Spring Samba

"I didn't either last time I came upon one. The person I was traveling with made sure we got one for free." Xyrem paused. "Don't ask. She had a good heart, but sometimes her means were rather shady." She sighed once more, "but I'm glad I don't have to deal with one of those again," Xyrem smiled softly.

A thought occurred to the young girl. "You know, I left Sinnoh in such a rush that I really didn't prepare well for a long journey. Mind if we stop at the PokeMart for a quick supplies run?"

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

"Not at all." Mori smiled "I'm all stocked up personally, but I think I might as well buy myself a bunch of balls. New region and all, might as well catch something if something interesting shows up. Sin and Amber could probably use the company."

[OOC: Mild autoing of Mori to get to the PokeMart, authorized by Stel~]

With that, the makeshift group headed off to the Mart. Xyrem quietly fiddled through her bag as she walked- a rather amazing skill that she had picked up from her journey around Sinnoh. It was a pure miracle that the girl didn't walk into any and all objects in her way- although 'Vadumee had a habit of pulling her out of the way when she was in danger of becoming facebuddies with a pole. She needed Pokeballs, that was for sure. Xyrem hadn't caught a Pokemon since Ramiel, years prior. She hoped her catching skills weren't too off. Potions would probably be a good idea, too- always a good thing to be prepared. Maybe even some mail to send back home, if there were any "Hoenn-y" designs available.

Before long, the two trainers arrived at the blue roof of the Pokemart. As they walked forth, the automatic door slid open, allowing a whoosh of cool air to rush out into the warm morning. Xyrem grabbed a basket, and began to peruse the aisles, grabbing things here and there. A handful of ultra balls, a 6 pack of hyper potions, and a delightful mail card with a nicely sketched picture of Slateport later, the girl was standing before the register as the clerk scanned her items. 'Vadumee had spent his time trailing behind his trainer, and was now staring down at the clerk. He wasn't too shocked, after all, Blazikens were certainly more common here than they were back in Sinnoh.

She stepped out of the store, and placed her items in various pockets of her bag. "Are you ready to head out?" Xyrem turned to Mori,"I believe the first route we'll get to is Route 110."

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

(OOC: We interrupt this program to bring you CONSUMERISM! )

In comparison to her new traveling companion's, Mori's supply shopping was rather brief and focused - she was pretty much set with anything except for Pokeballs. She proceeded to grab some ultra balls of her own, pay for them and evacuate the premises as soon as humanly possible. She was not a big fan of shopping - which was not an easy thing to be when you grew up in Unova and were surrounded by consumerism-addicts. Go figure.

"Ready, willing and able." Mori replied to the question asked of her "Route 110 it is!"

"Then let's get this show on the road~!" Xyrem smiled, stretching her arms towards the sky. 'Vadumee sighed, probably at the overdramatic gesture that his trainer had made. It was rather reminiscent of one of her old traveling partners. She looked to the fire chicken, and patted him on the back.

"C'mon, 'Vadumee. Show some excitement," she laughed softly, "it is, after all, the guy who raised you that we're going to see." The Blaziken nodded, and took on a thoughtful aura.

~***~

Slateport opened up to Route 110 after a small archway denoting the opening of the city. The path was large, with dense forests on either side. From the beginning, the travelers were able to see the entry building for the Bike Path, to assure that anyone without 'death-on-wheels', as Xyrem now knew them, would not be allowed to pass. Past the building, the path wound underneath the Bike Path, lush with high grasses. Trainers milled about on both of the paths, aching to battle weak-looking passerby with their new catches. Xyrem pondered as the two traveled further down the path. Is this where she would catch her first Hoenn Pokémon?

“So, this is Slateport City,” Liam nodded.

The young man didn’t seem to be paying attention to the city itself. He was sketching something in a notepad as he walked through the city. Following behind him was a Shiny Buizel and a Poochyena. It had been a month or so since he had left Veilstone behind. Following clues in letters written for him, the teenager eventually was pulled all the way out of Sinnoh, back to his home region of Hoenn. It certainly was a blast from the past.

“Dr. Asimov’s letter told us to go to Rustboro City, the “original home” of my family,” the teenager noted, not really talking to anyone but himself, “What’s in Rustboro that we need to find?”

Stopping in his tracks, Liam flipped his notebook shut, and placed it in his backpack, he then pulled out a map of the Hoenn region, and another, smaller one of Rustboro City. Looking over the map of Rustboro, he frowned.

“Rustboro City, home of Devon Corp. That’s where Dr. North works,” he frowned, “Roxanne, the first Gym Leader, is also there. It might be worth testing our abilities against her while we’re there. I guessing we’re to locate Dr. North, though.”

Now with some idea what he was doing in the region, Liam returned the map of Rustboro City to his backpack. He then opened the one of Hoenn, and began walking forward again, his Pokemon following.

“The quickest way to Rustboro from here is to head north to Mauville City, then east to Verdanturf Town. Through Rusturf Tunnel from there, and then it’s a straight shot to Rustboro,” he nodded, talking more to himself then his two Pokemon.

Wandering out of the city and onto Route 110, Liam soon lost track of most of his surroundings, following the route he had planned on his map. He passed by the local Cycling Road without much thought, continuing forward towards the grassy underpass. Not exactly paying attention to where he was going, the newbie trainer bumped into another person. Stumbling a bit, Liam backed up, causing his two Pokemon to run into him.

Peering over his map, Liam noted the person was a woman, a bit older and taller then he was. She had brown hair, and otherwise seemed to have a general theme of silver and green going on. She was also traveling with another woman and a Blaziken.

“Oh, very sorry miss!” he said apologetically, “I wasn’t watching where I was going.”

The sound of people riding their bicycles overhead, the rustling grass, a zigzagoon or poochyena darting around, and the splashes of the sea all went through one ear and out the other for the boy sitting on the side of the walking pathway, his head resting hopelessly in the palm of his right hand. His clothes were drenched, though it was evident that they were even wetter earlier, and his Pokemon were sitting by his side quietly, unsure of what to do to reassure their master. It was one of the very few times when they were this quiet, and they had every reason to be. Things were not going well for any of them, and it was hard to believe that it was only less than a day earlier when they thought they were in for the time of their lives. “Where do we go from here….” Alan Shaw mumbled continually, the memory of what got him into this mess permanently engraved into his consciousness…

It was dark, and though there wasn’t any sign of a storm, something under the sea wasn’t going to let the small research vessel above it transverse towards its destination so easily. The scientists inside were grabbing hold of anything they could find to maintain their balance as the head of the group continued his struggle to keep his boat going in their planned direction. His name was Michael Shaw, Alan’s father and a researcher who, up to that point, had been a generally unknown person in the field. Alan was off to the bow, trying to look for whatever was making all the waves. He had a suspicion that a Pokemon nearby was behind it all, and he was trying to get a closer look to see what it was, though this was proven a more difficult task than he originally figured, as the shifting waves were easily throwing him off balance. At some point through all this, Perfusus, his Squirtle, had gotten out of his Pokeball and was happily mimicking his owner’s unbalanced movements.
“Perfusus, this isn’t the time for that!” Alan yelled over to the Squirtle, now leaning against the edge of the boat and holding on. Still, the tiny turtle persisted, also leaning on the edge, completely unaware of the danger of the situation. After a while, Alan finally thought he caught a glimpse of something moving towards the starboard side of the vessel, and slowly wobbled in that direction, Perfusus continuing his imitation as he followed behind. Alan leaned against the side to try and get a better look at what he had just seen, though unfortunately for him, at this point, a particularly big wave violently rocked the boat from side to side. Alan lost his footing and suddenly found himself flung off the boat. As he hit the water, he struggled to remain buoyant and call out for help, but the continually violent waves splashed salt water into his mouth each time he tried to do so. As he struggled in vain to get back towards the boat, something suddenly burst out of the water in front of him, sending him careening backwards, even farther from the vessel. The last thing he remembered before the constant struggle finally exhausted him towards unconsciousness was the cry of “Squirtle!” and the feeling of what seemed like something pushing him… he awoke later on the shoreline of Slateport with Perfusus right beside him. The sunlight beating on his face informed him that it was already morning, and the lighthouse in the distance confirmed to him his location.
“What…what the heck just happened?” He grumbled, slowly picking himself back up on his feet. He was rather far off, away from where the beachgoers were, so his sudden appearance on shore didn’t seem to catch anyone’s eye. Unsure if this could be considered a good or bad thing, Alan gently picked up Perfusus and headed towards the Pokemon center, letting his two other Pokemon,a Mudkip named Sileo and a Totodile named Rabidus, out to walk around since they hadn't gotten any exercise since they set out . As the Squirtle was recovering, Alan had used the video phone in the Pokemon center to contact his father, who thankfully was able to get the ship out of the chaotic mess at some point after Alan was thrown overboard. Though Michael wanted to get back to look for him, the boat had apparently run out of fuel before they could do so, and now the crew were taking a rescue boat heading towards Unova. Alan urged his father to continue on with the expedition without him, as he could manage on his own for a while and he didn’t want this predicament to ruin the opportunity for them. After arguing this point for what seemed like hours, he finally got him to agree, though on the condition that the two would keep in contact with each other as often as possible.

Unfortunately, this choice seemed to be backfiring on Alan quite early on, as now he was stuck out on route 110, unsure of what to do or where to go. He considered calling his father again, but he didn’t have the nerve to change his mind after promising he could take care of himself.
“I’m such an idiot…if I didn’t go out to starboard; we’d still be on that boat with everyone else…” He murmured. He felt worse off knowing that he had put his Pokemon in this predicament as well. They didn’t deserve to be in this mess. Even when they attempted to give him sympathetic looks, he still felt horrible about the whole thing.

Last edited by Mr.RMA on Wed Sep 21, 2011 10:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

Quickly regaining her balance after the unexpected collision, Mori turned to observe the individual who, quite literally, walked into her - a blue-eyed, bespectacled boy who appeared to be about 15 years of age - who clearly did not notice her because his eyes were locked on a map. She made a mental note of the Buizel and the Poochyena that were following him - most likely he was a trainer as well, and these were his Pokémon.

"It's all quite alright, it happens." she smiled "Might be a good idea to be more careful, though. There are all sorts of things you probably would not want to run into on the road."

"I can only imagine," Liam nodded, "To be perfectly honest, I've only been a trainer for a month or so, so I really don't think I have the experience to take on any one of these trainers."

The teenager sighed, then folded his map, placing it under his arm. He offered his hand to the woman he'd run into, offering to shake.

"I'm Liam, by the way," he grinned.

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

"Nice to meet you, Liam." Mori grinned back, shaking the trainer's hand "My name's Mori and my fellow traveler over there is Xyrem." with that, she nodded in the redhead's general direction.

Xyrem nodded in greeting,'Vadumee following suit.

"Nice to meet you, Liam," she smiled softly. She felt rather jovial, and why not? Xyrem had no reason to be unfriendly towards the young man- he seemed like a kind-hearted person. His Poochyena caught her eye- she had always thought the species was rather adorable, and its evolution seemed like it would be a good, loyal guardian. She made a mental note to catch one for her team sometime during this journey.

"Nice to meet you both!" Liam grinned. He motioned back to the two Pokemon behind him, "These are Rick, my Buizel, and Vector, my Poochyena. Have you two been in Hoenn very long?"

Alan lifted his head up in curiosity when one particular sound he heard didn't fade off along with the others. It sounded like some people talking to each other, most likely trainers if they were traveling down this road. Figuring he wasn't going to get anywhere sitting there and moping around, he got back on his feet and decided to see who these voices belonged to, calling back Perfusus and Rabidus in the process. He would usually only let one of his Pokemon out at a time when he was traveling, as many trainers seemed to do, and considering how this was the Hoenn region, he decided Sileo would be the best choice for the moment. The Mudkip was usually the one Alan left out with him when meeting new people anyways, as he was the only one of the three with any actual self control. It didn't take them too long to come across the group. From the sight of the Pokemon accompanying the people talking to each other, along with the small gist of conversation he was able to hear, it was now obvious these guys were trainers. The Pokemon were all from regions that Alan had never gone to before, and he found himself staring blankly at them in astonishment. Sileo looked at Alan expectantly, but remained quiet, waiting for his trainer's command.

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

"Just got off the ferry at Slateport, actually." Mori replied, regarding the two PokeMon with a nod and a little smile in greeting "This is my first time here... And I am willing to bet my reason for being here is going to make her presence known right about -"

She was interrupted by a burst of energy from a ball at her belt, a burst which soon coalesced into the form of Sinistral.

"... Now."

The Dark-type proceeded to stretch, regarding the newcomers with a slightly curious and slightly mischievous look, before twitching an ear, becoming enveloped by the purple aura of her Illusion ability... only for a hand-shaped sign to materialize upon her head, pointing in a general direction on the road, the words "We're being watched." inscribed on it, flashing a few times and disappearing with the rest of the sign in another flurry of purple light.

Mori turned her head quickly in the direction the sign was pointing at to see another trainer approaching the small congregation - this one accompanied by a small blue creature which she recognized as a Mudkip.

"Well, we certainly seem to be popularity central today..." she murmrued in the general direction of Xyrem, before turning back to the new arrival and greeting him with a polite "Good day."

Alan's interest grew all the more with the appearance of a Zorua, yet another rare species he had never seen before, and to an extension, knew very little to nothing about. It was remarkable to him just the variety of Pokemon these other trainers brought along with them: type differences, evolved forms at different stages, and species from different regions...
His observations however, were cut short once the trainer with the Zorua turned towards Alan to greet him. He felt his pulse quicken slightly, though he nevertheless attempted to keep himself calm enough to give some kind of response.

"Uh...hi, sorry if I bothered any of you. I thought I heard someone talking around here, and I was hoping I could ask for some information about this region, since I only just...err...'arrived' here, but your Pokemon were so fascinating that..." He stopped himself and shook his head.

"Sorry, I'm rambling. This day has been rather hectic for me, and I'm still sorta regaining my bearings." He continued, moving a loose strand of wet hair out of his face.

"Oh, by the way, the name's Alan, and this here's Sileo." He introduced, motioning towards the Mudkip beside him who gave a small nod of his head towards the others in response.

"Really? Same here," Liam nodded, "I'm heading to Rustboro City, trying to find someone."

Liam blinked when the small gray Pokemon formed from its Pokeball. He vaguely recognized it as a Pokemon from Unova, a Zorua. However, before he could make note of the Pokemon, another person appeared. Apparently, he was fascinated by some of the Pokemon he saw the three of them owning, and he wanted to ask for directions.

"Hello Alan, I'm Liam," the teenager said, he then pointed first at the Shiny Buizel, then at the Poochyena, "This is Rick, and Vector."

Taking a moment, the trainer returned his map to his backpack, and pulled out his notepad again, flipping back a few pages, to what appeared to be a number of notes on Hoenn. "I just got here myself, but I'm a bit of a cartographer, and I've studied this region a bit before coming over, so I might be able to help you out. What do you want to know?"

"Pleasure to meet you, Liam." Alan responded politely as the teenager introduced himself and his Pokemon. Once the boy went on to explain he was a cartographer, Alan felt his confidence increasing all the more. 'Well that's a lucky break for certain. Guess I stumbled upon the right band of trainers.' He thought over just what to ask first, thinking over what would be the most accessible and worthwhile plan of action for him to take, before deciding he knew just what to ask about.

"Well, I remember my father telling me that he had gotten Sileo here from this region, from a professor who's highly esteemed around these parts. From what I can recall, his last name was something along the lines of... Birch, I think. Yeah, that's his name. I'd definitely like to meet him in person at some point. From what I hear, his research on Pokemon habitats and wild Pokemon behavior in said habitats are greatly renowned. Would you possibly happen to know the location of his lab?"

"Birch's Lab? That's all the way in Littleroot Town," Liam answered, scanning over his notes, "I'm heading to Rustboro City, myself, I can take you to Littleroot if you're alright with a pit stop there first."

Alan grinned. It looked like he got another lucky break.

"Sounds good to me. I've not in any rush or anything, so that's perfectly fine." He replied.

As Alan was talking, Sileo had taken the opportunity to observe the Pokemon for himself, his gaze shifting from one creature to the other with a rather inquisitive look. He was much smaller than most of them, especially the towering Blaziken which he had to back up a bit from his current position in order to get a look at its face. He didn't say anything, only checked all of them intently. He was definitely impressed by a few already, though traveling with two Pokemon that wouldn't ever shut up most likely just meant he was happy to meet a few quieter ones.

Xyrem, who had been mostly staring off into space, pondering the journey that lie ahead, perked up at the mention of Birch. She noted that another trainer had joined the conversation, with him a Mudkip. She nodded in greeting to him.

"Littleroot, eh? That's actually where I'm going! The Professor wants to see how 'Vadumee here," she pointed to the fire chicken behind her, "has been raised." A smile graced her features, "that's actually why I'm here in Hoenn in the first place. I'm from Oreburgh, in Sinnoh."

The situation was certainly reminiscent of her journey through her home region, in the fact that she seemed to randomly form groups with people as she went on. Couldn't hurt to try.

"Actually, we'll be going through Rustboro City to get to Littleroot- although there is a shorter path, it's heavily water based, and 'Vadumee's obviously not very comfortable with that," she laughed. "If you'd like, we could all travel together- I learned from my last journey that it's more fun to travel with more people," Xyrem smiled.

Last edited by SineCosineTangent on Mon Sep 26, 2011 5:13 am, edited 1 time in total.