► I NEED TO BE BOLD

[LUCY BRIGHT]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=cellpadding,15px,true][bg=1b1b1b][atrb=rules,none,bTable][atrb=style, width:400px;padding:12px;background-color:#f7f7f7; border:15px solid #e6e6e6;] i need to jump in the cold water! lucy, you can do it. the trees swayed in the balmy summer breeze, picking up strands of lucy's long hair. she stood in front of the pathway that wound from nuvema town into the mass of trees and grass and arceus-knows what else. frieda was on her shoulder, large eyes blinking as she stared with lucy. the young woman had already gained her starter, and now there was no turning back from her pokemon journey. still, here she stood on her first route, still unable to shake the fears. becoming a pokemon trainer was commitment to a life-long occupation. she wasn't doubtful; this was what she wanted to do with her life, but that didn't stop those worries from creeping into her head. being a pokemon trainer meant that she would be in charge of so many pokemon--what if she wasn't good enough? worried, she started to chew on the point of her upper lip, only to get jolted out of her thoughts when frieda nudged her cheek with her large horn. "piii~?" the caterpie blinked at lucy and those large dark eyes seemed to clear all of her worries. "don't worry. i'm just being silly," lucy explained, smiling. and so, she embarked down route 1, finally starting her journey. the pokemon egg in her arms jostled with every step, though she merely tightened her grip around it. the egg was now in her care, and she would do anything to take care of it and the pokemon inside. how could she ever have doubted her choice when she already had two pokemon who depended on her? she had yet to get to know either of them (one was still inanimate), but already she felt a deep fondness for both. prattling on, as lucy always did, she started traipsing through the grassier areas, still rather unaware to the fact that there were wild pokemon lurking about. FRIEDA | LVL 5 | SHIELD DUST | TACKLE & STRING SHOT & BUG BITE

[NOKI --- ♥]

A WILD WURMPLE APPEARED!
LEVEL 2 | ABILITY SHIELD DUST | FEMALE
MOVES: STRING SHOT, TACKLE

Nibbling on some grass, and getting rather chubby with the day spent only eating... The red caterpillar pokemon stretched out its tiny body in the sun. Nothing could be more relaxing than this! Just as she was about to go to sleep, a human walked by startling her enough to grab onto the legs that nearly had her tumbling to the ground.

WILD WURMPLE STARTED CLINGING TO LUCY'S LEG!

[LUCY BRIGHT]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=cellpadding,15px,true][bg=1b1b1b][atrb=rules,none,bTable][atrb=style, width:400px;padding:12px;background-color:#f7f7f7; border:15px solid #e6e6e6;] i need to jump in the cold water! talking and filling the silence, lucy really was wrapped up in her own world. she talked about everything, first telling frieda about her childhood and her parents and her older sister daisy. actually, she talked a lot about daisy. her older sister had been something of a role model in her youth and it could be said that she still was. daisy was tall and gorgeous and just everything that lucy wasn't. she would be, though, someday. and this was all that she told the little caterpie, who did her best to try and keep up with her trainer's stream of consciousness. lucy didn't even notice when she trodded rather close to the little (?) wurmple, and it's quite possible that she never would have, had frieda not called out, pulling lucy out of her own world. "hm?" lucy stopped walking, still oblivious to the clinging pokemon. she looked around, wondering what frieda had reacted to, and finally looked down when she felt something tug around her ankles. at the sight of the wurmple, she let out a little gasp. a pokemon on her leg? when did this happen? "oh hello there," she cooed, bending down to sit on her heels. gently, she removed the little pokemon from her leg and set it down back in the grass, still smiling. the poor thing. she still couldn't figure out why it had been attached to her leg, though she was sure it was probably frightened out of its mind. frieda crawled down from lucy's shoulder to her knee and peeked over, just barely looking at the other pokemon. "piii?" FRIEDA | LVL 5 | SHIELD DUST | TACKLE & STRING SHOT & BUG BITE

[NOKI --- ♥]

A WILD WURMPLE APPEARED!
LEVEL 2 | ABILITY SHIELD DUST | FEMALE
MOVES: STRING SHOT, TACKLE

Back, and fourth. Urgh, she was getting motion sickness with every step this girl took. Her sight was spinning and she only clung tighter as if in one wild ride until the girl stopped moving. Those leaves she was eating better not come back up! Blinking a couple times while being picked up to be placed elsewhere, she wriggled her little stubs of legs, 'Dude, feels like I'm flying!' she wriggled happily before being placed down. oh how that was shortly lived.

Turning to face the human, she didn't know what to do when faced with these things. She eye balled the other bug Pokemon that accompanied the bipedal creature, and shot out a little string shot of nothing to try and get its full attention.

WILD WURMPLE PATHETICALLY STRING SHOT CATERPIE.

[LUCY BRIGHT]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=cellpadding,15px,true][bg=1b1b1b][atrb=rules,none,bTable][atrb=style, width:400px;padding:12px;background-color:#f7f7f7; border:15px solid #e6e6e6;] i need to jump in the cold water! having lived in johto for ... well, all of her life, lucy didn't recognize the foreign pokemon. though, already she thought it was absolutely adorable. it looked so happy, and she did catch the way it waved its stubby little legs around. so cute~! curious, she fumbled around in her bag to pull out the pokedex that she had been given at the beginning of her journey. WURMPLE - it loves to eat leaves. it spits a white silk that turns sticky when it contacts air. it is used to immobilize foes. often targeted by bird pokémon, it desperately resists by releasing poison from its tail spikes. from the device, she learned almost everything about the little pokemon and was suddenly glad that she had picked it up around the middle, safely avoiding those toxic tail spikes. another bug pokemon, though. lucy was still unsure as to what she should do, but she knew that she wanted this little wurmple on her team. however, lucy had been a little preoccupied with the pokedex and hadn't paid much attention to the two bug pokemon. when the wurmple shot the string shot in frieda's direction, the caterpie ducked down to hide behind lucy's knee, squealing. eyes wide, the little pokemon slowly peeked up again, trembling. it was the shaking that got lucy's attention, and, oblivious to what had happened before, she picked up frieda and set her down in front of the wurmple. obviously, the two just wanted to make friends. it was to her surprise that frieda, scared out of her skin, hastily returned with a string shot of her own, though it was misjudged and possibly a little off target. frieda returned with a pathetic string shot of her own FRIEDA | LVL 5 | SHIELD DUST | TACKLE & STRING SHOT & BUG BITE

[NOKI --- ♥]

A WILD WURMPLE APPEARED!
LEVEL 2 | ABILITY SHIELD DUST | FEMALE
MOVES: STRING SHOT, TACKLE

Staring at the talking gadget in the girl's hand, the Wurmple instantly thought 'WITCHCRAFT!' Entranced by the device that made her hands talk, she didn't notice nor care too much that the little Caterpie of hers was scared to bits. That was until it was placed right in front of her. What did it have to be afraid of? not like she had a giant human following her around! the fear of being squished.

She blinked a couple times seeing the string shot fly by, just a little off target. Feeling as though she was the big bug on campus with this one shivering in its exoskeleton, puffing out her chest to seem bigger and braver, she waddled closer to the other bug to pat it on the head with one of her stubs.

---

[LUCY BRIGHT]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=cellpadding,15px,true][bg=1b1b1b][atrb=rules,none,bTable][atrb=style, width:400px;padding:12px;background-color:#f7f7f7; border:15px solid #e6e6e6;] i need to jump in the cold water! the string shot missed (by a mile, really), but lucy still deemed it as unprovoked and uncalled for. so she picked frieda up and placed her aside, further from the wurmple. "arceus, frieda, what's wrong?" lucy said, "she was just trying to be nice." but the caterpie was still shaking and now wriggling around to situate herself so that lucy was in between her and that terrifying monster--which was growing bigger by the second! frieda, who originated from a small lab and saw nothing but other little caterpie, had no idea what this strange pokemon was, and all she knew was that it was red and spiky--and spiky was never good. the poor thing looked like she was about to pass out. lucy frowned and picked up the little caterpie and placed her in front of her, though further from the wurmple. "it's okay, frieda," she cooed, "see? she's just being friendly." as the wurmple came closer, frieda let out a fearful chirp, though she was held in place by lucy's strangely firm hands. out of fear, tears welled up in her large eyes and she seemed to shrink into the grass with the wurmple's every step. it was coming closer! what if it ate her? or worse! her trembling got worse when she saw one of those stubby legs coming closer and closer. out of fear, she closed her eyes, expecting the worst-- when all she felt was a little pat on her head. sniffling, frieda opened one eye and looked up at the other bug pokemon. so it wasn't dangerous? though she was still sniffling, the caterpie stopped trembling, at least, and straightened up a little. "pii~?" she vocalized, eyes wide as she stared up at the wurmple. she was still for a moment as she tried to size up the other pokemon, then decided everything was okay. much less frightened now, she nudged the wurmple with the large horn atop her head. "pi." FRIEDA | LVL 5 | SHIELD DUST | TACKLE & STRING SHOT & BUG BITE

[NOKI --- ♥]

A WILD WURMPLE APPEARED!
LEVEL 2 | ABILITY SHIELD DUST | FEMALE
MOVES: STRING SHOT, TACKLE

She wriggled happily where she stood (?), a little wiggle worm like dance when the Caterpie poked back. Her little arms flailing up and down while she winced, the only sign that she could give close enough to a smile. She was starting to like these two. Especially the Caterpie. Stopping in mid dance/side thrust thing, she looked up at the human with yearn in her eyes. If she ever wanted to grow wings, she needed to become stronger... that would take time in the wild. With wings and friends in promise, she decided.. she wanted to go with these two.

WURMPLE WANTS TO JOIN LUCY!

[LUCY BRIGHT]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=cellpadding,15px,true][bg=1b1b1b][atrb=rules,none,bTable][atrb=style, width:400px;padding:12px;background-color:#f7f7f7; border:15px solid #e6e6e6;] i need to jump in the cold water! a wide smile grew on lucy's face as she saw frieda make nice with the little wurmple. she was so glad that the two were friends now. two little bug pokemon, best of friends. when the little wurmple started to dance, she let out a little chuckle. so cute. the happiness seemed to be contagious, though: even frieda started to tremble, but in excitement this time. "piiii~" she cried out, unable to contain it all. but then the wurmple stopped dancing--at least, lucy thought that's what she was doing--and looked up at lucy with those wide eyes and lucy just knew that the little pokemon was trying to tell her something. perhaps ... well, she had heard it was rare, but sometimes, pokemon joined teams without ever having to battle. trainers could befriend wild pokemon, and sometimes they'd be convinced to join them so they could journey together. she looked down at the little pokemon, before moving to rummage in her bag. she wasn't exactly sure if that's what she wanted, but trying couldn't hurt anything, right? plus, she was rather excited that her first wild pokemon encounter had ended so well. she pulled the little red and white sphere from her bag and held it out to the wurmple, button facing out. "here," she said, trying to explain, "if you want to join us, you can just tap that button there. i'm not sure what happens next, but that means you can join us"--she paused to gesture at her, frieda, and the little egg in her arms--"on our little journey." there was a friendly but nervous smile on her face, as she was unsure if she was even doing the right thing. luckily, frieda was there to semi-translate. if not word for word, at least the little caterpie was doing the best she could to try and explain what was going on and what that strange device was. she might be a shy little thing, but already she had taken a liking to this wurmple. FRIEDA | LVL 5 | SHIELD DUST | TACKLE & STRING SHOT & BUG BITE

[NOKI --- ♥]

A WILD WURMPLE APPEARED!
LEVEL 2 | ABILITY SHIELD DUST | FEMALE
MOVES: STRING SHOT, TACKLE

Seeing the ball poised infront of her, she wasted no time to make this whole thing official. She would travel with this human, gain her wings, and become one bad ass Bug. She pressed her face into the center piece and allowed the odd red light to take her in.

WURMPLE WAS CAUGHT!

A WILD KECLEON APPEARED!
LEVEL 3 | ABILITY COLOR CHANGE | FEMALE
MOVES: THIEF, TAIL WHIP, ASTONISH, LICK, SCRATCH

Near by, taking in the warmth of the sun. An odd Kecleon was hanging by its tongue on a tree branch... it seems to think its some kind of silk worm.

KECLEON IS HANGING AROUND
WILL YOU STAY AND FIGHT, OR MOVE ON?

[LUCY BRIGHT]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=cellpadding,15px,true][bg=1b1b1b][atrb=rules,none,bTable][atrb=style, width:400px;padding:12px;background-color:#f7f7f7; border:15px solid #e6e6e6;] i need to jump in the cold water! it seemed as if lucy didn't need to explain anything. without even hesitating, the wurmple had tapped the button of the pokeball and with a flash of red light, was sucked up into the device. the center glowed red for a moment before the sphere let out a small ping! and settled down. lucy let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding once the device confirmed the capture of the wurmple. was that it? was that all she needed to do? "well, that was fairly simple, wasn't it?" she said to frieda, who was staring up at the pokeball with wide, excited eyes. carefully--she wasn't so sure what it was like inside a pokeball, but she certainly wasn't going to be so rough with it--she set the little sphere back into her bag. one step in her journey had been checked off: she had caught her first wild pokemon! now it was time to experience her first battle. luch might be going about things in the wrong order, but she didn't mind. it was the experience that counted, right? she extended one arm so frieda could climb back onto her shoulder--the feeling of the little suction-cup feet tickled a little--and straightened up. "ready to go, frieda?" she asked, and recieved a happy little trill in response. for the caterpie, this was an entirely new journey as well, and there was a scary-new-but-excited feeling that made her tremble. but lucy didn't get too far, before she found her way blocked by ... a pokemon? it was green and seemed to be attached to a tree by a long tongue--sticky, but the looks of it. whatever it was, it hadn't noticed her yet, so she whipped out her pokedex. KECLEON - the color swap pokemon. It changes its shading to match its surroundings so it can sneak up on prey. Only its belly patterns stay fixed. how strange. a color changing pokemon. lucy wasn't too interested, though she supposed this would be the best time to have her first battle. "alright frieda," she said, removing the caterpie from her shoulder and placing her on the ground close to the unsuspecting wild pokemon. "before he notices you, quick, use tackle!" the caterpie was trembling, but this time, not from excitement, but from fear. she looked up at the large green pokemon and back at lucy with the same wide-eyed expression, then back at the other pokemon. ooooooh, she was going to have to do this. she would have to learn to battle if she was going to become a beautiful butterfree. but. it was so much bigger than she was. and why was it hanging from a tree? these foreign pokemon were so terrifying. still, she couldn't let lucy down. she couldn't let herself down. so, after taking a deep breath, she charged and launched herself at the other pokemon, letting out a little bit of a battle cry as she did so. frieda used tackle on the wild kecleon! FRIEDA | LVL 5 | SHIELD DUST | TACKLE & STRING SHOT & BUG BITE

[NOKI --- ♥]

A WILD KECLEON APPEARED!
LEVEL 3 | ABILITY COLOR CHANGE | FEMALE
MOVES: THIEF, TAIL WHIP, ASTONISH, LICK, SCRATCH

Not even she knew why on earth she was hanging in the tree like this... all she knew, is that it was damn well comfortable for some odd reason... The sun was heating both her belly and back at the same time, and the stretching feeling in her tongue was oddly relaxing... That was until a harsh push came up from behind, shooting her arial while her tongue still latched on the branch. She swung up and around, twisting her body to land... rather ungracefully on the branch using her belly as a cushion.

Staring down at the little bug, she used her long tongue to [LICK] the Caterpie.

KECLEON WAS HIT BY TACKLE!
ITS COLOR CHANGED TO A NORMAL TYPE!
KECLEON USED LICK!

[LUCY BRIGHT]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=cellpadding,15px,true][bg=1b1b1b][atrb=rules,none,bTable][atrb=style, width:400px;padding:12px;background-color:#f7f7f7; border:15px solid #e6e6e6;] i need to jump in the cold water! ... she did it. frieda's tackle had hit the (unsuspecting) kecleon head-on and she looked just about as surprised as the wild pokemon did. the caterpie landed back on the ground with her stubby little feet planted firmly. she was surprised, relieved and proud that her attack hand actually hit. now pumped for the battle, she turned around to look at her opponent-- only to see that she had ... disappeared? confused, frieda swiveled her head from side to side, wondering where the kecleon might have gotten to. seeing that her pokemon was lost, lucy called out, "frieda, look out! it's in the tree!" but the warning had been a second too late. by the time frieda looked up into the tree, all she saw was a flash of pink as the slimy tongue shot out at her. the sensation as the kecleon licked her sent shudders down the pokemon's exoskeleton and made her freeze for a moment. ugh, what was that attack? it sent a horribly disgusting feeling deep into her bones and there was a cold tingling sensation where the wet tongue had touched her. lucy saw that frieda had frozen--and that was never good during a battle. "frieda!" she called out again, fretting. had it been a bad idea to start a battle with that kecleon? but whatever doubts lucy had were thrown out the window as the little caterpie turned to look at lucy with determined eyes, though she was still shuddering. relieved, lucy took a deep breath before calling out another attack. "okay, frieda, climb up the tree and use another tackle attack!" so frieda did what caterpie did best--climbing trees. using her suction-cup feet, she wriggled up the tree trunk and reached the branch that the kecleon was resting on. "cater-pi!" she exclaimed, before launching herself at the kecleon once more. frieda used tackle on the wild kecleon! also, randomized an 85 for the paralysis on lick. so she's not paralyzed, right? P: FRIEDA | LVL 5 | SHIELD DUST | TACKLE & STRING SHOT & BUG BITE