(Reboot) Pokemon: Beyond the Tall Grass

Catia sighs. "Let me ask you a question. That smoke on the windowsill underneath your hands. Are you doing that? Be honest. I promise I won't stop you from hitting me either if it's what you really want. But I can tell you this much," She says as her eyes begin to glow unnaturally. "I can take a hit. I have many times before and it certainly won't be the last time it happens." She tells the irritated Loka.

As Catia spoke about the kiss-blessing from Entei, Decoda pondered if it was because she was the only one daring enough to approach them, or because it was linked to some sort of twisted destiny.  There could be other reasons too, but it was much too odd for a stranger like that to suddenly affect this random trainer's life.

It didn't make sense, even when he tried to match it up to the rebellious teams that there were stuppoosed to investigate.

Decoda moved aside for the girls to depart and bit his lower lip out of anticipation.  He adjusted his jacket and case on his back, opening the door again for him and Cerise.

"Alright, let's head downstairs if you're ready, Cerise," he waved onward and left the room to go downstairs.  "Let the day begin."

Loka turned around quickly, her hand erupting into flames.

"SO WHAT IF I AM?! 'AN WHAT DO YOU CARE?" She shouted, more angry then upset. "While yer off chasin' tail and flirtin' up every guy you see, I actually have somethin' important to search for! I actually have reasons for travelin' with y'all! I CAN'T FALL IN LOVE LIKE YOU!" She violently pushes past Catia, throws open the door, and slams it behind her.

As she went down the hall, the flames around her hands diminished, to not draw more attention to herself then her shouting already did. Loka didn't care where she went, but as she walked, she slammed into Decoda.

The push was forceful, but his body could take it forcing him to whip around instantly.  His face, renewed with fear and shock, stared into Loka's red hot fiery gaze.  Something happened, but he didn't know where to start asking.

"Loka?!  Loka, are you okay?" he asked with a concerned tone, well aware that this was the most pissed off he'd ever seen her as of now.  He was nervous about it, but put a hand on her shoulder to help steady her.  "What's going on?"

'Remember Decoda, if a girl ever says she's "fine" when you ask her what's wrong, she's not.  Your mother got really upset when I just brushed that off back when were just dating.  I figured it out, but it took years!  I think you should know ahead of time, just to be safe.'  His father's words rung deep in his head.  As quirky and easily excited as the man was, he at least knew some great advice to share.

Even though her skin was light and pale, her body heat was radiating like wildfire.  Was she in a fight with Catia?!  But they looked like they were getting along so well yesterday...

Catia lets out a cry when Loka shoved her, her flaming hand singing her shoulder but not doing too much damage. After hearing the door slam behind her, Catia doesn't chase her. Instead, she lets her power fade from her eyes, not finding it useful to keep it up any longer. She knew that Loka was in pain....from what she had no idea. And as much as she wanted to find out, she also wanted to respect her hot-tempered friends privacy. For the first time in a long time, she truly didn't know what to do anymore. Flinching after rubbing the mark on her shoulder, she doesn't move from her spot on the bed. It was her fault that Loka had gotten mad. She should at least have the decency to avoid her for the time being and let her calm down. Lying down onto her bed, she curls up and opens her palm, making it glow as tears begin to cloud her eyes. Why was she given so much strength? It had never been a blessing for her. Always a curse.

Cerise nods, hurrying to follow Decoda outside, nearly bumping into the older boy as he rounded the corner. He saw that Decoda was now face-to-face with Loka, who seemed quite livid. What exactly was going on here...?

Loka looked up at who she ran into; Decoda. Her body temperature was still quite high, so Decoda would have to let go of her very soon. She stared at him blankly, her face becoming void of emotion. Heat still radiated from her and she fell to her knees. There were too many feelings and thoughts zipping through her mind. She shakily reached up and grabbed the hem on Decoda's jacket, but her body refused to move any further. She couldn't speak, either. After about two minutes, she pulled herself back up to her feet.

"...Sorry..." she said, tunring to face away from them and starting to walk dont the hall. "Didn't mean to scare ya like that."

He let go once she fell, looking at his now bright red hand - it hurt too, almost like he held it over an active stove.  He quickly became frustrated, knowing she wouldn't explain what happened easily.  Then she apologized, which was surprising to him.  He let her go without question so she could walk away in peace, but then turned around to Cerise, who had seen everything.

"Something's not right here," he whispered to him, showing him his singed hand.  "I doubt she killed Catia, but I know something bad happened between them.  One of us should after Loka and watch her, make sure she doesn't do anything to draw attention, and the other should check upstairs in case there was a battle.  Where do you wanna go?"

He left Cerise this option because he knew he could trust him.  Mudkip and Chimecho both stared off in Loka's direction, they psychic-type certainly not liking her powerful and angry aura very much.  The water type tapped on its trainer's leg, letting him know it could help soothe the burn.  When Decoda knelt down a little to show Mudkip his hand, the Pokemon began to squirt cool and refreshing water at it, making it feel better already.

"Thanks, Mudkip," he smiled lightly, but then focused back on the situation.

"...I'll go after Loka." Cerise says after a moment, eyes following the direction Loka had gone. He'd need to be tactful here, and he hoped he wouldn't say the wrong thing. He nodded to himself before looking up at Decoda.

"Good luck!" Cerise says to the musician before heading after Loka, his Chespin holding onto his shoulder as he runs after the fiery girl. She had to be nearby, right?

Loka made her way through the lobby of the now less crowded Pokemon Center. She slowed her pace as she walked through the City, her two dogs now joining at her side. She had cooled off a bit more, making her way towards the gate leading to route 7 and Saffron City. Loka opened her pokegear and sent a small message to the others.

"I'll be waiting at Route 7's gate. Do what you need to first, I'm patient."

Decoda nodded to Cerise before darting back upstairs, his Pokemon following behind.  He then stopped at the doorway before the girls' room, getting the message from his pocketed Pokegear.  He opened it first, hoping it wasn't more bad news, but thankfully, it was just Loka, telling them where she was.  He sighed in relief to know she at least had calmed enough to respond, but then he put the device away and returned to face the door.  Shut.  Of course.

He started to knock, tapping the door with his knuckles three times.  "Hey, Catia?  You in here?  It's me," he said, braving what might come out of this.  She would either be furious, upset or worse... He waited a few moments, enough time for her to get up and open the door, if she wanted too.

"Are you alright in there?" he asked softly.

Catia was still teary eyed when she heard Decoda knocking on her door. Not wanting to look weak or sad in front of him, she quickly wipes her few tears away and sits up before calling back to him. "Y-yes! I'm fine. You can come in if you want, I'm just finishing getting ready to go." She tells him, going to grab her bag quickly.

Cerise, now in front of the Pokemon Center, looks down at his Pokegear as it rang out in vibrant sounds. Reading Loka's message, his worry dissipated somewhat... but he still wanted to check in on her. But maybe it would also be worth it to let Loka be alone for a while?

"Idiot!" He muttered under his breath, annoyed that he had even considered the thought. Nobody deserved to be alone during times of stress. The trainer ran towards the Route 7 gate, sweating profusely from his long run around Celadon City. He slowly came to a stop a few yards from the gate, trying to catch his breath. Chespin looked around nearby, seeing Loka not too far away with her two dog Pokemon. He tugged at Cerise's pants, pointing at the Houndoom-themed girl.

Mudkip and Chimecho wait outside the room by the door as Decoda turned the knob and opened the door.

"I just wanted to make sure you were alright.  Loka's gone ahead, but we can still get the errands done before we move on.  Cerise is making sure she doesn't do anything rash," he said, making sure that everything was accounted for.  Then he spotted the burn marks on the window sill.  A faint smell of smoke lingered in the air.

"Are you sure you're okay?  I don't want to leave without making sure we're all in travel-condition," he asked as he turned back to her. "I won't press you for what happened. I just need to know you're safe for now. We're all a team, right?"

Asking for trust was hard to do this early in this team's relationship. Nobody knew anything about each other, but Decoda believed they would learn more as time went on. How can you start to trust anyone when you're always alone?

Loka turned her head slightly, hearing Cerise approach. She smiled lightly, her rage back under control. Intense heat no longer radiated off of her. Loka sighed and turned to face the male completely.

"...Sorry ya had to see that." she apologized. "If I scared ya, or set a bad impression, I'll try to make it up."

The curious thing about Loka was even though her hands had been ablaze, her clothing didn't show any signs of burning.

Catia sighs and looks at Decoda with a half-smile. "I'm okay. I've been hurt worse than just a burn on my shoulder. Just let me send a quick message and we can get going okay?" She tells him, looking at Loka's pokegear message and going to reply.

I'm sorry about what I said. I didn't mean to upset you, really I didn't. I just want to know more about you. And you're absolutely right that I'm scared. Not of you, but of what you could do. I wish you would let me show you that you're not alone. I never wanted my power and at one time, I even tried to....nevermind. I'm going to go and shop with Decoda for a while. I'll tell you more about why I'm like this when we meet again. Better you all know rather than just you.

Catia

Satisfied with her message to Loka, Catia clicks the send button and turns back to Decoda, bag in hand and a smile on her face despite her scorched shoulder. "Okay, I'm ready now. Let's get going so that we don't keep Loka waiting." She tells him, going to take his hand and lead him downstairs for their shopping trip.

Loka checked the time on her pokegear as Catia's message popped up. She read over it and scowled slightly. She opened up her holo-tap feature (a feature that opens a holographic keyboard for typing messages. You guys will get this update soon) and typed a small reply.

I'm not one you should be learning about. I've done things that you couldn't imagine, and only now am I paying for them.


-Loka

He silently nods and returns the smile after she finishes the message, and the duo and their Pokemon companions leave the building, heading in the direction of the Department Store.

Once they're inside the massive structure, already filled with people collecting supplies for themselves and Pokemon and police scouring for clues, Decoda turns to Catia.

"I want to ask more about what that one guy said to you, the one who gave you the blessing or whatever it was, but this might not be the place for it. Maybe on the other floors the crowd won't be so big," he said, gesturing to the elevator with his head.

"But it all depends on where the clothes and things you're looking for, are. I've never been in this store before, honestly, so I'm no real help," he confessed. "I can carry stuff if you need me to, though."

Catia smiles and nods to Decoda's suggestion before getting Loka's message. She reads it and sighs before typing her reply.

Have you tried jumping off a small cliff onto sharp rocks just to escape from having powers you've never wanted? I know more about suffering than you could ever think Loka. Suffering is always what made me stronger. My late father taught me that.

She finishes and hits send before turning back to Decoda. "Let's start with food for Fox then. It's probably a good idea that I get a decent supply of it. Fox goes through it like crazy." She says before going back to the same floor that she had bought the food from. Looking around, she looks at the selections that the store offered.

(OOC: now that I think about it, how many different varieties of Pokemon food are there in the store for Fox?)

"No, no, it's fine... I just, uh... wanted to make sure you were okay..." His voice drifts off a bit at the end as Cerise notices Loka scowl at her Pokegear. He was a bit confused by Loka, though... Although he could only barely see over Decoda at the time, it certainly had seemed like there had been something burning on Loka but her clothes were the same as they'd always been. Maybe Cerise had imagined it?

(think about it this way; You know how you can make all the different poffins? and get combination flavors? The selection in like that. Large and made to fit the preferred tastes of pokemon.)

"I'm fine, thanks." she looked up at Cerise and nodded. "Sooo... Chespin, huh? Howdya meet?"


As she tried to strike up a conversation, she typed out her reply to Catia. 


Well when you blow up buildings and almost get crushed to death rescuing a friend in order to redeem yourself for mistakes in the past, THEN maybe I'll pity you. But don't you DARE compare your little trifles to mine. Understood?


Even though they were just words in a message, her anger rang through them.

(OOC: Ooh nice. Okay then thanks for telling me. ^^)

Picking out about three different kinds in addition to the usual Oran berry flavor, she looks around and grabs a hand basket before setting them inside. She had grabbed a spicy, bitter and sweet flavor in addition to the Oran berry kind. Grabbing some fresh water too, she turns back to Decoda and smiles. "Well that should be good for food for Fox for a while." She tells him just as her pokegear rang again. After reading her message, a pained look comes into her eyes as she responds.

I refuse to compare our suffering. But later, maybe we can share stories. Is that alright with you?

She types back before heading to look at clothing.

"Oh! He was a birthday gift from my folks on my dad's side in Kalos. I've been raising Chespin since he was an egg!" He says with a smile as he fondly recounts those memories. "How about you and your Pokemon?"

Decoda pulls Mudkip away from nearly drooling all over the packaged goods.  It really wanted some treats, even though the cookie should have been enough for now.  Chimecho was a little more reserved, but looked on with desire all the same.

"I should not be hungry... but it looks tasty~" the little red and white Pokemon said to her friend.

The trainer rolled his eyes.  "You really want one?  Fine.  Pick one out, each," he sighed, as he put his hands on his hips as his Pokemon scrambled for one package of poffin goodies from the one section of shelves.  He felt his gear in his pocket, remembering he had enough to pay for these treats.

"Only one, you hungry little monsters!" he chuckled.  Then he looked over at Catia, who was on her Pokegear.  Was she messaging Loka?  Maybe it was good, maybe it was bad, but he didn't want to keep tensions too high between them.

"Hey, maybe you should put that away for now.  We'll meet up with her soon, so don't worry about apologizing right now or whatever you're doing.  Let's finish up in the clothes section and head out," he said, a little nervously.  "Just give it time."

They then found the clothes, Decoda awkwardly weaving between the racks with his guitar case on his back.

Catia sighs and nods. "True. But now I need another outfit because Entei and that heat that came from him." She tells him with a wink before heading into the pants section and picking out a bright white T-Shirt and a pair of tan slacks. Handing her hand basket to Decoda, she goes over to the dressing room and turns back to him. "No peeking now!" She tells him with a mischievous wink before closing the curtains behind her and starting to try on the clothing she had gotten. Halfway through changing her shirt, she pauses. "Decoda....if I were to do that show with you tonight....do you think I should pick out something nice to wear?" She asks him, genuinely curious about his opinion.