[HopelessStar]

Josh Devlin - Rewards sent, and I remembered to double your pen!

A wild Toxapex has appeared!

What will you do?

	Toxapex Lv44
		5 Energy
	Average	Hasty
	Merciless
MOVES
Baneful Bunker, Liquidation, Pin Missle, Toxic Spikes
NOTES
N/A

Alicia Westfield - Your rewards have been sent as well!

A wild Wailmer has appeared!

What will you do?

	Wailmer Lv10
		5 Energy
	Huge!	Brave
	Water Veil
MOVES
Splash, Growl, Astonish
NOTES
N/A

[Josh Devlin]

Josh was a bit concerned that Resheph might be a bit flighty and floaty for a less experienced trainer, but at least she was reliable. "Resheph, make sure to keep steady for Alicia - she's new to flying and swimming on a Pokémon," Josh asked of the long dragon-type. "I know you're excited, but don't jump out of the water unless she asks, okay?" With that, he turned his attention fully back to Alicia. "You're not bad. Wben you're a more experienced trainer, we should have a match sometime."

After both their victories, the two were ready to cast off the islet and across the endless-looking sea. A fidgety Snacker gave Josh a little trouble as he mounted up, the water-type snapping his jaw out of impatience. "Onward!" he cried, his Pokémon's jet sputtering at first but getting up to speed quickly. While he wasn't full-on racing the Sharpedo, Josh was pushing him quite a bit faster than Alicia was willing to. While Resheph was more than capable of keeping up, he was unsure if her rider was. "Hey Snacker, can you ease up a little bit? We might be getting too far ahead."

The next twenty minutes were pretty uneventful other than passing by a cruise ship; as to not incite a panic, Josh and the aquatic predator gave the vessel a wide berth. In the process, he had ventured close to a Corsola reef sticking out of the shallows to the north - there very well could be a sandbar there during low tide. Out of the corner of his vision, he caught a glimpse of the top of a teal-colored Corsola. His interest piqued, he edged a bit closer. Wait...those were spikes! "Toxapex!" he shouted, hopefully loud enough to hear. "Snacker, Aqua Jet out of here!" The racer slammed his knees into the shark Pokémon's sides.

Tr5bte4|p_

With a burst of speed that briefly caused Josh to lurch backward, Snacker fled the wild faster than any swimming Pokémon most people had seen, Poison needles flew from the reef in all directions. In a large circle around the poison-type swimmer, so many needles hit the surface that the water rippled like it was raining. Once Snacker's Aqua Jet expired, Josh eased up on his Pokémon, if only to catch his breath. That jet was so powerful it nearly blew him off his Pokémon! Some training would be needed to withstand that kind of force if he wanted to race the Sharpedo next season...

---

Alicia Westfield

NAME          SPECIES       LV     EP   STATUS
Illumina      Lanturn        36      5      Good
Bladestorm    Skarmory       38      3  Critical
Snacker       Sharpedo       44      5      Good
Resheph       Dragonair      40      5      Good
EMPTY
EMPTY

{WC: 420}
{PC: 10}

[Alicia Westfield]

“I’ll think about it. It’s not something I usually dabble in to be honest.” Alicia admitted with a shrug, smiling. Then, perhaps almost… too eagerly, she mounted up in Resheph’s saddle. With a quick cheer she urged Resheph follow close to her trainer, smiling brightly. The Dratini line was always a flight of fancy in her heart, the free flying dragons somehow intrinsically more impressive then most of those discovered later on. On top of this they held a certain grace that no other could truly match in her opinion. Certainly the Milotic species, like she’d just battled with earlier, came close, but ultimately lost out in the end.

Perhaps it would be a startling change. Where she held back with Snacker, Alicia pushed for Resheph to keep pace with the shark, leaning and rolling into each of the serpentine dragon’s undulations with suprising accuracy. Almost like she was in some odd harmony with Resheph’s motions. The truth was, she turned on her Aura Sight and paid close attentions to the fluctuations in Resheph’s Aura, letting her read the Dragonair’s movement a half-second before she actually began the next swaying move. She couldn’t quite do that with the much more direct Snacker, making her hesitate to push the shark as fast as he could go.

But that wasn’t all she was paying attention to. Josh’s alarmed yelling reached her ears, and her same Aura Sight gave her a chance to spot the Toxapex in question just a bit earlier then she had any right too. “That’s… not good...” she mused, before patting Resheph. “Up and over it, alright Resheph?”

She was pretty sure she’d get a surprised look, but Josh had cleared it ahead of time on the condition that Alicia asked. So with a small dip, the Dragonair launched into the sky to soar over the otherwise troublesome Toxapex. Which, if Alicia was being honest, was more harrowing then she was expecting it to be, as she held on tight. It was only now that she recalled that the tack Resheph had didn’t strap the rider in. So Alicia got her grip where she could and kept reading into her borrowed mount’s movements.

While still rightfully frightened by the miscalculation, however, she was trying hard to look at it a better way. She was on arguably one of her favorite species of Pokemon ever, feeling the wind on her face, with nothing extra needed to keep Resheph aloft. The lack of flapping wings to jostle her actually made it easier then handling Flit or Queen Zing, all told. Much like Snacker, attempting to read their movements was an exercise in futility, where as she could adapt to Resheph’s flight. “That’s it.” Alicia mused, a brilliant smile on her face. “I’m getting a Dragonair of my own. One way or another… I know there was a specialized location for dragons in Johto, maybe there’s something similar here in Arciel…?”

Of course, she got no answer to her question. She was whispering and high in the sky at the moment. Sure the sun was beating down on her now but she just didn’t care anymore. This was too much fun once she got over her initial terror! And then she quirked an eyebrow in shock at a sight below her. There was an absurdly big ball-shaped wall causing a ruckus for some other wild water types. Not destructively or anything like the Toxapex earlier could probably cause, but it was certainly causing some shenanigans. “Down there. Let’s calm things down regarding that massive Wailmer, alright?”

Thus her flight came to an end as she side tracked for a moment. Much to her surprise, though, when the whale spotted Reeshra dipping into the water once more it came charging right at them. Apparently it was itching for a good battle… but Alicia wasn’t inclined to oblige it. Resheph wasn’t her Pokemon after all, and none of her team were either strong enough, well enough, or sea-worthy enough to put up a fight. As such, she pulled a Nest Ball out of her bag and chucked it straight at the Wailmer’s head. If she scored the catch, she’d come by to scoop the soon-to-be floating ball. If not, she was going to high-tail it out of there.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Josh Devlin

OOC: Attempting Nest Ball Catch on Wailmer raw. Pop Jack of All Trades if needed to make the catch successful.

[whimsae]

Alicia Westfield

Go, PokeBall!

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

M0PaFULNp_ +10



Jack of All Trades used! The Wild Pokemon was caught!

One Nest ball has been removed from your inventory.

[Josh Devlin]

After another uneventful fifteen minutes of coasting on Snacker's momentum, Josh noticed Alicia was handling Resheph surprisingly well; what took him hours to hone, she demonstrated mastery of in minutes. Had she ridden Dragonair in her journey across the Alolan islands? It would make sense - aquatic mounts were in high demand due to the region being...well, a chain of islands. With the two coordinating well, Josh decided it was safe to distance himself from her, Snacker slowly losing speed from resting his jet. Granted, they were coasting at quite the clip from having fled the Toxapex, though it wasn't anything the Dragonair couldn't keep up with.

After coasting down to a speed most ordinary trainers would find relaxing, Snacker snapped his jaws, then lightly flailed Josh. While it wasn't with a lot of strength, the jostling was enough to get his attention. The water-type's red eyes shifted upward to where even Josh could see them. "You want me to jump you? Is that what you're saying?" the trainer asked. A second snap of his menacing jaws was the only reply he got. "Alright then! Let's do it!"

Opening his big, serrated mouth, the shark took in a large amount of water, his jet at first sputtering before expelling a solid stream. The two accelerated rapidly, both of Josh's hands on the water-type's fin. "Now, get an Aqua Jet ready, and fire it when I pull back on your fin!" A subtle nod was the Sharpedo's answer. Josh took a deep breath and held it, pushing away from himself as a signal for the Pokémon to submerge, Once he had sank ten feet or so, the racer pulled back sharply, Snacker firing Aqua Jet from his rear. "Wahoo!" the boy shouted after breaching the surface in a breathtaking jump that would surely get the attention of anyone who happened to be watching. When they landed, gravity nearly fully submerged Josh, immersing him in water up to his shoulders before the shark stabilized its swimming path just below the surface. If Alicia was watching now, all she could see would be Josh's upper body and Snacker's top fin.

---

Alicia Westfield


NAME          SPECIES       LV     EP   STATUS
Illumina      Lanturn        36      5      Good
Bladestorm    Skarmory       38      3  Critical
Snacker       Sharpedo       44      5      Good
Resheph       Dragonair      40      5      Good
EMPTY
EMPTY

{WC: 358}
{PC: 11}

[Jenesis]

Alicia Westfield

What's this? You've found...

Sand x2!

Used for Crafting

Josh Devlin

Beachgoer Alda would like to battle!

50 Pen PokeHoney x3, Sand x2, Bamboo x1 Lanturn Lv45 5 Energy Average Brave Volt Absorb MOVES Aqua Ring, Flail, Discharge, Take Down

[Alicia Westfield]

With her new whale balled and scooped, the explorer swerved Resheph back on course to catch back up with Josh and Snacker. She wasn’t quite aware of Josh’s understandable misconception about what she had or hadn’t ridden in her time. If she were thinking about it, she might’ve realized how it looked herself. All told, though, she was still having a great time on the dragon’s back.

And then Snacker went and accelerated again. “Ah, hey, now what!?” Alicia griped out, biting her lip. “Resheph, think you can catch up to them?” There was a quick shake in the negative. The shark was much faster then most other water-bound pokemon already. Factor in Resheph’s swaying ‘stride’ and there was no hope of catching them if they went too far ahead. That’s when the truth of Snacker’s sudden acceleration came to light, the young man and his aquatic predator jumping into the sky for a minute, followed by quite the loud whooping of joy.

“Oh. Boys are being boys, huh?” Alicia quipped with a smirk. She shook her head and smiled, seeing the two after the end of their little bout of fun. And he certainly did catch quite a lot of attention. Possibly of the type he wasn’t exactly happy to be dealing with, if the gleam of Aura in a nearby swimmer was any indication. Were they going to be side tracked by another battle? Or would one side or the other think better of it? She supposed it would only be fair if Josh decided to take on the trainer, and there was probably another convenient islet nearby in case Josh had need of Resheph.

Or there was that Wailmer she just caught. Floating there and treading water couldn’t be that hard, right? And she was big enough for Alicia to frankly sun herself on, all told. She’d just have to close in and see what Josh was going to do about it.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Josh Devlin

[Josh Devlin]

Josh closed his eyes and took a deep breath before leaning down on Snacker briefly, the shark completely submerging for a few seconds before surfacing again. While it wasn't quite as refreshing as fresh water, it still gave him a much needed cooldown, what with it being the hottest part of the day. He gave another traveler and their Lanturn a wide berth, as to not spook them with the mere presence of a Sharpedo. His big wake tested the female's balance aboard the electric swimmer.

After swimming around another large sandbar, a giant cityscape came into view on the bottom of the horizon. Josh took a quick glance backward to see Resheph rather far back. While Dragonair were good at both swimming and flying, the species wasn't built for speed like Sharpedo were. "Looks like we left them in the dust, buddy," Josh laughed with his aquatic companion. The young man eased up on his mount's sides, Snacker responding by turning his water jet off and simply coasting on his immense momentum, slowing down enough for Alicia and Resheph to eventually catch up. "We're just about there!" Josh squinted to see if he could identify anything other than the prominent buildings along the boardwalk, but he was still too far away.

---


Alicia Westfield


NAME          SPECIES       LV     EP   STATUS
Illumina      Lanturn        36      5      Good
Bladestorm    Skarmory       38      3  Critical
Snacker       Sharpedo       44      5      Good
Resheph       Dragonair      40      5      Good
EMPTY
EMPTY

{WC: 211}
{PC: 12}

[HopelessStar]

Alicia Westfield

Beachgoer Wolfgang would like to battle!

54 Pen Pecha Berry x2, Clay x1, Bamboo x2 Magikarp Lv12 5 Energy Huge! Quiet Swift Swim MOVES Splash Shellos Lv5 5 Energy Small Careful Storm Drain MOVES Water Gun, Mud-Slap, Harden Marill Lv15 5 Energy Small Naive Huge Power MOVES Bubble Beam, Rollout, Bounce, Charm

Josh Devlin

A wild Staryu has appeared!

What will you do?

	Staryu Lv38
		5 Energy
	Average	Modest
	Natural Cure
MOVES
Power Gem, Confuse Ray, Light Screen, Swift
NOTES
N/A

[Alicia Westfield]

Alicia sighed softly and smiled. Fortunately she could make use of the fact that Sharpedo had to go around that sandbar. A quick moment to ask for it had the serpent take to the skies and shortcut over the bar. The aquatic predator was still far ahead of them, but this at least helped cut the distance down.

Though, he managed to glance down and see a young boy with his Magikarp gazing up at Resheph and her in awe. It wasn’t every day you saw a bonafide dragon in skies after all. Alas, there was little time and there was still much distance to make up, so she passed the pair by without picking a fight. Plus, it’d be rude to go ruin a kid’s day. She was no bully after all.

Once she was over the bar, she had Resheph dip back down into the water. It was too hot for shenanigans like that for too long. She glanced around to make sure she could see Josh’s Lanturn, but she was fairly confident that Josh wouldn’t have gone racing off if he was worried about the angler fish losing them. On top of that, everyone knew where they were going so worst case scenario one would just have to wait for their slower friend to arrive.

She did still worry, though, but that was just who she was. There was the notice that the shark was slowing down to let them catch up, though. That was appreciated.

———————————————————-

Josh Devlin