On the Road to Viridian City [John, Jade] Completed!

[vena]

"Come on, you two! Get your heads out of your nooks and pick up the pace! I'm going to be thirty sweeps old by the time we get to Viridian City!" And even then, he wanted to just bypass it completely and keep going. He and John had gone to Viridian often for their schooling, and he wanted to see some new scenery. Maybe catch a Pokemon or two on the way, as well. He was still holding Will Smith as they went, as he wondered if his scuttling legs would be able to keep up with his fast pace. His strides were small (not because his legs were short or anything), but he was making sure he was outpacing the other two. He was the leader of this ragtag group, after all. Self-proclaimed leader, but a leader nonetheless and he would be damned if he let John take the lead. Jade, maybe. John, no.

Okay, maybe he should slow down just a little bit. He was yelling at them to keep up, but they'd have to start jogging to match his intense walking speed. He squinted with determination as he pushed his way through the tall grass, keeping a firm yet slightly gentle grip on his Krabby. Yeah, if he'd been on the ground he probably would have gotten lost in there. He was such a good trainer.

[Jade Harley]

Jade huffed and rolled her eyes. There was no need to be so impatient! Karkat was even walking stupidly fast. "Wow Karkat chill out it's not a race or anything Viridian isn't going anywhere!" She said in a joking manner. She wasn't really bothered or mad or anything, not yet at least. She decided to pick up her pace a bit regardless, patted the side of her leg and called to Becquerel, "heel Bec, come on." Bec yipped and ran alongside Jade, right at her heel. Good Growlithe, best friend. The tall grass was kind of weird, there isn't really any on Cinnabar, all the wild Pokémon are either in the air, water, or that spooky old mansion. Bec seemed to be okay with it though, but a part of her just hopes he doesn't set the grass on fire. Regardless the new terrain is super exiting! One can only imagine all the new awesome super adorable Pokémon that a silly little girl and her friends will run into!

[Kat]

The grass went right up to Casey’s head, but that was not stopping the small lizard-pokémon from pushing her way forward, just about able to keep up with her much faster trainer. For although John was tall enough that walking through the grass should have been a simple task for him, he was definitely feeling pretty tired right now and wondered if Karkat and Jade would be up for taking a quick break.

Shit, didn’t look like THAT was happening any time soon, though. Karkat was being completely ridiculous and acting like some kind of drill sergeant, and it looked like there was no way he would be letting them stop until they reached the next city. Wait, who cared about what Karkat thought? Karkat wasn’t the boss of him!

“Guys? Me and Casey are going to have a rest,” he announced, wasting no time on sitting in the middle of the path cross legged. A shitty place to stop, but he was aiming to just be as annoying and disruptive as possible. That would teach Karkat. “She’s feeling pretty worn out!” Casey looked at him in confusion (possibly because she felt mostly fine) but followed suit after a moment, plodding over to him and sitting in the same position.

(Oops I completely forgot I was due to reply here, sorry guys! Feel free to nudge me in future if I forget.)

[Wild Pokemon]

(Version if Karkat is skipping and Jade is going next:)

A wild Pokémon appears!

It would seem paradox space has it out for this group of teens, and they are fated to reach their destination late. Except for Vantas - seems he wants nothing to do with these delays, and marches on ahead, ignoring the following shenanigans.

A small purple critter leaps up from the tall grass everyone is treading through. With a swift leap (not to mention the element of surprise), the Rattata latches his teeth around the strap of Jade's messenger bag, forcibly pulling it off as he lands behind Jade.

The little thief dashes off as soon as he hits the ground, the strap clenched tight in his teeth and the bag dragging beside him. But as soon as he realizes he's running toward John and a Charmander, he does his best to go around them. He'd rather avoid an encounter with a fire-breather if possible. And he'd REALLY hate to be pinned between two of 'em.

Hehe. He can smell food in this bag. That's really the only reason he wants it. He plans to unpack its goodies once he's safely back in his nest.

[Jade Harley]

While Jade's initial reaction to the Rattata's theft was startled confusion, Becquerel sprung into action. The small dog Pokemon bolts after the Rattata, following his path around John and Casey. He barked and yapped as he gave chase, being an obnoxious little pup.

"Bec, heel! Calm down! You can't just run off like that, we need to work together that's not how things work!" Jade commanded, but Becquerel payed her no mind. He was determined to get back Jade's bag, whether or not it had to do with his loyalty to her or the fact that his treats were in there was a different story. Jade stomped her foot in a huff. "He normally is super obedient, honest!"

[Kat]

As soon as the Rattata came towards them, Casey sprung behind John in terror. "Casey, oh my God. It is a Rattata," John scolded her with a sigh, "you really need to man up. Or, uh, girl-Pokemon up! Wait... did that guy have Jade's bag?"

John jumped up, Jade's Growlithe alerting him to the situation with his loud barking. And it looked like he was already giving chase! "Casey, you go after that rat, too!" But Casey was having none of it, instead rushing over to the nearest bush and hiding it it. Wow. Him and Casey were going to have to have a serious talk after this.

Looked like it was up to John himself! "Quick Jade, try and cut it off!" he yelled, running to try and block off the escape paths.

[Wild Pokemon]

Casey is right to get out of his way! After all, he's different than other Rattata. It's like he's in a whole new class of Rattata.

John however, proves more bothersome than his Charmander, and bodily stands in the way of Rattata's escape. Rattata doesn't really have time to pause here - the chase is on, a bark-machine coming up fast behind him.

The rodent's scampering legs only stop for amoment, and Rattata executes a quick Tail Whip in John's direction, mainly so he'll drop his defense.

For just a moment, he turns from a Rattata on a mission, to an adorable tail-wagger. That outta make the human drop his guard in confusion for a sec!

Once he has, Rattata dashes between the boy's legs and behind him - his previous disposition returned (he's only a cutie when he really needs to be). Of course this doesn't take care of the canine... he's still working on some sorta escape plan for that.

[Jade Harley]

Jade put her hands on her hips and turned to John in a huff. "Do you have any idea how stupid that is?" She gestured to the open area they were in. "There are two of us and infinite spaces for it to run and- gosh it ran right through your legs!" Gosh they were awful, she decided to wise up and just let Bec do his thing, after all he is the best Growlithe ever so he clearly knows what he's doing.

Becquerel saw his chance to gain some ground and rushed forward while the Rattata was waggling his butt tail at John. But alas! He darted away before Bec could pounce. But he would continue to give chase, darting between John's legs as well. Between his awesome canine speed and his gains in distance he pounced, aiming for Jade's bag.

[Kat]

Okay, so it turned out John's amazing plan had not been so amazing. "It's uh, because you were distracting me!" he yelled at Jade, heading towards a bush to retrieve his Charmander. She was going to help with the battle efforts, and that was final.

He knelt down to talk to her, "Look, I guess you probably can't catch up to the Rattata too easily with those little legs of yours, but how about this? You can sit on my shoulder while I chase it with Jade, and aim an ember at it if it gets close. Yeah?" Casey nodded, climbing up his arm until she was perched on his right shoulder. It was a pretty dangerous plan, but they did not have a lot of choice! Besides, Casey desperately needed some battle experience.

Okay, time to chase after the little thief again. John ran in the direction of Bec and the Rattata again, Casey primed for battle.

[Wild Pokemon]

He did it! He got through between that kid's legs - but the dog followed him. Dang.

His only hope now is to get off the path, retreat into the forest. He swerves to the right, and is almost in the cover of foliage, when he feels a great big jerk on the bag he's carrying, halting Rattata in his place.

He turns to face the Growlithe, giving a growl of his own. With his jaw and buck teeth locked around the strap of Jade's bag, he tugs backward with all his might. However, a rat probably wouldn't be a match against a dog in a game of tug-of-war.

Until of course, a couple morsels of food drop out from the bag during the tug-of-war commotion. Why, are those... Yes, they just might be...! Treats. Scrumptious doggy treats.


While the two fight over the bag, John and Casey have time to catch up to them.

[Jade Harley]

Jade threw her arms up in frustration. "I wasn't distracting you," she yelled back, "you were just being a dumbass!"

Becquerel let out a low growl as a threat and tugged backwards on the bag. He used to play tug-of-war with Jade and a rope toy all the time, so he had much experience. You could even say he's simply the best there is. He was momentarily distracted by the delicious treats that fell out of the bag, but no he must be resilient! There were more in the bag, and sometimes one must sacrifice few for the good of all (or something like that anyway). Besides, he could always just get the treats later after being victorious.

[Kat]

While the Rattata and Bec were fighting over the bag, John was just about able to catch up to them at last. John slowed his pace as they approached the pair, not wanting to scare the rat away.

"Okay Casey, here is your CHANCE. Use ember on the Rattata, and try and avoid Bec!"

Casey did as commanded, jumping from John's shoulder and aiming her flame attack at the Rattata from above. Though she hadn't had much practice with it, and a little flame did go in Bec's direction. She hoped he was okay! The bag got a little charred too. Jade'd probably be pissed later.

Her landing wasn't the best, falling right on her butt a yard or so away from them.

[Wild Pokemon]

Damn. Try as Rattata might, tugging back with all his strength, the Growlithe is winning the tug-of-war. Rattata's paws slide through the dirt toward Bec. Why won't the dog take the bait?! Morsels of food should make any dumb dog drop what he's doing, right?!


OW! A hot pain bursts across Rattata's side, and his jaw loses its grip on the bag. The rodent lets out a yelping squeak. Hopefully no one heard that. That was embarrassing.

He notices the fur on his side has caught flame, and does a quick tuck-and-roll through the dirt to put it out.



Success! The fire is out, and without wasting much time, which is at a premium. Initially Rattata intends to target the one who spit fire at him as retaliation, but it looks like that 'mon is on her ass. She can wait.

Instead, Rattata goes to take out the other threat, the canine holding his meal ticket. The rodent becomes a blur as Quick Attack rushes the Growlithe.

[/color][/blockquote]

[Jade Harley]

While the small flame startled Becquerel enough that he let go of his grip on the bag, he was overall unaffected by it. It was small and he is a fire type, after all. Luckily for him, it seems as though the Rattata also let go of the bag. While the small rodent is rolling around to put out the flames, Bec happily takes his prize, the treats that fell out during the tug-of-war. Since Bec was distracted and stuffing his face he didn't notice the Rattata's incoming Quick Attack, and was knocked over, startled. Bec instinctively tried to Bite the Rattata in retaliation.

Jade, on the other hand, was not all to happy about the current state of her bag. "John, I hope you know you are buying me a new bag now," she said, glowering. She wanted to go grab her poor scorched bag, but the Pokémon were still fighting near it. "Bec, try and move the fight away from my bag!" She ordered. Bec heard his trainer and decided to dash off in the direction of Casey. To regroup and double the efforts, or something like that.

[Kat]

John scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Haha. Um, sorry! I can pay you back and stuff. Once I actually earn some money, anyway. Give me a week or two, okay?"

While John was apologizing, Casey began to climb onto her feet, and ran towards Bec when he headed over. They could totally take down this Rattata, right? Assuming it came their way!

John noticed his Pokemon standing up, and quickly shouted out an order. "Casey, get ready! Scratch it if it gets close enough!" The Charmander nodded, readying her claws. (If you could call them that.)