[PTU] A Place of Our Own IC

[Deadguy]

"The Beach Bums"


Sawyer put his Pokedex away and walked toward the two lounging Slowpokes. He sat down next to them and seemed unsure, tilting his head to the side for a moment. When one sighed, he took a pokeball from his pack and tapped it's head unceremoniously. The ball struggled twice before the Slowpoke reappeared.

It looked at him vacantly. He gave a smile and held up a candy bar. "Would you like to travel with us? We have good food!" It gave a dopey, wide grin. He held up a ball again and tapped it on the head. The ball didn't shake at all, only lighting up to show the capture was successful.

Sawyer patted the other Slowpoke on the head and stood up, returning to his friends before allowing his new companion out of her ball. "I'll call you Rosa!" He gave her a scratch behind the ear as he sat next to her. Grube followed behind, pulling on his shirt and handing him a shiny stone that he had dug up from the sand. The Munchlax seemed disappointed that it wasn't food.

Sawyer smiled and gave him the candy bar that Rosa hadn't been interested in earlier. He grunted happily and sat next to Rosa to eat his snack. While they sat, Sawyer inspected the stone while watching to see if Loft would be successful in his fishing attempts.

"Oh, I almost forgot... what ARE those?" He took out the Pokedex once more and pointed it toward the statue-like creatures nearby.

[MashPotatoJones]

Sawyer would have no trouble getting close to the rocks that seemed to have faces with a large nose. The Pokedex would chime and light up as it registers another pokemon seen.

Nosepass, the Compass Pokemon. Its magnetic nose always faces north and draws iron objects to its body to protect itself better. Fantasian Nosepass tend to be more accurate at depicting north than those of other regions!

[Lorrel]

[SIZE=4][B]
Kotoha would look to Vivi, "Well, let's get a move on then? I say we head on over east then. Let's get started...I want to see what kinds of pokemon we can find in these parts of the woods!" With that, Kotoha would lead the way, returning her pokemon back to her Net Ball before sprinting off at first, then slowing down to a brisk walking pace, the treeline of the forest to the east in her sights!

Vivi leaves Breckitt out to follow along side her. Vivi keeps paces with Kotoha, all the while keeping an eye out for pokemon and berries.
" I am interested in what makes their homes here too. Didn't see too many bug pokemon back home in the gyms. I remember one giant green one with blades for arms; it tore its way through the competition and its trainer won the tournament. It was amazing to see it shrug off hits from fire and bird types and keep on swinging. "

[Atrum Umbra]

Kotoha and Vivi

Route 912 is the northern path across the great plain, an arid sea of grass and sky. Trainers and fortune-seekers follow this route from the north toward Monte Belvoir, while wild Pokemon make their homes in the shadow of the Iron Mountains and Heartwood Forest. Heartwood Town is to the west. Monte Belvoir is to the east.

Your journey starts through the winding paths of Heartwood Forest. The main track is well kept and there are many breaks in the canopy. It doesn't take long before you leave behind the hustle and bustle of town to replace it with the sounds of leaves rustling and birds tweeting.

Spoiler: Pokemon Encounters

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Through gaps in the leaves you notice the many searching eyes of a small flock of bird pokemon following you movements and the occasional squark of annoyance at your presence. Their black and white coloring makes it difficult to work out how many there are hiding in the gloom.

As the path turns there is a small makeshift bridge to your left. The logs are rotten and the trail it leads to doesn't seem to get much use. An odd little plant is sunning itself on the little patch of light that shines through the trees to illuminate the bridge.

You continue to follow the gradual bend to find a battle going on a further ahead on the path . A small red bird has been trapped in some string by three tiny wiggly green pokemon. It seems that the bugs weren't quite the easy meal that the avian expected but it was taking all their strength to keep it away. It is difficult to tell how this will go without interference.

Spoiler: Perception 13+

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You notice the bushes near the fight rustle slightly and catch a glimpse of a star tipped tail poke out before it quickly whips down back out of sight. While it would naturally be quite stealthy the creature is probably a little out of place in the forest given its bright coloring.

[Lorrel]

Kotoha and Vivi

Vivi watches the situtation unfolding in the tree with some concern. Obviously the bird has bitten off more than it could chew, and it looked like if someone didn't step in, it was done for.

On the other hand, the bird most likely picked the fight, and was reaping what it sowed.

While mulling it over in her head, Vivi uses the pokedex to register the pokemon.

Perception Roll: Untrained (2d6) [roll]2d6[/roll]

Survival Roll while walking to spot some berries to grab: Novice (3d6) [roll]3d6[/roll]

She looks over at her companion. "Do you think we should intervene? I know nature needs to take its course but this seems..."

Edit - Trying to get dice to roll, sorry for the edit spam

[Lorrel]

Apparently you cannot roll in an edited post. Makes sense I guess.

Spoiler: Previous Post Die Rolls

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Perception: (2d6)[10]
Survival for berries : (3d6)[4]

[MashPotatoJones]

Kotoha and Vivi

Once they had hit the forest, Kotoha would release Brinstar, so it could shuffle and squirm along with them. She idly chit-chatted with Vivi, mostly about favorite foods, things they don't like. She hears the squawking of the birds over head, peering up at them as they huddled and kept to the shade of the canopy, their numbers unknown. She would fish her pokedex out of one of her pockets to point it at the little grass type pokemon, wondering just what it was, holding the camera up to it as it sunned itself. Upon coming to the little scuffle in the forest, seeing the three bugs stringing up the bird, "Mmmn...it is nature isn't it. See this sort of display in Swarm Hollow often. Don't see too many birds around my neck of the woods, y'know?"

Perception: 18

The shuffling in the bush caught her eye, looking to Vivi, "I don't like seeing pokemon in distress...we'll deal with that little display of caterpillar power. First though...that thing in the bush is mine!" she declared. She would pull out a fresh pokeball and lob it at the star-tipped tail she caught poking out of the bush!

Not sure how you want this done...I'll throw a couple of rolls in here if that's ok? If not, we can do it all in Roll20
Pokeball, Go!: 17
Capture Roll: 2 (And that kids...is how you break a pokeball)

Brinstar will be at the ready - to be continued in Roll20

[tonberryking]

Loft's fishing attempts are... exceedingly physical. He apparently paid good attention to the Chuutube videos as he casts the line in and out fairly well; on the third attempt his line snags and pulls. Diamond eagerly watches as something pink and branching crests the water, but less so when the Corsola breaks out of the water and slams into Loft, sending the boy sprawling off the rock he had been perched on. Diamond lets out a furious chirp, leaping behind the rock and swinging her leg in a sweep at the thing in the shallows.

Loft gets back into the action, leaping over the same rock only to be sent sprawling into the shallows soon after by the coral pokemon, who seems quite pleased with herself for triumphing over the trainer until both Loft and Diamond start whallopping her in succession, Loft using not one, but two pokeballs trying to get her. His hands seem remarkably not broken from punching the hard shelled pokemon, who's pink exterior is certainly solid as a pile of bricks. Diamond goes flying over the rock herself thanks to another tackle, but by the time she charges back Loft's second pokeball connects and finally seals up the Corsola.

"Whew... agh... Agh... I'm okay, Diamond..." the machop helps him out of the water as they trudge over to the others, both soaked and sand covered. "Though... eh. I wish I didn't have to fight the... uh... the.. Diamond pulls out the pokedex from Loft's vest (the pockets seemed lined with waterproof material, thankfully sparring his safari pass he still doesn't know about) and hands it to him, which he then checks.

Corsola, the Coral Pokémon. A combination of both Water and Rock types. It sheds and regrows the horns on its head numerous times.

"Huh. A corsola! I hope she's not too mad at me for punching her once or twice..." he seems a tad bit shameful about that, wondering if he can even bring himself to release her anytime soon...

[Atrum Umbra]

I refuse to go by "The Beach Bums"

The rocks get looser beneath her feet as Adalicia follows the route to the beach. When the ground gets soft enough she sits on a large rock to remove her knee high boots and continues her walk bare foot. When far enough away from people other than her companions she activate Beau's pokeball to release the Spritzee at her feet.

Beau whirls around Adalicia in delight before swooping out to sea. She turns to begin to return to shore but notices something she missed before. Her trainer is surrounded by people and pokemon, including one that looks like it could swallow her whole. She tentatively returned and landed on her trainers head, this should show that she was not happy with having scary company and help protect her from harm.

Adalicia sighed, clearly used to this behaviour, “Everyone this is Beau. Beau be nice and introduce yourself to our new friends.” Beau manages a shaky sounding “Brweeee” before hiding it's head in it's wing. “Let's carry on, she is a little shy but will get used to you soon.”

When her companions split off to do their own thing Adalicia continues down the beach recording the pokemon she sees. She notices the small group of Shellos playing in the water and head to the edge for a closer look and to get a picture.

Beau, seeing what she can only assume is some sort of dance, hopes off of Adalicia's head and stands on the damp sand letting the tail end of the waves lap at her feet. She tries smelling really nice to get the fish to come closer but they are too distracted by each other. She had to be strong, she could leave the protection of her trainer and join in with the other pokemon. She flew out over the “dance” and showed them all what she could do. A quick pirouette upwards followed by a backflip into a dive towards the water before pulling up at the last second to just graze the crest of a wave with the tip of her feet. It was clearly very impressive as now they were circling her, she was the centre of attention, it was very unsettling. She looked back to her trainer for reassurance, or help whichever Adalicia deemed necessary.

The display in front of her had got the Shellos to begin circling closer to the shore. Adalicia took the opportunity to call out to one. “Hi there, you are very energetic and agile. Would you like to join my team, you can dance with Beau more?” She smiled at the Shellos and held out an empty pokeball, “You just have to get in here,” pressing the ball against the pokemon, energising it. The ball didn't wriggle in her hand just clicked closed.

She returned to her group as Sawyer pointed out the statues. “I didn't realize they were pokemon. I just passed them by on the way up here, didn't give them a second glance. It must be boring for them to just stand there staring north all day. Surely they would rather travel the world.”

Her mind set on freeing the pokemon from it's life of boredom Adalicia heads towards one of the heads. "Hey there little guy, do you get bored of just standing staring at one spot all day, wouldn't you rather travel the world with me and my friends." The thing shifts slightly at an angle to look at her, clearly a sign that it wants to go with her. "Yes, that is the right attitude, there is so much more to see than just one stretch of beach." She holds out a pokeball to let the block touch it. It slowly inches forward and nudged the button, settling down in its new pokeball.

[MashPotatoJones]

"The Beach Bums" (Route 906[I18])

OOC: Adalicia, Loft, and Sawyer, if you're ready, we'll proceed further south on Route 906 [I17-I18]

If you guys are satisfied with exploring this small section of beach, you'll find yourselves continuing south. You'll keep plodding along the path of Route 906, a few more hours pass, the shoreline changing shape as you continue your walk. You find yourselves at another stretch of sandy beach. It's sloping a little more westward, but you can see that this is just a spot where it juts out slightly before cutting back in eastward.

Spoiler: Looking for Pokemon?

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You see some pokemon you've seen before, and even have registered to your pokedexes, so they stand out more than they might have. You see another Slowpoke with a blank, vacant stare, seemingly staring at a Nosepass who does not stare back, but is instead diligently pointing north, staying true to its compass like nature!

A pair of Shellos are swimming along the coastline. These two don't seem as playful as the last batch, and instead appear to be traversing the shoreline. They don't seem to be stopping, and appear to have a bit more intent to their movements. They don't seem to pay any attention to the group of traveling trainers or the other pokemon that occupy the beach.

There seems to be a small, cyan-hued crocodilian pokemon, antagonizing a tiny blue penguin. It's mostly just pushing and shoving it, tripping it and in general being a bully. You can hear the little blue penguin whining a bit as gets nudged and shoved, picking itself up off of sandy beach as the reptilian that loomed over it laughed sadistically. Is that alligator-like pokemon keeping the penguin from entering the water?

Spoiler: Perception Check (Open at 10+)

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With a keen eye you can see a a pair of eyes poking up out of the sand, well out of the reach of the water. The eyes looked a lot like a pair of tan binoculars with dark circles around the actual eye itself, a bar connecting the two darkened areas. They seem to be following you as you meander around the coastline.

Spoiler: Intuition Check (Open at 10+)

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A pair of rocks caught your eye. They seemed odd and slightly rounded for rocks you'd find at a beach. Upon closer examination, your gut feeling is rewarded as they're not rocks at all, but look like turtle shells half buried in the sand. They have a brownish color to them, and there are no extremities poking out of any of the openings of the shell that you can see. Perhaps they're sleeping? Whatever they're doing, the seem to be enjoying a patch of sunshine that shines on the sand they've nestled into.

Spoiler: Or are you seeking a trainer battle?

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You can see a dark figure making some odd poses just a bit further down the coastline. The dancers in the group might say he's dancing, but his motions are more martial than anything. Upon closer examination you can see this gentlemen is dressed in full ninja garb, and he seems to be practicing his form. He's even got a few wooden targets propped up on the rocks, a few shurikens buried in them. As you approach, you see him hurl another pair of ninja stars at the targets, with them landing right next to the ones he had thrown prior. If anything, he's precise! You can also see there's a few pokeballs clipped to his belt, appears he is a trainer! Perhaps he'll be up for a trainer battle?

---

"Liz and Sophie (Route 906 [I17])"

The sun shines brightly as you head south along the coastline. The Coast is a little jagged in spots, jutting out further into the ocean before diving back in. Certainly not like the picturesque beaches of Alola! There's a few spots that seem like it would be ideal for fishing, and the overall air of the area is quite calm, though there is of course abundant wildlife occupying the beach alongside of the two traveling trainers!

You see a funny little statue thing! It's short and has a large pink nose. It's not moving, and it appears to be facing roughly in the direction back towards town. Even if you approach it, it doesn't appear to budge or move, not paying any attention to its current surroundings. Not even to the red crab that has sidled on up to it and began to poke and prod it with one of its claws, seeing if it could get it to move out of its way.

A group of three penguins are marching along the shore line, their footsteps seeming to be in the same rhythm. The water laps at their feet, splashing up as they trod along, leaving heavy footprints on their way as if they were stomping and stamping their little march!

Spoiler: Penguin Perception Check (Open Only on a 10+)

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One of the penguins seems to be out stepping order, but only just slightly. Its coloring seems to be off, too! Come to think of it, this thing is just blending in very well with them, having similar-ish coloring. But the little seashell on its chest and its mammal like movements clue you in that there's a doppelganger marching with the penguins in between them. The penguins however, don't seem to notice, or mind, it's hard to tell.

Spoiler: Pokemon Ed or Intuition (Open Only on 10+)

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The two rocks along the shoreline seem to catch your eye. Surely, there could be a pokemon making its home there. Your'e rewarded, as you see two hand-like appendages erupting out of a small rocky base nestled in against the rocks, enjoying the water lapping over its body. If you approach, it will turn its attention to you, eyes narrowing the closer you get to it.

---

"Kotoha and Vivi"

What a rush that was! Kotoha had managed to snag that little lion-like pokemon in a pokeball only to have it break out again. Darn...maybe it needs to be weakened first! She read in a book before that pokemon are easier to capture when they're weaker. She looks to Brinstar, "Ok girl, show it what you're made of and that it cannot hide from us! Leech Life, go!" she commanded. The large larva hustled on over and latched it's teeth down on the belly of the tiny beast, hearing it cry out in pain from such a brutal, unwarranted attack. Even Kotoha winced a bit, "Oh jeez...maybe we'll need to learn to dial it back a bit." she lamented before throwing another pokeball and capturing her first pokemon ever, a Shinx. She thrust her arms up in celebration, "YES!" she yelled...that might have been an error.

Seems Kotoha had caught the attention of a trio of caterpillars. They were attempting to make a meal of a small red bird that might have attempted to make a meal of them. It had bitten off more than it could chew. She heard Vivi commanding Breckitt, the Torchic, to go and fight them off. She thought that Brinstar could help too. Seems an assault of fire was more than the worms could handle, two of them shriveling up in a toasty mess, though one didn't end in such a heap of roasted bug, as Kotoha managed to throw yet another pokeball...capturing the third worm that turned out to be a Caterpie!

Not stopping her spree of trapping...she had passed a plant sunning itself earlier. Her Pokedex registered it as Oddish. She took a different approach, hurling a pokeball towards it. The first one missed by a wide margin, but the second one managed to brush up against one of its leaves, clicking shut rather quickly. Kotoha came out with three brand new pokemon! She turned to Vivi, musing a little bit, "That was fun. I say we leave those two charred Caterpie over there for the other birds to have at...I'm sure they won't mind a free meal. As for where to go from here...should we continue along the route...or go off the beaten path? We could go deeper into the woods to the North...or head into the plains south of us." she inquired.

[Lorrel]

---

"Kotoha and Vivi"
She turned to Vivi, musing a little bit, "That was fun. I say we leave those two charred Caterpie over there for the other birds to have at...I'm sure they won't mind a free meal. As for where to go from here...should we continue along the route...or go off the beaten path? We could go deeper into the woods to the North...or head into the plains south of us." she inquired.

"Great work out there Breckitt, you did a great job helping save our new friend. You did a great job too Kotoha. 3 new pokemon for you and one for me in our first adventure. And not a scratch on us, not too shabby.

Maybe deeper into the woods. We both have fire types, so we should be safe-ish and may find some interesting away from where people usually travel. Plus there are likely to be more bugs for you to collect there. "
Vivi looks excited, energized by the battle. This was something she knew, and it had gone better than she thought it would. Other than her terrible throwing arm that is...

[Atrum Umbra]

“Off the Beaten Track”

Erik catches up to Vivi and Kotoha as they cross the rotten bridge to follow the old route deeper in to the woods. It isn't long before the trees and bushes take over leaving you with occasional glimpses of the path.

Spoiler: Moving on

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(Roll Survival as a group and use the highest and Perception for yourself which can be shared in character)

Spoiler: Survival 15

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On the way though the dense forest you notice several pokemon trails that all lead in the same direction. There must be some clearing that way, with a water source or another point of interest. It won't be too difficult to return to the path later if you choose to turn off.

Spoiler: Perception 12

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Hidden in the nook of a tree at ground level is a large egg. It looks like the mother has left it alone assuming that it would escape notice.

Spoiler: Carrying on (else go to Survival 11)

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You only have to follow the pokemon trails for 10 minutes before reaching the clearing.

Spoiler: Pokemon

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A flock of birds are tweeting happily to each other in a huge tree. As they fly between the branches you notice they are paying a lot of attention to a larger well groomed bird in the center of the tree. Their brown and white coloring suggest that they are a species you have yet to see in this forest.

A stick thin plant defiantly guards the path in front of you. It's broad leaves are outstretched and it beady eye watch you as you approach. Its head is undulating, it looks like it is chewing or maybe digesting something.

Spoiler: Trainer

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A young lady with dark hair sits on a rock grooming her grass type pokemon. She doesn't seem to have noticed you yet as you are some distance away through the trees and she probably isn't expecting company.

Spoiler: Survival 11

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You stick to the path long enough for the forest to open up again. The trail continues for a few miles before you come across any more pokemon.

Spoiler: Pokemon

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Across the path infront of you two flocks of birds squawking at each other from the trees. The birds to the right you recognise as Fletchlings and to the left are the other birds from the route before however this time you can see them far more clearly.

The noise seems to have scared away any insects from the area but has attracted the attention of a couple of small scraggy grey dogs that are poorly hidden behind a tree, probably hoping that some of the birds come down.

Spoiler: Perception 9

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You notice an odd little branch with two large leaves poking out of a nearby bush. As you look further down the creature it's eyes close, as though that will stop you from seeing it.

Spoiler: Trainer

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A cheerful young lady with bright red hair is sitting on a rock watching the birds bicker. Despite her attitude she seem very lost and out of place in the forest. You notice many cuts on her bare arms and lower legs

Spoiler: Fail

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Your group finds themselves lost in the woods. The sounds of rustling leaves and wild pokemon becoming even more prevalent and worrying.

Spoiler: Perception 12

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Among all the other noise you can hear a lot pokemon rustling through the trees towards you. It sounds like about 5 pokemon with padded feet are moments away from pouncing on you.

Spoiler: Fail

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A crazed ball of fluff with a pig nose and wiry limbs leaps at your group from the trees, it's an ambush!

---

Reluctantly "The Beach Bums"

As Loft splits off from the group to break up a fight between two interesting looking pokemon Adalicia continues down the beach scanning with her pokedex as she goes. She looks up from the screen for a moment to see a pair of black rimmed eyes starting back at her from the sand. She lets out a startled yelp causing Beau to fly from the ground to the safety of her head again.

Adalicia quickly grabbed something from her belt to throw at the scary creature. Fortunately that something was a pokeball which sailed through the air to hit the Sandile between the eyes. The Pokeball shook frantically before finally settling down. Adalicia cautiously approached, one bare foot at a time, before prodding the ball with her toe to make sure the pokemon wasn't about to break out.

[Rune Knight]

Heartwood Forest (J16)
Setting off from Heartwood, Erik released Calder from his pokéball. There was some confusion from the popplio as he looked around, then almost complete disappointment with no one else around. "Come on, little one. We'll find someone else you can play with today." Erik missed the indignant look shot his way. On the way into the woods, Erik picked up a couple of elemental shards through the dowsing tricks he'd learned over the years. There weren't always ruins to explore, but there always seemed to be a market for trainer items like the evolution stones. Or just pretty jewelry, as the case sometimes was.

Barely within the treeline Calder riled up a small flock of starly and the two only made it out of there with their dignity intact thanks to a traveling trainer and his nidoran partner. At the end of the battle, Erik was knocked to a knee and considered throwing a ball at the weakened bird. Because that's what trainers were supposed to do, after all? Whether it was Erik's hesitation, or Calder's anger at someone hurting his human, the starly was out cold by a blast of water.
Afterward, both took a rest under a nearby tree to listen to the forest. One of the plant pokémon seemed to be contributing to the rustles and chirping by singing softly, and Erik decided to take a different approach. If he couldn't capture a pokémon through battle, maybe he could capture one through less hostile actions.

However, simply offering a place with him and Calder wasn't enough this time. Questioning his capability as a trainer, he moved on into the forest.


Off the Beaten Track (J15)

Spoiler: Survival and Perception

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https://orokos.com/roll/560639 11
https://orokos.com/roll/560640 11
Don't preview your post, then think the [roll0] will turn out fine, kids. I'm so bad at this.
I'll do the dowsing rolls in roll20, since you reroll sixes for extra shards.

Deeper in the woods, Erik and Calder came across a couple of the trainers from Yew's lab near a bridge.

[Goliathus]

Loki has so much to say to this girl with the guitar. All the words formulated inside his mind as he kept on listenining to the girl, waiting for his chance to make his comeback. He was patient as always, not rushing anything like the others around him. In between the listening, Loki just randomly grabbed the first Pokedex in his sight - he could careless about the color - and took his Pokeball from the professor with both hands. "Thank you, professor. You are great." Loki was being extra polite with the professor so he has more bullets to use on the girl. After the simple steps were settle, and he felt that the girl was about to stop, he started to talk, only to be cut off right away by a sudden explosion and the following alarm. Panicked like a Rattata, as he was not the bravest of all, Loki's only instinctive decision at this point was to follow the others and get out of this hell hole.

By the time he was able to calm himself down, the others were mostly gone, as he would have guessed by now. They were young and full of energy. No surprise. Maybe that was for the better. Loki knew he did not have the physical capability to keep up with the younger people and they might be daredevil too, going into the most dangerous place right from the get go. Maybe solo was the best for him, like he has been doing for the past 30 years. Admittedly, a part of him was hoping that he would be able to have a change, a different social approach to things, but pissing off a fellow trainer by the beginning of a journey certainly was not the way to go.

Eh, not much he could do about all of those. Instead of just pondering to himself on the spot, he decided to move on. But first, he released his starter to see what it was. An Oddish popped out from the red light, looking calmly at him. Oddish, oh crap. Maybe he just has not follow the sport enough, but he has never heard that much of praise or achievement done by an Oddish. Furthermore, it was not even rare or anything. They were abundant around the land as far as he understood. Alright, relax, you are late, so maybe the good ones are all gone. This is okay. It does not need to eat, so no pressure for food. That's good for a new trainer like me. Okay, we can do this. This is just one Pokemon out of many and I only need it to defeat a single Pokemon before I can get the ball rolling. Alright Loki, one stake at a time, you don't all in in the beginning, this is okay, just do not mess with a bird or a bug.

"Hello there, I am your trainer from now on. Errrr, let's be the best team out there, okay?" Loki waited for a little bit and got no response from the Oddish itself, aside from a blank stare. "Alright, we will need to buy some stuff before heading out so, let's get to it! Follow me." He walked a few steps forward before turning back and the Oddish indeed followed. Okay, at least it knew enough to follow basic order. That was good enough for starter. Expecting the Pokemon to continue to follow him, Loki headed into the nearby Pokemart and picked up anything he needed. The most important pickup were definitely a tent and a sleeping bag. The backpacker group he was with had XXL-sized tent and an extra sleeping bag or two so he could do without. They also taught him some tips as to how to pick a good one which happened to be very useful now. After that, he scanned around the shop and found nothing much he felt like he immediately needed. He still has some of his ration with him.

Coming out of the PokeMart, he looked around, unsure of which direction to go. He knew he was definitely not going east. How boring would that be? To go back to the city he just came from. He has not done any geogrpahical research before this so he would not know more about the north and south than an average citizen. He wanted to do this blind, so every step of his adventure was something new to him. It was kind of the same way how he approached his gaming hobby. He would not look into the guides and dive into the game blindly by himself.

He stopped abruptly in the middle of the open road, the Oddish bumped into his legs for not expecting that. "Oh sorry there, wait here and let me think about where to go, mkay?" The Oddish once again stared at him with a blank look but it did stayed and waited, looking around the surrounding with interest. Pondering about the basic structure of the region in his brain - not like it was 100% accurate - he decided to try north. As far as he could recall, there were more land mass to explore to the north than the south and he rarely got to see the north of the region. This was as good as a plan for now.

"This way, let's go." Expecting Oddish to continue follow him, Loki headed north into Route 901. His current plan was to stick to the road - if no road, stick to the traveling crowd - for an hour before deciding on leaving the road and safety into the depth of wild.

[PokeMart purchase: Single Tent + Single Sleeping bag for a total of 1900.

Route 901 Plan: Looking for Wild Pokemon. Loki will walk 1 hour into the Route, then use Perception to check on the surrounding before deciding on his next step.

Perception: (3d6)[4][2][5](11)]

[frigidScholar]

"A Classic First Step" Loki (Route 901 [I15])

The sun shines down on the plains just past the northern outskirts of Heartwood, a gentle breeze blows in from the west, bringing in cool air from the ocean. Despite the distance from the center of town, there are still some signs of human residences in the form occasional fences marking off property boundaries in the area. The forest encroaching from the east does give this area a bit of wildness, however. This all seems very close to all those shows and movies about going on a pokemon journey, leaving a small town and stepping out onto a grassy plain... Across this section of the route, you can see some pokemon here and there.

You hear the sounds of... barking? You glance over to the source of it and see some sort of commotion! There's a purple feline up on a fence, looking like it's about to claw someone! Its back is arched, its fur is standing on end, and you can hear it hissing loudly over the barking. The source of its distress seems to be a pair of tan furred dogs at the base of the fence, both barking loudly at it.

There's also a pair of black and white feathered birds up on the trees forming the border between the plains and the forest to the east. They seem to be watching the conflict between the cat and dogs with a bit of a wary eye, both have puffed out their feathers to make them seem larger and unintentionally spherical.

Spoiler: General Education or Survival Check (Open at 8+)

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Ooh, is that a berry tree? You think you see one in the center of a small stand of trees in the middle of the plain. You can always head over and see if there's any berries on it that haven't already been eaten by the pokemon in the area.

You can also see a fluffy sheep near the treeline of the forest nearby. It seems to be munching on the grass there, mostly minding its own business. As you watch it, you can see occasional sparks come from its fluffy wool. Seems like that might deter the vast majority of predators in the area...

[frigidScholar]

"Liz and Sophie"

Stepping onto the beach, Liz glanced around the rough coastline, "Huh, you don't really see beaches like this posted on magazines and stuff. Probably since it isn't exactly the smooth white sand ideal...," Liz muttered to herself. She looked at the signs of life in the area and frowned. Nothing interesting there but... she did have a way to attract possibly more interesting catches.

"Looks like it's time to give the fishing rod a spin!" Liz exclaimed, pulling the fishing rod and bait out of her bag. She grabbed the one that was soon to expire first, no reason in letting it get the chance to. She fumbled with the line for a few moments before getting it set up as best she could. She then hurled the line into the surf, standing at the shoreline, waiting for a bite.

She didn't have to wait long as almost immediately, she felt a tug on her fishing pole. Liz tugged back and the resistance on the other side suddenly intensified. Though Liz had enough strength to pull it out of the water and drag it into view. Liz felt pretty proud of herself for successfully fishing for the first time until she saw what she caught. Her face fell as she took it in, a slim silver fish with a large tail fin. "... Aww what? That's not a Magikarp," Liz said, her face growing more disappointed as she observed it, "Or anything salvageable, really." Feeling a bit disgruntled, she tossed the fish back into the sea, watching it swim off at high speed.

She let out a sigh before glancing back at her pack. "Well, I still have another serving of bait, so... Might as well try again! It'll just go bad otherwise..." Liz mused as she readied the Old Rod again. A few moments later, she cast the line into the ocean and waited for another bite. This one took a little longer, but after about 10 minutes, the line nearly tugged itself out of her hands. With a small shriek, Liz grabbed onto the line more tightly, pulling back on it as hard as she could. There was the sound of water splashing as a creature emerged from the depths. Liz opened her eyes, which were squeezed shut in effort, with a bit of hope in them, only for the hope to quickly be dashed. Some sort of shelled creature stared back at her, sticking out a long tongue at her. "Wha- Hey! Rude!" she exclaimed. Eww, she didn't want this gross thing. Feeling very dejected, she turned around and stomped off.

Well, that was a waste of time... "And a waste of 1250 poke, ugh!" Liz exclaimed, feeling extremely ripped off. She let out an angry huff and observed the pokemon on the beach once again. "Ugh, nothing interesting here either. What a waste of a beach."

Liz stomped off toward the south before slowing to a stop and waiting near the path farther on in case Sophie got herself in trouble. While none of the pokemon loitering around here were worth catching in her eyes, maybe Sophie would want one of them.

[Goliathus]

"A Classic First Step" Loki (Route 901 [I15])

[Session was done on Roll20]

The northern outskirts of Heartwood was peaceful and quaint. After an hour of some very slow walking, Loki has finally reach the the open field. He was at least happy to see that there were Pokemon around this location without him having to linger off the road. With the Oddish still following him by his side, Loki pondered his next move. There were a couple of presumably wild Pokemon around the area, all of them an opportunity for him to get more companions in his roster.

As a self-admitted coward, Loki's first instinct was to steer clear off the course of the fight. Him intervening on that would only make it worst more than anything. Those canine looked like they could bite very good too, no way he wanted that just one hour into his journey...or how long later anyway. The birds, they could easily run away if he were to approach them, not exactly a good target for it either. Plus, he felt like they could easily chew through his Oddish if they had the chance. That left the lone grass-eating Pokemon on the far side. It was alone and looked most approachable.

After forming the plan and also peeked at a berry tree in the process, Loki took the long route to the lone Pokemon, avoiding the conflict at the east side of the field and went straight to his target. He kept his distance at first, trying to get a scan from His Pokedex. It glitched the first time, so he tried it on his Oddish...and it worked. New thing he learned today: Oddish will plant themselves on the ground and be like real plant. After prompting his Oddish to not do so for now in this time of need, he got closer to the Pokemon for a scan. Ah-ha, it was a Mareep, one with electrifying wool. That would certainly be an addition to his team. He would take anything, really, but this one looked good. Approaching the Pokemon closer, "Erm, hello, Mareep?" He got absolutely no answer from the Pokemon. His intuition told him that the Pokemon probably did not see him as a threat and was just ignoring him. He did not dare to go too close, as the sparkle around its fur looked like it would be painful upon contact. So this coward made a selfish decision -- to let the Oddish do the talking for him. He turned to talk to his Oddish. "Alright, let's see if you can talk to the Ma--" As he turned once again to point at the Mareep, it was attacked! The Mareep fought back for self-defense and the two Pokemon clashed against each others.

Completely surprised and panicked, Loki went for a Pokedex scan while his Oddish obliviously looked at the fight unfold in front of their eyes. The Pokedex told Loki that it was a Shinx, another Electric Pokemon. Cool. And also why the Mareep's wool was not effective against it. The Mareep fleed after a second Tackle. The food chain was right in this instance, leaving Loki face-to-face with the predator. Loki did not attack the Mareep because it was just not his approach to this thing but the Shinx, it attacked first. "We will challenge you, Oddish, attack with whatever you can!" And so the Oddish did, splitting green color energy through the air that attached onto the Shinx before sucking some life force out of it. The Shinx hit back with a Tackle, sending Oddish rolling for a bit. Both Pokemon held strong. Another Absorb from the Oddish then made Shinx think about the whole situation. Feeling the chance was now, Loki pulled out a Pokeball for a throw...only for the ball to flip out of his hand on its way backward. It has been twenty years between now and the first time he attempted to pitch a baseball and the same thing happened. He still remembered the laughter from the other kids. It was not a good moment for him, painful even, and even recalling it now did not feel good at all. As he was having that flashback, the Shinx took the chance to flee, running back from the wood it came from in lightning speed.

NOOOOOOO!!! Loki knew he has no way of chasing that Pokemon down, even assuming that he would dare to go into the wood by himself. He just never had that kind of speed in his frail body and the Pokemon was already just a dot in his vision by the time he realized. Saddened by the realization, he turned around to pick up the Pokeball -- and then realized the Oddish was more important. Rushing to the side of the Oddish, he checked to make sure his partner was okay. Despite his early skepticism, the Oddish did well in the combat; maybe it was not so bad of a fighter. "Hey buddy, you alright? You did very well just now."

As he thought he was not able to get anything, he felt something rubbing his side all of a sudden and almost yelled out girlishly. Wait a second, it was the Mareep. It looked hurt, barely standing. He tried his best to find the bruised spots or so but could not identify them. Decided to do it anyway, he pulled out a potion and sprayed it all around the Mareep. "Hold still, alright? You are going to be food in the wild in such condition. Me and my fellow Oddish in on an adventure. We just started and was trying to make more friends." The Mareep seemily seemed fine and rubbed itself against Loki. It felt great...until the tingling spark took over. Loki was soft and even a little pain was too much. He quickly pulled away but he could not resist the joy inside him. He just made friend, right? The rubbing he could learn to manage so it was not big deal, hopefully. He extended a Pokeball to the Mareep and it took the Pokemon a while to notice it. It continued to rub at Loki with its soft and shocking fur, which was kind of an unique albeit painful experience to Loki. "Not like I am forcing you but we have to use this thing to hold our Pokemon so...if you are okay with this arrangement, kindly hit the button in front of this ball." Upon seeing the ball, Mareep hit the button and went into it willingly.

Finally, Loki has caught his first Pokemon! He fell to the soft, gentle grass and letting himself relax. That was quite tense just now. He chatted a little with his Oddish, thought about naming him but decided to hold it for now. As he looked at the bright blue sky and then the greens around him, he saw the berry tree once again. Lifting his lazy ass from the ground, he went to the tree, circling it and looking for a way to climb on it. He was not athletic and he did not want to climb too high either, so he just ripped upon the low-hanging fruits. His lack of survival knowledge also meant that he has absolutely no idea what he was doing. Most of the berries he took were unripe or override and only a pair of Pecha Berries were okay. Still, it was better than nothing.

Before leaving the area, Loki checked out the fence on the east...and it was just a farm. Well, no way he was messing with others' properties. The day was still young and thus Loki pushed onward, to the north!

[Continue heading north to I14]

[frigidScholar]

"A Classic First Step" (Route 901 [I14])

Going further out onto the plains north of Heartwood, the first thing Loki notices is the breeze suddenly becoming stronger. Looking forward, it seems like the path here goes right past the top of a cliff, a indentation in the coastline that comes in far enough to reach Route 1. There's a rather nice view of the ocean here, the sun overhead strikes the water, turning the wide expanse a deep blue. You can hear the sound of waves striking the bottom of the cliffs below. Overall, it's quite a pleasing scene...

You take few moments to take it all in, but there are some other things to be worried about. Some things of particular note...

There are a pair of white birds with light blue stripes on their wings circling above the water. They're about level with the top of the cliffside. Every once in a while, one dives into the water below, though as far as you can see, they don't seem to be catching anything.

There's a juicy looking berry on a nearby tree, wow! It's hanging pretty much in clear sight too. This must be your lucky day!

Spoiler: General Education check (Open at 10+)

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Hey, wait a second... That isn't a berry, that's a pokemon! The small red creature seems to have masquerading as one! It was a dead ringer for a Cheri berry except for the second nodule on it. Maybe it's not such a good idea to go over and pick it, then.

You can see another person in the area, it seems to be a young girl. She has a hand shading her eyes from the sun as she stares off toward the ocean. She has an expression of awe on her face. You can see a pair of pokeballs on her side... She's obviously a trainer, perhaps she'll want a battle?

Spoiler: Perception check (Open at 8+)

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Hmm? There's some rustling in that patch of thick grass in front of you... You wonder what's making it? It seems to be fairly small as the grass hides it completely from view.

Spoiler: Perception check (Open if previous roll 10+)

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Though, with a closer look, you're able to see something tan and furry in there. It seems vaguely familiar...
you think you've seen whatever it is before.

You also see another pokemon up ahead beyond the small bay. It's some sort of large ball of fluff, though you can see it has eyes and what seems like leaves growing out of it. It seems to be minding its own business for the most part, its leaves spread to catch the abundant sunlight streaming down.

[Rune Knight]

Off the Beaten Track (J15)

After a near disastrous encounter with a flock of birds and meeting up with Victoria, Erik decided that it would be best to travel with someone when just starting out. There were a pair of lillipup that were surprisingly resistant to bribes in the deeper part of the woods, but were ultimately caught. Further along the overgrown path, another trainer sat on a rock looking over a map. She introduced herself as Amelia, and spoke with Vivi for a short time as Erik considered another group of squabbling starly and fletchinder. He felt pretty confident that the birds would leave everyone else alone, then, set out another jar of honey to lure any other pokémon in. It was over lunch that a small plant creature walked up without a care and took its prize, jar and all, before going into a pokéball. With the exception of the birds, the woods were quieting down for the afternoon as the group moved on.

Spoiler: OOC

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Onward to the plains in J14, Lorrel?

[Lorrel]

Spoiler: OOC

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J14 sounds good to me

[Atrum Umbra]

Off the Beaten Track (J14)

You continue to follow the path as it switches from clear to overgrown and back again several times. Eventually you reach a point where you have to leave the route altogether, as it turns to the west, and you continue northwards through the undergrowth.

Spoiler: Escaping the Forest

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(Roll Survival as a group and take the highest.)

Spoiler: Survival 11

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You manage to find a safe path through the undergrowth, it is hard going and circuitous but you finally make it out of the forest and in to the open plains.

Spoiler: Survival 15

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On the way out of the forest you find a tiny edible mushroom, you can't identify what exactly it will do but know that it will be helpful if consumed in a battle.

Spoiler: Fail

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The route out of the forest is plagued with bramble bushes and sudden hidden drops. At one point you go off the blind lip of a hill and slide into a thorny bush (Take 10 damage). It takes few hours before you finally see the sky again and notice that the sun is beginning to go down, you only have a couple of hours before you will need to stop and set up camp.

Half an hour later you find some evidence of civilization. A small dirt path makes it's way through the low hills here. A man in a loose fitting top and cargo pants is running laps around some bushes stopping regularly to lift or hit some large boulders on his course. A yellow ball of fluff is munching on some of the bushes giving the man a suspicious look but not letting him spoil it's dinner.

A purple rabbit is following a blue rabbit around another bush, both of them occasionally stopping to munch on a leaf or two. The blue rabbit seems uninterested in their stalker and isn't bothered enough by it to fight it off.

Spoiler: Perception 9

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You notice a purple tail sweeping through the bushes near the rabbits. A head pops up with a large smile on it's cream face, bearing two tiny but sharp fangs. Licking it's lips the head drops back down in to the foliage and turn to continue starting at the rabbits.

[Rune Knight]

Spoiler: Checks

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Survival 16
Perception 8

The Heartwood felt like a good first stop for Erik, as a trainer. There were a few rough spots, but as they say: To road goes ever onward.

[Lorrel]

Spoiler: Checks

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Survival (Directions):(3d6)[9]
Perception: (2d6)[10]
Survival (Identify the mushroom): (3d6)[12]

[Lorrel]

Wandering through the woods, Vivi is glad she has a companion. She may know a lot about surviving on the street, but she appears to have no knack for making it through the world at large.

"Thanks for guiding us through there, I'd have ended up more lost than Amy without you.

When Erik finds the mushroom, Vivi tries to identify it.

"Hmm, this looks interesting. Erik, any idea what it is?" Vivi asks her companion.

Looking at the scene in front of them, at first Vivi's eyes are drawn to the playful rabbit type creates, but as she looks closely she notices a small creature in the bush waiting to pounce.

"Erik, it looks like someone is about the crash their little game. I wouldn't mind catching the purple one, it is a pretty colour. We may have to discourage the little guy form attacking first.""

--Battle to be conducted in Roll20--

[Rune Knight]

(J14 summary)

The plains outside the Heartwood opened up before them, after Erik and Vivi continued their trek north. There was man truly dedicated to his training out that evening running laps, doing sets of push ups, breaking boulders. The norm. Erik decided not to interrupt the guy and focused on catching a few more pokémon as Yew requested.
A mareep ended up being his first target, then his second target, then... until half a dozen pokéballs littered the clearing. Afterwards, he was able to convince a gymnastics-aficionado geodude to join the team in order to hone his parkour.

Night drew in shortly after they all found a small hillside to camp by.

[Lorrel]

(J14)

As Erik went off to catch the yellow fluff, Vivi turned her attention to the bunnies on the right. Slowly making her way past the athletic trainer, Vivi got into position and tossed a pokeball at the unsuspecting "bunnies"

The purple one was caught without knowing what was happening, while the blue one bolted for cover. Erik joined Vivi in her search, but the Nidoran was long gone. Vivi didn't mind, as she had really wanted the purple one since it looked prettier. She named her new Nidoran MacBeth.

While Erik was busy playing with the Geodude, the blue Nidoran reappeared and played a game of hide and seek with Vivi. Wanting to learn more about hiding, the blue Nidoran jumped into the offered pokeball and join on the journey.

The day began getting later and they were still too far from the road and town. Using his survival skills, Eirk led them to a small hill where they could get shelter for the night. Used to sleeping without shelter, Vivi found a comfortable patch of ground and curled up with Breckitt who was radiating heat to keep her warm. Everest the Turtwig slept in his shell are her feet.

Morning came quickly and Vivi was up with the dawn to being her training.

She trains her team to move fast and hit effectively

Spoiler: Training Features

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Agility and Brutal Training for the team:
+1 Crit and Effect Range,
+1 Movement, +4 Initiative
Breckitt pushes himself passed his limit - 1 injury gained
Breckitt is Hardened
Breckit gains +1 Crit and Effect Range

Evaluating the team, she singles out Everest, MacBeth and Breckitt for indepth training

Spoiler: EXP Training

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Breckit gets 3.5 (Half Level) + 5 (Command) XP
Everest gets 3 (Half Level) + 5 (Command) XP. Everest is level 7!
MacBeth gets 1.5 (Half Level) + 5 (Command) XP

Vivi then watches the team train, and points out specific areas to focus on

Spoiler: Ace Trainer Feature - Trained Stats

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Vivi - Drains 1 AP
Breckitt: Attack Stat
Sierra: Attack Stat
Sebastian: Attack Stat
Everest: Defense Stat
MacBeth: Attack Stat
Desdemona: SDef Stat

Happy with how the training is going, Vivi addresses the team.
"Good work everyone, if we keep this up no one can touch us. The world out there is a tough place and no one is looking out for us but us. We all fight together, for each other. We will push our selves past where we thought possible. I will stand by your side win or lose, as long as you give it everything you can. Just ask Breckitt."

[Deadguy]

"The Beach Bums"


As Loft and Adalicia both act quickly to catch reptilian pokemon on the beach, Sawyer moved toward the young man dressed as a ninja. When he seemed to take a break from his training, Sawyer interjected and offered have a pokemon battle to help train both of their allies.

A wager was agreed to and the battle commenced with the ninja called out a Nosepass while Sawyer called his newest ally, Rosa the Slowpoke. The Nosepass missed it's first attack and Rosa glowed ominously as she called on a curse. The Nosepass then attacked with a dark type move. Rosa placed the Nosepass to sleep before cursing herself again and crushing the sleeping pokemon with a tackle. As it feinted, it took the form of a black fox.

Tommay the Ninja called out his Purrloin and Sawyer recalled the severely damaged Rosa for Ulv, the Lillipup. The cat and dog traded blows, but Ulv came up victorious in the end.

Both trainers bowed to each other and Tommay gave Sawyer the wager before departing.

[Goliathus]

"A Classic Forming of Rivalry With A Not-So-Classic Result"(Route 901 [I14])

[Session was done on Roll20]

Loki continued his way up north, climbing up the steep curve up a cliff, which was certainly not easy for someone who did not do a lot of physical activities. If not for his jovial mood in this very first day of adventure, he probably would have taken a rest half way up. His Oddish showed zero fatigue or whaever though, still taking anything with a blank stare but it did not slow down at all, looking very alive and active as he took steps over Loki on occasion. The Pokemon did turn back to wait on Loki though, even though his stares were blank and lifeless, the creature might just be full of love. Loki just chose to not pay much attention on them as of now.

The first thing Loki did as he climbed up the top end of the cliff was to avoid the edge of the cliff. His acrophobia kicked in once he soon realized he was at a very high place physically and the edge was fenceless. Shat, even just imagining the drop in his mind put him on a panicked state and he quickly stuck himself to the plantation by the east and away from the cliff.

Then, he saw one berry, juicy and colorful, right in front of his eyes so he headed there to pluck it. What he did not realized until he touched it was that it was actually a Cherrim, who out of self-defense, Absorb the life out of Loki's hand until he gave up -- which did not tell long as the man screamed like a little girl once he saw the fruit coming alive like a freaking zombie. He was not sure if he wanted another Grass Pokemon. He has played a lot of Pokemon Card Game in the past and mono-type was the thing there most of the time because well, card game design, so he always felt like he should be aiming for a bit of variety when it came to his Pokemon Trainer career. On the other hand, he was just starting out and filling his initial arsenal was likely a wise move. So, he tried to talk to the Cherrim into joining, knowing that a battle with him and Oddish would probably last too long, and he needed the Oddish for other fights. The Cherrim did not take the talking well, even if it was calmed down by Oddish's Sweet Scent, it did not like Loki at all and refused to join. Without much alternative, Loki decided to just leave it be.

Moving on, Loki saw some birds flying over the cliff, diving down to the water once in a while. The problem? He has to get close to the cliff -- by "close", like 10 meters before the edge, that distance was close enough to a person with acrophobia. He stuck himself to the ground, making sure he could feel the warmth of Mother Earth under him as he crawled forward like a Salazzle. The Oddish copied his movement by the side, falling down and rolling by his side, having fun with the little imitation. As the birds were constantly moving in mid-air, it was hard for the Pokedex to get a lock on from the maximum distance. So, Loki took every step carefully as he tried to hit his target. No good read for like 10 steps, and so he decided to climb upon a rock and put his Pokedex on top of it for a solid scan. The Oddish "crawled" along him, bouncing himself up the rock, only to be harshly shoved aside by his desperate trainer. A reading! Once he got it, Loki dashed right toward the big tree by the side away from the cliff's edge. He hugged the tree and circled around it until the big tree trump blocked all of the cliff from his side. Then, he sat and caught some breathe. That was close, too close. The Oddish was a little upset and did not understand about this whole thing, but eventually returning to his regular blank stare and trailed after his trainer.

So, those birds were Wingull. Great types for his Mareep to go against, only if his Mareep was a bit more healthier than its current state and if he was not so afraid of the freaking cliff. Also, there were two Wingull. So, number disadvantage might not be on his side, especially with a weakened Mareep. Sighed, he decided to move on. Then, he saw this girl by the cliff, taking her time with the "scary" view. Hey, maybe he could convince the girl to catch the Wingull with him. There were two, so one for each of them. Solid plan. But, the girl was by the cliff, so no way he was going near her. He tried to walk by and hope the girl will notice him but the girl did not. He plotted something though and that was to make the girl come to her. So, he asked his Oddish to tickle the girl with his grassy hair and try to lure her to him.

The Oddish did not do as told though. It rammed himself upon the girl's leg. Thankfully for the girl, this Oddish was not some kind of highly trained but unevolved Oddish like she initially though so. The girl unstabled by the impact but was able to rebalance and stand her ground before falling into her death off the cliff. Though, that was enough to anger her. He thought the man sent the Oddish to kill her. She lashed on Loki angrily, challenging him for her personal honor and an apology. Loki put his manipulation skill to use - talking, apologizing together with his Oddish, negotiating - and the final term is a 1v1 for 150 poke. Loki's plan to convince the girl to capture the Wingull together is never a thing here but Loki simply cannot refuse his first Pokemon fight, not with the competitive spirit burning inside him.

The girl sent out Iija, a Mienfoo, against his Oddish. The Mienfoo was too fast and has been boosting up its attack power for a turn while his Oddish could not do much but attack with Absorb and hope the sustain was enough. It was not. After a few rounds of exchange, the Mienfoo put Oddish down with one final Pounding of rapid fist work and down went Oddish. Clean knockout, no movement upon a count to 10.

All the fire and brightness inside Loki just went way down after his Oddish fainted. This fight was the twilight of his mood and it was all darkness by the end of it. Loki handed the girl her winning wager with "disappointment" written all over his face. The girl, who mentioned her name was Elise, was rather sympathetic, trying to cheer up Loki and even offered to escort him back to town or be together for the night so she could cover him from night assault without Pokemon to defend himself with.

Loki, being a sore loser and a vengeful person all and all, just avoided all the concern, trying to extract information and just all around being a fool. Enough to piss the girl off and left him alone. Pfft, whatever, as if he needed any help! His trip back to the town was without any event at all. Perhaps it was his blank look, that was just like his Oddish, that kept all interest away from him. It was a rough day for him and he was just trying his best to tell himself it was okay to lose his first fight. He came up with all the things like even championship teams have lost their first game of the season before and so forth and so on. Just few hours of talking to himself as he headed back to Heartwood.

After leaving his Pokemon for care in the Pokemon Center in Heartwood, Loki found a small inn to settle in for the night. It was time for him to do his homework for the night. He checked out a lot of the fights he could find in the internet, particularly on the few Pokemon he has and also the Mienfoo evolution line. Then, it was a little bit of online poker and handheld gaming before sleep.

The morning began with some training session for his small team of Pokemon. He has to do better than yesterday and he needed the two Pokemon to work better with him. After an hour of training, it was breakfast for all of them. The Oddish planted himself like the Pokedex said so for some food from Mother PokeEarth, the Mareep has plenty of grass on the outskirt of town and Loki had a wonderful meal in the inn. After that, a little shopping on the PokeMart now that he understood the importance of item. After all that was done, it was time to track Elise down for a rematch, heading north once again!

Training Summary
Oddish: Brutal Training + 2XP
Mareep: Brutal Training + 2XP

Shopping Summary
Buying: 6x Enriched Water($450)

[Heading north all day to I13]

[frigidScholar]

"A Classic First Step" (Route 901[I13])

Moving north past the earlier section of the routes from Heartwood takes most of the day and it's near sundown when Loki arrives at the junction between Routes 901 and 902. The area seems like a pretty standard piece of the plains in the region otherwise, though it looks like the terrain shifts into grassy hills to the north and east. There seems to be a clear dirt road running through here, it splits off to the north and east. There's a sign at the junction, though you'll need to get closer to read it.

There's a young man loitering near the sign, seemingly scribbling in some sort of notebook. He looks distracted, hyper focused on it. He's wearing some sort of lab coat and doesn't seem to have noticed how late it's getting.

Spoiler: Perception Check (Open at 11+)

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There's some rustling in the brush off the side of the road to the left... It seems like there's something hiding in there... It must be small since the brush is hiding it well, though you can spot a curl of black fur as well as two yellow eyes.

Spoiler: Perception Check (Open if previous is 16+)

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There actually seems to be two somethings in there, as you can spot something else moving around in the undergrowth. A thin purple tail waves lazily back and forth as it moves toward the other creature.

You can also spot a strange looking bird perched on top of a tree slightly off the road. Aside from occasionally preening at its green feathers, it stays completely motionless... It's staring out at the setting sun for whatever reason.

[Rune Knight]

"The Beach Bums" (I19)

The plains of southern Fantasia creep out further towards the shoreline in this stretch of beach. Some bushes and small trees dot the greener areas, while waves roll onto the sand in their repetitive fashion.

Spoiler: Perception, Survival, or General Education 12

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Some rustling from a nearby bush catches your attention, and it turns out to be a berry bush. A large crab seems to be trying to climb it to get some of the fruit.

There are a few white-feathered birds circling a small tide pool. Occasionally, one makes a dive into the shallow water, then returns to the air.

Spoiler: Pokemon Education 9

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You know wingull are omnivores. So, if they're hunting, there could be a fish-like pokémon or possibly a berry in the tide pool that they're trying to get.

Further south, woman dressed in green is admiring the coast.

Finally, there is a seal-like creature is laying on one of the rocks jutting up out of the surf.

Spoiler: Perception 7

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A second one is playing in the crashing waves, partially hidden from sight.