Beginner RP: François Moreau (juliorain)

A Ranger named Tella was standing atop a rise that overlooked the Ruined Manor's sprawling grounds, with a purple moth Pokémon— a Venomoth— hovered at her side, its five-foot wingspan occasionally sending a drift of silvery dust downwind.

Perhaps twenty years of age, the young Kanto native had almond-shaped, dull blue eyes, and stood with an easy grace that would tell a dancer that here was a dancer... Or a warrior that here was a dangerous foe in her own right, regardless of the Poké Balls at her waist. There were six Poké Balls: one full-sized and awaiting the Venomoth, while the other five were reduced to cherry-sized capsules and clasped securely into an understated but high-tech black belt that would eject them all at once in an emergency.

Tella's clothing was as understated and hyper-practical— almost combat-ready— as the belt that held her Pokémon partners. She wore a long-sleeved black jacket over a white shirt with what looked like a bulletproof vest in between. A pair of heavy-duty black polyester pants with perfectly fitted patches of Kevlar sewn onto them matched her black Tauros-leather boots, which were also strengthened with circular heavy-plastic reinforcements.

To pass the time, Tella gazed down into the bowl-shaped valley that the Manor occupied, absently sizing it up with a fighter's eye. The dilapidated walls, long since riddled with holes by powerful wild Pokémon seeking to pass through, ringed a wide expanse of grounds. The gardens were overgrown and the lawns wild, but still the skilled work of whoever had designed the grounds kept a certain degree of structure to the place, differentiating the lawns from naturally occurring meadows and the gardens from bramble thickets by the element of order that still shone through.

Here there would be Pokémon that, for one reason or another, were drawn to the unnatural structures that human hands created. Tella hadn't been to this part of the Park before except a brief pass overhead as part of her orientation, but she suspected could handle anything unexpected or untoward given that they would not be going far into the Manor— this was a Beginner introduction, after all. She was not overconfident, though... Overconfidence was something that had long since been removed from her psyche, by necessity and trauma.

Movement in the sky above the horizon to her west alerted Tella to the approach of her charge. She had been told his name was François, a Kalosian name if she'd ever heard one. Interesting: she hadn't met anybody from Kalos before.

The flying capsules that transported Pokémon Trainers from the Sky Platform to the various regions of the huge National Park were fast, efficient, and safe: but they didn't allow Trainers to do the quintessential Trainer thing: capture Pokémon. So they were used to deliver the Trainers to locations where Rangers would monitor them and make sure nothing altogether terrible happened (to the Park or to the Trainer.)

The capsule vehicle arrived about half a kilometre from Tella's location, touching down gently with a quiet firing of thrusters. The Ranger started walking towards it with an attitude of perfect equanimity; as she did so, the door in the side began to open, so that François could step out.


~~Park Run Statistics~~

• Trainer Name: Francois Moreau
  
  
• Location: Ruined Manor
  
  
• Remaining Encounters: 5
  
  
• Active Effects: None
  
  
• Pokemon Stats:
  Heisenberg the Blaziken
  
  Gender: M
  Ability: Speed Boost
  Nature: Hardy
  TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Dig, Protect, Swords Dance, Stone Edge, Earthquake, Thunder Punch
  
  Adrien the Tyranitar
  
  Gender: M
  Ability: Sand Stream
  Nature: Bold
  TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Brick Break, Ice Punch
  
  
• Total Items:
  Park Ball x3
  Energy Powder x1
  Lava Cookie x1
  Poké Doll x1
  
• Total Captured Pokemon:
  None yet!

 

"Ah! Finalement! The stupid transporter was cramped," Francois humphed as he slowly left the transporter. The door shut behind him as he paced out. He stopped for a moment to regain his composure and take a deep breath of the mysterious air around him. He did not know exactly what to expect, being his first attempt. He chosen this particular location to find a particular ghost that would be of use in his coming fight against Olympia. His pupitar finally evolved after the fiasco with that Pawniard on Route 15 and with Blaziken, who formed a near-impenetrable duo. As long as there were few water types, he knew would be fine. He reassured himself that this was the correct thing to do, though he did wonder if his pokemon were strong enough to cause the collapse of this manor. In any event that the manor collapsed, then either Blaziken or Tyranitar could could protect.

Peering across the dark valley, the underbrush kept Francois from evaluating the home completely, but from what he could gather was that the ancient manor in the distance was able to take several Hi Jump Kicks, a stone edge or two, and perhaps a few flare blitzes. It sat in a bitter silence, begging living things to escape. Would it welcome such threats as Blaziken and Tyranitar? Surely though, Blaziken or Tyranitar could break through weakened walls with age or any powerful fighting or rock move. There was also the threat of burning it down, but Tyranitar's sand stream could put out whatever fire was started. Francois knew that he needed to protect the house, keeping its residents at bay, lest he disturb them and destroy that home. Francios hoped the sand stream would put out the fire, as he owns no water type travelling with him. His greninja was back in Kalos excitedly awaiting his return. He had previously instruct Blaziken not to set the home on fire, but accidents do happen. Francois took that risk and sighed.

Francois was a fashionable Kalosian and it reflected in his garb. His had was a red fedora with a purple button accessory, the stylish ripped jeans, and a red checkered shirt. It was a bit chilly that evening but he wasn't bothered. His shoes were charcoal black and sleek. His clothes were incredibly expensive, where he spend his hard-earned consolation money he received after challenging Alain. No matter how much Francois spent, it always seemed he had plenty more to go, even three years after that event. Alain held his head high, and saw the... practically dressed Kantoan ranger in the distance, perplexed as to why she would bring a Venonat with her. Alas, they are very uncommon site in Kalos, but he wondered how that big bug would protect her.

Regardless, he walked up to the rangers and took her hand gently and bowed his head as if he was kissing it like a Kalosian nobleman.

With a thick Kalosian accent, "Bonjour mademoiselle, I am Francois Moreau from Kalos. I have come ready to take on a great adventure within your Haunted Mansion. The air tells us that this will be an interesting experience."

He turned away from the ranger, and took out his pokeball, threw it, and called out, "Blaziken, come out! Greet our guide through our journey!"

The tall, fiery chicken, materialized from its ball and growled in agreement. It was slightly taller than Francois. The Venonant quickly hid behind Tella. Quickly turning back to Tella, Francois said to Tella's Venonat, "It will be fine! Blaziken trusts you!"

Blaziken nodded in agreement and called, "Blaze!"

The Venonat cautiously inched from behind, somewhat skeptical.

Francois put Blaze's ball back on his belt as he turned towards Tella, "Shall we begin?"

 

Tella wasn't sure what to make of this touchy-feely human being— having ruthlessly stifled the impulse to yank her hand away when he had unexpectedly taken it— but after he let go, she settled down quickly. The young woman sized up his Blaziken with a businesslike squint, and nodded as though judging the Pokémon to be at least an acceptable specimen.

Then a faint frown crossed her face, and she glanced at her Venomoth, which was still inching out from behind her. "Venn, why the attitude? That's not like you," she said, talking to her Pokémon before ever addressing François— a breach of etiquette at the best of times, and outright rude if intentional.

The Venomoth fluttered around a little, but came out entirely from behind Tella and appeared to settle down a little, facing Blaziken warily. Tella seemed to glean some kind of information from this: "...I see," she told her Pokémon. "Keep me posted, all right?"

Finally, the young woman turned and gave François her full attention, having to look up at the taller man a little. "Welcome, Trainer," she said stiffly, as though reading from a script. "I am Tella, and I will be your Ranger for this introductory trip to the Ruined Manor."

It would occur to a socially adept person like François that this Tella person didn't seem comfortable talking to people. Nonetheless, she continued in that overly-official scripted sort of way, "You will have been informed of the conditions of your presence here. Do not intentionally cause damage to the Park or its property; do not treat the Pokémon of the park in a malicious way; if your Ranger gives you an urgent request, comply. In the interests of safety, this introductory visit will be short, and will be mostly restricted to the grounds and perhaps a brief stint within the abandoned mansion. You will be permitted to bring only one captured Pokémon with you when you leave. Are these terms and conditions clear?"

Off behind Tella, a small bird Pokémon with plumage in a mixture of browns accentuated by red wings was fluttering from place to place in front of a gap in the Mansion's wall, pecking at the ground— a Spearow.

Possible Encounter: Spearow.

(Run/ignore? Or battle?)

~~Park Run Statistics~~

• Trainer Name: François Moreau
  
  
• Location: Ruined Manor
  
  
• Remaining Encounters: 4
  
  
• Characters Written by Trainer: 3,640
  
  
• Active Effects: None
  
  
• Pokemon Stats:
  Heisenberg the Blaziken — Currently out of ball
  HP: 100%
  Gender: M
  Ability: Speed Boost
  Nature: Hardy
  TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Dig, Protect, Swords Dance, Stone Edge, Earthquake, Thunder Punch
  
  Adrien the Tyranitar
  HP: 100%
  Gender: M
  Ability: Sand Stream
  Nature: Bold
  TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Brick Break, Ice Punch
  
  
• Total Items:
  Park Ball x3
  Energy Powder x1
  Lava Cookie x1
  Poké Doll x1
  
  
• Total Captured Pokemon:
  None yet!

 

Francois frowned out of embarrassment, explaining to Tella, "My apologies, it was awfully forward of me. I must have been overwhelmed with excitement about going on this adventure, that I let myself do this."

He quickly sighed, and quickly refocused himself on the task at hand. He took a quick breath, took a few steps aside Tella, and aimed his gaze at the wild pokemon ahead. Blaziken followed behind the tall Kalosian and thought for a second thinking if that little bird was really worth his time. He could gather that the ugly bird had the plumage of the female variety, but it didn't matter as he took little care in it. Blaziken was not impressed at the small pokemon before him, yet nevertheless growled wanting to spar with it. Heisenberg knew that Spearow was no match for the fighter.

Francois said confidently to Heisenberg, "Let's strech out muscles, and fight that bird, by no means was that disgusting Klefki in his battle against Valerie, where we could not for the life of it destroy that annoying little prankster, so this bird will be a great warm up for us!" Just remembering that tragic first battle of Valerie gave him chills. However, with the experiences he had after that experience have all been for the benefit of his person. He finally overcame that wretched gym leader, then he could conquer anything else other than that silly little bird.

Heisenberg growled in agreement. Blaziken knew he could trust his trainer, knowing the various trails that he had conquered before.

The spearow was near a rocky outcropping, with boulders in shambled strewn about the field. The field was brown and autumnal, and you could almost taste the cold, stale air. It was very dusty.

"We should start out with a stone edge. Give that bird a run for its money! Don't get too close, and attack the Spearow from a distance! We don't want to scare it away!"

Blaziken shouted in agreement and darted off encircling the Spearow. It was only a matter of time before the Spearow took a notice of Heisenberg's quick movements and watched keenly. Blaziken stomped his mighty feet on the ground and a rumbling around the chicken was felt. Sharp stones basted from the ground in front of Blaziken, sending a large torrent of dust with it, and leaving a rather large hole in the ground, Heisenberg grabbed on to the boulder half his height in mid-air, and swung it straight towards the unsuspecting bird.

 

The drab-coloured Spearow chirped a challenge as Heisenberg rushed in, but didn't see the unexpected ground-pound for what it was until it was too late. The rock projectiles flew across the space between Heisenberg and the smaller bird, and one smashed across the Spearow's beak, launching it backwards. The Spearow tumbled end-over-end five times before landing in a crumpled heap, unconscious and badly bruised.

~~Battle Statistics~~ (Battle Over!)

Spearow: 0%
Heisenberg: 100%

~~

"Enough," Tella said, stepping in between the two Pokémon. "You win, but Park rules state that knocked-out Pokémon aren't fair game for capture."

The young woman knelt down, pulled a small first-aid kit from an inside pocket of her black jacket, and withdrew what looked like a syringe. She administered a shot to the Spearow, and then retrieved a Potion bottle from the kit and sprayed it all over the Pokémon's body, paying special attention to the mess of blood where the fragments from the shattered stone had narrowly missed the wild Spearow's eye. The wound closed, and the Pokémon twitched but remained asleep.

Tella stood up, a kind, almost tender look on her face as she looked down at the sleeping Spearow. The look didn't suit the standoffish way she'd been acting towards François thus far. Then her face shifted back into that all-business matter-of-fact look, the transformation so complete that François would likely question if he had misinterpreted.

"The Spearow will stay down for a while, but it'll be good as new once it's had a few hours to rest," she tells them simply. "Let's get going."

She led François and Heisenberg towards the nearest gap in the mansion's dilapidated and hole-filled wall. Through the gap, the Trainer and his Pokémon would be able to see gardens stretching for kilometres, with a stand of evergreen trees hiding the mansion itself from their current position.

Then a screeching noise from atop the wall drew the attention of all present. Another Spearow, clearly angry at the intrusion into its territory, was yelling in a shrill, piercing voice, "SPEAR! Spear-row, SPEAROW!"

Then it took off from the wall, swooped overhead of the intruders, and bombed them with droppings! Whirling around in midair, the wild Pokémon looked to be preparing to dive again, this time aiming straight for Heisenberg, as if to start a fight.

"Run, or battle?" Tella asked François, absently wiping some white bird droppings off of her sleeve with a handful of grass. "The Pokémon won't follow us if we leave... and maybe I'm just being soft-hearted, but if it's all the same to you, I'd rather we not pick this particular fight."

Possible Encounter: Spearow

(Flee/Ignore? Or Battle?)

~~Park Run Statistics~~

• Trainer Name: François Moreau
  
  
• Location: Ruined Manor
  
  
• Remaining Encounters: 3
  
  
• Characters Written by Trainer: 6,049
  
  
• Active Effects: None
  
  
• Pokemon Stats:
  Heisenberg the Blaziken — Currently out of ball
  HP: 100%
  Gender: M
  Ability: Speed Boost
  Nature: Hardy
  TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Dig, Protect, Swords Dance, Stone Edge, Earthquake, Thunder Punch
  
  Adrien the Tyranitar
  HP: 100%
  Gender: M
  Ability: Sand Stream
  Nature: Bold
  TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Brick Break, Ice Punch
  
  
• Total Items:
  Park Ball x3
  Energy Powder x1
  Lava Cookie x1
  Poké Doll x1
  
  
• Total Captured Pokemon:
  None yet!

 

Looking at Tella, "Oui!"

Francois quickly looked over to Blaziken and quickly commanded, "Blaziken look out!"

Blaziken saw the incoming Spearow as it careened towards him, jumping to the side just in time. The Spearow, saw, flapped its wings furiously with its claws extended to brace for an abrupt crash landing. It hit the ground with a thud, rolled around a bit, and moaned, "Spearow...." It was mildly dusty, but there were no visible wounds to the little, angry bird with ratty feathers.

Off to the side of the cobblestone path Blaziken was unharmed and was in a fighting pose: one foot forward and ready to attack.

The spearow got up and squawked at Hesienberg, flouting its plumage and the Blaziken clenched his fists with sparks coming out. He growled and Heisenberg made a pretend punch to which the spearow squawked even more, fluttered its wings in fear and flew off in the dead shrubbery that lined the garden paths.

"Heisenberg, let us continue on, we know our strength. Let us go inside and discover what this mansion has in store for us. After our experience with that Gengar we should be ready for anything a haunted mansion can do to us!"

Blazkien yelled in agreement, relaxed his pose and brushed off some of the dust kicked off. Francois did not care for a weakling like it and neither did Heisenberg.

Francois looked over to Tella and stated, "I think the Spearow will be fine. Shall we move along? My curiosity is only increasing!"

Heisenberg at that point was right beside Francois and looked just as anxious as his trainer to see new ground. He let out a cheerful, "Blaze!"

On the way to the Mansion, Francois looked ahead and around and wondered who had all the money to build such a fabulous estate, and only lay it to rest. In the mansion he had visited before, the previous owner died and sealed his Gengar in the mansion, only to haunt it for at least a hundred years, or more. He was wondering if a similar fate had befallen the original owners. If so he needed to prepare for the strongest of battles and needed to keep Heisenberg at the highest health possible.

The ground below his feet was dry and the cobbles were worn age. The stone pathway was rugged and uneven and make just walking along the path a chore, rather than a convenience. At certain points Francois just wanted to walk on the dirt bordering the walkway because it was much flatter. However, that would require him to get his shoes dirty and the dense underbrush of the garden would clearly rip his clothes. He decided to continue on the uneven pathway, cursing at how they were completely unprepared to handle the uneven cobbles. The air smelled of neglect and wondered how the surround area has not even erased it from history. Francois held his head high knowing the manor might be more interesting than the garden. Is there a throne room? Is there a grand dining hall lined with beautifully gilded chairs in cobwebs, dusty famous art still hanging on the walls? One will only find out upon entering!

After about ten minutes of walking through the seemingly endless garden, Tella, her venomoth, Francois, and Heisenberg all made it to the front portal. The house was large, dilapidated, and reeked for a past age of former glory. It carry quite the inviting atmosphere of the haunted mansion back in Kalos and Francois certainly did not expect a warm welcome upon entering the mansion. The doors were huge and midnight teal, with large door knockers in the shape of a male Pyroar below the mighty, bronze handles. The doors were clearly wooden. The hinges were huge and medieval. This imagery brought more to mind of the castles in Kalos, Francois thought.

With Tella's approval he heaved greatly at the door, as it slowly creaked open and gained momentum as it opened. When the door was opened, Francois needed to take a deep breath before stepping inside. Inside it was dark, and as soon as he entered, the place was just as he suspected, wooden floors covered by rugs worn with age and dist, a grand central staircase and tables to the side. There were occasional, dusty beams of filtered light coming through the broken windows. It smelled of mildew. It was a ghost's haven. All of the travellers walked in quietly so as not to disturb the wild pokemon there. The echos of them, however defeated goal and loud screeching was heard throughout the building. Francois, Blaziken, and Tella all closed their ears out of the sharp pain. Luckily it went away. When Tella's venomoth finally entered, the doors quickly shut with a resounding, echoing thud. They had finally made it. Those annoying spearow only delayed them from seeing what was truly possibly.

Tella and Francois both saw that their pokemon were frightened by the shriek and the doors closing and reassured to their pokemon that all would be fine.

Francois asked Heisenberg to breath a small, constant fire for light, to which he agreed. The light from the fiery chicken relaxed both humans a little, knowing now that they can at least see where they are going a little better. This reminded him of the time he saved the little Floette in Kalos, by traversing the cave by his then-Combusken's light. The light from his pokemon was strangely reassuring.

Francois asked, "Shall we look around?"

Tella asked, "Well, where do you want to go?"

"Let's try the main dining hall. I'm curious as to what might be lurking there."

Francois looked around. The grands staircase was in front of him while there were two major hallways, one to his left and the other to his right. Which one to pick, he thought. Whichever one he chose it must lead to there, after all the dining hall is one of the most important rooms in a mansion. He decided to take the left corridor. The corridor led to a parlor. It was simply furnished and dark, the brick fire place has not been used for ages. But it was fairly large and the furniture worn and dusty. The smell of mildew persisted. The windows in the parlor were tall and broken with dusty light streaming in the poorly lit area. It was nice to have Blaziken's fire. There was a door on the other side, to his right and the party weaved in and around the furniture to the other corridor. He peered through the corridor to reveal a long, simple hall with hardwood floors covered by carpets. It was rather dark since the only lights came from the parlor. There were about seven doors, most leading to closets, probably. Francois made his first few steps into the dark hallway and heard another loud shriek yell from its depths. Perhaps there was something there? Was it angry? Only time would tell before he would encounter a wild pokemon living in this mansion.

When the two explorers and their pokemon made it halfway through the corridor, checking the doors to see if the led anywhere, which all turned out to be closets, Francois tripped over a small object on the floor. He was so busy thinking about which door led him to the right room he forgot to look what was right by his feet! Heisenberg and Tella were surprised.

Tella asked, "Oh! you okay?"

Francois said as he was standing back up, brushing off the dust he collected, "Merci, I am fine. I simply did not see what was in front of me."

Looking down the object responsible for tripping Francois was a black, metal cube on the ground. He picked it up and it was surprisingly heavy, expecting it to be made of say, felt and cardboard, but it felt and weighed like metal. He inspected the object carefully and concluded that might be something important but he couldn't tell why. There was a dark indented line that ran horizontally across the cube. He tried to twist the object and tried to open it like a jewelry box, but all to no avail. The cube appeared to be solid. There were no other markings on the cube except for the letter "X" also engraved on the topmost side. He rubbed his fingers across both engravings and the "X" felt raw while the straight line was clearly machine cut. What does this mean? The X surely must have had a reason, else the person, or thing, that did this would not have taken the time to carve in to this hunk of metal.

He knew he needed to press forward. He placed the large cube in his backpack, leaving a large intention in its place.

After a few paces he turned right and approached the door, hoping that it would lead somewhere interesting.

The door creaked open revealing inside another long hall, this time filled with light filtering in from the broken windows, with vines from the outside finding their way into the residence. There were nice wooden chairs, beautifully upholstered and a large, long table with dusty, tarnished fine silver cutlery and china plates gilded with age. The dust was unbelievable in the room. Cobwebs covered the regal chairs. Glasses sit turned over and the once beautiful chandelier overhanging the room was almost falling from pressure of the outside vines, turning and twisting from the windows, onto to the walls, tracing the ceiling and finally clinging on to its final destination. There was a single, large painting on the wall opposite of the windows. He knew he found the dining room, at last. The air was as stale the outside.

Francois commanded Blaziken to stop the torch, as to not hurt anything. Heisenberg obeyed. Francois walked up to the table corner nearest to him and wiped his fingers on the table, inspecting the level of dust on the tables.. His fingertips made a clear path from the gray and the brown. He inspected tips of his fingers and saw that they had become slate gray. "Disgusting!" Francois wiped his fingertips on his bag. He walked around running his hand along the tops of the chairs that weren't covered in spider webs. He stopped half way between the ends of the table and looked out the destroyed window. He saw silhouettes of birds float off in the distance. "Could it be that pesky bird from before, or just another spearow," he thought. He dreaded the thought of having to fight it again. He heard another shriek. He turned to the the end of the dining room and saw that the door had swung opened! Something wanted to fight!

 

"Aoooooooooooooooo!!"

The door swung all the way open, pushed by tiny paws, and out of the gloom scampered a small, grey dog Pokémon— a Poochyena— howling shrilly as though practicing. A small specimen even for its kind, it seemed very young, barely more than a puppy; with naive obliviousness, it raced almost all the way up to François and Heisenberg before apparently realizing they were there.

"Yena!" the little Pokémon yelped, doing a quick ninety-degree turn with a skittering of paws on the dusty hardwood floor. It sped under the table and through the broken window, headed for safety...

Or it would have been headed for safety, if it hadn't gotten tangled in the vines choking the window instead. The little Pokémon struggled for a few seconds, suspended in midair by the entangling greenery, and then let out a thin, squeaky howl of helpless self-pity.

"Aooooooooooooooo!!!"

Possible Encounter: Poochyena


~~Park Run Statistics~~

• Trainer Name: François Moreau
  
  
• Location: Ruined Manor
  
  
• Remaining Encounters: 2
  
  
• Characters Written by Trainer (since last encounter): 10,108
  
  
• Active Effects: Dim light (reduced accuracy!)
  
  
• Pokemon Stats:
  Heisenberg the Blaziken — Currently out of ball
  HP: 100%
  Gender: M
  Ability: Speed Boost
  Nature: Hardy
  TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Dig, Protect, Swords Dance, Stone Edge, Earthquake, Thunder Punch
  
  Adrien the Tyranitar
  HP: 100%
  Gender: M
  Ability: Sand Stream
  Nature: Bold
  TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Brick Break, Ice Punch
  
  
• Total Items:
  Park Ball x3
  Energy Powder x1
  Lava Cookie x1
  Poké Doll x1
  
  
• Total Captured Pokemon:
  None yet!

 

Francois looked baffled as what is happening. Is it funny? Is the poor creature in need of help? Should Heisenberg send it to a fiery grave or kick.punch it out the window? Surely Heisenberg could easily one shot the poor thing and the only thing weak enough for it to survive would probably be a simple quick attack. He couldn't run either as something had to happen to the little baby puppy girl. Francois has heard stories of wild Poochyena being aggressive, but this one being naive is clearly amusing. He might be tempted to catch it after all.

The tangled pooch was still danging from the vines helplessly.

Francois turned to Heisenberg, "We could try try to capture it?"

Heisenberg growled in agreement stomping its feet, curling his hands into fists, and looking upward, growling in agreement, "Blaze!"

The puppy, completley oblivious to what was around it was barking and squirming, yapping for help. It was only a matter of time before something like a fearow would find it and prey on it or have it ko from having too much blood go to its head. They had to do something, and fast. If they let the pooch go it would likely run away, so they needed to keep the pooch vulnerable until they can catch it.

"The poor thing should be easy to KO, so the challenge today would be to lower its health for capture!"

Blaziken, already bending down, about to pounce ready for a sky uppercut, hear the news by surprise! Its boldness wanted to show off with powerful fighting moves! But no!

"And no stone edge, either!" Francois commanded as Blaziken started stomping the ground, to summon a rock through the floor, like it did against the spearow. Blaziken heeded its trainer's orders and stopped, and sighed.

"What I want you to do is give the pooch a half-powered fire punch."

Much to his annoyance and in disagreement with Heisenberg's bold tendencies, hopped over to the table, to the side of the pooch. The pooch saw that and started barking and swaying more frantically than before. Heisenberg paused and turned back to its trainer with an expression of childish reluctance.

"Do as I say," Francois commanded sternly, "this encounter will be over soon if you can keep it up."

Heisenberg sighed and turned his focus to the pooch. It was waving its paws randomly, was it a fury swipes? Neither Francois nor Heisenberg knew, but whatever it was it certainly would not do much. Heisenberg made a fist that exploded in a huge, glowing fireball, and the pooch started yapping even more.

As soon as he retracted his arm, about to deliver a full-strength Fire Punch, he heard his trainer say sternly, "Heisenberg...."

Heisenberg let out another sigh and the fireball diminished in size. Heisenberg swung at the the tangled pooch....

 

The little Pokémon yelped, continuing to feel the heat radiating from the fighting chicken's fist, then wailed in pain as the punch, even at reduced strength, sent her ripping free of the vines and tumbling to the floor.

Inexperienced but full of fighting spirit, the Poochyena scrambled to her feet, reacting as best she could to her assailant by rushing at her attacker.

"Yena yena yena!!" Yapping and throwing herself bodily at Heisenberg, the little Poochyena tried futilely to bear the larger Pokémon to the ground under her negligible weight in a Take Down attack.

The proud chicken took the attack to the shoulder with a dismissive attitude, shrugging off the little dog... and indeed, it really looked like it had cost the Poochyena almost as much of her remaining energy as it had cost Heisenberg of his!

Current Encounter: Poochyena


~~Battle Statistics~~

Poochyena: 19.08% [Used Take Down]
Heisenberg: 82.97% [Spe+1] [Used Fire Punch]


~~Park Run Statistics~~

• Trainer Name: François Moreau
  
  
• Location: Ruined Manor
  
  
• Remaining Encounters: 2
  
  
• Characters Written by Trainer (since last encounter): 12,849
  
  
• Active Effects: Dim light (reduced accuracy!)
  
  
• Pokemon Stats:
  Heisenberg the Blaziken — Currently out of ball
  HP: 82.97%
  Gender: M
  Ability: Speed Boost
  Nature: Hardy
  TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Dig, Protect, Swords Dance, Stone Edge, Earthquake, Thunder Punch
  
  Adrien the Tyranitar
  HP: 100%
  Gender: M
  Ability: Sand Stream
  Nature: Bold
  TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Brick Break, Ice Punch
  
  
• Total Items:
  Park Ball x3
  Energy Powder x1
  Lava Cookie x1
  Poké Doll x1
  
  
• Total Captured Pokemon:
  None yet!

 

"Great job Heisenberg," Francois yelled from across the room.

"Now I need to get a clear sight of the pooch to catch it I don't want it to knock itself out, either! This is a delicte situation!"

Heisenberg was intensely focused on the situation, ready to counter whatever the angry pooch was going to do next. Francois was finally impressed that it used such a risky move against a foe it cannot defeat. Does it want to faint or deal as much damage as possible? Whatever the reason, made Francois want to capture it because he was surprised that such a pathetic foe revealed itself to be an aggressive fighter. After those damned spearows, perhaps he could set his sights higher and find a stronger pokemon lurking somewhere in the mansion. This little dark type would satisfy his dark type requirement and only buffer the pawniard he caught earlier. Olympia's badge was going to be his.

"Fantastique, Heisenberg, use protect and let it attack you. That way it will give me some time to run closer to it and perhaps capture the pooch!"

Heisenberg growled out annoyance, not being able to make a wonderful use of its speed boost ability, since protect had priority anyways. The only thing that could potentially break through the protect was a brick break or roar, but since it coming from such a small creature, even the Pooch's roar would not do much.

Heisenberg obeyed his trainer's orders and quickly squatted and covered its head, a band of light green light ran over its head and down its body like an egg and disappeared after passing under his feet. The Poochyena took this an opportunity to use another double edge, hitting Blaziken straight on.

While Heisenberg protected and the poocheyna dove for the chicken Francois darted around the table, in the direction of the door, and finally reaching the side with the combatants. Francois was facing the protecting Heisenberg and as soon as the pooch bounced safely back on the floor, Francois had his Park Ball out ready to throw at the pooch. It was panting. It had not sustained any more injuries from Blaze's protect, but it was apparent it was growing more tired.

Before the pooch could turn around Francois quickly threw the Park Ball at the pooch and it flew in the air, and landing on its body. The ball bounced off of it and opened, turning the pooch into a red ball of plasma. The plasma entered the ball's empty chamber and the the ball fell on the ground, with the central button glowing bright red.

 

The Park ball twitched once as the Pokémon within tried to break out... Then a second time, weaker...

A long moment passed, then one last twitch and a loud click! signaled the ball's locking mechanism sealing. The Poochyena had been caught!

Captured: Poochyena





"We'll want to keep moving," Tella said, stepping forward to grab the ball and placing it in a pocket out of harm's way; it would be returned to François once it was time to leave the Park, if he chose to keep the Poochyena instead of whatever else he caught.

"That ruckus will have spooked the Mansion's less welcoming inhabitants," Tella continued, "And they... oh. Too late."

The reason for Tella's self-interruption was immediately apparent as a cacophony of howling wails, like a vast choir of spirits in anguish, started to reverberate through the walls and the air. The noise came from everywhere, but it came most strongly through the hallway behind them, where she and François had entered from. At the same moment, the daylight filtering through the choking vines went black, something blocking the light from entering and anything else from getting out. It was completely dark except for the light from the tiny embers Heisenberg's Fire Punch had left on the vines and floor.

The howling was getting closer, its source invisible but seeming to approach down the hallway. The only way away from it was through the door Poochyena had come out of, deeper into the Manor...

"Hell no. We've got no time for these shenanigans, the run is more than half over," Tella said crossly. Instead of taking the logical route through the far door and running away, the young woman turned and strode directly toward the ever-growing wailing noise from the hallway, her Venomoth fluttering quietly and obediently behind her. Reaching the doorway, she widened her stance and grounded herself like a martial artist, as though preparing to fight whatever was coming down the hall...

"Moth, Psychic. Then Reflect."

Instantly, the moth stopped flapping and froze perfectly still in midair, hovering. A sphere of purple light pulsed outward from the Pokémon, then converged on Tella herself; oddly, the Psychic attack was heading directly for the young woman!

"Hyaaah!!"

With a battle cry, Tella made a violent motion, and the bubble-like Psychic attack that was converging on her shattered, spraying outward like glassy purple shrapnel followed by a shockwave of epic proportions. The shockwave passed through the walls, ceiling and floor; a reflective gleam in the air in front of Venomoth stopped both the shockwave and the shards of the Psychic attack, preventing the dangerous power from entering the room where François and Heisenberg stood.

The wailing stopped abruptly with a whooshing noise of wind that somehow communicated "???", and something shadowy disappeared into the ceiling of the hallway as the light returned to the window. Everything went still, and the Ruined Manor returned to the same eerie silence that had cloaked everything before the wailing and darkness had come.

"Coast should be clear, now," Tella said matter-of-factly, leading the way into the hallway as though none of it had happened. "Come on, we're getting out of this manor before the ghosts get any more bothered by the intrusion, or something shows up that Venn and I can't handle."

With the supernatural gloom gone, François would be able to see down the hallway. Just through the door to the parlor, a little bit of movement could be seen: a disoriented little Woobat was fluttering in midair in the middle of the dusty old parlor, just barely managing to hover on unsteady wings. Having been thoroughly ruffled by all the noise and then struck by the very furthest edge of the psychic shockwave, it was somehow unharmed, but completely and utterly confused.

Possible Encounter: Woobat



~~Park Run Statistics~~

• Trainer Name: François Moreau
  
  
• Location: Ruined Manor
  
  
• Remaining Encounters: 1
  
  
• Characters Written by Trainer (since last encounter): 15,322 —> 0
  
  
• Active Effects: None
  
  
• Pokemon Stats:
  Heisenberg the Blaziken — Currently out of ball
  HP: 82.97%
  Gender: M
  Ability: Speed Boost
  Nature: Hardy
  TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Dig, Protect, Swords Dance, Stone Edge, Earthquake, Thunder Punch
  
  Adrien the Tyranitar
  HP: 100%
  Gender: M
  Ability: Sand Stream
  Nature: Bold
  TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Brick Break, Ice Punch
  
  
• Total Items:
  Park Ball x2
  Energy Powder x1
  Lava Cookie x1
  Poké Doll x1
  
  
• Total Captured Pokemon:
  Poochyena (Female, Naïve nature)

 

Beginner RP - François Moreau - Non-Battle Post #4

"Excusez-moi, Ranger, but I believe I am finished here," François said. "May we depart?"

"I thought you'd never ask," Tella muttered under her breath, removing her Venomoth's Poké Ball from its clasp on her belt. "The manor's residents are twitchy today, and I didn't like it. Venn, come back!"

The giant moth Pokémon disappeared into the ball in a swirl of red light, and Tella, miniaturizing the ball with one hand and securing it in its place on her belt, used the other hand to press a button elsewhere on her belt that ejected a different Poké Ball into her palm.

"Lae, come on out." She expanded the ball to full size and with a flick of her wrist sent a beam of light onto the dusty floorboards in front of her, and a Gallade took shape, in a ready stance for combat.

"We need a quick getaway, not a fight," Tella whispered to the Pokémon. "Can you do that for me?"

Lae, in response, merely took one long step to place himself at the centre point between Tella, François, and Heisenberg, then in a flash of purple light all of them disappeared, whisked away to a spot in the forest well beyond the walls of the Manor grounds.

There would be a brief trip to the Docks via the flying capsule vehicle, and paperwork to process for François's ownership of the newly captured female Poochyena, but beyond that, very little more would need doing. Tella would be able to report a straightforward run, all in all: in and out, with only one real incident that had been managed before it could get out of hand. Still, the atypical behaviour of the ghosts of this Manor had piqued Tella's interest; what exactly, she wondered, was really going on in there?

Ah, well. A mystery for another time.

Run Ends Here (by patron request)

Pokémon Captured:

Poochyena (Female, Naïve nature)

 

Claiming