A Spirited Beginning

[Devan]

There were perks to being a Pokemon Trainer. You got to travel all over the country, maybe even the world if you were good enough. You could meet all kinds of pokemon, and people, for that matter, and learn more about yourself, history, or anything else you could imagine along the way. It really only had one major problem...

The long searches for wild pokemon. Devan had started out towards New Bark Town from his hometown of Ecruteak City with his new Charmander, Cinder. Cinder was a little... reckless, but he was loyal, and was enjoying the traveling as much as Devan was.

But both of them were starting to get a little bored.

"Man... I didn't think it'd be this hard to find a single wild pokemon, did you?" The boy sighed, looking down at his partner, who was currently sitting next to his leg, his fiery tail swishing lazily above him.

"Chaaar!" The reptile growled, looking up at him.

[Trent]

Searching through the tall grass, Devan was not having any luck at finding any wild Pokémon to encounter. It seemed that the area that he was in was quite devoid of any activity, at least on that day as he could see the tracks of Pokémon. Determined not to have a fruitless first day the new Trainer continued his search, unaware that he was being watched from a nearby tree. If he would only look up he would see a pair of red, gleaming eyes staring at him.

Despite it being the middle of the day, the Hoothoot was wide awake in its activities. Normally it would be sleeping peacefully, but for the past few days it had been unable to get any sleep due to other Pokémon and new trainers traveling past its tree. It had already scared off other wild Pokémon from around its roost and was now poised to get rid of this training who was thrashing noisily in the grass.

The Hoothoot leaped out of the tree and glided down in front of Devan and Cinder. Standing on a single foot, the Owl Pokémon began to furiously flap its wing.

“Hoot! Hoot!” it angrily cried out.

It wasn’t about to attack the trainer and its Pokémon right away, first trying to scare them off like it had done everything else. The Hoothoot would not budge unless by a battle.

---

A wild Hoothoot (Level 4) appeared!

---

[Devan]

Devan stepped back a little as the Hoothoot landed in front of him, and grinned, glancing down at Cinder. "Well, whaddya know? Lucky us, huh Cinder?" The boy turned his attention to the pokemon in front of him, as Cinder growled.

"Cinder, go! Use Scratch!" The boy cried, as Cinder charged.

"Chaaar!"

[Trent]

The enemy Hoothoot angrily squinted at Devan and Cinder after they hadn’t backed down. Most opponents it had faced the past few days had already retreated by this point, but not this time. If the Hoothoot wasn’t able to scare off this trainer so easily, then it would just have to battle to force them out. It decided out of the moment to use Foresight to get a better understanding of what it was facing, even though it wasn’t likely it would actually help it. Still, the Hoothoot gave a piercing gaze and positively identified Cinder.

While it was busy doing this, Cinder was fast approaching with its claws extended. By the time Hoothoot was finished using its move, it was too late for it do anything about the oncoming attack. The fire lizard’s claws dug right into the side of Hoothoot’s head and caused it to quickly snap to the side. The force of the attack combined with how unprepared the owl was caused a Critical Hit! Hoothoot fell to the ground while Charmander retreated back its initial position.

“Hoo…”

It took some effort for the Hoothoot to get back up, its head trembling as it righted itself on one of its feet. The weak cry it gave confirmed just how much damage it had taken. But it wasn’t out of the fight yet. Once back on its feet it shook its head to regain its focus, ready to continue. It had its former look about it and now you couldn’t tell it had just been dealt a devastating blow. What will Cinder do?

---

Battle

---

Hoothoot | Level 4 |
Health: 71%
Status: Normal


Cinder | Level 5 |
Health: 100%
Status: Normal

---

[Devan]

The boy grinned as Cinder growled again, rather pleased with himself. And gave his trainer an idea.

"Ok, Cinder, convince him attacking you is a bad idea!"

Cinder, taking the hint, put on his most menacing Growl.

[Trent]

[[OOC: Could you try to make your posts a little longer? I know its can be hard with battles because you feel there isn't much to describe, but there can be. Try for 1-2 nice paragraphs minimum.]]

---

Cinder leaped into action and moved in on the Hoothoot. It could tell by the look in the Hoothoot’s eyes that it didn’t want them there, but there was also the presence of the will to fight. Cinder moved the air up from its chest and let out a deep Growl attack. The Hoothoot flinched a bit at the attack and Devan could tell that its attack strength had been brought down.

The Hoothoot wasn’t about to let a minor attack like that make it shrink away. If anything, the assault had just gotten it even more pumped up to defend its territory and right to sleep. It jumped forward on its foot and placed itself in front of Cinder. It wings started down at its side before slowly raising them up and flapping them at the same time. Hoothoot let out a piercing cry while doing this, combining to make an intimidating Growl attack.

“Hoooot! Hooooot!”

Now it was time for Cinder to flinch back a bit at this verbal assault. Cinder’s head sagged a bit and it stepped back, both Pokémon now it their original positions. No damage had been dealt, but Devan kept the lead with his initial attack. The Hoothoot had managed to keep the playing field somewhat level by having both their attacks lowered. What will Cinder do?

---

Battle

---

Hoothoot | Level 4 |
Health: 71%
Status: Attack (-1)


Charmander | Level 5 |
Health: 100%
Status: Attack (-1)

---

[Devan]

[[OOC: Yeah. Sorry. I'll make my next post longer.]]

Devan's eyes narrowed a little. This Hoothoot seemed pretty bright. He'd make a good addition to the team. The trick would be weakening him enough to use a pokeball on. So...

"Ok then, Cinder! Start laying into it again!"

Cinder then charged again, his tail flaring up in his excitement.

[Trent]

Cinder charged in once more with its claws extended, ready to tear a few more feathers from Hoothoot. The bird was prepared for it this time and braced itself for the attack. It didn’t appear to want to try and dodge the attack which was odd, but it was stubborn about not running away no matter what form it was. Cinder’s claws met with its side along its wing and indeed did rip a few feathers off. Hoothoot moved with the attack and although it still took the brunt of it, it did not receive any jerking from it.

Just as Cinder finished with its attack, Hoothoot launched its own attack before it could retreat. It rammed its head into the gut of Cinder with a strong Tackle. The attack made Cinder slide back and get away from the Hoothoot. The little owl moved its wing to make sure it was fine and a sign of pain came across its face. It didn’t last long as it rotated its wing a few times to double check on its mobility and returned to its determined demeanor.

“Hoothoot!”

Cinder recovered from its attack, too, standing upright after buckling from the shot to its stomach. It hadn’t taken as much damage as Hoothoot had and was still perfectly fine to fight. It might bruise later but that was unlikely with the tough scales of a Charmander. What will Cinder do now?

---

Battle

---

Hoothoot | Level 4 |
Health: 52%
Status: Attack (-1)


Charmander | Level 5 |
Health: 84%
Status: Attack (-1)

---

[Devan]

The trainer winced sympathetically when Cinder was hit, but grinned as the Charmander straightened back up. Knowing Cinder would be fine, the boy cheered on his partner. "Good hit, Cinder! Now hit him again!"

So far, the fight was definitely in his favor, and he was feeling maybe a little cocky. So he just hoped that his confidence wouldn't prove unfounded.

But really, what could happen, besides the Hoothoot dodging?

Cinder, on the other hand... just grinned, and charged again. "Chaaaa!"

[Trent]

Cinder ran at the Hoothoot again, letting out a battle cry as it went. The Hoothoot tried to think of something that it could do, but it wasn’t able to think fast enough. Cinder landed another scratch attack, this time across the front of the Owl Pokémon. Now Hoothoot had sustained damage to its head, wing, and front, not a good predicament. A great one for Devan and Cinder though.

As Cinder was returning to its position near Devan, Hoothoot gathered itself up and ran up from behind. It delivered another Tackle attack, hitting Cinder in the back and causing it to fall on its face. Hoothoot quickly retreated before Cinder could stand back up. It tried to keep up its fierce look, but it was already starting to breathe heavily.

“Hoot…Hoot…”

The Hoothoot was getting desperate, clearly shown by the fact that it had attacked while Cinder’s back was turned. It wasn’t willing to run away, but it wasn’t about to lose this battle by playing fair. Cinder hadn’t been beat up that bad and all that was really wrong was that it had some dirt on its face now. Cinder stood back up and turned around to face the Hoothoot again. It wasn’t enough to beat Cinder but the sneak attack had taken it by surprise. It didn't really matter since Cinder still had more than double the health than Hoothoot had.

---

Battle

---

Hoothoot | Level 4 |
Health: 30%
Status: Attack (-1)


Charmander | Level 5 |
Health: 70%
Status: Attack (-1)

---

[Devan]

Devan was caught by surprise as much as Cinder was, the charmander letting out an indignant growl as he turned to face his opponent. Neither trainer or pokemon were happy about that sneak attack, but it went to show the fighting spirit this pokemon had. And that only made Devan want it even more.

"Ok, you Hoothoot, you've got some guts, I'll give you that!" The boy began, pushing back his jacket to reveal his empty pokeballs strapped to his belt. "But guts aren't enough to make us leave. Cinder, get him!" The boy cried, and Cinder, with a victorious growl, charged once more, claws bared.

[Trent]

The Hoothoot glared at Devan as he pushed aside his jacket to show his Poké Balls. It didn’t know what Devan was trying to show by it, as it didn’t really know what those items were. It had seen a trainer release a Pokemon from them before, so it assumed that Devan was showing that it had plenty more Pokémon to hurt it with. This disheartened the Hoothoot a little, thinking that it was going to be beat to death. Before it could get gloomy, it perked back up. Suddenly its leg was straight and not sagging, its flapped its wings in strength, and its head was held up high. It looked like the Hoothoot was not about to be bullied.

This didn’t stop Cinder though as it continued its rush at Hoothoot. The Owl made no attempt to move, simply standing there with its head held proudly. Cinder drew back its claw and scratched Hoothoot across the body once more. The attack sent Hoothoot flying backwards again and it crumpled to the ground. It tried to get back up, only to fall back down onto its stomach. It tried this a couple more times, each with the same result.

“Hooooooooot…Hoooooooooooot…”

Hoothoot had just taken too much damage from that last attack and wasn’t quite ready to get back up on its feet. As it lay on its stomach, it looked back up at Devan and Cinder. Instead of a look of pain or fear, the Hoothoot continued to show determination. Even if it wasn’t able to attack at the moment, that didn’t mean it was ready to throw in the towel. With one final effort it managed to prop itself on one knee before standing back up. It was still unable to put forth the energy to attack, but at least it was standing again.

---

Battle

---

Hoothoot | Level 4 |
Health: 11%
Status: Attack (-1)


Charmander | Level 5 |
Health: 70%
Status: Attack (-1)

---

[Devan]

Devan had decided the Hoothoot had had enough, taking one of the empty pokeballs from his belt. "Good job Cinder. Now, Hoothoot... You're coming with us!" That said, the boy reared back, and threw his pokeball at the exhausted owl pokemon. He didn't know what had brought on that sudden rush of determination, but he hoped this Hoothoot'd show the same determination when fighting on his side.

[Trent]

The Poké Ball sailed smoothly through the air towards its target, which was completely unaware that it was a target of anything other than the Cinder. So focused was the Hoothoot at the battle at hand that it did not expect anything to be thrown at it. At the last moment Hoothoot looked up and noticed the object coming at it. With a sudden feeling that this was the end, it let out one final battle cry.

"Hoooooo-!"

The device connected with its head, causing the mechanism to release and open. The result was a brilliant flash of light that engulfed the Hoothoot. When the light subsided there was only the Poké Ball on the ground where the Hoothoot once stood. Devan waited anxiously as the ball wobbled in place, struggling to contain the wild Pokémon. Cinder was also at the ready, claws extended in case the feisty Pokemon escaped. It hadn’t been caught with no health, but it wasn’t exactly in the best of shape to put up a fight either.

---

One...


Two...



Click!

Congratulations! Hoothoot was captured!

Please fill in the following information about your Pokémon:

[img]http://www.serebii.net/heartgoldsoulsilver/pokemon/163-m.png[/img]
[b]Hoothoot[/b]
Name: [choose]
Gender: [choose]
Level: 4
Attacks: Tackle, Growl, Foresight
Nature/Personality: [choose]


---

Cinder grew to Level 8!
Cinder learned Ember!

[Devan]

Hoothoot
Name: Braver
Gender: Male
Level: 4
Attacks: Tackle, Growl, Foresight
Nature/Personality: Brave
_______________________________

Devan grinned as his pokeball chimed, an expression matched by his rather pleased Charmander. As the trainer darted over to pick up his prize, her turned to Cinder.

"Good job, Cinder! We'll get to know... Braver here later." He just kept grinning, attaching the ball to his belt with one hand, as he rummaged in his pockets in the other, before pulling out two sticks of pocky. One went to Cinder, who started munching on it happily, and the other he munched on himself, a reward for a job well done.

"C'mon, buddy. Let's see what else is around here." The purple-haired boy smirked, before heading off into the grass, Cinder following him close behind.