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ooc: Just going to put this out there. I'm not in a rush, though. Word count: 511
When faced with the choice of a hard path or an easy path, Luce didn’t hesitate. The right path was only for the strongest trainers, the clerk at the pokemart had said. When he picked out a basic fishing rod, blue because it wasn’t tangled up with the others, and two dive balls, the clerk had assumed he was heading up to the tidepools of this cleverly named “Left Path”. She had further assumed he wasn’t the strongest of trainers, and probably new to town, what with how he mispronounced the most popular local rod brand. The clerk assumed right. Being the helpful sort, she went on to tell Luce all the basic information a normal person from around these parts would know about the long beach; strong and mostly air types to the right, weaker and mostly water types to the left.
It was as if the road had made the choice for him. When he came upon the signs that pointed out the fork in the path, he didn’t even slow his stride. Luce traveled a ways into the route. There were tidepools and good spots to fish near the beginning, yes, but today Luce really didn’t want to be bothered. There had been more than enough people yesterday. He walked until he felt he was a good long ways from the sign and any people, then turned and walked perpendicular from the path. He took care to not trip as he went down through the tidepools.
The right spot took some finding. By the time he found a place that satisfied him, he was feeling hungry and the sun was overhead. But it made it all the more triumphant when he finally sat down, a grove of short trees to his back, a inlet perhaps twenty feet in diameter before him. A few feet of rocky sand coasted the first quarter of the inlet, but gave way to green grass halfway through. The calm sea waves strolled casually in.
Luce pulled out and unfolded his new fishing rod. He gave himself a few good swings, cast out the line- and snagged on a bush behind him. He became keenly aware that he had never done this before. But a few casts and another snag later, Luce had the line floating out where the shore dropped into a little deeper of the ocean.
He settled down on the grass. The rod sat propped up next to him, and secured with his bag and a rock.
Book, lunch, and pokeball he pulled from his bag. Cacnea went straight for the food, then to splash in the water, bag of pokemon food in its hand.
This was the perfect plan. The inexperienced cacnea could train against water types, and he could find pokemon while just sitting and reading his book. Maybe he could even catch something good if his luck continued to hold out. Come on karma, he must have earned something from lasting through the insanity of the previous day.
Luce cracked open his book and hoped for the best.
The tug on the line was subtle, perhaps it was caught in a current or bumping on rocks but as the tug became more persistent and previlent it was clear that something was on the other end of the line. The fight to bring it in was easy as the pokemon that had taken the bait was a small but luminous Finneon. It's glow could be seen before it reached the surface, the vivid colors it produced were slowly replaced by the sun glinting off of its scales as it was pulled from the depths of the ocean. It was a rather beautiful pokemon, but when it turned its head a strange thing was revealed. Around its left fin fishing wire was tangled, based on the scarring it looked like it had been there so long that the scales were beginning to grow over it. It looked painful as the scales in that area were slightly distorted in color where the fishing line had been scratching up against them and digging into the softer flesh of the pokemons fin. Even if the entanglement was removed there would still be a nasty scar.
ooc: Despite what Luce thinks, he is going to try to catch the finneon. :3 Word count: 329
Absorb
You know, this was nice. Sitting here, eating a sandwitch, reading a book, no one to bother him with paperwork or hard math; if this is what it meant to be a trainer, Luce was confounded that anyone would choose any other line of work.
The book started out with an action scene; our hero has finally found the vampire she’s been tracking for the past four months when - something tugs at the line. Luce sat up, placing the book on the grass beside his sandwich, and grabbed the twitching rod.
The pull on the other end of the line was weak. If this was as hard as fishing would be, he wouldn’t have any problems. Ah, how he wished.
Cacnea trotted over from the rocks to stand, waiting, under the line. As the pokemon neared its breach, the area around the line began to glow. A chinchou? No - those shone yellow, not the multitude of colors that danced on the water’s surface.
The pull became harder, and Luce returned it in full. Cacnea danced excitedly. The moment came. Luce swung the rod over his shoulder. The small finneon broke through the water, flashing stunning colors colors in the sunlight, and for a moment Luce felt dread for the day he tried to reel in a gyarados.
The pokemon was within range of Cacnea now, and his pokemon was ready to fight. Luce felt rather disappointed. While the pokemon was beautiful to look at, even its evolution was pure water type and not known for its power. It would make for good training for Cacnea.
“Cacnea, absorb.” Luce commanded. He’d start with something easy, something even a terribly inexperienced grass type could handle.
Cacnea jumped happily and fired off the attack, hoping to drain the energy from the water type. For just a moment, between the motion of the pokemon, Luce thought he saw something… off about the finneon. It wasn’t of the shiny variety, but was that discoloration?
The Pokemon's luminous shining ceased as the sunlight overtook it. The pokemon was a bit shocked by the sudden change in brightness which allowed the Cacnea to get the first strike. The Finneon let out a cry and dropped into the water as it's energy was drained, aiming its head at the attacking Cacnea the Finneon sucked in and squirted it forcefully at its foes face with surprising precision for such a small innocuous pokemon. It didn't seem terribly powerful, but it would put up at least the semblance of a fight.
Cacnea raises her arms to protect against the water, but the first end of the blast shot directly into her face before her arms can shield the rest of the blow. She jumped backwards… to where the water gun still reached.
“Cacnea,” Luce sighed, “dodge to the side.”
The grass type turned and blinked at him like she hadn’t thought of that; how ingenous. As expected from a water type, the attack looked to have only lightly damaged Cacnea, who waited ready for the next command.
Which Luce was ready to give- until he saw what had looked like a discoloration. The finneon had sustained some sort of injury in the past. Indeed, the wound still looked raw, as though what had caused it was still there.
Something heavy formed in Luce’s gut. A little voice whispered in his head, “shouldn’t you help?”. “It’s none of my business,” his larger brain replied back, yet here he was, reaching for one of his dive balls.
The ball flew from his grip. His hand had staged a coup before he could so much as think about it.
The Finneon was still reasonably strong after the absorb, despite it being a critical strike though the combination of a specialty ball and a little bit of luck might be just enough to tip the odds in the trainers favor. Right now it seemed a fifty fifty chance. As the ball drew the Finneon in and encapsulated it the pokemon struggled. The landed just shy of the water and shook side to side as the tide rolled up and lapped against it. After a few excruciating moments the struggling stopped with a click as the ball locked itself with the pokemon inside. Luck had smiled on him this day, the pokemons prior injury must have weakened it a bit otherwise it was unlikely to be caught so easy.
The pokeball bobbed in the soft waves. Luce stood in a stunned silence as it shook, and finally clicked. Whatever had just happened, he had caught his first pokemon. Cacnea triumphantly threw her arm into the air.
While Luce paced over to the water’s edge to pick up the pokeball (that he’d managed to throw on the mark a few meters away, he was a better aim than he thought), Cacnea made a victory run to his bag. She waited proudly for Luce to trek back.
When Luce wiped the salty water off the ball it shined, unmarred save for a small scratch gained when it hit the ground. He thought back to the injury he’d glimpsed on the water pokemon’s side. Would the pokemon center’s healing machine be able to heal that? He wasn’t sure. There was a lot about this he wasn’t sure about; what he’d do with the pokemon, why he caught it in the first place…
Cacnea crossed her arms. “What?” Luce asked. “Oh. Good job on your first battle.” He muttered. Cacnea, while not perfectly happy, seemed content enough with the response and went off to play with some nearby flowers.
Luce reeled the line the rest of the way in. A couple of swings had it floating again out in the deeper water. As he settled down, Luce wondered if there were only water types around here, and if he should be worried about something attacking him from the land.
The shore seemed calm and rather devoid of life at the moment, the ocean however was absolutely teeming with pokemon. It was only minutes before the trainer had another bite. This one felt larger and was a much tougher fight to reel in. It breeched some distance off from the shore, green, red and black. Basculin were easily recognized, and also very aggressive. Not only towards trainers but even to their own species. Finding a Basculin that didn't know how to fight well was extremely rare. Continuing to reel this one in would certainly result in a battle.
Hardly any time had passed before Luce was once again grasping for the rod and reeling with all his might. Back where the waves rose more than a gentle few inches, a fish pokemon flew out of the water. A basculin, Luce could identify from the colors alone; those fish with the big teeth and a disagreement in color pallets.
The pokemon was putting up a fight just at the other end of the string - there was little doubt that within biting range it would be even more difficult to deal with. Cacnea was gazing excitedly at the pokemon out in the water. Luce wasn’t sure if his own pokemon was up for a fight with such an aggressive species, especially since they’d only just begun and they’d be here a while yet. Luce let the line go loose. Once he was sure the pokemon was gone, he reeled the line back in, replaced the bait, and sent it back out. He didn’t snag on even a single thing this time.
The Basculin vanished back into the murky depths as the line went slack. It's ruckus had scared away the pokemon it seemed, as there was not another bite for almost half an hour. When the rod finally did bend once more it was slight but after a few moments the pokemon did begin to fight. It was impossible to tell what was on the other end of the line as the top of the Qwilfish blended in well with the water. As a result the pokemon could only be identified just before it reached the shore. It didn't seem terribly aggressive, but it certainly wasn't happy to be on the line.
His sandwich was in crumbles, his book was open to chapter 2 on his stomach. For a long while, nothing bit and, in the cool ocean air, Luce found himself drifting to sleep.
He was suddenly jarred awake as the rod rocked. Something was on the line...! Cacnea hurried over from where she had found some very interesting mushrooms (and a caterpie that didn’t want to play or battle with her, but she was ignoring it) and Luce shot up, gasping at the fishing rod. Pulling it from where he’d stuck it, Luce attempted to reel in the line that the pokemon at the other end was quickly running dry.
He stopped the mad spinning of the reel… and the line went still.
Luce sighed and dropped back down to the ground. Whatever had been on the other end, well, today was their lucky day. Cacnea, pouting, wandered back to the asper grove behind them to see if that caterpie was up for a battle yet or if it was still going to play the coward. Luce, for the fourth time this morning, sent the line out into the water, and settled down again to wait.
The line drifted ever downward as the trainer waited above the waves. It passed through the clear waters of the surface and down into the murky abyss until almost no line was left on the rod at all. Even then it came shy of the ocean floor. In the endless darkness a flashing light glinted off the line and a curious Chinchou fell out the bait. Upon realizing it's folly it began to thrash about, tugging on the line as it flashed it's twin lights to warn it's kin of the danger. They, however, did not seem to be in any position to help as the ascent to the surface began.
As time passed, the wind started to pick up. Luce had placed the rod next to him - he wouldn’t miss the next pokemon to appear. As it seemed to be, it wasn’t until Luce had read halfway through a dramatic battle that the line shook again.
Luce was ready this time. He flipped the book cover to mark his page, hopped up, and took up the rod. A determined look on his face and an excited Cacnea cheering him on, Luce pulled the pokemon deep in the ocean up to the surface. Once again the water glowed as the pokemon came up through the water. The thought -a chinchou? - flashed though his his mind. However, this time nature wasn’t just playing tricks on him.
The water/electric type burst out of the water. A grin flickered on the trainer’s face. This pokemon’s unique typing made it useful, not only in battle with its unusual match-ups, but it could both swim and produce electricity. This would be a purposeful catch.
“Cacnea, growth, absorb.” Luce grunted, reeling the pokemon into battling range.
The grass type jumped into the water, pulsing with the power of her first move. Light waves lapping around her, Cacnea focused on the pokemon in the water, attempting to drain the energy of its new advisary.
The Chinchou burst from the water, flashing its lights frantically. It squinted as the sun shone into its eyes, blinding the pokemon that had grown accustomed to the dark. As it adjusted to the luminosity of the surface the Cacnea attacked. The pokemon took the hit like a champ but was clearly a bit drained after it. Letting out a cry it's twin lights flickered as a ball of electricity grew between them. After a moment it was launched outward at the Cacnea. In the wake of the electrical attack sparks arced across the water. It lifted up around in small globs and began to circle around the Chinchou surrounding it in a healing veil of liquid.
Cacnea, caught in the thrill of her own moves, wasn’t really expecting the other pokemon to attack back - not as quickly as it did. So, while the electric type move would have easily landed normally, Cacnea didn’t even have time enough react and bring her arms up to block the blow. The ball of electricity strikes Cacnea in the face, toppling the pokemon onto her back.
Cacnea hopped quickly back to her feet, but that move seemed to have done more damage than it would have normally. The chinchou, on the other hand, seemed to have sustained some decent damage from the attack. Just a bit more…
“Poison sting, then absorb.” Luce commanded, dropping the slack rod to find another of his pokeballs. Cacnea happily obliged - the little pokemon lunged at the chinchou, put her all in the bash with her poisoned and club-like arm, then again in a close-range absorb.
The Chinchou was left reeling from the other pokemon's quick retort. It felt sick after being struck by the poison sting, and the energy that was sapped from it by the absorb only made things worse. Despite the regenerative properties of its watery veil it was still feeling weak as it prepared its counter strike. The pokemon opened its mouth and let out a piercing supersonic screech which which followed by a beam of flashing lights which lanced outwards at the Cacnea in a signal beam attack.
Cacnea covered her ears and staggered back, first hit by the sound wave, then the piercing beam. The later hit with particular strength, as a bug-type move against a grass type. The world seemed unstable and confusing. Paired with the previous blows, Cacnea was reaching the end of her strength.
Luce was not paying attention to that. The Chinchou looked to be close to his own limit. He expanded the blue-shaded pokeball, focused on the water type, and threw the dive ball. The sphere soared through the air - slightly to the left of the target. Then, the arch seemed to correct itself. The ball paused for an instant above the pokemon, sucked it in, and fell from the air.
Luce came to a realization; the way he threw the pokeball didn’t actually matter, it would aid in honing in on the pokemon. That’s how few people seemed to ever miss with the pokeballs, despite quickly moving pokemon and varying aim. Luce felt the pang of realizing something you thought you were good at was rigged.
Now he waited to see if the pokeball would do its advertised job.
The pokeball would always encapsulate the pokemon, the ball itself saw to that. The real question was if the trainer had weakened the pokemon enough to capture. Inside the balls metallic ball a battle of wills raged as the pokemon attempted to break free. The ball teetered on the edge of success and failure for around half a minute before it finally locked. The balls speciality was likely the defining factor as the pokemon still had some fight left in it before the capture had begun. It snapped shut with a click, locking the pokemon in.
The ball was still shaking when Luce slogged out into the water to retrieve it before a wave could wash it away. The little dot in the center of the ball flashed red, and the pokemon was restless inside. Luce couldn’t help but think of a small flotation of lost pokeballs, swept away from their would-be trainers and carried by the current until they formed a little salty pokeball colony. He wondered if pokeballs could be eroded by seawater. Maybe the makers of pokeballs had thought of that.
The ball stopped shaking. Luce didn’t feel the same exuberance he had when capturing the finneon - and not nearly the surprise - but he knew he’d be lying to say he wasn’t happy. This was the first pokemon he’d purposefully caught.
Luce trudged back to shore and his waiting cacnea, who was bouncing in victory on the warm sand. He wondered if pokeballs, if left alone long enough, would automatically teleport to the PC. Maybe one day he’d happen upon a forlorned pokeball and obtain more data on the subject.
Pocketing his new pokemon, he drew out Cacnea’s pokeball and returned her. She’d fought a lot today, and was probably at the end of her short rope. Luce began to gather his things. He could probably make it to the next town before sundown.
