(Reboot) Pokemon: Beyond the Tall Grass

Cerise's pokedex didn't pick anything up for the first part of the searching. But after a long while, his pokedex finally picked something up.

"Bisharp; the Sword Blade Pokemon. This pitiless Pokémon commands a group of Pawniard to hound prey into immobility. It then moves in to finish the prey off."


"Ursaring; the Hibernator Pokemon. Ursaring searches for honey in a forest daily. To reach its food, it often snaps trees with its forelegs rather than climbing."

Cerise came across a clearing where he saw a Bisharp that had several deep scratches in it's armor battling against a bloodies Ursaring. Off to the side closer to the large bear, was a black and red egg. Due to Cerise working in a daycare, he knows this is definitely NOT a Teddiursa egg.



Rotom went silent for several minutes, while Marley waited expectantly. After a bit, the sounds of a drum set came floating out of the pokegear.

"Is this satisfactory?" he asked.

Marley listened to the music, nodding. It was in fact, the drum part to the song.

"That's it! How'd you do it?" she commented. 

"It was easy. I downloaded the song then used my capabilities to strip away all the parts that were not the drummer. Then I refined it, and played it back."

"Over here!!" Cerise calls to Zoe as he enters the clearing. Brows furrowed, Cerise pauses for a moment to assess the situation. The conflict between the two blatantly seemed related to the egg, although Cerise wasn't sure right now who was in the right. Either way, he had to put a stop to the fighting! Even though he wanted to try a more diplomatic approach... he knew for a fact that Ursaring couldn't be talked down easily. Just based on the wounds both of the Pokemon had, it would be hard for Cerise to reach either of them by merely talking. This was especially true in that neither Bisharp nor Ursaring had any sort of bonds of friendship with Cerise, which generally would be helpful when working in a daycare.

He glanced back at Zoe, hoping she might have a solution to the conflict. After all, maybe both had bonded with her, assuming Ursaring was a daycare Pokemon, of course. But if not... his hands reached for Chespin and Goomy's Pokeballs. It seemed he might have a chance to try using the duo's combined strength sooner than expected!

Zoe came running over, stopping next to Cerise. She took in the situation, eyes scanning the battlefield as the Ursaring and Bisharp began to fight once more. 

"What to do... What to do..." she muttered, watching the two battle. "We need to get to that egg! It's in a dangerous spot!"

As she spoke, the Ursaring stumbled backwards. Before it was able to fall onto the egg, there was a blur of black and red. The Bisharp now stood in front of the two daycare workers, holding the egg out to Cerise. 

"Bisharp. Bish." It seemed to want Cerise to hold onto it.

"Ah..." Needless to say, Cerise was quite surprised by this gesture. But he was in no position to decline the Bisharp's actions. Even so... Judging by Bisharp's deep gashes, it was most likely growing tired. Ursaring was in similar condition, but its rage would most likely be able to provide it with the fuel to keep fighting.

Cerise whips out Goomy and Chespin from their Pokeballs. As the duo took offensive positions in front of their trainer, Cerise accepted the Bisharp's egg, holding it carefully in his arms before returning his attention to Ursaring. He honestly wasn't sure if Bisharp would need his help, but he was more than willing to provide it!

"Chespy, Goomy! Our goal is to protect this egg and calm down Ursaring!" Cerise's vision focused on the raging bear intensely as sunlight reflected off of the lenses of his glasses. Assuming that Blades and Ursaring were fighting over the egg, Cerise would need his Pokemon's help to keep Ursaring away. He wasn't interested in actually fighting Ursaring, as that would reflect poorly on Zoe's daycare. No... He just needed to tire out Ursaring so it would stop raging!

"Let's do this..."

Zoe set Skitty down, who went to stand with Cerise's pokemon.

"Ok, we know our objective; protect the egg from the Ursaring!"

Bisharp stood in front of the small group, but fell to it's knee, exhausted. It slowly, but painfully, stood up. It knew as well as the others it was in no shape to fight, but it had to.

Decoda was impressed; not just any equipment can strip away everything from a song to pull out one instrumental piece.  Then again, this was a creature, an avatar of legendary rarity.  He should feel lucky that such a being was in the same room as he, let alone teaching him how to play a song!  He wasn't exactly feeling this way now, determined by his lack of excitement compared to Marley's, but if this helped him ace the show, he would experience no other feeling than lucky!

Despite most of his mistrust fading away in place of some strange mix of gratefulness and confusion, he still wasn't minding this very useful help.

A smile curved up his cheeks as he said, "That is pretty cool.  It's better to have that to listen to for beats rather than counting in between lyrics!  Now we can really start!  Which part do I start singing?"

"I am happy to hear that you approve, Sir Decoda." Rotom spoke, now hanging from the cord switch on the ceiling fan. "If I can be of any more assistance, alert my presence."

Marley grabbed the lyrics sheets off the desk and handed them to Decoda. She pointed at the first line. "The lyrics start a bit into the opening of the song, so we should work on coming in at the right time."

((Here are the lyrics if you feel like including a couple in your post: Here~))
((And here's the actual music: Here~))

"Goomy! Start by using absorb on Ursaring! Chespy, I need you to get in front of Blades and Defense Curl!" Cerise commands, already thinking ahead. By using absorb, Goomy would drain Ursaring of some of its fighting strength, which would help minimize the threat it possessed. And seeing as how Ursaring was a more physical strength-oriented Pokemon, as indicated by the Pokedex, Chespin's higher physical defense in comparison to Goomy's own should help mitigate any damage taken by the raging Pokemon.

With a bubbly cry, Goomy began to sap Ursaring's strength as green spheres of energy burst from Ursaring and melded into Goomy's gelatinous form. Meanwhile, Chespin dashed in front of Blades and curled itself into a ball, its quills hardening to fine points. As his duo followed his orders, Cerise waited for Ursaring to make a move, planning for whatever it might do.

"Shar..." The bladed pokemon sounded grateful for the aid it was getting, as it falls to a knee. It closed it's eyes as it began to slowly heal itself. (It's using rest) It seems that it would be asleep for a bit.

"Skitty! Use attract!"

Skitty walked up to the large bear and pawed at it, meowing. Ursaring, however, din't like this. With a mighty swing of it's paw, it sent the little cat flying into a tree.

"Skitty!!" Zoe ran over to her little pokemon who was now unconscious. "Why didn't it work?!" She shouted pointing her pokegear at the bear. "FEMALE?! Cerise! Be careful; fighting a mother bear is worse then the father!!"

He holds back a gulp as he refocuses himself on Ursaring. He couldn't let this scare him!

"Chespin, use rollout and spin around Ursaring in a circle! Goomy, keep using absorb!" Chespin began to tear through the dirt as it sped towards Ursaring, spinning around the ursine Pokemon in a large clockwise orbit as Goomy continued draining Ursaring of its energy. With this tactic, Cerise wanted Ursaring to keep his attention on trying to catch the spinning Chespin. Naturally, if Ursaring spun around long enough trying to catch Chespin, it should get dizzy and tire out, especially after how much damage it had taken from Blades.

"Is Skitty alright?" Cerise asked Zoe over his shoulder. "I think I still have some Potions in my bag, if you need them!"

He nodded towards Rotom and Marley, accepting the lyrics and giving the whole thing a nice long look.  He could hear the percussion the notes from the guitars coming together in his head, but it still needed a voice.

"Unabashedly pursue, the truth that we cannot deny~  A revelation shining through, orchestration Adonai~" he sang acapella, his voice silvery yet a little nasally.  It wasn't too drastically different from his smooth and tough normal voice, and it was something he had been working on since he began to combo his instrumentals with vocals.  It was easy to tell that his diaphragm was the one doing all the work, and 6 years was all it took for him to finally get something he was alright with.

"How does that sound?" he asked as he picked up the guitar in his hands again and quickly scanned over the rest of the verse.

"Any opinion is welcome," he offered with a smirk, veering his gaze to Rotom from Marley.  Maybe this Pokemon could provide insight on how he was really doing?

"Skitty will be fine!" Zoe called out, picking up her pokemon.

The Ursaring slashed and swiped angrily at the rolling Chespin, barely missing several times. It let out a roar as it stumbled about dizzily. It made a swipe at Goomy but missed as well. Bisharp's eyes snapped open as it rushed forward, slashing at the bear. It fell backward, then rolled over and limped away; defeated. Bisharp then turned to Cerise and knelt down. It put a claw to it's chest and bowed it's head in a gesture of gratitude.



Marley nodded in approval then looked at Rotom, to see if he had any input.

"You have changed your style of singing to match the music. It has a good tone and blends well, but be careful, as you went flat on a couple notes." Rotom said, now magnetized to the chalkboard above Marley's bed. "And If you may, Sir Decoda. Would you please help me off of this board? I seem to have accidentally magnetized myself to it."

"YEAH!!!" Carefully placing down the egg by his feet, Cerise pumped his fist into the air as the Ursaring fell, the threat now calmed. Returning Chespin and Goomy to their Pokeballs, he noticed Bisharp approach him and kneel. As Blades bowed, Cerise felt it was only right to return the Pokemon's sign of gratitude by bowing towards the Bisharp as well.

"Oh, um, your egg!" Cerise realizes as he rises up from his bow, picking up the black and red egg to return to Blades. "This is your egg, right? The coloration of it... This is a Pawniard egg, isn't it?"

Bisharp stood up and gently pushed the egg back towards Cerie.

"Shar." it nodded, picking up Cerise and setting him on it's shoulder. It looked to Zoe and started walking back towards the daycare.

Zoe smiled and held skitty close as they headed back.

"Cerise," Zoe started. "I watched the way you commanded your pokemon back there. I was able to tell that goomy is rather new to your life, but Chespin has been with you for quite some time. But seeing you all work like that, you'd never have guessed without further examination." She paused looking up to Cerise. "You have such a way with pokemon... I wish I could be like that..."

"Well, well, never expected an electric type to be such a maestro in the music industry!" Decoda jokingly said, sitting up and turning to face the gear-bound avatar.  "No matter, I'll fix the flats no problem."

He grabbed onto the gear with both hands, definitely feeling how tightly magnetized Rotom got it.  His hand and arm muscles tensed as he dug his fingers under the gear as much as he could before tugging the Pokemon off the board.  Static flung from the gear, thankfully not causing pain.  Decoda held the gear in his hands and smiled at the rather drifty creature.  Maybe he really wasn't as dangerous as he was predicted to be?

"You have a streak of getting yourself in trouble, don'tcha?  Just be more careful!"

He let Rotom go from his grip and went back to the guitar and lyric sheet.

"Let's try that again, then!  Takin' it from the top!"

Cerise was a bit surprised that Blades didn't take back the egg right away. He was even more surprised when the Bisharp lifted him up. The fact that Blades could still do this much in its condition was incredible. Once again, Cerise found himself in awe of the Bisharp species. Even so, he couldn't help but keep vision on Blades' wounds. The impulse to get the Bisharp to get medical attention was great.

As Zoe began to speak, Cerise turned to look at her, giving her his undivided attention as she spoke to him. His eyes softened somewhat as she finished speaking, sensing something was on her mind. He stared at her for a moment, trying to determine the hidden message she may have been trying to convey.

"Hey... don't get down on yourself like that. I mean, we've only known each other for a short time, but I know that you care a lot for Pokemon and their well-being. After all, we wouldn't have found Blades if you didn't know 'im as well as you do. And I think getting to know each other--trainers and Pokemon--let's all of us grow better as people! And being together and trusting each other to get through tough times... there's nothing better than being able to connect with others, you know?" Cerise says as he smiles at Zoe. "In another way... Blades was protecting this egg from Ursaring, and you were protecting Blades from the thought of being abandoned. Everyone's great at something, but I think having a good heart and conscience is the greatest thing of all."

"And you have both of those." Cerise finishes with a cheesy grin. It's at this moment that he feels his PokeGear vibrate from receiving Catia's message. He'd have to check that message later.

Zoe couldn't help but smile and tear up at Cerise's words. She never really had anyone to say something like that to her, let alone mean it.

"Cerise," She whispered now looking ahead towards the approaching daycare. "Thank you. You helped me more then you think today." she reaches up and bumps her pokegear to his, transferring her number to him. A gift appeared on his screen. If he opens it, he would find that she gave him the app; Zoe's Eggtector. (If you are unsure of what pokemon will hatch from an egg, this app will tell you) They finally reach the daycare, opening the gate to the fenced area.

"Dad! We found Blades!"



Marley and Decoda practice the song entirely several times, and with Rotom's input, they were able to get it down very well.

"Your success rate tonight is 92.6% Also, it is 5:50. I believe you have to be there early?"

"Oh!!" Marley shouted. "He's right! Come on!"

She quickly packed up her bass, grabbed the floating pokegear, and ran down the stairs.

"MOM! WE'RE GOING NOW!"

"Okay."



Catia is awakened by Fox, Fang AND Poochy pawing at her face, trying to wake her up. Poochy held her beeping pokegear to her face. It read 5:50pm.

(And just so you know, the actual open mic starts at 7:00. I have performers arrive early so they can practice. And just so you know as well, It is ok to not always sound perfect *cough* JAKE *cough* No one has a perfect 'angelic' voice.)

Catia wakes up sleepily when her Pokemon wake her up. Seeing the time she jumps up a little bit and goes to get her bag. Poochy was already snuffling around inside of it for her change of clothes which made her laugh. Quickly changing into the new clothing that she had gotten the previous day at the department store, she quickly returns Fang, Poochy and Fox to their pokeballs before putting them in her bag and grabbing the key's to the rooms. Best that she didn't forget those gate all. As she runs out of the center down to Silph Co. she looks at her pokegear and sees that it's about 6:15pm. She grins at herself effort rushing up to the building and slowing down as she hits the door. Taking a deep breath, she smiles and heads inside. She had her song in her head and the half hour she got to practice her lyrics would be enough to at least clear her throat. She knew the lyrics by heart fortunately. She had wrote it herself after all!

(OOC: You are seriously the worst kind of person. xD That's okay though, I hadn't planned on her singing perfectly through the entire song anyway. The lyrics to it won't let her given what it's about. )

Decoda stuffed everything he took out back into his case, zipped it up, swung it around his back and quickly followed Marley out of the room and down the stairs.  He had completely forgotten that he was a strange boy in a girl's home when at least one of her parents were home, but was quickly reminded by the faint call of the woman's voice that replied to her daughter.  This forced the bright blush to come back to his face, and he felt like saying "thank you" on the way out the front door, but pulled his voice back because it may have been too awkward to handle.  Getting any kind of fright now would be the worst thing to do before getting on stage!

"How often do these shows come around, anyway?  The last time I was here there wasn't much going on!" he asked Marley, catching up to the bass player.

Cerise smiled a bit, glad he was able to help Zoe, even a little bit. He turned his attention ahead, seeing that they had neared the daycare center. With his egg in one arm, he opened up his PokeGear to check the time--about 6. And besides Catia's message icon in the upper right corner, there was also a message saying Zoe's number had been transferred to his contacts directory. In addition, there was a present icon by Catia's message icon.

Unsure if he could balance holding the egg and explore his PokeGear, he pocketed the device to return his grip on the egg. As the group reached the fence, Cerise observed a few of the other Pokemon present in the fields, a strong sense of nostalgia welling up inside him.

When Catia arrived, she saw many people tuning instruments, putting on their outfits or costumes, and practicing any vocals they needed to. A boy with brown hair and green eyes was sitting in a corner tuning an acoustic guitar. He looked up at Catia, smiled a bit and waved, then went back to his guitar.


Decoda and Marley arrived shorty after, meeting up with Hagi. He was holding an electric violin, which he gave to Marley.

"Assuming you didn't bring yours, you can borrow mine."

"Oh! I forgot I was a solo act for a bit!" She thanked her brother and took the violin. She then turned to Decoda. "Show this big only happen like three times a year. There are a bunch of smaller things, but this is what brings in the crowds." She quickly tunes the violin, and play tests it. "Perfect. They're gonna do a practice run through of the show, mostly so people can get stage entrances and exits right, and make sure that their equipment is set up properly."

"Unfortunately, the drum set is public use so it has to stay on the stage as well as the music stands." Hagi explained.


Zoe explained what happened to her parents, giving Cerise a few minutes to check out the pokemon in the fenced area. Blades had gone and sat under the tree, now asleep.

The red head's eyebrows raised once he heard Marley was preforming solo, in addition to the band.  Amazing!  This girl not only helped him rehearse one song, but she had another song memorized from the get-go!  He didn't want to gush about how admirable that was, not wanting to come across like a fanboy of sorts.  He did however, grin widely at the idea that Marley was extremely talented in her field.

"You guys must've been doing this for a while, then, huh?" he asked, unloading his own equipment off his back.  "When I was here almost a year ago, I never got a stage like this.  It was off on the sidelines, but not bad at all!  This town must have a thing for music~"

Once he got everything out, microphone pocketed, amp plugged in, and guitar strap slung across his torso, he erected his posture and exhaled.  It was then that he heard about the stationary drum set.

"What do you mean?  So we can't do a quick practice as a group?" he asked, then paused, thinking about his next idea.  He wasn't sure about it at first, but wanted to suggest it for the success of the siblings.  "We do have Rotom.  He's helped us with the drummer's part when I was learning the song!"

Cerise placed down the egg by his feet as he brought out his PokeGear again to read Catia's message. Nodding to himself after reading it, he then opened Zoe's gift--an egg app. Curious, he activated the app and pointed it at the egg at his feet that he suspected was a Pawniard egg.

Catia saw the boy wave at her and smiled, seeing the guitar. She smiles back and nervously walks over to him. "H-hey I um....do we have to have our own microphone or are we supposed to setup one of theirs? I've um....I've never performed in front of an audience like this before." She admits nervously.

"Hold on, I'll see if we can borrow the stage for a quick run through, since you're right." Hagi said as he went off to speak to the stage manager.

"He's really good with sweet talking." Marley nodded, looking over to the drummer. He was speaking calmly, but the stage manager was acting a bit shy. Hagi came back, smiling a bit. 

"Alright, She said we can have it for one run through. Let's get up there and make sure it's all good!"

Marley and Hagi climbed up onto the stairs, and got into place. Marley pulled Decoda up.

"All set?"



The screen on Cerise's pokegear read 'scanning for about a minute or so, before a sprite of a Pawniard appeared. It even showed the moves it would have when it hatched; False swipe and metal claw.

"Like the app?" Zoe approached. "It took me a while to get all the bugs out, but I finally got it working. You're the only other person to have it."

She smiled brightly, pleased about her decision on giving the app to Cerise to test out.



The boy looked up at her with bright green eyes, and strange pupils. If Catia remembers the last time she looked in a mirror since receiving Entei's blessing, they were the same as hers.

"They provide a mic, but if you bring your own, thats less they have to worry about." He looks over to the stage where Decoda, Hagi, and Marley were setting up. "Looks like someone's about to run through."