Mine and a friend's private Pokemon rp. We know the plot, so really no point to put much there, other than that we're RPin Pokimans!!

It's just for us, so no posting please, and the next post(s) is/are for characters.

Name: Shinra Tenro

Age: 16

Gender: Male

Appearance: Shinra's tall and lanky, with an impish sort of face. His eyes are a captivating blue. His red hair is a spiky mess up top, but he binds most of its length into a long ponytail that reaches his lower back, and in order to keep his bangs out of his face, he wears goggles to push them back. Of course, he never used to have that problem until he grew out his hair.

Personality: Shinra can be as impish as he looks sometimes, but that's only because he's somewhat sarcastic. He usually takes life as a joke, it seems, but whenever family is involved, he tends to become very serious.

Shinra gets rather easily bothered, but he does try to keep his temper in check. Whenever a Pokémon battle is brought up, he gets super excited, because he loves to battle and train his Pokémon.

(I love my alt + 0233 code. >3 Yay é!)

Pokémon:

Umbreon - Tenebrae
Raichu - Rai
Persian - Raine
Houndour - Sylpher
Quilava - Shakespeare

Badges Earned: Boulderbadge, Cascadebadge, Thunderbadge

Status: Trainer

History: Four years ago, Shinra was quite happy not telling anyone who he was; the son of SilphCo. CEO Reno Tenro. Now, he really couldn't care less, because several interactions with others had led him to reveal his heritage, and it was simple enough to figure out as he grew up and began to resemble his father even further.

Even through Johto, the Tenro family is well-known for having helped to develop many things for the world, several Pokémon based. Their last invention was a device meant to make it possible for Pokémon to communicate in a coherent human language. Unfortunately, this invention was seen as such an important breakthrough that the long-dormant Team Rocket attempted to usurp the technology. In doing so, they made the move of kidnapping the Tenros, in order to force Reno to yield the information on the device which he had solely developed on a secret server of the SilphCo. database. While Reno and his daughter Elaine were captured however, Shinra escaped their clutches, along with--although the Rockets were not aware--the knowledge of the device and its prototype. He has spent years trying to locate the Team's leader and force them to return his family.

In his quest to gain the respect of his family's Pokémon, for his sister had left him Meowth and his father had left him Raichu, he trained himself and defeated various gym leaders with his one given partner, an Eevee which he once called Doglefox. When the Eevee evolved, he gave it the honor of a new name to match its streamlined, dark-colored body, and its type; Tenebrae. Tenebrae is his most loyal partner, and he has added several more Pokémon to his team.

Other: Shinra is quite well-versed in mechanical affairs, in his quest to complete the device his father could not.


~*~*~*~*~*~

Name: James
Age: 28
Gender: Male
Appearance: Has relatively short purple hair, though he's grown it past framing his face and a few inches lower. He has cunning emerald eyes and his build isn't anything special. As for what he wears, he no longer parades around in a white and black Rocket uniform. No, James is a bit more discreet nowadays, and wears a normal button-up white shirt with a black coat and black slacks.
Personality: James is a fair bit more strong-willed than he was before, but he's still a bit of a softie inside, particularly when concerning his Pokémon. He's also tenacious and never gives up, though anyone who knows him would figure that, after his earlier exploits in Team Rocket.
Pokemon: Gligar
Arcanine [Growlie]
Nidorino
Victreebel

Badges Earned: None known of.
Status: Team Rocket operative - Level unknown
History: (There are some differences from the actual Pokeplot.)

When Giovanni disappeared, he left the rest of Team Rocket in a great deal of disarray, and both Jessie and James (and let's not forget Meowth!) were no exception to that. Eventually, however...the two proved that when the opportunity was presented, they could step up to the plate. Most of the estranged syndicate re-gathered at an unknown, remote base away from Kanto and decided that they would do things the old-fashioned way--Pokemon battles to figure out who had the sheer power, and also the strategic prowess, to run Team Rocket. The outcome still has not become clarified to the world, but James is still very much active in the syndicate.

For the moment, his task is uncertain, but he travels around on his own, this time without Jessie alongside him.

Other: Meowth chose to travel with him, and has evolved into a Persian by now.

Also, let's assume he didn't release his Victreebel. He so needed another Pokemon.

Okay moar profiles. I'mma bring Savyna into this one, just to have a charry on the fence about Team Rocket. Orpheus may or may not play into this. I like his Pokemon team, but the probability is low.

So here's Kit's profile~

Name: Shoto Ginseng (Not like the plant, pronounced with two hard g's, and the i is pronounced like a long e: GHEEN-seng)
Alias: "Kitsune," "Kit," or "Fox."
Age: 16
Gender: Male

Appearance: Quiet but tricky sparkling green eyes and straight, glossy, brownish-red hair cut short, brushed forward to form short bangs that arch forward from his hairline. Kit's about average in height, which is still a few inches taller than most women of his age, but puberty hasn't filled out his body yet, so his thin frame makes him look a bit taller than he really is. He's about an inch or so shorter than Shinra, but Shinra's wilder haircut adds a few inches of spike-fluff that Kit sometimes teases him about jokingly.

Typically wears T-shirts and khaki cargo pants or jeans with pockets, and maybe loose hoodies if it's cold out. Nothing too out-of-the-ordinary.

Personality: Sly, like his nickname implies. In large groups, Kit's the quiet kid not saying much, but listening and laughing. He's the kid that you never really pay much attention to until someone says something, and he spurts off a quip in the pause that everyone finds clever and hilarious. He's pretty shy around groups of new people, though, but hides it well, smiling and laughing at jokes and paying attention to conversation, but not really saying much until he's comfortable.

However, when he's in a small group of just friends, when his real personality comes out. He's a trickster at heart, always looking for a good time, always wanting to have fun, and always trying to coerce his friends into doing something totally insane with him. He likes thrills in life, and he tries to surround himself with people who will accept him for the rambunctious weirdo that he is.

However, he's very respectful of differing opinions from his own, so much so that it's almost a form of self-denial when he encounters someone who thinks he's strange. If he sees that someone is reluctant to do something, he'll try to coerce them into and and encourage them, but if he tries to talk someone into a stunt and they won't have any of it, it's really kind of a killjoy to the guy, but he backs off very quickly.

When under pressure and being watched, he's not the greatest at thinking or acting, though, until he's absolutely forced to. He gets a form of stage fright easily when around crowds he's not familiar with. He tends to be reluctant and second-guessing when alone, but push him hard enough and he's pretty capable of coming up with some good ideas for solutions to problems. It's almost like a form of laziness driven by lack of confidence. ((Yep, he's my nonconfident character, but he hides it better than Rei does.))

He's not the greatest of Pokemon trainers out there only because he doesn't trust himself to think on his feet well, as though battles were a kind of performance and he was being judged for it. Impromptu battles are his weakness; he's only been able to defeat Gym Leaders through a lot of premeditated strategy.

Pokemon:
Charmeleon (Claw)
Vulpix (Tails)
Dragonaire* (Amethyst)
Growlithe (Flame)
Gastly (Gheist)
Abra (Lazy Useless Bastard)

*Dragonaire is a rare, shiny, purple Dragonaire inherited from his father. He carries it around more for show than for battling, because it doesn't like him all that much.

Badges Earned: Boulder, Cascade, Thunder, Rainbow

Status: Trainer

History: I'm changing a lot from the original IYRPA PokeGen. Basically, when he was young, Kit lived in Saffron city, and was next-door neighbors to Shinra, his best friend. His father was a great Pokemon trainer, and competed in Pokemon tournaments in Saffron, Celadon, and the surrounding cities for a living. He was exceptional, and his winnings made the Ginseng family pretty wealthy, though of course not quite as wealthy as the Tenros. Wealthy enough to afford a house in the same neighborhood, though.

On Kit's tenth birthday, his parents and he took a vacation to Cinnabar Island, and his father took him into the burned out Pokemon Mansion and caught a Growlithe for him as a present, his first Pokemon. He played with it as a pet mostly, but his father taught him some of the basics of battling, and let him practice against some of his fathers' Pokemon. He had a hard time controlling the Growlithe, though, because it didn't particularly care to be told what to do by a snot-nosed little brat.

Nevertheless, Kit seemed to enjoy having a fire Pokemon, and his present at age eleven was a Charmander, a Pokemon raised by breeders in Johto, which was much more pleasant and personable and patient with its new trainer. Kitsune grew very attached to this one, and named it Claw.

Later that same year, because Kit was doing so well with Claw, his father bought him a Vulpix straight from the Celadon slots. By now, he was getting pretty used to controlling fire-types, and had brought Growlithe around to his side, so a wily female Vulpix was a fun challenge, but one he prevailed over with a few months of hard work.

Then something terrible happened. Before they were even real teenagers, Team Rocket broke into Shinra's house and kidnapped almost all of his family. When Shinra escaped and came back, the Ginseng family immediately offered to take him in while the police worked on the case, but after a year of nothing turning up, Shinra and Kit decided to get out there and do something on their own. The kid swore he'd help find Shinra's parents along with him, and his father, understanding their nobility but also knowing regrettably that there was probably little they could do against an organization that even the police couldn't really stop, allowed Kitsune to take his Pokemon and travel with Shinra to help him as best he could. He gave Kit his trademark shiny Dragonaire, Amethyst, to protect and aide him it battle. It does so reluctantly.

He followed Shinra faithfully for months, but as the kid started to lose heart and the trail went cold, Kitsune reluctantly parted ways with him, promising to keep an eye out and honestly try to track down Team Rocket on his own as best he could if he ever got any leads.

That being done, Kit started his journey to become a Pokemon master, taking the Pokemon league challenge one Gym at a time, always paying careful attention to any Team Rocket news, keeping in touch with Shinra and his parents through his PokeNav, which functioned as a trainer's cellphone, calling every now and then with updates or to hear news.

He's had it hard these past few years, though. Amethyst, easily his strongest Pokemon, was not at all thrilled at being passed from the hands of a trainer she was proud of to his young and inexperienced offspring, and refuses to battle for him. She has protected and guarded him through dangerous situations, and so does the job she was passed on for admirably, but she refuses to be used like a common battling Pokemon in the hands of a nervous and uncertain newbie.

Shinra struggled with the first few Gym Leaders, because fire was a weak match against rock and especially water, and the Vermillion Gym was no pushover either, though by then his Pokemon had learned enough ground and rock-type moves to have a decent chance, and his advantage over Steel helped, as well. Claw evolved upon victory over Jake of Vermillion. He burned right through the Celadon Gym, but the Saffron Gym proved impossible. It was the first time in the three years since Shinra started the challenge that he's ever encounter a true Special Attack-focused Gym, and his fire-types couldn't overcome it.

He first tried to "fight fire with fire," and bought an Abra from the Celadon slots next door, but the psychic fox proved absolutely useless in every way save for getting itself out of trouble. All it did was sleep and teleport away from him when he got too close. Asking around, he learned that ghost-types were useful against psychics, and he trekked to Lavender Town's Pokemon Tower and caught himself a Ghastly, the newest edition to his crew. It still wasn't quite enough, though, and he's currently searching for new training opportunities, and new ways to make his Pokemon team stronger than ever.

Other: None? I'm sure there'll be more that comes up eventually...

----------------------------

Aaaaaand...Savyna!

Name: Savyna Woods
Age: 18
Gender: Female

Appearance: Savyna is a far cry from gorgeous. She is extremely plain, with plain brown eyes and plain brown hair tied up in a low, practical ponytail. She has a smattering of freckles across her cheeks and nose, and light hints of acne from her younger teenage years still has yet to fade away completely. Her only remarkable feature is that constant something that's not quite anger, but very close to it, that's always present in her normal gaze. It's almost as though she is constantly balancing between calm and enraged, walking a fine line, where anything might set her off.

Her body is slim, and in shape from walking everywhere. She is not particularly tall for her age. Tends to wear T-shirts that smooth her curves, and loose jeans, with a simple jacket and a backpack that she keeps her things in.

Personality: Cold. Savyna has never smiled in happiness, not once. She is serious, cold, and determined, normally. At her best, she is calm, and patient. At worst, she is rude, sharp-tongued, and confrontational. Her world rejected her. Now she just wants to be left alone by it.

Pokemon:
Beedrill (Sting)
Ariados (Fang)
Venomoth (Ven)
Dustox (Dust)
Ninjask (Nin)
Shedinja (Skin)

Badges Earned: Boulder badge, Cascade badge, Thunder badge, Zephyr Badge, Hive badge, Plain badge.

Status: Trainer

History: Born the third farmer's daughter to a pair of parents living near Viridian City who only wanted a boy to help with their work, Savyna was a reject child from the start. Completely neglected after their fourth child was a boy and showing signs of strange affinities for nongirly things, she grew up alone, unable to relate to her older sisters. She spent her time in Viridian Forest near the farm while they cooked, cleaned, and did all the other duties expected of women on a farm, and was never called on to do the chores that the rest of the family and a few Pokemon they owned could manage. She grew up surrounded by bugs, and found used but empty Pokeballs that people had thrown into bushes and missed Pokemon with, and used them to catch herself her first Weedle, Caterpie, Spinarak, Wurmple, as a little girl. She was never afraid of bugs like others.

When she brought them home, her whole family banished them, afraid that they would become pests that would eat the family's food and infest the house. She kept them to herself, and raised them in secret, isolating herself from the rest of the family. School was much the same--boys with bug Pokemon were "cool," but girls with bugs were "weird," "freaky," and "not normal." They called her names like "bug girl" and "larva queen." She, in turn, loosed her Weedle's Poison Sting and her Caterpie's String Shot on them for revenge. It quickly earned her Pokemon banishment from school, and only increased the students' mocking. It hurt Savyna, but she quickly learned to bury her pain under anger and resentment, like all good little rejects of society did.

She loved her bug Pokemon, and was very patient with them, raising them with a loving care and a deep pride born of counterculturalism and utter rejection of anything anyone said to her.

Her first reward was her Butterfree. It was beautiful, and all the other girls in the class fell in love with it instantly. But it as a Caterpie and especially as a patient Metapod had seen how others had treated its beloved trainer, and it resented them with a hatred that rivaled Savyna's own. It showed Savyna how it could cause headaches in her classmates with bursts of Confusion, sicken them and put them to sleep with various toxins, and she started using its powers on all her school mates after school, enjoying exacting an even greater revenge on them.

Beedrill gave her her first taste of real power. Butterfree was great for stealthily and indirectly hurting her classmates, but Beedrill showed her what it felt like to strike real fear in the hearts of others. Kids were terrified of her Beedrill, and she let it chase them around for hours, stinging some, buzzing angrily at others. She challenged people shamelessly to Pokemon battles, and her Beedrill/Butterfree combo was unbeatable.

Dustox came next, and only added to her arsenal of dangerous Pokemon. While everyone else was still struggling around with Pidgeys and Rattatas and Taillows and Zubats, she was exploding onto the Battling scene with her evolved and still-growing bugs. When Spinarak evolved into a dangerous Ariados capable of killing younger Pokemon with its poison fangs, she had become an unstoppable terror. Hated at home, hated in school, she became the bully of Viridian, until one fateful day.

Viridian has always had a history of attracting the two extremes of Pokemon trainers: novices and experts. Because Pallet Town and its Pokemon Labs that distribute rare but young "starter" Pokemon freely are only a short Route 1 away, and the Pokemon League itself only an even shorter Route 22 away, trainers young and old stay around or just pass through the town on their way to defeat their first or last Gym Leader before the Pokemon league, respectively. Many of the more experienced trainers are also kind enough to give the rookies a few pointers on Pokemon raising, but one trainer in particular was kind enough to see a young girl terrorizing her peers with bug Pokemon, and did them the kindness of putting her in her place and giving her what he deemed would be a sound lesson not to bully others most humiliatingly, with the help of a rancid and utterly oozy Muk.

Long story short, she stank of sewage, rotting meat, and industrial sludge for a week. She was so ashamed that she ran away from home right then and there, vowing to use her bug Pokemon to get stronger and stronger.

This was all before she hit twelve. She ran away on her thirteenth birthday, deciding that she was officially old enough as a teenager to be able to live on her own, and her four Pokemon served her faithfully. They were excellent companions, guides, foragers, and protectors. She made her way through Viridian Forest with ease, and immediately headed to Pewter City's Gym, where she crushed the leader, Brad, with her Butterfree's powerful Psychic abilities. Wasting no time, she immediately toughed her way through Mt. Moon and picked up a Paras on the way to Cerulean. However, it was afraid of her ruthlessness, since it was a gentle and peaceful cave-dweller, and didn't obey her, so she released it shortly before challenging Cerulean's Lyria.

This Gym fell with a greater struggle, but Beedrill's sharp stinger and Dustox' various poisons eventually prevailed.

Vermillion City was Savyna's first major roadblock. Jake's electric Pokemon ripped through her bugs naturally, and were just too fast for even Beedrill. She tried for weeks to defeat him, but no amount of training could make her bugs faster than his lightning. She hated him for it, utterly and completely, but eventually she bought a ferry ticket to Johto using money she had won in bets on Pokemon Battles with trainers along the way from Viridian. She had heard that Johto had weaker Gym Leaders that she could train under.

Unfortunately, the first leader was the leader of the flying-type gym. Again, she found her bugs unable to defeat him, and left in a rage. Instead of giving in ,though, or catching other types, she plowed on instead to the next town, where she found herself up against her own specialty: bugs. She creamed the Bug Gym in Azalea town, demonstrating that she was much greater than her bug-oriented peers, a thing that boosted her ego considerably, especially considering her age.

Goldenrod was next on the list, and the Plainbadge was no trouble at all. On the way as she trekked around Johto and trained, she was naturally drawn to forests and other dark, damp places, and she found and caught a Nincada to replace her failed Paras, as well as a Venonat, which she found adorable.

Once she had two new Pokemon and her Johto badges matched her Kanto in number, Savyna returned to Kanto after a year's absence, much older and much changed, in mind and heart. Johto had been kinder on her than Kanto. Azalea's bug gym had shown her that she wasn't the only girl in the world who liked bugs, and Goldenrod's urban anonymity appealed to her. However, she was still an angry, neglected child at heart, and a year away couldn't erase that completely.

When she returned to Kanto, she tried for the Vermillion gym once again, but once again failed. However, a helpful hint by a gym trainer clued her into the fact that an evolved form of her Nincada might be fast enough to beat Jake's lightning Pokemon. She trained around the area until Nincada evolved, and gained an odd surprise: two Pokemon instead of just one! Not only did she gain a Ninjask for her efforts, but its skin became the unique creature known as a Shedinja...

This presented a small problem, because she now had seven Pokemon, and needed to choose between her Shedinja and one of her other Pokemon. she spent several weeks researching this, and eventually decided to release one of her original four. Butterfree had been wanting to go off and mate, or do whatever it was that Butterfrees did in the wild, for a long time now, and she would be of no help to Savyna in her electric battle.

Armed with these two new powerful allies, she successfully was able to take down Jake to earn herself the Thunder Badge, becoming the first Pokemon trainer he knew of who had beaten him using only bug Pokemon.

Invigorated by this victory, she returned to Johto and defeated the Violet City leader and his bird Pokemon to earn herself the Zephyr Badge as well as a Venomoth when her Venonat evolved upon victory.

On the return ferry to Vermillion from the Johto region, Savyna was astonished to find that very same trainer who had Muk'd her out of Viridian and set her on her journey of self-improvement. He recognized her while she was allowing her Pokemon out on the deck, and the sight of him brought back all of her rage and hatred of her childhood days. She set him straight about exactly what had happened that day he had driven her out, but much to her surprise, rather than resenting her for being so rude, she found that he pitied her, and realized his mistake. He told her, however, that he could see a marked change in her from that tweenage terror he had defeated to the young woman before him now, and though she might not realize it, her journey had been for the better.

The ferry trip forced Savyna to think a lot of things over. All of her Gym victories had earned her the respect she had demanded as a child, and quelled much of her hatred toward others. However, her chance encounter with the powerful trainer had dredged back up all of the reasons she had left in the first place, and hardened her heart to Kanto. She decided a few things right then and there: she was in this for herself and herself alone. She might have found something resembling peace in her journey, but only because she had forgotten about past ills, and now that she remembered, she'd never forgive her parents, her classmates, or anyone who had scorned her for being different. She wasn't out for revenge, though, or out to hurt anyone anymore. She was just in this for herself and herself alone.

She took a break from the Pokemon League Challenge after that, and left to travel the world and pit her Pokemon against all types, training them, learning from them, and helping them to grow more powerful than they had ever been. Her Beedrill was still her very favorite, with Ariados a close second, but all of her Pokemon were and are her closest and only companions in life.

Other: Has attracted the faraway attentions of Team Rocket as a possible recruit, if and when they ever come out of hiding or approach her.

(I are so glad that I have read your profiles. Good GOD, woman.

Now then, let's go for something new here. YAY NEW RP TWIST)


Of all the days it had to rain, now was the one. The day that Shinra was far from his destination, the skies opened up and unleashed a torrential assault on him. Not only was it storming, but it was thundering too! This wasn't just gonna go away...

Eventually he made it to the Department Store in Celadon City, by which point he was soaked to the bone, cold, and even his spiky hair was slicked somewhat. Tenebrae trotted a few feet away, shaking himself off like the canine that he was. Thankfully, his fur was thin and water slid off of it, mostly.

I'd love to have fur like that, Shinra thought jealously. Or at least have the water roll off so I can dry quick...

Well, while he was here, there was no reason not to go shopping. Really, it's what he'd come for, but now he was just put off of shopping because he was a sopping wet mess.

Nonetheless, he headed for the elevator and rode it up to the second floor. He'd work his way up like he normally did, and shop till he was satisfied. Usually he didn't spend much, as he hated wasting money, particularly his family's wealth.

Kitsune absolutely hated the rain. In fact, hate wasn't even a word for it. When it was raining out, he couldn't battle, he couldn't see because his bangs, usually gelled upwards, melted down over his forehead and stuck there, which just wasn't cool, especially after they dried and he could never get them back up they way they looked most awesome.

But hair notwithstanding, he was mostly pissed over his massive type-disadvantage. One of the worst parts of being a mostly fire-user was the high weather dependency. If it wasn't hot and dry out, then outside battles really weren't the greatest idea, but...if it was hot and dry, who wanted to be battling outside besides him and other fire-users anyway?

It was a decent day to shop, though. It was an even better day to be inside by a nice fire or chilling on the computer, but the department store was closer than a hotel, and he had already been outside when it had started raining, and he'd come out to pick up some much-needed and much-wanted supplies, including something that even the atrocious weather couldn't dampen his spirits over:

A Fire Stone for Tails. He was seriously excited about his soon-to-be Ninetails...But he was going level by level, and first he had to pick up some potions and revives in preparation for his battle with the twins in Saffron.

And so, he currently browsed the corner of the second floor, somewhat hidden by the rows and rows of merchandise, unobtrusive, quiet (for once), and looking for a good medicine at a low price. His family might have been rich, but that didn't mean that he was.

Shinra exited the elevator, still looking like a drowned rat, albeit a less drowned one now that he'd attempted to dry his hair off.

But it had only worked a little anyhow.

He headed for a few shelves near an opposing corner to where Kitsune currently was, his flattened hair cutting on his peripheral vision, and his misery cutting his interest in his surroundings. He just wanted to get the stuff he needed and then get dry.

Kitsune picked out the products he needed, then turned to head to the counter. He noticed another wet redhead nearby, and grinned, starting to head over to comment something about how water doused fiery hair.

However, he stopped short when he recognized the face beneath that red mop, and immediately ducked behind another aisle.

Oh my god...Shinra's here!Kit hadn't seen his friend in years! In fact, he'd completely lost track of Shinra in the past few months or so, so to see him here...it was mind-blowing.

He peeked his head through a shelf, and realized that Shinra hadn't seen him yet. He grinned, and carefully set down his things, then hurried over casually to the other side of the store, wanting to get there to make their reunion as epic as possible before the guy had anything breakable in his hands.

Shinra looked undecided as he looked at shelf after shelf. Did he really need potions? Probably not, and he had a few Pokeballs on him, so he was set there. Of course, he might need some Heals...

He pushed his wet hair back, sighing heavily. Shopping was alright, but still a pain. He hated thinking about what to buy. He was never happy getting it, or leaving without it.

You're a hard one to please, he thought to himself wryly. It didn't occur to him that Tenebrae wasn't following him anymore. Rather, the Umbreon had noticed Kitsune, and rather than call after him, he appeared confused as to why the boy was sneaking off. Were his master and Shoto no longer friends? That'd be awful, he rather liked when the two were together. His master was a lot less worried and high-strung.

And so Tenebrae trotted to Kitsune and sat, one ear cocked to the side and his bulbous red eyes inquisitive.

"Um?"

Kitsune noticed the black dog immediately, and almost spazzed. He flung out an arm, and tried to push it away mentally through repeated, wide, low gestures.

No no no no go back! The creature would ruin it! Shinra would just have to look around and then he'd see Kit!

Go back! Go back! he mouthed, wincing. This was way too much work, but it would be worth it.

The Umbreon backed away a bit, confused at first, then turned tail and made its way back to Shinra as discreetly as possible. Well, if Kit didn't want him around...

But the Pokemon wondered why all the same.

Shinra didn't seem to take note of any of this, and continued walking down the aisle, seeming to have come to the decision that he'd just hit the next floor already.

Kit had to make his move fast. Shinra was leaving, and as epic as it would be to tackle his friend on the stairs, it would be a little more dangerous than the redhead was willing to make it.

So he circled wide around the store, staying behind Shinra as quickly as he could, drawing the stares of many people by now. Not that he cared. He did that on a daily basis.

Finally, though, he made his move, staying low to keep his sneakers silent on the department store floor. He pulled up his black hood and broke out into a stealth run just before he tackled Shinra from behind, leaning backwards so when the guy fell, he fell slowly and didn't break his face or wrists going down.

"FRIENDPWN'D!!!!" he yelled, drawing the attention of everyone else who hadn't noticed him yet in the store.

"HO'GOD!!"

Shinra pitched forward as Kitsune tackled him, and he had no idea whatsoever what the hell was going on until he faceplanted. A little more softly than he would have if he had the full weight of a Shoto on his back, but all the same...a spectacular faceplant.

By the time he was peeling himself off the ground, not too worse for the wear except for the utter shock, he had a deapan look on his face.

"Unnecessary much?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Kitsune backed off and picked himself up, stuffing his hands into his black hoodie front pocket, and raised an eyebrow.

"Well fine," he said, feigning indignation. "If that's how you want to treat your best friend who hasn't seen you in years. I guess I didn't realize that you weren't at the 'totally embarrass each other' state that I was. I see how it is."

And he turned and started to walk off in a random direction, acting all snooty-like. Never mind that he was walking right into an aisle shelf.

"Come off it, you idiot," Shinra taunted, smirking as he got to his feet. "I'm not letting you get away that easy. Don't make me sic Tenny on you."

He chuckled as he saw where Kitsune was heading.

"Not that I have to, if you keep walkin', you're going to give me a laugh and some payback, aren't ya?"

"Huh? Oof!" Kitsune walked spectacularly into the edge of the rack. It wasn't hard enough to knock anything over, but it was hard enough to make it sway and chink together loudly.

He snorted, and turned back, grinning.

"Well, you get the jist." he removed his hands from his hoodie pocket, and stuffed them in his tan cargo pant pockets as he headed closer. "And go ahead, I dare you sick your Umbreon on me, I'm not a pushover anymore. And oo! Hey, this is awesome! I can show you my Charmeleon, and we can evolve my Vulpix together!"

Kitsune grinned even wider, pulling his hood back down so he didn't look like a creeper. That just made the guy's day so freaking awesome, that his friend would be there to see his Vulpix evolve...!

The wet redhead snickered as Kitsune smacked into the edge, but then the rest of what his friend had told him caught his attention.

"Charmeleon, eh? And you're here for a Fire Stone then?"

Shinra's smirk turned into a grin to match Kit's. He was genuinely happy for his friend, and was equally impressed with his growth. In fact, he wondered if perhaps they should battle? Just a friendly fight and a workout for their Pokemon too. But he'd ask later.

"C'mon, let's go get it then. I wanna see some sparks fly! And maybe I can use your Ninetails' Flamethrower to dry my hair," he said, adding the last bit as a joke, obviously.

Kitsune smirked.

"Ah, hell no. The first thing Tails burns ain't gonna be the air around your head, sorry. Maybe Charmeleon. Oh! I should show you Gheist, too, he's pretty kickass..."

He trailed off, looking at Shinra. They hadn't seen each other in years. They guy was taking it pretty well.

"Y'know, what are you doing here, by the way? I'm stocking up for Saffron Gym, but I haven't heard from you in a while. What's up?" he asked.

"It has been a while, hasn't it? I'unno, time seems to run by without me realizin' it," Shinra admitted. "I guess when you have a purpose...life seems like it's on fast-forward."

Now that he thought about it, Shinra felt guilty. He hadn't seen Kitsune in years, and now that his childhood friend was here, he slipped back into habits so easily, and he wasn't sure whether it was because he had subconsciously missed Kitsune as much as he felt he did, or because that's how he just took things. No surprise, just taking it all in stride.

"Me? Well I spent some time in Johto, which reminds me, I have to show you Sylpher and Shakespeare. Suppose all of it was empty time though. It's weird. Last time we saw each other, we were wimpy little kids, and now..."

He paused.

"Well now, we're just tall, wet redheads. Pathetic, but aside from that...has it really been that long? Anyway, back to what I was saying. I spent some time in Johto, training and junk, but I came back because I still have to pick up with Lily."

Shinra looked fairly ashamed.

"Still haven't got her badge. How many have you got, anyway?"

Kitsune grinned. "Four," he said. "I took down Lily easy, but she's a grass-type, and you know me and fire...But back up a sec, and walk with me, I need to buy some stuff." He turned, and headed off to where he'd left a pile of merchandise lying against a wall.

"What are Sylpher and Shakespeare? I swear to god you've got the weirdest names for things, I don't know how you keep 'em all straight..."

"Because I don't have that many, and they're my nicknames, for my reference," Shinra said with false snobbiness, letting Kitsune lead him. "Sylpher's my Houndour, and Shakespeare is my Quilava. 'Course, I call him Shakes for short, so if you wanna..."

He tried not to feel insanely jealous that Kitsune had one-upped him, fire notwithstanding.

Kitsune burst out laughing. He couldn't help it.

"'Shakes'??? Really?! Why not William? Or Billy?! Have you ever asked these things what they think of their names?"

Nevermind that having a Quilava and a Houndour were freaking cool and something that Kitsune wished he could have. he'd get to that in a second. Right now, Shinra needed to be made fun of for his nickname choices.

Shinra shoulder-shoved Kitsune, none too softly, but definitely not with the force he might shove someone else.

Hell. He wouldn't shove someone else. He'd probably clock 'em.

"Aww, hush. They haven't complained yet, I'll have you know!" he said, looking indignant. "'Sides, Billy sounds stupider than Shakespeare or Shakes."

Well...it did to him.

Kitsune snorted to himself, and stumbled a step sideways or so before recovering himself.

"Sure, Shinra. Keep telling yourself that. I do wanna see 'em, though. Again, you know me and fire Pokemon."

He looked back. "So where'd ya get 'em?" he asked. "Cyndaquils aren't exactly common..."

"Not common, true...but I got lucky on the way to Violet City, that's where I caught the Cyndaquil. He gave Tenebrae a run for his money."

Shinra didn't seem terribly bothered by Kitsune's teasing. He was used to the other teen's quirks, and really only opened up around Kit.

"As for Sylpher, he's a bit of a character. Maybe I can save his story for later, keep you in suspense," he said, smirking. Well it was an interesting story, but they really needed to get shopping. All this talking and stuff, though...it'd really helped keep Shinra distracted from the fact that he was wet. And his hair was drying slowly but surely, too.

"Awww," Kit said, pretending to be disappointed as he stopped, bent down, and picked up his various trainer supplies. "Well lemme pay for this now...And maybe I can tell you about my awesome and super-freaky exploits in that ghost tower in Lavendar. Oh! I was possessed! Not that I don't something act like it anyway..." he grinned as he headed to the counter. "I'll pull out Gheist when we're outside, you'll probably like 'im. He's a cool dude, my Gastly is..."

He really wanted to see the Quilava and Houndour, though. That Houndour would so kick his Growlithe's furry butt in coolness...

Hey, all the more reason to push it to evolve, he thought to himself, still grinning. Then it would totally blow his Houndoom away. The thing might look sleeker, but Arcanine were just plain massive. He looked forward to riding his like a horse. That would be so freaking cool...