Merry-Go-Round

[Akuma]

Aidou stepped into Pindle town with an air of relief. Finally, a pokemon center! And there it was, red roof and all, nestled next to the equally familiar sight of a poke'mart. Of course, his first priority was to heal his weary pokemon, so the turqiouse-haired trainer immediately stepped towards the cool hospital-atmosphere of the center. The Nurse Joy smiling behind the counter healed his pokemon quickly and efficiently, and with a grateful grin and a quick wave, Aidou headed back out into the town with his refreshed teammates.

He looked around himself in interest, curious about the Sharma region's town structure. All things considered, Pindle Town was rather small, but it seemed surprisingly sophisticated after the thick wilderness of Pine Needle Grove. Aidou was struck with a sense of deja vu as he stepped farther into the town, noting the square structure of the town in general. How long had it been since he started his journey back in Kanto? The Sharma region was the only one that he had started completely over in, new starter pokemon and all, so it was like being a newbie trainer all over again. It was rather liberating, if harrowing. What if someone recognized him?

He saw the large gym in the center of town, but forwent entering it for now. He wanted to get a bit more training in before he tackled the gym leader. But he was curious about the town as a whole, and opted to explore Pindle for a bit before heading out to the grove.

[Shadow Slayer]

The cool breeze on your face seemed to welcome you to the town as you began to walk around. The houses in town were in a box shape around the gym, which was in the center, and the pokemart was a little north of the famous red roof building you had known of because of your many travels.

Leaves flew in the air and birds flew in the sky above you. It was incredibly peaceful here. No worries, no problems...

You came upon a house, which the door was open. You couldn't see what was inside, but your curiosity was urging you to check it out. Enter the house?

[Akuma]

Aidou smiled as the peaceful atmosphere of the town washed over him. It seemed like this town was relatively calm and uneventful - not that this was a bad thing. The trainer thought it would be a nice place to stay and relax for a few days, if one were into that sort of thing. Not him, though. He had things to do, people to meet, pokemon to catch and train! The smile on the trainer's face faltered as he noticed an open doorway in one of the houses. He stepped forward, curious, though he was careful not to overtly enter the home. Instead, he stood upon the doorstop, looking into the house and offering a tentative knock on the door. "Hello? Anyone home?" he called, light tenor voice open and friendly if tinged with curiosity.

[Shadow Slayer]

"Yes yes, come in dear!" A voice said. Upon hearing that, you entered, and looked around. The house seemed to have been kept pretty tidy, in fact, as if someone had just cleaned the house recently. You saw a couch, a cabinet, a section of the house that was the kitchen, but the thing that stood out to you was the old woman sitting at an old wooden table. The chair she was sitting on seemed to have been crafted by some specialist, and it seemed old, yet beautifully made.

The woman waved hello to you and said, "Well now, what a young looking trainer! Come here, my dear. I'd like to give you something."

She held a berry in her hand, which she handed to you, and you found out it was a sitrus berry!

"I grow berries here in my kitchen in special pots. My sitrus plant's berries had just ripened yesterday, so I was able to pick some. You can have this one. Its thanks for coming in to visit me!" She gave you a warm smile.

[Akuma]

A kindly voice answered his curous inquiry, inviting him into her home. Aidou stepped inside, looking around in interest. He found the nice old lady sitting in the kitchen, and smiled when she greeted him. When she said that she had something for him, he quickly shook his head. "Ah, it's no trouble, really - " But she motioned him forward anyways, and with a bashful grin, Aidou stepped forward. She handed him a sitrus berry, and Aidou smiled widely. "Wow, thanks!" She explained that she home grew her own berries, and Aidou looked suitably impressed at this knowledge. "And you're welcome. I was just exploring the town and I noticed your door was open, so... Actually, I just arrived here from the Pine Needle Grove. Could you tell me anything about Pindle Town?"

[Shadow Slayer]

She nodded to you and began to speak. "I sure can! I've lived in Pindle Town for many years, for the fresh air and the cool temperatures. I usually grow berries here in my house, but sometimes I'll explore Pine Needle Grove, and find berries that other trees have dropped since they've ripened. Maybe if you explore you'll find some berries too?"

"The town itself is small, but we have many friendly people living here. I suggest knocking on the doors of the residents here and see what they have to offer to you too! It may be a sweet berry like the one I gave you, or a special item, or some helpful advice, or just some lovely conversation!"

[Akuma]

The woman was exceedingly helpful, giving Aidou advice on what to do and how he could get some items or information from the other residents in town. Encouraged, the trainer nodded, smiling. "Thank you very much! I'll go do that." He dipped his head and waved to the old woman, stepping back out of her house. "Thanks again!" he called, before setting off to the next house he saw. Now in a rather good mood, Aidou knocked on the new house's door, waiting patiently for the inhabitants to give him some signal that they were at home.

[Shadow Slayer]

The old woman waved you off, and you closed the door on your way out. The next house was just south from where you were, and you easily made it there without being interrupted by wild pokemon.

Knocking on the door of this house, you suddenly heard someone inside yell, "GASP!" and something land on the ground with a thud. Something then sprinted to the door, and the door suddenly opened!

Standing there was a guy who was wearing a funny looking pair of glasses. He wasn't too tall, and he was holding a bug net in his hand. You looked around, and saw a couple of weedle and caterpie escape his house as the door was left wide open. The guy gasped again, and sprinted outside, catching the weedle and caterpie that escaped in the net he was holding.

He sprinted back inside his house, falling right on the floor, but then getting back up, and placing the next on a table inside his house. He stood back up, fixed the glasses on his face, and fixed his bowtie as well.

He turned around, facing you, and then snickered, saying, "H-hello! Come in come in!"

Upon entering the house, you saw that the house was a big mess. There were bugs crawling, floating and walking everywhere, and it smelled pretty gross as well. Nothing like the forest you came out of.

"W-what can I do for you today? I am..." He said, then fiddling around and yelling out when he found something, and put a cape on his back. The cape was covered in dust, but was red, and had a caterpie on it. He spun, getting a little dizzy, but then pointed at you and said, "THE BUG LORD!"

He laughed a bit, and then said, "What can I, the bug lord, do for you?"

[Akuma]

Aidou waited silently as the commotion inside let him know that the occupant of the house was home. A small smile played about his mouth and eyes as he heard all of the noise - what kind of person yelled the word 'gasp'? When the door opened, however, the trainer took a step back out of pure surprise. The man was rather odd, wasn't he? With a small smile, Aidou watched as the guy collected the escaping bug pokemon and introduced himself with a flourish. Aidou blinked. The Bug Lord? "Well, I don't know," he responded to the eccentric guy's query. "What exactly do you do?"

[Shadow Slayer]

He blinked for a second, and began to think. What did he do? *cue the anime style drop here*

"Well I collect bugs, that's what!" He said, pointing around to his vast selection of bug type pokemon. They mostly looked like the common bugs and other pokemon you saw around the Pine Needle Grove, but some of them were pokemon you hadn't seen in the forest you just came out of.

"I can give you details of any bug you want to know about! And when they evolve, what moves they learn, all sorts of things! OH!" He said to you, then suddenly yelling.

"You-You're a traveling trainer right? Please tell me you are! You have that look! Like you travel! If you do, please tell me you've caught some bugs! I'll trade you the pokemon I've caught here for a bug type pokemon, from anywhere in the Sharma region! So please tell me you've caught some!" He said to you, excitedly.

[Akuma]

Aidou looked further into the man's home when he gestured at his huge collection of bug pokemon, his neck craning to see around the Bug Lord's girth. Aidou blinked. Wow. That was a lot of bugs. Ewww. The boy turned his attention back to the gesticulating collector. "Ah, yes, I'm a trainer," he said when the other asked him his occupation. "And, erm...I caught this Metapod in the Pine Needle Grove, if you're interested in him. He was trying to steal another trainer's purse when I found him." Aidou pulled out the pokeball containing the thieving Metapod, holding it tentatively forward. He'd never seen someone so interested in bugs.

[Shadow Slayer]

"A METAPOD!" He exclaimed, literally jumping in the air. "THE EVOLVED FORM OF CATERPIE! BECOMES A BUTTERFREE AT LEVEL 10! LEARNS ALL SORTS OF AMAZING BUG TYPE MOVES! I MUST HAVE IT!"

He ran around the room for a second, and then ran back over to you with another pokemon. In his hands was a level 9 male Pineco, who blinked a couple of times, not sure what was going on.

"I-I'll give you this Pineco for it!" He said.

[Akuma]

"Uhhhhh...." was Aidou's brilliant response to the Bug Lord's tangent. He wasn't sure if he should laugh, stare, or run away screaming. Sure, he'd met some pretty eccentric people on his journey before, but never like this. When the collector offered him the Pineco as a possible trade, Aidou shook his head. "No, but thanks." He paused. "Actually, I can just give you the Metapod if you'd like. I'm sure you'll take good care of him, and it would be nice if he could stay with all of your other bugs." Especially since Aidou didn't really like bug pokemon anyways. xD

[Shadow Slayer]

The Bug Lord's jaw dropped open at your refusal, but then his face lit up brightly when you said you'd just give him the Metapod. He jumped up and down and then said, "I shall raise it to be the best bug ever!" He yelled, and then gladly took the pokeball, adding the Metapod to his collection.

With that, he thanked you, and then you could either keep talking to him or leave...

[Akuma]

Aidou smiled at the older man's reaction to the gift of the Metapod. "No worries, really. It's no trouble." He didn't add any frivolous advice about how to take care of the bug, or tell him the be careful with him. Surely the great Bug Lord would know more about that than Aidou. So the trainer waved to the man, voiced a friendly goodbye, and then left, shutting the door behind him. It felt weird to just give pokemon away, but surely the Metapod would be well off with the Bug Lord. With a rueful smile, Aidou continued nosing around town, looking for anything of interest.

[Shadow Slayer]

A Starly, level 8 and male, flew on down from above and noticed you came out of the bug lord's house. You could see the bird drool a bit as it looked at that house, obviously knowing many bug type pokemon lived in there.

When the bird saw the door close, it was disappointed. Instead of flying away in disappointment, it challenged you to a battle!

[Akuma]

Noting the Starly's arrival, Aidou looked up in surprise. A battle? In the middle of town? The trainer looked around in confusion, but a small smile of understanding lit his face when he noted the bird's interest in the Bug Lord's home. "Sorry, Starly, no easy meals for you. Come on out, Pikachu!" Aidou pulled out his new teammate's pokeball, wincing as he noted that he had not yet given the electric type a nickname. Ah, well. That could always be straightened out later. "Try a Thundershock to start us out, okay buddy?"

[Shadow Slayer]

The electric type nodded and released a small amount of electricity from the red sacks on its cheeks, zapping the bird for a great amount of damage! Starly retaliated by using tackle and smashing hard into the Pikachu, for good damage.

Starly:

Pikachu:

[Akuma]

"Once more, try a Thundershock!" Aidou was quick to keep up the offensive, far too chary of keeping a battle going on too long in the middle of town. It helped that Pikachu had a type advantage against the flyer - hopefully nothing too bad would come out of the fighting.

[Shadow Slayer]

Your Pikachu's cheeks stored up more electricity, and then released the power all at once, zapping the bird! The bird fell on the ground, fainted from the powerful attack. Catch Starly?