And So Our Story Begins

[dragon]

Nick was still running and it seemed as though he couldn't run fast enough. He had a whole adventure ahead of him, yet he couldn't wait to get to Route 801. Just what was waiting for him? That's what he wanted to know. What wild pokemon would he encounter? Would he encounter any other trainers? Would he be able to use his Dratini in a pokemon battle soon? So many questions rushing through his head.

Drake squeezed the boy's neck when the duo were finally well within Route 801. It was his attempt at getting the boy to slow down. Eventually it worked, when the red headed boy finally realized he couldn't breathe. He skidded to a stop and tried to pry Drake off of him, but by the time he was attempting to do so the dragon type pokemon had already released his grip and slithered off of him. Drake certainly made it clear he'd do his best to keep his trainer under some restraint. Nick needed some restraint anyway.

"Dra! Dratini!" Drake wanted to take the lead and was slithering slowly ahead so Nick could keep up with him. It was much like he did at the lab. In a way it was an imitation of Nick, who was always on the move and always eager to take the next step. Dratini was slithering ahead. "Hold on Drake! We should probably get some training in before we hit the next town!" Always ready to take the next step, but Nick wasn't ready to head straight to the next town only to lose his first gym battle because he didn't train his pokemon.

Drake stopped and simply waited for Nick to catch up. Nick scooped up Drake into his arms and looked around. Was he the only trainer on this route today? He hadn't seen any so far. It was just him and Drake as far as he could tell.

[Catilena1890]

Skipping up the road a ways from Nick, twirling a pink tail in his hand while a feathery ear on his head bounced, a young, lanky man hummed a little tune while he and an eevee danced along to his humming. Soon, the eevee opened it's eyes and looked up, seeing Nick ahead of them, and he gave a superior huff, stopping in front of his trainer and pointing.

"Vee, eevee." Hey, look at that Roo. It chirped. The trainer stopped and opened his eyes, looking forward with curiosity, turning his lips in a smile that exposed one of his fangs.

"Hm? Oh look Xinari, what a looker. Time for a little hunt. Watch and learn, little brother, the master will show you how it's done." He said, strutting over towards Nick and his dratini while the eevee rolled his eyes.

"Vee? Eevee ee? Eevee vee eevee, eevee, vee vee eevee." Master? Master of what? You are so hopeless, if you get smacked, I`m going to roll around and laugh instead of saving your sorry hide. Quipped the eevee as he proudly followed. Varoon shot the eevee a nasty look before continuing on his way to the other boy, sidling up to Nick with a purr.

"Ohey cutie. What's a pretty boy like you doing in such a filthy, violent place like this? Tsk tsk tsk, such a place is unfitting for one like you. Perhaps I, the oh-so-fab Varoon, can lead you from this awful place? My brother and I would be happy to accompany you." He said with a wink while the eevee facepalmed, looking at Drake with an exasperated expression.

"Eevee, vee ee. Eevee eevee vee, eevee vee." Forgive my big brother, he's stupid. Feel free to smack him, I won't stop you. He told Drake while Varoon pretended not to hear, instead looking at Nick with a charming smile.

[dragon]

Nick turned around suddenly and in a defensive stance when he heard someone behind him. Drake did the same, growling at whoever was near them. It was obvious Drake was protective of his trainer and would play leader of the two if he could get away with it. Nick put his arm out, letting Drake know not to attack immediately. He could feel the pokemon ready to pounce. When he realized the person now accompanying them wasn't going to do them any immediate harm, Nick relaxed himself, though Drake stayed alert as ever.

"Um...I'm starting my journey as a pokemon trainer?" Nick wasn't quite sure how to respond to this guy hitting on him like that. Feeling the uneasiness in his trainer, Drake sprang to life and went to attack the guy. "NONONONONONO YOU DON'T!" Nick shouted as he just barely caught the end of Drake's tail, but fell over as he did. Both pokemon and trainer fell face flat onto the ground. Nick slowly got up and dusted himself off, Drake now irritated at his trainer for stopping him, but obeying his wish not to attack nonetheless.

"Drake, let's not do that again. I'm pretty sure this guy means us no harm." Nick spoke to Drake. The pokemon turned away in annoyance, but Nick just gave an awkward laugh as he rubbed the back of his head and turned to face the newcomer. "Sorry. He's just very high strung and protective." Lee took a glance around Route 801. It was probably brimming with pokemon, but Nick had particular pokemon in his interest. The Dratini was the obvious clue to that. Ever since he chose Drake, he was taking a very, very keen interest in his type.

"Well I wouldn't mind getting off this route soon, to be honest. Gustella Town is my next stop. Heading that way?" he genuinely asked Varoon.

[Catilena1890]

The entire scene that unfolded amused Varoon to no end, and he grinned wide while Nick pulled himself out of the dirt. Varoon frowned as the boy dusted himself off and talked about the journey he was making, and the furry held up a hand and shook his head.

"Hold that thought honey, Xinari, this is our fault." He said, looking at the eevee who looked up with a deadpan stare.

"Eevee? Vee vee eevee ee." OUR fault? You were the one practically groping him. The eevee argued. Varoon narrowed his eyes that the brown fox in a sort of glare.

"Varoon was NOT, Varoon merely wanted to get to know him. Now please, fix him up. Do it for your fashionably brilliant big brother?" He asked sweetly. With a roll of his eyes, Xinari didn't bother answering Varoon as he marched up to Nick while Varoon clasped his hands together.

"Thank you baby brother. Now hold still darling, Xinari will have you cleaned up in no time." Varoon said while the eevee in question jumped up, patting Nick up and down with his fluffy tail, shaking all the dust particles off his clothes. As fast as he approached, Xinari suddenly jumped down and rejoined Varoon's side, tilting his nose up with pride.

"Eevee." Everybody gets one. He commented. Varoon smiled down at the eevee before turning his grin to Nick, his eyes glinting.

"There now, much better. Your clothes look like brand new, as if they were just pulled off the sewing machine! Now then, what were you saying darling?" He said, tilting his head. After a moment, his eyes slightly widening in realization.

"Oh yes! You wanted to know where Varoon was headed? Actually yes, we are seeking to win the pokemon league with dignity and grace, and Gustella is the first stop for that. Xinari and Varoon will accompany you on the way there, if you would like?" He said with a wink while Xinari rolled his eyes again.

[dragon]

"Err..." was all Nick could get out before he was told to stay still. With the Eevee infront of him, he hardly wanted to make a move. Who knows what it was going to do to him? Nick certainly didn't know. When the Eevee started patting him down, Drake started to get anxious again, but Nick slowly held out his hand to let the Dratini know not to attack. When Eevee was done, Nick looked down at his clothes.

He had to admit, the guy was right. His clothes did look better. He looked back over at Drake who was inching closer and closer to him. Nick held out his arm and allowed the dragon pokemon to slither up his arm and coil lightly around his neck. "I wouldn't suggest doing that again though. Certainly not while Drake is out. There's no telling what he'll do if I can't stop him in time." Nick admitted to him. The Dratini nodded his head sagely. "Dra. Dra." Which was an obvious agreement with what Nick just said.

Nick listened as Varoon answered his question. Aha! So he was also a pokemon trainer setting his sights on the pokemon league. Gustella was an important stop for both of them. The idea of traveling with someone else was a better idea than traveling alone. Well, alone as in the only human being. Still, Nick wasn't a fan of being called by any pet names. Especially by this guy. "Cut the pet names and it's a deal." Nick stated bluntly. He spoke first, thought about it...never. He was more of a reactionary type of guy anyway. Thinking things through just wasn't his strong point at the time.

But the conversation was interrupted by a sound that froze Nick on the spot. "Roar!" He swore the sound echoed throughout the area, but it wasn't as loud as he thought it might be. Still, it certainly scared the mess out of him. Even Drake coiled around his neck tighter, threatening to cut off circulation to Nick's brain if he hadn't instinctively thrown up his hands to grab Drake. After a few moments passed, Nick slowly turned around, realizing the sound had come from behind him. "Wh-wha-what was th-that?" Nick finally blurted out his question.

Drake slowly loosened his grip on the boy's neck. As Nick took a look around, he could hear some rustling in some tall brush nearby. He took a step forward. "Roar!" There it was again. Nick froze in his tracks yet again. It was scaring him a bit but after hearing it the second time, he finally tilted his head to the side once realization hit him. The sound this creature was making...it sounded like the creature was wounded. Nick shook his head, suddenly his fear turned into determination.

"I've got to help this creature!" he shouted out toward Varoon before disappearing into the tall brush that he heard the sound come from. A moment after he spoke, Nick was gone in a flash. He had disappeared into the tall brush he ran into.

[Catilena1890]

Varoon was about to make a snarky reply when the sound erupted, and Nick chased after it. Varoon nervously shifted while Xinari stood at attention, following after Nick at first. Sensing Varoon was not behind him, Xinari turned and looked at his brother with an annoyed glare.

"Eevee vee." Come on you baby. He snapped, running back into the bushes. Varoon stomped indignantly and followed, grumbling the whole time.

"I am NOT a baby." He called. When he finally rejoined the group, Varoon found himself in a strange position. In front of them was a strange blue dragon-like pokemon, warbling in pain while two black pokemon floated by it, carrying yellow masks. Varoon made a face at it and quickly whipped out his pink pokedex, scanning the creatures. He bagan with the bluish dragon.

"Rayquaza, the Sky High Pokemon. Rayquaza live in the earth's Ozone layer and rarely come down from their territory. No further information available." It said. Varoon rolled his eyes at the information spoken.

"Well THAT was helpful. That doesn't look like the picture on the pokedex, maybe it's broken? Varoon will try again." He said, holding it up to the two ghostly pokemon.

"Yamask, the Spirit Pokemon. Yamask are said to have once been human, and the masks they carry resemble their once-human faces which reflect their emotions." It told him. With a curt nod, Varoon put his pokedex away and turned to Xinari.

"That's kinda creepy. Will you get rid of them bro? These awful things are tarnishing our style." He said. Xinari smirked and stepped forward.

"Eevee." With pleasure. He replied. With his feet correctly placed, Xinari closed his eyes and cleared his throat, opening his mouth, sound barely audible at first.

"VeeeeeeeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" It was quiet first, but then Xinari picked up the pace with his song, his voice climbing higher and higher in pitch until the sound waves visibly rushed forth. While still concentrating on hitting the notes, Xinari manipulated the sound waves with his mind, thrusting each one towards the yamask, who cried in pain and clutched their heads. Their wailing attracted the attention of two black-garbed men who wore white masks in the shape of skulls, and they too covered their ears.

"What's going on? Where is that sound coming from and why haven't we captured that stupid worm yet?" One of them said. Varoon's brows furrowed at the insult, suddenly feeling protective of the rayquaza, odd though it was. He looked at Nick with a wink and turned towards the two men.

"Varoon doesn't like your tone, sweety. Xinari, you can stop little brother. We're going to need a bit of help for this one. Give Drake a bit of juice will you?" He said. Xinari stopped singing and nodded at Varoon, hopping from side to side while a blue light engulfed him. He suddenly turned to Drake and thrusted his tail forward, sending a blue burst of electricity towards the serpentine dragon.

"Eevee!" Have fun. The little fox said while Varoon winked at Nick again.

"Helping hand is a wonderful attack, is it not? You both are unharmed, better, actually. Varoon thinks you can take both of them by yourself now, give it a try." He urged, Xinari investigating the whimpering dragon.


Name: Yamask x2
Gender: Male x2
Level: 10 x2
Ability: Mummy
Moves: Astonish, Protect, Disable, Haze,
Hit Points: 5/25 5/25

[dragon]

When Nick thrust himself into the brush to discover the source of the sound, what he discovered shocked him. Before him was a giant serpentine shaped dragon. It reminded him a bit of Dratini in that fashion, but that's where the similarities seemed to end. As Varoon had done earlier, Nick had placed his pokedex up to discover just what this pokemon was. He got just as much out of his pokedex as Varoon got out of his. He had given an annoyed sigh and double checked the pokedex much like Varoon did.

There was certainly info on the Yamask, much more than there was on Rayquaza. Though he had to admit, the coloring was off from the shot he saw in the pokedex. What was up with this Rayquaza? But before he could ponder that much further, Varoon was now with him and before Nick knew it, Eevee was on the attack. When Nick finally regained his composure, he found that Drake had slithered off of him and went in a defensive formation to try and protect his fellow dragon type.

When Eevee used helping hand on Drake, Nick finally had his head back in the game. Two guys dressed up real creepy like and two pokemon attacking Rayquaza. Right! He had to stop this and help that Rayquaza. That's why he came over here in the first place. He heard the Rayquaza's wounded cries. "I don't know who you guys are or what you're doing. But this stops now!" he cried out before looking over at Drake, who now had the power boost from the Eevee.

"Alright Drake! Dragonbreath! Let's get these guys out of here!" Drake lept into the air and inhaled deeply before exhaling. "Draaaaaaa!"

[RESULT: 9]+2

Dratini certainly felt the need to protect the Rayquaza, feeling a sort of dragon-kinship much like brotherhood. The attack was emotion filled and the Yamasks certainly had to feel the supercharged, emotionally driven Dratini's powerful attack.

[Catilena1890]

Varoon smiled in satisfaction as he studied the dratini's handywork. The two Yamask had collided into their trainers and the four were dazed. With a smirk, Varoon grabbed the tip of his tail and walked over to the trainers while Xinari the eevee inspected Rayquaza. Kneeling down beside one of them, Varoon carefully lifted one of his arms and started brushing the tail along the sides, causing the man to giggle uncontrollably.

"Nyahahahaha, s-stop it! I`ll kill you hahahahaha! Stop haha it now!" He said in between giggles, Varoon grinned wickedly and continued his torture.

"Not until you tell Varoon who you are, why you are chasing this creature, and buy me some dinner." He said with a wink. The man continued to laugh, threatening Varoon every so often, while Xinari sniffed at the Rayquaza. With a nod, he carefully climbed on top of the dragon and laid down.

"Eevee vee." This won't hurt a bit. He said, blasting the rayquaza with Helping Hand. The blue dragon's eyes suddenly opened wide at the supercharge, and it turned it's head to look at the comical scene of Varoon and the mysterious strangers who were starting to regain their strength. With a whimpery growl, the rayquaza's eyes narrowed, and Xinari knew this was a bad sign.

"Ee, eevee! Vee!" Uh-oh, Varoon! Run! Cried the eevee as rayquaza lifted it's head. It unleashed a piercing scream at the group, and it was all they could do to cover their ears to block out the sound. As the rayquaza screamed, a pinkish-purple glow began at it's throat, and Varoon narrowly scrambled away just in time as a thin beam erupted from the dragon's throat, striking the remaining trainers and their yamask. One explosion later, the group was sent flying high into the sky, clutching each other tightly.

"TEAM NECRO'S GOING TO HAUNT SOMEONE ELLLLLLLSE!" They cried. Varoon tilted his head with a curious sound before looking at the Rayquaza, who was panting from the effort of it's last attack. It's eyes momentarily widened before snapping shut, the large head careening towards the ground, throwing Xinari off it's neck. Varoon rushed forward and caught the fox pokemon while Drake rushed in to carefully support the large head, gently easing the rayquaza into a comfortable position. With a few breath's, the Rayquaza looked at Nick and grinned sheepishly, reaching out a claw to him.

"Ray...." Master... It muttered softly, it's eyes still somewhat glazed over. From Varoon's arms, Xinari peeked over at the Rayquaza and tilted his head.

"Eevee?" You okay? He asked. The Rayquaza gave a weak nod and curled closer to Nick.

"Rayquaza. Rayquaza, ray." They hurt me. Found master, need sleep. It said, yawning and reaching towards Nick once more, curling slowly.

[dragon]

Nick pumped his fist in the air as Drake's attack took out the oddly dressed trainers and their pokemon. "That'll teach you to mess with pokem-", he stopped short, watching Varoon interact with the trainers. That was just...there were no words for Nick to describe it. He was probably a bit scarred from it, to be honest. Though he glanced over just in time to see the Rayquaza had found some energy to go on the attack.

"Varoon watch ou-" he couldn't even complete his sentence before the Rayquaza went on the attack. Nick stumbled toward the dragon pokemon's side as Drake was positioned next to it, as if ready to support the Rayquaza in any sort of way. It happened so suddenly that Nick almost didn't catch the name those guys shouted out. "Team...Necro? So those guys dress that funny because they're part of a team or some organization or something? And they're pretty mean. Sounds like bad news to me." Nick was musing mostly to himself.

He was just able to glance over and catch Drake helping the Rayquaza. Nick quickly knelt down beside the Rayquaza and pulled something out of his pack. "Here. This will help. Okay?" Without waiting for a response to be given to him, he had pulled out a potion and used it on Rayquaza. When he began to pay attention, however, he noticed the pokemon pointing at him. "Me?" Nick seemed to get it, even though he questioned it. He took out a pokeball from his pack and tapped Rayquaza with it lightly. "Welcome to the team, Rayquaza." he said as the Rayquaza willingly entered the pokeball and stayed there.

Nick stared at the ball for awhile, a grin forming on his face. A Rayquaza choosing him was nothing to frown at. "Not everyone's like those Team Necro freaks. I'll show you, partner." he said again, then tucked the pokeball safely away. He looked down at Drake who approved and seemed excited over the new addition to their team. Drake slinked up Nick's arm and cast himself across Nick's shoulders like a scarf.

"We'll have to watch out for those Team Necro guys. Something tells me that's not the last we've heard of them. Great teamwork, by the way. Your Eevee and my Dratini made an excellent tag team." Nick spoke to Varoon.

[Catilena1890]

Varoon smiled at Nick and walked up to the teen with Xinari in his arms.

"Yes, yes we did. This is a sign, you and Varoon are destined to be together! We shall be an unstoppable force of power, beauty and love! We will--ACK!" As he ranted, Xinari's eyes twitched and the eevee jumped from Varoon's arms, turning back and smacking into the trainer with a powerful tackle. Snorting, Xinari turned to Nick and Drake.

"Eevee." Sorry about that. He said as Varoon recovered, glaring at the eevee before turning his gaze back to Nick.

"Anyway, perhaps we should get back on the road now. Varoon would quite enjoy it if we got to the Gustella City pokemon center befoe nightfall so that we may sleep in real beds, and not the filthy dirt." He said, Xinari chirping in agreement.

[dragon]

Nick's eyes were narrowing as Varoon went on and on. This was not what he signed up for. Well, atleast he wasn't touching him with his tail. He crossed his arms, waiting for this to end. Thankfully, Varoon's own Eevee ended it for him. Nick sighed in relief When the other pokemon trainer regained his composure and began talking a little more practical, Nick nodded his head in agreement.

"Oh yes, definently. Gustella shouldn't be too much farther. Team Necro sidetracked us a bit, but we should still make it there before the sun sets." Nick responded back. He glanced over to his right and then turned and began walking that way. As he did, Drake was once again securing himself on Nick just in case he decided to run. The Dratini wanted to be sure he had a good grip. "This way to Gustella." Nick stated as he continued heading toward Gustella.