(Reboot) Pokemon: Beyond the Tall Grass

After being bombarded my a mixture of four-legged titans, he was helped up by Loka. "Pleasure, Cerise." He grinned, then faced Loka again. "Uhh. As exciting as that sounds, I'm actually out of ink... How about I meet you there?"

"Whoa, so you are brother and sister!  I was wondering about that!" Decoda exclaimed, hardly surprised by the big reveal.  When she mentioned their 'Uncle' however, that must have been the big family friend that he heavily anticipated.  Not that he was excited about the weapons, but he did enjoy meeting more and more people he could possibly enjoy the company of.  He could easily relate to having someone like that, seeing as he had Melanie, the loving almost-motherly figure he looked up to because his father had worked so closely with her.  He never referred to her with familial terms though, as it might have been weird to call her 'aunt' or 'cousin', but that was just how he personally felt.

Regardless, he redirected his attention to the Pokemon before them.  Cerise had the right idea to take out his 'dex and analyze this strange orange creature with an unusually large mouth.  He did the same, receiving the same results as his friend.  He put his own device back into his pocket, and asked curiously, "That'a a real neat Pokemon you have there!  You traveled all the way from Hoenn?  Catia's from there, if I remember right!  My Mudkip is also of Hoenn origins!"

He took out the Pokeball containing his mudfish Pokemon and spun it on his finger a little bit.  "When you do meet up with us later, you can tell us all about it!  I didn't get too far there, myself, but I'd love to go back sometime and explore!"

"Sounds like a plan. Now, if you'll pardon me." He bow-nodded as he left their presence. Without looking back he spoke up again. "Don't scare them!" He warned Loka.

Despite the reunion, he had many errands to run, so he had to keep it short. Sabrina... Misty... Erika... Hmm. Perhaps Blaine first actually... He traversed Vermillion seeking the market, thinking to himself.

"A'ight..." Loka nodded, watching her brother walk off. "Let's go and get Catia, then head off to see my uncle." She headed off towards the pokemon center, a trail of pokemon following behind her.



"Vermillion, huh? Lets see... Theres a couple places in the actual city that have food other then seafood. I guess we could meet at the Center City Cafe. Sound good to you?"

Catia could then hear what sounded like rapidly fired gunshots.

"OH COME ON!" he shouted. "UMBREON! DARK PULSE!" there were more shots fired, and other people shouting on the other side. "I'll uh... I'll see you then."

The line went dead.

Decoda waved Rizu off with a friendly, "Bye!" even though Rizu had his back turned towards the three.  Before following Loka to find Catia (and Genesis, too - who knows where he went off to once they got into town!), he turned to Cerise and began sharing his opinions on the new guy in town.

"Well, he doesn't seem so bad.  A little creepy, like he knew something we didn't... but it's fine.  I'm certainly curious of his history with Loka, though.  I guess we'll know more later on," he told him calmly, shrugging with his last statement.  "What do you think, Cerise?"

"Hm." Cerise ponders for a moment. Granted, Cerise had only talked to Rizu for less than 30 seconds, but most of his opinions were about the same as Decoda's. Cerise wasn't too sure he could add much to Decoda's assessment. Not right now, anyway. But would it be safe to assume that, giving Loka's shadowed past, that Rizu also had skeletons in his closet? Cerise frowns, a bit annoyed that he was making judgments about someone he barely knew. He'd talk to Rizu a bit later on, and then he'd make a judgment call.

"I can agree with that, so I'm not too sure I can add much! I wonder if his hair is naturally purple, though..." Cerise says as an afterthought. He smiles at Decoda. "But I hope we can be good friends with him!"

Catia blinks at her pokegear when the line went dead before turning to Fox with a rather confused look on her face. "Well um...I guess I've got a date then huh?" She asked it, Fox mewing in response and tackling Fang before proceeding to paw at him to play. Fang gave a playful cry and proceeded to let Fox chase him around the room, making Catia smile and go to collect her newer clothing from her bag. After changing into it she giggled at Fang as he finally got pinned by Fox who was looking very triumphant about the whole thing. "Alright alright that's enough horsing around you two~" She told them before returning them to their pokeballs and grabbing her bag to go and find the others to tell them what she would be up to.

The jingle of the bell sounded as Rizu walked into the town mart. He scanned the building for the clerk desk. Vaguely remembering the general direction, he strolled around to find the service desk near the back end. "Do you sell Pester Balls here?" His gaze appeared intimidating as he awaited the timid cashier's response.

The cashier gulped quietly. "We do not have any in stock... M-may I see your I.D. Sir?"

Rizu's eyes narrowed. He didn't even check... He reached for his wallet. "I'll just buy the supplies then. I'll require enough to construct at least 5 of each version."

The cashier held the I.D. sweating slightly.

"If you value your life, you won't press that button." Rizu looked at the clerk's name tag. "Wyatt is it?"

Wyatt nodded. Fear striking the fiber of his being.

"My supplies then?"

The cashier turned, to open the cabinet behind himself. "W-we don't have Class D..."

"That's fine. Here's you money. Along with some extra for your troubles." Rizu slid a matchbox to the edge of the counter.

Wyatt handed the box of supplies along with Rizu's I.D. over. "Th-thanks..." He sounded unsure.

"You cooperated. I have no reason to harm you." He smirked, looking to the ceiling. "Alright Unia. Let's go." He held a pokeball out, to which a Swablu swooped down to return inside.

Wyatt watched Rizu leave, then spotted the matchbox. "and no one saw anything...?" He scanned around at his empty shop. He sighed, then proceeded to open the matchbox; replaying the situation that just occurred. When did that Pokemon get in here?...

Loka and the group finally reached the Pokemon Center and went up to their respective rooms for a bit to settle in. The dark trainer spotted Catia wearing newer looking clothes.

"Yer lookin'... new?" She spoke, not really sure how to say things. "What's the occasion?"

Sparx, Blitz, and Sai immediately jumped up onto the spare bed, claiming it. Shortly after, there was a mass of fur sleeping on the covers.

Catia smiles at Loka. "I was going to meet up with a friend. He and I were going to go relax and have dinner at the Center City Cafe." She tells her, avoiding the sensitive details for Wes' sake.

"Me too!" Decoda chimed cheerfully.  The two then finally followed Loka and found their way into the Pokemon Center.

Once inside, he stopped off in the main lobby and pulled up both of his wrists.  His Pokegear and Marley's broken Pokegear (which he assumed he could keep since it had the unique legendary within its electronic casing) were both exposed.  But before he began shifting through the menus of his own equipment, he shuffled over to Cerise to show him the broken one.

"Hey, Cerise, wait a second!  I gotta show you something!  Remember when I told you I found Rotom?" he grinned excitedly, happy to share this legendary discovery with his friend.  "Well, Marley - the girl who I preformed with - helped me capture him in this!  In here is the avatar Rotom.  I don't know if you know much more about him than I do, but I wanted to introduce you two!"

He tapped the device on the side, getting it to turn back on from its standby mode. "Hey, Rotom, get up! I want you to meet someone!"

He withheld Rotom's involvement with Cerise's consistent winning back at the Game Corner.  He wanted to focus on the idea of actually having an avatar as a companion or at least a 'travel buddy', anyway.  If Genesis was around, he would show him too. He did want to show Loka and Catia this as well, but he didn't want to disturb them right now.  Hopefully, they would keep things mutual from now on.

"Rotom...?" Cerise asked, furrowing his brows for a moment. After a moment of tought, his eyes lit up as he remembered Decoda's PokeGear message from before. Cerise had meant to ask Decoda about whatever this "Rotom" was, but now he'd find out! As Decoda prodded one of the PokeGears on his wrists, Cerise watched with some curiosity. The PokeGear itself was in pretty bad condition... and it held an avatar? Cerise wasn't sure what to expect-- were all avatars not as dangerous as Entei's gang? Decoda seemed fine, so Cerise assumed Rotom wasn't too deadly, but even so... Speaking of which...

"How... How did you find this Rotom fellow, anyway?"

"Well, I hope ya have fun. The boys and I are gonna go set ourselves up with weaponry." Loka said, sitting on the bed. She adjusted her eyepatch, that had become loose. "Feel free ta join us after your relaxin'."



As Cerise stared at the broken pokegear, it lit up as a face fizzled onto the screen. The eyes blinked see rail times before it spoke.

"I stowed away in his guitar." Rotom's face smiled. "Good afternoon, Sir Decoda. You as well, Sir Cerise."

Catia grinned and gave Loka a quick bow before heading out the door. "Thanks Loka~ I'll see you guys all later okay? Don't wait up for me if I'm late!" She tells her before closing the door behind her and heading on downstairs to leave for the Center City Cafe.

While Decoda still had an inkling of bitterness towards this troublemaker of a legendary, he mustered up a smile upon the simple greeting.

"There we go.  'Bout time!  I'm more glad to see you're still with us.  You could've made me look like a real moron if you didn't show up..." he chuckled, his voice fading out when he recalled that Rotom could easily possess any electronic he wanted (within range).  In that sense, he was grateful to have a powerful ally on their side, even though he wasn't exactly sure what a "Rotom" could do aside from be irritating.

"Anyway, I'm glad you're here!  Any questions for this guy, Cerise?  He's a ghost and electric dual type, so he might be really useful if we need to counteract some enemy Pokemon or other avatars!"

Decoda then quickly looked up to see Catia rush past the two guys in her new outfit, looking excited.  He wondered what was on her schedule that made her so happy?  She needed it though.  After her upset last night, she could use a break.  He was glad for her.

Catia arrived at the cafe, and stood out front for a bit. A... Different looking motorcycle pulled up. The rider moved his shades up to his head as he got off the bike. Espeon and Umbreon hopped out of the side cart, shaking the dirt out of their coats. Wes dusted himself off.

"So...? Dinner?" He raised an eyebrow. "Special occasion or something else."

Catia shook her head, a slightly depressed look coming up on her face. "It....It's just been a hard week for me. I need a way to wind down and relax. I'm sorry to have just sprang this on you like this." She tells him. Fox lets herself out of her pokeball and immediately runs up to Wes before spotting his Espeon and Umbreon. Tilting her head curiously, she walks up to them and mews cutely. Catia smiles at her antics. "Fox has been so full of energy lately. Sorry about that." She tells Wes before walking over and bending down to pet Fox's head lightly, making her close her eyes at the attention and mew in delight.

Umbreon hisses at the small fox, and Espeon places a paw to Umbreon's side, signaling it wasn't worth the fight. Umbreon simply growls and walks to the other side of Wes, and decides to ignore Fox.

"Well she's a baby. They're gonna be full of energy for a while." He opens a to door and ushers the girl and the  pokemon inside. When inside, they grabbed a table and sat down. "So tell me about this hectic week."

Catia sighs and gives him a rather weak smile. "I um....well....It started out alright. I went to my first Open Mic night at Silph Co. in Saffron. I met a musician there that managed to follow along with the only song that I ever wrote myself. His name was Kar and we performed really well together. We went out for ice cream to celebrate after we performed together and...." Her face grows dark, making Fox look up at her sadly from her lap. She could feel her trainer's pain. "That's when everything went wrong. Someone named Arceus showed up and....he killed Kar and nearly killed me. If it wasn't for Entei I....I wouldn't be here now. After that I....well even though I performed with Kar, this Arceus person made him seem like he never existed in the first place. No one even knows who he is anymore." A tear falls from her face as she solemnly looks at her bandaged up hands. "He's the second person I let die in front of me without trying to help or....even saving them from their fate. He died because I wasn't strong enough to save him. It's my own fault he died. I was too scared to say or do anything to stop Arceus from killing him. And now he's after me too." She finished, taking a deep breath and stroking Fox a bit to assure her that she was okay before finally looking back up at Wes. "That about sums up my week." She tells him.

"In his guitar...?" Cerise repeated, still trying to wrap his mind around this new "ally." Had Rotom always been in Decoda's guitar...? Probably not, or at least, Cerise wanted to think it was unlikely. He stares at the PokeGear's screen, a bit surprised when he saw the Rotom's face appear on it. This "Rotom" was pretty similar to Porygon to Cerise, at least in terms of abilities. As Decoda asked if Cerise had any questions, the trainer thought for a moment.

As Catia walked past, he stared at the girl for a moment. She'd seemed really upset for some reason, even though she was smiling... though Cerise wasn't sure why? Didn't she have fun for the past few days? Open Mic Nights, new friends, and new Pokemon-- what was there to be so upset about? He shrugged. It probably was none of his business.

"So... Rotom..." Cerise began to speak slowly, trying to get used to the name. He wanted some more information about the avatars, but he also wanted to be discreet about his questions-- there was still a lot about the avatars that they didn't know! "Where exactly... do you come from?"

Wes tilted his head, trying to process the information. He narrowed his eyes and started looking through his P*DA. He turned it to show Catia what was on the screen.

"This is Arceus, the father of all pokemon, and the creator of worlds. It's said he came from an egg known as the Seed. First, he created Time, Space, and Distortion. Then he created Knowledge, Emotion, and Willpower." He sat back in his chair and went back to looking through his device. "Strange... It doesn't say anything about 'avatars' or anything. Maybe it's a seperate lore I'm missing?" He rubbed the mark on his face and sighed. "I'll try to find out more for you if you'd like."



"I come from my creator; Arceus." Rotom answered. "He created us, then went into a deep rest. Then his daughter, Mew, created the very pokemon that you have with you. The 'legendaries', as you classify us as, are all the children of Arceus, while the 'everyday pokemon' as the children of Mew. It is rare to see an avatar of an 'everyday pokemon, but they exist. It is how humans are born with pokemon-like abilities. Take your dark friend as an example. She comes from a line that originated with an avatar."

Decoda feels a prick on his wrist as Rotom takes a blood sample.

"Processing..."

Catia smiles and nods. "I would appreciate that actually. Thanks." She takes a deep breath and smiles again. "So what've you been up to? Getting into trouble I would think." She asks him, trying to make conversation. She was horrible with small talk but she would definitely try getting a conversation going if it killed her.

Rizu had left the local mart at this point, roaming town. While walking back, he took a glance at his PokeGear to check the time. "Hmm..." Two hours...

He entered the Pokemon Center, making a B-Line to the service desk. "Do you have any rooms left? Just 1."

"Well trouble usually finds me." Wes stated simply. "So it's hard to avoid." He out his P*DA away and took a sip from his glass. "Though I have to admit, it's nice to stop every so often. Unfortunately, that feeling doesn't last long when things catch up to you."


"You're in luck!" The woman at the desk said, looking at Rizu. "There is a room left. 25$, if you would." She said, holding out the key.

"Yeahp." He dug into his pocket, pulling out his wallet. "Here you go." He slid his I.D. back in as well. "Any events today?"