* can't stop the beat !

[[¤Morp.hine¤]]

i used to be l o v e d r u n k
but now i'm HUNGOVER

Cool, crisp and serene. It was the total opposite of the hot-headed, stubborn, arrogant red-head and the small steel/psychic that approached the beach on a small red bicycle. The sea was something Ashlynn enjoyed, which was surprising considering her strange affinity to fire. Packed tourist beaches weren't her thing at all, but somewhere quiet like this small bay she'd just arrived at was just perfect. Pedalling slowly, she paused as they came to the small slope down onto the bay, allowing the bike to just slide down, fingers contracting the brakes to bring her to a safe, gentle stop. She wasn't wearing a helmet - hey, who did these days? - but she was in a sensible mood at the moment, and as such felt that going down the slope at high speeds and inevitably crashing into the waves wouldn't have been the best idea. The bike was an old one - the red paint was chipping off in numerous places and the saddle cover was all but gone, as were the handle-bar covers. The basket attached just behind the saddle was rusting badly, but it's bindings had been reinforced by extra screws that the manager of the bike shop had fixed on. This allowed Raziel to ride in the basket without fear of it rolling off of the bike, which was much easier than him sitting over Ashli's shoulders. The Beldum was also in an unusual mood at the moment - the sounds he usually made had stopped and he had his head out of the basket, curiously observing and scenting his surroundings in an oddly observant manner.

"Raziel, we're here,"

[/b] Ash cooed, a fondness creeping into her voice that was reserved for those closest to her. Unclasping the top of the basket, she opened it up, immediately met with a navy nose nuzzling into her cheek with affection. She gasped with joy, hands coming down to pet what many referred to as her first Pokémon - the Pokémon she'd brought with her from the Orange Islands as a departure present from her father. It wasn't right to usually, but since they'd just become partners... He didn't seem to be all too keen on growing. She wasn't particularly a fan of evolving Pokémon just for strength, either. And besides, in contests, grace and elegance was more important than strength anyway.

The ride from Shamouti Island all the way to Onyx Harbour had been a long one. Being from the Orange Archipelago, it was extremely hard to understand how things worked outside the islands since most who lived there never left. The ride was long and required many stops and boat-changing stations, but it was finally over. Finally. One might not find it so exciting, but to her, it was a miracle to get off the boat, run to the bike shop, and petal down to the beach. She halted just beside the ocean, crawling off the bike and leaving it resting in the sand while Raziel floated about in amusement. The waves lapped her feet from where she sat down, the sand seemingly crawling about her legs and feet. Sighing, she closed her eyes and leaned back. Everything was so, so perfect. She'd be getting her started soon, going off to do what she loved most. Participate in conents...

Sun beat down on her stomach when her eyes blinked open to the light of the afternoon sun. Hadn't... Hadn't it been the morning when she'd sat down? A heavy boulder-like object lay next to her. Raziel. She raised her head quickly, sandign and brushing sand off at the same time as she bolted toward the bike. "Come on, Raziel! We have to go get my starter and leave!" Raziel got himself into the basket, struggling because Ash was pulling away as he just woke up. She needed to move. Her bike went quickly up the hill she came down only a bit before and raced toward the bicycle shop, dropping the bike off and shouting a goodbye before running off with Raziel following behind. He liked it out of his Pokéball, but following Ashli was absolutely ridiculous. She had to find the lab first, of course, but it appeared to be the only thing standing between her and the ferry she needed to get on next. Looking over at the street parallel as she ran, her mind started to drift off to the adventures she would soon be having.

Smiling as she saw the building ahead of her, she picked up the pace. The lab was smaller than other labs, but still bigger than a house. Thank heavens Onyx Harbour was small, or she wouldn't have made it. Her hand clasped the door knob and she stopped to pant. Too bad for her Raziel couldn't stop as quick as she could. The Beldum smashed into her back by accident causing her to smack into the door painfully. Wincing, she turned to glare at him before entering the building. It was nice inside, though not what she expected the lab to be like. Rather than announcing herself, she took a seat and just waited for someone to come out and check for any new trainers coming along.[/size]

words ; 864
notes ; +1 happiness - Raziel
credit ; here!

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[Ozfiz]

Galen Rhody

Galen was thrilled at the fact one got to take a boat to get the Golden Islands. He had quite a few people convinced that he was sea-sick the way he hung over the railing on the boat, precariously balanced with the bulk of him over the edge. He was so intensely caught up in watching the waves pound against the side of the ship as it cut through the water, he barely noticed he was at risk of falling in. The rise and fall of the water was almost hypnotic, bubbling up and turning white as it splashed and sprayed, sometimes enough he could feel it against his face.

He had been too drawn into the moment to think about what exactly his plan of attack was once they reached the shore, which he rather regretted as he stumbled onto the dock and tried to decide just where exactly he was suppose to be headed. His plan when he had left Twinleaf was to use to boat ride to throughly plan out how he was going to go about this journey. Obviously his attempts to hunt down Thorsten and Rainy had not worked so well so far, so this time he intended on slowing down. They'd have to meet up somewhere along the line, right? Especially if they were all headed to the same place. Someone was sure to have seen them.

Back in Sinnoh they had already decided exactly which starter each of them was going to get. Thorsten would get a chimchar, probably the most suitable to keeping an energetic fire-type under control; Rainy would get a piplup, having been fond of water-types and then by default Galen would have gotten a turtwig. Turtwig was certainly not his first choice, however, he could not argue with the logic of what they other's had chosen. This time though, he was going to have to make the decision of which one to get all by himself.

He really wasn't sure what to expect when he got there. He knew that usually there were three choices, a fire-type, a water-type and a grass-type and on rare occasions something else. He knew a bit about fire and grass types through his grandmothers, and a little about water types through Rainy- though she was certainly no expert. The big decision maker would probably be personality, which made it hard to account for ahead of time.

Now he knew he was going to have to get onto another ship to get to the main islands, aware this was just a quick pit stop. He had also heard that the Professor was the captain. "Best you take a break when we hit shore if you're that green," One of the deck hands had said walking by. "Professor Redwood won't take kindly to your stomach on his shoes- and he's your ticket to out of the harbor." Sound advice, Galen thought. It made him quite glad he not actually been sick, though rather nervous to who exactly he was meeting.

After disrupting a very nice woman who's house he had wondered into mistakenly and taking her directions he ended up in the right place. He opened the door slowly, peeking around it to make sure it actually was what he thought it was. Deciding to take a chance he pushed it open and come on in. whether it was the door or the floor that creaked, he was nervous enough it made him jump, spinning around clumsily as though he expected to see an Abomasnow had followed him from Snowpoint.

Realizing that he been spooked by nothing, he turned around to find he wasn't the only one there. He smiled sheepishly, embarrassed about how he had just acted. Some first impression. "Hello," He waved, moving far enough away from the door should anyone else come in he wouldn't get hit. He was debating weither or not he should grab a seat also (or if he was even in the right place) when he noticed she wasn't alone. "Oh wow! That's a beldum, right?" He asked, now completely distracted from the task at hand.

[[¤Morp.hine¤]]

i used to be l o v e d r u n k
but now i'm HUNGOVER

Ashlynn had been staring blankly at the floor, her startling blue eyes almost lost in the marble chistled about. The lab was so nice... It was almost comforting, actually. Not many places seemed to friendly at Onyx Harbour. She wished they could just get back onto the ocean, really. Though the boat ride had been boring because she'd grown up on boats, she did love the sea. The water was so much better than anything in the world. How could people so close to the water be so... Cruel at times? Maybe it was just a 'best of the best' coordinator thing, though some of the people hanging around hardly looked fit for being homeless let alone coordinators! Not to get her wrong, Onyx Harbour was a nice place, but it was just so diverse... Maybe there was a French person about! That was the only other language she could partly speak, though she took four years of classes on Shamouti Island. Why? Because it gave her something to do. Her three Pokémon back home were probably going mad, now that she thought about it. Her sister, Alyson, was supossed to watch them for her. Not only did her entire family fail at handling Pokémon, but they also would probably be intimidated by just Tanner's additude. Sighing, she shook her head and patted Raziel, who plopped his mass of weight beside her on the loveseat. He was such a lump of metal. Chuckling, she moved her hand over his body. "You're such a sweetie, Raz. Are you excited to meet the newest member of our team?"

[/color] The Pokémon just looked at her blankly. Unlike a Lapras, which had a profound understanding of the human language, Raziel had a lot to learn.

He shuddered, seemingly understanding what she was thinking rather than what she said. He could pick out little things for now, but by the time they reached the Bluebell Forest on Emerald Island, he'd understand at least that much. Psychic Pokémon were smart like that, and he'd already shown a great deal of knowledge toward other human things. Waiting in the room wasn't that bad due to the fact that they were waiting for a good cause and because it was so nice inside. Besides, everyone moved in and out rather quickly. The door clicked open and her head shot up, shaggy red bangs hanging slightly in front of her abnormally blue eyes. A foot stepped down onto the marble and the door creaked. All she saw after that was it swing open and a large figure jump rather clumsily. She giggled at the fun of it all rather than at the person coming in and shot an extremely bright smile over to it. The figure was... A tall teenage boy! For a girl, she was fairly tall, but this boy was big. He was lanky and seemed to be growing into his body due to the clumsy way he spooked, which she knew she would have done had she not been in such a panic. He seemed to see her for the first time as he composed himself and shut the door, throwing a sheepish smile over her way. That smile! It was striking, really. Entranced in it, she hardly noticed him say hello. It may not have been polite to stare, but if it was for a good reason...

Ashli finally stopped gazing and composed herself, which was nearly impossible for her to do. Smiling in a friedly hello sort of way, she couldn't help but comment. "If you trip over things that aren't there, too, we should start a club for people like us."[/color] Her smile showed it all - the fact that she did the same thing all the time. Reaching a hand up to brush back her shaggy red hair, her crystalline eyes caught him for what seemed like the first time. He was... Different. Not like some of the boys she'd seen running around Shamouti or here. He looked very nice and not girly like some of the guys were. Sighing in relief, she couldn't help but notice that he seemed distracted until his eyes landed on Raziel, who stared at him like it was a foreign thing. He hadn't been close to any male before, so it could have been considered that. Her simle reappeared at his question and Raz actually moved to get a better look at the boy, obviously pleased that he was noticed. "You got it! His name's Raziel, and he needs to move so you can sit down,"[/color] she said to the Pokémon, who (for once) listened and floated over toward the boy. Why not invite him to sit with her? She didn't bite and she doubted he did. "My name's Ashlynn, though I go by Ash or Ashli. Anything works!"[/color]

Crossing her legs, she examined her Pokémon closely, making sure he didn't try to do anything stupid. Knowing Raz, anything was possible. "Where are you from?"[/color] Tilting her head, her hair fell from behind her ear and into her eyes again, shielding them only slightly before she smiled at him again. She couldn't help it - something was just... Welcoming about the boy.[/size]

words ; 863
notes ; +1 happiness - Raziel
credit ; here!

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[Ozfiz]

Galen Rhody

That entrance definitely could have been better, judging by the laughter he had received. He had been about to slink off, tail-between his legs when he noticed the light hearted smile on the girls face though he let himself relax a little. Thank goodness she was not mocking him- he was not sure he would know how to deal with that on his first day somewhere so completely foreign. It had been weird enough coming down from the cold long enough to get down to twinleaf, but he the Golden Islands just felt so far away from home. Maybe it would not be all that different from Sinnoh, not that he had seen much to compare it to.

His smile become more assured, completely oblivious to the silence and the stare he was receiving. It was nice to meet someone friendly. It was not as though he had been having trouble finding finding people like that, but it was always a welcome surprise. He chuckled at her comment, adjusting the faded green scarf around his neck. It was a little too warm outside to be wearing it, in his opinion, and inside was only worse. "Yeah that sounds like me. Sometimes I feel like I was born with three left feet." He grinned, tapping his heels together.

The full meaning of what she had said started to sink in, and tilting his head to one side, he furrowed his brow."You'd really be in that club? You don't look very clumsy." She looked like she could be quite graceful. Then again, he found woman (girls included) tended to look a less like they were going to start falling all over themselves the second the stood up. That might have had something to do with his experience being restricted to four or five women- two of which he was related to. If he had paid more attention he probably would have noticed she had some of the same lankiness he did. However he tried very hard not to pay that sort of attention to girls- he might see something he liked.

He blinked a few times in surprise to see how blue her eyes were when she moved the bright red hair out of the way. It was an interesting combination. The correct response to that probably should have been something like "Nice eyes", or "You shouldn't cover those up,". The complement though ended up lost somewhere between his brain and his lips. "Your bangs are too long." He pointed out cheerily, as though the context was completely the same.

Galen was excited to see the beldum was just as interested in him as he was in it. Of all the things he missed from home it was the psychic pokemon, he found himself grudgingly admitting to himself. It made him look forward to getting his first starter. "Raziel," He repeated, watching him come forward. He found it rather amazing that something metal could float like that- though he found levitation rather amazing in general. He couldn't help but run his hand under the air beneath him, just to check.

It suddenly dawned on him that he had just been invited to sit down. He straightened up, folding his hands behind his back. ""Sorry!" He moved over quickly to sit down where Raziel had been, not the least bit uncomfortable to sit next to someone he did not know. As soon as he was seated he offered his hand out to her. ""Nice to meet you, Ash! I'm Galen." He had been quick to recover from the embarrassment of being so caught up in her pokemon to ignore her- a terribly rude thing to do, and he knew he knew better.

He settled into his half of the love seat, back against the corner between the back and the arm. He wasn't really sure what to do with all of his legs, trying to angle them so he was not into Ash's personal space, but without causing himself too much discomfort. "I'm from Snowpoint city." He nodded, playing with his scarf absentmindedly. "How 'bout you?" He like that she kept smiling, it kept him smiling back- it was making a nice friendly atmosphere, and a lot of his nervousness about maybe being in the wrong place disappeared.

"Are you a new coordinator too?" He could not help but look over at Raziel when he said that- partly because he was still very curious, and partly because he wondered if maybe he was her starter and she was waiting for the ship to go out. "This is the right place, right? I didn't just walk into your house and you're humouring me..." It didn't seem like that was the case, but he decided he had better check.

[POKÉMON & NPCS]

AIDE LUCY WINTERS

Lucy had heard people come in, but she had decided she could take a little time for herself today. With a bit of a huff, she took her time putting on her clothes and fiddling with her hair, but to be completely honest, nothing was really keeping her satisfied. She knew that there was a coordinator waiting for her, and it just didn't feel right leaving them all alone. With a sigh, she put--almost slammed--the brush down at her dresser and stood up. "Well," she started, looking down at her Azumarill, "I suppose I've kept them waiting for long enough." With an almost annoyed nod, the Pokemon nodded, agreeing. But the look quickly went away, as Lucy smiled and gave the Pokemon's ear a stroke. But when she came down the stairs, Lucy was surprised to see two teenagers standing around, when she had only expected one.

"Oh!" she said, startled, but then her face pulled into a smile. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything, but I'm here to help you guys with your starter Pokemon...that's what you guys are here for, right?"

[[ffft. it's short. i sorry. >: ]]

claimed by rex!

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[[¤Morp.hine¤]]

i used to be l o v e d r u n k
but now i'm HUNGOVER

It honestly was hard for Ash not to like people when she was in her good mood. But there was something different about Galen - something amusing and perfect at the same time that combined into an overall odd, cute guy. He seemed to be playful and oblivious to any insecurities or awkward situations, so why not aim for a new friend? A small giggle erupted from her, completely unable to hold it in while she happened to be trying as hard as she could not to. She didn't want him to think she was laughing at him. She'd never do that. Well, no that would be a lie to say. She would do something like that, but only to someone she disliked with absolutely all her heart. She watched as he tapped his heels together, amusement running through her veins as she examined him with her gentle gaze. She didn't try to look like she was staring, but her eyes always seemed to catch other people's attention. Sadly enough. Though maybe on stage that would be a good thing since she'd be fighting for attention rather than trying to avoid it. She pulled both her hands in front of her in an awkward stretch, twining her fingers and twisting her wrists so they bent as far as they could. She really needed to wake up some more...

The boy seemed to gaze at her for only a second before shifting his attention away, as if he were trying to avoid looking at her. Looking down to make sure she wasn't having any wardrobe malfunctions, she blushed slightly when she noticed she didn't and just was probably looking pretty odd. But again, his words brought a smile to her face. She didn't really look all too clumsy, it was true, but she fell over things that weren't really there. Smirking at her own oddness, she peered up with big eyes. "I just heal quickly - otherwise you'd see a ton of scars all over."

[/color] Rather absent-mindedly, she turned her arms over so she could see the veins in her wrist. Bruises lined some patches of her skin, all in odd positions and all in different hues. She shrugged and sighed at the same time, hoping she didn't appear to be too stupid. "Then again, you don't look all to clumsy either."[/color] Playfulness creeped into her voice as she said it, a warm smile crawling over her mug.

At first, Ashlynn wasn't all too sure if she'd done something wrong or if something had occured in his mind, but the teenager in front of her seemed rather distracted for a second. He fumbled with words it looked like, until something fairly unusual came from his mouth. Realizing her red bangs had slipped into her eyes yet again, she tucked them back, face burning a bright red. She did need a hair cut, that was rather obvious to her. At least he'd noticed. That was always a good thing. By too long did he mean she looked like an idiot? Or that her eyes shouldn't have been covered? Knowing her, it was probably something completely out of context, but he sounded cheery like he had before. Like nothing was wrong. Realizing he meant no harm, she warmly looked at him, telling him there she meant a thank you she couldn't voice. Curiosity bit into her as he and Raziel neared each other. He seemed to like the Beldum, just as the creature liked the boy. He shifted his hands under Raz, probably just wondering how the levitation worked, and looked at the blue thing with curiosity. Had he liked the Psychic type? Did he? Either way, Raz all but danced in the air around him, excited.

Chuckling as the boy made his way over rather quickly after he checked under Raziel, she held out her hand to meet his, grasping on firmly. "Not a problem! Don't worry about it. It's nice to meet you too, Galen! Never heard that name before... It's rather enjyoable."[/color] Smiling, she wished she could test it on her lips a few more times. So this was the mystery boy. Galen. Tilting her head, she moved her legs so he could position his lanky self comfortably. Realizing she still had his hand, she dropped it softly and continued on with her thoughts, doing her best to keep from blushing. "Snowpoint? How awesome! It had to be so fun ot live in the Sinnoh Region... I lived on Shamouti Island in the Orange Archipelago. Talk about two different worlds!"[/color] How funny! A Sinnoh trainer, too... She realized that must have been why he was dressed with a scarf on. Though it was colder out, she wore shorts year round. In fact, she believed she couldn't be cold if she was buck naked on an iceburg.

Raziel rushed over to them, scuffling himself onto the floor once or twice before levatating just above the ground in front of them. Ash just rolled her eyes - Pokémon would be Pokémon. Curiosity most surely crawled back into her at the second he spoke once more, lighting her up with questions. "I'm afraid my house was never this nice. I'm a new coordinator, for sure. You are here for your starter Pokémon, right?" She spoke lightly, adding humor in where she found necessary. Instead of adding more, though, she looked up in surprise to hear footsteps. A girl, probably an aide, stood there, looking at the two in surprise. Shooting a look at Galen, she decided to speak for both of them. "Yeah, we are! My name's Ashlynn and this is Galen."[/color] She smiled like they were old friends and stood up, offering a hand to the first coordinator she spoke to since she'd gotten to the harbour.[/size]

words ; 961
notes ; +1 happiness - Raziel
credit ; here!

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[Ozfiz]

Galen Rhody

You could say he was a little surprised to see all the bruising on her. Ash really hadn't been lying about being a bit of a klutz. He supposed it really did make sense that girls could be clumsy too, it was not as though there was anything really different about the two genders. It was not as though he had never seen any rough-and-tumble girls, Rainy had been like that. Though she some how managed not to get so marked up. "So you're just covered in bruises, then? Well, that might give you away." He teased, though, he did check to see if there was any other marks he might have seen if he had paid more attention.

His smile pulled up on one side when she said he didn't look clumsy. "I don't heal quickly, though." He pulled up one of his sleeves, showing off the scars, none were really horrible looking, not pulling it up far enough to show off the beauty he had gotten from an angry Sneasel before his mother's Jynx had been able to step in and help. "Nothing wrong with some battle scars- they aren't that hard to get, I'm sure you'll get some." He had always been sort of proud about his scars, he felt pretty wimpy a lot of the time, they seemed to prove he could deal with rough times and get through it just fine.

The idea that maybe scars were not appealing to all never occurred to him, just like it never occurred that anything he had said might have made her self conscious. He only had the best of intentions- that was what mattered right? Besides, she was smiling and acting friendly, not like he would expect someone to if they were upset. It seemed like a very relaxed atmosphere between them- certainly with Raziel bouncing around happily. Galen couldn't help but chuckle at his reaction. What a sweetie- not that he would say that out loud. "Sweetie" was not a good manly word.

She had a good strong handshake- and that was impressive. He found that he didn't get that a lot from people his own age- it was more the over-enthusiastic adults, but he did not mind. He could take it. He was not quite sure what to say to the fact she had never heard his name before. "I've never met an Ashlynn before. Ashley's, but not an Ashlynn." He nodded, unaware of the fact she still had his hand as she moved a bit so he could fit his long legs in. "Thanks." It was always good to acknowledge when someone did something nice for you, even if it was something small.

The Orange Archipelago, it took him a moment to put the name to the place. "Oh! Gee, I guess that's pretty different indeed." That was a tourist spot- he remembered hearing about his grandparents going, the reason why they did not have to go down like they regularly did to visit them. "I dunno, I guess it was. It's the only place I've been, so it's hard to say." Had she been somewhere else? It did not seem possible to him, and quickly dismissed the thought.

His attempts to keep his eyes on Ash were thwarted when he heard Raziel's heavy metal body hitting against the ground. He bit down on his lip, doing his best not to laugh before he forced himself to look back over at her. His eyes were bubbling with laughter, none-the-less though. "Oh, I'm sure it was a nice house. This place is very..." He let the sentence drift off as he gave the room a proper once over. It was definitely something else. He snapped back to attention, blinking over at her when she questioned him. "Yep! First pokemon ever. I'm excited." He probably did not need to say that last part though, the way he had straightened up and fidgeting with his scarf.

It wasn't long though before someone appeared to help them out. He was a little stunned, and definitely not sure what to do. A sudden wave of shyness overtook him, and he was glad that Ashlynn had pipped up. He tightened his scarf, staying seated for a moment before bouncing up and nodding enthusiastically. He had almost forgotten that he didn't know which one he wanted- and no doubt he was going to be floored.

[POKÉMON & NPCS]

AIDE LUCY WINTERS

"Well hello there, Ashlynn and Galen," Lucy said, her smile friendly and wide. But then she noticed the boy's actions, and her smile had a hint of amusement in it. She was wondering how these two would get along. It was obvious that the girl was very outgoing although the boy seemed to be a little on the shy side. Lucy was now curious to see which Pokemon they would choose as well. Sometimes, a shy boy might choose something likea Nidoran, and evolve it to a mighty Nidoking. One would think it would be more fitting to a more dominant person, but Lucy had seen those kinds of people choose a Caterpie or maybe an Igglybuff instead. Not only that, but the girl already seemed to have a Beldum, and maybe that might affect her choice. After all, there was no saying whether or not the Beldum would become jealous.

"Azumaril, will you be a dear and get me two starter packs?" She asked her Pokemon. The Azumaril made a face--he always had to go do that--but then Lucy gave his ear one of those strokes, and the Pokemon couldn't help but smile. As the blue Pokemon toddled off into the room to go find two of those packs, Lucy turned over to the two to-be coordinators: "And you two can follow me."

With a little gesture of her hand for the others to follow, Lucy started after her Azumaril. She made sure that she slowed down her pace so that she wasn't too far behind the other kids. Then, as she couldn't control her curiosity, she asked, "Do you have an idea of which Pokemon you'd like?"

claimed by rex!

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