(Reboot) Pokemon: Beyond the Tall Grass

Decoda laughed a little, glad she was back to the happy.  

"I never said anything about swimming!  The water might be too cold at this time of year, and I don't even have a suit on me," he waved his hand up and down with his wrist. "I'm pretty sure none of us do, except maybe Cerise because he's prepared for lots of things, haha!"

"But don't you want to show your Pokemon the ocean?  What if Fox, Poochy and Fang all like the water?  Type effective or not, it's good to know more than just what they like to eat. For all I know, Mudkip might hate the ocean, so I'd be interested to see his and Chimecho's reaction to it.  It will be more fun than you think," he nodded and took out both his Pokeballs and examined them closely for any scratches or marks. "Good research material too, if you think about it."

Then he took the balls away from his face and spoke again. "And one more thing... I'm pretty curious - and I'll be the others are too - about what exactly Arceus said to you.  How you passed the test, I mean," he gestured to the Gym to signify the others might be curious too.  He wondered how they were doing in there and if they finally picked out what they wanted. "If it's too personal, I won't push, but it would be good to know if you saw anything that could help us out for the future."

Catia sighs when he hears that Decoda was curious about what Arceus had said to her. She had figured that that was what they would be asking of her. Didn't they have something else they would want to talk about with her? "I suppose it would be okay to talk about a few thing's that he told me. But a couple of thing's I'd like to keep to myself if that's alright. Some thing's....you just don't want to know." She told him, a foreboding tone in her voice. "Anyway, your idea sounds like a lot of fun. I could take out my swimsuit and play in the sand with Fox, Poochy and Fang for a while. I bet they'd like that." She said happily. If she had had a fox tail to go with her ears, it'd be wagging right now out of excitement. Regardless of her inability to swim, playing in the sand was always fun.

Loka pulled the staff off her back and showed it to Cerise. It was about 7 ft in length and completely hollow, ends open. There were a hole every foot of the staff. She took a couple steps back and spun it about before taking a stance.

"Check this out." Loka said as she slid her hand to cover one of the holes. Flames licked out of the open ends before shooting out in a jet. She now spun this flaming staff about, making sure she was a good distance from hitting anything. "Some weapons are set up to channel abilities an' energy through. Othas are normal weapons, but can be modified to do so." She placed a hand on Cerise's shoulder and smiled. "Lets go an' meet with the others." 

Loka thanked Surge for the weapons, saying she would pay him back eventually, then exited the Gym, shortly followed by Rizu.

Surge looked at Cerise, who was now the last to go, and spoke to him.

"Those two have been strange since they were kids. They make great allies, but they can be Hell to pay if they become your enemy. So its a good thing your with them! Loka keeps her word, no matter what. So you can trust her with your life." He pat Cerise roughly on the back then walked off.

As Loka spun her flaming staff, Cerise stared at her in awe. Her movements were precise and skillful, and Cerise smiled in glee as he watched with keen interest. As Loka finished her movements and left with Rizu, Cerise leaned up from against the wall in thought. He wondered what kind of modifications he could get for his shield.

After Surge spoke to him, Cerise stared at the Chicole siblings in thought before jogging a bit to catch up to them. Maybe now would be a good chance to talk about what Rotom had told him? "Hey, so um... about the avatar stuff... Rotom told Decoda and me about some of that stuff before all of that stuff with Zapdos happened. I'm not sure if it would be relevant to tell you both about now or later?"

"Alright, alright.  We won't push you for those unsharable details," Decoda exhaled and held up his palms towards her reassuringly.  "Or at least I won't - I can let the others know when they get here, though."

He then grabbed his chin, thoughtfully, looking at the ground and thinking about what he would wear to the beach.  If Catia already had a bathing suit, then he would have to get something for himself.  It shouldn't take long, but should he go with anyone else in case they needed one as well?  He finally decided to wait for the remaining three in the team, but now there was the subject of where to sit on the beach, how many towels or umbrellas they would need to rent or buy...

"Why don't you head over to the beach now and pick out a good spot for everyone?  I'll catch up once the others know where we are, and you can send me a message on your gear once you found a spot!" he suggested to Catia, knowing she would pick the best and cleanest of spots on the sand to play with her Pokemon.

Loka and Rizu looked at each other, then looked back at Cerise and nodded. They slowed their pace so they could listen to him.

"What ya need ta tell us?" Loka asked, watching Rizu flip a butterfly knife around in his hands. 

"Better be important..." Rizu muttered, only to be hit upside the head. The knife fell from his hand and narrowly missed going through his foot. "Watch it!"

"Maybe ya should be polite once an' a while..." Loka growled, focusing back on Cerise. "If it's about the avatars, then its gonna be important."

Catia grinned and nodded quickly.  "Right!  I'll get my swimsuit on and find the best spot I can for us!"  She called after Decoda excitedly.  Soon as he had turned away, she bolted to the Pokemon center to pick up her swimsuit that she had packed.  Once she had made it into the room, she shut the door behind her and let everyone out of their pokeballs.  All three of inmediately started to run around and play with each other while Catia looked on and smiled.  "Play nice you three!  I'm going to get changed!"  She told them before heading into the bathroom and shedding her other clothes.  Her swimsuit was a burnt orange one piece with goldenrod colored trimming around her neckline, arm and leg holes in the suit. There's also a diamond shaped bare patch over her stomach area with the same color trimming.

Upon exiting the bathroom she grabbed her bag and returned everyone to their pokeballs before rushing off to the beach.

"Rotom said that... there are people with ancestors who are avatars and are born as... I think the term was "Ascended?" But apparently, Decoda's an Ascended through birthright, and comes from an Audino avatar. Rotom also hinted that you were similar, Loka. By extension, you would be too, Rizu. He said something about a dark-type, but I'm not sure of the specifics." Cerise says in a low voice as the trio kept walking.

"At some point in the past, you had an avatar ancestor that was a dark-type," Cerise paraphrases himself to get to the point as he catches Rizu's look. A sudden thought crosses his mind, and he turns to the others. "And I was just wondering... would Arceus have to judge people who are Ascended by birth, too?"

Loka nodded to Cerise's words, scratching the back of her head. So there was a possibility that her and Rizu were Ascended? Well, it made sense given their abilities. So... would Arceus come after them? She balled her fists and sighed, looking up.

"If he does come after us..." she looked at Cerise. "I'll be ready. I won't let anything happen to us." She sighed again. "Well, lets go meet back up with Decoda." 

With that, she and Rizu headed up to meet up with the musician.

Tossing his Pokeballs into the air, Decoda was leaning up against the stone wall that bordered the sidewalk when he saw Loka, Rizu and Cerise coming towards him.  He nearly dropped the balls as he got up from the wall and faced them, but caught them just before they hit the ground.  He smiled lightly and shrugged.

"So, ah, how'd it go?  Everything seems to be better on this end, I hope," he said sheepishly.  "I suggested something to help calm everybody's nerves... What do you all think of a bonfire on the beach this evening?"

He put the Pokeballs away and adjusted his guitar case and jacket, almost like he was nervous about the whole thing.

Loka pondered for a bit then looked at Rizu who simply rolled his eyes. Beach fires and bonding really wasn't his thing. He would probably just end up slipping away from the group by the end of the night to go do his own thing.

"A bonfire on the beach...? I don' see why we can't relax a lil' bit. These past few days have been pretty eventful." Loka stated, agreeing to the idea.

"Fine... But don't expect me to hold your hands and sing 'Kumbaya'." Rizu mumbled, not really liking the idea, but would probably be forced to go even if he refused. 

"Then it's settled! We'll be relaxin' an' campin' beachside tonight!"

For a fraction of a second, and anyone who looked could see it; a genuine smile on Loka's face.

He stared at Loka for a moment, twiddling his thumbs in worry. He truly hoped Loka and Rizu would be alright... Cerise followed the duo, nodding at Decoda's suggestion as he caught up. As he thought it over, he couldn't help but smile a bit at the thought. "I think I'm cool with that. We've been going through... a lot for the past few days, as Loka said. Taking some time off could be good, I think!"

Despite Rizu's reaction, Decoda was happy to hear that they all agreed to his suggestion.  His eyes lit up with joy and his smile broadened, especially upon just barely picking up Loka's flash of a smile.  Now all they had to do was get ready.  He checked his Pokegear for the time, and noted it would be a few hours before sunset.  That was plenty of time to find that perfect spot, get the stones and wood for the fire, grab some snacks and of course, their suits.

"Great!  Don't worry, Rizu, you can just stick around for the Ice Cream - Vermillion has some of the best in all of Kanto, at least in my opinion," he said with a light laugh.  He then gestured a thumb over his shoulder towards the town.  "I have to buy a bathing suit since I didn't pack one, and I mind as well pick up some towels too.  Did you guys pack a suit or anything, or do you wanna come with me?"

Then he remembered something VERY important to having the bonfire.  "Loka, we need your fire to start it, unless you have an easier way of getting a nice big flame!  We also need someone to grab the snacks," he quickly added, holding up his open palm towards Loka and Rizu, spreading his fingers apart.  "Rizu, do you think you can do that for us?"

((in order to keep things going, we've created a substitute for Catia because Catia is not our character and we don't feel right using her to keep the plot going. Jo will be the name of the replacement until the real Catia returns. If Catia does not return, Jo will take the permanent slot on the team.))

Rizu reluctantly agreed to go off and gather food and snacks for this little bonding experience. He didn't have an swimsuit either, but oh well. He hated wearing them, and he hated being wet. So despite any complaining from the group that may occur, he wasn't wearing a swimsuit. 

"Yeah, I go an' start yer fire. Lets hope Jo found a decent spot for us." she started to head off towards the beach to find their friend. "An' yeah, I got a swimsuit. I'll change in the small houses they go on the beach."

With that she headed off. It was easy for her to find their friend, as her Hawlucha ran up to Loka and guided her to the spot. 

"Heyy!" Jo called out, waving. She had been setting up a ring for the campfire out of some rocks she found scattered everywhere. Her buneary and cyndaquil were helping out by carrying wood over. "You ready to light this up?"

"I suggest ya stand back."

Jo and her pokemon jumped back and watched as Loka took a breath and breathed fire onto the stacked wood. A bonfire roared to life and Loka smirked in satisfaction.

"A'ight now I'm gonna go an' change quick. Watch the fire."

Jo nodded as Loka headed off, waiting for the others to return.

Cerise couldn't help but smile as Rizu trudging away. Despite his initial impressions, Rizu seemed quite interesting in a funny sort of way. He rummaged around in his bag for a moment before pulling out his swimsuit. He hadn't expected to use it at all during the journey, but maybe now he'd actually get the chance to? The young trainer headed towards the Pokemon Center to change into the swimwear, looking forward to getting to know the others a bit better!

After putting on his swimwear and throwing a towel over his shoulder, he headed back into the rooms that the group was staying in for the night. On Cerise's bed lay Chespin with the Pawniard Egg, sound asleep. Cerise gently sat on the bed, rubbing Chespin behind its ears for a moment as it slowly yawned and blinked its eyes.

"Chespy, we're gonna head out to the beach now, if you wanna come?" Cerise said as he stood up. The hedgehog nearly immediately jumped up, eyes sparkling with delight at the prospect. "Haha, alright, alright! Thanks for watching over the egg for me, buddy!"

As the trainer spoke, he leaned over to the egg carrier, picking it up as he and Chespin headed back outside. As they walked back towards the beach, Cerise nudged Goomy's Pokeball, releasing the small dragon to walk alongside them. Upon seeing their destination, Goomy squealed a bubbly cry before racing Chespin to the beach. Cerise laughed before jogging a bit to keep up with them.

As everyone departed to get ready, Decoda hurried off to the store, hoping they would have swimsuits on constant supply.  Once he arrived, he looked quickly through what was left of the pile for his size, then choosing from the colors in that size range.  He found a nice set of trunks; they were loose, smooth in texture, and blue and black with string ties in the front.  He checked the pair out along with three large towels, costing him around 200 pokedollars.

He left the mart with a smile, smiling even brighter as he saw Cerise running with his Pokemon on the other side of the road and heading towards the beach.

"This is gonna be great," he confidently said to himself as he finally reached the PokeCenter.  He went upstairs, deposited most of his things and proceeded to change.  From inside its Pokeball, Mudkip heard the joyful laughter coming from Cerise and his Pokemon.  Releasing itself onto Decoda's bed from the belt it was hooked onto, it tapped Chimecho's Pokeball before yipping over to the window.  The psychic type yawned and wriggled around in the air to stretch as it followed Mudkip to get a glimpse of Vermillion Beach in the distance.  Decoda returned from changing to find both his Pokemon preoccupied with the view, so he crouched down behind them and outstretched his arms.  With one scoop and playful cackle, he enveloped the two startled Pokemon in his arms and swung them around.

Chimecho couldn't help but enjoy herself, while Mudkip became a little dizzy after the first few spins. "Decoda! Will we go to the sandy place now?" she spoke telepathically as he stopped and put them on his bed.

"I don't see why not. As long as you help me carry the towels down," he bartered as he stuffed their pokeballs into the shorts' pockets. He also attached Rotom inside the damaged gear to his wrist, and grabbed one of the large towels. With a towl draped over Chimecho's shoulders and Mudkip holding the last one on its back, he three headed out to visit the others. Decoda decided not to bring his guitar in case it got stolen or wet, even though a campire song would be nice. He could always go back and get it again if he needed it.

Following the direction he saw Cerise take off to, he found the friendly trainer and his Pokemon already on the sand. In the distance, he could see Jo and her Pokemon, Rizu and Loka presumably were getting changed or the snacks.

"Glad I could find you guys!" he shouted happily to them, finishing the trek over.

Jo and now Loka were sitting at the brightly burning fire. Both girls looked up and waved to Decoda as he approached.

"Cerise on his way?" Loka asked, casting her gaze around the beach in the evening light. On cue, he and his pokemon came running up. "There ya are!"

Loka's pokemon had run off and were currently chasing the waves and wrestling. Jo's had begun to build a sand castle. Her Hawlucha motioned for the male trainers' pokemon to join them.

"Ahh~" Jo yawned as she stretched out, enjoying the warmth of the fire. As she looked up, something caught her eye; a shooting star! A second streaked across the now starry sky, soon followed by an entire meteor shower. "Whoa! I've never seen on of these before!"

Loka looked up as well, then closed her eye. She could feel the cool sea breeze on her face, as well as the oohing and aahing from her teammates. Her pokemon running up and down the shoreline. Rizu grumbling as he finally returned with an assortment of drinks and snacks.

Rotom's pokegear flickered to life as he greeted the party. He then tuned himself to pick up a radiostation to provide some music for the night.

"I do believe that music is needed to keep a situation like this from becoming awkward." He stated. 


"....isten in for the guitar solo;" a guitar solo played over the radio. "and call in! be the 10th caller and win a party pack of VIP passes to see Mello D. Etta live in concert out in th Johto region!"

Chimecho and Mudkip both began to frolic about when they saw the shooting star that Jo pointed out.  It was gorgeous, and it instantly halted the two in their tracks.  

"It's pretty!  I like shooting stars!" the psychic type joyfully said.

"Kiiiip..." Mudkip agreed, entranced.  Then it looked to its trainer to see if he saw the phenomenon, too.  It didn't appear so, as he was heavily distracted with the fire, putting out the towels and helping Rizu pass out snacks once he got close enough.

"Here, I'll help!" he said to Rizu, taking some of the things from his hands and giving them to Cerise, Jo, and Loka.  Once he had his own subsistence and began to consume it, Rotom turned on the Pokegear.

It was only a matter of seconds before Decoda started choking on his food at the mention of Mello D. Etta, the famous singer, on the radio.  After beating his chest to get the coughing out, he yelled.

"OH, WOW, NO WAY!!  MELLO D. ETTA?!" Decoda screeched, clasping one palm over his mouth and blushing lightly.  He didn't mean to let that out.  He did mean to scream it, either.  He didn't want anyone to know how much he loved this singer.

Too late.  He had to cover it up, but part of him didn't want to.  Why should he hide his love for this Unova singer's music?  What benefit was that?  The only benefit now was for everyone in the party to call that number so he could win those VIP passes!  Johto was the next region over, too, it wasn't that far!  He had to win!

"Ahahah... I-I-I'm sorry guys, I just really like the artist and I got a little too excited.  There's no shame in that, righ- oh who am I kidding, Rotom, CALL THE NUMBER!" the musician finished as he flicked open his real gear to call the number and have double the chances of success.

Rotom flinched at Decoda's fangasming and screeching, and immediately started to dial. Loka scoffed and turned away from the group, not wanting any part of this behavior. However, as soon as she turned away, she too called in. All three lines rung while the rest of the party sat in silence, waiting to hear the fail or success.

"Sorry, you're caller 8!" Loka's line spoke out. Click. She turned back to the group, face a bit red. Rizu smirked and laughed at finding out his sister was a closet fan of the Unovian musician.

"Sorry, you're caller 9!" Rotom's line. Click. He zapped himself out of the pokegear and onto the sand next to decoda, shaking his head in apology.

"Hello! Congratulations! You're out 10th caller! Who do we owe the pleasure of handing the VIP party pack to?" Decoda's line. Loka stared at him, doing the best she could to hide the jealousy on her face.

As Jo pointed out the shooting star, Cerise looked up to stare at it, his eyes wide with glee as he held the egg a bit tightly. With Chespin and Goomy now building a sandcastle nearby, Cerise slowly sat on his knees to look up at the sky, arms wrapped around his egg protectively. His Grams had once told him that wishes made on shooting stars were certain to come true. He closed his eyes for a moment, the sounds of his friends and Pokemon all together and happy all around him. Maybe, for one day, they didn't have to worry about immediate danger or deities out to kill them. Just to live like this, in bliss... Cerise wished that this moment could last forever.

His eyes snapped open as Decoda squealed in glee at hearing Mello D. Etta's name. It was a bit surprising, actually, to know that Decoda was interested in Mello's music. Although Mello was fairly well-known, it wasn't as though every single person listened to the musician's music, after all. Cerise knew his mom was a fan of Mello, so he had some second-hand knowledge of the artist, enough to appreciate the music. As Decoda successfully snagged the VIP tickets to the concert, Cerise slowly set down the egg by his side to clap for his friend. If it was important to his friends, then it was important to Cerise!

"Congrats, Decoda!"

Laughter erupted from the excited teenager as the radio host told him he had won.

"Decoda Capella!  That's me!" he exclaimed to the person on the other line.  How exciting!  He hadn't won anything off the radio before, but he was on the Johto Radio twice with two of his songs, but he was happy enough to have his first win be tickets to Mello D. Etta's concert!  He was so happy he couldn't hold himself to his seat, glancing up at his friends who seemed happy for him, but Loka's expression was much more different than the others.  He couldn't quite figure out what her problem was, or if she had one, but he brushed it off almost instantly.  He was much too caught up in the thrill of his prize anyway.

Chimecho and Mudkip were confused why Decoda was so excited, but instead of standing around wondering why, they found interest in hanging out with the other Pokemon. Mudkip also found himself not too fond with the ocean water, but appreciated the cool wetness nonetheless.

(OOC: I'm back and taking Jo's spot)

Catia watched and smiled as Poochy and Fang sprang out of their pokeballs and started to play in the waves. She laughed as one wave in particular suddenly sprang up and over Fang and drenched him, making him cry out in surprise and scamper off towards Catia, whimpering a bit. She reached into her bag and pulled out a towel. "Alright c'mere you!" She told the rat pokemon, Fang eagerly scampering over to Catia and burying himself into her pure white towel. Catia smiled and picked him up into her lap before roughly but playfully rubbing his fur all over to dry him off. Once she was done a white and purple ball of puffed out fur hopped out of her lap and started to shake himself dry. Poochy came over shortly after Fang had finished grooming his fur back to the way he wanted it and barked at Catia happily before vigorously shaking himself. The result was a spray of water droplets all over Fang, Catia and (to her delight) Fox as well as anyone unfortunate enough to be nearby when he shook himself.

Catia frowned at Poochy as Fox started mewing at Catia from getting all wet, prompting her to first grab Poochy and dry him off before gently picking up Fox into her arms and carefully drying her fur off. Fox mewed her thanks and snuggled back up into Catia's lap before Fang and Poochy both eagerly joined her by lying up against her thighs and relaxing. She looked up when she spotted the shooting stars and smiled at them, closing her own eyes to make herself a wish. Once she finished she looked down to find a mound of separate colors of fur lying in her lap and beside her legs, making her smile.

She heard Decoda win the radio contest and smiled at him, happy that he had won something nice. Her eyes wandered a bit shortly after that and she looked down at Fox who was sleeping peacefully in her lap. Her smile faded as she suddenly had a thought, something that she hadn't thought about beforehand. Rather than think about it by herself, she turned to Cerise. "...Cerise? Do you think that Fox'll be okay growing up without her real mother to take care of her, even if for a little while?" She asked him, gently petting Fox's head with her fingers and scratching her behind her big tan ears.

"Wild pokemon are taken from their families all the time. Generally, every one of them turns out fine." Cerise says with a shrug. Honestly, the question he'd been asked wasn't something he was knowledgeable about. But he'd seen enough Pokemon during Day Care to respond with at least some vague degree of confidence.

Looking over, he saw that the sand castle that Chespin and Goomy had built now even included a moat, although the castle itself was... a bit slanted. He chuckled as he saw Chespin run over to the castle with a small bundle of sticks and seashells in its arms, which it and Goomy quickly set to work decorating the castle with. The two had a much more active imagination than Cerise had originally given them credit for! Breaking away his gaze, he placed the egg firmly in his lap to keep a closer eye on it before looking up at Decoda and the rest of the group to see how the rest of the Mello D. Etta concert situation would pan out. Seemed pretty hopeful so far!

"Excellent! Stop by Saffron City within the next week and claim your prize! Your Dream Concert awaits you!"

As Cerise held the egg close, and looked about the team, the object in his arms began to shake. Crackling noises can be heard over the fire as the egg began to glow. The top cracked completely around, springing off. At first nothing but a glowing orb was inside. The orb expanded into a small shape then stopped glowing, revealing a tiny Pawniard. It clawed its way out of the rest of the egg, shattering the shell to little pieces. The pawniard was as big as Cerise's forearm as it stood up shakily on his lap, quickly losing balance and falling back against it's new trainer. 

"Pawww!" It scraped it blades together as it hopped off of Cerises lap. It stalks over to Loka's Houndoom, puffs out it's chest and huffs... before falling backward.


Loka simply stands into the fire, the flames illuminating her face. Past events reflected in her eyes, giving her a conflicted, almost dazed look.

Catia nods at Cerise's words as his egg suddenly hatches in front of her. She couldn't help but smile broadly at the tiny creature as it came out of its egg and stumbled around. She put her hand on Cerise's shoulder and grinned at him as Poochy and Fang both ran over to greet the new life that had just came from the egg. "Congratulations Cerise!" She told him, smiling as she watched Poochy and Fang sniff the young new Pokemon before Poochy gives its face a happy lick and barks happily at it, Fang sitting back on its haunches and chittering its introductions.

Catia smiled back at Cerise. "Was that the first time an egg you've cared for hatched? It's really a great experience! I remember when Volt first hatched!" Catia giggled as she remembered Volt hatching from its egg after weeks of care from her. It attached itself to her immediately like she was its mother.

Then she turns and spots Loka, the look in her eyes making her remember what Arceus had told her she'd been through. She didn't know the whole story, but she knew enough not to pry if it wasn't necessary. She turns to her, a twinkle of worry in her eyes. "Hey....you okay?" She asks calmly. Fox shifted in her lap and yawned, curling back up more tightly into a ball in her lap before closing its eyes and going back to sleep. Catia smiled at the tiny little fox Pokemon. It'd been an eventful day for them. She must be tired.