So, I'm a trainer?

[Nero]

Standing just outside the Labs, trench coat billowing out in the slight breeze that kept the boy from growing too warm under such a thing, there was a shadow of a person. He wore the darkest clothing, from which came the glint of many studs or metal pieces. His lip, too, had a metal ring through it, and his left ear, when it rarely became visible from hiding beneath his locks of hair. Today, the said strands were hanging in his face, haphazardly gelled and combed into place. Perfection. Just the look he was going for. But this guy held a Poke'ball in his hand. It was still shrunken, to fit on his belt or wherever he chose to put it, though very quickly that would change. He was admiring it, contemplating, lost in his deep thoughts. It seemed odd to him that he would have chosen a pokemon, and gotten it before the crowd. He was usually the last to get things; staying up all night at wild parties, and sleeping until noon. Had he wanted it that badly? Or was it fate? Maybe simply luck... Well, best to meet the little bugger now, rather than later...

He pressed the button, and it grew in his hand, then shot open. In a flash of light, there was an orange lizard with a flame on its tail standing there, looking up at him. He looked right back at it, and the pair had a staring contest, broken only by the shrill call of the baby. "Char! Charmander, Char Char!"

The boy put a gloved hand to his face, running his fingers through his hair, which bounced back into place. "You realize I can't understand you, right?" he said to it. But he'd already had a name picked out. "I'm going to call you Chrono. Think you can remember that, buddy?"

["Fang"]

Close by, another boy in another coat was having a similar epiphany. He'd finally managed to get ahold of a Pokemon, after trying and trying. Such a goody-two-shoes looking lady like that too. Most 'normal' people chased him out at the first glance, from restaurants to hotels to Pokemarts. He couldn't really blame them. Most people imagined him when they thought of the devil.

He fingered the Pokeball that contained his new Pokemon, then pressed down on the button in the middle. It cracked open and a red beam of light shot out of it, and then onto the ground. The Pokemon that greated him was a bit more cute then he would have liked, but he knew he could fix that with time. Its color matched the color of the boy's own hair, almost, and the boy seemed to very much like the fire glowing at the end of its tail.

With a grin, the boy said to the Charmander. "Your name is Ignis, and from now on, you're with me."

[Nero]

The former glanced over, spotting the other nearby. He rolled his eyes; he couldn't stand those that, in some way, shape, or form- in his eyes- copied him. This new guy could have been first in line, and he still would have recieved the same thoughts. But heh ad no time to deal with people like this orange haired fellow. He had way more important things to do... He turned and started walking, demanding that Chrono follow him. The Charmander looked over at the second Charmaner, wanting to play or at least make friends, but he had to follow his master. Though he wasn't trained well, as he was a baby and still impressionable, he followed right after, his little flame-tail swishing from side to side.

Ah, where to go to first? The boy would need Poke'balls to capture more pokemon, and assume his role of Ruler of the World, but that would have to wait until later. Levelling up his Charmander had to come first. He couldn't walk around with a cute and cuddly pokemon following him like that! It would totally ruin him. But what was there to do in this stupid town?? Oh! He had to get a Poke'dex next...right?

["Fang"]

The boy hadn't even noticed the other new trainer, being much to caught up in interacting with his first Pokemon. He examined Ignis, looking him up and down and trying to get a feel for his personality. The firey young Charmander snorted in annoyance, determined to get on with whatever they were supposed to be doing.

That raised a good question. What should they do next? The obvious answer was explore. But first and foremost, he needed some Pokeballs. A trainer couldn't get very far in the world without them, from what he'd heard.

"C'mon, Ignis," he said, starting off towards the Pokemart. "Let's get some stuff before we leave look around. Even if we want to fight, we'll need some Pokeballs."

He reached the Pokemart and stepped inside, more than halfway expecting to be chased out. Maybe he'd get lucky and the shopkeeper would through Pokeballs at him.

[Nero]

He had tried exploring the town. He'd gone to every place that had someone to talk to, someone he knew. Weren't they supposed to give him advice, or something? But no one said much, other than 'ooh, you got a pokemon, good for you, train it strong, you'll do great!' Bah. Pointless dribble. He was about to turn around, and go to the Pokemart, but he saw that..other guy already in there. So he decided to sit back and wait, maybe chat it up with his Pokemon friend. He pulled out his Pokedex, and pointed it at Chrono. The tinny electronic voice spoke to him, telling him all about Charmanders. Great... Like he couldn't already tell it was a fire lizard, that it was a Basic, and that its weakness was water... He got annoyed with the thing and threw it into a bush. The voice didn't even realize it'd gotten rejected!

Chrono frowned at him, then turned and went right into the bush, not stopping until he found the pokedex and returned it to his master. The boy scowled, and took it from him, shoving it back in his pocket. "I got myself a Charmin'retriever... Hah."

["Fang"]

As soon as he stepped into the store, however, eyes trailed from his horns, to his skin, to his tail, to his eyes, and really, everything about him. There was a piercing scream, and the boy found himself under assault by a crazed old lady. The blows didn't really bother him that much, since she was merely wacking him with her purse, but it took a great deal of self-control not to simply give her a little shove and send her toppling into a shelf. With a great sigh, he caught the purse as she swung it again and wrenched it from her grasp.

"Don't do that," he growled, tossing it lightly into a corner. He spun around in an impressive whirl of jacket and headed out. So much for that idea. He headed back out into the sreets in a bit of a foul mood. One look at him, that's all it took, and he was under assault. It wouldn't do him any good to try to tell anyone, it didn't hurt him anyway. In fact, he was more liable to get in trouble for catching the purse than she was for beating him with it. How annoying.

He scowled back at the building, then his eyes widened and he ducked quickly as a cane came flying out the door, right over his head. He swore under his breath. Wasn't throwing a cane a bit of overkill?

[Nero]

The boy was perfectly content to sit there and talk to his Charmander. He didn't have to worry about it snapping back at him, or laughing at him, though eh didn't even spill his soul to the beast. No, he just told Chrono what's what, and that he'd do best to just sit back and listen to him when he told him to do something. There was an intelligent look on Chrono's face as he took all of this in, and he might have even fooled his owner into believing that he was hanging off of every word, but there was a commotion in the direction of the shop. Frowning, the boy looked over at the entrance, and saw his current annoyance rushing out, with a cane hurled through the air after him. He smirked. What had that idiot done this time?

He, on the other hand, didn't get things thrown at him. He got dirty looks, comments about going and offing himself, comments about being a vampire. Ha. Some people actually believed in such stories... If there were vampires, he would have known about them, and joined their ranks, but as of yet...he was still mortal. Couldn't you tell? So he would get attitudes, and yelled at, but never have canes thrown at him... It earned even more of a smirk as he thought on it, but not a sound came from him. Chrono, on the other hand, was more concerned for the person, and let out a loud, "Char!!"

["Fang"]

The boy scowled darkly as he straightened himself up. The crap he got, just for walking into a store! You'd think he'd assaulted the lady or something. He shook his head, and his hair fell magically back into place, despite the fact it had been tangled about his horns a few minutes prior. Ignis managed to look momentarily concerned, but stopped himself before anyone noticed. What did he care if the thing went and got crap thrown at him?

The boy's scowl darkened at the outcry of the other Charmander. The last thing he wanted now was some sort of misguided sympathy. Pity was the most disgusting thing in the world to him. Why did he need pity? He was no worse off than anyone else around him, he told himself, despite having large objects chucked at him. His situation was not one to inspire pity, and he didn't like it when it did.

[Nero]

Chrono frowned, saddened that he went just about unnoticed. He'd wanted to know if the other man was alright, but apparently...he was. His owner shook his head, tapping Chrono on the back to get him to turn back around. "Listen, no one else cares, got it? I'm your master. Focus on me, and we'll be fine. The moment you go caring for someone else is the moment you're weak. I don't want weak pokemon!" Chrono seemed to understand this much, because he sat down, dejectedly. The only reason his owner tolerated this was- well, two reasons. One, Chrono was a baby. By the time he was a Charmeleon, he would know better. And two, becaue the boy was too distracted. He had half a mind now to go into that store, and prove that it was just the other one's fault that he had gotten stuff chucked at him. In fact, the boy stood up, stretching a little bit, and prepared to go over to the store.

"Chrono, follow me," he snapped, when the pokemon didn't jump up as he himself moved. Agh, what could one do with a disobedient pokemon? He hoped it would work itself out later... He started for the mart, though it was still a long ways off. Across the clearing, that is. Best to try his luck...

[Dusty]

And there Dusty sat, watching. He watched the weird people come in and out of those doors... the "Labs" they called it. What an unpleasent place... so many people. He didn't need that lady's pity Pokémon, he had his own! Though... it didn't do much. The little golden Abra just sat in his lap, half-asleep. To most, an Abra was useless... completely useless... but, who cared? Certainly not this boy. He was content with his Pokémon. Sure, it couldn't do much, but it was still his... it liked him... not many people liked him.
The little golden fox made a little stir, and Dusty adjusted himself in the bench to accomodate the now slightly off beast. And, he continued watching. Bright blue eyesfixed now on the interesting devil boy. How was he so patient with the stares? The mere torture they dished out to him... Dusty could remember being treated badly... maybe it was because the ones you love can hurt you more.
"C'mon, ya big lug, let's get out of here..." His voice was somewhat high still, he was young. Couldn't be more than 17...
The area was starting to fill up with people, and that made this particular boy uncomfortable. His Abra sort of stood up, still in a half-asleep daze. The little psychic Pokémon decided now was a good time to scratch it's ears. Dusty just shook his head, shaking his floppy golden curls of hair along with it.

["Fang"]

Fang grimaced as the other boy headed past him into the Pokemart. He hoped the lady would chuck a few things at him as well, but he knew it was unlikely. That boy looked normal. Well, normaly might be stretching it a bit, but at least he looked human, especially when compared to Fang.

Fang next noticed another boy sitting nearby, with a little golden Pokemon on his lap. Fang whipped out the Pokedex he'd recieved and opened it, pointing it at the unknown Pokemon. He quickly recieved information that it was an 'Abra' a psychic Pokemon. But this one looked rather useless, and extremely sleepy. Fang had built up a bit of a bad mood now, and needed something to exert the pent-up energy on. He wouldn't have minded challenging the boy to a battle right then and there, but the sleepy Abra didn't really look capable of battle. So instead, Fang turned around and watched the Pokemart, hoping for the worst, of course.

[Nero]

The boy, too, noticed the new pokemon in the area. Yes, he noticed the pokemon first. He felt a sort of...something through the air. It was a mark of a psychic pokemon, and anyone really could feel it. He certainly wasn't psychic. So he, too, whipped out his pokedex, and got the same mechanical information on the beast. That'd be an easy battle... Just like Chrono attack it as it slept. Not much of an opponent, and certainly not much experience for Chrono. Pointless. So he put the pokedex away, but then he noticed the man with the Abra. He gave him a once-over, then looked back at the pokemart. He had an idea, just to be a jerk. He leaned against the wall next to the door, looking at the other Charmander-weilding boy for a moment, taunting, and then back to the Abra owner. There, he settled his eyes. He was reassured, as he'd hardly even seemed to notice himself, if at all. Nero was in the clear for the moment, and allowed to watch uninterupted.

Chrono followed closely to his owner, not wanting to get yelled at or anything anymore. Already, he hated it. He would have clung to Nero's pant leg, if he would have thought the boy would allow it... But his master just smirked down at him, pleased for the time being.

[Dusty]

Dusty raised his eyebrow... had this moron never seen an Abra before? He simply gave a little snort. The tattered black hoodie around his chest showed about how much he cared about everything... not at all, apparently. His icy blue eyes turned then to the other boy staring at him... why were they all eying his Abra? A little growl escaped his almost fanged mouth. He was much short of a vampire, but, he had quite an impressive set of teeth for a human.

The Abra noticed it's seemingly ever-increasing following too. He wasn't a big fan. So, he did what he always did in a situation like this... he poofed, as Dusty liked to call it. "Poof" and he was gone... where did he go? Ah, there he was! Right in Chrono's touch range. The Abra, taller by almost a foot, looked down on the tiny Charmander with ease. He wasn't out for a fight, hell, he'd rather nap... but he sure always got a good reaction this way.

"Now, don't do anything too bad..." Dusty said, half-meaning it. More than anything, he didn't want to make a mess and not be allowed back. The telekhenetic abilities of Abra were more than enough to get them out of trouble... but it was better not to start. He would just wait and watch, his pants' chain making a little jingle when he moved.

["Fang"]

Fang could tell that the two were probably about to battle. He decided to get at least one smack into the obnoxious stranger, so he decided to cut him off at the pass. With a savage grin, he walked up to the Abra's owner.

"Hey there. Couldn't help but noticing your Pokemon. Pretty interesting critter. Any chance you'd be intersted in a quick battle with my Charmander. I just got him, and I'd like a good chance to try him out."

Fang had never battled with a Pokemon in his life, but decided not to mention that. He didn't want to come off as a complete and total newbie, after all. How hard could it be? Hopefully, not too hard.

Ignis blinked up at him when Fang volunteered the young Charmander for a battle, but shrugged it off. It'd be easy enough to beat the Abra, he decided, and he could use the exercise.

[Nero]

Nero frowned, and looked away when he realized he'd been spotted. He hated being caught watching... He pretended to be merely interested in the dirt at his feet- but, soon enough, he felt that twinge again, and he looked up. Chrono seemed to have found a new friend... Stupid Abra. ALl it could do was teleport. He decided to ignore it for the time being, as the other person seemed to be jealous that the Abra had come to him. That made him almost smile, though it was still up to the Abra's master who battled who.

Chrono glanced at his owner, looking for the approval to start talking to this Pokemon. Since Nero wasn't even looking at him, he turned back to the Abra, who didn't seem to be unfriendly, but... To tell the truth, Chrono had never seen an Abra before. He'd been cooped up in the labs! He looked up at the Abra's face, and let out a tentative, "Charmander?"

[Dusty]

Dusty looked up through his hair at this new boy... gah, how annoying. "Are you sure that's what you want?" A little smirk escaped him. He knew Abra wasn't useless... but he'd be willing to bet they didn't know that. "Hey! You have a new challenge, my friend!" He called out to his loyal pet. They'd known each other for a long time, and between the psychic energy and the bond, they pretty much understood one another.

"Aaa...braaaa..." He said, slowly, to the quiring Charmander. And, of course he obeyed his friend. There was no master, and no pet, they were friends... as it should be.

"Yes, now... why don't we show our newbie and his pet how we run?" Dusty smirked... he'd seen "Fang" come out of that lab. He knew that Charmander was a fresh one.

"Aaa--braaa" The slowly speaking little pocket pet merely sat. That was it, he sat-- ready to sleep again. What in the world was this Abra doing? Right in the face of danger? How dumb can a trainer be?

[Nero]

((Forgive the out-fo-turn post, but since you two are going to fight, I'm heading over to the Mart ^^))

Chrono sighed softly when Abra left. It had seemed like he was finally going to meet someone, another pokemon like him, but it wasn't meant to be. He looked back up at his master, and Nero sneered down at him. Why would his Chrono want to talk to that pokemon, anyway? "COme on," he said roughly, turning and pushing open the door with his hand. He let Chrono go first, amazingly, and didn't try to slam the door on him. But why would he; Chrono was being a good pokemon, and obeying him well enough already.

Nero cast one glance back at the two trainers he'd left outside. He'd show that one guy with the horns, alright. He could get into the shop, and get the pokeballs he desiered, without much trouble at all. He was ony a troubled teen, not a Devil out of some religion. With that last look, catching the first move of the battle, he continued into the shop, the door shutting behind him.

["Fang"]

((*cough* I'm not too sure how the battle system works here. o.o;;;)

Fang's eyes narrowed at the sight of the sleepy Abra. It certainly looked like it'd be useless in a fight, but Fang wasn't so certain. The owner had agreed to a fight, and he certainly seemed cocky enough about it. That meant that the Abra was certainly more than it appeared to be. From the sound of it, this trainer wasn't nearly as new as Fang, who'd had no experience battling Pokemon, and had only briefly studied a few of the technical details of a fight. So he knew to be on his guard, at the very least.

"OK, Ignis," he murmured to the Charmander. "This is gonna be our first fight, so do your best, OK? I know that Abra looks like a pushover, but be cautious, just in case."

Ignis snorted. How could that weak little half-asleep thing be any threat to him? Still, a battle was exactly what his blood was boiling for, even if it was against some ridiculous little blob. He walked out in front of Fang, who backed up to leave the Pokemon some room to battle.

[Dusty]

Dusty smirked. What an ambitious idiot this is... "Push over, eh? You shall see..." His still young voice echoed in his head. God, he hated that voice. "Arba, prove yourself, will you?" He asked simple. You'd think he'd be giving huge commands or something... not just a note for it to prove itself.

"Aaa... Braaa..." It didn't even stand up! What the heck kind of fighter is this?! But, little would that Charmander or his rash owner know his true power... until he showed it to them, of course.

With a quick flick of it's wrist, Abra surrounded Ignus in a blueish purple glow. And another flick sent him into the air. And there he stayed, hung in midair by powerful telekenetic abilities. Abra was no joke... he knew the deadly psychic techniques that only a dark Pokémon had an easy time overcoming.

"Good..." Was all the baggy panted boy would say. How would that Charmander get out of this one? We'd just have to wait and see...

[Elaine]

Just coming out of the Pokemart, her wallet smaller but more pokeballs to help, she noticed two males over by the Labs. Something just didn't feel right... The air, maybe? Still, her curiosity was aroused... Would it be dangerous to get closer and watch, or should she just stay where she was?

After a few minutes, she glanced down to Virva, who had jumped behind her legs. Yeah. That meant, pick up the Squirtle and get a little closer...Just enough to hear what was going on. With that in mind, she cradled Virva and slowly moved forward, stopping about three or four feet away.

Virva had since then retreated in her shell, not wanting to fight just yet. She hardly knew Elaine, after all...

["Fang"]

Ignis cried out in anger as he was lifted off the ground by the Abra. Fang muttered something quietly that sounded a bit like "I told you so, Ignis." He had rather expected something like this. No one was stupid enough to battle with such a weak Pokemon unless they had enhanced it somehow. In this case, the trainer had obviously used a TM to give it an extra move that it wouldn't normally have. But now wasn't the time for 'I-told-you-so's.

"Don't worry, Ignis. The more you struggle, the more it'll hurt, but we don't have to worry about that." He pointed at the Abra. "Ember!" he commanded.

Ignis got the idea. He inhaled deeply, then, with a sudden puff of air, shot a fireball out of his mouth. The fireball went hurdling towards the Abra. Hopefully, this sort of ranged thing would enable Ignis to fight, even if suspended in midair.

[Dusty]

Dusty watched in silence until the ember was shot. His Abra was sure to get a nasty little burn from that shot. It was hard to avoid such a thing when in such deep concentration.
And, Dusty was exactly right, Abra was rather busy and didn't get the chance to avoid the ember shot in his direction. He winced in pain, but kept his concentration up, faltering for only a split second.
"Let 'im go." Dusty commanded, and Abra did just that. He dropped his psychic connection, letting Charmander fall, to probably hurt himself on the ground beneath.
"Now... there." Dusty flicked his head toward a stick sitting a few yards away. Ooh, what a big stick... that would be helpful. Probably blown in by a storm or something... yes. That would be a good thing for Abra to utalize next. And, as if they almost shared a mind, Abra knew exactly what to do with it.
Again, calling his name and concentrating, he pulled the wooden impliment from the ground. With a stop for a little more control, he gave a big push with his hands. That very push sent his psychicly controlled stick flying in Ignus's direction. Catch firebug, catch.

[Elaine]

Elaine's eyes widened. She clutched Virva to her and sat down on the ground, knowing she was going to watch this for awhile. She didn't know who to cheer for... However, she was leaning towards the Charmander... The abra seemed to be a bully. She hated bullies with a passion.

"What do you think, Virva?" She softly asked her pokemon, putting her eyes at the level of the shell. Virva was shaking in it, hearing what was going on, and worried she'd get pulled into it. "Don't worry, girl... They're not trying to fight you. Let's cheer for the charmander."

She looked up sheepishly, then back down to the shell. She hugged it closer. "Well....We'll cheer for them in spirit..."

["Fang"]

Ignis fell to the ground with a pained grunt, then got quickly back on his feet. Both Ignis and Fang's eyes widened as a large stick flew towards the Charmander. Knowing how badly that would hurt, Ignis threw himself to the ground and narrowly escaped what would have been a rather painful collision. Fang stepped smoothly to the side as the stick went flying by him, for he'd had a longer amount of time to move than the startled Ignis had.

"Ignis, charge forward and scratch!" Fang commanded. Hopefully, close range wouldn't work as well for the Abra, and the sudden physical pain would distract it. Too bad his Charmander didn't know tackle, that would have been perfect... Nonetheless, Charmander charged forward and swept his paw back, claws out. He swung forward, hoping to score a nice blow on the Abra's face. Having had to faceplant the pavement had been embarassing, and Ignis hated be embarassed.

Fang glanced over and saw that they had a bit of an audience. A girl with a Squirtle was watching on, eyes aglow. He bit his lip, which almost drew blood, due to his pointed teeth. He loathed the idea of looking like a weakling in front of a girl. He had to win this!

[Wild Pokemon]

A random little pokemon walked up. Its eyes wide, seeing that battle before it... It was a Zigzagoon and appeared to be around level 4. It's eyes flashed, confusion passing through its head. They were going to attack... it? It grew scared and let out a cry of fear! The cry sounded horrible, very scratchy, as though it had... allergies?

It shook it's head and sneezed, then it saw the Charmander go for an attack. It feared the Charmander was coming right to it, so it ran to the girl that was sitting nearby for help. Its cry of fear sounded softer now, as though it wanted the girl to protect it.