We're on the Road to Silav City

[Zorrel]

Because it was wintertime, the usually green and full-of-life Silav Town was covered in a blanket of pure, white snow. Lithalia, however, thought it was as amazing as ever; most likely because this was the location of the very first gym she'd be battling in. As she and her party entered the town, the young trainer shook with a mix of cold and anticipation. She and Blaedyn looked around the town, taking in every site; the combination of leafless and...non-leafless trees, the variety of people walking around, the blue roof of the PokeMart, the red one of the PokeCenter, and, finally, the Gym. The place where a trainer's abilities are put to the test, and where they receive a badge representing their strength as well as getting one step closer to the Pokemon League if they pass.

~I say we go to that gym right away, and then get outta here and onto the next one,~ said Vex. He wasn't the type of Mankey who liked to dawdle around in one place too long; plus, his muscles ached to be warmed by battling someone.

Amira rolled her eyes. ~Oh please, like you're strong enough to take on a gym leader, let alone win,~ she retorted to Vex's comment.

~Oh, and little miss princess over here thinks she can do any better? You wouldn't last ten seconds with a gym leader; you'd be too worried 'bout breakin' a claw.~ The Mankey crossed his arms as the corners of his mouth rose in a slight smirk.

Before Amira could hiss out another comment, Alexucard stepped between them. "Both of you, stop bickering! Oi, it's every day with you two," he ordered with a shake of his head. Vex and Amira - for once - listening to the irritated Growlithe daemon and ceased their taunts, but sparks lit up their eyes as they each glared the other down.

Lith, however, giggled; unlike her daemon partner, she found the two cream colored Pokemon's fights to be amusing. "Anyways, I think we should go heal up at the PokeCenter before we do anything else. So you guys get back to your Pokeballs for a minute, alright?" She put Blaedyn down in the snow and unclasped his, Vex, and Amira's pokeballs from her belt. The odd red lights sucked the Meowth and the Mankey in while they were still glaring at each other, and Blaedyn was absorbed inside of his with a low huff of dissent; he hated being in his pokeball, but he was a bit happy to escape the bitter cold for the time being. Pokeballs in hand and Alex at her side, she headed toward the red roofed building covered in snow.

When she stepped through the automatic sliding doors, she, once again, explored every corner of the building with her eyes. She'd only been in one other PokeCenter before, and that one was nothing like this one; this one was bigger, cleaner, and warmer, too! The one in her old city was pretty small, and it didn't have that good of a heating system in the winter. A slight prod from Alex's paw told her she was standing at the entrance for too long; her cheeks blushed a light shade of red, but she thanked the cold for already pinking her cheeks enough so that the blush could hardly be seen. The line to the front desk was fairly long; lots of people - especially trainers - were probably wanting to rent warm rooms to stay in to get away from the weather outside. Lith and Alex glanced at each other and nodded, silently deciding to walk over to one of the empty, comfy seats that lined the walls of the room. They could relax and warm up there while the line dwindled down. In the meantime, Lith decided let Blaedyn out of his pokeball; she knew how much better he liked being out in the open. With a relieved stretch, he contently rested on her lap and watched various people walk about the center.

[Birdybot]

People of all sorts were entering, lining up and relaxing in the Pokémon Centre. Pokémorphs and humans alike, with all sort of Pokémon. Of course, there were much fewer Pokémorphs than humans, but they were still there. Someone was sitting next to Lith too, a girl of around her age. Her daemon took the form of a Plusle. She had two Pokémon outside their Pokéballs; a Flarepup and a Buneary. She was talking to them quietly, her daemon translating anything they said back to her.

She decided to look up, and saw Lith next to her. Her eyes moved to Blaedyn, lingering on the Riolu. They weren't very common, so she guessed he was her starter. Perhaps she should introduce herself. After all, maybe she'd get a battle out of it. "Hello, there! My name's Mandy, what's yours? Are you in the same situation I am, but any chance? Waiting for the line to die down, Pokémon at too low a level to challenge Elika?" she asked. Her daemon prodded her and reminded her that she shouldn't go giving so much information away to strangers.

[Zorrel]

It was true that there were a small handful of Pokemorphs wandering about. Blaedyn took interest in these odd half human, half Pokemon beings and watched them carefully; he'd never seen one before. His mind raced, trying to pinpoint the answer of how this strange mix came to be. His thoughts were put to a hault, however, by the voice of a young girl who had spoken up next to him and his trainer.

Lithalia's attention was also quickly snapped from the movement of the PokeCenter to this trainer named Mandy who sat beside her. She blinked before replying with a friendly smile and saying, "Hehe, yeah, we're pretty much in the same spot, too; our team has a bit of training ahead of them before we have a chance at the gym leader." She giggled a bit before continuing, "My name's Lithalia. Nice to meet you, Mandy."

Alexucard, who loved to meet new people almost as much as his human partner did, decided to introduce himself as well. "And I'm Alexucard," he barked happily, giving friendly glances to both Mandy and her Plusle daemon.

The little Riolu in Lith's lap didn't want to be left out, either, so he jumped up and exclaimed, ~Hiya! My name's Blaedyn.~ He gave an excited wave as he flashed a toothy grin.

Then a thought struck Lithalia. "Hey, do you think maybe you'd wanna have a battle while the line dies down?" she started excitedly, eyes glimmering. "It would give us both the chance to train!" She looked longingly at Mandy with a childish face, anticipating her response.

[Birdybot]

Mandy frowned. "A battle? Right now? I'm not sure... my Pokémon are still quite weak." she told Lith. Buneary nodded; this was true of the rabbit Pokémon, at least. The Flarepup, however, let out a determined bark. He pawed the ground, eyes set on Lith as a possible opponent. Mandy automatically put a hand on the Fire type, calming him as he began to growl. She gave a slight chuckle. "I suppose Laru here wants to battle." she shrugged.

With that, she led the way to the other side of the Pokémon Centre, squeezing past a very long line. She made her way over to the battle areas set and soundproofed aside from the more relaxing areas. Two trainers next to them had just finished a battle, and there were a few scattered about to watch any battle that might start. Mandy stepped onto her side's trainer's area while Laru the Flarepup stepped into the battling area, ready to see whatever Pokémon Lith would decide to use.

[Zorrel]

Lith's smile started to fade when Mandy declined the offer, but then widened up again when Laru the Flarepup decided he wanted to battle. Her eyes shone even brighter as she exclaimed, "That's awesome!" She looked down to Blaedyn and Alex, whose faces shown excitement at the upcoming battle as well. Then Lithalia started thinking about what Pokemon she could use. Blaedyn had just battled Loki, so he needed healing first. Rikio needed training, but he was still fainted...Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to ask for a battle right away before healing her team first. A blank look crossed her face before she remembered that Loki, the Murkrow, had been healed a while ago. He did need training, after all. When the blue haired trainer looked up, she saw Mandy already heading for the battle area. She got up, Riolu still in her arms, and scrambled to catch up with her before she was out of sight.

Lithalia looked around the large field full of benches and battle arenas and, best of all, lots of trainers and spectators. This was the special area designated for trainers to practice in at the PokeCenter. Her daemon had to nudge her once again to tell her to move forward. With another light blush, Lith stepped up to the opposite side of one of the arenas, facing Mandy and her Flarepup. Alex padded up and sat down next to her, waiting for the battle to start. She placed Blaedyn beside her Growlithe daemon before unclipping one of her Pokeballs and quickly tossing it into the air. What solidified from the red light was a black, shadowy figure; Loki the Murkrow. The prankster looked around the area with a glazed expression on his face before glancing back to his trainer. "Are you ready to battle, Loki?" she replied to his gaze with an enticing smile.

Showing something similar to a smirk and raising a dark feathered wing, the flying type answered. ~You bet.~ The Murkrow didn't like the idea of traveling with a trainer much at first, but he hoped he'd grow to like it; this upcoming battle was a good start.

"Alright then! Loki, how about we start off by using a Peck attack!" Lith called. Loki blinked. He'd have to get used to being given orders, but he figured he'd humor the young trainer; this time, at least. Barely a second later, he swooped upwards with a flap of his shadowy wings and rushed forward with a Peck attack from the air, pointed beak aimed right for Laru.

[Birdybot]

Laru was hit by the Peck attack, having not been expecting Loki to launch so suddenly into battle. The puppy winced as the attack hit; that was quite painful, Loki was strong. The trainer was a little concerned for her Pokémon, but it was just the first hit. She tried to convince herself that it didn't matter too much, and chose to continue with the battle regardless of who'd struck first. "Laru, let's use a Gust!" she called.

The Flarepup flapped his tiny wings. Flarepup couldn't fly at that stage, of course, but they could still create winds. This one was making a few strong ones by beating his wings downwards. He gathered them in a clump before sending them towards Loki in a final blast. This Gust looked accurate. It was a straightforward attack, too, so if it hit, Loki and Lith would have no extra effects to worry about.

[Zorrel]

The corners of Loki's crooked beak curved into a smirk when his Peck made contact. Oh, this Flarepup was going to be a piece of cake, he thought. His thoughts, however, should have been on the battle, and not on how strong he was - or, how strong he thought he was. He tried his best to flutter out of the way of the Gust, but to no avail. The Murkow let out a low sounding caw as he took the damage from Laru's attack. Alright, so it wouldn't be that easy afterall. Luckily, the attack wasn't too strong, so Loki obviously wasn't hurt bad enough to stop battling. He shook his dizziness off and flapped his shadowy wings to regain his balance.

Lith mimicked Mandy's wince; she was worried for her Pokemon's welfare, too. But, also like the opponent trainer, Lith wasn't going to give up so easily. "Alright, Loki, use Astonish this time!" she shouted. The Murkrow, however, merely rolled his eyes. Did this trainer have to decide every move he made? He thought not. Loki, instead of fulfilling his trainer's request of performing Astonish, folded his wings and dived straight and fast at Laru in a Dark type Pursuit attack.

[Birdybot]

Laru smiled as his attack hit successfully. Yes! He'd got his first hit in! Loki was then coming at him in a Pursuit attack. Oh... that wasn't good. The Flarepup was unable to dodge, and was hit. Ow! That had hurt. Mandy could see that Loki had disobeyed his trainer. Aha, so, he must be a new addition then. Laru, as her starter, was very loyal to her. That could be an advantage! A new joy spreading through her, she called her next command. "Leer!"

Laru was pleased to carry through the command. After all, he trusted his trainer and could see plenty of sense in just about everything she told him to do. A Leer would lower Loki's defense stat, meaning he'd feel more pain the next time he was hit. That would be good, and help speed up the battle. He'd find it much easier to win! The winged puppy suddenly looked an awful lot scarier, growling, eyes glowing. This was the Leer attack.

[Zorrel]

The dark feathered Murkrow felt exhilarated as his body crashed into the Flarepup's; he loved the rush of battle. Loki pulled himself away and flapped back into the air. Even though he'd disobeyed his trainer's orders, he thought his move choice had been a better tactic. He smiled in satisfaction; he didn't need to be loyal to that Lithalia all the time, did he? Lith, however, frownded. Her brows furrowed; she was a little upset that Loki didn't trust her enough yet to listen to her. The attack seemed to be successful, so she figured it was alright this one time. Alexucard didn't seem to take Loki's disobedience as lightly, though. His furry face ruffled up in discontent as he layed down next to Blaedyn to continue watching the battle and to see what her partner would do next.

Laru then used a Leer attack. Loki was staring right at the young Flarepup when this attack was performed, so it connected with his eyes right away. The Murkrow realized what was happening and tried to break away from Laru's gaze; but it was too late. He had locked eyes with the once cute, now more threatening Flarepup and felt himself getting weaker as his Defense stat was being lowered. A shiver was sent though his shadowy feathers. He thought he would be tough enough to handle some more attacks, so he shrugged it off and flew higher into the air. Lith didn't think one level of lost defense would be too bad, either, so she shouted out another attack. "Alright...now, Loki, try another Peck!" She hoped her Pokemon would listen to her this time. And, to her delight, he did. Figuring that he would have used a Peck attack anyways, Loki dived from above right at Laru.

[Birdybot]

Another Peck, huh? Laru tried to dodge it, not wanting to be hurt again. However, Loki was attacking from the air, making it an awful lot harder to dodge. The Flarepup was hit by the attack, and winced in pain. Mandy was a little worried; she was seeing how much of an advantage being in the air was. Laru would have that some day, but not now. Flying types did have a weakness to make up for that, though, didn't they; they had low defense. Loki's was now ever lower! "Laru, use a Tackle!" she called.

Laru nodded, beginning to charge powerfully towards the Murkrow. The only problem was this; how would he get all the way up there? He... he could jump, he supposed. Yeah, that would work. Flarepup were able to use their wings to make their jumps higher, too, so that would be pretty useful right now. He did so, leaping high into the air to try and connect his Tackle with Loki- doing this weakened it a little.

[Zorrel]

Loki's attack connected once again. This fact made the egotistical bird even more full of himself. He fluttered effortlessly back up into the air right after his Peck attack to avoid any retalliation. Oh? Laru was trying to use a Tackle attack? Loki scoffed and figured that there was no way that little flightless pipsqueak could ever reach him where he was. As he smiled and lost focus on the battle again, Laru was able to use his small wings to help boost himself into the air, launching a Tackle right at the unsuspecting Murkrow. "Loki, dodge it, quick!" With a hurried call from Lith, Loki realized Laru was faster than he thought, and tried to flap out of the way; too late. Laru hit him square in the chest, and Loki's lowered defense stat made up for any power the attack had lost before. In a mass of shadowy feathers, Loki couldn't keep his balance in the air and fell to the ground with a thud.

Now he was angry. This pup was really getting on his nerves. "It's okay, Loki; you can't always dodge every attack," Lithalia called out with a reassuring smile. "Now try to use Pursuit!" The Murkrow scoffed again. What had that trainer done for him so far? Sure, her suggested attacks had worked a couple of times. But she'd told him to dodge too late on that last attack, and now he sat in a pile of ruffled feathers with a bruised ego and an aching chest. After a short moment, he fluttered up into the air, but he kept low to the ground this time. He shot at the Flarepup with a shimmer of anger in his eyes, using an Astonish attack and disobeying his trainer once again. The attack was weaker as it could have been, however, because Loki himself was starting to feel weaker.

[Birdybot]

Mandy was pleased to see Loki disobeying his trainer again. That might really come in handy sometime. Unfortunately for them, Laru hadn't quite recovered from landing again and was hit by the Astonish. Oh, well. Perhaps that would encourage Loki to disobey his trainer a little more or something. The aerial Tackle hadn't been as sucessful as she'd liked, so it might be better to stick to Laru's other attack. "Gust!" she called, keeping confidence in her voice so the tired Flarepup wouldn't give up hope or anything bad like that. She wanted to keep his spirit alive.

It seemed to have worked, not that it was needed; Laru had plenty of admirable determination when it came to battles. He was ready for another hit, ready to deal out another hit. He was prepared to take hits and dish them out, and above all win this battle. Some of the people watching looked pretty interested; right now, the fight was pretty close. The winged puppy reared onto his hind legs, flapping his tiny wings like mad to create another spinning vortex of wind. With another stronger flap, he sent the Gust attack straight towards his Murkrow opponent.

[Zorrel]

Lithalia felt herself blush a light shade of pink. A few trainers were starting to crowd around the area to watch the ongoing battle, and she was a bit embarrassed by the fact that her Pokemon kept disobeying her commands. Atleast the attack had hit, right? These thoughts of hers, however, weren't enough to keep Lith from being hurt by Loki's untrusting behavoir. Alexucard could easily read her frustrated feelings, and his eyes narrowed in annoyance at the Murkrow's continued disobedience. He stood up and was about to bark out something sour to Loki before Lith laid a hand on his furry head, signaling him not to continue. "It's alright, Alex. He'll come around," she offered her partner a soft smile. The Growlithe daemon gruffed and laid back down, but said nothing.

Lith turned her attention back to the battle. Laru the Flarepup had sent another Gust Loki's way. Loki, having just finished up an attack, wasn't prepared to dodge. His crooked beak scowled in anger as he was thrown to the ground by the twister; he HAD to start dodging things soon if the battle was to turn in his favor. A stern look on her face, Lithalia called out with a voice full of determination to get her Pokemon to listen. "Loki, use Peck!" The dazed Murkrow blinked before hastily flapping back into the air; being a flying type, he moved faster in the air than on the ground. He suddenly felt a pang of guilt for not listening to this trainer as much as he had been. What was this feeling he had? He wasn't sure he'd ever felt it before. Well, that trainer of his did give him a warm place to sleep. And her other Pokemon all seemed to love and respect her, too. Determination that mimicked Lithalia's shone in his own eyes as Loki flew at the Flarepup in a Peck attack; his speed was fair, but because he was still dizzy from the earlier Gust he'd got hit by, his aim wavered.

[Birdybot]

Loki's aim might have been poorer than wanted on his Peck attack, but at least he was listening to Lith, right? Laru, strangely, was feeling pleased for the bird and his trainer despite the fact that he was fighting against them. He could see that Loki's aim was poor right now, but was still somehow hit by the Peck; Loki was a lucky bird right now. Mandy grimaced, but supposed that at least some good had come out of this for Lith. The Murkrow would probably be a better Pokémon for this battle. After all, he would be able to learn how to obey his trainer, a very useful skill for any Pokémon and trainer. Mandy wasn't about to loose, though. "Laru, Gust again!" she called.

The crowds seemed to think that the Flarepup would win, but the Fire type, however determined he was, wasn't so sure. He was feeling pretty weak right now- one more attack would most likely be all it took. Still, he could never give up and let his trainer down. He had to keep fighting until the end, unless Mandy said to stop. He focused on the fact that if he was weakening, then so was Loki. He flapped his wings as quickly as he possibly could, summoning up a quite impressive Gust. He sent the attack at Loki, hoping to land a hit while the bird was still close.

[Zorrel]

Lithalia's face lit up with both happiness and surprise when Loki listened to her. She couldn't help but wonder, however, if this obedience would just be fleeting or was here to stay. Obviously, she hoped for the latter to be true. With this desire in mind, she shouted out some encouragement in a stern yet cheery voice. "Great job, Loki!" The Murkrow fluffed out his chest feathers in pride. So, he thought, following his trainers orders not only came with a warm bed and free food, but encouraging praise as well? Maybe he should listen to Lith more often. He fluttered about in the air for a moment, lost in his happy thoughts, before flying a bit aways from the Flarepup when he saw that Laru was preparing for another attack.

Lith bit her lip lightly. Even though Loki had started listening to her commands, she knew he was getting weaker as the battle went on. Then Laru sent out his attack as Mandy had called it out; another Gust. Would Loki be able to dodge it in time? Before she was about to tell Loki to do just that, an idea struck her. "Loki, fly straight into the Gust, then use it to boost yourself at Laru with a Peck attack!" she called, another determined look on her face. Loki blinked. Alright, maybe listening to his trainer all the time wasn't such a good idea after all. Fly into the attack? Shouldn't he fly away from it? Even Alexucard looked up with surprise at his human partner. The twirling winds were approaching the black feathered bird fast. With a 'here goes nothing' sigh, he decided to throw his trust into Lith's abilities as a trainer and flew into the vortex. He tried riding on the winds of the Gust by flying the direction it was going; it was working fairly well, but he was still getting constantly battered by it at the same time. After a few more cycles, Loki shot out of the Gust with a wince and sling-shotted his way right at the Flarepup. Because he'd used the Gust as a boost, he was going at a considerably high speed, but there was always the chance that Laru would be able to dodge it; if Loki missed, though, he was sure that he'd be done for.