Two Best Friends Train

"Horus, one last Wing Attack should do it."

The Scyther stood over a decent-sized Deerling with one glowing scythe-arm raised. Horus grinned, showing off his fangs, before bringing his arm down like an executioner's blade. He kicked himself off the ground, landing next to Axel. The trainer was tiresome (he was still pissed about that battle with the Ralts), but he let him battle often. Which was a plus in his book. The new kid was just another human... His Ralts pissed him off... And Cyrus, well... Cyrus was pretty good. Horus respected the little guy for beating him, even if it had been with an underhanded trick like poison. It took guts to take on an angry Scyther.

Axel smiled, returning Horus once again to his Pokeball, before turning around. "Hey, Eon! How's it going for you?" he called out. The pair had decided to stop and train their Pokemon in their respective fields for a bit, and, while hebwasn't done yet, this was as good a time as any to take a break.

Eon had already practiced his routine several times as Axel and his Scyther, Horus, battled the wild Deerling that they had encountered in the forest. Eon and Raven had already perfected the timing that they wanted on the Confusion attack. All they had to do now was to make sure that they could repeatedly get the right timing, especially when they were in an actual Pokemon Contest.

"Raven, let's try this again. Double Team!", Eon commanded, and Raven activated her Double Team, creating a whole group of Raven copies who stood in a circle around Eon.

At that point, however, Axel came back from his battle and asked, "Hey, Eon! How's it going for you?".

Axel's timing was perfect. Eon had just needed someone who would be able to comment on the timing of the attack. It always helped to have a third opinion where these acts were concerned.

"Perfect timing, Axel! We just needed someone to help grade our act.", Eon said, in a voice that was almost a monotone yet managed to portray a sort of enthusiasm. It was one of the types of voice that Eon had been practicing on for use during a Pokemon Contest to score better points in the "Trainer Confidence" section of the Pokemon Contest.

OoC: Raven has 5 + 1 = 6 exp now.

"Perfect timing, Axel! We just needed someone to help grade our act." the other guy said, in a strangely... Strange voice. Axel guessed that it was supposed to be confident, and it probably seemed that way to others, but to him, it just sounded like he was trying too hard at his monotone while also being excited. "Well, I'd be more than happy to review your act! I'm sure it's stellar, of course." Axel grinned as he said this, and then, seeing yet another stump (there sure were a lot of stumps in this forest...), sat down to watch the show. Cyrus bounded up beside him, staring at Eon and Raven. "All right then! Let's see what you've got!"

"All right then...", Eon said, his voice trailing off as he took a deep breath to prepare himself.

Making sure that both he and Raven were ready through their mental bond. When they were both ready, Eon commanded Raven to activate her Confusion while still in her Double Team. The Confusion pulses appeared from each of the illusory copies, as had happened during the battle a few days ago. However, instead of being aimed at a specific point, the pulses now spiraled around the ring of Raven's clones. After a few seconds of spiralling, the pulses started rising upwards while spiraling, causing a sort of cone to from.

At the tip of the cone, the various pulses collided, breaking the pulse up into glitters of psychic energy, sparkling and sprinkling these glitters all over the ring of Raven copies below.

"How's that?", asked Eon when he was done, in a pretty emotionless and monotonous voice.

OoC: Raven now has 6 + 1 = 7 experience.

Axel clapped his hands and then jumped off the stump. "Awesome!" he said, smiling his usual smile. Cyrus twitched his ears forward in his imitation of a nod, and then hopped off the log after Axel. "Very flashy. Perhaps you'd like to see the small results of the training I've accomplished?" he asked, not sounding half as humble as his words would otherwise imply. "I assure you, the tactics I am employing to take on this Gym Leader are quite... Straight forward, but I don't believe you've seen them yet."

"I haven't.", Eon said, in a very indifferent, emotionless tone.

Before Eon did or said anything else to Axel, he quickly asked Raven to release her Double Team before she got too exhausted from maintaining long periods of Double Team. Eon definitely did not want that to happen while they were right in the middle of a forest. Firstly, it wouldn't be safe for Eon. Secondly, well, the Pokemon Center was quite a distance away, Eon could not risk Raven suffering for that long.

"Well, you could show them to me... Just not on me... or Raven...", Eon said, a slightly fearful tone creeping into his voice near the end, which quickly disappeared as Eon recomposed himself.

"Don't worry, that was never my intention! Now, I just need to find some wild... Aha! Here we go!" Axel said, waving Eon over to his side. A Bidoof was munching on some grass in front of them, conpletely oblivious to them. "Now, watch as I use a tactic that could have won me that battle against you and Raven if I had so chosen to use it. Cyrus, you're up! Toxic Spikes!" With that, the battle started as Cyrus made a weird noise, attracting the Bidoof's attention, before scattering the glowing spikes. The Bidoof chattered, and then charged at Cyrus with the intent to tackle. As the wild Pokemon did so, it stepped on a spike, and began to pulse purple slowly. The attack did hit Cyrus, but not with the same strength it would have before.

"What do you think of that?" Axel asked with a grin, before returning his attention to the short little battle.

Eon had no idea what to say. The boy did get a little overenthusiastic and overexcited. He had forgotten the techniques that Eon has used. Eon's used mostly ranged attacks, with Double Team too. Those Toxic Spikes would not hinder much of Eon's and Raven's moves. It would probably affect Raven's Double Team, but not much else. Well, Eon did not want to burst the boy's bubble.

"That was great!", Eon said, trying to keep his voice in as much of a monotone as he could to try not to douse the boy's spirit. Eon would feel bad if his underenthusiasm spoiled the boy's mood.

Axel raised an eyebrow, but hey, the monotone was getting to the point where he wasn't expecting anything else. Maybe, over time, he would be able to break the guy out of it... Although, more likely, he wouldn't. Still... Oh, right. Battle. "Cyrus, finish it up lickity-split! Double Kick."

Cyrus twitched his ears, and then bounded towards the pulsing purple Bidoof. When he got close, Cyrus brought his left back paw around to the front, hitting the Bidoof in the jaw, and then landed onto the ground a step away from the Bidoof, from where Cyrus flipped forward, bring his back paws into the Bidoof's face. The Bidoof started to move, but then succumbed to the poison.

"And that is how to win a wild battle."

Kylee applauded sincerely as she stepped out of the shadow of the trees. After milling about Newport for a little while, she had found no trainers who seemed to share her passions, but here was a trainer who knew how it was done.

"That was awesome!" she paused as she approached them. She had the sinking feeling one may feel when walking in on a private conversation. Accordingly, she looked down at the ground, feeling inexplicably nervous and embarrassed, "Sorry I just...I haven't seen anybody and..." she broke off, and adjusted to the situation. "My name's Kylee," she looked up and met their eyes.

Axel spun on his heel to face the stranger as she appeared, getting praise almost immediately for his tactics. Which weren't that good, to be totally honest... But they weren't bad for a Nidoran with little training... And good moves. The young man ignored Kylee's uncomfortableness, instead smiling a winning smile and talking. "Axel, and this is Cyrus. Err... The purple one. Not this guy... He's Eon." Axel pointed at Cyrus and then Eon as he introduced them. "And you haven't seen anyone? Well, that's weird. I'm from Hoenn, so I'm probably a bad representation of the average Tohjo citizen... Nevertheless, it's a pleasure to meet you! Might I ask what you're doing wandering through the woods, talking to people you've never met in your life?"

"And you haven't seen anyone? Well, that's weird. I'm from Hoenn, so I'm probably a bad representation of the average Tohjo citizen... Nevertheless, it's a pleasure to meet you! Might I ask what you're doing wandering through the woods, talking to people you've never met in your life?"

The new guy was more amicable than Kylee expected, but it was a welcome surprise, she smiled excitedly, "I'm from Hoenn too! My family owns a small daycare near Verdanturf." It was idle information, but it at least provided a little background...As to what she was doing, "I'm a pokemon trainer, like you. I hope to challenge the pokemon league and breed my own pokemon! I already have my starter, he's--" She reached for her belt to grab Gastly's pokeball, but realized he had been following her just a moment ago. Oh crap... Kylee's eyes widened slightly, where had that blasted Gastly gone off to?

Eon listened on as the girl, who had just stepped out from the shadows of the forest, engaged in a conversation with Axel. Eon almost completely ignored their conversation. There was something else that had caught his attention in the forest. There was some dark smokey presence floating in the forest near where they were at.

Raven had picked up that presence, a cold, dark spirit. Eon could feel it because of his mental bond with Raven. Raven shivered as the presence neared them. The intense coldness of the presence was what Raven had first picked up at first.

As the presence approached, Eon broke up the conversation that the two of them were having, "Sorry to interrupt, but there's something cold and dark approaching... We might have to move somewhere else...".

Kylee broke off her conversation and gave the other boy a puzzled look. He hadn't spoken beforehand, giving Kylee the impression he was a quiet, introspective sort.

"Sorry to interrupt, but there's something cold and dark approaching... We might have to move somewhere else..."

He seemed a little distant to Kylee, but pleasantly so. He and his ralts both seemed preoccupied, and she began to search the clearing as well. Suddenly--There! Over the boy's shoulder, a slight shimmer. "Gastly!" The shimmer darkened and defined itself, sure enough, it was her Gastly after all. "Get over here! Leave them alone!"

To her surprise, the Gastly came quite willingly...at least he obeyed when she directly asked for it. She smiled at it as it returned to its usual position beside her shoulder, and reached out to touch it affectionately. It seemed pleased as her hand experienced the chill that she was becoming more familiar.

She turned to address the boy with the Ralts, "I'm sorry about that..." She stroked the Gastly she hadn't named yet, "this is my pokemon, I raised him from an egg."

Axel grinned as the Gastly showed up next to this Kylee girl, and she told them that she had raised it from an egg. It was still beyond him how a ghost could be hatched, but... That was life for you. "Raising a Pokemon from the moment it's born often results in a greater bond between Pokemon and Trainer. Not always, mind you, but often enough." And he should know, as his Swellow, Alecto, had been raised from an egg, and the two of then got along pretty much perfectly. "And you're from Verdanturf? Cool! Imagine meeting another person from Hoenn, here of all places... Okay, I have two questions now. Eon, if you don't mind me asking, where are you from? And then the second is this: What is your goal here, Kylee?"

Inquisitiveness murdered the Ivysaur. Wait... That doesn't apply... Hmm.

Kylee listened intently, what was her purpose? A fair question, and Kylee was pleased that a trainer was finally taking a little time to at least know her a bit. "I came to Tohjo to start my very first pokemon journey, and challenge the pokemon league." That always sounded so cliche to Kylee, fortunately her secondary goal was a little more unique, "I also plan to breed and raise a perfect team from birth. There's something about raising a pokemon from its origins that I think is lost in catching them." She caught herself, "but that's just me, I'm well aware that my opinion isn't true."

Eon's ears perked up as he heard that the girl that they had met was from Verdanturf in Hoenn. And then, Eon realised that he had not known where Axel had come from, even.

"Well, I'm from Mossdeep City, in Hoenn, obviously.", Eon said, as the cold presence of the girl's Gastly continued to make Eon and Raven shiver.

Axel found himself feeling lucky. He had been trying to keep people from noticing that he had actually been a Pokemon Master back in Hoenn, which he figured would have been a difficulty no matter who he met, let alone other people from Hoenn. They broadcasted those battles, didn't they? Or was it just that he had changed so much in these last seven years? Or maybe they just hadn't drawn the connection... And Axel was determined to keep Eon and Kylee, and anyone else, from knowing. This was supposed to be a reset for him...

"Mossdeep, huh? I'm from Lilycove myself." Axel said, responding to Eon first. "And, hey, I won't argue with you there. Pokemon you hatch from an egg and raise from infancy tend to share a better bond with their trainer... And, hey, opinions can't be right or wrong by definition, no?" The young man smiled, and then leaned back, almost falling over before taking a few steps back. He raised his hands as he did so, making that 'photo frame' with his pointer fingers and thumbs, as he closed his left eye for effect. "Just as I thought!" he said suddenly, dropping his hands back to his waist.

Kylee smiled brightly, it appeared as if she wasn't too far from home after all. Although this adventure was a new start, she found it comforting that there was at least something familiar, even if they technically were still complete strangers. She looked them over, the black-shirted man, Axel, seemed vaguely familiar, but she could tell she would never remember what for, perhaps just a familiar face. The other boy..Eon..Still seemed a little weirded out, he was shivering. Kylee puzzled over this until she noticed the boy's Ralts was also shivering and throwing nervous glances at Gastly. Finally catching on, Kylee made eye contact with Gastly and urged him to move away from the boy. It obeyed, it's eyes lingering on the Ralts before Kylee hissed softly at it.

She met Axel's eyes and nodded in agreement, the man knew his stuff. At the moment, he reeled back, making a "picture frame" with his fingers and exclaiming, "just as I thought!" Kylee frowned, "What's up?"

Axel grinned wildly as Kylee fell right into his trap and asked him what he meant. "Why, it's quite simple... We're a classic three-people group! We have Eon here, a coordinator, myself, a trainer who might dabble in contests from time to time, and you, a trainer slash breeder! Plus, if you don't mind me saying... We aren't a half-bad looking group, either." Axel shifted his weight to his left leg, and stopped talking for all of a half second. "I suppose what I'm attempting to do is extend an invitation to you. Feel free to decline, naturally; you just met us. Heck, we just met each other. But I have enjoyed this past minute talking to you... And we live in a word where almost anything can happen. What do you say, Kylee?"

Kylee's eyes wandered between the two males and their pokemon as Axel spoke. Their was a sort of symmetry between their pokemon and their personalities. On top of that, they were all from Hoenn too! A tingling sensation in Kylee's heart forced her to smile as Axel talked of their team. By the time he extended her an invitation, she had already made up her mind. "I would love too!" She had thought she would be making her journey alone, but with an opportunity like this, how could she resist? It would be perfect, the experience of a lifetime.

She was about to say something more when a form zipped right past her face. Kylee recoiled, nearly losing her balance and falling to the grass, but she caught herself and in doing so caught a glimpse of what had disturbed her. Yanma, the clear wing pokemon. Kylee allowed herself a smile as its potential registered in her mind. She just needed two of them and then...She dismissed it temporarily and attended herself to her newfound companions, "So...where to?

Eon let the conversation between the other two continue on as he turned to look at Raven. As the Gastly moved slightly away from Raven, Raven was not so much bothered by the cold and evil energy radiating from the Gastly. Eon could tell however, that Raven was still slightly afraid of the Gastly's presence.

"Do you want to head into your Pokeball, Raven?", Eon asked Raven silently, not wanting to disturb or interrupt the conversation that the other two were having.

Raven answered through the psychic mental bond that she shared with Eon. She was okay with being inside her Pokeball, no matter how much she disliked being confined in the small space in the Pokeball. It would alleviate the effects of Gastly's presence a little and allow Raven some time to calm down and get accustomed to the Gastly's presence. Eon pressed the button on his Pokeball, and in a flash of red light, Raven disappeared into the Pokeball.

Axel grinned, and then his wrench was flashing in the sunlight as he spun it with practiced ease. "Well then, Kylee, perhaps you'd like to have a short little battle? It's good training, and I'm almost ready for the first gym... I just need one last good battle beforehand. So, what do you say to that? Your Gastly could benefit from it as well, of course." the young man said, almost sing-songishly as he took out the Pokeball containing Horus. "You can't be the best without devoting a little time into training. Naturally, it'd be ladies first..."

Cyrus, unlike Raven, didn't mind the Gastly's presence. The little Nidoran took a little half-hop towards the ghost, and then stared up at it unblinkingly.

Eon looked up as Axel brought up his request for a battle. That pipey boy was going around challenging anyone that he met to battles. It seemed that he at least had some kind of experience with Pokemon battles. There was also something else about the boy that piqued Eon's interest. He looked somewhat familiar, as though Eon had seen him somewhere before. Well, that was probable, considering that they both lived extremely close to each other, Axel in Lilicove City, Eon in Mossdeep City.

"I wouldn't mind referring the match for both of you, to ensure fair play.", Eon said aloud, in the same monotone that he had used earlier, which would probably start annoying people soon.

Kylee smiled, but there was an edge to it. She always got a little more aggressive when competition came into play, but it was in good sport. "That sounds wonderful! We...haven't actually had a chance to battle yet. She looked over at Gastly, his attention was fixed on the Scyther. His confidence reassured her, and she looked towards Eon as he agreed to referee "Right...Thank you!" Kylee looked towards Axel and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath to focus herself, "right...let's do this!"

Gastly came to rapt attention, he could sense the battle beginning, and Kylee could sense his excitement. "Gastly! Use Hypnosis!" Gastly responded, it's normally mischievous expression became alarming calm, and it's eyes pulsed with a dark, yet soothing power. Kylee looked away, pokemon could hypnotise trainers if one wasn't careful.