A Journey to Redemption [MOD] (Complete)

[cynda1]

Sweet Reshiram… I’ve never traveled so far for so long in my life…

That’s how Opal felt when she finally, and she did mean FINALLY made her way to New Bark Town. To be honest, with all the effort she took to get to a completely different region, stepping into the rather plain looking smalltown wasn’t exactly what she expected. At first this disappointed her, but then as she thought about it, she was from Unova, so perhaps she was a bit too used to bigger towns and cities anyway.

And in any case, could she really be too down on the place? This was where she was receiving her first Pokemon… for the second time. Yeah, yeah, maybe getting her hopes up wasn’t the best idea, and after all she was completely on her own this time… but this time around she was starting fresh! Starting new! She would heed Iris’s advice, and take what she learned from Unova and where she failed there, surely she would succeed in Johto… right?

With the scorn in the eyes of her parents suddenly flashing in her mind, Opal almost felt herself coming down with a cold sweat. She’d made it this far, hadn’t she? What use would it be to back out now when she practically traveled half-way across the world? She’d be insane to quit now, right? Surely things would turn out okay! She wasn’t going to return home empty handed, she couldn’t. She would redeem herself in the eyes of her family, and come out of it a master over all Pokemon… especially the Dragon-Type Pokemon.

So with her confidence rejuvenated, there was just one thing that kept her from fulfilling that goal just yet… where was the professor’s lab?

Well, being from a much bigger city, finding a lab in such a small town couldn’t be that hard, right? Most of the buildings had to be homes, so which one was the most significant one? That would be where she would go.

Still, she was rather exhausted from the far travels… maybe sitting on this bench for a moment to soak in the sun and fresh air would do her some good before truly getting on with it. With that in mind, Opal made her way over to an open bench to do just that… a solid five minutes of rest couldn’t hurt, right?
---

Note: Opal is officially ready to meet Professor Elm and her Squirtle!

Word Count: 408

[Tarlar]

New Bark Town was a peaceful and quiet one, perfect for the ones who sought out a calm life in a village far from the hectic life in a big city. The perfect place if one wanted to bury themselves in deep research for days at a time. Most of the villagers just lived their daily life, taking care of gardens and helped each other.
The bench Opal chose to sit on was right beside a Board on which the citizens of New Bark Town posted small tasks they needed help with, and she was free to take a look at it if she wanted to, if she wanted to help out and perhaps earn a little from it.

As Opal sat she could see most of the houses in the small town, and it would be pretty clear that one of them, the one right in front of her actually, stood out from the others. Firstly it had a wall surrounding it, although no gate so it still seemed open and welcome, and then it was quite a lot bigger than all the other houses with its three floors, the attached tower only made it look even bigger.
Soon several people in labcoats emerged from the front door and looked around, their body language was tense and worried as they talked and pointed in different directions. Then they split up and a young man with short brown hair and a corsola at his heels walked more or less straight up to Opal.
"I'm sorry, have you seen a chikorita and a squirtle today? We're missing them in the lab, and we even have a new trainer meant to come and pick one today," he said worriedly and ran a hand through his hair.
A older woman, also in a lab coat came limping up to the man, "Elm? There is a broken window in room 7, it looks like someone has broken in," she said quietly and The young man, who was apparently Professor Elm, looked shocked at her.
"Oh no, this is not good, not good at all."
The woman looked at Opal, "Have you seen anything?" She asked bluntly, Elm too distraught to notice that his question from before got repeated.

If Opal didn't want to help but would wait until the solved the problem, she was probably going to wait for a while. If she decided she did wanted to help, there were plenty of things she could do. She could look for clues in the room, or perhaps around the house, or perhaps someone in town had seen something? Surely the lab was going to send out search parties so she could also just join one of those and see what task they were given. She could of course also hope that pure luck was on her side and just set out in a random direction in the hope of running into the missing pokemon and solving the mystery with little to no planning.

A Chikorita and a Squirtle are both missing from the lab.
Will Opal help search for them?

(ooc: the board mentioned is our Job board, which are mostly to help making stories and have a task on hand if needed ^^ The task doesn't need to be "found" on a physical board of course )

[cynda1]

The teen let out a bit of a sigh as she leaned back against the bench, glancing around the line of sight before her hazel eyes landed on the board next to her. She leaned over to take a look just out of curiosity and noticed the title “Job Board” on the board at the top of it. Opal formed a bit of a smile before leaning back again. Most boards in Unova were more technologically advanced, so to see just some bulletin board was kinda… adorable. New Bark Town wasn’t anything eye catching, but it was quite charming…

…She wondered if all of Johto was this charming. Maybe she would take a look at some of these jobs after receiving her new Pokemon. After just trying to make it to this destination for so long, she could use a bit of excitement.

Opal then brought her attention to the building in front of her and, just as she figured, it stood out among the rest. Ah, she thought to herself. That must be the Pokemon lab! I’ll just give myself a bit longer before heading inside. It didn’t take even half a second before a young man rushed out of the building, and made a bee-line right for her. He explained that a Squirtle and a Chikorita, whatever those guys were, went missing and wondered if she had seen anything.

Just as she was about to explain that she hadn’t, an aide rushed in and explained that there was broken glass somewhere and that someone had broken in. Opal squinted her eyes a little bit, turning her head to the side and peering at the woman as if she was disinterested. She wasn’t… not completely, but there was a strange apathy she felt toward the situation. Back in Unova, she hated crooks. The idea of someone stealing something that didn’t belong to them? The very nerve of such a thing got her blood boiling.

But now? She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but… why would she care if someone broke someone else’s stuff?

The lack of care she had… it was almost unsettling.

Still, it wasn’t like she didn’t care at all. This situation had some effect on her, and that was two potential Pokemon companions were missing. “I haven’t,” Opal admitted before finally rising up to her feet and approaching the Professor with a smile. “I do think there’s something I can do to help, though. A window is broken in room seven, you said?” She turned to the woman again as she said the last bit. “Maybe there’s something we can find there. After all, we wouldn’t want this Trainer to be without options and these Pokemon to be missing.”

She knew full well she was the Trainer Elm was referring too, and if that wasn’t the case, she wouldn’t feel so inclined to help. However, she did show some compassion to the professor, and decided to keep quiet on who she was for now. Perhaps part of her wanted to see his reaction when the truth was revealed later? Either way, she knew time couldn’t wait, and the teen abruptly made her way toward the lab, choosing not to wait for their response.

A Squirtle and a Chikorita… she didn’t know what they were, but the sounds of their names… excited her somehow. Little did she know the roles these two Pokemon would play in her journey…
---

Word Count: 573

[Pixel]

"You want to go back into the lab?" the aide asked, looking baffled, as if it didn't make sense to go backwards when the pokemon thief had clearly already escaped! Elm put a hand on the aide's arm and smiled a soft, slightly strained smile.

"It's okay. She may be right that we should look for clues back at the scene of the crime. Why don't you go alert the police and look up the route between here and Cherrygrove, and I will go back to the lab with the young trainer here to figure out if the interloper left any identifiers." The young professor and the aide were silent for a moment before the aide gave a reluctant nod and ran off. That was when Elm noticed the trainer heading towards the lab already! "Oh! You most certainly have initiative! This way. You appear new to town. Were you here visiting family or—" He trailed off. He tried to get a better look at the trainer's face before he adjusted his glasses in embarassment, "Oh dear. You're the aspiring young trainer who was suppose to meet the pokemon today. My apologies."

They were soon at the lab.

"This way," he lead them to the room the aide mentioned and there was indeed broken glass all over the floor. As well as a turned over shelf and scattered books and paperwork. He grimaced and started to try to clean up what he could. The trainer, however...would spot what looked like an ID on the ground. Like it slipped out of someone's pocket. When flipped face up it revealed the face of a teenage boy with red hair named Silver.

---

What will you do next?

[cynda1]

Opal paused for a second at the aide’s objection, but… didn’t appear to hear what the woman actually said. “Hm? You say something?” By the time she had done this, the Professor and his aide were already having a staring contest it seemed. Surely this wasn’t the time for that, but Opal ultimately decided to keep heading toward the lab anyway. She was certain they knew what to do in a crisis like this better than she did anyway. Still, she was adamant about checking that scene out.

It didn’t take long for the lanky professor to catch up with her, and start making small talk. “Actually, this is my first time in Johto,” Opal answered and then the Professor figured out she was, indeed, the new Trainer. “Aw, ya got me!” She responded with a gleeful smile on her face despite the circumstances. By all accounts, she probably should’ve taken this a little worse than she did seeing as her chance at redemption was going out the window, but… she couldn’t help but take this in stride for some reason. "I'm from Unova, actually. I decided to start fresh in another region, and Johto is... very different from Unova."

Yeah, he didn't need to know about her failures. That's none of his business.

In any case, it was a good thing that Elm had, in fact, caught up, otherwise the teen would’ve been looking high and low for a broken window. Yeah, she wasn’t much of a planner, was she? Just sort of making decisions with her gut kinda gal. It seemed as though she hadn’t learned a thing from what Iris told her yet…

“...Yikes.” Opal at least had the decency to keep that one quiet. Boy was this room a mess! Whoever did this must’ve been rather angry… maybe one of Professor Elm’s bullies when he was a kid? Yeah, maybe they were mad that he actually succeeded and- wait, what was that?

Yeah, with all the speculating she was doing, she almost missed the ID that was flipped face first on the ground. Maybe Elm dropped it! Opal knelt down and flipped it over and… first of all, marveling at how different an ID in Johto looked in comparison to Unova. She wasn’t sure if she preferred this, but she decided she liked it for now and was looking forward to getting one of her own. The next thing she noticed was, of course, the picture of the ID, and… no joke…

…She started laughing.

“Oh man!” Opal shouted, incapable of keeping her composure… though was she even trying in the first place? “Oh man, this guy looks like he’s trying way too hard!” It was only then that something dawned on her. “...I don’t suppose this guy is one of your apprentices or something… is he?” On the outside, it seemed like a stupid question, but Opal came from a region on the other side of the world. There were bound to be major differences between Unova and Johto.

That being said, even Opal recognized that this was probably their guy. He certainly looked angry enough to cause this kind of trouble. I mean… if she squinted, she could understand that naming a red-head Silver could be a reason to not be so happy… but that didn’t seem like a good enough reason to steal from Elm.

Of course, the only thing on Opal’s mind was getting those Pokemon back. It was one thing to pick on the professor, but this guy was gonna learn not to mess with her the hard way…

…She’d say that except he stole her Starter. Maybe. Alright, he won this round, but as soon as she got a Pokemon, he was going down.
---

Word Count: 624

[Pixel]

Elm looked over at the ID and shook his head, "No. He doesn't work here, nor is he one of the trainers who has come here to obtain a starter." His fretful expression turned contemplative as he took the ID in hand and shifted it a bit, brows furrowed, a small frown on his face. "I do believe I have seen him before, however. He was lurking around town, looking in windows, kicking over trashcans. The usual teenager with nothing better to do than cause petty vandalism. I had hoped he would come speak with me but..it seems he must have decided to 'up his game' as the kids say. Stealing starters is a very serious crime. I hope they are okay... perhaps he will even give them back when confronted."

He sighed, picking up a phone to call the police, "I am sorry, again, that this is your first experience in Johto! I am close associates with Professor Juniper of Unova, and she was always quite put together." Unlike him at the moment. He was horribly flustered right now. "Perhaps you should come back tomorrow?"

Or, Opal could go looking for that starter herself! 

Who knew when the police would respond?

And perhaps that big bully messed up along the way. He could have dropped more hints or whole pokeballs!

---

Will Opal wait for the police to handle this matter or go looking for Silver and her starter herself?

[cynda1]

“Sure looks like a kid who didn’t get enough attention from his folks,” Opal had to try really hard not to laugh. Normally she wouldn’t care, but even she was aware of how bad issues with parents could be… after all, she got kicked out of her house for being a complete failure. She gave the professor a glance as she thought back to the other townsfolk that were going about their business. “...He’s not exactly good at blending in, though, is he? I’d bet he sticks out like a sore thumb in broad daylight.”

Honestly, it made her wonder just how long the Starters were gone… then again, the staff were so busy, was it really so outlandish for them to simply not notice? It could’ve just happened, too, but it was just so funny to think there was this red-headed boy hanging around the lab and no one thought to look into him a little more before this all happened.

Guess you couldn’t really trust an adult to really think about that kind of stuff, huh? Only kids truly understood how rotten they could be.

In any case, Elm informed Opal that he was gonna call the police and that she should come back tomorrow to get her Starters then. “Kay,” the teen smiled and nodded as she made her way toward the lab’s entrance. “I’ll be back by tomorrow! See ya then, Professor!”Opal strolled back to the entrance before sneaking around the corner to try and get a better look at where the red headed kid… oh yeah his name was Silver, had broken in from.

Yeah no. She wasn't going to just let the cops take care of it.

She could’ve told Elm that she planned on following the young man, but how was she going to be certain that he wouldn’t try to stop her? With all that traveling she already did? Just thinking about arguing with another adult right then was dizzying… oh but not chasing down a thief. No, that sounded exciting! What was even more exciting was doing it herself, with no Pokemon to protect her, and absolutely no plan for when she would inevitably find him… probably.

What could possibly go wrong?

Besides, how hard could getting a couple of baby Pokemon back be? She could find it herself, and she bet at half the time the cops could! She already knew what the kid looked like, so there, she had a head start! Was there anything outside the window that could tell her which way he went, though?
---

Word Count: 428

[Caramell 🍬]

TRAINER TIP!

If you have an egg in your party, please remember to note the total number of words in your post with a note! Also be aware the total number of words per post you can count towards your egg, as noted here!

It wouldn’t be hard for Opal and her Brooke to find their rival along the relatively tame trails through Route 29. The day remained peaceful and warm, inviting smaller Pokemon that would usually shelter in the trees to venture cautiously towards small bodies of water. Some small meerkat painted in rich brown hues with elongated dark brown ears and bullseye stomachs hunkered low on all fours and pressed their black, button noses against the edge of a small creek. Soft, salmon hued tongue slipped between furry lips and drank up the water eagerly. Small fuchsia dots scattered through the tall emerald grasses and scurried up the base of ruddy rustic greyish-brown barks belonging to the towering trees around them. Diminutive caterpillars eager to hurry their bodies through a powerful and mystical change.

The redheaded child fitting the description Opal seen only moments ago on a discarded ID stomped through the rather tranquil setting completely uprooting it at its seams. He snatched up several small stones of various shapes and sizes and chucked them at the Sentret with a sneer, sending the skittish Pokemon scattering through the grass. Terror gripped their world and they squeaked, alarmed that such a cruel trainer was attacking them. Some immediately stashed away inside of dug out warrens in the ground, whilst others darted inside of prickly bushes, cowering and shaking like leaves in fear of what would become of them. “Figures.” The strange kid huffed, eyes glaring at the water’s edge angrily.

“Useless lot. All of these creatures around here, wouldn’t you say Aval?” Silver turned to a small green dinosaur with a singular leaf sprouting out of her head. The Chikorita turned and blossomed up cheerfully with a nod. “I hated that stupid old lab, anyways! Finally, I can stretch my legs! I’m never going back!” She rubbed up against her new trainer’s leg, who turned and stalked off further down the route in a haste to hurry along to the next city. He was just as deserving of a Pokemon as anyone else, if not more so! Thankfully, the Pokemon starter he had was the perfect fit….as soon as he trained her up so she would be stronger, at least.

Opal spots a really mean boy!

Confront him? He has a Level 5 Chikorita named "Aval"!

I've counted the words this time. Over 400, so +400 to the egg!

[cynda1]

The young teen made her way down the path, following a trail of footprints… she wasn’t quite sure where they appeared, but at one point, the pair almost tripled… though four of them appeared to have come from a Pokemon. A quadrupedal Pokemon, to be exact. Opal recalled the happy smile that came from the Tepig that was in her lineup of Starters from Juniper. That cute little pig also happened to be quadrupedal… she wondered how it was doing right now. She seriously considered picking that pig instead of the Snivy that she ended up with…

…Did Trainers normally regret their Starter choice after the fact?

Suddenly, a new sight brought her reminiscing to a halt as she witnessed a Pokemon scattering around. A bushy tailed, striped rodent looking Pokemon was enough to get a smile on the young woman’s face. What a cute Pokemon! It wasn’t a Minccino or anything, but she’d seen Minccino so much in Nimbasa that maybe it was better that it wasn’t. Maybe she’d catch one when she got everything started properly…

…Speaking of, Opal managed to get her attention off of the scurrying Pokemon, and onto a… red-haired boy?! Hey, that was the kid she was looking for! And there was a green Pokemon rubbing up to his leg. “Hey!” Opal called out as she rushed over, though it didn’t seem like the boy noticed, or cared, as he continued tossing stones at the cute Pokemon (how rude) forcing her to rush toward him and shouted louder. “HEY! Excuse me! Hey!” The young teen waved her arms around, and even if he had the decency to stop, she continued calling at him. “Excuse me! Sir! Hey! Sir! Hey! Hey! …Hey!”

The girl sucked in air, taking it in and letting it out in a sigh, then in and out again as all of that yelling… got her a bit out of breath. After sucking in air one more time she straightened herself out and smiled at the young man. “Is that your Squirtle?” She said… pointing at the Chikorita. Oh, well… to be fair, she didn’t know what these Pokemon were… she’d never seen a Chikorita OR a Squirtle before, so could she be blamed for getting them mixed up?

…Now that she actually looked at the little green Pokemon, who looked super cute herself (she’d probably pick that one if she had the chance), she didn’t really look like the Pokemon she thought it would be. Maybe this wasn’t Squirtle?

“Hey,” Opal spoke again. “You’re Silver, right? The kid who stole the two missing Starter Pokemon?” The teen folded her arms over her chest, at least… trying to give an angry expression. “I’ve got a bone to pick with…” However… she just couldn’t keep a straight face. “Hahahahah! I’m… I’m sorry, I… I just can’t take you seriously! Are you edgy?! Is you an edgy edgelord?!”

Yeah… this was her sad attempt to get her Starter options back… hm…

Maybe she could do with taking this a little more seriously?
---

Note: Opal "confronts" Silver and his Chikorita, "Aval".

Word Count: 508 Words

[Caramell 🍬]

Someone shouted at Silver from behind, though he couldn’t concern himself with the noise at first. He continued to attack the small Sentret, causing them to scatter until none remained. When he finally cleared the area, someone’s shouting eventually caught his ear. With a slightly bored yawn, the redheaded boy spun around and eyed a fragile looking teenager who seemed like she had a bone to pick with him. Why? “Leave me alone, witch.” He snapped, turning his nose up at her whilst gripping some more rocks in one hand.

“Go harass some pretty boy boyfriend of yours already, will ya? Maybe your knight in shining armor will save you.” He scoffed, with a wide grin. Their was no way he was going to humor her. Right? She continued, relentless, and this time accused him of stealing his starter. And calling Aval as Squirtle. What? Silver blinked profusely in confusion and turned to stare at Aval like ‘just what about you screams Squirtle’?! “Man, you really are some bimbo girl! Head full of air or something?! That’s a Chikorita and it’s my Chikorita!” He stomped one foot firmly in the ground.

Opal laughed at Silver, causing his face to flush. Anger enraged his soul. Who did she think she was?! “I don’t need some anorexic witch telling me what I should look like! You need several full meals to look like a normal person. I definitely don’t need advice from someone like you.” He growled. A small shell stuck out in the grass nearby, though whether it was inhabited or not remained a mystery. Perhaps, the Squirtle’s shell...? “Aval would beat you in a battle but I bet you’re weaker than the turtle that ran away from me, and don’t even have a Pokemon of your own!” Silver scoffed with a rude cackle.

---

Will she still confront Silver? What's that weird looking shell in the grass?

Adding 400 words to egg!

[cynda1]

“Boy are you rude,” Opal pointed out, far too cheery for those words to fit her attitude. “People have called me annoying, even downright unbearable, but Witch? I gotta admit, that’s pretty harsh!” She said that… but it still didn’t seem like she was taking this kid very seriously. The feelings seemed mutual, though, which seemed to say more about her than it did about Silver. He seemed annoyed at best, and dumbfounded at worst, but there was simply no sign of him seeing her as any sort of potential threat.

The feeling was mutual.

“Oh,” Opal nodded with a grin. “So you are the one who stole the Squirtle and Chikorita!” Opal looked back at the lab. “Professor Elm let me know that there was a missing Chikorita and Squirtle, and I happened to find your ID at the scene of the crime. Funny how that got there today, hm?” She looked down at the Chikorita before shrugging. “But that’s okay! I forgive you! Chikorita seems to like you just fine anyway, so I can be short one choice.”

But that just left out the Squirtle then…

It wasn’t until Opal was laughing at him that Silver seemed to really rev up on the rude comments. “Oof, looks like I hit a nerve,” the teen pointed out before shaking her head. “Sorry, I don’t really know how to control the words that come out of my mouth sometimes. Seems like you have that problem too… or is yours more intentional? I dunno.” It was then that she happened to hear him say that a turtle ran away… Turtle… Squirtle…

“Ooooh!” She couldn’t believe it just dawned on her, and she started laughing again. “My goodness, I’m so silly! That was so obvious! I’m from Unova, so I’ve never actually seen a Squirtle or a Chikorita before, and… well, I was in such a hurry to track you down, it never even occurred to me to ask. Whoops! I’ll have you know I know quite a lot about Pokemon. I left all of mine back in Unova to start fresh. But… yes, I don’t happen to have a Pokemon with me right now.”

It was then that she looked over at the grass and saw a turtle shell. “Hm? What’s that?” Opal walked over and crouched down to get a better look at the turtle shell… “Are you the Squirtle, little guy?” She uh… wasn’t even sure if she could see eyes looking back at her or not… looking inside a turtle shell was kinda hard. Then she recalled the challenge. “I could beat you in a battle,” Opal said, picking up the turtle shell and walking over to the Trainer. “Your Aval vs my… uh Squirtle, I guess? I bet I could beat you on the first try without even knowing what moves this Pokemon has.”

To be fair, that was probably a stretch… perhaps Opal was getting a little cocky. Now all she needed was to figure out how to get Squirtle to come out of its shell…
---

Note: Opal investigated and, rather stupidly, picked up the shell. She then turns around and challenges Silver to a battle.

Word Count: 510 words

[Pixel]

"I didn't ask for your life story you stupid bimbo," Silver snarked. "What is with women and never shutting up?! Just running their mouths about things nobody wanted to know. Ooooh didja know I'm from Unova? Oooh, didja know I totally left all my pokemon behind to go on an adventure, tee-hee? Wasn't that silly of me? Urg. If you really were a trainer before, you'd know not to go picking fights in the tall grass without a pokemon." He seemed to bristle at the mention of his ID and he just sneered when she picked up the squirtle, as if to use it as some sort of shield. "Bah. You're really going to use that thing for a battle? It just ran off from me and I'm clearly the more competent one between us. Bet it's just a useless little coward that will keep running if you put it down. Isn't that right, Aval?"

The chikorita that was cuddled against his leg made a smug face at the human holding the squirtle.

She clearly had a bit of a superiority complex too.
 

---

Silver accepts your challenge!

Silver sends out his [LV 5] Chikorita named "Aval"!

Pixel just noting I'm adding the words for Oval's eggs, only cuz I noticed it was missed (via last edit being me). ^^

[cynda1]

“Oh. M. Gosh.” She seemed to be shocked at Silver’s harsh tongue… maybe for a split second. “You’re from Unova too?! Well that explains… some things, I guess? I dunno. But that’s so neat! I’m sure you’re gonna give me a real challenge…” The teen paused for a moment as a thought… yeah she got those from time to time… occurred to her. If this Silver kid was from Unova… what was he doing stealing a Pokemon at a lab? Why didn’t he just get one the conventional way like everyone else? Maybe he liked the challenge?

In any case, now wasn’t the time to worry about such things. Her challenge was accepted whether Silver actually did so or not because she was about ready to toss the turtle into the battlefield… just needed to give it a little pep talk.

“Hey,” Opal spoke up. “I get your whole thing is being rude and all, but I’m sure Squirtle’s just new at this, ain’t ya little one?” There was no response… could she be certain there was even a Pokemon in the shell? Oh, it finally peaked its head out when Silver suggested she would start running away the second she was put down. So it was alive. Well, that was certainly… an idea, but where precisely was she meant to go at this point? Waiting for them to leave wasn’t working, and… well, she wasn’t certain she was fast enough to get away from Ms. Sunshine, so… was battling really her only option.

“Don’t listen to Mr. Broody over there,” Opal said with such a huge smile, it gave the turtle… anything but confidence. “He’s just trying to scare you. Now get in there and show that Chikorita you mean business!”

The teen then threw the Squirtle onto the battlefield, causing the turtle to flail a bit in the air as she struggled to land safely, somehow managing a handstand before leaning back onto her hind feet. After letting out a sigh, the young Water-Type gave the woman who threw her a rather annoyed look, though much like Silver’s harsh tongue, Opal seemed not to notice. “Alright now, use… use…” Opal’s frown was fixed on her face as her brows furrowed. What attacks did Squirtle even know? She then brought her specific attention to the tail on the end of the shell. “You can use Tail Whip, right? Yeah, do that. Wag your tail… menacingly!”

The Squirtle squinted at the girl. Could she… even do that? Wag her tail menacingly? Whatever. She’d use a Tail Whip anyway. The worst thing that could happen was that it’d miss.

---
Notes: Brooke used Tail Whip! Also, Opal doesn't seem to be paying attention... or maybe she's just stupid, I dunno.

Word Count: 438

[Marchbaby]

Silver could hardly care less about what Opal had to say as he just wanted to get this battle started as soon as possible. As he waited to see what move the Squirtle would try first he was a bit surprised to hear Opal command it to us a status move instead of a show of force but Silver had just the right move to counter such a strategy. " Ah so the pest knows how to shake it's tail, usually that would make for an alluring target but Aval knows a status move of her own. Go and show this weakling your Growl."

As Brooke tried to start her attack she was caught off guard by the Chikorita unleashing a heart wrenching growl that left her quite unnerved. The young Squirtle struggled to stay focused on her own attack but after a few seconds she was able to gain enough of her composure to shake her tail trying to get Aval to let her guard down and despite the grass type's better judgement that is exactly what happened as she became fixated on Brooke's tail.

As the first round finally came to a close Silver was not too thrilled by the results though they were not as bad as they could have been. " Aval stop wasting your time and stay focused on the task at hand. Watching a weakling shake it's tail like that will get you nowhere in life. Fail me here and you will be just as useless as that Squirtle is to me." He then waited to see what Opal would try next fully prepared to get the next round started.



Trainer Battle

---

Weather: Clear

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

[attr="class","qkt-wild-pkmn"]
Aval LV 5
HP 100% [21/21]

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

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

[attr="class","qkt-trainer-pkmn"]
Brooke LV 5
HP 100% [20/20]

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

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

Silver's Aval [Overgrow]: Defense -1
Opal's Brooke [Torrent]: Attack -1

SP11 Aval used Growl!
SP10 Brooke used Tail Whip!

[cynda1]

Brooke flinched and shuddered a little at the Growl coming from the Chikorita, and even though Aval was a quadruped, she suddenly seemed much taller. The Squirtle was quick to withdraw into her shell before Opal could even think about her next command. “Hey, Squirtle,” Opal shouted trying to get her attention. “Get out of there and battle, you can beat her!” …But what now? Well, maybe this was like Unova. Squirtle knew one stat dropping move, so maybe she knew Tackle too?

None of the Unova Starters started with Scratch, so the teen didn’t even consider that a possibility honestly. Luckily this was one of her few assumptions that just might work out.

“Alright, keep your head in your shell,” she said, adjusting her cap on her head a little as she tried to get herself focused. “Use your hind legs to launch yourself shell first at Aval with Tackle!” Within the young Squirtle’s shell, the young Pokemon’s face contorted in confusion… she wasn’t serious, was she? What kind of Pokemon did this lady take her for, an award winner? She was someone’s Starter, she couldn’t possibly be expected to pull something like that off.

But, Opal did tell her to use Tackle, and… well it didn’t really make much sense for her to use Tail Whip again since Chikorita could just nullify it with Growl. Squirtle was a newbie and even she knew that much… so Tackle wasn’t exactly a bad option. The turtle finally stuck her head, limbs, and tail out of her shell after some thinking, and simply started running at Aval on her two feet. She then tried to ram into the Chikorita head first, this time trying her very best to glare her down.

She was still quite stiff… if she was trying to give the impression she wasn’t scared, she honestly wouldn’t blame anyone if it wasn’t working.
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Notes: There goes Opal trying to be all fancy with her brand new Pokemon... Oh, also, Brooke used Tackle the old fashioned way!

Word Count: 315