(Reboot) Pokemon: Beyond the Tall Grass

(OOC: I got a 12)

Catia catches the pokeball quickly and blinks at it before carefully putting it into her bag and flipping open to a random page in the book. "Catia. You?" She answers him, not looking up from the book.

The entries of the Journal weren't dated, and the one that Catia had opened up to was short and not as interesting as she had hoped.

'Carriage rides are quite nice, especially through Unova's White Forest. A lot of Pokemon that I don't really see anywhere else. Ugh... Tree. Tree. Tree. Bush. Tree. It's really quiet too, save for the clopping of the Ponytas pulling the carriage.'


"Me? Oh, right. The name's Wesley, but I prefer Wes."


(If you ever wanna read a page, just roll and say its for a page. I'll let you know when you've read them all.)

Catia smiles and puts the journal away into her bag for the time being before putting both Fang and Poochy into their pokeballs for the time being. She had to admit that this boy interested her. And he was cute too....

"Wes huh....cute name. Nice um....shoulder armor." She comments, smiling mischievously. She liked to tease boys like this to see if they were really worth going after.

"Oh this? This isn't armor. It's a special technology that can only be found in the Orre Region." He raised his 'armored arm' to eye level and smirked. "It alters the coding in a pokeball so it can capture Pokemon that already have trainers."

He lowered his arm back down to his side and stretched a bit.

"You gonna stay in that tree forever?"

Catia smirks. He had a dangerous side to him. Cute~ She thinks to herself before Wes asks her to if she was going to stay in the tree. She grins at him. "Maybe~ Why should I get down?" She asks him, another one of her elaborate tests being the result.

Wes shrugged again then turned away. He knew her game; many have tried playing coy before. It never ended well...

"What's in the pokeball I gave you doesn't like heights." he took a couple steps. "Well, I should be going then~"

Catia blinks. "It...what?" She says, narrowing her eyes at him. Either this boy was messing with her and was really starting to want her chase him....or he was being serious. Rather than risk something dangerous happening, she jumps down out of the tree and stares at Wes, putting her hand on her hip and frowning at him. "What did you give me?" She asks, her suspicion finally overriding her curiosity.

He didn't turn around.

"You'll see if you send it out. It's still quite young, so I don't suggest using it in battle."

Wes looked at her from the corner of his eye. From that angle, he looked cold, almost murderous. He then raised an eyebrow and rubbed the mark on his face again.

"So? You gonna look or just leave it in there?"

Catia blinks before taking out the pokeball that he'd given her and glances at him, unafraid of his murderous, cold looking eyes. This boy was dangerous yes, but there was something about him that she liked. Not to mention he was really good at playing her games. Then without making Wes wait any longer, she threw the pokeball out to let whatever was in it out.

When the burst of light faded, a small red fox was curled up on the ground. It blinked its eyes open and looked around, mewing a bit. The Vulpix was so young, it still only had one tail; it hadn't split yet.

"I found it wandering by itself. Must've been a runt. Think you can mother it until it's old enough?"

He now turned to fully look at her, then down to the little pokemon.

Catia nearly shrieked in delight from the view of the cute little fox Pokemon at her feet. Without thinking, Catia runs over and wraps Wes in a tight hug before letting go of him and walking over to the tiny little fox. Kneeling down slowly, she put the palm of her hand out in front of the little creature's nose so that it could sniff at her. "Oh my gosh it's so cute! Of course I'll mother it!" She answers Wes, smiling hugely from Wes' gift.

Wes flinched at the Contact between him and Catia. He wasn't expecting this much of a reaction from the girl, let alone a tight hug. He took a step back, giving her and the fox some room.

"I think I made a proper decision in payment." he spoke turning his back once more. "The journal remains a secret, yes?"

The Vulpix sniffed Catia's fingers and then licked her palm, mewing again. It pawed at her hand and rolled onto it's back, playing with the girl's fingers.

Catia giggles when the Vulpix starts playing with her fingers before she reaches over and gently rubs it's stomach. Noticing Wes' leave, she turns her head and glances back at him. "I don't know why I wouldn't have kept it a secret. But why me though? Why do so much for me and then just leave? And don't think that we're even. I want to see you again if I can." She tells him matter of factly, still smiling at him.

Wes groans inward, the sighs audibly.

"I don't want to be found right now, and I no longer have a use for her journal. You were the only one out here, and I couldn't chance one of the others in your little group, seeing as Loka is still with them." He hands her a slip of paper with a number on it. It was a bit longer then a pokegear number, so it obviously wasn't for that. "Thats for my P*DA. You won't be able to 'see' me, but you can call I guess. Just don't do it every day, or around Loka. She's not exactly the... most forgiving of me right now." He puts a hand in his pocket and huffs, using the other to lower the sades back over his eyes. "Keep it hidden, read at your own risk. If she gets it, she'll track me, and if that happens, it'll be a very messing ending."


Wes took several steps then paused, turning to Catia for the last time. 


"I'm trusting you with this task, Catia. Don't make me regret this meeting."


He and his pokemon disappeared into the trees, not leaving a trace.

"The Resistance, eh...?" Cerise nods to himself, remembering what Professor Oak had told the group not too long ago. "You know a lot about them, Loka?"

Though he wasn't sure, it didn't quite seem like the existence of the Resistance was common knowledge. Cerise studied Loka's face as she closed her eyes, now curious. Loka seemed anxious... much more annoyed than what he had seen from her so far. Was Erika such a problem to Loka? What could have happened between the two of them? Cerise didn't want to push Loka too hard, but... his curiosity overpowered his caution.

Catia grins as Wes leaves before turning back to the little Vulpix enjoying the attention she was giving it. She picks it up into her arms and stands up, petting it's head gently and cradling it like she would any human child. "You need a name missy. How about....Fox? It's literal I think." She tells it, putting Wes' number into her pocket. If anything, Loka wasn't going to get her hands on anything related to that boy at all if she could help it. Catia giggles when the Vulpix mews at her and noses at her fingers. "You must be hungry huh? Let's go back and see if we can get you something to eat." She said, walking back to town.

Loka opened her eyes and looked at Cerise, smiling a bit. 

"I know enough..." she shook her head slightly, long pig-tails flowing. "Game Corner, right? I wonder what their prizes are today..." 

Once the others were on the elevator, she pressed the button to go to the first floor. The doors opened after a few minutes, and Loka headed for the exit.

"This way, boys~"

Catia spots Loka through the glass of the department store and frowns, shifting her bag on her shoulder just to make sure nothing was poking out of it. She walks into the store and waves to Cerise, Loka and Decoda before walking up to them. "Hey do you guys know where I can find a bottle and maybe sons berry juice for this little one? She's hungry." She asks them, not at all concerned about their reaction to her having a baby Vulpix.

"How does the Game Corner work, anyway?" Cerise asks as he jogs to keep up with Loka. Maybe he'd find out what the connection between Loka and Erika would be later? It was certainly something to keep an eye out for. His train of thought was put on hold as Catia ran up to them, Vulpix in arms, asking about bottles and juice. He briefly wondered where Catia had gotten a Vulpix, but the thought was waved away. It seemed healthy enough upon close inspection, so it wasn't really his concern. He noted the third pokeball that Catia now had alongside her Poochyena and Rattata. Catia surely couldn't have caught another pokemon in such a small amount of time, could she? He recalled when Loka said Vulpix's were seen and could only wonder if Vulpix were even normally out at this time?

"I mean... you could ask someone who actually works here. Like that clerk?" He juts a finger at a store clerk sitting behind a desk only a few feet away.

Catia frowns at Cerise's comment before slowly nodding and walking over to the store clerk that he had pointed out. "Excuse me? Do you know where I could find a bottle and maybe some berry juice for my Vulpix? She's hungry." She asks politely, watching Loka and the others out of the corner of her eyes.

Decoda followed Loka and Cerise to the Game Corner.  While he did go through this town, he hadn't stopped in due to lack of funds to gamble.  Mudkip had never seen so many glistening lights before its dark beady eyes, and it cooed, fascinated.  Then it laid eyes on the little Vulpix in Catia's arms.  Where did that thing come from?  Decoda had the same reaction.  Had she already went inside and won the fire fox as a prize?

"Well that was fast."

"Kip!" Mudkip agreed.

"Apparently, the Game Corner is all about gambling away coins for even more coins.  I can hear slot machines clanging away in there, but I'm pretty sure there's roulette, card games and dice games too.  You can trade your winnings in for Pokemon, dolls, and eatables for your Pokemon.  Like Loka said, they change them out on a regular basis to try and keep the gamblers coming back for more.  I say we each buy a couple hundred coins and see how far it takes us!  Maybe one of us could get lucky~  It's a one-in-four chance, after all!" he explained joyfully.

"Gambling, huh...? Sounds like it could go south fast!" He chuckles, hoping he wouldn't get addicted while he was there. But maybe those rewards would be worth it! "But sure, let's try it!"

He examined several of the machines, not sure where to start. "Hm..."

The man at the counter reached down and pulled a small container and a bottle, and held it out to Catia.

"Just add water, and feed away. 50 pokedollars, if you may."


Loka sat herself down at a Voltorb Flip table, across from a man wearing a broad brimmed hat. Spiky black hair poked out from under it, and crystal blue eyes looked up at his challenger.

"Welcome, to Voltorb Flip! Care to take a cha- LOKA?!"

"...Riley? That really you? Since when ya a Flip Shark, let alone in Kanto!"

"Sinnoh got boring... The Slots were too easy to win."

"...Right. Well, deal 'em up. Hardest Difficulty y'all can manage."

Riley dealt up the board, then set a small amount of blue flags next to the board. He smirked and tipped his hat.

"Whenever you want to begin.~"

Loka studied the board for a few minutes, before placing the flags on top of a couple of cards. She then started flipping the unmarked cards. She flipped the last card in a matter of minutes, then looked up at Riley.

"That all ya got?" she turned to the others. "Go have fun. I got some business to attend to here."

Catia grins and happily hands over the cash for it. She didn't have a whole lot left but they were going to explore within the next couple of days so it should be fine. Berries aren't exactly scarce in the wild after all. She takes the bottle and container and puts them into the side pocket of her bag before walking to the game corner to join the others. By that time the tiny fox Pokemon in her arms was peacefully sleeping, comforted by her presence and snuggled into her chest. Spotting the others taking their chances, she narrowed her eyes before going to sit down in a chair near Loka but in view of the others to watch them. She shifted her bag off of her shoulder and onto the ground next to her before carefully moving Fox so that the both of them could relax comfortably. Truth be told, she wasn't much of a gambler so watching the others have fun was enough for the time being.

Rubbing his gloved hands together to heat them up, he moseyed on up to the counter to pay for some coins, completed the transaction and brought over some to split with Cerise.  Giving him half of his bag, he grinned with excitement.

"This is gonna be awesome!  I wanna hit the slots first," he exclaimed, Mudkip hopping off his shoulder and choosing his seat.  The bouncy little mudfish nearly fell off the chair as Decoda sat down, but he grabbed it just in time.  He put 3 coins in the slot, heaved in some oxygen and ripped down the lever to activate the game.  The blue Pokemon nodded as it watched the colorful little pictures scroll faster and faster through the simple machine.  The red head looked at his friend and asked, "Ready?!"

"Kip!"

"Here goes nothing!" he hoped as he pulled down the stick once more.  The spinners came to a rolling stop, clicking on three different depictions across.  No flashing lights came to alert them they had won.  Decoda's eyebrows fell, surely not expecting to win the first time he had ever played on such a device, but still shrugged.

"Guess we didn't win that one," he said, trying the whole process again.  This time he let Mudkip pull down the lever, and the time after that did it himself.  So far, he wasn't turning out to be so lucky.

"Maybe the machine is busted?" he commented after the fifth try. "We should probably try something else before we run out of funds." He then looked around and found Loka playing a different game with someone she might have recognized and Catia feeding her mysterious fox Pokemon. "They're still over there... Hopefully, we won't run into any trouble in this building..."