Weather the Hits [Josh / Training - Complete]

[Izumi Yamamura]

Izumi knew that they had to train for their eventual joint Tower attempt, and the Desert Resort was a pretty good place to start. Now, the thing is, how were they going to train with the weather all being crazy and shit? She then flipped her mobile phone open and saw that there was a message waiting; and upon reading said message, a grin so wicked had crossed her face, she knew that Christmas was definitely going to come earlier—for her at least. After sending a reply to that individual’s message, she then moseyed on over to Castelia, before taking the northern exit and then turning off to one side and following the sand that was starting to pile up. “Heh, it’s really easy to head out to the Desert Resort…” she began with a grin on her face; before slogging her way through the area. She’d already left a note to Josh to come dressed in something that he didn’t mind getting wet; and to pack extra clothes along—they were going to be practicing their maneuvers for their aspirations that was waiting for them in Kalos. I got him dragged into this, now it’s all up to me to drag him out of it. This is my fault, letting him in on the secret—the partial secret of these marbles… she mused to herself as she began to wring sand out of her knee-high boots; she’d packed an extra change of clothing and was wearing something that an archeologist would normally wear when they went out on desert digs—very light wear; but very high footwear in order to keep the sand from entering their shoes and all that. Now that she was here, she decided to wait by the entrance to the Desert Resort for her companion… WORDS 301 TAGS Josh Dragomir NOTES Let's go!

MADE BY ★MEULK OF GS & THQ

[Josh Dragomir]

This time, Josh was garbed in a black cloak that covered most of his body. It was waterproofed, but also flexible enough to not inhibit his movements. The blonde stepped in to begin the training planned with Izumi... Hopefully, it wouldn't be too much trouble, he told himself. Lightning walked side by side with his Trainer instead of taking his place on his shoulder this time. It seemed to be a switch, back and fourth at times. Sometimes he would stay on his shoulder... Others, he would prefer to walk with his Trainer himself.

But it was time to prepare for the toughest challenge of Josh and Izumi's lives... And he knew this was a serious situation. Josh was prepared for whatever may be thrown their way, both in this set of training... And in the Tower to come.

He would come to the entrance to the Desert Resort, noticing Izumi and nodding with a small smirk. "You made it" he said, chuckling a bit.

[Izumi Yamamura]

She could only chuckle as her partner sidled up to where she was waiting, just outside the formal “entrance” to the area itself, and her first crack was, “Heh, are you going to a funeral or something?” while giving his attire an elevator look before chuckling and bumping her fist with his. “At least you came prepared… oh, hi Lightning,” she continued, crouching down and reaching out to tickle the Pikachu’s ears. She knew that an integral part of this strategy to work needed them to know each other’s Pokemon, so that they didn’t accidentally go off on them in reverse or something. She then grinned before showing the Lure Ball that had her part of this operation inside, currently curled up and just waiting to burst free. “I would’ve had him waiting beside me but he’s way too tall for this enclosure. Best you get to know him as well once we get outside,” she added, before turning around on her heel and heading into the Desert Resort proper. Once she was outside, the weather then began to pick up; slowly but surely. Now that she had a “feel” for the area, she then plucked the aforementioned Lure Ball before sending out its occupant, revealing the tall Gyarados in his grandeur. Upon emerging, he then gave a loud roar; as if to psych himself up—before she whistled in his direction in order to get his attention. “Hey, Ry,” she began, cupping a hand against her mouth so that he could hear her, “Come and say hi to Josh again,” she continued with another grin, waiting for the blond to look up and greet the Gyara, who was now looking around and was a bit irritated—but only because the weather was playing ten kinds of crazy on the Water-type, and he was a bit irritated at this weird sand blowing all around him. WORDS 315 TAGS Josh Dragomir NOTES Let's go

MADE BY ★MEULK OF GS & THQ

[Josh Dragomir]

He laughed a bit before playfully booting Izumi in the ass. "Shhh, it's a waterproof cloak, and it can be used like a half-cape too" he said with a laugh as he showed where he could hold the loose part up. He smirked and bumped his fist to hers, shaking his head. "I figured you'd be spamming Surf or Muddy Water or something... Again. So this was the best course of action" he said with a laugh.

"Pika!" Lightning chirped in greeting to Izumi when she acknowledged him. When Izumi scratched his ears though, his ears lowered and he coo'd in affection. "Chaaaa~" he coo'd and Josh chuckled. "You guys really seem to get along" he said with a smirk. He didn't think Izumi really interacted much with any of his Pokemon besides Inferno, and that was probably because Inferno used to be hers.

He recognized the Lure Ball from before, and nodded, knowing what was coming even before she headed into the Resort. The two would follow, and once they came in, she would bring out her Gyaraos.

"Hi Ry" he said, waving up to the Gyarados.

[Izumi Yamamura]

The Gyarados was kind of miffed that the weather conditions weren’t what he wanted them to be (preferably Clear, or Heavy Rain) but the moment he’d heard his “mistress” call for his attention, he couldn’t help but look down and then growl in greeting as the blonde-haired individual—whom he recognized from Mount Chimney—acknowledged him as well. Nodding in greeting; rather than roaring in his face, he then waved his tail in a rather sneaky, devious move—he could guess that there was something going between these two—and a chat between the Gardevoir, Swampert and Poliwrath back over in Unova at the Ranch had confirmed his suspicions of their seemingly fluid, combined actions—acting as if they were two parts of a whole. If Josh was quick to notice, he’d feel something punting—more like shoving—him closer to where Izumi stood; and she herself was just a bit oblivious to what Ryuen had just done. “Hey, Ry. I know you don’t like the weather… but we’re here for one reason. We’re going to climb that Tower over there in Kalos. And you’re going to be an integral part of our plans. So… try not to go off in a rage on us, okay? I don’t want this to blow up in our faces,” she continued, gently patting the Gyarados’ massive body with her hand. At that action, the rather tall Water/Flying type then attempted to “crouch” down—and his own face was mere inches from hers when she gave him another encouraging pat on the open mouth. “We’ll work on the ferrying thing with Gabriel after this Tower attempt. After we win. So… try not to get in Lightning’s way, okay?” she continued, before gesturing to the Pikachu, who was now cooing rather affectionately, since she’d given him an ear scratch. She then turned to Josh, before grinning, “Give Lightning a pep talk too. They have to know each other as well, so that this goes off without a hitch. Let’s leave them for a bit so they can get to know each other more… in the meantime…” she trailed off, slipping on a pair of goggles and reaching for a list that she’d prepared for this “momentous occasion”. She then handed it to Josh; and if he cared to look, this was what was written on it: SPOILER: Click to show {Spoiler}{Move Set}• Dragon Dance • Aqua Tail • Bite • Icy Wind • Iron Head • Double Team • Stone Edge • Waterfall • Earthquake • Rain Dance If he’d notice, the words “Rain Dance” had been highlighted with orange, along with “Waterfall”. “Dragon Dance” and “Double Team” were highlighted in yellow, while “Iron Head”, “Stone Edge” and “Earthquake” were in a shocking shade of pink. There was a meaning to all of this, but she’d let him try to figure out what she was trying to “express” at this point by himself first before telling him what it really meant. WORDS 491 TAGS Josh Dragomir NOTES Let's do this MADE BY ★MEULK OF GS & THQ

[Josh Dragomir]

The Gyarados sure as hell didn't seem happy about the weather conditions, Josh thought. But if he were a giant fish, he wouldn't want to be stuck in the middle of a desert either. Actually, he still didn't want to be in the middle of a desert, fish or not. But he had to deal. Training was training, after all.

The Gyarados decided not to roar in his face this time, and he smirked as he would pat it on the head when it leaned down to look at them. Josh didn't notice the Gyarados was pushing him toward Izumi until he heard the familiar sound of sparks crackling. "Pika..." Lightning had warned the Gyarados when he'd noticed it, his cheeks sparking protectively. Josh noticed it then and chuckled a bit, patting Lightning on the head. "Don't worry, he's friendly" Josh told Lightning. He smiled over at Izumi, then up to the Gyarados. "Don't worry about Lightning, he won't hurt you. He's just being protective of me" he promised as he would scratch behind the Pikachu's ears.

Josh would take the note and read it profusely, seeming to gauge a good deal of what she meant and nodding. He would then look down at Lightning and smile. "Just do your best. I know you're a bit agitated by the weather conditions here, just like the Gyarados here, but I'm sure you'll do fine. I have every confidence in you now, and I'll have every confidence in you when the time comes" he promised. "Pika!" Lightning chirped before Josh looked over at Izumi. "You ready to get training then?" he asked.

[Izumi Yamamura]

The Gyarados had succeeded in his attempt to bringing the two humans closer—somewhat. Only when he’d noticed that the small Lightning Mouse was sparking its own cheeks in a warning kind of motion did he relent, and chose to snigger to himself instead. After hearing the scruffy guy’s reassuring words, he then watched as the two humans decided to convene over in one corner, Ryuen here decided to entertain himself—by talking to the Pikachu. Even if their “languages” were distinctly different, there was this…thing that enabled them to understand one another, and he decided to tell Lightning about his story—about how he really wasn’t Izumi’s at first, but belonged to a Gym Leader from another region entirely. After being defeated twice by the two challengers—and one of them, he remembered having red hair, the other white—he then slumbered for a while; until such time came that he was face-to-face with his owner again—but only realized that he was going to be quitting and seeing the world, therefore he was left under Izumi’s care up until now. Over at where the two humans were indeed convening, she then smirked, after noticing that Josh had indeed taken the paper and had reviewed it himself (and apparently understood what all of the highlighted moves meant) she then smirked. “Now, if you’d give me a simple lowdown on what Lightning is capable of, we can string that together with what moves I’ve chosen there, so that we can get to practicing… I know he can levitate, and spam Thunderbolt, plus Thunder to no tomorrow, but you mentioned that he knows a few more moves—and I’d want to know if we can work it into our strategy. Word’s getting out that there are more marbles, Kouji told me he’d started hearing the rumors—but he couldn’t verify them just yet. He’s searching for the weird glittery stuff as well,” she explained and added with an afterthought as he’d finished reading the paper. WORDS 334 TAGS Josh Dragomir NOTES After your next post, we can go out and start attacking everything that moves. Dun forget to summon a spawn for the area... Unova, Rough

MADE BY ★MEULK OF GS & THQ

[Josh Dragomir]

Once Lightning got the message that he wasn't hurting anyone and wasn't open to being zapped, the Pikachu would calm down and seemed to be more open to conversing with the Gyarados. While he didn't appreciate it touching it's Trainer, if this Gyarados was their friend and wouldn't hurt anybody, he supposed he had no problem with it. What was the harm... Right? Even if their "languages" were distinctly differently, each Pokemon seemed to be able to understand each other. A shame humans could not, but rules were rules. That's just how the blasted world works, right? He would listen to the Gyarados's story intently. Interesting, Lightning knew a few Pokemon in his Trainer's group that had former Trainers, but they had become accustomed to their new Trainer one by one and seemed to act as if that Josh was always their Trainer. It was a testament to the love and care he gave each one of them, the Pikachu supposed. In return, Lightning told his own story. About living in a forest far away as a baby with his mother, before these scary zombie Pokemon would show up, kill his mother, and leave him for dead freezing in the cold. He talked of how he remembered Josh finding him, burying the body of his mother in respect, and then wrapping him up and bringing him home and nursing him back to health. He told after that how he had never left the Trainer's side since, and has seen the world and traveled to many different places with him.

As for Josh and Izumi, he smirked as he read the paper, and would nod. "I'll text you them, how about" he said, chuckling a bit. She had told them of the forces at work... And if they knew what they were doing, it would be best not to give away his moveset. Although it wasn't set in stone what Pokemon they were using.. But they had a pretty good idea. "More marbles, huh?" he asked, tilting his head. More discoveries... It was interesting. "We'll have to check the Badlands more, I assume" he said. "Hopefully, we'll come across something for more of our Pokemon... For when the time comes"

"Alright" he said, eying her. "You ready to go?" he asked as he started walking.

[Deleted]

A WILD POKEMON HAS APPEARED!

POKEMON Sandile GENDER Female ABILITY Intimidate

○ Swagger ○ Torment ○ Dig ○ Foul Play

[Izumi Yamamura]

“He actually found some marbles that he’s not planning on using anytime soon. For some reason he’s just collecting the ones that ‘appeal’ to him; unlike us two… trying to amass an entire collection. He’s going to give me quite the number of them soon, and I have a few ‘mons in exchange for them, plus a rather hefty Christmas bonus for him…” she trailed off, seeing as he had his mobile phone out and had sent her a message regarding what he was going to use. A few moments later, her phone went off, and she scooped it up in order to be able to read what he’d sent—and a grin so wicked flashed across her face for a few moments, before grinning and letting him take the lead. She looked over at where their companions were—and weird as it was, the small Lightning Mouse was conversing with its larger counterpart, the Atrocious Serpent (or whatever the Gyarados was called in layman’s terms if they didn’t know his ‘proper’ name) and were getting along quite well. “After you,” Izumi continued with a chuckle as she let him take the lead. The deeper they went into the Desert Resort, the louder the wind howled, the more sand flew up and around their faces, their exposed arms, their bodies. Now that they’d left the relative safety of the Desert Resort’s entrance behind, and they were out in the wild, she then whistled up to her Gyara, who was looking more and more miffed because of the sand that was battering it. “Make it rain, Ry,” she began simply; and she’d secretly hoped that whatever Josh had said about his black cloak being waterproof was true; and with a loud roar of relief, the Gyara then slapped its tail at the grit—before the sky above them suddenly turned dark and clouds began gathering above them. A few seconds later, a burst of torrential rain began pouring down where they were—and apparently, disturbing the lair of a Sandile who was just about ready to turn in for an afternoon nap. “Well, oops,” she said a few moments later—before letting a grin flash on her face a few moments. With a snap of her finger, she pointed forward—before saying only these words, “You know what to do, Ry. I know Alister trained you to go with minimal supervision. Show Lightning what you can do in this torrential downpour.” She then heard the Gyara let out a roar; before seemingly leaping upwards—being followed by a torrent of water. As the Sandile then began to slither and dive under the wet sand, it then snapped its maws out of irritation, before seemingly yammering a lot of insults and tirades about how the Gyarados’ mother was nothing but a flopping, pathetic Magikarp that couldn’t stand up on its own two feet and fight for its life. Apparently these kinds of Torment existed in the language of Pokémon as well; and it inflamed the Gyara, who roared loudly once more—before quickly bringing down the wall of Waterfall water on the small thing. Size was definitely not an issue here; it was all about species pride now. As Izumi watched the proceedings unfold in front of her, she could only blink—what had set Ryuen off? She then looked owlishly at the Atrocious Serpent, before it attempted to attack with Waterfall again—but then realized it had been backed into a corner because of the aforementioned Torment. As the Gyara howled in rage; it then decided to do something else—namely, doing a sudden skid across the slick surface of the wet sand and then brandishing its tail violently, whipping out several “water blades”; its own practiced way of using Aqua Tail. As the Sandile made to dive out of the way, it then got the idea of using Foul Play in order to be able to turn the tables; even if it wasn’t going to be as effective as it had hoped. Instead of the Aqua Tail hitting the Sandile, it had seemingly boomeranged back on the Gyarados himself, who then howled out loud in rage; before charging forward and trying to take a Bite out of the irritating Sandile. Izumi could only smack a palm to her face, before hissing in Josh’s direction, “This is not the first time this has happened, trust me. The more stressed he gets, the wilder his attack pattern becomes. Let me try to talk some sense back into him,” she trailed off before letting a loud, shrill whistle echo through the area. “RYUEN!” she began, folding her arms across her chest. “What the hell are you doing, being all reckless? I thought you were calculated and precise?” she began, this look of scorn passing over her face—she’d picked up this trick from Ry’s previous owner—because Gyarados were naturally hard to tame, and at the snappy sound of his “caretaker’s” voice, the Gyara then snapped to his senses—only to allow the little Sandile enough time to slip in a Swagger attack, flipping what looked to be the middle digit in the Gyaras line of vision! That did piss him off enough, but unfortunately Swagger also threw him off completely—now he was just a confused, rampaging Sea Serpent. Izumi then smacked her palm to her face once again, before rolling her eyes—in all the confusion, the Sandile had managed to slip away from the now-demented Sea Serpent who couldn’t tell heads from tails. WORDS 923 TAGS Josh Dragomir NOTES Next!

MADE BY ★MEULK OF GS & THQ

[Nigenteki Reikon]

A WILD POKEMON HAS APPEARED!

POKEMON Elgyem GENDER Female ABILITY Synchronize

○ Guard Split ○ Psychic ○ Confusion ○ Heal Block

[Josh Dragomir]

As they came in, Josh watched as Izumi took on a Sandile head on. "Huh... A Sandile. Another on my list" he muttered. But this wasn't time for catching, unfortunately. This was training... He would catch a Sandile later, he was sure.

The Sandile would get away after the Gyarados got unpredictable, and then Swagger took effect... Josh sighed, and crossed his arms. This was going to be harder then he thought. "You've gotta be careful" he advised, putting a hand on Izumi's shoulder. "You can't, yknow, let it go crazy like that. If you lose control, Izumi... You've lost" he said, those last words being so cryptic... But so true. "You need to bond with your Gyarados. If you don't, it'll never truly listen to you" he advised.

As if on cue, an Elgyem would shoot a blast of Psychic their way, to which Josh and Lightning jumped out of the way of at the same time. "Gah..." He muttered. It had that same look... That same aggressive stance... There was a pattern forming. It was just like the Pokemon that Josh and Izumi had seen before.

"Perhaps we need to show you how a Trainer who has bonded with their Pokemon fares" he said calmly to Izumi, not mentioning the aggressive stanza of the Pokemon. Izumi was smart. She could figure it out herself just as well as he could.

"Lightning, use Quick Attack to gain the advantage!" He commanded. "Pika!" Lightning answered as he would quickly gain speed and ram himself into the Elgyem without hesitation, sending it back a bit. Lightning had acted quickly and right on time with Josh's commands... It was Josh's way of showing Izumi just what he was talking about. It would decide then, to use Confusion! A blue aura surrounded Lightning as he would be lifted into the air...

"Lightning, you can do it! Force your way out!" Josh encouraged. "Piiiiiiii..... KAAAAA!" Lightning cried out as he struggled to get free, hearing... No... Feeling his Trainer's wishes for him to break free! Finally, the aura broke, and Lightning would fall to the ground. "Thunderbolt!" Josh immediately commanded. A quick command to the Pikachu who knew exactly what to do. "Pika...." He began as his cheeks sparked. "CHUUUUUU!" He let out fiercely as he zapped the Elgyem. It would cry out in pain as it was hit directly and zapped ferociously. "Brick Break!" Josh commanded. "Piiii..." Lightning began as he leaped into the air, his paws turning white.... "KA!" He let out as he hit it with a chop, sending it back. Elgyem barely had a chance to attack with how quickly these two synced partners had acted and reacted, and the shock damage had dulled it's senses... It's aggressive stance began to wane, and it would look around, almost confused... Before wandering off.

"Great job, Lightning!" Josh praised as the Pikachu leaped into his arms. He wrapped his arms around the Pikachu in a tight hug and scratched below his chin, earning a "Chaaa~" affectionately from the Pikachu.

This was Josh's lesson, his gift to Izumi. A glimpse at what she had to do for her Gyarados to truly break it's habits and listen to her and only her... And battle the way she wanted him to.

[Deleted]

A WILD POKEMON HAS APPEARED!

POKEMON Darumaka GENDER Male ABILITY Hustle

○ Fire Punch ○ Belly Drum ○ Headbutt ○ Overheat

Remember to try and wrap up your thread soon in preparation of eliminating all spawns outside of Nue.

[Izumi Yamamura]

She was now stuck with a Gyarados who had been smacked upside the head with a Swagger status change—sure, it boosted his rather meaty Attack stat for the duration of the entire battle—but it left the nasty side-effect of him getting confused. And now that he was roaring his head off in the pouring rain, trying to tell heads from tails—she then looked over at where Josh was now locked in battle with something that looked like an “unidentified flying object”—only it was a Pokémon. As she blinked and watched the battle unfold, she then shot a look at her crazy, rampaging Sea Serpent—who was now apparently trying to hit something that wasn’t there—and once he’d batted back the weird ‘mon, she then whistled over the downpour. “OY! RYUEN!” she began, resisting the urge to smack her palm against her forehead. “Don’t go off on me like that again! We have to work together! I don’t know how Alister trained you, but I want to continue what he’d left for me! So… calm down, okay? Please calm down first!” she continued, cupping a hand over her mouth so that her voice could carry over the downpour. As the Gyarados was still rampaging in confusion—he didn’t realize that he’d smacked a Darumaka with his tail—and only regained his senses when he heard the squealing cry of the small, round thing fly off to one side—and his now-Trainer’s voice carrying over to him. He then turned around for a few seconds and gave her a rather sheepish look (if Gyarados could even do sheepish) and all she could do was hold up her hands, a few moments away from another smacking session. “Calm down. There, that’s a good guy,” she began, and the Gyara then lowered his gaze to her; letting her walk forward and touch his face. The Darumaka wasn’t used to being ignored, though, and with a rather loud war cry, it then threw itself literally back into the foray! The little Fire-type was doing some weird kind of drumming motion; but it was actually Belly Drum—and was now charging right at the Gyara, ready to deliver the smack down with a powered-up Headbutt! “Alright, let’s do this, baby steps. Stone Edge that incoming red blur!” she began, pointing forward in the pouring rain, and the Gyara caught sight of some little blur charging right at him—and with one slap of his tail at the wet ground, several spikes of rock came up, smacking the Darumaka right across its head instead. The original intent was to impale the thing with Stone Edge; but the Daru had run head-on into the pillars instead; and that was a start, at least! “Alright, I can’t believe I’m going to say this… Earthquake and get that thing out of here!” she continued, watching as the little red blur picked himself up and tried to charge forward with a Fire Punch, the effects dampened somewhat due to the Rain Dance pouring down a torrential rain storm over the area where they were. It had only gotten to a running start when the wet, soggy ground began to tremble—violently. As the Earthquake ripped through the sand, it send up “waves” of sloshing grit and muck, washing over the Daru that was caught up in the wash, before being sent further away due to the ripples of the Earthquake attack shaking the area. “Well… that’s a good start…” she said a few moments later, trying to get the muck out of her clothes as the Gyara came in close and lowered his head—to which she gave him a pat. “Nice work, but we’re not out of the woods yet…” she trailed off, because even over the pouring rain, she could hear some scuffling noises headed their way… WORDS 643 TAGS Josh Dragomir NOTES Time to bond. Covalently.

MADE BY ★MEULK OF GS & THQ

[Speedy Gon Yumi]

A "DAMN HOODIE" HAS APPEARED! BACK IN MY DAY WE DIDN'T HAVE THOSE

POKEMON Scraggy GENDER Female ABILITY Shed skin

○ Payback ○ Brick break ○ Swagger ○ headbutt