All Cosmic Events in the Universe Have Lead to, uh, This?

Post WC: 686
Total WC: 686
Dialogue Color: Everett - #00FF00
Active Team:

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Day four. It was day four of Everett's escape into Kanto and it wasn't until she stood there squinting at the sign on the counter that made her come to terms with it. Day four of her sleeping on benches because unlike Alola, everyone in Kanto just looks at you funny when you ask if you can come over to their place and sleep on their couch. Day four of thinking Yeah, today's the day I'm gonna go do some Trainer stuff! Hell yeah!, and then not doing anything productive at all. Well, it was finally time to break that cycle and finally do a Trainer thing. So she had: she, at long last, found herself walking through the fancy sliding doors into the Pokemon Center. She found herself reading that sign. The one that read: "All Trainers check in by 10:00pm for free room booking". She stared at it for a while, awkwardly clutching a Pokeball way too high in the air as she had been doing the whole time she was in the Center so they knew that she was a real-deal Trainer. "So Trainers just, like, stay at Pokemon Centers?" She said out loud, attempting to talk to her Inkay and not realizing that the ball she was holding was clearly one of her empty spares. "I thought this was where you, like, fight those super strong Trainers and get badges or something? Like, Vermilion has their, uh, electric dude, right? Or was it fire?" She absentmindedly tapped her chin while the Nurse gave her a incredulous look. Yes, you can stay at any Pokemon Center free of charge-- and who in their right mind would just sleep outside with no proper camping equipment let alone sleep outside in an actual town? No, Pokemon Centers are not the same as Gyms. No, Gyms aren't where you go to make your Pokemon run laps. I know your Inkay floats and it can't run laps that's not what Gyms-- oh, never mind. No, don't go challenge the Gym with just one level 5 Pokemon...

One very frustrated lecture from the Nurse later and Everett's team was healed for the first time. It would have been more exciting had her Pokemon had any sort of damage to begin with, but he was long recovered from the only battle he'd taken part of. All in all, somewhat of a pointless trip. But said trip did finally give Everett a goal for the day: go out and catch a Pokemon. That's one of the most Trainer-y things to do and probably easier than just challenging the Pokemon Center straight off the bat. Since she did get confirmation that the Lead Trainer, or whatever the strong dudes were called, was electric focused she didn't think her squid would fare all that well anyway, being a water type and all. But Squiggles's yellow glowy dots means maybe he was an electric type too? Maybe it was magnetism that made him just kinda float in the air? She'd figure that all out later, right now was Trainer time. To catch a Pokemon, she'd have to at least leave town, so that's what she did. She found herself in the outskirts of Vermilion not really sure how one goes about just finding wild Pokemon. Do you walk around and they find you? Do you have to, like, lift up rocks and look underneath or something?

The other thing she wasn't too sure about was actually catching them. She remembered having aim practice at her old trainer school and (not to brag) being pretty adept at hitting the target. So, all you have to do is throw the Pokeball at the one you want, right? She looked into her bag where six Pokeballs sat. ...but how do you know which ones are empty? Shrugging, she decided a five in six chance of it being the right one was good enough and she'd just chuck it at whatever she saw and see what happens. Looking around, perhaps she'd find a good enough target among all the random wilderness she currently found herself in.

Directly ahead of her, there was a Pikachu and a Mareep that were playing in a water puddle together. The Pikachu's tail ended with two semicircles which gave it an almost heart-like shape. While normally Mareep looked incredibly fluffy and wide, playing in the puddle got into its wool, which caused the fur to cling more closely to its body, making it look rather skinny.

Some ways to the right, into the distance, a Mime Jr. could be seen for a reason which could be anyone's guess. It was also eating a berry. Apparently it had no issue eating while moving so vigorously.

Finally, down a path going leftwards, a Chingling could be seen swinging around on a tree's low-hanging branch. The trainer would be just close enough to here its ever pleasant chime.

Post WC: 494
Total WC: 1180
Dialogue Color: Everett - #00FF00
Active Team:

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Good news: turns out you didn't need to look under rocks to find traces of wild Pokemon. Everett dully noted that fact as she looked around. She heard some pleasant ringing from somewhere to her left, and while she didn't yet spot the Pokemon that was causing the sound, it certainly helped calm her mind and focus on, well, focusing. Most noticeable were the two Pokemon in front of her, leading to her sadly missing the sight of the Mime Jr. entirely. The sound of splashing was paired with the cutest scene she'd ever seen. Two Pokemon, one somewhat familiar and one entirely foreign, playing in a puddle. Even she wasn't clueless enough to not recognize a Pikachu when she saw one. It was the mascot of all sorts of things, after all, and maybe having its face plastered all over her favorite brand of hand soap was the only thing that'd make her remember what a Pokemon was called. The other one looked kinda weird, and not realizing that it was water messing with the poofy-ness of Mareep's wool, she assumed it was some sort of oddly furred cat-like Pokemon.

Aww, cat and mouse! That's adorable! Everett thought, They're actually getting along! I'm pretty sure Pikachu is an electric type, but the other one... she narrowed her eyes and looked the Mareep up and down, I got it: it's a dragon type! That's what Kanto dragons look like! She was picturing a vague and not at all accurate memory of a Dragonair she'd seen in one of her old school books. Blue face plus orb thingy meant clearly that what was in front of her was also a dragon. Why else would they be so similar? Now she was torn between both what to do next and which to aim for. Pikachu was a Pokemon she actually knew, but a dragon cat just seemed so epic. She didn't want them to notice her and ruin the element of surprise, so she stuck to her gut. I'm sorry awesome Dracat, but I think dragons take forever to raise (or was it Bug?)-- Pikachu it is!

Having made up her mind about one thing, there was still another thing that was bothering her somehow. She knew that one of the steps of catching a wild Pokemon was throwing a Pokeball. She already had that at the ready. But, for some reason, she felt like she was missing something important. Step 1: something? Step 2: throw ball. Step 3: Pokemon is yours. What am I missing? She was already holding a Pokeball, though, so whatever she was forgetting clearly wasn't that important. Focusing on her target and biting her tongue for good measure, she lobbed the Pokeball she had been holding in a haphazard arc toward the two Pokemon in the puddle. Though, she never should have been at-all confident in her aim. While her target was Pikachu, it was unmistakably hurtling toward the Mareep instead.

Pikachu - Level 2 ♀ (Naïve)
Mareep - Level 12 ♂ (Brave)

The ball soared through the air, eventually hitting its mark right on the Mareep. It had no time to even be startled before suddenly being sucked into the ball. The Pikachu next to the Mareep was thoroughly startled. It leapt away from the puddle, but seemed to feel bad about the idea of leaving its friend behind, and watched for what would happen. Unfortunately for Everett, the Mareep broke out of its ball.

The Mareep had a look on its face which would best be described as "offended". It saw the trainer as the aggressor, totally ignoring the Inkay, and proceeded to use a Thundershock into her general direction. The Pikachu, appearing to be relieved that the Mareep escaped, chimed in with its own attack, Thunder Wave.

Post WC: 397
Total WC: 1577
Dialogue Color: Everett - #00FF00
Active Team:

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Oops, was Everett's first thought as she watched the scene unfold. Her aim was excellent if she were aiming at the wrong Pokemon. She froze in anticipation as the Mareep briefly disappeared in a flash of light. Maybe it was a sign to go for the dragon type after all. Or, even better, round out her team with an excellent type spread by catching both of the puddle friends: water, electric, and dragon would be a great team start! Sweet, since the ball hit it, that means I caught i- fkjdsfhahfdkafhiuldahf was Everett's next thought as the wild Pokemon proceeded to break out very quickly and retaliate with an electric shock much better aimed that the trainer could ever do. She felt her entire body tense up and shake involuntarily and the only thing that could quickly stop the shaking was a second jolt of paralyzing electricity from the Pikachu. The second jolt shook her as well, but made it very difficult to actually move so at least the shaking stopped. Her brain was at least able to recover a bit better than her body and soon the fuzziness faded, regaining her wits. Woah, nobod-dy told me the Pokemon f-fight you...

Clearly, the step 1 she couldn't remember was more important than she'd thought. Valuable lesson: you can't just throw a ball and hope for the best. Other valuable lesson: be ready to dodge next time. The tingling in her spine from the paralysis didn't bode well to the "be able to dodge" thought, though. Eyeing the intense stare of the Mareep, she knew she had to do something, and quick. Or at least as quickly as she could currently move. The two Pokemon were playing in a puddle. That meant they liked water and they liked each other. So, how could she use that? Then-- it hit her. "I-I hav-ve some water in my b-bag!" she exclaimed, and with a very slow and jittery motion, retrieved a water bottle. Struggling to unscrew the bottle, she maintained eye contact with the duo of wild Pokemon while she poured its contents onto the ground until it formed a new puddle. Then, struggling to grab one more of her Pokeballs, dropped it into the middle of the new puddle. "See yo-u guys, it's a friendly pudd-ddle Pokeball. You like puddles. Just h-hop on in." Surely, this plan was foolproof.

Pikachu - Level 2 ♀ (Naïve) [Befriending success(??? Lucky!)]
Mareep - Level 12 ♂ (Brave) [Befriending fail-- +15% chance!]

The Mareep had a strange expression on its face that could be best read "you think I am stupid??" It didn't seem receptive at all to the gesture. There was a totally fine naturally-occurred puddle right here that wasn't most likely a trap! It didn't budge from its position, and seemed highly likely to act defensively again. The Pikachu, however, seemed more than naturally curious. Despite that the trainer had randomly suddenly tried taking its friend away, and that the object placed in the water was incredibly similar to the weapon used on its friend, it looked more curious than anything else.

It walked into the puddle and proceeded to play with the pokéball. The Mareep tried to call out and stop the Pikachu, but it was too late. Into the Pokéball the Pikachu went, and the Pikachu showed very little struggle before the pokéball stopped moving, confirming the capture. The Mareep looked distraught, dreading the idea of being separated from its friend.

Post WC: 533
Total WC: 2110
Dialogue Color: Everett - #00FF00
Active Team:

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Woohoo!! Everett thought as her cunning plan and devious trap worked, erm, flawlessly. In the end she had gotten what she wanted: Pikachu was hers! If she weren't incredibly paralyzed at the moment she may have even jumped back and forth in a spur of the moment happy dance. She leaned forward to pick up the Pokeball when the tingling in her body made her hesitate. Wait... Pokeball is metal. Pokeball is in water. Metal is a great conductor; water is a great conductor. Electrified me plus metal ball surrounded by water equals... electrifried me.. She may not know much about Pokemon or being a trainer, but she knew quite a bit about the transfer of electric energy. After all, static electricity was a potentially huge hazard to vital space travel equipment, and if she was going to go to space one day she'd have to know how to deal with that. Her hesitation as she considered the current predicament was enough to encourage her to glance toward the Mareep and see its worried expression. Clearly, it wasn't just going to abandon its friend. Which meant that she needed to act quick or else she'd have to maybe brace for another attack.

So how do you solve both problems all at once? There's one angry dragon and one very shocky Pokeball trapped inside a death puddle. If only she had some tool to push the ball out from the water. But that wouldn't solve the fact that she still couldn't touch the metal or that grabbing anything that could look like a weapon could set off lightning strike number two. If only she had something that could do both and have a wide enough reach to- "Squiggles!" the trainer exclaimed in a burst of realization, "Squiggles solves all my problems! You use your Pokemon to interact with other Pokemon. THAT'S step one!" With the help of her partner, surely they could solve this dilemma. Pointing to the Pokeball in the puddle (and noticing that the paralysis was somewhat starting to wear off), she told her Inkay to float over and touch the button in the center of the Pokeball. Obliging, the Pokemon did so, sending the Pikachu out.

"Y'see," Everett said with a wide smile toward the Mareep, "Your pal is fine! See, getting in that ball even let her make a new friend," She gestured toward her Inkay, who looked a bit skeptical at the whole situation. "She's going to be traveling with us from now on and getting super stronger, seeing all sorts of places, meeting all sorts of people and Pokemon..." she trailed off, getting a bit lost in her own fantasy and forgetting that she was trying to sweet talk a wild Pokemon that may not even understand what she's saying. "If you two are such great friends, I'm sure you wouldn't want to miss seeing that all with her." She knelt down to the Mareep's level and carefully shook one more Pokeball out of her bag and onto the ground, making sure not to touch it herself. She then stood back up and took a step away from it to give a bit more space. "Come with us?"

Pikachu - Level 2 ♀ (Naïve) [Befriending success]
Mareep - Level 12 ♂ (Brave) [Befriending fail-- +30% chance!]

The Mareep was apparently still not receptive. Though the gesture may have been intended nicely, unfortunately it did not perceive it as such. It looked like it was ready to try attacking again. When the Pikachu suddenly appeared again, its instinct was to run over and inspect it to see if it was okay. It took this opportunity as well to put itself between the trainer and the Pikachu, standing defensively. Its now-drying wool was becoming incredibly puffed, and static visibly crackled from all over it.

Post WC: 275
Total WC: 2385
Dialogue Color: Everett - #00FF00
Active Team:

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Okay, so heartfelt gestures weren't the answer either. Throwing the ball didn't work. Bargaining didn't work. But trickery worked on the Pikachu, so clearly that was something. The only something that's worked so far. Hmm, Everett contemplated, as she watched the Mareep put itself between her and her newest companion. Gotta be careful, it looks like it still wants to use me as a human conductor and I can't just leave without lil' Pika. And-- she squinted, Man, that thing does not look like a cat anymore. All that static must be messing with the poor little kitty's fur! Okay: new plan. I don't think it'll fall for trickery if I do it 'cause that hasn't worked so far. But at this point I gotta catch it if I want to get out of here with Pikachu while not being a living battery. Which means... She glanced toward Squiggles as she tried to form some sort of plan, but nothing quite came to mind. She had used three Pokeballs so far with the fourth still laying unused on the ground in front of her. The only move she could think of making was a terrible plan indeed, but Everett wasn't one to really think ahead. Instead, her mind wandered to the fact that her shoes had rubber soles, which meant it was the one part of her body she'd feel safe touching a Pokeball with. So, raising her hands up as if she were acting with no hostility, she quickly lunged forward and kicked the Pokeball that was on the ground toward Mareep in a sudden, unexpected sneak capture attempt. Her aim was weirdly accurate.

Pikachu - Level 2 ♀ (Naïve) [Befriending success]
Mareep - Level 12 ♂ (Brave) [Capturing success!! finally]

The trainer had likely made a good call. The Mareep simply didn't seem to be into any of her prior advances. And when she was gesturing with her hands, it was far past believing the trainer would act in any sort of benevolence. It'd already been preparing for another attack at any sudden action. It had not expected, however, for the trainer to make such a direct attempt at capturing. The trainer was far quicker than it anticipated, and it had no time to react when the pokéball suddenly sailed straight in its direction, making a light tap as it bounced off its nose. The last thing that could be seen was the Mareep cringing from the impact before it was sucked into the ball which promptly fell to the ground. The Pokéball shook violently as it tried to break free, but the Mareep visibly lost its will to fight it, and the ball eventually came to a halt, finally confirming the Pokémon's capture.

Post WC: 921
Total WC: 3306
Dialogue Color: Everett - #00FF00 | Squiggles - #FFB6C1 | Zipper - #FFFF66
Active Team:

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Everett held her breath as her last-ditch effort kick somehow made the ball hurtle at Mareep. After several shakes, it finally stood still and she released a heavy breath. "Awesome!!" she grinned toward Squiggles and held her hand out for a high five from her partner. The squid, in response, stared blankly toward her not understanding the gesture. "Ink...?" he called quietly, as if trying to ask for further instruction. Everett kept her hand outstretched toward him. "Come on, little dude. Just one high five?" She motioned her arm in a small circle to bring further focus to her waiting hand.

"Kay...?" Squiggles blinked slowly and his eyes just stared at his trainer's hand. Neither trainer nor Pokemon moved. It got a little awkward. Before either could keep up the stalemate any longer, the little Pikachu seemed to take interest in the interaction and put two and two together much quicker than Squiggles did. She looked toward the Pokeball her friend now resided in with a little concern then stepped a bit closer to Everett and looked from her hand back to the Mareep's ball, to Squiggles, then back to the trainer's high-five ready hand. The Pikachu lifted her own hand toward the trainer's and without much more hesitation jumped up and high fived her with a cheerful "Pika~!" and sparking cheeks. It would have been a nice moment had the electricity from the Pokemon's body not re-vitalized the electricity in Everett's own. "hfdahfdslafhdis," were the trainer's next words as she swiftly seized and her world faded to black.

When Everett finally regained consciousness, she groaned and slowly blinked open her eyes. Her left arm ached from taking the blunt of the fall, and the side of her face was chilled from the cold mud of the ground. Her brain was still a bit fuzzy and disoriented and she had no idea how long she was out for, but on the bright side what was left of the electricity in her body seemed to be gone. The first thing she noticed was that grass actually looks kinda cool up close. The second thing she noticed was an egg sitting inches away from her stomach and wrapped in a large, black bow. It didn't seem to be moving much and there was no indication of what was inside. "Well that seems a bit ominous," Everett said as she finally pushed herself up from the ground and rubbed the mud off her cheek with the sleeve of her shirt. She then rubbed the mud off her sleeve onto her pants but the gesture just kinda stained both fabrics.

Other than the egg, much of her surroundings were still the same, albeit more dark outside. Squiggles and the Pikachu were chasing each other in circles and hadn't noticed that their trainer had woken up. Squiggles was holding the Mareep's ball and was floating just out of reach of his new mouse companion. They looked like they were having fun. Not wanting to interrupt, Everett instead studied the egg still lying on the ground. If there was a bow on it, it must have belonged to someone? But she was the only person in the area and it was clearly left very close to her unconscious body. So, when push comes to shove, she yoinked the egg and set it gently into her satchel. It weight crushed a couple bags of chips that were also in the bag with an audible 'crunch'. She winced, mourning the structural integrity of her snacks.

The noise was enough to catch the attention of her Pokemon. The pair paused their chase and wandered back to where their trainer stood. Squiggles held the Mareep's Pokeball out to her, and she carefully took it. "Thanks," she smiled and pat his head with her other hand. A bit hesitantly, she crouched down and also pat the Pikachu. "Whew," she sighed, glad to have not electrocuted herself this time. "If Squiggles has a name, I guess I gotta give one to you guys too, huh? I think I'll call you, uh... Zipper. Yeah- Zipper! I think that's a Pikachu-y name! And as for you..." she tapped one finger against the Mareep's ball, "I dunno what you are so you're gonna be Dracat. Hopefully that's not, like, your Pokemon name." With that all settled, she returned both Pokemon that were out of their balls for a much needed rest. She wasn't feeling quite tired herself considering she'd just woken up. Still, it seemed like a good idea to head back to the Pokemon Center at this point.

After a bit of a trek back into Vermilion, Everett was relieved to see that she was still in the check-in hours for a room. Sauntering up to the counter, this time she was prepared enough to place her Pokeballs onto one of the trays on the counter so the nurse can take them in for healing. Of course, she still had no idea how to actually tell which ones are occupied and which are empty, so she put all three of her team on the tray as well as her final empty one. Then, leaning with her elbows resting on the counter top, she looked toward the nurse. "I think I did this thing right," she waved toward the Pokeball tray, "but I did have an off topic question. If, uh, a human were to... be electrocuted several times is there, like, any health concern for that? Or do Pokemon Centers not cover that sorta thing?"

The nurse raised an eyebrow at Everett's question as she took the tray from the trainer. Thankfully, the nurse managed to resist the urge to audibly sigh as she noticed the empty pokeball in the tray. Setting the blank aside, as they sometimes would interfere with the healing machine, she started it up and the faint hum began to fill the room. "That'll just be a minute, now, as for you..." She said, stepping out from behind the counter to get a closer look at Everett. "Just hold still for a moment please while I just do a quick check." The nurse began digging through her apron, pulling out first a small pen light, shining it in her eyes and making a note of how the trainer's eyes react to the light. She then pulled out small handheld device and ran it across Everett's forehead, looking at a small screen as it beeped and gave out a reading of the trainer's vitals.

"The good news is, your brain seems to be functioning normally, granted humans aren't my usual area of expertise. If you're really concerned, I do believe a small clinic recently opened in town here, an off shoot of the hospital in Saffron." The nurse went back behind the counter, withdrawing the tray and handing it back to Everett. "Also, here." The nurse reached under the counter and produced a small sheet of lightning bolt stickers. "Maybe put these on the pokeballs you have that are occupied. I only have the one design for them though given the Lieutenant's love for the type."