Pokemon Wanderer

[Tricky]

"A Pokemon without its trainer is a wild Pokemon," these were a certain sceptile's thoughts as he attempted to avoid the huge crowds of Saffron City, home to so many humans and pokemon. Thing was, he wasn't anything. In his heart and his mind, he belonged to only one person, and that was Gie, the famous female pokemon master.

"I don't even know if she's alive..."

And he most likely wouldn't know until some stupid, mindless trainer would throw a pokeball at him, thinking it was their lucky day. If Gie was alive, then he wouldn't even be able to get into the ball, it would just hit him and fall to the ground.

"But what if I get in?" he dreaded. No matter how much he tried to surpress this thought, it came back to haunt him constantly. If he got in, then he would have the confirmation that his master, best friend, and life partner was dead. The one who'd trained him since he was a baby treeko.

Lost in his thoughts, he continued walking, barely avoiding the crowds of busy people and pokemon casting him strange glances, wondering what the hell a sceptile without a master was doing strolling the streets of Saffron City.

Attachments:

[Alice]

It was Alice's day off.

Well, not exactly. Tori didn't exactly know that Alice had the day off... <Whatever, she'll understand... I hope,> she giggled mentally. Alice always liked hanging around Saffron City, and it was never a dull moment. <Then again, with me, there never is a dull moment,> Alice laughed.

Alice crossed the street with a skip in her step. She wasn't letting the problems the Black Thorn were facing, or her missing brother, get her down. If there was one thing she learned while in captivity, it was to make the most of what you have. And Alice never wanted to let life be wasted in a sombre stupor. It was too much fun to let it get wasted that way.

It was then that she noticed the Sceptile strolling down the sidewalk. For a moment, Alice let her mouth drop open as she gawked at the sight of it. Then, a grin slowly spread across her face. <He's got guts, that's for sure!> she laughed.

Giddily, she skipped over to the Sceptile and tapped it on the shoulder. "Hiya Mr Sceptile!" Alice exclaimed. "I noticed you walking down the street, and I was saying to myself, 'There's something you don't see everyday!' Boy, I don't remember the last time I saw something like this! Although I do remember seeing a Blaziken a few decades back doing something similar... That was neat, I said hi to him too!"

[Tricky]

Tricky blinked in stupor at the sight of the grinning girl. Well, Latias was more like it. Though most of the humans around him could never tell the difference, any pokemon could immediately recognize another one. Plus, this one was speaking to him in his language.

<She doesn't know that I can speak Human now.>

"Hello," he cautiously replied. He was left rather perplex by the blaziken she'd mentioned.

<A Pokemon acting just like I currently am? Could it be he's had the same problems as me?> But no, it couldn't be. Not only that, but he had to be careful as well. After all, who knew what side this Latias was on. Even though they were known for being pure of heart, even a Latias could have been corrupted, or forced into doing nasty work for the mafia.

<Perhaps that's exactly what she wants: me, to gain my trust, then bring me back to the lab; or exterminate me.>

"Do you by any chance know where I could get some food?" he inquired, for not only was he rather hungry, he thought that it would seem suspicious if he just left on a distant hello.

[Alice]

<Awwww, he's all confused and cautious!> Alice thought giddily to herself. <That's so cute of him, being careful around little ol' me!>

"Oh, I know tons of places to get food!" Alice exclaimed excitedly. "I mean, for starters there's pizza places, burger joints, pizza places, salad bars, pizza places... Did I mention PIZZA PLACES?!?" Alice giggled, thinking of all the pizza parlours around town that she frequented. <One can never have too much pizza!>

"But I'm getting ahead of myself! How rude of me," Alice self scolded. "I'm Alice! The craziest, fastest, and nicest girl in the land! Although you probably know what I really am, but let's keep that between ourselves, kay?" Alice winked at the Sceptile, giggling. "Keeping secrets between people is so much fun!"

"Anyways, back on the topic of food! Where do you think you're interested in eating? I'd gladly show you were you can go eat!"

[Tricky]

"PIZZA?!" Had she just uttered that magnificent word, really?! Tricky found himself drooling, quickly followed by the sound of his stomach rumbling. And then he remembered Gie. Pizza was her favorite food, and the two of them would devour every slice available with no elegance whatsoever, temporarily forgetting their love and friendship for each other to only focus on their survival instincts. Because yes, fighting for your slice (or in their case, 'slices') was definitely an important basic instinct for the two of them. Touch the pizza and you died.

The memory saddened him and reduced his appetite to a more moderate level, though it didn't completely desert him.

"Could you..." He coughed in his paw. "Could you show me where?" He thought of introducing himself, but then remembered that he was tracked down by way too many people for that.

<I'll keep quiet unless she mentions it. In that case I'll have to find myself a code name.> He didn't like the thought of changing his master's surname, it made it seem like the page was turned and like he was moving on. And yet he had no choice. Gie's team was famous, especially her Amazing Trio: Tricky the Sceptile, Tyler the Typhlosion, and Paxton The Ampharos.

Ty, Packy.

<I wonder if they're alright...>

[Tori Ashwood]

The only way out is letting your guard down
And never die, forgotten alone
And forgive me my love, I stand here all alone
And I can see the bottom

[/color][/center]

Tori still didn't like being out by herself.

Despite the bright sun, despite the lack of shadows in which monsters could hide, Tori was still hesitant about scurrying around during the day. She hated herself for it; she hated that she had beaten this unwanted fear, only to gain it back, but there wasn't much she could do about it save for beating it again. And the only way to beat it was to go out into the world without a friend or protector nearby.

It was because of that reason she had decided to search for her third in command by herself. Michael had told her that Alice hadn't checked in for a while, not since arriving in Saffron City, and that someone needed to go check on her. Michael had offered to send someone else, but Tori had decided to go look instead. It was an excuse to get out of the house.

She had been out in the city for only a few hours when she spotted the redheaded woman. Immediately, Tori felt relief, and started towards her - hesitating when she saw the Grass Pokemon near her.

"Alice?" She asked, her voice quiet as she eyed the Pokemon. Tori walked carefully towards her TIC, reaching over to grab Alice's sleeve, "Alice, what in the world are you doing out here? I said scout, not... go meet wild Pokemon."

Despite her words, Tori's voice quivered slightly. Her eyes darted over to the shadows, then back to Alice. This was the fear she could never allow anyone, aside from those she truly trusted, to see. Apparently she trusted Alice enough.

Or she was just that nervous.

[Alice]

Alice grinned. "Sure! I'd love to show you a pizza place!" she chuckled. "I mean, it's not too often I get to bring a Sceptile to a pizza place... Hey, it sounds like the beginning of a joke! 'A Sceptile walks into a pizza place...' Hmmm, I know I can make a joke out of that one somehow, just give me some time and I'm sure I will!"

"Alice, what in the world are you doing out here? I said scout, not... go meet wild Pokemon."

Alice squee'd when she felt the tug on her sleeve and Tori's voice. She whipped around and threw her arms around Tori. "Tori!" she exclaimed. "You're just in time to join us for pizza! I'm gonna show Mr Sceptile to a pizza parlour, and we're gonna eat some! You can come too! And we can talk about politics!... or something."

Alice turned back to the Sceptile and said, "I should introduce you two! Mr Sceptile, this is Tori, one of my bestest bestest bestest buddies! And Tori, this is Mr Sceptile, the Pokemon I just met five minutes ago! See, you're both friends now!"

[Tricky]

He stared at the more umbrageous girl. Just as Alice was happy dovey and over excited, this one seemed a lot more reserved and was staring at him suspiciously. Tricky was about to say hi and introduce himself in Human, when he suddenly realized that a talking Pokemon (apart from the famous Meowth of Jessie and James as well as a few legendaries and psychic pokemon) wasn't normal. And thus the whole thing became a lot more awkward, as he glanced at Alice, silently pleading for her to help him out and speak for him.

"Sceptile, Sceptile! Sceptile, Sceptile Sceptile?! SCEPTILE? Sceptile," he spoke, which could loosely be translated as: 'HELP! How the HELL are we supposed to communicate?! I'm not a legendary remember? Though I am very please to meet her."

[Violet]

Disappear, disappear,
Thinner, thinner, into the air
Never really here; wasn't ever...
Like a thought brushing up against a... sigh...

Today, Horace and Maxine weren't on their leashes.

Violet could practically feel the joy of freedom rolling off her Houndooms in waves as they bounded ahead of her, and it made her smile, as well. While the two knew the leases were, for the most part, necessary, especially in the Mushroom Kingdom where it was either that or Pokeballs, they never had liked being chained up.

Besides, it didn't show the world how they really were with their owner.

The three were like siblings.

Horace was the one in front, and so the first to notice the strange scene beginning just before them. He skidded to a stop, wary of approaching, but... curious as to what was going on. It wasn't so often you saw a legendary-- a Latias, he noted-- hanging around in human form with a Sceptile and an actual human, talking to the human in a friendly manner.

Actually, it wasn't often you saw any Pokemon but he and his sister out of their Pokeballs when not fighting or doing anything else for the service of their masters.

"Horace?" Violet called, then, and the male Houndoom turned to look back at her.

"Something strange," he replied, just as Maxine stopped beside him. "I think.... I think we should see what's going on."[/i][/color]

Violet frowned, but nodded, coming up to stand beside him, as well. "Let's hope it's not trouble..."

"I'll rip their throats out if it is."

Violet chuckled at Maxine. "Yeah, Maxxy. I know."

[Tori Ashwood]

Tori squeaked when Alice pulled her into a hug, though she relaxed as soon as her body registered that this wasn't the brusing grip of a monster. This was the over-zealous, and oddly strong, but it definitely wasn't the sort of grip that was meant to hurt. So, she was able to give Alice a quick hug in return before the pixie-like girl started off talking again.

Tori turned to face the Pokemon Alice introduced her to and, though she was slightly curious as to what her friend was getting at, the young woman nodded her head in greetings. She wasn't used to speaking to those outside of her zone, such as humans and immigrants, so Pokemon were... different to her. Still, she smiled politely.

"We were getting worried about you, Alice," she said, turning her attention back to her TIC. Her eye softened, "You know the Cannibal's still on the loose..."

[Alice]

Alice pouted a little at Tori's comment. "I'm sorry... I just wanted to have fun!" she apologized. "You're right though... Then again, I'm sure the Cannibal wouldn't go after little ol' me in broad daylight in Saffron City." Alice laughed a little at the thought of the Cannibal chasing her. <He'd never be able to catch up to me!> she giggled mentally.

Alice turned back to Sceptile when he started speaking in only Pokemon and frowned a little. "Aww, I forgot about that," she sighed. "Ah well, I can pretend to be your extra special translator!" Almost immediately, Alice's smile returned, the light returning to her eyes. <What a quick way to fix that problem!> she laughed.

"Alrighty, well, Mr Sceptile says it's nice to meet you too! And... he wants to eat pizza! We still have to go eat pizza!" Alice exclaimed with glee. "Tori, we have to all go for pizza! I promised Mr Sceptile that we'd go, and it's safe there too! I mean, we can all go and have fun! Maybe there'll be one of those playlands attached to it and we can play in the ball pit!"

Alice giggled at the thought of that. "Wouldn't that be fun, Mr Sceptile? I bet ya you've never heard of one of those before! They are LOADS of fun!" Alice smiled. "We have to go show him Tori! It'd be a tragedy if we didn't!"

[Tricky]

Tricky nodded thankfully, gradually feeling more at ease. Alice seemed very nice and easy to talk to, even though he kept reminding himself that he had to be on his guard.
He glanced at the bushes on their far left and frowned. Somehow it just felt like...like someone was there.

<The labs have made you paranoid.> he mentally reproached himself. Instead, he turned back to face Alice, with her wide, delighted grin, and the more distant girl, who was standing slightly behind her and still observing him with cautious eyes, though she seemed more tired and curious than on her guard.

"Wherever you want to lead me, I will follow," he told Alice. The latter shot him a bewildered look, before smiling even more. Tricky, finally understanding the connotation of his words, was absolutely mortified to feel his cheeks burn, and undoubtedly redden.

"I...did not mean it that way!" he promised, shaking his head, as if that could hide his embarrassment. Had Tyler been here, he'd have said that he failed in life. But since his long time friend wasn't, all the poor sceptile could do was think this for himself, and mentally sigh, swearing that he would try to save himself from further humiliation.