Great open skies and windswept plains [with Kyle]

[Kore]

Once Saarda left the forest behind, she and the birds had marveled at the enormity, the openness of the Crossroad Plains. "Wow." She said. "I'm not used to such a... big sky." She said.

The birds looked at each other in confusion. The sky, to them, was exactly as big as it'd always been. "What? Look around, all there is for miles, is tall waving green grass. I can only imagine what kinds of Pokemon live out here." She let herself smile as her mind filled with visions of all the amazing creatures they could battle, and maybe add to their team.

In the distance she saw a Mareep bounding along it's merry way, and some bird pokemon off in the distance. "Probably some ratatta in the grass..." She muttered. "Shinx and maybe..." She smiled, "Oh, wouldn't it be cool if there was a Ponyta? I don't know if we could capture it, I mean, I wouldn't want to send you guys against a fire pokemon-" The pair of birds protested loudly, "You're vulnerable! If your feathers got burned you wouldn't be able to fly and-" The pair chirruped and squawked even more loudly, until she shouted, "Fine! Enough! I'd send you out to get yourselves burned to a crisp, and then what? Then what?" She sighed, "We need to train harder. We need to... to find new friends and train them too. Pidge, Tai, it's not that I don't believe in you." She said, knowing that that was what they heard, "I do, I mean, you guys... will be an unstoppable pair, but for now, we have to remember that we're just beginning. Strength and resilience aren't automatic." The birds flapped off her shoulders and came to a halt before her. Together they stared at her. "What?"

"Tai..."
"...Pidge." They said

"Fine. Lets do some drills then. You want to train, lets train." She said, casting down her pack, and rubbing her hands. "You both need to work on your dives." She said harshly. "Tai, your growl isn't strong enough. You need to be able to use it on any pokemon, even if it's courageous. Pidge, your Sand attack needs to be thicker. If I can see through it, so can the other trainer. Tai, Focusing your energy means nothing if you don't hit your target!" She said listing off the problems she'd observed in their last battles.

The Pair took the criticism under wing, and took to the sky, practicing synchronized diving.

[Kyle Chaplin]

The fire was on the stove in the home of Kyle Chaplin this morning. As usual. Five or six pots filled with mostly pokemon food. Kyle smelt the usual and woke up. He got dressed and grabbed his four Pokeballs. He wore his normal attire. A large blue jacket and baggy clothing. He shook his shaggy hair as he made his way downstairs. "Morning mom!" he yelled down to his mother who was fixing the pokemon their food. "Ah! Good morning Kyle! Out for more training?" Kyle nodded, taking a bagel from the toasted and putting it into his mouth along with his backpack on his back. "Alright!" His mother said, " But make sure you keep watch over your Pokemon! I don't want another incident. " Kyle sighed. " I know mom. Bye!"

Kyle ran out the door as fast as he could. Kyle lived on a small ranch in the plains by turnstone village. It was a quiet place. Nice compared the the bustle of Unova and Kanto. Kyle smiled as he stretched his arms and took a deep breath in. Today was gonna be fun. He walked for a little bit before looking to his jacket. He reached in and grabbed a Pokeball. " Lets go! Barrel!" A flash of red light shot out and out came a very drowsy looking Squirtle. Kyle knelt down next to it. " Ah ha! Sleeping again i see." Barrel held his head and smiled. " Squir!" Kyle laughed, "You seem so proud of that, ya lazy bum!" The young trainer reached out his arm and the blue turtle climbed up onto his shoulder. Without Kyle knowing he laid his head and went back to snoozing.

Kyle looked out to the plains and watched all the Pokemon. It was an amazing sight seeing all of them there. Kyle's sight every morning... but this morning there was something else there. A girl. Kyle cocked his head as he moved closer. She was training her two birds. They flew fast and precise. An excellent trainer. Kyle sat down behind them. He always liked making strange entrance. Sometimes just waiting till someone notices you does just the trick. Kyle waited and watched for a little while until he finally speaks up. " Nice flying!" He says meaning to surprise the trainer. The trainer would notice the sleeping Squirtle on Kyle's shoulder.

[Kore]

"That was sloppy, Tai!" She called, "If you had hit Pidge there, you both would have-"

"Nice flying!"

If it had been possible, Saarda would have jumped out of her skin. She whirled around, instinctively calling her Pokemon to attack, but then she realized it was a boy and his sleeping squirtle, not an enemy pokemon, or creepy trio of poetic villains. Mom still told stories about Jamie and Jester- no... Jessie and Jamester- James? And Meowth the talking Pokemon, who stole her Bulbasaur. Tai and Pidge, seeing her distress had redirected toward her and the boy. She held up a closed fist and shouted, "Break off that attack! Come rest!" The pair of birds, disarmed, fluttered to perch upon her shoulders, Pidgey on the right and Tai on the left. "Thanks. You scared me!"

Taillow puffed up and scolded the boy in a manner that left little to the imagination.
Pidge chuckled, cooing something that was, no doubt, an insult against her awareness, which if she were being honest, had been lacking.

"I was... really caught up in-" She gestured to the skies, "Training. Er... I haven't met many trainers. Been one for... maybe a few days, now." She tried to smile, finding herself caught in an awkward bout of word vomit, caused by him startling her. A little lightbulb went on in the back of her head, reminding her that she had never been very chatty, til she became a trainer. She wondered what it was about people with Pokemon that made them more approachable than others. She held out her hand nervously, finally gaining control of her unruly tongue, "Saarda Kotka. These guys are Tai the Taillow, and Pidge the Pidgey. Very creative, I know." She shrugged, "I use what fits." Aaand again with the word vomit. Saarda's cheeks flared with embarrassment. She bit her tongue and smiled awkwardly, waiting for his response.

[Kyle Chaplin]

Kyle chuckled a little as he sat on the grass. The girl practically jumped a foot when Kyle suprised her. Kyle always loved pranking people, though he did feel kind of bad for scaring her. Especially because she almost sicked her birds on him. With a bit of sweat dripping down his face Kyle smiled at her. " Uhh... Sorry about scaring you. For some reason i have a devious streak i can seem to keep under control." She introduced herself as Saarda. Kyle nodded as he rose up. He held out his hand to meet hers. Her hand was shaking and Kyle wondered exactly how bad he really scared her. He bowed a little, " my name is Kyle. And this is my squirtle B-"... Kyle then noticed that Barrel had gone right back to sleep. With a half closed eyed expression Kyle sighed. " This... is barrel. My squirtle. He would say hi but he's no very good at rising to the occasion. He's a bit of a dork." With that comment Barrel opened an eye and with an angry look he shot water at Kyle's face!

Coughing a bit from the water shot directly at his face Kyle looked at Barrel with a pouty face. " Right... sleepy... but not deaf." Barrel nodded with a smile and continues to sleep. Kyle sighs and listens to Saadara introduce birds. " It really has been a while sense ive seen another trainer, the only other trainer ive seen around here is that Zane guy with the abra.... and the creepy bugs." Kyle itched slightly.

[Kore]

As the boy apologized for scaring her, Saarda scratched her ear, "It's OK. I should have been paying more attention." She looked at each of her Pokemon, "Next time that happens, guys, you have to warn me before whomever or whatever it is, gets into attack range."

The birds nodded their heads and chirped at each other. "Nice to meet you, Kyle. Barrel." She snorted in surprise as the Squirtle squirted water at his trainer, who erupted into a coughing fit, which ended in a pout. "Don't feel bad, Barrel, these two are pretty dorky too. Don't deny it!" She said, holding her fist up, signaling a halt. They obeyed.



"You know Zane too? I hung out with him in the grove for a while. In fact, that's where I caught Taillow. Are you... scared of Caterpie and Arak? They're really not bad. Spunky." She chuckled. "And Abra is cool. Zane and I were training, and he pitted Abra against the bugs. I said it didn't seem fair so my birds would do the training for his Abra... it kinda turned into a match. I mean, not really, but I got really competitive, and so did my birds..." She grinned, "Abra wasn't prepared for their synchronized attack, especially since I'd just caught Tai. We gave him a run for his money before we called the training done." Tai squawked, and puffed his chest. "Tai was particularly effective offensively, but Pidge saw through the copy attack Abra conjured. It was pretty fun." She said. "Do you have any pokemon other than Barrel? I have two others beside my birds. A Surskit named Maelon, and a Growlithe named Emery. Both are male. The only girl I have right now is Pidge."

[Kore]

[[OOC: topic left, I pmd you, Kyle.]]