Pokedex One-Shots (PG)

[floracat]

Sorry it took me so long to review. This was such a funny story! I sometimes wondered about two headed beings like Doduo and Zweilous. It was funny seeing the two disagreeing heads stuck together! I feel so sorry for agent 501, not just about the chandelier (though I usually expect Chandelure to do that) but about having to take the two/one brat/brats.

[Z-nogyroP]

HELL YES, I FINALLY CAUGHT UP.

... I'm not the first one to say this am I?

Anyway, I just finished reading through all your previous oneshots, and I must say, you're writing style has never changed: awesome. I'm going to post some comments on the ones that I think would be my favourites.

Porygon/Porygon2/Porygon-Z: I liked how you pulled this one off. Porygon was all computer-y and stuff, and she could only understand words through translation. Porygon2 reminded me of how a really smart baby would act, with some advanced vocabulary but a whole lot of world left to explore. And Porygon-Z, well, that was awesome. Porygon-Z has always been one of my favourite Pokemon you don't say? but I always imagined it as a glitched Porygon2. I didn't even mind the bit of romance at the end, because it suited her well. The only complaint I would have is that you didn't really incorporate Porygon's entry into the story. You did fine with the other two, but you had no mention of Porygon moving in cyberspace or anything. But other than that, that was one of my favs.

Mime Jr./Dusclops: As soon as I saw this request in the comments, I knew you would do something like this. Mimicked hypnotism... only Mime Jr. But it caused me to wonder, you mentioned how Dusclops ate anything, and Mime Jr. copied anything, so...

Yeah. Let's not go there.

Mantyke and Ponyta/Roserade were awesome. The LOLcat part in Mantyke's literally made me fall out of my chair in laughter, and luckily, I wasn't hurt. Ponyta/Roserade isn't something a normal person would think of doing, but you can do anything. Seriously. Bye bye fourth wall, you won't be missed.

Meganium/Typhlosion: Absolute power corrupts absolutely. I guess the power of being head of the forest got to Meganium's head, and he just got drunk with power. I feel sorry for Pidgeotto though. Pumpkins can be extremely scary. Known from personal experience.

Missingno./Chatot and Arceus/Doduo: I swear, you are the ONLY person who could do either of these successfully. 'Nuff said.

Cradily: Aw, poor Cray. He'll never realize his dream of flying, unless a kindly Aerodactyl helps him out. And I doubt Aerodactyl are exactly "kindly" in this universe.

Hoppip/Skiploom: This is one of those "d'awww" inducing ones. Hoppip was adorable, and then you finished by having Skiploom, "oh, the sky is so wonderful, you'll have fun" turn to "OK, get up there or imma destroy you." XD

Basculin/Klang: Again, only you, Ysavvryl. Klang was epic, and the Basculin were hilarious. Note to Baculin: Fear the gear.

I'd like to round off this review with a Jumpluff/Kyurem request. I know you have a lot on your plate, but hopefully you can make some room for these two. I can just see the sheer, unadulterated awesomeness.

EDIT: Forgot a few.

Azelf/Slakoth: I loved this one, you made it seem completely normal for the two to interact.

Daizy: "Oh, hello. Are you a robber?"

Yeah, like you'd do anything if he was.

Glalie/Bellossom: That was a really good one, honestly one of your best. I liked how Duke built his castle directly where they were supposed to dance, nice foresight on his part.

[Ysavvryl]

The chef was acting. And yes, you're not the first person to have a reaction like that, Z-nogyroP. I think I started getting stuff like that when I was in the hundred or so range. Maybe less.

Bleh, I should not be writing today. I'm in a weird state of being sick and tired, but not able to sleep so I'm writing. But since I don't feel up to doing anything complicated or with continuity, there should be several POS updates coming out of this. So, yay? There's a good chance that they won't be in order if I do.

Corsola and Shellder was an entry that I picked out, because I saw something in the Corsola 'dex entry that was interesting. Also, I had Lampent suggested for the solstice, but being like this kept me from writing it. I'm tempted to push that one back to Halloween. It'll be a long time off, but the entry is just so fitting.

In process: Slowking/Regigias
On Deck: Tepig/Vanillish, Xatu/Frillish, Archen/Starmie, Rufflet/Braviary, Purrloin/Liepard, Gigalith, Emolga


Corsola and Shellder


She had first seen the egg one summer morning as she awoke with the rest of her clan at dawn. There was no sign of the Pokemon that had laid it, and none of the other Corsola were in an egg-laying mood. While she wasn't sure what it was, she knew that some predators like Sharpedo around here would eat an unguarded egg. So she took her most recent discarded shell, a pale pink piece of coral, and placed it near the egg to better hide it.

For the next few days, she asked passing Pokemon if the egg was theirs. None of them claimed it, though, and none in her clan knew whose it was either. It came to her to watch over and care about it. But she didn't mind. While she liked watching over young ones, it would be some time before her time to lay eggs again. This one would be like one of her own.

The days were long and warm on the seabed. Plenty of sunlight reached them in these shallow waters, giving a golden shimmer to the water at certain times. All around the Corsola clan, life went about as busily and beautiful as always. The predators didn't often come after them, as their hard skins made them tough to eat. This encouraged smaller Pokemon and fish to keep near the corals where the Corsola lived, hiding out in the nooks and crannies made by their twisting branches and discarded shells. For generations, this was something their clan was proud of, protecting these creatures. But they didn't move as often as the other Pokemon did, so they could not always protect them.

One day, she noticed the egg shifting. Some of the plant coral had already taken hold of some discarded shells and fixed them permanently into place around the egg, but she was able to break away a few to give the new Pokemon some more space. The egg itself trembled in the water occasionally as the young one tried to break free. After several attempts, the egg's top half burst off with the movement of a dark violet shell. Then a large pink tongue emerged and flung away parts of eggshell.

It was uncommon to see a Shellder in these waters, the Corsola thought, although one often saw Clamperls. She'd only seen them in one location that her clan had settled, and that wasn't here. But however it had come to be here, it was still the one she'd be taking care of and protecting. Hopping down into the hiding hole, she gave a cheerful greeting to the new Shellder.

With his spiky shell only partly open, the Sheller looked at her warily, his bright eyes lurking in a secretive darkness. Then he shut his shell up tight, leaving his large tongue sticking out. He knew enough that he didn't recognize her kind and was going to be careful about her. That made the Corsola feel sad, but not discouraged. She would show him that she would continue to protect him.

He didn't talk much, mostly concerned with snatching up small fish for food and staying still to avoid predators. He stayed in the hiding hole or close to it; every evening, he dug himself into the sand with his tongue to sleep, emerging in the morning shortly after she woke up. Despite his quietness, she talked to him, telling him about all the Pokemon, little fish, and plant corals that she knew of. She told him of how beautiful the sunlight was in the afternoon and morning when it came into the sea at an angle. She told him about the humans who occasionally swam around here with their Pokemon and about the rare times when one of them recruited a Corsola or other sea Pokemon with their mysterious devices. All the while, he stayed nearby, only occasionally looking up at her.

Summer turned to autumn and the waters showed signs of cooling down. The plant corals would soon go dormant for the winter. When that happened, the Corsola clan had to be away in warmer waters to the south. Cool water would cause them to feel sluggish, or even go dormant too. That would leave them and any they protected vulnerable. It was time to move on.

For the migration, she discarded her shell for a more streamlined form, with less twisting branches and better formed fins. It would make the trip much easier, but took more time to recover from. Once she felt up to it, she spoke to the Shellder again.

“I don't know how you've felt about me,” she said. “Your shell hides your emotions as well as it hides your body. I do feel sad to leave you. I've done my duty to make sure that you hatched and stayed safe in your early days. But, you seem able enough to take care of yourself without my help. I hope that you'll be okay and think of me fondly. I did enjoy talking to you.”

As usual, he didn't respond. He wasn't even looking to her this time. Some Pokemon were more independent than others.

Sighing, she pushed herself off the old coral bed and tested out her migration fins. The rest of her clan was gathering at the south edge of the area, a mass of sparkling pink that kept them all safe while traveling. The others were talking about which way the currents were flowing and where they should try to find a new coral bed to settle. For once, she didn't feel much like joining the rest of the talk. Maybe they would come back here and she'd find her Shellder child to be much stronger, if still silent. Or maybe they wouldn't and she'd never see him again. That was a risk of looking after unknown eggs like that.

Then a movement of purple caused some agitation in their clan, startled at the unexpectedness of it. But it turned out to be the Shellder, having pushed himself out of the hole over to where they were. He landed on the edge of the coral bed and looked to them, searching. Once his eyes fell on her, he made a twitching motion of his shell and a curl of his tongue.

She left the clan's group briefly to return to him. “Oh, so you did come to say goodbye. Thank you, dear child. I'll miss you.”

He gave her a friendly lick. Maybe he really was just not one for words. The Shellder stayed there watching until the Corsola clan left. In that, she knew that he was thanking her in his own way, even wishing her a safe journey on their migration south.

…

Sapphire entry: Clusters of Corsola congregate in warm seas where they serve as ideal hiding places for smaller Pokemon. When the water temperature falls, this Pokemon migrates to the southern seas.

Shellder Emerald entry: At night, it burrows a hole in the seafloor with its broad tongue to make a place to sleep. While asleep, it closes its shell, but leaves the tongue hanging out.

[floracat]

I think Shellder are the cutest! Is that just me? I found it real sweet that Corsola decided to look after the egg. I was sweet, but. Wish the Shellder would've responded.

[Z-nogyroP]

Aww, that was so adorable. I love Corsola. Admit it, you fell in love with it the first time you saw it too...

Anyway, yay! If POS is updated faster, then Xatu/Frillish will be done sooner, and I can go back to posting requests! And thank you for clearing that up, about the chef.

Now that I think about it, I think I'm looking forward to Tepig/Vanillish than Xatu/Frillish. Aw, I should requested Vanillish/Frillish, because their names rhyme!

[Ysavvryl]

Lol, yeah, Vanillish/Frillish might be fun. But I've already got an idea on Tepig/Vanillish.

It might just be my slow updating lately, but it seems like a while since I've done a Trainer oriented entry for this. This should address the lack; I like how it came out.

In process: Tepig/Vanillish
On Deck: Xatu/Frillish, Archen/Starmie, Rufflet/Braviary, Purrloin/Liepard, Gigalith, Emolga


Slowking and Regigigas


The most embarrassing thing that I can imagine is getting caught without your Shellder on your head. The symbiosis between us is such that if I lose him, I lose my brain. And after awakening to my hidden power through the grip of the Shellder's clasp, I do not like to end up in the dithering thoughtless state that I was in as a Slowpoke.

Sometimes, I believe that my human gets caught without his Shellder on his head more days than not. He's pretty decent as a Trainer, having stuck with it long enough to have a fine collection of Gym badges. And I certainly can't complain about mistreatment. He always has one of us walking out with him, whatever he's doing. He takes care of our injuries in a timely manner, has a general strategy that works most of the time, and occasionally treats us with special foods or play days. But then there are times when I wish I knew telepathy so that he knew why I was smacking my forehead in response to his decisions.

Like that day when we went exploring an old temple. They had guards watching the entrance, notices that access was forbidden unless you had seven Gym badges, a sliding metal gate on the door, and a fence topped with barbed wire. Just looking at the place, it should be easy to figure out, 'oh, we might not want to go in there because it's dangerous'. But did he think that? No.

“There has to be some kind of treasure or something amazing in there that they're hiding,” he said to me. “They even said that hardly anybody goes inside, so it's probably not fully explored. Come on, let's sneak inside.”

I really did smack my forehead then. At the very least, he should have waited until he'd earned the seven badges so that he could get permission to go inside. But no, that would take too long as he only had three and it would take several months, maybe a year, at the rate he was going. I refused to budge for a few minutes, hoping to wear him out so he forgot about the temple in a few hours. That didn't work, though, because he said he'd go in without me. And you know, a good Pokemon is a loyal Pokemon, so I had to go in with him to make sure that he was all right.

Besides, he may be an idiot Trainer, but he's my idiot Trainer. I like him; I don't want bad things to happen to him. I just wish that I could give him advice that he could understand.

The temple itself was actually pretty interesting, once we got in through a back window with no glass or bars. There were murals on the walls with Unown text all around them. Once I had become a Slowking, I had become interested in the Unown text and figuring out what it all meant. It wasn't easy because it's simply a different style to the human language and I had never bothered to learn to read that. In fact, I had only learned a few command words in their spoken language by the time he gave me a King's Rock to attract the right kind of Shellder to me. At that time, I could make out a few words.

The murals were much clearer. They told the tale of an immensely powerful Pokemon that a certain group of humans worshiped. On one wall, it showed the giant Pokemon tying ropes onto cliffs and then using those to drag entire landmasses into place. Farfetched, perhaps, but certainly an impressive and memorable image. On other walls, it showed the giant Pokemon turning a large heap of rocks, magma, and even an entire mountain into other Pokemon that were much like itself. But they weren't like any Pokemon that I had seen before, at that time.

On the wall of a lower level, it showed the story of how a human accidentally enraged the giant Pokemon. It had then gone on to crush and destroy many towns as it had, according to one bit I managed to translate, 'anger as hard to stop as it was to start'. They had built this temple in order to appease and apologize to the giant Pokemon, but then sealed him in the lowest level of the place anyhow. Why they did so, I have no idea.

Because my boy Trainer was already heading down to the next level. “It's just a few small things so far, stuff that was probably dropped by the wild Pokemon in here. But there has to be something good towards the bottom.”

Or possibly something very bad, I thought, if this mural story was true and the giant Pokemon was still angry at being sealed up. But panicking solves nothing; intellect does. I kept calm and followed him down, although I did often take his shoulder and tug at him, trying to hint that we should be leaving, not exploring.

“What are you being so naggy for today?” he asked me. “There's only been wild Pokemon in here, no traps or anything. It's actually kind of boring, and all that stuff on the wall reminds me too much of school.”

I would have liked to ask him why he was staying if it was boring him. That was safer to leave. But no matter how I tried to pass on that message in my expression, he didn't get it. And so we kept heading down.

We found what seemed to be the last level, as it had no stairs further down. There was evidence that the area had once been sealed, in a rough edge of clay in the staircase. From the looks of it, I think there was once a clay block there in the middle of the stairs, painted and textured to look like stone. But someone else had destroyed it. On seeing that, I hoped that the sealed Pokemon had been dealt with.

But no. Whoever had taken out the door had not taken out the Pokemon. I could sense it when we arrived at that level, taking the form of a stone statue in the middle of the room. It was easily twice my size, probably much heavier from its immense build. Although for one that supposedly dragged continents with ropes, it didn't seem quite big enough.

“Wow, that's pretty cool,” my boy said, going over to the 'statue' and touching its hand. “I wonder what it is.” If he had paid attention to the murals, he might have had a good idea of the trouble he was about to get in. “Micah, take my camera and get my picture with it, so I can prove that I got down here.”:

I shook my head in refusal. There wasn't anything in the room that indicated that there was a way to wake this Pokemon up, so I didn't want to risk anything. But he insisted and I was the first to give in. First I tried to do so without the flash, which he noticed and made me take another with it, due to the poor lighting down here.

And that's what woke it up. Is skin turned from gray-brown stone into a strange white material with yellow and green plates and multicolored lights. Frankly, it looked like something out of those cheap gimmicky Pokewood movies that try to be sci-fi without the budget, only this was supposed to be a Pokemon from ancient times. But I wasn't of a mind to worry about aesthetics right then; I was more worried about my boy being right in front of the Pokemon, still grinning in a show-off pose. I waved for him to look behind him.

The first thing he did when he saw the thing behind him, raising one of its hands up, was to run away. Unfortunately, he had to run away from the stairs. Running away is a smart thing to do at times, but at least run towards an exit to the area. I followed after him, mostly because I wanted to stay between him and the old Pokemon. After that initial fright, he stopped and turned back to look at it, more in awe than in fear. And that worried me.

Then against even my expectations, the ancient Pokemon spoke, in the human tongue. “Unauthorized persons spotted,” it said. “You are to be dealt with ruthlessly.” Its lights began racing, brighter than before.

“Micah, stop it!” my boy said, some of his fear returning. But he was fiddling with his bag, the pocket that held unused Pokeballs in it. I felt like that wasn't something to consider under the circumstances. It was speaking as if it were a guard to this place. Perhaps I had misinterpreted the story on the walls, I sometimes think. Perhaps it was there to keep anyone from reaching a more dangerous Pokemon still sealed inside the temple.

But I still had to try to fight it. Since it had been a statue, I guessed that it was a Ground or Rock sort (possibly even Steel). With that in mind, I summoned up a wave of Surf to briefly flood the room. It was one of my more powerful attacks at that time (still is, in many cases), but it did not seem to affect the old Pokemon much. Then it swatted me into the wall with its arm.

Yes, that guy was slow but it hit like a train at full speed. I wouldn't have been able to take many hits from it. So I decided I'd better take the smart way out of this and started talking. “Hey old one, I'm real sorry we ended up disturbing your sleep. My boy here was a little over-eager in exploring places and wouldn't heed my warnings. He doesn't mean trouble.”

It paused where it was, probably looking at me. The lights on its front slowed. “What?” it finally asked.

I had a momentary flashback to trying to speak to my Slowpoke brethren then. Then it was probably best to speak to it like I did to them, simple and patient. “We came in here to see what was here. No, we don't have permission to be down here, but I will take him out if you let us go peacefully. If you threaten my boy, I will fight back, but I would rather leave. You wouldn't want to hurt someone needlessly, right?”

Much as I had hoped, that question got to the ancient Pokemon. It took a while to consider that, then stepped back to its original position. “You have the chance to leave. If you do not, then I will fight both of you to certain defeat. Do not return to this place.”

Maybe it was the implied death threat, but that knocked sense into my boy. He nodded. “Um, yes, we'll be going then. I'm sorry for trespassing.” We then hurried up the stairs. Two levels up, he paused a moment and turned to me. “You think it would have really killed us?”

I nodded to that question. It certainly had the power to do so. I'm not sure what its intent would be, but if the thing it guards is important enough, it may feel that is necessary.

“I had no clue something like that would be down here.” He bowed his head. “Thanks, Micah. I'm sure you saved us both with whatever you told him.”

I patted his shoulder; maybe if he had a Shellder to enhance his brain too, he would be more careful. But then I nudged him on to the next flight of stairs. We still had to get out of here.

We did end up getting caught by the guards, but I think the fine we got for trespassing was light, compared to what that old one would have done to us.

…

Slowking Heart Gold entry: It has incredible intellect and intuition. Whatever the situation, it remains calm and collected.

Regigigas D/P entry: There is an enduring legend that states this Pokemon towed continents with ropes.

[Z-nogyroP]

Yay, daily updates! So, Slowking and Regigigas was pretty good. Regigigas reminded me of one of those movie statues that come to life and try to kill everyone and the trainer reminds me of me. I also like what you did with Slowking, because since a Shellder enhanced its brain, it only makes sense he would think everyone needed a Shellder to be smart. Nice job!

[floracat]

I found that Slowking to be funny. But I do know how it feels. Sometimes I feel like everyone needs a Shellder. I found it sweet though, how it protected its trainer. I honestly didn't expect a camera flash to wake it up. I thought the boy had the three Regi's.

[3D992]

When you mentioned that it might be guarding something else I thought I'd mistaken reggigigas for regirock. I like trainer oriented entries so I really liked this one. I like to think a slowking could talk in english though.

[Ysavvryl]

If Regigigas was guarding anything was the Slowking's guess. I had in mind what its motives were.

And yes, I didn't send out PM notices for this one. It's late but I kept thinking 'oh this shouldn't take much longer to finish'. Yeah, no... it's really late now. But if you check my sig, I only have eight more to hit 500, so I'm kind of motivated at the moment. Still, this one only got a third Pokemon because I realized I needed one.

In process: Xatu/Frillish
On Deck: Archen/Starmie, Rufflet/Braviary, Purrloin/Liepard, Gigalith, Emolga


Tepig, Unfezant, and Vanillish


“Hii-choo!” The Tepig sneeze hard enough that her four legs skidded on the icy cavern floor, but only a tiny flame shot out from her nose. It was surrounded by thick black smoke, which drifted out of her nostrils for a few seconds while she gasped and snuffled.

“Bree, are you okay?” the girl Trainer asked. Linda wore a red-violet jacket and pants set that identified her as belonging to the Pokemon Aces club, which only accepted members who had earned five Gym Badges within one regional league. It was very prestigious, but even so, there were still things about Pokemon that were a mystery to her.

This wasn't one of them, now that she knelt and took a closer look at Bree the Tepig. She was getting back up on her feet, but her nose was dribbling snot and smoke. Her eyes were weary, although they had gone through much longer training days before. While she tried to look as eager as always with perked up ears, it just wasn't convincing. A few sneezes sending out fireballs each and every time was a bit dangerous and irritating, but that might just be dust. But now that it had progressed to this, it was clear that Bree was sick.

Linda rubbed the Pokemon's back; she was warm, but that was normal. Around Bree's neck, there was a collar with an Everstone clasp. She had brought her Pokemon here for some intensive training, but wanted to delay her evolution. It seemed that doing so would allow the Pokemon to learn moves quicker, perhaps even those their evolved forms wouldn't learn naturally. As there was no record of if this was the case with a Tepig, she had wanted to see what would happen.

With her like this, further training was out of the question until she got better. But as Linda looked around, she knew that getting out of this cave quickly was also out of the question. They had traveled for an hour to get down here, and had traveled several more just to reach the cave. Getting up, she opened up her travel bag and pulled out the tablet computer she used to store items on. Anything that might need an immediate use, like Potions and a few Pokeballs, were set in the bag, but most of her equipment was stored digitally in order to save space and weight.

But on scrolling through the field items category, she found a distinct lack of an Escape Rope. She swore under her breath and clenched the tablet. “That would be the one thing I forgot to buy for this trip,” she muttered. She skimmed over to the TM and HM tab and noted that she did have a Dig TM. But the only one that might possibly learn it was Bree, so she didn't even bother to activate it. Instead, she put the tablet back and released one of her other Pokemon. “Will, I need you to carry Bree while we get out of this cave.”

The Tepig sneezed again, causing herself to slip and fall on her stomach. Nearby, Will the Unfezant shook out his long red plumes. He wouldn't even look towards Bree.

“This isn't the time to let your vanity make the decisions,” Linda said firmly. “This whole trip has managed to go almost perfectly wrong. It figures that the day I decide to try those time lock training boosts on the Pokeball would be the day the locked out Pokemon gets sick, and there was that rock and ice fall a few halls back. Be nice to Bree.”

After a moment's pause to let her know that he was only doing this because she had asked, Will lowered his head. Linda then picked Bree up off the floor while she was struggling to get upright again. She put the Tepig on the bird's back, but knowing how he was, she kept a hand on Bree to keep her steady. They then headed back towards the ramp that would lead to the upper levels.

The scenery around them made it obvious that this was an Ice Pokemon's abode. Ice glistened on the walls, mixing icicles with stalactites. Sometimes the ice coated the floor, making it flat and slippery. Will was not happy with that, especially since he wasn't allowed to flutter off the slippery parts to avoid sliding, not with Bree on his back. When enough Ice types gathered in one place, their combined energy brought the temperature of their environment down, even down to the freezing point in otherwise warm locations. But sometimes a single powerful Ice Pokemon could do the same, especially in a cave like this. Whichever reason it was, this cave system had been an icy place for over a decade.

Right before they entered the cavern with the ramp, Linda and her Pokemon began to encounter snow. It was odd; it hadn't been doing this previously. They made their way over the pile of rubble from the rock and ice fall and then ran into a bigger problem: their way out was blocked off by snow.

And not a snow drift. No, this was snow that was hanging in the air, so thick and white that visibility was down to a couple feet in front of them. This room definitely hadn't been like this when she and Bree had come in. but she could recall the layout of the room, which had included three patches of slick floor, a number of holes that would lead to even lower levels, and many icy stalagmites. Simple to navigate when the room was clear, but like this...

“Why do things always seem to get complicated when we're in trouble?” Linda wondered aloud.

Bree sneezed in response, gasping for breath afterward. The black smoke coming out of her nostrils mixed with water vapor from the cold. Oddly enough, this made the snow caught in the air turn black or gray for several inches. Linda swept her hand through the air and noted all the ice crystals that got caught on her gloves. This was all ice suspended in the air. Had to be the work of some Pokemon.

“Will, let's be careful,” she said to her Unfezant. She tried to recall the way to the ramp and began leading him that way.

There were some jingles in the air, chinks and tinks that sounded much like ice. It came from several sources in the room. And it was a familiar sound: it was the Vanillish, the Pokemon that she had been training Bree with. They had knocked out over a dozen of them before the Tepig started to have trouble.

In her usual experience, wild Pokemon did not hold grudges against Trainers. A lot of them sought out battles on routes and the usual wisdom was that one would have to go off the usual paths to encounter Pokemon that weren't expecting a human-led Pokemon team to pass through. One time in training Bree, they had taken out many Grass and Bug Pokemon, but the ones that came out to challenge them didn't seem to be after revenge. Even in a place like this, she should be safe as she still had other members of her team away in Pokeballs. But this ice filled room with hidden Vanillish made her skin prickle with more than just the cold.

“We don't want to cause trouble,” Linda said, keeping one hand on Bree. “Come on, there should be... yeah, an ice patch we have to cross. Careful.”

Will cooed, but he was obedient and didn't fuss about having to slide across the ice with her. On his back, Bree breathed noisily and shuddered. She made a pleading whine.

“Chingle,” came a Pokemon's call, very close to them. There was a cluster of ice crystals that was hanging in a dense patch nearby. A pair of black eyes appeared in the icy fog, then vanished back into the white with an icy laugh.

Linda very nearly slipped at that, but managed to stay upright and land with Will on a non-icy patch of floor. “Okay, I think there's one more patch of ice we have to cross, and then the ramp should be nearby. But we can't hurry because of the holes.”

“Chingle, chingle.” The Vanillish kept laughing at them. Patches of the floating ice began to shimmer. For what reason, Linda couldn't figure out. Another one came close enough to be seen, an ice cream cone shape hanging in the misty air, but also darted off with a laugh. It should have been a silly sight to see, but instead it was kind of chilling.

Once they passed the next patch of ice, Linda searched around until they could see the wall, then followed that to where she thought the ramp was. At that time, the air began to stir in the room. The glows in the ice mist became brighter, as if the Vanillish were preparing attacks. “Look, I'm sorry!” she called out to them. “We won't bother you anymore; we just want to get out of here now.” By her side, Will cooed in agreement and Bree sneezed. And the former was usually never this cooperative or submissive with anyone that wasn't Linda.

The Vanillish replied with strange threatening sounds. Thankfully, Linda spotted the ramp. She nudged Will into hurrying a little bit in order to get to the next level and out of the ice mist. As they kept climbing up, she hoped that it would clear soon.

But the mist created by the Vanillish remained as dense as before.

They taunted Linda and her two Pokemon as they tried to navigate their way out of the cave. Sometimes they let a hallway go clear, but returned in force for the next large cavern. Sometimes it sounded like they were shifting rocks or breaking icicles, causing strange crashes and thumps. Sometimes one or two would come close, but never close enough to swat away. And they laughed.

Bree didn't seem to be improving at all, continuing to sneeze and gasp hard. She was shaking to, although whether from being ill or from being scared was difficult to tell. In the meantime, Will was strange in this meek and quiet mood, not holding his head high and showing off his long plumes in pride. Perhaps he knew he wasn't in his element in this icy cave, where the native Pokemon had decided to be tormenters instead of tolerant.

Finally, Linda spotted a brighter section of the mist. But it was a particular kind of brightness. “Sunlight, it must be the exit!” she said, glad to see it.

The Vanillish that had followed them chittered angrily; they blasted the three with an icy wind, causing Linda and Will to yelp. It stung terribly, causing ice to cling to Linda's hair. Acting quickly, she scooped up Bree in one arm and took hold of Will's neck with the other. Recognizing part of that motion, the Unfezant let her climb onto his back, then began racing towards the light.

“Fly on out of here,” she called as the sharp wind continued to build.

Will spread his wings and lifted a bit off the ground. For a moment, Linda worried that she was mistaken about it being sunlight. But then they burst out of the icy mist and into the clear air outside of the cave. Will beat his wings strongly to climb further into the sky.

“Thank goodness,” she said, shifting her posture so that her Pokemon had an easier time flying. “Let's get back to town quickly so we can get Bree to a Pokecenter.”

Ace Trainer Central
Member Linda's Blog

Tip of the day: ALWAYS make sure that you have an Escape Rope on you. Always.

…

Tepig White entry: It blows fire through its nose. When it catches a cold, the fire becomes pitch-black smoke instead.

Unfezant White entry: Males have plumage on their heads. They will never let themselves feel close to anyone other than their Trainers.

Vanillish White entry: It conceals itself from enemy eyes by creating many small ice particles and hiding among them.

[Eeveeon8]

I'm back! Yay! So, I was thinking that maybe you could do Clefable and Slowpoke. That would be funny. It would be like:
Clefable: 'Comon! Won't listen to me!?
Slowpoke: *Snore*

[floracat]

I love how creepy you made Vanillish. I just always thought of them as troublesome, even though it looks like icecream (nice Nintendo, nice idea). I feel sorta sorry for Linda after that. Oh, and I'm loving the whole update every day thing!

[Ysavvryl]

If I do well, the daily thing will continue until I hit 500, then I'll probably focus on other things again, putting this back on an occasional schedule.

And now for more creepy Pokemon!

In process: Archen/Starmie
On Deck: Rufflet/Braviary, Purrloin/Liepard, Gigalith, Emolga, Slowpoke/Clefable


Frillish and Xatu


They were really quite beautiful, especially if seen in the morning when a number of them were swimming together. The Frillish were like jewels that blended into the sea waters, the blue males that could become nearly invisible in the right conditions and the pink females that vibrantly seemed to dance in the underwater currents. Drifting along with the flow, clusters of them would gather and fill the water with songs that seemed alien to Earth.

They also lost some of their allure when one knew what their songs meant.

“I once successfully hunted a Scolipede,” one of the males boasted.

“That's got to be a lie,” another male said. “You couldn't get our immobilizing toxin into one of them.”

He smirked. “Who says? I found a way to make it work. He was quite a hefty one too, so it took some wrestling to get him into the water. But once I did, I feasted for two weeks on him alone. Quite an unusual taste, but I got tired of it after a while.”

“Well I've gotten some of those humans all on my own,” the other male said.

“That's not hard,” the boastful male said. “I mean, what have they got, hmm? They're not as protected as other Pokemon; I've heard some talk that they aren't even Pokemon, which would explain why their attacks are laughable at best.”

He glowered. “But they make things; they give sticks and stones sharp points and edges, turning such lousy things into dangerous objects. And have you seen what they do to other Pokemon? They tame some of the wildest Pokemon out there; I saw one that was giving orders to a dragon, and it obeyed without a fuss!”

“That's just hearsay. Nobody knows where they came from, only that there's no way they can last long as they are. I don't mind easy prey every now and then, but they're just too easy.”

The other male got angry and attacked him. But after grappling for a few moments, the boastful one proved that he was stronger, constricting the other's tentacles into a submissive posture before flinging him away. The group of Frillish then split up, as the morning sun was rising higher and it was time to do other things.

A female Frillish approached the victor. “You must be very strong in order to get a Scolipede into the waters all by yourself,” she said, bashfully flirting with her eyes.

“Oh, certainly,” he said, moving closer to her and brushing against her body. “I'm ready to evolve, I'm sure, but I don't really need that extra strength right now. Although if a cutie like you would ask, it wouldn't be any trouble.”

She floated back, not giving in so soon. “It depends. But since you're such a great hunter, I was wondering if you could help me with a certain Pokemon. I spent all of yesterday trying to get it; I was exhausted by the time I went back to the depths. It was still there when I checked earlier this morning.”

Eager to impress her by helping, the male Frillish gave a gracious sweep of his tentacles. “I'll take on the challenge. I have plenty to eat myself, so you may have it once we get it in the water.”

“Thank you,” she said, smiling. Then she jetted herself through the waters. “This way!”

They approached one of the many small islands that was out here. Typically, these places were good hunting grounds for land creatures, although the struggle to get them into the water was much tougher than trying to capture a sea creature. But many of the Frillish liked the taste of the land creatures more, only taking prey from the sea if they had no luck on the shore.

Out on a rock that jutted out of the waters during normal tides, there was the Pokemon she had been trying to catch. It was tall and covered in feathers, mostly green but mostly white on its wings. A bird Pokemon; those were a challenge, as they could fly out of range at the least disturbance. But he smiled confidently at her and began to approach the prey.

As he did, something peculiar struck him. This bird was standing on that rock, incredibly still. It did not blink its eyes, nor move its wings. Even as he approached, it remained motionless. For a moment, he wondered how it could be hard to catch. Maybe it was tired now after having avoided her all of yesterday. The male Frillish gave a small smile of satisfaction and quickly lashed his tentacles out of the water, to paralyze it with poison and bring it below the waves.

And he completely missed. The bird Pokemon had flown off its perch the instant he would have captured it, keeping just out of reach. Once the Frillish pulled back underwater, the bird landed on its rock and continued its vigil.

“That's just exactly what it kept doing yesterday,” the female Frillish said.

“It likes to tease us, then,” he said. “No matter. I'll get it.” He swam around to the other side of the rock, where the bird had its back turned to him. He didn't have a lot of space to work with due to other tidal rocks, but that did give him a better reach out of water.

And the bird evaded his grasp once more.

This continued for the rest of the morning. Eventually, the female had grown tired of watching and went off to hunt for something in the sea. But the male kept at it, trying to bring this elusive prey down to the depths. The bird remained silent, still save for the moments it was escaping him. It always returned to its exact same poise.

After morning turned to afternoon, and afternoon to evening, the male Frillish was starting to get frustrated and weary as well. But his pride was at stake. He said he would capture this prey and so he would keep at it until he did. Taking a chance, he swelled himself with water and drifted up into the air itself to battle the bird. He couldn't maintain this for long, but if it was long enough, that would be worth it.

And then the bird finally spoke. “Today is not my day to die.”

“How do you know?” the male Frillish said, readying himself to attack.

The bird tilted its head. “I see when and how I will die. I see when and how I was born. Neither moment is now. Xatu has spoken.”

“You can't see that.”

“I do,” the bird affirmed. “I see that your kind has hunted these waters for centuries, and they will hunt them for centuries more. I see that you have been a bold hunter, succeeding where many have failed. I also see that you will submit to the humans.”

Sparked into a rage, the Frillish curled up his tentacles. “Never! I will never submit to anyone!” He lashed out at the bird with all of his might, but once again it flew right out of his attack.

This time, the bird attacked back; not successfully, but the ensuing battle caused the Frillish to miss the approach of one of the humans until it threw a net over him. Being captured like that was something of a shock, causing him to struggle fruitlessly while the human dragged him back to the sandy shore. But he could pass through this material, right? He calmed himself in order to do that, but the human caught him trying and struck him with a strange metal rock that disrupted his attempt to be immaterial. He was take in the net further into the island, where he was released into a pool of salt water. Its outlet into the sea was blocked off with more of that strange metal, so that he could not escape. As he was trying to get his bearings, the human tossed some meat into the pool and began to watch him. The strange bird soon joined him.

They were giving him food? The only reason he could see for giving away food was for attracting a mate, and neither of those creatures qualified for that. Despite that, the human continued to come and give him food every day, trying different things to find out what he would or wouldn't eat. Then it started trying to teach him commands for attacking, defending, and other tasks. The bird, a Xatu, accompanied the human and helped translate the strange language it spoke. One time, the Frillish tried to attack the human with a poison that should have killed it. But it was back the next day, its wound wrapped up in a white material. And once again, it fed and instructed him.

The human was a strange creature, but the Frillish did find himself submitting himself to its will, and prospering for it.

…

Frillish White entry: They paralyze prey with poison, then drag them down to their lairs, five miles below the surface.

Xatu Leaf Green entry: They say that it stays still and quiet because it is seeing the past and future at the same time.

[floracat]

I can't tell: was this before Pokeballs, or after? Frillish was caught by a net, but on the shore it was struck by a "strange metal rock". I can't really tell. It was really cool, how the Xatu could just see the future and past. "Today is not my day to die." I love how he says that!

[TheSequelReturns]

Yo, Ysa. Its been a while. I find myself coming back to this thread every now and then to read a random story just to get my muse going again, and as always I love how you manage to get a lot of thoughts and emotions into such bite-size stories. Your approach is clever as well, and stories like Chandelure and Vanilliuxe always catch me by surprise, so in short that's why I find myself coming back every so often for another story or two, though why I never checked for a PM list is beyond me. Would save time I suppose. *shrugs*

Remember way back when when I said I was thinking about doing a guest entry? Well, I think It hit some inspiration, so if you are still doing guest entries, I would like to humbly request the honors of writing Lampent's entry.

Just 155 left to go, keep up the good work.

Xatu has spoken.

[Z-nogyroP]

Tepig/Unfezant/Vanillish: That was really good. I like how you described how snooty Will was. That was always how I pictured Unfezant, and I loved Vanillish. I've always wondered why when you go out and kill like a hundred Pokemon, and then none of them just come back for revenge. That was awesome.

Xatu/Frillish: As soon as I saw the word "boasted" I knew it would be something like this. I love how Xatu could easily tell the future, and I loved Frillish's reaction to his future. However, I figured he was lying when he said he hunted a Scolipede, but then Xatu seemed to confirm it. Did he really do it?

Request time! If it's okay, I'd like to request a triple entry for Jumpluff/Klinklang/Gulpin. That should get an interesting result. Also, I hope you do write a Lampent story for Halloween, because then BW2 entries will be out. That'll be interesting.

[Ysavvryl]

@floracat: That was before Pokeballs were invented; I didn't quite realize how confusing that description might be, but I didn't think the Frillish would recognize what it was. In particular, it was a reference to some folklore about ghosts and other supernatural creatures that are affected adversely by some metals, keeping him from simply passing through the net.

@TSR: Hi! Sure, guest entries are still open (which reminds me, I think I need to sift through my Inbox as I've missed one of those...). Although I'll still do Lampent myself as usual, around Halloween (it's delightfully creepy, isn't it?).

Yeah, and I'd be just about done if it wasn't for Unova! Lol.

@Z-nogyroP: Odd combo; I like!

In process: Rufflet/Braviary
On Deck: Purrloin/Liepard, Gigalith, Emolga, Slowpoke/Clefable, Jumpluff/Klinklang/Gulpin


Starmie and Archen


The night was clear and dark, watched over by a black sky with millions of silver stars spilling across it. The ocean was eerily still, but the silver stars were joined by many more color specks, lights that twinkles in a slower rhythm. Out here where there weren't many lights of human civilization, it was a mesmerizing sight. This was something that had spawned many mythical guesses and artistic visions, clusters of Starmie that gathered on the ocean surface at night, best seen at a new moon.

On an isolated island, there was some activity, an observer watching the lights of the Starmie. It was a young woman, dressed in a white tank top and yellow shorts; her sandals had been discarded by the tent hours ago. By her side, there was a cluster of computer equipment. The screen had a dimming filter over it, and any other lights had been covered up. But it was all active, picking up radio signals and recording everything it got. It was picking up a lot of activity tonight, as it did every night. But it wasn't human activity. It was the Starmie.

It was a pretty sweet deal, agreeing to watch over this project. She was to monitor the equipment and make sure everything was working, as well as take personal observations of local conditions. For that, she got to stay out here for a month. While there wasn't another human out here, she wasn't lonely. She had taken one of her Pokemon, an Archen, to keep her company.

Where was he anyhow? She glanced around and soon spotted him in a nearby tree, his brilliant plumage standing out in the green leaves. He was another project she was working on, observations on a prehistoric Pokemon before resurrection services were allowed to clone any more from similar fossils. As she'd raised fossil Pokemon before, she knew that it helped to have some time alone working with the Pokemon, to build trust. When the Pokemon trusted their Trainer, it was able to adapt to modern society better. That made this radio recording trip even better, although her friends were mostly jealous of her being on a tropical island for a month.

“Archen,” she called out, adding a whistle for his attention.

He cawed and hopped across the branches to get closer to her. At the edge of the tree's reach, he paused, raising his wings for balance; the branch wobbled under his weight. Then he came over to her, using more of a slow descent than a glide. Although she had confirmed that he was a Flying type, he showed little aptitude for actual flying. Maybe that would improve with evolution, if he did so. Archen ran the last few steps to her, looking up with a questioning and eager expression.

“We'll do some more training tomorrow,” she said. “Although if we manage to hook a Starmie again, I'm going to try keeping it here for a few nights, as a closer observation.”

She got up and turned the computer speakers on, setting it to play an audio version of the radio signals that came off the Starmie. It had been discovered in the early days of radio when ships started putting in such equipment. When sailing through Starmie territory at night, the radios would pick up sequences of strange sounds. Sometimes it was passed off as just noise, but there were patterns in it much like Pokemon calls. As radios improved and Trainers with Starmie listened to radios, the source of the sounds was confirmed. But no one had figured out quite why, since the Starmie had other ways of communicating that had been confirmed years before.

“It's a lot like the radio signals people get off Unown,” she said, recalling when she gone down inside the Alph Ruins to listen to them as a child, for a dare. It had been creepy at the time, but that was more the atmosphere and the long rows of strange Pokemon statues, all of which seemed to be watching her as she passed by trying to find the ladder out. Listening to these radio signals sent a chill through her nerves, but more from the mysteriousness of these wonderful creatures that shared the world with humans.

As she listened in, there was an abrupt increase in the radio signals. It was normally a rhythmic lazy chorus, like the heartbeat of someone who was relaxing. But this was a racing heartbeat, in response to something that wasn't expected that might need to be fought off. More curiously, Archen froze at the changed Starmie signals. Although she rarely stayed up all night listening, she knew that this was unusual.

“What's going on?” she asked, speaking aloud more for her own benefit. She began checking out the computer and all of its associated equipment. But all the quick tests came up clear, with no obvious problems. She glanced out at the ocean and noticed that the lights coming off the Starmie cores had also increased in frequency and intensity

Archen squawked and tugged at her shorts. He was tense, posture low and guarded. Did he know what the Starmie were communicating? But he was from a prehistoric age and he seemed to have trouble communicating with most modern Pokemon. Was there a tone of warning in this spike?

She got up and ran back to her tent, Archen running behind her. She grabbed her camera and headed back down the beach, much to the concern of her Pokemon. While he nipped at her ankles trying to warn her away, she took a picture with the camera, then fiddled with the settings until she could capture the increase of the Starmie lights across the dark ocean night in a video.

“They started doing this about five minutes ago,” she said for the benefit of those she'd send the video to. “I've got the radio tuned to the Starmie's signals, and listen: they're much faster.” She took a few steps towards the computer so that the camera would pick up on the noise.

“Kraaaa,” Archen cawed, bumping his head against her leg now.

She turned the camera down as Archen looked out to the ocean, with his primitive feathers starting to make him puff up. It wasn't as much as modern bird Pokemon did when afraid, but it was still noticable. “Archen really doesn't like this,” she commented. “It's odd that he reacts to them.”

And then a new noise came over the radio, an electronic noise as an unsettling deep growl. She turned the camera back to the ocean as a strange light appeared in the sky. It was a silvery white, but shaped as a ring hanging low in the sky. From the island, it was difficult to see, but something black was blocking out the stars by the ring. A band of racing lights appeared with the ring, seeming to outline an otherworldly flying craft.

“What is that?” she asked, watching the video in progress and her own view of the ocean. Many of the colored lights that marked the Starmie out on the ocean surface had clustered tightly together underneath the craft; a flurry of activity seemed to be happening there, motions of pink, blue, and lavender. “Are they attacking it?”

The racing lights appeared again, moving faster and faster until a burst of bright light appeared underneath the craft, briefly illuminating a dark gray flying saucer. Then there was a loud crash of thunder powerful enough that she could feel it in her bones. By her side, Archen began to spread his wings, bracing himself for battle even though the fight was way out over the ocean. His right wing was extended in front of her legs, a particular pose that she knew meant that he was going to defend her. Modern bird Pokemon would do a similar kind of stance for battles they perceived as challenging.

She took a moment to record Archen's reaction before turning back to continue filming this strange battle between a cluster of Starmie, and possibly other ocean Pokemon, and this flying saucer. The craft did not attack as fast as the Pokemon were, but it appeared overpowering. After it attacked with its lightning bolt again, there was a tremendous crash from the battle ground, but after the attack's thunder. She had heard a noise like that once before, attending a sporting match where large bulky Pokemon squared off against powerful monster trucks. It was like the sound of a Rhyperior charging full force into an armored tank. The ring of light crashed into the ocean in response.

Looking out across the ocean, she tried to figure out what had attacked the saucer like that. But there was no moon, only the tiny amount of starlight and Starmie light to see by. It was another dark shape, but enormous, over twice the size of the flying saucer. Something about it reminded her of the outline of a Dragon Pokemon, but she didn't know of any that large.

At least, not without considering the legendary Dragons.

There were a few tense moments following this. The Starmie sent out rapid signals for a time, uneven and frantic, but the electronic growling was gone. And then there was a trumpeting call that filled the air, calming anyone who heard. A group of stars were blocked out as the dragon flew away. The ring of the flying saucer did not reappear and the signals from the Starmie turned into a harmonious song of gratitude. At her side, Archen relaxed and sent out a call adding his thanks as well.

“You know about this?” she asked, turning the camera back to Archen. “I thought stuff like this was nonsense... how long has this been going on?”

There was no way she could get an answer to that, at least not while she was on this island. Within fifteen minutes, the Starmie had calmed down and returned to their usual slow relaxed rhythm. Archen remained on alert for a while, but was fast asleep an hour later. They could return easily to normal life, but this incident would change hers.

…

Archen Black entry: Said to be an ancestor to bird Pokemon, they were unable to fly and moved about by hopping from one branch to another.

Starmie D/P/Pl/B/W entry: At the center of its body is a red core, which sends mysterious radio signals into the night sky.

[Z-nogyroP]

The Archen/Starmie one was amazing. May I assume that it was Zekrom attacking them? Although for some reason, I pictured it to be Beheeyem. Oh, and the guest entry was mine. Please ignore Porygon-Z/Klinklang, and just rate the Simisage/Scolipede. Personally, I think that one turned out better.

[3D992]

Was the dragon the dragonite from the anime? The ginormous one?

[floracat]

I agree with Proygon-Z spelled backwards. The Pokemon was most definitely Zekrom. It's funny, because before reading this, I read about Extraterrestrial Pokemon like Starmie. It was a very mysterious entry.

[TheSequelReturns]

@Ysa: Yeah, I love delightfully creepy stuff. That's why Ghosts are my favorite Type.

You're doing a Lampent one as well hmm? I'll have to make sure I put my own spin on it then. ^^ And thanks, I'll try to have it up to caliber for you.

I've always loved that Starmie entry. Makes me wonder if there isn't some sort of connection between Staryu/Starmie and Deoxys. They have a lot of similarities.

I actually spent a reasonable amount of time seeing if I could deduce the identity of the woman in the story, but I don't know if she was supposed to be a cannon character or not.

That said, I quite liked this entry. That Starmie entry was a plus and I never expected the UFO to show up. Archen's mannerisms were also handled well I think. Braviary is another of my favorite Gen 5 pokemon, so I'm looking forward to the next one. ^^

[Ysavvryl]

So much stuff wanted to delay this entry, gah.

Well if you guys think it's Zekrom, it could be Zekrom. Although personally I had Rayquaza in mind, but that's more due to me reviewing my old Hoenn fic. And the woman wasn't meant to be anyone in particular, except for being a graduate student of the sciences.

So excited for next entry!

In process: Purrloin/Liepard
On Deck: Gigalith, Emolga, Slowpoke/Clefable, Jumpluff/Klinklang/Gulpin


Rufflet and Braviary


One of the first Pokemon he encountered down the trail was a Braviary, a fierce-looking bird with bright plumage and dark scars. He'd seen them before, usually from a distance as they circled in the sky searching for prey. As it was down here, perched on a fallen tree, it seemed like a good one to start with. “Hello,” he said.

“Whaddya want, weirdo?” the Braviary asked, stretching up with his head held high. The golden sunlight dappled across his red feathers made him seem quite majestic, despite the rough attitude and scars. “Don't meet many of you who just come up and say 'hello'.”

“Probably because most of them don't expect to understand the response,” he said, bowing his head. “My name is N; would you mind talking with me?”

The Braviary brought up his wings and opened his beak without a sound for a moment. As it was a gesture of intimidation, N stayed still where he was. Predatory Pokemon liked to assert themselves; backing down in submission would cause the Braviary to dismiss him, while other motions could be interpreted as aggression. He hadn't figured out which moves on his part were seen as aggressive, so not moving was a good neutral stand.

Feeling satisfied that he'd made his power known, the Braviary relaxed. “Fine, it's not like I have anything important going on. What is it?”

“I'm planning on a revolution for the world, to protect innocent Pokemon,” N said, about to go on when the Braviary interrupted him.

“You mean a war?” the bird said, leaning over towards him. “That's great news! I've been waiting on another one to start my whole life.”

Feeling horrified that that was the initial impression, N held his hands up and shook his head. “No, not a war. At least I hope it doesn't devolve into war.”

“How're you going to have a revolution without a war? I was under the impression that the two things were always linked.”

“There doesn't need to be violence,” he said. Violence only ever made problems worse. “I was going to present the truth to everyone, pointing out how their ideals are flawed, and convince them through such reasoning to change.”

The Braviary looked at him, then shook himself. “Sounds silly to me. Even Pokemon don't like being told that they're wrong. The other humans will probably get mad at you and start a war anyone. And that would be great because you humans make war a thousand times more intense.”

“Surely that's not all you think we're good at,” N said. Because if it was that way, things might be a thousand times worse than he had prepared for.

“Well it's the best part to me,” the Braviary said. “I remember back when I was a Rufflet chick, my father told me about a war that he had been a part of. And it was such a glorious thing: prevailing over all odds, humiliating your enemies, and defending the honor of your side.”

How long did this kind of Pokemon live? N wasn't sure. “There was a war not that long ago? But it must have had a lot of bloodshed and death.” So terrible, and such a waste of life.

The Braviary was of a different opinion, holding himself proudly in memory of his father. “Yeah, that's one of the exciting bits: the fact that every time you go out on the battlefield, you have no idea if you're going to leave it. The risk of death makes the challenge of the fight real. Battles in the wild, nobody cares or puts that much effort into it save for hunting situations. And those Trainer battles, pfft, you know that they can just heal you whenever. I guess if I was really bored, I might join one. But I'd rather join a war.”

“Why would you want to get hurt?”

“Because that's proof that you're tough. Like all my scars prove how brave and powerful I am. Like this one over my eye, I got it when I was only a Rufflet!”

“I thought such scars could heal up better on evolution,” N said, having seen it happen on a few Pokemon that he knew. But most of his friends were reluctant to battle so never got to a position to evolve further.

“Why would I want it to heal fully?” The Braviary edged himself along the log, allowing a second to land. This one looked a lot cleaner than the other, although she was missing a toe on one foot. “It was the mark of an amazing series of battles. There was the dragon that moved into my territory, which I'd recently got old enough to claim. It was a great big armored thing, with sharp tusks, and ten times the size of me as a Rufflet.”

“That sounds like it could be a Haxorus, except I don't think they're quite that big,” N said.

The scarred Braviary shook himself. “Don't make my stories look weak. It's a great pride to me what happened.”

“Oh, sorry.” It probably was just a regular Haxorus, although a Rufflet taking on one of them still seemed a major challenge.

The Pokemon continued with his story, acting like he was strutting even though he was perched on one spot. “I had been hearing my father's story about the war, and I wanted to get really powerful really fast so that I could fight in a war too and be a part of the glory. I challenged this dragon thing to a fight and it thought that I was dumb. Can you believe it? I needed to fight powerful enemies to get powerful myself, and he was the biggest baddest Pokemon around. He beat me the first few times around, not taking it too seriously. But I was serious. I kept training and practicing, and working my tail feathers off. And then one day, I was doing really great against the dragon, enough that it stopped being lazy and lashed out to give me this gash across my eye and forehead. The blood in my eye blinded me a bit, but it sent me into a berserk fury that was a gorgeous blood-drenched spectacle, I'm sure. I ended up blacking out, but when I returned, the dragon thing admitted that I had defeated him and that he would move on. That was my first huge victory, so I want to keep this scar nice and visible as my personal trophy.”

Hearing it, N wondered if the Haxorus had won and lied about it to keep the violent little Rufflet from continuing to harass him. He'd been taught that Pokemon minds weren't of the same level as humans (which he could see, but felt was exaggerated too much), and that they were innocent creatures. This didn't sound that innocent; maybe the Braviary didn't realize the harm he caused. “I guess so. But shouldn't everyone try not to cause needless harm?”

The scarred Braviary looked at him for a moment. “I don't know what you mean, human. You really are weird.” Then he spread his wings and took off for the sky.

N watched him leave, then turned to the second Braviary that had landed there. “He seems too proud of his scars.”

“Well why shouldn't he be?” she asked. “He's got so many of them that he's the most amazing warrior around here I'm sure that if you did start a war, he'd be the first one you ought to call on to join your side. I wish I had that many scars, but all I've got is this dinky missing toe. Hardly means anything without other trophies, but I can't seem to get struck hard enough to get properly scarred. I heard one of my neighbors actually bit her own wing to fake a good scar; so pitiful.”

“I guess there's too many Pokemon out there for me to know about all of them,” N said, mostly to himself. He moved on down the trail, thinking that he wouldn't be recruiting a Braviary for his efforts.

…

Rufflet White entry: They will challenge anything, even strong opponents, without fear. Their frequent fights help them become stronger.

Braviary White entry: The more scars they have, the more respect these brave soldiers of the sky get from their peers.

[3D992]

You did great incorporating the pokedex enties into your story. Everytime I see N pre-final battle I just want to slap some sense into him. Sounds like that braviary would like a nuzzlocke challenge.

[Z-nogyroP]

That was an awesome story. I like how you incorporated Rufflet without actually having it appear in the story. Oh, one minor nitpick: at the end, you mention two female Braviary. Braviary and Rufflet are a male-only species. I can't wait for Purrloin/Liepard: maybe a ClicheStorm reference?

Oh, and you didn't update the total of Pokemon completed in your sig.

[Ysavvryl]

So you want a CS reference? Sure, I can go with that. But maybe not the Purrloin you expect.

And this entry marks Liepard as my 500th Pokemon! Yay, I managed it before July! Now I've got to consider what Pokemon I want for the anniversary, as well as looking forward to what categories get finished soon.

In process: Gigalith
On Deck: Emolga, Slowpoke/Clefable, Jumpluff/Klinklang/Gulpin


Purrloin and Liepard


Shadeclaw the Purrloin escaped from his Pokeball and ended up in a dark cramped travel bag. Great, just great. At least the zipper was partly undone. He hooked a claw into the zipper pull and pushed it open. Then he poked his head out of the bag, peering around.

From the close green canvas, he was also in a tent. Nearby, there was a lumpy sleeping bag. On end had a boy's head poking out, his black hair sprawled over the pillow. One strand of it fluttered in response to his breath, but he was still otherwise. Maybe fast asleep, maybe close to waking up. But there was an opportunity to do something. Now it was just a matter of figuring out what.

Before long, he spotted it: a place of rectangular black rimmed glasses folded up and placed on the ground, within arm's reach of the sleeping boy. His Trainer was always wearing those, so Shadeclaw had never gotten a chance to investigate them. But now he had the perfect opportunity to steal them. Pleased with the idea, he hopped out of the bag and crept closer, the falls of his paws silent.

“Mmmphff,” the teen mumbled.

Shadeclaw froze, maddeningly close to the glasses. He looked over at his Trainer and saw him starting to move. Without opening his eyes, the teen rubbed his nose then put his hand on the pillow. After a moment, he was relaxed once again, not ready to wake up. Shadeclaw picked up the glasses with his teeth, then bounded out of the tent.

For a moment, he observed his prize with pride, having taken this important thing that his Trainer kept all the time. Shadeclaw sniffed it, smelling the boy's scent on it: usual human male, with hints of shampoo and lens cleaner. That wouldn't do. He rubbed his head against it, putting his scent to mark his human. There. Now what did he do with it?

He tugged at the side pieces by gently hooking them with his claws, briefly cursing his having paws instead of hands to easily work human things. Once he had them open, he spent a couple of minutes trying to get the bendy part behind his own ears. Shadeclaw managed, but then the glasses wanted to sit on his forehead, not his nose. But a gentle shake got them to slide down to the proper place.

Immediately, his eyes complained about the lenses messing with them. Everything was horribly blurred, to the point where he couldn't identify things beyond a mass of color, light, and shade. It even made him feel dizzy. How in the world did his Trainer see anything while wearing these?

The sound of the sleeping bag rustling and a hand patting the ground came from inside the tent. “Huh, where's my glasses?” the boy mumbled, half-asleep still.

Uh-oh. At least he couldn't think of any reason to keep these. Shadeclaw shook the glasses off, much to the relief of his eyes, then picked them up with his teeth again and headed into the tent. He held his tail high and put on an expression of absolute cuteness and innocence. Setting them down just out of the boy's reach, he sat down and mewed. Wasn't he a good Pokemon, bringing back the stolen glasses which he totally didn't steal in the first place? He had even suffered for a little bit to get them back.

The boy sat up and squinted at him, his hair a total mess. He didn't even seem affected by the cute. But he did manage to see his glasses and reach over to get them. “How'd they get over there? And how'd you get out?”

Shadeclaw looked up at him with a cat grin, looking for all the world like he had no clue either.

“Cheren!” a girl's voice called from outside. “Are you getting up?”

“Yeah, give me a few,” he said, sliding out of his sleeping bag. Then he added more quietly, “As long as you didn't cause trouble, or stay up all night. We have training to do today.”

That was how things went a lot. Cheren wasn't weak to cuteness, although every now and then he fell for one of Shadeclaw's acts. He was a strict Trainer, constantly planning and thinking about how to become more successful. Despite that, he wouldn't let them overwork themselves, and he treated them decently. If dealing with the tough audience meant that he could get stronger sooner, then Shadeclaw was willing to do so.

But then one day, in a Pokecenter, Cheren said something terrible. “You've passed muster so far, but things will only get tougher as we get further,” he said to Shadeclaw. “You're quick and your typing is useful, but there are stronger Dark types out there. And you can't take many hits; it's not much good if you can't last long enough to make use of your attacks. I may have to replace you soon.”

At first, Shadeclaw was mad to hear that, twisting his ears back and then turning away with an air of snootiness. How dare he say that he wasn't a worthy Pokemon? He'd followed Cheren's orders in battle without hesitation and he had won many of them. Or helped to win them when he got switched out. But he didn't cause trouble (at least no serious trouble or anything he'd admit to). He'd get better in time.

He began to get worried about it when they had gone out to train and Cheren worked with the others more than Shadeclaw. Was he giving up on him? But he'd been on the team since the day Cheren started! He couldn't just ditch a loyal Pokemon like that. Could he? Would he?

Shadeclaw didn't like to appear troubled, so he worked on proving himself over the next week. When he was out but not being battled with, the Purrloin sought out his own fights. Since Cheren wanted him tougher, he forced himself to keep going even when he was hurting. It came to several close calls and he had to steal some Sitrus berries from the bag to avoid fainting. It was a lot of work, leaving him ruffed up and sandy due to where they were training. When Cheren finally called on him, Shadeclaw felt his inner power ignite. He fought and defeated a Sandile, working to do so as quickly as possible to prove his worth.

And for that effort, he was granted the gift of evolution. His legs grew longer, his body grew sleeker, and his natural talents increased greatly. With his fur coat now speckled with yellow spots, Shadeclaw was now a Liepard. Surely Cheren couldn't resist cuteness combined with beauty and power. He curled his long tail and looked up at him with his best 'I really adore you and I'm not possibly trying to charm you out of something (but I am)' look.

“Good, that's more information that Professor Juniper could use,” Cheren said, looking over him but not softening his critiquing eye. “Your performance had better improve out of this.”

Shadeclaw thought about being mad, but he felt more disappointed and eager to prove that he deserved to stay. Cheren kept walking through Desert Resort, so the Liepard followed, going into every battle with enthusiasm and always waiting for an approving word. This continued until he took one too many hits and fainted.

Later, he woke up in a Pokecenter, but not in the lobby. That was odd. Instead, Shadeclaw found himself in a recovery room, lying in a padded box with a soft blue blanket below him. His body felt achy and he still felt tired, but this wasn't a time to let that get to him. He got up and looked around for his Trainer. Past the curtains, he found other Pokemon resting, including one that had a bandaged up leg. Thank goodness he wasn't that hurt.

He heard footsteps, so Shadeclaw slipped behind the folds of a loose curtain, listening and smelling. It was two humans, an adult woman and... Cheren. “Oh dear, well he was here,” the woman, a nurse, said.

He carefully moved along the curtains so as not to move them, coming out behind the two humans. Walking up to Cheren's side, he rubbed his head against his Trainer's leg. “Merrr?”

Kneeling down by him, Cheren put his hand on the Liepard's head. “You shouldn't be wandering around if you've been brought back here.”

“He definitely should have some more rest here,” the nurse said. “After examining him, it seems that he wouldn't recover from being unconscious because he was exhausted from battling too hard over several days.”

“I haven't battled with him that much lately,” Cheren said, worried. “I take turns with all my team members so they get regular breaks.”

“It's possible he did that on his own. He's not too bad, but I still have to give you a warning to pay better attention to that kind of thing. See if you can convince him to sleep in here for tonight and you can take him back in the morning.” The nurse petted Shadeclaw. “He's a beautiful cat, though. A lot of people love them for their coats, so you should be able to find another owner for him if he's not the one for you.” She then left the room.

Cheren looked into Shadeclaw's eyes. “How did you go fighting behind my back? And why? You used to be the least serious Pokemon I had.”

Shadeclaw bumped his forehead into Cheren's. Sure, this human wasn't perfect (he could at least praise them a little more). But if he had to leave the team, he didn't want to leave behind the impression that he was weak. He wanted his Trainer to be proud of him, as proof that he was a worthy Pokemon.

“I have to work hard to prove myself as a great Trainer. And I should do what I must to build a great team, without sentimentality.”

“Mew,” Shadeclaw replied, plaintive and cute. He pawed at Cheren's glasses.

After a short smile, Cheren looked torn. “I mean, that's what anyone would do. But did you have to push yourself like that? I don't want to make you upset. Hmm, however much you can understand about this. Probably not, but then...” He sighed, then hugged Shadeclaw. “Stay in the bed for tonight, okay? You had me really worried when she said that you weren't reviving like you should.”

Then he did care! Shadeclaw licked his nose. Now he just had to figure out how to fully convince Cheren not to let him go.

…

Purrloin Black entry: They steal from people for fun, but their victims can't help but forgive them. Their deceptively cute act is perfect.

Liepard Black entry: These Pokemon vanish and appear unexpectedly. Many Trainers are drawn to their beautiful form and fur.