[Sage Harper]

338 Words

I just needed an excuse to use this title 

No Pressure, No Diamond

After some time in Birch City, she had decided that it was time to move on. She had grown her team by two while there, with lovely Piper the Tepig and Solo the Glaceon finding their way to her. But her ultimate goal was Bass city so she needed to get a move on. 

She had managed to travel all the way to Birch town without any issue, she had assumed Route 1 would be no different. She was wrong. When she stopped for lunch she ended up taking a nap, then her pokemon got boisterous and wandered off. She had frantically gathered her things, slinging her banjoo and satchel across her back, and calling out for her pokemon. But they didnt answer and eventually she had to go find them, leaving the path. Not her wisest choice.

Now she was hopelessly lost. She knew the general direction that the ocean was, that would be to the west, so if she headed towards the slowly moving sun she might find it, but who knew if she would find the road in the winding hills. She had found her pokemon at least all playing together by a stream. But she realized three was too many to deal with at once when she needed to focus, so she had put Staccato and Solo back in their balls, after a good talking to of course. Piper was her strongest pokemon, her best chance at staying safe if anything should happen. Which was more likely than ever away from the road. 

"What I wouldnt give for a flying pokemon right now," she muttered.

Truthfully she hadnt gone that far from the road.... maybe it was just hidden by trees or a hill? "Well, let's try going west." She told Piper, setting herself towards the sun. After a few minutes, she realized that maybe other people were in the area, and could help her find her way. 

"Hello? Helloooooooo?" She called out, cupping her hands around her mouth to try and boost the volume. 

Staccato lvl6 (10 Hp/5 Energy)
Piper lvl 10 (10 Hp/5 Energy)
Solo lvl 8 (10 HP/ 5 Energy)

x

[Sidney Ridley]

Sid was theoretically headed home to Fuji Town— they were just taking a small detour through the scenic trek of wherever the hell they actually were. They probably should have been a little more worried with the cold weather only getting worse with the change in the season and who knew what else hidden in the ranges of Arciel, but for all they were and all they weren’t, Sid couldn’t bring themselves to be too concerned. They went where they went, and if that got them into some kind of trouble time and time again, well, so be it.

Rolling slowly down the path on their bicycle, they occasionally looked around and assessed where they were. The trees were so pretty out here right then, but they knew well enough it would not last. They were lucky not to have seen snow just yet. I wonder if winter Pokemon migrate during this time around here… This thought was cut dramatically short by a voice ringing through the distance. Gripping the breaks of their handle bars, they slowed and looked around.

What was this? A quest or question rather? Leaning their bike a little more on their frame, they cupped their own hands and called back. “Hello? Who’s calling?” Should a certain caller follow their voice, she would most certainly find the road again— for now at least.

[Sage Harper]

133 Words

sorry its so short 

No Pressure, No Diamond

She was starting to get desperate as her words echoed through the hills, but suddenly she heard a reply. It was just a faint hello but better than nothing. But whoever it was was asking who she was. Oh yeah, it would probably be weird to hear a random voice just saying hello. 

Sage oriented herself towards where she thought the voice was coming from, and then called out again. "I'm Sage! I'm just a little lost! I could use some help finding the road again!"

She had already started towards the voice, picking up her pace to a jog. "Come on Piper! Let's see if we can follow that voice." The little Tepig squealed in excitement, running and bouncing beside her. For her this was fun, she didnt understand what being lost meant.

x

[Sidney Ridley]

A lost sage…. Didn’t they have runic magic? Or compass creation? Or were they thinking of wizards or warlocks or clerics even? Maybe they’re actually out of mana… Sid blinked back into reality. “Ah, uhm, I’m on the road!” they called. “Follow my voice or something?” Kicking down the kick stand and easing off their bike, they lifted it and set it closer to the edge of the road before looking off into the forest.

This would be easier if they had a proper Flying type Pokemon. They had something, but it wasn’t necessarily helpful right now. Thankfully the brush started to move, and their eyes directed towards it. Sure enough, their sights met a girl and her Pokemon. “Ah, you’re a little young for a sage….” Sid blinked a couple of times. “You’re not injured or anything, are you?” they assessed her and then her Pokemon.

[Sage Harper]

144 Words

here we go

No Pressure, No Diamond

The voice called back again, allowing Sage to finally put herself on the right path. She emerged from the brush and then  doubled over, catching her breath. Piper nuzzled at her, with soft little oinks of concern. After a moment, and the other person's question, she lifted her head. "No, no Im fine, so is Piper." She motioned to her Tepig. 

She stood straight up again, flicking her braid back over her back and beside her banjo. "And also Im not a Sage, thats my name! Whats yours?"
She looked up and down the road now, wondering how far she was from where she had gotten off the road. "Thanks again for the help, my little stinkers wandered off the road and I had to go after them." She said with a slightly reproachful look at Piper, though she didnt look concerned at all.

x

[Sidney Ridley]

As the girl doubled over, Sid immediately stepped closer. Even the assurance that she was fine after the fact had them a little uncertain. “Are you sure?” they gave her a glance over and then assessed her Tepig once before allowing a low hum to escape from themselves. Well, they supposed neither looked injured right then. They would keep vigilant though.

As she stood straight and adjusted the musical instrument on her person, Sid registered what it was. Ah, a bard named Sage… she could certainly confuse her enemies that way… A useful tactic, they decided. “Sidney Ridley, a pleasure to meet you bard named Sage…”

At the mention of what had happened, they nodded a little. “It’s easy to get lost….” they agreed. “And we can’t even be sure this path is the right one…” They glanced forward down the way they were biking. “But I’m glad I could help you get to pavement at least.” A small laugh escaped from them. “Where are you headed? I could use some company for a while.” Anything was better than the too-long quiet.

[Sage Harper]

144 Words

Poor country gal who has no idea what LARP is

No Pressure, No Diamond

Sage kind of quirked an eyebrow at the other person as they inspected her. Well at least they were nice. "Yeah I'll be fine! Just lost my breath there, I got a little carried away." She reassured them. 

"Anyway, it's nice to meet ya Sid! But uhh, I dont really get what you mean by a bard. Are you talking about my banjo?" Bard sounded like one of those old timey words from the past, or from those games some of the nerdier kids at school played. She had been too busy working on the farm and playing her instrument to get deeply involved with a lot of the people at school who had extra time or activities they did together, so she was hopelessly out of depth with any form of Pop culture. 

When they mentioned how easy it was to get lost, Sage made a pained face. "Yeah... I noticed. You would think would be easy knowing which way was the coast, but I still managed it." But when they mentioned this might not even be the right path,  she made a slight groaning noise. "Oh no... I hope not. But you're right at least its paved. Thank you again," She said sincerely, sending them a warm smile. 

"As for where Im going, Im passing through Cedar on my way to Bass City. I'd be glad to travel with you, although...." She looked towards their bike. "I unfortunately don't have a bike, so I would probably slow you down. Is that still okay?" She hoped so, it would be much more fun to have someone to hang out with as she made her way to Cedar.

 

x

[Sidney Ridley]

A small silly smile came to Sid’s features as Sage spoke. “Ah, yeah, I assumed you were a musician,” they admitted with a small shrug of shoulders. “Do you play for personal pleasure or for others?” Because why else would she carry it?

They were glad to help, though, in one way or another. A road was better than nothing. As she mentioned where she was headed, they looked thoughtful. Cedar? Bass? When they had looked at a map last, that didn’t seem like the way home? Maybe this is the detour of fate, then…

At the mention of a lack of bike, though, Sid looked thoughtful. “Walking is a bit more scenic.” Though pushing the bike around would be harder, hm…. “Hang on…”

Shifting from one side to another, they enlarged a Pokeball and released its contents. What came forth was… a very fidgety looking Rotom. “Glitch,” Sid spoke causing the Rotom to immediately twist around to them. “Hold this as your held item, alright?” The Rotom made an irritable face but immediately jumped on the bike causing it to shine and spark as if it were an electronic. Returning the Rotom and subsequently consuming the bike in turn, Sid turned back to Sage again and smiled. “There.” A small smile came to their features.

[Sage Harper]

 210 Words

-------

No Pressure, No Diamond

Sage still didnt quite understand what they meant by bard, or why they had been confused by Sage, but she let it pass for now. As for her music, she nodded, patting her back. "Yeah, I play the banjo. For myself, for others, both... I want to go to Bass City, make my debut as a Coordinator and then maybe as a musician. It's why Im on this journey." She said with complete confidence. Never mind that there were plenty of others trying to do the same thing, she would just do what she could.

When they mentioned walking she chuckled. "I guess you could say its scenic, Im excited to get my own bike, or a pokemon I can ride, whatever comes first. I just havent had much luck yet."

 She watched in awe as they pulled out a rotom who simply... ate their bike. Not really, she did know vaguely how rotoms worked, they sort of possessed the item almost. But she had never seen it done with a bike and she kind of gaped in joyful amazement. "Wow thats so cool, and useful too! Where did you get your Rotom?" She had only seen a few of them before, so she didnt even know where Rotoms came from. 

x

[Sidney Ridley]

“Bikes can be very expensive,” Sid commented. “I was rather lucky a neighbor offered to give trade it to me for some work on the farm.” Granted the elderly woman they had gotten it from had probably actually gotten more manual labor out of the deal than the bike was actually worth, but they digressed for now.

At the question of their Rotom, Sid looked forward again. “My father is a world class trainer,” they answered. World class in that he’d rather be anywhere else but home… Sid pushed the spite from the front of their mind. “He brought it back for me when I was younger.” A small smile came and went from Sid. “Though I technically caught my very first Pokemon a little ago…” they smiled with some pride in their voice.

[pumpkin]

It's a Horde!

What will you do?

Oricorio Lv6 5 Energy Average Naughty Dancer MOVES Pluck, Pound, Growl, Peck NOTES N/A		Oricorio Lv8 5 Energy Average Hasty Dancer MOVES Pound, Growl, Peck NOTES N/A
Oricorio Lv11 5 Energy Average Relaxed Dancer MOVES Pound, Growl, Peck, Helping Hand NOTES N/A		Oricorio Lv14 5 Energy Average Hardy Dancer MOVES Pound, Growl, Helping Hand, Air Cutter NOTES N/A
Oricorio Lv15 5 Energy Large Sassy Dancer MOVES Pound, Peck, Growl, Air Cutter NOTES N/A

[Sage Harper]

632 Words

Im so sorry. Also, Sage throws pokeball at lvl 6 female, and faints the lvl 14 Male.

No Pressure, No Diamond

Sage nodded appreciatively when they mentioned how they got their bike. "Oh wow, thats actually really nice. Maybe I'll get lucky like that on my travels." She hoped so, as it would cut down on the travel time. But for now she could be content at leasts he had some company. 

She clapped her hands in happy excitement when they mentioned their first caught pokemon. "Oh wow thats great! My three pokemon all came to me one way or another, so I still need to catch my first one. Maybe today will be the day!"

And just as she was speaking in fact, a flock of Oricorio bounced out in front of them, well around them. There were five of them, including one rather large and intimidating one. Sage of course stopped in her tracks, looking at them warily, and Piper grunted nervously near her feet. 

"O-oh... hello there!" She said, uncertainly, looking back and forth between the different pokemon. The larger one fluffed its feathers and danced side to side, making very loud and almost demanding  cries. "I'm sorry, I dont... I dont know what you want, would you like to listen to some music maybe?" She asked in placating tones. 

But as soon as she reached for her instrument, the bigger one screeched, and suddenly two of the Oricorio were coming at her. She reached desperately for her other pokeballs. 

"Solo, Staccato, help me out!" She said, as the two pokemon spilled from their pokeballs. "Wait, Staccato stay with me, this isnt a good fight for you." She sighed with relief as she realized early enough that these birds could do serious damage to her most vulnerable pokemon with their type advantage. 

That left 2 on 2.

Piper (Tepig lvl 10) and Solo (Glaceon lvl 8) Faced off against two of the Oricorio (Male lvl 14 and Female lvl 6)

"Alright, quick you two, you need to make up some of the disadvantage. Piper, use Tail Whip, Solo, use Icy Wind." 

The two Oricorio, surprised by the appearance of another pokemon to fight, were even further caught off guard when Piper instead of attacking simply wiggled her tail at them. 

One of them still got in a quick peck attack, but Solo's Icy Wind blew them both back a bit, and left frost crystals on their feathers. the cold shock caused the second Oricorio to miss their attack. 

The cold from the Icy wind slowed the Oricorio down, allowing Sage to give her pokemon orders for another round of attacks. 

"Okay Piper, use  Ember, concentrate on the stronger one. Solo, use Double Edge on the weaker one." It was a risky move, but she needed to knock the smaller one out quickly in order to take on the bigger one.

Piper's Ember hit the stronger Oricorio, but it shook most of it off, even if the water from the melted Icy Wind made it look like a bundle of bedraggled feathers. 

The other Oricorio on the other hand... Solo's Double Edge dealt significant damage. Not outright causing it to faint, but one more hit and it likely would have. Solo winced from the backlash, but he looked like he could take another hit or two.

It was now or never, Sage realized, and she grabbed an extra pokeball and tossed it at the now weakened less powerful Oricorio.

She wasnt sure how that would work, but for now she had to focus on the remaining bigger Oricorio. It attacked back with another Peck attack, hitting Piper square on the head. That was going to hurt poor thing. 

"Alright both of you work together! Piper, use Ember again, and Solo, Copycat her Ember!"

The two pokemon blasted out Ember at the poor Oricorio, overwhelming it, and it fainted. 

Sage looked over at Sid, heart racing, wondering how they had done. And then remembered she had thrown a pokeball, had it succeeded?

x

[Sidney Ridley]

A soft smile pulled onto Sid’s features as Sage more or less congratulated them. “Speak it into reality,” they nodded at her words thereafter. “And it will happen.” Oh, uh, maybe it was happening right now, actually. Sid blinked as a horde of Oricorio dropped in front of them. A step back was taken and then sideways as Sid looked at them all. “Interesting…” they decided quietly. “Seems we’ve entered an ambush of some sort.”

As if on cue, two of the birds were coming at them as well. A flash of a Pokeball, and suddenly they were batting both back while very literally wielding a Honedge in their hand. “Apologies, Excalibur,” Sid spoke as the Honedge immediately wriggled from their grasp right after. “I was concerned about being attacked head on.” The Ghost blade made a low metallic noise in response.

Meanwhile, the birds (Oricorio level 8 and Oricorio level 11) immediately recovered and flapped their wings irritably. They surrounded the Honedge and immediately tried to Pound it— only to find such physical moves did not touch a beast such as Excalibur. The blade instinctively used Sword Dance while being untouchable, increasing its attack.

“Shadow Sneak,” Sid ordered already knowing what that kind of stat boost that Sword Dance did. The blade dropped down into a shadow before reappearing under one of the Oricorio and stabbing upwards. The Oricorio shrieked from the powered up, super effective move and stumbled backwards. The other Ociro went in for a Peck in return only for the metallic nature of the Steel type Pokemon to resist such maneuvers. Swiping down into its shadow and reappearing from behind, the Honedge slashed again with a vicious Ghost move.

Sid winced. Looking towards the female that was struggling to get back up, Sid tossed a Pokeball at her while Excalibur continued to take damage and return damage in kind.

That left one large Oricorio (?)

---

Cap attempt Oricorio level 8 with a Pokeball.

[Ebblow]

Go, PokeBall!

One... two... and...

Sage Harper
lAqlDZsHp_


The Wild Oricorio broke free!
p_
She stuck around, though, looking offended.
p_
One Pokeball has been removed from your inventory.

Go, PokeBall!

One... two... and...

Sidney Ridley
p_


The Wild Oricorio broke free!
p_
It didn't run away, though!
p_
And your Pokeball stayed intact.

·····

[Sage Harper]

234 Words

Trying to befriend lvl 6 Oricorio and pacify or distract the lvl 15 Oricorio

No Pressure, No Diamond

Unfortunately her capture attempt had failed, and she winced as the pokeball broke. She didnt have too many of those, she would probably have to get some more. But she was happy to see the pokemon hadnt run away, although it was still weakened and looking at her with an offended glare. 

"Ah I'm sorry little one..."

She saw then that Sid had also tried to catch one and failed, so at least they could both commiserate. "Oh no! Shall we try again?" She asked them.

But the bigger Oricorio was looking quite annoyed that its underlings hadnt managed to drive them away. With a screech, it launched a Air Cutter attack at Sage and her pokemon. Sage jumped back from the slashing wind, but she didnt need to, Solo and Piper took the hit. The looked to be in some pain, and Sage knew they wouldnt be able to stand another hit, that pokemon was much tougher than they were, but maybe...

She whipped out her banjo and started playing a lively tune. Maybe the music could provide a distraction.

She shot a look at the smaller Oricorio. "You like music? We could dance and play music together!" It was a risk to take hereyes off the big one, but she hoped maybe Sid could assist her if it tried to make any moves, if not she would just grab her pokemon and flee.

x

[Sidney Ridley]

"ちくしょう...." Since frowned, and their brows furrowed as their ball snapped open and released its contents. At least it seemed to hit the ground and remain intact, but now they were concerned about the- Oh. The Oricorio was looking angry adn ready to battle; they supposed at least it was still there. Just as they were thinking that, though, Excalibur swiped at the other Oricorio and finally had it bolting away. Oh, well there was no catching that one. The sentient sword looked back to them and stared questioningly. He had done well, hadn't he? Sid smiled a little weakly back.

Their eyes flickered to Sage as she spoke. “Yeah, gotta at least try if they’re not running…” Their eyes flickered back towards the other Oricorio. Excalibur had already set eyes on her again, though, and was already sneaking over to do damage. She yelped, and Sid was quick to throw another Pokeball hoping to save her in part from the battle-happy blade.

It was only after that that music hit their ears. Their eyes flickered from Sage to the big Oricorio and back again. They weren’t exactly sure if Excalibur could handle that Pokemon even with a Type advantage as he had. The distraction was a good one, though. Maybe a sneak attack if things went south….

[Elayne]

Go, PokeBall!

One... two... and...

Sidney Ridley
Mh7Lo|D2p_

Lucky! After furiously shaking, it seems that the Oricorio isn't going to escape this time!


The Oricorio was caught!
One ball has been removed from your inventory.

[Elayne]

Go, PokeBall!

One... two... and...

Sage Harper
7Hot7VUqp_


The Oricorio broke free!

p_

The Oricorio fled!

p_

The ball didn't break though!

··

[Sage Harper]

188 Words

Sorry its short but Im trying to leave it open

No Pressure, No Diamond

Sage continued to play, and it did look like the two pokemon had calmed down a bit.  One more time. She grabbed another pokeball and tossed it at the weakened Oricorio. She didnt stop playing though, knowing that the large Oricorio was still there and still a threat. 

Unfortunately the pokemon escaped the ball, and Sage's face fell as the Oricorio fled. Well, that was disappointing. Her pokemon still looked pretty bad and the larger Oricorio was shaking off the momentary distraction of the music. Sage's music faltered and she looked to Sid. "Shall we run? I think our pokemon need a rest...." She asked nervously.

Without waiting for their answer, she pulled Staccato back, since he was far too weak, but she spoke to the other two. "Quick, use Icy Wind, Solo, and Piper use Ember." Piper was quicker, spitting embers at the pokemon. Then Solo took a deep breath, and blew out  frozen wind with shards of frost. She intended to use the moves to cover their retreat if necessary, but maybe Sid's pokemon could deal enough damage that they could both end up taking it down.  

Staccato lvl6 (10 Hp/5 Energy)
Piper lvl 11 (10 Hp/4 Energy)
Solo lvl 9 (10 HP/ 4 Energy)

x

[Sidney Ridley]

As the music died down and the boss Oricorio was left, Sid winced. Yeah there was no way Excalbur was going to be able to handle this. Even with a Type advantage and the element of surprise on its side— Their hand reached for a Pokeball with a bright red cap and a thunder bolt on the top. Even Excalibur looked worried as they did so. He knew that one. And oh dear.

As the moves were used, Sid released the contents of the ball. A feisty looking Rotom burst forth in a frenzy zapping around with incredible speed. A sharp series of orders spoken only in Kantonian escaped from Sid, and a frenzied Shock Wave was discharged right after the other moves. Whereas the Icy Wind and Ember had done only a little bit of damage to this stronger opponent, the Shock Wave all but fried it. The Oricorio screamed and immediately fainted. “Shit…” Sid winced and was quick to recall the aggressive monster of a Pokemon before running over to said Oricorio. “Oh Ho-oh…” they murmured softly looking at the downed bird.

Shifting their bag off their back, they immediately started pulling out supplies and setting them on the ground one by one. Their medical training was more than enough to take care of the minor wounds, but the major ones would take some time. They worked carefully abet shakily now.

Notes: What happens when you bring a level 30 Rotom to a level 15 fight. Potentially some backstory though.