Fun Times at Spectrum Fields [open]

[Deleted]

The winter holidays were long over, but there was still a nip in the air. Luckily for Nitrine’s Pokemon, he had dressed them up in some small, useful winter clothes. DJ got green-and-red striped leg warmers, and they hugged his legs snugly below his knees. Kellen had gotten a crochet scarf in pink and seafoam green. Oxana and Cole had both gotten warm socks, the Snubbull’s in black and the Zorua’s in bright orange.

But Cole had spent much of the afternoon running around. In fact, he had run around so much that his socks had come loose and fallen off. Oxana noticed and picked one up. “Hey, Cole, be careful,” she called as he sniffed around. “Nitrine got these especially for you. You don’t want to lose them.”

Cole bounded over to her. “Sorry,” he said, and he took all four orange socks in his teeth. Trotting to the front door, he dropped them on the welcome mat. The front door was open, but the screen was shut. Loud, upbeat music pumped from speakers inside the house. The Zorua scratched on the screen door. “Nitrine!” he barked. “Are you sure you don’t want to come out and play?”

Nitrine was at the kitchen table with his Apricorn Box, his Capsule Kit, and an instruction booklet. He held a blue Apricorn and some kind of small tool in hand. When Cole barked at him, he waved off his Pokemon. “Go on and play, buddy,” he answered good-naturedly. “I’m doing some work right now. I'll be out when I'm done.”

Mildly saddened, Cole padded away through the grass. Nose in the air, he wandered through the sward towards a leafless bush about a dozen yards from the house. Padding around behind it, he spotted whom he was looking for. “Gotcha!”

DJ rose up from his crouch and took off in a sprint. “You’ll have to catch me, first!” he crowed.

Oxana watched from her water dish by the front door as Cole made several leaping bounds through the grass after the Doduo. All of a sudden, he seemed to rise up from the ground on two tall, stilt-like legs. Had Cole just turned into a Doduo himself, before her very eyes? He ran, laughing, after DJ, still not quite as fast. Once the real DJ had whirled about, he tumbled head over heels into the browning grass. Oxana chuckled.

Cole caught up to him quickly before he could recover, reaching his side as a Zorua again and pouncing on him. “Now I got you!” he hooted in amusement. “Did you like my trick?”

DJ blinked, dazedly. “Whaaat? That was you?”

In the trash bin beside the house, Kellen lifted the lid slightly to peek out. He called, “Oxana, what did I miss?”

I feel like I should tag people, but eh, it's an open thread. Although this starter centers more around Nitrine's Pokemon—a change from my normal posts—ranchers are more than welcome to come bother Nitrine while he fiddles with his Apricorns.
Happiness: Oxana, Kellen, DJ, Cole - 0 (1/5)

[Deleted]

Was it too cold to go hunting for apricorns and berries? What kind of berries even grew in the colder weather, anyway?

Morgan frowned to herself as she drew the collar of her coat closer to her neck with one hand. Her other arm held Elan, who didn't seem to be too bothered by the cold. Instead, the little Ralts was gazing in wonder at their surroundings that, despite the cooler weather making the plains and meadows look a bit bare, were so different from the mountainous landscapes that their ranch was near. Oria was marching beside her, the Aron gazing around either in indifference or defiance, Morgan wasn't quite sure which.

She supposed it was good that her Pokemon didn't mind the cold, considering where they lived and all. Maybe her non-Ice Pokemon could build a natural resistance to Ice-type attacks...

Morgan found herself passing by a couple of ranches, one of which was called Spectrum Fields. A quirked smile reached her lips and she wandered closer to the entrance of the ranch.

She paused at the edge of the territory, wondering suddenly if she should call or send some sort of message before barging in on Nitrine. She remembered a couple of his Pokemon but she wasn't sure if he had gotten a few more that may be more protective of their home...

Tags: @aeranautics, open!
Happiness Gained: Vivi - 0 (1/5); Horos - 0 (1/5); Elan - 0 (1/5); Oria - 0 (1/5); Forge - 0 (1/5); Luci - 0 (1/5)

[Deleted]

Once DJ was able to get on his feet, he was the first to notice Morgan and her Pokemon. "Who is that?" he demanded out loud to Cole, though he knew he probably didn't know. Cole had arrived long after DJ's capture; if the Doduo hadn't met this human, then the young Zorua hadn't. DJ jogged towards the fence posts marking the edges of Nitrine's ranch.

Although she was still by the house some ways away from the newcomer, Oxana and stood up and barked, "Hi, Morgan!" She pawed at the screen door to get Nitrine's attention and, when he looked up from his work, pointed with urgency.

Kellen, noticing Cole hurrying along behind DJ, felt safe enough to hop out of the trash bin. He asked Oxana, "Morgan? Is this the Morgan Nitrine talks about sometimes?"

The Snubbull nodded. "One and the same; I can smell her on the breeze. I don't think you've properly met her. You were asleep when Nitrine and I first ran into her." At that moment, Nitrine opened up the screen door and waved to Morgan.

DJ stopped a few meters away from Morgan and looked her and her two small Pokemon up and down. "Who are you, human?" squawked one head. "And what's your business here?"

Before he could say much else, Nitrine hurried up to the fence line, saying, "Take it easy, Deej. Morgan is a friend." Having had no prior plans to go outside, Nitrine was dressed comfortably while indoors, but he threw on his big hoodie over his top, leaving just his jeans and some sandals uncovered by his sweater.

Kellen and Oxana drew up then, too. To DJ, the Clefairy quipped, "Besides, being the ranch's guard Pokemon is my job."

Beaming widely, Nitrine greeted Morgan, "Hiya! It's been so long since we've seen each other, man!" He gazed down at Elan in Morgan's arms and Oria by her side. "I see you've got some new additions to your family, just like me."

Tagging Morgan Porter; open.
Happiness: Oxana, Kellen, DJ, Cole - 0 (2/5)

[Deleted]

At least Oxana remembered her.

With a quirked smile, Morgan waved to the Snubbull after hearing the bark. Oxana proceeded to dash to the house, most likely to get Nitrine, if Morgan were to guess. While Oxana was busy, however, a couple of other Pokemon that were unfamiliar to Morgan came closer to the human. The Clefairy, at the very least, Morgan had remembered hearing about when she and Nitrine had first met.

A young Zorua came over toward the fence at the heels of a two-headed bird Pokemon, and Morgan stepped back when the bird Pokemon started squawking at her. Oria stood in front of her, braced as if ready to go flying into the fence at Nitrine's Pokemon, but Elan actually lifted one of his hands in a timid wave. "Here to say hi?" the Ralts offered as an answer to the bird Pokemon.

Nitrine appeared and calmed this "Deej" down before grinning widely at Morgan. She returned the smile while bending down to touch Oria's back in a signal to relax.

"It has been a while," Morgan agreed. "Time flies, doesn't it? I'm glad to see that your ranch and yourself appear to be doing well, Nitrine." She gazed at Nitrine's other Pokemon, greeting them with soft smiles in turn and ending with the Zorua. "I've seen Zorua before from my region, but may I ask what kind of Pokemon Deej is? He's quite unique. And that must be Kellen! Nice to see he's awake during the day so I can meet him. Oxana is as lovely as ever.

"Yes, my ranch has grown," Morgan said, deciding to place Elan down. "The Ralts is Elan and Oria is the Aron. Vivi and Horos are snoozing in their pokeballs, as are Luci the Solosis and Forge the Chimchar. I have six Pokemon on my ranch at the moment."

Tags: Aeranautics
Happiness Gained: Vivi - 0 (2/5); Horos - 0 (2/5); Elan - 0 (2/5); Oria - 0 (2/5); Forge - 0 (2/5); Luci - 0 (2/5)

[Deleted]

"I'll say," Nitrine said, in response to how time flies. "Sorry I haven't visited your ranch in forever. I've just been so busy working with my own. It's a lot of work, but definitely a labor of love."

Cole snuck up behind Nitrine, stepped to the side, and created an illusion of the young man himself, except a head shorter. He mimicked all of his hand gestures as Nitrine talked to Morgan. None of his other Pokemon seemed to notice, their attention on their visitors.

"Oh, 'Deej' is short for DJ," he explained, patting one of his bird Pokemon's thin necks. DJ squawked in affirmation. Nitrine went on, "He's called a Doduo. I saw them once or twice in Sinnoh, but they're really rare there, I've learned. And you're right about Kellen. It took a little bit but I finally got him to be... not-nocturnal. He's a real champ." Nitrine nodded at Morgan's remark that she recognized his Zorua from her home region. He commented, "So Zorua is native to... Unova, right? That's really neat. I've never heard of them before I got Cole—"

It was at that moment he turned and saw a shorter version of himself smiling at him, the copy's grin revealing a fine row of pointed pearly-whites. He jumped with a start, and so did DJ, when he turned to see. Cole covered his mouth, human shoulders shaking like he was laughing, before the illusion faded away like smoke and he became his Zorua self.

Nitrine hollered, "Cole, what the hell? You scared me! I didn't know you could do that!" He turned to Morgan, asking, "Did you know he could do that?"

DJ grumbled, "I did, and I still got spooked."

Oxana and Kellen were laughing right along with Cole, who jeered, "Did you see the look on his face just now?"

Once he was able to calm down some, Nitrine stooped low to have a closer look at Morgan's Pokemon. He remarked, "You two are very good-looking Pokemon. I can tell someone's been taking good care of you."

Oxana stepped close to them and gave them a sniff from a few paces away. "He's right, you sure do," she agreed. "Morgan must be a really great rancher."

He stood up to address his friend again, asking, "Hey, want to come inside? It's a little chilly out here; I can make some cocoa or tea if you want. And your Pokemon are welcome to stay out and play with mine, too."

Cole leaped into the air, shouting, "Yahoo! Yes, come play with us! Me and Kellen and DJ were playing hide-and-seek."

Morgan Porter, Open
Happiness: Oxana, Kellen, DJ, Cole - 0 (3/5)