Santalune's New Arrivals! [Closed][Plot?]

The light was blinding, irritating, and the clouds were moving too damn fast to block it out for long. Avaritia herself was miserable, paranoid. Every second she'd check over her shoulder, knowing someone, somewhere was watching her. And she could do nothing about it. Hell, she didn't even know if she could trust her own Pokemon, and that was the only reason it was idling in a ball attached to her belt rather than being snuggled in her arms to at least have some sort of comfort. She hadn't been in Kalos long, but had read up on its Gym structure learned that Santalune was the home to their easiest trainer, a photographer that toted bug Pokemon. Unfortunately, bugs did a number on dark types and she was ill equip to just blindly challenge the Gym Leader at her current strengths. Why am I even here? she wondered to herself, it's all meaningless anyway.

The first sight Avaritia witnessed as she stepped into the walls of Santalune was her one true fear. Blood, fighting, but most of all... pain. It made her queasy and want to just curl into a ball somewhere and hide from it. The way it gripped without mercy and swallowed everything up. How it didn't discriminate and tortured everyone equally. She hated the thought of it, and there was definitely the thought of it at this moment. She hadn't witnessed the beginnings, the low blow by a knife-toting man. Instead, she was met with a man hunching in pain and retreating away from another, who was leaving trails of blood to accent the cool puddles of water from the fountain in the town's square.

Her eyes naturally fell to the tower of a man leaning against the side of the Pokemon Center. The crimson trail lead straight to his current position, after all, and it was still pooling from the open gash. Despite her better judgement and with one final glance over her shoulder, Avaritia expressed her concern.

"A-Are you alright, sir?" she asked the bleeding one, maintaining a cautious distance in case he turned out to be blindly violent. Her quick judgement showed that the other was handling himself alright and currently not bleeding all over the town square. "I can, ah," she didn't really know the social protocol for catching the tail end of a physical fight. Did she offer to call the police? No, from the looks of things, that'd just get both parties involved in trouble, and she wasn't about to get stuck in the middle of that. "I can, er, help you find a hospital...?" She hadn't meant it, but the offer trailed off in more of a question than an offer. Then, to prove her ineptitude of handling the situation, she just stood there awkwardly avoiding eye contact and waiting for a response in silence.

"W-Worse?" Avaritia asked in surprise, cringing as she took in the sight of the wound with more focus before quickly averting her gaze from it. Instead, she took to actually looking at the man. And what a sight he was. Looming over her with what seemed, to her, an ungodly amount of muscle. A large, tribal tattoo that drew focus to the intimidating stature and bulk and piercings to only add to the intimidation. The tattoo was an interesting point, it was a pattern enjoyed by ancient settlements in the regions long before any of them realized the continent they lived on wasn't the only one in the world. Of all the people I could have talked to, it just had to be this guy.

Her face fell into a slight frown as she listened to the rest of Carver's words. As she listened, she couldn't help but feel hesitant. There was something off about his behavior. It was the fact that he almost looked as if he was enjoying the pain he must be going through. The rest of him shone true, though, his genuine smile, no indication of what he was saying was false. She relaxed as best she could after his own reassurance of her safety, but all that blood still put her on edge. She just wasn't comfortable around it. No matter her curiosities, she deemed it not appropriate to ask just why he was constantly attacked. She couldn't frame the question socially correctly if she tried, anyway.  

"N-Nice to meet you Carver," she responded after he finished speaking. "I'm, uh, sorry to hear about all those attacks. It must be hard to never be able to just sit back and relax. I couldn't imagine having to look over my shoulder at every damn instance of the day to make sure I wasn't about to get hurt." On the contrary, the tone of her voice at the latter end of the statement was more of a hiss than a sympathetic tone. She knew damn well what it was like. "My name is Avaritia, and I, uh, promise I don't bite either." She held up one of her thin arms, resting her other hand on the rather lackluster bicep. "Not much here that could do you any damage." She said, trying to make a joke to lighten the atmosphere.

Avaritia let out a relieved breath as Carver laughed, she was unsure of what to actually do in response, even if it were her own joke. It was highlighted in a nervous tone and trailed off when his voice carried on. She listened intently and began to actually appreciate just being met with a casual conversation. She wasn't well versed in such a thing, but it was a nice escape from all the crap that was on her mind during her walk to Santalune. She nodded on occasion, sometimes humming a quick 'mhm' to signify that she was still listening to the spoken words.

As Carver spoke, Avaritia finally brought herself to making eye contact. What she saw was pretty surprising. One eye was a vivid color she couldn't quite place as blue or green, a mixture of both. The other was more akin to her own shade, though much darker than her light in-between of pink and red. Despite how she might have felt if someone had explained the appearance to her, the mismatched pair went well with the burly man's face, and she began to see more to his appearance than just brute strength.

She was genuinely caught up in his story, curious about how someone could possibly make a reputation like that. To constantly be targeted and fighting sounded like a hard life, and her sympathies were genuine to this fact. As the story continued, she shifted her weight from one foot to another in order to stay comfortable while her posture relaxed more-so that it had been. Her mind was wandering slightly at every new thought coming from his words until she heard him speak of Kanto, and her focus snapped back solely toward his words.

Kanto. I wonder if there's a possibility, even a small one, that he knows Acadia... how is Acadia doing? She felt a small ache in her heart. It had been so long since she saw the latter half of her family after they moved away to Kanto. Listening to the rest of Carter's words made her appreciate the subject change.

"I'm probably as much a trainer at the moment as you are," she responded genuinely as her hand absentmindedly ran across the occupied Pokeball on her belt. "My Pokemon and I haven't really, er, actually battled anything yet. We don't know each other very well because she was a..." she trailed off, trying to find the right words before settling on one. "gift. We haven't really spent much time with each other yet, but I'm hoping to grow strong with her. Unfortunately, she doesn't do to well against bugs either. They'd beat her right up at her current strength. They probably would even if she were just as strong as them, so I was thinking of trying to catch another Pokemon to help... just need to do the whole battling thing first," she chuckled. In all honesty, she was still hesitant to use Caligo. The most she's done with the Pokemon was ride with her on the ferry and give her a nickname. She seemed sweet enough, but Avaritia was still reeling from what had transpired to have gotten Caligo in the first place. She didn't know where the Zorua's loyalties actually were.

"What about you? It sounds like you and your Pokemon get along. You honestly look like you could pose as a Gym Leader if you wanted to, it's a little surprising to hear you don't have much Pokemon battling experience.  Are Gym Badges your goal?" She was genuinely curious, considering he didn't seem too enthusiastic at the aspect of challenging the Santalune Gym.

"So then, were about in the same boat? Inexperienced and fresh to the whole event.", he stated, with a silly grin. He didn't mind the situation one bit. In fact, it might be the best kind of thing since they could work together to improve. He liked the idea of that, working alongside someone else. It could be fun, rather than traveling around alone. A group would be much more exciting. "Ya know it's not so bad just starting out with a new experience. What say that maybe we work together?", he stated to her as he looked around. "I'm not sure if I want to chase after the badges, but I'll certainly make some challenges to them.", he spoke honestly to Avaritia.

He pointed down the street. "That way leads out to a place where we can find Pokemon. We can also train if you'd like. No harm in doing that. It'll probably be very fun, at least that's what I want to think.", he said. He started walking away, looking back and gesturing for Avaritia to follow along. "We'll go catch some Pokemon and train. Down this way.", he said as he moved towards an open field outside. He pulled down the zipper from his vest, revealing the belt with Pokeballs on it. With the vest open, he took off one of the Pokeballs and opened it, revealing a Cubone. "Hey ya little guy, we're gonna look for some wild Pokemon to train against.", he said to the Cubone, who nodded and seemed ready for a fight.

"Little guy kind of goes overboard in a fight. Trying to break him of that sort of thing, it's annoying.", he said as Cubone waved it's club around in anger. Felix's head abruptly turned to face a shaking portion of the grass. He pointed and shouted. "There! Cubone go quick!", Felix watched as Cubone launched itself at the bush to reveal what was there.

"Yeah, the same boat," Avaritia responded thoughtfully. Guess it was luck to run into someone just as inexperienced as her, a late trainer just like she was. Although their reasons for starting off so later were probably vastly different. And that intrigued her. For the first time since she stepped into Kalos, she genuinely grew curious. How does someone like Carver turn around and decide the meeker life of a trainer? She found herself surprised that she wanted to know, she wanted to know more about him. A welcoming distraction. Then the offer came, to work and travel together. It startled her, and she didn't know the answer. Is it a good idea to drag Carver into all of this? What happens when... when they come for me. He might fight and get hurt in the process, I can't live with that.

The smile on his face, though, she didn't want to ruin that. The genuine happiness Carver displayed only ate at her guilt. He didn't waste time and didn't wait for an answer from her. Her thought toward it had wasted enough time for him to already change the subject and point down the road toward a more wild environment. All she could utter before he started walking and gesturing for her to follow was "I, uh- nevermind." And a rare smile crept across her face and she followed him. She was genuinely enjoying herself after the shock of all the blood wore off. Giddy at the aspect of actually getting farther in her career as a trainer. Carver's enthusiasm was contagious, and she wasn't going to let him have all the fun. What's the harm in partnering at least for a little bit?

She grabbed her own Pokeball and released her Zorua, which glanced around curiously with a mystified expression of all that was around her. She barked in excitement, dashing around the pair of trainers and the Cubone to help stretch her legs and interact with the world around her. "Someone's excited," Avaritia giggled, watching the Pokemon's display and racing her to the grass. She had almost forgotten why she worried about the Pokemon to begin with in times like these. A little ways from Carver, she and Caligo spotted their own hiding opponent. Both of them braced theselves. "You ready for your first battle, Caligo?" The Zorua nodded, growling slightly. Whatever awaited them had better prepare itself!

The grass had rustled, and it seemed like both Pokemon were majorly hyped for this fight! Rushing straight for the Cubone was an overzealous Bidoof, a battle-ready male at level six! Only, he wasn't alone, as a little Azurill quivered nervously in the background, her level one notch higher than her friend's, although that didn't make her any less startled. Bidoof tried to use tackle attack on the ground-type, growling viciously as it did so.

Felix smiled. "Alright Cubone, take it away little buddy I'm counting on you!", Felix shouted as Cubone met eyes with the eager Bidoof. Despite Bidoof already in the process of attacking, Cubone was far too reckless to care. He charged forth, meeting the attack with his own. "Use Double-Kick!", Felix commanded his Pokemon as the two brown Pokemon would likely crash into each other. At least using Double-Kick should be effective against a Bidoof. I'm pretty sure it's a Normal Type. I don't think there's an interest in bringing a Pokemon like that onto my team, even if it's eager to fight, he thought, having little intention of capturing a Normal-Type like Bidoof at this moment.

Avaritia noticed the meek Azurill hanging back from the battle, and she couldn't help but feel conflicted. Is it really right, to just attack it when it's not attacking itself? She paused in thought, weighing her options. Azurill wasn't the most strengthy of Pokemon, but an Azumarill with Huge Power, an ability she knew the sometimes carried, was a type combo and force to be reckoned with. Even Thick Fat had its own advantages, though she would prefer the latter ability. Besides, while not as fluffy as she'd prefer, they still had their own charm to them. She'd try out catching the Azurill.

"Okay, Caligo, here's what we're going to do," the natural strategist shone through, even at her first battle. She was inexperienced, yes, but not uninformed. "We're still a little away from Carver, and it's likely that Azurill isn't focusing on us. I want you to catch its attention and lure it away from them using Extrasensory. If we need it, we have your illusions to use in a tight spot, but we need to be careful with them. One hit and we won't be able to use them again while in battle," Her Pokemon had been listening intently, and nodded in understanding.

Her eyes glowed with a faint, pink light as an ethereal psychic energy surrounded the Zorua before shooting out at Azurill in a beam-like Extrasensory. Hoping that it would draw the attention of the water type, Caligo waited to be spotted and took a battle-ready stance. It was a playful one, though, and she tried to not show too much hostility. Both trainer and Pokemon didn't want to scare or truly harm Azurill, after all, they just had to weaken it for capture.

Charging down the Bidoof certainly did more damage to the normal-type than it did Cubone, whose head bashed into the solid cranium that its opponent was wearing. Before it could even finish shaking it off, Bidoof took a nasty double kick attack, which super effectively struck three times in total! The poor thing whimpered, sorry for itself, but apparently hadn't learned its lesson, for it tried to tackle Cubone again! Maybe it was just that it hadn't learned much else at all...?

Azurill had been absorbed in the match before her, worried for her companion, when a psychic attack suddenly shook the poor thing up! She retaliated by letting loose a water sport, seemingly an automatic reaction, before spying the Zorua that started it. Her little eybrows furrowed, the baby obviously stroppy about being interrupted for such a trick, and fired off some rather large and harmful bubbles. What would her challenger do?

"Aw Yeah Cubone, great job there little guy!", Striker shouted as he cheered on his little buddy. Cubone shook his head from the impact, flaring up in anger. "Let's do it again, give it your all with another Double-Kick Cubone!", he shouted as yet again, Cubone launched himself towards the Bidoof and prepared to deliver the same move as before. Sadly, Cubone only has the one move. I feel kind of bad that someone that small kicks so often, Striker thought as he focused on his own battle.

Avaritia still felt a pang in her heart for using such a cheap tactic. Attacking a Pokemon while it was worried and focused on another was a low blow, but what mattered was the task at hand. She needed to focus on the battle, she could make amends later. The water droplets from the Water Sport harmlessly dampened Caligo's coat, which didn't bother the Zorua too much in the grand scheme of things. The air, too, grew slightly moist around them. What did bother her, however, were the incoming bubbles. "Caligo, look out!"

Perhaps due to naivety toward battle, Caligo had assumed the incoming bubbles were cute, floating spheres that, like the Water Sport, wouldn't do much beside irritate her. or get her paws wet. It was her mistake, and the barrage of bubbles collided with the Zorua, causing her to recoil in surprise from the damage. Growling, she decided to retaliate with a speedy Pursuit attack, not waiting for her trainer to call orders. Her claws extended with a dark energy, powering not only them but her own speed for the moment. She dashed at Azurill and swiped, aiming for the speed of Pursuit to startle her enough for the attack to cleanly land.

The battle didn't last long for Bidoof, for whom the double kick was too much to handle. The attack would've struck thrice, but it only took two shots for the poor Bidoof to drop over, overwhelmed by the super effective move. Cubone reached level six, with one experience point left over, and had his happiness increase by ten points! As for Caligo, her speed wasn't quite enough, as the Azurill suddenly bounced high up into the air! Sucking air angrily into her cheeks, she made to try and land hard and fast on the Zorua, in a makeshift pound attack!

[Skip me, won't be able to post until like Monday.]

"Caligo, it's too fast to dodge, don't cloak yourself yet!" Avaritia called out when she noticed the glimmer of though cross her Zorua's mind. If the jump and fall had just been a bit farther... she could have vanished and easily danced away from the attack. But they had gotten a little too close and ended up right where the water type had the advantage to counterattack. Caligo took the blunt of the makeshift attack, and growled. Using the Azurill's own strategy, she lashed out with a close-quarters Extrasensory once more, hoping that the short distance between them would make it more difficult to dodge. Once the attack was launched, she sprung back and put some distance between her and her foe. Both Pokemon and trainer looked on, waiting to see the results of their efforts.

At this time, Avaritia reached into her bag and procured a collapsed Luxury Ball. She always liked the colors, the style of the spheres. They were expensive as all hell, though, and she only had one that she didn't intend on wasting. She'd wait for the right time, preparing to strike the moment she was sure the Azurill was least likely to break out.

VS Azurill (Female) - 33%

It was true that the swift Zorua's extrasensory was too close to avoid, although the Pokemon certainly tried. It tried to lunge out of the way, and so more of its wirey tail and bobble tail took the hit, although the little fox did strike her body as well. "Azuuu!" She cried, spraying out more bubbles, trying to shake off the hit. Her friend had fainted, and she had to win this fight or escape and bring Bidoof, too, or who knew what would happen?

Avaritia didn't notice herself biting the corner of her lip in a small, thoughtful motion. She hadn't realized how nerve-wracking battling truly was, or that she'd feel so... conflicted about it. Against a trainer, both Pokemon were rearing to fight knowing they were in a proper environment. In the wild, however, there was no such thing. Wild Pokemon constantly fought to survive, while some fought trainers for the right to go on with their lives. The grip she had on the Luxury Ball loosened. She looks so worried about her friend... her gaze turned toward the fainted Bidoof, and it's like she's only trying to defend them from us... we're the bad guys, in their eyes. She hated the feeling the thought brought, the helplessness she knew Azurill felt. She had felt it, too.

Her hand shook, and Caligo looked to her for guidance. The Zorua seemed perplexed from the lack of commands, and was reeling from taking damage from another barrage of bubbles. She was weakening, just like the Azurill. Still, she held firm and took it in good faith that Avaritia would guide her next move. "C-Caligo, I don't think I can do it," Avaritia said to her Pokemon, "She wants to protect her friend. I-I don't want to separate them, but I don't want to capture Bidoof. D-Do you think you can speak with her, see if she wants to continue or leave with her friend. I'm not going to attack another unwilling Pokemon." It was a hard choice to make, but Avaritia felt it the right one. The feeling she had, like she was the monster in the eyes of the little Azurill, was too much. She'd continue the fight in the Pokemon consented. If not, she'd let the potential experience go, her first battle a failure. Besides, there's probably plenty of wild Pokemon looking to battle trainers, maybe this one just isn't one of them.

Caligo nodded, acknowledging her trainer's command. She was confused by it, battling was only natural for Pokemon. But if her trainer wasn't going to continue, she wasn't going to act against orders. Orders were given for a reason, after all. She shifted into a less hostile stance, making it clear her intents weren't to attack. Then, she barked out at Azurill, roughly stating what Avaritia asked her to. She remained on edge, though, in case the small water type took the opportunity to sneak in an attack. At that instance, all bets would be off. If Azurill wished, the battle would continue. If not, she was free to leave and bring her companion to safety. The Zorua also tried to make it clear that if the battle did continue, the trainer's intentions were for capture.

The human was stammering, Azurill could see that much, but it didn't change anything. She had been ready to attack again until Zorua started calling out a translation that she could better understand, and then the normal-type relayed her answer. She wanted to continue the battle, but she didn't want to be captured and never see her friend again. That was the conflict. This battle had proven that she had the strength and the skill when her mind was put to it, but she wasn't sure she could just up and leave home alone... These patches of grass and urban windways were all that the baby knew. Could she manage to just go like that, by herself, with these strangers?

Caligo listened with interest, and she wasn't one to try and oppose the ideals and goals of others. Glancing up at her trainer, she couldn't really communicate the Azurill's response. Instead, she had to take things into her own paws and solve things for her trainer. 'You wouldn't be alone, you'd have me and my trainer. And the other Pokemon we meet on our journey. Your friend could come along too, even if he's not captured.' a mischievous glint crossed her eyes, 'I could even, well, accidentally drop a Pokeball on him when my trainer isn't paying attention once he wakes up. So, what do you say? Should we finish this battle?' She stepped back, looking toward Azurill and cocking her head, ready to resume the battle if the little water type wanted.

Avaritia herself watched the exchange with concern. It looked as if the two were at least communicating, though. She had no idea what they were saying in the exchange, so she could only watch and wait. She saw Caligo back up and look as if she was ready to fight once more. The trainer's anticipation caused her heartbeat to thud faster. What was the baby Pokemon going to do? And what had the two decided?

Azurill wasn't sure, but the Zorua seemed honest and smart and considering of others. The baby's eyes wandered to her fainted friend, and then to the trainer, and finally to Caligo again. Her heart was shaking, but she also felt a second wind of strength, and with a loud battle cry of "Azuuu~~!" she launched herself into the air, propelling more damaging bubbles with a finishing, "Rill~!"

Felix was knelt beside Cubone, holding the small Pokemon's hand. "Look's like you got too fired up little guy. Maybe next time take it a little lighter on your opponent.", he said as Cubone turned his head away, knocking Felix's hand away with his club. "Okay tough guy, whatever you want then. I'll keep that in mind once I have more Pokemon to battle with.", he said as he used a Pokeball to return Cubone. Felix returned the Pokeball to the belt along his chest before closing the vest, zipping it right back up.

That's when something caught his eye in the grass. He crawled over to it, something he didn't think he'd exactly come across. It was a Pokemon Egg. Who or what left it here, he couldn't be sure. But he also wasn't about to leave it alone there either. He picked it up, holding it firmly in his grasp. "Interesting. I wonder....", he thought as he turned to check on his friend. She was still fighting the Azurill, possibly having a hard time. Man, this isn't very exciting, he thought as he jogged towards her holding the egg.

OOC - Clearly claiming my egg IC.

"Now, Caligo!" Avaritia commanded toward her Pokemon, not skipping a beat as the battle suddenly picked back up. Needing no other prompt, the Zorua suddenly... vanished. There was no trace that a Pokemon was standing where she had moments before, leaving the bubbles to collide with the ground no longer below the sly fox. Being new to it, however, both Caligo and her trainer knew the illusion couldn't be held forever. It was now or never to make a move. "Sneak up and use Scratch," the trainer called, herself even unsure of where Caligo currently stood. "Try to hold back enough not to faint her, and pin her down!"

She now had a more calm grip on the Luxury Ball, narrowing her eyes to line up her shot. She knew that once Caligo made her move, they wouldn't be able to use the same surprise attack twice, she just wasn't able to hold an illusion that well. This would be it, if things went according to plan, she'd throw the ball, attempting to catch the little Azurill.

Azurill blinked, mouth rounding out like her ears in bewilderment. She twitched said blue ears, peering around and trying to figure out exactly what had happened to the Zorua. She only found out when it was too late, and the fox struck her from behind, pushing the baby from its bobble tail and onto the grass, pinning her squishy torso and part of the wire tail. Azurill panicked, squealing, the end of her zig-zag appendage and the big blue bobble flinging about, potentially able to even hit Caligo or gain enough momentum to throw them both about. Avaritia would have to hurry, because her target was more resourceful than even it realised!