Pokémon Academy: Ch 3: Winter Cup [IC]

[Sutoratosu]

"Don't mention it," Mareek said, pulling out his Pokedex and navigating to his Trainer Credentials page, right to the Finance section. "Slade's probably going to try going around finding out something he can use against you, just like anyone else in this competition would. As far as I'm concerned, I'm just leveling the playing field a bit. And all I've done is told you what to watch out for against him; whether that information is actually worth anything depends on how smart you fight out there tomorrow."

He handed the Dex off to Java, who accepted it with a psybeam and immediately went to work calculating up the day's earnings in BP from fellow students and class mates. Meanwhile he himself retrieved the locked cash box from beneath the counter and started accounting the physical earnings. Nemo went on high alert without even having to be told, Initiating Bone Rush and holding the greenish projection out in-front of him as he stood sentry over the procedure, ready to thoroughly wack anyone who decided to try something. Erce meanwhile blocked off the path to the boy's side of the counter while he and the Porygon tallied everything up, brandishing her scythes in an aggressive manner.

"Well, we made about Nine Thousand Pokedollars today," He said, turning to Lana as he organized the cash into orderly stacks before returning it to the lock box. "Good enough, I guess, That's the rough equivalent of 3000 BP for each of us, Assuming any extra cost are covered by what we made in it already." Java maneuvered the pokedex back to the trainer, showing him the screen and the amount. "Which is around 500 or so... not as much as I was thinking it would be, but it doesn't matter." He took the Pokedex back from his Co-Strategist and powered it off as he reached over and shut and re-locked the cash box, taking off his leather gloves and goggles afterwards and putting them down beside it. It seemed that traffic around the place had died down a little compared to earlier in the day. He didn't see anyone else lining up for an Sculpture or a commission, which was fine by him considering the profit (Which was likely greatly helped by the fact that people needed gifts for holidays and what not...) they'd made. And They would have to do something about this Up-Grade and evolving Java soon...

"Becoming the IP is no easy feat as there are many others who are also just as qualified as yourself, but that's something to worry about in years to come. There is something else I'd like to ask. You haven't seen my son Henry lately, have you?"

Huh? oh, yeah, he had completely forgotten about this guy still standing here... "No sir," he said simply. "I've been standing here tending the stand through most of the day though, so I wouldn't be much help anyway. Maybe someone else around here has seen him?"

[Azeria]

"Is that a taunt?"James shot back with a smirk."I'll wipe that grin of your face Jacob if we face eachother..that is if we do!"He said while turning around."Word of advice Kristen...don't underestimate Henry's skitty.If you do,you'll surely come out the loser...just like you did when you faced Danniele"James said with a snicker as he started petting his Gligar.

Edited January 1, 2015 by Scub

[Zephyrus the Priestess]

"A-Ah, it's no trouble. I usually let my babies walk with me as well, especially now that they're more well-behaved with each other, pon," she said, trying to get the stammer out of her system. Just as she was about to speak again, Lucifer hovered over, finished with his number, his gaze now fixated on Henry. "Oh, hi there, sweetie. Since you're finished playing with your new friends, we might as well go too, pon. You mentioned 'dragon', right?" Looking around, she noticed that Rogue had been trying to get her attention for a while now and was pointing towards the exit. "Don't tell me... Toothless? Oh, boy... Well hold up, Henry, if you don't mind me tagging along on the way out; I think that that dragon might just be mine, pon. Rogue, scout on ahead and try to find him." The Dark-Ice type shot forward towards the exit as her Trainer jogged to catch up to the Coordinator.

Curious, Toothless tilted his head and sat down. Without sight, he couldn't really tell what the Pokemon in front of him was doing. It didn't seem to be hostile as it wasn't really attacking. His stubby little foot thumped the ground in front of him, though.

[Aurorix]

Slade was confused at how the man, not even knowing Danielle kissed her hand and then had the nerve to ignore him. That is until Danielle mentioned him possibly being from the Kalos region. "Um, excuse me, Pierre Deborsu it's not nice to ignore someone right by you," Slade said putting his hand on his side, "though it would be totally understandable if one was scared of a man such as this." Slade said giving a smug grin raising his right hand in the air as to say 'like whatever'.

[Felicity]

After a bit of discussion, Claude had Jason sit down as he whipped out his brushes and various paint, powders and make up and wielded them like weapons, transformng Jasons' face into the visage of a Gardevoir. After a whule, when he was satisfied with the work, he showed it to Jason with a mirror and checked to see if he was happy with it too.

[Commander]

Burrows

The sudden shaking in the ground angered the mole. Apparently, circles weren't enough to stop this little behemoth. He began striking his claws against one another when he noticed the brackets on the screen had changed. Facing off against Henry was...her. The Drilbur quickly performed a spin in the air and quickly rushed underground. His master needed to know about this as soon as possible.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Henry

"Sure, that's no problem at all," responded Henry. They finally reached the exit of the haunted house. That was a waste of money, but it was nice seeing Raiza again. "I guess we should start...found him." A Drilbur popped up from the ground and pointed towards the screen. Henry was surprised at what happened. "Hmm...it seems they've changed the brackets for some reason. Looks like I'm facing...Kristen followed by Danielle. Of all the people they could choose, it had to be those two."

Henry then analyzed the brackets to see what else had been changed, but nothing else interested him. "Sorry about that. Now, where do you think your Deino ran off to?"

[Zephyrus the Priestess]

After waving hello to Henry's Drilbur, the girl looked up to see the big screen. So the match-ups've changed after all. "Funny, I was originally up against that girl, pon. I'm not sure how I feel about it, but, it's done, so... Meh." Turning back to Henry, she said, "Your Drilbur, he disappeared around the same time Toothless did, if I'm not mistaken? Maybe..." She crouched to the Ground type's height and moved her hands while she talked. "Have you seen a Deino around, hun? Around this tall, black and blue, raspy voice like--" Raiza rasped and made growly noises surprisingly just like how a Deino would-- "and he likes to sniff things, pon."

Ara! Where'd it go so quickly? In a bout of momentary confusion, Toothless ran in a circle before realizing he'd felt and heard something whiz in the air before the ground rumbled beneath him. So that meant there was a-- and before the Dark-Dragon knew it, he took a tumble down into the burrow after the Ground type.

[Chim]

DarkLight and ExLink

Pierre chuckled. “Ah, what a beautiful Murkrow, you obviously trained her well!” He had finally found someone who he felt like he could talk to, unlike his teammates, when Slade interrupt.

“Pardon? Ooh! Was that supposed to be a joke? I don’t see any reason I should be scared of you,” Pierre said in a serious tone. He usually didn’t understand jokes like this and when they came from people like Slade he didn’t even try. “If you feel the need to call yourself a man; go ahead. It tells me you are nothing but a little insecure boy… Do yourself a favor, grow up and do something about that ridiculous clothing style. Maybe then I will take you seriously…”

He then turned back to Danielle. “Now, Mademoiselle, I believe you asked me if I am from Kalos. I am indeed. I grew up in Lumiose City! Where are you from if I may ask?”

Jory and Azery

That did it. “Like you should talk, little kid!” Kristen snapped. “I don’t remember you winning a battle; instead didn’t Kage forfeit because you don’t know how to handle your own Pokémon? Or was it because it would be a boring fight? After all, you are no competition what so ever!”

*************

In the meantime the third years started to gather the Coordinators. Since they had to perform for the Winter Cup there was a special stage placed outside between the actual school building and the Training Facility.

((All Coordinators can gather up out of their free will. When everyone is at the stage I’ll start the show.))

Edited January 1, 2015 by Chimchain

[Azeria]

"Excuse me,but i am not at all Slade.I don't hang out with Kage all that much,nor do i know him that well,But he IS a very close friend of my roomate so i've done my research you Stuck up Teenager!"James shot back getting frustrated with Kristen."If you want,you and me could go to a field and duke it out right here and now,but i guess you think you're too good for that no?Think you can beat me easily?"He stopped petting his Gligar while saying this."I was merely playing a prank on you two and this is how you react?I'm sure you had lot's of friends back where you live."James spat sarcastically as his eyes narrowed."By the way,your comment about me not being any competition...i'm sure i'm the LEAST of your worries after all,you are underestimating me just like you're underestimating Henry's Skitty.Understimating your opponents is the easiest way to lose to them."

Edited January 1, 2015 by Scub

[Aurorix]

"I could say the same thing to you." Slade said unfazed by the man's attempts to annoy him, "Someone who judges one by their clothing has a lot more room to grow up then one simply trying to make conversation. If anything you're being a hypocrite." He said still with the smug look on his face. He was used to name calling back at Celadon, this guy needs more then a petty, 'grow up' and a 'you're ugly' insult to get under Slade's skin.

[Bfroger6]

"Uh, huh!?" What the girl said really caught Shiro by surprise. Secrets? What the heck!? And then she just moved on to the question of her food. Did she just cal him over in order to mock him. "Uhm... the ramen will be ready soon, r-right? Huh?"

At that time, Shiro got summoned in order to do the big show for the festival. "That was today?" He had completely forgot about it. "Robert, I need to go, sorry." He turned to his friend. "Will you come to watch?"

[DarkLight]

Danielle's Murkrow had sat up straighter than usual when Pierre complemented her appearance. Avis was obviously proud of her own physique and she wouldn't mind showing off every once in a while.

Avis' trainer sighed amusingly at the black bird before the two guys started to size each other up. Danielle gave a tap on Avis' wing to bring the bird's brain back down to Earth before she decided to defuse the situation. "H-Hey, simmer down, why don't you? We all have different styles and tastes. So, why_not just take this as a sight-seeing experience? Besides, we should not spoil the festival with our bickering~" She then addressed Pierre's revelation. "Sorry about my friend here; that was his way of saying hi~ As for you, Monsieur, I grew up in Laverre City! I had always wanted to see Lumiose but, alas, I never had the chance yet due to the long trek down... Talking about Lumiose, have you met a guy named Claude? He's also from Lumiose City and is in the Coordinator program like me!"

Back at the coffee booth, Zared has had enough of the meet and greet. He went back to gather up the money box that was filled with tips from their generous patrons. Apparently Kalosian coffee was considered a delicacy for those who lived outside of Kalos, who knew? The Mawile then began to notice the third year students ushering the coordinators towards a stage. He waved to get Corona's attention so that she could get their master to start heading over there as well. As Corona zoomed over to deliver the message, Zared went over to Lana and handed her the money box. He then made a few gestures towards Danielle and the stage, hoping she would get the message.

[TurboAura]

Robert

Having the Miso orders almost done, Robert turned to Shiro grinning. "Of course I'll watch, Shiro. Wouldn't even think of missing it." With that, Robert turned to the counter. "Okay, anyone that has already ordered, your food will be ready shortly. As for anyone who'd still be in line, I apologize, but I wouldn't be here to take make those orders anyway. Feel free to come tomorrow. Bring those fliers with you tomarrow, and I'll even get you a discount, 25% off." With that, Kiai put up the 'Out for' sign and went back to help Robert finish the orders that were already taken. Seemed to him that they already broke even due to the 'dinner rush,' so losing some money on the tailing orders wouldn't be that bad, at least not as bad as staying back to take them would.

(@K_H: Feel free to bunny Robert's parents, as it would make this much easier.)

Edited January 1, 2015 by TurboAura

[Tses]

A third year guy reached Sissy and informed her about the opening of the Winter Cup. Oh. So it is today. "It seems that the opening is today. I'm off for the stage. Come and watch us Mareek." She said at the boy, before leaving.

She walked for a couple of minutes, before reaching the special stage created for the Cup. She stood at a corner of the stage waiting for her classmates to arrive.

[Felicity]

Eventually a third year came along to pick Claude up and let him know it was time to perform. Claude apologized to Jason and dismissed himself after finishing his work, but he decided to hop over to Danielle nearby. He came up to her, Slade and some dude who looked to e trying way to hard to snake Danielle. "Hey, Danielle, time to put all our work into action! You ready to go?" Claude asked, smiling with excitement in his eyes.

[K_H]

Kenny spoke to his Uncle.

"As a matter of fact, my cousin and I are Roommates. We also Encountered each other on the first day because our Riolu Sensed each other, leading us together."

He then spoke to Zorro.

"Zorro, do you mind?"

"All right, all right, I'll stop for now!"

Zorro then changed his shape back into his True Form. Kenny's parents were unfazed, having both noticed that Zorro was fooling them. Kenny then spoke to his Uncle.

"Soo... you were saying, Uncle Will?"

Kenny's dad then spoke.

"I knew it was most likely an Illusion when i noticed that the Eyes looked oddly similar to a Zorua's!"

Kenny's sister then spoke, teasing Kenny.

"You know, we were at that PWT the year we left. Ryu was really wowed when Cameron's Riolu Evolved into a Lucario. Kenny actually had to Recall Ryu to prevent him from going Onfield, Ryu was that excited!"

Ryu grinned awkwardly, making a good imitation of the 'Bad Poker Face' Meme, despite the difference in Species between the Meme's Template and himself. Kenny then spoke, blushing a little.

"Yeah... That was embarrassing."

Kenny then glowered at Ellie, his face seeming to say 'Drop the subject now, or do I have to reveal That Incident to them?' Ellie, however, ignored him and continued on.

"If it weren't for the fact that Ryu was under Level 20 at the time, I think he would've Evolved right then and there out of excitement and-!"

Kenny looked at Ellie as she continued, the phrase 'Don't say I didn't warn you.' written all throughout his expression. Kenny then smiled craftily, and proceeded to interrupt his Sister.

"I agree that it was embarrassing, but I don't think it was as embarrassing for me as it was for you that time that your Mareep got kidnapped while that Trainer from Kanto was visiting. You know, that one, who was best friends with a Pikachu?"

Now Ellie was the one who was blushing! Jacen added insult to injury by joining in.

"Oh yeah, that time when Ellie's Ampharos actually lost control of the Herd and had to learn Thunderpunch from the Dragonite that the Girl with the Axew owned in order to get the Herd back under control!"

Shauntai was having a hard time keeping her laughter concealed now! then she delivered the bombshell by joining in.

"And here's the kicker: She was only there with my dad and Kenny at the time. My dad left her to her own devices as a test of her strength, while Kenny warned Ryu about the threat and they both stayed in the Trees until everyone else had left!"

THAT drove Ellie over the deep end, and she used a 'Hyperspace Hammer' on her Parents and Brother (I.E., yelled at them very loudly.)

"WILL YOU THREE SHUT UP!?"

Kenny flinched reflexively due to how loud she was in close proximity to his ears. His Parents' eyes narrowed a bit, knowing they'd all just gone a bit too far. Zorro seemed a bit unsteady on his feet, and spoke, sounding a bit queasy.

"Jeez, you didn't need to yell that close to my ears!"

That's when they all looked at the Stall, wondering what was taking so long, and saw that Robert had closed up shop for the day.

((Robert, you just Ninja'd me pro-style. GG.))

Edited January 2, 2015 by K_H

[DarkLight]

"Claude, my dear! Just when I was talking about you too!" Danielle beamed happily as Corona also made her way over to notify them about the performance. "Aww, thank you too Corona~" she cooed the Larvesta as she sat in her arms. She then waved towards Pierre. "Je suis désolée, Pierre. I must bid you adieu for the time being. Duty calls after all~ And Slade," Danielle give him a quick peck on the cheek, "I'll see you there~"

Finally, Danielle began following Claude over to their destined stage. "Ready when you are! I have been waiting for this since I was five! Zared, let's go!" She saw her Mawile dropping off their earnings with Lana and hurried over to join Danielle and Claude's side. "You know, Claude, that guy in the white suit says he's from Lumiose City too! Have you seen him around before?"

[TurboAura]

Parents

Smirking at how his newly re-discovered family was poking fun at eachother, the interaction seemed to end as they all turned to the stall, seeing as Robert was finishing up. "Haha, well it seems he'll be over here soon."

Robert

With the help of Kiai and Voltage, the bowls were taken to the right people as Jet continued directing. Voltage was annoyed, but he knew that this would make things go faster. With the last batch left, Kiai took the 2 bowls to Citrine, Voltage took the one to Louise with directions from Jet, and Robert took the last two to the couple, who he had noticed were talking to his family.

"Here you are, two bowls of Miso Ramen. And I assume my parents must have been 'entertaining' you while I was making your food?" Hearing that, Will's grin just got even wider.

"Well, it's much more than that. Yah see, this is your aunt and uncle, and those are your cousins. I kinda lost contact with them while you were still a baby, so this is actually the first time I'VE even heard from them in a while."

As soon as he heard the word 'cousin' when his father motioned towards Kenny, Robert recoiled in surprise. "Wait, you're my cousin, Kenny? Well... That's interesting. To think that we've been living in the same dorm room and yet it's just now that we learn this." With his hand on the back of his head, he laughed.

Akako grinned, glad to see Robert was taking this news pretty well. "Well, I guess this'll make catching up easier, especially we've got two people to cover things with. Speaking of which, mind clearing up who that other kid you were working with is?"

"Oh, you mean Shiro?" His heart shook, being happy about the question, but saddened by the latest news about Shiro. "Well, he's a friend of mine, or OURS, that we've know since the beginning of the year. A-anyway, as soon at my pokemon come back from getting out orders, I plan on going to see the opening ceremony and watching him and others." With a nod his parents, Will began.

"Well don't even think of counting us out. We came here to be with you, so it's not like we're gonna just stay here." A smile and nod in agreement, Robert looked towards Kenny, giving a look to say 'when you have a chance, we've gotta talk.' It wasn't about them being family, not at all, but for the news about Shiro.

Edited January 2, 2015 by TurboAura

[Sutoratosu]

"The opening, eh?" he asked as Sissy headed off for the stage. "Could be fun, I guess. And I don't see anyone else looking for orders or anything, might as well close down for the evening." He looked over at Lana as he stowed the box back beneath the counter, making sure it was well hidden from anyone who would try snooping around the stand. "What do you say? wanna go watch them?"

[Aurorix]

Slade blushed little bit after Danielle kissed him on the cheek. As Danielle and Claude left Slade then turned to Pierre, "Sorry if we got off on the wrong foot before, I was only joking," Slade said scratching the back of his head, "I'm Slade Kafkin and hopefully next time we meet we won't be at each others throats." He said chuckling, "Anyways, I must go to my stall and close it. Wouldn't want my pokemon to miss the show." Slade then left for his stall leaving Pierre to do whatever he was going to do.

As Slade got back seemed bussiness had stopped because the line was gone. Slade turned to his pokemon, "Ok guys, it's time to close up shop. Sasuke where's the money box?" Saskue pulled out a plastic box where they kept the money they earned there was about around 1400-1600 Poke (IDK if too much) worth of profit though there was no time to count. "Great guys! Now, lets go watch Danielle's performance at the coordinator's show! Oh, and Sasuke, sorry to ask so much of you today but I think you're the only one who could make it to the dorm and back in time to watch the show. So, would you mind taking the box to my room and..." Slade whispered into Sasuke's ear the location just in case someone was going to try to steal it. "And, if you can't get in through there use this." Slade said handing off his room key to Sasuke, "Just make sure not to loose it." Sasuke nodded as he went to go hide the money in Slade's room. As he got there he went to the window that was Slade's. He ran up the wall and opened the window, Slade kept it unlocked and Sasuke went in. He hid the money in the location Slade said to but was surprised to find two plushies there as well. As Sasuke finished his job he locked the window and exited through the ground door of the men's dorm.

[Chim]

DarkLight and ExLink

“Bonne chance, Mademoiselle,” Pierre gave a polite bow and was about to mount his Ponyta again when he saw Danielle give Slade a peck on the cheek. The boy then said something to him, but the Kalosian simply wasn’t interested. He was particular picky about people he liked and disliked. Usually the first tone said everything to him. Danielle, a Coordinator from Kalos with manners, was someone he liked. Slade, who felt the need to call himself a man while wearing a ridiculous fedora, wasn’t in the same category. And yet the two seemed to be dating… why? Maybe two opposites do attract… Pierre wondered if the same would happen to him and a picture off Sarah Jones came to mind. He immediately shivered at the thought and cleared his head. It’s not like RoG would allow a relationship anyway. Still, Pierre was interested in other human relationships. He mounted the Ponyta and quickly made his way to the stage, curious about his competition as well.

Jory and Azery (and basically information everyone can use)

“You really don’t get it, do you? I doubt you even know Henry like I do! He’s all talk and acts like he knows everything and tries to be the bad boy from Orre, but every single time he backs down again. I get why people don’t like him! It’s not because of the Skitty, but the way he acts and battles. He thinks he’s so good and all while his Pokémon do everything. He doesn’t even command them! So don’t think I’m underestimating him. I did my research on every single competitor left!” Kristen revealed. She took the tournament very seriously and had used every source available. She even want out of her way to see most battles in the preliminaries.

And there was one more source. It was a tradition in the Academy that aside from the rivalry between the Programs, there was also Competitor Ranking. “First years usually don’t know about this until right before the Cup, but for those who do know about it; the information is priceless. Every battle you ever fought since entering the Academy is recorded. All of them are open information, but the Competitor Ranking is a summary of everything. All you have to do is log-in on a computer with your ID and search for the Ranking. It’s a website made by a small group of students and every year they select newbies to help them out. The teachers and even Professor Redwood know it exists. I bet they already updated the new matchups and calculated the possible finals and percentage every student has to win the whole thing. I checked it out last time before the matches were announced. Jacob and Mareek are the ones amongst the first years with the best chances to win. Overall battling, grades, strategy, Pokémon, … everything is in their favor. Jacob has the slight advantage because he won his earlier battle and rumor goes that Mareek isn’t very interested in winning. Evan, Kage, Claude and Slade are considered the main outsiders and so on.”

Kristen took a step back from James and looked at him with disgust. “I’m ranked below Henry and Danielle. So there’s no way I will underestimate him, but I won’t lose. And as for you; I looked up every battle since the trip to the Boulder Hills. The Ranking said Kage threw the battle because he didn’t feel like pushing his Pokémon like you did. Your rank is in the bottom half... And let me give you one last piece of information about a special rank. They calculated people that are most likely to eliminate themselves. The major factor in this one is stress and being able to keep a clear mind when there are thousands of people looking at you. Another factor is how you handle your Pokémon. You rank third in that list. Only Slade and Kenny are higher then you. Henry ranks last so it’s unlikely he will make a mistake because of pressure.”

Stratos

“Sure, I wanted to go anyway. I’m interested in what Danielle and Claude are going to do!” Lana’s head was barely visible behind the counter as she accepted the box Zared gave her. “I’ll put this away first.”

***********************

The activity around the stalls died down as almost everyone made their way to the Coordinators’ podium. Marco was standing on said podium and smiled towards the gathering crowd. “Find yourself a seat, because we’re about to start in five minutes!”

[Felicity]

Claude and Danielle had arrived at the backstage and Claude called out Doux and Lance, the two pokemon he would use for the opening. "RIght guys, lets see this practice in action, even if it is a bit different with your recent evolution Lance." He said to the pair. Lance merely grumbled, whilst Doux chirped in response and floated over to Danielle to say hello. "Are you ready then>" Claude asked Danielle, a smile much fiercer than normal on his face. He was ready for this.

[Azeria]

Hearing what Kristen said left James in a trance for a second."You're an interesting one...but nonetheless you're arrogant relying on statistics to tell you what your opponent is like instead of going out and learning it for yourself.For the record i fought Raiza not Kage back on the Boulder Hills trip and i hope you actually acknowledge that instead of using incorrect information.Even if i go a bit over the limit in our training i don't do anything drastic in battle,if i did Shade wouldnt be with me for so long."He said to the Girl in front of him as he turned back around to face her.

Edited January 3, 2015 by Scub

[Jory]

Jacob turned slightly red as Kristen and James continued arguing. However, he simply continued looking at the screen. In the corner of the large monitor was the time, and it was getting really close to the beginning of the opening ceremony of the Winter Cup. Jacob was quivering with excitement and turned to Arete with a wild grin on his face. The Togetic looked just as excited despite knowing there was a chance she wouldn't even be competing. However, she was still super pumped to see her beloved Trainer and teammates duking it out against the best the Academy had to offer. Jacob then turned to James and Kristen and stepped between them with a hand out to either side. "As much as I love listening to you two argue, if we don't hurry we're going to miss the opening ceremony. And what kind of competitor would I be if I did that?"

[Azeria]

"Wonderfull timing,i was about to comment on that in a second anyways."James said before he turned around."I look forward to seeing your performance Jacob,not so much yours Kristen but you two interest me."Were his last words before he walked off to where the opening ceremony was being held,petting Ragnarok all the way.

Edited January 2, 2015 by Scub