Adventure Calls, We Answer [Complete!]

[jakeirwin]

There was perhaps some truth to the proposal that he had just been more than a tad brash in his previous choice of action, but Jake English couldn't have said he really regretted it. Well, at least not without lying anyway, though he had no intention of adding to his list of transgressions that had landed him in the cargo hold of the ship he was presently sitting in. As much of a cad as he had been within the past twenty-four hours (more or less, he had lost track of time in here), he still had some semblance of honor, and had deftly sworn to pay these men he had shamelessly stolen a ride from from back someday.

He didn't, after all, have much choice in the matter otherwise. His grandmother's Pokemon, noble as they were, were getting on in years. It would be cruel to push them to bring him to the mainland to leave them to return on their lonesome! Besides, this was HIS adventure. His and Beretta's that was- he had opted to keep his Squirtle in her Pokeball in order to maximize his nonexistent stealth capabilities after pleading with the captain for a ride with not a single Poke' in his pockets had failed. To his fortune, one of the crewmen's Machoke had been willing to take a bribe consisting of half of his lunch in exchange for getting them on board. He and Beretta had needed to ration their portions carefully ever since, but it was worth it. The call to adventure was simply too powerful to refuse!

... Alright, he would admit that his previous excitement had flagged since then, overtaken by the dank salty stench of the hold and his perpetual hunger that wouldn't quite go away. He tried to think of it as being just another challenge, though even that had been in vain as hour after dark hour passed, his solar-powered skulltop having been long drained of its power reserves.
His drive had been rekindled, however, as the boat lurched to a stop in a motion that had nearly knocked him off the crate he'd been dozing on. With the only windows to look out of far out of his reach, Jake used what little light he was provided to gather his things in preparation to leave.

... However he was going to do that. As the lights in the hold came on again, Jake blinked and squinted, dazed, though quickly came to the realization of what he was working with as one of the crewmen he'd been hiding from on earlier on in this venture clanked down the stairs. Swift as he dared, Jake removed his boots and slipped down the opposite side of the crate, making less noise in his sock feet against the metal floor as he crept between the walls of metal cargo. Easy, easy....

"Oi now! Water you doin' here?"

Jake's breath hitched as the familiar release of a Pokeball echoed through the chamber, revealing the Machoke from earlier as the man tried to approach... only to be held back by his own Pokemon. A wide smile flashed over the young man's face.

"Thanks again chap!" He called over his shoulder to the fighting type as he ran, tugging his boots on as the man yelled for the boy to stop and that there had been a stowaway on board. Jake wasted no time in getting the blazes out of there, going so far as to dive at the two crew members who tried to stop him at the top of the stairs with a war cry of "HYAAAAAAAAAAH!", catching them off guard and knocking them down. Breathless but pushed on by adrenaline, he rolled himself off of them and kept running, nearly tripping over his own laces several times as he made for the nearest exit. He'd leave that part out had he ever been pressed to tell this story.

What occurred on deck was nothing short of a scene from a movie, at least in Jake's mind. Here he was, the brave hero of his own tale, cornered by four larger opponents that stood between himself and freedom. The ladder down to the docks was on the opposite side of the ship; and even if he did manage to tackle another pair down, he had his doubts that he could run all the way around. From in between the men, the Captain appeared, frowning. "Didn't I tell you to stay off my ship?"

Jake swallowed hard, glancing back a second to make sure his things were secured to his back. It was time for one last show of insolence.

"Fr...Frankly, my good sir..." Jake steeled himself for what was to come, and with a resounding cry of "I DON'T GIVE A DAMN!" with what air was left in his lungs, lunged himself off the side of the ship and was gone with the wind.

... Or, he would have liked to have been, had gravity not demanded he hit the water first. Luckily, the blow was enough to release the catch on Beretta's Pokeball, the Squirtle giving a small cry of surprise and helped to keep her trainer above water he caught his breath. His bag was going to be a bit waterlogged later, but he was not one day into his adventure and he had already experienced a dramatic chase scene and quoted a quality film. He even still had both his boots!

This was, by any standard, bound to be marvelous, he could tell.

[OLDDIRK]

Dirk: Wake.

A chime played over the PA system. "Now arriving in Vermillion City. Please make sure you have collected all of your items and line up to leave the ship. Door outside will open in 10 minutes." Another chime played to signal the end of the message.

You wake up from your lengthy nap, unaware that you have slept for so long. Walking from the north side of Castelia to the port in the dead of night generally poops a bro out, especially when he has to deal with crazy muggers along the way.

None of that dangerous crap actually happened, but you'll tell your friends that you kicked ass on the way to the port. In reality, you had your mom drive you to the ship at 9 in the morning. Not even a multi-talented ninja like yourself is batshit enough to walk around the largest city in Unova on his lonesome at night.

Dirk: Descend.

As you descend from the S.S. Tirtouga, something catches your peripheral vision. You turn your head and see somebody falling from the side! Once the pier is reached, you walk over to where the person fell out of curiosity. A head with black hair resurfaces and takes a huge breath. It's... Jake?

Dirk: Laugh at Jake.

"Ahahahaha. How did you manage to get yourself into this mess, English?" You bet he actually tried to jump off the side of the ship. Damned kid actually thinks he's some action movie star. Says he wants to be a Pokemon Ranger. If he doesn't watch himself, he could get seriously hurt.

"Come on out, Squarewave. You have to see this fool." You send your loyal, if somewhat obnoxious Scraggy out of his Pokeball. He doesn't appear to understand what's going on, as he's looking in the opposite direction. You roll your eyes.

You hold out your hand towards English, trying to help him out of the water. "Are you going to wade there all day? C'mon."

[jakeirwin]

So, this was it. Jake, his turtle, and the vastness that made up this questionably murky sea of the Vermillion port. He'd remember this day; likely due to the fact that he might have accidentally drank the sea level down a few notches when he'd first gone under, and the way it tasted was a lot different than it was at home... but that did not change the fact that one Mister English was so bloody excited that his chest had threatened to burst.

... or maybe that was just his gullet reacting to the salt water. It WAS pretty rank.

Whatever the case, the laughter that soon followed after surfacing quickly took his attention away from such matters upon coming to the realization that it was not only suspiciously familiar, but also directed at him.

"Ah... Strider!" Jake greeted his comrade between gasps, raising a hand as high as he dared to give a wave as he and Beretta paddled over towards the docks. "It's... quite a thrilling tale! I shall... have to inform you of the details... after!" He squinted a bit between the droplets rolling down his glasses. Was that yellow... doohickey his Pokemon? It seemed distracted. Pity! He'd have to identify it later.

Upon being offered a hand, Jake looked a bit puzzled for a moment, though, a stroke of memory hit him. Treading water, he pried his surprised Squirtle from his side and lifted her up, planting the turtle in Dirk's waiting hand. "Women and children furglububr..." He attempted to explain as he sank down under again due to the imbalance of weight, emerging again gasping shortly after. This time, he was holding his backpack, which he swung up onto the pier and pushed away from him as he himself managed to rest his elbows on the dock. Now with only the weight of his wet clothing to deter him, Jake was able to pull himself up, though got about half way before he simply allowed himself to flop down on top of his things face down, panting hard and allowing his legs to stick out over the side.

"It... really is absolutely capital to meet you so early on, but... You'll have to forgive me if I never want to move again."

[OLDDIRK]

"It's... quite a thrilling tale! I shall... have to inform you of the details... after!"

"I'm sure it is. I'm pretty stoked to hear it," Dirk said with a tone of mockery in his voice as he watched his friend swim up to the pier. To Dirk's surprise, Jake placed his Squirtle into his outstretched hand.

"Women and children furglububr..."

"...Jake, you're a woman or child. This is a water Pokemon. AKA something that can actually swim," Dirk tried to explain, but Jake was already under the water again. He sighed but handed the Squirtle over to where Squarewave was, tapping the Scraggy on the shoulder so he could turn around and make friends. Or try to fight her, which was more likely. He kept an eye on him while he watched Jake flounder onto the pier.

"It... really is absolutely capital to meet you so early on, but... You'll have to forgive me if I never want to move again."

It's understandable if you need to rest, but do you need a hand getting your whole body on the pier?" He looked kind of pathetic just hanging there off the edge.

[jakeirwin]

"And the real McCoy is just as smart-alecky as the orange type suggested! That confirms I've got the right 'bro', then." Jake chuckled, voice slightly muffled by the wood though this was cut short by a few scratchy coughs. Apparently not all of the seawater had passed through his lungs quite yet, dry as his throat felt. Beretta looked rather nervous, though apparently trying to resist the urge to go fuss over her dying trainer, distracted herself by greeting the Scraggy she was placed beside with a cheery little "Squi!".

"That's the way, lass. Become comrades with the yellow... uh, gent." Jake shifted himself a bit to lie on his side, though made no effort to move himself fully onto the pier. "No need to get your knickers in a knot, Strider. I shall be up and at 'em in a moment." He paused, looking down at the lower half of his body a moment. He wiggled his legs experimentally. Welp, nothing was broken, at least. Well, at least from what he could tell. He shifted again, looking as though he might get up, though instead just opted to move himself wholly onto the dock before flopping back down again. "There! It's all gravy now, isn't it?"

[OLDDIRK]

Damn straight. Right here in the flesh.

Once Jake got his whole body on the pier, Dirk moved his eyes away from Squarewave for a few seconds to address Jake's rather soggy face. Yeah, you're good.

Squarewave looked rather interested. This Pokemon didn't look like anything he had seen in the desert that was practically next door to Dirk's apartment. Oh well, perfectly good fighting material. He raised his arms, shuffled around a bit like some sort of hyper boxer, and tried to punch Beretta in the face.

Dirk turned his head back around and found, to no one's actual suprise, that Squarewave was trying to start a fight. "Square. If you want to fight, you have to do it honestly. That was a bullshit move you did just there." In one swift movement, Squarewave's body was lifted up from the ground.

"Sorry about that, Jake. Unless you want to have a Pokemon battle, this little runt is getting a time out in his Pokeball."

[jakeirwin]

Normal trainers would have perhaps been angered that their Pokemon had been attacked without the pretense of a battle in mind.

As poor innocent Beretta picked up on the Scraggy's stance's as being similar to Jake's when trying to inappropriately take down something far larger than he himself was, Jake was on his feet in an instant. With knowledge of what typically came after, the Squirtle managed to clumsily shield her face from the blow, though rather than her trainer snatch her away to save her from the woes of battling, the aspiring Ranger was whooping and cheering like he hadn't been playing dead on the docks just moments ago.

"Wicked! Excellent parry, old girl! I knew you had a bit of a fighting spirit in you!" Jake praised, bending back down to her height as the tiny turtle came stumbling back to him once Squarewave was being chastised for his behavior. Carefully, Jake checked her arm. "Aah-hah. Little bugger bruised you a little, did he?" He hummed, looking up at Dirk as he apologized and waving it off. "Not to worry, Strider, I understand... However," He paused, looking back at his Pokemon. "Do you plan to let that friggin' rascal get away with that, Beretta?"

The Squirtle turned away from her trainer, and, frowning, clenched her three little fingers into a fist and punching into her free hand with a small papping noise. Jake laughed.

"Well then. Strider, I hope your boy's ready for a throw down."

[OLDDIRK]

STRIFE!

homestuck.bandcamp.com/track/dissension-original-2

Awesome. Kid needs some battle experience. Dirk then set the Scraggy down several feet away from the opposing Pokemon.

Alright, Squarewave. That Squirtle looks ready to go, so psyche it out with a good hard Leer.

Squarewave obediently tucked his "pants" up and tilted his chin up in a display of dominance. His eyes began glowing an intense red.

"Then follow it up with a Low Kick."

Squarewave then ran as fast as he could towards Beretta - which wasn't very fast - and proceeded to try and kick the turtle's midsection.

"LOW kick. That means at the feet," Dirk said a little loudly, but it was already too late for the lizard to change its course of action.

[jakeirwin]

Under the Scraggy's frightening (demonic?!) gaze, Beretta noticeably wilted a little, nervously glancing sideways to Jake for support. Jake just shook his head, a slightly maniac grin playing on his lips. "Don't let that wet smack get you down! Tarry just a moment, lass..." He pointed the Squirtle's attention ahead as the Scraggy surged toward her, the Squirtle instantly making to brace herself for impact. "None of that now! Catch his foot when it comes!"

With that order, the Squirtle hunched a bit as the kick came, the momentum pushing her back a bit, though the blow was ultimately dulled by the water type's little hands grasped firmly around the Scraggy's foot. The grin returned to Jake's face.

"Beaut! Now take it back to him with a Tackle!"

Not bothering to back away and get any momentum for this attack, Beretta simply dropped the Scraggy's foot and threw herself at him, putting all of what little weight she had behind the blow as she did so. Maybe it wasn't the most practical move, though if it wasn't, Jake certainly didn't notice through his cheering.

[OLDDIRK]

Squarewave tried to remove his foot from the Squirtle's grasp, but to his surprise, Beretta just let go. As Squarewave put his foot back on the ground, Beretta had more than enough time to succesfully perform a quick Tackle on him. This pushed him back a little bit and did a moderate amount of damage.

"Nice shot, Jake. I see you learned a thing or two from fighting your Grandma's Pokemon. Squarewave, Low Kick. I know you can do it right."

Squarewave aimed for the feet this time.

[jakeirwin]

((Oops whoops sorry this took so long I'm a jerk sorry oops ))

"Thank you! Though it was more her handiwork than my teachings, there." Jake grinned, beaming, though that moment of pride dropped off his face quickly enough as Beretta took a knock to the feet. Given that she was still trying to push herself back up to a standing position from her own attack, the Squirtle was taken with little more than a small cry of surprise as she was swept off her balance with relative ease, landing rather gracelessly on her chest.

"Sonofa Wingull!" He spat, cursing himself for getting distracted- this scrap was a major deal, here!.. and this position was rather pathetic, really. Might as well get some use out of it. "Beretta, Tail Whip while you're righting yourself!"

One curly blue tail wagged rather innocently, the momentum behind the swishing helping to push the turtle Pokemon's weight closer to the side, helping her to shift to a more comfortable position to get back onto all fours.

"Marvy! Now Tackle him!"

Not needing any further instruction, the turtle broke into a run and lept for the Scraggy once again, dead set on taking him *out*.

[OLDDIRK]

Squarewave backed up somewhat and stared at Beretta for a few minutes as she got back up.

"Don't just stand there, she's gonna charge!"

The Scraggy started walking in circles around Beretta as she got up. When she started up her Tackle, Squarewave broke into a run, just barely dodging the move.

"Sweet. Go in for another Low Kick."

Squarewave obediently went in for a kick, but missed again and hit the shell, pushing the Squirtle into the water.

Dirk was a bit surprised. How could Squarewave perform the move perfectly, and then screw it up AGAIN? On top of that, Beretta now had a terrain advantage. He'd have to train him in the use of this move later. Not that he wasn't planning on doing that anyways.

[jakeirwin]

For a moment, Jake's heart stopped as his dear, sweet turtle Pokemon took a blow to the shell and didn't come up after so many minutes. "B-Beretta!"

Practically had apparently escaped the boy as he shot a pitifully betrayed look towards his opponent, and, scrabbling to remove his shoes, jumped in after her. "Oh sweet kringlefucker-- Hold tight, I'm a-comin', lass!"

Not a minute after Jake dove in after his Pokemon did Beretta's little blue head pop out from the water, puzzled. Why had their been no commands?... More importantly, where was Jake? Oh no. "Squiirr?" The Pokemon called, looking around, though suddenly flinching in shock as something grabbed hold of her sides-- oh, there he was. Jake first looked to Beretta as he caught his breath, relieved, before looked back to Dirk and chuckled nervously. "Well I imagine I must look like a right halfwit to you Strider, don't I?" He offered a sheepish grin as he let go of his Pokemon, looking at the Squirtle for a moment, gesturing towards the docks, before they both ducked back under the water.

It was perhaps easy to track them for a moment, if only due to the steady flow of bubbles coming up from under the surface, but even those faded. For about twenty seconds, all was quiet.

"TALLY HOOOOOOO!"

In a rather ambiguous display of dexterity, Jake emerged from the water with this war cry, managing once again to flop himself partway up the dock before simply allowing himself to lie there watching, half in and half out. As Beretta rocketed out not a moment later, intent on tackling Squarewave, it very quickly became clear that the ridiculous English bravado here was set up to be a distraction.

[OLDDIRK]

"What's that puppy dog look you're giving me? Squarewave fucked up what was supposed to be an assault on the toes."

Squarewave's forehead scrunched up in anger as he turned around and began making some sort of squabbling noise at Dirk.

Dirk was about to give Squarewave an intimidating look when Jake jumped off the side of the pier, attracting the attention of both of them. They rushed over to where the water was still rippling.

"Well I imagine I must look like a right halfwit to you Strider, don't I?"

"As if you don't look like a simpleton at any other moment."

The head dipped back into the water with its turtle. Where exactly it was going, no one knew.


"TALLY HOOOOOOO!"

"Oh goddamnit Jake!" said Dirk somewhat loudly, surprised just long enough to almost not notice the turtle speeding straight past him towards Squarewave.

The two seconds Jake bought made it impossible to warn Squarewave, who was looking at his trainer and waiting for instructions. Beretta clunked him straight in the noggin, making him fall over on his back. The lizard layed there for a few moments, visibly bruised by the attack.

Well, crap. What now? There had to be some trick he could pull. The only attack left to use was Sand-Attack, and there wasn't any sand on this dock. Which left only one option.

"Get up!" He complied with some difficulty, although he was clearly still woozy from the blow to the head. Squarewave may not have been a great battler yet, but he was a persistent little dude.

"Follow me!" Squarewave shook his head and darted as fast as he could behind Dirk. The beach was their only chance.

[jakeirwin]

"And that is why you do not make mockery at the fallen before they're out!.. or, something to that effect."
Jake managed a wheezy chuckle as Dirk jumped shy of what he would later claim to be four feet in the air, taking a moment to regain himself as Beretta tumbled back to his side, crouched beside him on all fours and shooting him an anxious glance now and again. Her reckless trainer still had yet to push himself back up on the docks for the umpteenth time; still, after all the strain, she was worried that he'd simply pass out and sink like a rock. It certainly wouldn't have been the first time. He seemed content to remain there though, grimacing a bit as Dirk snapped at his Pokemon to get up.

"Hey now, the lad's done his best, you don't need to..Strider?"

Apparently her concerns were unnecessary, however, when her opponents up and ran without so much as a word, much to Jake's very obvious shock. Perhaps they could rest easy now? Gingerly, the turtle Pokemon grabbed at her trainer's arm, evidently attempting to help him out, though from the way he had practically flipped himself back onto the dock, apparently her assistance wasn't needed.

"Dirk! Where in the nine dickens you think you're--" He stopped flat as the boy didn't stop, Jake's lips pulling back into an almost feral growl as he hastily grabbed his things, little care for the fact that he was sopping wet and that beads of water still ran streaks down his glasses. Still, he didn't rise from his crouch. "Beretta, hop on my back and get a good foothold- preferably one you may leap easily from! We cannot afford to tarry, lass." At her questioning look over his shoulder, a grin flashed over his face. "It seems we must educate Strider on the regulations of a gentleman's challenge."


The moment his Squirtle was secured, Jake was off with all the force of a great typhoon, nearly bowling over several innocents in his wake in a cloud of short breaths and hastily spoken pardons. Did he truly think he could run and hide the moment the tides turned sour? Poppycock! Rubbish! It was high time he learned the city boy some manners, if only he could be found--

Ah-hah! He'd recognize that unusually tinctured spiked hairstyle anywhere. Thought he could use the crowd to elude him while he escaped to the beach, did he? Well, Strider had another thing coming! "I'm going to take him out." He murmured, frustrated, though pacing himself now out of his tiredness. Where he managed this energy was questionable, though not unusual- it was rather similar to how he got when trying to wrestle something several times larger than himself. "Might you be able to handle his companion?"

Well, there was no debating with him when his feet had hit the sand and he had begun to pick up speed, eyes narrowed as he honed in on his target.

"STRIDER!"

And, as her trainer lept forth to perform a very deadly Take Down of his own on her opponent's trainer, all Beretta could do was fly off his shoulder in a slightly poorly timed tackle on Squarewave, if only to distract him from lashing out at Jake. As far as she was concerned, her dear friend had been through enough today.