Bugging Out (HOLD)

[Avalon]

Matthew hadn't gotten to spend as much time in the Union Cave as he had wanted to, spending most of it interacting with a rather zany and overactive nerd. It was a rather rich complaint coming from him, what his own job and nerdiness being present, but the PokeManiac certainly took it all up to another level. Oh well, he wasn't one to judge someone for their hobbies too much. The guy could stand to maybe talk a little less and just accept that he had a crush on this 'Betsy' person, but that was neither here nor there.

Matthew was following the reports of a strange Pokémon outbreak here outside of the Union Cave, a surge of strange Meowths that looked unlike anything the people of Johto had seen thus far. They were larger, with a sort of frenzied look and more unkempt fur. Judging just from the photos, the Meowth in question almost seemed sort of metallic in a way, like it was extraordinarily solid. Something that Matthew would happily look into after he got his hands on one, he would be curious to see how this new breed of Meowth compared to the one he had found in Cherrygrove some time back.

But he wouldn't be much in the mood to investigate much of anything in the current weather. The almost oppressive heat wave had followed him through to the other side of the Union Cave, it seemed, the city of Azalea now being glared down upon by the sun. He could once again only loosen his own tie and collar of his shirt, seeking out any form of comfort in the summer sun. Still, it would at least help him and his Fire types in fighting against anything that crossed his path. A city of Bugs and Bug specialists, having a strong Fire type was going to be a great boon.

Matthew took a look around, fanning himself with his hand absentmindedly as he gazed upon the area before him. It was a smaller route than the others, a light cliff-face leading down to a patch of grass and a countryside road that would take one directly into the nearest town. He descended the craggy ground and immersed himself in the grass, looking for any signs of Pokemon scurrying about in the underbrush in his search for the weird cat.

+395 to eggs
((OOC: Looking for a Route 33 encounter! Also depositing Sentomaru and Wiggles in order to withdraw Winchester and Ein.))

[Caramell 🍬]

Dense woods surrounded the outskirts of the short route that lead away from Union Cave to the heart of Azalea Town. Many trainers ran through the grass in the summer heat that poured even in the dead of night with the bright moon shining high above their heads instead. Several tents were propped up on the parts of the open route where the grasses were the shortest and small wildflower bloomed the brightest, evidently hosting sleeping and tuckered out trainers who had spent several hours scouring through the dense grasses in search of the fabled Meowth that swarmed the area.

A small creature stirred through the grasses. His soft purple fur shined between blades of grass like an obscured image or illusion. The Nidoran took no heed of the humans and their constant fussing over something as mundane as some strange, new Pokemon in the area. He could care less. The poisonous rabbit dug at the ground and ambled around with furrowed brows that focused on the small holes he made in the ground. “Ahh! Not here!” Nidoran mumbled to himself, quickly pushing the sand he dug up back into the hole and patting it down with one paw. “Not over here, either?” He growled angrily, after digging another fruitless hole.

When Matthew wondered too close to the spiky rabbit, Nidoran jumped back. A human was trying to get close to him?! She arched his stocky back up and puffed the short fur on his body threateningly while shaking a few spikes loose from his fur. “Stay back, now! I said back!” Nidoran snapped, backing away from Matthew without turning away from him. Nidoran would keep his eyes firmly planted on the trainer, hoping to scare Matthew far away from the area and maybe back into the strange town that all humans should belong in. “This area isn’t safe for your kind. So get, now, go on! Get!” Nidoran roared.

A Wild Nidoran Appeared!

Level 14. What will Matthew and his team do?

Headbutt/Berry Tree? Jk|gF2jK1-8
Shiny? 1-42

Psst. All uncommon encounters are night, including Galarian Meowth since it wasn't added separate from night. Nothing a little fluff can't fix, just letting you know for rp purposes. 1-42·1-42

[Avalon]

It was only inevitable that some of the local wildlife would come along in response to Matthew and his team's trespassing sooner or later. Even with the sun beaming down on them all, making the day unbearable, it was bound to happen that he would end up disturbing some kind of creature. Matthew could see something stirring the grass and began to approach it, hoping that his would be a short search and that he would be stumbling upon the unusual new Meowth already. Alas, he found a small, purple spined rabbit burrowing in the ground. A Nidoran, he recognized immediately; they were common enough in his home region and he had seen plenty in the teams of those who tried and failed to claim a Badge from Saffron's Leader.

So it wasn't what he was looking for, but it was still a Pokemon he had not caught before and one he would be interested in getting his hands on. Nidoking was supposed to be a rather fearsome Pokemon, after all, and the relationship between the purple Nidoran and its blur counterpart was one that many researchers were still curious about. He could catch this and go back to hunting. Maybe this spiny rabbit would be a good new addition to his team, if nothing else. But the rabbit did not seem keen to come along willingly, and in fact it seemed to bristle at the sight of the human.

"Not gonna make this easy on me, I take it? Oh well, it'll be nice to see what you are capable of with my own two eyes, I guess," Matthew conceded. He didn't want to waste too much time with unnecessary battles like this, but he would at least make sure he didn't walk away from it empty handed. It would be good practice for some of the younger members of his team and a good chance to catch something new for his collection while he continued to hunt. He reached down to his belt, going over his options. Midoriya was there, but he had worn himself out on their recent excursion to the abandoned ranch and deserved a bit more time to rest; Senju could do it, but he doubted that she was a good match-up against the poisonous little rabbit. The same could be said for the Spewpa he was raising for Kent, leaving him with just Nilou or Winchester.

His choice was clear. "Nilou, put on a show!" he released the ghostly flame onto the field, watching as the diminutive candle stretched out her ghastly limbs and yawned lazily. She hadn't been expecting to be called out; it didn't look like any of the others were out, so they weren't partying or relaxing at all. Why was she sent out, then? And why was there this angry little rabbit glaring at them like this? Nilou shivered slightly, not liking the vibes given off by the Poison Pin Pokemon. In a moment of panic, Nilou flailed her stubby little arms around, the flame on her head sparking and rising randomly. It was clear she had no clear control over the flames on her body, especially in such a scared state.

Nilou's head-flame flickered intensely, spitting out several smaller blue flames and embers at the Nidoran. Once again, she hadn't been planning to send out any kind of attack. Her heart wasn't made for fighting, after all, so this sight only made her begin to panic inside even more. She hoped the rabbit wasn't hurt too badly, especially if it ended up joining them like the other Pokemon she had hurt ended up doing.

605 words to eggs.
((OOC: Sending out Nilou. Using Ember twice with Running Shoes.))

[Tiki]

"What are you doing? Stop!" The Nidoran cried out, trying to get his warning through to the human and now the fire type Litwick. "Oh, why was he being such a spinach! Why would this fool send a fire type in the middle of this hot summer? Did heat melt his brain off and he lost his mind?" The Nidoran shook his head as he was focused on trying to get the human to stop going through this area. "I will repeat one more time! Stand back! This area is marked unsafe for travel due to adverse weather effect! We will not be sending a rescue if you die from heat stroke!" He casually thought to himself. 'Maybe this human would taste great grilled and roasted though! We can bring out that special brown sauce for this occasion!'

The flailing Litwick, however, was spinning and twirling her body and flickered her head-flame around. The ember was intensified under the hot atmosphere, and splashed flame at the purple hare, making it screamed in pain. "OOUCH! That burns! What the turnip! Why would you do this? Can't you use a different move or something?" He ran around trying to reduce the pain inflicted on his nerves. Then, when the thought he caught the Litwick wasn't paying attention, he leaped up to kick her in the.... ground, as he phased passed her.

"Bruh, what just happened?" He asked himself, turning to look at his own feet. However, before he could see it, he was smacked by another dancing flame. The pain sent him squealing and run away to hide again as he recovered his health. "Fine, whatever! Idiots these days!"

Wild Encounter

---

Weather: SUNNY!

[attr="class","qkt-bkgd"]

[attr="class","qkt-wild-pkmn"]
Nidoran M LV 14
HP 0% [0/41]

[attr="class","qkt-wild-imgbox"]

[attr="class","qkt-pkmn-img"]

[attr="class","qkt-trainer-pkmn"]
Nilou LV 11
HP 100% [35/35]

[attr="class","qkt-trainer-imgbox"]

[attr="class","qkt-pkmn-img"]

Nidoran M [Ability]: Status, Focus +2!
Nilou [Flame Body]: Status

SP23 Nidoran used Focus Energy!
SP12 Nilou used Ember!

SP23 Nidoran used Double Kick!... Nidoran had nice paws!
SP12 Nilou used Ember! Critical Hit!

---

NIlou gained 3 levels and is now Level 14!
She can learn Confuse Ray, delete a move?
+1 happiness, now +2!

[Avalon]

Matthew wasn't entirely sure about what was going on with the Nidoran. It almost seemed as if it was concerned or confused, caught off guard by the Trainer and his fire type stumbling upon him. Maybe the Nidoran was trying to help them somehow, to give them some kind of warning? Oh well, Matthew wasn't exactly in the habit of taking advice from wild animals. He was sure that the spiny rabbit had some kind of good intentions, but a good researcher didn't learn anything from listening to every warning he got and playing it safe. If you wanted to expand your horizons, you would have to expose yourself to a bit of danger every once in a while.

It seemed that between the blistering sun and Nilou's lucky shot, the Nidoran had received a warning of its own. The rabbit, its body covered in burns and bruises, fled back into the brush. Matthew hadn't expected Nilou to do so much damage with her flames, unsure of whether or not it was due to some innate fighting ability within the ghost candle or due to some blind luck factoring in. It didn't matter too much to him either way, though he had been hoping for a chance to capture the Poison Pin Pokémon. But the Nidoran species was common enough, he would find another one sooner or later.

Matthew unconsciously wiped at his brow with his arm, the flames being thrown around having only increased the sweat problem that anyone in this level of heat would be dealing with. He really needed to look into getting some more appropriate summer clothes one of these days. But he wanted to worry about catching this unusual Meowth first, he could worry about fashion and comfort later. But his POkemon were no doubt beginning to tire, it would be wise for them to rest and try again after some time passed. He looked up, seeing the sun go low in the sky as the light began to fade.

Matthew set up a sort of camp for himself and his Pokemon, a campfire provided by Nilou and Midoriya in order for them to have something to use as a light source. The heat from the summer night was so strong that the heat from the flame did little in terms of warmth, but it was sort of comforting to look into the flames with his friends around him. They ate and relaxed for a time, waiting for night to fall so that they could see what sorts of new creatures might come out of the woodworks now.

434 words to eggs
((OOC: Not learning Confuse Ray. Waiting for nighttime and looking for a new encounter.))

[Caramell 🍬]

The unbearable heat bore on in the dead of night. Beautiful stars sparkled in the cloudless night sky and wrapped themselves around the pale moon that hung high above. While most Pokemon would find themselves retiring for the night by climbing into their secluded caves and hidden away homes, some celebrated and danced under the pale moon’s light. Hoppip, hidden away in their nightly slumber homes, yet still wide awake and bouncing off the walls far out of Matthew’s reach. Surely their nightly calls rose up and created a strange, if not beautiful, sort of melody that clung in the nighttime air.

A small Pokemon sat on a large boulder and basked underneath the pale moon’s light. It’s legs were carefully folded underneath itself, with its arms placed on its knees. The Meditite clasped its hands tightly together and focused, humming softly underneath itself. The unrelenting heat was some strange doing of a malevolent Pokemon deity. Perhaps they’d crossed it in some manner? Made it angry due to their lack of praises or worship? It meditated silently, letting its mind wander freely as it kept its eyes firmly shut and focused on the moment inside of its head.

Something jostled Meditite awake from its mental wanderings though, causing Meditite to open its eyes and search through the dark night for the sounds. What was it? Another, come to meditate and seek council with whatever godlike Pokemon might be behind their terrible woes? When its eyes landed on Matthew, Meditite would raise one hand mistaking him as some Pokemon it had never seen before in the distance. It would gesture towards the spot beside its rock in the grass. “Come meditate with me, young one!” Meditite called out with a nod of its head. “Let’s pray for an end to this heat!” It growled urgently.

A Wild Meditite Appeared!

Level 10. What will Matthew do?
Weather is HEATWAVE

Shiny? _s2CRHPP1-42

T_T rolled 1/6 but rolled Meditite instead of cat. Thankfully after today cat goes back to 1/3 rate as long as no other mean spirited weather condition is rolled to make steel rarer again. 1-42

[Avalon]

The weather in this part of the world just had a mind of its own, it seemed. From ungodly heat to pouring rain, it seemed as if it all changed at the drop of a hat. Matthew never remembered Kanto having such wild mood swings with its weather, and worried he would never get used to traveling through this strange new land. He had come out this far seeking out the strange new breed of Meowth that had been sighted in the area, but he was doubting that he would be able to see them on this specific excursion. He had no way of knowing that he was too late, unable to arrive in time before the swarm of strange cats were either all captured or fled to find homes elsewhere.

But for now, he found himself placed before a strange, meditating Pokemon. It was a Meditite, humanoid but onion-headed and able to tap into profound psychic abilities, or so they said. He had never quite seen one before, but it was an interesting Pokemon. It had plenty of useful skills, and Psychic types were said to be quite intelligent as a standard trait. It seemed to be gesturing at him, beckoning him and his Pokemon over to join it under the hot summer night. He had no idea what it was doing, inviting a bunch of strange creatures to join it in its recreational activities.

"Yeah, not much of one for meditating or yoga, seems like it would be kind of a waste of time; I'd rather just get out of this heat and be done with it," Matthew sighed to himself. He wasn't sure if the Meditite was even listening to him at this point, or how it would respond to his words. Still, it might be worth catching the creature while he was here. Azalea Town was nearby, after all, so he could capture it and go on with his day if the hunt seemed too fruitless. "Sorry to interrupt your nap time, but I think I could use a creature like you on my team, so...at least you'll get out of the heat quicker this way."

Matthew sent out Nilou, sending the diminutive candle into the dark, the battlefield lightly illuminated by the flames upon her head. The candle swayed and danced as she waddled her way into the fray, not taking any care to watch where her flames spread out or in which direction they swayed. Some stray embers from her flame once again were splashed out, coming dangerously close to striking the passive Fighting type in a facsimile of some kind of Ember attack. Matthew winced at the sight, hoping that he would find some way to get the Litwick's ability to control its flames or show any degree of caution under control sooner rather than later.

Word Count: 474
OOC: Sending out Nilou, who uses Ember.

[Pixel]

That wild weather. Despite the horrible heat bearing down on them, there were clouds gathering again and the wind was picking up. Like rain wanted to blow through again. Maybe there was a cold front moving through, and with the hot air already here, it was causing unpredictable, scattered showers? Who was to say. 

Upon order his litwick to use ember, the meditating meditite swiftly moved out of the way as if going for the limbo championships. "Ah, the power of meditation. It allowed me to detect your attack and know exactly where to move so that you wouldn't hit me," it said peacefully. "Why must we fight, little friend? Can you not feel the way the weather is already trying to change? If we endure the heat until the rain comes, we will be all the stronger. Come, let us find our true potential, together. No need for a battle."

Of course, a dodgy meditite was the opposite of moving swiftly through that a certain someone had planned.

Wild Encounter

---

Weather: Heatwave

[attr="class","qkt-bkgd"]

[attr="class","qkt-wild-pkmn"]
Wild Meditite LV 10
HP 100% [29/29]

[attr="class","qkt-wild-imgbox"]

[attr="class","qkt-pkmn-img"]

[attr="class","qkt-trainer-pkmn"]
Litwick LV 14
HP 100% [42/42]

[attr="class","qkt-trainer-imgbox"]

[attr="class","qkt-pkmn-img"]

Meditite [Huge Power]: Status
Litwick [Flame Body]: Status

SP20+ Meditite used Detect!
SP14 Litwick used Ember. It failed!

SPOILER: Click to show

Move? x6hGrD281-3

1-3

[Avalon]

Matthew was more than impressed by the sight of the fighter deftly dodging the stray flames and embers. It was as if the little meditative fighter could predict the attacks before they had even come their way. It was rather impressive and only made the studious young man double down on his desire to add this particular skill set to his team. If the Meditite really didn't want to fight, then he wouldn't make it, but he was sure with enough time, the yogi would be willing to help them out when needed. "Sorry about this, but we have a few difficult opponents coming up, and someone like you would be a big help."

He would give the Meditite plenty of time to meditate (or nap, as that was what the gesture looked more like to him) when it was captured and with them on the next leg of their journey, as a sort of apology. Matthew heard some stirring from behind him, realizing that he had, in fact, been in the middle of a brief siesta with the rest of his party. His other Pokémon were still lurking around their makeshift campsite, watching with varied levels of curiosity about the ensuing melee. Senju was busy by the campfire, snacking happily on a bag of Pokémon treats that she had liberated from Matthew's bag, seemingly uninterested in her ghostly friend's 'fight'. Similarly, Mirelurk the Binacle seemed to not even be conscious or cognizant of what was going on, either ignoring it all or napping happily on his own. The living barnacle was a hard creature to get a good read on at the best of times.

The other members of the party looked on with some degree of interest and investment in the fight. Midoriya sat by and watched expectantly, sitting comfortably beside Ein and Winchester as the trio looked on. Winchester harrumphed, letting out a low groan of disapproval. "It should be me in there fighting, not one of the babies. I gotta learn how to dodge like that somehow!" the Combusken squawked to nobody in particular. The Pokemon sitting by his side did not make their own opinions known, if they even had any, too transfixed on the way that the Meditite moved and ducked out of the way of the flames.

"Oh, that's a pretty weird dance. Lemme see it again!" the innocent Nilou said gleefully, shaking her own diminutive waxy form from place to place and letting out more embers aimed at the meditating warrior. This seemed like a good opportunity to Matthew, a chance for him to take advantage of the Meditite being distracted. Reaching down to his bag and retrieving a Poke Ball, he lobbed out the mechanical sphere so that it would come in from a curved shot. Now the Meditite would be taking on some kind of an assault from both sides, one of flames and one comprised of technology. Hopefully this would be enough to catch the warrior off-guard.

((OOC: +500 words to Eggs. Nilou uses Ember, then throwing a Poke Ball. Not self-deducted.))

[necroix]

The wild meditation pokemon seemed to be quite willing to teach the young candle more about its ability. After all, it had in fact told the creature that they did not have to fight and instead could meditate together. Even though the trainer saw use in using the pokemon for their future battles they still relied that a battle was not needed. There were easier ways to solve one's problems. Even as it detected the flames and moved out of the way of them. This time it seemed that such was not necessary.

<"There are quite a few things one can learn from proper meditation."> it continued. This time its eyes closed and it focused on itself allowing it to work up and raise its own potential. As it did so this time flames did wrap around the Pokemon doing damage to it. <"Your flames are hot, but my spirit is stronger."> If it must come down to a fight then the meditite would oblige even if it disagreed on violence.

It seemed fighting would have to wait as just after the flames licked at its sides a pokeball was tossed. The red light absorbed the pokemon inside as the ball dropped back to the grass. It rocked only once before a satisfying ping signaled that the trainer had in fact captured the pokemon. Now it would be able to help in their future endeavors. Just as the trainer would go to pick up the ball however the sky seemed to finally part from the obnoxious heat they had been experiencing. Even as the night sky was high above the first drop of rain fell which would most likely cool down the heat that had been there before.

Though as the rain continued to fall in a pitter patter it definitely became more cold. The rain felt more freezing than anything else an icy feeling to it. There was definitely something about the area that the weather could change just as quickly as it wanted.

Meditite was captured!
-1 Pokeball

Please fill out the information below to add for your new pokemon!
[img src="https://play.pokemonshowdown.com/sprites/bw/meditite.png"]
[b]Meditite[/b]
Name: [choose]
Gender: [choose]
Level: 10
OT: Matthew Jeevas
Moves: Confusion, Work Up, Detect
Ability: Pure Power
Nature/Personality: [choose]
Happiness: 0


Nilou gained +2 levels [Lv. 16]
Nilou wants to learn Hex, replace a move?
Nilou gained +1 happiness, now +3

(ooc: happiness was never added previously, updated that as well as the pokeball)


catch (92) Vj5HezmH1-1001-100

[Avalon]

Matthew held a sneaking suspicion that he was going to leaving without any strange new cats in his employ from this endeavor. The heat was unbearable even in the night, but a certain humidity had begun to fill the air. The heat became muggy and uncomfortable, and he found himself tugging at the collar of his shirt uncomfortably. He wanted this fight to be over with so he could go back to planning out his next steps. There was a Gym to conquer in this next town, but he had rushed through many locations and events on his way here in his pursuit of new encounters. Maybe he should double back to one of the earlier towns, try to find something that he might have missed.

He would have time to ponder that later, his focus returning to the battle at hand in the midst of Nilou's attack connecting. He had already released the Poke Ball, allowing it to soar through the air and strike true while the Meditite recoiled from the force of the flames. The ball struck the meditative Pokemon, sucking it inside and falling to the ground. Matthew and his Pokemon, still gathered around their makeshift camp, could only watch on in curiosity and anticipation. In the late summer heat, it felt like an eternity passed before the ball let out a faint click. Matthew let out a breath he had not realized he had been holding in, wiping the sweat from his brow as he made to pick up the sphere so he could send it away to storage for the time being.

But as he crossed that path, in almost the same second in which his hand touched the Poke Ball, he felt something ice cold drop and strike against the back of his head. It was cooling and almost refreshing, except for the barrage of similar cold droplets that came down around him. The downpour that the Meditite had tried to warn him of had come, and now Matthew and his team were left out in the lurch. He sent the ball away where it would be safe and turned back to his team, hurriedly calling them back into their balls. Even the more free-spirited among his team put up no fight, the Fire types being glad to get out of the downpour and the others more than willing to return to the warmth and safety of their spherical homes.

Matthew packed up what belongings were left in his makeshift camp and turned, rushing towards the entrance to Azalea Town that he had seen during his search for the strange Meowth. He would seek shelter in the town for a time, before continuing on with his journey. Upon arrival into the town, he was more than thankful to discover he was in luck. Plenty of spare rooms at the Pokemon Center, as many of the local Trainers had taken off to attend some festival held to celebrate some event in a distant region. He would wait out the storm, and then consider checking out the festival for himself. As he sat in the Pokemon Center, enjoying a cup of warm coffee to get rid of the cold feeling that persisted throughout his body, he looked absentmindedly through his Rotom Phone.

The festival was to celebrate an event in Paldea, the Great Treasure Hunt, and was a chance for Trainers from across the world to meet and celebrate together. A chance to find new Pokemon, to battle new Trainers, and find out how the other half of the world lived. Looking out the window, Matthew made a silent note to figure out where this festival was being held. If there was something new to discover about this Paldea place and its denizens, then he would make sure he was among the first to know. And if something interesting popped up on his way to the Paldea Festival, then that would be all the better.

+659 words to eggs
((OOC: Deleting Astonish for Hex, banishing Meditite into the corners of the box for its crimes of existing. Putting thread on hold for quests.))