(Reboot) Pokemon: Beyond the Tall Grass

Cerise's Pokedex registrations reminded Decoda to do the same, even reaching around to scan the girls' creatures a bit aways from where they were.  He still listened with full attention to his human friend, understanding where he was coming from, but from a different perspective.

"My first Pokemon was given to me by my dad, so at the time I didn't think I could nickname it since he caught 'im.  Then when I started training at the Gym, I battled a ton of trainers who liked to give their Pokemon really silly names!  I'm sure it meant something to them, but I always found it fun to exchange those names with my fellow trainers. Ah, not that we were making fun of them!" he quickly added, a bit of sweat falling from his brow.  "We just had little else to talk about!"

He put his device away, and stood upright again.  "But now that I have Pokemon I've caught for myself, I think I'm in the same boat as you!  We'll think of something.  I think there's a Name-Rater somewhere in this region, so maybe if we stop by, we can get some suggestions?  Might be interesting!" he smiled, laughing a little at the bubbly-noise the purple creature made.

Then he looked over at the girls.  He sighed heavily, twisting his smile into part of a frown.

"Wanna help me go break them up so we can focus on finding those three weirdos?" he asked, mumbling so they wouldn't hear him.

Catia stops for a second, suddenly getting an idea. Putting Fox into her pokeball for a second, she gets up and reaches for her gloves. "I've got an idea. Since I saw what you can do, it'll only be fair if I show you what I'm capable of. Right?" She says, sliding her gloves on with a smile. Considering her gloves were leather with metal covering the knuckles, her smile was really rather creepy....

Cerise follows Decoda's gaze. Catia had just stood up and was facing Loka, who was looking away. It almost seemed as though Catia was challenging Loka to a battle...? Leaving the two alone probably wasn't the best idea... But to find those three mysterious people, they'd need to be unified as a single unit.

"Yeah, let's break them up." Cerise replies as he begins to walk towards Catia and Loka.

"You THINK you know what I can do." Loka scoffed. " I don't really care if you show me or not. What will it prove?"

She laid back onto the ground, her Houndoom laying it's head in her stomach, and the Mightyena's head on her chest.

Catia shakes her head before hearing Cerise and Decoda behind her. She smiles at them, tapping her gloves together with a metal clinking sound. "Just in time! I was just about to show Loka something. Guess you guys get to see it too." She says before turning around and looking for anything big. Finding a large rock, she grins and walks over to it. Turning her head back to the others, she smiles at them. "Don't blink okay?" She says before turning her attention back to the large rock in front of her. Taking a deep breath, she focuses her energy and concentrates, her aura beginning to shimmer like heat waves before her right hand begins to glow. Then when her power reaches its peak, her eyes suddenly snap open and she gives a loud cry before punching the rock with everything she had.

(OOC: Mega Punch and Focus Energy with Entei's blessing)

The member 'ShadowFantasy' has done the following action : Rolling

'1d100' : 54

The red head sped up his pace once Catia donned her gloves.  He thought they were done with this!  Then she mentioned showing them "something" as they came closer.  His expression grew more worried than frustrated when she approached the rock.

"Girls, calm down!  There's no need to start anything like this!  We need to get going.  Don't you wanna find more about that blessing-guy and his friends?" he asked, his arms out in front of him and palms up, hoping that they wouldn't continue with this contest of power.

"This contest really seems like a waste of time...!" Cerise mutters under his breath as he and Decoda run over to the girls. Couldn't the hatchet just be buried and put to rest already? The boy sighed to himself as he approached the others with Decoda. All of this running had tired Cerise much more than he originally expected...

Loka's reaction time was almost flawless as she sat up, grabbed her pokemon and covered them with her body, to protect them from the flying bits of rock. A blue-tinted shield surrounded the three. 

"...I've tried playin' nice." Loka whispered. "I've dropped COUNTLESS of hints that I wanted to settle the argument, yet ya pressed on. Have ya no humanity?!" The shield dropped and she stood up, facing Catia. "You try to show me things I don' care to see, an' because of that, ya endanger innocents. Do ya think before ya act?"

Blitz and Sai hide behind Decoda and Cerise. Loka sees this and takes several deep breaths. Now wasn't the time nor place for this, so she knelt down and held a hand out to her pokemon.

"...I'm sorry you two..." she whispered, as they slowly approached her. They weren't used to seeing Loka like this since years past. "I didn't mean to frighten ya... forgive me?"

Her two dogs leaped up and licked her face, tails wagging furiously.

Catia sighs and grabs her bag, not looking at any of them. "Now I say this once and I won't say it again so listen closely. I'm a monster. I hate myself and this stupid curse I was given at birth. I'm sorry if I hurt any of you. Things like this always happen around me." She walks ahead of everyone else and leaves for Saffron City, a few tears falling from her face. She didn't deserve friends. Not with what she was.

One of Decoda's eyebrows raised as he witnessed the protection of Loka and her Pokemon companions.  He too, had winced as Mudkip and Chimecho hid behind his body due to the explosive blast from the rock, but reverted back to normal stance quickly.

"You guys, stop!" he yelled, placing one of his hands on his guitar case strap, gripping it tightly.

Then Catia started to cry and left the area.

Decoda's grip released on the case's strap, both of his hands now firmly planted on his face, but barely covering up a furious grimace.  He growled loudly, pushing his head upwards, his knees bending down further and further.  He finally released the grip on his face, sending his arms back and revealing his angry, red face.

"The two of you have done NOTHING but fight since we met!  I'm sick of sitting on stand by while you two try to out-do each other!  So what if you both come from messed up places, WHO CARES?!  We're supposed to be a freakin' team!!  Does no one know what that even IS?!  My ARCEUS, you two should just ignore each other or get over it! Life sucks, so move ON!"

He finished shouting, stomping off in the same direction, his very frightened Pokemon first looking at Cerise, then Loka and finally proceeded to quietly follow their trainer.

"I'm done," he snorted.

While Cerise was quite concerned by the group's rapidly dissolving roster, his mind was initially on other things-- namely that Catia had punched through a freaking rock and Loka had somehow projected a force field. He honestly wasn't too sure how to react to either of these feats. This certainly wasn't normal back home, as far as he knew! He had been far enough away not to be in range of the flying shrapnel, but close enough to see everything unfold.

Loka's outburst.

Catia's lament.

Decoda's rage.

And Cerise didn't know what to do. For a moment, it truly seemed as though the young boy was going to be able to go on a real adventure and solve the mystery of those mysterious people. Maybe they'd explore ancient ruins and see glorious sights. But now... it was all falling apart. He looked down, unsure of what to do...

"Ches!!" Cerise looked over at Chespin, who was blatantly urging his trainer to go after the two absconding team members. People like these four didn't just show up everyday, and Chespin knew it. A broken past shouldn't dictate their futures. Cerise nodded to himself, sure of what had to be done.

"Chespy, go for it." Cerise says softly, using his Chespin's nickname for the first time in a little over a year. The hedgehog nods before unfurling its vine whips to lasso Catia and Decoda and try to keep them in place. Cerise ran forward a bit, within both of their hearing ranges. He looks back, fairly certain that Loka was also in hearing range. Chespin strained a bit to hold both trainers, but it was determined not to let its new friendships fall apart without trying to fix them first.

"Guys, please... just... just at least listen to what I have to say... and then decide if you want to leave."

Catia's face still had tears falling when she felt Chespin's vines wrap around her waist. At first she gasped a bit in surprise, having expected something else. Then she relaxed as she realized that it was just Cerise's Chespin trying to bring her back. She turned around and looked back at the little hedgehog pokemon, rubbing the tears from her eyes before gently putting a hand on Chespin's vines. She smiles at it. "Can you let go of me? I'll stay and listen to Cerise." She asks the little hedgehog pokemon.

Mudkip quickly spun around to find the vines coming straight at its trainer, Chimecho using its telepathy to call out, "Decoda, watch out!"

The red head whipped around, but not before being clasped tightly in the Vine Whip attack.  He tried to move, but couldn't do much, his arms trying to pull at nothing to get away.

"Hey!!  Cerise!!" he shouted back at him.  Then he realized he had something to say.  Maybe he should listen.  He was a pretty good trainer from what he saw, and he knew by the way he interacted with his Pokemon that he didn't mean any harm.

"Go ahead..." he sighed, lowering his eyelids and looking down to the ground.  He felt guilty for his actions now, but tried to hide it.

Everyone was staring at him now, expectantly. Cerise swallowed a breath, trying not to let his nervousness show. If there was one thing he'd learned while volunteering at Day Care, it was that not every Pokemon--or person in this case-- might like you. But, it was better to part on neutral terms rather than on bad ones. Cerise had seen, in the short time that the quartet had been together, that a strong bond of friendship definitely had the potential to exist! He just had to show them what he saw, too! He motioned for Chespin to release Catia and Decoda, clearing his throat.

"Everyone... We've only known each other for a short time, and I know that none of us are obligated to stay here with this group. I also accept that the personalities within this group can turn dangerous really, really quickly. But... I'd at least like to try to help us understand each other... at least a little bit, anyway..." Cerise says as he walks over to Catia, looking her directly in the eyes and gently wiping away tears still forming in her eyes.

"Catia... At first, I admittedly thought you were a bit boorish, and strangely forceful... But some things you've said made me realize... you never really had any friends, did you? You never had kids your own age to talk to or grow up with...? At the Day Care I volunteered at, sometimes the bigger Pokemon would bully smaller ones. Of course, I'd break it up, but those smaller Pokemon sometimes... stunted in terms of their socializing with other Pokemon... They were always so scared or rejection-- scared that meeting someone new would result in being bullied like in the past... If that's the same with you, Catia... then maybe the way you are now... is the only way you know how to act with others? You're... Are you actually scared, deep down, Catia?" He asks, speaking loudly for all to hear.

"I'm not saying that the things she's done in the past are the right things to do, and I'm not trying to excuse her actions. Just... try to help the rest of us understand why she did what she had done. But Catia... you can do amazing things-- I mean, you just freaking ripped through a boulder!! And that's really incredible! Her... her displaying of her abilities is a way of trying to impress you, Loka." He continues as he walks over to Loka.

"As for Loka... She's made it clear that she had skeletons in her closet that she doesn't want to talk about, so I don't think trying to get her to talk about such experiences helps anyone. Loka... I originally was pretty scared of you. But I noticed this morning... Catia was in our room, but you climbed up to get to our windowsill, so... You didn't sleep in your own room? I... I might be wrong for saying this, but I think that you prefer the company of Pokemon to other people? At least, it seems that way to me... You... you kinda have this sad look in your eyes all the time, even though you're intimidating. I know you might not want to talk about the past, and I don't know how hurtful it was for you, but if you don't talk to someone about your pain, then I think it'll just hurt you in the long run. Er... that's actually something my Grams told me once." Cerise continues as he goes in to give Loka a tight hug after a moment's consideration.

"Loka's had a pretty eventful life, from what she's told me. Some good, and some bad. I'm sure she's seen a lot of stuff in her journey, and many things could have come from those things she's seen. But, I think Catia has been trying to make a good impression on Loka in a way that Loka just isn't able to understand... Like... Like how electric-type Pokemon sometimes talk to each other by exchanging electric pulses. Ground-type Pokemon can't understand that kind of communication, and I think something conceptually similar is happening here." He is now walking in Decoda's direction.

"At first, I thought Decoda was a pretty laid-back guy, but he also struck me as being really cool and experienced. And that's still true! But Decoda is also a lot deeper than just that. He's thoughtful, and respectful, and just wants what's best for everyone! And making compromises for the greater good is something Decoda seems to be really good at! But at the same time, sometimes a compromise just can't be reached between groups... And I see that Decoda wants to have us all together and work towards a common goal, and I do to! But maybe we should all learn to just learn to put differences aside and move forward, like he just said." Cerise smiles at Decoda, who he saw as the most neutral figure within the schism of the team.

"Like I said, we all have skeletons... but when I got Professor Oak's letter about going on a journey, I was so excited to go! And when we learned about rogue teams and mysterious people, I was raring to go chase after them and have a grand adventure... But I guess that's just a fantasy... I wanted us to grow and excel as a group, maybe even grow better as people? I wanted to climb every mountain, search every underwater cavern, maybe even fly high enough to touch the stars... But my... my ideal journey and the journey that's happening now-- the journey of truth-- I just... I just don't think my ideal journey and this journey of truth can become a combined reality... Anyway... I'm just rambling now... Go or stay if you all want to. I'll be in the Pokemon Center calling Professor Oak. Sorry for holding you all up and the lasso thing."

Chespin looks at the other trainers and Pokemon sadly before following Cerise as he turned on his heel and walked back to the Center, his voice choking up as he felt his emotions begin to bubble over. His Goomy bubbled sadly as Cerise and Chespin entered the Center and went directly into the bathroom, the trainer splashing water from the sinks onto his face to try to calm himself and his nerves.

Catia gives Cerise a look of sheer surprise when he so calmly comes over and begins to wipe her tears away. As she listens to him talk about her, at first she shifts nervously, feeling a bit over examined. But when he finishes talking about her relationship with Loka, she couldn't deny that he was right. Watching the trainer leave, she takes a deep breath and turns to Loka. "I refuse to apologize to you anymore. But he is right you know. Your words can be daggers to someone without realizing it. He's also right that I never had any real friends growing up. The only people I really liked were my family. And that comment about flirting....I only do reckless things because I made a promise to my father once. I promised him that I wouldn't be scared anymore. That I would take as many chances as I could in life and live with no regrets. I owed him at least that much...." She said, a look of pain in her eyes.

Decoda's eyes couldn't help but start to water when Cerise dolled out the criticisms and compliments, not even trying to hide it.  He was much too immersed in the completely true and in-depth analyses of all the teammates.  All this time, he really had been taking everything into account and observing all these traits and faults.  In that sense, it was admirable.  What else did he know?  What else flew right under their noses?

Decoda then looked up and approached the two girls.  He exhaled, "I'm sorry for yelling, and any other inconveniences I might have caused.  It's funny how other people have point out stuff that you either ignore consciously or don't even realize."

He scratched the back of his head, a little nervous around these two still.

"I'm willing to start over as long as you both are.  I'm going to come along, and if you want to, we should all meet up back here when we're ready.  I have to thank Cerise for snapping us back into reality."

He then proceeded to head into the Center, Chimecho and Mudkip following obediently.

Loka halted her actions as Cerise spoke about her, and completely seized up as Cerise hugged her. She was definitely not used to human contact.

"I ain't askin' you to apologize, and I never did." she started, crossing her arms. She closed her eye. "However, he's right about me. I do prefer the company of pokemon more then humans. It's how I grew up. An' as I grew, I saw how vile humans could truly be. Sucks that I had to be one of 'em..." she sighed. "I don' communicate well with other humans. They have too many emotions, and their words can be interpreted in too many ways." she paused. "But when I'm ready, I'll talk."

She walked around a bit, staring at the ground. She heard someone walk off, and was surprised to find it was Cerise! Loka looks at Catia before chasing after the boy.

"Don' think this gives ya any leverage with me. Dark types don' forgive so easily."

With that, she ran off.

Catia smiles at Loka's words. At the very least, it was some progress. After walking back to the Pokemon center, she sits down in a chair near the entrance considering that she couldn't see Cerise to check on him. Maybe he was in the bathroom or something? Whatever the case, she would see them again eventually.

Cerise sighed before drying his face with paper towels coming from the nearby dispenser. Crumbling up the now damp sheet, he threw it into the nearby trash, motioning to Goomy and Chespin that he was going to leave the bathroom. With the two smaller Pokemon at his side, Cerise took out his Pokegear from his pocket, pressing the contacts button. His finger hovered over the Professor's number for a moment as he thought of the others. He really wanted everyone to stay, but maybe he shouldn't be surprised if they'd all left?

His eyes had been intently focused on the Pokegear at this time, but feeling two tugs on his pants, he saw Chespin and Goomy pointing to different parts of the Center. Catia was sitting in a chair near the entrance, while Loka and Decoda seemed to be making their way to the Center, too. Cerise held a breath, hoping that everyone had come to a positive consensus?

Loka entered the pokemon center and found Cerise. She stopped a few feet from him. 

"I've come to a conclusion." She started. "Your're the voice of reason. An' that brought us to consider our values. We would like to continue this journey. We all got skeletons an' secrets, but they're best stored away until the time is proper." she knelt down, almost as a knight. She didn't look up. "So We'd like to continue traveling with ya.... and thank ya for snappin' us back into reality, as Decoda put it."


She stood back up and awkwardly hugged cerise, but didn't like the contact, so he quickly let go.

Decoda then stepped up after watching Loka bestow a hug onto Cerise.  He wanted to hug the boy as well, really feeling that they had a certain friendship ahead of them and hoping to embrace it.  He refused though, thinking maybe now was a much too awkward of a time, especially after the way that Loka reacted to one.  Instead, he held out an open hand to Cerise, holding it to him horizontally.

"I'm sorry for what's been said and done, but in all honestly, I'm glad it happened.  Not to say that no fight is good, but it's better to get things off our chest now while we're not quite so close.  I know lies and secrets can really mess up strong relationships if they're explored later on, so it's best to get this all off our chests now," he admitted openly and loudly.

In the back of his mind, he remembered what his greatest mentor, Brock, had told him years ago when he first signed on to be a Gym trainer...

Flashback:

"You're certainly, right Cerise.  I want the best for the group; wether we're still friends of it by the end or not, I just want everyone safe and satisfied with their own destinies and outcomes.  Pokemon trainers are free for a reason, not bound by schools and intricate groups.  They have to grow and share experiences with others, be it Pokemon or other trainers, and be taught the things that no school can provide.  I'm glad I quit classes when I did!" he said, his eyes smiling with jovial levity.

"So what do you say, man?  We're all cool?" he asked with a smile, waiting on that handshake.

Cerise smiles at the two, feeling incredibly elated. He could hardly hold his joy from this outcome! Still carrying Goomy in his arms, he squeezed the young dragon a bit in his excitement, to which it cooed with more bubbling sounds. He put away his Pokegear-- Professor Oak could wait for a bit.

"Thank you, Loka! And Decoda, too! I'd love to keep traveling with you guys, too!" After the awkward Loka hug, Cerise noticed Decoda's outstretched hand, and accepted its invitation, pulling in the musician for an over-the-shoulder hug of sorts.

Catia watches Loka and Decoda give their own apology's and giving their own forms of saying that they'd stay traveling with him before getting up herself and slowly walking over to Cerise. She smiles awkwardly at him as she waits for him to finish hugging Decoda before she starts speaking. "So um....that was....a nice speech...." She shakes her head, realizing how stupid she must've been sounding. "No what I meant to say was-! Aw man....I'm not so good at this." She says, looking quite embarrassed with what she was trying to say to him.

Decoda let himself fall into the hug, sighing in relief but retreated after a few moments for Catia's entry and personalized apology.

"You don't have to be good at it, Catia," he smiled.

Chimecho and Mudkip both seemed happy that everyone was turning around now, and for the better.  As a reminded reward, he pulled the little Pokemon treats out of his pocket and tossed what they had chosen to them.  The two immediately tore open the package and quickly finished the poffin cakes, happy and full.  The red head trainer felt it was better to end on a positive note, so he opened up both of their Pokeballs and brought them inside to conserve their energy.

"Ready when you all are~" he winked towards the group.