The Tale of Seven

[Rikugurl]

The sound of barking could be heard throughout the room as seven little pups climbed over each other in a large basket.

A man in a while lab coat walked over, his back hunched as he slowly looked down at them with a smile. "Hush now, my darlings." He said kindly before reaching out. He pet each one, quieting them easily. Two women and a man walked in, all carrying a crate or two. They walked in and out of the room as the man played with the pups.

When they were done, the stood in a straight line.
"All done, sir."
"Very well..."
The first crate was pulled up and he lifted one of the pups. The others instantly started to whimper as their sibling was pulled away. "Don't you worry now. You'll be separated, given to the seven children who found the lucky coins but have no fear, you will all be reunited one day."

For each crate, the man picked a pup, placed it gently into it and added a specially wrapped box. In each box was a single stone, rock or shard, all different sizes and colors.
When the basket was empty and the crates were full of one pup and one special box each, the man nodded. "Off they go. May their journey be full of accomplishments and happiness."



"Dug..."
Three little mounds looked around. "Dug? Dug.....dug." They scoped the area only for them to blink and looked down. Pebbles around them started to rattle.
"Dug? Dug, dug? "Du----TRIO!!" The mounds suddenly shot back into the hole they had popped up from just as a hovering bike flashed over it.

♪Try to find out what makes you tick.
As I lie down
Sore and sick.
Do you like that?
Do you like that?♪

Music blared as the bike zoomed a few inches from the desert sand. It was dark blue with yellow stripes and bright red lights. On it were two figures, the one manning the handles much shorter than the figure sitting behind.

The motor roared as it hiked up a dune and over the edge. At the bottom was a group of rolling balls, in which the bike passed. One popped apart and the creature sniffed the air. "San...?"

The motor roared once more as the driver hit on the breaks, swerving around a large bolder, seeming as if they didn't want to go through a patch of cacti... or so that's what they looked like...
A gas of smoke following the bike slid as it tried to catch up and a blue fox-like creature hung on for dear life upon one of the few bags on the bike.

♪Desperate, I will crawl
Waiting for so long
No love, there is no love.
Die for anyone
What have I become?♪

Another dune came up and the bike broke over the top only for the driver to look up, a helmet blocking any identification. What the driver was looking at was a huge, circular structure.
A city.
The driver twisted their wrist and the bike shot towards it even faster.

"SKAR!" An odd looking, metal bird cried as it stopped the bike coming at high speeds... right for them! Two guards looked when they heard the bird, their eyes widening as they spotted the bike as well. Before they could react... the bike was gone......PASS THEM!
"HEY! STOP!" Too late, the bike was gone.

The engine roared once more as the air breaks kicked in. The bike and passengers swerved around pedestrians.
"ACK!"
"HEY! WHAT IT!"
"UGH!"
People and odd creatures ran to get out of the way, making sure not to get run over even if they ran into other thing.

The bike took a sharp turn and went up a set of stairs, pushing people coming down it to the side.
"HEY! YOU IDIOTS! WATCH OUT!" A brunette girl in an orange dress cried as the bike nearly hit her and her crayfish looking pet hide behind her.

When the bike reached the bridge, once again it soared down it, pushing everyone out of the way. The bridge ran down to another lower level, leading to a large building with an oval top.
A stadium.
The bike soared down the bridge towards it, passing some homes. The air breaks were pressed once more, slowing the bike quickly and then once last sharp turn brought them into an alley.

The bike was slowly driven to the end and around the back where there was a small grove and then some fencing. A perfect place to keep the bike.
The blue fox-like thing seemed to sigh in relief as the bike came to a stop and the engine quit. The two figures got off and stretched. The short one pulled at their helmet, revealing pale, blonde spiky hair that seemed to swirl to the front.
His blue eyes darkened as he smirked, hearing the other figure complain as she revealed herself, having blue hair.

"You should be use to it by now, Aquafina~~~" He teased as he reached down to one of the bags and opened it. Inside one of them were very small balls, black and red in color with a red 'R' on top of it.
"Here, catch!" He called to the puff of gas that seemed to of been able to keep up. A ball was thrown, and then another... and another. Just as the balls were descending, a claw grasped one... and then the other and the other.

The gas formed, revealing a dark purple, ghost looking creature with sharp eyes. The thing looked at the three balls in one of his detachable claws before suddenly juggling them.
"Haun haun haun!!" He laughed as the blonde pulled out some more.

[Reno]

VROOOOOOOOM! Screamed the bike as it sped across the uneven ground. More than once the bike hit a bad spot in the road and came off of the ground completely before falling to the laws of gravity, rattling the three passengers each time it came back to jolt onto the ground.

Behind the driver the taller figure gripped on tighter, fingers nails digging into the others ribs hard but the other didn't stop his crazy driving, even when they disturbed a whole crowd of purple rats on top of everything else.

"GLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" The blue fox screamed but her voice went unheard over the roar of the motor and the screeches of her fellow animals around her. Her thin, hexagonal tail flapped like a flag.

Through the streets they went, gaining cries and yells from all around. They fir the most part went ignored and even in some cases the crazy one in front went even FASTER just to cause even more anger.

The poor fox nearly toppled over as they made a sharp turn and went speeding down an alley, but when the ride finally came to a stop the terrified fox fell against the bags her pointed ear flopping down. "Glaa..."

The taller carefully got off the bike pulling off her helmet like the other. "Where in the name of Kanto did you learn to fucking drive?!" She rolled her eyes as the other responding uncaringly. "Whatever Ventura. Next time, I drive." She flicked her hand through her short blue hair, brushing some of it out of her eyes.

She turned around and grabbed onto the blue fox, helping her onto the ground. The fox walked around unsteadily before laying down shaking her head. "Poor Glaceon, guess the ride wasn't very fun."

Glaceon just sighed again before looking up at ghost, watching him juggle the balls. Her ears twitched before she got up on her haunches and pounced. She caught one of the ball in her teeth and went right the other landing on the other side. She flicked her tail triumphantly.

Aqua rolled her eyes before she turned looking through the fence seeing nothing but the dark alley beyond. It didn't appear to go through instead far off it created a T, the alleys splitting in two directions. It was a good spot, the likelihood of anyone coming down this way was very unlikely. She looked back at Ven. "Now remember we're only entering the Platinum Competition to check out the Pokemon, so don't you dare get all competitive like you ALWAYS do."


Feet crunched softly along the dirt roads as the owner of said feet paused, looking up at the large glass doors before him and way up high towards the sign that said:
Platinum Stadium

The face of the teen grew a wide smile and he looked down towards his feet where his companion was. "Ready for this?"
The yellow and white fox-like animal looked up, long ears twitching. Nearly the whole body of this Pokemon mimicked that of his master's hair - complete disarrayed spikes. Around the animal's left ankle was what appeared to be a silver bracelet, cut in a way that it looked like a crown. "Jolt, jolt!"

"That's the spirit!" The boy said happily pounding his chest where his heart was before he walked inside, his spiky-furred Pokemon following after. He looked around, grinning excitedly as he saw all the other trainers within already signing up. "Oh this is gonna be great!!" He hurried to the nearest person who was free.


"Ugh how did we get lost?" Groaned a boy with blonde swirly hair. He smacked aside a branch irritably only for it to swing back and smack him. "GAH!!" The blonde fell over, holding his face groaning in pain.

"Ab...sol?" A dog-like pokemon walked up next to the other, tilting it's head. This creature had a tuft of fur around its neck and an oval on its head, shading his red eyes some. A scythe grew from the opposite side of it's head and a it's tail was sickle like - both colored a dark blue. Across his right eye and the top side of his head was what appeared to be a scar though it was uncertain where it gained such a wound.

The blonde pulled his hands away and he sighed. "Yeah fine thanks for asking." He sat up and groaned as his stomach growled in hunger, throwing his hands to the sky. "WHY DO I HAVE TO GET LOST IN A FOREST NOW OF ALL TIMES?!"

[Rikugurl]

"Yea right, no thanks. When you drive, it take DAYS for us to get anywhere!" The blonde spat out.

The ghost continued to juggle when he felt something ticklish. He blinked, seeing that he only had two balls instead of three now. "Haunter...?"

The blonde boy pulled out a jar, opening it and pushing some fingers into the gel. He pushed it through his hair, slicking it back to made his hair look sleek. "Me? Competitive?" He asked as he pulled on some sharp looking sun glasses. "I don't know what you're talking about~~ Right Haunter?"

The ghost snapped out of his confusion and started to laugh as a response.
"See?" He winked at the girl before pulling off his vest and shirt, revealing a muscle shirt underneath. He was far from having muscles though. He pulled off his pants as well, only left in his boxers and he reached back into his bag.

He pulled out a deep blue shirt and started to put it on while reaching into his bag again. Two IDs were pulled from it, handing one to the blue haired. The ID had their picture on it and stated that they were from the Department of Pokemon Environment Corrections. Each stadium hired people from the department to look at the Pokemon that were competing and made sure that the stadium had the safest environment for them.

Let's just say that the REAL inspectors got a little... 'tied up'.


The sign ups for the competition had started early that morning and for those who wanted a small bonus prize, including some hyper spray and berries, trainers could sign up the night before during specific hours.

One trainer had done that and how had their own little section in the locker room for themselves. The figure wore a long, black cloak with a hood that hid their face. They hunched over the bench that they were sitting on, looking as if they were pondering something.
Sitting next to their lone bag, a creature, resembling a fox. It was black in color with yellow rings around its body. Its red eyes looked around the area but it stood still, puffing it's chest out nobly.


"Wow... isn't it beautiful?" A male's voice came from the top of a hill, standing outside the exit of a large forest. The boy was tall, wearing loose and comfortable clothing with a hip bag on his... hip. A rustic red cloth was wrapped around his head loosely, bright red and black hair springing from it all over the place.

He was lean, having deep purple tattoos in the shape of upside down triangles under his eyes. Above them were modern looking glasses, in which his exotic green eyes could see.

"Nine!" A cheery call was heard next to the male which made him smile. "Yea... he sure have come a long way..." He drifted off as he slowly looked down at the fox that was sitting next to him. She was white and looked like any normal fox.... except for those nine tails that were wagging gracefully in the wind. "Alright! Let's go!" He smiled as he started heading down towards the large city.

[Reno]

Glaceon had an evil smirk on it's face at Haunter's confusion tossing the ball up and getting on her hind paws, catching it onto of her head.

"Tch as if I'm supposed to believe that thing?" She said with a role of her eyes, motioning towards Haunter before she grabbed her stuff and opened it as well, turning away from the blond as she two started to undress. It wasn't a big deal to them - they had been partners for a long time and had seen each other fully naked before. It never meant a thing to either of them. They certainly didn't have any romantic interest in one another at all.

She pulled off her shirt, revealing the dark blue bra underneath and tugged down the awful skirt she had to wear, revealing matching panties. After she had changed into the stolen clothes and stuffed them into her bag in a good hiding place she took the ID as well as the gel. She clipped the ID on her chest where it was meant to be. She stuck her finger in the gel before grabbing the strands of hair that always fell to the side of her face and with a few practice and easy movements was able to break the strands into two separate pieces and curl them so they fell to either side of her face and framed her eyes.

She grabbed her sunglasses last putting them on, hiding her blue eyes and looked at Ven, smirking. "Hopefully these worthless trainers have something useful." She looked down as Glaceon walked over, reaching down and snatching the Rocketball off the top of her head. She pulled out something else from her bag and lent down, snatching the collar around her neck. There were no tags, but the sight of the collar would make most people leave her be if they happened to need her to separate from them.

"Now aren't you cute." Aqua cooed to her Pokemon, only to hear Ven make a comment. She glared at him. "Not you idiot. You're as ugly as a Slaking!"

"Chahaha..." Glaceon laughed.


Jolteon sat down next to her master's feet as the brunette handed the woman his poke-dex.
"Alright let's see here." The woman said softly as she put the Poke-Dex in the slot in the computer. The machine whirred softly as it read the technology. "So you're name is Sora Holani and you're from Porta Vista?"
"That's right!"
"And these are your Pokemon you are currently carrying with you?" She turned the computer to face him and six pictures of very familar Pokemon stared back at the trainer.
"Yep, that's all of them!"
"And you've collected the eight badges required?"

As an answer, Sora brought out a small case from his pocket and opened it, eight shiny badges gleaming back at her, and one proud teen grinning. "Yep."
"Alright then," she smiled as she turned the computer back to face her. "The six Pokemon you have on you currently, are they the six you would like to register for the competition? Be aware that you can not transport any new Pokemon during the entirety of the match, you must fight with the six you have."
"Yep they're just fine."
The woman typed some things in. "Alright, the competition will begin with one-on-one Pokemon battles. Once you pass the preliminaries the battles will become Three-on-three up until the final eight. If you make it that far, you will be allowed to battle six-on-six."
"Okay no problem."
"Your Pokemon will also have to pass an inspection by trained professionals. they will check the health and vitality of each of your Pokemon and if, for any reason, they do not believe your Pokemon can not battle you will be allotted to find a new Pokemon that can pass inspection or you may choose to enter the battle with less than six Pokemon."
"O... kay." Sora said hesitantly.

She smiled. "I know it's a lot." She grabbed some brochures handing them to Sora. "Here are the local Pokemon Centers, local inns, shops for potions and food for your Pokemon as well as yourself. It will probably be difficult to find a place to stay but the Pokemon Center will try and make room if you need it. Before each of your matches you must be at the battle field approximately ten minutes before your battle begins. If you are not then the judge will call it a forfeit."

"The preliminary battles will be short and take place in the dome rooms, which can be located down the left and right halls. After that, battles will be taken out into the open on the four chosen fields of ice, water, rock and grass and will be regarded by a larger crowd and, also, be aware your battles will be broadcasted across the world so please remember to be courteous. If you make it to the final eight, the battles will take place on a normal stadium field. Other than that I wish you and your Pokemon good luck and here is your registration ID!"

"Thank you!" Sora said cheerfully, before he hurried from the desk, Jolteon followed at his side. "Wow, lots of information here huh Jolt?"
"Jol...."


Roxas sighed, looking up at the sky he could see through the branches. "I shouldn't of gone chasing after that Stantler. At this rate I won't get to the platinum competition until it's over!" He frowned, shaking his head.

"Absoool..." The wolfen-dog whined, nuzzling Roxas' cheek. The blond cheered up a little and nodded. "You're right we didn't come this far just to give up!"

He stood, rubbing the reddening mark on his face before he reached for his belt, grabbing one of the red and white balls. He clipped it off, pressed the button and threw it into the air. "Skarmory go!"
"Skaaar!" Cried the bird as it took form after a brilliant flash of white light. It's red metal wings spread and flapped so he didn't go sailing to the ground.

"Skarmory!" Roxas called in a commanding tone. "Fly up above the trees and see if you can spot Victory City!"
"Skaaaar!" The steel bird cried in return and flapped it's metal wings, taking off into the air. It broke from the trees and circled around slowly before it stopped, facing right from where Roxas was. "Skaaarmory!"

"Alright good going Skarmory!" Roxas cheered. "We'll get there after all!"
"Absol!!"


Red eyes snapped open as something delicious smelling was placed in front of his nose. A tongue swiped out and licked over devilish fangs before the dog opened its mouth wide and snapped his teeth for the kabob...

But all he got was air as his master rudely pulled it away. "Hey, hey!" The brunette laughed. "You can't have it all I want some! But you know Houndoom, if you warm it up some I might just share~"

The dog was quiet before he blew out a stream of fire, torching the food.

"AH HOUNDOOM!" The trainer looked unhappily at his blackened food and sighed, "You win." He tossed it to the other, the dog happily snatching it between his jaws, pulling of the meat by tugging the stick away with his paws. His arrowhead tail flicked around contently. He loved burnt food.

Terra sighed, sitting down at the fountain near the Platinum Stadium, petting the dog between his curled horns. "This is why I don't share my muffins with you."

[Rikugurl]

Haunter pouted when he saw the woman roll her eyes at him. With a confused look, he scratched his head. "Haun, haun, haun?"
"Don't listen to her, Haunter. You know she always has something stuck up her ass." The blonde grinned as he handed her some of the gel. The ghost's pout turned upside down into a smile as he laughed.

When Aqua was TRYING to make herself look pretty, he threw the gel back into his bag before taking the two Rocket balls from Haunter's claws.
He placed them in a briefcase that was stolen from the real officials, under the documents and so forth. "Alright, in you go." Haunter nodded before turning back into his gas form and slipping into the briefcase as well.

Ventus looked up at Aqua and nodded. "I know, you don't need to tell me~~" He chuckled but growled when he heard the insult. "Well at least I smell better than a Skuntank!" He glared at her, getting a glare back and hearing a muffled laugh from inside the suitcase.

With a sigh, the two walked down and out of the alleyway, Glaceon walking between them. They making sure no one saw them as they stepped out and headed down the sidewalk right to the entrance of the stadium.

Back at their bike, an unopened bag started to move. It went this way and that until it fell off the bike and opened, making something pink roll out of it. The cat like creature quickly stood and looked around. "Skiiiiiiiii??" It bounced before quickly rushing down the alley and out into the open. It looked around again before a large smile ran over its face, seeing the two walking away with the Glaceon.


The walk was an enjoyable one. They took their time and when little kids asked to pet the nine tailed fox, both master and fox were happy to let them.
When they finally reached the front door of the stadium, the two looked at each other and nodded before pushing through the door.

"Whoa..." Green eyes widened as he saw all the trainers. "This is more of a big deal than I thought." He laughed nervously before rubbing the back on his neck. "Nine, nine!" He heard his lovely fox call before smiling down at her. "You're right... Let's go."

They headed for the shortest line and soon, they were up to one of the women.
"Hey..."
"Hello, sir. May I have your pokedex?"
"My... what....?" The redhead asked, some sweat running down his face. "Nine!" "OH! Right!" He laughed again nervously before reached into his hip bag and pulled out his red devise.
"Thank you. I must confirm that your name is Axel Xipil and your hometown is Lavaridge Town?"
"Yep!"
"Alright." She turned her computer monitor to face the man. "These are your six Pokemon you are currently carrying with you?"
"That's correct."

The woman went on, much like the many that were before him and those next to him. He showed her all his badges when she asked to see them.
"Here they are... all eight."
The woman blinked, looking at all of them. Some were more outdated designed than the others. "You took your time I see."
"Well... I'm really not a big fan of fighting you see." The redhead started to explain. "I worked at a Pokemon Rescue Center since I was a little thing. My aunt and I would help Pokemon that had been abused by their old trainers and get them back to new... then we would find more suitable owners or send them to a ranch where they could have a life of leisure."

The woman smiled and nodded. "Wow, that sounds like such a nice thing to do. So what made you become a trainer?"
"Oh well... you see... I just couldn't deal with seeing all the hurt Pokemon anymore... so I went to become an apprentice for breeding Pokemon... but I wasn't cut out for that. So... I wanted to see what else was out there in the regions for me to do... and the best thing to do while traveling is well... being a trainer. While I travel and battle, I like to give other trainers some hints about taking better care of their Pokemon so their battles could have a different outcome next time."

The woman smiled even more and nodded. "Well, I'm glad to have you enter! Here are some papers on the area and if you ever have any questions, please stop by the local Pokemon Center!"
"Alright, thanks!" Axel took his papers and shoved them in his bag before walking off. With a yawn, he sat down on a seat next to another trainer, just taking a break from all that walking. His green eyes lightened though when he saw another fox like Pokemon next to the trainer he was sitting next to.

"That Jolteon looks great!"

[Reno]

"Bastard..." Aqua grumbled as they packed their stuff and left the alley after moving the motor bike closer to the grove where the shadows hide it from any possible prying eyes.

She flicked irritably at one of her curls as she walked next to Ven, her Glaceon quietly and obediently walking between them, her sharp eyes observing the area around them. She followed the two into the stadium.

Outside, a pink fluffy creature quickly hopped after the three. "Ski, Ski, Ski." She chirped each time she touched the ground. The three went inside through the automatic doors. The cat jumped after... only to hit the doors as they closed. "Skiiii!!" The cat whined in pain.

Glaceon followed her master and the ghost's master to the nearest booth where a man was standing behind the counter. "Yes, how may I help you?"
"Hi!" Her master chirped happily, a voice Glaceon hardly ever heard because her trainer was never that happy. Ever.

"We're from Department of Pokemon Environment Corrections and we were hired to check out the Pokemon and the stadium. I'm Hikari and this is my co-worker Masato." They of course still had to use the names of the officials. Ugh, what an ugly name Hikari was. "This is my partner Glaceon, she's got an excellent nose."

When the man looked down at her Glaceon gave her foxy smile and did her best to look friendly. "Gla!"
"Ah yes all you need to do is-" The man was saying and as he looked away. Glaceon scoffed and turned her head, glaring at a Houndoom that was at the next booth over where his brunette-haired master was signing them up for the silly competition. The Houndoom glared back and started to growl, but the elder teen dropped his hands and after a few pats the dog looked away from her.


"Whoo!!" Cried an enthusiastic blond as he broke free of the woods, branches in his hair, leaves stuck to his clothes and scratches on his cheeks. He panted hard as he looked at the country rolling along the hills, seeing a beautiful constructed town further down the hill, a large structure at the far side. The stadium.
"Skaaar!" Cried the metal bird from above.
"Sol...?"

"Yeah let's go!" Roxas said as he grabbed his Pokeball and aimed it at the sky. "Skarmory return!" A red light shot from the ball, hitting the bird and making it dissolve in a red light. "Thanks buddy," He said to the contraption and once it was clipped back onto his belt he took off towards the down the white dog running after.


Sora sighed as he sat at one of the benches glad to get off of his feet after the long walk over, looking over the pamphlets excitedly. He grinned. "Jolteon they've got all sorts of restaurants here! and they'll provide food for some of the Pokemon trainers for free!!"
Jolteon tilted his head but barked in response to the idea of free food.

The two were continuing to gawk over the brochures they had been given, Sora exclaiming every now and again even though he knew from experience the places would be packed from here onto the duration of the competition because of the influx of the crowd, trainers and Pokemon that would need to be provided for.

Sora was just sighing over a beautiful shot of a hotel room with a nice warm looking bed he couldn't hope to get because they were all booked full when someone sat beside him. He blinked but looked up at the red-head when he heard the compliment. He was a rather interesting looking guy with all that brilliantly red and spiky hair and those narrow green eyes that seemed almost devious, yet even still he managed to keep a friendly air around him with his smile that prompted Sora to return with his own.

"Thanks!" He reached down petting Jolteon on the head tenderly, the fox giving a soft growl of content. "He's one of my very best friends."
"Jolt!" Jolteon agreed.
Sora looked over at the other, smiling when he saw another fox Pokemon practically shining in her white fur. "And you have a very beautiful Ninetails. Her coat's very healthy."
He chuckled good-naturedly as the red-head responded in turn. He smiled softly holding out his hand for the other to shake. "My name's Sora Holani, nice to meet you."

[Rikugurl]

Ventus frowned slightly as heard his 'name'. What a shitty name THAT was... didn't even have to do anything with wind. As the man started to blabber on, Ven was close enough to kick the blue dog to shut it up before the trainer of the houndoom quickly took care of the situation. With a side, he tapped his suitcase onto the tall desk that was separating them from the man behind it.

At the tap, the case was pressed against it and the ghost inside knew that was his cue. He passed though the case and the desk, slowly looking up to see the man handing his master and his partner some things as he slowly passed through the man's legs. Claws reached out, wrapping around a set of keys that were on hooks below the desk. They didn't jingle as he put them in his mouth... and they vanished.

He quickly returned to the case and made a faint laugh, letting Ventus know that he was done.
"Hahahaha, stop that, Glaceon~~~ That tickles." He booted the ice pokemon slightly as he covered up Haunter's laugh. With a nod to the man, he smiled. "Thank you. We will begin the investigation early in the morning before the championship begins." He pulled down his glasses, his blue eyes beaming at the man over the counter. "You do have a hotel room for us, right?"

The man only blinked and typed some things up before nodding, some sweat running down the side of his face. "O-oh! Of course." He handed them another brochure and smiled. "It's all paid for by the stadium owners!"
"Thank you." Ven said calmly before taking it and nodded to the woman besides him before they both turned and left out the door they came from.

"Hahaha.... that was too easy~~" The blonde snickered as the doors opened, not even noticing the Skitty waiting right outside as he booted her into the nearby bush.
"SKIIIIIIII!" The pink thing cried as it fell into the fluffy greenery. With a shake, she climbed up and poked her head out of the bush, already seeing the three down the road already.


With a sigh, the coated figure stood, only to grab the attencion of his Pokemon sitting besides him.
"Umbreon...?"
The figure only nodded as they picked up the bag and left the room, the black fox following after.

He stayed close to the hooded figure, walking proud and fearless as his red eyes glanced around. He noticed some other trainers looking their way, wondering where the figure in black had come from... and saw the bit of fear behind their eyes.


The redhead smiled as he looked over, seeing said fox as she sat down in front of him. Her chest was puffed out, knowing how pretty she was... but no in a sense that she was boasting. "Ninetails!" She spoke happily before nuzzling her master.
"Thanks, I use to be a Pokemon rescuer... so I know the best diets for Pokemon to look and feel healthy."

He blinked when a hand was pushed in front of him. He could only smile more before taking it, shaking it steadily. "I'm Axel Xipil. I hope I get to see the rest of your Pokemon in the stadium."
Before their conversation could continue though, a figure walked by them that caught their eye. The one that had a hood covering their face and a dark Pokemon by their side as they walked to the front door.

The brunette beside him made a comment but Axel could only shake his head. "Well... at least their Umbreon seems well cared for..."

[Reno]

Glaceon held her tongue as she was kicked, her eyes narrowed angrily even as she put on a happy smile and barked, "Glace!" She went along with it of course, she understood she needed to for the mission or her trainer would be very, very angry with her. And her trainer was a very scary angry person.

She had come a long way from the ignorant Eevee she had been.

"Thank you very much!" Aqua chirped as they turned from the counter. They left without much of an incident, though Glaceon's ears perked when she caught a familiar cry and with a sniff of the air knew who it had been...

She shook her head, not understanding why the cat Pokemon continued to follow them even after all this time since their travels through Hoenn. She just didn't learn, did she?
"Oh and by the way," Aqua said, punching Ven in the arm. "That was for kicking my Pokemon!"

The fox's ears twitched and she grinned happily, rubbing her body against her trainer's leg. "Ceon!"

Skitty tilted her head and jumped from the bush and started to run after, her tail swinging out behind her. They had such a head start. "Skiii!" The two paused at an intersection, and soon crossed a street. She paused at the sidewalks edge, tilting her head as they made it to the other side, and started to follow after, getting all four paws onto the asphalt...
HOOOOOONK!!
"Ski!!!" The cat cried as it jumped five feet in the air and raced back to the side walk crashing into some trashcans, disturbing them enough to have them fall over.
"Meoooow!!" Can the cry as a Siamese with a gold charm pounced out of the can, holding a rotting fish between its teeth as it raced down the sidewalks.
"STUPID CAT!"
"Watch out!!"
"Whoa! The hell?!"

The pink Pokemon watched the others yell before looking towards the opposite end of the sidewalk between the passing cars, but Ven, Aqua and Glaceon were not to be seen. "Skiiii~" Skitty sighed, laying on the sidewalk ears pressing against his head. she had lost them.


Sora grinned at the answer. "Hopefully." He murmured softly, but also like Ninetails not boasting. He truly hoped he COULD make it that far. He knew the competition here would be steep but he knew as long as he and his Pokemon tried their best, then even if he did lose it wouldn't matter.

It was at that time though, something black caught all their eyes and a chill seemed to wash over them as a man in a large cloak passed them by, a ferocious Umbereon passing them as well. Sora shivered from head to foot and at his side Jolteon's spikes stood up a little, showing his fear.

"He was... kind of... scary looking." Sora said as the man left the stadium. At Axel's comment though he burst into laughter, the tension melting from his shoulders. "Well I guess that's a good thing then!" He reached down petting his Pokemon until the spikes flattened and Jolteon relaxed. "I don't think I want to face him in the ring..."

He looked up at Axel, smiling some. "So, you said you were a Pokemon Rescuer right? What are you doing joining a competition like this?"
He got a similar answer to what the woman before had been given and the brunette nodded slowly, smiling at the other's nobility. He really was a good guy.

Sora blinked however when he was shot the question back at him and chuckled. "Well... Mostly for my brother." At the curious look he got he elaborated. "Well you see I have two brothers, Ven and Roxas. We're triplets, so when we came of age we all started our journey at the same time, but we separated at the beginning of it so we could all grow on our own. I don't see them very often, maybe one or twice every few years, but we always try to run into each other when we can. Its really hard to keep in contact with them by PokePhone. So when this competition came around and I found Roxas had all eight badges too... well you get the idea."

He sighed looking around. "But he doesn't seem to be here yet. I'm a little worried. Roxas... gets lost a lot, he was never very good with maps."

[Rikugurl]

Ven frowned as he was hit. "HEY! How come you don't go after other Pokemon when she gets hit in a battle!?" He spat out his tongue before stopping at a cross walk and looked back and forth. Nothing. They walked across it and down the hill towards the hotel that was close by. Blue eyes glanced back when he heard some racket behind him but shrugged when he didn't see much.

They walked up the stairs to the hotel and walked up to the receptionist. "Hello, we are from the Department of Pokemon Environment Corrections that have been called out for this years championship. We got instructions to come here seeing that we have a room registered. The names are Hikari, and myself, Masato"

The woman nodded as she typed some things up and then looked up at them... then back at her monitor.... then back at then....
"Is there... a problem?" The blonde asked, tilting his head a bit.
"Yes there is..." The woman voiced as she turned the monitor for them to see. Apparently each client in the hotel needed picture ID... and the agents that were meant to be here had their pictures in the database.

"UT!" The blonde smiled nervously. "Hahaha, stupid boss!" He jabbed Aqua so that she would laugh as well. "He sent the wrong pictures! That's Mimsy and Takken!"
"Mimsy and Takken...?" The receptionist asked.
"Yes, yes, you see, those are other partners in the department. Out boss must of sent the pictures to the wrong hotel."
"I see... can I see some form of picture ID then?"

Ven pulled at the pin on his suit and handed it to her, as so did Aqua.
It was a good thing that Ventus was skilled in fake IDs.
She looked at them and then back at the two before smiling. "Sorry for the mix up."
"Don't worry about it. We'll just have to bust our boss's chops when he get back home."

The woman reached over and handed the two two card keys. "Please enjoy your stay and feel free to call if you might need something."
"Thank you~~" Ven winked before grinning at Aqua.
The three walked to the elevator and got in, going up to their floor and down the hall to their room. The key card was slid down and the door opened, revealing a top of the line suite.

"JACKPOT!" The blonde cried as he rushed in and looked around, hearing the door close behind him as Aqua walked inside with Glaceon. There was a large, king size bed along with their own private bathtub and hot tub. There was a desk with a state of the art computer and their own little fridge.

He sunk into the bed as he sat down on it, and placed his case next to him. The clasps were opened and a purple ghost popped out. "HAUN HAUN HAUN!"
"So, did you get the keys?"
"Haunter!" The ghost smiled as he opened his mouth and pushed one of his hands down inside, moving around as if he was trying to find something.

Keys were jingled as they were pulled out and handed to the blonde. "Awesome! I guess we can take a look around the stadium a bit sooner that morning~~"


Axel just watched the figure leave before blinking as the brunette started to talk again. "Oh! Well..." He told the story that Ninetails grew to know the lines too. She slowly laid down, her tails wagging gracefully as he closed her eyes.

"--But enough about me, what about you?" Ninetails perked up her head as the conversation became knew, her red eyes looking right at Sora.
When Axel heard the reason, he tilted his head. He smiled though when he heard the rest and nodded. "Man, it must be tough to venture and grow without your brothers... especially since your so close to them being triplets and all..."

The redhead looked around, as if he was looking for this said brother too... even if he had never even seen him before looking back at the brunette. "Well... I suppose you can always go out to look for him? We wouldn't mind helping.... right, Ninetails?"
"Tails!"

[Reno]

OOC: Did you say Monday or Sunday? Cause if its Sunday (today) I'll be on four my time I guess

"Because I won't hit anything that's smarter than a slowpoke!" Aqua said back with a wide grin. Behind her she heard the noise as well but didn't both to look. As cool as bloody accidents were, she knew nothing had died. there were no pathetic squeals or crashing of cars. Tch, nothing cool every happened around her!

Glaceon, like Ven however, did look back, her ears flattening as she smelt the putrid smells of gasoline and something else. Fear and rotting fish. She did not understand it - why would humans make such awful machines? Didn't they ever think of the Pokemon?! "Gla..." She hissed, shaking her head unhappily.

It wasn't too much longer that they made it to the hotel. the name of it was the Sunny day Inn. Aqua scoffed when she saw it. The fuck? How did ANYONE get any business with a name like that? On that notion, how did anyone get any recognition with an awful name like Hikari?

When she walked inside, she discovered just why it was called the Sunny Day. The entire interior was decorated with the theme of grass Pokemon. The tiles they walked on were etched with the multitude of Pokemon, from Grovyle to Shaymin. The lobby was decorated in many shades of green except for the lounge chairs which where the dark blue color of Oddish and Tangela. The pillar used to hold the building up had been decorated by strings of flowers (Roselia and Sunflora flowers to be exact) similar to how one decorated a Christmas tree.

There was a sign hung up that said:
Need a place to heal and rest?
Take a break from your quest!
Trainers one and all come in,
Welcome to the Sunny Day Inn!

It was utterly abhorring. They went to the front counter, the marble colored like Venusaur flowers. As Ven spoke with the lady, Aqua took note of a canister of pens and held back her disgust. the cap of each pen had a decoration of one of the four starter Pokemon: Bulbasaur, Chikorita, Treeko and Turtwig.

For a water Pokemon trainer like her, this was a nightmare.

Even still she forced herself to smile, hand over her ID, laugh when necessary and say her thanks before she was finally able to go to their nice little suite. Thankfully the Pokemon theme was toned down incredibly. There was on the wallpaper, done up in Bellossom flowers and the bedsheets with had designs of leaves and Torterra trees. Oh and of course the pink soap in the bathroom was shaped like Hoppips.

"Tch," Aqua scoffed as she threw her stuff in her chair, barely caring as Glaceon jumped on the bed and curled up even though her coat was covered in a thin layer of ice and it would probably get the bed wet. "I can't believe how easy this was. These idiots don't know the first thing about security. The Pokemon are basically being asked to be stolen!"


Sora smiled as he heard the comment but didn't answer. Of course it was rough, separated from his siblings. They had been together since birth! In the end though he was glad they had - he'd become a strong trainer and a stronger person because of it.

At the next statement he blinked... and then grinned. "Really? You wouldn't mind?" After being affirmed that it really was no big deal, he looked at Jolteon. "Well then I guess we're going on a scavenger hunt!"
Jolteon tilted his head curiously. A hunt? "Eon...?"

Sora stood and so did the other three. "Alright then let's get moving!" He knew Roxas would kick himself in the next year if he missed the sign-ups for the competition and knowing his no talent with maps brother, he was probably completely lost.


"I am completely sure of where we are!" Roxas said, puffing out his chest just like a certain Ninetails, Absol walking by his side. "Yep the minute we turn this corner there the Stadium will be!"
Roxas hurried in his step and turned the corner of the northern district...
only to see more street laid out before him.

The blond groaned. "Ah damn it! How can such a large building just disappear like that?!" His stomach gave a growl. "And why must I be lost and tired and huuuuungrrrrrrrrry?!" Roxas whined.
"Absol, sol, soooooooooooooooool!" His Pokemon whined at the same time. The two hung their heads heaving great sighs of despair.

"This must be the great beast of the sea's biggest joke on me yet." Roxas said as he headed aimlessly across the street. "The sun's gonna set soon Absol if we don't make it there soon we won't get in! Ugh I need a compass Pokemon."


Two foxes and two trainers were walking down the sidewalk, Sora digging through his bag. "So my brother Roxas he's got blue eyes like me and it about my height but he's hair is blond and it's in this crazy swirly do and - oh here it is!" Sora took out a small photograph in a metal frame and let Axel hold onto it. "We're all there though it's a bit dated."

Dated didn't begin to describe it. the picture was in black and white and must of been taken when the boys were ten or younger. Sora stood between two others throwing peace signs at the camera. One blond, the one on his right, was giving a very obscene gesture with his middle finger (of which he got punished for greatly) and the one on his left was uncannily alike the other on the right. He was looking slightly away from the camera, hiding his eyes behind his hair.

"Roxas is the shy one." Sora chuckled, shaking his head. "Ven is the rude one."

Behind the two trainers, choruses of 'Nine' and 'Jolt' were sounding as the two foxes talked.

[Rikugurl]

Ven's eyes widened as he looked over at the chair. "Would you like a megaphone while you're at it!?" He frowned as he threw a pillow at her. "There's no point in being undercover if you're going to clearly state something." He spoke, his voice lower than normal. "What if there was a cop staying next to us??"

He sighed as he fell back into the bed, smiling at how comfy it felt to him. Sometimes... this life was nicer than other times. Then again, no matter how nice the situation might be, he was STILL stuck with that blue haired girl.

When the toughest came around... well... he had to admit that it was when he met up with his brothers... and them asking that question:
"Wow! Where did you catch that Pokemon!?"
He always laughed uneasily and looked away, dodging the question with something else... or just making up something obvious.

The truth... he stole them. Even the loyal Haunter that floated above him was stolen. Stolen from a crazy old lady that had used him in battle. One toss from his Rocket ball claimed the Haunter as his. Luckily... with his whole crew of stolen Pokemon, they were all loyal. The only true Pokemon who wasn't kept in a Rocket ball was his first. His Eevee that had evolved into an Espeon a few years back.

With a sigh, he sat back up and yawned. "Let's see what this joint has for some grub. I'm starving." He got up and frowned before looking behind him. "You stay here, alright?"
The Haunter only smiled. "Haun, haun~~"
"And DON'T make a mess this time!"


The very tall teen walked next to the rather short one as they headed across a bridge. The sun was shining brightly and the white, puffy clouds were passed at times by Taillows, Swellows, Starly and Staravia. Around them flew some Beautifly here and there.

"Oh?" The redhead questioned as he took the picture from the brunette. When he looked down at his, his eyebrow rose. A little dated was an understatement. What did catch his eye though was that all three of them seemed very, VERY different. Especially the one shoving his middle finger to the camera. How did he know about THAT at that age!?

He glanced down at Sora and nodded as he continued to talk. "Hmm... well, this is a huge city... we might have a pretty hard time finding him." He rubbed the back of his neck as they walked through a four way. He glanced around when he stopped dead in his tracks. "You wouldn't happen to remember what your brother's main Pokemon is, would you?"
The brunette continued walking, saying something about last time he saw him, he was with a natural disaster pokemon.

Axel knew exactly what Pokemon that was.
The Pokemon that is able to predict when a natural disaster will occur, and tries to warn people when one is approaching.
Absol.
"Well... I think I see him then." He said as he pointed out down one of the ways were a blonde boy seemed defeated, an Absol looking much the same next to him.

"NINE!"

[Reno]

Aqua rolled her eyes at Ven's panic. "Oh stop being such a Bonsly." Like Officer Jenny would really be next door. She'd pick a place that would be safe for all her stupid little K-9s. And a place for grass Pokemon was certainly not it.

She sighed as she glanced out the window, able to see the tops of buildings including the stadium. She was only about two years older then Ven, but still had been apart of this 'business' longer then Ven. She had been his partner ever since hers had an... unfortunate accident.

Apparently it was a rule once you became bad you can never become good. You never reached sunlight alive.

When she first saw the blonde and his little Eevee she had been... skeptical that he could really do this job. He still shocked her even to today how much of an evil bastard he really was.

She looked towards him when he mentioned food and nodded. "Yeah." She stood and walked over to Glaceon patting her on the head. "We need to bring enough back for the Pokemon."


Sora couldn't help but laugh at Axel's shocked expression over the picture. He knew why. It was Ven that always made people just sit there and wonder what the hell did this kid's parents teach him? They were ironic twins. With him smile, and Roxas' shyness and Ven's brashness... if it wasn't for their looks it would be hard to imagine they were related at all!

"Yeah I know... hes not exactly the sweetest guy at times but..." Sora shrugged and laughed. "It takes awhile to get used to both of my brothers."

At the next question he nodded. "Yeah last time I was with him he had an Absol at his side." He was about to explain that it probably wasn't correct anymore since Roxas had a tendency to switch the Pokemon that walked by his side often - when Axel suddenly said he saw him.

He looked up his eyes widened as he spotted a forlorn blond and, surprisingly, Absol looking just the same. He grinned and took off from the red-head's side. "ROXAS!!!"
Jolteon, likewise, did the same. "Jolt jolt!!"

The blonde looked up, eyes wide and he straightened opening his mouth to respond - only to get tackled by the over-exuberant brunette. "WAAAH!! SORA!"

"Absol!" The Pokemon said in surprise as he watched his trainer get tackled. He was about to growl... when he recognized this someone.
"Jolteon!" A greeting came up to him.
Absol blinked before looking down at the littler fox. The Pokemon scoffed and looked away. Jolteon blinked in surprise - so this one hadn't changed at all. "Jolt!" He looked away as well. The electric Pokemon instead watch the two trainers laugh as they hugged each other.

"Man I thought you'd never get here!" Sora said helping the other up - after all it was his fault he was on the ground in the first place.
"What are you talking about?" Roxas said, brushing himself off and trying to look like he hadn't just been totally depressed. "I knew where I was the whole time!!"
Sora laughed about to tease him further when a soft bark from behind made him looked back. "Oh!!" He grinned looking between the two - well four technically. He grabbed Roxas dragged him forward. "Roxas I'd like you to meet my new friend Axel! He helped me find you - and this is his partner Ninetails!"

Roxas blinked as he was pushed into an introduction. Damn did Sora forget already how much he hated that?! He smiled a bit uncertainly as he looked up... and UP at the red-head. Wow... he was tall. "Um... hi?"

"And Axel this is my youngest brother Roxas! And his Absol!"
Absol opened his eyes and looked over, taking one look at Ninetails before scoffing and looking away again. Roxas blinked and looked back. "Absol!"

[Rikugurl]

Ventus looked over, giving Aqua a negative look. Why did she have to come up with those cheesy sayings? Your as ugly as a slaking, as slow as a slowpoke and as worried as a bonsly...? Why was he blessed with this woman.

"Come on..." He huffed as he rolled his eyes and walked out the door, pulling his sunglasses over his eyes even if they were inside now. They made them seem a bit more... professional and unapproachable.

They went back down the elevator and looked at some signs that pointed to the restaurant. That was when it dawned on them... they could of just ordered room service. It would of been put on their tab at the department would of paid for it. So that was what they did. Turned around and went back upstairs.
When they opened the door and walked in, lamps, coffee cups, the phone and other things were knocked onto the floor as Haunter flew around, being chased by Glaceon and laughing.

"HAUNTER!!!"


Axel blinked as he saw the brunette rush off and collided with the blonde. He himself had to wince as he heard flesh hit the pavement. That had to smart...
He looked down at his Ninetails and smiled uneasily before nodding, walking down the way to reach the two.

When Axel stopped, his Ninetails sat down next to his feet, puffing up her chest as always. Even when the Absol didn't seem very impressed, she kept her pride. "Niiinetails!"
Axel smiled as he saw Roxas, noticing right off bat that he was shy. He was shy... but he could tell that he was a good trainer and probably had some hidden techniques up his sleeve, just like himself...
"Hey..." He waved a bit before looking down at the Absol.

"Wow, look at that fur." He smiled even more as he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a Poffin. "Here you go." He said softly as he knelt down and held out his palm to Absol. "They're really tasty~"

[Reno]

Aqua sighed as she and Ven left getting all the way back to the lobby floor and almost to the restaurant... when it occurred to them both about how they could get free food. This thought came to be when Aqua dug into her pockets to see how much spending money they had... and came up with zilch.

"We have a little problem." Aqua said as she turned over his coin purse and shook it, nothing coming out except some dust. Ven looked at it before he grinned and suddenly remembered room service.

Finding that idea better then anything the two agreed to go back, walking all the way back to the room... and opened the door to a mess.
"GLA!" Glaceon barked irritably and opened her mouth -
"GLACEON WAIT!" Aqua cried.
And out of her mouth came a storm of ice that went through Haunter and hit Aqua and Ven. The two yelped as they were covered in a fine sheet of frozen water, white flecks like snow in their hair and icicles even collecting at their fingertips.


Roxas watched the red-head but blinked in surprise as he tried to approach his Pokemon. "I should uh warn you..." He started to say but Axel found out for himself.

Absol's eyes narrowed as Axel came close and tried to offer him food. "Ab." He growled before turning around and sitting down so that all Axel saw was his back. He was obviously disinteresting, and possibly offended.

Sora laughed, recognizing the scene. The dog-like Pokemon had done the same to him when they had first met and even tried to attack him. "Absol hasn't changed a bit I see."

Roxas smiled sadly and shook his head. He walked over, petting his Pokemon before looking at Axel who seemed a bit down. He was incredibly kind guy but... "I'm sorry he's not very friendly with strangers. Or... anyone really." He was glad at least his Absol didn't try to HURT Axel, but the other had grown out of that stage awhile ago thankfully. That'd be a quick end to a friendship...

"Hey! You should tell Axel how you caught Absol!" He looked towards the red-head with a smile. "It's a real good one, cause Roxas is like you. He rescued it!"
Huh?! Roxas blushed bright red and shook his head. "S-Sora please I'm sure he doesn't want to hear any silly story like that..."

[Rikugurl]

Ventus never saw it coming. He blinked as he heard Aqua's cry but it was too late. "NOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!" He closed his eyes but before he could even shield himself, he was frozen. Slowly his eyes opened, finding it hard to do so as his lashes were frozen to his cheeks.

His eyes darkened as he looked glanced at Aqua, the only bit of him that could move as he started to tremble uncontrollably. "A-a-a-and ya-ya--you w-wond-d-der w-why a-a-I h-h-ate i-iceeee P-p-p-p-p-pokemon!" He growled through his chattering teeth.

Haunter blinked as he watched the stream of ice go through him before turning around... seeing his master and Aqua all frozen. He blinked a few times before his eyes bugged out and he was thrown into a laughing fit.
Ven growled as he stomped into the room and to the room with the bathtub. He couldn't close the door thanks to his arms being frozen.


Axel's eyes went wide as he saw the Pokemon rejected it but smiled softly. Many had done this when he worked at the rescue center. It still felt... horrible that Pokemon still couldn't trust him.

The redhead blinked though as he heard the chipper voice of the brunette and looked up. "Huh?" Like him....?
His eyes only widened as he heard that Roxas had rescued this disaster pokemon. No wonder Absol was like this... He stood and handed Ninetails the poffin instead. She gladly took it and ate it happily as her master spoke.

"You rescued it!? Really? I'd love to hear the story! Uh... because, I use to be a Pokemon rescuer myself."
Ninetails stopped chewing and only rolled her eyes as she heard it. Here we go again...