The Spark that grew into a Flame

[Kataya]

Hoothoot just loved concerts. It never fully understood why people and Pokemon alike fell asleep during its beautiful performances, but it was okay, because the only Pokemon it was trying to impress was itself, right? Right! It watched curiously as the human took out a weird looking box. What on earth?! it sounded much worse than Hoothoot, and Hoothoot knew a good singing voice when it heard one, and that just wasn't it. The distraction gave Spessartine just the chance she needed to go in for the scratch. She shot forward, slender body moving both easily and quietly, her claws raking down the Hoothoot's plump belly. The latter screeched in pain before slamming into the Charmander, sending her rolling ungracefully back where she had been before.

Fried owl was sounding better and better right now, the young charmander nearly had the thought as she got back to her feet. Her trainer tried to wake the snoring one to no avail once again. "Five more minutes mommy..." was uttered as the trainer turned in place, snoozing away. What a lovely situation they were in. A fame delusioned owl and a sleeping ninny. Perhaps they had better things to do, but here they were.

It looks like Weather it's Blooming! (No Effect]!
Have some Battle Music!

Wild Hoothoot |Level 4|

HP: 70% (14/20)

Status: -1 ATK

HootHoot used Tackle!
Hoothoot did 3 damage!

I am only lightly salted.

Ulysse's Spessartine Flame |Level 5|

HP: 70% (14/20)

Status: Normal 

Spessartine Flame used Scratch!
Spessartine Flame did 6 damage!

Would you like to be lightly crisped?

[fylisfe]

Ulysse did not have time to watch how well Spessartine was doing in her first battle, as her focus was still on the sleeping trainer's safety, but Spessa didn't mind. She was feeling plenty of proud of herself even without her trainer's eye on her and the fact that Ulysse was trusting her so fully with this task filled the little charmander with confidence, even the tackle she'd received from hoothoot didn't faze her. 

"CHAR CHAAR! CHAAAAR!" Spessa taunted the hoothoot and waggled her flaming tail at the owl pokemon. I hope that hit wasn't all you've got, 'cause I'm gonna roast you. 

Ulysse looked over to the ongoing battle. She'd continued to try and shake the girl in her lap awake but had yet to be successful. Ulysse wondered how much longer Spessartine Flame would be able to keep the hoothoot's attention. The charmander seemed to be enjoying itself and considering how feisty it had been back at Elm's lab it was no surprise that it enjoyed fighting, but if the hoothoot got tired of getting scratched and decided to put her and Ulysse to sleep as well, fighting would be no help to them. Ulysse knew that it was best to end this situation as quickly as possible. Ulysse bit her lip and looked around them for inspiration as to how to end things, she looked down at the small pokeball she was holding in her hand-- the one that she'd taken from the sleeping trainer-- and lightbulb went off in her head. She quickly reached into her bag and pulled out a pokeball of her own. It was an all red ball that she'd won in a giveaway while passing by a town as she'd made her way to New Bark Town.

"Here's hoping this works..." Ulysse watched Spessartine and the hoothoot carefully. She waited for the hoothoot to have its back to her, Ulysse held back a chuckle as she saw Spessartine continue to taunt the hoothoot, and then she threw the cherish ball straight at the hoothoot. If she succeeded in capturing the owl, then the cute trainer still snoring in her lap would be safe. Ulysse crossed her fingers anxiously. 

((OOC: Ulysse threw a cherish ball))

[Goni]

This performance was a bust. What had started out so well had gone downhill, once again, as more and more people came to hear it. On other nights when there was just one listener, the performance would go on all through the night, no interruptions at all. The Hoothoot would then give their adoring fans a peck on the cheek, and then fly away into the dawn, never to be seen again. Their song was only to be kept safe in the mind as a dream, or occasionally a nightmare if Hoothoot was feeling naughty, or had a really scary idea theme for a song, and they liked it that way. Whenever more than one audience member came to listen, it always seemed like there were more interruptions then it was worth dealing with to perform. This was simply a labor of love after all, no one had made this pokémon do what it did. It could handle the interruptions, but the physical abuse was simply too much. Ruffling its feathers, the Hoothoot started to take off.

Oh?

A small, strangely shaped red sphere hit it square in the forehead. The moment of realization came a second too late as the hoothoot was sucked into the cherish ball. Once again, an eerie silence filled the air. Strangely, and in sync with the ball periodically rolling along its cylindrical side, noises could be heard rejoining the night.

A distant hoothoot called out;

“Hooo, hooooo”

The cherish ball rolling quickly towards Ulysse’s feet before stopping as the hooting stopped in the distance.

The cherish ball started moving once again, slowly at first, as a slow rising kricketune call could be heard from the other direction “Kriiiiiii—“, the ball picking up speed with the raising volume of the kriketune call “keTUUUUUNE~” The call crescendoed before abruptly coming to an end, the ball stopping in front of Ulysse.

“Pa-tra-tra-tra-tra-raaaat!”

A periodic stop-and-go noise seeming to come from multiple directions erupted, the ball rolling strangely due to its odd shape, seemingly bouncing with each hard consonant. before once again stopping abruptly. It was almost as if the orchestra was saying goodbye, one somber instrument at a time.

The ball froze straight up, in an almost physically impossible way, the cylindric body and rounded bottom would almost guarantee that it would rest laying on its side, but there it stayed, softly emitting the orchestra’s last note, a

soft


gentle




cli-

“… SPINDA?” 

A human voice shouted in disconcerted tone. The sleeping girl shot straight up, leaping to her feet. “HEY! What did you do to me?!” The girl shouted, obviously perturbed. She reached for her pokéball belt, grabbing at empty air. “And what have you done with my Pokémon?!” She said defensively, gritting her teeth. “Give me my Spinda back, you ruffian!” She shouted, producing a magnifying glass from her sleeve, then pointing it accusingly at Ulysse. “I’ll have you know, my father is a P.I.! Mess with me, and you’ll be discovered in an instant! I’m here investigating a mystery myself, but seems like I’ve stumbled onto quite the case! A nut case!”

Spessartine Flame has grown 2 levels and is now level 7, they have learned Ember!

Please fill out the following code for your Hoothoot!


[img src=http://www.pokestadium.com/sprites/diamond-pearl/hoothoot.png]
[b]Hoothoot[/b]
Name: [choose]
Gender: [choose]
Level: 4
OT: Ulysse Bellerose
Moves: Tackle, Growl, Foresight, Hypnosis
Ability: Insomnia OR Keen Eye
Nature/Personality: [choose]

[fylisfe]

Spessartine Flame was deeply disappointed by how quickly the battle had ended, she'd been really enjoying herself. She appreciated that Ulysse had come up with a plan so quickly and had entrusted her with executing it. The charmander thought to herself that she had made a good choice in trainer. But despite the charmander's desire to keep fighting, the hoothoot was now gone, disappeared into the small red pokeball. Spessa licked the bruise the hoothoot's tackle had given her and then rushed to Ulysse's side. She was excited to see what was going to happen next. It was then that the girl they had been trying to protect woke up. As the girl shouted accusingly and waved her magnifying glass in Ulysse's face, Ulysse immediately put her hands up and dropped the girl's pokeball which rolled onto the ground. 

"Woah woah! I didn't do anything to you!" Ulysse exclaimed, trying her best to keep her cool. If there was anything she was used to it was being in a confrontation, however, she was usually the one doing the confronting not the being confronted. "Listen, I found you passed out here on the road and there was a hoothoot hovering over you kinda threateningly. I tried to wake you up but you wouldn't budge. I only grabbed your uhm, spinda?... because I was worried that I was going to need back up against the hoothoot... I just got out of Professor Elm's lab and I only had one pokemon so I was worried. But luckily, I was able to catch it just with Spessartine's help." 

Upon hearing her name, the charmander curled around Ulysse's leg and glared at the trainer girl. Her glare seemed to say: This is my girl, and I will protect her. Don't make me set you on fire.

"I would NEVER take someone else's pokemon... not since I had my own pokemon taken from me." Ulysse continued, her voice serious and sincere. "I wouldn't wish that pain on anyone."
 
Ulysse put her hands down and extended a hand for the girl to shake. Ulysse did her best to look friendly and non-threatening, but the result looked unnatural and awkward as it had been a long while since the spunky girl had tried to look open for friendly interaction. "Let's start over okay? Hi. My name is Ulysse Bellerose. This is my charmander, Spessartine Flame. What's your name and are you in need of any help? You said you're solving a mystery?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here's the Hoothoot's info!

[img src="http://www.pokestadium.com/sprites/diamond-pearl/hoothoot.png"]

[b]Hoothoot[/b]
Name: Eudialyte Song
Gender: Female
Level: 4
OT: Ulysse Bellerose
Moves: Tackle, Growl, Foresight, Hypnosis
Ability: Insomnia
Nature/Personality: Naughty, Eudialyte Song is a mischievous hoothoot who loves to perform. She appreciates a good attentive audience but has no tolerance for interruptions. Her relationship with Ulysse and Spessartine is rocky as they were both guilty of interrupting one of her grand perfomances, but with time perhaps they can learn to be friends. Eudialyte does not shy away from any opportunity to cause trouble.

Word count: 414 (please add 400 for yamask egg!)

[Goni]

The girl looked Ulysse over thoroughly. “Hmm, rough exterior... Tattoos...” Her eyes trailed down to the charmander, “And a faithful companion... You seem to be a skilled pokemon trainer. Definitely not who I’m looking for. What happened then, how come I’m here?” The girl said, agitated. “I’m Sherlotta. Sherlotta Gomez.” She said, somewhat proudly, as if the name carried prestige. Sherlotta quickly grabbed the pokeball which had been dropped to the ground. “And this here is Waddles Jr.” She said, clicking the button on the pokéball, spinda bursting forth from it. “We’re looking for a pokémon thief.” Sherlotta said, fiercely. The spinda dizzily wandered forth towards Spessartine, “Spiiiiindaaa” It said, wavering back and forth, offering its hand to the charmander as if introducing itself (albeit somewhat in a drunkenly fashion) to the charmander. 

The girl watched the spinda. “Hm. Waddles seems to think your pokémon is of good character. I’m not sure about you myself, but the nature of well trained pokémon usually reflect their trainers.” The girl pulled out a small notepad, scribbling in it. “Alright, so Ulysse, looks to be about 25, short, looks like a fighter based on the scars, red highlights, ear piercings...” She said out loud as she wrote, “highly suspicious” She said, murmuring the last bit rather quietly as if she couldn’t help but say everything she write. “I can’t really get into the specifics of what I’m looking for with you, seeing as you’re a total and complete stranger who just happened to be hovering over me when I awoke, even if it was a ‘hoothoot’ As you claim... It’s pretty weird that you’re traveling this route in the middle of the night, especially with rumors of man-eating rattata on the prowl flying around.” She said, her eyes flashing up to try to see your reaction. “Hmph.” She said, obviously trying to read your face. “Anyways, you better get going to your destination. If you find yourself discovering any mysteries, stop by my father’s P.I. shop in Violet City.” She said, producing a business card. “And do your best to avoid hoothooting strangers.” She said, with a distrustful glare. 

[fylisfe]

"Nice to meet you Sherlotta," Ulysse smiled. "And Waddles Jr."

The two young women watched as Waddles Jr and Spessartine Flame became acquainted. The charmander looked suspiciously at the spinda's outstretched hand and for a moment seemed to lean in to bite it, but a stern look from Ulysse convinced her otherwise and the charmander took the hand and shook it instead. Ulysse let out a tense breath, glad that Spessa had changed her mind from biting. Meanwhile, Sherlotta went on about her written judgement of Ulysse. 

"Oh...uh... I didn't know about the man-eating ratatas, I'm brand new to the region... are you sure those are a thing?" Ulysse awkwardly scratched the back of her head, she'd decided it was best not to push the fact that Sherlotta had just mumbled that she was 'highly suspicious' and instead try to clarify her situation. "And I'm not really travelling this route at night by choice, actually. I went to see Elm at the recommendation of my dad but I didn't even know he was a pokemon professor till I got there, and I kinda thought my dad was sending me somewhere I'd be able to at least like... stay the night? But the prof ended up not being quite as helpful as I thought he was going to be... though I did get Spessa here out of the whole deal, so that was a plus." 

Spessa continued shaking the spinda's hand vigorously, unsure of when she was supposed to let go. Ulysse accepted the business card that was thrust into her hand.

"Anyways, a pokemon thief, that sounds pretty serious," Ulysse looked over the business card and wondered if she would make a good detective. "I know you can't disclose details, me being a stranger and all, but are you sure you're safe wandering around in the dark alone? I'm not really in a rush to be anywhere, maybe I could accompany you wherever you need to go? Just for like backup in case you find the thief? I promise not to interfere with any investigating, I could be like... an intern! An intern/bodyguard/assistant that you can boss around. I'm a quick learner and take instruction well."

Ulysse looked to Spessartine and gave her a quick nod to signal her to come over. The charmander gladly released Waddle Jr's hand and bounded over to Ulysse, quickly clambering up to her shoulder. "Char! Char!" 

"I think that means Spessa would like to help too," Ulysse did her best to exude confidence and reliability, which Spessartine accentuated with a well timed swing of her lit tail. In the light of the charmander's flame, Ulysse finally got a good look at Sherlotta's face. She looked quite cute with her eyebrows furrowed as she scrutinized Ulysse's offer. Never able to avoid a good chance to flirt, Ulysse smiled coyly and added one last comment: "And to be honest, I'd rather not spend the night alone... especially if there are man-eating ratatas on the prowl."

((OOC word count: 497, 400 for egg please! I'd be happy to either help with Sherlotta's investigation here in NBT or move on to Cherrygrove with her, or she can just reject my help and I'll move on to Cherrygrove))

[Goni]

“Man eating rattata are for SURE a thing!” Sherlotta said, frantically checking her notes. “Haven’t you seen the teeth on those things?” She said somewhat flustered, a little less sure. As Ulysse continued to explain her situation to Sherlotta, Sherlotta considered it carefully. “Elm is a pretty nice guy, but they sure don’t know a thing about hospitality, that’s for sure. If you’re sure you want to help, I guess I Shouldn’t turn you away I could use the help.” She looked down at her notepad, and then crossed something out. “Helpful…” She murmered to herself as she wrote the word. Waddles Jr stumbled back to Sherlotta.

“The only reason I’m here is that I’m following a lead. My sources tell me that the thief was hiding out somewhere in this area until things cooled down. Yesterday I found a campsite but no one was there so I headed back to town… I’m hoping I’ll have better luck tonight, and I was heading back there before I was evidently ambushed by a hoothoot.” Sherlotta said, reaching into her backpack and pulling out a map. She pointed to a red circle she had drawn on it. “We’re about a five minute walk from there if you’re serious about helping, which it seems like you are.” Sherlotta said. “I’ll lead you there.”


——————

As you approach the site, it’s not immediately evident that there is anything here, but as Sherlotta puts her finger to her lips and points to a fallen tree, you start to make out a shape. A bedroll is tucked underneath the body of a fallen tree, with sticks and a dark green tarp covering the backside of it, concealing it even more from view. A few meters away from the hidden bedroll is a small fire pit with embers which are still burning. “Dang, we must have just missed them!” Sherlotta said, disappointed, sneakily making her way over to the fire pit before taking a look around. She quickly made her way over to the bedroll, and looked around it, trying to find a bag. “They seem to have taken their stuff. We must have spooked them, or they knew we were coming somehow!” She said to Ulysse. “Dangit, it’s never easy…”

As Sherlotta investigated the area near the bedroll, a small creature slowly crawled out of the darkness. Its blue scales shimmered in the moonlight to the observant eye, its red eyes narrowing as it slowly approached Sherlotta from behind, threatening looking red spines protruding from its back as it carefully and quietly snuck up behind her.

A level 7 Totodile is approaching Sherlotta from behind, but she hasn’t seemed to notice it!