Merry-Go-Round

[Akuma]

As soon as that last jolt of electricity hit, the former champion knew that the battle was over. Indeed, the Starly fell down almost before Aidou could think about it. Aidou grinned, crouching down to pet his Pikachu on the head. The yellow mouse wriggled in pleasure. "Chuu, pika piii!" the electric type exclaimed, and Aidou laughed. "Good job, Pikachu. You did great!" He looked down at the felled Starly. Though he didn't really want to capture the bird pokemon, it felt weird just leaving the poor creature there. Gingerly, Aidou picked the flyer up, setting it down in the shade of a building before straightening up and turning back to the curious Pikachu. With a small shrug, Aidou pulled out the electric-type's pokeball. "Return!" The pokemon returned to it's ball with a flash of red light, and Aidou tucked the ball back into his pocket even as he continued through the town, still intending to explore.

[Shadow Slayer]

You continued your way around town, until you reached the house that was closest on the right from the Bug Lord's house. It, like all the other houses, was the same: Yellow body, one window on the front of it, a green roof, etc.

Upon knocking on the door, you saw a man in his late 20's answer the door. By his side was a Pikachu, level 13 and male. He smiled upon seeing you and said, "Well hey there! A traveling trainer. What can I do for you?"

[Aquarinyoshi]

It seemed the man was about to speak again, but instead simply pointed down at the ground in back of you. Turning around, a level sixteen and male Delibird was happily bouncing up and down in front of you. Just the sight of him made the two of you filled with cheer and warm fuzzies. It was so strange, though. Why was there a penguin in a small town, let alone between a forest and a meadow?

[Akuma]

Turning to knock upon the next house’s door, Aidou waited patiently for the inhabitants to answer. When the door opened, revealing a kindly looking man and his Pikachu, Aidou could only smile. Before he could answer the man’s question with a question of his own, however, the house’s inhabitant pointed back down the way he’d come. Aidou turned around to see what the man was pointing at, shocked to notice a Delibird bouncing happily in the path. He blinked. A Delibird? Aidou knew those pokemon to reside primarily in northern regions, snowy mountains at the very least. What was one doing in a town? The turquoise-haired trainer crouched down to be more on a level with the penguin pokemon. ”Heya,” he spoke, curiosity plain in his voice. ”What brings you all the way out here?” Maybe the pokemon wanted to battle? It was really all he could think of to explain the pokemon’s odd behavior.

[Aquarinyoshi]

Delibird stared up at you with such pure and innocent eyes. He immediately broke into a cheerful jump for joy, startling you from the oddity of the situation. Although he was quite different, the Delibird reached into his tail, which was the sack he looked like he was carrying, and pulled out an envelope. It was highly decorative, with greens, reds and whites splashing color everywhere. Opening it, the letter read:

"Akuma,

On behalf of Team Glacier, I would like to cordially invite you to partake in this year’s Christmas Vacation from the 21st of December to January 1st. During the holiday season, you will be able to enjoy an all expense paid trip to Surge Outlet Network Island where you can partake in festivities sponsored by the natives of SONI and members of Team Glacier. Once you arrive on the island, you will be greeted by one of the vacation coordinators who will merrily greet you, inform you of a few opportunities available to you during your stay, and assign you your suite on the fourth floor of Sun City’s extravagant resort. In your room, you will be provided with an agenda of what will be taking place and when, a few needed necessities for those activities, and your “Secret Santa” which you will be asked to buy a small gift for.

In this letter you will find a piece of parchment asking for your signature, verifying that you will be able attend this event. After you give your approval, please hand the parchment back to my Delibird, who will then present you with a colored orb. This orb is one of few materials needed to participate in a couple of the events. Be sure to keep it and your letter! The letter is your key to acquiring the information needed while on the island which you must flash to the vacation coordinator when you first arrive, otherwise you will be politely asked to leave the premises. These two items combined are your ticket to wintry fun and chilly celebrations, so be sure not to lose them. We can’t wait to hear from you and hope that you attend our frosty retreat in the tropics!

Happy Holidays!

Sincerely,
Aquarinyoshi of Team Glacier"

[Akuma]

Aidou flinched back when the Delibird jumped up - well, it had surprised him! All of the Delibirds he had ever met hadn't been at all like this one. In fact, most of them just wanted to give him exploding 'presents'. With a concilatory smile, the former Champion was nonetheless extremely tense as the penguin pokemon reached into his tail sack and pulled out a decorative letter. He took the parchment delicately, half expecting it to explode on the spot. When it didn't, however, Aidou nodded his thanks to the bird pokemon even as he slid open the letter flap. It's contents were taken and read, at first anxiously and then with a faint glimmer of excitement. A winter retreat? Well, it sounded nice, but who were these Team Glacier people? The only 'teams' that Aidou had ever heard of tended to be rather...evil. Looking up from the letter, Aidou glanced at the Delibird. "I don't suppose you'd be able to tell me who Team Glacier is?" he murmured, sighing even as he dug out a pencil from his bag and signed the space on the paper that asked for his signature. Even if Team Glacier was an evil organization, the only way he'd be able to stop them was if he went where they were, right? And if they weren't evil, then he'd be stupid to pass up an all expense paid winter trip. With a rueful grin, Aidou handed the Delibird his signature.

[Aquarinyoshi]

Although Delibird lacked the ability to talk, the mention of Team Glacier made his jump for joy higher than ever. Reaching out to grab the parchment, he sent you yet another grin, one that only Delibird could accomplish. As the letter stated, there was a present to be handed out, but whether it exploded or not was up to you. He flew high into the air, leaving you only to look up, and before you knew it a package flew from the sky. It was a nicely wrapped black gift box with white ribbon. As you tore the decoration away and slid the lid off, you noticed something you could hardly believe.

Inside the box was an orb. It was a simply glass orb, but it could be mistaken for so much more. As it shined in the light a variety of colors shone: red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue and purple - that of the rainbow. A true color display in one simple, diamond-like orb. Delibird cooed at the lights shone out, smiling at his work before flying off into the horizon. What would be in store for you? Who was this mysterious team that was simply handing out random invitations? The truth would soon be told...

[Akuma]

The Delibird jumped up into the air when Aidou mentioned Team Glacier, and the former champion couldn't help but grin. Well, whoever Team Glacier was, apparently the Delibird liked them. When the pokemon took the signed parchment and leapt into the sky, Aidou looked up, blinking in surprise when a present fell into his lap. He remembered that the letter had said something about an orb - surely enough, when he opened up the box (which thankfully didn't explode) it contained a pretty rainbow-colored glass sphere. Aidou lifted it out with wide eyes, staring at the orb until the sound of the Delibird's coo drew his gaze back to the penguin pokemon. The Delibird had flown off into the horizon, and Aidou swiftly stood up, orb in hand. "Thanks, Delibird!" he called after the flying pokemon. He tucked the colorful orb and the invitation into his backpack, and then turned back to the man with the Pikachu who had originally greeted him. "Sorry about that," he grinned sheepishly.

[Shadow Slayer]

"That sure was weird." The man said. The Pikachu seemed to agree with the man. "Well now, like I said before, what can I do for you? You look to be a traveling trainer, and for some reason you look like you've been traveling for a long time. You're so young too! Are you going to challenge the gym?"

[Akuma]

Aidou nodded at the man, still smiling gently in the after effects of Delibird's cheer. "Yes, sir! I'm Aidou, and I ...ah...I just started my pokemon journey." No, Aidou wasn't a very good liar. Sue him. "I was just wondering, do you know any good places to train around the town? I was planning on challenging the gym, but I don't know what type the Leader specializes in, so I wanted to be prepared for anything." He smiled, bowing his head graciously. If he wasn't the most eloquent of trainers, at least he was polite, right?

[Shadow Slayer]

"Well I myself don't know too much about the gym leaders. If you ask around town, I'm sure someone knows and can give you the lowdown. As for a place to train, the best place is to go back into the forest and face the wild pokemon. There aren't too many pokemon available in Pindle Town. You could probably find some trainers preparing for the gym as well, if you looked around." The man said.

"Say though, if you want to battle..." The man began to say, looking down to the Pikachu at his legs. The electric type nodded, putting up his fists.

The two looked at you, and said, "How about you battle us?"