The Going Gets Rougher

[Zorrel]

Blaedyn inwardly chided himself for missing the Blaze Kick; he really couldn't handle too many more Peck attacks before going down, so he wanted to beat this bird fast. He softly landed on the ground before hearing a loud sound come from above. Covering his ears, he looked up to see the black feathered bird using a move other than Peck for once. While he was grateful for this, he still didn't find this new selection to be very pleasant. It rattled his ear drums, and the creepy look that Murkrow was making sent an eerily dreadful chill to course throughout his body.

Lith and Alex were forced to cover their ears as well; this Astonish move was annoying. "What is it even doing?" she half yelled, half asked her daemon through the low sounding wailing.

"I think it's the move Astonish," Alex replied in a muffled tone, head buried in his paws to try to block out the awful sound. "Atleast it doesn't hurt as much as Peck," he added.

When the wailing was decreasing in volume, Lith opened her tightly closed eyes. Blaedyn seemed to be tiring out fast; those Pecks had really taken a toll on the young fighting type. A concerned expression crossed Lithalia's face once again. "Quick, Blaedyn, while it's just finishing up - use another Quick Attack!" Blaedyn took his paws off his ears and looked up at the Murkrow to steady and aim himself. A second later, he launched himself with powerful back paws in a speedy Quick Attack. Hopefully this would hit since it was somewhat close ranged, but as Blaedyn's body weakened, so did his strength; therefore, this attack did not seem as powerful as it could have been had the Riolu been at full health.

ooc// Again, I kinda tried to go according to the anime with how the move Astonish worked, but I dunno if it's completely accurate.

[Birdybot]

ooc// Yeah, it's supposed to be a physical attack, but hey, whatever.

ic// Murkrow could see that Blaedyn was coming for a Quick Attack, and that this Quick Attack wouldn't be so hard thanks to how weakened the Riolu was right now. Unfortunately, he was so weak that he would feel the pain of it as much as if it had been a normal Quick Attack. Murkrow wasn't sure whether he would faint from the pain of it, in fact. Would he faint? Maybe, but he really didn't want to take that risk too much. As soon as he saw Blaedyn start to attack, he tried to dodge.

Murkrow tried to force his aching wings to move him higher, since he wasn't exactly the fastest of creatures on the ground. These aching wings were having trouble keeping him aloft, let alone lifting him swiftly higher. Because of this, Blaedyn was able to simply jump and knock him out of the air. His wings unable to catch the wind again, grativty took place and made him collide with the ground. He had fainted before he hit it, meaning Blaedyn had won.

Murkrow was defeated! Blaedyn gained two levels!

[Zorrel]

Blaedyn landed next to the fainted Murkrow. His legs wobbled and threatened to give out, but he fought the urge to follow Murkrow's example and stood his ground. A smirk lit up the Riolu's face, and a victorious gleam shown in his eyes. "Woohoo, Blaedyn, you did it!" he heard from the sidelines. Blaedyn turned to see Lithalia and Alexucard cheering his victory on. His smile growing even wider, he ran toward her despite his aching legs and jumped right into his trainer's arms. Alex gave his usual bark of congratulations, his tail wagging back and forth. "You were great, especially against a type disadvantage," she praised while hugging her Riolu tightly. Blaedyn beamed in response, a proud look on his face.

After a short moment, Alex spoke up. "So, what are you gonna do with him?" he motioned toward the unmoving pile of black feathers on the ground. He didn't seem to want that mocking bird of a Murkrow joining them on their travels very much, but he knew that the decision would ultimately be up to Lith.

She thought for a moment. "Well, I told you that I didn't wanna take Pokemon from their homes if they didn't want to go," she started. "So I guess we'll just have to wait 'till he wakes up. I mean, we can't just leave him here."

"Oh, but why not?" Alex whined, half kidding, half serious. With a smile, Lithalia opened her mouth to retort, only to be interrupted by a loud grumbling of her stomach. Her, Alex, and Blaedyn, still in her arms, couldn't help themselves from laughing. "That's right, we never got the chance to eat breakfast, did we?" Alex said.

Lith's laughing subsided into giggling. "Nope. Let's eat right now then." She put Blaedyn down next to her daemon and made her way over to the still fainted Murkrow. She gently gathered him in her arms before walking back to her collapsed tent and placing him in a soft blanket. After rubbing a potion into his feathers, she spoke up. "Alright, guys," she started while pulling out the rest of the bag of chips from the night before and some Pokemon food, "let's eat." She released Amira and Vex from their pokeballs - she left Rikio in his pokeball because he was still fainted - and gave them and Blaedyn each a handful of pokefood before scooping out some potato chips for herself and Alex to eat.

[Birdybot]

Murkrow didn't remain fainted for very long at all. It was fairly obvious as to when he woke, because when he did, he started to flutter madly about the tent. This thing again? What could he possibly be doing in here?! He felt a lot better, and there had been some sort of fluffy mat around him. He'd taken that off immedietly, of course. Finding himself in such a strange way gave him a shock. He'd expected to either be in a Pokéball or back in the wild; mostly likely the wild, since Lith didn't seem to like him much.

Murkrow stopped fluttering, realising that wasn't exactly going to do much good. Instead, he decided to play a few pranks. After all, that's what he liked best, and now he was confused and frustrated he was acting a fair bit more childish than usual. He took the towel or whatever it was in his beak and threw it at various stuff, making a lot of noise and making a big mess. He cawed a few horrible notes, then he dove into a big warm squishy thing. He didn't know this to be a sleeping bag.

[Zorrel]

Just as everyone was finishing their measly breakfast, they heard some sort of racket coming from the still-dillapitated tent that remained a way's away from them. They sat there for a moment, simply staring at the tent and listening, wondering what Murkrow might possibly be doing. When they heard him sing out some high pitched, annoying crow-like noises, Amira flinched. ~Oi, what is going on in there?~ she meowed with obvious irritation; it seemed that the Growlithe daemon wasn't the only one who didn't take a liking to that black feathered bird.

"That bird brain is probably fooling around and making a mess, as usual,'' Alex answered in a matter-of-fact-tone while stealing blaming glances at Lith.

"He's probably just a bit startled is all," the blue haired trainer spoke up calmly with a somewhat concerned look on her face to defend her earlier choice of leaving Murkrow to wake up on his own inside the somewhat warm and comfy tent.

~Well I am not just going to sit here and listen to that ruckus. I'm going in to calm that thing down,~ the still annoyed Meowth declared.

~For once, I hafta agree with the lady,~ Vex, the illtempered Mankey, suddenly chimed in. ~I think I'll join ya.~ He followed Amira into the collapsed tent to find out exactly what Murkrow had done. The pair of cream colored Pokemon gaped around at the mess that lay inside, baffled as to where that flying type could have possibly disappeared to. Meanwhile, Lith, Alex, and Blaedyn sat outside waiting for their return.

[Birdybot]

Murkrow heard two Pokémon enter. Which Pokémon were these? He wasn't sure. Did that even matter any more? This thing was awfully warm and comfortable. He'd always thought human thing were all mean and wrong, and this went against all of that. This was lovely, luxurious even in the mind of the bird. The inside of the sleeping bag felt so nice and soft. It was warm, actually warm even in winter. And it was squishy. It was padded so much, he could just sink into it. And he couldn't feel the hard cold ground, either.

It felt like drifting on a cloud to Murkrow. He was use to sleeping on branches in the cold or wet or whatever weather. He had never been in a human bed, and he liked it. He was amazed at how great it was. In fact, it was morning... morning was the time Murkrow went to sleep. Surely the trainer wouldn't mind if he slept here? He closed his eyes. Sleep came easy since he was still tired from the eventful night he'd had, and soon the bird was in dreamland.

[Zorrel]

Vex and Amira were scrounging around the collapsed tent for a good three minutes before a call was heard from outside. ~Hey, what's taking you guys so long?~ Blaedyn asked, head slightly tilted. It didn't seem to him that finding a Pokemon in a six by eight foot area would be that hard.

~We can't see to find that little pest,~ the obviously irritated Mankey called in response while storming out to rejoin the rest of the group.

Alexucard snuffed. "It can't be that difficult to find a Murkrow in such a small space." He started making his way toward the tent, then paused when he heard a voice from inside.

~Oh, I found him!~ Amira exclaimed. ~The little guy is all nuzzled up in Lithalia's sleeping bag over here.~ The rest of the team came and squeezed through the narrow entrance, with Vex and Blaedyn shoving each other around to decide who got in first.

Then Lith spoke up. "Awwwww, he looks so cuuutee," the young trainer cooed, smiling down at the snoozing pile of soft black feathers that blended with the dark sleeping bag.

"Yeah, as cute as a crooked-beaked crow could get," Alex snorted. Lith promptly gave him a light nudge in the side at his comment, while Vex, Amira, and Blaedyn chuckled softly to themselves.

"Well, I guess we'll have to leave him there then," Lithalia declared as she climbed out of the tent. "He must be pretty tired. But in the meantime..." she trailed off as she slowly snuck up to Alex, who was preoccupied with staring at a leaf that had landed on his nose. A second later, and..."Tag! You're it!" With that, Lith ran away to the side of the tall tree that Murkrow had landed on earlier. Blaedyn scrambled across to the other edge of the campsight, Vex climbed up to a low hanging branch, and Amira, not wanting to partake in this childish game, as she saw it, curled up on a flat rock to take a nice late morning catnap in the sunlight.

"Hey, no fair! I wasn't paying attention!" the Growlithe daemon whined.

"You have to be prepared for all things at all times, young Grasshopper," Lith mocked with a playful smile. Alex couldn't help but return her bright grin, and ran straight at her in an attempt to tag her back. This game continued on, the four of them exchaning laughs and giggles - even Vex seemed to lose his usually illtempered self in the excitement - and running all around the campsite in a blissful game of tag.

[Birdybot]

It was sometime during that game that Murkrow woke up. He yawned and streched, smiling to himself. That had been one of the best sleeps he had had in his entire life. He flexed his wings, hearing the excited shouts of the game outside. Hm... sounded a bit like fun, that did. Perhaps he wanted to join in... to join in with Lith's Pokémon. In a Pokéball... what would be the benefits of that, now? He needed to think of the pros and cons before he did anything too serious.

Now, he could thinks of cons. He would be leaving this route, have to change his sleeping patterns so he slept during the night, and he'd belong to a human. He hated the word 'belong'. He wanted to be his own Pokémon. Then again, there were plenty of pros, too. He would be able to sleep in a nice, warm squishy bed like that every single night! He would have exciting battles and new people to play tricks on, as well as making actual full-time friends. Perhaps being a trainer's Pokémon- at least, this trainer's Pokémon- wouldn't be so bad after all.

Murkrow fluttered outside and swooped over to Lith. ~I have decided that I want to travel with you in a Pokéball... just please don't treat me like you 'own' me.~[/color] he told her.[/size]

[Zorrel]

Now Blaedyn was 'it'. He was happily running along, dashing towards Lith in an attempt to tag her, when Murkrow came from under the ever still collapsed tent. They really should get to fixing that thing. The little Riolu skidded to a stop in order to prevent himself from crashing right into Murkrow. A curious tilt of his head obviously indicated that Blaedyn wanted to know what the black feathered bird had to say.

The laughing ceased as all eyes went on Murkrow. He cawed something while looking at the blue haired trainer; what could he have said? Alex then softly padded up to Lith to translate for her. A smile lit up her face at Murkrow's declaration. "Really? That's awesome!" she excitedly exclaimed. She'd always wanted to be partners with a Murkrow; plus, she loved its evolved form. Then came Murkrow's little request. Lithalia blinked. "'Own'? Oh, no, I don't feel like I own any of the Pokemon on my team at all! Blaedyn, Rikio, Vex, and Amira are all my friends and teammates. So don't worry, I won't treat you like that at all!" Lith finished with a cheerful, giggly smile. Then she thought for a moment. "Hey, if you're gonna join us, do you wanna have a name?" she asked with a bright and eager expression.

"Oh boy, another one of Lithalia's amazingly clever names," her Growlithe daemon teased with mock enthusiasm.

Only signaling that she heard his comment by letting a slight smirk cross her face, Lith spope up again. "Hmmm...how about Dusk? Or, or Loki! That was the name of some ancient prankster guy, I think. Or maybe Kurohiko! That means dark prince or something, right?" She seemed deep in contemplation as to what to name the new addition to their team. Alex rolled his eyes and couldn't help but smile at Lith's struggling of thinking up a name. She'd ultimately left the decision up to Murkrow, though. What name would he want to be called, if any at all; or did he have his own name in mind?

[Birdybot]

Murkrow smiled. This was great! He would be equal, and he'd get a name! He didn't really have anything in mind for himself, so one of Lith's names would be fine. Dusk sounded too obvious. Loki, an ancient prankster, or Kurohiko, a dark prince? Hm, they sounded cool. Murkrow smiled. ~Loki sounds cool.~[/color] he said. After all, being named after someone in the ancient world was really awesome!

And with that, the newly named Loki dove for Lith's Pokéball belt. He tapped an empty one with his beak, which then drew him inside. It barely twitched as he remained as still as possible until he was caught.

Murkrow was caught! Continue to Silav Town or look for more Pokémon/trainers?


Name: Loki
Species: Murkrow
Level: 7
Gender: Male
Ability: Insomnia
Attacks: Peck, Astonish, Pursuit
Personality: Loki is mischevious and a prankster. He loves to misbehave and is hard to keep under control. He loves man-made beds and absolutely hates being treated like he's lower than someone else and being given orders. He might not always obey his trainer in battle, either.

[img]http://www.serebii.net/heartgoldsoulsilver/pokemon/198-f.png[/img]
[b]Name:[/b] Loki
[b]Species:[/b] Murkrow
[b]Level:[/b] 7
[b]Gender:[/b] Male
[b]Ability:[/b] Insomnia
[b]Attacks:[/b] Peck, Astonish, Pursuit
[b]Personality:[/b] Loki is mischevious and a prankster. He loves to misbehave and is hard to keep under control. He loves man-made beds and absolutely hates being treated like he's lower than someone else and being given orders. He might not always obey his trainer in battle, either.[/size]

[Zorrel]

If it were possible, an even bigger smile crossed Lithalia's face. She just got another Pokemon on her ever-growing team! The young, blue haired trainer felt pretty awesome right about now; she'd be standing in the Pokemon League, waving to a cheering crowd of her newly adoring fans in no time, she thought. She was broken out of her fantasy when Murkrow - now named Loki, by his decision - pecked at an empty pokeball at her belt. Her eyes shimmered with joy, and she took the red and white sphere in her hands and held it tight. "You won't regret joining us, Loki, I promise!" she exclaimed. Joy and excitement could easily be seen on the other Pokemon of Lith's party as well. Blaedyn gave a small jump of happiness accompanied with a low uff, Vex let a smirk cross his face as he let out a satisfied snort, and even Amira bothered to pad over to Lithalia's side and give a congratulatory purr to her trainer.

Alexucard couldn't help but smile; no matter how hard he tried to hide it, it was easy to tell that he was just as happy at the team's new addition as everyone else. Hopefully they'd get along as time went on, he thought to himself. Yeah; as partners on long journey to the top with a mutual goal of becoming champions, there's no way they couldn't get along. After a short sigh, the Growlithe daemon snapped out of his thoughts and spoke up. "Well, I think it's finally time we leave this abyss of trees and make our way to Silav Town, don't you agree?"

With a shiver from the cold weather, Lith nodded. "Especially if it means getting into a nice, warm PokeCenter and out of this f-freezing weather," she stuttered, watching the clouds of breath excape her mouth as she spoke. If there's one thing Lithalia liked about wintertime, it's playing with the little breath clouds that result from it; she continuously breathed out to see these clouds, all the while pretending she was a dragon and they were smoke from the intense, smoldering flames that burned within her. Alex rolled his eyes at her childish behaviour and pushed against her legs to make them move forward. Blaedyn jumped into his trainer's arms to snuggle against her and keep warm, while Amira and Vex decided they wanted to stay out of their pokeballs and absorb the wintery sites around them while the motley team made their way to the first town - not to mention the first gym - on their journey to the championship.

(I would like to continue to Silav Town please >D)

[Birdybot]

Sure, go ahead.