One Step Closer - Cherrygrove City

[Andrew]

Andrew's heart raced as he took his first step into Cherrygrove. He had never been there in his life.
"Wow, I really made it," he whispered to himself.
His day was going perfect. The sun was blazing, he felt great and now he owned three Pokémon. Andrew stretched his arms and glanced around the city. It wasn't that big but it was a big change from New Bark Town. He began to stroll down a wide street that looked quite busy. He couldn't wait for the next event.

[Morrigan]

It truly was a great day. The sun was basking down on the pretty town of Cherrygrove, many people were walking along the cobbled streets and paths. Bird pokemon were tweeting happily whilst fluttering their wings as they flew through the air. Within the small lake which ran around the left edge of the town, the water pokemon within splashed around happily.

As Andrew continued to venture along the streets, a rather cute accured. A small yellow Pokemon was rolling around happily on the floor, obviously sun bathing. As Andrews steps grew closer, it gently lifted its head, "Saaaaand?-"


A Sandshrew sunbaths on the path in front of you.
You can either approach it further, battle it or just walk right by.

[Andrew]

Andrew could never turn down a battle. Once he spotted the wild Sandshrew, his mind was set. He crept along the path, making his way closer to Sandshrew. He held a Pokéball in his left hand.
"Let's go, Santeri!" Andrew roared, tossing the ball into the air.
Santeri emerged from a red light.
"Speeear!" it cried, stretching its wings.
It set its eyes on the yellow Pokémon, ready to aim an attack.
"Peck!" Andrew yelled and Santeri rushed straight into attack.

[Joss]

Hearing its trainer's command, Santeri rushed forward and pecked Sandshrew right in the face. It made a small tear in the Pokemon's hardened flesh, but it didn't do much.

"... Shrew?" Sandshrew looked at it quizzically. Sure, it stung, but did it do anything to the bird? No. This angered Sandshrew, and adrenaline pumped into its armored body.

"... SHREW!" Sandshrew slung its claws forward, gashing the bird's feathered chest. Crimson red blood dripping down onto the ground from the gaping wound. This was obviously a Critical Hit. Sandshrew stood up from its sunbathing, and jumped several feet back, preparing to battle the bird.

Battle

---

Sandshrew | Level 6 |
Health : 90%
Status : Normal

Santeri | Level 7 |
Health : 80%
Status : Normal

[Andrew]

“Hang in there, Santeri! We can do this,” Andrew cheered, reassuringly.
The Spearow tried to fight off its pain and continue with this interesting battle.
“Let’s try another Peck attack, Santeri!” the trainer ordered.
The bird Pokémon watched the enemy more carefully this time, hoping to do more damage than last time. The Sandshrew had proved to be quite a quick and experienced fighter from its previous attack.

[Joss]

Santeri's eyes flared with rage. That was cheap, or at least, Santeri thought so. Seeing its own blood drip down from its chest only made it angrier.

"Spearrr!" It had underestimated the Sandshrew, and hadn't hit it very hard, but it wasn't going to make the same mistake twice. It rushed forward, grabbing the small tear in the Sandshrew's flesh with its beak, and ripped it open. But, it wasn't done. Seeing the blood, Santeri got excited. It began to viciously attack the Sandshrew, only for Sandshrew to Scratch it with its viciously sharp claws to make it back off. Both fighters had already lost a surprisingly large amount of blood, but Sandshrew was much worse off than Santeri.

"Shreww.." It stopped for a few seconds, collapsing on the ground to rest, but it got up with new vigor. Surprise - it had been using Sand from the ground to scab up its wound. Another cheap trick in Santeri's eyes. It cawed in anger, ready for its trainer to let it finish the cheap thing off.

Battle

---

Sandshrew | Level 6 |
Health : 35%
Status : Normal

Santeri | Level 7 |
Health : 65%
Status : Normal

[Andrew]

"That was much better!" Andrew cheered.
"Speearr," the bird Pokémon squawked.
It was breathing heavier than usual. This Pokémon was tough. It was putting up a great fight.
"Let's finish this! Use another Peck, Santeri!" the trainer cried.
Spreading out its wings, the bird Pokémon prepared for what he hoped would be the final move. As Santeri's eyes widened, it charged powerfully at the opponent once again.

[Professor Oak]

Santeri ran towards Sandshrew at high speed, flapping its wings furiously for extra pace. The flurry of feathers kicked up a small duststorm that temporarily blinded Sandshrew.

Santeri landed a heavy blow on Sandshrew with his beak and for a moment there for silence as the cloud of dust slowly lifted. It was hard to see what had happened. Santeri had expected another attack from the Sandshrew but was a little surprised when it didn't come. Lying unconscious in the sand was the burrowing Ground Pokemon, completedly knocked out from the Peck attack.

Battle

---

Sandshrew | Level 6 |
Health : 0%
Status : Fainted

Santeri | Level 7 |
Health : 65%
Status : Normal

---

Congratulations! Santeri grew to level 9!
Santeri learnt Fury Attack!

Sandshrew is also available for capture.

[Andrew]

"Great work, Santeri! We did it!" Andrew cheered.

He gazed at the Sandshrew lying on the ground and couldn't help but feel sorry for it. He'd always had a love for Ground-Type Pokémon. Sandshrew had also been a favourite since he was young. He couldn't just leave it there. He felt his hand draw a Pokéball from his belt. He looked down and caught the sphere with two hands.

"Well, this is it." he whispered, holding the Pokéball to his lips. His eyes shot back to the knocked-out Sandshrew and he released the red orb from his warm hands. "Pokéball, go!"

The ball hurled through the air. Andrew could feel the power as the ball left his hand. He watched as it opened and a red light shot at the mouse Pokémon. It surrounded Sandshrew as the Pokémon was drawn into it.

Andrew's heart was racing. It was if time had suddenly stopped. Everything seemed to going in slow motion. Nothing seemed to matter put the Pokéball. The rest was all blacked out. His head swayed from side to side with the sphere. Now, all he could do was hope he'd done enough. Santeri was sharing Andrew's thoughts. To him, catching this Pokémon proved his victory. It would show that he'd done enough damage for his trainer. Four eyes focused as the ball rocked for the final time. This was it.

[Professor Oak]

It seemed as though Andrew was so fixated on the Pokéball rocking from side to side, that he had become unaware of his surroundings. In actual fact, more than four eyes were focused on the movement of that ball for Andrew and Santeri appeared to have drawn a crowd around them. Although new trainers commonly frequented the streets of Cherrygrove and battles occurred on a daily basis, it was a wide busy road after all and Andrew couldn’t expect not to draw any attention to himself.

The locals usually left trainers alone. They didn’t want to interfere with any battles and especially didn’t want to pick a fight with strong trainers who might be passing by. Besides, the tourists did help keep the pest problem in check for who knows how many Rattata, Sandshrew and other voracious critters had been removed from the marketplaces by enthusiastic novice trainers.

However, someone did interfere. The ball was about to rock for the final time when a stranger walked over to it and picked it up! The Pokéball clicked shut in his palm and he watched the expression on Andrew’s face with a deep interest in how he’d react. The stranger tossed the Pokéball up and down in his hand to perhaps get a feel of how heavy the Sandshrew was inside before he tossed the ball back to Andrew, where it clattered to the ground at his feet.

[img] http://www.serebii.net/heartgoldsoulsilver/pokemon/027-m.png [/img]
[b]Sandshrew[/b]
Name:
Gender:
Level: 6
Attacks: Scratch, Defense Curl
Nature/Personality:

“Seems like you’ve attracted quite the crowd here lad,” said the stranger. “Why don’t we put on a show for them…a battle perhaps?”



The stranger wore a red coat and a hat and had a habit of flicking a small coin into the air and catching it again in the palm of his hand. He definitely seemed out of place and it was clear that he wasn’t a resident of Cherrygrove. However, his challenge seemed honest enough and despite a somewhat menacing introduction, the stranger didn’t appear to have ulterior motives.

[Andrew]

Sandshrew
Name: Darryl
Gender: Female
Level: 6
Attacks: Scratch, Defense Curl
Nature/Personality: Daria is very level-headed and takes time to think about things. She avoids rushing important decisions and usually tries to see things from different angles. However, sometimes she can take too long to make up her mind and consequently can be too late.

I'll save you the trouble and update myself.

---

Andrew was speechless. He didn't even realise that so many people had clustered around him. He gazed at the Pokéball as it shook for the final time. His eyes followed the hand that picked it up. A stranger wearing a hat and long coat was holding it. Andrew wasn't sure how to react. He was in shock. He just stood helplessly with his hands by his sides. He shot back to life as the sphere was released from the boy's hand. Andrew put out his hands to catch it, but he was too late. The ball rolled by his feet. As he bent down to pick the ball up, he was startled by the trainer's voice.

Andrew slowly raised his head. He was slightly intimidated by the stranger. He knew that the boy wanted nothing more than a battle. He seemed to have a liking to large audiences. Still, Andrew felt slightly uncomfortable. Before he had realised what he'd just done, he found that he'd accepted the battle. He hadn't spoken yet, just simply nodded his head. Gulping, Andrew decided that he was going to have to do this.

"Alright then, let's go." he said, trying to hide the nervous tone in his voice. "I guess I'll start. Come on out Glint!" A blue turtle Pokémon emerged from the Pokéball. It had been a while since Andrew had used him. "We'll keep you for later, Oriane." Andrew whispered to the sphere he had picked up, before attaching it to his belt, along with his Squirtle's Pokéball. He looked back at the other trainer. He didn't seem as threatening as he did initially. Maybe the battle would be alright after all.

[Professor Oak]

The stranger smiled a little as Andrew accepted his challenge but he had expected this of course.

“Excellent,” he declared. “I hope that I can put up a decent challenge for you. I haven’t battled for quite sometime despite all my travelling and I generally tend to keep a low profile although you probably wouldn’t have guessed by the way I’ve acted so far.

The stranger then took out a Pokeball from inside his coat pocket and tossed it confidently out in front of him. A small pink Pokemon emerged with did not seem to have any form or substance to its body. Two tiny beady eyes blinked in the daylight before they turned slowly to look back at its master, who took out a satchel full of what appeared to be fine blue sand. He grabbed a pinch of the powder and sprinkled it over his Ditto, who almost appeared to sneeze a little as the blue cloud fell around it.


(Level 10)

[Andrew]

Andrew thought about the battle for a while before making his move. This Ditto looked a little more experienced than any of his own Pokémon. He'd just have to make the best of what he had. He turned his attention to Glint. The turtle Pokémon didn't seem to have the slightest fear in battling his opponent. Andrew smiled to himself as he came to a decision.
"Okay Glint. Let's start this off with a Bubble!"

"Squirtle!" the Pokémon replied, enthusiastically. He focused his attention on the pink blob that stood before his eyes. Glint opened his mouth wide, taking in as much air as he could before releasing a series of bubbles at his foe.

Andrew watched anxiously as his Pokémon's attack was fired at the opponent. He needed Glint to get a head start in the battle, to make up for the level difference. Andrew's only concern was the speed of his Pokémon. He had no idea how fast the opponent's Ditto was. He was hoping to get a Water-Type attack in before his opponent used the move he was dreading. Once Ditto had transformed, Glint's Bubble attack would be practically useless.

[Professor Oak]

Ditto was a Pokémon with notoriously low stats. Low Attack, low Defence, low Speed... It seemed like Andrew's strategy had been a good one except for one small problem. The fine blue powder that the mysterious person had sprinkled on his Ditto before the battle had commenced was composed of a rare crushed mineral that had almost magical properties when it came into contact with a Ditto. Known as Quick Powder by Ditto enthusiasts, it had the ability of doubling Ditto's speed during a battle.



By the time that Glint was able to blow a jet of bubbles out of his mouth, he was already staring into a reflection of himself! Glint's Bubble attack therefore inflicted minimal damage to the transformed Ditto.

Battle

---

Ditto | Level 10 |
Health : 95%
Status : Normal


Glint | Level 8 |
Health : 100%
Status : Normal

---

{{Thread reserved by Prof Oak. I have something special in mind for Andrew. }}

[Andrew]

Andrew bit his lip as he watched his strategy fail miserably. Glint wasn't quick enough after all. He'd have to stick to the Tackles. At the moment, Andrew didn't have enough of a headstart to use any status-effecting moves. He'd have to stick to the offensive. "Damn," he muttered. He turned to Glint. The Squirtle seemed to have a mixed expression of shock and disappointment.

"It's alright buddy. We can do this." Andrew reassured the water Pokémon. "Let's go with a Tackle!" Andrew's hand shot forward, pointing in Ditto's direction. It was unnecessary, but it was something he had developed a habit in doing. Glint nodded and took another look at his opponent. He seemed to be a little creeped out.

He may have been a little behind in terms of speed, but if Andrew went about things properly, he was confident he could overcome his opponent. Besides, he always had back up if things began to look down. "Come on Glint, focus on the battle!" Andrew reminded his partner.