MTG Salvation

The southern route leaving Celestia is a verdant one, lined with carefully trimmed trees and sculptured bushes. The road itself is lined with old cobblestones in excellent condition, kept repaired by the dutiful landscaping department of the city. Route 208, also called the Gardener's Way, is a scenic route serving as a hub between Celestia and many popular local tourist locations, such as the Combee Fields and the Great Petrified Forest.

As you enter it, you smell the fragrant scent of lilacs carried on a gentle breeze, and hear the song of nearby Starlies as they sing from their roosts in the well manicured trees and shrubs.

"Well this is pleasant," Devlyne says. He and his Whismur walk through the forest. "Let's see if we have better luck finding a pokemon to fight here."

The little pokemon runs ahead into big patch of tall weeds.

A wild Starly bursts forth from a small azalea bush growing near the grass. It dives into the weeded area, hoping the rustling Whismur has created is a sign of potential prey.

"Alright, Whismur, see how hard you can hit it!" Devlyne says happily.

Whismur pulls back one of its stubby arms and runs at the Starly full-tilt. It jumps toward the bird and throws a punch.

Devlyne remembers his pokedex and rips it out to scan the pokemon.

Starly swiftly dodged the attack, and then pecked Whismur on the head with its Peck attack.

Whismur gets a sharp rap to the head, and falls down on its butt. It sniffs softly for a moment then starts to scream louder than Devlyne had ever heard it cry before, using Uproar.

"Wait, Whismur!" he shouts, "You have to keep fighting!"

Whismur doesn't respond, and Devlyne is sure the pokemon couldn't hear him. He barely heard himself.

Taking its opportunities, the Starly began to fly away. Its small wings could only carry it so far, so fast, however, and within a few seconds, it dropped to the ground and began to ruffle its feathers in pain at the sound of the Uproar.

Trying to stop the noise, it began to peck at Whismur even more in an attempt to stop it.

Devlyne digs his ear plugs out of his pack and stuffs them in his ears.

Whismur gets hit again, but keeps screaming horribly.

Starly begins to weave back and forth in a wobbly fashion as the noise begins to wear on it. It hops up and beats its wings before diving down again. However, this blow misses Whismur altogether.

Chase finds a bench near the edge of town, and waits for Cassie to arrive.

Tony decided he could use some battle experience, as well as a new team-mate. He released his Charmander and scanned the area.

Whismur will just not stop screaming. Devlyne considers making him stop, but he sees that it seems to be working quite effectively. He is extremely thankful he bought those ear-plugs.

Chase gave his watch a quick glance. The day was still young, and barring any complications they should have no trouble reaching one of the camping spots before dark.

"Let's be off then," he said to Cassie as he put his watch away. He pulled a Pokeball off his belt and released his Murkrow, which promptly perched itself on Cassie's backpack and gave a long "Murrrrr?" "Knock it off, Poe," Chase chided, pulling a black backpack over his shoulders. Poe eyed Cassie curiously for a second, then fluttered over and lighted on Chase's pack instead.

"That's a Ralts, isn't it?" Chase asked. "I've heard of them, but I've never seen one first hand." He gave the Pokemon a quick scan with his Pokedex as they walked.

"So they're empathic then," Chase mused, his attention focused on the Ralts. "Makes it easy for them to sense and avoid nearby threats, I'd imagine. Helps the young ones survive long enough to develop stronger psychic abilities." He put a hand to his chin as he continued to observe Pokemon.

"We'll just keep heading south along the path," Chase replied. "Anna said it will take a couple of days, so we'll have make camp about halfway. This pamphlet I got at the Ranger station shows some good spots."

Chase continued to walk at a leisurely pace. He was quite relaxed for the most part, though he made a point to keep an eye on the tall grass just in case.

Chase stopped suddenly. A movement (or at least what he thought was movement) in the grass up ahead had caught his eye. He got Poe's attention with a snap of his fingers and pointed to the grass up ahead. The murkrow obediently took to the air and began circling above the grass looking for the object of his trainer's curiosity.

Apparently there as nothing for Tony over here. Disappointed, he left for Celestia City.

The pidgey seemed to almost shrug as it flew in the air, then shot up through the trees and away into the forest. Whismur didn't seem to notice however, and continued to wail.

Devlyne ran over and scooped him up. He stood on one knee with Whismur in his lap. "Alright little guy, you done yet?"

Whismur hiccuped a few times, and stopped crying.

"I guess we technically won that one." Devlyne said smiling. He carefully put his pokemon down. "Lets go back to town, maybe battle a trainer or go to Star Reach to challenge the gym leader. I'd bet we'd find some wild pokemon on the way."

Whismur softly agreed and they walked back toward the town.

OOC: Does this route go anywhere?

Michael entered the route, tired of water pokemon, he ordered Absol to headbutt into a large tree to see if any bug pokemon would come out.

Michael scanned the pokemon and then sent out Cyndaquil who started firing fiery embers down at the bug pokemon

Cyndaquil started running around in happiness due to it's recent win. Absol played with it for a while. Cyndaquil was even happier at the fact that it was now faster than Absol. Meanwhile Micheal threw a pokeball at the unconscious cacoon pokemon.

He picked up the pokeball. It was getting late so he decided to call it a day.

But when he walked into the city, a peculiar building caught his eye. It was a perfect time for a late night battle.

Icarus entered Route 208, his Shroomish bouncing along after him. He was immediately greeted by the smells of the forest, brilliant swathes of lilacs, and the calming evergreen. This was all so new to him, the route, the independence, even the Pokemon. Then it dawned on him; I have no idea if my Shroomish is male or female!

Having experienced this minor epiphany, Icarus promptly turned around to face his fungi-like companion. "Erm...listen..."

"Shroooo?" responded the Pokemon with the utmost innocence.

"Are you...um, male or female?"

"Shrooo?"

"Oh...um, how do I put this..." This wasn't going well, five minutes into his journey and he was having difficulties connecting with his Pokemon. If this was giving them trouble, how in the world would they be able to battle together? "I guess what I'm saying is...nod if your a boy"

The Shroomish nodded immediatly, its round body bobbing back and forth like a hit bowling pin. "Whew, at least I got that out of the way. So your male...I should probably give you a nickname. Do you like Mushy?" At the word "Mushy" the Shroomish stuck his tounge out. "Hmm, guess not, how about...Cappy? Like mushroom cap?"

The Shroomish again nodded in agreement. "Alright, good, your Cappy!" Happy to finally connected with his Pokemon, Icarus and Cappy continued along route 208.