Espeonage

[Birdybot]

Original thread

Me:

"It feels great to finally be doing something with my life," Luna voiced aloud to her Espeon-dæmon. He padded elegantly along at her right side, a small five-tailed Vulpix peering at the world with wide eyes close to her left. The dæmon, Lazarus, nodded in agreement but said nothing. His interests were more on the Vulpix. The pup was fresh out of Pine Laboratories and was inexperienced in the world around him. Lazarus maintained that choosing him had been a wise decision, hoping the pup's calm yet inquisitive and calculating nature would help his human grow up and stop acting so childish. Time wove a curious path and would tell their story soon enough. Journeying with Pokémon was something that changed most people in some way. Perhaps the same would be true of Luna, or even himself.

Vulpix had been ecstatic to leave the lab, but was more cautious of this now he could see the world for real. Thinking about traveling in theory was one thing, but viewing the world through his own eyes and feeling the carpet of golden leaves crunch underneath his soft paws was another. The reality of it all was setting in, and not all of it was good. The air had a crisp chill to it, not enough to be unpleasant but bearing the promise of harsher weather yet to come. Sticks and small stones kept jabbing the pads of his paws, which had also accumulated dry earth. The excitement of seeing new plants was still there, but up close they bore more flaws than in what he had heard, occasionally squishy with moss, fungus or rot and all harbouring a multitude of bugs. Many of those had a bite. Everything was new, and he was feeling quite overwhelmed by it all, so chose to press close to his trainer's leg, finding comfort in feeling the warmth of the much larger being.

When the dull glow of the sun that struggled through the thick white clouds reached its heighest point, Luna found a low branch that rose almost horizontal. Lazarus leaped up nimbly. She was less elegant, grabbing it tightly with both hands and starting to haul herself up before Vulpix mewed at her, upset at being left behind. She dropped back to the ground and looked at him. His warm chocolate brown eyes met hers and he stepped towards her hopefully. A smile found its way to her face. He was adorable. A weakling and completely lacking in experience due to his youth, sure, but he had heart. She lifted him to her shoulder where he clung as she pulled herself onto the branch. He sat in her lap while she located a sandwich and some berries in her bag, feeding herself and Vulpix. Lazarus nibbled on an apple.

"You need a name," she told Vulpix. He was a sentient being, so it seemed odd not to. He looked up at her with excitement in his eyes. "Either of you have any suggestions?" she looked to Lazarus and Vulpix. How exactly did one go about naming a living thing? This was her first Pokémon. She wanted to get it right.

"Well, you could either go for a normal human name, but I think a lot of Pokémon go for mythology or ancient language-based names. That might be more fitting. Our own names aren't exactly common," Lazarus responded. This was true; Lazarus and Luna Astraea were unusual names in her experience.

She could remember a little Latin and ancient Greek from school, but mythology was more to hand since she liked the stories. "Well, if you want a human name, you could go for, I don't know, Clive or Sam or Benedict or something. Latin and ancient Greek words relating to fire or foxes would be, erm, vulpes, fervens, ardens, ig- no, wait yes, ignis, alepou, fotia, something like that. As for mythology... there's Prometheus, who in Greek mythology brought men fire, giving them knowledge and warmth. Or Helios or Sol, Greek and Roman gods of the Sun. Anything take your fancy?" she ran through slowly, thinking as she went.

Vulpix smiled. Lazarus translated as he spoke. "Prometheus is nice! I can bring you fire. But more than that, I want to spend my life bringing knowledge too. Seems pretty apt to be named after someone who did just that," Lazarus had to admit, there was a nice feel to the thing. Prometheus the Vulpix could look like he was there to bring fire in battle, but he was more than that. His intellectual mind held great potential; he could some day be very wise and bring knowledge to his trainer as well as fire, just like his namesake. "Are you gonna open it now?" he asked then, referring to the Pokéball Luna had received in a package sent to her by her parents before she had left for Route One.

"No, I think I'd rather get to know you better before dealing with two Pokémon at once," Luna replied, feeling the Pokéball in her pocket. Apparently her parents had passed it onto her from some family friend who happened to be a Pokémon breeder with too many Pokémon as a good luck present. It was very nice of them, but she didn't want to overburden herself when she scarcely knew how to take care of Prometheus yet.

Mod:

~Skit, skit, skit, skit, skit~ A happy voice would reach the ears of trio of trainer, daemon and pokemon. Though the voice was clearly that of a pokemon, there were no words being spoken, the sound more of a wordless explanation of happiness, a wandering tune with no real purpose. The tune would continue on for a time, before the owner of the voice came into view.

A small soft pink form came out of the underbrush, batting at a small rock and giggling as the rock rolled back and forth. Looking up from it's rock, the little pokemon grinned at the trio before it, the skitty's crescent moon marked pink and cream face showing nothing but pleasure. ~Hi there!~ She greeted them, her tattered ears pricked forward in interest. There were a few scars here under the pink and cream fur, visible as patches of slightly off coloured fur. Combined with the tatters in her ears, it spoke of a truly wild pokemon, one who'd had to fight to survive. Even on this usually gentle route, times could be tough.

~You guys just starting out?~ She asked. Skitty had seen many trainers starting out from the labs travelling along this route. She had battled many of them, but none had ever been interested in her along with them, with her less than perfect form, marked with it's scars and tatters. Still, she had a pretty good life here, and this skitty was not one to complain when she knew she had it so much better than so many others.


Me:

Luna scratched Prometheus behind the ears and the young Vulpix curled up in her lap, head against her belly, eyes closed. He felt safe with his trainer. The big wide world was, well, big, but here it was just him, Luna and Lazarus. That did not last long. The pup's ears flicked at the sound of a tuneless song and he sat upright a moment later. The other two could hear it as well. Luna looked at Lazarus, but her dæmon knew what she would ask before she even opened her mouth. "I can't translate it for you because it's not saying any words. It's just happy, whatever it is," he said. The happy note was quite clear in the way the Pokémon was singing. Luna was excited to meet a wild Pokémon now that she knew it was happy and not threatening, but Prometheus was still a little nervous about it. He didn't really want to battle for real, not just yet.

A small cat rolling a rock came into view. "That's a Skitty, right?" Luna asked Lazarus, who thought about it before nodding. A Normal type, not especially strong or possessing that great a moveset. A pretty popular pet from what she had seen. It seemed friendly as well as happy, which made Luna happy too. "Hello, Skitty!" she grinned back, slipping off the branch to let herself short distance to the ground. Lazarus landed gracefully as always, and Prometheus needed some help getting down. He padded cautiously towards Skitty, eying her with some interest. Lazarus translated her question for his human.

"Yeah, we just left the labs. My name's Luna, and this is my dæmon Lazarus and first Pokémon, Prometheus the Vulpix. We haven't been on the route long. What's it like here?" she asked. Maybe the cat would have some advice to offer. She seemed nice, anyway, so it would probably be pleasant enough just to converse.

[Rin]

Skitty bobbed her tail amiably towards Luna, Lazarus and Prometheus as they were introduced. "Oh, it's good enough, I've had my share of harder times," she tossed her head a little, indicating her scars and tattered ears, "but life on Route One isn't so bad. It's a little boring, but rather peaceful," she said, smiling in a friendly way at Prometheus, who she noticed was rather on the young side, even for a starter Pokemon. "Pine Labs, eh? Sometimes I wander around near there for fun, just to see all the interesting and strong Pokemon. I can get into the town, people don't really mind the occasional stray Skitty," she continued with the a wink. 

"Anyway, life here is fairly easy-going. Most of the Pokemon here are easygoing too, though everyone knows that trainers fresh from the labs are always walking through here. So almost everyone strong leaves to go explore...I've never gone too far though." It seemed that the Skitty was rather street-smart and knowledgeable about Route One, but hadn't explored areas outside of Route Ones and Two. Looking up at the three travelers in the tree, she wriggled her rump and then leapt upward, little claws latching onto the trunk as she slowly made her way upward to sit on the lowest branch. "If you want to practice, I'll fight you if you want! After your lunch of course," she mewed politely. 

[Birdybot]

Luna listened with interest to Lazarus' translation of what Skitty had to say. The wild Pokémon seemed to have had quite a wide range of experience. She must have been around for a while. Her friendly manner made Luna think she would be able to give her some good advice about Pokémon in general. It was only now she was out in the wild on her journey that the girl realised just how little she knew; had Skitty been some more aggressive Pokémon, she would have been in a bit of a pickle. Never having battled before, Luna hadn't paid much attention to any lessons she'd received in looking after Pokémon. This Skitty was a welcome first encounter with a wild Pokémon.

A practice fight would be perfect! Luna grinned, and Lazarus smiled up at his human. "We could certainly use the practice. We've never battled before, so it'd be nice to fight against someone friendly like you," he spoke truthfully. Should they lose, there wouldn't be any risk of their opponent turning on Luna and Lazarus while they were defenseless.

Prometheus was less happy with the proposal. A battle, so soon? He'd known it was coming, but now it had, butterflies filled his stomach. What if he let his trainer down? He was much younger than this Skitty. How could he compete against her experience. He looked up at Luna nervously. "Luna, we haven't trained at all. What if I'm no good?" he swished his five tails anxiously.

"Don't worry, I'm not expecting you to be an excellent battler straight away. This battle will be training! It'll give us both a start in the world of battling. If you're no good, then we'll just work hard to improve, OK?" Luna reached down to scratch him behind the ears.

Prometheus found comfort in the contact. "OK..." he responded, still uneasy.

Luna swallowed a couple more berries. "Do you want any more lunch? How about you, Skitty?" she asked Prometheus and the wild Pokémon. The Vulpix shook his head, too nervous to eat any more.

[Rin]

Skitty shrugged, settling down onto the branch and enjoying the nice day, the sun's light glinting through the winter clouds weakly, but enough to cheer up the snowy route. "I haven't eaten anything yet today," she said, pleased that the Trainer might be offering her food (she didn't enjoy begging, but it wasn't like she was going to refuse free food from a Trainer) but not expecting any. For all she knew, Luna might not have any more food or was just asking out of courtesy. She cleaned her paws and waited patiently, saying "Great! Don't worry, it's only practice," giving little Prometheus an encouraging smile. He was possibly one of the most adorable Vulpixes she'd ever seen, all-bright eyed and still shy, not obnoxiously cocky like some of the other stronger Pokemon she had seen. She resolved to go easier on him - it would be unbecoming of her to be beating up a Pokemon so young. But she wouldn't go too easy on him - if the battle was too easy, he wouldn't learn anything, after all. 

[Birdybot]

Luna supposed she shouldn't really be surprised that Skitty hadn't eaten anything at all that day, what with her living in the wild, but it was still strange to her that she had gone hungry so far. Luna had packed plenty of food when she'd left for the route, thinking she would probably end up needing to feed wild Pokémon or even any new ones she caught. She offered Skitty a handful of different kinds of berries, dried fruit and nuts, unsure what the cat preferred to eat.

Once Skitty had picked something to eat, Lazarus gave Prometheus an encouraging nuzzle. The Vulpix slowly stepped in front of his trainer, facing Skitty. He was shaking like one of the crisp dry leaves preparing to fall from the trees around them. "Like Skitty said, it's only practice, Prometheus. No one will mind if you don't do very well. We don't expect you to be an amazing battler straight away before you've had any experience!" she told him. That was all very well, but Prometheus still felt as if the should be a pretty decent battler from the start. How could he ever amount to anything if he showed no potential now? Luna wasn't giving him and orders to attack, so he watched Skitty fixedly, waiting for her to make a move.

[Rin]

Skitty twitched her eras happily when Luna held out the food to her, the waving pieces of fur on her tail showing her contented feelings. "Thank you," she said graciously, stepping foward and stretching out her neck. She daintily sniffed Luna's hand, whiskers tickling the side of the human's palm, before carefully picking up a couple of brightly colored berries and a slice of dried apricot, afterwards jumping back to her branch to nibble on the food with a couple of graceful leaps. They berries weren't as good as right off the bush of course, but Skitty was grateful, as food tended to be harder to come by during the wintertime. 




A Wild Skitty challenges you! 
Lv. 6
Gender: Female
Ability: Normalize
Moves: Foresight, Fake Out, Tackle, Growl, Tail Whip

Once Prometheus and the new Trainer were ready, Skitty leapt down from the tree, stopping briefly after landing in the snow to clean her paws, drawing one of them over her ear a couple of times. She looked up - the Espeon-daemon was stepping away from the little Vulpix, saying something encouraging - and she also flashed the young one a smile, shaking out her muscles a little and getting ready for Luna's first attack. But Luna waited - so she wanted Skitty to start! "Ok then, here goes!" Skitty said cheerfully, wondering what to use. Normally she'd start out with Fake Out, but she wasn't sure if she should on a young Pokemon who would be quite startled, and probably not even know what was happening when her two paws clapped down on his head. She instead decided to wag her tail cutely in a Tail Whip, then rush towards the Vulpix on her little legs in a Tackle attack. 

[Birdybot]

((btw, it's autumn in Enera right now, not winter. I decided to make the seasons change roughly in accordance to time going by in people's threads))

Prometheus could feel his racing heartbeat in his mouth. This was it, his first battle. Watching Skitty seemed to be the best thing to do, but the adorable tail waggle made him feel a bit weaker. He wasn't so sure what he should be doing after that, or why he felt weaker. He hadn't lost any health, he was certain of that. That was strange, but maybe Luna would know what had happened. Still looking at Skitty, he could see she was trying to charge him. Bracing himself, he tried to run to one side, but his attempt was too soon and all that resulted was the Tackle's path was slightly curved. He was caught in the side and toppled over, quickly scrambling to his feet again. Five tails shook, a small puff of dirt being removed from each of them. "Ow. Luna, how can I avoid that?" he asked, wanting to improve.

Luna was absent-mindedly toying with the gold chain of the locket around her neck as she frowned and thought hard about how best to fight. That must have been a Tail Whip, so Prometheus' defence would have been lowered. That meant attacks would do more damage. "When dodging, I think there's a small frame of time when it's neither too early nor too late. We need to find that," Lazarus said, to both Luna and Prometheus.

"Yeah, that seems right. You went too early, Prometheus. It depends on how fast Skitty is and how fast you are. But now, it's your turn to attack. Use Tail Whip, just like Skitty, then use... uh... Ember," Luna had her input. She was aware that Pokémon from the lab knew egg moves, but it might be tough to ask the young Vulpix to use such an attack now. Chances were it was a lot stronger than the other moves he knew, so would demand more of his energy and effort.

Prometheus managed the Tail Whip without a hitch, feeling quite pleased with himself. The Ember was more difficult. It was an odd sort of choking motion with which he spat out the little balls of fire at the cat. They did have quite some speed to them, although they weren't as powerful as the attack could be.

[Rin]

Skitty easily changed the path of her Tackle as Prometheus scrambled aside. It was rather like he was trying to run away from her, and he certainly wasn't as fast as she was - he had had a relatively easier life at the lab, whereas she had been living out in the wild for her entire life. She leapt away after impact, though, ears perked and toes ready as she watched him from a small distance away. She had seen the pup fly through the air, but he seemed to be alright, she reflected with satisfaction, her tail waving in the light breeze. Now Luna was issuing orders to her starter - her eyes narrowed (if that was even possible for a Skitty) as she waited for the next attack. First came Tail Whip - she felt her Defense drop slightly - then suddenly Prometheus had coughed, and several bright balls of fire zoomed towards her. The Skitty let out a meow of surprise - of course Fire Types used Ember, but this attack had been particularly fast. She tried to dodge out of the way, but several balls hit her on the shoulder and legs, singing her fur. 

Shaking herself to try to relieve the stinging from the fire, Skitty straightened. Unfortunately, her arsenal of moves was not very large. Watching Prometheus carefully, she began running at him once more, with her head lowered in another Tackle. She kept her eyes on him though, in case he decided to turn tail and try to run in one direction or the other. 

Ooc:// 

Oops XD; I assumed we were going by the current seasons, but I'll remember that for the future. 

[Birdybot]

Prometheus jumped into the air with glee when his attack hit. "I did it, I did it!" he exclaimed excitedly.

Luna smiled. "You did indeed, well done!" Skitty had begun her next Tackle attack then, and Prometheus looked tensed and poised to dodge. Before he could do so, Lazarus called out to him. "Wait! Stay where you are until we say to dodge!" Luna watched carefully with him, the two trying to assess when the time was right. They were as new to this as Prometheus, but at least had a different perspective. They could see the positions of both Pokémon and gauge the speed of them both, plus they weren't so skittish as Prometheus. Their plan didn't work. Prometheus grew too anxious waiting for them. In the end, he tried to dodge of his own accord, stumbling in his haste to run away and getting hit again.

"Never mind, Prometheus, there's always next time. Use Ember again while she's still close, and try making it even stronger," Luna's words were soft but Prometheus was being hard on himself anyway. He felt like he'd failed in a way, and was desperate to hold his nerve next time and dodge at the right time. It was all he could do to carry on. The flames that sprang from his mouth this time were larger and stronger, but had taken him longer to form, giving Skitty more of a chance to move away.

[Rin]

Luna's strategy of having Prometheus attack when Skitty was close was sound. The Ember might have been delivered in a longer period of time, but since Skitty was already at close range anyway due to the Tackle attack, she didn't have time to get away from Prometheus' slower but stronger Ember. She gave a small yelp of surprise as, mid-dodge, she was caught by several hearty, glowing balls of fire in the side and jaw. They were hot! Well of course they were hot, but the attack stung quite a bit. Little Prometheus could pack a punch if he tried, apparently. Racing away, she breathed heavily for a few seconds are she collected herself, then eyes brightened, happy with Prometheus's fast progress. 

She wished she had used Fake-Out now, so that she could have shown a different attack. But she had to make do with another Tackle. Shaking herself, to try to ease the pain, she gave a low Growl and then ran at Prometheus once more, ears slicked back as she bounded across the smooth, leaf-lined terrain. The cool air ran through her fur, taking her mind of the previous couple of Ember attacks. 

[Birdybot]

Prometheus had to stop himself skipping in happiness upon seeing his attack hit. He had to concentrate. Celebrations could come later. He was trying to take this very seriously, gaze never leaving Skitty as she rebounded in another Tackle attack. This time he waited longer. She was getting closer and closer. It made him feel very anxious, seeing her getting so close. Dodging didn't seem very possible right now. Surely this was too late? He gritted his teeth, using every bit of his willpower not to instinctively run away. Just when he thought the order would never come, he heard Luna call from behind him, "Now!" He lunged to one side, he didn't care which, as fast as possible. Adrenalin shot through his system as he felt the wind from Skitty dashing past harmlessly.

He turned backwards to look at the cat, surprised. "It worked! Luna, it actually worked!" he exclaimed. The young woman smiled. "Yeah, well done, Prometheus! We've lost a bit of time now, though. Quickly, use another Ember!"

Oh, right! How could he be so stupid? He'd just been thinking to himself how he should remain focused and leave celebrations to later. Annoyed with himself for letting the perfect moment when Skitty had been so close for her missed Tackle attack slip past, he was determined not to fail now. Skitty was further away now, though. It was doubtful as to whether or not his attack would hit. The embers were strong as he was getting more used to the attack, but a couple fell to the ground before they could near Skitty, and she was so far away it wouldn't be too hard to dodge.

[Rin]

Skitty could tell she was going to miss; her attack was speeding up and gaining strength, and as Prometheus stood quivering before her, it came to the moment where she knew if he dodged she wouldn't be able to change direction in time. And, finally, the managed to leap out of the way before she was able to complete her Tackle attack. She ran on past him and skidded to a halt several meters past him, sending dirt and dead leaves scattering around her. Giving a meow, she scampered around so she was facing her adversary once more.

This time, because she was far away, she could see the Ember approach, and keen to not feel her fur burning again, she gave a great leap and managed to get out of their range before they could hit. It seemed as if both Pokemon had managed to avoid attacks this turn. Now for her strike again - she should make this one count! She began running at Prometheus with her head lowered in the same way as before, in another Tackle attack. Unfortunately, while her attacks were decently strong, they were getting rather predictable, as she had nothing else she could use to attack in her movepool.

[Birdybot]

Predictable Skitty's attacks might be, Prometheus was still finding the battle a challenge as he was completely unused to fighting. He watched her next Tackle, trying to judge the correct moment himself this time. Last time, holding on until the last moment had worked well. This time, he held his ground too, watching Skitty move with a suppressed anxiety. Unfortunately, while he had the idea, he was still not a good judge of his own limits and Skitty's. He tried to lunge out the way, but was too late. Caught in the side, the Tackle forced him down. Paws tangled as he sprawled to the ground. The attack had dealt some damage. That and the previous hits had weakened him by now. His breath was coming a little quicker and harder.

Luna could see they had to finish this reasonably soon else Prometheus would lose. That would not be much of a problem, since she had that other Pokémon she'd been given. She had no idea what was inside it, but it would be able to protect them whatever it was. They would cope, and she could recover Prometheus' wounded confidence if it came to it, but they should still try their best to win. "Pokémon from the lab all have egg moves," Lazarus reminded her. She smiled. She didn't actually know what that move was, and now was as good a time as any to break the trend of Embers. "Prometheus, you know an egg move, don't you? Now would be a good time to try it out. If it's not a damaging move, use Ember as well," Luna suggested.

The Vulpix hurriedly got back to his feet, alert. There was a pause as he tried to get his breath back. His egg move! He'd never used it in battle before, but it was supposed to be a pretty decent move. His legs and tails spread as he adopted an attack stance, ears pointing forward. He faced Skitty and closed his eyes, focusing hard. From him went a purpleish wave that distorted the air around it. Extrasensory was a strong psychic type move. Luna smiled. Of course an intellectual Pokémon like Prometheus would know a psychic type move.

[Rin]

Skitty, glad that her attack had hit, skidded to a halt and turned around. While she had been hurt by the Embers, it seemed that her experience and the fact that she was used to fighting was now giving her the upper hand. While she felt the Ember attacks still stinging her fur, she could see that her Vulpix adversary was worse for the wear, his small chest heaving as he gulped breaths of air at a faster pace than he had before. Then Luna started directing him in something different than a dodge. Egg moves? Oh yes, now that she thought about it, the starter Pokemon usually came packing with some sort of weird, exotic move she didn't usually get to see.

Nervously she shuffled forward a bit, tensing her muscles to dodge. She could see that Prometheus was also preparing to use the attack, his ears swiveled forward and a determined look on his face. Suddenly, he closed his eyes and a strange purple-pink wave emanated from his body, seeming to melt into the very air and disappear. Skitty looked around in confusion, her hair standing on end as she heard a strange whooshing noise as the attack, whatever it was, came rushing at her. As the pink cat decided that she should try to run for it, a powerful psychic force caught her on her side, throwing her several feet. As she tried to get up, her body seemed to shudder in a flinch and she turned away from the Vulpix for a small time, wincing. The attack had certainly done a decent amount of damage - now she was breathing harder too. And worse yet, she realized, she had flinched instead of attacking that turn as well: perhaps a side effect of the mysterious psychic attack that had been used on her.

[Birdybot]

Prometheus had a swagger in his step as he moved a little closer to investigate the damage done to Skitty. He turned back to Luna proudly. "That was pretty good, wasn't it?" he boasted breathlessly. It was evident that the Extrasensory attack had required a good deal of effort from the cub; he nearly stumbled where he stood. Skitty's flinching gave him a moment to regain his balance. He felt somewhat light-headed, but with a moment's respite it cleared swiftly enough.

"Don't get too cocky, it's not over yet," Luna warned. She'd noticed how much effort he'd had to put into his last attack. Not wanting to overwork him, she thought she might avoid using that for the time being and made a mental note to work on it more later. It make sense that a strong attack would be difficult for a young and low-leveled Pokémon to perform. Frequent use of Extrasensory could make him more at risk of taking damage, something it was best to avoid this far into a battle. Until he was more practiced in its use, she thought she should probably save it for the start of battles when he was stronger and more capable.

"He's doing surprisingly well given the vast differences in experience," Lazarus commented. The Espeon-dæmon was sitting watching calmly and thoughtfully. Aside from his occasional observations, he shown too much of his emotions so far this battle.

Luna nodded in agreement. "I know, I'm impressed. Another Ember!" she called the last part out to Prometheus.

It was only too late that Prometheus and Luna realised they should have acted quicker to take full advantage of the flinching. Their dawdling on their success cost them time. At least Prometheus had taken a moment to catch his breath, but they could still have acted quicker. He tired much easier and faster than a more experienced Pokémon at any rate, so the chance for a little break was helpful. Wasting no more time, he sprayed a shower of glowing embers at Skitty, tense and ready to react to her response.