First Experiences

[Alice Hope]

It wasn't long before the group reached Navel Island, and by the time they had, Alice Hope had food in her belly and had napped in the shade, restoring energy sapped by an early start and some exhausting battles over the recent days. This location, rather like Golden Island, was more rural than urban, but the young woman started off the ship towards the distant town buildings and overbearing mountain-- which she was more than aware would require unassisted hiking.

"I'm gonna have to really put some training in." Alice reflected almost solemnly. How her laziness and blood sugars would overcome such a gym challenge, Alice was not entirely sure. "I've never even been capable of climbing walls, although I'm not bad at walking up hard inclines and stuff." If people could climb it in less than a day, she could probably manage it in one with some work beforehand and do the second half of the challenge the day after, right? "So I suppose it's fine if you all wanna research or do some touristy things." Alice wanted to do touristy things and maybe hunt for Pokemon and stuff, too-- but once they got themselves settled, it was probably best to hop to it lest she burden her friends or be left behind.

[Felix Leonis]

Jiro and his assistants helped Alice and Laura from the ship and gave each 250 pokédollars to spend on the island for whatever needs they'd have, as a gift for their company and their efforts at the golden island. "We'll be heading to the inn, that's at the end of this road. We'll get a room for you two as well."

"OOH, that means we're basically free to do whatever we need or want to do in the meantime, Alice," Laura grinned, nudging Alice in the side with her arm while pointing at the whole lot of nature surrounding the small port town they had landed at. "Training, looking for pokémon and having fun, sound good?"

(The 250 pokédollars may be added in your tracker, when you don't use this you may add it to your profile at the conclusion of this thread. Sound ok?)

[Alice Hope]

((Sure! Don't forget Alice has an overdue hatching as well. Absol rolled it to be a Shuppet, but if you want to reroll that's fine. My personal preference is its type doesn't overlap with anything she has/will have, though (water/ground/bug/steel/poison/dark if that's okay.))

Alice thanked the two for the pocket money. It was like having a new set of parents or extended family members, even if she was past the age where money was generally gifted to her. "Yeah. I really need to get fit for the gym hike, though, so maybe we could go for a good uphill walk?" She suggested hopefully. The company might be motivating, although Alice planned to have Sakina come alongside anyway. She seemed really happy to be included in things outside of battling. "But if you wanna get to know Alec or do something more relaxed, it's cool."

[Felix Leonis]

"I wouldn't mind a little hike either," Laura didn't seem to be disagreeing, as she was looking at her figure in a window. "I've got to keep fit as well, otherwise there would be no point in being a trainer after all."

As she was laughing and being cheerful, the change in her expression was rather shocking. The girl seemed to stare into the window as if she was gazing into another world. Only a few seconds passed until she shook her head and turned to Alice with a smile. "must have zoned out a bit, sorry. Alright, a walk it is... can't have you go to the gym with your current physique."

[Alice Hope]

"That's true. The best trainers do keep up with their team." Alice reflected, although when she watched her friend zone out, she frowned. "Hey, are you okay? You know if you're having a vision or anything, you can tell me. You don't have to hide that kind of stuff from me." She reminded her friend gently.

[Felix Leonis]

Laura looked at Alice when she was asked wether or not she had seen something, she smiled softly and let out a sigh. "It wasn't much of a vision, more like a feeling, intuition maybe?"

For a moment the girl remained silent, scratching her head and slapping her cheeks to gather some courage. After all, she did not know about Alice, but she herself was terrified during the ordeal at Golden Island and anything to do with that Team Rocket now gave her the shivers. "I just had the feeling that it all went rather easy, not to say you weren't great, but somehow you'd think an organization like Team Rocket would show more tenacity."

Letting out a sigh again, she grabbed Alice's hand and gave it a pull. "Never mind that, let's just get you in shape. There's a gym on this island after all."

[Alice Hope]

"No. I get it, I understand. And we honestly just got lucky." Alice said, for she felt that to be the truth. Of course the grunts of the organisation didn't have the strongest reputation, known to be weak unless in big numbers. However, their boss could have killed everyone. She supposed he didn't because once he had lost the valuable briefcase, he was better off doing something else?

"Yeah, let's." Alice agreed, releasing her affectionate Stunky to join them. Her Pokemon looked around, surprised to see that they were all on dry land and in one piece. "We're gonna go for a lil walk and jog, Sakina. We might find some new friends, too. Let's go together!" She suggested, waving her hand to lead the team away.

[Felix Leonis]

"I somehow can't put my finger on it," The girl's cheeks seemed to puff up while she tried to think rather deeply, eventually scratching her head wildly and letting out a loud sigh filled with tones of disappointment. "Somehow it makes me wonder what was in that case that could've been so important."

Slapping both her hands against her face, laura seemed to pump herself up and smiled again when Alice let out her Stunky. "I wouldn't mind having a run to the forests and all... smart to let Sakina join in, healthy trainer and healthy pokémon. Alright, try to keep up, Alice."

After uttering those words, Laura started jogging at a relatively high speed, though it was to be expected from someone that energetic. "Got to get you ready for that gym, right?"

[Alice Hope]

"Well, there's no point wondering now. We had to melt it to be safe." Alice pointed out. When Laura began to jog so quickly, the young woman groaned in protest, although Sakina was happy to rise to the challenge. "Are you kidding me? I only have little legs, y'know." She complained, but began to jog as well, although not as quickly. She likely lacked Laura's stamina as well. Her legs still ached from chasing the Venonat to Murcott Harbour the other day, nevermind from this, too. Oh, well. Alice had asked for it!

[Felix Leonis]

(sorry for my tardiness, work is killing me. Also I'll edit if necessary, but is alice holding on to the egg herself?)

"Little legs or not, you need to get stronger," Laura laughed as she stopped moving forwards, but kept skipping her feet. "The Orange league's not just about the strength of your pokémon, remember."

Though Alice woudln't be rather quick given her condition, she'd at least be able to do a few hundred meters at a relative pace if she didn't overexert herself. However, Sakina seemed to be chosing to stay right behind Alice, being quite interested in the girl's backpack and the fact that it was actually moving.

[Alice Hope]

((Nah, it's in her bag. :3 Shuppet could always phase through it or smth hehe.))

"Yeah, this is true. It's a shame, in my other world I was at least relatively fit." Alice said, "I suppose travel like that takes it out of you." That, and their days except for Valencia Island had been non-stop. She did her best to jog, though, and when not doing that she was briskly walking. "When I was little I'd climb trees and everything. God, I sound super old right now."

[Felix Leonis]

"Maybe you are old," Laura laughed after Alice's last comment, smiling towards the blond girl while displaying her own fitness. "Won't be long before we find ourselves a nice place to rest, there's got to be loads of pokémon in this place as well, seeing as it's so filled with nature."

As if to emphasize Laura's words, sakina rubbed against Alice's leg with its fur, taunting her trainer to go faster so they could rest wherever Laura had decided to do so, not to mention the fact that the Stunky was quite annoyed by the fact Alice had not noticed the shaking inside the bag.

Alas the shaking stopped and everything seemed fine, until Laura looked at the blond girl, started giggling and eventually fell down on the ground rolling around in fits of laughter. "Oh god, this is way to much to handle, hahaha!!"

Alice's hair had lifted upwards on one side and acted as a blond wig for a small pokémon floating besides her, sticking out its tongue towards Laura.

Spoiler:

[Alice Hope]

Alice beamed, crouching down to pet Sakina before trudging on. The heat was gross, although the shade of the forest helped, and she couldn't wait to just run into the ocean or let Gael unleash his water attacks on her. As it was, the young woman had noticed the weight on her back had lessened, but that wasn't long before her hair was askew. When she saw the Shuppet, the young woman jumped back dramatically.

"Oh my gosh, you scared me!" Alice exclaimed, flushing red from fright and embarrassment. She took a moment to catch her breath, and at Sakina's prompting, checked her bag. Sure enough, the incubator was empty. It was an unusual place for a Shuppet (maybe?) and it was small... "Wait-- are you my Shuppet?!"

[Felix Leonis]

The shuppet looked straight at Alice with its big eyes, its face just an inch away from the girl's own, hanging in the air with a straight face. However in an instant, it suddenly showed a huge grin and tumbled around the blond girl in the air, it's cry sounding like a genuine form of laughter.

the shuppet lowered to look at Sakina, again with a straight face, only to shock the poor Stunky by suddenly laughing out loud yet again, followed by even more tumbling around in the air.

"Seems this one has a sense of humor," Laura laughed even more than before, her arms wrapped around her waist in an attempt to keep herself from falling down again and rolling around like before. "That's seriously the best pokémon you of all people could have, hahahah!!"

[Alice Hope]

Alice jumped again, looking flummoxed by the display. "Poor Sakina, you're scaring your big sister!" She chided, pouting as she gathered up the Stunky, smoothing her bristled fur in an attempt to comfort her. She did have to agree with Laura, though. "A Shuppet is pretty cool, though. Your eyes are absolutely beautiful!" The young woman added, admiring the trio of purple, yellow and ghostly blue rings that so humorously focused on them. "I think I'll name you Bran. Is that okay? Or would you want another name?"

[Felix Leonis]

When Alice named the shuppet, it seemed to think about it for a second, spinning around slowly and making humming noises. eventually, it turned back to the blonde girl and nodded with twinkling eyes and a broad smile on his face.

"Seems the little one likes his new name," Laura chuckled, somewhat jealous about the fact Alice had gotten herself such an outgoing pokémon. "Well, we better get a move on if we want to get you ready for that gym. So what do you say, just a fem more miles and we're probably ready for a one on one between us, ok?"

[Alice Hope]

Sakina slowly edged closer to Bran, seeming to want to suss out her new, younger sibling. "Now we've stopped my legs are killing me." Alice confessed, lifting one foot after the other to give a twist, shoulders rolling back in sync. "The gym here doesn't have proper Pokemon battles, but I know Gael'd be up for it at least. Let's go. Come on, you two!" She said, gesturing for the ghost and skunk to follow after them. When they reached the end point, Alice could get Bran a Heal Ball of his own and perhaps pop some technical machines on him for good measure.

[Felix Leonis]

"Oh come on, no excuses," Laura huffed, slightly peeved by the fact that Alice seemed to lack conviction. "It's exactly because the gym doesn't have regular battles that we need to get you in better shape as well. Not to mention that pokémon battles are good for our friends' fitness as well, don't you agree?"

With that being said, laura started jogging again, hoping to reach the place she wanted to stay for the rest of the day before noon.

[Alice Hope]

Alice laughed between labouring breaths, "I'm sorry. You know I love you, right?" She teased. In all honesty, though, Laura was cute and the other girl was clearly good for her, what with how strict she was. Sakina kept a few steps ahead, while Bran whipped and weaved and twirled before them both, and eventually they reached the destination that Laura had in mind. Alice came to a stop, panting and stretching and flushed red. This world really did have her out of shape. "Five minutes before we battle. So I can die and come back." The young woman joked, dropping her bag to the ground and plucking her water bottle from it for a drink.

[Felix Leonis]

Laura agreed to give Alice a few minutes to gather her breath and regain her bearings a bit, giving a smile when she found herself a small pond nearby. "I'll be using a pokémon you probably haven't seen yet, that would make your progress much better, no?"

Throwing out a pokéball, a small fishlike pokémon appeared in the water, sparks flowing around it. "Let's have some fun chinchou!!"

[Alice Hope]

Alice hummed thoughtfully when Laura released the Chinchou, although the sight obviously appealed as well. Chinchou were cute! However, it was a choice that she had the consider. Gael would get wrecked in that fight if not finished quickly. Sakina was strong but not fond of battles, really, and Bran was literally less than half an hour old-- not a viable option. "Alright, Farren, it's up to you!" She said, releasing her Pineco from his snoozing state. The cone landed on the ground, perfectly balanced, Bran curious to see a new family member. He was strange looking! "Your first move, Laura."

[Alice Hope]

It had been almost a week since arriving on Navel Island, and Alice had been hard at work with Laura and her team. She jogged for at least an hour every morning, and on top of that had been getting herself scratched and bruised climbing trees and hiking, trying to learn to climb at least half decently for the gym challenge. When she was too exhausted to train properly for herself, she attended to her Pokemon as well. She had fed ten rare candies to her new Shuppet, Bran, and so although he was now level eleven, he still lagged behind the others. Admittedly, he was only a week old.

She used her Tms, too, teaching round and double team to all of her Pokemon as well as hidden power, return and toxic to Bram. It was the middle of the day now, just before the weekend, and Alice was with her favourite four on the beach. Her milky white body was adorned in a frilly pink bikini, blonde hair tied into pigtails and sunglasses resting on her nose. The tranquil area was noisy with her rowdy Pokemon training hard: Gael, Sakina and Farren were all working hard to create a line of copies of themselves, the trio singing in a round like a chorus. Alice was guiding them, waving her fingers like an orchestrator as she sang a pop song in a tune for them to follow. Sakina and Gael's voices were quite similar, but Farren's register was far lower than theirs. Bram was content to dance a ring around them all, firing off hidden powers this way and that as he tried to hone his new skills, breaking rocks and shells and spraying off waves of sand. It was an odd training scene to be sure, a choir of illusion flickering in and out of being, outstanding and rowdy.

Alice was looking a bit more toned, if not more tired, from all of the work they had been putting in. It was paying off, and soon enough, she would surely challenge the island's gym. As long as she could scale her way to the top, the young woman was sure that they'd have the rest in the bag.

[MegaAbsol]

(I seez that incomplete battle o3o You bet I'll pick it up!)
(I am also acknowledging Laura's official team as: Shellder, Goldeen, Horsea, Gyarados, Chinchou. Her team is more full than yours xD)

Let's do some changes first... *cracks paws*

Shuppet grew to level 11!
Shuppet learnt Night Shade!
Shuppet learnt Spite!
Shuppet learnt Hidden Power!
Shuppet learnt Return!
Shuppet learnt Toxic!
Everybody learnt Round! (lol this message)
Everybody learnt Double Team!

Total words of training: 121
Total exp gained: 12
Divided among 4 pokemon

Each pokemon gains 3 exp!

-10 Rare Candies

(I'll (double) post up a reply in a minute! Lemme finish the adjustments...)

[MegaAbsol]

Laura idled on the sand nearby, watching her water pokemon play on the beachfront while she herself toyed distractedly with a small charm around her neck. True to her pokemon tendencies, the 'charm' was a small clear blue shard that looked like a piece of shrapnel from some sort of mineral ore, and something Laura usually kept tucked away under her shirt. As it stood, the girl's eyes were trained on Shellder, who was happily splashing around in shallow water with Goldeen. She sighed, probably without realizing it, and her eyes gained a far-away look - while she was physically looking at her pokemon, her mind seemed to wander. She seemed rather oblivious to her surroundings, as though lost in the symphony the unlikely orchestra was kicking up, or simply reminiscing.

Chinchou waddled up to her, giving the girl a light shock, eliciting a squeal, which evolved into a giggle. Warmly petting the little brat, she cuddled the squishy little fish to herself, checking on Horsea, who had taken to strongly swimming through the currents. She'd kept Gyarados away for the mean time, since the surroundings didn't really favour the massive water type, but she hoped she could let the sea serpent out soon for a while. As though only just remembering her companion, she turned lazily to check on Alice's progress, grinning and calling out an encouragement after sufficient progress had been checked. "Looking good there!"

(Yes, it's all just fluff o3o So-su-mi~)

[Alice Hope]

Alice heard Laura's compliment, turning to glance back at her. "Thanks! I hope we're not giving you a headache." She said thoughtfully. It was soon that she let her Pokemon's training come to an end, and immediately, the team began to relax. Sakina began to play with an equally energetic Bran, and Alice went and placed Gael closer to the water with the others of his type. She knew Farren would only want to sleep, so she just picked him up and sat under the parasol with him on her lap. "Your Pokemon are all getting on so well. Too scared to let Alec out, though?" The trainer asked, not surprised. He could be tame or aggressive, it was all up in the air. "I might challenge the gym tomorrow. I think I might be ready. We've been hanging around here long enough."

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