{Sulteron}Exploring, Anyone?{Arley}

[;AL P H A]

Absol was partly surprised as flames licked along his metallic tail. That was an interesting strategy, but she hadn't taken into account two things; one, that since his tail was currently metal he wasn't able to feel the heat coursing through it much (oh, it still stung, but barely); and two, the weight and manueverability of the Absol.

As Fairo gave and leapt back before his attack, Absol was given a moment to decide whether to attemt to abort the attack - or to keep going. Not given much choice, his weight and momentum spun him around and around; and in a straight line, too. Pivoting on a front paw, he renewed the attack at Arley's command, tail becoming a glowing blur as he used his weight to spin him faster and faster. Finally pushing off from the ground, he bought his tail down once more, only this time it was glowing red-hot. That would definitely sting, even for a fire-type.

Murkrow smiled in satisfaction as he watched Absol's technique.
{This is an interesting battle. See, I should imagine that Arley can to a certain extent use Aura to communicate with Absol, whereas miss Sulteron over there can use psychic commands. It allows them to communicate tactics and react faster to situations than a normal trainer could, simply by focussing their thought waves. That technique was good, but since Absol is over twice as heavy as Fairo Absol could almost use it to his advantage. If Fairo had been heavier and Absol had had to push harder... well, who knows? Still, it's nice to see now both trainers are giving it their all.}

He waited a few seconds for Chikorita's input, and when none came, looked around. It took him a few seconds to notice the small red-pink pokémon was near a pool by the water's edge, splashing it all over her fur and intently clutching the bottle.
{Girls...} sighed Murkrow, and turned his attention back to the battle.

[~/Birdybot\~]

Fairo gave a yelp and struggled to escape from Absol's paws, catching his breath as he glared at the wolf. His eyes narrowed, smoke drifted through his nostrils and his tail flame rose higher than ever; clear signs of rivalry. The Charmeleon was clearly getting into the battle now. He rolled his shoulder muscles, feeling a shiver of excitement as the thought of the great black wings which would eventually be controlled by them swam to the surface of his mind. Tail flicking swiftly, he awaited his trainer's command.

Seeing Arley use aura to commmunicate with Absol, Sulteron felt the need to use the element of surprise for herself; namely, telepathy. Reaching forward into the clutches of Fairo's mind, she felt a little resistance before he recognised the touch. +Fairo, use Metal Claw. From below; the bigger they are, the harder they fall.+[/i] a smile played at her lips, but her face gave nothing away.

Fairo walked calmly up to Absol. He knew by now not to go for the back; the Pokemon's tail was dangerous. He had is doubts about the front half as well; the blade producing from the Pokemon's head looked troublesome too. He held his claw behind his back as it turned to steel, then, in one swift movement, he darted forward in hope of either lifting Absol off the ground or causing his legs to buckle. He just hoped that, whatever the outcome, Absol would not fall on him; very likely this would result in them both fainting. A draw was nice, but a win was better. A lose was worse; Absol could react quicker than Fairo had expected and turned this match around.[/size]

[;AL P H A]

Absol flinched back, but he'd accumulated too much momentum to check his attack now. Blundering into the waiting Metal Claw, it sliced into his leg as he jumped and he yelped in pain. It threw off his trajectory, too; he'd previousy been set on a course to attack and then sail right over the Charmeleon's head, but as he lost momentum it became rapidly clear that he was now falling straight down - on top of the Charmeleon.

BAM! Absol hit the ground tail first in a cloud of dust, and Arley winced as he heard the Absol's hard tail crumple under him. Squinting, he just managed to make out Absol's prostrate form, and as the dust cleared, it became apparent that due to accumulated damage and the hard fall, he'd been knocked out. Arley looked closer, searching for signs of Fairo, too. What had happened to the golden Charmeleon?

[~/Birdybot\~]

Sulteron gasped. Uh-oh; this was not good. True, Absol was defeated, but Fairo was nowhere to be seen. How? Then it became apparent why; a ripple under Absol's coat, and then the head of the lizard showed. He was fainted, but had managed to unconsiously clear a path for air to get through. Trapped underneath Absol, he had obviously felt impact from the larger Pokemon. Knowing the battle had ended in a tie, Sulteron rushed over to the lizard, drawing him out from underneath the red Absol. "Woah, Fairo, that was some move there. You did great." she told the Pokemon as he stirred, rubbing his eyes groggily.

Looking up at Arley, light catching in her eyes and making them appear lighter, she smiled. There was something in that smile Fairo couldn't quite put his finger on. "You too, Arley. You and Absol were amazing." she looked at Absol; his eyes had opened.

Mizu shrugged. ~OK, what now? Do we break them up before they get too far?~[/color] he asked the others, indicating the fact that, now there was no battle to distract them, the two trainers might start to get to know each other.

Fiela shot him a scornfull look. ~No! I think it's really sweet.~ she sighed. Zen nodded, snaking her way over to her side, carefully avoiding the outstretched wings.

~You're just saying that 'cos you're a mutant too!~[/color] Minari fluttered his own wings.

~And you're girls!~[/color] added Denkou.

Zen rolled her eyes. ~At least we understand love. Right, Chikorita?~[/color][/size]

[;AL P H A]

Arley grinned as Absol slowly opened his eyes, looking dazed, and wandered dizzily over.
{D-did I... did I win?}
Arley smiled. {It was a draw... but wow, Absol, you were awesome! There were a whole load of moments where it could have gone either way.}

Hearing Sulteron's praise, he raised his head, a smile playing across his lips. "You're glorifying us, really. Besides, your Charmeleon was like nothing I've ever seen! You used his type and skill to their full potential; I've never been up against an opponent... quite like you..."
He trailed off embarrasingly, turning away and licking his lips in a fidgety kind of way. Absol took the opportunity to grab his Pokéball in his mouth and press the button; he was drawn in with a flash.

Clipping the Pokéball back onto his belt, Arley stood up, eyes meeting Sulteron's again.
"So... shall we... I-I mean, it's quite nice higher up, and I saw a ledge that looks out to sea, and it's not too hard to get up there, quite a nice walk, really, a-and..."

Chikorita sighed happily, lying down on the rocks. {Yeah, we understand love. Not like some smelly boys I could mention.} She giggled as she watched events unfolding in front of her. {Hey, I knew it! Moment I saw him, I thought to myself, 'He's the kind of guy who can't talk to girls'. Just - heehee - just look at him out there. Aww, it's quite sweet, in an endearing sort of way.}

Murkrow gave a theatric groan. {Please, someone fetch me a bucket...} He gave a short cackle, fanning out his wings. {Maybe we should break them up, after all. If this continues, I might lose my lunch.} Chikorita glared scornfully at him, but he pretended to ignore her.

[~/Birdybot\~]

Sulteron giggled nervously. Did he really want to walk with her? Oh, wow. She had never had a boyfriend before. She musn't do anything stupid. No blurting things out. No babbling. No saying things stupidly. "Yes, up the rock, or the mountain, or hill, or whatever you want. To that ledge. It's made of rock." she blurted out her stupid babble, feeling her face redden to a similar colour to her jewel. She stared into Arley's eyes for some time.

~Right! Let's go, then!~[/color] Fiela said cheerfully, taking off and hovering in front of them for a moment before swooping up the side of the cliff. Sulteron took Arley's hand and began the walk.

The Pokemon- well, the males- made faces of disgust. Zen sighed. Fairo nudged Minari. ~You're the only one who can fly; go ahead and see what Fiela's up to. We can't have her urging the yuckiness on.~[/color] he hissed. The Starravia responded at once, shuffling his wings and saluting before launching himself into the air backwards, almost dropping to the ground as he did so.[/size]

[;AL P H A]

Arley closed his eyes and turned his head away from Sulteron slightly, but he could feel her aura right next to him, and... smell her somehow. She had the most peculiar smell, and he sniffed, and then stopped. Wait, she would think him a wierdo if she caught him smelling her. Still, it was a sort of... warm, feline smell. Did all 'morphs smell like that? Did he smell like that? Then he remembered she was a psychic and could be reading all of these awkward questions off his mind, and stopped that train of thought abruptly.

Opening his eyes again, he hoped she couldn't see the blush that blossomed on his cheeks as he stared out to sea. This was nice... it felt right somehow. They'd technically only just met, but there was something about this girl. Maybe it was the aura he could sense emanating from her; maybe it was something more. Clearing his throat, he tried to think of something to say. Something clever, and witty, and smart.
"Lovely, urm... l-lovely, lovely sea." Damnit! Nothing like that.

Twitching his tail in a fidgety way, he turned his eyes to Sulteron again, and was once again struck by the shape of her face. It wasn't perfect, but it was so... soft, somehow. Soft and natural and lovely. Oops, psychic, right.

Murkrow watched as the shiny Staravia took off.
< Maybe I should go on recon, too. > he said. < I feel as if I'm going to throw up if I stay here much longer. >
Chikorita stared at him. < You are sooo vulgar. You know that? >
< That's me. > The Murkrow winked, before swooping up to join the fellow shiny.

[~/Birdybot\~]

ooc// This is something we both descided should happen baised on Alpha's drawings.

ic//Sulteron nodded, smiling and erupting into another spout of giggles. He was cute. And he understood how boys could be like, and wasn't like that. He was perfect in every way... oops, he could read aura like Riolu, right? Oh dear. She herself was letting everyone keep their thoughts to themselves, but she had an idea that his stuff came naturally. She shuffled closer to him, breathing in a nice, warm smell. The sea air blew through her hair, making it ruffle and wave about lazily. It felt great, but she was already too lost in those deep, emotion-filled eyes to notice too much.

Well, she looked when she notice there were sparkles mingled in the breeze. She wasn't sure, but she was pretty sure they weren't supposed to be there. A puzzled expression on her face, she looked up. And gasped in wonder.

In the sky was a bird. Most people, if they ever see it, see it tiny and up high, but Sulteron and Arley saw it large, having just taken off. Perhaps it was glad they fell in love on it's island. Either way, it was there, and was real. Ho-oh.

The great bird was more magnificant than had been told in tales, the amazing array of colours decorating the sparkling plumage shining with hint of gold. The bird was flying, swooping and in general circling the island, and with it came a trail of an eight-colour rainbow which faded into nothingness once it had past. A truly beautiful sight. Sulteron looked back to Arley.

"Ho-oh. They say seeing it brings eternal happiness." she breathed, gazing at the hansome, hardy boy. Her innard were squirming with joy, her heart beating so fast she felt as though it would come out her chest. Surley he could hear it? Ho-oh could? Fiela, Minari and Murkrow, flying nearby but keeping their distance from the powerful Legendary? It seemed not. Just her, him, and the promise of eternal happiness.

[;AL P H A]

Arley sighed, leaning his face in against her shoulder. Her hair was so soft, and warm, and as he watched in amazement as Ho-Oh took off, he felt a strange surge of joy. Watching it beat its powerful wings as it flew around, he whispered something into her sensitive Espeon ear.
"I don't need happiness as long as I have you."
It was very quiet; barely a breath, but he was certain she'd heart it, and immediately another blush rose to his cheeks. That had been a totally corny line. What was this, a Hallmark commercial? He was just glad that Murkrow wouldn't have been able to hear it, or he would never have let him live it down.

Ho-Oh turned, doing a final lazy lap of the small island, before pausing and coming to rest before the couple. Beating its wings a final time, a single feather fell from its plumage and came to rest at their feet, before it gave a powerful downstroke and shot off. Soon, its glittering form was lost among the clouds, but the air still shimmered and glittered, sparkles landing on all surfaces. Murkrow annoyedly blew some off one of his wings, only to have more land on his head.

[~/Birdybot\~]

Sulteron nodded to Ho-oh, then as it took off watched Arley again. "That's so sweet... Arley... I love you too." she spoke softly, her heart skipping with joy. Okay, surely someone could hear it now. But no, it seemed not; Fiela and Minari, who were chasing the Ho-oh sparkles, seemed to have no difference in expression. The girl leaned in. Call her crazy, but she felt like a kiss...

Mizu made a face, and Fairo made a gagging gesture. Zen watched mesmerised at the shades of every colour disappearing with Ho-oh, and Denkou was fighting the urge to laugh at the general silliness of everything. Oh, young and mutant love.

[;AL P H A]

Arley turned, a look of surprise flashing on his face as Sulteron leaned in and their lips met; but it quickly melted, and most sections of his brain shut down. It was... easier than he'd anticipated. After all, they didn't exactly give lessons on how to kiss people romantically in school. Well, they might... he'd never been. But he doubted it.

After a few seconds, he pulled away embarassedly, coughing, and his eyes searched for something to do. Landing on the abandoned feather, he quickly grabbed it, fiddling with it. As he touched it, a fresh cloud of glitter was released into the air, and he blinked as he found it sticking to his fur. Noticing with new curiosity how it made a whistling noise as he held it in the air, he put it in his mouth on a whim and began to blow.

The note was wavering and cracked at first, but as he wet his lips and tried again, he adjusted it so it made a pure and clear note, like some sort of etheral flute, or an ocarina. Tilting it up or down changed the pitch, but he didn't try to play a tune on it. His arms slumped into his lap, and his gaze strayed again to Sulteron's face. Hmm... actually, that kiss hadn't been all that bad, though another one would be pushing it. Or, maybe not. He didn't feel like trying his luck, though.

[~/Birdybot\~]

Sulteron smiled as the kiss ended, breathless. Wow. That was amazing. She didn't even notice the gagging motions made by all the males now. The notes of the Ho-oh feather were what would be expected from such a beautiful legendary, but it still surprised her. She gently brushed the glitter away from where it had landed on Arley's face and paws.

When they were gazing at each other, Sulteron lost all sense of time. They could have been locked in each other's eyes for an hour, or just a few minutes. All the time, she was blissfully full of a bubbly warm feeling. Could that be love? It felt nice. She liked it. The Espeon 'morph was more happy than she had ever been before, and was aroused from her daydream by the feeling of her hand moving. She moved it to rest on top of Arley's, her face blushing.

[;AL P H A]

Arley's blush found a new degree of redness to rise to as Sulteron's hand met his. A shiver ran pleasantly up his tail and along his spine. Leaning his head gently against Sulteron's shoulder (because whether he liked it or not, she was easily six inches taller than he was), closed his eyes and let out a long, deep sigh. This was definitely a nice experience. He had never felt this way before, and he was unlikely to for anybody else. But why does she like me back? She's beautiful and elegant and graceful and tall and smart and witty and gentle and modest and understanding and compassionate and enthusiastic and charismatic and gorgeous, and I'm nothing but a hideous mutant. Okay, she's a mutant too, technically - Arley mentally flinched at calling Sulteron by such an ugly-sounding word - But she's so beautiful and perfect, and...


Well, she loves me, and I love her. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Eventually something jolted him out of his happy bubble. His head moved slightly as a voice drilled into his ears.
< Oi! Mushybrain! You hear me? We need to get going already! >

Moving slightly away from Sulteron, though still clutching her hand as if it were a lifeline, and squinted into the setting sun. < Eh? >
His Murkrow sculled its wings through the air, landing on Arley's knee and gripping it none too softly with his talons. < Hate to interrupt your lovely date, but it's getting late, and I'm getting hungry. When are we going to leave? >

[/size]

[~/Birdybot\~]

Sulteron sighed too, watching the sunset. It felt so good to be with Arley. She felt comfortable with him, as though they were meant to be together. She sat there while time passed by unnoticed, thinking about her new... boyfriend. This was the first time she'd been in love, and it was new and exciting. She liked it. Her Pokémon, on the other hand... seemed rather bored. Perhaps next time she'd send them off to do something else. Next time... she and Arley could take a stroll down the beach, perhaps, or eat at a fancy restaurant. That would be nice. Romantic. Or they could climb a hill dressed in autumn leaves, sitting like they were now at the top to watch the sunset paint the night across the sky. Oh, that would be so great.

Murkrow interrupted them. She, too, wasn't entirely aware of things, staring at the bird as though he'd just grown an extra head. "Wha...?" she managed. Fairo rolled his eyes, tutting. ~For Arceus' sake! Look, not to burst your bubble or anything, but you two have been sitting still for ages!~ he complained. Mizu nodded, the Buizel clearly rather annoyed. ~Yeah, come on! It's time to go!~ the Water type whined. Sulteron sighed. "Fine, I guess you're right. Arley... I'd stay longer, but... the Pokémon. Well, we have to meet up again sometime, of course! I'll send letters! Love you!" she called, half-walking, half being dragged by Denkou the Electivire away from the Riolu 'morph. Her other Pokémon raced after her, not after bidding farewell to Arley and his Pokémon. Well, at least this wasn't the end. Letters, dates; yes, this was truly only the beginning.

[;AL P H A]

Arley watched in a stupor as Sulteron left, a stupidly happy look on his face. Murkrow waved a wing back and forth in front of his face.

< Nothing. > he sighed, hopping back. < He's completely lost it. Hey, this gives me an idea. >
< I thought you said you were hungry? > Leaping up the rocks, Absol padded over to Arley and gently nudged his knee. The 'morph started, glancing around. < Hmm? What? Oh, right. We'd better be getting back, then. >

Stripping his clothes off brusquely, he packed them into his backpack, before stooping and grabbing the feather Ho-Oh had left. He'd take this, too, as a keepsake. Placing the feather delicately at the top of his bag as if it were some sort of precious artefact - which, in a sense, it was - he then handed the bag to Murkrow, who took it in his claws without much difficulty. Returning his Chikorita to her Pokéball, he stowed that away in the backpack as well, before something occured to him.
< Hey. Sulteron wasn't wet. She probably took a boat here. Maybe we should have asked her for a lift. Oh well. > Laughing, he crouched at the edge of the island, then dived off into the sea. There was a loud sploosh, and then a sucession of quieter splashing sounds as he surfaced and began swimming to land. Absol moved down to where the water lapped right against a flat place of rock, and hesitantly dipped a toe in.

< My god, Arley's an idiot... >

With Murkrow flying ahead with a huge grin one his face, Absol sighed, before leaping bodily into the water to go swim after his master.


(( FIN


I guess, unless you want to put something else here. ))

[/size]