Pokémon Legends: Court of Kings

[Klarp Glornharm]

Francis nodded intently as he followed the flexing's suit. Of course, how was he supposed to lift? He had wings. Maybe his talons? Those could lift, right? and then he could flap his wings and they'd get stronger... Yeah. [Really? So even I could be one?] His eyes widened in awe.

[Can you teach me?]

Benedict took a moment to take in and connect what she meant. Hustle, he'd learned while preparing, was also a pokemon ability. "You sound a little Farfetch'd there. Must have a lot of Inner Focus, because that's not a very Keen Eye." Of course, he wasn't sure if she was going this path with the word play, but he was well aware that she had looked him over first.

He returned the favor, and found nothing too wanting. It would be a fun game either way.  

[Jump Einatz]

Biz was torn between stopping to think and continuing to learn Bulk Up. He decided to continue his training while thinking minimally. [Sure! You just gotta, erm...well you gotta be cool, but not like you're trying too hard. And you gotta do smart things that make people say they woulda never thought about doin' it. Oh, and if you're gonna do something cool make sure you have a one liner for after.]

The Chespin nodded at his own advice, self motivating as he continued to flex. As he Bulked Up his muscles compressed, tightening the increased mass into his small frame. The Pokefan family was going nuts over watching the two pokemon flex cutely, furiously taking selfies and putting them on their blogs as fast as they could click buttons.

Sal tilted her head to the side, mildly pleased. So this guy wasn't just a one hit blunder after all. Well, no sense in telling him off so quickly if he was going to be clever about it. Besides, she saw him check her out as well. Although she wasn't sure if he liked what he saw, she knew a male gaze when she saw one.

The bandana girl leaned forward, still grinning. If Benedict was after her attention, he was succeeding. "You think I'm a Slowpoke? I'm not Oblivious, so let's cut to the chase. What's your name, kid?"

It should be noted that both Durendal and Veillantif were still next to Sal as she and Benedict exchanged flirtatious linguistics. Dune blushed, embarrassed for some reason, while Veil hopped around to Benedict's side to get a better look at him. Those were some nice shoes. She wondered if they tasted like any others shoes she had tried to eat before.  

[Klarp Glornharm]

Francis began chirping delightedly at the bulk-up starting to become a success for his new mentor. He began imagining doing just what the other was doing, the muscles in his wings flexing and becoming stronger, compressing and tightening, growing to new levels. It would likely have been amazing, an achievement that could not be matched easily, if this freshly caught pokemon somehow managed to perform a mirror move on the bulk-up. Unfortunately, all that was there was a pidgey flexing and chirping his approval as he mimicked the other's movements.

Benedict's grin was definitely more genuine as this stranger decided to continue the game. "A Slowpoke? No, with that Cute Charm you caught me with, you've gotta be a Sylveon. My name is Benedict, Ben if you want something short. What's yours?"

Essence, while Benedict had gotten caught up in this, had begun stalking slowly behind Veil, who seemed infatuated with her trainer's feet. Slowly but surely the pokemon would make her way towards the other, and would pick as perfect a time as possible to jump out and yell [Boo!] at her.  

[Zamaku]

Lumiose - Gotengo

"Takamaru Takashi, TK's good too," The silver haired youth introduced himself. Also not sure if he met Mia face to face last night. He assumed he did since he recognized her face, and he knew a bit about her as well as she was close to Sal. Or at least from what he gathered from the bandana wearing girls dialog last night.

"A Message?" he prompted, tossing the stale breakfast bar into a large wooden plant basin that was being used for a trash can. "Wait, she already left?" He followed up, frowning. For some reason or another this fact put him off slightly. That or the disgusting breakfast bar he just attempted to consume was the cause.

Either way, his first goal for the day was to battle some trainers to get some cash to fill his uncomfortably empty stomach.  

[Jump Einatz]

Lumiose City- Gotengo

"Uh-huh," was the reply, just as world weary as ever. "She said you can come to Gotengo whenever. Just keep it DL, we don't want the cops up in here. No adults, only kids. Oh, and if you're serious about challenging the league then she'll see you on the road." Mia's eyes went up from her browsing to TK. "She kept calling you one of her new rival last night. Congratulations."

She flipped a record out of the crate, placed it on the turntable and scratched it casually, making music out of it before letting it go. "If you roll with Sal you're in for some trouble, let me tell...hold on, you're just gonna throw that breakfast bar away? That makes me want to munch."

Mia made her way across the room and starting going through the pantry, where it was mostly boxes of crackers and the occasional Skittles. "You can help yourself if you want," she told him, head half buried in the shelves while rummaging for any hidden gems. "There are a couple of eggs left in the fridge. Maybe some milk...I dunno...merde, so many crackers...."

****

Route 4

For all Biz knew, Francis was doing Bulk Up just as well as he was. [Keep it up!] he yelled to Francis for encouragement as he showed off his tiny biceps, feeling stronger even though he almost looked the same. [Check me out! This is regal, I think! I don't actually know what that word means yet but still!]

Veil couldn't take it anymore. Salieri said not to keep trying to eat other people's stuff, shoes included, because you're not supposed to try eating everything, but she never said anything about these shoes. The uber-curious Horsea had to have a nibble.

Thankfully, this was the moment Essence had chosen to surprise Veillantif. She squeaked and jumped five feet into the air, shocked and ecstatic. [Whoa you got me good! How'd you do that I can never sneak up on anything everyone tells me I'm too loud-]

Salieri returned the ditzy Horsea from over Benedict's shoulder before she could touch the ground and get up to more hijinks, then looked back at Ben. He's more trouble than he's worth. Not my type. I mean, it's not like I wouldn't make out with him though...hmm, actually, if he wants to play this game I could end up using him after all.

"Salieri Soledad, aka Sal." The bandanna girl stood up, one hand on her hip. "Cute Charm, huh? No, that's not it. Maybe you're just an easy catch."  

[Klarp Glornharm]

Francis chirped back excited agreement to Biz's statement. Part of him felt the word might be being used incorrectly but that his mentor surely knew better than him. If Biz said it was regal, it was regal, and so the pidgey continued his odd flexing as the pokefan family took their pictures. [Regal indeed!]

Essence blinked when Veil suddenly spouted out a stream of speech, which almost stopped the budew from keeping up. Luckily, a light sprang forth and returned the somewhat frightening thing before she could completely lose track. She would turn her attention to the Pawniard and tilt her body, as a human might their head, in curiosity. [That one always like that?]

Benedict found that he recognized that sort of stance, though not so much from pokemon battling as from gambling. When someone got really competitive or serious about it, they got a sort of aura about them, something that told you what they wanted. More often than not, it was that they wanted to compete with you.

"An easy catch, hm?" The womanizer shrugged and crossed his arms. "Not so easy as you'd think, actually." If he was right, this was about to turn into a battle. It would probably also turn into a horrible situation where his pokemon had to go to the pokemon center. It didn't take a genius to note that she was at least somewhat practiced, with how she had that pokemon practicing a move, or at least the foundations for it. The most passive-seeming of her three pokemon also seemed a bit tough...

But then, the plan was to be the best, or at least among them. You didn't get there by being completely careful and avoiding what was likely a challenge. If nothing else, surely he'd learn something here. Him or his pokemon.

"If you'd like, I can prove it too."  

[Jump Einatz]

Durendal looked to the Budew and gave her a nod. Yes, Veillantif was always like that, ever since she was little. How else could you explain a Horsea getting so separated from their pack that they ended up in Lumiose City's waterways? Veil didn't care if she was far from her family as long as she got to explore new things.

"Yeah?" Benedict was knowingly taking the bait. The two trainers seemed to be on the same page despite the terms being unspoken. But just in case they weren't, she said, "Alright hotshot. You wanna battle me? My Pawniard versus anything you've got."

Now Durendal stopped looking so perturbed at his trainer's flirtations when the battle proposal came up. It was nice to know she still wanted him to battle today.  

[Marsuru]

Serene returned to her ball in a whipping bolt of light. When Zack saw Helena smiling, he had to consciously avoid grinning back. That was better; a far cry from the girl who had called him yesterday, upset over losing a battle, and from the girl who'd grown frustrated from sparring. Helena was progressing bit by bit. It was a rare sort who could hardily endure defeat and still remain motivated to keep trying. Even rarer was the one who endured defeats so early on in learning a new skill. For that he was proud of her. Zack felt sorry for the gym leader who had become his sister's target. If they fought her with the same intensity as last time, then they were in for a rude awakening.

"Well then," Zack said, tossing Serene's ball up and catching it again. "I'd say the lesson's over. Keep practising, next time we battle it's gonna be for real."

And unless he got his pokémon up to snuff, Zack thought, she might actually beat him. Trainers milled between battlegrounds. Occasionally, the heat from a fire attack, or the breeze from maladroit gust could be felt from the other battles. Zack shook thoughts of losing from his mind. He still had to get his pokémon properly fed and watered, and he was becoming increasingly aware of a group of trainers waiting for their arena to free up.  

[Spinne Biss]

"Alright," Helena said as she made her mental notes for the day. Get camping gear, train her Pokemon for a bit of a warm-up before the gym match, defeat the gym leader, get some dinner, and then explore the city.

She had seen the billboard and the parade and now she had an urge to see what else Lumiose City had to offer. "I'll see you this evening, then?" Helena asked as she started for the exit.  

[Marsuru]

"Yeeeeep," Zack said as he stretched. Breakfast and coffee had performed a strange kind of necromancy, transforming a zombie into something that resembled a human being. The process was not yet complete, however, and Zack found himself dealing with aches he hadn't felt for a long while, and an increasing sensation of foggy tiredness. The group of trainers by the arena were still staring. One of the looked as if they were about to say something, but declined when Zack made eye contact. He didn't look that rough did he?

"Well what are you waiting for," Zack growled, taking offence at his own assumption, "an invitation?"

---

Back inside the Pokémon Center, Zack's pokémon chewed on their first proper meal of the day. It was some brown and round pokémon chow called Pokébble, which Zack had poured into a large bowl normally reserved for huge pokémon like Snorlax and Rhydon. His pokémon ate from the same plate, essentially, even Fletchinder, who had scooped up her share and taken it off to the side for quiet consumption. The Center gave pokémon food away for free to any trainer who required of it, and that was that.

Zack lay on some fixed seating, red leather on a white plastic frame, which acted as a divide between the cafeteria and the video station, an area stocked with video phone terminals. Since the cafeteria was mainly occupied by late-risers and video phones had become an increasingly dead technology after Xtransceivers and Holo Casters took off, Zack had a reasonable level of privacy. He held up his Xtransceiver and used it to study his reflection from different angles, hoping it was a trick of the light that his eyes looked so sunken in, framed by dark bags. He didn't just feel tired and achy, his skin was dull and seemed drained of blood, and he needed a shave.

"Perfect," the trainer groaned to himself as he slid flat. Had he really slept that badly? He shifted onto his side, not wanting to move further, and watched his pokémon eat. Was he imagining it, or did he actually feel worse than he had ten minutes ago? His pokémon didn't seem to notice. He hadn't taken much time to get to know them, that wasn't really Zack's style. As long as they worked hard and did what they were told, he could care less what their individual quirks were. He paused, then shook his head and sat up, surprised at how cynical he was feeling. Stretching again, Zack leant forward.

"I've got a plan," he said, and his pokémon turned around. Mostly. Corphish kept devouring the pokébble. "Let's go find the biggest, meanest ******** around here, and go punch him in the face."  

[Klarp Glornharm]

Essence nodded back, and turned her attention to the trainers a moment later. Things seemed to have changed in tone.

Benedict stared at the pawniard, as if deciding whether or not it was worth it. The truth was, he knew he was already going to fight the thing. The question was: did he use Essence or Francis? All things considered, if he was right about this girl having tough pokemon, Budew would likely last longer.

"Essence." He called out, and the grass pokemon turned itself to face him properly, instead of looking at both trainers. "You up for it?" The pokemon stared at the pawniard and shivered, but nodded its body. He offered a grin in response to the pokemon's loyalty.

"We've got a battle then. My budew versus your pawniard." The plan was to struggle and squeeze out experience from the battle. If possible, they might also be good enough to find an opening to take advantage of.  

[Jump Einatz]

Her grin had changed from charming to slightly feral. "Cool." Salieri had seen many Budews in action while training on this route the day before, which spared her the embarrassment of having to use Ivan for analysis. "Durendal, you're up."

The Pawniard joined her, clanking with every step as they walked a short distance away from Benedict and Essence to create a makeshift battlefield.

Once Ben was ready, she'd call out a move. "Aerial Ace."

In one step Dune propelled himself at Essence with confounding speed, ready to whip his arm out for a diagonal slash at her side if he got close enough. If the attack succeeded, he'd still be mid step during it, and would slide to a stop when he landed a short distance behind the Budew.  

[Klarp Glornharm]

"Tactic two." He whispered once he and his budew were some distance away. It was something come up with for dealing with the tougher opponents that might have more speed than they did. Focus was on survival. "Just keep standing as long as you can."

The first move to come from the girl's mouth, however, left him feeling extremely disappointed. Aerial ace, from a pokemon that he was sure would win the fight easily without a type advantage move that never missed, implied she was out to just destroy him.

And it would work, he was sure. As the other pokemon reached budew, stun spore would explode out, creating a cloud that it would have to pass through to hit.

Essence wobbled on her feet, but somehow managed to stay standing. By all rights, she should have just fallen down and fainted, but the pokemon seemed intent on following his request. Stay standing as long as you can. "Drain him."

Megadrain would go out, aiming to pull in some strength to keep the pokemon on its feet. It would go without saying that, should this skill miss, Essence would probably just topple over.  

[Jump Einatz]

((Rollin for the para hax, 1 is fully paralyzed
EDIT: wootwoot))

Sal pursed her lips together. On one hand, she was glad that Aerial Ace had worked like a charm. Dune hadn't had the chance to test the attack out on a pokemon weak to it since learning it yesterday, and from the looks of it the damage wasn't a disappointment. On the other hand, Dune could do nothing about the Stun Spore, inhaling the cloud as he struck.

Biz Marquis snapped out of his muscle building trance when he saw a battle start between Durendal and the Pidgey's trainer. [Oh snap!] He sat on the fountain and watched intently.

Once he landed behind Essence, Dune could already feel his muscles tighten. Movement had become difficult. It's probably too hard to try another action when he's moving at that speed, or he would've cut through the cloud like he did with Banksy's White Smoke. I guess Aerial Ace isn't as great of an approach as I thought it could be. We'll have to train past that.

Megadrain shot at Dune. WIth his speed dropped to 25%, dodging wasn't an option. He'd still try it though, but his shoulder was struck by the bolt of green energy and part of his health was absorbed into Essence. His Steel typing may have resisted the attack, but his low special defenses didn't help matters. This Paralysis could be good for him. He can't rely on his speed all the time, he'll have to try something else. "Go for range," she suggested, sounding more like a guide than a battler.

Dune complied and swiped his hand out in a wide arc. Psycho Cutter created a translucent pink blade that flew at the Budew's midsection, covering a lot of horizontal space.  

[Klarp Glornharm]

Francis turned his attention to the battle as well, and his eyes widened at the sight of Essence looking to be in a very bad way. The grass type was hurt. She wasn't looking like she was going to be winning at all.

Essence kept her eyes on the opponent, who seemed more sluggish for sure. Her trainer was silent, not pressing her to drain more, and so she didn't yet. Instead, she focused on the strength in her feet.

"Up!" Was called out as the slightly sluggish movements of Biz showed his intent to make the psycho cut a horizontal one, though there wasn't much way to know that was the skill being used. All Ben knew was that it was supposed to be ranged.

The strength gathered in her lower nubs came in handy as she forced herself into the air, pushing herself sideways as the psycho cut came her way, to lower the odds that it would hit easily. "Drain!" Another megadrain was already going out, almost instinctively as she opened herself to any follow-up attacks that might be sent out to dodge a single one.

Really, Ben was relying on that paralysis to buy him some time here.