Day One: Embarking! [mod please]

[metronome]

Day One
Umbil Lake - Pedaling to Ambus Town
Pokemon:

Lv 5 (Soundproof)


Ella stood near the board advertising Umbil Lake’s pedalboats, looking down at the pokeball in her hand. She wasn’t so sure about meeting her starter. She welled with what-ifs as she curled in her lips and passed them across her teeth, wondering. She hadn’t done this for quite a while… but worst-case scenario, she would have to get someone to travel around with her or just stick to the cities until she sorted something else out.

She drew in a deep breath and pressed the button.

--

Mime Jr. had sensed that today would be different. She’d said so as soon as some other pen-mates had woken from their mid-morning nap, her tone striking and sure, to which they responded by rolling their eyes or sharing knowing glances. Annoyed by their pessimism, Mime Jr had paced about the lab’s enclosure, pressing her nose to the glass now and again to study the humans and machines on the other side. She tried to reach out mentally to pick up, perhaps, on stray thoughts or emotions, to no avail; failing there, she studied and mimicked the people, moving just as they did, gesturing as they did… only to find that they moved with brisk regularity.

The beeping coffee pot confirmed this.

Slumping and wandering away from the glass, Mime Jr. went to sit as far away from the snickering scraggy as she could. Gastly roamed about but ignored her, wurmple hummed pleasantly to himself, and the gothita sat opposite her and stared.

The little mime shivered and covered her eyes with her fingerless hands.

The sounds of someone approaching stirred the mime, who turned to peek through the glass. The yellow lab-man was there, looking excited. The little part-psychic’s heart swelled; she watched him gather a pokeball and open the hatch. When the red beam darted for her, she had just enough time to share an overjoyed look with the surprised wurmple before her world spun and she was gone, into the black.

--

The tingling sensation faded as the little mime reappeared, gravel beneath her feet registering first, and then the sun in the sky above. She squeakily cried out in happiness, flung her arms up happily (as she had seen a lab aide do after tossing a paper ball into a bucket) and looked around to find the human responsible.

Ella and the mime locked eyes, and they smiled almost in unison. The little mime burst into a stream of relieved-sounding chatter (how glad she was to be out of there, she thought she’d never be picked, she’d been there longer than wurmple!) as she bounced from one leg to another.

Ella couldn’t understand but found herself laughing, quite taken with the little thing. Its voice sounded feminine, she thought, but with it being so young it was hard to tell. She checked her pokedex quickly – it did say Jr., though Ella was pretty sure even the females got that name, strangely – stumped.

Dropping into a crouch, Ella waved. Little-mime mirrored the motion, smile stuck on her face. “Hi there, I’m Ella.” She stopped short when she felt something press against her palm—like a small finger had poked her, though there had been nothing there. Psychic energy, perhaps?

“Mime!” the pokemon squeaked cheerily.

Ella rested both hands on her knees, pausing. “Are you a boy or a girl?”

Blinking rapidly, the little mime pokemon looked around. Then she dashed into the grass off the path and returned with a dandelion. With exaggerated motions she sniffed it and blinked flutteringly, hmm!ing like a quaintly pleased little lady. Ella could all but picture the flowing gown and bonnet hat, and laughed.

“Very good!” Ella said, grinning wide. She couldn’t have made a better choice. “In that case, I’m not gonna call you Mime Jr… How about I call you Missy?”

Tossing the dandelion back to the grass with a flourish (like she was casting a rose to an adoring fan), the pokemon turned back to the human with a happy nod.

Ten minutes or so later, the newly formed team was settling into one of Umbil Lake’s pedalboats, the art major resting her bags on the small boat’s other seat. The tiny mime pokemon clambered on top and sat, looking about like a wide-eyed child; Ella thanked the person who had helped get her rental situated and began to make for Ambus town, explaining her mission to Missy as she did so. They were looking for unown to take back to Baxter at the lab. The notion sounded great to the little mime, who was excited to visit her friends back at the lab. The little mime piped up in what Ella took as reassurance, cheerily hopping up and down.

[ZOM]

The paddleboat made steady progress across the wide lake, and as calm as the water was at the moment the trip would be serene and easy all the way to shore. Ambus Town wasn't quite visible from Pumice Rock, except from a high point like several stories up in the lab, perhaps, but paddling out on the water for a few minutes brought the shoreline into view. Green grass and, more prominently, vibrant fields of flowers were just visible to the naked eye. Any quick search online for information on the town would have plenty to say about the Fire Fields, so this was an easy way to locate Ambus as opposed to, say, the grasslands or the forest.

It would take probably 30 minutes of leisurely paddling to read the dock connecting to the Fire Fields, and significantly less if Ella chose to pick up the pace, but on such a nice, sunny day it would seem a shame to rush things. If she had, after all, she might have missed what was beginning to happen in the lake around her. One by one, small blue orbs quietly surfacing from beneath the water to lazily float atop the lake's surface. At first only a few had risen to the top, but within minutes there were at least fifteen of them surrounding Ella's paddleboat. They weren't moving around, really, at least not much, but they were curious things. There would be at least one within poking distance if Ella chose to touch one and examine it.

In the distance, perhaps somewhere behind the paddleboat, a teeny-tiny squeaking sound could just barely be heard, if Ella or Missy were listening hard enough. It was certainly easy enough to ignore, though, especially with the leisurely cries of Wingull flying far overhead to distract from the squeaks.

[metronome]

Ella eventually stopped pedaling, giving her legs a break and letting the boat just float. She rested back in her seat and looked around—at the wheeling wingull, at the flower fields on the horizon, at the shimmering water’s surface, just soaking everything in. Missy, meanwhile, lay atop her new trainer’s bag, arms resting across her stomach and her small eyes closed, taking in the sun.

So focused was the girl on the distance that it took her a minute to realize that some…things… had surrounded their small boat. Spheres—blue ones. Blinking, Ella studied them, eyes looking for definitive lines or colors of whatever was below-water, trying to identify the objects. She turned to check the other side of the boat and saw one blue thing so close she could touch it.

The near-noon sun reflected off the water, making even that close one difficult to make out.

She made a mental note to buy herself some sunglasses. Ella scratched at her nose and then reached out to poke the nearest blue thing with three fingers, giving it a couple nudging prods.

Missy, who’d felt the boat stop moving, sat up groggily to see what was going on. She saw what Ella was doing and sat up straighter, her sharp little eyes pegged at the blue shape. Her mouth set—middle up, corners down—ready to attack with a Confusion attack if the mysterious object did anything funny.

[ZOM]

The orb was slick and smooth, and at first, it didn't react at all to the prodding. However, after a moment, it began to tremble violently, and the water around it began to bubble, and finally, an Azurill burst from beneath the water, screeching "riiiiiiiiiii!" as if it were some sort of battle cry.

Every orb followed in this Azurill's footsteps, shaking and then bursting out of the water with its owner attached and crying out. Not only was it rather deafening, which was unpleasant enough, but their gaping mouths began to spew water at the trainer and her Pokemon. The Water Gun attacks were rather weak; clearly most of them were only babies, and they couldn't put much power behind their sneak attack, not even enough to do damage worth mention. One, though, packed a bit of a punch. Its Water Gun burst towards Missy, and once that was fired off the Azurill giggled and did a little backflip, landing atop its tail and floating on top of the water. Its co-conspirators followed suit, though not nearly as smoothly.

+Hehehe, bet we scared ya good!+ It looked quite pleased with itself, and it grinned teasingly at Ella and Missy.

[metronome]

Both the budding artist and the little mime stared at the shaking orb, mouths open in the shape of small O’s. Ella and Missy both screamed in shock at the sudden splash, leap, and shriek of the mysterious blue thing, Ella shielding her face and Missy looking around at all the synchronized azurill. She was caught between anxiety—there were a lot of targets!—and being impressed with their mimicry.

Then the Water Guns started.

“AAAAAAIIIIIII! Stop!! Stop stop stop!” Ella shouted, warding away what she could with her arms. She was always very conscious of water, since she so often carried notepads and sketchbooks with her. In fact, she had several in her backpack that Missy was sitting on... A backpack that was definitely not water-proof.

Missy wasn’t really any worse for the wear after the barrage, but for the stinging hit that hit her back. That final attack was from the leader, who presently flipped (was mimicked), and taunted them, smirking.

Not one to be outdone, Missy hopped into the air with surprising nimbleness, “hands” on her hips when she landed and a smug expression just like the azurill’s on her face. <Hehehe, bet we scared ya good!> she called back, mimicking the tone and volume of the part-normal’s gloat.

With that, mini-mime lifted her arm to point at the lead Azurill and used Confusion, trying to tweak the attack as much as possible so that it really stung. Then she raised both arms and made the air before her reverberate, using Barrier. Regardless of how her own attack went, she’d be better protected against any more Water Guns. She stuck her tongue out at the lead azurill and blew a raspberry, bouncing from one foot to another.

Ella’s eyes went wide and she pressed both hands to her cheeks. Her bag was going to get soaked! She dragged her hands down, pulling at the skin beneath her eyes before she dropped her hands (fists now) to her lap and groaned. Staying still in her seat, only her eyes moved, looking from the many azurill on one side to the troop on the other, afraid to move lest she be targeted again. Her bag with Potions from the lab was resting on the floor; she’d be able to reach it if needed, at least.

“Be careful Missy…” she quietly urged, drops of water rolling down her face.

Missy is hit by Water Gun!
Missy uses Confusion on the lead Azurill.
Missy uses Barrier.

[ZOM]

The Azurill, now lazily drifting about in the water atop his ball, faltered when Missy hopped up and executed a rather flawless mimicry of his taunting. +Why, you,+ he began, more confused than offended but still feeling the need to respond assertively. The crowd of Azurill murmured nervously, lacking understanding of the situation and beginning to feel like this might get ugly.

The Confusion attack sealed the deal. When their leader started to writhe and squeak with pain and alarm the group wailed in unison and scattered in all directions, swimming home to their mothers, no doubt. That left just the ringleader, panting and scowling after the brief but unpleasant surge of psychic energy. He winced and rolled off his ball, landing in the water with a gentle Splash and turning a surly gaze up at Missy. +Fine, then!+ For a moment, it looked like he might retaliate.

Azurill, M, lvl 7, Huge Power
Splash, Water Gun, Tail Whip, Water Sport, Bubble, Encore

... Except, instead, his scowl melted away and was replaced by a hammy grin. +Encore! Encore! Bravo!+ His eyes gleamed as he showered the mime with praise, encouraging her with an Encore to repeat the Barrier move she had just used. He had seen the faint shimmer of the Barrier as it was conjured, and though he didn't know it, Water Gun was just the right type of move to fire through the barely-visible wall unhindered; Barrier was great defense against physical moves, but special moves would not be stopped by it. His only thought was that the Barrier seemed pretty harmless, and he didn't want to get hit by another Confusion attack for a while. +Keep it comin'!+

Azurill is hit by Confusion!
Azurill uses Splash... but nothing happens.
Azurill uses Encore.

((because it'd be silly if Missy was stuck using Barrier for three whole posts, it's fine if she simply uses it three times total, so twice in one post and once in the next! your call!))

[metronome]

(Eeee! Little bugger blue. :D Actually, I'll take you up on that! I'll count each use of Barrier as a turn. Thanks Zom. :>)

Ella watched the battle unfold, taking a measure of pride in her starter’s tenacity and acting ability. The scattering act of the azurill tag-alongs was a pleasant surprise as well; if Missy weren’t busy instigating a pokemon battle, the girl would’ve hugged the little mime right then and there.

Instead she surveyed the situation, determined she had a moment, and took off her sweater. She lay it over her smaller bag to protect the documents and electronics inside, and allowed a bit more sun to hit her skin besides. Her large tattoo could be seen through the fabric of her shirt and on the skin of her upper arms. Articuno’s crest peeked over her collar between her shoulder blades. She propped her feet up on the back of the seat—her wet jeans pulled tight—before her and rested her elbows on her knees; now that water wasn’t flying she was calm and, truth be told, the paper would dry out, so there wasn’t anything to stress over.

Chin to fist, she watched the battle.

Then, inspired, she dug a sketchbook out of her pack and propped it on her thighs, the top of her pencil visible, wagging to and fro and she got a gesture sketch together before more water flew, or they moved too much.

Missy, standing tall on her handler’s backpack, was pleased that not only had she gotten to the bully with her special Confusion attack, but that she’d scared away his lackeys to boot. She had conjured a deceivingly thin-looking Barrier that would protect her, she thought, and now praise on top of it all? Hah! It couldn’t get much better.

Thinking herself far cleverer that the big-eared baby pokemon, the little mime cheerily obliged. She wriggled her “hands” again one way, and then another, as though drawing up another wall for each side. He’ll never hurt me now! she thought, panting. The peculiar move still had its hold on her, though, arms crossed over her front, she would pause a moment before showing off the move again.

<We could stop now if you’ll apologize,> she called out to the azurill. She glanced at her human (Ella was busy sketching away, tossing glances over at the two pokemon now and again) and then back at the blue puff-ball. <But only if you apologize.>

Ah, baby pokemon.

Ella peered at the two little creatures, wondering what they were talking about. She wondered, too, if she would have been more or less of a target to the wild pokemon if she’d been a poke-creature thing. Could she battle in the same way? She poked her nose with the eraser end, wondering.

Missy is under the effect of Encore!
Missy uses Barrier twice more!

[ZOM]

The Azurill smirked wickedly, pleased to see that his Encore had taken hold; the dumb mime had taken his bait! To celebrate his small victory, he spouted water into the air from his mouth, drizzling it over his own body and spinning and giggling. The Water Sport would have no noteworthy impact on the battle, but it was a fun move and it felt nice and the Azurill thought he deserved a reward for his brilliance. Oh, yeah, he ruled!

When Missy spoke up to chide him, insisting on an apology or else, the little blue mouse laughed aloud, hopping out of the water and back atop his ball. +Stupid!+ he replied cheerfully. +As if! I ain't scared of you!+ He blew a raspberry at the mime, mimicking her earlier taunting. Then, looking cocky and as though he were on top of the world, the Azurill opened his mouth and spewed forth a barrage of explosive, sticky Bubbles. The attack shot forward and then straight through the Barriers without a hitch, which was a pleasant surprise for the Azurill, as he had expected the walls to at least do something. If the attack were to hit Missy, then not only would the Bubbles really sting, but they could potentially slow her down, too, and that much the Azurill knew.

Azurill uses Water Sport.
Azurill uses Bubble.

[metronome]

Missy stood proud in the face of the attack… but was shocked when the Bubble attack slid neatly through her Barrier, the pops snapping at her skin. She cried out squeakily, flinching; when it was done she found herself splattered with a thin film of saliva.

<Gross!> she complained, trying to wipe some off. Fortunately, there wasn’t quite enough of a coating on her to impede her movement (this time at least), nor had any stung so badly that she might limp or wince when moving about. Lucky girl. She glowered at the azurill. He was in for it now!

Ella, startled by the bubble-stream sound, watched the battle from over-top her sketchbook. Her pokemon didn’t look all that worse for the wear—the little 'poke was wincing and panting a bit, but seemed to have some fight in her yet, if her waving arms and teeny, cutely angry voice was any indication. Ella hid a smile. She took comfort in thinking of the pokedex entry, which had mentioned that the little mime species had high special defense, especially for a baby pokemon. So she didn’t step in.

She put her pencil tip back to paper and tried some new drawings, her attention more evenly divided between Missy and her doodling. If things kept on so one-sidedly (Ella had to admit she’d been neglecting to pay too much attention), Missy would be in trouble before-long.

Unable to shake the impulse to use Barrier once more—perhaps she’d done it wrong the first few times—the little part-psychic shook her arms to erect another sparkling wall before, with great relish, she attacked with Confusion again.

<Take that!>

Moving from the backpack crossed the little battler’s mind; she’d have more mobility on the bench… but she was concerned about the azurill moving too much. She preferred being able to see her opponent over hiding from attacks at this point.

Missy is hit by Bubble!
Missy uses Barrier (Missy’s defense won’t go any higher).
Missy uses Confusion!

[ZOM]

((Ella finds: Yellow Box))

The Azurill cackled delightedly as Missy continued to flounder about with her Barrier attacks, especially now that his Bubble attack had hit its mark without a hitch; even he couldn't have predicted that would work so well. One other thing he clearly didn't predict was Missy snapping out of her Encore-induced trance and flinging a Confusion attack at him.

+Owwwwww!+ he screeched, writhing and Splashing in the water as the attack seared through him, scrambling his brain. He hated psychic-types. He decided that just now. Once the phantom pain faded to a dull, lasting headache, the Azurill thought for sure he'd be able to pay Missy back for that one! However, when he tried to jump out of the water and land atop his ball, as he had been doing before, he found that his body would not properly obey him and he slipped and slid off at every attempt. He was still so determined to get afloat on his orb that he launched himself violently into his tail, bonking his head and wincing; he hadn't taken much damage, but he was clearly confused and not behaving rationally.

When at last he gave up his endeavor and glanced back up at Missy, he was wincing and cross-eyed. +Hey... no fair, I didn't know you knew Double Team...+ Why were there so many stupid clowns...? Dizzy...

Azurill uses Splash... but nothing happens.
Azurill is confused! Azurill hurts himself in his confusion.

[metronome]

<Encore! Encore! Bravo!> Missy called in a chiding, remembering echo, clapping and hopping about. A competitive glean to her eye shone. <That’s what you get for playing mean pranks on people!>

Ella heard the edge in the little pokemon's tone. She watched the exchange quietly, tapping her chin with her pencil. The azurill was floundering and no longer attacking; Missy was only taunting him. She held her sketchbook down on a thigh and used the small switch to operate the rudder and pedaled, moving the vessel in a slow turn to bring them closer to the azurill.

Missy squeaked in confusion, looking to her trainer; had she done something wrong? What was going on?

“We can’t just leave him like this,” she explained without looking at the little mime, a bit disappointed in her young pokemon's callousness. What if he started choking on the water? Missy plopped down with a huff, elbow to knee and “hand” to cheek, watching sullenly as Ella offered a hand to the azurill to pull him aboard. She was ready to scoop him up if he’d let her, though she was a little timid and reluctant about it, her hand quick to snap back. She didn’t want to fall into the water somehow and didn’t know how much the future water-type would resist; she didn’t want to coerce him into anything he didn’t want to do. She hated when trainers did things like that.

“You alright there, buddy? You can rest up here until you feel a little better, if you want.”

<He’ll just attack us and ruin everything!> Missy protested, gesturing dramatically. She even lay the back of her “hand” against her forehead with a pained sigh. When Ella didn’t pay her any attention the little mime’s face set in determination. She slid from the bag and went over to the boat’s side lip, leaning over it to warn the azurill.

<You’d better be nice. Especially to her. She’s being nice to you when you don’t even deserve it,> she said warningly, protectively.

[ZOM]

As confused as Missy was, the Azurill was even more so, and not just because of the Confusion attack that had addled his brain. He squinted up at the now-moving boat and watched Ella carefully, suspiciously, trying to read her intentions even as her image swam and wavered and multiplied before his dizzy eyes. +What? What?+ he mumbled to himself several times, blinking his eyes in rapid succession to try clearing his vision. It was beginning to work, he thought, but it was hard to say.

Then, once the boat was close enough, the human extended her hand and offered the Azurill a place to rest and recover. The little mouse was stunned, staring wide-eyed up at the human and then flicking his gaze to the hand in front of his face. +Huh?+ He nudged the outstretched digits hesitantly, testing the waters. It... did sound sort of nice to have a moment of respite, actually, but he felt so sure that this had to be a trick. He was a prankster by nature and as such he tended to see that same mischief and trickery in others, even when there was none. +Well... I...+

He paused and scowled up at Missy, who seemed as surprised as he was. At least that was a good sign; the trainer had stayed out of their battle and now was acting independently from the obnoxious little mime, so the Azurill figured maybe it would be safe. Maybe. Slowly he nodded and waded into Ella's hands, allowing himself to be lifted up into the boat. +But, why?+ he asked up at her, still unsure. He briefly looked down at her bags, still dripping, and then back at the trainer. +I probably wrecked your stuff. And I pranked you.+

[metronome]

Ella smiled when the little blue fuzz-ball climbed up out of the water, using her proffered palm as a dock. She used both hands to lift the dizzied trouble-maker out of the water; the little pokemon’s long, weighted tail might’ve had him rolling out of her grasp otherwise. She looked around the small boat for a place to put him and finally set him on the floor of it, even as he spoke aloud in small mewling notes. He sounded unsure to her; Ella glanced at Missy (whose arms were crossed over her chest) and figured that she’d have to sort out the azurill’s questions on her own.

“It isn’t right to just leave someone when they are in trouble or need help.” Ella looked from the glistening azurill to Missy, a brow quirking slightly before her expression smoothed and she smiled a bit. “So you can rest here until you feel better. We have plenty of room... Once you can see straight again, you can do whatever you want. After that, Missy and I are heading to shore.”

Missy was thrilled to be included. She didn't know if her girl really liked her yet... But she wanted her to! So she nodded along. <Yep. We're going to Ambus Town. And you can't come.>

Ella (oblivious) laced her fingers together, hands resting on her stomach. She leaned back in her chair and looked around, enjoying the feel of the sun on her face and arms. She’d doodled and sketched enough for the moment; she ignored the sketchbook resting on her leg and stared off, mind drifting. It was peaceful out here. Azurill would be dry and clear-headed pretty soon, she figured, at which point she would let him decide what he wanted to do and continue to pedal towards the town famed for its flower fields. She was excited to get there, really -- it had looked gorgeous in the photographs she'd seen before traveling here, and she'd made a point to see what sort of art came out of this region before arriving. Those flowers had inspired many artists; so many beautiful paintings. Thinking about them brought a distracted, dreamy look of happiness to her face.

Missy studied the human's posture. She rested her own “hands” against her stomach and angling her head so until she was certain. Her girl was content, completely calm.. Happy, even. Face scrunching up in a blend between a pout and a scowl, the little mime peered down at the azurill from the seat above, her pom-hat dangling towards the ground and just her nose and eyes visible between that and the chair's edge. She limited herself to glaring and monitoring their guest; she got the impression that her human would be disappointed with her if she were to continue the battle… Fledgling mind-reading abilities or just good sense, it was hard to tell.