiling weakly at Elleni, "You asked for it. Venoshock!"

"Detect!" Elleni countered immediately.

Luna whipped around, shooting the toxic glob at Perdito, but he easily leapt over it, rounding on the Venomoth with his club at the ready - but again he found he couldn't go any further than that.

"Bone!" Perdito growled irritably.

"It hasn't worn off yet," Bruna said to the Cubone in front of her.

Perdito looked back at Bruna, then he returned his focus to Luna.

"Bone!" He shouted again. Then he threw the club.

Spinning like a whirlwind, the weapon shot through the air and slammed into Luna, sending her into an uncontrolled spin. The bone continued on its forward trajectory, turning in the air and flying back. It slammed Luna again, knocking her to the ground before returning to Perdito, who caught it with ease.

"Could he always do that?" Bruna asked, wide-eyed with surprise to the point that her demeanour temporarily returned to what it was before the battle began.

"Bonemerang is a new one," Elleni admitted with a chuckle, "But I'm happy to make use of it."

"I'll never get through a battle without at least one surprise." Bruna couldn't help but laugh herself. "We're not done yet though."

Luna rose back into the air, a little weaker than before, even as Perdito sagged forward, stumbling and nearly falling over.

"Signal Beam!" Bruna ordered.

"Intercept with Bonemerang!" Elleni countered.

Luna launched the green and purple beam of energy, the attack blitzing towards Perdito, who retaliated with another mighty throw of his bone. The bone and beam met in mid air, the beam exploding in a sparkling flash of colour as the bone flew back to Perdito. Perdito immediately threw it again.
Luna threw herself to the side, the weapon spinning past her. Knowing what was coming, this time Luna whirled to face the incoming weapon again.

"Fire Punch!" Elleni yelled.

Luna pivoted back around just in time to see the Fire attack coming, thrust herself backward to avoid the super-effective attack. The bone slammed into her from behind, knocking her back out of the air as it flew back into Perdito's grasp.

"Headbutt!" Elleni called.

Perdito let out a battle cry as he rushed the downed Venomoth, slamming into her as she tried to return to the air. Luna was flung across the pitch, bouncing across the ground like a stone on a lake. She came to a halt as Perdito fell forward, jamming his bone hard into the ground to prevent himself from collapsing forward.

There was a moment of silence. Then the crowd began cheering louder than ever.

Bruna shook her head, smiling despite herself, then nodded to the referee.

"Luna cannot continue," the referee announced, "The challenger wins!"

A moment later, the same result was called by the announcer, increasing the cheering and screaming of the spectators as Bruna returned her fallen Venomoth.

Perdito hobbled towards Elleni, who rushed forward to scoop him up before he could faceplant into the pitch. The Cubone smiled up at her faintly from where she clutched him.

"You sir," Elleni said with a wide smile on her face, "Are incredible."

"I have to agree to that one," Bruna said, approaching from the other side of the pitch, hand outstretched.

Elleni shifted her grip on Perdito so she could shake the Gym Leader's hand.

"He's one tough Pokemon," Bruna said, looking oddly pleased with herself for someone who just lost. "That was a lot of fun."

"He's too loyal for his own good." Elleni giggled.

"So that's how it is." Both girls were soon laughing again, before Bruna made a not-very successful effort to pull herself back to professionalism, "I owe you a Chrysalis Badge."​

 

[WizardOfOdd]

Matthew "Matt" Callista
Location : Dolce Stadium, Dolce City
Partner Pokemon :

​

​

Chapter 3 - 4
An Epic Turnaround (?)​

Determined to not repeat her earlier mistakes, Bruna decided to act as soon as possible to gain an advantage. "Monarch, use Quiver Dance!"

Little did she know that it was exactly what Matt was waiting for. "Oswald, Mirror Move!" Oswald copied the movement of Monarch exactly to the last detail even the sparkling energy surrounding it.

The audience was shocked seeing this, even more so because Oswald actually finished his dance much quicker than Monarch did. However, Oswald decided to show his superiority over the bug by waiting for her dance to finish instead of using the window of opportunity to launch an attack.

Monarch didn't take it too well that Oswald did what she does better than her, but she also realized that a reckless approach against Oswald would result in her plummeting to her defeat.

Bruna was slightly panicked at the sight, she didn't think that Oswald could copy Monarch's moves. Her strategy was ruined, the fact that Oswald could have access to Quiver Dance means that every time Monarch got more powerful, Oswald would also follow suit. "Monarch, use Stun Spore!"

Clouds of spores approached Oswald, if it hits then it could be all over for the Darkness Pokemon. However, he didn't look impressed at all as he already has a counter prepared by him and his trainer. "Tailwind!"

A strong gust of wind blew from behind Oswald, the clouds of spores was immediately blown away by the wind, rendering Bruna's strategy to fail once more. Monarch was panicking at this sight, the two main weapons in its arsenal was rendered useless by the Darkness Pokemon. She was even more frustrated when she looked at the Darkness Pokemon's mocking expression. Oswald was just floating in place while trying to contain his boredom, it even wiggled his wings towards himself to tell the Bug Pokemon to bring it on.

Bruna wryly smiled, she realized that she had to dig deep in order to bring down Oswald. She tried another strategy to bring Oswald down. "Struggle Bug!" Monarch shot green strays of energy towards Oswald, but with the aid of the gust of wind behind him, it was no challenge for the Darkness Pokemon to dodge the attack.

The audience's reaction at this point was mixed, some couldn't believe that the boy who was struggling at the first half of the battle managed to counter Bruna's moves effortlessly, some were cheering very hard at the sight of Matt's dominance against Bruna, there were even some who stayed silent while trying to make sense of the situation.

Bruna was struggling at this point but it also gave her joy that she managed to face a powerful opponent outside of the Pro League.

"Geez, I didn't think you were this strong. However, I'll never forfeit." Bruna's declaration gained a lot of cheers from the audience.

"Thanks for the compliment, but I just adapt accordingly, haha." Matt rubbed the back of his head. "But… I'll make sure you eat your own words, Bruna." Matt's expression turned serious.

"Then try me, Supersonic!" Monarch shot a bizarre soundwave. However, Oswald managed to dodge it easily with the aid of Tailwind.

"Mirror Move!" Oswald's mouth turned bright before he shot an identical soundwave with what Monarch had shot earlier. The soundwave traveled at a very fast speed as it moved in the same direction with the wind, sending the Monarch plummeting downward in confusion.

The crowd started to get wild as it seemed the end of the battle appeared to be near. Oswald landed on the ground before he approached the disoriented Monarch slowly. The Tailwind finally subsided at the same moment, giving Monarch an opportunity to retaliate if she managed to snap out from her confusion.

Bruna smiled when Oswald was in close proximity with the disoriented Monarch, even with all of those effortless actions he made to counter her, he finally did a fatal mistake. "Monarch, Stun Spore!"

Monarch sprayed as much spore as she could around her. However, to the audience's surprise, Oswald didn't move from the spot where he stood and ended up paralyzed. This gave ample time for Monarch to recover.

"Monarch, Struggle Bug!" Green strays of energy were fired once more, this time it hit Oswald who was unable to move, sending him tumbling backward.

The crowd vigorously cheered for Bruna's comeback, Monarch shared the same enthusiasm as she felt that she had a chance to finally put the Darkness Pokemon away.

But Bruna didn't share the same enthusiasm, something was off… It's strange that the meticulous trainer suddenly did a fatal mistake that easily… Except… A sudden chill came down her spine as she was realizing what was actually happening.

"You… This is one of your plans, isn't it?" Bruna accused Matt of intentionally making Oswald got paralysis, she did want to celebrate her comeback, but she couldn't help but feel that something was off.

The crowd turned very confused with was unfolding upon their eyes, to them, Matt just made a fatal mistake that was potentially able to end the match with him losing, nothing more and nothing less. However, soon their confusion was even more stoked than before.

"Krow~ Krow~ Krow~ Krow~" Oswald laughed when he saw everyone's confusion, they were too foolish to realize that this was one of his master's grand design. Even if the girl in front of him realized what was up, it was all too late.

The crowd was discussing among themselves about what has happened upon their eyes, but it turned into silence when Matt gave his answer to Bruna.

"I hate to break this but yes, that is also part of my plan."
​

 

[budube]

Carmen Sylvia
Chapter 3 - Part 5: Gareth​

---

Dolce Stadium, Dolce City - Morning​

The Venomoth, just as Camberwell, started a beautiful dance the moment she came out of her PokéBall. Gareth interrupted her dance after intimidating her with a fierce glare which made her lower her guard.

"Gareth, use Night Slash!"

"Karr!" he growled in a deep voice and charged against Luna. The Pokémon moved sideways and shot a green and purple beam at Gareth. Gareth rolled back letting out a surprised growl.

"Luna, Venoshock!" The Venomoth shot toxic liquid at Gareth as he was starting to get up. He managed to block it with his own Acid Spray just in time getting hurt just a little bit. "Signal Beam!" Luna shot a second green and purple beam at Gareth that sent him back to Carmen's side of the field.

He didn't seem to be too affected by both attacks since he could stand with no problem, but battling against ranged attacks was a problem when the only one Gareth had was Acid Spray and it didn't seem to have that much range. Gareth turned around and showed her the berry hidden between his teeth. "Not yet. Use another Leer." Gareth shot another glare at Venomoth interrupting yet another Quiver Dance from the Pokémon.

"Luna, Signal Beam!" a third beam came towards Gareth. The Bug-type dodged it, and starting running towards Luna, with his horn enveloped in dark energy. She kept shooting Signal Beams at him while he dodged them with a little difficulty. The crowd was silent during that whole time, watching amused how Gareth avoided all those attacks until he was close enough to Luna. "Disable!" a blue light flashed on Gareth's eyes, just for Carmen to later find out his horn had lost all the dark energy it accumulated.

"Gareth, Night Slash!" The Bug-type roared loudly trying with all his might with no success.

"It's useless." Bruna said. "He won't be able to use it for a while. Luna, Signal Beam!" the Venomoth shot another beam, before the Karrablast could react against it, he was sent to Carmen's side of the field once more. He looked really tired, but could still stand.

"You useless…" Carmen felt frustrated. Gareth couldn't land a single attack so far. The idea of losing the first match was too embarrassing for her, she wouldn't be able to cope with that. Once she is finished losing this battle, she would release that useless bug and go back to Octave. She will forget she even attempted to take the challenge.

The referee looked at her, asking if she would preferably forfeit. Carmen took a deep breath and actually considered it. She eventually shook her head, yes there was no way she would be able to win here, but she was too prideful for forfeiting. "Leer."

"There's no reason to keep using that move if you aren't able to land a single hit, you know?" Bruna said. Carmen clenched her fist, thinking that she was mocking her. "Luna, let's get over with this. Signal Beam!"

"Endure." the beam came directly towards Gareth who engulfed himself in a red glow. Everything went white for everyone at the stadium, when Carmen was able to see again, the only thing she saw was Gareth, headlong on the ground. He wasn't moving. The crowd was mostly silent, but one could hear some giggles coming from up there.

"Well…" the assistant said, mic on hand "Gareth the Karrablast pulled a decent fight, but it doesn't look as if he-"

"Karr!"

The eyes of the whole crowd turned towards Gareth, who was standing up in a surprisingly fast speed. He wiped the berry juice from his mouth before letting out another "Karr!" The crowd shouted excited, everyone rooting for Gareth. Carmen's heart was also pumping harder than before. The referee looked at her and gave her some signals. She ran towards her Pokémon and ducked trying to match his height.

"Did you eat it? Can you continue?"

"Karr! Karr!" he answered making a salute. Carmen smiled and nodded at the referee before returning to her side of the field.

"It's surprising, but it seems like Carmen's Pokémon can still keep fighting!"

"Stick to the strategy." she said to Gareth, but it also went for herself. She then started remembering Echo's words back at the locker room.

Sir Gareth is strong enough to do considerable damage to Leader Bruna's Pokémon, but he isn't very fast. Thankfully, Sir Presto hasn't eaten the Salac Berries yet. The problem is that the PLA rules state that these kind of berries can't be used by a Pokémon unless it has been seriously injured, so you'll need a good timing to exploit Sir Gareth's Endure.

"You fools. You'll make me feel bad for not liking you both." she whispered with a smile at both the Rotom Phone and the Karrablast. Gareth's battling spirit, the crowd cheering for them, everything made her feel motivated again for winning this battle. For the first time since the opening ceremony, she felt as if she could do this. "This is our chance to turn the tables! Gareth, use Bug Bite!"

"Karr!" he growled, charging against the Venomoth who was about to start another Quiver Dance. Gareth jumped at her, biting her pointy head. Luna shook her body with pain, trying to take Gareth off her and threw him on the grass.

"That was unexpected, Carmen. But a berry won't save you that easily! Luna, Signal Beam!"

"More of the same isn't going to work! Gareth, move and use Bug Bite again!" Gareth rolled to the right and started running against Luna. She was too slow to dodge the second bite the Karrablast gave her. Luna rolled on the ground and took Gareth away from her. Both Pokémon took their time to get up, but now both were facing each other.

"Signal Beam!" Gareth was too close to dodge it, so he braced himself and endured the hit instead. He was dragged down the field, but still stood in two feet. His eyes flashed a blue glow a second time, signaling that Night Slash was disabled no more.

"Gareth, last move! Use Night Slash!"

"He can't endure poisoning! Use Poison Powder!" Luna fluttered her wings, rising pink dust out of them. She formed a pink cloud she later shot at Gareth. The Pokémon ran into the cloud and came out with the Poison Powder falling from his body, his ability making effect. "No! Luna!"

Before she could return her to the PokéBall, Gareth struck her with his horn. Luna rolled on the ground and stopped moving, the young Gym Leader later confirmed she couldn't keep battling.

"With an amazing turn of events from the challenger's part, Luna the Venomoth is no longer able to continue." her assistant said "The challenger wins! Congratulations!"

The crowd cheered. Both Carmen and Gareth looked around amused and then looked at each other. Gareth saluted with another "Karr!" but Carmen picked him up and hugged him. Yes, he was a bug, but he was the best bug. He had proven his worth. "You'll stay in this team with me, got it?"

---

Carmen got the Chrysalis Badge!

---

Carmen's Party:

 

[WizardOfOdd]

Matthew "Matt" Callista
Location : Dolce Stadium, Dolce City
Partner Pokemon :

​

​

Chapter 3 - 5
Necessary Evil​

The crowd turned even more bewildered hearing Matt's declaration. Most of them were sure that Matt was obviously bluffing, while few others believed that Matt had outsmarted Bruna.

The Dolce City Gym Leader didn't want to risk her victory, she quickly ordered Monarch to do a follow-up attack. "Monarch, Stru--"

"Too late, Psycho Shift!" Oswald's shined in bright pink energy before it disappeared, instead, it materialized on Monarch's body just before she managed to fire her attack. Monarch's body soon plummeted to the ground, accompanied by the gasps from the audience.

"Monarch!" Bruna worriedly yelled at Monarch. The Scale was writhing on the ground while trying her best to fly once more.

Matt's assumption was correct, he assumed that Bruna would use the spores to her advantage. Matt thought if he used Psycho Shift, at least the status condition she afflicted using her Pokemon would be gone if her Pokemon is immune to it. The fact that Bruna used a Pokemon that wasn't immune to paralysis is the icing on the cake.

Oswald calmly approached the Scale Pokemon once more. The scene was nerve-racking for the crowd, mostly because they thought that Oswald was going to mangle the helpless Monarch unless Bruna admitted her defeat.

Bruna didn't want to surrender, she still could use Stun Spore to weaken Oswald once more, little that she knew that choice of strategy would soon be taken away from her.

"Oswald, use Taunt!" Oswald mockingly smirked while flying above the hapless Bug-type. This led to Monarch snarling towards the Darkness Pokemon, but no matter how much she tried to muster her energy, she couldn't move from her place.

Bruna had no more strategies, Quiver Dance and Stun Spore wasn't usable anymore. She couldn't even swap the poor Monarch out to alleviate her misery.

Oswald soon landed on Monarch, pinning her down to the ground. His mocking look turned into a terrifying one as he used Mean Look as a precaution measure. Monarch tried to be brave, but the effect of Mean Look and paralysis took too much toll on her.

"Let's end this. Wing Attack!"

Murkrow raised his right wing that was enveloped by a white light. He had no hard feelings against the Scale Pokemon, but if he had to mercilessly crush this bug in order to deliver the victory to his master then so be it.

"Whack!" The wing slammed upon Monarch, Monarch writhed in pain, she didn't want to surrender just yet, she had to bring the victory for Bruna no matter what the cost.

Oswald shook his head, he felt that the Scale Pokemon made a foolish judgment. If she didn't know when to quit, then he just had to make her do that. With an intimidating look still painted on his face, he swung his wing for the second time without any hesitation.

"Vi…" Monarch's body was barely trembling at the effect of the second impact, but Oswald wasn't going to stop until Monarch is finally out of the battle, he immediately lifted his wings with no mercy at all.

Some of the crowd averted their gaze from the sight, but most of them were glued at the final moments of this battle.

Oswald swung his wing with all the power he could muster, but the attack landed on the ground as Monarch was surrounded by a red light as she was recalled by Bruna.

It was a hard choice for Bruna, but she didn't want to watch Monarch suffer more than she had to. With a heavy heart, she lifted her right hand. "I forfeit."

The crowd goes wild at the caster's announcement that Matt had won. Matt finally softened his expression as he finally could catch a snooze to replenish his energy. Although there were many things he was thinking of at this point, including what should he do with the prize money.

The thought was interrupted when Bruna came close to him. "Guess I had to eat my own words, huh?"

"You did very great, there's no shame in that. I was very lucky, that's all."

"Surely you jest." Thinking she had no time to waste, she quickly cleared her throat. "Ahem, as the Dolce City's Gym Leader I officially bestow you with the Chrysalis Badge."
Matt carefully picked the badge up to inspect it, he couldn't believe his luck as he won his very first Gym Battle. He turned his sight at his armband with a white rose imprint in it, gifted by Helen to him.

"Just wait, old lady… I'll make sure I win the entire league."
​

 

[Juno]

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Rowlet Art Cred

​

3-8: NECESSITIES

As Edwin predicted, Theodore did not spend the whole night perched on the Egg. He woke up to see the bird Pokemon sprawled between the Egg and himself, wings fully stretched out so that he was touching both of them. Rubbing his eyes, he gently got up without disturbing the Rowlet, and made his way to the bathroom.

"Good morning, Pyrite!" The boy's smile quickly turned to a grimace as he walked to the edge of the tub—Pyrite had created quite a few puddles on the bathroom floor with all his splashing and turning, and the soles of Edwin's feet were fully wet by the time he was able to retrieve his Magikarp. "Maybe I shouldn't have filled the tub that much," he muttered as he dried off on a nearby towel. "But I guess that's room service's problem now."

They checked out and made their way back down to the busy streets of Dolce. He had no time to shop around in Crescendo City, but he wouldn't make the same mistake here. Theodore whined about wanting to carry the Egg, but as it was almost as big as the Rowlet himself, Edwin didn't think it was a good idea. He tucked it back into his bag, between some clean socks and shirts.

It had been less than 12 hours since his mother lectured him about 'responsible spending', but he was already going through another good chunk of his prize money. "Necessities", he called them, to justify the spending. He bought a cool new jacket from a small boutique. It looked like it would do little to protect him from the elements, but he thought it would be useful for future League-related social events. He also bought some camping gear and a larger bag, which will be useful in the more outdoorsy aspects of his journey ahead—nice as the Diaz's were to take him in the previous night, he couldn't always count on running into kind people for help. He needed his own tent, especially for some of the longer treks between cities.

As he sat down by a fountain and carefully removed the tags of his new items, he glanced around the plaza for their next destination. His eyes fell on a quaint wooden sign wreathed in greenery. "Madame Treacle's Tea Shop", he read aloud. He was feeling a little hungry, and next to him, he heard Theodore's stomach gurgle as he eyed the shop as well. "Time for a snack break?" he asked the Rowlet, who simply hopped on his shoulder and twittered excitedly.

Art Cred Elisabeth Jammes​

A gentle chiming announced their presence as Edwin pushed open the door. They were greeted by two young girls behind the counter, as well as the aroma of freshly brewed tea and baked goods. The shop was small and intimate, and only two other patrons were sitting inside. A Polteageist hovered around with a tray, refilling the patrons' teapots with hot water. Edwin made his way to the counter to look at the baked goods on display.

As he quietly perused, he could hear soft giggling coming from behind the counter. He shifted his eyes towards the girls. They looked no older than 14 or 15, and they were whispering quietly among themselves while glancing at Edwin, shyly looking away when his eyes landed on them.

He wasn't sure if they recognized him from the Gym battle yesterday, or simply thought he was good-looking. It could have been either, honestly—he was well-rested and pampered from the night in the hotel, after all, and was looking quite sharp. He recognized the look they were giving him. It was very similar to the way he had seen his sister look at the boy next door whenever he visited their market stall. And then she would give him extra ears of corn and berries with his purchases when their mother wasn't looking. It was a look that gets you free things.

I wonder...

"So, Theodore, what would you like today?" He asked, loud enough for the girls to hear. The Rowlet bobbed up and down excitedly, peering at the Shalour Sables, Lumiose Galettes and cookies. Edwin reached down and scratched his head lovingly. "You like the sweet malasadas, right? Treats from your native region. We'll take six, and share some with Pyrite, too."

Between the adorable Rowlet with him and their apparent interest in Edwin himself, he could feel the girls swooning behind the counter, as he feigned reaching into his pockets.

"But—oh, dear! I'm so sorry, buddy, looks like I forgot my wallet today. Maybe next time, hm?"

He smiled at the girls and walked towards the door. Theo sadly glanced back at the counter and the delicious malasadas on display, as he reluctantly followed his trainer out of the shop. "Trust me," he whispered. The boy turned and headed back to the fountain, where they previously sat. Before long, he could hear the door chime again, and footsteps rushing up to him.

He turned around, and one of the girls was holding a pink, paper bowl with six steaming malasadas inside. "Hi! We uh... heard—I mean, I'm sorry to have eavesdropped, but you know, it's a quiet little shop... Anyway, I just meant— these are on us!" she stammered through, blushing. The other girl, who didn't leave the counter, waved at him enthusiastically through the glass door. He smiled, and waved back.

"Well, thank you girls! That is so kind of you, you didn't have to do that."

"Oh, no! It's no trouble at all. But maybe don't tell Madame Treacle," she giggled half-jokingly as she pressed the paper bowl into his hands, but Edwin could tell she definitely didn't want her boss to know.

"Of course. Well, next time I travel through Dolce, it's my treat, I promise."

The girl blushed again and returned to her post, as Edwin waited until she was out of earshot again.

"And voilà, Theo. Free food!"

Theodore had quietly watched the exchange, and was looking very confused. Now that his trainer was addressing him directly, he hopped to the other side of Edwin, and stuck his beak into his pocket. He attempted to pull out his wallet by the zipper.

"Hey! No! Stop that," Edwin said, hastily tucking the wallet back in his pocket while glancing behind him to make sure the girls did not see. "Yes, I have my wallet, but money is tight right now. Gotta do what we gotta do."

Theodore sat quietly for a moment, before pecking the wrist Edwin's X-Transceiver was on, as if to remind him of the call he had with his family last night. "I know, I know. I haven't forgotten what I promised Ma. I am looking for jobs! Don't worry about it so much. Look! It's your favourite, right? Don't let it get cold." He dangled a malasada in front of Theodore. The Rowlet shifted on his feet uncomfortably, before succumbing and accepting the tasty, sugared treat.

Edwin sighed as he release Pyrite into the fountain. He splashed in the shallow pond as Edwin ripped out small pieces of malasada for him and tossed it into the water.

"If we make it big on this journey, we won't even have to lie, people will just give us stuff. People will want to give us stuff. And we are going to make it big. So don't worry about it so much."

Party

Rowlet // Theodore

Tackle
Growl
Leafage
Peck
Shadow Sneak

Magikarp // Pyrite

Splash
Tackle
Flail
Bounce

Egg // ???

It appears to move occasionally. It may be close to hatching.​

Journal

1-1: "Edwin"
1-2: Networking
JP: Unwelcome Reunion
ft. Janice Carter
1-3: Dark Horse

2-1: Theodore Bugsbane
2-2: All That Glitters
2-3: Something Fishy
2-4: The Prodigy's Protege
2-5: Fool's Gold

3-1: Try Your Luck!
3-2: Ready & Refreshed
3-3: Underhanded Tactics
3-4: Believe
3-5: Make A Splash
3-6: Role Model
3-7: Sweet Dreams
3-8: Necessities
​

Trainer Card



OOC Post​

Badge Case

Chrysalis Badge


Venom Badge


Wing Badge


Dive Badge


Sand Badge



Cinder Badge


Electron Badge


Spear Badge


Illusion Badge


Monument Badge

​

 

[Stinging Bea]

Janice Carter

Current Party:

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Chapter 3-3: Janice's Big Battle

Dolce City Gym

Janice sat in the locker room, staring up at a television mounted on the wall in boredom. She had been sitting in the room for quite a while at this point, watching all the other challengers take part in their battle against Bruna. The blonde had figured that since she was one of the first challengers to be done with the whole bug hunting affair, that she would also be one of the first ones to be able to take part in a battle against the young gym leader. Unfortunately for Janice, she quickly learned that the order was determined via roulette. This in turn left her as a spectator for quite a while, watching literally everyone else go up in battle before her. While she would have much preferred to go and get the whole thing over with early, part of her had to admit that it wasn't so bad. If anything, it allowed her to study up on Bruna's style and possibly come up with a few strategies while she waited. Plus, it also gave her a chance to watch the other challengers battle as well.

Janice found a sort of pleasure in how Edwin just managed to squeak by. She found herself silently rooting for Bennett, the younger boy who had given her some advice when it came to dealing the bug hunting aspect of the challenge. Janice also recognized a few other challengers from the opening celebration, but the girl could hardly give a care about them at the moment. At the moment, they were just faceless bodies that she'd more than likely have to overcome at some point, and the less of them she attached any sort of connection to, be it good or bad, the better.

"Miss Carter? Number 113?" a voice called out, snapping Janice from her thoughts. "Your number is finally up! Sorry for the delay!"

Janice glanced over at the league staff, merely waving their concern off as she hopped off the bench. The girl took a deep breath before following the attendant out of the locker room and back out to the pitch where she would be fighting in her first gym battle. Despite her cool and calm facial expression, Janice could feel a bubbling sensation of nervousness forming in the pit of her stomach. The longer she sat watching the battles, the more she also began to realize that this was really the true beginning of her goal. This battle alone would dictate whether or not she would able to provide for Will, if she had to ability to help give him all the things he deserved, things she wasn't allowed to have herself. While she didn't know what many of the other challengers were there for, the blonde had a feeling they were mostly doing it for themselves. They wanted fame or glory, selfish desires to make a name for themselves. Janice could honestly give a Raticate's ass less over such things. While she did want to win, it wasn't for herself. It was for him. It was something she told herself constantly throughout her journey thus far.

The roars and the screams of the crowd echoed out through the stadium, snapping Janice out of whatever thoughts were running through her head. She glanced up towards the pitch, her eyes falling upon the gym leader, Bruna. The young girl seemed to have a much different demeanor than before. While she had appeared to be bubbly and downright clumsy during her greeting speech, the trainer standing before Janice seemed to be exuding a display of confidence, determination, and passion for the battle. Honestly, Janice wouldn't have expected it to be any other way. The blonde knew she was a gym leader for a reason, and if she happened to be a pushover, then the league would most likely be an absolute joke not even worth her time.

"You must be itching to get this battle underway, yeah?" Bruna questioned, the girl holding a pokéball in her hand. "Well, the crowd's getting fired up with all these battles, so let's not leave them hanging! Let's go, Eggar!"

Bruna tossed the ball out onto the field with great energy, the ball snapping open to reveal a fluttering Mothim which let out a sharp cry as it spread its wings and took the air. Janice could feel the tension rising as she nervously took hold of one of her own pokéballs.

"Calm down, Janice… Ya got this…" she thought. Without wasting another moment, the blonde tossed the ball out onto the field. "Yer on, Kain!"

The Rookidee in question shout out of his ball, tweeting in delight as he took sight of his opponent. The Mothim looked strong, much more so than the Nidoran he had to deal with earlier. Unlike his trainer who was fighting back a wave of nervousness, the small bird was absolutely delighted to test his power.

"Eggar, Electro Web!" Bruna called out.

"Kain, attack with Peck!"

The Mothim shot forward, aiming its body upward as a staticy web shot out from its abdomen. Kain nimbly dodged the shocking web, having been quite familiar with the attack thanks to his pervious encounter with Iris. Kain swung around to the side, slamming his beak into the side of the bug's head. The Mothim quickly whipped around however, shrugging the bulk of the attack off as if it was a simple bump on the head.

"Another Electro Web!"

"Kain, go for a Fury Attack!"

Kain dove in to try and slam his beak back into the Mothim once again. Unfortunately, being at such a close range provided the Rookidee with little chance to dodge. Right as Kain dove into to attack the Mothim again, the bug shot out another static-filled web, this time slapping the bird Pokémon at point blank range. Kain let out a pain-filled tweet as he tumbled down, but Bruna wasn't going to offer the bird any chance of a recovery.

"Confusion, now!"

"Kain, go for the Fury Attack!"

Kain flipped around, just barely managing to avoid the ground and shot back up towards the Mothim. Eggar remained calm however, his eyes narrowing as the bird was zipping back up to attack. Janice's eyes widened as just as fast as Kain went to attack, the Rookidee suddenly stopped and staggered in his approach. A pained expression graced his features as Kain wailed and screeched, his wings flapping wildly before he suddenly nosedived towards the ground and hit the field with a solid thud.

"Shit... get up, Kain…." Janice cursed, her eyes focusing on the struggling Rookidee.

Kain let out an angry tweet, the bird barely managing to pull himself up to his tiny feet. Janice let out a sigh of relief, her eyes shooting forward towards Bruna. The younger gym leader seemed to have a confident smirk stretched across her face, confident that she was going to be able to take down Janice's Rookidee in just a matter of moments.

"We've gotta do it… I just hope Kain can handle it for just a bit longer…" Janice thought. She turned her focus back towards her Rookidee, clenching her fists in the process. "Kain, Hone Claws!"

"Eggar, use Electro Web!" Bruna shouted.

The Mothim dove down towards Kain, raising his lower body to shoot out yet another electrified web. Kain's eyes narrowed as he watched the web shoot downward, before jumping back and starting to drag the talons on his feet into the ground in rapid succession.

"Another Hone Claws!"

"Eggar, Quiver Dance and then go in for another close-range Electroweb!"

Eggar let out a joyful cry as it began to flutter and spin about. Meanwhile, Kain dug his talons into the dirt yet again, sharpening them further as a steel-like shine began to grace his appendages. The Rookidee glanced up as Eggar suddenly dove down, all of his focus now entirely on the Mothim. Janice kept silent as she watched Bruna's bug descend upon Kain, her lips twitching upwards into a smirk as the Mothim was practically on top of her bird.

"Now, Kain! Power Trip!" the blonde shouted.

Kain puffed out his chest and let out a fierce screech as he suddenly flew upwards towards his opponent. All the while, the Mothim shot out that familiar, electric-charged web. The webbing collided into Kain, sending a wave static-filled pain through the small bird. However, Kain remained vigilant in his attack, slamming his body into Bruna's Mothim with all the strength he could muster. This caused a chain effect in his attack as his electrified body slammed into Eggar, causing the bug itself to also get a dose of its own medicine. Both of the Pokémon remained in gridlocked in their attacks for a moment, before suddenly both dropped to the ground and landed in crumpled heap upon the field below.

The roars and cries of the stadium went silent as the match referee ran out onto the field, examining the scene before him. Slowly, the man rose up and raised both of his arms.

"Both challenger Janice's Rookidee and gym leader Bruna's Mothim are unable to continue battling! The first match of this battle ends in a draw!" he declared.

The roars and shouts of the stadium echoed out once again. Janice's eyes widened as she quickly realized that there was a significant number that were also crying out her name as well. While Janice could definitely hear more shouting out for Bruna, it did fill her with a small sense of satisfaction to hear that people were actually rooting for her. In a way, it made her feel somewhat invigorated and more determined to take Bruna down.

Reaching for Kain's pokéball, Janice quickly recalled her Rookidee and gave the bird's ball a small smirk. "Ya did good, Kain… Get some rest and leave the rest to us."

Bruna too recalled her Mothim and offered some words of encouragement towards the bug. She then turned to face Janice and offered the blonde a bright smile.

"That was such an amazing tactic! You've really got me fired up now, challenger!" Bruna declared with glee. "But don't think I'm gonna go easy on you! This battle is just starting!"

"Right back at ya," Janice replied.

Bruna placed Eggar's pokéball on the tray at her side and looked over her remaining team choices. She grinned as she picked one off the tray and tossed it out onto the field. "Pieridae, you're on!"

A Butterfree emerged from the ball, squealing in delight as it took the stadium and flew around. Janice cheered inwardly. This was going to be an easy match up for Iris, she just knew it. Reaching down to her belt, the girl prepared to grab hold of the Joltik's ball, when the familiar sound of a ball snapping open caught her attention. Her eyes widened as she watched a beam of white light shoot forward, taking shape as a familiar, light-hearted cry echoed out through the stadium.

...Franky the Nidoran had entered the battle.

Janice's Current Thoughts: Isn't It My Choice?!

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[WizardOfOdd]

Matthew "Matt" Callista
Location : Dolce City
Partner Pokemon :

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Chapter 3 - 6
Me Time​

"I can't believe we actually did it." Matt rubbed the back of his head while grinning. Beating a Gym Leader is one thing, but the fact that he cleanly swept her entire team without any of his Pokemon fainted at all was another thing, not to mention the fact that Sherry who contributed in the fight was a Pokemon that was weak to Bug-type.

The celebratory mood of Matt was interrupted by his own partner. Sherry let out some noise as she tried to complain about the switch Matt made when she was about to fight Monarch. In her mind, it was an unnecessary switch not to mention it was abrupt.

"Hmm… What's the matter? Ah… You must be feeling iffy about when I withdraw you from the fight."

Sherry nodded while pouting.

"Don't give me that look, you should know already." Matt squatted to face Sherry. "Look, Sherry. I had no question about your defensive ability, I already trained with you for quite a while… But, you do realize that your enemy was a Bug-type, no? Sure you can handle those pesky status ailments using your ability, but Quiver Dance, how are you going to handle that?"

Sherry was silent at first, but she still felt it was wrong and immediately let out complaining cries once more.

Matt sighed at his Pokemon's insistence before continued. "At the time you already tanked two Silver Winds, you didn't even need to get hit by a Quiver Dance boosted Bug-type move to immediately faint after that. It was the most realistic option and if I had the choice to do it, ten out of ten, I would do it again." Matt sternly told Sherry the situation.

Sherry immediately turned her head down in responding to her trainer's admonishment. In her mind, she did nothing wrong. She was surprised however when she felt there's something pressuring her head.

It was Matt's hand, he started to gently pat the little princess. "However, all things said… I can't beat Bruna without your help, Sherry. What you did was immense, thank you." He smiled.

Sherry finally smiled, she bounced with joy with the praise from her trainer. Matt sighed in relief, at least he managed to apply what Helen had taught him a few years ago, which was to punish bad behavior but also to reward actions that are worthy of praise. He still couldn't work that to perfection, but at least he managed to handle this situation without causing future complications, or at least that's what he thought.

Immediately after he thought he was finished with handling his team, Oswald descended to the ground in front of him. It was clear as day to Matt why he decided to stand in front of him.

Matt laughed at this action. "Of course you too, Oswald, you did very great out there." Oswald puffed his chest, proud of his actions. "Geez… I guess even the cool and collected Oswald also needed some praises here and there."

Little he knew that Charlotte who was cradled by Matt in his arm was eyeing his face, envious of her comrades that got praises from Matt.

Matt refocused his attention to the road in front of him, he realized he arrived at a crossroad. "Wait, uh… Something isn't right." He turned his sight to his back and realized what went wrong for him. "Dang… I knew it, I missed the Café." He scratched his head.

He eventually retraced his steps and found the café he was looking for. After he put his Pokemon back to their Pokeball, he quickly entered the café.

"Welcome." One of the employees greeted Matt.

"A table for one, please."

"Sure, please follow me." Matt got a window seat, much to his delight. He ordered a Sandwich and a Chocolate Latte.

"Dang, I'm sleepy…" Matt closed his yawning mouth, it appeared that the fatigue accumulated by his journey since yesterday had caught up to him. However, he felt there's a lot of things to do so he ordered a strongly caffeinated coffee this time.

Not long after, his order finally arrived. However, he raised his eyebrow as he realized that something wasn't quite right about his order. "Excuse me, Sir. I don't think this I ordered both of my orders in large size."

The server giggled before answering. "Oh, don't worry, Sir. It's on the house, our owner really loves the way you battled Bruna. Good luck on the rest of your journey." He bowed slightly before leaving.

"Wow… So it's true that fame can help you in life. Eh, it's not like I can be famous forever if I don't manage to break through to the Professional League. But for now… It's time to dig in." Matt couldn't stop his giggling in the anticipation of eating the scrumptious meal in front of him.

But just as he was about to eat his anticipated lunch, he could hear a voice behind him.

"Hello Matt, I hope I didn't disturb your meal."

Matt took a deep breath, who the hell was calling him. Couldn't the person see that he was trying to enjoy his supposed to be relaxing afternoon? With a slight feeling of anger and annoyance, he turned his head.
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[Stinging Bea]

Janice Carter

Current Party:

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Chapter 3-4: Franky's Big Break?

Dolce City Gym

Janice stared at the sight before her in disbelief. It was supposed to be Iris who was sent out into battle next, not her Nidoran. Franky smiled ear to ear as he hopped back forth, staring up at the Butterfree fluttering overhead in absolute excitement. His little tail wagged back and forth, earning a couple of giggles and snickers from the audience over his antics. Janice quickly glanced over towards the referee, a pleading look on her face.

"I um... It was supposed to be another Pokémon. Lemme just call him back and I'll..." Janice stammered out.

"No can do, challenger," Bruna spoke up from across the field. "Regardless of whether it was an accident or not, your Nidoran is now the registered, second participant of this battle. If you pull him out now, it's basically a forfeit on your part."

"What the hell kinda rule is that supposed to be? It ain't like he gave me much of a choice, ya know?!" Janice argued.

"I'm afraid Miss Bruna is correct," the referee responded. Janice scowled in his direction, but the older man seemed to be hardly deterred by her expression. "The league won't be held responsible for any possible slip-ups. Even with your Nidoran sending himself out to battle, it's not our fault. Perhaps you should train him a little better to prevent that sort of incident from happening in the future."

Janice rolled her eyes at the referee and returned her focus to the battle at hand. While it wasn't in her battle plan to use Franky, she knew that she couldn't back down because of it. The blonde just had to hope that the Nidoran would be able to handle Bruna's Butterfree.

"Franky, let's get this started! Use Peck!" Janice ordered out.

"Pieridae, Quiver Dance!" Bruna shouted.

Butterfree began to flutter and spin about. Meanwhile, Franky charged and jumped up towards Pieridae with its horn pointed forward. However, she was able to nimbly dodge the Nidoran by merely spinning off to the side. Franky barely managed to land on his feet as he spun around just in time to see Pieridae's spinning come to a stop.

"Franky, Poison Sting!"

"Gust, Pieridae!"

Franky launched a poisonous thorn-like missile in the direction of Bruna's Butterfree. In response, the Butterfree began to flap it's large wings, creating up a powerful blast of wind in the direction of the Nidoran. The result of the gust was strong enough to send Franky's attack flying off in the opposite direction, as well as send Franky flying back in surprise as well. Bruna's smile grew all the while.

"Now use Quiver Dance again, Pieridae!"

Once more, Pieridae began to spin and flutter around in circles. Janice grimaced, eyes narrowing as she quickly barked out for Franky to attack with Poison Sting again. Franky launched another poison needle in the direction of the spinning Butterfree, who once again managed to easily dodge the attack. Janice was a bit quicker with a follow up command, however.

"Now, Double Kick!" Janice shouted.

Franky ran forward, hopping up into the air towards Pieridae. The Butterfree stopped spinning just in time to see Franky turn and jump, sending both of his feet into her body. Bruna's Butterfree let out a pain-filled wail as she toppled over, just barely managing to keep herself in the air as she swooped back right before hitting the field below.

"Go for a Psybeam!" Bruna shouted.

"Franky, Leer!" Janice commanded.

Franky landed back down on the ground and quickly shot a fierce-looking glare in the direction of Bruna's Butterfree. Pieridae remained unphased, however. A wave of energy unleashed from the Butterfree's antennae, swirling around before colliding with the Nidoran. Nidoran screeched in pain, lowering his head into the ground in an attempt to try and lessen the pain.

"Now Pollen Puff!" Bruna ordered.

"Franky, pay attention!" Janice cried.

The Nidoran in question looked up just in time to see the Butterfree swoop down in his direction. A large puff of purple pollen forming in her hands all the while, as if she was collecting it from the flowers while making her way towards Janice's Nidoran.

"Franky, use Peck quick!" Janice ordered.

The Nidoran dashed towards the oncoming Butterfree. He quickly hopped up into the air as Pieridae neared, aiming his horn forward and slamming it right into the Butterfree's body. A loud cry of excitement escaped the Nidoran's mouth during the attack, but that offered Pieridae all the opening she needed. Without missing a beat the Butterfree quickly shoved the puff of poisonous pollen right down Franky's throat, shoving the Nidoran down to the ground in the process. Franky began to sputter and cough violently, the Nidoran shaking his head in an attempt to get the foul taste out of his mouth.

"Now, Sleep Powder!" Bruna ordered.

The Butterfree fluttered up above Franky, the Nidoran still busy with trying to cleanse his palette. Janice called out for the Nidoran to pay attention, but Franky was too distracted over the foul taste in his mouth. The dust began to gently sprinkle over Franky, his movements slowing down as his eyelids began to get droopy. Gradually, the Nidoran's movements came to a stop... and a faint snoring began to fill the field.

"F-Franky... Franky, wake up!" Janice shouted. "Come on! Wake up, damn it!"

"Quiver Dance, Pieridae!" Bruna ordered. Bruna's Butterfree began to flutter and spin about yet again. All the while, Janice continued to scream and shout at her Nidoran. The poison-type didn't seem to stir however, and Janice could feel her time was growing short. Eventually the butterfly Pokémon's spinning came to an end, the bug hovering just overtop of the slumbering Nidoran. "Now finish it off with Psybeam!"

"Shit, wake up!" Janice snapped. The Nidoran's eyes suddenly snapped open, the purple Pokémon quickly looking around as he remembered what was going on around him. Janice didn't waste a moment, however. "Franky, Peck now!"

Franky launched himself in the direction of the Butterfree. All the while, Pieridae began to emit another wave of psychic energy towards Franky. The beam of energy smashed into the Nidoran which caused the purple Pokémon grunt in pain. He remained steadfast, however. Franky charged through the pain and the attack, slamming his sharp horn right into the Butterfree's gut. The Butterfree wailed in pain, its wings flapping about as Franky more or less tackled the bug type into the ground. Bruna's eyes were wide as she watched Franky hop off the Butterfree. His legs shaking, Franky focusing all of his energy into standing as best as he could.

The same could not be for Pieridae, however. The Butterfree struggled to try and pick herself up, but the last of her strength gave out. With a weak cry, Pieridae fainted on the spot.

Janice was absolutely silent. As the crowd roared through the stadium. The referee ran out onto the field, checking both Franky and Pieridae before raising an arm in Janice's direction.

"Gym leader Bruna's Butterfree is unable to continue the battle! Challenger 113, Janice Carter and her Nidoran are the winners!"

Janice felt her heart racing at the announcement. She had to pinch herself to make sure that she wasn't dreaming. Throwing her appearance to the wind, the blonde ran out, embracing her Nidoran with excitement.

"Ya did it, ya stupid idiot! Ya actually pulled it off!" Janice exclaimed.

A happy, yet tired grin graced Franky's face as he nuzzled his trainer. Meanwhile, Bruna sighed softly before recalling her Butterfree. She glanced down at the Butterfree's ball, thanking Pieridae for a well fought battle before making her way towards Janice with a warm smile stretched across her lips.

"I thought we had you there for a moment, but I guess you and your Nidoran were able to pull one over on us instead," Bruna said. Janice watched as the small gym leader extended her hand forward, offering a handshake to the blonde. "Thank you, Janice Carter! It was a great match!"

Janice slowly took the gym leader's hand, shaking it with a weak smile on her lips. A wave of emotions were running through the blonde's head. One emotion was at the forefront, however. Janice felt a wave of pride at having kept her promise... She had made that first major step, and she wasn't going to stop now.

"Just ya wait, Will... I'm gonna do ya proud."

Janice's Current Thoughts: The First Step Is Complete!

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[Stinging Bea]

Janice Carter

Current Party:

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Chapter 3-5: Unwanted Reunion

Dolce City Pokémon Center | Featuring Edwin Jones

The day following her victory in the Dolce City Gym, Janice once again found herself sitting in the Pokémon Center. Feeling much more rested than she had been the previous day, Janice was actually quite elated with how everything had managed to play out for her. She was in a much better mood and even found herself with a faint smile resting on her face.

"That wasn't the worst gym debut, I guess…" Janice mused, holding up her new badge in the light. "A bit rough there towards the end, though… Maybe we should do some more trainin' on the way to the next town... What those guys said about Franky probably wasn't completely wrong… Then again, he sure whipped that Butterfree's sorry ass."

Janice was snapped out of her thoughts much like before when the nurse called her name to come collect her team. The blonde hadn't been to particularly keen on spending the money she had earned from defeating Bruna on a hotel room. Thankfully, the Pokémon Center still had a few rooms open to those traveling across the region, free ones at that. It was hard for the blonde to turn down an offer like that.

After offering the nurse a quick word of thanks, Janice turned and began to make her way towards the exit. Her mind quickly filled with thoughts as she walked on what to do next, causing her to zone out a bit as she did…

"This is our last stop, Theo, I promise… just gotta pick up some potions and stuff, and yes, we will pay for them—oh, sorry!" A very hurried individual walked right into Janice as they were entering the Pokémon Center, nearly knocking her over. He reached a hand out to steady her, and their eyes met.

Janice glanced up, a scowl quickly forming across her face and her good mood seemingly flying out the window like a Drifloon caught in a wind gust. The blonde wasted no time in pulling her hand away from the boy.

"Ya could watch where yer goin', Ed..." Janice all, but spat.

"You could also not stand right by the door—" Edwin retorted quickly before catching himself and plastering a fake grin on his face. "But, I mean, yes... I was in a bit of a rush, I apologize. Um. Good work yesterday, glad to see you also got the Chrysalis Badge."

Janice tucked the badge away in her pocket before returning her focus towards Edwin. A smirk quickly graced the blonde's lips. "Of course I got the badge. It ain't like I had to struggle with a Magikarp or somethin'."

The boy's ears turned pink. "Well, I prefer to see it as: I won despite struggling with a Magikarp. Which makes me a very talented trainer, and Pyrite a very talented Magikarp." He patted the poké ball on his belt.

"More like lucky…" Janice muttered, glancing away from Edwin long enough to roll her eyes. "I watched that match 'cause my number was pushed back so far. The only reason ya won that is 'cause ya that golden flopper managed to learn Bounce before that match… Otherwise ya'd have been walkin' 'round with empty pockets and a big "L" on yer record."

"That's not luck! I had to stay up the whole night before the Gym match teaching the darn thing how to Bounce…" his voice trailed off as his gaze shifted behind Janice's head. He gently nudged her aside, getting a closer look at the bulletin board behind her.

"What the hell are ya starin' at?" Janice questioned. Her green eyes narrowed as she glanced over her shoulder at Edwin, following his trail of vision towards a flyer that was hanging off the bulletin board. The girl waved a hand in front of Edwin's face, trying to get his attention back. "Yo, are ya still breathin' or did ya finally check out?"

He swatted her hand aside, reading the flyer intently. Edwin raised his eyebrows as he mouthed the words "compensation of at least ₱1000", before tearing off one of the little segments underneath that seemed to have an address and number written on it. "Ah, just some kind of study for new trainers, you wouldn't be interested." he finally said, before glancing at his X-Transceiver. "Oh, look at the time. Gotta run! Nice seeing you, Janice—"

"Hold yer Ponyta!" Janice snapped, grabbing hold of Edwin's arm just before he had a chance to run out of the door. She pulled him back with enough force that she almost sent both of them toppling over to the floor. Theodore squawked and ruffled his feathers. "I ain't much for doin' studyin', but I know for a fact that I need that ₱1000. Yer takin' me with ya to… wherever the hell this place is, got it?!"

Edwin started to protest, but turned to see the fervent look on her face. He sighed. "Yeah, sure. Let's go." He turned to Theodore. "We'll come back for the potions after we get that reward money."

Janice's Current Thoughts: Bring On The Cash!

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[WizardOfOdd]

Matthew "Matt" Callista
Location : Dolce City
Partner Pokemon :

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Chapter 3 - 7
Unexpected Meeting​

"Oh, am I interrupting your meal? I'm very sorry." The girl panicked when she saw Matt's scowling expression.

In reality, Matt was not that angry, it's just that at the time he wasn't wearing his glasses. The sound was very familiar to him, but without being able to see who it was, he couldn't discern whose voice it was. He picked up his glasses and immediately manage to identify who it was.

The girl had brown shoulder-length hair, a blue jacket with a white shirt underneath, and dark blue pants and sneakers to complete her attire. It was a familiar face indeed.

"Oh no, sorry. I couldn't see well without my glasses... You're the one from the Gym Challenge, right?"

"Yes, my name is Amy, Amy Carmine." She held out her hand for a handshake.

"Matthew Callista." They shared a handshake. "Oh, where are my manners. Please have a seat."

"Thank you." Amy sat in front of Matt. "I was actually going to have my lunch here, what a coincidence that we meet again."

"Don't tell me you knew this place from locals." Matt giggled before he took a bite of his sandwich.

"How did you know!?" Amy surprised at the fact Matt knew how she found out about the place, could he be a psychic?

"Because I also did the same thing, I don't know much about this area. And knowing myself, I would probably be lost around here."

"Ahaha, I see. Well, I guess I should order something first."

"Sure, go ahead."

It took a while for Amy to make up her mind, meanwhile, Matt enjoyed his meal in pure bliss. The sandwich was very great, but the Chocolate Latte? It exceeded his expectation, not to mention it helped him giving the energy he needed to continue working for a while. Soon, Amy finished ordering her food.

"Well, well, well… You sure take your time." Matt giggled.

"I can't help it, you know. There's a lot of food that seemed delicious."

"Relax, I was just joking around. How did your gym challenge go?"

Amy sighed, before answering. "A total failure, she Quiver Danced her way to victory."

"Ah, sorry I asked." Matt felt he accidentally turned the conversation to become awkward.

"It's okay you know, I don't really mind. I was very surprised by your battle though. Almost everyone in the waiting room thought you were going to lose very badly when your Hatenna was attacked multiple times. The atmosphere really changed when you badly beat her with your Murkrow, some of the people actually muttered that you are heartless when you toyed around with Bruna."

"Yikes… I didn't expect that…" Matt gulped, he didn't think that people would think of his tactics that way. He thought that he just act accordingly.

"Ahaha, don't worry. I know you didn't do it on purpose, it's just the circumstances. Although there's something that I'm really interested in. Why did you wait until Bruna's Vivillon used Stun Spore and not attacking her when she was confused?" Amy inquisitively asked Matt, the weird choice of action piqued her interest.

"Oh, that? In my mind at the time, that was actually the most logical thing to do." Matt took another sip of his coffee.

"Wait, what!? Why is that?"

"If Bruna's Vivillon managed to snap out from her confusion in the middle of my Murkrow's attack, It'll throw a wrench at my plans. That's why I decided to use Psycho Shift to debilitate her Vivillon, it's a more surefire way to ensure I would be able to attack uninterrupted."

"Wow, so that's why… People thought you just mocking her inability to retaliate against your Murkrow… If only they knew."

"What the hell with those assumptions… That's just… Wild you know... I'm not that evil." Matt grimaced at the prospect of getting strange looks from other contestants, he just hoped that they didn't get any more wild assumptions from other people.

"Um… If I may know, can you tell me how did you get so strong?" Amy was reluctant to ask Matt's secret. But if it could make her stronger, then she would risk the chance of making Matt mad.

"Sure, it's pretty boring though." Matt finished his coffee.

"Eh, you sure!?" Amy was surprised that Matt unhesitantly agreed to her request. "What is it!?"

"Well I'm actually going to do the thing after I had my lunch, but since you want to tag along. There's another thing that you have to do first."

"Which is!?" Amy enthusiastically asked, she couldn't wait to find out what is it. Maybe with it, she could beat the rest of the Gym Leader along the way.

Matt pointed to his right while giggling, Amy's lunch finally arrived. Amy was embarrassed as she was too enthusiastic that she didn't realize her meal has arrived. After she finished her meal, both of them made their way towards the destination. Matt had to ask four locals to help him find the place, but they made it safely.

"Well then, now there's only one thing left to do. Go, Sherry!" Matt released Sherry out of her Pokeball, he quickly explained to his Pokemon the outline of what he was going to do.

Sherry was very impressed at his master, he had found a protege this quick. She couldn't wait to help this new protege to learn about the secret that made her and her master very powerful. However, there was a feeling of dread that slowly crept in her mind, for some reasons she couldn't feel at ease. Her suspicion apparently wasn't without any grounding, as she soon realized the reason behind the feelings she had.

"Hello, welcome to the Dolce City Library, how may I help you?"
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