((No, my first Pokemon Game was Pokemon Emerald. But it glitched, and I didn't play for a couple of years. Then I got Pokemon Pearl, then Pokemon Platinum, then Soul Silver, then I got Pokemon Black. I'm just gone a bit hyper about the new generation, you see...I do like Pokemon from the other generations. :-D))

Becky stood up, looked around, then sighed.

"I guess I should get going...it's pretty late." she muttered. As she began to walk, she noticed something odd; somewhere far above, there was a shadow hovering. Suddenly, it stopped hovering.........and shot down right towards Becky. Before Becky could react, the mysterious creature was upon her, and knocked her back. Becky yelped as she hit the ground. The thing, whatever it was, landed a short distance away. Becky shakily stood up and stared at it. Then she realised what it was. It was a Pokemon she had seen only once before, belonging to her cousin from Hoenn...

"Is that a Skarmory?" Becky whispered. The metallic bird Pokemon screeched. It flew up again and became cloaked in bright light. Then it shot down towards Becky once more.

"It's using Sky Attack!" Becky gasped. She closed her eyes and braced herself for the massive blow...

...the attack never hit. Opening her eyes, Becky saw......Flare, her Volcarona, had emerged from it's Pokeball and used Heat Wave on the Skarmory. The super-effective move had hit hard, and the Skarmory was on the ground.

"Thanks, Flare!" Becky praised her Pokemon.

"Volcaaaaa!" Flare cried. Skarmory had got to it's feet.

"Skaarrrrmorry..." it growled (if Flying types could growl). It managed to lift itself into the air. Flare braced itself for an attack. Becky thought for a moment. Both Pokemon had a type disadvantage against each other; Skarmory was vulnerable to Flare's Fire type attacks, and Flare was vulnerable to Skarmory's Flying type attacks. But Becky was determined to win.

"Alright, Flare, use Heat Wave again!" Becky commanded.

"VOLCAAAAAAAAAA!" Flare cried, before firing the attack.

"SKARMOOOOORRR!" Skarmory screeched at that exact moment. It flew forward. It's wings began to glow; Becky realised that it was using Steel Wing. The two attacks collided, and a massive cloud of dust rose into the air.

When the dust cleared, Becky saw that both Flare and Skarmory had been knocked down by the force of the attacks.

"Thanks so much, Flare!" Becky said. "You take a nice long rest!" She recalled her Pokemon, then looked over at Skarmory. The bird Pokemon was struggling to stand. Becky drew an empty Pokeball from her pocket.

"Might as well use the opertunity!" she said, and hurled the Pokeball at Skarmory. Becky hardly dared to breathe. Skarmory was sucked into the Pokeball in a flash. The Pokeball quivered a few times...then stopped moving all together. Becky picked the Pokeball up.

"My my, I caught  a Skarmory!" she said, happy. She sent the Pokemon out. It stood patiently before her. But then Becky began to wonder something.

"Hang on..." Becky muttered. "What's a Skarmory like you doing in Unova? Oh well, welcome to the team! I think I'll call you...Screech. How's that name?"

"Skarrrr!" Skarmory cried, seeming to nod it's head. Becky smiled. But the question still remained; where exactly DID this Skarmory come from?

((I just felt like catching a Skarmory...xD))

((Becky, oh okay. :P

*waits for Choco*))

((My first Pokemon game was Yellow <3))

"Actually-"  Sid started  "I have my partner Dusk for all my flying needs."  He gestured to his Murkrow, who seemed to be calming its self.  "But I could use some help extinguishing the fire.  You don't happen to have any, or know anyone who has any water- type Pokemon, do you?"

Using his keen reflexes- which he'd gained through years of Ranger work- Sidney dove to the left to avoid a collapsing tree, weakened by the raging fire.  He nearly dropped the Togepi whom he'd hidden in his overcoat, the freightened Pokemon huddling tightly to him as the Ranger regained his lost balance.

"Its really urgent, and I have to get this under control fast."  He loosely placed his hand on his capture styler just in case, then thinking better and shifting to unveil the Togepi hidden in his coat.  "And if you could take her, I'd be delighted.  She'd be safer with you, and not here so exposed to the heat.

He presented the Pokemon to the Charizard- rider, placing it beside him without waiting for approval.  There was no time for that.  Shortly after, he located a Blastoise, sure to be a highly difficult capture.  But he had to take the risk.

"Capture- On!"  He announced, striking his signature Ranger pose with confidence.  His capture disk nervously revealed its self, moving in tune with the wand built into the styler.  But alas, the tough water- type Pokemon broke the capture line numerous times, putting great strain on the styler and disk alike.

This was when things needed to get serious.  The determined Ranger called out his partner to assist him, the Murkrow using his wing attack to weaken and distract the Blastoise.  This worked for a mere moment, the Pokemon then lashing out.  Dusk scuttled to safety, the line from the capture disk reaching its limit.  The disk came to a tottering halt, the wand retracting after becoming unresponsive.  The Blastoise dashed off, leaving the capture disk to its lonesome.

Reclaiming the defeated disk, he now had little means of combatting the flames.  How was he to climb to the ranking of Top Ranger like this?  This was the third time he'd ever broken his styler, though it was an easy fix back at the Ranger HQ.  Desperately, Sidney turned his attention back to the Policeman, pleading that he could do something.  Anything.

((My first game was Pearl, but several times before that I played other games like Gold (although they weren't mine). I also used to be obsessed with the anime and nearly everything Pokemon, so I have nearly all (if not every) Pokemon's name memorized (except Gen V). :D

*continues to wait for Choco*))

((Sorry! I just snuck away from my relatives! Boy, I don't want to hear another word of politics for a week. XP))

Colette noticed a vague feeling in the air. She looked a little more closely at Crystal and noticed Crystal's eyebrow's were twitching. "Spoons! What did I tell you about reading people's minds without permission?!" Sponns mumbled sheepishly and stopped reading Crystal's mind. He couldn't tell what he heard to Colette because she won't like how he snuck into her thoughts. "I'm sooooo sorry! Spoons has to learn self-control." She apologized and flashed an angry look at Spoons he rolled his eyes. "Sure I'd love to swim with you guys!" She exclaimed and snapped her fingers. "Aww shoot! I left my other pokemon at my house." She didn't want to say gym so as not to make the girl feel uncomfortable. "You don't mind if I run and get them, do you? My pokemon loves the water!" She asked hoping to hurry back to the gym to tell the ref she'll be gone for the rest of the day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Michael nodded and started thinking of the people he knew had water-type pokemon that could handle this. The officer with the gyrados was on vacation in the island, the firefighters aren't used to these forest fires, and his friends like rock pokemon. Then he thought of the gym leader. "Of course! The gym leader has a strong water-type pokemon! I'll be right back." He exclaimed, grabbed the togepi gently, signaled to Flames to start flying, and raced away off torwards the gym.

"I won't mind, don't worry," Crystal said, and smiled. "Take as long as you want." But inside, Crystal couldn't help but worry a little. Spoons read her mind? What if he told Colette Crystal's plan? Bloodstone noticed Crystal's unhappiness, and shot Spoons a glare that meant, "Do anything else and prepare to fight."

((Short post. >.< It's not easy to write a lot when you're interacting with another character.)) 

((Very true! Michael's part is much shorter which is depressing.))

 Colette nodded and said, "Thanks it won't take long!" And started to jog back to the gym beckoning Spoons to follow. Spoons shot Bloodstone a you don't know who you're messing with. look and hurried after Colette. "Don't tell me what you heard Spoons." Colette muttered when they were out of earshot. "Unless it's a life or death situation."

"But..."

"No buts! I don't want to know!"

Spoons shrugged hoping to tell her when she was in a better mood. Colette hurried into the gym and grabbed Spout's and Jelly's pokeballs. She also changed into her bathing suit. Just as she was leaving a charizard landed in front of her. "I'm sorry, but I'm not accepting challanges right now." She said then noticed it was a police officer. "Oh, hello Officer. What brings you around here?" She asked.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Michael quickly told Colette about the forest fire. She hesitated only a moment. "All right I'm coming." She said and let her Ditto out. He transformed into a charizard and Colette nodded to Michael. "You lead the way." she said and Michael took off torwards the fire urging Flames to go faster. He saw the same clearing and ranger and landed closely followed by Colette. "Can you help?" he asked shooting her a pleading glance.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Colette nodded and took out Spout's pokeball. "Go Spout!" She shouted and Spout came out and panicked abit seeing that he was surrounded by fire. "Pretend this a fir wheel! Now... ESCAPE!" She shouted and Spout started spinning as fast as he could. When he reached max speed he shot out a hydro pump dousing all the flames and getting everyone effectively wet. he stopped spinning and shouted with triumph. "Good job Spout! Return!" Colette said and Spout shot back into his pokeball. "I think that takes care of it." Colette said then looked at her watch. "Oh gosh that took a while! I got to go. Bye!" She shouted to Michael and the ranger. She hopped back on Jelly and took off torwards the lake. She hoped Crystal was still there.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Michael waved bye and walked over to the ranger. "You okay?" he asked then noticed the disk. "Did it break on that Blastoise? Do you need some help fixing it?" He asked.

"Chu? Chuuu?" Jewel asked, trying to give Crystal the puppy eye look. "No more food for now, Jewel," Crystal said, but the little Raichu continued to beg. "Jewel, I said no." Raichu tried again. "Chuuuuuuu...?" Crystal sighed, and took out a poffin that she had saved. "Fine, but after this no more." Jewel happily gobbled up the poffin, and jumped back into the water.

((I know, my post is short and completely useless lol. xD)) 

((Not completely! It lets me know that you're still there! XD))

Colette landed a few feet away from the lake in the woods. "Jelly transform!" She said and Jelly turned back into a blob. She picked him up and carried him torwards the lake. When she emerged from the woods and saw Crystal still there, she breathed a sigh of relief. She walked over to Crystal and sat down. "Sorry that took so long. I had to take care of something." She said and realized how weird she must look in a bathing suit going to get her pokemon and coming back with them and a few burns.

Sidney watched from aside as the Wailord and its trainer took control of the situation so quickly, the Ranger feeling about useless.  And she was gone before he could utter a word, flying off on that suspicious- looking Charizard.  And all the while wearing a bathing suit.  Strange.

His wide, awe- struck eyes darted to the police officer, eyeliner melting down his cheeks.

"I'm fine, thank you."  He dusted off his outfit, nine days out of ten refusing to wear your standard Ranger uniform.  A seamstress had been hired to custom- make him one that better fit his style, but until then he'd just flaunt his own clothing.  "And yeah, that was one tough Pokemon.  But a quick trip to the HQ and it'll all be fixed..."  He muttered, grinning at the officer as if to thank him for his aid.  A quick flick of a finger towards his partner, and the Murkrow got the signal.  The bird approached Togepi, allowing the small Pokemon on its back.

A sly smirk, combined with a nod, and it was Ranger out.  He outsretched his hands in an upward motion, Dusk gripping at the boy's wrists.  The dark bird then hovered into the skies, the Ranger trusting of his partner's grip.  They'd always flown like this because the small Murkrow could never bear the Ranger on his back.  Another reason an evolution would be of convience.

((Almost forget about Togepi DX))

"It's alright," Crystal said, not wanting Colette to worry about it. She noticed Colette's burns, but didn't say anything about it. Having her own secret, Crystal knew some things didn't need to be known by others. And she didn't want to make things awkward either. "I'm going to get into the water. You can swim too if you want, I'm sure your Pokemon will love it. The temperature is perfect today!" Crystal got up and stepped into the water. It felt a little warmer than it was a few minutes ago, but it was probably just because Crystal was out of the water for some time.

"Chu!" Jewel exclaimed. She ran over to meet Colette's other Pokemon, and offered them a poffin. Crystal noticed, but didn't bother scolding Jewel. She was tired of telling Jewel to stop.

((I just realized she was still in her bathing suit and I forgot about togepi too. XD And hi Kate!))

Michael nodded and watched the ranger fly off. 'What an odd way to travel." He said to himself and hopped back on Flames. He then took off to HQ to report what happened and give his version of the story. He remembered asking why one day and the commander snarled, "Because some group has been doing anything they can to humiliate us!" He never had a chance to ask which group.

((I gtg! Be on tomorrow! DX))

Colette nodded and let out Spoons who sat in the shade of a tree just meditating. "No mind games Spoons!" She called and he smirked. "I would let out Spout, but he's pretty tired right now." She commented leaving the pokeball next to Jelly who sniffed the poffin, ate it, and then turned into Jewel. "Chu!" He yelled and smiled at Jewel. Colette dove into the water enjoying the cool feeling of the water after that fire. "What are your pokemon/s names? The other raichu is Jelly and you now Spoons." She asked Crystal.

((See you when you're back!

Btw, I'm confused. Was Spoons reading Crystal's mind? And let me guess, the group that was bothering the commander was the group Crystal was in. :P))

"My Salamence is Bloodstone, my Raichu is Jewel, and my Espeon is Sapphire," Crystal said. "Bloodstone was my very first Pokemon. I got Jewel the day after. I think I got Sapphire a month or so later, I'm not so sure." She felt something on her leg, and reached down to feel what was there. She nearly screamed, but then she realized it was just a Magikarp swimming in the lake. "Sorry about that," Crystal said, a bit embarassed.

"Chu!" Raichu said, shocked at how it transformed into a Raichu. "Chu chu chu?" (Translation: Wanna swim?) she said after realizing it was a ditto.

((Yeah I didn't know if you wanted your group to be on a global scale or not. I thought that was okay. Yes Spoons was reading Crystal's mind. I made up the twitching eyebrows just to give it a more intrusive feeling i geuss.))

Colette laughed and shrugged. "It's okay. Everyone gets scared from time to time. Even when it's not really scary at all." She said and picked up a Shellder from the bottom of the lake. "I was thinking about catching one of these, but I like my team the way it is right now. I got Spoons first from one of my neighbors when he was an Abra. I got Jelly afterwards from a trainer who abused their pokemon. Spout, my Wailord, came last from a fisherman's net as a Wailmer. I don't know what I'd do with out them." She said and put the Shellder back on the lake bed. After surfacing again she asked, "Could you imagine losing your pokemon and never seeing them again? It'd be awful wouldn't it?"

Jelly nodded and said, "Chu!" (Translation: Sure!) He turned and did a flying leap into the lake. He surfaced and waved jewel in with his tail.

((No, it is okay. :P

And if Spoons is reading Crystal's mind, then I might as well write what she's thinking.

Oops, I just realized that Crystal had a Butterfree. >.< I'm too lazy to go and edit my other post, so I'll just include Butterfree in this post.

One more thing, I hope you don't mind, but Crystal curses in her mind a little. I don't mean to be rude or anything, but when Crystal is really upset she curses. ^^; If it's really bothering you, I'll edit my post.))

"Yeah," Crystal said, turning to look at all her Pokemon. She looked back at Colette and said, "It really would be awful if I lost my Pokemon. They all mean a lot to me," She glanced at her Pokemon one more time, and then looked at Colette again. "I found Bloodstone as an abandoned egg left to die. The next day, she hatched. I found Jewel as a Pichu when she was drowning, so I rescued her, and she wanted to stay with me so I let her. Sapphire was a little Eevee who tried to impress me so I'd let her join my team, and eventually, I did. Last but not least, I found my Butterfree, Ruby, as a Caterpie about to be eaten by a Swellow. I rescued her, and decided to keep her. At first someone told me she wasn't normal and I got worried, but it turned out she was shiny."

((Inside Crystal's mind.)) I'm trying to act all nice to Colette, but truth is, I don't care about her at all. And I'm acting like I'm her friend or something. She's nice to have around and keeps me from getting lonely, but I don't need her. And I still can't get over the fact that her damn Alakazam read my mind. If it tells Colette my secret, I'm ruined. I really can't enjoy my life, can I? Problems pile up on me one by one. And that's not all. After talking about all my Pokemon, I feel sick. Not because I hate my Pokemon, but because whenever I think about any Pokemon, mine or someone else's, I remember about my 'duty' and how I have to capture and hurt Pokemon just so they can fulfill their goddamn dream.

Jewel hopped in with Jelly, and splashed him with water. "Chu!" she exclaimed cheerfully.

((Hai Choco ^_^  *Eats a Chocobar*  I got one with nuts ;D))

Back at the Ranger HQ, Sidney was welcomed by the woman at the counter.  They exchanged a wave, the Ranger trying to conceal his embarrassment.  But by the thin whisp of smoke emitted from the disk, the woman knew what was going on.

"Again, Sid?"  She sighed with a slight shake of the head.  "Thank goodness this is an easy fix.  I'll take your styler now, and give me ten minutes to let it recharge."

Without a word, the Ranger did as she said, then focusing his attention on his partner and the Togepi it carried.  He'd have the little thing checked out in the time he waited for his styler.  He gently retrieved the normal- type Pokemon from the back of his Murkrow, carrying it to a counter where medicine of various types nestled on shelves adjacent to berries and some odd powders.

The man behind the counter pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, already examining the possibly- damaged Pokemon.  "She looks to be fine, but a Rawst berry should relieve any burns she may have."  The young man handed the Togepi a berry, and she happily devoured it.

"Can you check her moves to pass some time?"  The Ranger requested, the man appearing happy to do so.  He set her on the counter top, placing his own Rattata up there as well.  The rat used a light tail whip, and the Togepi struck back with...  Absorb?

"That's Metronome."  The two Pokemon continued to battle lightly, the egg- like Pokemon often mimicking the moves of the Rattata.  "Seems like the only other move she knows is Mirror Move.  That's special, considering that it can only be inherited through its parents."

Bouncing the small Pokemon as he walked, the Ranger reclaimed his fully- charged styler, his partner not far behind.  "We have to take this little one back home now, Dusk."  And with that, the trio had taken to the skies as soon as they'd exited the building. 

((Yay! More profit and caraziness! *Noms on a Chocobar* I'm fine with swearing and thats exactly who most people probably feel when they find out someone can read minds! :D))

Spoons was lucky that the water kept Colette from noticing Crystal's eyebrows as he meditated/read her mind. It was nice to gain some info on friends and foes. He sighed since he'd probably get yelled at sooner or later. Though just for a quick tease Spoons shot Crystal a knowing look like he found out everything. His power isn't that strong. He'd have to practice for years to do that.

Colette nodded and wondering if this was an uncomfortable subject quickly changed it. "I understand. So what did you set out on your journey for? Badges, contests, or just to get away from nagging parents?" She asked floating on her back looking up at the sky.

Jelly giggled and dove underwater. He looked around and saw a school of Horsea. He transformed and burst back through the water. "Sea sea?" he asked. (Translation:Wanna race?)