Pewter City

ninestarryskies

Leader Brock

Brock watched as the shiny Purrloin went down. The Gym Leader was eager to battle the Purrloin, it wasn't too often he got to battle with one, but it was over much to soon. It wasn't until the next Pokemon get sent out, a Kakuna, did he believe the battle was over. It was easy for him to predict the outcome of this match up, and if Finch sent out the Kakuna now, he didn't have too much hope for the remaining Pokemon. The beginning was so interesting, so he knew the feminine trainer had great potential. The Kakuna sent a long string shot out aimed at the rocky snake, which Onix leaned to the side as the string shot coasted right past the snake. The Onix wasn't too concerned about the attack, but Brock did have to jump out of the way so he didn't get caught in the string that passed his Pokemon. "Onix, you know what to do." Brock stated calmly beside having to dodge an attack. The Onix slammed his tail into the ground once again and sent an array of rocks sailing at the bug.

[Sorry for the wait! But Onix has a higher speed, so Onix would attack at the first of the turn, so for roleplay purposes I just had String shot miss. ]


Onix
Lv. 17
HP 47/130
Male
Ability: Sturdy- This Pokémon will be left with 1 HP when taking enough damage for a one hit knock out
Stealth Rock- Scatters rocks that deal damage equal to 1/8th max HP of Pokémon switching in | Cancelled by Rapid Spin and Defog. Affected by type effectiveness
Rock Throw- 50
Rock Tomb- 50 | Lowers target's speed by one stage each hit
Harden- Raises user's defense by one stage

A few days later, Finch was still quite determined to get his team up to par. The top edge of Viridian Forest, just south of Pewter City, seemed an excellent place to train and treat his Pokemon to a little picnic outside in the beautiful weather. He packed up sandwiches, lemonade, cookies, baby carrots, some Pokemon kibble, and a blanket he bought just for this purpose all inside of a sweet little lidded basket and headed down from the southern entrance of Pewter City to find a nice sunny hill to set up on.

Though Finch found the perfect hill on which to set up the picnic, as soon as he tried to spread out his sweetly pink and red checkered blanket, a young girl stepped out from between the trees, hands on her hips, glaring at Finch.

"That was my spot," she claimed, looking him up and down with a critical eye. Her hair was in pigtails and she wore that green scout uniform like the picnicker trainer class, but she seemed more unruly and hard to read than your typical girl scout trainer. Finch looked her over right back, eyeing her clearly dyed black hair and raising an eyebrow.

"Oh? I don't see anyone's name on it," he said, making an exaggerated show of looking under his blanket and scanning the hillside. "Seems like it's a free spot to me."

"I staked it out and it's mine, I come here every Thursday." She stared Finch down, as if she could bore holes into him and force him to move with her mind.

Now, if she'd asked nicely, or mentioned that she liked this spot herself and usually used it this day, or some other way of politeness, Finch likely would have just scooted onward, but this was ridiculous and he wouldn't stand for it. He'd die on this hill, very figuratively speaking.

"Hm. I suppose we could solve this with some mild violence? I'm not gonna move, and I don't need you glowering at me while I enjoy my picnic, and I didn't bring enough to share even if I wanted to invite you." Finch pulled out a Poke Ball to illustrate the violence he meant; a Pokemon battle.

The girl said nothing, just grabbed her own ball and gave it a rough toss into the grass. Finch took her cue and did the same, and at the same time, Radiance and a grey Meowth appeared. Finch itched to ask her why her Meowth was grey, but he stood his ground. It was a very appealing looking Pokemon, though, and he did have a soft spot for cats.

Once Finch's Pokemon all came out and marveled at the picnic spread, his mood went up again, more so even than just Radiance's support had done. He had a lovely time sharing food and lemonade and cookies with his partners.

Radiance, as usual, favored sweets and ate quite a few of the cookies herself. Jiji acted as though he wanted nothing, but Finch caught him snatching up a tuna salad sandwich and a few of the cookies here and there. Fritter was the most subdued, and Finch thought that maybe he was getting close to evolving and trying to save his energy, but made sure that he got a little of the kibble, at least, and a few sips of fluid.

Debbie, the largest Pokemon in his party by far and also probably the biggest personality, happily chattered with the other Pokemon with great sweeping gestures of her arms and ate with gusto, seemingly enjoying every bite. Salsa ate a bunch of food way faster than was probably sustainable and then passed out about twenty minutes after she had to stop to let everyone else get a few bites in, napping on her back and occasionally interrupting everyone else with loud snores. Finally, Valentine daintily picked at the food, choosing mostly to nurse a cup of lemonade and listen closely to Debbie.

Finch himself mostly just relaxed, watching his Pokemon enjoy the spread. His legs were folded beneath him demurely as he munched away, but he didn't have a huge appetite today, so he only put away about two sandwiches and two cookies.

The Pikachu didn't mind Finch at all when he stood up out of shock, it just kept on eating the cookie while the other Pokemon stared at it. Debbie deflated, not understanding why the wild Pokemon wasn't intimidated by her being so big like others were. Radiance watched with her usual calm demeanor, keeping one eye on Finch in case he wanted her to attack or something. Jiji bristled, but stayed lying down; he didn't want to show too much interest but couldn't resist being irritated by a strange Pokemon just waltzing right in this way. If Fritter or Salsa noticed the Pikachu, they both did a great job of pretending they didn't; the Fuecoco kicked a little in her sleep but was otherwise still, and Fritter just sat there much like he had earlier. Valentine tried her best to bristle or look bigger, but she was small and cute and it wasn't all that effective.

Pikachu ignored all of them until she? probably she? finished her cookie, and had cleaned her clever paws of crumbs with her tongue. She put her front paws back on the ground and casually scratched an ear with her back leg, eyes closed. Finch inched closer while she was cleaning and scratching, then carefully sat down on the edge of the blanket nearest the wild Pokemon, folding his legs in front of him applesauce style.

As soon as Pikachu was done scratching her ear, she yawned real big, stretched her arms out like a cat, stood up to stretch her back a bit, then opened her eyes about halfway, padded right over to Finch, and curled up on his lap, burrowing slightly into the folds of today's skirt, and that was that.

Radiance and Debbie leveled up to level 15! (forgot to mention in prev post)
Salsa leveled up to level 7!

Salsa learned Round!

Pikachu joined the team!

(Will be sent to PC, not active party)

The next wild Pokemon to battle turned out to be a Mankey, which was a Pokemon that Finch didn't see all that often. He had to look up what types of moves affected Fighting-type Pokemon once it appeared, since he knew very little about Fighting Pokemon.

He still sent Radiance in; all of her moves would do neutral damage to it, and she was getting close to evolving as evidenced by her slight increase in size and extra hot flames. Finch hoped that this battle might be that last little boost she needed to evolve into a Charmeleon.

Amazingly, Finch was correct about Radiance, as soon after defeating the wild Pokemon and standing over its fainted body after retrieving her held item from it, she glowed brightly and transformed from a tiny roundish lizard into a more elegant, taller one with a crest on the back of her head. Her flame was nearly twice the size it had been before as a Charmander.

Wild Mankey level 10 appeared!
Radiance used Dragon Breath!
Mankey (10/70) used Covet!
Mankey stole Radiance's Diamond Necklace!
Radiance (60/120) used Metal Claw!
Mankey fainted!

Radiance snatched her item back!

Radiance gained (5x2) 10 exp!
Radiance grew to level 16!

Radiance evolved into Charmeleon!

Used Heart Scale on Valentine to teach Water Pulse tutor move

Valentine's new move was super helpful when her other moves were still relatively weak, and it was the only Water-type move he had on his team so far, so he was pleased with her progress. It wouldn't be too long before she was ready to evolve, just like Radiance and Fritter had evolved. Wouldn't Brock be in for a surprise when Finch came back to battle him in a few days or so?

Another wild Pokemon appeared, this one being a male Nidoran again. At first, he was excited to see a female Nidoran and tried to run up to nuzzle Valentine, so sweetly that Finch could almost see the little hearts floating in his eyes, but Valentine didn't want to nuzzle a stranger and attacked before he could touch her, blasting him in the face with a Water Pulse. Finch stifled a laugh as he began to command her for the rest of the fight.

Wild Nidoran level 10 appeared!
Valentine used Water Pulse!
Nidoran (10/70) used Poison Sting!
Valentine used Water Pulse!
Nidoran was defeated!

Valentine gained 5 exp!

As Finch and Radiance entered Pewter City proper, they got exactly the reaction that Finch had hoped for; he spotted a few people staring at Radiance, her golden scales bright and shining in the lowering sunlight, and a few people waved at Finch. He was already popular around here, it seemed, and it was well deserved, of course. They reached the Pokemon Center, his team was healed back up to full health again, and they all rested for the night.

The next afternoon, when Finch finally got up and headed toward the front door of the Center, he was surprised to be stopped by a messenger. There was a message for him from earlier in the morning, and it seemed to have been from the man that ran the Pewter Tailoring shop, John. He wanted some more help today, so Finch headed over there, hoping to get to show off his new Beedrill to the tailor.

"Finch, there you are! Do you still have that Weedle?" John greeted the trainer as the front door's bell jingled his arrival, and Finch couldn't help but wear a smug grin.

"Oh, hm.. No, no Weedle here, just this guy." Fritter came out of his Poke Ball in a burst of light, wings buzzing slightly in the small shop as he hovered between the two.

"Oh, look at that! Fritter, you're looking great!" The Beedrill smiled at the tailor, hovering closer and holding out his stingers like he wanted a hug. Wildly, John accepted the hug, but carefully, worried that he might get cut or envenomated, no doubt.

"Anyway! Finch, can I borrow him for the day? I really need to try out some Poison based dyes I'd heard about recently and I thought your Weedle - well, not anymore, Beedrill - would be a huge help." John pleaded with Finch, appealing to his sense of ego quite well. Finch grinned bigger and said, "Actually, I can do you one better, too." A second ball popped out, and out came Valentine the Nidoran, another Poison-type Pokemon that could help. John looked overjoyed.

Poke Job Tier 2, Clothing Store
Pewter Tailoring, Post 1

Once they were outside, John pinned a few large sheets of a heavy, rough burlap material up on the line stretched between his shop and a planted pole. They were of a light brownish color with darker flecks.

"This fabric is made of recycled material and they usually use it for tablecloths and stuff, but I found it for cheap and figured it'd be fine to practice with. Plus, if it comes out nice, we could put it up like a tapestry or somethin'."

Both Pokemon, Valentine and Fritter, looked at John quizzically. Neither of them knew anything about any of that, they were just here because Finch told them to be. John coughed, smiling sheepishly. "Er.. I'll get outta the way and let you two get to work, then."

John shifted away from the fabrics and stood behind the pair of Pokemon. The Beedrill turned to look at him, but Valentine was eyeing the fabric nervously, like it might attack, and she was ready to fight back if it did.

"You can use.. Poison Sting, right, Fritter?" The Beedrill nodded, showing off his huge stingers proudly. Valentine just heard, 'Poison Sting', and sent some envenomed needles right into the first sheet of burlap, leaving behind a bunch of tiny holes and a pattern of purple-red splotches. Fritter saw what she did and did the same, but with his sharp arms his stabbing motions just splattered the poison over the fabric, covering some of Valentine's spots, but leaving behind an interesting splattering of green and yellow.

Poke Job Tier 2, Clothing Store
Pewter Tailoring, Post 3

After a few more mild mishaps and splattered fabric sheets, John was becoming more and more confident in the pair of Pokemon's abilities. There were hardly any holes in that last one, and Fritter had stopped putting giant holes in the fabrics entirely after that last big one. Finally, John went inside and came out with the silken white sheet of fabric from just behind the counter, the one he had wanted dyed in the first place, and hung it for them to see.

"Alright, you two, this is it. You're both starting to look tired, but I really need this to be perfect, okay?" Valentine and Fritter both perked up, showing their eagerness to help. "This is the piece of fabric I'll be using on the finished piece, and it needs to be exactly how that last sheet of burlap came out, okay? This kind of fabric will be fine after a few small stabs, Valentine, but Fritter, if you stab through this one, I'll have to find a way to get a new piece, so please, both of you be so so careful."

The Pokemon both looked nervously at John. "Er.. No pressure though?" They did not relax.

John marked the fabric using a blue chalk, as white wouldn't show through, and stepped back to let the Pokemon do their work.

"Alright, here we go..."

As the venom and needles arced through the air, John watched with bated breath. It seemed that each small attack hit its mark flawlessly, leaving behind only a few tiny needle holes from Valentine's needle shots, and Fritter was careful not to stab through, only slightly denting the fabric when he would touch it with his silvery pointed limbs.

Finally, it was done.

Poke Job Tier 2, Clothing Store
Pewter Tailoring, Post 5/b]

SPOILER: Click to show

5/5 Wild Pokemon
45/25 NPC
4/25 Soft Sand
12/25 Soothe Bell
54/3 Travel
Active Item: Diamond Necklace on Radiance (Day 5/7)

Radiance ♥
Charmeleon F
Level 23
HP 180/180
Held: Diamond Necklace
Blaze
Metal Claw | Fire Fang
Dragon Tail | Dragon Breath
Exp: 7/33

Jiji
Purrloin M
Level 10
HP 70/70
Limber
Scratch | Growl
Sand Attack | Fake Out
Exp: 16/20

Fritter
Beedrill M
Level 10
HP 70/70
Swarm
Poison Sting | String Shot
Fury Attack | Mega Drain
Exp: 10/21

Debbie
Wigglytuff F
Level 15
HP 120/120
Held: Pink Bow
Cute Charm
Disarming Voice | Disable
Covet | Sing
Exp: 12/19

Salsa
Fuecoco F
Level 7
HP 50/50
Blaze
Tackle | Leer
Ember | Round
Exp: 11/17

Valentine
Nidoran F
Level 14
HP: 110/110
Held: Leftovers
Poison Point
Growl | Poison Sting
Scratch | Water Pulse
Exp: 2/18

Items:
Poke Ball x ∞
Great Ball x 1
Luxury Ball x 1
Potion x ∞
Fresh Water x 3
Lum Berry x 1
Pewter Crunchies x 1
Diamond Necklace x 1
Wise Glasses x 1
Sweet Bouquet x 1
Love Potion No. 9 x 1
Luck Incense x 1

Back out in town, Finch headed toward the Pokemon Center to make sure his team was in top shape, then headed toward Mt. Moon, which was the original plan for today when he first woke up before receiving the message from Mr. John. Radiance followed behind as they exited the Center and headed that way. Radiance had a bit of a sneezing thing going on today, which was unusual for her, but she waved off Finch when he asked if she was alright. She also seemed larger, somehow, but he shrugged, leaving it up to a growth spurt.

Out and about, there were lots of Pokemon that wanted to fight today, and Valentine gladly fought them all up until one in particular threw Finch off a bit; a wild Clefable showed up, looking lazily at Valentine. Finch had never seen a Clefable in the wild, he figured they usually only evolved during certain times of year or with the full moon or something. It didn't seem to be going anywhere, so he flipped open his slow Pokedex and looked it up. This would definitely be a good place for them to show up, if they usually did, but it was super rare.

He had Valentine rest while he sat crouched, watching the wild Clefable, who didn't seem to have much interest in fighting or leaving. He wondered how it hadn't been caught or driven away yet. He decided to try a thing he hadn't tried previously and called out to the Pokemon.

"Hey, you live around here?" The Clefable blinked, turning to look at Finch with a lazy curiosity. It lifted a clawed hand, waving at Finch, then motioned at the cave leading inside Mt. Moon. "You live inside Mt. Moon?" The wild Pokemon nodded, yawning.

"Er. Would you.. like to come with me instead? You'll probably be attacked if anyone else finds you out here." The Clefable considered his words, scratching its belly, then nodded, shrugged, and stood up, toddling over to Finch.

Clefable joined the team!