Clash of Characters

Celine smirked at the sprawling city roads of Karyuu. This was the kind of city she was used to, having lived in Obsidian Town, near to the larger Bytebeat City for all of her life. This was the scene she was ready for! Though she was nowhere close to being ready to challenge the Gym Leader here -he had level 50 pokemon!- she still decided to visit the town to scope out the competition of trainers here. She'd challenge some to check their toughness, for sure. She looked down at the single pokeball at her belt. She definitely needed to catch another pokemon, but that would be for a day when she was on a Route. She picked out the pokeball and released her Aerodactyl, Auro. He shrieked as he emerged into the world, sending shivers down her spine like his cry always did. She loved the sound of his cry, as if she was hearing into the ancient past of the world, when fossil pokemon like Auro ruled the earth. She ran her hands between the horns on his head, and he rumbled deep in his throat, enjoying the attention.

After catching her very first Pokemon, Valka returned to Karyuu. After all, upon receiving her first Pokemon, surely she would want to tell her friends and parents. The excitement of finding a dragon type washed over Val's spirit, causing her to smile widely while running through the streets. She held her Goomy in her arms, in such a way so he would not slip and fall, for she didn't want to keep him in a pokeball for a second. Her running speed pushed back the hood on her head, which she didn't want to fix for fear of dropping Spry.

Spry looked about at what was ahead, viewing the city as an all, taking in the sights of towering buildings and busy people. His antennae-like lobes atop his head twitched with curiosity, bobbing up and down with his trainer's movement. He heard "almost there" being whispered from above to him, causing him to smile.

The two smiling partners made way through the streets, passing everyone, many of which Val nodded at as a "hello," and those to whom she did, surprised and happy to see her carrying a Pokemon.

Celine walked through the streets of Karyuu, stopping and looking at the sights and vendors, just to pass the time. She was hoping to find a trainer she could battle. She spotted a girl walking along with a Goomy carried in her arms. She grinned maliciously. Her Auro could take out a little Goomy like that easily! She rushed over to the girl, preventing her from walking any further. "I'm Celine Dubois, and I challenge you to a pokemon battle!" she announced loudly, drawing the attention of the passerby.

Valka, still looking down at her little Spry, looked up to see someone in front of her, startled as if she was going to crash. But instead, the stranger challenged Val to a battle.
So this is how it is, then... For a trainer... Just to have some random person approach and challenge...

She looked to her Goomy, who seemed excited to be having a first battle.
"We accept." she stated, setting Spry down onto the ground. The dragon tamer's hood was already lowered. One less step to go through before battle.
I suppose I could show my family and friends after a battle.

Why it took her until now to notice the opponents Pokemon, she didn't know. But she wasn't afraid of losing, rather awestruck. It had a powerful, wonderfully dragon-like appearance. Val wanted to go see it, but she had already accepted the battle and decided to save the greeting for afterward, and maybe, hopefully, some introductions.

Celine grinned sharply at the girl's acceptance of her challenge. She smirked at the oozing dragon-type pokemon, and gestured for Auro to join the battling field. He did with a loud shriek, glaring down at his opponent with his onix eyes. He glanced back to Celine, his eyes rolling. Celine smirked at Auro, knowing that he was complaining about the tiny size of his opponent.

"Show them what true power is, Auro! Quickly, use Dragon Breath!" she called.

Auro shrieked loudly and took in a deep breath. Then a blaze of purple and blue flames shot out of his mouth at the Goomy.

The battle had started quickly. The ancient flying-type was much faster than Valka's Goomy as it made the first move. A long range dragon-type Attack, super-effective of course.
"Defend with bubble!"
She commanded, the two attacks battling it out on power. In the end, the more powerful attack succeeded. The purple and blue trusted past the stream of bubbles, engulfing Spry and leaving him knocked out on the ground. Val picked up her partner and held him beside her head.
"It's okay, bud." she whispered. "There's a Pokemon center nearby."

She put her exhausted dragon type in her large jacket pocket and approached the victor, nodding her head in acceptance.
"May I congratulate on your victory with such a beautiful specimen." She stated, viewing the powerful and awesome Pokemon before her, dipping her head in acknowledgement to him.
"I don't suppose I could pet him, could I?"

Celine smirked as the trainer attempted to have her Goomy defend against Auro's Dragon Breath with a mere bubble. Auro's attack easily rammed through the weak bubble and sent the Goomy sprawling. She had won, and it felt oh-so satisfying.

The girl seemed to take her loss in stride, and picked up her pokemon carefully and put it inside her jacket. Celine wrinkled her nose. She liked Goomy as much as the next dragon admirer, but to actually put the oozy pokemon inside a jacket? That took guts.

Then the girl requested to pet Auro and Celine's smirk grew wider. This girl really had guts. Most people instinctively backed away from Auro's intimidating stature and sharp claws. "Sure you can pet him, if you have the guts. Auro, do be nice to her, she seems like a worthwhile person to know, even if her Goomy lost to ya."

Auro let out a low cry of agreement, and lowered his head to the girl.

Seeing that the Pokemon willingly allowed its petting, Valka reached out a gentle hand to his face. She stroked the side of his face, bringing her hand up to his forehead, which she pet a couple of times. Some strokes were small, sometimes long, and some she brought up to his horns. Despite his smug sort of attitude, he seemed to be enjoying it at least a little.

After feeling satisfied with praising the beautiful Pokemon's victory with a short petting, Valka sat back onto the ground and sorted through her bag, pulled up her hood, and tapped her Goomy lovingly inside her pocket.
"Now to go to my family. They've yet to see my Pokemon. I think I should first heal him, though..." she said, looking down the road for the familiar street where the Pokemon center was.

"Oh, you just got that Goomy?" Celine asked, surprised. "Well no wonder you couldn't battle me, I've had Auro here for ten years!" She stated proudly.

"You definitely need to get some training in, then! Come on, let's get to the Pokemon Center so your Goomy is back to normal!" she stated, grabbing the girl's hand and trying to pull her along to where she knew the Center was.

Hmm... No wonder her Aerodactyl was so powerful... She thought. They've had the chance to bond over the course of years...

She thought a bit as she stroked Goomy's antennae in her pocket, half-heartedly listening to the other trainer. Suddenly, she felt herself being grabbed and pulled down the street. She stumbled at first, not expecting to be pulled, but caught up with her pace and was able to feel less dragged. Besides the painful pulling on her wrist, of course. This person had a tight grip. While one arm was being pulled, the other was inside her pocket to make sure Spry didn't fall out. That would be terrible. The imagined "splat" sound echoed in her mind. Blegh

Celine dragged the girl to the Pokemon Center. "There ya go! Now hurry and heal your pokemon, there's lots to do if you're ever going to be as powerful as me!" she stated arrogantly, not caring if the girl had other things to do. She hadn't really thought about it. She just wanted a worthy rival, and surely a trainer with a dragon type pokemon would be the perfect rival, right?

Valka walked into the center calmly, not feeling the need to rush. She listened to the kind lady at the reception talk, Val simply placing Spry onto the counter. The Nurse looked at the Pokemon for a second, and called in her Wigglytuff, who came out with a tray to put the squishy dragon on. The helper Pokemon then brought Spry to the healing room, where all sorts of medical gadgets were.

Spry felt faint; after all, he did faint. It was a kind of dizziness. His loss felt too quick, even for such a fast-paced and energetic pokemon like he. Put as soon as he finished healing, he felt as happy as ever, being put back into his trainer's arms, as she brought him back outside. Next up, Val's house.

Celine waited impatiently while the girl's Goomy was being healed. Then she suddenly remembered that she didn't even know the girl's name! How embarrassing was that, to not know your own rival's name? "Oh, I never caught your name. Mine's Celine, if you hadn't gathered already."

"I'm Valka."
I was wondering when she'd ask that...
"Spry's all set. Now time to go to my house."

Her Goomy was once again in her arms, stroking his antennae, which made him purr in his own gooey way. He seemed to like it a lot.

Fortunately, Val's house wasn't too far away, only a few blocks straight from here. Even more fortunately, she didn't have to be dragged because the—Celine didn't know where to go. It would still be weird if she walked in with Val, her parents would wonder who she was, ask a bunch of questions... And Celine would obviously be Celine... Worst case cenario: Aero destroys the whole city.

"oh ok. Nice name!" She said. "Sounds cool... like a dragon trainer name," she mused aloud. She then followed Valka to her house. "Um... I'll just wait out here, huh? It would be weird for me to go in your house, after all." she stated easily, sitting down on one of the benches that lined the street. Auro landed on the bench next to her and she stroked him lightly, causing him to purr in enjoyment.

"Okay."

The new acquaintance didn't really seem all too bad to Valka. She was just somewhat childish, thus a tiny bit rude and annoying, but not too different from a few of Val's friends. She grew up learning to cope with people like that.

Holding her Goomy tight with anticipation, Val walked in to see her family again. A younger brother, twin sisters, her mom and her dad. They looked surprised and proud to see Valka had a Pokemon of her own. Sceptile ran up to greet her, while Charizard smiled to her from a distance. Her baby brother ran up and hugged her legs, petting the Goomy, and running back to sit on the floor. The younger twins looked at it, adoring and coveting the cute little guy. Her father patted her on the back with approval, saying "good job," and her mom looked overjoyed, who then walked into the kitchen to retrieve some Pokepuffs she made. Valka thanked her and hugged her, feeding the Pokepuffs to Spry and announcing she was going on a journey to become a dragon tamer. After quick chat about how she found him, she was back out the door, waving goodbye to them and turning back to the streets, the door shutting behind her. She expected the usual comment from Celine, who was petting her Aerodactyl.

Celine looked up a while later as Valka stepped out of her house with her Goomy. Celine finished petting Auro as she stood up. "Did your parents let you go on your journey? There's so many sights to see! Hey, wanna travel together? We could totally beat any trainer we came across if we teamed up!" she offered excitedly.

Valka listened to the excited Celine.
"Of course they did. - Traveling together would be pretty cool..." Val didn't really need to think about it too long. Having such a tough and cool partner would be an advantage. There might be a few things they didn't agree on along the way, but that wouldn't be too much of a problem, seeing that Val agreed to almost anything. It could be worth a try, being with a reckless half-opposite. Plus, she would get to hang around Aero more, whom the dragon-lover had taken a liking to. They could be there to see each other's Pokemon grow and develop, maybe even evolve, as they catch new Pokemon, earn badges and ribbons, face challenges and easy pickings together. She didn't mind being a little minion of someone, so it would be pretty cool to have a "boss".

Celine grinned triumphantly. She had a traveling partner! They were going to bowl over everyone and win every battle, she just knew it! Sure, there had been that loss against Summer earlier, and that stupid, annoying boy she met in Gardevant -who STILL owed her a battle, but whatever. Now that she had Valka, no one would beat them!

"Well then let's go! Should we find someone to battle first? Or do you want to see the sights of Karyuu? I heard there's this awesome place down by the Pokemon Center that has really good food... Or we could go out on some routes and find new pokemon for our teams! Oh, I'm so excited!" she squealed to Valka.

Valka wondered why Celine was telling her about places here, especially after she found out Val's family lived here, therefore she used to as well. But there was no arguing with the energetic other. Valka hadn't eaten since she set out to catch a dragon, which she had been searching for who-knows-how-long. Days, maybe, because of the distance. How she could've possibly survived that long without a meal, she didn't know. She supposed it was because she found a few berries and apples along the way, and that she packed a few Pokepuffs for the journey, but it made her feel sick knowing she only ate junk.

"Alright. I know my way back. We can eat, challenge some people, and then explore Harmony." She said in a sort of dry voice. She was thirsty, too. She could really go for a Max Elixer Au Lait.... Goomy gnawed on her arm, indicating he, too, was somewhat hungry for something besides the six Pokepuffs he'd eaten earlier, so the choice would work out well.

Celine facepalmed as she realized something -Valka lived here! So she would know her way around Karyuu like the back of her hand! "Oh, duh... You live here, of course you know your way around. Silly me."

She looked at Auro, who rolled his eyes at her, gently nudging her with his wing joint. "Oh be quiet, you," she said, knowing that he was laughing at her.

Auro let out a cry, eyes sparkling with amusement, and shot into the air so that she couldn't poke him back. Celine rolled her eyes and turned her attention to her new friend again.

"Well, shall we head out?"

Valka was at first confused as to why Celine smacked her face with a flat hand, that is, until she spoke. She finally remembered Val lived here. Her next question was rather odd, considering Valka pretty much just stated the whole plan, but there was no point in arguing.
"Sure. Where to?"

Due to the fact her hasty friend knew a bit about the town, surely she could find her way around, including to the exit. If they were leaving already, anyway. Wherever they went next, Val was certain it would be good enough to skip a meal. After all, this was a journey, and sacrificing and suffering would all be a casual part of it.

Celine grinned and ran ahead, leading the way to the restaurant she had spotted earlier, unaware of her companion's misunderstanding of her words. She impatiently hopped from foot to foot as she waited for her friend to appear. "Table for two please," she stated happily to the hostess who was looking at her like she was crazy.

"Alright, but your pokemon needs to go into its pokeball when you're in the restaurant, young lady," the hostess informed her crisply. Celine's smile fell, but she returned Auro anyway.

Valka followed her willingly to the café. It was her favorite when she was young. She always used to go there for breakfast with her father, and they would always order waffles. They would discuss all things Pokemon, one conversation wondering if there were any waffle Pokemon. They had good times. But now she was apart from her family. It made her happy and sad all at once.

Seeing that no Pokemon were in the restaurant, plus the sign outside that stated
No Pokemon
Val hurriedly hid Spry in her jacket pocket, hoping it just looked like a few Pokeballs were in there. She never really noticed that sign before because it didn't matter to her; she never had a Pokemon before, so it wasn't of her concern until now. She wanted to keep her Goomy out because she wanted to spend as much time with him as possible, plus the fact she wanted to sneak him some food.

Despite Valka's obedience, if rules involve dragon-types in any way, like preventing her spending time with her own, she refuses to listen. Although, in a sneaky way, making sure she doesn't get caught. Dragins were more important to her than any rule, no matter how vital.

Celine sat at the table with Valka, and she ordered a Sitrus Berry Smoothie. Sitrus Berries were her favorite kind of berries. They were expensive, but since her father was rich, she'd never had to worry about such things. She perused the menu thoughtfully. Lobster legs were on sale today, and she did always like a good shellfish dinner. "I think I'll have the lobster legs they've got on sale. What are you going to get, Valka?"